CHAPTER VI.

RETURN OF DR. JUNKER.

Dr. Junker’s departure from Wadelai--The Bahr-el-Jebel and Lake Albert--Salt pits at Kibiro--Unyoro--King Kabrega--Mohammed Biri--Correspondence with Mr. Mackay--Marches in Unyoro--Arrival at Rubaga--Uganda and its inhabitants--King Mtesa and King Mwanga--Murder of Bishop Hannington--Emin Pasha relieved--Passage of Lake Victoria--Arrival at Msalala mission-station--Appeal to Europe--Arrival at Zanzibar.

On the 2nd of January 1886 Dr. Junker left Wadelai. He went on board one of the steamers belonging to the station, accompanied by Vita Hassan, an Egyptian doctor, who was on his way to Unyoro.

The two travellers ascended the Nile, at that part of its course known as the Bahr-el-Jebel, and measuring nearly three miles across from bank to bank. As far as Lake Albert navigation is unimpeded by rapids, although it is rendered somewhat difficult by numerous islets of reeds and papyrus, and by shallows where hippopotami congregate in considerable numbers.

On the west the river is bordered by a chain of mountains, clothed with sparsely-grown forest; on the eastern side the shore is flatter, extending in wide prairie tracts dotted over with trees. Large herds of elephants and antelopes seem to abound, as they come down to the river-bank in the evening to drink.

The most important district on the western shore is Fanigoro, the residence of the chief Okello. On this side of the river the population is composed of the Aluri tribe; on the other side, which is equally well inhabited, the country is occupied by the Shuli.

A short distance to the south of Fanigoro is the northernmost point of Lake Albert (Muta Nzigé) which was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker on the 14th of March 1864. Gessi Pasha was the first to complete its circumnavigation in March and April 1876, since which date it has been explored successively by Mason Bey and Emin Pasha. At its north-eastern extremity, the Lake receives the Somerset Nile, the channel of the overflow from Lake Victoria, and at its extreme south it receives the Kakibi, a stream also recently investigated by Emin.

After a few days’ sailing Dr. Junker and his companion reached Kibiro, on the east of the lake, where three large villages, the property of a chief, Kagoro, are built close to the base of the mountains.

Kibiro is the leading trade-depôt of the district, and the sole occupation of the people is the procuring and preparation of salt, for which a demand is found not only in Unyoro, but likewise among the Uganda on the east, and the Aluri on the west.

The main centre of the salt industry is almost adjacent to the villages, in the midst of natural gorges and ravines, where blocks of stone and masses of _débris_ lie in fantastic disorder. Little streams of water permeate the heated soil, so that jets of vapour are seen rising all around, the warm water being carried away by means of troughs supported on stones. Groups of women and children are seen gathering the earth impregnated with its saline particles into baskets, which they fill up with water. The mud thus formed is filtered, with the result that a pure white salt is extracted, which is made up into cylindrical blocks, and wrapped in dried banana leaves. The salt-pans render the district comparatively wealthy.

Having landed at Kibiro, Junker and Vita Hassan started off on foot, eastwards, to the quarters of Kabrega, the Unyoro king.

Overhanging the villages is a series of terraces surmounted by two isolated peaks, known as Rugoi and Kjente, between which a steep footway leads to the abode of the monarch. The path is all amongst blocks of stone and jagged points, the successive terraces rising like bastions crowned with grassy plateaux, on which trees of any sort are singularly rare. It was a task of ten hours’ perseverance to reach the royal residence, which lies eastward of the river Kya, a little affluent of Lake Albert.

In these unsettled regions the capital is continually being changed according to the caprice of the ruler. At the time of Baker’s expedition in 1872, the headquarters were at Masindi; five years later, when Emin Pasha made his first visit, they had been removed to Nyamoga; and now quite recently they have been fixed at Giuaïa.

Altogether Unyoro is one of the most important dominions in the country of the great lakes. It includes the whole land to the south of the Somerset Nile along the west boundary of Lake Albert; it consists almost entirely of vast plains, broken by marshes, and studded with acacia-woods. Bananas, prepared in various ways, are the staple food of its people, and constitute the crop upon which they mainly depend. Pasturage is good, and cattle abundant, as likewise are antelopes and elephants.

In their commercial matters, the inhabitants seem active and adroit. Unlike other Nile tribes they wear clothes, and the women of the Lango districts are the best-looking and best-proportioned to be found throughout the region.

Speke and Grant were amongst the earliest European travellers to penetrate to Unyoro. In 1863 they stayed for several weeks at the court of the king Kamrasi, a crafty character, who in the following year caused Baker no inconsiderable trouble.

In 1872 Baker visited the country again, going this time with a commission from the Khedive to annex Unyoro to the Egyptian Soudan. He found the throne occupied by Kamrasi’s son Kabrega, who afterwards became an ally of Emin’s, and afforded aid and protection to Dr. Junker on his homeward way.

Concerning this young ruler, however, whose name is frequently occurring in recent letters and despatches, there would seem to be a wide diversity of opinion. After staying with him in 1872, Baker writes:--“On the 26th of April I made my official visit to Kabrega, my officers being in full uniform, and headed by a band of music. I found him in his divan, a roomy, well-built structure, with hangings of inferior printed calico brought from Zanzibar. He was himself dressed in a piece of black striped bark. This son of Kamrasi, the descendant of the victorious Gallas, and the sixteenth king of Unyoro, is a lout about twenty years of age, awkward, unpleasant, cowardly, cruel, cunning and perfidious to the last degree. He is nearly six feet high, his complexion fair. His eyes are large, but too prominent; he has a low forehead, projecting cheek-bones, and a wide mouth, with teeth as white as ivory. His hands are well-shaped, the finger-nails, as well as toe-nails, being clean and carefully cut. He wears sandals of raw buffalo-hide, which are neatly made and turned in at the edges.”

This, certainly, is not a flattering portrait; but, in justice to the original, it should be stated that Dr. Junker, who saw him fourteen years afterwards, when he was consequently thirty-four years of age, says that he “was very favourably impressed by the chief’s appearance, and should consider him to be of a very amiable disposition.”

Latterly, no doubt, Kabrega has shown himself friendly to Europeans, having not only several times sent Emin contributions of material to assist him in his straits, but having done all in his power to facilitate the conveyance of his correspondence to the coast.

Nevertheless, Casati, after staying at Giuaïa for nearly a year, seems, like Baker, to have formed a mean opinion of Kabrega. In a letter to M. Camperio, dated May 2, 1887, he writes:--

“Kabrega makes no secret of his evil intentions; nothing but falsehood is on his lips. I shall, however, persevere in my mission, although Emin urges me to abandon it. If I leave here, the road is closed behind me; and unfortunately no other way is open.”

At Giuaïa Dr. Junker found some Arab traders who for some time had settled in Kabrega’s domain, but he failed for a while to enter into negotiations with them, because they were afraid that they should be compromised by having transactions with him. One day, however, he received a letter written in French from one of them, a certain Mohammed Biri, which resulted in a subsequent interview.

This Mohammed proved to be a servant who had once been attached to the Belgian station of Karema, having followed Captain Ramäckers to Lake Tanganyika. After that officer’s death, he had returned to the coast, and was now engaged in the ivory-trade in the districts in the neighbourhood of the great lakes. He gave the doctor the latest news of the Soudan, telling him that it had been abandoned by the British troops; and he described the condition of Uganda, mentioning that some European missionaries were resident there.

This was a statement that could not fail to arrest Junker’s attention. It raised his spirits, and he wrote off at once to the Uganda missionaries. Not that it was an easy matter to get into correspondence with them, and he had to wait six weeks in anxious suspense before an answer was brought back. At length, in February, a messenger arrived from Mr. Mackay of the English mission, bringing the most recent intelligence from Europe, Egypt, and Zanzibar.

“That day of the arrival of the courier,” writes the doctor, “was truly a red-letter day to me!” For three years he had had no communication with the civilised world.

Mr. Mackay confirmed and related in detail the disastrous tidings from the Soudan; he represented as still very critical the situation of the missionaries in Uganda, where on the 31st of the preceding October Bishop Hannington had been murdered at the instigation of the king; and he likewise stated that a relief-expedition had been organised, and had started from Zanzibar in August under the charge of Dr. Fischer, but that it had been prohibited from passing through Uganda, and had been compelled to return. His advice to Dr. Junker was to use the greatest caution, and by no means at present to venture without permission into the territory of the bloodthirsty Mwanga, as the life of any European was there in perpetual peril. Finally, he enclosed three letters addressed to Emin Bey; one from Nubar Pasha, the Egyptian Prime Minister, instructing him to abandon the province of the Equator; one from Sir John Kirk, the English Consul at Zanzibar; and the third from the Sultan, Saïd-Bargash.

Then followed three weary and disheartening months. Acting on Mr. Mackay’s counsel, Junker applied to Mwanga for permission to pass through his dominions. He knew well enough that elsewhere there was no chance of purchasing materials for the relief of Emin, nor any chance of finding for himself means to reach the coast. Pending the receipt of a reply, he made a move nearer to the Uganda frontier, but on the way he had the misfortune to injure himself seriously by a fall, and at the same time found himself in perplexity through the desertion of his porters, whilst to add to his difficulties it was discovered that hostilities were recommencing between Unyoro and Uganda.

This state of warfare may be said to be chronic. The two kingdoms are only separated by a small intervening tract which is overrun by troops of armed marauders. Across this runs the natural route for caravans, and all the Arab and native traders, travelling between Lake Victoria or Lake Albert and the Soudan, have to be protected by an escort, and so dangerous is the country that the march is most frequently made by night.

After meeting with many obstacles and effecting some hair-breadth escapes, Junker found himself safely over this debateable land, and having obtained the permission for which he had asked, he entered the Uganda territory, and arrived in May at Rubaga, King Mwanga’s capital.

Of all the large states in the basin of Lake Victoria, none is so well known as that of Uganda. It encompasses the north and north-west sides of the Lake, and its area can hardly be estimated at much less than 20,000 square miles. According to the accounts of the travellers who have gone through it, there seems little doubt that it is one of the finest parts of Equatorial Africa, its soil near the Lake being exceptionally fertile. The forests are luxuriant, containing trees of the largest growth; beyond these are plains abundant in pasturage for cattle, bananas and fig-trees flourishing in perfection. Further west, the country changes its character, and instead of woods and prairies, there are imposing hills rifted into valleys, that echo with the rushing of torrents and the roar of cataracts.

The first chief of Uganda who was ever visited by Europeans was the notorious Mtesa, who has been repeatedly pourtrayed by Speke, Chaillé-Long, Stanley, Linant de Bellefond, and others. Always ready to welcome the white man with cordiality, in 1880 he had advanced so far as to make up his mind to despatch an embassy to Europe.

Several weeks, in 1874, were spent at the court of this negro sovereign by Stanley, who gives a very striking account of Uganda, its ruler, and his military power. At a review of the army to which he was invited, he computed that there could be no less than 150,000 soldiers, who were then about to be led on an expedition against the Wahuma. The bodyguard was composed of 600 picked men, all armed with rifles. Besides the army, the chief’s harem, consisting of 5000 wives, concubines, and slaves, was exhibited on parade. In Central Africa, as well as upon the banks of the Upper Nile and the Congo, a large number of wives is regarded as a proof of wealth; each woman has her market value, and may at any time be exchanged for stuffs, guns, beads, cattle, or other merchandise.

Mtesa’s navy was hardly less imposing than his army. On the lake were 230 war-canoes of all sizes; the largest was seventy-five feet long and manned by sixty-four rowers. Altogether the naval force was eight thousand men.

Some doubts have been expressed as to the accuracy of the foregoing figures; yet when the testimony of such men as Wilson and Felkin, missionaries who have resided in the country, is taken into account, stating the population to exceed 5,000,000, and when moreover it is remembered that every man is trained to arms, so as to be ready for immediate service, the muster of 150,000 soldiers in time of war does not lie outside the range of probability.

But whether this estimate be exaggerated or not, it is certain that travellers are of one mind in declaring that of all the African states Uganda is the most advanced in all matters pertaining to civilisation; and since 1862, when Speke and Grant first made their way thither, no other tribe has made so forward a stride in internal development.

Equally rich and diversified are the products of the soil; the climate is by no means variable and comparatively healthy; the inhabitants (numerous as it has been affirmed they are) are brave, intelligent, and singularly open to the influences of civilisation, whether from Arabs or Europeans. The Arabs from Zanzibar, quite as much as the English and French missionaries, are struggling hard for mastery over the minds of the people, and Islamism is making marked progress.

It has not taken much more than twenty years for Arab example to effect a complete revolution in the costume of the natives. At the date of Speke’s visit, clothing was worn to the most limited extent; but now the Uganda as well as the Unyoro dress themselves from head to foot. Arab garments have gradually replaced the “mbougu” of bark, and the very poorest of the people are seen attired in haïk, shirt, waistband and caftan, and wear tarbooshes or turbans on their heads.

Mtesa died in 1885; he was succeeded by his son Mwanga, who is now the reigning sovereign.

No sooner was Mwanga on the throne than he began to feel uneasy about the maintenance of his independence, and to have misgivings lest the advance of Europeans on Lake Victoria should damage or diminish his authority. Every fresh advent of an exploring party, every new arrival of missionaries, and especially any display of military strength, and--not least--the territorial acquisitions of the Germans in Zanzibar, all served to arouse his suspicion and to increase his apprehensions. As his alarm increased the position of the English and French missionaries at Rubaga grew more and more critical; and at last his fears that the white man would come and “eat up” all his lands became so intense that he gave orders for all intruders to be massacred. Hence resulted the cruel murder of Bishop Hannington, who had ventured into Uganda with the hope of establishing a Christian settlement. Out of a caravan of fifty who came with him, only four escaped.

Such was the condition of the country into which Dr. Junker now dared to enter. He was obliged to act with the utmost circumspection, and so remained unmolested for six weeks in the royal capital. Moreover, as the result of his patience, and through the mediation of Mr. Mackay, he succeeded in effecting a purchase of stuffs for Emin Bey to the value of 2000 dollars. Mohammed Biri, the merchant whom he had met in Unyoro, chanced to be in Rubaga, and undertook the conveyance of the goods to Wadelai, a good service which he faithfully executed after some opposition on the part of the king, to the great relief of Emin and his followers, who had been so far reduced towards a state of nudity, that they had been compelled to clothe themselves with the skins of animals.

Having thus enjoyed the satisfaction of providing in some degree for the needs of those whom he had left behind, Junker turned his thoughts to the prosecution of his journey. He made a few hurried preparations, and on the 22nd of July, embarking on one of the mission-boats, he set out to cross Lake Victoria.

The great Nyanza, discovered by Speke on the 4th of August 1858, and named by him after his own sovereign, is the largest lake-basin in the whole continent of Africa. Its area is 21,500 square miles, so that it is twice as large as Belgium; there is only one lake in the world that exceeds it in size, namely, Lake Superior in Canada. Its vast surface is studded with islands, some 250 of which are clustered in the north-west into an archipelago known as Sesse, all of them characterised by singular beauty.

Storms and waterspouts are of frequent occurrence; and contrary winds with violent squalls compelled Dr. Junker more than once to take refuge on some of the islands, so that it was not until the 16th of August, twenty-six days after starting, that he reached the southern extremity of the lake, where he landed near the village of Msalala, the missionaries from the settlement there hastening to offer him hospitality, and aiding him to procure the means for continuing his journey to the coast.

Now secure from all the perils of barbarism, he wrote a letter to Dr. Schweinfurth, expressing his emotion at his deliverance, after six weeks’ sojourn in Uganda, from the hands of the bloody king who had murdered the English bishop, and, at the same time, exhibiting his deep anxiety on behalf of those whom he had left at Wadelaï, and who had been so closely associated with him in trial and danger. A copy of portions of this letter is appended:--

“ENGLISH MISSION, MSALALA, SOUTHERN EXTREMITY OF LAKE VICTORIA, _April 16th, 1886_.

“DEAR FRIEND,--Escaped from the clutches of Mwanga, of Uganda, I reached this place this morning, and hasten to take advantage of the first courier leaving the Mission for the coast, to send you a few lines.

“Forty porters and a few Zanzibaris have been already engaged, and in a few days I hope to continue my journey towards Ujiji, thence to Bagamoyo.

“Is it possible that nothing is being done for these unfortunate equatorial provinces?... Write, my dear friend, write!... Let vigorous articles from your pen be at once the means of opening the eyes of the public to the truth....

“For my part, I shall do what is possible. It is absolutely necessary that Emin Bey should at once have relief. At Uganda I managed to procure him 2000 dollars’ worth of cotton goods, in spite of the obstacles which Mwanga threw in the way. These were to be conveyed to him by a certain Mohammed Biri, but had not been despatched when I was obliged to leave.

“European prestige here is already on the decline. It will be a dire disgrace if Europe makes no effort now. Let Mwanga and his agents be put down! Let Uganda be rescued from their power! Let Emin Bey be delivered from danger! Let the equatorial provinces be re-conquered!

These are the hopes that animate me as I come back to Europe. Write to me, I pray you. Send me a long letter to Zanzibar.--I close this in haste. Your affectionate friend, lost and found again,

“WILHELM JUNKER.”

When, two months later, these lines were submitted to the public in Egypt and in Europe, no one could read them unmoved; they made the state of things so clear, and witnessed so unmistakably to the perilous situation of Emin, exposed, without provisions or ammunition, to the attack of hostile tribes, and especially to the treachery of the bloody Mwanga, that the appeal of one who had shared his imprisonment, and had escaped only by facing terrible risks, could not fail to arrest attention and to excite a generous sympathy.

Helped forwards on his journey by the Msalala missionaries, Junker reached Ujiji, near Tabora, on the 18th of September, whence he had the escort of the renowned Tippoo Tib, the Arab trader, who had rendered such signal service to Livingstone, Cameron, and Stanley, and without further misadventure arrived at Zanzibar at the beginning of December.

On the 10th of January 1887, he landed at Suez, where he was met by his brother, the banker of St. Petersburg, and by Dr. Schweinfurth.

He had spent seven years in the heart of Africa.