CENTRAL AFRICA OF TO-DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13286, 19 September 1906, Page 8

CENTRAL AFRICA OF TO-DAY.

THE REVIVAL OF I&LAMISM.

BRITISH SPHERES OF INFLUENCE.

The Rev. Harry Johnson, of the Londonj Missionary Society, is a-t present in Auck-' land on furlough from the Livingstone Memorial Mission, Centra.l Africa. Mr. • Johnson's ■.." parishioners are. the Alungu; and. Awemba { tribes, and they inhabit the' .country between Lakes .Bangawelo and Tanganyika. Th© mission is .right in the heart of the, Livingstone country, : and was founded as a memorial of the great explorer. Mr. Johnson hue, been nearly 11 - years; in this part of Africa, which is particularly trying to white men, and he has the appear- ■ ance of one who has spent much time in; malarious regions. * . '

In the course of conversation with' a representative of the Herald yesterday,, the rev. gentleman gave a most interesting, account of the country in which he has < .worked for so long, and upon which, like' his great predecessor who died where the mission now stands, he is particularly well informed, from a scientific point of view as well as from that of the Christian evangelist. BIG GAME. Speaking of big game, and particularly ,of the elephants, Mr. Johnson said it was by no means so scarce as was popularly supposed. It was true that the larger mammals had migrated northward before the settlement of the country.by the whites, but in this vast district, hart© beeste, eland, springbok, and other animals of the autielope genus were plentiful, and where that was so lions and leopards were generally- plentiful -too. < The native hunters could not be regarded'as much of a check upon the big game of Central Africa.) because. they hunted with the spear, and the mortality among -beasts was therefore very ; slight. Ivory . being. scarcer than it * was some years ago, had- led many people to believe that the African elephant was becoming extinct. ■ This was not the fact. There were two soils of ivory that went into the market: , the ''green" ivory, i.e., from .freshly killed animals, and the old ivory, accumulated by the native chiefs as trophies of tho chase.; The supply from this source had been greatly reduced; in fact, it was rather difficult to get. such .ivory to-day; but.the elephants had unquestionably "increased in numbers, for there was no falling off in the supply of "green" ivory. Mr. Johnson, when asked if the time had arrived for the protection of the big game of Central Africa, replied that ultimately it might have to be done, but there was no necessity for any protective measures being taken at present, as tho animals had a, great deal of cover in swampy.places of vast extent, where men, white or coloured, could not go or could not live. THE SLAVE TRADE. The conversation then drifted to the subject of slavery, with the suppression of which Mr. Johnson has had a great deal to do. "Where are the slaves sent to?" the rev. gentleman was asked, "the coasts beiu" now so veil patrolled." 3 "Oh, there is a, good deal of slavery of a domestic kind in existence in Eastern Africa, and only on Monday last the Herald announced that tho liarotseland chief Lewanika had abolished slavery in. his dominions, setting free some 30,000 slaves. It was recognised at the beginning by the Powers who have spheres of influence—l refer to Great Britain and Germany —that it would not do to suddenly destroy conditions which had been in existence for so long; Accordingly, slaves who were iii employment in the clove plantations, and in the domestic service of natives, should not be at once set at liberty, but that the slave trade itself should be put down, and so the supply would then become less year by year, and gradually die out altogether." THE ADVANCE OF ISLAMISM. "Have yon noticed in your territory any distinct advance of Islamism?" ' " There; is unquestionably a decided Motnainmedan revival all over Asia and Africa. And it is not only a religious movement] but a political movement. <To-day Mohammedanism is becoming more of 'a missionary religion than it. lias 'been for canturies past. The • Mohammedans are proselytising among the natives who have not come under Christian influences. They are not only hostile to the Christian religion, but are hostile to Europeans also, and one cannot say how serious the situation may become if Islamism in Africa goes on unchecked. It strikes at the root of European authority altogether." " Then, do you fear some great Jehad in the future?";

" Well, the real aim of the propagandists is this: To possess the laud. It is a, serious, political mistake to allow this to go on, to permit the working among the people of Africa of a creed which is as hostile to the white and ruling races on political as on religious grounds. The only check is the building up of a. strong bulwark of Christian people in Central Africa, who will have no sympathy, either religious or political, with I&lauvism. The natives number 40 millions in the British sphere, and in time they will become British subjects, even as the people of Australia and New Zealand are; but if the Mohammedans gain a firm footing among them, not only will the work of the missionaries be intensified six or seven times, but the. administration will be exceedingly difficult, not to say dangerous, so far as retaining allegiance to the British Empire ie concerned. As Christians, (lie natives would certainly be friendly to Britain."

Mr. Johnson referred also to polygamy, which, in times past, and under old and unsettled conditions, possessed some advantages, but which practice was not now desirable nor permissible among natives living in peace and coming under Christian influences as a. result of improved intertribal relations and greater "personal security. The rev. gentleman will address meetings tin's afternoon and evening at the Beresfordstreet Congregational Church.