COMMERCE CHRISTIANITY AND THE GUNBOAT: AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF MALAWI LAKE AND RIVER TRANSPORT, 1850- 1914 Dissertation for the Degree of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MURLENE E. McKINNON 1977 -Vuv This is to certify that the thesis entitled Commerce, Christianity and the Gunboat: An Historical Study of Malawi Lake and River Transport, 1850-l9lh. presented by Murlene E. McKinnon has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Jh-D- degree in \Hisjm Major professor /”(" ) Date*April 29’ 191 0-7639 ABSTRACT COMMERCE, CHRISTIANITY AND THE GUNBOAT: AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF MALAWI LAKE AND RIVER TRANSPORT, 1850 - 1914 BY Murlene E. McKinnon Technological development in transport periodi- cally aids man in conquering new horizons. Thus steamers enabled the Zambezi Expedition (1858-64) to explore the Zambezi-Shire and "rediscover" Lake Malawi, events which followed Livingstone's call for "commerce and Christi— anity" to abolish slavery and achieve "civilization." In Malawi's case, the cooperative efforts of the mission and trading steamers and the gunboat were needed to accomplish the objectives. This study traces the development of early carto- graphical and historical knowledge of Lake Malawi and the river Shire. It discusses early lake routes and modes of Arab and African transport and explains new 19th century technology which permitted placement of steamers on inland lakes and development of optimum performance under African conditions. A description Murlene E. McKinnon of early navigation experiences is followed by an exami- nation of church, commercial, and gunboat contributions to "civilization.” Several conclusions emerge: 1. In the commercial arena the African enjoyed increased availability of trade items and opportunities to sell agricultural produce. He gained job expertise while being introduced to the concept of working as a wage earner. The steamer took Malawi migrants south to the labor opportunities of southern Malawi, Rhodesia, and South Africa. Socialization among clans, and between white traders and chiefs, also resulted from the steamer system. A disadvantage to the Europeans was the compli- cation of political pressure applied to enlist steamer support during periods of conflict. As for driving the Arab slaver from the lake, it is probable that the com- mercial steamer (a source of supply) actually encouraged him to stay. The major difficulty for Malawi commercial development was the inability of the EurOpean trader to command sufficient funds to maintain an efficient trade network, overcome transport difficulties, or appreciably affect the slavers. 2. In the context of the Universities' missionary activity, the steamer was the purveyor of religion, edu- cation, medicine, trading opportunities, job possibilities, and news. In addition it was the ”inviolate home" of 'those aboard. While stimulating long-term innovation, Murlene E. McKinnon the steamer nevertheless maintained influence over 300 miles of coast with minimal disturbance to African daily life. Chiefs sought its visits believing it brought free- dom from raids. The little ships also connected the more isolated coastal villages. The UMCA, because of its proximity to the Yao, often mediated between them and the administration regarding the dhow trade across the lake. 3. The government gunboat, though employed as such for a short time, achieved far-reaching political results. In time, the administration eliminated the slave trade from the lake, but not without severely limiting Yao trade initiative, for the government assumed dhow ferry services following the capture and destruction of Yao and Arab dhows. With pacification accomplished, the naval department attended to marine improvements, provision of transport, and a lake survey, but excepting some fine bathymetrical charts, most efforts fell short of expec— tations; the administration never was willing to commit enough funds. Had the German gunboat constituted a serious threat in 1914, the Germans would have controlled the lake instead of the English. Extensive source material exists in Foreign and Colonial Office "General Correspondence" and "Slave Trade Correspondence.” Equally important are newspapers and first-person accounts in the British Museum and Malawi Archives. The Royal Geographical Society possesses Murlene E. McKinnon pertinent Malawi maps, correspondence, and reports of geographical discovery. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh University Library, Malawi Archives, and National Archives of Rhodesia contain valuable church records and missionary collections. The African Lakes Corporation in Scotland and Malawi has a few good records, as does Yarrow's Ship- yard outside Glasgow. Important documents exist in Rhodes' House, the Malawi Society, Malawi Railways Ltd., and the University of Malawi. No less important are interviews, conversations, and my own experience in Malawian canoes, steamers, and lakeside villages. COMMERCE, CHRISTIANITY AND THE GUNBOAT: AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF MALAWI LAKE AND RIVER TRANSPORT, 1850 - 1914 BY \ka‘“ vso , Murlene E. McKinnon A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History 1977 Copyright by MURLENE E. MCKINNON 1977 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are several people who made their time and expertise available to me in my research efforts and to whom I owe my heartfelt thanks. They not only made my research meaningful and enjoyable, but because of their unusual cooperation and support my sabbatical leave was extremely worthwhile. My strongest thanks go to my major advisor, Pro- fessor James R. Hooker and Professor George Shepperson, ’both of whom gave me advice and support when the task sometimes seemed insurmountable. Members of my committee who I wish to thank are Professors Harold Marcus, John Hunter, Donald Lammers, and Gordon Stewart. Also rating deep appreciation are Dr. Eugene de Benko, Director of the International Library at Michigan State University and Professor Harry Benford, Naval Architect, University of Michigan. In all cases, the people thanked in the following are those with whom I have personally worked. In England many persons deserve my sincere thanks: Mrs. Christine. Kelly, Archivist at the Royal Geographical Society; ii Mrs. Brenda Hough, Archivist at the United Society for the PrOpagation of the Gospel; Mr. Fitzpatrick at the British Museum, and the staffs at Rhodes' House and the National Maritime Museum. In Edinburgh my gratitude goes to Mr. George Finlayson, Keeper of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Edin- burgh University; Miss Yeo at the National Library of Scotland, Professor George Shepperson for the use of items in his personal collection; and Mr. Alistair Scott and Mr. R. W. Oswald for important African Lakes material. I most especially thank Dr. Brian Baxter and Sir Eric Yarrow at Yarrow's Shipyard Ltd. on the Clyde, Glasgow. Several people in Malawi were instrumental in aiding my search for pertinent material; undoubtedly the most helpful was Professor Bridglal Pachai who gave of his valuable time to discuss sources with me. I should also like to thank David Katengeza, Chairman of Malawi Railways, Ltd.; Steven Mwiyeriwa, Archivist and Ken Mtapiko, his assistant at the Malawi Archives; Arthur Msiska, Head Librarian at the University of Malawi; Peter Turner, Society of Malawi; J. V. Raynes, African Lakes representative; Ernst Hansen, Surveyor of Ships, Ministry of Transport and Communication; David Eccles, Head of Wildlife and Fisheries; Kurt Vestrheim, Malawi shipmaster; Lady Swanzie Agnew and Reverend Dr. Matthew Schoffeleers at the University of Malawi; Reverend J. D. iii Sangaya; Archbishop Arden; and finally the captain and engineer of the ILALA II. My warm thanks also go to my friend Melvin Page who gave unstintingly of his own valuable time, advice, and patience, sometimes at the cost of his own research. I should also like to thank Mr. McCarthy at the National Archives of Rhodesia who made special arrange- ments to enable me more efficiently to pursue my research; the staff at the Harvard Theological Seminary Library; and Professors Ned Munger and Lewis Gann for their valuable advice. Finally, I owe thanks to William McKinnon without whose advice I might never have undertaken this work; to my mother, Helen Dowding, and my sisters, Lou (who edited much of my work) and Marge, without whose aid I could not have completed it; and to Richard Kuhr, friend and reader. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCT ION O O O O O O O O O I O O 0 Chapter I. LAKE MALAWI: CARTOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES O O O O O O O O C C II. THE CHANGING TECHNOLOGY OF WATER TRANSPORT ON MALAWI WATERWAYS. . . . . . . . III. EARLY STEAM NAVIGATION EXPERIENCES AND EXPLORATIONS ON MALAWI WATERWAYS . . . IV. THE EFFECTS OF COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT IN MALAWI 1875-1914. . . . . . . . . V. THE CHRISTIAN MISSION STEAMER: A CASE STUDY 1884-1914 . . . . . . . . . VI. GOVERNMENT, GUNBOAT, AND MARITIME PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . . . . CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY . . . . . . . . . . SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . Page 61 95 164 237 303 367 378 404 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. STEAMERS OPERATING ON SHIRE AND LAKE WWI O O O O O O O O O O O O 2 3 3 2. ESTIMATED NAVAL EXPENDITURES, 1895-96 . . 321 vi Figure :5 U N O \D on \I m UT 0 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Lake 1554 1516 1563 1588 1630 1708 1727 1787 1860 Lake Hugh LIST OF FIGURES Malawi . . . Map (Schoner). Map (Waldseemfiller). . . Map (Luis). . Map (Sanuto) . Map (Teixeira) Map (DéLisle). Map (D'Anville) Map (Clouct) . Map (Ravenstein) Malawi . . . Stannus Stannus Lake Malawi canoe Dhows on Lake Malawi, on medical 1900 . . Carriage of the MAPLES boiler around the Shire Cataracts . ILALA on the Thames First circumnavigation of Lake Malawi Poling river "houseboat” through the sudd Carrying the boat around the Shire Cataracts . . . vii Page 10 10 10 14 14 14 21 25 25 29 65 79 85 86 96 106 128 F i gure Page 1.9. Lake Malawi . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 2 0. Steamer CHARLES JANSON . . . . . . . . 248 2 l. CHAUNCY MAPLES Chapel. . . . . . . . . 263 2 2. Loading wood on the CHAUNCY MAPLES . . . . 270 2 3. Gunboat DOVE on Shire. . . . . . . . . 316 2 4. PIONEER on Lake Malawi, 1895 . . . . . . 317 2 5. Lake survey 1861 . . . . . . . . . . 357 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS African Lakes Corporation British Central Africa Gazette Central Africa Central African Planter Central African Times Edinburgh University Library Free Church of Scotland Papers Geographical Journal Glasgow Letterbooks Journal of the Royal Geographical Society Likoma or Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle Likoma or Nyasaland Diocesan Quarterly Paper National Archives of Rhodesia Nyasaland Government Gazette Nyasaland Journal National Library of Scotland Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society Rare book and manuscript room (EUL) Royal Geographical Society Records of South East Africa Scottish Geographical Magazine Society of Malawi Journal Universities' Mission to Central Africa William Percival Johnson ix INTRODUCTION It is apparent from the very first written records that transport has ever been the concern of Malawi. When the Africans, Arabs, and Portuguese first traded on the Shire River and around the shores of the great lake in the sixteenth century, canoes and small caravans provided the means of travel. With the settlement of Arabs and l'13.].15-castes on the lake by the mid-nineteenth century, dhows ferried slaves and ivory from west to east. These 8iallue dhows and canoes developed a coasting trade, carrying Sa~1t and some foodstuffs along the lower two-thirds of the lake. In 1875, twenty-five years after David Living- 8"zone and Sir John Kirk had rediscovered Lake Malawi, the tilrst of many steamers, the ILALA, was launched on its wfiters. This event marked the beginning of a very dif- EQrent era in the history of Malawi. Commercial and Christian approaches combined in ~'tlxe minds of Scotsmen and Englishmen who, in true Vic- torian fashion, desired to heap the benefits of their Qlivilization on the less fortunate of the world. How- e\rer, in the case of Malawi, such advantages could not be bestowed without the aid of the steamboat, the only device by which the European could maintain a semblance of reliable, periodic communication between the East African Coast and the interior. Although Malawi could be reached by steaming up the Zambezi-Shire Rivers, it essentially remained a land- locked country. Whoever approached by this route was forced to portage thirty miles of cataracts. Thus, launching a vessel on the lake necessitated carriage on a large scale. A steamer had to be packaged in fifty- to 8l'i—xtyupound loads to facilitate carriage. The only other aE>jproach, overland from Kilwa on the East African Coast to the north end of the lake, was deemed too arduous because of the distance, the marauding Zulu, the increased Ahab slaving activity, and the danger of malaria. Thus the Zambezi-Shire river became the preferred route. While offering the obvious advantage of a door t3 the interior, the Zambezi-Shire route was also the bQme of Malawi's existence. The main problem was the 1Silver; its depth not only fluctuated in response to the wet and dry seasons, it also varied according to the §~“mount of water flowing out of Lake Malawi. When the lake was low, the river would occasionally flow into it. The build-up of aquatic plants in the river above and below the cataracts also affected depth and helped to Qarise shifting channels, which in turn created new sandbanks. This combination of river problems inter- mittently interrupted transport communication with the coast, as well as with the lake settlements. When this happened, African porterage on a large scale was neces- sary, and it was usually accompanied by loud complaints from the planters who worried about the depleted labor source. The lake did not offer the same kinds of diffi- culties, although the missionary, trading, and government vessels on its waters did experience trouble with storms and winds. Shipmasters learned to recognize the terrible Mwera, or south wind, and hugged the coasts with their 81lips when it blew, particularly if their vessels were 1101: exceptionally seaworthy. The tendency of the new— QQ‘mer to think of the lake as a placid pond was quickly (ii spelled by a short trip on its waters in bad weather. Bl‘ixham trawler captains were wont to compare it to the NQrth Sea, and this writer, familiar with both bodies of wfiter, readily agrees with this opinion. That steam technology with its accompanying effect Q11 society and the economy strongly affected Malawian life, will, the writer hopes, emerge clearly in this study. The commercial steamer, the missionary steamer, a~l'ld the government gunboat each conferred advantages a‘I‘td disadvantages on the population; each played dif- fiex'ent, if entwined roles. That period, from 1875 to 1914, when commerce, Christianity and gunboat diplomacy cooperated in a "civilizing mission" around and on the lake, is, in retrospect, an exciting and important era in Malawian history . So geographers in Africa maps With savage pictures fill their gaps, And o'er unhabitable downs Place elephants for want of towns. Jonathan Swift, On Poetry: A Rapsody (Dublin: 1733) What often puzzles collectors of maps of Africa is the plethora of names of towns and rivers in regions which were only discovered to Europe late in the 19th century. To ascribe these names to the imagination of mapmakers anxious to fill up the empty spaces is just not possible. No man ever gratuitously invents. He may twist and develop certain facts, but there is always some source not his own behind them. W. G. L. Randles, "Selected Printed Maps of the Sixteenth Century," Imago Mundi 13 (1956): 69 CHAPTER I LAKE MALAWI: CARTOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES This chapter examines the cartographical con- <= I r- 1 .I > ‘\ MOZAMBIQUE ‘- s \- 1"“ - \ .a ’ \. ’.,‘ .\ I ’ \' 1 4- ii - I ‘Zambezi River {' d I ./ Murcplson Cataracts l \‘pé’. [J \3. I 't’ y IN D I A N O CEA N mi 9 . 290 I O ' kmj SOC Fig. 1. Lake Malawi ZlNile sources), and nautical charts of the fifteenth and gaixteenth centuries.2 The 1507 map of the Flemish ggeographer, Martin Waldseemfiller, fell into this category, zand the work of Johannes SchSner, as pictured in Figure 2, <:losely followed it.3 In Figure 2, the River de Guama (A0 (Cuama or Zambezi) is seen to rise in the Mountains <>f the Moon, then to divide and to enter the sea just Elbove Zoffala (B) (Sofala) and also below Amgoxa (C). ‘VWaldseemfiller's 1507 map introduced a lake, Sachaf Lacus, to the west of the Mountains of the Moon. This .t>Jriginated with Juan de la Cosa, a Biscayan pilot, who, u‘tzilizing Portuguese information, introduced a central \ 2For an interesting discussion of Ptolemy's source material, consult E. G. Ravenstein, "The Lake Iegion of Central Africa: A Contribution to the History ‘Df African Cartography," Scottish Geographical Magazine 7 (June 1891): 299-310. . 3W. G. L. Randles, "South East Africa as Shown on Selected Printed Maps of the Sixteenth Century," Imago “Mndi 13 (1956): 71. Fig. 2. 1554 Map (Schaner) (adapted from Youssouf Kamal, Monumenta Cartographica Africae et Aegypti, vol. 5 [LeCaire: 1951], f. 1518). Fig. 3. 1516 Map (Waldseemfiller) (adapted from Youssouf Kamal, Monumenta Carto ra hica Africae et Aegypti, vol. 5 ILeCaire: I95II, E. I515). Fig. 4. 1563 Map (Luis) (adapted from Youssouf Kamal, Monumenta Cartographica Africae et Aegypti, vo. 5 [LeCaire: 1951], f. 1532). .I vi P I?” I‘ll I, III", M" "NI 10 ‘u- ‘ ~‘J-Iq . o It ‘ A's-ware ‘- \ ‘Mvo Jinn-m, a" 11 .African lake.4 Arabs, such as a1 Masudi, long had Ibelieved that such a lake was the source of several .Iivers. Africans, too, subscribed to this viewpoint. :Father Joao dos Santos, a Dominican sent to the Rivers (of the Cuama in 1590, and ultimately to Sena and Tete, :reported that the Cuama was known as the Zambesi (here- after Zambezi) by the 'Kaffirs' and that, . . . it takes its rise at such a distance inland that no one knows anything of its sources. The Kaffirs say that a tradition of their ancestors tells them that it takes its rise in a great lake situated in the interior of this Ethiopia, from which other very large rivers flow in different directions, each having its own name.5 1L.azaro Luis' map of 1563, in Figure 4, offered a good approximation of the central lake idea. The river which 'EBJntered the Indian Ocean was unnamed, but the Portuguese E‘flettlements of Tete (A) and Sena (B) appeared alongside t’—l'1e river thus identifying it as the Zambezi (C). Sofala ( ID) appeared slightly below the river's entrance to the Sieaa. Livio Sanuto, a mathematician who developed the ffirst atlas exclusively devoted to Africa in 1588, merged tale great central African reservoir with the Ptolemaic \ 4Ravenstein, "The Lake Region," 308; Randles, "Sixteenth Century,” 69. SJoao dos Santos, Ethiopia Orientale, as quoted in English translation in George McCall Theal, Records of South East Africa, vol. 7 (Cape Town, 1901), p. 253. 12 lake, as in Figure 5. Three smaller bodies remained below the equator; the far western lake, part of the Nile system, was the starting point for some of the continent's great rivers. In its center was an island, "which can send forth more than thirty thousand men to fight with those of the mainland." The river which issued towards Sofala divided, and one arm "enters the sea twenty-five .1eagues beyond Sofala and is called Cuama (A), although :in the interior other people call it Zembere."6 Gastaldi, :in a forerunner of the Sanuto map, labelled the western ;1_ake Zembere in the south, and Zaire in the north, and JL.ater mapmakers adOpted this practice. Cartographical controversy over the interior of ‘tzlhis portion of Africa continued until 1749 when J. B. B<>urguignon D'Anville, the famous French geographer, I-‘<.=.jected all data except those facts which he could allJthenticate. Prior to this critical watershed, however, c=iame another important development. Joao Teixeira, a IPtartuguese geographer, in his 1630 map of the Kingdom of Monomotapa, which is Figure 6, added the Chire (Shire) (It), which joined the Zambezi just below Sena (B). \ 6Joé‘io de Barros, Décadas da Asia, as quoted in 7English translation in TheaI, RSEA, voI. 6 (1900), '99. 264-65. 7Randles, "Sixteenth Century," 78; Edward Heawood, Aunistory of Geographicalggiscgvery in the Seventeenth an Efighteenth Centuries (New York: 1969), p. 150. 13 Fig. 5. 1588 Map (Sanuto) (adapted from Youssouf Kamal, Monumenta Cartographica Africae et Aegypti, vol. 5 [LeCaire: 1951T, f. 1538. Fig. 6. 1630 Map (Teixeira) (adapted from Library of Congress original). Fig. 7. 1708 Map (DéLisle) (adapted from Youssouf Kamal, Monumenta Carto ra hica Africae et Aegypti, vol. 5 ILeCaire: I951I, E. 1568. 14 "7' - 77’" ~ ” II ounggm °‘ L". f N. 3= V'I. "1“ - . . Kw Tar“, P‘". ~. - _ “V ., A f . {Q‘ . . Mono-w . .. , ._> ,1 Lush: 15 Once again Sofala was sited slightly south of one outlet (C) . Teixeira may have extrapolated his idea from a passage in Joao dos Santo's Ethiopia Orientale (1609): Opposite Sena on the other side of the river, seven or eight leagues toward the interior, there is a very grand and lofty mountain called Chiri. . . . From it come nearly all the provisions consumed in Sena, such as rice, millet, sweet potatoes, figs and fowls . . . at its foot runs a fine large river, which they say is an arm of the celebrated river Luabo of this coast of Ethiopia, which river empties itself into the Zambesi ten leagues below Sena, and it is navigated by the Kaffirs and resi— dents of Sena who carry on commerce from one part to another.8 t)‘:>s Santos also mentioned meeting some Moorish cloth merchants at Tete on the Zambezi who repeated that "in 1t:t1e interior of these lands, to the north-east, close to it¥lae great river of Manganja, there was a fountain of salt water more than two hundred leagues distant from the as;1aa.'9 Thus, Teixeira had the possibility of two names, <:=]hire and Manganja. What caused him to use Chire on his Innuap? Gaspar Bocarro's journey of 1616 provided no answer lh> m Fig. 10 o 4 J: '1' 26 Nyenyesi” (A).23 The first two designations were African words meaning lake or big water, while the last meant Lake of the Stars. The Shire was shown joining the lake to the Zambezi (B). Certainty about the lake's northern end, however, did not exist until November 1875, when Dr. Robert Laws, a Scottish missionary, and Edward Young, of the Royal Naval Reserves, circumnavigated the lake.24 What the cartographical information illustrates is that the Portuguese did have knowledge of Lake Malawi and, in fact, undoubtedly had travelled on its shores, despite Livingstone's claim to be its "discoverer." Nonetheless, in the late 17005 and early 18005 the Por- tuguese were not strong or numerous enough to maintain their tenuous hold on the area. Their payment of pro— tection money to Africans along the Zambezi certainly did not enhance their later territorial claims, made when they became alarmed by the British interest in the Shire Highlands and the lake. Nevertheless, the Portuguese were justified in their case, and turning to a history 23Travels, Researches and Missionary Labours in Eastern Africa (London: 1860), pp. 473-25. 24Edward Young to Royal Geographical Society, February 19, 1876, London, Royal Geographical Society Archives, MS Nyasaland 1876; "Livingstonia Mission of the Free Church of Scotland at Lake Nyasa: Eleven Years' History and Appeal," 1886, Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, M88 7905, Free Church of Scotland Papers. 27 of their efforts in this geographical area, one sees additional support for their contentions. As in the case of cartographical conceptions, historical perceptions developed over a long period of time. Although Brian Fagan's archeological work at Ingombe Ilede indicates that ivory was traded down the Zambezi as early as 800 - 1000 A.D.,25 European documents recording the trade contacts of Africans in the vicinity of the river Shire and Lake Maravi were first found in Joao dos Santos' Ethiopia Orientale (1609). After living in Sofala from 1586 to 1590, dos Santos spent the next two years at Sena and then Tete, where he met some “Moorish” merchants who were trading cloth to the north, probably to the lands of the Maravi. His account of the lower Shire area bears repeating, for it indicated the source of Portuguese provisions. Opposite Sena on the other side of the river, seven or eight leagues toward the interior, there is a very grand and lofty mountain called Chiri. . . . From it come nearly all the provisions consumed in Sena, such as rice, millet, sweet potatoes, figs, and fowls . . . at its foot runs a fine large river, which they say is an arm of the cele- brated river Luabo of this coast of Ethiopia, which river empties itself into the Zambesi ten leagues below Sena, and it is navigated by the Kaffirs and residents of Sena who carry on commerce from one part to another.26 25Southern Africa During the Iron Age (London: 1965) , PP._§§-94, 97-99. 26dos Santos, 268. n p v 1 28 How far north Shire navigation extended is not known. It seems probable that the Murchison Cataracts, which separated the Upper and Lower Shire, as in Figure 11, would have been acknowledged as a river trade barrier if they had been reached, but this deduction is only con- jecture. What is definite is that Shire River commerce did exist, and probably was stimulated by the Portuguese establishment of Sena in 1531 and Tete soon thereafter. Those posts, though primarily concerned with the gold trade, still had to maintain their personnel. Only twice a year did two foists (boats) come up the Zambezi bringing trade goods to Sena and Tete.27 Obviously there was a need for a Shire provision trade. Gaspar Bocarro, journeying from Tete to Kilwa in 1616, gave gifts of beads, calico, and silk cloth worth about seventy cruzados to Inhamocumba, the governor of Moromba.28 In return, he received two ivory tusks, food, female companionship, and the services of several guides.29 He then crossed the Shire and made his way to Kilwa, easing his passage with gifts. Alpers claims that 27Eric Axelson, Portuguese South-East Africa 1588-1600 (Cape Town: 19735. p. 171. 28Worth about 4/- English during the seventeenth century. 29Bocarro, Extractos, 416-17. 29 W r O Nkhamanga Deep x 022’ 80 O QI§A \ Mbampa Boy Nkata Bay Misanji . Chisay’nula ,- ‘ . lama -Nozeok Chiteji 2 g Mtengulo ‘Ibo O Nkh i ate " YA Kata Na3 Mluluka __Q “m Losewa Chilowelo Clap: ngmbo m a an 0 Mt. Tsenaau N05 m Senqo 0y {th'ombo Mt. a _, (Noome) “QM Nqombe Sekole 0 Akummfl MARAVI ' Island M o Shirwa 8 MAKuA Murchion Cataracts «2 0’06, BORQRO 30° R Tete ’/ ” "P1" 9 QMorambaIa IN D I A N . OCEAN <1 "'1 we 6 km 260 ”v Quelimane Fig. 11. Lake Malawi 30 the route followed had been established by the Yao during the sixteenth century to avoid the Portuguese controlled Zambezi.30 Henry O'Neill, British consul at Mozambique, also considered the Kilwa road one of the oldest caravan routes in East Africa, but did not hazard a guess about its age.31 Not only did the Portuguese stimulate change on the ocean coast, their control of the Zambezi apparently deprived the Maravi of their river contacts with the Swahili and Arabs. The resultant pressure may have caused dissension among the Maravi and led to the establishment of the short-lived empire of Bororo, Figure 11.32 Lundu, ruler of Bororo and controller of the Lower Shire, was noted as Rondo on Teixeira's map of 1630, in Figure 6. He held sway between 1580 and 1620, at which time Karonga and the Portuguese joined to defeat Lundu and reestablished Karonga as paramount. By the 16303 the Maravi had a well-established ivory trading 3OE. A. Alpers, "North of the Zambezi," in The huddle Age of African History, ed. Roland Oliver (London: 15675, p. 83. ' 31Henry O'Neill, ”The Ancient Civilisation, Trade, and Commerce of Eastern Africa," SGM 2 (February 1886): 107, 32Bororo extended south from the Ruo-Shire con- fluence to where the latter joined the Zambezi, then west from this line to the coast. It was immediately below Maravi. 31 route through Makua, Figure 11, and Lomwe country to the east coast Portuguese, living opposite Mozambique Island, Figure 11.33 Mariano provided further information about lake commerce and navigation: From this lake is born the river Cherim, at first very peacefully, but finally, due to the numerous rocks which it encounters and where its waters are broken, becomes so tempestuous as to be unnavigable. Maravi is situated between the lake and the Zambezi: this spot is densely populated and we (the Portuguese) do heavy trade with the inhabitants. On the banks of this lake, there is an abundance of millet and meat, just as ivory is quite reason- able; finally one finds the many boats suitable for navigation that the natives call cotchi. It would be necessary for this expedition to provide itself with a goodly quantity of merchandise, with those which are legal tender along the river of Cuama, that is to say linen and beads of great size; whats- more, the caravan must not count less than forty persons, either black or white. And one can expect to encounter many difficulties, especially in the middle of a war like that which is raging at the moment. It isn't possible to otherwise go through the country of Massi, although this king is our friend; because, among other obstacles, some grave infirmities have beset travelers there; add a long navigation by tiresome rivers and in uncomfortable boats, with the necessity of passing through the lands of the Kafirs, barbarous people in whom there can be little trust.3 Thus, the Portuguese had engaged in 'heavy trade' with the Maravi and had gained knowledge of the Murchison k 33Alpers, "North of the Zambezi," pp. 81-82; Bridglal Pachai, ”Christianity and Commerce in Malawi," in Malawi Past and Present, eds. G. Smith, B. Pachai, and R. Tangriffilantyre: 1971), p. 40. 34Brucker, "Déscouvertes des Grands Lacs," 402-03. 32 Cataracts which broke Shire River navigation. They knew of Massi, a chief who lived about midway up the west side of the lake and was probably the forerunner of the Mwase, encountered by Livingstone in 1859, as well as the Mwase Kasungu of today. Mwase was, of course, a hereditary name; chiefs often were differentiated by more than one name. Mariano mentioned the necessity for supplying oneself with ”a goodly quantity of merchandise," espe- cially linen and large beads, the latter of which were also carried by nineteenth-century Scottish traders and missionaries. Finally, the Jesuits knew of the African boats which they called cotchi. It is evident that Mariano had accurate information of the lake, and though in 1665 Godinho labelled the lake ”Zachaf,” he still identified the Shire as flowing from it and through the lands of Lundu. He also described the river Aruvi issuing from it and joining the Zambezi above Tete.35 These two rivers may have constituted the basis for the later cartographical differentiation between the Mang'anja and Shire Rivers, though the names were for the same river, and the Aruvi was in the position of the Lowangwa. Godinho said the lake was known by the Africans —_ 35A. C. P. Gamitto, King Kazembe and the Marave, Qheva, Bisa, Bemba, Lunda and other peoples of Southern Eggica being the diary of the Portuguese expedition to that potentate in the years 1881 and T832, vol. I, trans. Ian Cunnison (Lisboa: 1960). p. 64. 33 amici the Portuguese, the latter of whom he noted had "navi— gantzed up the rivers and who, for lack of funds, have not ;y13t: discovered this route."36 Godinho apparently meant 'tlléit the Portuguese had not gone all the way to the lake, :Etazr they certainly had travelled as far as Lundu's at the Shire-Ruo confluence and, according to Mariano's letter (DGE’ 1624, had accurate knowledge of the lake and cataracts. In 1667, Father Manuel Barretto confirmed this IE’<>rtuguese knowledge in his discussion of the Bororo, ‘“'Ilom he classified as Maravi subjects.37 He described 1"“‘CMJnt Morambala, at the Zambezi-Shire confluence, as six jl-Gaagues in width and three in length, identified Tete as t:l‘lezport of Maravi,38 and further acknowledged two chiefs JLMirving on this mountain who: . . . began by exacting tribute from our boats which navigated the Embebe [Shire] along the foot of the mountain for sixty leagues to the court and chuambo of Rundo, who is the second person in the empire of Maravi; they raised the motengos or prices of the merchandise they sell to us, and took possession of our slaves who fled thither, and sold them to us afterwards as their own.39 Barretto described the Maravi as warlike and said they were as feared as the Macua (Makua) and Bororos were \ 361bid., p. 65. . 37"Report upon the State and Conquest of the Iil-‘vers Cuama," as quoted in English translation in Theal, “\Sfi, vol. 3' (1899), p. 470. 38Ibid., 476. 39Ibid.,‘475. 34 despised, so that Africans considered themselves honored to be called Maravi and disgraced by being termed Macua or Bororo.40 Barretto was more enlightening about trade than previously quoted sources: The merchants of Mozambique trade in this kingdom with the Macuani [probably Makua], those of Quili- mane with the Bororo, those of Sena with Rundo, and those of Tete with the said Maravi and in his court. The principal trade is in ivory, much iron, many slaves, and machiras, which are coarse cotton clothe in great demand in Mokaranga [south of the Zambezi]. The trade is very profitable.41 Cotton cloth, of major importance in Portuguese trade, continued to be popular and became the chief compensation for all labor, not only porterage, between 1875 and the 18908. The two varieties of ivory, black and white, became major trade demands of the Arab and Portuguese not only in the seventeenth century, but in the eighteenth and nineteenth as well. Thus, prior to the eighteenth century, it is readily apparent that the Portuguese knew a great deal about the river and lake. Whether or not they had navi- gated the lake is inconsequential, for they possessed knowledge of its unruly winds, of its abundant fish, of the chief, Mwase, who ruled its western shore, of the African canoes suitable for its navigation, and, finally of the Shire River and Murchison Cataracts. The Jesuit historian Francisco de Sousa had access to all this 4oIbid., 480. 4lIbid., 430-31. 35 infonmation for Oriente Conquistado (1710). However, until de Lacerda's trek to the Kazembe in 1798, there was a certain silence about East Africa in Portuguese material. During this eighty-eight years of quietude on the part of the Lusitanians, decisive changes took place around the lake. Although preeminent in the seventeenth century, the Maravi lost their commercial importance to the Bisa in the west and the Yao in the east. The politi- cal fragmentation of the Maravi became obvious as the Bisa and Yao, Figure 11, assumed the major trade routes, and the Maravi were reduced to fighting small clan wars.42 One of the more interesting historical traditions of this period concerned the coming of the Balowoka, or “those who crossed over." They settled inland about one hundred and forty miles from the lake. The Reverend T. Cullen Young, a missionary who lived at the north end of the lake in the early 19003, fixed the date of their coming as 1780;43 Monica Wilson disagrees, setting it 42John McCracken, "The Nineteenth Century in Malawi,” in Aspects of Central African History, ed. T. O. Ranger (Evanston: 1968Y, p. 97. 43”The Henga People in Northern Nyasaland," The Nyasaland Journal 5 (January 1952): 34. .AO .. p; . l3: - u...- t,- u.‘ in .9... O... s *2 '\ 36 not later than the mid-eighteenth century.44 Young remarked that these were people from the coast, ”coming as Arabs."45 The distinction of "coming as Arabs" means to dress as Arab but not necessarily be Arab.46 The chief, Mlowoka, who later took the name Chikulamayembe: . . . arrived as an Arab in appearance. He came from the coast with a lot of goods. . . . Those who came with him were Katumbi, Chiwulunta, Kajumba, Mwahenga, Mwalwene, Jumbo, Mwamlowe, and Kabunduli, eight men who came with him; they crossed the lake ”on a plank.”47 Young appended a footnote which explained that the plank "probably indicates a 'plank built' dhow;48 possibly the first of its kind and an imitation of the Zanzibar 49 craft." If this was a correct estimate of the 44Bridglal Pachai, ed., "Reflections on the Early History of North Malawi," The Early History of Malawi (London: 1972), p. 143. 45"Henga People," 34. 46Ibid.; H. Leroy Vail, "Suggestions Towards a Reinterpreted Tumbuka History," in Early History, p. 167. 47Saulos Nyirenda, "History of the Tumbuka-Henga People,” translated by Reverend T. Cullen Young in African Studies 5 (1931): 6. 48Arab originated ocean-going sailing craft. There were several variations; those on inland lakes were usually smaller, of somewhat different design, and often not as well constructed. 49Ibid.; P. Cole-King, ”Transport and Communi- cation in Malawi to 1891, with a summary to 1918," in Early History, p. 76. 37 occurrence, it means that a dhow was on the lake before 1800, or sixty years earlier than the accepted date of 1859. It also implies that the northern third of the lake, a barrier to trade in the past, may suddenly have facilitated it. Mlowoka settled among the Tumbuka, just south of the Nyika Plateau and established a trade empire with his lieutenants controlling strategic positions "on an east- west line to protect the ivory trade and its Lake Shore 50 embarkation points." Where the Balowoka traded they bestowed turbans on the headmen and through alliances and gifts added greatly to the local prestige of those in power.51 Reportedly Mlowoka was friendly and generous with the people, trading cloth and beads for their ivory. In fact, he exploited the naivity of the Tumbuka, who "used ivory for domestic utensils quite ignorant of its value to the outside world."52 From their earlier contacts with the markets of the East Coast and previous connexions on the east coast of Lake Nyasa, ivory began to be exported in ever increasing quantities. His [Mlowoka's] caravan to the coast gave employment to many Timbuka [gig].53 soVail, "Reinterpreted Tumbuka History," p. 156. 51Nyirenda, "Tumbuka-Henga," 8; Vail, "Reinter- preted Tumbuka History," p. 155. 52J. G. Pike, "A Pre-Colonial History of Malawi," £2.18 (January 1965): 43. 53Ibid. 38 Mlowoka's headquarters was known at the coast as a center of wealth and trade, and its name, Nkhamanga, came to be used as a general term for northern Malawi.54 However, not until Mlowoka's death in 1805, was political legitimacy imparted to this empire through the succession of his son, by the daughter of the Luhanga clan chief.55 The Chikulamayembes maintained their connections until the fame of Nkhamanga attracted Swahili slavers sometime before the coming of the Ngoni in the 18503. The Chikulamayembes, while utilizing the northern land and water routes to the coast, were not the only traders around the lake. To the east, the Yao had traf- ficked with the Arabs since the seventeenth century.56 Rangeley put the Yao at Kilwa by 1730, and around the north end of the lake and into the Congo basin shortly thereafter.57 Alpers relates that by the 1730s, the Yao “so completedly [sic] dominated the ivory trade at 54Pike, "Pre-Colonial History," 43-44. 55Vail, "Reinterpreted Tumbuka History," p. 157. 56McCracken, ”Nineteenth Century," p. 99; E. A. Alpers, "The Mutapa and Malawi Political Systems," Aspects of Central African History, ed. T. 0. Ranger (Evanston: 1963), p. 21. 57w. Rangeley, "The Arabs," g; 16 (July 1963): 21-22. 39 szambique that the Maravi seem to have ceased trading 58 Gamitto's diary of his journey to the Kazembe there . " in 1831-32 indicated that the Bisa, located west of the lake and between the Tumbuka and the Lunda of Chief Kazembe, sold their ivory to the Yao or Nguru, who were Maravi, and lived on the banks of the river or Lake Nyanja. They did not allow people into their country so that transactions took place only at the water's edge. The Yao or Nguru then sold the ivory to Arabs on the Zanzibar coast. Gamitto claimed that the "Portu- guese merchants who go to the interior are interested in selling ivory to the same Nguru." He argued that Lacerda was incorrect to assert the Nguru inhabited the banks of the Shire.59 The explorer Burton, in a scholarly, heavily annotated translation of Lacerda's Journey, maintained that the Nguru were not synonymous with the Yao but were instead a group of Manguros at the south end of Lake Tanzania.60 It seems strange, however, that the Portuguese would be interested in trekking all the way to the south 58Alpers, "Political Systems," 24. 59Gamitto, King Kazembe, pp. 64, 169-70. 60Francisco de Lacerda, Lacerda's Journey to the Cazembe in 1798, translated and annotated by R. F. Burton in The Lands of the Cazembe (London: 1873), p. 81. .91 .n.- O .41. 0|. - no. - l..n : I 1"- I Q ~._ ’. 40 end of Lake Tanzania to trade. Moreover, the fact that Gamitto identified the Yao or Nguru as Maravi makes their residence at the south end of Lake Tanzania even more unlikely. A member of the Church Missionary Society, the Reverend John Rebman, who came to Mombasa in 1846, provided material more supportive of Lacerda's view. From a Waniassa (Nyasa) slave who worked for him, he learned much about the lake and its inhabitants. Salimani, his informant, originally lived two days west of the lake in a land called Kumpande. He told Rebman that Wanguru (singular M'nguru) was the name given "by the tribes W. of Niassa to those in the E. including both Wahio and Wajomba."61 Dr. de Lacerda, instructed by the Portuguese Crown to lead a scientific expedition which would estab- lish commercial relations with Chief Kazembe, said of the trade: The Muizas [Bisa] were found to be a kindly and commercial people. . . . The dry goods hitherto imported into this country have been bought by the Mujao (Wahiao) [Yao], indirectly or directly, from the Arabs of Zanzibar and its vicinity. Hence these people receive all the ivory exported from the pos- sessions of the Cazembe; where as formerly it passed in great quantities through our port of Mozambique. He [Kazembe] wishes the Portuguese to send him bales, ”as they come from afar." Our trade would soon supplant that of our rivals, the Mujao, if we could import a quantity of cloth.62 61John Rebman, Dictionary_of the Kiniassa Language, ed. Dr. L. Krapf (republished Farnborough Hants, 1967). 621bid., p. 37. 41 In 1793 the Bisa, as a result of their trade with the Yao, had heard of a Portuguese from Goa who was panning gold north of the Zambezi. They brought ivory and informed him that the Kazembe desired his friendship. The European gave them some goods and later sent two Muzambazes, or trading slaves.63 In 1795 the Bisa brought a large amount of ivory to Tete,64 another instance of their interest in trade with the Portuguese. If traders from Tete did not arrive at his capital, the Kazembe campaigned against the Bisa and Lunda chiefs who inter- fered with their coming.65 Thus, some of the mutually desired trade occurred. After Lacerda's death at Kazembe's in 1798, there was not another expedition to this area until 1831, when Captain Jose Monteiro and Antonio Gamitto, two Portuguese soldiers of the Tete garrison, again attempted the journey. The commercial interest was paramount and this mission had no scientific pretensions. However, with a new Kazembe who made impossible demands and was unscrupulous, the 63Ibid., p. 35. 64Allen Isaacman, Mozambique (Madison: 1972), p. 81. 65Joao Baptista and José Amaio, "Journey of the Pombeiros from Angola to the Rios de Sena," trans. B. A. Beadle in Lands of Cazembe, p. 231. 42 expedition failed.66 The commercial relations which had existed probably did not last beyond 1829.67 Meanwhile, Yao trade expanded. The Yao Universi- ties Mission priest, Yohanna Abdallah, reported the exchange of east coast cloth and beads for the cattle and salt of the Nyasa and Mang'anja at Ng'ombo, Figure 11, a nineteenth century port for the ivory and slave traders on the south- east Malawi lakeshore.68 The development of Ng'ombo as a canoe and dhow ferry route, which exists even today,69 probably originated through Nyasa pursuit of the Yao trade. The Anglican missionary, W. P. Johnson, who travelled and later worked on the east side of the lake from 1876 well into the twentieth century, supported this view by noting that the "Yao do not travel by canoe."70 66C. T. Beke, ”Resume of the Journey of M. M. Mbnteiro and Gamitto,” in Lands of Cazembe, pp. 248-49. 67Isaacman, Mozambique, p. 81. 68Yohanna Abdallah, The Yaos, trans. and ed. .M. Sanderson (2d ed.: London: I973), pp. 28, 30: E. A. Alpers, “The Yao in Malawi: the importance of local research,“ Early History, p. 169. 69Ernst Hansen, Surveyor of Ships, Ministry of Trauasport and Communication, Private interview, Malawi, June: 28, 1974. 70W. P. Johnson, ”Seven Years' Travels in the Region East of Lake Nyassa,” Proceedin s of the Royal Geographical Society, N.S. 6 (1884): 531 43 Ng'ombo, which seems to have had a changing location, will be discussed more fully in the treatment of transit points later in this chapter. One other group of lake Africans exerted influence in commerce. The ivory trade of the Ankonde, Figure 11, who lived at the lake's north-west end, is thought to have begun in the fifteenth century.71 Their empire commanded the trade route to the interior for almost four centuries.72 Although the Portuguese attempted to interfere somewhat in the eighteenth century, their influence was basically peripheral to Malawi. The Africans were mostly in control of their own trade, both by land and water. The same pattern appears to have continued in the first part of the nineteenth century, although Joao de Jesus Maria attempted a major change in 1824. Accom- panied by Caetano Velaquez, son of Lacerda's Sargento Mor (Chief Sargeant), Maria travelled from Quilimane to the Shire, which he followed to the lake. East of the river and along its banks, he annexed territory for the 71Wilson, ”Reflections," p. 143. 72Monica Wilson, "Changes in Social Structure in Southern Africa; the relevance of kinship studies to the historian,” in African Societies in Southern Africa, ed. L- Thompson (New York: 1969), p. 73. 44 Portuguese government.73 Apparently this trip ”was 74 repeated for trade purposes up to 1846." Yet Gamitto said: It is still not known whether the Lake Marave of the geographers, called Nyanja-Mukulu (Rio Grande) by the Blacks, and Rio Nyanja by the Portuguese, has communication with the sea. It seems certain however that it forms a mighty river which has its mouth on the Zanzibar coast, being perhaps the Koavo, which debouches opposite Kilwa. It seems it was visited by the early Portuguese, but I have no information that it has been visited by any European traveller, but only by Moors and Blacks who have gone there from Mozambique to trade. It is difficult to imagine that these two Portu- guese would not have crossed paths somewhere on the Zambezi during the seven years between 1824 and 1831, or at least that Maria's knowledge would not have reached the settle- ment at Tete. Even if they had not met, the fact that ELMutata Kazembe (King Kazembe) was not published until 1854, gave Gamitto another twenty-three years to learn of Maria's travels. In 1858, Maria was still on the Zambezi, for Reis mentioned that he was ill at the time of the Zambezi Expedition's embarkation at the river's mouth.76 73Reis, "The Portuguese in Nyasaland," p. 261. 74J. J. Correia Pereira, "Notas ao Ministerio do Ultramar,” Economista (September 1888) , as cited in Reis, Ibici. 75Gamitto, King Kazembe, pp. 64-65. 76'The Portuguese in Nyasaland," p. 261. 45 Did the Portuguese remember that Lake Malawi and the Shire joined, as Luis Mariano had written in his letter of 1624? It appears that Gamitto and Monteiro did not, though they knew that Portuguese earlier had visited the lake. They were, however, conversant with Lacerda's journey. Yet, Morier, the British Minister in Lisbon in 1878, was certain that the lake I'was as known to the Portuguese in the sixteenth century as it was unknown to them in the nineteenth."77 Senhor Candido Cardosa, the final relevant Portu- guese traveller to the lake, was mentioned earlier in this chapter.78 This writer is fairly certain that the lake he described to the north-north-west of Tete was Lake Bangweolo, Figure 11, since Lake Malawi is not north-north-west but north-north-east of Tete. His other information, as given to Livingstone, is confusing. The inhabitants of the lake's southern coast could not be the Shiva (Cheva), as Cardosa maintained, for they resided between the Zambezi and the Aruangoa (Lowangwa) 79 .rivers. The Yao resided north of Lake Shirwa, Figure 11, and by the 1860s, were migrating from the 77Eric Axelson, Portugal and the Scramble for Afrtica (Johannesburg: 1967), p.’23. 78$ee footnote 12. 79de Lacerda, ”Journey," p. 76. 46 east to the south of Lake Malawi. They did not live north of it, as Cardosa would have it, but rather traded north of it. Cardosa's claim that it took thirty-six hours to cross the lake at a narrow part, which Livingstone figured at two miles an hour, or sixty or seventy miles, can be accepted as true of Lake Malawi. But, that he was "punted the whole way,"80 is completely insupportable. There is no section of this lake which would necessitate punting 'the whole way” in order to cross it in that amount of time. If he did cross a lake, it was not Lake Malawi. While the Portuguese were making their approaches from south of the lake, others were making advances in the east. One of these was Dr. J. Ludwig Krapf, sent by the Church Missionary Society in 1837 to work among the Oromo of Abyssinia. Krapf moved his base of operations to Mombasa in 1844, where he was joined by other mission- aries: J. Rebman in 1846 and J. Erhardt in 1849. In 1850 Erhardt and Krapf hired a dhow to travel south along the East African Coast to Cape Delgado. Their Swahili skipper, a Wamuera born at Kilwa, told them of a caravan journey he had made years before "from Kiloa [Kilwa] to the country of the Wahiau [Yao] , near Lake Niassa [Mkalawi]." He also reported travelling to Keringo and RiENeta: 80David Livingstone, Missionary Travels and 56183 arches in South Africa (New York: 7.858) , p. 685. 47 . . . where the caravan procured slaves and ivory, the latter being brought by the Waniassa from the western side of the lake. The Waniassa construct light but water-tight boats of the bark of trees, in which they cross the lake to buy ivory from the Mawisa-tribes [Bisa]. They make clothes, too, out of the bast of a tree.81 Having left Mombasa on 4 February 1850, Krapf and Erhardt arrived at Kilwa on the afternoon of 19 February. Krapf described the town, with a population of 12-15,000 inhabitants, as the commercial center of the coast. The trade, from Lake Malawi and the land of Nyamwezi around Lake Tanzania, was in "ivory, rice, copal [resin], tobacco, and especially in slaves." Krapf noted that "from ten to twelve thousand slaves are said to pass yearly through Kilwa." The two missionaries heard that the Nyasa and Yao, returning to their homes from the coast, were often caught "at night in a snare," and thus were taken as slaves. Captives were put aboard ship with their hands bound until far out at sea, "lest accustomed as they are at home to swimming in their lake Niassa, they might attempt to escape by plunging .into the sea." Additionally, Krapf pointed out that caravans left for Lake Malawi in March and returned in November. 82 , 81J. Ludwig Krapf, Travels Researches and Mis- 31Onary Labours in Eastern Afri ca (London: 1860f, p. 419, 821bid., pp. 423-24. 48 With their escorts, caravans enjoyed considerable power, going where they pleased and doing what they wished. According to Sir Reginald Coupland, their only danger was from raiding tribes.83 He believed that the 1840 move of Sultan Seyyid Said, from Muscat to Zanzibar, was partly stimulated by the case of trade and represented an expansion of the whole system of inland commerce: . . . far beyond the more or less casual operations in which the Arabs of the coast had been engaged for ages past. More and bigger caravans were organized and they penetrated deeper into the continent. 4 British administrators considered Said a valuable ally. At Muscat in 1822, he had signed the Moresby Treaty, an inadequate anti-slave trade agreement. At Zanzibar in October 1845, foreign powers induced Said to turn the treaty into an absolute ban on the export of slaves from his African territories.85 According to Robinson and Gallagher, “the British Foreign Office expected him to be the Wilberforce of East Africa and lead the fight against the slave trade."86 When Said, 83 Po 357. 84 East Africa and Its Invaders (Oxford: 1956), Ibid., p. 305. 85Great Britain, British and Foreign State Papers 35 (1846): 628-33. 86Ronald Robinson and John Gallagher with Alice Denny, Africa and the Victorians (New York: 1968) , p. 43. 49 by now Sultan of Zanzibar, died in 1856, the British, with the help of a "few marines," supported Majid's suc- When he gained power, London was able to wield cession. considerable influence over the sultanate until Majid's However, his cooperation and Royal Navy 87 death in 1870. anti—slave trade sea-patrols were not enough to prevent an expansion of the east coast slave trade in the sixties, for the slaving dhows easily eluded their pursuers. British activities extended beyond attempts to The English Church Missionary control the slave traffic. Society's members Krapf, Erhardt, and Rebman accomplished eight individual journeys into the interior from Mombasa. In 1856 Rebman and Erhardt collaborated on a map of the interior, adding their own observations to those col- Their map is lected from African and Arab informants. unusual in that its main feature is a vast lake, remi- 88 It appears are niscent of Ptolemy's Central African Lake. of the today where Lakes Victoria, Tanzania, and Malawi The map was published in the Proceedings shown. :Royal Geographical Society in 1856, and a year later Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East 87 Africa (London: 1952), p. 15. 88The original "Slug" Map may be seen in the Map Room of the Royal Geographical Society in London and is IEF>1roduced in facsimile in Krapf's Travels, Researches, It is covered ferry and Missionary Labours in Eastern Africa. copious notes on people, caravan routes, witJEi cros sings, etc. and is exciting to read. 50 government and the Royal Geographical Society commissioned an expedition under the leadership of Major Richard Burton and Captain John Speke to determine the truth about the lakes.89 Though they found Lake Tanzania and reconnoitered Lake Victoria, the two explorers did not "discover" Lake Malawi. While the British approached from the east and the Portuguese from the south, there were other develop- ments around the lake. Swahili slavers came from the northeast around the top of the lake and also across it to Nkhata Bay and Deep Bay, Figure 11. Striking inland they took over the Balowoka trade monopoly.90 As a result, the export of ivory and slaves increased, although import trade in cloth and beads was little affected. One of the slavers was the Arab, Suleiman bin Abdallah, who had been trading at Ujiji on Lake Tanzania. Coming from the north he settled in Maringa's country at a place called Nkotankota (Nkhota Kota), mid-way down the western lake shore, Figure 11. He assumed the titles of .Iumbe and Sultan of Marimba, and the chiefs of the country became his headmen. It is thought that Jumbe arxrived at the lakeside in 1844, according to details cxxllected in 1894 by Major Edwards of the British Central 89Krapf, Travels, Researches and Labours, p. xxvii. 90Vail, "Reinterpreted Tumbuka History," p. 161. I 0': I 51 African (Malawi) Administration.91 George Shepperson also cites the mid-1840s as a probable arrival date.92 W. H. J. Rangeley, however, placed Jumbe's arrival in 1854.93 Dr. James Stewart, the famous Lovedale missionary who visited the third Jumbe in 1878, reported that the first Jumbe came as a trader intending to remain only a few years. Jumbe I died, and it was his successor whom David Livingstone met during his visits from 1859 to 1866. The second, who planned to leave during a famine (probably in 1863), remained at the request of the local chief.94 The Jumbes, once they had established themselves, became an influential power on the lake in the eyes of the Africans and the Europeans until the 1890s. Other Arabs and coastmen came to the lake and settled both on the eastern and western shores. In the west they joined Jumbe at Nkhota Kota; in the east they settled at Chilowelo and later Losewa, as in Figure 11. 91British Central Africa Gazette, 20 August 1894. 92"The Jumbe of Kota Kota and Some Aspects of the Ifistory of Islam in British Central Africa,” in Islam in Egopical Africa, ed. I. Lewis (London: 1966), p. I96. 93"The Jumbe of Kota Kota," [n.d.], Malawi, Society of Malawi, MSS, Rangeley Papers, 2/2/10. 94Reverend Robert Laws and James Stewart C.E., "Report of a Journey along Part of the Western Coast of Lake Nyassa," Journal MSS Central Africa, 1879 (London: RGS Archives, 1878). ‘ 52 Jumbe made certain that the Arabs and Swahilis did not interfere in the government of the country, and he treated them as simple traders.95 Thus, with the coming of the Swahili and Jumbe, the slave trade grew, overland and across the lake. Obviously, by the 18505 Lake Malawi was a scene of extensive commercial activity. Africans and Arabs went around and across it pursuing their trade with the interior and the East African coast. The lake routes they used are interesting and pertinent to the purposes of this study. At the far north end of the lake there is very little evidence of exact routes. The tradition of the Chikulamayembes related that Mlowoka crossed with his followers at Mtawali and proceeded to Nkhamanga to look 96 Judging from the location of Nkhamanga in for ivory. Figure 11, there were several possible transit points from Nkhata Bay north. It seems likely that the water route enabled Mlowoka to continue his trade, but whether this was accomplished by canoe or dhow is not known. However, a word of caution is in order, for the Chiku- lamayembe tradition was written when the British were gslbid. 96Nyirenda, "Tumbuka-Henga People," 6. 53 considering the reestablishment of this lineage, and though well translated, the chronicle could have been a response to the political pressures of the period. Vail also suggests that the Swahili, or those classified as Swahili, crossed the lake at Nkhata Bay.97 It is possible that Mlowoka's and the Swahilis' routes were one and the same, with the traders crossing from Mbampa Bay, Figure 11, which, in 1884, Anglican missionary W. P. Johnson, frequent traveller on and around the lake for over forty years, considered the best harbor. However, crossings were not limited to people travelling to the interior, for Johnson maintained that some Africans crossed from the north-end of the lake to settle at Likoma; tradition supports him.98 .The first two theories necessitate a great deal of oral research along the Malawi and Tanzanian shores before their credibility can be established. A second crossing place existed between the village of Chiteji, a chief on the east side of the lake, Figure 11, and a point on the west labelled Misanji, Figure 11, No. 2-A, on the 1878-79 map of James Stewart, C.E.,99 and Makusi Point on the trader J. B. Cotterill's 97Supra, 24. 98Johnson, "Seven Years' Travels," 513. 99Map, "Route Survey of the Western Side of Lake Nyassa,” James Stewart C.E., 1878-79, London, RGS Map Room, S/ 813. 54 map of 1879.100 Hereafter, it continued to appear as Msanji. There are several islands between the east and west shores at this crossing, Figure 11. South of Msanji other landing places existed, such as the one unnamed, Figure 11, No. 2-B, but appearing in the naval officer, Louis Carr's sketch map of 1879.101 The information supporting this second crossing dates to 1831 and Gamitto's diary, 0 Mutata Kazembe, in which he remarked about this section of the lake: Embarking in canoes to cross it, it is necessary to 'sleep two nights on islands, with which it is sprinkled, before arriving on the third day in the afternoon on the opposite shore: a distance which according to my calculation, must be about nine leagues. It has a strong easterly current. The many islands it contains, . . . are for the most part inhabited, those on the west by the Marave, and those on the east by the Yao or Nguru. This is the story that merchants who have been there generally give. W. P. Johnson also related that others crossed from the west by Likoma and Chisamulu Islands and settled at Kobwe (Chiteji's) and Losewa prior to 1860.103 John- son, witness to later canoe crossings, reported, looMap, "Nyassa," H. B. Cotterill, 1879, London, RGS Map Room, 3/ 517- 101Map, "Western Lake Shore," Louis Carr, 1879, London, RGS Map Room, S9. 102Gamitto, King Kazembe, p. 65. 103Johnson, "Seven Years' Travels," 514. 55 Though the lake is widest at Chiteji's, yet, owing to the proximity of two islands, Lukoma and Chisamulu, . . . there is a regular crossing there; and it impresses one much to see three or four canoes as it were in mid-ocean, whence the hills are on either side barely visible. A long day-and-night paddle may land the adventurers, if there is no storm; I have only heard of one being lost, yet the passage is frequent.104 Johnson's observation and Gamitto's recording of hearsay differ on the time necessary for crossing the lake, but Johnson's Africans did not allow for rest intervals. With an adjustment for stopping at night, the two stories are nearly compatible. Of course, another possible explanation exists in the different routings which may have been followed. The varying winds and currents, characteristic attributes of all sections of the lake, obviously affected crossings: Nkhota Kota would not have been an exception. Chilowelo and Losewa have already been noted as east shore destinations from Nkhota Kota, No. 3, Figure 11. Mluluka, just north of Losewa, and Mtengula, Figure 11, further north, were also trading depots for many east coast traders.105 Prior to Livingstone, how- ever, there is very little information regarding these ports. 104Gamitto, p. 66. 105W. H. J. Rangeley, "The Jumbe of Kota Kota," 2/2/10: P. Cole-King, ”Transport and Communication,” p. 73. 56 Even further south lay the well-known east side port of Ng'ombo: well known, that is, by reputation, but not in terms of its location! Alpers warns that ”most nineteenth century maps located Ng'ombo" in a bay to the southeast, in a different position from modern Cape Ngombo, Figure 11.106 He does not specify his map sources, and a quick perusal of some of the earlier European maps of the lake demonstrates that, in fact, most of them located Ng'ombo at Cape Ngombo near Makan- jira's.107 The Ng'ombo which occasionally appeared to the southeast in these maps is a mountain, Ngome. On the maps of James Stewart, C. E., there is a different phenomenon. Ng'ombo appeared as Cape Ngombo on his ”Route Survey of the Western Side” (1878-79). The section just beyond the Cape was cut off, so that Ng'ombo cannot be identified. In his map of 1883, Ng'ombo did not appear at all.108 The Reverend W. P. Johnson's map of 1884 is probably the most pertinent; he knew the east side of the lake intimately since he continually travelled 106Alpers, "Yao in Malawi," p. 175. 107Map, "Boat Survey," E. D. Young, 1876, London, RGS Map Room S/ 814: Map,"Nyassa," H. B. Cotterill, 1879, London, RGS Map Room S/ 817; Map, "Western Lake Shore,” Louis Carr, 1879, London, RGS Map Room, S9. 108Map, ”Route Survey," James Stewart C. E., 1878- 79, London, RGS Map Room S/ 813 and James Stewart C. E., “Lake Nyassa,” PRGS, N. S., 5 (1883), insert. 57 with the inhabitants, both by land and water, in that part of the country. However, since the map was pub- lished as "Compiled from the Documents of the Rev. W. P. Johnson,“ it is difficult to determine whether or not he actually participated in its make-up. This writer believes he did, as he made a presentation to the Royal Geographi- cal Society in London during his 1884 home-leave, and he used the map. Thus, it appears that the map is valid; it shows Ngombo Point in the same place as the others. although it sites Ngombe much further down the southeast side and draws a line across to Sekole, which Johnson identified as a continual crossing for canoes, No. 4 Figure 11.109 This writer finds Johnson's information most acceptable because of his extensive travels and his many African contacts. The Reverend J. Erhardt, in his detailed manuscript explanation of the "Slug" map (an 1856 map which supported the idea of one huge East African lake), also spoke of Gnombo (Ngombo). Its west coast connection was Zenga (Senga Bay), Figure 11: The breadth of the sea is at this place such, that the slave dealers can inform the Waniasa on the western shore of their arrival, by firing five or six muskets after sunset. When the Wind blows from eastern quarters, they are sure to hear it and to come over, provided, the sea is not too rough. . . . The Coast traders never venture over this 109 Johnson, "Seven Years' Travels," 513 and map facing 550. 58 "fierce sea” but wait patiently on the eastern shore among the Wahiao and Wadama, till the Waniasa bring over their slaves. But for unfair days, the most venture-some of the Wanianda [Nyasa] boatmen have often to be waited for, as the waves go frequently so high, that they find it impossible to set out.1 0 Most probably there were several ferries in the south, some running from Cape Ngombo (Ng'ombo) to the Senga Bay area, No. 5 Figure 11, and one from Ngombe to Sekole. More intensive field research should clarify the theories regarding these routes, and it is imperative that such oral research be done before time further diminishes the likelihood of its credibility. What is definite as of the 1800s is that both land and water routes did exist. The majority of them were east-west routes connecting the interior and the coast, and most were completely under African control. Some routes ran south from the early Maravi by land to Tete and via the Shire from Lundu's court to Sena. In addi- tion, Cole-King mentions a few river crossings above and below the Murchison Cataracts.111 Cartographically and historically speaking, Lake Malawi's existence had been definitely determined by the 1850s. It did not sit there like a jewel awaiting 110Reverend James Erhardt, London, RGS Archives Journal MS East Africa, 1855, Reports Respecting Central Africa. 111Cole-King, "Transport and Communication," p. 73. 59 European "discovery." When the Zambezi Expedition arrived on its shores, trading activity had existed for centuries. Livingstone's "commerce and Christianity" would bring only slow change to the established trade and transport grid. The African and Swahili routes which ran primarily east and west across the lake, accompanied by a small north-south coasting trade, would co-exist for the next thirty-five years with European commercial and missionary patterns which developed from north to south. As the Europeans became economically dominant, they would draw the African trade toward the lake and away from the East Coast. During this period several varieties of craft would transport the lakeside dwellers and their goods, and it is with these vessels and their accompanying technologies that Chapter II is concerned. So we beat, and she lay up to the wind's eye beautifully. That big oiled dhow sailed better than a yacht. She ghosted with the flap of her graceful sails. With the wind behind us that great dhow winged out her lateen sail, lifted her sharp outwater, and sang along in a smiling sea with a wake like a knife's edge. Upright and graceful, she ran . . . her glorious great sail perfect in these most marvelous conditions, swollen with the speed-giving wind, . . . Alan Villiers, Oceans of the World Man's Conquest of the Sea (London: 1963), PP. 35-36. Nearly all the great rivers have shallows, rapids, whirlpools and strong currents in many places and were of little use in the days of sail and oar or paddle. The 10 know steamer, thoroughly manoeuvrable, drawing as little as 12 in. of water, burning wood and not fussy about its feed-water, opened up the great rivers of four continents. Philip Banbury, Shipbuilders of the Thames and Midway (Devon: I PP. - o 60 CHAPTER II THE CHANGING TECHNOLOGY OF WATER TRANSPORT ON MALAWI WATERWAYS The second half of the nineteenth century, a period of rapid industrial development, witnessed the spread of steam power in its many forms. Steam transport facilitated communications between continents and even affected the lives of people in the African interior, particularly those who lived adjacent to rivers and lakes. Dos Santos, the Dominican who lived at Sena on the Zambezi in the latter years of the sixteenth century, noted that the Shire was navigated by the "Kaffirs and residents of Sena who carry on commerce from one port to another."1 However, the earliest mention of the actual transport vehicle is found in Mariano's letter of 1624, where ”cotchi," or canoes appeared. His informants, who had seen the lake, led him to relate that ”many boats 1Joao dos Santos, Ethiopia Orientale, as quoted in English translation in Records ofggutfi East Africa, by George McCall Theal, vol. 7 (Cape Town: I901), p. 268. 61 62 suitable for navigation” existed.2 In 1831 Gamitto spoke of craft used for crossing rivers: Some consist of the bark of great trees sown together with rope, the holes for passing the rope through being sealed with clay. Others are made from a single piece of wood; this they hollow out with fire, controlling it with wet earth, and they finish off with small delicately made axes. Although in 1835, a Yao slave, Nasib, visiting London with his Omani Arab master, claimed, "The lake is navi- gated in canoes made of the bark of trees sewn together, and large enough to hold 20 persons,"4 it is highly unlikely that bark canoes were in use on a lake so stormy and with such powerful winds as Lake Malawi. What is possible is that Nasib may have seen riverine Africans using bark canoes on Lake Malombe, a shallow placid lake formed on the Shire just below Lake Malawi or on the salt lake, Shirwa. In 1837 Cooley related more of Nasib's information in reply to a query regarding Bolleart's proposed plan of exploration of the East African coast: 2J. Brucker, "Déscouvertes des Grands Lacs de L'Afrique Centrale et des Sources de Nil et du Zaire ae Seiziéme Siecle," Etudes Religieuses, 7, Series 6 (1878): 403. 3A. C. P. Gamitto, King Kazembe and the Marave, Cheve, Bisa, Bemba, Lunda and other peoples of Southern Africa being the diary of the Portuguese expedition to that potentate ififithe years 1831 and 1832, vol. 1, trans. $35 Cunnison (Lisboa: ’1960), p. 64. 4W. D. Cooley, "The Geography of N'yassi," Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 15 (1845): 199. 63 The boats on the lake are made of bark or to use the expression of my informant, of skins of trees. They have no sails, a circumstance much to be regretted, since it is said to be a two months' voyage wigh paddles to the further extremity of the lake. Cooley's informant, like those of Gamitto, appeared to have incorporated information about other lakes, for Cooley continued with information about Kazembe's town on the west bank, surely a reference to Lake Bangweolo. It will be remembered that the Swahili skipper for Krapf's voyage down the East African coast also spoke of ”boats of the bark of trees, in which they [Waniassa] cross the lake to buy ivory from the Mawisa-tribes [Bisa]." Significantly, he noted that the inhabitants' clothes were made out of the bast of trees, which was indeed true of Lake Malawi's peoples but probably of other Africans as well.6 This writer assumes that the dhow captain would be familiar with the materials of ship construction and be able to differentiate between bark and wood, and therefore wonders if he actually reached Malawi. Perhaps one of the East African lakes was navi- gable by bark canoe, but W. P. Johnson, Universities' missionary and stroke for his Oxford rowing team, said 5W. D. Cooley to William Bollaert, 1837, London, Royal Geographical Society Archives, Journal MSS Central Africa. 6J. Ludwig Krapf, Travels, Researches and Mis- sionary Labours in Eastern Africa (Lond6n: 1860), p. 419. 64 of Malawi, ”Canoes coarsely made of bark, like coracles hide boats of the ancient Briton, are used on the rivers, 7 Johnson viewed the canoes as but never on the lake.” “very poor and primitive vessels, mere dug-outs,"8 even though he used them to travel and proselytize along the eastern lake coast prior to the arrival of the first Uni- versities' Mission steamer, the CHARLES JANSON. The tra— ditions of the Chikulamayembes and nineteenth century inhabitants of Likoma, Kobwe, and Losewa indicate the practicality of the canoes, as does the use of canoes for medical rounds in the early 1900s by Dr. Hugh Stannus Stannus, Figure 12. In 1861 David Livingstone noted dug-outs making lake transits and estimated their speed at three miles per hour.9 At the same time Dr. Kirk's diary informs the reader that: Two canoes full of goods and of people have set out to cross the Lake. Those paddling stand up. . . . They make the canoe go on at a great rate and the swell today makes no difference to them.10 7Johnson, Nyasa The Great Water (London: 1922), p. 58. 8 Ibid., p. 57. 9Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries I858-64 (London: 1865), p. 198. 10 Reginald Foskett, ed., The Zambezi Journal and Letters of Dr. John Kirk 1858-63, voI. 2 (Edifiburgh: I965) , p. 373T 65 Fig. 12. Hugh Stannus Stannus on medical rounds in Lake Malawi canoe (Oxford, Rhodes House, MS Afr. s. 478, copyright Rhodes House). 66 Further impressed by the "fleets of fine canoes" he saw engaged in the fisheries, Livingstone wrote of the men with long paddles who . . . stand erect while using them. They even some- times venture out when a considerable sea is running. The first impression one receives of Lake Nyassa men is, that they . . . are troubled with downright lazi- ness . . . but, on a little better acquaintance, the first impression is modified . . . it is found that these forenoon sleepers have been hard at work the greater part of the night.11 W. P. Johnson believed the strenuous paddle across the lake to be "the natural outcome of the long nights and days of fishing, and the shorter runs to Chisamulu and back." He discussed at length the canoe life on the eastern side of the lake and its importance in the trade for hoes, fowls, and salt made from tree ash.12 Boys look forward to be given the bow paddle, and their only regard is to see the other side of the Lake. I have heard a boy taunt another, "You paddled across, and then were so afraid that you sat in the canoe while the others went up into the villages." These canoe-men, like those at the Pasekole [Sekole] ferry and those on the dhows at Losewa, are a class nourished by their position.13 Mastering the trip across the lake was obviously a proof of manhood. 11Narrative, pp. 374—75. 12"Seven Years' Travels in the Region East of Lake Nyassa,” PRGS, N.S. 6 (1884): $14-15. 13Ibid., 514. 67 Abundant evidence exists to prove the seaworthiness of the lake canoes and the skill of the men who paddled them. Edward Young, a Royal Navy gunner responsible for placing the first steamer on the lake, assessed the reasons for the canoes' unusual strengths: But the Nyassa canoes have this peculiarity about them, that the gunwales are inverted, so that the paddlers have only a narrow slit down the centre of the canoe in which to sit. If a piece of bark is stripped off a tree from its whole circumference, and dried in the sun, it will probably assume the shape of which I speak; the two edges will curl in along the centre. Built in this way they are exceedingly buoyant and tolerably seaworthy, a very marked exception to the ordinary run of river canoes, which are brought to a standstill if there is only a good ripple on the surface; for they have no more life in them in a sea-way than a garden- roller, and go down like stones as soon as they ship any water. An engineer has pointed out to this writer that the outer wood of a tree is dry while the inner, or living Cambrium layer, is wet. After cutting, the latter shrinks, producing a tension and therefore a characteristic curl. He emphasizes that the curvature has unusual strength, 15 like corrugated sheet steel. The Lake Malawi Museum's canoe-exhibit further illustrates that the steeply 14E. D. Young, N assa: A Journal of Adventures (London: 1877), pp. 121-22. This writer can attest to the buoyancy and seaworthiness of the Malawian canoes. In 1965 she had the opportunity, in company with another Peace Corps Volunteer, to take a fisherman's canoe out on the lake at Nkata Bay. 15Ralph Hooker, Communication to the author, May 29, 1976, East Lansing, Michigan. 68 incurved sides ”give stability and a well made canoe can roll through almost 90° without taking in water.” Paddles, usually of wood, have a pointed tip which ”saves the blade from being damaged when striking submerged rocks along the 16 shore." (The appearance is not unlike that of a giant two—pronged salad Serving fork.) Canoes were often constructed some distance from the lake, either because the trees at the shore were unacceptable or perhaps because of a need to maintain ritual purity. Johnson described the process: Up in the hills suitable trees are cut down and roughly hollowed out and shaped by the villagers, who take turns at it, two and two. After about six weeks preparation the canoe, still in a rough state, is ready to be pulled down to the Lake, which may be fifteen miles away. Forty men may come to pull it down, for the neighbors of the man for whom it has been made will come and help, hoping to borrow the canoe later on and cheered by the prospect of beer. When it nears the Lake the women go out to meet it; they greet the men with very bad language, and the men reply in a similar strain. This vile abuse over the new canoe seems to be a custom among all the tribes, and I have heard it in many places, from near the north end of the Lake to just above the Murchison Cataracts on the river Chiri [Shire]. I do not know its origin, and it is the more curious because ordinarily the use of bad language is regarded as a heinous offence. After the canoe has been got down to the Lake, the owner regales all who have helped him with a feast of beer, served in several huts. The larger canoes will carry fifteen men. . . . The smaller canoes will only carry two or three men.17 16Malawi, Lake Malawi Museum, Fort Johnston, Exhibit 'Lakeshore Scene," June 1974. , 17Johnson, Nyasa The Great Water, pp. 57-58. 69 While the writer was researching this study in the Malawi Archives, a canoe was built just off the main street of Zomba. The same ”burning out" and hatchet techniques described by Gamitto in 1831 were employed in 1974. This particular canoe was a long way from the water and, as it progressed, more and more people were attracted to the scene in obvious anticipation of the job's termination. For information on the ceremonies surrounding the making and launching of a canoe, one should first heed Tindall's note regarding smiths, who, he says, "were often a privileged group, . . . the secrets of their art were jealously guarded from women's eyes."18 So it was with most men's work among the Tumbuka, Cewa (Maravi), and certainly among other clans as well. Ernst Hansen, Malawi's Surveyor of Ships, relates that men building canoes might not see or sleep with their wives.19 Father Matthew Schoffeleers, anthropolo- gist, points out that sexual taboos are connected with any difficult undertaking. Dr. Schoffeleers stresses that the man must remain ”cool” or ritually pure. If he sleeps with his wife or has illicit relationships he 18P. E. N. Tindall, A History of Central Africa (London: 1968), p. 74. lglnterview, June 28, 1974, Malawi. 70 becomes ”hot" or ritually impure, and thus sets the canoe on a course of disaster. Since contact with the water transmits the malaise, the tragedy will occur after the launching.20 The so-called ”Obscenities" which accompany the canoe launching are a form of "vituperative behavior." Launching compares with the birth of a child, the act being tantamount to the child slipping from between the woman's legs.21 The accusations recall the experience of birth and place blame upon the male. Not only do the words signify contempt and insult, they are also expres- sions of joy. According to Kurt Vestrheim, retired Malawi ship master, the introduction of organized European religion to the lake undoubtedly placed the words into the obscene category!22 Canoes must have been on the waterways of Malawi for hundreds of years before the Europeans observed them. From the available evidence it appears that the Africans did not fear the terrible lake storms. Not only did they pass up and down the coasts of the lake bartering salt, 20Memo of conversation, June 6, 1974, Malawi. 21Ibid., June 7, 1974; David Eccles, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Memo of conversation, July 14, 1974, Malawi. 22Memo of conversation, July 14, 1974, Malawi. 71 cassava, and hoes in exchange for fowls and goats,23 they also migrated and maintained trade contacts across the body of water. Certainly, commercial intercourse existed among the people of the Zambezi and Shire Rivers, as Portuguese sources have shown. Astute missionaries and later travelers frequently heard the refrain chanted by paddlers on both rivers, ”Sina mama, sina baba . . . ," meaning "Without mother, without father, thou are our Mother, Mary."24 Sung by canoe paddlers on both rivers, the song, a remnant of a hymn taught by the Jesuits three hundred years earlier when they had maintained a mission in the interior near the Zambezi-Shire confluence, was sung by canoe paddlers on both rivers.25 Later travelers described the canoe songs on the Shire-Zambezi as more rhythmic and melodious than those which they had heard in other parts of Africa.26 23Johnson, "Seven Years' Travels," 515. 24Duff Macdonald, The Heart of Heathgn Africa, vol. 2 (London: 1882), p. 50; Robert Laws, Reminiscences of Livingstonia (Edinburgh: 1934), p. 30. 25Ella Kidney, "Songs from the Heart of Africa," Outward Bound, September 1921, p. 74; "Jottings from Nyasaland," Central Africa 7 (March 1889): 38. 26Jessie M. Currie, With Pole & Paddle Down the Shire & Zambesi (London: 1918), p. 125; Mrs. Arthur Colville, 1,000 Miles in a Machilla (London: 1911), p. 11. 72 But canoes were not the only mode of water trans- port. The Arab dhow was also seen on the lake, although its first appearance is extremely difficult to date. Cullen's translation of Nyirenda suggests that the first dhow, transporting Mlowoka, arrived on the west coast of the lake in the late eighteenth century.27 However, the supporting evidence appeared at a period politically convenient to the Chikulamayembe line, as the British were considering their re-establishment as a ruling lineage. Arrival by dhow would have been much more prestigious than by canoe, demonstrating, as it did, advanced technology. Vail, discussing “Lake Shore embarkation points," implies that dhows were used for trade purposes on the lake, and since Mlowoka's empire "was less a state than a trade route for ivory," it is entirely possible that a dhow was available to carry his goods across the lake.28 While considering these theories, however, one must also be cognizant of Cooley's 1837 Yao informant, Nasib, who appears not to have seen dhows on the lake. Presumably he would have noted boats which did 27Saulos Nyirenda, "History of the Tumbuka-Henga People," trans. Reverend T. Cullen Young in African Studies 5 (1931): 6. 28H. Leroy Vail, "Suggestions Towards a Rein- terpreted Tumbuka History,” in The Earl Histor of Malawi, ed. Bridglal Pachai (London: 1972), p. 156. 73 have sails, had there been any.29 Since, however, Nasib could not possibly have seen everythingf-he was afoot beside a lake 365 miles long--he might easily have missed a ”winged dhow.” Further information concerning the lake dhows comes from the Zambezi Expedition, which approached Lake Malawi from the south in the autumn of 1859. Dr. Kirk was informed of persons ahead who knew how to write. "People speak of white men who do not eat pork or potamus [gig], boats, with sails, have houses 2 days off [gig]." But other than seeing the lake to satisfy themselves of its existence, taking some observations, and talking briefly with a ”band of 'Sua Heli' [Swahili]" traders from the sea coast, the Zambezi party did not pursue the intelligence about the Arabs and their dhows. Yet in 1859 dhows already must have been carrying on a lively trade, for Africans offered to sell slaves to the party, marking no difference between them and the Arabs, whom they considered white. An additional proof of commerce exists in the delivery of Kazembe's copper to the lake- shore for trade.30 It was 1861, during his second visit to the lake, before Livingstone noted the slave trade "going on at a 29Cooley to Bollaert. 3oFoskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, pp. 255-57; W. H. J. Rangeley, ‘Exploration and Develop— ment of Lake Nyasa," [n.d.], Malawi, Society of Malawi, 4/6. 74 terrible rate. Two enterprising Arabs had built a dhow, and were running her, crowded with slaves, regularly across the Lake."31 Livingstone implied that the first dhow had just been built, but Africans had told Kirk two years before that boats with sails were already on the lake, and the 1859 date therefore seems credible. Liv- ingstone noted that the dhow's port was at Losewa in the latitude of Ibo, the Portuguese slave exporting center on the sea coast.32 After the recall of the Zambezi Expedition in 1863, but prior to departing the Shire, Livingstone made one last tramp to the lake. At Jumbe's (Juma ben Saidi's) lake port he actually observed a dhow under construction. A replacement for a wreck, the boat was 50 ft. in length, 12 ft. broad, and 5 ft. deep, and was fashioned of a teak- like wood, Timbati, and a closer grained wood, Msoro.33 Another observer, W. P. Johnson, said the first dhow appeared sometime in the early 18603. "A coastman, named Palamula, came to Losefa [Losewa] and built a dhow: the first vessel larger than a canoe that was seen on the 31Narrative, p. 390; P. Cole-King, "Transport and Communication,‘I 76, attributes the event to the year 1859, but he is mistaken. The party did not travel to Jumbe's in 1859, nor did Livingstone make this remark until 1861. 321bid. 33Narrative, pp. 511-12. 75 Lake and the beginning of a means of communication which affected the lake coast profoundly."34 Kirk's information, obtained in 1861, also corroborates the idea that dhow building on the east side of the lake began when the Arabs crossed to trade in the west.35 W. P. Rangeley identified Chilowelo, Figure 12, as Jumbe's chief east side port, noting that Losewa ”was a subsidiary port not under the control of Jumbe"; thus it appears possible that at least two dhow building ports existed on either side of the lake in the 18603, if not earlier.36 Whether dhows were on the lake at the end of the eighteenth century as maintained by the Chikulamayembe tradition remains a matter for speculation. When the dhow did arrive, it caused a minor trans- portation revolution. No longer was man dependent on his own exertions to navigate. Sails, a technical advantage, gave dhows the power to go further and faster than any vessels had before, and the craft were capable of carrying eighty persons, where a war canoe might comfortably hold only fifteen to twenty. Cargo holds gave dhows a decided 34Nyasa The Great Water, p. 107. 35Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, p. 376. 36"The Jumbes of Kota Kota," [n.d.], Malawi, Society of Malawi, 2/2/10. 76 advantage over canoes and enlarged the prospects for the slave trade across Lake Malawi from at least 1859 until the launching of the gunboats in 1893. The dhows not only carried slaves and ivory, they also provided the means for an east-west ferry service to serve the lake people (a service which is still intact today, though the Ministry of Transport does not consider it a safe method of travel).37 On the eastern coast of the lake, where the country is mountainous and the narrow littoral cut by numerous streams, African dhows carried the necessities of life, particularly salt, to the lakeshore inhabitants.38 However, as helpful as dhows were, there were very few on the lake. The problem with dhow construction was that it took an expertise not readily available in the lake area. Probably the first builders came from the sea coast where dhows had carried on regular coastal trading for hundreds of years. The fundi, or expert, supervised the work, as the process was somewhat compli- cated. The major task in dhow building is bending the planks to the shape of the hull. E. B. S. Leakey described the operation as follows: 37Ernst Hansen, Interview, June 28, 1974, Malawi. 38"Seven Years' Travels,“ 514. 77 A vice is made by means of three uprights in the ground, block and tackle. Two planks which are to be opposite numbers in the ship are placed narrow side up between the uprights and are strained away from each other. The planks are first soaked in shark oil and gently heated by a charcoal fire. By dint of bending the planks simultaneously sym- metry is ensured. 9 Though this appears to be today's method on the East African coast, Dr. Robert Laws, missionary and frequent visitor at Jumbe's in the later 18708, was interested to find: . . . that in order to twist planks into shape on the bow and stern of the dhow, they steamed them by digging a trench in the ground, putting straw into it, then the plank, and straw above that again. This was all drenched with water and covered up with earth, then fires were kindled along it until the plank was thoroughly steamed and they were able to twist it into the desired stage.40 Today the bending process is even simpler; Kurt Vestrheim, an observer of dhow construction on the lake, says the plank is first soaked in water then held over glowing coals and bent into the desired shape.41 With regard to building materials, Laws noted that the wood was similar to teak and did not warp in the sun.42 O 39E. B. S. Leakey, "Notes on Dhow 'Making,'" as quoted in P. H. Johnston, "Some Aspects of Dhow Building," Tanganyika Notes and Records, no. 27 (June 1949): 50. 40Reminiscences of Livingstonia, pp. 39-40. 41Memo of conversation, July 14, 1974, Malawi. 42Reminiscences of Livingstonia, p. 39. 78 Today on Lake Malawi, planks, decking, and dhow frame are usually constructed of Mlombwa, a hard and strong wood. The planks overlap causing numerous gaps. These are filled with ”thonje” a kapok substance which swells on contact with water and is often held in place by resin. The mast and booms are fashioned of Temsa, a local wood chosen for its strength and resiliency.43 A modern day dhow observer, Talbot, believes that the dhow is a "crude and unreliable" craft, though never- theless graceful on the lake (see Fig. 13). "Navigation is largely based on visible landmarks so that night sail- ing is impossible unless there is a clear sky and bright moonlight."44 Crude and unreliable though the craft may have been, David Livingstone saw the dhow through very dif- ferent eyes in 1863. The Zambezi Expedition had just received its recall from the Foreign Office, but the Shire was too low to permit steamer navigation to the ocean. Livingstone made a last return to the lake and was guest at Nkhota Kota, where he watched a dhow being constructed. The sight of this dhow gave us a hint which, had we previously received it, would have prevented our attempting to carry a vessel of iron past the 43W. D. Talbot, "Some Notes on the Dhows of Fort Johnston District," Ng_15 (July 1962): 27. 44Ibid., 28. 79 Fig. 13. Dhows on Lake Malawi, 1900 (Blantyre- Limbe, Society of Malawi, S. G. Williams Album). 80 Cataracts. . . . With a few native carpenters a good vessel could be built on the Lake nearly as quickly as one could be carried past the Cataracts, and at a vastly less cost. Juma said that no money would induce him to part with his dhow.45 Had Livingstone come to this conclusion in 1861, when he first saw an Arab dhow on Lake Malawi, or in 1859, when he first heard of one on the lake, the Zambezi Expedition might have fulfilled his dreams. But Livingstone was a Scot, born near the Clyde, and born when Scottish shipping was growing and developing. His very heritage was tied to the concept of river boats and steam; his mind did not see beyond the steamer until it was too late. How different it was in 1875, for Edward Young. In navigating Lake Malawi in the first steamer to ply the waters of any African lake, Young came alongside a dhow: The craft was badly built, of about fifteen tons burden, and with a large open hold for slaves. What has been done in shipbuilding by these men and their rough appliances surely can be done again; and I hope the time is coming when many small vessels will be engaged in lawful trade, built By the hands of our own countrymen on the spot.4 How ironic that this thought should have occurred in 1875, the first year that steam was used on the lake. Steam had the advantage of rendering ships independent of winds and tides, thus enabling them to adhere to schedules and 4SLivingstone, Narrative, pp. 511-12. 46Young, Nyassa; A Journal of Adventures, p. 72. 81 reduce uncertainties to the minimum. It was this inde- pendence and reliability which led to the demand for a steamer on the lake. Beginning with Livingstone, the constant and insistent plea from the 1860s onward was for a small armed steamer, properly manned, to staunch the flow of slaves across the lake and to guarantee safety for the envoys of "commerce and Christianity." In fact, however, missionary steamers long pre- ceded gunboats. The ILALA, the missionary launch which arrived in 1875, was the product of a hundred years of technological innovation on two separate continents, which set the stage. Steam technology could aid man's dreams of exploration and further the purposes of Vic- torian missionary zeal in far off lands. The next con- cern was to adapt the technology to those new lands. In terms of the African continent in general, and Lake Malawi and its Zambezi-Shire river approach in particular, the physical aspects of the country were important considerations in the adaptation of steamer technology. Of prime consideration were river cataracts. The Cabora Bassa Cataracts were an obstacle to the Zam- bezi Expedition's explorations up that river in 1859, and in 1864, the Shire's Murchison Cataracts had foiled attempts to put a steamer on Lake Malawi. Cataracts dic- tated the weight of craft which could reasonably be expected to be placed on Lake Malawi since everything 82 had to be portaged some thirty miles from the Lower to the Upper Shire. This fact prompted Alfred Yarrow, builder of the first steamer on an African lake, to con- struct the ILALA of "mild steel," rather than of iron, making her one of the first boats of this kind. ”Mild steel," strong, lightweight, and similar to the modern structural variety was a new phenomenon in mid-nineteenth century England, its practicality for hull construction only recently recognized. The steel's structural strength allowed the ILALA's hull plates to be fashioned from 1/16 in. thick metal.47 “Mild steel" also enabled Yarrow to comply with the stipulation of the ILALA contract that "no single piece should exceed 50 lb. in weight," thus making pos- sible the necessary porterage.48 The origin of the porterage idea was undoubtedly David Livingstone's, for in a November 1859 letter to Lord John Russell at the Foreign Office, he suggested a steamer for Lake Malawi 47John Stephen to Reverend J. G. Whitehouse, March 10, 1880, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7872, FCSP; Reverend Horace Waller, The Title-Deeds to Nyassa-land (London: 1887), p. 15. 48There are contradictions in figures concerning ILALA's weight. "Particulars of Vessels Built by Yarrow and Co. Ld” (unpublished orderbook) Job 330 'Ilala" 1875, Yarrow and Company, Ltd. Clydebank, Glasgow (which is the Job book for the early Yarrow shipyard) says the pieces were 100 lbs. in weight, but Robert Laws, Reminiscences of Livin stonia (Edinburgh: 1934), p. 13, who was the head’ of the 1875 mission which put the ILALA on Lake Malawi says the headloads were between 50 and 100 lbs., with each bulkhead weighing 300 lbs. 83 ”capable of being unscrewed into pieces of 300 lbs. or 400 lbs. each.” He thought carriage around the cataracts could be accomplished by "two strong Scotch carts drawn by mules."49 During the 1867 Search Expedition for Livingstone, Edward Young, Livingstone's steamer commander for the last two years of the Zambezi Expedition, successfully transported a steel boat around the cataracts. His accomplishment led the Nyassa Mission Party of 1875 to select Young as their expedition leader and to make him responsible for the ILALA. Though somewhat romanticized, Young's language depicts the tremendous problems of the 800 carriers who transported the ILALA: When I state to you that the carriage of these steel plates and burdens, averaging 50 lbs. weight apiece necessitated some of the most tremendous exertion I ever witnessed, when one remembers that these faithful fellows staggered amongst rocks and stones, up hill and down hill, in shut-in gorges where the heat ran up to 120° in the shade; when one thinks of the heavy boiler and what it took to transport it, I think you will admit that the men who did this four days' work for six yards of calico a piece (say ls. 6d.), finding their own food too without a grumble or a growl from first to last, are not to be despised. 0 Clearly the Murchison Cataracts dictated the weight allowances of steamers which had to be carried around 49J. P. R. Wallis, ed., The Zambezi Expedition of David Livingstone 1858-1863, vol. 2 (London: 1956), p. 343. 50E. D. Young, ”On a Recent Sojourn at Lake Nyassa, Central Africa," PRGS 21 (February 1877): 225. 84 them, and this problem was still very real in 1898, when the 130 ft. long gunboat, GUENDOLEN, was delivered to the lake.51 In 1901 the carriage of the missionary steamer CHAUNCY MAPLES' boiler presented similar problems, Figure 14. Moreover, the cataracts affected the method of construction and delivery. When inland waters have no navigable outlets to the sea and ships delivered must be rebuilt at their launching sites without benefit of skilled labor, the process is termed "piece-small" construction and delivery. The vessels are designed in detail, then fabricated in worked plates and bars. They are "bolt assembled" for trials, marked carefully to ensure correct re-assembly (portside plates and bars being red, and starboard green), and dismantled and packaged in bundles for delivery. The ILALA was one of the earliest examples of ”piece-small” delivery, Figure 15. She was "bolt-assembled" in London for trial on the Thames, dismantled and sent packaged to the mouth of the Zambezi where she was reconstructed, sailed up the Zambezi-Shire to the Murchison Cataracts where she was disassembled and carried around the cata- racts and once more "bolt assembled," not riveted, for 51Edward J. Reed, "On Vessels Constructed for Service in Our Colonies and Protectorates,” Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (1906), p. 124. .. .1” ..El .1. . 85 Fig. 14. Carriage of the MAPLES boiler around the Shire Cataracts (London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Universities' Mission Papers, copyright USPG). 86 Fig. 15. ILALA on the Thames (Glasgow, Yarrow & Co. Ltd. , copyright Yarrow Ltd.) . ~..U . ‘Ih 1!.1 ‘v d ..\\‘.u \Iu 87 52 service on the lake. Her thin plates and method of assemblage were an advantage, for when her hull was damaged, a new plate could easily be refitted, and she appears still to have been on the lake in 1908.53- But if thin plates eased the carriage and repair of a vessel, they were susceptible to corrosion and wear. While thin plates permitted reduced weight, they also reduced the durability of the vessel. Livingstone, utterly disillusioned with the MA ROBERT, his first vessel on the Zambezi Expedition, complained about the disadvantages to the Earl of Malmesbury: The launch, only one sixteenth of an inch thick in the bottom at the beginning, is now worn as thin as an old copper kettle and many holes are made in it which we stop by the novel mode of puddling with about a foot of clay. If she carries us again up the Shire and floats long enough for us to examine Nyinyesi and return to Tette, we shall have taken all the good out of her possible.54 52Sir Eric Yarrow, "Construction and Delivery of Ships Built for Overseas Inland Waterways," Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (1962), PP- ' 53Ibid., p. 505; Eleanor C. Barnes (Lady Yarrow), Alfred Yarrow His Life and Work (London: 1924), pp. 67-68. Lady Yarrow quotes a letter from John Rennie, a ship- builder who visited Lake Malawi in 1908 and sketched the ILALA, but there are some indications that the ILALA was dismantled and sent to Chinde in 1903. 54Wallis, ed., Zambezi Expeditipn ofPavid Liv- in stone, vol. 1, pp. 324-25; see also David Livingstone to Thomas Maclear, July 31, 1859, Rhodesia, National Archives of Rhodesia, LI l/l/l. 88 Livingstone blamed the MA ROBERT's misfortune on poor con- struction materials, but Fred Moir's experience with the second LADY NYASSA in the late 18703 indicates a better understanding of the situation: Mysterious deterioration of the steel hull caused by the brackish water added to the difficulties and worries of those in charge . . . in shallow river service the paint was quickly worn off. Within three months of the launch, small, clean, round holes, like the prick of an ordinary pin, made their appearance in the steel and, gradually enlarging called for constant watchfulness and frequent repairs. Vero Bosazza, in his unpublished study of Livingstone as pilot and navigator, concurs on the destructive powers of the Zambezi waters.56 While external corrosion occurred, wear was also caused by items carried inside the steamer catching in the vessel's seams, as in the case of the MA ROBERT. Corrosion, an early consideration for river steamers, did not affect vessels navigating the purer waters of Lake Malawi, and when the Universities' Mission steamer CHAUNCY MAPLES was galvanized by mistake in 1900, the missionaries were unhappy at the needless 55Fred Moir, After Livingstone: An African Trade Romance (London: [1924]), p. I9. 56Foskett, ed., Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, p. 271; "David Livingstone,Pilot and Navigator," portions of an unpublished MS in possession of the RGS, London (1973). The parts of this manuscript I have seen are an excellent study of Livingstone's ability as ship- mmster, and one may hope that the book of which they are a part will soon be published. 89 expense. Nevertheless, the CHAUNCY MAPLES, recently renovated, runs as a tourist ship on the lake today. Ernst Hansen, Malawi's Surveyor of Ships, attests to the fact that he discovered absolutely no rust, inside or out, when the steamer was stripped for repainting.57 A third environmental condition which influenced technological adaptation was Africa's seasonal fluctu- ations. During the rainy season the rivers were high and steamer draft was not a problem; during the dry season the decreasing depth of the rivers resulted in navigational difficulties brought on by sandbanks and channels. Kirk noted this situation in December 1860, shortly before the MA ROBERT sank: I think our vessel will draw about 2 feet now and although we have tolerably practised eyes for the water of this river, after 3 years constant ser- vice, . . . yet that does not help us through without having the anchor out often to draw her over . . . the great fact is the river is too shoal during 6 months of the year . . . a vessel to trade during 9 months of the year should not draw more than 18 inches, unlegs she is indif- ferent to being on sand banks. 8 A third steamer, delivered to the Expedition by H.M.S. GORGON in 1862, experienced the same difficulties as the MA ROBERT and caused the GORGON's assistant paymaster Devereaux to hazard a suggestion, 5.7Interview, June 28, 1974, Malawi. 58Foskett, ed., Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, pp. 310-11. 90 I think we ought to take a hint in this matter from the Americans, they must know better than we. One of their stern wheelers, drawing a few inches, with house on deck, is just the vessel we want. More- over, they cost about half as much as vessels of the PIONEER class [Livingstone's second steamer drawing 7 ft.]; how much more efficient they would be. The steamers which Devereaux preferred were those of the western rivers of the United States, shallow draft vessels built to carry huge amounts of cargo while displacing so little water they could avoid river impediments such as sandbanks. Yet while shallow draft was necessary for river navigability or a steamer could never reach the lake, once on Lake Malawi the steamer had to have enough displacement to ride out dangerous stroms which swept in from the Indian Ocean Coast. Considerations which affected steamers navigating both Lake Malawi and the Zambezi-Shire were in constant contradiction. The one exception was the technology of the boiler. Coal was not readily obtainable in Africa, and wood had to be substituted. At first the fuel did not prove successful, and the MA ROBERT's failure to steam properly on the Zambezi led Livingstone to believe he had been deceived by the ship's builders. Rae, his engi- neer, thought that coal must have been used in the vessel's Liverpool trials, but presumably the explanation lay in 59W. Cope Devereaux, A Cruise in the Gorgon (reprint; London: 1968), pp. 194-95. 91 the quality of available wood.60 Yet, in 1858, the day before he related Livingstone's concern about deception, Kirk noted that, "The only wood which suits well is the hard wood of the fine lignum vitae (a variety of ebony) 61 Whether of which she consumes nearly one ton a day." the wood or the boiler itself was to blame is uncertain. The expedition members nick-named the MA ROBERT the ASTHMATIC, likening her to a ”patient in a palsy." Liv- ingstone noted that "four and a half or five mortal hours" were needed to raise steam and suggested that the boiler tubes were ill placed.62 Obviously at first wood did not provide the most desirable or efficient fuel for steaming. Had the Africans who saw the first steamers been correct in their assessment of its prime mover, the problems of technology might have been solved, for they believed that oxen were shut up in the engine and propelled the ship.63 Further difficulties were presented by the water that circulated in the boiler. On the Zambezi the water GoFoskett, vol. 1, p. 55. 611bid., p. 54. 62Wallis, ed., figmbezi Expedition of David Liv- ingstone, vol. 1, pp. 329-302 63A. E. M. Anderson-Morshead, The Building of the 'Chaungy Mgples" (London: 1903), p. 33. 92 was turbid and muddy; on the Shire it was much cleaner. Boats navigating the Upper Shire through shallow, muddy Lake Malombe and into Lake Malawi, inevitably succeeded in pulling all sorts of mud into the boiler. Alfred Yarrow nonetheless believed that "any one of moderate intelligence and care" could safely handle a steam boiler, but the difficulties of the early navigators of Malawi waterways indicate that more experience was in order.64 Despite the technological adaptations which had to be made, steamers were a decided improvement over previous modes of transport. Able to carry more people and goods from a variety of lakeside villages over longer distances at a faster rate, both commercial and missionary steamers would serve as a more efficient mechanism of communication and socialization. They would reduce the time necessary to move up, down and across the lake; where once the lakeside inhabitants had viewed the lake primarily in terms of east-west transit and trade for canoes and dhows, they would now see a pattern of north- south arteries develOp as well. So steamer technology was adapted to Africa and foreshadowed the coming of other steamers: missionary, 64"On the Working Expenses of Steamers of Small Size,” Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (1871), p. 215. 93 government, and commercial. The first steamers provided invaluable object lessons for the future and heralded the arrival of other technologies from outside Africa. ”Civ- ilization” was at hand. So now is the time, Mr. Bull; give up the Zambezi and spend a few more thousands sterling on the Rovooma, then send your bales of Manchester and Birmingham.goods, accompanied by a body of com- mercial men, to precede your missionaries, and. more good will be done for benighted Africa than by all the present projects, and more gained to the scientific world. W. COpe Devereaux, A Cruise in the Gorgon (reprint; London: 1968), p. 213. But the Zambesi Expedition not only discovered the land of Nyassa--the nodal point of the highland backbone: from the seed of its sowing Nyassaland was born. . . . No action, it is true, was taken on the morrow of the Zambesi Expedition; but the impression it made on public opinion in England, its tragic record, its revelation of a new and fertile country waiting for the missionary and the planter, its discovery that the jugular vein of the Slave Trade could be cut at Lake Nyassa. All this was not forgotten. Reginald Coupland, Kirk on the Zambesi (Oxford: 1928), p. 262. 94 CHAPTER III EARLY STEAM NAVIGATION EXPERIENCES AND EXPLORATIONS ON MALAWI WATERWAYS There were four expeditions to Lake Malawi and the Shire River between 1859 and 1880. The three major ones achieved varying degrees of success, though not always in their intended aims, while the minor effort, a success from the leader's point of view, hindered com- merce and Christianity and, therefore, in the Victorian mind, civilization. The first venture, David Livingstone's Zambezi Expedition of 1858-1864, sought to develop a navigable route from the East Coast via the Zambezi, into Africa's interior. Finding the Kebrabassa Rapids (hereafter Cabora Bassa) an obstacle to navigation up the Zambezi, the party turned its attention to a lake, as seen in Figure 16, rumored to be north of the Zambezi and approachable by the Shire and Rovuma Rivers. The Rovuma, which supposedly provided an East Coast route to the lake, proved too shallow for the expedition's steamers, 95 96 I Lake, r' \ \\ Mal o wi \ \ l \ l s.—"’”_. Ill/g l - I I I I LOSEWA 2 Omb G?" i 3R "I O IOO F-—' 1 1 j 0 km 200 INDIAN OCEAN Fig. 16. First circumnavigation of Lake Malawi (adjusted to real Lake Malawi definition). s a v... ZWL L. as. him rm.\ 97 but the Shire was a different matter. In fact, it was due to the Shire explorations that the party was able to fulfill its other goals: . . . to extend the knowledge already attained of the geography and mineral and agricultural resources of Eastern and Central Africa--to improve our acquaintance with the inhabitants, and to endeavour to engage them to apply themselves to industrial pursuits and to the cultivation of their lands . . . and it was hoped, that by encouraging the natives to occupy themselves in the development of the resources of the country, a considerable advance might be made towards the extinction of the slave trade, as they would not be long in discovering that the former would even- tually be a more certain source of profit than the latter.1 The expedition included Dr. John Kirk, economic botanist; Mr. Richard Thornton, mining geologist; Mr. Thomas Baines, artist and storekeeper, and Livingstone's brother, Charles, as general assistant. Commander Norman Bedingfeld, naval officer and Congo explorer, and George Rae, ship's engi- neer, supervised the steamer MA ROBERT and its twelve Kroomen from the West African coast.2 1David Livingstone and Charles Livingstone, Nar- rative of an Expedition to the Zambezi and Its Tributaries, 1858-64 (London: 1865), p. 9. 2The Kroomen were of the Kru tribe, a people con- sidered exceptionally skilled in navigational know-how and those first chosen by the Royal Navy to aid in African west coast navigation. Reginald Foskett, editor of The Zambesi Journal and Letters of Dr. John Kirk, 1858-63_§ays in vol. 1*(Edinburgh: ‘19651, p. xv, that they came from Liberia. Gary Clendennen identifies their homeland as Sierra Leone in ”David Livingstone on the Zambezi: Letters to John Washington, 1861-1863,” Mun er Africana Library Notes, no. 32 (January 1976): 80, ootnote 68. 98 The Zambezi Expedition made several trips up the Shire. In 1859 its members took the MA ROBERT to the Murchison Cataracts three times, traveling overland the last time to "rediscover" the lake. In 1861 they sailed the new steamer, PIONEER, to the cataracts and brought a Universities' (Cambridge, Oxford, Durham and Dublin) Mission party to settle not far from the river at a place called Magomero. They then carried a whaler to the lake for further exploration. In 1863, the expedition again took the PIONEER and the new LADY NYASSA to the falls._ Each trip brought a new awareness of the vagaries of river navigation, and the lake trip demonstrated wind and weather hazards. Although others kept diaries of the travel problems, only David Livingstone's Narrative was published soon after the expedition, and unfortunately readers paid more attention to the missionary's calls for Christianity and commerce than they did to the dif- ficulties of navigation. Kirk's vivid account, unpub- lished until 1965, would have forewarned missionaries and traders who came in the later 18703 that river navi- gation was a seasonable proposition at best. There were several difficulties, but probably the most serious for steamers were changes in river depth due to the wet and dry seasons, shifting channels, and moving sandbanks. The MA ROBERT's hull developed holes very quickly because of the corrosive Zambezi waters 99 and constant grounding on sandbanks. On December 7, 1860, Kirk commented on the state of the Zambezi: To call this part of the river, at this season, navigable to a vessel drawing two feet six inches of water is a myth. We get through by going over banks with the anchor and ghain. It is not navi- gating but land transport. And again on December 11: Yesterday we progressed about two miles with much hauling and heaving. It is very dangerous on the shoals where full three quarters of our time is spent on the sand. The ship is not constructed for steaming over land and the feed pipe gets choked up with sand and down the pump has to come, twice a day sometimes.4 The 1861 journey from the coast to the Shire river cataracts necessitated sixty-three days to complete rather than the seven or eight days of later years.5 Had Livingstone not visited the Rovuma before a second Shire attempt, his difficulties with river depth might have been solved, but by the time the expedition ascended the Zambezi On May 7, the dry season was near. The combined problems of falling river levels, sandbanks, and shifting channels harassed the travelers the entire trip. Having gone aground repeatedly, Kirk commented on 30 May: 3 p. 313. Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, 4Ibid. 5Henry Rowley, Twenpngears in Central Africa (London: 1881), pp. 20-27. 100 The ship came off during the night and swung to her anchors. In going on further, we found great dif- ficulty among the sand banks, the vessel drawing 4 feet 7 inches forward and 4 feet aft, having barely a passage to float in at many places. At one place the passage was at the side and so very narrow that the ship ran on and up the bank, so bending the whole of the wheel and smashing the outer side of the flange of the boss where 3 radii came off, .A little further on, as we had got out of the marsh [Elephant Marsh], we went fast on a shoal and stuck all afternoon. By June 16, Kirk summed up his feelings. As to the navigability of the Shire to any vessel of 4 1/2 feet, that is settled. The Pioneer in the Shire at half flood is like the Ma Robert in the Zambezi. There being no passage, we are forced to drag through sand. Three feet is the utmost of which the Shire is capable in order that a ship should proceed without constant labor. The 1862-63 trip of the PIONEER was repetitive. The steamer LADY NYASSA, David Livingstone's personal purchase, had just been delivered at the Zambezi mouth by H. M. S. GORGON and was loaded on the PIONEER for transport up the Shire. The state of the river was deplorable, and the PIONEER admittedly not of the most efficient design, but Devereaux, the GORGON's assistant paymaster, was cheered by ”the careful and vigilant pilotage of Captain W---- (Wilson, Commander of the GORGON],' who, "with no prior knowledge of the river," 6 p. 344. Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, 71bid., p. 345. 101 had only grounded once. On the same trip, in November and December of 1861, the PIONEER had been aground thirty- seven days.8 Wilson undoubtedly understood the navigational problems facing the expedition, for when he left the group in March of 1862, he assigned his competent first gunner, Edward Young, to navigational command of the LADY NYASSA.9 Apparently this was a happy choice, for although in 1861 Livingstone had written, "I think that no naval officer will do unless it is converted into a naval expedition entirely,” in 1863 he confessed himself impressed with Young's ”great diligence and unwearied perseverance."lo Wilson had chosen well, for not only did Young know his duty, but he kept his position. A final comment on the vagaries of the Shire in 1863 should be sufficient to prove the incessant diffi- culties with channels and depth. Following the 8W. Cope Devereaux, A_Cruise in the Gorgon (reprint; London: 1968), p. 205; Vero Bosazza, in his unpublished manuscript, makes some interesting comments on Living- stone's ability at the helm. 9"The Late Lieutenant Edward D. Young, R. N.," Aurora 1 (1897): 16. 10David Livingstone to Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker, August 18, 1863, Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, M88 7905, Free Church of Scotland Papers; David Livingstone to Captain washington, December 6, 1861, in Clendennen, “Letters to Washington,” p. 26. 102 construction of the LADY NYASSA at Shupanga on the Zambezi, the expedition left for the cataracts, the PIONEER towing the engineless LADY NYASSA. This arrangement brought near disaster. When the PIONEER stuck on sandbanks, the LADY NYASSA nearly ran her down. When the LADY was secured alongside the PIONEER, the progress of the steamers was very much better, except the Shire was almost too narrow.11 Kirk, most perplexed by the idiosyncracies of the river, complained: When up in June the first time with the Pioneer in 1861, we found no difficulty here but the region, we have found before, to be most changeable. Last year, the Zambezi between Shupanga and the Shire has so completely changed that the knowledge of the route a few years back, would be of no use now. But it is strange to find in the middle of the rainy season, the water of the Shire no higher than in the June of a former year. The vessels advanced little more than a tedious half mile a day. Commander Keane, R. N., who launched the British gunboats MOSQUITO and HERALD on the Zambezi in 1890, and who surveyed the Shire and had several opportunities to navigate it in the ensuing years, pointed out that though a channel might be open for a downriver trip, "the chances are against it being available a week afterwards on the 11 p. 497. Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, lzIbid., p. 501. 103 return.“ He said that navigational directions for the rivers were difficult to give for the simple reason that “nothing was permanent about them."13 However, if river depths, sandbanks, and channels occasioned delay and hardship, river vegetation in 1859 and the early 18603 gave only a warning of the problems which it would later cause. David Livingstone's Narrative related that the only early known Portuguese expedition up the Shire failed because of the impenetrable duckweed (Pistia stratiotes).14 Kirk identified various aquatic plants such as Patia, Lotus, water-lily, Trapa, Convol- vulus and Pistia stratiotes, in the first twenty miles of the Lower Shire. In March 1859, when the expedition returned downriver, Kirk, noticing that most of the plants were gone, wondered whether the people grubbing for food or a rising river had set them adrift.15 Though causing no major problems for the Zambezi Expedition, the aquatic plants brought the Livingstonia Mission Party's steam launch, ILALA, to a near standstill in 1875. In that year the plants formed huge continuous 13Henry Keane, R. N., "An East African Waterway,” SGM 11 (March 1895): 126-27. l4Livingstone, Narrative, p. 75. lsFoskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, pp. 139, 142, 151, YET-3'6. 104 floats in the Morambala Marsh at the Zambezi-Shire con- fluence, and the vegetation forced the ILALA to wander through a series of culs-de-sac until Young sent for local Africans to pilot the missionary party into the correct Shire channel. W. P. Livingstone described the method used to get into the river: The ILALA was backed as far as she was able, and then, dashing forward at full speed, crashed into the reeds that were taller than a man and as stout as one's finger. They broke and parted under the force of the impact, but the mass, accumulating in front, soon presented an impenetrable barrier. The only thing to do was to cut a way through. A boat was lowered, and Laws and a crew attacked the reeds, hacking them with axes and knives, and beat- ing them down with oar and boathook, and so, foot by foot, clearing a narrow lane.16 Vegetation, or sudd, some of it rising to heights of seven or eight feet, gathered and grew during the dry season in calm parts of the river and in Lake Malombe.17 The Pistia stratiotes, known in Malawi as Shire cabbage and resembling lettuce, could cover acres of water sur- face, and its strong roots made it extremely difficult to dislodge. Nile sudd presented a similar problem. During the Sudd Expedition of 1901-02, the vegetation was cut 16Laws of Livingstonia (London: [1923]), p. 57. 17Keane, ”Waterway," 128; although sudd is report- edly found only on the White Nile, Websters New Inter- national Dictionary of The English Language (2d ed}; unabridged: 1951) indicates that it reférs to a blockage of water vegetation. The word was used regularly in the local news articles of the day to refer to the vegetation that grew on the Shire. 105 into blocks, torn away by steel hawsers, and towed into the main channel, where hopefully it would break up and float downriver.18 The Nyasaland Protectorate could not afford this method, and from 1902 onward, therefore, navigation below Liwonde, Figure 17, on the Upper Shire, was intermittently impracticable.19 In 1908, Lake Malombe and the Upper Shire were choked with weeds. Sharpe, Governor-General of Nyasaland, requested 5200 in excess of the £300 voted for river improvements, to employ men to Open a navi- 20 gational channel. The difficulties on the lower river had caused a planter, John Buchanan, to propose a rail link for that section as early as 1892.21 However, the 1908 opening of a railway on the Lower Shire did not solve the Upper Shire problem, and the vegetation dif- ficulties were every bit as real as the channel and depth problems of the lower river. Therefore, by 18Edward S. Crispin, "The Sudd of the White Nile,” §g_20 (September 1902): 322. 19BCAG, November 1907, p. 806; "Stores,” Likoma Diocesan Quarterly Paper 8 (July 1905): 207-08. 20 525/23. Alfred Sharpe to C.O., April 30, 1908, c.0. 21John Buchanan, “The Industrial Development of Nyasaland,” GJ 1 (March 1893): 253; William Clowes, "The Pacification-Ef Nyasaland," The New Review 10 (April 1894): 427. 106 Fig. 17. Poling river "houseboat'l through the sudd (Zomba, Malawi Archives, Livingstonia Mission Papers, Accession 92). 107 August 1909, the agricultural and commercial interests petitioned the Colonial Office for a rail extension from the lake to Blantyre.22 Additional river and lake problems were presented by storms and squalls. In 1875, traveling up the Zambezi to put the ILALA on the lake, the Livingstonia Mission party lost two crewmen in a sudden storm. Lorenzo Johnston, a Cape African, had charge of the SPHINX, one of the ILALA's teak sailboats; she heeled over in a squall and by the time she was righted one crewman had drowned, one was missing, and only two would rejoin Lorenzo.23 If the storms on the river were bad, those on the lake were worse. In September 1861, when the Zambezi Expedition members, on their second trip to Lake Malawi, traveled the lake in a four-oared gig, they were constantly caught in gales, which led Livingstone to describe September and October as ”perhaps the stormiest season of the year":24 At times, while sailing pleasantly over the blue water with a gentle breeze suddenly and without any warning was heard the sound of a coming storm, roaring on with crowds of angry waves in its wake. 22Petition of Committee of the Nyasaland Associ- ated Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce to the Earl of Crewe, August 5, 1909, c.0. 525/30. 23E. D. Young, Nyassa; A Journal of Adventures (London: 1877). p. 23. 24Livingstone, Narrative, p. 370. 108 we were caught one morning with the sea breaking all around us, and unable either to advance or recede, anchored a mile from shore, in seven fathoms. The furious surf on the beach would have shivered our slender boat to atoms, had we tried to land. The waves most dreaded came rolling on in threes, with their crests, driven into spray, streaming behind them.25 Livingstone, though often credited with calling Lake Malawi the "Lake of Storms," actually observed that, "did we not believe the gales to be peculiar to one season of the year, we would call Nyassa, the 'Lake of Storms.”26 His terminology would have been correct, for in 1875, when the ILALA made the first circumnavigation of the lake, its crew experienced a terrible lake storm. Young, ILALA master and Livingstonia Expedition leader, described the wind gusts as similar to small typhoons and was worried about being swamped: At one period we counted no less than twelve water- spouts around us, and we had literally to steam in and out amongst them . . . then came the most appalling thunder and lightning, with rain such as can only be felt in these latitudes; and after these, more waterspouts, either of which would have smashed our deck in and sunk us like a stone if 3% had been so unfortunate as to be struck by it. The sinking of the steamer, VIPYA, in a storm in 1946 confirms the fact that the lake was undoubtedly a dangerous place for those who did not have sufficient 25 26 Ibid., pp. 370-71. Ibid. 27Young, Nyassa, p. 123. 109 nautical expertise or did not possess seaworthy craft.28 Without sturdy vessels, good sailing ability would at least allow a person to remove himself from immediate danger. Wind and weather were a constant source of con- cern on Lake Malawi, and usually when the southern wind, the 'Mwera," began to blow, knowledgeable people would keep to the shore.29 That the waterways of Malawi were not ideal for opening up a country is obvious. The problems of the future already could be seen in the 18603. Had anyone bothered to inquire of Kirk, Consul at Zanzibar, later missionaries and traders might never have attempted to develop riverine communication as they did. Perhaps the assumption was that technology could overcome all obstacles. Whatever the belief, the ambassadors of commerce and Christianity ignored the facts and forged ahead. The objectives of the river and lake expeditions between 1859 and 1880 were far wider than the identifi- cation of navigational hazards. Livingstone and his comrades made three trips up the Shire in 1859. During 28F. A. Cole-King, Lake Malawi Steamers, Histori- cal Guide No. l (Zomba: 1971). 29"Wind and Weather on Lake Nyasa,” Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle 32 (July 1911): 889-92. 110 the first, which ended at the rapids, the Europeans learned something of the area trade. The Mang'anja pe0ples, who lived near the cataracts, spoke of Arabs called Bagodja, who had descended the lake in canoes and come to trade. It was found that the Africans were eager to sell fowls, rice, goats, meal, sugar cane, and bananas for food, and Kirk purchased a locally made knife and hoe. More important in terms of knowledge, however, was Kirk's collection of raw and spun cotton and his desire for a speciman of the cotton cloth which he said was "very 30 In addition to trade information, the explorers good.” gained some scientific knowledge. Despite the dull skies of the rainy season, latitudes were taken and evidence on the river rocks indicated a two-foot water rise above the observable level, a sure indication of large fluctu- ations in navigational possibilities.31 The second Shire trip in the spring of 1859 added to cartographical knowledge. On April 18 the party ”discovered“ Lake Shirwa, the salt lake, sometimes spoken of by early explorers and noted on D'Anville's 1727 map, Figure 8, Chapter I. Shirwa's separate identification is important as it had often been mistaken for Malawi. 3oFoskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, Pp. 148-490 Bllbid. 111 The travellers were told that Shirwa was nothing in comparison to Nyinyesi (Malawi), the lake a short dis- tance to the north, but Kirk remarked, "and yet this is like a sea, the finest I have seen."32 Having discovered Lake Shirwa, the party returned to the Zambezi and prob- lems with the MA ROBERT. The Zambezi Expedition's third trip up the Shire in 1859 was eventful for several reasons. First and foremost, on September 17, the Expedition ”rediscovered" Lake Malawi.33 The members also met a large Swahili slave-party returning from Kazembe's with ivory and malachite. David Livingstone noted that the path between Lake Malombe (the mud lake at the north end of the Shire), and Lake Malawi was one of the great slave roads to the coast. Other routes crossed south over the Shire ”and some on the lake [Malawi] itself."34 If 1859 was a year of discovery and achievement for the expedition, 1860 was a year of misfortune, for the MA ROBERT was lost. Describing the hull on December 6, Kirk wrote, ”the bottom is full of holes and we float by 321bid., p. 194. 33Ibid., p. 255; Livingstone says September 16 (Narrative), but Kirk, whose diary was kept on a daily basis,iis more likely to be correct. 34Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 124-25. 112 keeping the water out with plugs and where very large, by green canvas with some good weight atop." And again, on December 15, "Steam on in a seaworthy state, only one compartment full up to the water level. It being hope- less, it must remain full." Finally, on December 21, with the rains beginning and the river rising, the MA ROBERT grounded, and in the attempt to work her free, she sank. The crew was able to get stores and private property off, but "soon the whole vessel went down shew- ing only the gunwale masts and funnel and uppermost part of the house above water."35 The MA ROBERT had taken the expedition up the Shire three times, enabled the assess- ment of trade possibilities, and provided a testing apparatus for steamer capabilities; it had served its purpose. The Zambezi Expedition was not long without a steamer, for the "Oxford and Cambridge Mission to the peoples of the Shire and Lake Nyassa" (hereafter UMCA), arrived at the Zambezi on January 31, 1861, bringing with it a new steamer, the PIONEER. The UMCA came in answer to Livingstone's appeal in the Senate House, Cambridge, in December 1857. The final words of his appeal, which form two of the constituent themes of this study, bear repeating: "I go back to Africa to 35Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 1, pp. 312-15. 113 try to make an open path for commerce and Christianity. Do you carry out the work, which I have begun? I leave it with you."36 As eager as Livingstone was to have a mission in Central Africa, he also wanted to reach Lake Malawi by a more direct route, and thus circumvent the Portuguese on the Zambezi. The Foreign Office had authorized him to ascertain the navigability of the Rovuma and explore its connection, if any, with Lake Malawi; the trip, made in March 1861, when the river was falling, was fruitless. The Rovuma level dropped five inches in twenty-four hours, and the PIONEER, weighted heavily to withstand the sea voyage from London and drawing between four and five feet, turned downstream after accomplishing only twenty to thirty miles.37 On May 7, after a delay of four months, the expedition began its trip to Lake Malawi, but navigational conditions on the Shire were not much better than on the Rovuma, and the journey to the falls took sixty-three days. The advance in knowledge made on the 1861 trip can best be assessed by viewing the journey in two 36William Monk, ed., Dr. Livingstone's Cambridge Lectures (reprint; Farnborough Hants: 1968), p. 24. 37Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 348- 50; Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vo1. 2, pp. 334-37; Reginald Coupland,K1rk on the Zambesi (Oxford: 1928), p. 189. 114 sections, the river and the lake trip. The river journey was a major success, because it improved relations with local peoples and gained agricultural knowledge of the area, both goals set by the Foreign Office. Moreover, riverine inhabitants were quick to offer wood and other items for sale to the Europeans.38 Such cooperation facilitated the PIONEER's progress. Proctor, one of the UMCA missionaries being transported up the river, regarded the Mang'anja as trustful, frank, and intelligent. He was impressed because, "They appear to notice everything a good deal, & to be very ready to trade, while examining the goods offered, & thinking well over the bargain before striking it."39 African trade instincts, already stimulated by European needs for wood and food, were further aroused by the latter's interest in cotton. In 1859 Charles Liv- ingstone had encouraged the Lower Shire Mang'anja to cultivate cotton for export. In fact, the expedition interpreter had endeavored to aid David Livingstone and Kirk in their discussions of God and the Bible, by telling the people that, "The Book says you are to grow cotton, 38 p. 349. Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, 39Norman Bennett and Marguerite Ylvisaker, eds., Central African Journal of Lovell J. Proctor, 1860-1864 (Boston: 1971), pp. 63, 68. 115 and the English are to come and buy it.“ The Europeans had sent some of the cotton to Manchester, and the speci- mens were, according to David Livingstone, ”'the very kind of cotton most needed in Lancashire,‘ and the yarn, . . . which we bought at about a penny per pound, excited the admiration of practical manufacturers there.” In 1861 Kirk noted that the preferred cotton was of equal quality and about one inch staple. When the raw crOp had been ginned, he found "that 42 lbs of cotton give 10 1/2 lbs cleaned." With the War Between the States a reality, the excitement of the expedition members can be understood; Livingstone commented, “We had opened a cotton-field . . . 400 miles in length . . . a perfectly new era had commenced in a region much larger than the cotton-fields of the Southern States of America."40 Though this claim appeared somewhat exaggerated later, both Kirk and Liv- ingstone seem to have believed that large cotton acreage had become available. It is probable that the famine of 1862 and the slave raids of the 18603 discouraged any African impetus for intensive development of the crop. Having improved relations with the inhabitants, the expedition escorted the UMCA missionaries to the 4oLivingstone, Narrative, pp. 77, 352-54; Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, p. 345. 116 Shire Highlands where they finally settled at Magomero.41 This done, the party focused its attention on studying Lake Malawi. David and Charles Livingstone, Irish seaman John Neil, Doctor John Kirk, and several Makololo portaged the Murchison Cataracts to the Upper Shire. Chibisa's Mang'anja carried a four-oared gig for them, and having launched it on the Upper Shire, the party entered Lake Malawi on September 2, 1861. They split into land and lake parties, the former providing a constant source of irritation to Kirk, who considered it a danger to the lake party and a cause of lengthy delay. It was often out of sight, and the lake group frequently had to await its progress. Those with the boat undertook several tasks. Lake depth was one of Livingstone's primary concerns, and he noted that within a mile of the shore it might vary as much as six to fourteen fathoms and that in some sections the soundings were a hundred and sixteen fathoms.42 41The UMCA missionaries were BishOp Mackenzie, Reverend L. Proctor, Reverend H. Rowley, and Reverend Scudamore, plus three laymen.r On the way to Magomero they met a Yao slave caravan, dispersed it, and in freeing the slaves acquired an immediate congregation. This act and continued interference, plus illness and death, led them to withdraw first to Chibisa's below the cataracts, then to Morambala at the Shire-Zambezi confluence, and finally in 1864, to Zanzibar off the East African coast. The mission did not have representatives at the lake again until 1882. 42Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, p. 389; Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 368-69. 117 Kirk often recorded latitude and longitude in his journal, 43 Livingstone seeking to increase geographical knowledge. said the last latitude taken was 11° 44’s, but that the lake party continued 24/north of that, placing the group a little over two-thirds of the way up the lake. He hypothesized that the end of the lake lay in "the southern borders of 10°, or the northern limits of 11°, south latitude."44 The lake actually reaches somewhat north of 10° latitude, so nearly 100 miles lay unseen when, for want of food, the group terminated the trip and turned south. Other goals of the 1861 expedition included identification of good harbors and lake and river cros- sings suitable for later mission and commercial enter- prise. However, after two months' exploration of over two-thirds of the west coast, Kirk and Livingstone con- cluded that only one harbor, Cape Maclear, provided suf- ficient safeguards from the south-east winds. They found the coastline a "succession of small bays,” totally lack- ing in protection.45 In 1859 they had noted an important 43Foskett, vol. 2, pp. 366-93. 44"Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to Lake Nyassa 1861-63," JRGS 33 (1863): 264; Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 386-87. 45Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 371-72; see also P. A. Cole-King, Ca e Maclear, Department of Antiquities, no. 4 (September I§E§5= §-§ for an interesting secondary source. 118 ford where the Shire left Lake Malawi; there they had met an east coast party returning from Kazembe's with an 46 The "immense number of slaves and elephants' tusks." old slave sticks in evidence in the Tsenga Bay area in 1861 account for Kirk's belief that Tsenga was another "crossing for slaves."47 This observation sustains Erhardt and Rebmann's identification of Tsenga-Ngombo as a lake crossing in the 1856 "Slug" map.‘ Livingstone and Kirk also learned of a crossing three days ahead, probably Losewa-Nkhota Kota, where "some peOple like us" had built a large boat on the east side, and had dealt in slaves and ivory. Often they heard that a dhow had sailed from just ahead or fled from them with a load of slaves.48 Finally, they were informed of a canoe crossing from Kowirwa hill on the west coast via Chisamulu and the Likoma islands to Chiteji's on the east coast.49 During their travels, the expedition members met Chiefs Marenga and Mankambira, important leaders along 46"Extracts from the Despatches of Dr. David Livingstone," JRGS 31 (1861): 278. 47Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, pp. 372-74. 481bid., pp. 376-77. 491bid., pp. 377-79, 381-82. 119 the north-western section of the lake.50 They were impressed with the "dense population of Lake Nyassa," and noted that, "On the beach of well-nigh every little sandy bay black crowds were standing gazing at the novel spectacle of a boat, under sail." Upon landing, the Europeans were instantly surrounded by curious, inter- ested on-lookers.51 The men, embarrassed by the constant surveillance to which they were subjected, neglected their baths and changes of clothes. Livingstone's cryptic com- ment typifies the European feeling, ”One feels ashamed of the white skin; it seems unnatural, like blanched celery--or white mice.”52 The expedition also learned, to its horror, the low value of its trade goods. Having turned south, the expedition had trouble obtaining food. Said Livingstone, This arose from our calico being of the flimsiest quality, deficient in breadth and being plastered over with starch. It was mortifying to be conscious soIbid., pp. 384-90; Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 377-78. 51"Dr. Livingstone's Expedition,” 254-55; J. P. R. Wallis, ed., The Zambezi Expedition of David Living- stone 1858-1863, vol: 2 (London: 1965), p. 464. 52David Livingstone to Sir George Grey, Novemr ber 15, 1861, Cape Monthly Magazine 11 (January-June 1862): 269-71; Livingstone, NarratiVe, p. 379. 120 that our goods were so inferior to those supplied by the slave traders that we appeared to the natives and ourselves as swindlers.53 The Europeans were certain that high quality American and Indian prints had been brought by slavers who apparently did a very brisk trade on the eastern lake coast.S4 Having gathered scientific knowledge, improved its acquaintance with the Africans, and ascertained trade opportunities, the party departed the lake for the Lower Shire in November 1861. The expedition, due to rendezvous with H. M. S. GORGON at the Zambezi mouth in December 1861, was delayed on a sandbank in the Shire for five weeks. While aground the group met the Reverend Burrup and two other UMCA people coming upriver in canoes. Kirk and Livingstone were flabbergasted when they learned that the new men neither spoke the language nor possessed protective mosquito nets!55 Finally, on January 31, 1862, the GORGON met the PIONEER at the Zambezi mouth. The GORGON brought the bishOp's sister and wife, Mary Liv- ingstone, David's wife, and the Reverend James Stewart S3Wallis, Zambezi Expedition of Livingstone, vol. 2, p. 406. 54Ibid., p. 507; Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, pp. 374, 378. 55Livingstone to Grey, CapeMgnthly Magazine, 271; Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, p. 400. 121 of the Established Church of Scotland, as well as the new steamer, LADY NYASSA. Unfortunately, this happy occasion was not char- acteristic of the events of 1862. When the GORGON's Captain Wilson escorted Miss Mackenzie and Mrs. Burrup up the Shire to the UMCA mission, they found the bishop and the Reverend Burrup dead and the survivors removing to the Lower Shire. HMS GORGON departed with the ladies for the Cape in March 1862. Though the LADY NYASSA had been sent to aid Livingstone, her shell was not launched until June 23, too late for navigating the Shire.56 An additional misfortune was Mary Livingstone's death at Shupanga, the LADY NYASSA's construction site, in April 1862. The unavoidable delay led Livingstone once more to a fruitless exploration of the Rovuma, so that it was not until 1863, that the expedition returned to the Shire. The Zambezi Expedition's last trip constituted an attempt to put the LADY NYASSA on the lake, but a combination of circumstances defeated Livingstone. The river, now deep enough for navigation, had such a strong current that the PIONEER could make only two knots towing the NYASSA.57 _¥ A further complication was 56Devereaux, Cruise in Gor on, p. 211; Foskett, ggurnal and Letters of Kirk, v01. 3, p. 454. '57Foskett, vol. 2, p. 497. 122 presented by the necessity of clearing the PIONEER's paddles of corpses, a result both of famine and the slaving activities of a half-breed Portuguese, Mariano, which were causing wide-spread desolation and death on the Lower Shire.58 The expedition finally reached the cataracts on April 11, 1863, but Charles Livingstone and Kirk, both in ill health, departed for the coast. On Kirk's arrival in Quelimane, on June 3, he heard that the expedition had been recalled by the Foreign Office. Kirk's letter to his brother describes the state of the country: That country is entirely ruined, slave hunting, trading, fighting and now famine have swept off the people. Such a golden chance Livingstone missed, when he would go off to Rovuma. Then the people were starving by thousands. The country was clear of grass and for food alone, labour to make the road could have been had. Now the grass is high, you cannot see two steps ahead and the people are gone, 98 that even the foot paths are nearly grown up. Clearly, Kirk saw little chance for success. By early July, the NYASSA had been dismantled and prepared for transit to the Upper Shire, but only a 58James Stewart to J. Buchanan, April 4, 1863, Salisbury, NAR, ST 13/3/1; Livingstone, Narrative, pp. 449-50; Basil Mathews, "The Man Who Slew Slave- Raiding; An Interview with Livingstone's Comrade Sir John Kirk,” Outward Bound, September 1921, p. 12. 59John Kirk to Alexander Kirk, July 14, 1863 in Foskett, Journal and Letters of Kirk, vol. 2, pp. 595- 96. 123 few miles of the cataract road had been finished.60 Realizing that he could not heed the recall order until the rains came sometime in December, Livingstone under- took a final journey to the lake. Edward Young's appraisal of the situation was that it "appeared impossible to get the NYASSA overland without a proper road was made which would take at least 100 Natives a year." The possibility of headloading a steamer around the cataracts had not yet occurred to anyone; a road was believed necessary. Of the doctor's return to the lake, he wrote, "I think it a rash undertaking for I never remember having seen a man fail in health and appearance so much in so Short 61 His wife's death had been a shock a time as the Dr." to Livingstone, and the recall of the expedition undoubtedly compounded his feelings. The fact that others had known of the withdrawal before him was a double humiliation. His unhappiness became even greater when, as Young had foreseen, he ultimately failed to launch his steamer on the lake. To make matters worse, David Livingstone's 1863 journey brought him to the realization that the lake could have been explored without the necessity of 60W. G. Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Livingstone (Chicago: 18855, p. 335. 61Edward Young to Reverend James Stewart, July 16, 1863, Salisbury, NAR, ST l/l. 124 carrying an iron vessel around the cataracts. His recog- nition that Jumbe's dhow was a far less expensive method for European exploration and transport on the lake came too late. Jumbe was occupied in transporting slaves across the lake, and "said that no money would induce him to part with his dhow."62 Livingstone therefore lost the last chance of the Zambezi Expedition to finish its explorations of the lake. He returned to the steamers on November 1, 1863. By January 19, 1864, the Shire was in flood, and the expedition left for the coast. The UMCA, now quartered at Mount Morambala, 63 Chris- also retired from the area to Zanzibar in 1864. tianity had not been implanted in the lake area and the slave trade continued. The expedition had extended geo- graphical and agricultural knowledge; there was improved acquaintance with the inhabitants; and some people, at least on the Shire, were now more interested in cultivat- ing cotton. But as the Europeans disappeared from Central Africa, so did their influence. Oddly enough, it was David Livingstone's last trip to Africa, made in 1866, which would necessitate a 6zLivingstone, Narrative, pp. 511-12. 63A. E. M. Anderson-Morshead, The History of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa 1859-1909, vol. 1 (London: 195573 pp. 34-35. 125 second expedition to Lake Malawi. Livingstone returned to the lake's east coast in August to find that Jumbe's previously positive attitude towards Europeans had changed. The missionary-explorer had sent a letter to Jumbe requesting transport to the west side, but the captains of two dhows which appeared at Losewa on August 29 did not even inform him of their arrival or departure. Livingstone wrote: The fear which the English have inspired in the Arab slave-traders is rather inconvenient. [His reference is undoubtedly to the ocean coast.] All flee from me as if I had the plague. . . . They seem to think that if I get into a dhow I will be sure to burn it. As the two dhows on the lake are used for nothing but the slave-trade, their owners have no hope of my allowing them to escape.64 Making his way around the southern end of the lake, he headed northwest from its western shore in October. His Johanna men, including Musa, an original crew member of the PIONEER, fled for fear of the Ngoni and upon reaching the Indian Ocean Coast, spread the rumor of Livingstone's murder at the lake.65 This tale led to the Search Expedition of 1867. Edward Young, knowledgeable of Johanna men because they had crewed the PIONEER, did not consider them dependable. 64Horace Waller, ed., The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, vol.’1 (London: 1874), p. 93. 651bid., pp. 107, 114-16. 126 He considered their story a fabrication, "especially they [Johanna men] brought nothing back belonging to him, for 66 Fol- they well know the value of Books or papers,&c.' lowing up Edward Young's concerned letter, the Royal Geographical Society, with the aid of the Admiralty, sponsored the "Livingstone Search Expedition." By May 1867, the society had formulated a set of instructions for the expedition led by Young. He was to ascertain whether Livingstone was really dead, and if it did not interfere with his main purpose, he was to learn more about the east side of the lake. If reliable information about Livingstone had not been obtained by the time he reached the north end of the lake, he could proceed by land, at his own discretion.67 In the face of proof which, though not positive, is conclusive to your own mind, it would be your duty to return . . . such proof should consist of something tangible--something known to have belonged to Livingstone, which he would not have been likely to have garted with voluntarily, should be produced.5 Thus instructed, Young set out with three companions: Lieutenant Henry Faulkner, Esq., volunteer, John Reid, 66Edward Young to Sir Roderick Murchison, March 13, 1867, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 2522; ”Late Lieutenant Young,” 16. 67Edward Young, The Search for Livingstone (London: 1868), pp. 46—52. 68Ibid. 127 mechanic, and Patrick Buckley. Besides this help, Young had a map with Livingstone's supposed movements around the lake; an iron boat named SEARCH designed in sections; and letters to the Governors of Quelimane, Tete, and Sena. He was to choose his own African crew.69 By August 1867 the small party was at Chibisa's on the Shire receiving the warm greetings of the Makololo, twelve of whom agreed to accompany Young as crewmen. Other local men would carry the boat sections over the Murchison Cataracts. Young noted that whereas the men normally did not attempt burdens which they could not individually carry, in this case it was necessary. The loads were apportioned as follows:70 Side pieces 36 men Boom 2 men Midship piece 2 men Sails 2 men Stern piece 3 men Chain cable 6 men Bow piece 3 men Anchor 1 man Mast 2 men Figure 18 provides a graphic illustration of the porterage of boat and supplies. In addition to solving the problem of carriage around the falls, the men hit on what Young categorized as an admirable plan to prevent leakage. By stopping the vessel's seams with putty, and rolling it back and forth on a sandbank, they force-filled the seams and constructed a boat that would remain dry.71 69 70 Ibid. Ibid. p p. 1180 71Ibid., p. 129. 128 Fig. 18. Carrying the boat around the Shire Cataracts (London, British Museum, E. D. Young, The Search for Livingstone, London, 1868, p. 119, copyright British Museum). 129 On September 6, the SEARCH reached the lake. Along the east and west coasts Africans described Liv- ingstone's naval cap, pantomimed him taking sextant observations, and always mentioned his tiny dog. Young identified Losewa, the Arab crossing where Livingstone had awaited the dhows; he noted the half-castes and their huge slave sheds. He visited the west coast Arab crossing at Chin Samba's (Chinsamba), a place identified on Liv- ingstone's and Kirk's charts. Young's visit to Marenga's on the northwest side of the lake convinced him that Livingstone had gone out of his way to avoid the Ngoni; the expedition collected pieces of an 1866 nautical almanac which showed the approximate date of Livingstone's passage through the village.72 Having satisfied himself that Livingstone had circumvented the Ngoni and had been seen by many people, Young decided he was alive. With his main objective accomplished, Young set about to obtain further information about the lake. He described the lake storms which arose without forewarning, in fact, much more suddenly than on the ocean, and cautioned that a "special education" was needed to become weather wise here. As with Kirk and Livingstone the SEARCH was occasionally shorebound 721bid., pp. 129, 153, 165, 169, 190-91; E. D. Young, "Report of the Livingstone Search Expedition," JRGS 38 (1868): 114-15. 130 73 . On one such occa81on awaiting a storm's abatement. the SEARCH ran three hours before a heavy storm, attempt- ing to find coastal shelter, . . . but the rocks and breakers met us at every hand. This proved the finishing stroke to the Makololo's courage, who all laid down at the bottom of the boat to die, and although the boat was constantly shipping heavy seas, they refused to bale out the water. The steel boat behaved well, bug was far too deep for the stormy Lake Nyassa.7 In addition to becoming weather-wise, the expedition pro- cured valuable geographical knowledge. In discussions with the east coast Swahili, Young was impressed that the lake was thoroughly known to them. They assured him that the northern end was enclosed by high land and that vno outlet or communication with other waters existed. YOung stressed that they persuaded him, without prompt- ing, that the Shire was the ”only means of escape" for the lake.75 Having dealt with the slavers, Young strongly advocated the placement of a boat on the lake, contending that its presence would introduce the necessary amount of uncertainty to paralyze the slave trade. 73Young, Search for Livingstone, pp. 174-75. 74Young, "Report of the Search Expedition," p. 113. 75Young, Search for Livingstone, p. 153. 131 The whole country would rally round such a common centre of law and order, and even looking on it from a lower, and perhaps hardly less practical point of view (for commerce must yet be the first chapter in Africa's regeneration), an ivory mart might be founded somewhere near the Shire's ead waters, and it would command enormous trade. However, these dreams were beyond the scope of the Search Expedition, and in September it retreated down the Shire, conveying to Britain the intelligence that Livingstone was not dead. The waters of the lake would remain unencumbered by British boats and the slave traders unhampered by Victorian morality for eight more years. The apparent lapse in active British interest undoubtedly enabled the Swahili to increase their lucrative slave trade and strengthen their commercial grasp over the peoples of Lake Malawi. This hold they would maintain into the 18903. In 1868, another expedition penetrated the Lower Shire and arrived at Matiti below the Murchison Cataracts. Captain Henry Faulkner, companion to Edward Young on the Search Expedition, guided a hunting party of Irish officers from the 17th Lancers stationed at Cape Town.77 This group planned to export ivory to the coast, and it is not beyond the imagination to believe that Faulkner 76Ibid., pp. 168-69. 77Reverend Stewart to R. A. McFie, November 11, 1868, Salisbury, NAR, ST 13/3/1. 132 entertained visions of achieving what Livingstone had not, namely transporting a steamer, the expedition's FAUGH-A-BALLAGH, over the cataracts and launching it on Lake Malawi. Faulkner's sentiments, expressed at the end of the 1867 Search Expedition, that he regretted leaving the beautiful lake, "perhaps for ever," lend credence to this theory. But, as Paul Cole-King points out, Faulkner's journals were apparently lost, and so the facts may never be uncovered.78 Expectations for a large export of ivory carried by the FAUGH-A-BALLAGH were quickly squelched by the death of the steamer's two engineers, shortly after the vessel's arrival at the cataracts. The boat was sent to the care of a Portuguese, Domingo Alzavedo, at Mazaro on the Zam- bezi, and the remaining expedition members sent ivory to Quelimane by canoe. At what date Faulkner's friends left the Shire is unknown, but Faulkner, said to have acquired a “regular harem," was later depicted as a "foul blot" on Britain's honor. He had ordered Chinsora, friend and guide to the Reverend James Stewart of the Zambezi Expe- dition to be shot; had become embroiled in a tribal dis- pute; and had been killed. Subsequently his steamer was 79 auctioned by the Portuguese in Quelimane. In terms of 78Cape Maclear, 15, Foot 11. 79Robert Laws to Reverend Stewart, September 23, 1875, ST 13/3/1. 133 increased geographical knowledge, Faulkner's expedition can only be described as unproductive. It is obvious that he learned a great deal about the African people, for he lived with them on the Shire, but his knowledge remained unshared with his contemporaries. It was the fourth and final expedition which ful- filled the expectations of previous groups. Strictly speaking, the Livingstonia Expedition should be treated in the chapter on Christianity; however, as the first European group actually to settle at Lake Malawi, its early experiences and explorations are noteworthy. Through the efforts of early members, it made important scientific discoveries and achieved amiable relations with the lake- side inhabitants. Moreover, its steamer, the ILALA, served primarily to further these achievements rather than as a missionary ship. For these reasons, the expe- dition is important in a discussion of experiences and explorations. The Livingstonia Expedition, or Lake Nyassa Mission Party, as it was variously called, had its origin in Livingstone's appeal at Cambridge. The Reverend James Stewart, who left Central Africa in 1863 disappointed and disgusted with what he regarded as Livingstone's tremen- dous exaggeration about the area's proSpects, had a change of heart when the old missionary died. Stewart 134 ultimately convinced the Scottish Free Church of the necessity of a lakeside mission, which became reality in 1875. Monetary support was easily obtained in a nation which wished to honor David Livingstone, but Her Majesty's Government, though expressing sympathy and approval for the expedition's objectives, "the suppression of the slave trade, and the introduction of civilization in Central Africa,” was reluctant to award consular authority to any member. In May 1875 the Foreign Office made it clear that it was a "manifest inconvenience" to confer the title where there were "no consular duties to perform, and so investing with an official character what is in reality a sensitive expedition started by private subscription, and not subject to government control."80 London had no wish to become involved in another African area nor to expend funds without some degree of control. Additionally, the Zambezi-Shire had been an area of Portu- guese interest since the 15003, and its exact inter- national status was uncertain. Nevertheless, the Foreign Office facilitated the transit of the missionaries through Portuguese territory. Derby requested the British Consul at Mozambique to afford ”support and assistance" to Edward Young, the expedition's leader, and instructed Consul Elton to 80Lord Derby to James Cowan, May 14,1875, Edin- burgh, NLS, MS 7870, FCSP. 135 inform ”the Governor-General of Mozambique that Her Majesty's Government will watch with interest the pro- gress of Mr. Young's enterprise, and are anxious for its ”81 success. The warning was clear; London did not expect this group to experience any diplomatic difficulty in its Zambezi-Shire ascent. The government's action was some- what tardy, for the Portuguese Consulate General had already issued a passport and letter of introduction to the Governor-General of Mozambique for Edward Young and his party.82 Diplomatic formalities were not the only concern; a major difficulty was construction of a suitable steamer, light and of small enough draft to navigate the shallow Zambezi-Shire, and sufficiently seaworthy for the stormy lake. Moreover, there was the problem of porterage around the MurchisOn Falls. Most shipbuilding companies dismissed the task as impracticable, but Alfred Yarrow undertook the job, and within ten weeks had con- structed the ILALA, a steam launch which measured 50 ft. in length and 10 ft. in beam and which cost 1.1.600.83 81 881/2649. Lord Derby to Consul Elton, May 28, 1875, F0 82William MacKinnon to Reverend Stewart, January 28, 1875, ST 13/3/1. 83There is much contradictory material on the Ilala's length. "Particulars of Vessels Built by Yarrow and Co. Ld' (orderbook) Job 330 ”Ilala," 1875, Yarrow and Company, Ltd., Clydebank, Glasgow, which is the job book, 136 To achieve the necessary lightness, the vessel was built in sections of mild steel that easily could be bolted together. Her boilers were fashioned in several circular sections which, it was hoped, could be rolled along narrow paths cut through the forest, and she was fitted with a pair of inverted engines and a ketch rigging.84 Unofficial watch on the ILALA's progress was kept by Captain Wilson, who had aided Livingstone's Zambezi Expedition in 1862. His knowledge of the rivers led him to believe the vessel and its boilers too large, but after a trial on the Thames, he was satisfied that he had never been in a better steamer. He commented, "her consumption of fuel was remarkably small, and her speed exceptionally good, by my eye I should say she will realize nearly 10 knots an hour [sic] under full power."85 gives the length as 50 ft. Paul Cole-King, in Lake Malawi Steamers, notes a length of 48 ft. and so does W. P. Liv- ingstone, Laws of Livingstonia (London: [1923]), p. 42. Eleanor Barnes (Lady Yarrow), Alfred Yarrow His Life and WOrk (London: 1924), p. 64 and Alastair Borthwick, Yar- rows The First Hundred Years 1865-1965 (Glasgow: 19657, p. 15 give a length of 55 ft.; Yarrow's Shipyard, now at Clydebank rather than on the Thames, was still in existence in 1977. 84Barnes, Yarrow His Life and Work, pp. 61-64; Borthwick, First Hundfed Years, pp. 14:15} Both these books also describe the rigging as schooner, but Professor Harry Benford (Naval Architecture, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), having viewed pictures of the Ilala under sail, claims it was rigged as a ketch. 85Captain J. C. Wilson to Reverend Stewart, May 1, 1875, and May 9, 1875, ST 13/3/1. 137 Though designed with three boilers, the trial run achieved eight knots with one, and though two boilers were sent to Africa, the ILALA used only one for fear of top heavi- ness.86 Having solved diplomatic and transport problems the Livingstonia Expedition left London on May 21, 1875, the ILALA stowed in the hold of the WALMER CASTLE. The party's composition was mostly Scottish; the only Englishmen were Edward Young, the leader, and William Baker, Ordinary Seaman, R. N. Young was undoubtedly the one man in England, who, knowledgeable of Lake Malawi and its river approach, was at the same time qualified to lead the expedition.87 The Reverend Dr. Robert Laws, second in command, was the medical officer charged with keeping a daily journal, making scientific observations, and arranging for school, industrial, and general mission work. Other members included John McFadyen, first engi- neer and blacksmith; Allan Simpson, second engineer; George Johnston, carpenter; and Alexander Riddel, 86 Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia, p. 42. 87It is often presented as fact that James Stewart did not lead the expedition because of business at Lovedale and that Young was a substitute. However, a letter from Reverend Alexander Duff of the Foreign Missions' Committee to Stewart, June 3, 1875, ST 13/3/1 directs Stewart to wait at least one year before joining the mission. He and Young had argued, and on the advice of Reverend Waller and Captain Wilson, Duff and the Committee agreed that Young should lead the group. 138 agriculturalist. Henry Henderson was the Established Church observer.88 Young's salary of £350, higher by 550 than Laws', the religious head of the group, indi- cates the importance of an experienced leader and seaman.89 Besides the Europeans, several Africans, originally lib- erated from a Lake Malawi slave caravan, were added to the party at Cape Town. These men included: Lorenzo Johnston, sailor; Samuel Sambani, interpreter; Thomas Boquito, general servant; and Fred Zaroakuti, who served in a general capacity. The completed party boarded the German schooner HARAH and arrived at the Kongone mouth of the Zambezi on July 21, 1875.90 Crossing the bar into the Zambezi was the signal for the immediate reconstruction of the ILALA, as the Europeans feared the malarial climate of the swampy area. Completion of the task was delayed when the fastening bolts were found encrusted in rust. According to Young, replacement bolts, possibly an eighth of the required 88"Instructions to Lake Nyassa Mission Party from Foreign Missions' Committee of the Free Church, with Con- currence of Committee of Reformed Presbyterian Church," April, 1875, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7904, FCSP. 89Salaries and Allowances to Agents, 1875, Edin- burgh, NLS, MS 7914, FCSP. 90W. P. Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia, p. 47; The Kongone mouth is mentioned because there were several false openings which appeared to be mouths of the Zambezi. Of the navigable mouths, the Kongone was the best. 139 amount, had been sent,91 and this seemingly petty shortage could have terminated the expedition before it really got started. But with a great deal of hard work and frus- tration, the original bolts were cleaned and the ILALA was finally launched on Tuesday, August 3, 1875.92 By August 10 the expedition had started upriver, and by September 1875, the missionaries had arrived at Chibisa's on the Shire, where they were greeted by the Makololo chiefs, Ramakukan, Mlauri and others. "Thousands lined the banks clapping their hands, dancing and singing say- ing their Fathers the English had come back to them."93 The chiefs promised carriers, and the ILALA passed on to Katunga below the cataracts, where she was dismantled. Within ten days, nearly 800 carriers had trans- ported the ILALA sections around the cataracts to the foot of the Upper Shire. In describing the transport of the boiler, Young pointed out the difficulty of the whole process. The carriage of the boiler was a task I wished per- sonally to attend to. I had brought a pair of wheels and an axle-tree from the Cape, but I cannot describe the toil of dragging it amongst 91Eliza Young to Reverend Waller, October 6, 1875, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7870, FCSP. 92Laws to Mitchell, August 9, 1875, MS 7870; Laws to Reverend Stewart, August 8, 1875, Salisbury, NAR, ST l/l. 93Laws to Mitchell, September 22, 1875, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7876, FCSP. 140 huge boulders, and all the time ascending. It was a stern fight between flesh and muscle on one hand, and a ponderous mass of iron, heated by the sun's rays to a degree which made it impossible to lay a finger on at times. Had Livingstone and Young dismissed the idea of a Scotch cart and road, and thought in terms of porterage, the Zambezi Expedition would have put a steamer on the lake in 1863 and achieved Livingstone's goal. In the end, it was the combination of Yarrow's "piece small" technology, African stamina, and missionary zeal which accomplished the objective. Upon reaching the Upper Shire the Africans were dismissed, and the mission members rebuilt the ILALA for the last time. It appears that the vessel was relaunched in bolt—assembled condition rather than riveted,95 and plied the lake until 1900 in a state of construction usually reserved for trial trips. On October 6 the ILALA slid into the Shire powered by one boiler, and on Octo- ber 12, 1875 she traversed the bar into Lake Malawi, the first steamer to navigate any African lake. In the 94Young, N assa, p. 55; "The Zambesi Journal of James Stewart, Miss1onary, 1861-1863," [n.d.], Salisbury, NAR, ST 13/20. 95Robert Laws, Reminiscences of Livingstonia (Edinburgh: 1934), p. 14} Laws is the only primary source to Speak of riveting; unfortunately Young does not describe the reconstruction in N assa, and other sources agree it was maintained "bolt assembled.” The writer has been unable to locate letters which could support either version of reconstruction. 141 subsequent search for a mission site, the ILALA encoun- tered a dhow which Young hailed and boarded. He talked with the Zanzibari captain who spoke broken English, but saw no slaves.96 Young was impressed by the dhow's simple construction and considered that perhaps his compatriots might soon construct many such small vessels on the spot and engage in lawful trade.97 By October 17, the Nyassa Party had settled at Cape Maclear, Figure 16, where they constructed a single storied dwelling.98 The ILALA returned to the cataracts to pick up the remainder of the stores and visited Mponda's village on the Upper Shire, where the missionaries had met two Arabs and their slave caravan in early October. Mponda wished to sell ivory for goods; Young, in no position to establish trade relations, nevertheless recog- nized the necessity of a connection between Christianity and commerce. Here commerce will mean life, a population to preach to, a people to win. There will be an advantage in preserving people, order, and peace, 96 . ST 13/3/1. Wilson to Reverend Stewart, February 14, 1876, 97Young, Nyassa, pp. 71-72. 98Henry Henderson to Reverend MacRae Hawick, October 19, 1875 (entitled "East African Mission,” in The Edinbur h Courant, February 12, 1876) Edinburgh, NLS, MS 79 6 Newsclippings, FCSP. 142 where a chief can reckon on a market for his produce, whether iggbe guns, cotton, India-rubber, wax, or what not. A strong commercial start accompanying Christianity might have meant an earlier foothold for both and the desired abolition of the slave trade, a goal of the missionaries. Another goal of the expedition was exploration, and Young, Laws, Baker, McFadyen, Henderson, and Sam Sambani undertook the first of two circumnavigations of the lake, the route of which is illustrated in Figure 16. They left Cape Maclear on November 18, intent on finding a possible site for Henderson's Established Church, acquainting people with the purposes of the Free Church 100 In the Mission, and further exploring Lake Malawi. final analysis they achieved these objects and much more. The most immediate impact of the trip was seen in the apprehension apparent among the three major dhow owners on the lake. At Makanjira's on the south east lake coast, the party learned that five slave dhows operated on the lake. Anxious that the Africans should recognize the ILALA's superiority over the dhows, Young gave the chief's brother a short trip that he might 99Young, Nyassa, p. 77. 100E. D. Young to RGS, March 16, 1875, London, RGS Archives, Correspondence Files. There seems to be some discrepancy in the date of departure, for Young cites November 18 in his book N assa, and November 19 in his article "Recent Sojourn at Lake Nyassa." Robert Laws concurs with the latter. 143 qui°k1Y judge her capabilities.101 Further up the lake, the ILALA anchored at the Arab settlement of Losewa, the east coast depot for Nkhota Kota slave dhows. Though no slaves were seen, large quantities of beads and calico indicated trade prosperity. Young talked with a half- caste dhow owner, Saidi, who tried to open trade for his dhow, an attempt which Young attributed to Saidi's recog- nition that the lake slave trade might be shortly termi- nated. Saidi estimated that 10,000 slaves a year crossed the lake, via Mataka's town to Kilwa or alternatively by a northern path. Young noted a ”tacit understanding amongst the Arabs that the Ilala was the thin end of the wedge, and that sooner or later we mean to stop the traffic on this inland sea."102 The atmosphere was much the same at ”the largest native town," Nkhota Kota, midway down the western lakeshore. Here Dr. Laws saw fifty to sixty Arabs. It was obvious that most were from the seacoast and had told Jumbe of English activities at the coast, for Jumbe ultimately volunteered to cease transporting slaves as he "knew the English would burn any dhows caught in the act."103 101 Young, Nyassa, pp. 93-94; E. D. Young to RGS, February 19, 1876, Lon on, RGS Archives, MS Nyasaland 1876. 102Young, "Recent Sojourn,” 229. 103Young, N assa, p. 126; Laws to Reverend Stewart, April 1876, ST 13/3 . 144 Besides exciting the interest and apprehension of the dhow owners, the missionaries made several dis- coveries, the most important of which was that Lake Malawi extended to 9° 20’s. latitude, or one hundred miles further north than previously thought. Its northern end thus was closer to the southern end of Lake Tanzania, a fact which inspired hope for rapid steamer placement on the African lakes via Lake Malawi and the Zambezi-Shire route. Nevertheless, in an attempt to compensate for the long-standing tendency of cartographers to skew the head of the lake too far west, Young placed it too far east. The fact that a longitudinal reading could not be taken at the north end because the chronometers were damaged in travel, further complicated the matter.104 The mis- sionaries also discovered that the lake was exceedingly deep, with several soundings registering over 100 fathoms. On the basis of an African report, and their own obser- vation that no muddy water trailed into the lake at the north end, they assumed that a river, called the Rovuma, 105 flowed out of the lake. In fact, the river was the Rombashi, and it emptied into the lake, but because of a 104E. D. Young, ”Journey to the Northern End of Lake Nyassa," PRGS 20 (June 1876): 454; Young, Nyassa, pp. 111-120 105Young, "Recent Sojourn," 229, 231. 145 severe storm, the missionaries lost the chance to prove their conjecture. Richer in geographical knowledge and having tem- porarily frightened the slavers, the expedition returned to Cape Maclear on December 12, 1875. The journey led Laws to conclude that: This is just the country for catechists and native teachers, with men at our disposal we could set them down at the villages along the Lake coast and river banks to the extent of from 700 to 800 miles within reach of our steamer. This is taking Pamalombe into account as well as Nyassa and the Shire, and it is by no means overestimating its extent. But this plan was never to materialize under the Free Church of Scotland, for the ILALA was seldom available for such activities. In the years between 1875 and 1882, the ILALA sustained the existence of the missionary community. Provisioning trips occupied the missionaries, for they fed not only themselves, but the many Africans who were beginning to gather at Livingstonia. The mission journal and accounts book records several trips to various chiefs to purchase foodstuffs such as potatoes, fowls, fish, pigeons, maize, and cassava, for which calico was the . . 107 main item of exchange. However, when food was scarce, 106Laws to Reverend Hamilton MacGill, February 21, 1876, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7876, FCSP. 107Journal and Accounts of Cape Maclear, Decem- ber 29, 1876 and January 25, 1877 (November 1876-March 1880), Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7909, FCSP. 146 the missionaries were willing to trade just about any article they possessed. Besides provisioning trips, the ILALA travelled to the cataracts to bring up English stores, as well as medical supplies, tools and implements used in industrial training courses. When the missionaries had time to think beyond provisions, their major concern was the ILALA. Since the ILALA facilitated rapid communication, excellent care of the steamer was crucial to the morale of the mission. The missionaries therefore built a fifty-yard long slip- way in 1876 to permit repairs and painting. A block and tackle fixed to a tree enabled the ILALA to be drawn out of the water on improvised rollers.108 Although the lake water was not corrosive, the ILALA's hull condition was [of constant concern because her plates were only slightly more than one-sixteenth of an inch thick. Thus it is, that the Cape Maclear Journal relates a never-ending account of cleaning, drying, scraping, painting, over- hauling, patching, and repairing. The missionary's concern for the ILALA also extended to its crew. By 1877 several Africans had joined as sailors and stokers. Golinga, Sauna (Z), Jack and Fred Zaroakuti, four frequently mentioned ILALA 108Laws, Reminiscences, pp. 17-18; Had the slip- way not been taken apart far dock materials a year later by Young's indefatigable critic, the Reverend James Stewart, it could have been modified to permit the con- struction and repair of other missionary steamers. 147 crewmen, operated the mission boats well enough to take extended trips to buy food or descend the Shire to collect the mail.109 The ILALA held a fascination for the Africans as evidenced by the occasional stowaways found aboard. The steamer was also a meeting house where people from many parts of the lake could become acquainted.110 In this sense the ILALA served to initiate a socialization among peoples that had hitherto come only through the vehicle of the slave trade or perhaps as a result of Ngoni raids. Socialization was furthered when Africans returned from working in the south, for out of the com- parison of their goods and acquisitions displayed on the decks of the ILALA and later vessels, could well have come increased understanding of the tastes and values of the different lakeside groups. In addition, when steamers tied up for the night, men often went ashore to "make fires, cook food, and chat all night."111 The year 1876 was not only a year for developing the local resources of mission life; it was also a year 109Journal and Accounts of Maclear, January 1, April 12, and October 29, 1877; Reverend Stewart to Mina Stewart, July 22, 1877, ST l/l. 110Dr. William Black to Dr. Smith, March 3, 1877 and Laws to Reverend Thomas Main, January 5, 1879, Edin- burgh, NLS, MS 7876, FCSP. 111Helen Caddick, A_White Woman in Central Africa (London: 1900), pp. 26, 103. 148 to welcome new arrivals. In October a combined party of Free and Established Church missionaries arrived at the cataracts; by October 21 the former were installed at Cape Maclear and the latter had settled at a site later called Blantyre in the Shire Highlands. The Free Church reinforcements were the Reverend Dr. William Black, John Gunn (agriculturalist), Robert Ross (engineer and black- smith), and Archibald Miller (weaver); the Established Church sent Dr. Macklin (a medical man, though not a missionary) and five artisan missionaries, including John Buchanan, later an important planter. The Reverend Dr. James Stewart led the Free Church party and brought four of his Lovedale African evangelist teachers and artisans: William Koyi, Shadrach Ngunana, Isaac Wauchope, and Mapas Ntintili. Accompanying Stewart was H. B. Cot- terill, son of the Bishop of Edinburgh, who had come to ascertain trade prospects for the Livingstonia Committee, and W. B. Thelwall, artist and special correspondent for the Standard and Illustrated London News.112 Delay in the party's arrival at the cataracts had been caused by tariff problems at the coast. Cot- terill, who had been assured by Lisbon of a remission of 112Pretoria Evening Times, 23 June 1876, Salisbury, NAR, ST 13/3/1, Indexed News Articles; James Jack, 2217 break in Livingstonia (New York: 1900), pp. 84-85; ‘Report onFEreign Missions to the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland,” no. 8 (May 1877): Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7919, FCSP. 149 tariff for trade goods in transit, was requested to pay upwards of 20 percent duty by the Mozambique customs officials who maintained that Lake Malawi was Portuguese territory. Cotterill, therefore, left most of his goods at the coast. The English consular service in Lisbon feared the request on Cotterill's behalf would be used later by the Portuguese as evidence of their jurisdiction over Lake Malawi.113 An envious Stewart viewed Cotterill as the self-important embodiment of "Lord Derby and his free pass for duties,--and of Sir Bartle Frere--9 and resented the anticipated tariff privileges which he attributed to Cotterill's "big friend at home."114 Upon Stewart's arrival, Edward Young's job was finished, and he departed for England on November 2, 1876. Though later Stewart criticized nearly everything accom- plished by Young, his early opinion of the station was that, ”There would be no difficulty in making this place an excellent small town and certainly a good mission station as we can find villages a short distance off and 115 transit is easy by water." One rather believes his 113H. Jervoise to Earl of Derby, June 4, 1876, F.O. 84/1468; H. B. Cotterill to Derby, August 16 and August 23, 1876, F.O. 84/1468. 114Reverend Stewart to John Stephen, August 16, 1876, ST 13/3/1; Reverend Stewart to Mina, August 13, 1876, ST 1/1/1. 115Stewart to Mina, October 21, 1876, ST 1/1/1. 150 later plans for moving the mission were motivated as much by his open jealousy of Young as by his health concerns. However, Stewart was an extremely intelligent man, and when it came to what was best for the mission he could be a staunch advocate. He made a strong case for a store at the lake, pointing out that on May 20, 1877 the home committee's obligation to provide food for the missionaries would be terminated, and warning that the men could not survive solely on local produce. "The natives hitherto have grown for their own wants not for any market because hitherto there has been no market." Stewart suggested nonetheless that everything the Africans brought could be easily purchased and that: If we buy from them they become our friends. . . . it is also certain that the Arabs are doing all they can against us and if a report I heard yes- terday is true, they may give us some trouble. But if they (the Arabs) bring cloth to naked miserable people who are wearing bark about their loins in exchange for what these natives have-- and we bring them nothing that they can at present appreciate or understand they will side with the Arabs and not with us. . . . The sound theory of trade is that it benefits both parties.116 If a store was impossible, Stewart supported a company associated with the mission and financed with 52,000 or 116Reverend Stewart to Reverend Duff, December 4, 1876, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7876, FCSP. 151 117 53,000 raised by influential Glasgowegians. Thus would the Livingstonia Central Africa Company be born.118 Stewart further suggested such a company could assume the carriage trade between Quelimane and Nyassa with or without the use of the ILALA and relieve the mission of duties which interfered with its main purpose.119 He was undoubtedly spurred by news that a Mr. Zagary of Liverpool had obtained a thirty-year exclusive concession from the Portuguese for the carriage trade on the Zambezi- Shire.120 While Stewart was planning future mission-related commercial activities, Cotterill attempted transactions 1171bid. 118Although the idea of the Livingstonia Central Africa Company has often been attributed to Stewart, reference has already been made in this study to Dr. Liv- ingstone's desire for a legitimate trade which would not only eradicate the slave trade, but also "civilize" the people. Young also lent his voice to this wish, and in February of 1876, Stewart's brother-in-law, John Stephen, wrote Stewart about the trade discussions in the Liv- ingstonia Committee. The idea was to have a trading company to support the mission, buy ivory and other indigenous products, and supply African wants. Cotterill had volunteered to try the scheme, and James Stevenson, of the committee, offered monetary support. 119Reverend Stewart to Duff, April 16: 1377: MS 7876. FCSP- 120Reverend Stewart to Kirk, January 6, 1877, ST l/l; Jervoise to Derby, June 4, 1876, F. 0. 84/1468. 152 with Mponda and Makanjira on the eastern lakeshore, but could not overcome the Arab influence. Though willing to trade, Mponda "demanded . . . nearly twice the English value of the ivory," so Cotterill declined further trans- 121 actions. John Gunn commented that ten times as much had been offered for sale, but Cotterill did not have 122 On the west side of the lake Cot- enough exchange. terill fared better, purchasing "a few tusks at very moderate prices,” from Chiefs Mlenga (Marenga) and Tam- bala. Cotterill noted that the latter "seems most anxious to welcome the white man to his country, but will have nothing to do with Arabs or slavers.” In June 1877 Cot- terill, accompanied by the Blantyre men, Dr. Macklin and John Mackay (the boatman), sailed the little HERGA up the lake to assess further trading possibilities and scout the shore-line. At Nkhota Kota they met the new Jumbe, a sallow consumptive-looking man, the second having died sometime in the spring of 1877, and noticed that the red flag of Zanzibar flew over his house. Gunn had earlier commented on the flag, noting that it had been waved aloft by an Arab ”perched on the top of a hut” on the 121H. B. Cotterill, ed., Travels and Researches Among the Lakes and Mountains of Eastern and Central AfriCa’TLondon: 1879). p. 276. 122John Gunn's Diary, June 1877, MS 7906, News- clippings, FCSP. 153 occasion of an earlier ILALA trip on the lake.123 A severe storm further up the lake caused the men to aban- don the HERGA to the surf, and Cotterill lost trading goods, personal belongings, and his sextant and nautical tables, which prevented further recording of data for the Royal Geographical Society. He was able nonetheless to pursue some trade with Mankambira's brother, Chief Kan- goma, and obtained tusks weighing sixty-five, thirty, and ten pounds respectively and costing about three shil- lings a pound.124 Cotterill found many opportunities to trade on the lake, though they were widely scattered, but he also discovered that successful trade necessitated capital; a steamer which could withstand the lake storms rather than a sail boat; and contacts, which in his case had been acquired through his association with the mission. If the future prospects for trade seemed encourag- ing, there were other problems on the lake. When H. M. Consul Elton arrived from Mozambique in August 1877 on a journey through to Zanzibar, morale was low at Cape Maclear due to the deaths of Black and Ngunana. Elton posed several questions and Stewart responded that a larger missionary steamer was needed as well as a com- missioner with a steam launch and a small armed force to 123Ibid. 12411. B. Cotterill, "On the Nyassa and a Journey from the North End to Zanzibar," PRGS 22 (March 1878): 154 ”act in case of absolute necessity." The launch he urged in all haste, lest the Arabs and Africans read indif-l ference to the slave trade on the part of the Europeans. Kroomen, who would take regular English navy training, could form an intermediate link between Europeans and Africans, and serve as seamen or part of an armed force. Though Stewart believed in a show of strength, he really thought the slave trade could be suborned only by a com- bination of the "moral and material,” which, correctly applied, would allow the chiefs to be detached from the slave trade one by one. Trade, he considered, would divert the Africans from their East Coast orientation.125 In theory and practice, Stewart desired a concerted effort for commerce, Christianity, and government. Therefore, a second circumnavigation of the lake was undertaken: . . . to examine the North end of the Lake with the view to extension of Missionary and other work; to become acquainted with the Chiefs and the people on the shores of the Lake, and gather such information about that almost unknown region as might facilitate the objects of Civilization and Christianity.126 125"Replies to Questions Proposed by Captain Elton," August 23, 1877, ST l/l. 126Reverend Stewart, "On the Second Circumnavi- gation of Lake Nyassa with Notes of an Itinerary on Part of the Western Shore of that Lake," London, RGS Archives, Journal MSS Central Africa, 1879. 155 A secondary purpose was the conveyance of Elton and his party, accompanied by Cotterill, to the north end, where they could begin their journey to Kilwa and the Indian Ocean coast. The ILALA departed Cape Maclear on Monday, September 17, 1877, carrying twenty-eight persons plus fuel, baggage, tents, provisions, and cargo.127 On the third day out, the ILALA ran into a severe storm. Stewart's description indicates the difficulties which could face a small steamer and its crew on the lake: Three hours after sunset a gale from the south burst upon us with considerable fury. The ship began to drag both anchors even though one of them was a very .heavy one, suitable for a much larger vessel. The sea came tumbling in upon us with heavy thuds and very shortly we had astern of us a stretch of grey rock, over which white breakers were now flying in huge masses. . . . Every few minutes was decreasing the short distance that lay between us and destruc- tion. Though loathe to lose them, we slipt both anchors and put out to sea, for our own lives and that of our little ship. We had much difficulty even under sail and steam to get out of a very dan- gerous position, but we held on through a wild night of strong and confused sea, and got into Kota-Kota harbour next day at two in the afternoon, all pretty well worn out.1 3 Besides learning that Lake Malawi storms were dangerous, the missionaries made the acquaintance of several chiefs. Though Nkhota-Kota was the largest slave port on the lake, the missionaries found Jumbe very friendly. His men helped retrieve the lost anchors, and two of his dhows guided the ILALA across the lake 127Ibid. lzsIbid. 156 to the east coast port of Losewa. Here they met a second lakeside chief, Kitepete, an oldish man dressed as an Arab. Kitepete was neither concerned with the objectives of the English nor interested in trade. Elton thought the eastern slaving port respectable enough, but Stewart, less impressed, saw ”desolation dirt and decay,” and considered its "glories and prosperity" to be in the past.129 Further up the lake the missionaries stopped at Likoma Island and Elton had an interview with Chiteji on the mainland opposite. Elton described him as a "fine big speciman of a Nyassa" who was "sharp, clever, cautious, caustic, and respected by his people." Elton was happy with the interview, as Chiteji, in front of his assembled people, invited the British to live near him and use Likoma as a center.130 Stewart appears to have been most impressed with Mankambira, whom he regarded as "the most considerable man on the upper half of the western side of Lake Nyassa.” Nearly 3,000 of the chief's people assembled to see the steamer come in, and Mankambira's friendliness was demonstrated when he sent off a canoe laden with bananas and pombe (beer). The missionaries 129Cotterill, Travels and Researches, p. 299; Stewart, "Second Circumnavigation"; Rebert Laws, ”1878 Almanack," September 23, 1877, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Uni- versity Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts, 561/8, Laws Papers. 13oReverend Stewart, ”Second Circumnavigation”; Cotterill, Travels and Researches, p. 303. 157 found the chief to be a tall, spare man of nearly seventy, who was quiet, dignified, and anxious to have any mankwala (medicine) to destroy his enemies, the Maviti (Ngoni).131 With the exception of Kitepete at Losewa, the chiefs were friendly and hospitable, and some even were anxious to have the missionaries settle near by. However, missionary work could not be extended without the identification of harbors suitable as night and storm anchorages, particularly along the west coast and this was another object of the trip. Lake Chia on the west coast, and Losewa, Figure 16, on the east, proved disappointing as both had bars barely navigable by the ILALA, though she would have been well protected inside. Florence Bay, at the foot of Mount Waller, while large and protected from the south and southwest winds, was exposed to winds from the east. About sixty miles south of Florence Bay, the missionaries found small bays with fairly good anchorage, which they named Double Bay, probably today's Nkata Bay. But their most important harbor discoveries were the Kambwe Lagoon, in which Stewart thought a vessel might lie safely in any weather, and the Rombashi River at the north end of the lake. This river, believed previously to be an outlet, was found to run into the lake, and was the most northern harbor yet discovered. Given these two discoveries, plus 131Stewart, ”Second circumnavigation." 158 knowledge of the intermediate harbors on the west coast, Stewart concluded that a steamer might navigate the length of the lake in forty-five to fifty hours rather than the ten days or two weeks necessary when the shoreline was unknown.132 Having improved their knowledge of the lake and the lakeside inhabitants, the missionaries had only to set Consul Elton on his journey to the coast. The ILALA steamed two miles up the Rombashi and lay anchored there ten days. The Africans evacuated their village and drove their cattle off into the high grass, a behavior Stewart found unremarkable, for never had “so strange looking an object as the small steamer Ilala ever come sailing up their quiet river--almost to their doors.” However, friendliness prevailed for the first eight days, and the chief, whose men were warriors, procured porters for Elton's trip. Though the loads were reduced from sixty to twenty pounds, all but nine men deserted on the second day. The missionaries held the headmen prisoner to obtain more carriers, and having sent back several loads of pro- visions, Elton departed on October 17 for the Zanzibar coast. On October 21 the ILALA party went south, 132Ibid.; Lake N assa Pilot or Sailing Instruc- tions, Hydrographic Branch of the Federal Department of Trigonometrical and Topographical Surveys, Zomba Federal Government Printer [n.d.], P. 100. 159 exPloring harbors as it returned to Cape Maclear.133 When the missionaries arrived at Cape Maclear two days short of two months, they found that their colleagues and the public in England feared the ILALA lost and those in Africa had mounted a search for her.134 In December 1877, shortly after his return, the Reverend James Stewart, strongly advocated relocating the station, and between August and November 1878, Laws and Stewart, C.E. explored the western lake shore but 135 Laws recommended without finding a satisfactory site. a delay of another year, remarking that "nowhere have [we] found the happy combination of climate, soil, water etc. which makes Blantyre, or any of a dozen places in its vicinity so admirably fitted to be a centre of Christi- 136 anity, commerce and civilization.” Nevertheless, 133Reverend Stewart, ”Second Circumnavigation"; Reverend Stewart to Duff, October 20, 1877, ST 1/1. 134Journal and Accounts of Maclear, October 17, 23, 25, and November 15, 1877, MS 7909, FCSP. 135Shortly thereafter he left for his mission of Lovedale in South Africa; Reverend Stewart's cousin, who had joined the mission in 1876, had been a civil engineer on the Surhind Canal in India, and had left that work when he decided to join the mission on a rest visit to Africa. 136Reverend Robert Laws and James Stewart, C.E., “Report on a Journey on the Western Coast of Lake Nyassa," London, RGS Archives, Journal MS Central Africa, 1879, 63. 160 at the end of 1878 the missionaries occupied observation posts on the shore at Bandawe and in the hills above Nkhata Bay. Besides the concern with a new station site, 1878 to 1881 was a period of lake exploration. James Stewart was frequently aboard the ILALA trying to complete his harbors survey. By 1881 he could name ten good havens on the western shore and three anchorages in the east. He said that increased knowledge and experience of Lake Malawi had reduced what was a six-week circumnavigation to three weeks or a fortnight. Stewart published increasingly detailed maps of the lake in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society in 1879, 1880, and again in 1881.137 1 Under Stewart, C.E. geographical exploration received a tremendous thrust, but exploration was only one facet of the ILALA's work between 1879 and 1882. Elton had viewed the steamer as too much additional responsibility for Laws and Reverend Stewart. Said Elton, ”It is not legitimate work and prevents him [Stewart] from concentrating his attention and care 138 upon subjects of higher importance. Surely Cotterill 137James Stewart, C.E. ”Lake Nyassa and the Water Route to the Lake Region of Africa,” PRGS, N.S. 3 (1881): 258. 138Cotterill, Travels and Researches, p. 307. 161 reported this statement to the Livingstonia Committee, for in late 1878, a complete crew (George Benzie, master; Bruce Reid, seaman; J. Paterson, engineer) arrived to run the ILALA and relieve Laws and his colleagues of what had become a major responsibility. When Benzie died in 1881, he was succeeded by George Fairley. Under these men the ILALA became a great aid to John and Fred Moir, two Scots- men who had left road building on the East African Coast to supervise the beginnings of the Livingstonia Trading Company on the Zambezi-Shire.139 Between 1880 and 1882, the ILALA carried the Moir brothers as often as it carried the missionaries. In fact, the boat's status, vis a vis the mission during those two years was sometimes confusing. In 1879 John Moir already knew the Foreign Missions' Committee's plans for a working relationship between the trading company and the mission, but Robert Laws, now mission head, had 140 not been informed. Finally, a shared time arrangement was developed and by 1882 the Livingstonia Central Africa 139Minutes of the Foreign Missions' Committee, November 15, 1881, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7915, FCSP. 140Laws to Main, January 5, 1879, MS 7876, FCSP. 162 Company had taken over the ILALA.141 With its transfer the era of commerce really began. It had a slow start, but the cooperation between Christianity and commerce would have important consequences for Malawi. Christi- anity had laid the groundwork. Commerce would establish and develop its economic network on the basis of mission relationships with the people at the lake. Although Laws and the Free Church were unable to have a floating mis- sion station on the lake, it was their activities which between 1875 and 1882 enabled the successful achievement of everything which followed. 141Memorandum of Agreement between the Living- stonia Mission Sub-Committee of the Free Church of Scot- land of the First part and the African Lakes Company, Limited of the Second part, March 1, 1882, MS 7872, FCSP; Laws, Diary, March 20, 1882, 561/2, Laws Papers. Of Lake Nyassa I shall say nothing, further than to ask the question whether the African Lakes Company could have kept going so long if they had not had the transporting of persons and goods of the mis- sionaries established there, and been able to col- lect some ivory? If they had had to depend solely on the vegetable or mineral productions of the country, could they have run the Company a single year without an immense loss? I think I am right in saying that they could not, even though they have had very insignificant physical difficulties to overcome. Joseph Thomson, ”East Central Africa, and Its Commercial Outlook," Scottish GeOgraphical Magazine 8 (February A few years ago every tusk of ivory shipped from any port on the East African Coast had probably cost the lives of 20 or 25 men and women to fetch it from the interior. Now a line of trading posts is estab- lished from the mouths of the Zambesi to the head of Tanganyika, and the old deadly way is itself dying out. It was not the colonising instincts of the British race nor the commercial enterprise of the English people that started this trade, but a band of Christian merchants who had not thought of gain, but determined to slay the deadly slave traffic by underselling it. Reverend A. G. MacAlpine Papers, Lectures, Articles, etc. quoting T. M. Lindsay's tribute to F. Moir, "College Addresses and Sermons,” Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh Libragy, Rare Books and Manuscripts, 766/2 163 CHAPTER IV THE EFFECTS OF COMMERCIAL TRANSPORT IN MALAWI 1875-1914 Steamer transport was a major factor in Malawian history. Without it the discovery and growth of the land- locked country would undoubtedly have been delayed. Through the medium of the shallow draft steamer, trade gained an early, albeit small, foothold on the Shire River and Lake Malawi. Commercial development is pri- marily the story of the prominent African Lakes Corpor- ation (hereafter ALC), organized in 1878; however, other transport and trading companies, such as Sharrer's Zam- bezi Traffic Company and the African International Flo- tilla Company also contributed to growth in the 18903 and early 19003.1 1For an excellent overall analysis of the African Lakes Corporation, see Hugh Macmillan, ”The Origins and Development of the African Lakes Company, 1878-1908" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Edinburgh, 1970). Begun in 1878 as the Livingstonia Central Africa Co. in 1881 the company became The African Lakes Company. In 1893 it became The African Lakes Corporation. 164 165 It is not the intention of this writer to offer an in-depth study of the transport companies in order to demonstrate their contributions to Malawi and its peoples. Still, a short history of the early efforts of the ALC provides the background necessary for an analysis of the impact which this trading company specifically, and other commercial companies in general, made on the country and its inhabitants. David Livingstone originally proposed legitimate trade in the Malawi area and believed that-- It is highly probable that a small steamer on the Shire and Lake Nyassa would, through the influence of the English name, prevent slave-parties from passing the fords, and goods could be furnished to the native traders at Lake Nyassa as cheap as they can get them on the east coast, which involves a month's journey farther. By purchasing cotton from the people on the banks of the lakes, and ivory from the traders who annually come past in great numbers from their tribes far in the west, there is a high degree of probability that we could cut up the slave-trade by a high district at its source. However, it was the Livingstonia Committee in Glasgow and Dr. James Stewart in Africa who conceived the actual workings of a new trading enterprise.3 The Livingstonia Central Africa Company, with a 520,000 working capital, originated in Glasgow on 2"Extracts from Despatches of Dr. David Liv- ingstone," JRGS 31 (1861): 278. 3Reverend James Stewart to Reverend Alexander Duff, December 4, 1876 and April 16, 1877, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7876, FCSP. 166 July 21, 1875. Prominent men, including Mr. James Steven- son (merchant, geographer, and later, author), Mr. John Stephen (shipbuilder), and Mr. James Young (chemist), composed its board of directors.4 John and Fred Moir, two brothers hired as managers, were directed to super- intend . . . navigation from Quilimane to Livingstonia . . [a] branch line to Tete, the circumnavigation of Lake Nyassa; and any other lines of communi- cation. . . . They should also carry on traffic with the natives, establish depots . . . and con- duct traffic during the circumnavigation. For their part, the Moirs sought also: 1. To discover the best method of utilizing the river and Lake route. 2. To establish a regular mail and goods transport service to Lake Nyassa and beyond. 3. To get into touch and make friends with the natives. 4. To foster the production and sale of commodities which would pay for transport. 5. To induce the natives to engage themselves for paid employment.6 To implement such objectives with a capital of 520,000 appeared difficult, but the mission c00perated, viewing the company as "working in different forms towards the same object.” It leased the ILALA to the company for 4ALC Minutes, July 9, 15, 26, 1878, Edinburgh, African Lakes Corporation. 5Ibid., July 9, 1878. 6Fred Moir, After Livingstone: An African Trade Romance (London: 1924), p. 17. 167 a period not to exceed six months in a year, and agreed to sell the mission's new river steamer, LADY NYASSA.7 The ALC also hired an engineer, Robert Henderson, and two sailors, William Reid and Robert Dent, for terms of five years.8 With the capital raised, a crew employed, and the means of transport a certainty, the Moirs arrived at Que- limane in September 1878. Though they launched the LADY by October 1878, they were unable to use her until March 1879, when the Balambwanda channel flooded enough to allow navigation from the KwaKwa river into the Zambezi. Even so, floating islands of vegetation carried by the fast flowing Zambezi burst the LADY's rivets, and she was 9 beached for a complete overhaul. Although the work was successful, the LADY's hull was eroded by the corrosive Zambezi waters, and she sank in the river in October 10 1880. During the year it took to make the paddle steamer seaworthy again, canoes and carriers transported 7ALC Minutes, July 15, 26, 1878. 8ALC Minutes, July 9, 1878. 9Moir, After Livingstone, pp. 30-31. 10ALC Minutes, February 23, 1880; Reverend Robert Laws to Reverend Stewart, October 14, November 4, 1880, Salisbury, NAR, ST 13/3/1. 168 goods up country and around the lake.11 The problems of the LADY in 1880-1881 were the problems of the MA ROBERT in 1859-60 and were, of course, the same difficulties suffered by all transport companies which operated on the Zambezi-Shire. Because of these difficulties, goods from Britain arrived irregularly in 1880 and the company ordered its managers to focus on lake trade and establish stations along the communications' routes, rather than to concen- trate on a Lower Shire export trade. But by 1884 freight demands had expanded and the ALC carried for the Liv- ingstonia and Blantyre Missions, the UMCA Mission on Likoma Island, and the London Missionary Society on Lake Tanganyika. It also offered transport rates to the Belgian Association.12 In response to demand, the JAMES STEVENSON, capable of carrying nearly ten times the cargo of the LADY, travelling at a greater speed, and providing passenger accommodation, was launched on the Zambezi in 1887.13 11John Moir to Miss E. Tod, July 6, 1881, Shep- person Collection, as quoted in Macmillan, ”Origins and Development,” 117. 12ALC Minutes, March 15, 1880 and March 27, 1884; Fred Moir to Reverend Stewart, January 14, 1880, ST 13/3/1. l3ALc Minutes, August 9, 1887. 169 While the company developed its transport system below the cataracts, the Moirs used the ILALA to estab- lish stations and trade contacts on the lake and Upper Shire. The ALC shared the ILALA with the Livingstonia Mission between 1878 and 1882, renting it on a monthly basis but stipulating that the steamer must not be absent from the mission for more than two months at a time and must carry the mission's goods. In March 1882, shortly after the Livingstonia Company became the ALC, the company purchased the ILALA for £400. The ALC agreed to run the steamer from Matope, its Upper Shire station, to Bandawe (new home of the Livingstonia mission in 1881), ”at least once each way every two months," except in case of war or mechanical breakdown. Addi- tionally, the company carried mission mail, freight, and passengers and allowed the mission use of the steamer when it was not employed. The two parties agreed to share the ILALA's working expenses, including interest, ordinary repairs, insurance, and the usual depreciation, for which an accounting system was organized.14 Though the accord apparently sought to eliminate one of the mission's worrisome responsibilities, it seems to have created a more time-consuming occupation for 14Memorandum of Agreement between the Livingstonia Mission Sub-Committee of the Free Church of Scotland of the First part and the African Lakes Company, Limited of the Second part, March 1, 1882, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7872, FCSP. 170 Dr. Laws, as the arrangement necessitated copious record keeping. The financial papers of the mission from 1886 to 1889 are replete with Laws' requests to the ALC for more detailed accounts rendered quarterly as agreed, rather than vague accounts provided yearly and also late! Laws also expressed dissatisfaction that mission goods were delayed and frequently pilfered, while Moir com- plained that mission freight was given first priority, thus hampering efficient transport for paying customers and subsequently reducing ALC profits.15 It may have been a blessing that the agreement was valid for only five years. Hindered by the dual arrangement, the company developed trade slowly. The major commodity which pro- mised immediate profit was ivory, a high value, low bulk, item. Joseph Thomson, who assumed command of the Royal Geographical Society's East African Expedition after the death of its leader in 1878, saw in his travels "no single item except ivory which it would pay to bring down from the interior."16 Apparently the Moirs agreed. 15Accounts and Financial Papers, 1886-1889, Edin- burgh, NLS, MS 7914, FCSP; Reverend A. Elmslie to Robert Laws, February 9 and March 14, 1887, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7890, FCSP; Reverend William Scott, November 19, 1883 and November 7, 1885, Private Journal 1883-1885, Shepperson Collection. 16Joseph Thomson, To the Central African Lakes, vol. 2 (London: 1881), p. 281. 171 In January 1880 John Moir reported having obtained 4500 lbs. in the past season, 1500 of which came from elephants they had shot themselves.17 Victor Giraud, on an expe- dition to the lake between 1883 and 1885, observed that the ALC ”confines itself to buying ivory, which, abundant in principle, is beginning to become rare." He noted that a British naval lieutenant named Pulley was a major source of ivory for the company, but mentioned that some Africans who had been supplied with rifles delivered their ivory to the ALC in exchange for powder.18 The traders who seemed to have the most ivory were the half-caste Arabs like Mlozi at the north-end of the lake and Jumbe at Nkhota Kota, who reportedly knew 'to a rupee the latest price of ivory at Zanzibar.”19 Since slaves were easily obtainable at the lake and guns and powder were not at first forthcoming from the Euro- peans, the Arabs preferred to transport their goods to the coast to exchange not only for trade goods and money, 17John Moir to Reverend Stewart, January 2, 1880, ST 13/3/1. 18Victor Giraud, Les Lacs de l'Afri ue Equatoriale: vo a e d'ex loration exécutE de 1883-1885 (Paris: 1890), p. 531; E. D. Young, N assa; A Journal Of Adventures 19Moir, After Livingstone, p. 43; "Extracts from the Diary and Letters of Peter Moore, II," Ni 12 (1958): 66. 172 but also for weapons and munitions necessary to continue hunting. As it became apparent that the only way to obtain north-end ivory was in exchange for powder the ALC began to provide it. When the trade agreement proved to be of mutual advantage, trust soon grew, and by 1883 the ILALA carried Arab ivory from Karonga to the south. Fred Moir told of securing "fair quantities" of ivory from the half-castes who found the Europeans scrupulously honest in weighing the tusks and generous in payment.20 Fred Morrison, ALC engineer for the ILALA between 1882 and 1886, often mentioned ivory purchases, particularly from Jumbe; in 1885 he related how the latter had sold fifty lbs. of ivory on credit, and the next year presented a seventy-seven lb. tusk to pay an ALC bill worth fifty lbs. in ivory, thus extending the company another twenty- seven lbs. worth of credit.21 Jumbe obviously trusted the company, for during this period ivory could command from six to fourteen shillings a pound, depending on its 20James Stewart, C.E. to James Stevenson, July 2, 1883, PRGS, N.S. 5 (1883): 689; Moir, After Livingstone, p. 43. 21Fred Morrison diaries, November 24, 1882, Gen 1803; July 6, September 18, December 8, 1885 Gen 1806; February 18, 1886 Gen 1808; January 10, 1887 Gen 1809, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts, E 71/36. 173 quality.22 Jumbe also told Morrison that if the ALC would bring a steamer-load of cloth, he would have enough ivory to purchase it.23 Ivory was definitely the ALC's major trade item in the 18803. Without ivory as an economic base, the company could not have maintained its river and lake routes as well as it did. As Fred Moir wrote: All this ivory went without deduction to the credit of the Company. Indeed, in these early days, when we were so heavily handicapped in our transport work by the deterioration of the steel hull of our first steamer, the large sums realized for ivory did much to keep the Company in funds, and so enable it to carry on the work for which it had been founded.24 Indeed, this statement should not be taken lightly, for it was the basis for an often recorded complaint against the company during this period: "Shooting elephants is not a civilizing agency and that is the main inducement we present to the natives by our style of trading.u25 22Reverend David Scott to Reverend James Robertson, December 1881, Edinburgh, EUL, RBM, Gen 717/10; Giraud, Lacs Equatoriale, p. 541. 23Morrison, September 19, 1885, Gen 1806. 24Moir, After Livinggtone, p. 110; Joseph Thomson, "East Central Africa and Its Commercial Outlook,” SGM 2 (February 1886): 75-76. 2SWilliam McEwan, Observation Files No. 27, 1884-85, London, RGS Archives. 174 Though ivory was a source of financial stability, the amount of time needed to gather and ship it inter- fered with the ALC's transport job for the Livingstonia Mission. Moreover, the ILALA's small cargo capacity limited despatch of outgoing ivory and incoming calico. Steamers were nonetheless a great improvement over the dhow and canoe. Modern vessels could carry large amounts of trade goods over longer distances in shorter periods of time. Moreover, when the wind failed or rowers tired, the steamer kept going. By 1887, just prior to the war with the north-end Arabs, the ALC had organized a strong, though small, trade and carriage system. In 1882 the company erected its headquarters at Mandala near Blantyre, and as its transport network grew, stations were established from the Zambezi to Lake Tan- ganyika.26 Maruru, the Zambezi station purchased in 1882, was the southernmost terminus, where goods and passengers met the LADY for the trip up river.27 Karonga, the northernmost lake station, formally established by the ALC's Monteith Fotheringham in 1884, served mainly as a collection point for ivory.28 26Moir, After Livingstone, p. 48. 27Fred Moir, ”Eastern Route to Central Africa," SGM 1 (April 1885): 97. 28L. Monteith Fotheringham, Adventures in Nyasa- land (London: 1891), p. 12. 175 By 1886 twelve trading depots existed on the lake and river. Twenty Europeans and a "large staff of more or less trained natives” worked for the company.29 Between 1878 and 1887 the ALC was the sole trans- port agent serving the missionaries near Lake Malawi. Because of demands made upon it, however, the very same actions which won it praise often won it blame. The carriage of the London Missionary Society steamer, GOOD NEWS, from Quelimane to Karonga, and thence by headload across the Tanganyika plateau, was a feat to be admired, but at the same time, the necessity of superintending such a large consignment of material over several hundred miles obviously interfered with the ALC's distribution ability; goods for the Livingstonia and UMCA missions were delayed, prompting frequent complaints that the ALC's cargo capacity was insufficient and the organization inefficient.30 The declaration of a British protectorate over the Shire Highlands and the Makololo in September 1889, and the addition of the lands adjoining Lake Malawi in 29ALC, Issue of Additional Capital 1886. 30Morrison, September 12, 1884, Gen 1806; Reverend Elmslie to Reverend Laws, March 14, 1887, MS 7890, FCSP; Reverend Horace Waller to Mr. Penney, January 9, 1886, London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Archives A4 IV (i); ALC Minutes, March 4, 1886, August 9, 1887. 176 1891, attracted a small influx of European settlers and planters.31 Their needs, plus the growing demands of the expanding missions, the transit requirements of the Bel- gians to the west of the lake and the Germans to the north further compounded the transport problems. Such demands encouraged the ALC greatly to develop its capabilities and attracted other transport companies to the area, all of which brought a corresponding increase in the number of steamers. Eugene Sharrer, who had begun trading goods by canoe on the Shire in 1888, started Sharrer's Zambezi Traffic Company (hereafter SZTC) in 1891.32 In 1902 Sharrer's was merged with the British Central Africa Company (hereafter BCAC), a new company which would build and run a railway.33 The African International Flotilla and Transport Company began operations in 1892, and in 1896 purchased the Oceana Company's floating plant. Only in 1898, however, did Oceana absorb Flotilla, and, 31Accounts and Papers, 1890 LI [C 5904], pp. 167, 170, 172, 174; John Buchanan to Lord Salisbury, October 7, 1889 F0 84/1942. 32g§ntral African Times (CAT), 12 February 1898; John Moir, Report to the ALC Iabout 1890], Courtesy Mr. Alistair Scott, Edinburgh, ALC. 33Alan Kidney to ALC Directors, September 2, 1902 Glasgow Letterbooks (GL), Courtesy of Mr. J. V. Raynes, Blantyre, Malawi. 177 operating under German auspices as the Flotilla Company, offer transport to the northern end of Lake Malawi.34 By 1901 it extended service across the plateau to Lake Tan— ganyika and operated in conjunction with the German Gov- ernment steamer, the HERMANN VON WISSMANN, on Lake Malawi.35 With the merging of Sharrers and the BCAC and the nearly equal division of transport business between the new company and the ALC, the Flotilla Company withdrew all its land and water depots north of Cape Maclear, with the exception of the Kambwe Lagoon, in 1902.36 The Germans meanwhile made plans to organize the Central African Lakes Company.37 Finally, in 1900 the newly formed British Central Africa Transit Company absorbed the African Mission Traffic Company, and after approximately a year's operations was itself purchased by the ALC.38 34Central African Planter (CAP), July 1896; CAT, 2 April 1898. 35CAT, 13 May 1898, 22 July, 16 December 1899, 13 April 1901; Excerpt from Planter's Gazette [n.d.], enclosure in Alfred Sharpe to F.O., April 14, 1898, F.O. 2/147. 36Duncan Beaton to ALC Directors, September 29, 1902, GL. 37 CAT, 24 May 1902. 38 Ibid., 23 September 1899, 1 March 1902. 178 Besides these commercial competitors, two mis— sions operated their own steamers on the Shire-Zambezi for a short time and carried goods for the companies.39 With the superfluity of transport companies it is no small wonder that the local newspaper commented, ”The river tran3port could scarcely be improved."40 What impact did such a seemingly well-organized transport network have on Malawi? To determine this, it is necessary to look at the negative and affirmative con- tributions made to Malawi's various communities: African, half-caste Arab, Portuguese, and British. The company and Africans affected each other in four major areas: trade, jobs, Christianity, and the politics of socialization. Some of the influences were readily apparent; others were more subtle and must be explored. The value of trade calico, for instance, lay in its desirability to the African as clothes, and in the wealth which its use exemplified. African barkcloth 39The Church of Scotland (Blantyre) ran the HENRY HENDERSON, named after its first missionary, between 1893 and 1900. The paddle steamer was sometimes referred to as the PIOUS PADDLER. The Zambezi Industrial Mission also ran a steamer on the river, GLAD TIDINGS, in 1895. These mission steamers primarily transported mission goods, but often carried freight for others. The HENDER- SON often took piece work from the large transport com- panies. 4OCAT, 8 December 1900. 179 was unquestionably stronger, more water-resistant, and offered more protection than cotton. But, if softness and color were desirable, then cotton was in demand. It will be remembered that in 1875, Young paid the porters six yards of calico for the four days it took to carry the ILALA around the cataracts.41 A few years later, Dr. Laws bought a small tusk'of ivory with four fathoms 42 of calico. The fabric was also used as payment for men who crewed the ILALA and could be exchanged for food.43 Moreover, a yard of calico brought a yard of steamer firewood.44 Cloth therefore was the major barter item carried by the ILALA and served as the company's profit- able money.45 Another important item of trade, salt, at first was not viewed by Europeans as a lucrative commodity. 41E. D. Young, "On a Recent Sojourn at Lake Nyassa, Central Africa," PRGS 21 (February 1877): 225. 42Reverend Laws, Diary October 19, 1877, Edin- burgh, EUL, RBM, 561/8. ' 43Journal and Accounts of Cape Maclear, January 1, 1877, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7909, FCSP; Accounts and Finan- cial Papers, Ilala Working Expenses 1886, MS 7914, FCSP. 44Morrison, June 19, 1882, Gen 1803. 45Fred Moir to Reverend Laws, September 6, 1887, MS 7914, FCSP; J. Moir, Report to the ALC; Reverend Laws, Shipping Documents 1875, 562/1; Journals and Accounts of Cape Maclear, October 9, 1878, MS 7909, FCSP. 180 Instead its carriage was rendered as a public service by the ILALA. Morrison wrote that people came to Mponda's from ”all quarters” because the salt was abundant and of a good quality.46 The Yao chief charged about a penny a pound, and his salt was much in demand by both Europeans and Africans.47 After a short time, Morrison recognized its value as an exchange item for firewood; he thus bar- tered salt for wood at Ruwarwe Bay and Nkata Bay at the north end of the lake; with Chiteji's people on the east shore across from the UMCA; and at Bandawe, with the Atonga who suffered from body ulcers, presumably because they could not obtain enough of it.48 Morrison con- sidered the wood at Bandawe inexpensive because he could buy twenty-four hours of steaming for eighteen lbs. of salt, but in October 1885 the Bandawe Atonga refused wood to the ILALA because the missionaries would not help them fight the Angoni. Morrison, in one of his rare angry moments, commented, ”It will be a long time before I buy any more wood from them at least untill [gig] they find out that they need my salt as much if not more so 46Morrison, March 1, 1884, Gen 1804. 47Ibid., December 5, 1884, Gen 1806. 48Ibid., March 1, 1883, Gen 1804; May 25, August 25, October 29, 1885, Gen 1806; Reverend W. Scott, August 1, 1884, Private Journal. 181 than I need their wood."49 The salt business was obviously a two-way proposition. W. P. Johnson, UMCA missionary, mentioned African efforts to bring salt from the south to Chiteji's by dhow, despite countervailing winds.50 Though the winds were often a deterrent to the dhow trade, it is unlikely that the steamer reduced the demand for salt or other goods carried in native dhows and canoes. The steamer may have introduced a slight element of competition for any coast- ing dhows running salt between Mponda's and Chiteji's. Yet, once the dhow captains realized that the ILALA was not a gunboat, they moved freely about the lake and Morrison noticed them frequently trading for food in various ports where the ILALA stopped.51 Another trading item, the value of which appeared slight, was soap. It did not appear to be a coveted trade item in the late 18703 and early 18803, though the proof is scanty. It showed up on an ILALA provision list in January 1877, but it is unclear whether it was a ship's store or intended for trade, and it was not included in 49 Gen 1806. Morrison, December S, 1884, October 21, 1885, 50W. P. Johnson, "Seven Years' Travels in the Region East of Lake Nyassa,” PRGS, N.S. 6 (1884): 514. 51Morrison, February 13, 1883, Gen 1804. 182 52 Moir, a list of presents intended for Chief Makanjira. noting that soap and sponges were unknown, commended the African substitute. They cut a flat disc of wood 4 inches in diameter and about 2 inches thick, leaving a long handle. They thoroughly char in the fire one side of the disc, and as they bathe they scrub their skins with this charcoal--quite scientifically sanitary!53 Though Moir made this observation in 1885, the very next year the ALC made public its proposal to produce soap and candles for sale to Africans and Arabs.54 At the lake the company already rendered elephant fat and oil seeds into substances suitable for cooking and for lubricating the ILALA.55 Why did it now propose to broaden its ser- vices to soap making? First, soap and candles were satisfactory items of exchange for groundnuts, which thus far it had not paid the company to export, and second, the chiefs requested soap. Around 1885, Jumbe twice wrote Dr. Laws 52Journal and Accounts of Cape Maclear, January 1, 1877, MS 7909, FCSP. 53Moir, "Eastern Route," 99. 54ALC Issue of Additional Capital, 1886; "The African Lakes Company,” Central Africa (95) 5 (January 1887): 13. 55ALC Issue of Additional Capital 1886; Morrison, September 21, 1884, Gen 1806. 183 asking for soap, 'koma dapepa sop."56 In 1887 the UMCA missionaries reported that while on a visit to Makanjira's, the chief continuously requested soap and paint.57 But not only the chiefs wanted soap, for when pilferage occurred during ILALA transport, soap disappeared.58 In 1905, soap, salt, cloth, and beads were still alterna- tives to cash at Likoma and some lakeside villages.59 The demand for salt preceded the coming of the ALC. Was soap a different matter? Perhaps Jumbe brought soap with him when he arrived at the lake. Makanjira could have obtained it from coast caravans. The reali- zation that it was a desirable product seems to have grown over time; it was at this juncture that the ALC decided to step in and capitalize on its possibilities. Regarding the African and the Arab, the manufacture of soap undoubtedly came under the heading of service rather than profit and constituted one of those "benefits of 56Jumbe to Reverend Laws and Mr. Mandala (John Moir), Transcript of two letters in ciNyanja. Shepperson Collection. Shepperson suggests a date of 1885, and cer- tainly between 1880 and 1890. 57"The Bishop's Diary,” 95.5 (January 1887): 7. 58Reverend Laws to the ALC, May 13, 1887, MS 7914, FCSP; see also Horace Waller, The Title-Deeds to Nyassa-Land (London: 1887), p. 29. 59"Stores," LDQP 8 (July 1905): 208. 184 civilization” which supposedly accompanied commerce. It is difficult to judge whether some greater effect resulted from the soap trade, but it seems safe to conclude that with a product of this nature, the African appetite for further European offerings was whetted. Whether the European traders recognized this fact is another question. As the UMCA judged: It seems strange that merchants in Italy and else- where should find it worth while to cater for the demands of Banyans [Asians] &c, while the A.L.C. and other merchants in a large way on the very Lake sources of the trade, should not care to find out what the needs of the natives are, and supply them. Guns and powder were also in demand, particularly where a chief wished to dispose of his enemies. However, the ALC did not indulge in this trade until 1880, and then it could hardly have been called a trade. Guns and powder were doled out sparingly and then primarily with the intent of enabling Arabs and Africans to hunt ivory. For example, in December 1890, company employees were instructed to provide five lbs. of powder for every thirty-five lbs. of ivory.61 Reverend James Stewart attributed the decision to trade in firearms and munitions to the fact that the Arabs were able to obtain such items 60"An Answer,” The Nyasa News 5 (August 1394): 174. 61"Diary and Letters of Peter Moore, II." El: 64. 185 from the coast, while the Africans could not, and thus the policy redressed the balance of power.62 It was with great reluctance that the directors in Glasgow allowed the managers discretionary powers in the sale of this commodity.63 By July 1890, the Brussels Act reversed this stance in areas where the slave trade prevailed, and thus the ALC returned to its initial policy of no powder sales. To a lesser degree other goods were traded with the lakeside inhabitants, but the intention of this dis- cussion has been to show some of the major benefits derived by the local people. Those benefits existed not only in the import service rendered to the people, but in export shipment as well. In 1886 the ALC exported oilseeds from around the lake, and although this commerce was undoubtedly undertaken for itself rather than for the chiefs or individual Africans, it apparently served as a stimulus to future indigenous efforts.64 By 1904 Africans were bringing considerable quantities of Egyptian cotton to the Upper Shire in order to sell it indepen- dently and to pay their hut tax (36 lbs. unginned = 3/- 62Reverend Stewart to the Editor of The Times, January 20, 1891, ST 13/3/1. 63ALC Minutes, September 23, 1880. 64Ibid., August 9, 1887. 186 tax). Sharpe put the annual sale at fifteen tons and explained that even though the trading companies allotted only a penny a lb. for unginned cotton at the south end of the lake and three-fourths of a penny at the north end, 65 African rice, it still paid the African to grow cotton. maize, and groundnuts were also handled by the transport companies, and in 1910, when the Lower Shire still ran low and a railway extension was desired, the agricultural interest claimed: "The Natives, whose products are chiefly bulky in nature and of a perishable kind, will suffer even more than the Europeans in the losses which will be occasioned by the want of proper facilities for the transport of all classes of produce."66 What was the cumulative effect of steamer trade on the African populace? It demonstrated to the Africans that goods could be obtained without using the slave as the means of exchange. The steamer, supported by a desire for profit and the possession of Manchester goods, stimulated some individual crop production. However, monetary gain could not have been great given the prices offered by the trading corporations; in addition, their high rates were prohibitive for the carriage of African 65Sharpe to C.O., October 14, 1904, C.O. 525/3. 66H. R. Wallis (Acting Commissioner) to C.O., July 16, 1910, c.0. 525/32. 187 produce, particularly for food stuffs which necessarily had to be shipped in large quantities to show profit.67 The continual river problems which delayed the delivery of goods and resulted in a heavy demand for porterage were cumulatively expensive and reduced profits. Had the company been able to offer more inducement, Malawi might have developed greater crop diversity and productivity. Probably more important in terms of direct influence on the African people were ALC jobs. Since the Livingstonia mission and the company pursued similar goals by slightly different means, the mission's industrial training enabled some Africans to work in various capaci- ties on the steamer. W. P. Johnson suggested the popu— larity of steamer work when he pointed out that, "All the natives like work on board the Lake Company's steamer, and will go to work on it at half the rate of wages they 68 demand as caravan porters.” Morrison ran a training course on the ILALA and was resentful when the UMCA mission steamer hired some of his hands during their rest leave.69 67Handbook of Nyasaland (London: 1910), p. 227. 68W. P. Johnson to ? [n.d.], as quoted in §A_2 (April 1884): 57. 69Morrison, November 16, 1885 and February 13, 1886, Gen 1808. 188 Initial training was in the important job of piloting the vessel, and in the more ordinary pursuits of deck hands. Subsequently, more technical work was undertaken in engine and boiler techniques, particularly stoking. The stokehole became a favorite place on cool nights, and stokers' jobs were coveted.70 By the 18903 Africans served as pilots, wheel men, engineers, greasers, head stokers, stokers, deck captains, and deck hands. Their performance as river pilots garnered them a lot of credit; an ALC employee, J. Silvie, thought they were "probably best qualified for this responsibility," and a Livingstonia missionary noted that the DUCHESS pilot carried out his job with "great ease and no fuss."71 Francis Mabruki, who accompanied the UMCA Bishop from Zanzibar, repaired the LADY's engine when it broke down on the Shire in 1885. By June 1886, he was employed as engineer on the ILALA.72 70The ILALA did not possess a steering wheel with gearing until July 1879. Journal and Accounts of Cape Maclear, July 14, 1879, MS 7909, FCSP; Henry Drummond, Tro ical Africa (London: 1891), p. 38; River Fleet Files, June 22, 1923, Limbe, Malawi Railways Ltd., Archives, RF 38. 71J. Silvie, ”Reminiscences,” 1897-1901, Salis- bury, NAR, Misc. Sl/l/l; Reverend A. G. MacAlpine, Diary April 28, 1904, Edinburgh, EUL, RBM, Gen 766/23. 72"Letters from the Bishop," CA 3 (November 1885): 152; ”Nyassa News,” §A_4 (June 1886):_86. 189 Africans also took responsibility for the barges and houseboats on the river. When the Shire was low, Africans dug through sandbanks or found a new channel.73 By the 18903, Laws remarked that most of the transport work on the Shire was being done by Atonga boatmen, "lads from our schools being captains of boats and canoes, and in positions of more or less trust and usefulness in the service of the African Lakes Corporation.” Laws esti— mated that another 1,400 Africans, who had trained in Livingstonia mission worksh0ps, were employed by the ALC and had, in fact, been instrumental in steamer construc- tion for ALC and other vessels.74 Barge work was a popu- lar form of employment, and many Africans preferred the small pay, with food, over the relatively large wages to 75 be had in Salisbury or Beira or in the mines. Silvie's late 18903 contention that the ”maritime native" was fast passing away hardly seems warranted by the facts.76 73Robert Wright, ”Ulendo: Reminiscences of Hunting and Trading in Central Africa, 1894-1904” [19503], Salisbury, NAR, WR l. 74Reverend Laws to Dr. George Smith, September 10, 1894, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7877, FCSP; Reverend Laws to British South Africa Company, August 24, 1895, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7878, FCSP. 75Duncan Beaton to ALC Directors, August 5, 1903, GL. 76$ilvie, Reminiscences. 190 H. L. Duff of the administration claimed that the Atonga of the western lakeshore were reckless of the dangers of navigation. He described their handling of a steel boat in which he was sailing during a tempestuous lake storm in the early 19003: " . . . during the whole time that the storm raged the Atonga never ceased to make merry, singing at the highest pitch of their voices their well- known water-song of "si na ma ma," and greeting each crashing billow with yells of 1aughter."77 Without the Africans to run and pilot the steamers, to man the transport barges, and to paddle the houseboats, the transport work would have come to a halt. Africans were also engaged to run the ALC stores. In the Morambala Marsh, where malaria was a serious danger to Europeans, the company hired Sam Sambani and Fred Zaroakuti, at 510 and £3 per month respectively with 78 rations, to run the store. Peter Moore, ALC employee, who was trading ivory with the Arabs at the head of the lake in 1891, suggested that a ”black capitao” also could run the Fyfe station on the plateau.79 77H. L. Duff, N asaland Under the Foreign Office (London: 1906), pp. 2 5-46. 78J. Moir to Reverend Stewart, October 25, 1880, ST 13/3/1; Morrison, July 27, 1884, Gen 1806. 79"Diary and Letters of Peter Moore, II," NJ 66. 191 There is little doubt that the Africans, particu- larly the Atonga, held positions of trust with the company.80 That they, in turn, trusted the company is also known, for, as they served longer, they requested their pay in monthly allotments of calico rather than daily compensation, and when trade goods were delayed, accepted promissory notes. During a Portuguese expe- dition against the Makololo they waited six months for their wages.81 Progression from a time when Africans did not care to work for the Europeans, or labored only long enough to receive a few yards of cotton, to the period when they attempted to accumulate wealth of what- ever variety, illustrates the impact of gain on the entry level wage earner. Only in the 18903 did taxation con- stitute an additional stimulus for earning one's way. In 1895 Malawi labor regulations made cash the mandatory payment for Africans, yet nine years later the BCAC received a reprimand for noncompliance.82 Apparently 80Morrison thought they were slackers when it came to getting wood for the steamers, but otherwise gave them high marks; March 18, 1885, Gen 1806. 81Moir, After Livingstone, pp. 49-50. 82Sharpe to C. Metcalfe, April 26, 1904, Letters to and from Government, Malawi Railways Limited; Sharpe to C.O., March 7, 1904, C.O. 525/1. 192 Africans continued to want payment in calico for a con- siderable length of time, but by 1905 cash was the accepted form of payment. Steamers were not only a source of jobs, but also a mode of transport. Africans travelling south for work usually went by ILALA, as indeed they do today. On one such trip in 1887, each paid a piece of firewood.83 At what date official fares were instituted for the African populace is unknown, but by 1903, Sharpe listed the cost of an African ticket (probably second class) from Chinde to Katunga as 20/- up and lO/- down, without food. Fort Johnston to all places on the lake, except Karonga, cost S/-, while the trip to Karonga was 10/-, again without food.84 In African terms this was a lot of money, and during the labor shortages in the 18903 and 19003, Sharpe maintained that if employers would pay passage and supply food, workers would labor in the Shire Highlands for less, and that, in fact, Angoni were ”hanging about" Bandawe in hopes of obtaining employment in the High- 85 lands. Dr. Laws had arranged four-, six-, and 83Morrison, January 22, 1897, Gen 1809; D. Beaton to ALC Directors, May 24, 1901, GL. 84Pamphlet to emigrants, Enclosure in Sharpe to F.O., January 16, 1903, F.O. 2/746. 85Sharpe to C.O., Report 1905-06, June 30, 1906, c.0. 525/13. Iwr'ii ~..l l. a .H. .w .- 193 nine-month contracts for the Atonga, who had travelled 86 The south from Bandawe by steamer since the 18803. Angoni, envious of their 'underlings," were finally ready to make the trip, so great had the attractive pull of wages and goods become. Migratory labor, encouraged by Dr. Laws, early became habitual among the Atonga,87 quickly spread to other peoples, and even today is vital to Malawi's economy. The phenomenon was spurred by the development of lake and river transport. Many African men had already experienced long journeys, trading up and down and across the lake for salt and food, but the south had a special lure. Now the African could travel further, he could travel by steamer; he could earn wages which later would pay his hut tax; and he could obtain European goods. Finally, he could return to his village and regale his friends with tales of his exploits. This African was probably not the one who benefited from the 88 ALC's issue of shares to the indigenous staff in 1904. Nevertheless, he and thousands like him became the 86Reverend Laws to British South Africa Company, August 24, 1895, MS 7878, FCSP. 87There is no doubt that the Atonga, afraid to travel overland because of the Angoni, welcomed the option of steamer transport. 88Alan Kidney to Glasgow, April 11, 1904, GL. 194 country's work force, and the Moirs' desire to I'induce the natives to engage themselves for paid employment” had come true.89 Obviously the development of the Malawi transport system increased the possibility of population movement. In addition to providing trade and job opportuni- ties, the ALC was also interested in Christianizing the people. The company was organized partly to support the Livingstonia mission and, as such, attempted to combine the principles of Christianity with commerce. In 1881 the services of a European ALC steamer employee were transferable back and forth between the Livingstonia mission and the company. The employee contract read: ”It is understood that under the direction of my overseer I am to do all in my power to advance the Civilization of the people with whom I may come in contact by example and precept and to help in the Religious and moral teaching of the natives on all suitable opportunities."90 When Morrison arrived in Africa in 1882, his journey up river on the LADY began each morning and ended each evening with a reading of scripture. On the Sabbath, 89Moir, After Livingstone, p. 17. 90ALC Minutes, May 18, 1881 (including Memorandum of Agreement with Mr. John Smith). 195 steaming was suspended, and the time spent in prayer.91 At the lake, Morrison tried to be at Cape Maclear on Sundays to hold vernacular language services for those Africans left behind when the Livingstonia mission moved to Bandawe.92 Both he and the Moir brothers proselytized among the people as they traded about the lake. On the other hand, Morrison was often disappointed that after Sunday services the Moirs did not observe the Sabbath and were apt to steam down the lake in the ILALA or send goods from Mandala to Matope, albeit in the interest of main- taining schedules.93 Morrison lived by the contract cited, and thought that before one attempted to espouse the doctrine of Christianity one must set an example. To this end he frequently invited Jumbe aboard for tea or fritters; asked the Makolo chief, Ramakukan, to break- fast on the river steamer; and took a magic lantern into the village for picture shows.94 Nevertheless, Jumbe's first visit to the ILALA nearly created a disaster: . 91Morrison, Introductory material to diary and June 18, 1882, Gen 1803. 92Reverend Laws to Parents, March 17, 1886, 562/6. 93Morrison, July 19, 1885, Gen 1806, December 24, 1882, February 1883, Gen 1804. 94Ibid., July 8, 1884, Gen 1805, September 19, October 13, November 17, December 8, 1885, Gen 1806. 196 Mr. Moir invited the chief Jumbe of [sic] to break- fast he came and with him a great lot-5f followers. He [Moir] allowed a number on board but the rest he refused, Poor Jumbe . . . he thought we meant mis- chief, and wanted to leave the steamer at once. The more we coaxed him to stay the more nervous he became, till at last he jumped into the boat and ordered us to take him on shore . . . we told him just to bide our time, at this he got furious and drew out a revolver and pointed it at the Capn. . . . The same fear that caused him to draw it prevented him from using it. . . . In the After- 95 noon Moir went on shore to trade with him for Ivory. Following this meeting relations with Jumbe grew better. In August 1884 he came aboard to see the Reverend and .Mrs. Scott's baby and in December Mrs. Scott was invited to Jumbe's harem where she found herself the object of great interest.96 Such social contacts ultimately tended to break down the fears of white and black and build mutual trust. As Morrison remonstrated, Chigaru was till I joined the ILALA a continual source of trouble to the one in charge of the Steamer and in fact to all white men. . . . I consider Chigaru the most manly and polite of the lot if properly dealt with. . . . I treat Chigaru and win his respect through kindness alone, his head mans [gig] I win with love and power.97 95Ibid., November 24, 1882, Gen 1803. 96Reverend W. Scott, August 27, December 8, 1884, Private Journal. 97Morrison, October 13, 1885, Gen 1806. 197 However, Morrison's Christian approach was not appreciated by all. Responding to some denigrating com- ments about Morrison's methods made by Commissioner Harry Johnston in 1891, John Moir wrote: I have no hesitation in saying not only that the men most interested in the Christianization of the Natives have been the most useful to the Company: but that only such have done continuous good work at all. In a country where man must be so much alone, each man should have some source of interest beyond the work of the Company. And what more ennobling occupations can a man have for spare times, than those which he undertakes, urged thereto by the conviction that he is bound to do his utmost not only to live as a Christian ought, but to extend Christianity.98 Both Moirs combined the philosophy of commerce and Chris- tianity, and as long as they managed the company, the ALC approach reflected this duality. It should also be noted that the ALC carried Christianity even further by refusing to traffic in liquor. In assuming this stance, they were forerunners of the 1890 Brussels Conference. In the twelve years preceding 1890, the ALC never sold spirits, when in fact such a commerce would have ensured a more profitable and extensive trade. It was an honorable record for the ALC. Of course, time changed everything. If more secular companies had not arrived on the scene; if all or most of the new ALC employees had used Morrison's methods; if the company had prevailed in its policy of 98J. Moir, Report to the ALC. 198 social dialogue and Christian services, there might have been no need for gunboats on the lake. With the coming of the protectorate, however, there were increased trans- port demands and attendant commercial pressures. New transport companies with one clear goal, profit, appeared on the scene and forced the canny Scots to become hard— headed businessmen. Religious services were often left to any missionary who might be aboard, and Sunday steaming became a necessary evil.99 Opportunity for social dia- logue and visits disappeared into a time schedule. Never- theless, while socialization and Christianization were the priorities, they greatly influenced African reactions to the ALC and the missions. While admirable, their pur- suit caused major political difficulties. The familiar Atonga-Angoni incident serves to illustrate the political problems. In 1881 the Liv- ingstonia Mission moved from Cape Maclear to Bandawe and settled near Marenga's village. The Angoni resented the missionaries' decision to live near the Atonga, whom they considered inferior and had enslaved. Though the choice tended to raise Marenga's prestige, it caused hostility between the two tribes. Says van Velsen, . . . the mere presence of a mission station was bound to become a factor in Tonga politics, and to exercise influence upon intervillage rivalries . . . they [missionaries] dispensed medicines, 99Reverend MacAlpine, Diary April 24, 1904, May 1, 8, 1904, Gen 766/23. 199 cloth, education, etc.; and they were potential allies in arms--as the Tonga thought and hoped. They were thus a group of people, an institution, 100 for whose goods and serv1ce3 it was worth competing. In 1887, therefore, when Dr. Elmslie warned that the Angoni had determined on war against the Atonga, and the latter realized that the whitemen were hiding their medicines and instruments in preparation for departure, armed Atonga prevented the Bandawe missionaries from ‘ boarding the ALC's ILALA and abandoning them to the Angoni. After a week had passed, Atonga fears diminished and relations between the Atonga and the Europeans returned to normal.101 Similarly viewed as a dispenser of wealth and power, the ALC became involved in a political imbroglio on the Lower Shire which caused a blockade of transport for five months. In February 1884, news reached Blantyre that Fenwick, dismissed by the ALC, had returned from Quelimane with "provisions, guns, powder, and Spirits so as to be able to start in opposition to the Company," and had slain Chipatula, one of Ramakukan's sub-chiefs, after an argument over the price the European had received for the chief's goods at the coast. Although 100Jan van Velsen, ”The Missionary Factor among the Lakeside Tonga of Nyasaland," Rhodes-Livingstone Journal 26 (1959):-7-8. 101Margaret Laws to Parents, October 11, 1887 562/6; W. P. Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia (London: 1923). PP. 228-34. 200 Fenwick was also killed by the chief's peOple, Mandala and the Blantyre mission were identified as a European clan capable of paying compensation. Moir sent men to Matope on the Upper Shire to warn the ILALA that Chigaru intended to catch it and "break it.” Moir also requested that the Makolo paramount, Ramakukan, punish Chigaru, and the former used the opportunity to attempt the redress of a longstanding grievance. Not only did he demand Fenwick's wife and goods, to compensate Chipatula's son Chikusi, but he also wanted the price of a tusk Moir had kept the previous September, when the latter had blamed Ramakukan for stealing ALC goods from carriers. This turn of affairs caused Morrison to believe that the Africans sought war because of Fenwick, and that they were "envious of our supposed riches and wish to get them in that way."102 While Ramakukan sought compensation for Chipatula's death, and Moir sought assurances that the Shire would be kept open, Chikusi became impatient. In April he sent a letter to Gouk, the LADY NYASSA's master, declaring that the war was over and the steamer could pass unharmed. The LADY, laden with goods, thereupon went upriver and consequently was captured at the Ruo-Shire confluence by Chikusi. However, it was Ramakukan's headman, Mlauri, and forty armed men who forced Gouk to steam to Mbewe, where he was supplied 102Morrison, February 26, 1884, Gen 1805. i,.W..wl. _ 11110..” ‘ p ,. 201 ‘ith a piece of barkcloth and sent to Mandala to obtain uns, powder, goods and Mrs. Fenwick, in return for the wafety of the LADY. Furthermore, additional tolls were .0 be paid to the Makololo every two years to guarantee 103 Mlauri's presence indicates ;afe steamer navigation. :hat Ramakukan was well aware of the capture and was ensuring a safe conduct. Negotiations took so long that the LADY's cargo was looted and she was scuttled. It was June 5 before doir and Morrison, accompanied by Ramakukan, descended :he river to refloat her. They found a five-foot hole Ln the hull which they patched with heavy bags in order to get her upriver to Katunga. Ramakukan's presence was important; the women had been sent from the village, and "every man we could see was armed and as surly as possiable [gig].'104 Had it not been for the paramount, whose presence somewhat placated the people, it is doubtful that the steamer could have been salvaged. After repairs the LADY steamed downriver again on June 8, only to encounter difficulties at the Ruo where, despite Ramaku- kan's assurances of future cooperation, Chikusi had 103Morrison, February 20, 1884-June 8, 1884, Gen 1805 presents a comprehensive first-hand report of the whole affair from a man who undoubtedly saw the African's position. ALC Minutes, March 4, 1886; Rev- erend W. Scott, May 7, June 27, 1884, Private Journal. 104Morrison, June 5, 18, 1884, Gen 1805. 202 :bidden wood sales to the steamer and demanded more >ds for Chipatula's death. The Africans even tried to nmandeer the steamer, and an angry Morrison lifted :hor and steamed off, only prevented from sending a .let into the crowd by the realization that ”the >ple up the country were in want of every thing,” and :ded a period of peace. By September the Moirs and nakukan had finally talked out the dispute.105 None- :less, in June 1889, Mlauri stopped the steamer at Mbewe :ause of a rumor that the English intended to establish air own chief at the Ruo; after three attempts at dis- :sion, it was obvious Mlauri meant to have the steamer, 1 it was only by retreat that the LADY avoided capture.106 The steamer symbolized the wealth and power of the Ltish. When the British had not been quick to pay com- lsation for Chipatula's death in 1884, the LADY's cap- :e had at least brought the Makololo a wealth of trade )ds, thus making a strong impression on Mlauri.107 :eover, there was the small matter of the cash payment : future river passage, enough reason for a second 105Ibid., June 8, September 1884. 106Charles Stuart to Dr. Smith, June 12, 1889 ated in full in news clipping. Edinburgh, NLS, MS )6, FCSP; ”Diary and Letters of Peter Moore, II," 59. 1°7ALc Minutes, March 4, 1886. 203 apture.. It will also be remembered that in 1887, the \MES STEVENSON, carrying nearly ten times the cargo of 1e LADY, had been launched. It passed regularly through Lauri's part of the river carrying goods and passengers. 1e same type of competition for Livingstonia mission >ods and services that had occurred between the Atonga 1d Angoni on the lake now appeared among the Makololo liefs on the Shire. If competition did not work, force >uld help to acquire the obviously growing wealth of 1e British. In the same way that chiefs desired goods and :rvices, they also hoped for steamer visits or invitations > board. Such treatment indicated their importance in 1e mzungu's eyes, raised their prestige with their :ople, and, of course, supplied them with trade oppor- lnities. Jumbe's letter of 1885 to Dr. Laws complained: Two years have passed without a steamer. Why? I want to see the ”Ilala.” Do you think that I want war with you? The fighting is being done by Mlozi. But I do not want war with you Europeans. . . . I want to be happy with you, Dr. Laws. I want to see the steamer. Lmbe's frequent presence aboard for tea and trading and Lmakukan's acceptance of breakfast also lent credence , the prestige-cum-economic opportunity theory. In Lnuary 1885 Mponda asked for the ILALA to transport him ) Dr. Laws at Bandawe, even though he undoubtedly could 108Jumbe to Reverend Laws and Mr. Mandala, Shep- :rson Collection. 204 lave made the trip by dhow.109 In March when the trip ras finally arranged, and he was aboard, his people's .bvious anxieties forced him to return to shore.110 pparently the fear was forgotten when, several months [fter his father's death, the new Mponda asked to buy he use of the steamer with presents of ivory.111 Without a doubt, the steamer attracted the African eople: the chiefs profited through prestige and trade nd the people gained through the calico and other goods hey earned. That commerce and Christianity were opposite ides of the ALC coin is a fact, but Dr. Laws' assertion hat the people were ”converts to calico” remains an 112 That ronic and obvious measure of trade success. he actual steamer trade and the policy of socialization 0d Christianization drew the commercial steamer into the Erican political arena is supported by the evidence. lere is little doubt that the little boats changed the Lves of both the chiefs and their people, impacting on 1e lakeside inhabitants first, and somewhat later on lch hinterland people as the Angoni. 109Morrison, January 24, 1885, Gen 1806. 110Ibid., March 4, 1885. 111 . Ibid., March 20, 1886, Gen 1808. 112 Livingstone, Laws of Livinggtonia, p. 190. no-1... ‘ r- tl. 1.11. id 205 The commercial steamer affected the Arab and >rtuguese also. The story of the ALC's war with the :rth-end half-castes is treated in several pieces of .terature, and this study will not recount the battles.113 Lther, it is pertinent to note the Arab-European relation- lip before and after the conflict, to clarify the role Fthe ILALA as a trader. Hugh Macmillan theorizes that e war was not a commercial conflict, and that, at the ast, the Arabs and the ALC were partners, wittingly or wittingly, in commerce.114 Given the evidence of the ory trade discussed in this chapter, it is easy to pport this hypothesis. However, Henry O'Neill, the nsul for the Portuguese East African Possessions, main- ined that: The Arab slave dealer is the chief collector of ivory in this country. . . . The British trader upon the Nyassa obtains but a fraction of the amount collected--just so much as the Arab chooses to part with to enable himself to renew his supply of barter goods5 and to resume his collection in the interior.11 113Frederick Lugard, The Rise of Our East African >ire (London and Edinburgh: 1893); F. D. Lugard, "The yHt Against the Slave-Traders on Nyassa," Contemporary riew 56 (September 1889): 335-45; Margery Perham, Lu ard :Years of Adventure 1858-1898, vol. 1 (London: 1956). 114Macmillan, "Origins and Development," 252; [h Macmillan, ”Notes on the Origins of the. Arab War," 'The Early History of Malawi, ed. Brigdlal Pachai pndon: 1972), p. 263. 11522? Manchester Guardian, 14 June 1888, News- .ppings, M87906, FCSP. 206 This is not surprising information. It indicates mat the Arabs were realists in their trade and went to mecoast only when they had enough slaves and ivory to umant the trip. Dr. Roland Oliver's suggestion that me ALC bought ivory in the interior and sold it at the met at a price which would undermine the slave caravans 1d drive the Arabs from the lake is only partially 'ue.116 While the ALC tried to buy at a price which uld preclude the need for slave porters, this usually 3 not possible as the half-castes knew the price of ory at the coast and demanded the same or an approxi- tion at the lake. If the partnership had been perfect, ere would have been no need for the Arabs to continue sir caravans to the coast. However, they did continue, did the trade with the ALC. The company did not Lve the Arabs from the lake; on the contrary, it might argued that it encouraged them to stay. Had the ALC attracted the north-enders to the :e in the first place? With regard to Mlozi it is Fficult to determine. Evidence suggests that he :tled at the north end sometime between 1881 and 1883, . he was taking caravans to the coast in 1881 and ears to have burned a village near Karonga, probably 116"Some Factors in the British Occupation of t Africa 1884-1894," The Uganda Journal 15 (March 1) : 52. 207 117 obtain slaves. His first trade contacts with the C were in 1883 and suggest that he came to the lake cause of the abundant ivory, the potential slave pply, and the ferry at Deep Bay.118 But word of the ALA's new role, as a trader rather than a missionary, doubtedly spread quickly. The fact that other Arabs ‘ved into the area about the same time as Karonga was .tablished in 1884, indicates that the ILALA was at :ast a contributing factor to their presence in the area. .ssionaries who lived at the north end in 1887 believed 1e Arab influx was a result of the opportunity to exchange rory for powder with the ALC.119 The Reverend James lin, at Mweniwanda's on the Tanganyika plateau, reported: I found Nicoll very busy buying ivory from Arabs. It is very much to be regretted that with the increase of ivory-trade the number of Arab settlers has greatly increased so that it seems only a matter of time when the poor Nkonde natives will be subdued or driven into a much smaller space of country than that which they at present occupy. 117Macmillan, "Arab War," p. 266 citing Fred Moir o (illegible) August 27, 1881 and Fred Moir to Miss E. Dir, August 14, 1881, in Letterbook I Johannesburg ublic Library. 118Lugard, "Slave-Traders on Nyassa," 336; Mor- ison, December 30, 1884. 119CAT, 26 August 1899; W. P. Johnson, Nyasa the meat Water (Oxford: 1922), p. 93. 208 .As it is the white men who have drawn Arabs hither, so in the meantime it is only the presence and the influence of the white men that control them.120 reports to the missionaries were accurate, the Arabs i a firepower of 500 guns and were awaiting reinforce- nts. Bain balefully remarked: It is very sad to hear it said and that with too much truth, that they have been brought here [Karonga] by the white man and supplied by him with ammunition to butcher the helpless Wankonde. If the Company's station is to continue here, and the managers wish to be guiltless of sad outrages such as these no more powder flints or caps s- be supplied to the Arabs.121 is true that the ALC sold powder for elephant hunting; is also true that the half-castes could use firearms ~ hunt Ankonde. In fact, that is exactly what happened: in July 87 an Nkonde killed a half-caste and in revenge his 'ab followers took Ankonde goats and sheep. Kasote, an .onde sub-chief, went to the Arab Salim bin Najim's .llage seeking revenge and was shot. At this point, the .C agent Fotheringham attempted to mediate the dispute, 1t failed.122 On October 27, 1887, the Arabs massacred I__ 120Reverend James Bain to Reverend Laws. April 11: 387, MS 7890, chp. 121Ibid., October 13, 1887. 122At'Najim's village Fotheringham observed five rate Arabs. It is possible that their presence indicates he shift in Arab policy which Oliver claims took place etween 1884 and 1888, a shift toward establishing politi- al power in the interior and driving out the Europeans. f this be so, the Arabs were sadly disappointed; Oliver, Factors in British Occupation,” 52 and Macmillan, "Arab 8r,” pp. 270-76. 209 Ankonde . 12 3 The resulting two-year conflict between Arabs and the Europeans ended in a stand-off. With volunteer aid of Frederick Lugard, the massing of ilable European man-power, and the aid of the mis- naries, the Arabs did not emerge politically victorious. 1889 treaty, mediated by Harry Johnston, permitted the viving Ankonde to return to their villages and made : ALC responsible for their behavior; disallowed new lb villages in certain areas; and deemed future Arab as against the Ankonde to be acts hostile to the ALC.124 a treaty facilitated a six-year cessation of hostilities, en if the ultimate resolution of conflict came under otectorate in 1895, a story which belongs to the gun- ats. The small war seems to have caused only a temporary .sarrangement of affairs. Once the conflict ceased in 389, the Arabs and the ALC appear to have re-established aeir trade partnership. Karonga trade appears to have esumed almost immediately. It was definitely in full wing by December 1890, when the ALC purchased 462 lbs. 1f ivory during a three-week period. Apparently trust as also restored, for 235 lbs. of ivory came from Mlozi 123Fotheringham, Adventures, pp. 34-38. 124Ibid., p. 278. 210 exchange for a promissory note payable upon the amer ' s arrival . 125 Although the Arabs lost politi- 1y, commercially they continued as before, their cara- s and trade routes intact. The Portuguese also lost politically, from com- 38d missionary and commercial action. Their long-time :upation of the Mozambique Coast and parts of the hinter- ld was enough to bring into question the free navigation the Zambezi when the Scots settled near Lake Malawi. :imately it also forced a conflict over the ownership the Shire and lake. It is not necessary to explore l the events leading to the declaration of the protec- rate, but it is pertinent to note the importance of the mbezi-Shire waterway and Portuguese-English relations. It has been noted that Portuguese courtesy was forded to the Zambezi Expedition and a customs conces- on granted to the Livingstonia Mission in 1875. One ar later, a second Livingstonia party also enjoyed a .milar concession, although H. B. Cotterill, an accom- Lnying trader, was required to pay between 23 and 24 per- uuzcustoms duties on selected items, and so left a lot Etmade goods at the coast.126 Cotterill's experience 125"Diary and Letters of Peter Moore, II," 1, 65-66. 126 H. B. Cotterill to Earl of Derby, August 16, 876 and H. B. Cotterill to the F.O., August 23, 1876, .0. 84/1468. 211 2d the Foreign Office to press for a standardized tax :ransit goods to Lake Malawi, and in 1877 Lisbon led the Mozambique Tariff. It imposed a light 3 percent nsit duty on goods and established the Shire-Zambezi fluence as the internal frontier for customs.127 The y remained 3 percent until 1884, when the so-called .go Treaty, which formulated Portuguese claims north the Ruo River, was negotiated. It levied no transit Lies, but the British Parliament threw the arrangement : because of boundary complications.128 An African Dellion caused the destruction of the Portuguese cus- ms house at the Shire-Zambezi confluence, and when the rtuguese did not rebuild, duties were once more in a ate of flux. It was not until 1887 that the Portuguese :vied a full provincial tariff of 10 percent.129 In the meantime the Portuguese and Germans had lgned the Treaty of 1886 which recognized respective 127W. Morier to Derby, November 22, 1876, and . Morier to la Ministre, November 22, 1876, F.O. 84/1468; emorandum by Sir Percy Anderson on the Portuguese Cam- sign in Africa, January 6, 1890, Confidential Print, .0. 881/5950; James Stevenson, The Water Highways of the nterior of Africa (Glasgow: 1883) , pp. lFll. 128E. Hertslet, The Ma of Africa bnyreaty, 'ol. 3 (London: 1967), pp. - ; The Manchester :uardian, 14 June 1888, Newsclippings, MS 7906, FCSP. 129 Arthur Silva White, "The East African Question," 33M, 4 (June 1888) : 302, 308; Reverend David Scott to Reverend J. Robertson, July 11, 1888, Gen 717/10; ALC Minutes, August 9, 1887. 212 spheres of influence. Berlin gained the "northwest of the Nyassa regions" and a southern portion of the Angola coast. The Portuguese aim of uniting Mozambique with Angola by annexing the intervening regions of Central Africa.(i.e. the Shire Highlands, Lake Malawi, and the 130 London, surrounding area) was accepted by the French. however, declined to recognize the agreement, and shortly thereafter Portuguese harassment began. A French expeditionary leader asserted that bully- ing already had existed prior to 1887, and that "the Por- tuguese lose no occasion in plaguing and exacting ransom 131 Late in 1887 problems from their new neighbors.“ became more pronounced. In December 1887 the Portuguese detained the new ALC steamer, JAMES STEVENSON, and directed the Scots to sell their steamers to them or become Portuguese citizens and fly Lisbon's flag on 132 At the same time the Portuguese their river steamers. at Quelimane disallowed ammunition and gun imports for the lake region, thereby frustrating ALC attempts to oust the northenders. When the Portuguese finally 130Anderson Memorandum, F.O. 881/5950. 131V. Giraud, Lacs Equatoriale, p. 559. 132Anderson Memorandum, F.O. 881/5950; White, "East African Question,” 308; The Scotsman, 25 April 1888, Newsclippings, MS 7906, FCSP. 3:41....VI-l Volt-14’4”. n L, .. 213 admitted arms late in 1888, they did so not on the basis of British rights, but in accordance with the Treaty of 1886, which put Karonga within the German sphere of influence.133 Lisbon escalated activities in November 1888, with the arrival of Antonio Cardoso's treaty and hydro- graphic expedition on the Upper Shire. Courting the powerful Yao chiefs at the south end of the lake, he presented Portuguese flags and guns and promised powder and liquor in return for their marks on various pieces of paper. Shortly thereafter, W. P. Johnson visited the Yao chiefs, Mponda and Kwirasia, and found that they had not understood the letters written in a strange European language. The Africans expressed the belief that they had relinquished nothing, but instead had won friendship and trade with Quelimane.134 Though probably true at the time, after receiving a few coast caravans with the desired powder, Mponda and others were happy to consider 135 the Portuguese as more than mere mentors. In March 133Anderson Memorandum, F.O. 881/5950; Lugard, "Slave-Traders on Nyassa," 340. 134Anderson Memorandum, F.O. 881/5950; W. P. Johnson to J. Buchanan, March 8, 1889 as quoted in EA'7 (June 1889): 91-93. 135W. P. Johnson to [probably UMCA in London], March 30, 1889, 95.7 (June 1889): 95-96. 214 1889 the Portuguese pressed their advantage by sending a scientific expedition, under Serpa Pinto, to the Shire. Meanwhile a coastal development gave the British new latitude for operation. In February 1889 Daniel Rankin discovered the Chinde mouth of the Zambezi, a navigable course which opened an all-water route to the 136 Until interior and avoided Portuguese jurisdiction. this discovery, the British depended heavily on Portuguese facilities for cargo transfer. A short time later the British Government sent Harry Johnston, British Consul to Mozambique, to Lisbon to settle frontier questions. Much to the dismay of the missionaries and the ALC, Johnston, in an effort to ensure Cecil Rhodes' idea of a British landstrip from Cape Town to Cairo, negotiated away the Shire Highlands, home of the Blantyre Mission and Mandala. The Shire was designated as the English- Portuguese boundary. With so many causes célébres: the north-end conflict for which the Portuguese held back arms transport; the slave trade; the civilizing effects of commerce and Christianity which would be frustrated; and the hateful idea of the Portuguese acquisition of the land of Livingstone, Lord Salisbury had only to sit back and wait for indignant British opinion to build. 136Daniel Rankin, The Zambesi Basin and Nyasaland (Edinburgh: 1893), pp. 220, 225-32. 215 Lord Balfour chaired a mission-sponsored meeting on April 24, 1888, at the Westminster Palace Hotel in London. The meeting, heavily attended by M.P.s and churchmen, adopted three resolutions which it took to Lord Salisbury: 1, To secure free or favourable transit for British goods in British vessels from the coast into [the] interior; 2, to impress on the Government facts as to the increase in the slave trade in connection with political changes at Zanzibar, and to take such action as may be required to check the slave trade; 3, To take what measures seem best to them to secure the safety of British subjects and British interests in Nyassa-Land.l3 In May, the Manchester Geographical Society sponsored a conference on ”British Interests in the Nyassa district of East Africa,” at which Salisbury's responses to the ‘Westminster resolutions were reported. He had maintained that nothing would induce the British Government to inter- fere with the north-end Arabs, but that the Zambezi would 138 The not be closed even if force had to be employed. Manchester meeting also passed two resolutions; one called for free Zambezi navigation and the other requested gov- ernment measures to check the Malawi slave trade. If London adopted these resolutions, the interior would not therefore be deprived of "Christian civilisation and 137The Scotsman, 25 April 1888. Newsclippings, MS 7906, FCSP. 138The Manchester Guardian, 19 May 1888, News- clippings, MS 7906, FCSP. 216 139 A free Zambezi would enable arms and ammu- commerce.” nition to be transported to the Europeans engaged in the north-end conflict and thus aid in the stoppage of the slave trade. Public response grew in London, while Serpa Pinto's Shire Expedition expanded from seven hundred to a few thousand men.140 Harry Johnston passed up the Shire in August 1889, and warned Pinto not to cross the Ruo or confront the Makololo. Nevertheless, during Pinto's absence in Quelimane, his lieutenant, Coutinho, crossed the Ruo on September 17, 1889, and was promptly attacked by Mlauri and the Makololo. John Buchanan, a planter appointed acting consul in Johnston's absence, feared subsequent action and declared a protectorate on September 19. Ignoring this announced change-of-status, the Portuguese massed forces and their three gunboats on the Shire, and by December had advanced all the way to 141 Katunga's below the cataracts. At this point they were only a short distance from Mandala and the Blantyre 139Ibid. l4°Accounts and papers, 1890 51 [c 5904], 154, 190. 141Harry Johnston, British Central Africa (New York: 1897), pp. 83-88; Anderson Memorandum, F.O. 881/ 5950. 217 Mission in the Shire Highlands. The resulting despatches between Salisbury and the Portuguese warned that London " . . . cannot but look upon any attempt to exercise Portuguese dominion over the British settlements in the district of Shire and Lake Nyassa, or over any tribes which are under British protection, as an invasion of her Majesty's rights."142 Understandably, the Portuguese on the Shire hesitated, and Salisbury insisted on troop withdrawal from above the Ruo. He then sent a British naval squadron to Portuguese waters under orders to mass off Mozambique. Finally Lisbon ordered withdrawal from the Shire, and the Portuguese and African troops returned to the coast.143 Portuguese harassment of commercial steamers on the Lower Shire, however, did not cease. In July 1889, on its way up the Shire, the JAMES STEVENSON had not been stopped for the usual Portuguese customs search. However, when it returned downriver from Chiromo, a Portuguese gunboat detained it. The crew was taken to Quelimane and jailed, while the steamer was moored at the Portuguese camp on the Shire. The Portuguese did not release the 142 The Mail, 20 January 1890, Newsclippings, MS 7906, FCSP. 143Accounts and papers, 1890 51 [c 5904], 206-07, 209, 211; Norman Pollock, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia (Pittsburgh: 1971). PP. 66-67. 218 ship to the ALC until the end of August, and the company subsequently claimed £4,900 in damages from the Portuguese Government.144 The STEVENSON was subsequently halted and searched on September 9, 1889, and once again, in November 1890, it was stopped for flying the British flag. When Captain James Chalmers refused to lower it, he was jailed at Mopea on the Zambezi and the steamer and crew again arrested.145 It was June 11, 1891, before the question of Zambezi-Shire navigation was settled. The treaty between the Portuguese and British defined respective spheres of influence; established free navigation on the Zambezi- Shire (Article XII); restricted the import duty on transit goods to 3 percent (Article XI); and exchanged land at 146 Lisbon, Chinde for a Portuguese enclave on Lake Malawi. though gaining the Ruo as a boundary as well as lakeside territory, abandoned its policy of expansion from east to west Africa. The ALC conflict with the Arabs had attracted the attention of the British press and the 144ALC Minutes, September 24, 1890, October 6, 10, 1890; Aurora, October 1, 1900; Jane Moir, A Lady's Letters froerentrai Africa (Glasgow: 1891), p. 74; Accounts and Papers, 1890;91, 57 [C 6495], 1-10. 145Accounts and Papers, 1890-91, 57 [C 6495], 99-102. 146E. Hertslet, Africa by Treaty, pp. 1016-26. 219 sympathy of the British people to the plight of the African. The Portuguese harassment of trade and Lisbon's "scientific" expedition to Lake Malawi incited the ani- mosity of H.M. Government. It was this combination which brought British rule to the lake and ultimately enabled freedom of navigation on the Zambezi. Such freedom was necessary to the maintenance of a landlocked country. The steamer which had enabled the missions and company to survive on the lake provided Malawi's modern link with the outer world. The fate of the country would depend largely on the efficiency of the lake and river steamer network. Besides affecting and being affected by the Africans, the Arabs, and the Portuguese, commercial com- panies also effected economic development. They provided jobs, communication, transport, and stimulated trade. In 1878, the ALC established a tentative rate of 520 per ton (weight or measure) for freight from Quelimane to Livingstonia, and £15 upriver and 510 down for pas- sengers travelling between the coast and Livingstonia.147 The differential derived from the theory that transport of cargo and passengers against the current was more expensive and took longer, which later was proved a fact. It was the fond desire of the company to reduce rates as soon as possible, in order to stimulate the export of 147ALC Minutes, July 15, 1878. 220 African-grown products and the import of more goods, but at first this proved impossible. The loss of the LADY for a year after October 1880, because of sinking due to corrosion, reduced ivory exports and therefore operating revenues. The Fenwick dispute and subsequent capture of the steamer in 1884, caused a hiatus in transport for five months, and just as the steamer was recovered, the Machingiri rebellion against the Portuguese interrupted service for another few months. In 1889, rather than a reduction in rates, freights grew to 520 per ton upstream and 515 down between Mandala and the coast.148 With the declaration of the protectorate, the growth in business volume, and the increasing competition for the carriage of goods and passengers, the situation changed. In February 1893, the Glasgow directorate decided that the managers should manipulate rates in order to secure business for the company.149 Between the coast and Mandala, the ALC reduced rates to 58 up and 56 down on freight tonnage, a cut of nearly two- thirds.150 At the same time, however, lake freights 148CAT, 26 October 1901; John Moir, Report to the ALC [about 1890]. 149ALC Minutes, February 14, 1893. 1“cm, 26 October 1901. 221 remained high. In 1895 a UMCA missionary at Nkota Kota grumbled: Fancy, the latter [ALC] charges 515 passenger fare from Fort Johnston to Kota Kota--two days' journey and no night travelling--cargo B7 a ton the same distance. The charges on the German steamer are 58 per passenger and LS per ton cargo. While the ALC lowered its rates to compete on the river, the German steamer WISSMANN did the same on the lake, and in 1895, with the exception of the CHARLES JANSON, which carried only UMCA mission goods, the ALC had no other lake competition. However, the ALC normally figured its rates from Mandala north, and it is likely that the rates about which the missionary complained were inclusive of carriage from Mandala to MatOpe on the Upper River and from Matope to Ft. Johnston by paddle steamer or barge, probably not the case with the German steamer. In 1899, the ALC reduced the lake charges which it offered to the Livingstonia Mission. The following rates (page 222) were in keeping with its 1878 promise of support for that mission: 151UMCA, Life and Letters of Arthur Fraser Sim (London: 1896), pp. 269-70. 222 Frei ht 92. Down Chinde - Bandawe L16 L14 Chinde - Florence Bay 18 16 Chinde - Karonga 20 18 Freight from Mandala to Bandawe L9 per ton weight or measurement to Florence Bay 11 to Karonga 12 Passa e Chinde - Bandawe 26 24 Chinde - Florence Bay 28 26 Chinde - Karonga 30 28152 In addition, through passengers probably received free board at Mandala or Ft. Johnston. Freight from Chinde to Bandawe had been reduced by L2 per ton, while passage on the same route was down from L32 to L26.153 In 1900 the ALC cut its southbound lake rates to L4 per ton, Karonga to Ft. Johnston, figuring that if it carried at a full L8 a ton northbound it could afford to transport down at half price.154 The ALC steamers had been coming down from Karonga nearly empty, and it was hoped that the reduction might attract African produce, which is exactly what happened. By the end of December the ALC was carrying most of the Banyan trade both to and from 152F. Moir to Reverend G. Smith, March 21, 1899, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7874, FCSP. 153Ibid., a second letter F. Moir to G. Smith, March 21, 1899. 154D. Beaton to ALC Directors, December 17 and December 21, 1900, GL. 223 the lake, meaning that it was transporting African pro- duce collected by the Asians.155 Government requested tenders to meet its transport requirements in 1900. The ALC, commenting that the admin- istration often pitted the companies against each other, consulted with SZTC and Flotilla, and the three offered the same figures.156 For the next few years they shared equally in government transport. It is amazing that Sharrer's agreed to join in the rate offer, for in 1896 they carried 1,584 tons in and 2,295 tons out of Malawi, while the ALC carried 1,560 and 310 respectively.157 By 1898 SZTC claimed the credit for having reduced upward river freights by two-thirds.158 The fact that SZTC blew its own horn makes it appear that it was attempting to curry favor with the public and perhaps to exploit the ill will that was sometimes unfairly generated against an established ALC. Alfred Sharpe's attitude, that the ALC "will never develop trade in a liberal spirit; they are too grasping and prefer a small quantity 155A. Kidney to Glasgow, September 27, 1901, December 22, 1903, GL. 156D. Beaton to ALC Directors, December 14, 1900, GL; BCAG, 31 March 1900. 157Trade Report for Port Chinde for year ended 31 December 1896, in Sharpe to F.O., April 29, 1897, F.O. 2/127. 158CAT, 23 April 1898. 224 at a large profit to a large trade with a fair profit,” was typical of the administration's attitude and undoubt- 159 While the edly caused its encouragement of rivalry. government was undoubtedly justified in spurring compe- tition, its attitude was certainly unfair to the ALC which had suffered several years of difficulties; fought the north-end Arabs; developed trade; established good relationships with the people; and developed the technical and navigational expertise necessary to run vessels on the river and lake. Just when the ALC had achieved a position to recoup its financial expenditures, competi- tion threatened its viability. Although Sharrer's and the ALC cooperated on gov- ernment rates, their rivalry in other transport areas grew stronger. In October 1901, a news article which commended the transport companies for their considerable reduction in rates over the previous ten years pointed out that costs were still high and suggested that a further reduction would aid development of the country.160 Nevertheless, the ALC could not convince its home office to agree to a river freight reduction from L5 to L4-10-0. The home office did not understand the rigorous competi- tion the ALC was experiencing nor that some viewed it as 159Report on Journey to Lake Mweru, in Sharpe to Harry Johnston, December 17, 1892, F.O. 2/54. 160CAT, 26 October 1901. 225 a rich, prosperous, and grasping company. Thus if it charged 10/- higher the public attributed it to greed. Alan Kidney lamented home office intransigence on the matter of rates: Our opponents are working with the large shippers at the nominal rate of L4/10/0; but subject to various Commissions, Discounts, and Allowances. For the sake of our greater reliability, these same shippers would pay us L4/10/0 nett, but not more. My own inclination certainly was to take away all the business possible from opponents at this figure.161 Watching trade slowly ebb away, the local managers, Duncan Beaton and Alan Kidney, took matters into their own hands and negotiated special freight contracts on the lower river which they did not submit to the home office.162 These contracts provided for delivery on the river and thus saved the ALC transport costs to Mandala. As if home office problems were not enough, by 1903 it was clear that the Lower and Upper Shire were in such a bad state that tenga tenga (porters) would have to carry goods from Pt. Herald on the Lower River to Ft. Johnston on the Upper River. In years past, vessels had steamed north of Pt. Herald and reached Katunga's just below the cataracts. After passing through Mandala, 161A. Kidney to ALC Directors, December 16, 1901: GL. 162ALC Minutes, February 3, 1902. 226 goods had been carried to Matope just above the cataracts and loaded on steamers going to Ft. Johnston. The navi- gational and transport situation had grown increasingly difficult because of the declining river levels. The need for a rate hike to cover increased carrying costs was obvious. At the same time, transport itself was becoming less efficient. The ALC managers advocated a binding agreement with SZTC (now part of the BCAC) and the Flotilla, on minimum rates between Chinde (on the ocean coast) and Ft. Johnston (at the southern end of the lake).163 They believed that on an equal rate basis they would not lose work. Sharrers ultimately refused, while the ALC and Flotilla readily agreed to the idea, believing that Sharrer's would have all it could do to handle its monopoly on BCAC's railroad material.164 Had it been dealing solely with Sharrer's, the ALC's assumption would have been correct. However, the merging of Sharrer's with the BCAC had introduced an element of zealous competition. The BCAC was out to break the ALC and under its direction Sharrer's took every freight contract it could get at a pound less than the other companies charged for cargo and at the same low passenger rates it had offered in the previous year. ‘ 163A. Kidney to Glasgow, October 16, 1903: GL. 164Ibid., November 16, 27, 1903. 227 Sharrer's also won all government business because of 165 Sharrer's intended to take its lower quotations. over as much river-carriage as possible, and then transfer it to its railroad when finished. It sought only its own advantage, and the result was delayed delivery of goods. Meanwhile the planters and local government berated the ALC for a rate increase, as they believed that the ALC had "vast sums” in reserve for bonuses.166 In March 1904 Kidney reported the SZTC's growing inability to cope with the transport of rail material. He also noted that Sharrer's was “paying little attention to its clients' cargo," and that goods due in Blantyre and at lake ports were sitting in the transit store at Chinde. At the same time, the ALC was having to lay up steamers for want of work.167 Meanwhile, the Flotilla had denounced the 1903 agreement and by April the ALC also reverted to its earlier rates, finding many previous 168 clients eager to return to it. Nevertheless, declining 1651bid., January 9, 21, 1904; ALC Minutes, January 29: 1904- 166CAT, 16 January 1904; A. Kidney to Glasgow, January 9, I554: GL- 167A. Kidney to Glasgow, March 15, 1904, GL; D. Beaton to ALC Directors, April 20, 1904, GL. 168ALC Minutes, March 28, April 12, 1904; D. Beaton to Glasgow, June 22, August 12, 1904, GL; ALC Minutes, July 20, 1905. 228 river depths, the indecision of the administration regard- ing river improvements, the administration's encouragement of Sharrer's and the resulting backlog of transport, and the advent of a railway all hastened the demise of the Shire river steamer. The problem with river depth was not new. If Harry Johnston had bothered to read Livingstone's N25- rative or had talked to Sir John Kirk, he would not have written that, ”in the later 'fifties' and early 'sixties' Livingstone constantly travelled up and down the Shire on a vessel drawing five feet."169 The missionary doctor's travel was by no means that constant, and he vividly described his difficulty getting over and around sand- banks. Kirk's complaints about the Zambezi depth in 1860--'We get through by going over banks with the anchor and chain. It is not navigating but land transport"-- sound much like the thoughts of a traveller who arrived at Mandala in 1902. After "a pleasant (?) little trip of seventeen days from Chinde,” he suggested that the ALC commence "a service of Motor wagons along the River bed, as being quicker than boys dragging boats and barges along the sand."170 169R. Johnston, BCA, 38. 17oReginald Foskett, ed., The Zambegi Journal and Letters of Dr. John Kirk, 1858-63, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: 1965}: p. 313; A.Ridney to Glasgow, November 25, 1902, GL. 229 In 1889, the JAMES STEVENSON, drawing 3 ft. 6 in., had no difficulty navigating the Lower Shire to Katunga's just below the cataracts, but in 1891, the British gun- boats HERALD and MOSQUITO, drawing a foot less, could not reach Chiromo a few miles downstream.171 When the Lower Shire was high, there might be as much as six ft. of water at Chiromo, but when it was low, two ft. was the maximum. Though in the 18903 steamers often made the trip in six to eight days, other means of transport such as boats or canoes might take fifteen days during the dry season (July to December), while, during the rains, the journey lasted a month because of the increased volume of water and the current.172 By 1896 only the Pinda Rapids, a short distance above the Zambezi-Shire confluence, could be reached, and on the Upper Shire unnavigable sections separated navigable ones.]'73 In 1897-98, the rivers were high again, and even during the dry season all steamers could reach Chiromo, while vessels drawing slightly over a foot could reach 171H. Johnston to Earl of Rosebery, March 31, 1894, F.O. 2/66; B. L. Sclater, ”Routes and Districts in Southern Nyasaland," 9g,2 (November 1893): 404. 172B. Sclater, "Routes and Districtsp" 404- 173Report to Crown Agents Engineers, September 9, 1906, Enclosure in Pearce to C.O., September 24, 1906, C.O. 525/14. 230 Katunga.174 In 1899 the level started to recede, and by 1903 steamers could not reach Pt. Herald below the Ruo- Shire confluence; it was even claimed that Africans were planting maize in the Shire bed at Chiromo.175 The ALC managers reported that Katunga's had only three inches of water, and that people were walking across sections of Lake Malombe on the Upper Shire without getting their feet wet. Six inches of water was reported at the lake bar.176 Delay was therefore inevitable. If a large steamer picked up cargo at Chinde, it might have to off load at Villa Bocage (a Portuguese station forty miles below Pt. Herald) so that a smaller draft steamer could take the goods upriver. Often a second switch was neces- sary, and the cargo was transferred to barges and poled to Chiromo. In the same manner, passengers went from first-class river steamers to second-class vessels, and finally to houseboats, narrow boats with small huts in the middle just large enough to shelter two or three persons from the sun (see Fig. 17, Chapter III). If people suffered, the export trade was just as badly affected. Spoilage of commodities such as coffee and tobacco frustrated the planter, who had to hire 174Report on Trade and General Conditions of the British Central African Protectorate 1 April 97-31 March 98, in Manning to F.O., May 13, 1898, F.O. 2/147. 175CAT, 8 August 1903 176A. Kidney to Glasgow, October 29, 1903, GL. 231 expensive tenga tenga to carry goods between the highest point that river traffic could reach and Blantyre; then a similar process was repeated on the Upper Shire. It is no wonder that the process was described as "just as 177 If quick as circumstances permit from time to time.” the populace had a legitimate grievance about the quality of transport and delays, it could also complain that labor was so occupied in porterage that the planters suffered a shortage of workers. The first discussion of a railway to ameliorate the situation took place at a meeting of planters in October 1893.178 When the river improved for a few years no steps were taken. The problem arose again between 1896 and 1897 and the ALC brought in a surveyor. However, it was not until 1903 that a definite decision was made, and the BCAC signed a contract to build the Shire Highlands Railway from Chiromo to Blantyre. The frustrations of river transport caused delay in the delivery of rail material and coupled with improper construction to postpone the railroad's opening to public traffic until March 13, 1908. However, even the 177Mandala to Glasgow, Steamer Returns, Septem- ber 3, 1903, GL. 178J. Buchanan, "The Industrial Development of Nyasaland," GJ 1 (March 1893): 253; W. L. Clowes, “The Pacification-Ef Nyasaland," The New Review 10 (April 1894): 427. 232 railroad to Chiromo did not solve the problem, for the depth difficulties now began to appear south of Chiromo. In 1911 The British Cotton Growing Association complained that it would not encourage cotton growing in Nyasaland until better transport facilities were provided.179 In 1905 the acting commissioner had already advocated an extension to Beira, and by 1915 a line was completed from Chiromo to the Zambezi.180 The information in Table 1 (page 233) defines the rise and fall of the river steamer, replaced by the rail- way, just as the Mississippi steamboat was. As a key ele- ment in Malawi commercial transport, the usefulness of the river steamers extended from 1875 to 1915. Without it, the European community would have survived, but probably not so well. The ALC was definitely the pioneer, running the steamers for fourteen years before any competitors appeared on the scene. The difficulties of river transport and the open- ing of the railroad convinced the ALC that while the river connection was still important, it must turn greater attention to developing lake transport. It recommended that the lake vessel QUEEN VICTORIA should run more frequently, say once a month, to meet lake l79J. Hutton to C.O., November 13, 1911, c.0. 525/39. 180Pearce to C.O., December 5, 1905, C.O. 525/9- 1233 .oossumo aw «seasons mo season muons audommd * .soauuaz HuassusosH auoossm u zHN sossauoon mo sowsso u no susosssc u so .NehHIHauos b .aaea assess m .esu .mema assess. fl .oz .usoz suswm,ose lemma susssdc. mama sosouoo .mso .N\mNm .o. O coma .NH as: ..o. O on omuonm ca .voma sous: Hm mama Hanna .Ouuuouoououm savanna aouusoo suauasm us» no usoauaosoo asuosoo oss mossy use so nachos asssss semmem .o. u .mama .ma Name room ones as» so shoe .o NHNN .NN sash. NN Hana room msam ms» so encode .eNN .o ..eaaa .soososc osmasns 2 mo xooooscm .eamem .o. o .ecma ..o. o on source ca .ee some uses sou usooos seeme .o.m .cema .ccma .Hm sous: oo .Noma .a Hands some seem use no soaoaosoo asuosoo use mouse as» so snoods .NNH\N .o.m .emea .mN Hausa ..o.m on mousse sa .baea .Hm sosssooo noose use» oosaso shoe usooos mouse sme\N .o.s .maea .NN Hausa .sasoosas mo Hume on souusson .m "musoow a sue a a a a a a no N a b m m .m.o.asos N N N N N .m.o.asm e an N N N .asos N a moses a e a a a as .N a a .zsmo N szsmoo e m N N N N N .eosm Aueumv as ma NH be e n N m m N a been e N m .m e e N N's use mama mama onH homd woaH coma mm. mama. mmmH va. mm. Mama homalmhma H3¢A¢Z HM‘A,DZ¢ fimHmm 20 UZHHdemO mmn24flam H mqmda 234 demands.181 However, the planting community existed mainly along the Shire and in the Shire Highlands and the anticipated demand was simply not forthcoming. In 1923 the ALC sold its river steamers to the railway company.182 In 1931 the railways also assumed responsi- bilities for lake transport as well.183 River depth and the railway had reduced the river steamer to a secondary position. There can be no doubt that the prime mover in the country's development was the commercial steamer, involved in some way in all facets of growth. It had a slow rise and a rather rapid fall, particularly in the case of the river. Nevertheless, without the medium of the steamer, trade which, with the exception of ivory was largely incidental in the 18803 and early 18903, would have had 184 an extremely slow development. Though the planters rarely missed a chance to demand cheaper, more efficient 181ALC Minutes, August 31, 1904; February 23, July 20, and December 6, 1905; April 23, 1906; February 23, 1911. 182River Fleet Files, March 2, 1923, Malawi Rail- ways Limited Archives, RF 41. 183Historical Review, January 31, 1974, Commercial Superintendent, Malawi Railway Limited Archives. 184Memo of conversation, J. V. Raynes, ALC Employee, July 15, 1974, Blantyre, Malawi. 235 transport, they seldom showed appreciation for the system they had. It took the UMCA, with its usual charity, to suggest the ALC's success: The "A.L.C." must be complimented; we have always known that they were a most efficient body at their own work, and we of the Universities' Mission owe a great deal to their efficiency and courtesy.135 185"Note3 and News," NDC 44 (JU1Y 1914): 56. I can never be thankful enough to have been trained in a school where the duty of serving God both in Church and State was steadily put before us. This presence of any Government steamer calls for other steamers to trade, and for yet others to do the work of the Church specifically, and in the same way the Mission steamer calls for the Government boat and the trading vessel. W. P. Johnson, ansa The Great Water (London: 1922), p. 206} But the Chauncy Maples--well, you have not lived in her. She is our substitute (1) for railways where there are none; (2) an island in a by no means too peaceful country; (3) a bit of England, where we can live as Englishmen, and work as and with natives, and where, with due submission, I hope the English flag will always fly; (4) a newspaper, a correspondent, and a printing-press in one; (5) last, but not least, a training ground for priests and teachers. . . . A. E. M. Anderson-Morshead, The History of the Universities'-——' Mission to Central Africa 1859- 1900, vol.*IuTiondon: 1955), -—I— p. 225. 236 CHAPTER V THE CHRISTIAN MISSION STEAMER: A CASE STUDY 1884-1914 The mission steamer, purveyor of religion, edu- cation, medical attention, and numerous other accoutre- ments of civilization, constituted a unique tool for the Oxford and Cambridge Universities' Mission to Central Africa (hereafter UMCA) to use for proselytization in Malawi. The Livingstonia Mission's ILALA, preoccupied with keeping open communications to the coast and goods distributed, established contacts with various chiefs on the lake and Upper Shire, but, compared to the method- ical approach of the UMCA, the Livingstonia authorities made only desultory attempts to use the steamer in missionary work. Between 1893 and 1900, the Blantyre Mission ran a sidewheeler, the HENRY HENDERSON, on the Zambezi-Shire,l in order to save passenger and freight costs from Chinde and to provide a base for preaching lThe side-wheeler was also known as the PIOUS PADDLER. Blantyre Mission Papers, 1889-1901, Zomba, Malawi Archives. 237 238 to the riverine peoples.2 Its effects can be assessed by noting the comments of its captain, who considered that as long as the steamer must cover its expenses by carrying cargo and passengers, he could only preach in the riverside villages and among the crew. He complained: In the former case, the steamer calls at a village on a trip from Chinde to Katungas, we conduct a service there and go on, but ere we return to the same village nearly a month has elapsed, and probably all the men whom we addressed on the former occasion are absent from the village at their gardens or engaged on the river. In the latter case, a crew on the river seldom remains for more than a month or so at a time, and as we can have only one service a day-~in the evening when the steamer stops--the men have grasped but a few truths when they return to their villages and probably never come back.3 Because of testimonials such as this, the HENDERSON was sold to the ALC in 1900. GLAD TIDINGS, the Zambezi Industrial Mission steamer, had a shorter career on the river and was purchased by the ALC after less than a year's service.4 The only successful floating mission station was run by the UMCA, and its history is worthy of study. 2Reverend D. C. Scott to Foreign Mission Com- mittee, May 10, 1893, Blantyre Mission Papers, Private and Confidential for the Sub-Committee on Africa and Finance, Malawi Archives. 3Charles Scott (P.S. Henry Henderson) to Reverend John M'Murtrie, Covener, March 23, 1896, Blantyre Mission Papers, Printed material of Foreign Mission Committee, March 2, 1897. 4In June 1894 the HENDERSON carried Reverend Booth (of the z.I.M.) and twenty-one Africans from Chiromo to Chinde to build the z.I.M. steamer. In 239 The UMCA steamer idea seems to have been ini- tiated by BishOp Mackenzie, who worked near the Shire during the final stages of the Zambezi Expedition. As he wrote in 1862: ”I have my hopes that our being here in this way may be intended to prepare the village for being one of the stations to be worked by our Mission steamer (the University Boat), for which I hope to write 5 by this mail." Mackenzie's death, shortly thereafter, was one in a series of unfortunate events. Entanglements with slavers, health problems, and other missionary deaths caused general disillusionment, so that when the Foreign Office recalled the supportive Zambezi Expedition, everything combined to activate the mission's removal to Zanzibar in January 1864. The mission did not approach the lake again until 1875, when BishOp Steere traversed the slave route from Lindi, on the Indian Ocean Coast, November 1894 the ALC reported that the z.I.M. steamer had been purchased by the ALC after being thoroughly tried on the spot. Again in March 1895 the ALC reported pur- chasing the steamer for 53250 and renaming it JOHN STEPHEN. Since the vessel was launched in August 1894, it presumably ran as a mission steamer until sometime between November 1894 and March 1895. James Reid to Mr. Scott, June 4, 1894, Blantyre Mission Papers; CAP, January 1896; ALC Accounts and Balance Sheets, NOVEfiber 4, 1894, Edinburgh, ALC; ALC Minutes, March 11, 1895, Edinburgh, ALC; George Shepperson, Independent African (Edinburgh: 1958), pp. 58- SMackenzie to ? , January 13, 1862, as quoted in A. E. M. Anderson-Morshead, The Building of the Chauncy Maples (London: 1903). p. 12. 240 to Mtaka's town, Mwembe, seventy miles east of the lake, Figure 19.6 However, it was a new recruit at Zanzibar, William Percival Johnson (hereafter WPJ), who was des- tined to bring the floating station to the lakeside inhabitants. WPJ travelled extensively to the east of Lake Malawi between 1876 and 1881, and early in 1882 he and Charles Janson came to the lake with the intention of establishing a station on its shore.7 Janson died on February 21, and WPJ spent another two years exploring the lake area and learning the language. When he returned to England in 1884, he possessed an intimate knowledge of the lake's eastern shores and highlands which he shared with the Royal Geographical Society. Speaking of the map with which he illustrated his talk he commented: ”Almost everywhere I have travelled with natives only, my party being less than ten, and I have tried to enter into their life; thus I have been enabled to lay before you the routes they use, though my map may lack scien- tific accuracy."8 He knew the water routes equally well, 6The Universities' Mission to Central Africa Atlas (London: 11902 or 19531): p. 13. 7Reverend C. A. Janson to John ? , February 11, 1882, London, RGS Archives, Correspondence Files. 8W. P. Johnson, ”Seven Years Travels in the Region East of Lake Nyassa," PRGS, N.S. 6 (1884): S33. 241 ouo LANGENBURG uxo A 0' Lake aways: "0'0"" cumoouANJI-z's (CHIKOLE) 20 m I), . 693’. mi km 260 We, Fig. 19. Lake Malawi 242 having navigated them.with Africans in their canoes. He wrote knowledgeably of the routes from Chiteji's via the islands to the west side of the lake, the Sekole-Ngombe ferry, the Losewa slave route, and various shorter ferry routes.9 Communication from east to west was possible only at the few regular ferries or where the islands made canoe crossings possible. The east coast land forms, high hills coming down to a narrow littoral, when com- bined with fear of the dread Gwangwara (Zulu), caused the villagers to establish themselves close to the water, often with a river or lagoon at their backs for protection. North of Likoma, people frequently lived on platforms in the lake, for the Gwangwara would not go into the water.10 These settlement patterns did much to limit communication of lakeside with hinterland and even north- south contacts. These realities, plus WPJ's two bouts with ill- ness, led him to seek the ILALA for rapid transit to Dr. Law's medical assistance, and made him aware of the advantages of reliable lake transport. In September 1882 he wrote from Bandawe, "I think that three Englishmen could with a sailing-vessel occupy his [Chiteji's] con— siderable village, and visit a large number of coast 91bid., 514. 10Ibid., 531; Nyassa; A Journal of Adventures (London: 1877), p. 108. 243 11 villages.“ In December, writing to the secretary of the home committee, WPJ suggested using a steel sailing boat to make systematic village visits.12 By July 1883 WPJ had decided that the UMCA must be near the Gwangwara before it could affect the east coast; near a steamer route (ILALA's), to obtain stores easily; at a population center before it could do mission work; and in a position to offer the Africans ”congenial employment“ before it could Open a good school. For these reasons WPJ proposed a training dhow: . . . a really large one moored in Mbampa harbour, out and out the best on the lake, where the steamer, MUST [sic] pass, each trip, the centre of the lake, but five easy days from Gwangwara, one day from Makitas and his sub-chiefs, where the coast vil-, lages are thickest, but one short steamer day from Chiteji's and a fair local population.13 By the spring of 1884, Johnson changed his mind again. He was convinced that to make a teacher training ship work well, it must be a steamer rather than a dhow. In this way the missionaries would have access to large stores and ready communication and be able to "show the nations that we are not fugitives from the countries, but 11W. P. Johnson to Reverend E. S. L. Randolph, September 4, 1882, as quoted in B. H. Barnes, Johnson of Nyasaland (London: 1933), P. 50. 12Ibid., as quoted, Johnson to Reverend W. H. Penney, December 27, 1882, p. 52. 13Johnson to Professor Burrows, July 29, 1883, as quoted in "Nyassa News," §A_l (November 1883): 163. 244 that we represent, a great body--the church in all other lands.” His concern arose from having overheard "an intelligent Mohammedan teacher" inform the Africans that the Europeans in Africa were those who ”had failed else- where.” WPJ believed the steamer would receive an enthu- siastic reception both as a floating school and as a place of work. He pointed out that Africans would join the ALC steamer at half the wages they demanded as cara- van porters. They could train as seamen for the ALC steamer and the London Missionary Society vessel, soon to arrive for Lake Tanganyika.l4 Thus, WPJ's idea of a ”moving ministry,” which began with an African canoe, progressed through a steel boat to a dhow, and finally to a steamer. His suggestions went home by mail, and in the summer of 1884, he returned to England on furlough to consult on the building of the steamer. WPJ's idea won quick acceptance; his rationale, detailed in the steamer appeal, was: (1) That to properly represent the Church of God to these people there must be a strong community and not merely one or two separated and isolated indi- viduals. (2) That to make any adequate impression upon so vast a tract of country as the shores of the Lake 14 1884): 57. Johnson to ? [n.d.], as quoted in QA_2 (April 245 (300 miles in length), those who go to the work must be seen to belong to each ogher and have regular and easy communication.1 In addition, the steamer would provide safety from Zulu, Yao and Swahili raids and a healthy refuge from the malarial eastern shores. Lastly it might encourage a "freely native growth of the Church,"16 since Europeans only would visit the villages and not exert undue control by living there. When the first appeal went out to the parish- ioners in May 1884, 5810 had already been subscribed. It is a measure of the enthusiasm generated by Johnson, that by autumn the necessary £2312 for the CHARLES JANSON's construction had been raised, and an additional 17 While 5100 was available for transport and stores. funds were being raised, the steamer was being constructed; thus in October 1884, WPJ returned to Africa with the JANSON wrapped in 350 parcels of 800 steamer parts. With him were the three Africans--Hamisi a Yao, and Manweri and Tumani, Nyasas--who had accompanied him to England. Their seven-months' training on Brixham trawlers (fishing ls"Steamer for Lake Nyassa," May 1884, London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), Archives, Acc. No. UMCA/ 1965/43. 16Dr. Robert Howard, Five Years' Medical Work on Lake Nyasa (London: 1904), p. 45. 17"Steamer for Nyassa," May 1884, USPG; "The Charles Janson," 95,3 (January 1885): 5. 246 vessels) was to have prepared them to maintain the JANSON on the lake. Their visit generated enough interest so that later several seamen from Brixham were motivated to join the UMCA in Malawi.18 However, the rapid progress achieved in England could not be matched in Africa. On WPJ's arrival at the Zambezi he contracted opthalmia and was sent home to England.19 Moreover, the Fenwick dispute on the Shire and the Machinjiri War on the Zambezi had caused a backlog of goods on the river, and the falling Shire level further complicated the situation. Once the steamer parts had reached Matope, two fires, one of which destroyed several boiler pipes, delayed matters again. The JANSON finally was launched on September 5, but did not appear on the lake until January 1886, four- teen months after it left London.20 Between the 18Johnson to ? [n.d.], as quoted in CA 2 (April 1884): 58; ”The Nyassa Party," CA 3 (June 18857? 81-84; W. P. Johnson, My African ReminIEcences, 1875-1895 (Lon- don: 1926). P. 113. 19The opthalmia caused corneal ulcers which neces- sitated surgery. WPJ returned to the lake in April 1886, with limited sight in one eye and none in the other. Attempting to reach the lake by travelling overland from Zanzibar, he once again fell seriously ill and was invali- dated to Cape Town. He finally reached the lake and joined the CHARLES JANSON in October 1886. 20"The Charles Janson," CA 2 (November 1884): 188; William Bellingham, The Diary of-E Working Man in Central Africa, ed. J. Cooke Yafborough (London: 1888), pp. 20-26, 6I-62; Morrison, August 28-September 6, 1885, Gen 1806, Edinburgh, EUL, RBM, E 71/36. 247 steamer's launching and first appearance on the lake, William Bellingham, engineer, established the mission base at Likoma Island. By January 22, 1886, the JANSON arrived, and the Reverend George Swinny assumed control of the station, while the Reverend Leonard Frere took the school and Bellingham the steamer.21 The JANSON was a single-screw steamer measuring 65 ft. in length and 12 ft., 6 in. in beam, Figure 20. She had a draft of 3 ft., 6 in. to enable maneuverability on the Upper Shire, since one of her jobs would be to transport goods from the cataracts to the home base on Likoma Island. Like the ILALA she was constructed of ”mild steel,” which by 1884 was not unusual. She had teak cabins forward and aft, one of which was fitted out as a chapel. She was dandy rigged for sailing, a special concession to the three Africans who had handled this 22 rigging on the North Sea trawlers. The experience of ZlBellingham, working Man, pp. 83, 106. 22"Particulars of Vessels Built by Yarrow and Co. Ld.,' Job 678, "Charles Janson," 1884; Memorandum of Agreement and Specifications of a Single Screw Steel Steamer for The Universities Mission for Lake Nyassa (Yarrow and W. P. Johnson), May 10, 1884, London, USPG, Acc. No. UMCA/ 1965/43. Once again, contradictory infor- mation exists. Paul Cole-King, in his booklet, 'Lake Malawi Steamers“ (Zomba, 1971), identifies the 'Janson" as 62 ft. in length and 12 ft. in beam, but Bellingham, who constructed the boat at the lake, agrees with figures found in Yarrow's Job Order Book; Arthur G. B. Glossop to [African Tidings], February 1894, London, USPG, A4 IV (1). 248 Fig. 20. Steamer CHARLES JANSON (London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Universities' Mission Papers, copyright USPG). 249 the Africans was combined with the navigational expertise of the skipper George Sherriff, a Brixham trawler captain, who "never laid up for weather." His fearlessness plus a schedule which often meant the JANSON must lay over in poor harbors or none at all, earned it a reputation of "the most venturesome of all steamers in all weathers at all times.“23 The JANSON's program was established by WPJ, who returned to the lake in October 1886. On Sundays the vessel visited Chiteji's village on the mainland and from Monday through Wednesday, she stopped at lakeside towns sixty miles south of Likoma, returning to the station on Thursday, to remain there until it was time to go to Chiteji's. Once a month the JANSON travelled to Bandawe, the west coast home of the Livingstonia Mission, for mail, and every three months down the Shire for stores. Occasionally this routine was varied, to visit villages north of Likoma or the southern Yao towns. In 1886 the JANSON covered sixty miles of coast and seven or eight villages, and in the early 18903 eighty miles of coast and some thirteen stations.24 The organization 23E. Ayers, ”How We Live and What We Do on the 5.3. 'Charles Janson,'" in What We Do in Nyasaland, ed. Dora S. Yarnton Mills (London: 1911), p. 61; 1'Nyassa News,” §A_5 (January 1887): 10; Johnson, Reminiscences, pp. 138-39. 24"Nyassa News," CA 5 (March 1887): 43; Journals and Papers of Chauncy MapIes, ed. Ellen Maples (London: 1899), p. 173;’Glossop to [African Tidings], 1894, A4 IV (i); Is It Worth While?, ed. UMCA (Edinburgh: 1907), pp. 36-37. 250 expanded and changed according to the needs of the lake- side inhabitants and the desires of new bishops; by 1897 a new steamer, the CHAUNCY MAPLES, was requested to carry out the increased mission workload. By the time the MAPLES took over the missionary function in 1902, the number of villages worked had grown to fifty, spread over a ZOO-mile coastline. In 1911, the work had ex- tended to over 300 miles of coast, and sixty settlements, each of which the steamer visited tri—weekly.25 Schedules occasionally went unmet because of the periodic need for engine overhauls or accidents, such as running aground, which necessitated hull patching.26 At these times the village visits were usually managed by using canoes. A rapidly falling river level detained the JANSON in the Upper Shire from September 1888 to April 1889, but WPJ used the opportunity to begin work 2513 It Worth While?, p. 55; E. Ayers, "S.S. 'Chauncy MapIes," What We Do in Nyasaland, ed. Dora S. Yarnton Mills, p. 73 and footnote. 26Log Book 'Charles Janson," 1896-February 1904, Introduction to 1896 by E. Crouch, London, USPG Archives; The Nyassa News, no. 7 (February 1895): 235; "The Acci- dent to the TChauncy Maples,'" CA 27 (August 1909): 207-08; "Repairing the 'Chauncy Maples,T"gA_27 (November 1909): 290-94; "Repairing the 'C.M." N asaland Diocesan Quarterly Pa er (NDQP), no. 22 (January l§§§): 612-I3; "The Return of the 'Charles Janson,'” CA 19 (April 1901): 66; A. E. M. Anderson-Morshead, The Histor of the Universities' Mis- sion to Central Africa, I 185g-I909 (London: 41955), .p. 226. 251 at the Yao chief Liwonde's village on the river.27 Though the work was suspended when the Upper Shire grew too shallow for navigation, it was revived in the early 19005. Several villages on the river had schools, teachers, and churches which were visited by the UMCA sternwheeler CHIKAPA, a steamer converted to a houseboat when the river became nearly impassable because of vege- tation.28 The JANSON accomplished her main work on the lake with an African crew of between fourteen and seventeen, the number growing larger when the steamer became the 29 bishOp's ship in 1902. At that time the vessel's schedule changed as it assumed the major transport work of the mission. Each trip of the steamer is on a different errand, so life aboard is never monotonous. Sometimes it is a voyage to take the Bishop about for Confirma- tions, or the doctor in answer to an urgent call, 27"Nyassa News," C§_7 (January 1889), pp. 7-8; "Letters from the Rev. W. P. Johnson,” CA 7 (June 1889): 88; Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 160. In_Eis book Johnson writes that the Janson was freed in February 1889, but in ”Letters" he mentions an eight-month grounding, the beginning of which has a verified date. 28C. B. Eyre to Editor, September 1908, Likoma Diocesan Quarterl Pa er (LDQP), no. 21 (October 1908): 529-31; CAT, Marc 98. 29The crew at first consisted of five stokers, five deck-hands, a capitao, a cook and two "cabin-boys," Glossop to [African Tidings], A4 IV (i). 252 or pay one of his periodical visits to the stations, a trip to Malindi for mails and stores, or to some native village to buy food to supply Likoma's large demands for hospitals and native boarders.3O The crew was led by a captain, who managed the deck men, accounted for provisions, kept a ship's log, and super- intended the buying of wood; there was also a European engineer, a missionary-in-charge (usually WPJ), and his assistant.31 The JANSON's bi-monthly running expenses for wages, food, steamer wood, and stores, were figured at 360 fathoms of cloth, three lbs. of beads, five bars of soap, and a bag and a half of salt; during this time the vessel travelled 1,124 mi1es.32 For July 189l-July 1892 and 9,144 miles, the working expenses were given in a somewhat more sophisticated, but nevertheless interesting, fashion: wood bought with cloth L s. d. (759 fathoms at a rate of 1s. per fathom) 37 19 0 wood bought with salt (1,027 1/4 lbs.) 8 ll 3 English oil (60 1/2 gallons at 63. 8d. per gallon) 20 3 4 Native oil (33 gallons at 55. 6d. per gallon) 9 l 6 Wages of crew * 64 8 0 *This figures out to 3.66d per 5140 3 I 33 nautical mile. 30Ayers, "How We Live on the 5.3. 'CJ,'" p. 63. 31Glossop to [African Tidings], A4 IV (1). 32"Our Post Bag," 95 8 (January 1890): 15. 33"Expenses of the 'Charles Janson,'" CA 11 (January 1893): 4. 253 In 1897—98 the same costs had increased only to 5150.34 However, with the new responsibilities of the JANSON in 1902, its expenses grew to 5177-14-10 in 1905. The MAPLES, which proselytized along 230 miles of coast, assumed the wages for its dozen or so African teachers, and the Operating costs for its clinic and its printing operation, and therefore expended 5990-18-0. As a sta- tion, the MAPLES supported the efforts of three mis- sionaries, and in services offered, stood second only to Likoma, which had expenditures of 5974-2-11 and operated a hospital, cathedral, and school.35 The con- tribution of the steamer as a mission station is obvious. The MAPLES crew consisted of "twelve sailors and their capitaos, ten stokers and capitaos, cooks, stewards, and boys, five or six printers, a dispensary-boy sometimes two medical assistants, two watchmen" and usually several teachers, a total staff of fifty-six.36 The costs would have increased slightly in the 19003 had WPJ had his way. He advocated one or two female missionaries on board the MAPLES to visit and 34"Letter from Bishop Hiner" 25,15 (June 1898): 98. 35"Notes,' LDQP, no. 8 (July 1905): 192-95; "8.8. 'C.M.,'" LDQP, no. 11 (April 1906): 279. 36Ayers, "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'” 67. 254 inspect the girls' schools.37 A steamer engineer commented unhappily: The burning question in the mission just now is whether ladies should live on the steamer. The A.D. [archdeacon] is fearfully keen on having a school mistress and a nurse, Bishop dead against it indeed everyone else is. Sure at a distance the idea is pleasant but where it becomes an immediate possibility it loses most of its attractions. Nonetheless, in 1913 WPJ still thought the idea had pos- sibilities, "How capital if we could get suffragettes to run the CJ quite on their own, like the lady who once crossed to Bandawe alone in the boat Charlotte."39 How- ever, despite all the other innovatiOns the UMCA willingly attempted, placing women on steamers would not yet be undertaken. WPJ's failure to gain acceptance for the idea of women aboard the steamers was certainly one of his few unsuccessful campaigns in Malawi. However, the Oxford graduate who had chosen Africa and poverty over a poten- tially successful and comfortable career in the Indian 37"Retreat and Conference," LDQP, no. 4 (July 1904): 98; "Work on the 'Chauncy MapIes,'" §A_21 (Jan- uary 1903): 6. 38Philip Young, Diary, September 1902, London, USPG Archives. 39"The 'Chauncy Maples,'" NDC, no. 39 (April 1913): 989. 255 Civil Service,40 conceived an idea which differentiated the UMCA from all other missions on the lake. That idea he brought to fruition not once, but twice. The itin- erant method of Christianizing by steamer necessitated making the vessel not simply a means of transportation, but rather establishing it as a home and center for its African crew, its laymen, its missionaries and teachers, and the people who visited it. In short, the steamer was viewed as a mission outpost, much as any station on land. However, on a moving station, missionaries approached people in a different manner than they did at a fixed station. The implications and consequences of the itinerant approach for the UMCA and the people with whom it dealt can best be judged by examining the work of the steamer members. The foremost aim of the missionaries was to convert, and since this was usually attempted in concert with education, the two will be examined together. The attainment of skills, though not held in the same regard as in the industrial missions, remained an important con- sideration. Medical attention was an additional priority, though the UMCA did not use it to initiate other activi- ties, as did the medical missionary, Dr. Laws. A fifth aim, that the steamer be regarded as symbolizing an independent polity, though not part of a positive approach 40Barnes, Johnson, p. 19. 256 to the people, was nevertheless considered imperative by WPJ. Though all the objectives were conspicuous in varying degrees at different times, the most important from the UMCA's viewpoint was the emplanting of the Gospel. Religion through education became the main approach of the steamer clergy and teachers. When WPJ first con- ceived the floating station idea, he projected monthly visits to native teachers placed in the villages. "They could get up the dialects, teach A, B, C schools, intro- duce useful seeds, accustom the natives to what we want, and gradually come to have prayers and gather catechumens around . . ."41 Bishop Smythies accepted the idea, and the first African teachers arrived from the UMCA college at Zanzibar.42 A teacher was placed, however, only after a missionary had determined that a chief desired a school. That decision signalled the coming of a newly trained African teacher accompanied by a Christian wife, who was not only his helper, but also the UMCA's safe- guard against immorality with the heathen. Usually the teacher was not a previous resident of his assigned village, and WPJ viewed his willingness to serve in a 41W. P. Johnson to ? [n.d.], as quoted in QA_2 (April 1884): 57-58. 42Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 173. 257 strange area as a mark of earnestness.43 Being an alien had advantages, too, because the man was not part of cus- tomary socio-political groups, an involvement which might interfere with his work. Beginning with WPJ's initial ideas, the teacher's responsibilities consisted of preaching and teaching Christians, catechumens, and hearers; holding Sunday services; occasionally arranging Confirmation or Holy Communion for Christians, and keeping the steamer missionaries informed of the progress of the converts and catechumens. The wives, meanwhile, taught the village women and girls such things as basic ABC's, hygiene, cooking, and child care.44 When the MAPLES stopped at a village, each Euro- pean aboard undertook preassigned tasks. Clergy met with the communicants' and catechumen's classes, examined can- didates for Confirmation, performed baptisms, met with the teacher-in-charge to learn the village news, and discussed problems with the churchwardens. If remaining overnight, the missionary would administer Holy Communion in the morning and if it was a Sunday, he would take the 43Ibid., pp. 185-86; "5.3. 'C.M.,'” LDQP, no. 9 (October 1905): 227-28. 44"A Survey of the Work of the 'Charles Janson,'" CA_16 (March 1898): 45-46. 258 service.45 The captain, meantime, inspected mission buildings, the school, the teacher's house, and dormi- tories, if any. He engaged men for necessary repairs. On a Sunday, he had the added job of receiving and valu- ing the offertory, since much of it was in kind.46 The engineer paid teachers and monitors and gave out school supplies, such as slates, books, nibs, and ink.47 Wages were not always easily determined, for the teacher usually figured them in the standard measure of fathoms (of cloth) and would request so many fathoms in cloth, so many in soap and salt, and so many fathoms in shil- lings!48 The MAPLES further encouraged education by func- tioning as a "lending library" for the books from Likoma, apparently meeting with great success, for a letter in The Quarterly warned that each station was entitled to three books per member at a time and that the volumes must be returned after three months.49 45Ayers, ”S.S. 'Chauncy Maples," 68-70; Is It Worth While?, p. 55; Anderson-Morshead, Universities' Hiétory, vol. 1, p. 226. 46Ayers, "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'" 71. 47Ibid. 481bid. 49 "Letters to Editor," LDQP, no. 5 (October 1904): 137. 259 Missionaries on the JANSON, and later the MAPLES, spurred the work of conversion by visiting the stations as often as possible, usually once every three weeks. A clergyman would be dropped at one village to take ser- vices, while another priest worked with the steamer through the next two or three villages. The second missionary was then left at a village while the steamer went back to pick up the first man. 'Thus the vessel steamed up the lake with one missionary working ashore, while the other called at various villages with the steamer.50 The MAPLES frequently carried three mission- aries, and work progressed even more rapidly. The advantages of the steamer should be obvious. A canoe or sailing vessel would have needed much more time to cover a like amount of territory and achieve similar results. While smaller vessels usually did not travel in heavy weather, the steamers could and did. In addition, the arrival of a steamer caused more excitement than the arrival of a canoe; it was not only a Christian event, but of economic importance as well, for food and wood were purchased. Canoes gathered around 5°Ibld., 67-68. 260 the steamer and fowls, eggs, fruits, and vegetables were exchanged for salt, cloth, and soap, to the benefit of both parties.51 The UMCA offered Malawians not only economic opportunities, but also the chance to develop a true African church. Other groups organized ten or twelve stations and generally sent Europeans to administer them, while the UMCA steadily progressed from seven or eight stations in the late 18803 to over sixty in 1911; the majority run by Africans.52 Some selected samples from the Reverend Wimbush's report on twenty-one villages indicate the extent of Africanisation in 1897: Ngofi.--Teacher, So Songolo, assisted by two other teachers, and Annie Songolo, So's wife. There are about twenty Christians, mostly men, most of them recently baptized, and now (with one or two exceptions) confirmed. Kango.--. . . Teacher, Alfred, with an assis- tant. Here there are about twenty-five Christians, the greater number men, . . . They are now engaged in building themselves a church of mud and wood, assisted by the Mission. (The Mission gives each person a yard of cloth food-money per week. The ordinary wage is two yards of cloth.) Chisanga.--. . . Teachers, Aruffo Tangani and Harriet. Sixty Christians (forty-five men, fifteen 51Ibid., 69, 72; Ayers, ”How We Live on the 3.3. 'CJ,'" 62; ”Stores," LDQP, no 8 (July 1905): 208; Glossop to [Afpican Tidin s], A4 IV (1); "A Letter from Mr. Sher- riff, Captain of the 'Charles Janson,'“ as quoted in QA'9 (March 1891): 34; "The 'Charles Janson,'" CA 5 (March 1887): 43; Anderson-Morshead, Building of Efie Chauncy Maples, p. 21. 52E. Maples, Journals and Papers of Chauncy Maples, p. 173. 261 women). Here there is a good stone church built by the Christians and catechumens in 1893 . . . School, fifteen boys, ten girls. Pachia.-—Teacher Clement Kathibeni (reader), assisted by Mattiya Kachambili and Victoria Kathi- beni. There are 180 Christians . . . Eustace Malisawa was teacher here until . . . he went to Kiungani to read for deacon's orders. There is a good church of unburnt bricks. Chikole (Chingo Manje's)--Teachers, Richard Filipo Mzinda and Rebecca his wife. Here we come within the sphere of Mohammedan influence. Richard, who has had all his training here at the Lake is doing very well, in a difficult place; the peOple like him, and respect him for his good character, and several of the Mohammedan young men have joined his hearer's class, to be definitely prepared for admission to the catechumate.53 The UMCA was fulfilling the wish expressed by Bishop Smythies when he first agreed to the idea of a steamer parish in 1884. He believed that the water—borne mis- sionaries would gain the maximum of influence with the minimum of disturbance of native social conditions, a fundamental concern of WPJ's.54 Regular steamer visits also seem to have dis- couraged internecine strife and provided the link which connected the isolated units of the diocese.55 An unsought benefit also presented itself. In the report above, one notes that at Kango and Chisanga the people constructed their own churches. The first UMCA village 53"Survey of Work of 'CJ,'“ 41-45. 54Barnes, Johnson, p. 69. 55Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 174; Samuel Lyon, "The 8.5. 'Charles Janson,'" LDQP, no. 8 (July 1905): 209. 262 church to go up was a stone building under the direction of UMCA missionary Augustine Ambali and his parishioners at Msumba, sometime before 1893. When the villagers of Pachia and Chisanga saw what the Msumba people had achieved, they built a brick and stone church in 1893.56 The same thing occurred in seven villages on the Upper Shire in the 19003, but here the church construction was not subsidized by the UMCA. A healthy rivalry had engen- dered self help. The creation of the Diocese of Nyasaland in 1892 and the continuous development of the "moving ministry" led to the request for a new steamer. The MAPLES, designed by JANSON engineer John Crouch using the ideas of WPJ and Bishop Hine, was 127 ft. long, or nearly twice the length of the JANSON. Fittings included a chapel, a school room designed for thirty students, a saloon, a pantry, two galleys, a harmonium, a printing room, and quarters for the European and African crew, as well as for the students. The doors between the saloon and the schoolroom could be opened to create a good-sized church, Figure 21.57 56Johnson, Reminiscences, pp. 182-83. 57Universities' Mission to Central Africa Short Description of New Steamer, USPG A4 IV Correspondence; "Our New Steamer," CA 17 (October 1899): 175-76. 263 Fig. 21. CHAUNCY MAPLES Chapel (London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Universities' Mission Papers, copyright USPG). 264 Although the intention had been to create a floating teacher-training center, the opening of St. Michael's at Msumba precluded that.58 Instead, the MAPLES became a floating theological college where can- didates studied for Holy Orders, and to which village teachers returned for three-month refresher courses.59 The establishment of St. Andrew's Theological College in October 1905 once again changed the pattern, since henceforth candidates for Holy Orders studied on land.60 For most candidates the move proved beneficial, and per- haps it was as a result of their sailing difficulties that St. Andrew's was built. To those inclined to think of Lake Malawi as some type of Derwentwater, where a 200-ton steamer would have no problems, St. Andrew's first principal warned: Alas! How different is a lake as long as all England. Moreover, there is something in these short, fresh-water waves which sometimes causes disaster to stout-hearted sailors who have never 58"Report on the Trade and General Conditions of the British Central African Protectorate lst Apr. 1899 to 31 Mar 1900," F.O. 2/307; Frank Winspear, Some Remi- niscences of Nyasaland (Likoma: [n.d.] [but probably 19551)} p. 17. 59Reverend G. H. Wilson, "The Native Ministry," in What We Do in Nyasaland, ed. Dora S. Yarnton Mills, p. 218; Howard, Five Years' Medical Work, p. 42; Anderson- Morshead, Universities' History, vol. 1, p. 226. 60Wilson, "Native Ministry," p. 218. 265 hitherto succumbed. When a theological lecture is punctuated by sudden and frequent withdrawals of the pupils, one can readily imagine the result.61 Augustine Ambali spent a year as a reader on the MAPLES and though he believed the ship a wonderful place, he preferred the land because on board there was "too much noise of people and too much waves and rolling, rolling always; and we were ill very often because it is rough lake."62 Despite the difficulties, the steamers and their missionaries proved equal to the maintenance and expan- sion of the ”moving ministry." It has already been noted that, with the availability of a new steamer, the JANSON became the bishop's ship. While aiding with cargo ship- ments and other duties, the vessel also ran at night to 63 deal with emergencies. With two ships the UMCA ful- filled all the requirements of the diocese and more. Steamer clergy, in their pastoral work alone, were con- sidered to be the hardest workers in the diocese.64 Scanning the records of their daily village visits and 6llbld. 62Augustine Ambali, Thirty Years in Nyasaland ([Likoma: 1916]), p. 59. 63Lyon, "3.5. 'CJ,'" 211. 64Wilson, "Native Ministry," p. 218. 266 the schedules they maintained within each hamlet, the researcher can have little doubt that this was the case. With the continuous travel of the UMCA steamers, it is no wonder that the Africans manning them became increasingly competent. Although the skills they achieved were more a by-product of the jobs performed than a spe- cific mission objective, they were still of definite benefit. Thus attention should be directed to two per- tinent but peripheral advantages of the itinerant steamer, the job skills attained and the socialization derived from work and travel aboard the JANSON and MAPLES. WPJ recognized the necessity of having men who knew how to handle a steamer, or he would not have taken Hamisi, Tumani, and Manweri to England with him in 1884. Doubtless his occasional ventures on the ILALA and his familiarity with lake conditions made him aware that experienced men were required for the efficient running of the steamer, for he left the three men in Brixham to be trained by trawler captains. Though most of the latter feared training Hamisi because of his powerful build and inability to speak English, George Sherriff volunteered immediately. Two years later, when WPJ returned to the lake after his double bout of illness, Sherriff joined him as captain of the JANSON. When Hamisi accompanied the Reverend Swinny to the Zulu in 267 1886, thus leaving the JANSON, Sherriff lamented the fact, declaring, "he was the best hand I had."65 While not advocating training in seamanship as a mission goal, WPJ nevertheless valued it for the safety of the steamers, for its own sake (i.e. discipline), and for what it could do for the Africans' future. When proposing that the JANSON function as a possible school, WPJ suggested that there would be "plenty of boys' work in all the odd jobs of a sailors life." Yet in the same letter he mentioned that given the increased demand, "smart seamen will be in great request."66 Of course, his comment that Africans would work on the ALC steamer for half of what they demanded as caravan porters, has already been noted. It is impossible to discover whether this justification was simply a good piece of salesmanship to persuade the Europeans of the validity of the steamer. In fact, his idea undoubtedly represented a recognition of the realities of the situation, that is, his under- standing of the dangers of the lake and his experience of what attracted Africans to work. In the process of training, Sherriff at first allowed no one to take the JANSON's wheel except himself. However, in 1887, with the coming of a new engineer, the 65"Nyassa News," CA.S (January 1887): 11. 66 1884): 57. Johnson to ? [n.d.], as quoted in CA_2 (April 268 situation changed. Mills' presence freed Sherriff from the total responsibility over the steamer and he taught the African, David, how to pilot the vessel, as well as how to splice wire. The latter may not appear to be much of an accomplishment, but for a long time David (possibly Kalichelo) remained the only African on the lake who could do 80.67 By 1889 a baptized African was in train- ing under Mills to learn how to run and care for the JANSON's engine.68 This event was considered important, for the first Africans who crewed the JANSON were not Christians and, in fact, very few converted. Although daily religious instruction was given to the men on board, WPJ thought it as unnecessary as compulsory parade services. He stressed that most men came for the teaching first and, once having learned that "freemen might work as freemen, even under foreigners . . . they came for work willingly enough."69 Before long a pool of steamer crew developed in the villages at the lakeside, 67Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 138; David Kalichelo, the Christian capitao, worked on construction of the CHAUNCY MAPLES. Because of his position and rate of pay for the MAPLES work, it is possible that he was the earlier David. Anderson-Morshead, Building of the Chaungy Maples, p. 64. 68"Our Work at Likoma," QA_8 (January 1890): 5. 69Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 157; E. Maples, Journals and Papers of Maples, p. 174. 269 and when JANSON crew members wished to take leave, the steamer could easily find replacements who knew how to steer by the compass, as well as help with the steamer's engines.70 The jobs were varied. The "Wa-deck“ assumed the washing down of the deck each morning, a customary pro- ceeding which has lasted until today in Malawi Railways' vessels. They also procured the fire-wood, bringing it in boats from the shore (Fig. 22) and assumed responsi- 71 bility for the lead lines and the anchor. Stokers had several jobs, including the firing (a job for the new- comer), oiling and running of the engines. These were the men who packed themselves around the floor of the stokehole on cold nights and worked far into the night cleaning boiler tubes, when the rest of the crew were asleep.72 WPJ said of them: It appears that the natives had been asked how to render Hell; perhaps it was described to them as a fiery place with demons, and they unhesitatingly gave the word stoko (i.e. stokehold). The word held its own for a long time before we discovered what it referred to.7 70Log Book, "Charles Janson," December 1896, USPG; Johnson, Reminiscences, pp. 138, 157; Barnes, Johnson, p. 93. 71A. G. De la Pryme, "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'" CA_ 24 (September 1906): 238. 72Ibid.; "The New Steamer," 148. 73Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 140. 270 Fig. 22. Loading wood on the CHAUNCY MAPLES (London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Universities' Mission Papers, copyright USPG). 271 In addition to the stokers and sailors, the boats carried a cook, "small-cooks" who waited table and helped in the kitchen, a night watchman, a ship's carpenter, and, in the case of the MAPLES, printers.74 Though the MAPLES had a printing room, it was not used at first-- type being set at the village of Msumba by three African apprentices. It was then carried by steamer to Likoma, where it was printed. The printing process first began in 1895, when the UMCA Africans wrote their own newspaper, Mtenga Watu. By 1908, the press was finally installed on the MAPLES and was busily publishing the revision of 75 Obviously, several skills could ”Chinyanja Psalms." be acquired on the steamers, and from the previous indi- cations of WPJ, once the people understood that they labored as free men, they sought the work. Indeed, the printers looked on their contribution as a calling, and the steamer crewmen were proud of their achievements. When a Brixham trawler arrived in 1902 to take over the general management of the MAPLES, he confessed himself impressed with the African crew: Some of them are really good, smart chaps, quite the pick of the Lake for seamanship; some of them have been on our steamers ever since George Sherriff first came out here [1886], and have been well 74De la Pryme, "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'" 239. 75"A Survey of the Work of the 'Charles Janson,'" 44; The Nyasa News, no. 7 (February 1895): 234; "8.5. 'C.M., LDQP, no. 19 (April 1898): 470. 272 trained to their work by those they have been under; one can tell the difference at first sight from an old steamer hand and one who is taking his first trip on the steamer.76 Doubtless he met Big Paul, the African capitao of the MAPLES, who was a ”regular giant," and whose foot was said to "cover a page of the Church Times." On coming into port, he always took the wheel, for he knew every harbor on the lake and was considered thoroughly trust- worthy.77 In the engine room the newcomer would have encountered Sulimani, a villager from Msumba, who under- stood the engines and how to start and stop them. He was one of the oldest UMCA Christians.78 Although the steamer-training had produced these and other worthy individuals, an engineer in 1906 sug- gested a different approach. He claimed it to be ”a mistaken idea to suppose that the engine-room is the place to learn engineering," and insisted that the African must be taught to think and not simply manipulate the engine-room dials without understanding what they meant. He suggested three years of shop-training, fol- lowed by an engine-room apprenticeship, and he thought 76E. Partridge, "Work on the 'Chauncy Maples,'“ §A_21 (January 1903): 4. 77Philip Young, Diary January-February 1902, USPG; "The New Steamer,” CA 20 (September 1902): 148. 78"The New Steamer,” 148; Anderson-Morshead, Building of the Chauncy Maples, pp. 73, 109. 273 it desirable that general knowledge with an additional specialization be acquired. He suggested boiler-work, main-engine work, and water-tending as some of the specializations and maintained that each occupation " . . . apart from the incentive it would create for each one to maintain his own department at its highest state of efficiency would be conducive to extreme economy 79 Doubtless he was correct, and the machine in working." shops at Malindi still exist as proof of the training and teaching that went on. The steamer undertook to socialize the eastern lakeshore people in a manner which hitherto had occurred only on a slave dhow. The steamer was a great attraction, especially to the young children, and most people heartily welcomed its visits.80 WPJ took advantage of natural curiosity: " . . . to draw children from the various villages along the Lake-shore, into the steamer, and then bring together children of different tribes and peoples, laying what may be the foundation of friendships amongst those who have hitherto been at deadly enmity with one 81 another." He not only applied this process to children, 79Samuel Lyon, "Mechanical Training," LDQP, no. 10 (January 1906): 265-68. 80Anderson-Morshead, Building of the Chauncy Maples, p. 21; Ayers, "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'“ 69. 81John Buchanan, "Lukoma, Lake Nyassa," 95.6 (November 1888): 154. 274 but also attempted to get old school boys to seek service on the steamer. In addition he attracted men from various lake-side locations, using their knowledge to help the mission decide where to attempt its next prosely— tizing movement.82 In this manner, small or less impor- tant villages, which might have been overlooked, became part of the steamer parish. They were no longer isolated, and they gained a certain prestige which might prevent them from being raided.83 Proof of this socialization process also appears in the roll-call of Africans who re-assembled the MAPLES at Mponda's. "Cypriani, David, Samuel, John, Edward, Ali, Ben-ali, Chitema (quickly) Chikoti (a whip) Ngombi (ox), . . . Steamer and Jam,” were some of the Christian, Mohammedan, native, and imaginative UMCA workers. All 84 The fact of them worked under a Christian capitao. that they worked cooperatively to build the steamer par- tially indicates the success of the UMCA approach. Initially, daily travel aboard the steamer enabled people to become acquainted. A few years later, 82Ayers, "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'” 73; Samuel Lyon, "The 8.5. 'Charles Janson,'” LDQP, no. 8 (July 1905): 211. 83Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 174. 84Anderson-Morshead, Building of the Chauncy Maples, pp. 64, 73. 275 migrant laborers returning from employment in the south took advantage of the opportunity to display their newly purchased goods to fellow travellers, much as they do today.85 The MAPLES would carry fifty passengers at most, allowing them to sleep in teacher's dormitories, crew's quarters, the schoolroom, on deck, and even a few near the boiler with the stokers. They represented Malawi's small but growing modern sector: teachers with their families; deacons and readers for the college at Likoma; workmen such as carpenters travelling to another station for building or repairs; invalids for the hos- pital; students and pupil teachers for St. Michael's, visitors; court witnesses; and some laborers leaving or 86 When it was learned that the JANSON returning home. was travelling to Nkamanga, the UMCA was besieged for tickets. The diocesan paper commented: "It must be heart-rending business, for the 'CJ' is not an Atlantic Liner, and many are the disappointed ones who have to be refused--often when there are the best of reasons for wishing to take them."87 85Reverend R. Laws to Reverend Thomas Main, January 5, 1879, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7876, FCSP. 86De la Pryme, ”S.S. 'Chauncy Maples,'" 237; Log Book, "Charles Janson,” November 24, 1896. 87"nkamanga." LDQP, no. 13 (October 1906): 329-30. 276 The JANSON and the MAPLES lured the people. As chiefs were invited aboard the ILALA in the 18703 and 18803, so was the common (and ordinary) African able to inspect the UMCA steamers and to travel aboard them between 1886 and 1915. In 1893 the JANSON brought sixty Christians from Msumba, Pachia, and Chisanga to Likoma 88 It is true that as for four days of Easter services. time went on, there was a need to purchase tickets, but the rates were not prohibitive as were those of the com- mercial steamers. Health care was another by-product of the mission steamer, an observation particularly true of the MAPLES. Although missionary health had not constituted one of WPJ's original reasons for suggesting a steamer, Bishop Smythies accepted the idea of a movable mission station partly because it would keep the clergy from residing in the malarial lake-side villages.89 Instead they would live on the steamer, and mosquitoes seldom flew as far from shore as where the steamers anchored. Though the missionary still ran the chance of contracting malaria, he nevertheless worked from a healthy home and 88"News from Nyasa," CA 11 (September 1893): 139. 89Barnes, Johnson, p. 69. 277 headquarters. Since the vessel had its own sick bay on board, fever cases received immediate attention and medication. The steamers also aided the African, even if, in the beginning, the UMCA did not approach the people through a medical mission. When the UMCA doctor was invalided home the mission continued without one, because most of the missionaries were familiar with simple medical techniques. In fact, it is doubtful that the African would have accepted medicine or medical treatment when he first came into contact with the European. WPJ main- tained that Africans desired medicine ahead of the Gospel, but contended that the UMCA first had to gain African trust through its teaching before it would minister 90 to the ill. As an example of the confidence necessary, WPJ related the story of a wounded villager, who had been visited by a new doctor: A man had been badly injured, as a gun, loaded nearly up to the muzzle with small stones, had been fired off close behind him. It was a ghastly wound and with some persuasion he allowed Dr. Robinson to dress it. The doctor had to remove quite a pint of stone and gravel; he gave directions about his patient, and promised to call again in a day or two. When he came back the man had fled; he was more afraid of the doctor than of dying.91 90Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 187; Johnson, "S.S. 'C.M.,'" NDQP, no. 23 (April 1909): 566. 91Johnson, Reminiscences, pp. 187-88. 278 If trust was an important ingredient, so was the African's need. He first requested "medicine" to prevent his enemies from harming him. In truth, this demand made sense, since prophylaxis was better than catching a fatal disease. Besides, the chief could buy this "medicine" from the Arab who bought and sold his people, so why not from the European, his supposed friend? More- over, the Arab's panacea did not work anyway: the Ngoni and the Yao still raided. By the 18903 the Arabs at Nkhota Kota had to con- cede that the white man's medicine was superior to their own.92 It might seem unnecessary to point out that the proponents of Islam could not compete with Christian missionaries in Malawi in terms of modern medicine, but it is important. The administration was inclined to believe that the medical missionaries gained more friends, if not converts, who considered they had a special power.93 In the beginning this view definitely applied more to the medical missionaries of the Free Church, like Dr. Laws, than to the UMCA. However, with the development of 92Reverend Arthur Fraser Sim to ? , September 14, 1894, in Life and Letters of Arthur Fraser Sim, ed. UMCA (London: 1896), p. 113. 93Norris to Sharpe, June 8, 1904, Enclosure 1 in Sharpe to C.O., June 21, 1904, C.O. 525/2. 279 Likoma Hospital and the MAPLES clinic and village ser- vices, this credit was soon bestowed on the MAPLES as well. In the 19003, the MAPLES made the UMCA much more visible in the medical field than it had been in the past. When the hospital assistants, Edward or Raphael, could be spared from Likoma, one of them accompanied the steamer on its three- to five-week rounds. The medical assistant established his temporary clinic in a steamer village near a school or at the teacher's house and treated the less serious cases. The others he directed to Likoma by steamer.94 Since there was neither enough personnel nor money available for clinics in every UMCA center, the steamer provided a rapid and inexpensive method of delivering medicine. If a case dictated immediate attention, the steamer could and did take the patient to the hospital. The vessels had the advantage of being able to reach islands as well, and thus the leper colony on the German island of Lundu was visited. Medical assistants would provide simple medical remedies, and cloth would be provided. Though the German station at Sphinxhaven 94Winspear, Reminiscences of Nyasaland, p. 24; Johnson, ”8.5. 'C.M.,"I 566. 280 directed the local chief to give food to the lepers, that was the colonial power's sole contribution to their wel- fare.95 Thus, the ”moving ministry,” as it operated between 1886 and 1914, brought notable benefits to the African people as well as to the missionaries. Medical attention, job skills, socialization and religion were dispensed, as it were, from a moving department store. The comparison is a bit strange, but where most missions could afford to establish only three or four stations, the UMCA organized fifty or sixty. Inherent in this type of organization was an apolitical approach. The UMCA did not settle with one clan or tribe; it settled its teachers and its influence with all those it could reach. In this way it met most demands for mission schools and teachers. The political ramifications of this approach are worth examining next. A common problem for most missions lay in their relations with the different tribal groups. As already noted, on the west side of the lake the Angoni were excessively jealous that Laws should lend prestige to Marenga by settling near the Atonga. The claim that the ILALA needed a port carried no weight with the Angoni chief Mombera, who insisted that Angoni spears 95Winspear, Reminiscences of Nyasaland, p. 24. 281 would guarantee communication with the lake.96 On the east shore, WPJ established himself in quite a different manner. His first years there were spent living and travelling with Africans. He had little they desired, and in fact his "personal boy" had threatened to leave WPJ because he wanted cloth to buy food for his wife, and the missionary had none to pay him.97 Although WPJ had little of material value to give, Chief Chiteji, a Nyasa living across from Likoma, desired his presence because he believed that it kept the Mangwangwara from raiding his people. When Johnson experienced difficulties with a slave caravan leader at Chiteji's in 1883, was threatened with having his house burned, and had a sword brandished in his face, he con- fronted the chief and warned that: . . . he would leave the village bag and baggage and go off with the steamer [ILALA]. Now this is one of the things Chitedya does not wish, as Johnson has stoped [sic] the Angone from making war on the village before now and as the people are expecting an attack from them every day, they feel that his presence with them is much needed, accordingly all Johnson's wishes were granted him.98 96W. P. Livingstone, Laws of Livingstonia (London: 1923). P. 198. 97Morrison Diary, December 8, 1882, Gen 1803. 981bid., March 13, 1883, Gen 1804; see also December 8, 1882, Gen 1803. 282 Similarly, in the 1870s, Mtaka wished Bishop Steere to settle at the east shore town of Losewa, one of the delivery ports for the slave dhows from Nkhota Kota. The chief lived in the hills beyond the east side of the lake, and his concern was for his coastal villagers who sometimes were captured by the slave and ivory cara- vans coming from the western shores.99 However, while ready to exert influence or employ threats to avoid serious personal difficulty, Johnson confined his approach to diplomatic maneuverings. Although occasionally manhandled, he was never seriously injured by Africans or Arabs, most of whom held him in 100 Part of the reason for such consid- respect and awe. eration was undoubtedly his refusal, based on UMCA policy, to arbitrate ”native disputes.” He believed that the worthy African was unlikely to substitute a Eur0pean for his own chief, and, in fact, ignored his responsibility to his chief at his own peril.101 99Reverend C. A. Janson to John ? , February 11, 1882, London, RGS Archives, CorreSpondence; Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 111. 100George Shepperson, "The Jumbe of Kota Kota and some Aspects of the History of Islam in British Central Africa," in Islam in Tropical Africa, ed. I. Lewis (London: 1966): p. 199; Barnes, Johnson, pp. 126-27; H. H. Johnston, "British Central Africa," PRGS, N.S. 12 (1890): 722-23. 101"An Answer," The N asa News, no. 5 (August 1894): 151; Barnes, Johnson, pp. 1 6-07, quotes the letter in much more detaiI than does The Nyasa News. 283 WPJ also was respected because he had travelled with the people. Not only was he conversant in the lake languages and in Swahili (which he believed belonged at the ocean coast), but he knew Arabic as well.102 More- over, he cultivated acquaintances with the Yao chiefs like Mponda and Makanjira. These men he honored for the background pressure they exerted on behalf of the UMCA.103 In reality, it is likely that the initial assistance was rendered in his behalf, for the chiefs trusted him and sought his advice. Johnson did not interfere with their slave caravans, though he made his thoughts abundantly clear on the subject.104 As a result of his approach, some of the Yao, who were nominally "Wa-Islam," were at first anxious to become ”A-Nasara." On one of the JANSON's first visits to the southeast coast, Makanjira, the old slaving chief, sent out his dhow to greet the steamer. When the Yao heard the crew at prayer, they ”only rowed very gently and silently so as not to disturb us." Ashore, WPJ consulted Makanjira and preached his message: 102Barnes, Johnson, p. 108. ' “ 103"The Charles Janson,” CA 4 (September 1886): 134; Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 125. 104 1889): 92. ”Letters from Rev. W. P. Johnson," QA_7 (June 284 I noticed that the people said in conversation: "the Chief is very favourable and we shall become A-Nasara” * (the Yao name for Christians) "as we have become Wa-Islam" (Mohammedans). But Makan- jila ”of the hand" died and the second Makanjila "of the ears,” was a very worthless character.10$ From the former WPJ had received an invitation for a teacher to come to the village; the latter was uninter- ested.106 Most chiefs were open to persuasion, but the Arabs offered stiff competition to the missionary, and WPJ never underestimated their attraction: They represent all the civilization and progress known there-~they are united by a few common customs, by understanding Swahili, by having been at the coast, and by a liveliness not seen in the ordinary native. They arrive at a village, and a great part of the population turns out to meet them, and they bring gunpower [gig] guns, bales of cloth, and beads. They know whom to flatter and whom to patronize. They hang about a village for months, and leave it stocked with coast things, and poorer only by some few souls.107 The caravans also travelled with smiths and tailors, who worked for the African chiefs. The Malawians valued these craftsmen and also the trade goods the Arabs 105Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 152. *Johnson says in a footnote concerning A-Nasara, "This name is now [1926] commonly used on the Lake for Mohammedans, whereas it ought to mean Christians, and did among the old Yaos. Nasara is Nazareth." 106Ibid.; ”The Bishop's Diary," of August 1886 in QA_5 (January 1887): 7. 107Johnson to ? [n.d.], _c_A_ 2 (April 1884): 58-59. 285 brought.108 The missionaries could not hope to compete in these areas, but they could supply teachers. In the early days, the material benefits of the slave trade seem to have won out, for the missionaries never made inroads south of Chikole (Chingomanjes), the northern boundary of Yao and Mohammedan influence, Figure 20.109 After the government suppression of the Yao/Arab slaving combine in the 18908, the UMCA not only estab- lished teachers in the Yao villages of Chikole, Mululuka, Lungwena (which was free of Mohammedanism) and Lukoloma, it also made converts. The fact that most of the early Mohammedan teachers were little more than secretaries to the chiefs, with responsibility for their Arabic cor— respondence to the coast, may be one factor in the UMCA success;110 moreover, the majority of the cadis were 108Victor Giraud, Les Lacs de l'Afrique Equa- toriale: Voyage d'exploration, exécuté de 1883-1885 (Paris: 1890), pp. 261-62; see also Lewis Gann, l'TEe End of the Slave Trade in British Central Africa: 1889- 1912," Rhodes-Livingstone Journal 16 (1954): 30. 109Wimbush, "Survey of WOrk of CJ,” QA_16 (March 1898): 44; Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 141; Howard, Five Years' Medical Work, p. 38. 110Wimbush, "Survey of Work of CJ,” 44-45; John- son, Reminiscences, p. 111; Barnes, Johnson, p. 127 states that the teachers were usually ”natives, sIaves or men more or less detribalized, who took up with Muhammadianism and were sent, often as far as Cairo, to be taught the observances and such texts from the Koran as they could learn by heart. They generally learnt to write in Arabic letters but did not learn Arabic.” 286 ignorant of the Koran. On one of his first trips to the lake, WPJ met two such teachers and one of them questioned him, "'Why do you Europeans hide away all the words of God from us?'" WPJ found the question strange, and it might be supposed that the query had arisen from the same ignorance of the Bible as of the Koran. At a revival south of Losewa in 1906-08, WPJ found a Mohammedan teacher whose knowledge of Arabic was so limited that he could only translate Koranic passages imperfectly.1’11 As a matter of fact, WPJ seldom found a cadi who possessed his knowledge of the Koran. One of WPJ's biographers commented: The possession of a Koran couldn't harm the chiefs much, because it was very much a sealed book to them, and in fact, to quite a number even of Muhammedan teachers. . . . This so-called Muham- medanism was truly but a bastard form of the faith that worked such wonders in Arabia and Northern Africa and at one time threatened to overun Europe, and had none of such virtues as may be allowed to exist in the genuine faith of Islam.112 It could be argued that those Africans who became Christians did not really understand their faith either, for many seemed to lose interest once they achieved bap- tism, while others fell away from Christian practices and were excommunicated.113 In any case, there were 111Johnson, Reminiscences, pp. 11, 146. 112Barnes, Johnson, p. 126. ll3uNotes'u LDQP, no. 6 (January 1905): 139. 287 those who were not totally committed to either faith, and the comments of WPJ's biographer must be read with the qualification that he advocated Christianity in a situation where two proselytizing religions fought for souls. On the other hand, he was correct, for Islam holds that believers should not enslave each other, a qualification which did not stop the Yao from selling their own kind. What seems to emerge clearly is that, more than Islam, the caravans, as ”dispenser of wealth" and novelty, attracted the Yao. A similar conclusion must be made regarding the steamer. Perhaps the singular difference, beyond the realm of theology, was that a Christian learned to understand his freedom (i.e. seek- ing out work for wages) prior to the imposition of any hut tax and to appreciate the material goods won by the "sweat of his brow," while the Mohammedan Yao undoubtedly enjoyed his material gains, but had to sell his brother to do so. The one left behind by the caravan, however, was not given to complaint. How, then, can an awakening of Islamic feeling in the 19003 be explained? If the UMCA was having success in the villages, if the people were attracted to the steamer, and if the government was eliminating the slave caravans, what is the answer? One must resort to an economic-political explanation, rather than to search for a religious reason. The Yao had always 288 presented a pocket of resistance, first to the mis- sionaries, then to government. When Harry Johnston arrived in the country in 1889, some of the Yao chiefs had exchanged letters with and had accepted flags from the Cardoso Expedition. Despite their assertions to WPJ (probably true), that they believed their letter exchanges with the Portuguese only indicated friendship, the coast caravans arriving in their villages with guns and gunpowder convinced them that the liaison was desirable.114 To digress for a moment, it is necessary to understand that the Yao had recently become aggressive in their treatment of the queen's representative and of the UMCA. WPJ's apolitical approach to the Yao had always enhanced his relationship with them. The JANSON had been recognized "as our village, our land,” and except in rare instances operated as ”a legalized and recognized village or state,"115 indicating the respect which the UMCA enjoyed. When it carried the queen's representative, matters temporarily changed. In April 1888 the JANSON and WPJ took Acting Consul Buchanan to Karonga at the north end of the lake. The ALC had been 114"Letters from W. P. Johnson,” 88-94; Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 195. 115Johnson, Reminiscences, p. 127. 289 troubled by one Arab and two Arab-Swahili raiders who had settled in the area. Fortifying themselves behind stockades, the slavers had begun plying their trade, much to the discomfiture of the Africans, the Livingstonia missionaries and the company. The resultant massacre of Ankonde brought war between the company and the Arabs. It was this dispute which Buchanan sought peaceably to influence, and did, for the time being. Returning from the north end, the JANSON called at Makanjira's. Since the Arabs at Karonga had allies all around the lake, Buchanan sought to shift their allegiances. It was with some trepidation that WPJ accompanied Buchanan, a few native soldiers, and a flag to the village. Though Buchanan's Yao was fluent, "his address sounded threatening, a regular political oration," as WPJ described it. The people, expecting a large present, received nothing, and suddenly WPJ and Buchanan were pushed to the ground. Buchanan, endeavoring to get at his revolver, was relieved of his clothes, and the Yao attempted to fetter his leg. The JANSON master, Sherriff, noticed a dhow putting off and fearful that it meant an assault, pulled in the bowsprit of the JANSON, preparing to ram. Luckily for the steamer, no attack ensued, as ramming a heavily timbered dhow might have resulted in a sunken steamer. On the following day ransom demands were made, and the JANSON finally carried Buchanan and 290 WPJ away in exchange for a few kegs of red paint for 116 Makanjira's dhows. Yarborough commented: Strange to say, the British Government do not see the necessity of supporting their representative with any outward sign of his authority, and he is obliged to visit the tribes without escort or any- thing which would convey to their mind an idea of his position or the interests he represents. It is only by the courtesy of the missionaries and the African Lakes Company that he can go about the lake at all, as the Foreign Office, although appealed to again and again, refuse to provide him with even a 3team-1aunch.117 Obviously the Yao neither feared nor respected the British. They had plenty of gunpowder supplied by the Arab and Portuguese caravans, and they could and did extort tolls from steamers passing from the lake into the Upper Shire. Johnston's 1889 treaty with Mponda caused only a momentary respite, and in November 1890 Mponda charged one steamer £25 for a safe passage.118 Johnston tried to buy him off with a subsidy, as he had with Jumbe, but finally had to resort to force. First with the aid of the ALC steamer, DOMIRA, and later with 116Ibid., pP. 150-56; Philip Young, Diary, Spring 1903, The tale as told by WPJ to Philip Young; The Scots- man, 7 January 1889, Edinburgh, NLS, Newsclippings, MS 7666, FCSP. 117Bellingham, Working Man, p. 78, in footnote. 118W. P. Johnson to Chauncy Maples, November 17, 1890, as quoted in Barnes, Johnson, pp. 89-90; Harry Johnston, British Central Africa (New York: 1897), p. 96; Sir Harry Johnston, The Story‘of My Life (Indianap- olis: 1923). p. 275. 291 the help of the two British gunboats, ADVENTURE and PIONEER, he directed a series of campaigns against the Yao. Though the story of these maneuvers belongs to the tale of the gunboats, it is necessary here to note the results for the Yao. As soon as they were subdued, the government destroyed or confiscated their dhows, 119 using the latter as lake ferries. The Yao, when not transporting a cargo of slaves, had used the vessels as traders and ferries. Thus government destroyed the live- lihood of the Yao and impeded the strictly ”native trade' of the lake. Chauncy Maples admonished the authorities to respect the Yao point-of-view and treat with them as they had with Jumbe; he was particularly concerned about Kalanje, the powerful chief at Unangu. Maples suggested that this potentate ought: . . . in all fairness, to have some definite and authoritative warning given him, as the former [Jumbe] has had, not by the missionaries only, but by the powers that direct the movements of the gunboats on the lake. . . . he should then be fairly and openly told that his dhows will be confiscated if slaves are found therein. . . . But we would like to ask whether force is only to be shown on the broad waters of the lake and its shores? If that is all, then assuredly the great chiefs in Yaoland will be well able, and certainly eager, to block their country against all traders, hunters, missionaries, and travellers . . . the 119Acting Commissioner Sharpe to Rosebery, July 18, 1894, F. 0. 2/67; British Central African Gazette, August 20, 1894; Alfred Sharpe,—'The#§eog graphym and’Resources of British Central Africa," GJ 7 (April 1 96 = 382 292 Yaos will make their country too hot, the march of civilisation will be nipped in the bud in those districts, missionary work will be ren- dered impossible, and all communication between Nyasa and the coast, save by the water way alone, will be cut off. . . .120 Maples pointed out that the Yao chiefs did not comprehend the wrongfulness of slave trading. To these people he wrote: "British action in the way of suppres- sion of these evils, appears as an eccentric foreign fad, for the simple reason that heathenism has not informed their consciences on the subject of man's moral right to be free."121 There was only one possible result: the Yao were alienated. One does not deprive a man of his livelihood and expect a pleasant reaction. Though the British believed they were doing the "right thing," the Yao obviously viewed the situation in a completely different frame. The British earned only their enmity. Although the Yao allowed the UMCA to proselytize in their villages, their underlying motive must be ques- tioned. Did they intend to become Christians, or did they intend to infiltrate and defeat the European system? A case is easily made that they were laying the ground work to avenge their economic loss. The UMCA mission- aries who understood the Yao better than any other group 120"Notes," The Nyasa News, no. 2 (November 1893): 62-630 12llbid. 293 in British Central Africa, and certainly better than the administration, had warned of economic ruin for the Yao and continual warfare against the government if the dhows were confiscated. In 1902 a teacher had been thrown into the lake at the Yao village of Mululuka; thereafter the situation had worsened, and the UMCA burned the mission buildings and left the village.122 In 1904 Chief Kalanje, calling himself sultan, brought his Moslem heir apparent from the village of Unangu to present him to the UMCA missionaries at Likoma. Relations seemed good, and the JANSON carried them to Nkhota Nkota and later brought them back across the lake.123 Again the question bears restating, what was the intent of Kalanje? Was he simply preparing his heir for a foray against the Europeans? By 1906 the reality of the situ- ation became apparent. The promised Yao reaction to the destruction or confiscation of the dhows seemed to have come. A wave of Islamic sentiment swept over the Yaos. As Maples reported: What we do know is that the whole country, except the Christians, from German East Africa to Fort Johnston, and Monkey Bay went solid for the reported Sultan Mselimu who was to restore the days of Mohmed and kill all white men and soldiers. Only he did not come.124 122Philip Young, Diary, October 1902. 123"Notes," LDQP, no. 5 (October 1904): 111-12. 124us.s. 'C.M.,'" LDQP, no. 10 (January 1906): 253- 294 Later in the year, reports indicated a rapid spread of Mohammedanism in the Yao hills, and at Nabale the Yao came out in war paint; yet the chiefs maintained a friendly attitude towards the mission and its work.125 There are three possible explanations for this phenomena. First, remembering that to many Yao Islam constituted primarily an economic faith, it is not unlikely that they found any contradiction in maintaining friendships with the UMCA missionaries whom they trusted. Second, the Portuguese were intensifying their efforts to pacify Mozambique territory and the Yao were constantly sub- jected to harsh measures. With an attack, as it were, on their flank, they turned to meet the challenge inland. The tight control of the Portuguese soldiers at their new station of Mtengula did not leave room for disputes.126 In addition, the conflicts among the Yao continued to be so substantial that they interfered with concerted action. Considering their basically friendly attitude toward the UMCA, their hostilities diverted towards the Portuguese, and their own internal problems, the Yao threat of con- frontation with the British subsided and the political situation vis a vis them returned to normal. 125"3.3. 'C.M.,'” LDQP, no. 11 (April 1906): 277; "Notes,” LDQP, no. 13 (October 1906): 312-13. 126"Notes," LDQP, no. 13, 313. 295 Mention should be made of UMCA relations with the Portuguese and Germans, for after spheres of interest were clarified in 1890 and 1891, the UMCA actually worked under two foreign powers. The German Anti-Slavery Expe- dition arrived at the lake in 1893 with its boat the HERMANN VON WISSMANN. The Germans quickly established their station at Langenburg (Fig. 20) on the northeast side of the lake. They "offered Bishop Smythies a price to clear out," for the UMCA was teaching in Berlin's sphere, and the Germans wished to save it for the Moravian . . . 127 m1331onar1es. The UMCA, of course, declined the offer and the Germans, realizing that the missionaries were serious, reversed themselves and offered every c00peration, including free transport to various points on the lake.128 In 1907 the Germans wrote appreciatively of the MAPLES' work in their territory.129 Archdeacon WPJ, sensitive to the steamer's work, commented on the German patience when the boiler broke down: " . . . a well appointed Steamer and its staff with regular visits, medical work, 127Sim to ? , August 1894 in Life and Letters of Sims, p. 96. 128"Post Bag," £3.11 12 (March 1894) : 43-45; Log Book "Charles Janson," March 28, 1897. 296 constant communication and supervision turns into one old man who turns up at irregular intervals and leaves his young colleague to work the smaller district at Kobwe."130 If relations with the Germans were good, those with the Portuguese were ambiguous, undoubtedly a reflec- tion of Portugal's problems at home, as well as her difficulties with her allies. In 1893 the Portuguese state had declared national bankruptcy. The business of colonies constituted a drain on Lisbon's exchequer. It was a case of an impoverished nation state holding title to large portions of the African seaboard, but being unable to develop them. Additionally, although the British and Germans basically were satisfied follow- ing the recognition of the Zambezi as an international waterway, they did little directly to aid the Portuguese and, in fact, were largely indifferent to Lisbon's expectations in Africa. Britain had politically embar- rassed Portugal in 1890, when Salisbury had forced a Portuguese troop withdrawal from the Shire by publicly threatening to sever diplomatic relations. This con- sideration, plus the policy of rotating the position of the Portuguese Foreign Minister between the two opposing political parties, and the further inability of Lisbon 1022. 297 to field an experienced, wide-spread civilian adminis- tration, combined to present a rather erratic policy in Africa. The Portuguese government had to resort to charter companies and military men to achieve occupation, meaning that colonial officers were usually soldiers. Thus it was, under the auspices of The Portuguese Nyasa- land Company, that the Lusitanians arrived at the lake in November 1900. They established three bomas (government centers): at the Luwangwa River near their southern boundary, at Mtengula south of Likoma, and at Ngofi, ten miles north of Likoma. The ranking official was a lieutenant from Ibo, but in a few months he returned to the coast. Then various sergeants, the majority of whom were indifferent administrators at best and repressive at worst, came and went continually. Most of the askari were from the coast.131 The result of this entire approach was a changing policy, an inconsistent administration, and frequent missionary charges of unusual cruelty to the Africans. At first relations between Portuguese and British were cordial. Early in 1902, Sharpe offered to assist the Portuguese after the Africans had attacked and burned the Ngofi boma. Nonetheless, in June the Portuguese seized the UMCA college across from Likoma, confiscated 131Report on The Portuguese Nyassaland Co. by Reverend C. B. Eyre [n.d.], Enclosure in Sharpe to Hill, February 17, 1902, F.O. 2/605. 298 goods, and then demanded that the mission pay duty on the seized property. They accused the UMCA of smuggling and trading and of encouraging African resistance to the Portuguese. With the visit of Vice-Consul Nunan and his reminder that the Anglo-Portuguese Convention safeguarded the rights of missions, the dispute was settled. It was agreed that the UMCA would present their cargo and transit certificates at Mtengula as they went up and down the coast.132 From 1902 to 1911 relations were fairly good, and the mission members were invited annually to Mtengula for celebration of the Portuguese King's birthday.133 Then, in 1911, the Reverend Arthur Douglas, Principal of St. Michael's, was murdered by a Portuguese official.134 The complicated case does not merit explanation here; it is sufficient to relate that the felon was sentenced to one year in a military prison or sixteen-months' service 132Nunan to Sharpe, August 20, 1902, Enclosure in Wallis to F.O., August 22, 1902, F.O. 2/607; W. P. Johnson to Trower, June 13, 1902, Enclosure in Sharpe to Hill, June 30, 1902, F.O. 2/606. 133LDQP, no. 1 (October 1903): 15-16; "Mtonya," NDQP, no. 22 (January 1909): 545; "Notes," NDQP, no. 26 (January 1910): 659; Philip Young, Diary, October 1903. 134Manning to C.O., Telegram 16 Nov. 1911, Manning to C.O., Telegram 19 Nov. 1911, Manning to C.O., Telegram 21 Nov. 1911, Manning to C.O., Telegram 29 Nov. 1911, C.O. 525/38; Manning to C.O., Telegram 25 Jan. 1912, Man- ning to C.O., Telegram 21 Feb. 1912, Manning to C.O., Feb. 29, 1912, C.O. 525/41. 299 . . . . 135 1n a d1sc1p11nary company. Between 1912 and 1914, just prior to World War I, relations were quiet, for the most part, and the Portuguese actively tried to work out hap- pier relationships with Africans who fell under their administration. Nevertheless, with all the vicissitudes experienced by the UMCA as it worked among several tribal groups and served two separate spheres of European influence, the mission managed a creditable if not commendable job. By the late 18903 and early 19003, times had begun to change. The people who previously lived in fear of Magwangwara and Yao raids had congregated for protection in villages along the littoral. With Portuguese and German influence in the area between the lake and the ocean coast, and their control over the tribes therein, a period of rela- tive quiet was punctuated only intermittently by tribal raids. German checks on the Magwangwara and British cam- paigns against the Yao further served to encourage peace. Thus by the early 19003, some village mission sites were becoming deserted. People were moving to hamlets in the hills and spreading out along the lake shores. Many no 135Telegram of Sir A. Hardinge to C.O., 9 Dec. 1912, Enclosure in F.O. to C.O., 11 Dec. 1912, C.O. 525/45. 300 longer came to the mission churches and schools.136 Obviously the two mission steamers had been attractive as places of work, floating schools, and modes of travel, but the movement of the villages reduced the steamer's effectiveness. Nevertheless, had the UMCA been able to continue with its own peculiar "moving ministry," it doubtless would have maintained its strong mission effort on the lake. Outside influences, however, combined to change the situation. World War I sundered this satisfying relationship between the European steamers and the African when the administration commandeered the MAPLES for troop transport. The loss of the steamer caused WPJ's parish to be split into three major areas. Each was served by a main station and several European and African priests who travelled short distances by canoe or took up residence in some lakeside villages. WPJ carried on through this period, went on furlOugh in 1920, and returned in 1921. By this time Bishop Fisher had rele- gated the MAPLES to transport work and he sent the arch- deacon, now sixty-seven years old, to German territory where he assumed responsibility for a large, rather 136Wimbush, "Survey of the Work of CJ,” CA 16 (March 1898): 47; Howard, Five Years' Medical Work, p. 39. 301 137 Although he accepted the new responsi- vague parish. bility graciously, it must have been an unhappy time for him. He wrote to his brother, ”Now the R.C.'s [Roman Catholics] work the coast north of here in canoes only, while we with two steamers leave it!!!"l38 Two years after this observation, at seventy-four years of age, the Apostle of the Lake passed away.139 His ship, the CHAUNCY MAPLES, was sold to Malawi Railways in 1965. He had witnessed the death of a dream; the lakeshore inhabi- tants and the UMCA were poorer because of it. 137Barnes, Johnson, pp. 162-63; Winspear, Remi- niscences of Nyasaland, p. 16. 138Johnson to brother, May 8, 1926, as quoted in Barnes, Johnson, p. 153. 139Barnes, Johnson, p. 204. We are prepared to see them supporting on all sides and with all the force that Nordenfeldt guns and resolute men to back them can command, a policy as regards slave trafficking to which British arms are committed with the approval of the nation. We know they must do their work, though we know also that in doing it, much may result that we shall have bitterly to deplore. . . . The seriousness of war and fighting, need not, we hold, cause us to look askance at ships of war and fighting men. . . . As missionaries we cannot with any consistency hail them certainly as any "arm of the flesh" to which we may appeal in times when our own position is one of danger. But as missionaries we can, and and [pig] do recognize them as on a mission themselves of which the leading note is freedom for the slave, a note first sounded by Christianity and one in full accord with all that has brought about our own presence in this land. Editorial, The Nyasa News, no. 2 (November 1893): 37—38. Then we hear that Government has sanctioned the construction of two gunboats for Lake Nyasa. They will be a considerable acquisition to the fleet on the Lake. Still, I trust more to the develOpment of legitimate trade for the stoppage of the Slave- trade than to a whole Channel fleet of gunboats. Slaving is engrained into the Arab and African nature, and the practice of it will not be cast out till something else is put into its place. Heatherwick to Covener Dr. M'Murtrie, July 12, 1892, Zomba, Malawi Archives Unclassified Files 1889-1894 (i), Blantyre Mission Papers 302 CHAPTER VI GOVERNMENT, GUNBOAT, AND MARITIME PROBLEMS The civilizing combination of commerce and Chris- tianity had made its contribution. David Livingstone's call had been answered.( At the close of the 18803, three separate missions, the Livingstonia Free Church, the Blantyre Established Church, and the UMCA had established themselves at or near Lake Malawi. The African Lakes Company ran two steamers on the lake and maintained trans- port communications with the coast by means of two vessels on the Zambezi-Shire. Sharrer was trading by canoe on the river and would soon Open a second transport company. By the early 18903 a British Protectorate had been declared and the German and Portuguese spheres of influence defined. Yet, the slave trade still thrived, even with all the missionary activity, increased commerce, and better communications. It took the government's forceful implementation of policy before gunboat diplomacy, commerce, and Christianity attained David Livingstone's liltimate goal, the abolition of the slave trade and the development of "civilization." 303 304 Before discussing the establishment of govern- mental authority on the lake, it is first necessary briefly to consider the historical context of the Malawi gunboat idea and then to examine its develOpment under government. Having done this, one can then assess the impact of the gunboat and the naval department on Malawi. David Livingstone was the first-to suggest the use of a steamer as a means for curtailing the slave trade on Lake Malawi. In 1860 he wrote that such a vessel "on Nyassa would not only impart security to settlers but effect more without firing a shot than several steamers on the sea."1 In 1862, Livingstone's attempt to trans- port a steamer to the lake "for the purpose of checking this traffic as far as may be practicable, and also with the object of further exploration," was discussed at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Sir Roderick Murchison, the president, pointed out that one steamer at the source was eminently better than several vessels at the coast attempting to police all the bays and lagoons 1David Livingstone to Lord Russell, February 27, 1860, Enclosure in Livingstone to Russell, February 7, 1860, as quoted in The Zambezi Expedition of David Liv- in stone 1858-1863, v01. 2, ed. J. P. R. Wallis (London: ), pp. 346-47. 305 2 The recall of the Zambezi where slaves might be hidden. Expedition in 1863 prevented the fulfillment of Liv- ingstone's dream, but it was partly his own fault. As Kirk wrote to his brother: . . . such a golden chance Livingstone missed, when he would go off to Rovuma. Then the people were starving by thousands. The country was clear of grass and for food alone, labour to make the road [around the cataracts] could have been had.3 Kirk wrote, of course, of the road by which the steamer could have been transported to the lake. The second man who strongly supported launching a vessel on Lake Malawi was Edward Young, who led the 1867 Search Expedition to the lake to determine the veracity of the rumor concerning Livingstone's death. He claimed that a boat, such as the steel sailing vessel, the SEARCH, would "answer all requirements for keeping up just that amount of uncertainty, as to where the English would next pop down upon the slave dealers." He believed h— 2David Livingstone, et a1., "Exploration of the Niassa Lake," and discussion, PRGS 7 (November 1862): 19-20. One should be aware that the third Zambezi Expe- dition steamer, the LADY NYASSA was, funded by Livingstone, himself, so committed was he to placing a vessel on the lake. 3John Kirk to Alexander Kirk, July 14, 1863, in The Zambesi Journal and Letters of Dr. John Kirk, 1858- 1863, v61} 1: ed. Reginal Foskett (Edinburgh and London: 1963): PP. 595-96. 306 that such a vessel could upset the whole situation and leave the British in command of the lake.4 In 1875 he had an Opportunity to discover whether or not his claim was true. Leading the Livingstonia Mission Expedition back to the lake, he launched the first steamer, the ILALA. A few months later he wrote that the "Arabs were so much astonished and frightened" when they knew a British steamer was on the lake that "no slaves were conveyed across for a whole month--a clear proof that they are aware that we can command the Lake."5 Undoubtedly, the Arabs at first believed in British primacy, for one tried to open trade for his dhow.6 In fact, however, the British threat was very limited: Young took a prolonged voyage around the lake, but his instructions precluded him from interfering with the dhows. He worried that such apparent indifference would lead the slavers to assume that the Europeans feared them and had no intention of hindering their 4E. D. Young, The Search for Livingstone (London: 1868), p. 168. 5E. D. Young to Royal Geographical Society, February 19, 1876, London, Royal Geographical Society .Archives, MS Nyasaland 1876. 6E. D. Young, Nyassa; A Journal of Adventures (London: 1877), p. 99. 307 activities.7 Young's intention was very much to the contrary, but he would not disobey orders. Speaking at a public meeting in England in 1877, he urged HM Government to commit a small gunboat and a dozen resolute Britishers to the task of abolition, asserting that they would do as much good as all the "man-o'wars" on the coast.8 In the same year he wrote: . . . it is ten thousand pities that our Government does not detach a boat and a small armed force to confirm the Opinion which our presence has pro- duced. My own belief is that with a proper exhi- bition of authority, not even a shot would be fired. The government remained unresponsive. In May 1875, just prior to the Livingstonia Mission's departure :fior the lake, a letter from the Foreign Office had assured the Foreign Mission's Committee Of its sympathy with the Objects of the expedition, i.e. ”the suppression of the slave trade, and the introduction of civilization in Central Africa." The committee was told that if a permanent British community would be formed, "such as to require the presence Of a consular authority, or should other reason arise, to render such an appointment neces- sary, Lord Derby is Of the opinion that Mr. Young would 7E. D. Young, "On a Recent Sojourn at Lake Nyassa, Central Africa," PRGS 21 (February 1877): 232. 8Unnamed newspaper, 5 March 1877, Newsclippings, Edinburgh, NLS, MS 7906, FCSP. 9Young, Adventures, p. 127. 308 1° Although the be a very fit person for the Office.“ official stance appeared to agree to the establishment of consular authority when it should become necessary, the position was really something very different. Two years later the committee requested protection from the Foreign Office for the work ”which has been so well begun," seeking "an accredited agent of the British 11 White- Government, invested with adequate authority." hall replied that it would be "at all times ready to use whatever influence they may possess for that Object," but there was no hOpe for a consul because Great Britain could not provide significant protection for him.12 At the lake, meanwhile, the new Livingstonia Mission leader, the Reverend James Stewart, expressed his concern that once the slavers realized the ILALA was not a fighting vessel, the status quo ante would return.13 Answering a set of questions posed by Captain Frederick Elton, the British Consul at Mozambique, Stewart stressed loLord Derby to James Cowan, May 14, 1875, MS 7870, FCSP. llAlexander Duff and J. Murray Mitchell to the F.O., April 19, 1877, MS 7915, FCSP. 12F.O. to J. Murray Mitchell, May 8, 1877, MS 7915, FCSP. l3Reverend James Stewart to Sir John Kirk, January 6, 1877, Salisbury, NAR, ST 1/l. 309 the need for a commissioner or consul supported by a 14 In 1880, his request steamer and a small armed force. again was supported by the mission.15 Finally, in 1883, Consul C. E. Foot was appointed, but on the matter of a gunboat, HM Government remained intransigent. Not until 1887, in answer to an appeal for a protectorate, did the actual reason for its dilatory behavior emerge. It did not wish to undertake: . . . responsibility as regards a territory into which no armed force could even be sent by her without permission for its transit being first obtained from the Portuguese Government; that Portugal will not at present consent to bind her- self never to advance under any contingency beyond her present frontier; and that if she withholds her consent she cannot be compelled to remain stationary.16 With freedom of navigation on the Zambezi remaining an unanswered international question, the British had no intention Of putting themselves in a difficult diplomatic position. Even when a war erupted at the north end of the lake and the ALC could not bring arms and ammunition up the water route, the British Government was willing only 14Replies to Questions Proposed by Captain Elton, August 23, 1877, ST l/l. 15Foreign Mission Committee Minutes, June 22, 1880, MS 7915, FCSP. 16Sir Thomas Lister to Lord Provost of Edinburgh, February 25, 1887, MS 7873, FCSP. 310 to exert pressure on the Portuguese. While the company ultimately obtained arms by the water route, many people continued to believe that "the mere presence of a Con- sular Steamer flying the British flag on Lake Nyassa, would be a material check to the Slave Trade." Moreover, they considered that a steamer would have discouraged the Arab attack on Karonga in the first place.17 Com- mercial and Christian interests were not abandoning their civilizing mission, rather they desired to expand it. A gunboat or armed steamer seemed to be the answer. In October 1890, following the 1889 declaration of the British Central African Protectorate, two gunboats, the shallow draft sternwheelers MOSQUITO and HERALD, were launched on the Zambezi. Between them, they carried sixty men and twenty—odd guns, enough to patrol the Zambezi and Lower Shire.18 The operation of the gun- boats and implementation of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of June 1891, assured unhampered water access to the lake. The slave trading across and around Lake Malawi, however, continued as before. 17British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society to Dr. Smith, March 2, 1888, MS 7873, FCSP. 18The Times, 10 October 1890, Newsclippings, MS 7906, FCSP; Harry Johnston, British Central Africa (Lon- don: 1897), p. 98; William Clowes, "The Pacification Of Nyasaland," The New Review 10 (April 1895): 418. Clowes said each boat carried six 3 pounder quick-firing guns and eight 45-inch machine guns. The Times says twenty guns. 311 When Harry Johnston, Consul for Mozambique, arrived to reconnoitre and make peace with the north- end Arabs in 1889, he travelled via the UMCA steamer, CHARLES JANSON. Upon his return as Consul to Lake Malawi in 1891, he was escorted by Captain Cecil Maguire and a force of Sikh soldiers who were to provide the nucleus for the protectorate's security force. He still did not have a gunboat and was dependent upon the ALC's DOMIRA for transport.19 ' Even without a gunboat Maguire's first military actions ended happily enough; his Sikhs subdued the Yao chief, Mponda, and forced him to discontinue his demands for tolls from the UMCA and ALC steamers entering and leaving the lake.20 The next move was undertaken against the Yao chief, Makanjira, with the aid of the DOMIRA mounted with a seven-pounder. It was a success, and one of his dhows was destroyed. In December 1891, however, Maguire and three Sikhs died in a vain attempt to destroy two more of Makanjira's dhows. The captain and a force of twenty-eight men had gone ashore from the DOMIRA to 19Johnston, British Central Africa, p. 98. 20Ibid., pp. 100-01; W. P. Johnson to Chauncy Maples, November 17, 1890, as quoted in Bertram Barnes, Johnson_of Nyasaland (London: 1933), p. 90; Alfred Swann, Fighting the Slave Hunters in Central Africa (London: 1910), p. 136. 312 attack the dhows situated in a cove just north Of Makan- jira's town. The chief and 2,000 men attacked him. Maguire and his men retreated to the beach. Meanwhile a storm had arisen and the DOMIRA had been forced aground. Maguire sent his men into the water to try'to assist and board her. At the same time he turned to repulse the enemy, but was forced into the water and was shot and killed in his attempt to regain the steamer. Shortly thereafter the steamer master, Mr. Keiller, and Mr. Urqu- hart, the engineer, were also wounded. After three days of intermittent fighting, negotiations were conducted, and Dr. Boyce and Mr. McEwan, also aboard, went ashore to complete arrangements and to receive Maguire's body. These two Europeans were murdered, as were the accompany- ing Atonga crewmen. Fortunately, the rest of the Sikhs and the ALC engineer, Urquhart, managed to get the DOMIRA 21 free, and she was able to steam away. By this time, Lord Salisbury had already determined that gunboats must be placed on the lake, but because of London's earlier refusal, the British suffered an ignominious defeat.22 21Report on the Second Makanjira Campaign on Lake Nyasa, December 9, 1893, Enclosure in Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55; Johnston, British Central Africa, pp. 103-05. 22Sir Harry Johnston, "England's Work in Central Africa," Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute 28 (1896-1897): 54. 313 Black men had defeated white forces! The psycho- logical importance of that event for the Yao, and indeed for all the Africans at the lake cannot be discounted. The very fact that the heads of the three Europeans were said to have been displayed at the east shore port of Losewa, a full year after the incident, indicates how the Yao regarded their victory.23 Moreover, the British reverses encouraged the slave traders.' Late in 1892, Chief Liwonde reopened his Upper Shire ferry for slave caravans. In January 1893, the British pursued two cara- vans through his territory, but were only able to capture a few slaves and some gunpowder. Liwonde, incensed, attempted to ambush the British and nearly killed Captain Charles Johnson, Maguire's replacement. Johnson con- tinued to Chief Kutsapa's village, where he burned huts as punishment for highway robberies.24 While the British razed homes, Liwonde's people captured an ALC barge, looted its contents, and beheaded one of the Atonga crewmen. When the DOMIRA, coming down river, stuck on a sandbar Opposite Liwonde's, only the Hotchkiss gun deterred an attack. At this point Liwonde 23W. P. Johnson, My African Reminiscences (London: 1926), p. 205. 24Report on the Slave Trade Revolt on the Upper Shire, Enclosure 1 in Johnston to F.O., March 19, 1893, F.O. 2/54. 314 tried to enlist the aid of the other Yao chiefs. How- ever, when Captain Johnson's Sikhs were reinforced by over 100 Africans and a number of Europeans, including Harry Johnston and Vice Consul Alfred Sharpe, the DOMIRA was worked loose. Communications between the lake and the river, however, remained closed. With the addition Of Lieutenant-Commander Carr and his twenty-nine blue- jackets (British seamen) from the Zambezi gunboat, MOS- QUITO, plus Captain Prager, Baron Von Eltz, and twenty- nine Sudanese from the German Anti-Slavery Expedition, the forces took Liwonde's Island, occupied the Arab settlement of Abubekr's nearby, and constructed two forts along the river. Other Yao chiefs, noting the massing of European forces, hastened to inform the Euro- peans how friendly they were. In addition, Jumbe offered two dhows, a ton of rice and fifty fighting men to aid in the defense of Fort Johnston.25 Even with the temporary pacification of the Yao, a surreptitious slave trade continued. Liwonde, who as a condition of peace had promised to close his country to slave cara- vans, conveniently pursued his Own way. Into this setting the gunboats were introduced. They were launched on the lake in 1893, the DOVE for the Upper Shire on June 7, the PIONEER for the lake on 25Ibid. 315 July 18, and the ADVENTURE, its twin on August 14 (see Figs. 23 and 24). The two lake boats were 75 ft. long and could travel at a speed of twelve knots.26 Before turn- ing to their contribution to the history of the lake, however, it is necessary to understand the changing face Of Malawi's maritime department in which they served. During the first year and a half, the boats were funded through the Admiralty, which named Commander Hope Robertson and Lieutenant Edward Villiers of the Royal Navy to command them.27 Naval headquarters were organized at Old Ford Johnston at the south end of the lake, where the Officers and their British bluejackets and Zanzibari sailors had their housing and stores. Here also were the workshops and a reading and recreation room.28 It was during this period, the last part of 1893, that the Second Makanjira Campaign and the first capture of slave dhows took place on the lake. However, in June 1894, the Admiralty expressed a wish that the protectorate 26"Particulars of Vessels Built by Yarrow and CO. Ld." (orderbook) Job 960 and 961, "Pioneer and Adventure," 1892, Yarrow and Company, Ltd., Clydebank, Glasgow; Life and Work in British Central Africa, no. 67 (September 1893): 4-5; Johnston to Sir Percy Anderson, June 12, 1893, F.O. 2/54. 27Navy and Army Illustrated, November 12, 1897. 28Life and Work, no. 67, 4. 316 /;:\ Fig. 23. Gunboat DOVE on Shire (Salisbury, National Archives of Rhodesia, copyright NAR). 317 Fig. 24. PIONEER on Lake Malawi, 1895 (Blantyre- Limbe, Society of Malawi, S. G. Williams Album). 318 assume responsibility for the gunboats, and Commissioner Johnston made plans for funding to be transferred to the Slave Trade vote.29 Although somewhat dismayed about having to raise sufficient funds, Johnston's attitude towards the change itself is not in doubt. To the Foreign Office, he wrote: . . . at present it must be said, frankly, that we do not get our "money's worth" out of the Gunboats. We are not always fighting and when there is not a call of this kind the Naval officers are apt to devote themselves too much to shooting and explor- ing. It is considered a great favour and a favour not always granted to convey Administration officials from one point to another on the lake, and conse- quently my administration has not infrequently to pay for the passage of its servants on the ordinary trading steamers. 0 He complained that the commanders were "a good deal more anxious to shoot big game than to capture slave dhows," though he said his comments did not apply to Robertson. Moreover, Johnston considered the British bluejacket to be "a very useless grumbling person in these hot climates," and suggested switching totally to African sailors.31 29Johnston to F.O., June 12, 1894, F.O. 2/67. 3oIbid.; see also A. Sharpe to F.O., May 24, 1894, F.O. 2/66; Johnston to F.O., August 2, 1894, F.O. 2/67. 31Johnston to F.O., July 3, 1894, F.O. 2/67. It is interesting to note that in the Bluebook for 1894, Johnston does not express any recognition of the real effectiveness of the gunboats. The UMCA chastizes him for this omission in The Nyasa News, no. 8 (May 1895): 262. 319 Still, the consul wanted regular navy men as Officers, engineers, and surgeons, but wished them to volunteer without loss of position or detriment to their standing in the Royal Navy.32 When the vessels were not needed for pacification missions, Johnston suggested they carry mails and food for famine victims, and transport govern- ment and police officials.33 In other words, he desired more than a naval service. The arrangements which the Foreign Office approved for take-over of the gunboats on March 31, 1895, were, however, very much Johnston's second choice. Regular navy men were not to be allowed the option Of protectorate service without loss of Royal Navy status. Because of the Foreign Office stance, Johnston cut his budget request to reflect what he considered appropriate remuneration for less qualified individuals. He hired naval reservist, Percy Cullen, at L350 per annum. Cullen would captain the ADVENTURE, while his second-in- command, Edmund Rhoades, would run the PIONEER. A third naval reservist, W. B. Phillips, would direct the Upper 34 Shire gunboat, DOVE. The estimated naval expenditures 32Johnston to F.O., June 12, 1894, F.O. 2/67. 33Ibid. 34Johnston to Kimberly, November 17, 1894, F.O. 2/68; Kimberly to Johnston, November 24, 1894, December 6, 1894, F.O. 2/65. 320 for 1895-96 appear in Table 2 and clarify the major costs expected to result from the change-over. It should be noted that Johnston intended using Makua or Zanzibaris as "Sidi boys" or seamen, but by 1897, he had employed eighty indigenous Africans.35 Particular attention should also be given to the amount Of the estimate, a total of £7,200. After 1899, when the new gunboat, GUENDOLEN (called GUEN in the protectorate), was launched on the lake, the estimates and expenditures edged slowly downward as the administration attached less and less importance to the services of the naval department. From an estimate Of £8,300 and an expenditure of £14,571 in 1897-98, the departmental budget was slowly whittled down, until in 1910, the estimate was 54,057 and the 36 Such cuts were undoubtedly a expenditure 53,897. response to the containment of the slave trade across the lake. By the time WWI came, and the GUEN was called upon to capture or destroy the German gunboat, HERMANN VON WISSMANN, the naval department's financial and physi- cal resources were sadly depleted. Actually the naval department as such had not really existed since April 1, 1905. In 1902 Commissioner 3sJohnston, British Central Africa, p. 153. 36Sharpe to F.O., August 6, 1896, F.O. 2/107; Manning to F.O., July 1, 1898, F.O. 2/148; Estimates of Revenue for the Year Ending March 31, 1910, in Nyasaland Estimates, November 21, 1908, C.O. 525/25; Nyasaland Government Gazette, 31 October 1910. 32]. TABLE 2 ESTIMATED NAVAL EXPENDITURES, 1895-96 (Ho) -- NAVM‘. Maintenance of three gunboats on Upper Shire and Lake Nyasa. Commandant of Naval Force (Her Majesty's Ship 'Adventure'). . . . . . . . .5350 Second Officer (Her Majesty's ship 'Pioneer') . . . 350 Third Officer (Her Majesty's Ship 'Dove”) . . . . 300 Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Drugs, instruments, 8c . . . . . . . . . . 325 Engineer . . . . . . . . . 250 2 Indian Medical Assistants, at £100 each yearly . . 220 Allowance to Mr. J. G. King (British Vice Consul at Chinde) for detention in England in connection with preliminary arrangements for taking over the gunboats from the Admiralty . . . . . 30 Expenses connected with recruiting and engaging officers and men in England. . . . . . . . 25 4 Indian artificers at £100 per annum each . . . . 400 4 English quartermasters at 110 per annum each. . . 440 Uniforms and clothing for ditto (namely 4 duffle suits, 4 serge suits, 8 duck suits, 8 hats, 8 pairs of shoes, 12 pairs Of socks, so) (say) . 30 18 Sidi boys (Makua or Zanzibaris) Wages, say, . . . . 5432 Food, say, . . . . 146 Uniforms, say, . . . 36 Sundries, including . recruiting expenses 86 700 3 Pilots, 3 interpreters, 3 caretakers of store houses, and 6 stokers (15 negroes in all) wages, food 5c, say, . . . . . . . 300 4 First Class passages from England to Lake Nyasa (say) . . . . . . . .' . . 270 5 Second Class Do DO DO Do (say). . . . 200 4 Third class passages (Indians) from Bombay to Lake Nyasa (say) . . . . . . . . . 70 18 Deck Passages (Sidi boys) (say) . . . . . . 580 Flags and Sundries, say, . . . . . . . 40 Stationery, printing and postal in connection with the Naval Force (say) . . . . . . . . 50 Yearly contribution to Pension Fund:- EurOpeans (say). . . 5100 Indians (say) . . . 50 Negroes (say) . . . _22 200 Ammunition (say). . . . . . . . . . . . . 600 Mpairs to ships (say). . . . . . . 400 Purchase of cargo barge for towing on Upper Shire by H. M. S. “Dove, (say) . . . . . . . 300 Fuel (say). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400 Building operations:- ’ Houses 8 Stores at Fort Johnston (say) . . . . 150 Mpimbi . . . . 100 ” ' Blantyre ' . . . . 200 ' ' Deep Bay ' . . . . 70 Total Naval For rce £7,200 SOURCE: Enclosure NO. 1 in H. Johnston to F.O., May 8, 1895, F.O. 2/88. 322 Sharpe had decided that he preferred a marine department administered less along naval lines and more as a civil transport and passenger service. Thus, he intended to 37 It is reduce the naval budget by "fully one-third.” possible that Sharpe's concern was a result of criticisms levied at the department in the late 18903. The Malarial Commission, a special research and prevention body sent out from London, had requested and been promised Nyasa- land Government aid in pursuing its responsibilities. Yet, when it required immediate transport aid from the GUEN to reach a serious case of blackwater fever, it was informed that there would be a five-day delay.38 Sharpe explained: . . . it has of course to be borne in mind that at the present date there is only one Government steamer available on Lake Nyasa, viz. "The GUEN— DOLEN":--That she has a large amount of absolutely necessary work to carry out, not only in connection with general Government business, but with postal affairs, but also that she is at present moment waiting for renewals from home to her machinery.39 Though loyal to his men, Sharpe was politically sensitive. Shortly thereafter, he read the severe cri- ticism expressed by the leader of the Nyasa-Tanganyika Boundary Commission: 37Sharpe to F.O., December 2, 1902, F.O. 2/608. 38Daniels to Sharpe, August 5, 1899, Enclosure in Sharpe to F.O., August 17, 1899, F.O. 2/209. 39Ibid. 323 The Naval Department is an expensive luxury for a poor country, and the question arises as to what this navy is going to fight. There are no Arabs, and their suppression was not effected by any naval operations but by fighting on land. There are no villages on the desolate lake shore which could be worthy bombarding, and all that remains is the German gunboat, the "Wissman."40 In 1899, such comments about the Arabs, at least at the lake's north end, were true. However, to assert that suppression had not been "effected by any naval operations" was a gross injustice to the department and demonstrated how little some people knew of recent lake history! Nevertheless, the claim may have awakened Sharpe to the fact that a naval department, as such, was no longer necessary. He concluded that a "plain and simple transport steamer on the lake” was desirable, and though wishful Of dispensing with the services of the Naval Department, he did not do so because of "disturbances and unforseen occurrences."41 Sharpe had hunted ivory for the ALC in the late 18803; had served in the north-end war; had become part of the Protectorate Administration; and he could not forget how rapidly the lakeshore situation could change and Yao or Arab complications arise. 40Captain Close to F.O., January 23, 1899, F.O. 2/212. 41Sharpe to Sir Clement Hill, January 16, 1903, F.O. 2/746; Sharpe to Hill, September 13, 1903, F.O. 2/755; see also Sharpe to F.O., October 7 and December 2, 1902, F.O. 2/608. 324 By November 1904, he had pensioned Cullen and eliminated the post of Senior Naval Officer, while Rhoades assumed the position of First Officer.42 On April 1, 1905, the Naval Department officially became the Marine Transport Department (hereafter MTD).43 By the end of 1906, Sharpe had pared the MTD's European staff to two line officers, two engineers and a warrant Officer. The other working staff included Indian arti- ficers, a Chinese carpenter, and African clerks, mes- sengers, and seamen.44 The MTD continued at that working level until 1912, when the new governor, William Manning, informed the home government that he expected the railways to institute a steamer service on the lake.45 When the railways did not immediately do so, he wrote again, "the Marine Transport Department is not in a satisfactory state, is badly managed and requires reorganization." He complained that Rhoades and Tate: 42Sharpe to C.O., December 10, 1904, C.O. 525/3; BCAG, 29 April 1905. 43BCAG, 29 April 1905. 44Sharpe to C.O., October 17, 1906, C.O. 525/14. 45Manning to C.O., April 27, 1912, c.0. 525/42. 325 . . . are both inefficient and unsuited to the charge and economical control of a Department which should be run on commercial lines; they are indif- ferent to the care of ships' stores and the proper discharge of accounting work. They are lax in discipline, and while they might conceivably per- form their duties satisfactorily if they were subordinate to a strict disciplinarian at present the tendency is to general slackness.46 It is interesting to Observe how too much naval organi- zation in civilian eyes in the 18903 and early 19003 had been reduced by 1912 to relative anarchy in military eyes. George Smith, Nyasaland Governor in 1914, advised amalgamation of the land and marine departments.47 He thought it a good idea to continue F. G. Haynes, a long- time Official, as head of the engineering branch, but cautioned: I think, however, looking to the Object for which armed vessels are maintained on the lake, it will be preferable to . . . appoint an ex. Naval Officer, or a Royal Naval Reserve Officer to command the fleet. The latter should be a skilled navigator and firm disciplinarian young and energetic and competent to train his crew and fight his ship if the occasion for doing so arose.4 Of course, the occasion did arise, but by August, when World War I began, it was too late to make a rapid change. 46Manning to C.O., November 23, 1912 (Confidential), C.O. 525/44. 47Sir William Manning had been posted to Jamaica. Smith.to C.O., January 10, 1914 (Confidential), C.O. 525/ 55; Smith to C.O., June 5, 1914 (Confidential), C.O. 525/ 56. 48Smith to C.O., January 10, 1914 (Confidential), C.O. 525/55. 326 The naval department was now the Marine Transport Depart- ment, and it was expected to destroy a German gunboat. The department had come full circle; once the more Obvious threats on the lake had been subdued, the protectorate had ignored its need for further defense. Because of the changing nature of the maritime department, it impacted at different times on various population segments. It first exerted pressure on the caravans and dhows which exported ivory and slaves and imported guns, powder, and other goods. Livingstone recognized the problem, for when he passed to the west side of the lake on his last journey in 1866, Chief (Marenga informed him that the Angoni were in ferment because they knew of Jumbe's importation of Arabs and . . 49 ammunition. Caravans had been a common phenomenon in 1875, when the Livingstonia Mission arrived at the lake. Two years later, when the ILALA's effect had worn off, the trader, H. B. Cotterill, reported that Chief Chipeta was selling his people for a plate of salt, thus reducing the demand on the food supply for his villagers during a period Of famine.50 Consul Henry O'Neill of 49Horace Waller, ed., The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, From 1865 to His Death (London: 1874), p. 115. 50H. B. Cotterill, "On the Nyassa and a Journey from the North End to Zanzibar,” PRGS 22 (March 1878): 236. 327 Mozambique estimated that seven or eight thousand slaves came from the lake in 1876.51 Consul Frederick Elton, who travelled through the area in 1877, mentioned fifteen thousand.52 However, O'Neill undoubtedly spoke of the southern route to Mozambique, while Elton also considered the route across the lake to Ibo and around the northern end of the lake to Kilwa. Caravans were still plentiful at the southern end in the mid-18803, when Von Wissman identified the Shire crossing (probably Mponda's) as a “much-frequented" Arab caravan route.53 With the declaration of protectorate, the situ- ation did not change immediately. Although Johnston credited Jumbe's three dhows with ferrying only ivory caravans across the lake in 1890, it is naive to believe 5‘ In 1892 w. 9. that slaves were not also carried. Johnson was told by one of his many African contacts that more slave trade had occurred than in any previous 51W. Montagu Kerr, "The Upper Zambezi Zone," SGM 2 (July 1886): 397. 52John Geddie, The Lake Regions of Central Africa (London: 1889), p. 262. 53Hermann von Wissmann, Mnyecggd Journe Through Equatorial Africa: From the Congo to Zanzibar London: 1891), p. 288. 54H. H. Johnston, "British Central Africa," PRGS, N.S. 12 (1890): 723. 328 year.55 Also in 1892, Dr. David Kerr-Cross, a Free Church missionary at the north end of the lake, reported large cargoes of guns and powder crossing weekly at the Deep Bay ferry. Arabs blanketed the north-end buying cows, ivory, and slaves, and ALC men saw one caravan trans- porting 100 barrels of powder.56 Lieutenant Richard Crawshay, representative at Deep Bay, site Of the local ferry, reported a similar situation in 1893. Commissioner Johnston noted that Crawshay had "to content [pip] self with taking toll, or even to endure at the hands of a specially strong caravan a flat refusal to come to any 57 Contrary to the view that land compromise at all.” forces were responsible for the victories in the protec- torate, Johnston explained that, though two gunboats were insufficient for a lake over 360 miles long beset by constant storms and rough waters, nevertheless, they did possess the power to destroy all the Yao dhows on the lake. However, the UMCA warned that such destruction would cause a widespread war and result in the massacre 55"Nyasa News," gA_10 (March 1392): 40° 56"Post Bag," 91 10 (October 1892): 160-61. 57Johnston to Rosebery, n.d. (Confidential), Enclosure in Johnston to Rosebery, December 18, 1893, F.O. 2/55. 329 of missionaries and traders, unless there were a large land force to cooperate with the vessels.58 Then a complicating problem arose. It became obvious that the Germans were providing steamer transport for the northern caravans by means of the HERMANN VON WISSMANN. Crawshay reported a ”superabundance of powder in this District, and most (if not all) of this has come over from Mwera [a German portl." Shandi bin Said's caravan in July 1893, had imported 740 lbs. of powder and paid duty in powder.59 Crawshay stopped as much powder as he could, taking some of it in duty, and he freed slaves. His general approach won him the enmity of the Arabs, and in January 1894 an African servant returned from Mweniwanda's with the message, "Tell your master our stockades are full of slaves, and presently we shall come with these and plenty of guns to Tshirumba (that is, Deep Bay) and there have war with him and go 58Ibid.; ”Notes,” The Nyasa News, no. 2 (November 1893): 59-68. 59Political extract from Crawshay to Johnston [n.d.], Enclosure in Johnston to F.O., September 23, 1893, F.O. 2/55. 330 our way to the coast."60 In response, Johnston sent Sikh soldiers to Deep Bay and had a fort constructed.61 Nevertheless, in direct contravention of Articles 9 and 10 of the Brussels Act, the Germans continued their activities. When the British protested, the Germans stopped transporting the powder caravans to Deep Bay, and dropped them instead north of the German-British boundary at the Songwe River. The difficulty was, how- ever, that the caravans still travelled south into British territory, carrying their powder and avoiding import duties. In May 1894, Kerr-Cross Observed two caravans transporting over 110 bags of powder, making 62 their way from the WISSMANN. "Even the natives,” he said, "were commenting on the strange thing of a steamer landing so much powder and goods at an isolated spot, such as you know the Songwe to be."63 60Johnston to Rosebery, January 24, 1894, F.O. 2/66. 61Johnston to Canning (British South Africa Com- pany), March 10, 1894 (Confidential), F.O. 2/66. 62Dr. Kerr-Cross tO British Central Africa Admin- istration, May 21, 1894, Enclosure in Sharpe to Kimberly, June 11, 1894, F.O. 2/66; Sharpe to Kimberly, June 18, 1894, F.O. 2/66. 63Dr. Kerr-Cross to British Central Africa Admin- istration, May 21, 1894, Enclosure in Sharpe to Kimberly, June 11, 1894, F.O. 2/66. 331 In July 1894 Baron von Eltz reported to the British that the Germans would no longer land powder caravans at the Songwe.64 However, by August caravans were still arriving regularly on the west side of the lake. The new British representative at Deep Bay com- mented: The Baron says if caravans come from the coast with powder licences, he has no authority to examine their loads and the various caravans which were conveyed "per steamer," may, or may not, have con- tained powder, as he did not see them . . . and generally brings a sweeping accusation against the British for permitting large caravans to cross the lake (via Jumbe's) carrying the British flag and under sanction of the commissioner in writing. As the situation stood, there was very little the British could do about the Germans except exert diplomatic pressure. Questions of lake boundaries were normally settled by treaty. In the case of the Black Sea, both Russia and Turkey shared its shores and were able to participate in commerce. With regard to the Great Lakes the Treaty of 1783 between Britain and the United States determined a boundary right through the middle of Huron, Ontario, Erie, and Superior. Lake Malawi was different. The Anglo-German Agreement of July 1, 1890, delineated the 64Sharpe to Kimberly, July 30, 1894, F.O. 2/67. 65A. Swann to Sharpe, August 7, 1894, Enclosure in Johnston to Kimberly, October 15, 1894, F.O. 2/67. 332 German sphere on the lake in the following way: "It follows the eastern, northern and western shores of the lake to the northern bank of the mouth of the River Songwe" (Art. 1). It also guaranteed that "navigation of the lakes, rivers, and canals, and of the ports on those waters, is free to both flags" (Art. 8).66 The 1891 treaty defined the Portuguese sphere as being marked by a line which "follows the eastern shore Of Lake Nyasa."67 Thus navigation of the lake appeared Open to all three parties, though neither Berlin nor Lisbon had claimed any portion of the lake. Meanwhile, the Portuguese added to difficulties in the south, with a repetition of the activities at the north-end. Caravans bringing gunpowder from the coast travelled under Portuguese flags and occasionally even with Portuguese passports.68 In 1894 the UMCA mission- aries noted the novel appearance of a slave caravan "boldly displaying itself on the lake shores, and taking its way leisurely, and securely, along the greater part 66E. Hertslet, The Map of Africa by Treat , vol. 3 (London: 1967), pp. 900, 904; Memorandum by Mr. akes respecting Jurisdiction on Lake Nyasa, December 31, 1895 (Confidential), F.O. 881/6712. 67Hertslet, Map of Africa, vol. 3, p. 1017; Memorandum of Cakes, F.O. 881/6712. 68Report on Second Makanjira Campaign, Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55. 333 of the Portuguese littoral of the lake." Since 1886 there had been no slave caravans along that particular section of the coast.69 By the end of 1894 merchants in Malawi were extremely upset, believing that the Por- tuguese and Germans were assuming control of the lake trade because of their willingness to trade powder and guns.70 The assessment was undoubtedly at least par- tially correct, and between 1893 and 1895, the adminis- tration took decisive action to halt the trade. It was a combined action, using both land and water forces, but the particular focus here will be the gunboat campaigns. The Second Makanjira Campaign, actually an action against three separate chiefs, took place in November 1893. In August Makanjira had tried to start a rebellion in Jumbe's territory partly because of the latter's dis- inclination to be involved openly in the slave trade. While Jumbe traded large quantities of rice and also ferried ivory caravans across the lake with his three dhows, he still enjoyed an annual stipend of £200 from the government. Moreover, many suspected that he was trading in slaves but escaped detection by sailing only 69The Nyasa News, no. 4 (May 1894): 108; "Notes," The Nyasa News (May 1894): 137. 70Sharpe to Hill, November 6, 1894, F.O. 2/68.. 334 at night and monitoring the movement of the gunboats.71 Doubtless Makanjira, who had many dhows, viewed himself as Jumbe's chief rival for lake supremacy, and also sought to become the most important Moslem personality on the lake. With nearly thirty-six miles Of continuous towns, averaging a quarter mile in width on the south- eastern lakeshore, he might have had his way, had not the administration intervened. Jumbe called in the government. Makanjira had encouraged his headman, Kiwaura, to establish a strong- hold four miles inland from Nkhota Kota on the caravan route to the interior, and to deflect incoming caravans away from Jumbe's town. Johnston, sensing a golden Opportunity to recoup the respect lost with Maguire's death in 1891, and receiving Jumbe's promise for aid against Kalunda and Makanjira, mobilized the gunboats. He also hired the ALC vessels, DOMIRA and ILALA as troop transports, while the Officers travelled by gunboat. Kiwaura's stockade was taken by storm; the escaping chief shot; and "hundreds" of slaves were rescued:72 71Admiral (Lieutenant on Lake Malawi) Edward C. Villiers, C.M.G., Report on his work in putting down the slave trade on Lake Nyasa, 1893 and 1894 (unpublished [n.d.] [probably after 1900]), Durham, University of Dur- ham Library, Oriental Section, OG/C; Sharpe to Rosebery, May [n.d.] 1894 and May, 24, 1894, F.O. 2/66; BCAG, June 4, 1894. 72Villiers, Report on slave trade on Lake Nyasa; Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55; Johnston, British Central Africa, pp. 121-24. 335 Moving down the southwestern shore to the Rifu peninsula, government forces undertook a second action on November 14 against Kalunda, a woman Yao chief, who had displaced an administration ally, Kazembe. While Vice Consul Sharpe, Major Johnson and the government troops combined with Jumbe's men in a land attack, Com- mander Robertson bombarded the town from the ADVENTURE. The land advance bogged down and was complicated by the arrival of a slave-trading caravan. The Arab leaders urged Kalunda to continue the fight, since they expected the arrival of one of Makanjira's dhows carrying gunpowder and reinforcements. The vessel did appear, and Villiers, in the PIONEER, unsuccessfully tried to intercept it. After it had disembarked its passengers, the PIONEER shelled and destroyed it, and also captured two other dhows. After a few days' siege, Kalunda and the Arabs surrendered. Jumbe's men remained behind to mop up, while the government forces rested a few days at Monkey Bay.73 The final assault was a surprise attack against Makanjira's town on November 19. Although there was no one on the beach to confront the first troop landings, Johnston observed that: " . . . the latter part of the 73Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55; BCAG, 1 January 1894; Johnston, British Central Africa, 124; Villiers, Report on slave trade on Lake Nyasa. - 336 disembarkation would have been very serious but for the able manner in which Commander Robertson cruised up and down in a bay full of shoals and directed his bombard- ments to every point where the enemy was concentrating."74 While Robertson's ADVENTURE broke up a force descending from the north, Villiers discovered one of Makanjira's dhows drawn up in a narrow creek. Johnston, who hither- to thought little of Villiers' capabilities, commended his actions: . . . he steamed right into the creek under a heavy fire from the enemy and sustained for two hours a hot engagement with them, they being well protected behind boulders and trees. At length he managed to back the "PIONEER" into the creek, and, throwing a hawser around the dhow, towed it out into the open. Fortunately none of the men on board the "PIONEER” were hit, though a number of bullets struck the ship.75 While the land forces fought, the ADVENTURE covered them and later destroyed towns to the north. Makanjira did not surrender, but withdrew into the interior. Not wish- ing to repeat the performance in a few months, Johnston directed the construction of Fort Maguire on the spot and left Major Edwards and a large Sikh force to man it.76 74Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55. 75Ibid.; This dhow was later used as a government ferry. 76Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55; Johnston, British Central Africa, pp. 125-26; BCAG, 1 January 1894. 337 It is interesting to note that of the fifty-eight kegs of gunpowder captured in the campaign, thirty-one were labelled William Philippi & CO., Hamburg; eight carried the eagle of the Kaiser's Government; four were inscribed Republique Francaise; seven had come from two Portuguese 77 There is firms in Quelimane; and eight showed no mark. absolutely no question Of the obvious defiance of the Brussels Agreement which restricted the importation of guns and ammunition into slaving areas. In terms of temporarily stopping the gunpowder caravans, the govern- ment had achieved a success. It had little time to reflect on its success, however, for with the Old Jumbe's death in 1894, the new ruler began transporting slaves across to the eastern shore. Villiers, suspicious for some time, cruised a month off Nkhota Kota without intercepting any dhows. Finally, while the PIONEER and ADVENTURE were conducting a running survey of the coast, Villiers sighted an Arab ship. Robertson continued the survey work while Villiers went to investigate: " . . . when I came up to the dhow I found her full of slaves and armed west coast men, and two other dhows appeared to the westward, so I disarmed the coast men and disabled the first dhow and went after the others and eventually got the three in tow and took 77Johnston to Rosebery, December 9, 1893, F.O. 2/55. 338 them to Fort Maguire.”78 Sharpe considered Villiers to have made a mistake, emphasizing that Mr. Nicoll, the government tax collector at Nkhota Kota, had issued two permits after having inspected the passengers and crew. Nevertheless, he directed Major Edwards to hear the case at Fort Maguire, for the dhows had $1200 worth of ivory aboard, slave irons and slave sticks, and according to Villiers, over 200 slaves.79 At the trial held at the end of October, it was further noted that the passenger and ivory contents of the dhows were far in excess of the amounts noted in the passports issued by Nicoll, thus contradicting Sharpe's notion. According to its passport, the dhow Shukaruni had been permitted forty passengers, but it actually was carrying eighty-four; the Shauri Moja was allowed forty some passengers (the passport figure has been tampered with, making it difficult to decipher) and really carried sixty-five. The third dhow, Yerikia, had no passport, but carried thirty 78Villiers, Report on slave trade on Lake Nyasa. 79Ibid.; Sharpe to Kimberly, October 16, 1894, F.O. 2/67; Sharpe had directed that Administration Headmen ride the dhows as supercargos to prevent slaving and smuggling, so he had another reason for believing Villiers mistaken. Sharpe to Kimberly, September 20, 1894, F.O. 2/67. 339 passengers.80 Despite the excessive passenger count, however, only thirteen slaves were released. The rest were said not to know their home village and appeared fearful of testifying.81 The court acquitted one Arab, sentenced the three dhow captains to three months imprisonment, and confiscated the dhows and ivory.82 The UMCA hailed the decision, stating: . . . the recent seizure Of dhows, the patient hear- ing of the case against them, and the decision arrived at by the court, all are signs of the "beginning of the end" as regards Yaoland slave caravans. Many of us are now anxiously asking what the great Yao chiefs of the interior-- Kalanje, Mataka, Mtarika, and others--wi11 do, now that at last the passage of caravans across the lake is becoming, if indeed it has not already become, impossible.83 With the confiscation of these three dhows in 1894, and the destruction of Makanjira's dhows in 1893, all the lake dhows were in government hands and engaged in ferry- ing passengers and cargo between the eastern and western 80Passport A-Shakaruni and Passport B-Shauri Moja, September 16, 1894, Enclosed in Enclosure l-Trial Transcripts, October 22, 1894, in Sharpe to Kimberly, November 21, 1894, F.O. 2/68. 81BCAG, 21 November 1894. 82Sharpe to Kimberly, November 21, 1894, F.O. 2/68; Sharpe to F.O., November 17, 1894 Telegram, F.O. 2/69; BCAG, 21 November 1894. 83"Editorial," The Nyasa News, no. 6 (November 1894): 180. 340 shores.84 The Yao lake trade had been destroyed, and the initiative for coasting trade and ferry service had been assumed by government, thus hampering a further develop- ment Of African trade on the lake for some time to come. With the loss of the dhows the Yao coasting trade remained in abeyance for some years. The ferries which could have brought remuneration to the Yao, now that the lake slave trade was really crushed, instead brought income to the government. Lastly, the Nyasa men who had crewed the dhows were cut off from work they enjoyed.85 By the end of 1895, all the ferry stations were also in the hands of the administration. Trouble had flared when Arabs had raided the north-end villages of Kameme and Zoche, where porters for the ALC were recruited. The Arabs tried to exterminate the Africans as punishment "for this too great friendship shown towards the English."86 In addition, Mlozi threatened to cut the British road to Lake Tanganyika, since the Europeans had closed his way to 84Sharpe to Kimberly, November 21, 1894, F.O. 2/68; BCAG, 20 August, 26 September 1894; Sharpe, "The GeograpHy and Resources of British Central Africa,” Thg Geographical Journal 7 (April 1896): 368. 85"Notes," The Nyasa News, no. 4 (May 1894): 133; "Notes," The Nyasa News, no. 2 (NOvember 1893): 62-68. 86BCAG, 1 December 1895. 341 the coast.87 The result was an expedition in which the gunboats provided transport to the north end. Commander Cullen of the ADVENTURE joined Johnston in leading a section of the expedition, and commanded two nine pounders, five seven pounders, and one Nordenfeldt gun. He was joined by Rhoades of the PIONEER, Savage and Brighton (petty officers), and Lieutenant Philips, the transport officer and DOVE commander. Cullen's group was responsible for breaching the wall at Mlozi's fortress and was thus instrumental in the final surrender of the town, the capture of the leaders, and the execution of Mlozi.88 All the trouble spots on the lakeshore now had been pacified. Slaving still existed on land89 and would necessitate the combined and sustained forces of commerce, Christianity, and the military, actively aided by the gunboat, before it could be eliminated. The three, working cooperatively, achieved what none of them had been able to effect singly. 87British Central Africa to F.O., 14 Nov. 1895, Telegram, F.O. 2/90. 88Cullen to Johnston, December 6, 1895, Enclosure in Johnston to Salisbury, January 3, 1896, F.O. 2/106; BCAG, 1 January 1896. 89Edouard Foa, Du Cap Au Lac Nyassa (Paris: 1897), pp. 336-37. 342 The naval department had given Malawi control of the routes across the lake. It compensated for limited manpower and difficulties of communication by enabling Commissioner Johnston to concentrate forces against traders like Mlozi and Makanjira. Finally, it provided floating artillery, which could be directed at the enemy ashore without endangering the shipbound 90 Without attacker, as had happened in Maguire's case. the naval department, it is doubtful that the small, impoverished protectorate could have attained the suc- cesses in pacification that it enjoyed between 1893 and 1896. The remainder of the story belongs to the Marine Transport Department, which partly emerged from the civilian responsibilities which the naval department had undertaken. The Marine Transport Department did not officially exist until 1905. Its three main functions were river and lake improvements, carriage of some lake exports, and general survey work on the lake. Although its ser- vices were undertaken in part prior to 1905, because they are mainly functions of a marine department, they are discussed under the MTD. 90Lewis Gann, "The End of the Slave Trade in British Central Africa: 1889-1912," Rhodes-Livingstone Journal 16 (1954): 47. 343 Cullen had been commander of the naval department less than a month, when he made proposals to the adminis- tration for navigational improvements on Lake Malawi and the Upper Shire. He suggested landmarks and beacons at all necessary places on the river, in Lake Malombe, at the Fort Johnston bar, and in harbors. The DOVE could place the markers on the river and in shallow Lake Malombe, as well as clear the channel of snags. There- after, Cullen believed that the riverine and shore people should keep the banks clear of rubbish and impediments to navigation. Expenses could be obtained from vessels which would pay ”River Conservancy Dues."91 In response to these suggestions, the Foreign Office not only con- curred, but also approved the idea of special dues, which should be kept separate from any other road and transpor- tation taxes. It advised consulting the Germans to ascertain whether they would pursue similar activities on their shores, but warned that there should be no joint board for lake navigation "which would entail a similar invitation to a Portuguese representative and would practically constitute a Mixed Riverain Commission, the constitution of which would be premature."92 91Cullen to Johnston, May 22, 1895, Enclosure in Johnston to Kimberly, May 31, 1895, F.O. 2/88. 92F.O. to Johnston, August 30, 1895, F.O. 2/87. 344 By 1896, much progress had already been made, but the newspaper reported that Cullen was indignant, for some people thought that the Fort Johnston Bar had not been touched. With the major part of the road and river dues going for road improvements, despite the Foreign Office dictum, this belief is easily understood. The department attempted to connect the tiny islands to the mainland in order to force the water running around them to join the main channel and maintain that channel 100 yards wide. However, as Cullen pointed out, ”The difficulties are the rapid growth Of weeds under the water which collect the sand and harden it into banks, and the fact that there is practically only one tide a year."93 The major problem, of course, was the fact that with the ever-changing nature of the Shire river, main- tenance was a continuous effort, and the results never lasted very long. The main lake improvement in the 18903, with the exception of the work on the Fort Johnston Bar, was the building of the first lighthouse on a central African lake. It was placed at Nkhota Kota, on the spit outside of the harbor, and had a strong beam that could be seen for six miles. The light was an old Blantyre street lamp, which burned all night without wick trimming. 93BCAG, 15 February 1896. 345 Swann, the collector for the Marimba District, planned its erection and maintenance for one year, on the basis Of private subscription.94 In the 19003 the problem of the Fort Johnston Bar arose again, and the ALC recommended purchasing a dredger to eliminate the difficulties and expense of double transhipment. Barges brought cargo and passengers to the river steamers; the latter delivered the goods to Fort Johnston or took them over the bar to waiting vessels which often could not come downriver. The ALC wished to deepen the channel through the bar to a minimum of nine feet, and offered to incur the risk and expense if others, sharing the benefits, would also contribute to the Operational costs.95 Sharpe apparently considered the improvement to be important only to the transport companies; saw no worth in it to the administration; and therefore offered no financial aid.96 However, he was directed by the Foreign Office to offer the assistance 97 of the naval officers. Nevertheless, the difficulty 94ibid., 24 July 1899 and 24 September 1899. 95ALC to Sharpe, February 9, 1901, Enclosure in Sharpe to Crowe, February 12, 1901, F.O. 2/469. 96Sharpe to Crowe, February 12, 1901, F.O. 2/469. 97F.O. to Sharpe, February 19, 1902, 3.0. 2/468. 346 still existed in 1903, when the Oceana Company requested Foreign Office intervention. It wished the protectorate government to maintain a dredger, and indicated that the various companies would happily pay part of the purchase cost, which they believed would not exceed £10,000. Oceana suggested that the sand accumulations at the bar were further encouraged by the development of a sudd blockage in Lake Malombe. Thus, water spilled over the shores of the lake and the river, forming marshes and eroding the land. Oceana maintained that: ' . . . the removal of the obstructions would be followed by a larger volume and more rapid flow of water, inducing a scour which would reduce the side overflow and carry away in suspension much of the sand not allowed to settle in the bed of the channel."98 The problem was further complicated by the fact that the depth on the bar which was twenty-two inches in 1903, had been reduced by 1904, to thirteen inches. Still the administration failed to act;99 its lack of money and the fact that the companies and settlers paid the major land carriage costs were only partially to blame. 98Oceana Consolidated Company, Ltd. to F.O., November 10, 1903, F.O. 2/756. 99Allan Kidney to Directors, January 21, 1904, Blantyre, GL, Courtesy Mr. J. V. Raynes. 347 Government intransigence drew the ire of one of the ALC managers, who, though commenting on the Lower Shire, represents the Opinion of the time. Said he, "In fact, the money which is at present spent annually in attempting to improve the river by the aid of primitive man and his antiquated hoe, would probably suffice to cover the expense of a modern suction pump.”100 The requests for a dredger continued into 1907, and now con- cern was directed at the Lower Shire, as well. The Crown Agents pointed out that the success of dredging varied with a river's length, depth, and width, the nature Of its bed and banks, and the strength of its current. Although sometimes the process deepened a river, it might just as easily reduce the prevailing water level and produce shoals in other places.101 Sharpe had the final say in 1907, when he noticed the Upper Shire running into the lake rather than out of it, as usual. He said it was erroneous to think that dredging the bar would help and wrote that it was: " . . . reduced to a simple problem:--Lake Nyasa is a tank which has its overflow by a pipe--The Shire River--If the amount of water in the tank is not sufficient to flow over into the pipe no 100Duncan Beaton to Wallis, September 22, 1905, Enclosure in British Central Africa to C.O., October 13, 1905, c.0. 525/9. 101Crown Agents to C.O., February 15, 1906, C.O. 525/15. 348 steps or means we can possibly adopt will bring water into the pipe."102 Thus Sharpe assessed the problem as not enough water, rather than too many shoals.103 How- ever, it is probable that the sudd blockage was forcing any overspill of the lake back across the bar. Lack of water volume caused another difficulty, so that the vegetation, noted in the Lower Shire during Livingstone's time and said to have attained heights of eight feet in the Morambala Marsh, appeared in the Upper 104 Shire. The ALC's MONTEITH, travelling from the bar to Liwonde in 1903, needed four days to cut its way through, rather than the eight or nine hours usually necessary for 105 the trip. As the vegetation grew thicker, the volume lozSharpe to C.O., March 9, 1907, c.0. 525/17; see also C.O. to Oceana Company, September 8, 1905, C.O. 525/11; Crown Agents to C.O., July 17, 1907, C.O. 525/20. 1031n actual fact the lake level is known to have varied as much as six feet in one year and has fluctuated as much as eighteen feet over a longer period of time. See J. G. Pike, "Hydrology,” in Malawi in Maps, ed. Swanzi Agnew and Michael Stubbs (NeinOrk: 21972), p. 34. 104Foskett, Journal and Letters Of Kirk, vol. 1, pp. 139, 142, 151, 159-60; Frederick Moir, ”Eastern Route to Central Africa,” SGM 1 (April 1885): 99; Commander Henry Keane, ”An East—African Waterway,” SEM.11 (March 1895): 128. 105CAT, 30 January 1904. 349 of water was greatly reduced and its flow considerably diminished. In 1908 the MTD employed labor gangs con- tinuously at £20 a month per gang to cut and roll back the sudd. The budgeted £200 for river improvements in the 1907-1908 estimates proved insufficient, and Sharpe had to ask for an additional L300.106 However, curtail- ment of vegetation was not a work of improvement, but rather an act of maintenance. From 1909 to 1913 the Upper Shire, between Fort Johnston and Liwonde, exper- ienced navigational difficulties fully half of the year because of plant growth. For several months, the river remained altogether impassable for steamers. By 1911, Governor Manning commented on the increasing problem of navigation Obstruction and suggested that an MTD engineer ought to give the river crews more constant supervision. He also squelched the idea of vast river improvements, indicating that in future they would be temporary.107 The overland transport begun in 1909 for river cargo between Blantyre and the sOuth end of the lake at Fort Johnston therefore became a continuing reality. Though an official report states that the Upper Shire was clear 106Sharpe to C.O., April 30, 1903: C-O- 525/23° 107Manning to C.O., May 13, 1911: C-O- 525/37° 350 by June 1908, the reports from Malawi clearly indicate that such was not the case.108 The administration voiced concern over Malawi's transport, but in fact it actually did little in terms of a sustained and extensive program to alleviate the situ- ation. In 1902, the Central African Times asked the pur- pose of the river dues and logically concluded that they 109 The ought to be used to keep the river in condition. British Cotton Growing Association, looking into the possibilities of growing cotton in British Central Africa in 1904, noted that one of the impediments to development was the unwillingness of the government to take steps to improve river navigation.110 Before 1903, the diffi- culty seems to have been the inability of the European Officials to understand that the Shire waterway was the lifeline of the country. The promised construction, and finally the building of the railway, further compounded the shortsightedness of the administration. Though the 108C. W. B. Arnold, "Lake Nyasa's Varying Level," NJ 5 (January 1952): 11; "Back to the Starting Point the River Shire Work,” What We Do in Nyasaland, ed. Dora S. Yarnton Mills (London: 1911), PP. 146,’153; Shire High- land Railway tO C.O., August 25, 1909, C.O. 525/30; UMCA to C.O., July 28, 1910, c.0. 525/34; Pearce to C.O., April 5, 1915, C.O. 525/47; Smith to C.O., May 2, 1914, C.O. 525/56. 109CAT, 30 August 1902. 110British Cotton Growing Association to C.O., June 1, 1904, C.O. 525/6. 351 sums of £300 and 5400 were continually voted for river improvements in the 19003, the amounts were never enough to deal satisfactorily with the problem. The government simply could not or would not commit itself! Similarly, a second function undertaken by the MTD in 1905, the transport Of cotton and other agricul- tural products to Fort Johnston, was plagued by an ambivalent government commitment. The carriage was offered without charge to encourage Africans to grow 111 Most of their agricultural PIOdUCtsv for export. however, filtered in through the Banyans, and by 1911, the MTD steamer, GUEN, still travelled with a nearly empty hold on her monthly lake trip. In that year, Mr. T. Lloyd asked that his crOps be picked up at Bandawe for transport to Fort Johnston by the government steamer. An impoverished planter, Lloyd complained that the ALC's QUEEN VICTORIA frequently failed to call at Bandawe, and when it did, its freight costs were prohibitive.112 The Colonial Office warned the government that the GUEN 111CAT, 29 July 1905. 112Acting Governor Wallis to C.O., February 3, 1911, C.O. 525/36; Lloyd to Harcourt [n.d.], Enclosure in Wallis to C.O., February 3, 1911, C.O. 525/30. 352 should not run empty when a trader's produce awaited carriage or when he could not afford normal transport rates.113 To make matters worse, in 1913, the MTD refused to transport cotton for the British Cotton Growing Associ- ation which had purchased nearly one-half of the native crop. The Obstructions to Upper Shire transport, the lack of porterage, and the shortage of Association storage at Fort Johnston all were factors in the admin- istration's decision.114 It was undoubtedly a contro- versial decision, and later in 1913, Pearce found himself defending it. He argued that the GUEN would not carry cotton because the produce ultimately piled up on the bank at Fort Johnston in the middle of the rainy season and subsequently spoiled as it awaited transport down the unpredictable river. He pointed out that the size of the cotton bales made loading difficult, especially as only small boats were available for this purpose, thus permitting only a few bales to be loaded at a time. In addition, Pearce argued that the similarly timed harvest of the rice and cotton crops made it impossible to carry cotton regularly. He further emphasized the importance of the GUEN's monthly schedule and the need for an 113C.O. to Manning, March 27, 1911: C-O- 525/36- 114Pearce to C.O., February 1: 1913: C-O- 525/47' 3S3 overhaul at the end Of each trip.115 Later, in May, Pearce justified his position once again. Government business occupied the GUEN: (l) the conveyance of officers on leave or in the line of duty; (2) the car- riage of the mails; and (3) the escort of military cash. Pearce resisted all attempts to deflect the vessel from its stated purposes, asserting that deviations would cause dislocation to its monthly schedule and therefore be detrimental to government business. He also warned Colonial Office officials that government should not compete for cargo and passenger business as there was plenty of carriage available on the lake.116 Although Pearce logically and coherently argued against MTD involvement, the impression left is that the administration and the MTD simply found the transport task too onerous and wished to have no part of it. Despite the fact that the department now technically had marine transport as its function, its commander did not really see public transport as the responsibility of a gunboat. Moreover, Pearce's refusal illogically referred to the fact that the gunboats had declined to carry cargo or passengers for twenty years, and he did 115Minutes of conversation with Mr. Percival, April 25, 1913, Enclosure in Pearce to C.O., May 10, 1913, c.0. 525/49. 116Pearce to C.O., May 31, 1913, C.O. 525/49. 354 not understand why they should now suddenly begin to do so.117 In fact, he did not possess all the information, for had he dug into the records, he would have found that in 1905 the MTD had Offered to aid African agriculturalists by providing transport via the GUEN. Pearce did not appear to realize that the Colonial Office had directed the MTD to help indigent lake planters. Because of the inflexible attitude of the administration and the MTD, free transport was rather a happenstance activity. Even those who were willing to pay transport costs received little OOOperation from the MTD. Having offered a complete rationale for the MTD's dereliction of transport duty, it must now be recognized that the facts belied the rhetoric. In 1912-1913, for example, the GUEN carried 924 tons of lake transport cargo or over 458 tons more than its closest rival, the ALC QUEEN VICTORIA. In addition, it carried 1,257 Africans, while the QUEEN VICTORIA transported 173.118 Figures for other years indicate a similar pattern, show-‘ ing that the negative attitude camouflaged the positive reality of definite service to the people. What was the result of this rather confused approach by the MTD? It appears that the transport 117pearce to C.O., May 10, 1913, c.0. 525/49. 118Smith to C.O., January 10. 1914 (Confidential): c.o. 525/55. 355 responsibility was fulfilled; nevertheless, one can only wonder at the reasons for the government's negativism. Had the administration and the MTD taken a definite public stance on fulfilling their responsibilities, it is certain that they would have rendered positive and progressive support to the lake trade. As it was, their approach was certainly not one to inspire the confidence of any who might wish to use their service. The naval and MTD men also undertook a general lake survey. Although an unassigned departmental task, it was, nevertheless, extremely important to navigators on the lake. Explorers Livingstone and Kirk were the first to make a useful lake survey. They noted the general coastal configuration and also Observed the canoe and dhow lake ferries (see Fig. 25). Edward Young, who searched for Livingstone in 1867, produced a rough map illustrating the route of his boat. Nine years later, when he accompanied the Livingstonia missionaries to the lake, he carried out a boat survey. This time he travelled in the small steamer, ILALA, and it was far easier to take soundings and note the major navigational obstructions. In the late 18703 and early 18803, civil engineer James Stewart also produced some maps which are valuable for further definition of the coast and adjacent land forms. 356 Fig. 25. Lake survey .5»: 1"": ' 7,9186 ’Ofi'd . ’ ”33.51:: .14“- .\\‘ ‘ (k .. . _ . j: fifl/‘flfi ‘ [fixer (”m—”‘9 " z M:- ’II/ - 358 Following Stewart, no really serious work was undertaken until Commander Robertson drafted a lake chart in 1895, although he used the longitudes and latitudes taken in chronometer readings by Vice Consul Sharpe between 1894 and 1895.119 Beginning in 1893 with the launching of the gunboats on the lake, the Admiralty had tried to obtain information to publish a lake chart and had finally issued a ”preliminary affair.“ There- after, Commissioner Johnston had promised better materials, but they were never forthcoming. In 1898 Wharton, the Admiralty hydrographer, determined to publish a new chart based on recent bathymetrical corrections he had received from Robertson. When he was informed that the Royal Geographical Society also was planning to publish a navigational chart for purchase, he countermanded the Admiralty work and awaited direction from Sharpe.120 A reliable bathymetrical survey of the lake was still lacking in 1899, when Commander Cullen, with Sharpe's whole-hearted support, requested a sounding device to ascertain exact depths. Cullen wanted a machine capable of measuring to a depth of four hundred fathoms and emphasized that the equipment must be 119Sharpe to Keltie, January 12, 1896, London, Royal Geographical Society Archives, Sharp Correspondence. 120W. J. Wharton to Sharpe, July 28, 1898, London, RGS Archives, Sharpe Correspondence. 359 121 A solution was specially prepared for fresh water. prescribed when a month later, J. E. S. Moore transited the lake north en route to Lake Tanganyika for a scien- tific expedition; he used his bathymeter to Obtain soundings on Lake Malawi. The GUEN was put at his disposal, and he and his special 1000 fathom line were used to excellent effect throughout the lake.122 In the northern section of the lake, a depth of 418 fathoms, or 2,508 feet was recorded.123 Following Moore's work, Cullen had no further interest in pursuing the bathological charting and it was therefore continued by Edmund Rhoades, second Officer in the naval department. In 1899, Rhoades began taking systematic, careful, and accurate soundings throughout the lake, from north to south and from east to west.124 It appears that Rhoades prided himself on accuracy, for 121Cullen to Sharpe, May 9, 1899, Enclosure in Sharpe to C.O., May 19, 1899, F.O. 2/209. 122 FOO. 2/209. Sharpe to C.O., June 27 and July 13, 1899, 123BCAG, 24 August 1899; Sharpe says Moore's deepest point was 400 fathoms in Sharpe to Keltie, April 30, 1901, London, RGS Archives, Sharpe Correspon- dence. 124Sharpe to Keltie, April 21, 1899, London, RGS Archives, Sharpe Correspondence; Trade and General Con- ditions Of British Central Africa Protectorate for the Year 1900-1901, October 1901, F.O. 2/468. 360 in April 1901, after two years of work, he believed he lacked only twenty soundings to make a good lake chart. To Sharpe he wrote, As I can only sound in a dead calm, I won't be able to finish probably, anyhow I have already taken all the very deep ones, and the remaining 20 are not important but should be shown to make the map look nice. I have taken 330 and the deepest water I can find is 386 fms. [2,316 ft.], this is 10 miles east of Lysia.125 Actually Rhoades finished before he went on leave, and in 1902 the Royal Geographical Society pub- 126 still in lished the results in a navigational chart, use and the most complete in 1964, when Malawi achieved independence. His charts gave a "good general knowledge of the lake floor and coastline,” even if Vice Admiral Archibald Day, described them merely as an ”exploratory survey," and said that it was "seldom possible to fix a ship's position with any real accuracy upon them."127 The fact remains that Rhoades made a lasting contribution to lake navigation and facilitated the work of mission- aries, commercial transport companies, government, and finally, the Malawi Railways. 1253. L. Rhoades to Sharpe, April 25, 1901, Lon- don, RGS Archives, Sharpe Correspondence. 126Lake Nyassa, 1902, London, RGS Map Room, s/16. 127"Lake Nyasa Hydrographic Survey Talk to the Nyasaland Society on 9th March 1956," El.9 (July 1956): 59. 361 The naval/MTD department made several contribu- tions to the country, some negative, some affirmative. On the positive side, the department stopped the slave trade, pacified the obstreperous chiefs, ran a dhow ferry service after 1895, and produced survey charts of the lake which aided navigation for over sixty years. That the department ultimately controlled the lake routes is not in doubt. On the sometimes affirmative, sometimes negative side, the department and the government did not see transport aid to lake planters and African farmers as a legitimate priority even though they appear to have intermittently fulfilled their responsibility in this area. The question of river improvements cannot be ignored, but here the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the administration. As already noted, it was not inclined to provide even small sums for improve- ment, nor show a sustained interest in the problem. Encouragement of African agriculture on the lake was therefore doomed to slow or negligible growth. The por- terage and other transport costs were simply too high for the largely subsistence agriculturalist to bear. Finally the loss of the dhows as indigenous coastal traders, and their assumption of duty as ferries only, further exacerbated the difficulty. 362 The MTD's final contribution to the country in the period under consideration was its involvement in one of the early naval battles Of the war. The Germans placed the HERMANN VON WISSMANN (hereafter WISSMANN, as it was called on the lake) on the lake in the same year, 1893, as the British launched the PIONEER and the ADVEN- TURE. The German vessel was a sturdy, powerful ship, and when Johnston first heard in 1896, that relations with the Germans were not good, he Offered his opinion on the possible success of any naval campaign: But we shall need a great deal of cunning to capture the "Wissmann." Properly manned, she is more than a match for those two miserable little gunboats together whose plates are of such papery thinness that two or three rifle bullets would send them to the bottom of the Lake, while their steaming powers are contemptible compared to those of the German steamer. In fact if the Germans on Lake Nyasa got the news of the war before we did they could do us a great deal of harm, because they could turn their steamer, the "Wissmann,” into an armed cruiser and ruin all the British stations up and down along the Lake shore and probably sink both of the gunboats besides capturing the British commercial steamers. I suppose I hardly pass a month now without cursing the Admiralty and Yarrow for having dared tO send out in the service of the British Government such abominations as these two despicable ships, the "Adventure” and ”Pioneer." The same money honestly and wisely used would have given us a far better steamer on the Lake than the ”Hermann von Wissmann,” and we should be then undisputed lords of Nyasa.128 In the Annual Returns of Naval and Military Resources, however, he, and later Sharpe, painted a 128Johnston to Sir Percy Anderson, February 5, 1896 (Private), F.O. 2/106. 363 better picture of the naval situation. Their confidence had increased with the launching of the GUEN which was fitted with four 3 pounder Q.F. (quick firing) guns, four 303 Maxims, and two .45 Nordenfeldts, and which could carry up to 400 African troops plus stores.129 In 1899, the naval department showed 133 men serving on the GUEN, PIONEER, and DOVE, or at the Fort Johnston base. There were ten Europeans, comprising the Officers, engineers, and chief accountant; four Indian artificers; one Chinese carpenter; three undesignated Africans; and another 115 Africans, of whom sixty were seamen, fifteen were artificers, and forty were stokers.13o NO signifi- cant change occurred in this complement between 1899 and 1914, although the administration counted another 1,600 seamen, 250 artificers, and 2,000 stokers among the seafaring population it could call up to aid any large transport or naval efforts. These men came basically from the Upper Shire, the south end Of the lake, and the 131 Marimba area on the west coast. As to the capacities of this reserve: 129Annual Return of Naval Resources of Ports &c., Form B Colonial Floating Defences, December 31, 1899, Enclosure in Sharpe to F.O., January 9, 1900, F.O. 2/305. 130Ibid.; Form B Colonial Naval Force. 131Ibid. 364 Most of the natives of the above districts are used to canoes and dhows, and readily adapt them- selves tO the duties required soon learning to steer and handle a boat, sewing and splicing. ”Artificer' is perhaps too high a grade, but they are very quick and easy to teach: the term is used here for those who are employed on the Engines and in engineering shops and can be trusted with small repairs and to grease 8c. The supply of stokers is plentiful. The 132 native having a great predilection for the work. With the GUEN so armed, a reserve available, and the addition of the Zambezi gunboat guns in 1902, one would have thought naval capabilities quite high.133 In fact, when the war broke out in 1914, the GUEN captured the WISSMANN, though not in quite the manner 134 represented in The Times.‘ However, as G. M. Sander- son's first-person account admits, the news of the victory arrived in London in the gloomy days prior to the Marne and thus was plentifully enriched with drama by those in Fleet Street.135 Actually, the WISSMANN was on the stocks at Sphinxhaven undergoing repairs when the British received the news of war. On August 8, the GUEN steamed up the lake. Her roster included Commander Rhoades, 132Ibid. 133The MOSQUITO and HERALD were withdrawn from the Zambezi in 1902. Admiralty to F.O., August 15, 1902, F000 2/6140 134The Times, 11 September 1914. 135G. M. Sanderson, "Gunfire on Lake Nyasa,” N.J. 10 (July 1957): 31. 365 twenty-five Atonga of the King's African Rifles under Captain H. Collins (R.F.A.) and other volunteers.136 Rhoades had been warned not to risk a disastrous encounter and to proceed with caution, but under the circumstances, there was little cause for alarm. Sanderson relates that when the GUEN reached Sphinxhaven she opened fire on the WISSMANN, but with little result. Since the British vessel rolled in the swell, the range was misjudged, and the shells harmlessly struck the hills beyond the boat. Moreover, many of the shots were duds, as the ammunition was old, and it took some time before a hit was scored. At this juncture, a figure jumped in a dinghy and rowed rapidly towards the GUEN. Sanderson reports that the German skipper furiously enquired if his friend Rhoades was drunk. (The Germans were unaware that war had been 137 The captain, engineer and mechanics were declared. made prisoners while Haynes and his engine-room crew removed the essential parts of the WISSMANN's power plant.138 The naval ”war” on Lake Malawi was at an end. The naval department turned Marine Transport Department, had scored a victory which brightened British hearts. 136Smith to C.O., August 14, 1914 (Secret), C.O. 525/57; Charles Hornden, compiler, Military Operations in East Africa, I, Aug. 1914-Sept. 1916 (London: 1941), p. 170. 137Sanderson, "Gunfire,“ 29. 138Ibid., 30; Hornden, Military Qperationsv P- 17°- 366 The era of the gunboat as a fighting machine on Lake Malawi was finished. In 1914 the GUEN had ”conquered” the Germans just as twenty years previous the PIONEER and ADVENTURE had conquered the slavers. Pacification on the lake had been achieved. CONCLUSION Especially because each chapter in this disser- tation is largely an entity, it will be useful to sum- marize the conclusions of each and to relate them to the main theme of transport as it evolved within the context Of commerce, Christianity, and gunboat diplomacy. Some type of simple and economic transport was used on Lake Malawi and the river Shire long before David Livingstone's arrival in the 19th century. Trade, first in cloth, beads, and malachite, and by the late 18th century, in ivory and slaves, was undertaken around and across the lake, eastward to the Indian Ocean coast, and on the Shire, starting certainly in the 15th century and probably earlier. Evidence indicates that a predominantly east-west transport grid existed on the lake, although some facts suggest a small coasting trade was developing as well. The lake was known to the Portuguese, Africans, and some Arabs and Swahili; in fact, it is Obvious that the Portuguese were as familiar with the lake in the 16th through the 18th centuries as they were unfamiliar with it in the 19th, and thus the door for Livingstone's claim of "discovery" was opened. Nevertheless, the early 367 368 knowledge possessed by the Portuguese enabled them in the 18803 to press for a sphere of influence which would include the lake, a desire which was frustrated by superior British diplomacy and power within the circle of European nations. Prior to 1875, Malawi lake and riverine tran3port depended upon the endurance of African canoeists and winds strong enough to fill the sails of-the Arab dhows. With the advent of European steam technology the transport scene changed. Increased activity on the lake and river resulted from Yarrow's development of "piece small delivery” which enabled vessels to be transported thousands of miles, rebuilt, disassembled, headloaded into landlocked regions, and reassembled. It was found that the steamer and its master and crew needed a period of experience and development before they could become fully adapted to the African waterways. Steamer drafts, boiler fuel, boiler water filtration, vessel weights, and plate thicknesses all went through an experimental period before the little boats could function successfully. Moreover, men had to understand the vagaries of river channels and become conversant with the unusual winds and storms on Lake Malawi. Once adapted, steamer tech- nology brought greater speed than canoes or dhows, service to a larger area, fairly definite schedules, and the carriage of large amounts of goods and passengers. 369 Steamer technology, then, enabled the European to pursue his "civilizing mission" in Africa. Obviously, he would have undertaken it even without the steamer, but with greatly reduced impact and slower results, for no roads existed and the only method of travel would have been by foot. Steam technology indeed provided the answer to "Opening up” the land Of the Maravi. While water-borne expeditions between 1859 and 1880 contributed to the development of steamer technology, they had another kind of importance. In a series of trips up the Shire, Livingstone and the Zambezi Expedition "discovered” Lake Malawi and established the beginnings of excellent relationships between the Africans and the British. It was because Of Livingstone that later mis- sionaries enjoyed positive responses and offers of friend- ship from the African people. In addition, the expedition members encouraged the riverine peoples to increase their cotton acreage, for they envisaged the Shire region replacing the southern United States as supplier to the Manchester mills. Probably one of the most important results of the Zambezi effort was the subsequent attrac-l tion Of Christian missions to the region. The major benefits of the 1867 Search Expedition (besides ascertaining that Livingstone was not dead) were to collect additional scientific information about the 370 lake and to gain greater knowledge about the slaving operations. Thus it was that Young's plea for a Chris- tianizing influence was added to Livingstone's. The result was the final major pilgrimage to the lake made by the Livingstonia Expedition in 1875. This group launched the first steamer, the ILALA, on Lake Malawi. The slaving interests re3ponded by ceasing activity for a short time, but resumed as soon as they realized that the ILALA was an instrument of peace rather than of war. The missionaries quickly recognized the fact that moral suasion would be ineffective unless buttressed by force. While not appreciably affecting the slavers, the Living- stonia Expedition did achieve two other successes. By means of two circumnavigations, it was discovered that the lake was much longer and deeper than previously thought, and through the work of engineer, James Stewart, thirteen good anchorages were identified and the lake coastline charted. Under the aegis Of the individual missionaries good relationships with the western lakeside inhabitants developed and many Africans gained basic expertise in industrial pursuits. Although the Livingstonia Mission managed very well for three years without benefit of outside aid, the establishment of the African Lakes Corporation in 1878 relieved it of the greater part of its trade and transport worry. Carriage of goods by canoe from the Indian Ocean 371 coast had been a time-consuming and arduous task for the missionaries; when the trading company assumed such work, both agencies were freed to pursue their own Objec- tives while Offering support to each other. Abundant evidence proves that the ALC was committed to commerce and Christianity. It provided calico, salt, soap, and beads to the African at the same time it sought to under- write its initial trade losses with ivory. It is true that good commercial sense dictates the provision of trade items which the consumer demands, but it should be noted that in the case of salt and soap, the company traded with little thought of monetary return to itself. It used its steamers as training grounds to develop ‘ navigational expertise among the lakeshore and riverine inhabitants. While attending to the commercial side of the venture, ALC men such as Fred Morrison and the Moirs were constantly concerned with the spiritual growth of the African people. Prior to the early 18903, the company spent large amounts of time preaching in lake- side villages and holding services aboard the ILALA and the LADY NYASSA, as well as at ALC stations. Morrison carried goodwill further, for he developed strong relationships with various chiefs and invited them aboard for meals and short trips. That the ALC came to be viewed as a rich clan whose favors were sought by the chiefs is undeniable; with their own eyes the Africans 372 saw the continual flow of wealth as the steamer trans- ported it upriver and around the lake. The result, of course, was a competition for European notice and ulti- mately, squabbling with the Europeans themselves, when sufficient attention or gifts were not forthcoming. The ALC and the northend Arabs maintained a viable trade relationship until the latter attempted to wipe out the Ankonde. When the Europeans intervened, they too were attacked. Nevertheless, the conflict which ensued did not end the relationship; as soon as a treaty was signed, the two resumed a mutually profitable trade. Provisioning by the steamer was preferable to continual trips to the coast and the Arabs took advantage Of the European transport system. Relations with the Portuguese grew cooler as a result of ALC activity on the Zambezi-Shire. With one British trading steamer running the river in 1879 and a second added in 1887, the Portuguese were unable to ignore increased British interest and influence in the interior. Jealous of the prerogatives which they believed they had established from the 15th century onward, the Portuguese detained British boats and threatened them with seizure unless Portuguese flags and registry were maintained. This warning, combined with the intermittent stoppage Of arms needed for the northend conflict and British pressure exerted at home, 373 led to the declaration of freedom of navigation on the Zambezi and ultimately to a British protectorate. Thus, in a very real sense, the presence of the ALC led to the downfall of Portuguese claims over the major part of the lake. Through all this, it must be remembered that the ALC rendered the normal services of a transport company. It provided jobs, it stimulated European, African and Banyan trade, and it continually worked to develop better communication and transport facilities. That if often fell short of expectations is apparent from the facts, but it did a very good job with the resources available. Without the steamer, the "moving ministry” of the UMCA could not have become a reality. The CHARLES JANSON and the CHAUNCY MAPLES enabled the mission to initiate regular work at over sixty lakeside villages. The steamer attracted the people in the same manner as the Arab caravan. The differences were that a steamer visit conferred a form of protection from the dreaded Gwangwara and Yao raids, and when people went off with the steamer they returned, while such was not usually the case with the caravan. The steamer also enabled the UMCA to develop a strong African ministry within the villages while maintaining an essentially apolitical approach to the peOple. This may have been one of the reasons why William P. Johnson and other UMCA missionaries were 374 regarded as objective and usually trusted by the Yao; the very fact that they did not attempt to buy land or settle in the villages set them apart from other Europeans. Of course the UMCA Offered education as part of its religious program, and, judging from the evidence presented, one must conclude that for the most part its village schools met with success. Finally, the steamers provided an excellent opportunity for training in nautical skills, and the pool which developed attests to the fact that this, too, was a successful Operation. The floating mission proved a workable concept and was acceptable to the Germans once they realized the UMCA's commitment. Dealings with the Portuguese were another matter and were dependent upon which commandant was resident at Mtengula. Relations ranged from excellent to indescribably bad, and varied inversely to the amount of sympathy the missionaries gave to the Africans, who were often ill-treated by the Portuguese. Despite the occasional flareups, however, the UMCA managed to direct a "moving ministry" encompassing over 300 miles of coast in three separate spheres of influence, undoubtedly a major accomplishment in colonial Africa where local as well as international policies dictated one's Operations. Despite the cooperative and determined effort of "commerce and Christianity,” the two could not achieve their "civilizing mission" without the gunboat's 375 intervention. The protectorate's water and land forces combined to pacify the Yao, Mlozi and the north-end Arabs, and other recalcitrant groups. Without the gunboat the lake slavers could not have been successfully combatted, for the dhows could easily obtain clearance at a govern- ment port, pick up a slave cargo further along the coast, and make their way across the lake; or, they could ignore the European ports altogether and simply elude the Euro- peans. Only the gunboats could compensate for the small number Of government land forces, which they did by moving them quickly from place to place and covering their assaults with floating artillery. By 1896 those dhows which had not been destroyed were put to work as govern- ment transport, ferrying Africans and their goods across the lake; but the blessing was mixed, for while carriage was provided for those who hitherto might not have had the option, the government's take-over of the dhows was a disservice to the Yao, for it halted their coasting trade and their few authentic east-west ferries. In this sense the so-called "civilizing mission" was a definite detriment to the African. With the exception of the 1914 capture of the HERMANN VON WISSMANN as its only other noteworthy naval accomplishment, the Marine Transport Department devoted its energies toward lake and riverine improvements, quasi-transport service, and navigational research. The bathymetrical charts which 376 it developed in the early 19003 were still in use when Hastings Banda took over the government in 1964. Malawi transport, particularly on the lake and Upper Shire, could not have been maintained by one interest alone. Each one, commerce, Christianity, and the naval gunboat, managed its own work as well as supporting the others. Christianity put the first steamer on the lake and ran it. Commerce assumed responsibility for the steamer but worked it in conjunction with the mission's interests; it also added a river steamer to support the work of the ILALA. As commercial transport systems developed, the UMCA added a mission steamer and drew from men trained by the Livingstonia Mission and the ALC. In like manner the UMCA and Livingstonia Mission trained Africans and they sought jobs with the ALC. When the gunboats were launched on Lake Malawi, the naval depart- ment drew its crews from men who had had prior mission or ALC training. As the three interests cooperated in the sharing of talent, so too did they cooperate in the monetary, spiritual, social, and often political main- tenance of one another. In a very real sense they Oper- ated as checks and balances on each other, almost as watchdogs in attempting to be sure that the African was assured his rights. Sometimes they were successful; sometimes they were not. In terms of job skills, employ- ment Opportunities, increased mobility, availability of 377 trade items, increased freedom from raids, socialization with other clans, development of an African ministry, and, finally, abolition of the slave trade, the African gained. But the African suffered immeasurably as a result of the encouragement of the Arab presence at the lake, in the loss of his own indigenous coasting trade and ferry service, and the steady exposure to the patronizing attitudes of the MTD. It is difficult to know whether the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. Perhaps all one can do at present is to recognize that commerce, Christianity, and the gunboat possessed both affirmative and negative aspects. As in most crusades, not all was the glory it was claimed to be. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY In the past, a frequently used pathway to the interiors of large continents has been a lake and riverine system. The Zambezi-Shire waterway provided such an approach to Lake Malawi and the south central region of Africa for British explorers, missionaries, traders, settlers, and ultimately the powers of protectorate. Arabs long had believed that a large lake existed in the center of the continent, and their early maps attest to this fact, although the lake appears in many different positions. Despite David Livingstone's claim of "discovering" Lake Malawi, Portuguese missionaries knew about it centuries before any Britisher visited Central Africa. Particularly useful in searching out Portuguese information is George McCall Theal's nine volume Records of South East Africa (Cape Town, 1898- 1903) which provides detailed translations of books written by Portuguese travellers and missionaries. The most important document in establishing the Portuguese presence near the lake is Father Luis Mariano's 1624 letter which graphically describes conditions on Lake 378 379 Malawi, conditions verified in later works by British, French, and German missionaries and travellers. This letter is in the Jesuit archives in Goa, but the best translation available seems to be a French text based on an Italian version published in 1627, a translation which is consistent with Father de Sonsa's analysis of the original document in 1710. The French translation appears in J. Brucker's "Déscouvertes de Grand Lacs de L'Afrique Centrale et des Sources de Nil et du Zaire ae Seiziéme Siecle" (Etudes Religieuses, 1878). Brucker attempts to bring to light neglected or little known documents and in so doing renders a noteworthy, compre- hensive and scholarly explanation Of the part played by Catholic missionaries and Portuguese travellers in East African exploration. Jayme Batalha Reis also has pub- lished a Portuguese version in 03 Portuguezes na Regiio do Nyassa (Lisboa, 1889), but this version is incomplete and was provided at a time when the Portuguese and British governments were both interested in a Lake Malawi sphere of influence. Oriente Conquistado a Jesu Christo (Lisboa, 1710), a set of documents and narratives containing Mariano's letter and collected by Father Francisco de Sousa, historian for the Society of Jesus, has generally been accepted as the informational basis for broadening the river Suabo into the caterpillar form of Lake Malawi; the lake's presence was thus established cartographically 380 in 1722 and 1727 by Delisle and D'Anville, respectively. Another important and scholarly volume of documents is Jose de Lacerda's Exame des viagens do doutor Livingstone (Lisboa, 1867), but its neglect of Mariano's letter probably indicates that Lacerda was unaware of this vital document. Other significant contributions to the cartography and historiography of Lake Malawi and the Shire in the 19th century appear in the Edinburgh Review, The Geo- graphical Journal (or Journal of the Royal Geographical Society), and The Scottish Geographical Magazine. These journals are extremely important for any researcher who wishes to determine the extent of fact and hypothesis regarding the lake. Particularly excellent are J. Batalha Reis' "The Portuguese in Nyasaland” (SGM, 1889), which traces the history of visits to the lake and presents an impressive array of sources, and W. D. Cooley's “The Geography of N'yassi" (JRGS, 1845). Cooley's article, though mistaken in its hypothesis that one large lake existed in place of Lake Malawi and Tanzania, nevertheless presents abundant information gathered from men who pos- sessed first-hand experience of East Africa. Testimonies of the Omani Arab, Khamis bin Uthman (a visitor to London who was said to speak fourteen languages), his Yao slave Nasib, and an Arab merchant, Mohammad bin Nassur, render this article important for the evidence it preserves. 381 Also of interest is Cooley's letter of instructions to William Bollaert, a mining assayer who wished to explore the East African coast. Much of Cooley's information on~ the Yao country is correct, although his assumptions about the lake incorporate information regarding at least Lakes Malawi, Bangweolo, and Tanzania. His frequent writings on the lake, however, helped to speed its exploration. Exceedingly beneficial in sorting out the confusing volume of knowledge and theory is Roy Bridges' recent article, ”W. D. Cooley, The RGS and African Geography in the Nine- teenth Century, Pt. I" (92, 1976). The most exciting offering of a primary nature regarding late 18th and 19th century trade routes and commercial powers on and around the lake is the "Slug" map of an East African lake, so named because the lake shape closely resembles a slug (J. Erhardt and J. Rebmann, RGS map room, 1855). The map is covered with a mass of detail and literally invites a researcher to sit down and determine whether the lake is only Malawi and Tan- zania combined or if it also includes Victoria. The manuscript which explains the map (J. Erhardt, Journal MS East Africa, 1855, Reports respecting Central Africa, 1855, RGS Archives) has a section which unmistakably refers to Lake Malawi, but the material is so intertwined with information on other lakes, that the researcher must use a great deal of care to extract only what applies. 382 A reproduction of the map appears in J. Ludwig Krapf's Travels, Researches and Missionary Labours in Eastern Africa (London, 1860); the book itself makes a small yet interesting contribution in the form of testimony from a Swahili dhow captain who was said to have visited the lake. Of additional aid in establishing lake trade routes are 19th century original maps from the RGS map room. The most helpful are Kirk's 'Lake Nyassa” (1861); Edward Young's ”Boat Survey” (1876); James Stewart's ”Route Survey of the western Side of Lake Nyassa" (1878-1879); H. B. Cotterill's "Nyassa" (1879) and W. P. Johnson's map of 1884 which accompanies ”Seven Years' Travels in the Region East of Lake Nyassa” (PRES, 1884). Johnson's selection is the labor of a very perceptive Observer who earned the name, "The man who never sits down.” His work deals primarily with the eastern and southern lakeshore and contains a tremendous amount of information obtained from eastern lakeshore inhabitants. Living among the people, he had ample opportunity to collect oral tra- ditions, and the result is a scholarly literary essay which captures the flavor of his journeys and his dealings with the populace. Other pertinent and enlightening sources include Leroy Vail's concise and analytical treatment titled "Suggestions Towards a Reinterpreted Tumbuka History” (The Early History of Malawi, ed. Bridglal Pachai, 1972), which contains an excellent blend of evidence and thought-provoking hypothesis; Yohanna 383 Abdallah's The Yaos (edited by M. Sanderson, 2d ed., London, 1973); Edward Alpers' "Trade State and Society Among the Yao in the Nineteenth Century" (Journal of African History, 1969); and in a more general and somewhat less analytical vein, Paul Cole-King's "Transport and Communication in Malawi to 1891, with a summary to 1918,” in Pachai's Early History. Water transport technology, as discussed in Chapter II, deals with the progression from a paddled African canoe through an Arab sailing dhow to a European steamer. Although early sources such as A. C. P. Gamitto in King Kazembe and the Marave, Cheva, Bisa, Bemba, Lunda and Other Peoples of Southern Africa (English translation by Ian Cunnison, Lisboa, 1960) and W. D. Cooley's infor- mant Nasib in ”The Geography of N'yassi' (JRGS, 1845) refer to bark canoes--Gamitto on the rivers and Nasib on the lakes--this writer rejects the possibility that bark canoes navigated Lake Malawi. The Africans knew the lake to be unpredictable and feared the Mwera (southern wind) which blew up sudden storms. The loss of the 470 ton, 140 ft. long VIPYA, which capsized in a fierce squall in 1946, attests to the validity of the Africans' regard for the lake. UMCA missionary, W. P. Johnson, supported this view in Nyasa The Great water (London, 1922), where he declared that bark canoes were never used on the lake. Johnson's book, written 384 after forty some years' experience on the lake, was a disappointment to those who awaited it, for they expected a scholarly treatise, but Johnson had long since become concerned with the lives of the people, their habits, and their beliefs. The book is a marvelous sociological commentary and remains a storehouse of lake history. The expertise of the African canoeists and the seaworthiness of the dugout canoes are substantiated by at least three eye-witnesses. David Livingstone's Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambezi and Its Tribu- taries 1858-64 (London, 1865) contains a wealth of impression and observation picked up in his travels. The well-known Narrative is insightful and valuable for its humanistic approach. It was a book written to encourage the "civilizing mission.” The Zambezi Journal and Letters of Dr. John Kirk 1858-63, vols. l and 2, excellently edited by Reginald Foskett (Edinburgh, 1965) contain a daily journal. Kirk tended to be more objective and less enthusiastic than Livingstone, and the reader Often Obtains a clearer picture from his journal than from Livingstone's book. Edward Young's Nyassa; A Journal of Adventures (London, 1877) also rates notice because of its various Observations on both the canoes and Arab dhows. Valuable as it is, however, the book reads like a persuasive Victorian manuscript geared to the objective of eliciting support for an anti-slavery 385 crusade. Undoubtedly the Reverend Horace Waller, who helped write the book, is partially responsible for this. The above also provide useful information on dhows; additional relevant and specific comments about building them appear in P. H. Johnston, ”Some Aspects of Dhow Building" (Tanganyika Notes and Records, 1949) and Robert Laws' Reminiscences of Livingstonia (Edinburgh, 1934). Another interesting article which comments on building methods is W. D. Talbot's "Some Notes on the Dhows of Fort Johnston District” (Society Of Malawi Journal, 1962). Sails, of course, enabled vessels to make more speed on the lake, and the introduction of steam improved the possibility of efficient handling and scheduled move- ment from place to place. The difficulty of building steam vessels which must be transported to serve on inland waterways is discussed in Sir Eric Yarrow's ”Construction and Delivery of Ships Built for Overseas Inland Waterways” (Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, 1962). Yarrow describes "piece small” deliVery, and for the uninitiated his treatment is understandable and inter- esting. Also important for its inspired first-hand account of the carriage of the ILALA steam vessel around thirty odd miles Of rapids is Edward Young's 'On a Recent Sojourn at Lake Nyassa, Central Africa” (PRES, 1877), which captures the technical aspects of the situation. 386 Letters of Young and Laws contained in the Free Church of Scotland Papers (National Library of Scotland, MS 7870- 7872) are also valuable for bits and pieces regarding the hardships of reconstructing the ILALA both at the Zambezi mouth and on the Upper Shire above the Murchison Cata- racts. The navigational experiences of the expeditions which visited the Zambezi-Shire-Lake Malawi complex between 1858 and 1877 were many and varied, but they all pointed up the problems with changing river depths and channels, sudden lake storms, corrosive river water, shifting sand bars, blockage of the waterways by plant growth, the finding of efficient steamer fuel, and the resulting adaptation of steamer technology. Kirk's Zambezi Journals are exceptional for their humorous and detailed accounts of river difficulties. Had his journals been available in the 18703, few would have contemplated using the river route as access to Lake Malawi. The Zambezi Expedition of David Livingstone,' vols. l and 2, edited by J. P. R. Wallis (London, 1965) are helpful volumes, but one must exercise care in using them, for they have not been carefully edited. The same need not be said of Gary Clennenden's "David Livingstone on the Zambezi: Letters to John Washington, 1861-1863" (Munger Africana Library Notes, 1976), for the editing appears to be done with care, and the article makes for 387 a useful and interesting addition to Livingstone Africana. W. Cope Devereaux's A Cruise in the Gorgon (reprint; London, 1968) is an excellent account Of an outsider's view of the Zambezi Expedition. It describes the ability of a skilled naval commander to pilot the small steam vessel, an ability which seems to have eluded the expe- dition members. When Livingstone's death was rumored in 1867, Edward Young, who had navigated the steamers for the final two years of the Zambezi Expedition, led the Royal Geographical Society's Search Expedition to Lake Malawi. Two highly readable pieces of literature, both written by E. D. Young, have resulted from this venture: Tho Search for Livingstone (London, 1868) and ”Report of the Livingstone Search Expedition” (JRGS, 1868). The book, which includes the Society's instructions to Young, contains the first accurate information about the north end Of the lake. Two half-caste Arabs told Young that: (l) the north end was enclosed and did not communicate with other waters; (2) the Rovuma did not connect with the lake; and (3) the Shire was the only means of drainage. Had Young been able to persuade the Makololo to man the steel boat through a storm to the north end of the lake, he would have attained a geographical coup, for the Arabs' information would have been proven true and therefore acceptable to Europeans nine years before 388 it actually was! Young's article acknowledges Living- stone's contributions in Africa; the paper is brief, but comprehensive, and again calls on Britishers to accept the challenge of a "civilizing mission” through commerce and Christianity. However, the piece also shows the first tinges of what was thought by some to be Young's excessive zeal and his tendency to exaggerate the slavery issue. It is this writer's contention that Young's zeal was an honest and sincere imitation of Livingstone's‘ approach. Also, one should note that Young's ideas and opinions sometimes received less credit than they actually deserved because he was not of the "gentleman“ class. The Livingstonia Mission Party which was the final expedition to the lake and settled on its southwest shore in 1875 also launched the first steamer. Young's Nyassa and Laws' Reminiscences are excellent sources for the first years and have already been mentioned. W. P. Liv- ingstone's Laws of Livingstonia (London, 1923) is basically a reproduction Of Laws' outline in Reminiscences, but contains more detail and uses a popular and romanti- cized style. Nevertheless it is worthwhile reading. Easily the most valuable primary sources for these years are: (l) the original manuscripts of the Reverend James Stewart, "On the Second Circumnavigation of Lake Nyassa with Notes of an Itinerary on Part of the Western Shore of that Lake" (1879) and James Stewart, C.E. and the 389 Reverend Robert Laws' "Report on a Journey on the Western Coast of Lake Nyassa” (1879) both of which can be found in the Royal Geographical Society; (2) the Stewart Papers housed in the National Archives of Rhodesia (ST/l and ST/13); (3) the Free Church of Scotland Papers housed in the National Library of Scotland (MSS 7864-7914); (4) the Laws' Papers in the Rare Book and Manuscript Section of the Edinburgh University Library (E 62/15); and (5) Edinburgh and Glasgow newspapers which kept track of mission exploits. The two RGS manuscripts are exceptional in the wealth of material they make available. Information on geography, comment on the recent history of various clan groups, statements on social relationships with the people, as well as pertinent details regarding the estab- lishment of the mission station are all present in these original reports. The Stewart Papers, while primarily letters, also contain a few essays. The Reverend Stewart's letters comment on the development of the Livingstonia Mission station and offer his thoughts on a supportive commercial venture. Stewart was clearly an intelligent individual who had great plans for the mission, but his judgment was at times affected by his intense dislike and apparent jealousy of E. D. Young. For these reasons, his letters are sometimes rather vituperative. The FCSP comprise the best all-around 390 source on the early experiences of the Livingstonia mis- sionaries, for they include letters, station journals, account books and financial papers, a collection of rele- vant news articles, and minutes of the Livingstonia Sub- Committee. These papers are essential for any researcher who wishes to understand the mission's inner workings and its struggle to establish relationships with the Africans. The Laws' Papers are basically supportive to the FCSP; the most relevant pieces are Laws' diaries and the shipping documents. Many sources shed light on Malawi's commercial transport history; in this essay the writer has dealt mainly with those related to the African Lakes Corpor- ation. The several primary unpublished sources are as follows: in the African Lakes Offices in Edinburgh are the Corporation minutes, reports, and balance sheets which begin in 1878. They tell the story of a struggling company motivated by a Christian approach to commerce, but they also show a directorate which did not fully understand the problems of its staff in Africa. Evidence supporting this conclusion exists in what is left of the Glasgow letterbooks held by Mr. J. V. Raynes in Blantyre, Malawi. Most of the company books were inadvertently destroyed, but those remaining illustrate the difficulty the Malawi-based managers had in pleading the case of intense competition and often insurmountable river 391 problems. These conditions dictated changes in the trans- port fee structure, but the home office was not at all sympathetic. The minutes and letterbooks, in conjunction with John Moir's "Report to the ALC" (Edinburgh offices [about 1890]) show a company which, while seeking a profit, nevertheless avoided trade in spirits, sold but little gunpowder for trading purposes, and was concerned with the lot of the African. There are two important journals which describe the work of the ILALA in its first years as a commercial/ missionary steamer. Lengthy and tremendously informative are the Morrison Diaries, 1882-1887 (E 71/36 Gen. 1803- 1806, Edinburgh University Library). Fred Morrison, who was completely committed to the idea of a Christian com- mercial endeavor, achieved excellent social relationships with many chiefs and their people while at the same time maintaining and building trade. His observations on changing conditions in the African/European community make his diaries an interesting social commentary. The private journal of the Reverend William Scott, 1883-1885 (Edinburgh, Shepperson personal collection) further describes social relationships between the Livingstonia mission community and Jumbe. In combination the two Offer an excellent picture of the 18803. Professor Shepperson also possesses two letters from Jumbe to Mr. Mandala (John Moir) written during this period and 392 indicating the growing desire for steamer visits as the chiefs recognized the Opportunities to trade and gain the white man's wealth, as well as the prestige resulting from an mzungu visit. Two published works which gave first-hand accounts of the ALC are Fred Moir's After Livingstone: An African Trade Romance (London, 1924) and L. M. Fotheringham's Adventures in Nyasaland (London, 1891). ~Moir, who worked with the ALC in Africa till the 18903 and then in Scot- land, was devoted to the company. His attitude and per- haps the approach of his book are best described by Ian Hay in the book's foreword: You may accumulate an Empire in various ways--. . . Be it noted that the British Empire owes its exis- tence in the main not to kingly ambition or pre- meditated plan, but to the efforts and sacrifices of common men--men who have perished--who went forth from this island Of ours to face the unknown, not upon any official mission of exploitation, but because the spirit bade them go--sometimes the spirit of adventure, sometimes the spirit of trade, sometimes the spirit of religion, sometimes all three.1 Moir's book is imbued with the spirit of all three and though sometimes disjointed because it endeavors to tell a composite story is all the more important for the directions in which it leads the researcher. Fother- ingham's book is of a similar nature, but somewhat more business oriented in tone. The man who opened the Karonga lAfter Livingstone, p. ix. 393 station at the lake head and bartered with the north-end Arabs narrates his experiences. The fact that he under— stood the Arabs so well was undoubtedly the one reason they preferred to deal with others! Several miscellaneous books and articles make varying contributions to the story. Among them are Joseph Thomson's To the Central African Lakes, vols. l and 2 (London, 1881) and his article ”East Central Africa and Its Commercial Outlook” (SGM, 1886). While not generally sympathetic to the ALC, Thomson did make a realistic assessment of trade when he noted little of export value in Malawi except ivory. Arthur Silva White in "The East African Question" (SGM, 1888) traces the history of Malawian commercial development and of Portuguese Obstruc- tions. He commends the ”civilizing agencies" such as the UMCA, the Scottish churches, the ALC and the Buchanan brothers, and points out that along with the Zambezi Expedition official estimates credit these groups with expenditures Of some £400,000 in Malawi by 1888. White's plea is, of course, for a ”guarantee of their independent position,” so that the endeavor may continue. John Buchanan's "The Industrial Development of Nyasaland” (EJ, 1893) first raises the railroad idea for Malawi, a clear recognition that the lake was falling and the river drying up. Obviously the scheme was of concern some ten years prior to its implementation and some 394 fifteen years before actual rail Operations. The article's tone is realistic foresight. Other pertinent materials are Harry Johnston's well written British Central Africa (New York, 1897) and H. L. Duff's Nyasaland Under the Foreign Office (London, 1906), both of which look at commerce from an administrative viewpoint. Johnston's book is more comprehensive and carries the spirit of one who was involved from the beginning of protectorate. It gives a fairly thorough picture of transport development. Additional items of interest are Frederick Lugard's ”The Fight Against the Slave-Traders on Nyassa” (Contemporary Review, 1889), which aims at getting some British support for the ALC, and ”Extracts from the Diary and Letters of Peter Moore,“ Parts 1 and 2 (The Nyasaland Journal, 1958) which describes life with the ALC in the late 18803 and early 18903. The Malawi River Fleet Files (Malawi Railways Ltd., Archives, Limbe, Malawi) and Hugh McMillan's note- worthy unpublished doctoral dissertation, "The Origins and Development Of the African Lakes Company, 1878-1908“ (Edinburgh University, 1970), are good sources. The' river files date mostly from 1923 onward, when the rail- ways took Over the last of the riverboats, but they also contain a few references to the years following 1903 which are pertinent. McMillan's dissertation is a thorough piece of research that utilizes a great variety 395 of Sources, some little known, such as the Moir letter- books in Johannesburg, and provides new interpretations and approaches to some Old accepted ideas. It is a com- mendable work which should be read by anyone interested in Malawi history and commercial development. Finally the Foreign Office and Colonial Office records, particularly the "Annual Report on the Trade and General Conditions of the British Central African Protectorate," offer important information on trade and shipping, as does the occasional letter to the home government. Numerous first-rate materials tell the story of the Universities' Mission steamers, the CHARLES JANSON and the CHAUNCY MAPLES, but easily the most interesting are accounts of missionaries, steamer masters, and engi- neers published in the mission journals. The Occasional Paper for Nyasaland was started at Likoma in 1893 and shortly became The Nyasa News. The name was later changed again to the Likoma Diocesan Quarterly Paper, the Nyasaland Diocesan Quarterly Paper, and finally the Nyasaland Diocesan Chronicle. The mission printed reports from its stations, lake news of all varieties, poetry, and timely editorials, and strongly supported the African by voicing his case and attempting to bring greater understanding of him to the European. The journal nearly always carried reports from the MAPLES 396 and JANSON, and reading these, the researcher can always determine the progress Of new shore stations, working schedules, and other mission efforts. In London, Central Africa for adult church members and African Tidinga for children, carried additional articles on steamers, funding, the slave trade, and other relevant matters. Both are good sources of information and illustrate the intense interest with which the Victorian churchgoers were encouraged to follow their missionaries in Africa. Among relevant unpublished primary sources are engineer Philip Young's ”Journal of My Commission with the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, Sept. 1901- 1903" (London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) and the log books of the JANSON (1896-1904) and the MAPLES (1904-1906), also in the USPG.. Young's journal gives insight into the interpersonal relationships of those on shipboard, the difficulties of staff adjustments to new bishOps, and a commentary on lake events. His journal is candid, a characteristic Of most UMCA material. The logs are valuable because they give a daily description of the steamer work and the rigorous schedules. NO one could ever admonish the steamer missionaries for inadequate effort; they were often credited with being the hardest workers in the diocese. A very good account of mission work initiated from the steamer is W. P. Johnson's My African 397 Reminiscences 1876-1895 (London, 1926). He writes an excellent chapter regarding early life on the JANSON and makes several observations about steamer activities in other sections of the book. Johnson worked alone along the eastern shore for several years before the Likoma mission was begun. His modest book does not really gO far enough in telling of the Oxford scholar who gave the same energy, enthusiasm, and devotion in the 18703 as he gave in 1914 and 1921. It takes B. H. Barnes' Johnson of Nyasaland (London, 1935) to give the "Apostle of the Lake” due credit for developing the "moving ministry" . idea and working unceasingly against innumerable Obstacles (including serious illnesses) to carry out his dream. William Bellingham's The Diary Of a WOrkipg Man in Central Africa, edited by J. Yarborough (London, 1888), describes the difficulties of reconstructing a ship in the middle of Africa and when one reads it, one wonders how it was ever accompliShed! Robert Howard's Five Years' Medical WOrk on Lake Nyasa (London, 1904) discusses the health records of the steamers and suggests that the vessels probably account for the low death rate due to disease, certainly a justifiable con- clusion based on his evidence. Frank Winspear's Sopg_ Reminiscences of Nyasaland (Likoma, n.d. [about 1955]) and Augustine Ambali's Thirty Years in Nyasaland (probably Likoma, probably 1916) offer additional 398 information on the steamers and the effect they had on peoples' lives. Ambali was one of the several African teacher-missionaries who proselytized one particular shoreline village under the direction of the steamer priests. Other noteworthy sources are: The Universities' Mission, edited Life and Letters of Arthur Fraser Sim (London, 1896), which includes some of his letters with their critical comments on the government, the ALC, and daily life, and What We Do in Nyasaland, ed. by Dora S. Yarnton Mills (London, 1911), a collection of missionary essays including pieces on the JANSON, the MAPLES, and Shire river work. The essays describe life aboard the steamers, the schedules, the responsibilities of European and African crew members and of each missionary upon reaching the villages, and their overall reception by the Africans. One need only read these to see demon- strated the enthusiasm which the steamer people had for their work. Finally, a comprehensive and methodical secondary treatment, The History of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, I 1859-1909 and II 1910-1932, by A. E. M. Anderson—Morshead (London, 1955) offers a couple of chapters on the floating missions and their peculiar brand of Christianizing. In the final consensus the "moving ministry" is a well-documented period Of UMCA lake history. The material 399 is mostly primary and shows a devoted adherence to an ideal. Of all those who participated in the Christianiz- ing mission in Africa, it must be said that this group worked with a minimum of self-interest and a real com- mitment to those it served. Historical demand for the presence of a gunboat to insure safety and abolish the slave trade on Lake Malawi can be traced all the way back to David Living- stone's request to Lord Russell in 1860.2 The requests continued, as reported in F0 84, ”General Correspondence on the Slave Trade”; E. D. Young's works Search (1868), Nyassa (1877), and "Recent Sojourn” (1877); the Free Church of Scotland Papers (National Library of Scotland); and the Stewart Papers (National Archives of Rhodesia). The gunboats were launched in 1893, and the department first organized to handle them was a naval department; later it became a Marine Transport Depart- ment. The best assessment Of the gunboats' effectiveness is made in a secondary source, Lewis Gann's "The End of the Slave Trade in British Central Africa: 1889-1912' (Rhodes-Livingstone Journal, 1954). Gann's major argu- ments are that the naval department brought the lake routes under government control, compensated for limited 2February 27, 1860, Enclosure in Livingstone to Russell, February 7, 1860, in The Zambezi Expedition Of David Livingstone 1858-1863, vol. 2, ea. J. R. Wallis (London 3 1 I PP o - o 400 manpower and difficulties of communication by an ability quickly to concentrate forces where needed, and provided a floating artillery which enabled assault trOOps to maintain a measure of personal safety. Most primary accounts are incorporated in "General Correspondence," F0 2 and CO 525 and include items such as "Report on the Second Makanjira Campaign” (December 9, 1893, F0 2/55), ”Report on the Slave Trade Revolt on the Upper Shire" (March 19, 1893, F0 2/54), and ”Trial Trans- cripts" (November 21, 1894, F0 2/68); in addition, there are continual comments in the daily exchanges of letters. Also valuable are the ”Estimates Of Revenue” which clearly indicate sums available for expenditure in the marine area as well as the "Annual Return of Naval Resources of Ports," which includes assessments Of the "Colonial Defences” and the "Colonial Naval Forces.” Harry Johnston's British Central Africa (London, 1897) narrates the early story of the gunboats in some detail and the book makes a good companion to the official reports. Aimed at the British public, but written in the same vein as Sir Harry's book, is William S. Clowes' ”The Pacification of Nyasaland" (The New Review, 1894). Concerned that the inland anti-slavery campaigns would miss the notice Of the ordinary Englishman, Clowes Offers a detailed report for his edification. Edouard Foa's Du Cap Au Lac Nyassa (Paris, 1897) contains a timely 401 evaluation of the success of the anti-slavery activities in Malawi and points out that slavery still exists on land though he believes it is stopped on water. Alfred Swann's first-hand experience reported in Fighting the Slave Hunters in Central Africa (London, 1910) is a general contribution, but still transmits an understanding of the early settler-trader climate in the colony. Newspapers such as the British Central African Gazette (later Nyasaland Gazette), an official government commentary, and the Central African Times and Central African Planter also aid the researcher in determining colonial attitudes toward the effectiveness of the chang- ing naval department, particularly with reference to the river maintenance which periodically occupied the depart- ment in the 18903 and 19003. The Nyasa News and the Diocesan Chronicle achieve the same purpose for the UMCA. One final report, not exceptionally well written, is Admiral Edward C. Villiers' "Report of his work in putting down the slave trade on Lake Nyasa" (unpublished, n.d. [probably after 1900], Durham University Library). If this work were more comprehensive it would be a valuable piece, but it is far too general an Offering from a man who did some of the fighting. This essay does not list the numerous travel and mission books held by the Malawi Archives. These works are good for establishing the ambience of the period and 402 enabled this writer more clearly to understand the atti- tudes and life styles of various Malawian groups. The Malawi Archives, the Rhodesian Archives, the Historical Society of Malawi, the University of Malawi Library, and Rhodes House, Oxford, also house miscellaneous offerings by medical men, administrators, missionaries, travellers, and ALC workers. A very informative manu- script, loaned to me by its author, Donald E. G. Anderson, discussed the Shire-Zambezi river fleets and is titled "Shire River Steamers." Anderson did extensive research for this paper and managed to draw together much little— known data on the history of the river effort. Finally this bibliographic essay should mention the author's work in the Yarrow shipyards in Glasgow and the conversations and interviews with knowledgeable Africans and Europeans in Scotland, England, and Malawi. A major regret of this writer was her inability to use Zomba Archives internal maritime reports which might shed more light on the role of the African seamen in the naval/marine department. Before one can fully assess the contribution of the African people to the early colonial development of Malawi one must be able to use these archival materials in conjunction with oral researches. In a study which covers so many areas over such a long period, there are many sources, and it should 403 be noted that this essay is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to comment on some of the more relevant evidentiary sources. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary~Sources Abdallah, Yohhana. The Yaos. Translated and edited by M. Sanderson. 2d Ed. London: 1973. African Lakes Corporation. Glasgow Letterbooks, August 16, 1900-February 2, 1903 and February 2, 1903-August 30, 1904, Malawi. Possession of Mr. J. V. Raynes. . 1878-1923, Edinburgh. African Lakes Offices. a) Minute books of company, June 25, 1878- September 30, 1914. b) Reports and balance sheets of The African Lakes Corporation, 1893-1919. African Tidings, various. Ambali, Augustine. Thirty Years in Myasaland. [Likoma: 1916]. Arnold, C. W. B. ”Lake Nyasa's Varying Level." The Myasaland Journal 5 (January 1952): 7-17. Ayers, E. "How we Live and What We Do on the 3.8. 'Charles Janson.'" In What We Doin Nyasaland. Edited by Dora S. Yarnton Mills. London: 1911. . "S.S. 'Chauncy Maples." In What We Do in Eyasaland. Edited by Dora 8. Yarnton Mills. London: 1911. ”Back to the Starting Point the River Shire WOrk.” In What We Do in Nyasaland. Edited by Dora S. Yarnton Mills. London: 1911. Barnes, Eleanor C. [Lady Yarrow], compiler. Alfred Yarrow His Life and work. London: 1§23. Barretto, Manuel. "Report upon the State and Conquest of the Rivers Cuama." Translated by George McCall Theal. In Records of South East Africa. Vol. 3. Cape Town: 1899. 404 405 Baptista, Joao, and Amaio, José. ”Journey of the Pom- beiros from Angola to the Rios de Sena.” Trans— lated by B. Beadle. In The Lands of the Cazembe. Edited by R. F. Burton. London: 1873. Beke, C. T. "Résume of the Journey of M. M. Monteiro and Gamitto." In The Lands of the Cazembe. Edited by R. F. Burton. London: 1873. Bellingham, William. The Diar of a Working Man in Central Africa. Editeé by J. Cooke Yarborough. London: #1888. Bennett, Norman, and Ylvisaker, Marguerite, eds. Central African Journal of Lovell J. Proctor, 1860-I834. Boston: 1971. Benskin, Lieutenant J. ”The Diary of Two Novices in Nyasaland." The Ro a1 En ineers Journal 17 (January-June I913): 27-43, 87-155, ISI-62. Blantyre Mission Papers. 1877-1914, Zomba, Malawi Archives. a) Unclassified Correspondence Files, 1889-1914. b) Classified Correspondence Files, 1877-1912. c) Sections "Henry Henderson” log. Bocarro, Antonio. Extractos Da Decada:§ompgsta. Trans- lated by George McCaII Theal. In Records of South East Africa. Vol. 3. Cape Town: 1899. British Central African Gazette, 1894-1907. Brucker, J. ”Déscouvertes des Grands Lacs de L'Afrique Centrale et des Sources et du Zaire ae Seiziéme Siécle." Etudes Religieuses, 6, Series 6 (1878): 385-409. Buchanan, John. "The Industrial Development of Nyasaland." The Geographical Journal 1 (March 1893): 248-53. Caddick, Helen. A White Woman in Central Africa. London: 1900. Cardew, C. A. ”Nyasaland in 1894-95." The Nyasaland Journal 1 (1948): 51-55. Carr, Louis. "Western Lake Shore." 1879, London, Royal Geographical Society, Map Room, S 9. Central Africa, 1883-1914. 406 Central African Planter, 1895-1896. Central African Times, 1897-1907. "Chauncy Maples” Log Book. 1903-1906, London, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Archives. Chindamba. Father-pilot on government gunboats. Inter- view, July 15, 28, 1974, Limbe, Malawi. Clowes, William. ”The Pacification of Nyasaland." The New Review 10 (April 1894): 417-29. 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