Dayspring in Uganda

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UC SUUTHERN RtGlONAL LIBRARY f ACILITY

A. B, LLOYD

THE LIBRARY

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THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES

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THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PAUL, NAMIREMBE

{See p. 48)

DAYSPRING IN
UGANDA

BY THE VEN.

ALBERT B. LLOYD

(Archdeacon of Western Uganda]

Author of " In Dwarf Land and Cannibal Country," "Uganda and
Kbartoiim "

With Introduction by the
Rev. C. MOLLAN WILLIAMS

EDITORIAL SECRETARY, CMS.

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY

SALISBURY SQUARE, LONDON, E.C.4
192 1

as/. 77

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

Introduction - - - - vii

I. The Land and the People - i

II. The First Missionaries - - 14

III. Laying the Foundations - 27

IV. " Yet Shall He Live " - - 37
V. The Building of the Church - 45

VI. A Missionary Church - - 63

VII. The Light Spreads - - - 79

VIII. The Gospel in Kavirondo - loi

IX. Clouds in the Sky - - _ m

1913592

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Cathedral on Namirembe Hill Frontispiece

Map of Uganda Protectorate - - P- xii

The British Governor and Four

Kings of the Protectorate - Facing p. 8

The Native Parliament House in

the King's Compound, Mengo - „ 8

A Gang Homestead - - - „ 9

A Group of Wild Bulegas, an, un-

evangelized tribe - - - „ 56

An Itineration in the Bwamba

Forest -----„ 56

Clergy and Church Workers, Toro „ 57

Industrial Work in Toro - - „ 88

The School Band, Hoima - - „ 88

A Laboratory Class, Mengo

Medical School - - - „ 89

A Medical Itineration, Bukoba - „ 89

INTRODUCTION

IN the minds and affections of the home
Church in modem days the place of
Uganda has been unrivalled. It has been
a name to conjure with. The early heroes
and martyrs, whose names are now household
words in English Christian circles ; the action
of the Church, good or otherwise, in saving
Uganda for the Empire ; the phenomenal
progress of Christianity ; and the testimony
alike of travellers, statesmen, and traders, as
to the real uplift of the people — all these
have conspired to give Uganda a unique
position. The country, however, has done
more than attract attention to itself; it has
stimulated interest in the missionary cause
everywhere and put fresh vitality into men's
faith in Jesus Christ.

No reader must come to this book looking
for a detailed history of the Mission, or he will
be disappointed. There are only two inciden-
tal references to the two Roman Catholic
missions in Uganda — the one French, and the

vi DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

other English — whose converts in 1920 were
said to number 230,000 ; we miss also any de-
scription of the constitution of the Church in
Uganda, adopted in 1909, which provides for a
synod, diocesan council, parochial and district
councils, women's conferences, tribunals of
appeal and reference, and boards of education,
missions, and theology. Again, no mention
is made of Bishop Parker who succeeded Bishop
Hannington and, like him but for a different
cause, failed to reach Uganda, dying with
others of his party at the south end of the
lake. Deeply interesting references have had
to be omitted to the work of men like Gordon
and Millar, among those who have passed
away, and of Walker, Roscoe, and Baskerville
who still survive, the last named now in his
thirty-second year of service — all of them wise
master builders who laid the foundations of
the temple of God in the heart of Africa.
These and many other interesting facts must
have been included in a detailed history, but
such was not the author's design ; he has
sought rather, by a few master strokes, to give
a bird's-eye view of the whole picture — the

INTRODUCTION vii

capture of Buganda for Christ and the attempts
to establish the Kingdom of God in the out-
lying countries of Toro, Bunyoro, Busoga,
Bukedi, Ankole, and Kavirondo.

We venture to hope that the book will find
many readers, and this, not so much for the
stimulus which comes from communing
with a great past, but because Uganda seems
destined to play an important part in the
building up of a new Africa. A new world-
fabric is in course of erection, and the im-
portance of Africa's contribution is gaining
increasing recognition. Ten years ago the
man who spoke of an African nation would
have been looked upon as an idle dreamer ;
the many tribes and the great diversities of
language seemed to render such a development
incredible. To-day men see signs of the
coming to pass of this impossible thing. The
African is developing a race consciousness, and
at a rapid rate. Young eager spirits, bent
on their country's realizing its destiny, are
banding themselves together. We have the
Young Baganda Club, the Kikuyu Native
Association, and the National Congress of West

viii DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Africa ; and " Africa for the African " is their
cry. There is also the movement led by
Mr. Marcus Garvey, who styles himself " Pro-
visional President of Africa," and aims at
procuring Africa for the African by violence.
Many influences have been at work. The
impact of the white man made this desire for
freedom and self-realization inevitable. The
vision of freedom was cleared and the desire
deepened through the intermingling of tribe
and race in the great war. Nor must there be
forgotten the influence of the negro's experience
in America, in the way both of encouragement
and warning, while the generous measure of
self-government accorded to India — for Indians
also are within the veil of colour — should
perhaps be included among the forces at work.
But whatever the causes, a mental and
spiritual movement is in progress and nothing
can stay it. To try and stifle it is merely
to change its channels, and events both in
Ireland and in India are eloquent of the
danger of such a course. The better way is
to guide and foster the movement, and let
it develop under the life-giving influence of

INTRODUCTION ix

Jesus Christ, and this can be done through a
strong African Church.

There can be no doubt that Uganda has
special quaUfications for giving a lead in this
matter. Its geographical position is a help.
Within its borders are many of the conditions
which go to make the difficult problems of
Africa — the presence of the white man and
the Indian ; the shortage of labour. More
important still is the fact of a highly organized
Church, indissolubly bound up with the
national life. Before the entrance of Chris-
tianity the Baganda had shown strong admin-
istrative capacity for an ordered tribal life,
and a real, if somewhat crude, representative
government. In the wisdom of European
leaders, both in the Government and among
the missionaries, this has not been superseded,
but purified and enriched. It is this ordered
Christian government more than any other
factor which places Uganda in such a unique
position for service in building the new African
fabric, and the future depends on the whole Hf e
of Uganda, social, poUtical, and individual
being permeated by the Spirit of Christ.

X DAYSPRING IN UGANJ)A

Much has been done in this direction, but
much remains to be done.

To those who have been fed only on the
successes of Christianity in Uganda, this book
will come with all the force of a shock ; but
we venture to think a wholesome shock, for
it is always better to face the actual facts.
Prominent among these is the low standard
of sexual morality as well within as without the
Church, and almost of equal concern is the rise
of an anti-European spirit. The positive side
of this last fact — its indication of a desire to
make Africa thoroughly African — is altogether
to the good, but the position as it actually exists
to-day is critical. Clear thinking and much
earnest prayer are needed if Uganda is to
fulfil its destiny. The close intimacy of
religion and morals needs to be stressed.
Increasing attention must be given to the
relating of education to African life : it has
been said by an acute observer that some of
our schools are turning out neither good
Europeans nor good Africans. The transfer
of responsibility within the Church must be
speeded up, and public worship expressed in

DAYSPRING IN UGANDA xi

a form more fitting to the African mind and
character. African clergy must be able to
hold their own intellectually with the very
best in every other walk of hfe. Work among
African women must be developed. And by no
means least important is the Christianizing of
the impact of the white man, be he trader,
government official, or missionary.

We put down this book with the feeUng that
God has used the Church Missionary Society
to do a great work in Uganda, but that the
fruits of the victories of the Cross can only be
conserved and increased by more intensive
Christian service and sacrifice on the part of
European and African alike.

C. MOLLAN WILLIAMS

30'

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UGANDA

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TERRITORY

xu

DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

CHAPTER I

The Land and the People

THERE are doubtless many countries in
the world more beautiful than Uganda,
but few are more interesting. With an
altitude varying from 4000 to 5000 feet above
sea level, a fertile soil, and a plentiful rainfall,
it can well be imagined to be a delectable
country. But the numerous valleys of swampy
land, covered thickly with papyrus grass up
to fifteen feet in height, breeding places for
the dangerous mosquito and the more deadly
sleeping sickness fly, make it anything but a
health resort. At the same time, on the
higher lands, particularly to the west near the
great mountain range of Ruwenzori (Mountains
of the Moon), it might almost be described
as a white man's country. In many parts
there are magnificent forests where valuable
timber still awaits the woodman's axe to
turn it to good account. The whole country,
which is about 109,000 square miles in extent,
is plentifully watered by innumerable streams

2 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

and rivers, most of which find their way
eventually into one of the great lakes.

The Victoria Nyanza, a great inland sea,
is bigger than the whole of Scotland, and
has been described as the cradle of the
Nile; from it that huge river receives its
chief supply of pure fresh water, carrying
fertility into the desert wastes of the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan and Egypt. Studded as the
lake is with numerous islands, many of
them extremely' beautiful, there could be
no more wonderful view than that gazed
upon from the high land to the east.

Two other lakes must be mentioned, both
equally fine and each having its own charac-
teristics. The Albert Lake, a long, compara-
tively narrow stretch of water on the western
border of the protectorate, is nearly a hundred
miles in length and about sixty miles wide,
and is most fascinating in its real beauty.
Especially is this so as one stands on its eastern
shore on a clear day and gazes right across to
the Bulega hills, which form part of the water-
shed of the Congo River running to the west.
Five hundred feet below the surrounding
country, with water so clear and pure that
the rocks at the bottom can be clearly seen,
the traveller looks down upon it as upon a
great mirror reflecting the bright tropical
sunshine. Unlike the Victoria Lake, Lake

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 3

Albert has no islands. The water is said to
be immensely deep, and abounds with croco-
diles, hippopotami, and mighty fish, of which
many are well over 100 lbs. in weight.

The Edward Lake in the south-west is a
miniature of the Victoria, with fewer natural
adornments, but in its way quite as attractive.
Its extreme length appears to be not more
than sixty miles, and it is about the same
in width. This lake is surrounded by wide-
spreading plains of short grass and marshy
land, consequently the heat is intense, and
even the natives who live on its banks complain
of the oppressive climate.

As on all inland seas, furious storms are
frequent on these lakes. Water-spouts are
often seen and are spoken of by the people as
the " Spirit of the Lake." Many a canoe-
load of native paddlers has been overwhelmed
by the sudden storms, and the writer has
had more than one harrowing experience of a
canoe swamped on the treacherous waters.
The storms come up suddenly and with but
httle warning, and as suddenly die down again.
Around the shores of these lakes is the inevit-
able papyrus, in some places the belts being
more than half a mile in width, and in this
dwell the great river horses, the crocodiles,
and the millions of mosquitoes and other objec-
tionable and dangerous creatures. Countless

4 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

rivers flow from the high lands into these im-
mense water cisterns, some of the rivers being
choked with papyrus grass and varying from
a few yards to more than a mile in width.
The rivers in the west of the protectorate,
on the other hand, are for the most part clear,
rushing streams, coming down from the eternal
snows of Mount Ruwenzori, and are free from
the thick, clogging vegetation which breeds
undesirable pests. The beauty of the western
province, therefore, is greatly enhanced.

Animals of various kinds and different
species are found throughout Uganda, from
the beautiful eland to the tiny dyker, from the
colossal elephant to the edible rat. Lions and
leopards also are numerous, and do no little
damage among the natives of the country.
A white man had been out here nearly ten
years and had never seen a lion ; he was there-
fore quite convinced that none existed in
Uganda, until one day along a lonely road,
not more than two miles from his own
house, he was confronted by a party of three
of them ! Fortunately, the lions were not
hungry, or the sight might have cost him his
life. As a matter of fact, Uganda, although
the home of many wild and fierce animals, is
almost as safe a place to live in as London ;
by far the greater danger comes from the
tiny mosquito which brings malaria and

THE LAKD ANB THE PEOPLE 5

blackwater fever, the tsetse fly which causes
sleeping sickness, or the deadly spirelum tic,
which is accountable for relapsing fever.
Snakes are numerous, but are seldom seen near
the habitations of men, and never attack unless
molested. They have been known to get into
one's boots or to stray under a bed ; but these
are rare occurrences and need not be expected.
The great boa constrictor is the largest of the
snake tribe found in Uganda, and is sometimes
seen on the open plains or even in the banana
gardens near the houses. The whip-cord
snake is possibly the smallest. The most
deadly, and unfortunately the most common of
all, is the puff adder ; but another snake, called
by the Baganda^ mbalasasa, is of a dangerous
kind, and its bite is said to be fatal, whatever
remedies may be applied. The black adder
also, with a yellow or scarlet breast, is
another of the deadly snakes found in Uganda.
Scorpions and the many-legged centipedes are
numerous in the hotter parts of the country.
The tiny jigger, noted for its burrowing powers,
will quickly make its way under the skin and
quite soon hatch out a large brood of children.

' Uganda is the name of the whole area comprising
the protectorate; Buganda is the name applied to
the kingdom forming the centre of that area; the
people of the country are spoken of collectively as
Baganda, individually as Muganda; the language is
known as Luganda.

A

6 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Constant examination of one's extremities is
necessary. Undoubtedly the jigger is the
most objectionable pest of all. It is found
everywhere and will not be ignored ; indeed,
no one wishes to ignore it when once its powers
are known.

But our chief concern in this little book is

with the people of Buganda and the surrounding

countries, and no more space must be taken

up with details of the natural features of the

country, or with the most fascinating subject

of its animal life. There are many different

tribes in the Uganda Protectorate, but the

most noted for its progressiveness, although

numerically it is by no means the largest, is

the Baganda. Travellers from the coast of

Africa up to the Victoria Lake meet with

innumerable tribes, mostly of the lowest order,

but upon crossing the Buganda border are

immediately struck by the very obvious

superiority of the people of that country, a

stronger and finer type than is met with in

any other part of East Africa. They number

about 700,000; the total population of the

Uganda Protectorate is estimated at four

millions.

The people of Buganda are not tall but are
sturdily built, not of the dead black com-
plexion so generally seen, but of a deep
brown colour. The upper class and what

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 7

would appear to be the older and truer
type of the original race is noticeable on
account of much finer characteristics, a
shapely nose and thin, well-formed hps. The
eyes are large and bright, with curling eye-
lashes, which give a distinguished look. But
alas ! cruelty is stamped upon every feature,
and no more callous and brutal creature
was ever born among the sons of men than
the average heathen Muganda. Indeed, the
country was steeped in cruelty unspeakable
before the advent of the knowledge of God.
Human life was taken in the most fiendish
manner without the least compunction. As in
most African tribes, although there are notice-
able exceptions in this protectorate, the
woman is the slave of the household, born to
do the hard work, to be beaten and ill-used.
But in spite of this the Baganda have many
excellent quaUties that are lacking in other
tribes. Pride of country and loyalty to their
rulers, however despotic, are most striking
features. The king is king, and his wish is law.
This at any rate was the old rule of the
country, however it may have changed now.

The whole land is divided up into coimties,
each of which has its " landed lord," whose
appointment was, and is largely still, made by
the king in consultation with his prime minister.
Under these landed lords, or saza chiefs as

8 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

they are called, there are innumerable other
chiefs, each one responsible for his 'part of the
country, and the tiniest village has its own
chief who is answerable to the chief just above
him. The king and his prime minister are
therefore in close touch with the most distant
part of the country, and may know immediately
what is going on anywhere. Long before the
white man arrived upon the scene the Baganda
had their courts of law, and although the
administration of justice was corrupt in man}^
of its particulars, so that a favourite by making
a gift to his chief or to the king himself might
escape punishment, it was found that there
was an excellent foundation upon which to
build up a sound government.

Another noticeable fact is that the Baganda
have always been most particular about their
clothing. Unlike the tribes of naked savages
which surround them, the Baganda from the
earliest times have been most careful to cover
themselves. Long before cheap fabrics found
their way into the country from India or
Manchester, tlie Muganda gentleman clothed
himself with cloth made from the bark of
a species of fig tree that grows all over the
country, or, failing that, with the dressed hide of
cattle or wild antelope. The bark cloth is still
largely used by the women, and is of a dark
or a light terra-cotta colour, according to the

THE BRITISH GOVERNOR AND FOUR KINGS, UGANDA PROTECTORATE

NATIVE PARLIAMENT HOUSE IN KING'S COMPOUND, MENGO

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 9

ruling fashion ; it is most becoming and wears
well. When the Arabs and Swahilis came
trading into the country they brought with
them many bright-coloured cloths which were
at once adopted by the well-to-do. Then
came bales of stuff from Bombay and Man-
chester which to-day have a great sale in the
country. Alas ! the picturesque bark cloth is
gradually disappearing.

The Baganda are also an industrious people.
They build good huts of reeds and grass sup-
ported by poles, and although of curious shape
— rather like bee-hives — these are quite com-
fortable, if insanitary ! Windows are con-
spicuous by their absence, there is only a
sluggish sort of ventilation, and the smoke
from the inevitable fire in the building perco-
lates but slowly through the thatch of the roof.
Each occupant of the hut has a bedstead,
solidly erected upon stakes driven into the
ground, and curtained off by bark cloth. The
women are excellent cultivators, and one
woman is said to be able to support eight
people by the food she grows. Digging is done
with an iron hoe with a short, crooked handle,
so that the user is bent double as she digs, but it
is quite astonishing how well they manage to
turn the soil and how deep and good their
cultivation is. The banana or plantain is the
staple food of the Baganda, and great gardens

B

10 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

of this most useful fruit are found all over the
country. Each shoot bears only one bunch
of fruit, and when ripe is cut down to leave
room for the other suckers. Beer, made from
the ripe banana and fermented with grain,
a millet seed, is one of the greatest curses of
the country. This description applies to the
Baganda tribe, for the other races living in the
protectorate, who are by far the most numer-
ous, are chiefly grain eaters, and use the
banana almost entirely for beer-making.

The whole country is full of superstition, but
signs are not lacking to prove the people's
belief in a great Supreme Being who, however,
is thought to be cruel and vindictive and
demanding sacrifices, but otherwise not con-
cerned about the human race. Innumerable
spirits of both good and evil are recognized, and
at one time no homestead was without its
shrine. Human sacrifices were frequent, and
birds, beasts, and food were dedicated to
the spirits. In Bunyoro it was not uncommon
for a child-offering to be made to safeguard
a village or tribe, A hole would be dug in the
ground in which a child would be buried alive
up to its neck and left to die, in order that
the spirit might intervene and keep back
a threatening enemy or a devastating disease.
The idea of sacrifice, ingrained in the human
breast, found its outlet in this and other

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE ii

similar practices. Young men and women
were often dedicated to the spirit, and would
work spells under the instruction of the
doctor of the district. Inevitably, these
practices led to almost unheard-of wickedness.
First of all, then, was the supreme
God, the Creator, thought to be far too
exalted to take much interest in the affairs
of men and to have handed over the govern-
ment of the world to gods of a lower
degree. Next to him were hosts of spirits,
supposed to be in some way connected with the
great forces of nature and responsible for all
the terrible events and calamities of life.
These latter were the national gods, and per-
haps the chief among them in the kingdom of
Buganda was the god of the great lake, who
guarded the country of Uganda from encroach-
ments from the east. It was no doubt this
god who was made responsible in times gone
by for the murder of Bishop Hannington. To
this day the older men of the country will
tell you that, had the Bishop approached
Uganda from the south by way of the mission
station then in existence on the southern
shores, he would have been allowed to pass.
Besides the god of the lake there were the god
of war, the gods of plague and storm, and in-
numerable others. These were the gods sup-
posed to be concerned with human affairs.

12 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

having it in their power to send favours or
calamities as they pleased. There were shrines
erected in various parts of the kingdom, to
which high priests were attached, and through
these offerings were made.

Devil possession was not uncommon, and
still persists. A person in such a state is
looked upon as being particularly favoured
by the god ; as one from whom help may be
received by payment of the price demanded.

Worship of God or the gods in any true form
was lacking, for fear is the ruling passion in all
spirit worship ; at the best there was the
vague hope of deliverance from sorrow or
trouble, for only at such times did the Baganda
seek the help of their gods. In Uganda it was
customary at the time of national calamity, as
when smallpox or plague was devastating the
country, for the king himself to go to the
witch doctors or heathen priests to find out
from them the cause of the trouble. Often at
such times a great human sacrifice would be
demanded, and at the instigation of the king
many would be caught on the public high-
roads and led off to the place of public execution
as human sacrifices. Sometimes the victim
was burned to death ; on other occasions he
was clubbed or thrown into the king's lake, to
be devoured by the crocodiles kept there for
the purpose. There was no sign of worship,

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 13

just a ghastly butchery with the hope of
propitiating the gods. Let it not be for-
gotten or overlooked that these acts, fearful
and repulsive as they were, were not altogether
the outcome of the cruel nature of the Baganda,
but of ignorance and helpless fear in face of
the great mysteries of life.

This brief summary of native customs and
reUgion will be sufficient to reveal how great
was the darkness and how urgent the need
for enhghtenment. Let the following chapters
show how the coming of the hght has gradually
driven these horrors from Uganda, and how
the radiating beams of that light are spreading
from the centre to the outer circle of the
still dark lands around.

CHAPTER II

The First Missionaries

IN the year 1846 two white men pitched their
camp at Rabai, not more than thirty
miles from Mombasa, and commenced a hard
and laborious life of missionary service, in
the course of which they accomplished a con-
siderable amount of travel and exploration
into the interior of the dark continent. The
whole of the centre of Africa was then unknown,
and, when they wrote home of snow-capped
mountains and of great inland seas, the
creduUty of Europe was stretched to a
degree. It was not until 1855 that a map
was published which showed what has been
described as " a huge slug on the empty space
of the interior," representing a wonderful
inland sea. It is due to the Royal Geographical
Society that explorers, properly equipped,
were sent out into this unknown land, and
practically substantiated what the missionaries
had reported. These travellers (Speke, Burton,
and Grant) wrote of a great kingdom beyond
the lake which they called the Victoria Nyanza,

14

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES 15

the nearest shore of which was about 700 miles
from the coast, a kingdom ruled over by a
young king whose power was felt over many
thousands of square miles. Unlike other
African countries through which they passed,
which were ruled by petty chiefs whose
influence would not stretch much beyond the
confines of their own village, this country was
well organized by a system of chieftainships,
all under one central council dominated by a
king whose rule was autocratic.

Thirteen years had gone by since those hardy
pioneers had penetrated into the heart of this
vast country, when in 1875 the famous letter
in the " Daily Telegraph " appeared. As the
world knows, it was written by one of Britain's
great men, H. M. Stanley. Stanley had
been sent out by the " Daily Telegraph " and
the " New York Herald " to explore the centre
of Africa, and in the course of his journeys he
had arrived in Uganda and found its king
Mutesa to be exactly as he had been described
by those early pioneers. At the end of his
historic letter he added these memorable
words : " O, that some pious, practical
missionary would come here ! . . . Such an
one, if he can be found, would become the
saviour of Africa. Nowhere is there in all the
pagan world a more promising field for a
mission than Uganda ? Here, gentlemen, is

i6 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

your opportunity. Embrace it ! The people
on the shores of the Nyanza call upon you."
The challenge thus thrown down before the
Christian Church, was soon taken up, thank
God. " An unprofitable servant " had within
three days offered to place £5000 at the disposal
of the Committee of the C.M.S. if they were
" prepared at once, and with energy, to
organize a mission to the Victoria Nyanza."
Within a few days no less a sum than
£24,000 was subscribed, and to the everlasting
glory of God the Gospel was to be preached
in Uganda.

The setting out of the first band of mission-
aries has been described as a leap in the dark.
Let their names be written in gold ! Men
who " counted not their Hves dear unto them,"
knowing full well what the end might be.
George Shergold Smith, ex-lieutenant of the
Royal Navy ; Alexander Mackay, a Scotch
engineer ; the Rev. C. T. Wilson, a Manchester
curate ; T. O'Neill, an architect ; John Smith,
a doctor from Edinburgh ; G. J. Clark,
another engineer; W. M. Robertson, an
artisan; and James Robertson, a builder,
who, rejected by the doctors, went out at his
own risk and expense — these made up the
party.

Shergold Smith was the leader, and a good
idea of his character is given by the words

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES 17

he wrote when he offered to go : " Send me
out in any capacity. I am willing to take
the lowest place." Mackay, the youngest of
the party, thus addressed the Committee of the
C.M.S. before he sailed : "I want to remind
the Committee that within six months they
will probably hear that one of the party is
dead ; yes, is it at all likely that eight English-
men should start for Central Africa and all be
alive six months after ? One of us at least —
it may be I — will surely fall before that. . . .
When that news comes, do not be cast down,
but send some one else immediately to take
the vacant place." Thus spoke the true hero,
and his words were only too quickly fulfilled,
for on August 5 of the same year James
Robertson laid down his life for Uganda. In
this spirit the first messengers of the Cross of
Christ stepped out into the unknown, into a
country of darkness and death, bearing aloft
the banner of the Cross,

At long last, on 30 June, 1877, two of the
party reached Uganda, crossing from the south
end of the lake — two only out of the eight
that had started ! Clark had had to be left at
Mpapua, 220 miles inland, and soon after-
wards was compelled by ill-health to return
home, Mackay was ordered back to the coast,
desperately ill and not expected to live. W. M.
Robertson also was invalided home, so that only

i8 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

four out of the eight could then complete the
journey to the lake. The journey of these four
men, plodding onwards in face of sickness and
death, leaving behind them so many of their
fellows, is among the most heroic acts recorded
in all missionary history. There was no kindly
European government official to guide and
help these lonely travellers. They were at
the mercy of their own porters and were
especially hindered by the greedy chiefs
through whose countries they had to pass,
who made impossible demands in exchange
for the inadequate supplies of food that were
allowed for the caravan. Constantly delayed
by fever and hunger, it is no wonder that the
missionaries took six months to reach Kagei,
at the southern shore of the lake. There on
II May, 1877, Dr. John Smith died of
dysentery. This was a heavy loss indeed to
the few that remained. Who was to help
them now when sickness came along ? And
yet in each of the survivors' letters there is
no thought of despair or of drawing back, but
simply this message : " Send some one to take
his place." At the south end of the lake
O'Neill was left with the heavy goods, so that
only Shergold Smith and Wilson reached the
capital of Uganda.

We can picture the wonderful state of
excitement that existed in Uganda when

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES 19

news first reached its king that a band of
white missionaries was about to arrive in the
country. How the great drums would boom,
and what preparations of food there would be !
For the Baganda are nothing if not a hospitable
people. Here at last were the teachers so long
expected. The great Stanley's word was true,
after all, when he said : " We will send you
teachers."

The king received them in a friendly spirit,
and soon provided them with a site for a house
and helped them to build it.

And now commenced the patient, plodding
work. The native language had to be mastered
before much could be done, and only those who
have worked at a strange language without
books of any kind can reaUze the desperate
need for patience. Native customs also had
to be understood before the white man could
hope to have much influence in the country.
Swahili was the language first used by the
missionaries, but this being the coast dialect
and not generally understood, they soon found
the pressing need of learning the native tongue.
The sight of Wilson reading the Word of God
and slowly translating it to the king and chiefs,
explaining its wonderful meaning for the first
time to these dark heathen, was a sight that
must have made all heaven ring with joy. O,
the pathos of it ! One white man, surrounded

20 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

by the heathen mob, calmly telling this crowd
of savages that God is Love !

Shergold Smith had returned to the south
of the lake to join O'Neill and to bring up the
rest of the stores. Here both of these gallant
EngUshmen were attacked and killed by the
king of Ukerewe, because they had given
protection to an Arab with whom he had a
quarrel. The pity of it j&lls our hearts. The
leader of the party removed, and Wilson left
alone in the great kingdom of Buganda with
but little prospect of a companion for many
months to come ! Heroically he kept at his
work until first Mackay, then other recruits,
could join him, but the greatest test of faith
was yet to be, not only for him but for support-
ers at home. French priests of the Church of
Rome arrived two years after our missionaries
got there, and sad confusion resulted. Mutesa
and his chiefs were perplexed, as well they
might be. Protestant, Roman, and Moham-
medan, all were there with their conflicting
differences. Is it to be wondered at that the
old heathenism soon began to gain ground
again, and apparently won the day ? For the
king himself gave in, and said : "We will have
nothing more to do with either the Arab's or
the white man's religion, but we will return to
the rehgion of our fathers." All but one or two
of the readers ceased coming to Wilson, and the

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES 21

work of God seemed to be .crushed. In the
eyes of men Failure might have been written
across this page of missionary history in
Uganda.

But there were those whose faith was un-
shaken, and out of that turmoil of darkness and
sin came the brave words of Mackay : "Although
two and a half years' work shows no more fruit
than a seemingly unanimous rejection of Christi-
anity, yet the work must not be given up in a
hurry. Darkness must vanish before hght, and
the triumphs of Christianity in the past more
than warrant our assurance that it will triumph
here, perhaps in a future very near." Memor-
able words, prophetically spoken ! The terrific
strain and loneliness had been too great for
Wilson's strength, and he had been obliged to
leave Uganda, though later he took up mis-
sionary work in a healthier cUmate and in less
trying circumstances.

" Mackay of Uganda " — how his name will
live ! Not so much because he was a man
of wonderful ability, a great teacher, and a
clever mechanic, but because he Hved Christ
before a heathen people. He is spoken of
to-day in most affectionate terms by the few
that still survive who knew him. An old man
said to the writer recently : " Mackay ! why,
he was our father, a man full of grace " This
old fellow was one of Mackay's earhest readers.

22 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

who, when the great persecution of the readers
came on, ran away to save his life and subse-
quently went back to his teacher, or " father,"
as he calls him, and with tears asked him to
pray for him that he might remain faithful
even unto death.

Mackay laboured night and day, working
with his own hands to supply the spiritual
needs of those around him. Neglected by the
king whose guest he was supposed to be, we
read of his selUng the glass from a photograph
frame, sent to him from home, in order to
obtain his daily bread. When in the year
1881, in the month of October, a little note was
one day slipped into his hand, and he read of
the first convert who wished for baptism, we
can well imagine the almost overwhelming joy
it brought to Mackay and O' Flaherty, who
was then his colleague. The message ran :
" Sembera has come with compliments and to
give you great news. Will you baptize him,
because he believes the words of Jesus Christ ? "
Here, then, was the first convert.

But we learn that Sembera was not the first
to be baptized, after all. "A lad named
DamuUra, who was an earnest reader, fell ill.
He begged a heathen friend, a lad of his own
age, to call one of the missionaries, but his
friend refused. Damulira grew worse, and at
last, when dying, he bade his heathen friend

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES 23

bring water and sprinkle it over him ' In the
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost.' " This, therefore, was the
first baptism in Uganda, performed by a
heathen lad ! Mackay wrote of this : " I do
beUeve that this baptism by a lubare lad (spirit
worshipper) has been written in heaven."
Sembera and four others were baptized on 18
March, 1882, nearly six months after the letter
quoted above was written, Sembera taking for
his new name " Mackay," in loving memory of
his teacher. By the end of the year 1884 the
number of baptized Christians had increased
to eighty-eight. Mutesa, the king, died in
October of that year, and Mwanga his eighteen-
year old son succeeded him.

Now commenced the darkest page of all
Uganda's history. From the very beginning,
Mwanga's bad points made themselves known.
Mutesa had been guilty of fearful cruelty, but
Mwanga far surpassed him in his lust for
blood. Fickle, vicious, cruel, treacherous, and
utterly weak, he was easily led and influenced,
and the greater the wickedness suggested to
him by his associates, the more readily he
complied. His first great deed of savagery
was wrought upon some of the missionaries'
boys on 30 January, 1885. These boys were
caught while accompanying their masters,
Mackay and Ashe, on the road down to the

24 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

lake. The accusation was that the boys were
trying to leave the country without permission ;
but obviously the trouble was that they were
Christian lads. Three of these young fellows
were dragged off to the place of execution, the
youngest being about fifteen years old. They
were tied up to a rough scaffolding, and a wood
fire kindled beneath them, and they were
slowly burned to death, while with fiendish
cruelty hands and legs were severed from the
quivering bodies, mercifully hastening the end.

On the spot where this inhuman deed was
perpetrated there stands to-day a granite cross
dedicated to the memory of these early martyrs.
At its dedication in July, 19 lo, there stood
around the representatives of over 70,000
Christian Baganda.

It was in the troublous days of 1885 that
news reached the missionaries that Bishop
Hannington was approaching Uganda to take
up the leadership. The Arab traders, whose
nefarious work and bad influence had been
making great headway in Uganda, warned King
Mwanga that the white man was coming by
the back door into the country in order to
" eat up the land." The king listened to their
warning, and being afraid because of his own evil
deeds, ordered the Bishop's party to be arrested
as soon as they arrived within his territory.
Unaware of this danger though he knew of

THE FIRST MISSIONARIES 25

others, Hannington had hurried forward with a
small party of Africans only, anxious to get to
his journey's end and enter the land of promise;
until at last, from the great hill of Busoga
overlooking the lake and the waters of the
Nile, he saw in the distance Uganda the
beautiful, the longed for. Hardly had his eyes
rested upon it when he was seized by some
men who had followed him, thrust into a hut
and kept as a prisoner. After eight days
orders came that the white man was to be
killed. With brutal spear thrusts this valiant
soldier of the Cross was done to death on 29
October, 1885, together with many of his
porters. Almost his last words were : " I am
about to die for the Baganda, and have
purchased the road to them with my Ufe."
By that road, broadly speaking, a railway to
the lake was completed sixteen years later.
Four of the porters escaped and returned to
the rest of the caravan, which soon made its
sorrowful way back to the coast. " Ichabod "
was inscribed upon the banner which headed
the mournful procession to the mission station
at Mombasa. But the glory had not departed,
for it is true that Hannington did more for
Africa by his noble death than ever he could
have done by his life. Within a few weeks
after the news reached England, fifty men
had offered themselves to the C.M.S. for

26 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

service in the mission field. Hannington's
name has continued ever since to be an inspira-
tion to many. And in Uganda all the powers "
of hell were not sufficient to choke the little
spark of life which was soon to spread into a
living Church.

CHAPTER III
Laying the Foundations

LIKE the guilty man that he was, Mwanga
dreaded lest punishment for the cruel
murder of Hannington should come upon
him. But as time went on and nothing
happened, he became emboldened to continue
his career of crime. The three men now in the
country, Mackay, O'Flaherty, and Ashe, were
in constant danger of their lives. At any
moment the king might send for them and
order his executioners to do their duty. But
these heroic men were upheld by the power of
God to face the awful suspense. When at last
Mackay was ordered into the presence of the
king his companions feared the worst. " Very
humble," wrote Ashe, speaking of Mackay,
" very weak, very childlike he was on his
knees before God ; very strong and very manly
afterwards." " What if I kill you ? " cried
the infuriated monarch when Mackay stood
before him. The threat made but little im-
pression. Doubtless the king found Mackay's
mechanical skill so useful to himself that he

27

28 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

stayed his hand. Be that as it may, Mackay's
work was not yet done.

It was about this time that the Bible began
to be circulated in the language of the people,
the first sheet of the Gospel of St. Matthew
being ready on 13 November, 1885, Mackay
set to work with marvellous patience to repair
his little printing press brought from England,
which had suffered much damage in transit.
Some of the larger type being lost, he cut out
substitutes with his own hands, from hard
wood. Picture this white man, many thou-
sands of miles from his own country, sitting
alone in his little grass hut, laboriously
chipping from the rough, with improvised
tools, letters for the printing of the Word of
God ! The world might look on with scorn,
and the worldly-wise with pity, shaking their
heads and saying : " What is the good of all
this labour ? " But Mackay knew what he
was about. He beUeved in the power of the
Word, therefore he chose thus to spend his
time and strength. The distribution of his
printed book soon fostered a spirit of inquiry,
and the number of readers increased daily in
spite of the awful peril of persecution and
possible death.

At the same time a great onslaught was
made upon the native Christians throughout
the country. Some 200 martyrs perished in

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 29

this persecution, and a great multitude suffered
mutilation and banishment for their faith.
But the Word of God in their own tongue
brought to many of these early Christians, who
suffered so much, a wonderful, calm confidence
in God which enabled them to face death in its
most hideous forms. And be it also noted that
although the Christians were scattered, and
the white men threatened by the king and
turned out of the country, from that date
onwards the work of God grew and flourished
exceedingly.

The Mohammedans at this time made
another great effort to possess the land and,
cunningly obtaining the help of the Christian
party, formed a plot to dethrone Mwanga,
the inhuman monster ; they succeeded in
driving him from the throne and putting in his
place an older son of Mutesa. But this ill-
assorted confederacy between Mohammedans
and Christians could not possibly last, and
very soon the Arab influence asserted itself
and began to plot for the overthrow of the
Christians. The Christians were treacherously
attacked, and driven into Ankole to the south-
west with terrible loss. Both French Roman
CathoUc and EngUsh stations were destroyed
and the missionaries taken prisoners. Finally,
robbed of all they possessed, the whole party
of some thirty-nine souls, including two British

30 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

and four French missionaries, were put into the
mission boat on the lake and told never to
return to Uganda again. Of the adventurous
journey of this party on the lake one cannot
give details here, except to mention the fact
that the boat was shipwrecked and five people
lost their lives, and that eventually, after many
days of hardship, the rest reached Usambiro,
at the south end of the lake.

Meanwhile in Uganda, the puppet king,
Kiwewa, was deposed by the Mohammedans,
and another son of Mutesa, whose name was
Kalema, was put on the throne. During this
time of unrest, the translation and the
printing of the Holy Scriptures, and the
teaching of the few who had escaped, went
on quietly at Usambiro. Mackay was also
busy building a Uttle steam launch, meant
for missionary journeys, but alas ! never
finished.

It was during this time of waiting that
H. M. Stanley, on his way back after the
rescue of Emin Pasha, stayed for a little while
with Mackay at Usambiro. In his book (" In
Darkest Africa," vol. ii, pp. 350, 387) he
describes his experience there and speaks of
his great admiration for this lonely mission-
ary.

Mwanga regained the throne in 1889, largely
by the aid of the Christians, and in response

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 31

to his appeal, Gordon and Walker' went to him
once more, although they had suffered so much
at his hands. And now a new era in Uganda
commenced. Africa was to be partitioned
among the European powers, and British
influence to be estabUshed in Uganda and East
Africa.

On 8 February, 1890, Mackay died of
fever in the midst of his great labours, without
having returned to Uganda. His splendid
young manhood had been spent for his Master,
and his work was done. His last message,
written only five weeks before his death, was as
follows : " You sons of England, here is a
field for your energies. You men of God who
have resolved to devote your lives to the care
of the souls of men, here is the proper field for
you. It is not to win numbers to a Church hut
to win men to the Saviour." May these words
be stamped upon our hearts ! Never was there
more urgent need than now to reahze that out-
ward membership of a Church is insufficient ;
men must be brought into vital contact with
Christ. A Church is necessary to this end,
and it must be African through and through.

' The Rev. E. C. Gordon (nephew of Bishop Hann-
ington) sailed for Uganda in 1882, but remained at
the south end of the Victoria Nyanza until Mwanga's
invitation reached him in 1887. The Rev. R. H.
Walker (afterwards Archdeacon of Uganda) landed
in Africa in 1887 and joined Gordon in Uganda.

32 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

During that same month of February, 1890,
another party arrived at Mombasa, with one in
their midst who was to be a true leader of men.
By God's wonderful providence he had been
sent to carry on the work so nobly commenced
by Mackay. That man was George Pilkington.
Those of us who were privileged to know
Pilkington in Uganda will always feel that in
him God had very specially prepared a man to
meet the extraordinary needs of the country
at that time. There were language difficulties,
and no grammar was available for the student
of Luganda who wished to make himself
proficient in the work allotted to him.
Pilkington supplied the need, and to this day
his grammar is more largely used than any
other. Short, concise, and simply written, the
least gifted can understand it. There was an
even greater need than this. Mohammedans,
Romanists, and heathen were all taking sides
against the Protestant teachers, so that little
intercourse was possible between the factions.
But Pilkington' s house became a meeting place
for all sorts and conditions of men. The leading
Mohammedan chief was a frequent visitor to
his house, and often entered into long
discussions with him. Romanists also found
Pilkington not an enemy but a very true friend
who desired to help them. Many a time I
have entered that Uttle grass shed — he called

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 33

it a house — on Namirembe HilP, and found it
crowded with Mohammedans, Romanists, Pro-
testants, and heathen, all taking part in
earnest talk with this great teacher and
scholar.

His great work, the translation of the whole
Bible into Luganda, lives after him, as a grand
monument to his memory.

The first Bishop of Uganda^ to reach the
country, Alfred Tucker, arrived on 27
December, 1890, and, with the party mentioned
above, he received a tremendous welcome. He
found that the first church, built of reeds, had
been opened on Trinity Sunday, 1890. It was
a wonderful building of purely native archi-
tecture, 81 feet long by 24 feet broad. And,
strange as it may seem, so soon after the
dreadful time of persecution, it was packed
daily by those who wished to become

1 The capital of Uganda is built on several hills.
One of these, Mengo.is the native capital ; Namirembe
is the C.M.S. centre with the cathoiral on its
summit ; and Kampala is the political capital.

2 Strictly speaking, the Diocese of Uganda only
came into being in 1898. Prior to that (1884-98)
Bishop Tucker, like his predecessors Bishops
Hannington and Parker, had as his see Eastern
Equatorial Africa, extending from the western border
of Uganda to the coast. It is interesting to note
that both Bishops Hannington and Tucker offered
to the C.IVLS. as missionaries, and the former first
went out to Africa in this capacity. Neither Bishop
Hannington nor Bishop Parker ever reached Uganda.

34 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Christians. Of Bishop Tucker as a man
much might be written. He was the true
friend of all the missionaries who worked under
him, and he soon made himself familiar
with their varied work and especially with the
difficulties that confronted them. By his
untiring efforts, often under tremendous physi-
cal strain, he visited the centres of missionary
work, cheering and encouraging the men who,
perhaps in great loneliness of heathen surround-
ings, were trying to carry the Light into the
darkness. He never spared himself, and per-
haps his strongest characteristic was his untiring
effort to help the Africans, often acting as a
go-between in order that a mutual understand-
ing might exist between the native and the
government official. He was a tower of
strength to all, and by his strong personality
inspired confidence. He was soon recognized
by missionary and official alike as a states-
man of no mean order. Right through his
life he lived in the simplest possible manner,
and although he never learned the native
language, he soon got to the heart of those
whom he had come out to serve. When at
last he was called upon to lay down his work
in this country he had the immense satisfaction
of knowing that he left behind him a con-
stituted Church complete in almost every
detail. During the term of his leadership the

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 35

Church grew in an almost unprecedented
fashion. Out-stations were opened north,
south, east, and west, and pioneer missionaries
sent to occupy these posts of honour.

The year 1891 will always be a memorable
one in the history of the Church in Uganda.
The country was in a state of chaos. The
Roman Mission, which had firmly established
itself and was working on a distinctly poUtical
basis, had obtained a large following, and the
existence of two forms of Christianity, Protes-
tant and Roman CathoUc, both introduced by
the white man, caused much perplexity among
those primitive people . To them they appeared
as two opposing forces, each striving for the
possession of the country ; and very soon
these forces came into coUision with disastrous
results. Arms were taken up and battles
fought, the opponents being called, respectively,
Bafransa and Bangereza (French and English).
It has sometimes been called a reUgious war,
but in reahty rehgion had little or nothing to
do with it ; it was a purely poHtical strife. The
British East Africa Company, under the leader-
ship of Sir F. Lugard, did its best to smooth
things out. Then the Company, through lack
of funds, proposed to withdraw from the
country. Such a course would have meant
inevitable disaster to all missionary work in
the country.

36 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Happily Bishop Tucker was at home, and
he speedily found means of averting this
calamity. He soon aroused tremendous
enthusiasm, and within a very short time
jfi6,ooo had been subscribed by the Church
at home. This money, with gifts from the
leaders of the Company, was to make it
possible for the Company to hold on for
another year, with the hope that by
that time the home Government would see
its way to take over the whole country.
Thus was Uganda saved from what might have
been a return to its old heathen cruelty. King
Mwanga, who had at this time attached himself
to the French party, and was commanding a
very large following, was fortunately unable to
make any headway against the troops under
the command of Lugard. Finally, seeing
which way things were going and that the
French faction were being worsted, he suddenly
professed himself a Protestant ; having escaped
from his party, he left them to their fate and
returned to Mengo. The Bafransa accepted
the inevitable and submitted to the superior
force, and the so-called religious war was
brought to a close.

CHAPTER IV
" Yet Shall He Live "

A WONDERFUL change now took place
in the country, and was traceable to
two most noteworthy facts. Much of the
Bible was by this time being freely circulated
and eagerly read, and the Holy Spirit came in
power upon the workers. There is, of ocurse, a
very close connexion between the two — " the
sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God."
There is little doubt but that the Spirit was
shining through the written Word, and illu-
minating its pages so that the most simple soul
could understand its message of love. The
books could not be produced quickly enough,
and new supplies were bought up as soon as
they arrived. It was no easy matter in those
days to keep up an adequate supply to meet the
great demand. The journey from the coast
took so long, and there was always trouble on
the way. Whole caravans were sometimes
cut up by the tribes passed through, and many
a time the consignments of books were cast
away to rot in the jungle. In Uganda the

37

38 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

books were sold as nearly at cost price as
possible, in consideration of the poverty of
the people.

God's Word was thus distributed and read,
and it was astounding in what strange places
copies of the Gospel were often found. Far
away it travelled into Bunyoro and Toro, and
even into some of the more remote parts of
the Upper Congo. Sometimes the distribution
was traceable to strange causes. A little lad,
carried off as a slave to a far distant part of
the protectorate, took with him his little gospel,
and prized it greatly. In captivity he read it
and taught the heathen children around him
to do likewise, until what may well be described
as a little Church of God appeared in this great,
dark province. When the writer travelled
down the Congo, in the year 1899, a young
heathen man of a cannibal tribe was found to
be wearing a gospel stitched up in bark cloth
and slung around his neck.

Perhaps it is well nigh impossible for
a Christian worker in England to understand
what an overwhelming joy it was to the
pioneer missionary of those days, particularly
if he had been through the dark days of
persecution, to see the all-conquering power
of the Word of God. To all the workers a
new impetus was given ; those who had
sown with tears now watched the seed

" YET SHALL HE LIVE " 39

spring forth into life. God the Holy
Spirit Himself came in power and, taking of
the things of Jesus, revealed them to the
seeking soul. Great gatherings were some-
times held in the open air when God's Word
was read and explained, the little churches
being far too small to accommodate the
crowds that came to hear, and so thousands
pressed forward into the Kingdom of Christ.
Churches were built all over the country,
mostly reed and grass structures, but sufficient
to keep off the sun or rain. Best of all,
hundreds of young men came forward after
their baptism to be sent out as teachers.
So the Church grew and flourished, and there
was a great harvest time.

Soon a foreign missionary spirit was shown,
and evangelists were sent into other countries
to preach. Busoga was the first to open its
doors, and in the year 1893 the first mission-
aries of the Uganda Church were sent into
the land where, but a few years previously.
Bishop Hannington had laid down his fife.

Slavery was at the same time abolished, not
by the might of the British flag, but by the
voluntary wish of the people themselves. A
petition, signed by forty of the Protestant
chiefs, including nine out of the thirteen
landed lords of Uganda, was sent to the
British representative, asking that all slavery

40 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

should come to an end. The Roman Catholic
chiefs objected to this, but their objections
were overruled, and freedom to the slave
was pronounced. Here, then, in the heart
of Africa was a race of people boldly putting
themselves on the side of righteousness.
It was not until fourteen years afterwards that
liberty came to the slaves at the coast.

On Trinity Simday, 1893, the first six
Baganda were ordained deacons of the Church,
and soon afterwards hundreds of teachers were
sent out all over the country. In the many little
churches or reading rooms erected by the
Baganda themselves it was estimated that
year that some 20,000 people met together
every Sunday to hear the Gospel, and in a few
months 1500 were preparing for baptism. The
pressing need for women workers was now
keenly felt, and a request was sent home : and
in 1895 the first party of five English women
started for the distant field of Uganda.^ By
this time nearly 10,000 men and women had
entered Christ's fold and proclaimed their
faith in baptism. Thus the ingathering com-
menced in earnest, and continues to this present
day.

A serious set-back to the progress of the
country took place in the year 1897. King

^ All the members of this party completed twenty-
five years of service in Uganda.

" YET SHALL HE LIVE " 41

Mwanga, who, no doubt, was still wondering
what might happen to him after the cruel
way in which he had mutilated and slain
the early Christians, thought that the best
thing he could do would be to revolt against
British control. He therefore attached himself
once more to the Roman Catholic section and
ignominiously fled from his capital to Budu,
a province of Uganda, where he raised an
army. Prompt measures were taken by the
Government, and a force of poHce and a large
number of loyal Baganda attacked Mwanga's
army and drove them out of the country into
(what was then) German East Africa. A Httle
son, born to Mwanga in 1896, being left
behind by his father, was placed upon the
throne; previously he had been baptized
by the name of Daudi. Mwanga was
proclaimed an outlaw. In September of the
same year the Mohammedans plotted a revolt,
but by the action of the authorities the rebelHon
was nipped in the bud. In December Mwanga
escaped from the Germans, who had made
themselves responsible for his imprisonment,
and again gathered a force in Budu, but
was once more defeated and remained a
fugitive.

Then a still more serious event occurred.
Some Sudanese troops, brought into the
country a few years previously as a police

D

42 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

force, suddenly broke out into open mutiny
against the British Government. This spread
consternation throughout the whole protector-
ate. The rebels seized a fort in Busoga,
and, being fully armed and trained soldiers,
were a most serious menace. On their occu-
pation of the stronghold they captured two
European civilians and a British officer who
went to them to endeavour to make terms.
These they cruelly murdered. Fortunately,
a few of the Sudanese companies scattered
through the country remained loyal, for
otherwise there is Httle doubt that the whole
country would have fallen into their hands.
As it was, for nine months serious fighting
and loss of life took place. Several British
officers were killed, and in the Uganda native
army many of the best of the Christian leaders
lost their lives.

It was during this rebeUion that a great
loss befell the Mission. George Pilkington
was shot. With several other missionaries
he had voluntarily offered his services to the
commanding officer. As his knowledge of the
native language was the best in the country,
and his unbounded friendship with the natives
a great asset at such a time, he was asked to
act as a go-between, so that the wishes and
orders of the commander might be thoroughly
understood by the native army. He was shot

" YET SHALL HE LIVE " 43

while accompanying a clearing party of natives
in a banana garden close to the lake shore.
Surrounded by his native friends, helping
them in their time of trouble — he would not
have chosen a better end. But his loss was
tremendous and the whole of Uganda mourned.
What finer testimony than this, that he laid
down his life for his friends ?

It has been said that the Baganda lack
the deeper feehngs of affection, and that
their demonstrations of friendliness are only
due to their native custom of pohteness to
strangers ; but there was no mistaking their
affection for Pilkington. When Henry Wright
Duta, one of the first of his people to be
ordained, and a man of great influence, wrote :
" We all shed tears, we cried our eyes out,"
he was expressing the feehngs of the whole of
the native population.

I buried Pilkington on the battlefield, in the
evening of the day of his death, and saw the
Uttle crowd that gathered at the grave-side.
Strong men from the battle, hardened to the
bloodshed and vileness of war, bowed their
heads and wept. Here was Uganda's prime
minister, one who had rejoiced in Pilkington's
brotherly love ; as he stood by the open
grave his tears were unchecked — he had
lost a dear friend. Here also stood Aloni, the
faithful servant who had been with his master

44 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

during the last moments of consciousness on the
battlefield, and had comforted him by saying :
" My master, he that believeth in Christ,
although he die, yet shall he live." " Yes, my
child," Pilkington had whispered with his last
breath, " it is as you say — shall never die,"

By the end of 1898 the mutineers had
been either captured or dispersed, and the
country was once more quiet. In the days
of peace that followed for Uganda the
seed already sown began to spring into
abundant life. The number of native
teachers doubled within a year and reached
the total of 2000, and year by year
their ranks were augmented. Here let it be
said that all these teachers were supported by
the native Church, not one cent of foreign
money going to this purpose. The earnest
desire of the Uganda Mission from the very
first has been to make the Uganda Church self-
supporting, self-governing, and self-extending,
and up to the time of writing this ideal has
been maintained.

CHAPTER V

The Building of the Church

WE have briefly traced the early history of
the Uganda Mission up to the time that
the Church was firmly established in the coun-
try. It now remains to show how the Church
has grown and extended its influence. No one
who knew Uganda twenty-five or thirty years
ago, and knows it to-day, could ever deny that
Christian missions have been the means of
absolutely revolutionizing the whole country.
Heathenism in large areas has entirely dis-
appeared, Mohammedanism has been baffled,
and the majority of the population of the
kingdom of Buganda itself has become Christian,
at any rate in name. Nearly all the leading
chiefs are baptized men, and the country is
covered with a network of Christian schools
and churches. A native Church has been
raised up by God with its own ministers and
teachers, and all education so far is in the
hands of the Christian missions.

The New Cathedral

The history of the beautiful cathedral on
Namirembe, the " Hill of Peace," may be

45

46 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

taken as a sign that the country has been
won for God. The promoter of that great
building was denied the joy of seeing its com-
pletion, but who can say that he was not
present in spirit on the day of its consecration ?
Bishop Tucker's great aim in life was to win
Central Africa for Christ, and this cathedral
was to be, as it were, the crowning glory of the
country that had passed through so much in
its struggles for the dawn, a monument erected
as a sign to all that the religion of Jesus Christ
was henceforward to be the guiding light for
all who in the darkness had lost the way.
On Saturday, 13 September, 1919, the con-
secration of the beautiful church of St. Paul
took place in the presence of a vast congrega-
tion

The present building is the fifth church
to be erected on Namirembe Hill. In 1890,
upon the arrival of Bishop Tucker in the coun-
try, the mission station was built, not on the
top of the hill, but at the foot. In those days
none but the king or members of the royal
family were allowed to build on the tops of
hills. The first church was planned and built
near the mission station entirely by the natives;
it was roughly cruciform, but the rain always
poured in at the angles of the roof when a
storm broke. Nearly 1000 people were able
to pack themselves into this building, not

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 47

needing as much room as they do now with
their fine clothes ! Many members of the
congregation would come with their guns or
spears on account of the troubles of the time.

The site was found to be inconvenient and
unhealthy, and, public opinion having somewhat
changed, it was decided to move the houses
of the missionaries higher up the hill and to
build the church on the top. This was done,
and again the church was entirely designed and
built by the natives themselves. It was an
immense barn-like structure, the roof being
supported by a forest of tree trunks carried in
from the country by hundreds of men. This
building was but short lived ; opened in 1892,
it was swept away by a hurricane in 1894,
Archdeacon Walker, who was teaching a class
in the vestry at the time, narrowly escaped
with his Ufe. As he ran out, he said he saw
" the poles snapping off like so many carrots."

A similar building was put up to replace this
one, in 1895 ; but the Baganda Christians,
wishing for something of a permanent nature,
decided in 1901 to pull it down and put up
a church of brick. And now for the first
time it was necessary for them to seek European
help, not to save themselves the cost and
trouble of building, but to assist them by
advice and superintendence to build some-
thing better than they could produce unaided.

48 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Mr. K. E. Borup, who was at that time director
of the industrial work of the C.M.S., was
asked to undertake this project, and his time
and services were gladly lent by the Society,
He designed and carried through, from
start to finish, the beautiful building which
combined stabiHty of structure with true
African types of ornaments and decoration.
Once again the whole cost of the building
was borne by the Uganda Church. This
building was consecrated by the late Bishop
Tucker on 21 June, 1904, and became the
first cathedral church of the diocese of
Uganda. Alas ! no roofing material was avail-
able in those days to render a large building
fireproof, and the cathedral was struck by
lightning, and the roof entirely destroyed, on
23 September, 1910. The Bishop had just
left for England. The sad news reached him
at Aden, and the sympathy of his fellow
passengers led to their subscribing £40 there
and then towards a new building. This was
the nucleus of the £10,000 which Bishop
Tucker collected during his year in England,
and presented to the Uganda Church a$ a
token of sympathy from their fellow Christians
in England.

Plans for a new cathedral were soon drawn
up on a far more pretentious scale than for any
previous building in Uganda. The design is

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 49

simple — cruciform, with a dome in the centre
supported by four stone pillars of local sand-
stone. The rest of the building is of burnt
brick. Beyond the dome the choir or chancel
is reached by five steps. The chancel is en-
closed by six beautiful screens at the sides and
backed by a carved reredos, the whole of which,
together with the Holy Table, was the work of
boys from the Maseno High School, Kavirondo.
The service of consecration was practically
the same as that used in the diocese for the
consecration of churches, but somewhat ex-
panded. The petition to consecrate was by
the Governor's permission presented by His
Honour the Chief Justice, and signed by him
and also by H.H. the Kabaka, the Mukamas
of Bunyoro and Toro, and representative chiefs
and clergy from every part of the diocese.
Archdeacon Baskerville thus wrote of the
consecration : " Once more the diocese has
a cathedral church, the mother of some
2000 churches scattered throughout its
length and breadth. Some of us were con-
trasting the time, thirty years before, when
the old grass building at the foot of the hill
was the only house of God in the country.
Then Busoga, Bunyoro, Ankole, and Toro had
not heard the Gospel; now their kings and
leading chiefs were with us, joining in prayer,
praise, and thanksgiving. One church has

50 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

become 2000 ; seventy communicants have
grown to 40,000 ; then there were 200 baptized
Christians, now they exceed 100,000. What
hath God wrought ! "

Personnel

Many other beautiful churches have been
built throughout the country, permanent
buildings replacing the temporary mud
or reed churches which had answered
their purpose so well. But the glory of the
diocese is its personnel. African clergy, sixty
in number, are now scattered through the
diocese, while there are nearly 3800 lay agents,
a large proportion of whom are well trained
men. Of women teachers there are 210, and
there are no fewer than 1745 out-stations
where definite Christian teaching is constantly
given. The total number of baptized
Christians is 114,000 and is increasing at the
rate of over 1000 a year ; over 12,000 are
preparing for baptism. Native contributions
to the Church now amount to close upon
Rs 50,000 per annum (£5000).^

Educational Work

The school work is ever growing, and more
than 90,000 children are under daily instruction.

' The above figures are those for the whole Uganda
Mission with Kavirondo (ch. viii), which formed part
of the diocese of Uganda until December, 1920, when
it was transferred to that of Mombasa.

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 51

There are large day schools at all the important
centres, and hundreds of little village schools.
High schools for boys are carried on in
Buganda, Toro, Busoga, Ankole, Kavirondo,
and Bunyoro.

The teaching of the children was begun
in a mixed school at Mengo, the capital
of Uganda, in the year 1895, but it was soon
found that better results would be obtained
if the boys and girls were separated. This was
done, and later, some of the chiefs not having
the control over their boys that they should
have, it was suggested that a boarding school
should be started. With the splendid help,
therefore, of the Baganda chiefs the Mengo
High School was built and opened in the year
1905. Elementary education was carried on
at first, but later the standard was raised.
Drawing, woodwork, etc., were introduced,
physical and miUtary drill were begun, and
gymnastics, swimming, and football started
as games. The lads were made to cultivate
the land, and generally to learn how to use
their hands. The fees were then Rs 30 per
annum. Upon these Hues the school has
grown. In the singing competitions and in
school sports Mengo High School usually leads
the way. The boys are supposed to leave the
school when they reach the age of 16,
and many of them are now fiUing posts as

52 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

chiefs. The greatest number on the roll has
been 150 ; at the present time the number
is eighty. The fees are now Rs 90.

A few years ago a new school was started,
called the central school ; this seems fast to
be taking the place of the high school ; both
as boarding schools have the great advantage
of keeping the boys under proper supervision,
which cannot be guaranteed in an ordinary
day school. The central school has the great
attraction that English is taught there. This
school now has on the roll the names of nearly
500 boys. The fees are Rs 12 a year. The
standard of work done is very high, and is
entirely in the care of a Muganda clergyman.

These schools have become very popular
in Uganda. The masters have generally been
trained at Budo.

The King's School, Budo

The King's School, Budo, was started in the
year 1906, and it suppUed at once a very
urgent need. With the advance of civiHzation
has grown the demand for a higher form of
education. The chiefs, who now have to keep
records of all their coiurt cases, to be submitted
to the Government, must of necessity have
clerks who can write a good hand and do
some arithmetic. Also, the Government
needed interpreters and clerks of good

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 53

intelligence. In addition to this, it was felt
that the future chiefs of the country should be
men of education, with broader views of life
than those commonly found in the country.
This school was founded, therefore, for the
special benefit of the chiefs, who desired their
sons to be properly taught to meet the require-
ments of the future as well as the demands of
the present.

It was largely due to the enterprise of the
late Bishop Tucker that this important
school was started. From his diocesan fund
he supplied the initial cost of the first buildings.
These have been added to from time to time.
The Mackay Memorial, for the manual training
of the boys, was built by special subscriptions in
the year 1908 — a fitting monument, indeed, to
the memory of one who by the work of his
hands glorified God. In 1914 the late Bishop
Wilkinson of Northern Europe visited the
school and gave a chapel, which was beauti-
fully built, and is one of the finest of the
smaller buildings in the country. Consider-
able developments are now under considera-
tion, and it is felt that the school should reach
an even wider class of boys who are anxious for
advancement.

The school was opened with about thirty
boys, but now there are about ninety, and many
are waiting to get in as soon as there is sufficient

54 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

accommodation. During the war the Budo
boys did magnificent work, giving of their best.
Over fifty of them volunteered their services
as soon as war broke out. In October, igT4,
twenty-five of them were sent off, among them
being the king's brother, Yusufu Suna. Some
of these boys served with much distinction.
To give but one instance, I would mention the
case of a boy who went to the front with the
late Archdeacon Chadwick. He was a boy
who did not shine as a scholar. However, he
went through the whole campaign and came
out with much honour. He fought on the
lake, where he gained the MiUtary Medal ;
went right through to Nyasaland down to
Lorenzo Marques; and rose to be a staff-
sergeant.

The great aim of the school is the moulding
of character, and this is sought, not merely by
book study, but by industrial work and also
by games of all sorts. Many of the boys take
up definite church work when they leave
Budo, and in 1919 over thirty of the old boys
were teaching in high schools and central
schools throughout the diocese. The course
covers three years of three terms each, with
entrance and leaving examinations.

Only one European is at present in charge of
the work of this school, and a second man is
urgently needed. When we think of the very

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 55

large staff with which the Roman CathoHc
schools in Uganda are equipped, we feel that
if the training of the young men is to be at all
adequate to the needs of the country, and to
bear comparison with the education given in
the Roman Mission, further help must be sent.
For years past the Governments of British
East Africa and Uganda have given grants to
schools whose pupils can pass the official tests
in carpentry and other crafts. The desire is to
extend this work and the Government asks for
missionary co-operation. It is amply proved
to Europeans who have seen their work that
Africans, who but a few years ago were naked
savages, are capable of great development in
this direction. Can we possibly doubt the
opportunity ?

Qirls' Education

As compared with the ten high schools for
boys in the Protectorate, all of them boarding
schools, there are only three for girls — at
Gayaza in Buganda, at Kabarole in Toro, and
at Iganga in Busoga. But real progress is being
made. At Gayaza, for instance, whereas in
1905 there were thirteen boarders, in 1920
there were 120. The education given to the
girls is largely of a practical character, designed
to make them useful wives and good mothers.
All the housework, cooking, sweeping, and

56 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

making of school uniforms is done by the
pupils. The Gayaza girls also engage in a
good deal of industrial work, such as the
making of mats, baskets, and matting bags, in
addition, of course, to plain and fancy sewing ;
and the cultivation of banana gardens occupies
part of their time every morning. There is only
one paid Muganda teacher in this school.
When a pupil reaches the highest class, she
begins again as the teacher of the lowest form
and gradually works her way up from class to
class in her new capacity.

Many of the girls who have passed out of
these high schools are vying with the young
men in missionary zeal. For example, some of
the girls at the Gayaza boarding school set
themselves, some time ago, to the winning of
others for Christ in the outlying districts ; now
they are in charge of the schools at Kikoma,
Iganga, Kamuli, Mukono, Mityana, and
Masindi. During August, 1919, one of these
girls wrote to her friends a letter of which the
following is a translation : —

I entreat you not to go back. Those at Kikoma
are crying for some one to go there in the place of
Meyi Musoke. Dear friends, we are indeed guilty;
it is as if our lamp is buried in the earth, Think of
this — she who wants to be married soon is not likely
to be strong in the work.

The boys of Budo are much better than we in
giving themselves ; they do not leave a school
unless there is some one to take their place and,

UNEVANGELIZED : A GROUP OF WILD BULEGAS

AN ITINERATION IN BWAMBA FOREST

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 57

it is perfectly true, they have more places than
we have to fill in high schools and central schools.
There is not one school left to itself in which
there was a Budo " old boy," but there are
many of ours. Who will come here in Merabu's
place ? Let her not be afraid, she will come back
with me. Is there any one who likes to turn back
when she is going forward ? Arise 1 Arise ! Look,
the house we were building is falling I No one will
like to sleep out of doors. Let us get up, and hold up
the pillars of the house which we are building,

Well, friends, what do you think ? Is the country
able to go forward with men only ? Not at all ; all
are needed together. As the Budo boys make them-
selves strong, let us strengthen ourselves also. See
how the English men and women are nearly equal in
everything they do. Let everything we do help our
school and nation. Shall it be said that the Gayaza
school does not fulfil what it promised ? God
forbid.

Medical Work

It was not until the year 1897 that medical
missionary work was seriously taken in hand
in Uganda. In that year a mission hospital
was opened on the hill of Namirembe, and
from its very inception it has abundantly
justified its existence. Indeed, the whole
Mission feels that the hospital represents one of
the most important and impressive features of
the work in Uganda. It has grown in a most
amazing manner, until to-day its value is recog-
nized by government officer, planter, and
business man as a grand monument of practical
Christianity in a once heathen land.

£

58 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

In March, 1900, a new hospital, designed for
fifty beds, was begun. Before the year was
out it was augmented by two extra wards.
The attendances of out-patients at the dis-
pensary rose from 12,999 i^ ^^97 ^^ 33.983
in 1900 ; 511 in-patients were received in the
latter year as compared with 113 in 1897.
On the night of 28 November, 1902, hghtning
struck the hospital and it was completely
destroyed. A new substantial brick building,
with accommodation for 103 beds, was com-
pleted on the second anniversary of the con-
flagration, and was opened by the Acting Com-
missioner of Uganda. During the war the
Mengo hospital became a base hospital for the
government troops, and two extra wards were
built. To give some idea of the greatness of
the work a glance at the figures for 1920 will
suffice ; operations numbered 1086, in-patients
2280, and visits of out-patients 46,036.

Work Among Women

No record of the work in Uganda would be
complete without some mention of that among
the women. The women of Uganda have them-
selves taken a prominent part in the work
among their sisters. When the first women
missionaries arrived in 1895 they found at
least sixteen native women employed in
teaching, and taking women's baptism and

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 59

confirmation classes. Some of them are still
helpers after twenty-five years ; though not
now teaching regularly, they are still ready to
be called on when help is needed. Four or five
have passed home, one of them while actively
employed at a distant station. One of this
first band of teachers has been a most valuable
worker in Bunyoro, outside Uganda proper,
for nineteen years. She is greatly loved and
respected. For the last six years she has kept
at work without one visit to see her people.
Another of these was the first woman worker
in Busoga, east of the Nile. She had the
honour of being the first woman to offer for
foreign missionary service, but since then
many others have followed in her steps,
working not only in Busoga, but in countries
far more distant, in Bukedi, Kavirondo, and
Ankole, as well as in nearer districts such as
Budu and Koki. In Koki an excellent woman
has worked for the last ten years under a
native pastor.

The help these women have given in distant
stations has been invaluable, some working
with the missionaries, but the larger munber
alone in country districts, visiting, teaching,
and being generally the women's friends and
helpers. It is difficult to see how the evangeliza-
tion of the women could have been carried on
without them, poorly paid as they have been.

6o DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

putting up with many discomforts, often with
a new language to learn, yet working on with
true Christian nobility and whole-heartedness
for the Master Whom they love and serve.

Teachers' classes for the training of these
women have been held in different centres, when
there has been a woman missionary available
to take them ; but during the last two or three
years this work has not been as large as it
was, partly from the scarcity of missionaries,
but more especially because there is a strong
demand now for better educated women for
the work. The spread of Christianity and the
enormous growth of education throughout
the whole country, have raised the standard.
The evangelistic teacher in the past, often
poorly educated herself in secular knowledge,
but with at times a wonderful acquaintance
with the New Testament, is now required
to pass an educational test. Schools have
become the most important feature of the
work. Besides the large schools in central
places for both boys and girls, each Httle
village has its school, wherever possible, the
boys and girls being entirely separate.
This has created a need that those women
teachers who are sent out into the country
should not only act as Bible women, but
should also be qualified to take charge of
the work in the girls' schools as well. For this

BUILDING OF THE CHURCH 6i

a woman is required who has herself passed
through a school.

At present we are feeling the break caused
by the passing away of tjie old style of teacher,
and await the time when the younger and
better educated women will be available to
enter the work. The difficulty is largely
being met by sending out from the principal
girls' schools those who, being trained in the
methods of teaching, are able to take charge
of small country schools. Their work in many
places has been excellent, but matrimony steps
in and rightly claims many, thus depriving the
school of its worker, and making constant
changes a necessity.

The status and tone of the women of the
country have greatly changed during the last
twenty years, owing no doubt to the opening
up of the country, the inrush of civiUzation,
European influence and example, the in-
crease in wealth and prosperity, the number
of shops with foreign goods of every des-
cription, and the immense growth in the Indian
population, with their small shops springing
up everywhere. Each and all of these, with
many other influences besides, have con-
tributed to effect a change in the life and
character of the Muganda woman. In the old
days she was shut up within a fence, life,
movement, and all outlook being narrowly

62 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

restricted ; now she is free to move about as
she likes. For many of the ungoverned char-
acters freedom has come in too quickly, be-
fore Christianity has . implanted the strength
and uprightness of character necessary to
use it aright. To these, freedom and liberty
unrestrained have brought licence and a loose-
ness of hfe and morals that are doing great
harm throughout the country. Along with
the evil there is the antidote. Good Christian
women there are everywhere, women whose
lives show the truth of their knowledge of
God and their love for Him, women whose
quiet hves and example cannot fail in influence
on other lives around, women, too, who are
fearless in their rebuke of sin and their up-
holding of all that is pure and good. Christian
homes, both among the older Christians and
also among the younger married couples, are
ever37where to be found, which must tell, by
God's blessing, in their witness and in the
setting up of a higher standard of life and
morals throughout the country.

CHAPTER VI
A Missionary Church

THE surest sign of life in any Church is
found in its efforts to pass on to others
the good things which it has itself received,
and in this respect the Uganda Church has
been faithful. From its very beginning its
missionary service has been well to the front.
In the earher days it was noticeable that the
brightest and best among the Christians— no
matter what their position might be in the
country, whether chief or peasant, rich or
poor — all seemed to vie with each other in their
earnestness in preaching to others. Who
among us who were privileged to be in the
country at that time will ever forget the open-
air village services ? Accompanied by three
or four of these keen young Christians, the
missionary would start off in the early morning
and, a good centre being reached, the village
drum would be beaten and the crowds collected
and a simple service held in the open air. One
after another these young evangeUsts would
tell with all their native eloquence how God
63

64 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

had sent His Son to rescue the world from sin,
and how He wanted all men to come to Him
and be saved. Such services were crowned
with blessing. Often they resulted in the
immediate building of a church or reading-
room, and invariably the request was made :
" Let one of these Christians remain here and
teach us more about God." Books were
always sold, and eagerness to learn to read
was displayed everywhere.

Never shall I forget the day when, at one of
these open-air meetings in the Nakanyonyi
district, the greatest ruffian of the country was
brought to Christ. We were conducting one
of these informal services in the centre of a
very large village under the shade of the banana
trees, and while the writer was relating the
pathetic story of the Prodigal Son, a great
savage suddenly appeared carrying his spear
and shield, and stood at the edge of the hsten-
ing crowd. The people who sat near were
evidently afraid of the stranger, and immedi-
ately moved away to one side, leaving this wild-
looking figure by himself. When the story
had been told, and the claims of the Lord
Jesus had been pressed upon the hearers, the
people got up to go to their homes. But the
big African with the spear and shield came
forward to the white man and, omitting the
usual greeting, simply said : "I want to hear

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 65

more of those beautiful words." Again the
story was repeated to this strange fellow, who
seemed more and more impressed. The shades
of night came down, and still he lingered.
At last he said : " Teach me to read that book."
Forthwith the first reading lesson began, the
letters of the alphabet being carefully studied.
At last he rose to go, but said at parting :
" I shall come back to-morrow morning." He
came, and for many days he came, and at last
learned to read for himself and, best of all,
like a little child he asked forgiveness for all
his sins and found peace in the Lord Jesus.
Who was this man ? What do we know of his
past history ? He was called Kikwaku ; he
was a highway robber, a murderer, and an
outlaw. He lived in a great forest close at
hand, and was well known and greatly feared
by all the people of the district. Behold him
now kneeling at the feet of Jesus ! From that
day forward he was a changed man. His old
life was utterly given up, and as a proof of
this he brought one day his shield and spear
and, presenting them to me, said : "I have
done with these now." He truly died to the
sin of the past and became a most loving and
gentle soul. His whole life was thenceforth
given to God, and many a time he took long
and difficult journeys to far-off places in order
that he might tell to others how great things

66 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

the Lord had done for him. So was the seed
sown by the wayside, and so did God give the
increase.

TORO

The Uganda Church soon began to send its
teachers into lands previously untouched. The
wonderful story of Toro and of Mboga (in
the Belgian Congo) will always have its
romantic interest for the student of missions.
More than 200 miles from Mengo are the
wonderful mountains of Ruwenzori, almost
exactly on the equator, and towering up above
the surrounding country with an altitude at
their highest point of nearly 17,000 feet. These
snow fields, glaciers, and glistening peaks are
among the finest sights in the world. At the
base of the mountains dwell the Batoro,^
a Lunyoro-speaking tribe, once the subjects of
the king of Bunyoro, but since the year 1891
forming a separate kingdom. A prince of the
royal house of Bimyoro was made king, or
" mukama " as he is locally called, his name
being Kasagama.

In the year 1894, when the missionary
spirit was first really awakened in the Uganda
Church, two Baganda teachers set out for this
distant land, and took up their abode there

' The people of Toro. Lunyoro is the language
of Bunyoro, the inhabitants being known as Banyoro.

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 67

with the mukama's brother, Yafesi, who lived
about twenty miles from the capital of Toro.
A remarkable eagerness immediately showed
itself on the part of the people to learn about
God and to read His Word. In 1895 the
Mukama of Toro was called up to Mengo by
the British official in answer to certain charges ;
he was able to clear himself, and during
that visit he expressed a desire to be baptized.
After due preparation and instruction he was
admitted into the Church on 15 March, 1896,
taking the name of Daudi (David). He then
returned to his own country, full of zeal for the
evangelization of his people. In May of the same
year Bishop Tucker paid a visit to the country,
accompanied by the Rev. A. B. Fisher, and
the first baptisms in Toro took place. At once
the Church began to grow, and in a very little
while was sending its own evangelists to
every village. There was a keen desire also
to send the Gospel to the countries still in
darkness bordering on the Toro country, and
when the writer arrived in July of that same
year a little missionary band was found ready
to set out for still more distant lands.

The story of Apolo, the evangelist, and of his
faithful missionary service for the Master, amid
untold suffering and privation, will never be
fully known, but in order that the reader may
have an idea of the keenness of these early

68 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Christians a short resume of his Uf e may well be
given here. A converted opium smoker, at
one time working along with a heathen witch-
doctor, he entered the service of God with but
httle education, and offered himself as a
missionary to the country of Mboga, sixty miles
to the west of Toro, in the Congo territory
and close to the great, dark forest of Stanley
fame, where the pigmies dwell. In the company
of another young man, also from Uganda, he
set out on his long travel across the Semliki
plains, and after an adventurous journey
reached the village of the paramount chief of
the district.

At first he was looked upon with great
suspicion as a possible envoy of the king of
Buganda. But soon, by his loving ways, he won
an entrance into the hearts of the people. The
chief after a time became jealous of his success,
and threatened him with all sorts of horrors
if he did not stop liis teaching and clear out
of the country. Apolo bravely faced the
danger and never swerved from his purpose of
making Christ known among the heathen.
Another warning was sent, but still he perse-
vered. Then at last the chief sent men, and
had him caught and dragged before him,
only to be told by the fearless Apolo that, as
God had sent hinvrand was his Master, he must
obey His commands at any cost. He was then

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 69

brutally thrashed, and sent back to his hut
in a bruised and mutilated condition with
a threat of worse things to follow if he refused
to obey. But Apolo had a heart of gold, and
his love for these people was so great that
stripes and imprisonments had no terrors for
him, and he went on with the teaching and
preaching as before. Again he was hauled
before the chief, and this time was unmercifully
treated. First, he was thrashed with a
hippopotamus-hide whip until the blood
spurted from his poor, lacerated back, and then,
in an unconscious state, he was carried off and
thrown into the long grass as one dead. The
chief remarked at the time : " If he is not dead,
the wild beasts will soon get him."

But God in His infinite love watched over
the poor broken soldier of the Cross, and while
in this apparently dying condition, he suddenly
became aware of the presence of an old woman
who stood looking at him with tears running
down her face. It appears that she was one
who had been taught by him about the Lord
Jesus Christ. She saw that her friend
was still alive, and with great effort at last got
him secretly to her own hut, and there she
dressed his wounds and nursed him. After
many days he was once more able to look after
himself. She begged him to escape for his Ufe
and return at once to Uganda ; but such was

70 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

the wonderful love of this dear fellow that,
rather than escape he chose to go back to the
village and continue his work, in spite of the
awful risks he ran. Go back he did. Slowly
and painfully he made his way along that forest
path to the Uttle church that he had previously
built with his own hands. To the amazement
of all the people who beheved him to be dead
long since, he once more stood up before the
crowd that collected and preached Christ
crucified, yea rather, risen again. The chief
was soon informed of his return to the sacred
house, and he was amazed and frightened, as
he was convinced that Apolo had been de-
voured by the wild beasts. So sceptical was
he of the truth of the story as told to him,
that he went himself to the church and there
saw that Apolo was truly alive. He could
hardly believe his eyes. At last, convinced
that it was really he, he fell upon his knees
before all the people and asked Apolo to
forgive him.

This was the beginning of great things in
Mboga. Only a short time ago, when I visited
the country to see the work and to greet once
more my dear friend, Apolo, I found a Church
of 300 baptized Christians, and three missionary
churches in the district, supplied with Mboga
teachers. A fine school also had been built,
Apolo himself being the architect, and some

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 71

hundreds of children were in daily attendance.
Apolo, now an ordained minister, is as full of
love and zeal as ever, and is simply adored by
the people of Mboga.

This is a typical instance of how the work of
God grows from a live Church.

In the meantime the Toro work itself had
flourished exceedingly, and from the fifteen
Christians baptized in 1896 the numbers have
gradually increased until now nearly 12,000
names are on the books. There are four native
clergymen, six lay readers, a band of 150
Christian teachers, and between forty and fifty
schoolmasters and mistresses. A beautiful
brick church, with iron roof, has been built in
the capital of Toro, and there are three large
schools, and a well-equipped hospital and dis-
pensary with resident doctor and nurses,
besides from thirty to forty village schools
run by Toro teachers. The whole Bible has
been translated into Lunyoro.

In 1901 women missionaries were sent to
Toro, and their work among the women and
children has long been the outstanding feature
of the mission. A girls' school was started
nearly twenty years ago, and has developed
steadily. As many as 600 girls are in more or
less regular attendance at the day school, and
the work is divided into three sections. There
are seventy boarders at the boarding school,

72 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

which is run in conjunction with the day
school, and a school for the tiny tots is on
kindergarten lines.

Among our most trusted Christian women is
the mukama's wife, Damari, who from the
very first has been a faithful worker. Another
woman who impresses everybody by her
whole-hearted sincerity is Ana Kagei, once the
mukama's witch and a desperate character.
She was brought to Christ twenty-five years
ago, and for the past twenty years has been a
great worker for God among the women and
girls. At first she was feared by all ; now she is
beloved as is no other woman in Toro.

Hospital work was first started in Toro in
a very small way. A little reed building,
used as a dispensary, was put up in 1895,
and the medical work then done was of an
amateurish sort. But the need was so great
and the opportunities so unbounded that a
small mud hospital was at last built and
a resident doctor appointed. The work has
now grown into a great institution for good
in the country. For fifteen years there has
been regular work under the foreign doctor,
and now a beautiful brick hospital with
accommodation for 100 patients has taken the
place of the old mud building. In the year
1914 an European ward was added and has
fully justified its existence, and later still was

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 73

added a special ward for natives of India, of
whom there are a great number in the country
as traders and government clerks. A large
brick dispensary was built in 1918, and regular
Christian teaching goes on here day by day
as the people from all parts of the country
come for medicine.

BUNYORO

In the year 1895 another country opened
its doors to the missionary. As the result
of a first visit, a favourable impression had
been formed of the possibiUty of extending
Christ's Kingdom in Bunyoro. For a long
time the country had been closed to the
messengers of the Gospel. The king of the
country, Kabarega by name, being quite con-
vinced that the white man, who had supported
the rebellious prince and given him the
province of Toro as a separate kingdom,
was his bitter enemy, made up his mind to
fight the white man to the end ; but eventually
Kabarega was captured and a new king, one
of his own sons, was placed upon the throne.
Then it was that the whole country was
thrown open, and the missionaries were not
slow in taking advantage of the new oppor-
tunity for extension.

From the first the work was difficult, as the
people were still very suspicious and many of

74 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

them hid in the forests and in the long
grass. However, the influence of the few
chiefs who became Christians soon began to
tell, and the country was gradually opened up.
The first big church was built at Hoima, at
that time the capital of Bunyoro, in 1902,
taking the place of a small reed structure.
Teachers were soon sent out into the district
in large numbers, and young Banyoro were
entered in training classes as future mission-
aries to their own people. Fifty httle churches
were speedily built all over the country,
and the work grew apace.

The joy of the Toro people upon learning
that the Banyoro had received the message of
salvation was very pathetic. Long will be
remembered the visit paid to Bunyoro by the
king of Toro together with many of his leading
chiefs. A special service was held in the
church at the time of this visit, and it developed
into a testimony meeting. One after another
of the visitors got up and told the crowd that
had collected how great things the Lord had
done for them, and urged the Banyoro to
make Him their King. One said : " The last
time we came to you here in this country we
came with spears and shields in our hands and
hatred in our hearts ; now we stand before
you with God's Word in our hands and His
love in our hearts." Nothing but the Gospel

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 75

of the Lord Jesus Christ could have effected
such a change. The Toro Church subsequently
sent some of its best teachers to Bunyoro to
help in the evangeUzation of that country,
among the number being a brother-in-law of the
king of Toro himself. Bunyoro soon began to
shake herself free from the awful superstition
of the past, and a new day dawned. It was
not long before the infant Church was able
to supply its own teachers, and the Baganda
and Batoro who had so nobly given their aid
withdrew to other spheres of work.

In 1902 the young king, Yosiya, proved
to be weak and unfitted for the position of
ruler. He was deposed by the Government at
the request of the leading chiefs, and another
son of Kabarega, a much more vigorous
character and a true Christian man, was put
in his place. The new king, Andereya, who
from the day of his baptism had been an
active worker for God, caused great changes
to take place in the country. Witchcraft and
drunkenness were boldly tackled in a deter-
mined effort to stamp them out. For a
long while the former had a firm grip upon
the people, and in almost every compound
and household was to be found a small
devil hut, often several, built at the en-
trance. Charms were worn and fearful acts
of cruelty were performed, especially upon

76 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

little children, with the idea of dispelling the
evil spirits. Sometimes great gashes would
be made on various parts of the body, or a hot
iron applied, often burning the flesh to the
very bone, to drive out some imaginary spirit
that was troubling the little one. It was
estimated that at least eighty per cent of the
children died before reaching the age of one
year, and so the population was rapidly
decreasing. These practices were soon made
illegal by the new king, and a happier state
of things developed.

Often in itinerating through the country
the missionary would be faced by a good deal
of hostility from the witch doctors, who, feeUng
that their power and influence were challenged,
became more and more aggressive. At one
place visited by the writer in 1901 a serious
drought had brought the people to the verge
of starvation. All their crops had failed.
They had applied constantly to the witch
doctor of the district to send them rain, but
without avail. With one accord they came
to the missionary and told him how they had
paid a heavy price to the mucwezi (witch
doctor), and nothing had come of it. Could the
white man's God send the rain ? It was a tre-
mendous test of faith. But " man's extremity
is God's opportunity"; hardly had the
people left off speaking when a dark cloud

A MISSIONARY CHURCH 77

appeared, and in less than an hour abundant
rain fell. " Just mere chance," some would
say, or " a strange coincidence " ; but to those
concerned there was no other possible ex-
planation than this : God answers prayer.

To-day there are more than 4000 Christians
in Bunyoro. There are two beautiful churches,
the one in Hoima, and the other in Masindi,
the new capital of the country, and about
a hundred village churches are scattered
over the various populous districts. There are
also four African clergy. At Masindi a very
fine school has been built in memory of
Kabarega, the ex-king, a man who was greatly
admired because of his unflinching bravery
and firm behef in his cause. He was
convinced that the white man desired to
take his country from him, and so he fought
the aggressor to the bitter end. At last,
wounded and beaten in the fight, he was
taken off as a poHtical prisoner to the Seychelles
Islands, where he still is. He is in constant
communication with his son, the present king,
and in 1904 asked that a teacher might be sent
to him from his own country who might tell
him about the love of God. This was done,
and before long Kabarega was baptized.

Like its mother Church, the Church of
Bunyoro became entirely self-supporting. Mis-
sionary work developed, and Bulega, which is

78 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

on the west of Lake Albert, was the first place to
welcome teachers. Later, another sphere was
opened for the energies of the Banyoro
Christians in the Gang Country, across the Nile
to the north. Native missionaries, full of zeal,
were sent and the Good News carried to these
heathen lands.

Among the Bulega hills there was a large
colony of Lunyoro-speaking people, and it
was chiefly to reach these that Bunyoro sent
out its teachers. They worked with consider-
able success, and many converts were added
to the Church and baptized, among others, the
paramount chief of the country, and through
his influence a large district was opened up to
the Gospel. Alas, a severe disaster occurred
about the year 19 lo, when another tribe, the
Balega, from which the country takes its name,
attacked the Httle band of Christians and
blotted out nearly the whole lot of them. The
few that remained, however, have not been
idle, and at the time of writing the information
comes that the work has spread farther west,
and is now being fostered and helped by the
Africa Inland Mission, which started work
there a few years ago.

M

CHAPTER VII

The Light Spreads

EANTIME the work had grown and
spread out to other tribes.

BUSOGA

Busoga, which, as the scene of his death,
will always be associated with the name
of Bishop Hannington, is a country rather
more than half the size of Wales, with a
population of some 250,000. The people
are descended from the same race as the
Baganda, and are closely akin to them ; their
language and customs are similar, and they
used to have the same system of feudal govern-
ment. The Basoga have generally been con-
sidered inferior intellectuaUy to the Baganda,
but superior to the Wakavirondo Hving on
their eastern boundary. However, now that
aU these tribes have almost equal opportunities
for education, there is a levelling up of mental
ability and attainment, so that any general
statement of the superiority of one tribe or
nation over another could easily be met in

79

8o DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

these modern times with outstanding exceptions
disproving it.

The Basoga at one time were expert and
noted thieves, and when caravans passed
through the southern part of the country,
scarcely one escaped without being attacked
at night by these skilful robbers. The people
made themselves hopelessly drunk and fuddled
by the constant use of native beer (mwenge),
and by smoking Indian hemp ; this latter was
especially demoralizing, for it left the victim
apathetic and helpless till its effects had worn
off. Polygamy was practised, and many of
the important chiefs had from 300 to 400 wives
each. From an economic point of view,
apart from the moral one, this was a very bad
thing for the country, for many of the bakopi,
or peasants, could not obtain wives, the girls
having been appropriated by the chiefs, and
if a peasant could find a wife, he could not afford
the money, or " dowry " to buy one.

Busoga has had a somewhat chequered
history. Before the advent of the European
the country was constantly harassed by the
raiding expeditions of the Baganda, and from
time to time thousands of the women and
children, after a bloody battle, were deported
to Uganda. And the coming of the European
did not bring immunity from trials. Busoga
bore the brunt of a Sudanese rebellion in 1897 ;

THE LIGHT SPREADS 8i

sleeping sickness ravaged the country bordering
on the lake, claiming its hundreds of thousands ;
a smallpox epidemic in 1900, followed by a
famine in 1901, and again in 1907, all claimed
a heavy toll of human life ; indeed, so many
have been carried off by the awful scourges
that it is a wonder that any Basoga are left
to-day. They must be a virile race, for this
is one of the few countries in the Uganda
Protectorate in which the native population
is actually increasing.

After the death of Hannington in 1885
nothing was done to evangelize the Basoga
from Uganda till 1891, when Mr. F. C. Smith
was sent there with two Baganda teachers to
a chief called Wakoh. Smith met with many
trials, twice he nearly lost his Hfe, and before
long he had to withdraw to Uganda, and soon
after was invalided home.

The Rev. J. Roscoe for a short time in 1892
occupied Luba's. Then, in March, 1893, the
Baganda held a solemn valedictory meeting
in Mengo to bid farewell to three Baganda
missionaries going to Busoga. In 1895 the
Rev. Allen Wilson was located to Busoga, and
happily has been able to remain there ever since.

The increase among the native Christians
has been most remarkable. The native con-
verts and adherents now number 8051, with
another 5000 children taught in the twenty-

82 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

seven Christian schools. The number of
churches is 309, and for these there are 365
laymen and eighteen women as teachers. Quite
recently a Musoga has been ordained, the first
in the country, and others are in the ordination
class.

So far, owing to lack of workers, compara-
tively httle has been done to bring the women
into the Church, and it is a serious fact that
only ten per cent of the confirmation candi-
dates are women. The Roman Catholic
Mission, on the other hand, is making consider-
able progress among the women.

The Basoga support the 300 lay agents
from their native contributions ; they elect
to the parochial and ruridecanal church
councils and to the synod of the Church of
Uganda, and Basoga missionaries have gone
to Kavirondo, Bukedi, and Teso.

BUKEDI

The archdeaconry of Bukedi includes all
the area (with the exception of Kigezi) in the
Uganda Protectorate which comes under the
jurisdiction of the Board of Missions of the
Church of Uganda. Its population falls into
three main racial divisions. There is, first,
the more or less degraded Bantu stock, which
includes the Bagwere, the Banyuh, and the
once cannibal Bagisu. The two first-named
tribes are relatively unimportant, but the last

THE LIGHT SPREADS 83

named are a large tribe occupying a small area
on the western slopes of Mount Elgon, whither
they are said to have been driven by the cattle-
raiding of the Teso. Clan feeling is extremely
strong among the Bagisu, and they are but
Uttle amenable to the authority of their chiefs ;
they are a degraded, animal type, though the
extent to which their cannibal practices still
obtain is not easy to ascertain, and each clan
professes innocence and accuses some other.
Among these primitive Bantus the women are
much more independent than among the
Baganda. Some time ago the Banyuli women
struck against work on the cotton because they
said that, while they did all the cultivation,
the men took all the profits. They won their
case, and it was ordered that in future each
woman should receive a cloth from the cotton
money.

The second racial group includes the Hamitic
Teso and the people known as the Mbayi, a
small section of the Nandi stock settled on the
northern slopes of Mount Elgon, now much
inter-married with the Bagisu. The Teso are
an industrious, teachable tribe, distinguished
by a cheerful disposition and a language
difficult for foreigners to acquire. They have
made very rapid progress under British ad-
ministration, and most of the chiefs can now
run their districts without the aid of the
Baganda agents who were at first put in by

84 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

the Government to instruct them. The cotton
trade has gone forward by leaps and bounds,
and the conditions resulting therefrom have
made labour, which used to be obtainable to
any extent, somewhat scarce. The men and
women are pretty much on an equality,
dividing the labour of food-producing, and
associating to some extent in family Ufe.
Several of the chiefs have bought bicycles for
their wives, who travel with them on their
administrative rounds ; most of them possess
one or more European ploughs, and one or two
have invested in motor-cycles.

In the third place, we have the Sudanian
Gang, Lango, and Badama, all sections of the
same independent stock, not anxious at first
to learn new ways from anybody, but now
coming rapidly into line. These tribes are
usually fond of self-adornment and dancing.
Keen hunters and raiders, they are not fond
of submitting to authority in any form. Their
women folk are on an entire equality with the
men, and hen-pecked husbands are not un-
known! The men do the digging, but the
women control the food supplies once they
are laid up in granaries. With the exception
of the west Nile district and a considerable
area north-east of Kitgum, the whole arch-
deaconry has been to some extent evangelize^,
with a varying response.

THE LIGHT SPREADS 85

TESO COUNTRY

In the year 1908 work was started among
the Teso people. A small party of missionaries
settled down in the heart of the country, and
soon began to learn the language and accustom
themselves to the pecuharities of the people.
Amateur medical work seems first to have
made a deep impression, and Teso folk came
in great crowds with all kinds of sicknesses to
be healed by the strange white man. Painless
operations were performed, and sundry teeth
extracted with the use of forceps, thus sup-
planting the native method of using a pointed
piece of metal as a punch, with any convenient
block of wood as a mallet. As the language
was gradually learned, the teaching advanced,
until a Uttle band of boys and men had come
to love the Word of God and to sing some
Christian hymns. A boarding school for boys
was started and about thirty lads installed.
The teaching of agriculture was the special
feature of this school. The thirst for know-
ledge spread rapidly, and a string of over
a hundred village schools was brought into
being. Native missionaries from Busoga and
Buganda were sent off to these schools, and
there was no lack of eagerness on the part of
the people of the country to avail themselves
of the opportunity of learning about God.

86 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Islam seems to have but little attraction for
the Teso people, in spite of the prevalence
of polygamy. Even the chiefs hold aloof,
although many of them have large numbers
of wives ; one who died recently left 119 as
part of his estate ! The early work among
this tribe, before the advent of European
missionaries, was all done in Luganda, and
the results were very small. The introduc-
tion of Uterature in their own language was
immediately followed by a great increase in
the number of readers, and the danger at
the present time is that arising from mere
numbers when persecution and even opposition
are almost unknown. The women here are
still very much behind the men, and the girls
even more so. This is largely due to the
attitude of the fathers, who are afraid lest
their daughters may become too independent.
There is a growing demand in the district for
educated boys — the chiefs need clerks to help
them with their work, and this is to some
extent supplied by the Ng'ora agricultural
school.

A considerable work is proceeding among
the BanyuU and Bagwere, the latter of whom
are a good deal intermixed with Teso. The
Bagisu are the tribe most in danger from the
influence of Islam, owing to the fact that
circumcision is an old tribal custom. In

THE LIGHT SPREADS 87

consequence of this it is said that the
Mohammedans have introduced an initiation
ceremony closely resembling baptism, ia which
water is poured on to the convert. Christian
work among the Bagisu was for a long time
very slow, and almost confined to the few
around the mission station, Nabumale. Now
there is a great demand for instruction, mostly
in Luganda. The influence of the Baganda
is very strong, and they are looked up to
generally as representatives of a more advanced
race ; to read is to become a Muganda — a
superior person, hence the preference for
Luganda. An unusual feature of the work in
this country has been the preponderance in
the past of female readers, but the numbers
are now pretty equal. The Bagisu do not
seem at all intelligent, and the teachers com-
plain of their slowness to learn.

GANG COUNTRY

In the Gang Country even more success
can be recorded. During my residence in
Bunyoro in the year 1903, a strange party
visited Hoima. It came from the north, and
consisted of about thirty wild-looking men of
Nilotic type. They had been sent by their
king with the request that the Banyoro
Christians would send teachers to their country.
Five of these stalwart natives came to my

88 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

house and presented a letter written by the
king of Bunyoro as an introduction. The
letter read : " These men have come from
far away, from the great country called Gang,
to the north of Bunyoro, across the Nile.
They are sent by their king, Awich, and they
come to see you. They are a warlike people,
but their message is one of peace. They want
to be taught about God. They say they have
heard how we in our country have received
teachers and helpers, and why should they not
have the same help ? See these men, then,
my friend, and decide what you will do."

Here, then, was a magnificent opportunity
for the Bunyoro Church to prove the reality
of its faith, by sending to this tribe that had
appealed to them the help they needed. It
was a severe test, as the Gang people were
known to be very wild and warlike. Their
language was Nilotic and quite unlike Lunyoro,
and the customs of the people utterly different
from those of Banyoro. Curiously enough, a
few weeks before this message came, my
Muganda helper, the Rev. Nuwa Nakiwafu, had
said to me : " Why should we not send the
Gospel to the Gang people ? " I had repUed
by asking him to go first himself and see
what sort of an opening there was, and
whether they would receive him as a friend.
He willingly undertook this long journey, but

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THE LIGHT SPREADS 89

met with famine and sickness on the road
and was obliged to return.

After making arrangements for the carrying
on of the work during my absence, I decided to
go myself, and take with me two or three of
the Banyoro young men, whom I might
leave in the country as teachers should the
circumstances be favourable. It was a journey
crowded with adventure and of the deepest
interest to the pioneer missionary.^ Surely
enough, I found the Gang people a wild race,
but I liked them from the first, and decided
that missionary work should be definitely
started. I visited most of the big chiefs, and
everywhere was welcomed. Great open-air
services were held, and my porters and boys,
who were mostly Christians, sang hymns and
prayed with the people, to their great delight.
By using as an interpreter a Munyoro boy
whom I found there, who had been taken off as
a slave by the Gang people when quite young
and had thoroughly learned their language, I
was enabled to preach to the crowds and tell
them for the first time the wonderful words
of God.

After spending two months in the country
I returned to Bunyoro, and at once got into
communication with Bishop Tucker on the

' A full account of this journey has been written in
my book. " Uganda to Khartoum," chs. X and XI.

G

90 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

subject of establishing a station. The Bishop
decided to visit the country himself, with the
idea of choosing a site for a permanent mission
station. The journey was thoroughly suc-
cessful and a start was made, for I was left
behind in Gang to begin the work. After the
lapse of a few months other helpers were sent,
and for three years the work went forward
slowly. Then it was found that a more
populous district existed about ten miles away,
and the Government opened a station there.
We moved from the old site, therefore, and
rebuilt our houses at Gulu, and a big and most
successful work was soon in existence. A
good church and schools were built, and men
and women alike were gathered into the
Kingdom. To-day the Gulu Church is strong
and healthy, and is characterized by its
missionary zeal. Thus the work is spreading
northwards towards the great Sudan and
eastwards to the Lango tribes, who are similar
in language and customs to the Gang people.

In order to keep up the standard, and to
supply the needs of the village schools, a
missionary college was established on this
borderland of Christianity, where volunteers
came to read and prepare themselves for
missionary work. The need for fully- trained
native helpers was urgently felt, so that the
thousands of boys and young men eager to

THE LIGHT SPREADS 91

learn might be adequately dealt with. Up to
Easter of 1918 over 2000 of these had been
baptized, and still the work grows.

The people are animists, with but very in-
definite religious ideas and with no hope of a
future life. Women will dash their heads on
the ground in uncontrolled grief when a
child or near relative has died, and it is a
common sight to see men with tears streaming
down their faces being held by their friends,
lest they should commit suicide in their great
grief at the death of a mother or a wife. When
a person is ill the professional drum-beaters
are called to entice the evil spirit to come out,
and a continuous tom-tomming is kept up on a
large and also on a very small drum, beaten
together by relays of men day and night, and
accompanied by the dancing of friends. The
patient is supposed to show signs of the spirit
leaving him if he suddenly rushes out of the
hut.

The pastoral work in such a district as this,
where so many thousands are being taught,
presents great difficulty ; the growth has been
so rapid and the staff is so small that all are
overburdened by the work and cannot possibly
cope with the unprecedented openings for
extension. The work among the women and
girls has scarcely been touched. Parents are
loth to allow their daughters to be taught by

92 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

male teachers, so there is a pressing need for
women workers in this promising district. A
girls' boarding school is much needed. The
development of the cotton trade in this part
of the protectorate has brought great wealth
to the people, and all sorts of European
articles are in demand, from bicycles to wrist
watches. Even the women will be seen riding
bicycles, and they much prefer the man's
pattern to the lady's.

The Sudanian tribes are popular with Euro-
peans, the Gang chiefly so. These people
are exposed to the advances of Islam, and the
women are not at all in favour of monogamy.
From their independent, self-satisfied character,
some of these tribes are slow to take to new
teaching, though they welcome such innova-
tions as guns and uniforms. Considerable
numbers are now under instruction, but the bulk
of the population is still indifferent. The real
problem here, as elsewhere, is how to deepen
the work of God in the heart. The sense of
sin and responsibiUty seems to be lacking.

In the Bukedi districts including Teso there
is a mass movement of a kind. It is a
reaching after freedom from the bondage of
the devil, after a better status in the society of
tribes, after a higher standard of living by
means of wealth. But the deep conviction of
moral and spiritual need can only be induced by

THE LIGHT SPREADS 93

the Holy Spirit. The need of a Saviour from
sin is seldom felt by these primitive folk. Native
sermons emphasize the power and judgment of
God, but do not often dwell upon His love and
holiness. The idea of God is usually some-
thing like this : " God is our Father, because
He begat us and owns us, and has rights over
His children. We must not vex Him lest He
retahate." These people need to understand
the view of sin as an offence against the holy
purity of One Who not only owns us, but
loves us with an everlasting love. How sadly,
then, do they need more instruction, in order
that the Holy Spirit may convict them of the
need for change of hfe, the new birth in Jesus
Christ !

ANKOLE

Ankole is the home of the great Hima tribe,
and here are to be found thousands and tens
of thousands of cattle. The Bahima are
physically a fine race, and are an ancient
tribe, at one time probably occupying
two-thirds of the whole of the Uganda Pro-
tectorate. It is a significant fact that the
four kings of the Uganda Protectorate are all
allied by blood, and are directly descended
from the Hima tribe. Although the Banyan-
kole^ have always been looked down upon by
* People of Ankole.

94 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

the Baganda, in many respects they are
the better people. Physically they are a
much finer race, being generally very tall, with
particularly good features, and by no means
of the negroid type. All their attention is
given to their cattle, to which they devote
themselves. During the recent scourge of
rinderpest, which swept through the country,
when thousands of magnificent beasts were
carried off, suicide among the men was very
common. They Hve for their cattle, and
when they saw their beloved beasts dying
there seemed nothing left for them but to
follow the cows to the grave. They usually
live on the milk and the flesh of their herds,
and often draw the blood from the living cows to
drink. They wear the skins, beautifully dressed,
and soft as wash-leather. Their language
is Lunyoro, with a different accent and slightly
different vocabulary. The Banyankole are
not, as a rule, black, but rather of a light brown
colour. The cultivators of the soil are called
bairu, and are generally recognized as the
slaves of the tribe, although they are only a
lower branch of the Lunyoro-speaking people.
The women are extremely pleasant to look
upon, but are much more secluded than
their sisters in Uganda. The married women
are generally kept veiled and do not often
appear in pubHc.

THE LIGHT SPREADS 95

In December, 1899, Bishop Tucker visited
tlie country. He found it, of course, a great
contrast to Buganda. Instead of fine houses
in which to live, the chiefs and even the king
himself were living in small, dark huts inside
the cattle kraals. It was then that for the
first time the Gospel was preached among the
herdsmen of Ankole, and a ready response
was the result. Two Baganda teachers were
left to follow up the words spoken. In a very
short time the Word began to bear fruit, and
the katikiro (prime minister) became a tower
of strength to the young missionaries. In
less than a year a church had been built, and
both the king and the katikiro were busy
learning to read.

At the end of the year a Muganda clergyman
visited Ankole, not knowing that the work
had been commenced by his two fellow-
countrymen. He had a wonderful experience.
After some talk with the katikiro about the
evils of witchcraft and charms, a great decision
was come to — none other than a great burning
of the charms. This was carried out in the
courtyard of the king's house. Mbaguta (the
katikiro) was the first to bring forth these
tokens of his heathen Ufe. Many followed his
example, and at last the king himself brought
his, and cast them for ever out of his hfe on
the burning pile. This act of a heathen king

96 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

in the presence of his people was very remark-
able, and only those who have lived for a
number of years in heathen surroundings in
Africa can appreciate what it really meant.
It was the breaking for ever with the old life,
and expressed a determination to serve from
henceforth the one and only true God.

The next year a missionary was sent, the
Rev. J. J. Willis, who afterwards became
the Bishop of Uganda. Thirteen small out-
stations were soon in existence, and the work
grew with amazing rapidity. On 7 December,
1902, the king was baptized along with the
katikiro, their wives, and eighteen ^others ;
and thus the firstfruits were gathered in.
An interesting occurrence took place immedi-
ately after the baptism. The royal drum was
placed in the courtyard of the king's house, and
the katikiro explained to the white man that
from time immemorial it had been supposed
that, if the king of the country were to beat it,
disaster would follow ; but that the king, now
that he had become a Christian, wished to show
to his people that he no longer feared, but had
given up the superstition. The king then
stepped forward and solemnly beat the drum.
From that memorable day onwards the
work went ahead. Hundreds of little churches
sprang up all over the land. Banyankole
teachers were trained and sent out, supported

THE LIGHT SPREADS 97

by their own people, and soon thousands were
added to the Church. Women's work, which,
owing to the customs of the country, was very
difficult, was started with great success by
a woman missionary, who lived among the
people and visited the women in their own
secluded quarters. The sterling character of
many of these women has often been an
inspiration to the lonely worker.

It was in Ankole that the first boy scouts
in Uganda made their appearance, and it was
delightful to see how seriously and earnestly
they took up the role of helpers of others. It
was something quite new to find how keen
these lads were to help one in a difficulty.
A punctured bicycle tyre on the roadside, and
up turns a boy scout with wiUing offers of
help. A note to be taken to some distant
friend, and a boy scout gladly comes to the
rescue and does the journey in half the time
a paid messenger would take.

One would Hke to have space to write of the
school work, both among boys and girls, and
of the industrial classes, but it cannot be found
here. The baptized Banyankole now number
over 6000, and the Church is growing with
great rapidity ; 10,000 children are attending
the schools which are scattered all over the
country, and nearly 400 teachers are at
work.

98 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

KIGEZl

The Kigezi missionary district is a part of
Ankole, situated in the extreme south-west
corner of the Uganda Protectorate, and has
a teeming population of about 200,000 in
the comparatively small area of 1953 square
miles, of which seventy-three square miles are
water. The district is divided into three parts,
namely, British Ruanda, Rukiga, and Ruzum-
bura.

British Ruanda, in the south-west corner,
touches the Mufumbiro mountain range. Since
191 8, when the Banyaluanda* under their prince
Nyindo rebelled, and the teacher sent from the
Ankole Church was murdered, the work has
been more or less at a standstill. Recently,
a request from the local chiefs, made through
the district commissioner of Ankole, was
passed on to the Church, and two local teachers
were sent. Alas ! they failed through lack
of leadership, and returned to their homes.
The Banyaluanda are a fine and clever race,
and are quite open to gospel influence, but
a leader is needed. There will be found to be
no lack of helpers from among the Banyankole
evangelists. But Mohammedan influence is
very strong, and already there is a movement
in that direction.

1 People of Ruanda.

THE LIGHT SPREADS 99

Rukiga is a mountainous region, with an
altitude often of 7000 feet. The Bakiga' are
sturdy mountaineers. At the government
capital, Kabale, the population is very dense.
Land has been obtained for the Mission, a
teacher is already at work, and the firstfruits
have been gathered in. There are four out-
stations in the Rukiga district with resident
teachers, but the country is very unsettled.
The power of the witch-doctors causes constant
risings and a good deal of opposition to the
work. But pioneer medical work has recently
been opened up by two C.H.S. doctors.

Ruzumbura borders on Lake Edward. This

part is ruled by a chief called Makobole. Here

the work is more advanced, the district being

practically part of Ankole, with the same

language. Nine teachers are at work, all of

them sent by the Ankole Church. The ruling

race have not yet definitely made up their minds

whether they will read the Book or not, but

they show a very friendly spirit. Their whole

lives seem centred in their great herds of

cattle, and they care for very Uttle besides.

But the underlings of the country, the bairu,

have already opened their hearts to the

Gospel, and twelve of them have been baptized.

Since the conquest of German East Africa,

the openings for missionary work south of

1 People of Rukiga.

100 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

Ankole have been tremendous. The beautiful
country stretches for many miles to the south,
with a dense population. Some missionary
work had been done there by the German
missionaries, and several stations opened ;
but these have, of course, been closed down
and the missionaries withdrawn, so that now
the field lies open before us, with the exception
of that part which is under Belgian control.
But who can go ? The staff in Uganda at the
moment of writing is small, in spite of the fact
that the work to be done there is three times
as great as it was ten years ago. Twenty
missionaries could be immediately absorbed
in the Uganda Mission to-day in order ade-
quately to carry on the existing work. And
yet the openings for extension were never so
numerous.

CHAPTER VIII
The Gospel in Kavirondo

THE name Kavirondo seems to be a nick-
name given by the Swahilis, and is
probably a corruption of the words kaffir
(a heathen) and rondo, which means to smear
the body with mud, the Wakavirondo* having
the curious idea that anointing their naked
bodies with mud adds to their beauty.

There are two main branches of the
Wakavirondo, the Nilotic and the Bantu. The
former originally came down from the Nile,
and their language is of the same great family
as Arabic. The latter are descendants of the
aborigines who seem to have had their home
on the southern slopes of Mount Elgon, which
Sir Harry Johnston in his " Colonization of
Africa" mentions as the source from which
the various waves of migration passed down
even as far south as below the Zambesi. The
Nilotic Wakavirondo, or Luo, as they call them-
selves, number approximately 750,000; they
are the more intelligent of the two branches,

1 The people of Kavirondo.

102 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

and for many years past have gradually been
forcing the Bantus, who are about a milUon
in number, farther east.

The Luo extract the four front lower teeth
at about the age of puberty, and the Bantu
the six lower teeth. The origin of this custom
seems lost in antiquity. The Wakavirondo
are inchned to look down upon and despise
members of other tribes because their
lower teeth have not been extracted. In
appearance the Wakavirondo are tall and
well proportioned, fine Hmbed, very dark.
Their prominent lips and flattened noses
are so subdued that they have almost pleasing
faces, quite unhke the physiognomy so often
depicted as representing the African negro.

The Luo language is more or less uniform in
the various districts, one reason for this being
the custom of these people to seek for wives
in distant parts of their country. The Bantu
people, on the other hand, marry within
their own clan or immediate neighbourhood,
with the result that there is a large number of
dialects spoken. Often among the Bantu
Wakavirondo a distance of a few miles brings
the translator to quite a different dialect.

One characteristic is common to both
branches of the Wakavirondo in their heathen
state — an entire absence of clothing of any
kind. Surrounding tribes have found clothing

THE GOSPEL IN KAVIRONDO 103

for their women folk either in the skins of
animals or in kilts of grass or, as in the case of
the intelUgent Baganda, in cloth made from
the bark of a tree. But the Wakavirondo
were naked and unashamed. They are
reputed to have a higher standard of sexual
morahty than other tribes in spite of their
nudity, but this reputation has arisen from
the fact that tribal pride has prevented the
women from having relations with the Swahili
and other traders who pass through their
country. The women have more independence
than in other tribes, not having been shut up or
kept within enclosures, as in Buganda. Some-
times, when an inter-tribal war was taking
place in the days before British Government
stopped such fighting, the women would pass
freely from the one belligerent tribe to the
other, bartering their produce, unmolested by
either side.

The Wakavirondo used to resent the coming
of any stranger into their country. They said
that a stranger could come only for the purpose
of espionage, and would probably bring with
him some disease from outside ; so they
promptly speared him. A missionary of the
C.M.S., who landed from a canoe on their
coast in 1901, was in real danger of such a fate.
At one place he was unable to go ashore as the
people were so threatening, coming down with

104 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

their spears to prevent his canoe approaching
the beach.

Like most Central African tribes, the Waka-
virondo are animists, worshipping the spirits
of their ancestors, fearing devils which people
the air and are ever ready to do them harm.
Their worship is not at all organized. They
have their medicine man to whom they resort
in times of trouble ; he sacrifices a chicken or
a goat and sprinkles its blood about the kraal
of his patient, and gives charms or amulets for
wear. The people have a vague idea of a
supreme Spirit whom they call " Nyasaye,"
but few know anything about him. Super-
stition fills their lives, some of their beliefs
being fooHsh and petty, others having a whole-
some effect on their conduct.

Polygamy is still practised by the Waka-
virondo, and is, as elsewhere in Africa, the
great hindrance to their becoming Christians.
Women and girls are bought from their fathers
for so many head of cattle, and often sold to
the highest bidder regardless of his age and the
wishes of the girl herself. Unfortunately, the
women do not look upon this dowry as a price
paid to buy them, but as a guarantee of good
treatment on the part of their future husbands,
and as an expression of the love they have for
them.

An ancient people, naked savages, adorning

THE GOSPEL IN KAVIRONDO 105

themselves with beads and brass wire and (on
festive occasions) with white clay, full of the
pride of ignorance, without God and without
hope, Hving in dread of the 'powers of darkness
which surround them — such were the Waka-
virondo without exception when the Gospel
first attracted them.

Although one of the earhest out-stations of
the Uganda Mission had been established in the
adjoining region of Busoga, missionary work
was not seriously begun among theWakavirondo
until about 1907, when the Rev. J. J. WilUs
(now Bishop of Uganda) started a station
among the Luo at a place called Maseno,
some eighteen miles north of the small town of
Kisumu on the lake shore, the terminus of the
Uganda railway from Mombasa.

The method adopted by Mr. WilUs proved
most successful. The country was toured by
him, and the objects of the mission explained.
Each chief and headman was persuaded to send
one or two of his boys to a boarding school and
asked to contribute towards their support.
This involved not only the loss of a boy's
services as a herdsman, but also the payment
of a small sum for clothing which was deemed
an altogether unnecessary luxury.

The school began in a small way, and the
boys remained for three months. At first
wild and undiscipUned, they were gradually

H

io6 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

brought under control. The subjects taught
included reading, writing, and religious know-
ledge. Then Mr. H. O. Savile started in-
dustrial work, a department which has since
grown to a most encouraging extent. At the
end of the three months the boys were
sent home to tell their heathen friends
what they had learned, and the foreign
missionaries toured the country again, visiting
the boys in their own kraals and obtaining
recruits for the school. A month afterwards
the school reassembled. Some of the boys did
not return, but others took their place, until
in two years the numbers averaged 120 per
term.

The advantages of this system were that the
boys were not denationalized, and that they
passed on to their heathen friends the Gospel
truths which they had learned. In this way
the elementary truths of the Christian rehgion
were carried into all parts of the country. At
first the boys from one district were afraid of
those from another, and would not eat with
them, for fear lest their food might have been
bewitched. Gradually, however, this distrust
was broken down, and a real esprit de corps
formed. The boys were given a uniform with
a school badge, and one of their greatest
punishments for a breach of discipline was to be
forbidden to wear the school colours and badge.

THE GOSPEL IN KAVIRONDO 107

In 1909 the first baptisms took place, and
from that time a movement began which
deserves the name of a mass movement toward
Christianity on the part of the Luo people.
Congregations, gathered by boys from the
Maseno school, and in a few cases by boys who
had been taught by the C M.S. missionaries
at Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu, sprang up
all over the country.

During the last few years missionaries have
been overwhelmed with applications from these
congregations for spiritual help, and with
candidates for the catechumenate or for
baptism. In 1920 there were 13,524 adherents
and 824 communicants in connexion with the
three stations and 149 out-stations. At
Kisumu one congregation now numbers 1200
baptized people, and over 1000 catechumens.

When the missionaries from German East
Africa,, who had been interned and badly
treated by the Germans, were released by the
AlUes' occupation of Tabora in 1916, seventy
Africans were with them, teachers and
others, members of various tribes attached
to the C.M.S. and the Universities' Mission
who had been imprisoned because of their
suspected pro-British sympathies. These were
all repatriated by way of the Victoria Nyanza
and Kisumu. On their arrival at the latter
place the Wakavirondo Christians, on their

io8 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

own initiative, gave a great welcome to these
foreigners, because they were Christians like
themselves. The people who, a few years
previously, would have speared a stranger
who tried to enter their country, gave a feast
of welcome because they had learned the secret
of Christian brotherhood.

The keen evangelistic zeal shown by these
young converts has been most encouraging.
A young man was admitted to the catechu-
menate at Kisumu and shortly afterwards left
the town, finding work as a pointsman at
Londiani, seventy miles down the Uganda rail-
way. There he gathered together the Wakavi-
rondo employees of the railway and labourers
on the neighbouring estates held by Europeans,
and taught them. They built themselves a
small church of mud and wattle, with thatched
roof. Sunday by Sunday about 120 of them
met for worship and instruction, and in the
evenings during the week, after their work was
done, they taught one another and read their
gospels and sang hymns. When the mis-
sionary was able to visit them the young
leader presented twenty of them for admission
to the catechumenate. They had adopted a
uniform to wear, based on that in use at
Maseno school, and across their chests they had
sewn a strip of red Turkey twill bearing the
letters, " C.M.S., L.," the letter L standing

THE GOSPEL IN KAVIRONDO 109

for Londiani, the place where they met. This
kind of congregation is to be found all over the
Nyanza Province, in the native reserve, in the
highlands, on the Europeans' farms, and at
almost every railway station down the Uganda
railway as far as Nairobi,

Too much cannot be made of the good work
done at the technical school at Maseno, where
young Wakavirondo men and boys have been
trained as bricklayers, masons, carpenters, and
agriculturahsts. These have been eagerly
sought after by settlers and others. Only
those who have seen the homes in which these
boys were born and spent their early years can
appreciate the change which has taken place.

In igi2 a station was opened among the
Bantu Wakavirondo by the late Archdeacon
Chadwick ; and the chief of the district,
Marama, one of nature's gentlemen, has been
baptized, giving up nine of his ten wives and
incurring, for Christ's sake, a great deal of
reproach from the older heathen headmen.

The highly important work of teaching the
women has not been neglected. The mis-
sionaries' wives, as well as four or five single
women missionaries, have done all they were
able to do ; but this side of the evangeHzation
of the Wakavirondo has not received all the
help it needs. Having no national dress, the
native women converts are restrained with

no DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

difficulty from making themselves hideous by
wearing ill-fitting European garb ; but fortun-
ately most of the Christian girls and women
have adopted the Baganda women's dress — a
white shawl wrapped round their bodies, with
a coloured sash — ^which is suitable to their hot
chmate and most becoming.

Being more industrious than other tribes in
East Africa, the Wakavirondo were recruited in
large numbers during the war for service as
carriers in German East Africa, and thousands
of them lost their lives from sickness and from
the bullets of the enemy. They were found to
make excellent soldiers, and acquitted them-
selves well after a short term of training.
Their loyalty to the British cause deserves that
we should give them what they are urgently
asking for, the hght of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER IX
Clouds in the Sky

WE have followed the growth of the
Uganda Church step by step up to
the present time. We have seen the wonderful
developments which have taken place in the
short space of forty years. First, the awaken-
ing of the Uganda people to a reahzation of
their utter need, and the free acceptance of
the gospel message as the only way of salva-
tion. Then, the estabUshment of a native
Church, self-governing, self-supporting, and
finally self -extending through the coming of the
missionary spirit and the efforts of the young
Church to preach the Gospel to the tribes still
in ignorance. Noble lives have been given
freely to the Master's service in forei^ lands,
and, as has been shown, the work has spread
to the regions beyond.

What is to follow now ? There are tre-
mendous possibiUties before the Uganda
Church. Has that Church the strength to
follow the gleam? We must not hide from
our readers the grave dangers that he before
us. In preparing a record of this sort one

III

112 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

cannot ignore the dark side of the picture ; and
it is true that in the Uganda Church there is
to-day a very dark side which fills all workers
out here with serious apprehension for the
future. Never have the prayers of God's
people been more urgently needed — not
because the work is not advancing, for the
numbers pressing into the Kingdom and the
crowds thronging the schools are greater than
at any previous time — but beneath the surface
there are sjmiptoms which must cause grave
anxiety as to the future.

The discussion on church discipline which
took place in the Synod of 19 13 brought the
question of national morals prominently to
the front. As a result reforms were bound
either to come visibly nearer, or to become
more remote and improbable. Since that
discussion, now eight years ago, there seems
to the casual observer but little improvement
in the state of the Church. The two great
evils against which there is constant warfare,
drunkenness and immorality, are as flagrant
as ever ; indeed, the latter is more open to
the world than ever it was. Plurality of
wives and concubinage are everywhere, and the
whole Church is riddled with this sin, while
drunkenness follows in its train. In some
places legal action has been taken against
certain chiefs and others, but with deplorable

CLOUDS IN THE SKY 113

results. Even where the case has been proved
to satisfy the court, and the man has been
punished, the general consequence of such
action has been to do more harm than good,
for it has meant that the man at once cuts
himself off from all reUgious influence. In the
case of the man who has won at a trial
although he was flagrantly guilty, through the
failure of the wife to produce sufficient
evidence, the result has been disastrous, for to
the native mind it has legaUzed sin. The
law of the land on the subject is still very
imperfect. When it is remembered that
here we have Mohammedans, Christians, and
heathen, all with different views on the
marriage question— views recognized by the
courts— it will be understood how hard it is
to legislate. The Christian may become a
heathen again, or he may profess to turn
Mohammedan just to evade the law.

Another great danger is a cleavage which
has come within the Church and threatens its
very life as a corporate body. Some years
ago, one of the leading Christian chiefs took
a firm stand against the use of medicine, and
denounced the hospital work as that of the
devil, appeaUng to the teaching of St. James.
He was not a degenerate, but a good Christian
man, and this made the matter much more
difficult. He soon got a big following, and

114 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

broke off entirely from the Church. In a
little while his followers carried matters much
farther than he himself intended, and pluraUty
of wives was allowed and, indeed, encouraged
in this new sect. A form of baptism was used,
and teachers were sent out all over the country
to baptize into the new reUgion. The baptism
was performed by these teachers in the name
of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost ; and a mere statement by the candidate
to the effect that he beheved in God was
reckoned sufficient for baptism. Thousands of
men and women all over the country were
thus initiated into the new " Church," and
the movement spread with great rapidity.

I visited a thickly populated district in
February, 1920, and found that many hundreds
of people had joined the sect by baptism within
a few months. So great had been the rush
that the people had Hned up on the main
road two or three hundred strong, and the
teacher had walked down the long line with
a basin of water and baptized all in the name
of the Holy Trinity. Of course, the whole
proceeding, in reality, was a silly farce, but to
those baptized it was not so. A large church
in that district, which I had visited six
years before, at that time was crowded with
readers; now it is practically empty. I visited
it on the Sunday, and the biggest congregation

CLOUDS IN THE SKY 115

we could gather was fourteen people. Nearly
everybody in the district with whom I spoke
said that they 'had been baptized by Malaki,
the leading spirit of the movement, once a
prominent Christian worker and teacher of our
Church. To the African, who is a born
formalist, this sort of thing is most alluring,
but it is a very real menace to the Church of
Christ.

In a few cases this so-called baptism
has been a blessing in disguise, since
individuals, finding that they are not recog-
nized as Christians by the people generally,
have come back to the Church for the true
baptism. The majority, however, go on in
the heathen ways, well satisfied that the
Malaki baptism has made it all right for them.

Possibly one of the reasons for the popularity
of this new movement is that we have ad-
vanced too far along the stereotyped lines of
the Church of England, with all its historic
customs, beautiful in themselves and meaning
much to us, but some of them quite foreign
to the African. Be that as it may, it is true
that the Malaki movement, which attracts the
African because he is a born formalist, is a very
real menace to the Church and is a dark cloud
in the sky, though it has much to teach us.

Still another dark cloud is the return to old
heathen superstitions and beUefs. The African

ii6 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

is undoubtedly a religious man ; at the same
time, his ideas of religion are crude, consisting
for the most part of a vague animism or belief
in spirits, which he holds as received from
many generations of forefathers. The old
superstitions and customs connected with this
belief have struck deep roots and taken hold
upon every department of his hfe and thought,
so much so that they survive to a deplorable
extent even among professing Christians. And,
alas, this surv'ival seems to be gaining ground.
Among raw heathen tribes it is only to be
expected that drunkenness, polygamy, im-
morality, witchcraft, and fear of spirits should
flourish and rule rampant and unabashed.
To question the power of the spirits of the dead
appears to the animist mere ignorance and
folly : to preach temperance or morality is
to suggest the exercise of a self-control which
is entirely foreign to his whole nature. This
is but natural. We appreciate the strength
of the hold of these customs and beliefs upon
the African only when we consider how lately
it was that the whole country was in utter
darkness. But that such superstitions should
still prevail among the Christians, and in-
creasingly so, is cause for real apprehension.

The Baganda Christians are passing through
a very severe time of testing. The earliest
Europeans to come to the country were

CLOUDS IN THE SKY 117

Christian missionaries, and the idea naturally
estabhshed itself in the native mind that
it was the direct aim and object of all white
men to propagate the reUgion which they
profess. The conception of a European not
interested or concerned in the faith of his
fathers was foreign to them. Even now it is
difficult for them to grasp such a position.
Thirty years ago individualism was practically
unknown. No peasant thought for himself,
least of all on religious matters; his simple
duty was to follow his chief, to think as he
thought and to believe as he believed. Now
things have changed, for each man must think
for himself; and the Church has reached
the time when every member has to adjust
himself to a new world, with new possibilities,
new temptations, and new demands. The
result is often a sad turning back into the old
ways of sin. Drunkenness and immorahty
and a return to superstition have played fearful
havoc with a large number of the Christians,
and not least among some of the leading chiefs.
Example has been followed with a fidelity
born of the old feudal system, until Christian
and heathen often seem indistinguishable.

As I have said, this is only what might be
expected. The Christian who has never been
stirred to the depths of his being by the blessed
conviction of his need of a Saviour will

ii8 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

soon turn aside, and especially will this be
so among a people so recently won from
heathenism. When they see (as, alas ! they do)
the white man, whose God they have tried to
worship, himself giving way to the lusts of the
flesh, they soon satisfy themselves that it is
the proper course to follow and, while retain-
ing the name Christian, they go back to the
old beUefs and bondage and ignorance of their
heathen days. " The last state of that man
is worse than the first."

Such are the clouds in the sky as we see
them to-day in Uganda. What must be our
attitude towards them ?

First, there can he no compromise. We
must preach a full Gospel. If Jesus Christ is
not the Saviour of the world, then the world
has no Saviour. We know the weakness of
the human heart, we realize the dark past
and the oft-times heathen environment of the
young Christian struggling along the path, but
we must never relax one iota from the old-
fashioned truth that Jesus is able to save to
the uttermost. But, second, we must be
quite sure that the presentation of the Truth
is made in such a way as to appeal to the
Africans to whom we go. Truth may be
choked by dogma, and so hidden ; or purely
European methods of work may distort its
beauty. The supreme aim of the missionary

CLOUDS IN THE SKY 119

should always be to find points of contact.
There is a mighty difference between the man
sent out by the C.M.S. and the man to whom

he is sent a very obvious statement, but one

worth re-stating. What may be a most blessed
means of spiritual help to the white man may
on the other hand have a deadening influence
on the man of Africa. The African is a man
to whom a beautiful thought is as strange as
a snowflake, and a brilUant thought as rare
as an icicle hanging from the eaves of his hut.
Then, lastly, we must take missions more
seriously. How often, when home on furlough,
I heard one and another say : "I am
very interested in missions." And it would
be plainly seen that it was mere interest. A
pretty story, a wild adventure, or the descrip-
tion of a fascinating country or an interesting
people— these seemed to mark the extent of
their interest.

Let me solemnly affirm that the missionary
does not come home from his work merely to
seek interest ; what he really wants is whole-
hearted allegiance to the cause of Christ, and
acceptance of a partnership with Him in this
great business of evangehzation. Hitherto we
have played at missions. It is now quite time
we "got down" to them, recognizing the fact
that the preaching of the Gospel to all creatures
is the primary duty of the Church, not a little

120 DAYSPRING IN UGANDA

side-show, as it has so often been to us. Don't
tell the missionary you are interested in his
work, but do tell him that you are going to
" join up," and do your " bit," whatever it
may be. Never relax your earnestness in
prayer for the man " at the front," that he
also may take his work seriously.

Believe me when I say that the missionary,
surrounded as he is, day by day, by the
deadening influences of heathenism, is but a
frail creature, and it is quite easy for him to go
about his job in a half-hearted, free-and-easy
way, forgetful of the fact that his must not
be a languid interest in his people, but a very
active fight against the tremendous odds that
are against him, as befits a soldier of Christ
in the greatest war that ever was waged.

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