TWENTY LONG YEARS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19372, 22 December 1932, Page 6

TWENTY LONG YEARS

FIGHT FOR JUSTICE. AFRICAN BUSH DRAMA. An amazing drama of the African bush twenty years ago, in which a captain of the Royal Artillery—a man who played a conspicuous part behind the scenes In the South African and European wars—was the leading figure, will reach a climax in Brussels, stated a writer in the “London Express” recently. The former Belgian Prime Minister, Count Carton de Wiart, will hear the British Government’s claim on that officer’s behalf for £52,000 indemnity and interest against the Portuguese Government for his arrest and captivity in a Portuguese gunboat in the Zambesi River. The officer is Major (then Captain) Archibald Neil Campbell; at the time of his arrest he was engaged in goldmining exploration in the Tete district of Portuguese East Africa, about 500 miles up the Zambesi. Tire arrest took place at daybreak. The armed force, Europeans and natives, suddenly concentrated on the house where Captain Campbell was living, and, despite his protests, he was taken prisoner to Tete and brought before the judge. Various charges were preferred against Captain Campbell. These included allegations of ill-treating the natives, disobedience to authority, and generally disturbing the district. He was treated with callous indifference, and even his request for a chair was refused by the judge, although he was in a fainting and half-famished condition after a long night journey over the rough mountainous country. After being formally charged he was marched under a strong armed gqard to the Portuguese gunboat Sena, grounded on a sandbank of the Zambesi River. Here he remained a captive—in a stifling hot cabin with the day temperature never less than 110 degrees Fahrenheit • —for two months, watched day and 'night by armed blacks. Eventually he was released on bail at the instance of the Foreign Office in London pending the arrival of reports in London from the British Consul and of a Portuguese advocate who had been sent to Tete for the purpose, a ten days’ journey.

Then began a long fight to obtain redress from the Portuguese Government. Captain Campbell’s arrest had the effect of closing down work at the mine, and prospecting and mining practically ceased throughout the whole territory. He was regarded as the leading pioneer in the territory. In the consular inquiry some of the strongest evidence in his favour came from Portuguese mines officials and others. The Lisbon authorities finally agreed tp pay Captain Campbell an indemnity, . but various difficulties cropped up—irjcludirg a Portuguese revolution—and the arrangements fell through. When the European war broke out Major Campbell returned to the Army —his claim for compensation remained in abeyance. It was not until last August that the agreement between Britain and Portugal to arbitrate over this extraordinary case was signed.