If A Steamer Were Sent
To Examine The Zambesi, I Would Recommend One Of The Lightest Draught,
And The Months
Of May, June, and July for passing through the delta;
and this not so much for fear of want of
Water as the danger of being grounded
on a sand or mud bank, and the health of the crew being endangered
by the delay.
In the months referred to no obstruction would be incurred
in the channel below Tete. Twenty or thirty miles above that point
we have a small rapid, of which I regret my inability to speak,
as (mentioned already) I did not visit it. But, taking the distance
below this point, we have, in round numbers, 300 miles of navigable river.
Above this rapid we have another reach of 300 miles, with sand,
but no mud banks in it, which brings us to the foot of the eastern ridge.
Let it not, however, be thought that a vessel by going thither
would return laden with ivory and gold-dust. The Portuguese of Tete pick up
all the merchandise of the tribes in their vicinity, and, though I came out
by traversing the people with whom the Portuguese have been at war,
it does not follow that it will be perfectly safe for others to go in
whose goods may be a stronger temptation to cupidity than any thing
I possessed. When we get beyond the hostile population mentioned,
we reach a very different race. On the latter my chief hopes at present rest.
All of them, however, are willing and anxious to engage in trade,
and, while eager for this, none have ever been encouraged to cultivate
the raw materials of commerce. Their country is well adapted for cotton;
and I venture to entertain the hope that by distributing seeds of better kinds
than that which is found indigenous, and stimulating the natives
to cultivate it by affording them the certainty of a market
for all they may produce, we may engender a feeling of mutual dependence
between them and ourselves. I have a twofold object in view,
and believe that, by guiding our missionary labors so as to benefit
our own country, we shall thereby more effectually and permanently
benefit the heathen. Seven years were spent at Kolobeng
in instructing my friends there; but the country being incapable of raising
materials for exportation, when the Boers made their murderous attack
and scattered the tribe for a season, none sympathized
except a few Christian friends. Had the people of Kolobeng
been in the habit of raising the raw materials of English commerce,
the outrage would have been felt in England; or, what is more likely
to have been the case, the people would have raised themselves in the scale
by barter, and have become, like the Basutos of Moshesh and people of Kuruman,
possessed of fire-arms, and the Boers would never have made the attack at all.
We ought to encourage the Africans to cultivate for our markets,
as the most effectual means, next to the Gospel, of their elevation.
It is in the hope of working out this idea that I propose
the formation of stations on the Zambesi beyond the Portuguese territory,
but having communication through them with the coast. A chain of stations
admitting of easy and speedy intercourse, such as might be formed
along the flank of the eastern ridge, would be in a favorable position
for carrying out the objects in view. The London Missionary Society
has resolved to have a station among the Makololo on the north bank,
and another on the south among the Matebele. The Church
- Wesleyan, Baptist, and that most energetic body, the Free Church -
could each find desirable locations among the Batoka and adjacent tribes.
The country is so extensive there is no fear of clashing.
All classes of Christians find that sectarian rancor soon dies out
when they are working together among and for the real heathen.
Only let the healthy locality be searched for and fixed upon,
and then there will be free scope to work in the same cause
in various directions, without that loss of men which the system of missions
on the unhealthy coasts entails. While respectfully submitting the plan
to these influential societies, I can positively state that,
when fairly in the interior, there is perfect security for life and property
among a people who will at least listen and reason.
Eight of my men begged to be allowed to come as far as Kilimane, and,
thinking that they would there see the ocean, I consented to their coming,
though the food was so scarce in consequence of a dearth that they were
compelled to suffer some hunger. They would fain have come farther; for when
Sekeletu parted with them, his orders were that none of them should turn
until they had reached Ma Robert and brought her back with them.
On my explaining the difficulty of crossing the sea, he said,
"Wherever you lead, they must follow." As I did not know well
how I should get home myself, I advised them to go back to Tete,
where food was abundant, and there await my return. I bought
a quantity of calico and brass wire with ten of the smaller tusks
which we had in our charge, and sent the former back as clothing
to those who remained at Tete. As there were still twenty tusks left,
I deposited them with Colonel Nunes, that, in the event of any thing happening
to prevent my return, the impression might not be produced in the country
that I had made away with Sekeletu's ivory. I instructed Colonel Nunes,
in case of my death, to sell the tusks and deliver the proceeds to my men;
but I intended, if my life should be prolonged, to purchase the goods
ordered by Sekeletu in England with my own money, and pay myself on my return
out of the price of the ivory. This I explained to the men fully,
and they, understanding the matter, replied, "Nay, father, you will not die;
you will return to take us back to Sekeletu." They promised to wait
till I came back, and, on my part, I assured them that nothing but death
would prevent my return.
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