BOOKS.
EASTERN EQUATORIAL AFRICA.* Has that spirit of Jingoism which so vexes the soul of. Mr. John Morley, that one is tempted to think he needs the friendly hint Mr. Matthew Arnold has just given him " to remember to approve the depth, and not the tumult, of the soul," entered into and taken possession of the realms of Science and Discovery ? Here is a lively and valuable book of travel, giving us authentic information in regard to perhaps the most remarkable even of African tribes, written by a young, open-eyed, and adventurous Scotchman, who, to his credit be it said, trusts to reason,—vivified, occasionally, by practical jokes,—and not to explosive bullets, to accomplish his ends ; and who, in general, practises the doctrine—which, however, he preaches once too often—of, " Chi pa piano, va sano ; chi va sano, va lontano." Yet it is our opening question which, rather than anything else, rises to the lips after reading his book. Mr. Thomson had quite a Pauline record of perils when conducting his exploratory expedition from Zanzibar to the Victoria Nyanza and back. He was frequently in danger from elephants and lions. He barely escaped being speared by a warrior of the most formidable tribe in all Africa. He and his men had actually to turn back and flee to the coast, to avoid massacre. He was tossed and almost gored to death by an infuriated buffalo-bull which be had shot. He was more than once prostrated by fever ; and he was so ill of dysentery on his return march from the Victoria Nyanza that his life was despaired of. His expedition was, in fact, one long series of hair-breadth escapes and feats of endurance. He travelled, no doubt, through vast and interesting stretches of country, and he has been able to photograph the Masai for the first time. Yet, we are tempted to ask the Geographical Society and similar associations if such exploits and agonies are really needed in the interests of exploration ? Is the game worth the candle ? Is there not too much yielding to an undoubted tendency of the time to make life one long performance on the tight-rope, with the two alternatives before it of the applause of the multitude and a broken neck ? " After all," is not the pursuit of knowledge likely to have better and certainly more enduring results when it is conducted in the spirit of Sir Isaac Newton, rather than in that of poor Colonel Burnaby or Captain Webb ?
Mr. Joseph Thomson, who had conducted an expedition to the Central African lakes with great success on the death of its original leader, Mr. Keith Johnston, was commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 to explore the region between Zanzibar and Lake Victoria Nyanza, being instructed especially to ascertain if a practicable route existed through the Masai country, and to ascend the mysterious Mount Kenia. In February, 1883, he arrived at Zanzibar, and immediately set to work to organise a caravan. He was singularly unlucky in this preliminary work, and describes the bulk of his men as the offsconrings of Zanzibar villainy. His headmen, particularly the chief of them, James Martin, a Maltese sailor, he describes as "splendid fellows ;" but the guide and interpreter whom he secured, Muhinna. and Sadi, were traitors and cowards. On March 15th, Mr. Thomson and his caravan set forth from the little port of Mombasa, along the road, in the first instance, to Kilima-njaro, with which the recent special expedition of Mr. H. H. Johnston has rendered us familiar. The first important stage was accomplished, when on April 1st he reached Taveta, which seems, indeed, a most delightful bit of tropical Africa, composed of " charming glades, bosky bowers, and rich plantations," watered and fertilised by the snow-fed Lumi, rendered cool by its vicinity to Kilima-njaro, and inhabited by a peaceful race, the Wa-taveta, who are to some extent an offshoot of the Masai, and have taken to the cultivation of the soil. Mr. Thomson is unable, however, to say much for the morals of the Wa-taveta. " Conjugal fidelity is unknown, and certainly not expected on either side ; they might almost be described as a colony of free lovers." Yet "true Arcadians they are in their peaceable habits, their great hospitality, their manly, pleasant manners, and surprising honesty." At Taveta Mr. Thomson rested for a time, preparing to enter the country of the Masai, and in particular collecting presents with which to propitiate this warlike and dreaded people. He learned to suspect that his caravan, which was only 150 strong, was too small, no one as a rule thinking of entering the Masai country with less than 300 men. On April 18th the expedition left Taveta, and set its face towards the dreaded region, intending to take the route round the south and west sides of Kilima-njaro. Mr. Thomson had hardly proceeded six hours on his way, however, when he ascertained that there was a large war-party of the Masai in front of him. He left the regular path for the jungle, and camped near the chief Mandara, already known to readers of books of African travel, but who, in spite of his intelligence and " princely bearing," was not above extorting as much as possible from Mr. Thomson in the form of presents. While thus forced to pause, Mr. Thomson ascended Mount Kilima-njaro nearly 9,000 feet, in search of plants, and was evidently as much struck with its grandeur as Mr. Johnston, to whose paper on this subject, which was read some time ago to the members of the Geographical Society, reference has already been made in the Spectator. The Masai war-party having passed, the expedition reached in safety Kibonoto, the " door " of the Masai country, on the west side of Kilima-njaro. Here, however, bad news awaited the explorer. He had selected the very route that had been taken by a German traveller, Dr. Fischer, who had preceded him. Fischer had had a fight with the Masai, and the whole country was consequently in a state of excitement. In spite of this, Mr. Thomson crossed the
frontier, and made his way to the kraals of the Masai. He was at first well received, though the Masai proved uncomfortably familiar. But he shortly learned that his caravan was to be attacked by way of revenge for the injury sustained in the fight with Fischer. There was nothing for it but retreat under cover of night. The expedition, therefore, fled back to Taveta. Mr, Thomson himself returned to the coast with a view to replacing by an honest man one of his guides, Muhinna, whose treachery be had discovered. In this he failed. When he got back to Taveta, however, he ascertained that a large trading caravan was about to start for the Masai country, and to it he was able to attach himself. The combined caravans started on July 17th, passing, however. along the east of Kilima-njaro. Although they were now safe from the Masai, they were charged by rhinoceroses and buffaloes. At last, when they reached the great plain of Ngiri, which is in reality the dried-up bottom of a great lake that had occupied this region, they came once more in contact with the Masai. Mr. Thomson gives a very fall account of the appearance, manners, and customs of this remarkable race. We have no space for lengthy quotations, but we give the following, from the condensed account of his journey, which Mr. Thomson read before the Royal Geographical Society :—
" A more remarkable or unique race does not exist on the continent of Africa—indeed I might safely say in the two hemispheres. In their physique, manners and customs, and religious beliefs, they are distinct alike from the true negroes and from the Galls and Somali. They are the most magnificently modelled savages I have seen or even read of. Beautifully proportioned, they are characterised by the smooth and rounded outline of the Apollo type, rarely showing the knotted and brawny muscles of the true athlete. The women are very decently dressed in bullock's hide. They wear, by way of ornament, from twenty to thirty pounds of thick iron wire coiled round the limbs, arms, and neck, beside a great assortment of beads and iron chains. The men wear only a small kid-skin garment round the shoulders and breast, that being of somewhat more ample dimensions among the married men. The moat remarkable distinctions characterise the various epochs in the life-history of the Masai. The boys and girls up to a certain age live with their parents, and feed upon curdled milk, meat, and grain. At the age of twelve with the girls, and from twelve to fourteen years with the boys, they are sent from the married men's kraal to one in which there are only young unmarried men and women, There they live till they are married. At this stage the men are warriors, and their sole occupation is cattle-lifting abroad and amusing themselves at home. The young women attend to the cattle, build the hats, and perform other necessary household duties. Both sexes are on the strictest diet. Absolutely nothing but meat and milk passes their lips. Spirits and beer, tobacco, or vegetable food are alike eschewed. So peculiar indeed are they in their notions, that they will not even eat the meat of any wild animal. Moreover, the meat and milk are never taken together. For several days the one is their sole diet, to be followed by the other after partaking of a powerful purgative. On killing a bullock they drink the blood raw, which doubtless supplies them with the necessary salts. In eating meat they always retire to the forest in small parties, accompanied by a young woman. So pleasant does the Masai warrior find this life that he seldom marries till be has passed the prime of life and begins to find his strength decline. The great war-spear and heavy buffalo-hide shield, the sword and the knobkerry, are then laid aside. For a mouth he dons the dress of an unmarried woman, and then becomes a staid and respectable member of Masai society. He goes no more to war, but devotes himself to the rearing of a brood of young warriors. His diet changes with his mode of life, and he may indulge in vegetable food, drink beer or spirits, and smoke or chew tobacco. At death, the body is simply thrown out to the hyenas and the vultures."
We must now indicate very briefly the chief stages in Mr. Thomson's perilous course. He determined to push through the Masai country to the hitherto unvisited and almost mythical Mount Kenia, and beyond that to Victoria Nyanza. He was successful. Mount Kenia—which, unfortunately, danger from the Masai prevented him from fully exploring—be found to rise in the form of a great volcanic cone, nearly thirty miles in diameter at its base, from a thorn-clad plain, 5,900 ft. in height :—
"Up to a height of 1,500 ft. the angle is very low, and the slope is unbroken comparatively by ridge or glen. From that level the mountain suddenly springs into a sugar-loaf peak, the resemblance to a sugar-loaf being made all the more striking by the glittering facets of snow which characterise the uppermost 3,000 ft. The sides of the peak are so steep that the snow cannot lie on many places, the unclad parts showing through the white as black spots."
On December 10th Mr. Thomson drank the waters of Victoria Nyanza, some forty-five miles east of its outlet to the Nile. He would have pushed on to the Nile; but his stores were exhausted, and he was prostrated by fever. He resolved, therefore, to retrace his steps ; but also to adopt another route, in order to visit the mountain of Elgon, which is famous for its artificial caves
:
"These are extraordinary in number and vast in extent. They are
cut out of a very compact volcanic agglomerate. They all occupy one particular horizon near the base of the mountain, and numbers of them aro occupied by whole villages with their cattle. That such was not their original object is shown by the nature of the excavations, which extend far away into utter darkness. Their number and great size, their occupying a certain horizon, and the fact that the present inhabitants have no tradition regarding them, lend me to conclude that they have been mines in some very remote period. Whom the mines could have been worked by, I cannot conjecture; and the subject will remain, doubtless for some time to come, a problem for the curious."
It was while repassing through the Masai country, on his way to the coast, that Mr. Thomson was struck down by dysentery. He believed himself on the point of death, and probably would have died in his tent, had he not resolved on making a desperate effort to reach the coast. This was the means of saving his life. By the end of May, 1884, the expedition reached Mombasa, whence it had started more than a year before.
Mr. Thomson writes in a free, vivacious style, and is happiest when he is describing his own innumerable adventures and misfortunes, which he invariably does with good-humour. We confess, however, to have got a little tired of Mark Tapley and Mr. Micawber, and could have wished Mr. Thomson had toned down his portraits of the personal appearance of the Masai, and his narrative of the sometimes not very elegant practical jokes he played upon them. This be will surely do if a second edition of his work is called for. In that case, he must also get rid of certain stupid Latin sentences which appear in the last page of the appendix, and which must have found a place there by accident. The volume is remarkably well and fully illustrated, even for a book of travel.
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