Through the country of Ugogo there runs one of the best known of the old slave routes of Eastern equatorial Africa. The captives secured by the raiders, in the territories east and west of Lake Tanganyika and south of Victoria Nyanza, found their exit mainly through the Ugogo plains, and often when out itinerating we came upon their large caravans.
The Arab slave hunters, whose coat of arms is the ‘Forked Stick,' generally entered the Dark Continent on the pretense of legitimate ivory trading, but they always combined the quest of the precious tusk with a traffic in the bodies of men and women. When they reached the distant interior, they usually settled down, as if they were going to remain in a certain district for a lengthened period, constructed their wattle-and-daub huts, cultivated some garden patches and planted their Coast seeds, and, in many ways, sought to ingratiate themselves with the natives around. When the natives brought ivory to their encampment for barter, they readily purchased it with the stock of beads, wire and calico they had brought with them from the Coast.
Soon they got into the confidence of the natives, and took particular care to get thoroughly acquainted with all the strife and bickering which existed between the different chiefs. They then offered to one of these contending chieftains the help of their forces and weapons, to enable him to give the insolent neighboring tribe a good thrashing. If the chief took the bait, they made it clear that their valuable assistance was given only on the condition that he aided them in capturing as many slaves as possible of the defeated tribe, while any ivory found in the huts of the enemy would fall into their hands. When the Arabs could not thus entangle the native tribes, or pit the one against the other, they proceeded to act on their own initiative.
Making their way into the borderland of some weak tribe, and selecting a time when most of the fighting men were absent, raiding or hunting, they stealthily forced their way amidst the thick undergrowth of the forest; and creeping up through the long grass, they suddenly pounced upon the doomed village, as the lion springs upon his prey. Encircling the native settlement, they set fire to the grass huts and, firing their rifles in one great volley, they sought to confuse the inhabitants in perplexing amazement and terror. The poor helpless natives rushed out panic-stricken, and found themselves surrounded by the rifle-armed mob, who captured and disarmed numerous youths and maidens, and as many women and children as they could lay their hands on. The men who dared to attempt resistance or defend their wives were ruthlessly shot down.
The hands of the captured were immediately tied behind their backs, and their necks invested with the slave chains or heavy forked sticks, which the porters of the raiders had previously cut in the forest. The little children were rarely bound, for they instinctively clung to their mothers' sides in terror. Oftentimes the smaller children, who were unfit to follow the caravan, were thrown by the Arabs into the smoldering fires of the blazing huts. One of our boys, who was enslaved when about five years of age, saw his younger brother thrown into the flames of the burning hut, which, until that eventful day, had been his home.
On the long journey to the Coast, any slave, who through illness or exhaustion, was unable to keep up to the pace of the caravan march, was in some cases removed from the forked stick; and the Arab, with one blow of his tomahawk, split the skull of the incapable slave, as a warning to others not to loiter on the march. Some of the Arabs did not thus end the sufferings of their slaves with the cold steel, but did that which was quite as criminal and atrocious. They loosed from the slave chains these weaklings and threw them aside into the bush without food or water. Either they suffered the indescribable torture of a death from thirst, or were torn to pieces and eaten by wild animals.
At times, we have come upon some of these poor castaways. One night, while a good many miles away from any human habitation, our small caravan was moving along slowly in the feeble light of a crescent moon, threading their way carefully to avoid the holes and obstacles in the narrow winding path through a thick scrubby forest. My husband suddenly called a halt and stood in a listening attitude. I inquired from him what was the matter, and he replied that he heard a human voice on the left-hand side of the track. We stood motionless for a minute or two, but heard nothing save the wild laugh of the hyena. The men were questioned if they had heard anything like a man's voice, and they replied in the negative. Just as we were about to continue our march, a sound, which was distinctly human, came from the dense bush once again; and my husband determined not to go any further until he had unraveled the mystery of the voice. Our men were frightened and wanted to proceed quickly, thinking that it was a strategy of the "ruga-ruga,'' or waylayers, of the Wahehe tribe, who had evil plots against our lives, and were thus seeking to upset our march, so that they might the more eagerly accomplish their purpose. My husband, however, was unmoved. Calling upon the porters to lay down their loads, he took two or three of the men and very cautiously made his way through the long grass and thorny bush. The ground was so rough and uneven and burrowed by different kinds of wild animals, that it was with difficulty he made his way without stumbling. After proceeding some distance, another groan came from almost beneath his feet and, stooping down, he found the form of a naked woman. He spoke to her in two native languages, but there was no intelligible reply, so he had her placed on the back of one of our porters and brought with the caravan on our homeward way.
We had yet to cover a distance of about eight miles to reach our station. On arriving at a stream of water by the track, we gave the woman a drink. She was then questioned again in several languages, but could not answer in any of these. Eventually one of our porters, who had traveled a good deal in the interior of the Continent, discovered that he knew something of her language, and spoke to her in that tongue. He elicited from her the fact that she had been taken from her home by the Arab slave raiders, and, having fallen ill on the way, was unable to continue the march to the Coast, and was thrown aside into the jungle.
Many others we have found who had thus been left in the bush, naked and without food or water. Some of these have recovered, while others, though every attention was given, have collapsed and died. One morning, a man and woman came running into our station in a half-demented state. We inquired from them what their trouble was. They told us their story, saying that they were man and wife, who had been enabled to free themselves in the night time from the forked sticks of a slave caravan, and had come to ask us to hide and protect them. My husband said he would not hide them, but would appoint them for work on the station, and promised not to allow anyone to take them away wrongfully.
In a few hours, two armed Arabs with a group of followers came upon the scene, and asked if a strange man and woman had been noticed passing that way. My husband replied by asking them where they came from, what they were doing, and what was the relationship between them and the man and woman whom they were seeking. They frankly replied, “Zanzibar is our home. We are 'waana wa Adamu' (sons of Adam), and like all sons of Adam we have to live; and we live by catching slaves." Such was their explanation. My husband entered into a long conversation with them, proving that they had no right to break up the hearths and homes of these people, pitilessly tearing from one another, husband and wife, parent and child. "What would you think," he said, “if I did the same to you, and thrust your necks into the forked sticks, and transported you far from home and kindred into some strange land?"
He further informed them that the man and woman, whom they were evidently seeking, were engaged as free workers on the station, and that no one would be allowed to lay a finger upon them. They were advised to go and occupy themselves with some work, more in accordance with the will of Him whom they called “Muungu Mwenyiezi “(God Almighty). Their reply came more willingly than was expected from these armed slave raiders, “Inshallah Bwana!” (With the help of God, Master!), and so they saluted and went on their way.
In carrying out my share of the Missionary work among the native women, I have often been perplexed and downhearted at the difficulties which the work presented. Humanly speaking, the females of native tribes are harder to reach in their adamantine barbarism than the men, being more conservative in preserving their heathen customs. Were it not for the fact that I have been assured that we are only co-workers with God, my heart would often have failed me. I realized that our duty is to witness for Christ and deliver His message, relying solely upon the Holy Spirit to apply the Word to the hearts of the people. I have many a time thought if I could get a few photographs of the women to send home, they might call forth more prayerful interest in the harvest that has yet to be reaped among the numberless millions of women in native lands. When visiting them I have often tried to get photographs, while they were engaged at their daily tasks, both inside and outside their "tembes" but they were so superstitious that it seemed impossible to accomplish my purpose. I remember one dear old woman, whose photo I very much wanted; and I came upon her one day as she was about to have a smoke. Her pipe, after the manner of the women of the land, was a huge clumsy affair made of a large gourd shell. In the base or bulb of the gourd was inserted a piece of hollow stick, on the top end of which there was fixed a small perforated clay cup, which had been burned in the fire. The latter was the receptacle for the noxious weed. A mouth-hole was cut in the long neck of the gourd, and the bulb half filled with water. On fire being applied to the tobacco cup, the smoke was drawn down the hollow stick and, passing through the water, was freed from much of the poisonous alkaloid before reaching the lips of the smoker.
I tried to get a photograph of the old lady while she was enjoying her "weed," but she bluntly refused. There were no hand cameras in those days for easy picture-taking. When I set up the tripod, and attached the camera on top, she got very much excited. I said in Chigogo, “Won’t you allow me?” She said, “No! That thing will kill me!" On calling my husband over, he immediately pulled off the cap of the lens and photographed her, and told her it was all finished. She was quite alarmed and said she would surely die. “Yes, you will," said my husband; ”but not till the day appointed." A short time afterward she was delighted to see her picture, although the photo was not very flattering. The women were wonderfully trustful towards me, and I was afraid to do anything which might interfere in any way with the good relationship which existed between us, either by taking their photographs or clothing them against their wishes. When a baby girl was born to us, all the women were very friendly and fetched presents for both mother and child. The head wife of the chief brought a very fine big sheep for the baby. When she saw the child lying asleep on the bed, she was terrified, and said that I was not to keep her on that high thing else she would be killed, and that I must lay her on the floor.
As time passed by, my husband's attacks of fever came with alarming frequency. He was a very active man, and a twenty-five to thirty-five mile march in one day was nothing to him. These attacks of fever had taken all the healthy color out of his face, and given him that peculiar sickly complexion, which continued malarial fever always produces. I myself was also very frequently laid low with fever and had become much enfeebled. Our food was not of a nourishing kind, and we felt very much the need of milk. Cattle were scarce in our district, and the most enticing barter goods we possessed were not attractive enough to secure us a single cow. The domesticated cattle of Central Africa are a species of zebu, with a very prominent hump. They never give much milk, and will not give any unless the calf is allowed to suck. An ordinary zebu gives about two pints in the day, after feeding her calf, but the milk though small in quantity is very rich.
About fifty miles from our station there were some important villages, which my husband had not yet visited, and where cattle were more plentiful than in our immediate vicinity. He decided to go there and do some itinerating work and, at the same time, try to purchase a couple of cows from the chief of the district.
Having inquired from some natives, who had recently returned from that part of the country, if there were any water on the track, he was informed that a little was to be found about half way across the wilderness. Having chosen five men to accompany him on his journey, he handed to them his camp bed and bedding, some provisions, a few small cooking vessels, and several water flasks for the use of the men and himself. My husband said good-bye to me and started on his way, hoping to reach the water that night.
I will give his experience of that day and the next in his own words, which run as follows:—"The sun was very hot on the low wilderness we had to traverse, and at midday the thick forest was as hot as an oven. My own mall water bottle was empty before the afternoon. We plodded along hour after hour very tired and thirsty. How we longed for a drink, fresh from the spring. In some places the ground was cracked with the great heat, and fissures three to six inches wide were visible all along our track. "When the sun went down, we were still some distance from the place where we expected to get water. With accelerated footsteps and quickened energy, we wended our way towards the goal and, just as the night was closing around us, we arrived at the pool where we were hoping to quench our fiery thirst.
"To our great surprise and grief there was nothing but mud, in which were the innumerable footprints of wild animals. In the very center of the pool there was a little fluid, of the consistency of thick gruel. One of my men took off his loin cloth and spread it down on the muddy liquid. He then lay down on his face, placed his lips against the cloth, and tried to draw up some water. He was successful in getting a little. The others did likewise, and got a sip of filthy stuff, but I could not touch it. "If I could only have got a half a pint to make a cup of tea, I should have had some tea and biscuit, but I dare not eat the dry biscuit alone fearing the thirst might increase.” Darkness was upon us and we were compelled to seek a place of safety. Groping about, we came upon a small dense thicket. We forced a passage into this and made a fire at the entrance to keep the lions out; weary, tired and suffering intensely from thirst, we lay down in this thicket to rest. Eventually we were overcome by sleep, and thirst for the time being was forgotten. "About the middle of the night, we were awakened by a lion springing on his prey behind our retreat. We could hear the struggle for some time, and then all was silent, and once more we were unconscious of our condition and surroundings.
"In the cool of the early dawn we felt somewhat refreshed and started, once again, on our way. As we went along, I swept the dewdrops from the leaves, and the water thus collected slightly satisfied my thirst. When the sun got higher in the heavens, I was quite weakened, and unable to continue marching. I asked my men to cut down a pole in the forest and tie my blanket to it in the form of a hammock, in which to carry me. This they did: but being themselves weakened by thirst, they could only bear me a short distance before collapsing. "I realized that something must be done, and that quickly, else we should all perish. Lifting up my heart to God for guidance, I got the men to sit down with me to talk the matter over and see what might be done.
"Thirty miles lay between us and our station, therefore to retrace our steps was an impossibility. Twenty miles ahead of us was our nearest water. I directed two of the strongest men to take the water vessels, and press forward with all the speed they could, until they reached the water; and, after quenching their own thirst, they were to fill the water bottles and return immediately to us, while we, on our part, were to seek by small stages to meet them half way to the water.
"The two men departed, promising to carry out their instructions faithfully. When we had rested a little, I rose to my feet and we went on slowly together for about five or six hundred yards. Then, after lying down awhile to rest, we again proceeded another few hundred yards. Thus stage after stage was made, until the sun was high in the heavens, gleaming in all his tropical fury. As the hours passed away, the intense agony of thirst became more severe, the mouth foaming, while the tongue clave to the palate, so that I could only speak with great difficulty. Eventually I could not make more than about one hundred yards at a time, with the aid of one of the men, who partially supported me. On my body I retained only an under vest and pants, so that I might lose as little moisture as possible by perspiration. At last I realized that the climax had come. To the native, who kept close by me all the time, I said as plainly as I could, 'Sudi, I can go no further. If the men do not bring water here, I die.' I threw myself down under the partial shade, which a great baobab tree afforded and, stretching out my hands to the burning heavens, I prayed to God for one drop of rain to cool my feverish body.
While I was praying, a little cloud appeared in the heavens. Borne by some God-directed wind, it came directly over where I was lying, and instantly there fell a few big heavy drops. My vest I pulled wide open, so that they might fall on my heated chest. The drops increased in number until there was a little shower of rain. I opened my mouth and thrust out my tongue to catch the precious fluid. In about five minutes or less the cloud was emptied, but I was strengthened. My under vest and pants were quite wet on one side. I got up and felt much better. I said to Sudi, 'Do you see what God has done for us?' 'Yes Sir I see it,' came his response. I was then able to proceed in short stages all the afternoon until sundown, when I met my two faithful porters loaded with their water vessels. My husband has had some wonderful providential deliverance, when out in the inhospitable forest, and on this occasion the Lord marvelously intervened on his behalf and his life was spared.
After reaching the village of the chief of the district and getting a day's rest, he had a very profitable time with the people. They had never had a Missionary in their district before, and a great opportunity was given of declaring unto them the revelation of God's love in Christ Jesus. The chieftain was apparently favorably disposed towards my husband and gave him the present of a sheep. On the following day, the chief and about two hundred of his people visited my husband's camp, when he addressed them and delivered to them, once again, the message of eternal life through the world's Redeemer. He told them that if they had any questions to ask he would be glad to do his best to answer them.
They evidently imagined that he was some great rain doctor, for the first question they put was, "Why do you keep the rain away? We know it would not be good for your camp, because your blankets would get wet, but look at our gardens in the forest, how much they need the rain."
Their reason for asking this question was not quite clear to my husband for a moment. Remembering that on the previous day a shower of rain had fallen on the distant hills, and had not reached the valley, in which the native villages and his own camp were located, he realized the purpose of their question. They evidently imagined that he had some great power over the elements and had kept the rain back to preserve his bedding, as he had no tent with him, and was lying out unprotected in the open jungle. He told them that he had no power whatever over the rainfall, neither had any of their own rain doctors, but that God alone controlled those matters, sending His rain upon the just and the unjust. After some further questions about God's revelation to man, the crowd quietly dispersed.
My husband then told the chief that he had brought some cloth, copper wire and beads with which to purchase two milch cows. In the language of Ephron to Abraham regarding the field of Machpelah, the chief replied, “The price of a cow, what is that betwixt me and thee? I shall give thee one." My husband, however, would not take one as a gift, but asked him to name the number of strings of beads, rings of wire, and pieces of calico he required for two cows. After half an hour's talk, the number was agreed upon, and the necessary barter goods were accordingly counted out and handed ever to the chief, who had selected two very good cows, with calves. As it was then getting late in the afternoon, my husband and his men struck camp, the water bottles were filled, and with many good wishes from the natives they started on their homeward journey. After two hours' march into the uninhabited forest, they camped for the night.
The following day they were on the track betimes and, ere the sun was high, had covered a good part of the waterless tract of wilderness, which had for them such painful memories. That night they camped in the vicinity of the dreaded Wahehe tribe, who were continually hiding in ambush in the thick portions of the forest, where they sought to surprise, murder and rob the passing caravans. They were the most treacherous tribe in those parts. Some Missionaries have had their porters murdered by these bloodthirsty natives.
The five porters kept a sharp watch all night, never daring to close their eyes in sleep, for they knew what the prize of a couple of cows was worth, in the estimation of the Wahehe warriors. Two or three times during the night the men were in a state of alarm, for when they heard a wild animal rushing through the bushes after its prey, they thought that the enemy was upon them, and awoke my husband in their alarm. The night was passed in safety, however, although numerous human footprints were discovered in the vicinity of the camp.
At the break of dawn, a final start was made for the Mission Station; and at noon some natives came to tell me that the master was returning. As the little caravan approached the house, I noticed that my husband was terribly worn and thin, and I realized, before I heard his story, that our milk had been purchased at a heavy price.