LATEST CABLES

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 May 1914, Page 3

LATEST CABLES

PORTU6UESE METHODS ii.l-treat.ment of natives. atrocities alleged. m;:\ imprisoned without trial |I'KH PB.tSS*' ASSOCIATION—COPTfHIQHT.] LONDON. May 22. Mr BowskiU, ii a letter to the Baptist Missionary Society, stales that native helpers at San Salvador, in Angola. Portuguese. West Africa, are still imprisoned without trial, being often closely confined for five days without food or water. The Poi-tuguc:?? soldiers have burnt tllo native villages and mission chapels buili oy native converts. MR ROWSKILL'S STORY. Somt months ago the Rev. J. S. Bowikill, of the Baptist Missionary Society, .'.as arrested by the Portuguese authorities at Sat: Salvador and the British Foreign OMi'-e took steps to obtain his re lease Mr Be* skill, in a letter to the Missionary Society, gave particulars oi the outbreak i;i hostilities between the Portuguese officials and the natives, and the temporary peace made by himself. He continued :

"On Monday, January 18th, we heard that the Governor's reply hail been urought by the priests, and that it was all that could be desired. This ga've us great pleasure, but our joy was soon turned to the profoundest grief, for at about 10 a.m. Senhor Paulo Moreira, Chef, de Poste, came around with a party of soldiers and- arrested our chief native Christians and helpers'. He searched the house of Nekaka, confiscated his rifle (for which he had a license), and threw him in prison. Then he went to •he house of Mantu (the first Congo Christian—Comber's old boy), arrested him. and searched his house for guns (he also had a proper gun license), and threw him into prison. He proceeded later to the houses of Pedro Lombo and J. Nlandu and served them in the same way. All these four were our people. The lastmentioned was in the final stages oi sleeping-sickness, and seriously ill. "The effect of these arrests on the country was electrical. The news went around like wildfire. War palavers were held in many places, and I saw witTi sorrow that all I had striven to do for peace was being undone. I had only been able to hold back the people by telling them to await the Governor's reply, and now that the reply had come, and they saw these actions being done, they could only conclude that the authorities meant

"On the following day Senlior Panic caroe over for our station taxes. I asked him why he had put our men in prison. Pie replied by a Portuguese word meaning 'lnquiry—search —examination.' I was too indignant to -say much to him, and, further, we had news that the Governor himself intended coming in a day or two --though this was false—so I determined to wait for him. "Now, it was Nekaka and Mantu, you will remember, who put their lives hi ic-opaidy with Dr Gilmore and I, when. it Paulo's earnest request, I went out on the day of the war and stopped hostilities. It was these two men who actid as our official interpreters on the day of the palaver, and who so strongly insisted on matters being interpreted properly And we have no doubt that it was because of this that Paulo arrested them.

' ; on January 19th, at evening, Senlior Paulo and the officers commanding the soldiers came over to me in great excitement. Tliey <ja.jdpthat an attack was to be made on sthe town that night, and they ordered all of use to go to the fort : ress at the extreme opposite end of thetown to our station. This fortress is simply an euelosuse of about half an icre, surrounded by a low stone wall ami a dry moat, and containing a few wood.■n shelters—the depot for the soldiers. I thanked them for their offer of Bbsiter, but respectfully declined it, sayLig we were perfectly safe in our ,•, .vn com-. pound. Then I asked further as to the ;xpccted attack, and was told that it vould be from all sides.. I was very nuch upset at this, and told Paulo that, t was his fault, because lie had imprisoned innocent men ; indeed, he had iniirisoned a couple of men who had more nfluence for peace/than any other natives n the land, and the imprisonment had uflamed the country.

"I felt strongly like washing my hands of .the whole affair and letting •.hings take their course, but I promised o make one more effort for peace. So 1 called Dr Gcilmore, a nd, with a few boys, ve struck out in the darkness to try to meet the attacking parties. I took the road, which led to the towns of the leaders, and sent some of our Christian men on'a similar errmd in another direction. vVe stumbled on in the darkness across the 'valley of the lilies,' clambered on hands and knees over the frail bridge across the Luezi River, and then, as we '.vended our way through the tall buehgrass on either side, my boys began to shout out who we were. We had proceeded for over an hour, but saw and heard nothing until suddenly there was a diout to my left: 'Truly, is it Mr Bowskill?' To this I replied, 'Yes, it la I.' Men from all sides, black forms vitli tuns, came tumbling out of the bush. "We flopped down in the path, and those men surrounded us. I told them our errand, and they told me theirs. I begged them to return to their towns and ■K-t to fight, but for some time they were obdurate. They were angry at the imprisonment <f their countrymen, and although I said that I was sure Paulo had done this mt of spite, and contrary 'o the Governor's orders, they did not feel like believing me. But in the end they said they would return to their towns. I the begg-ed them to send messengers out to the leaders of the other detachments to order them to return, and I hey promised to do so. "Then we struck off back to San Salvador. We called on Senhor Paulo to repoit what we had done, and for our pains were treated in a most unpleasant manner." In the latter passages of the letter Mr Bowskill shows that, notwithstading his efforts for peace, hostilities at length broke out. Before this happened the Portuguese officer informed him of the expected attack, and ordered that all the white people ami natives in the Baptist Mission compound were to go over to the fortress for protect ion. Mr Bowskill pointed out that the natives, many of whom were .sick, conk] not be moved, and that, a.s the refugees had come to tile

Japtist Mission station, the missionaries mid not desert them.

"Then he turned <>n me," continued Mr Bowskill. "end said : 'Your two colleagues can leave and return to the station. As for yon, you must not. leave I his fortress until all the townspeople 'it orcsent on your station have conic over ipre.' This was a little too much, and I uiswered him: 'So T am in prison, r> n I'• Well, all right, let it be .so. Hut you will •egret these words and lids, order.' 'I :;ii<| nothing about orison,' he replied. X«.' I said, 'you did not use the word irison, but, you have ordered me lo re. nain in this fortress until these, people •onio. and if that is uol prison I would Jivr to know what is.' T think lie got a ittle frightened at this, for he emnmen ed to climb down a bit. . . . Then I

repared to leave, and ho. made no at ?mpt to stop me."