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 THE OPENING OF TRADE 
 
 CULTIVATION OF TROPICAL PRODUCTS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 KINGDOM OF USAMBARA, 
 
 
 EAST AFRICA. 
 

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EAST AFRICA. 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 Relating to the formation of a large Planting Enterprise 
 on the healthy mountain ranges of Usambara, on the 
 East Coast of Africa, and the establishment of a European 
 Settlement in connection therewith, as the surest and 
 most practicable means of promoting Trade in those 
 parts, and carrying Civilisation into the populous 
 countries of Central Africa by the most direct and least 
 difficult route, viz., from Tanga Harbour on the Indian 
 Ocean, to Speke Gulf on the south of the Great Victoria 
 Lake (Victoria N’yanza), passing through Usambara, 
 and through the open pastoral countries of Para, 
 Masai, and thickly-peopled Usukuma. The distance 
 from point to point, as the crow flies, being about 
 440 statute miles. 
 

 
 
 
EAST AFRICA. 
 
 PART T. 
 
 PROPOSAL to send a Delegation to H.H, THE SULTAN 
 OF ZANZIBAR to solicit certain Concessions 
 and Privileges. 
 
 A draft Prospectus, entitled “ The East Africa Syndicate,” 
 printed in December, 1883, proposed a scheme for a large planting- 
 enterprise on the mountain ranges of Usambara, near the sea 
 coast of East Africa, almost opposite to the Island of Zanzibar, for 
 the cultivation, under European management, of coffee, tea, cocoa, 
 and other tropical products, which will not only yield very handsome 
 profits, but be the means, by the very fact of its necessitating a 
 considerable resident European staff, of pushing trade, which is 
 the forerunner of civilisation, into that country, and through it 
 into the interior of Africa. 
 
 The mountains of Usambara commence at not more than 
 25 miles from the sea, for 15 miles of which there is good water 
 carriage by the Zigi, a fine river which discharges into the 
 harbour of Tanga, perhaps the finest harbour on the East Coast 
 of Africa, which, with a considerable extent of country between it 
 and Usambara, belongs to His Highness The Sultan of Zanzibar. 
 
 These mountains range to an elevation of over 5,000 feet 
 above the sea, thus affording a climate well adapted to Europeans, 
 and in every respect suitable for the successful growing of the 
 above-named and many other tropical products. 
 
 The Universities’ Mission have a large station at Magila, in 
 Usambara (established in 1867), of which the Venerable Arch¬ 
 deacon Farler is the chief, and in testimony of his approval of the 
 scheme of the prospectus the following letter is referred to:— 
 
4 
 
 “ Pampisford Vicarage, Cambridge, 
 
 2 nd January , 1884. 
 
 “ My dear Sir,—I tbank you for the oopy of the Prospectus 
 of the ‘ East Africa Syndicate,’ which you have sent to me. 
 
 “ I shall be quite willing to give my support and influence 
 to such a scheme, on the condition that every care shall be taken 
 not to interfei’e in any way with the growing Christianity of the 
 people of Usambara, either by bad example or by ignoring the 
 claims of religion on the part of any of the employes of the 
 Company; also that the introduction or sale of spirits shall be 
 strictly prohibited. 
 
 “ Knowing as I do the great capabilities of Usambara, such 
 a scheme as you propose ought not only to benefit the Share¬ 
 holders in a pecuniary sense, but also to elevate and civilise the 
 natives of the country. 
 
 “ I ask you for these guarantees, for I shall have to satisfy 
 the native chiefs of the bona fides of the Company, and that its 
 introduction will bring neither loss nor trouble upon them or 
 their people. 
 
 “ Satisfied on these points, I will give you every assistance 
 by introductions to the native chiefs, by advising them to sell 
 you land, and by pledging myself that your coming will be for 
 their benefit and for the benefit of their people. 
 
 “ Believe me, yours very faithfully, 
 
 “ (Signed) J. P. FABLER, 
 
 “ Archdeacon of Magila, in Usambara. 
 
 “ To David B. Lindsay, Esq.” 
 
 The first step towards carrying out such a scheme is to solicit 
 the permission and support of His Highness The Sultan together 
 with certain concessions, and to obtain the goodwill and approval of 
 Sir John Kirk, H.B.M. Political Agent at Zanzibar. With 
 this view it is proposed to send a special delegation to Zanzibar, 
 and, if successful, to subsequently explore Usambara, to test the 
 practicability of purchasing suitable lands there, and the means of 
 access to them, &c. 
 
 It is estimated that the cost of such mission will not exceed 
 £1000, subscriptions to which are proposed to be raised by a 
 Syndicate formed by the holders of Shares of £10 each, such 
 Shares being registered with limited liability. 
 
 I bring forward the following reasons for believing that His 
 Highness the Sultan will regard the scheme with favor, provided 
 that a company be hereafter formed with sufficient capital to carry 
 it out, and that the goodwill of Sir John Kirk be solicited in the 
 name of gentlemen of recognized position:— 
 
First .—The antecedents of the Sultan show him to be well disposed 
 to favor, and indeed it may be said to aid, any sound scheme 
 of improvement, and all the more, as may be surmised, if such 
 scheme should hold out prospects of increasing the revenues 
 of his country. 
 
 Thus Stanley writes in the second chapter of his 
 “ Through the Dark Continent” :— 
 
 “ To a company, however, which can raise the sum required 
 to construct a Tramway, East Africa holds out special advantages. 
 The Sultan himself offers the handsome sum of five lakhs of 
 dollars, or roughly £100,000.” 
 
 Second .—By the proposed scheme the Sultan’s revenue 
 cannot fail to benefit very largely, for the port or ports 
 connected with the undertaking, being within His Highness’ 
 territory, would of course levy customs dues which must soon 
 swell to a large amount—and to an amount far exceeding any 
 present idea—when communication shall be open by rail with 
 the great lake, Victoria N’yanza, an event which is pro¬ 
 bably only a question of time. 
 
 Third .—Such increase of revenue, immediate and prospective, 
 would be all the more appreciated by His Highness, as it Avould 
 spring from entirely new sources, and would not be derived, 
 or at least not to any appreciable extent, from trade at present 
 existing, and passing through and yielding revenue at any 
 other ports, or ever likely to do so. 
 
 Fourth .—It may be reasonably assumed that any project such as 
 this, the promoters of which shall have been well introduced 
 to him— and holding out as it does the prospect of largely 
 increasing the Sultan's revenue, without any outlay, or loss 
 of territory or prestige on his part—will obtain the goodwill 
 of Sir John Kirk. 
 
 It is submitted that this scheme will recommend itself to the 
 public as well on the ground of profit as of philanthropy, as 
 specially commented on in Part II. and Part III. respectively. 
 
PART II. 
 
 Profits to be Derived from Land Pdrchased and 
 Planting Enterprise in Usambara. 
 
 AS REGARDS PROFIT. 
 
 It would not be possible under present circumstances to 
 name a limit to the extent of Forest Lands which maybe acquired 
 in Usambara, and in the countries north of it, suitable for 
 planting purposes and for European life, but as Usambara alone 
 contains something like five million acres of land, and it is 
 known that great wastes of forests extend far to the north ol it, 
 it may be fairly assumed that at least one million acres of available 
 land may be bought from the King and Chiefs in fee simple, and 
 apart from the large profits eventually to be derived by the 
 cultivation of coffee,* tea, cocoa, and such like products and the 
 
 * Grant mentions coffee as being cultivated, in considerable quantities, 
 for a spirit distilled from the unripe berries, at and about the equator, at 4,000 
 feet above sea-level, also at Karagwe 1° 40" south latitude, where Cameron 
 likewise saw it, and mentions it as indigenous. 
 
 Sir Samuel Baker, on his journey from the Nile towards Victoria 
 N’yanza, when in about 1° 50 " north latitude, writes, “ Yesterday the natives 
 brought coffee in small quantities to sell. It is a small and linely-shaped 
 grain, with a good flavour. * * * It is brought from the country of 
 Utumbi.” Utumbi is situate about 1° north latitude, extending from Karagwe 
 northwards. Baker also mentions having seen coffee growing wild in forests 
 near Albert N’yanza. 
 
 Archdeacon Farler states that he has occasionally received coffee grown 
 in villages of Usambara, and samples of Coffee and Sugar grown on the high 
 lands south-east of Nyassa N’yanza, in Central Africa, recently sent by the 
 Rev. Horace Waller to Messrs. Patry & Pasteur, the well-known brokers, are 
 reported on by them as follows Both samples are remarkably good of 
 their Kind, and of qualities which are very current and would always find a 
 ready sale in London, supposing there was a regular supply of them. Both 
 reflect much credit on those who, in that distant land, have succeeded in 
 growing, and especially in preparing, both the Coffee and Sugar for the 
 market. The Coffee particularly is remarkable for the depth and brightness 
 
7 
 
 more immediate profits by trading and availing of the present 
 natural products of the country such as india-rubber and timber, 
 very large and speedy returns will be obtained by sales of land 
 for planting purposes, to small capitalists, who will assuredly flock 
 to the place, as they did to Ceylon in 1840, so soon as it can be 
 shown that land can be bought, and that the products above 
 named can be profitably grown and easily shipped, with all the 
 elements of reasonable safety and security, which will be remarked 
 on further on (Part III). 
 
 The Following is avhat occurred in Ceylon. 
 
 In 1831 the first cart road to the interior (Colombo to 
 Kandy) was opened. 
 
 In 1833 Sir Edward Barnes commenced the first regular 
 coffee plantation. In 1835 two other plantations were started. In 
 1837 several others were commenced, and so soon as the news of 
 their success had filtered to this country (then a four months’ 
 journey), planters flocked to the Island, so that by 1840 a perfect 
 rush for land had set in. 
 
 The records of the Government Land sales show that :— 
 
 From 1833 to 1843 there were sold 267,373 acres, for 
 
 £142,758 ; to a great extent between 1840 and 1843. 
 
 From 1833 to 1879 there were sold 1,145,467 acres, for 
 
 £1,806,503, of which it has been computed that two-thirds 
 
 were sold to Europeans for coffee and cocoa-nut plantations. 
 
 The export of coffee increased from 16,000 cwts. in 1830, 
 to 1,013,904 cwts. in 1870. 
 
 The area of land planted with coffee by European planters 
 is stated to have been 220,000 acres in 1878, employing 
 380,000 coolies, and superintended by fully 1,000 Europeans. 
 
 It would be rash to fix a limit to the extent of land in 
 Usambara, which may be obtained by a company and sold to 
 planters, who would settle on the hills as they have done in Ceylon, 
 but it is safe to say that there will be found at least as much as 
 has been planted there, and probably very much more, for the 
 valleys appear to be one vast gigantic forest of the very finest 
 description. 
 
 of its color, which gives to it a value, probably much greater as a fancy 
 Coffee, suitable for certain foreign markets, than it would merely possess 
 from its strength when roasted ; and it compares favorably, for appearance, 
 with the products of European plantations in British India, Ceylon and 
 Java. * * * It is large, well picked, and very clean-looking, smooth 
 
 and even, and of bright deep bluish-green color, and worth in this market 
 about 85s. per cwt. in bond.” 
 
8 
 
 Here then will arise an enormous source of profit, worthy the 
 attention of capitalists. 
 
 With respect to the capabilities of East Africa, there cannot 
 be any question of cloubt. 
 
 Mr. Lyons McLeod, F.R.G.S., Her Majesty’s Consul at 
 Mozambique (1856 to 1860), wrote and published in 1860 :— 
 
 “ The Kingdom of Kimweri ” (father of the present King) 
 “ or Usambara, more generally known as the Pangany district, is 
 rich in produce, which may be increased to supply any demand. 
 The sugar cane is very luxui’iant in its growth, and forests of 
 magnificent timber await the woodman’s axe, with the Pangany 
 and its tributaries to carry it to the ocean.” 
 
 Hr. Krapf, the well-known German missionary, visited 
 Usambara in 1848, and again in 1849, and wrote of the forests : — 
 
 “ This forest is worth millions of money for its fine long 
 and straight timber, being useful for ship-building as for 
 carpentering;” and further on—“We descended into a large 
 forest of timber, sufficient for centuries to come. The trees 
 are big and straight, from 70 to 100 feet in height.” 
 
 Archdeacon Farler, Avhose letter of 2nd January, 1884, has 
 been already referred to, read a very interesting account of 
 Usambara to the Royal Geographical Society, on the 25th 
 November, 1878, from which I make the following extracts, as 
 tending to show the capability of the lands for the growth of 
 tropical productions, and especially for coffee, tea, and cocoa :— 
 
 “ Speaking roughly, it lies between 4° 20" and 5° 25" lat. S., 
 and 38° 20" and 39° 10" long. E. 
 
 “ The mountains form four detached lines running due 
 north and south, rising in the higher peaks to about 6,000 feet above 
 the sea-level. They are separated from each other by elevated 
 valleys, table-lands and terraces. * * * 
 
 “ The country is well watered ; every mountain has its 
 spring and every valley its streamlet.” 
 
 Descriptive of a fine valley situate between the range of 
 mountains called Msesa and the Hendei range, respectively 2,900 
 feet and 4,000 feet above the sea, the Archdeacon writes : — 
 
 “ We descended into the forest ” (it is one vast unbroken 
 forest), “ which quite fulfilled my idea of a tropical climate. The 
 trees were large, there was no jungle’’ (meaning underwood), 
 “only an endless variety of splendid fei'ns. We were six hours 
 crossing this valley, and the trees entirely kept out the sunlight. 
 When the men were not talking there was a silence that became 
 painful. The country is undulating, with now and then a great 
 granite boulder covered with a growth of ferns. * * * 
 
9 
 
 “ When we consider the wondrous fertility of this country, 
 together with its vicinity to the coast, the mountains being 
 separated from the sea by a level plain of thirty miles, it is 
 impossible to doubt that it has a great future before it.” 
 
 The late Mr. Keith Johnston made a short excursion 
 into Usambara in February and March, 1879 (accompanied by 
 Mr. Joseph Thomson), whose report on which was read at a 
 Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, held on 23rd June, 
 1879, from which I quote as follows:— 
 
 “ Looking west and north-west from Msesa, the view extends 
 over a wide basin, enclosing several minor ridges and valleys, to 
 the long high range of Hendei, which bounds the horizon. All 
 this area is so densely covered with dark tree tops, that not a 
 spot of open ground is to be seen except on the very summits of 
 one or two of the highest of the distant hills. North-east and 
 south-west the prospect is closed in by mountains somewhat 
 higher than this of Msesa * * * Our men complained 
 
 bitterly of the cold, and kept up fires all night, though to us the 
 night air was only refreshingly cool. * * * 
 
 “ At daybreak on the 4th the valleys beneath us were still 
 shrouded in mist, and this had not altogether cleared off when Ave 
 began the descent into the dark forest on our way to Hendei an 
 hour later. The whole of this day’s march was through such 
 dense forest that we scarcely saw the sun. The path wound 
 through short underwood of shrubs of great variety * * * * 
 
 “ Some of the trees we had passed in the ascent ” (referring to 
 the return journey by a more northerly route) “ were giants of 8 to 
 10 feet in diameter above the converging point of the broad, 
 flat, perpendicular buttresses which support their base ; they rise 
 often 60 to 70 feet clear without a branch, and their ivliole height 
 is not less than 150 to 200 feet. The undergrowth is generally 
 short, the ground often clear and strewed with a matting of dead 
 leaves; the branches above interlace so closely as to exclude the 
 sunlight, and produce a dim subdued light between the great 
 pillar-like stems. 
 
 “ Another steep climb of half-an-hour up a rough torrent bed 
 brought us to the forest covered summit which is probably 4,500 
 feet above sea-level. 
 
 “ This moon in the Magila district is that of the ‘ Mona ya 
 Mwaka ’ the rain of the year, which precedes the three months 
 of the ‘ Masoka ’ or rainy season that lasts till the end of May 
 * * * The showers which come again from the north in 
 November are also called ‘Mavayamaka’ and then there is a 
 lesser planting time.” 
 
 Mr. Joseph Thomson, describing the same journey, 
 Avrote :— 
 
 “ It was indeed a marvellous forest; every tree a veritable 
 giant, rising with bare trunk as if struggling for the free air of 
 
10 
 
 f 
 
 heaven, to a height of 70 to 100 feet before branching;” and 
 further on, when on the second day’s march, and nearer to 
 Hendei—“ Through this we groped our way through a light 
 sombre and gloomy. The grandeur and peculiar forms of the 
 forest trees continually evoked our admiration, rising as they did 
 fi’om 100 to 200 feet in height, with trunks of proportional 
 thickness.” 
 
 Lieut, (now Commander) Cameron, C.B., writes that 
 cotton is cultivated almost everywhere, and grows wild in Ufipa. 
 Archdeacon Farler specially mentions that it is indigenous in 
 Usambara, and of good quality, though not cultivated. 
 
 Mr. Lyons McLeod writes :— 
 
 “ In the foregoing pages attention has been drawn to the 
 capabilities which East Africa offers, on its coast line, for the 
 production of the finest cotton, by the fact of its whole sea-board 
 being washed by that great ocean current which subsequently, 
 in its coarse on the east coast of America, obtains the name of 
 the Gulf Stream. The wonderful effect which the heat contained 
 in this great body of water has on the climate of England, and 
 other more torridly-situate countries, is a fact too well-attested 
 to be disputed. For my present purpose it will be simply 
 necessary for me to state that the long and beautiful staple of 
 the Sea Island cotton is produced by the warm yet humid atmo¬ 
 sphere arising from the Gulf Stream, accompanied by the saline 
 breezes on the islands and coast of America : and similarly that 
 cotton of the Sea Island quality may be likewise produced on the 
 east coast of Africa and the Islands of the Ethiopian Archi¬ 
 pelago, bathed by this great oceanic current. In proof of 
 which I would point to the cotton now grown on the Seychelles, 
 and also to that produced on the coast line of the British colony 
 of Natal.” 
 
 India-rubber abounds in most of the forests, though as yet 
 scarcely availed of, and gutta-percha is known to exist. 
 
 All these valuable products, and many others, await only the 
 introduction of European skill, energy and capital, to bring in 
 large and almost immediate returns. 
 
 As regards Security for Life and Property in 
 
 Usambara. 
 
 Dr. Krapf, from whom I have already quoted, wrote in 
 
 1849 :— 
 
 “ Never have I travelled anywhere so comfortably as in 
 Usambara ; for here I am not tormented by the monster mendi¬ 
 cancy, or at least it assumes a very modest form, whilst, as 
 regards security, I do not believe that one could be safer in any 
 European country than in Usambara, provided the country is 
 not in a state of war.’’ 
 
11 
 
 But one established fact is worth a hundred arguments. Is it 
 not patent to the world that the Missionaries of Magila, with their 
 various outlying stations, have lived in CJsambara for now seventeen 
 years, in peace and perfect security, and Lieutenant Cameron 
 writes, specially referring to the people of Africa, “ wherever 
 Missionaries prove that the white man can live and travel, there 
 trade is certain to be established.” 
 
 It is quite true, as is often said, that the Missionary is single- 
 minded, and works only for the good of the people, but it is also 
 true that a planting enterprise, started on the Mountains of 
 Usambara, by giving profitable employment to thousands of its 
 native inhabitants, would shower benefits upon them which they 
 would not be slow to perceive and appreciate ; but for the matter 
 of that, the European element necessary to Plantations would 
 soon, under proper restriction, be powerful enough to command 
 respect, and insure perfect security both to life and property. 
 
 Labour. 
 
 It is not pretended that sufficient labour could be found at 
 present in Usambara to carry out any considerable planting- 
 operations—nor was such found in Ceylon. There, Coolies came 
 readily from India, marching even distances of 600 miles, often 
 through unhealthy countries, to earn the rupee, and of the 380,000 
 men already mentioned as employed on the Plantations, probably 
 not 500 are natives of the island. So will it be in Usambara. 
 When demand arises, the enticing dollar will attract labour from 
 far and near, even from the populous country of Usukuma, 
 whose people Stanley found so friendly, and of whom he wrote, 
 £< If kindly treated, I do not know more docile and good-natured 
 creatures.” Usukuma is not more than 400 miles, as the crow 
 flies, from what would probably be the Coffee and Tea. growing- 
 districts of Usambara, and its people, even now, find their way to 
 Zanzibar to earn wages as porters, the distance being, under any 
 circumstances, not under 600 statute miles by the route which 
 Stanley followed. 
 
 The importance of an abundant supply of labour from 
 adjacent countries cannot be too highly rated. It is, I consider, 
 one of the strong points in favour of Usambara, that it will be able 
 to draw men from the neighbourhood of Victoria N’yanza, to any 
 reasonable extent, without the intervention of expensive and 
 difficult modes of transit. It is the want of such supply which 
 over-weights and prevents progress in British Borneo and 
 Sarawak. It deprives the planters of the Mauritius and the West 
 Indian Islands of what would otherwise be handsome profits, and 
 it is to the fact of the superabundant labour, always to be had for 
 ci-op work, from adjacent India, that Ceylon, with its generally 
 
12 
 
 poor soil, owes its wonderful rise and the continuance of its 
 existence. Usambara is similarly Avell located, and when the day 
 arrives for the opening of a railway through it to the great lake, 
 there will be no other country to compare with it for the production 
 of Coffee and Tea, both of which call for a sudden rush of labour 
 at crop time. 
 
 Health. 
 
 The low-land or plains between the base of the mountains and 
 the sea coast is, no doubt, more or less unhealthy and hot, as it is 
 in Ceylon and elsewhere in the same latitude. Archdeacon 
 Farler, however, remarks that “ many parts of it are most fertile 
 —and I believe healthy, for I have frequently passed nights in it, 
 sleeping in the open air, without experiencing any ill effects.'’ At 
 about 10 miles from the sea the country becomes undulating, with 
 ridges rising 500 to 600 feet above sea-level, and ofUmba, the 
 chief town of the district, which is 600 feet above sea-level, 
 Archdeacon Farler writes: “It is not at all unhealthy, for two 
 European members of the Universities’ Mission have lived there 
 for two years without any serious illness or attacks of malarial 
 fever.” On the hills, at 2,000 feet above sea-level and upwaids, 
 the climate is all that a European could desire ; even at Magila, 
 which is only 790 feet above sea-level, the climate is good, and in 
 the month of June, as Archdeacon Farler says, it is “ delicious.” 
 
 It may here be stated that, as a rule, land was not bought in 
 Ceylon as a speculation, but for planting purposes, although, in a 
 few isolated cases, sales were made at greatly increased prices. 
 The enterprise, which has made Ceylon so prosperous, may be said 
 to have been formed for the most part by young men of moderate 
 means, who resorted to it as a means of employment, and of good 
 investment for their comparatively small capital, there being a lack 
 of both in this country ; and if such was the case in 1840 to 1850, 
 it will certainly apply much more to the present time, when the 
 Bank of England rate of interest is 4 per cent., and thousands of 
 young men are wasting the best years of their lives in offices in 
 our cities on a mere pittance, without any hope of improvement. 
 
 Moreover, in the early days of Ceylon Planting, exchange 
 ruled generally 4 to 8 per cent, against the Planter, now it may 
 be called 20 per cent, in his favour. Freight, say £4 per ton 
 against £l 10s. to £2 now. Length of voyage to this country 
 was four to eight months, now one month to six weeks; and to 
 crown all, little was known of the proper cultivation of Coffee, 
 and the machinery for preparing it was of the rudest nature ; now, 
 by the skill and energy of the Ceylon Planter, both have arrived 
 at a stage of perfection, which probably does not exist in any other 
 country, and of all this the Usambara Planter can avail. 
 
PART III. 
 
 Philanthropy and Ambition. 
 
 Mr. Lyons McLeod, whose work is referred to (Part II.) 
 dedicated it in the following stirring words :— 
 
 “ To the Merchants and Members of Chambers of Commerce 
 of Great Britain and Ireland , 1860. 
 
 “ Gentlemen:—Impressed with the conviction that, 
 from the most remote time, civilization and Christianity have 
 been best promoted by commerce, which binds rival nations 
 in the bonds of peace, I respectfully dedicate this work to the 
 mercantile portion of my countrymen, in the hope that, by 
 their united efforts, slavery may be made to disappear from 
 the continent of Africa, through the establishment of com¬ 
 mercial relations, especially with that portion of its coast and 
 the neighbouring Ethiopian Archipelago, including the 
 fertile island of Madagascar described in the following pages.” 
 
 Commander Cameron wrote in 1877, descriptive of his 
 journey to Lake Tanganika :— 
 
 “ Passing through the ruins of so many deserted villages 
 once the homes of happy and contented people, was indescribably 
 saddening. Where now are those who built them and cultivated 
 the surrounding fields ? Where ? Driven off as slaves, massacred 
 by villains engaged in a war in which these poor wretches had no 
 interest, or dead of starvation or disease in the jungle. 
 
 “ Africa is bleeding out her life blood at every pore. A rich 
 countiy, requiring only labour to render it one of the greatest 
 producers in the world, is having its population, already far too 
 scanty for its needs, daily depleted by the slave-trade and 
 internecine war. 
 
 “ Should the present state of affairs be allowed to continue, 
 the country will gradually relapse into jungles and wilds, and 
 will become more and more impenetrable to the merchant and 
 traveller. 
 
14 
 
 “ That this should he a possibility is a blot on the boasted 
 civilization of the Nineteenth Century, and should England, with 
 her mills working half-time, and with distress in the manufactur¬ 
 ing districts, neglect the opportunity of opening a market which 
 would give employment to thousands of the working classes, it 
 will ever remain an inexplicable enigma. * * # * The question 
 now before the civilised world is, whether the slave-trade in 
 Africa, which causes at the lowest estimate an annual loss of 
 500,000 lives, is to be permitted to continue. Everyone worthy 
 of the name of a man will say, ‘ No ! ’ Let us then hope that 
 England, which has hitherto occupied the proud position of 
 being foremost amongst the friends of the unfortunate slave, 
 may still hold her place. Let those who seek to employ money 
 now lying idle join together to open the trade of Africa.” 
 
 At the important Jubilee Meeting, held at the Guildhall, on 
 the 1st August, 1884, under the presidency of his Royal Highness 
 The Prince of Wales, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 
 Emancipation of the West Indian Slaves, the Earl of Gran¬ 
 ville spoke as follows: — 
 
 “ It has been said, and with great truth, that legitimate 
 trade is the best antidote to the slave trade.” 
 
 Mr. Forster said:— 
 
 “ There was another ground for hope, and there was more 
 reason for feeling it now than for a long time past, that was, that 
 they might destroy slavery at its very source, introduce trade 
 into the very heart of Africa, make it no longer the interest of 
 dealers to sell slaves, and to rally the men themselves to resist f 
 the slave dealers.” 
 
 The horrible scenes of which Dr. Livingstone was an eye¬ 
 witness, following the line of march of slave caravans, cannot yet 
 have been forgotten, but in order to prevent it being thought that 
 such belong to a bygone time, and do not occur now, I will give 
 something of more recent date : 
 
 Mr. Jos. Thomson, a most accurate describer of what he 
 had himself witnessed, wrote, 10th November, 1879 ;— 
 
 “ Crossing the River Eise, our party commenced the ascent 
 of the bordering precipices of the lake (Tanganika) * * * Half¬ 
 way up the ascent a sad spectacle met our eyes—a chained gang 
 of women and children. They were descending the rocks with 
 the utmost difficulty, and picking their steps with great care, as, 
 from the manner in which they were chained together, the fall 
 of one meant not only the fall of many others, but probably actual 
 strangulation or dislocation of the neck. The women, though 
 thus chained with iron by the neck, were many of them 
 carrying their children on their backs, besides very heavy loads 
 
15 
 
 on their heads. Their faces and general appearance told of 
 starvation and utmost hardship, and their naked bodies spoke 
 with ghastly eloquence of the flesh-cutting lash. Their dull 
 despairing gaze expressed the loss of all hope of either life or 
 liberty, and they looked like a band marching to the 
 grave * * # 
 
 Saddest of all was that of a string of little children, torn 
 from their home and playmates, wearily following the gang with 
 bleeding, blistered feet, reduced to perfect skeletons by starvation, 
 looking up with a piteous eye, as if beseeching us to kill them.” 
 
 And again: — 
 
 “ Camped at Mtowa, we found a large caravan of ivory and 
 slaves from Manyema, waiting, like ourselves, means of transport 
 across Lake Tanganika. There were about 1,000 slaves, all in 
 the most miserable condition, living on roots and grasses, and 
 whatever refuse and garbage they could pick up. The sight of 
 these poor creatures was of the most painful character. They 
 were moving about like skeletons covered with parchment 
 through which every bone in the body might be traced. * * * 
 
 We learned that of 3,000 slaves who started from Manyema (a 
 distance of not over 250 statute miles), only 1,000 reached Mtowa. 
 The poor wretches were carrying ivory to Ujiji and Unyanyembe 
 to be there disposed of along with themselves.” 
 
 And now for something still more recent, quoted from a letter 
 by the Rev. Joseph Williams to the Rev. W. D. Lowndes, dated 
 from Mtua, near Lindi, a seaport about 300 miles south of the 
 Island of Zanzibar, the 2nd August, 1883 : — 
 
 “ I hear that there is a large caravan with ivory and slaves 
 to pass here to-morrow from Lake Nyassa. The trade certainly 
 flourishes here in spite of the Sultan’s proclamation. You cannot 
 wonder that the Coast governors and soldiers are not very 
 keen in carrying out its provisions. It would be against human 
 nature, if they were.” 
 
 At a public meeting held in London on the 15th January last, 
 the Rev. Mr. Johnstone, recently returned from Lake Nyassa, said 
 (if I rightly understood him), that the chiefs would not be averse 
 to abandon the slave trade, if they had other means of earning a 
 living, their language being (i You take from us our trade in slaves 
 and we have no other,” from which it may be inferred that in the 
 event of profitable work being open to them they would take to it 
 and abandon the horrible traffic. Certain it is that nothing can 
 tend more effectually to terminate the deportation of slaves than 
 to raise an agricultural enterprise which will give healthy 
 employment to hundreds of thousands of the natives such as I 
 propose in Usambara. Let anyone picture to himself the fact of 
 
16 
 
 300,000 or even 100,000 natives receiving regular employment, 
 kindly treated, cared for when sick, properly housed, receiving 
 instruction, regular wages, and in daily, almost hourly, contact 
 with European managers and proprietors of the better class. The 
 result must bring civilization to the employed; and as many of 
 them would, doubtless be natives attracted from the countries of 
 Central Africa by good and regular wages, and returning periodi¬ 
 cally to visit their old homes, these would spread the glad news of 
 a country where all these good things, and the many other 
 advantages of civilization exist, AND WITH CIVILIZATION 
 SLAVERY IS DOOMED TO CEASE. 
 
 Here, then, is a scheme where the Philanthropist will find 
 ample scope for the exercise of his good and humane feelings, and 
 on that around alone it is confidently believed it will meet with 
 hearty support. 
 
 To those who are ambitious of the honour due to the initiators 
 of a very great and good work, this scheme offers special attractions. 
 
 A Company acquiring a sufficient extent of the waste lands of 
 Usambara, and converting them by direct or indirect means into 
 a vast Planting Industry, would soon, by the very force of the good 
 done and the prosperity brought to the country, obtain such ascen¬ 
 dancy that they would ere long be invited by the Chiefs and the 
 people to assume Sovereignty. For such is in the order of things, 
 and that Sovereignty would, in due time, and for the same 
 reasons,* extend to the fine countries around Victoria N’yanza, 
 ensuring to the peoples PEACE, CIVILIZATION AND 
 PROSPERITY. 
 
 I will now endeavour to show that such is not an idle 
 dream, but that it is perfectly practicable and has precedents to 
 warrant it. 
 
 Archdeacon Fakler struck the key note of that, when, 
 in his description of Usambara to the Royal Geographical Society, 
 on 25th November, 1878, he read the following, viz.: — 
 
 “ I have had several pressing invitations from the Chiefs 
 to he their King ; but I have been obliged to decline as it would 
 require far more capital than I could command to organise a 
 government. But with a government that would develope its 
 resources it would quickly repay any money laid out upon it.” 
 
 Commander Cameron wrote in 1877 :— 
 
 “ I doubt whether there is a country in Central Africa 
 where the people would not soon welcome and rally round a 
 settled form of government. * * * The negroes always seem 
 
 prone to collect round any place where they may be comparatively 
 safe from the constant raids of their enemies, and thus the 
 settlements of both East and West Coast traders frequently 
 
17 
 
 become nuclie of considerable native populations. These people 
 throwing off the yoke of their own rulers soon fall under the sway 
 of the strangers , and in any scheme for forming stations in Central 
 Africa, be they for missionary, scientific or trading purposes, the 
 fact that those in charge would soon have to exercise magisterial 
 powers must not be lost sight of.” 
 
 The correctness of this statement has not been permitted to 
 remain long a matter of doubt, as the following extract from an 
 account of “ The Operations of the Association Internationale 
 Africaine ” will show :— 
 
 “The station of Karima, established on a small elevation, 
 which in 1879 was bathed by the waters of the lake (Tanganika), 
 is now, in consequence of the fall in their level, 550 yards 
 distant from them; proprietary rights over about 1000 hectares 
 of land ”—equal to about 2,500 acres— “ are secured to the 
 station by a formal contract. The European dwellings, con¬ 
 structed of bricks, rise in the middle of a group of buildings, 
 stores, stables and sheds, covering a front of about 220 
 yards. The neighbouring plain is extraordinarily fertile, the 
 chief tropical fruit-trees growing in abundance, also cotton-trees 
 and palms. Experiments in cultivation have proved the 
 possibility of acclimatising many of the European vegetables. 
 The travellers of the Association have re-introduced sheep and 
 cattle which had disappeared from the country, and their flocks 
 and herds are thriving. A steam-launch carries the Inter¬ 
 national flag on Lake Tanganika. 
 
 “Already the peaceful and civilising influence of the 
 Belgian station makes itself felt around. Fights between the 
 neighbouring tribes have become less frequent; their Chiefs 
 voluntarily seek the arbitration of the Europeans , and one of the 
 principal sources of the slave trade tends to disappear , at all events 
 at this point. The security of the natives has become greater , and 
 this reacts on their social condition. The population of Karima 
 has increased by one-third, and the extent of cultivated land has 
 doubled. A new village has risen up around the station itself, 
 which now contains fifty dwellings, occupied by as many families. 
 Clothes and tools have been distributed among those who were 
 formerly but scantily covered by a strip of skin or bark. 
 
 “Under all circumstances the natives show that they 
 appreciate the advantage of having in the midst of them men 
 whose presence protects them and elevates their condition. 
 
 “It is therefore proved by facts that a centre of civilization can 
 be established , and can spread its light abroad, even in the heart of 
 Africa.” 
 
 The following data taken from an article by His Highness 
 the Rajah of Sarawak, which appeared in the “ Pall Mall 
 Gazette,” of 1st March, 1884, shows how the foundation of what 
 
18 
 
 will some day be a great kingdom lias been laid by one unaided 
 man, witb but small means at his command, and chaos and blood¬ 
 shed changed to peace and security. 
 
 The late Rajah, Sir James Brooke, first anchored in the 
 waters of Borneo in 1838, only 47 years ago, when, for services 
 rendered, the Sultan bestowed on him the revolted province of 
 Sarawak. 
 
 His entire fortune, including his yacht, was £30,000, all told, 
 and yet, to use the words of his nephew, the present Rajah— 
 
 “ From that small beginning lie succeeded in building up 
 a kingdom considerably larger than Scotland, in which at 
 this moment the authority of the law is as supreme as in Hyde 
 Park * * * 
 
 “ Sarawak has recently been enlarged by the addition of a 
 strip of coast line stretching 100 miles to the north. With this 
 accession of territory the coast line of Sai’awak is 330 miles in 
 length, quite as far as from the Thames to the Tweed. The 
 region under my authority extends over an area of 34,000 to 
 40,000 square miles. 
 
 “ The population of Sarawak is its weakest point * * * 
 
 it does not amount to more than 250,000 men, women, and 
 children.” 
 
 The Rajah continues : — 
 
 “ What has been done in Sarawak F 
 
 “ If any one who saw Sir J. Brooke drop anchor 47 years ago 
 off the coast of Sarawak had been told that in the year 1884 the 
 representative of that Englishman would be reigning with 
 undisputed authority over the whole of the Principality of 
 Sarawak, maintaining peace and enforcing the law, levying 
 taxation, equipping forces, and exercising all the functions of 
 Sovereignty, he would naturally have regarded the prophecy as 
 ridiculously absurd. But what would have been his amazement 
 if he had been informed that, not only would all those things 
 be accomplished, but that the foreign government established with 
 the unassisted resources of that solitary Englishman would have 
 suppressed the most cherished institutions of the natives, converted 
 the head-hunting Dyahs , for the most part, into peaceable citizens , 
 suppressed piracy, established schools, and created a commerce 
 valued at £1,000,000 annually, and is about to eradicate slavery ! 
 
 “ Such, however, is a simple statement of an accomplished 
 fact.” 
 
 A Magistrate of Sarawak, of 23 years’ standing, writes to the 
 “ Pall Mall Gazette,” in continuation of the article by the Rajah 
 above quoted :—“ That the present total revenue of Sarawak is 
 £50,000 a-year, having been created from nothing in 1838 to that 
 
19 
 
 amount in 1883 ; and that the surplus of the previous year was 
 £5,000, all of which has been accomplished by the courage and 
 far-seeing wisdom of one brave and philanthropic man ” * * * 
 But, continues the magistrate:—“ The one feature of the government 
 of Sarawak, which stands out more prominently than any other, 
 is that it is a government by consent, not a government by force.’' 
 
 “ Rajah Brooke rules in Sarawak over a large native 
 population, without any extraneous assistance or any material 
 means by which he could enforce his authority upon unwilling 
 subjects. His whole European staff never exceeds thirty, and it 
 is now little more than twenty. He has no standing army, and 
 his means of repression are absolutely nil, except so far as they 
 are supplied by the free will of his subjects. The first essential 
 to any attempt to follow the Sarawak precedent elsewhere is that 
 the ruler must govern with the consent of the governed.’' * * * 
 
 “ Our whole system is very simple, being based upon kindness, 
 firmness, and common sense.” 
 
 But Sarawak has unfortunately but a very scant population 
 and has no contiguous thickly-peopled country to fall back on for 
 labour, and the question presents itself—if under such circumstances 
 so great a lesult has been obtained there with so small an outlay, 
 what may not be achieved in Usambara with a vast population 
 within call, and a people evidently disposed to come under a 
 civilized and settled form of government ? 
 
 To go back nearly 300 years for another great example to 
 hold out before the philanthropist and man of ambition, Bruce 
 writes in his “ Annals of the Honourable East India Company”: • - 
 
 “ Whether it was from the information collected from these 
 various voyages to the East Indies, from the example of the 
 associations, which have been specified as having received the 
 protection of the Crown, or from the Dutch at this juncture 
 forming associations for a trade to the East Indies, it is impossible 
 to decide ; but it is probable that the whole of the circumstances 
 had the effect in 1599, to bring forward an association of merchant 
 adventurers, citizens of London, to embark what was then 
 considered a large stock on a voyage to the East Indies. The 
 contract of these adventurers is valuable from its being the fii’st 
 authentic deed which occurs in the annals of our East India 
 trade.” 
 
 It is entitled :— 
 
 “ ‘ The names of such persons as have written with there 
 owne liandes, to venter in the pretended voiage to the Easte 
 Indias (the whiche it maie please the Lorde to prosper), and the 
 somes that they will adventure ; the xxij Septr. 1599.’ 
 
20 
 
 “ The fund subscribed amounted to £30,133 6s. 8d., which 
 was divided into one hundred and one shares or adventures, the 
 subscriptions of individuals varying from £100 to £3,000.” 
 
 From that small star in the East, has arisen, through the 
 spirit and energy of a trading company, our great Indian Empire, 
 with its glorious history—one uninterrupted record of good, 
 
 Who shall affix a limit now to the power and means of 
 benefiting the human race, which may ere long await a private 
 company, having for its foundation a planting enterprise on the 
 mountains of Usambara ? 
 
 Stanley, that greatest of African explorers, gives a glowing 
 description of Central Africa generally, and of its capabilities, and 
 in particular of the countries bordering on Victoria N’yanza, the 
 products of which may be summed up by the one word, “ every¬ 
 thing,” and to any extent, when a market shall be opened for 
 them. Notably he enumerates, ivory, coffee, gums, resins, 
 myrrh, skins of great variety, ox-hides, fine cattle, sheep and 
 goats, and teak and other fine timber in abundance, and of great 
 size, all ready to be exchanged for the manufactures of Europe. 
 Indigo grows wild, and no doubt the indigo of commerce could be 
 introduced and grown with success. The same may be said of 
 silk (the mulberry tree was found, by Mr. Lyons M‘Leod, 
 growing wild at Mozambique), and grain of every description is 
 grown. 
 
 Stanley enthusiastically exclaims: — 
 
 “ What a land they possess! and what an inland sea! 
 How steamers afloat on the lake might cause Ururi to shake 
 hands with Uzongora, and Uganda with Usukuma, make the 
 wild Wavuma friends with the Wazinza, and unite the Wakorwe 
 with the Wagana ! A great trading port might then spring np on 
 the Sliimuya ” (a river which enters the lake at its south-east 
 extremity, known as Speke Gulf) “ whence the coffee of Uzongora” 
 (on the west coast of the lake about 1° south latitude), “ the ivory, 
 sheep and goats of Ugeyeya, Usuga, Uvuma, and Uganda, the 
 cattle of Uwya, Karagwe, Usagara, Thangira, and Usukuma, the 
 myrrh, cassia, and furs and hides of Uganda and Uddu, the rice of 
 Ukerewe, and the grain of Uzinza, might be exchanged for the 
 fabrics brought from the coast; all the land be redeemed from 
 wildness, the industry and energy of the natives stimulated, the 
 havoc of slave-trade stopped, and all the countries round about 
 permeated with the nobler ethics of humanity. But at present 
 the hands of the people are lifted—murder in their hearts—one 
 against the other ; ferocity is kindled at sight of the wayfarer ; 
 piracy is the acknowledged profession of the Wavuma; the 
 people of Ugeyeya and Wasoga go stark naked ” (also might have 
 
been included the men of Usukuma) ; “ Mtesa ” (since dead) 
 “ impales, burns, and maims his victims ; the Wirigedi lie in wait 
 along their shores for strangers, and the slingers of the islands 
 practice their art against him ; the Wakara poison anew their 
 deadly arrows at sight of a canoe ; and each tribe, with rage and 
 hatred in its heart, remains aloof from the other. 
 
 “ * Yerily the dark places of the earth are full of cruelty.’ 
 
 “ Oh for the hour when a band of philanthropic capitalists 
 shall vow to rescue these beautiful lands, and supply the means 
 to enable the Gospel messengers to come and quench the 
 murderous hate with which man beholds man in the beautiful 
 lands around Lake Victoria. * * * 
 
 This grand picture, so foreshadowed by Stanley, will be 
 realised the day Lake Victoria shall become connected with 
 Tanga Harbour by a Railway, but not till then ; and with a 
 considerable European settlement established on the ITsambara 
 mountains as a base to work from, the construction of such a 
 railway will be neither so difficult nor so expensive as may be, 
 at first sight, supposed. 
 
 Of the great plateau situate between the mountains and the 
 Lake, Archdeacon Farler obtained valuable information from 
 native traders who have repeatedly crossed it, which was published 
 by the Royal Geographical Society in December, 1882, and 
 although the distances and positions of stations along the several 
 routes described to him may not be very accurate, there can be 
 no hesitation in accepting their general description of the nature 
 ol the country and the people as fairly correct, and it tends to 
 prove the practicability of an easy line in that direction, with food 
 plentiful and water everywhere. The recent explorations by Mr. 
 Johnston, and by that great traveller, Mr. Jos. Thomson, have, 
 however, added much to our knowledge, and have brought to 
 light the existence of a great country suitable for Europeans,* and 
 of peoples desirous to trade with and receive them on friendly 
 terms. 
 
 DAVID B. LINDSAY. 
 
 4, Greenhill Park, Harrow Road, 
 
 WlLLESDEN, 
 
 17 th February, 1885. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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