THE MISSIONS IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
When Livingstone entered upon his life work in Africa, not quite forty years ago, Kuruman was the farthest inland station; since then great things have been done for Africa. Dividing that part of Africa which lies south of the equator into three equal parts of twelve degrees each, we find that Kuruman falls within the southernmost division, or South Africa. In the second division, or South-Central Africa, lie Lake Ngami and most of Lake Nyassa, both of which were discovered by Dr. Livingstone. In the third division, Central Africa, extending from 9 degrees to 3 degrees south latitude, lies Lake Tanganyika, discovered by Burton and Speke in 1858. To the north of Tanganyika are several lakes, the largest of which is the Victoria Nyanza. The Victoria Nyanza was discovered by Speke in 1858, and circumnavigated by Stanley in 1875. It lies between the 32d and 35th parallels of longitude from Greenwich, and extends from 2½ degrees south latitude to the north of the equator by the fraction of a degree. Its superficial area is 21,500 square miles, being nearly as large as Lake Michigan, and 100 fathoms will not measure its deepest waters. The lake is in a direct line about 520 miles from the east coast, and about 1,600 miles from the west coast. Ujiji, on the eastern shore of Tanganyika, is 625 miles from the east coast, in a direct line.
These great lakes, Nyassa, Tanganyika and Nyanza, afford excellent facilities for missionary operations. They make the torrid heat of the equatorial sun tolerable; they cause rains which produce a luxuriant vegetation; and their broad, deep waters enable the missionaries to travel swiftly from point to point by steamer, bringing them within easy communication with various and distant tribes.
The first of these great inland missions was established by the Free Church of Scotland. The discoveries of Livingstone had drawn the attention of the Church to interior Africa as early as 1861, and some correspondence was had with the great traveller, who recommended the shores of Lake Nyassa as affording an excellent site for a new mission. It was not until 1875, however, when Livingstone's "Last Journals" had been published, and had created a great enthusiasm for the redemption of Africa, that the Free Church definitely decided to undertake the enterprise. The money asked for, $50,000, was soon raised. The pioneer party left Scotland early in the Spring of 1875, and arrived at its destination in the following October. The route was up the Zambesi River to the Murchison Cataracts, the steamer and goods being carried around the cataracts by 800 porters, and launched again in the Shiré River, reaching the lake in two days from the cataracts. The whole distance is about 400 miles. Later in the year the second party, under Dr. Stewart, the head of the mission, started for the lake. The site of the mission station, Livingstonia, was chosen on Cape Maclear, at the southern end of the lake. Buildings were put up at once, and attempts made to secure the friendship of the natives, few of whom manifested any hostility. Trips were made to the northern and western shores of the lake, and no opposition was encountered anywhere. The missionaries say no real obstacle to the success of the mission presents itself. It has been found, however, that Livingstonia will have to be abandoned. It has a good harbor, but the soil is poor and the land lies low, and is too circumscribed to sustain a large population. Besides, the tsetse fly, that destroyer of cattle, has appeared. A new site is to be chosen, and an expedition is searching for one on the west coast, about 145 miles north of Livingstonia, among a people of Zulu origin, called the Maviti. The Maviti inhabit a high table land, and are quite numerous.
Of course, but little actual mission work has been performed thus far. The mission has no permanent home, and time is required for preparation. Sunday services have been held from the first, and a school with a fair attendance is carried on. A great deal has been accomplished, however, in suppressing the slave trade. Formerly thousands of slaves were sent across the lake from Jumbe's, who is a Mohammedan, but the Arab traders have now left the lake and gone inland to carry on their nefarious business. Two members of the mission, Dr. Laws and Capt. Elton, have died, and all have had the fever.
A short distance to the south of Livingstonia, and closely connected with it, is Blantyre, the mission of the church of Scotland. It has a very favorable location in the Shiré hills. It is high, cool, well wooded, a stream is near, it has good soil, and an iron mine. Until last year the evangelistic work was performed by a missionary from Livingstonia, but now an ordained missionary is in charge. The gardeners have a large tract under cultivation, and Blantyre is evidently to become the centre of a large population. The natives are gathering around it, they are very friendly, and they are giving more attention to the cultivation of the soil. The school has many promising scholars.
The second mission established in Central Africa was that of the Church Missionary Society on the Victoria Nyanza. November 15, 1875, a London paper printed a letter from Stanley calling for Christian missionaries to enter Mtesa's country, Uganda. Three days later the Church Missionary Society received a letter from "An Unprofitable Servant," offering $25,000 for such a mission. Shortly afterward another anonymous contribution of the same amount was received, the society having meanwhile decided to undertake the mission. The mission party left the coast at Bagamoyo, in 1876, in four divisions: the first on July 14, the second on July 29, the third on the last of August, and the fourth on September 14. After crossing the Wami River, the expedition took the route of Mr. Roger Price, of the London Missionary Society, to Mpwapwa. From Mpwapwa the route was west and north to Unyanyembe; thence north to Kagei, at the southern end of the lake, the advance party reaching that point in January, 1877, the journey of 800 miles being performed in about six months, without serious mishap. One of the party, Dr. Smith, died on the way of fever. The provisions were stored at Kagei, but Ukerewe Island, in the southern part of the lake, was made the basis of operations.
Lieutenant Smith and the Rev. C. T. Wilson proceeded to the northern shore of the lake, entering Rubaga, the capital of Mtesa's kingdom Uganda, on June 30. They were received with great favor by Mtesa, who is the ruler of a powerful people. Lieutenant Smith remained with Mr. Wilson a month, and then returned to Ukerewe to assist Mr. O'Neill in preparing for removal. Mr. Wilson was well provided for at first by Mtesa, and had a house near the palace, but the chiefs and the Arabs used their influence against the missionary, and the supplies of food grew smaller and less frequent, and at last Mr. Wilson was informed that he must remove farther from the palace. He had, however, free access to the king and held divine services every Sunday in the palace, the king himself often taking part in them.
Several of the Uganda boys were gathered into a school, and were found to be bright and quick to learn. Late in December, Mr. Wilson had news of a disaster on the lake, and hastened south to find that Lieutenant Smith and Mr. O'Neill had been murdered by Lukongeh's people in a dispute raised by an Arab trader about a dhow. Finding that the stores at Kagei were almost exhausted, Mr. Wilson went on to Unyanyembe, whence he returned to Uganda, arriving at Rubaga March 26, 1878. The last letters received from him by way of the Nile speak hopefully of the future. The caravan, with the bulk of the goods, has made very slow progress. Porters by the thousand were required to convey them, and porters in Africa are arrant villains. At the latest accounts the caravan was still some distance from the lake. A reinforcement for Uganda was sent out at the beginning of 1878, of three young students of the Church Missionary College, and a medical missionary, by way of the Nile. The latest news from them stated that they reached Berber in July. One of their number had been sun-struck and was compelled to return. Thus far $65,000 has been received for the Nyanza mission; also a large part of a fund of $50,000 asked for by the society last April for the support of it.
The liberal donor who gave $25,000 for the Nyanza Mission offered the London Missionary Society the same sum for a mission on Lake Tanganyika. March 15, 1876, the Society resolved to undertake the mission. The Rev. Roger Price, who was commissioned to ascertain what was the best route to the interior, found that by starting from Saadani, wagons could be used as far as Mpwapwa, and that the costly and vexatious system of porterage could thus be avoided so far. Four ordained missionaries, one scientific man, and one builder, left London in March, 1877, as the first contingent of the expedition. At Saadani they divided, four starting July 25, and the rest with the caravan in October. In March the expedition reached Kirasa, forty-five miles east of Mpwapwa, where they left the wagons and employed porters. They reached their destination August 23, having been thirteen months on the journey from the coast, in consequence of unexpected obstacles and vexatious delays. The letters announcing the arrival were only forty-five days on the route to the coast, and only thirty-three thence to London. A high and healthy camping place was chosen near Ujiji. The caravan has not yet reached the lake.
The history of these missions is yet to be made. None of them can be said to be fully established yet. Buildings are to be erected, languages are to be learned, the country is to be explored, and the ways of the people are to be studied, before much can be done in declaring the Gospel. The missions are well situated. The country around them is thickly peopled, and great opportunities are opening to them. Much good has already been done in checking the slave trade, in opening lines of legitimate commercial traffic, and in inducing the natives to cultivate the soil. Other missions will be established in due time. The English Baptists are prospecting for a new mission up the Congo, and Lake Bangweolo, west of Lake Nyassa, and south of Lake Tanganyika, called by Livingstone a paradise, will become the centre of another great mission. Thus from the South, the East and the West, Christian missions are approaching the heart of Africa. Before many years we may hope to see a chain of stations across the continent, and another from Lake Ngami to the equator. The tribes touch each other like drops of water, and when one of them is moved by the Gospel, those which surround it will be agitated. Thus will Christianity take possession of Africa.