This eminent authority on the Congo has recorded his impressions of the social and economic conditions prevailing in that country, and of the false statements regarding them disseminated by interested parties, in the following letter, which appeared in the London Times of June 10, 1904:
To the Editor of the “Times”
Sir,—Having just returned from a shooting trip across the Congo Free State from the Nile to Boma, on the West Coast, I naturally feel much interested in the correspondence now going on with regard to that country. As I came down the Congo River a copy of Mr. Casement’s report was lent me to read, and I was more than surprised at the contents of a letter written by Lord Cromer, which was inserted as a prelude to the more serious indictment following.
Now, Sir, had this letter been published alone it might not have seemed so serious, but taken in conjunction with what followed it formed a most damaging article.
As my experience of the Government of the Lado Enclave is so entirely opposite to the view taken of it by Lord Cromer, I feel compelled, in fairness to the Belgian officials, to give my views of the country and its Government. That I am not alone in discovering so much that is good in the Belgian administration of the Lado Enclave is vouched for by other English officers who have hunted and travelled among the natives beyond the waters west of the Nile.
I assume from Lord Cromer’s report, and from what I was told at Lado, that he only landed at the Kiro and Lado stations, so that the greater part of his report must have been founded on information supplied by others, which, besides being often incorrect, might possibly have reference to times gone by, when, I believe, a certain official was promptly dismissed the service for unfair treatment of the natives.
Lord Cromer compares the deserted appearance of the west banks of the Nile with the east bank between Kiro and Lado.
My experience of this part was that you could hardly see anything of the west bank, owing to the channel lying well over to the east, and endless sudd stretching to the west. The reasons for natives not living near the bank I give later on.
Again, Lord Cromer contrasts the peaceful, settled state and the confidence of the tribes under English rule on the Nile as compared with those on Belgian territory; yet within a few months of his visit a whole British force was annihilated on the Bahr el Ghazal, while in the Game Ordinance published last year it stated: “The whole of the left bank of the Nile is at present closed to sportsmen, owing to the unsettled state of the natives.”
Since my return I see that yet another British force has been severely handled by the natives. Through the whole of my Congo trip, absolutely alone, I wandered about, visiting 50 different tribes and hundreds of villages, armed as a rule with a camera, umbrella, and, at times, a collecting gun. Yet I had no unpleasant experiences; on the contrary, I was received with kindness far different to any I ever met with when hunting among British African natives.