THE
CALL OF THE DARK CONTINENT
8 C-? *y >
F.D.WALKER
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LIBRARY | IRECON I
UNIVfeSo CAUPORN
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THE GALL OF THE DARK CONTINENT
Printed and Bound by
Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld.
London and Aylesbury*.
The Call
OF THE
Dark Continent
A STUDY IN MISSIONARY PROGRESS, OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY
BY
F. DEAVILLE WALKER
IV. M. M.S. CENTENARY SERIES
LONDON
THE WESLEYAN METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY
24 BISHOPSGATE, E.C.
1911
The Call
OF THE
Dark Continent
A STUDY IN MISSIONARY PROGRESS, OPPORTUNITY AND URGENCY
BY
F. DEAVILLE WALKER
W.M.M.S. CEXTEXARY SERIES
LONDON
THE WESLEYAN METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY
24 BISHOPSGATE, E.C.
1911
?£:>
YMk
376 Hi
#V 3^0o
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The Call of the Dark Continent goes forth as the second of a series of Centenary Text Books prepared for the use of Missionary Study Circles. In the decision to publish for the present our own text books there is no intention to separate ourselves as a Church from the main body of workers in the Interdenominational Study Circle Movement. But it was thought necessary during the years of the Centenary Move- ment to call the attention of our Methodist people especially to the progress, the needs, and the opportunities of our own work, and for this purpose to provide the necessary literature. The adoption of this course was rendered the more necessary that many of our people refrained from joining the United Missionary Study Movement, alleging that the text books in use con- tained nothing about Methodist Missions. The course has, moreover, been justified by a large increase last* year in the number of Study Circles formed. Up to the Conference of 1910, the largest number registered in
vi Introductory Note
any year was 60. Last year we registered nearly 200, and we closed the year with signs of further growth.
As a series of studies in the conditions and facts of Missionary work in Pagan Africa, The Call of the Dark Continent gives prominence to Wesleyan Methodist Missions, but places these always in a broad, catholic setting. Mr. Walker has brought to his task the rare qualifications of wide reading, accurate knowledge, a quick appreciation of the conditions of pagan life, and an expert knowledge of the needs of methodical missionary study. If I am not greatly mistaken, this book will grip the reader from beginning to end, informing the mind, warming the heart, and con- straining to new consecration to missionary service. William Goudie,
Centenary Secretary.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This little volume has been written for a special purpose — namely, as a text-book for Missionary Study Circles. It is not intended for advanced students or returned missionaries, but for those who are begin- ning the study of Missions to Pagan Africa. With no pretence to originality, the writer has sought to supply just such facts about the country, the people, and missionary work, as may serve as an introduction to the subject. The book claims to be nothing more than a primer. It is not in any sense a history of Wesleyan Missions ; for it has not been the writer's purpose in any way to forestall the great work on which Dr. G. G. Findlay is engaged. The book gives a series of pictures, rather than a history, of Missions to the pagan races of Africa. The Muslim countries of North Africa do not lie within the scope of this volume.
The thought expressed in the title runs through the whole book, for the writer's only aim has been to set forth as clearly
viii Author's Preface
as possible " The Call of the Dark Continent " to the young people of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. The motif of the book may be stated thus : —
The Call of Africa's Need. (Chapters I. and II.) The Call of the Work Done. (Chapters III.
and IV.) The Call of the Existing Work. (Chapters V.
and VI.) The Call of the Muslim Peril. (Chapter VII.) The Call of Present Opportunity and Urgency.
(Chapter VIII.)
The writer gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to several friends who have assisted in the preparation of the book : to the Revs. John White, H. L. Bishop, J. D. Russell, and R. Dixon, for material kindly supplied in response to a series of questions sent to the Mission Field ; more especially to the Rev. J. F. Briscoe, for material incorporated chiefly in Chapters III., V., and VI., and the Rev. W. T. Balmer, B.A., B.D., for valuable matter contained in Chapter VII. and elsewhere ; to the Revs. Oliver J. Griffin, H. W. Goodwin, W. T. Balmer, and the Missionary Secretaries for reading the several chapters in MS. or in proof, and greatly enriching them by valuable suggestions ; and to several colleagues on the Mission House Staff for assistance in reading the proof sheets.
Author's Preface ix
For the illustrations that brighten the volume, thanks are especially due to — The Religious Tract Society, for permission to reproduce the photograph facing page 332 ; the Rev. J. Gregory Mantle, Editor of The Illustrated Missionary News, for the pictures facing pages 60, 76, and 220 ; Neville Edwards, Esq., the Revs. W. T. Balmer, J. T. F. Halligey, and several other missionaries and friends.
If this little book should quicken the heart of any servant of God to respond to "The Call of the Dark Continent," the writer will feel amply rewarded.
CONTENTS
Introductory Note, by the Kev. William
Goudie v.
Author's Preface ..... vii.
chap. ; ."
I. The Opening of the Dark Con- tinent 1
The story of African exploratiou, exploita- tion, and colonisation, from earliest times to the present.
II. The People of the Dark Continent 50
The great races of Pagan Africa — their history, underlying solidarity, and tribal division ; native life and customs ; woman- hood and childhood ; religious beliefs and practices.
III. Our South African Mission Field . 100
Discovery and early colonisation ; Moravian and L.M.S. pioneers ; the story of Wes- leyan Methodist enterprise in Nama- Qualand, Cape Colony, the Transvaal, and Rhodesia.
IV. Our West African Mission Field . 150
The story of our missions in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, the Gold Coast, Ashanti, Lagos, Southern Nigeria, Togoland, and Dahomey,
Contents xi
CHAP. PAGE
V. The Conditions Affecting Mission- ary Work in Africa . . .201
(1) Conditions that hinder ; (2) Conditions that help.
VI. Methods of Missionary Work . 248
Methods of evangelism ; educational, indus- trial, and medical work ; the training of catechumens ; admission to the Church ; the edification and discipline of the native Church ; the problems of self-support and self-control.
VII. The Muslim Menace . . .291
Islam as an enemy of the Church of Christ ; a rival force in pagan Africa ; the coming struggle; shall Africa be Christian or Muslim ?
VIII. The Call of the Hour . . 330
The future of the African races ; the value t of the work done as a beginning only; the vast fields beyond ; the opportunities of the hour ; South and West Africa as bases for missionary advance ; present-day calls ; the capacity of the native Church to co-operate ; the share of British Methodism ; the Call of Christ.
APPENDICES
A. The Afeican Tribes . . .364
B. W.M.M.S. Missionary Translators . 366
Bibliography 367
Index 369
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Call of the Dark Continent is the Call
of Her Needy People." . . . Frontispiece
TO FACE PAGE
A West African River Scene
A Bridge on the MaShonaland Railway .
The Railway Station, Kumassi
Zulu Warriors in Full War Dress
A Kraal in the Transvaal ....
A Congo Woman Returning from the Field
A MaShona Family
A Bridge in Mendiland
West African Idols
OfferingsPlaced Before a Fetich Tree A Fetich Arch to Keep Away Evil Spirits Map of S. Africa to Show Early W.M.M.S. Work Natives at Home in the Kraal Natives as we Meet Them in the Mines The Market, Porto Novo, West Africa
Cape Coast Castle
The Young Recruit and the Experienced
Veteran were Laid Side by Side . Ese Ado, Yoruba Country .... The Chief of Iseyin and his Wives
A Zulu Warrior
Entrance to the Compound of the King of Iseyin
Travelling by Canoe
Missionary Breakfasting in Native Hut . Kilnerton Training Institution : the Carpentry
Department
Rev. O. J. Grifpin and the Synod of our Lagos
District . . . . - . A Muhammadan School, West Africa .. Mendi Chief and Sub-Chiefs Where there is neither East nor West . Missionary Travelling Through the Bush
Mendiland
12
46
46
60
68
76
78
89
89
94
94
114
135
135
158
176
193 204 216 220 234 255 255
263
285 303 303 332
356
The Call of the Dark Continent
Chapter I, The Opening of the Dark Continent
" The end of the geographical feat is the beginning of the Missionary enterprise."
LIVINGSTONE
Until a few generations ago, Africa was A Continent a land of mighty secrets. Although its of Secrets north-eastern regions were the scene of earliest civilisation, three -fourths of its coast-line had not been surveyed when the Wars of the Roses began in England, and its vast interior was unknown until the nineteenth century. The New World was mapped out and opened before Africa. The ancient Egyptians had heard of the Niger, but the Amazon, the Orinoco, and the Mississippi were well known before the
1
The Gal! of the Dark Continent
Classic Africa
Pagan Africa
Early Knowledge
great river of Western Africa was dis- covered. The Nile was hoary with antiquity when Herodotus sailed on its waters, but so late as 1850 its sources were still unknown.
The great continent divides into two un- equal portions. Egypt, with the Red Sea and the Mediterranean coasts, are lands of classic interest, famous before the dawn of history. Successively they passed under the sway of the Egyptian Dynasties, of Phoenicia, of Carthage, of Persia, of Greece, and of Rome. To-day these northern regions are dominated by the Crescent, and lie outside the scope of this book. Vast deserts separate them from the rest of the continent — the modern pagan Africa with which we are to deal.
South of the deserts, the Dark Con- tinent stretched away beyond the bounds of ancient knowledge. It was the Ethiopia of Homeric and the Libya of later Hellenic times. Vague in the extreme were men's thoughts concerning it. In the Odyssey of Homer it is described as a region of remote distances, reaching from the rising to the setting of the sun, with unknown southern frontiers.
The earliest information we possess about these unknown regions concerns an expedition sent to the Land of Punt (the
The Opening of the Dark Continent 3
modern Somaliland) by Sankhard, of the 11th Egyptian Dynasty, some 2400 B.C. More detailed is the account of an im- portant embassy sent by Queen Hatasu about 900 years later. This remarkable Ancient monarch dispatched a fleet of five vessels gyptian to Punt, which was known to be rich in incense-bearing trees, costly gums and resins, myrrh, amber, gold, ivory, and precious woods. A series of frescoes on the walls of Hatasu's great temple at Dayr-el-Bahari has preserved for us a complete pictorial and hieroglyphic account of this early attempt to enter into relation- ship with the non-classic peoples of Africa. One of the tableaux represents a village in the Land of Punt, with conical huts raised on piles, with trees, and cattle, and birds — probably the oldest picture of an African village in existence. Another scene, showing the loading of the Egyptian vessels with the products of Punt, is des- cribed by the hieroglyphics as —
" Very great lading of the ships with the marvels of the land of Punt, . . . with natives of the country, their women and children. Never since the begin- ning of the world have like wonders been brought by any king."
The intercourse thus began, continued for many centuries, and it is probable that Egyptian traders traversed the Bahr-al-
4 The Call of the Dark Continent
Ghazal region also. Professor Flinders Petrie describes a tomb of the 18 th Dynasty with a fresco of southern chiefs and their followers bringing bags of gold- dust and precious offerings as tribute, and boatloads of Negroes and cattle. Even at that remote period Ethiopia was yielding up her treasure — her gold, her ivory, her slaves — for the aggrandisement of a more powerful race.
It will thus be noted that the earliest recorded efforts of classic civilisation to reach the dark-skinned races of the south were inspired by commercial instincts — a motive that has operated in the opening of Africa through all succeeding ages.
But scientific interests soon entered the field. About 457 B.C. Herodotus, the " father of history," visited Egypt in search of knowledge, and carefully collected all available scraps of information concerning the Great Beyond. He was told that five young men — Nasamonians — had journeyed westward across the desert for many days until they came to a land of fruit trees and " diminutive men, of less than middle stature," whose language could not be understood. After passing " through vast morasses " the Nasamonians came to a city, " and by the city flowed a great river, running from west to east." (Euterpe, 32.)
The Opening of the Dark Continent 5
Surely this could only have been the Niger itself — or possibly the Benue.
But Herodotus gained even more im- portant information. He says :
" Libya . . . shows itself to be surrounded by water. Necho, King of Egypt (610-594 B.C.) was the first to prove this; he sent certain Phoenicians in ships. . . . The Phoenicians accordingly, setting out from the Red Sea, navigated the Southern Sea ; . . . and when two years had passed, in the third, having doubled the Pillars of Hercules, they arrived in Egypt, and related what to me does not seem credible, but to others may, that as they sailed round Libya they had the sun on their right hand." — (Melpomene, 41-42.)
But notwithstanding the doubt in the historian's mind there is every reason to believe the story. The Phcenicians were probably familiar with the whole eastern coast of Africa to a point where "the ocean curves towards the sunset, and, stretching along the southern extremities of Ethiopia, Libya and Africa, amalgamates with the western sea."
At Zimbabwe, in Southern Rhodesia, vast The Great ruined fortresses and temples are still to be Zimbabwe seen. They were thoroughly examined in 1891 by Mr. J. Theo. Bent, F.S.A., F.R.G,S. Such a civilisation as these ruins imply could not have originated and de- veloped in South Africa, and there is every-
6 The Gall of the Dark Continent
thing to suggest that the builders were foreigners, dwelling in a hostile country. When it is remembered that Zimbabwe lies in the heart of the gold-bearing region, the discovery of smelting furnaces, crucibles, ingot moulds, and mining tools among the ruins makes it clear that the builders were attracted to the country by gold. Mr. Bent concluded that the builders were Sabeans from South Arabia, acting as agents for the Phoenicians. Everything about the buildings, especially the temples, suggests Phoenician influence.
Eager for gold, "these Sabean Arabs, separately or in conjunction with their Phoenician cousins, pursued their search down the east coast of Africa. ... It was, perhaps, their exploration of the Zambesi which led them to discover alluvial gold, though they afterwards found a shorter route to the gold-fields by way of Solfala. In this way they forestalled by some twenty-five hundred years modern Rhodesian enterprise." *
About the middle of the first century A.D., a Greek merchant, named Diogenes, visited East Africa and heard from Arab traders of a series of great lakes (two of which were reputed to be the sources of the Nile), and of a range of snow-covered
* Sir Harry H. Johnston.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 7
mountains to the south of the most western lake. These mountains were called, from their silvery appearance, the " Mountains of the Moon." This remarkable story got into the hands of the great Ptolemy (150 A.D.), who recorded it for us. This seems to have been the limit of knowledge concerning " Ethiopia " possessed by the ancient world.
Thus scraps of information gradually accumulated. Some men, like Herodotus and Ptolemy, actuated by love of know- The Attractions ledge, tried to search out the secrets of the of EthiopIa Dark Continent. More often, information was gained incidentally, as men sought to enrich themselves with the natural wealth of what we now call pagan Africa. With no thought for the welfare of her dusky children, her ivory, her gold, her precious gums were shipped to South Arabia and carried thence to Tyre, or were landed on the wharves of Thebes or Carthage. Egyptians, Phoenicians, Sabeans, Greeks, and Romans visited her coasts or ventured into the mysteries of her inner regions ; but usually the first motive was plunder or conquest, and the returning ships, or the long trains of laden camels that followed the home- ward track, too often carried captives destined to a life of servitude, or to be exhibited as " specimens " in the Roman
8 The Gall of the Dark Continent
amphitheatres to fight with gladiators or wild beasts.
From the time of Ptolemy knowledge of the Dark Continent diminished rather than increased. Occasional stories reached Christendom through Saracen channels, but there was no definite information, no actual contact. The far-stretching deserts alone were enough to discourage all over- land approach from the north, and the fact that the Mediterranean and the Red Sea coasts were held by the Muhammadan hosts made exploration doubly impossible. The navigation of the Atlantic was for all practical purposes unknown, and the African coast south of Morocco on the west and Cape Guardafui on the east was en- tirely unexplored.
During these centuries the Arabs were exploiting East and Central Africa for their own purposes. Gold, ivory, and slaves were shipped to Arabia and the Persian Gulf, or carried by caravan across the scorching deserts to the great Muslim cities of Barbary or Egypt. The plun- dering of pagan Africa by the followers of the Arabian Prophet began in the first centuries of Muslim aggression and con- tinues to our own time.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 9
For the rediscovery of pagan Africa, Henry the Europe is indebted to Prince Henry of Portugal,* usually named Henry the Navi- gator, from the fact that he inaugurated a period of naval activity that revolutionised the geography of the world. " Until his day," says his biographer, "the pathways of the human race had been the mountain, the river, and the plain, the strait, the lake, and the inland sea ; but he it was who first conceived the thought of opening up a road through the unexplored ocean — a road replete with danger, but abundant in promise." Henry lived in stirring times; Europe had failed in her effort to wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens ; the Turks were threatening South-East Europe, and the Moors were still firmly established in the south of Spain. Defeated in a cam- paign in Morocco, Prince Henry returned to Portugal. Rumours were afloat con- cerning a mysterious prince, Prester John, said to rule over a Christian kingdom in Africa, who might perchance be persuaded to unite with Christendom against the common enemy. Again, while in Morocco, Henry heard of Timbuktu and the countries beyond, which sent their gold and merchandise by the caravans to Barbary.
* The French claim to have reached the Gold Coast by 1382 is vigorously denied by Prince Henry's greatest biographer.
1*
10 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Here were new regions open to Portu- guese enterprise. And what if a route to India and Cathay could be found by way of West Africa ? Who dare say it was impossible ? Thus, actuated by a desire to find Prester John, to plant the banners of Portugal on African soil, and to find a sea route to India, Prince Henry in 1415 a.d. dispatched his first expedition to trace the coast of Africa. But behind these appar- ently earthly motives lay a great and noble desire to extend the Catholic Faith. Writing about 1453, Gomez Eanes declares that Henry had
" a great desire to make increase of the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to bring to Him all the souls that should be saved."
With this object in view, every Portuguese ship carried Franciscan or Dominican missionaries. " The Church," says Noble, " went hand in hand with the State. Christianity and Civilisation entered West Africa together."
From 1415 until his death in 1460, not a year passed in which this great-hearted man did not send forth at least one vessel to accomplish his purpose. " Abandoning the Royal Court, and taking up his residence on the bare and storm-swept promontory of Sagres, he devoted himself
The Opening of the Dark Continent 11
heart and soul to his work. Never was a purpose followed up with such heroic and unflinching resolution." Ridicule and failure did not daunt him. Not until 1435 did his mariners round Cape Bojador, and ten years more passed before Cape Yerde was doubled and the Gambia sighted (1445). Henry "gave thanks to God and besought the Yirgin that she would guide this discovery to His glory and the increase of His Holy Faith."
Unhappily, the wrongs of the Negro began afresh with his first contact with Europeans. Ignoring the lofty motives of Prince Henry, and in spite of the fact that they carried missionaries on their vessels and bore the sacred emblem upon their banners, the first thought of the Portu- guese mariners was to seize " specimens " of this new black race and carry them home. Prince Henry was displeased, and ordered his captains to " cultivate the friendship of the Black Moors, establish peace and use their utmost diligence in making converts."
" The intention of the Prince is not so much to open trade as to convert the natives to Christianity," wrote Gonzalez in 1441. But Henry's agents were not like- minded. The rough seaman took less interest in religion and philanthropy than
12 The Gall of the Dark Continent
in the opportunity to acquire riches. In spite of all Henry could do, discovery prac- tically ceased, and for some years the mariners of Portugal abandoned themselves to the lucrative slave trade ; and ship- loads of Negroes, taken captive in raids or purchased from the coast chiefs, were con- stantly landed in Portugal.
When the first excitement of trade was over, the Portuguese pressed further along the African coast-line. When Henry the A New Route Navigator died in 1460, others took up the to India work he left unfin;shed. In 1484 Diogo
Cam discovered the mouth of the Congo ; three years later (1487) Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope ; and in 1497-8 Vasco da Gama sailed up the East African coast to Mombasa and thence across the ocean to India. By the close of the century the whole of the African coast to Cape Guardafui had been explored and claimed by Portugal by virtue of a Papal Bull obtained from Pope Nicholas V. in 1454, and confirmed by Alexander VI. in 1493. These Bulls gave the whole of Africa south of the Sahara to Portugal. None dared question the right of the Pope to grant such a monopoly, and for a century Portugal was without a rival in the African trade. Forts were erected and certain areas were colonised for the pur-
The Opening of the Dark Continent 1 3
poses of commerce — notably the Gold Coast, the region of San Paulo cle Loanda, and East Africa.
From the first the Portuguese exhibited Portuguese
, i i , • • j i • i i • Missions
strangely mixed motives m their relation- ship with Africa. Some, as we have seen, were eager for gold. Others, approaching more nearly to the pious ambitions of Henry the Navigator, sought to bring the African peoples within the pale of their Church. Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, and Capuchins devoted themselves to the work with enthusiasm and, in many cases, with true Christian heroism. Some of them made long and dangerous journeys into the interior in order to carry the Gospel to the inland tribes. Their labours were rewarded with a measure of success. Benin, at its own request, received mission- aries. The "King of the Congo" was baptised with many of his chiefs and people. In East Africa, a powerful Karanga chieftain, Monomotapa by name, also re- ceived the sacred rite with several hundred headmen and attendants — apparently more as a matter of courtesy to his missionary guests than from religious conviction. But while some of the missionaries were not unworthy followers of St. Francis Xavier, others were men of another type ; and, seized by the greed of gold and unable to
14 The Gall of the Dark Continent
resist the abounding immorality of unre- strained colonial life, they yielded to the prevailing corruption and disgraced the Christianity they were there to represent. Possessing slaves, and even connecting themselves with slave-raiding, they lost the confidence of the natives. Jealousies arose between the different religious orders and fierce quarrels ensued. Complaints made by Portuguese officials led to the expulsion of the Jesuits from East Africa ; and as the centuries passed, the results of those early evangelistic efforts almost entirely disappeared from both the Congo and the Zambesi. Rivals. After the Reformation, men were less
willing than before to respect Papal Bulls. England and Holland, already excommuni- cated, no longer feared to disobey the Holy Father, and Portugal soon found she had rivals on the coast of Africa. Before long French merchants also arrived on the West Coast, and the vessels of the three nations roamed up and down the Bights, fighting the Portuguese wherever they found them, and often falling out with each other into the bargain. Portugal's monopoly was over. To the shame of the Protestant nations it must be confessed that no thought of evangelism entered into their programmes of African enterprise. The
The Opening of the Dark Continent 15
religio-commercial policy of Portugal was a jumble of inconsistencies ; that of the Protestant states was certainly consistent — consistently bad, with scarcely a spark of religious or philanthropic zeal to relieve its blackness. Africa, to a greater extent than before, became a prey to the spoilers ; the maritime nations of Europe fastened themselves like leeches on her side and sucked her life-blood, and none more greedily than England. Ivory, gold, Guinea pepper, were all regular articles of commerce ; trading companies were formed, and monopolies constituted. But the cost of maintaining forts on "the Coast" was heavy, and pirates abounded. Ofttimes the crew of a Guinea trader would turn on their captain, seize the vessel, hoist the "Jolly Roger" and sail away with the booty, to the undoing of the owners. Fortunes were lost as well as made in West Africa. The companies came to grief and were succeeded by others that ere long shared the same fate. But one line of business never failed — the transportation of slaves.
In 1562 Sir John Hawkins "ran" the JJf T™^ first English cargo of slaves across the Trade. Atlantic. The " trade " developed with startling rapidity, and from 1680 to 1786 fully 2,130,000 Negroes were imported into English colonies. In the year 1793 the
16 The Gall of the Dark Continent
different European powers landed 74,000 slaves in the Americas, 38,000 of them being bought by British colonists. Soon Brazil took an average of 78,000 and Cuba 60,000 per annum. The amount of suffer- ing represented by these figures is beyond human comprehension. Hundreds of thou- sands— perhaps millions — of lives must have been lost in raiding expeditions in Africa, and thousands of the miserable victims are known to have perished on the voyage across the Atlantic. If Wesley's famous description of the traffic as "the sum of all villainies " errs at all, it is on the side of leniency. Slavery hardened the hearts of all engaged in it to commit all manner of wickedness. It was responsible for astounding brutality and most callous cruelty. Had it not been for its marvellous vitality, the Negro race might have become extinct. It passes comprehension that Christendom should have tolerated such rascality for a single hour. There can be no stronger testimony to the depravity of the human heart than that civilised and nominally Christian men should, for love of gold, be prepared to inflict such cruelty upon their fellows. And it must be remembered that no vice has ever had a more terrible effect on the character of those connected with it.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 17
At last the slumbering conscience of the Abolition of the nations awoke to the enormity of the slave trade. To Denmark belongs the honour of being the first country to forbid her subjects to engage in this scandalous but lucrative traffic. The Royal Decree was issued on May 16th, 1792, and it came into operation in 1802. Strangely enough, the United States of America was the first to follow Denmark's example; in 1794, carefully distinguishing between slavery and the slave trade, she prohibited the export of Negroes or their importation into her own territories (the Act came into operation in 1804). Meanwhile, England, powerfully influenced by the evangelical revival and the foundation of Foreign Missionary enter- prise, was moving, and in 1807, after a fierce struggle in Parliament, abolished the slave trade so far as her subjects were concerned. France followed in 1814. For Africa a brighter day was breaking.
But the transatlantic slave trade was not over. It took many years to give effect to the statutory prohibitions, and in this work England played a truly noble part by becoming the staunchest champion of the slave. She paid £300,000 to Portu- gal (1836) and another sum of £400,000 to the Spaniards on condition that they should cease to buy Negroes. But in spite of the
18 The Call of the Dark Continent
Governments concerned, these bargains were not faithfully observed, for Cuba and Brazil still demanded slaves, and the Southern planters of the United States were not averse to the secret landing of living cargoes in the Carolina creeks. The difficulty of obtaining new supplies of blacks increased their value considerably, and men were prepared to run the risks for sake of gain. Africa continued to bleed. Then slave -running was legally declared to be piracy, and the penalty of death was attached to the crime. British men-of-war patrolled the West Coast searching for slavers ; but in spite of their vigilance, swift sailing schooners lay concealed among the numerous creeks and rivers, and as oppor- tunity offered spread their sails and made for the Americas. Dr. Holman Bentley tells of slaves being smuggled from the Congo as late as 1871 ; and the traffic really only came to an end in 1880, when Brazil abolished slavery. So long as the demand existed, men were found brutal enough to engage in the traffic, and reckless enough to risk capture and execution. The Arab While these things were happening on
the West Coast, the Arabs were carrying on their ancient slave trade in East Africa. Here also British cruisers were vigilant, but Arab dhows crept along the coast
Slave Trade
The Opening of the Dark Continent 19
and carried their victims to the Arabian Gulf.
*j\- w vP ^* -/T
Slavery, for three centuries the staple The interior of trade of Africa, was fatal to that spirit of unknown " research and discovery which Henry the Navigator called into life. The slaver had neither the inclination nor the courage to penetrate far inland. The story of his brutality had spread far and wide ; he dared not leave the coast, and he did all in his power to keep out others who might "interfere with trade." Thus, at the close of the eighteenth century, the greater part of the African continent was unknown beyond the seaboard, and ten miles inland was terra incognita. The maps of the period either left the interior blank (some- times marked as "Desert") or filled it in with imaginary detail.
So recently as 1788 the African Associa- tion published a statement that Africa had no inland seas or extensive lakes and — except the Nile — no rivers running from the centre to its extremities. Yet maps published by Duarte Lopez and Fil Pigafetta in 1591, and by John Ogilby in 1670, show both rivers and lakes of great size. Whether they were based on the statements of Ptolemy or other ancient authorities, or were crude attempts to record
20 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the journeys of unknown travellers of later times, or were merely imaginary productions, it is impossible to say. But there was no reliable information, and at the close of the eighteenth century the wildest ideas were current. Some held that the Senegal river was the western outlet of the Nile ; the Congo was unknown beyond what is now called Stanley Pool, and the very existence of the Niger was only a matter of rumour.
In the year 1788, a company of over ninety scientific men formed the African Association with the object of exploring West Africa, and particularly of solving the mystery of the Niger. Did such a river exist? If so, in what direction did it flow ? No known outlet on the coast seemed capable of identification with it except possibly the Senegal. Could the Senegal be the Niger? Or did the great river flow into some unknown lake of the interior? Their first agent, Ledyard, was sent to Egypt with instructions to search for the Niger, thus following the clue supplied by Herodotus. Unfortunately he died in Cairo, and nothing was accomplished. Subsequent attempts to reach the interior from Tripoli and from Senegambia likewise failed.
The choice of the African Association now fell on a young Scotch doctor, Mungo Park.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 21
Leaving England at the age of twenty-four, Park made his way up the Gambia, and plunged into the Dark Continent mounted on a horse, and accompanied by two native servants riding asses. With two fowling pieces and a brace of pistols as their only weapons, the little cavalcade rode forward.
Park had scarce gone three miles when he was attacked and plundered. This was only the beginning. King after king demanded presents ; at village after village the people surrounded his baggage and helped themselves to what they pleased, but Park's patience and good temper never failed — not even when a rapacious king compelled him to give the very coat off his back.
When tribal wars made it impossible for him to continue his journey eastward, Park chose to make a detour to the north, through the territory of one of the most treacherous and cruel of the African peoples — the Ludamar Moors. He was soon made prisoner, and forced to submit to greatest indignities. They spat in his face, but even that failed to irritate him. In the fierce heat they refused to give water enough to quench his burning thirst, and drove him from the wells like a dog when he attempted to help himself, though there was no lack of water. He used to fall asleep and dream
22 The Gall of the Dark Continent
of the rivers and streams of his native Scotland, and waked to find himself a lonelv captive, perishing for thirst amidst the wilds of Africa. After nearly four months in captivity, he contrived to escape, and again turned his face towards the Niger, His condition was desperate ; one of his servants had been seized and carried into slavery, and the other deserted. Once, in crossing a barren, waterless stretch of country he sank exhausted to the ground and believed himself to be dying. He fell into a swoon, but, on regaining consciousness, resolved to make another attempt to reach the Niger. As he struggled to his feet a sand storm came on and almost suffocated him, but during the night a welcome fall of rain relieved his distress. He spread his clothes on the ground to receive the precious water, and then sucked them to slake his thirst. On regaining Negro territory, his life was in less danger, and he journeyed from village to village, so ragged and dirty that people jeered at him as he passed. At last he approached the town of Sego, and was told that on the morrow he would see the river he had suffered so much to reach. That night excitement banished sleep, and in the morning he rode on. The supreme moment had come.
" We rode through some marshy ground, where, as
The Opening of the Dark Continent 23
I was anxiously looking round for the river, one of The Niger them called out, ' See ! the water ! ' and looking at Last ! forward I saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my mission; the long sought for, majestic Niger, glittering in the morning sun, flowing slowly to the eastward. I hastened to the brink, and, having drank of the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the great Ruler of all things for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success."*
The sight he saw around him amazed the dauntless traveller. The city of Sego had, he estimated, a population of at least 30,000. The houses were built of clay bricks neatly whitewashed, and the streets wrere wide. A high mud wall surrounded the town, and there were mosques in every quarter. The river was crowded with canoes, and the country around was cultivated. This, in the very heart of Africa, was a surprise indeed.
Park's next objective was Timbuktu. He discovered that that city was in the hands of fanatics, and death would be the certain doom of any Christian who ventured into it. The rumours were alarming enough, but Park was not to be deterred, and he pressed on. His old enemies, the Moors, dogged his footsteps and harassed him at every turn. By the time he reached Sila matters were serious. He wrote : —
* Park's Travels in Africa. Vol. I. Chapter XV.
24 The Gall of the Dark Continent
" Worn down by sickness, exhausted with hunger and fatigue; half naked, and without any article of value by which I might procure provisions, clothes, or lodging, I began to reflect seriously on my position. ... I perceived that I was advancing more and more within the power of those merciless fanatics. ... I was apprehensive that ... I should sacrifice my life to no purpose, for my discoveries would perish with me."*
In the face of such difficulties he con- cluded that it was his duty to return, in order to save for his employers the in- formation they had sent him to collect. On the morrow he turned his face west- ward. The return journey was full of peril. He was often obliged to sleep in the open, or to spend a night in a tree with lions roaring around. He fell into the hands of a company of armed Fulahs, who stripped him stark naked and threatened to kill him. Ultimately they returned his shirt and trousers, and, to his great joy, his hat, the crown of which contained his precious journal. Thus they left him, without compass, five hundred miles from a European settlement. His condition was indeed desperate, but he wrote : —
" I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie down and perish. The in- fluence of religion, however, aided and supported me. ... I was a stranger in a strange land, yet I *vas still under the protecting eye of that Providence Who
* Ibid. Vol. II. Chapter XVI.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 25
has condescended to call Himself the stranger's Friend. At this moment . . . the extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irresistibly caught my eye. I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capsula without admiration. Can that Being (thought I) Who planted, watered, and brought to perfection a thing of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and suffering of creatures formed in His own image ? Surely not ! Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started up, and, disregard- ing hunger and fatigue, travelled forward assured that relief was at hand."*
After a while Park fell in with a slave caravan, with which he traversed the weary way back to the Gambia. On this dreadful march he was the unwilling wit- ness of some of the horrors of slavery, and his account of these brutal doings is horrible in the extreme. At last he reached the point from which he had started, and took ship to England.
In 1805, the British Government decided Park's Second to send an expedition to solve the problem ourney of the Niger, and Mungo Park was placed in command. Taking with him seven com- panions and thirty-seven soldiers and sea- men, Park started from the Gambia full of enthusiasm for the task committed to him. He had come to the conclusion that the Niger and the Congo were one, and he resolved to test his theory by sailing down
Ibid. Vol. II. Chapter XIX >
26 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the river to the sea. At that time African travel was in its infancy, and Park made the mistake of starting just before the wet season began. One after another his men sickened and died. Of the forty-five white men who started from the Gambia, only seven lived to see the Niger ; and by the time Park reached Sansanding the number was reduced to four — and one of them was mad. Death of Park After making a boat (H.M.S. " Joliba ") from native canoes, the voyage down the mighty river began. It was a perilous undertaking, for no one knew whither it might lead, and if it should end in some thirsty desert there would be nothing but death before those who survived thus far. But Park did not hesitate. His devotion to his purpose was complete. Time after time his boat was attacked by large fleets of native canoes, and he had to maintain a running fight. But the worst was yet to come. In a deep, narrow gorge near Bussa, the river rushed furiously between islets and dangerous rocks. At this point Park's enemies lay in wait, and as the " Joliba" passed through the channel they attacked with spears, arrows, pikes, and stones. Two of the native boatmen were killed, and when the little craft struck a submerged rock Park and his three com-
The Opening of the Dark Continent 27
panions sprang into the water, probably hoping to swim down the river and escape from their foes. But the current was too strong for them, and they disappeared for ever.
Thus perished Mungo Park, a hero among heroes, a martyr to the cause of exploration, a pioneer of African discovery. Neither mercantile, missionary, nor philan- thropic claims drew him to the Dark Continent. The siren voice that called him was science. To unveil the secrets of the Niger he laid down his life.
The course of the great river remained The Quest a mystery. While Park was still in Africa, the African Association sent out Hornemann. a German. Travelling from Cairo across the Sudan he actually reached the Niger and died there all alone. Another German, Roentgen, was sent to Morocco, and a Mr. Nichols to Calabar, by the same Association. Both these men died on the coast. After the death of Mungo Park, the British Government sent out two simultaneous expeditions — one was ordered to continue Park's journey down the Niger, and the other to sail up the Congo until they should meet ! Both these expeditions ended in tragic failure. The next efforts were more successful. In 1821 Captain C]apperton and Major
28 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Denham, commanding a caravan of about 300 persons, started from Tripoli for a perilous journey across the trackless Sahara. Hundreds of human skeletons were strewn on the burning sands ; around the brink of a well they found the bones of fully five score slaves. After a terrible desert journey of two months they entered the fertile Sudan, and reached Lake Chad. The great cities of Kano and Sokoto were visited — for the first time by Europeans — and the expedition returned by the desert route to Tripoli. It was now clear that the Niger did not flow towards the Nile, and men began to think of a possible outlet in the Bight of Benin. Soon Clapperton made another attempt — this time from Badagry on the West Coast. His two white companions succumbed to fever, and Clapperton himself died at Sokoto. In 1826 a Scotchman, Major Laing, reached Timbuktu from the north, and then was murdered by his guides. But success came at last. In 1830 Richard and John Lander journeyed overland from Badagry to Bussa and completed the voyage that had cost Park his life twenty-four years before. On November the 23rd, 1830, they reached the mouth of the river, and the mystery of the Niger was solved. It seems strange to us that the mouth of the Niger should
The Opening of the Dark Continent 29
have so long remained a secret. As a matter of fact, Europeans had long been familiar with these numerous creeks and dismal mangrove swamps in the Bight of Benin, but had never dreamt that they were the mouths of the mighty Niger.
It was soon perceived that the Landers' Commerce and discovery opened in the heart of Africa a ! anthropy highway for British commerce, and efforts were made to take advantage of it. Fore- most in this enterprise was Macgregor Laird, a Scotch merchant carrying on business in Liverpool. From 1832 to 1861 steamers were repeatedly sent up the river. Government assisted in this work of " opening up the Niger," but Laird bore the expense of most of the expeditions. The object was not wholly mercantile. British philanthropists were beginning to take an interest in Africa for the sake of the African peoples themselves. It was thought that permanent moral results could be achieved by taking advantage of the trading instincts of the Negro race, and efforts were accordingly made to substitute honest trade for the existing traffic in human flesh. Attempts were made to bring the river "kings" into treaty relationship with the British Government, binding them to prohibit the slave trade in their respective "dominions."
30 The Gall of the Dark Continent
These well-intentioned efforts completely failed. Malaria carried off victims by the score. The kings, easily persuaded to sign treaties, made little or no effort to fulfil their promises, and the commercial part of the enterprise was a complete failure. The dreams of the philanthropists were dispelled, and the work was aban- doned.
After the withdrawal from trading stations established by Macgregor Laird and his co-workers — true friends of Africa, all of them — private traders made their way up the Niger. They were actuated by no philanthropic motives. Arms, gun- powder, and gin were their principal imports ; and with these things they, for their own profit, helped to increase the degradation of the Niger tribes. It was the old idea — gain. Several companies at- tempted to purify the commercial life, but the real change did not come until Sir George T. Gouldie succeeded in uniting the trading firms into one great concern, which, in
The 1886, became the Royal Niger Company.
Compan^er Under its charter, this company had great territories committed to it for ad- ministration, and what at first was merely the " British sphere of influence " became in 1899 the Crown Colonies of Nigeria.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 31
We have now to trace the exploration of the southern section of the Dark Con- tinent— that mighty peninsula lying south of 5 degrees N. Lat.
During the seventeenth, eighteenth, South Africa and nineteenth centuries the settlers at the Cape — Dutch and British — gradually spread over what is now Cape Colony.
The constant encroachments of the whites were resented by the natives — especially by the Bushmen — and friction deepened into painful race-hatred and led to frequent bloodshed. The colonists, in their eagerness to possess the land, were regardless of the rights and interests of the African peoples, and treated them as wild beasts, often shooting them down without provocation. There were no real efforts to explore the country, and such discoveries as were made were accidental. The picture of early life in South Africa would be dark indeed were it not relieved by the presence of Christian missionaries, who championed the cause of the natives. Some of these ambassadors of the Gospel wandered far in their efforts to make Christ known to the heathen. Robert Moffat explored BeChuanaland, and to reach the fierce MaTabele undertook long journeys. But notwithstanding all this, in 1850 the vast interior was still shrouded
32 The Gall of the Dark Continent
in darkness. We have now come to the greatest name in the annals of Africa — Livingstone Livingstone.
As a young man he met Robert Moffat (then home from Africa on furlough).
" I told him," wrote Moffat afterwards, " of the vast plain to the north (of the remotest mission station in South Africa), where I had sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary had ever been."
This was Livingstone's call. A great purpose was formed in his heart, and, having made his resolution, he responded, " I will go at once to Africa." The Directors of the London Missionary Societ}^ accepted him as a medical missionary, and from that hour he lived for the African peoples.
When Livingstone reached Cape Town in 1841 he hoped to make Kuruman (Moffat's station) a strong base from which the northern regions could be evangelised, but a few months' residence convinced him that it was a poor centre, and he deter- mined to find a better one further north. Laying his plans before the Directors at home, he placed himself at their disposal, writing in his characteristic way, " Any- where, provided it be forward." Choosing Mabotsa — a place some 200 miles north of Kuruman — he settled there with his young
The Opening of the Dark Continent 33
wife and a fellow missionary, expecting that it would be the scene of his life-work. But soon his colleague, jealous of the success, declared that all the credit was falling to Livingstone. Rather than have friction, Livingstone determined to journey further afield, leaving the work at Mabotsa to the care of his critic. He now settled among the BaKwains, and when he realised how much they suffered from constant droughts, set himself to relieve them. So completely had these people learned to trust him that, at his advice, the whole tribe migrated with Livingstone to a more suitable spot. But drought followed them, and ere long another move became necessary. The great Kalahari desert stretched away to the west and north. No white man had ever crossed that inhospitable region; the natives themselves were uncertain what lay beyond it, but rumour told of a land of rivers and lakes, densely populated. Livingstone crossed 600 miles of desert in search of this African Canaan, and made his first discovery — Lake Ngami. Further north he heard of the great MaKololo nation, and after several failures he suc- ceeded in reaching them. In doing so he discovered the upper waters of the Zambesi. This was the great turning point in Livingstone's career. While
2
34 The Gall of the Dark Continent
among the MaKololo, he came into close contact with the slave trade. The terrible extent of this traffic convinced Livingstone that it must be suppressed before the people could be really benefited. So long as life and liberty were constantly im- perilled, the country could not progress, and missionary work would be for ever checked in its endeavours to redeem the natives. As he pondered these things, it became clear to him that, for the sake of the work, he must devote himself to destroying the slave trade. This could best be done by the opening up of the unknown regions and introducing legitimate trade. Thus the way of Christ would be prepared. By gathering out the stones, he resolved to prepare in the wilderness a highway for the Gospel. So long as the slave raiders could carry on their infamous trade unseen in the heart of the Dark Continent, they would flourish like the rank growth of the forest. He would open Central Africa to the light of day.
Sending his dearly loved wife to England he devoted himself to the threefold purpose :
"First, to find a healthful location for a mission north of Lake Ngami; second, to open up a way of commerce to the West Coast, since the distance of the proposed mission station from the Cape would be
The Opening of the Dark Continent 35
too great to permit of communication; third, by introducing legitimate commerce, to do away with the slave trade, which was the insurmountable barrier to successful missionary operations."
For eleven years he had devoted himself to recognised missionary work. He now became a missionary explorer. But his central purpose was ever to make Christ known in the " thousand villages where no missionary had ever been." He was more than a missionary ; he was a missionary statesman.
Starting from the country of the His First MaKololo with twenty-seven native atten- Journey dants (November 11th, 1853), he pressed westward through regions never before trodden by the foot of white man. In the light of modern experience, his travelling equipment was strangely inadequate for such a journey, but it is worthy of note that it included a magic lantern, for he realised that the Gospel must be preached to the eye as well as to the ear of the African. As he journeyed, he sought to persuade the chiefs through whose territories he passed to abandon slavery and live at peace with each other, and at every village he made known the God of love.
Too great to have limited interests, Livingstone carefully collected all possible information as to the fauna and flora, as
36 The Gall of the Dark Continent
well as about the natives. He made astronomical observations, and diligently and scientifically mapped out the country through which he travelled. All this was done in spite of heavy rains and persistent opposition from hostile tribes. He passed through dark, wet forests, and was often compelled to cut with an axe a passage through the dense undergrowth. He had thirty-one attacks of fever — indeed, he was seldom free from it — he was sometimes unable to walk without the support of his followers, and on one occasion utterly collapsed. His MaKololo attendants lost heart and wished to return, but Livingstone cast himself on God. " 0 Almighty God ! help, help ! " he cried. " Leave not this wretched people to the slave-dealer and Satan." At last (May 31st, 1854) he reached San Paulo de Loanda, and was immedi- ately prostrated by a severe illness. Soon some British cruisers came to the port and offered to take the sick traveller to England. But he had promised his MaKololo helpers that he would see them back to their homes, and he would not fail in his promise. " His word to the black men of Africa was just as sacred as it would have been if pledged to the Queen. He kept it as faithfully as an oath made to Almighty God." There was another reason. He had not found the
The Opening of the Dark Continent 37
western outlet he sought ; and he deter- mined to seek it in the opposite direction. He had been in Central Africa thirteen years, and had made enough discoveries to make his name famous, but he felt he had more work to do.
Sending his carefully prepared reports The First on board, he watched the cruisers sail for Sfr?cTg °f England. Then, with his faithful MaKololo he plunged once more into the interior. On regaining the Zambesi, he resolved to follow it eastward to the sea. This famous journey was notable for the discovery ol the magnificent Victoria Falls (Livingstone gave them the name), and the exploration of the whole course of the river. When he reached Quilimane, at the mouth of the Zambesi, he had crossed Africa from sea to sea — the first European to accomplish the feat.
ReturninD' to England, Livingstone found himself honoured as the greatest living explorer, but his heart was in Africa, and he soon made arrangements to return. To the students at Cambridge he declared his purpose in characteristic fashion:
" I go back to Africa to make an open path for commerce and Christianity ; do you carry out the work which I have begun. I leave it with you."
Livingstone went back to Africa as Livingstone's British Consul at Quilimane, with charge journey
38 The Gall of the Dark Continent
of a government expedition to explore East Central Africa. He completed the exploration of the Zambesi, and also of Lake Nyassa and the River Shire. Every- where the Arab slave trade was rampant. At this time some 19,000 slaves from the Nyassa region alone were passing annually through the Custom House at Zanzibar, and Livingstone found that the Portuguese were vigorously supporting the traffic. But the results of the journey were over- shadowed. At Shupanga, on the banks of the Shire, Livingstone " knelt beside his dying wife and witnessed the great sunset of his life." Very touching are the references in his journals to this sad event. His heart was well-nigh broken. In 1863 the expedition was recalled, and Living- stone returned to England. The Lake Meanwhile, the regions further north
Region were being opened by other explorers. In
the early fifties, three German missionaries (Krapf, Erhardt, and Rebmann) labouring on the East Coast in the neighbourhood of Mombasa, heard from the Arabs of a great inland sea which had no end, " although one should travel for a hundred days." The missionaries attempted to draw a map to show the position of this reported lake, and sent it to England, where it excited con- siderable interest. In 1857 Burton and
The Opening of the Dark Continent 39
Speke plunged into the heart of the Dark Continent from Zanzibar, and established the accuracy of the report by discovering Lake Tanganyika. The following year, Speke, journeying towards the north, found Victoria Nyanza ; and in 1860-3, accom- panied by Grant, he worked round the western side of the great lake, and dis- covered Uganda and the Victoria Nile. Sir Samuel Baker, travelling up the Nile in search of its source, traced the ancient stream until he reached another great lake, which he named Albert Nyanza (1864). The aim of these distinguished men was chiefly scientific ; they were attracted by the prob- lem Herodotus had started over two thou- sand years before — the sources of the Nile.
The year 1866 found Livingstone again Livingstone's in Africa. This time he was commissioned Journey by the Royal Geographical Society to settle the great question of the Nile's origin. But while this was in the main a scientific quest, Livingstone did not so regard it. To him "the end of exploration was the beginning of missionary enterprise " ; he was still preparing the way to those "thousand villages where no missionary had ever been." It was the most difficult of all his journeys. For over seven weary years he travelled about the region south of Tanganyika. Reduced by fever and starvation, exposed to constant
40 The Gall of the Dark Continent
danger, opposed and robbed by the Arabs at every turn, he toiled on. Of forty letters from home, only one ever reached him, and on the other hand no tidings were received from him. Frequent rumours of his death found their way to England, and the anxiety as to his safety became so great that the New York Herald sent Henry M. Stanley to search for him. The romantic meeting of the two travellers at Ujiji is famous in the annals of exploration. Stanley, captivated by the charm of Livingstone's personality, wrote :
" For four months I lived with him in the same hut, or the same boat, or the same tent, and I never found a fault in him. I went to Africa as prejudiced against religion as the worst infidel in London. . . . I saw this solitary old man there, and I asked myself : Why does he stop here? What is it that inspires him? For months after we met I found myself listening to him, wondering at the old man carrying out the words, ' Leave all and follow Me.' But little by little, seeing his piety, his gentleness, his zeal, his earnestness, and how he went quietly about his business, I was converted by him, although he had not tried to do it."
Stanley had gone to bring Livingstone home, but he met all entreaties with a quiet "I must first finish my task," and a few days after Stanley's departure he wrote :
" Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my God, and go forward."
The Opening of the Dark Continent 41
In this spirit the hero set himself once more to solve the problem of the Lualaba — was it the infant Nile? Touching is a brief note in his diary (elated July 5th, 1872):
" Weary ! weary ! "
Pressing forward still, he wrote the burning message now inscribed on his grave- stone in Westminster Abbey: —
'" All I can add in my solitude is, May heaven's richest blessing come down on every one, American, English, or Turk, who will help to heal this open sore of the world."
The end was near. On April the 29th, 1873, Livingstone was carried by his attendants through the rain to the village His Death of Ilala, and on the night of the following day his heroic spirit fled. His body was brought to England by his faithful servants, but his heart lies buried in Central Africa, in the very midst of those unreached villages for wThich he crave his life.
Livingstone's purpose was to open the door of Central Africa. He succeeded in doing so. The end of his exploration was the beginning of missionary enterprise, and while he was still engaged in his work, missionaries were pressing forward to enter the doors he had opened.
But the secrets of the Dark Continent were not exhausted. Others were to finish the work Livingstone had begun.
2*
42 The Gall of the Dark Continent
In 1873-5 Cameron walked across the continent from Zanzibar to Benguela. More important was Stanley's great journey H.M.Stanley of 1874-7. Starting again from Zanzibar, he journeyed to Victoria Nyanza, which he thoroughly explored. After a prolonged stay in Uganda (where, remembering what Livingstone would have done, he made not unsuccessful attempts to win the powerful monarch M'tesa for Christ), Stanley circum- navigated Tanganyika, and then travelled west, determined to trace Livingstone's Lualaba. But after flowing northward for a considerable distance the river turned suddenly to the west and it became clear that it was the Congo. In the face of fierce and repeated attacks by cannibal tribes, who shook their spears and shot their arrows as they greeted the expedition with ferocious cries of "Meat! meat!", Stanley and his party descended the river to the sea, thus marking on the map the course of one of the greatest rivers of the world. The Missionary Societies were quick to avail themselves of the doors Stanley had opened and the inte- rest he had created. The C.M.S., respond- ing to Stanley's famous appeal in the Daily Telegraph, sent a party of missionaries to Uganda, the L.M.S. gave their attention to the Tanganyika region, while the B.M.S. commenced a splendid work on the Congo.
The Opening of the Dark Continent 43 From 1879 to 1884 Stanley was again The Congo
A „ • ,,. J ■> & Free State
in Africa, this time to explore more thoroughly the Congo Basin and open it to commerce under the auspices of " The International Association of the Congo." Roads were constructed, steamboats placed on the river, trading stations opened, and treaties signed with more than 450 inde- pendent chiefs. This work was followed by the Berlin Conference (November, 1884, to February, 1885), called at the suggestion of Bismarck, and the Congo Free State was brought into being. The original object of this enterprise was the development of the territory committed to it in the interests of commerce, and for uplifting the native peoples. But, as the years passed, the mercenary motive that has through the ages wrought such havoc in Africa crowded out all philanthropic effort. The rubber traffic led to terrible atrocities, and for a decade the Congo region has been drained of its resources to increase the profits of the commercial firms concerned. Men, women and children have been mutilated or butchered in cold blood by the native agents (in some cases themselves cannibals) of the so-called " Free " State, acting under the orders of their Belgian officers.
In 1888 Stanley again crossed Africa The Relief of
p i * j • i x v XT' • Emm Pasha
irom coast to coast, in order to relieve xLiimn
44 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Other Explorers
Colonisation
Pasha, Governor of Equatoria. Ascend- ing the Congo with a large force, he penetrated the great Aruwimi forest and reached the western shore of Albert Nyanza. Continuing his march, Stanley discovered another great lake — Albert Edward Nyanza — and also the snow- covered range of Ruwenzori — the famous " Mountains of the Moon " mentioned by Ptolemy. In December, 1889, the expe- dition reached Zanzibar.
Space has only permitted a brief survey of the discovery of the most prominent features of the Dark Continent. A host of explorers — Barth, Nachtigal, Schwein- furth, Cameron, Serpa Pinto, Joseph Thomson, H. H. Johnston, Fischer, Gren- fell, Junker, Pogge, Wissmann, Wolf, Du Chaillu, De Brazza, Mizon, Rouvier, Oscar Lenz, and others — have added to the knowledge gained by the great travellers who preceded them, and in 1901 Grogan and Sharp made the first complete journey from the Cape to Cairo. There still remain great areas to be explored, but the main features of the continent are now known, and only points of detail have to be settled.
Meanwhile, the colonisation of Africa by European peoples was proceeding apace. Unhappily, many stains rest on the early
The Opening of the Dark Continent 45
history of the colonies. The land -grabbing, bullying spirit of many settlers led to cruel reprisals on the part of the natives, and many fierce encounters took place. During the nineteenth century, European Protectorates were established over large areas of Central Africa, the object being partly philanthropic and partly commercial. Then, as the interior was opened by ex- plorers, missionaries, and traders, a passion for territorial expansion swayed the nations, and as the years passed the Dark Conti- nent was divided between the great Colonial Powers of Europe. France, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain secured territories of varying importance, and successive treaties and conferences marked out the boundaries.
Although many blunders have been Benefits of made, and in some instances gross injustice Occupation and cruelty have been inflicted on the native peoples, it is beyond question that occupation by European powers has been for Africa's good. The power of the Arabs has been broken, and slave-raiding effec- tually stopped over the greater part of the continent ; such blood-thirsty tyrants as the kings of Dahomey, Benin, and Ashanti have been crushed ; military nations like the AmaZulu and the MaTabele have been compelled to live at peace with their
46 The Gall of the Dark Continent
neighbours. Tribes that formerly were strangers to peace have now rest and security under the flag of a powerful European Government. The prohibition of cannibalism, human sacrifice, and many of the more cruel features of fetich ism are also helping to prevent the appalling waste of human life. It must not be supposed that any of the evils just men- tioned have disappeared from Africa. They still exist to a greater or lesser extent ; but by constant punitive expeditions, and the increasing effectiveness of administra- tion, they are receding further and further into the vast interior, and in due time will become extinct. On the other hand, com- merce, agriculture, education, and various usages of civilisation, together with dis- tinctly missionary and philanthropic effort, are working, on the whole, for the uplifting of the African.
Large areas have been brought into close contact with civilisation and Chris- tianity. Steamers ply on lakes and rivers unknown sixty years ago. From the north, the railway has crept up the Nile to beyond Khartoum, and the line from Cape Town is rapidly approaching Tanganyika ; in a few years the two railways will meet. The Uganda railway has reduced to about three days a journey that a few years ago
The Opening of the Dark Continent 47
took several months and was accompanied bv serious dangers. So recently as 1900, it took Bishop Tugwell and his little band of missionaries several months to reach Kano, the Manchester of the Sudan ; this city can now be reached in a few days by train. A careful scrutiny of an up-to-date map of Africa will reveal numerous short railway lines near the coast. Many of them are not more than a couple of hundred miles in length, but as the years pass they are gradually creeping inland, and their number is increasing.
We began our study with Africa un- The Open known and closed to the world. We have ContInent watched Phoenicians and Portuguese sail round her coasts, and the explorers of many nations penetrate the gloom of the interior. We have seen the Dark Con- tinent opened to all foreign influences, good and evil. We have noted the varying motives that have drawn men to Africa — commerce, science, philanthropy, religion and territorial possession. With sorrow we have observed that much of what is termed " the opening of the country " can only accurately be described as exploitation. But, attracted by trade or by science, lured by greed of gold or called by God, men have contributed to the opening of the land, and to-day, to all
48 The Gall of the Dark Continent
comers, the doors of the Dark Continent stand open.
vv* vf* *rv" -yv* *7v*
Two Views of In a well-furnished Board Room, the Managing Committee of the Z Trading- Company sit in earnest consultation. A great map of Africa is spread on the table before them, and with trained eyes they note the possibilities of the land. Skilfully they lay their plans and choose sites for their trading stations. Their thought of Africa is summed up in one word — COMMERCE.
The scene changes. In the dark hours of early morning, several African servants timidly enter a little grass hut at Ilala. David Livingstone "has reached the end of the last stage of his thirty thousand miles of African travel." By the dim light of a candle, Susi and his companions see their beloved master on his knees at the bedside, his face buried in his hands. They have often seen him praying. But now his body remains motionless. Stealing to his side, they touch his cheek. Livingstone is dead ! The great missionary's last prayer was unheard by human ear ; was unrecorded save by One above. We know not what he prayed for. But we know his life — his heart. Can we doubt that his last prayer was for those for whom he had given his life— THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA ?
The Opening of the Dark Continent 49
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION.— The preparation for the Gospel effected by the opening of Africa.
1. When Christ gave the Great Commission, " Go ye into all the world,'' to what extent was it possible to reach pagan Africa?
2. When such men as Dr. Coke and William Carey revived (in England) the idea of responsibility for the heathen, how far was it possible to evangelise pagan Africa?
3. Sixty years ago, the Missionary Krapf, labour- ing at Mombasa (1844-55), conceived the idea of an " Apostolic Street " — a line of stations stretching across Africa from Mombasa to the Atlantic. How far was this, at that time, within the range of practical missionary effort ?
4. To what extent is Krapf 's scheme — or any similar scheme — possible to-day?
5. Write down the new factors that make the interior of Africa accessible to modern missionaries.
6. Tabulate the motives that have drawn men to the Dark Continent.
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Fraser, Donald. — The Future of Africa. (Chap- ters I., II., III.)
Maclachlan, T. B. — Mungo Park.
Blaikie, W. G.—The Personal Life of David Livingstone.
Chapter II. The People of the Dark Continent
"The most interesting thing about Africa is the native himself. If I had a thousand tongues, and each of them inspired by the gifts of the prophets of old, all should be dedicated to pleading for this people "
BISHOP HARTZELL
The Gall of We have noticed in the preceding chapter
Africa's People ^ the great difference between those
heroic explorers Mungo Park and David Livingstone lay in the fact that, while Park was fascinated by the geographic problem of the Niger, Livingstone laboured for the African people themselves. The pathfinder of South -Central Africa was as truly devoted to science as his great predecessor had been, but went infinitely beyond him, in that he sought to open Africa for the good of Africa's people. THE PEOPLE— they were Livingstone's first thought ; for their sake he went to that distant land, for them he lived and toiled; to reach them he journeyed and overcame all obstacles ; for them he wept, and for them he died. To
50
The People of the Dark Continent 51
him, scientific exploration was only the means to be employed in reaching the people. The people were more to him than rivers and waterfalls and lakes. And is not this the mind of Christ? "Master, what stones! What buildings! " exclaimed the disciples in admiration. But our Lord's mind was occupied with Jerusalem's people rather than with her stately palaces. Beholding the city He wept over it, saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, the things which belong to thy peace ! "
As Christ's servants, for us the Call of the Dark Continent is the call of her needy multitudes.
Considering the immense size of Africa, The Population the population is surprisingly small. India ° and China could be packed away in a corner of the Dark Continent. But Africa's population is scarcely more than half that of India, or one-third that of China. No census of all Africa has yet been attempted, and figures are therefore somewhat uncer- tain ; but the total population has been estimated to be between 127,000,000 and 210,000,000. It is usual to take 160,000,000 as a convenient and moderate figure. This gives a density of only about
52 The Gall of the Dark Continent
fifteen to the square mile. In India it is 167 per mile, and in China it is 266. A glance at a carefully prepared density map will reveal the fact that more than half the area of the continent has less than eight inhabitants to the mile. The population is densest in the Nile Valley, the coast regions of Tunis, Algeria and Morocco, and the British Nigeria Protectorates ; in these areas it averages over sixty- four per mile.
The Hamitic and Semitic peoples of North Africa developed, at a very early date, a civilisation that will always be remembered with wonder. It has been otherwise with the black races that occupy the greater portion of the continent. They never invented a machine, never produced a book, never constructed a building that would last more than a few years. These people are entirely void of anything that can be called history. Their ancestors left no inscriptions of any kind (the cave- drawings of the Bushmen alone excepted). They have their traditions and folk-tales, it is true; but future generations will date the history of their tribe from the arrival of the first explorer or the advent of the first missionary, as we begin our own history with the landing of Julius Caesar. We are dealing with the .backward races of the world.
The People of the Dark Continent 53
In popular thought the Africans are all The Variety of Negroes. But in reality the Dark Continent frica' is a museum of races, and offers special facilities for the study of ethnology. Race after race entered Africa from Arabia, swept across the country, driving the older invaders before them, and then betook themselves either to a settled or a more or less nomadic life, broke up into tribes, and gradually became diverse the one from the other in custom, in manner of life, in language. Mr. B. Struck, of Berlin, after careful research, came to the conclusion that the separate languages of Africa num- ber 523 and the dialects 320. Perhaps we shall not be far wrong in roughly estimating the languages and dialects together at over 800. This is prodigious. When we re- member that Europe can only boast about seventy -five languages and dialects, and India, with all its wondrous variety, only 150, it will be seen that Africa stands alone in the number and diversity of its tongues. Difference in language is an unfailing indication of difference of thought and habit, and we shall only understand pagan Africa in so far as we recognise the great diversity that exists between the tribes, despite the fact of their underlying solidarity.
Probably the first people to enter Africa The Bushmen
54 The Gall of the Dark Continent
were the Bushmen, a diminutive copper- coloured race of hunters, averaging about 4 feet 6 inches in height. Landing some- where in the neighbourhood of Somaliland. they wandered across the whole continent south of the Sahara, unencumbered, and armed only with bows and poisoned arrows. They subsisted entirely by hunting, and feared not to attack even the elephant and the lion with their tiny flint- tipped arrows. Courageous, wary, patient, they seem to have been well fitted for such a land as the Africa of those remote days. As their manner of life made permanent dwellings undesirable, they slept in caverns or trees, or else scooped for themselves holes in the ground, and spread over them coverings of mat or skin. Rising at early dawn, their keen eyes scanned the valley or plain for game, and then, with their dogs, they set off in pursuit. Their wives and children followed, carrying with them fire to cook the food when caught. Thus they lived from day to day, constantly roving from place to place. They were passionate, vindictive, and on occasions extremely cruel. A freedom -loving people, they were without organisation, without government, without law. Freedom from care left room for laughter and mirth between the bursts of fierce and vengeful passion. The several
The People of the Dark Continent 55
dwarf or pigmy tribes of modern Central Africa are probably related to these Bushmen.
The Negro seems to have been the next The Negroes important arrival in the continent with which his name has for centuries been inseparably connected. This powerful black race, being of larger stature and superior strength to the Bushmen, pushed its way across Africa from east to west, gradually spreading over a wide belt of country reaching from the Gulf of Aden to Cape Verde. The Negroes must have entered Africa at a very early date, for they figured on Egyptian monuments at least 5,000 years ago. Armed at first with stone weapons, they learned — perhaps from the ancient Egyptians, who arrived later — the art of working metals, and gradually a higher civilisation spread among Negroes than has, even up to the present time, been attained by the Bushmen.
Possessing remarkable vitality, they mul- tiplied rapidly, and with the passing of centuries broke up into tribes and nations, and are known to us to-day as Fantis, Kroos, Gas, Ashantis, Yorubas, Egbas, Nupes, Hausas, Baghirmis, Nubeans, Dinkas, Shilluks, Baris and others. Linguistically, Sir Harry H. Johnston marks them off into sixteen groups.
56 The Gall of the Dark Continent
The Bushmen, disturbed in the hunting grounds they had all to themselves before the arrival of the Negroes, turned their faces southwards and rambled over the forests and plains of the great African peninsula until they reached the southern limits of the continent. The Hottentots Then came the Hottentots — a slender though sometimes tall people, of olive- yellow complexion. They were of pastoral habits and very easily distinguishable from the Bushmen, with whom they were constantly at war. It is now generally accepted that the Hottentots originated in the region of the great Lakes, or possibly even further north, perhaps by fusion of Bushmen and Negro or even Hamitic tribes. Their origin gave them a sense of superiority over the primitive, dwarfish Bushmen, and they called themselves Khoi-khoi, the men of men. At some unknown date, these people, driving their herds of horned cattle before them, emi- grated southward, pushing their way through the vast hunting grounds of the fierce little Bushmen, until they came to the southern coasts, where they took possession of the land from Walfish Bay on the west to the Um Tamvuna Biver on the east. They settled chiefly along the sea- board and on the banks of the Orange
The People of the Dark Continent 57
River, leaving the inland regions to the Bushmen.
After a lapse of centuries the Bushmen The Bantu were again disturbed — this time by the arrival of powerful tribes known to us as the Bantu.
This hybrid people first appear north of the Lakes, somewhere about modern British East Africa. They may have originated in the ingrafting of Hamitic and Semitic tribes upon a Negro stock. A proud, imperial race they were ; strong and well formed, and of darker and richer colour than the Bushmen. Expelled from their northerly home (possibly by some new Hamitic inrush from South- West Asia), they swept over the southern half of Africa. The date of the first of these movements is unknown ; it may have been three thousand years ago. They pressed down the eastern side of the sub-continent, driving the scattered Bushmen before them. In suc- cessive waves they came, century after century. About 800 or 900 a.d. some of these tribes crossed the Zambesi, and in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Portuguese found them as far south as Delagoa Bay. Meanwhile other Bantu tribes crossed the Congo forests and penetrated to the Atlantic coast, and so worked their way northward until they
58 The Gall of the Dark Continent
occupied the Cameroons region. But some of those who reached the West Coast moved southward, and other tribes marched south by a middle coarse. There were thus three distinct streams of Bantu in- vasion— the Eastern, the Western, and the Central.
The BaRalong, one of the tribes which led the central movement, claim that about 1400 a.t>. they came from a considerable distance on the other side of the Equator, from a region of high hills and extensive lakes. Looking towards the east from their original home, the sun in its course passed on their right shoulder at the same angle as it now passes on their left. The traditions of the Kafirs, the BeChuana, the OvaHerero, and probably all the Bantu tribes point to the North and North-East as their primeval home.
The conquest of the south took centuries to accomplish, but gradually the Bantu got possession of the rich south-easterly regions, driving the Hottentots westward and the wild, freedom-loving Bushmen into the dry desert lands of the southern interior, where the Bantu did not care to follow them. The fertile country they occupied supplied the newcomers with as much corn as they needed in return for very little labour. They settled in villages
The People of the Dark Continent 59
and were great hunters, but they were a pastoral and agricultural people.
The fact that the Bantu tribes were spread over a vast area — at least one- third of the continent — and, separated by distance, had comparatively little inter- course with each other, naturally tended to develop differences of custom, and as new words were invented, language also underwent considerable change. They gradually broke up into three great divi- sions, which together constitute the Bantu group of languages. The term "Bantu" has become the name bv which we know these numerous tribes, otherwise possessing no race-name.
Other differences came to separate still further the Bantu tribes. The East Coast swarmed with Arabs, and it is certain that a measure of intermarriage took place, thus further distinguishing some of the eastern Bantu from their kinsfolk of the western and central groups.
In process of time many of the Bantu The Bantu tribes grew into kingdoms, and Portuguese Natlons grandiloquence even magnified Monomatapa, the head chief of the MaKaranga, into an " Emperor."
Some of these kingdoms which have arisen within the limits of history supply
60 The Gall of the Dark Continent
illustrations of movements which have probably been going on for many ages. l. The Ama- In the closing years of the eighteenth
century, Dingiswayo, the exiled son of the chief of a tribe which lived in East Africa, made his way to Cape Town. Here he saw the military drill and training of British soldiers, and when he became chief, in succession to his father, he began to drill his own warriors. When Dingiswayo died, his favourite officer, Tshaka, was chosen to succeed him. The petty tribes were quickly welded together into the powerful Zulu nation. The army was thoroughly organ- ised, and, though armed only with skin shields and assegais, soon overcame the surrounding tribes, which were without discipline and had no idea of military tactics. Tshaka divided his troops into twenty-six regiments, each of which wore a distinctive uniform (consisting chiefly of skins and feathers). After a battle it was the king's custom to hold a review, and men who had failed in their duty were at once put to death. With despotic power the tyrant compelled instant obedience, and the very name of the AmaZulu became terrible to the nations around. It has been estimated that Tshaka destroyed 300 tribes and extended his power for five hundred miles. At one time he had an army of
The People of the Dark Continent 61
100,000 warriors. The king's own children were, by his orders, murdered soon after they were born. Men, women and children were ruthlessly ordered to death for the most trivial offences. When at the summit of his power, Tshaka caused his own mother to be murdered ; and then, to show his " grief" at her death, caused fifteen girls to be buried alive with her body, and ordered a general massacre over her grave, during which, on the estimate of an English eye- witness, some 7,000 persons were slain. Under Tshaka's successors, Dingaan, Panda and Cetewayo, this great military nation exerted a powerful influence — always for evil — over South-East Africa, and the Zulus, civil and military alike, were tyrannised over by their kings. On one occasion, in order to discourage marriage among the troops, Cetewayo ordered all the marriage- able girls of the nation to be put to death, and this cruel order was actually executed. In 1878 the British Government was obliged to step in ; the military power of the AmaZulu was broken, and Cetewayo was captured.
In 1838 a Zulu chief, Mozilikatzi by 2. The MaTabele name, rebelled against Tshaka, and, leaving a trail of fire and blood right across the country (now the Transvaal), crossed the Limpopo Hiver, seized the land and cattle
62 The Gall of the Dark Continent
of a central Bantu people, whom he drove northward over the Zambesi, and made all the tribes around subject to himself. Thus was founded the Tabele nation. " A terrible man was Mozilikatzi. A man of blood and genius was he. Wherever his assegai could reach, there could be but one will, and that his own. No man dared to dispute his orders ; however outrageous to common sense or common humanity, they were at once carried out amid the plaudits of his adoring subjects. His one reply to dis- obedience was death ; his one reply to mere suspicion of disloyalty, death under cover of witchcraft."*
The power of the MaTabele was only broken by the defeat of Lobengula (Mozilikatzi's son) by the British in 1893. 3. The BaSuto In each of the above cases we have kingdoms founded by force. It would be easy to multiply examples. The Gaza, the MaKololo, the Jagga, were military nations, each adding its quota of evil to the land whose peace they disturbed.
Turning to the BaSuto, we have the story of a kingdom founded by tribes placing themselves willingly under a para- mount chief, Moshesh, seeking his protection against the Zulus, and gradually being
* W. A. Elliott.
The People of the Dark Continent 63
fused into a nation by common interests and danger.
Such movements as we have described, the breaking up or amalgamation of clans, suggest the terrible struggle for life that must have accompanied the great south- ward progress of the Bantu peoples.
Among the Negroes also, similar move- The Negro ments produced similar results. Nations
The kingdom of Ashanti provides a 1. The Ashanti characteristic instance. Ousted from their original home in a more inland part of the continent, a group of some forty or fifty tribes worked their way westward. Having taken possession of their new land, one of these tribes, the Ashanti, conquered the others and established a new nation. So horrible was the reputation this nation earned for itself that its capital, Kumassi, came to be known as the " City of Blood."
When H. M. Stanley visited Ashanti with the British punitive expedition (1874), he described Kumassi as "a vast charnel- house," and of the place of execution he wrote, " It was almost impossible to stop longer than to take a general view of the great Golgotha." During the same expedition, the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Garnet (now Lord) Wolseley, wrote to the Secretary of State :
" No more utterly atrocious government than that
64 The Call of the Dark Continent
which has thus fallen ever existed on the face of the earth. Their capital was a charnel-house, their religion a combination of cruelty and treachery, their policy the natural outcome of their religion."
But the end had not come. Wickedness and cruelty continued, and in 1896 another British expedition was necessary to bring the kingdom to an end. 2. Dahomey To the west of Ashanti was another
powerful Negro state, perhaps even more barbarous — Dahomey. It has been thus described :
" One of the strangest kingdoms on the face of the earth. A kingdom begun in blood and cruelty, and having maintained its existence for more than two centuries in spite of the terrible scenes continually enacted — scenes which would drive any other nation to revolt. But the fearful sacrifices for which the name of Dahomey has been so long infamous are not merely the offspring of a despotic king's fancy ; they are sanctioned, and even forced upon him, by his people — fit subjects for such a king."
The daily, the annual, and the biennial "customs" of Dahomey were too ghastly to be described in this book. Captain Burton estimated the human sacrifices at over five hundred per year in ordinary years, and a thousand in the "grand customs" years. " The walls were edged with skulls ; skulls were heaped in dishes of gold before the king ; skulls were stuck on the tops of poles ; skulls were used as the heads
The People of the Dark Continent 65
of banner-staves ; skulls were tied to dancers ; and all the temples or Ju-ju houses were almost entirely built with human skulls." The royal army was famous for its Amazon regiments. Nothing could exceed the ferocity and blood- thirstiness of those female warriors. They spread terror over the surrounding peoples. Happily for West Africa, the military power of Dahomey was brought to an end by French annexation in 1892.
The fear of slave-raiding tribes brought 3. The Egbas the Egba nation into existence. The constant danger to which they were ex- posed from their terrible neighbours, drove several tribes to settle together for mutual security. They fortified themselves to great advantage on a piece of country broken up into granite eminences, caverns, and forest clumps, which they surrounded with rude fortifications. The fact that the new town was "under a stone" gave it the name of Abeokuta. In this strong- hold the Egbas were able to resist repeated attacks from their cruel foes.
It is needless to multiply examples. The Background We have shown the underlying solidarity WorkSS1°n of the Bantu and Negro peoples, and how various events served to break them up or unite them into tribes and kingdoms. Some of the incidents referred to above are
3 -
66 The Gall of the Dark Continent
almost too awful to relate, but it must be remembered that it was in the midst of such scenes that much missionary work was done last century. It is to these peoples — the MaTabele, the Ashanti, the Dahomian, the Egba — that Methodist missionaries and others have gone forth, and amongst them they are labouring to-day. Such cruelty as we have described is the background of much of the evangelistic work dealt with in this volume, and without this narra- tion of horrors the picture of missionary work in the Dark Continent would be incomplete. It must not, however, be supposed that all the African peoples are as cruel as some whom we have described, or that all the tribal kings have been as tyrannical as Tshaka. There are the oppressed as well as oppressors, the weak who suffered as well as the brutal who inflicted the wrong. There were, it is true, numberless villages peaceful enough to the eye of the passing stranger, and surrounded by tropical loveliness, their people living a life of indolent simplicity. But — " Where man is man's only keeper, might is right. Busy then is Death, the reaper, day and night."
During the hours of darkness, hostile neighbours gathered round that apparently peaceful village, and soon the stillness of the forest was disturbed by savage cries,
The People of the Dark Continent 67
the war song, the wild alarm ; the darkness was illumined by the light of burning huts, and the next sun rose over a scene of desolation and ruin, burned wood and mutilated bodies marking the place where yesterday all seemed peace and safety. Hostile tribes, who attacked but to avenge some local dispute, were but one of many dangers. The slavers stalked the land — native tribes of warlike instincts, who made raiding their profession, and sold their captives to coast chiefs, who acted as middlemen for European merchants. In the eastern and central regions caravans of Arabs travelled in search of ivory, and, after buying up large supplies from the people, would turn on them and enslave them. Until our own time, life has never been secure ; and thus, surrounded with enemies, " No man could tell, when the darkness fell, If his eyes would behold the light."
In the last chapter stress was laid upon Africa's Real the wrongs inflicted on Africa by foreigners. We have now made it clear that Africa's foes have been within as well as without. The European powers and the Arabs, leech- like, have sucked her very blood ; but the Dark Continent has suffered most of all from heart-disease. Such conditions are happily passing away for ever.
68 The Gall of the Dark Continent
African Homes yye nave now ^0 consider the domestic life of the African tribes as they are to-day. The people live for the most part in scattered villages, though, in Negro-land especially, there are towns of 150,000 and 260,000 inhabitants. Stone buildings are unknown in native architecture, and the dwellings are made of mud and thatch, or of basket-work. Hidden away amongst the dense forests of the West Coast, or strewn over the open savannahs of East Africa, villages are to be found. Almost every tribe has its characteristic style of hut, which those who know the country well can generally recognise at sight. In the south and east the huts are usually circular, while those of the west are fre- quently oblong, with right-angle corners and gable ends. Over the velds of South Africa the Bantu tribesmen build their kraals — collections of mud and wattle huts with thatched roofs, built in a circle and surrounded with a wall of brushwood or thorn, with the cattle kraal in the centre of the ring. The dwellings of the Zulu resemble huge beehives and are cleverly made of wickerwork ; these are also arranged in circular kraals. Some tribes, by allowing the roofs to overhang, form verandahs round their dwellings. The huts of the Hottentots and Bushmen are
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The People of the Dark Continent 69
about the poorest-built homes of Africa, while those of the BaGanda are often large and substantial. The oblong dwellings of the Congo peoples are built in rows along the roads. Wissmann records his surprise at the length of these Congolese villages — often five or six miles of continual street. Stanley tells of some that it took two hours to march through, and Dr. Schweinfurth mentions that in one part of the country he found an almost unbroken line of huts stretching along a caravan route. In the forests of the Yoruba the houses are built round compounds and face inwards — the compounds being open to the sky. Except in Congo-land, most villages are built with a view to defence, and are often surrounded with a stockade or a mud wall. In many instances the doors of the houses are very small, so as to be more easily defended against wild beasts or human foes.
The interior arrangements are extremely simple. Wooden stools, and wooden or skin-covered pillows are often almost the only articles of "furniture" in the African home (in the south there would possibly be only the pillow) ; sleeping mats or skins are spread on the earth floor. The simple cooking and eating utensils, calabashes of various shapes and sizes, a few baskets to
70 The Call of the Dark Continent
hold grain, vegetables, or fruit, and the crude agricultural implements, complete the household equipment. The food is often prepared out of doors, but sometimes the fireplace is within ; as chimneys are quite unknown, the smoke escapes through the doorway while the soot remains within. An African's Few indeed are the possessions of the
Possessions a p • t± • , • i • i
average African. It is, astonishing how little is required to carry him comfortably through life.
" I once saw an African buried," wrote Henry Drummond. " According to the custom of his tribe, his entire earthly possessions — he was an average commoner — were buried with him. Into the grave, after the body, was lowered the dead man's pipe, then a rough knife, then a mud bowl, and, last, his bow and arrows — the bowstring cut, a touching symbol that its work was done. This was all. . . . No one knows what a man is till he has seen what a man can do without, and be withal a man."
The Negroes often have more possessions than the Bantu tribesmen ; the kings frequently having articles of gold and ivory, not to mention large numbers of umbrellas, and a medley of articles ob- tained by purchase or gift from white men.
The raw African is a child of nature. He requires but little clothing. The Kafir finds a short waist cloth, a few beads, and a blanket sufficient, and some tribes wear
The People of the Dark Continent 71
even less. The warriors deck themselves with feathers and skins, and in many eases tattoo or paint their bodies. In some parts the scanty clothing consists of a kilt or skirt of bark or grass, but many West Coast people wear garments made of native cloth. African jewellery consists of orna- ments of gold, silver, or other metal, or even of shells ; anklets, bracelets, rings and necklaces are made of wire, brass or iron — sometimes of great weight — but the personal adornment of the Kafirs consists chiefly of very effective bead work. "For beauty's sake " some of the tribes disfigure themselves by inserting pieces of bone or wood under the skin of the lips, chin or ears ; the result is often extremely hideous.
It is customary to hear the African The Daily charged with laziness, and apparently not Common hTask without cause. But it is only fair to look at the subject from his standpoint. Why should he work ? " He is the spoiled child of Nature. Throughout much of the continent she is lavishly kind to him. She feeds him almost without asking. She clothes him with tropical sunshine. If his necessity or his vanity calls for more covering, she furnishes it — again with no excess of labour on his part — from leaf or bark or skin. If there are no slaves, his wives do all the work it is possible for him
72 The Gall of the Dark Continent
to avoid." His bow and arrows, his spear or assegai, knife or sword, his implements of agriculture and the household utensils, are all of his own making. The manu- facture of such articles is carried out in a most leisurely manner, and is as much a pastime as serious work. He tickles the soil with a hoe, and it laughs a harvest ; he tends his cattle or his goats and they supply what he requires. As need arises he repairs the roof of his hut or strengthens the fence of his cattle kraal ; if his dwelling be destroyed by fire or flood he rebuilds it. If foes gather round, he seizes shield and spear and goes forth to fight. He smokes, he talks, and is an inveterate hunter. He does all the work his condition and mode of life render necessary ; why should he do more ? He is an untrained child, and if he is lazy it is because he could hardly be otherwise. As he advances towards civili- sation new duties will be thrust upon him, new interests will assist the process of development. He must, to be sure, be taught " the dignity of labour," but most people who use this attractive phrase merety mean that the African must be made to work for the benefit of his white masters — an arrangement that would lay on him the labour and confer on them the dignity. That he has the capacity for
The People of the Dark Continent 73
work is beyond question, and in some way an inducement must be supplied.
The Bantu tribes dislike trade, but take readily to handicrafts and make excellent workmen. The Negroes are born traders, but it is not always easy to make good artisans of them.
As in every land where Christ is The Position unknown, woman occupies an inferior ° oman position. In some things the African woman is in a better position than her sister in India. Her birth, for instance, is not regarded as a calamity. Indeed, it is usually the reverse ; for when the time for her marriage comes she will bring many a head of cattle to her father by way of bride-price. A man's importance is thus greatly increased by the possession of many daughters ; and he is congratulated. Among some of the Bantu tribes it is not unusual actually to mortgage or " engage " a girl to be married before she is born, if her father needs cattle . But child marriage, that curse of Indian womanhood, is almost unknown. Probably the average age of African brides is about sixteen, but in some parts marriage takes place still later — in Nigeria, for instance, the usual age is from eighteen to twenty. Marriage is a social arrangement without any religious signifi- cance. With many tribes, the proposal of
74 The Gall of the Dark Continent
marriage may come from the girl's father, from the young man, or even from the girl herself. Marriages from real affection are by no means uncommon. The number of cattle to be given for the bride has to be arranged with the father. The full price need not be paid immediately, and often years pass before the whole is discharged. This is a constant source of trouble, for even after the marriage ceremony the bride remains under the direction of her eldest brother until the whole " Bohadi " has been paid. On the other hand, if the new wife dies before the birth of a little daughter, her husband can demand the return of the cattle he has already paid, for clearly he has made a bad bargain — the woman was not worth buying. If the wife is ill-treated by her husband, she can return to her own people, but in such a case the cattle have to be restored to the husband. With the BaKonga (amongst whom we are working in Portuguese East Africa), the father of the bride cannot use the money paid him for his daughter for any purpose other than to provide a wife for his son. It thus becomes a family marriage fund.
Our missionary, the Bev. H. L. Bishop, expresses the opinion that in Lourenco Marques the purchase system is no mere
The People of the Dark Continent 75
sale of the bride, but a genuine attempt to provide a stable basis for marriage. On the other hand, the Rev. John White declares that in South Rhodesia the whole system is poisonous, and "a volume might be written on its influence and evil conse- quences. It places no limit to the number of wives a man may acquire. It assumes the vile practice of wife-inheritance. Woman's responsibility is denied, and she is made little more than a chattel. No moral bond is recognised ; it is for all practical purposes a purely property matter. The system in Rhodesia can only be re- garded as vicious and immoral."
In some parts of West Africa the bride is literally bought (in the Sierra Leone Hinterland the price is usually about £3). Yet the wife is far from being a chattel ; on the contrary, she has much freedom. By native custom the woman's property is her own, and in Freetown very many women have businesses independent of their husbands. Most of the petty trade, anjd much of the more considerable trade, is in the hands of the women. Where this custom is in vogue, the women have a great deal of independence of character, a free, bold glance, a ready laugh and word, a careless gait and gesture, and often an " I'm-as-good-as-you " air in the presence
76 The Gall of the Dark Continent
of men. Many of the Sierra Leone Hinter- land tribes have no bar to a woman succeeding to the chiefship, and a few years ago the king of Fouricariah ap- pointed one of his wives to govern the women while he governed the men. She chose her women councillors, appointed her women magistrates, and had her women police.
Polygamy is firmly rooted throughout both the Bantu and Negro races ; and polyandry is practised in some places {e.g., Nigeria). In many tribes — the BaSuto and BeChuana for instance — the eldest son inherits his father's widows (except his own mother), and chiefs and rich men often lend their superfluous wives to their retainers.
To the casual observer, the African women seem to be very hardly used. They often do the field work, carry tKe heavy burdens, and do what little cooking and housekeeping there is to be done. In the villages of West Africa, the housewife may be heard grinding corn, sweeping, or pre- paring farm produce for market long before daylight. She may constantly be seen carrying on her head bundles weighing anything up to sixty pounds, and a baby fastened to her back in addition. She seems to do more work than her husband. But there is often a clear division of labour
By Permission of Rev. j. Gregory Mantk
A CONGO WOMAN EETUBNING FBOM 1HE FIELDS.
P. 76.
The People of the Dark Continent 77
between men and women ; the former doing the heaviest work, such as felling timber, making canoes, and building huts. The woman's position is not enviable, but she has become accustomed to it, and, as a rule, is resigned to her lot. Of course, temperaments vary as much as in other lands ; some women patiently endure, but others are wilful and passionate, and in some places the men have to resort to some device — all more or less cruel — to keep their women-folk in order. It is not unusual for the hard-hearted husband to seek the terrible help of the witch-doctor or fetich priest to rid himself of an objectionable wife.
But it must not be forgotten that, even among the tribes of the Dark Continent, family affection is often a real thing, though we can scarcely expect the same manifestations of it as obtain amongst Christian races — the more so because the native is constrained and reserved when he thinks he is being observed by white men.
Children are usually welcomed in the African African home, unless born with some l ood deformity, in which case some tribes at once put them to death — perhaps to pre- serve the physique of the race, but more probably to save trouble. In some parts the birth of twins is regarded as a
78 The Gall of the Dark Continent
calamity, and both mother and children are sometimes put to death. With other tribes twins are thought to be a sign of good luck. Yet, on the whole, the people are fond of their children, and childhood is by no means unhappy. Kidd has a charm- ing passage on the subject :
" There can be no doubt that the mothers love their children. To test this, I once proposed to a Kafir woman that she should sell me her baby for five pounds. The sum would have been a small fortune to the woman ; yet, as she did not understand that I was but in play, she snatched up her baby with a scream, and hugged it to her bosom, and ran away to a safe distance, from which she assured me that the very thought was impossible, . . . and as long as I was at the kraal she kept eyeing me with jealous watchfulness."
It is quite customary for the parents to amuse their little ones by playing with them, or making playthings ; and one distinguished worker supplies a delightful picture of a large children's party in a Kafir kraal.
Anyone who has visited Africa must have been fascinated by the merry-eyed, playful children who gather round the stranger in expectation, or shyly stand at a distance and follow him with wistful eyes; and, if the visitor has in his heart the love of Christ, he will ever afterwards yearn to tell the boys and girls of Africa of One who called the children unto Him and blessed them.
The People of the Dark Continent 79
Childhood is ever beautiful, but as the African children grow, their childish innocence is lost all too soon, and they learn from observation, or are deliberately taught by their parents or instructors in the "bush schools," such things as for ever pollute their minds and defile their hearts. The earliest training is received in the home, the mothers teaching the girls the rudiments of^such domestic economy as is known in Africa, and men initiating the boys in the use of weapons or the management of cattle. In early childhood the boys and girls are usually together in play and work, but as years advance they grow apart, the boys soon learning to treat their sisters as inferiors. About the age of ten they are sent to the "bush schools." These are held in secret in the woods. The sexes are separated, and by selected men and women the boys and girls are instructed in the customs of their people. The children are inured to hard- ships and often the training is extremely severe. It is certain that when this period of "education" is over, innocence has passed for ever, and the whole character of the children is changed. It is hardly too much to say that the "bush school"* is an unmitigated evil.
* Bush schools, though usual, are not found in all parts of pagan Africa.
80 The Gall of the Dark Continent
As childhood gives place to manhood or womanhood, initiatory rites and ceremonies are performed in all parts of pagan Africa. It is uncertain how far these ought to be regarded as religious, or merely social, customs. The rites vary considerably in detail in the different tribes, but they are in most cases unquestionably of a degrading character, and cannot be described. These ceremonies — often very prolonged — change completely the status of those initiated. Henceforth, the youth has a seat amongst the men of his tribe ; he becomes a member of a society — a company (sometimes a veritable "secret society" powerful for evil), formed by those youths who go through the rite with him — and he is free to marry as soon as he can command the necessary cattle. For the maiden, the ceremony acts as an advertisement to all that she can now be applied for in marriage.
The monotony of daily life is broken by such events as the initiation rites, betrothals, marriages, funerals, and the like. Some of them are accompanied by complicated ceremonies that look very much like sacrifices, and in some cases are known to be so. They are always occasions for display and revel, and often for immoral dances and disgusting orgies. The Negro has a strong theatrical tendency, and loves music ;
The People of the Dark Continent 81
while the Bantu delights in the war-dance. On nights of high carnival, native beer is used to excess, and gin and various forms of vile spirituous liquors of European manu- facture prepare their votaries for further wickedness.
European powers now control the destinies Tribal of the whole of pagan Africa, but in most Government cases they govern through, or at any rate with the co-operation of, the recognised native "kings" or tribal chiefs. This means that, with the necessary modifications, the ancient forms of tribal government still obtain, except in areas where gross misrule has rendered complete European control necessary. In the African tribes the form of government varies from that of a pure despotism established by a successful military ruler, to a patriarchal system of simple order. A common arrangement is :
(1) The family, with father or elder brother as head.
(2) The family group or clan, under a headman.
(3) The clan group or tribe, under petty chief or " Induna."
(±) The national group of several related or federated tribes, under paramount chief or king.
In most cases the chief acts with "advisers" (chosen by himself or elected by the people), and paramount chiefs are usually assisted in the government by the
82 The Gall of the Dark Continent
tribal chiefs and officers of state. Among the BeChuana, BaSuto, and other tribes, "parliaments" or general gatherings of the people are held to decide important matters, and at such assemblies all the heads of families can make themselves heard. Custom is the prevailing law. An African can make out a good case when he can show precedent. But the whole ethical code is summed up in obedience to the chief, who is usually regarded with superstitious veneration. The Difficulty It must not be supposed that because Native5 Beiiefg tne African is more simple than the subtle- minded Hindu it is easy to understand him. Those who have had most ex- perience are the most emphatic about the difficulty of getting at " the back of the black man's mind." It is easy to see that travellers, whose visits to Africa are like the swallows, are not likely to get any- thing reliable out of the natives ; their imperfect knowledge of the language, and the fact that the African is careful not to unburden his heart to strangers, are in- superable difficulties. Missionaries who have lived long years among the people (and no class of foreigners get so near to the natives) and thoroughly understand their language are usually the most hesitating ex- pounders of African paganism. The people
The People of the Dark Continent 83
are extremely reticent in speaking about their religion, and if they answer questions they usually give an answer they think will please their interrogator. Kidd illustrates this by a typical conversation :
" Do you believe there is a God? " you ask.
" Yes, Nkos," answered the old Kafir.
" Do you believe there are twenty gods ? "
" Yes, Nkos."
" Do you believe there is only one God 1 "
" Yes, Nkos."
" Come, you can't believe both those things. You don't believe in any God at all, do you ? "
" No, Nkos."
" Which do you mean? Do you, or do you not believe in a God 1 "
" Nkos, I don't know. Yes. No. Perhaps. You know better; we Kafirs know nothing."
Or it may be that your very question creates his opinion. Your thought (ex- pressed in your question) concerning some point of his own " mental fog " (Kidd) seems sensible, and he at once endorses it as his belief, though it had never occurred to him before. Another difficulty is the utter lack of logic in the African mind. "They are capable of entertaining two contra- dictory ideas at the same moment. . . . A Kafir sees no difficulty in believing that his grandfather went out like a candle at death, while at the same time he will tell you that his grandfather visited the kraal
84 The Gall of the Dark Continent
yesterday in the form of a snake." The religious views of a mind so constituted are naturally a tangle of inconsistencies.
Then we have to remember that no two tribes believe alike. We might almost carry the differences further still and say that every African holds his own ideas, but even that is questionable, for often he can hardly be said to "hold" any ideas at all, so loose and uncertain is religious belief in the Dark Continent. The belief a native assents to one moment, he will contradict, or even deny, the next. Again, it is often difficult to distinguish between a genuine African thought and an idea picked up possibly from some shipwrecked sailor two or three centuries ago, or learned from a wandering Jesuit or even through Muslim channels. Africa has no systematised, thought-out, self-consistent religion, but only a mass of odd discon- nected notions. A man believes just what his superstitious heart or illogical brain suggests.
Careful, patient research has, however, been able to recognise several widespread though vague beliefs. So hazy are they that no theory can be formulated, and so intangible that they constantly elude the mind that seeks to label and systematise them.
The People of the Dark Continent 85
It is agreed by all that there is a wide- Belief in a spread, perhaps a universal, belief in or, reat pin at any rate, a vague idea of a Supreme Spirit, greater than the ancestral spirits or the gods recognised by some of the tribes. This Being is often described as the " Great One," " The Ancient One," " The Old, Old One." At first sight these terms seem to imply a God whom it may be possible to identify with Jehovah ; but there are reasons for thinking that some tribes mean little more by these names than we mean by the term great -grandfather. Other tribes rise higher than this. But the native is content to hold the idea of a great God without speculating about His eternity or attributes, though he may ven- ture ceitain statements about Him — some- times contradictory. The Western Bantu tribes call this God by such names as : — Nzambi, Nyambi, Anyambie, Anzambe, Anzam, Nyam, Ukuku, and Suku. In the Congo basin the usual names are : — Ibanza, lyanza, Nzakomba. The Eastern Bantu use the following : — Mulungu, Muungu, Molongo, Moongo. The Zulu call him Ukulunkulu, and a number of Central Bantu tribes (the Balla, the BaLuba, the BaBemba, the BaKalanga and others) use the word Leza, and apply praise names to Him. In Negro-land Nyiswa is a
86 The Gall of the Dark Continent
common name, but others are also used, as for example, Geyi (Maker). On the Gold Coast and in Ashanti we have : Okyerampon (The Never-failing One), Nyankupon (My Great Friend), and Nyami (My Maker). The Eev. Oliver J. Griffin tells us that, on saluting a man in a Yoruba village, it is customary to receive the reply, " I thank Olorun " (the Owner of the Heavens).
This great Being, so widely recognised, is generally held to be the Creator. To Commission IV. of the World Missionary Conference, the Rev. Donald Frazer reported that his people in Nyassaland
" believe in one Supreme God. But the only thing they know about His character is that He is fierce. He is the Creator, and is above all the forces of the world. But men have no access to Him. No prayers or offerings are made to Him. He brings death into the home. When a dear one is taken away they say ' God is fierce.' "
It is more usual to believe that this God is kindly disposed, but takes very little interest in the world. But while power and intelligence are associated with the idea of God, moral qualities are never so associated, and African veneration of deity brings no sense of sin and provides no ethical sanctions or requirements. Some tribes think of Him as a great man. Many
The People of the Dark Continent 87
think He dwells in the sky, but others suppose that He lives under the sea or in " white man's land." When H. M. Stanley first journeyed down the Congo the natives cried, " This is Ibanza." Holman Bentley was also thought to be Ibanza until the people saw his wife and baby ; these were altogether too strong evidence of terres- trial origin !
The testimony of Dr. R. L. Nassau (for forty years a missionary in the Gaboon country) is of special interest :
" I do not need to begin by telling the people that there is a God. I have never yet been asked ' Who is God? '
" If natives should suddenly be asked the flat ques- tion, ' Do you know Anyambe? ' they would probably tell any white visitor, under a feeling of their general ignorance and the white man's superior knowledge, ' No ! What do we know 1 You are white people and are spirits ; you come from Njambi's Town, and know all about Him ! ' I reply, ' No, I am not a spirit; and while I do, indeed, know about Anyambe, I did not call Him by that name. It is your own word, where did you get it? ' And they rejoin, ' Our fore- fathers told us that name. Njambi is the One-who- made-us. He is our Father. . . . He made these trees, that mountain, this river, these goats and chickens, and us people.'
" That typical conversation I have had hundreds of times, under an immense variety of circumstances, with the most varied audiences."
We must carefully guard against "reading our own conceptions into these African
88 The Gall of the Dark Continent
ideas* and Professor Theal warns us against attaching any monotheistic belief to the native names for God.
This widely recognised Being is best described by the familiar phrase, " An un- known God," and is little more than a name. Yet there is some amount of respect for Him, and in some instances something resembling adoration and even worship, but there is seldom anything like prayer. The Balla say that Leza is far away and knows nothing of them, their troubles or their needs ; hence they pray to Mizhimo, an intermediary spirit, in the hope that he will procure from Leza the help they need. This idea is common to other tribes. But there are also prayers offered — though very seldom — direct to the Supreme. The Rev. E. W. Smith (of the Primitive Methodist Rhodesia Mission), who reduced the Ila language to writing and compiled a dictionary, gives a striking specimen prayer :
" Leza, we pray Thee give us water. We beseech Thee very much — we, Thy people. We are humble, we are abased — we, Thy people. It is Thou whom we trust alone. We have no other whom we trust."
Sometimes he is invoked by such "praise names" as "The Giver of Rain," "The Great Moulder of the Earth," " The
Photo by A BRIDGE IN MENDILAND,
PROTECTED
Rev. J. Walton. BY AN ESHU HOUSE.
Photo by
WEST AFBICAN IDOLS
The People of the Dark Continent 89
Possessor of all Things," " The Institute of Customs." The Balla say all their tribal customs were ordered by Leza.
" He ordered them to knock out their children's teeth, taught men to smelt iron, to make knives, and spears and hoes. He taught the women to make pots, to grind corn, and to weave baskets, and then said, ' I am Leza; you are now as wise as I am,' and so saying, He vanished." — (Chapman.)
The last words of the above quotation fairly represent the prevailing thought about God — He has vanished. The Supreme God has receded in men's minds, and other divinities have come into the foreground of African thought.
In the Yoruba country a lower order of inferior Gods gods appears, and these are represented by idols (we use the word to distinguish them from fetiches, i.e., articles inhabited by dis- embodied human spirits), which may be either figures or unshaped stones or other things. The spirit of the god is believed to dwell in the idol. The most powerful of these is Eshu, the god of mischief (i.e., the devil), and he is thought to be close at hand. Just outside every Yoruba home- stead, near the gateway, a little thatched shed is built for this much-feared deity, who is represented by a clay, wood, or stone image, and sometimes merely by a stone or lump of clay. Offerings of cowrie
90 The Call of the Dark Continent
shells, food and water are laid before the god, and the blood of animal sacrifices is sprinkled on it from time to time. The Eshu is never taken inside the compound, because he is wicked and might do much mischief. People wearing strings of cowries, dyed dark blue, are known to be devil- worshippers.
Then there is Shango, the god of thunder; Ogun, god of war and iron; Oshun, a river god ; Orisha Oko, the farm god ; Ori, god of the head ; Ibeji, the god of twins ; Aje, the god of money ; and Ifa, the revealer ox secrets. The last - named is very much honoured by the Yorubas. When a baby is born, Ifa must decide which god the child shall worship. If a man is to be married, Ifa must fix the time. If a man builds a house, Ifa must choose the place. Kings and chiefs bring national affairs to Ifa, and men of lesser rank bring their domestic matters. Nothing, small or great, is done by king or chief, freeman or slave without consulting Ifa. The god answers through the medium of his priests, who divine by means of palm nuts and other objects, and not infrequently practise ventriloquism, eas as to the But the characteristic worship of the Dark Continent is spirit-worship. The native ideas of the nature of man differ
The People of the Dark Continent 91
considerably and are as vague and contra- dictory as their other notions. Some Africans say, " I have two things — one thing becomes a spirit when I die, and the other is the ' body spirit ' and dies with the body." In proof of this some will point to an unconscious person, saying, " He cannot see, he cannot feel, he cannot talk, he cannot eat. His spirit is no longer there. He is dead ; only his body is left alive " (Nassau). This idea sometimes leads to premature burial. Some natives believe in a "dream-soul," which wanders from the body during sleep.
Through all these views there runs a Belief in a strong conviction of a future existence, in Future Llfe many respects not unlike the present. The Congolese say the departed have gone to "Nyambi's Town"; and when Stanley's lieutenant, Frank Pocock, was drowned, the natives, feeling sure that Stanley would see the dead man again, gave him messages to carry to Pocock when he (Stanley) should also be called into the unseen. This belief in a future life can alone explain the common custom of burying things with the dead body. Kemp (Gold Coast) says, "I have seen a corpse buried with fingers covered with gold rings." Some tribes still bury some of the wives and slaves with the bodv of a dead
92 The Gall of the Dark Continent
man — especially in the case of a chief. This custom is very prevalent on the Congo. Bentley says that when he visited the BaKuba tribe, no chief could be buried until 300 slaves had been killed to accom- pany him into the unknown. But with all this belief in a life after death, there is no idea of future rewards and punish- ments. Spirit-Worship It is generally believed that the spirits of the departed continue to haunt the districts in which they formerly lived as human beings. The presence and nearness of these spirits is intensely real to the pagan African. They can be communicated with, and are capable of helping or injuring their still human descendants. On this account they are greatly feared and are worshipped and propitiated with the greatest care. The BaRonga believe that everyone at death joins the ranks of these spirit-gods. " The ancestors of the chief are the great or national ' Gods.' Each family has its own family ' Gods,' who are appealed to on occasions of merely family interest. The spirits are generally held to be malevolent " (H. L. Bishop). This is ancestor-worship, though different from the form current in China. Kidd says that the respect the Bantu peoples have for old age is probably the nearest feeling
The People of the Dark Continent 93
they have to worship, and "from respect for their headman to veneration or dread of displeasing his spirit would be but a step." These disembodied ancestral spirits are strictly local deities, but the African believes himself continually beset with them on every hand. They live in forests and swamps, they haunt burial places and old ruins. They travel through the air ; they make the rivers their high- ways, or journey along the native footpaths from village to village. But they are not limited to such avenues of approach, and at every point the African feels himself exposed to their attacks. His life is passed in continual fear, and all his energies are devoted to propitiating or hoodwinking them.
Among the Negroes and Western Bantu Fetich- Worship tribes spirit-worship takes quite another form. It is held that the disembodied spirits inhabit visible articles — stones, trees, plants, streams, animals, reptiles, human beings, or even little bundles of sticks, grass, feathers, or any possible thing. The object thus indwelt by the spirit is termed a fetich (the word is of Portuguese origin and is often used very loosely). It is often extremely difficult to draw a line between fetiches and charms ; indeed, fetiches frequently are charms. By
94 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the roadside one may see a tree with a palisade round it ; the tree is a fetich. In a certain patch of bog there lives a snake that no Negro can by any means be per- suaded to kill ; that snake is a fetich. To obtain power over an enemy, a man buys from the priest a strange bundle composed possibly of grass or hair, covered with clay or congealed blood, or any conceivable thing; this is a fetich. Another man, going hunting or to battle, purchases a charm to protect himself from wild beasts or the spears of his foes; if this charm owes its power to an indwelling spirit, it is a fetich. Again, the fetich may be credited with destructive rather than protective power, and be used to injure an enemy.
The power of these fetiches over the minds of the people is astonishing. Few would venture to rob a house protected by one. The man, or crop, so protected is safe from human depredators. A fetich may fail to exert the expected power to protect or destroy, but even though it fails repeatedly it is not in the least dis- credited in the eyes of the people. The failure is easily explained by the suggestion that the fetich was overpowered by a stronger one. The priest's explanation is accepted, and his influence is, if anything,
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The People of the Dark Continent 95
increased. There can be no question as to the character of fetichism ; it is an evil. It plays on the ignorant superstitions of the people and is the direct cause of numberless crimes. Murders by poison or the dagger are of frequent occurrence — carried out, of course, by the fetich ; though those who know West Africa do not hesitate to suggest that the priests render any little assistance that may be required.
The fetich -priest is all-powerful in the The Witch- village life of the West Coast. Among Doctor the Bantu tribes the witch-doctor is usually the important factor. It is the universal belief that one man may, by magic, bewitch another ; and this is the most heinous of all offences. Whatever evil befalls is thought to be due to witch- craft. Is a man ill ? He has been bewitched. Has disease broken out among the cattle ? Someone has practised magic. Has an accident occurred ? The wizard or witch must be found and punished. At this juncture the witch-doctor is con- sulted ; he alone can detect the culprit. The tribe is assembled, and with mysterious ceremony the witch-doctor proceeds to "smell out" the offender, which he does with fiendish zeal. When once he has chosen his victim, protestation of innocence
96 The Gall of the Dark Continent
is useless — the witch-doctor surely knows who is the guilty person ! The accused can only clear himself by ordeal ; this may be the poison cup, or some other test such as dipping the hand in boiling water or oil. What chance of proving one's innocence by such means as these ? The wretched victim — man, woman or child — is put to death in some fearful form. It is easy to see what terrible opportunity lies in this custom for revenge, or for avarice if the accuser stands to gain by the death of any particular person. The European Powers are resolutely stamping out these hateful practices ; but Africa is vast, and the eyes of the several Governments cannot be everywhere, nor can their arms reach to every tribe or village.
The Dark Continent knows little or nothing of worship as we understand it. There is no penitence of heart or confession of sin. " Any expression of repentance in Bantu prayers refers to the com- mission of tribal faults, of forgetfulness of the dead, or the transgression of some tribal custom " (Bishop). There is no communion with a Heavenly Father. No forgiveness for moral offence is sought, nor grace to amend the life from day to day. No spiritual gifts or blessings are desired ; the only object is to extort some
The People of the Dark Continent 97
temporal advantage from god or spirit. There are indeed sacrifices — among some remote tribes, human sacrifices — but it is doubtful if the natives understand their meaning.
In this brief glance at African paganism we have noted but few glimmerings of light. These tribes, unlike the people of India, have no " genius for religion." But the unseen is real to them, and from the darkness Ethiopia stretches out her hands to God — a dull, blundering quest. We have noted the cruelty and degradation and wickedness that is inherent in African religion — human sacrifice, widow-burial and deeds of darkness ; these things are the outcome of their belief, and in this way do heathen people " live up to their light " / Surely it is time that they were shown a more excellent way. No " man of Ethiopia" actually stands by our side crying, " Come over and help us." But if we realise Africa's deep need, that should be our Call to carry to the sons of darkness the light of the Cross of Christ.
The Ashanti say that " when the Great Spirit created man, He made one black man and one white man, and gave them their choice of two gifts. One gift contained all
4
98 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the treasures of Africa — the fruitful trees, the ivory, the gold-dust. The other gift consisted merely of white paper, ink, and pens. One gift symbolised material wealth, the other, knowledge. The black man chose the former, and the white man the latter." Thus each has gifts received from God, and each has what the other lacks. Africa can give — and has given — of her material wealth to enrich the white man, and it is the duty and privilege of the white man to give freely to Africa from the storehouse of his knowledge. But the white man has other wealth to give to the Negro — the Gospel of Christ. Sad, indeed, is the picture we have drawn of African pagans. Yet even hearts so dark and debased are capable of God, and are fellow heirs with us of all the boundless treasures of His grace. Government has something to give to Africa — justice and freedom and peace. Education has something to give to Africa — enlightenment and release from superstition. What has Christ to give to the people of the Dark Continent ?
The People of the Dark Continent 99
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION.-What Christ has to give to the people of Africa.
1. Summarise the evil influences of African paganism (a) on the tribe, (b) on the individual, (c) on womanhood, (d) on childhood.
2. How far may these evils be remedied by Government ?
3. How far must these evils be removed by the religious and moral regeneration of the people?
4. What gifts can Christ alone give to Africa?
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Fraser, Donald. — The Future of Africa. (Chap- ter IV.)
Naylor, W. S. — Daybreak on the Dark Continent. (Chapters II. and III.)
Kidd, Dudley. — The Essential Kafir.
Nassau, R. L. — Fetichism in West Africa.
Chapter III. Our South Africa Mission Field
" It is something to be a missionary. . . . May I
venture to invite young men of education, when laying
down the plan for their lives, to take a glance at that of
a missionary ? We magnify the office ! For my own
part, I never cease to rejoice that God has appointed
me to such an office."
LIVINGSTONE.
frica's Need If the preceding chapters have accom- plished their purpose, they have left in the mind of the reader an impression of a continent truly described as "Dark"— a continent whose people, by their need of enlightenment, appeal to us for help. The nineteenth century found the people of Africa in a condition that can only be described as appalling. The whole head was sick, the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there was no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. They were not closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. This had been 100
Our South Africa Mission Field 101
Africa's condition for uncounted centuries, and it had not improved one iota. It was clear that no help was to be expected from within ; there was no healing balm. Foreign hands were to bind the wounds ; strangers were to " help to heal." Yet for four long centuries Africa's contact with civilisation only increased her misery.
The first hearts to feel sympathy with Christian Africa's people were hearts possessed by the love of Christ. During the last hundred years European Governments have done much to heal the open wounds ; but, long before they raised a finger, loving hands were outstretched to help the chil- dren of the darkness. We have marked the interest in Africa's spiritual welfare in Henry the Navigator ; we caught glimmers of Christian zeal in the efforts of Romish evangelists. Isolated Dutch ministers and Moravian missionaries were in turn moved with true compassion. Then the great evangelical revival of the 18th century led to a revival of the mis- sionary spirit, and ever since there have not wanted men — and women too— ready to lay down their lives for the sake of Africa's dusky children.
It Would be as difficult, as it is im- The Missionary
necessary, to say which Christian organisa- Societies tion has done most to help Africa. The
102 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Church of England, the Baptists, the Congregationalists, the Scottish Churches, the several Methodist Churches ; the Churches of the United States, of Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, Norway and Sweden have given lives and money to the work. The object of this book is to give a brief account of the work of one of these Churches — the Wesleyan Methodist. In doing so, it is not our wish in any way to overlook or minimise the labours of the other organisations. We do not wish to suggest that the W.M.M.S. is the only, or even the chief, agency in the regions occupied. What have "the people called Methodists " done to help the people of the Dark Continent? Our answer to this question will fall into two divisions, corresponding with the fields we occupy. We purpose to deal with the work of the W.M.M.S. in South Africa in this chapter, and with the work on the West Coast in the chapter following. But in each case we must first briefly survey the field and the conditions obtaining when our work
began.
# # # # #
The Coming of South Africa was discovered by Bartho-
the Portuguese lomQw jjj^ ^ 1486 Blown by ^.^
he passed round the Cape without seeing it, and first sighted land at one of the
Our South Africa Mission Field 103
south coast bays, where he saw numerous herds of cattle grazing on the shores. Failing to get into touch with the natives, Diaz erected, on a little islet in Algoa Bay, a marble cross — a beautiful symbol that the newly discovered land was claimed for the Redeemer. Returning westward, the voyagers discovered the Cape of Good Hope, upon which another cross was placed. It is inspiring to think of these Portuguese adventurers erecting the sacred symbol of Christianity, instead of the banner of Portugal, in those southern lands. Un- happily, these acts, so full of significance, meant very little, and nearly two centuries were to pass before any real messenger of the Cross of Christ should proclaim the Gospel in South Africa.
For a century and a half, the Cape of Good Hope, with Table Mountain behind it, formed a mere landmark on the voyage to India. But with the occupation of Table Bay by the Dutch East India The Dutch Company in 1652, and the founding of the Dutch Colony in 1662, a new era was inaugurated. From the first the Dutch accepted the principle that it is the duty of a Christian Government to interpret the Christian religion to its heathen subjects. At a council held on one of the Dutch vessels the day that Governor Van Biebeek
104 The Gall of the Dark Continent
landed, the following prayer was placed on the Minutes :
" 0 merciful and gracious God, our heavenly- Father ! Since it has pleased Thee to call us to the government of the Cape of Good Hope; and, as we have assembled in Council to advise and adopt such measures as may best tend to maintain justice, and, if possible, to plant and propagate the true Reformed Christian Doctrine amongst these wild and savage people for the praise and honour of Thy Holy Name, but being, without Thy gracious assistance, unable to effect these purposes; we pray, 0 most merciful Father ! that it may please Thee to preside at this assembly, and with Thy heavenly wisdom to so en- lighten our hearts, that all perverse passions may be removed from us, our hearts cleansed from all human weakness, that we may not propose anything which will not tend to Thy praise, . . . without con- sidering in the least our own personal advantage or profit."
The Portuguese began by erecting crosses ; the Dutch enter the country with prayers. Verily the way to South Africa was paved with good intentions. Shortly after the arrival of the first minister from Holland in 1665, eight slave children were baptised, their masters standing as sponsors. A church was built for native slaves, and as the number of the colonists increased a few ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, in addition to their ordinary duties, endeavoured to do a little voluntary missionary work. But many of the colonists opposed the idea of giving
Our South Africa Mission Field 105
religious instruction to slaves. It is easy to see the reason for this. A profession of Christianity and an ability to speak Dutch were sufficient reason for claiming freedom, and no master could have a slave child baptised without promising to educate it as a Christian. The French Huguenots, and the Vaudois refugees from the Piedmont, fled to South Africa that they might enjoy the religious liberty denied them in their own countries ; but, even these resolute sufferers for Christ failed in their duty to Hottentots and Bushmen.
The religious earnestness of the settlers cannot be questioned. Brought up on the Old Testament Scriptures, the Dutch regarded themselves as the chosen people, and thought of the Hottentots as "strangers from the covenants of promise." They were far from being hypocrites, but it is difficult to understand how such men could pride themselves on slaying natives. Yet such pride became common.
The first definite missionary work in The Moravians South Africa was undertaken by the Moravian Brethren. In 1737 the humble yet heroic George Schmidt arrived at the George Schmidt Cape with the incredible idea of converting the Hottentots. The colonists pitied his simplicity, shrugged their shoulders, and let him alone. Four years of patient labour
4*
106 The Gall of the Dark Continent
were required before he baptised his first convert, but as the years passed he gathered around him at Genadendal a little flock, and the Dutch found themselves obliged to take seriously what they had before regarded as a joke. Like the elder brother of our Lord's parable, they could not see that it was meet to rejoice over the fact that a handful of God's children had re- ceived the tokens of His forgiving love. These honest but misguided men denounced Schmidt to the Cape Government, and he was compelled to return to Europe (1743), where he died with a prayer for Africa on his lips. The Cape In 1795 Cape Colony passed into the
BritST*5 hands of Great Britain, only to be returned
to Holland under the Peace of Amiens in 1803, but in 1815 it was finally ceded to England. The change of Government brought British settlers to the Cape, and the old Dutch colonists trekked further up country. Some English settlers also went inland. Many of these white men treated the natives more like wild beasts than human beings — forcibly dispossessing them of their lands and often seizing them as slaves. This conduct roused the natives to fury, and the advance of " civilisation " was marked in blood. "In no part of the world was the way rendered more difficult
Our South Africa Mission Field 107
to the Christian missionary than in South Africa," says one missionary historian. "It is not difficult to see what an im- placable hatred of the white aggressor must inevitably have grown up in the breasts of the natives in consequence of the shameful behaviour of the colonists." Gradually the Hottentots became recon- ciled to their conquerors and were, in a measure, assimilated. # But the Bushmen, in their passionate love of freedom, refused to submit, and, turning their faces north- ward, they moved further into the wilder- ness. This was the condition of affairs when, in the first wave of missionary enthusiasm, English Societies sent workers to South Africa.
In 1799 the London Missionary Society's Vanderkemp first representative reached Algoa Bay. Dr. John Vanderkemp had been a Dutch cavalry officer. After a university training he took a medical degree and devoted his high intellectual powers to missionary service. So great were the obstacles set before him by the colonists that even his resolute mind was taxed to the uttermost, and after eighteen months he was com- pelled to abandon his mission to the Kafirs on the Great Fish River and give himself
* The GriQua are the product of this partial assimilation.
108 The Gall of the Dark Continent
to the evangelisation of the down-trodden Hottentots, first at Graaf Reinet and after- wards near Port Elizabeth. Utterly de- voted to the interests of the natives, he championed their rights in the face of all aggressors. His training institution at Bethelsdorp became a beacon light. Men and women fled to it for protection, and chiefs came to learn of him and then returned to enlighten their own people. But the opposition from the colonists was tremendous ; all manner of charges were made against the brave-hearted missionary, and no stone was left unturned to ruin his work. But Vanderkemp was not to be daunted by ridicule, threats or violence. The Portuguese had raised their marble crosses on the headlands of the southern coast ; he was determined to proclaim to the natives the sacred message those crosses represented. So great was his dis- interested sympathy with his people that, during the space of three years, he paid no less than £1,000 to redeem slaves from bondage. He carried his sympathy so far that he insisted that it was the duty of a missionary to accept for himself the con- ditions of native life as far as they were compatible with Christianity. In carrying this idea into practice he limited himself to the clothes he was actually wearing —
Our South Africa Mission Field 109
and very threadbare they usually were — and he lived on native food. This was certainly extreme, but we hesitate to criticise the man who dared to interpret so literally the teaching of our Lord. Insisting that love to Christ is above con- siderations of race or colour, this devoted man actually married a Hottentot woman whom he had led into the Kingdom of God. This was bold indeed, and in our judgment a grave blunder. The experiment caused Vanderkemp much embarrassment, for his wife remained uncultured to the end. But, remembering that this foolish act was one phase of his great life-protest against the oppression of black by white, we can only admire the magnificent earnestness of the man who was, for Christ's sake, pre- pared thus to make himself one with the people of Africa in the hope of helping them to a better life. The difficulties of his work, the opposition of heathen Africans on the one hand and Christian colonists on the other, broke him down, and he died after eleven years of strenuous service.
Meanwhile, other L.M.S. missionaries Missions to the attempted to evangelise the Bushmen — us men the most degraded of all the South African tribes. The first attempt was abandoned in 1806, and a later effort at Colesberg
110 The Gall of the Dark Continent
The Beginning of W. M. M. S. Work
was successfully foiled by the farmers, who persuaded the Bushmen that the mission- aries were in league with the Government to betray and sell them into slavery. A work at Hephzibah was also overthrown by the opposition of the settlers, and Government ordered the missionaries to return to the Cape.
The beginnings of the Methodist work in South Africa were due to the voluntary efforts of a few godly soldiers stationed in Cape Town in 1806 and onward. These men sent to the Methodist Conference an earnest request for a minister to take charge of the work. Our great missionary leader, Dr. Coke, was not the man to turn a deaf ear to such an appeal. At that time he was planning a mission to India and Ceylon, and when he laid his schemes before Conference, he included a request John McKenny for a man for South Africa. John McKenny was chosen, and he reached Cape Town in August, 1814. While he was instructed to minister to such Europeans, soldiers or civilians, as would receive him, he was sent more especially to labour among the natives. Certain Dutch laws which were still in force forbade the holding of religious services without the special permission of the Governor of the Colony ; and when McKenny applied, Lord Charles Somerset
Our South Africa Mission Field 111
refused to grant such permission, although the credentials were of a most satisfactory character. " The soldiers have their chaplains provided by Government," the Governor said, " and if you preach to the slaves, the ministers of the Dutch Church may be offended."
The refusal was very definite, and after vainly waiting for several months in the hope of a more favourable answer McKenny sailed for Ceylon. But the Methodist soldiers renewed their appeals, and the newly constituted Missionary Society, hoping for better success, sent out the Rev. Barnabas Shaw. Nowadays luxurious Barnabas Shaw liners reach Cape Town in 17 days from Southampton, but a century ago the journey was a more serious matter, and Shaw and his wife had a weary voyage of 116 days to South Africa, via Brazil. They landed at the Cape on April 14th, 1816.
Shaw at once called on the Governor, and presented a letter of introduction from Earl Bathurst. But the official attitude was unchanged, and Lord Somerset would not sanction the work. The new mission- ary was quite equal to the occasion, and in his journal wrote thus :
* Having been refused the sanction of the Governor, I was resolved what to do ; and commenced without it on the following Sabbath. If his Excel-
112 The Gall of the Dark Continent
lency were afraid of giving offence either to the Dutch ministers or the English chaplains, I had no occasion to fear either one or the other. My first congregations were composed chiefly of pious soldiers ; and it was in a room hired by them that I first preached Christ crucified in South Africa."
But Shaw soon felt the strength of the prejudice that had driven Schmidt out of the country and crushed Vanderkemp. It was evident to him that work could best be done in the far interior beyond the sphere of colonial influence. With this thought in his mind, he prayed for guidance. Just at this juncture the Rev. H. Schmelen, of the L.M.S., arrived in Cape Town from Great NamaQualand. The story this man told of Christian opportunity beyond the Orange River, convinced Shaw that this was the guidance he sought. A journey of 800 miles through rainless deserts was formidable indeed, and he hesitated to propose it to his delicate wife. But she too had heard the L.M.S. missionary's story, and, without waiting for her husband to speak, Mrs. Shaw answered Mr. Schmelen, "We will go back with you; the Lord is opening our way to the heathen." When difficulties were sug- gested as to the cost of a wagon and oxen, and the absence of permission from the Committee in England, this heroic woman
Our South Africa Mission Field 113
replied, " If the Committee is offended, tell them we will bear all the expense ourselves. We have a little property in England, and for this let it go." The Governor placed no difficulty in the way, and on September 6th, 1816, Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, and Mr. Schmelen, set out for Great NamaQualand with two wagons and twenty- two oxen. With a temperature of 110 degrees in the shade, and at other times a wind that "felt as if mingled with particles of fire," they crossed arid deserts and forded rivers.
When they had travelled some two A Voice from hundred miles, an incident occurred that Macedonia completely changed their plans. The missionaries met — by the merest ac- cident apparently — the chief of Little NamaQualand, who, with four of his followers, was on his way to Cape Town to look for a Christian teacher, having heard from other tribes of the advantages of receiving the Gospel. The hand of God had led the Shaws thus far, and after consultation and prayer they felt that this strange deputation was a divine call to labour in Little NamaQua- land instead of Great NamaQualand. So, leaving Mr. Schmelen to continue his journey to his own station (Bethany), they went with these NamaQua seekers to
Lilyfontein
The Industrial Missionary at Work
114 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Khamies Berg,* where at Lilyfontein they founded the first Wesleyan mission station in South Africa.
Thus, 400 miles from Cape Town, Barnabas Shaw began his long missionary career, cut off from civilisation, and with- out even postal communication with the outside world.
Shaw's first care was immediately to " open his commission by proclaiming to the natives the glad tidings of salvation in the open air." At the same time he sought to help them also by introducing the advantages of Christian civilisation. Before their eyes he erected a humble sanctuary ; in the midst of their wretched huts he built a substantial house. From necessity, but even more for the sake of example, he daily engaged in manual labour ; for the NamaQua were an in- dolent people and could best be redeemed from their vicious lives by the introduction of a practical godliness that would improve their whole condition. Building, carpentry, and agriculture were an essential part of Shaw's missionary programme. He wrote :
" Some have thought that missionaries should take no concern in the temporal affairs of the people among whom they labour, but should be exclusively
* Berg means mountain.
Our South Africa Mission Field 115
employed in promoting their spiritual welfare. . . . This will not apply to the commencement of a mis- sion among savages. He who goes to convert a wandering tribe to Christianity must either collect them together for this purpose or himself become a wanderer. If he collects them together, he must show them some method of obtaining substance that they may remain with him. . . . Taking this view of the state of the Little Namaquas, I was desirous of keeping them together by teaching them to live by agriculture instead of hunting.""
The thoroughness with which Mr. Shaw studied this problem of the relation of industrial instruction to evangelism is evident from the quotations he makes on the subject from the experiences of Hans Egede and John Williams.
The NamaQua were surprised beyond measure at Shaw's method of cutting down trees with a cross-cut saw ; and when he made a plough and began to use it their delight knew no bounds. " Come and see this strange thing," cried the chief to his councillors. "Look how it tears up the ground with its iron mouth ! If it goes on all day, it will do more work than ten wives." The closing words of the last sentence are specially suggestive of the value of industrial mission work in the uplifting of African womanhood.
But Shaw was too true a missionary
* See Chapter VI.
116 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Evangelistic to allow such duties to crowd out the real
Labours work he had been sent to do. His days
were largely spent in manual labour, but
the evenings were devoted to religious
instruction. He writes : —
" Having one evening spoken of ' the Water of Life/ which is given without money and without price, and invited the thirsty to partake of it, some of those who heard were much affected, and long after we had retired for rest we heard them attempt- ing to pray and to sing verses of the hymns, which they now began to remember."
It soon became evident that Christ was drawing some of these degraded Hottentots to Himself. Mr. Shaw found it necessary to appoint a time " for meeting those who had any concern for their souls," and some of the sentences he records from the testi- monies in that first Society Class among the heathen of South Africa are beautiful in the extreme. God was manifestly working in their hearts. But the church and the class meeting were not the only occasions on which these poor people sought the Father's ear. The following incident is too beautiful to be omitted :
" Going out one night with the design of shoot- ing hares, my attention was arrested by the sound of a human voice, proceeding from a cleft of a rock. Approaching nearer to the spot, I distinctly heard that it was the voice of supplication. A Namaqua, who had attended evening service, had afterwards
Our South Africa Mission Field 117
come hither to wrestle with God. I never knew who the individual was. . . . This circumstance led to reflection on the words of the Apostle : ' For there is no difference between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.' "
As the years passed the work grew and Results new stations were founded. But the miracles of grace were intensive as well as extensive, and eight years after the found- ation of the mission Mr. Shaw was able to write thus :
" The pious natives of Khamies Berg continued to improve, both in temporal and spiritual matters, and were as a city set on a hill. Their light shone in worshipping God in their families. Often I have heard them engaged in prayer before the sun had gilded the tops of the mountains; nor were their evening devotions neglected. As I have stood by the mission-house, with the curtains of night drawn around us, I could hear them uniting in singing their beautiful evening hymn. . . . Then, falling around their family altar, though in a smoky hut, they felt the presence of the Most High."
Concerning God's wonderful working in Africa, the ancient prophet wrote : " Marvellous things did He in Zoan, in the sight of their fathers." Once again, three thousand years later, the same God was doing " marvellous things " on African soil. Even the Colonial Government recognised the work that was being done, and in 1824 Lord Somerset conferred on Mr. Shaw the
118 The Call of the Dark Continent
Pioneer Journeys
The Outlaw Africaner
power to control the neighbourhood of Lilyfontein in the name of Governments
The arrival of new missionaries in 1818 and 1819 made it possible to think of an extension movement. Pioneer journeys were made into Great NamaQualand and Damaraland as far as Walfish Bay. The way did not open for the formation of stations in those remote regions, but these tours enabled Shaw to acquire much valuable information about the possibilities of work in regions not before visited by Europeans.
About the time Barnabas Shaw settled at Lilyfontein, the country further north was disturbed by the presence of a terrible outlaw chief named Africaner. This man — a Hottentot — had been a slave on a Dutch farm near Cape Town ; but, driven desperate by oppression, had, with his brother, murdered their master, rallied their tribe and escaped across the Orange River into Great NamaQualand. Such a terror did these men become, that Govern- ment set a price on Africaner's head. The outlaw retaliated by practically declaring war on the Government and avenging himself on every white settler within his reach. When L.M.S. missionaries settled at Warm Bath, about a hundred miles west
* See Chapter VI.
Our South Africa Mission Field 119
of Africaner's headquarters, the ruffian was inclined to favour them, but rumours reached him that they were playing into the hands of his enemies. Soon the missionaries were in greatest danger, and lived in hourly expectation of death.
Just at this time the renowned L.M.S. Robert Moffat missionary, Robert Moffat, landed at the Cape (January, 1817). While encountering the usual difficulty placed in the way of missionaries by the Government, Moffat heard on every hand of the terrible Africaner. Rumour credited him with a desire to receive a missionary, and a few months later Moffat determined to go as the messenger of Christ to the outlaw's kraal. In September of the same year (1817) he set out in an ox-wagon on this dangerous venture. The farmers at whose houses he rested were almost all kindly disposed, but with one consent condemned his mission as utter madness. They pre- dicted that Africaner would set Moffat up as a target for his boys to shoot at, would make a drumhead of his skin, and a drinking cup of his skull. One pious Boer housewife shed tears over this rash English lad going blindly into the very mouth of the lion. In due time this young hero reached Africaner, but his reception was not encouraging. However, some native
120 The Gall of the Dark Continent
women were ordered to build a hut for him — they accomplished the task in half an hour — and Moffat settled down to his work. It soon became evident that the Spirit of God was working in the dark heart. Changes were noticeable in Africaner's conduct ; he interested himself in the school Moffat opened, and encouraged the children of the tribe to attend. The Bible, too, attracted his attention, and he would sit up at nights to talk with the missionary about the truths it contains. As time passed conviction of sin became evident, and the outlaw would mourn over his awful past, "What have I now for all the battles I have fought and all the cattle I have taken but shame and remorse," he said. His love for Moffat grew very strong, and ere long the mighty love of God took possession of him. The miracle was wrought. In little more than a year the missionary triumphantly led the outlaw, a willing captive, to Cape Town to show the astonished Governor and incredulous settlers what the Grace of God could accomplish. The eagerness to kill Africaner was so great that he had to accomplish the journey disguised as Moffat's servant, but when the Governor was convinced of the change he pardoned him and showed him many marks of kindness.
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Soon after this Moffat was transferred to BeChuanalancl, where, first at GriQua Town and afterwards at Kuruman, he rendered half a century of splendid service for the salvation of Africa. His translation of Holy Scripture into SeChuana remains as a memorial of his life-work among the BeChuana.
After Moffat's appointment to GriQua ^amaOuaiand Town, the L.M.S. felt compelled to abandon their Mission in Great NamaQualand, and for several years the district was left without Christian teachers, and was devastated by incessant warfare. At last, in 1825, the way seemed to open for the W.M.M.S. to enter the country. In that William year William Threlfall (who had made an Threlfa11 unsuccessful effort to occupy Delagoa Bay) undertook a pioneer journey accompanied by two converted Hottentots. Biding on oxen, they crossed the Orange and reached Warm Bath, where they were treacher- ously murdered by Bushmen.
Not until 1832 was it found possible to g"^8^11 station a missionary at Warm Bath. Then Josiah Nisbett, of the Madras Civil Service, by generous contributions, made the re- commencement of this work possible. " Cannot you do something for that miserable country?" he asked. "If you will send a missionary to these people I
122 The Gall of the Dark Continent
will give £300. If that is not sufficient, I will dispose of my carriages and horses. I would trudge on foot rather than let Great NamaQualand remain without the Gospel." In response to this, the Rev. E. Cook laboured for ten years at this station, and after his death the work was carried on by a succession of faithful and devoted men. Stations were also opened at Hoole Fontein among Africaner's people ; and at Concordiaville, Elephant Fountain, and Wesleyville, in Damaraland. But, owing largely to the migratory habits of the people, the difficulties were great, and the stations extremely awkward to reach. It was therefore decided to hand the work in Great NamaQualand and Damaraland over to the Rhenish Mission, and this was done in 1851 and 1867, only Lilyfontein being retained by the W.M.M.S.
The BaRaiong We have seen how from Lilyfontein the
Mission W()rd of God ugounded Qut tQ them that
dwelt" in Great NamaQualand and Damara- land. We have now to record another movement of great importance that origi- nated at that same centre of light among the Khamies Berg people — the mission to the BaBalongs, a BeChuana tribe of the great Bantu race, inhabiting the then
Our South Africa Mission Field 123
practically unknown region now BeChuana- land and Orange River Colony. The diffi- culties of our work among the NamaQua and Damara arose largely from the scattered population and roving habits of the people ; the natives were comparatively few and the area to be covered was immense. With the BeChuana tribes it was usually otherwise. They were more advanced in civilisation, and were agricul- turists as well as herdsmen and hunters, and they were often massed together in large companies. Intertribal wars, how- ever, kept these people constantly moving from place to place. The patient, coura- geous faith of the men who ventured to travel, unattended and unprotected, far from the limits of settled government to carry the message of peace to these warring peoples rebukes our less heroic age. At the close of 1821, in the heat of the South African summer, the Rev. Samuel Samuel and Mrs. Broadbent set out from Lilyfontein on this new venture. In an ox-wagon they made their way through the northern part of NamaQualand and across BeChuana- land — "one of the most desolate and barren regions on the face of the earth. Rain seldom falls, and the air is dry in the extreme. As far as the eye can reach stretch vast sandy plains, crossed by
124 The Gall of the Dark Continent
rugged lines of rock. Vegetation is sparse, stunted and spinous."
The wagon passed slowly along to GriQua Town, where an L. M.S. missionary was stationed. A wagon accident caused Mr. Broadhent internal injuries, and the long journey to Graif Heine t had to be made to secure medical help. For six months Samuel Broad bent hung between life and death. But it pleased God to restore His servant, and, accompanied by the Rev. T. L. Hodgson, newly arrived from England, Broadbent returned to BeChuana- land. Travelling through an unknown country they at length reached the Vaal, which they crossed on rafts, and then followed its north bank in a north-easterly direction until they suddenly and quite unexpectedly found themselves in the arms of the BaBalong they had come to seek. A MaNtatee raid had caused these people to move southward — a multitude of men, women and children, with their cattle, sheep and goats, the armed warriors bringing up the rear. This was a movement caused by the great Zulu conquests. The MaNtatee, about 50,000 in number, had been driven southward before the fierce MaTabele, and, having lost their own lands and cattle, were preying upon their weaker neighbours as they moved along. The country was
Our South Africa Mission Field 125
indeed in a terrible condition. From the Vaal to the Zambesi, from Zululand on the east coast to the BeChuana desert there was war, and fever, and hunger, and the restless movement of the peoples. Our brave missionaries at once attached themselves to the BaRalong, and for some years wandered with them from place to place, living in wagons and suffering all the perils of the situation, whether from wild beasts or still wilder men. Eventually a resting-place was found. The tribe settled at Thaba Nchu in the present Orange River Free State. This was in the year 1833, Work was also undertaken among the GriQua, the BaSuto, and the MaNtatee.
While many of the great Missionary A Notable Societies usually confine their attention to wesieyan the non-Christian races, Methodism has Missions never, so limited its sphere of activity. Without respect to race, religion or language, our missionaries have from the beginning sought to render help wherever opportunity presented itself. From the very first, Colonial work has been a special feature of the W.M.M.S. programme. While seeking to make Christ known to the heathen, we have never neglected the spiritual welfare of our fellow countrymen residing in the
126 The Gall of the Dark Continent
great mission fields to which God has called us. The consistent Christian life of an English trader or soldier in India or Africa is an in- valuable help to the workers seeking to evan- gelise the heathen, and it behoves us, in the interests of the vernacular work, to minister to that Englishman's spiritual needs. Gape Town In carrying out this policy, the Mission-
ary Committee watched for an opportunity to begin work amongst the European settlers in Cape Colony. In 1820, Barnabas Shaw, from his eyrie in the Khamies Berg, perceived that the official prejudice was giving way, and he sent one of his colleagues, the Be v. E. Edwards, to begin work in Cape Town. On reaching the capital, Mr. Edwards at once went to the acting Governor to seek permission to preach to Europeans, and also to instruct the slave population of the town and neighbourhood. The permission, refused to Shaw four years before, was now cheerfully given, and- from that date Cape Town has been " occupied " by Methodism. A few years later the Committee requested Mr. Shaw himself to take charge of the Cape Town station. This devoted missionary pioneer was long spared to work, and, after more than forty years' service, died at Bondebosch in 1857.
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We have now surveyed the operations of The Colonists the W.M.M.S. in the western regions of of 1820 South Africa and the great missionary movements that grew out of them. An event of unusual character now demands our attention, for out of it our missions in the eastern districts of Cape Colony developed.
The great war with France caused much unemployment and distress in England, and in order to afford some relief the Government decided to draft a large body of colonists to Algoa Bay. From a large number of eager applicants, the Colonial Office officials carefully selected some 4,000 persons, and these were conveyed to Africa in twenty-six vessels at the expense of the nation. To the credit of Great Britain, it must be recorded that the Government made provision for the spiritual as well as the temporal necessities of the settlers, and, in order that public worship might be observed in accordance with their varying convictions, it was provided that every settlement of not less than one hundred colonists should be allowed to select a minister. It so happened that a large number of the prospective colonists were Methodists, and this gave Conference a long- wished-for opportunity. The Bev. William William Shaw* was appointed to the post, and on w
* Not related to Barnabas Shaw.
Mission
128 The Gall of the Dark Continent
May 16th, 1820, he landed with the settlers in Algoa Bay. For three years he devoted himself to the interests of the new colonists, travelling from settlement to settlement and keeping alive the religious life of the small communities. The Kafir Shortly after his arrival William Shaw
wrote, " There is not a single missionary between my residence and the northern extremity of the Red Sea." Thus early the desire to claim the Kafirs for Christ seized the man whose speeches and appeals for the African races are still remembered by many in England. In 1823 he made a journey of one hundred miles from Grahamstown to the village of a Kafir chief, who was persuaded to give land for a mission station — chiefly because he regarded a white missionary as a means of communication with the Government. Thus began our work among the warlike Kafir tribes. Perceiving how solitary mission stations were liable to fail, William Shaw, with statesmanlike foresight, con- ceived the idea of establishing a chain of stations, placed within hailing distance of each other. Wesleyville was the first link of the chain, and Mount Coke became the second; a third was placed at Butterworth, the fourth was Morley, the next was Clarkebury, and the last was Buntingville.
Our South Africa Mission Field 129
Thus a chain of stations was formed 200 miles from end to end- — a line of light shining through the darkness.
But the work Was not suffered to The Kafir Wars
progress without difficulties. In 1834 the fifth Kafir war* broke out. This was but one episode in a great struggle for stable government, which only became possible after the ninth war in 1877. In this protracted conflict, our mission stations were abandoned and destroyed time after time. But the large number of native churches found to-day throughout these territories speak of the quiet and heroic faith with which the missionaries returned again and again to re-establish their work and build the waste places.
The men who share with William Shaw Notable the honour of the Kafir Mission were many, and their names are still fragrant in the whole of Kafirland where men, English and Native, are beginning to understand the greatness of the work done in the early days. No one has rendered finer service than Peter Hargreaves. Since 1857 he has laboured for the salvation of Africa, and at an advanced age is still with us. His mission to Pondoland is a notable feature of our South Africa mission field.
* The first was in 1779, and for a hundred years from that time, whether in the hands of Dutch or English, the frontier of civilisation was marked out in blood.
5
le Workers
130 The Gall of the Dark Continent
The South
African
Conference
To W. B. Boyce belongs the honour of compiling the first Kafir Grammar.
Gradually the work expanded in all directions — Tembuland, Pondoland, GriQualand, and BaSutoland were occupied. In 1842 Natal was entered, and efforts were made to evangelise the terrible AmaZulu.
When the extent of the work amongst Europeans in Cape Colony is considered, it will be understood that, sooner or later, the question of self-government was bound to arise. So early as 1860 William Shaw strongly urged upon the Committee the formation of a South African Conference, but others felt that such a step would be premature. In 1882 a scheme was finally accepted whereby a separate South African Conference came into being. All the exist- ing work described above was entrusted to the newly formed Conference, and from that time it has made steady progress.
The returns for 1910 are : —
Churches |
1,305 |
Other Preaching Places |
2,625 |
Ministers |
260 |
Evangelists |
252 |
Local Preachers |
4,764 |
Total Income for Year |
... £163.555 |
Full Members (European) |
9,901 |
,, ,, (African) |
... 78,228 |
Members on Trial (European) |
727 |
,, ,, ,, (African) |
... 33,361 |
Adult Baptisms during year |
4,221 |
Adherents |
... 314,000 |
Our South Africa Mission Field 131
The formation of the South African The Transvaal Conference left one important field of work still under the care of home Methodism — the Transvaal. With this we must now deal.
Cape Colony has witnessed few more The Great remarkable events than the Great Trek of Boer Trek 1836. For some time the Dutch settlers had disliked British rule. Some of their grievances were doubtless very real — to them — while others were more or less sentimental. Descendants of the men who fought Philip II., they were not the people to submit to what they believed to be unjust treatment, and at last they resolved to emigrate beyond the borders of Cape Colony. Packing their goods on their wagons, some thousands of them turned their faces northward to seek new homes in the wilderness. With their horned cattle, sheep, goats and horses, they went from the grass-covered plains and climbed by the steep passes to the high table- lands. Once across the Orange Eiver they believed themselves beyond the bounds of British authority, and there most of them settled. Some of the bolder spirits pressed still further north and crossed the Vaal into the wild regions then occupied by the MaTabele under Mozilikatzi, with whom they had much
132 The Gall of the Dark Continent
fighting. The Dutch suffered many severe losses, but ultimately their fierce foes were driven across the Limpopo. In 1852, by the Sand River Convention, the British Government recognised the independence of the settlers north of the Vaal ; two years later (1854) the Orange Free State was also formally recognised, and the " Boers" were left to work out their own destiny. David Magata The apostle of Methodism beyond the Vaal was not a European missionary, but a poor, unlettered native — David Magata — whose story has been told in "A Mission to the Transvaal!' Born in the Maga- liesberg, this remarkable man became a MaTabele slave, and for some years was a personal servant of the terrible Mozilikatzi. When the Boers drove the MaTabele northward, David Magata escaped, fled to Thaba Nchu,* and was there soundly converted to God in the Methodist chapel. There soon came into his heart that desire so usual with new converts — the desire to proclaim to his own family the grace of the Lord Jesus. Failing to find any trace of them (the long years of turmoil and war had scattered many families for ever) he began to preach wherever opportunity offered.
* See page 125.
Our South Africa Mission Field 133
He had received no commission save from his Lord ; but the heart of this ex-slave was overflowing with the all-constraining love of Christ, and he could not be silent. When William Shaw visited Thaba Nchu and heard of this man's evan- gelistic zeal, he appointed him an agent (without pay) of the W.M.M.S. In season and out of season he preached to all who would listen. In the Boer settle- ments he preached to the native servants ; he visited the scattered kraals ; he spoke to people by the wayside. Unhappily, the settlers had carried with them to their new home their old prejudice against missionary work among the natives, and David soon found himself the object of fierce oppo- sition. This came to a head one day in Potchefstroom (then the capital), when a Landdrost had this black apostle tied to the wheel of an ox-wagon and flogged, and then banished him from the Republic. But David Magata's zeal was not to be quenched, and he soon returned to the Transvaal where, happily, he met Paul Kruger, then a young Commandant, who heard his story of evangelism and perse- cution and gave him written permission to return to the capital, where he was soon at work again. Familiar with several native languages, he was able to speak to the
134 The Gall of the Dark Continent
men of many tribes as they passed through Potchefstroom on their way to the diamond mines. The w.m.m.s. In 1865 a minister was "earnestly re- quested" for Potchefstroom as a direct result of Magata's labours. But it was only in 1872 that the "Mission beyond the Vaal " took definite shape. In that year George Blencowe, William Wynne, and George Weavind were appointed, with Potchefstroom as headquarters. Services were conducted in a schoolroom lent by the Boer Government. Two years later Pretoria appeared on the Minutes of Conference. Then came the long troubles connected with British annexation and the war of 1880. At that time we had only seventy-eight members at two centres for European work (Potchefstroom and Pretoria). We had also native churches among the BaKwena and the BaBalong. After the war a new era began with the first Synod of the Transvaal District in 1882, of which the Be v. Owen Watkins was Chairman. As new missionaries arrived forward movements were made. The country was still without roads or bridges, and railways were unknown. Yet the splendid work done in those pioneer days prepared the way for the great results of later vears.
-
NATIVES AT HOME IN THE KRAAL.
Photo by Neville Edwards.
NATIVES AS WE MEET THEM AT THE MINES.
p. 135.
Our South Africa Mission Field 135
The discovery of gold on the Rand in The Discovery 1886 immediately drew to the country large numbers of men of many races intent on but one thing — gold. We have already seen how avarice brings out the worst and most selfish qualities of human nature. The town of Johannesburg " sprang" into existence where two or three years before " the Witwatersrand was wild, wind- swept veld." But though many of the miners were utterly godless, in others the fire of true piety burned unquenched, and Methodism soon recognised her duty to the new-comers. The Rev. F. J. Briscoe Among the became minister of our first Rand Church, MIners living for six months in a wagon until other accommodation could be secured. In this way European work became an important feature of our Transvaal District. But the native work was not neglected. Indeed, the opening of the mines soon gave us new opportunities, for men of many tribes gathered from hundreds of miles around to serve for a period and then return to their distant kraals. In this way the service held in the mine compound became a powerful instrument for the wider diffusion of the Christian message. Thus, while some natives learned new vices from their white employers, others carried back to their homes the seed of the
136 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Kingdom. Our workers lost no opportunity ^Work" °f °^ gomg to the people in their own districts. " For a century or more the Transvaal had been the meeting-place and radiating centre for many Bantu peoples, and from the beginning our work touched very varied tribes. On the east was Swaziland, calling us to labour among its virile people of the great Zulu family. Four hundred miles away on the west were the BaKalong, under the great chief Montsioa, asking for a settled ministry. In the extreme north, near Mphahleles' country, were Ba- Pedi people calling us to follow up the work of natives who, having laboured in the mines for a few months, had taken back with them the Water of Life ; and on the extreme southern border of the Republic, in a parched and thirsty land, were the Koranna desiring to drink of this same Water. Again, in the villages and on scattered Boer farms were people who had grown up from infancy in Boer service and were Dutch speaking. These people, scattered and unshepherded, without land, without nationality, early felt the thrill of Christ's message, and formed many a country church. With the map before us, it is easier to realise the boldness of the planning which, following the Guiding Hand, marked out such an extent of
Our South Africa Mission Field 137
territory to be occupied in the name of Christ."*
Under the manifest blessing of God, Growth this extensive work prospered abundantly, and in 1898 there were over 8,700 full members in our Transvaal District. The real promise of this work is better understood when we remember that, after nearly a century of work in Ceylon, we have only a full membership of 5,900, and ninety years of strenuous labour in S. India have only resulted in a membership of 8,100 (including those gathered in the great mass movements in Haidarabad).
Then came the great Boer War of 1899- The Great War 1902. During those dark years fire and sword wasted the land. Boer commandos and British armies carried destruction everywhere. Our churches were destroyed, our members scattered, and for a time it seemed that the labour of years was undone. At last the long- delayed hour came and PEACE was proclaimed — we cannot call it " sweet " peace, for homes were ruined and hearts broken ; the wound could only be healed by the kindly hand of time. But even before the war was over the W. M. M. S. was preparing to step in again to apply to wounded hearts the ointment of Divine Love. Early in
* F. J. Briscoe.
5*
138 The Gall of the Dark Continent
1902 the Committee arranged for the Rev. Amos Burnet to go to the Transvaal to superintend the re-establishment of the work of God. In his little book, A Mission to the Transvaal, Mr. Burnet thus describes the condition of the country :
" When we arrived in South Africa the last shot had been fired, and quiet was once more restored to the distracted land. With a joy that cannot be understood by those who have never known the bitterness of exile, the people were flocking to their homes. . . . Then followed the long, dark days of despair, the wearying uncertainty about loved ones of whom no tidings came. . . . What a home-coming it was ! Flocks and herds had been swept away ; the smiling homestead had disappeared, or only re- mained as a blackened ruin. It was possible, in those dark days, to drive 150 miles without seeing a single farmhouse that was altogether untouched. Another journey of 250 miles only brought into view about a dozen cattle and less than fifty sheep. In some towns, as at Ermelo, the very churches were dis- mantled and destroyed, and again the bitter cry was heard, ' Our holy and beautiful house is burned with fire, and all our pleasant things are laid waste.' For nearly three years, in many parts of the District, the altar fires were extinguished. No sound of prayer or Christian hymn was heard. This was especially and generally true of our native churches."
A New It is impossible for home Christians to
Beginning understand the utter discouragement that
must have filled the hearts of our mission- aries to see all their work laid waste. But with splendid courage and holy faith
Our South Africa Mission Field 139
they set to work to build again the waste places ; and soon, Phcenix-like, from the ashes there arose a new Church greater and stronger than ever before. Our wonder- working God had made the wrath of man to praise Him. As a result of a tour of inspection, Mr. Burnet and his colleagues came to the following conclusions :
(1) That English and native work must be vigor- The plan of ously prosecuted, simultaneously and in their due Campaign proportions.
(2) That there must be an immediate and exten- sive development of purely missionary operations.
(3) The need for a great development of the edu- cational activities of our Church must be at once dealt with.
(4) That provision must be made for the industrial training of women and girls.
(5) That the country districts presented fine open- ings for medical missionary work.
This statesmanlike policy commended it- Developments self to the Missionary Committee, and during 1903 fifteen additional missionaries were sent to the Transvaal. "According to the good hand of God upon them," our missionaries were enabled to carry their plans to fruition, and the progress made was such as has never before been witnessed on any other part of our Mission Field. Under the faithful preaching of the Word of God, men and women were converted by the score. Churches sprang up in mining towns
Growth of the Church
140 The Gall of the Dark Continent
and native villages. Under the Rev. F. J. Briscoe, our Kilnerton Training Institution became the foremost institution of its kind in the Colony.
The progress the Transvaal District has made since the war is best illustrated by the following remarkable figures.
1898. 1910.
English Ministers ... 24 56
African Ministers... ... 17 34
Evangelists ... ... 34 50
Day-school Teachers ... 77 119
Local Preachers 607 1,652
Full Members 8,794 20,302
Members on Trial ... 3,506 1,788
Adherents 46,615 84,844
It must be remembered that the returns for 1898 were almost wiped out during the war. The increased membership is start- ling, and we must note the fact that only 2,521 of the full members are Europeans, the rest being natives. No less than 1,544 of our local preachers are men of African race ; this is unique in the history of mis- sions. During the first six and a half years after the war, Mr. Burnet reported more than 10,000 adult baptisms from heathen- ism. Wonderful are the works of our God!
Portuguese East Africa
We have still to trace the off-shoots of the Transvaal Mission in Portuguese East
14
PORTUGUESE. ANGOLA
•._ — .._ — ~~ .
18
£2
DAMARA LAND
26
30
34
Our South Africa Mission Field 141
Africa and Southern Rhodesia — the latter now a separate District.
Along the East Coast, between the Transvaal and the Indian Ocean, is the southern extremity of Portuguese East Africa. Our W.M.M.S. work is almost conterminous with the Administrative district of Lourenco Marques ; it extends from Tongaland on the south to the line of the Limpopo and Olifant's Rivers on the north, from Delagoa Bay on the east to Swaziland on the west. Included in this area are the old native kingdoms of MaPuto, Tembe, MaTolla, Zihlahla, Shirinda and Ntimana. The people among whom we work are the Ba- Konga of the great Bantu race. Delagoa Bay is one of the finest harbours in the world, but the whole country is malarial.
Our work was begun in 1823 by William Threlfall, who, after ten months of William incessant fever, was carried on board a schooner and taken to Cape Town — only to be murdered shortly afterwards in an effort to reach Great NamaQualand.# The work was abandoned until Robert Mashaba, a wob^rt. native of Tembeland converted in Cape Colony and educated under the great Dr. Stewart at Lovedale, undertook a mission at Lourenco Marques on his own responsi-
* See page 121.
Grov Chut
Porti East
Our South Africa Mission Field 141
Africa and Southern Rhodesia — the latter now a separate District.
Along the East Coast, between the Transvaal and the Indian Ocean, is the southern extremity of Portuguese East Africa. Our W.M.M.S. work is almost conterminous with the Administrative district of Lourenco Marques ; it extends from Tongaland on the south to the line of the Limpopo and Olifant's Rivers on the north, from Delagoa Bay on the east to Swaziland on the west. Included in this area are the old native kingdoms of MaPuto, Tembe, MaTolla, Zihlahla, Shirinda and Ntimana. The people among whom we work are the Ba- Konga of the great Bantu race. Delagoa Bay is one of the finest harbours in the world, but the whole country is malarial.
Our work was begun in 1823 by William Threlfall, who, after ten months of William
, r- • j -i j Threlfall
incessant lever, was carried on board a schooner and taken to Cape Town — only to be murdered shortly afterwards in an effort to reach Great NamaQualand.^ The work was abandoned until Robert Mashaba, a J*_obf rt,
.. x» rp l i j j • r\ Mashaba
native ot lembeland converted in Cape Colony and educated under the great Dr. Stewart at Lovedale, undertook a mission at Lourenco Marques on his own responsi-
* See page 121.
142 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Delagoa Bay Circuit
bility in 1885. He established schools and founded churches, although for over five years he laboured single-handed. The work was taken over by the W.M.M.S. in 1893, and Mashaba was received as a minister on trial. Unfortunately, the following year war broke out between the Portuguese and their native subjects, and Mashaba, being accused of complicity in the " insurrection," was, on mere suspicion, deported to Cape Verde. # But the work spread rapidly, and in the great forward movement after the Boer War our first European missionary was stationed at Delagoa Bay. We have now four African ministers and three catechists working in this field. Our churches number 39 and we have a Christian community of over
6,000.
*****
Southern Rhodesia
When Mozilikatzi and his MaTabele hosts were driven out of the Transvaal by the Boers in 1837, they crossed the Limpopo into the land of the MaKalala and established themselves in the south- western portion of it (between the Limpopo and Victoria Falls) — henceforth known as MaTabeleland. During the rest of the
* After several years detention, Robert Mashaba was permitted to return to the ranks of our Transvaal ministry, out he is excluded from Portuguese territory.
Our South Africa Mission Field 143
reign of Mozilikatzi and that of his son Lobengula, the missionaries of the L.M.S. worked among the MaTabele under the special protection of these wild and war- like monarchs, who always favoured the messengers of God, though they never received the Word into their own dark hearts, and usually influenced their people against Christianity. To the north-east, between the MaTabele and Portuguese Zambesia, was the land of the MaShona— another Bantu tribe (not an off-shoot of the AmaZulu). In 1889 the whole of these countries between the Limpopo and the Zambesi passed, by Royal Charter, into the hands of the British South Africa Company for commercial development. This vast territory, 750,000 miles in extent, was named Southern Rhodesia, after the founder of the Company.
In 1891 Mr. Rhodes, on behalf of the Planting Chartered Company, offered the W.M.M.S. our Mission £100 a year towards the cost of a mission in MaShonaland. Recognising this to be a call to advance, our Committee instructed the Revs. Owen Watkins and Isaac Shimmin to enter Rhodesia. Journeying by coach and wagon, these pioneers set their faces towards the new mission field, and after five months reached their destination — Fort Salisbury. Having made the preliminary
144 the Gall of the Dark Continent
arrangments, Mr. Watkins returned to the Transvaal, leaving his colleague to take charge of the new work. In 1892 Mr. Shimmin was joined by George H. Eva, two years later by John White, and in 1895 by John W. Stanlake. These four men, assisted by native evangelists, were in God's hands the means of founding the new mission. Developments The first task confronting our mission- aries was a gigantic one. The people spoke a language unknown to any of the workers, white or black. They were without literature or knowledge of Christian truth, degraded almost beyond belief, and wholly suspicious of the new-comers. Customs, belief, language — all had to be learned. The first duty was to select suitable centres in populous districts where the natives were willing to receive our missionaries. With the help of the Company, land was obtained. In several centres they gave us farms for our mission purposes. Six stations were thus planted, and native evangelists were located. Subsequent work has consisted largely in consolidating these main stations, occupying them with English missionaries, and branching out in every direction around. Meanwhile, the language (Shona) was learned and committed to writing. School- books were printed for use in our schools, and
Our South Africa Mission Field 145
these were quickly followed by Scripture portions, a hymn-book and a catechism. In this translation work the Revs. John White and Avon Walton have taken the chief part.
At first catechists had to be imported Nengubo from Cape Colony, but it soon became necessary to train men in the country. For this purpose the Nengubo Training In- stitution was opened in 1899. Beginning with five youths, this institution has now twenty-seven students in training, the majority of whom will eventually enter our work as catechists or teachers. Four men, trained at Nengubo, have already entered the ranks of our ministry, and are rendering valuable service.
There are some 30,000 white settlers in Southern Rhodesia, and, in accordance with Methodist custom, work has been under- taken and faithfully carried on among them. For their own sakes, and for the sake of the natives they influence so greatly, we are bound to minister to the spiritual needs of these men. In four centres we have ministers set apart for European work, and at other places, as time and opportunity permit, our missionaries gather scattered settlers together and preach to them the Word of Life. Conversions among the white men, as well as among the natives, are continually reported.
146 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Our Rhodesian Mission has had its baptism of fire. At first MaTabeleland was closed to our missionaries (though those of the L.M.S. were labouring there by permission of the king). But in 1893 war unfortunately broke out between the MaTabele and the Chartered Company (we say unfortunately, for war is never a suit- able introduction to the Gospel) ; Lobengula was defeated, and he died soon after. His chief kraal, Buluwayo — a big circle of mud- and-thatch huts — was destroyed, and on its ruins a new town arose, built by Europeans. Our MaTabele Mission commenced in 1895. During the war of 1893, our stations in MaShonaland were wrecked and con- siderable damage was done to the work. The MaShona rebellion of 1896 again worked havoc to our Mission ; two of our most useful evangelists were cruelly murdered, and much property was des- troyed. But the effect of the rebellion was to destroy the MaShona confidence in witch- doctors and other evil advisers. During the decade 1901-1910 the full member- ship of the Rhodesia District increased by 140 per cent.
This broad survey of the W.M.M.S. South Africa Missions is sufficient general answer
Our South Africa Mission Field 147
to the question at the beginning of the chapter, " What has Methodism done to help the people of South Africa ? " She was early on the field, and has given of her best sons and servants ; these have devoted themselves wholly, heart and brain, to the work ; they have been evangelists, scholars, thinkers, and Christian statesmen — think- ing and planning for the redemption of the Dark Continent. They have cared for all ; they have laboured for all. They have been ministers of peace and goodwill between race and race, between white and black, and, to some extent, between Boer and Briton. " Religion," says George Adam Smith, " de- mands all the brains we poor mortals can put into it." Our missionaries in South Africa have lived up to that. Notice how much brain they have put into their service. Mark the careful planning, the statesman- like foresight, the wise, well-planned advance whenever opportunity offered. Livingstone has been described as "a man with a plan." Many of our South African missionaries might be similarly described. They have planned as well as worked ; they have thought as well as prayed. And this has the express approval of Christ Himself : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind!'
148 The Gall of the Dark Continent
TABLE OF DATES FOR CHAPTER III.
I486 — South Africa discovered by Bartholomew Diaz.
1652— Table Bay occupied by the Dutch East India Company.
1662— The landing of Van Riebeek, first Governor of the Dutch
Colony. 1737— George Schmidt, the first Moravian missionary, landed at
the Cape. 1795— Cape Colony became British territory. 1799— Vanderkemp (L.M.S.) reached Algoa Bay. 1803— The Cape restored to Holland by the Peace of Amiens. 1814— John McKenny, the firsr Wesleyan missionary to South
Africa, reached Cape Town. 1815— The Cape finally ceded to England. 1816 (April 14th)— Barnabas Shaw landed at Cape Town. 1816 (Sept. 6th)— Barnabas Shaw started for NamaQualand. 1817— Robert Moffat (L.M.S.) landed at Cape Town. 1820— Cape Town occupied by the W.M.M.S. 1820— Landing of William Shaw and the colonists at Algoa Bay. 1821 — Samuel Broadbent started for a mission to the BaRalong. 1823 — William Shaw began the Kafir Mission. 1825 — William Threlfall murdered in Great NamaQualand. 1832 — Mission in Great NamaQualand commenced. 1836— The Great Boer Trek. 1842— The W.M.M.S. occupy Natal. 1851-1867— The W.M.M.S. stations in Great NamaQualand and
Damaraland handed over to the Rhenish Mission. 1852— Independence of Transvaal recognised by Sand River
Convention. 1854— Independence of Orange Free State recognised. 1872— First W.M.M.S. ministers to the Transvaal appointed and
stationed at Potchefstroom. 1880— Annexation of the Transvaal and first Anglo-Boer war. 1882— The South African Wesleyan Conference formed. 1882— The Transvaal District constituted and first Synod held. 1886— Discovery of Gold on the Rand, and inrush of miners. 1891— Owen Watkins and Isaac Shimmin planted W.M.M.S.
Mission in MaShonaland. 1893— W.M.M.S. undertook work at Delagoa Bay. 1895— W.M.M.S. entered MaTabeleland. 1899-1902— The Great Boer War. 1911 — Our missionaries cross the Zambesi.
Our South Africa Mission Field 149
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION. - The place of thoughtful, statesmanlike planning in African missionary enterprise.
1. Briefly summarise the condition of South Africa during the first half of the nineteenth century ; (a) the condition of the native tribes, (b) the con- dition of the white colonists.
2. What were the chief advantages and dis- advantages to be reckoned with by the workers in the early years of our Mission?
3. Wherein lay the real greatness of our South African pioneers?
4. Discuss the relationship of the human and the Divine influences at work in our South African Missions.
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Kidd, Dudley. — South Africa. (" Peeps at Many Lands " Series.)
Theal, George. — South Africa. (" Story of the Nations " Series.)
Horne, Silvester. — The Story of the London Missionary Society.
Burnet, Amos. — A Mission to the Transvaal.
Chapter IV. Our West African Mission Field
"An American missionary, just before his departure for Africa, said to a friend, ' I go to that land of death ; and if I die, you must come and write my epitaph. ' It was asked, 'What shall I write?' 'Write,' the missionary answered, 'THOUGH A THOUSAND FALL, LET NOT AFRICA BE FORGOTTEN' "
WILLIAM FOX
The opening of West Africa was not undertaken seriously until Henry the Navigator began to place his crosses on its headlands. The "Coast" It was an uninviting coast-line which the Portuguese set themselves to follow — a long expanse of flat country, hardly re- lieved by the occasional low hills and the stretches of mangrove swamp or forest. From Sierra Leone to the Cameroons, there is hardly a landmark that can be distin- guished five miles out. Even the mouth of the Gambia is marked only by a bell- buoy. Sandbanks and shifting shoals lie along the surf-swept shore, and the forest-
150
Our West African Mission Field 151
belted lagoons are often shrouded with heavy mist.
The philanthropic zeal that brought about the abolition of the slave trade also created interest in the spiritual condition of the Negro race.
It came about in this way. The heroic efforts of Granville Sharp on behalf of an ill-treated Negro slave led to Lord Chief Justice Mansfield's famous judgment in 1772 : "As soon as a slave sets his foot on English ground he becomes free " ; and a number of Negroes who had accompanied their masters to this country soon claimed their privilege of freedom. After the American War of Independence, the number of freed slaves in London greatly increased, and as many of them were des- titute, a number of philanthropists sought for some means to relieve them. A Dr. Smeathman, who had resided in West Africa, proposed the formation of a colony for liberated Negroes at Sierra Leone, and, to give effect to this charitable proposal, " The Sierra Leone Company " was formed, a few thousands of pounds collected, and the Sierra Leone peninsular purchased from the local " king."
The first colonists (about 400 freed slaves The "Original from England and some sixty low-class Settlers " Europeans, mostly women), known as
152 The Gall of the Dark Continent
" Original Settlers," were shipped to their new home at the expense of the British Government inl 7 8 7. Unfortunately eighty- four died on the voyage, and on reaching their destination, nearly one hundred suc- cumbed to the climate during the first rainy season. But the Negroes were unused to freedom, and the white settlers were of indifferent character, though there were honourable exceptions. The Government foolishly granted them an allowance of rum, and this proved a fruitful source of evil. Granville Sharp wrote : —
" The greatest blame of all is to be charged on the intemperance of the people themselves ; for the most of them (both whites and blacks) became so besotted during the voyage that they were totally unfit for business when they landed, and could hardly be pre- vailed upon to assist in erecting their own huts."
The bay at the southern side of the mouth of the Sierra Leone River is one of the most beautiful spots to be found, and even these degraded colonists were im- pressed with the loveliness of their new home. Through the perseverance of the Governor, a settlement arose along the shores of the bay and up the slopes of the surrounding hills.
Five years later another large con- tingent of settlers reached Sierra Leone. It consisted of liberated Negroes from
Our West African Mission Field 153
Nova Scotia. These men had been slaves in the British American Colonies, but at the outbreak of the War of Independence had run away from their masters and joined the loyalist forces. When the war closed these Negroes followed the British armies to Canada, where their services were rewarded by grants of land in Nova Scotia. But the severity of the climate soon told on them, and with the coun- tenance and help of Government, the Sierra Leone Company resolved to under- take the repatriation of as many of them as were willing to return to their native Africa. For this purpose Lieutenant Clarkson, of the Royal Navy, was dis- patched to Nova Scotia, and some twelve thousand of the suffering Negroes accepted the proposal.
In March 1792, Lieut. Clarkson anchored his little fleet of sixteen vessels in the desired haven. Soon the land was cleared and "Freetown" entered upon a new existence.
In 1800 a company of Maroons from Maroons Jamaica was admitted into the colony, and twenty years later a large number of freed slaves from Barbadoes. Some former soldiers of West Indian regiments also settled in Sierra Leone.
The abolition of the slave trade in the
154 The Gall of the Dark Continent
"Liberated Africans "
The Sierra Leonians
early years of the nineteenth century again affected the population of Sierra Leone. British cruisers, patrolling the West Coast in search of the slavers, con- stantly succeeded in capturing " prizes," and many frightened, half- naked slaves were rescued and landed at Freetown.
It will thus be seen that the Sierra Leonians" are not an indigenous people. They form a class quite distinct from the native tribes around them, and are almost as separate from the Temnes, the Mendis, the Limbahs, or other tribes of the immediate hinterland as the Dutch settlers at the Cape are from the Hottentots or Kafirs. They are colonists, and regard themselves as vastly superior to the raw natives among whom they dwell. They speak no native language, but a species of " broken " English. An African language is to them as foreign as English is to the interior tribes. But this Lingua Franca is a bastard English, so different from the original that it has become practically a separate language, and true English is almost as incomprehensible to most of them as it is to the pagan tribes beyond. Apparently also, the early Sierra Leonians adopted the religion of their benefactors, and became nominally Christian — the qualifying adjective unhappily in many
Our West African Mission Field 155
instances bulking larger than the proper noun.
As the colonists increased in number new villages and small towns came into existence in the valleys behind Freetown and along the shores of the peninsula. Beyond, lay the vast Hinterland with its indigenous pagan tribes — a great land of bush, and forest, and stream.
Among the many restless and erring j^egf"° . colonists at Freetown in the early days, were men and women of different character. The Nova Scotian contingent included a number of Negroes who, while still in America, had received the Gospel preached to them by Methodist missionaries, and, in the beautiful language of our fathers, had been " savingly converted to God." On reaching Sierra Leone these faithful souls gathered themselves into a Society of no less than 223 members " and estab- lished the worship of God among themselves." Some of their number served as local preachers and others did the work of class leaders. Dr. Coke records that : —
" As their lives were exemplary, and their preach- ing regular, their congregations soon increased, and in process of time a preaching house was erected, capable of containing four hundred persons."
From the first, Dr. Coke took a warm
156 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Dr. Coke's interest in this little eompany of simple- First Efforts hearted Methodist Negroes.
" We received' many letters from them," he says, " beseeching us to send a missionary to the colony to second their exertions, and to instruct them more fully in the way of righteousness."
Missionary Colonists
Dr. Coke at once began to devise a scheme for the evangelisation of West Africa. It is clear that no merely pastoral mission was in his mind, for while he wished to shepherd the little flock at Freetown, his thoughts turned rather to the unevangelised pagans of the interior.
The Doctor's efforts belong to the early experimental days of missionary enterprise, and it is interesting to note the plan he adopted. By 1795 the scheme had taken definite shape, and we find him giving encouragement and assistance to sundry
" mechanics who were members of our Society in England, some of whom had officiated as local preachers, to accompany Governor Macaulay to the settlement, in order to form a Christian Colony, and open friendly intercourse with the natives of the Foulah country."
Dr. Coke's purpose was that these missionary-colonists, while instructing the Fulahs in industrial matters, should by example and teaching make known to them the saving grace of God. Etheridge remarks that this appears to be the first
Our West African Mission Field 157
instance in the history of nations in which the civilisation and salvation of the aborigines was the one object of founding a colony. The powerful sympathy and influence of Wilberforce was enlisted, and something of Coke's earnestness may be gathered from a sentence in one of Governor Macaulay's letters : ': I am pestered almost to death with Dr. Coke and his missionaries." The party reached Free- town on March 18th, 1796, and should have gone with the Governor to the Gambia ; but within a month Macaulay wrote to inform Wilberforce that difficulties Failure of had arisen among the missionary-colonists the Effort themselves. " It seems that they had either not rightly understood the engage- ment, or had not fully counted the cost." The whole enterprise failed, and the workers from whom so much had been expected, returned home. Dr. Coke felt the disappointment very keenly, but he was undaunted, and in the Minutes of the next Conference (1796) we read :
" Dr. Coke laid before the Conference an account of the failure of the colony intended to be established in the Foulah country in Africa; and, after prayer and mature consideration, the Conference unani- mously judged that a trial should be made in that part of Africa on a proper missionary plan. The two brethren above mentioned (Archibald Murdock and William Patten), having voluntarily offered
Our West African Mission Field 157
instance in the history of nations in which the civilisation and salvation of the aborigines was the one object of founding a colony. The powerful sympathy and influence of Wilberforce was enlisted, and something of Coke's earnestness may be gathered from a sentence in one of Governor Macaulay's letters : ': I am pestered almost to death with Dr. Coke and his missionaries." The party reached Free- town on March 18th, 1796, and should ■ have gone with the Governor to the Gambia ; but within a month Macaulay wrote to inform Wilberforce that difficulties Failure of had arisen among the missionary-colonists the Effort themselves. " It seems that they had either not rightly understood the engage- ment, or had not fully counted the cost." The whole enterprise failed, and the workers from whom so much had been expected, returned home. Dr. Coke felt the disappointment very keenly, but he was undaunted, and in the Minutes of the next Conference (1796) we read :
" Dr. Coke laid before the Conference an account of the failure of the colony intended to be established in the Foulah country in Africa; and, after prayer and mature consideration, the Conference unani- mously judged that a trial should be made in that part of Africa on a proper missionary plan. The two brethren above mentioned (Archibald Murdock and William Patten), having voluntarily offered
158 The Gall of the Dark Continent
themselves for this important work, the Conference solemnly appointed them for it, and earnestly recom- mended them and their great undertaking to the public and private prayers of the Methodist Society."
But Coke was again disappointed. For some reason neither of these brethren ever went to Africa. The matter was allowed to rest for a while ; but ere long Dr. Coke, after attending to several other enterprises, again turned his thoughts to the West A Missionary Coast, and published the following appeal for volunteers :
" Africa claims our care. The friends of liberty, having abolished the infernal trade, are labouring to establish an innocent commerce between us and Negro-land. The friends of the Gospel . . . should also stretch every nerve to improve the glorious opportunity. But who will be the man? ... If there be a Christian hero amongst us . . . let him inform the Committee and myself."
Again Coke's faith was tested. A year or two passed without any response. But God was working in the hearts of His people, and at last, in 1810, our great missionary organiser was guided to the George Warren chosen man. This was George Warren, a preacher stationed in the Helston Circuit. He told Dr. Coke that "for a long season his mind had been so deeply impressed that it was his duty to go to Africa, that .... he could nD longer delay to seek the good of Africa's benighted races."
Our West African Mission Field 159
About the same time three Dewsbury teachers, Healey, Rayner, and Hirst, "eager- ly offered themselves for the West Coast, from the constraining feelings which had become irresistible in their souls." After a little preparatory training they were ac- cepted as assistant missionaries, and sent with Warren as school teachers. This, our first African missionary party , reached Sierra Leone in November, 1811, and received a kindly welcome from the Governor and the little company of Negro Methodists already referred to. It was clear that the mis- sionaries' first attention would have to be given to this flock, so long without any earthly shepherd ; there had been little aggressive work, and the members had dwindled from 223 to 110. Under Warren's loving care, the congregations so increased, that the church soon became too small. The three assistant missionaries opened schools, and everything gave pro- mise of abundant harvest. But after eight months' service Warren died — the first of a long list of victims to the deadly climate of the West Coast (July 23, 1812). ^The White A few weeks later Rayner broke down and was invalided home (August, 1812). Healey and Hirst survived, and it seemed as if they would be spared to continue the work. But it was only for a time ; on the
160 The Gall of the Dark Continent
last day of 1814 they too were compelled to return to England. The following February William Davies and his wife reached Freetown ; but ten months later Mrs. Davies was laid to rest. Our third West African missionary went out in 1816, and was spared to fulfil two terms of service (five-and-a-half years in all), but his wife fell at his side seven months after they first landed. In February, 1819, John Baker and John Gillison arrived — the latter only to lay down his life five months later. The next three workers were all spared for more than two years' service, but eventually two of them died on the field, and the third returned home. During the one hundred years of our West African Mission ninety-four of our missionaries have died on the Coast and many others have been compelled to return to England.* The Church Missionary Society suffered quite as severely, for be- tween 1804 and 1825, of eighty-nine missionaries sent to Sierra Leone, over fifty died, and fourteen returned home shattered in health. The standard Wes- ley an history of those terrible years
* On the other hand, it must be remembered that over sixty of our W.M.M.S. missionaries have been spared to labour in West Africa for periods varying from five to fifteen years, and in two or three outstanding cases for twenty and thirty years.
Our West African Mission Field 161
has often been called " Fox's Book of Martyrs."
Nowadays — thanks to modern medical science — -the loss of life can be reduced to a minimum. But in the early years our missionaries went out badly equipped — in some cases without even the commonest necessaries of life. Knowing nothing of the place to which they were going, some went without bedding or the simplest articles of furniture. They usually lived in such dwellings as they found there, and when mission houses were built they were often constructed on a plan wholly unsuited for the tropics. Experience was purchased at a terrible cost.
Malaria has been the arch-enemy of The Ravages of missionary enterprise in Western Africa. From the first, all our work has been done in defiance of it, but it has hampered our workers at every turn, and has interfered beyond all calculation with the progress and development of our Mission. In the account of our West African work in the following pages, malaria must be postulated as an ever-present factor of the situation. Has there been lack of continuity at certain stations? Malaria has been the cause. Has there been wanting (at some periods) an organised plan of campaign ? Our men, usually sent out young, often fell victims to
6
162 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Early Days in Sierra Leone
The Gambia Mission
the dread enemy before they had time to understand the situation or devise schemes on any large scale. # Has there been (until recent years) a lack of such institutions as have proved the main strength of the work on other fields ? It is because, owing to malaria, one set of new missionaries has so quickly been superseded by another new set. In the face of this relentless foe, it is marvellous that so much has been accom- plished, and the magnificent results secured suggest that the Dark Continent is the most fruitful mission field in the world.
The chief efforts of our first West African missionaries were on behalf of the semi- Europeanised, semi-Christianised Negro settlers in Sierra Leone. As the years passed societies were formed, and new churches arose at several places in the peninsula.
The first important forward movement began in 1 82 1 , when John Baker (transferred from Sierra Leone) and John Morgan (fresh from England) were sent to the Gambia, nearly 500 miles north of Freetown. They were to minister to the Europeans, Sierra Leonians, and freed slaves settled on St. Mary's Island at the mouth of the river
* The seriousness of thi* will be realised when it U remembered that seventy-eight of our missionaries have been put out of action before they had completed their first year of service, and over fifty more in their second year.
Our West African Mission Field 163
(now Bathurst) ; but that was to be supplementary to their chief work of founding a mission among the pagan tribes. They were soon busy visiting native kings with a view to getting permission to settle among their people. After one or two failures, they discovered that it was the custom of the country to introduce oneself into the presence of royalty with a present, and learned that red cloth was highly prized by these potentates. Resolved to turn this information to account, we find them starting out to visit the king of Combo with "a small horse covered with scarlet cloth from head to tail," as a dash * for the king. With this offering they secured the royal favour; but on touring through the king's "territories" in search of a suitable place, they soon discovered that the people were strongly opposed to their presence. Although our missionaries urged that they had only come to do them good, the natives replied, " We have heard of white men before, and know that you want to steal our children, and make slaves of them. If the king settles you here, we will all leave." Ultimately they secured lodgings " in the miserable hut of an old Negro " at Man- Mandanaree danaree, and by the middle of May were
* The West African term for present. It is a relic of Portuguese influence, coming from "das," a gift.
164 The Gall of the Dark Continent
busy building a house for themselves. Meanwhile, they went by canoe to St. Mary's every Saturday to minister to their society in the settlement, returning to the bush on Monday morning. For a few weeks all went well, and on June the 14th they took up their abode in the new mission house which their own hands had made. But the exertion had been too great, and before the rains commenced Baker was attacked by fever every two or three days. His colleague, Morgan, " laboured on under the warm rays of a vertical sun, and retired every evening much fatigued " ; this he " considered an advantage ; for, having very uncomfortable lodgings, if not fatigued he could not sleep at all." Of course, he broke down ; the marvel is that he actually lived to put in over four years' valuable service ! But Baker had to leave the country to save his life. In his place there came a new missionary, William Bell, " in good health," and apparently " a good subject for the climate." Alas ! in forty- six days he was laid to rest. A few weeks later George Lane arrived at Mandanaree, but he too broke down, and in five months With a had to leave the Gambia. Soon the station
ExVeditionnt was abandoned, and Morgan accompanied a Government expedition up the great river by which Mungo Park had entered
Our West African Mission Field 165
Africa nearly thirty years before. The Gambia is the finest waterway in West Africa ; above Bathurst it is seven miles wide, and it is so free from shoals that ocean steamers of some size can ascend for 200 miles. To-day its banks are dotted with trading stations ; but when Morgan first went up in 1823, the crocodiles, the hippopotami, and the clouds of fish-hawks which inhabited its mangrove-fringed banks and swamps, were disturbed only by warring tribes of hostile natives. The steamer proceeded up the river for nearly 200 miles to a large island which the commandant of the expedition renamed " Macarthy's Island/' and then raised the Macarthy's British flag. Here John Morgan planted a mission station and unfurled the banner of Christ, and by indefatigable labours proved himself a true pioneer. The people around this lonely station were chiefly Muhamma- dans, and this was probably the first point of contact the W.M.M.S." had with the followers of the Arabian Prophet in Africa.
In 1833 a Dr. Lindoe conceived the idea An industrial of establishing an industrial settlement on EnterPrise Macarthy's Island by which he hoped to benefit the Fulah tribes. As we were already established on the island, he pro- posed putting his settlement under our care. He formed an influential English
166 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Committee, obtained from Government a grant of 600 acres of land, built a good mission house, chapel and school, supported one, and for a time two missionaries for us, sent out an agriculturist and a mechanic to instruct the Fulahs, along with various machinery — spent, in fact, a whole lifeful of energy and disinterested devotion and some thousands of pounds. But the un- healthiness of the island upset everything. The missionaries scarcely managed an average of two years each, and the enter- prise had to be abandoned. Dr. Lindoe's scheme was conceived on lines that have since proved successful in various parts of the world ; the only circumstances fatal to it were the utter unhealthiness of the climate and the inaptitude for industrial work of the missionaries sent out.
In recent years the Macarthy's Island work has been re-established on more suit- able, though less pretentious, lines. The cost of new buildings has been borne by our Bathurst Church, which also maintains the catechist and the school. In some ways An Accessible fae Gambia offers unusual facilities for
Mission Field .
missionary work. The Protectorate re- sembles a thin wedge driven into the western side of the Continent for some 250 miles. It comprises the various islands, and a strip of territory about
Our West African Mission Field 167
six or seven miles wide on each bank of the river, broadening to a sea-front of thirty miles. The Gambia thus provides a great highway to practically every part of the Colony and Protectorate. The people (some 160,000) are Jolofs and Mandingoes, of the great Negro race — tall, handsome people, who once swarmed in conquering hosts over these regions — and also such tribes as the Fulahs, Loubies, and Jolahs. The Jolofs are superior to all the others in native civilisation, and are fond of displaying their wealth by their costly dress.
In Bathurst, the capital of the Colony, Bathurst we have a well-organised, self-supporting circuit with a membership of some 800. We have two well-built churches in the town, two good elementary day schools, a technical school, a boys' high-school, and all the apparatus for carrying on a vigorous Christian work. Of our two European missionaries, one is engaged in industrial work, which is encouraged and in part supported by Government.
The Roman Catholics have a mission staffed by French priests and nuns, and the Anglican Church is represented in Bathurst, but our own mission is the largest in the Colony, and we have the greatest number of adherents.
The Sierra Leone Church
168 The Gall of the Dark Continent
While the events already recorded were taking place on the Gambia, the work in Sierra Leone was developing. The people were responsive, and results were harvested without serious difficulty. No long, dangerous journeys were necessary, for the Sierra Leonians almost all lived in the peninsula. Most of the Sierra Leonians had no religion of their own ; and the fact that they owed their freedom to England predisposed them to Christianity. As the churches grew, they monopolised the whole strength of our workers, who, as the decades passed, tended to become ministers rather than missionaries, pastors rather than evangelists. It was natural that it should be so — indeed, in a very large measure it was expedient. For as a profession of Christianity became fashion- able, and attendance at church accounted the proper thing, the most strenuous efforts were needed to preserve the inwardness and spirituality of true religion. The Sierra Leonian Church has to be regarded somewhat in the light of a Colonial Church, and all the arguments for giving diligent attention to European work on our several mission fields, apply with equal force to our work on behalf of these Negro colonists in Sierra Leone. "As a matter of fact, the whole community (as distinct
Our West African Mission Field 169
from the aborigines living in the Protec- torate, and now even coming into the peninsula) is ' Christian' ; not nominally merely, as in so-called Christian countries, but by actual membership at one or other of the many churches. To expect that all these thousands should be Christian, in the sense of being actually converted persons, would be as reasonable as to expect that all in ' Christian ' England should be so. Con- siderable numbers, however, are really converted, and give evidence of sincere piety and a genuine religious experience." We have nearly 7,000 full members in the Colony, and if many of them are still far from being perfect, they probably know quite as much about a religious experience as some people in our home churches whose religion is equally a matter of respectability and far less a guiding principle of life. When compared with any heathen town in Africa, or with many a mining centre, Freetown, with its regular Sunday worship and generally religious life, is a striking testimony to the success of missionary activity.
In Freetown the Anglican, the Wesley an Methodist, United Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, United Brethren, and American Methodist Churches are all at work. Almost every village in the
6*
170 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Efforts to Reach the Heathen
The Sherbro Mission
peninsula has its Anglican church and Wesleyan chapel ; beyond lies the Hinter- land with its pagan and Muslim tribes — Mendis, Temnes, Limbas, and others.
From time to time one or two of our missionaries have turned their thoughts from the strong, self-supporting Sierra Leonian churches to these unevangelised multitudes. As far back as 1853 con- versions among the aborigines living in the Colony were recorded ; idols and fetiches were abandoned or flung into the sea, and so many were handed over to the missionaries that our Freetown mission house became quite a museum, and on one occasion it was thrown open to visitors for several days. In 1877 a new mission was undertaken in Sherbro Island, on the southern coast of the Protectorate, and from there the work spread to the mainland opposite. In 1898 our Sherbro Mission was marked by a painful tragedy. A party of our Sherbro people went in boats up the river to Yeileh, for the opening ceremony of a new church. Just as the bell was ringing for service, a band of armed savages rushed from the bush and attacked the assembled worshippers, some of whom were slain as they tried to escape. The work at Yeileh has not yet recovered from the blow it received by this cruel plot.
Our West African Mission Field 171
About this time the King of Bandajuma The Bandajuma invited us to send a missionary to his town, and in response we undertook a mission to the Mendis — most of whom are Muslims.
In 1880 an extension was made into the The Limbah Limbah country in the northern portion of lsslon the Protectorate. A missionary was sent to Fouricariah at the invitation of the local king, who gave up to us one of his sons, who soon proved his worth as a catechist in our Mission. From this place The Scarries the work extended to Kambia, on the Great Scarcies River. These efforts to evangelise the pagan and Muslim tribes of the Protectorate are full of promise, but have in the past been crippled by the lack of native workers. With one or two exceptions, the Sierra Leonian catechists and ministers speak no African language, and it has been extremely difficult to get them to learn one.
In our Sierra Leone and Gambia District we have now an adult Christian community of over 10,000.
In addition to the missionaries already mentioned, Thomas Champness laboured for three years in this District, and Benjamin Tregaskis, William H. Maude, J. T. F. Halligey, and W. T. Balmer are outstanding names in connection with our Sierra Leone Mission.
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172 The Gall of the Dark Continent
More than eight hundred miles south-east of Sierra Leone is the Gold Coast Colony — a low, sandy coast fringed with low bush and beaten with ceaseless surf. Most of the country is covered with forest, except to the north of Ashanti, where there are great grass-covered plains or "open bush." The total area of the Colony and Northern Territories is about 100,000 square miles. Its peoples The strip of land along the coast is
divided between two nations of unequal size, the western part being Fanti and the eastern being Ga, whose town is Accra, the seat of the Colonial Government. Behind the maritime districts lies the country of the Twi, a people allied to the Fanti and speaking a kindred language. Of the Twi, the strongest and best- known nation is that of Ashanti. In the Northern Territories there are such tribes as the Moshis, Frafras, Grunchis, Wangaras, and the Mos. Over all the Protectorate the Hausas from the far Sudan are found. In the coast towns, and at some places up-country, there are Europeans — chiefly traders and Government servants ; the Gold Coast is not suitable for ordinary colonisation, for the climate makes pro- longed residence impossible. There is no element at all corresponding with the Sierra Leonian community. With the
Our West African Mission Field 173
exception of the coast people who have been in touch with civilisation, the natives are very backward and but little removed from the primitive state.
During his long period of rule over the ^mor Gold Coast, Governor George McLean established a day school for boys at Cape Coast Castle. To this school he paid great attention, and having obtained from the British and Foreign Bible Society a consignment of Scriptures, he gave a Bible to each boy with an exhortation to study it. Some of these lads prized their Bibles so highly that they formed themselves into a class for the "further study of the Word of God, calling it a "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge." This was in 1831, and they continued their weekly meetings for over two years. In 1833 the barque "Congo," commanded by Captain Potter, a member of the Methodist Church, arrived on the Coast. Some of the young men, anxious to obtain more copies of the Scriptures, applied to Captain Potter to take some out on his next voyage to the Gold Coast. Surprised at such a request from natives, Potter made enquiries, and even visited the little Bible Class. On arrival in England he com- municated with the W.M.M.S. and urged the Society to send a missionary at once to
174 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Cape Coast Castle. Funds were low, and the Committee hesitated to undertake a new responsibility, but as Captain Potter promised to take the missionary out free of cost — and, if necessary, bring him back again — Joseph Dunwell was appointed, and he landed at Elmina on New Year's Day, 1835. King Aggrey, of Cape Coast, sent messages to all the neighbouring tribes, and soon chiefs and people gathered to welcome the missionary. The Governor kindly invited Dunwell to stay at the Castle until he could arrange for a suit- able house.
Dunwell immediately set to work, and having studied the lives of David Brainerd and Henry Marty n on the voyage out, he had caught something of their spirit. A Sunday School was opened at Cape Coast and another at Anamabu. Catechumen classes were formed, and God signally blessed the young missionary's labours. In a few months he could count scores who had received his message. So many natives attended the Christian worship that the fetich -priests took alarm and endeavoured by ridicule and threats to hinder the work of God. "What! you turn white ? " they sneered, as the wor- shippers returned from service. "You know not that God gave Bible to white
Our West African Mission Field 175
man and fetich to black man ? How dare you go forsake the religion of your fore- fathers ? " Soon some forty or fifty persons were meeting in class, and Dunwell joyfully reported that one woman had publicly burned her idols in the presence of her heathen neighbours. But soon the devoted missionary was seized with fever, and after a few days' illness, he died on June 24th, 1835— less than six months from the date of his arrival in Africa.
The Committee felt that the work thus begun must be continued, and after an interval of about a year the Rev. G. O. and Mrs. Wrigley were sent out. The Deaths sequel is told with impressive brevity in Halligey's Methodism in West Africa. The Wrigleys arrived on September 15th, 1836.
" Early the following year, 1837, they were joined by the Rev. Peter and Mrs. Harrop. On February 5th, three weeks after landing, Mrs. Harrop expired. Three days later Mrs. Wrigley and Mr. Harrop passed away within a few minutes of each other. Mr. Wrigley . . . struggled on, with shattered frame and bleeding heart, until the following November, when he, too, was called to join the beloved comrades."
This brings us to the greatest name in T. Birch our West African Mission. Thomas Birch Freeraan Freeman (son of an ex-slave who had settled in England and married a servant girl) was born in 1809 in the village of Tyford near
176 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Winchester. For a time he worked as head gardener on an estate near Ipswich, but his biographer tells how " the appeals at that time so frequently made in Methodist churches soon stirred within his fervid heart a desire to bear the message of the Cross to his father's kindred " in Africa. In 1837 he offered himself to the W.M.M.S., was accepted, and, at the advice of the Committee, married a " cultured English lady who had it in her heart to do much for the native people." On January 4th, 1838, Freeman and his bride landed at Cape Coast, expecting to be welcomed by the missionary Wrigley. But instead of the looked-for greetings, Freeman learned that the man who was to have been his colleague had been laid in the grave several weeks before. The new worker braced himself for his difficult task. Soon he was down with fever, but while he struggled through, his devoted wife succumbed to a violent illness within seven weeks of her arrival in Africa as a happy bride.
After giving attention to the work founded by his predecessor at Cape Coast Castle, and completing the building of the church, Freeman turned his thoughts to the unreached millions of the interior. Stories of the cruelty and degradation of the Ashanti reached him, and he resolved
Our West African Mission Field 177
to attempt their evangelisation. In January, 1839, with several attendants and carriers, he started on the long and difficult journey. As he passed through the vast forests he held constant "palavers" with village chiefs and their people, laying before them the word of Life. Awful were the sights he witnessed as he journeyed through the Ashanti dominions, but they were nothing to what he was to see in Kumassi.
On April 1st, 1839, Freeman reached Freeman at the capital — the first messenger of Christ Kumassl to enter the "City of Blood." As he approached the town, he was met by officers of the royal household who had been sent with soldiers to escort him into the presence of the king. Our missionary did not know that the newly made mounds of earth on either side of the way were the graves of victims who had just been buried alive as a powerful fetich to protect Kumassi from any evil influence he might bring into it !
Surrounded by his court, the king Received by received Freeman with barbaric splendour. ' e mg The royal seat was " richly decorated with brass and gold, and was shaded by a magnificent silk- velvet umbrella of great size. The officers of the household wore massive pieces of silver plate, and others
178 The Gall of the Dark Continent
carried golden swords." Freeman speaks of the display of gold as " astonishing," but equally conspicuous were the signs of cruelty. He wrote :
" The royal executioners displayed the blood- stained stools on which hundreds, perhaps thousands, of human victims have been sacrificed. They also carried the large death drum . . . the very sound of which conveys a thrill of horror. This rude instrument, connected with which are most dreadful associations, was literally covered with clots of blood, and decorated with the jaw-bones and skulls of victims."
As this strange African monarch moved away, he was followed by "an immense procession of chiefs and soldiers." Freeman estimated their number at forty thousand, for the procession took an hour and a half in passing. in the During our missionary's short stay in
4 'City of Blood "the capital over forty victims were put to death within two days, as a sign of mourn- ing for a dead relative. The headless bodies were permitted to lie in the streets in a state of decomposition, and Freeman was amazed at the callous indifference of the people, who walked about among the putrefying corpses smoking their pipes and utterly unmoved. " The muffled sound of the dreadful death-drum " was constantly heard. " Hark," said Mr. Freeman's in-
Our West African Mission Field 179
terpreter, " do you hear the drum ? A sacrifice has just been made, and the drums say, ' King, I have killed him ! '
Amidst these terrible scenes our mission- ary proclaimed the Gospel message to all who would listen. He also appealed to the king for permission to plant a mission in Kumassi, and received the following reply :
" As the thing you have mentioned to His Majesty requires much consideration, he cannot answer you in so short a time. If you will come up again, or send a messenger after the rains are over, he will be prepared to answer you."
Realising the uselessness of arguing with such a despot, and compelled by the approaching rains to retreat, Freeman left Kumassi, after creating a very good im- pression among the people. The king was also favourablv impressed, as is clear from invited by the the following royal message :— AshantI KIng
" We hope you will come to Kumassi again and pay us another visit. We shall be always glad to see you. The king believes that you wish to do him and his people good."
A few weeks after his return to Cape Coast, Freeman received a letter from the Ashanti king reminding him of his promise to return soon, and expressing a desire to have a mission school established in Kumassi. This was encouraging indeed,
180 The Gall of the Dark Continent
and our brave pioneer was not the man to miss such an opportunity. Governor Maclean further encouraged Freeman by writing : —
" I trust that the Wesleyan Missionary Committee will be satisfied that there is such an opening as will justify them in pushing the advantage gained by your indefatigable zeal. I would almost go so far as to say that, if they have the means, a serious responsi- bility will rest upon them, and on Christian England, if so glorious an opening into interior Africa be neglected. But I hope better things. And I do not despair of yet witnessing the peaceful triumph of the Cross, even in that stronghold of Satan, Kumassi."
The Missionary Committee, though seriously straitened for lack of funds, could not neglect a call to such a place as Ashanti, and Freeman was summoned to England to lay the case before the home churches. His thrilling appeals so stirred our people that the sum of £5,000 was subscribed to provide him with six addi- tional missionaries for the Gold Coast and Ashanti Mission. Reinforcements While in this country Freeman married again, and when he landed in Africa in February, 1841, he had his wife with him and also five new missionaries, two of whom were married. But the treacherous climate spoiled the carefully made plans for extension. On March 17th, six weeks after the arrival of the additional workers,
Our West African Mission Field 181
two of the older ones (Mr. and Mrs. Mycock) had to be invalided home. William Thackwray died on May 4th ; Charles More Deaths Walden on July 29th ; Mrs. T. B. Free- man on August 25th ; Mrs. Hesk on August 28th. In September Mr. Hesk had to return to England. WTith magnificent faith, but with a bleeding heart, the heroic Freeman bore this stunning blow. With unswerving devotion he set himself to locate his three remaining missionaries. Leaving two of them in charge of the coast stations, he took Brooking up to Kumassi.
On December 13th, 1841, Freeman and Planting the Brooking entered the Ashanti capital, lumassi1" The king again received them in great state and with the utmost cordiality ; gave them a piece of land for a mission house, and promised that they should have his protection. Although the most revolting deeds were still being perpetrated daily, no obstacle whatever was placed in the way of our missionaries, and the people listened with the greatest freedom to the proclamation of the Gospel. The Sundays were set apart for special religious exercises, and Freeman preached to large congrega- tions. On Christmas Day this intrepid pioneer preached on the meaning of Christ- mas in the presence of the king himself.
182 The Call of the Dark Continent
The imagination lingers on such a scene — the Christian missionary, standing before that ferocious monarch and his courtiers, in the midst of that hell on earth, declaring the good tidings of great joy!
The king was impressed with his visitors, and took pains to show his favour. He gave a great banquet in their honour, and on the following day invited them to a private reception in the presence of his wives (" whom no man is permitted to meet or look upon "). A little amateur medical relief that Freeman was able to give added greatly to his reputation. On January 31st, 1842, after an imposing farewell ceremony, Freeman started for the Coast, leaving his colleague to carry on the work of God in that terrible city. More Recruits In the early weeks of 1842 three new Death*0™1 missionaries landed at Cape Coast, and
Freeman was soon busy locating them. Dixcove, Dominasi, and Accra were occu- pied, and one man was sent to join Brooking at Kumassi. But again hopes were dashed to the ground. In April one of the new workers died, and three months later another was called to the higher service. But in September, Freeman, still undaunted, embarked on a new enterprise. A New Gall Although the slave trade had been de-
clared unlawful, captives were still being
Our West African Mission Field 183
shipped from Lagos, Whydah, and other places. Many of these slaves were from the Yoruba country, and some were Egbas from Abeokuta, Not infrequently the sad voyage ended more happily than the wretched victims anticipated, and, rescued by British cruisers, they were landed at " Freetown " ! Thus it came about that not a few of them found their way back again to the homeland from which they had been stolen. But to some of these, captivity was an unspeakable blessing, for in Sierra Leone they were brought to Christ. When these converts returned to Abeokuta, they earnestly requested the W.M.M.S. to send teachers to their town. One message ran : —
" For Christ's sake come quickly. Let nothing but sickness prevent you. Do not stop to change your clothes, to eat, to drink, or sleep, and salute no man by the way. Do, for God's sake, start this moment."
Freeman promptly responded. Accom- panied by a native companion, he landed at Badagry. The townspeople tried to persuade him not to go forward, and told his servant that his master wrould be killed if he persisted. " My master does not care for that," was the reply. "His work just now is in the interior, and he will go. If he live, it will be well ; and if he die, it will be well. He does not care,"
184 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Freeman visits When Abeokuta was reached (December 11th, 1842), the servants of God passed through the gates midst cries of "Wel- come ! Welcome, white man ! Blessing ! Long life to you, white man ! " The converts from Sierra Leone could not restrain their joy. They said :
" We told our king that the English people loved us, and that our missionaries would be sure to follow us. The king could hardly believe you would come so far to do us good. Now it has come to pass ! 0 Master ! Welcome ! Welcome ! "
The Egba king himself " seemed quite overjoyed," wrote Freeman in his journal. " He clasped me in his arms before all the people." Christ or In the compound of the "palace" the
Muhammad? missionary expounded the Scriptures to the king, and held a prayer meeting ! This pagan monarch stood at the parting of the wavs. From the north the emissaries of Islam had reached Abeokuta and had almost won his allegiance. Now the Christian appealed to him in the name of the Son of God. Fearful of losing their power, the fetich priests tried to prejudice the king against both. But the story of One "lifted up" on a Cross drew this African monarch to the Redeemer, and ere long he announced his determination to accept the white man's Christ. The fetich
Our West African Mission Field 185
priests vowed vengeance, and not long afterwards carried their threat into exe- cution. The king was poisoned.
When Freeman left Abeokuta the Egbas cried after him, " Good-bye ! Come again soon ! Come again soon ! "
He had no man he could station there immediately, but happily the Church Mis- sionary Society was able to undertake the mission, and when our missionary returned to the coast he had the joy of welcoming the first C.M.S. worker. From that time the two Missionary Societies have worked side by side in Abeokuta and the sur- rounding country.
As a first step towards occupying the Badagry Egba metropolis, Freeman built a mission house at Badagry and left his African colleague, De Graft, there. It was a place of evil repute, and the ghastly sights witnessed confirmed the truth of stories he had previously heard. Before the end of the year the Revs. S. Annear and John Martin were stationed there. From time to time our catechists were stationed at Abeokuta, and our missionaries visited the city occasionally.
W7ith a zeal truly apostolic Freeman with the King now resolved to proclaim the Gospel of of Dahomey Christ in the presence of the unspeakable king of Dahomey. With this purpose he
186 The Gall of the Dark Continent
landed at Whydah, and with fearless devotion made his way to Abomi, the capital (February, 1843). The sights he witnessed were of the most sickening character, but the king received him in great state.
" The streets were filled with companies of soldiers, each having its respective flags, banners, and umbrellas. . . . The flag-staves were tipped with human skulls, and stools and other paraphernalia decorated with jaw-bones of enemies, and almost every conceivable device to impress the onlooker with the monarch's deeds of blood."
On reaching the palace, the ambassador of Christ found the king seated under his verandah, surrounded by many wives, and a body-guard of his famous Amazon warriors. The chiefs who led Freeman into the royal presence prostrated themselves on the ground and threw dust on their heads. The Amazons fired a salute of twenty-one guns in honour of the Queen of England, and another salute of nine guns for Freeman. Tactfully the missionary assured the monster before whom he stood that England desired to do good to the people of Africa, and then unfolded his sacred message. But in the Dahomian capital there was " no room " for the Prince of Peace, though the king gave permission to open a mission at the port of Whydah.
Our West African Mission Field 187
Amid a deafening salute of muskets and the blessing of the royal fetich priests, Freeman passed out of the royal presence, and Dahomey abandoned itself once more to the powers of darkness. The wicked monarch presented several pairs of slave- children to our missionary, who eagerly accepted so precious a gift and carried them away to Cape Coast, where he liberated them and gave them a Christian education.
From Whydah, Freeman travelled to Little Popo Little Popo, the chief of which asked for a teacher, and one was gladly promised. With but little interruption, the mission thus planted has been continued to the present day.
The next year was spent in visiting the Manifold now numerous stations and outposts on the Labours Gold Coast and in Ashanti, and about the middle of 1844 the missionary again came to England to assist in raising funds. " Thus," says Freeman's biographer, " this tireless man sped from place to place, year in and year out. Shock after shock came, but he seemed invulnerable, and kept steadily at work."
On the Gold Coast, Christianity was " For the winning its silent victories. Fantis, Gas, ^ Go'sper' °f and Ashantis were converted, and in some instances even fetich priests yielded to the
188 The Gall of the Dark Continent
mighty influence of the Spirit of God. A trivial act of aggression on the part of three converts led to a wide-spread persecu- tion. After a time the Colonial Government was obliged to intervene, and a great trial of several pagan chiefs at Cape Coast Castle resulted in such an exposure of the impositions practised by the fetich priests as led the chiefs themselves to turn upon their deceivers and publicly punish and degrade them. This was followed by a general movement in favour of Christianity. The chief who had led the attack on our converts became friendly, and sent fifteen of his children (like all West African chiefs he was a polygamist) to our school. The chief of Aberadzi cut down his fetich tree and built us a little chapel. At Akrodu, the old fetichman was converted, and when, after the usual probation, Freeman, in baptising him, asked, "Wilt thou then be baptised into this faith ? " the old man exclaimed, " What ! will I be baptised ? Yes ! I want all the water from the vessel poured over me ! " Our missionary was reminded of Simon Peter's cry, " Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head ! " This Christward movement, however, was entirely confined to the coast districts. The interior remained un- touched.
Our West African Mission Field 189
In spite of international prohibitions, Founding the Lagos continued to be a great slave market Lagos Distnct until 1851. At last England deposed the ruling chief, and restored the rightful king who had been dethroned by the slavers. On January 1st, 1852, a treaty was signed by which the king bound himself to abolish human sacrifices and suppress slavery. Freeman could not miss such an opportunity, and workers were at once stationed in Lagos itself. Two years later (1854) this master-missionary set out to re- visit the eastern portion of his great field. At Whydah he witnessed the embarkation of 650 slaves, and at once reported it to the British Government. Another attempt was made to get a foothold at the Dahomey capital, but the king was unwilling to have Christians nearer than Whydah. A missionary (E. A. Gardiner), was stationed at Lagos. Then Freeman again visited Abeokuta, where the king reminded him that twelve years before they had given our mission a piece of land, and that, although we had not claimed it, it had been carefully preserved for us. But funds were low, and it was not possible for us to station a missionary in that great city until 1861, when the Be v. Thomas Champness arrived.
But our apostolic Freeman had gone
190 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Retrenchment ahead faster than the home church was prepared to follow In his eagerness to plant the banner of the Cross on the ram- parts of African towns he had spent too much money. The means for such exten- sions for Christ's Kingdom as Freeman found possible were not forthcoming, and the sorely embarrassed Committee was forced to conduct a most painful corres- pondence with the devoted missionary who had sacrificed himself so unsparingly. Retrenchment was too dreadful ; and our pioneer felt that " other hands should lower the flag." After twenty years of mag- nificent service, Thomas Birch Freeman retired from our ministry (1857). For this disaster the burden of responsibility must rest on the home Church.
Disappointed — almost broken-hearted — the brave missionary settled at Accra, where for some years he lived as a private Christian, though he retained his interest in the mission and from time to time preached in our churches. Happily in 1873 he was persuaded to return to active work. But what might he not have accomplished during those precious years that inter- vened ! No longer as Chairman and General Superintendent, but as a rank and file minister, "Father" Freeman again flung all his remaining strength into
Our West African Mission Field 191
the work of the Gold Coast District, and for thirteen years was unceasing in his labours.
In 1885 our Gold Coast Mission cele- j^^~r of brated its Jubilee, and Freeman was chosen to preach the sermon.
" The old man, with great energy and eloquence, drew upon his rich experience, contrasting the past with the present. Who could have preached so well to this people? It was he who had completed the building of the sanctuary in which they were assembled; and his missionary life had covered nearly the whole of the fifty years. He had been the chief human agent in extending the work from one end of the District to the other."*
A year later, advancing age and in- firmity made it necessary for Freeman to become a supernumerary ; and on August 12, 1890, he quietly passed away.
Though Freeman rests from his labours, The Gold Coast his works follow him. To-day, two prosper- District To-day ous Districts are the result of the seed he sowed. Others worked beside him, or with noble devotion carried on the work he began. The names of Henry Wharton, William West, W. Terry Coppin, Dennis Kemp, and John S. Ellenberger, are familiar to most of us. Place after place has been occupied ; and now we have a line of stations running the whole length of the
* J. Milum.
192 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Gold Coast, with 154 churches, and 489 other preaching places. The strong, and practically self-supporting, native church has twenty-four ordained African ministers, 153 catechists, and a little army of nearly 800 local preachers. We have, in this District alone, over 14,000 full members, almost all natives. As the years go by the work seems to grow even more promising, and not a year passes without hundreds ol conversions — including fetich-priests and priestesses. During 1910 the full member- ship of the District increased by over 1,700, and there were also nearly 2,000 adult baptisms from heathenism. In Ashanti the fear of a cruel death pre- vented people embracing Christianity, but the work, long hindered by savagery and war, is now making startling progess. On the very spot where the human sacrifices were formerly offered, our chapel stands. In 1901 we had only eight members in the Ashanti mission; at the end of 1910 we had 1,267 with nearly 200 under instruc- tion for baptism. Kumassi is still far from being Christian, but it offers a field of exceptional promise. We have fourteen churches and forty other preaching places in the circuit, and very soon we ought to place a missionary at Kintampo, our most northerly out-station.
Our West African Mission Field 193
The only Societies working with us in the Gold Coast territories are the Basle Mission (in Ashanti), the S.P.G. (in mining districts), and the Roman Catholics.
For some years the work was greatly hindered by death, but after 1846 not a single missionary lost his life until 1870, although a number were invalided home — some after only a few months' service ; and so far as the evangelisation of the Dark Continent is concerned, this is almost as serious as death itself. From 1870 to 1910 there were only seven deaths, and the average length of service rose considerablv. We had almost forgotten how treacherous the climate could be when there came a sharp reminder. At the close of 1 909, H. H. Bridge reached Cape Coast all eager for service. In six months he was dead, and ten days later a cable reached the Mission House announcing that the Rev. A. T. R. Bartrop, Chairman of the District, had also fallen. The young recruit and the experienced veteran were laid side by side in the Sekondi Cemetery.
As the years passed, the missions in The Lagos Badagry, Abeokuta, Lagos, Whydah and DlstrIct Little Popo, grew into a separate District. In Abeokuta, Thomas Champness lost his
7
194 The Gall of the Dark Continent
beloved wife after less than two years' service. But the work gave great promise until, in 1867, annoyed by some actions of the British Government, the Egbas rose against the unoffending missionaries. One Sunday morning the town crier went through Abeokuta and forbade any Egba to attend church or school. Soon riots occurred ; the native Christians were shamefully treated, and all missionaries were expelled from the town, and for seven long years were not permitted to return.
The Nupe In 1871 John Milum, the friend and
biographer of T. B. Freeman, began his work in the District. His heart was set on the evangelisation of the interior tribes, so, with a young minister — a convert from Islam — he went up the Niger to Egga, and attempted to travel overland to Lagos. But the way was blocked, and on reaching Ilorin, he was obliged to retreat to Egga, where he left his young colleague, Sharp, and returned to Lagos by the river. After a few years' brave effort, Sharp died, and although Messrs. Elliott, Coppin and Williams went up to Nupe, the work was ultimately abandoned.
The Yoruba Under the Chairmanship of J. T. F.
Halligey it was decided to enter the comparatively densely populated Yoruba
Our West African Mission Field 195
country, and with the help of J. D. Sut- cliffe and Bryan Roe, Mr. Halligey made an effort to enter from Abeokuta (1887). But troubles arose, and Mr. Halligey had to stand a trial before a native court on the ridiculous charge of being a Dahomian agent. In 1888 Yoruba was successfully entered by way of the Ijebu country, and work was commenced at Ibadan (the largest native city in pagan Africa — it has a population of about a quarter of a million), Iseyin, Ogbomosho and Oyo.
We have now through this vast forest To-day region an extensive and growing work. Seven missionaries, five African ministers, and nearly forty catechists are working in the interior. In Lagos itself we have two self-supporting circuits with fourteen churches, six other preaching places, and eight African ministers, besides several catechists and sixty-eight local preachers.
The attempt to evangelise Dahomey Dahomey and (now a French Colony) has never been Togoland abandoned ; and although we never secured a foot-hold up-country, we have three African ministers stationed at Porto Novo, Grand Popo, and Ouidah (Whydah). Little Popo, (now known as Anecho), is now included in the German Colony of Togoland. The mission Freeman began at this place is carried on by an African
196 The Gall of the Dark Continent
minister. These two missions — Dahomey and Togoland — present great difficulties, for it is not easy to work under foreign flags. The French and German Govern- ments are touchy as to English " interference " even in the matter of missions, and when we station European missionaries at these places, they have to be French (for Dahomey) and German (for Togoland), and it is usually very difficult to obtain such men. The work has to be carried on in the French and German languages.
The entire Lagos District has a full membership of 4,800, and it is increasing rapidly. Over 630 adults were baptised last year.
We remarked in a former chapter that our South African Missions have been characterised by thoughtful, organised, continuous work. In West Africa the most prominent feature has been sacrifice. To the one field men went and planned, to the other they went and laid down their lives.
In the early days of missionary enter- prise the climate was not understood, and hardly any precautions were taken to preserve health. Malaria was regarded as
Our West African Mission Field 197
a mysterious and deadly foe that none could resist.
This increases our estimation of the heroism of those who, at the call of Christ, went forth to the Dark Continent, knowing that death was almost certain. Their sympathies, aroused by the wrongs which slavery had inflicted on the Negro race, were increased by the thought that Africa's millions were perishing, and this called forth sacrifice of the highest type. Counting not their lives dear, thev souo-ht to walk in the steps of the Master who gave His
life that others might live. "What
... matters it if I die within six months of
landing ? " said a devoted young missionary
in the presence of the writer. " My body
will be a stepping-stone by which others
will reach the interior of Africa." A few
months later the tidings came that he had
fallen. Feeling that the Dark Continent
could only be redeemed at the cost of
sacrifice, many were prepared to pay the
price.
£2 Not a few of our missionaries, who might
perhaps have withstood the influence of
the climate, have been crushed by the
burden they have had to carry. " The care
of all the churches," and varied schemes
for the consolidation or expansion of the
work, have so undermined the strength
198 The Gall of the Dark Continent
of these heroic labourers that they have broken down or have died prematurely.
" To the friends of the W.M.M.S., I would say, such are the messengers you employ, such the sacrifices they make, the trials they encounter, in carrying out your designs. The cause you have espoused and love, they die to extend." So wrote William Fox, sixty years ago. Africa still demands sacri6ce, though fewer lives are lost than formerly. Brave men and heroic women still go to the Dark Continent pre- pared, if necessary, to lay down their lives. But if Africa is to be evangelised there will have to be corresponding sacrifice on the part of the home Church. When our missionaries are willing to give life, can we withhold money ?
The power of God to use even broken links and imperfect means is strikingly manifest in our West. African Mission. In our plans and efforts and agencies there has been a great lack of con- tinuity. In His power and influence no link of time or thought has ever been broken. Then, if through such broken links of effort, fruit has been reaped so wondrously, how much more may we not look for under the more favourable con- ditions now obtaining.!
Our West African Mission Field 199
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF OUR WEST AFRICA MISSION
1787 — Arrival of the "Original Settlers" at Sierra Leone.
1792 — Arrival of Governor Clarkson ;md " the Nova Scotians " at
Sierra Leone. 1796 — Dr. Coke's first missionary experiment in West Africa. 1800 — Arrival of " the Maroons" at Sierra Leone. 1807 to 1860— Slaves rescued by British cruisers landed at Free- town. 1811 — First Wesleyar. missionaries reached Freetown. 1820 — Arrival of '" freed slaves " (from Barbados) at Sierra Leone. 1821— The WM.M.S. Gambia Mission founded. 1823 — Station opened at Macarthy's Island. 1835 — Joseph Dunwell began Wesleyan Gold Coist Mission. 1838— T. B. Freeman lai.ded at Cape Coast. 1839 — Freeman first visiter Kumassi 1841 — First missionary stationed at Kumassi. 1842 — Freeman's first visit to Abeokut.t. 1843 — Freeman visited the King uf Dahomey. 1843— Our first worker stationed at Badagry (Lagos District). 1854 — Station opened at Lago-". 1857 — Retirement of Freeman. 1861— First W.M.M.S. missionary (Thomas Champness) stationed
at Abeokuta. 1867 — Missionary driven from Abeokuta. 1871 — John Milum attempted to open a mission in the Xupe
country. 1873 — Freeman re-entered the Wesleyan ministry. 1877 — Sherbro Mission (Sierra Leone) begun. 1880 — Limbah Mission (Sierra Leone) begun. 1887— J. T. F. Halligey attempted to enter Yoruba country from
Abeokuta. 1888 — Yoruba country entered from Ijebu. 1»90 — Death of Father Freeman.
1900 — Bandajuma Mission (Sierra Leone) commenced. 1901 — Bichmond College, Sierra Leone, opened by Rev. W. T.
Balmer, B.A. 1901 — Girls' High School, Cape Coast, commenced. 1902 — Bathurst Industrial School founded. 1904 — Wesley Deaconesses arrived at Cape Coast. li,05 — Wesley Deaconesses took charge of Freetown Girls' High
School. 1908— Wesley Deaconesses opened Girls' School at Accra. 1909— Mfantsipim Scnool, Cape Coast, opened by Bev. W. T.
Balmer, B.A. 1911 — Gir.s' High School opened at Lagos.
200 The Gall of the Dark Continent
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION.- The call for sacri- fice in African Missions.
1. Summarise our Lord's teaching about self- sacrifice.
2. Apply your conclusions to missionary work in Africa.
3. Enumerate the hindrances to the spread of the Gospel suggested by this chapter.
4. To what extent is it now possible to overcome these hindrances 1
5. What is the greatest hindrance in West Africa to-day 1
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Halligey, J. T. F. — Methodism in West Africa. Kemp, Dennis. — Nine Tears on the Gold Coast. Page, Jesse. — Samuel Crowther.
Chapter V.
Conditions Affecting Missionary Work in Africa
"Soul-winning is never easy. The powers of dark- ness do not readily relinquish their hold on any man."
The task of winning a country or nation for Christ is not an easy one, and the Dark Continent is no exception to the rule. Africa presents features that render even the primary task of evangelisation (i.e. the proclamation of the Gospel) extremely difficult. But evangelism is only a means to an end — the conversion of the people to God. It is one thing to " make Christ known to men," and quite another thing to "make Jesus King." Christianity asks so much. Islam is satisfied with a merely nominal or mental assent. Christ asks The Claims of more. He claims the complete surrender Ghnst of those who acknowledge Him. When the intellect has yielded assent to Him, He asks for the consent of the heart and the submission of the will. There is nothing 201 i*
202 The Gall of the Dark Continent
wholesale or shallow about conversion as Christ and His apostles taught it ; it must ever be an individual submission, whereby the springs of being are yielded to the workings of the Spirit of God. There is a sense in which the Gospel is hampered by its own requirements. Dr. John R. Mott declares that " the Ten Commandments are the greatest obstacle to the progress of Christianity." Yet the Decalogue is one of the glories of the Christian religion, as it is of the Jewish nation.
In view of the high standard our Lord Christ sets before His people, it is much harder to "make disciples of all nations," than it is to " preach the Gospel to every creature." In the Dark Continent both of these tasks are rendered more difficult by the prevailing conditions — natural, social, and personal. In order to estimate the magnitude of the work before us in Africa, it is necessary that we should examine these retarding conditions, and consider how far it is possible to overcome them.
Natural The purely evangelistic side of missionary
mdrances enterprise is hindered by three outstanding
physical, or natural, difficulties — the
climate, the scattered population, and the
great diversity of language.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 203
While some parts of Africa — Cape 1- Climate Colony for example — are quite suitable for European residence, the unhealthiness of the country has barred the way to some of the most densely populated districts. The West Coast is deadly to white men, and though the Sudan which lies behind is much healthier, it has only recently become possible to evangelise it, owing to the malarious country to be travelled en route. Some parts of Rhodesia are extremely unhealthy, and though the plateaux are often suitable for European residence, the natives usually prefer to inhabit the lower- lying country in the river valleys. The biting winds and sharp frosts of the high veld have led the Bantu tribes to settle in the warmer, eastern lowlands, and in those fever-stricken regions we must seek them.
A careful comparison of chapters III. and IV. will show how seriously the climate has retarded our work in West Africa. In Cape Colony and the Transvaal the men have been spared for long years to guide the growing work with their ripe experience. But our West Coast missionaries have seldom been able to remain on the field long enough to gain sufficient insight into native character or practical knowledge of the work. Knowing that their period of service would be short, they seldom
204 The Gall of the Dark Continent
embarked on institutional enterprises that would have taken years to complete, but flung themselves nobly into the work nearest to hand — the preaching of the Gospel — leaving others to build on such foundations as they had time to lay.
In recent years the climate has presented far less difficulty than formerly. The study of tropical diseases (their origin, prevention, and cure), the modern con- veniences of housing, such safeguards as preventive netting and mosquito-proof dwellings, the introduction of railway and steamboat (reducing the difficulties of travelling through malarious country) — these things have greatly reduced, though by no means removed, much of the danger to the life and health of a European missionary.
The old idea that malaria is caused by noxious vapours rising from the earth has been disproved by recent scientific re- search. The Report of the Malaria Expedition makes it certain that infection is communicated by one kind of mosquito — the Anopheles — and almost certain that there is no other way of getting it except by Anopheles puncture.* The Report suggests that the disease should be called
* This theory was first proposed in 1886 by A. F. King, of America, and was confirmed and accepted by scientists generally in 1899.
I J i
§ 1
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 205
"gnat fever." But not every bite of the Anopheles gives malaria. The Anopheles must itself have the microbes in its body (got by feeding on a malarial person) ; and of the Anopheles dissected in Sierra Leone, only 18 per cent, were found to be in- fected. The fact that the Anopheles rarely feed in the day time makes the use of mosquito curtains necessary at night. The Anopheles larva requires a certain kind of pool to live in, and these pools are not to be found in some places, and can be got rid of in others. The Report thinks that Sierra Leone could be rid of these pests, but not Lagos, as it is too flat and has too many Anopheles pools.
The deadly sleeping sickness of Uganda and the Congo valley, and the cattle - disease prevalent in East Africa, are due to microbes carried by two varieties of the Tsetse fly.
These important discoveries suggest 2. Mosquitos that malaria is coming into the category of things that a European can, to some extent, guard against. But it is far from easy to do so, for in some places mosquitos are very numerous, though other places are free from them.
The Colonial Governments have made efforts to rid the coast towns of mosquitos, by cleaning out the puddles and draining
206 The Gall of the Dark Continent
stagnant pools, and in other ways de- stroying their habitats, and have appreciably diminished the number. But the country districts can never be cleared of these troublesome and dangerous creatures ; the regions to be dealt with are too vast, and the number of mosquitos far too great. When journeying, our missionaries are constantly exposed to these pests, and however much care they exercise, are liable to be bitten ; missionaries cannot live in mosquito-proof curtains. Despite scientific discoveries and modern improve- ments, lives will still have to be risked and lost, as men count loss, if the Dark Continent is to be won for Christ.
Another difficulty to be encountered is the fact that the people are thinly sprinkled over such vast areas. The tiny kraals of the Bantu are scattered over the illimitable veld, and Negro villages are hidden away in the bush or in the dense forests. This means that long and often difficult journeys are necessary to reach a comparatively small number of people. On the other hand, it may be reasoned that it is easier for the missionary to bring direct personal influence to bear upon the comparatively small tribes of the Dark Continent, than on the dense populations of China or India, and experience seems to support this
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 207
theory. Providentially our W.M.M.S. missionaries have been guided to fields where the populations are above the average — notably the Gold Coast and Lagos Districts. In Southern Nigeria the population (1911) is 7,836,000, which for Africa is very great, even when the vast area of the Colony and Protectorate is taken into account.
In view of the unhealthiness, and the 4. Language relatively sparse population of many parts of Africa, the bewildering number and variety of languages and dialects is a great obstacle to evangelisation of the tribes. * After diligently studying the language of the people amongst whom he is first located, the missionary desires to carry the message of Christ to a tribe residing at no great distance from his station and well within his natural sphere of influence. But language bars the way, and he has to resort to an interpreter, or depend on his native helpers. In some instances, none of the African workers are acquainted with the language required ; this has often been the experience of our mission- aries in the Sierra Leone Hinterland for instance. In the Delagoa Bay Circuit six distinct dialects are in use, and this is a comparatively favourable example.
* See Chapter II, page 53.
208 The Gall of the Dark Continent
This diversity of language has made — and still makes — the translation of Holy Scripture, and the production of Christian literature, a task of great difficulty, entail- ing an enormous expenditure of labour and time. In the somewhat limited area of our Rhodesia Mission three separate versions of the Bible are in use. A recent report of the British and Foreign Bible Society shows that of some 420 languages in which that Society has circulated the Scriptures, over 100 are African languages. When it is remembered that the trans- lators have had first to learn those languages and then to reduce them to writing, * something of the magnitude of the task will be realised ; but it will still be difficult to estimate even approximately the work to be accomplished before every African tribe can be evangelised.
An even greater difficulty is created by the poverty of the African languages in such words as are necessary to the Christian missionary. For the average native, a vocabulary of some 200 words suffices for all needs ; his whole desire centres round his hut, his farm, his warfare, and his hunting. While there are plenty of words to express family relationships, and the
* No Bantu 01 Negro language, except the Hausa, was ever reduced to writing until the advent cf the missionary.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 209
colour and quantity of cattle, only the language used in connection with heathen sacrifice and communion with the spirit world affords help to the missionary ; and the words of this class are often almost useless for Christian purposes. For in- struction in the Christian faith even the best of these words are earthen vessels, which have to be cleansed and given a richer content before they are fit for the Master's use. For example, in Fanti, the verb " to believe" is expressed by " gye dsi," which literally means " take eat," and this has to be lifted from its materialistic use to serve a spiritual purpose. Even if the word the missionary requires exists at all, it is often very difficult to discover it. It seems a simple matter to point with the finger to a tree and ask, " what do you call it ? " Many tribes would, in reply, give the word for finger, for their usual custom is to point by protruding the lip. And even when this custom is understood, the people seldom give a simple answer. The Rev. William Chapman writes of his experiences in North- West Rhodesia : —
" In the beginning I found the interrogative was 1 Chinzhi chechil ' ("What is this'?"). I was as pleased with my discovery as a prospector who has found a gold mine, and hastened to develop its wonderful powers. I went to where two of my boys were working, pencil and note-book in hand, and,
210 The Gall of the Dark Continent
holding up a native hoe, asked, ' Chinzhi chechi? ' The boy answered, ' U-swe-ko-no-tw-la-chi-ba-nda-i- ya-mba ' ! That was not very clear, so, turning to the other boy, I repeated my question. Whereupon he replied, ' A-me-bo-nda-chi-ba-nda-bo-bo-kwi-na- e-zhu-na-i-mwi ' ! That was still more confusing. As a matter of fact, when I knew more of the language, I found the first boy had replied, ' We here call it a hoe '; his friend had answered, ' iVnd I also call it the same; there is no other name for it.' "
If it is so difficult to get the name of a visible object, what must it be to discover the word for an idea which cannot be thus held up or pointed to ? The Rev. W. E. Smith, of Rhodesia, once told the writer of difficulties he experienced in reducing the Ila language to writing. He wanted the word for " trust " — a word indispensable to a missionary — but how was he to ask for it ? He tried a hundred times, but could not make the people understand what he wanted. He told them stories to try to get them to say it, but completely failed. But one day he was up a very rickety old ladder repairing his house, and as he stood on the top rung in a very difficult position he overheard one of his boys say, " If I were the missionary, I would not ' trust ' (using the long-sought Ila word) that ladder." Mr. Smith said :— " As soon as I heard that word I knew what he meant, and I came down the
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 211
ladder with a rush, collared the boy, and got him to repeat the word." Mr. Smith experienced similar difficulty in finding the verb " to save." He told the natives stories of rescues from lions, but to no purpose. At last, by the merest accident, he came across this word.
But in some cases the missionary comes with new thoughts, and is obliged to manufacture words to express them. One pioneer found that his people were stran- gers to the very idea of trustfulness. Long experience had made them suspicious, and the thought of trusting one another had disappeared. He got some women to work in his garden ; at noon they demanded their half-day's pay, and because it was not forthcoming, they shouldered their hoes and went home, unable to trust the white man to pay their wages. Ultimately he got some to trust him to pay them at the end of the day. After a time he purposely arranged that one evening he had no loose beads for their wages, and promised to pay them the next evening for two days. They argued the point for half an hour with evident distress ; and in the morning, before beginning work, again demanded the previous day's beads. When, in the evening, they actually received the two day's wages, they were quite surprised, for they thought
212 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the missionary was going to " eat " the first day's pay. Then he got them to trust him to pay them every two or three days, and finally at the end of each week. Thus they were taught the alphabet of trust, and having got them to trust him, the missionary led them on to the idea of trusting God. In the same way, ideas of purity, holiness, love (as distinct from merely animal affection), salvation, and almost every thought about the nature and attributes of God, have had to be supplied by the missionaries, and then words expressing these thoughts had to be intro- duced into many of the African languages, or the lofty idea gradually read into words of lowly origin with the growth of the convert in spiritual things. The presenta- tion of Christian doctrine in the native tongues is one of the greatest difficulties the evangelist has to face.
But while it is difficult for the missionary to reach the people of the Dark Continent and present his message to them, it is infinitely more difficult to overcome the ob- stacles to their acceptance of Christianity.
Except in the coast regions where the tribes are under actual European super- vision, the Africans are completely under the domination of their chiefs or "kings." The British Government requires mission-
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 213
aries to obtain the consent of the paramount chief before a new station can be opened among his people ; and sometimes this is exceedingly difficult, and often means delay or even the closing of a section of the country for a while.
But even if the chief consents to the missionary occupation of his territory, his influence is frequently all against the work, for the people fear to offend him by becoming Christians. By permission of the king, the L. M. S. entered MaTabeleland in 1860, but, while Lobengula protected the missionaries, he made his power felt in the life of the tribe to such an extent that for twenty-seven years Mr. Sykes laboured without baptising one convert. Our own workers had a similar experience in Ashanti. Very often the chief is under the influence of his advisers, among whom is the powerful fetich-priest or witch-doctor, and pecuniary motives lead these men to oppose the entrance of the Gospel, fearing that with the ascendency of Christianity their means of gain will vanish. In such kingdoms as Ashanti and Dahomey (before they passed under European control) the profession of Christianity, contrary to the will of the king, meant certain death.
In some tribes, the chiefs office is largely a religious one, and in such cases it is
214 The Gall of the Dark Continent
2. Influence of Witch-Doctor and Fetich Priest
3. Tribal Solidarity
impossible for the chief himself to embrace Christianity and still remain chief. But in other tribes this is not so, and quite a number of African monarchs have received baptism ; the Kabaka of Uganda, King David of Toro, and the celebrated King Khama are striking instances.
The adverse influence of the witch-doctor of the south, and the fetich-priest of West Africa, ought perhaps to have separate treatment. Their opposition to Christianity does not end with their efforts to prejudice the chief. Often, in cases of conversion, they have not scrupled to use their pro- fessional position to bring about the condemnation of the convert for witch- craft, or some other capital offence, and these men seldom hesitate to use poison in the accomplishment of their foul purpose. The fear of death at their hands has deterred many from entering the Kingdom of God.
In Africa, as in most heathen countries, the clan or tribe, rather than the individual, is the unit. The law which, in certain British territories, makes the whole com- munity responsible for stolen cattle traced to any village, is a recognition of this. Such a condition is altogether unfavourable alike to the exercise of that personal freedom and to the development of a sense
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 215
of that personal responsibility which lie at the very root of the Christian life. To become a Christian is to come out from the tribe, and is thus anti-social. Con- version is often represented as disloyalty to the tribe and to the chief. Where the tribal system is vigorous, and the kraal large, the opposition to the Gospel is often strong, but this condition is found more among the Bantu than among the Negro tribes, and even in South-Central Africa there are signs that the old tribal systems are breaking up, and the individual gives promise of becoming, there as here, the unit in social and religious life. But the unity of the tribe has also its good in- fluences. It is not a light thine: that men are taught to think of the tribe before themselves, and to reverence order and authority in the person of the chief. This reverence for rule is often helpful in the administration and discipline of the native Church.
A much greater hindrance is the 4. Polygamy polygamy practised by all the tribes of pagan Africa. According to native custom there is hardly any limit to the number of wives a man may take. He generally has as many as he can afford, and often a man's wealth is indicated by the number of his wives. This custom encourages
216 The Gall of the Dark Continent
indolence and tyranny. The more wives a man has to do his work, the less he is likely to do himself; and if his wives quarrel, or become disobedient, he often resorts to gross cruelty to punish the offence and prevent a general rebellion. Often has the West African forest rung with the strange cries of the Mumbo Jumbo (or some similar invention) — a strange, shrouded figure, who, with his attendants, approaches a village after dark, and singles out an offending wife, who is at once stripped and ferociously flogged.
In Africa the polygamy question holds much the same relation to the native Church as the caste problem does in India. Many who would otherwise join the Church are hindered by their unwillingness to abandon the habit of polygamy, and thus polygamy is a great hindrance to progress. On this account many Euro- peans, and even native Christians, consider that it is a great mistake for missionaries to refuse to admit polygamists into the Church, arguing that it would be better to receive them, and educate the rising generation out of the practice. At a large meeting of office-bearers of our native churches held in Lagos a few years ago, Mr. Findlay was pressed to urge our Missionary Committee to relax the rule
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 217
which forbids the admission of polygamists to membership. A Sunday-school super- intendent, class-leader, and local-preacher who first rose to advocate this, referred to monogamy asa" European custom," which ought not to be forced on a foreign people to whom it is unsuited ; and when a show of hands was asked in favour of this view, all but five or six hands went up. But those who know the situation best are convinced that, though the proposed change of policy would facilitate the entrance of many chiefs into the church, it would also open wide the doors to all the gross evils that are the inevitable accompaniment of polygamy.
In order to enter the Church of Christ as full members, many Africans have put away all their wives but one. It must not be supposed that this inflicts cruel wrong upon the discarded wives, though it may do so in some cases. In Africa the women are not dependent upon their husband ; it is often the reverse. As a matter of fact, they work to increase his wealth, and when put away they simply return to their own people and take their children with them ; and to all appearances they do not regard themselves as victims of an injustice. The man who thus puts away his wives makes a very large material
218 The Gall of the Dark Continent
sacrifice, for in marrying he had practically to purchase them, and when they are sent back again he loses all he paid. Many men — including kings and chiefs — are willing to make this sacrifice in order to become Christians. But while a polygamist is debarred from Church membership, the converted wife of a polygamist may be received, for she has only one husband. It frequently happens, however, that with the awakening of conscience, the converted woman seeks release from the tie she has come to regard as wrong. A Christian woman is not allowed (after joining the Church) to marry a man who already has a wife.
Polyandry is also a hindrance to the spread of the Gospel. Dr. Nassau tells us that in his district a man's ownership of his wives is often only partial ; his family assisted him to purchase them, and have joint rights. In some cases wives are married "on trial," and in other instances are merely a financial investment in which both the hus- band and his friends have a part. Temporary marriages are also to be included under this head. With some tribes, the wives, at the death of their husband, pass on as a legacy to the heir.
Thus, by age-long custom, is the victory of Christ hindered. In some cases these
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 219
matrimonial entanglements press hardly on those who would fain follow Christ, but the missionary has constantly to reflect on the importance of our Lord's words, "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life."
When we come to consider the individual Personal African as a person to be brought to Hindrances allegiance to the Lord Jesus, we have to deal with the inherited and acquired sin- fulness of the human heart in its savage state, without any of the purifying and refining influences of Christian civilisation. Through long generations these people I. Domination have known nothing of chastity, and animal Pass^nT3 passions have dominated their lives from their earliest years. Here and there a tribe under an enlightened chief may be morally superior to the tribes around, and " some- times a heathen man may be found who seems to have come from another world," but usually vice is open and unashamed. Of the Transvaal native, F. J. Briscoe writes : — " It is not too much to say that personal purity, in the Christian meaning of it, has no place in his life." Mr. Wilder, of Rhodesia, reported to the Edinburgh Conference (Commission IV.) that immo- rality is the national sport of the Bantu of his district ; and H. L. Bishop tells us that he cannot describe the habits of his
220 The Gall of the Dark Continent
2. Lack of Self-Discipline
3. Absence of a Religious Incentive
Lourenco Marques people except in Latin. In some parts of Africa the laxity is chiefly before marriage, but in other places it is both before and after. Add to this the untruthfulness, the ingrained dishonesty, the drunkenness, and the other vices more or less common to Negro and Bantu, and it will be seen how great a battle has to be fought when Christ calls one of these children of darkness to follow Him. From childhood, such a man has known nothing of moral discipline, and it is difficult for him to begin a new life of self-control. There is little or no "public opinion" to help him, and he is surrounded with every- thing low and degrading. It is not un- usual to see him sink back to his old life with some such exclamation as, "It is too high, I cannot attain unto it."
The African has notions of a great but never conceives of His making moral demands upon His votaries. of incurring the wrath of a spirit deter the native from robbing a hut tected by a fetich, but the idea of a saying " Thou shalt not steal " is pletely new. What has God to do such a matter ? Add to this the thought that every missionary constantly impresses on his hearers, " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the
God,
any
Fear
may
pro-
God
com-
with
A ZULU WARRIOB
Rev. J. Gregory Mantle.
h.
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' »•
Hi
I
m i»a chara
paanoo ;»i"l on tli»- "tJict band, }*.ts-; I r*-*U!
t Ij
mil
all the
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 111
good," and in the mind of the native there arises some such feeling as once led one of them to exclaim, " I will not have your God; He is too hard, and too sharp- sighted."
Yet, though the African often feels that Christ's requirements are too high for him, this, says Herr Warneck, "does not create in him an inveterate hostility to Christianity. . . . I do not think that men or nations of a low moral state are the most inaccessible to the Gospel."
Liability to violent emotions is a charac- 4. Violent teristic of all the African peoples. Sudden Emotlons excitement — whether of pleasure or of anger — sweeps over them like a veritable hurricane, and they give vent to their feelings either by unrestrained mirth and dancing, or by acts of savage revenge.
Their laughter is easily turned into 5. Shallowness passion, and, on the other hand, passion, quickly aroused, as quickly dies down, and the laughter is resumed. African nature is often extremely shallow. This is well illustrated by incidents of the rising in the Sierra Leone Hinterland in 1897. The Mendis, disliking the rapid introduction of law and order, organised a wide -spread plot for the overthrow of European influence. On the appointed day they murdered all the white men and women,
222 The Gall of the Dark Continent
some hundreds of Sierra Leonians, and even natives who wore English dress or spoke English, or were in any way connected with civilisation. At Rotufunk a party of five American missionaries — men and women — were murdered by raiders from a distance, the people among whom they had been living and whom they had sought to help refusing to assist them to escape. The attack on another American station was led by a youth who had been brought up from childhood by the missionaries, and was a candidate for the ministry up to the very night when he set fire to the premises in revenge for some supposed injury. The rising was crushed, and the Mendis, accepting defeat quite cheerfully, settled down to their ordinary course of life again as though nothing had happened. # When Mr. Findlay visited the district three years later, he found that all passion had completely disappeared, and it was perfectly safe for anyone to travel without weapons ; the Mendis appeared to be good- natured, obliging, easily amused, harmless, simple savages. Mr. Findlay found it difficult to believe that these people had so recently been killing all the whites and
* A rising among the Temnes a little earlier was not so easily suppressed ; the leader of it was compared by some to Wallace of Scotland.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 223
native Christians they could get hold of, and that of the scores of hands he shook — the Negroes are very fond of shaking hands — some had probably helped to murder white men and women. Nor were their smiles assumed ; they were as harmless as they looked. Having found that the British were more than a match for them, they accepted the inevitable quite cheerfully, and the fierce passions died down as quickly as they had arisen. Yet if the chiefs saw another chance, they would doubtless plan another insurrection. Such shallow souls do not provide the best soil for the " seed of the Kingdom." People who are easily persuaded to accept Christianity are as easily persuaded to abandon it if changing circumstances seem to make it to their advantage to do so. " And straightway they sprang up because they had no deepness of earth ; and when the sun was risen they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away."
During the last half-century, almost the Hindrances whole of the Dark Continent has passed co^LtZhh under European rule, and the white man Europeans has thrust himself everywhere. Un- happily, contact with Western civilisation has not been an unmixed blessing to Africa. The primary object of foreign domination
224 The Call of the Dark Continent
has not been Africa's good, but rather the tapping of new sources of wealth and the opening of new markets for the world's commerce. A country like Rhodesia, or the Transvaal, draws within its borders a large number of undesirables from Europe ; the result is a considerable population of godless, vicious white settlers, (a) Bad Example Natives visiting the European centres in either South or West Africa see canteens, gambling places, and houses of evil repute. Many of the traders and miners have native (so called) "wives." Young Africans, going to work amidst such surroundings, see the worst side of English life. Is it any wonder that some return to their homes corrupted in morals and insolent in manners ? The example set by godless whites severely hampers missionary work. It is not too much to say that many of the moral difficulties which constantly harass the pastors of some of our native churches in West Africa, are largely due to the pernicious influence of the slave trade of the past and the white traders of to-day. With many happy exceptions, the general attitude to the spiritual and moral wel- fare of the African races is one of perfect indifference. The Commission on South African Native Affairs reported thus : — " It must apparently be accepted as an axiom that
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 225
contact with what we are accustomed to regard as civilisation, has a demoralising tendency upon primitive races as its first effect. It is clear that the native is year by year becoming familiar with new forms of sexual immorality, intemperance, and dis- honesty, and that his naturally imitative disposition, his virility, and escape from home and tribal in- fluence provide a too congenial soil for the cultivation of acquired vices.
" The testimony contained in the volumes of evidence is abundant to this effect.
" The Commission considers that the restraints of the law furnish an inadequate check upon this tendency towards demoralisation, and that no merely secular system of morality that might be applied would serve to raise the native ideals of conduct, or to counteract the evil influences which have been alluded to, and is of opinion that hope for the eleva- tion of the native races must depend mainly on their acceptance of Christian faith and morals."
We often speak of the African as (*) Lack of "a man and a brother," but this is L^onsibfiity scarcely correct ; brother he certainly is, but he is only a child* and needs care- ful training. " West Africa often seems to me like a big adopted child that we have had to take on, and which must be cared for as if it was our own."f But instead of taking this view of the situation, many Europeans in Africa have little thought for anything beyond their own profit and pleasure, and
* Except as regards his gross animal nature, which is abnormally developed.
f Letters From a Deserted Wife.
8
226 The Gall of the Dark Continent
leave the native (after he has served their selfish ends) to do as he pleases. But " no man liveth to himself," and in many places the native — a born mimic — is fast becoming a caricature of the European, and is losing his national character. Concerning Rhodesia, the Chairman of the District (Rev. John White) writes : —
" The white population is bitterly prejudiced against the black. This prejudice finds its way into the Courts of Law, and interferes with the course of justice. Flagrant acts of injustice have occurred where white and black were concerned, and this has an injurious effect, in many ways, on the native. "
The seriousness of this lies in the fact that it widens the gulf between Europeans and Africans ; and as the latter progress towards education and civilisation — which is inevitable — it will help to create, amongst the scattered tribes, a sense of oppression and of solidarity and oneness that will, as national self-consciousness grows, become bitterly hostile to the white races. Al- ready there are unmistakable signs of this. The " Ethiopian Movement "* is growing, and with it a strong feeling that Africa belongs to the African — that he himself can best develop the resources of his manhood and his country. As in adolescence, so also in the life of the African, this is a most critical formative period, and wisdom and
* See Chapter VI.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 227
tact are essential in dealing with it. The African has many good qualities, but he needs guiding and controlling by the firm hand of parental sympathetic and righteous authority — the firm hand must be that of the parent, and not of the despot.
Instead of recognising this obvious duty, (c) The many Europeans are still eager to exploit LI(iuor Traffic Africa for their own gain, and to debauch the native by the introduction of spirituous liquor. The drink traffic in West Africa is one of the crying evils of the present day. Hundreds of thousands of gallons are yearly imported and sold, in many cases at no profit and often at actual loss, simply for the sake of the trade it brings. A. Negro will bring his produce for sale in order that he may buy " trade gin " with the proceeds. A great deal of the rum and gin imported into West Africa is manufactured in Germany and Holland, and this involves the traffic in international complication and leaves it more difficult to deal with. The sale of intoxicating liquors has been from the beginning; a terrible hindrance to Christianity, and missionaries have strenuously opposed it. In not a few instances heathen kings have appealed to Christian ministers to use their influence to stop the traffic. Many years ago a Nupe
228 The Call of the Dark Continent
Emir (not a Christian) wrote thus to the late Bishop Crowther : —
" The matter about which I am speaking ... is Barasa (rum or gin), Barasa, Barasa, Barasa. My God ! it has ruined my country, it has ruined our people very much, it has made our people become mad ! I have given a law that no one dares buy or sell it, and anyone who is found selling it, his house will be eaten up (plundered); anyone found drunk will be killed. . . . Beg the great priests (the Committee of the C.M.S.) that they should beg the English Queen to prevent bringing Barasa to this land. For God and the prophet's sake . . . help us in this matter. . . . We must not have our country to become spoiled by Barasa."
In some instances native rulers, like King Khama, have successfully resisted the hateful traffic ; and the efforts of missionaries and others have not been wholly lost, for in certain areas — Northern Nigeria and the Transvaal, for example — the trade is prohibited. Unfortunately the increase of duties has not diminished the evil, and the recent Royal Commission has been a great disappointment to all true friends of Africa.
Conditions The combination of retarding conditions
that Help dealt with above, has to be seriously faced
by those whose hearts are set on winning
Africa for Christ. But other circumstances
are more favourable to missionary work.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 229
There is practically no part of pagan Africa
closed to the Christian missionary, though
in one or two cases there are restrictions.
Modern facilities for travel make it in- 1. Accessibility
creasingly possible to reach parts of the
continent to which access was difficult and
dangerous a few years ago. The opening
of railways, the introduction of steam-boats
and electric launches, and the construction
of good roads, have made many millions of
people easily accessible to the ambassadors
of Christ. Great doors are wide open to
us on every hand.
The missionary of to-day owes much to 2. Appreciation the character and work of the men who, in of Kindness the beginning of Protestant missionary enterprise, left a deep impression of good- ness and beneficent purpose upon the mind of the African peoples. Even to-day the tradition runs in the far interior that the Christian missionary is to be received as a friend. Twenty years ago in Central Africa, to be a missionary was to share the confidence which people gave to Livingstone, and the work of many a lonely labourer was made easier because the great pioneer had passed that way before him. Long years after the exploration of Shire river, Professor Drummond found that wherever he crossed David Livingstone's footsteps the fragrance of his memory
230 The Call of the Dark Continent
remained. William Chapman, a Primitive Methodist missionary labouring in North- West Rhodesia, met an old man who recognised a photograph of Livingstone, whom he had seen among the MaKololo half a century before. At the mention of the great traveller, the old man said: —
" Remember Monare ! Of course I can. It was Monare who brought us the salutation we generally use. Before Monare came we used to say when we met a friend, ' U tsohile ' (" You have got up ! "). But Monare said, ' Lumela ' (" Rejoice "), and we replied, ' E lumela ntate ' (" Yes, rejoice, my father "). It was he who told the MaKololo to live in peace and rule well. Of course I can remember Monare."
3. Gratitude It is sometimes said that the Africans do
not know what gratitude means, and some experiences certainly tend to support this view. Indeed we may question whether gratitude is natural to any race. Is it a trait of British character ? Many of us would hesitate either to affirm or deny it, for we could all adduce evidence for and against. Gratitude would seem to be an individual rather than a national grace. As might be expected, missionaries have had very different experiences as to the African sense of gratitude. John White tells us that the MaShona " readily appreciate any help the missionary may render them." Of the BaKonga of
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 231
Portuguese East Africa, H. L. Bishop writes : " The native knows very little of gratitude and takes all that is given." J. D. Russell, of West Africa, says : "Our people appreciate kindness; only one must take care lest kindness be taken for softness." After his official visit to Sierra Leone, W. H. Findlay was inclined to think that the gratitude of the people of the Colony and Hinterland, while frequently expressed, was shallow and largely a matter of etiquette. On the whole, the evidence suggests that the Africans have neither more nor less gratitude than other races. At any rate, one thing is clear — many of the natives in most parts are capable of real gratitude, and this is a real help in missionary work. Some of our missionaries record striking instances of this. During the Kafir war of 1850, in one neighbourhood a solitary farmhouse escaped the general burning, much to the surprise of its owners when they returned after the close of hostilities. Some time afterwards a passing native got into conversation with the owner. "Do you know why your house was left standing when all the others were burnt down ? " he asked; and then went on to explain. " Do you remember, at the end of 1849, a Kafir seeking for lost cattle called at your house, and asked for a drink of water? Yo
232 The Gall of the Dark Continent
received him with kindness and gave him drink. That youth was a son of the paramount chief; and when the war broke out the word went forth that your house was not to be touched." Personal kindness of this kind has saved more than one mission house from the flames, and has often brought kindly warnings of danger which have enabled missionaries to escape.
The Rev. W. H. Maude tells of an old woman in Freetown, who, because he lent her a small sum of money which got her out of difficulties and started her in successful trade, sent him a basket of fruit and vegetables every week (when he was on the Coast) for more than thirty years. It is quite common to hear a West African say " Tank'oo, tank'oo, tank'oo, tank'oo." Most of the native languages have a much- used word for " Thank you." An Indian ex-missionary of unusually wide experience tells us that he knows of no such word in any Indian language. This is suggestive. The primitive races have an instinctive apprecia- tion of kind treatment ; and perhaps such genuine kindness as has characterised the missionaries' relations with the native, has done more than anything else to win a hearing for his message. The friendliness of the missionary stands in contrast to the general European prejudice and contempt.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 233
In almost all parts, the people are 4. Readiness to willing, and often eager, to hear the Hear the Gospel Gospel. In few fields is there such readiness to gather around the missionary. That so many are still in ignorance is because they have not had an opportunity of hearing.
In the Yoruba country, when the people see the preaching-band taking up a position in the market-place, they will come and sit down all round in considerable numbers — often a hundred or two. The head chief will have his stool brought out, and will come and sit in the middle of the circle. So far from wanting to dispute — as is often the case in India — the listeners nod or murmur assent at every sentence, and will exclaim " Beni, Beni" (Quite true! quite true ! ) They readily join in singing the hymns — given out a verse at a time — and will even join in a prayer.
Mr. Findlay thus describes an interview he had a few years ago with the king of Ode (Ijebu country) : —
" I think that of the various Ijebu king-interviews, the one at Ode was the most striking. It was in the open air, under a tree in the big market-place. The king came with his chiefs, and sat four or five yards in front of us, with twenty or thirty old chiefs about him. Fully two thousand people gathered round — a great ring of brown humanity. The king was dressed with the same exuberant grandeur as
234 The Call of the Dark Continent
the Yoruba potentates . . . and he had in his hand a short brass sceptre with little bells attached, which he jingled from time to time to express approval of what we said. The Prince Ademuyiwa asked me to address him (the king) . . . which I did, after uttering a few formalities, the Prince interpreting. Mr. Sutcliffe followed. The king replied, asking me to convey a message to the great Committee in London. Then Prince Ademuyiwa asked the king's leave to address a few words to the people. He was in his element; standing free in the clear space in that great circle, on his native soil, with two thousand admiring faces about him. With mighty voice, dramatic gesture, and evident eloquence, he exhorted the people to honour the king, and the king to care for his people, and then preached Christ to him and them. At last, with his splendid voice, he burst out into a native lyric, and as the tune (to heathen words) was well known to the people, and the Christian words he sang were easily learnt, he soon had the whole crowd joining with wild enthusiasm in the chorus, ' We will follow Jesus.' ... A novice would have reckoned that the whole population was converted at the stroke. All that was really illus- trated was the ease with which these people are momentarily swayed, and the complete absence of anything like antagonism to Christianity as a religion"
Such a scene as the above would be impos- sible in India, or China, or any Muslim country. 5. Recognition of Perhaps the simplicity and shallow- ofeFendchUmCT nrindedness of the people account for a good deal of their readiness to hear Chris- tian preaching. But there is something more. The progress of Christianity in
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 235
Africa is not challenged by a powerful, organised, and deeply rooted religion such as has to be encountered in the Orient. There is nothing in fetichism that can serve as a rally ing-point for resistance to evangelism. Very many Africans realise that they have nothing worth calling a religion, and they are prepared to listen to anyone — Christian, or Muslim, or anyone else — who can tell them of something better. This dissatisfaction with fetichism is by no means general in Africa, but in some places it is quite pronounced. "Many natives feel that their heathenism cannot stand before the enlightenment of the white man." In not a few cases the people have, through some accident, had their suspicions aroused with regard to the practices of the fetich priest, and have discovered that they have been victims of deception. Some years ago, a fetich man on the Gold Coast exposed some of his erstwhile companions, and accused them of conspiring to poison certain influential persons. A trial before the Governor and council and a number of chiefs resulted in the prisoners confessing that their fetich was a mere delusion and that they had deceived the people. The Court found them guilty of deception and attempted murder, and sentenced them to be publicly
236 The Gall of the Dark Continent
flogged and then imprisoned for five years, the indignant chiefs heartily concurring. This led to still further exposures. One chief returned to his village after the trial, and repaired to the forest to consult his oracle. The oracle answered him out of the darkness as usual, but the suspicious chief had laid a trap ; ambushed men pounced upon the spot from whence the voice came, and the " sacred oracle " was proved to be a man concealed in the thicket. A great movement towards Christianity resulted. Incidents of this character are by no means uncommon, and they cannot fail to shake the faith of the worshippers who discover that they have been imposed upon. There can be no question about fetichism ; it is doomed. 6. Emotional The recognition of the failure of their
tneSPGospei0 own religion on the part of a people so easily moved, naturally often leads to a very emotional response to the story of Redemption. Having been all their life- time oppressed with continual fear of innumerable spirits, and feeling themselves but poorly protected from vengeance of these malignant foes, the Gospel of a Heavenly Father, ever near, ever living, and all-powerful to protect His children from the powers of darkness, awakens a response in many hearts. The African
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 237
usually feels his need of a Protector, and when God is represented to him in this character he frequently responds. When Barnabas Shaw reached Little NamaQualand he had an experience of this kind. Of his very first discourse he wrote : —
" At our evening service, the chief, with his people, bowed their faces to the ground, and when Jesus was set forth as the Good Shepherd, who has black sheep as well as white — having said when on earth, ' Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice ' — the chief wept aloud, and appeared to rejoice as one who had found great spoil."
At first such a presentation of Chris- 7. Capability of tianity proves more attractive to the pagan a Sense of Sin African than the doctrine of Atonement. Having very little sense of sin, and in most cases not realising that he is a sinner, he does not feel his need of a Saviour. The thought of a mighty One who will protect him from evil spirits is far more attractive, since it meets the chief spiritual need of which he is conscious. But experience has proved that he possesses " a rudimen- tary moral sense," and that a sense of personal sinfulness grows in him under wise instruction. Disobedience to the will of a chief is everywhere recognised as a serious offence, and it is not difficult to lead up from this to the higher thought of
238 The Gall of the Dark Continent
disobedience to the will of God. While the true missionary may comfort his people with the beautiful conception of a Father in Heaven, or a Good Shepherd, he will show them that the Father is a holy Father, and he will in due course succeed in showing them their own true condition as sinners needing mercy and salvation. Gradually this truth takes possession. " After I heard the word," said a Hottentot, " such was my distress that I fell to the ground, and my sin, like a great nail, seemed to fasten me to the earth." A woman said "I feel something like a serpent in my heart ; I hate it, but know not how to get rid of it." Such confessions have time and again given joy to the missionary as an evidence that conviction of sin was beginning. Then the African comes to appreciate the doctrine of Redemption through Christ. 8. Capacity for That the African has the ability to Experience realise a religious experience is beyond question ; this is a great help, and some- times an embarrassment, to the missionary. Possibly the experience of slavery has made the experience of Redemption more vivid and real to the imagination of the Negro. It is a notable fact that the expositor Godet makes use of two African expressions to explain spiritual truths : —
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 239
" Faith, as was admirably said by a poor BeChuana, is the hand of the heart."
" We recall a fact which proves how these say- ings of the Apostle, apparently so mysterious, find easy explanation under the light of the lively ex- periences of faith. The missionary Casilis told us that he was one day questioning a converted BeChuana as to the meaning of a passage analogous to the one before us (i.e., Col. iii. 3). The latter said to him, ' Soon I shall be dead, and they will bury me in my field. My flocks will come to pasture above me. But I shall no longer hear them, and I shall not come forth from my tomb to take them and carry them with me to the sepulchre. They will be strange to me as I to them. Such is the image of my life in the midst of the world since I believed in Christ.' "
Methodism seems specially suited for 9. Eagerness to both Negro and Bantu, for they revel in a gji*^-^ warm, experimental type of religion. They are demonstrative, and excitable. Enthusiasm of the old revival order is often met with ; indeed this is sometimes a danger, for emotions easily aroused are only controlled with difficulty. Their religious life is apt to evaporate unless freely expressed ; hence the class-meeting and the prayer-meeting are invaluable — so much so that the C.M.S. missionaries in West Africa have introduced the class meeting into their own native churches. The Africans derive great help from the singing of hymns — all the soul of the Negro is responsive to music — and are
240 The Gall of the Dark Continent
easily wearied of the service if they cannot give vent to their emotions. Indeed, there is a tendency to carry this exuberance of feeling too far, and allow it to degenerate into hilarity and irreverence. But on the whole this trait of African character is distinctly helpful to the missionary. 10. The Spirit But the spiritual life of the Negro and of Evangelism Bantu and Hottentot Christians is not allowed to end with mere religious dissipation. There is a marked eagerness to carry to others the Gospel that has changed their own hearts and transformed their own lives. This truly missionary spirit is the glory of our native Church. Frequently converts whose lives are, truth to tell, far below the standard, are anxious to tell others of the message they them- selves only imperfectly understand, and thus the message of salvation is carried far and wide. The success of missions in Nyasaland, Uganda, South Africa, and many other places is largely due to the activity of the native Christians. The BaGanda have themselves evangelised the adjoining kingdom of Toro, and the king has been led to Christ. Many a man has heard the Gospel in the compound of a Kimberley or Johannesburg mine, and has gone away to evangelise his distant kraal. Our most northerly outpost of the Gold
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 241
Coast District, over 400 miles inland, was opened by a man in Government service who had heard the Gospel while at the Coast. Whenever a missionary preaches, he knows that all he says will be repeated time after time, and passed from mouth to mouth.
The amount of voluntary work done is well illustrated by our Transvaal District, in which we have over 1,500 native Local Preachers. On the Plan there are 331 churches and 605 preaching places ; total 936. Our regular staff consists of some 45 ordained ministers and 50 evangelists ; total available for Sunday work, 95. This leaves 842 places, or about 1,684 services to be supplied each Sunday by local preachers.* Such facts as these are an inspiration to the men on the field, for without this willingness to carry the Gospel message, the evangelisation of the Dark Continent would be utterly impossible.
The piety of the African finds expression 11. Generosity in acts of generosity as well as in evan- gelistic effort and religous fervour. This is more remarkable when it is remembered that naturally they are inveterate beggars. The demand for dashes from passing
* These figures do not include the work or workers in the English Circuits of the District.
242 The Gall of the Dark Continent
traders is noted over and over again in books of travel ; and the kings, and the members of their families, are the biggest beggars of all. But the religious impulse awakens a new spirit. A Kafir woman said to W. B. Boyce, " I want no presents. Beads are of no value to an old woman like me. I wish rather to hear the great news, that I may make my son hear it, and that I may set the Pondos a good example."
The way our African Christians contri- bute to the maintenance of their churches is very remarkable. # Many of our circuits are absolutely self-supporting. And this is not all. Their contribution to direct missionary work among the heathen around, or at a more distant mission, is noteworthy. Generosity is a normal trait of the African Christian. 12. The Colonial No account of the conditions favourable Church to missionary work would be complete
without a reference to the Colonial Churches found in many places where there are European residents of true Christian character — chiefly in the South African Union. We have already dealt with the hindrance to the work that arises from the presence of godless whites. There is another aspect of European
* See page 284.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 243
occupation ; there are settlers, of British, Dutch, and other nationality, of sincere piety, whose presence is decidedly helpful to the missionary in his work. Perhaps the ideal conditions for missionary work are to be found among a heathen people to whom European life is represented by a few picked men who represent the British Civil Service, and by missionaries, each in their own order making the people feel that we seek not their wealth but their welfare. The South African Union takes in four provinces (Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange Free State* and the Transvaal), with a population of some 1,118,000 Europeans, 3,500,000 natives, and 573,000 half-castes, Asiatics, and other coloured people. The British South African territories outside the Union have a population of about 3,000,000 natives and less than 16,000 whites. What would be the effect of this impact of civilisation on the primitive peoples, or, on the other hand, of heathen- ism upon the European community, if it were not for the Colonial Christian Church ? This Church is under obligation: — " (a) To provide for the needs of the Christian community, which, under the conditions of a new life, requires the inspiration and restraining influence of religion to an even greater extent than in the home land.
* The old name is revived by the Act of Union.
244 The Call of the Dark Continent
" (b) To provide for the spiritual needs of the scattered European colonists who would otherwise be in danger of drifting from religious influence, and become a danger to the moral well-being of the country.
" (c) To take a very large share in the spreading of the Gospel among the people in whose land it is established."
We gladly record that all the Christian Churches of South Africa recognise these duties, and the last-named is not overlooked ; but unfortunately, in some cases, it is often kept in the last place, with a considerable interval between. From the beginning of the Colonial Church, there have been a few who have given the central place to missions, and the Christian conscience of South Africa has of late years been awakened to the fact that the white Christian Church can only save itself from paralysis and decay by a vigorous and united effort for the salvation of the heathen. One great name ought to be mentioned; no one has done more than the venerable Dr. Andrew Murray, of the Dutch Reformed Church, to impress upon Colonial Christianity its duty to make the Gospel known throughout the sub- continent. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of South Africa has an honour- able record in this respect, giving both its money and its sons to missionary service.
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 245
In connection with the great Boer War, The Dutch the Dutch Reformed Church had a Churches remarkable experience. In the camps to which the prisoners were sent at St. Helena, Ceylon, India, and Bermuda, revivals broke out, and, as the fruit of the movement, 200 young men volunteered for mission work. More than 100 of these passed through a course of training in an institution opened for the purpose ; and the interest aroused in the colonial Dutch Church was so great that £7,000 was contributed for their support during a three years' course.
Another fruit of the war :
" A Boer general, who had charge of the Zoutpans- berg district, was powerfully converted during the campaign, and as he and his men moved about and saw the thousands of heathen natives, they felt how little they had realised their duty to them, and formed what they called The Commando Thanks- giving Mission Union. One hundred men of the Commando became members of the Union, and at the end of the war they founded a mission station — tne Union appointing and supporting a missionary to the work."
In the light of the history of South African Missions, this movement among the Boers is an assurance that God will yet use the Colonial Church for the bringing of the heathen to His footstool.
We have surveyed the difficulties of the
246 The Gall of the Dark Continent
work in Africa, and have found them very great. The vast areas and scattered populations to be dealt with, the degrada- tion of the people, the entanglements of tribal life and personal vice, together with the shallowness and emotionalism of the natives, make it difficult to bring these people into the Kingdom of God. But our survey has revealed many conditions so favourable as to give encouragement and inspiration ; and added to all these is the The Supreme supreme factor of all missionary work — God. Our faith and our African experience alike witness that there are no breakwaters of difficulty that can exclude the Spirit of God, no darkness that He cannot illumine, no weakness that becomes not strength at His touch, and no raging disorder of human passions that He cannot quiet and com- mand. Africa is witness ; and the end of this chapter is a Psalm of Praise, a Doxology of quickened faith.
Factor
Conditions Affecting Work in Africa 247
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION.- The magnitude of the task before us.
1. Enumerate the obstacles to the spread of the Gospel in pagan Africa.
2. To what extent have these difficulties been simplified in recent years ?
3. Which of the hindrances do you consider the most formidable?
4. How far do the conditions favourable to mis- sionary work mitigate the difficulties?
5. Comparing Africa with other countries, do you consider it a difficult field for missionary work?
6. Discuss the relative value of the factors favour- able to missionary enterprise.
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Fraser, Donald. — The Future of Africa. Naylor, W. S. — Daybreak in the Dark Continent. Kemp, Dennis. — Nine Years on the Gold Coast. Kidd, Dudley. — The Essential Kafir.
Chapter VI.
Methods of Missionary Work in Africa
" There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of adminis- tration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operation, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." — 1 Cor. xii. 4-6.
In their eagerness to win the Dark Continent for the King, Christian mission- aries have, from the very beginning, shown great resource in the methods they have adopted to reach the people, both in the presentation of the Gospel, and in their efforts to train the converts in the Chris- tian life. Going to Africa in the first instance without plans and without ex- perience of the country, they sooner or later found themselves confronted with the obstacles considered in our previous chapter.
The missionaries had no desire to intro- duce complicated methods of work, or to mul-
248
Methods of Work in Africa 249
tiply agencies ; they would have preferred to give their whole strength to the simple preaching of the Word of God. But face to face with the conditions of African paganism, they early recognised that other means also must be adopted to make their work more effective and secure abiding results.
Our first South African missionaries, Shaw's finding the Hottentots and other peoples Jj^'jind scattered and nomadic in their habits, sought to gather them together into permanent settlements under conditions more conducive to the growth of Christian graces. " To have plenty of meat and milk, to lie in the sun and smoke, to possess numerous wives who did all the heavy labour, to rove from place to place with their portable mat huts — this was the NamaQua paradise." By industrial and agricultural methods, Barnabas Shaw# made Lily foil tein a rallying place for the scattered people. The NamaQua built huts around the mission house and the little church, and soon the whole aspect of the place was changed. Instead of the wilderness, there were fenced gardens and fields. Men who had been accustomed to lay all hard work on their wives took their full share of labour, and in a few years
* See Chapter III.
250 The Gall of the Dark Continent
nearly 2,000 bags of wheat were annually produced where in former times not a grain had been sown. And concurrently with all this, Christ was set before the people as the only Saviour of man. This was the kind of " applied Christianity" the Nama- Qua needed. Peace reigned where tribal wars had been frequent. The Bushmen dared not attack the NamaQua now that they were dwelling together in large companies, and the NamaQua had no desire to harry their former enemies. Their cattle and sheep multiplied, and the general comfort of the people increased. Within fifteen years, the people of Lilyfontein possessed 3,000 sheep, 3,000 goats, 150 horses and 400 head of cattle.
When the Governor of Cape Colony realised the success of the work, he took steps to make it permanent ; he granted the NamaQua a tract of country and placed the district under the control of a board, elected from among themselves on the first day of each year, the Wesleyan missionary in residence being appointed chairman. This Raad still meets once a month, and manages the commonage and the lands, grants grazing rights, and settles disputes. Missionaries as In the central highlands, Samuel Broad- " Joshuas" bent and his successors found the moving hosts of BeChuana and other tribes driven
Methods of Work in Africa 251
like chaff before the fierce onslaughts of MaNtatee and MaTabele. To these harried peoples, " the missionaries came as Joshuas, leading them out into well watered and secure country." When mission stations wTere established, the people settled around them and built up a new and better tribal life, the little Christian community at each centre being |the " salt " and " light " of the tribe.
This class of early work is well illustrated John Ayiiff in the story of the deliverance of the Fingos from slavery. The AmaFingo were long subject to the tyranny of a more powerful Bantu tribe. Hintza, a para- mount chief, spoke of them as his dogs, and when John Ayiiff baptised several of them the "Great Bull" wrathfully muttered, " How dare Ayiiff throw his water on my dogs ! I will make him take it off again, and then I will kill them." On May 9th, 1835 — a day ever remembered by the Fingos — our missionary led 16,000 of them across the Great Kei Biver to land allotted to them by the Governor around Fort Peddie. To this day the name of Ayiiff is cherished by the Fingos as the name of the man who first led them out of cruel bondage into freedom and prosperity, and gave them the good news of salvation.
In South-East Africa, among the denser
Word
252 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Bantu populations, the missionaries often stood between the warring tribes, and time and again between the native peoples and the Europeans pressing in upon their country. Master missionaries were those early labourers, men of whom the Methodist Church may well be proud. When the history of South Africa comes to be written it will be seen how much they did to make the civilisation and Christian- isation of the country possible. Preaching the But amidst all his manifold labours, the early missionary was pre-eminently a man possessed with a great message. Indeed it was this, and this alone, that led him into the heroic and splendid acts of service recorded above. It was on the preaching of the Word of God that he relied for the conversion of the people. "He preached; he expected a response to his message ; and he got it." This has always been the foremost endeavour of all true missionaries. All the many and varied enterprises in which they engage are but auxiliary to the central purpose.
To a people illiterate and without a litera- ture, with whom even their own history is a living story told by the older to the younger generation, the story of " the Life that is the Light of men " is specially effective when told by the human voice.
Methods of Work in Africa 253
Hence, preaching has the first place as an evangelistic agency in Africa.
In the kraals of Rhodesia, our mission- aries and their African helpers -tell of salvation through the " Name above every name " to Shona and Tabele villagers as they squat around their fires or sit in the semi-darkness of their smoky huts. In the compounds of Transvaal mines, our workers hold more or less regular open-air services, and preach the Gospel to numerous natives who are gathered there from far distances. Many a West Coast market-place has echoed and re-echoed with that same life- giving Word. It has been proclaimed in the courtyards of scores of West African kings, and people have gathered to hear it in many a Yoruba compound. An army of voluntary native local preachers assists the missionary and paid agents in carrying the message from place to place. For example, within a day's journey of Kumassi we have (besides our two churches) over twenty places where the Gospel is regularly preached on Sundays by these helpers. And in very many circuits we have voluntary "Mission Bands" conducting open-air services week by week.
But the preaching of Christ's message is Evangelistic not limited to central places. In many Tounn^ cases the people live in scattered commu-
254 The Gall of the Dark Continent
nities, and must be sought out. Years ago the Rev. W. J. Shrewsbury wrote : —
" The, natives are not usually disposed to travel to a mission station for instruction. Unless the mis- sionary is prepared to go to them, he might as well remain in his native land. The people are scattered over the face of the country. . . . Itineracy among them impresses them with confidence, and promotes a friendly feeling towards the missionary. The work has its discouragements, but no cross is too heavy when the soul is supported by the grace of God."
In work of this character it is constantly necessary to take more or less difficult and trying journeys. When the Rev. Owen Watkins and his colleagues were founding the Transvaal mission, the country was without roads, or bridges, or railways, and the ox-waggon was the usual means of reaching distant places. Those devoted pioneers saw much of the rough side of missionary life. And even to-day some of our Transvaal and Rhodesian workers are quite accustomed to travel by waggon or on horseback. Bush Travelling In West Coast work the hammock is the usual means of conveyance — just the ordinary string hammock slung on a bam- boo, with an awning to keep off the direct rays of the tropical sun. If the road permits, four men carry the hammock, but in many places the narrow forest footpaths
TEAVELLING BY CANOE IN WEST AFEICA.
MISSIONAEY BBEAKFASTING IN NATIVE HUT.
p. 255.
Methods of Work in Africa 255
necessitate the single file. The hicycle is also extensively used where the roads are suitable.
Missionary travellers cannot afford to have a little army of carriers to convey tents and baggage for them like traders or Government officials, and in West Africa they usually put up at native houses, making the best of such rude hospitality as the village affords. It is usual to go to the house of the village chief, which is one large quadrangle with mud and thatched rooms all round (the homes of his several wives and their children), except for the big entrance gateway. The quadrangle is open to the sky and is usually full of fowls, sheep, goats, children, calabashes, beds, fireplaces, boxes, men and women, in extraordinary confusion. The African is most hospitable to the traveller, and the best accommodation is always placed at his disposal, poor though it may be. The host will have a room cleaned and swept, and will send his wives and children to fetch water for the visitor and his carriers, and in addition to all this, will bring some gift according to his power — possibly one or more fowls, some yams, and some cooked food. In return, the visitor offers his host a present, such as a tin of lump sugar or a box of biscuits.
256 The Gall of the Dark Continent
This is regarded as a present, not as payment. Many a time has the Gospel been preached by a missionary traveller in a West African compound on such an occasion, and the people are quite ready to listen without any manifest opposition. It affords an excellent opportunity of intro- ducing the Message under perfectly natural conditions. The Gospel The suitable presentation of the Gospel
Message *g 0£ vjtaj importance. Herr Warneck has
discussed with great ability the appeal of the several cardinal truths of Christianity to animistic races. He places the strength of the Christian message thus : —
The animistic peoples are impressed :
1. By the certainty of the Gospel Message in con- trast to their own uncertain ideas of religion.
2. By the Gospel's claim to be a revelation from God.
3. By the Christian offer of a personal, living God.
4. By the thought of deliverance from fear of evil spirits.
5. By the conception of a God of love.
6. By Christian morality, as they slowly become conscious of their own sinfulness.
7. By the Gospel promise of Eternal life.
Dr. Warneck believes that these appeals are successive, and that experience has shown that it is well for the missionary to proceed on some such line in his efforts to
Methods of Work in Africa 257
instruct the animistic heathen in the truths of Christianity. Most workers in Africa would probably accept this, with varying modifications — Warneck writes with special reference to his own Battak people — for the heathen must be taught gradually as chil- dren. " Line upon line, line upon line ; pre- cept upon precept, precept upon precept ; here a little, there a little, as they are able to bear it" — that should be the guiding principle of Christian instruction. We have already seen* that the thought of God as a mighty deliverer, or as the Good Shepherd, attracts a people oppressed and scattered ; it appeals to their conscious need. The need of a Saviour who shall save his people from their sin is largely dependent upon a consciousness of their own sinfulness which does not usually exist until a later stage. The consciousness of sin grows out of a true sense of God. As the convert comes to understand some- thing of God, he begins to realise his own unworthiness and sin ; in the light of God's holiness he becomes aware of his own utterly depraved state, and thus recognises his need of a Saviour. But from the more warlike tribes, because of their very strength, there is often no immediate answer to the appeal of God's love ; the
* See pages 236-7.
258 The Gall of the Dark Continent
conception of a God of might and dominion, " Lord of lords and King of kings," is more likely to attract fierce warriors. The conception of God as a jealous God also appeals to such men, for they know the . furious anger of a chief when his will is thwarted. The thought of the resurrection of the body after death often awakens fear rather than hope, for many dread to meet again those whom they have slain with poison or the knife.
The Bible Protestant missionaries have always
made it their first aim to give to their people the Word of God in their own language. Experience has justified this practice, for in some lands, when persecution has driven the European mis- sionaries away, their converts have sus- tained their spiritual life by the constant perusal of Holy Scripture. This has been ^the case in Uganda, in Madagascar, and other places. A number of W.M.M.S. men have taken a notable part in the translation of the Bible into African tongues. #
Teaching But the missionaries had not only to
give their people the Bible, they had to teach them to read it. While they busied themselves with their translation work on the one hand, they opened schools on the
* See Appendix B.
Methods of Work in Africa 259
other. In the early days of African missions, the object of educational work was very largely to enable the people to read the Scriptures for themselves. And though the development of some parts of the continent has somewhat broadened this original purpose, it will be long before educational missions in Africa can occupy the place they do among the higher civilisations of Asia. The Brahmans of India, steeped in their sacred lore, and the Confucian scholars of China, call for specialised educational work. There are no such communities in Africa, and the missionary teacher is obliged to begin at the very bottom of the scale. When the need for higher educational work arises, it is because the mission schools themselves have created it — a condition not altogether without advantage, seeing it places in the missionary's hands a larger share in directing the higher education of the people.
The special purpose which missionary The value of educational work serves is stated by Educational Commission III of the World Missionary Conference, under the following five heads : —
1. It enables pupils to read the Bible and other devotional books for themselves, thus making acces- sible to them the literary sources of Christian truth and faith, found specially in the Scriptures.
260 The Gall of the Dark Continent
2. It trains the minds of the people, making them more susceptible to the truth; frees them from the bondage of superstition and error; tends to clear away prejudices, and prepares the soil for the seed of the Christian faith.
3. It endeavours to impart to primitive peoples the knowledge and the firmness of character which may enable them to withstand the disintegrating in- fluences of Western civilisation.
4. By a combination of general and technical training, it helps those who come under its influence to lead intelligent and useful lives, and gives them the power to earn their own living.
5. In its more advanced stages it is necessary for the intellectual equipment and moral training of those who, as teachers and ministers, will serve as the leaders of the native Church.
It is worthy of note that the Govern- ment Commission on South African Native Affairs calls attention to religious instruc- tion in all elementary schools as important to the moral development of the natives of Africa. The need for missionary education is greatly increased by the indirect influence of European rule. Many old tribal restraints have been removed because they were cruel, and unless some new restraining power be substituted, evil con- duct is apt to become more prevalent than ever. A few years ago a Rhodesian chief laid his trouble before the nearest missionary. He said : —
" Missionary, the country is growing worse. I
Methods of Work in Africa 261
would like you to teach my people, for my servants refuse to do as I tell them; even the slaves have no ears. Yes, the country is changed since the white man came. I had power to rule once ; if a slave dis- obeyed, I could put him to death; but now, if you thrash one he goes to the magistrate and complains, and I am helpless. We need somebody here to be constantly teaching us. The land is before you, build where you choose ; we are all in the dark, and need these words of God."
It is well that all tyranny should be suppressed, and that the oppressed should be able to obtain redress from the represen- tative of the Government, but the old chief's appeal suggests the importance of providing moral and religious safeguards concurrently with the removal of the old restraints of brute force.
In some of our African Districts special efforts are made to provide schools for the sons of chiefs and kings, with the hope that, through Christian education, they may be fitted for future responsibility. In view of the dominant influence many of these lads will one day exert over their people, this effort is of the utmost importance.
An educational policy immediately Training commits a great Missionary Society to the nstItutlc provision of training institutions by which the schools may be supplied with teachers. The vernacular schools are necessarily staffed with native workers, and unless
262 The Gall of the Dark Continent
these be educationally and spiritually fitted for the work, the best results cannot be secured, and in some cases positive harm may be done. Furthermore, for the ordinary evangelistic work trained catechists are necessary ; and there is the ever-increasing importance of preparing a well-educated African ministry.
In order to meet these needs we have in South Africa two well-equipped Training Institutions. At Nengubo in MaShonaland, and at the Kilnerton Institution near Pretoria, teachers and evangelists are prepared for Christ's service. The latter institution has (in connection with the Normal Department) a Practising School with about 100 boys and girls, so as to enable the normal students to get practical experience in the art of teaching. There is urgent need of a similar institution in West Africa, where we are at present compelled to rely largely on untrained teachers.
For some years our Richmond College, Freetown, did splendid work under the principalship of the Rev. W. T. Balmer, B.A., B.D. But the urgent needs for similar work on the Gold Coast led the Committee to transfer Mr. Balmer to Cape Coast, where he founded the Mfantsipim school for boys, which it is
Methods of Work in Africa 263
hoped will develop, at no distant date, into a well-equipped training institution. Unfortunately, under the strain of the great work thrust upon him, Mr. Balmer's health gave way, and he has been com- pelled to return to England ; the school, however, continues its work. In the absence of a Wesleyan institution, many of our leading men are studying in the C.M.S. Fourah Bay College (affiliated to the Durham University). At the present time, of twenty-four young men studying for the B.A. degree, six are Wesleyans.
Our Kilnerton Institution has an im- industrial portant Industrial Department in which Missions young men are trained in carpentry and other trades, so as to be in a position to earn a satisfactory livelihood ; and girls are instructed in such subjects as will be useful to them in future life.
Africa, more than any mission field, seems to call for industrial missions. We have noted the effect of such work in the efforts of Barnabas Shaw. At one time it became almost a proverb that Africa must be redeemed by the Bible and the plough, and such a philanthropist as Macgregor Laird recognised the importance of it.
In this way the African can best be prepared to take his place in the world ; and by such methods missionaries are, to
Women and Girls
264 The Gall of the Dark Continent
him, the " school-masters " of righteousness and civilisation. Such work as that done by Dr. Stewart's great Lovedale Institution, or our own Kilnerton Industrial Depart- ment, or our Bathurst Technical and In- dustrial School, is productive of much good. Work for In almost all cases, the women of pagan
Africa can be reached by male missionaries, but there is a great call for women workers. If the work for men be developed out of proportion to the work for women there will be serious difficulties in the creation of Christian communities. The gracious influence of a Christian mother- hood is indispensable to the Christianisation of any land. Among many of the African peoples who have no written language, the history of the tribe or family and much of the superstition accompanying religion is stored in the memory and passed on by word of mouth from generation to genera- tion. Usually the woman is the chief repository of this knowledge ; and at night around the fire in the compound she gathers her little ones about her and tells them these stories. If this fountain of knowledge, at which the children drink so deeply, could be Christianised, it would mean much for the extension of the Kingdom. It is also our duty and policy to provide for our African ministers,
Methods of Work in Africa 265
catechists, teachers, and members, wives who are Christianised in thought and life as well as converted. And though male missionaries may do much, this work can be better accomplished by women.
Our Women's Auxiliary is at present unable to include Africa in its sphere of operations, but a need so urgent had to be met, and the W.M.M.S., departing from its established policy, resolved to undertake the work itself. For several Wesley years little companies of Wesley Deacon- ^Africa " esses have been stationed at our Freetown, Cape Coast, and Accra missions, and the results obtained have more than justified what was at first only an experiment. Their work is distinctly of an institutional character, and they do not engage in such service as we usually connect with the Order of Deaconesses in our own land. At the three stations above mentioned, these devoted workers have charge of Girls' Boarding and High Schools, in which the students (numbering from about 70 to 150 respectively) are prepared for their life- work as Christian women. These invalu- able institutions endeavour to give, not a mere school-education, but, what is far more necessary for West African girls, a thorough training of character, simple and correct habits of life, domestic economy,
9*
266 The Gall of the Dark Continent
and the elementary laws of health. Some- one has said that " the patli of a good woman is strewn with flowers ; but they grow behind rather than in front of her." Through many difficulties and inevitable discouragements the deaconesses are preparing a new West African womanhood in whose footprints the flowers of purity and Christian virtues shall spring forth. Our Girls' Of the three schools, the Freetown Girls'
High Schools jftgh School is the largest and most im- portant. It originated with a voluntary movement among our Sierra Leone laymen. Realising the importance of providing for the education of their own daughters, they organised a " Wesleyan Female Educational Institution " at their own expense and on their own responsibility. In 1903 it was handed over to the W.M.M.S. and at once reorganised by Mrs. W. T. Balmer. In due course it was placed in charge of Wesley Deaconesses, of whom there are always three — two in residence, and one on furlough. When the school was taken over by the Society the income (derived from fees) was under £100; by 1910 it had risen to over £1,000, and the institution is now self- supporting. The excellent institutions at Cape Coast and Accra are doing equally good work, but the Fanti seem less eager
Methods of Work in Africa 267
than the Sierra Leonians for the education of their daughters, and these schools are smaller than the one at Freetown and are not yet self-supporting. The Deaconesses are now commencing similar work for the Methodist girls of Lagos ; last year the self-supporting circuits took over a school for girls from an African committee, and it has become the Wesleyan Girls' High School. A new building is in course of erection, to cost £1,500 — towards which the native churches have contributed £1,000. Our Transvaal and Rhodesia Districts also feel the need of specialised work for native girls, and are organising it.
In Western Africa the climate has been regarded as the great obstacle to the employment of European lady missionaries, but the experience of recent years seems to show that with care a woman may keep in at least as good health as a man. The C.M.S. has given special attention to women's work in Yoruba and Sierra Leone, where it has forty lady missionaries (four- teen of whom are wives) and only thirty-five men on the field.
Medical Missions should have a very Medical important place in our programme for the MIssI°ns evangelisation of Africa. All death (except from old age) and all sickness is thought to be caused by bewitchment, and the whole
268 The Gall of the Dark Continent
healing art is deeply involved in super- stition. It is true that the native doctors have sometimes a knowledge of vegetable or herbal remedies of real value, but in most cases of sickness the people look to the witch-doctor to cure the patient by magic arts. Under such conditions medical science becomes a most effective weapon to use against witch-doctor and fetich priest. There are only about 100 medical missionaries in Africa, all told. In China there are nearly 400. Unfortunately the W.M.M.S. is behind the other great Societies in its use and support of medical work. Great progress has however been made during the last few years, and a very substantial increase of this agency is pro- posed for the near future. But we have still no qualified medical missionary in the Dark Continent, and, beyond the first aid rendered by a few of our ministers, our only medical work is a small dispensary at Igbora in the Lagos District, where Mr. John Bond, who has had a course at Livingstone College, strives to give such relief to the suffering as may lie within his power. Philanthropic There is less need for philanthropic
Work institutions in Africa than in the densely
populated regions of Asia. The fact that there is no such thing as an orphan child
Methods of Work in Africa 269
without relatives greatly reduces the need for orphanages. Family life, \ is*' complex, and the orphan is usually provided for within the clan or tribe. In all Pagan Africa there are only nine mission orphanages, with a total of less than 250 orphans. There are five rescue homes and two small leper asylums, while other departments of charitable work are conspicuously absent. The W.M.M.S. has no philanthropic in- stitutions in Africa.
*****
We have now to consider the work done Pastoral Work within the Church for the strengthening of those who have become Christians. Pastoral oversight is every whit as im- portant as evangelism, and as the work grows it becomes necessary to set men apart for it.
We have already seen that in Africa it is comparatively easy to gain a hearing of, and a response to, the message. But the wise missionary places low value on that shallow, unintelligent acceptance of the Gospel that is familiar to workers among an animistic people. " Sudden conversion " is almost unknown on the mission field ; the sincere man does not thoughtlessly change his religion. Patient teaching is required before real results can be secured ; and notwithstanding his eagerness to win
270 The Gall of the Dark Continent
another soul for Christ the worker carefully refrains from exercising undue pressure, knowing that a decision is almost worthless if it is not the result of real conviction as Entrance to the to the truth of his message. The gate of Church entry to the Church needs to be, and is,
jealously guarded. The moral require- ments of the new religion are carefully emphasised, and no eifort is spared to compel would-be converts to " count the cost." Because of this, many who would otherwise be attracted decide not to become Christians. The Christian ideal of marriage — which is never thrust upon the heathen polygamist — is always emphasised to the enquirer, and is as a flaming sword guarding the entrance to the Church of Christ. If the gate of the Church were widened to admit the polygamist in the state in which the Christian teaching first finds him, the tribes would come in in solid masses. " Catechumens " When the great decision has been made — and the very thought of it warms the heart of every missionary worker — the convert is placed in a catechumen class for further instruction before the rite of baptism is administered. The Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed and the First Catechism are among the lessons first taught ; and
Methods of Work in Africa 271
this probation is never less than three months, while sometimes it is very much longer. The Bible is read and expounded, and the converts, "beholding as in a mirror" the sinfulness of their own hearts, are led to a deeper conviction of their own depravity.
When the catechumen stage has been Baptism satisfactorily passed, the convert is presented to the minister for examination, and if he is satisfied that the instruction has been properly received and that the candidate is a sincere seeker, he administers baptism, thus receiving the convert into the Church of Christ.
The newly baptised believer is now "On Trial" placed in a Society Class as a member " on trial " under the care of a trusted leader for at least six months, but often for a much longer period. The length of this "Full probation is decided by the superintendent em ers ip of the circuit, who takes account of the fitness of each separate candidate. When, on the recommendation of the class leader, the convert is received as a full member, he is admitted to all the privileges and obligations of Christian discipleship.#
In the case of old people the examination for admission into the Church relates
* The stages of admission given above vary slightly in our several Districts, but on the whole they represent in main features the usual practice of our own and othe Missions, though naturally the denominational usages vary.
272 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Edification of the Church
By Means of Public Worship
chiefly to the life, and seeks to test the soul's attitude towards Christ ; but with a younger person a clear understanding of Christian teaching is also required. It should be added that in South Africa each candidate is required publicly to promise to abstain from the use of all intoxicating drinks (including Kafir beer) and dagga smoking, and from attendance, even as a spectator, at " beer parties " and cir- cumcision ceremonies, and parents are required to prevent their children (unless beyond the age of control) attending such ceremonies, or attending bush schools.
If the work of the missionary (as evangelist) ends with the admission ol converts into the Church, it is only that the work of the pastor may begin. In Christ's living edifice the foundations alone have been laid ; the temple has yet to be built.
The public services of the Church offer opportunity for the exposition of the Word of God and the teaching of practical religion. In such work the itinerating missionary is at a distinct disadvantage as compared with the resident pastor, who is able to give continuous instruction ; and herein lies the importance of raising a trained native ministry for pastoral work, so as to set the missionary free for wider itineration.
Methods of Work in Africa 273
The idea of a Sabbath has to be created The Sabbath and the day set apart for worship ; for paganism knows no holy day, and many of the tribes are unable to distinguish be- tween one day and another. In some cases the whole tribe — Christians and heathen alike — adopts the Sabbath as a separate day, and many chiefs and com- moners who are not Christians attend the public services. The absence of any means of accurately reckoning time makes a church bell indispensable, and gives to it a meaning it has lost in lands where clocks and watches are in every home.
In the early stages of work, the place Places of Wor- of worship is often improvised, and is s lp usually built by the converts themselves, guided by their catechist. As the cause grows stronger the primitive, temporary building is exchanged for a more suitable and permanent structure, the people willingly giving both material and labour. In many cases heavy loads of wood or corrugated iron are cheerfully carried for miles on the heads of eager helpers. Our members take great pride in the churches which their own hands have built.
The strong, self-supporting churches of the West Coast towns have substantial buildings arranged on the European plan, with pews, galleries, choirs and pipe-organs,
274 The Gall of the Dark Continent
and, in one or two instances, even with electric light.
Worship The common practice of many of our
churches seems to show that a more or less liturgical service is found to be helpful to the congregations, and Wesleyan usage provides a form of Common Prayer for morning service which is widely, though not universally, used. Most of our workers testify to the reverence which characterises public worship ; this is the general rule, and is much more than mere decorum. The hearty responses are in most cases evidence of sincere piety and earnestness. In Sierra Leone, all who can afford it have Bible, Prayer-book, and Hymnal bound together, often in morocco, with the owner's initials stamped in gilt.
Worshippers A notable feature of church life in West
Africa is the prosperity of some of our members. Their natural trading instincts, coupled with such light as they have received through the blessings of Chris- tianity, have enabled them to rise to positions of comfort and even comparative wealth. Several of our churches include in their membership well-to-do Africans who have had the advantage of a liberal English education. The Lagos circuits, for example, have had in recent years three Honour- able Members of the Colonial Legislative
Methods of Work in Africa 275
Council, besides wealthy merchants and professional men who send their sons to England for education and visit England themselves every two or three years. From these same circuits, two native Bishops of the Anglican Church have taken their wives. It must be remembered that these are native, not English, circuits. The only West African to receive a knighthood (the late Sir Samuel Lewis) was a member of our Freetown Church ; only two have been honoured with a C.M.G., and both were godly and devoted Methodists.
The conditions just described are char- acteristic of the more important coast towns, but do not exist up country, where contact with Europeans is comparatively slight. In the Yoruba and Ijebu countries, in Ashanti, and in the many Gold Coast villages, in Mendiland, and in the Limbah country, many of our church buildings are simple in the extreme. They are often built of mud and thatch in native style, with earth floors and raised earth seats, or perhaps planks resting on stones. The congregations of such sanctuaries are as different from those of Lagos or Freetown churches as are the buildings in which they meet. In the Sabbath services at a bush church may be found people still heathen, and some who are Christian in thought but
276 The Gall of the Dark Continent
debarred by polygamy from membership, besides the members and enquirers. Not infrequently chiefs and even kings — some of them still heathen — attend divine wor- ship. Some of these are men of very low rank and but small intelligence, while others are men of great influence and striking personality — men whose support counts for much in missionary work.
Mr. Findlay describes a service in one of our Abeokuta churches that well illustrates this. King Oshile — one of the four kings of the Egba metropolis — was present, attended by an old chief, eight wives (one of whom is a member of our church), several children, an umbrella bearer, and a slave carrying a wicker chair for the king to sit on. Towards the close, the king rose to address the meeting. Dressed in artistically embroidered robes of brilliant- hued plush, with an enormous plumed hat, covered with beads and gold lace, and carrying an ebony sceptre in his hand, he delivered a really manly and moving speech.
" He began by saying that the white men got wisdom by treasuring the lessons of the past, and that he had lately been seriously pondering all that the missionaries had done for Abeokuta. He recalled how, years ago, they had taken, and educated as Christians, the children of various chiefs, and though the people had looked suspiciously upon it, it had
Methods of Work in Africa 277
turned out well for chiefs and people. He declared that the Wesleyans were real benefactors of the city.
" He said that, as the congregation knew, he had for some time attended the services in the chapel, but he had now deliberately decided to cast in his lot with it altogether.
" He ended by solemnly enumerating various heathen gods, that one and another of his hundreds of relatives and dependants had been worshipping, and declaring that from this day all his people, so far as his influence served, should worship the God."*
Such a man cannot be baptised and admitted to Church membership — being a polygamist — but is usually put on the list of catechumens, as are, in places like Abeokuta, many male Christians. They are often devoted to the Church, and in all but their domestic relations conform to Christian law. Many would gladly be- come monogamists if they could. In such cases the rule seems harsh, but it is necessary to preserve the whole church from becoming polygamous, which it cer- tainly would if the rule were relaxed.
The public services are a means of The Glass general instruction in sacred things ; but MeetIn2 for the edification of members Wesleyan missionaries and pastors rely rather on the Society Class Meeting.
For more personal dealing with the individual, the classes are a more effective
* This king is now dead, but his successor is connected with us, and renders great help by his influence and gifts.
278 The Gall of the Dark Continent
instrument than the public means of grace. So useful has this method proved, and so well suited to the temperament of the African peoples, that several other Missions have adopted it.
Among the Negro peoples especially, our members revel in the class meeting. The testimonies flow freely — usually nearly every one wants to speak — and as the speakers proceed to give praise to God for blessings, or to tell of difficulties or failings, there are ready responses of " Yes, Yes," " Amen," " Bless de Lord ! " Class money and missionary contributions are collected weekly, and arrangements are made for members to visit the sick and absent. Often, in our West African churches, the women take quite a prominent part in local church work ; in Abeokuta, for example, nearly all the class leaders are women.
Church prayer meetings are encouraged, but require to be carefully guided, and the leadership entrusted to experienced and thoughtful prayer leaders only.
Every morning, in West Africa, the church bell calls to prayer at 5 or 5.30. In the early days of our South African Mission, the custom of daily morning and evening prayer was established, and it still obtains in many places. These meetings take place just before sunrise and just after
Methods of Work in Africa 279
sunset, so as not to interfere with the work of the day. It is the custom of evangelists in country places, and many class leaders also, to open their own family prayers to all who will come. Once and again, .in out-of-the-way places, one or two heathen men and women or girls have quietly come in for such a house-service, and it has been evident that this has value as an evangel- istic agency. For these outsiders to see a man, whose whole manner of life makes them feel his superiority, down upon his knees "speaking into the air" arouses thought and creates a desire to know some- thing about the One to whom he is speaking.
In some Districts, conventions for the Conventions deepening of the Spiritual life are held from time to time, and prove a great inspiration. Some Missions bring all their native workers to a suitable centre for a few days of instruction and stimulus. In Africa, as elsewhere, the evangelist can only carry to others what he has himself received, and this being so, the more adequately his own mind is replenished, the more he can give to those for whom he is the appointed teacher. Camp meetings are also held in some places.
With the second and succeeding genera- Missions tions of Christians there are always, within our churches, young people — children of
280 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Sunday Schools
The Need for Discipline
former converts — who have never known heathenism, and yet have not been definitely converted, and in some cases hinder the work by their conduct. With a view to reaching these native " nominal" Christians, some missionaries hold special "Mission" services of a revival character.
Sunday Schools, at which children are by no means the only scholars, are held in every circuit. The children of converts at- tend the schools, and also very many heathen boys and girls. In the more highly developed circuits, teachers' training classes are held.
We have referred more than once to the sincerity and earnestness manifested by our African Christians. It must not, how- ever, be supposed that they are free from blemish. Church members in lands long Christianised, with everything to help growth in grace, are usually far below Christ's standard as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount ; and it can scarcely be expected that African converts, only a few years (or at most only two or three generations) removed from grossest pagan- ism, and still surrounded by its poisonous influences, can have made more, or even as much, progress in the spiritual life. When we remember what for several centuries (from the buccaneers and slave traders to many European traders and clerks of our
Methods of Work in Africa 281
own day) have been the samples of Christianity exhibited on the coasts of Africa, it is little wonder that coast people recognise no very high standard of Chris- tian morality, for even some of those who are members of churches are apt to measure themselves by the white "Christians" with whom they come in contact.
But besides all this, the instincts of the old vicious habits are strong, and so terribly dominant are the animal passions of many, that again and again the pastor has to lament the relapse into gross sin of men who for years have been loyal followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Epistles to the Corinthians become a subject for practical study to every missionary.
Under such conditions, breaches of the Courts of Trial moral law, delinquencies from plain Chris- tian duty, and breaches of Church laws, have to be firmly dealt with, in order to guard the purity of the Church. In our own churches, delinquents and offenders are tried before the leaders' meeting, as in England. In this arrangement Methodist polity seems peculiarly fitted to African conditions, as so much of its administration is easily adapted to native custom. The chief is the head of the tribe, and he is advised by elders or " councillors " who sit with him in judgment. The sentence is
282 The Gall of the Dark Continent
arrived at by the elders and pronounced by the chief. This is so much in accord with the church court of the missionary and leaders or elders — the latter acting as assessors, and the former passing sentence — that such a court of trial has become the common usage of the churches.
It is found that the native leaders are, as a rule, faithful in dealing with members, and some of the charges enquired into would rather surprise the members of a European church — disobedience to parents, exhibitions of temper, and faults of like order, as well as more serious offences. The sentences pronounced vary according to the gravity of the offence, from a reproof to suspension of membership (either for a stated time, or until the offender atones for his offence), or, in extreme cases, ex- pulsion from the church. Development In pastoral work on the Mission field, all
Churches10118 Missionary Societies, and all wise mission- aries and pastors, keep before them the ideal of a strong, indigenous church — self- supporting, self-governing, self-propagating — independent of European " props." In her Colonial work Methodism has long followed this policy, by creating indepen- dent or semi- independent Conferences (in Canada, Australasia, Ireland, France, South Africa), and the Missionary Society is
Methods of Work in Africa 283
working towards a similar end with regard to its native churches. It would be disas- trous to grant self-control to a church unfitted for such responsibility, and in view of this great efforts are made to train our African people for the future administration of their own African Church. The desired end can only be reached after years of careful preparation.
From the early beginnings of a mission, Encouragement
,i n ™ • /• & & •, • ,i to Self-Support
the small Christian communities, as they are gathered out of heathenism, are drilled in the habit of self-support, and most Societies recognise that no appointment of native teacher, evangelist, or other paid agent for work within the church (as distinct from evangelistic work among the heathen tribes), should be made without the larger part of the cost being borne by the people themselves.
Many experienced missionaries hold strongly the opinion that European workers should rarely, if ever, be appointed as pastors of native congregations, their strength being reserved for the duties of general oversight and for the work of aggressive evangelism. Concurrently with the attainment of self- support on the part of the church should come the appointment of wisely chosen and carefully trained men from among themselves to the pastorate of the flock.
284 The Gall of the Dark Continent
But, besides being expected to contribute to the support of the local work, each member is expected to make a quarterly or yearly offering towards the general work of God, in some cases the minimum amount being definitely fixed. No church is considered to have attained full growth until the members are prepared to take an active part by voluntary service and generous gifts in the evangelisation of the heathen around them. That our African brethren are not behind in such works is evident from the following table. The figures are for the year 1910.
Money |
Money |
Extra Gifts |
|
sent from |
raised |
to Foreign |
|
England. |
Locally. |
Missions. |
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
|
The Transvaal District ... |
7,553 |
39,130 |
6,446 |
The Rhodesia District ... |
3,655 |
2,187 |
177 |
The Sierra Leone District |
2,238 |
7,585 |
1,540 |
The Gambia Section |
314 |
1,906 |
332 |
The Gold Coast District... |
3,807 |
19,300 |
4.532 |
The Lagos District |
3,809 |
4,897 |
1,040 |
Total money spent in |
£75,005* |
£14,067 |
|
Africa by the Committee during 1910. |
£21,376 |
||
V |
Total raised in Africa during 1910
£89,072
* Under this head Government grants in aid of schools, etc., are included, and also contributions received from Europeans, which in the Transvaal are considerable. In West Africa the money is almost entirely the result of native generosity.
Methods of Work in Africa 285
It is startling to find that during one year our African Districts raised the large sum of £89,000, and the wonder grows when we remember that this is the ordinary annual amount, and not the returns of a year of special effort.
With the growing consciousness of ability Preparation for to maintain themselves, there comes the mJnt00^™" perfectly natural and healthy desire to govern themselves, and, where a church is able .to bear the responsibility, such right of self-government as Methodist policy allows is gradually introduced. It is given to the Christian community, called out of darkness, to have life in itself ] and provision must be made for the manifes- tation and expression of it. The cardinal blunder made by the Church of Rome in its dealings with England — that of at- tempting unduly to retain control of the religious life of the country by means of a foreign priesthood, instead of encouraging indigenous growth — must be guarded against on the mission field. Wise missionaries keep before them the self- government of the local church as a goal towards which they must continually work. Here again, Methodist organisation appears particularly applicable to African customs and temperament, providing as it does outlets for the gifts of the members of the
286 The Gall of the Dark Continent
church in such offices as those of local preacher, class leader, or steward. The Leaders' Meeting and the Quarterly Meet- ing, with their open discussions on church business, seem specially suited to a people accustomed to the West African "Palaver" or to the "Parliament"' of the Bantu tribes. The business capacity of the Negro here finds a suitable exercise in the concerns of his church. The West Africans, especially, love to identify themselves with the work of their church and make it the leading interest in their lives ; men and women alike feel that it is part of their business and deeply concerns them. The Missionary Great efforts are put forth to impress th^Nadve °f t^ie ^frican churches with a sense of Church their responsibility for the evangelisation
of the heathen tribes around them. In West Africa this is sometimes difficult ; but we thankfully record that the last few years have witnessed a change for the better. Our South African people are full of evangelistic zeal, and by gifts and service do much to make Christ known to their fellows. The Ethiopian That the question of how best to extend Movement self-government to the native churches is difficult and at times perplexing, is illus- trated by the " Ethiopian Movement." This is a Church Separatist movement,
Methods of Work in Africa 287
having as its origin a desire on the part of a section of the Christianised natives to be free from European control. Its ranks are recruited by discontented members from every denomination carrying on work in Southern Africa, and almost without exception the secessions have been led by native ministers or evangelists who have been unable to co-operate with their European superintendents. Doctrinally the communities thus formed stand almost upon the same ground as the churches from which they came out, and use the prayer-books, hymn-books, and catechisms to which they have been accustomed. Unhappily polygamy is permitted, and much moral laxity is allowed to exist. Some of the leaders of the movement are not men to whom the best interests of the native church can with confidence be entrusted ; but on the other hand, Ethiopianism is the outcome of a move- ment of native thought and aspiration to which the Christian Church must give wise guidance. It is a call to the Home Churches to send to Africa only the very best missionaries — statesmen who will so guide the Church as to save it from being overwhelmed by a revolutionary move- ment. The greatest safeguard against Ethiopianism is to grant to the African
Grace
288 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Church all the freedom that can with safety be conceded. A Miracle of But with all its faults, its weaknesses, and its shortcomings, the African Church is a miracle of saving Grace. Take the congregation in the rudely built native church — a people simple and in some things far below the Christian standard ; take these people and compare them with what they would be at this hour had it not been for the Grace of God. Watch that little band of catechumens as they increase in knowledge and grace, and are gathered into a church and grow into a self- supporting and self-governing community. Look at the individual convert coming up out of the mire of sin, until, through many a fall, he is a transformed man, far removed from his old heathen practices. Compare him with the people from whom he has come out — with the heathen amongst whom he is living day by day. It would be foolish to compare the demoniac of Gadara, sitting clothed and in his right mind at Jesus' feet, with John or Peter ; rather contrast what he is with what he ivas. It would be unjust to draw a com- parison between the African Church and our own English Church with centuries of Christian teaching behind it ; compare it rather with the church of our forefathers
Methods of Work in Africa 289
when they were but as far removed from paganism as are the African Christians of to-day, and it will be realised how truly wonderful are the results of missionary work in the Dark Continent.
Far from perfect our people certainly are, but the mighty spirit of God is working in their hearts, renewing in them the image of their Master, and in due time the work will be completed.
We magnify the Grace of God. But in this chapter it has been made evident that it has pleased the Master to use human Human instru- instruments and human methods for the merits and accomplishment of His purposes. We have noted the careful way missionaries have studied the prevailing conditions. They have not tried to force upon Africa methods that have proved successful in other fields ; they have sought rather to devise methods to suit the peculiar needs of the peoples to whom God has sent them.
Methods
10
290 The Gall of the Dark Continent
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION.-The adaptability of missionary methods to existing conditions.
1. Summarise the prevailing conditions that distinguish Africa from China or India.
2. How do you account for the comparative absence of such institutions (Colleges, Hospitals, Orphanages) as are usual in the Oriental Mission Fields?
3. Which do you consider the more important and urgent — evangelistic work or pastoral work? Give your reasons.
4. What do you think of the prospects of the African Church?
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Fraser, Donald. — The Future of Africa. (Chap- " ters V. and VI.)
Kemp, Dennis. — Nine Tears on the Gold Coast.
Warneck, J. — Living Forces of the Gospel.
Edinburgh Report. Com. II. — The Church on the Mission Field.
Edinburgh Report. Com. III. — Christian Educa- tion.
Chapter VII. The Muslim Menace
" The threatening advance of Islam in Africa presents to the Church of Christ the decisive question whether the Dark Continent shall become Muhammadan or Christian."
— World Missionary Conference. Commission I.
Our brief study of African Missions must have impressed the reader with the Fields Waiting immense opportunities presented to the Christian Church in the Dark Continent. In no country are the people more acces- sible ; in no country is there readier re- sponse to the Gospel message. The ingatherings of recent years, both in South and West Africa, as well as in Uganda and other parts, encourage us to look for a still more abundant harvest. It is admitted on all hands that fetichism cannot with- stand the impact of Western education and civilisation. In the opinion of all thoughtful observers the paganism of Africa is doomed and ready to pass away. Meanwhile the Gospel of Christ is winning
291
292 The Gall of the Dark Continent
its silent victories, and but for one dark cloud on the horizon, we might hail as not far distant the day when " He shall reign," and reigning, flood the Dark Continent with Light. An Enemy But an external factor has entered to
owing ares confoun(j our calculations and to make the ultimate issues more difficult and more doubtful. Islam — by far the most terrible external foe that has ever opposed the Church of Christ — is stepping before us into Christ's heritage and is everywhere entering fields that Christian enterprise should have won. The Christian conquest of West Africa, once apparently so near, is still possible, even to the few workers at present on the ground, if sufficient time were given and could the pagan multitudes of the interior wait in their primitive state for the coming of their deliverers. But oppor- tunity waits not on our leisure, and the field is no longer reserved for our coming ; it is occupied by an enemy in strength. While we have lingered on the coast, the forces of Islam have entered from the north, swept across the interior regions, and are now actually facing us on the shores which we have long regarded as almost our own. They have conquered the lands behind them (the vast regions of
The Muslim Menace 293
the Sudan) and turned them into sources of supply and support for further conquest.
Islam is a direct challenge to the King- The Challenge dom of Christ. Muslims contend against of Islam us for the possession of the Dark Continent — nay, the world. "Africa for Christ" is the objective of our endeavour, and the followers of the rival faith respond, " There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah " ! The religion of the Crescent is indeed a terrible opponent. In many lands it has proved its power to overcome corrupt Christian systems, it has uprooted Christian churches, overthrown states nominally Christian, and drawn into its fold multitudes of people who had borne the Christian name.
In the early centuries Christianity Early Christian spread through the Roman Empire with TnumPhs astonishing rapidity. Even in the Apos- tolic times successful efforts were made to win the North African provinces for the Saviour. It has been estimated that by the close of the second century there were at least 900 churches along the North African coasts. Writing about that time, Tertullian, the Christian apologist, declared that in Carthage
" men cry out that the state is besieged ; the Chris-
294 The Gall of the Dark Continent
tians are in the fields2 in the forts, in the islands; and they (the pagans) mourn that every sex, age, condition, and even rank, is going over to this sect."
" The temple revenues are falling off ; how few now throw in a contribution ! "
Addressing the proconsul, Tertullian declared that the Christians "constitute all but a majority in every city " of that portion of Africa.
Wave after wave of fierce persecution swept over the North African Church ; the land was drenched with Christian blood. But these afflictions left the Church purer and stronger. " Kill us, torture us, con- demn us, grind us to dust," cried Tertullian; "The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in numbers we grow ; the blood of the Christians is seed " !# At an early date the Gospel took root in Alexandria, and was greatly strengthened by the powerful influence of the Christian School ruled over successively by Pantaenus, Clement, and Origen. Numidia and Lybia were evangelised during the third century, and Abyssinia in the fourth. The Gospel spread up the Nile valley, and in 545 A. D. the Nubian king was baptised, and we read of five Christian kingdoms in the regions around the modern Khartoum.
* The origin of the famous sentence ' ' The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."
The Muslim Menace 295
" He shall have dominion also from sea to sea." The time for fulfilment seemed near at hand.
Then from Arabia came the dark shadow Muslim invasion of Islam — a war cloud. Egypt was speedily conquered (640 a.d.). A corrupt Chris- tianity, faithless and divided against itself, could not stand against the enthusiastic onslaughts of the Muslim hosts. Within sixteen years of the Prophet's death at Medina, his followers had swept North Africa, and the victorious general plunged his horse into the Atlantic surf, crying :
" By the Great God, if I were not stopped by this raging sea, I would go on to the nations of the West, preaching the Unity of Thy name, and putting to the sword those who would not submit ! "
As the years passed, Spain was con- quered, France was entered, Rome was partially sacked, Sicily and Crete were occupied. Eastward, Syria, Persia, and Asia Minor were brought under Muslim rule. In some of these lands Christianity was overthrown, and churches were destroyed by the hundred.
To-day we glance across countries once The Triumph Christian. Islam prevails. Where are of Islam the seven churches of Asia to which St. John wrote ? What has become of the hundreds of churches in North Africa ? All these have been overthrown by the
296 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Muslims. The great centres of Christian learning — Alexandria, Antioch, Edessa — shared the common fate. In Africa only the Copts of Egypt and the decayed Christianity of Abyssinia escaped the general destruction. The blood of the martyrs, and the work of the great leaders and saints of the African Church — Augus- tine of Hippo, Cyprian and Tertullian of Carthage, Clement, Origen and Athanasius of Alexandria — did not avail. Here and there, what was once a Christian church still exists as a Muslim mosque. On the desert sands piles of stones may still be seen, marking the place where once the worship of Christ was celebrated. A few tribes, now Muslim, retain customs or ceremonies that seem to be survivals of a time when those tribes were Christian. To all human appearance, the Crescent has triumphed over the Cross in Africa. #
For a time the great Sahara and Nubian deserts kept the Muslims to the rich countries along the shores of the Mediter- ranean, and the fertile districts of the Nile valley. But only for a time. The Arab invaders, accustomed to a desert life, were not to be deterred from further conquest by those vast sandy wastes, and when they
* See The Reproach of Islam. Chap. 1.
The Muslim Menace 297
had established their sway over the coast provinces and loaded themselves with plunder, some of the more restless bands penetrated into the interior, while others worked their way round the north-western shores towards the Senegal river. On the eastern side, heavier masses conquered the kingdoms of the Upper Nile and eventually extended the sway of Islam over Nubia and the regions now known as Darfur and Wadai.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Hausaland and Dervishes from Morocco carried their Muslim faith into the Western Sudan, and apparently made converts among the Negro tribes. About the middle of the eighteenth century the Fulahs — a race of shepherds and herdsmen — were Islam ised. These people lived in small scattered communities from the Senegal to Lake Chad. Though dwelling among the pagan Hausas (who are by far the most advanced of all the Negroid races, and practically the only one possessing a highly developed language and literature) the Fulahs seem to have made no effort to convert them to Islam until the beginning of last century. But in 1802, Sheikh Othman Shefu Dan Hodin, proclaiming a Jihad or holy war, gathered his Fulani together, and commenced by force of arms
10*
298 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the " conversion " of the Hausa race. The Fulahs, being excellent horsemen, easily overcame the much more numerous Hausa — a quiet, commercial people, little given to warfare — and soon Othman was able to establish in the region between the middle Niger and Lake Chad a powerful Fulani Empire. This territory, extending from Gando and Borgu on the west to Adamawa on the east, from Asben on the north to the Yoruba country on the south, included some of the most densely populated regions of Africa. Sokoto became the seat of the new dynasty, and from that city the conqueror directed the "conversion" of many millions of Hausa subjects. This was accomplished gradually, partly by force and partly by peaceful persuasion. Exhorta- tions to such " holy wars " occur in the Koran itself.
" Oh prophet, stir up the faithful to war : if twenty of you- persevere with constancy, they shall overcome two hundred, and1 if there be one hundred of you, they shall overcome a thousand of those who believe not." (Sura viii. 66.)
" When thy Lord spake unto the Angels, saying, Verily I am with you; therefore confirm those who believe. I will cast a dread into the hearts of the unbelievers. Therefore strike off their heads, and strike off all the ends of their fingers. Thus shall they suffer because they have resisted God and His Apostle." (The Koran ; Sura viii. 12, 13.)
Passages of this character plentifully
The Muslim Menace 299
sprinkle the pages of the Koran. # It must be remembered that they are believed to be the express words of God Himself, and have more than once been used to urge the faithful on to holy wars for the ex- tension of Islam. Such sharp-edged argu- ments as the swords and spears of the Fulani doubtless powerfully con- vinced many Hausas as to the claims of Muhammadanism. But within a score years the Jihad had deteriorated into mere Raiding as a slave raiding amongst the remaining pagan Method01™17 " tribes ; zeal for Allah and His Prophet gave place to more earthly ambitions. The extent to which this raiding was carried until quite recently is almost in- credible. When Canon Robinson visited Hausaland in 1895, he found on every hand the most appalling evidences of it. At many towns the king was away on a raiding expedition among the pagan villages of his own dominions. The little expedi- tion frequently crossed country but recently raided. In one instance Dr. Hobinson crossed a stretch of country sixty miles
* The various sects of Islam differ as to the conditions under which a Jihad is lawful. The prevailing opinion appears to be that it is unlawful in a modern non-Muslim country if the rulers allow Muslims freedom in religion. Some enlightened Muslims of Modernist sympathies, ex- plain away the Koranic texts on the subject of the Jihad, but (says Sell) "it brings them into conflict with all the canonists of preceding ages, and with the views of commen- tators and theologians of all the various sects."
300 The Gall of the Dark Continent
wide just devastated by a powerful king ; and during his stay in Kano " about a thousand slaves were brought into the town on a single occasion as the result of such an expedition." Slaves were the only means of transport, and they were actually the standard coinage and were used as money. Taxes were paid in slaves, and the several states paid their annual tribute to the Sultan of Sokoto in slaves. This continued until the Fulani were over- thrown by the British under General Lugard in 1903.
By such means Hausaland was " con- verted " during last century. Needless to say, thousands of heathen villagers, in order to save their lives or in the hope — often a vain hope — of retaining their free- dom, became Muslims. But other induce- ments were not lacking. When the pagan went into the cities to market he found him- self unable to get fair treatment ; despised, cheated, scoffed at, he resolved to improve his position by becoming a Muhammadan. Muslim Missions From these regions — usually termed the in West Africa Central Sudan — Hausa traders have travelled southwards and have settled in large numbers among the West Coast tribes. Missionaries for Islam to a man, these travellers have brought the religion of the Arabian Prophet with them and are
The Muslim Menace 301
vigorously propagating it wherever they go — by peaceful means of course. This has been going on for many years with such results as to cause deep concern, not to say alarm, to all friends of Christian missions. During the past century in Hausaland and West Africa, the converts to Muhammadanism must be counted by millions. On the coast, during the same century, Christian missions could but reckon their converts by thousands. In that time the Muslims have conquered far and wide and are now face to face with our missionaries at every station along the coast. Christian missions on the West Coast have even now penetrated but a little way toward the heart of the Con- tinent. Only a few isolated stations are more than 200 miles up country, and what is that in a Continent like Africa ? Islam has brought to its standard the vigorous, united, independent nations of the interior ; while Christian converts have been won chiefly among the weak, divided fragments of nations, pushed down to the sea-board. It is a matter of no small importance for Islam to have won the powerful nations of the Sudan, for there they have formed a strong base from which to advance, and have reared a strong barrier against all Christian progress northward.
302 The Call of the Dark Continent
From all the West African Districts our missionaries report that they are faced with a vigorous Muslim propaganda. The Gambia Fifty years ago seven-eighths of
the Gambia peoples were still pagan. While the Church of Christ slumbered the emissaries of Islam were active, and to-day the position is reversed — probably seven-eighths of the tribes are Muslim. Sierra Leone Islam is said to have been introduced
into Sierra Leone about 1790 — about the same time as Christianity — by certain Fulah traders, and since then it has grown steadily. There must have been consider- able numbers of Muslims in the Colony in the early decades of last century, for in 1839 the Christians petitioned the Govern- ment against their presence, and even destroyed their mosque in a riot — an outrage not yet forgotten. In the census of 1861 the whole Muhammadan population of the Colony was given as 1,774. To-day in Freetown alone, there are at least 10,000, and they possess seven mosques, and four schools supported by Government grants. The Government Colonial report for 1909 has the follow- ing note :
" The work of conversion (to Islam) is carried on by means of immigrant traders and Muslim mission-
MENDI CHIEF AND SUB-CHIEFS. Rev- w- T- Balmer.
p, 303.
The Muslim Menace 303
aries coming into Sierra Leone from the districts to the north and north-west. There is no doubt that the religion is steadily gaining the ascendency there, in spite of all the other influences at work."
In the Hinterland, many of the people are still pagan — especially of the Mendi, Limbah, Konnoh and Lokkoh tribes — but Muhammadanism has a wide-spread hold upon them, the Mandingos, Susus, and Fulahs being almost wholly won over to Islam. Even in the remaining heathen tribes, the chiefs and ruling families are in many cases Muslim. It is not possible to say what proportion of the population of the Sierra Leone Hinterland is Muhammadan ; but certainly that^religion is the prevailing one. The Kev. W. T. Balmer writes :
" Over and over again when Mr. James Walton and I have gone into out-of-the-way villages and fancied that ours was the thrilling joy of breaking absolutely new ground for the seed of the Word, we have had our hopes dashed to pieces by seeing the sinister figure of a Muslim emerge from the back of the village in which we had gathered a little crowd. We could only speak a few words and pass on. He was there entrenched, established in hut and mosque. In another village we would find ourselves forestalled, and the folk forbidden to listen to us; and, worse still, two places there are at least where once we had seemingly flourishing stations, which are now gone or going from us — one, indeed, to such an ex- tent that, in the missionaries' absence, the mission house was utterly destroyed, and all we had left was a heap of sticks."
304 The Gall of the Dark Continent
The Gold Coast " The most striking feature of the religious life of the Gold Coast Colony is the spread of Islam." It is due to the influx of Hausa traders from the Sudan, who, under the aegis of the Pax Britannica, have flocked into the colony in enormous numbers. Some arrived by sea by way of Lagos, while others came overland through the Northern Territories. They have formed colonies or ghettos of their own in every considerable town, and in some cases, as in Kumassi, the Hausa colony is equal in size to the native town. But the Hausas are met with everywhere, and wherever they settle they erect their mosque or mark out a place of prayer. In every Muslim community there is a teacher, generally from the far north, who daily gathers the children together and instructs them from the Koran. Unfortunately the Government of the Gold Coast Colony, consciously or unconsciously, favours the spread of Islam. There are cases on record where the Government has built a mosque and paid the salary of the school teacher, and some European officials openly advocate Muhammadanism as more suitable for the native than Christianity.
Up in Ashanti and the Northern Territories of the colony, Islam is gaining a firm hold upon the peoples. A Swiss
The Muslim Menace 305
traveller, who took an extended tour in the remote northern regions little more than a year ago, told one of our mission- aries that in every considerable village he had found two Muhammadan teachers. He had passed through the same country ten years before and found the people purely pagan ; now the almost universal name of God is Allah. A nation won for Islam in a decade !
We turn to our Lagos District, only to Southern find the religion we are compelled to Nl^eria regard as the enemy of the cause of Christ making rapid strides. We have seen in former chapters something of the readiness of the people of Southern Nigeria to listen to the Christian teacher. Fields are white unto harvest ; but, alas ! here also Muham- madanism is stepping in before us and reaping the harvest that we might long ago have gathered. When the messenger of the Cross enters a village, however remote, he hears the muezzin call- ing men to prayer in the name of the Prophet of Arabia. The Chairman of the District, the Rev. Oliver J. Griffin, writes :
" In the Yoruba country one missionary could do to-day what no twenty men will be able to do in ten years' time. We could claim many places for Christ to-day, which will be Muhammadan in a few years if
306 The Gall of the Dark Continent
we leave them. Yet, by the look of things, it will be quite ten years before the folk at home wake up to the true position."
Northern To the north of the Niger lie the great
Nigeria Hausa States. In 1900 this vast and
densely populated territory passed under British rule. This is the stronghold and the radiating centre of West African Muhammadanism. It is from these interior regions that Hausa and Fulah merchants and missionaries have gone forth to the coast districts. The trying climate renders immediate European control difficult, and the administration of the country is left largely in the hands of the Muslim Emirs. Many of them are ruthless, ferocious tyrants, but they have great power, and through them the Government manages — though often with difficulty — to rule the Central Sudan. Southern Africa From the Hausa states on the west, and from the upper reaches of the Nile on the east, the messengers of Islam have entered the great southern peninsula of the Dark Continent. In search for slaves and ivory they have spread themselves over the great Congo basin. But here, apparently, greed of gain has exceeded their zeal for Allah, and the distinctly missionary propaganda seems to be behind that of the West Coast regions. From Mombasa and Zanzibar
The Muslim Menace 307
the Arabs have for many centuries overrun East Africa, but have made comparatively- few converts. Islam has spread rather by intermarriage. In many tribes there has clearly been a fusion of Arab and Negro blood. In North-West Rhodesia there Rhodesia would seem to be real and immediate danger. Many Muslims are settling there, and, in order to gain converts, are even setting aside the prohibition of intoxicating liquors. In Southern Rhodesia there is, as yet, no organised propaganda. Iti search of work, Muslims come into the country and settle there, but apparently make no converts. As we travel further south the Cape Colony influence of Islam grows less, though even in Cape Colony there is a certain amount of Muslim propaganda under conditions by no means unfavourable.
For many centuries Islam was propa- The old gated by the sword ; east and west, north ° s— and south, it spread like lire through the dry grass. But by slow degrees its military power was checked. In Europe this took place at a comparatively early stage ; it was banished from France by the battle of Tours in 732 A.D., and its advance from the south-east was arrested by the battle of Vienna in 1083. In Africa, Islam
308 The Gall of the Dark Continent
retained its military character until Lord Kitchener's victory at Omdurman in 1898, and Sir F. Lugard's conquest of Hausa- land in 1903. —and the New But the resources of Islam were not exhausted. Deprived of the sword, its followers, with that zeal for their faith which has always characterised them, betook them- selves to other weapons. Just as in the middle ages there arose the preaching friars in the Church of Rome — the Benedictines, the Franciscans, the Jesuits — so there have risen religious orders in Muslim Preach- Islam. They are generally known as ing Orders Dervishes (i.e., Mendicants). They have existed from earliest times, the first being founded in the Prophet's own life-time. By their organisation and ubiquity they have been the very life of the religion to propagate and preserve which they were called into existence by some of the most remarkable men of the Muhammadan world. The most modern of these movements had its origin in a great attempt to reform Islam which was set on foot by Muhammad ibn Abd All-Wahhab, a native of Central Arabia. The influence of the Wahhabite movement was felt widely through the House of Islam, but it has now no distinct existence. In Africa it set on foot two powerful agencies. The first of
The Muslim Menace 309
these was the rise of the Fulah race to power, as already described. But stronger and more formidable is the Sanusi move- ment, now actively at work.
The founder of this Order, Muhammad The Sanusi ibn Ali as-Sanusi, was born in 1791. He seems to have been a man deeply concerned for the welfare of Islam, and in his early years he distinguished himself by his zeal for Koranic lore and by visiting holy places. He showed remarkable skill in organising, and in 1837 established the brotherhood that bears his name — the Sanusiyya, or Sanusi — the most strenuous and highly organised, and most widely spread of all the Muhammadan Orders. At first the new brotherhood was regarded with suspicion by orthodox Muslims, but it soon grew to such an extent and attained such an influence as to absorb some of the other leading Orders which prided them- selves on their strict orthodoxy and superior learning. The members of the Order are said now to number some five or six millions, and they possess monasteries, or Zawiyyahs, scattered over the Sudan and Northern Africa. In 1859 the founder of the movement died, and his son became Sheikh in his place.
The headquarters of the Sanusi were Their Head- first at Jarabub in the Libyan Desert, a <iuarters
310 The Gall of the Dark Continent
town which has been described as "at once a fortress and a convent, a university and a shrine." It is said to contain stores of war material, and is under the absolute rule of the Sheikh of the Order. European travellers are not allowed to visit it. Its theological school is said to have had as many as 700 students. But in 1895 the headquarters were moved to Kufra, an oasis in an inaccessible region near Lake Chad. Between these two places, and from them, there is a constant passing of agents and messengers, and already the result is the rapid conversion of West Africa to Islam.
The interior of North-West Africa, it must be remembered, is not a desert ; the Central Sudan teems with many millions of virile people, nearly all of whom are under the influence of this remarkable Order of Muhammadan teachers. The strength of the movement is not to be despised. It is understood that the head Sheikh was earnestly entreated to assist the Mahdi in his attack on the Egyptian Sudan, and had he done so, the issues of the struggle at Omdurman might have been different. But evidently this power- ful man lays his plans deeply and carefully. The French Government is keenly on the alert, and recognises the import of the move-
The Muslim Menace 311
merit by registering — as far as possible — every convert it makes.
The religious sincerity of the members of Their Eamest- the Sanusi Order is illustrated by the fact nessand °b>ect that they utterly repudiate the Pan-Islamic Movement with its leaning towards Modernisn and its participation in Western thought and science.
To quote a well-informed Arabist : —
" There has sprung up in Islam, with tremendous ramifications, an imperium in imperio. All the brethren in all the degrees — for, just as in the monastic orders of Europe, there are active members and lay members — reverence and pay blind obedience to the Sheikh of the Order in his inaccessible oasis in the African desert. There he works towards his end, and there can be little doubt what that end will be. Sooner or later, Europe — in the first instance, England in Egypt, and France in Algeria and Tunis — will have to face the bursting of the storm. For this new Mahdi is different from him of Khartoum and the Egyptian Sudan, in that he knows how to rule and wait. For years he has gathered arms and munitions and trained men for his Jihad (holy war). When his plans are ready, and his time is come, a new chapter will be opened in the history of Islam, a chapter which will cast into forgetfulness even the Boxer outburst in China. "*
A favourable time for such an outburst would be any combination of events in the political world of Europe which would make it necessary for France to relax her
* Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence, and Constitution, p. 62, by D. B. Macdonal'd (Scribners).
312 The Gall of the Dark Continent
rule over Northern Africa, or which would, to any considerable extent, weaken her influence in that region. But this power- ful man from his mysterious retreat keeps watch over the whole horizon, and he is ready to seize any opportunity to eject Great Britain from Hausaland and restore the rule of his faithful Fulani. In a word he is watching the whole of North Africa, and will take such action as the occasion, when it is ripe, may call for. Such a holy war, of course, means a return to the sword, but at present his emissaries are content to extend their influence by preaching.
This movement is not religious only, it is political. Islam has been from its birth a political as well as a religious system, and a crisis like the present should convince the nations of Europe of the power which is ruling and working in Central North Africa. Muhammadan apologists tell us that the Sanusi movement is essentially a reform of Islam, an attempt to lead back the believers to the primitive monotheistic faith. This is to some extent correct, but it is more than a rallying cry to encourage perfervid Muslims to go from other lands to the Sudan, where they may find more freedom for their faith. The belief that this is not the only or even the chief object, is created by the suspicious methods
The Muslim Menace 313
pursued in the propagation of Islam among the tribes of West Africa. For those who have eyes to see, and who wait not on politics, there are sufficient signs already that the struggle is even now upon us — a struggle so severe and protracted as to shake to the foundations one or other of the opposing faiths in Africa.
But the remarkable spread of Islam in Muslim our time in West Africa is due not only to ™l?i!0!!ary
i ii- i ptvtt » • Methods
the overwhelming host ol Muslim mission- aries, but to their methods of propagating their creed. They come among the pagan tribes, settle among the people, marry native wives, learn local customs and build upon those customs. They come profess- edly to teach a religion, a definite creed, concerning an all-powerful God, and promise blessings and advantages to those who obey their teaching.
The simple, unsophisticated pagan is a believer in magic and witchcraft ; his imagination peoples the unseen world with malevolent powers and spirits whose malign influences can only be kept in check by sorcery, incantations, and trickery. Instead of awakening his intelligence to see the folly and uselessness of such superstition, and leading him to put his confidence in the Almighty, the Muslim missionary only adds new superstitions, new chains. He
314 The Gall of the Dark Continent
gives his authority to many pagan ideas and practices. The heathen villager's belief truly is transferred to Allah the Omnipotent ; but this Allah is only the supreme head of a host of intermediary powers, into which hosts of spirits, djinns, demons, and the inhabitants of the pagan occult world are incorporated. Allah is too remote from human affairs for the practical purposes of life, so the Islamised heathen continues to rely on the sorcerer, his charms and gree-grees, as aforetime. Indeed the charms become more efficacious because they are now prepared by the Muslim teacher instead of by the old-time fetich priest. In fact the greatest manu- facturers and vendors of charms and gree-grees in Western Africa to-day, are the emissaries of the Crescent.
The Koran itself is degraded into an instrument of magic. Portions of it are sewn up in leather pouches and worn as amulets ; phrases are written on pieces of board, and the water used in washing off the ink is swallowed as medicine. From the sale of such things the teachers of Islam derive considerable revenue, and live easily on the credulity of the people. In a word, Islam in Africa checks no vice and denounces no errors, but superimposes the all-powerful name of Allah on the
The Muslim Menace 315
superstition which it finds, and gives the dignity of a world -religion to unwashed heathenism.
G. Simon, in his latest work "Islam and Christenbum im Kampf" says : —
" Islam but introduces a new set of magical observances into the country in which they are re- ceived with thankfulness. For of magic one can never have enough. If one magician fails, then will another serve ; and should the magic be strange, and the words and invocations incomprehensive, it is all so much the better." (Page 82.)
" The Muhammadan teacher occupies the position of the old medicine man . . . the functions of the old magician pass to the Muhammadan teacher, and even the deference which the folk paid the old weird priest is transferred to his successor. The magical processes of ancient custom, the baneful spells, the driving out of evil spirits, the finding of lost articles, the choice of lucky days, are all taken over by the Muhammadan teacher. All he does is to impart to the whole an Islamic tinge. He says ' Bismillah ! ' {' In the name of Allah '), but only as a new incanta- tion which the old sorcerers did not know. He sells amulets and stones graven with words from the Koran against sickness, and he interprets dreams and prophecies." (Page 117.)
The Muslim missionary asks very little An Easy of his converts. There is no thought of RelIgion change of heart or maimer of life ; there is no " baptism unto repentance and the remission of sins." In effect, all the con- vert does is to perform the ceremonial washings, and to pray several times a day
316 The Gall of the Dark Continent
— the words are Arabic, and quite beyond his understanding. It is simply the grafting of Islam upon his old life, the throwing of an Islamic cloak over his paganism. Islam accommodates itself to human nature as it is. The average pagan African seldom cares for a strenuous life, either physical or spiritual, and Islam commends itself to him by the fewness of its demands.
'" God is minded to make His religion light unto you, for man was created weak,"
said Muhammad, and the missionaries of his faith have certainly always acted up to — or down to — this principle. A modern Muslim writer in the Hibbert Journal
says : —
" The pure morality of the Muhammadan religion is within the reach of the average man,"
and apparently " the average man" means man as he is found in pagan Africa. To such a man Islam comes as a better religion than the one he has hitherto held. It is brought to him by men whom he feels to be superior to himself; and it is so easy to become a Muslim that there is no reason why he should not do so. Islam simply confirms him in the vicious practices which are largely the cause of his degraded condition.
True, Allah is declared to be " the
The Muslim Menace 317
Compassionate, the Merciful," and the
formula is oftentimes repeated ; but it is
the compassion of an Oriental despot,
arbitrary and unreliable, rather than of a
Heavenly Father, a God of Love. His
will is absolute, and against it the human
soul has no rights. In this perhaps, some
Europeans may see some gain. The many
gross ideas of the heathen are replaced by
a system of monotheism, and this seems to
be a movement in the right direction.
But in practice it is not so. A recent
French writer has said : —
" The further Muhammadanism travels westward, the more it changes its character."
The Muhammadanism of West Africa and West African the Central and Western Sudan, seems to Muh.ammadan- have little in common with that of mono- theistic Egypt, except clannishness and abstinence from strong drink. In some parts the introduction of Islam has reduced the sale of intoxicating liquor, but this is not always the case. M. Binger, a dis- tinguished French traveller in the French Sudan, declared that " All the people are Muhammadans without exception, and all are drunken in the fullest acceptance of the word." Joseph Thomson confirms this. Of British Hausaland (Northern Nigeria) Sir F. Lugard writes : —
(i Over vast areas of West Africa, Muhammadamsiri
318 The Gall of the Dark Continent
has become so deteriorated by an admixture of pagan superstitions, and by intemperance, that its influence for good has to be largely discounted. The Muham- madan Negro is inflated with a sense of his superiority, which has taught him a supreme contempt for human life outside the pale of his own creed. The pagan is to him as a beast of the field, fit only for slaughter or slavery. His religion has not taught him to con- demn deceit, treachery, or cruelty. Having raised him somewhat above the chaos and the superstition of the pagan, it has left him with no higher aspira- tions, the victim of bigotry and exclusion, the scourge of non-Muhammadan humanity."
The fact that the drink traffic is now rjrohibited in Northern Nigeria is due to the action of the Royal Niger Company and not in the slightest degree to Islam.
Dr. W. E. Miller, of the C.M.S. Sudan Mission, thus describes Muhammadanism as he knows it in Hausaland : —
" The intelligence of the Hausa in the great cities is proverbial, and one feels with them as if in con- verse with an Arab rather than a Negro. The lack of home life, the utter prostitution of virtue, the total disregard of morals, all these have brought moral ruin to the people, and made West Africa a seething sink of gross iniquity. Woman, although allowed much more freedom than in North Africa, is never- theless the " thing " of men ; polygamy, of course, is the law; only lack of wealth prevents men from having four wives, and as many concubines as possible. Divorce for anything is possible — a quarrel, sickness, infirmity, poverty, or worse. The youngest girls are taught the worst vices ; no one is innocent, none pure. Boys and girls grow up in the
The Muslim Menace 319
densest atmosphere of sin, where there is hardly a redeeming feature, and this all under the strictest adherence to the outward laws of Islam.
" The whited sepulchre is full of bones. Immorality of every sort is rife, and there is little shame ; adul- tery and fornication are not reduced through men having many wives. It is rare to find a woman past the prime of life living with her husband. One would, therefore, expect to find that progress is ruled out, and that the glance is backward, not forward, to ' the things our fathers knew and did.' The in- evitable fruits of a slave-ridden land — laziness, oppression, dirt — have fallen upon West Africa, and only where Christianity (as in Sierra Leone, Lagos, etc.) has had a long time to affect the character and condition do we see progress. Islam has not, and will not, do anything for progress in West Africa."
Some hold that since Muhammadanism islam not a as a religion is better than fetichism, it is S^aH^S^ essentially a stage of preparation for Christianity. But this view of the situ- ation rests on nothing stronger than plausibility. It is not true, and is dis- proved by all the facts of the case. There is no parallel between Muhammadanism and the Jewish Law, except such as may be found in mere ceremonial formality ; it is the enemy, not the friend, of real, living religion. ' Professor Margoliouth signifi- cantly writes : —
" If Islam could serve as a half-way house between paganism and Christianity, its extension might be regarded with less dismay ; but experience shows that there are no such half-way houses . . . there is this
320 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Strengthening its Hold
The Present Crisis
terrible difficulty in facing Islam, that it represents itself as an advance on the Christian system."
We have seen how little Islam asks of its converts. This means that it holds them but loosely. They are Muslim in name, and little more. Among West African converts there is little or none of the conviction and enthusiasm which characterise their co-religionists in the old Muslim countries where the faith has been long-established. But though the mission- aries of the Crescent ask little at first, they steadily work for the more thorough Islam- ising of the people, and in the second and third generations they have a much firmer hold upon them. To this end the more intelligent adult converts and the children are, by their Hausa teachers, instructed in Arabic and in Koranic lore and tradition. Many converts learn to recite suras of the Koran without understanding a word of them. Some learn to write with ease, and gradually the beliefs and practices and pre- judices of Muhammadanism are imparted.
It would be difficult to exaggerate the gravity of the situation. Canon Sell — and few men have a fuller knowledge of the whole Muhammadan world — says :
" Probably in the past history of the Church there has hardly ever been a crisis so acute as this is now " ;
and most students of Islam believe that the
The Muslim Menace 321
coming struggle between the two great missionary religions — Christianity and Islam — will be fought and decided in Western and Central Africa. Should Islam prevail in these regions, the missionary forces of Christendom will receive a check from which it will take centuries to recover, and the Crescent will dominate the greater part of the Dark Continent. A Muslim Africa would be as disastrous to the highest interests of world-wide religion as a materialistic China.
This great struggle is even now upon us, and its ultimate issues are being decided year by year. Yet the Church of Christ has apparently little idea of the seriousness of the crisis. While Islam, bold, proud, self-confident, is actively at work, our Missionary Societies are able to send out but few workers. A still further difficulty is created by the fact that the attitude of the European Governments to native religion is a distinct gain to Muhammadan and a hindrance to Christian propaganda. The British Government professes to be The Attitude
, • i j XP of Government
impartial, and give no preference to any religion, and no doubt sincerely seeks to carry out a policy of neutrality. But the African looks at things in a different way from the white man. He does not differ- entiate between Church and State, and the
11
322 The Gall of the Dark Continent
very fact that the Colonial Government does not expressly favour and use its in- fluence on behalf of Christianity, but treats the Muhammadan religion with official respect, is interpreted by him as a sign that Islam is favoured. He does not understand the impartiality. It must also be remem- bered that the British Government prohibits Christian missionary work amongst its Muslim subjects in the Sudan and some parts of West Africa. Things the A little reflection will make it clear that
Missionary Christianity is severely handicapped in this Cannot Do great struggle. The messenger of Jesus cannot descend to the methods of his Mus- lim rival ; he cannot marry into a pagan family ; he cannot lure the superstitious people with Christian " charms ; " he cannot accommodate his Gospel to the low and degraded impulses and instincts of the heathen. Such considerations may well discourage. They suggest that the tide of Islam cannot be stemmed. ofhu£ndanenCe ^u^ experience contradicts this. There is the splendid instance of Uganda. When Speke and Grant visited the kingdom in 1862 its gross paganism was undisturbed. A few years later (1875) H. M. Stanley found that, through the efforts of a zealous Muslim missionary, the powerful monarch M'tesa and the bulk of his subjects had
The Muslim Menace 323
become Muhammadans. The great explorer was impressed with the thought that, had David Livingstone reached Uganda, he would have tried to win the king for Christ, and with considerable tact and noble pur- pose Stanley attempted the task, though his commission was to explore, not to Christianise, and he realised that he was not well fitted for the task. With the Muslim teachers Stanley conducted a great discussion as to the claims of the Gospel, in the presence of the most powerful monarch of Central Africa. M'tesa was so impressed with Stanley's arguments, and by his character as a representative of Chris- tianity, that he expressed an earnest desire to receive Christian missionaries. Realising the advantage he had secured, Stanley Stanley's immediately wrote a letter to The Daily Ghalleng< Telegraph appealing for missionaries for Uganda. In burning words he sketched the importance of the opportunity, the splendid and unique possibilities of the Mission he proposed.
"Gentlemen," he wrote, "here is your oppor- tunity. Embrace it! The people on the shores of the Nyanza call upon you. Obey your own generous instincts and listen to them."*
This thrilling challenge was immediately
* This remarkable story is told by Stanley himself in his Through the Dark Continent, vol. 1, chaps, ix and xii,
324 The Gall of the Dark Continent
taken up by the Church Missionary Society. A band of chosen men was sent out to Uganda. Access to this remote kingdom was difficult. Fever and treachery thinned down the little band, and only two of the men reached their destination — one of whom was Alexander Mackay. The work was begun and carried on with great heroism. Muslim teachers and, later on, Catholic priests offered determined opposition. M'tesa could never be brought to the point of decision, and his successor, M'wanga, was a cruel persecutor of the Christians. Martyr fires were kindled, and scores of converts died for their new-found Saviour. Political complications led to civil war, and greatly hindered the progress of the Gospel. Truly the battle of the warrior was with noise and shoutings, and with garments rolled in blood. But The Victory of after great discouragement and many Ghnst set-backs, the cause of Christ emerged
triumphant.
To-day the government of Uganda is Christian ; the young king is a baptised believer, the prime minister in his early years suffered torture for Christ's sake, and even to-day " bears in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus." The BaGanda Church has over 90,000 baptised Christians, and is
The Muslim Menace 325
itself sending out the Light into the surrounding regions ; the adjacent kingdom of Toro has been evangelised and its king baptised, and BaGanda workers are carry- ing the Gospel to the tribes of the Congo forests.
Here we have an instance of a power- ful kingdom captured, and for some years held, by Islam. The king had become a Muslim. His chiefs and many of his people had followed his ex- ample. The Government was Muslim. Then one strong, dauntless man saw an opportunity to wrest this land from Islam, and replace the Crescent with the Cross. " Gentlemen, here is your opportunity. Embrace it ! " Christian leaders instantly arose and seized that opportunity, and to-day Uganda is under the government of a Christian monarch, and the tide of Islam has been stemmed. Here is a kingdom that has, in the teeth of terrible opposition, been won from Islam during the last 25 years !
Who shall say that similar results are The Moment of impossible in West Africa? We have .0pPortunity .
1 . , . p J , ... in West Africa
seen something oi the opportunities open to us among the Negro peoples. Our harvesting is only limited by the fewness of the labourers. If we could have a network of stations and out-stations across
326 The Call of the Dark Continent
the country, it would be comparatively easy to arrest the onward march of Islam. And this is perfectly feasible if only we had workers enough. The hold Muham- madanism has over its West African con- verts is only feeble as yet ; and it would be far from easy for it to resist a vigorous Christian advance. Indeed Dr. Miller declared at the Cairo Conference that many of the pagan tribes in British Nigeria entertain
" such a deep hatred towards all the propagators of Islam, on account of their cruelty in past years, that, were there sufficient Christian missionaries, any struggle would be principally a duel between heathen- ism and Christianity. But the woes which follow and have followed in the track of Islam will soon be forgiven and forgotten, and a peaceful Islam under British rule, free to proselytise while Christian missionaries are hampered, will be a greater power."
Not least among the advantages of the hour, is the discouragement of West African Muhammadans, consequent upon the overthrow of the Fulani power. The defeat of this once powerful ruling race by the British greatly reduced the influence of Muhammadanism in West Africa. Miller declares that in Hausa- land,
" triumphant arrogance has given place to haunting fear, and a cringing subservience. The overthrow
The Muslim Menace 327
of the Fulani power is probably one of the greatest blows to Islam, next to the recovery of the Egyptian Sudan."
As we'think of these present-day factors, A New Stanley's words again ring in our ears — Challenge " Gentlemen, here is your opportunity. Embrace it ! " Yet even as we write and read, this precious opportunity is slipping away from us.
The idea of checking Islam in West Africa is not new. Nearly five hundred years ago, Henry the Navigator, unable to crush the Muslims of North Africa, sought on the West coast to see
" if there were in those parts any Christian princes in whom the charity and love of Christ was so in- grained that they would aid him against those enemies of Christ."*
Now-a-days we need for this crusade, Wanted— not the armed men Prince Henry sought, Grusader8 but trained warriors of the Cross of Christ, who, with more spiritual weapons than he thought of, shall hurl back the defiant hosts of Islam, and make Jesus Kino;. The ordinary missionary will not do for such important work as this. Special men are required, versed in Arabic and Hausa, in Koranic and traditional lore, and in Muslim theology and controversy, as well as in the
* Gomez Eanes de Zurara.
328 The Gall of the Dark Continent
vernaculars of West Africa. Such men, armed with the sword of the Spirit, having the shield of Faith, and their feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, could do exploits in the name of the Lord Christ whom Islam defies.
We have seen that history records one conflict between the followers of the Prophet and the followers of Christ in which a divided, corrupt, and faithless Church was overcome and swept away. Once more we join battle with the arch enemy of the Christian Church, and the issues of this new conflict depend entirely on the fidelity and readiness for service of the followers of the Lord Jesus. If we are defeated again, the Crescent will dominate Africa for centuries to come.
The Muslim Menace 329
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION.- The situation in Africa in the light of the Muslim menace.
1. Can we regard Islam as " a sister Church in error " ?
2. What does experience lead us to expect will be the condition of West and Central Africa if the Crescent wins?
3. How do you account for the rapid progress of Islam 1
4. To what extent do you regard the present moment as critical?
5. Do you consider the situation hopeful or hope- less? And why?
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Gairdner, W. H. T. — The Reproach of Islam. Haines, Chas. R. — Islam as a Missionary Religion. Robinson, Chas. H. — Nigeria. Johnston, Sir H. H. — History of a Slave.
11*
Chapter VIII. The Gall of the Hour
" Without minimising the importance of advance elsewhere, the continent of Africa is the region upon which our present efforts must be chiefly concentrated to meet the advance of Islam."
— World Missionary Conference. Commission 1.
The Stirrings The mighty changes that have swept
of New Life over tfie non-Christian races have not left the Dark Continent untouched. It is true that in Africa the stirrings of new life are less pronounced than with the ancient civilisations of Asia ; but they are not less significant. In the absence of any powerful nationality among the African peoples, the movement is of racial rather than national character. In the sub-continent it has become a question of colour, and the formation of the South African Union is thought by some to have accentuated the feeling against the white races. The intro- duction of Western civilisation and educa- tion inevitably gives a new outlook to non- 330
The Gall of the Hour 331
Christian peoples, and many Africans who have taken advantage of their oppor- tunities are even now working for the enlightenment and consolidation of the numerous tribes of the Dark Continent. There are also signs that the great Negro populations of America are beginning to recognise their relationship with those of Africa. With great ability Mr. Booker Washington is pleading for the consolida- tion of the black races of the two con- tinents. Such a movement would powerfully strengthen the influence of the Negro race. Some Europeans who know Africa well, fear that a united and hostile native population may become a serious peril. If such fear is well-founded — and who dare say it is not ? — the call to the Church of Christ is urgent in the extreme. The danger can best be averted, not by holding the natives in subjection and treating them with contempt, but rather by in- stilling into their minds the principles of true religion and morality. The next half- century will see a remarkable advance of the African peoples — socially, intellectually, economically — and it will be to the advan- tage of the Christian Powers to foster and guide the] movement. To attempt to stem it would be futile ; to disregard it would be disastrous in the extreme.
332 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Race Vitality The African races show no signs of decay. Contact with civilisation does not in any way weaken their vitality. They rather seem to increase more rapidly as a result of the presence of Europeans. This is largely accounted for by the forcible prevention of the terrible wastage of human life. Before the Christian Powers intervened, the incessant tribal warfare, the slave raiding, the superstitious belief in witchcraft and magic, human sacrifice, cannibalism, and all the horrible cruelties of gross heathenism made the Dark Continent a very Golgotha. Now that the appalling loss of life from such causes has been completely stopped over vast areas, and considerably reduced in others, many tribes are increasing in numbers. And possibly, through the long night of darkest cruelty, the process of the survival of the fittest may have worked for the strengthening of the physical well-being of the people. Possibilities of The African races are sometimes the African thoughtlessly described as " inferior" ; but a little knowledge of them must convince the impartial observer that the description is erroneous, unjust, and mischievous. The correct view of these peoples is that they are undeveloped. It has been abundantly proved that the African is as capable as
The Gall of the Hour 333
the average man of any other race. The training may sometimes be a slow and tedious process ; the raw native does not quickly develop into a civilised artisan. But we question if the progress made last century by some of the West Coast com- munities, for example, has been exceeded elsewhere. Members of the learned pro- fessions— lawyers, doctors, clergy, and ministers — are quite numerous, and many West African merchants have risen to positions of wealth and influence. The true Sierra Leonian is seldom seen as a labourer. He is found in shops as an independent trader, or as a clerk in the offices of European firms, or in some position under Government.
The late Sir Samuel Lewis, K.C.M.G., was a striking illustration of the capabilities of the African. The son of a liberated slave who had prospered in business, this re- markable man was, as a boy, sent to England for education. Passing his ex- aminations with great success, young Lewis was called to the Bar in 1871 ; he served the Sierra Leone Government as Crown advocate, magistrate, and judge ; became the first Mayor of Freetown, was appointed member of the Legislative Council, was knighted by Queen Victoria and created a Knight Bachelor of the Order of St.
334 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Michael and St. George. Sir Samuel, who was an honoured member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, died in 1903.
Possibly no African was ever better known or more widely honoured than Samuel Crowther. Born in the Yoruba country, captured by slave-raiders, ex- changed for a horse with Portuguese slave merchants, shipped for America, rescued by a British cruiser, converted in Freetown, ordained as a clergyman of the Church of England, ultimately consecrated Bishop of the Niger — the first African convert to attain to episcopal dignity — Crowther's life was romantic to a degree. His evan- gelistic enthusiasm, his devotion to his pastoral duties, his ability and sterling Christian character show what an African is capable of becoming when his latent faculties are developed.
Our own ministry also supplies striking examples. David Magata, Robert Mashaba* and Daniel Msimango should be mentioned. Father Parker, the senior African minister of our Gold Coast District, is a man of remarkable intellectual power. J. Claudius May was the son of a rescued slave who became one of our Sierra Leone ministers. Walking in his father's footsteps, young May also entered our ministry after a few
* See pages 132 and 141.
The Call of the Hour 335
years training in England. He was the first Principal of our Freetown High School, and at his death in 1902 the Minutes of Conference testified that " hundreds of young men owe much to his teaching and influence."
In other and widely differing callings also, men of African race have distin- guished themselves. King Khama, of BeChuanaland, is a conspicuous example of the administrative ability of a well- developed African. Having in youth stood true to Christ through fierce persecution, he was elected chief by his people in 1872. He has been called the " Alfred the Great " of Central Africa. The skill with which he rules his people and the firmness with which he opposes the drink traffic mark him as a truly noble character. The great M'tesa, King of Uganda, was a good illustration of the height to which an enlightened non-Christian African monarch may attain as a ruler of men ; and though his son proved a worthless tyrant, his grandson, the present young Christian king, promises great things for the future. Uganda also owes much to the present Katikiro (prime minister).
The fact that these great men are ex- ceptions, and stand high above their fellows, does not detract from our conten-
336 The Gall of the Dark Continent
tion as to the possibilities of the African peoples. The spread of education is certain to greatly increase the number of able men. But in humbler spheres also the natives give promise of steady and remarkable development under good tuition. In industrial pursuits they frequently make excellent progress as printers, weavers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and agriculturists. It is of infinite importance that no opportunity should be lost to train these peoples to take their part in the general progress of mankind. They have a contribution to make to the elevation of the human race ; but this can only be accomplished by the development of the latent possibilities of their nature. Africa's Contri- It is equally certain that the people of the Dark Continent have something to contribute to the perfection of the Church of Christ. A recent volume^ has shown that every individual race has its own contribution to make to the fulness of the knowledge and life of the Universal Church. So long as it exists in this world, the Church will grow in experience and know- ledge. God has scattered over the world His good gifts, and as each race is called into His Kingdom it will bring its own contribution and occupy the place
* Mankind and the Church, by Seven Bishops.
bution to the Church
The Gall of the Hour 337
reserved from the beginning for it, which none other can fill. We do not yet fully know or understand our God ; His riches are unsearchable and His ways past finding out. There are aspects of Christian truth that the Anglo-Saxon race has not yet discovered, and excellences of character to which we have not yet attained. The ingathering of Asiatics and Africans will broaden and deepen our vision. The subtle-minded Hindu with his genius for spiritual mysticism, the law-loving Chinese, the quick-witted Japanese, may discover in Christ riches which we have never seen, and thus aid us in our interpretation of Him. The nations of the earth shall bring their honour and glory into Christ's Kingdom as the wise men brought their geld and frankincense and myrrh and laid them before Him in Bethlehem ; for each race has some precious gift to consecrate to His service.
Africa has something to bring into the Church of Christ. Not theological, but practical, will be the probable contribution. By his firm belief in the Unseen, the African may help our materialistic, evidence-seeking minds to a stronger realisation of God's personality and presence. By his social instincts — his sense of brotherliness — he may correct our own marked individualism.
338 The Gall of the Dark Continent
By his strong emotional response to the story of redemption, he may lead us to a new understanding of the tvarmth of practical Christian experience. By his appreciation of authority, he may help us to new thoughts of church government and discipline. There may be aspects of the Divine revelation which the Negro is specially fitted to understand and respond to, and therefore fitted to embody in character and exhibit in life and action. Daybreak Not with the Orient alone does the future
of our race lie. Great and splendid are the prospects before the ancient civilisations of Asia quickened to new life by Western learning ; but Africa also is awaking from her long, dark night. As the golden sun, rising above the eastern waters, casts its early beams on fair Japan and illumines old China and floods India with light ere it chases the shadows from Afric's velds and forests, so the Dark Continent is apparently the last to feel warmth of new sunlight. But now for her too the day is breaking, the shadows flee away. Asia's nations — though bright their outlook — have grown hoary with antiquity. Pagan Africa awakes young and fresh to the impulses of the coming day. Her achieve- ments are all in the future.
The Gall of the Hour 339
Happy will Africa be if she early Our Moment learns to recognise the true source of her ° ppof enlightenment — Christ, the Light of men. Blessed, truly blessed, will be those who seek above all things to bring her to a knowledge of that Light. This is indeed a day of opportunity in pagan Africa. The future is full of possibilities. To the Church of Christ the call of the Dark Con- tinent comes with greater urgency than ever before. We shall never have greater opportunities in Africa than we have to-day, and if we allow them to slip, Islam will reap the advantage that will be lost to us.
In view of the momentous nature of the issues, and the greatness of the present opportunity, it behoves us to review the whole situation and consider what has been done and what still remains to be accomplished.
For more than a century Protestant A Survey of missionaries have sought to carry the light into the places of darkness. They have landed upon the coasts of Africa, and many of them have penetrated far into the interior. Following in the paths of the explorers — being sometimes themselves explorers — they have worked inland and now occupy regions unknown fifty or sixty years ago. About the middle of last
340 The Call of the Dark Continent
Uganda
East Africa
Krapfs Vision century the missionary Krapf, working near Mombasa, conceived the idea of a line of mission stations across the Continent from Mombasa to the Atlantic — an " Apostolic Street." In his day such a proposal seemed madness ; but it is now almost accomplished. The Baptist Mis- sionary Society has its stations along the main stream of the Congo from Boma near the mouth of the river, to Yakusa in the Stanley Falls region ; from the east coast a chain of Church Mission stations extends to the great inland field of the Society — Uganda. The BaGanda Church is ex- tending its operations into the forests of the Upper Congo. Thus from east and west chains of stations run into the heart of Africa, and now their outposts are less than 400 miles apart. Krapfs dream will soon be a reality.
No mission field has a more thrilling story than Uganda, with which the names of Alexander Mackay and Bishop Hannington, G. L. Pilkington and Bishop Tucker, are inseparably connected — a story of martyr- dom and Pentecostal blessing. Uganda, and the country lying north and west of it, is reserved for the C.M.S. ; but to the east, British East Africa, several other
in
Societies are also at work — the Church of Scotland, the United Methodist, the Scandi-
The Gall of the Hour 341
navian, the Universities', and one or two smaller Missions. Many of the stations of these Societies lie along, or near, the Uganda railway.
German East Africa is sprinkled over with stations of the Berlin, the Leipzig, and the Moravian Missions, as well as those of the C.M.S. and the Universities' Mission. Travelling further south, we find in Portuguese territory at least 150 stations and out-stations belonging to the W.M.M.S., the S.P.G., the Methodist Episcopal, the Free Methodists (U.S.A.), and the Mission Romande (Swiss).
Inland lie the British Protectorates of British South- Nyassaland, the three Bhodesias, and Gentral AfrIca BeChuanaland. In these five Protecto- rates some twenty-two Societies — British, American, and Continental — have over 100 stations and at least 850 out-stations, in charge of more than 300 missionaries (excluding wives). The most important of these Missions are the London Missionary Society, the Primitive Methodist, the Methodist Episcopal, the W.M.M.S., the Church of Scotland, the United Free Church of Scotland, the Universities' Mission, the Zambesi Industrial Mission, the Dutch Reformed Church, and the Paris Mission in connection with which the great French missionary Coillard,
342 The Gall of the Dark Continent
South Africa
South-West Africa
laboured. Several of these Missions — especially those of the Scotch Churches — are the direct outcome of Livingstone's work. The great pioneer himself helped to plant some of the earliest workers in the Nyassa and Shire region. In Nyassaland James Stewart laboured; in BeChuanaland, John Mackenzie.
Few parts of the world are better covered by missionary operations than the four Colonies of the British South African Union. Fifty-one Societies have 610 stations and upwards of 5,000 out-stations. The total number of missionaries is over 1,500; and some 8,600 African workers are set apart for pastoral and aggressive service. The total native Christian com- munity is returned as 1,144,000. When to this figure the Christian colonists are added, it will be seen that the united colonies are now largely Christianised. There * are, however, millions of heathen still remaining ; and very much work of an intensive character has yet to be done.
German South-West Africa is occupied by the Rhenish and Finnish Missions. In Portuguese Angola the American Board, American Baptist Missionary Union, the Methodist Episcopal Mission, the Plymouth Brethren,^and ,the Baptist Missionary Society are working.
The Call of the Hour 343
The Congo basin is one of the most The Congo important mission fields of the B.M.S. This Society has nearly 500 stations and out-stations extending chiefly along the main stream for some 1,350 miles. Mission steamers ply on the river. In connection with this mission three names stand high in missionary annals — Thomas Comber, George Grenfell, and W. Holman Bentley. Several smaller missions are also working for the salvation of the Congo peoples.
In the Gabun country only the American Presbyterian Church (North) and the Paris Mission are working. The Basle Mission, the German Baptists, and the American Presbyterians (North) report some 300 stations and out -stations in German Kame- run ; and the Primitive Methodists have a Mission in the island of Fernando Po.
The C.M.S., the W.M.M.S., and several West Africa smaller missions are spread over the British colony of Southern Nigeria. The former has its stations on the Niger itself, as well as through the Yoruba and Nupe countries and in the Delta region. For many years heroic efforts were made to enter the Hausa states (now Northern Nigeria). Many lives were^ lost ; but it was not until 1900 that a party of missionaries ^under Bishop Tugwell succeeded in .reaching
344 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Kano, and they were promptly expelled by the Muhammadan rulers. In recent years the C.M.S. and the Sudan United Mission have obtained a foothold in these densely' populated territories, but their work is restricted to the pagan tribes.
In Dahomey the W.M.M.S is the only Protestant Mission, and our work is all near the coast. The German Colony of Togoland is occupied by the W.M.M.S. and the North German Mission. The Gold Coast Colony is a distinctly Wesleyan field ; but the Basle Mission shares with us the Ashanti province, and the S.P.G. has recently undertaken a mission to the Gold Mines region north of Sekondi. The Fanti and Ga nations of the Gold Coast have been fairly well evangelised, though much heathenism still remains. The independent Republic of Liberia is left- entirely to American Societies and the Lutheran Mission. Sierra Leone Travelling northward to Sierra Leone,
we find that the whole colony has been evangelised in every part, and may be regarded as a nominally Christian land. A revival of evangelism is, however, necessitated by the inrush of large numbers of pagans and Muslims from the Protecto- rate. There are few places on the mission field so well provided with missionary and
The Gall of the Hour 345
educational institutions as Freetown. The Anglican, Wesleyan, United Methodist, Baptist, United Brethren, and American Methodist Episcopal Zion Missions all have churches in the town. Almost every village in the peninsula has its Anglican church and Methodist chapel. But in the Pro- tectorate beyond wide areas are scarcely touched.
A Mission in French Guinea, the W.M.M.S. Mission on the Gambia, and the Paris Mission in Senegal, complete our rapid survey of Protestant Missions in pagan Africa.
In addition to the above-mentioned and several smaller Missions, the British and Foreign Bible Society labours with all, and through all, and for all. This true " hand- maiden of all Missions," has translated, or made it possible for missionaries to trans- late, the Scriptures into over 100 African languages.
The various Roman Catholic Orders Roman have Missions scattered widely over the Catholic ground we have just surveyed, especially in the regions around Lake Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza, in Natal, on the West Coast from the Congo to the Gold Coast, and from Liberia to Senegal.
The returns prepared for the World Missionary Conference show that some
346 The Gall of the Dark Continent
The Work of 35781 Protestant missionaries (including wives) are at work in pagan Africa.# There are over 800 ordained African clergy and ministers, and a large body of cate- chists, Bible women, and teachers, besides many voluntary workers. The Societies report more than 900,000 baptised native Christians.
When it is remembered that at the dawn of the nineteenth century Africa was a closed continent and the work of mis- sions had scarcely begun, these results are marvellous, and call for gratitude and hope. A hundred years ago, the few scattered missionaries had to begin at the very beginning, without native helpers, without knowledge of one of the 800 African languages and dialects, without experience of African conditions. They had to open the country, to choose places in which to commence work, to win the good will of the people, to gather with infinite patience little companies of en- quirers and train them in the principles of Christian discipleship. They had to
* The Muslim States of North Africa do not lie within the scope of this book. The figures given in the text are for pagan Africa only. In Muhammadan Africa, from the Ked Sea to Morocco, some 450 additional missionaries are labouring. The Societies working in this great field are the C.M.S., the North Africa Mission, the United Presbyterian (U.S.A.), the Egypt General Mission, several Continental, and a few smaller missions.
The Gall of the Hour 347
struggle with the difficulties of unwritten languages, and learn them, often without the help of books or teachers. In order to give the Word of God to their people, they had to reduce those words to writing, and then teach their people to read in their own mother tongues. To simplify the task of missionaries who should follow them, many pioneers prepared dictionaries, and grammars, and helps to the acquisition of the languages. By painful experience and through much loss of life they had to discover all the precautions needful to the preservation of health, and all the methods of work necessary to success. Of simple con- verts newly won from grossest heathenism they had to build, as with living stones, a holy temple in the Lord. From those little companies of scarcely Christianised people, they had to select the most pro- mising and train them for Christ's service. Practically without human help, those early missionaries had to lay the founda- tions on which others should build.
Yet, by the manifest help of God, these and many other difficulties have been over- come ; and at the end of little more than a century we rind more than 900 principal stations and nearly 10,000 sub-stations strewn over the Dark Continent like lights shining in the gloom. A glance at the map
348 The Call of the Dark Continent
will show how wide is the area covered by this network of stations ; and, notwith- standing some amount of overlapping at certain points, very few places of strategic importance along the whole coast-line are unoccupied.
The importance of the work of the century is increased tenfold when it is realised that it is a beginning only. The results are slight in themselves, for what is 900,000 from a population of 160 millions? But they become of infinite value as stepping-stones to greater results. If so much has been accomplished during the century that began with nothing, what may we not expect at the end of this, our second, century that begins with so much to our advantage !
The results, of the first century of African evangelisation give abundant hope for mighty Gospel victories during the century upon which we have just en- tered. But the results which our children's children will see, depend upon the work which we put into the great campaign now. The future reaping will be in direct propor- tion to the present sowing. Whether the harvest our successors will reap be " thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold," is even now being determined by the amount of work we put into the enterprise in this day of unex-
The Gall of the Hour 349
ampled opportunity. Truly, it is God Who giveth the increase ; but it is for us to do the sowing.
Much has been accomplished, but it is The Great only a trifle when compared with the work Undone that still remains to be done. What are 3,700 missionaries among Africa's 160 millions of people ? What are all our stations and out-stations when spread out over this huge continent ? Vast areas are absolutely untouched. Millions upon millions of people are still without a single witness for Jesus Christ.
A glance at the map and a little imagination will serve to show the extent of " the great undone." We have called attention to the chain of missions along the Congo to Uganda and Mombasa. To the north of this " Apostle Street " lie vast regions absolutely untouched by mis- sionary workers. From the outposts of the Uganda Mission to Egypt, from Somaliland to the Kameruns (with the exception of Abyssinia, with its decayed Christianity), the darkness is broken only by the lonely C.M.S. stations at Omdurman and at Dolieb Hill near Fashoda.
Think of the Sudan. This great belt of country — " The Land of the Blacks " — extends almost from the Red Sea to the Atlantic, a distance of at least 3,500 miles,
350 The Gall of the Dark Continent
and nearly 1,000 miles wide. The popu- lation of this region has been variously estimated at from 30,000,000 to 60,000,000. Allowing for the terrible havoc wrought by the slave trade during the last fifty years, the lower figure is probably the more accurate. Ten years ago there was not a Christian missionary in the whole of this vast country. Explorers had crossed and recrossed its fertile plains ; one or two scientists reached it, and made useful investigations ; British soldiers stained the sands of its eastern deserts with their blood ; the Muslim raiders made it their hunting ground, and the missionaries of Islam won millions of its people to their faith. But the messengers of the Gospel were — and are still — slow to enter this great field. Islam has now claimed most of its people, but many of the Sudan tribes are still pagan, and these might be reached even now before they too are swept into the fold of the Arabian Prophet.
" But still they wait, For the messenger of God who cometh late."
Great areas of the West Coast hinter- land are also untouched. The Ivory Coast and all the regions lying behind Liberia, Ashanti, Togoland and Dahomey are quite without the Gospel of Christ. Except
The Gall of the Hour 351
near the coast, the extensive territories of German Kamerun and French Congo are unoccupied by Protestant missionaries. Enormous areas of the Belgian Conor* State and Portuguese Angola are untouched, and over the remaining parts of pagan Africa it is quite easy to point to tracts of country two or three hundred miles across that have still no resident missionary.
Moreover, in many districts where there ineffective are already missionaries the occupation is ccupat,on far from effective. Ashanti is a case in point. This country is " occupied " by the W.M.M.S. and the Basle Mission. The Rev. J. D. Russell, the superintendent of our circuit, writes : —
" Imagine a circuit extending north and south from Blackpool to Southampton, and east and west from Lowestoft to Holyhead; with 22 towns of more than 2,000 inhabitants, and 58 towns with less than 2,000 in each, besides the countless villages scattered all over the country. Then remember that there is one European missionary for all the work, with only one native minister and 10 catechists to assist him, and the farthest out-station is nearly a fortnight's journey away from the circuit town (Kumassi)."
Or take the Gambia Protectorate, for which the W.M.M.S. is solely responsible. The territory is about twice the area of Lancashire, with a scattered population of some 200,000. For this field we have three missionaries and three catechists. When
352 The Gall of the Dark Continent
we remember the number of ministers and Christian workers to be found in an English town of 200,000 inhabitants, it is easier to understand how ineffective such "occupation" of the Gambia Protectorate really is.
In Southern Nigeria — supposed to be a comparatively well - worked field — the labourers are painfully few. Our Chairman (Rev. Oliver J. Griffin) writes : —
"In my District, scores of candidates for baptism have had to be held over until next year, as we are unable to visit all the places to baptise them, though they have been fully and carefully prepared and trained. Many churches have been unable to have the Sacrament administered, as our ministerial staff [including our African ministers) is insufficient to visit all the places more than once a year.'"
In this District we have now seven European missionaries. Hem ember ing the fruit fulness of this field, and the rapid advance of Islam upon it, our staff is almost criminally weak, and should be strengthened at once. From Southern Rhodesia, Mr. White reports that the staff of ministers is so small that in some parts of the Protectorate " there are white children growing up who hardly know that such a man as a minister of the Gospel exists ; and if this state of things is allowed to continue we shall have a white heathen population." In short, over this great
The Gall of the Hour 353
continent giving promise of such abundant fruitfulness, we are compelled to write our Master's sorrowful words — " The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few."
Yet in Africa, as in other lands, this is The Present " the decisive hour of Christian missions." Ur^encv The message of the World Missionary Con- ference to the home churches contains the following remarkable words : —
" Our survey has impressed upon us the momentous character of the present hour. We have heard from many quarters of the awakening of great nations, of the opening of long-closed doors, and of move- ments which are placing all at once before the Church a new world to be won for Christ. The next ten years will in all probability constitute a turning- point in human history, and may be of more critical importance in determining the spiritual evolution of mankind than many centuries of ordinary experience. If those years be wasted, havoc may be wrought that centuries will not be able to repair. On the other hand, if they are rightly used, they may be among the most glorious in Christian history."
Most of these weighty words are as true of Africa as of China or Korea. For the Dark Continent is changing as surely as the Orient, though the critical transition stage is less advanced. The passage from the old to the new may be less rapid, but not less certain. Again we say, this is our moment The Present of opportunity. Everything favours an °pp°rtunity immediate advance. "The door is open"
12
354 The Gall of the Dark Continent
— those memorable words are true of practically every town and village in pagan Africa to-day.
The introduction of European control has removed many obstacles. The tribes live peacefully under more settled con- ditions. Every year it becomes easier to travel into the interior. The climatic terrors are greatly reduced. By the extension of postal and telegraphic systems, communication has been simplified. And all these and many other changes are working together to prepare the native for the reception of our message. Dr. John R. Mott declares that : —
" Owing to the more simple character of the primi- tive African peoples, this continent is in many respects the most plastic part of the world, and will be the most readily susceptible to whatever influences are brought to bear upon it."
This is the greatest opportunity the Church of Christ has ever had in Africa, and many factors make it clear that this opportunity may be lost — perhaps irre- vocably. The early North African Church had a quite unique opportunity for extending the Kingdom of God, and allowed that opportunity to pass. To this hour it has never returned. Islam came in like a flood, and the opportunity was lost. The same ever-watchful foe stands ready to
The Call of the Hour 355
take advantage of the modern opportunity, if the Christian Church fails to grasp it.
The Christian forces have the advantage Bases for of being splendidly placed. As bases for Advance advance, the positions of the existing missions could hardly be surpassed. The principal navigable waterways have long been utilised, and many missions have their own river-steamers or launches, to facilitate the movement of the workers. It is worthy of note that the majority of railway lines start from towns occupied by missionaries. With splendid foresight, the missionaries of former generations seized upon the most strategic coast towns, and made them their bases of operations; and now that these towns have become railway termini, their value as points from which to advance is increased beyond measure. Most of the great lines of ap- proach to the interior are thus occupied by missionaries ; and in all their advance movements, the leaders are carefully noting the plans for railway construction, and in future the tendency in most instances will be to follow the railway rather than the river. In most cases the railway followed, rather than led, the missionary advance : in Yoruba, in Uganda, throughout the South African colonies and protectorates, the missions were planted long before the intro-
12*
356 The Gall of the Dark Continent
duction of the iron road. But everywhere the coming of the locomotive, by making it easier for the missionaries to keep in touch with the coast, makes it easier to transfer the base of operations to some inland town. For example, in the early years, Cape Town was the base for all South African missions, and the stations were the outposts. Now- a-days, the railway makes Bulawayo or Salisbury a more convenient base than Cape Town for an advance into the interior. A Call from Take our Gold Coast District. The two
West Africa great rivers of the colony are almost use- less as means of access to the interior, and our stations lie on, or near to, the coast. Kumassi has always been a lonely outpost, difficult to reach. But the new railway has changed all this, and it is now easier to reach the Ashanti capital than some places within twenty miles of the coast. This completely changes the situation for us. Kumassi becomes an excellent base from which we can evangelise the northern territories of the colony. Already we have outposts reaching as far as Kintampo, some four hundred miles from the sea, and plans for an important forward movement are under consideration. Land on which to build a mission station has already been given to us in Tamale, a town in the far
The Gall of the Hour 357
interior. There seems little doubt that God is calling us to advance in this direction. This great region (a British Protectorate) is quite virgin soil, and in view of the Muslim advance it is imperative that we should go forward immediately. For the evangelisation of these vast Northern Territories, the W.M.M.S. and the Basle Mission are solely responsible ; no other Society is likely to undertake the work if we fail in our duty. In these regions the story of Uganda might well be repeated, and the floods of Muslim invasion stemmed. Would that another Stanley might rouse British Methodism with the cry, " Gentle- men, here is your opportunity. Embrace it ! " If our churches have but ears to hear, a Greater than Stanley summons us to go forward in His Name.
Nor can we doubt that God is also A Call from calling the W.M.M.S. to an important Rhodesia advance in South-Central Africa. Five years ago, in the manual of our Helpers' Union, we wrote these words concerning our Rhodesian Mission : —
" Our outposts are gradually approaching the Zambesi. When will Methodism hear the call to cross that river 1 "
That call has come. The only question is, " Will Methodism listen to it ? " In 1908, W. Comber Burgess, a minister of
358 The Gall of the Dark Continent
our South African Conference, believing that God was calling him to Northern Rhodesia, sought relief from his charge and journeyed across the great river, where, after five months of toil, he laid down his life. The fall of this standard-bearer calls us to advance. More recently, a man from that region, Chikara by name, heard the Word of God from one of our evangelists at a mine in Southern Rhodesia, and carried the good news back to his northern home. His father, the chief of the BaRawano, became eager to receive a teacher and sent messages to Mr. White. But before any- thing could be thought of, the old chief died, and Chikara succeeded to the chieftainship. Going himself to Mr. White, this seeker appealed with unusual persistency, and when told that there was little prospect of sending him the help he sought, he said, " Then will you at least visit my country and see for yourself what its needs are ? " Sorrowfully Mr. White replied that, overburdened as he was, even this was impossible. But Chikara still persisted. " Will you send one of your native preachers ? " he urged. " I will accompany him and bring him safe to you again ; he can look at my country, and tell you what he has seen."
What missionary could turn a deaf ear
The Gall of the Hour 359
to such an appeal ! Feeling compelled to go and see the needs of Chikara's country, Mr. White made the best arrangements he could for carrying on his work, and went prospecting in North -West Rhodesia. Taking the great railway to Broken Hill, a place some 400 miles north of the Victoria Falls, our missionary did a walk of 160 miles in an easterly direction till he came to Chikara's tribe, the BaRawano. All he saw convinced him of the needs of this people and removed all doubt as to the welcome missionaries would receive. The country lies near the boundary of North - West and North-East Rhodesia, and almost midway between the Zambesi and Lake Bangweolo. The district is quite un- occupied by messengers of the Gospel. Little more than a hundred miles to the north is Ilala, where Livingstone breathed his last prayer for the African peoples. We are on sacred ground. This time it is not Stanley's but Livingstone's voice we hear, telling us that " the door is open," and we cannot forget that it is but the echo of the Master's voice calling us to " the villages where no missionary has ever been."
In a measure, British Methodism has already responded to this call. One of God's stewards has given £1,000 for the
360 The Gall of the Dark Continent
Many Open Doors
The African Church and Expansion
proposed mission, and arrangements are even now being made to send a man to the BaRawano. But much more than a thousand pounds will be required if a really strong mission is to be planted in this promising field. Are we to be content with one lonely worker, or is the enterprise to be prosecuted with enthusiasm and vigour ? The answer rests entirely with the home churches.
In addition to these outstanding calls, we have many splendid opportunities to advance in all our African Districts. The mighty Gambia opens invitingly before us the way to numerous peoples. The half- Islamised tribes of the Sierra Leone Hinter- land call us. In Togoland, Dahomey and Yoruba we could greatly strengthen our existing work and go forward. In the Transvaal there is still much to be done and we have opportunities in the sur- rounding countries.
In any forward movement we may count on the active co-operation of our African churches. This powerful and comparatively new factor in the evangelisation of the Dark Continent makes our task much easier. Mr. White tells us that his people, poor though they be, are willing and eager to help in the proposed extension ; no collections meeting with readier response
The Gall of the Hour 361
than those taken for extension work. In this District the average gift for missionary work is three shillings and sixpence per member. Our Transvaal people also are en- thusiastically aggressive. In West Africa, too, much money is raised locally for extension work. The Bathurst Circuit, after raising several hundred pounds for local purposes, contributes between two and three hundred pounds yearly for missionary work on the Gambia. Our Gold Coast and Lagos churches are also able and ready to take a large share of the financial burden of a forward movement.
But without the help of British Methodism, such extension as is proposed cannot be undertaken. The existing churches still need a measure of oversight, and a great deal of training work will have to be undertaken in order to provide new helpers for future advance. The more adequately we equip our training insti- tutions the easier it will be to take advantage of the opportunities of the hour. Perhaps the greatest need of our West African Districts is a strong institution for the more thorough equipment of the native ministry and lay agency.
" The. W.M.M.S. and the African Church Co-operation in co-operation" — this is the backbone of our advance programme. Our people on
362 The Gall of the Dark Continent
the field can help by providing a strong native ministry and lay agency, and by, in part, providing funds. What is to be the share of British Methodism ? We are face to face with the Centenary celebrations of our great Missionary Society. Something worthy of the Methodist Church and of the Grace of God on our missionary stations must be attempted in Africa, as well as in our other mission fields. W^e have indicated the lines along which we ought to advance without delay. The Call of the Dark Continent is a call from our Lord Himself. Are we to respond ? The native peoples call us. In some countries the cry is usually " Leave us alone," but in Africa the prevailing call is " Come over and help us." Chikara is not the only chief calling for our Gospel. Our workers are eager to go forward. The Missionary Committee is ready for a great extension of its operations. Shall we stand still ? Shall we be deaf to the divine call, and lose the God-given opportunities ? Or shall we go forward in the Name of Christ to win Africa's peoples for Him ? It is for the home churches to give the signal to advance.
The Call of the Hour 363
ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDY CIRCLES
SUBJECT FOR DISCOSSION.-The Call of the Hour to British Methodism.
1 . Is it correct to say that the Orient is of greater strategic importance than Africa?
2. Is it a wise policy to devote our main strength to India and China and leave Africa till a later stage ?
3. Summarise the work to be done.
■4. Enumerate (as far as you can) Christianity's resources for a new campaign in Africa.
5. Summarise the special calls of Africa to the W.M.M.S.
6. What is to be our personal response to the call of pagan Africa?
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Fraser, Donald. — The Future of Africa.
Page, Jesse. — Samuel Growther.
Montgomery, Bishop (and others). — Mankind and the Church.
364 The Gall of the Dark Continent
APPENDIX A.
I. THE NEGRO AND NEGROID PEOPLES.
Negritos (Pigmies) : |
|
Bushmen |
Kalahari Desert. |
Batwas |
Sankuri River, Congo Basin. |
Abongos Akkas |
Ogoway River. South Monbuttuland. |
Hottentots (Khoi-khoi) .
NamaQua ... ... Great and Little NamaQua-
land.
KoraQua ... ... Upper Orange, Yaal, and
Modder Rivers.
GriQua (half-castes) GriQualand West.
Bantus :
Zulu-Kafir, BaSuto,
BeChuana ... S., From Limpopo River.
MaKua, MaTabele, Between Limpopo and
MaShona ... ... Zambesi.
MaNganja, Walyau Lake Nyassa.
BaRotse, BaRus, Between Zambesi and
BaLunda, Balla ... Congo. WaSwahili, WaNika,
WaPokomo . . . East Coast. WaGanda, WaNyain-
wesi, WaLegga . . . Equatorial Lakes. OvaHerero, Ova M bo,
Ba Conga, BaTeke,
Duallo ... ... West Coast.
Appendix A
365
Sudanese Negroes:
Kroo, Fanti,GaAshanti,
Yoruba, Nupe Mandingo, Jolof,
Banibara , Sonrhai Hausa, Batta, Kanuri,
Baghirnie, Mosqu ,
Kanem Maba, Nuba, Dinka,
Shilluk, Bari, Mon-
buttu, Zanseh
Upper Guinea. Senegambia.
Central Sudan.
Eastern Sudan.
II. THE HAMITIO PEOPLES. Mixed and Doubtful Hamites:
Fans ... ... Ogoway Basin, thence in-
land. ... West and Central Sudan. East Sahara. Abyssinia. Masailand.
Egypt.
Fulahs
Tibbus
Agaus Masai Fellahin
True Hamites:
( Shluh Berbers- Maab, Kabyle
( Tuareg Gallas, Somalis, Afar, Bejas...
Morocco. Algeria, Tunis. West Sahara
North-East Coast.
III. SEMITIC PEOPLES.
Arabs :
Mauritania, West Sahara
Himyarites : (Amhara, Tigre, Shoa)
Central
Sudan.
and West
Abyssinia.
(Prof. A. B.Keane).
366 The Gall of the Dark Continent
APPENDIX B.
W.M.M.S. MISSIONARY TRANSLATORS.
African Versions.
Xosa (Kafir)
Shona Fanti
Jolof
Mandingo
YORUBA . .
Gu
W.M.M.S. Missionaries who have made, or helped to make, the Version.
The Revs. W. J. Shrewsbury,
W. Shaw, R. Haddy, W. B.
Boyce, W. J. Davis, H. H.
Dugmore, J. W. Appleyard,
W. Holford, W. Hunter,
and E. J. Barrett. Revs. J. White and A. Walton. Revs. A. W. Parker and W. M.
Cannell. Revs. R. Dixon and R. H.
Williams. Revs. R. M. MacBriar and
R. H. Williams. W.M.M.S. Missionaries assisted
in the revision (1886-9). Revs. T. J. Marshall, J. Rhodes,
G. 0. Henry.
African Versions supplied to our missionaries by the British and Foreign Bible Society, in addition to those given above —
Dutch Tabele Ashanti
Chuana Temne Accra or Ga
Pedi Mendi Ewe
Zulu Arabic Ibo
Kama Hausa I jo Suto
From Methodist Missions and the Bible Society, by John H. Ritson.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GENERAL
The Development of Africa. A. S. White, 1892. (G. Philip & Son, 7s. 6d.) A general, geographical, ethno- logical, and political survey.
South Afbica. (Story of the Nations Series.) Geo. M. Theal, 1893. (Fisher Unwin, 5s.) A useful history.
South Africa. (Peeps at Many Lands Series.) Dudley Kidd, 1908. (A. & C. Black, Is. Qd. net.) A very readable description of the country and its peoples. Excellent coloured illustrations.
The Essential Kafir. Dudley Kidd, 1904. (A. & C. Black, 18s. net.) No other book can compare with this for thorough treatment of the subject.
Savage Childhood. Dudley Kidd, 1906. (A. & C. Black, 7s. 6d.) Another first-class book. Well illustrated.
Nigeria. Chas. H. Robinson, 1900. (H. Marshall, 5s. net.) Contains much valuable information collected by Canon Robinson during his visit to Kano in 189-4.
Eetichism in West Africa. R. H. Nassau, 1904. (Duck- worth, 7s. 6d.) A very interesting introduction to the religious ideas and practices of Africa.
The Story of a Slave. Sir H. H. Johnston, 1889. (Kegan Paul, 5s.) A very striking story of pagan and Muslim life in West Africa and the Sudan. A terrible description of African life by a leading authority.
Mungo Park. (Famous Scots Series.) T. B. Maclachlan. Is.
David Livingstone. W. G. Blaikie. (J. Murray, Is. net.) The best popular complete life of the great pioneer. A cheap edition of Personal Life of David Livingstone.
Through the Dark Continent. Henry M. Stanley, 1878. (Sampson Low, 3s. 6d. net.) Narrative of journey across Africa. Includes the thrilling story of Stanley's effort to evangelise Uganda, and his discovery of the Congo.
Islam as a Missionary Religion. C. R. Haines, 1889. (S.P.C.K., 2s.)
367
368 The Gall of the Dark Continent
MISSIONARY WORK AND WORKERS The Eutuee of Afeica. Donald Eraser, 1911. (Wes-
leyan Missionary Society, 2s. net.) The United Study
text-book. All leaders of Circles should have this book. Daybeeak on the Daek Continent. W. S. Naylor, 1905.
(W.M.M.S., 2s. net.) The American Study text-book
on Africa. The Repboach of Islam. W. H. T. Gairdner, 1909.
(W.M.M.S., 2s. net.) The Wondeeful Stoet of Uganda. J. D. Mullins,
1904. (C.M.S., Is. 6d.) The Stoey of the L.M.S. C. Silvester Home, 1904.
(London Missionary Society, Is. 6d. net.) Samuel Ceowthee. Jesse Page, 1888. (Partridge & Co.,
la. 6d.) The popular life of the first black bishop. The Lives of Robeet and Maey Moffat. John S. Moffat,
1885. (Fisher Unwin, 7s. %d.) The standard biography. The Living Foeces of the Gospel. Job. Warneck, 1909.
(Oliphant, 5s.) A scholarly examination of the appeal of
Christianity to Animistic heathendom. The Repoet of the Woeld Missionaey Confeeence. In
nine vols.. 1910. (Oliphant, 3s. net per volume.) Mankind and the Chuech. By Seven Bishops, 1910.
(Longmans, 7s. 6d. net.)
METHODIST MISSIONS. Methodism in West Afeica. J. T. E. Halligey, 1907-
(Chas. Kelly, Is.) The only available survey of our West
Coast Missions. Nine Yeaes on The Gold Coast. Dennis Kemp, 1898.
(Macmillan, 7s. £d.) Must be obtained second-hand. A Mission to the Teansvaal. Amos Burnet, 1909. (Chas.
Kelly, Is.) A popular account of our Transvaal Mission. The Geneeal Repoet of the WM.M.S. (W.M.M.S., Is.
net,) 1911. Indispensable to the student of Wesleyan
Missions.
Note. — The books mentioned above may be ordered from the W.M.M.S., 24, Bishopsgate, London, E.C. Orders should be accompanied by remittance (postage extra).
INDEX
Abeokuta, 56, 183-5, 189, 1934, 276 Accessibility, 46-7, 229, 354-6 Affection, 74, 77-8 African Association, 19, 20, 27 Africaner, 118-19 Albert Edward Nyanza, 44 Albert Nyanza, 39, 44 Algoa Bay, 103, 107, 127 Animal passions, 219-20 Appreciation of kindness, 229-30 Arabs, 6, 8, 18, 38, 45, 59, 296 Ashanti, 45, 55, 63-4, 97, 172, 177-82,
192, 213, 351 Ayliff (John), 251
Backward races, 52
Badagry, 28, 183, 185
BaGanda, 324-5, 340
Balmer (W. T.), 171, 262, 303
Bandajuma Mission, 171
Bantu, 57-63
Baptism, 271
Baptist Missionary Society (B. M.S.),
42, 340, 343 BaRalong, 58, 122, 124-5, 134, 136 BaRawano, 358-60 Bartholomew Diaz, 12, 102 Bartrop (A. T. R), 193 Bases for advance, 355 BaSuto, 62, 82, 130 Bathurst, 163, 166-7, 361 BeChuana, 82, 122-3, 250 Beliefs (African), 82-97 Bible, 258
Bible Society, 208, 345 Boers, 131-4, 245 Boer War, 137-8
Boyce (W. B.), 130
Briscoe (F. J.), 135, 140, 219
British conquests, 61, 62, 64, 137,
308, 326 Broadbent (Samuel), 123-5 Burnet (Amos), 138-9 Bushman, 54, 105-6, 109 Bush schools, 79 Burial customs, 70, 92
Capacity for religion, 238-9
Cape Coast Castle, 173-6
Cape Colony, 31, 106, 307
Cape of Good Hope, 12, 102-3
Cape Town, 32, 46, 110, 126, 356
Catechumens, 270
Champness (Thomas), 171, 189, 193
Children (native), 77-9
Church MissionarySociety(C. M.S.),
160, 185, 239, 267, 318, 340, 343,
349 Claims of Christ, 201-2 Climate, 203-4 Clothing (native), 70-1 Coke (Dr. Thomas), 110, 155-8 Colonial Church, 242-4 Colonists at Algoa Bay, 127-8 Commerce (Ancient), 3, 4, 7 Commerce (Medieval), 12, 14-15 Commerce (modern), 35, 37, 43, 48,
224 Consciousness of sin, 257 Congo, 13, 14, 18, 20, 25, 27, 42-4,
69, 92, 306, 340, 343 Contributions of Native Church,
242, 283-4, 360 Contribution to Christianity, 336-8
369
INDEX
eokuta, 56, 183-5, 189, 1934, 276
cessibility, 46-7, 229, 354-6
'ection, 74, 77-8
rican Association, 19, 20, 27
ricaner, 118-19
aert Edward Nyanza, 44
Dert Nyanza, 39, 44
?oa Bay, 103, 107, 127
imal passions, 219-20
tpreciation of kindness, 229-30
abs, 6, 8, 18. 38, 45, 59. 296
hanti, 45, 55. 63-4, 97, 172, 177-82,
192, 213, 351 liff (John), 251
ckward races, 52
.dagry, 28, 183, 185
Oanda, 324-5, 340
Imer (W. T.), 171, 262, 303
ndajuma Mission, 171
ntu, 57-63
.ptism, 271
,ptistMissionarySociety(B.M.S.),
42, 340, 343 Italong, 58, 122, 124-5, 134, 136 Jtawano, 358-60 irtholomew Diaz, 12, 102 trtrop (A. T. R.), 193 ises for advance, 355 ^Suto, 62, 82, 130 ithurst, 163, 166-7, 361 £huana, 82, 122-3, 250 iliefs (African), 82-97 ble, 258
ble Society, 208, 345 >ers, 131-4, 245 >er War, 137-8
Boyce (W. B.), 130
Briscoe (F. J.), 135, 140. 219
British conquests, 61, 62, 64, 137,
308, 326 Broadbent (Samuel), 123-5 Burnet (Amos), 138-9 Bushman, 54, 105-6, 109 Bush schools, 79 Burial customs, 70, 92
Capacity for religion, 238-9
Cape Coast Castle, 173-6
Cape Colony, 31, 106. 307
Cape of Good Hope, 12, 102-3
Cape Town, 32, 46, 110, 126, 356
Catechumens, 270
Champness (Thomas), 171, 189, 193
Children (native), 77-9
Church MissionarySociety(C. M.S.),
160, 185, 239, 267, 318, 340, 343,
349 Claims of Christ, 201-2 Climate, 203-4 Clothing (native), 70-1 Coke (Dr. Thomas), 110, 155-8 Colonial Church, 242-4 Colonists at Algoa Bay, 127-8 Commerce (Ancient), 3, 4, 7 Commerce (Medieval), 12, 14-15 Commerce (modern), 35, 37, 43, 48,
224 Consciousness of sin, 257 Congo, 13, 14, 18, 20, 25, 27, 42-4,
69, 92, 306, 340, 343 Contributions of Native Church,
242, 283-4, 360 Contribution to Christianity, 336-8
369
370
The Gall of the Dark Continent
Conventions, 279 Courts of Trial, 281 Crowther (Bishop), 228, 334 Cruelty (of Colonists), 31, 45, 105 Cruelty (of customs), 63, 66, 95, 96,
216 Cruelty (of native rulers), 60-5, 178,
186, 324
Dahomey, 45, 64-5, 185-7, 189, 195,
213 Daily life, 71-3 Daily Telegraph, 42, 323 Damaraland, 118, 122 Daybreak, 338 Deaths (on West Coast), 159, 162,
175-6, 181-2, 193, 197-8 Delagoa Bay, 141-2, 207 Development of African Church,
282-7 Difficulties, 202-28, 245-6, 248 Discipline, 280-1 Dutch, 14, 31, 103-11, 245 Dutch Reformed Church, 104, 245,
341 Dunwell (Joseph), 174-5
Eagerness to express, 239
Early Church (in N. Africa), 293-4,
354 Edification of Church, 272 Educational work, 258-67 E?bas, 65, 183-5 Egypt, 2, 5, 294-6, 349 Egyptians (Ancient), 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 55 Emancipation of slaves, 151 Emotional, 236-7 Entrance to Church, 270 Ethiopian Movement, 226, 286-7 Europeans (godless), 135, 223-6 Europeans (Missions to), 125-6, 135,
145, 243-4 Evangelistic spirit, 240-1
Fantis, 55, 172, 187 Fetichism, 46, 93-5, 188, 235-6 Findlay (W. H.), 216, 222, 231, 233,
276 Fingos, 251
Freeman (T. Birch), 175-91 Freetown, 153, 160, 169, 302 Fulahs, 24, 156, 165, 167, 297-300,
326 Full membership, 271-2 Furniture, 69-70 Future life, 91
Gambia, 11, 21, 25-6, 150, 157, 162-7,
302, 351 Generosity, 241 Gin, 30, 227
Girls' high schools, 265-7 God (African ideas of), 83-9 Gods (inferior), 89-90 Gold Coast, 9, 172-93, 304-5. 344 Gold seekers, 3, 4, 6, 13, 135 Government (Tribal), 81 Gratitude, 230-2 GriQualand, 125, 130 GriQua Town, 121
Halligey (J. T. F.), 171, 175 Hargreaves (Peter), 129 Hausaland, 297-301, 326 Henry the Navigator, 9-13, 150,
327 Herodotus, 2, 4, 5, 7, 20, 39 Hinderances, 202-25 Homes (African), 68-9 Hottentots, 56, 105, 107
Ilala, 41, 48, 359 Industrial Missions, 114-15 Influence of chief, 212-13 Influence of fetich priests, 214 Initiation customs, 80
Index
371
Invitations to missionaries, 110,
113, 156, 173, 179, 183, 358-9 Islam, 8, 165, 184, 291-328, 346
Jihad, 297-9 Johannesburg, 135
Kafir Mission, 128
Kafir wars, 129, 231
Kano, 28, 47, 300, 344
Khama (King), 214, 228, 335
Kilnerton Institution, 140, 262-3
Kintampo, 192, 356
Koran, 298, 314
Krapf, 38, 340
Kumassi, 63. 177-82, 253, 356
Lagos, 189, 193-6, 274
Languages, 53, 55, 59, 207-12
Laziness, 71-2
Lewis (Sir Samuel), 275, 333
Lilyfontein, 114-18, 122-3, 249-50
Lindoe (Dr.), 165-6
Liquor Traffic, 227-8
Livingstone. 32-42, 48, 50, 229-30,
323, 359 Lobengula, 62, 143, 146, 213 London Missionary Society
(L.M.S.), 32, 42, 107, 109, 112,
118-19, 146, 213
Macarthy's Island, 165-6 Macgregor Laird, 29-30, 263 Magata (David), 132-4 MaKololo, 33-7, 62 Malaria, 30, 161-2, 204-5 MaNtetee, 124-5, 251 Marriage customs, 73-5 Mashaba (Robert), 141-2 MaShona, 143, 146 MaTabele, 31, 45, 61-2, 131-2, 142,
251 MaTabeleland, 142, 146, 213 Maude (W. H.), 171, 232 May (J. Claudius), 334
McKenny (John), 110-11 McLean (Governor), 173-4, 180 Medical Missions, 267-8 Mendis, 171, 221-2 Miracles of Grace, 288-9 Mission services, 279-80 Moffat (Robert), 31-2, 119 Moravian Missions, 105-6 Morgan (John), 162-5 Mosquito, 204-6 M'tesa, 42, 322-4, 335 Mungo Park, 20-8, 50
NamaQualand, 112-118, 121-2, 249
Natal, 130
Native Church, 167-9, 216-18, 360-1
Negro, 4, 11, 15-17, 55-6
Nengubo Institution, 145, 262
Niger, 1, 5, 6, 20-30
Nigeria, 228, 305-6. 326, 342. 352
On trial, 271 Open doors, 360 Opportunity, 325, 339, 353 Opposition (from Dutch), 105-10 Orange Free State, 123, 125, 132 Orphans, 271
Pastoral work, 269 Phoenicians, 2, 5, 6, 7 Philanthropic work, 268-9 Places of worship, 273 Polandry, 218 Polygamy, 76, 215-19, 270 Population, 51
Portugal, Portuguese, 9-17, 38 Portuguese East Africa, 140-2 Possibilities of African, 332-6 Potchefstroom, 133-4 Prayer, 117, 278-9 Preaching, 252-3 Prester John, 9, 10 Progress of work, 117, 130, 140. 142 167, 169, 192, 196, 324, 346-7
372
The Gall of the Dark Continent
Railways, 46, 229, 355-6 Readiness to hear, 2334 Revels, 80 Retrenchment, 190 Rhodesia (N.-W.j, 307, 357-8 Rhodesia (South), 5, 142-6, 307, 352,
360 Richmond College (Freetown), 262 Roman Catholic Missions, 10, 13-14,
167, 169, 193, 345
Sabbath, 273
Salisbury, 143, 356
Sanusi Order, 309-12
Scattered population, 206
Schmidt (George), 105
Scripture translation, 145, 208-12
Self -discipline (lack of), 220
Self-government (of church), 285-7
Self-sacrifice, 196-8
Self-support, 283-4
Shallowness, 221-3
Shaw (Barnabas), 111-26, 249-50
Shaw (William), 127-30, 133
Shimmin (Isaac), 143-4
Sierra Leone, 151-62, 168-71, 275,
302-3, 344-5 Size of Africa, 51 Slavery, 4, 5, 11, 14-19, 25, 28, 34,
45, 67, 151, 183, 189, 299-300 Society class meeting, 277-8 Social hindrances, 212-19 Solidarity, 65, 331 South African Conference, 130, 358 Spirits and spirit worship, 90-4 Stanley (H. M.), 40, 42-4, 63, 322-3,
325 Sudan, 27-8, 47, 349-50 Survey of work done, 339-48
Tamale, 356
Teaching, 258-9
Thaba Nchu, 125, 132-3
Threlfall (Wm.), 121, 141 Trading oompanies, 15, 48 Traders (Negro), 73, 75, 274-5, 28( Training institutions, 140, 145
261-7, 361 Transvaal, 131-40, 228 Travelling, 113, 123-4, 254-5, 355 Tribal solidarity, 214-15 Trek (Great Boer), 131
Uganda, 39, 42, 46, 214, 258, 322-5
335, 340 Undone (the Great), 349-52 Urgency, 328, 353
Vaal, 131-2 Vanderkemp, 107-9 Variety of Africa, 53 Vasco di Gama, 12 Victoria Nyanza, 39, 42 Violent emotions, 221 Vitality, 332
Warm bath, 118, 121 Warren (George), 158-9 Wars (Native), 60-2, 65-6, 125 Watkins (Owen), 134, 143-4, 254 Weavind (George), 134 Wesley Deaconesses, 265-7 White (John), 144, 226, 230, 358-9 Whydah, 186-7, 189 Witchcraft, 95-6 Wives (purchase of), 73-4 Women (position of), 73-7 Women (work for), 264-7 Worship (Christian), 272-4 Worship (Native), 96 Worshippers, 274-7
Yoruba country, 194-5 Yoruba gods, 89-90
Zambesi, 6, 14, 33, 37, 143, 357 Zanzibar, 38-9, 42, 44 Zulu, 45, 60-1, 124, 130
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