LIFE IN EAST AFRICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 42

LIFE IN EAST AFRICA.

A Narrative of Adventure and Pioneer Work.

" The business of the Foreign Office," said Lord Salisbury, speaking at the Guildhall a year or two ago, "is mainly concerned with Africa." Diplomatists of an older school j would have been incredulous had they been told that the affairs of the Dark Continent would in the near future demand the chief consideration of the heads of many European Governments. Bat for the last dozen years Africa has " held the field." Durirjg this period much has happened, and numberless records of exploration, investigation, fighting, and trading have been printed fcr the benefit of the Knglish public. Many of these books have appeared quite recently, while, cuiiously enough, the events of what we now consider long ago, told by such a vivid chronicler as Sir R. Burton, have been republisbed, giving us on opportanity of comparing Africa as it was with Africa as we know it tc-day. Among the makers of history in that part of the world must be reckoned Mr Daniel J. Rankin, whose knowledge of the Mozambique coast and the great rivers is probably unequalled, save by gome Arab traders. To prove Mr Rankin's claim to have made history, one has but to recall that he is the discoverer of the navigability of the Chind6 mouth of the Zambesi— a fact which immediately revolutionised the relations of the British and Portuguese in that region, showing as it did that the English and Scotch traders were at length independent of the tenitorial lords of the district. Mr Rankin now gives us in " The Zambesi Basin and Nyassaland " an olla podrida eminently readable. The book may be divided into two parts : first, a series of disconnected but exceedingly interesting narratives of travel and adventure on the Zambesi and Shir 6 rivers, along the Mozambique coast, and at Mombasa; and secondly, a disquisition on the commercial prospects of Portuguese East and British Central Africa, together with some very stringent criticisms of the system of administration pursued by the representatives of both England and. Portugal. The second portion of the volume seed not detain us ; but it is impossible not to agree with the author in some at least of his criticisms of the action of Mr H. H. Johnston, H.B.M.'s Consul for Central Africa,

From the first part of the book we propose to make a few extracts, which should lead all readers of discernment to straightway invest a few shillings in the purchase of Mr Rankin's book, advising them beforehand that not a tithe of the good things it contains can even be hinted at. HIPPOS AND CROCODILES. The Morambala mar3h on the Lower Shir 6 abounds with 4< hippos " (colloquial and short for hippopotami), and the river is sometimes, it would seem, nearly blocked by the number of crocodiles. By neither does Mr Rankin set much store. Concerning the 11 hippo " he says : — Its claims for utility may be summarily dismissed, for it has none. It is not a scavenger, and alive is of no value except to send home to a zoological society. When dead, its teeth form a valuable commercial product, and its hide is manufactured into kourbaj, employed for the correction of local evildoers. Its flesh is excellent eating, not unlike beef. Its attitude to industry and commerce is an unqualified antagonism. Scarcely a month goes past without some disaster to boats and canoes invading their haunts, and the list of fatal accidents from their attacks reaches a considerable total per annum. They are, however, becoming gradually diminished in numbers ; and where a few years ago one could scarcely pass 10 miles on any of these water-ways without encountering them, they are only now to be found in the Lower Zambesi and Shire' in well-defined areas, where they have congregated for mutual protection from the attacks of hunters. A SHORT WAY WITH WIVES. Then follows this grim tale, recounted in order to show the dangers incurred by the natives from the presence of the crocodiles :— The primitive dug-outs used by the natives for travelling on the rivers are in many cases merely death traps. Paddling along barely two inches above the surface of the river, the crocodile seizes the hand of the native and drags him down to the bottom. When I was at Sumbo on the Chinde, my host, Seuhor Caezar d'Andrade, engaged a canoe -man to take some produce down the river in his own craft. The native took -with him two of his wives, who occupied the centre of the canoe. On the way these unfortunate women were seized and devoured by crocodiles. Having accomplished his mission, the native returned to Senhor d'Andrade and made a claim to the extent of 10a per wife for their demise — an incident which my host told me was of frequent occurrence. A LIONESS'S PAS SEUL. There is a diverting story of a certain Captain B and his wife who, for propriety's sake, decided to pass the night in an open boat on the Zambesi rather than share a tent with a number of hunters. The boat and its occupants were nearly eaten up by three inquisitive hippos, who kept guard for several hours, until at length, seizing a favourable opportunity, Mr and Mrs B , clad only in their night clothes, made their escape. The following tale of a lion's dance is more pleasant to read about than to have witnessed : — On another occasion I sent on by one of my officers, Mr Hanner, a young Englishman, a quantity of goods, which he piled up in a circle around him breast-high on a waste of sand. During the night, which was a brilliant moonlight one, three lions came down and danced for his amusement around the enclosure. He had one servant with him whose features generally were black, but which were now almost as white as H.'s. A few yards away flowed the Zambesi, on the surface of which, as if from the pit, a number of crocodiles' heads were interestedly watching the entertainment. A young lionness approached within a few feet of H., and evidently being the premiere danseuse, executed a pas seul, sticking the claws of her bind legs deep into the sand, while the two others behind acted as chorus to the leonine ballet. At the termination of this performance the pit, not having any hands to clap, snapped their jaws, and the chorus roared out their appreciation. The pit retired to the bottom of the river, the leonine premiere danseuse, followed by her supporters, trotted over the sands to hunt up a fat buck for dinner, while the two inside the enclosure remained sleepless until dawn. A REMINISCENCE OF DR LIVINGSTONE. Mr Rankin met many of Dr Livingstone's old servants, of most of whom he has a very poor opinion. Of the great missionary himself he always speaks with admiration. At one place he has the following sympathetic reference to the intrepid pioneer of Christianity: — The spot at which we landed, called Massanangwe, marks the limit of the navigation on the Lower Zambesi. It was here Dr Livingstone disembarked from the Ma Robert steamer ' and travelled overland to the upper waters, some 30 or 40 miles above. There was a baobab tree near our camp on which the words ' ' Ma Robert" are still discernible, cut in the bark when the Doctor's expedition passed. The wheelß on which he transported the steamer are in the possession of a merchant at Missongwe, where one of Dr Livingstone's servants still lives, though old and imbecile. It is curious j how the name of the Doctor has lingered in the memory of the people all over the country, and he is always spoken of as the first and greatest white man, and in no other terms than that of the sincerest admiration. ANCIENT METHODS OF COLLECTING CURIO 3. Naturally there is much in the book of the sometime vast Portuguese Empire in East Africa, and many are the tales of the cruelty done by so-called Christians. Mombasa, now a British possession, was the scene of conflict between the Arabs and Portuguese for four centuries. While at this place Mr Rankin adopted the Arab costume, and was received with open arms by the elite of the Mohammedan community, There is no occasion for wonder, he tells us, that most Europeans are cordially detested by natives and Arabs alike. They first became acquainted with the white man when, as Burton puts it, " the Portuguese were slaves and robbers in the Lord's name, the Dutch were second-rate traders, and the English rank salt-water thieves : — The chroniclers relate many incidents attending the dealings of Vasco da Gama and his people with the natives of Mombasa. Maidens and children coming on board the ships wearing bracelets and rings did well if they made sure that these ornaments fitted loosely, since if one of the gallant mariners had any difficulty in releasing them from the fair maiden's wrist, he expedited matters with a chopper, taking the hand and arm with the bracelet, to enable him to remove it at leisure. To satisfy this desire of becoming acquainted with specimens of native handicraft, many women and children { were mutilated and their bodies thrown over* board to the pharka. I

It is with regret we close the book, which Is written in a bright, attractive, and often humorous style. If the etory had been made into one connected and chronological narrative, and a little more information given on some points — for instance, the mission to the Makanga chicf — the value of the book as a work of reference might have been increased ; but this would probably have been at the expense of many a good tale we should be sorry to miss. The book is nicely " got up," has some clever illustrations and three capital maps. — St. James's Budget.