Stanley in Africa

The Evangelical French Missionary Society has stations at Wallington and Waggonmaker’s Valley, but its principal field is in the interior. The Berlin Missionary Society are also represented in the Riversdale district. The Rhenish Missionary Society also occupies many important stations. The London Missionary Society began its work in 1799, and has made its influence to be felt for good in various parts of the country. The Wesleyan Missionary Society commenced its labors in 1814. They were hindered for a few years by the government authorities, but in the course of time they made great progress in building churches and mission premises, and in organizing schools all over the Colony.

The Eastern Province of Cape Colony is also indebted to the missionary societies for religious instruction. Prosperous stations of the Moravian, Berlin, Rhenish, French Evangelical, Presbyterian, London, and Wesleyan Missionary Societies have been established in various places. The two societies last mentioned, however, have been most extensively engaged in purely missionary work. The London Society began in 1799 by sending out Dr. Vanderkemp and the Wesleyan in 1820, the Rev. William Shaw being the pioneer missionary. The temporal and spiritual benefits resulting from the labors of these two societies to the people of different tribes and languages in the Eastern Province of the Cape Colony were very marked.

In Kaffaria most of the religious denominations and missionary societies at work in the Eastern Province of Cape Colony are at work here also.

In Natal, the Church of England has been unfortunate in the part it has taken in the work there. As early as 1838 a missionary, a teacher and a doctor, were sent out by the Church Missionary Society. Soon afterwards others were sent to evangelize the natives, but war breaking out the work was entirely relinquished. In 1853 Natal was constituted a diocese and Dr. Colenso was consecrated the first bishop; but, according to his own confession, instead of converting the natives to Christianity, he was himself converted by a Zulu Kaffir, and proceeded at once to encourage polygamy and other heathen practices. Another bishop was appointed, but Dr. Colenso determined not to be superseded, and a scene of wrangling and litigation ensued, painful to contemplate. Churches have been built in several towns for the benefit of the settlers, but not much has been done for the religious instruction of the natives by the Church of England.

The American Board of Foreign Missions sent out missionaries in 1834. They were men of superior learning and intelligence. They have labored chiefly among the natives. By their literary ability and persevering efforts they have rendered good service to the cause of God by the part they have taken in the translation of the Scriptures and their remonstrances with Bishop Colenso. The Berlin, Hermannsburg, Swedish, Norwegian, London and Wesleyan Missionary Societies have representatives in Natal. The Dutch Reformed Church and the Scotch Presbyterians have a few ministers and churches as have also the Free Church of Scotland and the Independents.

The Rev. James Scott of Impolweni, Natal, writes to the Free Church Monthly in reference to an interesting work among the Dutch Boers, and extending to the Zulus in the northern portion of Natal about Greytown. Most of the Boers belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, and while they have attended outwardly to Christian ordinances, they have heretofore cared little for the native population. Three years ago a religious awakening began among these Boers, and the genuineness of this interest was shown by their desire to reach the Zulus, whom they had regarded as little better than animals. There are now fifteen preaching places where the Gospel is proclaimed, and which Mr. Scott says are simply the farmhouses of the Boers. He speaks of seeing eighty Boers and three or four hundred Zulus gather together for worship. The Zulus come from kraals and villages, both old and young, some clothed, but most of them heathen in their blankets. Over one hundred in Greytown have been formed into a native church in connection with the Dutch church. This work is now being carried forward under the direction of a committee of the Dutch farmers, employing three native Evangelists. One of these evangelists is the son of the Zulu warrior who in 1836, at the signal from Dingaan, the cruel tyrant, fell upon the Dutch leader Retief and his party of about seventy men, murdering them all in cold blood. This father still lives, and is a member of the Christian church and listens gladly to his son as he preaches the gospel of peace.

The Orange Free State is an independent Dutch republic. The whites, Dutch, English, and other Europeans greatly outnumber the colored persons, who are of different tribes, but chiefly half-castes. The religious instruction of these people is fairly provided for by the different agencies now at work among them. The Dutch Reformed church of course takes the lead, and they have erected places of worship, appointed ministers, and gathered congregations in all the towns and villages and in many of the rural districts. The Berlin and Wesleyan Missionary Societies are also doing a good work especially among the wandering tribes of Bechuanas, Baralongs, and Korannas. In Zululand, previous to the war in 1879, the Propagation Society of the Church of England, and the Hermannsburg and Norwegian Missionary Societies, had established stations, and attempted the evangelization of the natives, but with very slender results. On the breaking out of hostilities, all the missionaries and teachers had to leave the country. They have since returned and gone to work under more favorable auspices.

It is stated that a nephew of the late King Cetewayo, after six years in Sweden in theological and other studies has gone back to carry on mission work in his native land.

No people in South Africa have benefited more by missionary labor than those in Basutoland. The agents of the French Evangelical Society have taken the lead in the work, having entered the field in 1833. They have many flourishing stations, and their efforts have been very successful in converting the heathen and in diffusing among the people general knowledge calculated to promote their civilization and social elevation. The Wesleyan missionaries have also established important and prosperous stations. By the presence and influence of the missionaries, industrious habits have become the distinctive characteristics of the Christian Basutos. The commercial relations of the country have been facilitated. A great impulse has been given to agriculture, in so much that the general aspect of the country, even in those parts that have not come under the influence of the Gospel, has been transformed. This has been strongly testified to by Mr. Griffiths, the British commissioner.

One of the most pleasing incidents in Pinto’s narrative is his meeting with the Coillard missionary family at Luchuma, on the Cuando. They were French missionaries, and the family was composed of Mr. and Mrs. Coillard and a niece, Elise. At the time of the meeting, Mr. Coillard was on his way to King Lobossi, to receive his reply to a request to enter his country for missionary purposes – a request which, by the way, was denied. This failure made it necessary for Mr. Coillard to return to Bamanguato, so the family and Pinto joined resources and took up the line of march together.

More than fifty years ago the land of the Basutos, whose boundaries touch the colonies of the Cape and of Natal on the south and of the Orange Free State on the west, became the abode of numerous French Protestant missionaries. They worked so faithfully that the native sense of savagery disappeared and the Basutos came to be the most civilized of the South African tribes. Now the Christian schools of Basuto number thousands of pupils. After a time the missionaries extended their field of work, but were finally headed off by the Boers and forced back to Pretoria. It was then that François Coillard was placed in charge of the Leribe Mission. He pushed his way north amid hardships and danger, till made a prisoner by the Matebelis and dragged before their chief, Lo-Bengula. What the missionary and the ladies of his family suffered during the time they remained in the power of that terrible chief is a sad and painful story. They were at length released and ordered to leave the country. On reaching Shoshong, the capital of Bamanguato, Coillard determined to renew his efforts in another direction. So he struck out for the Baroze region, having first sent a request to King Lobossi for admission and countenance. It was while on this mission to the Upper Zambesi that Pinto met him and his family. Pinto says of him: “He and his wife had resided in Africa for twenty years. He is warmly attached to the aborigines, to whose civilization he has devoted his life. He is the best and kindest man I ever came across. To a superior intelligence he unites an indomitable will and the necessary firmness to carry out any enterprise, however difficult.”

On the south side of the Zambesi and north of latitude 24°, Africa is divided from sea to sea into three distinct races. On the east are the Vatuas; between are the Matebelis, or Zulus; westward are the Bamanguatos. They are all sworn enemies. The king of the latter, at the time of Pinto’s visit was Khama, a Christian convert, educated by the English, a civilized man of intelligence and superior good sense. True, he usurped the throne, but he treated his family with leniency, and became the idol of his people. Unlike every other native governor in Africa, Khama was unselfish. He spent his wealth for his people, and encouraged all to labor, that they might grow rich in herds and flocks. And they were not only rich in cattle, but were fine agriculturists; fond, too, of out-door sports, being experts in the hunting of game, as the antelope, ostrich, giraffe, elephant, etc. Though a Portuguese and influenced by the Latin church, Pinto gives this account of missionary work in South Central Africa: “How is it that in the midst of so many barbarous peoples there should be one so different from the others? It is due, I firmly believe, to the English missionaries. If I do not hesitate to aver that the labors of many missionaries, and especially of many African missionaries, are sterile, or even worse, I am just as ready to admit, from the evidence of my own senses, that others yield favorable, or apparently favorable results.

“Man is but fallible, and it is easy to conceive that when far removed from the social influences by which he has been surrounded from his infancy, lost, so to speak, amid the ignorant peoples of Africa, and inhabiting an inhospitable clime, his mind should undergo a remarkable change. This must be the general rule, which has, of course, its exceptions. The exceptions are the men who rest their faith on those ‘blossoms of the soul’ which give comfort to the wrecked mariner and aid the monk to suffer martyrdom at the hands of those to whom he brings the blessings of civilization. They who possess these inestimable treasures may, if left to themselves, pursue their way and attain to a sublime end, but such are veritable exceptions. Flesh is weak, and weaker still is human spirit. Were it otherwise, we might dispense with laws and governments, and society would be organized on a different basis. The ‘blossoms of the soul’ would suffice to govern the world.

“The passions to which man is subject will often lead the missionary – but a man and with all a man’s weakness – to pursue a wrong course. The strife between Catholics and Protestants in the African missions is an example of this. The Protestant missionaries (I mean, of course, the bad ones) say to the negro. ‘The Catholic missionary is so poor he cannot even afford to buy a wife,’ and thus seek to injure him, for it is as great a crime to be poor in Africa as in Europe. On the other hand the Catholics leave no stone unturned to throw discredit on the Protestants. From this strife springs revolt, the real cause of mission barrenness, where so many beliefs are struggling for mastery. To the south of the tropics the country swarms with missionaries, and to the south of the tropics England is engaged in perpetual war with the native populations. It is because the evil labors of many undo the good labors of some.

“Let us however, put aside the evil ones and speak only of the good. I have spoken of King Khama and his Bamanguato people. The king’s work was well done, but those who made it possible deserve more credit. The first workman in that field was Rev. Mr. Price, recently charged with the mission at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika. The second was Rev. Mr. Mackenzie, the Kuruman missionary. The third was the Rev. Mr. Eburn, now among these people. It is with the utmost pleasure I cite these worthy names, and put them forward as noble examples to all workers in the fields of African civilization.”

The above named Rev. Mr. Mackenzie took charge of the Kuruman mission in the Crown Colony of Bechuanaland in 1876, and his first work was to found and build a memorial institution to his predecessor, the lamented Dr. Moffat, for the education of native ministers. A fund of $100,000 was subscribed in England for this purpose and soon a substantial set of structures arose as a witness to Dr. Wm. Mackenzie’s zeal and the profound respect in which Dr. Moffat was held.

Says the Rev. A. Boegner: “Basutoland has frequently been saved from the destruction of its nationality by the intervention of the missionaries, and the natives blessed their name. The result in respect to education is that we have 80 elementary schools, having together 4,666 pupils, besides the normal school and the higher girls’ school, with 30 or 40 pupils, and 15 industrial, biblical, and theological school stations, 94 out-stations, 19 missionaries, 176 native workers, 6,029 communicants and 3,412 catechumens.”

In Bechuanaland many of the tribes, especially the Batlapins and the Baralongs, have for several years past been favored with the means of religious instruction by the agents of the London and Wesleyan Missionary Societies. It was among these people that the celebrated Dr. Moffat achieved his greatest success, and it was into their language that he succeeded in translating the Scriptures. And it was from a station among them that Dr. Livingstone started on his first adventurous journey of discovery. Thousands of these people have been to a considerable extent civilized, evangelized, and many have been taught to read the word of God for themselves. The earliest attempt to carry the Gospel to the Bechuanas was made in 1800 by Messrs. Edwards and Kok, agents of the Dutch Missionary Society in Cape Town. It proved unsuccessful. They were succeeded by the travellers Lichenstein in 1805, and Burchell in 1812, and during the latter year by the well-known Rev. John Campbell, who may be regarded as the earliest pioneer missionary to the Bechuanas, the two agents of the Cape Town Society being known among the Batlapins rather as traders than missionaries. In accordance with a request made to Mr. Campbell by the chief Mothibi, who said, “Send missionaries, I will be a father to them,” the London Missionary Society appointed Messrs. Evans and Hamilton to Lallakoo, which they reached in 1816. Their hopes of a welcome were, however, doomed to disappointment. The Bechuanas, with Mothibi’s, consent, reyoked the wagons of the missionaries and sent them away, hooting after them in genuine heathen fashion. They did not want “the teaching,” fearing it would be with them as with the people of Griqua Town, “who” they said “once wore a ‘kaross’ but now wear clothes; once had two wives but now only one.” Mr. Robert Moffat made the next attempt to introduce the Gospel among these people and was more successful. We have not space to give even an outline of the career of this wonderful man. One illustration, however, will suffice to show at once his character and that of the people among whom he labored so long and well. During a time of severe drought when the heavens were as brass and the earth as iron, the cattle were dying rapidly, and the emaciated people were living on roots and reptiles. The rainmakers were consulted. They attributed the cause of the drought to the prayers of the missionaries, and to the bell of the chapel, which they said frightened the clouds! The chief soon appeared at the missionaries’ door, spear in hand, with twelve attendants, and ordered them to leave the country, threatening violent measures if they refused. Mrs. Moffat stood at her cottage door with a baby in her arms watching the result at this crisis. Looking the chief straight in the face, Moffat calmly replied: “We were unwilling to leave you. We are now resolved to stay at our post. As for your threats we pity you; for you know not what you do. But although we have suffered much, we do not consider that it amounts to persecution, and are prepared to expect it from those who know no better. If resolved to get rid of us you must take stronger measures to succeed, for our hearts are with you. You may shed my blood, or you may burn our dwelling; but I know you will not touch my wife and children. As for me, my decision is made. I do not leave your country.” Then throwing open his coat, he stood erect and fearless. “Now then,” he proceeded, “if you will, drive your spears to my heart; and when you have slain me, my companions will know that the hour is come for them to depart.” Turning to his attendants the chief said, “These men must have ten lives. When they are so fearless of death, there must be something of immortality.” All danger was now past. The intrepid missionary had got access to their hearts, and they were, for the time at least, subdued.

The country long known as Griqualand is situated beyond the Orange river, and around its junction with the Vaal.

The Griquas are a mixed race, of which there are several clans vulgarly called “Bastards,” being the descendants of Dutch Boers and their Hottentot slaves. They are a tall, athletic, good looking race, of light olive complexion. They speak a debased patois of the Dutch language, as do most of the colored inhabitants of South Africa. About the year 1833 the Griquas began to collect and settle in the country which bears their name, and to rally round a leader or chief named Adam Kok, who displayed considerable tact and skill in governing the people who acknowledged his chieftainship. Some time after, a part of the clan separated themselves from the rest, and gathered round a man named Waterboer, who became their captain or chief. Both of these chiefs, for many years, received annual grants from the Colonial Government on condition of their loyalty and good conduct. They and their people were ultimately removed by an arrangement with the government authorities to a region known as “No Man’s Land;” and of late years have become scattered. In all their locations they are generally now regarded as British subjects, and they have gradually advanced to a pleasing state of civilization and general knowledge. They are largely indebted to the missionaries for the respectable position to which they have attained among the native tribes. The honored instruments in their moral and social elevation have chiefly been the agents of the London Missionary Society who have labored among them for many years with remarkable energy, zeal and success. The Wesleyan Missionary Society have also some prosperous stations in some of the Griqua settlements where no other agencies are at work, and the results of their labors have been very encouraging.

In Namaqualand, under circumstances of peculiar trial and privation the Wesleyan and Rhenish Societies have labored with commendable zeal and diligence. Some time ago the Wesleyan stations were by a mutual arrangement transferred to the German missionaries.

In Damaraland missionaries have labored earnestly for many years, but the results thus far have been meagre.

What has been the sum total accomplished by the missionary societies in South Africa?

The Wesleyan Missionary Society began work there in 1814. Extending its operations by degrees from the Cape Colony to Kaffaria, Natal, and the Bechuana regions, it now numbers forty stations, sixty missionaries, and more than 6,000 members. The Rhenish Society which commenced operations in this field in 1829, now numbers more than 10,000 members; and the Berlin, which commenced in 1833 and has 8,000 members. The American Board which entered the field in 1834, has grown into three missions, the Zulu, the East African and the West African, and now numbers 30 stations, 48 laborers from America, more than 40 native assistants, about 2,000 under instruction and 7,000 adherents. Besides these the French Society is doing a great work among the Bechuana and other tribes. The Norwegians are laboring among the Zulus, the Scotch among the Kafirs, the Hanoverians and the Church of England in Natal and Zululand.

These with a few other organizations make more than a dozen societies at work in South Africa, occupying more than 200 stations, and employing about 500 foreign laborers, besides a much larger force of native helpers. Of the success and value of these labors we get some idea when we find it estimated that not less than 40,000 souls have been brought in this way into Christ’s kingdom, 50,000 children gathered into Christian schools, and 100,000 men and women blessed with the direct teaching of the Gospel.

EAST AFRICAN MISSIONS

Leaving South Africa we will now consider briefly what has been done by the missionaries in Eastern Africa and that part of Central Africa reached by way of the east coast. Here there seemed to be less opposition to the entrance of the Gospel than in some other parts of Africa. Dominant superstitions do not stand so much in the way of its reception. There is less idolatry or fetish worship, such as is found on the western coast, and there are fewer barbarous or unnatural rites. The greatest hindrance has been the Arab slave trade, which, driven from the west coast had established itself on the east coast. The unwise course of the Germans who established a commercial enterprise there in 1889 has led to Arab hostilities that appear disastrous in the extreme to missionary work for the present, especially among the Ugandas.

There are very extensive missionary interests in East Africa. No less than thirteen societies are at work on the coast or in the interior. It will be more convenient, in considering what has been accomplished, to note the work done by each society separately, rather than to follow our usual order of treatment by tribe or locality.

As the Church Missionary Society was first in the field we will notice its efforts first.

The first missionary was Dr. Krapff, a zealous and devoted German. He had previously labored for several years among the Lari and Madi natives of the province of Shoa, and when the Abyssinian government prohibited his longer residence there he removed to Mombasa, where he laid the foundation of a new station under promising circumstances. When the way appeared to open up for usefulness among the Gallas and other important tribes, Dr. Krapff was joined by four additional laborers who were sent out by the society to aid him in his work. Their headquarters were at Kisulidini and the mission had every promise of success. But death soon thinned the ranks and disappointed many hopes. Only one of the missionary band, Mr. Rebmann, had strength to hold out against the climate. He remained at his solitary post of duty several years after the Doctor had been obliged to embark for Europe; but in 1856 he was driven by the hostile incursions of savage native tribes to take refuge in the island of Mombasa, and for two years the mission on the mainland seemed to be at an end. Mr. Rebmann resolved not to lose sight of its ruins, however, and employed his waiting time in preparing a translation of the Bible into the language of the people among whom he labored. At length the desire of the lonely missionary was gratified by a cordial invitation to return to Kisulidini, and the hearty welcome he received on going there proved that there was further work for him to do among this people. For years he labored single-handed among this people and managed to keep alive the spark of light which Dr. Krapff had been the means of kindling. After long and patient waiting relief came. The deep interest called forth by Dr. Livingstone’s last despatches and death, stirred up the church at home to fresh efforts on behalf of the African race, and a much needed reinforcement was sent out to strengthen the mission on the eastern coast, including Mr. Price and Jacob Wainwright, Livingstone’s faithful negro servant. When they arrived at Kisulidini they found Mr. Rebmann aged and feeble, and almost blind, but still the centre of a little band of native converts at the old mission premises. This mission now comprises eight stations with Mombasa as its base. The constituency at these stations is composed chiefly of liberated slaves, who are rescued by British cruisers from slave dhows and handed over to the mission, now living in comfort as free men, cultivating their own little plots of ground, building their own little huts on the society’s land, enjoying the rest of the Lord’s day, seeing their children taught to read and write like the white man, and having access at all times for counsel and guidance to patient and sympathizing Englishmen.