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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: An African Adventure
+
+Author: Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2008 [EBook #25569]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Júlio Reis, Linda McKeown and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+        BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+
+        ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING
+
+        PEACE AND BUSINESS
+
+        S. O. S: AMERICAS'S MIRACLE IN FRANCE
+
+        THE BUSINESS OF WAR
+
+        THE REBIRTH OF RUSSIA
+
+        THE WAR AFTER THE WAR
+
+        LEONARD WOOD: PROPHET OF PREPAREDNESS
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: KING ALBERT]
+
+
+
+
+                AN AFRICAN
+                ADVENTURE
+
+
+                    BY
+
+            ISAAC F. MARCOSSON
+
+AUTHOR OF "ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING," ETC.
+
+
+        NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY
+    LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
+
+                  MCMXXI
+
+
+
+
+              COPYRIGHT · 1921
+      BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+              COPYRIGHT · 1921
+            BY JOHN LANE COMPANY
+
+
+
+            THE PLIMPTON PRESS
+          NORWOOD · MASS · U·S·A
+
+
+                    _To_
+              THOMAS F. RYAN
+        WHO FIRST BEHELD THE VISION
+            OF AMERICA IN THE
+                  CONGO
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+From earliest boyhood when I read the works of Henry M. Stanley and
+books about Cecil Rhodes, Africa has called to me. It was not until I
+met General Smuts during the Great War, however, that I had a definite
+reason for going there.
+
+After these late years of blood and battle America and Europe seemed
+tame. Besides, the economic war after the war developed into a struggle
+as bitter as the actual physical conflict. Discord and discontent became
+the portion of the civilized world. I wanted to get as far as possible
+from all this social unrest and financial dislocation.
+
+So much interest was evinced in the magazine articles which first set
+forth the record of my journey that I was prompted to expand them into
+this book. It may enable the reader to discover a section of the
+one-time Dark Continent without the hardships which I experienced.
+
+                                                          I. F. M.
+
+NEW YORK, _April, 1921_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       CHAPTER                PAGE
+
+    I. SMUTS                    15
+
+   II. "CAPE-TO-CAIRO"          57
+
+  III. RHODES AND RHODESIA     103
+
+   IV. THE CONGO TODAY         139
+
+    V. ON THE CONGO RIVER      177
+
+   VI. AMERICA IN THE CONGO    225
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  King Albert                     _Frontispiece_
+
+  Groote Schuur                 _facing page_ 28
+
+  General J. C. Smuts                         44
+
+  Mr. Marcosson's Route in Africa             56
+
+  Cecil Rhodes                                76
+
+  The Premier Diamond Mine                    90
+
+  Victoria Falls                             102
+
+  Cultivating Citrus Land in Rhodesia        110
+
+  The Grave of Cecil Rhodes                  132
+
+  A Katanga Copper Mine                      138
+
+  Lord Leverhulme                            144
+
+  Robert Williams                            144
+
+  On the Lualaba                             150
+
+  A View on the Kasai                        150
+
+  A Station Scene at Kongola                 156
+
+  A Native Market at Kindu                   162
+
+  Native Fish Traps at Stanley Falls         168
+
+  The Massive Bangalas                       176
+
+  Congo Women in State Dress                 176
+
+  Central African Pygmies                    182
+
+  Women Making Pottery                       190
+
+  The Congo Pickaninny                       190
+
+  The Heart of the Equatorial Forest         198
+
+  Natives Piling Wood                        204
+
+  A Wood Post on the Congo                   204
+
+  Residential Quarters at Alberta            210
+
+  The Comte de Flandre                       210
+
+  A Typical Oil Palm Forest                  216
+
+  Bringing in the Palm Fruit                 216
+
+  A Specimen of Cicatrization                220
+
+  A Sankuru Woman Playing Native Draughts    220
+
+  The Belgian Congo                          224
+
+  Thomas F. Ryan                             228
+
+  Jean Jadot                                 236
+
+  Emile Francqui                             242
+
+  A Belle of the Congo                       246
+
+  Women of the Batetelas                     246
+
+  Fishermen on the Sankuru                   254
+
+  The Falls of the Sankuru                   254
+
+  A Congo Diamond Mine                       260
+
+  How the Mines Are Worked                   260
+
+  Gravel Carriers at a Congo Mine            266
+
+  Congo Natives Picking out Diamonds         266
+
+  Washing out Gravel                         272
+
+  Donald Doyle and Mr. Marcosson             272
+
+  The Park at Boma                           278
+
+  A Street in Matadi                         278
+
+  A General View of Matadi                   282
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I--SMUTS
+
+
+I
+
+Turn the searchlight on the political and economic chaos that has
+followed the Great War and you find a surprising lack of real
+leadership. Out of the mists that enshroud the world welter only three
+commanding personalities emerge. In England Lloyd George survives amid
+the storm of party clash and Irish discord. Down in Greece Venizelos,
+despite defeat, remains an impressive figure of high ideals and
+uncompromising patriotism. Off in South Africa Smuts gives fresh
+evidence of his vision and authority.
+
+Although he was Britain's principal prop during the years of agony and
+disaster, Lloyd George is, in the last analysis, merely an eloquent and
+spectacular politician with the genius of opportunism. One reason why he
+holds his post is that there is no one to take his place,--another
+commentary on the paucity of greatness. There is no visible heir to
+Venizelos. Besides, Greece is a small country without international
+touch and interest. Smuts, youngest of the trio, looms up as the most
+brilliant statesman of his day and his career has just entered upon a
+new phase.
+
+He is the dominating actor in a drama that not only affects the destiny
+of the whole British Empire, but has significance for every civilized
+nation. The quality of striking contrast has always been his. The
+one-time Boer General, who fought Roberts and Kitchener twenty years
+ago, is battling with equal tenacity for the integrity of the Imperial
+Union born of that war. Not in all history perhaps, is revealed a more
+picturesque situation than obtains in South Africa today. You have the
+whole Nationalist movement crystallized into a single compelling
+episode. In a word, it is contemporary Ireland duplicated without
+violence and extremism.
+
+I met General Smuts often during the Great War. He stood out as the most
+intellectually alert, and in some respects the most distinguished figure
+among the array of nation-guiders with whom I talked, and I interviewed
+them all. I saw him as he sat in the British War Cabinet when the German
+hosts were sweeping across the Western Front, and when the German
+submarines were making a shambles of the high seas. I heard him speak
+with persuasive force on public occasions and he was like a beacon in
+the gloom. He had come to England in 1917 as the representative of
+General Botha, the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, to
+attend the Imperial Conference and to remain a comparatively short time.
+So great was the need of him that he did not go home until after the
+Peace had been signed. He signed the Treaty under protest because he
+believed it was uneconomic and it has developed into the irritant that
+he prophesied it would be.
+
+In those war days when we foregathered, Smuts often talked of "the world
+that would be." The real Father of the League of Nations idea, he
+believed that out of the immense travail would develop a larger
+fraternity, economically sound and without sentimentality. It was a
+great and yet a practical dream.
+
+More than once he asked me to come to South Africa. I needed little
+urging. From my boyhood the land of Cecil Rhodes has always held a lure
+for me. Smuts invested it with fresh interest. So I went.
+
+The Smuts that I found at close range on his native heath, wearing the
+mantle of the departed Botha, carrying on a Government with a minority,
+and with the shadow of an internecine war brooding on the horizon, was
+the same serene, clear-thinking strategist who had raised his voice in
+the Allied Councils. Then the enemy was the German and the task was to
+destroy the menace of militarism. Now it was his own unreconstructed
+Boer--blood of his blood,--and behind that Boer the larger problem of a
+rent and dissatisfied universe, waging peace as bitterly as it waged
+war. Smuts the dreamer was again Smuts the fighter, with the fight of
+his life on his hands.
+
+Thus it came about that I found myself in Capetown. Everybody goes out
+to South Africa from England on those Union Castle boats so familiar to
+all readers of English novels. Like the P. & O. vessels that Kipling
+wrote about in his Indian stories, they are among the favorite first
+aids to the makers of fiction. Hosts of heroes in books--and some in
+real life--sail each year to their romantic fate aboard them.
+
+It was the first day of the South African winter when I arrived, but
+back in America spring was in full bloom. I looked out on the same view
+that had thrilled the Portuguese adventurers of the fifteenth century
+when they swept for the first time into Table Bay. Behind the harbor
+rose Table Mountain and stretching from it downward to the sea was a
+land with verdure clad and aglare with the African sun that was to
+scorch my paths for months to come.
+
+Capetown nestles at the foot of a vast flat-topped mass of granite
+unique among the natural elevations of the world. She is another melting
+pot. Here mingle Kaffir and Boer, Basuto and Britisher, East Indian and
+Zulu. The hardy rancher and fortune-hunter from the North Country rub
+shoulders with the globe-trotter. In the bustling streets modern
+taxicabs vie for space with antiquated hansoms bearing names like "Never
+Say Die," "Home Sweet Home," or "Honeysuckle." All the horse-drawn
+public vehicles have names.
+
+You get a familiar feel of America in this South African country and
+especially in the Cape Colony, which is a place of fruits, flowers and
+sunshine resembling California. There is the sense of newness in the
+atmosphere, and something of the abandon that you encounter among the
+people of Australia and certain parts of Canada. It comes from life
+spent in the open and the spirit of pioneering that within a
+comparatively short time has wrested a huge domain from the savage.
+
+What strikes the observer at once is the sharp conflict of race, first,
+between black and white, and then, between Briton and Boer. South of the
+Zambesi River,--and this includes Rhodesia and the Union of South
+Africa,--the native outnumbers the white more than six to one and he is
+increasing at a much greater rate than the European. Hence you have an
+inevitable conflict. Race lies at the root of the South African trouble
+and the racial reconciliation that Rhodes and Botha set their hopes upon
+remains an elusive quantity.
+
+I got a hint of what Smuts was up against the moment I arrived. I had
+cabled him of my coming and he sent an orderly to the steamer with a
+note of welcome and inviting me to lunch with him at the House of
+Parliament the next day. In the letter, among other things he said: "You
+will find this a really interesting country, full of curious problems."
+How curious they were I was soon to find out.
+
+I called for him at his modest book-lined office in a street behind the
+Parliament Buildings and we walked together to the House. Heretofore I
+had only seen him in the uniform of a Lieutenant General in the British
+Army. Now he wore a loose-fitting lounge suit and a slouch hat was
+jammed down on his head. In the change from khaki to mufti--and few men
+can stand up under this transition without losing some of the character
+of their personal appearance,--he remained a striking figure. There is
+something wistful in his face--an indescribable look that projects
+itself not only through you but beyond. It is not exactly preoccupation
+but a highly developed concentration. This look seemed to be enhanced by
+the ordeal through which he was then passing. In his springy walk was a
+suggestion of pugnacity. His whole manner was that of a man in action
+and who exults in it. Roosevelt had the same characteristic but he
+displayed it with much more animation and strenuosity.
+
+We sat down in the crowded dining room of the House of Parliament where
+the Prime Minister had invited a group of Cabinet Ministers and leading
+business men of Capetown. Around us seethed a noisy swirl which
+reflected the turmoil of the South African political situation.
+Parliament had just convened after an historic election in which the
+Nationalists, the bitter antagonists of Botha and Smuts, had elected a
+majority of representatives for the first time. Smuts was hanging on to
+the Premiership by his teeth. A sharp division of vote, likely at any
+moment, would have overthrown the Government. It meant a régime hostile
+to Britain that carried with it secession and the remote possibility of
+civil war.
+
+In that restaurant, as throughout the whole Union, Smuts was at that
+moment literally the observed of all observers. Far off in London the
+powers-that-be were praying that this blonde and bearded Boer could
+successfully man the imperial breach. Yet he sat there smiling and
+unafraid and the company that he had assembled discussed a variety of
+subjects that ranged from the fall in exchange to the possibilities of
+the wheat crop in America.
+
+The luncheon was the first of various meetings with Smuts. Some were
+amid the tumult of debate or in the shadow of the legislative halls,
+others out in the country at _Groote Schuur_, the Prime Minister's
+residence, where we walked amid the gardens that Cecil Rhodes loved, or
+sat in the rooms where the Colossus "thought in terms of continents." It
+was a liberal education.
+
+Before we can go into what Smuts said during these interviews it is
+important to know briefly the whole approach to the crowded hour that
+made the fullest test of his resource and statesmanship. Clearly to
+understand it you must first know something about the Boer and his long
+stubborn struggle for independence which ended, for a time at least, in
+the battle and blood of the Boer War.
+
+Capetown, the melting pot, is merely a miniature of the larger boiling
+cauldron of race which is the Union of South Africa. In America we also
+have an astonishing mixture of bloods but with the exception of the
+Bolshevists and other radical uplifters, our population is loyally
+dedicated to the American flag and the institutions it represents. With
+us Latin, Slav, Celt, and Saxon have blended the strain that proved its
+mettle as "Americans All" under the Stars and Stripes in France. We have
+given succor and sanctuary to the oppressed of many lands and these
+foreign elements, in the main, have not only been grateful but have
+proved to be distinct assets in our national expansion. We are a merged
+people.
+
+With South Africa the situation is somewhat different. The roots of
+civilization there were planted by the Dutch in the days of the Dutch
+East India Company when Holland was a world power. The Dutchman is a
+tenacious and stubborn person. Although the Huguenots emigrated to the
+Cape in considerable force in the seventeenth century and intermarried
+with the transplanted Hollanders, the Dutch strain, and with it the
+Dutch characteristics predominated. They have shaped South African
+history ever since. This is why the Boer is still referred to in popular
+parlance as "a Dutchman."
+
+The Dutch have always been a proud and liberty-loving people, as the
+Duke of Alva and the Spaniard learned to their cost. This inherited
+desire for freedom has flamed in the hearts of the Boers. In the early
+African day they preferred to journey on to the wild and unknown places
+rather than sacrifice their independence. What is known as "The Great
+Trek" of the thirties, which opened up the Transvaal and subsequently
+the Orange Free State and Natal, was due entirely to unrest among the
+Cape Boers. There is something of the epic in the narrative of those
+doughty, psalm-singing trekkers who, like the Mormons in the American
+West, went forth in their canvas-covered wagons with a rifle in one hand
+and the Bible in the other. They fought the savage, endured untold
+hardships, and met fate with a grim smile on their lips. It took Britain
+nearly three costly years to subdue their descendants, an untrained army
+of farmers.
+
+A revelation of the Boer character, therefore, is an index to the South
+African tangle. His enemies call the Boer "a combination of cunning and
+childishness." As a matter of fact the Boer is distinct among
+individualists. "Oom Paul" Kruger was a type. A fairly familiar story
+will concretely illustrate what lies within and behind the race. On one
+occasion his thumb was nearly severed in an accident. With his
+pocket-knife he cut off the finger, bound up the wound with a rag, and
+went about his business.
+
+The old Boer--and the type survives--was a Puritan who loved his
+five-thousand-acre farm where he could neither see nor hear his
+neighbors, who read the Good Word three times a day, drank prodigious
+quantities of coffee, spoke "_taal_" the Dutch dialect, and reared a
+huge family. Botha, for example, was one of thirteen children, and his
+father lamented to his dying day that he had not done his full duty by
+his country!
+
+Isolation was the Boer fetich. This instinct for aloofness,--principally
+racial,--animates the sincere wing of the Nationalist Party today. Men
+like Botha and Smuts and their followers adapted themselves to
+assimilation but there remained the "bitter-end" element that rebelled
+in arms against the constituted authority in 1914 and had to be put down
+with merciless hand. This element now seeks to achieve through more
+peaceful ends what it sought to do by force the moment Britain became
+involved in the Great War. The reason for the revolt of 1914, in a
+paragraph, was Britain's far-flung call to arms. The unreconstructed
+Boers refused to fight for the Power that humbled them in 1902. They
+seized the moment to make a try for what they called "emancipation."
+
+To go back for a moment, when the British conquered the Cape and
+thousands of Englishmen streamed out to Africa to make their fortunes,
+the Boer at once bristled with resentment. His isolation was menaced. He
+regarded the Briton as an "_Uitlander_"--an outsider--and treated him as
+an undesirable alien. In the Transvaal and the Orange Free State he was
+denied the rights that are accorded to law-abiding citizens in other
+countries. Hence the Jameson Raid, which was an ill-starred protest
+against the narrow, copper-riveted Boer rule, and later the final and
+sanguinary show-down in the Boer War, which ended the dream of Boer
+independence.
+
+In 1910 was established the Union of South Africa, comprising the
+Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal and the Cape Colony which
+obtained responsible government and which is to all intents and purposes
+a dominion as free as Australia or Canada. England sends out a
+Governor-General, usually a high-placed and titled person but he is a
+be-medalled figure-head,--an ornamental feature of the landscape. His
+principal labours are to open fairs, attend funerals, preside at
+harmless gatherings, and bestow decorations upon worthy persons. First
+Botha, and later Smuts, have been the real rulers of the country.
+
+The Union Constitution decreed that bi-lingualism must prevail. As a
+result every public notice, document, and time-table is printed in both
+English and Dutch. The tie of language is a strong one and this eternal
+and unuttered presence of the "_taal_" has been an asset for the
+Nationalists to exploit. It is a link with the days of independence.
+
+Following the Boer War came a sharp cleavage among the Boers. That great
+farm-bred soldier and statesman, Louis Botha, accepted the verdict and
+became the leader of what might be called a reconciled reconstruction.
+Firm in the belief that the future of South Africa was greater than the
+smaller and selfish issue of racial pride and prejudice, he rallied his
+open-minded and far-seeing countrymen around him. Out of this group
+developed the South African Party which remains the party of the Dutch
+loyal to British rule. To quote the program of principles, "Its
+political object is the development of a South African spirit of
+national unity and self-reliance through the attainment of the lasting
+union of the various sections of the people."
+
+Botha was made Premier of the Transvaal as soon as the Colony was
+granted self-government and with the accomplishment of Union was named
+Prime Minister of the Federation. The first man that he called to the
+standard of the new order to become his Colonial Minister, or more
+technically, Minister of the Interior, was Smuts, who had left his law
+office in Johannesburg to fight the English in 1900 and who displayed
+the same consummate strategy in the field that he has since shown in
+Cabinet meeting and Legislative forum. With peace he returned to law but
+not for long. Now began his political career--he has held public office
+continuously ever since--that is a vital part of the modern history of
+South Africa.
+
+In the years immediately following Union the genius of Botha had full
+play. He wrought a miracle of evolution. Under his influence the land
+which still bore the scars of war was turned to plenty. He was a farmer
+and he bent his energy and leadership to the rebuilding of the shattered
+commonwealths. Their hope lay in the soil. His right arm was Smuts, who
+became successively Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Defense.
+
+The belief that reconciliation had dawned was rudely disturbed when the
+Great War crashed into civilization. The extreme Nationalists rebelled
+and it was Botha, aided by Smuts, who crushed them. Beyers, the
+ringleader, was drowned while trying to escape across the Vaal River,
+DeWet was defeated in the field, De la Rey was accidentally shot, and
+Maritz became a fugitive. Botha then conquered the Germans in German
+South-West Africa and Smuts subsequently took over the command of the
+Allied Forces in German East Africa. When Botha died in 1919 Smuts not
+only assumed the Premiership of the Union but he also inherited the
+bitter enmity that General J. B. M. Hertzog bore towards his lamented
+Chief.
+
+Now we come to the crux of the whole business, past and present. Who is
+Hertzog and what does he stand for?
+
+If you look at your history of the Boer War you will see that one of the
+first Dutch Generals to take the field and one of the last to leave it
+was Hertzog, an Orange Free State lawyer who had won distinction on the
+Bench. He helped to frame the Union Constitution and on the day he
+signed it, declared that it was a distinct epoch in his life. A Boer of
+the Boers, he seemed to catch for the moment, the contagion that
+radiated from Botha and spelled a Greater South Africa.
+
+Botha made him Minister of Justice and all was well. But deep down in
+his heart Hertzog remained unrepentant. When the question of South
+Africa's contribution to the Imperial Navy came up in 1912 he fought it
+tooth and nail. In fiery utterances attacking the Government he
+denounced Botha as a jingoist and an imperialist. Just about this time
+he made the famous speech in which he stated his ideal of South Africa.
+He declared that Briton and Boer were "two separate streams"--two
+nationalities each flowing in a separate channel. The "two streams"
+slogan is now the Nationalist battlecry.
+
+Such procedure on the part of Hertzog demanded prompt action on the part
+of Botha, who called upon his colleague either to suppress his
+particular brand of anathema or resign. Hertzog not only built a bigger
+bonfire of denunciation but refused to resign.
+
+Botha thereupon devised a unique method of ridding himself of his
+uncongenial Minister. He resigned, the Government fell, and the Cabinet
+dissolved automatically. Hertzog was left out in the cold. The
+Governor-General immediately re-appointed Botha Prime Minister and he
+reorganized his Cabinet without the undesirable Hertzog.
+
+Hertzog became the Stormy Petrel of South Africa, vowing vengeance
+against Botha and Britain. He galvanized the Nationalist Party, which up
+to this time had been merely a party of opposition, into what was
+rapidly becoming a flaming secession movement. The South African Party
+developed into the only really national party, while its opponent,
+although bearing the name of National, was solely and entirely racial.
+
+The first real test of strength was in the election of 1915. The
+campaign was bitter and belligerent. The venom of the Nationalist Party
+was concentrated on Smuts. Many of his meetings became bloody riots. He
+was the target for rotten fruit and on one occasion an attempt was made
+on his life. The combination of the Botha personality and the Smuts
+courage and reason won out and the South African Party remained in
+power.
+
+Undaunted, Hertzog carried on the fight. He soon had the supreme
+advantage of having the field to himself because Botha was off fighting
+the Germans and Smuts had gone to England to help mould the Allied
+fortunes. The Nationalist leader made hay while the red sun of war
+shone. Every South African who died on the battlefield was for him just
+another argument for separation from England.
+
+When Ireland declared herself a "republic" Hertzog took the cue and
+counted his cause in with that of the "small nations" that needed
+self-determination. "Afrika for the Afrikans," the old motto of the
+_Afrikander Bond_, was unfurled from the masthead and the sedition
+spread. It not only recruited the Boers who had an ancient grievance
+against Great Britain, but many others who secretly resented the Botha
+and Smuts intimacy with "the conquerors." Some were sons and grandsons
+of the old "_Vortrekkers_," who not only delighted to speak the "_taal_"
+exclusively but who had never surrendered the ideal of independence.
+
+While the Dutch movement in South Africa strongly resembles the Irish
+rebellion there are also some marked differences. In South Africa there
+is no religious barrier and as a result there has been much
+intermarriage between Briton and Boer. The English in South Africa bear
+the same relation to the Nationalist movement there that the Ulsterites
+bear to the Sinn Feiners in Ireland. Instead of being segregated as are
+the followers of Sir Edward Carson, they are scattered throughout the
+country.
+
+At the General Election held early in 1920,--general elections are held
+every five years,--the results were surprising. The Nationalists
+returned a majority of four over the South African Party in Parliament.
+It left Smuts to carry on his Government with a minority. To add to his
+troubles, the Labour Party,--always an uncertain proposition,--increased
+its representation from a mere handful to twenty-one, while the
+Unionists, who comprise the straight-out English-speaking Party, whose
+stronghold is Natal, suffered severe losses. Smuts could not very well
+count the latter among his open allies because it would have alienated
+the hard-shell Boers in the South African Party.
+
+This was the situation that I found on my arrival in Capetown. On one
+hand was Smuts, still Prime Minister, taxing his every resource as
+parliamentarian and pacificator to maintain the Union and prevent a
+revolt from Britain--all in the face of a bitter and hostile majority.
+On the other hand was Hertzog, bent on secession and with a solid array
+of discontents behind him. The two former comrades of the firing line,
+as the heads of their respective groups, were locked in a momentous
+political life-and-death struggle the outcome of which may prove to be
+the precedent for Ireland, Egypt, and India.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright South African Railways_
+
+GROOTE SCHUUR]
+
+
+II
+
+Yet Smuts continued as Premier which means that he brought the life of
+Parliament to a close without a sharp division. Moreover, he
+manœuvered his forces into a position that saved the day for Union
+and himself. How did he do it?
+
+I can demonstrate one way and with a rather personal incident. During
+the week I spent in Capetown Smuts was an absorbed person as you may
+imagine. The House was in session day and night and there were endless
+demands on him. The best opportunities that we had for talk were at
+meal-time. One evening I dined with him in the House restaurant. When we
+sat down we thought that we had the place to ourselves. Suddenly Smuts
+cast his eye over the long room and saw a solitary man just commencing
+his dinner in the opposite corner. Turning to me he said:
+
+"Do you know Cresswell?"
+
+"I was introduced to him yesterday," I replied.
+
+"Would you mind if I asked him to dine with us?"
+
+When I assured him that I would be delighted, the Prime Minister got up,
+walked over to Cresswell and asked him to join us, which he did.
+
+The significant part of this apparently simple performance, which had
+its important outcome, was this. Colonel F. H. P. Cresswell is the
+leader of the Labour Party in South Africa. By profession a mining
+engineer, he led the forces of revolt in the historic industrial
+upheaval in the Rand in what Smuts denounced as a "Syndicalist
+Conspiracy." Riot, bloodshed, and confusion reigned for a considerable
+period at Johannesburg and large bodies of troops had to be called out
+to restore order. At the very moment that we sat down to dine that night
+no one knew just what Cresswell and the Labourites with their new-won
+power would do. Smuts, as Minister of Finance, had deported some of
+Cresswell's men and Cresswell himself narrowly escaped drastic
+punishment.
+
+When Smuts brought Cresswell over he said jokingly to me:
+
+"Cresswell is a good fellow but I came near sending him to jail once."
+
+Cresswell beamed and the three of us amiably discussed various topics
+until the gong sounded for the assembling of the House.
+
+What was the result? Before I left Capetown and when the first of the
+few occasions which tested the real voting strength of Parliament arose,
+Cresswell and some of his adherents voted with Smuts. I tell this little
+story to show that the man who today holds the destiny of South Africa
+in his hands is as skillful a diplomat as he is soldier and statesman.
+
+It was at one of these quiet dinners with Smuts at the House that he
+first spoke about Nationalism. He said: "The war gave Nationalism its
+death blow. But as a matter of fact Nationalism committed suicide in the
+war."
+
+"But what is Nationalism?" I asked him.
+
+"A water-tight nation in a water-tight compartment," he replied. "It is
+a process of regimentation like the old Germany that will soon merge
+into a new Internationalism. What seems to be at this moment an orgy of
+Nationalism in South Africa or elsewhere is merely its death gasp. The
+New World will be a world of individualism dominated by Britain and
+America.
+
+"What about the future?" I asked him. His answer was:
+
+"The safety of the future depends upon Federation, upon a League of
+Nations that will develop along economic and not purely sentimental
+lines. The New Internationalism will not stop war but it can regulate
+exchange, and through this regulation can help to prevent war.
+
+"I believe in an international currency which will be a sort of legal
+tender among all the nations. Why should the currency of the country
+depreciate or rise with the fortunes of war or with its industrial or
+other complications? Misfortune should not be penalized fiscally."
+
+I brought up the question of the lack of accord which then existed
+between Britain and America and suggested that perhaps the fall in
+exchange had something to do with it, whereupon he said: "Yes, I think
+it has. It merely illustrates the point that I have just made about an
+international currency."
+
+We came back to the subject of individualism, which led Smuts to say:
+
+"The Great War was a striking illustration of the difference between
+individualism and nationalism. Hindenberg commanded the only army in the
+war. It was a product of nationalism. The individualism of the
+Anglo-Saxon is such that it becomes a mob but it is an intelligent mob.
+Haig and Pershing commanded such mobs."
+
+I tried to probe Smuts about Russia. He was in London when I returned
+from Petrograd in 1917 and I recall that he displayed the keenest
+interest in what I told him about Kerensky and the new order that I had
+seen in the making. I heard him speak at a Russian Fair in London. The
+whole burden of his utterance was the hope that the Slav would achieve
+discipline and organization. At that time Russia redeemed from autocracy
+looked to be a bulwark of Allied victory. The night we talked about
+Russia at Capetown she had become the prey of red terror and the
+plaything of organized assassination.
+
+Smuts looked rather wistful when he said:
+
+"You cannot defeat Russia. Napoleon learned this to his cost and so will
+the rest of the world. I do not know whether Bolshevism is advancing or
+subsiding. There comes a time when the fiercest fires die down. But the
+best way to revive or rally all Russia to the Soviet Government is to
+invade the country and to annex large slices of it."
+
+These utterances were made during those more or less hasty meals at the
+House of Parliament when the Premier's mind was really in the
+Legislative Hall nearby where he was fighting for his administrative
+life. It was far different out at _Groote Schuur_, the home of the Prime
+Minister, located in Rondebosch, a suburb about nine miles from
+Capetown. In the open country that he loves, and in an environment that
+breathed the romance and performance of England's greatest
+empire-builder, I caught something of the man's kindling vision and
+realized his ripe grasp of international events.
+
+_Groote Schuur_ is one of the best-known estates in the world. Cecil
+Rhodes in his will left it to the Union as the permanent residence of
+the Prime Minister. Ever since I read the various lives of Rhodes I had
+had an impatient desire to see this shrine of achievement. Here Rhodes
+came to live upon his accession to the Premiership of the Cape Colony;
+here he fashioned the British South Africa Company which did for
+Rhodesia what the East India Company did for India; here came prince and
+potentate to pay him honour; here he dreamed his dreams of conquest
+looking out at mountain and sea; here lived Jameson and Kipling; here
+his remains lay in state when at forty-nine the fires of his restless
+ambition had ceased.
+
+_Groote Schuur_, which in Dutch means "Great Granary," was originally
+built as a residence and store-house for one of the early Dutch
+Governors of the Cape. It is a beautiful example of the Dutch
+architecture that you will find throughout the Colony and which is not
+surpassed in grace or comfort anywhere. When Rhodes acquired it in the
+eighties the grounds were comparatively limited. As his power and
+fortune increased he bought up all the surrounding country until today
+you can ride for nine miles across the estate. You find no neat lawns
+and dainty flower-beds. On the place, as in the house itself, you get
+the sense of bigness and simplicity which were the keynotes of the
+Rhodes character.
+
+One reason why Rhodes acquired _Groote Schuur_ was that behind it rose
+the great bulk of Table Mountain. He loved it for its vastness and its
+solitude. On the back _stoep_, which is the Dutch word for porch, he sat
+for hours gazing at this mountain which like the man himself was
+invested with a spirit of immensity.
+
+It was a memorable experience to be at _Groote Schuur_ with Smuts, who
+has lived to see the realization of the hope of Union which thrilled
+always in the heart of Cecil Rhodes. I remember that on the first night
+I went out the Prime Minister took me through the house himself. It has
+been contended by Smuts' enemies that he was a "creature of Rhodes." I
+discovered that Smuts, with the exception of having made a speech of
+welcome when Rhodes visited the school that he attended as a boy, had
+never even met the Englishman who left his impress upon a whole land.
+
+_Groote Schuur_ has been described so much that it is not necessary for
+me to dwell upon its charm and atmosphere here. To see it is to get a
+fresh and intimate realization of the personality which made the
+establishment an unofficial Chancellery of the British Empire.
+
+Two details, however, have poignant and dramatic interest. In the
+simple, massive, bed-room with its huge bay window opening on Table
+Mountain and a stretch of lovely countryside, hangs the small map of
+Africa that Rhodes marked with crimson ink and about which he made the
+famous utterance, "It must be all red." Hanging on the wall in the
+billiard room is the flag with Crescent and Cape device that he had made
+to be carried by the first locomotive to travel from Cairo to the Cape.
+That flag has never been unfurled to the breeze but the vision that
+beheld it waving in the heart of the jungle is soon to become an
+accomplished fact.
+
+It was on a night at _Groote Schuur_, as I walked with Smuts through the
+acres of hydrangeas and bougainvillea (Rhodes' favorite flowers), with a
+new moon peeping overhead that I got the real mood of the man. Pointing
+to the faint silvery crescent in the sky I said: "General, there's a new
+moon over us and I'm sure it means good luck for you."
+
+"No," he replied, "it's the man that makes the luck."
+
+He had had a trying day in the House and was silent in the motor car
+that brought us out. The moment we reached the country and he sniffed
+the scent of the gardens the anxiety and preoccupation fell away. He
+almost became boyish. But when he began to discuss great problems the
+lightness vanished and he became the serious thinker.
+
+We harked back to the days when I had first seen him in England. I asked
+him to tell me what he thought of the aftermath of the stupendous
+struggle. He said:
+
+"The war was just a phase of world convulsion. It made the first rent in
+the universal structure. For years the trend of civilization was toward
+a super-Nationalism. It is easy to trace the stages. The Holy Roman
+Empire was a phase of Nationalism. That was Catholic. Then came the
+development of Nationalism, beginning with Napoleon. That was
+Protestant. Now began the building of water-tight compartments,
+otherwise known as nations. Germany represented the most complete
+development.
+
+"But that era of 'my country,' 'my power,'--it is all a form of national
+ego,--is gone. The four great empires,--Turkey, Germany, Russia and
+Austria,--have crumbled. The war jolted them from their high estate. It
+started the universal cataclysm. Centuries in the future some
+perspective can be had and the results appraised.
+
+"Meanwhile, we can see the beginning. The world is one. Humanity is one
+and must be one. The war, at terrible cost, brought the peoples
+together. The League of Nations is a faint and far-away evidence of this
+solidarity. It merely points the way but it is something. It is not
+academic formulas that will unite the peoples of the world but
+intelligence."
+
+Smuts now turned his thought to a subject not without interest for
+America, for he said:
+
+"The world has been brought together by the press, by wireless, indeed
+by all communication which represents the last word in scientific
+development. Yet political institutions cling to old and archaic
+traditions. Take the Presidency of the United States. A man waits for
+four months before he is inaugurated. The incumbent may work untold
+mischief in the meantime. It is all due to the fact that in the days
+when the American Constitution was framed the stagecoach and the horse
+were the only means of conveyance. The world now travels by aeroplane
+and express train, yet the antiquated habits continue.
+
+"So with political parties and peoples, the British Empire included.
+They need to be brought abreast of the times. The old pre-war British
+Empire, for example, is gone in the sense of colonies or subordinate
+nations clustering around one master nation. The British Empire itself
+is developing into a real League of Nations,--a group of partner
+peoples."
+
+"What of America and the future?" I asked him.
+
+"America is the leaven of the future," answered Smuts. "She is the
+life-blood of the League of Nations. Without her the League is stifled.
+America will give the League the peace temper. You Americans are a
+pacific people, slow to war but terrible and irresistible when you once
+get at it. The American is an individualist and in that new and
+inevitable internationalism the individual will stand out, the American
+pre-eminently."
+
+Throughout this particular experience at _Groote Schuur_ I could not
+help marvelling on the contrast that the man and the moment presented.
+We walked through a place of surpassing beauty. Ahead brooded the black
+mystery of the mountains and all around was a fragrant stillness broken
+only by the quick, almost passionate speech of this seer and thinker,
+animate with an inspiring ideal of public service, whose mind leaped
+from the high places of poetry and philosophy on to the hiving
+battlefield of world event. It seemed almost impossible that nine miles
+away at Capetown raged the storm that almost within the hour would again
+claim him as its central figure.
+
+The Smuts statements that I have quoted were made long before the
+Presidential election in America. I do not know just what Smuts thinks
+of the landslide that overwhelmed the Wilson administration and with it
+that well-known Article X, but I do know that he genuinely hopes that
+the United States somehow will have a share in the new international
+stewardship of the world. He would welcome any order that would enable
+us to play our part.
+
+No one can have contact with Smuts without feeling at once his intense
+admiration for America. One of his ambitions is to come to the United
+States. It is characteristic of him that he has no desire to see
+skyscrapers and subways. His primary interest is in the great farms of
+the West. "Your people," he once said to me, "have made farming a
+science and I wish that South Africa could emulate them. We have farms
+in vast area but we have not yet attained an adequate development."
+
+I was amazed at his knowledge of American literature. He knows Hamilton
+backwards, has read diligently about the life and times of Washington,
+and is familiar with Irving, Poe, Hawthorne and Emerson. One reason why
+he admires the first American President is because he was a farmer.
+Smuts knows as much about rotation of crops and successful chicken
+raising as he does about law and politics. He said:
+
+"I am an eighty per cent farmer and a Boer, and most people think a Boer
+is a barbarian."
+
+Despite his scholarship he remains what he delights to call himself, "a
+Boer." He still likes the simple Boer things, as this story will show.
+During the war, while he was a member of the British War Cabinet and
+when Lloyd George leaned on him so heavily for a multitude of services,
+a young South African Major, fresh from the Transvaal, brought him a box
+of home delicacies. The principal feature of this package was a piece of
+what the Boers call "biltong," which is dried venison. The Major gave
+the package to an imposing servant in livery at the Savoy Hotel, where
+the General lived, to be delivered to him. Smuts was just going out and
+encountered the man carrying it in. When he learned that it was from
+home, he grabbed the box, saying: "I'll take it up myself." Before he
+reached his apartment he was chewing away vigorously on a mouthful of
+"biltong" and having the time of his life.
+
+The contrast between Smuts and his predecessor Botha is striking. These
+two men, with the possible exception of Kruger, stand out in the annals
+of the Boer. Kruger was the dour, stolid, canny, provincial trader. The
+only time that his interest ever left the confines of the Transvaal was
+when he sought an alliance with William Hohenzollern, and that person, I
+might add, failed him at the critical moment.
+
+Botha was the George Washington of South Africa,--the farmer who became
+Premier. He was big of body and of soul,--big enough to know when he was
+beaten and to rebuild out of the ruins. Even the Nationalists trusted
+him and they do not trust Smuts. It is the old story of the prophet in
+his own country. There are many people in South Africa today who believe
+that if Botha were alive there would be no secession movement.
+
+The Boers who oppose him politically call Smuts "Slim Jannie." The
+Dutch word "slim" means tricky and evasive. Not so very long ago Smuts
+was in a conference with some of his countrymen who were not altogether
+friendly to him. He had just remarked on the long drought that was
+prevailing. One of the men present went to the window and looked out.
+When asked the reason for this action he replied:
+
+"Smuts says that there's a drought. I looked out to see if it was
+raining."
+
+When you come to Smuts in this analogy you behold the Alexander Hamilton
+of his nation, the brilliant student, soldier, and advocate. Of all his
+Boer contemporaries he is the most cosmopolitan. Nor is this due
+entirely to the fact that he went to Cambridge where he left a record
+for scholarship, and speaks English with a decided accent. It is because
+he has what might be called world sense. His career, and more especially
+his part at the Peace Conference and since, is a dramatization of it.
+
+To the student of human interest Smuts is a fertile subject. His life
+has been a cinema romance shot through with sharp contrasts. Here is one
+of them. When leaders of the shattered Boer forces gathered in
+_Vereeniging_ to discuss the Peace Terms with Kitchener in 1902, Smuts,
+who commanded a flying guerilla column, was besieging the little mining
+town of O'okiep. He received a summons from Botha to attend. It was
+accompanied by a safe-conduct pass signed "D. Haig, Colonel." Later Haig
+and Smuts stood shoulder to shoulder in a common cause and helped to
+save civilization.
+
+Smuts is more many-sided than any other contemporary Prime Minister and
+for that matter, those that have gone into retirement, that is, men like
+Asquith in England and Clemenceau in France. Among world statesmen the
+only mind comparable to his is that of Woodrow Wilson. They have in
+common a high intellectuality. But Wilson in his prime lacked the hard
+sense and the accurate knowledge of men and practical affairs which are
+among the chief Smuts assets.
+
+Speaking of Premiers brings me to the inevitable comparison between
+Smuts and Lloyd George. I have seen them both in varying circumstances,
+both in public and in private and can attempt some appraisal.
+
+Each has been, and remains, a pillar of Empire. Each has emulated the
+Admirable Crichton in the variety and multiplicity of public posts.
+Lloyd George has held five Cabinet posts in England and Smuts has
+duplicated the record in South Africa. Each man is an inspired orator
+who owes much of his advancement to eloquent tongue. Their platform
+manner is totally different. Lloyd George is fascinatingly magnetic in
+and out of the spotlight while Smuts is more coldly logical. When you
+hear Lloyd George you are stirred and even exalted by his golden
+imagery. The sound of his voice falls on the ear like music. You admire
+the daring of his utterance but you do not always remember everything he
+says.
+
+With Smuts you listen and you remember. He has no tricks of the
+spellbinder's trade. He is forceful, convincing, persuasive, and what is
+more important, has the quality of permanency. Long after you have left
+his presence the words remain in your memory. If I had a case in court I
+would like to have Smuts try it. His specialty is pleading.
+
+Lloyd George seldom reads a book. The only volumes I ever heard him say
+that he had read were Mr. Dooley and a collection of the Speeches of
+Abraham Lincoln. He has books read for him and with a Roosevelt faculty
+for assimilation, gives you the impression that he has spent his life in
+a library.
+
+Smuts is one of the best-read men I have met. He seems to know something
+about everything. He ranges from Joseph Conrad to Kant, from Booker
+Washington to Tolstoi. History, fiction, travel, biography, have all
+come within his ken. I told him I proposed to go from Capetown to the
+Congo and possibly to Angola. His face lighted up. "Ah, yes," he said,
+"I have read all about those countries. I can see them before me in my
+mind's eye."
+
+One night at dinner at _Groote Schuur_ we had sweet potatoes. He asked
+me if they were common in America. I replied that down in Kentucky where
+I was born one of the favorite negro dishes was "'possum and sweet
+potatoes." He took me up at once saying:
+
+"Oh, yes, I have read about ''possum pie' in Joel Chandler Harris'
+books." Then he proceeded to tell me what a great institution "Br'er
+Rabbit" was.
+
+We touched on German poetry and I quoted two lines that I considered
+beautiful. When I remarked that I thought Heine was the author he
+corrected me by proving that they were written by Schiller.
+
+Lloyd George could never carry on a conversation like this for the
+simple reason that he lacks familiarity with literature. He feels
+perhaps like the late Charles Frohman who, on being asked if he read the
+dramatic papers said: "Why should I read about the theatre. I _make_
+dramatic history."
+
+I asked Smuts what he was reading at the moment. He looked at me with
+some astonishment and answered, "Nothing except public documents. It's a
+good thing that I was able to do some reading before I became Prime
+Minister. I certainly have no time now."
+
+Take the matter of languages. Lloyd George has always professed that he
+did not know French, and on all his trips to France both during and
+since the war he carried a staff of interpreters. He understands a good
+deal more French than he professes. His widely proclaimed ignorance of
+the language has stood him in good stead because it has enabled him to
+hear a great many things that were not intended for his ears. It is part
+of his political astuteness. Smuts is an accomplished linguist. It has
+been said of him that he "can be silent in more languages than any man
+in South Africa."
+
+Lloyd George is a clever politician with occasional inspired moments but
+he is not exactly a statesman as Disraeli and Gladstone were. Smuts has
+the unusual combination of statesmanship with a knowledge of every
+wrinkle in the political game.
+
+Take his experience at the Paris Peace Conference. He was distinguished
+not so much for what he did, (and that was considerable), but for what
+he opposed. No man was better qualified to voice the sentiment of the
+"small nation." Born of proud and liberty-loving people,--an infant
+among the giants--he was attuned to every aspiration of an hour that
+realized many a one-time forlorn national hope. Yet his statesmanship
+tempered sentimental impulse.
+
+In that gallery of treaty-makers Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson
+focussed the "fierce light" that beat about the proceedings. But it was
+Smuts, in the shadow, who contributed largely to the mental power-plant
+that drove the work. Lloyd George had to consider the chapter he wrote
+in the great instrument as something in the nature of a campaign
+document to be employed at home, while Clemenceau guided a steamroller
+that stooped for nothing but France. The more or less unsophisticated
+idealism of Woodrow Wilson foundered on these obstacles.
+
+Smuts, with his uncanny sense of prophecy, foretold the economic
+consequences of the peace. Looking ahead he visualized a surly and
+unrepentant Germany, unwilling to pay the price of folly; a bitter and
+disappointed Austria gasping for economic breath; an aroused and
+indignant Italy raging with revolt--all the chaos that spells "peace"
+today. He saw the Treaty as a new declaration of war instead of an
+antidote for discord. His judgment, sadly enough, has been confirmed. A
+deranged universe shot through with reaction and confusion, and with
+half a dozen wars sputtering on the horizon, is the answer. The sob and
+surge of tempest-born nations in the making are lost in the din of older
+ones threatened with decay and disintegration. It is not a pleasing
+spectacle.
+
+Smuts signed the Treaty but, as most people know, he filed a memorandum
+of protest and explanation. He believed the terms uneconomic and
+therefore unsound, but it was worth taking a chance on interpretation, a
+desperate venture perhaps, but anything to stop the blare and bicker of
+the council table and start the work of reconstruction.
+
+At Capetown he told me that for days he wrestled with the problem "to
+sign or not to sign." Finally, on the day before the Day of Days in the
+Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, he took a long solitary walk in the
+Champs Elysee, loveliest of Paris parades. Returning to his hotel he
+said to his secretary, Captain E. F. C. Lane, "I have decided to sign,
+but I will tell the reason why." He immediately sat down at his desk and
+in a handwriting noted for its illegibility wrote the famous
+memorandum.
+
+
+III
+
+What of the personal side of Smuts? While he is intensely human it is
+difficult to connect anecdote with him. I heard one at Capetown,
+however, that I do not think has seen the light of print. It reveals his
+methods, too.
+
+When the Germans ran amuck in 1914 Smuts was Minister of Defense of the
+Union of South Africa. The Nationalists immediately began to make life
+uncomfortable for him. Balked in their attempt to keep the Union out of
+the struggle they took another tack. After the Botha campaign in German
+South-West Africa was well under way, a member of the Opposition asked
+the Minister of Defense the following question in Parliament: "How much
+has South Africa paid for horses in the field and the Nationalists
+sought to make some political capital out of an expenditure that they
+remounts?" The Union forces employed thousands of called "waste."
+
+Smuts sent over to Army Headquarters to get the figures. He was told
+that it would take twenty clerks at least four weeks to compile the
+data.
+
+"Never mind," was his laconic comment. The next day happened to be
+Question Day in the House. As soon as the query about the remount charge
+came up Smuts calmly rose in his seat and replied:
+
+"It was exactly eight million one hundred and sixty-nine thousand
+pounds, ten shillings and sixpence." He then sat down without any
+further remark.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by Harris & Ewing_
+
+GENERAL J. C. SMUTS]
+
+When one of his colleagues asked him where he got this information he
+said:
+
+"I dug it out of my own mind. It will take the Nationalists a month to
+figure it out and by that time they will have forgotten all about it."
+And it was forgotten.
+
+Smuts not only has a keen sense of humor but is swift on the retort.
+While speaking at a party rally in his district not many years after the
+Boer War he was continually interrupted by an ex-soldier. He stopped his
+speech and asked the man to state his grievance. The heckler said:
+
+"General de la Rey guaranteed the men fighting under him a living."
+
+Quick as a flash Smuts replied:
+
+"Nonsense. What he guaranteed you was certain death."
+
+Like many men conspicuous in public life Smuts gets up early and has
+polished off a good day's work before the average business man has
+settled down to his job. There is a big difference between his methods
+of work and those of Lloyd George. The British Prime Minister only goes
+to the House of Commons when he has to make a speech or when some
+important question is up for discussion. Smuts attends practically every
+session of Parliament, at least he did while I was in Capetown.
+
+One reason was that on account of the extraordinary position in which he
+found himself, any moment might have produced a division carrying with
+it disastrous results for the Government. The crisis demanded that he
+remain literally on the job all the time. He left little to his
+lieutenants. Confident of his ability in debate he was always willing to
+risk a showdown but he had to be there when it came.
+
+I watched him as he sat in the House. He occupied a front bench directly
+opposite Hertzog and where he could look his arch enemy squarely in the
+eyes all the time. I have seen him sit like a Sphinx for an hour without
+apparently moving a muscle. He has cultivated that rarest of arts which
+is to be a good listener. He is one of the great concentrators. In this
+genius, for it is little less, lies one of the secrets of his success.
+During a lull in legislative proceedings he has a habit of taking a
+solitary walk out in the lobby. More than once I saw him pacing up and
+down, always with an ear cocked toward the Assembly Room so he could
+hear what was going on and rush to the rescue if necessary.
+
+In the afternoon he would sometimes go into the members' smoking room
+and drink a cup of coffee, the popular drink in South Africa. In the old
+Boer household the coffee pot is constantly boiling. With a cup of
+coffee and a piece of "biltong" inside him a Boer could fight or trek
+all day. Coffee bears the same relation to the South African that tea
+does to the Englishman, save that it is consumed in much larger
+quantities. I might add that Smuts neither drinks liquor of any kind nor
+smokes, and he eats sparingly. He admits that his one dissipation is
+farming.
+
+This comes naturally because he was born fifty years ago on a farm in
+what is known as the Western Province in the Karoo country. He did his
+share of the chores about the place until it was time for him to go to
+school. His father and his grandfather were farmers. Inbred in him, as
+in most Boers, is an ardent love of country life and especially an
+affection for the mountains. On more than one occasion he has climbed to
+the top of Table Mountain, which is no inconsiderable feat.
+
+There are two ways of appraising Smuts. One is to see him in action as
+I did at Capetown, while Parliament was in session. The other is to get
+him with the background of his farm at Irene, a little way station about
+ten miles from Pretoria. Here, in a rambling one-story house surrounded
+by orchards, pastures, and gardens, he lives the simple life. In the
+western part of the Transvaal he owns a real farm. He showed his
+shrewdness in the acquisition of this property because he bought it at a
+time when the region was dubbed a "desert." Now it is a garden spot.
+
+Irene has various distinct advantages. For one thing it is his permanent
+home. _Groote Schuur_ is the property of the Government and he owes his
+tenancy of it entirely to the fortunes of politics. At Irene is planted
+his hearthstone and around it is mobilized his considerable family.
+There are six little Smutses. Smuts married the sweetheart of his youth
+who is a rarely congenial helpmate. It was once said of her that she
+"went about the house with a baby under one arm and a Greek dictionary
+under the other."
+
+Most people do not realize that the Union of South Africa has two
+capitals. Capetown with the House of Parliament is the center of
+legislation, while Pretoria, the ancient Kruger stronghold, with its
+magnificent new Union buildings atop a commanding eminence, is the
+fountain-head of administration. With Irene only ten miles away it is
+easy for Smuts to live with his family after the adjournment of
+Parliament, and go in to his office at Pretoria every day.
+
+I have already given you a hint of the Smuts personal appearance. Let us
+now take a good look at him. His forehead is lofty, his nose arched, his
+mouth large. You know that his blonde beard veils a strong jaw. The eyes
+are reminiscent of those marvelous orbs of Marshal Foch only they are
+blue, haunting and at times inexorable. Yet they can light up with humor
+and glow with friendliness.
+
+Smuts is essentially an out-of-doors person and his body is wiry and
+rangy. He has the stride of a man seasoned to the long march and who is
+equally at home in the saddle. He speaks with vigour and at times not
+without emotion. The Boer is not a particularly demonstrative person and
+Smuts has some of the racial reserve. His personality betokens potential
+strength,--a suggestion of the unplumbed reserve that keeps people
+guessing. This applies to his mental as well as his physical capacity.
+Frankly cordial, he resents familiarity. You would never think of
+slapping him on the shoulder and saying, "Hello, Jan." More than one
+blithe and buoyant person has been frozen into respectful silence in
+such a foolhardy undertaking.
+
+His middle name is Christian and it does not belie a strong phase of his
+character. Without carrying his religious convictions on his
+coat-sleeve, he has nevertheless a fine spiritual strain in his make-up.
+He is an all-round dependable person, with an adaptability to
+environment that is little short of amazing.
+
+
+IV
+
+Now let us turn to another and less conspicuous South African whose
+point of view, imperial, personal and patriotic, is the exact opposite
+of that of Smuts. Throughout this chapter has run the strain of Hertzog,
+first the Boer General fighting gallantly in the field with Smuts as
+youthful comrade; then the member of the Botha Cabinet; later the bitter
+insurgent, and now the implacable foe of the order that he helped to
+establish. What manner of man is he and what has he to say?
+
+I talked to him one afternoon when he left the floor leadership to his
+chief lieutenant, a son of the late President Steyn of the Orange Free
+State. Like his father, who called himself "President" to the end of his
+life although his little republic had slipped away from him, he has
+never really yielded to English rule.
+
+We adjourned to the smoking room where we had the inevitable cup of
+South African coffee. I was prepared to find a fanatic and fire-eater.
+Instead I faced a thin, undersized man who looked anything but a general
+and statesman. Put him against the background of a small New England
+town and you would take him for an American country lawyer. He resembles
+the student more than the soldier and, like many Boers, speaks English
+with a British accent. Nor is he without force. No man can play the rôle
+that he has played in South Africa those past twenty-five years without
+having substance in him.
+
+When I asked him to state his case he said:
+
+"The republican idea is as old as South Africa. There was a republic
+before the British arrived. The idea came from the American Revolution
+and the inspiration was Washington. The Great Trek of 1836 was a protest
+very much like the one we are making today.
+
+"President Wilson articulated the Boer feeling with his gospel of
+self-determination. He also voiced the aspirations of Ireland, India and
+Egypt. It is a great world idea--a deep moral conviction of mankind,
+this right of the individual state, as of the individual for freedom.
+
+"Never again will Transvaal and Orange Free State history be repeated.
+No matter how a nation covets another--and I refer to British
+covetousness,--if the nation coveted is able to govern itself it cannot
+and must not be assimilated. It is one result of the Great War."
+
+"What is the Nationalist ideal?" I asked.
+
+"It is the right to self-rule," replied Hertzog. "But there must be no
+conflict if it can be avoided. It must prevail by reason and education.
+At the present time I admit that the majority of South Africans do not
+want republicanism. The Nationalist mission today is to keep the torch
+lighted."
+
+"How does this idea fit into the spirit of the League of Nations?" I
+queried.
+
+"It fits in perfectly," was the response. "We Nationalists favor the
+League as outlined by Wilson. But I fear that it will develop into a
+capitalistic, imperialistic empire dominating the world instead of a
+league of nations."
+
+I asked Hertzog how he reconciled acquiescence to Union to the present
+Nationalist revolt. The answer was:
+
+"The Nationalists supported the Government because of their attachment
+to General Botha. Deep down in his heart Botha wanted to be free and
+independent."
+
+"How about Ireland?" I demanded.
+
+The General smiled as he responded: "Our position is different. It does
+not require dynamite, but education. With us it is a simple matter of
+the will of the people. I do not think that conditions in South Africa
+will ever reach the state at which they have arrived in Ireland."
+
+Commenting on the Union and its relations to the British Empire Hertzog
+continued:
+
+"The Union is not a failure but we could be better governed. The thing
+to which we take exception is that the British Government, through our
+connection with it, is in a position by which it gets an undue advantage
+directly and indirectly to influence legislation. For example, we were
+not asked to conquer German South-West Africa; it was a command.
+
+"Very much against the feeling of the old population, that is the Dutch
+element, we were led into participation in the war. Today this old
+population feels as strongly as ever against South Africa being involved
+in European politics. It feels that all this Empire movement only leads
+in that direction and involves us in world conflicts.
+
+"One of the strongest reasons in favor of separation and the setting up
+of a South African republic is to get solidarity between the English and
+the Dutch. I cannot help feeling that our interests are being constantly
+subordinated to those of Great Britain. My firm conviction is that the
+freer we are, and the more independent of Great Britain we become, the
+more we shall favor a close co-operation with her. We do not dislike the
+British as such but we do object to the Britisher coming out as a
+subject of Great Britain with a superior manner and looking upon the
+Dutchman as a dependent or a subordinate. There will be a conflict so
+long as they do not recognize our heroes, traditions and history. In
+short, we are determined to have a republic of South Africa and England
+must recognize it. To oppose it is fatal."
+
+"Will you fight for it?" I asked.
+
+"I hardly think that it will come to force," said the General. "It must
+prevail by reason and education. It may not come in one year but it will
+come before many years."
+
+Hertzog's feeling is not shared, as he intimated, by the majority of
+South Africans and this includes many Dutchmen. An illuminating analysis
+of the Nationalist point of view was made for me by Sir Thomas Smartt,
+the leader of the Unionist Party and a virile force in South African
+politics. He brought the situation strikingly home to America when he
+said:
+
+"The whole Nationalist movement is founded on race. Like the Old Guard,
+the Boer may die but it is hard for him to surrender. His heart still
+rankles with the outcome of the Boer War. Would the American South have
+responded to an appeal to arms in the common cause made by the North in
+1876? Probably not. Before your Civil War the South only had individual
+states. The Boers, on the other hand, had republics with completely
+organized and independent governments. This is why it will take a long
+time before complete assimilation is accomplished. A second Boer War is
+unthinkable."
+
+We can now return to Smuts and find out just how he achieved the miracle
+by which he not only retained the Premiership but spiked the guns of the
+opposition.
+
+When I left Capetown he was in a corner. The Nationalist majority not
+only made his position precarious but menaced the integrity of Union,
+and through Union, the whole Empire. For five months,--the whole session
+of Parliament,--he held his ground. Every night when he went to bed at
+_Groote Schuur_ he did not know what disaster the morrow would bring
+forth. It was a constant juggle with conflicting interests, ambitions
+and prejudices. He was like a lion with a pack snapping on all sides.
+
+Now you can see why he sat in that front seat in the House morning, noon
+and night. He placated the Labourites, harmonized the Unionists, and
+flung down the gauntlet openly to the Nationalists. Throughout that
+historic session, and although much legislation was accomplished, he did
+not permit the consummation of a single decisive division. It was a
+triumph of parliamentary leadership.
+
+When the session closed in July,--it is then mid-winter in Africa,--he
+was still up against it. The Nationalist majority was a phantom that
+dogged his official life and political fortunes. The problem now was to
+take out sane insurance against a repetition of the trial and
+uncertainty which he had undergone.
+
+Fate in the shape of the Nationalist Party played into his hands. Under
+the stimulation of the Nationalists a _Vereeniging_ Congress was called
+at Bloenfontein late last September. The Dutch word _Vereeniging_ means
+"reunion." Hertzog and Tielman Roos, the co-leader of the
+secessionists, believed that by bringing the leading representatives of
+the two leading parties together the appeal to racial pride might carry
+the day. Smuts did not attend but various members of his Cabinet did.
+
+Reunion did anything but reunite. The differences on the republican
+issues being fundamental were likewise irreconcilable. The Nationalists
+stood pat on secession while the South African Party remained loyal to
+its principles of Imperial unity. The meeting ended in a deadlock.
+
+Smuts, a field marshal of politics, at once saw that the hour of
+deliverance from his dilemma had arrived. The Nationalists had declared
+themselves unalterably for separation. He converted their battle-cry
+into coin for himself. He seized the moment to issue a call for a new
+Moderate Party that would represent a fusion of the South Africanists
+and the Unionists. In one of his finest documents he made a plea for the
+consolidation of these constructive elements.
+
+In it he said:
+
+    Now that the Nationalist Party is firmly resolved to continue its
+    propaganda of fanning the fires of secession and of driving the
+    European races apart from each other and ultimately into conflict
+    with each other, the moderate elements of our population have no
+    other alternative but to draw closer to one another in order to
+    fight that policy.
+
+    A new appeal must, therefore, be made to all right-minded South
+    Africans, irrespective of party or race, to join the new Party,
+    which will be strong enough to safeguard the permanent interests of
+    the Union against the disruptive and destructive policy of the
+    Nationalists. Such a central political party will not only continue
+    our great work of the past, but is destined to play a weighty rôle
+    in the future peaceable development of South Africa.
+
+The end of October witnessed the ratification of this proposal by the
+Unionists. The action at once consolidated the Premier's position. I
+doubt if in all political history you can uncover a series of events
+more paradoxical or perplexing or find a solution arrived at with
+greater skill and strategy. It was a revelation of Smuts with his ripe
+statesmanship put to the test, and not found wanting.
+
+At the election held four months later Smuts scored a brilliant triumph.
+The South African Party increased its representation by eighteen seats,
+while the Nationalists lost heavily. The Labour Party was almost lost in
+the wreckage. The net result was that the Premier obtained a working
+majority of twenty-two, which guarantees a stable and loyal Government
+for at least five years.
+
+It only remains to speculate on what the future holds for this
+remarkable man. South Africa has a tragic habit of prematurely
+destroying its big men. Rhodes was broken on the wheel at forty-nine,
+and Botha succumbed in the prime of life. Will Smuts share the same
+fate?
+
+No one need be told in the face of the Smuts performance that he is a
+world asset. The question is, how far will he go? A Cabinet Minister at
+twenty-eight, a General at thirty, a factor in international affairs
+before he was well into the forties, he unites those rare elements of
+greatness which seem to be so sparsely apportioned these disturbing
+days. That he will reconstruct South Africa there is no doubt. What
+larger responsibilities may devolve upon him can only be guessed.
+
+Just before I sailed from England I talked with a high-placed British
+official. He is in the councils of Empire and he knows Smuts and South
+Africa. I asked him to indicate what in his opinion would be the next
+great milepost of Smuts' progress. He replied:
+
+"The destiny of Smuts is interwoven with the destiny of the whole
+British Empire. The Great War bound the Colonies together with bonds of
+blood. Out of this common peril and sacrifice has been knit a closer
+Imperial kinship. During the war we had an Imperial War Cabinet composed
+of overseas Premiers, which sat in London. Its logical successor will be
+a United British Empire, federated in policy but not in administration.
+Smuts will be the Prime Minister of these United States of Great
+Britain."
+
+It is the high goal of a high career.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEAVY LINE INDICATES MR. MARCOSSON'S ROUTE IN
+AFRICA]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II--"CAPE-TO-CAIRO"
+
+
+I
+
+When you take the train for the North at Capetown you start on the first
+lap of what is in many respects the most picturesque journey in the
+world. Other railways tunnel mighty mountains, cross seething rivers,
+traverse scorching deserts, and invade the clouds, but none has so
+romantic an interest or is bound up with such adventure and imagination
+as this. The reason is that at Capetown begins the southern end of the
+famous seven-thousand-mile Cape-to-Cairo Route, one of the greatest
+dreams of England's prince of practical dreamers, Cecil Rhodes. Today,
+after thirty years of conflict with grudging Governments, the project is
+practically an accomplished fact.
+
+Woven into its fabric is the story of a German conspiracy that was as
+definite a cause of the Great War as the Balkan mess or any other phase
+of Teutonic international meddling. Along its highway the American
+mining engineer has registered a little known evidence of his
+achievement abroad. The route taps civilization and crosses the last
+frontiers of progress. The South African end discloses an illuminating
+example of profitable nationalization. Over it still broods the
+personality of the man who conceived it and who left his impress and his
+name on an empire. Attention has been directed anew to the enterprise
+from the fact that shortly before I reached Africa two aviators flew
+from Cairo to the Cape and their actual flying time was exactly
+sixty-eight hours.
+
+The unbroken iron spine that was to link North and South Africa and
+which Rhodes beheld in his vision of the future, will probably not be
+built for some years. Traffic in Central Africa at the moment does not
+justify it. Besides, the navigable rivers in the Belgian Congo, Egypt,
+and the Soudan lend themselves to the rail and water route which, with
+one short overland gap, now enables you to travel the whole way from
+Cape to Cairo.
+
+The very inception of the Cape-to-Cairo project gives you a glimpse of
+the working of the Rhodes mind. He left the carrying out of details to
+subordinates. When he looked at the map of Africa,--and he was forever
+studying maps,--and ran that historic line through it from end to end
+and said, "It must be all red," he took no cognizance of the
+extraordinary difficulties that lay in the way. He saw, but he did not
+heed, the rainbow of many national flags that spanned the continent. A
+little thing like millions of square miles of jungle, successions of
+great lakes, or wild and primitive regions peopled with cannibals, meant
+nothing. Money and energy were to him merely means to an end.
+
+When General "Chinese" Gordon, for example, told him that he had refused
+a roomful of silver for his services in exterminating the Mongolian
+bandits Rhodes looked at him in surprise and said: "Why didn't you take
+it? What is the earthly use of having ideas if you haven't the money
+with which to carry them out?" Here you have the keynote of the whole
+Rhodes business policy. A project had to be carried through regardless
+of expense. It applied to the Cape-to-Cairo dream just as it applied to
+every other enterprise with which he was associated.
+
+The all-rail route would cost billions upon billions, although now that
+German prestige in Africa is ended it would not be a physical and
+political impossibility. A modification of the original plan into a
+combination rail and river scheme permits the consummation of the vision
+of thirty years ago. The southern end is all-rail mainly because the
+Union of South Africa and Rhodesia are civilized and prosperous
+countries. I made the entire journey by train from Capetown to the
+rail-head at Bukama in the Belgian Congo, a distance of 2,700 miles, the
+longest continuous link in the whole scheme. This trip can be made, if
+desirable, in a through car in about nine days.
+
+I then continued northward, down the Lualaba River,--Livingstone thought
+it was the Nile--then by rail, and again on the Lualaba through the
+posts of Kongolo, Kindu and Ponthierville to Stanleyville on the Congo
+River. This is the second stage of the Cape-to-Cairo Route and knocks
+off an additional 890 miles and another twelve days. Here I left the
+highway to Egypt and went down the Congo and my actual contact with the
+famous line ended. I could have gone on, however, and reached Cairo,
+with luck, in less than eight weeks.
+
+From Stanleyville you go to Mahagi, which is on the border between the
+Congo and Uganda. This is the only overland gap in the whole route. It
+covers roughly,--and the name is no misnomer I am told,--680 miles
+through the jungle and skirts the principal Congo gold fields. A road
+has been built and motor cars are available. The railway route from
+Stanleyville to Mahagi, which will link the Congo and the Nile, is
+surveyed and would have been finished by this time but for the outbreak
+of the Great War. The Belgian Minister of the Colonies, with whom I
+travelled in the Congo assured me that his Government would commence the
+construction within the next two years, thus enabling the traveller to
+forego any hiking on the long journey.
+
+Mahagi is on the western side of Lake Albert and is destined to be the
+lake terminus of the projected Congo-Nile Railway which will be an
+extension of the Soudan Railways. Here you begin the journey that
+enlists both railways and steamers and which gives practically a
+straight ahead itinerary to Cairo. You journey on the Nile by way of
+Rejaf, Kodok,--(the Fashoda that was)--to Kosti, where you reach the
+southern rail-head of the Soudan Railways. Thence it is comparatively
+easy, as most travellers know, to push on through Khartum, Berber, Wady
+Halfa and Assuan to the Egyptian capital. The distance from Mahagi to
+Cairo is something like 2,700 miles while the total mileage from
+Capetown to Cairo, along the line that I have indicated, is 7,000 miles.
+
+This, in brief, is the way you make the trip that Rhodes dreamed about,
+but not the way he planned it. There are various suggestions for
+alternate routes after you reach Bukama or, to be more exact, after you
+start down the first stage of the journey on the Lualaba. At Kabalo,
+where I stopped, a railroad runs eastward from the river to Albertville,
+on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Rhodes wanted to use the 400-mile
+waterway that this body of water provides to connect the railway that
+came down from the North with the line that begins at the Cape. The idea
+was to employ train ferries. King Leopold of Belgium granted Rhodes the
+right to do this but Germany frustrated the scheme by refusing to
+recognize the cession of the strip of Congo territory between Lake
+Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, which was an essential link.
+
+This incident is one evidence of the many attempts that the Germans made
+to block the Cape-to-Cairo project. Germany knew that if Rhodes, and
+through Rhodes the British Empire, could establish through communication
+under the British flag, from one end of Africa to the other, it would
+put a crimp into the Teutonic scheme to dominate the whole continent.
+She went to every extreme to interfere with its advance.
+
+This German opposition provided a reason why the consummation of the
+project was so long delayed. Another was, that except for the explorer
+and the big game hunter, there was no particular provocation for moving
+about in certain portions of Central Africa until recently. But Germany
+only afforded one obstacle. The British Government, after the fashion of
+governments, turned a cold shoulder to the enterprise. History was only
+repeating itself. If Disraeli had consulted his colleagues England would
+never have acquired the Suez Canal. So it goes.
+
+Most of the Rhodesian links of the Cape-to-Cairo Route were built by
+Rhodes and the British South Africa Company, while the line from Broken
+Hill to the Congo border was due entirely to the courage and tenacity of
+Robert Williams, who is now constructing the so-called Benguella Railway
+from Lobito Bay in Portuguese Angola to Bukama. It will be a feeder to
+the Cape-to-Cairo road and constitute a sort of back door to Egypt. It
+will also provide a shorter outlet to Europe for the copper in the
+Katanga district of the Congo.
+
+When you see equatorial Africa and more especially that part which lies
+between the rail-head at Bukama and Mahagi, you understand why the
+all-rail route is not profitable at the moment. It is for the most part
+an uncultivated area principally jungle, with scattered white
+settlements and hordes of untrained natives. The war set back the
+development of the Congo many years. Now that the world is beginning to
+understand the possibilities of Central Africa for palm oil, cotton,
+rubber, and coffee, the traffic to justify the connecting railways will
+eventually come.
+
+
+II
+
+Shortly after my return from Africa I was talking with a well-known
+American business man who, after making the usual inquiries about lions,
+cannibals and hair-breadth escapes, asked: "Is it dangerous to go about
+in South Africa?" When I assured him that both my pocket-book and I were
+safer there than on Broadway in New York or State Street in Chicago, he
+was surprised. Yet his question is typical of a widespread ignorance
+about all Africa and even its most developed area.
+
+What people generally do not understand is that the lower part of that
+one-time Dark Continent is one of the most prosperous regions in the
+world, where the home currency is at a premium instead of a discount;
+where the high cost of living remains a stranger and where you get
+little suggestion of the commercial rack and ruin that are disturbing
+the rest of the universe. While the war-ravaged nations and their
+neighbors are feeling their dubious way towards economic reconstruction,
+the Union of South Africa is on the wave of a striking expansion. It
+affords an impressive contrast to the demoralized productivity of Europe
+and for that matter the United States.
+
+South Africa presents many economic features of distinct and unique
+interest. A glance at its steam transportation discloses rich material.
+Fundamentally the railroads of any country are the real measures of its
+progress. In Africa particularly they are the mileposts of
+civilization. In 1876 there were only 400 miles on the whole continent.
+Today there are over 30,000 miles. Of this network of rails exactly
+11,478 miles are in the Union of South Africa and they comprise the
+second largest mileage in the world under one management.
+
+More than this, they are Government owned and operated. Despite this
+usual handicap they pay. No particular love of Government
+control,--which is invariably an invitation for political influence to
+do its worst,--animated the development of these railways. As in
+Australia, where private capital refused to build, it was a case of
+necessity. In South Africa there was practically no private enterprise
+to sidestep the obligation that the need of adequate transportation
+imposed. The country was new, hostile savages still swarmed the
+frontiers, and the white man had to battle with Zulu and Kaffir for
+every area he opened. In the absence of navigable rivers--there are none
+in the Union--the steel rail had to do the pioneering. Besides, the
+Boers had a strong prejudice against the railroads and regarded the iron
+horse as a menace to their isolation.
+
+The first steam road on the continent of Africa was constructed by
+private enterprise from the suburb of Durban in Natal into the town. It
+was a mile and three-quarters in length and was opened for traffic in
+1860. Railway construction in the Cape Colony began about the same time.
+The Government ownership of the lines was inaugurated in 1873 and it has
+continued without interruption ever since. The real epoch of railway
+building in South Africa started with the great mineral discoveries.
+First came the uncovering of diamonds along the Orange River and the
+opening up of the Kimberley region, which added nearly 2,000 miles of
+railway. With the finding of gold in the Rand on what became the site
+of Johannesburg, another 1,500 miles were added.
+
+Since most nationalized railways do not pay it is interesting to take a
+look at the African balance sheet. Almost without exception the South
+African railways have been operated at a considerable net profit. These
+profits some years have been as high as £2,590,917. During the
+war, when there was a natural slump in traffic and when all soldiers and
+Government supplies were carried free of cost, they aggregated in 1915,
+for instance, £749,125.
+
+One fiscal feature of these South African railroads is worth
+emphasizing. Under the act of Union "all profits, after providing for
+interest, depreciation and betterment, shall be utilized in the
+reduction of tariffs, due regard being had to the agricultural and
+industrial development within the Union and the promotion by means of
+cheap transport of the settlement of an agricultural population in the
+inland portions of the Union." The result is that the rates on
+agricultural products, low-grade ores, and certain raw materials are
+possibly the lowest in the world. In other countries rates had to be
+increased during the war but in South Africa no change was made, so as
+not to interfere with the agricultural, mineral and industrial
+development of the country.
+
+Nor is the Union behind in up-to-date transportation. A big program for
+electrification has been blocked out and a section is under conversion.
+Some of the power generated will be sold to the small manufacturer and
+thus production will be increased.
+
+Stimulating the railway system of South Africa is a single personality
+which resembles the self-made American wizard of transportation more
+than any other Britisher that I have met with the possible exception of
+Sir Eric Geddes, at present Minister of Transport of Great Britain and
+who left his impress on England's conduct of the war. He is Sir William
+W. Hoy, whose official title is General Manager of the South African
+Railways and Ports. Big, vigorous, and forward-looking, he sits in a
+small office in the Railway Station at Capetown, with his finger
+literally on the pulse of nearly 12,000 miles of traffic. During the war
+Walker D. Hines, as Director General of the American Railways, was
+steward of a vaster network of rails but his job was an emergency one
+and terminated when that emergency subsided. Sir William Hoy, on the
+other hand, is set to a task which is not equalled in extent, scope or
+responsibility by any other similar official.
+
+Like James J. Hill and Daniel Willard he rose from the ranks. At
+Capetown he told me of his great admiration for American railways and
+their influence in the system he dominates. Among other things he said:
+"We are taking our whole cue for electrification from the railroads of
+your country and more especially the admirable precedent established by
+the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. I believe firmly in wide
+electrification of present-day steam transport. The great practical
+advantages are more uniform speed and the elimination of stops to take
+water. It also affords improved acceleration, greater reliability as to
+timing, especially on heavy grades, and stricter adherence to schedule.
+There are enormous advantages to single lines like ours in South Africa.
+Likewise, crossings and train movements can be arranged with greater
+accuracy, thereby reducing delays. Perhaps the greatest saving is in
+haulage, that is, in the employment of the heavy electric locomotive. It
+all tends toward a denser traffic.
+
+"Behind this whole process of electrification lies the need, created by
+the Great War, for coal conservation and for a motive power that will
+speed up production of all kinds. We have abundant coal in the Union of
+South Africa and by consuming less of it on our railways we will be in a
+stronger position to export it and thus strengthen our international
+position and keep the value of our money up."
+
+Since Sir William has touched upon the coal supply we at once get a
+link,--and a typical one--with the ramified resource of the Union of
+South Africa. No product, not even those precious stones that lie in the
+bosom of Kimberley, or the glittering golden ore imbedded in the Rand,
+has a larger political or economic significance just now. Nor does any
+commodity figure quite so prominently in the march of world events.
+
+In peace, as in war, coal spells life and power. It was the cudgel that
+the one-time proud and arrogant Germany held menacingly over the head of
+the unhappy neutral, and extorted special privilege. At the moment I
+write, coal is the storm center of controversy that ranges from the Ruhr
+Valley of Germany to the Welsh fields of Britain and affects the
+destinies of statesmen and of countries. We are not without fuel
+troubles, as our empty bins indicate. The nation, therefore, with cheap
+and abundant coal has a bargaining asset that insures industrial peace
+at home and trade prestige abroad.
+
+South Africa not only has a low-priced and ample coal supply but it is
+in a convenient point for distribution to the whole Southern
+hemisphere,--in fact Europe and other sections. On past production the
+Union ranked only eleventh in a list of coal-producing countries, the
+output being about 8,000,000 tons a year before the war and something
+over 10,000,000 tons in 1919. This output, however, is no guide to the
+magnitude of its fields. Until comparatively recent times they have been
+little exploited, not because of inferiority but because of the
+restricted output prior to the new movement to develop a bunker and
+export trade. Without an adequate geological survey the investigations
+made during the last twelve months indicate a potential supply of over
+60,000,000 tons and immense areas have not been touched at all.
+
+The war changed the whole coal situation. Labour conflicts have reduced
+the British output; a huge part of Germany's supply must go to France as
+an indemnity, while our own fields are sadly under-worked, for a variety
+of causes. All these conditions operate in favor of the South African
+field, which is becoming increasingly important as a source of supply.
+
+Despite her advantage the prices remain astonishingly low, when you
+compare them with those prevailing elsewhere. English coal, which in
+1912 cost about nine shillings a ton at pithead, costs considerably more
+than thirty shillings today. The average pithead price of South African
+coal in 1915 was five shillings twopence a ton and at the time of my
+visit to South Africa in 1919 was still under seven shillings a ton.
+Capetown and Durban, the two principal harbours of the Union, are
+coaling stations of Empire importance. There you can see the flags of a
+dozen nations flying from ships that have put in for fuel. Thanks to the
+war these ports are in the center of the world's great trade routes and
+thus, geographically and economically their position is unique for
+bunkering and for export.
+
+The price of bunker coal is a key to the increased overhead cost of
+world trade, as a result of the war. The Belgian boat on which I
+travelled from the shores of the Congo to Antwerp coaled at Teneriffe,
+where the price per ton was seven pounds. It is interesting to compare
+this with the bunker price at Capetown of a little more than two pounds
+per ton, or at Durban where the rate is one pound ten shillings a ton.
+In the face of these figures you can readily see what an economic
+advantage is accruing to the Union of South Africa with reference to the
+whole vexing question of coal supply.
+
+We can now go into the larger matter of South Africa's business
+situation in the light of peace and world reconstruction. I have already
+shown how the war, and the social and industrial upheaval that followed
+in its wake have enlarged and fortified the coal situation in the Union.
+Practically all other interests are similarly affected. The outstanding
+factor in the prosperity of the Union has been the development of
+war-born self-sufficiency. I used to think during the conflict that
+shook the world, that this gospel of self-containment would be one of
+the compensations that Britain would gain for the years of blood and
+slaughter. So far as Britain is concerned this hope has not been
+realized. When I was last in England huge quantities of German dyes were
+being dumped on her shores to the loss and dismay of a new coal-tar
+industry that had been developed during the war. German wares like toys
+and novelties were now pouring in. And yet England wondered why her
+exchange was down!
+
+In South Africa the situation has been entirely different. She alone of
+all the British dominions is asserting an almost pugnacious
+self-sufficiency. Cut off from outside supplies for over four years by
+the relentless submarine warfare, and the additional fact that nearly
+all the ships to and from the Cape had to carry war supplies or
+essential products, she was forced to develop her internal resources.
+The consequence is an expansion of agriculture, industry and
+manufactures. Instead of being as she was often called, "a country of
+samples," she has become a domain of active production, as is attested
+by an industrial output valued at £62,000,000 in 1918. Before the
+war the British and American manufacturer,--and there is a considerable
+market for American goods in the Cape Colony,--could undersell the South
+African article. That condition is changed and the home-made article
+produced with much cheaper labour than obtains either in Europe or the
+United States, has the field.
+
+Let me emphasize another striking fact in connection with this South
+African prosperity. During the war I had occasion to observe at
+first-hand the economic conditions in every neutral country in Europe. I
+was deeply impressed with the prosperity of Sweden, Spain and
+Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Holland, who made hay while their
+neighbors reaped the tares of war. Japan did likewise. These nations
+were largely profiteers who capitalized a colossal misfortune. They got
+much of the benefit and little of the horror of the upheaval.
+
+Not so with South Africa. She played an active part in the war and at
+the same time brought about a legitimate expansion of her resources. One
+point in her favor is that while she sent tens of thousands of her sons
+to fight, her own territory escaped the scar and ravage of battle. All
+the fighting in Africa, so far as the Union was concerned, was in German
+South-West Africa and German East Africa. After my years in
+tempest-tossed Europe it was a pleasant change to catch the buoyant,
+confident, unwearied spirit of South Africa.
+
+I have dwelt upon coal because it happens to be a significant economic
+asset. Coal is merely a phase of the South African resources. In 1919
+the Union produced £35,000,000 in gold and £7,200,000 in
+diamonds. The total mining production was, roughly, £50,000,000.
+This mining treasure is surpassed by the agricultural output, of which
+nearly one-third is exported. Land is the real measure of permanent
+wealth. The hoard of gold and diamonds in time becomes exhausted but the
+soil and its fruits go on forever.
+
+The moment you touch South African agriculture you reach a real romance.
+Nowhere, not even in the winning of the American West by the Mormons, do
+you get a more dramatic spectacle of the triumph of the pioneer over
+combative conditions. The Mormons made the Utah desert bloom, and the
+Boers and their British colleagues wrested riches from the bare veldt.
+The Mormons fought Indians and wrestled with drought, while the Dutch in
+Africa and their English comrades battled with Kaffirs, Hottentots and
+Zulus and endured a no less grilling exposure to sun.
+
+The crops are diversified. One of the staples of South Africa, for
+example, is the mealie, which is nothing more or less than our own
+American corn, but not quite so good. It provides the principal food of
+the natives and is eaten extensively by the European as well. On a dish
+of mealie porridge the Kaffir can keep the human machine going for
+twenty-four hours. Its prototype in the Congo is manice flour. In the
+Union nearly five million acres are under maize cultivation, which is
+exactly double the area in 1911. The value of the maize crop last year
+was approximately a million six hundred thousand pounds. Similar
+expansion has been the order in tobacco, wheat, fruit, sugar and half a
+dozen other products.
+
+South Africa is a huge cattle country. The Boers have always excelled in
+the care of live stock and it is particularly due to their efforts that
+the Union today has more than seven million head of cattle, which
+represents another hundred per cent increase in less than ten years.
+
+This matter of live stock leads me to one of the really picturesque
+industries of the Union which is the breeding of ostriches, "the birds
+with the golden feathers." Ask any man who raises these ungainly birds
+and he will tell you that with luck they are far better than the
+proverbial goose who laid the eighteen-karat eggs. The combination of
+F's--femininity, fashion and feathers--has been productive of many
+fortunes. The business is inclined to be fickle because it depends upon
+the female temperament. The ostrich feather, however, is always more or
+less in fashion. With the outbreak of the war there was a tremendous
+slump in feathers, which was keenly felt in South Africa. With peace,
+the plume again became the thing and the drooping industry expanded with
+get-rich-quick proportions.
+
+Port Elizabeth in the Cape Colony is the center of the ostrich feather
+trade. It is the only place in the world, I believe, devoted entirely to
+plumage. Not long before I arrived in South Africa £85,000 of
+feathers were disposed of there in three days. It is no uncommon thing
+for a pound of prime plumes to fetch £100. The demand has become
+so keen that 350,000 ostriches in the Union can scarcely keep pace with
+it. Before the war there were more than 800,000 of these birds but the
+depression in feathers coupled with drought, flood and other causes,
+thinned out the ranks. It takes three years for an ostrich chick to
+become a feather producer.
+
+America has a considerable part in shaping the ostrich feather market.
+As with diamonds, we are the largest consumers. You can go to Port
+Elizabeth any day and find a group of Yankees industriously bidding
+against each other. On one occasion two New York buyers started a
+competition that led to an eleven weeks orgy that registered a total net
+sale of more than £100,000 of feathers. They are still talking
+about it down there.
+
+South Africa has not only expanded in output but her area is also
+enlarged. The Peace Conference gave her the mandate for German
+South-West Africa, which was the first section of the vanished Teutonic
+Empire in Africa. It occupies more than a quarter of the whole area of
+the continent south of the Zambesi River. While the word "mandate" as
+construed by the peace sharks at Paris is supposed to mean the amiable
+stewardship of a country, it really amounts to nothing more or less than
+an actual and benevolent assimilation. This assimilation is very much
+like the paternal interest that holding companies in the good old Wall
+Street days felt for small and competitive concerns. In other words, it
+is safe to assume that henceforth German South-West Africa will be a
+permanent part of the Union.
+
+The Colony's chief asset is comprised in the so-called German South-West
+African Diamond Fields, which, with the Congo Diamond Fields, provide a
+considerable portion of the small stones now on the market. These two
+fields are alike in that they are alluvial which means that the diamonds
+are easily gathered by a washing process. No shafts are sunk. It is
+precisely like gold washing.
+
+The German South-West mines have an American interest. In the
+reorganization following the conquest of German South-West Africa by the
+South African Army under General Botha the control had to become
+Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-American Corporation which has extensive
+interests in South Africa and which is financed by London and New York
+capitalists, the latter including J. P. Morgan, Charles H. Sabin and W.
+B. Thompson, acquired these fields. It is an interesting commentary on
+post-war business readjustment to discover that there is still a German
+interest in these mines. It makes one wonder if the German will ever be
+eradicated from his world-wide contact with every point of commercial
+activity.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that South Africa, in the light of all
+the facts that I have enumerated, should be prosperous. Take the money,
+always a test of national economic health. At Capetown I used the first
+golden sovereign that I had seen since early in 1914. This was not only
+because the Union happens to be a great gold-producing country but
+because she has an excess of exports over imports. Her money, despite
+its intimate relation with that of Great Britain, which has so sadly
+depreciated, is at a premium.
+
+I got expensive evidence of this when I went to the bank at Capetown to
+get some cash. I had a letter of credit in terms of English pounds. To
+my surprise, I only got seventeen shillings and sixpence in African
+money for every English pound, which is nominally worth twenty
+shillings. Six months after I left, this penalty had increased to three
+shillings. To such an extent has the proud English pound sterling
+declined and in a British dominion too!
+
+South Africa has put an embargo on the export of sovereigns. One reason
+was that during the first three years of the war a steady stream of
+these golden coins went surreptitiously to East India, where an
+unusually high premium for gold rules, especially in the bazaars. The
+goldsmiths find difficulty in getting material. The inevitable smuggling
+has resulted. In order to put a check on illicit removal, all passengers
+now leaving the Union are searched before they board their ships. Nor is
+it a half-hearted procedure. It is as drastic as the war-time scrutiny
+on frontiers.
+
+To sum up the whole business situation in the Union of South Africa is
+to find that the spirit of production,--the most sorely needed thing in
+the world today--is that of persistent advance. I dwell on this because
+it is in such sharp contrast with what is going on throughout the rest
+of a universe that staggers under sloth, and where the will-to-work has
+almost become a lost art. That older and more complacent order which is
+represented for example by France, Italy and England may well seek
+inspiration from this South African beehive.
+
+
+III
+
+With this economic setting for the whole South African picture and a
+visualization of the Cape-to-Cairo Route let us start on the long
+journey that eventually took me to the heart of equatorial Africa. The
+immediate objectives, so far as this chapter is concerned, are
+Kimberley, Johannesburg and Pretoria, names and towns that are
+synonymous with thrilling chapters in the development of Africa and more
+especially the Union.
+
+You depart from Capetown in the morning and for hours you remain in the
+friendly company of the mountains. Table Mountain has hovered over you
+during the whole stay at the capital and you regretfully watch this
+"Gray Father" fade away in the distance. In the evening you pass through
+the Hex River country where the canyon is reminiscent of Colorado. Soon
+there bursts upon you the famous Karoo country, so familiar to all
+readers of South African novels and more especially those of Olive
+Schreiner, Richard Dehan and Sir Percy Fitz Patrick. It is an almost
+treeless plain dotted here and there with Boer homesteads. Their
+isolation suggests battle with element and soil. The country immediately
+around Capetown is a paradise of fruit and flowers, but as you travel
+northward the whole character changes. There is less green and more
+brown. After the Karoo comes the equally famous veldt, studded with
+the _kopjes_ that became a part of the world vocabulary with the Boer
+War. Behind these low, long hills,--they suggest flat, rocky
+hummocks--the South African burghers made many a desperate stand against
+the English.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by W. & D. Downey_
+
+CECIL RHODES]
+
+When you see the _kopjes_ you can readily understand why it took so long
+to conquer the Boers. The Dutch knew every inch of the land and every
+man was a crack shot from boyhood. In these hills a handful could hold a
+small army at bay. All through this region you encounter places that
+have become part of history. You pass the ruins of Kitchener's
+blockhouses,--they really ended the Boer War--and almost before you
+realize it, you cross the Modder River, where British military prestige
+got a bloody repulse. Instinctively there come to mind the struggles of
+Cronje, DeWet, Joubert, and the rest of those Boer leaders who made this
+region a small Valhalla.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the second day you suddenly get a "feel" of
+industry. The veldt becomes populated and before long huge smokestacks
+loom against the sky. You are at Kimberly. The average man associates
+this place with a famous siege in the Boer War and the equally famous
+diamond mines. But it is much more for it is packed with romance and
+reality. Here came Cecil Rhodes in his early manhood and pulled off the
+biggest business deal of his life; here you find the first milepost that
+the American mining engineer set up in the mineral development of
+Africa: here is produced in greater quantities than in any other place
+in the world the glittering jewel that vanity and avarice set their
+heart upon.
+
+Kimberley is one of the most unique of all the treasure cities. It is
+practically built on a diamond mine in the same way that Johannesburg
+rests upon a gold excavation. When the great diamond rush of the
+seventies overwhelmed the Vaal and Orange River regions, what is now the
+Kimberley section was a rocky plain with a few Boer farms. The influx of
+fortune-hunters dotted the area with tents and diggings. Today a
+thriving city covers it and the wealth produced--the diamond output is
+ninety per cent of the world supply--exceeds in value that of a big
+manufacturing community in the United States.
+
+At Kimberley you touch the intimate life of Rhodes. He arrived in 1872
+from Natal, where he had gone to retrieve his health on a farm. The
+moment he staked out a claim he began a remarkable career. In his early
+Kimberley days he did a characteristic thing. He left his claims each
+year to attend lectures at Oxford where he got his degree in 1881, after
+almost continuous commuting between England and Africa. Hence the Rhodes
+Scholarship at Oxford created by his remarkable will. History contains
+no more striking contrast perhaps than the spectacle of this tall
+curly-haired boy with the Caesar-like face studying a Greek book while
+he managed a diamond-washing machine with his foot.
+
+Rhodes developed the mines known as the DeBeers group. His great rival
+was Barney Barnato, who gave African finance the same erratic and
+picturesque tradition that the Pittsburgh millionaires brought to
+American finance. His real name was Barnett Isaacs. After kicking about
+the streets of the East End of London he became a music hall performer
+under the name by which he is known to business history. The diamond
+rush lured him to Kimberley, where he displayed the resource and
+ingenuity that led to his organization of the Central mine interests
+which grouped around the Kimberley Mine.
+
+A bitter competition developed between the Rhodes and Barnato groups.
+Kimberley alternated between boom and bankruptcy. The genius of diamond
+mining lies in tempering output to demand. Rhodes realized that
+indiscriminate production would ruin the market, so he framed up the
+deal that made him the diamond dictator. He made Barnato an offer which
+was refused. With the aid of the Rothschilds in London Rhodes secretly
+bought out the French interests in the Barnato holdings for $6,000,000,
+which got his foot, so to speak, in the doorway of the opposition. But
+even this did not give him a working wedge. He was angling with other
+big stockholders and required some weeks time to consummate the deal.
+Meanwhile Barnato accumulated an immense stock of diamonds which he
+threatened to dump on the market and demoralize the price. The release
+of these stones before the completion of Rhodes' negotiations would have
+upset his whole scheme and neutralized his work and expense.
+
+He arranged a meeting with Barnato who confronted him with the pile of
+diamonds that he was about to throw on the market. Rhodes, so the story
+goes, took him by the arm and said: "Barney, have you ever seen a
+bucketful of diamonds? I never have. I'll make a proposition to you. If
+these diamonds will fill a bucket, I'll take them all from you at your
+own price."
+
+Without giving his rival time to answer, Rhodes swept the glittering
+fortune into a bucket which happened to be standing nearby. It also
+happened that the stones did not fill it. This incident shows the extent
+of the Rhodes resource, for a man at Kimberly told me that Rhodes knew
+beforehand exactly how many diamonds Barnato had and got the right
+sized bucket. Rhodes immediately strode from the room, got the time he
+wanted and consummated the consolidation which made the name DeBeers
+synonymous with the diamond output of the world. One trifling feature of
+this deal was the check for $26,000,000 which Rhodes gave for some of
+the Barnato interests acquired.
+
+The deal with Barnato illustrated the practical operation of one of the
+rules which guided Rhodes' business life. He once said, "Never fight
+with a man if you can deal with him." He lived up to this maxim even
+with the savage Matabeles from whom he wrested Rhodesia.
+
+Not long after the organization of the diamond trust Rhodes gave another
+evidence of his business acumen. He saw that the disorganized marketing
+of the output would lead to instability of price. He therefore formed
+the Diamond Syndicate in London, composed of a small group of middlemen
+who distribute the whole Kimberley output. In this way the available
+supply is measured solely by the demand.
+
+Rhodes had a peculiar affection for Kimberley. One reason perhaps was
+that it represented the cornerstone of his fortune. He always referred
+to the mines as his "bread and cheese." He made and lost vast sums
+elsewhere and scattered his money about with a lavish hand. The diamond
+mines did not belie their name and gave him a constant meal-ticket.
+
+In Kimberley he made some of the friendships that influenced his life.
+First and foremost among them was his association with Doctor,
+afterwards Sir, Starr Jameson, the hero of the famous Raid and a
+romantic character in African annals. Jameson came to Kimberley to
+practice medicine in 1878. No less intimate was Rhodes' life-long
+attachment for Alfred Beit, who arrived at the diamond fields from
+Hamburg in 1875 as an obscure buyer. He became a magnate whose
+operations extended to three continents. Beit was the balance wheel in
+the Rhodes financial machine.
+
+The diamond mines at Kimberley are familiar to most readers. They differ
+from the mines in German South-West Africa and the Congo in that they
+are deep level excavations. The Kimberley mine, for example, goes down
+3,000 feet. To see this almost grotesque gash in the earth is to get the
+impression of a very small Grand Canyon of the Colorado. It is an
+awesome and terrifying spectacle for it is shot through with green and
+brown and purple, is more than a thousand feet wide at the top, and
+converges to a visible point a thousand feet below. You feel that out of
+this color and depth has emerged something that itself incarnates lure
+and mystery. Even in its source the diamond is not without its element
+of elusiveness.
+
+The diamonds at Kimberley are found in a blue earth, technically known
+as kimberlite and commonly called "blue ground." This is exposed to sun
+and rain for six months, after which it is shaken down, run over a
+grease table where the vaseline catches the real diamonds, and allows
+the other matter to escape. After a boiling process it is the "rough"
+diamond.
+
+I spent a day in the Dutoitspan Mine where I saw thousands of Kaffirs
+digging away at the precious blue substance soon to be translated into
+the gleaming stone that would dangle on the bosom or shine from the
+finger of some woman ten thousand miles away. I got an evidence of
+American cinema enterprise on this occasion for I suddenly debouched on
+a wide level and under the flickering lights I saw a Yankee operator
+turning the crank of a motion picture camera. He was part of a movie
+outfit getting travel pictures. A hundred naked Zulus stared with
+open-eyed wonder at the performance. When the flashlight was touched off
+they ran for their lives.
+
+This leads me to the conspicuous part that Americans have played at
+Kimberley. Rhodes had great confidence in the Americans, and employed
+them in various capacities that ranged from introducing California
+fruits into South Africa and Rhodesia to handling his most important
+mining interests. When someone asked him why he engaged so many he
+answered, "They are so thorough."
+
+First among the Americans that Rhodes brought to Kimberley was Gardner
+F. Williams, a Michigander who became General Manager of the DeBeers
+Company in 1887 and upon the consolidation, assumed the same post with
+the united interests. He developed the mechanical side of diamond
+production and for many years held what was perhaps the most conspicuous
+technical and administrative post in the industry. He retired in favor
+of his son, Alpheus Williams, who is the present General Manager of all
+the diamond mines at Kimberley.
+
+A little-known American had a vital part in the siege of Kimberley.
+Among the American engineers who rallied round Gardner Williams was
+George Labram. When the Boers invested the town they had the great
+advantage of superiority in weight of metal. Thanks to Britain's lack of
+preparedness, Kimberley only had a few seven pounders, while the Boers
+had "Long Toms" that hurled hundred pounders. At Rhodes' suggestion
+Labram manufactured a big gun capable of throwing a thirty-pound shell
+and it gave the besiegers a big and destructive surprise. This gun,
+which was called "Long Cecil," was built and booming in exactly
+twenty-eight days. Tragically enough, Labram was killed by a Boer shell
+while shaving in his room at the Grand Hotel exactly a week after the
+first discharge of his gun.
+
+
+IV
+
+The part that Americans had in the development of Kimberley is slight
+compared with their participation in the exploitation of the Rand gold
+mines. Not only were they the real pioneers in opening up this greatest
+of all gold fields but they loomed large in the drama of the Jameson
+Raid. One of their number, John Hays Hammond, the best-known of the
+group, was sentenced to death for his rôle in it. The entire technical
+fabric of the Rand was devised and established by men born, and who had
+the greater part of their experience, in the United States.
+
+The capital of the Rand is Johannesburg. When you ride in a taxicab down
+its broad, well-paved streets or are whirled to the top floor of one of
+its skyscrapers, it is difficult to believe that thirty years ago this
+thriving and metropolitan community was a rocky waste. We are accustomed
+to swift civic transformations in America but Johannesburg surpasses any
+exhibit that we can offer in this line. Once called "a tin town with a
+gold cellar," it has the atmosphere of a continuous cabaret with a jazz
+band going all the time.
+
+No thoroughly acclimated person would ever think of calling Johannesburg
+by its full and proper name. Just as San Francisco is contracted into
+"'Frisco," so is this animated joytown called "Joburg." I made the
+mistake of dignifying the place with its geographical title when I
+innocently remarked, "Johannesburg is a live place." My companion looked
+at me with pity--it was almost sorrow, and replied,
+
+"We think that 'Joburg' (strong emphasis on 'Joburg') is one of the
+hottest places in the world."
+
+The word Rand is Dutch for ridge or reef. Toward the middle of the
+eighties the first mine was discovered on what is the present site of
+Johannesburg. The original excavation was on the historic place known as
+_Witwatersrand_, which means White Water Reef. Kimberley history
+repeated itself for the gold rush to the Transvaal was as noisy and
+picturesque as the dash on the diamond fields. It exceeded the Klondike
+movement because for one thing it was more accessible and in the second
+place there were no really adverse climatic conditions. Thousands died
+in the snow and ice of the Yukon trail while only a few hundred
+succumbed to fever, exposure to rain, and inadequate food on the Rand.
+It resembled the gold rush to California in 1849 more than any other
+similar event.
+
+The Rand gold fields, which in 1920 produced half of the world's gold,
+are embodied in a reef about fifty miles long and twenty miles wide. All
+the mines immediately in and about Johannesburg are practically
+exhausted. The large development today is in the eastern section. People
+do everything but eat gold in Johannesburg. Cooks, maids, waiters,
+bootblacks--indeed the whole population--are interested, or at some time
+have had an interest in a gold mine. Some historic shoestrings have
+become golden cables. J. B. Robinson, for example, one of the well-known
+magnates, and his associates converted an original interest of
+£12,000 into £18,000,000. This Rand history sounds like an
+Aladdin fairy tale.
+
+What concerns us principally, however, is the American end of the whole
+show. Hardly were the first Rand mines uncovered than they felt the
+influence of the American technical touch. Among the first of our
+engineers to go out were three unusual men, Hennen Jennings, H. C.
+Perkins and Captain Thomas Mein. Together with Hamilton Smith, another
+noted American engineer who joined them later, they had all worked in
+the famous El Callao gold mine in Venezuela. Subsequently came John Hays
+Hammond, Charles Butters, Victor M. Clement, J. S. Curtis, T. H.
+Leggett, Pope Yeatman, Fred Hellman, George Webber, H. H. Webb, and
+Louis Seymour. These men were the big fellows. They marshalled hundreds
+of subordinate engineers, mechanics, electricians, mine managers and
+others until there were more than a thousand in the field.
+
+This was the group contemporaneous and identified with the Jameson Raid.
+After the Boer War came what might be called the second generation of
+American engineers, which included Sidney Jennings, a brother of Hennen,
+W. L. Honnold, Samuel Thomson, Ruel C. Warriner, W. W. Mein, the son of
+Capt. Thomas Mein, and H. C. Behr.
+
+Why this American invasion? The reason was simple. The American mining
+engineer of the eighties and the nineties stood in a class by himself.
+Through the gold development of California we were the only people who
+had produced gold mining engineers of large and varied practical
+experience. When Rhodes and Barnato (they were both among the early nine
+mine-owners in the Rand) cast about for capable men they naturally
+picked out Americans. Hammond, for example, was brought to South America
+in 1893 by Barnato and after six months with him went over to Rhodes,
+with whom he was associated both in the Rand and Rhodesia until 1900.
+
+Not only did Americans create the whole technical machine but one of
+them--Hennen Jennings--really saved the field. The first mines were
+"outcrop," that is, the ore literally cropped out at the surface. This
+outcrop is oxidized, and being free, is easily amalgamated with mercury.
+Deeper down in the earth comes the unoxidized zone which continues
+indefinitely. The iron pyrites found here are not oxidized. They hold
+the gold so tenaciously that they are not amalgamable. They must
+therefore be abstracted by some other process than with mercury. At the
+time that the outcrop in the Rand become exhausted, what is today known
+as the "cyanide process" had never been used in that part of the world.
+The mine-owners became discouraged and a slump followed. Jennings had
+heard of the cyanide operation, insisted upon its introduction, and it
+not only retrieved the situation but has become an accepted adjunct of
+gold mining the world over. In the same way Hammond inaugurated
+deep-level mining when many of the owners thought the field was
+exhausted because the outcrop indications had disappeared.
+
+These Americans in the Rand made the mines and they also made history as
+their part in the Jameson Raid showed. Perhaps a word about the Reform
+movement which ended in the Raid is permissible here. It grew out of the
+oppression of the _Uitlander_--the alien--by the Transvaal Government
+animated by Kruger, the President. Although these outsiders, principally
+English and Americans, outnumbered the Boers three to one, they were
+deprived of the rights of citizenship. The Reformers organized an armed
+campaign to capture Kruger and hold him as a hostage until they could
+obtain their rights. The guns and ammunition were smuggled in from
+Kimberley as "hardware" under the supervision of Gardner Williams. It
+was easy to bring the munitions as far as Kimberley. The Boers set up
+such a careful watch on the Transvaal border, however, that every
+subterfuge had to be employed to get them across.
+
+Dr. Jameson, who at that time was Administrator of Southern Rhodesia,
+had a force of Rhodesian police on the Transvaal border ready to come to
+the assistance of the Committee if necessary. The understanding was that
+Jameson should not invade the Transvaal until he was needed. His
+impetuosity spoiled the scheme. Instead of waiting until the Committee
+was properly armed and had seized Kruger, he suddenly crossed the border
+with his forces. The Raid was a fizzle and the commander and all his men
+were captured by the Boers. This abortive attempt was the real prelude
+to the Boer War, which came four years later.
+
+Most Americans who have read about this episode believe that John Hays
+Hammond was the only countryman of theirs in it. This was because he had
+a leading and spectacular part and was one of the four ringleaders
+sentenced to death. He afterwards escaped by the payment of a fine of
+$125,000. As a matter of fact, four other prominent American mining
+engineers were up to their necks in the reform movement and got long
+terms in prison. They were Capt. Thomas Mein, J. S. Curtis, Victor M.
+Clement and Charles Butters. They obtained their freedom by the payment
+of fines of $10,000 each. This whole enterprise netted Kruger something
+like $2,000,000 in cash.
+
+The Jameson Raid did more than enrich old Kruger's coffers and bring the
+American engineers in the Rand to the fore. Indirectly it blocked a
+German scheme that might have played havoc in Africa the moment the
+inevitable Great War broke. If the Boer War had not developed in 1899 it
+is altogether likely that, judging from her whole campaign of world-wide
+interference, Germany would have arranged so that it should break out in
+1914. In this unhappy event she could have struck a death blow at
+England in South Africa because in the years between the Boer War and
+1914 she created close-knit colonial organizations in South-West and
+East Africa; built strategic railways; armed and drilled thousands of
+natives, and could have invaded the Cape Colony and the Transvaal.
+
+In connection with the Jameson Raid is a story not without interest.
+Jameson and Rudyard Kipling happened to be together when the news of
+Roosevelt's coup in Panama was published. The author read it first and
+handed the paper to his friend with the question: "What do you think of
+it?"
+
+Jameson glanced at the article and then replied somewhat sadly, "This
+makes the Raid look like thirty cents."
+
+I cannot leave the Rand section of the Union of South Africa without a
+word in passing about Pretoria, the administrative capital, which is
+only an hour's journey from Johannesburg. Here you still see the old
+house where Kruger lived. It was the throne of a copper-riveted
+autocracy. No modern head of a country ever wielded such a despotic rule
+as this psalm-singing old Boer whose favorite hour for receiving
+visitors was at five o'clock in the morning, when he had his first cup
+of strong coffee, a beverage which he continued to consume throughout
+the day.
+
+The most striking feature of the country around Pretoria is the Premier
+diamond mine, twenty-five miles east of the town and the world's
+greatest single treasure-trove. The mines at Kimberley together
+constitute the largest of all diamond fields but the Premier Mine is the
+biggest single mine anywhere. It produces as much as the four largest
+Kimberley mines combined, and contributes eighteen per cent of the
+yearly output allotted to the Diamond Syndicate.
+
+It was discovered by Thomas M. Cullinan, who bought the site from a Boer
+farmer for $250,000. The land originally cost this farmer $2,500. The
+mine has already produced more than five hundred times what Cullinan
+paid for it and the surface has scarcely been scraped. You can see the
+natives working in its two huge holes which are not more than six
+hundred feet deep. It is still an open mine. In the Premier Mine was
+found the Cullinan diamond, the largest ever discovered and which made
+the Koh-i-noor and all other fabled gems look like small pebbles. It
+weighed 3,200 karats and was insured for $2,500,000 when it was sent to
+England to be presented to King Edward. The Koh-i-noor, by the way,
+which was found in India only weighs 186 karats.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by South African Railways_
+
+THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE]
+
+
+V
+
+No attempt at an analysis of South Africa would be complete without some
+reference to the native problem, the one discordant note in the economic
+and productive scheme. The race question, as the Smuts dilemma showed,
+lies at the root of all South African trouble. But the racial conflict
+between Briton and Boer is almost entirely political and in no way
+threatens the commercial integrity. Both the Dutchman and the Englishman
+agree on the whole larger proposition and the necessity of settling once
+and for all a trouble that carries with it the danger of sporadic
+outbreak or worse. Now we come to the whole irritating labor trouble
+which has neither color, caste, nor creed, or geographical line.
+
+First let me bring the South African color problem home to America. In
+the United States the whites outnumber the blacks roughly ten to one.
+Our coloured population represents the evolution of the one-time African
+slave through various generations into a peaceful, law-abiding, and
+useful social unit. The Southern "outrage" is the rare exception. We
+have produced a Frederick Douglass and a Booker Washington. Our Negro is
+a Christian, fills high posts, and invades the professions.
+
+In South Africa the reverse is true. To begin with, the natives
+outnumber the whites four and one-half to one--in Rhodesia they are
+twenty to one--and they are increasing at a much greater rate than the
+Europeans. Moreover, the native population draws on half a dozen races,
+including the Zulus, Kaffirs, Hottentots and Basutos. These Negroes
+represent an almost primitive stage of development. They are mainly
+heathens and a prey to savagery and superstition. The Cape Colony is the
+only one that permits the black man to go to school or become a skilled
+artisan. Elsewhere the white retains his monopoly on the crafts and at
+the same time refuses to do any labour that a Negro can perform. Hence
+the great need of white immigration into the Union. The big task,
+therefore, is to secure adequate work for the Negro without permitting
+him to gain an advantage through it.
+
+It follows that the moment the Kaffir becomes efficient and picks up a
+smattering of education he begins to think about his position and unrest
+is fomented. It makes him unstable as an employee, as the constant
+desertions from work show. The only way that the gold and diamond mines
+keep their thousands of recruited native workers is to confine them in
+compounds. The ordinary labourer has no such restrictions and he is here
+today and gone tomorrow.
+
+It is not surprising to discover that in a country teeming with blacks
+there are really no good servants, a condition with which the American
+housewife can heartily sympathize. Before I went to Africa nearly every
+woman I knew asked me to bring her back a diamond and a cook. They were
+much more concerned about the cook than the diamond. Had I kept every
+promise that I made affecting this human jewel, I would have had to
+charter a ship to convey them. The only decent servant I had in Africa
+was a near-savage in the Congo, a sad commentary on domestic service
+conditions.
+
+The one class of stable servants in the Colony are the "Cape Boys," as
+they are called. They are the coloured offspring of a European and a
+Hottentot or a Malay and are of all shades, from a darkish brown to a
+mere tinge. They dislike being called "niggers." The first time I saw
+these Cape Boys was in France during the war. South Africa sent over
+thousands of them to recruit the labour battalions and they did
+excellent work as teamsters and in other capacities. The Cape Boy,
+however, is the exception to the native rule throughout the Union, which
+means that most native labour is unstable and discontented.
+
+Not only is the South African native a menace to economic expansion but
+he is likewise something of a physical danger. In towns like Pretoria
+and Johannesburg there is a considerable feeling of insecurity. Women
+shrink from being left alone with their servants and are filled with
+apprehension while their little ones are out under black custodianship.
+The one native servant, aside from some of the Cape Boys, who has
+demonstrated absolute fidelity, is the Zulu whom you see in largest
+numbers in Natal. He is still a proud and kingly-looking person and he
+carried with him a hint of the vanished greatness of his race. Perhaps
+one reason why he is safe and sane reposes in his recollection of the
+repeated bitter and bloody defeats at the hands of the white men. Yet
+the Zulu was in armed insurrection in Natal in the nineties.
+
+South Africa enjoys no guarantee of immunity from black uprising even
+now in the twentieth century when the world uses the aeroplane and the
+wireless. During the past thirty years there have been outbreaks
+throughout the African continent. As recently as 1915 a fanatical form
+of Ethiopianism broke out in Nyassaland which lies north-east of
+Rhodesia, under the sponsorship of John Chilembwe, a negro preacher who
+had been educated in the United States. The natives rose, killed a
+number of white men and carried off the women. Of course, it was
+summarily put down and the leaders executed. But the incident was
+significant.
+
+Prester John, whose story is familiar to readers of John Buchan's fine
+romance of the same name, still has disciples. Like Chilembwe he was a
+preacher who had acquired so-called European civilization. He dreamed of
+an Africa for the blacks and took his inspiration from the old kings of
+Abyssinia. He too met the fate of all his kind but his spirit goes
+marching on. In 1919 a Pan-African Congress was held in Paris to discuss
+some plan for what might be called Pan-Ethiopianism. The following year
+a negro convention in New York City advocated that all Africa should be
+converted into a black republic.
+
+One example of African native unrest was brought strikingly to my
+personal attention. At Capetown I met one of the heads of a large Cape
+Colony school for Negroes which is conducted under religious auspices.
+The occasion was a dinner given by J. X. Merriman, the Grand Old Man of
+the Cape Colony. This particular educator spoke with glowing enthusiasm
+about this institution and dwelt particularly upon the evolution that
+was being accomplished. He gave me a pressing invitation to visit it. He
+happened to be on the train that I took to Kimberley, which was also the
+first stage of his journey home and he talked some more about the great
+work the school was doing.
+
+When I reached Kimberley the first item of news that I read in the
+local paper was an account of an uprising in the school. Hundreds of
+native students rebelled at the quality of food they were getting and
+went on the rampage. They destroyed the power-plant and wrecked several
+of the buildings. The constabulary had to be called out to restore
+order.
+
+In many respects most Central and South African Negroes never really
+lose the primitive in them despite the claims of uplifters and
+sentimentalists. Actual contact is a disillusioning thing. I heard of a
+concrete case when I was in the Belgian Congo. A Belgian judge at a post
+up the Kasai River acquired an intelligent Baluba boy. All personal
+servants in Africa are called "boys." This particular native learned
+French, acquired European clothes and became a model servant. When the
+judge went home to Belgium on leave he took the boy along. He decided to
+stay longer than he expected and sent the negro back to the Congo. No
+sooner did the boy get back to his native heath than he sold his
+European clothes, put on a loin cloth, and squatted on the ground when
+he ate, precisely like his savage brethren. It is a typical case, and
+merely shows that a great deal of so-called black-acquired civilization
+in Africa falls away with the garb of civilization.
+
+The only African blacks who have really assimilated the civilizing
+influence so far as my personal observation goes are those of the West
+Coast. Some of the inhabitants of Sierra Leone will illustrate what I
+mean. Scores have gone to Oxford and Cambridge and have become doctors,
+lawyers and competent civil servants. They resemble the American Negro
+more than any others in Africa. This parallel even goes to their
+fondness for using big words. I saw hundreds of them holding down
+important clerical positions in the Belgian Congo where they are known
+as "Coast-men," because they come from the West Coast.
+
+I had an amusing experience with one when I was on my way out of the
+Congo jungle. I sent a message by him to the captain of the little
+steamboat that took me up and down the Kasai River. In this message I
+asked that the vessel be made ready for immediate departure. The
+Coast-man, whose name was Wilson--they all have English names and speak
+English fluently--came back and said:
+
+"I have conveyed your expressed desire to leave immediately to the
+captain of your boat. He only returns a verbal acquiescence but I assure
+you that he will leave nothing undone to facilitate your speedy
+departure."
+
+He said all this with such a solemn and sober face that you would have
+thought the whole destiny of the British Empire depended upon the
+elaborateness of his utterance.
+
+To return to the matter of unrest, all the concrete happenings that I
+have related show that the authority of the white man in Africa is still
+resented by the natives. It serves to emphasize what Mr. Lothrop
+Stoddard, an eminent authority on this subject, so aptly calls "the
+rising tide of colour." We white people seldom stop to realize how
+overwhelmingly we are outnumbered. Out of the world population of
+approximately 1,700,000,000 persons (I am using Mr. Stoddard's figures),
+only 550,000,000 are white.
+
+A colour conflict is improbable but by no means impossible. We have only
+to look at our own troubles with the Japanese to get an intimate glimpse
+of what might lurk in a yellow tidal wave. The yellow man humbled Russia
+in the Russo-Japanese War and he smashed the Germans at Kiao Chow in
+the Great War. The fact that he was permitted to fight shoulder to
+shoulder with the white man has only added to his cockiness as we have
+discovered in California.
+
+Remember too that the Germans stirred up all Islam in their mad attempt
+to conquer the world. The Mohammedan has not forgotten what the Teutonic
+propagandists told him when they laid the cunning train of bad feeling
+that precipitated Turkey into the Great War. These seeds of discord are
+bearing fruit in many Near Eastern quarters. One result is that a
+British army is fighting in Mesopotamia now. A Holy War is merely the
+full brother of the possible War of Colour. In East Africa the Germans
+used thousands of native troops against the British and Belgians. The
+blacks got a taste, figuratively, of the white man's blood and it did
+his system no good.
+
+Throughout the globe there are 150,000,000 blacks and all but 30,000,000
+of them are south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. They lack the high
+mental development of the yellow man as expressed in the Japanese, but
+even brute force is not to be despised, especially where it outnumbers
+the whites to the extent that they do in South Africa. I am no alarmist
+and I do not presume to say that there will be serious trouble. I merely
+present these facts to show that certainly so far as affecting
+production and economic security in general is concerned, the native
+still provides a vexing and irritating problem, not without danger.
+
+The Union of South Africa is keenly alive to this perplexing native
+situation. Its policy is what might be called the Direct Rule, in which
+the whole administration of the country is in the hands of the Europeans
+and which is the opposite of the Indirect Rule of India, for example,
+which recognizes Rajahs and other potentates and which permits the brown
+man to hold a variety of public posts.
+
+The Government of the Cape Colony is becoming convinced that Booker
+Washington's idea is the sole salvation of the race. That great leader
+maintained that the hope for the Negro in the United States and
+elsewhere lay in the training of his hands. Once those hands were
+skilled they could be kept out of mischief. I recall having discussed
+this theory one night with General Smuts at Capetown and he expressed
+his hearty approval of it.
+
+The lamented Botha died before he could put into operation a plan which
+held out the promise of still another kind of solution. It lay in the
+soil. He contended that an area of forty million acres should be set
+aside for the natives, where many could work out their destinies
+themselves. While this plan offered the opportunity for the
+establishment of a compact and perhaps dangerous black entity, his
+feeling was that by the avoidance of friction with the whites the
+possibility of trouble would be minimized. This scheme is likely to be
+carried out by Smuts.
+
+Since the Union of South Africa profited by the whirligig of war to the
+extent of acquiring German South-West Africa it only remains to speak of
+the new map of Africa, made possible by the Great Conflict. Despite the
+return of Alsace-Lorraine to France one fails to see concrete evidence
+of Germany's defeat in Europe. Her people are still cocky and defiant.
+There is no mistake about her altered condition in Africa. Her flag
+there has gone into the discard along with the wreck of militarism. The
+immense territory that she acquired principally by browbeating is lost,
+down to the last square mile.
+
+Up to 1884 Germany did not own an inch of African soil. Within two years
+she was mistress of more than a million square miles. Analyze her whole
+performance on the continent and a definite cause of the World War is
+discovered. It is part of an international conspiracy studded with
+astonishing details.
+
+Africa was a definite means to world conquest. Germany knew of her vast
+undeveloped wealth. It is now no secret that her plan was to annex the
+greater part of French, Belgian, Italian and Portuguese Africa in the
+event that she won. The Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway would have hitched up
+the late Teutonic Empire with the Near East and made it easy to link the
+African domain with this intermediary through the Turkish dominions.
+Here was an imposing program with many advantages. For one thing it
+would have given Germany an untold store of raw materials and it would
+also have put her into a position to dictate to Southern Asia and even
+South America.
+
+The methods that Germany adopted to acquire her African possessions were
+peculiarly typical. Like the madness that plunged her into a struggle
+with civilization they were her own undoing. Into a continent whose
+middle name, so far as colonization goes, is intrigue she fitted
+perfectly. Practically every German colony in Africa represented the
+triumph of "butting in" or intimidation. The Kaiser That Was regarded
+himself as the mentor, and sought to recast continents in the same grand
+way that he lectured his minions.
+
+The first German colony in Africa was German South-West, as it was
+called for short, and grew out of a deal made between a Bremen merchant
+and a native chief. On the strength of this Bismarck pinched out an area
+almost as big as British East Africa. Before twelve months had passed
+the German flag flew over what came to be known as German East Africa,
+and also over Togoland and the The Cameroons on the West Coast.
+
+Germany really had no right to invade any of this country but she was
+developing into a strong military power and rather than have trouble,
+the other nations acquiesced. Once intrenched, she started her usual
+interference. The prize mischief-maker of the universe, she began to
+stir up trouble in every quarter. She embroiled the French at Agadir and
+got into a snarl with Portugal over Angola.
+
+The Kaiser's experience with Kruger is typical. When the Jameson Raid
+petered out William Hohenzollern sent the dictator of the Transvaal a
+telegram of congratulation. The old Boer immediately regarded him as an
+ally and counted on his aid when the Boer War started. Instead, he got
+the double-cross after he had sent his ultimatum to England. At that
+time the Kaiser warily side-stepped an entanglement with Britain for the
+reason that she was too useful.
+
+It is now evident that a large part of the Congo atrocity was a German
+scheme. The head and front of the exposé movement was Sir Roger Casement
+of London. He sought to foment a German-financed revolution in Ireland
+and was hanged as a traitor in the Tower.
+
+Behind this atrocity crusade was just another evidence of the German
+desire to control Africa. By rousing the world against Belgium, Germany
+expected to bring another Berlin Congress, which would be expected to
+give her the stewardship of the Belgian Congo. The result would have
+been a German belt across Africa from the Indian to the Atlantic Oceans.
+She could thus have had England and France at a disadvantage on the
+north, and England and Portugal where she wanted them, to the south.
+Hence the Great War was not so much a matter of German meddling in the
+Balkans as it was her persistent manipulation of other nations' affairs
+in Africa. She was playing "freeze-out" on a stupendous scale. You can
+see why Germany was so much opposed to the Cape-to-Cairo Route. It
+interfered with her ambitions and provided a constant irritant to her
+"benevolent" plans.
+
+So much for the war end. Turn to the peace aspect. With Germany
+eliminated from the African scheme the whole region can enter upon a
+harmonious development. More than this, the fact that she is now
+deprived of colonies prevents her from recovering the world-wide
+economic authority she commanded before the war. A congested population
+allows her no more elbow room at home. Before she went mad her whole
+hope of the future lay in a colonization where her flag could fly in
+public, and in a penetration which cunningly masked the German hand. The
+world is now wise to the latter procedure.
+
+The new colour scheme of the African map may now be disclosed. The Union
+of South Africa, as you have seen, has taken over German South-West
+Africa; Great Britain has assumed the control of all German East Africa
+with the exception of Ruanda and Urundu, which have become part of the
+Belgian Congo. Togoland is divided between France and Britain, while the
+greater part of The Cameroons is merged into the Lower French West
+African possessions of which the French Congo is the principal one.
+Britain gets the Cameroon Mountains.
+
+The one-time Dark Continent remains dark only for Germany.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright British South Africa Co._
+
+VICTORIA FALLS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III--RHODES AND RHODESIA
+
+
+I
+
+For fifty-eight hours the train from Johannesburg had travelled steadily
+northward, past Mafeking and on through the apparently endless stretches
+of Bechuanaland. Alternately frozen and baked, I had swallowed enough
+dust to stock a small-sized desert. Dawn of the third day broke and with
+it came a sharp rap on my compartment door. I had been dreaming of a
+warm bath and a joltless life when I was rudely restored to reality. The
+car was stationary and a blanketed Matabele, his teeth chattering with
+the cold, peered in at the window.
+
+"What is it?" I asked.
+
+"You are in Rhodesia and I want to know who you are," boomed a voice out
+in the corridor.
+
+I opened the door and a tall, rangy, bronzed man--the immigration
+inspector--stepped inside. He looked like a cross between an Arizona
+cowboy and an Australian overseas soldier. When I proved to his
+satisfaction that I was neither Bolshevik nor Boche he departed with the
+remark: "We've got to keep a watch on the people who come into this
+country."
+
+Such was my introduction to Rhodesia, where the limousine and the
+ox-team compete for right of way on the veldt and the 'rickshaw yields
+to the motor-cycle in the town streets. Nowhere in the world can you
+find a region that combines to such vivid and picturesque extent the
+romance and hardship of the pioneer age with the push and practicality
+of today. Here existed the "King Solomon's Mines" of Rider Haggard's
+fancy: here the modern gold-seekers of fact sought the treasures of
+Ophir; here Nature gives an awesome manifestation of her power in the
+Victoria Falls.
+
+It is the only country where a great business corporation rules, not by
+might of money but by chartered authority. Linked with that rule is the
+story of a conflict between share-holder and settler that is unique in
+the history of colonization. It is the now-familiar and well-nigh
+universal struggle for self-determination waged in this instance between
+all-British elements and without violence.
+
+All the way from Capetown I had followed the trail of Cecil Rhodes,
+which like the man himself, is distinct. It is not the succession of
+useless and conventional monuments reared by a grateful posterity.
+Rather it is expressed in terms of cities and a permanent industrial and
+agricultural advance. "Living he was the land," and dead, his imperious
+and constructive spirit goes marching on. The Rhodes impress is
+everywhere. Now I had arrived at the cap-stone of it all, the domain
+that bears his name and which he added to the British Empire.
+
+Less than two hours after the immigration inspector had given me the
+once-over on the frontier I was in Bulawayo, metropolis of Rhodesia,
+which sprawls over the veldt just like a bustling Kansas community
+spreads out over the prairie. It is definitely American in energy and
+atmosphere. Save for the near-naked blacks you could almost imagine
+yourself in Idaho or Montana back in the days when our West was young.
+
+Before that first day ended I had lunched and dined in a club that would
+do credit to Capetown or Johannesburg; had met women who wore French
+frocks, and had heard the possibilities of the section acclaimed by a
+dozen enthusiasts. Everyone in Rhodesia is a born booster. Again you get
+the parallel with our own kind.
+
+To the average American reader Rhodesia is merely a name, associated
+with the midnight raid of stealthy savage and all the terror and tragedy
+of the white man's burden amid the wild confines. All this happened, to
+be sure, but it is part of the past. While South Africa still wrestles
+with a serious native problem, Rhodesia has settled it once and for all.
+It would be impossible to find a milder lot than the survivors and sons
+of the cruel and war-like Lobengula who once ruled here like a despot of
+old. His tribesmen--the Matabeles--were put in their place by a strong
+hand and they remain put.
+
+Bulawayo was the capital of Lobengula's kingdom. The word means "Place
+of Slaughter," and it did not belie the name. You can still see the tree
+under which the portly potentate sat and daily dispensed sanguinary
+judgment. His method was quite simple. If anyone irritated or displeased
+him he was haled up "under the greenwood" and sentenced to death. If
+gout or rheumatism racked the royal frame the chief executed the first
+passerby and then considered the source of the trouble removed. The only
+thing that really departed was the head of the innocent victim.
+Lobengula had sixty-eight wives, which may account for some of his
+eccentricities. Chaka, the famous king of the Zulus, whose favourite
+sport was murdering his sons (he feared a rival to the throne), was an
+amateur in crime alongside the dusky monarch whom the British
+suppressed, and thereby gained what is now the most prosperous part of
+Southern Rhodesia.
+
+The occupation and development of Rhodesia are so comparatively
+recent--(Rhodes and Dr. Jameson were fighting the Matabeles at Bulawayo
+in 1896)--that any account of the country must at the outset include a
+brief historical approach to the time of my visit last May. Probe into
+the beginnings of any African colony and you immediately uncover
+intrigue and militant imperialism. Rhodesia is no exception.
+
+For ages the huge continent of which it is part was veiled behind
+mystery and darkness. The northern and southern extremes early came into
+the ken of the explorer and after him the builder. So too with most of
+the coast. But the vast central belt, skirted by the arid reaches of
+Sahara on one side and unknown territory on the other, defied
+civilization until Livingstone, Stanley, Speke, and Grant blazed the
+way. Then began the scramble for colonies.
+
+Early in the eighties more than one European power cast covetous glances
+at what might be called the South Central area. Thanks to the economic
+foresight of King Leopold, Belgium had secured the Congo. Between this
+region which was then a Free State, and the Transvaal, was an immense
+and unappropriated country,--a sort of no man's land, rich with
+minerals, teeming with forests and peopled by savages. Two territories,
+Matabeleland, ruled by Lobengula, and Mashonaland, inhabited by the
+Mashonas, who were to all intents and purposes vassals to Lobengula,
+were the prize portions. Another immense area--the present British
+protectorate of Bechuanaland--was immediately south and touched the Cape
+Colony and the Transvaal. Portuguese East Africa lay to the east but
+the backbone of Africa south of the Congo line lay ready to be plucked
+by venturesome hands.
+
+Nor were the hands lacking for the enterprise. Germany started to
+strengthen the network of conspiracy that had already yielded her a
+million square miles of African soil and she was reaching out for more.
+Control of Africa meant for her a big step toward world conquest. Paul
+Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, which touched the southern
+edge of this unclaimed domain, saw in it the logical extension of his
+dominions.
+
+Down at Capetown was Rhodes, dreaming of a Greater Britain and
+determined to block the Kaiser and Kruger. It was largely due to his
+efforts while a member of the Cape Parliament that Britain was persuaded
+to annex Bechuanaland as a Crown Colony. Forestalled here, Kruger was
+determined to get the rest of the country beyond Bechuanaland and
+reaching to the southern border of the Congo. His emissaries began to
+dicker with chiefs and he organized an expedition to invade the
+territory. Once more Rhodes beat him to it, this time in history-making
+fashion.
+
+Following his theory that it is better to deal with a man than fight
+him, he sent C. D. Rudd, Rochfort Maguire, and F. R. ("Matabele")
+Thompson up to deal directly with Lobengula. They were ideal envoys for
+Thompson in particular knew every inch of the country and spoke the
+native languages. From the crafty chieftain they obtained a blanket
+concession for all the mineral and trading rights in Matabeleland for
+£1,200 a year and one thousand rifles. Rhodes now converted this
+concession into a commercial and colonizing achievement without
+precedent or parallel. It became the Magna Charta of the great British
+South Africa Company, which did for Africa what the East India Company
+did for India. Counting in Bechuanaland, it added more than 700,000
+square miles to the British Empire.
+
+Like the historic document so inseparably associated with the glories of
+Clive and Hastings, its Charter shaped the destiny of the empire and is
+associated with battle, blood, and the eventual triumph of the
+Anglo-Saxon over the man of colour. Other chartered companies have
+wielded autocratic power over millions of natives but the royal right to
+exist and operate, bestowed by Queen Victoria upon the British South
+Africa Company--the Chartered Company as it is commonly known--was the
+first that ever gave a corporation the administrative authority over a
+politically active country with a white population. The record of its
+rule is therefore distinct in the annals of Big Business.
+
+It was in 1899 that Rhodes got the Charter. In his conception of the
+Rhodesia that was to be--(it was first called Zambesia)--he had two
+distinct purposes in view. One was the larger political motive which was
+to widen the Empire and keep the Germans and Boers from annexing
+territory that he believed should be British. This was Rhodes the
+imperialist at work. The other aspect was the purely commercial side and
+revealed the same shrewdness that had registered so successfully in the
+creation of the Diamond Trust at Kimberley. This was Rhodes the business
+man on the job.
+
+The Charter itself was a visualization of the Rhodes mind and it matched
+the Cape-to-Cairo project in bigness of vision. It gave the Company the
+right to acquire and develop land everywhere, to engage in shipping, to
+build railway, telegraph and telephone lines, to establish banks, to
+operate mines and irrigation undertakings and to promote commerce and
+manufacture of all kinds. Nothing was overlooked. It meant the union of
+business and statesmanship.
+
+Under the Charter the Company was given administrative control of an
+area larger than that of Great Britain, France and Prussia. It divided
+up into Northern and Southern Rhodesia with the Zambesi River as the
+separating line. Northern Rhodesia remains a sparsely settled
+country--there are only 2,000 white inhabitants to 850,000 natives--and
+the only industry of importance is the lead and zinc development at
+Broken Hill. Southern Rhodesia, where there are 35,000 white persons and
+800,000 natives, has been the stronghold of Chartered interests and the
+battleground of the struggle to throw off corporate control. It is the
+Rhodesia to be referred to henceforth in this chapter without prefix.
+
+The Charter is perpetual but it contained a provision that at the end of
+twenty-five years, (1914) and at the end of each succeeding ten years,
+the Imperial Government has the power to alter, amend or rescind the
+instrument so far as the administration of Rhodesia is concerned. No
+vital change in the original document has been made so far, but by the
+time the next cycle expires in 1924 it is certain that the Company
+control will have ended and Rhodesia will either be a part of the Union
+of South Africa or a self-determining Colony.
+
+The Company is directed by a Board of Directors in London, but no
+director resides in the country itself. Thus at the beginning the
+fundamental mistake was made in attempting to run an immense area at
+long range. With the approval of the Foreign Office the Company names an
+Administrator,--the present one is Sir Drummond Chaplin,--who, like the
+average Governor-General, has little to say. The Company has exercised
+a copper-riveted control and this rigid rule led to its undoing, as you
+will see later on.
+
+The original capitalization was £1,000,000,--it was afterwards
+increased to £9,000,000,--but it is only a part of the stream of
+pounds sterling that has been poured into the country. In all the years
+of its existence the company has never paid a dividend. It is only since
+1914 that the revenue has balanced expenditures. More than 40,000
+shareholders have invested in the enterprise. Today the fate of the
+country rests practically on the issue between the interests of these
+shareholders on one hand and the 35,000 inhabitants on the other. Once
+more you get the spectacle, so common to American financial history, of
+a strongly intrenched vested interest with the real exploiter or the
+consumer arrayed against it. The Company rule has not been harsh but it
+has been animated by a desire to make a profit. The homesteaders want
+liberty of movement without handicap or restraint. An irreconcilable
+conflict ensued.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by British South Africa Co._
+
+CULTIVATING CITRUS LAND IN RHODESIA]
+
+
+II
+
+We can now go into the story of the occupation of Rhodesia, which not
+only unfolds a stirring drama of development but discloses something of
+an epic of adventure. With most corporations it is an easy matter to get
+down to business once a charter is granted. It is only necessary to
+subscribe stock and then enter upon active operations, whether they
+produce soap, razors or automobiles. The market is established for the
+product.
+
+With the British South Africa Company it was a far different and
+infinitely more difficult performance, to translate the license to
+operate into action. Matabeleland and Mashonaland were wild regions
+where war-like tribes roamed or fought at will. There were no roads. The
+only white men who had ventured there were hunters, traders, and
+concession seekers. Occupation preceded exploitation. A white man's
+civilization had to be set up first. The rifle and the hoe went in
+together.
+
+In June, 1890, the Pioneer Column entered. Heading it were two men who
+left an impress upon African romance. One was Dr. Jameson, hero of the
+Raid and Rhodes' most intimate friend. The first time I met him I
+marvelled that this slight, bald, mild little man should have been the
+central figure in so many heroic exploits. The other was the famous
+hunter, F. C. Selous, who was Roosevelt's companion in British East
+Africa. Under them were less than two hundred white men, including
+Captain Heany, an American, who now invaded a country where
+Lobengula had an army of 20,000 trained fighters, organized into
+_impis_--(regiments)--after the Zulu fashion and in every respect a
+formidable force. Although the old chief had granted the concession, no
+one trusted him and Jameson and Selous had to feel their way, sleep
+under arms every night, and build highways as they went.
+
+Upon Lobengula's suggestion it was decided to occupy Mashonaland first.
+This was achieved without any trouble and the British flag was raised on
+what is now the site of Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia.
+Most of the members of the expedition remained as settlers, and farms
+sprang up on the veldt. The Company had to organize a police force to
+patrol the land and keep off predatory natives. But this was purely
+incidental to the larger troubles that now crowded thick and fast. In
+the South the Boers launched an expedition to occupy Matabeleland by
+force and it had to be headed off. To the east rose friction with the
+Portuguese and a Rhodesian contingent was compelled to occupy part of
+Portuguese East Africa until the boundary line was adjusted.
+
+In 1893 came the first of the events that made Rhodesia a storm center.
+A Matabele regiment raided the new town of Victoria and killed some of
+the Company's native servants. The Matabeles then went on the warpath
+and Dr. Jameson took the field against them. For five weeks a bitter
+struggle raged. It ended with the defeat and disappearance of Lobengula
+and the occupation of Bulawayo by the Company forces. This brought the
+whole of Matabeleland under the direct authority of the British South
+Africa Company. The campaign cost the Company $500,000.
+
+Three years of peace and progress followed. Railway construction
+started in two directions. One line was headed from the south through
+Bechuanaland toward Bulawayo and another from Beira, the Indian Ocean
+port in Portuguese East Africa, westward toward Salisbury. Gold mines
+were opened and farms extended. At the end of 1895 came the Jameson
+Raid. Practically the entire force under the many-sided Doctor was
+recruited from the Rhodesian police and they were all captured by the
+Boers. Rhodesia was left defenceless.
+
+The Matabeles seized this moment to strike again. Ever since the defeat
+of 1893 they had been restless and discontented. Various other causes
+contributed to the uprising. One is peculiarly typical of the African
+savage. An outbreak of rinderpest, a disease hitherto unknown in
+Southern Africa, came down from the North and ravaged the cattle herds.
+In order to check the advance of the pest the Government established a
+clear belt by shooting all the cattle in a certain area. It was
+impossible for the Matabeles to understand the wisdom of this procedure.
+They only saw it as an outrage committed by the white men on their
+property for they were extensive cattle owners. In addition many died
+after eating infected meat and they also held the settlers responsible.
+The net result of it all was a sudden descent upon the white settlements
+and scores of white men, women and children were slaughtered.
+
+This time the operations against them were on a large scale. The present
+Lord Plumer, who commanded the Fourth British Army in France against the
+Germans,--he was then a Lieutenant Colonel--came up with eight hundred
+soldiers and drove the Matabeles into the fastnesses of the Matopos,--a
+range of hills fifty miles long and more than twenty wide. Here the
+savages took refuge in caves and could not be driven out.
+
+You now reach one of the remarkable feats in the life of Cecil Rhodes.
+The moment that the second Matabele war began he hastened northward to
+the country that bore his name. As soon as the Matabeles took refuge in
+the Matopos he boldly went out to parley with them. With three unarmed
+companions, one of them an interpreter, he set up a camp in the wilds
+and sent emissaries to the syndicate of the chiefs who had succeeded
+Lobengula. He had become Premier of the Cape Colony, was head of the
+great DeBeers Diamond Syndicate, and had other immense interests. He was
+also Managing Director of the British South Africa Company and the
+biggest stockholder. He was determined to protect his interests and at
+the same time preserve the integrity of the country that he loved so
+well.
+
+He exposed himself every night to raids by the most blood-thirsty
+savages in all Africa. Plumer's command was camped nearly five miles
+away but Rhodes refused a guard.
+
+Rhodes waited patiently and his perseverance was eventually rewarded.
+One by one the chiefs came down from the hills and succumbed to the
+persuasiveness and personality of this remarkable man who could deal
+with wild and naked warriors as successfully as he could dictate to a
+group of hard-headed business men. After two months of negotiating the
+Matabeles were appeased and permanent peace, so far as the natives were
+concerned, dawned in Rhodesia. After his feat in the Matopos the
+Matabeles called Rhodes "The Man Who Separated the Fighting Bulls." It
+was during this period in Rhodesia that Rhodes discovered the place
+which he called "The View of the World," and where his remains now lie
+in lonely grandeur.
+
+At Groote Schuur, the Rhodes house near Capetown, which he left as the
+permanent residence of the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa,
+I saw a prized souvenir of the Matopos conferences with the Matabeles.
+On the wall in Rhodes' bedroom hangs the faded picture of an old and
+shriveled Matabele woman. When I asked General Smuts to tell me who she
+was he replied: "That is the woman who acted as the chief negotiator
+between Rhodes and the rebels." I afterwards found out that she was one
+of the wives of Umziligazi, father of Lobengula, and a noted Zulu
+chieftain. Rhodes never forgot the service she rendered him and caused
+the photograph of her to be taken.
+
+Following the last Matabele insurrection the Imperial Government which
+is represented in Rhodesia by a Resident Commissioner assumed control of
+the natives. The Crown was possibly guided by the precedent of Natal,
+where a premature Responsible Government was followed by two Zulu wars
+which well-nigh wrecked the province. It has become the policy of the
+Home Government not to permit a relatively small white population to
+rule the natives. Whatever the influence, Rhodesia has had no trouble
+with the natives since Rhodes made the peace up in the hills of the
+Matopos.
+
+The moment that the war of force ended, another and bloodless war of
+words began and it has continued ever since. I mean the fight for
+self-government that the settlers have waged against the Chartered
+Company. This brings us to a contest that contributes a significant and
+little-known chapter to the whole narrative of self-determination among
+the small peoples.
+
+Through its Charter the British South Africa Company was able to fasten
+a copper-rivetted rule on Rhodesia. Most of the Directors in London,
+with the exception of men like Dr. Jameson, knew very little about the
+country. There was no resident Director in Africa and the members of the
+Board only came out just before the elections. The Administrator was
+always a Company man and until 1899 his administrative associates in the
+field were the members of an Executive Council nominated by the Company.
+Meanwhile thousands of men had invested their fortunes in the land and
+the inevitable time came when they believed that they should have a
+voice in the conduct of its affairs.
+
+This sentiment became so widespread that in 1899 the country was given a
+Legislative Council which for the first time enabled the Rhodesians to
+elect some of their own people to office. At first they were only
+allowed three members, while the Company nominated six others. This
+always gave the Chartered interests a majority. Subsequently, as the
+clamour for popular representation grew, the number of elected
+representatives was increased to thirteen, while those nominated by
+Charter remained the same. To get a majority under the new deal it was
+only necessary for the Company to get the support of four elected
+members and on account of its relatively vast commercial interest it was
+usually easy to do this.
+
+It would be difficult to find an exact parallel to this situation. In
+America we have had many conflicts with what our campaign orators call
+"Special Privilege," an institution which thrived before the searchlight
+of publicity was turned on corporate control and prior to the time when
+fangs were put into the stewardship of railways. These contestants were
+sometimes decided at the polls with varying degrees of success. Perhaps
+the nearest approach to the Rhodesian line-up was the struggle of the
+California wheat growers against the Southern Pacific Railway, which
+Frank Norris dramatized in his book, "The Octopus."
+
+All the while the feeling for Responsible Government in Rhodesia grew. A
+strong group which opposed the Chartered régime sprang up. At the
+beginning of the struggle the line was sharply drawn between the Charter
+adherents on one side and unorganized opponents on the other. By 1914
+the issue was sharply defined. The first twenty-five years of the
+Charter were about to end and the insurgents realized that it was an
+opportune moment for a show of strength. The opposition had three plans.
+Some advocated the conversion of Rhodesia into a Crown Colony, others
+strongly urged admission to the Union of South Africa, while still
+another wing stood for Responsible Government. It was decided to unite
+on a common platform of Responsible Government.
+
+For the first time the Company realized that it had a fight on its hands
+and Dr. Jameson, who had become president of the corporation, went out
+to Rhodesia and made speeches urging loyalty to the Charter. His
+appearance stirred memories of the pioneer days and almost without
+exception the old guard rallied round him. A red-hot campaign ensued
+with the result that the whole pro-Charter ticket, with one exception,
+was elected, although the antis polled 45 per cent of the total vote.
+
+Out of this defeat came a partial victory for the Progressives. The
+Imperial Government saw the handwriting on the wall and acting within
+its powers, which permitted an administrative change in the Charter at
+the end of every ten years, granted a Supplemental Charter which
+provided that the Legislative Council could by an absolute majority of
+all its members pass a resolution "praying the Crown to establish in
+Southern Rhodesia the form of Government known as Responsible
+Government," provided that it could financially support this procedure.
+It gave the insurgents fresh hope and it made the Company realize that
+sooner or later its authority must end.
+
+Then the Great War broke. Every available man that could possibly be
+spared went to the Front and the life of the Council was extended until
+1920, when a conclusive election was to be held. Meanwhile the Company,
+realizing that it must sooner or later bow to the people's will, got
+busy with an attempt to realize on its assets. Chief among them were the
+millions of acres of so-called "unalienated" or Crown land in Southern
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company claimed this land as a private asset.
+The settlers alleged that it belonged to them. The Government said it
+was an imperial possession. The Privy Council in London upheld the
+latter contention. Thereupon the Company filed a claim for
+$35,000,000.00 against the Government to cover the value of this land
+and its losses throughout the years of administration.
+
+Yielding to pressure the Legislative Council in 1919 asked the British
+Government to declare itself on the question of replacing the Charter
+with some form of Government suited to the needs of the country. Lord
+Milner, the Colonial Secretary, answered in what came to be known as the
+"Milner Despatch." In it he said that he did not believe the territory
+"in its present stage of development was equal to the financial burden
+of Responsible Government." He mildly suggested representative
+government under the Crown.
+
+The general expectation throughout Rhodesia was that no election would
+be held until a Government Commission then sitting, had inquired into
+the validity of the Company's immense claim for damages. Early in March
+1920, however, the Legislative Council gave notice that the election was
+set for April 30th. It proved to be the most exciting ever held in
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company made no fight. The contest was really
+waged between the two wings of the anti-Charter crowd. One favored
+Responsible Government and the other, admission to the Union of South
+Africa.
+
+The arguments for Responsible Government briefly were these: That under
+the Supplemental Charter it was the only constitutional change possible;
+that the financial burden was not too heavy; that the native question
+was no bar; that the Imperial Government would never saddle the country
+with the huge debt of the Company; that under the Union a hateful
+bi-lingualism would be introduced; that taxation would not be excessive,
+and that finally, the right of self-determination as to Government was
+the birthright of the British people.
+
+The adherents of Union contended that the original idea of Cecil Rhodes
+was to make Rhodesia a part of the Union of South Africa; that by this
+procedure the vexing problem of customs with the Union would be solved;
+that the system of self-government in South Africa meets every
+requirement of self-determination. Moreover, the point was made that by
+becoming a part of the Union the whole railway question would be
+settled. At present the Rhodesian railways have three ends, one in South
+Africa at Vryburg, another on the Belgian border, and a third at the sea
+at Beira. It was claimed that through the Union, Rhodesia would benefit
+by becoming a part of the nationalized railway system there and get the
+advantage of a British port at the Cape instead of Beira, which is
+Portuguese. In other words, Union meant stability of credit, politics,
+finance and industry.
+
+The outcome of the election was that twelve Responsible Government
+candidates, one of them a woman, were elected. Women voted for the first
+time in Rhodesia and they solidly opposed the union with South Africa.
+The thirteenth member elected stood for the conversion of the country
+into a Crown Colony under representative government. Throughout the
+campaign the Chartered Company remained neutral, although it was
+obviously opposed to Responsible Government. The feeling throughout
+Rhodesia is that it favors Union because it could dispose of its assets
+to better advantage.
+
+I arrived in Rhodesia immediately after the election. The country still
+sizzled with excitement. Curiously enough, the head, brains and front of
+the fight for union with South Africa was a former American, now a
+British subject and who has been a ranchman in Rhodesia for some years.
+He prefers to be nameless.
+
+In the light of the landslide at the polls it naturally followed that
+the new Legislative Council at its first meeting passed a resolution
+declaring for Responsible Government. The vote was twelve to five. Since
+this was not an absolute majority, as required by the Supplementary
+Charter, it is expected that the Imperial Government will decide against
+granting this form of government just now. The next procedure will
+probably be a request for representative government under the Crown or
+some modification of the Charter, and for an Imperial loan. Rhodesia has
+no borrowing power and the country needs money just as much as its needs
+men. The adherents of Union claim that on a straight show-down between
+Crown Colony or Union at the next election, Union will win. From what I
+gathered in conversation with the leaders of both factions, there would
+have been a bigger vote, possibly victory for Union, but for the
+Nationalist movement in South Africa, which I described in a previous
+chapter. The Rhodesians want no racial entanglements.
+
+Northern Rhodesia has no part in the fight against the Charter. It is
+only a question of time, however, when she will be merged into Southern
+Rhodesia for, with the passing of the Company, her destiny becomes
+identical with that of her sister territory. Northern Rhodesia's chief
+complaint against the Company was that it did not spend any money within
+her borders. After reading the story of the crusade for Responsible
+Government you can understand the reason why.
+
+Whatever happens, Charter rule in Rhodesia is doomed and the great
+Company, born of the vision and imperialism of Cecil Rhodes, and which
+battled with the wild man in the wilderness, will eventually vanish from
+the category of corporations. But Rhodesia remains a thriving part of
+the British Empire and the dream of the founder is realized.
+
+
+III
+
+Rhodesia produces much more than trouble for the Chartered Company. She
+is pre-eminently a land of ranches and farms. Here you get still another
+parallel with the United States because it is no uncommon thing to find
+a farm of 50,000 acres or more.
+
+I doubt if any other new region in the world contains a finer or
+sturdier manhood than Rhodesia. Like the land itself it is a stronghold
+of youth. Likewise, no other colony, and for that matter, no other
+matured country exercises such a rigid censorship upon settlers. Until
+the high cost of living disorganized all economic standards, no one
+could establish himself in Rhodesia without a minimum capital of
+£1,000. So far as farming is concerned, this is now increased to
+£2,000. Therefore, you do not see the signs of failure which so
+often dot the semi-virgin landscape. Knowing this, you can understand
+why the immigration inspector gives the incoming travellers a rigid
+cross-examination at the frontier.
+
+Also it is simon-pure British, and more like Natal in this respect than
+any other territory under the Union-jack. I had a convincing
+demonstration in a personal experience. I made a speech at the Bulawayo
+Club. The notice was short but I was surprised to find more than a
+hundred men assembled after dinner, many in evening clothes. Some had
+travelled all day on horseback or in buckboards to get there, others had
+come hundreds of miles by motor car.
+
+I never addressed a more responsive audience. What impressed me was the
+kindling spirit of affection they manifested for the Mother Country. In
+conversation with many of them afterwards it was interesting to hear the
+sons of settlers referring to the England that they had never seen, as
+"home." That night I realized as never before,--not even amid the agony
+and sacrifice of the Somme or the Ancre in France,--one reason why the
+British Empire is great and why, despite all muddling, it carries on. It
+lies in the feeling of imperial kinship far out at the frontiers of
+civilization. The colonial is in many respects a more devoted loyalist
+than the man at home.
+
+Wherever I went I found the Rhodesian agriculturist--and he constitutes
+the bulk of the white population,--essentially modern in his methods. He
+reminds me more of the Kansas farmer than any other alien agriculturists
+that I have met. He uses tractors and does things in a big way. There is
+a trail of gasoline all over the country. Motorcycles have become an
+ordinary means of transport for district officials and engineers, who
+fly about over the native paths that are often the merest tracks. You
+find these machines in the remotest regions. The light motor car is also
+beginning to be looked upon as a necessary part of the outfit of the
+farmer.
+
+There was a time when the average Rhodesian believed that gold was the
+salvation of the country. Repeated "booms" and the inevitable losses
+have brought the people to agree with the opinion of one of the
+pioneers, that "the true wealth of the country lies in the top twelve
+inches of the soil." Agriculture is surpassing mining as the principal
+industry.
+
+The staple agricultural product is maize, which is corn in the American
+phraseology. Until a few years ago the bulk of it was consumed at home.
+Recently, however, on account of the farm expansion, there is an
+increasing surplus for export to the Union of South Africa, the Belgian
+Congo, and even to Europe.
+
+The facts about maize are worth considering. Every year 200,000,000
+bags, each weighing 200 pounds, are consumed throughout the world.
+Heretofore the principal sources of supply have been the Argentine and
+the United States. We have come to the time, however, when we absorb
+practically our whole crop. Formerly we exported about 10,000,000 bags.
+There is no decrease in corn consumption despite prohibition. Hence
+Rhodesia is bound to loom large in the situation. Last year she produced
+more than a million bags. Maize is a crop that revels in sunshine and in
+Rhodesia the sun shines brilliantly throughout the year practically
+without variation. This enables the product to be sun-dried.
+
+Other important crops are tobacco, beans, peanuts (which are invariably
+called monkey nuts in that part of the universe), wheat and oranges.
+Under irrigation, citrus fruits, oats and barley do well.
+
+Cattle are a bulwark of Rhodesian prosperity. The immense pasturage
+areas are reminiscent of Texas and Montana. For a hundred years before
+the white settlers came, the Matabeles and the Mashonas raised live
+stock. The natives still own about 700,000 head, nearly as many as the
+whites. I was interested to find that the British South Africa Company
+has imported a number of Texas ranchmen to act as cattle experts and
+advise the ranchers generally. This is due to a desire to begin a
+competition with the Argentine and the United States in chilled and
+frozen meats. One of the greatest British manufactures of beef extracts
+owns half a dozen ranches in Rhodesia and it is not unlikely that
+American meat men will follow. Mr. J. Ogden Armour is said to be keenly
+interested in the country with the view of expanding the resources of
+the Chicago packers. This is one result of the World War, which has
+caused the producer of food everywhere to bestir himself and insure
+future supplies.
+
+In connection with Rhodesian farming and cattle-raising is a situation
+well worthy of emphasis. There is no labour problem. You find, for
+example, that miracle of miracles which is embodied in a native at work.
+It is in sharp contrast with South Africa and the Congo, where, with
+millions of coloured people it is almost impossible to get help. The
+Rhodesian black still remains outside the leisure class. Whether it is
+due to his fear of the whites or otherwise, he is an active member of
+the productive order.
+
+The native will work for the white man but, save to raise enough maize
+for himself, he will not become an agriculturist. I heard a typical
+story about Lewaniki, Chief of the Barotses, who once ruled a large part
+of what is now Northern Rhodesia. Someone asked him to get his people to
+raise cotton. His answer was:
+
+"What is the use? They cannot eat it."
+
+In Africa the native's world never extends beyond his stomach. I was
+soon to find costly evidence of this in the Congo.
+
+The African native is quite a character. He is not only a born actor but
+has a quaint humor. In the center of the main street at Bulawayo is a
+bronze statue of Cecil Rhodes, bareheaded, and with his face turned
+toward the North. Just as soon as it was unveiled the Matabeles
+expressed considerable astonishment over it. They could not understand
+why the figure never moved. Shortly afterwards a great drought came. A
+native chief went to see the Resident Commissioner and solemnly told him
+that he was quite certain that there would be no rain "until they put a
+hat on Mr. Rhodes' head."
+
+The Lewaniki anecdote reminds me of an admirable epigram that was
+produced in Rhodesia. Out there food is commonly known as "skoff," just
+as "chop" is the equivalent in the Congo. A former Resident
+Commissioner, noted for the keenness of his wit, once asked a travelling
+missionary to dine with him. After the meal the guest insisted upon
+holding a religious service at the table. In speaking of the performance
+the Commissioner said: "My guest came to 'skoff' and remained to pray."
+
+Whenever you visit a new land you almost invariably discover mental
+alertness and progressiveness that often put the older civilizations to
+shame. Let me illustrate. Go to England or France today and you touch
+the really tragic aftermath of the war. You see thousands of demobilized
+officers and men vainly searching for work. Many are reduced to the
+extremity of begging. It has become an acute and poignant problem, that
+is not without its echo over here.
+
+Rhodesia, through the British South Africa Company, is doing its bit
+toward solution. It has set aside 500,000 acres which are being allotted
+free of charge to approved soldier and sailor settlers from overseas.
+Not only are they being given the land but they are provided with expert
+advice and supervision. The former service men who are unable to borrow
+capital with which to exploit the land, are merged into a scheme by
+which they serve an apprenticeship for pay on the established farms and
+ranches until they are able to shift for themselves.
+
+The Chartered Company, despite its political machine, has developed
+Rhodesia "on its own," and in rather striking fashion. It operates
+dairies, gold mines, citrus estates, nurseries, ranches, tobacco
+warehouses, abattoirs, cold storage plants and dams, which insures
+adequate water supply in various sections. It is a profitable example of
+constructive paternalism whose results will be increasingly evident long
+after the famous Charter has passed into history.
+
+No phase of the Company's activities is more important than its
+construction of the Rhodesian railways. They represent a
+double-barrelled private ownership in that they were built and are
+operated by the Company. There are nearly 2,600 miles of track. One
+section of the system begins down at Vryburg in Bechuanaland, where it
+connects with the South African Railways, and extends straight northward
+through Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to the Congo border. The other
+starts at Beira on the Indian Ocean and runs west through Salisbury, the
+capital, to Bulawayo.
+
+These railways have a remarkable statistical distinction in that there
+is one mile of track for every thirteen white inhabitants. No other
+system in the world can duplicate it. The Union of South Africa comes
+nearest with 143 white inhabitants per mile or just eleven times as
+many. Canada has 27, Australia 247, the United States and New Zealand
+400 each, while the United Kingdom has over 200 inhabitants for every
+mile of line.
+
+Rhodesia is highly mineralized. Coal occurs in three areas and one of
+them, Wankie,--a vast field,--is extensively operated. Gold is found
+over the greater part of the country. Here you not only touch an
+American interest but you enter upon the region that Rider Haggard
+introduced to readers as the setting of some of his most famous
+romances. We will deal with the practical side first.
+
+Rhodes had great hopes of Rhodesia as a gold-producing country. He
+wanted the economic value of the country to rank with the political.
+Thousands of years ago the natives dug mines and many of these ancient
+workings are still to be seen. They never exceed forty or fifty feet in
+depth. Many leading authorities claimed that the South Arabians of the
+Kingdom of Saba often referred to in the Bible were the pioneers in the
+Rhodesian gold fields and sold the output to the Phoenicians. Others
+contended that the Phoenicians themselves delved here. Until recently it
+was also maintained by some scientists and Biblical scholars that modern
+Southern Rhodesia was the famed land of Ophir, whence came the gold and
+precious stones that decked the persons and palaces of Solomon and
+David. This, however, has been disproved, and Ophir is still the butt of
+archaeological dispute. It has been "located" in Arabia, Spain, Peru,
+India and South-East Africa.
+
+Rhodes knew all about the old diggings so he engaged John Hays Hammond,
+the American engineer, to accompany him on a trip through Rhodesia in
+1894 and make an investigation of the workings. His report stated that
+the rock mines were undoubtedly ancient, that the greatest skill in
+mining had been displayed and that scores of millions of pounds worth of
+the precious metal had been extracted. It also proved that practically
+all this treasure had been exported from the country for no visible
+traces remain. This substantiates the theory that perhaps it did go to
+the Phoenicians or to a potentate like King Solomon. Hammond wrote the
+mining laws of Rhodesia which are an adaptation of the American code.
+
+The Rhodesian gold mines, which are operated by the Chartered Company
+and by individuals, have never fully realized their promise. One reason,
+so men like Hammond tell me, is that they are over-capitalized and are
+small and scattered. Despite this handicap the country has produced
+£45,227,791 of gold since 1890. The output in 1919 was worth
+£2,500,000. In 1915 it was nearly £4,000,000.
+
+Small diamonds in varying quantities have also been found in Rhodesia.
+In exchange for having subscribed heavily to the first issue of British
+South Africa Company stock, the DeBeers which Rhodes formed received a
+monopoly on the diamond output and with it the assurance of a rigid
+enforcement of the so-called Illicit Diamond Buying Act. This law, more
+commonly known as "I. D. B." and which has figured in many South African
+novels, provided drastic punishment for dishonest dealing in the stones.
+More than one South African millionaire owed the beginnings of his
+fortune to evasion of this law.
+
+Just about the time that Rhodes made the Rhodesian diamond deal a
+prospector came to him and said: "If I bring you a handful of rough
+diamonds what will I get?"
+
+"Fifteen years," was the ready retort. He was never at a loss for an
+answer.
+
+We can now turn to the really romantic side of the Rhodesian mineral
+deposits. One of the favorite pilgrimages of the tourist is to the
+Zimbabwe ruins, located about seventeen miles from Victoria in Southern
+Rhodesia. They are the remains of an ancient city and must at various
+times have been the home of large populations. There seems little doubt
+that Zimbabwe was the work of a prehistoric and long-forgotten people.
+
+Over it hangs a mantle of mystery which the fictionist has employed to
+full, and at times thrilling advantage. In this vicinity were the "King
+Solomon's Mines," that Rider Haggard wrote about in what is perhaps his
+most popular book. Here came "Allan Quartermain" in pursuit of love and
+treasure. The big hill at Zimbabwe provided the residence of "She," the
+lovely and disappearing lady who had to be obeyed. The ruins in the
+valley are supposed to be those of "the Dead City" in the same romance.
+The interesting feature of all this is that "She" and "King Solomon's
+Mines" were written in the early eighties when comparatively nothing was
+known of the country. Yet Rider Haggard, with that instinct which
+sometimes guides the romancer, wrote fairly accurate descriptions of the
+country long before he had ever heard of its actual existence. Thus
+imagination preceded reality.
+
+The imagination miracles disclose in the Haggard books are surpassed by
+the actual wonder represented by Victoria Falls. Everybody has heard of
+this stupendous spectacle in Rhodesia but few people see it because it
+is so far away. I beheld it on my way from Bulawayo to the Congo. Like
+the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it baffles description.
+
+The first white man to visit the cataract was Dr. Livingstone, who named
+it in honor of his Queen. This was in 1855. For untold years the natives
+of the region had trembled at its fury. They called it _Mois-oa-tunga_,
+which means "Smoke That Sounds." When you see the falls you can readily
+understand why they got this name. The mist is visible ten miles away
+and the terrific roar of the falling waters can be heard even farther.
+
+The fact that the casual traveller can see Victoria Falls from the train
+is due entirely to the foresight and the imagination of Cecil Rhodes. He
+knew the publicity value that the cataract would have for Rhodesia and
+he combined the utilitarian with his love of the romantic. In planning
+the Rhodesian railroad, therefore, he insisted that the bridge across
+the gorge of the Zambesi into which the mighty waters flow after their
+fall, must be sufficiently near to enable the spray to wet the railway
+carriages. The experts said it was impossible but Rhodes had his way,
+just as Harriman's will prevailed over that of trained engineers in the
+construction of the bridge across Great Salt Lake.
+
+The bridge across the Zambesi is a fit mate in audacity to the falls
+themselves. It is the highest in the world for it rises 400 feet above
+the low water level. Its main parabolic arch is a 500 foot span while
+the total length is 650 feet. Although its construction was fraught with
+contrast hazard it only cost two lives, despite the fact that seven
+hundred white men and two thousand natives were employed on it. In the
+building of the Firth of Forth bridge which was much less dangerous,
+more than fifty men were killed.
+
+I first saw the Falls in the early morning when the brilliant African
+sun was turned full on this sight of sights. It was at the end of the
+wet season and the flow was at maximum strength. The mist was so great
+that at first I could scarcely see the Falls. Slowly but defiantly the
+foaming face broke through the veil. Niagara gives you a thrill but this
+toppling avalanche awes you into absolute silence.
+
+The Victoria Falls are exactly twice as broad and two and one-half
+times as high as Niagara Falls. This means that they are over a mile in
+breadth and four hundred and twenty feet high. The tremendous flow has
+only one small outlet about 100 yards wide. The roar and turmoil of this
+world of water as it crashes into the chasm sets up what is well called
+"The Boiling Pot." From this swirling melee the Zambesi rushes with
+unbridled fury through a narrow and deep gorge, extending with many
+windings for forty miles.
+
+In the presence of this marvel, wars, elections, economic upheavals, the
+high cost of living, prohibition,--all "that unrest which men miscall
+delight"--fade into insignificance. Life itself seems a small and
+pitiful thing. You are face to face with a force of Nature that is
+titanic, terrifying, and irresistible.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRAVE OF CECIL RHODES]
+
+
+IV
+
+Since we bid farewell to Cecil Rhodes in this chapter after having
+almost continuously touched his career from the moment we reached
+Capetown, let us make a final measure of his human side,--and he was
+intensely human--particularly with reference to Rhodesia, which is so
+inseparably associated with him. His passion for the country that bore
+his name exceeded his interest in any of his other undertakings. He
+liked the open life of the veldt where he travelled in a sort of gypsy
+wagon and camped for the night wherever the mood dictated. It enabled
+him to gratify his fondness for riding and shooting.
+
+He was always accompanied by a remarkable servant named Tony, a
+half-breed in whom the Portuguese strain predominated. Tony bought his
+master's clothes, paid his bills, and was a court of last resort "below
+stairs." Rhodes declared that his man could produce a satisfactory meal
+almost out of thin air.
+
+Rhodes and Tony were inseparable. Upon one occasion Tony accompanied him
+when he was commanded by Queen Victoria to lodge at Sandringham. While
+there Rhodes asked Tony what time he could get breakfast, whereupon the
+servant replied:
+
+"Royalty does not breakfast, sir, but you can have it in the dining-room
+at half past nine." Tony seemed to know everything.
+
+Throughout Rhodesia I found many of Rhodes' old associates who
+affectionately referred to him as "The Old Man." I was able to collect
+what seemed to be some new Rhodes stories. A few have already been
+related. Here is another which shows his quickness in capitalizing a
+situation.
+
+In the days immediately following the first Matabele war Rhodes had more
+trouble with concession-hunters than with the savages, the Boers, or the
+Portuguese. Nearly every free-lance in the territory produced some fake
+document to which Lobengula's alleged mark was affixed and offered it to
+Rhodes at an excessive price.
+
+One of these gentry framed a plan by which one of the many sons of
+Lobengula was to return to Matabeleland, claim his royal rights, and
+create trouble generally. The whole idea was to start an uprising and
+derange the machinery of the British South Africa Company. The name of
+the son was N'jube and at the time the plan was devised he held a place
+as messenger in the diamond fields at Kimberley. By the system of
+intelligence that he maintained, Rhodes learned of the frame-up, the
+whereabouts of the boy, and furthermore, that he was in love with a
+Fingo girl. These Fingoes were a sort of bastard slave people. Marriage
+into the tribe was a despised thing, and by a native of royal blood,
+meant the abrogation of all his claims to the succession.
+
+Rhodes sent for N'jube and asked him if he wanted to marry the Fingo
+girl. When he replied that he did, the great man said: "Go down to the
+DeBeers office, get £50 and marry the girl. I will then give you a
+job for life and build you a house."
+
+N'jube took the hint and the money and married the girl. Rhodes now sent
+the following telegram to the conspirator at Bulawayo:
+
+"Your friend N'jube was divided between love and empire, but he has
+decided to marry the Fingo girl. It is better that he should settle
+down in Kimberley and be occupied in creating a family than to plot at
+Bulawayo to stab you in the stomach."
+
+This ended the conspiracy, and N'jube lived happily and peacefully ever
+afterwards.
+
+Rhodes was an incorrigible imperialist as this story shows. Upon one
+occasion at Bulawayo he was discussing the Carnegie Library idea with
+his friend and associate, Sir Abe Bailey, a leading financial and
+political figure in the Cape Colony.
+
+"What would you do if you had Carnegie's money?" asked Bailey.
+
+"I wouldn't waste it on libraries," he replied. "I would seize a South
+American Republic and annex it to the United States."
+
+Rhodes had great admiration for America. He once said to Bailey: "The
+greatest thing in the world would be the union of the English-speaking
+people. I wouldn't mind if Washington were the capital." He believed
+implicitly in the invincibility of the Anglo-Saxon race, and he gave his
+life and his fortune to advance the British part of it.
+
+For the last I have reserved the experience that will always rank first
+in my remembrance of Rhodesia. It was my visit to the grave of Rhodes.
+Most people who go to Rhodesia make this pilgrimage, for in the
+well-known tourist language of Mr. Cook, like Victoria Falls, it is "one
+of the things to see." I was animated by a different motive. I had often
+read about it and I longed to view the spot that so eloquently
+symbolized the vision and the imagination of the man I admired.
+
+The grave is about twenty-eight miles from Bulawayo, in the heart of the
+Matopo Hills. You follow the road along which the body was carried
+nineteen years ago. You see the native hut where Rhodes often lived and
+in which the remains rested for the night on the final journey. You pass
+from the green low-lands to the bare frontiers of the rocky domain where
+the Matabeles fled after the second war and where the Father of Rhodesia
+held his historic parleys with them.
+
+Soon the way becomes so difficult that you must leave the motor and
+continue on foot. The Matopos are a wild and desolate range. It is not
+until you are well beyond the granite outposts that there bursts upon
+you an immense open area,--a sort of amphitheatre in which the Druids
+might have held their weird ritual. Directly ahead you see a battlement
+of boulders projected by some immemorial upheaval. Intrenched between
+them is the spot where Rhodes rests and which is marked by a brass plate
+bearing the words: "Here Lie the Remains of Cecil John Rhodes." In his
+will he directed that the site be chosen and even wrote the simple
+inscription for the cover.
+
+When you stand on this eminence and look out on the grim, brooding
+landscape, you not only realize why Rhodes called it "The View of the
+World," but you also understand why he elected to sleep here. The
+loneliness and grandeur of the environment, with its absence of any sign
+of human life and habitation, convey that sense of aloofness which, in a
+man like Rhodes, is the inevitable penalty that true greatness exacts.
+The ages seem to be keeping vigil with his spirit.
+
+For eighteen years Rhodes slept here in solitary state. In 1920 the
+remains of Dr. Jameson were placed in a grave hewn out of the rock and
+located about one hundred feet from the spot where his old friend rests.
+It is peculiarly fitting that these two men who played such heroic part
+in the rise of Rhodesia should repose within a stone's throw of each
+other.
+
+During these last years I have seen some of the great things. They
+included the British Grand Fleet in battle array, Russia at the daybreak
+of democracy, the long travail of Verdun and the Somme, the first
+American flag on the battlefields of France, Armistice Day amid the
+tragedy of war, and all the rest of the panorama that those momentous
+days disclosed. But nothing perhaps was more moving than the silence and
+majesty that invested the grave of Cecil Rhodes. Instinctively there
+came to my mind the lines about him that Kipling wrote in "The Burial":
+
+        It is his will that he look forth
+          Across the world he won--
+        The granite of the ancient North--
+          Great spaces washed with sun.
+
+When I reached the bottom of the long incline on my way out I looked
+back. The sun was setting and those sentinel boulders bulked in the
+dying light. They seemed to incarnate something of the might and power
+of the personality that shaped Rhodesia, and made of it an annex of
+Empire.
+
+[Illustration: A KATANGA COPPER MINE]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV--THE CONGO TODAY
+
+
+I
+
+Unfold the map of Africa and you see a huge yellow area sprawling over
+the Equator, reaching down to Rhodesia on the south-east, and converging
+to a point on the Atlantic Coast. Equal in size to all Latin and
+Teutonic Europe, it is the abode of 6,000 white men and 12,000,000
+blacks. No other section of that vast empire of mystery is so packed
+with hazard and hardship, nor is any so bound up with American
+enterprise. Across it Stanley made his way in two epic expeditions.
+Livingstone gave it the glamour of his spiritualizing influence.
+Fourteen nations stood sponsor at its birth as a Free State and the
+whole world shook with controversy about its administration. Once the
+darkest domain of the Dark Continent, it is still the stronghold of the
+resisting jungle and the last frontier of civilization. It is the
+Belgian Congo.
+
+During these past years the veil has been lifted from the greater part
+of Africa. We are familiar with life and customs in the British, French,
+and to a certain degree, the Portuguese and one-time German colonies.
+But about the land inseparably associated with the economic
+statesmanship of King Leopold there still hangs a shroud of uncertainty
+as to régime and resource. Few people go there and its literature, save
+that which grew out of the atrocity campaign, is meager and
+unsatisfactory. To the vast majority of persons, therefore, the country
+is merely a name--a dab of colour on the globe. Its very distance lends
+enchantment and heightens the lure that always lurks in the unknown.
+What is it like? What is its place in the universal productive scheme?
+What of its future?
+
+I went to the Congo to find out. My journey there was the logical sequel
+to my visit to the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia, which I have
+already described. It seemed a pity not to take a plunge into the region
+that I had read about in the books of Stanley. In my childhood I heard
+him tell the story of some of his African experiences. The man and his
+narrative were unforgettable for he incarnated both the ideal and the
+adventure of journalism. He cast the spell of the Congo River over me
+and I lingered to see this mother of waters. Thus it came about that I
+not only followed Stanley's trail through the heart of Equatorial Africa
+but spent weeks floating down the historic stream, which like the rivers
+that figured in the Great War, has a distinct and definite human
+quality. The Marne, the Meuse, and the Somme are the Rivers of Valour.
+The Congo is the River of Adventure.
+
+In writing, as in everything else, preparedness is all essential. I
+learned the value of carrying proper credentials during the war, when
+every frontier and police official constituted himself a stumbling-block
+to progress. For the South African end of my adventure I provided myself
+with letters from Lloyd George and Smuts. In the Congo I realized that I
+would require equally powerful agencies to help me on my way. Wandering
+through sparsely settled Central Africa with its millions of natives,
+scattered white settlements, and restricted and sometimes primitive
+means of transport, was a far different proposition than travelling in
+the Cape Colony, the Transvaal, or Rhodesia, where there are through
+trains and habitable hotels.
+
+I knew that in the Congo the State was magic, and the King's name one to
+conjure with. Accordingly, I obtained what amounted to an order from the
+Belgian Colonial Office to all functionaries to help me in every
+possible way. This order, I might add, was really a command from King
+Albert, with whom I had an hour's private audience at Brussels before I
+sailed. As I sat in the simple office of the Palace and talked with this
+shy, tall, blonde, and really kingly-looking person, I could not help
+thinking of the last time I saw him. It was at La Panne during that
+terrible winter of 1916-1917, when the Germans were at the high tide of
+their success. The Belgian ruler had taken refuge in this bleak,
+sea-swept corner of Belgium and the only part of the country that had
+escaped the invader. He lived in a little châlet near the beach. Every
+day the King walked up and down on the sands while German aeroplanes
+flew overhead and the roar of the guns at Dixmude smote the ear. He was
+then leading what seemed to be a forlorn hope and he betrayed his
+anxiety in face and speech. Now I beheld him fresh and buoyant, and
+monarch of the only country in Europe that had really settled down to
+work.
+
+King Albert asked me many questions about my trip. He told me of his own
+journey through the Congo in 1908 (he was then Prince Albert), when he
+covered more than a thousand miles on foot. He said that he was glad
+that an American was going to write something about the Congo at first
+hand and he expressed his keen appreciation of the work of American
+capital in his big colony overseas. "I like America and Americans," he
+said, "and I hope that your country will not forget Europe." There was
+a warm clasp of the hand and I was off on the first lap of the journey
+that was to reel off more than twenty-six thousand miles of strenuous
+travel before I saw my little domicile in New York again.
+
+Before we invade the Congo let me briefly outline its history. It can be
+told in a few words although the narrative of its exploitations remains
+a serial without end. Prior to Stanley's memorable journey of
+exploration across Equatorial Africa which he described in "Through the
+Dark Continent," what is now the Congo was a blank spot on the map. No
+white man had traversed it. In the fifties Livingstone had opened up
+part of the present British East Africa and Nyassaland. In the Luapula
+and its tributaries he discovered the headwaters of the Congo River and
+then continued on to Victoria Falls and Rhodesia. After Stanley found
+the famous missionary at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika in 1872, he returned
+to Zanzibar. Hence the broad expanse of Central Africa from Nyassaland
+westward practically remained undiscovered until Stanley crossed it
+between 1874 and 1877, when he travelled from Stanley Falls, where the
+Congo River actually begins, down its expanse to the sea.
+
+As soon as Stanley's articles about the Congo began to appear, King
+Leopold, who was a shrewd business man, saw an opportunity for the
+expansion of his little country. Under his auspices several
+International Committees dedicated to African study were formed. He then
+sent Stanley back to the Congo in 1879, to organize a string of stations
+from the ocean up to Stanley Falls, now Stanleyville. In 1885 the famous
+Berlin Congress of Nations, presided over by Bismarck, recognized the
+Congo Free State, accepted Leopold as its sovereign, and the jungle
+domain took its place among recognized governments. The principal
+purposes animating the founders were the suppression of the slave trade
+and the conversion of the territory into a combined factory and a market
+for all the nations. It was largely due to Belgian initiative that the
+traffic in human beings which denuded all Central Africa of its bone and
+sinew every year, was brought to an end.
+
+The world is more or less familiar with subsequent Congo history. In
+1904 arose the first protest against the so-called atrocities
+perpetrated on the blacks, and the Congo became the center of an
+international dispute that nearly lost Belgium her only colonial
+possession. In the light of the revelations brought about by the Great
+War, and to which I have referred in a previous chapter, it is obvious
+that a considerable part of this crusade had its origin in Germany and
+was fomented by Germanophiles of the type of Sir Roger Casement, who was
+hanged in the Tower of London. During the World War E. D. Morel, his
+principal associate in the atrocity campaign, served a jail sentence in
+England for attempting to smuggle a seditious document into an enemy
+country.
+
+With the atrocity business we are not concerned. The only atrocities
+that I saw in the Congo were the slaughter of my clothes on the native
+washboard, usually a rock, and the American jitney that broke down and
+left me stranded in the Kasai jungle. As a matter of fact, the Belgian
+rule in the Congo has swung round to another extreme, for the Negro
+there has more freedom of movement and less responsibility for action
+than in any other African colony. To round out this brief history, the
+Congo was ceded to Belgium in 1908 and has been a Belgian colony ever
+since.
+
+We can now go on with the journey. From Bulawayo I travelled northward
+for three days past Victoria Falls and Broken Hill, through the
+undeveloped reaches of Northern Rhodesia, where you can sometimes see
+lion-tracks from the car windows, and where the naked Barotses emerge
+from the wilds and stare in big-eyed wonder at the passing trains. Until
+recently the telegraph service was considerably impaired by the
+curiosity of elephants who insisted upon knocking down the poles.
+
+While I was in South Africa alarming reports were published about a
+strike in the Congo and I was afraid that it would interfere with my
+journey. This strike was without doubt one of the most unique in the
+history of all labor troubles. The whole Congo administration "walked
+out," when their request for an increase in pay was refused. The
+strikers included Government agents, railway, telegraph and telephone
+employes, and steamboat captains. Even the one-time cannibals employed
+on all public construction quit work. It was a natural procedure for
+them. Not a wheel turned; no word went over the wires; navigation on the
+rivers ceased. The country was paralyzed. Happily for me it was settled
+before I left Bulawayo.
+
+Late at night I crossed the Congo border and stopped for the customs at
+Sakania. At once I realized the potency that lay in my royal credentials
+for all traffic was tied up until I was expedited. I also got the
+initial surprise of the many that awaited me in this part of the world.
+In the popular mind the Congo is an annex of the Inferno. I can vouch
+for the fact that some sections break all heat records. The air that
+greeted me, however, might have been wafted down from Greenland's icy
+mountain, for I was chilled to the bone. In the flickering light of
+the station the natives shivered in their blankets. The atmosphere was
+anything but tropical yet I was almost within striking distance of the
+Equator. The reason for this frigidity was that I had entered the
+confines of the Katanga, the most healthful and highly developed
+province of the Congo and a plateau four thousand feet above sea level.
+
+[Illustration: LORD LEVERHULME]
+
+[Illustration: ROBERT WILLIAMS]
+
+The next afternoon I arrived at Elizabethville, named for the Queen of
+the Belgians, capital of the province, and center of the copper
+activity. Here I touched two significant things. One was the group of
+American engineers who have developed the technical side of mining in
+the Katanga as elsewhere in the Congo; the other was a contact with the
+industry which produces a considerable part of the wealth of the Colony.
+
+There is a wide impression that the Congo is entirely an agricultural
+country. Although it has unlimited possibilities in this direction, the
+reverse, for the moment, is true. The 900,000 square miles of area (it
+is eighty-eight times the size of Belgium) have scarcely been scraped by
+the hand of man, although Nature has been prodigal in her share of the
+development. Wild rubber, the gathering of which loosed the storm about
+King Leopold's head, is nearly exhausted because of the one-time
+ruthless harvesting. Cotton and coffee are infant industries. The
+principal product of the soil, commercially, is the fruit of the palm
+tree and here Nature again does most of the ground work.
+
+Mining is, in many respects, the chief operation and the Katanga, which
+is really one huge mine, principally copper, is the most prosperous
+region so far as bulk of output is concerned. Since this area figures so
+prominently in the economic annals of the country it is worth more than
+passing attention. Like so many parts of Africa, its exploitation is
+recent. For years after Livingstone planted the gospel there, it
+continued to be the haunt of warlike tribes. The earliest white visitors
+observed that the natives wore copper ornaments and trafficked in a rude
+St. Andrew's cross--it was the coin of the country--fashioned out of
+metal. When prospectors came through in the eighties and nineties they
+found scores of old copper mines which had been worked by the aborigines
+many decades ago. Before the advent of civilization the Katanga blacks
+dealt mainly in slaves and in copper.
+
+The real pioneer of development in the Katanga is an Englishman, Robert
+Williams, a friend and colleague of Cecil Rhodes, and who constructed,
+as you may possibly recall, the link in the Cape-to-Cairo Railway from
+Broken Hill in Northern Rhodesia to the Congo border. He has done for
+Congo copper what Lord Leverhulme has accomplished for palm fruit and
+Thomas F. Ryan for diamonds. Congo progress is almost entirely due to
+alien capital.
+
+Williams, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, went out to Africa in 1881
+to take charge of some mining machinery at one of the Kimberley diamond
+mines. Here he met Rhodes and an association began which continued until
+the death of the empire builder. On his death-bed Rhodes asked Williams
+to continue the Cape-to-Cairo project. In the acquiescence to this
+request the Katanga indirectly owes much of its advance. Thus the
+constructive influence of the Colossus of South Africa extends beyond
+the British dominions.
+
+In building the Broken Hill Railway Williams was prompted by two
+reasons. One was to carry on the Rhodes project; the other was to link
+up what he believed to be a whole new mineral world to the needs of
+man. Nor was he working in the dark. Late in the nineties he had sent
+George Grey, a brother of Sir Edward, now Viscount Grey, through the
+present Katanga region on a prospecting expedition. Grey discovered
+large deposits of copper and also tin, lead, iron, coal, platinum, and
+diamonds. Williams now organized the company known as the Tanganyika
+Concessions, which became the instigator of Congo copper mining.
+Subsequently the Union Miniere du Haut Kantanga was formed by leading
+Belgian colonial capitalists and the Tanganyika Concessions acquired
+more than forty per cent of its capital. The Union Miniere took over all
+the concessions and discoveries of the British corporation. The Union
+Miniere is now the leading industrial institution in the Katanga and its
+story is really the narrative of a considerable phase of Congo
+development.
+
+Within ten years it has grown from a small prospecting outfit in the
+wilderness, two hundred and fifty miles from a railway, to an industry
+employing at the time of my visit more than 1,000 white men and 15,000
+blacks. It operates four completely equipped mines which produced nearly
+30,000 tons of copper in 1917, and a smelter with an annual capacity of
+40,000 tons of copper. A concentrator capable of handling 4,000 tons of
+ore per day is nearing completion. This bustling industrial community
+was the second surprise that the Congo disclosed.
+
+Equally remarkable is the mushroom growth of Elizabethville, the one
+wonder town of the Congo. In 1910, when the railway arrived, it was a
+geographical expression,--a spot in the jungle dominated by the huge
+ant-hills that you find throughout Central Africa, some of them forty
+feet high. The white population numbered thirty. I found it a thriving
+place with over 2,000 whites and 12,000 blacks. There are one third as
+many white people in the Katanga Province as in all the rest of the
+Congo combined, and its area is scarcely a fourth of that of the colony.
+
+The father of Elizabethville is General Emile Wangermee, one of the
+picturesque figures in Congo history. He came out in the early days of
+the Free State, fought natives, and played a big part in the settlement
+of the country. He has been Governor-General of the Colony,
+Vice-Governor-General of the Katanga and is now Honorary Vice-Governor.
+In the primitive period he went about, after the Congo fashion, on a
+bicycle, in flannel shirt and leggins and he continued this
+rough-and-ready attire when he became a high-placed civil servant.
+
+Upon one occasion it was announced that the Vice-Governor of the Katanga
+would visit Kambove. The station agent made elaborate preparations for
+his reception. Shortly before the time set for his arrival a man
+appeared on the platform looking like one of the many prospectors who
+frequented the country. The station agent approached him and said, "You
+will have to move on. We are expecting the Vice-Governor of the
+Katanga." The supposed prospector refused to move and the agent
+threatened to use force. He was horrified a few minutes later to find
+his rough customer being received by all the functionaries of the
+district. Wangermee had arrived ahead of time and had not bothered to
+change his clothes.
+
+When I rode in a motor car down Elizabethville's broad, electric-lighted
+avenues and saw smartly-dressed women on the sidewalks, beheld Belgians
+playing tennis on well-laid-out courts on one side, and Englishmen at
+golf on the other, it was difficult to believe that ten years ago this
+was the bush. I lunched in comfortable brick houses and dined at night
+in a club where every man wore evening clothes. I kept saying to myself,
+"Is this really the Congo?" Everywhere I heard English spoken. This was
+due to the large British interest in the Union Miniere and the presence
+of so many American engineers. The Katanga is, with the exception of
+certain palm fruit areas, the bulwark of British interests in the Congo.
+The American domain is the Upper Kasai district.
+
+Conspicuous among the Americans at Elizabethville was Preston K. Horner,
+who constructed the smelter plant and who was made General Manager of
+the Union Miniere in 1913. He spans the whole period of Katanga
+development for he first arrived in 1909. Associated with him were
+various Americans including Frank Kehew, Superintendent of the smelter,
+Thomas Carnahan, General Superintendent of Mines, Daniel Butner,
+Superintendent of the Kambove Mine, the largest of the Katanga group,
+Thomas Yale, who is in charge of the construction of the immense
+concentration plant at Likasi, and A. Brooks, Manager of the Western
+Mine. For some years A. E. Wheeler, a widely-known American engineer,
+has been Consulting Engineer of the Union Miniere, with Frederick Snow
+as assistant. Since my return from Africa Horner has retired as General
+Manager and Wheeler has become the ranking American. Practically all the
+Yankee experts in the Katanga are graduates of the Anaconda or Utah
+Mines.
+
+With Horner I travelled by motor through the whole Katanga copper belt.
+I visited, first of all, the famous Star of the Congo Mine, eight miles
+from Elizabethville, and which was the cornerstone of the entire metal
+development. Next came the immense excavation at Kambove where I watched
+American steam shovels in charge of Americans, gouging the copper ore
+out of the sides of the hills. I saw the huge concentrating plant rising
+almost like magic out of the jungle at Likasi. Here again an American
+was in control. At Fungurume I spent the night in a native house in the
+heart of one of the loveliest of valleys whose verdant walls will soon
+be gashed by shovels and discoloured with ore oxide. Over all the area
+the Anglo-Saxon has laid his galvanizing hand. One reason is that there
+are few Belgian engineers of large mining experience. Another is that
+the American, by common consent, is the one executive who gets things
+done in the primitive places.
+
+I cannot leave the Congo copper empire without referring to another
+Robert Williams achievement which is not without international
+significance. Like other practical men of affairs with colonial
+experience, he realized long before the outbreak of the Great War
+something of the extent and menace of the German ambition in Africa. As
+I have previously related, the Kaiser blocked his scheme to run the
+Cape-to-Cairo Railway between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, after King
+Leopold had granted him the concession. Williams wanted to help Rhodes
+and he wanted to help himself. His chief problem was to get the copper
+from the Katanga to Europe in the shortest possible time. Most of it is
+refined in England and Belgium. At present it goes out by way of
+Bulawayo and is shipped from the port of Beira in Portuguese East
+Africa. This involves a journey of 9,514 miles from Kambove to London.
+How was this haul to be shortened through an agency that would be proof
+against the German intrigue and ingenuity?
+
+[Illustration: ON THE LUALABA]
+
+[Illustration: A VIEW ON THE KASAI]
+
+Williams cast his eye over Africa. On the West Coast he spotted Lobito
+Bay, a land-locked harbour twenty miles north of Benguella, one of the
+principal parts of Angola, a Portuguese colony. From it he ran a line
+straight from Kambove across the wilderness and found that it covered a
+distance of approximately 1,300 miles. He said to himself, "This is the
+natural outlet of the Katanga and the short-cut to England and Belgium."
+He got a concession from the Portuguese Government and work began. The
+Germans tried in every way to block the project for it interfered with
+their scheme to "benevolently" assimilate Angola.
+
+At the time of my visit to the Congo three hundred and twenty miles of
+the Benguella Railway, as it is called, had been constructed and a
+section of one hundred miles or more was about to be started. The line
+will pass through Ruwe, which is an important center of gold production
+in the Katanga, and connect up with the Katanga Railway just north of
+Kambove. It is really a link in the Cape-to-Cairo system and when
+completed will shorten the freight haul from the copper fields to London
+by three thousand miles, as compared with the present Biera itinerary.
+
+There is every indication that the Katanga will justify the early
+confidence that Williams had in it and become one of the great
+copper-producing centers of the world. Experts with whom I have talked
+in America believe that it can in time reach a maximum output of 150,000
+tons a year. The ores are of a very high grade and since the Union
+Miniere owns more than one hundred mines, of which only six or seven are
+partially developed, the future seems safe.
+
+Copper is only one phase of the Katanga mineral treasure. Coal, iron,
+and tin have not only been discovered in quantity but are being mined
+commercially. Oil-shale is plentiful on the Congo River near
+Ponthierville and good indications of oil are recorded in other places.
+The discovery of oil in Central Africa would have a great influence on
+the development of transportation since it would supply fuel for
+steamers, railways, and motor transport. There is already a big oil
+production in Angola and there is little doubt that an important field
+awaits development in the Congo.
+
+It is not generally realized that Africa today produces the three most
+valuable of all known minerals in the largest quantities, or has the
+biggest potentialities. The Rand yields more than fifty per cent of the
+entire gold supply and ranks as the most valuable of all gold fields.
+Ninety-five per cent of the diamond output comes from the Kimberley and
+associated mines, German South-West Africa, and the Congo. The Katanga
+contains probably the greatest reserve of copper in existence. Now you
+can see why the eye of the universe is being focused on this region.
+
+
+II
+
+When I left Elizabethville I bade farewell to the comforts of life. I
+mean, for example, such things as ice, bath-tubs, and running water.
+There is enough water in the Congo to satisfy the most ardent teetotaler
+but unfortunately it does not come out of faucets. Most of it flows in
+rivers, but very little of it gets inside the population, white or
+otherwise.
+
+Speaking of water brings to mind one of the useful results of such a
+trip as mine. Isolation in the African wilds gives you a new
+appreciation of what in civilization is regarded as the commonplace
+things. Take the simple matter of a hair-cut. There are only two barbers
+in the whole Congo. One is at Elizabethville and the other at Kinshassa,
+on the Lower Congo, nearly two thousand miles away. My locks were not
+shorn for seven weeks. I had to do what little trimming there was done
+with a safety razor and it involved quite an acrobatic feat. Take
+shaving. The water in most of the Congo rivers is dirty and full of
+germs. More than once I lathered my face with mineral water out of a
+bottle. The Congo River proper is a muddy brown. For washing purposes it
+must be treated with a few tablets of permanganate of potassium which
+colours it red. It is like bathing in blood.
+
+Since my journey from Katanga onward was through the heart of Africa,
+perhaps it may be worth while to tell briefly of the equipment required
+for such an expedition. Although I travelled for the most part in the
+greatest comfort that the Colony afforded, it was necessary to prepare
+for any emergency. In the Congo you must be self-sufficient and
+absolutely independent of the country. This means that you carry your
+own bed and bedding (usually a folding camp-bed), bath-tub, food,
+medicine-chest, and cooking utensils.
+
+No detail was more essential than the mosquito net under which I slept
+every night for nearly four months. Insects are the bane of Africa. The
+mosquito carries malaria, and the tsetse fly is the harbinger of that
+most terrible of diseases, sleeping sickness. Judging from personal
+experience nearly every conceivable kind of biting bug infests the
+Congo. One of the most tenacious and troublesome of the little visitors
+is the jigger, which has an uncomfortable habit of seeking a soft spot
+under the toe-nail. Once lodged it is extremely difficult to get him
+out. These pests are mainly found in sandy soil and give the Negroes who
+walk about barefooted unending trouble.
+
+No less destructive is the dazzling sun. Five minutes exposure to it
+without a helmet means a prostration and twenty minutes spells death.
+Stanley called the country so inseparably associated with his name
+"Fatal Africa," but he did not mean the death that lay in the murderous
+black hand. He had in mind the thousand and one dangers that beset the
+stranger who does not observe the strictest rules of health and diet.
+From the moment of arrival the body undergoes an entirely new
+experience. Men succumb because they foolishly think they can continue
+the habits of civilization. Alcohol is the curse of all the hot
+countries. The wise man never takes a drink until the sun sets and then,
+if he continues to be wise, he imbibes only in moderation. The morning
+"peg" and the lunch-time cocktail have undermined more health in the
+tropics than all the flies and mosquitoes combined.
+
+The Duke of Wellington recommended a formula for India which may well be
+applied to the Congo. The doughty old warrior once said:
+
+    I know but one recipe for good health in this country, and that is
+    to live moderately, to drink little or no wine, to use exercise, to
+    keep the mind employed, and, if possible, to keep in good humour
+    with the world. The last is the most difficult, for as you have
+    often observed, there is scarcely a good-tempered man in India.
+
+If a man will practice moderation in all things, take five grains of
+quinine every day, exercise whenever it is possible, and keep his body
+clean, he has little to fear from the ordinary diseases of a country
+like the Congo. It is one of the ironies of civilization that after
+passing unscathed through all the fever country, I caught a cold the
+moment I got back to steam-heat and all the comforts of home.
+
+No one would think of using ordinary luggage in the Congo. Everything
+must be packed and conveyed in metal boxes similar to the uniform cases
+used by British officers in Egypt and India. This is because the white
+ant is the prize destroyer of property throughout Africa. He cuts
+through leather and wood with the same ease that a Southern Negro's
+teeth lacerate watermelon. Leave a pair of shoes on the ground over
+night and you will find them riddled in the morning. These ants eat away
+floors and sometimes cause the collapse of houses by wearing away the
+wooden supports. Another frequent guest is the driver ant, which travels
+in armies and frequently takes complete possession of a house. It
+destroys all the vermin but the human inmates must beat a retreat while
+the process goes on.
+
+Since my return many people have asked me what books I read in the
+Congo. The necessity for them was apparent. I had more than three months
+of constant travelling, often alone, and for the most part on small
+river boats where there is no deck space for exercise. Mail arrives
+irregularly and there were no newspapers. After one or two days the
+unceasing panorama of tropical forests, native villages, and naked
+savages becomes monotonous. Even the hippopotami which you see in large
+numbers, the omnipresent crocodile, and the occasional wild elephant,
+cease to amuse. You are forced to fall back on that unfailing friend and
+companion, a good book.
+
+I therefore carried with me the following books in handy volume
+size:--Montaigne's Essays, Palgrave's Golden Treasury of English Verse,
+Lockhart's Life of Napoleon, Autobiography of Cellini, Don Quixote, The
+Three Musketeers, Lorna Doone, Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and The
+Conquest of Peru, Les Miserables, Vanity Fair, Life and Writings of
+Benjamin Franklin, Pepys' Diary, Carlyle's French Revolution, The Last
+of the Mohicans, Westward Ho, Bleak House, The Pickwick Papers, A Tale
+of Two Cities, and Tolstoi's War and Peace. When these became exhausted
+I was hard put for reading matter. At a post on the Kasai River the only
+English book I could find was Arnold Bennett's The Pretty Lady, which
+had fallen into the hands of an official, who was trying to learn
+English with it. It certainly gave him a hectic start.
+
+Then, too, there was the eternal servant problem, no less vexing in that
+land of servants than elsewhere. I had cabled to Horner to engage me two
+personal servants or "boys" as they are called in Africa. When I got
+to Elizabethville I found that he had secured two. In addition to
+Swahili, the main native tongue in those parts, one spoke English and
+the other French, the official language in the Congo. I did not like the
+looks of the English-speaking barbarian so I took a chance on Number
+Two, whose name was Gerome. He was a so-called "educated" native. I was
+to find from sad experience that his "education" was largely in the
+direction of indolence and inefficiency. I thought that by having a boy
+with whom I had to speak French I could improve my command of the
+language. Later on I realized my mistake because my French is a
+non-conductor of profanity.
+
+[Illustration: A STATION SCENE AT KONGOLA]
+
+Gerome had a wife. In the Congo, where all wives are bought, the consort
+constitutes the husband's fortune, being cook, tiller of the ground,
+beast-of-burden and slave generally. I had no desire to incumber myself
+with this black Venus, so I made Gerome promise that he would not take
+her along. I left him behind at Elizabethville, for I proceeded to
+Fungurume with Horner by automobile. He was to follow by train with my
+luggage and have the private car, which I had chartered for the journey
+to Bukama, ready for me on my arrival. When I showed up at Fungurume the
+first thing I saw was Gerome's wife, with her ample proportions swathed
+in scarlet calico, sunning herself on the platform of the car. He could
+not bring himself to cook his own food although willing enough to cook
+mine.
+
+I paid Gerome forty Belgian francs a month, which, at the rate of
+exchange then prevailing, was considerably less than three dollars. I
+also had to give him a weekly allowance of five francs (about thirty
+cents) for his food. To the American employer of servants these figures
+will be somewhat illuminating and startling.
+
+One more human interest detail before we move on. In Africa every white
+man gets a name from the natives. This appellation usually expresses his
+chief characteristic. The first title fastened on me was "_Bwana Cha
+Cha_," which means "The Master Who is Quick." When I first heard this
+name I thought it was a reflection on my appetite because "_Cha Cha_" is
+pronounced "Chew Chew." Subsequently, in the Upper Congo and the Kasai I
+was called "_Mafutta Mingi_," which means "Much Fat." I must explain in
+self-defense that in the Congo I ate much more than usual, first because
+something in the atmosphere makes you hungry, and second, a good
+appetite is always an indication of health in the tropics.
+
+Still another name that I bore was "_Tala Tala_," which means spectacles
+in practically all the Congo dialects. There are nearly two hundred
+tribes and each has a distinctive tongue. In many sections that I
+visited the natives had never seen a pair of tortoise shell glasses such
+as I wear during the day. The children fled from me shrieking in terror
+and thinking that I was a sorcerer. Even gifts of food, the one
+universal passport to the native heart, failed to calm their fears.
+
+The Congo native, let me add, is a queer character. The more I saw of
+him, the greater became my admiration for King Leopold. In his present
+state the only rule must be a strong rule. No one would ever think of
+thanking a native for a service. It would be misunderstood because the
+black man out there mistakes kindness for weakness. You must be firm but
+just. Now you can see why explorers, upon emerging from long stays in
+the jungle, appear to be rude and ill-mannered. It is simply because
+they had to be harsh and at times unfeeling, and it becomes a habit.
+Stanley, for example, was often called a boor and a brute when in
+reality he was merely hiding a fine nature behind the armour necessary
+to resist native imposition and worse.
+
+
+III
+
+The private car on which I travelled from Fungurume to Bukama was my
+final taste of luxury. When Horner waved me a good-bye north I realized
+that I was divorcing myself from comfort and companionship. In thirty
+hours I was in sun-scorched Bukama, the southern rail-head of the
+Cape-to-Cairo Route and my real jumping-off place before plunging into
+the mysteries of Central Africa.
+
+Here begins the historic Lualaba, which is the initial link in the
+almost endless chain of the Congo River. I at once went aboard the first
+of the boats which were to be my habitation intermittently for so many
+weeks. It was the "Louis Cousin," a 150-ton vessel and a fair example of
+the draft which provides the principal means of transportation in the
+Congo. Practically all transit not on the hoof, so to speak, in the
+Colony is by water. There are more than twelve thousand miles of rivers
+navigable for steamers and twice as many more accessible for canoes and
+launches. Hence the river-boat is a staple, and a picturesque one at
+that.
+
+The "Louis Cousin" was typical of her kind both in appointment, or
+rather the lack of it, and human interest details. Like all her sisters
+she resembles the small Ohio River boats that I had seen in my boyhood
+at Louisville. All Congo steam craft must be stern-wheelers, first
+because they usually haul barges on either side, and secondly because
+there are so many sand-banks. The few cabins--all you get is the bare
+room--are on the upper deck, which is the white man's domain, while the
+boiler and freight--human and otherwise--are on the lower. This is the
+bailiwick of the black. These boats always stop at night for wood, the
+only fuel, and the natives are compelled to go ashore and sleep on the
+bank.
+
+The Congo river-boat is a combination of fortress, hotel, and menagerie.
+Like the "accommodation" train in our own Southern States, it is most
+obliging because it will stop anywhere to enable a passenger to get off
+and do a little shopping, or permit the captain to take a meal ashore
+with a friendly State official yearning for human society.
+
+The river captain is a versatile individual for he is steward, doctor,
+postman, purveyor of news, and dictator in general. He alone makes the
+schedule of each trip, arriving and departing at will. Time in the Congo
+counts for naught. It is in truth the land of leisure. For the man who
+wants to move fast, water travel is a nightmare. Accustomed as I was to
+swift transport, I spent a year every day.
+
+The skipper of the "Louis Cousin" was no exception to his kind.
+He was a big Norwegian named Behn,--many of his colleagues are
+Scandinavians,--and he had spent eighteen years in the Congo. He knew
+every one of the thousand nooks, turns, snags and sand-bars of the
+Lualaba. One of the first things that impressed me was the uncanny
+ingenuity with which all the Congo boats are navigated through what
+seems at first glance to be a mass of vegetation and obstruction.
+
+The bane of traffic is the sand-bar, which on account of the swift
+currents everywhere, is an eternally changing quantity. Hence a native
+is constantly engaged in taking soundings with a long stick. You can
+hear his not unmusical voice, from the moment the boat starts until she
+ties up for the night. The native word for water is "_mia_." Whenever I
+heard the cry "_mia mitani_," I knew that we were all right because that
+meant five feet of water. With the exception of the Congo River no boat
+can draw more than three feet because in the dry season even the
+mightiest of streams declines to an almost incredibly low level.
+
+My white fellow passengers on the "Louis Cousin" were mostly Belgians on
+their way home by way of Stanleyville and the Congo River, after years
+of service in the Colony. We all ate together in the tiny dining saloon
+forward with the captain, who usually provides the "chop," as it is
+called. I now made the acquaintance of goat as an article of food. The
+young nanny is not undesirable as an occasional novelty but when she is
+served up to you every day, it becomes a trifle monotonous.
+
+The one rival of the goat in the Congo daily menu is the chicken, the
+mainstay of the country. I know a man who spent six years in the Congo
+and he kept a record of every fowl he consumed. When he started for home
+the total registered exactly three thousand. It is no uncommon
+experience. Occasionally a friendly hunter brought antelope or buffalo
+aboard but goat and fowl, reinforced by tinned goods and an occasional
+egg, constituted the bill of fare. You may wonder, perhaps, that in a
+country which is a continuous chicken-coop, there should be a scarcity
+of eggs. The answer lies in the fact that during the last few years the
+natives have conceived a sudden taste for eggs. Formerly they were
+afraid to eat them.
+
+Of course, there was always an abundance of fruit. You can get
+pineapples, grape fruit, oranges, bananas and a first cousin of the
+cantaloupe, called the _pei pei_, which when sprinkled with lime juice
+is most delicious. Bananas can be purchased for five cents a bunch of
+one hundred. It is about the only cheap thing in the Congo except
+servants.
+
+[Illustration: A NATIVE MARKET AT KINDU]
+
+Not all my fellow passengers were desirable companions. At Bukana five
+naked savages, all chained together by the neck, were brought aboard in
+charge of three native soldiers. When I asked the captain who and what
+they were he replied, "They are cannibals. They ate two of their fellow
+tribesmen back in the jungle last week and they are going down the river
+to be tried." These were the first eaters of human flesh that I saw in
+the Congo. One conspicuous detail was their teeth which were all filed
+down to sharp points. I later discovered that these wolf teeth, as they
+might be called, are common to all the Congo cannibals. The punishment
+for cannibalism is death, although every native, whatever his offence,
+is given a trial by the Belgian authorities.
+
+So far as employing the white man as an article of diet is concerned,
+cannibalism has ceased in the Congo. Some of the tribes, however, still
+regard the flesh of their own kind as the last word in edibles. The
+practice must be carried on in secret. To have partaken of the human
+body has long been regarded as an act which endows the consumer with
+almost supernatural powers. The cannibal has always justified his
+procedure in a characteristic way. When the early explorers and
+missionaries protested against the barbarous performance they were
+invariably met with this reply, "You eat fowl and goats and we eat men.
+What is the difference?" There seems to have been a particular lure in
+what the native designated as "food that once talked."
+
+In the days when cannibalism was rampant, the liver of the white man was
+looked upon as a special delicacy for the reason that it was supposed to
+transmit the knowledge and courage of its former owner. There was also a
+tradition that once having eaten the heart of the white, no harm could
+come to the barbarian who performed this amiable act. Although these
+odious practices have practically ceased except in isolated instances,
+the Congo native, in boasting of his strength, constantly speaks of his
+liver, and not of his heart.
+
+It was on the Lualaba, after the boat had tied up for the night, that I
+caught the first whisper of the jungle. In Africa Nature is in her
+frankest mood but she expresses herself in subdued tones. All my life I
+had read of the witchery of these equatorial places, but no description
+is ever adequate. You must live with them to catch the magic. No
+painter, for instance, can translate to canvas the elusive and
+ever-changing verdure of the dense forests under the brilliant tropical
+sun, nor can those elements of mystery with their suggestion of wild
+bird and beast that lurk everywhere at night, be reproduced. Life flows
+on like a moving dream that is exotic, enervating, yet intoxicating.
+
+Accustomed as I was to dense populations, the loneliness of the Lualaba
+was weird and haunting. On the Mississippi, Ohio, and Hudson rivers in
+America and on the Seine, the Thames, and the Spree in Europe, you see
+congested human life and hear a vast din. In Africa, and with the
+possible exception of some parts of the Nile, Nature reigns with almost
+undisputed sway. Settlements appear at rare intervals. You only
+encounter an occasional native canoe. The steamers frequently tie up at
+night at some sand-bank and you fall asleep invested by an uncanny
+silence.
+
+I spent six days on the Lualaba where we made many stops to take on and
+put off freight. Many of these halts were at wood-posts where our supply
+of fuel was renewed. At one post I found a lonely Scotch trader who had
+been in the Congo fifteen years. Every night he puts on his kilts and
+parades through the native village playing the bagpipes. It is his one
+touch with home. At another place I had a brief visit with another
+Scotchman, a veteran of the World War, who had established a prosperous
+plantation and who goes about in a khaki kilt, much to the joy of the
+natives, who see in his bare knees a kinship with themselves.
+
+At Kabalo I touched the war zone. This post marks the beginning of the
+railway that runs eastward to Lake Tanganyika and which Rhodes included
+in one of his Cape-to-Cairo routes. Along this road travelled the
+thousands of Congo fighting men on their way to the scene of hostilities
+in German East Africa.
+
+When the Great War broke out the Belgian Colonial Government held that
+the Berlin Treaty of 1885, entitled "A General Act Relating to
+Civilization in Africa" and prohibiting warfare in the Congo basin,
+should be enforced. This treaty gave birth to the Congo Free State and
+made it an international and peaceful area under Belgian sovereignty.
+Following their usual fashion the Germans looked upon this document as a
+"scrap of paper" and attached Lukuga. This forced the Belgian Congo into
+the conflict. About 20,000 native troops were mobilized and under the
+command of General Tambeur, who is now Vice-Governor General of the
+Katanga, co-operated with the British throughout the entire East African
+campaign. The Belgians captured Tabora, one of the German strongholds,
+and helped to clear the Teuton out of the country.
+
+Lake Tanganyika was the scene of one of the most brilliant and
+spectacular naval battles of the war. Two British motor launches, which
+were conveyed in sections all the way from England, sank a German
+gunboat and disabled another, thus purging those waters of the German.
+The lake was of great strategic importance for the transport of food and
+munitions for the Allied troops in German East Africa. It is one of the
+loveliest inland bodies of water in the world for it is fringed with
+wooded heights and is navigable throughout its entire length of four
+hundred miles. Ujiji, on its eastern shore, is the memorable spot where
+Stanley found Livingstone. The house where the illustrious missionary
+lived still stands, and is an object of veneration both for black and
+white visitors.
+
+From Kabalo I proceeded to Kongolo, where navigation on the Lualaba
+temporarily ends. It is the usual Congo settlement with the official
+residence of the Commissaire of the District, office of the Native
+Commissioner, and a dozen stores. It is also the southern rail-head of
+the Chemin de Fer Grands Lacs, which extends to Stanleyville. Early in
+the morning I boarded what looked to me like a toy train, for it was
+tinier than any I had ever seen before, and started for Kindu. The
+journey occupies two days and traverses a highly Arabized section.
+
+Back in the days when Tippo Tib, the friend of Stanley, was king of the
+Arab slave traders, this area was his hunting ground. Many of the
+natives are Mohammedans and wear turbans and long flowing robes. Their
+cleanliness is in sharp contrast with the lack of sanitary precautions
+observed by the average unclothed native. The only blacks who wash every
+day in the Congo are those who live on the rivers. The favorite method
+of cleansing in the bush country is to scrape off a week's or a month's
+accumulation of mud with a stick or a piece of glass.
+
+In the Congo the trains, like the boats, stop for the night. Various
+causes are responsible for the procedure. In the early days of
+railroading elephants and other wild animals frequently tore up the
+tracks. Another contributory reason is that the carriages are only built
+for day travel. Native houses are provided for the traveller at
+different points on the line. Since everyone carries his own bed it is
+easy to establish sleeping quarters without delay or inconvenience. On
+this particular trip I slept at Malela, in the house ordinarily occupied
+by the Chief Engineer of the line. The Minister of the Colonies had used
+it the night before and it was scrupulously clean. I must admit that I
+have had greater discomfort in metropolitan hotels.
+
+I was now in the almost absolute domain of the native. The only white
+men that I encountered were an occasional priest and a still more
+occasional trader. At Kibombo the train stopped for the mail. When I got
+out to stretch my legs I saw a man and a woman who looked unmistakably
+American. The man had Texas written all over him for he was tall and
+lank and looked as if he had spent his life on the ranges. He came
+toward me smiling and said, "The Minister of the Colonies was through
+here yesterday in a special train and he said that an American
+journalist was following close behind, so I came down to see you." The
+man proved to be J. G. Campbell, who had come to install an American
+cotton gin nine kilometers from where we were standing. His wife was
+with him and she was the only white woman within two hundred miles.
+
+Campbell is a link with one of the new Congo industries, which is cotton
+cultivation. The whole area between Kongolo and Stanleyville,
+three-fourths of which is one vast tropical forest, has immense
+stretches ideally adapted for cotton growing. The Belgian Government has
+laid out experimental plantations and they are thriving. In 1919 four
+thousand acres were cultivated in the Manyema district, six thousand in
+the Sankuru-Kasai region, and six hundred in the Lomami territory.
+Altogether the Colony produced 6,000,000 pounds of the raw staple in
+1920 and some of it was grown by natives who are being taught the art.
+The Congo Cotton Company has been formed at Brussels with a
+capitalization of 6,000,000 francs, to exploit the new industry, which
+is bound to be an important factor in the development of the Congo. It
+shows that the ruthless exploitation of the earlier days is succeeded by
+scientific and constructive expansion.
+
+Campbell's experience in setting up his American gin discloses the
+principal need of the Congo today which is adequate transport. Between
+its arrival at the mouth of the Congo River and Kibombo the mass of
+machinery was trans-shipped exactly four times, alternately changing
+from rail to river. At Kibombo the 550,000 pounds of metal had to be
+carried on the heads of natives to the scene of operations. In the Congo
+practically every ton of merchandise must be moved by man power--the
+average load is sixty pounds--through the greater part of its journey.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the day which marked the encounter with the
+Campbells I reached Kindu, where navigation on the Lualaba is resumed
+again. By this time you will have realized something of the difficulty
+of travelling in this part of the world. It was my third change since
+Bukama and more were to come before I reached the Lower Congo.
+
+[Illustration: NATIVE FISH TRAPS AT STANLEY FALLS]
+
+At Kindu I had a rare piece of luck. I fell in with Louis Franck, the
+Belgian Minister of the Colonies, to whom I had a letter of
+introduction, and who was making a tour of inspection of the Congo. He
+had landed at Mombassa, crossed British East Africa, visited the new
+Belgian possessions of Urundi and Ruanda which are spoils of war, and
+made his way to Kabalo from Lake Tanganyika. He asked me to accompany
+him to Stanleyville as his guest. I gladly accepted because, aside from
+the personal compensation afforded by his society, it meant immunity
+from worry about the river and train connections.
+
+Franck represents the new type of Colonial Minister. Instead of being a
+musty bureaucrat, as so many are, he is a live, alert progressive man of
+affairs who played a big part in the late war. To begin with, he is one
+of the foremost admiralty lawyers of Europe. When the Germans occupied
+Belgium he at once became conspicuous. He resisted the Teutonic scheme
+to separate the French and Flemish sections of the ravaged country.
+After the investment of Antwerp, his native place, accompanied by the
+Burgomaster and the Spanish Minister, he went to the German Headquarters
+and made the arrangement by which the city was saved from destruction by
+bombardment. He delayed this parley sufficiently to enable the Belgian
+Army to escape to the Yser. Subsequently his activities on behalf of his
+countrymen made him so distasteful to the Germans that he was imprisoned
+in Germany for nearly a year. For two months of this time he shared the
+noble exile of Monsieur Max, the heroic Burgomaster of Brussels.
+
+I now became an annex of what amounted to a royal progress. To the
+Belgian colonial official and to the native, Franck incarnated a sort of
+All Highest. In the Congo all functionaries are called "Bula Matadi,"
+which means "The Rock Breaker." It is the name originally bestowed on
+Stanley when he dynamited a road through the rocks of the Lower Congo.
+Franck, however, was a super "Bula Matadi." We had a special boat, the
+"Baron Delbecke," a one hundred ton craft somewhat similar to the "Louis
+Cousin" but much cleaner, for she had been scrubbed up for the journey.
+The Minister, his military aide, secretary and doctor filled the cabins,
+so I slept in a tent set up on the lower deck.
+
+With flags flying and thousands of natives on the shore yelling and
+beating tom-toms, we started down the Lualaba. The country between Kindu
+and Ponthierville, our first objective, is thickly populated and
+important settlements dot the banks. Wherever we stopped the native
+troops were turned out and there were long speeches of welcome from the
+local dignitaries. Franck shook as many black and white hands as an
+American Presidential candidate would in a swing around the circle. I
+accompanied him ashore on all of these state visits and it gave me an
+excellent opportunity to see the many types of natives in their Sunday
+clothes, which largely consist of no clothes at all. This applies
+especially to the female sex, which in the Congo reverses Kipling's
+theory because they are less deadly than the male.
+
+At Lowa occurred a significant episode. This place is the center of an
+immense native population, but there is only one white resident, the
+usual Belgium state official. We climbed the hill to his house, where
+thirty of the leading chiefs, wearing the tin medal which the Belgian
+Government gives them, shook hands with the Minister. The ranking chief,
+distinguished by the extraordinary amount of red mud in his wool and the
+grotesque devices cut with a knife on his body, made a long speech in
+which he became rather excited. When the agent translated this in French
+to Franck I gathered that the people were indignant over the advance in
+cost of trade goods, especially salt and calico. Salt is more valuable
+than gold in the Congo. Among the natives it is legal tender for every
+commodity from a handkerchief to a wife.
+
+Franck made a little speech in French in reply--it was translated by the
+interpreter--in which he said that the Great War had increased the price
+of everything. We shook hands all round and there was much muttering of
+"yambo," the word for "greeting," and headed for the boat.
+
+Halfway down the hill we heard shouting and hissing. We stopped and
+looked back. On the crest were a thousand native women, jeering,
+hooting, and pointing their fingers at the Minister, who immediately
+asked the cause of the demonstration. When the agent called for an
+explanation a big black woman said:
+
+"Ask the 'Bula Matadi' why the franc buys so little now? We only get a
+few goods for a big lot of money."
+
+I had gone into the wilds to escape from economic unrest and all the
+confusion that has followed in its wake, yet here in the heart of
+Central Africa, I found our old friend the High Cost of Living working
+overtime and provoking a spirited protest from primitive savages! It
+proves that there is neither caste, creed nor colour-line in the
+pocket-book. Like indigestion, to repeat Mr. Pinero, it is the universal
+leveller of all ranks.
+
+
+IV
+
+On this trip Franck outlined to me his whole colonial creed. It was a
+gorgeous June morning and we had just left a particularly picturesque
+Arabized village behind us. Hundreds of natives had come out to welcome
+the Minister in canoes. They sang songs and played their crude musical
+instruments as they swept alongside our boat. We now sat on the upper
+deck and watched the unending panorama of palm trees with here and there
+a clump of grass huts.
+
+"All colonial development is a chain which is no stronger than its
+weakest link and that is the native," said the Minister. "As you build
+the native, so do you build the whole colonial structure. Hence the
+importance of a high moral standard. You must conform to the native's
+traditions, mentality and temperament. Give him a technical education
+something like that afforded by Booker Washington's Tuskegee Institute.
+Show him how to use his hands. He will then become efficient and
+therefore contented. It is a mistake to teach him a European language. I
+prefer him to be a first-class African rather than third-class European.
+
+"The hope of the Congo lies in industrialization on the one hand, and
+the creation of new wealth on the other. By new wealth I mean such new
+crops as cotton and a larger exploitation of such old products as rice
+and palm fruit. Rubber has become a second industry although the
+cultivated plantations are in part taking the place of the old wild
+forests. The substitute for rubber as the first product of the land is
+the fruit of the oil palm tree. This will be the industrial staple of
+the Congo. I believe, however, that in time cotton can be produced in
+large commercial quantities over a wide area."
+
+Franck now turned to a subject which reflects his courage and
+progressiveness. He said, "There is a strong tendency in other Colonies
+to give too large a place to State enterprise. The result of this system
+is that officers are burdened with an impossible task. They must look
+after the railways, steamers, mills, and a variety of tasks for which
+they often lack the technical knowledge.
+
+"I have made it a point to give first place to private enterprise and to
+transfer those activities formerly under State rule to autonomous
+enterprises in which the State has an interest. They are run by business
+men along business lines as business institutions. The State's principal
+function in them is to protect the native employes. The gold mines at
+Kilo are an example. They are still owned by the State but are worked by
+a private company whose directors have full powers. The reason why the
+State does not part with its ownership of these mines is that it does
+not want a rush of gold-seekers. History has proved that in a country
+with a primitive population a gold rush is a dangerous and destructive
+thing.
+
+"We are always free traders in Belgium and we are glad to welcome any
+foreign capital to the Congo. We have already had the constructive
+influence of American capital in the diamond fields and we will be glad
+to have more."
+
+The average man thinks that the Congo and concessions are practically
+synonymous terms. In the Leopold day this was true but there is a new
+deal now. Let Monsieur Franck explain it:
+
+"There was a time when huge concessions were freely given in the Congo.
+They were then necessary because the Colony was new, the country
+unknown, and the financial risk large. Now that the economic
+possibilities of the region are realized it is not desirable to grant
+any more large concessions. It is proved that these concessions are
+really a handicap rather than a help to a young land. The wise procedure
+is to have a definite agricultural or industrial aim in mind, and then
+pick the locality for exploitation, whether it is gold, cotton, copper
+or palm fruit."
+
+"What is the future of the Congo?" I asked.
+
+"The Congo is now entering upon a big era of development," was the
+answer. "If the Great War had not intervened it would have been well
+under way. Despite the invasion of Belgium, the practical paralysis of
+our home industry, and the fact that many of our Congo officials and
+their most highly trained natives were off fighting the Germans in East
+Africa, the Colony more than held its own during those terrible years.
+In building the new Congo we are going to profit by the example of other
+countries and capitalize their knowledge and experience of tropical
+hygiene. We propose to combat sleeping sickness, for example, with an
+agency similar to your Rockefeller Institute of Research in New York.
+
+"The Congo is bound to become one of the great centers of the world
+supply. The Katanga is not only a huge copper area but it has immense
+stores of coal, tin, zinc and other valuable commodities. Our diamond
+fields have scarcely been scraped, while the agricultural possibilities
+of hundreds of thousands of square miles are unlimited.
+
+"The great need of the Congo is transport. We are increasing our river
+fleets and we propose to introduce on them a type of barge similar to
+that used on the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers.
+
+"An imposing program of railway expansion is blocked out. For one thing
+we expect to run a railway from the Katanga copper belt straight across
+country to Kinshassa on the Lower Congo. It is already surveyed. This
+will tap a thickly populated region and enable the diamond mines of the
+Kasai to get the labour they need so sorely. The Robert Williams railway
+through Angola will be another addition to our transportation
+facilities. One of the richest regions of the Congo is the north-eastern
+section. The gold mines at Kilo are now only accessible by river. We
+plan to join them up with the railway to be built from Stanleyville to
+the Soudan border. This will link the Congo River and the Nile. With our
+railroads as with our industrial enterprises, we stick to private
+ownership and operation with the State as a partner.
+
+"The new provinces of Ruanda and Urundi will contribute much to our
+future prosperity. They add millions of acres to our territory and
+3,000,000 healthy and prosperous natives to our population. These new
+possessions have two distinct advantages. One is that they provide an
+invigorating health resort which will be to the Central Congo what the
+Katanga is to the Southern. The other is that, being an immense cattle
+country--there is a head of live stock for every native--we will be able
+to secure fresh meat and dairy products, which are sorely needed.
+
+"The Congo is not only the economic hope of Belgium but it is teaching
+the Belgian capitalist to think in broad terms. Henceforth the business
+man of all countries must regard the universe as his field. As a
+practical commercial proposition it pays, both with nations as with
+individuals. We have found that the possession of the Congo, huge as it
+is, and difficult for a country like ours to develop, is a stimulating
+thing. It is quickening our enterprise and widening our world view."
+
+It would be difficult to find a more practical or comprehensive colonial
+program. It eliminates that bane of over-seas administration, red tape,
+and it puts the task of empire-building squarely up to the business man
+who is the best qualified for the work. I am quite certain that the
+advent of Monsieur Franck into office, and particularly his trip to the
+Congo, mean the beginning of an epoch of real and permanent exploitation
+in the Congo.
+
+[Illustration: THE MASSIVE BANGALAS]
+
+[Illustration: CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V--ON THE CONGO RIVER
+
+
+I
+
+Two days more of travelling on the Lower Lualaba brought us to
+Ponthierville, a jewel of a post with a setting of almost bewildering
+tropical beauty. Here we spent the night on the boat and early the
+following morning boarded a special train for Stanleyville, which is
+only six hours distant by rail. Midway we crossed the Equator.
+
+Thirty miles south of Stanleyville is the State Experimental Coffee Farm
+of three hundred acres, which produces fifteen different species of the
+bean. This institution is one evidence of a comprehensive agricultural
+development inaugurated by the Belgian Government. The State has about
+10,000 acres of test plantations, mostly Para rubber, cotton, and cacao,
+in various parts of the Colony.
+
+One commendable object of this work is to instill the idea of
+crop-growing among the natives. Under ordinary circumstances the man of
+colour in the tropics will only raise enough maize, manioc, or tobacco
+for his own needs. The Belgian idea is to encourage co-operative farming
+in the villages. In the region immediately adjacent to Stanleyville the
+natives have begun to plant cotton over a considerable area. At Kongolo
+I saw hundreds of acres of this fleecy plant under the sole supervision
+of the indigenes.
+
+Stanleyville marked one of the real mileposts of my journey. Here came
+Stanley on his first historic expedition across Central Africa and
+discovered the falls nearby that bear his name; here he set up the
+Station that marked the Farthest East of the expedition which founded
+the Congo Free State. Directly south-east of the town are seven distinct
+cataracts which extend over fifty miles of seething whirlpools.
+
+Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo and like Paris, is
+built on two sides of the river. On the right bank is the place of the
+Vice-Governor General, scores of well stocked stores, and many desirable
+residences. The streets are long avenues of palm trees. The left bank is
+almost entirely given over to the railway terminals, yards, and repair
+shops. My original plan was to live with the Vice-Governor General,
+Monsieur de Meulemeester, but his establishment was so taxed by the
+demands of the Ministerial party that I lodged with Monsieur Theews,
+Chief Engineer of the Chemin de Fer des Grands Lacs, where I was most
+comfortable in a large frame bungalow that commanded a superb view of
+the river and the town.
+
+At Stanleyville the Minister of the Colonies had a great reception. Five
+hundred native troops looking very smart were drawn up in the plaza. On
+the platform of the station stood the Vice-Governor General and staff in
+spotless white uniforms, their breasts ablaze with decorations. On all
+sides were thousands of natives in gay attire who cheered and chanted
+while the band played the Belgian national anthem. Over it all waved the
+flag of Belgium. It was a stirring spectacle not without its touch of
+the barbaric, and a small-scale replica of what you might have seen at
+Delhi or Cairo on a fête day.
+
+I was only mildly interested in all this tumult and shouting. What
+concerned me most was the swift, brown river that flowed almost at our
+feet. At last I had reached the masterful Congo, which, with the sole
+exception of the Amazon, is the mightiest stream in the world. As I
+looked at it I thought of Stanley and his battles on its shores, and the
+hardship and tragedy that these waters had witnessed.
+
+Stanleyville is not only the heart of Equatorial Africa but it is also
+an important administrative point. Hundreds of State officials report to
+the Vice-Governor General there, and on national holidays and occasions
+like the visit of the Colonial Minister, it can muster a gay assemblage.
+Monsieur Franck's presence inspired a succession of festivities
+including a garden party which was attended by the entire white
+population numbering about seventy-five. There was also a formal dinner
+where I wore evening clothes for the first and only time between
+Elizabethville and the steamer that took me to Europe three months
+later.
+
+At the garden party Monsieur Franck made a graceful speech in which he
+said that the real missionaries of African civilization were the wives
+who accompanied their husbands to their lonely posts in the field. What
+he said made a distinct impression upon me for it was not only the truth
+but it emphasized a detail that stands out in the memory of everyone who
+visits this part of the world. I know of no finer heroines than these
+women comrades of colonial officials who brave disease and discomfort to
+share the lives of their mates. For one thing, they give the native a
+new respect for his masters. All white women in the Congo are called
+"mamma" by the natives.
+
+The use of "mamma" by the African natives always strikes the newcomer as
+strange. It is a curious fact that practically the first word uttered by
+the black infant is "mamma," and in thousands of cases the final
+utterance of both adult male and female is the same word. In northern
+Rhodesia and many parts of the Congo the native mother frequently refers
+to her child as a "piccannin" which is almost the same word employed by
+coloured people in the American South.
+
+Stanleyville's social prestige is only equalled by her economic
+importance. It is one of the great ivory markets of the world. During
+the last two years this activity has undergone fluctuations that almost
+put Wall Street to the blush.
+
+During the war there was very little trafficking in ivory because it was
+a luxury. With peace came a big demand and the price soared to more than
+200 francs a kilo. The ordinary price is about forty. One trader at
+Stanleyville cleaned up a profit of 3,000,000 francs in three months.
+Then came the inevitable reaction and with it a unique situation. In
+their mad desire to corral ivory the traders ran up the normal price
+that the native hunters received. The moment the boom burst the white
+buyers sought to regulate their purchases accordingly. The native,
+however, knows nothing about the law of demand and supply and he holds
+out for the boom price. The outcome is that hundreds of tons of ivory
+are piled up in the villages and no power on earth can convince the
+savage that there is such a thing as the ebb and flow of price. Such is
+commercial life in the jungle.
+
+Northeast of Stanleyville lie the most important gold mines in the
+Colony. The precious metal was discovered accidentally some years ago in
+the gravel of small rivers west of Lake Albert, and near the small towns
+of Kilo and Moto. Four mines are now worked in this vicinity, two by the
+Government and two by a private company. At the outbreak of the war this
+area was on the verge of considerable development which has just been
+resumed. At the time of my visit all these mines were placers and the
+operation was rather primitive. With modern machinery and enlarged white
+staffs will come a pretentious exploitation. The Government mines alone
+yield more than $2,000,000 worth of gold every year. Shortly before my
+arrival in the Congo what was heralded as the largest gold nugget ever
+discovered was found in the Kilo State Mine. It weighed twelve pounds.
+
+Stanleyville has a significance for me less romantic but infinitely more
+practical than the first contact with the Congo River. After long weeks
+of suffering from inefficient service I sacked Gerome and annexed a boy
+named Nelson. The way of it was this: In the Katanga I engaged a young
+Belgian who was on his way home, to act as secretary. He knew the native
+languages and could always convince the most stubborn black to part with
+an egg. Nelson was his servant. He was born on the Rhodesian border and
+spoke English. I could therefore upbraid him to my heart's content,
+which was not the case with Gerome. Besides, he was not handicapped with
+a wife. In Africa the servants adopt the names of their masters. Nelson
+had worked for an Englishman at Elizabethville and acquired his
+cognomen. I have not the slightest doubt that he now masquerades under
+mine. Be that as it may, Nelson was a model servant and he remained with
+me until that September day when I boarded the Belgium-bound boat at
+Matadi.
+
+Nelson reminded me more of the Georgia Negro than any other one that I
+saw in the Congo. He was almost coal black, he smiled continuously, and
+his teeth were wonderful to look at. He had an unusual capacity for
+work and also for food. I think he was the champion consumer of
+_chikwanga_ in the Congo. The _chikwanga_ is a glutinous dough made from
+the pounded root of the manioc plant and is the principal food of the
+native. It is rolled and cut up in pieces and then wrapped in green
+leaves. The favorite way of preparing it for consumption is to heat it
+in palm oil, although it is often eaten raw. Nelson bought these
+_chikwangas_ by the dozen. He was never without one. He even ate as he
+washed my clothes.
+
+The Congo native is in a continuous state of receptivity when it comes
+to food. Nowhere in the world have I seen people who ate so much. I have
+offered the leavings of a meal to a savage just after he had apparently
+gorged himself and he "wolfed" it as if he were famished. The invariable
+custom in the Congo is to have one huge meal a day. On this occasion
+every member of the family consumes all the edibles in sight. Then the
+crowd lays off until the following day. All food offered in the meantime
+by way of gratuity or otherwise is devoured on the spot.
+
+In connection with the _chikwanga_ is an interesting fact. The Congo
+natives all die young--I only saw a dozen old men--because they are
+insufficiently nourished. The _chikwanga_ is filling but not fattening.
+This is why sleeping sickness takes such dreadful toll. From an
+estimated population of 30,000,000 in Stanley's day the indigenes have
+dwindled to less than one-third this number. Meat is a luxury. Although
+the natives have chickens in abundance they seldom eat one for the
+reason that it is more profitable to sell them to the white man.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the Congo native suffers from
+ailments. Unlike the average small boy of civilization, he delights
+in taking medicine. I suppose that he regards it as just another form of
+food. You hear many amusing stories in connection with medicinal
+articles. When you give a savage a dozen effective pills, for example,
+and tell him to take one every night, he usually swallows them all at
+one time and then he wonders why the results are disastrous. A sorcerer
+in the Upper Congo region once obtained what was widely acclaimed as
+miraculous results from a red substance that he got out of a tin. It
+developed that he had stolen a can of potted beef and was using it as
+"medicine."
+
+[Illustration: CENTRAL AFRICAN PYGMIES]
+
+Stanleyville was called the center of the old Arab slave trade. While
+the odious traffic has long ceased to exist, you occasionally meet an
+old native who bears the scars of battle with the marauders and who can
+tell harrowing tales of the cruelties they inflicted.
+
+The slave raiders began their operations in the Congo in 1877, the same
+year in which Stanley made his historic march across Africa from
+Zanzibar to the north of the Congo. It was the great explorer who
+unconsciously blazed the way for the man-hunters. They followed him down
+the Lualaba River as far as Stanley Falls and discovered what was to
+them a real human treasure-trove. For twenty years they blighted the
+country, carrying off tens of thousands of men, women and children and
+slaughtering thousands in addition. This region was a cannibal
+stronghold and one bait that lured local allies was the promise of the
+bodies of all natives slain, for consumption. Belgian pioneers in the
+Congo who co-operated with the late Baron Dhanis who finally put down
+the slave trade, have told me that it was no infrequent sight to behold
+native women going off to their villages with baskets of human flesh.
+They were part of the spoils of this hideous warfare.
+
+Tippo Tib was lord of this slave-trading domain. This astounding rascal
+had a distinct personality. He was a master trader and drove the hardest
+bargain in all Africa. Livingstone, Cameron, Stanley, and Wissmann all
+did business with him, for he had a monopoly on porters and no one could
+proceed without his help. He invariably waited until the white man
+reached the limit of his resources and then exacted the highest price,
+in true Shylockian fashion.
+
+According to Herbert Ward, the well-known African artist and explorer,
+who accompanied Stanley on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, Tippo Tib
+was something of a philosopher. On one occasion Ward spent the evening
+with the old Arab. He occupied a wretched house. Rain dripped in through
+the roof, rats scuttled across the floor, and wind shook the walls. When
+the Englishman expressed his astonishment that so rich and powerful a
+chief should dwell in such a mean abode Tippo Tib said:
+
+"It is better that I should live in a house like this because it makes
+me remember that I am only an ordinary man like others. If I lived in a
+fine house with comforts I should perhaps end by thinking too much of
+myself."
+
+Ward also relates another typical story about this blood-thirsty bandit.
+A missionary once called him to account for the frightful barbarities he
+had perpetrated, whereupon he received the following reply:
+
+"Ah, yes! You see I was then a young man. Now my hair is turning gray. I
+am an old man and shall have more consideration."
+
+Until his death in 1907 at Zanzibar, Tippo Tib and reformation were
+absolute strangers. He embodied that combination of cruelty and
+religious fanaticism so often found in the Arab. He served his God and
+the devil with the same relentless devotion. He incarnated a type that
+happily has vanished from the map of Africa.
+
+The region around Stanleyville is rich with historic interest and
+association. The great name inseparably and immortally linked with it is
+that of Stanley. Although he found Livingstone, relieved Emin Pasha,
+first traversed the Congo River, and sowed the seeds of civilization
+throughout the heart of the continent, his greatest single achievement,
+perhaps, was the founding of the Congo Free State. No other enterprise
+took such toll of his essential qualities and especially his genius for
+organization.
+
+Stanley is most widely known as an explorer, yet he was, at the same
+time, one of the master civilizers. He felt that his Congo adventure
+would be incomplete if he did not make the State a vast productive
+region and the home of the white man. He longed to see it a British
+possession and it was only after he offered it twice to England and was
+twice rebuffed, that he accepted the invitation of King Leopold II to
+organize the stations under the auspices of the International African
+Association, which was the first step toward Belgian sovereignty.
+
+I have talked with many British and Belgian associates of Stanley.
+Without exception they all acclaim his sterling virtues both in the
+physical and spiritual sense. All agree that he was a hard man. The best
+explanation of this so-called hardness is given by Herbert Ward, who
+once spoke to him about it. Stanley's reply was, "You've got to be hard.
+If you're not hard you're weak. There are only two sides to it."
+
+Stanley always declared that his whole idea of life and work were
+embodied in the following maxim: "The three M's are all we need. They
+are Morals, Mind and Muscles. These must be cultivated if we wish to be
+immortal." To an astonishing degree he worked and lived up to these
+principles.
+
+No explorer, not even Peary in the Arctic wilds, was ever prey to a
+larger isolation than this man. In the midst of the multitude he was
+alone. He shunned intimacy and one of his mournful reflections was, "I
+have had no friend on any expedition, no one who could possibly be my
+companion on an equal footing, except while with Livingstone."
+
+I cannot resist the impulse to make comparison between those two
+outstanding Englishmen, Rhodes and Stanley, whose lives are intimately
+woven into the fabric of African romance. They had much in common and
+yet they were widely different in purpose and temperament. Each was an
+autocrat and brooked no interference. Each had the same kindling ideal
+of British imperialism. Each suffered abuse at the hands of his
+countrymen and lived to witness a triumphant vindication.
+
+Stanley had a rare talent for details--he went on the theory that if you
+wanted a thing done properly you must do it yourself--but Rhodes only
+saw things in a big way and left the interpretation to subordinates.
+Stanley was devoutly religious while Rhodes paid scant attention to the
+spiritual side. Each was a dreamer in his own way and merely regarded
+money as a means to an end. Rhodes, however, was far more disdainful of
+wealth as such, than Stanley, who received large sums for his books and
+lectures. It is only fair to him to say that he never took pecuniary
+advantage of the immense opportunities that his explorations in the
+Congo afforded.
+
+Still another intrepid Englishman narrowly missed having a big rôle in
+the drama of the Congo. General Gordon agreed to assume the Governorship
+of the Lower Congo under Stanley, who was to be the Chief Administrator
+of the Upper Congo. They were to unite in one grand effort to crush the
+slave trade. Fate intervened. Gordon meanwhile was asked by the British
+Government to go to Egypt, then in the throes of the Mahdist uprising.
+He went to his martyrdom at Khartoum, and Stanley continued his work
+alone in Central Africa.
+
+While Stanley established its most enduring traditions, other heroic
+soldiers and explorers, contributed to the roll of fame of the Upper
+Congo region. Conspicuous among them was Captain Deane, an Englishman
+who fought the Arab slave traders at Stanley Falls and who figured in a
+succession of episodes that read like the most romantic fiction.
+
+With less than a hundred native troops recruited from the West Coast of
+Africa, he defended the State Station founded by Stanley at the Falls
+against thousands of Arab raiders. Most of the caps in his rifle
+cartridges were rendered useless by dampness and the Captain and his
+second in command, Lieutenant Dubois, a Belgian officer, fought shoulder
+to shoulder with his men in the hand-to-hand struggle that ensued.
+Subsequently practically all the natives deserted and Deane was left
+with Dubois and four loyal blacks. Under cover of darkness they escaped
+from the island on which the Station was located. On this journey Dubois
+was drowned.
+
+For thirty days Deane and his four faithful troopers wandered through
+the forests, hiding during the day from their ferocious pursuers and
+sleeping in trees at night. On the thirtieth day he was captured by the
+savages. Unarmed, he sank to the ground overcome with weariness. A big
+native stood over him with his spear poised for the fatal thrust. A
+moment later the Englishman was surprised to see his enemy lower the
+weapon and grasp him by the hand. He had succored this savage two years
+before and had not been forgotten. Deane and his companions were
+convoyed under an escort to Herbert Ward's camp and he was nursed back
+to health.
+
+Deane's death illustrates the irony that entered into the passing of so
+many African adventurers. Twelve months after he was snatched from the
+jaws of death on the banks of the Congo in the manner just described, he
+was killed while hunting elephants. A wounded beast impaled him on a
+tusk and then mauled him almost beyond recognition.
+
+
+II
+
+Since Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo there is
+ordinarily no lack of boats. I was fortunate to be able to embark on the
+"Comte de Flandre," the Mauretania of those inland seas and the most
+imposing vessel on the river for she displaced five hundred tons. She
+flew the flag of the Huileries du Congo Belge, the palm oil concern
+founded by Lord Leverhulme and the most important all-British commercial
+interest in the Congo. She was one of a fleet of ten boats that operate
+on the Congo, the Kasai, the Kwilu and other rivers. I not only had a
+comfortable cabin but the rarest of luxuries in Central Africa, a
+regulation bathtub, was available. The "Comte de Flandre" had cabin
+accommodations for fourteen whites. The Captain was an Englishman and
+the Chief Engineer a Scotchman.
+
+On this, as on most of the other Congo boats, the food is provided by
+the Captain, to whom the passengers pay a stipulated sum for meals. On
+the "Comte de Flandre," however, the food privilege was owned jointly by
+the Captain and the Chief Engineer. The latter did all the buying and it
+was almost excruciatingly funny to watch him driving real Scotch
+bargains with the natives who came aboard at the various stops to sell
+chickens, goats, and fruit. The engineer could scarcely speak a word of
+any of the native languages, but he invariably got over the fact that
+the price demanded was too high.
+
+The passenger list of the "Comte de Flandre" included Englishmen,
+Belgians, Italians, and Portuguese. I was the only American. The
+steerage, firemen, and wood-boys were all blacks. With this
+international congress over which beamed the broad smile of Nelson, I
+started on the thousand-mile trip down the Congo River.
+
+It is difficult to convey the impression that the Congo River gives.
+Serene and majestic, it is often well-nigh overwhelming in its
+immensity. Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa there are four thousand
+islands, some of them thirty miles in length. As the boat picks its way
+through them you feel as if you were travelling through an endless
+tropical park of which the river provides the paths. It has been well
+called a "Venice of Vegetation." The shores are brilliant with a
+variegated growth whose exotic smell is wafted out over the waters. You
+see priceless orchids entwined with the mangroves in endless profusion.
+Behind this verdure stretches the dense equatorial forest in which
+Stanley battled years ago in an almost impenetrable gloom. Aigrettes and
+birds of paradise fly on all sides and every hour reveals a hideous
+crocodile sunning himself on a sandspit.
+
+Night on the Congo enhances the loneliness that you feel on all the
+Central African rivers. Although the settlements are more numerous and
+larger than those on the Lualaba and the Kasai, there is the same
+feeling of isolation the moment darkness falls. The jungle seems to be
+an all-embracing monster who mocks you with his silence. Joseph Conrad
+interpreted this atmosphere when he referred to it as having "a
+stillness of life that did not resemble peace,--the silence of an
+implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention." This is the
+Congo River.
+
+The more I saw of the Congo River--it is nearly twice as large as the
+Mississippi--the more I realized that it is in reality a parent of
+waters. It has half a dozen tributaries that range in length from 500 to
+1,000 miles each. The most important are the Lualaba and the Kasai.
+Others include the Itimbiri, the Aruwimi and the Mubangi. Scores of
+smaller streams, many of them navigable for launches, empty into the
+main river. This is why there is such a deep and swift current in the
+lower region where the Congo enters the sea.
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN MAKING POTTERY]
+
+[Illustration: THE CONGO PICKANINNY]
+
+The astonishing thing about the Congo River is its inconsistency.
+Although six miles wide in many parts it is frequently not more than six
+feet deep. This makes navigation dangerous and difficult. As on the
+Lualaba and every other river in the Colony, soundings must be taken
+continually. This extraordinary discrepancy between width and depth
+reminds me of the designation of the Platte River in Nebraska by a
+Kansas statesman which was, "A river three-quarters of a mile wide and
+three-quarters of an inch deep." Thus the Congo journey takes on a
+constant element of hazard because you do not know what moment you will
+run aground on a sand-bank, be impaled on a snag, or strike a rock.
+
+Although the "Comte de Flandre" was rated as the fastest craft on the
+Congo our progress was unusually slow because of the scarcity of wood
+for fuel. This seems incredible when you consider that the whole Congo
+Basin is one vast forest. Millions of trees stand ready to be sacrificed
+to the needs of man, yet there are no hands to cut them. In the Congo,
+as throughout this distracted world, the will-to-work is a lost art, no
+less manifest among the savages than among their civilized brothers. The
+ordinary native will only labour long enough to provide himself with
+sufficient money to buy a month's supply of food. Then he quits and
+joins the leisure class. Hence wood-hunting on the Congo vies with the
+trip itself as a real adventure. The competition between river captains
+for fuel is so keen that a skipper will sometimes start his boat at
+three o'clock in the morning and risk an accident in the dark in order
+to beat a rival to a wood supply.
+
+All up and down the river are wood-posts. Most of them are owned by the
+steamship companies. It was our misfortune to find most of them
+practically stripped of their supplies. A journey which ordinarily takes
+twelve days consumed twenty. But there were many compensations and I had
+no quarrel with the circumstance:
+
+I had the good fortune to witness that rarest of sights that falls to
+the lot of the casual traveller--a serious fight between natives. We
+stopped at a native wood-post--(some of them are operated by the
+occasionally industrious blacks)--for fuel. The whole village turned out
+to help load the logs. In the midst of the process a crowd of natives
+made their appearance, armed with spears and shields. They began to
+taunt the men and women who were loading our boat. I afterwards learned
+that they owned a wood-post nearby and were disgruntled because we had
+not patronized them. They blamed their neighbours for it. Almost before
+we realized it a pitched battle was in progress in which spears were
+thrown and men and women were laid out in a generally bloody fracas. One
+man got an assegai through his throat and it probably inflicted a fatal
+wound.
+
+In the midst of the mêlée one of my fellow passengers, a Catholic priest
+named Father Brandsma, courageously dashed in between the flying spears
+and logs of wood and separated the combatants. This incident shows the
+hostility that still exists between the various tribes in the Congo. It
+constitutes one excellent reason why there can never be any concerted
+uprising against the whites. There is no single, strong, cohesive native
+dynasty.
+
+Father Brandsma was one of the finest men I met in the Congo. He was a
+member of the society of priests which has its headquarters at Mill Hill
+in England. He came aboard the boat late one night when we were tied up
+at Bumba, having ridden a hundred miles on his bicycle along the native
+trails. We met the following morning in the dining saloon. I sat at a
+table writing letters and he took a seat nearby and started to make some
+notes in a book. When we finished I addressed him in French. He answered
+in flawless English. He then told me that he had spent fifteen years in
+Uganda, where he was at the head of the Catholic Missions.
+
+The Father was in his fifth year of service in the Congo and his
+analysis of the native situation was accurate and convincing. Among
+other things he said, "The great task of the Colonial Government is to
+provide labour for the people. In many localities only one native out of
+a hundred works. This idleness must be stopped and the only way to stop
+it is to initiate highway and other improvements, so as to recruit a
+large part of the native population."
+
+Father Brandsma is devoting some of his energy to a change in copal
+gathering. This substance, which is found at the roots of trees in
+swampy and therefore unhealthy country, is employed in the manufacture
+of varnish. To harvest it the natives stand all day in water up to their
+hips and they catch the inevitable colds from which pneumonia develops.
+Copal gathering is a considerable source of income for many tribes and
+usually the entire community treks to the marshes. In this way the
+lives of the women and children are also menaced. The Father believes
+that only the men should go forth at certain periods for this work and
+leave their families behind.
+
+Father Brandsma was the central actor in a picturesque scene. One Sunday
+morning I heard a weird chanting and I arose to discover the cause. I
+found that the priest was celebrating mass for the natives on the main
+deck of the boat. Dawn had just broken, and on the improvised altar
+several candles gleamed in the half light. In his vestments the priest
+was a striking figure. All about him knelt the score of naked savages
+who made up the congregation. They crossed themselves constantly and
+made the usual responses. I must confess that the ceremony was strangely
+moving and impressive.
+
+As soon as I reached the Congo River I saw that the natives were bigger
+and stronger than those of the Katanga and other sections that I had
+visited. The most important of the river tribes are the Bangalas, who
+are magnificent specimens of manhood. In Stanley's day they were masters
+of a considerable portion of the Upper Congo River region and contested
+his way skilfully and bitterly. They are more peacefully inclined today
+and hundreds of them are employed as wood-boys and firemen on the river
+boats.
+
+The Bangalas practice cicatrization to an elaborate extent. This process
+consists of opening a portion of the flesh with a knife, injecting an
+irritating juice into the wound, and allowing the place to swell. The
+effect is to raise a lump or weal. Some of these excrescences are tiny
+bumps and others develop into large welts that disfigure the anatomy.
+Extraordinary designs are literally carved on the faces and bodies of
+the men and women. Although it is an intensely painful operation,--some
+of the wounds must be opened many times--the native submits to it with
+pleasure because the more ornate the design the more resplendent the
+wearer feels. The women are usually more liberally marked than the men.
+
+Cicatrization is popular in various parts of Central Africa but nowhere
+to the degree that it prevails on the Congo River and among the
+Bangalas, where it is a tribal mark. I observed women whose entire
+bodies from the ankles up to the head were one mass of cicatrized
+designs. One of the favorite areas is the stomach. This is just another
+argument against clothes. Cicatrization bears the same relation to the
+African native that tattooing does to the whites of some sections. Human
+vanity works in mysterious ways to express itself.
+
+In this connection it is perhaps worth while to point out one of the
+reasons why the Congo atrocity exhorters found such ready exhibits for
+their arguments. The Central African native delights in disfigurement
+not only as a sign of "beauty," but as a means of retaliation for real
+or fancied wrongs among his own. In the old days dozens of slaves, and
+sometimes wives, were sacrificed upon the death of an important chief.
+Their spirits were supposed to provide a bodyguard to escort the
+departed potentate safely into the land of the hereafter. One of the
+former prerogatives of a husband was the sanction to chop off the hand
+or foot of a wife if she offended or disobeyed him. Hence Central Africa
+abounded in mutilated men, women and children. While some of these
+barbarities may have been due to excessive zeal or temper in State or
+corporation officials there is no doubt that many instances were the
+result of native practices.
+
+The reference to cicatrization brings to mind another distinctive
+Central African observance. I refer to the ceremony of blood
+brotherhood. When two men, who have been enemies, desire to make the
+peace and swear eternal amity, they make a small incision in one of
+their forearms sufficiently deep to cause the flow of blood. Each then
+licks the blood from the other's arm and henceforth they are related as
+brothers. This performance was not only common among the blacks but was
+also practiced by the whites and the blacks the moment civilization
+entered the wild domains. Stanley's arms were one mass of scars as the
+result of swearing constant blood brotherhood. It became such a nuisance
+and at the same time developed into such a serious menace to his health,
+that the rite had to be amended. Instead of licking the blood the
+comrades now merely rub the incisions together on the few occasions
+nowadays when fealty is sworn. I am glad to say that I escaped the
+ordeal.
+
+Much to my regret I saw only a few of the much-described pygmies who
+dwelt mainly in the regions northeast of Stanleyville, where Stanley
+first met them. They are all under three feet in height, are light brown
+in colour, and wear no garments when on their native heath. They are the
+shyest of all the tribes I encountered. These diminutive creatures
+seldom enter the service of the white man and prefer the wild life of
+the jungle. I was informed in the Congo that the real pygmy is fast
+disappearing from the map. Intermarriage with other tribes, and
+settlement into more or less permanent villages, have increased the
+height of the present generation and helped to remove one of the last
+human links with Stanley's great day.
+
+The Congo River native is perhaps the shrewdest in all Central Africa.
+He is a born trader, and he can convert the conventional shoe-string
+into something worth while. One reason why the Bangalas take positions
+as firemen and woodboys on the river boats is that it enables them to go
+into business. The price of food at the small settlements up river is
+much less than at Kinshassa, where navigation from Stanleyville
+southward ends. Hence the blacks acquire considerable stores of palm oil
+and dried fish at the various stops made by the steamers and dispose of
+it with large profit when they reach the end of the journey. I have in
+mind the experience of a capita on the "Comte de Flandre." When we left
+Stanleyville his cash capital was thirty-five francs. With this he
+purchased a sufficient quantity of food, which included dozens of pieces
+of _chikwanga_, to realize two hundred and twenty francs at Kinshassa.
+
+These river natives are genuine profiteers. They invariably make it a
+rule to charge the white man three or four times the price they exact
+from their own kind. No white man ever thinks of buying anything
+himself. He always sends one of his servants. As soon as the vendor
+knows that the servant is in the white employ he shoves up the price. I
+discovered this state of affairs as soon as I started down the Lualaba.
+In my innocence I paid two francs for a bunch of bananas. The moment I
+had closed the deal I observed larger and better bunches being purchased
+by natives for fifty centimes.
+
+This business of profiteering by the natives is no new phase of life in
+the Congo. Stanley discovered it to his cost. Sir Harry Johnston, the
+distinguished explorer and administrator, who added to his achievements
+during these past years by displaying skill and brilliancy as a
+novelist, tells a characteristic story that throws light on the
+subject. It deals with one of the experiences of George Grenfell, the
+eminent British missionary who gave thirty years of his unselfish life
+to work in the Congo. On one of his trips he noticed the corpse of a
+woman hanging from the branches of a tree over the water of the great
+river. At first he thought that she had been executed as a punishment
+for adultery, one of the most serious crimes in the native calendar. On
+investigation he found that she had been guilty of a much more serious
+offense. A law had been imposed that all goods, especially food, must be
+sold to the white man at a far higher price than the local market value.
+This unhappy woman had only doubled the quotation for eggs, had been
+convicted of breaking the code, and had suffered death in consequence.
+
+Since I have referred to adultery, let me point out a situation that
+does not reflect particular credit on so-called civilization. Before the
+white man came to Africa chastity was held in deepest reverence. The
+usual punishment for infidelity was death. Some of the early white men
+were more or less promiscuous and set a bad moral example with regard to
+the women. The native believed that in this respect "the white man can
+do no wrong" and the inevitable laxity resulted. When a woman deserts
+her husband now all she gets is a sound beating. If a man elopes with
+the wife of a friend, he is haled before a magistrate and fined.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEART OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST]
+
+
+III
+
+On the Congo I got my first glimpse of the native fashion in mourning.
+It is a survival of the biblical "sackcloth and ashes." As soon as a
+death occurs all the members of the family smear their faces and bodies
+with ashes or dirt. Even the babies show these rude symbols of woe. It
+gives the person thus adorned a weird and ghastly appearance. When ashes
+and dust are not available for this purpose, a substitute is found in
+filthy mud. The mourner is not permitted to wash throughout the entire
+period of grief, which ranges from thirty to ninety days.
+
+Like the Southern Negro in America these African natives are not only
+born actors but have a keen sense of humour. They are quick to imitate
+the white man. If a Georgia darkey, for example, wants to abuse a member
+of his own race he delights to call him "a fool nigger." It is the last
+word in reproach. In the Congo when a native desires to express contempt
+for his fellow, he refers to him as a _basingi_, which means bush-man.
+It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
+
+Up the Kasai I heard a story that admirably illustrates the native
+humour. A Belgian official much inclined to corpulency came out to take
+charge of a post. After the usual fashion, he received a native name the
+moment he arrived. It is not surprising that he became known as _Mafutta
+Mingi_. As soon as he learned what it meant he became indignant. Like
+most fat men he could not persuade himself that he was fat. He demanded
+that he be given another title, whereupon the local chief solemnly
+dubbed him _Kiboko_. The official was immediately appeased. He noticed
+that a broad smile invariably illumined the countenance of the person
+who addressed him in this way. On investigation he discovered that the
+word meant hippopotamus.
+
+The Congo native delights in argument. Here you get another parallel
+with his American brother. A Bangala, for example, will talk for a week
+about five centimes. One day at Dima I heard a terrific shouting and
+exhorting down at the native market which is held twice a week. I was
+certain that someone was being murdered. When I arrived on the scene I
+saw a hundred men and women gesticulating wildly and in a great state of
+excitement. I learned that the wife of a wood-boy on a boat had either
+secreted or sold a scrap of soap, and her husband was not only berating
+her with his tongue but telling the whole community about it.
+
+The chief function of most Belgian officials in the Congo is to preside
+at what is technically known as a "palaver." This word means conference
+but it actually develops into a free-for-all riotous protestation by the
+natives involved. They all want to talk at the same time and it is like
+an Irish debating society. Years ago each village had a "palaver
+ground," where the chief sat in solemn judgment on the disputes of his
+henchmen. Now the "palavers" are held before Government officers. Most
+of the "palavers" that I heard related to elopements. No matter how
+grievous was the offense of the male he invariably shifted the entire
+responsibility to the woman. He was merely emulating the ways of
+civilization.
+
+Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa we not only stopped every night
+according to custom, but halted at not less than a dozen settlements to
+take on or deliver cargo. These stations resemble each other in that
+they are mainly a cluster of stores owned or operated by agents of
+various trading companies. Practically every post in the Congo has, in
+addition, a shop owned by a Portuguese. You find these traders
+everywhere. They have something of the spirit of adventure and the
+hardihood of their doughty ancestors who planted the flag of Portugal on
+the high seas back in that era when the little kingdom was a world
+power.
+
+Some of them have been in the Congo for fifteen and twenty years without
+ever stirring outside its confines. On the steamer that took me to
+Europe from the Congo was a Portuguese who had lived in the bush for
+twenty-two years. When he got on the big steamer he was frightened at
+the noise and practically remained in his cabin throughout the entire
+voyage. As we neared France he told me that if he had realized
+beforehand the terror and tumult of the civilization that he had
+forgotten, he never would have departed from his jungle home. He was as
+shy as a wild animal.
+
+One settlement, Basoko, has a tragic meaning for the Anglo-Saxon. Here
+died and lies buried, the gallant Grenfell. I doubt if exploration
+anywhere revealed a nobler character than this Baptist minister whose
+career has been so adequately presented by Sir Harry Johnston, and who
+ranks with Stanley and Livingstone as one of the foremost of African
+explorers. In the Congo evangelization has been fraught with a truly
+noble fortitude. When you see the handicaps that have beset both
+Catholic and Protestant missionaries you are filled with a new
+appreciation of their calling.
+
+The most important stop of this trip was at Coquilhatville, named in
+honor of Captain Coquilhat, one of the most courageous of the early
+Belgian soldier-explorers. It was the original Equatorville (it is at
+the point where the Equator cuts the Congo), founded by Stanley when he
+established the series of stations under the auspices of the
+International African Association. Here dwells the Vice-Governor of the
+Equatorial Province. Near by is a botanical garden maintained by the
+Colonial Government and which contains specimens of all the flora of
+Central Africa.
+
+At Coquilhatville I saw the first horse since I left Rhodesia and it was
+a distinct event. Except in the Kasai region it is impossible to
+maintain live stock in the Congo. The tsetse fly is the devastating
+agency. Apparently the only beasts able to withstand this scourge are
+goats and dogs. The few white men who live in Coquilhatville have been
+able to maintain five horses which are used by the so-called Riding
+Club. These animals provide the only exercise at the post. They are
+owned and ridden by the handful of Englishmen there. A man must drive
+himself to indulge in any form of outdoor sport along the equator. The
+climate is more or less enervating and it takes real Anglo-Saxon energy
+to resist the lure of the _siesta_ or to remain in bed as long as
+possible.
+
+Bolobo is a reminder of Stanley. He had more trouble here than at any of
+the many stations he set up in the Congo Free State in the early
+eighties. The natives were hostile, the men he left in charge proved to
+be inefficient, and on two occasions the settlement was burned to the
+ground. Today it is the seat of one of the largest and most prosperous
+of all the English Baptist Congo missions and is presided over by a
+Congo veteran, Dr. Stonelake. One feature of the work here is a manual
+training school for natives, who manufacture the same kind of wicker
+chairs that the tourist buys at Madeira.
+
+The farther I travelled in the Congo the more deeply I became interested
+in the native habits and customs. Although cluttered with ignorance and
+superstition the barbaric mind is strangely productive of a rude
+philosophy which is expressed in a quaint folklore. Seasoned Congo
+travellers like Grenfell, Stanley, Ward, and Johnston have all recorded
+fascinating local legends. I heard many of these tales myself and I
+shall endeavour to relate the best.
+
+Some of the most characteristic stories deal with the origin of death.
+Here is a Bangala tradition gathered by Grenfell and which runs as
+follows:
+
+    The natives say that in the beginning men and women did not die.
+    That one day, _Nza Komba_ (God) came bringing two gifts, a large and
+    a small one. If they chose the smaller one they would continue to
+    live, but if the larger one, they would for a time enjoy much
+    greater wealth, but they would afterwards die. The men said they
+    must consider the matter, and went away to drink water, as the
+    Kongos say. While they were discussing the matter the women took the
+    larger gift, and _Nza Komba_ went back with the little one. He has
+    never been seen since, though they cried and cried for Him to come
+    back and take the big bundle and give them the little one, and with
+    it immortality.
+
+The Baluba version of the great mystery is set forth in this way:
+
+    God (_Kabezya-unpungu_) created the sun, moon, and stars, then the
+    world, and later the plants and animals. When all this was finished
+    He placed a man and two women in the world and taught them the name
+    and use of all things. He gave an axe and a knife to the man, and
+    taught him to cut wood, weave stuffs, melt iron, and to hunt and
+    fish. To the women he gave a pickaxe and a knife. He taught both of
+    them to till the ground, make pottery, weave baskets, make
+    oil,--that is to say, all that custom assigns to them to-day.
+
+    These first inhabitants of the earth lived happily for a long time
+    until one of the women began to grow old. God, foreseeing this, had
+    given her the gift of rejuvenating herself, and the faculty, if she
+    once succeeded, of preserving the gift for herself and for all
+    mankind. Unfortunately, she speedily lost the precious treasure and
+    introduced death into the world.
+
+    This is how the misfortune occurred: Seeing herself all withered,
+    the woman took the fan with which her companion had been winnowing
+    maize for the manufacture of beer and shut herself into her hut,
+    carefully closing the door. There she began to tear off her old
+    skin, throwing it on the fan. The skin came off easily, a new one
+    appearing in its place. The operation was nearing completion. There
+    remained the head and neck only when her companion came to the hut
+    to fetch her fan and before the old woman could speak, pushed open
+    the door. The almost rejuvenated woman fell dead instantly.
+
+    This is the reason we all die. The two survivors gave birth to a
+    number of sons and daughters, from whom all races have descended.
+    Since that time God does not trouble about His creatures. He is
+    satisfied with visiting them incognito now and again. Wherever He
+    passes the ground sinks. He injures no one. It is therefore
+    superfluous to honour him, so the Balubas offer no worship to Him.
+
+The animal story has a high place in the legends of these peoples. They
+represent a combination of Kipling's Jungle Book, Aesop's Fables, and
+Br'er Rabbit. Nor do they fail to point a moral. Naturally, the elephant
+is a conspicuous feature in most of them. The tale of "The Elephant and
+the Shrew" will illustrate. Here it is:
+
+[Illustration: NATIVES PILING WOOD]
+
+[Illustration: A WOOD POST ON THE CONGO]
+
+    One day the elephant met the shrew mouse on his road. "Out of the
+    way," cried the latter. "I am the bigger, and it is your place to
+    look out," replied the monster. "Curse you!" retorted the shrew
+    mouse furiously. "May the long grass cut your legs!" "And may you
+    meet your death when you walk in the road!" replied the other
+    crushing him under his huge foot. Both curses have been fulfilled.
+    From that day the elephant wounds himself when he goes through the
+    long grass, and the shrew-mouse meets her death when she crosses the
+    road.
+
+The story of the elephant and the chameleon is equally interesting. One
+day the chameleon challenged the elephant to a race. The latter accepted
+the challenge and a meeting was arranged for the following morning.
+During the night the chameleon placed all his brothers from point to
+point along the length of the track where the race was to be run. When
+day came the elephant started. The chameleon quickly slipped behind
+without the elephant noticing. "Are you not tired?" asked the monster of
+the first chameleon he met. "Not at all," he replied, executing the same
+manœuvre as the former. This stratagem was renewed so many times that
+the elephant, tired out, gave up the contest and confessed himself
+beaten.
+
+In the wilds, as in civilization, the relation between husband and wife,
+and more especially the downfall of the autocrat of the home, is a
+favorite subject for jest. From the northeastern corner of the Congo
+comes this illuminating story:
+
+    A man had two wives, one gentle and prepossessing, the other such a
+    gossip that he was often made angry. Neither remonstrances nor
+    beating improved her, and finally he made up his mind to drive her
+    into a wood amongst the hyenas. There she built herself a little hut
+    into which a hyena came and boldly installed herself as mistress.
+    The wife tried to protest but the hyena, not content with eating and
+    drinking all that the wife was preparing, compelled her furthermore
+    to look after her young. One day the hyena had ordered the woman to
+    boil some water. While waiting the wife had the sudden idea of
+    seizing the young hyenas and throwing them into the boiling water.
+    She did this and then she ran trembling to take refuge in the home
+    of her husband whom she found calmly seated at the entrance of the
+    house, spear in hand. She threw herself at the feet of her spouse,
+    beseeching him for help and protection. When the hyena arrived
+    foaming with rage her husband stretched it dead on the ground with a
+    blow of his spear. The lesson was not lost on the wife. From that
+    day forth she became the joy and delight of her husband.
+
+The Congo can ever reproduce its own version of the fable of "The Goose
+that Laid the Golden Egg." It is somewhat primitive but serves the same
+purpose. As told to the naked piccaninnies by the flickering camp-fires
+it runs thus:
+
+    Four fools owned a chicken which laid blue glass beads instead of
+    eggs. A quarrel arose concerning the ownership of the fowl. The bird
+    was subsequently killed and divided into four equal portions. The
+    spring of their good fortune dried up.
+
+To understand the significance of the story it must be understood that
+for many years beads have been one of the forms of currency in Central
+Africa. Formerly they were as important a detail in the purchase of a
+wife as copper and calico. The first piece of attire, if it may be
+designated by this name, that adorns the native baby after its entrance
+into the world is an anklet of blue beads. Later a strand of beads is
+placed round its loins.
+
+When you have heard such stories as I have just related, you realize
+that despite his ignorance, appetite, and indolence, the Congo native
+has some desirable qualities. He is shiftless but not without human
+instincts. Nowhere are they better expressed than in his folklore.
+
+
+IV
+
+Two stops on the Congo River deserve special attention. In the Congo
+there began in 1911 an industry that will have an important bearing on
+the economic development of the Colony. It was the installation of the
+first plant of the Huileries du Congo Belge. This Company, which is an
+offshoot of the many Lever enterprises of England, resulted from the
+growing need of palm oil as a substitute for animal fat in soap-making.
+Lord Leverhulme, who was then Sir William Lever, obtained a concession
+for considerably more than a million acres of palm forests in the Congo.
+He began to open up so-called areas and install mills for boiling the
+fruit and drying the kernels. He now has eight areas, and two of them,
+Elizabetha and Alberta,--I visited both--are on the Congo River.
+
+For hundreds of years the natives have gathered the palm fruit and
+extracted the oil. Under their method of manufacture the waste was
+enormous. The blacks threw away the kernel because they were unaware of
+the valuable substance inside. Lord Leverhulme was the first to organize
+the industry on a big and scientific basis and it has justified his
+confidence and expenditure.
+
+Most people are familiar with the date and the cocoa-nut palms. From the
+days of the Bible they have figured in narrative and picture. The oil
+palm, on the other hand, is less known but much more valuable. It is the
+staff of life in the Congo and for that matter, practically all West
+Africa. Thousands of years ago its sap was used by the Egyptians for
+embalming the bodies of their kingly dead. Today it not only represents
+the most important agricultural industry of the Colony, having long
+since surpassed rubber as the premier product, but it has an almost
+bewildering variety of uses. It is food, drink and shelter. Out of the
+trunk the native extracts his wine; from the fruit, and this includes
+the kernel, are obtained oil for soap, salad dressing and margarine; the
+leaves provide a roof for the native houses; the fibre is made into
+mats, baskets or strings for fishing nets, while the wood goes into
+construction. Even the bugs that live on it are food for men.
+
+The "H. C. B." as the Huileries du Congo Belge is more commonly known in
+the Congo, really performed a courageous act in exploitation when it set
+up shop in the remote regions and devoted itself to an absolutely fresh
+enterprise, so far as extensive development is concerned, at a time when
+the rich and profitable products of the country were rubber, ivory and
+copal. The company's initiative, therefore, instigated the trade in
+oleaginous products which is so conspicuous in the economic life of the
+country.
+
+The installation at Alberta, while not so large as the Leverville area
+on the Kwilu River, will serve to show just what the corporation is
+doing. Five years ago this region was the jungle. Today it is the model
+settlement on the Congo River. The big brick office building stands on a
+brow of the hill overlooking the water. Not far away is the large mill
+where the palm fruit is reduced to oil and the kernels dried. Stretching
+away from the river is a long avenue of palms, flanked by the commodious
+brick bungalows of the white employes. The "H. C. B." maintains a store
+at each of its areas, where food and supplies are bought by the
+personnel. These stores are all operated by the Société d'Entreprises
+Commerciales au Congo Belge, known locally under the name of "Sedec,"
+formed as its name indicated, with a view of benefiting by the great
+resources opened to commerce in the Colony.
+
+For miles in every direction the Company has laid out extensive palm
+plantations. In the Alberta region twenty-five hundred acres are in
+course of cultivation in what is known as the Eastern Development, while
+sixteen hundred more acres are embodied in the Western development. An
+oil palm will bear fruit within seven years after the young tree is
+planted. The fruit comes in what is called a _régime_, which resembles a
+huge bunch of grapes. It is a thick cluster of palm fruit. Each fruit is
+about the size of a large date. The outer portion, the pericarp, is
+almost entirely yellow oil encased in a thick skin. Imbedded in this oil
+is the kernel, which contains an even finer oil. The fruit is boiled
+down and the kernel, after a drying process, is exported in bags to
+England, where it is broken open and the contents used for salad oil or
+margarine.
+
+Before the war thousands of tons of palm oil and kernels were shipped
+from the West Coast of Africa to Germany every year. Now they are
+diverted to England where large kernel-crushing plants have been
+installed and the whole activity has become a British enterprise. With
+the eclipse of the German Colonial Empire in Africa it is not likely
+that she can regain this lost business.
+
+The creation of new palmeries is merely one phase of the company's
+development. One of its largest tasks is to safeguard the immense
+natural palmeries on its concessions. The oil palm requires constant
+attention. The undergrowth spreads rapidly and if it is not removed
+is liable to impair the life of the tree. Thousands of natives are
+employed on this work. A large knife something like the Cuban machete is
+used.
+
+[Illustration: RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA]
+
+[Illustration: THE COMTE DE FLANDRE]
+
+Harvesting the _régimes_ is a spectacular performance not without its
+element of danger. The _régime_ grows at the top of the tree, usually a
+height of sixty or seventy-five feet and sometimes more. The native
+literally walks up the trunk with the help of a loop made from some
+stout vine which encircles him. Arriving at the top he fixes his feet
+against the trunk, leans against the loop which holds him fast, and
+hacks away at the _régime_. It falls with a heavy thud and woe betide
+the human being or the animal it strikes. The natives will not cut fruit
+in rainy weather because many have slipped on the wet bark and fallen to
+their death.
+
+So wide is the Alberta fruit-producing area that a narrow-gauge railway
+is necessary to bring the fruit in to the mill. Along its line are
+various stations where the fruit is mobilized, stripped from the
+_régime_ and sent down for refining in baskets. Each station has a
+superintendent who lives on the spot. The personnel of all the staff in
+the Congo is almost equally divided between British and Belgians.
+
+While the "H. C. B." is the largest factor in the palm oil industry in
+the Congo, many tons of kernels are gathered every year by individuals
+who include thousands of natives. One reason why the savage takes
+naturally to this occupation is that it demands little work. All that he
+is required to do is to climb a tree in the jungle and lop off a
+_régime_. He uses the palm oil for his own needs or disposes of it to a
+member of his tribe and sells the kernels to the white man.
+
+The "H. C. B." is independent of all other water transport in the
+Congo. Its river tonnage aggregates more than 6,000, and in addition it
+has many oil barges on the various rivers where its vessels ply. The
+capacity of some of the barges is 250 tons of oil. They are usually
+lashed to the side of the steamer. The decks of these barges are often
+piled high with bags of kernels and become a favorite sleeping place for
+the black voyagers for whom the thousands of insects that lurk in them
+have no terrors. No bug inflicts a sharper sting than these pests who
+make their _habitat_ among the palm kernels.
+
+One of my fellow passengers on the "Comte de Flandre" was I. F. Braham,
+the Associate Managing Director of the "H. C. B." in the Congo. Long the
+friend and companion in Liberia of Sir Harry Johnston, he was a most
+desirable and congenial companion. It was on his suggestion and
+invitation that I spent the week at Alberta and he shared the visit. Our
+hosts were Major and Mrs. Claude Wallace.
+
+Major Wallace was the District Manager of the Alberta area and occupied
+a brick bungalow on the bank of the river. He is a pioneer in
+exploration in the French Congo and Liberia and went almost straight
+from the battlefields of France, where he served with distinction in the
+World War, out to his post in the Congo. His wife is a fine example of
+the white woman who has braved the dangers of the tropics. She left the
+luxury and convenience of European life to establish a home in the
+jungle.
+
+It is easy to spot the refining influence of the woman in the African
+habitation. You always see the effect long before you behold the cause.
+One of these effects is usually a neat garden. Mrs. Wallace had half an
+acre of English roses in front of her house. They were the only ones I
+saw in Central Africa. The average bachelor in this part of the world is
+not particularly scrupulous about the appearance of his house. The
+moment you observe curtains at the window you know that there is a
+female on the premises.
+
+My life at Alberta was one of the really delightful experiences in the
+Congo. Every morning I set out with Braham and Wallace on some tour of
+inspection. Often we rode part of the way on the little light railroad.
+The method of transport was unique. An ordinary bench is placed on a
+small flat car. The propelling power is furnished by two husky natives
+who stand on either side of the bench and literally shove the vehicle
+along with long sticks. It is like paddling a railroad canoe. This
+transportation freak is technically called a _maculla_. The strong-armed
+paddlers were able to develop an astonishing speed. I think that this is
+the only muscle-power railroad in the world. Light engines are employed
+for hauling the palm fruit trains.
+
+After our day in the field--for frequently we took our lunch with us--we
+returned before sunset and bathed and dressed for dinner. In the Congo
+only a madman would take a cold plunge. The most healthful immersion is
+in tepid water. More than one Englishman has paid the penalty with his
+life, by continuing his traditional cold bath in the tropics. This
+reminds me of a significant fact in connection with colonization.
+Everyone must admit that the Briton is the best colonizer in the world.
+One reason is that he knows how to rule the man of colour for he does it
+with fairness and firmness. Another lies in the fact that he not only
+keeps himself clean but he makes his environment sanitary.
+
+There is a tradition that the Constitution follows the flag. I contend
+that with the Englishman the bath-tub precedes the code of law and what
+is more important, it is in daily use. There are a good many bath-tubs
+in the Congo but they are employed principally as receptacles for food
+supplies and soiled linen.
+
+Those evenings at Alberta were as unforgettable as their setting. Braham
+and Wallace were not only men of the world but they had read extensively
+and had travelled much. A wide range of subjects came under discussion
+at that hospitable table whose spotless linen and soft shaded lights
+were more reminiscent of London and New York than suggestive of a
+far-away post on the Congo River on the edge of the wilderness.
+
+At Alberta as elsewhere, the "H. C. B." is a moral force. Each area has
+a doctor and a hospital. No detail of its medical work is more vital to
+the productive life of the Colony that the inoculation of the natives
+against sleeping sickness. This dread disease is the scourge of the
+Congo and every year takes toll of hundreds of thousands of natives. Nor
+is the white man immune. I saw a Belgian official dying of this
+loathsome malady in a hospital at Matadi and I shall never forget his
+ravings. The last stage of the illness is always a period when the
+victim becomes demented. The greatest boon that could possibly be held
+out for Central Africa today would be the prevention of sleeping
+sickness.
+
+Another constructive work carried out under the auspices of the "H. C.
+B." is embodied in the native schools. There is an excellent one at
+Alberta. It is conducted by the Catholic Fathers of the Scheut Mission.
+The children are trained to become wood-workers, machinists, painters,
+and carpenters. It is the Booker Washington idea transplanted in the
+jungle. The Scheut Missionaries and their Jesuit colleagues are doing
+an admirable service throughout the Congo. Some of them are infused with
+the spirit that animated Father Damien. Time, distance, and isolation
+count for naught with them. It is no uncommon thing to encounter in the
+bush a Catholic priest who has been on continuous service there for
+fifteen or twenty years without a holiday. At Luluaburg lives a Mother
+Superior who has been in the field for a quarter of a century without
+wandering more than two hundred miles from her field of operations.
+
+
+V
+
+Now for the last stage of the Congo River trip. Like so many of my other
+experiences in Africa it produced a surprise. One morning when we were
+about two hundred miles north of Kinshassa I heard the whir of a motor
+engine, a rare sound in those parts. I thought of aeroplanes and
+instinctively looked up. Flying overhead toward Coquilhatville was a
+300-horse power hydroplane containing two people. Upon inquiry I
+discovered that it was one of four machines engaged in carrying
+passengers, mail, and express between Kinshassa and Coquilhatville.
+
+The campaign against the Germans in East Africa proved the
+practicability of aeroplanes in the tropics. The Congo is the first of
+the Central African countries to dedicate aviation to commercial uses
+and this precedent is likely to be extensively followed. Fifteen
+hydroplanes have been ordered for the Congo River service which will
+eventually be extended to Stanleyville. Only those who have endured the
+agony of slow transport in the Congo can realize the blessing that air
+travel will confer.
+
+I was naturally curious to find out just what the African native thought
+of the aeroplane. The moment that the roar of the engine broke the
+morning silence, everybody on the boat rushed to some point of vantage
+to see the strange sight. The blacks slapped each other on the shoulder,
+pointed at the machine, and laughed and jabbered. Yet when my secretary
+asked a big Baluba if he did not think that the aeroplane was a
+wonderful thing the barbarian simply grunted and replied, "White man can
+do anything." He summed up the native attitude toward his conqueror. I
+believe that if a white man performed the most astounding feat of magic
+or necromancy the native would not express the slightest surprise.
+
+[Illustration: A TYPICAL OIL PALM FOREST]
+
+[Illustration: BRINGING IN THE PALM FRUIT]
+
+At Kwamouth, where the Kasai flows into the Congo River, we entered the
+so-called "Channel." From this point down to Stanley Pool the river is
+deep and the current is swift. This means that for a brief time the
+traveller enjoys immunity from the danger of running aground on a
+sandbank. The whole country-side is changed. Instead of the low and
+luxuriantly-wooded shores the banks become higher with each passing
+hour. Soon the land adjacent to the river merges into foothills and
+these in turn taper off into mountains. The effect is noble and
+striking. No wonder Stanley went into ecstasies over this scenery. He
+declared on more than one occasion that it was as inspiring as any he
+had seen in Wales or Scotland.
+
+In the "Channel" another surprise awaits the traveller. The mornings are
+bitterly raw. This is probably due to the high ground on either side of
+the river and the strong currents of air that sweep up the stream. I can
+frankly say that I really suffered from the cold within striking
+distance of the equator. I did not feel comfortable until I had donned a
+heavy sweater.
+
+This sudden change in temperature explains one reason why so many Congo
+natives die under forty. They are scantily clad, perspire freely, and
+lie out at night with scarcely any covering. They go to sleep in a humid
+atmosphere and wake up with the temperature forty degrees lower. The
+natural result is that half of them constantly have colds and the
+moment pneumonia develops they succumb. Congestion of the lungs vies
+with sleeping sickness as the ravager of Middle Africa, and especially
+certain parts of the Congo.
+
+Kinshassa is situated on Stanley Pool, a lake-like expansion of the
+Congo more than two hundred square miles in area. It is dotted with
+islands. Nearly one-third of the northern shore is occupied by the rocky
+formations that Stanley named Dover Cliffs. They reminded him of the
+famous white cliffs of England and with the sunlight on them they do
+bear a strong resemblance to one of the familiar signposts of Albion.
+More than one Englishman emerging from the jungle after long service
+remote from civilization has gotten a thrill of home at the name and
+sight of these hills.
+
+Stanley Pool has always been associated in my mind with one of the most
+picturesque episodes in Stanley's life. He tells about it in his
+monumental work on the Congo Free State and again relates it in his
+Autobiography. It deals with Ngalyema, who was chief of the Stanley Pool
+District in the early eighties. He demanded and received a large
+quantity of goods for the permission to establish a station here. After
+the explorer had camped within ten miles of the Pool the old pirate
+pretended that he had not received the goods and sought to extort more.
+Stanley refused to be bullied, whereupon the chief threatened to attack
+him in force. Let Stanley now tell the story, for it is an illustration
+of the way he combated the usury and cunning of the Congo native.
+
+    I had hung a great Chinese gong conspicuously near the principal
+    tent. Ngalyema's curiosity would be roused. All my men were hidden,
+    some in the steamboat on top of the wagon, and in its shadow was a
+    cool place where the warriors would gladly rest after a ten-mile
+    march. Other of my men lay still as death under tarpaulins, under
+    bundles of grass, and in the bush round about the camp. By the time
+    the drum-taps and horns announced Ngalyema's arrival, the camp
+    seemed abandoned except by myself and a few small boys. I was
+    indolently seated in a chair reading a book, and appeared too lazy
+    to notice anyone; but, suddenly looking up and seeing my "brother
+    Ngalyema" and his warriors, scowlingly regarding me, I sprang up and
+    seized his hands, and affectionately bade him welcome, in the name
+    of sacred fraternity, and offered him my own chair.
+
+    He was strangely cold, and apparently disgruntled, and said:--
+
+    "Has not my brother forgotten his road? What does he mean by coming
+    to this country?"
+
+    "Nay, it is Ngalyema who has forgotten the blood-bond which exists
+    between us. It is Ngalyema who has forgotten the mountains of goods
+    which I paid him. What words are these of my brother?"
+
+    "Be warned, Rock-Breaker. Go back before it is too late. My elders
+    and people all cry out against allowing the white man to come into
+    our country. Therefore, go back before it be too late. Go back, I
+    say, the way you came."
+
+    Speech and counter-speech followed. Ngalyema had exhausted his
+    arguments; but it was not easy to break faith and be uncivil, with
+    plausible excuse. His eyes were reaching round seeking to discover
+    an excuse to fight, when they rested on the round, burnished face of
+    the Chinese gong.
+
+    "What is that?" he said.
+
+    "Ah, that--that is a fetish."
+
+    "A fetish! A fetish for what?"
+
+    "It is a war-fetish, Ngalyema. The slightest sound of that would
+    fill this empty camp with hundreds of angry warriors; they would
+    drop from above, they would spring up from the ground, from the
+    forest about, from everywhere."
+
+    "Sho! Tell that story to the old women, and not to a chief like
+    Ngalyema. My boy tells me it is a kind of a bell. Strike it and let
+    me hear it."
+
+    "Oh, Ngalyema, my brother, the consequences would be too dreadful!
+    Do not think of such a thing!"
+
+    "Strike it, I say."
+
+    "Well, to oblige my dear brother Ngalyema, I will."
+
+    And I struck hard and fast, and the clangourous roll rang out like
+    thunder in the stillness. Only for a few seconds, however, for a
+    tempest of human voices was heard bursting into frightful discords,
+    and from above, right upon the heads of the astonished warriors,
+    leaped yelling men; and from the tents, the huts, the forest round
+    about, they came by sixes, dozens, and scores, yelling like madmen,
+    and seemingly animated with uncontrollable rage. The painted
+    warriors became panic-stricken; they flung their guns and
+    powder-kegs away, forgot their chief, and all thoughts of loyalty,
+    and fled on the instant, fear lifting their heels high in the air;
+    or, tugging at their eye-balls, and kneading the senses confusedly,
+    they saw, heard, and suspected nothing, save that the limbo of
+    fetishes had suddenly broken loose!
+
+    But Ngalyema and his son did not fly. They caught the tails of my
+    coat, and we began to dance from side to side, a loving triplet,
+    myself being foremost to ward off the blow savagely aimed at my
+    "brothers," and cheerfully crying out, "Hold fast to me, my
+    brothers. I will defend you to the last drop of my blood. Come one,
+    come all."
+
+    Presently the order was given, "Fall in!" and quickly the leaping
+    forms became rigid, and the men stood in two long lines in beautiful
+    order, with eyes front, as though "at attention!" Then Ngalyema
+    relaxed his hold of my coat-tails, and crept from behind, breathing
+    more freely; and, lifting his hand to his mouth, exclaimed, in
+    genuine surprise, "Eh, Mamma! where did all these people come from?"
+
+    "Ah, Ngalyema, did I not tell you that thing was a powerful fetish?
+    Let me strike it again, and show you what else it can do."
+
+    "No! no! no!" he shrieked. "I have seen enough!"
+
+    The day ended peacefully. I was invited to hasten on to Stanley
+    Pool. The natives engaged themselves by the score to assist me in
+    hauling the wagons. My progress was thenceforth steady and
+    uninterrupted, and in due time the wagons and good-columns arrived
+    at their destination.
+
+[Illustration: A SPECIMEN OF CICATRIZATION]
+
+[Illustration: A SANKURU WOMAN PLAYING NATIVE DRAUGHTS]
+
+Kinshassa was an accident. Leopoldville, which is situated about ten
+miles away and the capital of the Congo-Kasai Province, was expected to
+become the center of white life and enterprise in this vicinity. It was
+founded by Stanley in the early eighties and named in honour of the
+Belgian king. It commands the river, cataracts, forests and mountains.
+
+Commerce, however, fixed Kinshassa as its base of operation, and its
+expansion has been astonishing for that part of the world. It is a
+bustling port and you can usually see half a dozen steamers tied up at
+the bank. There is a population of several hundred white people and many
+thousands of natives. The Banque du Congo Belge has its principal
+establishment here and there are scores of well-stocked mercantile
+establishments. With the exception of Matadi and Thysville it has the
+one livable hotel in the Congo. Moreover, it rejoices in that now
+indispensable feature of civic life which is expressed in a cinema
+theatre. In the tropics all motion picture houses are open-air
+institutions.
+
+In cataloguing Kinshassa's attractions I must not omit the feature that
+had the strongest and most immediate lure for me. It was a barber shop
+and I made tracks for it as soon as I arrived. I was not surprised to
+find that the proprietor was a Portuguese who had made a small fortune
+trimming the Samson locks of the scores of agents who stream into the
+little town every week. He is the only barber in the place and there is
+no competition this side of Stanleyville, more than a thousand miles
+away.
+
+The seasoned residents of the Congo would never think of calling
+Kinshassa by any other name than "Kin." In the same way Leopoldville is
+dubbed "Leo." Kinshassa is laid out in streets, has electric lights, and
+within the past twelve months about twenty automobiles have been
+acquired by its residents. There is a gay social life, and on July
+first, the anniversary of the birth of the Congo Free State, and when a
+celebration is usually held, I saw a spirited football game between
+British and Belgian teams. Most of the big international British trading
+companies that operate in Africa have branches in Kinshassa and it is
+not difficult to assemble an English-speaking quorum.
+
+In the matter of transportation Kinshassa is really the key to the heart
+of the Congo. It is the rail-head of the narrow-gauge line from Matadi
+and all merchandise that comes from Europe is transshipped at this point
+to the boats that go up the Congo river as far as Stanleyville. Thus
+every ton of freight and every traveller bound for the interior must
+pass through Kinshassa. When the railway from the Katanga is constructed
+its prestige will increase.
+
+Kinshassa owes a part of its development to the Huileries du Congo
+Belge. Its plant dominates the river front. There are a dozen huge tanks
+into which the palm-oil flows from the barges. The fluid is then run
+into casks and sent down by rail to Matadi, whence it goes in steamers
+to Europe. More than a hundred white men are in the service of the "H.
+C. B." at Stanley Pool. They live in standardized brick bungalows in
+their own area which is equipped with tennis courts and a library. On
+all English fête days the Union Jack is hoisted and there is much
+festivity.
+
+Two months had elapsed since I entered the Congo and I had travelled
+about two thousand miles within its borders. This journey, short as it
+seems as distances go these days, would have taken Stanley nearly two
+years to accomplish in the face of the obstacles that hampered him. I
+had only carried out part of my plan. The Kasai was calling. The time
+was now at hand when I would retrace my way up the Congo River and turn
+my face towards the Little America that nestles far up in the wilds.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELGIAN CONGO]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI--AMERICA IN THE CONGO
+
+
+I
+
+Go up the Kasai River to Djoko Punda and you believe, despite the
+background of tropical vegetation and the ever-present naked savage,
+that for the moment you are back in the United States. You see American
+jitneys scooting through the jungle; you watch five-ton American
+tractors hauling heavy loads along the sandy roads; you hear American
+slang and banter on all sides, and if you are lucky enough to be invited
+to a meal you get American hot cakes with real American maple syrup. The
+air tingles with Yankee energy and vitality.
+
+All this means that you have arrived at the outpost of Little America in
+the Belgian Congo--the first actual signboard of the least known and
+most picturesque piece of American financial venturing abroad. It has
+helped to redeem a vast region from barbarism and opened up an area of
+far-reaching economic significance. At Djoko Punda you enter the domain
+of the Forminiere, the corporation founded by a monarch and which has a
+kingdom for a partner. Woven into its story is the romance of a one-time
+barefoot Virginia boy who became the commercial associate of a king.
+
+What is the Forminiere and what does it do? The name is a contraction of
+Société Internationale Forestiere & Miniere du Congo. In the Congo,
+where companies have long titles, it is the fashion to reduce them to
+the dimensions of a cable code-word. Thus the high-sounding Compagnie
+Industrielle pour les Transports et Commerce au Stanley Pool is
+mercifully shaved to "Citas." This information, let me say, is a
+life-saver for the alien with a limited knowledge of French and whose
+pronunciation is worse.
+
+Clearly to understand the scope and purpose of the Forminiere you must
+know that it is one of the three companies that have helped to shape the
+destiny of the Congo. I encountered the first--the Union Miniere--the
+moment I entered the Katanga. The second is the Huileries du Congo
+Belge, the palm-oil producers whose bailiwick abuts upon the Congo and
+Kwilu Rivers. Now we come to the third and the most important agency, so
+far as American interest is affected, in the Forminiere, whose empire is
+the immense section watered by the Kasai River and which extends across
+the border into Angola. In the Union Miniere you got the initial hint of
+America's part in the development of the Congo. That part, however, was
+entirely technical. With the Forminiere you have the combination of
+American capital and American engineering in an achievement that is, to
+say the least, unusual.
+
+The moment I dipped into Congo business history I touched the Forminiere
+for the reason that it was the pet project of King Leopold, and the last
+and favorite corporate child of his economic statesmanship. Moreover,
+among the leading Belgian capitalists interested were men who had been
+Stanley's comrades and who had helped to blaze the path of civilization
+through the wilds. King Albert spoke of it to me in terms of
+appreciation and more especially of the American end. I felt a sense of
+pride in the financial courage and physical hardihood of my countrymen
+who had gone so far afield. I determined to see the undertaking at
+first hand.
+
+My experience with it proved to be the most exciting of my whole African
+adventure. All that I had hitherto undergone was like a springtime
+frolic compared to the journey up the Kasai and through the jungle that
+lurks beyond. I saw the war-like savage on his native heath; I travelled
+with my own caravan through the forest primeval; I employed every
+conceivable kind of transport from the hammock swung on a pole and
+carried on the shoulders of husky natives, to the automobile. The
+primitive and modern met at almost every stage of the trip which proved
+to be first cousin to a thriller from beginning to end. Heretofore I had
+been under the spell of the Congo River. Now I was to catch the magic of
+its largest tributary, the Kasai.
+
+Long before the Forminiere broke out its banner, America had been
+associated with the Congo. It is not generally known that Henry M.
+Stanley, who was born John Rowlands, achieved all the feats which made
+him an international figure under the name of his American benefactor
+who adopted him in New Orleans after he had run away to sea from a Welsh
+workhouse. He was for years to all intents and purposes an American, and
+carried the American flag on two of his famous expeditions.
+
+President Cleveland was the first chief dignitary of a nation to
+recognize the Congo Free State in the eighties, and his name is
+perpetuated in Mount Cleveland, near the headwaters of the Congo River.
+An American Minister to Belgium, General H. S. Sanford, had a
+conspicuous part in all the first International African Associations
+formed by King Leopold to study the Congo situation. This contact,
+however, save Stanley's share, was diplomatic and a passing phase. It
+was the prelude to the constructive and permanent part played by the
+American capitalists in the Forminiere, chief of whom is Thomas F. Ryan.
+
+The reading world associates Ryan with the whirlpool of Big Finance. He
+ruled New York traction and he recast the tobacco world. Yet nothing
+appealed to his imagination and enthusiasm like the Congo. He saw it in
+very much the same way that Rhodes viewed Rhodesia. Every great American
+master of capital has had his particular pet. There is always some
+darling of the financial gods. The late J. P. Morgan, for example,
+regarded the United States Steel Corporation as his prize performance
+and talked about it just like a doting father speaks of a successful
+son. The Union Pacific System was the apple of E. H. Harriman's eye, and
+the New York Central was a Vanderbilt fetish for decades. So with Ryan
+and the Congo. Other powerful Americans have become associated with him,
+as you will see later on, but it was the tall, alert, clear-eyed
+Virginian, who rose from penniless clerk to be a Wall Street king, who
+first had the vision on this side of the Atlantic, and backed it with
+his millions. I am certain that if Ryan had gone into the Congo earlier
+and had not been engrossed in his American interests, he would probably
+have done for the whole of Central Africa what Rhodes did for South
+Africa.
+
+We can now get at the beginnings of the Forminiere. Most large
+corporations radiate from a lawyer's office. With the Forminiere it was
+otherwise. The center of inspiration was the stone palace at Brussels
+where King Leopold II, King of the Belgians, held forth. The year 1906
+was not a particularly happy one for him. The atrocity campaign was at
+its height abroad and the Socialists were pounding him at home.
+Despite the storm of controversy that raged about him one clear idea
+shone amid the encircling gloom. That idea was to bulwark the Congo Free
+State, of which he was also sovereign, before it was ceded to Belgium.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS F. RYAN]
+
+Between 1879 and 1890 Leopold personally supported the cost of creating
+and maintaining the Free State. It represented an outlay of more than
+$2,500,000. Afterwards he had adequate return in the revenues from
+rubber and ivory. But Leopold was a royal spender in the fullest sense.
+He had a variety of fads that ranged from youthful and beguiling
+femininity to the building of palaces and the beautifying of his own
+country. He lavished millions on making Brussels a sumptuous capital and
+Ostend an elaborate seaside resort. With his private life we are not
+concerned. Leopold the pleasure-seeker was one person; Leopold the
+business man was another, and as such he was unique among the rulers of
+Europe.
+
+Leopold contradicted every known tradition of royalty. The king business
+is usually the business of spending unearned money. Your royal
+spendthrift is a much more familiar figure than the royal miser.
+Moreover, nobody ever associates productive power with a king save in
+the big family line. His task is inherited and with it a bank account
+sufficient to meet all needs. This immunity from economic necessity is a
+large price to pay for lack of liberty in speech and action. The
+principal job of most kings, as we all know, is to be a noble and
+acquiescent figure-head, to pin decorations on worthy persons, and to
+open public exhibitions.
+
+Leopold did all of these things but they were incidental to his larger
+task. He was an insurgent from childhood. He violated all the rules of
+the royal game not only by having a vision and a mind all his own but
+in possessing a keen commercial instinct. Geography was his hobby at
+school. Like Rhodes, he was forever looking at maps. When he became king
+he saw that the hope of Belgium economically lay in colonization. In
+1860 he made a journey to the Far East, whence he returned deeply
+impressed with trade opportunities in China. Afterwards he was the prime
+mover in the construction of the Pekin-Hankow Railway. I do not think
+most persons know that Leopold at one time tried to establish a Belgian
+colony in Ethiopia. Another act in his life that has escaped the casual
+biographer was his effort to purchase the Philippines from Spain. Now
+you can see why he seized upon the Congo as a colonizing possibility the
+moment he read Henry M. Stanley's first article about it in the London
+Telegraph.
+
+There was a vital reason why Belgium should have a big and prosperous
+colony. Her extraordinary internal development demanded an outlet
+abroad. The doughty little country so aptly called "The Cockpit of
+Europe," and which bore the brunt of the first German advance in the
+Great War, is the most densely populated in the world. It has two
+hundred and forty-seven inhabitants for each square kilometer. England
+only counts one hundred and forty-six, Germany one hundred and
+twenty-five, France seventy-two, and the United States thirteen. The
+Belgians had to have economic elbow room and Leopold was determined that
+they should have it.
+
+His creation of the Congo Free State was just one evidence of his
+shrewdness and diplomacy. Half a dozen of the great powers had their eye
+on this untouched garden spot in Central Africa and would have risked
+millions of dollars and thousands of men to grab it. Leopold, through a
+series of International Associations, engineered the famous Berlin
+Congress of 1884 and with Bismarck's help put the Free State on the map,
+with himself as steward. It was only a year ago in Germany that a former
+high-placed German statesman admitted to me that one of the few
+fundamental mistakes that the Iron Chancellor ever made was to permit
+Leopold to snatch the Congo from under the very eyes and hands of
+Germany. I quote this episode to show that when it came to business
+Leopold made every king in Europe look like an office boy. Even so
+masterful a manipulator of men as Cecil Rhodes failed with him. Rhodes
+sought his aid in his trans-African telegraph scheme but Leopold was too
+shrewd for him. After his first audience with the Belgian king Rhodes
+said to Robert Williams, "I thought I was clever but I was no match for
+him."
+
+The only other modern king interested in business was the former Kaiser,
+Mr. Wilhelm Hohenzollern. Although he has no business sense in the way
+that Leopold had it, he always had a keen appreciation of big business
+as an imperial prop. Like Leopold, he had a congested country and
+realized that permanent expansion lay in colonization. The commercial
+magnates of Germany used him for their own ends but their teamwork
+advanced the whole empire. Wilhelm was a silent partner in the potash,
+shipping, and electric-machinery trusts. He earned whatever he received
+because he was in every sense an exalted press-agent,--a sort of
+glorified publicity promoter. His strong point was to go about
+proclaiming the merits of German wares and he always made it a point to
+scatter samples. On a visit to Italy he left behind a considerable
+quantity of soap. There was a great rush to get these royal left-overs.
+Two weeks later a small army of German soap salesmen descended upon the
+country selling this identical product.
+
+Whatever may be said of Leopold, one thing is certain. He was not small.
+Wilhelm used the brains of other men; Leopold employed his own, and
+every capitalist who went up against him paid tribute to this asset.
+
+We can now go back to 1906, the year that was to mark the advent of
+America into the Congo. Leopold knew that the days of the Congo as a
+Free State were numbered. His personally-conducted stewardship of the
+Colony was being assailed by the Socialists on one hand and the atrocity
+proclaimers on the other. Leopold was undoubtedly sincere in his desire
+to economically safeguard the African possession before it passed out of
+his control. In any event, during the summer of that year he sent a
+message to Ryan asking him to confer with him at Brussels. The summons
+came out of a clear sky and at first the American financier paid no
+attention to it. He was then on a holiday in Switzerland. When a second
+invitation came from the king, he accepted, and in September there began
+a series of meetings between the two men which resulted in the
+organization of the Forminiere and with it the dawn of a real
+international epoch in American enterprise.
+
+In the light of our immense riches the timidity of American capital in
+actual constructive enterprise overseas is astonishing. Scrutinize the
+world business map and you see how shy it has been. We own rubber
+plantations in Sumatra, copper mines in Chile, gold interests in
+Ecuador, and have dabbled in Russian and Siberian mining. These
+undertakings are slight, however, compared with the scope of the world
+field and our own wealth. Mexico, where we have extensive smelting, oil,
+rubber, mining and agricultural investments, is so close at hand that it
+scarcely seems like a foreign country. Strangely enough our capital
+there has suffered more than in any other part of the globe. The
+spectacle of American pioneering in the Congo therefore takes on a
+peculiar significance.
+
+There are two reasons why our capital has not wandered far afield. One
+is that we have a great country with enormous resources and consequently
+almost unlimited opportunities for the employment of cash at home. The
+other lies in the fact that American capital abroad is not afforded the
+same protection granted the money of other countries. Take British
+capital. It is probably the most courageous of all. The sun never sets
+on it. England is a small country and her money, to spread its wings,
+must go elsewhere. Moreover, Britain zealously safeguards her Nationals
+and their investments, and we, I regret to say, have not always done
+likewise. The moment an Englishman or the English flag is insulted a
+warship speeds to the spot and John Bull wants to know the reason why.
+
+Why did Leopold seek American capital and why did he pick out Thomas F.
+Ryan? There are several motives and I will deal with them in order. In
+the first place American capital is about the only non-political money
+in the world. The English pound, for example, always flies the Union
+Jack and is a highly sensitive commodity. When England puts money into
+an enterprise she immediately makes the Foreign Office an accessory.
+German overseas enterprise is even more meddlesome. It has always been
+the first aid to poisonous and pernicious penetration. Even French
+capital is flavoured with imperialism despite the fact that it is the
+product of a democracy. Our dollars are not hitched to the star of
+empire. We have no dreams of world conquest. It is the safest
+politically to deal with, and Leopold recognized this fact.
+
+In the second place he did not want anything to interfere with his Congo
+rubber industry. Now we get to the real reason, perhaps, why he sent for
+Ryan. In conjunction with the late Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Ryan had
+developed the rubber industry in Mexico, by extracting rubber from the
+guayele shrub which grows wild in the desert. Leopold knew this--he had
+a way of finding out about things--and he sought to kill two birds with
+one stone. He wanted this Mexican process and at the same time he needed
+capital for the Congo. In any event, Ryan went to see him and the
+Forminiere was born.
+
+There is no need of rehearsing here the concrete details of this
+enterprise. All we want are the essential facts. Leopold realized that
+the Forminiere was the last business venture of his life and he
+projected it on a truly kingly scale. It was the final chance for huge
+grants and the result was that the Forminiere received the mining and
+mineral rights to more than 7,000,000 acres, and other concessions for
+agriculture aggregating 2,500,000 acres in addition.
+
+The original capital was only 3,000,000 francs but this has been
+increased from time to time until it is now more than 10,000,000 francs.
+The striking feature of the organization was the provision inserted by
+Leopold that made Belgium a partner. One-half of the shares were
+assigned to the Crown. The other half was divided into two parts. One of
+these parts was subscribed by the King and the Société Generale of
+Belgium, and the other was taken in its entirety by Ryan. Subsequently
+Ryan took in as associates Daniel Guggenheim, Senator Aldrich, Harry
+Payne Whitney and John Hays Hammond. When Leopold died his share went to
+his heirs. Upon the death of Aldrich his interest was acquired by Ryan,
+who is the principal American owner. No shares have ever been sold and
+none will be. The original trust certificate issued to Ryan and
+Guggenheim remains intact. The company therefore remains a close
+corporation in every respect and as such is unique among kindred
+enterprises.
+
+
+II
+
+At this point the question naturally arises--what is the Société
+Generale? To ask it in Belgium would be on a par with inquiring the name
+of the king. Its bank notes are in circulation everywhere and it is
+known to the humblest peasant.
+
+The Société Generale was organized in 1822 and is therefore one of the
+oldest, if not the oldest, joint stock bank of the Continent. The
+general plan of the famous Deutsche Bank of Berlin, which planted the
+German commercial flag everywhere, and which provided a large part of
+the bone and sinew of the Teutonic world-wide exploitation campaign, was
+based upon it. With finance as with merchandising, the German is a prize
+imitator.
+
+The Société Generale, however, is much more than a bank. It is the
+dynamo that drives Belgian enterprise throughout the globe. We in
+America pride ourselves on the fact that huge combinations of capital
+geared up to industry are a specialty entirely our own. We are much
+mistaken. Little Belgium has in the Société an agency for development
+unique among financial institutions. Its imposing marble palace on the
+Rue Royale is the nerve center of a corporate life that has no
+geographical lines. With a capital of 62,000,000 francs it has piled up
+reserves of more than 400,000,000 francs. In addition to branches called
+"filial banks" throughout Belgium, it also controls the powerful "Banque
+pour l'Etranger," which is established in London, Paris, New York,
+Cairo, and the Far East.
+
+One distinctive feature of the Société Generale is its close alliance
+with the Government. It is a sort of semi-official National Treasury and
+performs for Belgium many of the functions that the Bank of England
+transacts for the United Kingdom. But it has infinitely more vigour and
+push than the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in London. Its leading
+officials are required to appear on all imposing public occasions such
+as coronations and the opening of Parliament. The Belgian Government
+applies to the Société Generale whenever any national financial
+enterprise is to be inaugurated and counts upon it to take the initial
+steps. Thus it became the backbone of Leopold's ramified projects and it
+was natural that he should invoke its assistance in the organization of
+the Forminiere.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN JADOT]
+
+Long before the Forminiere came into being, the Société Generale was the
+chief financial factor in the Congo. With the exception of the Huileries
+du Congo Belge, which is British, it either dominates or has large
+holdings in every one of the sixteen major corporations doing business
+in the Colony and whose combined total capitalization is more than
+200,000,000 francs. This means that it controls railways and river
+transport, and the cotton, gold, rubber, ivory and diamond output.
+
+The custodians of this far-flung financial power are the money kings of
+Belgium. Chief among them is Jean Jadot, Governor of the Société
+Generale--the institution still designates its head by this ancient
+title--and President of the Forminiere. In him and his colleagues you
+find those elements of self-made success so dear to the heart of the
+human interest historian. It would be difficult to find anywhere a more
+picturesque group of men than those who, through their association with
+King Leopold and the Société, have developed the Congo and so many other
+enterprises.
+
+Jadot occupies today the same position in Belgium that the late J. P.
+Morgan held in his prime in America. He is the foremost capitalist.
+Across the broad, flat-topped desk of his office in that marble palace
+in the Rue Royale the tides of Belgian finance ebb and flow. Just as
+Morgan's name made an underwriting in New York so does Jadot's put the
+stamp of authority on it in Brussels. Morgan inherited a great name and
+a fortune. Jadot made his name and his millions.
+
+When you analyze the lives of American multi-millionaires you find a
+curious repetition of history. Men like John D. Rockefeller, Henry H.
+Rogers, Thomas F. Ryan, and Russell Sage began as grocery clerks in
+small towns. Something in the atmosphere created by spice and sugar must
+have developed the money-making germ. With the plutocrats of Belgium it
+was different. Practically all of them, and especially those who ruled
+the financial institutions, began as explorers or engineers. This shows
+the intimate connection that exists between Belgium and her overseas
+interests.
+
+Jadot is a good illustration. At twenty he graduated as engineer from
+Louvain University. At thirty-five he had directed the construction of
+the tramways of Cairo and of the Lower Egyptian Railways. He was now
+caught up in Leopold's great dream of Belgian expansion. The moment that
+the king obtained the concession for constructing the 1,200 mile railway
+from Pekin to Hankow he sent Jadot to China to take charge. Within eight
+years he completed this task in the face of almost insuperable
+difficulties, including a Boxer uprising, which cost the lives of some
+of his colleagues and tested his every resource.
+
+In 1905 he entered the Société Generale. At once he became fired with
+Leopold's enthusiasm for the Congo and the necessity for making it an
+outlet for Belgium. Jadot was instrumental in organizing the Union
+Miniere and was also the compelling force behind the building of the
+Katanga Railway. In 1912 he became Vice Governor of the Société and the
+following year assumed the Governorship. In addition to being President
+of the Forminiere he is also head of the Union Miniere and of the new
+railroad which is to connect the Katanga with the Lower Congo.
+
+When you meet Jadot you are face to face with a human organization
+tingling with nervous vitality. He reminds me more of E. H. Harriman
+than of any other American empire builder that I have met, and like
+Harriman he seems to be incessantly bound up to the telephone. He is
+keen, quick, and forceful and talks as rapidly as he thinks. Almost
+slight of body, he at first gives the impression of being a student for
+his eyes are deep and thoughtful. There is nothing meditative in his
+manner, however, for he is a live wire in the fullest American sense.
+Every time I talked with him I went away with a new wonder at his stock
+of world information. Men of the Jadot type never climb to the heights
+they attain without a reason. In his case it is first and foremost an
+accurate knowledge of every undertaking. He never goes into a project
+without first knowing all about it--a helpful rule, by the way, that the
+average person may well observe in the employment of his money.
+
+If Jadot is a live wire, then his confrere, Emile Francqui, is a whole
+battery. Here you touch the most romantic and many-sided career in all
+Belgian financial history. It reads like a melodrama and is packed with
+action and adventure. I could almost write a book about any one of its
+many stirring phases.
+
+At fourteen Francqui was a penniless orphan. He worked his way through a
+regimental school and at twenty was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. It
+was 1885 and the Congo Free State had just been launched. Having studied
+engineering he was sent out at once to Boma to join the Topographic
+Brigade. During this first stay in the Congo he was in charge of a
+boat-load of workmen engaged in wharf construction. The captain of a
+British gunboat hailed him and demanded that he stop. Francqui replied,
+
+"If you try to stop me I will lash my boat to yours and destroy it with
+dynamite." He had no further trouble.
+
+After three years service in the Congo he returned to Brussels and
+became the military instructor of Prince Albert, now King of the
+Belgians. The African fever was in his veins. He heard that a mission
+was about to depart for Zanzibar and East Africa. A knowledge of English
+was a necessary part of the equipment of the chief officer. Francqui
+wanted this job but he did not know a syllable of English. He went to a
+friend and confided his ambition.
+
+"Are you willing to take a chance with one word?" asked his colleague.
+
+"I am," answered the young officer.
+
+He thereupon acquired the word "yes," his friend's injunction being, "If
+you say 'yes' to every question you can probably carry it off."
+
+Francqui thereupon went to the Foreign Office and was immediately asked
+in English:
+
+"Can you speak English?"
+
+"Yes," was his immediate retort.
+
+"Are you willing to undertake the hazards of this journey to Zanzibar?"
+queried the interrogator.
+
+"Yes," came the reply.
+
+Luck was with Francqui for, as his good angel had prophesied, his one
+word of English met every requirement and he got the assignment. Since
+that time, I might add, he has acquired a fluent command of the English
+language. Francqui has always been willing to take a chance and lead a
+forlorn hope.
+
+It was in the early nineties that his exploits made his name one of the
+greatest in African conquest and exploration. He went out to the Congo
+as second in command of what was known as the Bia Expedition, sent to
+explore the Katanga and adjacent territory. After two hard years of
+incessant campaigning the expedition fell into hard lines. Captain Bia
+succumbed to smallpox and the column encountered every conceivable
+hardship. Men died by the score and there was no food. Francqui took
+charge, and by his indomitable will held the force together, starving
+and suffering with his men. During this experience he travelled more
+than 5,000 miles on foot and through a region where no other white man
+had ever gone before. He explored the Luapula, the headwaters of the
+Congo, and opened up a new world to civilization. No other single Congo
+expedition save that of Stanley made such an important contribution to
+the history of the Colony.
+
+Most men would have been satisfied to rest with this achievement. With
+Francqui it simply marked a milepost in his life. In 1896, when he
+resigned from the army, Leopold had fixed his eyes on China as a scene
+of operations, and he sent Francqui there to clinch the Pekin-Hankow
+concession, which he did. In the course of these negotiations he met
+Jadot, who was later to become his associate both in the Société
+Generale and in the Forminiere.
+
+In 1901 Francqui again went to China, this time as agent of the
+Compagnie d'Orient, which coveted the coal mines of Kaiping that were
+supposed to be among the richest in the world. The British and Germans
+also desired this valuable property which had been operated for some
+years by a Chinese company. As usual, Francqui got what he went after
+and took possession of the property. The crude Chinese method of mining
+had greatly impaired the workings and they had to be entirely
+reconstructed. Among the engineers employed was an alert, smooth-faced,
+keen-minded young American named Herbert Hoover.
+
+Upon his return to Brussels Francqui allied himself with Colonel Thys,
+who was head of the Banque d'Outremer, the rival of the Société
+Generale. After he had mastered the intricacies of banking he became a
+director of the Société and with Jadot forged to the front in finance.
+If Jadot stood as the Morgan, then Francqui became the Stillman of the
+Belgian money world.
+
+Then came the Great War and the German avalanche which overwhelmed
+Belgium. Her banks were converted into hospitals; her industry lay
+prostrate; her people faced starvation. Some vital agency was necessary
+to centralize relief at home in the same way that the Commission for
+Relief in Belgium,--the famous "C. R. B."--crystallized it abroad.
+
+The Comite Rationale was formed by Belgians to feed and clothe the
+native population and it became the disbursing agent for the "C. R. B."
+Francqui was chosen head of this body and directed it until the
+armistice. It took toll of all his energy, diplomacy and instinct for
+organization. Needless to say it was one of the most difficult of all
+relief missions in the war. Francqui was a loyal Belgian and he was
+surrounded by the suspicious and domineering German conquerors. Yet
+they trusted him, and his word in Belgium for more than four years was
+absolute law. He was, in truth, a benevolent dictator.
+
+[Illustration: EMILE FRANCQUI]
+
+His war life illustrates one of the quaint pranks that fate often plays.
+As soon as the "C. R. B." was organized in London Francqui hastened over
+to England to confer with the American organizers. To his surprise and
+delight he encountered in its master spirit and chairman, the
+smooth-faced young engineer whom he had met out in the Kaiping coal
+mines before. It was the first time that he and Hoover had seen each
+other since their encounter in China. They now worked shoulder to
+shoulder in the monster mercy of all history.
+
+Francqui is blunt, silent, aggressive. When Belgium wants something done
+she instinctively turns to him. In 1920, after the delay in fixing the
+German reparation embarrassed the country, and liquid cash was
+imperative, he left Brussels on three days' notice and within a
+fortnight from the time he reached New York had negotiated a
+fifty-million-dollar loan. He is as potent in official life as in
+finance for as Special Minister of State without portfolio he is a real
+power behind a real throne.
+
+Although Francqui is a director in the Société Generale, he is also what
+we would call Chairman of the Board of Banque d'Outremer. This shows
+that the well-known institution of "community of interests" is not
+confined to the United States. With Jadot he represents the Société in
+the Forminiere Board. I have used these two men to illustrate the type
+represented by the Belgian financial kings. I could mention various
+others. They include Alexander Delcommune, famous as Congo fighter and
+explorer, who is one of the leading figures of the Banque d'Outremer;
+Edmond Solvay, the industrial magnate, and Edward Bunge, the Antwerp
+merchant prince. Almost without exception they and their colleagues have
+either lived in the Congo, or have been guided in their fortunes by it.
+
+You have now had the historical approach with all personal side-lights
+to the hour when America actually invaded the Congo. As soon as Leopold
+and Ryan finally got together the king said, "The Congo must have
+American engineers. They are the best in the world." Thus it came about
+that Central Africa, like South Africa, came under the galvanizing hand
+of the Yankee technical expert. At Kimberley and Johannesburg, however,
+the task was comparatively easy. The mines were accessible and the
+country was known. With Central Africa it was a different and more
+dangerous matter. The land was wild, hostile natives abounded on all
+sides, and going in was like firing a shot in the dark.
+
+The American invasion was in two sections. One was the group of
+engineers headed by Sydney H. Ball and R. D. L. Mohun, known as the
+Ball-Mohun Expedition, which conducted the geological investigation. The
+other was in charge of S. P. Verner, an American who had done
+considerable pioneering in the Congo, and devoted itself entirely to
+rubber. The latter venture was under the auspices of the American Congo
+Company, which expected to employ the Mexican process in the Congo.
+After several years the attempt was abandoned although the company still
+exists.
+
+I will briefly narrate its experience to show that the product which
+raised the tempest around King Leopold's head and which for years was
+synonymous with the name of the Congo, has practically ceased to be an
+important commercial commodity in the Colony. The reason is obvious. In
+Leopold's day nine-tenths of the world's supply of rubber was wild and
+came from Brazil and the Congo. It cost about fifty cents a pound to
+gather and sold for a dollar. Today more than ninety per cent of the
+rubber supply is grown on plantations in the Dutch East Indies, the
+Malay States, and the Straits Settlements, where it costs about twenty
+cents a pound to gather and despite the big slump in price since the
+war, is profitable. In the Congo there is still wild rubber and a
+movement is under way to develop large plantations. Labor is scarce,
+however, while in the East millions of coolies are available. This tells
+the whole rubber story.
+
+The Ball-Mohun Expedition was more successful than its mate for it
+opened up a mineral empire and laid the foundations of the Little
+America that you shall soon see. Mohun was administrative head and Ball
+the technical head and chief engineer. Other members were Millard K.
+Shaler, afterwards one of Hoover's most efficient aids in the relief of
+Belgium, and Arthur F. Smith, geologists; Roland B. Oliver, topographer;
+A. E. H. and C. A. Reid, and N. Janot, prospectors.
+
+Mohun, who had been engaged on account of his knowledge of the country,
+had been American Consul at Zanzibar and at Boma, and first left
+diplomacy to fight the Arab slave-traders in the interior. When someone
+asked him why he had quit the United States Government service to go on
+a military mission he said, "I prefer killing Arabs in the interior to
+killing time at Boma." He figured as one of Richard Harding Davis'
+"Soldiers of Fortune" and was in every sense a unique personality.
+
+You get some idea of the hazards that confronted the American pioneers
+when I say that when they set forth for the Kasai region, which is the
+southwestern part of the Congo, late in 1907, they were accompanied by a
+battalion of native troops under Belgian officers. Often they had to
+fight their way before they could take specimens. On one occasion Ball
+was prospecting in a region hitherto uninvaded by the white man. He was
+attacked by a large body of hostile savages and a pitched battle
+followed. In informal Congo history this engagement is known as "The
+Battle of Ball's Run," although Ball did no running. As recently as 1915
+one of the Forminiere prospectors, E. G. Decker, was killed by the
+fierce Batshoks, the most belligerent of the Upper Kasai tribes. The
+Ball-Mohun group, which was the first of many expeditions, remained in
+the field more than two years and covered a wide area.
+
+Up to this time gold and copper were the only valuable minerals that had
+been discovered in the Congo and the Americans naturally went after
+them. Much to their surprise, they found diamonds and thereby opened up
+a fresh source of wealth for the Colony. The first diamond was found at
+_Mai Munene_, which means "Big Water," a considerable waterfall
+discovered by Livingstone. This region, which is watered by the Kasai
+River, became the center of what is now known as the Congo Diamond
+Fields and remains the stronghold of American engineering and financial
+enterprise in Central Africa. On a wooded height not far from the
+headwaters of the Kasai, these path-finding Americans established a post
+called Tshikapa, the name of a small river nearby. It is the capital of
+Little America in the jungle and therefore became the objective of the
+second stage of my Congo journey.
+
+[Illustration: A BELLE OF THE CONGO]
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN OF THE BATETELAS]
+
+
+III
+
+Kinshassa is nearly a thousand miles from Tshikapa. To get there I had
+to retrace my way up the Congo as far as Kwamouth, where the Kasai
+empties into the parent stream. I also found that it was necessary to
+change boats at Dima and continue on the Kasai to Djoko Punda. Here
+begins the jungle road to the diamond fields.
+
+Up to this time I had enjoyed the best facilities that the Congo could
+supply in the way of transport. Now I faced a trip that would not only
+try patience but had every element of the unknown, which in the Congo
+means the uncomfortable. Fortunately, the "Lusanga," one of the
+Huileries du Congo Belge steamers, was about to start for the Kwilu
+River, which branches off from the Kasai, and the company was kind
+enough to order it to take me to Dima, which was off the prescribed
+itinerary of the vessel.
+
+On a brilliant morning at the end of June I set forth. Nelson was still
+my faithful servant and his smile and teeth shone as resplendently as
+ever. The only change in him was that his appetite for _chikwanga_ had
+visibly increased. Somebody had told him at Kinshassa that the Kasai
+country teemed with cannibals. Being one of the world's champion eaters,
+he shrank from being eaten himself. I promised him an extra allowance of
+food and a khaki uniform that I had worn in the war, and he agreed to
+take a chance.
+
+Right here let me give an evidence of the Congo native's astounding
+quickness to grasp things. I do not refer to his light-fingered
+propensities, however. When we got to Kinshassa Nelson knew scarcely a
+word of the local dialect. When we left a week later, he could jabber
+intelligently with any savage he met. On the four weeks' trip from
+Elizabethville he had picked up enough French to make himself
+understood. The Central African native has an aptitude for languages
+that far surpasses that of the average white man.
+
+I was the only passenger on the "Lusanga," which had been reconstructed
+for Lord Leverhulme's trip through the Congo in 1914. I occupied the
+suite installed for him and it was my last taste of luxury for many a
+day. The captain, Albert Carrie, was a retired lieutenant in the British
+Royal Navy, and the chief engineer was a Scotchman. The Congo River
+seemed like an old friend as we steamed up toward Kwamouth. As soon as
+we turned into the Kasai I found that conditions were different than on
+the main river. There was an abundance of fuel, both for man and boat.
+The daily goat steak of the Congo was relieved by duck and fish. The
+Kasai region is thickly populated and I saw a new type of native,
+lighter in colour than elsewhere, and more keen and intelligent.
+
+The women of the Kasai are probably the most attractive in the Congo.
+This applies particularly to the Batetelas, who are of light brown
+colour. From childhood the females of this tribe have a sense of modesty
+that is in sharp contrast with the nudity that prevails elsewhere
+throughout the country. They swathe their bodies from neck to ankle with
+gaily coloured calico. I am often asked if the scant attire in Central
+Africa shocked me. I invariably reply by saying that the contemporary
+feminine fashion of near-undress in America and Europe made me feel
+that some of the chocolate-hued ladies of the jungle were almost
+over-clothed!
+
+The fourth day of my trip was also the American Fourth of July. Captain
+Carrie and I celebrated by toasting the British and American Navies, and
+it was not in Kasai water. This day also witnessed a somewhat remarkable
+revelation of the fact that world economic unrest has penetrated to the
+very heart of the primitive regions. While the wood-boys were getting
+fuel at a native post, Carrie and I went ashore to take a walk and visit
+a chief who had once been in Belgium. When we got back to the boat we
+found that all the natives had suspended work and were listening to an
+impassioned speech by one of the black wheelmen. All these boats have
+native pilots. This boy, who only wore a loin cloth, was urging his
+fellows not to work so hard. Among other things he said:
+
+"The white man eats big food and takes a big sleep in the middle of the
+day and you ought to do the same thing. The company that owns this boat
+has much money and you should all be getting more wages."
+
+Carrie stopped the harangue, fined the pilot a week's pay, and the men
+went back to work, but the poison had been planted. This illuminating
+episode is just one of the many evidences of industrial insurgency that
+I found in Africa from the moment I struck Capetown. In the Rand gold
+mining district, for example, the natives have been organized by British
+agitators and it probably will not be long before Central Africa has the
+I. W. W. in its midst! Certainly the "I Won't Works" already exist in
+large numbers.
+
+This essentially modern spirit was only one of the many surprises that
+the Congo native disclosed. Another was the existence of powerful secret
+societies which have codes, "grips," and pass-words. Some antedate the
+white man, indulge in human sacrifice, and have branches in a dozen
+sections. Although Central Africa is a land where the husband can stray
+from home at will, the "lodge night" is thus available as an excuse for
+domestic indiscretion.
+
+The most terrible of these orders is the Society of the Leopard, formed
+to provide a novel and devilish method of disposing of enemies. The
+members wear leopard skins or spotted habits and throttle their foes
+with a glove to which steel blades are affixed. The victim appears to
+have been killed by the animal that cannot change its spots. To make the
+illusion complete, the ground where the victim has lain is marked with a
+stick whose end resembles the feet of the leopard.
+
+The leopard skin has a curious significance in the Congo. For occasions
+where the white man takes an oath on the Bible, the savage steps over
+one of these skins to swear fealty. If two chiefs have had a quarrel and
+make up, they tear a skin in two and throw the pieces into the river, to
+show that the feud is rent asunder. It corresponds to the pipe of peace
+of the American Indian.
+
+Another secret society in the Congo is the Lubuki, whose initiation
+makes riding the goat seem like a childish amusement. The candidate is
+tied to a tree and a nest of black ants is distributed over his body. He
+is released only after he is nearly stung to death. A repetition of this
+jungle third degree is threatened for violation of any of the secrets of
+the order, the main purpose of which is to graft on non-members for food
+and other necessities.
+
+In civilized life the members of a fraternal society are summoned to a
+meeting by telephone or letter. In the Congo they are haled by the
+tom-tom, which is the wireless of the woods. These huge drums have an
+uncanny carrying power. The beats are like the dots and dashes of
+telegraphy. All the native news of Central Africa is transmitted from
+village to village in this way.
+
+I could continue this narrative of native habits and customs
+indefinitely but we must get back to the "Lusanga." On board was a real
+character. He was Peter the capita. In the Congo every group of native
+workmen is in charge of a capita, who would be designated a foreman in
+this country. Life and varied experience had battered Peter sadly. He
+spoke English, French, German, Portuguese, and half a dozen of the Congo
+dialects. He learned German while a member of an African dancing team
+that performed at the Winter Garden in Berlin. His German almost had a
+Potsdam flavour. He told me that he had danced before the former Kaiser
+and had met many members of the Teutonic nobility. Yet the thing that
+stood out most vividly in his memory was the taste of German beer. He
+sighed for it daily.
+
+Six days after leaving Kinshassa I reluctantly bade farewell to Peter
+and the "Lusanga" at Dima. Here I had the first piece of hard luck on
+the whole trip. The little steamer that was to take me up the Kasai
+River to Djoko Punda had departed five days before and I was forced to
+wait until she returned. Fifteen years ago Dima was the wildest kind of
+jungle. I found it a model, tropical post with dozens of brick houses, a
+shipyard and machine shops, avenues of palm trees and a farm. It is the
+headquarters of the Kasai Company in the Congo.
+
+I had a brick bungalow to myself and ate with the Managing Director,
+Monsieur Adrian Van den Hove. He knew no English and my alleged French
+was pretty bad. Yet we met three times a day at the table and carried
+on spirited conversations. There was only one English-speaking person
+within a radius of a hundred miles and I had read all my English books.
+I vented my impatience in walking, for I covered at least fifteen miles
+through the jungle every day. This proceeding filled both the Belgians
+and the natives with astonishment. The latter particularly could not
+understand why a man walked about the country aimlessly. Usually a
+native will only walk when he can move in the direction of food or
+sleep. On these solitary trips I went through a country that still
+abounds in buffalo. Occasionally you see an elephant. It is one thing to
+watch a big tusker doing his tricks in a circus tent, but quite another
+to hear him floundering through the woods, tearing off huge branches of
+trees as he moves along with what seems to be an incredible speed for so
+heavy an animal.
+
+There came the glad Sunday--it was my thirteenth day at Dima--when I
+heard the whistle of the steamboat. I dashed down to the beach and there
+was the little forty-ton "Madeleine." I welcomed her as a long-lost
+friend and this she proved to be. The second day afterwards I went
+aboard and began a diverting chapter of my experience. The "Madeleine"
+is a type of the veteran Congo boat. In the old days the Belgian
+pioneers fought natives from its narrow deck. Despite incessant combat
+with sand-banks, snags and swift currents--all these obstructions abound
+in the Kasai River--she was still staunch. In command was the only
+Belgian captain that I had in the Congo, and he had been on these waters
+for twenty years with only one holiday in Europe during the entire time.
+
+I occupied the alleged cabin-de-luxe, the large room that all these
+boats must furnish in case an important State functionary wants to
+travel. My fellow passengers were two Catholic priests and three Belgian
+"agents," as the Congo factors are styled. I ate alone on the main deck
+in front of my cabin, with Nelson in attendance.
+
+Now began a journey that did not lack adventure. It was the end of the
+dry season and the Kasai was lower than ever before. The channel was
+almost a continuous sand-bank. We rested on one of them for a whole day.
+I was now well into the domain of the hippopotamus. I am not
+exaggerating when I say that the Kasai in places is alive with them. You
+can shoot one of these monsters from the bridge of the river boats
+almost as easily as you could pick off a sparrow from the limb of a park
+tree. I got tired of watching them. The flesh of the hippopotamus is
+unfit for white consumption, but the natives regard it as a luxury. The
+white man who kills a hippo is immediately acclaimed a hero. One reason
+is that with spears the black finds it difficult to get the better of
+one of these animals.
+
+Our first step was at a Lutheran Mission set in the middle of a populous
+village. As we approached I saw the American flag hanging over the door
+of the most pretentious mud and grass house. When I went ashore I found
+that the missionaries--a man and his wife--were both American citizens.
+The husband was a Swede who had gone out to Kansas in his boyhood to
+work on a farm. There he married a Kansas girl, who now speaks English
+with a Swedish accent. After spreading the gospel in China and
+elsewhere, they settled down in this lonely spot on the Kasai River.
+
+I was immediately impressed with the difference between the Congo River
+and the Kasai. The Congo is serene, brooding, majestic, and fringed
+with an endless verdure. The Kasai, although 1,500 miles in length, is
+narrower and more pugnacious. Its brown banks and grim flanking
+mountains offer a welcome change from the eternal green of the great
+river that gives the Colony its name. The Kasai was discovered by
+Livingstone in 1854.
+
+I also got another change. Two days after I left Dima we were blanketed
+with heavy fog every morning and the air was raw and chill. On the Kasai
+you can have every experience of trans-Atlantic travel with the sole
+exception of seasickness.
+
+As I proceeded up the Kasai I found continued evidence of the advance in
+price of every food commodity. The omnipresent chicken that fetched a
+franc in 1914 now brings from five to ten. My old friend the goat has
+risen from ten to thirty francs and he was as tough as ever, despite the
+rise. But foodstuffs are only a small part of these Congo economic
+troubles.
+
+We have suffered for some time under the burden of our inseparable
+companion, the High Cost of Living. It is slight compared with the High
+Cost of Loving in the Congo. Here you touch a real hardship. Before the
+war a first-class wife--all wives are bought--sold for fifty francs.
+Today the market price for a choice spouse is two hundred francs and it
+takes hard digging for the black man to scrape up this almost
+prohibitive fee. Thus the High Cost of Matrimony enters the list of
+universal distractions.
+
+On the "Madeleine" was a fascinating black child named Nanda. He was
+about five years old and strolled about the boat absolutely naked. Most
+Congo parents are fond of their offspring but this particular youngster,
+who was bright and alert, was adored by his father, the head fireman
+on the vessel. One day I gave him a cake and it was the first piece of
+sweet bread he had ever eaten. Evidently he liked it for afterwards he
+approached me every hour with his little hands outstretched. I was
+anxious to get a photograph of him in his natural state and took him
+ashore ostensibly for a walk. One of my fellow passengers had a camera
+and I asked him to come along. When the boy saw that he was about to be
+snapped he rushed back to the boat yelling and howling. I did not know
+what was the matter until he returned in about ten minutes, wearing an
+abbreviated pair of pants and a short coat. He was willing to walk about
+nude but when it came to being pictured he suddenly became modest. This
+state of mind, however, is not general in the Colony.
+
+[Illustration: FISHERMEN ON THE SANKURU]
+
+[Illustration: THE FALLS OF THE SANKURU]
+
+The African child is fond of playthings which shows that one touch of
+amusement makes all childhood kin. He will swim half a mile through a
+crocodile-infested river to get an empty tin can or a bottle. One of the
+favorite sports on the river boats is to throw boxes or bottles into the
+water and then watch the children race for them. On the Congo the
+fathers sometimes manufacture rude reproductions of steamboats for their
+children and some of them are astonishingly well made.
+
+Exactly twelve days after we left Dima the captain told me that we were
+nearing Djoko Punda. The country was mountainous and the river had
+become swifter and deeper for we were approaching Wissmann Falls, the
+end of navigation for some distance. These falls are named for Herman
+Wissmann, a lieutenant in the Prussian Army who in the opinion of such
+authorities as Sir Harry Johnston, ranks third in the hierarchy of early
+Congo explorers. Stanley, of course, comes first and Grenfell second.
+
+On account of the lack of certain communication save by runner in this
+part of Africa--the traveller can always beat a wireless message--I was
+unable to send any word of my coming and I wondered whom and what I
+would find there. I had the strongest possible letters to all the
+Forminiere officials but these pieces of paper could not get me on to
+Tshikapa. I needed something that moved on wheels. I was greatly
+relieved, therefore, when we came in sight of the post to see two
+unmistakable American figures standing on the bank. What cheered me
+further were two American motor cars nearby.
+
+The two Americans proved to be G. D. Moody and J. E. Robison. The former
+is Assistant Chief Engineer of the Forminiere in the field and the
+latter is in charge of the motor transport. They gave me a genuine
+American welcome and that night I dined in Robison's grass house off
+American food that had travelled nearly fifteen thousand miles. I heard
+the first unadulterated Yankee conversation that had fallen on my ears
+since I left Elizabethville two months before. When I said that I wanted
+to push on to Tshikapa at once, Moody said, "We will leave at five in
+the morning in one of the jitneys and be in Tshikapa tomorrow night."
+Moody was an incorrigible optimist as I was soon to discover.
+
+
+IV
+
+At dawn the next morning and after a breakfast of hot cakes we set out.
+Nelson was in a great state of excitement because he had never ridden in
+an automobile before. He was destined not to enjoy that rare privilege
+very long. The rough highway hewed by American engineers through the
+thick woods was a foot deep in sand and before we had proceeded a
+hundred yards the car got stuck and all hands save Moody got out to push
+it on. Moody was the chauffeur and had to remain at the wheel. Draped in
+fog, the jungle about me had an almost eerie look. But aesthetic and
+emotional observations had to give way to practicality. Laboriously the
+jitney snorted through the sand and bumped over tree stumps. After a
+strenuous hour and when we had reached the open country, the machine
+gave a groan and died on the spot. We were on a broad plain on the
+outskirts of a village and the broiling sun beat down on us.
+
+The African picaninny has just as much curiosity as his American brother
+and in ten minutes the whole juvenile population was assembled around
+us. Soon the grown-ups joined the crowd. Naked women examined the tires
+as if they were articles of food and black warriors stalked about with
+the same sort of "I told you so" expression that you find in the face of
+the average American watching a motor car breakdown. Human nature is the
+same the world over. The automobile is a novelty in these parts and when
+the Forminiere employed the first ones the natives actually thought it
+was an animal that would finally get tired and quit. Mine stopped
+without getting tired!
+
+For six hours Moody laboured under the car while I sat in the glaring
+sun alongside the road and cursed fate. Nelson spent his time eating all
+the available food in sight. Finally, at three o'clock Moody gave up and
+said, "We'll have to make the rest of this trip in a teapoy."
+
+A teapoy is usually a hammock slung on a pole carried on the shoulders
+of natives. We sent a runner in to Robison, who came back with two
+teapoys and a squad of forty blacks to transport us. The "teapoy boy,"
+as he is called, is as much a part of the African scheme of life as a
+driver or a chauffeur is in America. He must be big, strong, and sound
+of wind, because he is required to go at a run all the time. For any
+considerable journey each teapoy has a squad of eight men who alternate
+on the run without losing a step. They always sing as they go.
+
+I had never ridden in a teapoy before and now I began a continuous trip
+in one which lasted eight hours. Night fell almost before we got started
+and it was a strange sensation to go sailing through the silent black
+woods and the excited villages where thousands of naked persons of all
+sizes turned out to see the show. After two hours I began to feel as if
+I had been tossed up for a week in an army blanket. The wrist watch that
+I had worn throughout the war and which had withstood the fiercest shell
+shocks and bombardments, was jolted to a standstill. After the fourth
+hour I became accustomed to the movement and even went to sleep for a
+while. Midnight brought us to Kabambaie and the banks of the Kasai,
+where I found food and sanctuary at a Forminiere post. Here the
+thousands of tons of freight that come up the river from Dima by
+steamer and which are carried by motor trucks, ox teams, and on the
+heads of natives to this point, are placed on whale-boats and sent up
+the river to Tshikapa.
+
+Before going to bed I sent a runner to Tshikapa to notify Donald Doyle,
+Managing Engineer of the Forminiere in the field, that I was coming and
+to send a motor car out to meet me. I promised this runner much
+_matabeesh_, which is the African word for a tip, if he would run the
+whole way. The distance through the jungle was exactly seventy-two miles
+and he covered it, as I discovered when I reached Tshikapa, in exactly
+twenty-six hours, a remarkable feat. The _matabeesh_ I bestowed, by the
+way, was three francs (about eighteen cents) and the native regarded it
+as a princely gift because it amounted to nearly half a month's wages.
+
+By this time my confidence in the African jitney was somewhat shaken. A
+new motor-boat had just been received at Kabambaie and I thought I would
+take a chance with it and start up the Kasai the next day. Moody,
+assisted by several other engineers, set to work to get it in shape. At
+noon of the second day, when we were about to start, the engine went on
+a sympathetic strike with the jitney, and once more I was halted. I said
+to Moody, "I am going to Tshikapa without any further delay if I have to
+walk the whole way." This was not necessary for, thanks to the
+Forminiere organization, which always has hundreds of native porters at
+Kabambaie, I was able to organize a caravan in a few hours.
+
+After lunch we departed with a complete outfit of tents, bedding, and
+servants. The black personnel was thirty porters and a picked squad of
+thirty-five teapoy boys to carry Moody and myself. Usually these
+caravans have a flag. I had none so the teapoy capita fished out a big
+red bandanna handkerchief, which he tied to a stick. With the crimson
+banner flying and the teapoy carriers singing and playing rude native
+instruments, we started off at a trot. I felt like an explorer going
+into the unknown places. It was the real thing in jungle experience.
+
+From two o'clock until sunset we trotted through the wilds, which were
+almost thrillingly beautiful. In Africa there is no twilight, and
+darkness swoops down like a hawk. All afternoon the teapoy men, after
+their fashion, carried on what was literally a running crossfire of
+questions among themselves. They usually boast of their strength and
+their families and always discuss the white man they are carrying and
+his characteristics. I heard much muttering of _Mafutta Mingi_ and I
+knew long before we stopped that my weight was not a pleasant topic.
+
+I will try to reproduce some of the conversation that went on that
+afternoon between my carriers. I will not give the native words but will
+translate into English the questions and answers as they were hurled
+back and forth. By way of explanation let me say beforehand that there
+is no word in any of the Congo dialects for "yes." Affirmation is always
+expressed by a grunt. Here is the conversation:
+
+"Men of the white men."
+
+"Ugh."
+
+"Does he lie?"
+
+"He lies not."
+
+"Does he shirk?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Does he steal?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Am I strong?"
+
+"Ugh."
+
+"Have I a good liver?"
+
+"Ugh."
+
+[Illustration: A CONGO DIAMOND MINE]
+
+[Illustration: HOW THE MINES ARE WORKED]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it goes. One reason why these men talk so much is that all their work
+must be accompanied by some sound. Up in the diamond fields I watched a
+native chopping wood. Every time the steel blade buried itself in the
+log the man said: "Good axe. Cut deep." He talked to the weapon just as
+he would speak to a human being. It all goes to show that the Congo
+native is simply a child grown to man's stature.
+
+The fact that I had to resort to the teapoy illustrates the
+unreliability of mechanical transport in the wilds. I had tried in vain
+to make progress with an automobile and a motor boat, and was forced as
+a last resort to get back to the human being as carrier. He remains the
+unfailing beast of burden despite all scientific progress.
+
+I slept that night in a native house on the outskirts of a village. It
+was what is called a _chitenda_, which is a grass structure open at all
+the sides. The last white man to occupy this domicile was Louis Franck,
+the Belgian Minister of the Colonies, who had gone up to the Forminiere
+diamond fields a few weeks before. He used the same jitney that I had
+started in, and it also broke down with him. Moody was his chauffeur.
+They made their way on foot to this village. Moody told the chief that
+he had the real _Bula Matadi_ with him. The chief solemnly looked at
+Franck and said, "He is no _Bula Matadi_ because he does not wear any
+medals." Most high Belgian officials wear orders and the native dotes on
+shiny ornaments. The old savage refused to sell the travellers any food
+and the Minister had to share the beans of the negro boys who
+accompanied him.
+
+Daybreak saw us on the move. For hours we swung through dense forest
+which made one think of the beginnings of the world when the big trees
+were king. The vastness and silence were only comparable to the brooding
+mystery of the jungle nights. You have no feel of fear but oddly enough,
+a strange sense of security.
+
+I realized as never before, the truth that lay behind one of Stanley's
+convictions. He once said, "No luxury of civilization can be equal to
+the relief from the tyranny of custom. The wilds of a great city are
+greater than the excruciating tyranny of a small village. The heart of
+Africa is infinitely preferable to the heart of the world's largest
+city. If the way were easier, millions would fly to it."
+
+Despite this enthralling environment I kept wondering if that runner had
+reached Doyle and if a car had been sent out. At noon we emerged from
+the forest into a clearing. Suddenly Moody said, "I hear an automobile
+engine." A moment later I saw a small car burst through the trees far
+ahead and I knew that relief was at hand. Dr. John Dunn, the physician
+at Tshikapa, had started at dawn to meet me, and my teapoy adventures,
+for the moment, were ended. Dr. Livingstone at Ujiji had no keener
+feeling of relief at the sight of Stanley that I felt when I shook the
+hand of this bronzed, Middle Western medico.
+
+We lunched by the roadside and afterwards I got into Dunn's car and
+resumed the journey. I sent the porters and teapoy men back to
+Kabambaie. Late in the afternoon we reached the bluffs overlooking the
+Upper Kasai. Across the broad, foaming river was Tshikapa. If I had not
+known that it was an American settlement, I would have sensed its
+sponsorship. It radiated order and neatness. The only parallels in the
+Congo are the various areas of the Huileries du Congo Belge.
+
+
+V
+
+Tshikapa, which means "belt," is a Little America in every sense. It
+commands the junction of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers. There are dozens
+of substantial brick dwellings, offices, warehouses, machine-shops and a
+hospital. For a hundred miles to the Angola border and far beyond, the
+Yankee has cut motor roads and set up civilization generally. You see
+American thoroughness on all sides, even in the immense native villages
+where the mine employees live. Instead of having compounds the company
+encourages the blacks to establish their own settlements and live their
+own lives. It makes them more contented and therefore more efficient,
+and it establishes a colony of permanent workers. When the native is
+confined to a compound he gets restless and wants to go back home. The
+Americans are helping to solve the Congo labour problem.
+
+At Tshikapa you hear good old United States spoken with every dialectic
+flavour from New England hardness to Texas drawl. In charge of all the
+operations in the field was Doyle, a clear-cut, upstanding American
+engineer who had served his apprenticeship in the Angola jungles, where
+he was a member of one of the first American prospecting parties. With
+his wife he lived in a large brick bungalow and I was their guest in it
+during my entire stay in the diamond fields. Mrs. Doyle embodied the
+same courage that animated Mrs. Wallace. Too much cannot be said of the
+faith and fortitude of these women who share their husband's fortunes
+out at the frontiers of civilization.
+
+At Tshikapa there were other white women, including Mrs. Dunn, who had
+recently converted her hospitable home into a small maternity hospital.
+Only a few weeks before my arrival Mrs. Edwin Barclay, wife of the
+manager of the Mabonda Mine, had given birth to a girl baby under its
+roof, and I was taken over at once to see the latest addition to the
+American colony.
+
+On the day of my arrival the natives employed at this mine had sent Mrs.
+Barclay a gift of fifty newly-laid eggs as a present for the baby.
+Accompanying it was a rude note scrawled by one of the foremen who had
+attended a Presbyterian mission school. The birth of a white baby is
+always a great event in the Congo. When Mrs. Barclay returned to her
+home a grand celebration was held and the natives feasted and danced in
+honour of the infant.
+
+There is a delightful social life at Tshikapa. Most of the mines, which
+are mainly in charge of American engineers, are within a day's
+travelling distance in a teapoy and much nearer by automobile. Some of
+the managers have their families with them, and they foregather at the
+main post every Sunday. On Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and
+Christmas there is always a big rally which includes a dance and
+vaudeville show in the men's mess hall. The Stars and Stripes are
+unfurled to the African breeze and the old days in the States recalled.
+It is real community life on the fringe of the jungle.
+
+I was struck with the big difference between the Congo diamond fields
+and those at Kimberley. In South Africa the mines are gaping gashes in
+the earth thousands of feet wide and thousands deep. They are all
+"pipes" which are formed by volcanic eruption. These pipes are the real
+source of the diamonds. The precious blue ground which contains the
+stones is spread out on immense "floors" to decompose under sun and
+rain. Afterwards it is broken in crushers and goes through a series of
+mechanical transformations. The diamonds are separated from the
+concentrates on a pulsating table covered with vaseline. The gems cling
+to the oleaginous substance. It is an elaborate process.
+
+The Congo mines are alluvial and every creek and river bed is therefore
+a potential diamond mine. The only labour necessary is to remove the
+upper layer of earth,--the "overburden" as it is termed--dig up the
+gravel, shake it out, and you have the concentrate from which a naked
+savage can pick the precious stones. They are precisely like the mines
+of German South-West Africa. So far no "pipes" have been discovered in
+the Kasai basin. Many indications have been found, and it is inevitable
+that they will be located in time. The diamond-bearing earth sometimes
+travels very far from its base, and the American engineers in the Congo
+with whom I talked are convinced that these volcanic formations which
+usually produce large stones, lie far up in the Kasai hills. The
+diamond-bearing area of the Belgian Congo and Angola covers nearly eight
+thousand square miles and only five per cent has been prospected. There
+is not the slightest doubt that one of the greatest diamond fields ever
+known is in the making here.
+
+Now for a real human interest detail. At Kimberley the Zulus and Kaffirs
+know the value of the diamond and there was formerly considerable
+filching. All the workers are segregated in barbed wire compounds and
+kept under constant surveillance. At the end of their period of
+service they remain in custody for two weeks in order to make certain
+that they have not swallowed any stones.
+
+[Illustration: GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE]
+
+[Illustration: CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS]
+
+The Congo natives do not know what a diamond really is. The majority
+believe that it is simply a piece of glass employed in the making of
+bottles, and there are a good many bottles of various kinds in the
+Colony. Hence no watch is kept on the hundreds of Balubas who are mainly
+employed in the task of picking out the glittering jewels. During the
+past five years, when the product in the Congo fields has grown
+steadily, not a single karat has been stolen. The same situation obtains
+in the Angola fields.
+
+In company with Doyle I visited the eight principal mines in the Congo
+field and saw the process of mining in all its stages of advancement. At
+the Kisele development, which is almost within sight of Tshikapa, the
+small "jigs" in which the gravel is shaken, are operated by hand. This
+is the most primitive method. At Mabonda the concentrate pans are
+mounted on high platforms. Here the turning is also by hand but on a
+larger scale. The Ramona mine has steam-driven pans, while at Tshisundu,
+which is in charge of William McMillan, I witnessed the last word in
+alluvial diamond mining. At this place Forminiere has erected an
+imposing power plant whose tall smokestack dominates the surrounding
+forest. You get a suggestion of Kimberley for the excavation is immense,
+and there is the hum and movement of a pretentious industrial
+enterprise. Under the direction of William McMillan a research
+department has been established which is expected to influence and
+possibly change alluvial operations.
+
+Our luncheon at Tshisundu was attended by Mrs. McMillan, another
+heroine of that rugged land. Alongside sat her son, born in 1918 at one
+of the mines in the field and who was as lusty and animated a youngster
+as I have seen. His every movement was followed by the eagle eye of his
+native nurse who was about twelve years old. These native attendants
+regard it as a special privilege to act as custodians of a white child
+and invariably a close intimacy is established between them. They really
+become playmates.
+
+It is difficult to imagine that these Congo diamond mines were mere
+patches of jungle a few years ago. The task of exploitation has been an
+immense one. Before the simplest mine can be operated the dense forest
+must be cleared and the river beds drained. Every day the mine manager
+is confronted with some problem which tests his ingenuity and resource.
+Only the Anglo-Saxon could hold his own amid these trying circumstances.
+
+No less difficult were the natives themselves. Before the advent of the
+American engineers, industry was unknown in the Upper Kasai. The only
+organized activity was the harvesting of rubber and that was rather a
+haphazard performance. With the opening of the mines thousands of
+untrained blacks had to be drawn into organized service. They had never
+even seen the implements of labour employed by the whites. When they
+were given wheel-barrows and told to fill and transport the earth, they
+placed the barrows on their heads and carried them to the designated
+place. They repeated the same act with shovels.
+
+The Yankees have thoroughly impressed the value and the nobility of
+labour. I asked one of the employes at a diamond mine what he thought of
+the Americans. His reply was, "Americans and work were born on the same
+day."
+
+The labour of opening up the virgin land was only one phase. Every piece
+of machinery and every tin of food had to be transported thousands of
+miles and this condition still obtains. The motor road from Djoko Punda
+to Kabambaie was hacked by American engineers through the jungle. It is
+comparatively easy to get supplies to Djoko Punda although everything
+must be shifted from railway to boat several times. Between Djoko Punda
+and Tshikapa the material is hauled in motor trucks and ox-drawn wagons
+or conveyed on the heads of porters to Kabambaie. Some of it is
+transshipped to whale-boats and paddled up to Tshikapa, and the
+remainder continues in the wagons overland. During 1920 seven hundred
+and fifty tons of freight were hauled from Djoko Punda in this laborious
+way.
+
+At the time of my visit there were twelve going mines in the Congo
+field, and three new ones were in various stages of advancement. The
+Forminiere engineers also operate the diamond concessions of the Kasai
+Company and the Bas Congo Katanga Railway which will run from the
+Katanga to Kinshassa.
+
+More than twelve thousand natives are employed throughout the Congo area
+alone and nowhere have I seen a more contented lot of blacks. The
+Forminiere obtains this good-will by wisely keeping the price of trade
+goods such as salt and calico at the pre-war rate. It is an admirable
+investment. This merchandise is practically the legal tender of the
+jungle. With a cup of salt a black man can start an endless chain of
+trading that will net him a considerable assortment of articles in time.
+
+The principal natives in the Upper Kasai are the Balubas, who bear the
+same relation to this area as the Bangalas do to the Upper Congo. The
+men are big, strong, and fairly intelligent. The principal tribal mark
+is the absence of the two upper central incisor teeth. These are usually
+knocked out in early boyhood. No Baluba can marry until he can show this
+gaping space in his mouth. Although the natives abuse their teeth by
+removing them or filing them down to points, they take excellent care of
+the remaining ivories. Many polish the teeth with a stick and wash their
+mouths several times a day. The same cannot be said of many civilized
+persons.
+
+I observed that the families in the Upper Kasai were much more numerous
+than elsewhere in the Congo. A Bangala or Batetela woman usually has one
+child and then goes out of the baby business. In the region dominated by
+the Forminiere it is no infrequent thing to see three or four children
+in a household. A woman who bears twins is not only hailed as a real
+benefactress but the village looks upon the occasion as a good omen.
+This is in direct contrast with the state of mind in East Africa, for
+example, where one twin is invariably killed.
+
+I encountered an interesting situation concerning twins when I visited
+the Mabonda Mine. This is one of the largest in the Congo field.
+Barclay, the big-boned American manager, formerly conducted engineering
+operations in the southern part of America. He therefore knows the Negro
+psychology and the result is that he conducts a sort of amiable and
+paternalistic little kingdom all his own. The natives all come to him
+with their troubles, and he is their friend, philosopher and guide.
+
+After lunch one day he asked me if I would like to talk to a native who
+had a story. When I expressed assent he took me out to a shed nearby and
+there I saw a husky Baluba who was labouring under some excitement. The
+reason was droll. Four days before, his wife had given birth to twins
+and there was great excitement in the village. The natives, however,
+refused to have anything to do with him because, to use their phrase,
+"he was too strong." His wife did not come under this ban and was the
+center of jubilation and gesticulation. The poor husband was a sort of
+heroic outcast and had to come to Barclay to get some food and a drink
+of palm wine to revive his drooping spirits.
+
+The output in the Congo diamond area has grown from a few thousand
+karats to hundreds of thousands of karats a year. The stones are small
+but clear and brilliant. This yield is an unsatisfactory evidence of the
+richness of the domain. The ore reserves are more than ten per cent of
+the yearly output and the surface of the concession has scarcely been
+scratched. Experienced diamond men say that a diamond in the ground is
+worth two in the market. It is this element of the unknown that gives
+the Congo field one of its principal potentialities.
+
+The Congo diamond fields are merely a part of the Forminiere
+treasure-trove. Over in Angola the concession is eight times larger in
+area, the stones are bigger, and with adequate exploitation should
+surpass the parent production in a few years. Six mines are already in
+operation and three more have been staked out. The Angola mines are
+alluvial and are operated precisely like those in Belgian territory. The
+managing engineer is Glenn H. Newport, who was with Decker in the fatal
+encounter with Batchoks. The principal post of this area is Dundu, which
+is about forty miles from the Congo border.
+
+As I looked at these mines with their thousands of grinning natives and
+heard the rattle of gravel in the "jigs" my mind went back to Kimberley
+and the immense part that its glittering wealth played in determining
+the economic fate of South Africa. Long before the gold "rush" opened up
+in the Rand, the diamond mines had given the southern section of the
+continent a rebirth of prosperity. Will the Congo mines perform the same
+service for the Congo? In any event they will be a determining factor in
+the future world diamond output.
+
+No record of America in the Congo would be complete without a reference
+to the high part that our missionaries have played in the
+spiritualization of the land. The stronghold of our religious influence
+is also the Upper Kasai Basin. In 1890 two devoted men, Samuel N.
+Lapsley, a white clergyman, and William H. Sheppard, a Negro from
+Alabama, established the American Presbyterian Congo Mission at Luebo
+which is about one hundred miles from Tshikapa straight across country.
+
+The valley of the Sankuru and Kasai Rivers is one of the most densely
+populated of all the Belgian Congo. It is inhabited by five powerful
+tribes--the Baluba, the Bena Lulua, the Bakuba, the Bakete and the
+Zappozaps, and their united population is one-fifth of that of the whole
+Colony. Hence it was a fruitful field for labour but a hard one. From an
+humble beginning the work has grown until there are now seven important
+stations with scores of white workers, hundreds of native evangelists,
+one of the best equipped hospitals in Africa, and a manual training
+school that is teaching the youth of the land how to become prosperous
+and constructive citizens. Under its inspiration the population of Luebo
+has grown from two thousand in 1890 to eighteen thousand in 1920.
+
+The two fundamental principles underlying this splendid undertaking
+have been well summed up as follows: "First, the attainment of a Church
+supported by the natives through the thrift and industry of their own
+hands. The time is past when we may merely teach the native to become a
+Christian and then leave him in his poverty and squalor where he can be
+of little or no use to the Church. Second, the preparation of the native
+to take the largest and most influential position possible in the
+development of the Colony. Practically the only thing open to the
+Congolese is along the mechanical and manual lines."
+
+[Illustration: WASHING OUT GRAVEL]
+
+[Illustration: DONALD DOYLE (LEFT) AND MR. MARCOSSON]
+
+One of the noblest actors in this American missionary drama was the late
+Rev. W. M. Morrison, who went out to the Congo in 1896. Realizing that
+the most urgent need was a native dictionary, he reduced the
+Baluba-Lulua language to writing. In 1906 he published a Dictionary and
+Grammar which included the Parables of Christ, the Miracles, the
+Epistles to the Romans in paraphrase. He also prepared a Catechism based
+on the Shorter and Child's Catechisms. This gave the workers in the
+field a definite instrument to employ, and it has been a beneficent
+influence in shaping the lives and morals of the natives.
+
+One phase of the labours of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission
+discloses the bondage of the Congo native to the Witch Doctor. The
+moment he feels sick he rushes to the sorcerer, usually a bedaubed
+barbarian who practices weird and mysterious rites, and who generally
+succeeds in killing off his patient. More than ninety per cent of the
+pagan population of Africa not only acknowledges but fears the powers of
+the Witch Doctor. Only two-fifths of one per cent are under Christian
+medical treatment. The Presbyterian Missionaries, therefore, from the
+very outset have sought to bring the native into the ken of the white
+physician. It is a slow process. One almost unsurmountable obstacle lies
+in the uncanny grip that the "medicine man" wields in all the tribes.
+
+It is largely due to the missionaries that the practice of handshaking
+has been introduced in the Congo. Formerly the custom was to clap hands
+when exchanging greetings. The blacks saw the Anglo-Saxons grasp hands
+when they met and being apt imitators in many things, they started to do
+likewise. One of the first things that impressed me in Africa was the
+extraordinary amount of handshaking that went on when the people met
+each other even after a separation of only half an hour.
+
+
+VI
+
+I had originally planned to leave Africa at St. Paul de Loanda in
+Portuguese West Africa, where Thomas F. Ryan and his Belgian associates
+have acquired the new oil wells and set up still another important
+outpost of our overseas financial venturing. But so much time had been
+consumed in reaching Tshikapa that I determined to return to Kinshassa,
+go on to Matadi, and catch the boat for Europe at the end of August.
+
+There were two ways of getting back to Kabambaie. One was to go in an
+automobile through the jungle, and the other by boat down the Kasai.
+Between Kabambaie and Djoko Punda there is practically no navigation on
+account of the succession of dangerous rapids. Since my faith in the
+jitney was still impaired I chose the river route and it gave me the
+most stirring of all my African experiences. The two motor boats at
+Tshikapa were out of commission so I started at daybreak in a whale-boat
+manned by forty naked native paddlers.
+
+The fog still hung over the countryside and the scene as we got under
+way was like a Rackham drawing of goblins and ghosts. I sat forward in
+the boat with the ranks of singing, paddling blacks behind me. From the
+moment we started and until I landed, the boys kept up an incessant
+chanting. One of their number sat forward and pounded the iron gunwale
+with a heavy stick. When he stopped pounding the paddlers ceased their
+efforts. The only way to make the Congo native work is to provide him
+with noise.
+
+All day we travelled down the river through schools of hippopotami, some
+of them near enough for me to throw a stone into the cavernous mouths.
+The boat capita told me that he would get to Kabambaie by sundown. Like
+the average New York restaurant waiter, he merely said what he thought
+his listener wanted to hear. I fervently hoped he was right because we
+not only had a series of rapids to shoot up-river, but at Kabambaie is a
+seething whirlpool that has engulfed hundreds of natives and their
+boats. At sunset we had only passed through the first of the troubled
+zones. Nightfall without a moon found me still moving, and with the
+swirling eddy far ahead.
+
+I had many close calls during the war. They ranged from the first-line
+trenches of France, Belgium, and Italy to the mine fields of the North
+Sea while a winter gale blew. I can frankly say that I never felt such
+apprehension as on the face of those surging waters, with black night
+and the impenetrable jungle about me. The weird singing of the paddlers
+only heightened the suspense. I thought that every tight place would be
+my last. Finally at eight o'clock, and after it seemed that I had spent
+years on the trip, we bumped up against the shore of Kabambaie, within a
+hundred feet of the fatal spot.
+
+The faithful Moody, who preceded me, had revived life in the jonah
+jitney and at dawn the next day we started at full speed and reached
+Djoko Punda by noon. The "Madeleine" was waiting for me with steam up,
+for I sent a runner ahead. I had ordered Nelson back from Kabambaie
+because plenty of servants were available there. He spent his week of
+idleness at Djoko Punda in exploring every food known to the country. At
+one o'clock I was off on the first real stage of my homeward journey.
+The swift current made the downward trip much faster than the upward and
+I was not sorry.
+
+As we neared Basongo the captain came to me and said, "I see two
+Americans standing on the bank. Shall I take them aboard?"
+
+Almost before I could say that I would be delighted, we were within
+hailing distance of the post. An American voice with a Cleveland, Ohio,
+accent called out to me and asked my name. When I told him, he said,
+"I'll give you three copies of the _Saturday Evening Post_ if you will
+take us down to Dima. We have been stranded here for nearly three weeks
+and want to go home."
+
+I yelled back that they were more than welcome for I not only wanted to
+help out a pair of countrymen in distress but I desired some
+companionship on the boat. They were Charles H. Davis and Henry
+Fairbairn, both Forminiere engineers who had made their way overland
+from the Angola diamond fields. Only one down-bound Belgian boat had
+passed since their arrival and it was so crowded with Belgian officials
+on their way to Matadi to catch the August steamer for Europe, that
+there was no accommodation for them. By this time they were joined by a
+companion in misfortune, an American missionary, the Rev. Roy Fields
+Cleveland, who was attached to the Mission at Luebo. He had come to
+Basongo on the little missionary steamer, "The Lapsley," and sent it
+back, expecting to take the Belgian State boat. Like the engineers, he
+could get no passage.
+
+Davis showed his appreciation of my rescue of the party by immediately
+handing over the three copies of the Post, which were more than seven
+months old and which had beguiled his long nights in the field.
+Cleveland did his bit in the way of gratitude by providing hot griddle
+cakes every morning. He had some American cornmeal and he had taught his
+native servant how to produce the real article.
+
+At Dima I had the final heart-throb of the trip. I had arranged to take
+the "Fumu N'Tangu," a sister ship of the "Madeleine," from this point to
+Kinshassa. When I arrived I found that she was stuck on a sandbank one
+hundred miles down the river. My whole race against time to catch the
+August steamer would have been futile if I could not push on to
+Kinshassa at once.
+
+Happily, the "Yser," the State boat that had left Davis, Fairbairn, and
+Cleveland high and dry at Basongo, had put in at Dima the day before to
+repair a broken paddle-wheel and was about to start. I beat the
+"Madeleine's" gangplank to the shore and tore over to the Captain of the
+"Yser." When I told him I had to go to Kinshassa he said, "I cannot take
+you. I only have accommodations for eight people and am carrying forty."
+I flashed my royal credentials on him and he yielded. I got the sofa, or
+rather the bench called a sofa, in his cabin.
+
+On the "Yser" I found Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Crane, both Southerners,
+who were returning to the United States after eight years at service at
+one of the American Presbyterian Mission Stations. With them were their
+two youngest children, both born in the Congo. The eldest girl, who was
+five years old, could only speak the Baluba language. From her infancy
+her nurses had been natives and she was facing the problem of going to
+America for the first time without knowing a word of English. It was
+quaintly amusing to hear her jabber with the wood-boys and the firemen
+on board and with the people of the various villages where we
+stopped.
+
+[Illustration: THE PARK AT BOMA]
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN MATADI]
+
+The Cranes were splendid types of the American missionary workers for
+they were human and companionable. I had found Cleveland of the same
+calibre. Like many other men I had an innate prejudice against the
+foreign church worker before I went to Africa. I left with a strong
+admiration for him, and with it a profound respect.
+
+Kinshassa looked good to me when we arrived after four days' travelling,
+but I did not tarry long. I was relieved to find that I was in ample
+time to catch the August steamer at Matadi. It was at Kinshassa that I
+learned of the nominations of Cox and Harding for the Presidency,
+although the news was months old.
+
+The morning after I reached Stanley Pool I boarded a special car on the
+historic narrow-gauge railway that runs from Kinshassa to Matadi. At the
+station I was glad to meet Major and Mrs. Wallace, who like myself were
+bound for home. I invited them to share my car and we pulled out. On
+this railway, as on all other Congo lines, the passengers provide their
+own food. The Wallaces had their servant whom I recognized as one of the
+staff at Alberta. Nelson still held the fort for me. Between us we
+mobilized an elaborate lunch fortified by fruit that we bought at one of
+the many stations where we halted.
+
+We spent the night at the hotel at Thysville high in the mountains and
+where it was almost freezing cold. This place is named for General
+Albert Thys, who was attached to the colonial administration of King
+Leopold and who founded the Compagnie du Congo Pour le Commerce et
+l'Industrie, the "Queen-Dowager," as it is called, of all the Congo
+companies. His most enduring monument, however, is the Chemin de Fer du
+Congo Matadi-Stanley Pool. He felt with Stanley that there could be no
+development of the Congo without a railway between Matadi and Stanley
+Pool.
+
+The necessity was apparent. At Matadi, which is about a hundred miles
+from the sea, navigation on the Congo River ceases because here begins a
+succession of cataracts that extend almost as far as Leopoldville. In
+the old days all merchandise had to be carried in sixty-pound loads to
+Stanley Pool on the heads of natives. The way is hard for it is up and
+down hill and traverses swamps and morasses. Every year ten thousand men
+literally died in their tracks. The human loss was only one detail of
+the larger loss of time.
+
+Under the stimulating leadership of General Thys, the railway was
+started in 1890 and was opened for traffic eight and a half years later.
+Perhaps no railway in the world took such heavy toll. It is two hundred
+and fifty miles in length and every kilometer cost a white life and
+every meter a black one. Only the graves of the whites are marked. You
+can see the unending procession of headstones along the right of way.
+During its construction the project was bitterly assailed. The wiseacres
+contended that it was visionary, impracticable, and impossible. In this
+respect it suffered the same experience as all the other pioneering
+African railways and especially those of Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast,
+Uganda, and the Soudan.
+
+The scenery between Thysville and Matadi is noble and inspiring. The
+track winds through grim highlands and along lovely valleys. The hills
+are rich with colour, and occasionally you can see a frightened antelope
+scurrying into cover in the woods. As you approach Matadi the landscape
+takes on a new and more rugged beauty. Almost before you realize it,
+you emerge from a curve in the mountains and the little town so
+intimately linked with Stanley's early trials as civilizer, lies before
+you.
+
+Matadi is built on a solid piece of granite. The name is a version of
+the word _matari_ which means rock. In certain parts of Africa the
+letter "r" is often substituted for "d." Stanley's native name was in
+reality "Bula Matari," but on account of the license that I have
+indicated he is more frequently known as "Bula Matadi," the title now
+bestowed on all officials in the Congo. It was at Matadi that Stanley
+received the designation because he blasted a road through the rocks
+with dynamite.
+
+With its winding and mountainous streets and its polyglot population,
+Matadi is a picturesque spot. It is the goal of every official through
+the long years of his service in the bush for at this place he boards
+the steamer that takes him to Europe. This is the pleasant side of the
+picture. On the other hand, Matadi is where the incoming ocean traveller
+first sets foot on Congo soil. If it happens to be the wet season the
+foot is likely to be scorched for it is by common consent one of the
+hottest spots in all the universe. That well-known fable about frying an
+egg in the sun is an every-day reality here six months of the year.
+
+Matadi is the administrative center of the Lower Congo railway which has
+extensive yards, repair-shops, and hospitals for whites and blacks.
+Nearby are the storage tanks and pumping station of the oil pipe line
+that extends from Matadi to Kinshassa. It was installed just before the
+Great War and has only been used for one shipment of fluid. With the
+outbreak of hostilities it was impossible to get petroleum. Now that
+peace has come, its operations will be resumed because it is planned to
+convert many of the Congo River steamers into oil-burners.
+
+Tied up at a Matadi quay was "The Schoodic," one of the United States
+Shipping Board war-built freighters. The American flag at her stern gave
+me a real thrill for with the exception of the solitary national emblem
+I had seen at Tshikapa it was the first I had beheld since I left
+Capetown. I lunched several times on board and found the international
+personnel so frequent in our merchant marine. The captain was a native
+of the West Indies, the first mate had been born in Scotland, the chief
+engineer was a Connecticut Yankee, and the steward a Japanese. They were
+a happy family though under the Stars and Stripes and we spent many
+hours together spinning yarns and wishing we were back home.
+
+In the Congo nothing ever moves on schedule time. I expected to board
+the steamer immediately after my arrival at Matadi and proceed to
+Antwerp. There was the usual delay, and I had to wait a week. Hence the
+diversion provided by "The Schoodic" was a godsend.
+
+The blessed day came when I got on "The Anversville" and changed from
+the dirt and discomfort of the river boat and the colonial hotel to the
+luxury of the ocean vessel. It was like stepping into paradise to get
+settled once more in an immaculate cabin with its shining brass bedstead
+and the inviting bathroom adjacent. I spent an hour calmly sitting on
+the divan and revelling in this welcome environment. It was almost too
+good to be true.
+
+Nelson remained with me to the end. He helped the stewards place my
+luggage in the ship, which was the first liner he had ever seen. He was
+almost appalled at its magnitude. I asked him if he would like to
+accompany me to Europe. He shook his head solemnly and said, "No,
+master. The ship is too big and I am afraid of it. I want to go home to
+Elizabethville." As a parting gift I gave him more money than he had
+ever before seen in his life. It only elicited this laconic response,
+"Now I am rich enough to buy a wife." With these words he bade me
+farewell.
+
+[Illustration: A GENERAL VIEW OF MATADI]
+
+"The Anversville" was another agreeable surprise. She is one of three
+sister ships in the service of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo.
+The other two are "The Albertville" and "The Elizabethville." The
+original "Elizabethville" was sunk by a German submarine during the war
+off the coast of France. These vessels are big, clean, and comfortable
+and the service is excellent.
+
+All vessels to and from Europe stop at Boma, the capital of the Congo,
+which is five hours steaming down river from Matadi. We remained here
+for a day and a half because the Minister of the Colonies was to go back
+on "The Anversville." I was glad of the opportunity for it enabled me to
+see this town, which is the mainspring of the colonial administration.
+The palace of the Governor-General stands on a commanding hill and is a
+pretentious establishment. The original capital of the Congo was Vivi,
+established by Stanley at a point not far from Matadi. It was abandoned
+some year ago on account of its undesirable location. There is a strong
+sentiment that Leopoldville and not Boma should be the capital and it is
+not unlikely that this change will be made.
+
+The Minister of the Colonies and Monsieur Henry, the Governor-General,
+who also went home on our boat, received a spectacular send-off. A
+thousand native troops provided the guard of honour which was drawn up
+on the bank of the river. Native bands played, flags waved, and the
+populace, which included hundreds of blacks, shouted a noisy farewell.
+
+Slowly and majestically the vessel backed away from the pier and turned
+its prow downstream. With mingled feelings of relief and regret I
+watched the shores recede as the body of the river widened. Near the
+mouth it is twenty miles wide and hundreds of feet deep.
+
+At Banana Point I looked my last on the Congo River. For months I had
+followed its winding way through a land that teems with hidden life and
+resists the inroads of man. I had been lulled to sleep by its dull roar;
+I had observed its varied caprice; I had caught the glamour of its
+subtle charm. Something of its vast and mysterious spirit laid hold of
+me. Now at parting the mighty stream seemed more than ever to be
+invested with a tenacious human quality. Sixty miles out at sea its
+sullen brown current still vies with the green and blue of the ocean
+swell. It lingers like the spell of all Africa.
+
+The Congo is merely a phase of the larger lure.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+Albert, King of Belgium, 141, 226, 240
+Albert, Lake, 60, 180
+Alberta, 208, 209, 211, 212, 214
+Albertville, 60
+Ants, 155, 156
+Armour, J. Ogden, 125
+
+Bailey, Sir Abe, 135
+Ball, Sidney H., 244, 245
+Baluba, 203
+Bangala, The, 194, 195, 200, 203
+Barclay, Mrs. Edwin, 265
+Barclay, Mr. Edwin, 265, 270
+Barnato, Barney, 70-80, 86
+Basuto, 92
+
+Bechuanaland, 103, 106-108, 113
+Behr, H. C., 86
+Beira, 119, 127, 150
+Belgian Congo, 59, 81, 107, 124, 125, 130, 139-177, 225, 227-230, 241-284
+Benguella, 151
+Bia Expedition, 241
+Bolobo, 202
+Botha, General, 16-17, 19, 22, 23, 24-26, 38, 39, 74, 98
+Braham, I. F., 212, 213, 214
+Brandsma, Father, 192, 193
+British South Africa Company, 108-111, 115, 126-127
+Broken Hill Railway, 146
+Bukama, 61, 160, 163
+Bulawayo, 104-106, 112, 113, 127, 130, 134, 135, 144, 150
+Bunge, Edward, 244
+Butner, Daniel, 149
+Butters, Charles, 86, 88
+
+Cairo, 57
+Cameroons, 100, 101
+Campbell, J. G., 167-168
+"Cape-boy," 93
+Cape Colony, 23, 64
+"Cape-to-Cairo," 57-101, 108, 146, 150-151
+Capetown, 17, 28-30, 57, 68, 74, 76, 104, 105, 114
+Carnahan, Thomas, 149
+Carrie, Albert, 248-249
+Carson, Sir Edward, 27
+Casement, Sir Roger, 100, 142
+Chaka, 105
+Chaplin, Sir Drummond, 109-110
+Chilembwe, John, 94
+Clement, Victor M., 86, 88
+Cleveland, President, 227
+Cleveland, Rev. Roy Fields, 277, 278
+"Comte de Flandre," 189-192, 197
+Congo-Kasai Province, 221, 246, 248
+Congo River, The, 59, 140-145, 153, 160-162, 179-284
+Coquilhatville, 201-202, 216
+Crane, Mr. and Mrs. Charles L., 278-279
+Creswell, Col. F. H. P., 29-30
+Cullinan, Thomas M., 90
+Curtis, J. S., 86, 88
+
+Davis, Charles H., 277, 278
+Dean, Captain, 187, 188
+DeBeers, 78-80, 129
+Delcommune, Alexander, 243-244
+Diamonds, 64, 76, 77-90, 94, 134, 135, 146, 152, 244, 265;
+  Congo Fields, 265-269;
+  Congo Output, 152
+Djoko Punda, 225, 247, 255, 269, 275, 276
+Doyle, Donald, 259, 262, 267
+Doyle, Mrs. Donald, 264
+Dubois, Lieutenant, 187-188
+Dunn, Dr. John, 262
+Durban 69
+Dutoitspan Mine, 81
+
+Elizabethville, 145, 147, 148, 149, 153, 157, 181
+
+Fairbairn, Henry, 277, 278
+Forminiere, The, 225-228, 232-234, 237, 256, 257, 261, 277
+Franck, Louis, 169-176, 179
+Francqui, Emile, 239-243
+Fungurume, 157, 160
+
+George, Lloyd, 15, 38, 40-42, 45
+German East Africa, 70, 101, 166
+German South-West Africa, 25, 70, 73, 81, 99, 101, 152
+Germany in Africa, 98-101, 150, 151, 165, 166, 174, 210, 216, 231
+Gerome, 157, 181
+Gordon, General, 58, 187
+Grenfell, George, 198, 201, 203, 255
+Grey, George, 147
+Groote Schuur, 32-34, 36, 41, 47, 53, 114
+Guggenheim, Daniel, 235
+
+Hammond, John Hays, 84, 86, 88, 128-129, 235
+Harriman, E. H., 238, 239
+Hellman, Fred, 86
+Hertzog, General W. B. M., 25-28, 46, 50-51, 53
+Hex River, 76
+Honnold, W. L., 86
+Horner, Preston K., 149, 157
+Hottentot, 92, 93
+Hoy, Sir William W., 66-67
+Huileries du Congo Belge, 189, 208-212, 222, 226, 263
+
+Jadot, Jean, 237-238, 239, 241, 243
+Jameson, Raid, 23, 86, 87, 89, 100, 115
+Jameson, Sir Starr 80, 89, 106, 111, 117, 136
+Janot, N., 245
+Jenkins, Hennen, 86, 87
+Jennings, Sidney, 86
+Johannesburg, 30, 65, 76, 78, 84, 85, 89, 93, 103, 105, 244
+Johnston, Sir Harry, 197, 201, 203, 212, 255
+
+Kabalo, 60, 165
+Kabambaie, 258, 259, 275, 276
+Kaffir, 64, 71, 82, 92, 266
+Kahew, Frank, 149
+Kambove, 149, 150
+Karoo, 77
+Kasai River, 95-96, 156, 189, 191, 199, 217, 223, 225, 227, 246, 247,
+    249, 253-258, 264, 269, 275
+Katanga, 145-146, 147, 148, 149, 150-153, 165, 174-175, 181, 194, 226, 241
+Kimberley, 64, 76, 77, 90, 94, 134, 135, 146, 154, 244, 265
+Kindu, 59, 168-169, 170
+Kinshassa, 153, 190, 201, 216, 217, 221-222, 247, 275, 281
+Kitchener, Lord, 15, 39, 77
+Kito, 180-181
+Kongolo, 59, 166, 168, 177
+Kruger, Paul, 22, 38, 47, 87-88, 89, 100, 107
+Kwamouth, 217, 247
+Kwilu River, 47, 209, 226
+
+Labram, George, 82-83
+Lane, Capt. E. F. C., 43
+Leggett, T. H., 86
+Leopold, King, 106, 139, 142, 150, 158, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230-235,
+    244, 245
+Leopoldville, 221, 222
+Leverhulme, Lord, 189, 208, 248
+Leverville, 209
+Lewaniki, 125
+Livingstone, Dr., 184, 185, 254
+Lobengula, 105, 106, 112, 115, 134
+"Louis Cousin," 160-162
+Lowa, 170
+Lualaba River, 59, 60, 160, 161-164, 168, 170, 177, 190, 191, 197
+Luluaburg, 215
+Lusanga, 249, 251
+
+Mabonda Mine, 265, 270
+"Madeleine," 252-254, 276
+Mafeking, 103
+Maguire, Rochfort, 107
+Mahagi, 59-60, 62
+Maize, 124-125
+Mashonaland, 106, 111-112
+Matabele, 103, 105, 106, 112, 113, 115, 126, 134
+Matadi, 279-281, 282
+Matopo Hills, 113-114, 115, 135
+McMillan, William, 267
+McMillan, Mrs. William, 268
+Mein, Capt. Thomas, 86, 88
+Mein, W. W., 86
+Merriman, J. X., 94
+Milner, Lord, 118
+Mohun, R. D. L., 244, 245, 246
+Moody, G. D., 256, 257, 258, 259, 261, 276
+Morgan, J. P. 74, 228, 238
+Morrison, Rev. W. M., 273
+Moul, R. D., 143
+
+Nanda, 254, 255
+Natal, 21, 23, 78, 122
+Nelson, 181-182, 248, 257, 258, 276, 282, 283
+Newport, Glenn H., 271
+Nile River, 59, 60, 175
+Nyassaland, 94, 142
+
+Oliver, Roland B., 245
+Orange Free State, 21, 23, 25, 50, 106, 139
+
+Perkins, H. C., 86
+Plumer, Lord, 113
+Ponthierville, 59, 152, 170
+Port Elizabeth, 72, 77
+Portuguese East Africa, 106, 112, 113, 150
+Prester, John, 94
+Pretoria, 47, 76, 90, 93
+
+Rand, The, 84-85, 86, 87, 89, 152, 249
+Reid, A. E. H., 245
+Reid, C. A., 245
+Rey, General de la, 25, 45
+Rhodes, Cecil, 17, 20, 32, 58, 60-61, 77-83, 86, 104-110, 114-121,
+    125, 129-137, 150, 165, 186, 230
+Rhodesia, 18, 33, 59, 94, 103-110, 114-121, 122-131
+Roberts, Lord, 16
+Robinson, J. B., 85
+Robison, J. E., 256, 258
+Rondebosch, 32
+Roos, Tielman, 53-54
+Roosevelt, Theodore, 19
+Rudd, C. D., 107
+Ryan, Thomas F., 228, 232-235, 244, 275
+
+Sabin, Charles H., 74
+Sakania, 144
+Sanford, General H. S., 227, 228
+Selous, F. C., 111
+Seymour, Louis, 86
+Shaler, Millard K., 245
+Smartt, Sir Thomas, 52
+Smith, Hamilton, 86
+Smuts, Jan Christian, 15-20, 23, 24-26, 28, 29-56, 98
+Snow, Frederick, 149
+Société Generale, 234-236, 239
+Solvay, Edmond, 244
+Soudan Railway, 60
+Stanley, Henry M., 159, 166, 170, 177, 183, 184, 185-188, 194, 196,
+    201, 203, 217, 218-221, 227, 228, 230, 255, 262
+Stanley Pool, 218, 222, 279
+Stanleyville, 59, 162, 166, 168, 169, 175, 177-180, 183, 185, 189,
+    190, 196, 200
+Steyne, President, 49
+Stoddard, Lothrop, 96
+Stonelake, Dr., 202
+
+Tambeur, General, 165
+Tanganyika Lake, 60, 142, 150, 166, 169
+Teneriffe, 69
+Thompson, F. R., 107
+Thompson, Samuel, 86
+Thompson, W. B., 74
+Thys, General Albert, 279, 280
+Tippo Tib, 166, 184-185
+Togoland, 100-101
+"Tony", 133
+Transvaal, 21, 23, 50, 106
+Tshikapa, 247, 256, 259, 262, 263, 264, 265, 267, 275, 282
+
+Uganda, 59
+Union of South Africa, 18, 20, 23
+
+Van den Hove, Adrian M., 251-252
+Venezilos, 15
+Verner, S. P., 244
+Victoria Falls, 104, 127, 130-132
+Vryburg, 119
+
+Wallace, Major Claude, 212, 213, 214
+Wallace, Mrs. Claude, 212
+Wangermee, General Emile, 148
+Wankie, 128
+Ward, Herbert, 184-188, 203
+Warriner, Ruel C., 86
+Webb, H. H., 86
+Webber, George, 86
+Wheeler, A. E., 149
+Whitney, Harry Payne, 235
+Williams, Gardner F., 82, 88
+Williams, Robert, 61, 146, 150, 151, 175
+Wilson, Woodrow, 37, 40, 42, 43, 50
+Wissmann, Herman, 255
+
+Yale, Thomas, 149
+Yeatman, Pope, 86
+
+Zambesi River, 18, 109, 131-132
+Zambesia, 108
+Zimbabwe Ruins, 130
+Zulu, 64, 71, 82, 92, 93, 266
+
+
+
+
+    *Transcriber's notes:*
+
+    Typos replaced:
+
+    Pg 26: separate streams → separate streams"
+    Pg 38: Africa.--the → Africa,--the
+    Pg 40: betwen → between
+    Pg 49: man con → man can
+    Pg 51: betwen → between
+    Pg 52: Britian → Britain
+    Pg 56: 'The destiny → "The destiny
+    Pg 56: Britian → Britain
+    Pg 57: n the world → in the world
+    Pg 59: beteween → between
+    Pg 72: It no → It is no
+    Pg 73: a quarter or → a quarter of
+    Pg 73: reoganization → reorganization
+    Pg 82: speriority → superiority
+    Pg 89: Eeast → East
+    Pg 89: stragetic → strategic
+    Pg 100: auother → another
+    Pg 101: Belian → Belgian
+    Pg 103: III → CHAPTER III
+    Pg 103: 'We've → "We've
+    Pg 110: irrenconcilable → irreconcilable
+    Pg 124: considering, Every → considering. Every
+    Pg 124: stock, The → stock. The
+    Pg 131: maximun → maximum
+    Pg 132: marval → marvel
+    Pg 139: IV → CHAPTER IV
+    Pg 139: controversay → controversy
+    Pg 152: developent → development
+    Pg 163: invarably → invariably
+    Pg 163: conspicious → conspicuous
+    Pg 166: rail-dead → rail-head
+    Pg 169: distaseful → distasteful
+    Pg 174: Rockerfeller → Rockefeller
+    Pg 177: V → CHAPTER V
+    Pg 182: Adthough → Although
+    Pg 184: invaribly → invariably
+    Pg 184: cruelity → cruelty
+    Pg 186: exporations → exploration
+    Pg 187: capured → captured
+    Pg 190: removed whole line "from his automobile and the creaky, jolty
+      train started" from between "that you" and "feel on"
+    Pg 191: sacrified → sacrificed
+    Pg 193: Uguanda → Uganda
+    Pg 195: resplendant → resplendent
+    Pg 201: high sease → high seas
+    Pg 210: incased → encased
+    Pg 214: unforgetable → unforgettable
+    Pg 219: arival → arrival
+    Pg 222: Begian → Belgian
+    Pg 225: VI → CHAPTER VI
+    Pg 226: Transporte → Transports
+    Pg 241: Forminere → Forminiere
+    Pg 243: Banqe → Banque
+    Pg 249: chololate-hued → chocolate-hued
+    Pg 255: heirarchy → hierarchy
+    Pg 255: Wissman → Wissmann
+    Pg 258: Fir → For
+    Pg 270: that → than
+    Pg 283: that → than
+    Pg 285: 194 → 194,
+    Pg 286: 85' → 85,
+    Pg 287: Societe → Société
+    Pg 288: Wissman → Wissmann
+
+    No attempt was made to harmonise inconsistent hyphenation; e.g. both
+    spellings _bed-room_ and _bedroom_ can be found in this book.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
+
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diff --git a/25569-0.zip b/25569-0.zip
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: An African Adventure
+
+Author: Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2008 [EBook #25569]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Júlio Reis, Linda McKeown and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+        BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+
+        ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING
+
+        PEACE AND BUSINESS
+
+        S. O. S: AMERICAS'S MIRACLE IN FRANCE
+
+        THE BUSINESS OF WAR
+
+        THE REBIRTH OF RUSSIA
+
+        THE WAR AFTER THE WAR
+
+        LEONARD WOOD: PROPHET OF PREPAREDNESS
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: KING ALBERT]
+
+
+
+
+                AN AFRICAN
+                ADVENTURE
+
+
+                    BY
+
+            ISAAC F. MARCOSSON
+
+AUTHOR OF "ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING," ETC.
+
+
+        NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY
+    LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
+
+                  MCMXXI
+
+
+
+
+              COPYRIGHT · 1921
+      BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+              COPYRIGHT · 1921
+            BY JOHN LANE COMPANY
+
+
+
+            THE PLIMPTON PRESS
+          NORWOOD · MASS · U·S·A
+
+
+                    _To_
+              THOMAS F. RYAN
+        WHO FIRST BEHELD THE VISION
+            OF AMERICA IN THE
+                  CONGO
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+From earliest boyhood when I read the works of Henry M. Stanley and
+books about Cecil Rhodes, Africa has called to me. It was not until I
+met General Smuts during the Great War, however, that I had a definite
+reason for going there.
+
+After these late years of blood and battle America and Europe seemed
+tame. Besides, the economic war after the war developed into a struggle
+as bitter as the actual physical conflict. Discord and discontent became
+the portion of the civilized world. I wanted to get as far as possible
+from all this social unrest and financial dislocation.
+
+So much interest was evinced in the magazine articles which first set
+forth the record of my journey that I was prompted to expand them into
+this book. It may enable the reader to discover a section of the
+one-time Dark Continent without the hardships which I experienced.
+
+                                                          I. F. M.
+
+NEW YORK, _April, 1921_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       CHAPTER                PAGE
+
+    I. SMUTS                    15
+
+   II. "CAPE-TO-CAIRO"          57
+
+  III. RHODES AND RHODESIA     103
+
+   IV. THE CONGO TODAY         139
+
+    V. ON THE CONGO RIVER      177
+
+   VI. AMERICA IN THE CONGO    225
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  King Albert                     _Frontispiece_
+
+  Groote Schuur                 _facing page_ 28
+
+  General J. C. Smuts                         44
+
+  Mr. Marcosson's Route in Africa             56
+
+  Cecil Rhodes                                76
+
+  The Premier Diamond Mine                    90
+
+  Victoria Falls                             102
+
+  Cultivating Citrus Land in Rhodesia        110
+
+  The Grave of Cecil Rhodes                  132
+
+  A Katanga Copper Mine                      138
+
+  Lord Leverhulme                            144
+
+  Robert Williams                            144
+
+  On the Lualaba                             150
+
+  A View on the Kasai                        150
+
+  A Station Scene at Kongola                 156
+
+  A Native Market at Kindu                   162
+
+  Native Fish Traps at Stanley Falls         168
+
+  The Massive Bangalas                       176
+
+  Congo Women in State Dress                 176
+
+  Central African Pygmies                    182
+
+  Women Making Pottery                       190
+
+  The Congo Pickaninny                       190
+
+  The Heart of the Equatorial Forest         198
+
+  Natives Piling Wood                        204
+
+  A Wood Post on the Congo                   204
+
+  Residential Quarters at Alberta            210
+
+  The Comte de Flandre                       210
+
+  A Typical Oil Palm Forest                  216
+
+  Bringing in the Palm Fruit                 216
+
+  A Specimen of Cicatrization                220
+
+  A Sankuru Woman Playing Native Draughts    220
+
+  The Belgian Congo                          224
+
+  Thomas F. Ryan                             228
+
+  Jean Jadot                                 236
+
+  Emile Francqui                             242
+
+  A Belle of the Congo                       246
+
+  Women of the Batetelas                     246
+
+  Fishermen on the Sankuru                   254
+
+  The Falls of the Sankuru                   254
+
+  A Congo Diamond Mine                       260
+
+  How the Mines Are Worked                   260
+
+  Gravel Carriers at a Congo Mine            266
+
+  Congo Natives Picking out Diamonds         266
+
+  Washing out Gravel                         272
+
+  Donald Doyle and Mr. Marcosson             272
+
+  The Park at Boma                           278
+
+  A Street in Matadi                         278
+
+  A General View of Matadi                   282
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I--SMUTS
+
+
+I
+
+Turn the searchlight on the political and economic chaos that has
+followed the Great War and you find a surprising lack of real
+leadership. Out of the mists that enshroud the world welter only three
+commanding personalities emerge. In England Lloyd George survives amid
+the storm of party clash and Irish discord. Down in Greece Venizelos,
+despite defeat, remains an impressive figure of high ideals and
+uncompromising patriotism. Off in South Africa Smuts gives fresh
+evidence of his vision and authority.
+
+Although he was Britain's principal prop during the years of agony and
+disaster, Lloyd George is, in the last analysis, merely an eloquent and
+spectacular politician with the genius of opportunism. One reason why he
+holds his post is that there is no one to take his place,--another
+commentary on the paucity of greatness. There is no visible heir to
+Venizelos. Besides, Greece is a small country without international
+touch and interest. Smuts, youngest of the trio, looms up as the most
+brilliant statesman of his day and his career has just entered upon a
+new phase.
+
+He is the dominating actor in a drama that not only affects the destiny
+of the whole British Empire, but has significance for every civilized
+nation. The quality of striking contrast has always been his. The
+one-time Boer General, who fought Roberts and Kitchener twenty years
+ago, is battling with equal tenacity for the integrity of the Imperial
+Union born of that war. Not in all history perhaps, is revealed a more
+picturesque situation than obtains in South Africa today. You have the
+whole Nationalist movement crystallized into a single compelling
+episode. In a word, it is contemporary Ireland duplicated without
+violence and extremism.
+
+I met General Smuts often during the Great War. He stood out as the most
+intellectually alert, and in some respects the most distinguished figure
+among the array of nation-guiders with whom I talked, and I interviewed
+them all. I saw him as he sat in the British War Cabinet when the German
+hosts were sweeping across the Western Front, and when the German
+submarines were making a shambles of the high seas. I heard him speak
+with persuasive force on public occasions and he was like a beacon in
+the gloom. He had come to England in 1917 as the representative of
+General Botha, the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, to
+attend the Imperial Conference and to remain a comparatively short time.
+So great was the need of him that he did not go home until after the
+Peace had been signed. He signed the Treaty under protest because he
+believed it was uneconomic and it has developed into the irritant that
+he prophesied it would be.
+
+In those war days when we foregathered, Smuts often talked of "the world
+that would be." The real Father of the League of Nations idea, he
+believed that out of the immense travail would develop a larger
+fraternity, economically sound and without sentimentality. It was a
+great and yet a practical dream.
+
+More than once he asked me to come to South Africa. I needed little
+urging. From my boyhood the land of Cecil Rhodes has always held a lure
+for me. Smuts invested it with fresh interest. So I went.
+
+The Smuts that I found at close range on his native heath, wearing the
+mantle of the departed Botha, carrying on a Government with a minority,
+and with the shadow of an internecine war brooding on the horizon, was
+the same serene, clear-thinking strategist who had raised his voice in
+the Allied Councils. Then the enemy was the German and the task was to
+destroy the menace of militarism. Now it was his own unreconstructed
+Boer--blood of his blood,--and behind that Boer the larger problem of a
+rent and dissatisfied universe, waging peace as bitterly as it waged
+war. Smuts the dreamer was again Smuts the fighter, with the fight of
+his life on his hands.
+
+Thus it came about that I found myself in Capetown. Everybody goes out
+to South Africa from England on those Union Castle boats so familiar to
+all readers of English novels. Like the P. & O. vessels that Kipling
+wrote about in his Indian stories, they are among the favorite first
+aids to the makers of fiction. Hosts of heroes in books--and some in
+real life--sail each year to their romantic fate aboard them.
+
+It was the first day of the South African winter when I arrived, but
+back in America spring was in full bloom. I looked out on the same view
+that had thrilled the Portuguese adventurers of the fifteenth century
+when they swept for the first time into Table Bay. Behind the harbor
+rose Table Mountain and stretching from it downward to the sea was a
+land with verdure clad and aglare with the African sun that was to
+scorch my paths for months to come.
+
+Capetown nestles at the foot of a vast flat-topped mass of granite
+unique among the natural elevations of the world. She is another melting
+pot. Here mingle Kaffir and Boer, Basuto and Britisher, East Indian and
+Zulu. The hardy rancher and fortune-hunter from the North Country rub
+shoulders with the globe-trotter. In the bustling streets modern
+taxicabs vie for space with antiquated hansoms bearing names like "Never
+Say Die," "Home Sweet Home," or "Honeysuckle." All the horse-drawn
+public vehicles have names.
+
+You get a familiar feel of America in this South African country and
+especially in the Cape Colony, which is a place of fruits, flowers and
+sunshine resembling California. There is the sense of newness in the
+atmosphere, and something of the abandon that you encounter among the
+people of Australia and certain parts of Canada. It comes from life
+spent in the open and the spirit of pioneering that within a
+comparatively short time has wrested a huge domain from the savage.
+
+What strikes the observer at once is the sharp conflict of race, first,
+between black and white, and then, between Briton and Boer. South of the
+Zambesi River,--and this includes Rhodesia and the Union of South
+Africa,--the native outnumbers the white more than six to one and he is
+increasing at a much greater rate than the European. Hence you have an
+inevitable conflict. Race lies at the root of the South African trouble
+and the racial reconciliation that Rhodes and Botha set their hopes upon
+remains an elusive quantity.
+
+I got a hint of what Smuts was up against the moment I arrived. I had
+cabled him of my coming and he sent an orderly to the steamer with a
+note of welcome and inviting me to lunch with him at the House of
+Parliament the next day. In the letter, among other things he said: "You
+will find this a really interesting country, full of curious problems."
+How curious they were I was soon to find out.
+
+I called for him at his modest book-lined office in a street behind the
+Parliament Buildings and we walked together to the House. Heretofore I
+had only seen him in the uniform of a Lieutenant General in the British
+Army. Now he wore a loose-fitting lounge suit and a slouch hat was
+jammed down on his head. In the change from khaki to mufti--and few men
+can stand up under this transition without losing some of the character
+of their personal appearance,--he remained a striking figure. There is
+something wistful in his face--an indescribable look that projects
+itself not only through you but beyond. It is not exactly preoccupation
+but a highly developed concentration. This look seemed to be enhanced by
+the ordeal through which he was then passing. In his springy walk was a
+suggestion of pugnacity. His whole manner was that of a man in action
+and who exults in it. Roosevelt had the same characteristic but he
+displayed it with much more animation and strenuosity.
+
+We sat down in the crowded dining room of the House of Parliament where
+the Prime Minister had invited a group of Cabinet Ministers and leading
+business men of Capetown. Around us seethed a noisy swirl which
+reflected the turmoil of the South African political situation.
+Parliament had just convened after an historic election in which the
+Nationalists, the bitter antagonists of Botha and Smuts, had elected a
+majority of representatives for the first time. Smuts was hanging on to
+the Premiership by his teeth. A sharp division of vote, likely at any
+moment, would have overthrown the Government. It meant a régime hostile
+to Britain that carried with it secession and the remote possibility of
+civil war.
+
+In that restaurant, as throughout the whole Union, Smuts was at that
+moment literally the observed of all observers. Far off in London the
+powers-that-be were praying that this blonde and bearded Boer could
+successfully man the imperial breach. Yet he sat there smiling and
+unafraid and the company that he had assembled discussed a variety of
+subjects that ranged from the fall in exchange to the possibilities of
+the wheat crop in America.
+
+The luncheon was the first of various meetings with Smuts. Some were
+amid the tumult of debate or in the shadow of the legislative halls,
+others out in the country at _Groote Schuur_, the Prime Minister's
+residence, where we walked amid the gardens that Cecil Rhodes loved, or
+sat in the rooms where the Colossus "thought in terms of continents." It
+was a liberal education.
+
+Before we can go into what Smuts said during these interviews it is
+important to know briefly the whole approach to the crowded hour that
+made the fullest test of his resource and statesmanship. Clearly to
+understand it you must first know something about the Boer and his long
+stubborn struggle for independence which ended, for a time at least, in
+the battle and blood of the Boer War.
+
+Capetown, the melting pot, is merely a miniature of the larger boiling
+cauldron of race which is the Union of South Africa. In America we also
+have an astonishing mixture of bloods but with the exception of the
+Bolshevists and other radical uplifters, our population is loyally
+dedicated to the American flag and the institutions it represents. With
+us Latin, Slav, Celt, and Saxon have blended the strain that proved its
+mettle as "Americans All" under the Stars and Stripes in France. We have
+given succor and sanctuary to the oppressed of many lands and these
+foreign elements, in the main, have not only been grateful but have
+proved to be distinct assets in our national expansion. We are a merged
+people.
+
+With South Africa the situation is somewhat different. The roots of
+civilization there were planted by the Dutch in the days of the Dutch
+East India Company when Holland was a world power. The Dutchman is a
+tenacious and stubborn person. Although the Huguenots emigrated to the
+Cape in considerable force in the seventeenth century and intermarried
+with the transplanted Hollanders, the Dutch strain, and with it the
+Dutch characteristics predominated. They have shaped South African
+history ever since. This is why the Boer is still referred to in popular
+parlance as "a Dutchman."
+
+The Dutch have always been a proud and liberty-loving people, as the
+Duke of Alva and the Spaniard learned to their cost. This inherited
+desire for freedom has flamed in the hearts of the Boers. In the early
+African day they preferred to journey on to the wild and unknown places
+rather than sacrifice their independence. What is known as "The Great
+Trek" of the thirties, which opened up the Transvaal and subsequently
+the Orange Free State and Natal, was due entirely to unrest among the
+Cape Boers. There is something of the epic in the narrative of those
+doughty, psalm-singing trekkers who, like the Mormons in the American
+West, went forth in their canvas-covered wagons with a rifle in one hand
+and the Bible in the other. They fought the savage, endured untold
+hardships, and met fate with a grim smile on their lips. It took Britain
+nearly three costly years to subdue their descendants, an untrained army
+of farmers.
+
+A revelation of the Boer character, therefore, is an index to the South
+African tangle. His enemies call the Boer "a combination of cunning and
+childishness." As a matter of fact the Boer is distinct among
+individualists. "Oom Paul" Kruger was a type. A fairly familiar story
+will concretely illustrate what lies within and behind the race. On one
+occasion his thumb was nearly severed in an accident. With his
+pocket-knife he cut off the finger, bound up the wound with a rag, and
+went about his business.
+
+The old Boer--and the type survives--was a Puritan who loved his
+five-thousand-acre farm where he could neither see nor hear his
+neighbors, who read the Good Word three times a day, drank prodigious
+quantities of coffee, spoke "_taal_" the Dutch dialect, and reared a
+huge family. Botha, for example, was one of thirteen children, and his
+father lamented to his dying day that he had not done his full duty by
+his country!
+
+Isolation was the Boer fetich. This instinct for aloofness,--principally
+racial,--animates the sincere wing of the Nationalist Party today. Men
+like Botha and Smuts and their followers adapted themselves to
+assimilation but there remained the "bitter-end" element that rebelled
+in arms against the constituted authority in 1914 and had to be put down
+with merciless hand. This element now seeks to achieve through more
+peaceful ends what it sought to do by force the moment Britain became
+involved in the Great War. The reason for the revolt of 1914, in a
+paragraph, was Britain's far-flung call to arms. The unreconstructed
+Boers refused to fight for the Power that humbled them in 1902. They
+seized the moment to make a try for what they called "emancipation."
+
+To go back for a moment, when the British conquered the Cape and
+thousands of Englishmen streamed out to Africa to make their fortunes,
+the Boer at once bristled with resentment. His isolation was menaced. He
+regarded the Briton as an "_Uitlander_"--an outsider--and treated him as
+an undesirable alien. In the Transvaal and the Orange Free State he was
+denied the rights that are accorded to law-abiding citizens in other
+countries. Hence the Jameson Raid, which was an ill-starred protest
+against the narrow, copper-riveted Boer rule, and later the final and
+sanguinary show-down in the Boer War, which ended the dream of Boer
+independence.
+
+In 1910 was established the Union of South Africa, comprising the
+Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal and the Cape Colony which
+obtained responsible government and which is to all intents and purposes
+a dominion as free as Australia or Canada. England sends out a
+Governor-General, usually a high-placed and titled person but he is a
+be-medalled figure-head,--an ornamental feature of the landscape. His
+principal labours are to open fairs, attend funerals, preside at
+harmless gatherings, and bestow decorations upon worthy persons. First
+Botha, and later Smuts, have been the real rulers of the country.
+
+The Union Constitution decreed that bi-lingualism must prevail. As a
+result every public notice, document, and time-table is printed in both
+English and Dutch. The tie of language is a strong one and this eternal
+and unuttered presence of the "_taal_" has been an asset for the
+Nationalists to exploit. It is a link with the days of independence.
+
+Following the Boer War came a sharp cleavage among the Boers. That great
+farm-bred soldier and statesman, Louis Botha, accepted the verdict and
+became the leader of what might be called a reconciled reconstruction.
+Firm in the belief that the future of South Africa was greater than the
+smaller and selfish issue of racial pride and prejudice, he rallied his
+open-minded and far-seeing countrymen around him. Out of this group
+developed the South African Party which remains the party of the Dutch
+loyal to British rule. To quote the program of principles, "Its
+political object is the development of a South African spirit of
+national unity and self-reliance through the attainment of the lasting
+union of the various sections of the people."
+
+Botha was made Premier of the Transvaal as soon as the Colony was
+granted self-government and with the accomplishment of Union was named
+Prime Minister of the Federation. The first man that he called to the
+standard of the new order to become his Colonial Minister, or more
+technically, Minister of the Interior, was Smuts, who had left his law
+office in Johannesburg to fight the English in 1900 and who displayed
+the same consummate strategy in the field that he has since shown in
+Cabinet meeting and Legislative forum. With peace he returned to law but
+not for long. Now began his political career--he has held public office
+continuously ever since--that is a vital part of the modern history of
+South Africa.
+
+In the years immediately following Union the genius of Botha had full
+play. He wrought a miracle of evolution. Under his influence the land
+which still bore the scars of war was turned to plenty. He was a farmer
+and he bent his energy and leadership to the rebuilding of the shattered
+commonwealths. Their hope lay in the soil. His right arm was Smuts, who
+became successively Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Defense.
+
+The belief that reconciliation had dawned was rudely disturbed when the
+Great War crashed into civilization. The extreme Nationalists rebelled
+and it was Botha, aided by Smuts, who crushed them. Beyers, the
+ringleader, was drowned while trying to escape across the Vaal River,
+DeWet was defeated in the field, De la Rey was accidentally shot, and
+Maritz became a fugitive. Botha then conquered the Germans in German
+South-West Africa and Smuts subsequently took over the command of the
+Allied Forces in German East Africa. When Botha died in 1919 Smuts not
+only assumed the Premiership of the Union but he also inherited the
+bitter enmity that General J. B. M. Hertzog bore towards his lamented
+Chief.
+
+Now we come to the crux of the whole business, past and present. Who is
+Hertzog and what does he stand for?
+
+If you look at your history of the Boer War you will see that one of the
+first Dutch Generals to take the field and one of the last to leave it
+was Hertzog, an Orange Free State lawyer who had won distinction on the
+Bench. He helped to frame the Union Constitution and on the day he
+signed it, declared that it was a distinct epoch in his life. A Boer of
+the Boers, he seemed to catch for the moment, the contagion that
+radiated from Botha and spelled a Greater South Africa.
+
+Botha made him Minister of Justice and all was well. But deep down in
+his heart Hertzog remained unrepentant. When the question of South
+Africa's contribution to the Imperial Navy came up in 1912 he fought it
+tooth and nail. In fiery utterances attacking the Government he
+denounced Botha as a jingoist and an imperialist. Just about this time
+he made the famous speech in which he stated his ideal of South Africa.
+He declared that Briton and Boer were "two separate streams"--two
+nationalities each flowing in a separate channel. The "two streams"
+slogan is now the Nationalist battlecry.
+
+Such procedure on the part of Hertzog demanded prompt action on the part
+of Botha, who called upon his colleague either to suppress his
+particular brand of anathema or resign. Hertzog not only built a bigger
+bonfire of denunciation but refused to resign.
+
+Botha thereupon devised a unique method of ridding himself of his
+uncongenial Minister. He resigned, the Government fell, and the Cabinet
+dissolved automatically. Hertzog was left out in the cold. The
+Governor-General immediately re-appointed Botha Prime Minister and he
+reorganized his Cabinet without the undesirable Hertzog.
+
+Hertzog became the Stormy Petrel of South Africa, vowing vengeance
+against Botha and Britain. He galvanized the Nationalist Party, which up
+to this time had been merely a party of opposition, into what was
+rapidly becoming a flaming secession movement. The South African Party
+developed into the only really national party, while its opponent,
+although bearing the name of National, was solely and entirely racial.
+
+The first real test of strength was in the election of 1915. The
+campaign was bitter and belligerent. The venom of the Nationalist Party
+was concentrated on Smuts. Many of his meetings became bloody riots. He
+was the target for rotten fruit and on one occasion an attempt was made
+on his life. The combination of the Botha personality and the Smuts
+courage and reason won out and the South African Party remained in
+power.
+
+Undaunted, Hertzog carried on the fight. He soon had the supreme
+advantage of having the field to himself because Botha was off fighting
+the Germans and Smuts had gone to England to help mould the Allied
+fortunes. The Nationalist leader made hay while the red sun of war
+shone. Every South African who died on the battlefield was for him just
+another argument for separation from England.
+
+When Ireland declared herself a "republic" Hertzog took the cue and
+counted his cause in with that of the "small nations" that needed
+self-determination. "Afrika for the Afrikans," the old motto of the
+_Afrikander Bond_, was unfurled from the masthead and the sedition
+spread. It not only recruited the Boers who had an ancient grievance
+against Great Britain, but many others who secretly resented the Botha
+and Smuts intimacy with "the conquerors." Some were sons and grandsons
+of the old "_Vortrekkers_," who not only delighted to speak the "_taal_"
+exclusively but who had never surrendered the ideal of independence.
+
+While the Dutch movement in South Africa strongly resembles the Irish
+rebellion there are also some marked differences. In South Africa there
+is no religious barrier and as a result there has been much
+intermarriage between Briton and Boer. The English in South Africa bear
+the same relation to the Nationalist movement there that the Ulsterites
+bear to the Sinn Feiners in Ireland. Instead of being segregated as are
+the followers of Sir Edward Carson, they are scattered throughout the
+country.
+
+At the General Election held early in 1920,--general elections are held
+every five years,--the results were surprising. The Nationalists
+returned a majority of four over the South African Party in Parliament.
+It left Smuts to carry on his Government with a minority. To add to his
+troubles, the Labour Party,--always an uncertain proposition,--increased
+its representation from a mere handful to twenty-one, while the
+Unionists, who comprise the straight-out English-speaking Party, whose
+stronghold is Natal, suffered severe losses. Smuts could not very well
+count the latter among his open allies because it would have alienated
+the hard-shell Boers in the South African Party.
+
+This was the situation that I found on my arrival in Capetown. On one
+hand was Smuts, still Prime Minister, taxing his every resource as
+parliamentarian and pacificator to maintain the Union and prevent a
+revolt from Britain--all in the face of a bitter and hostile majority.
+On the other hand was Hertzog, bent on secession and with a solid array
+of discontents behind him. The two former comrades of the firing line,
+as the heads of their respective groups, were locked in a momentous
+political life-and-death struggle the outcome of which may prove to be
+the precedent for Ireland, Egypt, and India.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright South African Railways_
+
+GROOTE SCHUUR]
+
+
+II
+
+Yet Smuts continued as Premier which means that he brought the life of
+Parliament to a close without a sharp division. Moreover, he
+manoeuvered his forces into a position that saved the day for Union
+and himself. How did he do it?
+
+I can demonstrate one way and with a rather personal incident. During
+the week I spent in Capetown Smuts was an absorbed person as you may
+imagine. The House was in session day and night and there were endless
+demands on him. The best opportunities that we had for talk were at
+meal-time. One evening I dined with him in the House restaurant. When we
+sat down we thought that we had the place to ourselves. Suddenly Smuts
+cast his eye over the long room and saw a solitary man just commencing
+his dinner in the opposite corner. Turning to me he said:
+
+"Do you know Cresswell?"
+
+"I was introduced to him yesterday," I replied.
+
+"Would you mind if I asked him to dine with us?"
+
+When I assured him that I would be delighted, the Prime Minister got up,
+walked over to Cresswell and asked him to join us, which he did.
+
+The significant part of this apparently simple performance, which had
+its important outcome, was this. Colonel F. H. P. Cresswell is the
+leader of the Labour Party in South Africa. By profession a mining
+engineer, he led the forces of revolt in the historic industrial
+upheaval in the Rand in what Smuts denounced as a "Syndicalist
+Conspiracy." Riot, bloodshed, and confusion reigned for a considerable
+period at Johannesburg and large bodies of troops had to be called out
+to restore order. At the very moment that we sat down to dine that night
+no one knew just what Cresswell and the Labourites with their new-won
+power would do. Smuts, as Minister of Finance, had deported some of
+Cresswell's men and Cresswell himself narrowly escaped drastic
+punishment.
+
+When Smuts brought Cresswell over he said jokingly to me:
+
+"Cresswell is a good fellow but I came near sending him to jail once."
+
+Cresswell beamed and the three of us amiably discussed various topics
+until the gong sounded for the assembling of the House.
+
+What was the result? Before I left Capetown and when the first of the
+few occasions which tested the real voting strength of Parliament arose,
+Cresswell and some of his adherents voted with Smuts. I tell this little
+story to show that the man who today holds the destiny of South Africa
+in his hands is as skillful a diplomat as he is soldier and statesman.
+
+It was at one of these quiet dinners with Smuts at the House that he
+first spoke about Nationalism. He said: "The war gave Nationalism its
+death blow. But as a matter of fact Nationalism committed suicide in the
+war."
+
+"But what is Nationalism?" I asked him.
+
+"A water-tight nation in a water-tight compartment," he replied. "It is
+a process of regimentation like the old Germany that will soon merge
+into a new Internationalism. What seems to be at this moment an orgy of
+Nationalism in South Africa or elsewhere is merely its death gasp. The
+New World will be a world of individualism dominated by Britain and
+America.
+
+"What about the future?" I asked him. His answer was:
+
+"The safety of the future depends upon Federation, upon a League of
+Nations that will develop along economic and not purely sentimental
+lines. The New Internationalism will not stop war but it can regulate
+exchange, and through this regulation can help to prevent war.
+
+"I believe in an international currency which will be a sort of legal
+tender among all the nations. Why should the currency of the country
+depreciate or rise with the fortunes of war or with its industrial or
+other complications? Misfortune should not be penalized fiscally."
+
+I brought up the question of the lack of accord which then existed
+between Britain and America and suggested that perhaps the fall in
+exchange had something to do with it, whereupon he said: "Yes, I think
+it has. It merely illustrates the point that I have just made about an
+international currency."
+
+We came back to the subject of individualism, which led Smuts to say:
+
+"The Great War was a striking illustration of the difference between
+individualism and nationalism. Hindenberg commanded the only army in the
+war. It was a product of nationalism. The individualism of the
+Anglo-Saxon is such that it becomes a mob but it is an intelligent mob.
+Haig and Pershing commanded such mobs."
+
+I tried to probe Smuts about Russia. He was in London when I returned
+from Petrograd in 1917 and I recall that he displayed the keenest
+interest in what I told him about Kerensky and the new order that I had
+seen in the making. I heard him speak at a Russian Fair in London. The
+whole burden of his utterance was the hope that the Slav would achieve
+discipline and organization. At that time Russia redeemed from autocracy
+looked to be a bulwark of Allied victory. The night we talked about
+Russia at Capetown she had become the prey of red terror and the
+plaything of organized assassination.
+
+Smuts looked rather wistful when he said:
+
+"You cannot defeat Russia. Napoleon learned this to his cost and so will
+the rest of the world. I do not know whether Bolshevism is advancing or
+subsiding. There comes a time when the fiercest fires die down. But the
+best way to revive or rally all Russia to the Soviet Government is to
+invade the country and to annex large slices of it."
+
+These utterances were made during those more or less hasty meals at the
+House of Parliament when the Premier's mind was really in the
+Legislative Hall nearby where he was fighting for his administrative
+life. It was far different out at _Groote Schuur_, the home of the Prime
+Minister, located in Rondebosch, a suburb about nine miles from
+Capetown. In the open country that he loves, and in an environment that
+breathed the romance and performance of England's greatest
+empire-builder, I caught something of the man's kindling vision and
+realized his ripe grasp of international events.
+
+_Groote Schuur_ is one of the best-known estates in the world. Cecil
+Rhodes in his will left it to the Union as the permanent residence of
+the Prime Minister. Ever since I read the various lives of Rhodes I had
+had an impatient desire to see this shrine of achievement. Here Rhodes
+came to live upon his accession to the Premiership of the Cape Colony;
+here he fashioned the British South Africa Company which did for
+Rhodesia what the East India Company did for India; here came prince and
+potentate to pay him honour; here he dreamed his dreams of conquest
+looking out at mountain and sea; here lived Jameson and Kipling; here
+his remains lay in state when at forty-nine the fires of his restless
+ambition had ceased.
+
+_Groote Schuur_, which in Dutch means "Great Granary," was originally
+built as a residence and store-house for one of the early Dutch
+Governors of the Cape. It is a beautiful example of the Dutch
+architecture that you will find throughout the Colony and which is not
+surpassed in grace or comfort anywhere. When Rhodes acquired it in the
+eighties the grounds were comparatively limited. As his power and
+fortune increased he bought up all the surrounding country until today
+you can ride for nine miles across the estate. You find no neat lawns
+and dainty flower-beds. On the place, as in the house itself, you get
+the sense of bigness and simplicity which were the keynotes of the
+Rhodes character.
+
+One reason why Rhodes acquired _Groote Schuur_ was that behind it rose
+the great bulk of Table Mountain. He loved it for its vastness and its
+solitude. On the back _stoep_, which is the Dutch word for porch, he sat
+for hours gazing at this mountain which like the man himself was
+invested with a spirit of immensity.
+
+It was a memorable experience to be at _Groote Schuur_ with Smuts, who
+has lived to see the realization of the hope of Union which thrilled
+always in the heart of Cecil Rhodes. I remember that on the first night
+I went out the Prime Minister took me through the house himself. It has
+been contended by Smuts' enemies that he was a "creature of Rhodes." I
+discovered that Smuts, with the exception of having made a speech of
+welcome when Rhodes visited the school that he attended as a boy, had
+never even met the Englishman who left his impress upon a whole land.
+
+_Groote Schuur_ has been described so much that it is not necessary for
+me to dwell upon its charm and atmosphere here. To see it is to get a
+fresh and intimate realization of the personality which made the
+establishment an unofficial Chancellery of the British Empire.
+
+Two details, however, have poignant and dramatic interest. In the
+simple, massive, bed-room with its huge bay window opening on Table
+Mountain and a stretch of lovely countryside, hangs the small map of
+Africa that Rhodes marked with crimson ink and about which he made the
+famous utterance, "It must be all red." Hanging on the wall in the
+billiard room is the flag with Crescent and Cape device that he had made
+to be carried by the first locomotive to travel from Cairo to the Cape.
+That flag has never been unfurled to the breeze but the vision that
+beheld it waving in the heart of the jungle is soon to become an
+accomplished fact.
+
+It was on a night at _Groote Schuur_, as I walked with Smuts through the
+acres of hydrangeas and bougainvillea (Rhodes' favorite flowers), with a
+new moon peeping overhead that I got the real mood of the man. Pointing
+to the faint silvery crescent in the sky I said: "General, there's a new
+moon over us and I'm sure it means good luck for you."
+
+"No," he replied, "it's the man that makes the luck."
+
+He had had a trying day in the House and was silent in the motor car
+that brought us out. The moment we reached the country and he sniffed
+the scent of the gardens the anxiety and preoccupation fell away. He
+almost became boyish. But when he began to discuss great problems the
+lightness vanished and he became the serious thinker.
+
+We harked back to the days when I had first seen him in England. I asked
+him to tell me what he thought of the aftermath of the stupendous
+struggle. He said:
+
+"The war was just a phase of world convulsion. It made the first rent in
+the universal structure. For years the trend of civilization was toward
+a super-Nationalism. It is easy to trace the stages. The Holy Roman
+Empire was a phase of Nationalism. That was Catholic. Then came the
+development of Nationalism, beginning with Napoleon. That was
+Protestant. Now began the building of water-tight compartments,
+otherwise known as nations. Germany represented the most complete
+development.
+
+"But that era of 'my country,' 'my power,'--it is all a form of national
+ego,--is gone. The four great empires,--Turkey, Germany, Russia and
+Austria,--have crumbled. The war jolted them from their high estate. It
+started the universal cataclysm. Centuries in the future some
+perspective can be had and the results appraised.
+
+"Meanwhile, we can see the beginning. The world is one. Humanity is one
+and must be one. The war, at terrible cost, brought the peoples
+together. The League of Nations is a faint and far-away evidence of this
+solidarity. It merely points the way but it is something. It is not
+academic formulas that will unite the peoples of the world but
+intelligence."
+
+Smuts now turned his thought to a subject not without interest for
+America, for he said:
+
+"The world has been brought together by the press, by wireless, indeed
+by all communication which represents the last word in scientific
+development. Yet political institutions cling to old and archaic
+traditions. Take the Presidency of the United States. A man waits for
+four months before he is inaugurated. The incumbent may work untold
+mischief in the meantime. It is all due to the fact that in the days
+when the American Constitution was framed the stagecoach and the horse
+were the only means of conveyance. The world now travels by aeroplane
+and express train, yet the antiquated habits continue.
+
+"So with political parties and peoples, the British Empire included.
+They need to be brought abreast of the times. The old pre-war British
+Empire, for example, is gone in the sense of colonies or subordinate
+nations clustering around one master nation. The British Empire itself
+is developing into a real League of Nations,--a group of partner
+peoples."
+
+"What of America and the future?" I asked him.
+
+"America is the leaven of the future," answered Smuts. "She is the
+life-blood of the League of Nations. Without her the League is stifled.
+America will give the League the peace temper. You Americans are a
+pacific people, slow to war but terrible and irresistible when you once
+get at it. The American is an individualist and in that new and
+inevitable internationalism the individual will stand out, the American
+pre-eminently."
+
+Throughout this particular experience at _Groote Schuur_ I could not
+help marvelling on the contrast that the man and the moment presented.
+We walked through a place of surpassing beauty. Ahead brooded the black
+mystery of the mountains and all around was a fragrant stillness broken
+only by the quick, almost passionate speech of this seer and thinker,
+animate with an inspiring ideal of public service, whose mind leaped
+from the high places of poetry and philosophy on to the hiving
+battlefield of world event. It seemed almost impossible that nine miles
+away at Capetown raged the storm that almost within the hour would again
+claim him as its central figure.
+
+The Smuts statements that I have quoted were made long before the
+Presidential election in America. I do not know just what Smuts thinks
+of the landslide that overwhelmed the Wilson administration and with it
+that well-known Article X, but I do know that he genuinely hopes that
+the United States somehow will have a share in the new international
+stewardship of the world. He would welcome any order that would enable
+us to play our part.
+
+No one can have contact with Smuts without feeling at once his intense
+admiration for America. One of his ambitions is to come to the United
+States. It is characteristic of him that he has no desire to see
+skyscrapers and subways. His primary interest is in the great farms of
+the West. "Your people," he once said to me, "have made farming a
+science and I wish that South Africa could emulate them. We have farms
+in vast area but we have not yet attained an adequate development."
+
+I was amazed at his knowledge of American literature. He knows Hamilton
+backwards, has read diligently about the life and times of Washington,
+and is familiar with Irving, Poe, Hawthorne and Emerson. One reason why
+he admires the first American President is because he was a farmer.
+Smuts knows as much about rotation of crops and successful chicken
+raising as he does about law and politics. He said:
+
+"I am an eighty per cent farmer and a Boer, and most people think a Boer
+is a barbarian."
+
+Despite his scholarship he remains what he delights to call himself, "a
+Boer." He still likes the simple Boer things, as this story will show.
+During the war, while he was a member of the British War Cabinet and
+when Lloyd George leaned on him so heavily for a multitude of services,
+a young South African Major, fresh from the Transvaal, brought him a box
+of home delicacies. The principal feature of this package was a piece of
+what the Boers call "biltong," which is dried venison. The Major gave
+the package to an imposing servant in livery at the Savoy Hotel, where
+the General lived, to be delivered to him. Smuts was just going out and
+encountered the man carrying it in. When he learned that it was from
+home, he grabbed the box, saying: "I'll take it up myself." Before he
+reached his apartment he was chewing away vigorously on a mouthful of
+"biltong" and having the time of his life.
+
+The contrast between Smuts and his predecessor Botha is striking. These
+two men, with the possible exception of Kruger, stand out in the annals
+of the Boer. Kruger was the dour, stolid, canny, provincial trader. The
+only time that his interest ever left the confines of the Transvaal was
+when he sought an alliance with William Hohenzollern, and that person, I
+might add, failed him at the critical moment.
+
+Botha was the George Washington of South Africa,--the farmer who became
+Premier. He was big of body and of soul,--big enough to know when he was
+beaten and to rebuild out of the ruins. Even the Nationalists trusted
+him and they do not trust Smuts. It is the old story of the prophet in
+his own country. There are many people in South Africa today who believe
+that if Botha were alive there would be no secession movement.
+
+The Boers who oppose him politically call Smuts "Slim Jannie." The
+Dutch word "slim" means tricky and evasive. Not so very long ago Smuts
+was in a conference with some of his countrymen who were not altogether
+friendly to him. He had just remarked on the long drought that was
+prevailing. One of the men present went to the window and looked out.
+When asked the reason for this action he replied:
+
+"Smuts says that there's a drought. I looked out to see if it was
+raining."
+
+When you come to Smuts in this analogy you behold the Alexander Hamilton
+of his nation, the brilliant student, soldier, and advocate. Of all his
+Boer contemporaries he is the most cosmopolitan. Nor is this due
+entirely to the fact that he went to Cambridge where he left a record
+for scholarship, and speaks English with a decided accent. It is because
+he has what might be called world sense. His career, and more especially
+his part at the Peace Conference and since, is a dramatization of it.
+
+To the student of human interest Smuts is a fertile subject. His life
+has been a cinema romance shot through with sharp contrasts. Here is one
+of them. When leaders of the shattered Boer forces gathered in
+_Vereeniging_ to discuss the Peace Terms with Kitchener in 1902, Smuts,
+who commanded a flying guerilla column, was besieging the little mining
+town of O'okiep. He received a summons from Botha to attend. It was
+accompanied by a safe-conduct pass signed "D. Haig, Colonel." Later Haig
+and Smuts stood shoulder to shoulder in a common cause and helped to
+save civilization.
+
+Smuts is more many-sided than any other contemporary Prime Minister and
+for that matter, those that have gone into retirement, that is, men like
+Asquith in England and Clemenceau in France. Among world statesmen the
+only mind comparable to his is that of Woodrow Wilson. They have in
+common a high intellectuality. But Wilson in his prime lacked the hard
+sense and the accurate knowledge of men and practical affairs which are
+among the chief Smuts assets.
+
+Speaking of Premiers brings me to the inevitable comparison between
+Smuts and Lloyd George. I have seen them both in varying circumstances,
+both in public and in private and can attempt some appraisal.
+
+Each has been, and remains, a pillar of Empire. Each has emulated the
+Admirable Crichton in the variety and multiplicity of public posts.
+Lloyd George has held five Cabinet posts in England and Smuts has
+duplicated the record in South Africa. Each man is an inspired orator
+who owes much of his advancement to eloquent tongue. Their platform
+manner is totally different. Lloyd George is fascinatingly magnetic in
+and out of the spotlight while Smuts is more coldly logical. When you
+hear Lloyd George you are stirred and even exalted by his golden
+imagery. The sound of his voice falls on the ear like music. You admire
+the daring of his utterance but you do not always remember everything he
+says.
+
+With Smuts you listen and you remember. He has no tricks of the
+spellbinder's trade. He is forceful, convincing, persuasive, and what is
+more important, has the quality of permanency. Long after you have left
+his presence the words remain in your memory. If I had a case in court I
+would like to have Smuts try it. His specialty is pleading.
+
+Lloyd George seldom reads a book. The only volumes I ever heard him say
+that he had read were Mr. Dooley and a collection of the Speeches of
+Abraham Lincoln. He has books read for him and with a Roosevelt faculty
+for assimilation, gives you the impression that he has spent his life in
+a library.
+
+Smuts is one of the best-read men I have met. He seems to know something
+about everything. He ranges from Joseph Conrad to Kant, from Booker
+Washington to Tolstoi. History, fiction, travel, biography, have all
+come within his ken. I told him I proposed to go from Capetown to the
+Congo and possibly to Angola. His face lighted up. "Ah, yes," he said,
+"I have read all about those countries. I can see them before me in my
+mind's eye."
+
+One night at dinner at _Groote Schuur_ we had sweet potatoes. He asked
+me if they were common in America. I replied that down in Kentucky where
+I was born one of the favorite negro dishes was "'possum and sweet
+potatoes." He took me up at once saying:
+
+"Oh, yes, I have read about ''possum pie' in Joel Chandler Harris'
+books." Then he proceeded to tell me what a great institution "Br'er
+Rabbit" was.
+
+We touched on German poetry and I quoted two lines that I considered
+beautiful. When I remarked that I thought Heine was the author he
+corrected me by proving that they were written by Schiller.
+
+Lloyd George could never carry on a conversation like this for the
+simple reason that he lacks familiarity with literature. He feels
+perhaps like the late Charles Frohman who, on being asked if he read the
+dramatic papers said: "Why should I read about the theatre. I _make_
+dramatic history."
+
+I asked Smuts what he was reading at the moment. He looked at me with
+some astonishment and answered, "Nothing except public documents. It's a
+good thing that I was able to do some reading before I became Prime
+Minister. I certainly have no time now."
+
+Take the matter of languages. Lloyd George has always professed that he
+did not know French, and on all his trips to France both during and
+since the war he carried a staff of interpreters. He understands a good
+deal more French than he professes. His widely proclaimed ignorance of
+the language has stood him in good stead because it has enabled him to
+hear a great many things that were not intended for his ears. It is part
+of his political astuteness. Smuts is an accomplished linguist. It has
+been said of him that he "can be silent in more languages than any man
+in South Africa."
+
+Lloyd George is a clever politician with occasional inspired moments but
+he is not exactly a statesman as Disraeli and Gladstone were. Smuts has
+the unusual combination of statesmanship with a knowledge of every
+wrinkle in the political game.
+
+Take his experience at the Paris Peace Conference. He was distinguished
+not so much for what he did, (and that was considerable), but for what
+he opposed. No man was better qualified to voice the sentiment of the
+"small nation." Born of proud and liberty-loving people,--an infant
+among the giants--he was attuned to every aspiration of an hour that
+realized many a one-time forlorn national hope. Yet his statesmanship
+tempered sentimental impulse.
+
+In that gallery of treaty-makers Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson
+focussed the "fierce light" that beat about the proceedings. But it was
+Smuts, in the shadow, who contributed largely to the mental power-plant
+that drove the work. Lloyd George had to consider the chapter he wrote
+in the great instrument as something in the nature of a campaign
+document to be employed at home, while Clemenceau guided a steamroller
+that stooped for nothing but France. The more or less unsophisticated
+idealism of Woodrow Wilson foundered on these obstacles.
+
+Smuts, with his uncanny sense of prophecy, foretold the economic
+consequences of the peace. Looking ahead he visualized a surly and
+unrepentant Germany, unwilling to pay the price of folly; a bitter and
+disappointed Austria gasping for economic breath; an aroused and
+indignant Italy raging with revolt--all the chaos that spells "peace"
+today. He saw the Treaty as a new declaration of war instead of an
+antidote for discord. His judgment, sadly enough, has been confirmed. A
+deranged universe shot through with reaction and confusion, and with
+half a dozen wars sputtering on the horizon, is the answer. The sob and
+surge of tempest-born nations in the making are lost in the din of older
+ones threatened with decay and disintegration. It is not a pleasing
+spectacle.
+
+Smuts signed the Treaty but, as most people know, he filed a memorandum
+of protest and explanation. He believed the terms uneconomic and
+therefore unsound, but it was worth taking a chance on interpretation, a
+desperate venture perhaps, but anything to stop the blare and bicker of
+the council table and start the work of reconstruction.
+
+At Capetown he told me that for days he wrestled with the problem "to
+sign or not to sign." Finally, on the day before the Day of Days in the
+Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, he took a long solitary walk in the
+Champs Elysee, loveliest of Paris parades. Returning to his hotel he
+said to his secretary, Captain E. F. C. Lane, "I have decided to sign,
+but I will tell the reason why." He immediately sat down at his desk and
+in a handwriting noted for its illegibility wrote the famous
+memorandum.
+
+
+III
+
+What of the personal side of Smuts? While he is intensely human it is
+difficult to connect anecdote with him. I heard one at Capetown,
+however, that I do not think has seen the light of print. It reveals his
+methods, too.
+
+When the Germans ran amuck in 1914 Smuts was Minister of Defense of the
+Union of South Africa. The Nationalists immediately began to make life
+uncomfortable for him. Balked in their attempt to keep the Union out of
+the struggle they took another tack. After the Botha campaign in German
+South-West Africa was well under way, a member of the Opposition asked
+the Minister of Defense the following question in Parliament: "How much
+has South Africa paid for horses in the field and the Nationalists
+sought to make some political capital out of an expenditure that they
+remounts?" The Union forces employed thousands of called "waste."
+
+Smuts sent over to Army Headquarters to get the figures. He was told
+that it would take twenty clerks at least four weeks to compile the
+data.
+
+"Never mind," was his laconic comment. The next day happened to be
+Question Day in the House. As soon as the query about the remount charge
+came up Smuts calmly rose in his seat and replied:
+
+"It was exactly eight million one hundred and sixty-nine thousand
+pounds, ten shillings and sixpence." He then sat down without any
+further remark.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by Harris & Ewing_
+
+GENERAL J. C. SMUTS]
+
+When one of his colleagues asked him where he got this information he
+said:
+
+"I dug it out of my own mind. It will take the Nationalists a month to
+figure it out and by that time they will have forgotten all about it."
+And it was forgotten.
+
+Smuts not only has a keen sense of humor but is swift on the retort.
+While speaking at a party rally in his district not many years after the
+Boer War he was continually interrupted by an ex-soldier. He stopped his
+speech and asked the man to state his grievance. The heckler said:
+
+"General de la Rey guaranteed the men fighting under him a living."
+
+Quick as a flash Smuts replied:
+
+"Nonsense. What he guaranteed you was certain death."
+
+Like many men conspicuous in public life Smuts gets up early and has
+polished off a good day's work before the average business man has
+settled down to his job. There is a big difference between his methods
+of work and those of Lloyd George. The British Prime Minister only goes
+to the House of Commons when he has to make a speech or when some
+important question is up for discussion. Smuts attends practically every
+session of Parliament, at least he did while I was in Capetown.
+
+One reason was that on account of the extraordinary position in which he
+found himself, any moment might have produced a division carrying with
+it disastrous results for the Government. The crisis demanded that he
+remain literally on the job all the time. He left little to his
+lieutenants. Confident of his ability in debate he was always willing to
+risk a showdown but he had to be there when it came.
+
+I watched him as he sat in the House. He occupied a front bench directly
+opposite Hertzog and where he could look his arch enemy squarely in the
+eyes all the time. I have seen him sit like a Sphinx for an hour without
+apparently moving a muscle. He has cultivated that rarest of arts which
+is to be a good listener. He is one of the great concentrators. In this
+genius, for it is little less, lies one of the secrets of his success.
+During a lull in legislative proceedings he has a habit of taking a
+solitary walk out in the lobby. More than once I saw him pacing up and
+down, always with an ear cocked toward the Assembly Room so he could
+hear what was going on and rush to the rescue if necessary.
+
+In the afternoon he would sometimes go into the members' smoking room
+and drink a cup of coffee, the popular drink in South Africa. In the old
+Boer household the coffee pot is constantly boiling. With a cup of
+coffee and a piece of "biltong" inside him a Boer could fight or trek
+all day. Coffee bears the same relation to the South African that tea
+does to the Englishman, save that it is consumed in much larger
+quantities. I might add that Smuts neither drinks liquor of any kind nor
+smokes, and he eats sparingly. He admits that his one dissipation is
+farming.
+
+This comes naturally because he was born fifty years ago on a farm in
+what is known as the Western Province in the Karoo country. He did his
+share of the chores about the place until it was time for him to go to
+school. His father and his grandfather were farmers. Inbred in him, as
+in most Boers, is an ardent love of country life and especially an
+affection for the mountains. On more than one occasion he has climbed to
+the top of Table Mountain, which is no inconsiderable feat.
+
+There are two ways of appraising Smuts. One is to see him in action as
+I did at Capetown, while Parliament was in session. The other is to get
+him with the background of his farm at Irene, a little way station about
+ten miles from Pretoria. Here, in a rambling one-story house surrounded
+by orchards, pastures, and gardens, he lives the simple life. In the
+western part of the Transvaal he owns a real farm. He showed his
+shrewdness in the acquisition of this property because he bought it at a
+time when the region was dubbed a "desert." Now it is a garden spot.
+
+Irene has various distinct advantages. For one thing it is his permanent
+home. _Groote Schuur_ is the property of the Government and he owes his
+tenancy of it entirely to the fortunes of politics. At Irene is planted
+his hearthstone and around it is mobilized his considerable family.
+There are six little Smutses. Smuts married the sweetheart of his youth
+who is a rarely congenial helpmate. It was once said of her that she
+"went about the house with a baby under one arm and a Greek dictionary
+under the other."
+
+Most people do not realize that the Union of South Africa has two
+capitals. Capetown with the House of Parliament is the center of
+legislation, while Pretoria, the ancient Kruger stronghold, with its
+magnificent new Union buildings atop a commanding eminence, is the
+fountain-head of administration. With Irene only ten miles away it is
+easy for Smuts to live with his family after the adjournment of
+Parliament, and go in to his office at Pretoria every day.
+
+I have already given you a hint of the Smuts personal appearance. Let us
+now take a good look at him. His forehead is lofty, his nose arched, his
+mouth large. You know that his blonde beard veils a strong jaw. The eyes
+are reminiscent of those marvelous orbs of Marshal Foch only they are
+blue, haunting and at times inexorable. Yet they can light up with humor
+and glow with friendliness.
+
+Smuts is essentially an out-of-doors person and his body is wiry and
+rangy. He has the stride of a man seasoned to the long march and who is
+equally at home in the saddle. He speaks with vigour and at times not
+without emotion. The Boer is not a particularly demonstrative person and
+Smuts has some of the racial reserve. His personality betokens potential
+strength,--a suggestion of the unplumbed reserve that keeps people
+guessing. This applies to his mental as well as his physical capacity.
+Frankly cordial, he resents familiarity. You would never think of
+slapping him on the shoulder and saying, "Hello, Jan." More than one
+blithe and buoyant person has been frozen into respectful silence in
+such a foolhardy undertaking.
+
+His middle name is Christian and it does not belie a strong phase of his
+character. Without carrying his religious convictions on his
+coat-sleeve, he has nevertheless a fine spiritual strain in his make-up.
+He is an all-round dependable person, with an adaptability to
+environment that is little short of amazing.
+
+
+IV
+
+Now let us turn to another and less conspicuous South African whose
+point of view, imperial, personal and patriotic, is the exact opposite
+of that of Smuts. Throughout this chapter has run the strain of Hertzog,
+first the Boer General fighting gallantly in the field with Smuts as
+youthful comrade; then the member of the Botha Cabinet; later the bitter
+insurgent, and now the implacable foe of the order that he helped to
+establish. What manner of man is he and what has he to say?
+
+I talked to him one afternoon when he left the floor leadership to his
+chief lieutenant, a son of the late President Steyn of the Orange Free
+State. Like his father, who called himself "President" to the end of his
+life although his little republic had slipped away from him, he has
+never really yielded to English rule.
+
+We adjourned to the smoking room where we had the inevitable cup of
+South African coffee. I was prepared to find a fanatic and fire-eater.
+Instead I faced a thin, undersized man who looked anything but a general
+and statesman. Put him against the background of a small New England
+town and you would take him for an American country lawyer. He resembles
+the student more than the soldier and, like many Boers, speaks English
+with a British accent. Nor is he without force. No man can play the rôle
+that he has played in South Africa those past twenty-five years without
+having substance in him.
+
+When I asked him to state his case he said:
+
+"The republican idea is as old as South Africa. There was a republic
+before the British arrived. The idea came from the American Revolution
+and the inspiration was Washington. The Great Trek of 1836 was a protest
+very much like the one we are making today.
+
+"President Wilson articulated the Boer feeling with his gospel of
+self-determination. He also voiced the aspirations of Ireland, India and
+Egypt. It is a great world idea--a deep moral conviction of mankind,
+this right of the individual state, as of the individual for freedom.
+
+"Never again will Transvaal and Orange Free State history be repeated.
+No matter how a nation covets another--and I refer to British
+covetousness,--if the nation coveted is able to govern itself it cannot
+and must not be assimilated. It is one result of the Great War."
+
+"What is the Nationalist ideal?" I asked.
+
+"It is the right to self-rule," replied Hertzog. "But there must be no
+conflict if it can be avoided. It must prevail by reason and education.
+At the present time I admit that the majority of South Africans do not
+want republicanism. The Nationalist mission today is to keep the torch
+lighted."
+
+"How does this idea fit into the spirit of the League of Nations?" I
+queried.
+
+"It fits in perfectly," was the response. "We Nationalists favor the
+League as outlined by Wilson. But I fear that it will develop into a
+capitalistic, imperialistic empire dominating the world instead of a
+league of nations."
+
+I asked Hertzog how he reconciled acquiescence to Union to the present
+Nationalist revolt. The answer was:
+
+"The Nationalists supported the Government because of their attachment
+to General Botha. Deep down in his heart Botha wanted to be free and
+independent."
+
+"How about Ireland?" I demanded.
+
+The General smiled as he responded: "Our position is different. It does
+not require dynamite, but education. With us it is a simple matter of
+the will of the people. I do not think that conditions in South Africa
+will ever reach the state at which they have arrived in Ireland."
+
+Commenting on the Union and its relations to the British Empire Hertzog
+continued:
+
+"The Union is not a failure but we could be better governed. The thing
+to which we take exception is that the British Government, through our
+connection with it, is in a position by which it gets an undue advantage
+directly and indirectly to influence legislation. For example, we were
+not asked to conquer German South-West Africa; it was a command.
+
+"Very much against the feeling of the old population, that is the Dutch
+element, we were led into participation in the war. Today this old
+population feels as strongly as ever against South Africa being involved
+in European politics. It feels that all this Empire movement only leads
+in that direction and involves us in world conflicts.
+
+"One of the strongest reasons in favor of separation and the setting up
+of a South African republic is to get solidarity between the English and
+the Dutch. I cannot help feeling that our interests are being constantly
+subordinated to those of Great Britain. My firm conviction is that the
+freer we are, and the more independent of Great Britain we become, the
+more we shall favor a close co-operation with her. We do not dislike the
+British as such but we do object to the Britisher coming out as a
+subject of Great Britain with a superior manner and looking upon the
+Dutchman as a dependent or a subordinate. There will be a conflict so
+long as they do not recognize our heroes, traditions and history. In
+short, we are determined to have a republic of South Africa and England
+must recognize it. To oppose it is fatal."
+
+"Will you fight for it?" I asked.
+
+"I hardly think that it will come to force," said the General. "It must
+prevail by reason and education. It may not come in one year but it will
+come before many years."
+
+Hertzog's feeling is not shared, as he intimated, by the majority of
+South Africans and this includes many Dutchmen. An illuminating analysis
+of the Nationalist point of view was made for me by Sir Thomas Smartt,
+the leader of the Unionist Party and a virile force in South African
+politics. He brought the situation strikingly home to America when he
+said:
+
+"The whole Nationalist movement is founded on race. Like the Old Guard,
+the Boer may die but it is hard for him to surrender. His heart still
+rankles with the outcome of the Boer War. Would the American South have
+responded to an appeal to arms in the common cause made by the North in
+1876? Probably not. Before your Civil War the South only had individual
+states. The Boers, on the other hand, had republics with completely
+organized and independent governments. This is why it will take a long
+time before complete assimilation is accomplished. A second Boer War is
+unthinkable."
+
+We can now return to Smuts and find out just how he achieved the miracle
+by which he not only retained the Premiership but spiked the guns of the
+opposition.
+
+When I left Capetown he was in a corner. The Nationalist majority not
+only made his position precarious but menaced the integrity of Union,
+and through Union, the whole Empire. For five months,--the whole session
+of Parliament,--he held his ground. Every night when he went to bed at
+_Groote Schuur_ he did not know what disaster the morrow would bring
+forth. It was a constant juggle with conflicting interests, ambitions
+and prejudices. He was like a lion with a pack snapping on all sides.
+
+Now you can see why he sat in that front seat in the House morning, noon
+and night. He placated the Labourites, harmonized the Unionists, and
+flung down the gauntlet openly to the Nationalists. Throughout that
+historic session, and although much legislation was accomplished, he did
+not permit the consummation of a single decisive division. It was a
+triumph of parliamentary leadership.
+
+When the session closed in July,--it is then mid-winter in Africa,--he
+was still up against it. The Nationalist majority was a phantom that
+dogged his official life and political fortunes. The problem now was to
+take out sane insurance against a repetition of the trial and
+uncertainty which he had undergone.
+
+Fate in the shape of the Nationalist Party played into his hands. Under
+the stimulation of the Nationalists a _Vereeniging_ Congress was called
+at Bloenfontein late last September. The Dutch word _Vereeniging_ means
+"reunion." Hertzog and Tielman Roos, the co-leader of the
+secessionists, believed that by bringing the leading representatives of
+the two leading parties together the appeal to racial pride might carry
+the day. Smuts did not attend but various members of his Cabinet did.
+
+Reunion did anything but reunite. The differences on the republican
+issues being fundamental were likewise irreconcilable. The Nationalists
+stood pat on secession while the South African Party remained loyal to
+its principles of Imperial unity. The meeting ended in a deadlock.
+
+Smuts, a field marshal of politics, at once saw that the hour of
+deliverance from his dilemma had arrived. The Nationalists had declared
+themselves unalterably for separation. He converted their battle-cry
+into coin for himself. He seized the moment to issue a call for a new
+Moderate Party that would represent a fusion of the South Africanists
+and the Unionists. In one of his finest documents he made a plea for the
+consolidation of these constructive elements.
+
+In it he said:
+
+    Now that the Nationalist Party is firmly resolved to continue its
+    propaganda of fanning the fires of secession and of driving the
+    European races apart from each other and ultimately into conflict
+    with each other, the moderate elements of our population have no
+    other alternative but to draw closer to one another in order to
+    fight that policy.
+
+    A new appeal must, therefore, be made to all right-minded South
+    Africans, irrespective of party or race, to join the new Party,
+    which will be strong enough to safeguard the permanent interests of
+    the Union against the disruptive and destructive policy of the
+    Nationalists. Such a central political party will not only continue
+    our great work of the past, but is destined to play a weighty rôle
+    in the future peaceable development of South Africa.
+
+The end of October witnessed the ratification of this proposal by the
+Unionists. The action at once consolidated the Premier's position. I
+doubt if in all political history you can uncover a series of events
+more paradoxical or perplexing or find a solution arrived at with
+greater skill and strategy. It was a revelation of Smuts with his ripe
+statesmanship put to the test, and not found wanting.
+
+At the election held four months later Smuts scored a brilliant triumph.
+The South African Party increased its representation by eighteen seats,
+while the Nationalists lost heavily. The Labour Party was almost lost in
+the wreckage. The net result was that the Premier obtained a working
+majority of twenty-two, which guarantees a stable and loyal Government
+for at least five years.
+
+It only remains to speculate on what the future holds for this
+remarkable man. South Africa has a tragic habit of prematurely
+destroying its big men. Rhodes was broken on the wheel at forty-nine,
+and Botha succumbed in the prime of life. Will Smuts share the same
+fate?
+
+No one need be told in the face of the Smuts performance that he is a
+world asset. The question is, how far will he go? A Cabinet Minister at
+twenty-eight, a General at thirty, a factor in international affairs
+before he was well into the forties, he unites those rare elements of
+greatness which seem to be so sparsely apportioned these disturbing
+days. That he will reconstruct South Africa there is no doubt. What
+larger responsibilities may devolve upon him can only be guessed.
+
+Just before I sailed from England I talked with a high-placed British
+official. He is in the councils of Empire and he knows Smuts and South
+Africa. I asked him to indicate what in his opinion would be the next
+great milepost of Smuts' progress. He replied:
+
+"The destiny of Smuts is interwoven with the destiny of the whole
+British Empire. The Great War bound the Colonies together with bonds of
+blood. Out of this common peril and sacrifice has been knit a closer
+Imperial kinship. During the war we had an Imperial War Cabinet composed
+of overseas Premiers, which sat in London. Its logical successor will be
+a United British Empire, federated in policy but not in administration.
+Smuts will be the Prime Minister of these United States of Great
+Britain."
+
+It is the high goal of a high career.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEAVY LINE INDICATES MR. MARCOSSON'S ROUTE IN
+AFRICA]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II--"CAPE-TO-CAIRO"
+
+
+I
+
+When you take the train for the North at Capetown you start on the first
+lap of what is in many respects the most picturesque journey in the
+world. Other railways tunnel mighty mountains, cross seething rivers,
+traverse scorching deserts, and invade the clouds, but none has so
+romantic an interest or is bound up with such adventure and imagination
+as this. The reason is that at Capetown begins the southern end of the
+famous seven-thousand-mile Cape-to-Cairo Route, one of the greatest
+dreams of England's prince of practical dreamers, Cecil Rhodes. Today,
+after thirty years of conflict with grudging Governments, the project is
+practically an accomplished fact.
+
+Woven into its fabric is the story of a German conspiracy that was as
+definite a cause of the Great War as the Balkan mess or any other phase
+of Teutonic international meddling. Along its highway the American
+mining engineer has registered a little known evidence of his
+achievement abroad. The route taps civilization and crosses the last
+frontiers of progress. The South African end discloses an illuminating
+example of profitable nationalization. Over it still broods the
+personality of the man who conceived it and who left his impress and his
+name on an empire. Attention has been directed anew to the enterprise
+from the fact that shortly before I reached Africa two aviators flew
+from Cairo to the Cape and their actual flying time was exactly
+sixty-eight hours.
+
+The unbroken iron spine that was to link North and South Africa and
+which Rhodes beheld in his vision of the future, will probably not be
+built for some years. Traffic in Central Africa at the moment does not
+justify it. Besides, the navigable rivers in the Belgian Congo, Egypt,
+and the Soudan lend themselves to the rail and water route which, with
+one short overland gap, now enables you to travel the whole way from
+Cape to Cairo.
+
+The very inception of the Cape-to-Cairo project gives you a glimpse of
+the working of the Rhodes mind. He left the carrying out of details to
+subordinates. When he looked at the map of Africa,--and he was forever
+studying maps,--and ran that historic line through it from end to end
+and said, "It must be all red," he took no cognizance of the
+extraordinary difficulties that lay in the way. He saw, but he did not
+heed, the rainbow of many national flags that spanned the continent. A
+little thing like millions of square miles of jungle, successions of
+great lakes, or wild and primitive regions peopled with cannibals, meant
+nothing. Money and energy were to him merely means to an end.
+
+When General "Chinese" Gordon, for example, told him that he had refused
+a roomful of silver for his services in exterminating the Mongolian
+bandits Rhodes looked at him in surprise and said: "Why didn't you take
+it? What is the earthly use of having ideas if you haven't the money
+with which to carry them out?" Here you have the keynote of the whole
+Rhodes business policy. A project had to be carried through regardless
+of expense. It applied to the Cape-to-Cairo dream just as it applied to
+every other enterprise with which he was associated.
+
+The all-rail route would cost billions upon billions, although now that
+German prestige in Africa is ended it would not be a physical and
+political impossibility. A modification of the original plan into a
+combination rail and river scheme permits the consummation of the vision
+of thirty years ago. The southern end is all-rail mainly because the
+Union of South Africa and Rhodesia are civilized and prosperous
+countries. I made the entire journey by train from Capetown to the
+rail-head at Bukama in the Belgian Congo, a distance of 2,700 miles, the
+longest continuous link in the whole scheme. This trip can be made, if
+desirable, in a through car in about nine days.
+
+I then continued northward, down the Lualaba River,--Livingstone thought
+it was the Nile--then by rail, and again on the Lualaba through the
+posts of Kongolo, Kindu and Ponthierville to Stanleyville on the Congo
+River. This is the second stage of the Cape-to-Cairo Route and knocks
+off an additional 890 miles and another twelve days. Here I left the
+highway to Egypt and went down the Congo and my actual contact with the
+famous line ended. I could have gone on, however, and reached Cairo,
+with luck, in less than eight weeks.
+
+From Stanleyville you go to Mahagi, which is on the border between the
+Congo and Uganda. This is the only overland gap in the whole route. It
+covers roughly,--and the name is no misnomer I am told,--680 miles
+through the jungle and skirts the principal Congo gold fields. A road
+has been built and motor cars are available. The railway route from
+Stanleyville to Mahagi, which will link the Congo and the Nile, is
+surveyed and would have been finished by this time but for the outbreak
+of the Great War. The Belgian Minister of the Colonies, with whom I
+travelled in the Congo assured me that his Government would commence the
+construction within the next two years, thus enabling the traveller to
+forego any hiking on the long journey.
+
+Mahagi is on the western side of Lake Albert and is destined to be the
+lake terminus of the projected Congo-Nile Railway which will be an
+extension of the Soudan Railways. Here you begin the journey that
+enlists both railways and steamers and which gives practically a
+straight ahead itinerary to Cairo. You journey on the Nile by way of
+Rejaf, Kodok,--(the Fashoda that was)--to Kosti, where you reach the
+southern rail-head of the Soudan Railways. Thence it is comparatively
+easy, as most travellers know, to push on through Khartum, Berber, Wady
+Halfa and Assuan to the Egyptian capital. The distance from Mahagi to
+Cairo is something like 2,700 miles while the total mileage from
+Capetown to Cairo, along the line that I have indicated, is 7,000 miles.
+
+This, in brief, is the way you make the trip that Rhodes dreamed about,
+but not the way he planned it. There are various suggestions for
+alternate routes after you reach Bukama or, to be more exact, after you
+start down the first stage of the journey on the Lualaba. At Kabalo,
+where I stopped, a railroad runs eastward from the river to Albertville,
+on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Rhodes wanted to use the 400-mile
+waterway that this body of water provides to connect the railway that
+came down from the North with the line that begins at the Cape. The idea
+was to employ train ferries. King Leopold of Belgium granted Rhodes the
+right to do this but Germany frustrated the scheme by refusing to
+recognize the cession of the strip of Congo territory between Lake
+Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, which was an essential link.
+
+This incident is one evidence of the many attempts that the Germans made
+to block the Cape-to-Cairo project. Germany knew that if Rhodes, and
+through Rhodes the British Empire, could establish through communication
+under the British flag, from one end of Africa to the other, it would
+put a crimp into the Teutonic scheme to dominate the whole continent.
+She went to every extreme to interfere with its advance.
+
+This German opposition provided a reason why the consummation of the
+project was so long delayed. Another was, that except for the explorer
+and the big game hunter, there was no particular provocation for moving
+about in certain portions of Central Africa until recently. But Germany
+only afforded one obstacle. The British Government, after the fashion of
+governments, turned a cold shoulder to the enterprise. History was only
+repeating itself. If Disraeli had consulted his colleagues England would
+never have acquired the Suez Canal. So it goes.
+
+Most of the Rhodesian links of the Cape-to-Cairo Route were built by
+Rhodes and the British South Africa Company, while the line from Broken
+Hill to the Congo border was due entirely to the courage and tenacity of
+Robert Williams, who is now constructing the so-called Benguella Railway
+from Lobito Bay in Portuguese Angola to Bukama. It will be a feeder to
+the Cape-to-Cairo road and constitute a sort of back door to Egypt. It
+will also provide a shorter outlet to Europe for the copper in the
+Katanga district of the Congo.
+
+When you see equatorial Africa and more especially that part which lies
+between the rail-head at Bukama and Mahagi, you understand why the
+all-rail route is not profitable at the moment. It is for the most part
+an uncultivated area principally jungle, with scattered white
+settlements and hordes of untrained natives. The war set back the
+development of the Congo many years. Now that the world is beginning to
+understand the possibilities of Central Africa for palm oil, cotton,
+rubber, and coffee, the traffic to justify the connecting railways will
+eventually come.
+
+
+II
+
+Shortly after my return from Africa I was talking with a well-known
+American business man who, after making the usual inquiries about lions,
+cannibals and hair-breadth escapes, asked: "Is it dangerous to go about
+in South Africa?" When I assured him that both my pocket-book and I were
+safer there than on Broadway in New York or State Street in Chicago, he
+was surprised. Yet his question is typical of a widespread ignorance
+about all Africa and even its most developed area.
+
+What people generally do not understand is that the lower part of that
+one-time Dark Continent is one of the most prosperous regions in the
+world, where the home currency is at a premium instead of a discount;
+where the high cost of living remains a stranger and where you get
+little suggestion of the commercial rack and ruin that are disturbing
+the rest of the universe. While the war-ravaged nations and their
+neighbors are feeling their dubious way towards economic reconstruction,
+the Union of South Africa is on the wave of a striking expansion. It
+affords an impressive contrast to the demoralized productivity of Europe
+and for that matter the United States.
+
+South Africa presents many economic features of distinct and unique
+interest. A glance at its steam transportation discloses rich material.
+Fundamentally the railroads of any country are the real measures of its
+progress. In Africa particularly they are the mileposts of
+civilization. In 1876 there were only 400 miles on the whole continent.
+Today there are over 30,000 miles. Of this network of rails exactly
+11,478 miles are in the Union of South Africa and they comprise the
+second largest mileage in the world under one management.
+
+More than this, they are Government owned and operated. Despite this
+usual handicap they pay. No particular love of Government
+control,--which is invariably an invitation for political influence to
+do its worst,--animated the development of these railways. As in
+Australia, where private capital refused to build, it was a case of
+necessity. In South Africa there was practically no private enterprise
+to sidestep the obligation that the need of adequate transportation
+imposed. The country was new, hostile savages still swarmed the
+frontiers, and the white man had to battle with Zulu and Kaffir for
+every area he opened. In the absence of navigable rivers--there are none
+in the Union--the steel rail had to do the pioneering. Besides, the
+Boers had a strong prejudice against the railroads and regarded the iron
+horse as a menace to their isolation.
+
+The first steam road on the continent of Africa was constructed by
+private enterprise from the suburb of Durban in Natal into the town. It
+was a mile and three-quarters in length and was opened for traffic in
+1860. Railway construction in the Cape Colony began about the same time.
+The Government ownership of the lines was inaugurated in 1873 and it has
+continued without interruption ever since. The real epoch of railway
+building in South Africa started with the great mineral discoveries.
+First came the uncovering of diamonds along the Orange River and the
+opening up of the Kimberley region, which added nearly 2,000 miles of
+railway. With the finding of gold in the Rand on what became the site
+of Johannesburg, another 1,500 miles were added.
+
+Since most nationalized railways do not pay it is interesting to take a
+look at the African balance sheet. Almost without exception the South
+African railways have been operated at a considerable net profit. These
+profits some years have been as high as £2,590,917. During the
+war, when there was a natural slump in traffic and when all soldiers and
+Government supplies were carried free of cost, they aggregated in 1915,
+for instance, £749,125.
+
+One fiscal feature of these South African railroads is worth
+emphasizing. Under the act of Union "all profits, after providing for
+interest, depreciation and betterment, shall be utilized in the
+reduction of tariffs, due regard being had to the agricultural and
+industrial development within the Union and the promotion by means of
+cheap transport of the settlement of an agricultural population in the
+inland portions of the Union." The result is that the rates on
+agricultural products, low-grade ores, and certain raw materials are
+possibly the lowest in the world. In other countries rates had to be
+increased during the war but in South Africa no change was made, so as
+not to interfere with the agricultural, mineral and industrial
+development of the country.
+
+Nor is the Union behind in up-to-date transportation. A big program for
+electrification has been blocked out and a section is under conversion.
+Some of the power generated will be sold to the small manufacturer and
+thus production will be increased.
+
+Stimulating the railway system of South Africa is a single personality
+which resembles the self-made American wizard of transportation more
+than any other Britisher that I have met with the possible exception of
+Sir Eric Geddes, at present Minister of Transport of Great Britain and
+who left his impress on England's conduct of the war. He is Sir William
+W. Hoy, whose official title is General Manager of the South African
+Railways and Ports. Big, vigorous, and forward-looking, he sits in a
+small office in the Railway Station at Capetown, with his finger
+literally on the pulse of nearly 12,000 miles of traffic. During the war
+Walker D. Hines, as Director General of the American Railways, was
+steward of a vaster network of rails but his job was an emergency one
+and terminated when that emergency subsided. Sir William Hoy, on the
+other hand, is set to a task which is not equalled in extent, scope or
+responsibility by any other similar official.
+
+Like James J. Hill and Daniel Willard he rose from the ranks. At
+Capetown he told me of his great admiration for American railways and
+their influence in the system he dominates. Among other things he said:
+"We are taking our whole cue for electrification from the railroads of
+your country and more especially the admirable precedent established by
+the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. I believe firmly in wide
+electrification of present-day steam transport. The great practical
+advantages are more uniform speed and the elimination of stops to take
+water. It also affords improved acceleration, greater reliability as to
+timing, especially on heavy grades, and stricter adherence to schedule.
+There are enormous advantages to single lines like ours in South Africa.
+Likewise, crossings and train movements can be arranged with greater
+accuracy, thereby reducing delays. Perhaps the greatest saving is in
+haulage, that is, in the employment of the heavy electric locomotive. It
+all tends toward a denser traffic.
+
+"Behind this whole process of electrification lies the need, created by
+the Great War, for coal conservation and for a motive power that will
+speed up production of all kinds. We have abundant coal in the Union of
+South Africa and by consuming less of it on our railways we will be in a
+stronger position to export it and thus strengthen our international
+position and keep the value of our money up."
+
+Since Sir William has touched upon the coal supply we at once get a
+link,--and a typical one--with the ramified resource of the Union of
+South Africa. No product, not even those precious stones that lie in the
+bosom of Kimberley, or the glittering golden ore imbedded in the Rand,
+has a larger political or economic significance just now. Nor does any
+commodity figure quite so prominently in the march of world events.
+
+In peace, as in war, coal spells life and power. It was the cudgel that
+the one-time proud and arrogant Germany held menacingly over the head of
+the unhappy neutral, and extorted special privilege. At the moment I
+write, coal is the storm center of controversy that ranges from the Ruhr
+Valley of Germany to the Welsh fields of Britain and affects the
+destinies of statesmen and of countries. We are not without fuel
+troubles, as our empty bins indicate. The nation, therefore, with cheap
+and abundant coal has a bargaining asset that insures industrial peace
+at home and trade prestige abroad.
+
+South Africa not only has a low-priced and ample coal supply but it is
+in a convenient point for distribution to the whole Southern
+hemisphere,--in fact Europe and other sections. On past production the
+Union ranked only eleventh in a list of coal-producing countries, the
+output being about 8,000,000 tons a year before the war and something
+over 10,000,000 tons in 1919. This output, however, is no guide to the
+magnitude of its fields. Until comparatively recent times they have been
+little exploited, not because of inferiority but because of the
+restricted output prior to the new movement to develop a bunker and
+export trade. Without an adequate geological survey the investigations
+made during the last twelve months indicate a potential supply of over
+60,000,000 tons and immense areas have not been touched at all.
+
+The war changed the whole coal situation. Labour conflicts have reduced
+the British output; a huge part of Germany's supply must go to France as
+an indemnity, while our own fields are sadly under-worked, for a variety
+of causes. All these conditions operate in favor of the South African
+field, which is becoming increasingly important as a source of supply.
+
+Despite her advantage the prices remain astonishingly low, when you
+compare them with those prevailing elsewhere. English coal, which in
+1912 cost about nine shillings a ton at pithead, costs considerably more
+than thirty shillings today. The average pithead price of South African
+coal in 1915 was five shillings twopence a ton and at the time of my
+visit to South Africa in 1919 was still under seven shillings a ton.
+Capetown and Durban, the two principal harbours of the Union, are
+coaling stations of Empire importance. There you can see the flags of a
+dozen nations flying from ships that have put in for fuel. Thanks to the
+war these ports are in the center of the world's great trade routes and
+thus, geographically and economically their position is unique for
+bunkering and for export.
+
+The price of bunker coal is a key to the increased overhead cost of
+world trade, as a result of the war. The Belgian boat on which I
+travelled from the shores of the Congo to Antwerp coaled at Teneriffe,
+where the price per ton was seven pounds. It is interesting to compare
+this with the bunker price at Capetown of a little more than two pounds
+per ton, or at Durban where the rate is one pound ten shillings a ton.
+In the face of these figures you can readily see what an economic
+advantage is accruing to the Union of South Africa with reference to the
+whole vexing question of coal supply.
+
+We can now go into the larger matter of South Africa's business
+situation in the light of peace and world reconstruction. I have already
+shown how the war, and the social and industrial upheaval that followed
+in its wake have enlarged and fortified the coal situation in the Union.
+Practically all other interests are similarly affected. The outstanding
+factor in the prosperity of the Union has been the development of
+war-born self-sufficiency. I used to think during the conflict that
+shook the world, that this gospel of self-containment would be one of
+the compensations that Britain would gain for the years of blood and
+slaughter. So far as Britain is concerned this hope has not been
+realized. When I was last in England huge quantities of German dyes were
+being dumped on her shores to the loss and dismay of a new coal-tar
+industry that had been developed during the war. German wares like toys
+and novelties were now pouring in. And yet England wondered why her
+exchange was down!
+
+In South Africa the situation has been entirely different. She alone of
+all the British dominions is asserting an almost pugnacious
+self-sufficiency. Cut off from outside supplies for over four years by
+the relentless submarine warfare, and the additional fact that nearly
+all the ships to and from the Cape had to carry war supplies or
+essential products, she was forced to develop her internal resources.
+The consequence is an expansion of agriculture, industry and
+manufactures. Instead of being as she was often called, "a country of
+samples," she has become a domain of active production, as is attested
+by an industrial output valued at £62,000,000 in 1918. Before the
+war the British and American manufacturer,--and there is a considerable
+market for American goods in the Cape Colony,--could undersell the South
+African article. That condition is changed and the home-made article
+produced with much cheaper labour than obtains either in Europe or the
+United States, has the field.
+
+Let me emphasize another striking fact in connection with this South
+African prosperity. During the war I had occasion to observe at
+first-hand the economic conditions in every neutral country in Europe. I
+was deeply impressed with the prosperity of Sweden, Spain and
+Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Holland, who made hay while their
+neighbors reaped the tares of war. Japan did likewise. These nations
+were largely profiteers who capitalized a colossal misfortune. They got
+much of the benefit and little of the horror of the upheaval.
+
+Not so with South Africa. She played an active part in the war and at
+the same time brought about a legitimate expansion of her resources. One
+point in her favor is that while she sent tens of thousands of her sons
+to fight, her own territory escaped the scar and ravage of battle. All
+the fighting in Africa, so far as the Union was concerned, was in German
+South-West Africa and German East Africa. After my years in
+tempest-tossed Europe it was a pleasant change to catch the buoyant,
+confident, unwearied spirit of South Africa.
+
+I have dwelt upon coal because it happens to be a significant economic
+asset. Coal is merely a phase of the South African resources. In 1919
+the Union produced £35,000,000 in gold and £7,200,000 in
+diamonds. The total mining production was, roughly, £50,000,000.
+This mining treasure is surpassed by the agricultural output, of which
+nearly one-third is exported. Land is the real measure of permanent
+wealth. The hoard of gold and diamonds in time becomes exhausted but the
+soil and its fruits go on forever.
+
+The moment you touch South African agriculture you reach a real romance.
+Nowhere, not even in the winning of the American West by the Mormons, do
+you get a more dramatic spectacle of the triumph of the pioneer over
+combative conditions. The Mormons made the Utah desert bloom, and the
+Boers and their British colleagues wrested riches from the bare veldt.
+The Mormons fought Indians and wrestled with drought, while the Dutch in
+Africa and their English comrades battled with Kaffirs, Hottentots and
+Zulus and endured a no less grilling exposure to sun.
+
+The crops are diversified. One of the staples of South Africa, for
+example, is the mealie, which is nothing more or less than our own
+American corn, but not quite so good. It provides the principal food of
+the natives and is eaten extensively by the European as well. On a dish
+of mealie porridge the Kaffir can keep the human machine going for
+twenty-four hours. Its prototype in the Congo is manice flour. In the
+Union nearly five million acres are under maize cultivation, which is
+exactly double the area in 1911. The value of the maize crop last year
+was approximately a million six hundred thousand pounds. Similar
+expansion has been the order in tobacco, wheat, fruit, sugar and half a
+dozen other products.
+
+South Africa is a huge cattle country. The Boers have always excelled in
+the care of live stock and it is particularly due to their efforts that
+the Union today has more than seven million head of cattle, which
+represents another hundred per cent increase in less than ten years.
+
+This matter of live stock leads me to one of the really picturesque
+industries of the Union which is the breeding of ostriches, "the birds
+with the golden feathers." Ask any man who raises these ungainly birds
+and he will tell you that with luck they are far better than the
+proverbial goose who laid the eighteen-karat eggs. The combination of
+F's--femininity, fashion and feathers--has been productive of many
+fortunes. The business is inclined to be fickle because it depends upon
+the female temperament. The ostrich feather, however, is always more or
+less in fashion. With the outbreak of the war there was a tremendous
+slump in feathers, which was keenly felt in South Africa. With peace,
+the plume again became the thing and the drooping industry expanded with
+get-rich-quick proportions.
+
+Port Elizabeth in the Cape Colony is the center of the ostrich feather
+trade. It is the only place in the world, I believe, devoted entirely to
+plumage. Not long before I arrived in South Africa £85,000 of
+feathers were disposed of there in three days. It is no uncommon thing
+for a pound of prime plumes to fetch £100. The demand has become
+so keen that 350,000 ostriches in the Union can scarcely keep pace with
+it. Before the war there were more than 800,000 of these birds but the
+depression in feathers coupled with drought, flood and other causes,
+thinned out the ranks. It takes three years for an ostrich chick to
+become a feather producer.
+
+America has a considerable part in shaping the ostrich feather market.
+As with diamonds, we are the largest consumers. You can go to Port
+Elizabeth any day and find a group of Yankees industriously bidding
+against each other. On one occasion two New York buyers started a
+competition that led to an eleven weeks orgy that registered a total net
+sale of more than £100,000 of feathers. They are still talking
+about it down there.
+
+South Africa has not only expanded in output but her area is also
+enlarged. The Peace Conference gave her the mandate for German
+South-West Africa, which was the first section of the vanished Teutonic
+Empire in Africa. It occupies more than a quarter of the whole area of
+the continent south of the Zambesi River. While the word "mandate" as
+construed by the peace sharks at Paris is supposed to mean the amiable
+stewardship of a country, it really amounts to nothing more or less than
+an actual and benevolent assimilation. This assimilation is very much
+like the paternal interest that holding companies in the good old Wall
+Street days felt for small and competitive concerns. In other words, it
+is safe to assume that henceforth German South-West Africa will be a
+permanent part of the Union.
+
+The Colony's chief asset is comprised in the so-called German South-West
+African Diamond Fields, which, with the Congo Diamond Fields, provide a
+considerable portion of the small stones now on the market. These two
+fields are alike in that they are alluvial which means that the diamonds
+are easily gathered by a washing process. No shafts are sunk. It is
+precisely like gold washing.
+
+The German South-West mines have an American interest. In the
+reorganization following the conquest of German South-West Africa by the
+South African Army under General Botha the control had to become
+Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-American Corporation which has extensive
+interests in South Africa and which is financed by London and New York
+capitalists, the latter including J. P. Morgan, Charles H. Sabin and W.
+B. Thompson, acquired these fields. It is an interesting commentary on
+post-war business readjustment to discover that there is still a German
+interest in these mines. It makes one wonder if the German will ever be
+eradicated from his world-wide contact with every point of commercial
+activity.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that South Africa, in the light of all
+the facts that I have enumerated, should be prosperous. Take the money,
+always a test of national economic health. At Capetown I used the first
+golden sovereign that I had seen since early in 1914. This was not only
+because the Union happens to be a great gold-producing country but
+because she has an excess of exports over imports. Her money, despite
+its intimate relation with that of Great Britain, which has so sadly
+depreciated, is at a premium.
+
+I got expensive evidence of this when I went to the bank at Capetown to
+get some cash. I had a letter of credit in terms of English pounds. To
+my surprise, I only got seventeen shillings and sixpence in African
+money for every English pound, which is nominally worth twenty
+shillings. Six months after I left, this penalty had increased to three
+shillings. To such an extent has the proud English pound sterling
+declined and in a British dominion too!
+
+South Africa has put an embargo on the export of sovereigns. One reason
+was that during the first three years of the war a steady stream of
+these golden coins went surreptitiously to East India, where an
+unusually high premium for gold rules, especially in the bazaars. The
+goldsmiths find difficulty in getting material. The inevitable smuggling
+has resulted. In order to put a check on illicit removal, all passengers
+now leaving the Union are searched before they board their ships. Nor is
+it a half-hearted procedure. It is as drastic as the war-time scrutiny
+on frontiers.
+
+To sum up the whole business situation in the Union of South Africa is
+to find that the spirit of production,--the most sorely needed thing in
+the world today--is that of persistent advance. I dwell on this because
+it is in such sharp contrast with what is going on throughout the rest
+of a universe that staggers under sloth, and where the will-to-work has
+almost become a lost art. That older and more complacent order which is
+represented for example by France, Italy and England may well seek
+inspiration from this South African beehive.
+
+
+III
+
+With this economic setting for the whole South African picture and a
+visualization of the Cape-to-Cairo Route let us start on the long
+journey that eventually took me to the heart of equatorial Africa. The
+immediate objectives, so far as this chapter is concerned, are
+Kimberley, Johannesburg and Pretoria, names and towns that are
+synonymous with thrilling chapters in the development of Africa and more
+especially the Union.
+
+You depart from Capetown in the morning and for hours you remain in the
+friendly company of the mountains. Table Mountain has hovered over you
+during the whole stay at the capital and you regretfully watch this
+"Gray Father" fade away in the distance. In the evening you pass through
+the Hex River country where the canyon is reminiscent of Colorado. Soon
+there bursts upon you the famous Karoo country, so familiar to all
+readers of South African novels and more especially those of Olive
+Schreiner, Richard Dehan and Sir Percy Fitz Patrick. It is an almost
+treeless plain dotted here and there with Boer homesteads. Their
+isolation suggests battle with element and soil. The country immediately
+around Capetown is a paradise of fruit and flowers, but as you travel
+northward the whole character changes. There is less green and more
+brown. After the Karoo comes the equally famous veldt, studded with
+the _kopjes_ that became a part of the world vocabulary with the Boer
+War. Behind these low, long hills,--they suggest flat, rocky
+hummocks--the South African burghers made many a desperate stand against
+the English.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by W. & D. Downey_
+
+CECIL RHODES]
+
+When you see the _kopjes_ you can readily understand why it took so long
+to conquer the Boers. The Dutch knew every inch of the land and every
+man was a crack shot from boyhood. In these hills a handful could hold a
+small army at bay. All through this region you encounter places that
+have become part of history. You pass the ruins of Kitchener's
+blockhouses,--they really ended the Boer War--and almost before you
+realize it, you cross the Modder River, where British military prestige
+got a bloody repulse. Instinctively there come to mind the struggles of
+Cronje, DeWet, Joubert, and the rest of those Boer leaders who made this
+region a small Valhalla.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the second day you suddenly get a "feel" of
+industry. The veldt becomes populated and before long huge smokestacks
+loom against the sky. You are at Kimberly. The average man associates
+this place with a famous siege in the Boer War and the equally famous
+diamond mines. But it is much more for it is packed with romance and
+reality. Here came Cecil Rhodes in his early manhood and pulled off the
+biggest business deal of his life; here you find the first milepost that
+the American mining engineer set up in the mineral development of
+Africa: here is produced in greater quantities than in any other place
+in the world the glittering jewel that vanity and avarice set their
+heart upon.
+
+Kimberley is one of the most unique of all the treasure cities. It is
+practically built on a diamond mine in the same way that Johannesburg
+rests upon a gold excavation. When the great diamond rush of the
+seventies overwhelmed the Vaal and Orange River regions, what is now the
+Kimberley section was a rocky plain with a few Boer farms. The influx of
+fortune-hunters dotted the area with tents and diggings. Today a
+thriving city covers it and the wealth produced--the diamond output is
+ninety per cent of the world supply--exceeds in value that of a big
+manufacturing community in the United States.
+
+At Kimberley you touch the intimate life of Rhodes. He arrived in 1872
+from Natal, where he had gone to retrieve his health on a farm. The
+moment he staked out a claim he began a remarkable career. In his early
+Kimberley days he did a characteristic thing. He left his claims each
+year to attend lectures at Oxford where he got his degree in 1881, after
+almost continuous commuting between England and Africa. Hence the Rhodes
+Scholarship at Oxford created by his remarkable will. History contains
+no more striking contrast perhaps than the spectacle of this tall
+curly-haired boy with the Caesar-like face studying a Greek book while
+he managed a diamond-washing machine with his foot.
+
+Rhodes developed the mines known as the DeBeers group. His great rival
+was Barney Barnato, who gave African finance the same erratic and
+picturesque tradition that the Pittsburgh millionaires brought to
+American finance. His real name was Barnett Isaacs. After kicking about
+the streets of the East End of London he became a music hall performer
+under the name by which he is known to business history. The diamond
+rush lured him to Kimberley, where he displayed the resource and
+ingenuity that led to his organization of the Central mine interests
+which grouped around the Kimberley Mine.
+
+A bitter competition developed between the Rhodes and Barnato groups.
+Kimberley alternated between boom and bankruptcy. The genius of diamond
+mining lies in tempering output to demand. Rhodes realized that
+indiscriminate production would ruin the market, so he framed up the
+deal that made him the diamond dictator. He made Barnato an offer which
+was refused. With the aid of the Rothschilds in London Rhodes secretly
+bought out the French interests in the Barnato holdings for $6,000,000,
+which got his foot, so to speak, in the doorway of the opposition. But
+even this did not give him a working wedge. He was angling with other
+big stockholders and required some weeks time to consummate the deal.
+Meanwhile Barnato accumulated an immense stock of diamonds which he
+threatened to dump on the market and demoralize the price. The release
+of these stones before the completion of Rhodes' negotiations would have
+upset his whole scheme and neutralized his work and expense.
+
+He arranged a meeting with Barnato who confronted him with the pile of
+diamonds that he was about to throw on the market. Rhodes, so the story
+goes, took him by the arm and said: "Barney, have you ever seen a
+bucketful of diamonds? I never have. I'll make a proposition to you. If
+these diamonds will fill a bucket, I'll take them all from you at your
+own price."
+
+Without giving his rival time to answer, Rhodes swept the glittering
+fortune into a bucket which happened to be standing nearby. It also
+happened that the stones did not fill it. This incident shows the extent
+of the Rhodes resource, for a man at Kimberly told me that Rhodes knew
+beforehand exactly how many diamonds Barnato had and got the right
+sized bucket. Rhodes immediately strode from the room, got the time he
+wanted and consummated the consolidation which made the name DeBeers
+synonymous with the diamond output of the world. One trifling feature of
+this deal was the check for $26,000,000 which Rhodes gave for some of
+the Barnato interests acquired.
+
+The deal with Barnato illustrated the practical operation of one of the
+rules which guided Rhodes' business life. He once said, "Never fight
+with a man if you can deal with him." He lived up to this maxim even
+with the savage Matabeles from whom he wrested Rhodesia.
+
+Not long after the organization of the diamond trust Rhodes gave another
+evidence of his business acumen. He saw that the disorganized marketing
+of the output would lead to instability of price. He therefore formed
+the Diamond Syndicate in London, composed of a small group of middlemen
+who distribute the whole Kimberley output. In this way the available
+supply is measured solely by the demand.
+
+Rhodes had a peculiar affection for Kimberley. One reason perhaps was
+that it represented the cornerstone of his fortune. He always referred
+to the mines as his "bread and cheese." He made and lost vast sums
+elsewhere and scattered his money about with a lavish hand. The diamond
+mines did not belie their name and gave him a constant meal-ticket.
+
+In Kimberley he made some of the friendships that influenced his life.
+First and foremost among them was his association with Doctor,
+afterwards Sir, Starr Jameson, the hero of the famous Raid and a
+romantic character in African annals. Jameson came to Kimberley to
+practice medicine in 1878. No less intimate was Rhodes' life-long
+attachment for Alfred Beit, who arrived at the diamond fields from
+Hamburg in 1875 as an obscure buyer. He became a magnate whose
+operations extended to three continents. Beit was the balance wheel in
+the Rhodes financial machine.
+
+The diamond mines at Kimberley are familiar to most readers. They differ
+from the mines in German South-West Africa and the Congo in that they
+are deep level excavations. The Kimberley mine, for example, goes down
+3,000 feet. To see this almost grotesque gash in the earth is to get the
+impression of a very small Grand Canyon of the Colorado. It is an
+awesome and terrifying spectacle for it is shot through with green and
+brown and purple, is more than a thousand feet wide at the top, and
+converges to a visible point a thousand feet below. You feel that out of
+this color and depth has emerged something that itself incarnates lure
+and mystery. Even in its source the diamond is not without its element
+of elusiveness.
+
+The diamonds at Kimberley are found in a blue earth, technically known
+as kimberlite and commonly called "blue ground." This is exposed to sun
+and rain for six months, after which it is shaken down, run over a
+grease table where the vaseline catches the real diamonds, and allows
+the other matter to escape. After a boiling process it is the "rough"
+diamond.
+
+I spent a day in the Dutoitspan Mine where I saw thousands of Kaffirs
+digging away at the precious blue substance soon to be translated into
+the gleaming stone that would dangle on the bosom or shine from the
+finger of some woman ten thousand miles away. I got an evidence of
+American cinema enterprise on this occasion for I suddenly debouched on
+a wide level and under the flickering lights I saw a Yankee operator
+turning the crank of a motion picture camera. He was part of a movie
+outfit getting travel pictures. A hundred naked Zulus stared with
+open-eyed wonder at the performance. When the flashlight was touched off
+they ran for their lives.
+
+This leads me to the conspicuous part that Americans have played at
+Kimberley. Rhodes had great confidence in the Americans, and employed
+them in various capacities that ranged from introducing California
+fruits into South Africa and Rhodesia to handling his most important
+mining interests. When someone asked him why he engaged so many he
+answered, "They are so thorough."
+
+First among the Americans that Rhodes brought to Kimberley was Gardner
+F. Williams, a Michigander who became General Manager of the DeBeers
+Company in 1887 and upon the consolidation, assumed the same post with
+the united interests. He developed the mechanical side of diamond
+production and for many years held what was perhaps the most conspicuous
+technical and administrative post in the industry. He retired in favor
+of his son, Alpheus Williams, who is the present General Manager of all
+the diamond mines at Kimberley.
+
+A little-known American had a vital part in the siege of Kimberley.
+Among the American engineers who rallied round Gardner Williams was
+George Labram. When the Boers invested the town they had the great
+advantage of superiority in weight of metal. Thanks to Britain's lack of
+preparedness, Kimberley only had a few seven pounders, while the Boers
+had "Long Toms" that hurled hundred pounders. At Rhodes' suggestion
+Labram manufactured a big gun capable of throwing a thirty-pound shell
+and it gave the besiegers a big and destructive surprise. This gun,
+which was called "Long Cecil," was built and booming in exactly
+twenty-eight days. Tragically enough, Labram was killed by a Boer shell
+while shaving in his room at the Grand Hotel exactly a week after the
+first discharge of his gun.
+
+
+IV
+
+The part that Americans had in the development of Kimberley is slight
+compared with their participation in the exploitation of the Rand gold
+mines. Not only were they the real pioneers in opening up this greatest
+of all gold fields but they loomed large in the drama of the Jameson
+Raid. One of their number, John Hays Hammond, the best-known of the
+group, was sentenced to death for his rôle in it. The entire technical
+fabric of the Rand was devised and established by men born, and who had
+the greater part of their experience, in the United States.
+
+The capital of the Rand is Johannesburg. When you ride in a taxicab down
+its broad, well-paved streets or are whirled to the top floor of one of
+its skyscrapers, it is difficult to believe that thirty years ago this
+thriving and metropolitan community was a rocky waste. We are accustomed
+to swift civic transformations in America but Johannesburg surpasses any
+exhibit that we can offer in this line. Once called "a tin town with a
+gold cellar," it has the atmosphere of a continuous cabaret with a jazz
+band going all the time.
+
+No thoroughly acclimated person would ever think of calling Johannesburg
+by its full and proper name. Just as San Francisco is contracted into
+"'Frisco," so is this animated joytown called "Joburg." I made the
+mistake of dignifying the place with its geographical title when I
+innocently remarked, "Johannesburg is a live place." My companion looked
+at me with pity--it was almost sorrow, and replied,
+
+"We think that 'Joburg' (strong emphasis on 'Joburg') is one of the
+hottest places in the world."
+
+The word Rand is Dutch for ridge or reef. Toward the middle of the
+eighties the first mine was discovered on what is the present site of
+Johannesburg. The original excavation was on the historic place known as
+_Witwatersrand_, which means White Water Reef. Kimberley history
+repeated itself for the gold rush to the Transvaal was as noisy and
+picturesque as the dash on the diamond fields. It exceeded the Klondike
+movement because for one thing it was more accessible and in the second
+place there were no really adverse climatic conditions. Thousands died
+in the snow and ice of the Yukon trail while only a few hundred
+succumbed to fever, exposure to rain, and inadequate food on the Rand.
+It resembled the gold rush to California in 1849 more than any other
+similar event.
+
+The Rand gold fields, which in 1920 produced half of the world's gold,
+are embodied in a reef about fifty miles long and twenty miles wide. All
+the mines immediately in and about Johannesburg are practically
+exhausted. The large development today is in the eastern section. People
+do everything but eat gold in Johannesburg. Cooks, maids, waiters,
+bootblacks--indeed the whole population--are interested, or at some time
+have had an interest in a gold mine. Some historic shoestrings have
+become golden cables. J. B. Robinson, for example, one of the well-known
+magnates, and his associates converted an original interest of
+£12,000 into £18,000,000. This Rand history sounds like an
+Aladdin fairy tale.
+
+What concerns us principally, however, is the American end of the whole
+show. Hardly were the first Rand mines uncovered than they felt the
+influence of the American technical touch. Among the first of our
+engineers to go out were three unusual men, Hennen Jennings, H. C.
+Perkins and Captain Thomas Mein. Together with Hamilton Smith, another
+noted American engineer who joined them later, they had all worked in
+the famous El Callao gold mine in Venezuela. Subsequently came John Hays
+Hammond, Charles Butters, Victor M. Clement, J. S. Curtis, T. H.
+Leggett, Pope Yeatman, Fred Hellman, George Webber, H. H. Webb, and
+Louis Seymour. These men were the big fellows. They marshalled hundreds
+of subordinate engineers, mechanics, electricians, mine managers and
+others until there were more than a thousand in the field.
+
+This was the group contemporaneous and identified with the Jameson Raid.
+After the Boer War came what might be called the second generation of
+American engineers, which included Sidney Jennings, a brother of Hennen,
+W. L. Honnold, Samuel Thomson, Ruel C. Warriner, W. W. Mein, the son of
+Capt. Thomas Mein, and H. C. Behr.
+
+Why this American invasion? The reason was simple. The American mining
+engineer of the eighties and the nineties stood in a class by himself.
+Through the gold development of California we were the only people who
+had produced gold mining engineers of large and varied practical
+experience. When Rhodes and Barnato (they were both among the early nine
+mine-owners in the Rand) cast about for capable men they naturally
+picked out Americans. Hammond, for example, was brought to South America
+in 1893 by Barnato and after six months with him went over to Rhodes,
+with whom he was associated both in the Rand and Rhodesia until 1900.
+
+Not only did Americans create the whole technical machine but one of
+them--Hennen Jennings--really saved the field. The first mines were
+"outcrop," that is, the ore literally cropped out at the surface. This
+outcrop is oxidized, and being free, is easily amalgamated with mercury.
+Deeper down in the earth comes the unoxidized zone which continues
+indefinitely. The iron pyrites found here are not oxidized. They hold
+the gold so tenaciously that they are not amalgamable. They must
+therefore be abstracted by some other process than with mercury. At the
+time that the outcrop in the Rand become exhausted, what is today known
+as the "cyanide process" had never been used in that part of the world.
+The mine-owners became discouraged and a slump followed. Jennings had
+heard of the cyanide operation, insisted upon its introduction, and it
+not only retrieved the situation but has become an accepted adjunct of
+gold mining the world over. In the same way Hammond inaugurated
+deep-level mining when many of the owners thought the field was
+exhausted because the outcrop indications had disappeared.
+
+These Americans in the Rand made the mines and they also made history as
+their part in the Jameson Raid showed. Perhaps a word about the Reform
+movement which ended in the Raid is permissible here. It grew out of the
+oppression of the _Uitlander_--the alien--by the Transvaal Government
+animated by Kruger, the President. Although these outsiders, principally
+English and Americans, outnumbered the Boers three to one, they were
+deprived of the rights of citizenship. The Reformers organized an armed
+campaign to capture Kruger and hold him as a hostage until they could
+obtain their rights. The guns and ammunition were smuggled in from
+Kimberley as "hardware" under the supervision of Gardner Williams. It
+was easy to bring the munitions as far as Kimberley. The Boers set up
+such a careful watch on the Transvaal border, however, that every
+subterfuge had to be employed to get them across.
+
+Dr. Jameson, who at that time was Administrator of Southern Rhodesia,
+had a force of Rhodesian police on the Transvaal border ready to come to
+the assistance of the Committee if necessary. The understanding was that
+Jameson should not invade the Transvaal until he was needed. His
+impetuosity spoiled the scheme. Instead of waiting until the Committee
+was properly armed and had seized Kruger, he suddenly crossed the border
+with his forces. The Raid was a fizzle and the commander and all his men
+were captured by the Boers. This abortive attempt was the real prelude
+to the Boer War, which came four years later.
+
+Most Americans who have read about this episode believe that John Hays
+Hammond was the only countryman of theirs in it. This was because he had
+a leading and spectacular part and was one of the four ringleaders
+sentenced to death. He afterwards escaped by the payment of a fine of
+$125,000. As a matter of fact, four other prominent American mining
+engineers were up to their necks in the reform movement and got long
+terms in prison. They were Capt. Thomas Mein, J. S. Curtis, Victor M.
+Clement and Charles Butters. They obtained their freedom by the payment
+of fines of $10,000 each. This whole enterprise netted Kruger something
+like $2,000,000 in cash.
+
+The Jameson Raid did more than enrich old Kruger's coffers and bring the
+American engineers in the Rand to the fore. Indirectly it blocked a
+German scheme that might have played havoc in Africa the moment the
+inevitable Great War broke. If the Boer War had not developed in 1899 it
+is altogether likely that, judging from her whole campaign of world-wide
+interference, Germany would have arranged so that it should break out in
+1914. In this unhappy event she could have struck a death blow at
+England in South Africa because in the years between the Boer War and
+1914 she created close-knit colonial organizations in South-West and
+East Africa; built strategic railways; armed and drilled thousands of
+natives, and could have invaded the Cape Colony and the Transvaal.
+
+In connection with the Jameson Raid is a story not without interest.
+Jameson and Rudyard Kipling happened to be together when the news of
+Roosevelt's coup in Panama was published. The author read it first and
+handed the paper to his friend with the question: "What do you think of
+it?"
+
+Jameson glanced at the article and then replied somewhat sadly, "This
+makes the Raid look like thirty cents."
+
+I cannot leave the Rand section of the Union of South Africa without a
+word in passing about Pretoria, the administrative capital, which is
+only an hour's journey from Johannesburg. Here you still see the old
+house where Kruger lived. It was the throne of a copper-riveted
+autocracy. No modern head of a country ever wielded such a despotic rule
+as this psalm-singing old Boer whose favorite hour for receiving
+visitors was at five o'clock in the morning, when he had his first cup
+of strong coffee, a beverage which he continued to consume throughout
+the day.
+
+The most striking feature of the country around Pretoria is the Premier
+diamond mine, twenty-five miles east of the town and the world's
+greatest single treasure-trove. The mines at Kimberley together
+constitute the largest of all diamond fields but the Premier Mine is the
+biggest single mine anywhere. It produces as much as the four largest
+Kimberley mines combined, and contributes eighteen per cent of the
+yearly output allotted to the Diamond Syndicate.
+
+It was discovered by Thomas M. Cullinan, who bought the site from a Boer
+farmer for $250,000. The land originally cost this farmer $2,500. The
+mine has already produced more than five hundred times what Cullinan
+paid for it and the surface has scarcely been scraped. You can see the
+natives working in its two huge holes which are not more than six
+hundred feet deep. It is still an open mine. In the Premier Mine was
+found the Cullinan diamond, the largest ever discovered and which made
+the Koh-i-noor and all other fabled gems look like small pebbles. It
+weighed 3,200 karats and was insured for $2,500,000 when it was sent to
+England to be presented to King Edward. The Koh-i-noor, by the way,
+which was found in India only weighs 186 karats.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by South African Railways_
+
+THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE]
+
+
+V
+
+No attempt at an analysis of South Africa would be complete without some
+reference to the native problem, the one discordant note in the economic
+and productive scheme. The race question, as the Smuts dilemma showed,
+lies at the root of all South African trouble. But the racial conflict
+between Briton and Boer is almost entirely political and in no way
+threatens the commercial integrity. Both the Dutchman and the Englishman
+agree on the whole larger proposition and the necessity of settling once
+and for all a trouble that carries with it the danger of sporadic
+outbreak or worse. Now we come to the whole irritating labor trouble
+which has neither color, caste, nor creed, or geographical line.
+
+First let me bring the South African color problem home to America. In
+the United States the whites outnumber the blacks roughly ten to one.
+Our coloured population represents the evolution of the one-time African
+slave through various generations into a peaceful, law-abiding, and
+useful social unit. The Southern "outrage" is the rare exception. We
+have produced a Frederick Douglass and a Booker Washington. Our Negro is
+a Christian, fills high posts, and invades the professions.
+
+In South Africa the reverse is true. To begin with, the natives
+outnumber the whites four and one-half to one--in Rhodesia they are
+twenty to one--and they are increasing at a much greater rate than the
+Europeans. Moreover, the native population draws on half a dozen races,
+including the Zulus, Kaffirs, Hottentots and Basutos. These Negroes
+represent an almost primitive stage of development. They are mainly
+heathens and a prey to savagery and superstition. The Cape Colony is the
+only one that permits the black man to go to school or become a skilled
+artisan. Elsewhere the white retains his monopoly on the crafts and at
+the same time refuses to do any labour that a Negro can perform. Hence
+the great need of white immigration into the Union. The big task,
+therefore, is to secure adequate work for the Negro without permitting
+him to gain an advantage through it.
+
+It follows that the moment the Kaffir becomes efficient and picks up a
+smattering of education he begins to think about his position and unrest
+is fomented. It makes him unstable as an employee, as the constant
+desertions from work show. The only way that the gold and diamond mines
+keep their thousands of recruited native workers is to confine them in
+compounds. The ordinary labourer has no such restrictions and he is here
+today and gone tomorrow.
+
+It is not surprising to discover that in a country teeming with blacks
+there are really no good servants, a condition with which the American
+housewife can heartily sympathize. Before I went to Africa nearly every
+woman I knew asked me to bring her back a diamond and a cook. They were
+much more concerned about the cook than the diamond. Had I kept every
+promise that I made affecting this human jewel, I would have had to
+charter a ship to convey them. The only decent servant I had in Africa
+was a near-savage in the Congo, a sad commentary on domestic service
+conditions.
+
+The one class of stable servants in the Colony are the "Cape Boys," as
+they are called. They are the coloured offspring of a European and a
+Hottentot or a Malay and are of all shades, from a darkish brown to a
+mere tinge. They dislike being called "niggers." The first time I saw
+these Cape Boys was in France during the war. South Africa sent over
+thousands of them to recruit the labour battalions and they did
+excellent work as teamsters and in other capacities. The Cape Boy,
+however, is the exception to the native rule throughout the Union, which
+means that most native labour is unstable and discontented.
+
+Not only is the South African native a menace to economic expansion but
+he is likewise something of a physical danger. In towns like Pretoria
+and Johannesburg there is a considerable feeling of insecurity. Women
+shrink from being left alone with their servants and are filled with
+apprehension while their little ones are out under black custodianship.
+The one native servant, aside from some of the Cape Boys, who has
+demonstrated absolute fidelity, is the Zulu whom you see in largest
+numbers in Natal. He is still a proud and kingly-looking person and he
+carried with him a hint of the vanished greatness of his race. Perhaps
+one reason why he is safe and sane reposes in his recollection of the
+repeated bitter and bloody defeats at the hands of the white men. Yet
+the Zulu was in armed insurrection in Natal in the nineties.
+
+South Africa enjoys no guarantee of immunity from black uprising even
+now in the twentieth century when the world uses the aeroplane and the
+wireless. During the past thirty years there have been outbreaks
+throughout the African continent. As recently as 1915 a fanatical form
+of Ethiopianism broke out in Nyassaland which lies north-east of
+Rhodesia, under the sponsorship of John Chilembwe, a negro preacher who
+had been educated in the United States. The natives rose, killed a
+number of white men and carried off the women. Of course, it was
+summarily put down and the leaders executed. But the incident was
+significant.
+
+Prester John, whose story is familiar to readers of John Buchan's fine
+romance of the same name, still has disciples. Like Chilembwe he was a
+preacher who had acquired so-called European civilization. He dreamed of
+an Africa for the blacks and took his inspiration from the old kings of
+Abyssinia. He too met the fate of all his kind but his spirit goes
+marching on. In 1919 a Pan-African Congress was held in Paris to discuss
+some plan for what might be called Pan-Ethiopianism. The following year
+a negro convention in New York City advocated that all Africa should be
+converted into a black republic.
+
+One example of African native unrest was brought strikingly to my
+personal attention. At Capetown I met one of the heads of a large Cape
+Colony school for Negroes which is conducted under religious auspices.
+The occasion was a dinner given by J. X. Merriman, the Grand Old Man of
+the Cape Colony. This particular educator spoke with glowing enthusiasm
+about this institution and dwelt particularly upon the evolution that
+was being accomplished. He gave me a pressing invitation to visit it. He
+happened to be on the train that I took to Kimberley, which was also the
+first stage of his journey home and he talked some more about the great
+work the school was doing.
+
+When I reached Kimberley the first item of news that I read in the
+local paper was an account of an uprising in the school. Hundreds of
+native students rebelled at the quality of food they were getting and
+went on the rampage. They destroyed the power-plant and wrecked several
+of the buildings. The constabulary had to be called out to restore
+order.
+
+In many respects most Central and South African Negroes never really
+lose the primitive in them despite the claims of uplifters and
+sentimentalists. Actual contact is a disillusioning thing. I heard of a
+concrete case when I was in the Belgian Congo. A Belgian judge at a post
+up the Kasai River acquired an intelligent Baluba boy. All personal
+servants in Africa are called "boys." This particular native learned
+French, acquired European clothes and became a model servant. When the
+judge went home to Belgium on leave he took the boy along. He decided to
+stay longer than he expected and sent the negro back to the Congo. No
+sooner did the boy get back to his native heath than he sold his
+European clothes, put on a loin cloth, and squatted on the ground when
+he ate, precisely like his savage brethren. It is a typical case, and
+merely shows that a great deal of so-called black-acquired civilization
+in Africa falls away with the garb of civilization.
+
+The only African blacks who have really assimilated the civilizing
+influence so far as my personal observation goes are those of the West
+Coast. Some of the inhabitants of Sierra Leone will illustrate what I
+mean. Scores have gone to Oxford and Cambridge and have become doctors,
+lawyers and competent civil servants. They resemble the American Negro
+more than any others in Africa. This parallel even goes to their
+fondness for using big words. I saw hundreds of them holding down
+important clerical positions in the Belgian Congo where they are known
+as "Coast-men," because they come from the West Coast.
+
+I had an amusing experience with one when I was on my way out of the
+Congo jungle. I sent a message by him to the captain of the little
+steamboat that took me up and down the Kasai River. In this message I
+asked that the vessel be made ready for immediate departure. The
+Coast-man, whose name was Wilson--they all have English names and speak
+English fluently--came back and said:
+
+"I have conveyed your expressed desire to leave immediately to the
+captain of your boat. He only returns a verbal acquiescence but I assure
+you that he will leave nothing undone to facilitate your speedy
+departure."
+
+He said all this with such a solemn and sober face that you would have
+thought the whole destiny of the British Empire depended upon the
+elaborateness of his utterance.
+
+To return to the matter of unrest, all the concrete happenings that I
+have related show that the authority of the white man in Africa is still
+resented by the natives. It serves to emphasize what Mr. Lothrop
+Stoddard, an eminent authority on this subject, so aptly calls "the
+rising tide of colour." We white people seldom stop to realize how
+overwhelmingly we are outnumbered. Out of the world population of
+approximately 1,700,000,000 persons (I am using Mr. Stoddard's figures),
+only 550,000,000 are white.
+
+A colour conflict is improbable but by no means impossible. We have only
+to look at our own troubles with the Japanese to get an intimate glimpse
+of what might lurk in a yellow tidal wave. The yellow man humbled Russia
+in the Russo-Japanese War and he smashed the Germans at Kiao Chow in
+the Great War. The fact that he was permitted to fight shoulder to
+shoulder with the white man has only added to his cockiness as we have
+discovered in California.
+
+Remember too that the Germans stirred up all Islam in their mad attempt
+to conquer the world. The Mohammedan has not forgotten what the Teutonic
+propagandists told him when they laid the cunning train of bad feeling
+that precipitated Turkey into the Great War. These seeds of discord are
+bearing fruit in many Near Eastern quarters. One result is that a
+British army is fighting in Mesopotamia now. A Holy War is merely the
+full brother of the possible War of Colour. In East Africa the Germans
+used thousands of native troops against the British and Belgians. The
+blacks got a taste, figuratively, of the white man's blood and it did
+his system no good.
+
+Throughout the globe there are 150,000,000 blacks and all but 30,000,000
+of them are south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. They lack the high
+mental development of the yellow man as expressed in the Japanese, but
+even brute force is not to be despised, especially where it outnumbers
+the whites to the extent that they do in South Africa. I am no alarmist
+and I do not presume to say that there will be serious trouble. I merely
+present these facts to show that certainly so far as affecting
+production and economic security in general is concerned, the native
+still provides a vexing and irritating problem, not without danger.
+
+The Union of South Africa is keenly alive to this perplexing native
+situation. Its policy is what might be called the Direct Rule, in which
+the whole administration of the country is in the hands of the Europeans
+and which is the opposite of the Indirect Rule of India, for example,
+which recognizes Rajahs and other potentates and which permits the brown
+man to hold a variety of public posts.
+
+The Government of the Cape Colony is becoming convinced that Booker
+Washington's idea is the sole salvation of the race. That great leader
+maintained that the hope for the Negro in the United States and
+elsewhere lay in the training of his hands. Once those hands were
+skilled they could be kept out of mischief. I recall having discussed
+this theory one night with General Smuts at Capetown and he expressed
+his hearty approval of it.
+
+The lamented Botha died before he could put into operation a plan which
+held out the promise of still another kind of solution. It lay in the
+soil. He contended that an area of forty million acres should be set
+aside for the natives, where many could work out their destinies
+themselves. While this plan offered the opportunity for the
+establishment of a compact and perhaps dangerous black entity, his
+feeling was that by the avoidance of friction with the whites the
+possibility of trouble would be minimized. This scheme is likely to be
+carried out by Smuts.
+
+Since the Union of South Africa profited by the whirligig of war to the
+extent of acquiring German South-West Africa it only remains to speak of
+the new map of Africa, made possible by the Great Conflict. Despite the
+return of Alsace-Lorraine to France one fails to see concrete evidence
+of Germany's defeat in Europe. Her people are still cocky and defiant.
+There is no mistake about her altered condition in Africa. Her flag
+there has gone into the discard along with the wreck of militarism. The
+immense territory that she acquired principally by browbeating is lost,
+down to the last square mile.
+
+Up to 1884 Germany did not own an inch of African soil. Within two years
+she was mistress of more than a million square miles. Analyze her whole
+performance on the continent and a definite cause of the World War is
+discovered. It is part of an international conspiracy studded with
+astonishing details.
+
+Africa was a definite means to world conquest. Germany knew of her vast
+undeveloped wealth. It is now no secret that her plan was to annex the
+greater part of French, Belgian, Italian and Portuguese Africa in the
+event that she won. The Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway would have hitched up
+the late Teutonic Empire with the Near East and made it easy to link the
+African domain with this intermediary through the Turkish dominions.
+Here was an imposing program with many advantages. For one thing it
+would have given Germany an untold store of raw materials and it would
+also have put her into a position to dictate to Southern Asia and even
+South America.
+
+The methods that Germany adopted to acquire her African possessions were
+peculiarly typical. Like the madness that plunged her into a struggle
+with civilization they were her own undoing. Into a continent whose
+middle name, so far as colonization goes, is intrigue she fitted
+perfectly. Practically every German colony in Africa represented the
+triumph of "butting in" or intimidation. The Kaiser That Was regarded
+himself as the mentor, and sought to recast continents in the same grand
+way that he lectured his minions.
+
+The first German colony in Africa was German South-West, as it was
+called for short, and grew out of a deal made between a Bremen merchant
+and a native chief. On the strength of this Bismarck pinched out an area
+almost as big as British East Africa. Before twelve months had passed
+the German flag flew over what came to be known as German East Africa,
+and also over Togoland and the The Cameroons on the West Coast.
+
+Germany really had no right to invade any of this country but she was
+developing into a strong military power and rather than have trouble,
+the other nations acquiesced. Once intrenched, she started her usual
+interference. The prize mischief-maker of the universe, she began to
+stir up trouble in every quarter. She embroiled the French at Agadir and
+got into a snarl with Portugal over Angola.
+
+The Kaiser's experience with Kruger is typical. When the Jameson Raid
+petered out William Hohenzollern sent the dictator of the Transvaal a
+telegram of congratulation. The old Boer immediately regarded him as an
+ally and counted on his aid when the Boer War started. Instead, he got
+the double-cross after he had sent his ultimatum to England. At that
+time the Kaiser warily side-stepped an entanglement with Britain for the
+reason that she was too useful.
+
+It is now evident that a large part of the Congo atrocity was a German
+scheme. The head and front of the exposé movement was Sir Roger Casement
+of London. He sought to foment a German-financed revolution in Ireland
+and was hanged as a traitor in the Tower.
+
+Behind this atrocity crusade was just another evidence of the German
+desire to control Africa. By rousing the world against Belgium, Germany
+expected to bring another Berlin Congress, which would be expected to
+give her the stewardship of the Belgian Congo. The result would have
+been a German belt across Africa from the Indian to the Atlantic Oceans.
+She could thus have had England and France at a disadvantage on the
+north, and England and Portugal where she wanted them, to the south.
+Hence the Great War was not so much a matter of German meddling in the
+Balkans as it was her persistent manipulation of other nations' affairs
+in Africa. She was playing "freeze-out" on a stupendous scale. You can
+see why Germany was so much opposed to the Cape-to-Cairo Route. It
+interfered with her ambitions and provided a constant irritant to her
+"benevolent" plans.
+
+So much for the war end. Turn to the peace aspect. With Germany
+eliminated from the African scheme the whole region can enter upon a
+harmonious development. More than this, the fact that she is now
+deprived of colonies prevents her from recovering the world-wide
+economic authority she commanded before the war. A congested population
+allows her no more elbow room at home. Before she went mad her whole
+hope of the future lay in a colonization where her flag could fly in
+public, and in a penetration which cunningly masked the German hand. The
+world is now wise to the latter procedure.
+
+The new colour scheme of the African map may now be disclosed. The Union
+of South Africa, as you have seen, has taken over German South-West
+Africa; Great Britain has assumed the control of all German East Africa
+with the exception of Ruanda and Urundu, which have become part of the
+Belgian Congo. Togoland is divided between France and Britain, while the
+greater part of The Cameroons is merged into the Lower French West
+African possessions of which the French Congo is the principal one.
+Britain gets the Cameroon Mountains.
+
+The one-time Dark Continent remains dark only for Germany.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright British South Africa Co._
+
+VICTORIA FALLS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III--RHODES AND RHODESIA
+
+
+I
+
+For fifty-eight hours the train from Johannesburg had travelled steadily
+northward, past Mafeking and on through the apparently endless stretches
+of Bechuanaland. Alternately frozen and baked, I had swallowed enough
+dust to stock a small-sized desert. Dawn of the third day broke and with
+it came a sharp rap on my compartment door. I had been dreaming of a
+warm bath and a joltless life when I was rudely restored to reality. The
+car was stationary and a blanketed Matabele, his teeth chattering with
+the cold, peered in at the window.
+
+"What is it?" I asked.
+
+"You are in Rhodesia and I want to know who you are," boomed a voice out
+in the corridor.
+
+I opened the door and a tall, rangy, bronzed man--the immigration
+inspector--stepped inside. He looked like a cross between an Arizona
+cowboy and an Australian overseas soldier. When I proved to his
+satisfaction that I was neither Bolshevik nor Boche he departed with the
+remark: "We've got to keep a watch on the people who come into this
+country."
+
+Such was my introduction to Rhodesia, where the limousine and the
+ox-team compete for right of way on the veldt and the 'rickshaw yields
+to the motor-cycle in the town streets. Nowhere in the world can you
+find a region that combines to such vivid and picturesque extent the
+romance and hardship of the pioneer age with the push and practicality
+of today. Here existed the "King Solomon's Mines" of Rider Haggard's
+fancy: here the modern gold-seekers of fact sought the treasures of
+Ophir; here Nature gives an awesome manifestation of her power in the
+Victoria Falls.
+
+It is the only country where a great business corporation rules, not by
+might of money but by chartered authority. Linked with that rule is the
+story of a conflict between share-holder and settler that is unique in
+the history of colonization. It is the now-familiar and well-nigh
+universal struggle for self-determination waged in this instance between
+all-British elements and without violence.
+
+All the way from Capetown I had followed the trail of Cecil Rhodes,
+which like the man himself, is distinct. It is not the succession of
+useless and conventional monuments reared by a grateful posterity.
+Rather it is expressed in terms of cities and a permanent industrial and
+agricultural advance. "Living he was the land," and dead, his imperious
+and constructive spirit goes marching on. The Rhodes impress is
+everywhere. Now I had arrived at the cap-stone of it all, the domain
+that bears his name and which he added to the British Empire.
+
+Less than two hours after the immigration inspector had given me the
+once-over on the frontier I was in Bulawayo, metropolis of Rhodesia,
+which sprawls over the veldt just like a bustling Kansas community
+spreads out over the prairie. It is definitely American in energy and
+atmosphere. Save for the near-naked blacks you could almost imagine
+yourself in Idaho or Montana back in the days when our West was young.
+
+Before that first day ended I had lunched and dined in a club that would
+do credit to Capetown or Johannesburg; had met women who wore French
+frocks, and had heard the possibilities of the section acclaimed by a
+dozen enthusiasts. Everyone in Rhodesia is a born booster. Again you get
+the parallel with our own kind.
+
+To the average American reader Rhodesia is merely a name, associated
+with the midnight raid of stealthy savage and all the terror and tragedy
+of the white man's burden amid the wild confines. All this happened, to
+be sure, but it is part of the past. While South Africa still wrestles
+with a serious native problem, Rhodesia has settled it once and for all.
+It would be impossible to find a milder lot than the survivors and sons
+of the cruel and war-like Lobengula who once ruled here like a despot of
+old. His tribesmen--the Matabeles--were put in their place by a strong
+hand and they remain put.
+
+Bulawayo was the capital of Lobengula's kingdom. The word means "Place
+of Slaughter," and it did not belie the name. You can still see the tree
+under which the portly potentate sat and daily dispensed sanguinary
+judgment. His method was quite simple. If anyone irritated or displeased
+him he was haled up "under the greenwood" and sentenced to death. If
+gout or rheumatism racked the royal frame the chief executed the first
+passerby and then considered the source of the trouble removed. The only
+thing that really departed was the head of the innocent victim.
+Lobengula had sixty-eight wives, which may account for some of his
+eccentricities. Chaka, the famous king of the Zulus, whose favourite
+sport was murdering his sons (he feared a rival to the throne), was an
+amateur in crime alongside the dusky monarch whom the British
+suppressed, and thereby gained what is now the most prosperous part of
+Southern Rhodesia.
+
+The occupation and development of Rhodesia are so comparatively
+recent--(Rhodes and Dr. Jameson were fighting the Matabeles at Bulawayo
+in 1896)--that any account of the country must at the outset include a
+brief historical approach to the time of my visit last May. Probe into
+the beginnings of any African colony and you immediately uncover
+intrigue and militant imperialism. Rhodesia is no exception.
+
+For ages the huge continent of which it is part was veiled behind
+mystery and darkness. The northern and southern extremes early came into
+the ken of the explorer and after him the builder. So too with most of
+the coast. But the vast central belt, skirted by the arid reaches of
+Sahara on one side and unknown territory on the other, defied
+civilization until Livingstone, Stanley, Speke, and Grant blazed the
+way. Then began the scramble for colonies.
+
+Early in the eighties more than one European power cast covetous glances
+at what might be called the South Central area. Thanks to the economic
+foresight of King Leopold, Belgium had secured the Congo. Between this
+region which was then a Free State, and the Transvaal, was an immense
+and unappropriated country,--a sort of no man's land, rich with
+minerals, teeming with forests and peopled by savages. Two territories,
+Matabeleland, ruled by Lobengula, and Mashonaland, inhabited by the
+Mashonas, who were to all intents and purposes vassals to Lobengula,
+were the prize portions. Another immense area--the present British
+protectorate of Bechuanaland--was immediately south and touched the Cape
+Colony and the Transvaal. Portuguese East Africa lay to the east but
+the backbone of Africa south of the Congo line lay ready to be plucked
+by venturesome hands.
+
+Nor were the hands lacking for the enterprise. Germany started to
+strengthen the network of conspiracy that had already yielded her a
+million square miles of African soil and she was reaching out for more.
+Control of Africa meant for her a big step toward world conquest. Paul
+Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, which touched the southern
+edge of this unclaimed domain, saw in it the logical extension of his
+dominions.
+
+Down at Capetown was Rhodes, dreaming of a Greater Britain and
+determined to block the Kaiser and Kruger. It was largely due to his
+efforts while a member of the Cape Parliament that Britain was persuaded
+to annex Bechuanaland as a Crown Colony. Forestalled here, Kruger was
+determined to get the rest of the country beyond Bechuanaland and
+reaching to the southern border of the Congo. His emissaries began to
+dicker with chiefs and he organized an expedition to invade the
+territory. Once more Rhodes beat him to it, this time in history-making
+fashion.
+
+Following his theory that it is better to deal with a man than fight
+him, he sent C. D. Rudd, Rochfort Maguire, and F. R. ("Matabele")
+Thompson up to deal directly with Lobengula. They were ideal envoys for
+Thompson in particular knew every inch of the country and spoke the
+native languages. From the crafty chieftain they obtained a blanket
+concession for all the mineral and trading rights in Matabeleland for
+£1,200 a year and one thousand rifles. Rhodes now converted this
+concession into a commercial and colonizing achievement without
+precedent or parallel. It became the Magna Charta of the great British
+South Africa Company, which did for Africa what the East India Company
+did for India. Counting in Bechuanaland, it added more than 700,000
+square miles to the British Empire.
+
+Like the historic document so inseparably associated with the glories of
+Clive and Hastings, its Charter shaped the destiny of the empire and is
+associated with battle, blood, and the eventual triumph of the
+Anglo-Saxon over the man of colour. Other chartered companies have
+wielded autocratic power over millions of natives but the royal right to
+exist and operate, bestowed by Queen Victoria upon the British South
+Africa Company--the Chartered Company as it is commonly known--was the
+first that ever gave a corporation the administrative authority over a
+politically active country with a white population. The record of its
+rule is therefore distinct in the annals of Big Business.
+
+It was in 1899 that Rhodes got the Charter. In his conception of the
+Rhodesia that was to be--(it was first called Zambesia)--he had two
+distinct purposes in view. One was the larger political motive which was
+to widen the Empire and keep the Germans and Boers from annexing
+territory that he believed should be British. This was Rhodes the
+imperialist at work. The other aspect was the purely commercial side and
+revealed the same shrewdness that had registered so successfully in the
+creation of the Diamond Trust at Kimberley. This was Rhodes the business
+man on the job.
+
+The Charter itself was a visualization of the Rhodes mind and it matched
+the Cape-to-Cairo project in bigness of vision. It gave the Company the
+right to acquire and develop land everywhere, to engage in shipping, to
+build railway, telegraph and telephone lines, to establish banks, to
+operate mines and irrigation undertakings and to promote commerce and
+manufacture of all kinds. Nothing was overlooked. It meant the union of
+business and statesmanship.
+
+Under the Charter the Company was given administrative control of an
+area larger than that of Great Britain, France and Prussia. It divided
+up into Northern and Southern Rhodesia with the Zambesi River as the
+separating line. Northern Rhodesia remains a sparsely settled
+country--there are only 2,000 white inhabitants to 850,000 natives--and
+the only industry of importance is the lead and zinc development at
+Broken Hill. Southern Rhodesia, where there are 35,000 white persons and
+800,000 natives, has been the stronghold of Chartered interests and the
+battleground of the struggle to throw off corporate control. It is the
+Rhodesia to be referred to henceforth in this chapter without prefix.
+
+The Charter is perpetual but it contained a provision that at the end of
+twenty-five years, (1914) and at the end of each succeeding ten years,
+the Imperial Government has the power to alter, amend or rescind the
+instrument so far as the administration of Rhodesia is concerned. No
+vital change in the original document has been made so far, but by the
+time the next cycle expires in 1924 it is certain that the Company
+control will have ended and Rhodesia will either be a part of the Union
+of South Africa or a self-determining Colony.
+
+The Company is directed by a Board of Directors in London, but no
+director resides in the country itself. Thus at the beginning the
+fundamental mistake was made in attempting to run an immense area at
+long range. With the approval of the Foreign Office the Company names an
+Administrator,--the present one is Sir Drummond Chaplin,--who, like the
+average Governor-General, has little to say. The Company has exercised
+a copper-riveted control and this rigid rule led to its undoing, as you
+will see later on.
+
+The original capitalization was £1,000,000,--it was afterwards
+increased to £9,000,000,--but it is only a part of the stream of
+pounds sterling that has been poured into the country. In all the years
+of its existence the company has never paid a dividend. It is only since
+1914 that the revenue has balanced expenditures. More than 40,000
+shareholders have invested in the enterprise. Today the fate of the
+country rests practically on the issue between the interests of these
+shareholders on one hand and the 35,000 inhabitants on the other. Once
+more you get the spectacle, so common to American financial history, of
+a strongly intrenched vested interest with the real exploiter or the
+consumer arrayed against it. The Company rule has not been harsh but it
+has been animated by a desire to make a profit. The homesteaders want
+liberty of movement without handicap or restraint. An irreconcilable
+conflict ensued.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by British South Africa Co._
+
+CULTIVATING CITRUS LAND IN RHODESIA]
+
+
+II
+
+We can now go into the story of the occupation of Rhodesia, which not
+only unfolds a stirring drama of development but discloses something of
+an epic of adventure. With most corporations it is an easy matter to get
+down to business once a charter is granted. It is only necessary to
+subscribe stock and then enter upon active operations, whether they
+produce soap, razors or automobiles. The market is established for the
+product.
+
+With the British South Africa Company it was a far different and
+infinitely more difficult performance, to translate the license to
+operate into action. Matabeleland and Mashonaland were wild regions
+where war-like tribes roamed or fought at will. There were no roads. The
+only white men who had ventured there were hunters, traders, and
+concession seekers. Occupation preceded exploitation. A white man's
+civilization had to be set up first. The rifle and the hoe went in
+together.
+
+In June, 1890, the Pioneer Column entered. Heading it were two men who
+left an impress upon African romance. One was Dr. Jameson, hero of the
+Raid and Rhodes' most intimate friend. The first time I met him I
+marvelled that this slight, bald, mild little man should have been the
+central figure in so many heroic exploits. The other was the famous
+hunter, F. C. Selous, who was Roosevelt's companion in British East
+Africa. Under them were less than two hundred white men, including
+Captain Heany, an American, who now invaded a country where
+Lobengulahad an army of 20,000 trained fighters, organized into
+_impis_--(regiments)--after the Zulu fashion and in every respect a
+formidable force. Although the old chief had granted the concession, no
+one trusted him and Jameson and Selous had to feel their way, sleep
+under arms every night, and build highways as they went.
+
+Upon Lobengula's suggestion it was decided to occupy Mashonaland first.
+This was achieved without any trouble and the British flag was raised on
+what is now the site of Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia.
+Most of the members of the expedition remained as settlers, and farms
+sprang up on the veldt. The Company had to organize a police force to
+patrol the land and keep off predatory natives. But this was purely
+incidental to the larger troubles that now crowded thick and fast. In
+the South the Boers launched an expedition to occupy Matabeleland by
+force and it had to be headed off. To the east rose friction with the
+Portuguese and a Rhodesian contingent was compelled to occupy part of
+Portuguese East Africa until the boundary line was adjusted.
+
+In 1893 came the first of the events that made Rhodesia a storm center.
+A Matabele regiment raided the new town of Victoria and killed some of
+the Company's native servants. The Matabeles then went on the warpath
+and Dr. Jameson took the field against them. For five weeks a bitter
+struggle raged. It ended with the defeat and disappearance of Lobengula
+and the occupation of Bulawayo by the Company forces. This brought the
+whole of Matabeleland under the direct authority of the British South
+Africa Company. The campaign cost the Company $500,000.
+
+Three years of peace and progress followed. Railway construction
+started in two directions. One line was headed from the south through
+Bechuanaland toward Bulawayo and another from Beira, the Indian Ocean
+port in Portuguese East Africa, westward toward Salisbury. Gold mines
+were opened and farms extended. At the end of 1895 came the Jameson
+Raid. Practically the entire force under the many-sided Doctor was
+recruited from the Rhodesian police and they were all captured by the
+Boers. Rhodesia was left defenceless.
+
+The Matabeles seized this moment to strike again. Ever since the defeat
+of 1893 they had been restless and discontented. Various other causes
+contributed to the uprising. One is peculiarly typical of the African
+savage. An outbreak of rinderpest, a disease hitherto unknown in
+Southern Africa, came down from the North and ravaged the cattle herds.
+In order to check the advance of the pest the Government established a
+clear belt by shooting all the cattle in a certain area. It was
+impossible for the Matabeles to understand the wisdom of this procedure.
+They only saw it as an outrage committed by the white men on their
+property for they were extensive cattle owners. In addition many died
+after eating infected meat and they also held the settlers responsible.
+The net result of it all was a sudden descent upon the white settlements
+and scores of white men, women and children were slaughtered.
+
+This time the operations against them were on a large scale. The present
+Lord Plumer, who commanded the Fourth British Army in France against the
+Germans,--he was then a Lieutenant Colonel--came up with eight hundred
+soldiers and drove the Matabeles into the fastnesses of the Matopos,--a
+range of hills fifty miles long and more than twenty wide. Here the
+savages took refuge in caves and could not be driven out.
+
+You now reach one of the remarkable feats in the life of Cecil Rhodes.
+The moment that the second Matabele war began he hastened northward to
+the country that bore his name. As soon as the Matabeles took refuge in
+the Matopos he boldly went out to parley with them. With three unarmed
+companions, one of them an interpreter, he set up a camp in the wilds
+and sent emissaries to the syndicate of the chiefs who had succeeded
+Lobengula. He had become Premier of the Cape Colony, was head of the
+great DeBeers Diamond Syndicate, and had other immense interests. He was
+also Managing Director of the British South Africa Company and the
+biggest stockholder. He was determined to protect his interests and at
+the same time preserve the integrity of the country that he loved so
+well.
+
+He exposed himself every night to raids by the most blood-thirsty
+savages in all Africa. Plumer's command was camped nearly five miles
+away but Rhodes refused a guard.
+
+Rhodes waited patiently and his perseverance was eventually rewarded.
+One by one the chiefs came down from the hills and succumbed to the
+persuasiveness and personality of this remarkable man who could deal
+with wild and naked warriors as successfully as he could dictate to a
+group of hard-headed business men. After two months of negotiating the
+Matabeles were appeased and permanent peace, so far as the natives were
+concerned, dawned in Rhodesia. After his feat in the Matopos the
+Matabeles called Rhodes "The Man Who Separated the Fighting Bulls." It
+was during this period in Rhodesia that Rhodes discovered the place
+which he called "The View of the World," and where his remains now lie
+in lonely grandeur.
+
+At Groote Schuur, the Rhodes house near Capetown, which he left as the
+permanent residence of the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa,
+I saw a prized souvenir of the Matopos conferences with the Matabeles.
+On the wall in Rhodes' bedroom hangs the faded picture of an old and
+shriveled Matabele woman. When I asked General Smuts to tell me who she
+was he replied: "That is the woman who acted as the chief negotiator
+between Rhodes and the rebels." I afterwards found out that she was one
+of the wives of Umziligazi, father of Lobengula, and a noted Zulu
+chieftain. Rhodes never forgot the service she rendered him and caused
+the photograph of her to be taken.
+
+Following the last Matabele insurrection the Imperial Government which
+is represented in Rhodesia by a Resident Commissioner assumed control of
+the natives. The Crown was possibly guided by the precedent of Natal,
+where a premature Responsible Government was followed by two Zulu wars
+which well-nigh wrecked the province. It has become the policy of the
+Home Government not to permit a relatively small white population to
+rule the natives. Whatever the influence, Rhodesia has had no trouble
+with the natives since Rhodes made the peace up in the hills of the
+Matopos.
+
+The moment that the war of force ended, another and bloodless war of
+words began and it has continued ever since. I mean the fight for
+self-government that the settlers have waged against the Chartered
+Company. This brings us to a contest that contributes a significant and
+little-known chapter to the whole narrative of self-determination among
+the small peoples.
+
+Through its Charter the British South Africa Company was able to fasten
+a copper-rivetted rule on Rhodesia. Most of the Directors in London,
+with the exception of men like Dr. Jameson, knew very little about the
+country. There was no resident Director in Africa and the members of the
+Board only came out just before the elections. The Administrator was
+always a Company man and until 1899 his administrative associates in the
+field were the members of an Executive Council nominated by the Company.
+Meanwhile thousands of men had invested their fortunes in the land and
+the inevitable time came when they believed that they should have a
+voice in the conduct of its affairs.
+
+This sentiment became so widespread that in 1899 the country was given a
+Legislative Council which for the first time enabled the Rhodesians to
+elect some of their own people to office. At first they were only
+allowed three members, while the Company nominated six others. This
+always gave the Chartered interests a majority. Subsequently, as the
+clamour for popular representation grew, the number of elected
+representatives was increased to thirteen, while those nominated by
+Charter remained the same. To get a majority under the new deal it was
+only necessary for the Company to get the support of four elected
+members and on account of its relatively vast commercial interest it was
+usually easy to do this.
+
+It would be difficult to find an exact parallel to this situation. In
+America we have had many conflicts with what our campaign orators call
+"Special Privilege," an institution which thrived before the searchlight
+of publicity was turned on corporate control and prior to the time when
+fangs were put into the stewardship of railways. These contestants were
+sometimes decided at the polls with varying degrees of success. Perhaps
+the nearest approach to the Rhodesian line-up was the struggle of the
+California wheat growers against the Southern Pacific Railway, which
+Frank Norris dramatized in his book, "The Octopus."
+
+All the while the feeling for Responsible Government in Rhodesia grew. A
+strong group which opposed the Chartered régime sprang up. At the
+beginning of the struggle the line was sharply drawn between the Charter
+adherents on one side and unorganized opponents on the other. By 1914
+the issue was sharply defined. The first twenty-five years of the
+Charter were about to end and the insurgents realized that it was an
+opportune moment for a show of strength. The opposition had three plans.
+Some advocated the conversion of Rhodesia into a Crown Colony, others
+strongly urged admission to the Union of South Africa, while still
+another wing stood for Responsible Government. It was decided to unite
+on a common platform of Responsible Government.
+
+For the first time the Company realized that it had a fight on its hands
+and Dr. Jameson, who had become president of the corporation, went out
+to Rhodesia and made speeches urging loyalty to the Charter. His
+appearance stirred memories of the pioneer days and almost without
+exception the old guard rallied round him. A red-hot campaign ensued
+with the result that the whole pro-Charter ticket, with one exception,
+was elected, although the antis polled 45 per cent of the total vote.
+
+Out of this defeat came a partial victory for the Progressives. The
+Imperial Government saw the handwriting on the wall and acting within
+its powers, which permitted an administrative change in the Charter at
+the end of every ten years, granted a Supplemental Charter which
+provided that the Legislative Council could by an absolute majority of
+all its members pass a resolution "praying the Crown to establish in
+Southern Rhodesia the form of Government known as Responsible
+Government," provided that it could financially support this procedure.
+It gave the insurgents fresh hope and it made the Company realize that
+sooner or later its authority must end.
+
+Then the Great War broke. Every available man that could possibly be
+spared went to the Front and the life of the Council was extended until
+1920, when a conclusive election was to be held. Meanwhile the Company,
+realizing that it must sooner or later bow to the people's will, got
+busy with an attempt to realize on its assets. Chief among them were the
+millions of acres of so-called "unalienated" or Crown land in Southern
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company claimed this land as a private asset.
+The settlers alleged that it belonged to them. The Government said it
+was an imperial possession. The Privy Council in London upheld the
+latter contention. Thereupon the Company filed a claim for
+$35,000,000.00 against the Government to cover the value of this land
+and its losses throughout the years of administration.
+
+Yielding to pressure the Legislative Council in 1919 asked the British
+Government to declare itself on the question of replacing the Charter
+with some form of Government suited to the needs of the country. Lord
+Milner, the Colonial Secretary, answered in what came to be known as the
+"Milner Despatch." In it he said that he did not believe the territory
+"in its present stage of development was equal to the financial burden
+of Responsible Government." He mildly suggested representative
+government under the Crown.
+
+The general expectation throughout Rhodesia was that no election would
+be held until a Government Commission then sitting, had inquired into
+the validity of the Company's immense claim for damages. Early in March
+1920, however, the Legislative Council gave notice that the election was
+set for April 30th. It proved to be the most exciting ever held in
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company made no fight. The contest was really
+waged between the two wings of the anti-Charter crowd. One favored
+Responsible Government and the other, admission to the Union of South
+Africa.
+
+The arguments for Responsible Government briefly were these: That under
+the Supplemental Charter it was the only constitutional change possible;
+that the financial burden was not too heavy; that the native question
+was no bar; that the Imperial Government would never saddle the country
+with the huge debt of the Company; that under the Union a hateful
+bi-lingualism would be introduced; that taxation would not be excessive,
+and that finally, the right of self-determination as to Government was
+the birthright of the British people.
+
+The adherents of Union contended that the original idea of Cecil Rhodes
+was to make Rhodesia a part of the Union of South Africa; that by this
+procedure the vexing problem of customs with the Union would be solved;
+that the system of self-government in South Africa meets every
+requirement of self-determination. Moreover, the point was made that by
+becoming a part of the Union the whole railway question would be
+settled. At present the Rhodesian railways have three ends, one in South
+Africa at Vryburg, another on the Belgian border, and a third at the sea
+at Beira. It was claimed that through the Union, Rhodesia would benefit
+by becoming a part of the nationalized railway system there and get the
+advantage of a British port at the Cape instead of Beira, which is
+Portuguese. In other words, Union meant stability of credit, politics,
+finance and industry.
+
+The outcome of the election was that twelve Responsible Government
+candidates, one of them a woman, were elected. Women voted for the first
+time in Rhodesia and they solidly opposed the union with South Africa.
+The thirteenth member elected stood for the conversion of the country
+into a Crown Colony under representative government. Throughout the
+campaign the Chartered Company remained neutral, although it was
+obviously opposed to Responsible Government. The feeling throughout
+Rhodesia is that it favors Union because it could dispose of its assets
+to better advantage.
+
+I arrived in Rhodesia immediately after the election. The country still
+sizzled with excitement. Curiously enough, the head, brains and front of
+the fight for union with South Africa was a former American, now a
+British subject and who has been a ranchman in Rhodesia for some years.
+He prefers to be nameless.
+
+In the light of the landslide at the polls it naturally followed that
+the new Legislative Council at its first meeting passed a resolution
+declaring for Responsible Government. The vote was twelve to five. Since
+this was not an absolute majority, as required by the Supplementary
+Charter, it is expected that the Imperial Government will decide against
+granting this form of government just now. The next procedure will
+probably be a request for representative government under the Crown or
+some modification of the Charter, and for an Imperial loan. Rhodesia has
+no borrowing power and the country needs money just as much as its needs
+men. The adherents of Union claim that on a straight show-down between
+Crown Colony or Union at the next election, Union will win. From what I
+gathered in conversation with the leaders of both factions, there would
+have been a bigger vote, possibly victory for Union, but for the
+Nationalist movement in South Africa, which I described in a previous
+chapter. The Rhodesians want no racial entanglements.
+
+Northern Rhodesia has no part in the fight against the Charter. It is
+only a question of time, however, when she will be merged into Southern
+Rhodesia for, with the passing of the Company, her destiny becomes
+identical with that of her sister territory. Northern Rhodesia's chief
+complaint against the Company was that it did not spend any money within
+her borders. After reading the story of the crusade for Responsible
+Government you can understand the reason why.
+
+Whatever happens, Charter rule in Rhodesia is doomed and the great
+Company, born of the vision and imperialism of Cecil Rhodes, and which
+battled with the wild man in the wilderness, will eventually vanish from
+the category of corporations. But Rhodesia remains a thriving part of
+the British Empire and the dream of the founder is realized.
+
+
+III
+
+Rhodesia produces much more than trouble for the Chartered Company. She
+is pre-eminently a land of ranches and farms. Here you get still another
+parallel with the United States because it is no uncommon thing to find
+a farm of 50,000 acres or more.
+
+I doubt if any other new region in the world contains a finer or
+sturdier manhood than Rhodesia. Like the land itself it is a stronghold
+of youth. Likewise, no other colony, and for that matter, no other
+matured country exercises such a rigid censorship upon settlers. Until
+the high cost of living disorganized all economic standards, no one
+could establish himself in Rhodesia without a minimum capital of
+£1,000. So far as farming is concerned, this is now increased to
+£2,000. Therefore, you do not see the signs of failure which so
+often dot the semi-virgin landscape. Knowing this, you can understand
+why the immigration inspector gives the incoming travellers a rigid
+cross-examination at the frontier.
+
+Also it is simon-pure British, and more like Natal in this respect than
+any other territory under the Union-jack. I had a convincing
+demonstration in a personal experience. I made a speech at the Bulawayo
+Club. The notice was short but I was surprised to find more than a
+hundred men assembled after dinner, many in evening clothes. Some had
+travelled all day on horseback or in buckboards to get there, others had
+come hundreds of miles by motor car.
+
+I never addressed a more responsive audience. What impressed me was the
+kindling spirit of affection they manifested for the Mother Country. In
+conversation with many of them afterwards it was interesting to hear the
+sons of settlers referring to the England that they had never seen, as
+"home." That night I realized as never before,--not even amid the agony
+and sacrifice of the Somme or the Ancre in France,--one reason why the
+British Empire is great and why, despite all muddling, it carries on. It
+lies in the feeling of imperial kinship far out at the frontiers of
+civilization. The colonial is in many respects a more devoted loyalist
+than the man at home.
+
+Wherever I went I found the Rhodesian agriculturist--and he constitutes
+the bulk of the white population,--essentially modern in his methods. He
+reminds me more of the Kansas farmer than any other alien agriculturists
+that I have met. He uses tractors and does things in a big way. There is
+a trail of gasoline all over the country. Motorcycles have become an
+ordinary means of transport for district officials and engineers, who
+fly about over the native paths that are often the merest tracks. You
+find these machines in the remotest regions. The light motor car is also
+beginning to be looked upon as a necessary part of the outfit of the
+farmer.
+
+There was a time when the average Rhodesian believed that gold was the
+salvation of the country. Repeated "booms" and the inevitable losses
+have brought the people to agree with the opinion of one of the
+pioneers, that "the true wealth of the country lies in the top twelve
+inches of the soil." Agriculture is surpassing mining as the principal
+industry.
+
+The staple agricultural product is maize, which is corn in the American
+phraseology. Until a few years ago the bulk of it was consumed at home.
+Recently, however, on account of the farm expansion, there is an
+increasing surplus for export to the Union of South Africa, the Belgian
+Congo, and even to Europe.
+
+The facts about maize are worth considering. Every year 200,000,000
+bags, each weighing 200 pounds, are consumed throughout the world.
+Heretofore the principal sources of supply have been the Argentine and
+the United States. We have come to the time, however, when we absorb
+practically our whole crop. Formerly we exported about 10,000,000 bags.
+There is no decrease in corn consumption despite prohibition. Hence
+Rhodesia is bound to loom large in the situation. Last year she produced
+more than a million bags. Maize is a crop that revels in sunshine and in
+Rhodesia the sun shines brilliantly throughout the year practically
+without variation. This enables the product to be sun-dried.
+
+Other important crops are tobacco, beans, peanuts (which are invariably
+called monkey nuts in that part of the universe), wheat and oranges.
+Under irrigation, citrus fruits, oats and barley do well.
+
+Cattle are a bulwark of Rhodesian prosperity. The immense pasturage
+areas are reminiscent of Texas and Montana. For a hundred years before
+the white settlers came, the Matabeles and the Mashonas raised live
+stock. The natives still own about 700,000 head, nearly as many as the
+whites. I was interested to find that the British South Africa Company
+has imported a number of Texas ranchmen to act as cattle experts and
+advise the ranchers generally. This is due to a desire to begin a
+competition with the Argentine and the United States in chilled and
+frozen meats. One of the greatest British manufactures of beef extracts
+owns half a dozen ranches in Rhodesia and it is not unlikely that
+American meat men will follow. Mr. J. Ogden Armour is said to be keenly
+interested in the country with the view of expanding the resources of
+the Chicago packers. This is one result of the World War, which has
+caused the producer of food everywhere to bestir himself and insure
+future supplies.
+
+In connection with Rhodesian farming and cattle-raising is a situation
+well worthy of emphasis. There is no labour problem. You find, for
+example, that miracle of miracles which is embodied in a native at work.
+It is in sharp contrast with South Africa and the Congo, where, with
+millions of coloured people it is almost impossible to get help. The
+Rhodesian black still remains outside the leisure class. Whether it is
+due to his fear of the whites or otherwise, he is an active member of
+the productive order.
+
+The native will work for the white man but, save to raise enough maize
+for himself, he will not become an agriculturist. I heard a typical
+story about Lewaniki, Chief of the Barotses, who once ruled a large part
+of what is now Northern Rhodesia. Someone asked him to get his people to
+raise cotton. His answer was:
+
+"What is the use? They cannot eat it."
+
+In Africa the native's world never extends beyond his stomach. I was
+soon to find costly evidence of this in the Congo.
+
+The African native is quite a character. He is not only a born actor but
+has a quaint humor. In the center of the main street at Bulawayo is a
+bronze statue of Cecil Rhodes, bareheaded, and with his face turned
+toward the North. Just as soon as it was unveiled the Matabeles
+expressed considerable astonishment over it. They could not understand
+why the figure never moved. Shortly afterwards a great drought came. A
+native chief went to see the Resident Commissioner and solemnly told him
+that he was quite certain that there would be no rain "until they put a
+hat on Mr. Rhodes' head."
+
+The Lewaniki anecdote reminds me of an admirable epigram that was
+produced in Rhodesia. Out there food is commonly known as "skoff," just
+as "chop" is the equivalent in the Congo. A former Resident
+Commissioner, noted for the keenness of his wit, once asked a travelling
+missionary to dine with him. After the meal the guest insisted upon
+holding a religious service at the table. In speaking of the performance
+the Commissioner said: "My guest came to 'skoff' and remained to pray."
+
+Whenever you visit a new land you almost invariably discover mental
+alertness and progressiveness that often put the older civilizations to
+shame. Let me illustrate. Go to England or France today and you touch
+the really tragic aftermath of the war. You see thousands of demobilized
+officers and men vainly searching for work. Many are reduced to the
+extremity of begging. It has become an acute and poignant problem, that
+is not without its echo over here.
+
+Rhodesia, through the British South Africa Company, is doing its bit
+toward solution. It has set aside 500,000 acres which are being allotted
+free of charge to approved soldier and sailor settlers from overseas.
+Not only are they being given the land but they are provided with expert
+advice and supervision. The former service men who are unable to borrow
+capital with which to exploit the land, are merged into a scheme by
+which they serve an apprenticeship for pay on the established farms and
+ranches until they are able to shift for themselves.
+
+The Chartered Company, despite its political machine, has developed
+Rhodesia "on its own," and in rather striking fashion. It operates
+dairies, gold mines, citrus estates, nurseries, ranches, tobacco
+warehouses, abattoirs, cold storage plants and dams, which insures
+adequate water supply in various sections. It is a profitable example of
+constructive paternalism whose results will be increasingly evident long
+after the famous Charter has passed into history.
+
+No phase of the Company's activities is more important than its
+construction of the Rhodesian railways. They represent a
+double-barrelled private ownership in that they were built and are
+operated by the Company. There are nearly 2,600 miles of track. One
+section of the system begins down at Vryburg in Bechuanaland, where it
+connects with the South African Railways, and extends straight northward
+through Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to the Congo border. The other
+starts at Beira on the Indian Ocean and runs west through Salisbury, the
+capital, to Bulawayo.
+
+These railways have a remarkable statistical distinction in that there
+is one mile of track for every thirteen white inhabitants. No other
+system in the world can duplicate it. The Union of South Africa comes
+nearest with 143 white inhabitants per mile or just eleven times as
+many. Canada has 27, Australia 247, the United States and New Zealand
+400 each, while the United Kingdom has over 200 inhabitants for every
+mile of line.
+
+Rhodesia is highly mineralized. Coal occurs in three areas and one of
+them, Wankie,--a vast field,--is extensively operated. Gold is found
+over the greater part of the country. Here you not only touch an
+American interest but you enter upon the region that Rider Haggard
+introduced to readers as the setting of some of his most famous
+romances. We will deal with the practical side first.
+
+Rhodes had great hopes of Rhodesia as a gold-producing country. He
+wanted the economic value of the country to rank with the political.
+Thousands of years ago the natives dug mines and many of these ancient
+workings are still to be seen. They never exceed forty or fifty feet in
+depth. Many leading authorities claimed that the South Arabians of the
+Kingdom of Saba often referred to in the Bible were the pioneers in the
+Rhodesian gold fields and sold the output to the Phoenicians. Others
+contended that the Phoenicians themselves delved here. Until recently it
+was also maintained by some scientists and Biblical scholars that modern
+Southern Rhodesia was the famed land of Ophir, whence came the gold and
+precious stones that decked the persons and palaces of Solomon and
+David. This, however, has been disproved, and Ophir is still the butt of
+archaeological dispute. It has been "located" in Arabia, Spain, Peru,
+India and South-East Africa.
+
+Rhodes knew all about the old diggings so he engaged John Hays Hammond,
+the American engineer, to accompany him on a trip through Rhodesia in
+1894 and make an investigation of the workings. His report stated that
+the rock mines were undoubtedly ancient, that the greatest skill in
+mining had been displayed and that scores of millions of pounds worth of
+the precious metal had been extracted. It also proved that practically
+all this treasure had been exported from the country for no visible
+traces remain. This substantiates the theory that perhaps it did go to
+the Phoenicians or to a potentate like King Solomon. Hammond wrote the
+mining laws of Rhodesia which are an adaptation of the American code.
+
+The Rhodesian gold mines, which are operated by the Chartered Company
+and by individuals, have never fully realized their promise. One reason,
+so men like Hammond tell me, is that they are over-capitalized and are
+small and scattered. Despite this handicap the country has produced
+£45,227,791 of gold since 1890. The output in 1919 was worth
+£2,500,000. In 1915 it was nearly £4,000,000.
+
+Small diamonds in varying quantities have also been found in Rhodesia.
+In exchange for having subscribed heavily to the first issue of British
+South Africa Company stock, the DeBeers which Rhodes formed received a
+monopoly on the diamond output and with it the assurance of a rigid
+enforcement of the so-called Illicit Diamond Buying Act. This law, more
+commonly known as "I. D. B." and which has figured in many South African
+novels, provided drastic punishment for dishonest dealing in the stones.
+More than one South African millionaire owed the beginnings of his
+fortune to evasion of this law.
+
+Just about the time that Rhodes made the Rhodesian diamond deal a
+prospector came to him and said: "If I bring you a handful of rough
+diamonds what will I get?"
+
+"Fifteen years," was the ready retort. He was never at a loss for an
+answer.
+
+We can now turn to the really romantic side of the Rhodesian mineral
+deposits. One of the favorite pilgrimages of the tourist is to the
+Zimbabwe ruins, located about seventeen miles from Victoria in Southern
+Rhodesia. They are the remains of an ancient city and must at various
+times have been the home of large populations. There seems little doubt
+that Zimbabwe was the work of a prehistoric and long-forgotten people.
+
+Over it hangs a mantle of mystery which the fictionist has employed to
+full, and at times thrilling advantage. In this vicinity were the "King
+Solomon's Mines," that Rider Haggard wrote about in what is perhaps his
+most popular book. Here came "Allan Quartermain" in pursuit of love and
+treasure. The big hill at Zimbabwe provided the residence of "She," the
+lovely and disappearing lady who had to be obeyed. The ruins in the
+valley are supposed to be those of "the Dead City" in the same romance.
+The interesting feature of all this is that "She" and "King Solomon's
+Mines" were written in the early eighties when comparatively nothing was
+known of the country. Yet Rider Haggard, with that instinct which
+sometimes guides the romancer, wrote fairly accurate descriptions of the
+country long before he had ever heard of its actual existence. Thus
+imagination preceded reality.
+
+The imagination miracles disclose in the Haggard books are surpassed by
+the actual wonder represented by Victoria Falls. Everybody has heard of
+this stupendous spectacle in Rhodesia but few people see it because it
+is so far away. I beheld it on my way from Bulawayo to the Congo. Like
+the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it baffles description.
+
+The first white man to visit the cataract was Dr. Livingstone, who named
+it in honor of his Queen. This was in 1855. For untold years the natives
+of the region had trembled at its fury. They called it _Mois-oa-tunga_,
+which means "Smoke That Sounds." When you see the falls you can readily
+understand why they got this name. The mist is visible ten miles away
+and the terrific roar of the falling waters can be heard even farther.
+
+The fact that the casual traveller can see Victoria Falls from the train
+is due entirely to the foresight and the imagination of Cecil Rhodes. He
+knew the publicity value that the cataract would have for Rhodesia and
+he combined the utilitarian with his love of the romantic. In planning
+the Rhodesian railroad, therefore, he insisted that the bridge across
+the gorge of the Zambesi into which the mighty waters flow after their
+fall, must be sufficiently near to enable the spray to wet the railway
+carriages. The experts said it was impossible but Rhodes had his way,
+just as Harriman's will prevailed over that of trained engineers in the
+construction of the bridge across Great Salt Lake.
+
+The bridge across the Zambesi is a fit mate in audacity to the falls
+themselves. It is the highest in the world for it rises 400 feet above
+the low water level. Its main parabolic arch is a 500 foot span while
+the total length is 650 feet. Although its construction was fraught with
+contrast hazard it only cost two lives, despite the fact that seven
+hundred white men and two thousand natives were employed on it. In the
+building of the Firth of Forth bridge which was much less dangerous,
+more than fifty men were killed.
+
+I first saw the Falls in the early morning when the brilliant African
+sun was turned full on this sight of sights. It was at the end of the
+wet season and the flow was at maximum strength. The mist was so great
+that at first I could scarcely see the Falls. Slowly but defiantly the
+foaming face broke through the veil. Niagara gives you a thrill but this
+toppling avalanche awes you into absolute silence.
+
+The Victoria Falls are exactly twice as broad and two and one-half
+times as high as Niagara Falls. This means that they are over a mile in
+breadth and four hundred and twenty feet high. The tremendous flow has
+only one small outlet about 100 yards wide. The roar and turmoil of this
+world of water as it crashes into the chasm sets up what is well called
+"The Boiling Pot." From this swirling melee the Zambesi rushes with
+unbridled fury through a narrow and deep gorge, extending with many
+windings for forty miles.
+
+In the presence of this marvel, wars, elections, economic upheavals, the
+high cost of living, prohibition,--all "that unrest which men miscall
+delight"--fade into insignificance. Life itself seems a small and
+pitiful thing. You are face to face with a force of Nature that is
+titanic, terrifying, and irresistible.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRAVE OF CECIL RHODES]
+
+
+IV
+
+Since we bid farewell to Cecil Rhodes in this chapter after having
+almost continuously touched his career from the moment we reached
+Capetown, let us make a final measure of his human side,--and he was
+intensely human--particularly with reference to Rhodesia, which is so
+inseparably associated with him. His passion for the country that bore
+his name exceeded his interest in any of his other undertakings. He
+liked the open life of the veldt where he travelled in a sort of gypsy
+wagon and camped for the night wherever the mood dictated. It enabled
+him to gratify his fondness for riding and shooting.
+
+He was always accompanied by a remarkable servant named Tony, a
+half-breed in whom the Portuguese strain predominated. Tony bought his
+master's clothes, paid his bills, and was a court of last resort "below
+stairs." Rhodes declared that his man could produce a satisfactory meal
+almost out of thin air.
+
+Rhodes and Tony were inseparable. Upon one occasion Tony accompanied him
+when he was commanded by Queen Victoria to lodge at Sandringham. While
+there Rhodes asked Tony what time he could get breakfast, whereupon the
+servant replied:
+
+"Royalty does not breakfast, sir, but you can have it in the dining-room
+at half past nine." Tony seemed to know everything.
+
+Throughout Rhodesia I found many of Rhodes' old associates who
+affectionately referred to him as "The Old Man." I was able to collect
+what seemed to be some new Rhodes stories. A few have already been
+related. Here is another which shows his quickness in capitalizing a
+situation.
+
+In the days immediately following the first Matabele war Rhodes had more
+trouble with concession-hunters than with the savages, the Boers, or the
+Portuguese. Nearly every free-lance in the territory produced some fake
+document to which Lobengula's alleged mark was affixed and offered it to
+Rhodes at an excessive price.
+
+One of these gentry framed a plan by which one of the many sons of
+Lobengula was to return to Matabeleland, claim his royal rights, and
+create trouble generally. The whole idea was to start an uprising and
+derange the machinery of the British South Africa Company. The name of
+the son was N'jube and at the time the plan was devised he held a place
+as messenger in the diamond fields at Kimberley. By the system of
+intelligence that he maintained, Rhodes learned of the frame-up, the
+whereabouts of the boy, and furthermore, that he was in love with a
+Fingo girl. These Fingoes were a sort of bastard slave people. Marriage
+into the tribe was a despised thing, and by a native of royal blood,
+meant the abrogation of all his claims to the succession.
+
+Rhodes sent for N'jube and asked him if he wanted to marry the Fingo
+girl. When he replied that he did, the great man said: "Go down to the
+DeBeers office, get £50 and marry the girl. I will then give you a
+job for life and build you a house."
+
+N'jube took the hint and the money and married the girl. Rhodes now sent
+the following telegram to the conspirator at Bulawayo:
+
+"Your friend N'jube was divided between love and empire, but he has
+decided to marry the Fingo girl. It is better that he should settle
+down in Kimberley and be occupied in creating a family than to plot at
+Bulawayo to stab you in the stomach."
+
+This ended the conspiracy, and N'jube lived happily and peacefully ever
+afterwards.
+
+Rhodes was an incorrigible imperialist as this story shows. Upon one
+occasion at Bulawayo he was discussing the Carnegie Library idea with
+his friend and associate, Sir Abe Bailey, a leading financial and
+political figure in the Cape Colony.
+
+"What would you do if you had Carnegie's money?" asked Bailey.
+
+"I wouldn't waste it on libraries," he replied. "I would seize a South
+American Republic and annex it to the United States."
+
+Rhodes had great admiration for America. He once said to Bailey: "The
+greatest thing in the world would be the union of the English-speaking
+people. I wouldn't mind if Washington were the capital." He believed
+implicitly in the invincibility of the Anglo-Saxon race, and he gave his
+life and his fortune to advance the British part of it.
+
+For the last I have reserved the experience that will always rank first
+in my remembrance of Rhodesia. It was my visit to the grave of Rhodes.
+Most people who go to Rhodesia make this pilgrimage, for in the
+well-known tourist language of Mr. Cook, like Victoria Falls, it is "one
+of the things to see." I was animated by a different motive. I had often
+read about it and I longed to view the spot that so eloquently
+symbolized the vision and the imagination of the man I admired.
+
+The grave is about twenty-eight miles from Bulawayo, in the heart of the
+Matopo Hills. You follow the road along which the body was carried
+nineteen years ago. You see the native hut where Rhodes often lived and
+in which the remains rested for the night on the final journey. You pass
+from the green low-lands to the bare frontiers of the rocky domain where
+the Matabeles fled after the second war and where the Father of Rhodesia
+held his historic parleys with them.
+
+Soon the way becomes so difficult that you must leave the motor and
+continue on foot. The Matopos are a wild and desolate range. It is not
+until you are well beyond the granite outposts that there bursts upon
+you an immense open area,--a sort of amphitheatre in which the Druids
+might have held their weird ritual. Directly ahead you see a battlement
+of boulders projected by some immemorial upheaval. Intrenched between
+them is the spot where Rhodes rests and which is marked by a brass plate
+bearing the words: "Here Lie the Remains of Cecil John Rhodes." In his
+will he directed that the site be chosen and even wrote the simple
+inscription for the cover.
+
+When you stand on this eminence and look out on the grim, brooding
+landscape, you not only realize why Rhodes called it "The View of the
+World," but you also understand why he elected to sleep here. The
+loneliness and grandeur of the environment, with its absence of any sign
+of human life and habitation, convey that sense of aloofness which, in a
+man like Rhodes, is the inevitable penalty that true greatness exacts.
+The ages seem to be keeping vigil with his spirit.
+
+For eighteen years Rhodes slept here in solitary state. In 1920 the
+remains of Dr. Jameson were placed in a grave hewn out of the rock and
+located about one hundred feet from the spot where his old friend rests.
+It is peculiarly fitting that these two men who played such heroic part
+in the rise of Rhodesia should repose within a stone's throw of each
+other.
+
+During these last years I have seen some of the great things. They
+included the British Grand Fleet in battle array, Russia at the daybreak
+of democracy, the long travail of Verdun and the Somme, the first
+American flag on the battlefields of France, Armistice Day amid the
+tragedy of war, and all the rest of the panorama that those momentous
+days disclosed. But nothing perhaps was more moving than the silence and
+majesty that invested the grave of Cecil Rhodes. Instinctively there
+came to my mind the lines about him that Kipling wrote in "The Burial":
+
+        It is his will that he look forth
+          Across the world he won--
+        The granite of the ancient North--
+          Great spaces washed with sun.
+
+When I reached the bottom of the long incline on my way out I looked
+back. The sun was setting and those sentinel boulders bulked in the
+dying light. They seemed to incarnate something of the might and power
+of the personality that shaped Rhodesia, and made of it an annex of
+Empire.
+
+[Illustration: A KATANGA COPPER MINE]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV--THE CONGO TODAY
+
+
+I
+
+Unfold the map of Africa and you see a huge yellow area sprawling over
+the Equator, reaching down to Rhodesia on the south-east, and converging
+to a point on the Atlantic Coast. Equal in size to all Latin and
+Teutonic Europe, it is the abode of 6,000 white men and 12,000,000
+blacks. No other section of that vast empire of mystery is so packed
+with hazard and hardship, nor is any so bound up with American
+enterprise. Across it Stanley made his way in two epic expeditions.
+Livingstone gave it the glamour of his spiritualizing influence.
+Fourteen nations stood sponsor at its birth as a Free State and the
+whole world shook with controversy about its administration. Once the
+darkest domain of the Dark Continent, it is still the stronghold of the
+resisting jungle and the last frontier of civilization. It is the
+Belgian Congo.
+
+During these past years the veil has been lifted from the greater part
+of Africa. We are familiar with life and customs in the British, French,
+and to a certain degree, the Portuguese and one-time German colonies.
+But about the land inseparably associated with the economic
+statesmanship of King Leopold there still hangs a shroud of uncertainty
+as to régime and resource. Few people go there and its literature, save
+that which grew out of the atrocity campaign, is meager and
+unsatisfactory. To the vast majority of persons, therefore, the country
+is merely a name--a dab of colour on the globe. Its very distance lends
+enchantment and heightens the lure that always lurks in the unknown.
+What is it like? What is its place in the universal productive scheme?
+What of its future?
+
+I went to the Congo to find out. My journey there was the logical sequel
+to my visit to the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia, which I have
+already described. It seemed a pity not to take a plunge into the region
+that I had read about in the books of Stanley. In my childhood I heard
+him tell the story of some of his African experiences. The man and his
+narrative were unforgettable for he incarnated both the ideal and the
+adventure of journalism. He cast the spell of the Congo River over me
+and I lingered to see this mother of waters. Thus it came about that I
+not only followed Stanley's trail through the heart of Equatorial Africa
+but spent weeks floating down the historic stream, which like the rivers
+that figured in the Great War, has a distinct and definite human
+quality. The Marne, the Meuse, and the Somme are the Rivers of Valour.
+The Congo is the River of Adventure.
+
+In writing, as in everything else, preparedness is all essential. I
+learned the value of carrying proper credentials during the war, when
+every frontier and police official constituted himself a stumbling-block
+to progress. For the South African end of my adventure I provided myself
+with letters from Lloyd George and Smuts. In the Congo I realized that I
+would require equally powerful agencies to help me on my way. Wandering
+through sparsely settled Central Africa with its millions of natives,
+scattered white settlements, and restricted and sometimes primitive
+means of transport, was a far different proposition than travelling in
+the Cape Colony, the Transvaal, or Rhodesia, where there are through
+trains and habitable hotels.
+
+I knew that in the Congo the State was magic, and the King's name one to
+conjure with. Accordingly, I obtained what amounted to an order from the
+Belgian Colonial Office to all functionaries to help me in every
+possible way. This order, I might add, was really a command from King
+Albert, with whom I had an hour's private audience at Brussels before I
+sailed. As I sat in the simple office of the Palace and talked with this
+shy, tall, blonde, and really kingly-looking person, I could not help
+thinking of the last time I saw him. It was at La Panne during that
+terrible winter of 1916-1917, when the Germans were at the high tide of
+their success. The Belgian ruler had taken refuge in this bleak,
+sea-swept corner of Belgium and the only part of the country that had
+escaped the invader. He lived in a little châlet near the beach. Every
+day the King walked up and down on the sands while German aeroplanes
+flew overhead and the roar of the guns at Dixmude smote the ear. He was
+then leading what seemed to be a forlorn hope and he betrayed his
+anxiety in face and speech. Now I beheld him fresh and buoyant, and
+monarch of the only country in Europe that had really settled down to
+work.
+
+King Albert asked me many questions about my trip. He told me of his own
+journey through the Congo in 1908 (he was then Prince Albert), when he
+covered more than a thousand miles on foot. He said that he was glad
+that an American was going to write something about the Congo at first
+hand and he expressed his keen appreciation of the work of American
+capital in his big colony overseas. "I like America and Americans," he
+said, "and I hope that your country will not forget Europe." There was
+a warm clasp of the hand and I was off on the first lap of the journey
+that was to reel off more than twenty-six thousand miles of strenuous
+travel before I saw my little domicile in New York again.
+
+Before we invade the Congo let me briefly outline its history. It can be
+told in a few words although the narrative of its exploitations remains
+a serial without end. Prior to Stanley's memorable journey of
+exploration across Equatorial Africa which he described in "Through the
+Dark Continent," what is now the Congo was a blank spot on the map. No
+white man had traversed it. In the fifties Livingstone had opened up
+part of the present British East Africa and Nyassaland. In the Luapula
+and its tributaries he discovered the headwaters of the Congo River and
+then continued on to Victoria Falls and Rhodesia. After Stanley found
+the famous missionary at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika in 1872, he returned
+to Zanzibar. Hence the broad expanse of Central Africa from Nyassaland
+westward practically remained undiscovered until Stanley crossed it
+between 1874 and 1877, when he travelled from Stanley Falls, where the
+Congo River actually begins, down its expanse to the sea.
+
+As soon as Stanley's articles about the Congo began to appear, King
+Leopold, who was a shrewd business man, saw an opportunity for the
+expansion of his little country. Under his auspices several
+International Committees dedicated to African study were formed. He then
+sent Stanley back to the Congo in 1879, to organize a string of stations
+from the ocean up to Stanley Falls, now Stanleyville. In 1885 the famous
+Berlin Congress of Nations, presided over by Bismarck, recognized the
+Congo Free State, accepted Leopold as its sovereign, and the jungle
+domain took its place among recognized governments. The principal
+purposes animating the founders were the suppression of the slave trade
+and the conversion of the territory into a combined factory and a market
+for all the nations. It was largely due to Belgian initiative that the
+traffic in human beings which denuded all Central Africa of its bone and
+sinew every year, was brought to an end.
+
+The world is more or less familiar with subsequent Congo history. In
+1904 arose the first protest against the so-called atrocities
+perpetrated on the blacks, and the Congo became the center of an
+international dispute that nearly lost Belgium her only colonial
+possession. In the light of the revelations brought about by the Great
+War, and to which I have referred in a previous chapter, it is obvious
+that a considerable part of this crusade had its origin in Germany and
+was fomented by Germanophiles of the type of Sir Roger Casement, who was
+hanged in the Tower of London. During the World War E. D. Morel, his
+principal associate in the atrocity campaign, served a jail sentence in
+England for attempting to smuggle a seditious document into an enemy
+country.
+
+With the atrocity business we are not concerned. The only atrocities
+that I saw in the Congo were the slaughter of my clothes on the native
+washboard, usually a rock, and the American jitney that broke down and
+left me stranded in the Kasai jungle. As a matter of fact, the Belgian
+rule in the Congo has swung round to another extreme, for the Negro
+there has more freedom of movement and less responsibility for action
+than in any other African colony. To round out this brief history, the
+Congo was ceded to Belgium in 1908 and has been a Belgian colony ever
+since.
+
+We can now go on with the journey. From Bulawayo I travelled northward
+for three days past Victoria Falls and Broken Hill, through the
+undeveloped reaches of Northern Rhodesia, where you can sometimes see
+lion-tracks from the car windows, and where the naked Barotses emerge
+from the wilds and stare in big-eyed wonder at the passing trains. Until
+recently the telegraph service was considerably impaired by the
+curiosity of elephants who insisted upon knocking down the poles.
+
+While I was in South Africa alarming reports were published about a
+strike in the Congo and I was afraid that it would interfere with my
+journey. This strike was without doubt one of the most unique in the
+history of all labor troubles. The whole Congo administration "walked
+out," when their request for an increase in pay was refused. The
+strikers included Government agents, railway, telegraph and telephone
+employes, and steamboat captains. Even the one-time cannibals employed
+on all public construction quit work. It was a natural procedure for
+them. Not a wheel turned; no word went over the wires; navigation on the
+rivers ceased. The country was paralyzed. Happily for me it was settled
+before I left Bulawayo.
+
+Late at night I crossed the Congo border and stopped for the customs at
+Sakania. At once I realized the potency that lay in my royal credentials
+for all traffic was tied up until I was expedited. I also got the
+initial surprise of the many that awaited me in this part of the world.
+In the popular mind the Congo is an annex of the Inferno. I can vouch
+for the fact that some sections break all heat records. The air that
+greeted me, however, might have been wafted down from Greenland's icy
+mountain, for I was chilled to the bone. In the flickering light of
+the station the natives shivered in their blankets. The atmosphere was
+anything but tropical yet I was almost within striking distance of the
+Equator. The reason for this frigidity was that I had entered the
+confines of the Katanga, the most healthful and highly developed
+province of the Congo and a plateau four thousand feet above sea level.
+
+[Illustration: LORD LEVERHULME]
+
+[Illustration: ROBERT WILLIAMS]
+
+The next afternoon I arrived at Elizabethville, named for the Queen of
+the Belgians, capital of the province, and center of the copper
+activity. Here I touched two significant things. One was the group of
+American engineers who have developed the technical side of mining in
+the Katanga as elsewhere in the Congo; the other was a contact with the
+industry which produces a considerable part of the wealth of the Colony.
+
+There is a wide impression that the Congo is entirely an agricultural
+country. Although it has unlimited possibilities in this direction, the
+reverse, for the moment, is true. The 900,000 square miles of area (it
+is eighty-eight times the size of Belgium) have scarcely been scraped by
+the hand of man, although Nature has been prodigal in her share of the
+development. Wild rubber, the gathering of which loosed the storm about
+King Leopold's head, is nearly exhausted because of the one-time
+ruthless harvesting. Cotton and coffee are infant industries. The
+principal product of the soil, commercially, is the fruit of the palm
+tree and here Nature again does most of the ground work.
+
+Mining is, in many respects, the chief operation and the Katanga, which
+is really one huge mine, principally copper, is the most prosperous
+region so far as bulk of output is concerned. Since this area figures so
+prominently in the economic annals of the country it is worth more than
+passing attention. Like so many parts of Africa, its exploitation is
+recent. For years after Livingstone planted the gospel there, it
+continued to be the haunt of warlike tribes. The earliest white visitors
+observed that the natives wore copper ornaments and trafficked in a rude
+St. Andrew's cross--it was the coin of the country--fashioned out of
+metal. When prospectors came through in the eighties and nineties they
+found scores of old copper mines which had been worked by the aborigines
+many decades ago. Before the advent of civilization the Katanga blacks
+dealt mainly in slaves and in copper.
+
+The real pioneer of development in the Katanga is an Englishman, Robert
+Williams, a friend and colleague of Cecil Rhodes, and who constructed,
+as you may possibly recall, the link in the Cape-to-Cairo Railway from
+Broken Hill in Northern Rhodesia to the Congo border. He has done for
+Congo copper what Lord Leverhulme has accomplished for palm fruit and
+Thomas F. Ryan for diamonds. Congo progress is almost entirely due to
+alien capital.
+
+Williams, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, went out to Africa in 1881
+to take charge of some mining machinery at one of the Kimberley diamond
+mines. Here he met Rhodes and an association began which continued until
+the death of the empire builder. On his death-bed Rhodes asked Williams
+to continue the Cape-to-Cairo project. In the acquiescence to this
+request the Katanga indirectly owes much of its advance. Thus the
+constructive influence of the Colossus of South Africa extends beyond
+the British dominions.
+
+In building the Broken Hill Railway Williams was prompted by two
+reasons. One was to carry on the Rhodes project; the other was to link
+up what he believed to be a whole new mineral world to the needs of
+man. Nor was he working in the dark. Late in the nineties he had sent
+George Grey, a brother of Sir Edward, now Viscount Grey, through the
+present Katanga region on a prospecting expedition. Grey discovered
+large deposits of copper and also tin, lead, iron, coal, platinum, and
+diamonds. Williams now organized the company known as the Tanganyika
+Concessions, which became the instigator of Congo copper mining.
+Subsequently the Union Miniere du Haut Kantanga was formed by leading
+Belgian colonial capitalists and the Tanganyika Concessions acquired
+more than forty per cent of its capital. The Union Miniere took over all
+the concessions and discoveries of the British corporation. The Union
+Miniere is now the leading industrial institution in the Katanga and its
+story is really the narrative of a considerable phase of Congo
+development.
+
+Within ten years it has grown from a small prospecting outfit in the
+wilderness, two hundred and fifty miles from a railway, to an industry
+employing at the time of my visit more than 1,000 white men and 15,000
+blacks. It operates four completely equipped mines which produced nearly
+30,000 tons of copper in 1917, and a smelter with an annual capacity of
+40,000 tons of copper. A concentrator capable of handling 4,000 tons of
+ore per day is nearing completion. This bustling industrial community
+was the second surprise that the Congo disclosed.
+
+Equally remarkable is the mushroom growth of Elizabethville, the one
+wonder town of the Congo. In 1910, when the railway arrived, it was a
+geographical expression,--a spot in the jungle dominated by the huge
+ant-hills that you find throughout Central Africa, some of them forty
+feet high. The white population numbered thirty. I found it a thriving
+place with over 2,000 whites and 12,000 blacks. There are one third as
+many white people in the Katanga Province as in all the rest of the
+Congo combined, and its area is scarcely a fourth of that of the colony.
+
+The father of Elizabethville is General Emile Wangermee, one of the
+picturesque figures in Congo history. He came out in the early days of
+the Free State, fought natives, and played a big part in the settlement
+of the country. He has been Governor-General of the Colony,
+Vice-Governor-General of the Katanga and is now Honorary Vice-Governor.
+In the primitive period he went about, after the Congo fashion, on a
+bicycle, in flannel shirt and leggins and he continued this
+rough-and-ready attire when he became a high-placed civil servant.
+
+Upon one occasion it was announced that the Vice-Governor of the Katanga
+would visit Kambove. The station agent made elaborate preparations for
+his reception. Shortly before the time set for his arrival a man
+appeared on the platform looking like one of the many prospectors who
+frequented the country. The station agent approached him and said, "You
+will have to move on. We are expecting the Vice-Governor of the
+Katanga." The supposed prospector refused to move and the agent
+threatened to use force. He was horrified a few minutes later to find
+his rough customer being received by all the functionaries of the
+district. Wangermee had arrived ahead of time and had not bothered to
+change his clothes.
+
+When I rode in a motor car down Elizabethville's broad, electric-lighted
+avenues and saw smartly-dressed women on the sidewalks, beheld Belgians
+playing tennis on well-laid-out courts on one side, and Englishmen at
+golf on the other, it was difficult to believe that ten years ago this
+was the bush. I lunched in comfortable brick houses and dined at night
+in a club where every man wore evening clothes. I kept saying to myself,
+"Is this really the Congo?" Everywhere I heard English spoken. This was
+due to the large British interest in the Union Miniere and the presence
+of so many American engineers. The Katanga is, with the exception of
+certain palm fruit areas, the bulwark of British interests in the Congo.
+The American domain is the Upper Kasai district.
+
+Conspicuous among the Americans at Elizabethville was Preston K. Horner,
+who constructed the smelter plant and who was made General Manager of
+the Union Miniere in 1913. He spans the whole period of Katanga
+development for he first arrived in 1909. Associated with him were
+various Americans including Frank Kehew, Superintendent of the smelter,
+Thomas Carnahan, General Superintendent of Mines, Daniel Butner,
+Superintendent of the Kambove Mine, the largest of the Katanga group,
+Thomas Yale, who is in charge of the construction of the immense
+concentration plant at Likasi, and A. Brooks, Manager of the Western
+Mine. For some years A. E. Wheeler, a widely-known American engineer,
+has been Consulting Engineer of the Union Miniere, with Frederick Snow
+as assistant. Since my return from Africa Horner has retired as General
+Manager and Wheeler has become the ranking American. Practically all the
+Yankee experts in the Katanga are graduates of the Anaconda or Utah
+Mines.
+
+With Horner I travelled by motor through the whole Katanga copper belt.
+I visited, first of all, the famous Star of the Congo Mine, eight miles
+from Elizabethville, and which was the cornerstone of the entire metal
+development. Next came the immense excavation at Kambove where I watched
+American steam shovels in charge of Americans, gouging the copper ore
+out of the sides of the hills. I saw the huge concentrating plant rising
+almost like magic out of the jungle at Likasi. Here again an American
+was in control. At Fungurume I spent the night in a native house in the
+heart of one of the loveliest of valleys whose verdant walls will soon
+be gashed by shovels and discoloured with ore oxide. Over all the area
+the Anglo-Saxon has laid his galvanizing hand. One reason is that there
+are few Belgian engineers of large mining experience. Another is that
+the American, by common consent, is the one executive who gets things
+done in the primitive places.
+
+I cannot leave the Congo copper empire without referring to another
+Robert Williams achievement which is not without international
+significance. Like other practical men of affairs with colonial
+experience, he realized long before the outbreak of the Great War
+something of the extent and menace of the German ambition in Africa. As
+I have previously related, the Kaiser blocked his scheme to run the
+Cape-to-Cairo Railway between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, after King
+Leopold had granted him the concession. Williams wanted to help Rhodes
+and he wanted to help himself. His chief problem was to get the copper
+from the Katanga to Europe in the shortest possible time. Most of it is
+refined in England and Belgium. At present it goes out by way of
+Bulawayo and is shipped from the port of Beira in Portuguese East
+Africa. This involves a journey of 9,514 miles from Kambove to London.
+How was this haul to be shortened through an agency that would be proof
+against the German intrigue and ingenuity?
+
+[Illustration: ON THE LUALABA]
+
+[Illustration: A VIEW ON THE KASAI]
+
+Williams cast his eye over Africa. On the West Coast he spotted Lobito
+Bay, a land-locked harbour twenty miles north of Benguella, one of the
+principal parts of Angola, a Portuguese colony. From it he ran a line
+straight from Kambove across the wilderness and found that it covered a
+distance of approximately 1,300 miles. He said to himself, "This is the
+natural outlet of the Katanga and the short-cut to England and Belgium."
+He got a concession from the Portuguese Government and work began. The
+Germans tried in every way to block the project for it interfered with
+their scheme to "benevolently" assimilate Angola.
+
+At the time of my visit to the Congo three hundred and twenty miles of
+the Benguella Railway, as it is called, had been constructed and a
+section of one hundred miles or more was about to be started. The line
+will pass through Ruwe, which is an important center of gold production
+in the Katanga, and connect up with the Katanga Railway just north of
+Kambove. It is really a link in the Cape-to-Cairo system and when
+completed will shorten the freight haul from the copper fields to London
+by three thousand miles, as compared with the present Biera itinerary.
+
+There is every indication that the Katanga will justify the early
+confidence that Williams had in it and become one of the great
+copper-producing centers of the world. Experts with whom I have talked
+in America believe that it can in time reach a maximum output of 150,000
+tons a year. The ores are of a very high grade and since the Union
+Miniere owns more than one hundred mines, of which only six or seven are
+partially developed, the future seems safe.
+
+Copper is only one phase of the Katanga mineral treasure. Coal, iron,
+and tin have not only been discovered in quantity but are being mined
+commercially. Oil-shale is plentiful on the Congo River near
+Ponthierville and good indications of oil are recorded in other places.
+The discovery of oil in Central Africa would have a great influence on
+the development of transportation since it would supply fuel for
+steamers, railways, and motor transport. There is already a big oil
+production in Angola and there is little doubt that an important field
+awaits development in the Congo.
+
+It is not generally realized that Africa today produces the three most
+valuable of all known minerals in the largest quantities, or has the
+biggest potentialities. The Rand yields more than fifty per cent of the
+entire gold supply and ranks as the most valuable of all gold fields.
+Ninety-five per cent of the diamond output comes from the Kimberley and
+associated mines, German South-West Africa, and the Congo. The Katanga
+contains probably the greatest reserve of copper in existence. Now you
+can see why the eye of the universe is being focused on this region.
+
+
+II
+
+When I left Elizabethville I bade farewell to the comforts of life. I
+mean, for example, such things as ice, bath-tubs, and running water.
+There is enough water in the Congo to satisfy the most ardent teetotaler
+but unfortunately it does not come out of faucets. Most of it flows in
+rivers, but very little of it gets inside the population, white or
+otherwise.
+
+Speaking of water brings to mind one of the useful results of such a
+trip as mine. Isolation in the African wilds gives you a new
+appreciation of what in civilization is regarded as the commonplace
+things. Take the simple matter of a hair-cut. There are only two barbers
+in the whole Congo. One is at Elizabethville and the other at Kinshassa,
+on the Lower Congo, nearly two thousand miles away. My locks were not
+shorn for seven weeks. I had to do what little trimming there was done
+with a safety razor and it involved quite an acrobatic feat. Take
+shaving. The water in most of the Congo rivers is dirty and full of
+germs. More than once I lathered my face with mineral water out of a
+bottle. The Congo River proper is a muddy brown. For washing purposes it
+must be treated with a few tablets of permanganate of potassium which
+colours it red. It is like bathing in blood.
+
+Since my journey from Katanga onward was through the heart of Africa,
+perhaps it may be worth while to tell briefly of the equipment required
+for such an expedition. Although I travelled for the most part in the
+greatest comfort that the Colony afforded, it was necessary to prepare
+for any emergency. In the Congo you must be self-sufficient and
+absolutely independent of the country. This means that you carry your
+own bed and bedding (usually a folding camp-bed), bath-tub, food,
+medicine-chest, and cooking utensils.
+
+No detail was more essential than the mosquito net under which I slept
+every night for nearly four months. Insects are the bane of Africa. The
+mosquito carries malaria, and the tsetse fly is the harbinger of that
+most terrible of diseases, sleeping sickness. Judging from personal
+experience nearly every conceivable kind of biting bug infests the
+Congo. One of the most tenacious and troublesome of the little visitors
+is the jigger, which has an uncomfortable habit of seeking a soft spot
+under the toe-nail. Once lodged it is extremely difficult to get him
+out. These pests are mainly found in sandy soil and give the Negroes who
+walk about barefooted unending trouble.
+
+No less destructive is the dazzling sun. Five minutes exposure to it
+without a helmet means a prostration and twenty minutes spells death.
+Stanley called the country so inseparably associated with his name
+"Fatal Africa," but he did not mean the death that lay in the murderous
+black hand. He had in mind the thousand and one dangers that beset the
+stranger who does not observe the strictest rules of health and diet.
+From the moment of arrival the body undergoes an entirely new
+experience. Men succumb because they foolishly think they can continue
+the habits of civilization. Alcohol is the curse of all the hot
+countries. The wise man never takes a drink until the sun sets and then,
+if he continues to be wise, he imbibes only in moderation. The morning
+"peg" and the lunch-time cocktail have undermined more health in the
+tropics than all the flies and mosquitoes combined.
+
+The Duke of Wellington recommended a formula for India which may well be
+applied to the Congo. The doughty old warrior once said:
+
+    I know but one recipe for good health in this country, and that is
+    to live moderately, to drink little or no wine, to use exercise, to
+    keep the mind employed, and, if possible, to keep in good humour
+    with the world. The last is the most difficult, for as you have
+    often observed, there is scarcely a good-tempered man in India.
+
+If a man will practice moderation in all things, take five grains of
+quinine every day, exercise whenever it is possible, and keep his body
+clean, he has little to fear from the ordinary diseases of a country
+like the Congo. It is one of the ironies of civilization that after
+passing unscathed through all the fever country, I caught a cold the
+moment I got back to steam-heat and all the comforts of home.
+
+No one would think of using ordinary luggage in the Congo. Everything
+must be packed and conveyed in metal boxes similar to the uniform cases
+used by British officers in Egypt and India. This is because the white
+ant is the prize destroyer of property throughout Africa. He cuts
+through leather and wood with the same ease that a Southern Negro's
+teeth lacerate watermelon. Leave a pair of shoes on the ground over
+night and you will find them riddled in the morning. These ants eat away
+floors and sometimes cause the collapse of houses by wearing away the
+wooden supports. Another frequent guest is the driver ant, which travels
+in armies and frequently takes complete possession of a house. It
+destroys all the vermin but the human inmates must beat a retreat while
+the process goes on.
+
+Since my return many people have asked me what books I read in the
+Congo. The necessity for them was apparent. I had more than three months
+of constant travelling, often alone, and for the most part on small
+river boats where there is no deck space for exercise. Mail arrives
+irregularly and there were no newspapers. After one or two days the
+unceasing panorama of tropical forests, native villages, and naked
+savages becomes monotonous. Even the hippopotami which you see in large
+numbers, the omnipresent crocodile, and the occasional wild elephant,
+cease to amuse. You are forced to fall back on that unfailing friend and
+companion, a good book.
+
+I therefore carried with me the following books in handy volume
+size:--Montaigne's Essays, Palgrave's Golden Treasury of English Verse,
+Lockhart's Life of Napoleon, Autobiography of Cellini, Don Quixote, The
+Three Musketeers, Lorna Doone, Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and The
+Conquest of Peru, Les Miserables, Vanity Fair, Life and Writings of
+Benjamin Franklin, Pepys' Diary, Carlyle's French Revolution, The Last
+of the Mohicans, Westward Ho, Bleak House, The Pickwick Papers, A Tale
+of Two Cities, and Tolstoi's War and Peace. When these became exhausted
+I was hard put for reading matter. At a post on the Kasai River the only
+English book I could find was Arnold Bennett's The Pretty Lady, which
+had fallen into the hands of an official, who was trying to learn
+English with it. It certainly gave him a hectic start.
+
+Then, too, there was the eternal servant problem, no less vexing in that
+land of servants than elsewhere. I had cabled to Horner to engage me two
+personal servants or "boys" as they are called in Africa. When I got
+to Elizabethville I found that he had secured two. In addition to
+Swahili, the main native tongue in those parts, one spoke English and
+the other French, the official language in the Congo. I did not like the
+looks of the English-speaking barbarian so I took a chance on Number
+Two, whose name was Gerome. He was a so-called "educated" native. I was
+to find from sad experience that his "education" was largely in the
+direction of indolence and inefficiency. I thought that by having a boy
+with whom I had to speak French I could improve my command of the
+language. Later on I realized my mistake because my French is a
+non-conductor of profanity.
+
+[Illustration: A STATION SCENE AT KONGOLA]
+
+Gerome had a wife. In the Congo, where all wives are bought, the consort
+constitutes the husband's fortune, being cook, tiller of the ground,
+beast-of-burden and slave generally. I had no desire to incumber myself
+with this black Venus, so I made Gerome promise that he would not take
+her along. I left him behind at Elizabethville, for I proceeded to
+Fungurume with Horner by automobile. He was to follow by train with my
+luggage and have the private car, which I had chartered for the journey
+to Bukama, ready for me on my arrival. When I showed up at Fungurume the
+first thing I saw was Gerome's wife, with her ample proportions swathed
+in scarlet calico, sunning herself on the platform of the car. He could
+not bring himself to cook his own food although willing enough to cook
+mine.
+
+I paid Gerome forty Belgian francs a month, which, at the rate of
+exchange then prevailing, was considerably less than three dollars. I
+also had to give him a weekly allowance of five francs (about thirty
+cents) for his food. To the American employer of servants these figures
+will be somewhat illuminating and startling.
+
+One more human interest detail before we move on. In Africa every white
+man gets a name from the natives. This appellation usually expresses his
+chief characteristic. The first title fastened on me was "_Bwana Cha
+Cha_," which means "The Master Who is Quick." When I first heard this
+name I thought it was a reflection on my appetite because "_Cha Cha_" is
+pronounced "Chew Chew." Subsequently, in the Upper Congo and the Kasai I
+was called "_Mafutta Mingi_," which means "Much Fat." I must explain in
+self-defense that in the Congo I ate much more than usual, first because
+something in the atmosphere makes you hungry, and second, a good
+appetite is always an indication of health in the tropics.
+
+Still another name that I bore was "_Tala Tala_," which means spectacles
+in practically all the Congo dialects. There are nearly two hundred
+tribes and each has a distinctive tongue. In many sections that I
+visited the natives had never seen a pair of tortoise shell glasses such
+as I wear during the day. The children fled from me shrieking in terror
+and thinking that I was a sorcerer. Even gifts of food, the one
+universal passport to the native heart, failed to calm their fears.
+
+The Congo native, let me add, is a queer character. The more I saw of
+him, the greater became my admiration for King Leopold. In his present
+state the only rule must be a strong rule. No one would ever think of
+thanking a native for a service. It would be misunderstood because the
+black man out there mistakes kindness for weakness. You must be firm but
+just. Now you can see why explorers, upon emerging from long stays in
+the jungle, appear to be rude and ill-mannered. It is simply because
+they had to be harsh and at times unfeeling, and it becomes a habit.
+Stanley, for example, was often called a boor and a brute when in
+reality he was merely hiding a fine nature behind the armour necessary
+to resist native imposition and worse.
+
+
+III
+
+The private car on which I travelled from Fungurume to Bukama was my
+final taste of luxury. When Horner waved me a good-bye north I realized
+that I was divorcing myself from comfort and companionship. In thirty
+hours I was in sun-scorched Bukama, the southern rail-head of the
+Cape-to-Cairo Route and my real jumping-off place before plunging into
+the mysteries of Central Africa.
+
+Here begins the historic Lualaba, which is the initial link in the
+almost endless chain of the Congo River. I at once went aboard the first
+of the boats which were to be my habitation intermittently for so many
+weeks. It was the "Louis Cousin," a 150-ton vessel and a fair example of
+the draft which provides the principal means of transportation in the
+Congo. Practically all transit not on the hoof, so to speak, in the
+Colony is by water. There are more than twelve thousand miles of rivers
+navigable for steamers and twice as many more accessible for canoes and
+launches. Hence the river-boat is a staple, and a picturesque one at
+that.
+
+The "Louis Cousin" was typical of her kind both in appointment, or
+rather the lack of it, and human interest details. Like all her sisters
+she resembles the small Ohio River boats that I had seen in my boyhood
+at Louisville. All Congo steam craft must be stern-wheelers, first
+because they usually haul barges on either side, and secondly because
+there are so many sand-banks. The few cabins--all you get is the bare
+room--are on the upper deck, which is the white man's domain, while the
+boiler and freight--human and otherwise--are on the lower. This is the
+bailiwick of the black. These boats always stop at night for wood, the
+only fuel, and the natives are compelled to go ashore and sleep on the
+bank.
+
+The Congo river-boat is a combination of fortress, hotel, and menagerie.
+Like the "accommodation" train in our own Southern States, it is most
+obliging because it will stop anywhere to enable a passenger to get off
+and do a little shopping, or permit the captain to take a meal ashore
+with a friendly State official yearning for human society.
+
+The river captain is a versatile individual for he is steward, doctor,
+postman, purveyor of news, and dictator in general. He alone makes the
+schedule of each trip, arriving and departing at will. Time in the Congo
+counts for naught. It is in truth the land of leisure. For the man who
+wants to move fast, water travel is a nightmare. Accustomed as I was to
+swift transport, I spent a year every day.
+
+The skipper of the "Louis Cousin" was no exception to his kind.
+He was a big Norwegian named Behn,--many of his colleagues are
+Scandinavians,--and he had spent eighteen years in the Congo. He knew
+every one of the thousand nooks, turns, snags and sand-bars of the
+Lualaba. One of the first things that impressed me was the uncanny
+ingenuity with which all the Congo boats are navigated through what
+seems at first glance to be a mass of vegetation and obstruction.
+
+The bane of traffic is the sand-bar, which on account of the swift
+currents everywhere, is an eternally changing quantity. Hence a native
+is constantly engaged in taking soundings with a long stick. You can
+hear his not unmusical voice, from the moment the boat starts until she
+ties up for the night. The native word for water is "_mia_." Whenever I
+heard the cry "_mia mitani_," I knew that we were all right because that
+meant five feet of water. With the exception of the Congo River no boat
+can draw more than three feet because in the dry season even the
+mightiest of streams declines to an almost incredibly low level.
+
+My white fellow passengers on the "Louis Cousin" were mostly Belgians on
+their way home by way of Stanleyville and the Congo River, after years
+of service in the Colony. We all ate together in the tiny dining saloon
+forward with the captain, who usually provides the "chop," as it is
+called. I now made the acquaintance of goat as an article of food. The
+young nanny is not undesirable as an occasional novelty but when she is
+served up to you every day, it becomes a trifle monotonous.
+
+The one rival of the goat in the Congo daily menu is the chicken, the
+mainstay of the country. I know a man who spent six years in the Congo
+and he kept a record of every fowl he consumed. When he started for home
+the total registered exactly three thousand. It is no uncommon
+experience. Occasionally a friendly hunter brought antelope or buffalo
+aboard but goat and fowl, reinforced by tinned goods and an occasional
+egg, constituted the bill of fare. You may wonder, perhaps, that in a
+country which is a continuous chicken-coop, there should be a scarcity
+of eggs. The answer lies in the fact that during the last few years the
+natives have conceived a sudden taste for eggs. Formerly they were
+afraid to eat them.
+
+Of course, there was always an abundance of fruit. You can get
+pineapples, grape fruit, oranges, bananas and a first cousin of the
+cantaloupe, called the _pei pei_, which when sprinkled with lime juice
+is most delicious. Bananas can be purchased for five cents a bunch of
+one hundred. It is about the only cheap thing in the Congo except
+servants.
+
+[Illustration: A NATIVE MARKET AT KINDU]
+
+Not all my fellow passengers were desirable companions. At Bukana five
+naked savages, all chained together by the neck, were brought aboard in
+charge of three native soldiers. When I asked the captain who and what
+they were he replied, "They are cannibals. They ate two of their fellow
+tribesmen back in the jungle last week and they are going down the river
+to be tried." These were the first eaters of human flesh that I saw in
+the Congo. One conspicuous detail was their teeth which were all filed
+down to sharp points. I later discovered that these wolf teeth, as they
+might be called, are common to all the Congo cannibals. The punishment
+for cannibalism is death, although every native, whatever his offence,
+is given a trial by the Belgian authorities.
+
+So far as employing the white man as an article of diet is concerned,
+cannibalism has ceased in the Congo. Some of the tribes, however, still
+regard the flesh of their own kind as the last word in edibles. The
+practice must be carried on in secret. To have partaken of the human
+body has long been regarded as an act which endows the consumer with
+almost supernatural powers. The cannibal has always justified his
+procedure in a characteristic way. When the early explorers and
+missionaries protested against the barbarous performance they were
+invariably met with this reply, "You eat fowl and goats and we eat men.
+What is the difference?" There seems to have been a particular lure in
+what the native designated as "food that once talked."
+
+In the days when cannibalism was rampant, the liver of the white man was
+looked upon as a special delicacy for the reason that it was supposed to
+transmit the knowledge and courage of its former owner. There was also a
+tradition that once having eaten the heart of the white, no harm could
+come to the barbarian who performed this amiable act. Although these
+odious practices have practically ceased except in isolated instances,
+the Congo native, in boasting of his strength, constantly speaks of his
+liver, and not of his heart.
+
+It was on the Lualaba, after the boat had tied up for the night, that I
+caught the first whisper of the jungle. In Africa Nature is in her
+frankest mood but she expresses herself in subdued tones. All my life I
+had read of the witchery of these equatorial places, but no description
+is ever adequate. You must live with them to catch the magic. No
+painter, for instance, can translate to canvas the elusive and
+ever-changing verdure of the dense forests under the brilliant tropical
+sun, nor can those elements of mystery with their suggestion of wild
+bird and beast that lurk everywhere at night, be reproduced. Life flows
+on like a moving dream that is exotic, enervating, yet intoxicating.
+
+Accustomed as I was to dense populations, the loneliness of the Lualaba
+was weird and haunting. On the Mississippi, Ohio, and Hudson rivers in
+America and on the Seine, the Thames, and the Spree in Europe, you see
+congested human life and hear a vast din. In Africa, and with the
+possible exception of some parts of the Nile, Nature reigns with almost
+undisputed sway. Settlements appear at rare intervals. You only
+encounter an occasional native canoe. The steamers frequently tie up at
+night at some sand-bank and you fall asleep invested by an uncanny
+silence.
+
+I spent six days on the Lualaba where we made many stops to take on and
+put off freight. Many of these halts were at wood-posts where our supply
+of fuel was renewed. At one post I found a lonely Scotch trader who had
+been in the Congo fifteen years. Every night he puts on his kilts and
+parades through the native village playing the bagpipes. It is his one
+touch with home. At another place I had a brief visit with another
+Scotchman, a veteran of the World War, who had established a prosperous
+plantation and who goes about in a khaki kilt, much to the joy of the
+natives, who see in his bare knees a kinship with themselves.
+
+At Kabalo I touched the war zone. This post marks the beginning of the
+railway that runs eastward to Lake Tanganyika and which Rhodes included
+in one of his Cape-to-Cairo routes. Along this road travelled the
+thousands of Congo fighting men on their way to the scene of hostilities
+in German East Africa.
+
+When the Great War broke out the Belgian Colonial Government held that
+the Berlin Treaty of 1885, entitled "A General Act Relating to
+Civilization in Africa" and prohibiting warfare in the Congo basin,
+should be enforced. This treaty gave birth to the Congo Free State and
+made it an international and peaceful area under Belgian sovereignty.
+Following their usual fashion the Germans looked upon this document as a
+"scrap of paper" and attached Lukuga. This forced the Belgian Congo into
+the conflict. About 20,000 native troops were mobilized and under the
+command of General Tambeur, who is now Vice-Governor General of the
+Katanga, co-operated with the British throughout the entire East African
+campaign. The Belgians captured Tabora, one of the German strongholds,
+and helped to clear the Teuton out of the country.
+
+Lake Tanganyika was the scene of one of the most brilliant and
+spectacular naval battles of the war. Two British motor launches, which
+were conveyed in sections all the way from England, sank a German
+gunboat and disabled another, thus purging those waters of the German.
+The lake was of great strategic importance for the transport of food and
+munitions for the Allied troops in German East Africa. It is one of the
+loveliest inland bodies of water in the world for it is fringed with
+wooded heights and is navigable throughout its entire length of four
+hundred miles. Ujiji, on its eastern shore, is the memorable spot where
+Stanley found Livingstone. The house where the illustrious missionary
+lived still stands, and is an object of veneration both for black and
+white visitors.
+
+From Kabalo I proceeded to Kongolo, where navigation on the Lualaba
+temporarily ends. It is the usual Congo settlement with the official
+residence of the Commissaire of the District, office of the Native
+Commissioner, and a dozen stores. It is also the southern rail-head of
+the Chemin de Fer Grands Lacs, which extends to Stanleyville. Early in
+the morning I boarded what looked to me like a toy train, for it was
+tinier than any I had ever seen before, and started for Kindu. The
+journey occupies two days and traverses a highly Arabized section.
+
+Back in the days when Tippo Tib, the friend of Stanley, was king of the
+Arab slave traders, this area was his hunting ground. Many of the
+natives are Mohammedans and wear turbans and long flowing robes. Their
+cleanliness is in sharp contrast with the lack of sanitary precautions
+observed by the average unclothed native. The only blacks who wash every
+day in the Congo are those who live on the rivers. The favorite method
+of cleansing in the bush country is to scrape off a week's or a month's
+accumulation of mud with a stick or a piece of glass.
+
+In the Congo the trains, like the boats, stop for the night. Various
+causes are responsible for the procedure. In the early days of
+railroading elephants and other wild animals frequently tore up the
+tracks. Another contributory reason is that the carriages are only built
+for day travel. Native houses are provided for the traveller at
+different points on the line. Since everyone carries his own bed it is
+easy to establish sleeping quarters without delay or inconvenience. On
+this particular trip I slept at Malela, in the house ordinarily occupied
+by the Chief Engineer of the line. The Minister of the Colonies had used
+it the night before and it was scrupulously clean. I must admit that I
+have had greater discomfort in metropolitan hotels.
+
+I was now in the almost absolute domain of the native. The only white
+men that I encountered were an occasional priest and a still more
+occasional trader. At Kibombo the train stopped for the mail. When I got
+out to stretch my legs I saw a man and a woman who looked unmistakably
+American. The man had Texas written all over him for he was tall and
+lank and looked as if he had spent his life on the ranges. He came
+toward me smiling and said, "The Minister of the Colonies was through
+here yesterday in a special train and he said that an American
+journalist was following close behind, so I came down to see you." The
+man proved to be J. G. Campbell, who had come to install an American
+cotton gin nine kilometers from where we were standing. His wife was
+with him and she was the only white woman within two hundred miles.
+
+Campbell is a link with one of the new Congo industries, which is cotton
+cultivation. The whole area between Kongolo and Stanleyville,
+three-fourths of which is one vast tropical forest, has immense
+stretches ideally adapted for cotton growing. The Belgian Government has
+laid out experimental plantations and they are thriving. In 1919 four
+thousand acres were cultivated in the Manyema district, six thousand in
+the Sankuru-Kasai region, and six hundred in the Lomami territory.
+Altogether the Colony produced 6,000,000 pounds of the raw staple in
+1920 and some of it was grown by natives who are being taught the art.
+The Congo Cotton Company has been formed at Brussels with a
+capitalization of 6,000,000 francs, to exploit the new industry, which
+is bound to be an important factor in the development of the Congo. It
+shows that the ruthless exploitation of the earlier days is succeeded by
+scientific and constructive expansion.
+
+Campbell's experience in setting up his American gin discloses the
+principal need of the Congo today which is adequate transport. Between
+its arrival at the mouth of the Congo River and Kibombo the mass of
+machinery was trans-shipped exactly four times, alternately changing
+from rail to river. At Kibombo the 550,000 pounds of metal had to be
+carried on the heads of natives to the scene of operations. In the Congo
+practically every ton of merchandise must be moved by man power--the
+average load is sixty pounds--through the greater part of its journey.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the day which marked the encounter with the
+Campbells I reached Kindu, where navigation on the Lualaba is resumed
+again. By this time you will have realized something of the difficulty
+of travelling in this part of the world. It was my third change since
+Bukama and more were to come before I reached the Lower Congo.
+
+[Illustration: NATIVE FISH TRAPS AT STANLEY FALLS]
+
+At Kindu I had a rare piece of luck. I fell in with Louis Franck, the
+Belgian Minister of the Colonies, to whom I had a letter of
+introduction, and who was making a tour of inspection of the Congo. He
+had landed at Mombassa, crossed British East Africa, visited the new
+Belgian possessions of Urundi and Ruanda which are spoils of war, and
+made his way to Kabalo from Lake Tanganyika. He asked me to accompany
+him to Stanleyville as his guest. I gladly accepted because, aside from
+the personal compensation afforded by his society, it meant immunity
+from worry about the river and train connections.
+
+Franck represents the new type of Colonial Minister. Instead of being a
+musty bureaucrat, as so many are, he is a live, alert progressive man of
+affairs who played a big part in the late war. To begin with, he is one
+of the foremost admiralty lawyers of Europe. When the Germans occupied
+Belgium he at once became conspicuous. He resisted the Teutonic scheme
+to separate the French and Flemish sections of the ravaged country.
+After the investment of Antwerp, his native place, accompanied by the
+Burgomaster and the Spanish Minister, he went to the German Headquarters
+and made the arrangement by which the city was saved from destruction by
+bombardment. He delayed this parley sufficiently to enable the Belgian
+Army to escape to the Yser. Subsequently his activities on behalf of his
+countrymen made him so distasteful to the Germans that he was imprisoned
+in Germany for nearly a year. For two months of this time he shared the
+noble exile of Monsieur Max, the heroic Burgomaster of Brussels.
+
+I now became an annex of what amounted to a royal progress. To the
+Belgian colonial official and to the native, Franck incarnated a sort of
+All Highest. In the Congo all functionaries are called "Bula Matadi,"
+which means "The Rock Breaker." It is the name originally bestowed on
+Stanley when he dynamited a road through the rocks of the Lower Congo.
+Franck, however, was a super "Bula Matadi." We had a special boat, the
+"Baron Delbecke," a one hundred ton craft somewhat similar to the "Louis
+Cousin" but much cleaner, for she had been scrubbed up for the journey.
+The Minister, his military aide, secretary and doctor filled the cabins,
+so I slept in a tent set up on the lower deck.
+
+With flags flying and thousands of natives on the shore yelling and
+beating tom-toms, we started down the Lualaba. The country between Kindu
+and Ponthierville, our first objective, is thickly populated and
+important settlements dot the banks. Wherever we stopped the native
+troops were turned out and there were long speeches of welcome from the
+local dignitaries. Franck shook as many black and white hands as an
+American Presidential candidate would in a swing around the circle. I
+accompanied him ashore on all of these state visits and it gave me an
+excellent opportunity to see the many types of natives in their Sunday
+clothes, which largely consist of no clothes at all. This applies
+especially to the female sex, which in the Congo reverses Kipling's
+theory because they are less deadly than the male.
+
+At Lowa occurred a significant episode. This place is the center of an
+immense native population, but there is only one white resident, the
+usual Belgium state official. We climbed the hill to his house, where
+thirty of the leading chiefs, wearing the tin medal which the Belgian
+Government gives them, shook hands with the Minister. The ranking chief,
+distinguished by the extraordinary amount of red mud in his wool and the
+grotesque devices cut with a knife on his body, made a long speech in
+which he became rather excited. When the agent translated this in French
+to Franck I gathered that the people were indignant over the advance in
+cost of trade goods, especially salt and calico. Salt is more valuable
+than gold in the Congo. Among the natives it is legal tender for every
+commodity from a handkerchief to a wife.
+
+Franck made a little speech in French in reply--it was translated by the
+interpreter--in which he said that the Great War had increased the price
+of everything. We shook hands all round and there was much muttering of
+"yambo," the word for "greeting," and headed for the boat.
+
+Halfway down the hill we heard shouting and hissing. We stopped and
+looked back. On the crest were a thousand native women, jeering,
+hooting, and pointing their fingers at the Minister, who immediately
+asked the cause of the demonstration. When the agent called for an
+explanation a big black woman said:
+
+"Ask the 'Bula Matadi' why the franc buys so little now? We only get a
+few goods for a big lot of money."
+
+I had gone into the wilds to escape from economic unrest and all the
+confusion that has followed in its wake, yet here in the heart of
+Central Africa, I found our old friend the High Cost of Living working
+overtime and provoking a spirited protest from primitive savages! It
+proves that there is neither caste, creed nor colour-line in the
+pocket-book. Like indigestion, to repeat Mr. Pinero, it is the universal
+leveller of all ranks.
+
+
+IV
+
+On this trip Franck outlined to me his whole colonial creed. It was a
+gorgeous June morning and we had just left a particularly picturesque
+Arabized village behind us. Hundreds of natives had come out to welcome
+the Minister in canoes. They sang songs and played their crude musical
+instruments as they swept alongside our boat. We now sat on the upper
+deck and watched the unending panorama of palm trees with here and there
+a clump of grass huts.
+
+"All colonial development is a chain which is no stronger than its
+weakest link and that is the native," said the Minister. "As you build
+the native, so do you build the whole colonial structure. Hence the
+importance of a high moral standard. You must conform to the native's
+traditions, mentality and temperament. Give him a technical education
+something like that afforded by Booker Washington's Tuskegee Institute.
+Show him how to use his hands. He will then become efficient and
+therefore contented. It is a mistake to teach him a European language. I
+prefer him to be a first-class African rather than third-class European.
+
+"The hope of the Congo lies in industrialization on the one hand, and
+the creation of new wealth on the other. By new wealth I mean such new
+crops as cotton and a larger exploitation of such old products as rice
+and palm fruit. Rubber has become a second industry although the
+cultivated plantations are in part taking the place of the old wild
+forests. The substitute for rubber as the first product of the land is
+the fruit of the oil palm tree. This will be the industrial staple of
+the Congo. I believe, however, that in time cotton can be produced in
+large commercial quantities over a wide area."
+
+Franck now turned to a subject which reflects his courage and
+progressiveness. He said, "There is a strong tendency in other Colonies
+to give too large a place to State enterprise. The result of this system
+is that officers are burdened with an impossible task. They must look
+after the railways, steamers, mills, and a variety of tasks for which
+they often lack the technical knowledge.
+
+"I have made it a point to give first place to private enterprise and to
+transfer those activities formerly under State rule to autonomous
+enterprises in which the State has an interest. They are run by business
+men along business lines as business institutions. The State's principal
+function in them is to protect the native employes. The gold mines at
+Kilo are an example. They are still owned by the State but are worked by
+a private company whose directors have full powers. The reason why the
+State does not part with its ownership of these mines is that it does
+not want a rush of gold-seekers. History has proved that in a country
+with a primitive population a gold rush is a dangerous and destructive
+thing.
+
+"We are always free traders in Belgium and we are glad to welcome any
+foreign capital to the Congo. We have already had the constructive
+influence of American capital in the diamond fields and we will be glad
+to have more."
+
+The average man thinks that the Congo and concessions are practically
+synonymous terms. In the Leopold day this was true but there is a new
+deal now. Let Monsieur Franck explain it:
+
+"There was a time when huge concessions were freely given in the Congo.
+They were then necessary because the Colony was new, the country
+unknown, and the financial risk large. Now that the economic
+possibilities of the region are realized it is not desirable to grant
+any more large concessions. It is proved that these concessions are
+really a handicap rather than a help to a young land. The wise procedure
+is to have a definite agricultural or industrial aim in mind, and then
+pick the locality for exploitation, whether it is gold, cotton, copper
+or palm fruit."
+
+"What is the future of the Congo?" I asked.
+
+"The Congo is now entering upon a big era of development," was the
+answer. "If the Great War had not intervened it would have been well
+under way. Despite the invasion of Belgium, the practical paralysis of
+our home industry, and the fact that many of our Congo officials and
+their most highly trained natives were off fighting the Germans in East
+Africa, the Colony more than held its own during those terrible years.
+In building the new Congo we are going to profit by the example of other
+countries and capitalize their knowledge and experience of tropical
+hygiene. We propose to combat sleeping sickness, for example, with an
+agency similar to your Rockefeller Institute of Research in New York.
+
+"The Congo is bound to become one of the great centers of the world
+supply. The Katanga is not only a huge copper area but it has immense
+stores of coal, tin, zinc and other valuable commodities. Our diamond
+fields have scarcely been scraped, while the agricultural possibilities
+of hundreds of thousands of square miles are unlimited.
+
+"The great need of the Congo is transport. We are increasing our river
+fleets and we propose to introduce on them a type of barge similar to
+that used on the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers.
+
+"An imposing program of railway expansion is blocked out. For one thing
+we expect to run a railway from the Katanga copper belt straight across
+country to Kinshassa on the Lower Congo. It is already surveyed. This
+will tap a thickly populated region and enable the diamond mines of the
+Kasai to get the labour they need so sorely. The Robert Williams railway
+through Angola will be another addition to our transportation
+facilities. One of the richest regions of the Congo is the north-eastern
+section. The gold mines at Kilo are now only accessible by river. We
+plan to join them up with the railway to be built from Stanleyville to
+the Soudan border. This will link the Congo River and the Nile. With our
+railroads as with our industrial enterprises, we stick to private
+ownership and operation with the State as a partner.
+
+"The new provinces of Ruanda and Urundi will contribute much to our
+future prosperity. They add millions of acres to our territory and
+3,000,000 healthy and prosperous natives to our population. These new
+possessions have two distinct advantages. One is that they provide an
+invigorating health resort which will be to the Central Congo what the
+Katanga is to the Southern. The other is that, being an immense cattle
+country--there is a head of live stock for every native--we will be able
+to secure fresh meat and dairy products, which are sorely needed.
+
+"The Congo is not only the economic hope of Belgium but it is teaching
+the Belgian capitalist to think in broad terms. Henceforth the business
+man of all countries must regard the universe as his field. As a
+practical commercial proposition it pays, both with nations as with
+individuals. We have found that the possession of the Congo, huge as it
+is, and difficult for a country like ours to develop, is a stimulating
+thing. It is quickening our enterprise and widening our world view."
+
+It would be difficult to find a more practical or comprehensive colonial
+program. It eliminates that bane of over-seas administration, red tape,
+and it puts the task of empire-building squarely up to the business man
+who is the best qualified for the work. I am quite certain that the
+advent of Monsieur Franck into office, and particularly his trip to the
+Congo, mean the beginning of an epoch of real and permanent exploitation
+in the Congo.
+
+[Illustration: THE MASSIVE BANGALAS]
+
+[Illustration: CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V--ON THE CONGO RIVER
+
+
+I
+
+Two days more of travelling on the Lower Lualaba brought us to
+Ponthierville, a jewel of a post with a setting of almost bewildering
+tropical beauty. Here we spent the night on the boat and early the
+following morning boarded a special train for Stanleyville, which is
+only six hours distant by rail. Midway we crossed the Equator.
+
+Thirty miles south of Stanleyville is the State Experimental Coffee Farm
+of three hundred acres, which produces fifteen different species of the
+bean. This institution is one evidence of a comprehensive agricultural
+development inaugurated by the Belgian Government. The State has about
+10,000 acres of test plantations, mostly Para rubber, cotton, and cacao,
+in various parts of the Colony.
+
+One commendable object of this work is to instill the idea of
+crop-growing among the natives. Under ordinary circumstances the man of
+colour in the tropics will only raise enough maize, manioc, or tobacco
+for his own needs. The Belgian idea is to encourage co-operative farming
+in the villages. In the region immediately adjacent to Stanleyville the
+natives have begun to plant cotton over a considerable area. At Kongolo
+I saw hundreds of acres of this fleecy plant under the sole supervision
+of the indigenes.
+
+Stanleyville marked one of the real mileposts of my journey. Here came
+Stanley on his first historic expedition across Central Africa and
+discovered the falls nearby that bear his name; here he set up the
+Station that marked the Farthest East of the expedition which founded
+the Congo Free State. Directly south-east of the town are seven distinct
+cataracts which extend over fifty miles of seething whirlpools.
+
+Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo and like Paris, is
+built on two sides of the river. On the right bank is the place of the
+Vice-Governor General, scores of well stocked stores, and many desirable
+residences. The streets are long avenues of palm trees. The left bank is
+almost entirely given over to the railway terminals, yards, and repair
+shops. My original plan was to live with the Vice-Governor General,
+Monsieur de Meulemeester, but his establishment was so taxed by the
+demands of the Ministerial party that I lodged with Monsieur Theews,
+Chief Engineer of the Chemin de Fer des Grands Lacs, where I was most
+comfortable in a large frame bungalow that commanded a superb view of
+the river and the town.
+
+At Stanleyville the Minister of the Colonies had a great reception. Five
+hundred native troops looking very smart were drawn up in the plaza. On
+the platform of the station stood the Vice-Governor General and staff in
+spotless white uniforms, their breasts ablaze with decorations. On all
+sides were thousands of natives in gay attire who cheered and chanted
+while the band played the Belgian national anthem. Over it all waved the
+flag of Belgium. It was a stirring spectacle not without its touch of
+the barbaric, and a small-scale replica of what you might have seen at
+Delhi or Cairo on a fête day.
+
+I was only mildly interested in all this tumult and shouting. What
+concerned me most was the swift, brown river that flowed almost at our
+feet. At last I had reached the masterful Congo, which, with the sole
+exception of the Amazon, is the mightiest stream in the world. As I
+looked at it I thought of Stanley and his battles on its shores, and the
+hardship and tragedy that these waters had witnessed.
+
+Stanleyville is not only the heart of Equatorial Africa but it is also
+an important administrative point. Hundreds of State officials report to
+the Vice-Governor General there, and on national holidays and occasions
+like the visit of the Colonial Minister, it can muster a gay assemblage.
+Monsieur Franck's presence inspired a succession of festivities
+including a garden party which was attended by the entire white
+population numbering about seventy-five. There was also a formal dinner
+where I wore evening clothes for the first and only time between
+Elizabethville and the steamer that took me to Europe three months
+later.
+
+At the garden party Monsieur Franck made a graceful speech in which he
+said that the real missionaries of African civilization were the wives
+who accompanied their husbands to their lonely posts in the field. What
+he said made a distinct impression upon me for it was not only the truth
+but it emphasized a detail that stands out in the memory of everyone who
+visits this part of the world. I know of no finer heroines than these
+women comrades of colonial officials who brave disease and discomfort to
+share the lives of their mates. For one thing, they give the native a
+new respect for his masters. All white women in the Congo are called
+"mamma" by the natives.
+
+The use of "mamma" by the African natives always strikes the newcomer as
+strange. It is a curious fact that practically the first word uttered by
+the black infant is "mamma," and in thousands of cases the final
+utterance of both adult male and female is the same word. In northern
+Rhodesia and many parts of the Congo the native mother frequently refers
+to her child as a "piccannin" which is almost the same word employed by
+coloured people in the American South.
+
+Stanleyville's social prestige is only equalled by her economic
+importance. It is one of the great ivory markets of the world. During
+the last two years this activity has undergone fluctuations that almost
+put Wall Street to the blush.
+
+During the war there was very little trafficking in ivory because it was
+a luxury. With peace came a big demand and the price soared to more than
+200 francs a kilo. The ordinary price is about forty. One trader at
+Stanleyville cleaned up a profit of 3,000,000 francs in three months.
+Then came the inevitable reaction and with it a unique situation. In
+their mad desire to corral ivory the traders ran up the normal price
+that the native hunters received. The moment the boom burst the white
+buyers sought to regulate their purchases accordingly. The native,
+however, knows nothing about the law of demand and supply and he holds
+out for the boom price. The outcome is that hundreds of tons of ivory
+are piled up in the villages and no power on earth can convince the
+savage that there is such a thing as the ebb and flow of price. Such is
+commercial life in the jungle.
+
+Northeast of Stanleyville lie the most important gold mines in the
+Colony. The precious metal was discovered accidentally some years ago in
+the gravel of small rivers west of Lake Albert, and near the small towns
+of Kilo and Moto. Four mines are now worked in this vicinity, two by the
+Government and two by a private company. At the outbreak of the war this
+area was on the verge of considerable development which has just been
+resumed. At the time of my visit all these mines were placers and the
+operation was rather primitive. With modern machinery and enlarged white
+staffs will come a pretentious exploitation. The Government mines alone
+yield more than $2,000,000 worth of gold every year. Shortly before my
+arrival in the Congo what was heralded as the largest gold nugget ever
+discovered was found in the Kilo State Mine. It weighed twelve pounds.
+
+Stanleyville has a significance for me less romantic but infinitely more
+practical than the first contact with the Congo River. After long weeks
+of suffering from inefficient service I sacked Gerome and annexed a boy
+named Nelson. The way of it was this: In the Katanga I engaged a young
+Belgian who was on his way home, to act as secretary. He knew the native
+languages and could always convince the most stubborn black to part with
+an egg. Nelson was his servant. He was born on the Rhodesian border and
+spoke English. I could therefore upbraid him to my heart's content,
+which was not the case with Gerome. Besides, he was not handicapped with
+a wife. In Africa the servants adopt the names of their masters. Nelson
+had worked for an Englishman at Elizabethville and acquired his
+cognomen. I have not the slightest doubt that he now masquerades under
+mine. Be that as it may, Nelson was a model servant and he remained with
+me until that September day when I boarded the Belgium-bound boat at
+Matadi.
+
+Nelson reminded me more of the Georgia Negro than any other one that I
+saw in the Congo. He was almost coal black, he smiled continuously, and
+his teeth were wonderful to look at. He had an unusual capacity for
+work and also for food. I think he was the champion consumer of
+_chikwanga_ in the Congo. The _chikwanga_ is a glutinous dough made from
+the pounded root of the manioc plant and is the principal food of the
+native. It is rolled and cut up in pieces and then wrapped in green
+leaves. The favorite way of preparing it for consumption is to heat it
+in palm oil, although it is often eaten raw. Nelson bought these
+_chikwangas_ by the dozen. He was never without one. He even ate as he
+washed my clothes.
+
+The Congo native is in a continuous state of receptivity when it comes
+to food. Nowhere in the world have I seen people who ate so much. I have
+offered the leavings of a meal to a savage just after he had apparently
+gorged himself and he "wolfed" it as if he were famished. The invariable
+custom in the Congo is to have one huge meal a day. On this occasion
+every member of the family consumes all the edibles in sight. Then the
+crowd lays off until the following day. All food offered in the meantime
+by way of gratuity or otherwise is devoured on the spot.
+
+In connection with the _chikwanga_ is an interesting fact. The Congo
+natives all die young--I only saw a dozen old men--because they are
+insufficiently nourished. The _chikwanga_ is filling but not fattening.
+This is why sleeping sickness takes such dreadful toll. From an
+estimated population of 30,000,000 in Stanley's day the indigenes have
+dwindled to less than one-third this number. Meat is a luxury. Although
+the natives have chickens in abundance they seldom eat one for the
+reason that it is more profitable to sell them to the white man.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the Congo native suffers from
+ailments. Unlike the average small boy of civilization, he delights
+in taking medicine. I suppose that he regards it as just another form of
+food. You hear many amusing stories in connection with medicinal
+articles. When you give a savage a dozen effective pills, for example,
+and tell him to take one every night, he usually swallows them all at
+one time and then he wonders why the results are disastrous. A sorcerer
+in the Upper Congo region once obtained what was widely acclaimed as
+miraculous results from a red substance that he got out of a tin. It
+developed that he had stolen a can of potted beef and was using it as
+"medicine."
+
+[Illustration: CENTRAL AFRICAN PYGMIES]
+
+Stanleyville was called the center of the old Arab slave trade. While
+the odious traffic has long ceased to exist, you occasionally meet an
+old native who bears the scars of battle with the marauders and who can
+tell harrowing tales of the cruelties they inflicted.
+
+The slave raiders began their operations in the Congo in 1877, the same
+year in which Stanley made his historic march across Africa from
+Zanzibar to the north of the Congo. It was the great explorer who
+unconsciously blazed the way for the man-hunters. They followed him down
+the Lualaba River as far as Stanley Falls and discovered what was to
+them a real human treasure-trove. For twenty years they blighted the
+country, carrying off tens of thousands of men, women and children and
+slaughtering thousands in addition. This region was a cannibal
+stronghold and one bait that lured local allies was the promise of the
+bodies of all natives slain, for consumption. Belgian pioneers in the
+Congo who co-operated with the late Baron Dhanis who finally put down
+the slave trade, have told me that it was no infrequent sight to behold
+native women going off to their villages with baskets of human flesh.
+They were part of the spoils of this hideous warfare.
+
+Tippo Tib was lord of this slave-trading domain. This astounding rascal
+had a distinct personality. He was a master trader and drove the hardest
+bargain in all Africa. Livingstone, Cameron, Stanley, and Wissmann all
+did business with him, for he had a monopoly on porters and no one could
+proceed without his help. He invariably waited until the white man
+reached the limit of his resources and then exacted the highest price,
+in true Shylockian fashion.
+
+According to Herbert Ward, the well-known African artist and explorer,
+who accompanied Stanley on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, Tippo Tib
+was something of a philosopher. On one occasion Ward spent the evening
+with the old Arab. He occupied a wretched house. Rain dripped in through
+the roof, rats scuttled across the floor, and wind shook the walls. When
+the Englishman expressed his astonishment that so rich and powerful a
+chief should dwell in such a mean abode Tippo Tib said:
+
+"It is better that I should live in a house like this because it makes
+me remember that I am only an ordinary man like others. If I lived in a
+fine house with comforts I should perhaps end by thinking too much of
+myself."
+
+Ward also relates another typical story about this blood-thirsty bandit.
+A missionary once called him to account for the frightful barbarities he
+had perpetrated, whereupon he received the following reply:
+
+"Ah, yes! You see I was then a young man. Now my hair is turning gray. I
+am an old man and shall have more consideration."
+
+Until his death in 1907 at Zanzibar, Tippo Tib and reformation were
+absolute strangers. He embodied that combination of cruelty and
+religious fanaticism so often found in the Arab. He served his God and
+the devil with the same relentless devotion. He incarnated a type that
+happily has vanished from the map of Africa.
+
+The region around Stanleyville is rich with historic interest and
+association. The great name inseparably and immortally linked with it is
+that of Stanley. Although he found Livingstone, relieved Emin Pasha,
+first traversed the Congo River, and sowed the seeds of civilization
+throughout the heart of the continent, his greatest single achievement,
+perhaps, was the founding of the Congo Free State. No other enterprise
+took such toll of his essential qualities and especially his genius for
+organization.
+
+Stanley is most widely known as an explorer, yet he was, at the same
+time, one of the master civilizers. He felt that his Congo adventure
+would be incomplete if he did not make the State a vast productive
+region and the home of the white man. He longed to see it a British
+possession and it was only after he offered it twice to England and was
+twice rebuffed, that he accepted the invitation of King Leopold II to
+organize the stations under the auspices of the International African
+Association, which was the first step toward Belgian sovereignty.
+
+I have talked with many British and Belgian associates of Stanley.
+Without exception they all acclaim his sterling virtues both in the
+physical and spiritual sense. All agree that he was a hard man. The best
+explanation of this so-called hardness is given by Herbert Ward, who
+once spoke to him about it. Stanley's reply was, "You've got to be hard.
+If you're not hard you're weak. There are only two sides to it."
+
+Stanley always declared that his whole idea of life and work were
+embodied in the following maxim: "The three M's are all we need. They
+are Morals, Mind and Muscles. These must be cultivated if we wish to be
+immortal." To an astonishing degree he worked and lived up to these
+principles.
+
+No explorer, not even Peary in the Arctic wilds, was ever prey to a
+larger isolation than this man. In the midst of the multitude he was
+alone. He shunned intimacy and one of his mournful reflections was, "I
+have had no friend on any expedition, no one who could possibly be my
+companion on an equal footing, except while with Livingstone."
+
+I cannot resist the impulse to make comparison between those two
+outstanding Englishmen, Rhodes and Stanley, whose lives are intimately
+woven into the fabric of African romance. They had much in common and
+yet they were widely different in purpose and temperament. Each was an
+autocrat and brooked no interference. Each had the same kindling ideal
+of British imperialism. Each suffered abuse at the hands of his
+countrymen and lived to witness a triumphant vindication.
+
+Stanley had a rare talent for details--he went on the theory that if you
+wanted a thing done properly you must do it yourself--but Rhodes only
+saw things in a big way and left the interpretation to subordinates.
+Stanley was devoutly religious while Rhodes paid scant attention to the
+spiritual side. Each was a dreamer in his own way and merely regarded
+money as a means to an end. Rhodes, however, was far more disdainful of
+wealth as such, than Stanley, who received large sums for his books and
+lectures. It is only fair to him to say that he never took pecuniary
+advantage of the immense opportunities that his explorations in the
+Congo afforded.
+
+Still another intrepid Englishman narrowly missed having a big rôle in
+the drama of the Congo. General Gordon agreed to assume the Governorship
+of the Lower Congo under Stanley, who was to be the Chief Administrator
+of the Upper Congo. They were to unite in one grand effort to crush the
+slave trade. Fate intervened. Gordon meanwhile was asked by the British
+Government to go to Egypt, then in the throes of the Mahdist uprising.
+He went to his martyrdom at Khartoum, and Stanley continued his work
+alone in Central Africa.
+
+While Stanley established its most enduring traditions, other heroic
+soldiers and explorers, contributed to the roll of fame of the Upper
+Congo region. Conspicuous among them was Captain Deane, an Englishman
+who fought the Arab slave traders at Stanley Falls and who figured in a
+succession of episodes that read like the most romantic fiction.
+
+With less than a hundred native troops recruited from the West Coast of
+Africa, he defended the State Station founded by Stanley at the Falls
+against thousands of Arab raiders. Most of the caps in his rifle
+cartridges were rendered useless by dampness and the Captain and his
+second in command, Lieutenant Dubois, a Belgian officer, fought shoulder
+to shoulder with his men in the hand-to-hand struggle that ensued.
+Subsequently practically all the natives deserted and Deane was left
+with Dubois and four loyal blacks. Under cover of darkness they escaped
+from the island on which the Station was located. On this journey Dubois
+was drowned.
+
+For thirty days Deane and his four faithful troopers wandered through
+the forests, hiding during the day from their ferocious pursuers and
+sleeping in trees at night. On the thirtieth day he was captured by the
+savages. Unarmed, he sank to the ground overcome with weariness. A big
+native stood over him with his spear poised for the fatal thrust. A
+moment later the Englishman was surprised to see his enemy lower the
+weapon and grasp him by the hand. He had succored this savage two years
+before and had not been forgotten. Deane and his companions were
+convoyed under an escort to Herbert Ward's camp and he was nursed back
+to health.
+
+Deane's death illustrates the irony that entered into the passing of so
+many African adventurers. Twelve months after he was snatched from the
+jaws of death on the banks of the Congo in the manner just described, he
+was killed while hunting elephants. A wounded beast impaled him on a
+tusk and then mauled him almost beyond recognition.
+
+
+II
+
+Since Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo there is
+ordinarily no lack of boats. I was fortunate to be able to embark on the
+"Comte de Flandre," the Mauretania of those inland seas and the most
+imposing vessel on the river for she displaced five hundred tons. She
+flew the flag of the Huileries du Congo Belge, the palm oil concern
+founded by Lord Leverhulme and the most important all-British commercial
+interest in the Congo. She was one of a fleet of ten boats that operate
+on the Congo, the Kasai, the Kwilu and other rivers. I not only had a
+comfortable cabin but the rarest of luxuries in Central Africa, a
+regulation bathtub, was available. The "Comte de Flandre" had cabin
+accommodations for fourteen whites. The Captain was an Englishman and
+the Chief Engineer a Scotchman.
+
+On this, as on most of the other Congo boats, the food is provided by
+the Captain, to whom the passengers pay a stipulated sum for meals. On
+the "Comte de Flandre," however, the food privilege was owned jointly by
+the Captain and the Chief Engineer. The latter did all the buying and it
+was almost excruciatingly funny to watch him driving real Scotch
+bargains with the natives who came aboard at the various stops to sell
+chickens, goats, and fruit. The engineer could scarcely speak a word of
+any of the native languages, but he invariably got over the fact that
+the price demanded was too high.
+
+The passenger list of the "Comte de Flandre" included Englishmen,
+Belgians, Italians, and Portuguese. I was the only American. The
+steerage, firemen, and wood-boys were all blacks. With this
+international congress over which beamed the broad smile of Nelson, I
+started on the thousand-mile trip down the Congo River.
+
+It is difficult to convey the impression that the Congo River gives.
+Serene and majestic, it is often well-nigh overwhelming in its
+immensity. Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa there are four thousand
+islands, some of them thirty miles in length. As the boat picks its way
+through them you feel as if you were travelling through an endless
+tropical park of which the river provides the paths. It has been well
+called a "Venice of Vegetation." The shores are brilliant with a
+variegated growth whose exotic smell is wafted out over the waters. You
+see priceless orchids entwined with the mangroves in endless profusion.
+Behind this verdure stretches the dense equatorial forest in which
+Stanley battled years ago in an almost impenetrable gloom. Aigrettes and
+birds of paradise fly on all sides and every hour reveals a hideous
+crocodile sunning himself on a sandspit.
+
+Night on the Congo enhances the loneliness that you feel on all the
+Central African rivers. Although the settlements are more numerous and
+larger than those on the Lualaba and the Kasai, there is the same
+feeling of isolation the moment darkness falls. The jungle seems to be
+an all-embracing monster who mocks you with his silence. Joseph Conrad
+interpreted this atmosphere when he referred to it as having "a
+stillness of life that did not resemble peace,--the silence of an
+implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention." This is the
+Congo River.
+
+The more I saw of the Congo River--it is nearly twice as large as the
+Mississippi--the more I realized that it is in reality a parent of
+waters. It has half a dozen tributaries that range in length from 500 to
+1,000 miles each. The most important are the Lualaba and the Kasai.
+Others include the Itimbiri, the Aruwimi and the Mubangi. Scores of
+smaller streams, many of them navigable for launches, empty into the
+main river. This is why there is such a deep and swift current in the
+lower region where the Congo enters the sea.
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN MAKING POTTERY]
+
+[Illustration: THE CONGO PICKANINNY]
+
+The astonishing thing about the Congo River is its inconsistency.
+Although six miles wide in many parts it is frequently not more than six
+feet deep. This makes navigation dangerous and difficult. As on the
+Lualaba and every other river in the Colony, soundings must be taken
+continually. This extraordinary discrepancy between width and depth
+reminds me of the designation of the Platte River in Nebraska by a
+Kansas statesman which was, "A river three-quarters of a mile wide and
+three-quarters of an inch deep." Thus the Congo journey takes on a
+constant element of hazard because you do not know what moment you will
+run aground on a sand-bank, be impaled on a snag, or strike a rock.
+
+Although the "Comte de Flandre" was rated as the fastest craft on the
+Congo our progress was unusually slow because of the scarcity of wood
+for fuel. This seems incredible when you consider that the whole Congo
+Basin is one vast forest. Millions of trees stand ready to be sacrificed
+to the needs of man, yet there are no hands to cut them. In the Congo,
+as throughout this distracted world, the will-to-work is a lost art, no
+less manifest among the savages than among their civilized brothers. The
+ordinary native will only labour long enough to provide himself with
+sufficient money to buy a month's supply of food. Then he quits and
+joins the leisure class. Hence wood-hunting on the Congo vies with the
+trip itself as a real adventure. The competition between river captains
+for fuel is so keen that a skipper will sometimes start his boat at
+three o'clock in the morning and risk an accident in the dark in order
+to beat a rival to a wood supply.
+
+All up and down the river are wood-posts. Most of them are owned by the
+steamship companies. It was our misfortune to find most of them
+practically stripped of their supplies. A journey which ordinarily takes
+twelve days consumed twenty. But there were many compensations and I had
+no quarrel with the circumstance:
+
+I had the good fortune to witness that rarest of sights that falls to
+the lot of the casual traveller--a serious fight between natives. We
+stopped at a native wood-post--(some of them are operated by the
+occasionally industrious blacks)--for fuel. The whole village turned out
+to help load the logs. In the midst of the process a crowd of natives
+made their appearance, armed with spears and shields. They began to
+taunt the men and women who were loading our boat. I afterwards learned
+that they owned a wood-post nearby and were disgruntled because we had
+not patronized them. They blamed their neighbours for it. Almost before
+we realized it a pitched battle was in progress in which spears were
+thrown and men and women were laid out in a generally bloody fracas. One
+man got an assegai through his throat and it probably inflicted a fatal
+wound.
+
+In the midst of the mêlée one of my fellow passengers, a Catholic priest
+named Father Brandsma, courageously dashed in between the flying spears
+and logs of wood and separated the combatants. This incident shows the
+hostility that still exists between the various tribes in the Congo. It
+constitutes one excellent reason why there can never be any concerted
+uprising against the whites. There is no single, strong, cohesive native
+dynasty.
+
+Father Brandsma was one of the finest men I met in the Congo. He was a
+member of the society of priests which has its headquarters at Mill Hill
+in England. He came aboard the boat late one night when we were tied up
+at Bumba, having ridden a hundred miles on his bicycle along the native
+trails. We met the following morning in the dining saloon. I sat at a
+table writing letters and he took a seat nearby and started to make some
+notes in a book. When we finished I addressed him in French. He answered
+in flawless English. He then told me that he had spent fifteen years in
+Uganda, where he was at the head of the Catholic Missions.
+
+The Father was in his fifth year of service in the Congo and his
+analysis of the native situation was accurate and convincing. Among
+other things he said, "The great task of the Colonial Government is to
+provide labour for the people. In many localities only one native out of
+a hundred works. This idleness must be stopped and the only way to stop
+it is to initiate highway and other improvements, so as to recruit a
+large part of the native population."
+
+Father Brandsma is devoting some of his energy to a change in copal
+gathering. This substance, which is found at the roots of trees in
+swampy and therefore unhealthy country, is employed in the manufacture
+of varnish. To harvest it the natives stand all day in water up to their
+hips and they catch the inevitable colds from which pneumonia develops.
+Copal gathering is a considerable source of income for many tribes and
+usually the entire community treks to the marshes. In this way the
+lives of the women and children are also menaced. The Father believes
+that only the men should go forth at certain periods for this work and
+leave their families behind.
+
+Father Brandsma was the central actor in a picturesque scene. One Sunday
+morning I heard a weird chanting and I arose to discover the cause. I
+found that the priest was celebrating mass for the natives on the main
+deck of the boat. Dawn had just broken, and on the improvised altar
+several candles gleamed in the half light. In his vestments the priest
+was a striking figure. All about him knelt the score of naked savages
+who made up the congregation. They crossed themselves constantly and
+made the usual responses. I must confess that the ceremony was strangely
+moving and impressive.
+
+As soon as I reached the Congo River I saw that the natives were bigger
+and stronger than those of the Katanga and other sections that I had
+visited. The most important of the river tribes are the Bangalas, who
+are magnificent specimens of manhood. In Stanley's day they were masters
+of a considerable portion of the Upper Congo River region and contested
+his way skilfully and bitterly. They are more peacefully inclined today
+and hundreds of them are employed as wood-boys and firemen on the river
+boats.
+
+The Bangalas practice cicatrization to an elaborate extent. This process
+consists of opening a portion of the flesh with a knife, injecting an
+irritating juice into the wound, and allowing the place to swell. The
+effect is to raise a lump or weal. Some of these excrescences are tiny
+bumps and others develop into large welts that disfigure the anatomy.
+Extraordinary designs are literally carved on the faces and bodies of
+the men and women. Although it is an intensely painful operation,--some
+of the wounds must be opened many times--the native submits to it with
+pleasure because the more ornate the design the more resplendent the
+wearer feels. The women are usually more liberally marked than the men.
+
+Cicatrization is popular in various parts of Central Africa but nowhere
+to the degree that it prevails on the Congo River and among the
+Bangalas, where it is a tribal mark. I observed women whose entire
+bodies from the ankles up to the head were one mass of cicatrized
+designs. One of the favorite areas is the stomach. This is just another
+argument against clothes. Cicatrization bears the same relation to the
+African native that tattooing does to the whites of some sections. Human
+vanity works in mysterious ways to express itself.
+
+In this connection it is perhaps worth while to point out one of the
+reasons why the Congo atrocity exhorters found such ready exhibits for
+their arguments. The Central African native delights in disfigurement
+not only as a sign of "beauty," but as a means of retaliation for real
+or fancied wrongs among his own. In the old days dozens of slaves, and
+sometimes wives, were sacrificed upon the death of an important chief.
+Their spirits were supposed to provide a bodyguard to escort the
+departed potentate safely into the land of the hereafter. One of the
+former prerogatives of a husband was the sanction to chop off the hand
+or foot of a wife if she offended or disobeyed him. Hence Central Africa
+abounded in mutilated men, women and children. While some of these
+barbarities may have been due to excessive zeal or temper in State or
+corporation officials there is no doubt that many instances were the
+result of native practices.
+
+The reference to cicatrization brings to mind another distinctive
+Central African observance. I refer to the ceremony of blood
+brotherhood. When two men, who have been enemies, desire to make the
+peace and swear eternal amity, they make a small incision in one of
+their forearms sufficiently deep to cause the flow of blood. Each then
+licks the blood from the other's arm and henceforth they are related as
+brothers. This performance was not only common among the blacks but was
+also practiced by the whites and the blacks the moment civilization
+entered the wild domains. Stanley's arms were one mass of scars as the
+result of swearing constant blood brotherhood. It became such a nuisance
+and at the same time developed into such a serious menace to his health,
+that the rite had to be amended. Instead of licking the blood the
+comrades now merely rub the incisions together on the few occasions
+nowadays when fealty is sworn. I am glad to say that I escaped the
+ordeal.
+
+Much to my regret I saw only a few of the much-described pygmies who
+dwelt mainly in the regions northeast of Stanleyville, where Stanley
+first met them. They are all under three feet in height, are light brown
+in colour, and wear no garments when on their native heath. They are the
+shyest of all the tribes I encountered. These diminutive creatures
+seldom enter the service of the white man and prefer the wild life of
+the jungle. I was informed in the Congo that the real pygmy is fast
+disappearing from the map. Intermarriage with other tribes, and
+settlement into more or less permanent villages, have increased the
+height of the present generation and helped to remove one of the last
+human links with Stanley's great day.
+
+The Congo River native is perhaps the shrewdest in all Central Africa.
+He is a born trader, and he can convert the conventional shoe-string
+into something worth while. One reason why the Bangalas take positions
+as firemen and woodboys on the river boats is that it enables them to go
+into business. The price of food at the small settlements up river is
+much less than at Kinshassa, where navigation from Stanleyville
+southward ends. Hence the blacks acquire considerable stores of palm oil
+and dried fish at the various stops made by the steamers and dispose of
+it with large profit when they reach the end of the journey. I have in
+mind the experience of a capita on the "Comte de Flandre." When we left
+Stanleyville his cash capital was thirty-five francs. With this he
+purchased a sufficient quantity of food, which included dozens of pieces
+of _chikwanga_, to realize two hundred and twenty francs at Kinshassa.
+
+These river natives are genuine profiteers. They invariably make it a
+rule to charge the white man three or four times the price they exact
+from their own kind. No white man ever thinks of buying anything
+himself. He always sends one of his servants. As soon as the vendor
+knows that the servant is in the white employ he shoves up the price. I
+discovered this state of affairs as soon as I started down the Lualaba.
+In my innocence I paid two francs for a bunch of bananas. The moment I
+had closed the deal I observed larger and better bunches being purchased
+by natives for fifty centimes.
+
+This business of profiteering by the natives is no new phase of life in
+the Congo. Stanley discovered it to his cost. Sir Harry Johnston, the
+distinguished explorer and administrator, who added to his achievements
+during these past years by displaying skill and brilliancy as a
+novelist, tells a characteristic story that throws light on the
+subject. It deals with one of the experiences of George Grenfell, the
+eminent British missionary who gave thirty years of his unselfish life
+to work in the Congo. On one of his trips he noticed the corpse of a
+woman hanging from the branches of a tree over the water of the great
+river. At first he thought that she had been executed as a punishment
+for adultery, one of the most serious crimes in the native calendar. On
+investigation he found that she had been guilty of a much more serious
+offense. A law had been imposed that all goods, especially food, must be
+sold to the white man at a far higher price than the local market value.
+This unhappy woman had only doubled the quotation for eggs, had been
+convicted of breaking the code, and had suffered death in consequence.
+
+Since I have referred to adultery, let me point out a situation that
+does not reflect particular credit on so-called civilization. Before the
+white man came to Africa chastity was held in deepest reverence. The
+usual punishment for infidelity was death. Some of the early white men
+were more or less promiscuous and set a bad moral example with regard to
+the women. The native believed that in this respect "the white man can
+do no wrong" and the inevitable laxity resulted. When a woman deserts
+her husband now all she gets is a sound beating. If a man elopes with
+the wife of a friend, he is haled before a magistrate and fined.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEART OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST]
+
+
+III
+
+On the Congo I got my first glimpse of the native fashion in mourning.
+It is a survival of the biblical "sackcloth and ashes." As soon as a
+death occurs all the members of the family smear their faces and bodies
+with ashes or dirt. Even the babies show these rude symbols of woe. It
+gives the person thus adorned a weird and ghastly appearance. When ashes
+and dust are not available for this purpose, a substitute is found in
+filthy mud. The mourner is not permitted to wash throughout the entire
+period of grief, which ranges from thirty to ninety days.
+
+Like the Southern Negro in America these African natives are not only
+born actors but have a keen sense of humour. They are quick to imitate
+the white man. If a Georgia darkey, for example, wants to abuse a member
+of his own race he delights to call him "a fool nigger." It is the last
+word in reproach. In the Congo when a native desires to express contempt
+for his fellow, he refers to him as a _basingi_, which means bush-man.
+It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
+
+Up the Kasai I heard a story that admirably illustrates the native
+humour. A Belgian official much inclined to corpulency came out to take
+charge of a post. After the usual fashion, he received a native name the
+moment he arrived. It is not surprising that he became known as _Mafutta
+Mingi_. As soon as he learned what it meant he became indignant. Like
+most fat men he could not persuade himself that he was fat. He demanded
+that he be given another title, whereupon the local chief solemnly
+dubbed him _Kiboko_. The official was immediately appeased. He noticed
+that a broad smile invariably illumined the countenance of the person
+who addressed him in this way. On investigation he discovered that the
+word meant hippopotamus.
+
+The Congo native delights in argument. Here you get another parallel
+with his American brother. A Bangala, for example, will talk for a week
+about five centimes. One day at Dima I heard a terrific shouting and
+exhorting down at the native market which is held twice a week. I was
+certain that someone was being murdered. When I arrived on the scene I
+saw a hundred men and women gesticulating wildly and in a great state of
+excitement. I learned that the wife of a wood-boy on a boat had either
+secreted or sold a scrap of soap, and her husband was not only berating
+her with his tongue but telling the whole community about it.
+
+The chief function of most Belgian officials in the Congo is to preside
+at what is technically known as a "palaver." This word means conference
+but it actually develops into a free-for-all riotous protestation by the
+natives involved. They all want to talk at the same time and it is like
+an Irish debating society. Years ago each village had a "palaver
+ground," where the chief sat in solemn judgment on the disputes of his
+henchmen. Now the "palavers" are held before Government officers. Most
+of the "palavers" that I heard related to elopements. No matter how
+grievous was the offense of the male he invariably shifted the entire
+responsibility to the woman. He was merely emulating the ways of
+civilization.
+
+Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa we not only stopped every night
+according to custom, but halted at not less than a dozen settlements to
+take on or deliver cargo. These stations resemble each other in that
+they are mainly a cluster of stores owned or operated by agents of
+various trading companies. Practically every post in the Congo has, in
+addition, a shop owned by a Portuguese. You find these traders
+everywhere. They have something of the spirit of adventure and the
+hardihood of their doughty ancestors who planted the flag of Portugal on
+the high seas back in that era when the little kingdom was a world
+power.
+
+Some of them have been in the Congo for fifteen and twenty years without
+ever stirring outside its confines. On the steamer that took me to
+Europe from the Congo was a Portuguese who had lived in the bush for
+twenty-two years. When he got on the big steamer he was frightened at
+the noise and practically remained in his cabin throughout the entire
+voyage. As we neared France he told me that if he had realized
+beforehand the terror and tumult of the civilization that he had
+forgotten, he never would have departed from his jungle home. He was as
+shy as a wild animal.
+
+One settlement, Basoko, has a tragic meaning for the Anglo-Saxon. Here
+died and lies buried, the gallant Grenfell. I doubt if exploration
+anywhere revealed a nobler character than this Baptist minister whose
+career has been so adequately presented by Sir Harry Johnston, and who
+ranks with Stanley and Livingstone as one of the foremost of African
+explorers. In the Congo evangelization has been fraught with a truly
+noble fortitude. When you see the handicaps that have beset both
+Catholic and Protestant missionaries you are filled with a new
+appreciation of their calling.
+
+The most important stop of this trip was at Coquilhatville, named in
+honor of Captain Coquilhat, one of the most courageous of the early
+Belgian soldier-explorers. It was the original Equatorville (it is at
+the point where the Equator cuts the Congo), founded by Stanley when he
+established the series of stations under the auspices of the
+International African Association. Here dwells the Vice-Governor of the
+Equatorial Province. Near by is a botanical garden maintained by the
+Colonial Government and which contains specimens of all the flora of
+Central Africa.
+
+At Coquilhatville I saw the first horse since I left Rhodesia and it was
+a distinct event. Except in the Kasai region it is impossible to
+maintain live stock in the Congo. The tsetse fly is the devastating
+agency. Apparently the only beasts able to withstand this scourge are
+goats and dogs. The few white men who live in Coquilhatville have been
+able to maintain five horses which are used by the so-called Riding
+Club. These animals provide the only exercise at the post. They are
+owned and ridden by the handful of Englishmen there. A man must drive
+himself to indulge in any form of outdoor sport along the equator. The
+climate is more or less enervating and it takes real Anglo-Saxon energy
+to resist the lure of the _siesta_ or to remain in bed as long as
+possible.
+
+Bolobo is a reminder of Stanley. He had more trouble here than at any of
+the many stations he set up in the Congo Free State in the early
+eighties. The natives were hostile, the men he left in charge proved to
+be inefficient, and on two occasions the settlement was burned to the
+ground. Today it is the seat of one of the largest and most prosperous
+of all the English Baptist Congo missions and is presided over by a
+Congo veteran, Dr. Stonelake. One feature of the work here is a manual
+training school for natives, who manufacture the same kind of wicker
+chairs that the tourist buys at Madeira.
+
+The farther I travelled in the Congo the more deeply I became interested
+in the native habits and customs. Although cluttered with ignorance and
+superstition the barbaric mind is strangely productive of a rude
+philosophy which is expressed in a quaint folklore. Seasoned Congo
+travellers like Grenfell, Stanley, Ward, and Johnston have all recorded
+fascinating local legends. I heard many of these tales myself and I
+shall endeavour to relate the best.
+
+Some of the most characteristic stories deal with the origin of death.
+Here is a Bangala tradition gathered by Grenfell and which runs as
+follows:
+
+    The natives say that in the beginning men and women did not die.
+    That one day, _Nza Komba_ (God) came bringing two gifts, a large and
+    a small one. If they chose the smaller one they would continue to
+    live, but if the larger one, they would for a time enjoy much
+    greater wealth, but they would afterwards die. The men said they
+    must consider the matter, and went away to drink water, as the
+    Kongos say. While they were discussing the matter the women took the
+    larger gift, and _Nza Komba_ went back with the little one. He has
+    never been seen since, though they cried and cried for Him to come
+    back and take the big bundle and give them the little one, and with
+    it immortality.
+
+The Baluba version of the great mystery is set forth in this way:
+
+    God (_Kabezya-unpungu_) created the sun, moon, and stars, then the
+    world, and later the plants and animals. When all this was finished
+    He placed a man and two women in the world and taught them the name
+    and use of all things. He gave an axe and a knife to the man, and
+    taught him to cut wood, weave stuffs, melt iron, and to hunt and
+    fish. To the women he gave a pickaxe and a knife. He taught both of
+    them to till the ground, make pottery, weave baskets, make
+    oil,--that is to say, all that custom assigns to them to-day.
+
+    These first inhabitants of the earth lived happily for a long time
+    until one of the women began to grow old. God, foreseeing this, had
+    given her the gift of rejuvenating herself, and the faculty, if she
+    once succeeded, of preserving the gift for herself and for all
+    mankind. Unfortunately, she speedily lost the precious treasure and
+    introduced death into the world.
+
+    This is how the misfortune occurred: Seeing herself all withered,
+    the woman took the fan with which her companion had been winnowing
+    maize for the manufacture of beer and shut herself into her hut,
+    carefully closing the door. There she began to tear off her old
+    skin, throwing it on the fan. The skin came off easily, a new one
+    appearing in its place. The operation was nearing completion. There
+    remained the head and neck only when her companion came to the hut
+    to fetch her fan and before the old woman could speak, pushed open
+    the door. The almost rejuvenated woman fell dead instantly.
+
+    This is the reason we all die. The two survivors gave birth to a
+    number of sons and daughters, from whom all races have descended.
+    Since that time God does not trouble about His creatures. He is
+    satisfied with visiting them incognito now and again. Wherever He
+    passes the ground sinks. He injures no one. It is therefore
+    superfluous to honour him, so the Balubas offer no worship to Him.
+
+The animal story has a high place in the legends of these peoples. They
+represent a combination of Kipling's Jungle Book, Aesop's Fables, and
+Br'er Rabbit. Nor do they fail to point a moral. Naturally, the elephant
+is a conspicuous feature in most of them. The tale of "The Elephant and
+the Shrew" will illustrate. Here it is:
+
+[Illustration: NATIVES PILING WOOD]
+
+[Illustration: A WOOD POST ON THE CONGO]
+
+    One day the elephant met the shrew mouse on his road. "Out of the
+    way," cried the latter. "I am the bigger, and it is your place to
+    look out," replied the monster. "Curse you!" retorted the shrew
+    mouse furiously. "May the long grass cut your legs!" "And may you
+    meet your death when you walk in the road!" replied the other
+    crushing him under his huge foot. Both curses have been fulfilled.
+    From that day the elephant wounds himself when he goes through the
+    long grass, and the shrew-mouse meets her death when she crosses the
+    road.
+
+The story of the elephant and the chameleon is equally interesting. One
+day the chameleon challenged the elephant to a race. The latter accepted
+the challenge and a meeting was arranged for the following morning.
+During the night the chameleon placed all his brothers from point to
+point along the length of the track where the race was to be run. When
+day came the elephant started. The chameleon quickly slipped behind
+without the elephant noticing. "Are you not tired?" asked the monster of
+the first chameleon he met. "Not at all," he replied, executing the same
+manoeuvre as the former. This stratagem was renewed so many times that
+the elephant, tired out, gave up the contest and confessed himself
+beaten.
+
+In the wilds, as in civilization, the relation between husband and wife,
+and more especially the downfall of the autocrat of the home, is a
+favorite subject for jest. From the northeastern corner of the Congo
+comes this illuminating story:
+
+    A man had two wives, one gentle and prepossessing, the other such a
+    gossip that he was often made angry. Neither remonstrances nor
+    beating improved her, and finally he made up his mind to drive her
+    into a wood amongst the hyenas. There she built herself a little hut
+    into which a hyena came and boldly installed herself as mistress.
+    The wife tried to protest but the hyena, not content with eating and
+    drinking all that the wife was preparing, compelled her furthermore
+    to look after her young. One day the hyena had ordered the woman to
+    boil some water. While waiting the wife had the sudden idea of
+    seizing the young hyenas and throwing them into the boiling water.
+    She did this and then she ran trembling to take refuge in the home
+    of her husband whom she found calmly seated at the entrance of the
+    house, spear in hand. She threw herself at the feet of her spouse,
+    beseeching him for help and protection. When the hyena arrived
+    foaming with rage her husband stretched it dead on the ground with a
+    blow of his spear. The lesson was not lost on the wife. From that
+    day forth she became the joy and delight of her husband.
+
+The Congo can ever reproduce its own version of the fable of "The Goose
+that Laid the Golden Egg." It is somewhat primitive but serves the same
+purpose. As told to the naked piccaninnies by the flickering camp-fires
+it runs thus:
+
+    Four fools owned a chicken which laid blue glass beads instead of
+    eggs. A quarrel arose concerning the ownership of the fowl. The bird
+    was subsequently killed and divided into four equal portions. The
+    spring of their good fortune dried up.
+
+To understand the significance of the story it must be understood that
+for many years beads have been one of the forms of currency in Central
+Africa. Formerly they were as important a detail in the purchase of a
+wife as copper and calico. The first piece of attire, if it may be
+designated by this name, that adorns the native baby after its entrance
+into the world is an anklet of blue beads. Later a strand of beads is
+placed round its loins.
+
+When you have heard such stories as I have just related, you realize
+that despite his ignorance, appetite, and indolence, the Congo native
+has some desirable qualities. He is shiftless but not without human
+instincts. Nowhere are they better expressed than in his folklore.
+
+
+IV
+
+Two stops on the Congo River deserve special attention. In the Congo
+there began in 1911 an industry that will have an important bearing on
+the economic development of the Colony. It was the installation of the
+first plant of the Huileries du Congo Belge. This Company, which is an
+offshoot of the many Lever enterprises of England, resulted from the
+growing need of palm oil as a substitute for animal fat in soap-making.
+Lord Leverhulme, who was then Sir William Lever, obtained a concession
+for considerably more than a million acres of palm forests in the Congo.
+He began to open up so-called areas and install mills for boiling the
+fruit and drying the kernels. He now has eight areas, and two of them,
+Elizabetha and Alberta,--I visited both--are on the Congo River.
+
+For hundreds of years the natives have gathered the palm fruit and
+extracted the oil. Under their method of manufacture the waste was
+enormous. The blacks threw away the kernel because they were unaware of
+the valuable substance inside. Lord Leverhulme was the first to organize
+the industry on a big and scientific basis and it has justified his
+confidence and expenditure.
+
+Most people are familiar with the date and the cocoa-nut palms. From the
+days of the Bible they have figured in narrative and picture. The oil
+palm, on the other hand, is less known but much more valuable. It is the
+staff of life in the Congo and for that matter, practically all West
+Africa. Thousands of years ago its sap was used by the Egyptians for
+embalming the bodies of their kingly dead. Today it not only represents
+the most important agricultural industry of the Colony, having long
+since surpassed rubber as the premier product, but it has an almost
+bewildering variety of uses. It is food, drink and shelter. Out of the
+trunk the native extracts his wine; from the fruit, and this includes
+the kernel, are obtained oil for soap, salad dressing and margarine; the
+leaves provide a roof for the native houses; the fibre is made into
+mats, baskets or strings for fishing nets, while the wood goes into
+construction. Even the bugs that live on it are food for men.
+
+The "H. C. B." as the Huileries du Congo Belge is more commonly known in
+the Congo, really performed a courageous act in exploitation when it set
+up shop in the remote regions and devoted itself to an absolutely fresh
+enterprise, so far as extensive development is concerned, at a time when
+the rich and profitable products of the country were rubber, ivory and
+copal. The company's initiative, therefore, instigated the trade in
+oleaginous products which is so conspicuous in the economic life of the
+country.
+
+The installation at Alberta, while not so large as the Leverville area
+on the Kwilu River, will serve to show just what the corporation is
+doing. Five years ago this region was the jungle. Today it is the model
+settlement on the Congo River. The big brick office building stands on a
+brow of the hill overlooking the water. Not far away is the large mill
+where the palm fruit is reduced to oil and the kernels dried. Stretching
+away from the river is a long avenue of palms, flanked by the commodious
+brick bungalows of the white employes. The "H. C. B." maintains a store
+at each of its areas, where food and supplies are bought by the
+personnel. These stores are all operated by the Société d'Entreprises
+Commerciales au Congo Belge, known locally under the name of "Sedec,"
+formed as its name indicated, with a view of benefiting by the great
+resources opened to commerce in the Colony.
+
+For miles in every direction the Company has laid out extensive palm
+plantations. In the Alberta region twenty-five hundred acres are in
+course of cultivation in what is known as the Eastern Development, while
+sixteen hundred more acres are embodied in the Western development. An
+oil palm will bear fruit within seven years after the young tree is
+planted. The fruit comes in what is called a _régime_, which resembles a
+huge bunch of grapes. It is a thick cluster of palm fruit. Each fruit is
+about the size of a large date. The outer portion, the pericarp, is
+almost entirely yellow oil encased in a thick skin. Imbedded in this oil
+is the kernel, which contains an even finer oil. The fruit is boiled
+down and the kernel, after a drying process, is exported in bags to
+England, where it is broken open and the contents used for salad oil or
+margarine.
+
+Before the war thousands of tons of palm oil and kernels were shipped
+from the West Coast of Africa to Germany every year. Now they are
+diverted to England where large kernel-crushing plants have been
+installed and the whole activity has become a British enterprise. With
+the eclipse of the German Colonial Empire in Africa it is not likely
+that she can regain this lost business.
+
+The creation of new palmeries is merely one phase of the company's
+development. One of its largest tasks is to safeguard the immense
+natural palmeries on its concessions. The oil palm requires constant
+attention. The undergrowth spreads rapidly and if it is not removed
+is liable to impair the life of the tree. Thousands of natives are
+employed on this work. A large knife something like the Cuban machete is
+used.
+
+[Illustration: RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA]
+
+[Illustration: THE COMTE DE FLANDRE]
+
+Harvesting the _régimes_ is a spectacular performance not without its
+element of danger. The _régime_ grows at the top of the tree, usually a
+height of sixty or seventy-five feet and sometimes more. The native
+literally walks up the trunk with the help of a loop made from some
+stout vine which encircles him. Arriving at the top he fixes his feet
+against the trunk, leans against the loop which holds him fast, and
+hacks away at the _régime_. It falls with a heavy thud and woe betide
+the human being or the animal it strikes. The natives will not cut fruit
+in rainy weather because many have slipped on the wet bark and fallen to
+their death.
+
+So wide is the Alberta fruit-producing area that a narrow-gauge railway
+is necessary to bring the fruit in to the mill. Along its line are
+various stations where the fruit is mobilized, stripped from the
+_régime_ and sent down for refining in baskets. Each station has a
+superintendent who lives on the spot. The personnel of all the staff in
+the Congo is almost equally divided between British and Belgians.
+
+While the "H. C. B." is the largest factor in the palm oil industry in
+the Congo, many tons of kernels are gathered every year by individuals
+who include thousands of natives. One reason why the savage takes
+naturally to this occupation is that it demands little work. All that he
+is required to do is to climb a tree in the jungle and lop off a
+_régime_. He uses the palm oil for his own needs or disposes of it to a
+member of his tribe and sells the kernels to the white man.
+
+The "H. C. B." is independent of all other water transport in the
+Congo. Its river tonnage aggregates more than 6,000, and in addition it
+has many oil barges on the various rivers where its vessels ply. The
+capacity of some of the barges is 250 tons of oil. They are usually
+lashed to the side of the steamer. The decks of these barges are often
+piled high with bags of kernels and become a favorite sleeping place for
+the black voyagers for whom the thousands of insects that lurk in them
+have no terrors. No bug inflicts a sharper sting than these pests who
+make their _habitat_ among the palm kernels.
+
+One of my fellow passengers on the "Comte de Flandre" was I. F. Braham,
+the Associate Managing Director of the "H. C. B." in the Congo. Long the
+friend and companion in Liberia of Sir Harry Johnston, he was a most
+desirable and congenial companion. It was on his suggestion and
+invitation that I spent the week at Alberta and he shared the visit. Our
+hosts were Major and Mrs. Claude Wallace.
+
+Major Wallace was the District Manager of the Alberta area and occupied
+a brick bungalow on the bank of the river. He is a pioneer in
+exploration in the French Congo and Liberia and went almost straight
+from the battlefields of France, where he served with distinction in the
+World War, out to his post in the Congo. His wife is a fine example of
+the white woman who has braved the dangers of the tropics. She left the
+luxury and convenience of European life to establish a home in the
+jungle.
+
+It is easy to spot the refining influence of the woman in the African
+habitation. You always see the effect long before you behold the cause.
+One of these effects is usually a neat garden. Mrs. Wallace had half an
+acre of English roses in front of her house. They were the only ones I
+saw in Central Africa. The average bachelor in this part of the world is
+not particularly scrupulous about the appearance of his house. The
+moment you observe curtains at the window you know that there is a
+female on the premises.
+
+My life at Alberta was one of the really delightful experiences in the
+Congo. Every morning I set out with Braham and Wallace on some tour of
+inspection. Often we rode part of the way on the little light railroad.
+The method of transport was unique. An ordinary bench is placed on a
+small flat car. The propelling power is furnished by two husky natives
+who stand on either side of the bench and literally shove the vehicle
+along with long sticks. It is like paddling a railroad canoe. This
+transportation freak is technically called a _maculla_. The strong-armed
+paddlers were able to develop an astonishing speed. I think that this is
+the only muscle-power railroad in the world. Light engines are employed
+for hauling the palm fruit trains.
+
+After our day in the field--for frequently we took our lunch with us--we
+returned before sunset and bathed and dressed for dinner. In the Congo
+only a madman would take a cold plunge. The most healthful immersion is
+in tepid water. More than one Englishman has paid the penalty with his
+life, by continuing his traditional cold bath in the tropics. This
+reminds me of a significant fact in connection with colonization.
+Everyone must admit that the Briton is the best colonizer in the world.
+One reason is that he knows how to rule the man of colour for he does it
+with fairness and firmness. Another lies in the fact that he not only
+keeps himself clean but he makes his environment sanitary.
+
+There is a tradition that the Constitution follows the flag. I contend
+that with the Englishman the bath-tub precedes the code of law and what
+is more important, it is in daily use. There are a good many bath-tubs
+in the Congo but they are employed principally as receptacles for food
+supplies and soiled linen.
+
+Those evenings at Alberta were as unforgettable as their setting. Braham
+and Wallace were not only men of the world but they had read extensively
+and had travelled much. A wide range of subjects came under discussion
+at that hospitable table whose spotless linen and soft shaded lights
+were more reminiscent of London and New York than suggestive of a
+far-away post on the Congo River on the edge of the wilderness.
+
+At Alberta as elsewhere, the "H. C. B." is a moral force. Each area has
+a doctor and a hospital. No detail of its medical work is more vital to
+the productive life of the Colony that the inoculation of the natives
+against sleeping sickness. This dread disease is the scourge of the
+Congo and every year takes toll of hundreds of thousands of natives. Nor
+is the white man immune. I saw a Belgian official dying of this
+loathsome malady in a hospital at Matadi and I shall never forget his
+ravings. The last stage of the illness is always a period when the
+victim becomes demented. The greatest boon that could possibly be held
+out for Central Africa today would be the prevention of sleeping
+sickness.
+
+Another constructive work carried out under the auspices of the "H. C.
+B." is embodied in the native schools. There is an excellent one at
+Alberta. It is conducted by the Catholic Fathers of the Scheut Mission.
+The children are trained to become wood-workers, machinists, painters,
+and carpenters. It is the Booker Washington idea transplanted in the
+jungle. The Scheut Missionaries and their Jesuit colleagues are doing
+an admirable service throughout the Congo. Some of them are infused with
+the spirit that animated Father Damien. Time, distance, and isolation
+count for naught with them. It is no uncommon thing to encounter in the
+bush a Catholic priest who has been on continuous service there for
+fifteen or twenty years without a holiday. At Luluaburg lives a Mother
+Superior who has been in the field for a quarter of a century without
+wandering more than two hundred miles from her field of operations.
+
+
+V
+
+Now for the last stage of the Congo River trip. Like so many of my other
+experiences in Africa it produced a surprise. One morning when we were
+about two hundred miles north of Kinshassa I heard the whir of a motor
+engine, a rare sound in those parts. I thought of aeroplanes and
+instinctively looked up. Flying overhead toward Coquilhatville was a
+300-horse power hydroplane containing two people. Upon inquiry I
+discovered that it was one of four machines engaged in carrying
+passengers, mail, and express between Kinshassa and Coquilhatville.
+
+The campaign against the Germans in East Africa proved the
+practicability of aeroplanes in the tropics. The Congo is the first of
+the Central African countries to dedicate aviation to commercial uses
+and this precedent is likely to be extensively followed. Fifteen
+hydroplanes have been ordered for the Congo River service which will
+eventually be extended to Stanleyville. Only those who have endured the
+agony of slow transport in the Congo can realize the blessing that air
+travel will confer.
+
+I was naturally curious to find out just what the African native thought
+of the aeroplane. The moment that the roar of the engine broke the
+morning silence, everybody on the boat rushed to some point of vantage
+to see the strange sight. The blacks slapped each other on the shoulder,
+pointed at the machine, and laughed and jabbered. Yet when my secretary
+asked a big Baluba if he did not think that the aeroplane was a
+wonderful thing the barbarian simply grunted and replied, "White man can
+do anything." He summed up the native attitude toward his conqueror. I
+believe that if a white man performed the most astounding feat of magic
+or necromancy the native would not express the slightest surprise.
+
+[Illustration: A TYPICAL OIL PALM FOREST]
+
+[Illustration: BRINGING IN THE PALM FRUIT]
+
+At Kwamouth, where the Kasai flows into the Congo River, we entered the
+so-called "Channel." From this point down to Stanley Pool the river is
+deep and the current is swift. This means that for a brief time the
+traveller enjoys immunity from the danger of running aground on a
+sandbank. The whole country-side is changed. Instead of the low and
+luxuriantly-wooded shores the banks become higher with each passing
+hour. Soon the land adjacent to the river merges into foothills and
+these in turn taper off into mountains. The effect is noble and
+striking. No wonder Stanley went into ecstasies over this scenery. He
+declared on more than one occasion that it was as inspiring as any he
+had seen in Wales or Scotland.
+
+In the "Channel" another surprise awaits the traveller. The mornings are
+bitterly raw. This is probably due to the high ground on either side of
+the river and the strong currents of air that sweep up the stream. I can
+frankly say that I really suffered from the cold within striking
+distance of the equator. I did not feel comfortable until I had donned a
+heavy sweater.
+
+This sudden change in temperature explains one reason why so many Congo
+natives die under forty. They are scantily clad, perspire freely, and
+lie out at night with scarcely any covering. They go to sleep in a humid
+atmosphere and wake up with the temperature forty degrees lower. The
+natural result is that half of them constantly have colds and the
+moment pneumonia develops they succumb. Congestion of the lungs vies
+with sleeping sickness as the ravager of Middle Africa, and especially
+certain parts of the Congo.
+
+Kinshassa is situated on Stanley Pool, a lake-like expansion of the
+Congo more than two hundred square miles in area. It is dotted with
+islands. Nearly one-third of the northern shore is occupied by the rocky
+formations that Stanley named Dover Cliffs. They reminded him of the
+famous white cliffs of England and with the sunlight on them they do
+bear a strong resemblance to one of the familiar signposts of Albion.
+More than one Englishman emerging from the jungle after long service
+remote from civilization has gotten a thrill of home at the name and
+sight of these hills.
+
+Stanley Pool has always been associated in my mind with one of the most
+picturesque episodes in Stanley's life. He tells about it in his
+monumental work on the Congo Free State and again relates it in his
+Autobiography. It deals with Ngalyema, who was chief of the Stanley Pool
+District in the early eighties. He demanded and received a large
+quantity of goods for the permission to establish a station here. After
+the explorer had camped within ten miles of the Pool the old pirate
+pretended that he had not received the goods and sought to extort more.
+Stanley refused to be bullied, whereupon the chief threatened to attack
+him in force. Let Stanley now tell the story, for it is an illustration
+of the way he combated the usury and cunning of the Congo native.
+
+    I had hung a great Chinese gong conspicuously near the principal
+    tent. Ngalyema's curiosity would be roused. All my men were hidden,
+    some in the steamboat on top of the wagon, and in its shadow was a
+    cool place where the warriors would gladly rest after a ten-mile
+    march. Other of my men lay still as death under tarpaulins, under
+    bundles of grass, and in the bush round about the camp. By the time
+    the drum-taps and horns announced Ngalyema's arrival, the camp
+    seemed abandoned except by myself and a few small boys. I was
+    indolently seated in a chair reading a book, and appeared too lazy
+    to notice anyone; but, suddenly looking up and seeing my "brother
+    Ngalyema" and his warriors, scowlingly regarding me, I sprang up and
+    seized his hands, and affectionately bade him welcome, in the name
+    of sacred fraternity, and offered him my own chair.
+
+    He was strangely cold, and apparently disgruntled, and said:--
+
+    "Has not my brother forgotten his road? What does he mean by coming
+    to this country?"
+
+    "Nay, it is Ngalyema who has forgotten the blood-bond which exists
+    between us. It is Ngalyema who has forgotten the mountains of goods
+    which I paid him. What words are these of my brother?"
+
+    "Be warned, Rock-Breaker. Go back before it is too late. My elders
+    and people all cry out against allowing the white man to come into
+    our country. Therefore, go back before it be too late. Go back, I
+    say, the way you came."
+
+    Speech and counter-speech followed. Ngalyema had exhausted his
+    arguments; but it was not easy to break faith and be uncivil, with
+    plausible excuse. His eyes were reaching round seeking to discover
+    an excuse to fight, when they rested on the round, burnished face of
+    the Chinese gong.
+
+    "What is that?" he said.
+
+    "Ah, that--that is a fetish."
+
+    "A fetish! A fetish for what?"
+
+    "It is a war-fetish, Ngalyema. The slightest sound of that would
+    fill this empty camp with hundreds of angry warriors; they would
+    drop from above, they would spring up from the ground, from the
+    forest about, from everywhere."
+
+    "Sho! Tell that story to the old women, and not to a chief like
+    Ngalyema. My boy tells me it is a kind of a bell. Strike it and let
+    me hear it."
+
+    "Oh, Ngalyema, my brother, the consequences would be too dreadful!
+    Do not think of such a thing!"
+
+    "Strike it, I say."
+
+    "Well, to oblige my dear brother Ngalyema, I will."
+
+    And I struck hard and fast, and the clangourous roll rang out like
+    thunder in the stillness. Only for a few seconds, however, for a
+    tempest of human voices was heard bursting into frightful discords,
+    and from above, right upon the heads of the astonished warriors,
+    leaped yelling men; and from the tents, the huts, the forest round
+    about, they came by sixes, dozens, and scores, yelling like madmen,
+    and seemingly animated with uncontrollable rage. The painted
+    warriors became panic-stricken; they flung their guns and
+    powder-kegs away, forgot their chief, and all thoughts of loyalty,
+    and fled on the instant, fear lifting their heels high in the air;
+    or, tugging at their eye-balls, and kneading the senses confusedly,
+    they saw, heard, and suspected nothing, save that the limbo of
+    fetishes had suddenly broken loose!
+
+    But Ngalyema and his son did not fly. They caught the tails of my
+    coat, and we began to dance from side to side, a loving triplet,
+    myself being foremost to ward off the blow savagely aimed at my
+    "brothers," and cheerfully crying out, "Hold fast to me, my
+    brothers. I will defend you to the last drop of my blood. Come one,
+    come all."
+
+    Presently the order was given, "Fall in!" and quickly the leaping
+    forms became rigid, and the men stood in two long lines in beautiful
+    order, with eyes front, as though "at attention!" Then Ngalyema
+    relaxed his hold of my coat-tails, and crept from behind, breathing
+    more freely; and, lifting his hand to his mouth, exclaimed, in
+    genuine surprise, "Eh, Mamma! where did all these people come from?"
+
+    "Ah, Ngalyema, did I not tell you that thing was a powerful fetish?
+    Let me strike it again, and show you what else it can do."
+
+    "No! no! no!" he shrieked. "I have seen enough!"
+
+    The day ended peacefully. I was invited to hasten on to Stanley
+    Pool. The natives engaged themselves by the score to assist me in
+    hauling the wagons. My progress was thenceforth steady and
+    uninterrupted, and in due time the wagons and good-columns arrived
+    at their destination.
+
+[Illustration: A SPECIMEN OF CICATRIZATION]
+
+[Illustration: A SANKURU WOMAN PLAYING NATIVE DRAUGHTS]
+
+Kinshassa was an accident. Leopoldville, which is situated about ten
+miles away and the capital of the Congo-Kasai Province, was expected to
+become the center of white life and enterprise in this vicinity. It was
+founded by Stanley in the early eighties and named in honour of the
+Belgian king. It commands the river, cataracts, forests and mountains.
+
+Commerce, however, fixed Kinshassa as its base of operation, and its
+expansion has been astonishing for that part of the world. It is a
+bustling port and you can usually see half a dozen steamers tied up at
+the bank. There is a population of several hundred white people and many
+thousands of natives. The Banque du Congo Belge has its principal
+establishment here and there are scores of well-stocked mercantile
+establishments. With the exception of Matadi and Thysville it has the
+one livable hotel in the Congo. Moreover, it rejoices in that now
+indispensable feature of civic life which is expressed in a cinema
+theatre. In the tropics all motion picture houses are open-air
+institutions.
+
+In cataloguing Kinshassa's attractions I must not omit the feature that
+had the strongest and most immediate lure for me. It was a barber shop
+and I made tracks for it as soon as I arrived. I was not surprised to
+find that the proprietor was a Portuguese who had made a small fortune
+trimming the Samson locks of the scores of agents who stream into the
+little town every week. He is the only barber in the place and there is
+no competition this side of Stanleyville, more than a thousand miles
+away.
+
+The seasoned residents of the Congo would never think of calling
+Kinshassa by any other name than "Kin." In the same way Leopoldville is
+dubbed "Leo." Kinshassa is laid out in streets, has electric lights, and
+within the past twelve months about twenty automobiles have been
+acquired by its residents. There is a gay social life, and on July
+first, the anniversary of the birth of the Congo Free State, and when a
+celebration is usually held, I saw a spirited football game between
+British and Belgian teams. Most of the big international British trading
+companies that operate in Africa have branches in Kinshassa and it is
+not difficult to assemble an English-speaking quorum.
+
+In the matter of transportation Kinshassa is really the key to the heart
+of the Congo. It is the rail-head of the narrow-gauge line from Matadi
+and all merchandise that comes from Europe is transshipped at this point
+to the boats that go up the Congo river as far as Stanleyville. Thus
+every ton of freight and every traveller bound for the interior must
+pass through Kinshassa. When the railway from the Katanga is constructed
+its prestige will increase.
+
+Kinshassa owes a part of its development to the Huileries du Congo
+Belge. Its plant dominates the river front. There are a dozen huge tanks
+into which the palm-oil flows from the barges. The fluid is then run
+into casks and sent down by rail to Matadi, whence it goes in steamers
+to Europe. More than a hundred white men are in the service of the "H.
+C. B." at Stanley Pool. They live in standardized brick bungalows in
+their own area which is equipped with tennis courts and a library. On
+all English fête days the Union Jack is hoisted and there is much
+festivity.
+
+Two months had elapsed since I entered the Congo and I had travelled
+about two thousand miles within its borders. This journey, short as it
+seems as distances go these days, would have taken Stanley nearly two
+years to accomplish in the face of the obstacles that hampered him. I
+had only carried out part of my plan. The Kasai was calling. The time
+was now at hand when I would retrace my way up the Congo River and turn
+my face towards the Little America that nestles far up in the wilds.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELGIAN CONGO]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI--AMERICA IN THE CONGO
+
+
+I
+
+Go up the Kasai River to Djoko Punda and you believe, despite the
+background of tropical vegetation and the ever-present naked savage,
+that for the moment you are back in the United States. You see American
+jitneys scooting through the jungle; you watch five-ton American
+tractors hauling heavy loads along the sandy roads; you hear American
+slang and banter on all sides, and if you are lucky enough to be invited
+to a meal you get American hot cakes with real American maple syrup. The
+air tingles with Yankee energy and vitality.
+
+All this means that you have arrived at the outpost of Little America in
+the Belgian Congo--the first actual signboard of the least known and
+most picturesque piece of American financial venturing abroad. It has
+helped to redeem a vast region from barbarism and opened up an area of
+far-reaching economic significance. At Djoko Punda you enter the domain
+of the Forminiere, the corporation founded by a monarch and which has a
+kingdom for a partner. Woven into its story is the romance of a one-time
+barefoot Virginia boy who became the commercial associate of a king.
+
+What is the Forminiere and what does it do? The name is a contraction of
+Société Internationale Forestiere & Miniere du Congo. In the Congo,
+where companies have long titles, it is the fashion to reduce them to
+the dimensions of a cable code-word. Thus the high-sounding Compagnie
+Industrielle pour les Transports et Commerce au Stanley Pool is
+mercifully shaved to "Citas." This information, let me say, is a
+life-saver for the alien with a limited knowledge of French and whose
+pronunciation is worse.
+
+Clearly to understand the scope and purpose of the Forminiere you must
+know that it is one of the three companies that have helped to shape the
+destiny of the Congo. I encountered the first--the Union Miniere--the
+moment I entered the Katanga. The second is the Huileries du Congo
+Belge, the palm-oil producers whose bailiwick abuts upon the Congo and
+Kwilu Rivers. Now we come to the third and the most important agency, so
+far as American interest is affected, in the Forminiere, whose empire is
+the immense section watered by the Kasai River and which extends across
+the border into Angola. In the Union Miniere you got the initial hint of
+America's part in the development of the Congo. That part, however, was
+entirely technical. With the Forminiere you have the combination of
+American capital and American engineering in an achievement that is, to
+say the least, unusual.
+
+The moment I dipped into Congo business history I touched the Forminiere
+for the reason that it was the pet project of King Leopold, and the last
+and favorite corporate child of his economic statesmanship. Moreover,
+among the leading Belgian capitalists interested were men who had been
+Stanley's comrades and who had helped to blaze the path of civilization
+through the wilds. King Albert spoke of it to me in terms of
+appreciation and more especially of the American end. I felt a sense of
+pride in the financial courage and physical hardihood of my countrymen
+who had gone so far afield. I determined to see the undertaking at
+first hand.
+
+My experience with it proved to be the most exciting of my whole African
+adventure. All that I had hitherto undergone was like a springtime
+frolic compared to the journey up the Kasai and through the jungle that
+lurks beyond. I saw the war-like savage on his native heath; I travelled
+with my own caravan through the forest primeval; I employed every
+conceivable kind of transport from the hammock swung on a pole and
+carried on the shoulders of husky natives, to the automobile. The
+primitive and modern met at almost every stage of the trip which proved
+to be first cousin to a thriller from beginning to end. Heretofore I had
+been under the spell of the Congo River. Now I was to catch the magic of
+its largest tributary, the Kasai.
+
+Long before the Forminiere broke out its banner, America had been
+associated with the Congo. It is not generally known that Henry M.
+Stanley, who was born John Rowlands, achieved all the feats which made
+him an international figure under the name of his American benefactor
+who adopted him in New Orleans after he had run away to sea from a Welsh
+workhouse. He was for years to all intents and purposes an American, and
+carried the American flag on two of his famous expeditions.
+
+President Cleveland was the first chief dignitary of a nation to
+recognize the Congo Free State in the eighties, and his name is
+perpetuated in Mount Cleveland, near the headwaters of the Congo River.
+An American Minister to Belgium, General H. S. Sanford, had a
+conspicuous part in all the first International African Associations
+formed by King Leopold to study the Congo situation. This contact,
+however, save Stanley's share, was diplomatic and a passing phase. It
+was the prelude to the constructive and permanent part played by the
+American capitalists in the Forminiere, chief of whom is Thomas F. Ryan.
+
+The reading world associates Ryan with the whirlpool of Big Finance. He
+ruled New York traction and he recast the tobacco world. Yet nothing
+appealed to his imagination and enthusiasm like the Congo. He saw it in
+very much the same way that Rhodes viewed Rhodesia. Every great American
+master of capital has had his particular pet. There is always some
+darling of the financial gods. The late J. P. Morgan, for example,
+regarded the United States Steel Corporation as his prize performance
+and talked about it just like a doting father speaks of a successful
+son. The Union Pacific System was the apple of E. H. Harriman's eye, and
+the New York Central was a Vanderbilt fetish for decades. So with Ryan
+and the Congo. Other powerful Americans have become associated with him,
+as you will see later on, but it was the tall, alert, clear-eyed
+Virginian, who rose from penniless clerk to be a Wall Street king, who
+first had the vision on this side of the Atlantic, and backed it with
+his millions. I am certain that if Ryan had gone into the Congo earlier
+and had not been engrossed in his American interests, he would probably
+have done for the whole of Central Africa what Rhodes did for South
+Africa.
+
+We can now get at the beginnings of the Forminiere. Most large
+corporations radiate from a lawyer's office. With the Forminiere it was
+otherwise. The center of inspiration was the stone palace at Brussels
+where King Leopold II, King of the Belgians, held forth. The year 1906
+was not a particularly happy one for him. The atrocity campaign was at
+its height abroad and the Socialists were pounding him at home.
+Despite the storm of controversy that raged about him one clear idea
+shone amid the encircling gloom. That idea was to bulwark the Congo Free
+State, of which he was also sovereign, before it was ceded to Belgium.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS F. RYAN]
+
+Between 1879 and 1890 Leopold personally supported the cost of creating
+and maintaining the Free State. It represented an outlay of more than
+$2,500,000. Afterwards he had adequate return in the revenues from
+rubber and ivory. But Leopold was a royal spender in the fullest sense.
+He had a variety of fads that ranged from youthful and beguiling
+femininity to the building of palaces and the beautifying of his own
+country. He lavished millions on making Brussels a sumptuous capital and
+Ostend an elaborate seaside resort. With his private life we are not
+concerned. Leopold the pleasure-seeker was one person; Leopold the
+business man was another, and as such he was unique among the rulers of
+Europe.
+
+Leopold contradicted every known tradition of royalty. The king business
+is usually the business of spending unearned money. Your royal
+spendthrift is a much more familiar figure than the royal miser.
+Moreover, nobody ever associates productive power with a king save in
+the big family line. His task is inherited and with it a bank account
+sufficient to meet all needs. This immunity from economic necessity is a
+large price to pay for lack of liberty in speech and action. The
+principal job of most kings, as we all know, is to be a noble and
+acquiescent figure-head, to pin decorations on worthy persons, and to
+open public exhibitions.
+
+Leopold did all of these things but they were incidental to his larger
+task. He was an insurgent from childhood. He violated all the rules of
+the royal game not only by having a vision and a mind all his own but
+in possessing a keen commercial instinct. Geography was his hobby at
+school. Like Rhodes, he was forever looking at maps. When he became king
+he saw that the hope of Belgium economically lay in colonization. In
+1860 he made a journey to the Far East, whence he returned deeply
+impressed with trade opportunities in China. Afterwards he was the prime
+mover in the construction of the Pekin-Hankow Railway. I do not think
+most persons know that Leopold at one time tried to establish a Belgian
+colony in Ethiopia. Another act in his life that has escaped the casual
+biographer was his effort to purchase the Philippines from Spain. Now
+you can see why he seized upon the Congo as a colonizing possibility the
+moment he read Henry M. Stanley's first article about it in the London
+Telegraph.
+
+There was a vital reason why Belgium should have a big and prosperous
+colony. Her extraordinary internal development demanded an outlet
+abroad. The doughty little country so aptly called "The Cockpit of
+Europe," and which bore the brunt of the first German advance in the
+Great War, is the most densely populated in the world. It has two
+hundred and forty-seven inhabitants for each square kilometer. England
+only counts one hundred and forty-six, Germany one hundred and
+twenty-five, France seventy-two, and the United States thirteen. The
+Belgians had to have economic elbow room and Leopold was determined that
+they should have it.
+
+His creation of the Congo Free State was just one evidence of his
+shrewdness and diplomacy. Half a dozen of the great powers had their eye
+on this untouched garden spot in Central Africa and would have risked
+millions of dollars and thousands of men to grab it. Leopold, through a
+series of International Associations, engineered the famous Berlin
+Congress of 1884 and with Bismarck's help put the Free State on the map,
+with himself as steward. It was only a year ago in Germany that a former
+high-placed German statesman admitted to me that one of the few
+fundamental mistakes that the Iron Chancellor ever made was to permit
+Leopold to snatch the Congo from under the very eyes and hands of
+Germany. I quote this episode to show that when it came to business
+Leopold made every king in Europe look like an office boy. Even so
+masterful a manipulator of men as Cecil Rhodes failed with him. Rhodes
+sought his aid in his trans-African telegraph scheme but Leopold was too
+shrewd for him. After his first audience with the Belgian king Rhodes
+said to Robert Williams, "I thought I was clever but I was no match for
+him."
+
+The only other modern king interested in business was the former Kaiser,
+Mr. Wilhelm Hohenzollern. Although he has no business sense in the way
+that Leopold had it, he always had a keen appreciation of big business
+as an imperial prop. Like Leopold, he had a congested country and
+realized that permanent expansion lay in colonization. The commercial
+magnates of Germany used him for their own ends but their teamwork
+advanced the whole empire. Wilhelm was a silent partner in the potash,
+shipping, and electric-machinery trusts. He earned whatever he received
+because he was in every sense an exalted press-agent,--a sort of
+glorified publicity promoter. His strong point was to go about
+proclaiming the merits of German wares and he always made it a point to
+scatter samples. On a visit to Italy he left behind a considerable
+quantity of soap. There was a great rush to get these royal left-overs.
+Two weeks later a small army of German soap salesmen descended upon the
+country selling this identical product.
+
+Whatever may be said of Leopold, one thing is certain. He was not small.
+Wilhelm used the brains of other men; Leopold employed his own, and
+every capitalist who went up against him paid tribute to this asset.
+
+We can now go back to 1906, the year that was to mark the advent of
+America into the Congo. Leopold knew that the days of the Congo as a
+Free State were numbered. His personally-conducted stewardship of the
+Colony was being assailed by the Socialists on one hand and the atrocity
+proclaimers on the other. Leopold was undoubtedly sincere in his desire
+to economically safeguard the African possession before it passed out of
+his control. In any event, during the summer of that year he sent a
+message to Ryan asking him to confer with him at Brussels. The summons
+came out of a clear sky and at first the American financier paid no
+attention to it. He was then on a holiday in Switzerland. When a second
+invitation came from the king, he accepted, and in September there began
+a series of meetings between the two men which resulted in the
+organization of the Forminiere and with it the dawn of a real
+international epoch in American enterprise.
+
+In the light of our immense riches the timidity of American capital in
+actual constructive enterprise overseas is astonishing. Scrutinize the
+world business map and you see how shy it has been. We own rubber
+plantations in Sumatra, copper mines in Chile, gold interests in
+Ecuador, and have dabbled in Russian and Siberian mining. These
+undertakings are slight, however, compared with the scope of the world
+field and our own wealth. Mexico, where we have extensive smelting, oil,
+rubber, mining and agricultural investments, is so close at hand that it
+scarcely seems like a foreign country. Strangely enough our capital
+there has suffered more than in any other part of the globe. The
+spectacle of American pioneering in the Congo therefore takes on a
+peculiar significance.
+
+There are two reasons why our capital has not wandered far afield. One
+is that we have a great country with enormous resources and consequently
+almost unlimited opportunities for the employment of cash at home. The
+other lies in the fact that American capital abroad is not afforded the
+same protection granted the money of other countries. Take British
+capital. It is probably the most courageous of all. The sun never sets
+on it. England is a small country and her money, to spread its wings,
+must go elsewhere. Moreover, Britain zealously safeguards her Nationals
+and their investments, and we, I regret to say, have not always done
+likewise. The moment an Englishman or the English flag is insulted a
+warship speeds to the spot and John Bull wants to know the reason why.
+
+Why did Leopold seek American capital and why did he pick out Thomas F.
+Ryan? There are several motives and I will deal with them in order. In
+the first place American capital is about the only non-political money
+in the world. The English pound, for example, always flies the Union
+Jack and is a highly sensitive commodity. When England puts money into
+an enterprise she immediately makes the Foreign Office an accessory.
+German overseas enterprise is even more meddlesome. It has always been
+the first aid to poisonous and pernicious penetration. Even French
+capital is flavoured with imperialism despite the fact that it is the
+product of a democracy. Our dollars are not hitched to the star of
+empire. We have no dreams of world conquest. It is the safest
+politically to deal with, and Leopold recognized this fact.
+
+In the second place he did not want anything to interfere with his Congo
+rubber industry. Now we get to the real reason, perhaps, why he sent for
+Ryan. In conjunction with the late Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Ryan had
+developed the rubber industry in Mexico, by extracting rubber from the
+guayele shrub which grows wild in the desert. Leopold knew this--he had
+a way of finding out about things--and he sought to kill two birds with
+one stone. He wanted this Mexican process and at the same time he needed
+capital for the Congo. In any event, Ryan went to see him and the
+Forminiere was born.
+
+There is no need of rehearsing here the concrete details of this
+enterprise. All we want are the essential facts. Leopold realized that
+the Forminiere was the last business venture of his life and he
+projected it on a truly kingly scale. It was the final chance for huge
+grants and the result was that the Forminiere received the mining and
+mineral rights to more than 7,000,000 acres, and other concessions for
+agriculture aggregating 2,500,000 acres in addition.
+
+The original capital was only 3,000,000 francs but this has been
+increased from time to time until it is now more than 10,000,000 francs.
+The striking feature of the organization was the provision inserted by
+Leopold that made Belgium a partner. One-half of the shares were
+assigned to the Crown. The other half was divided into two parts. One of
+these parts was subscribed by the King and the Société Generale of
+Belgium, and the other was taken in its entirety by Ryan. Subsequently
+Ryan took in as associates Daniel Guggenheim, Senator Aldrich, Harry
+Payne Whitney and John Hays Hammond. When Leopold died his share went to
+his heirs. Upon the death of Aldrich his interest was acquired by Ryan,
+who is the principal American owner. No shares have ever been sold and
+none will be. The original trust certificate issued to Ryan and
+Guggenheim remains intact. The company therefore remains a close
+corporation in every respect and as such is unique among kindred
+enterprises.
+
+
+II
+
+At this point the question naturally arises--what is the Société
+Generale? To ask it in Belgium would be on a par with inquiring the name
+of the king. Its bank notes are in circulation everywhere and it is
+known to the humblest peasant.
+
+The Société Generale was organized in 1822 and is therefore one of the
+oldest, if not the oldest, joint stock bank of the Continent. The
+general plan of the famous Deutsche Bank of Berlin, which planted the
+German commercial flag everywhere, and which provided a large part of
+the bone and sinew of the Teutonic world-wide exploitation campaign, was
+based upon it. With finance as with merchandising, the German is a prize
+imitator.
+
+The Société Generale, however, is much more than a bank. It is the
+dynamo that drives Belgian enterprise throughout the globe. We in
+America pride ourselves on the fact that huge combinations of capital
+geared up to industry are a specialty entirely our own. We are much
+mistaken. Little Belgium has in the Société an agency for development
+unique among financial institutions. Its imposing marble palace on the
+Rue Royale is the nerve center of a corporate life that has no
+geographical lines. With a capital of 62,000,000 francs it has piled up
+reserves of more than 400,000,000 francs. In addition to branches called
+"filial banks" throughout Belgium, it also controls the powerful "Banque
+pour l'Etranger," which is established in London, Paris, New York,
+Cairo, and the Far East.
+
+One distinctive feature of the Société Generale is its close alliance
+with the Government. It is a sort of semi-official National Treasury and
+performs for Belgium many of the functions that the Bank of England
+transacts for the United Kingdom. But it has infinitely more vigour and
+push than the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in London. Its leading
+officials are required to appear on all imposing public occasions such
+as coronations and the opening of Parliament. The Belgian Government
+applies to the Société Generale whenever any national financial
+enterprise is to be inaugurated and counts upon it to take the initial
+steps. Thus it became the backbone of Leopold's ramified projects and it
+was natural that he should invoke its assistance in the organization of
+the Forminiere.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN JADOT]
+
+Long before the Forminiere came into being, the Société Generale was the
+chief financial factor in the Congo. With the exception of the Huileries
+du Congo Belge, which is British, it either dominates or has large
+holdings in every one of the sixteen major corporations doing business
+in the Colony and whose combined total capitalization is more than
+200,000,000 francs. This means that it controls railways and river
+transport, and the cotton, gold, rubber, ivory and diamond output.
+
+The custodians of this far-flung financial power are the money kings of
+Belgium. Chief among them is Jean Jadot, Governor of the Société
+Generale--the institution still designates its head by this ancient
+title--and President of the Forminiere. In him and his colleagues you
+find those elements of self-made success so dear to the heart of the
+human interest historian. It would be difficult to find anywhere a more
+picturesque group of men than those who, through their association with
+King Leopold and the Société, have developed the Congo and so many other
+enterprises.
+
+Jadot occupies today the same position in Belgium that the late J. P.
+Morgan held in his prime in America. He is the foremost capitalist.
+Across the broad, flat-topped desk of his office in that marble palace
+in the Rue Royale the tides of Belgian finance ebb and flow. Just as
+Morgan's name made an underwriting in New York so does Jadot's put the
+stamp of authority on it in Brussels. Morgan inherited a great name and
+a fortune. Jadot made his name and his millions.
+
+When you analyze the lives of American multi-millionaires you find a
+curious repetition of history. Men like John D. Rockefeller, Henry H.
+Rogers, Thomas F. Ryan, and Russell Sage began as grocery clerks in
+small towns. Something in the atmosphere created by spice and sugar must
+have developed the money-making germ. With the plutocrats of Belgium it
+was different. Practically all of them, and especially those who ruled
+the financial institutions, began as explorers or engineers. This shows
+the intimate connection that exists between Belgium and her overseas
+interests.
+
+Jadot is a good illustration. At twenty he graduated as engineer from
+Louvain University. At thirty-five he had directed the construction of
+the tramways of Cairo and of the Lower Egyptian Railways. He was now
+caught up in Leopold's great dream of Belgian expansion. The moment that
+the king obtained the concession for constructing the 1,200 mile railway
+from Pekin to Hankow he sent Jadot to China to take charge. Within eight
+years he completed this task in the face of almost insuperable
+difficulties, including a Boxer uprising, which cost the lives of some
+of his colleagues and tested his every resource.
+
+In 1905 he entered the Société Generale. At once he became fired with
+Leopold's enthusiasm for the Congo and the necessity for making it an
+outlet for Belgium. Jadot was instrumental in organizing the Union
+Miniere and was also the compelling force behind the building of the
+Katanga Railway. In 1912 he became Vice Governor of the Société and the
+following year assumed the Governorship. In addition to being President
+of the Forminiere he is also head of the Union Miniere and of the new
+railroad which is to connect the Katanga with the Lower Congo.
+
+When you meet Jadot you are face to face with a human organization
+tingling with nervous vitality. He reminds me more of E. H. Harriman
+than of any other American empire builder that I have met, and like
+Harriman he seems to be incessantly bound up to the telephone. He is
+keen, quick, and forceful and talks as rapidly as he thinks. Almost
+slight of body, he at first gives the impression of being a student for
+his eyes are deep and thoughtful. There is nothing meditative in his
+manner, however, for he is a live wire in the fullest American sense.
+Every time I talked with him I went away with a new wonder at his stock
+of world information. Men of the Jadot type never climb to the heights
+they attain without a reason. In his case it is first and foremost an
+accurate knowledge of every undertaking. He never goes into a project
+without first knowing all about it--a helpful rule, by the way, that the
+average person may well observe in the employment of his money.
+
+If Jadot is a live wire, then his confrere, Emile Francqui, is a whole
+battery. Here you touch the most romantic and many-sided career in all
+Belgian financial history. It reads like a melodrama and is packed with
+action and adventure. I could almost write a book about any one of its
+many stirring phases.
+
+At fourteen Francqui was a penniless orphan. He worked his way through a
+regimental school and at twenty was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. It
+was 1885 and the Congo Free State had just been launched. Having studied
+engineering he was sent out at once to Boma to join the Topographic
+Brigade. During this first stay in the Congo he was in charge of a
+boat-load of workmen engaged in wharf construction. The captain of a
+British gunboat hailed him and demanded that he stop. Francqui replied,
+
+"If you try to stop me I will lash my boat to yours and destroy it with
+dynamite." He had no further trouble.
+
+After three years service in the Congo he returned to Brussels and
+became the military instructor of Prince Albert, now King of the
+Belgians. The African fever was in his veins. He heard that a mission
+was about to depart for Zanzibar and East Africa. A knowledge of English
+was a necessary part of the equipment of the chief officer. Francqui
+wanted this job but he did not know a syllable of English. He went to a
+friend and confided his ambition.
+
+"Are you willing to take a chance with one word?" asked his colleague.
+
+"I am," answered the young officer.
+
+He thereupon acquired the word "yes," his friend's injunction being, "If
+you say 'yes' to every question you can probably carry it off."
+
+Francqui thereupon went to the Foreign Office and was immediately asked
+in English:
+
+"Can you speak English?"
+
+"Yes," was his immediate retort.
+
+"Are you willing to undertake the hazards of this journey to Zanzibar?"
+queried the interrogator.
+
+"Yes," came the reply.
+
+Luck was with Francqui for, as his good angel had prophesied, his one
+word of English met every requirement and he got the assignment. Since
+that time, I might add, he has acquired a fluent command of the English
+language. Francqui has always been willing to take a chance and lead a
+forlorn hope.
+
+It was in the early nineties that his exploits made his name one of the
+greatest in African conquest and exploration. He went out to the Congo
+as second in command of what was known as the Bia Expedition, sent to
+explore the Katanga and adjacent territory. After two hard years of
+incessant campaigning the expedition fell into hard lines. Captain Bia
+succumbed to smallpox and the column encountered every conceivable
+hardship. Men died by the score and there was no food. Francqui took
+charge, and by his indomitable will held the force together, starving
+and suffering with his men. During this experience he travelled more
+than 5,000 miles on foot and through a region where no other white man
+had ever gone before. He explored the Luapula, the headwaters of the
+Congo, and opened up a new world to civilization. No other single Congo
+expedition save that of Stanley made such an important contribution to
+the history of the Colony.
+
+Most men would have been satisfied to rest with this achievement. With
+Francqui it simply marked a milepost in his life. In 1896, when he
+resigned from the army, Leopold had fixed his eyes on China as a scene
+of operations, and he sent Francqui there to clinch the Pekin-Hankow
+concession, which he did. In the course of these negotiations he met
+Jadot, who was later to become his associate both in the Société
+Generale and in the Forminiere.
+
+In 1901 Francqui again went to China, this time as agent of the
+Compagnie d'Orient, which coveted the coal mines of Kaiping that were
+supposed to be among the richest in the world. The British and Germans
+also desired this valuable property which had been operated for some
+years by a Chinese company. As usual, Francqui got what he went after
+and took possession of the property. The crude Chinese method of mining
+had greatly impaired the workings and they had to be entirely
+reconstructed. Among the engineers employed was an alert, smooth-faced,
+keen-minded young American named Herbert Hoover.
+
+Upon his return to Brussels Francqui allied himself with Colonel Thys,
+who was head of the Banque d'Outremer, the rival of the Société
+Generale. After he had mastered the intricacies of banking he became a
+director of the Société and with Jadot forged to the front in finance.
+If Jadot stood as the Morgan, then Francqui became the Stillman of the
+Belgian money world.
+
+Then came the Great War and the German avalanche which overwhelmed
+Belgium. Her banks were converted into hospitals; her industry lay
+prostrate; her people faced starvation. Some vital agency was necessary
+to centralize relief at home in the same way that the Commission for
+Relief in Belgium,--the famous "C. R. B."--crystallized it abroad.
+
+The Comite Rationale was formed by Belgians to feed and clothe the
+native population and it became the disbursing agent for the "C. R. B."
+Francqui was chosen head of this body and directed it until the
+armistice. It took toll of all his energy, diplomacy and instinct for
+organization. Needless to say it was one of the most difficult of all
+relief missions in the war. Francqui was a loyal Belgian and he was
+surrounded by the suspicious and domineering German conquerors. Yet
+they trusted him, and his word in Belgium for more than four years was
+absolute law. He was, in truth, a benevolent dictator.
+
+[Illustration: EMILE FRANCQUI]
+
+His war life illustrates one of the quaint pranks that fate often plays.
+As soon as the "C. R. B." was organized in London Francqui hastened over
+to England to confer with the American organizers. To his surprise and
+delight he encountered in its master spirit and chairman, the
+smooth-faced young engineer whom he had met out in the Kaiping coal
+mines before. It was the first time that he and Hoover had seen each
+other since their encounter in China. They now worked shoulder to
+shoulder in the monster mercy of all history.
+
+Francqui is blunt, silent, aggressive. When Belgium wants something done
+she instinctively turns to him. In 1920, after the delay in fixing the
+German reparation embarrassed the country, and liquid cash was
+imperative, he left Brussels on three days' notice and within a
+fortnight from the time he reached New York had negotiated a
+fifty-million-dollar loan. He is as potent in official life as in
+finance for as Special Minister of State without portfolio he is a real
+power behind a real throne.
+
+Although Francqui is a director in the Société Generale, he is also what
+we would call Chairman of the Board of Banque d'Outremer. This shows
+that the well-known institution of "community of interests" is not
+confined to the United States. With Jadot he represents the Société in
+the Forminiere Board. I have used these two men to illustrate the type
+represented by the Belgian financial kings. I could mention various
+others. They include Alexander Delcommune, famous as Congo fighter and
+explorer, who is one of the leading figures of the Banque d'Outremer;
+Edmond Solvay, the industrial magnate, and Edward Bunge, the Antwerp
+merchant prince. Almost without exception they and their colleagues have
+either lived in the Congo, or have been guided in their fortunes by it.
+
+You have now had the historical approach with all personal side-lights
+to the hour when America actually invaded the Congo. As soon as Leopold
+and Ryan finally got together the king said, "The Congo must have
+American engineers. They are the best in the world." Thus it came about
+that Central Africa, like South Africa, came under the galvanizing hand
+of the Yankee technical expert. At Kimberley and Johannesburg, however,
+the task was comparatively easy. The mines were accessible and the
+country was known. With Central Africa it was a different and more
+dangerous matter. The land was wild, hostile natives abounded on all
+sides, and going in was like firing a shot in the dark.
+
+The American invasion was in two sections. One was the group of
+engineers headed by Sydney H. Ball and R. D. L. Mohun, known as the
+Ball-Mohun Expedition, which conducted the geological investigation. The
+other was in charge of S. P. Verner, an American who had done
+considerable pioneering in the Congo, and devoted itself entirely to
+rubber. The latter venture was under the auspices of the American Congo
+Company, which expected to employ the Mexican process in the Congo.
+After several years the attempt was abandoned although the company still
+exists.
+
+I will briefly narrate its experience to show that the product which
+raised the tempest around King Leopold's head and which for years was
+synonymous with the name of the Congo, has practically ceased to be an
+important commercial commodity in the Colony. The reason is obvious. In
+Leopold's day nine-tenths of the world's supply of rubber was wild and
+came from Brazil and the Congo. It cost about fifty cents a pound to
+gather and sold for a dollar. Today more than ninety per cent of the
+rubber supply is grown on plantations in the Dutch East Indies, the
+Malay States, and the Straits Settlements, where it costs about twenty
+cents a pound to gather and despite the big slump in price since the
+war, is profitable. In the Congo there is still wild rubber and a
+movement is under way to develop large plantations. Labor is scarce,
+however, while in the East millions of coolies are available. This tells
+the whole rubber story.
+
+The Ball-Mohun Expedition was more successful than its mate for it
+opened up a mineral empire and laid the foundations of the Little
+America that you shall soon see. Mohun was administrative head and Ball
+the technical head and chief engineer. Other members were Millard K.
+Shaler, afterwards one of Hoover's most efficient aids in the relief of
+Belgium, and Arthur F. Smith, geologists; Roland B. Oliver, topographer;
+A. E. H. and C. A. Reid, and N. Janot, prospectors.
+
+Mohun, who had been engaged on account of his knowledge of the country,
+had been American Consul at Zanzibar and at Boma, and first left
+diplomacy to fight the Arab slave-traders in the interior. When someone
+asked him why he had quit the United States Government service to go on
+a military mission he said, "I prefer killing Arabs in the interior to
+killing time at Boma." He figured as one of Richard Harding Davis'
+"Soldiers of Fortune" and was in every sense a unique personality.
+
+You get some idea of the hazards that confronted the American pioneers
+when I say that when they set forth for the Kasai region, which is the
+southwestern part of the Congo, late in 1907, they were accompanied by a
+battalion of native troops under Belgian officers. Often they had to
+fight their way before they could take specimens. On one occasion Ball
+was prospecting in a region hitherto uninvaded by the white man. He was
+attacked by a large body of hostile savages and a pitched battle
+followed. In informal Congo history this engagement is known as "The
+Battle of Ball's Run," although Ball did no running. As recently as 1915
+one of the Forminiere prospectors, E. G. Decker, was killed by the
+fierce Batshoks, the most belligerent of the Upper Kasai tribes. The
+Ball-Mohun group, which was the first of many expeditions, remained in
+the field more than two years and covered a wide area.
+
+Up to this time gold and copper were the only valuable minerals that had
+been discovered in the Congo and the Americans naturally went after
+them. Much to their surprise, they found diamonds and thereby opened up
+a fresh source of wealth for the Colony. The first diamond was found at
+_Mai Munene_, which means "Big Water," a considerable waterfall
+discovered by Livingstone. This region, which is watered by the Kasai
+River, became the center of what is now known as the Congo Diamond
+Fields and remains the stronghold of American engineering and financial
+enterprise in Central Africa. On a wooded height not far from the
+headwaters of the Kasai, these path-finding Americans established a post
+called Tshikapa, the name of a small river nearby. It is the capital of
+Little America in the jungle and therefore became the objective of the
+second stage of my Congo journey.
+
+[Illustration: A BELLE OF THE CONGO]
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN OF THE BATETELAS]
+
+
+III
+
+Kinshassa is nearly a thousand miles from Tshikapa. To get there I had
+to retrace my way up the Congo as far as Kwamouth, where the Kasai
+empties into the parent stream. I also found that it was necessary to
+change boats at Dima and continue on the Kasai to Djoko Punda. Here
+begins the jungle road to the diamond fields.
+
+Up to this time I had enjoyed the best facilities that the Congo could
+supply in the way of transport. Now I faced a trip that would not only
+try patience but had every element of the unknown, which in the Congo
+means the uncomfortable. Fortunately, the "Lusanga," one of the
+Huileries du Congo Belge steamers, was about to start for the Kwilu
+River, which branches off from the Kasai, and the company was kind
+enough to order it to take me to Dima, which was off the prescribed
+itinerary of the vessel.
+
+On a brilliant morning at the end of June I set forth. Nelson was still
+my faithful servant and his smile and teeth shone as resplendently as
+ever. The only change in him was that his appetite for _chikwanga_ had
+visibly increased. Somebody had told him at Kinshassa that the Kasai
+country teemed with cannibals. Being one of the world's champion eaters,
+he shrank from being eaten himself. I promised him an extra allowance of
+food and a khaki uniform that I had worn in the war, and he agreed to
+take a chance.
+
+Right here let me give an evidence of the Congo native's astounding
+quickness to grasp things. I do not refer to his light-fingered
+propensities, however. When we got to Kinshassa Nelson knew scarcely a
+word of the local dialect. When we left a week later, he could jabber
+intelligently with any savage he met. On the four weeks' trip from
+Elizabethville he had picked up enough French to make himself
+understood. The Central African native has an aptitude for languages
+that far surpasses that of the average white man.
+
+I was the only passenger on the "Lusanga," which had been reconstructed
+for Lord Leverhulme's trip through the Congo in 1914. I occupied the
+suite installed for him and it was my last taste of luxury for many a
+day. The captain, Albert Carrie, was a retired lieutenant in the British
+Royal Navy, and the chief engineer was a Scotchman. The Congo River
+seemed like an old friend as we steamed up toward Kwamouth. As soon as
+we turned into the Kasai I found that conditions were different than on
+the main river. There was an abundance of fuel, both for man and boat.
+The daily goat steak of the Congo was relieved by duck and fish. The
+Kasai region is thickly populated and I saw a new type of native,
+lighter in colour than elsewhere, and more keen and intelligent.
+
+The women of the Kasai are probably the most attractive in the Congo.
+This applies particularly to the Batetelas, who are of light brown
+colour. From childhood the females of this tribe have a sense of modesty
+that is in sharp contrast with the nudity that prevails elsewhere
+throughout the country. They swathe their bodies from neck to ankle with
+gaily coloured calico. I am often asked if the scant attire in Central
+Africa shocked me. I invariably reply by saying that the contemporary
+feminine fashion of near-undress in America and Europe made me feel
+that some of the chocolate-hued ladies of the jungle were almost
+over-clothed!
+
+The fourth day of my trip was also the American Fourth of July. Captain
+Carrie and I celebrated by toasting the British and American Navies, and
+it was not in Kasai water. This day also witnessed a somewhat remarkable
+revelation of the fact that world economic unrest has penetrated to the
+very heart of the primitive regions. While the wood-boys were getting
+fuel at a native post, Carrie and I went ashore to take a walk and visit
+a chief who had once been in Belgium. When we got back to the boat we
+found that all the natives had suspended work and were listening to an
+impassioned speech by one of the black wheelmen. All these boats have
+native pilots. This boy, who only wore a loin cloth, was urging his
+fellows not to work so hard. Among other things he said:
+
+"The white man eats big food and takes a big sleep in the middle of the
+day and you ought to do the same thing. The company that owns this boat
+has much money and you should all be getting more wages."
+
+Carrie stopped the harangue, fined the pilot a week's pay, and the men
+went back to work, but the poison had been planted. This illuminating
+episode is just one of the many evidences of industrial insurgency that
+I found in Africa from the moment I struck Capetown. In the Rand gold
+mining district, for example, the natives have been organized by British
+agitators and it probably will not be long before Central Africa has the
+I. W. W. in its midst! Certainly the "I Won't Works" already exist in
+large numbers.
+
+This essentially modern spirit was only one of the many surprises that
+the Congo native disclosed. Another was the existence of powerful secret
+societies which have codes, "grips," and pass-words. Some antedate the
+white man, indulge in human sacrifice, and have branches in a dozen
+sections. Although Central Africa is a land where the husband can stray
+from home at will, the "lodge night" is thus available as an excuse for
+domestic indiscretion.
+
+The most terrible of these orders is the Society of the Leopard, formed
+to provide a novel and devilish method of disposing of enemies. The
+members wear leopard skins or spotted habits and throttle their foes
+with a glove to which steel blades are affixed. The victim appears to
+have been killed by the animal that cannot change its spots. To make the
+illusion complete, the ground where the victim has lain is marked with a
+stick whose end resembles the feet of the leopard.
+
+The leopard skin has a curious significance in the Congo. For occasions
+where the white man takes an oath on the Bible, the savage steps over
+one of these skins to swear fealty. If two chiefs have had a quarrel and
+make up, they tear a skin in two and throw the pieces into the river, to
+show that the feud is rent asunder. It corresponds to the pipe of peace
+of the American Indian.
+
+Another secret society in the Congo is the Lubuki, whose initiation
+makes riding the goat seem like a childish amusement. The candidate is
+tied to a tree and a nest of black ants is distributed over his body. He
+is released only after he is nearly stung to death. A repetition of this
+jungle third degree is threatened for violation of any of the secrets of
+the order, the main purpose of which is to graft on non-members for food
+and other necessities.
+
+In civilized life the members of a fraternal society are summoned to a
+meeting by telephone or letter. In the Congo they are haled by the
+tom-tom, which is the wireless of the woods. These huge drums have an
+uncanny carrying power. The beats are like the dots and dashes of
+telegraphy. All the native news of Central Africa is transmitted from
+village to village in this way.
+
+I could continue this narrative of native habits and customs
+indefinitely but we must get back to the "Lusanga." On board was a real
+character. He was Peter the capita. In the Congo every group of native
+workmen is in charge of a capita, who would be designated a foreman in
+this country. Life and varied experience had battered Peter sadly. He
+spoke English, French, German, Portuguese, and half a dozen of the Congo
+dialects. He learned German while a member of an African dancing team
+that performed at the Winter Garden in Berlin. His German almost had a
+Potsdam flavour. He told me that he had danced before the former Kaiser
+and had met many members of the Teutonic nobility. Yet the thing that
+stood out most vividly in his memory was the taste of German beer. He
+sighed for it daily.
+
+Six days after leaving Kinshassa I reluctantly bade farewell to Peter
+and the "Lusanga" at Dima. Here I had the first piece of hard luck on
+the whole trip. The little steamer that was to take me up the Kasai
+River to Djoko Punda had departed five days before and I was forced to
+wait until she returned. Fifteen years ago Dima was the wildest kind of
+jungle. I found it a model, tropical post with dozens of brick houses, a
+shipyard and machine shops, avenues of palm trees and a farm. It is the
+headquarters of the Kasai Company in the Congo.
+
+I had a brick bungalow to myself and ate with the Managing Director,
+Monsieur Adrian Van den Hove. He knew no English and my alleged French
+was pretty bad. Yet we met three times a day at the table and carried
+on spirited conversations. There was only one English-speaking person
+within a radius of a hundred miles and I had read all my English books.
+I vented my impatience in walking, for I covered at least fifteen miles
+through the jungle every day. This proceeding filled both the Belgians
+and the natives with astonishment. The latter particularly could not
+understand why a man walked about the country aimlessly. Usually a
+native will only walk when he can move in the direction of food or
+sleep. On these solitary trips I went through a country that still
+abounds in buffalo. Occasionally you see an elephant. It is one thing to
+watch a big tusker doing his tricks in a circus tent, but quite another
+to hear him floundering through the woods, tearing off huge branches of
+trees as he moves along with what seems to be an incredible speed for so
+heavy an animal.
+
+There came the glad Sunday--it was my thirteenth day at Dima--when I
+heard the whistle of the steamboat. I dashed down to the beach and there
+was the little forty-ton "Madeleine." I welcomed her as a long-lost
+friend and this she proved to be. The second day afterwards I went
+aboard and began a diverting chapter of my experience. The "Madeleine"
+is a type of the veteran Congo boat. In the old days the Belgian
+pioneers fought natives from its narrow deck. Despite incessant combat
+with sand-banks, snags and swift currents--all these obstructions abound
+in the Kasai River--she was still staunch. In command was the only
+Belgian captain that I had in the Congo, and he had been on these waters
+for twenty years with only one holiday in Europe during the entire time.
+
+I occupied the alleged cabin-de-luxe, the large room that all these
+boats must furnish in case an important State functionary wants to
+travel. My fellow passengers were two Catholic priests and three Belgian
+"agents," as the Congo factors are styled. I ate alone on the main deck
+in front of my cabin, with Nelson in attendance.
+
+Now began a journey that did not lack adventure. It was the end of the
+dry season and the Kasai was lower than ever before. The channel was
+almost a continuous sand-bank. We rested on one of them for a whole day.
+I was now well into the domain of the hippopotamus. I am not
+exaggerating when I say that the Kasai in places is alive with them. You
+can shoot one of these monsters from the bridge of the river boats
+almost as easily as you could pick off a sparrow from the limb of a park
+tree. I got tired of watching them. The flesh of the hippopotamus is
+unfit for white consumption, but the natives regard it as a luxury. The
+white man who kills a hippo is immediately acclaimed a hero. One reason
+is that with spears the black finds it difficult to get the better of
+one of these animals.
+
+Our first step was at a Lutheran Mission set in the middle of a populous
+village. As we approached I saw the American flag hanging over the door
+of the most pretentious mud and grass house. When I went ashore I found
+that the missionaries--a man and his wife--were both American citizens.
+The husband was a Swede who had gone out to Kansas in his boyhood to
+work on a farm. There he married a Kansas girl, who now speaks English
+with a Swedish accent. After spreading the gospel in China and
+elsewhere, they settled down in this lonely spot on the Kasai River.
+
+I was immediately impressed with the difference between the Congo River
+and the Kasai. The Congo is serene, brooding, majestic, and fringed
+with an endless verdure. The Kasai, although 1,500 miles in length, is
+narrower and more pugnacious. Its brown banks and grim flanking
+mountains offer a welcome change from the eternal green of the great
+river that gives the Colony its name. The Kasai was discovered by
+Livingstone in 1854.
+
+I also got another change. Two days after I left Dima we were blanketed
+with heavy fog every morning and the air was raw and chill. On the Kasai
+you can have every experience of trans-Atlantic travel with the sole
+exception of seasickness.
+
+As I proceeded up the Kasai I found continued evidence of the advance in
+price of every food commodity. The omnipresent chicken that fetched a
+franc in 1914 now brings from five to ten. My old friend the goat has
+risen from ten to thirty francs and he was as tough as ever, despite the
+rise. But foodstuffs are only a small part of these Congo economic
+troubles.
+
+We have suffered for some time under the burden of our inseparable
+companion, the High Cost of Living. It is slight compared with the High
+Cost of Loving in the Congo. Here you touch a real hardship. Before the
+war a first-class wife--all wives are bought--sold for fifty francs.
+Today the market price for a choice spouse is two hundred francs and it
+takes hard digging for the black man to scrape up this almost
+prohibitive fee. Thus the High Cost of Matrimony enters the list of
+universal distractions.
+
+On the "Madeleine" was a fascinating black child named Nanda. He was
+about five years old and strolled about the boat absolutely naked. Most
+Congo parents are fond of their offspring but this particular youngster,
+who was bright and alert, was adored by his father, the head fireman
+on the vessel. One day I gave him a cake and it was the first piece of
+sweet bread he had ever eaten. Evidently he liked it for afterwards he
+approached me every hour with his little hands outstretched. I was
+anxious to get a photograph of him in his natural state and took him
+ashore ostensibly for a walk. One of my fellow passengers had a camera
+and I asked him to come along. When the boy saw that he was about to be
+snapped he rushed back to the boat yelling and howling. I did not know
+what was the matter until he returned in about ten minutes, wearing an
+abbreviated pair of pants and a short coat. He was willing to walk about
+nude but when it came to being pictured he suddenly became modest. This
+state of mind, however, is not general in the Colony.
+
+[Illustration: FISHERMEN ON THE SANKURU]
+
+[Illustration: THE FALLS OF THE SANKURU]
+
+The African child is fond of playthings which shows that one touch of
+amusement makes all childhood kin. He will swim half a mile through a
+crocodile-infested river to get an empty tin can or a bottle. One of the
+favorite sports on the river boats is to throw boxes or bottles into the
+water and then watch the children race for them. On the Congo the
+fathers sometimes manufacture rude reproductions of steamboats for their
+children and some of them are astonishingly well made.
+
+Exactly twelve days after we left Dima the captain told me that we were
+nearing Djoko Punda. The country was mountainous and the river had
+become swifter and deeper for we were approaching Wissmann Falls, the
+end of navigation for some distance. These falls are named for Herman
+Wissmann, a lieutenant in the Prussian Army who in the opinion of such
+authorities as Sir Harry Johnston, ranks third in the hierarchy of early
+Congo explorers. Stanley, of course, comes first and Grenfell second.
+
+On account of the lack of certain communication save by runner in this
+part of Africa--the traveller can always beat a wireless message--I was
+unable to send any word of my coming and I wondered whom and what I
+would find there. I had the strongest possible letters to all the
+Forminiere officials but these pieces of paper could not get me on to
+Tshikapa. I needed something that moved on wheels. I was greatly
+relieved, therefore, when we came in sight of the post to see two
+unmistakable American figures standing on the bank. What cheered me
+further were two American motor cars nearby.
+
+The two Americans proved to be G. D. Moody and J. E. Robison. The former
+is Assistant Chief Engineer of the Forminiere in the field and the
+latter is in charge of the motor transport. They gave me a genuine
+American welcome and that night I dined in Robison's grass house off
+American food that had travelled nearly fifteen thousand miles. I heard
+the first unadulterated Yankee conversation that had fallen on my ears
+since I left Elizabethville two months before. When I said that I wanted
+to push on to Tshikapa at once, Moody said, "We will leave at five in
+the morning in one of the jitneys and be in Tshikapa tomorrow night."
+Moody was an incorrigible optimist as I was soon to discover.
+
+
+IV
+
+At dawn the next morning and after a breakfast of hot cakes we set out.
+Nelson was in a great state of excitement because he had never ridden in
+an automobile before. He was destined not to enjoy that rare privilege
+very long. The rough highway hewed by American engineers through the
+thick woods was a foot deep in sand and before we had proceeded a
+hundred yards the car got stuck and all hands save Moody got out to push
+it on. Moody was the chauffeur and had to remain at the wheel. Draped in
+fog, the jungle about me had an almost eerie look. But aesthetic and
+emotional observations had to give way to practicality. Laboriously the
+jitney snorted through the sand and bumped over tree stumps. After a
+strenuous hour and when we had reached the open country, the machine
+gave a groan and died on the spot. We were on a broad plain on the
+outskirts of a village and the broiling sun beat down on us.
+
+The African picaninny has just as much curiosity as his American brother
+and in ten minutes the whole juvenile population was assembled around
+us. Soon the grown-ups joined the crowd. Naked women examined the tires
+as if they were articles of food and black warriors stalked about with
+the same sort of "I told you so" expression that you find in the face of
+the average American watching a motor car breakdown. Human nature is the
+same the world over. The automobile is a novelty in these parts and when
+the Forminiere employed the first ones the natives actually thought it
+was an animal that would finally get tired and quit. Mine stopped
+without getting tired!
+
+For six hours Moody laboured under the car while I sat in the glaring
+sun alongside the road and cursed fate. Nelson spent his time eating all
+the available food in sight. Finally, at three o'clock Moody gave up and
+said, "We'll have to make the rest of this trip in a teapoy."
+
+A teapoy is usually a hammock slung on a pole carried on the shoulders
+of natives. We sent a runner in to Robison, who came back with two
+teapoys and a squad of forty blacks to transport us. The "teapoy boy,"
+as he is called, is as much a part of the African scheme of life as a
+driver or a chauffeur is in America. He must be big, strong, and sound
+of wind, because he is required to go at a run all the time. For any
+considerable journey each teapoy has a squad of eight men who alternate
+on the run without losing a step. They always sing as they go.
+
+I had never ridden in a teapoy before and now I began a continuous trip
+in one which lasted eight hours. Night fell almost before we got started
+and it was a strange sensation to go sailing through the silent black
+woods and the excited villages where thousands of naked persons of all
+sizes turned out to see the show. After two hours I began to feel as if
+I had been tossed up for a week in an army blanket. The wrist watch that
+I had worn throughout the war and which had withstood the fiercest shell
+shocks and bombardments, was jolted to a standstill. After the fourth
+hour I became accustomed to the movement and even went to sleep for a
+while. Midnight brought us to Kabambaie and the banks of the Kasai,
+where I found food and sanctuary at a Forminiere post. Here the
+thousands of tons of freight that come up the river from Dima by
+steamer and which are carried by motor trucks, ox teams, and on the
+heads of natives to this point, are placed on whale-boats and sent up
+the river to Tshikapa.
+
+Before going to bed I sent a runner to Tshikapa to notify Donald Doyle,
+Managing Engineer of the Forminiere in the field, that I was coming and
+to send a motor car out to meet me. I promised this runner much
+_matabeesh_, which is the African word for a tip, if he would run the
+whole way. The distance through the jungle was exactly seventy-two miles
+and he covered it, as I discovered when I reached Tshikapa, in exactly
+twenty-six hours, a remarkable feat. The _matabeesh_ I bestowed, by the
+way, was three francs (about eighteen cents) and the native regarded it
+as a princely gift because it amounted to nearly half a month's wages.
+
+By this time my confidence in the African jitney was somewhat shaken. A
+new motor-boat had just been received at Kabambaie and I thought I would
+take a chance with it and start up the Kasai the next day. Moody,
+assisted by several other engineers, set to work to get it in shape. At
+noon of the second day, when we were about to start, the engine went on
+a sympathetic strike with the jitney, and once more I was halted. I said
+to Moody, "I am going to Tshikapa without any further delay if I have to
+walk the whole way." This was not necessary for, thanks to the
+Forminiere organization, which always has hundreds of native porters at
+Kabambaie, I was able to organize a caravan in a few hours.
+
+After lunch we departed with a complete outfit of tents, bedding, and
+servants. The black personnel was thirty porters and a picked squad of
+thirty-five teapoy boys to carry Moody and myself. Usually these
+caravans have a flag. I had none so the teapoy capita fished out a big
+red bandanna handkerchief, which he tied to a stick. With the crimson
+banner flying and the teapoy carriers singing and playing rude native
+instruments, we started off at a trot. I felt like an explorer going
+into the unknown places. It was the real thing in jungle experience.
+
+From two o'clock until sunset we trotted through the wilds, which were
+almost thrillingly beautiful. In Africa there is no twilight, and
+darkness swoops down like a hawk. All afternoon the teapoy men, after
+their fashion, carried on what was literally a running crossfire of
+questions among themselves. They usually boast of their strength and
+their families and always discuss the white man they are carrying and
+his characteristics. I heard much muttering of _Mafutta Mingi_ and I
+knew long before we stopped that my weight was not a pleasant topic.
+
+I will try to reproduce some of the conversation that went on that
+afternoon between my carriers. I will not give the native words but will
+translate into English the questions and answers as they were hurled
+back and forth. By way of explanation let me say beforehand that there
+is no word in any of the Congo dialects for "yes." Affirmation is always
+expressed by a grunt. Here is the conversation:
+
+"Men of the white men."
+
+"Ugh."
+
+"Does he lie?"
+
+"He lies not."
+
+"Does he shirk?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Does he steal?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Am I strong?"
+
+"Ugh."
+
+"Have I a good liver?"
+
+"Ugh."
+
+[Illustration: A CONGO DIAMOND MINE]
+
+[Illustration: HOW THE MINES ARE WORKED]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it goes. One reason why these men talk so much is that all their work
+must be accompanied by some sound. Up in the diamond fields I watched a
+native chopping wood. Every time the steel blade buried itself in the
+log the man said: "Good axe. Cut deep." He talked to the weapon just as
+he would speak to a human being. It all goes to show that the Congo
+native is simply a child grown to man's stature.
+
+The fact that I had to resort to the teapoy illustrates the
+unreliability of mechanical transport in the wilds. I had tried in vain
+to make progress with an automobile and a motor boat, and was forced as
+a last resort to get back to the human being as carrier. He remains the
+unfailing beast of burden despite all scientific progress.
+
+I slept that night in a native house on the outskirts of a village. It
+was what is called a _chitenda_, which is a grass structure open at all
+the sides. The last white man to occupy this domicile was Louis Franck,
+the Belgian Minister of the Colonies, who had gone up to the Forminiere
+diamond fields a few weeks before. He used the same jitney that I had
+started in, and it also broke down with him. Moody was his chauffeur.
+They made their way on foot to this village. Moody told the chief that
+he had the real _Bula Matadi_ with him. The chief solemnly looked at
+Franck and said, "He is no _Bula Matadi_ because he does not wear any
+medals." Most high Belgian officials wear orders and the native dotes on
+shiny ornaments. The old savage refused to sell the travellers any food
+and the Minister had to share the beans of the negro boys who
+accompanied him.
+
+Daybreak saw us on the move. For hours we swung through dense forest
+which made one think of the beginnings of the world when the big trees
+were king. The vastness and silence were only comparable to the brooding
+mystery of the jungle nights. You have no feel of fear but oddly enough,
+a strange sense of security.
+
+I realized as never before, the truth that lay behind one of Stanley's
+convictions. He once said, "No luxury of civilization can be equal to
+the relief from the tyranny of custom. The wilds of a great city are
+greater than the excruciating tyranny of a small village. The heart of
+Africa is infinitely preferable to the heart of the world's largest
+city. If the way were easier, millions would fly to it."
+
+Despite this enthralling environment I kept wondering if that runner had
+reached Doyle and if a car had been sent out. At noon we emerged from
+the forest into a clearing. Suddenly Moody said, "I hear an automobile
+engine." A moment later I saw a small car burst through the trees far
+ahead and I knew that relief was at hand. Dr. John Dunn, the physician
+at Tshikapa, had started at dawn to meet me, and my teapoy adventures,
+for the moment, were ended. Dr. Livingstone at Ujiji had no keener
+feeling of relief at the sight of Stanley that I felt when I shook the
+hand of this bronzed, Middle Western medico.
+
+We lunched by the roadside and afterwards I got into Dunn's car and
+resumed the journey. I sent the porters and teapoy men back to
+Kabambaie. Late in the afternoon we reached the bluffs overlooking the
+Upper Kasai. Across the broad, foaming river was Tshikapa. If I had not
+known that it was an American settlement, I would have sensed its
+sponsorship. It radiated order and neatness. The only parallels in the
+Congo are the various areas of the Huileries du Congo Belge.
+
+
+V
+
+Tshikapa, which means "belt," is a Little America in every sense. It
+commands the junction of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers. There are dozens
+of substantial brick dwellings, offices, warehouses, machine-shops and a
+hospital. For a hundred miles to the Angola border and far beyond, the
+Yankee has cut motor roads and set up civilization generally. You see
+American thoroughness on all sides, even in the immense native villages
+where the mine employees live. Instead of having compounds the company
+encourages the blacks to establish their own settlements and live their
+own lives. It makes them more contented and therefore more efficient,
+and it establishes a colony of permanent workers. When the native is
+confined to a compound he gets restless and wants to go back home. The
+Americans are helping to solve the Congo labour problem.
+
+At Tshikapa you hear good old United States spoken with every dialectic
+flavour from New England hardness to Texas drawl. In charge of all the
+operations in the field was Doyle, a clear-cut, upstanding American
+engineer who had served his apprenticeship in the Angola jungles, where
+he was a member of one of the first American prospecting parties. With
+his wife he lived in a large brick bungalow and I was their guest in it
+during my entire stay in the diamond fields. Mrs. Doyle embodied the
+same courage that animated Mrs. Wallace. Too much cannot be said of the
+faith and fortitude of these women who share their husband's fortunes
+out at the frontiers of civilization.
+
+At Tshikapa there were other white women, including Mrs. Dunn, who had
+recently converted her hospitable home into a small maternity hospital.
+Only a few weeks before my arrival Mrs. Edwin Barclay, wife of the
+manager of the Mabonda Mine, had given birth to a girl baby under its
+roof, and I was taken over at once to see the latest addition to the
+American colony.
+
+On the day of my arrival the natives employed at this mine had sent Mrs.
+Barclay a gift of fifty newly-laid eggs as a present for the baby.
+Accompanying it was a rude note scrawled by one of the foremen who had
+attended a Presbyterian mission school. The birth of a white baby is
+always a great event in the Congo. When Mrs. Barclay returned to her
+home a grand celebration was held and the natives feasted and danced in
+honour of the infant.
+
+There is a delightful social life at Tshikapa. Most of the mines, which
+are mainly in charge of American engineers, are within a day's
+travelling distance in a teapoy and much nearer by automobile. Some of
+the managers have their families with them, and they foregather at the
+main post every Sunday. On Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and
+Christmas there is always a big rally which includes a dance and
+vaudeville show in the men's mess hall. The Stars and Stripes are
+unfurled to the African breeze and the old days in the States recalled.
+It is real community life on the fringe of the jungle.
+
+I was struck with the big difference between the Congo diamond fields
+and those at Kimberley. In South Africa the mines are gaping gashes in
+the earth thousands of feet wide and thousands deep. They are all
+"pipes" which are formed by volcanic eruption. These pipes are the real
+source of the diamonds. The precious blue ground which contains the
+stones is spread out on immense "floors" to decompose under sun and
+rain. Afterwards it is broken in crushers and goes through a series of
+mechanical transformations. The diamonds are separated from the
+concentrates on a pulsating table covered with vaseline. The gems cling
+to the oleaginous substance. It is an elaborate process.
+
+The Congo mines are alluvial and every creek and river bed is therefore
+a potential diamond mine. The only labour necessary is to remove the
+upper layer of earth,--the "overburden" as it is termed--dig up the
+gravel, shake it out, and you have the concentrate from which a naked
+savage can pick the precious stones. They are precisely like the mines
+of German South-West Africa. So far no "pipes" have been discovered in
+the Kasai basin. Many indications have been found, and it is inevitable
+that they will be located in time. The diamond-bearing earth sometimes
+travels very far from its base, and the American engineers in the Congo
+with whom I talked are convinced that these volcanic formations which
+usually produce large stones, lie far up in the Kasai hills. The
+diamond-bearing area of the Belgian Congo and Angola covers nearly eight
+thousand square miles and only five per cent has been prospected. There
+is not the slightest doubt that one of the greatest diamond fields ever
+known is in the making here.
+
+Now for a real human interest detail. At Kimberley the Zulus and Kaffirs
+know the value of the diamond and there was formerly considerable
+filching. All the workers are segregated in barbed wire compounds and
+kept under constant surveillance. At the end of their period of
+service they remain in custody for two weeks in order to make certain
+that they have not swallowed any stones.
+
+[Illustration: GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE]
+
+[Illustration: CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS]
+
+The Congo natives do not know what a diamond really is. The majority
+believe that it is simply a piece of glass employed in the making of
+bottles, and there are a good many bottles of various kinds in the
+Colony. Hence no watch is kept on the hundreds of Balubas who are mainly
+employed in the task of picking out the glittering jewels. During the
+past five years, when the product in the Congo fields has grown
+steadily, not a single karat has been stolen. The same situation obtains
+in the Angola fields.
+
+In company with Doyle I visited the eight principal mines in the Congo
+field and saw the process of mining in all its stages of advancement. At
+the Kisele development, which is almost within sight of Tshikapa, the
+small "jigs" in which the gravel is shaken, are operated by hand. This
+is the most primitive method. At Mabonda the concentrate pans are
+mounted on high platforms. Here the turning is also by hand but on a
+larger scale. The Ramona mine has steam-driven pans, while at Tshisundu,
+which is in charge of William McMillan, I witnessed the last word in
+alluvial diamond mining. At this place Forminiere has erected an
+imposing power plant whose tall smokestack dominates the surrounding
+forest. You get a suggestion of Kimberley for the excavation is immense,
+and there is the hum and movement of a pretentious industrial
+enterprise. Under the direction of William McMillan a research
+department has been established which is expected to influence and
+possibly change alluvial operations.
+
+Our luncheon at Tshisundu was attended by Mrs. McMillan, another
+heroine of that rugged land. Alongside sat her son, born in 1918 at one
+of the mines in the field and who was as lusty and animated a youngster
+as I have seen. His every movement was followed by the eagle eye of his
+native nurse who was about twelve years old. These native attendants
+regard it as a special privilege to act as custodians of a white child
+and invariably a close intimacy is established between them. They really
+become playmates.
+
+It is difficult to imagine that these Congo diamond mines were mere
+patches of jungle a few years ago. The task of exploitation has been an
+immense one. Before the simplest mine can be operated the dense forest
+must be cleared and the river beds drained. Every day the mine manager
+is confronted with some problem which tests his ingenuity and resource.
+Only the Anglo-Saxon could hold his own amid these trying circumstances.
+
+No less difficult were the natives themselves. Before the advent of the
+American engineers, industry was unknown in the Upper Kasai. The only
+organized activity was the harvesting of rubber and that was rather a
+haphazard performance. With the opening of the mines thousands of
+untrained blacks had to be drawn into organized service. They had never
+even seen the implements of labour employed by the whites. When they
+were given wheel-barrows and told to fill and transport the earth, they
+placed the barrows on their heads and carried them to the designated
+place. They repeated the same act with shovels.
+
+The Yankees have thoroughly impressed the value and the nobility of
+labour. I asked one of the employes at a diamond mine what he thought of
+the Americans. His reply was, "Americans and work were born on the same
+day."
+
+The labour of opening up the virgin land was only one phase. Every piece
+of machinery and every tin of food had to be transported thousands of
+miles and this condition still obtains. The motor road from Djoko Punda
+to Kabambaie was hacked by American engineers through the jungle. It is
+comparatively easy to get supplies to Djoko Punda although everything
+must be shifted from railway to boat several times. Between Djoko Punda
+and Tshikapa the material is hauled in motor trucks and ox-drawn wagons
+or conveyed on the heads of porters to Kabambaie. Some of it is
+transshipped to whale-boats and paddled up to Tshikapa, and the
+remainder continues in the wagons overland. During 1920 seven hundred
+and fifty tons of freight were hauled from Djoko Punda in this laborious
+way.
+
+At the time of my visit there were twelve going mines in the Congo
+field, and three new ones were in various stages of advancement. The
+Forminiere engineers also operate the diamond concessions of the Kasai
+Company and the Bas Congo Katanga Railway which will run from the
+Katanga to Kinshassa.
+
+More than twelve thousand natives are employed throughout the Congo area
+alone and nowhere have I seen a more contented lot of blacks. The
+Forminiere obtains this good-will by wisely keeping the price of trade
+goods such as salt and calico at the pre-war rate. It is an admirable
+investment. This merchandise is practically the legal tender of the
+jungle. With a cup of salt a black man can start an endless chain of
+trading that will net him a considerable assortment of articles in time.
+
+The principal natives in the Upper Kasai are the Balubas, who bear the
+same relation to this area as the Bangalas do to the Upper Congo. The
+men are big, strong, and fairly intelligent. The principal tribal mark
+is the absence of the two upper central incisor teeth. These are usually
+knocked out in early boyhood. No Baluba can marry until he can show this
+gaping space in his mouth. Although the natives abuse their teeth by
+removing them or filing them down to points, they take excellent care of
+the remaining ivories. Many polish the teeth with a stick and wash their
+mouths several times a day. The same cannot be said of many civilized
+persons.
+
+I observed that the families in the Upper Kasai were much more numerous
+than elsewhere in the Congo. A Bangala or Batetela woman usually has one
+child and then goes out of the baby business. In the region dominated by
+the Forminiere it is no infrequent thing to see three or four children
+in a household. A woman who bears twins is not only hailed as a real
+benefactress but the village looks upon the occasion as a good omen.
+This is in direct contrast with the state of mind in East Africa, for
+example, where one twin is invariably killed.
+
+I encountered an interesting situation concerning twins when I visited
+the Mabonda Mine. This is one of the largest in the Congo field.
+Barclay, the big-boned American manager, formerly conducted engineering
+operations in the southern part of America. He therefore knows the Negro
+psychology and the result is that he conducts a sort of amiable and
+paternalistic little kingdom all his own. The natives all come to him
+with their troubles, and he is their friend, philosopher and guide.
+
+After lunch one day he asked me if I would like to talk to a native who
+had a story. When I expressed assent he took me out to a shed nearby and
+there I saw a husky Baluba who was labouring under some excitement. The
+reason was droll. Four days before, his wife had given birth to twins
+and there was great excitement in the village. The natives, however,
+refused to have anything to do with him because, to use their phrase,
+"he was too strong." His wife did not come under this ban and was the
+center of jubilation and gesticulation. The poor husband was a sort of
+heroic outcast and had to come to Barclay to get some food and a drink
+of palm wine to revive his drooping spirits.
+
+The output in the Congo diamond area has grown from a few thousand
+karats to hundreds of thousands of karats a year. The stones are small
+but clear and brilliant. This yield is an unsatisfactory evidence of the
+richness of the domain. The ore reserves are more than ten per cent of
+the yearly output and the surface of the concession has scarcely been
+scratched. Experienced diamond men say that a diamond in the ground is
+worth two in the market. It is this element of the unknown that gives
+the Congo field one of its principal potentialities.
+
+The Congo diamond fields are merely a part of the Forminiere
+treasure-trove. Over in Angola the concession is eight times larger in
+area, the stones are bigger, and with adequate exploitation should
+surpass the parent production in a few years. Six mines are already in
+operation and three more have been staked out. The Angola mines are
+alluvial and are operated precisely like those in Belgian territory. The
+managing engineer is Glenn H. Newport, who was with Decker in the fatal
+encounter with Batchoks. The principal post of this area is Dundu, which
+is about forty miles from the Congo border.
+
+As I looked at these mines with their thousands of grinning natives and
+heard the rattle of gravel in the "jigs" my mind went back to Kimberley
+and the immense part that its glittering wealth played in determining
+the economic fate of South Africa. Long before the gold "rush" opened up
+in the Rand, the diamond mines had given the southern section of the
+continent a rebirth of prosperity. Will the Congo mines perform the same
+service for the Congo? In any event they will be a determining factor in
+the future world diamond output.
+
+No record of America in the Congo would be complete without a reference
+to the high part that our missionaries have played in the
+spiritualization of the land. The stronghold of our religious influence
+is also the Upper Kasai Basin. In 1890 two devoted men, Samuel N.
+Lapsley, a white clergyman, and William H. Sheppard, a Negro from
+Alabama, established the American Presbyterian Congo Mission at Luebo
+which is about one hundred miles from Tshikapa straight across country.
+
+The valley of the Sankuru and Kasai Rivers is one of the most densely
+populated of all the Belgian Congo. It is inhabited by five powerful
+tribes--the Baluba, the Bena Lulua, the Bakuba, the Bakete and the
+Zappozaps, and their united population is one-fifth of that of the whole
+Colony. Hence it was a fruitful field for labour but a hard one. From an
+humble beginning the work has grown until there are now seven important
+stations with scores of white workers, hundreds of native evangelists,
+one of the best equipped hospitals in Africa, and a manual training
+school that is teaching the youth of the land how to become prosperous
+and constructive citizens. Under its inspiration the population of Luebo
+has grown from two thousand in 1890 to eighteen thousand in 1920.
+
+The two fundamental principles underlying this splendid undertaking
+have been well summed up as follows: "First, the attainment of a Church
+supported by the natives through the thrift and industry of their own
+hands. The time is past when we may merely teach the native to become a
+Christian and then leave him in his poverty and squalor where he can be
+of little or no use to the Church. Second, the preparation of the native
+to take the largest and most influential position possible in the
+development of the Colony. Practically the only thing open to the
+Congolese is along the mechanical and manual lines."
+
+[Illustration: WASHING OUT GRAVEL]
+
+[Illustration: DONALD DOYLE (LEFT) AND MR. MARCOSSON]
+
+One of the noblest actors in this American missionary drama was the late
+Rev. W. M. Morrison, who went out to the Congo in 1896. Realizing that
+the most urgent need was a native dictionary, he reduced the
+Baluba-Lulua language to writing. In 1906 he published a Dictionary and
+Grammar which included the Parables of Christ, the Miracles, the
+Epistles to the Romans in paraphrase. He also prepared a Catechism based
+on the Shorter and Child's Catechisms. This gave the workers in the
+field a definite instrument to employ, and it has been a beneficent
+influence in shaping the lives and morals of the natives.
+
+One phase of the labours of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission
+discloses the bondage of the Congo native to the Witch Doctor. The
+moment he feels sick he rushes to the sorcerer, usually a bedaubed
+barbarian who practices weird and mysterious rites, and who generally
+succeeds in killing off his patient. More than ninety per cent of the
+pagan population of Africa not only acknowledges but fears the powers of
+the Witch Doctor. Only two-fifths of one per cent are under Christian
+medical treatment. The Presbyterian Missionaries, therefore, from the
+very outset have sought to bring the native into the ken of the white
+physician. It is a slow process. One almost unsurmountable obstacle lies
+in the uncanny grip that the "medicine man" wields in all the tribes.
+
+It is largely due to the missionaries that the practice of handshaking
+has been introduced in the Congo. Formerly the custom was to clap hands
+when exchanging greetings. The blacks saw the Anglo-Saxons grasp hands
+when they met and being apt imitators in many things, they started to do
+likewise. One of the first things that impressed me in Africa was the
+extraordinary amount of handshaking that went on when the people met
+each other even after a separation of only half an hour.
+
+
+VI
+
+I had originally planned to leave Africa at St. Paul de Loanda in
+Portuguese West Africa, where Thomas F. Ryan and his Belgian associates
+have acquired the new oil wells and set up still another important
+outpost of our overseas financial venturing. But so much time had been
+consumed in reaching Tshikapa that I determined to return to Kinshassa,
+go on to Matadi, and catch the boat for Europe at the end of August.
+
+There were two ways of getting back to Kabambaie. One was to go in an
+automobile through the jungle, and the other by boat down the Kasai.
+Between Kabambaie and Djoko Punda there is practically no navigation on
+account of the succession of dangerous rapids. Since my faith in the
+jitney was still impaired I chose the river route and it gave me the
+most stirring of all my African experiences. The two motor boats at
+Tshikapa were out of commission so I started at daybreak in a whale-boat
+manned by forty naked native paddlers.
+
+The fog still hung over the countryside and the scene as we got under
+way was like a Rackham drawing of goblins and ghosts. I sat forward in
+the boat with the ranks of singing, paddling blacks behind me. From the
+moment we started and until I landed, the boys kept up an incessant
+chanting. One of their number sat forward and pounded the iron gunwale
+with a heavy stick. When he stopped pounding the paddlers ceased their
+efforts. The only way to make the Congo native work is to provide him
+with noise.
+
+All day we travelled down the river through schools of hippopotami, some
+of them near enough for me to throw a stone into the cavernous mouths.
+The boat capita told me that he would get to Kabambaie by sundown. Like
+the average New York restaurant waiter, he merely said what he thought
+his listener wanted to hear. I fervently hoped he was right because we
+not only had a series of rapids to shoot up-river, but at Kabambaie is a
+seething whirlpool that has engulfed hundreds of natives and their
+boats. At sunset we had only passed through the first of the troubled
+zones. Nightfall without a moon found me still moving, and with the
+swirling eddy far ahead.
+
+I had many close calls during the war. They ranged from the first-line
+trenches of France, Belgium, and Italy to the mine fields of the North
+Sea while a winter gale blew. I can frankly say that I never felt such
+apprehension as on the face of those surging waters, with black night
+and the impenetrable jungle about me. The weird singing of the paddlers
+only heightened the suspense. I thought that every tight place would be
+my last. Finally at eight o'clock, and after it seemed that I had spent
+years on the trip, we bumped up against the shore of Kabambaie, within a
+hundred feet of the fatal spot.
+
+The faithful Moody, who preceded me, had revived life in the jonah
+jitney and at dawn the next day we started at full speed and reached
+Djoko Punda by noon. The "Madeleine" was waiting for me with steam up,
+for I sent a runner ahead. I had ordered Nelson back from Kabambaie
+because plenty of servants were available there. He spent his week of
+idleness at Djoko Punda in exploring every food known to the country. At
+one o'clock I was off on the first real stage of my homeward journey.
+The swift current made the downward trip much faster than the upward and
+I was not sorry.
+
+As we neared Basongo the captain came to me and said, "I see two
+Americans standing on the bank. Shall I take them aboard?"
+
+Almost before I could say that I would be delighted, we were within
+hailing distance of the post. An American voice with a Cleveland, Ohio,
+accent called out to me and asked my name. When I told him, he said,
+"I'll give you three copies of the _Saturday Evening Post_ if you will
+take us down to Dima. We have been stranded here for nearly three weeks
+and want to go home."
+
+I yelled back that they were more than welcome for I not only wanted to
+help out a pair of countrymen in distress but I desired some
+companionship on the boat. They were Charles H. Davis and Henry
+Fairbairn, both Forminiere engineers who had made their way overland
+from the Angola diamond fields. Only one down-bound Belgian boat had
+passed since their arrival and it was so crowded with Belgian officials
+on their way to Matadi to catch the August steamer for Europe, that
+there was no accommodation for them. By this time they were joined by a
+companion in misfortune, an American missionary, the Rev. Roy Fields
+Cleveland, who was attached to the Mission at Luebo. He had come to
+Basongo on the little missionary steamer, "The Lapsley," and sent it
+back, expecting to take the Belgian State boat. Like the engineers, he
+could get no passage.
+
+Davis showed his appreciation of my rescue of the party by immediately
+handing over the three copies of the Post, which were more than seven
+months old and which had beguiled his long nights in the field.
+Cleveland did his bit in the way of gratitude by providing hot griddle
+cakes every morning. He had some American cornmeal and he had taught his
+native servant how to produce the real article.
+
+At Dima I had the final heart-throb of the trip. I had arranged to take
+the "Fumu N'Tangu," a sister ship of the "Madeleine," from this point to
+Kinshassa. When I arrived I found that she was stuck on a sandbank one
+hundred miles down the river. My whole race against time to catch the
+August steamer would have been futile if I could not push on to
+Kinshassa at once.
+
+Happily, the "Yser," the State boat that had left Davis, Fairbairn, and
+Cleveland high and dry at Basongo, had put in at Dima the day before to
+repair a broken paddle-wheel and was about to start. I beat the
+"Madeleine's" gangplank to the shore and tore over to the Captain of the
+"Yser." When I told him I had to go to Kinshassa he said, "I cannot take
+you. I only have accommodations for eight people and am carrying forty."
+I flashed my royal credentials on him and he yielded. I got the sofa, or
+rather the bench called a sofa, in his cabin.
+
+On the "Yser" I found Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Crane, both Southerners,
+who were returning to the United States after eight years at service at
+one of the American Presbyterian Mission Stations. With them were their
+two youngest children, both born in the Congo. The eldest girl, who was
+five years old, could only speak the Baluba language. From her infancy
+her nurses had been natives and she was facing the problem of going to
+America for the first time without knowing a word of English. It was
+quaintly amusing to hear her jabber with the wood-boys and the firemen
+on board and with the people of the various villages where we
+stopped.
+
+[Illustration: THE PARK AT BOMA]
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN MATADI]
+
+The Cranes were splendid types of the American missionary workers for
+they were human and companionable. I had found Cleveland of the same
+calibre. Like many other men I had an innate prejudice against the
+foreign church worker before I went to Africa. I left with a strong
+admiration for him, and with it a profound respect.
+
+Kinshassa looked good to me when we arrived after four days' travelling,
+but I did not tarry long. I was relieved to find that I was in ample
+time to catch the August steamer at Matadi. It was at Kinshassa that I
+learned of the nominations of Cox and Harding for the Presidency,
+although the news was months old.
+
+The morning after I reached Stanley Pool I boarded a special car on the
+historic narrow-gauge railway that runs from Kinshassa to Matadi. At the
+station I was glad to meet Major and Mrs. Wallace, who like myself were
+bound for home. I invited them to share my car and we pulled out. On
+this railway, as on all other Congo lines, the passengers provide their
+own food. The Wallaces had their servant whom I recognized as one of the
+staff at Alberta. Nelson still held the fort for me. Between us we
+mobilized an elaborate lunch fortified by fruit that we bought at one of
+the many stations where we halted.
+
+We spent the night at the hotel at Thysville high in the mountains and
+where it was almost freezing cold. This place is named for General
+Albert Thys, who was attached to the colonial administration of King
+Leopold and who founded the Compagnie du Congo Pour le Commerce et
+l'Industrie, the "Queen-Dowager," as it is called, of all the Congo
+companies. His most enduring monument, however, is the Chemin de Fer du
+Congo Matadi-Stanley Pool. He felt with Stanley that there could be no
+development of the Congo without a railway between Matadi and Stanley
+Pool.
+
+The necessity was apparent. At Matadi, which is about a hundred miles
+from the sea, navigation on the Congo River ceases because here begins a
+succession of cataracts that extend almost as far as Leopoldville. In
+the old days all merchandise had to be carried in sixty-pound loads to
+Stanley Pool on the heads of natives. The way is hard for it is up and
+down hill and traverses swamps and morasses. Every year ten thousand men
+literally died in their tracks. The human loss was only one detail of
+the larger loss of time.
+
+Under the stimulating leadership of General Thys, the railway was
+started in 1890 and was opened for traffic eight and a half years later.
+Perhaps no railway in the world took such heavy toll. It is two hundred
+and fifty miles in length and every kilometer cost a white life and
+every meter a black one. Only the graves of the whites are marked. You
+can see the unending procession of headstones along the right of way.
+During its construction the project was bitterly assailed. The wiseacres
+contended that it was visionary, impracticable, and impossible. In this
+respect it suffered the same experience as all the other pioneering
+African railways and especially those of Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast,
+Uganda, and the Soudan.
+
+The scenery between Thysville and Matadi is noble and inspiring. The
+track winds through grim highlands and along lovely valleys. The hills
+are rich with colour, and occasionally you can see a frightened antelope
+scurrying into cover in the woods. As you approach Matadi the landscape
+takes on a new and more rugged beauty. Almost before you realize it,
+you emerge from a curve in the mountains and the little town so
+intimately linked with Stanley's early trials as civilizer, lies before
+you.
+
+Matadi is built on a solid piece of granite. The name is a version of
+the word _matari_ which means rock. In certain parts of Africa the
+letter "r" is often substituted for "d." Stanley's native name was in
+reality "Bula Matari," but on account of the license that I have
+indicated he is more frequently known as "Bula Matadi," the title now
+bestowed on all officials in the Congo. It was at Matadi that Stanley
+received the designation because he blasted a road through the rocks
+with dynamite.
+
+With its winding and mountainous streets and its polyglot population,
+Matadi is a picturesque spot. It is the goal of every official through
+the long years of his service in the bush for at this place he boards
+the steamer that takes him to Europe. This is the pleasant side of the
+picture. On the other hand, Matadi is where the incoming ocean traveller
+first sets foot on Congo soil. If it happens to be the wet season the
+foot is likely to be scorched for it is by common consent one of the
+hottest spots in all the universe. That well-known fable about frying an
+egg in the sun is an every-day reality here six months of the year.
+
+Matadi is the administrative center of the Lower Congo railway which has
+extensive yards, repair-shops, and hospitals for whites and blacks.
+Nearby are the storage tanks and pumping station of the oil pipe line
+that extends from Matadi to Kinshassa. It was installed just before the
+Great War and has only been used for one shipment of fluid. With the
+outbreak of hostilities it was impossible to get petroleum. Now that
+peace has come, its operations will be resumed because it is planned to
+convert many of the Congo River steamers into oil-burners.
+
+Tied up at a Matadi quay was "The Schoodic," one of the United States
+Shipping Board war-built freighters. The American flag at her stern gave
+me a real thrill for with the exception of the solitary national emblem
+I had seen at Tshikapa it was the first I had beheld since I left
+Capetown. I lunched several times on board and found the international
+personnel so frequent in our merchant marine. The captain was a native
+of the West Indies, the first mate had been born in Scotland, the chief
+engineer was a Connecticut Yankee, and the steward a Japanese. They were
+a happy family though under the Stars and Stripes and we spent many
+hours together spinning yarns and wishing we were back home.
+
+In the Congo nothing ever moves on schedule time. I expected to board
+the steamer immediately after my arrival at Matadi and proceed to
+Antwerp. There was the usual delay, and I had to wait a week. Hence the
+diversion provided by "The Schoodic" was a godsend.
+
+The blessed day came when I got on "The Anversville" and changed from
+the dirt and discomfort of the river boat and the colonial hotel to the
+luxury of the ocean vessel. It was like stepping into paradise to get
+settled once more in an immaculate cabin with its shining brass bedstead
+and the inviting bathroom adjacent. I spent an hour calmly sitting on
+the divan and revelling in this welcome environment. It was almost too
+good to be true.
+
+Nelson remained with me to the end. He helped the stewards place my
+luggage in the ship, which was the first liner he had ever seen. He was
+almost appalled at its magnitude. I asked him if he would like to
+accompany me to Europe. He shook his head solemnly and said, "No,
+master. The ship is too big and I am afraid of it. I want to go home to
+Elizabethville." As a parting gift I gave him more money than he had
+ever before seen in his life. It only elicited this laconic response,
+"Now I am rich enough to buy a wife." With these words he bade me
+farewell.
+
+[Illustration: A GENERAL VIEW OF MATADI]
+
+"The Anversville" was another agreeable surprise. She is one of three
+sister ships in the service of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo.
+The other two are "The Albertville" and "The Elizabethville." The
+original "Elizabethville" was sunk by a German submarine during the war
+off the coast of France. These vessels are big, clean, and comfortable
+and the service is excellent.
+
+All vessels to and from Europe stop at Boma, the capital of the Congo,
+which is five hours steaming down river from Matadi. We remained here
+for a day and a half because the Minister of the Colonies was to go back
+on "The Anversville." I was glad of the opportunity for it enabled me to
+see this town, which is the mainspring of the colonial administration.
+The palace of the Governor-General stands on a commanding hill and is a
+pretentious establishment. The original capital of the Congo was Vivi,
+established by Stanley at a point not far from Matadi. It was abandoned
+some year ago on account of its undesirable location. There is a strong
+sentiment that Leopoldville and not Boma should be the capital and it is
+not unlikely that this change will be made.
+
+The Minister of the Colonies and Monsieur Henry, the Governor-General,
+who also went home on our boat, received a spectacular send-off. A
+thousand native troops provided the guard of honour which was drawn up
+on the bank of the river. Native bands played, flags waved, and the
+populace, which included hundreds of blacks, shouted a noisy farewell.
+
+Slowly and majestically the vessel backed away from the pier and turned
+its prow downstream. With mingled feelings of relief and regret I
+watched the shores recede as the body of the river widened. Near the
+mouth it is twenty miles wide and hundreds of feet deep.
+
+At Banana Point I looked my last on the Congo River. For months I had
+followed its winding way through a land that teems with hidden life and
+resists the inroads of man. I had been lulled to sleep by its dull roar;
+I had observed its varied caprice; I had caught the glamour of its
+subtle charm. Something of its vast and mysterious spirit laid hold of
+me. Now at parting the mighty stream seemed more than ever to be
+invested with a tenacious human quality. Sixty miles out at sea its
+sullen brown current still vies with the green and blue of the ocean
+swell. It lingers like the spell of all Africa.
+
+The Congo is merely a phase of the larger lure.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+Albert, King of Belgium, 141, 226, 240
+Albert, Lake, 60, 180
+Alberta, 208, 209, 211, 212, 214
+Albertville, 60
+Ants, 155, 156
+Armour, J. Ogden, 125
+
+Bailey, Sir Abe, 135
+Ball, Sidney H., 244, 245
+Baluba, 203
+Bangala, The, 194, 195, 200, 203
+Barclay, Mrs. Edwin, 265
+Barclay, Mr. Edwin, 265, 270
+Barnato, Barney, 70-80, 86
+Basuto, 92
+
+Bechuanaland, 103, 106-108, 113
+Behr, H. C., 86
+Beira, 119, 127, 150
+Belgian Congo, 59, 81, 107, 124, 125, 130, 139-177, 225, 227-230, 241-284
+Benguella, 151
+Bia Expedition, 241
+Bolobo, 202
+Botha, General, 16-17, 19, 22, 23, 24-26, 38, 39, 74, 98
+Braham, I. F., 212, 213, 214
+Brandsma, Father, 192, 193
+British South Africa Company, 108-111, 115, 126-127
+Broken Hill Railway, 146
+Bukama, 61, 160, 163
+Bulawayo, 104-106, 112, 113, 127, 130, 134, 135, 144, 150
+Bunge, Edward, 244
+Butner, Daniel, 149
+Butters, Charles, 86, 88
+
+Cairo, 57
+Cameroons, 100, 101
+Campbell, J. G., 167-168
+"Cape-boy," 93
+Cape Colony, 23, 64
+"Cape-to-Cairo," 57-101, 108, 146, 150-151
+Capetown, 17, 28-30, 57, 68, 74, 76, 104, 105, 114
+Carnahan, Thomas, 149
+Carrie, Albert, 248-249
+Carson, Sir Edward, 27
+Casement, Sir Roger, 100, 142
+Chaka, 105
+Chaplin, Sir Drummond, 109-110
+Chilembwe, John, 94
+Clement, Victor M., 86, 88
+Cleveland, President, 227
+Cleveland, Rev. Roy Fields, 277, 278
+"Comte de Flandre," 189-192, 197
+Congo-Kasai Province, 221, 246, 248
+Congo River, The, 59, 140-145, 153, 160-162, 179-284
+Coquilhatville, 201-202, 216
+Crane, Mr. and Mrs. Charles L., 278-279
+Creswell, Col. F. H. P., 29-30
+Cullinan, Thomas M., 90
+Curtis, J. S., 86, 88
+
+Davis, Charles H., 277, 278
+Dean, Captain, 187, 188
+DeBeers, 78-80, 129
+Delcommune, Alexander, 243-244
+Diamonds, 64, 76, 77-90, 94, 134, 135, 146, 152, 244, 265;
+  Congo Fields, 265-269;
+  Congo Output, 152
+Djoko Punda, 225, 247, 255, 269, 275, 276
+Doyle, Donald, 259, 262, 267
+Doyle, Mrs. Donald, 264
+Dubois, Lieutenant, 187-188
+Dunn, Dr. John, 262
+Durban 69
+Dutoitspan Mine, 81
+
+Elizabethville, 145, 147, 148, 149, 153, 157, 181
+
+Fairbairn, Henry, 277, 278
+Forminiere, The, 225-228, 232-234, 237, 256, 257, 261, 277
+Franck, Louis, 169-176, 179
+Francqui, Emile, 239-243
+Fungurume, 157, 160
+
+George, Lloyd, 15, 38, 40-42, 45
+German East Africa, 70, 101, 166
+German South-West Africa, 25, 70, 73, 81, 99, 101, 152
+Germany in Africa, 98-101, 150, 151, 165, 166, 174, 210, 216, 231
+Gerome, 157, 181
+Gordon, General, 58, 187
+Grenfell, George, 198, 201, 203, 255
+Grey, George, 147
+Groote Schuur, 32-34, 36, 41, 47, 53, 114
+Guggenheim, Daniel, 235
+
+Hammond, John Hays, 84, 86, 88, 128-129, 235
+Harriman, E. H., 238, 239
+Hellman, Fred, 86
+Hertzog, General W. B. M., 25-28, 46, 50-51, 53
+Hex River, 76
+Honnold, W. L., 86
+Horner, Preston K., 149, 157
+Hottentot, 92, 93
+Hoy, Sir William W., 66-67
+Huileries du Congo Belge, 189, 208-212, 222, 226, 263
+
+Jadot, Jean, 237-238, 239, 241, 243
+Jameson, Raid, 23, 86, 87, 89, 100, 115
+Jameson, Sir Starr 80, 89, 106, 111, 117, 136
+Janot, N., 245
+Jenkins, Hennen, 86, 87
+Jennings, Sidney, 86
+Johannesburg, 30, 65, 76, 78, 84, 85, 89, 93, 103, 105, 244
+Johnston, Sir Harry, 197, 201, 203, 212, 255
+
+Kabalo, 60, 165
+Kabambaie, 258, 259, 275, 276
+Kaffir, 64, 71, 82, 92, 266
+Kahew, Frank, 149
+Kambove, 149, 150
+Karoo, 77
+Kasai River, 95-96, 156, 189, 191, 199, 217, 223, 225, 227, 246, 247,
+    249, 253-258, 264, 269, 275
+Katanga, 145-146, 147, 148, 149, 150-153, 165, 174-175, 181, 194, 226, 241
+Kimberley, 64, 76, 77, 90, 94, 134, 135, 146, 154, 244, 265
+Kindu, 59, 168-169, 170
+Kinshassa, 153, 190, 201, 216, 217, 221-222, 247, 275, 281
+Kitchener, Lord, 15, 39, 77
+Kito, 180-181
+Kongolo, 59, 166, 168, 177
+Kruger, Paul, 22, 38, 47, 87-88, 89, 100, 107
+Kwamouth, 217, 247
+Kwilu River, 47, 209, 226
+
+Labram, George, 82-83
+Lane, Capt. E. F. C., 43
+Leggett, T. H., 86
+Leopold, King, 106, 139, 142, 150, 158, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230-235,
+    244, 245
+Leopoldville, 221, 222
+Leverhulme, Lord, 189, 208, 248
+Leverville, 209
+Lewaniki, 125
+Livingstone, Dr., 184, 185, 254
+Lobengula, 105, 106, 112, 115, 134
+"Louis Cousin," 160-162
+Lowa, 170
+Lualaba River, 59, 60, 160, 161-164, 168, 170, 177, 190, 191, 197
+Luluaburg, 215
+Lusanga, 249, 251
+
+Mabonda Mine, 265, 270
+"Madeleine," 252-254, 276
+Mafeking, 103
+Maguire, Rochfort, 107
+Mahagi, 59-60, 62
+Maize, 124-125
+Mashonaland, 106, 111-112
+Matabele, 103, 105, 106, 112, 113, 115, 126, 134
+Matadi, 279-281, 282
+Matopo Hills, 113-114, 115, 135
+McMillan, William, 267
+McMillan, Mrs. William, 268
+Mein, Capt. Thomas, 86, 88
+Mein, W. W., 86
+Merriman, J. X., 94
+Milner, Lord, 118
+Mohun, R. D. L., 244, 245, 246
+Moody, G. D., 256, 257, 258, 259, 261, 276
+Morgan, J. P. 74, 228, 238
+Morrison, Rev. W. M., 273
+Moul, R. D., 143
+
+Nanda, 254, 255
+Natal, 21, 23, 78, 122
+Nelson, 181-182, 248, 257, 258, 276, 282, 283
+Newport, Glenn H., 271
+Nile River, 59, 60, 175
+Nyassaland, 94, 142
+
+Oliver, Roland B., 245
+Orange Free State, 21, 23, 25, 50, 106, 139
+
+Perkins, H. C., 86
+Plumer, Lord, 113
+Ponthierville, 59, 152, 170
+Port Elizabeth, 72, 77
+Portuguese East Africa, 106, 112, 113, 150
+Prester, John, 94
+Pretoria, 47, 76, 90, 93
+
+Rand, The, 84-85, 86, 87, 89, 152, 249
+Reid, A. E. H., 245
+Reid, C. A., 245
+Rey, General de la, 25, 45
+Rhodes, Cecil, 17, 20, 32, 58, 60-61, 77-83, 86, 104-110, 114-121,
+    125, 129-137, 150, 165, 186, 230
+Rhodesia, 18, 33, 59, 94, 103-110, 114-121, 122-131
+Roberts, Lord, 16
+Robinson, J. B., 85
+Robison, J. E., 256, 258
+Rondebosch, 32
+Roos, Tielman, 53-54
+Roosevelt, Theodore, 19
+Rudd, C. D., 107
+Ryan, Thomas F., 228, 232-235, 244, 275
+
+Sabin, Charles H., 74
+Sakania, 144
+Sanford, General H. S., 227, 228
+Selous, F. C., 111
+Seymour, Louis, 86
+Shaler, Millard K., 245
+Smartt, Sir Thomas, 52
+Smith, Hamilton, 86
+Smuts, Jan Christian, 15-20, 23, 24-26, 28, 29-56, 98
+Snow, Frederick, 149
+Société Generale, 234-236, 239
+Solvay, Edmond, 244
+Soudan Railway, 60
+Stanley, Henry M., 159, 166, 170, 177, 183, 184, 185-188, 194, 196,
+    201, 203, 217, 218-221, 227, 228, 230, 255, 262
+Stanley Pool, 218, 222, 279
+Stanleyville, 59, 162, 166, 168, 169, 175, 177-180, 183, 185, 189,
+    190, 196, 200
+Steyne, President, 49
+Stoddard, Lothrop, 96
+Stonelake, Dr., 202
+
+Tambeur, General, 165
+Tanganyika Lake, 60, 142, 150, 166, 169
+Teneriffe, 69
+Thompson, F. R., 107
+Thompson, Samuel, 86
+Thompson, W. B., 74
+Thys, General Albert, 279, 280
+Tippo Tib, 166, 184-185
+Togoland, 100-101
+"Tony", 133
+Transvaal, 21, 23, 50, 106
+Tshikapa, 247, 256, 259, 262, 263, 264, 265, 267, 275, 282
+
+Uganda, 59
+Union of South Africa, 18, 20, 23
+
+Van den Hove, Adrian M., 251-252
+Venezilos, 15
+Verner, S. P., 244
+Victoria Falls, 104, 127, 130-132
+Vryburg, 119
+
+Wallace, Major Claude, 212, 213, 214
+Wallace, Mrs. Claude, 212
+Wangermee, General Emile, 148
+Wankie, 128
+Ward, Herbert, 184-188, 203
+Warriner, Ruel C., 86
+Webb, H. H., 86
+Webber, George, 86
+Wheeler, A. E., 149
+Whitney, Harry Payne, 235
+Williams, Gardner F., 82, 88
+Williams, Robert, 61, 146, 150, 151, 175
+Wilson, Woodrow, 37, 40, 42, 43, 50
+Wissmann, Herman, 255
+
+Yale, Thomas, 149
+Yeatman, Pope, 86
+
+Zambesi River, 18, 109, 131-132
+Zambesia, 108
+Zimbabwe Ruins, 130
+Zulu, 64, 71, 82, 92, 93, 266
+
+
+
+
+    *Transcriber's notes:*
+
+    Typos replaced:
+
+    Pg 26: separate streams ==> separate streams"
+    Pg 38: Africa.--the ==> Africa,--the
+    Pg 40: betwen ==> between
+    Pg 49: man con ==> man can
+    Pg 51: betwen ==> between
+    Pg 52: Britian ==> Britain
+    Pg 56: 'The destiny ==> "The destiny
+    Pg 56: Britian ==> Britain
+    Pg 57: n the world ==> in the world
+    Pg 59: beteween ==> between
+    Pg 72: It no ==> It is no
+    Pg 73: a quarter or ==> a quarter of
+    Pg 73: reoganization ==> reorganization
+    Pg 82: speriority ==> superiority
+    Pg 89: Eeast ==> East
+    Pg 89: stragetic ==> strategic
+    Pg 100: auother ==> another
+    Pg 101: Belian ==> Belgian
+    Pg 103: III ==> CHAPTER III
+    Pg 103: 'We've ==> "We've
+    Pg 110: irrenconcilable ==> irreconcilable
+    Pg 124: considering, Every ==> considering. Every
+    Pg 124: stock, The ==> stock. The
+    Pg 131: maximun ==> maximum
+    Pg 132: marval ==> marvel
+    Pg 139: IV ==> CHAPTER IV
+    Pg 139: controversay ==> controversy
+    Pg 152: developent ==> development
+    Pg 163: invarably ==> invariably
+    Pg 163: conspicious ==> conspicuous
+    Pg 166: rail-dead ==> rail-head
+    Pg 169: distaseful ==> distasteful
+    Pg 174: Rockerfeller ==> Rockefeller
+    Pg 177: V ==> CHAPTER V
+    Pg 182: Adthough ==> Although
+    Pg 184: invaribly ==> invariably
+    Pg 184: cruelity ==> cruelty
+    Pg 186: exporations ==> exploration
+    Pg 187: capured ==> captured
+    Pg 190: removed whole line "from his automobile and the creaky, jolty
+      train started" from between "that you" and "feel on"
+    Pg 191: sacrified ==> sacrificed
+    Pg 193: Uguanda ==> Uganda
+    Pg 195: resplendant ==> resplendent
+    Pg 201: high sease ==> high seas
+    Pg 210: incased ==> encased
+    Pg 214: unforgetable ==> unforgettable
+    Pg 219: arival ==> arrival
+    Pg 222: Begian ==> Belgian
+    Pg 225: VI ==> CHAPTER VI
+    Pg 226: Transporte ==> Transports
+    Pg 241: Forminere ==> Forminiere
+    Pg 243: Banqe ==> Banque
+    Pg 249: chololate-hued ==> chocolate-hued
+    Pg 255: heirarchy ==> hierarchy
+    Pg 255: Wissman ==> Wissmann
+    Pg 258: Fir ==> For
+    Pg 270: that ==> than
+    Pg 283: that ==> than
+    Pg 285: 194 ==> 194,
+    Pg 286: 85' ==> 85,
+    Pg 287: Societe ==> Société
+    Pg 288: Wissman ==> Wissmann
+
+    No attempt was made to harmonise inconsistent hyphenation; e.g. both
+    spellings _bed-room_ and _bedroom_ can be found in this book.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: An African Adventure
+
+Author: Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2008 [EBook #25569]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Júlio Reis, Linda McKeown and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="mynote">
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p><b>Table of Contents</b></p>
+<p>
+<a href="#title"><b>AN AFRICAN
+ADVENTURE</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CONTENTS"><b>CONTENTS</b></a><br />
+<a href="#LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"><b>LIST OF
+ILLUSTRATIONS</b></a><br />
+<a href="#AN_AFRICAN_ADVENTURE"><b>AN AFRICAN
+ADVENTURE</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I_SMUTS"><b>CHAPTER
+I&#8212;SMUTS</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II_CAPE-TO-CAIRO"><b>CHAPTER
+II&#8212;"CAPE-TO-CAIRO"</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III_RHODES_AND_RHODESIA"><b>CHAPTER
+III&#8212;RHODES AND RHODESIA</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV_THE_CONGO_TODAY"><b>CHAPTER
+IV&#8212;THE CONGO TODAY</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V_ON_THE_CONGO_RIVER"><b>CHAPTER
+V&#8212;ON THE CONGO RIVER</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI_AMERICA_IN_THE_CONGO"><b>CHAPTER
+VI&#8212;AMERICA IN THE CONGO</b></a><br />
+<a href="#INDEX"><b>INDEX</b></a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h1><a name="title" id="title"></a>AN
+AFRICAN ADVENTURE</h1>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p>
+<table class="bysameauthor">
+<tbody>
+<tr>
+<td>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>
+<p>ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING</p>
+<p>PEACE AND BUSINESS</p>
+<p><span class="smcap">S. O. S: America's
+Miracle in France</span></p>
+<p>THE BUSINESS OF WAR</p>
+<p>THE REBIRTH OF RUSSIA</p>
+<p>THE WAR AFTER THE WAR</p>
+<p><span class="smcap">LEONARD WOOD: Prophet
+of Preparedness</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</tbody>
+</table>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="center"> <a name="Illustration_KING_ALBERT" id="Illustration_KING_ALBERT"></a> <a href="images/illus-004-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-004-thumbnail.jpg" alt="KING ALBERT" title="KING ALBERT" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">KING ALBERT</div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg
+3]</a></div>
+<h1>AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE</h1>
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em;">BY</p>
+<p class="center">ISAAC F. MARCOSSON</p>
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">AUTHOR
+OF "ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING," ETC.</span></p>
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em;">NEW
+YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY</p>
+<p class="center">LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD</p>
+<p class="center">MCMXXI</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center">COPYRIGHT &middot; 1921</p>
+<p class="center">BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY</p>
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 1em;">COPYRIGHT
+&middot; 1921</p>
+<p class="center">BY JOHN LANE COMPANY</p>
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em;">THE
+PLIMPTON PRESS</p>
+<p class="center">NORWOOD &middot; MASS &middot;
+U&middot;S&middot;A</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="center"><i>To</i><br />
+THOMAS F. RYAN<br />
+WHO FIRST BEHELD THE VISION<br />
+OF AMERICA IN THE CONGO</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+<h2>FOREWORD</h2>
+<p>From earliest boyhood when I read the works of
+Henry M. Stanley and books about Cecil Rhodes,
+Africa has called to me. It was not until I met
+General Smuts during the Great War, however, that I
+had a definite reason for going there.</p>
+<p>After these late years of blood and battle America
+and Europe seemed tame. Besides, the economic
+war after the war developed into a struggle as bitter
+as the actual physical conflict. Discord and discontent
+became the portion of the civilized world. I wanted
+to get as far as possible from all this social unrest
+and financial dislocation.</p>
+<p>So much interest was evinced in the magazine
+articles which first set forth the record of my journey
+that I was prompted to expand them into this
+book. It may enable the reader to discover a section
+of the one-time Dark Continent without the hardships
+which I experienced.</p>
+<p style="text-align: right;">I. F. M.</p>
+<p><span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>April,
+1921</i></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg
+9]</a></div>
+<h1><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h1>
+<table>
+<tbody>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2" class="smcap">CHAPTER</td>
+<td class="right smcap">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="right">I.</td>
+<td class="smcap">Smuts</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="right">II.</td>
+<td class="smcap">"Cape-to-Cairo"</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="right">III.</td>
+<td class="smcap">Rhodes and Rhodesia</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="right">IV.</td>
+<td class="smcap">The Congo Today</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="right">V.</td>
+<td class="smcap">On the Congo River</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="right">VI.</td>
+<td class="smcap">America in the Congo</td>
+<td class="right"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td>
+</tr>
+</tbody>
+</table>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></div>
+<h1><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h1>
+<p>
+King Albert <a href="#Page_2"><i>Frontispiece</i></a><br />
+Groote Schuur <a href="#Page_28"><i>facing page</i>
+28</a><br />
+General J. C. Smuts <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+Mr. Marcosson's Route in Africa <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br />
+Cecil Rhodes <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br />
+The Premier Diamond Mine <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+Victoria Falls <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br />
+Cultivating Citrus Land in Rhodesia <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+The Grave of Cecil Rhodes <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+A Katanga Copper Mine <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br />
+Lord Leverhulme <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br />
+Robert Williams <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br />
+On the Lualaba <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+A View on the Kasai <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+A Station Scene at Kongola <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+A Native Market at Kindu <a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+Native Fish Traps at Stanley Falls <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br />
+The Massive Bangalas <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br />
+Congo Women in State Dress <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br />
+Central African Pygmies <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br />
+Women Making Pottery <a href="#Page_190">190</a><br />
+The Congo Pickaninny <a href="#Page_190">190</a><br />
+The Heart of the Equatorial Forest <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br />
+Natives Piling Wood <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+A Wood Post on the Congo <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br />
+Residential Quarters at Alberta <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br />
+The Comte de Flandre <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+A Typical Oil Palm Forest <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br />
+Bringing in the Palm Fruit <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br />
+A Specimen of Cicatrization <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br />
+A Sankuru Woman Playing Native Draughts <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br />
+The Belgian Congo <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br />
+Thomas F. Ryan <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+Jean Jadot <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br />
+Emile Francqui <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br />
+A Belle of the Congo <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+Women of the Batetelas <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+Fishermen on the Sankuru <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+The Falls of the Sankuru <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+A Congo Diamond Mine <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br />
+How the Mines Are Worked <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br />
+Gravel Carriers at a Congo Mine <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+Congo Natives Picking out Diamonds <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+Washing out Gravel <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+Donald Doyle and Mr. Marcosson <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br />
+The Park at Boma <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+A Street in Matadi <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+A General View of Matadi <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></div>
+<h1><a name="AN_AFRICAN_ADVENTURE" id="AN_AFRICAN_ADVENTURE"></a>AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE</h1>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+<h1>AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE</h1>
+<h1><a name="CHAPTER_I_SMUTS" id="CHAPTER_I_SMUTS"></a>CHAPTER
+I&#8212;SMUTS</h1>
+<h2>I</h2>
+<p>Turn the searchlight on the political and economic
+chaos that has followed the Great War
+and you find a surprising lack of real leadership.
+Out of the mists that enshroud the world welter
+only three commanding personalities emerge. In England
+Lloyd George survives amid the storm of party
+clash and Irish discord. Down in Greece Venizelos,
+despite defeat, remains an impressive figure of high
+ideals and uncompromising patriotism. Off in South
+Africa Smuts gives fresh evidence of his vision and
+authority.</p>
+<p>Although he was Britain's principal prop during
+the years of agony and disaster, Lloyd George is, in
+the last analysis, merely an eloquent and spectacular
+politician with the genius of opportunism. One reason
+why he holds his post is that there is no one to take his
+place,&#8212;another commentary on the paucity of greatness.
+There is no visible heir to Venizelos. Besides,
+Greece is a small country without international touch
+and interest. Smuts, youngest of the trio, looms up
+as the most brilliant statesman of his day and his career
+has just entered upon a new phase.</p>
+<p>He is the dominating actor in a drama that not only
+affects the destiny of the whole British Empire, but has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg
+16]</a></span>
+significance for every civilized nation. The quality of
+striking contrast has always been his. The one-time
+Boer General, who fought Roberts and Kitchener
+twenty years ago, is battling with equal tenacity for the
+integrity of the Imperial Union born of that war. Not
+in all history perhaps, is revealed a more picturesque
+situation than obtains in South Africa today. You
+have the whole Nationalist movement crystallized into
+a single compelling episode. In a word, it is contemporary
+Ireland duplicated without violence and extremism.</p>
+<p>I met General Smuts often during the Great War.
+He stood out as the most intellectually alert, and in
+some respects the most distinguished figure among the
+array of nation-guiders with whom I talked, and I interviewed
+them all. I saw him as he sat in the British
+War Cabinet when the German hosts were sweeping
+across the Western Front, and when the German submarines
+were making a shambles of the high seas. I
+heard him speak with persuasive force on public occasions
+and he was like a beacon in the gloom. He had
+come to England in 1917 as the representative of General
+Botha, the Prime Minister of the Union of South
+Africa, to attend the Imperial Conference and to remain
+a comparatively short time. So great was the
+need of him that he did not go home until after the
+Peace had been signed. He signed the Treaty under
+protest because he believed it was uneconomic and it
+has developed into the irritant that he prophesied it
+would be.</p>
+<p>In those war days when we foregathered, Smuts
+often talked of "the world that would be." The real
+Father of the League of Nations idea, he believed that
+out of the immense travail would develop a larger fraternity,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg
+17]</a></span>
+economically sound and without sentimentality.
+It was a great and yet a practical dream.</p>
+<p>More than once he asked me to come to South
+Africa. I needed little urging. From my boyhood the
+land of Cecil Rhodes has always held a lure for me.
+Smuts invested it with fresh interest. So I went.</p>
+<p>The Smuts that I found at close range on his native
+heath, wearing the mantle of the departed Botha, carrying
+on a Government with a minority, and with the
+shadow of an internecine war brooding on the horizon,
+was the same serene, clear-thinking strategist who had
+raised his voice in the Allied Councils. Then the enemy
+was the German and the task was to destroy the menace
+of militarism. Now it was his own unreconstructed
+Boer&#8212;blood of his blood,&#8212;and behind that Boer the
+larger problem of a rent and dissatisfied universe,
+waging peace as bitterly as it waged war. Smuts the
+dreamer was again Smuts the fighter, with the fight of
+his life on his hands.</p>
+<p>Thus it came about that I found myself in Capetown.
+Everybody goes out to South Africa from England on
+those Union Castle boats so familiar to all readers of
+English novels. Like the P. &amp; O. vessels that Kipling
+wrote about in his Indian stories, they are among the
+favorite first aids to the makers of fiction. Hosts of
+heroes in books&#8212;and some in real life&#8212;sail each
+year
+to their romantic fate aboard them.</p>
+<p>It was the first day of the South African winter when
+I arrived, but back in America spring was in full
+bloom. I looked out on the same view that had thrilled
+the Portuguese adventurers of the fifteenth century
+when they swept for the first time into Table Bay. Behind
+the harbor rose Table Mountain and stretching
+from it downward to the sea was a land with verdure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg
+18]</a></span>
+clad and aglare with the African sun that was to scorch
+my paths for months to come.</p>
+<p>Capetown nestles at the foot of a vast flat-topped
+mass of granite unique among the natural elevations of
+the world. She is another melting pot. Here mingle
+Kaffir and Boer, Basuto and Britisher, East Indian and
+Zulu. The hardy rancher and fortune-hunter from the
+North Country rub shoulders with the globe-trotter. In
+the bustling streets modern taxicabs vie for space with
+antiquated hansoms bearing names like "Never Say
+Die," "Home Sweet Home," or "Honeysuckle." All
+the horse-drawn public vehicles have names.</p>
+<p>You get a familiar feel of America in this South
+African country and especially in the Cape Colony,
+which is a place of fruits, flowers and sunshine resembling
+California. There is the sense of newness
+in the atmosphere, and something of the abandon that
+you encounter among the people of Australia and certain
+parts of Canada. It comes from life spent in the
+open and the spirit of pioneering that within a comparatively
+short time has wrested a huge domain from
+the savage.</p>
+<p>What strikes the observer at once is the sharp conflict
+of race, first, between black and white, and then,
+between Briton and Boer. South of the Zambesi
+River,&#8212;and this includes Rhodesia and the Union of
+South Africa,&#8212;the native outnumbers the white more
+than six to one and he is increasing at a much greater
+rate than the European. Hence you have an inevitable
+conflict. Race lies at the root of the South African
+trouble and the racial reconciliation that Rhodes and
+Botha set their hopes upon remains an elusive quantity.</p>
+<p>I got a hint of what Smuts was up against the moment
+I arrived. I had cabled him of my coming and he sent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg
+19]</a></span>
+an orderly to the steamer with a note of welcome and
+inviting me to lunch with him at the House of Parliament
+the next day. In the letter, among other things
+he said: "You will find this a really interesting country,
+full of curious problems." How curious they were I
+was soon to find out.</p>
+<p>I called for him at his modest book-lined office in a
+street behind the Parliament Buildings and we walked
+together to the House. Heretofore I had only seen him
+in the uniform of a Lieutenant General in the British
+Army. Now he wore a loose-fitting lounge suit and a
+slouch hat was jammed down on his head. In the
+change from khaki to mufti&#8212;and few men can stand
+up under this transition without losing some of the character
+of their personal appearance,&#8212;he remained a
+striking figure. There is something wistful in his face&#8212;an
+indescribable look that projects itself not only
+through you but beyond. It is not exactly preoccupation
+but a highly developed concentration. This look
+seemed to be enhanced by the ordeal through which he
+was then passing. In his springy walk was a suggestion
+of pugnacity. His whole manner was that of a man in
+action and who exults in it. Roosevelt had the same
+characteristic but he displayed it with much more animation
+and strenuosity.</p>
+<p>We sat down in the crowded dining room of the
+House of Parliament where the Prime Minister had
+invited a group of Cabinet Ministers and leading business
+men of Capetown. Around us seethed a noisy
+swirl which reflected the turmoil of the South African
+political situation. Parliament had just convened after
+an historic election in which the Nationalists, the bitter
+antagonists of Botha and Smuts, had elected a majority
+of representatives for the first time. Smuts was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+hanging on to the Premiership by his teeth. A sharp
+division of vote, likely at any moment, would have overthrown
+the Government. It meant a r&eacute;gime hostile to
+Britain that carried with it secession and the remote
+possibility of civil war.</p>
+<p>In that restaurant, as throughout the whole Union,
+Smuts was at that moment literally the observed of all
+observers. Far off in London the powers-that-be were
+praying that this blonde and bearded Boer could successfully
+man the imperial breach. Yet he sat there
+smiling and unafraid and the company that he had
+assembled discussed a variety of subjects that ranged
+from the fall in exchange to the possibilities of the
+wheat crop in America.</p>
+<p>The luncheon was the first of various meetings with
+Smuts. Some were amid the tumult of debate or in the
+shadow of the legislative halls, others out in the country
+at <i>Groote Schuur</i>, the Prime Minister's residence,
+where
+we walked amid the gardens that Cecil Rhodes loved,
+or sat in the rooms where the Colossus "thought in terms
+of continents." It was a liberal education.</p>
+<p>Before we can go into what Smuts said during these
+interviews it is important to know briefly the whole
+approach to the crowded hour that made the fullest
+test of his resource and statesmanship. Clearly to
+understand it you must first know something about the
+Boer and his long stubborn struggle for independence
+which ended, for a time at least, in the battle and blood
+of the Boer War.</p>
+<p>Capetown, the melting pot, is merely a miniature of
+the larger boiling cauldron of race which is the Union
+of South Africa. In America we also have an astonishing
+mixture of bloods but with the exception of the Bolshevists
+and other radical uplifters, our population is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+loyally dedicated to the American flag and the institutions
+it represents. With us Latin, Slav, Celt, and
+Saxon have blended the strain that proved its mettle
+as "Americans All" under the Stars and Stripes in
+France. We have given succor and sanctuary to the
+oppressed of many lands and these foreign elements,
+in the main, have not only been grateful but have proved
+to be distinct assets in our national expansion. We are
+a merged people.</p>
+<p>With South Africa the situation is somewhat different.
+The roots of civilization there were planted by the
+Dutch in the days of the Dutch East India Company
+when Holland was a world power. The Dutchman is
+a tenacious and stubborn person. Although the Huguenots
+emigrated to the Cape in considerable force in the
+seventeenth century and intermarried with the transplanted
+Hollanders, the Dutch strain, and with it the
+Dutch characteristics predominated. They have shaped
+South African history ever since. This is why the Boer
+is still referred to in popular parlance as "a Dutchman."</p>
+<p>The Dutch have always been a proud and liberty-loving
+people, as the Duke of Alva and the Spaniard
+learned to their cost. This inherited desire for freedom
+has flamed in the hearts of the Boers. In the early
+African day they preferred to journey on to the wild
+and unknown places rather than sacrifice their independence.
+What is known as "The Great Trek" of
+the thirties, which opened up the Transvaal and subsequently
+the Orange Free State and Natal, was due
+entirely to unrest among the Cape Boers. There is
+something of the epic in the narrative of those doughty,
+psalm-singing trekkers who, like the Mormons in the
+American West, went forth in their canvas-covered
+wagons with a rifle in one hand and the Bible in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg
+22]</a></span>
+other. They fought the savage, endured untold hardships,
+and met fate with a grim smile on their lips. It
+took Britain nearly three costly years to subdue their
+descendants, an untrained army of farmers.</p>
+<p>A revelation of the Boer character, therefore, is an
+index to the South African tangle. His enemies call
+the Boer "a combination of cunning and childishness."
+As a matter of fact the Boer is distinct among individualists.
+"Oom Paul" Kruger was a type. A
+fairly familiar story will concretely illustrate what lies
+within and behind the race. On one occasion his thumb
+was nearly severed in an accident. With his pocket-knife
+he cut off the finger, bound up the wound with a
+rag, and went about his business.</p>
+<p>The old Boer&#8212;and the type survives&#8212;was a
+Puritan
+who loved his five-thousand-acre farm where he
+could neither see nor hear his neighbors, who read the
+Good Word three times a day, drank prodigious quantities
+of coffee, spoke "<i>taal</i>" the Dutch dialect, and
+reared a huge family. Botha, for example, was one
+of thirteen children, and his father lamented to his
+dying day that he had not done his full duty by his
+country!</p>
+<p>Isolation was the Boer fetich. This instinct for
+aloofness,&#8212;principally
+racial,&#8212;animates the sincere wing
+of the Nationalist Party today. Men like Botha and
+Smuts and their followers adapted themselves to assimilation
+but there remained the "bitter-end" element that
+rebelled in arms against the constituted authority in
+1914 and had to be put down with merciless hand. This
+element now seeks to achieve through more peaceful
+ends what it sought to do by force the moment Britain
+became involved in the Great War. The reason for the
+revolt of 1914, in a paragraph, was Britain's far-flung<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg
+23]</a></span>
+call to arms. The unreconstructed Boers refused to
+fight for the Power that humbled them in 1902. They
+seized the moment to make a try for what they called
+"emancipation."</p>
+<p>To go back for a moment, when the British conquered
+the Cape and thousands of Englishmen streamed out to
+Africa to make their fortunes, the Boer at once bristled
+with resentment. His isolation was menaced. He regarded
+the Briton as an "<i>Uitlander</i>"&#8212;an
+outsider&#8212;and
+treated him as an undesirable alien. In the Transvaal
+and the Orange Free State he was denied the rights
+that are accorded to law-abiding citizens in other countries.
+Hence the Jameson Raid, which was an ill-starred
+protest against the narrow, copper-riveted Boer
+rule, and later the final and sanguinary show-down in
+the Boer War, which ended the dream of Boer independence.</p>
+<p>In 1910 was established the Union of South Africa,
+comprising the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal
+and the Cape Colony which obtained responsible government
+and which is to all intents and purposes a dominion
+as free as Australia or Canada. England sends out
+a Governor-General, usually a high-placed and titled
+person but he is a be-medalled figure-head,&#8212;an ornamental
+feature of the landscape. His principal labours
+are to open fairs, attend funerals, preside at harmless
+gatherings, and bestow decorations upon worthy persons.
+First Botha, and later Smuts, have been the real
+rulers of the country.</p>
+<p>The Union Constitution decreed that bi-lingualism
+must prevail. As a result every public notice, document,
+and time-table is printed in both English and
+Dutch. The tie of language is a strong one and this
+eternal and unuttered presence of the "<i>taal</i>" has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg
+24]</a></span>
+an asset for the Nationalists to exploit. It is a link with
+the days of independence.</p>
+<p>Following the Boer War came a sharp cleavage
+among the Boers. That great farm-bred soldier and
+statesman, Louis Botha, accepted the verdict and became
+the leader of what might be called a reconciled
+reconstruction. Firm in the belief that the future of
+South Africa was greater than the smaller and selfish
+issue of racial pride and prejudice, he rallied his open-minded
+and far-seeing countrymen around him. Out
+of this group developed the South African Party which
+remains the party of the Dutch loyal to British rule.
+To quote the program of principles, "Its political object
+is the development of a South African spirit of national
+unity and self-reliance through the attainment of the
+lasting union of the various sections of the people."</p>
+<p>Botha was made Premier of the Transvaal as soon
+as the Colony was granted self-government and with the
+accomplishment of Union was named Prime Minister
+of the Federation. The first man that he called to the
+standard of the new order to become his Colonial
+Minister, or more technically, Minister of the Interior,
+was Smuts, who had left his law office in Johannesburg
+to fight the English in 1900 and who displayed the same
+consummate strategy in the field that he has since shown
+in Cabinet meeting and Legislative forum. With peace
+he returned to law but not for long. Now began his
+political career&#8212;he has held public office continuously
+ever since&#8212;that is a vital part of the modern history of
+South Africa.</p>
+<p>In the years immediately following Union the genius
+of Botha had full play. He wrought a miracle of
+evolution. Under his influence the land which still bore
+the scars of war was turned to plenty. He was a farmer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg
+25]</a></span>
+and he bent his energy and leadership to the rebuilding
+of the shattered commonwealths. Their hope lay in the
+soil. His right arm was Smuts, who became successively
+Minister of Finance and Minister of Public
+Defense.</p>
+<p>The belief that reconciliation had dawned was rudely
+disturbed when the Great War crashed into civilization.
+The extreme Nationalists rebelled and it was Botha,
+aided by Smuts, who crushed them. Beyers, the ringleader,
+was drowned while trying to escape across the
+Vaal River, DeWet was defeated in the field, De la
+Rey was accidentally shot, and Maritz became a fugitive.
+Botha then conquered the Germans in German
+South-West Africa and Smuts subsequently took over
+the command of the Allied Forces in German East
+Africa. When Botha died in 1919 Smuts not only
+assumed the Premiership of the Union but he also inherited
+the bitter enmity that General J. B. M. Hertzog
+bore towards his lamented Chief.</p>
+<p>Now we come to the crux of the whole business, past
+and present. Who is Hertzog and what does he stand
+for?</p>
+<p>If you look at your history of the Boer War you
+will see that one of the first Dutch Generals to take the
+field and one of the last to leave it was Hertzog, an
+Orange Free State lawyer who had won distinction on
+the Bench. He helped to frame the Union Constitution
+and on the day he signed it, declared that it was a distinct
+epoch in his life. A Boer of the Boers, he seemed to
+catch for the moment, the contagion that radiated from
+Botha and spelled a Greater South Africa.</p>
+<p>Botha made him Minister of Justice and all was well.
+But deep down in his heart Hertzog remained unrepentant.
+When the question of South Africa's contri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>bution
+to the Imperial Navy came up in 1912 he fought
+it tooth and nail. In fiery utterances attacking the
+Government he denounced Botha as a jingoist and an
+imperialist. Just about this time he made the famous
+speech in which he stated his ideal of South Africa. He
+declared that Briton and Boer were "two separate
+streams"&#8212;two nationalities each flowing in a separate
+channel. The "two streams" slogan is now the Nationalist
+battlecry.</p>
+<p>Such procedure on the part of Hertzog demanded
+prompt action on the part of Botha, who called upon his
+colleague either to suppress his particular brand of
+anathema or resign. Hertzog not only built a bigger
+bonfire of denunciation but refused to resign.</p>
+<p>Botha thereupon devised a unique method of ridding
+himself of his uncongenial Minister. He resigned, the
+Government fell, and the Cabinet dissolved automatically.
+Hertzog was left out in the cold. The Governor-General
+immediately re-appointed Botha Prime Minister
+and he reorganized his Cabinet without the undesirable
+Hertzog.</p>
+<p>Hertzog became the Stormy Petrel of South Africa,
+vowing vengeance against Botha and Britain. He
+galvanized the Nationalist Party, which up to this time
+had been merely a party of opposition, into what was
+rapidly becoming a flaming secession movement. The
+South African Party developed into the only really
+national party, while its opponent, although bearing the
+name of National, was solely and entirely racial.</p>
+<p>The first real test of strength was in the election of
+1915. The campaign was bitter and belligerent. The
+venom of the Nationalist Party was concentrated on
+Smuts. Many of his meetings became bloody riots. He
+was the target for rotten fruit and on one occasion an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg
+27]</a></span>
+attempt was made on his life. The combination of the
+Botha personality and the Smuts courage and reason
+won out and the South African Party remained in
+power.</p>
+<p>Undaunted, Hertzog carried on the fight. He soon
+had the supreme advantage of having the field to himself
+because Botha was off fighting the Germans and
+Smuts had gone to England to help mould the Allied
+fortunes. The Nationalist leader made hay while the
+red sun of war shone. Every South African who died
+on the battlefield was for him just another argument
+for separation from England.</p>
+<p>When Ireland declared herself a "republic" Hertzog
+took the cue and counted his cause in with that of the
+"small nations" that needed self-determination. "Afrika
+for the Afrikans," the old motto of the <i>Afrikander
+Bond</i>, was unfurled from the masthead and the sedition
+spread. It not only recruited the Boers who had an
+ancient grievance against Great Britain, but many
+others who secretly resented the Botha and Smuts intimacy
+with "the conquerors." Some were sons and
+grandsons of the old "<i>Vortrekkers</i>," who not only
+delighted
+to speak the "<i>taal</i>" exclusively but who had
+never surrendered the ideal of independence.</p>
+<p>While the Dutch movement in South Africa strongly
+resembles the Irish rebellion there are also some marked
+differences. In South Africa there is no religious
+barrier and as a result there has been much intermarriage
+between Briton and Boer. The English in South Africa
+bear the same relation to the Nationalist movement
+there that the Ulsterites bear to the Sinn Feiners in
+Ireland. Instead of being segregated as are the followers
+of Sir Edward Carson, they are scattered
+throughout the country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
+<p>At the General Election held early in 1920,&#8212;general
+elections are held every five years,&#8212;the results
+were surprising. The Nationalists returned a majority
+of four over the South African Party in Parliament.
+It left Smuts to carry on his Government with a
+minority. To add to his troubles, the Labour Party,&#8212;always
+an uncertain proposition,&#8212;increased its representation
+from a mere handful to twenty-one, while the
+Unionists, who comprise the straight-out English-speaking
+Party, whose stronghold is Natal, suffered
+severe losses. Smuts could not very well count the latter
+among his open allies because it would have alienated
+the hard-shell Boers in the South African Party.</p>
+<p>This was the situation that I found on my arrival in
+Capetown. On one hand was Smuts, still Prime Minister,
+taxing his every resource as parliamentarian and
+pacificator to maintain the Union and prevent a revolt
+from Britain&#8212;all in the face of a bitter and hostile
+majority. On the other hand was Hertzog, bent on
+secession and with a solid array of discontents behind
+him. The two former comrades of the firing line, as
+the heads of their respective groups, were locked in a
+momentous political life-and-death struggle the outcome
+of which may prove to be the precedent for
+Ireland, Egypt, and India.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-031-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-031-thumbnail.jpg" alt="GROOTE SCHUUR" title="GROOTE SCHUUR" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">GROOTE SCHUUR &#8212; <i>Photograph
+Copyright South African Railways</i></div>
+</div>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></div>
+<h2>II</h2>
+<p>Yet Smuts continued as Premier which
+means that he brought the life of Parliament
+to a close without a sharp division. Moreover,
+he man&#339;uvered his forces into a position that
+saved the day for Union and himself. How did he do it?</p>
+<p>I can demonstrate one way and with a rather personal
+incident. During the week I spent in Capetown
+Smuts was an absorbed person as you may imagine.
+The House was in session day and night and there were
+endless demands on him. The best opportunities that
+we had for talk were at meal-time. One evening I
+dined with him in the House restaurant. When we
+sat down we thought that we had the place to ourselves.
+Suddenly Smuts cast his eye over the long room and saw
+a solitary man just commencing his dinner in the opposite
+corner. Turning to me he said:</p>
+<p>"Do you know Cresswell?"</p>
+<p>"I was introduced to him yesterday," I replied.</p>
+<p>"Would you mind if I asked him to dine with us?"</p>
+<p>When I assured him that I would be delighted, the
+Prime Minister got up, walked over to Cresswell and
+asked him to join us, which he did.</p>
+<p>The significant part of this apparently simple performance,
+which had its important outcome, was this.
+Colonel F. H. P. Cresswell is the leader of the Labour
+Party in South Africa. By profession a mining engineer,
+he led the forces of revolt in the historic industrial
+upheaval in the Rand in what Smuts denounced as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg
+30]</a></span>
+"Syndicalist Conspiracy." Riot, bloodshed, and confusion
+reigned for a considerable period at Johannesburg
+and large bodies of troops had to be called out to
+restore order. At the very moment that we sat down to
+dine that night no one knew just what Cresswell and
+the Labourites with their new-won power would do.
+Smuts, as Minister of Finance, had deported some of
+Cresswell's men and Cresswell himself narrowly escaped
+drastic punishment.</p>
+<p>When Smuts brought Cresswell over he said jokingly
+to me:</p>
+<p>"Cresswell is a good fellow but I came near sending
+him to jail once."</p>
+<p>Cresswell beamed and the three of us amiably discussed
+various topics until the gong sounded for the
+assembling of the House.</p>
+<p>What was the result? Before I left Capetown and
+when the first of the few occasions which tested the real
+voting strength of Parliament arose, Cresswell and
+some of his adherents voted with Smuts. I tell this
+little story to show that the man who today holds the
+destiny of South Africa in his hands is as skillful a
+diplomat as he is soldier and statesman.</p>
+<p>It was at one of these quiet dinners with Smuts at
+the House that he first spoke about Nationalism. He
+said: "The war gave Nationalism its death blow. But
+as a matter of fact Nationalism committed suicide in
+the war."</p>
+<p>"But what is Nationalism?" I asked him.</p>
+<p>"A water-tight nation in a water-tight compartment,"
+he replied. "It is a process of regimentation like the
+old Germany that will soon merge into a new Internationalism.
+What seems to be at this moment an orgy
+of Nationalism in South Africa or elsewhere is merely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg
+31]</a></span>
+its death gasp. The New World will be a world of
+individualism dominated by Britain and America.</p>
+<p>"What about the future?" I asked him. His answer
+was:</p>
+<p>"The safety of the future depends upon Federation,
+upon a League of Nations that will develop along
+economic and not purely sentimental lines. The New
+Internationalism will not stop war but it can regulate
+exchange, and through this regulation can help to prevent
+war.</p>
+<p>"I believe in an international currency which will be
+a sort of legal tender among all the nations. Why
+should the currency of the country depreciate or rise
+with the fortunes of war or with its industrial or other
+complications? Misfortune should not be penalized
+fiscally."</p>
+<p>I brought up the question of the lack of accord which
+then existed between Britain and America and suggested
+that perhaps the fall in exchange had something to do
+with it, whereupon he said: "Yes, I think it has. It
+merely illustrates the point that I have just made about
+an international currency."</p>
+<p>We came back to the subject of individualism, which
+led Smuts to say:</p>
+<p>"The Great War was a striking illustration of the
+difference between individualism and nationalism.
+Hindenberg commanded the only army in the war. It
+was a product of nationalism. The individualism of
+the Anglo-Saxon is such that it becomes a mob but it
+is an intelligent mob. Haig and Pershing commanded
+such mobs."</p>
+<p>I tried to probe Smuts about Russia. He was in
+London when I returned from Petrograd in 1917 and I
+recall that he displayed the keenest interest in what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg
+32]</a></span>
+I told him about Kerensky and the new order that I had
+seen in the making. I heard him speak at a Russian
+Fair in London. The whole burden of his utterance
+was the hope that the Slav would achieve discipline and
+organization. At that time Russia redeemed from autocracy
+looked to be a bulwark of Allied victory. The
+night we talked about Russia at Capetown she had
+become the prey of red terror and the plaything of
+organized assassination.</p>
+<p>Smuts looked rather wistful when he said:</p>
+<p>"You cannot defeat Russia. Napoleon learned this
+to his cost and so will the rest of the world. I do not
+know whether Bolshevism is advancing or subsiding.
+There comes a time when the fiercest fires die down.
+But the best way to revive or rally all Russia to the
+Soviet Government is to invade the country and to
+annex large slices of it."</p>
+<p>These utterances were made during those more or
+less hasty meals at the House of Parliament when the
+Premier's mind was really in the Legislative Hall nearby
+where he was fighting for his administrative life.
+It was far different out at <i>Groote Schuur</i>, the home
+of
+the Prime Minister, located in Rondebosch, a suburb
+about nine miles from Capetown. In the open country
+that he loves, and in an environment that breathed the
+romance and performance of England's greatest empire-builder,
+I caught something of the man's kindling vision
+and realized his ripe grasp of international events.</p>
+<p><i>Groote Schuur</i> is one of the best-known
+estates in
+the world. Cecil Rhodes in his will left it to the Union
+as the permanent residence of the Prime Minister. Ever
+since I read the various lives of Rhodes I had had an
+impatient desire to see this shrine of achievement. Here
+Rhodes came to live upon his accession to the Premier<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg
+33]</a></span>ship
+of the Cape Colony; here he fashioned the British
+South Africa Company which did for Rhodesia what
+the East India Company did for India; here came
+prince and potentate to pay him honour; here he dreamed
+his dreams of conquest looking out at mountain and
+sea; here lived Jameson and Kipling; here his remains
+lay in state when at forty-nine the fires of his restless
+ambition had ceased.</p>
+<p><i>Groote Schuur</i>, which in Dutch means "Great
+Granary," was originally built as a residence and store-house
+for one of the early Dutch Governors of the Cape.
+It is a beautiful example of the Dutch architecture that
+you will find throughout the Colony and which is not
+surpassed in grace or comfort anywhere. When Rhodes
+acquired it in the eighties the grounds were comparatively
+limited. As his power and fortune increased he
+bought up all the surrounding country until today you
+can ride for nine miles across the estate. You find
+no neat lawns and dainty flower-beds. On the place,
+as in the house itself, you get the sense of bigness and
+simplicity which were the keynotes of the Rhodes
+character.</p>
+<p>One reason why Rhodes acquired <i>Groote Schuur</i>
+was
+that behind it rose the great bulk of Table Mountain.
+He loved it for its vastness and its solitude. On the
+back <i>stoep</i>, which is the Dutch word for porch, he
+sat
+for hours gazing at this mountain which like the man
+himself was invested with a spirit of immensity.</p>
+<p>It was a memorable experience to be at <i>Groote Schuur</i>
+with Smuts, who has lived to see the realization of the
+hope of Union which thrilled always in the heart of
+Cecil Rhodes. I remember that on the first night I
+went out the Prime Minister took me through the house
+himself. It has been contended by Smuts' enemies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+that he was a "creature of Rhodes." I discovered that
+Smuts, with the exception of having made a speech of
+welcome when Rhodes visited the school that he attended
+as a boy, had never even met the Englishman who left
+his impress upon a whole land.</p>
+<p><i>Groote Schuur</i> has been described so much
+that it is
+not necessary for me to dwell upon its charm and atmosphere
+here. To see it is to get a fresh and intimate
+realization of the personality which made the establishment
+an unofficial Chancellery of the British Empire.</p>
+<p>Two details, however, have poignant and dramatic
+interest. In the simple, massive, bed-room with its
+huge bay window opening on Table Mountain and a
+stretch of lovely countryside, hangs the small map of
+Africa that Rhodes marked with crimson ink and about
+which he made the famous utterance, "It must be all
+red." Hanging on the wall in the billiard room is the
+flag with Crescent and Cape device that he had made to
+be carried by the first locomotive to travel from Cairo
+to the Cape. That flag has never been unfurled to the
+breeze but the vision that beheld it waving in the heart
+of the jungle is soon to become an accomplished fact.</p>
+<p>It was on a night at <i>Groote Schuur</i>, as I
+walked with
+Smuts through the acres of hydrangeas and bougainvillea
+(Rhodes' favorite flowers), with a new moon peeping
+overhead that I got the real mood of the man. Pointing
+to the faint silvery crescent in the sky I said: "General,
+there's a new moon over us and I'm sure it means
+good luck for you."</p>
+<p>"No," he replied, "it's the man that makes the luck."</p>
+<p>He had had a trying day in the House and was silent
+in the motor car that brought us out. The moment we
+reached the country and he sniffed the scent of the gardens
+the anxiety and preoccupation fell away. He al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>most
+became boyish. But when he began to discuss
+great problems the lightness vanished and he became
+the serious thinker.</p>
+<p>We harked back to the days when I had first seen
+him in England. I asked him to tell me what he thought
+of the aftermath of the stupendous struggle. He said:</p>
+<p>"The war was just a phase of world convulsion. It
+made the first rent in the universal structure. For years
+the trend of civilization was toward a super-Nationalism.
+It is easy to trace the stages. The Holy Roman Empire
+was a phase of Nationalism. That was Catholic. Then
+came the development of Nationalism, beginning with
+Napoleon. That was Protestant. Now began the building
+of water-tight compartments, otherwise known as
+nations. Germany represented the most complete development.</p>
+<p>"But that era of 'my country,' 'my power,'&#8212;it is
+all a form of national ego,&#8212;is gone. The four great
+empires,&#8212;Turkey, Germany, Russia and Austria,&#8212;have
+crumbled. The war jolted them from their high
+estate. It started the universal cataclysm. Centuries
+in the future some perspective can be had and the results
+appraised.</p>
+<p>"Meanwhile, we can see the beginning. The world
+is one. Humanity is one and must be one. The war,
+at terrible cost, brought the peoples together. The
+League of Nations is a faint and far-away evidence
+of this solidarity. It merely points the way but it is
+something. It is not academic formulas that will unite
+the peoples of the world but intelligence."</p>
+<p>Smuts now turned his thought to a subject not without
+interest for America, for he said:</p>
+<p>"The world has been brought together by the press,
+by wireless, indeed by all communication which represents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg
+36]</a></span>
+the last word in scientific development. Yet political
+institutions cling to old and archaic traditions. Take
+the Presidency of the United States. A man waits for
+four months before he is inaugurated. The incumbent
+may work untold mischief in the meantime. It is all due
+to the fact that in the days when the American Constitution
+was framed the stagecoach and the horse were
+the only means of conveyance. The world now travels
+by aeroplane and express train, yet the antiquated
+habits continue.</p>
+<p>"So with political parties and peoples, the British
+Empire included. They need to be brought abreast
+of the times. The old pre-war British Empire, for
+example, is gone in the sense of colonies or subordinate
+nations clustering around one master nation. The
+British Empire itself is developing into a real League
+of Nations,&#8212;a group of partner peoples."</p>
+<p>"What of America and the future?" I asked him.</p>
+<p>"America is the leaven of the future," answered
+Smuts. "She is the life-blood of the League of Nations.
+Without her the League is stifled. America will give
+the League the peace temper. You Americans are a
+pacific people, slow to war but terrible and irresistible
+when you once get at it. The American is an individualist
+and in that new and inevitable internationalism the
+individual will stand out, the American pre-eminently."</p>
+<p>Throughout this particular experience at <i>Groote
+Schuur</i> I could not help marvelling on the contrast that
+the man and the moment presented. We walked
+through a place of surpassing beauty. Ahead brooded
+the black mystery of the mountains and all around was
+a fragrant stillness broken only by the quick, almost
+passionate speech of this seer and thinker, animate with
+an inspiring ideal of public service, whose mind leaped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg
+37]</a></span>
+from the high places of poetry and philosophy on to
+the hiving battlefield of world event. It seemed almost
+impossible that nine miles away at Capetown raged the
+storm that almost within the hour would again claim
+him as its central figure.</p>
+<p>The Smuts statements that I have quoted were made
+long before the Presidential election in America. I do
+not know just what Smuts thinks of the landslide that
+overwhelmed the Wilson administration and with it that
+well-known Article X, but I do know that he genuinely
+hopes that the United States somehow will have a share
+in the new international stewardship of the world. He
+would welcome any order that would enable us to play
+our part.</p>
+<p>No one can have contact with Smuts without feeling
+at once his intense admiration for America. One of his
+ambitions is to come to the United States. It is characteristic
+of him that he has no desire to see skyscrapers
+and subways. His primary interest is in the great farms
+of the West. "Your people," he once said to me, "have
+made farming a science and I wish that South Africa
+could emulate them. We have farms in vast area but
+we have not yet attained an adequate development."</p>
+<p>I was amazed at his knowledge of American literature.
+He knows Hamilton backwards, has read diligently
+about the life and times of Washington, and is
+familiar with Irving, Poe, Hawthorne and Emerson.
+One reason why he admires the first American President
+is because he was a farmer. Smuts knows as much
+about rotation of crops and successful chicken raising
+as he does about law and politics. He said:</p>
+<p>"I am an eighty per cent farmer and a Boer, and most
+people think a Boer is a barbarian."</p>
+<p>Despite his scholarship he remains what he delights<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg
+38]</a></span>
+to call himself, "a Boer." He still likes the simple Boer
+things, as this story will show. During the war, while
+he was a member of the British War Cabinet and when
+Lloyd George leaned on him so heavily for a multitude
+of services, a young South African Major, fresh from
+the Transvaal, brought him a box of home delicacies.
+The principal feature of this package was a piece of
+what the Boers call "biltong," which is dried venison.
+The Major gave the package to an imposing servant in
+livery at the Savoy Hotel, where the General lived, to
+be delivered to him. Smuts was just going out and encountered
+the man carrying it in. When he learned
+that it was from home, he grabbed the box, saying:
+"I'll take it up myself." Before he reached his apartment
+he was chewing away vigorously on a mouthful
+of "biltong" and having the time of his life.</p>
+<p>The contrast between Smuts and his predecessor
+Botha is striking. These two men, with the possible
+exception of Kruger, stand out in the annals of the
+Boer. Kruger was the dour, stolid, canny, provincial
+trader. The only time that his interest ever left the
+confines of the Transvaal was when he sought an alliance
+with William Hohenzollern, and that person, I might
+add, failed him at the critical moment.</p>
+<p>Botha was the George Washington of South Africa,&#8212;the
+farmer who became Premier. He was big of
+body and of soul,&#8212;big enough to know when he was
+beaten and to rebuild out of the ruins. Even the Nationalists
+trusted him and they do not trust Smuts. It is
+the old story of the prophet in his own country. There
+are many people in South Africa today who believe that
+if Botha were alive there would be no secession movement.</p>
+<p>The Boers who oppose him politically call Smuts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg
+39]</a></span>
+"Slim Jannie." The Dutch word "slim" means tricky
+and evasive. Not so very long ago Smuts was in
+a conference with some of his countrymen who were not
+altogether friendly to him. He had just remarked on
+the long drought that was prevailing. One of the men
+present went to the window and looked out. When asked
+the reason for this action he replied:</p>
+<p>"Smuts says that there's a drought. I looked out
+to see if it was raining."</p>
+<p>When you come to Smuts in this analogy you behold
+the Alexander Hamilton of his nation, the brilliant
+student, soldier, and advocate. Of all his Boer contemporaries
+he is the most cosmopolitan. Nor is this
+due entirely to the fact that he went to Cambridge
+where he left a record for scholarship, and speaks English
+with a decided accent. It is because he has what
+might be called world sense. His career, and more especially
+his part at the Peace Conference and since, is
+a dramatization of it.</p>
+<p>To the student of human interest Smuts is a fertile
+subject. His life has been a cinema romance shot
+through with sharp contrasts. Here is one of them.
+When leaders of the shattered Boer forces gathered in
+<i>Vereeniging</i> to discuss the Peace Terms with
+Kitchener
+in 1902, Smuts, who commanded a flying guerilla
+column, was besieging the little mining town of O'okiep.
+He received a summons from Botha to attend. It was
+accompanied by a safe-conduct pass signed "D. Haig,
+Colonel." Later Haig and Smuts stood shoulder to
+shoulder in a common cause and helped to save civilization.</p>
+<p>Smuts is more many-sided than any other contemporary
+Prime Minister and for that matter, those that
+have gone into retirement, that is, men like Asquith in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg
+40]</a></span>
+England and Clemenceau in France. Among world
+statesmen the only mind comparable to his is that of
+Woodrow Wilson. They have in common a high intellectuality.
+But Wilson in his prime lacked the hard
+sense and the accurate knowledge of men and practical
+affairs which are among the chief Smuts assets.</p>
+<p>Speaking of Premiers brings me to the inevitable
+comparison between Smuts and Lloyd George. I have
+seen them both in varying circumstances, both in public
+and in private and can attempt some appraisal.</p>
+<p>Each has been, and remains, a pillar of Empire.
+Each has emulated the Admirable Crichton in the
+variety and multiplicity of public posts. Lloyd George
+has held five Cabinet posts in England and Smuts has
+duplicated the record in South Africa. Each man is an
+inspired orator who owes much of his advancement to
+eloquent tongue. Their platform manner is totally
+different. Lloyd George is fascinatingly magnetic in
+and out of the spotlight while Smuts is more coldly logical.
+When you hear Lloyd George you are stirred and
+even exalted by his golden imagery. The sound of his
+voice falls on the ear like music. You admire the daring
+of his utterance but you do not always remember everything
+he says.</p>
+<p>With Smuts you listen and you remember. He has no
+tricks of the spellbinder's trade. He is forceful, convincing,
+persuasive, and what is more important, has
+the quality of permanency. Long after you have left
+his presence the words remain in your memory. If I
+had a case in court I would like to have Smuts try it.
+His specialty is pleading.</p>
+<p>Lloyd George seldom reads a book. The only volumes
+I ever heard him say that he had read were Mr.
+Dooley and a collection of the Speeches of Abraham<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg
+41]</a></span>
+Lincoln. He has books read for him and with a
+Roosevelt faculty for assimilation, gives you the impression
+that he has spent his life in a library.</p>
+<p>Smuts is one of the best-read men I have met. He
+seems to know something about everything. He ranges
+from Joseph Conrad to Kant, from Booker Washington
+to Tolstoi. History, fiction, travel, biography, have
+all come within his ken. I told him I proposed to go
+from Capetown to the Congo and possibly to Angola.
+His face lighted up. "Ah, yes," he said, "I have read
+all about those countries. I can see them before me in
+my mind's eye."</p>
+<p>One night at dinner at <i>Groote Schuur</i> we
+had sweet
+potatoes. He asked me if they were common in
+America. I replied that down in Kentucky where I was
+born one of the favorite negro dishes was "'possum and
+sweet potatoes." He took me up at once saying:</p>
+<p>"Oh, yes, I have read about ''possum pie' in Joel
+Chandler Harris' books." Then he proceeded to tell
+me what a great institution "Br'er Rabbit" was.</p>
+<p>We touched on German poetry and I quoted two lines
+that I considered beautiful. When I remarked that
+I thought Heine was the author he corrected me by
+proving that they were written by Schiller.</p>
+<p>Lloyd George could never carry on a conversation
+like this for the simple reason that he lacks familiarity
+with literature. He feels perhaps like the late Charles
+Frohman who, on being asked if he read the dramatic
+papers said: "Why should I read about the theatre. I
+<i>make</i> dramatic history."</p>
+<p>I asked Smuts what he was reading at the moment.
+He looked at me with some astonishment and answered,
+"Nothing except public documents. It's a good thing
+that I was able to do some reading before I became
+Prime Minister. I certainly have no time now."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p>
+<p>Take the matter of languages. Lloyd George has
+always professed that he did not know French, and on
+all his trips to France both during and since the war
+he carried a staff of interpreters. He understands a
+good deal more French than he professes. His widely
+proclaimed ignorance of the language has stood him in
+good stead because it has enabled him to hear a great
+many things that were not intended for his ears. It is
+part of his political astuteness. Smuts is an accomplished
+linguist. It has been said of him that he "can be
+silent in more languages than any man in South Africa."</p>
+<p>Lloyd George is a clever politician with occasional
+inspired moments but he is not exactly a statesman as
+Disraeli and Gladstone were. Smuts has the unusual
+combination of statesmanship with a knowledge of every
+wrinkle in the political game.</p>
+<p>Take his experience at the Paris Peace Conference.
+He was distinguished not so much for what he did,
+(and that was considerable), but for what he opposed.
+No man was better qualified to voice the sentiment of
+the "small nation." Born of proud and liberty-loving
+people,&#8212;an infant among the giants&#8212;he was attuned
+to every aspiration of an hour that realized many a one-time
+forlorn national hope. Yet his statesmanship tempered
+sentimental impulse.</p>
+<p>In that gallery of treaty-makers Lloyd George, Clemenceau,
+and Wilson focussed the "fierce light" that
+beat about the proceedings. But it was Smuts, in the
+shadow, who contributed largely to the mental power-plant
+that drove the work. Lloyd George had to consider
+the chapter he wrote in the great instrument as
+something in the nature of a campaign document to be
+employed at home, while Clemenceau guided a steamroller
+that stooped for nothing but France. The more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+or less unsophisticated idealism of Woodrow Wilson
+foundered on these obstacles.</p>
+<p>Smuts, with his uncanny sense of prophecy, foretold
+the economic consequences of the peace. Looking ahead
+he visualized a surly and unrepentant Germany, unwilling
+to pay the price of folly; a bitter and disappointed
+Austria gasping for economic breath; an
+aroused and indignant Italy raging with revolt&#8212;all
+the chaos that spells "peace" today. He saw the Treaty
+as a new declaration of war instead of an antidote for
+discord. His judgment, sadly enough, has been confirmed.
+A deranged universe shot through with reaction
+and confusion, and with half a dozen wars sputtering
+on the horizon, is the answer. The sob and surge
+of tempest-born nations in the making are lost in the
+din of older ones threatened with decay and disintegration.
+It is not a pleasing spectacle.</p>
+<p>Smuts signed the Treaty but, as most people know,
+he filed a memorandum of protest and explanation. He
+believed the terms uneconomic and therefore unsound,
+but it was worth taking a chance on interpretation, a desperate
+venture perhaps, but anything to stop the blare
+and bicker of the council table and start the work of
+reconstruction.</p>
+<p>At Capetown he told me that for days he wrestled
+with the problem "to sign or not to sign." Finally, on
+the day before the Day of Days in the Hall of Mirrors
+at Versailles, he took a long solitary walk in the Champs
+Elysee, loveliest of Paris parades. Returning to his
+hotel he said to his secretary, Captain E. F. C. Lane,
+"I have decided to sign, but I will tell the reason why."
+He immediately sat down at his desk and in a handwriting
+noted for its illegibility wrote the famous memorandum.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg
+44]</a></span></p>
+<h2>III</h2>
+<p>What of the personal side of Smuts? While
+he is intensely human it is difficult to connect
+anecdote with him. I heard one at
+Capetown, however, that I do not think has seen the
+light of print. It reveals his methods, too.</p>
+<p>When the Germans ran amuck in 1914 Smuts was
+Minister of Defense of the Union of South Africa.
+The Nationalists immediately began to make life uncomfortable
+for him. Balked in their attempt to keep
+the Union out of the struggle they took another tack.
+After the Botha campaign in German South-West
+Africa was well under way, a member of the Opposition
+asked the Minister of Defense the following question in
+Parliament: "How much has South Africa paid for
+horses in the field and the Nationalists sought to make
+some political capital out of an expenditure that they
+remounts?" The Union forces employed thousands of
+called "waste."</p>
+<p>Smuts sent over to Army Headquarters to get the
+figures. He was told that it would take twenty clerks
+at least four weeks to compile the data.</p>
+<p>"Never mind," was his laconic comment. The next
+day happened to be Question Day in the House. As
+soon as the query about the remount charge came up
+Smuts calmly rose in his seat and replied:</p>
+<p>"It was exactly eight million one hundred and sixty-nine
+thousand pounds, ten shillings and sixpence." He
+then sat down without any further remark.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-049-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-049-thumbnail.jpg" alt="GENERAL J. C. SMUTS" title="GENERAL J. C. SMUTS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">GENERAL J. C. SMUTS &#8212;<i>Photograph
+Copyright by Harris &amp; Ewing</i></div>
+</div>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></div>
+<p>When one of his colleagues asked him where he got
+this information he said:</p>
+<p>"I dug it out of my own mind. It will take the
+Nationalists a month to figure it out and by that time
+they will have forgotten all about it." And it was
+forgotten.</p>
+<p>Smuts not only has a keen sense of humor but is
+swift on the retort. While speaking at a party rally in
+his district not many years after the Boer War he was
+continually interrupted by an ex-soldier. He stopped
+his speech and asked the man to state his grievance.
+The heckler said:</p>
+<p>"General de la Rey guaranteed the men fighting
+under him a living."</p>
+<p>Quick as a flash Smuts replied:</p>
+<p>"Nonsense. What he guaranteed you was certain
+death."</p>
+<p>Like many men conspicuous in public life Smuts gets
+up early and has polished off a good day's work before
+the average business man has settled down to his job.
+There is a big difference between his methods of work
+and those of Lloyd George. The British Prime
+Minister only goes to the House of Commons when he
+has to make a speech or when some important question
+is up for discussion. Smuts attends practically every
+session of Parliament, at least he did while I was in
+Capetown.</p>
+<p>One reason was that on account of the extraordinary
+position in which he found himself, any moment might
+have produced a division carrying with it disastrous
+results for the Government. The crisis demanded that
+he remain literally on the job all the time. He left
+little to his lieutenants. Confident of his ability in debate
+he was always willing to risk a showdown but he
+had to be there when it came.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
+<p>I watched him as he sat in the House. He occupied
+a front bench directly opposite Hertzog and where he
+could look his arch enemy squarely in the eyes all the
+time. I have seen him sit like a Sphinx for an hour
+without apparently moving a muscle. He has cultivated
+that rarest of arts which is to be a good listener.
+He is one of the great concentrators. In this genius, for
+it is little less, lies one of the secrets of his success.
+During a lull in legislative proceedings he has a habit
+of taking a solitary walk out in the lobby. More than
+once I saw him pacing up and down, always with an ear
+cocked toward the Assembly Room so he could hear
+what was going on and rush to the rescue if necessary.</p>
+<p>In the afternoon he would sometimes go into the
+members' smoking room and drink a cup of coffee, the
+popular drink in South Africa. In the old Boer household
+the coffee pot is constantly boiling. With a cup
+of coffee and a piece of "biltong" inside him a Boer
+could fight or trek all day. Coffee bears the same relation
+to the South African that tea does to the Englishman,
+save that it is consumed in much larger quantities.
+I might add that Smuts neither drinks liquor of any
+kind nor smokes, and he eats sparingly. He admits that
+his one dissipation is farming.</p>
+<p>This comes naturally because he was born fifty years
+ago on a farm in what is known as the Western Province
+in the Karoo country. He did his share of the chores
+about the place until it was time for him to go to school.
+His father and his grandfather were farmers. Inbred
+in him, as in most Boers, is an ardent love of country
+life and especially an affection for the mountains. On
+more than one occasion he has climbed to the top of
+Table Mountain, which is no inconsiderable feat.</p>
+<p>There are two ways of appraising Smuts. One is to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg
+47]</a></span>
+see him in action as I did at Capetown, while Parliament
+was in session. The other is to get him with the background
+of his farm at Irene, a little way station about
+ten miles from Pretoria. Here, in a rambling one-story
+house surrounded by orchards, pastures, and gardens,
+he lives the simple life. In the western part of the
+Transvaal he owns a real farm. He showed his shrewdness
+in the acquisition of this property because he bought
+it at a time when the region was dubbed a "desert."
+Now it is a garden spot.</p>
+<p>Irene has various distinct advantages. For one thing
+it is his permanent home. <i>Groote Schuur</i> is the
+property
+of the Government and he owes his tenancy of it
+entirely to the fortunes of politics. At Irene is planted
+his hearthstone and around it is mobilized his considerable
+family. There are six little Smutses. Smuts
+married the sweetheart of his youth who is a rarely
+congenial helpmate. It was once said of her that she
+"went about the house with a baby under one arm and a
+Greek dictionary under the other."</p>
+<p>Most people do not realize that the Union of South
+Africa has two capitals. Capetown with the House of
+Parliament is the center of legislation, while Pretoria,
+the ancient Kruger stronghold, with its magnificent new
+Union buildings atop a commanding eminence, is the
+fountain-head of administration. With Irene only ten
+miles away it is easy for Smuts to live with his family
+after the adjournment of Parliament, and go in to his
+office at Pretoria every day.</p>
+<p>I have already given you a hint of the Smuts personal
+appearance. Let us now take a good look at him. His
+forehead is lofty, his nose arched, his mouth large. You
+know that his blonde beard veils a strong jaw. The eyes
+are reminiscent of those marvelous orbs of Marshal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg
+48]</a></span>
+Foch only they are blue, haunting and at times inexorable.
+Yet they can light up with humor and glow with
+friendliness.</p>
+<p>Smuts is essentially an out-of-doors person and his
+body is wiry and rangy. He has the stride of a man
+seasoned to the long march and who is equally at home
+in the saddle. He speaks with vigour and at times not
+without emotion. The Boer is not a particularly
+demonstrative person and Smuts has some of the racial
+reserve. His personality betokens potential strength,&#8212;a
+suggestion of the unplumbed reserve that keeps
+people guessing. This applies to his mental as well as
+his physical capacity. Frankly cordial, he resents
+familiarity. You would never think of slapping him on
+the shoulder and saying, "Hello, Jan." More than
+one blithe and buoyant person has been frozen into
+respectful silence in such a foolhardy undertaking.</p>
+<p>His middle name is Christian and it does not belie
+a strong phase of his character. Without carrying his
+religious convictions on his coat-sleeve, he has nevertheless
+a fine spiritual strain in his make-up. He is an
+all-round dependable person, with an adaptability to
+environment that is little short of amazing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+<h2>IV</h2>
+<p>Now let us turn to another and less conspicuous
+South African whose point of view, imperial,
+personal and patriotic, is the exact opposite
+of that of Smuts. Throughout this chapter has run the
+strain of Hertzog, first the Boer General fighting gallantly
+in the field with Smuts as youthful comrade;
+then the member of the Botha Cabinet; later the bitter
+insurgent, and now the implacable foe of the order that
+he helped to establish. What manner of man is he and
+what has he to say?</p>
+<p>I talked to him one afternoon when he left the
+floor leadership to his chief lieutenant, a son of
+the late President Steyn of the Orange Free State.
+Like his father, who called himself "President" to the
+end of his life although his little republic had slipped
+away from him, he has never really yielded to English
+rule.</p>
+<p>We adjourned to the smoking room where we had the
+inevitable cup of South African coffee. I was prepared
+to find a fanatic and fire-eater. Instead I faced a thin,
+undersized man who looked anything but a general and
+statesman. Put him against the background of a small
+New England town and you would take him for an
+American country lawyer. He resembles the student
+more than the soldier and, like many Boers, speaks
+English with a British accent. Nor is he without force.
+No man can play the r&ocirc;le that he has played in South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg
+50]</a></span>
+Africa those past twenty-five years without having
+substance in him.</p>
+<p>When I asked him to state his case he said:</p>
+<p>"The republican idea is as old as South Africa. There
+was a republic before the British arrived. The idea came
+from the American Revolution and the inspiration was
+Washington. The Great Trek of 1836 was a protest
+very much like the one we are making today.</p>
+<p>"President Wilson articulated the Boer feeling with
+his gospel of self-determination. He also voiced the
+aspirations of Ireland, India and Egypt. It is a great
+world idea&#8212;a deep moral conviction of mankind, this
+right of the individual state, as of the individual for
+freedom.</p>
+<p>"Never again will Transvaal and Orange Free
+State history be repeated. No matter how a nation
+covets another&#8212;and I refer to British
+covetousness,&#8212;if
+the nation coveted is able to govern itself it cannot
+and must not be assimilated. It is one result of the
+Great War."</p>
+<p>"What is the Nationalist ideal?" I asked.</p>
+<p>"It is the right to self-rule," replied Hertzog. "But
+there must be no conflict if it can be avoided. It must
+prevail by reason and education. At the present time
+I admit that the majority of South Africans do not
+want republicanism. The Nationalist mission today is
+to keep the torch lighted."</p>
+<p>"How does this idea fit into the spirit of the League
+of Nations?" I queried.</p>
+<p>"It fits in perfectly," was the response. "We Nationalists
+favor the League as outlined by Wilson. But I
+fear that it will develop into a capitalistic, imperialistic
+empire dominating the world instead of a league of
+nations."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<p>I asked Hertzog how he reconciled acquiescence to
+Union to the present Nationalist revolt. The answer
+was:</p>
+<p>"The Nationalists supported the Government because
+of their attachment to General Botha. Deep down in
+his heart Botha wanted to be free and independent."</p>
+<p>"How about Ireland?" I demanded.</p>
+<p>The General smiled as he responded: "Our position
+is different. It does not require dynamite, but education.
+With us it is a simple matter of the will of the
+people. I do not think that conditions in South Africa
+will ever reach the state at which they have arrived in
+Ireland."</p>
+<p>Commenting on the Union and its relations to the
+British Empire Hertzog continued:</p>
+<p>"The Union is not a failure but we could be better
+governed. The thing to which we take exception is that
+the British Government, through our connection with
+it, is in a position by which it gets an undue advantage
+directly and indirectly to influence legislation. For example,
+we were not asked to conquer German South-West
+Africa; it was a command.</p>
+<p>"Very much against the feeling of the old population,
+that is the Dutch element, we were led into participation
+in the war. Today this old population feels as strongly
+as ever against South Africa being involved in European
+politics. It feels that all this Empire movement
+only leads in that direction and involves us in world
+conflicts.</p>
+<p>"One of the strongest reasons in favor of separation
+and the setting up of a South African republic is to
+get solidarity between the English and the Dutch. I
+cannot help feeling that our interests are being constantly
+subordinated to those of Great Britain. My firm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+conviction is that the freer we are, and the more independent
+of Great Britain we become, the more we shall
+favor a close co-operation with her. We do not dislike
+the British as such but we do object to the Britisher
+coming out as a subject of Great Britain with a superior
+manner and looking upon the Dutchman as a dependent
+or a subordinate. There will be a conflict so long as
+they do not recognize our heroes, traditions and history.
+In short, we are determined to have a republic of South
+Africa and England must recognize it. To oppose it is
+fatal."</p>
+<p>"Will you fight for it?" I asked.</p>
+<p>"I hardly think that it will come to force," said the
+General. "It must prevail by reason and education. It
+may not come in one year but it will come before many
+years."</p>
+<p>Hertzog's feeling is not shared, as he intimated, by
+the majority of South Africans and this includes many
+Dutchmen. An illuminating analysis of the Nationalist
+point of view was made for me by Sir Thomas Smartt,
+the leader of the Unionist Party and a virile force in
+South African politics. He brought the situation
+strikingly home to America when he said:</p>
+<p>"The whole Nationalist movement is founded on race.
+Like the Old Guard, the Boer may die but it is hard for
+him to surrender. His heart still rankles with the outcome
+of the Boer War. Would the American South
+have responded to an appeal to arms in the common
+cause made by the North in 1876? Probably not. Before
+your Civil War the South only had individual
+states. The Boers, on the other hand, had republics
+with completely organized and independent governments.
+This is why it will take a long time before com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>plete
+assimilation is accomplished. A second Boer War
+is unthinkable."</p>
+<p>We can now return to Smuts and find out just how
+he achieved the miracle by which he not only retained
+the Premiership but spiked the guns of the opposition.</p>
+<p>When I left Capetown he was in a corner. The
+Nationalist majority not only made his position precarious
+but menaced the integrity of Union, and through
+Union, the whole Empire. For five months,&#8212;the
+whole session of Parliament,&#8212;he held his ground.
+Every night when he went to bed at <i>Groote Schuur</i> he
+did not know what disaster the morrow would bring
+forth. It was a constant juggle with conflicting
+interests, ambitions and prejudices. He was like a lion
+with a pack snapping on all sides.</p>
+<p>Now you can see why he sat in that front seat in the
+House morning, noon and night. He placated the
+Labourites, harmonized the Unionists, and flung down
+the gauntlet openly to the Nationalists. Throughout
+that historic session, and although much legislation was
+accomplished, he did not permit the consummation of a
+single decisive division. It was a triumph of parliamentary
+leadership.</p>
+<p>When the session closed in July,&#8212;it is then
+mid-winter
+in Africa,&#8212;he was still up against it. The
+Nationalist majority was a phantom that dogged his
+official life and political fortunes. The problem now was
+to take out sane insurance against a repetition of the
+trial and uncertainty which he had undergone.</p>
+<p>Fate in the shape of the Nationalist Party played
+into his hands. Under the stimulation of the Nationalists
+a <i>Vereeniging</i> Congress was called at Bloenfontein
+late last September. The Dutch word <i>Vereeniging</i>
+means "reunion." Hertzog and Tielman Roos, the co-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg
+54]</a></span>leader
+of the secessionists, believed that by bringing the
+leading representatives of the two leading parties together
+the appeal to racial pride might carry the day.
+Smuts did not attend but various members of his Cabinet
+did.</p>
+<p>Reunion did anything but reunite. The differences
+on the republican issues being fundamental were likewise
+irreconcilable. The Nationalists stood pat on secession
+while the South African Party remained loyal
+to its principles of Imperial unity. The meeting ended
+in a deadlock.</p>
+<p>Smuts, a field marshal of politics, at once saw that
+the hour of deliverance from his dilemma had arrived.
+The Nationalists had declared themselves unalterably
+for separation. He converted their battle-cry into coin
+for himself. He seized the moment to issue a call for
+a new Moderate Party that would represent a fusion of
+the South Africanists and the Unionists. In one of his
+finest documents he made a plea for the consolidation of
+these constructive elements.</p>
+<p>In it he said:</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Now that the Nationalist Party is firmly resolved to continue
+its propaganda of fanning the fires of secession and of driving
+the European races apart from each other and ultimately into
+conflict with each other, the moderate elements of our population
+have no other alternative but to draw closer to one another
+in order to fight that policy.</p>
+<p>A new appeal must, therefore, be made to all right-minded
+South Africans, irrespective of party or race, to join the new
+Party, which will be strong enough to safeguard the permanent
+interests of the Union against the disruptive and destructive
+policy of the Nationalists. Such a central political party will
+not only continue our great work of the past, but is destined
+to play a weighty r&ocirc;le in the future peaceable development of
+South Africa.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p>
+<p>The end of October witnessed the ratification of this
+proposal by the Unionists. The action at once consolidated
+the Premier's position. I doubt if in all political
+history you can uncover a series of events more paradoxical
+or perplexing or find a solution arrived at with
+greater skill and strategy. It was a revelation of Smuts
+with his ripe statesmanship put to the test, and not found
+wanting.</p>
+<p>At the election held four months later Smuts scored
+a brilliant triumph. The South African Party increased
+its representation by eighteen seats, while the
+Nationalists lost heavily. The Labour Party was almost
+lost in the wreckage. The net result was that the
+Premier obtained a working majority of twenty-two,
+which guarantees a stable and loyal Government for at
+least five years.</p>
+<p>It only remains to speculate on what the future holds
+for this remarkable man. South Africa has a tragic
+habit of prematurely destroying its big men. Rhodes
+was broken on the wheel at forty-nine, and Botha succumbed
+in the prime of life. Will Smuts share the same
+fate?</p>
+<p>No one need be told in the face of the Smuts performance
+that he is a world asset. The question is, how
+far will he go? A Cabinet Minister at twenty-eight, a
+General at thirty, a factor in international affairs before
+he was well into the forties, he unites those rare elements
+of greatness which seem to be so sparsely apportioned
+these disturbing days. That he will reconstruct South
+Africa there is no doubt. What larger responsibilities
+may devolve upon him can only be guessed.</p>
+<p>Just before I sailed from England I talked with a
+high-placed British official. He is in the councils of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg
+56]</a></span>
+Empire and he knows Smuts and South Africa. I asked
+him to indicate what in his opinion would be the next
+great milepost of Smuts' progress. He replied:</p>
+<p>"The destiny of Smuts is interwoven with the destiny
+of the whole British Empire. The Great War bound
+the Colonies together with bonds of blood. Out of this
+common peril and sacrifice has been knit a closer Imperial
+kinship. During the war we had an Imperial
+War Cabinet composed of overseas Premiers, which sat
+in London. Its logical successor will be a United
+British Empire, federated in policy but not in administration.
+Smuts will be the Prime Minister of these
+United States of Great Britain."</p>
+<p>It is the high goal of a high career.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-069-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-069-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE HEAVY LINE INDICATES MR. MARCOSSON'S ROUTE IN AFRICA" title="THE HEAVY LINE INDICATES MR. MARCOSSON'S ROUTE IN AFRICA" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">THE HEAVY LINE INDICATES MR.
+MARCOSSON'S ROUTE IN AFRICA</div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></div>
+<h1><a name="CHAPTER_II_CAPE-TO-CAIRO" id="CHAPTER_II_CAPE-TO-CAIRO"></a>CHAPTER
+II&#8212;"CAPE-TO-CAIRO"</h1>
+<h2>I</h2>
+<p>When you take the train for the North at
+Capetown you start on the first lap of what
+is in many respects the most picturesque
+journey in the world. Other railways tunnel mighty
+mountains, cross seething rivers, traverse scorching
+deserts, and invade the clouds, but none has so romantic
+an interest or is bound up with such adventure and
+imagination as this. The reason is that at Capetown
+begins the southern end of the famous seven-thousand-mile
+Cape-to-Cairo Route, one of the greatest dreams
+of England's prince of practical dreamers, Cecil Rhodes.
+Today, after thirty years of conflict with grudging
+Governments, the project is practically an accomplished
+fact.</p>
+<p>Woven into its fabric is the story of a German conspiracy
+that was as definite a cause of the Great War as
+the Balkan mess or any other phase of Teutonic international
+meddling. Along its highway the American
+mining engineer has registered a little known evidence
+of his achievement abroad. The route taps civilization
+and crosses the last frontiers of progress. The South
+African end discloses an illuminating example of profitable
+nationalization. Over it still broods the personality
+of the man who conceived it and who left his impress
+and his name on an empire. Attention has been
+directed anew to the enterprise from the fact that shortly
+before I reached Africa two aviators flew from Cairo to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg
+58]</a></span>
+the Cape and their actual flying time was exactly sixty-eight
+hours.</p>
+<p>The unbroken iron spine that was to link North and
+South Africa and which Rhodes beheld in his vision of
+the future, will probably not be built for some years.
+Traffic in Central Africa at the moment does not justify
+it. Besides, the navigable rivers in the Belgian Congo,
+Egypt, and the Soudan lend themselves to the rail and
+water route which, with one short overland gap, now
+enables you to travel the whole way from Cape to Cairo.</p>
+<p>The very inception of the Cape-to-Cairo project gives
+you a glimpse of the working of the Rhodes mind. He
+left the carrying out of details to subordinates. When
+he looked at the map of Africa,&#8212;and he was forever
+studying maps,&#8212;and ran that historic line through it
+from end to end and said, "It must be all red," he took
+no cognizance of the extraordinary difficulties that lay
+in the way. He saw, but he did not heed, the rainbow
+of many national flags that spanned the continent. A
+little thing like millions of square miles of jungle, successions
+of great lakes, or wild and primitive regions
+peopled with cannibals, meant nothing. Money and
+energy were to him merely means to an end.</p>
+<p>When General "Chinese" Gordon, for example, told
+him that he had refused a roomful of silver for his
+services in exterminating the Mongolian bandits Rhodes
+looked at him in surprise and said: "Why didn't you take
+it? What is the earthly use of having ideas if you
+haven't the money with which to carry them out?" Here
+you have the keynote of the whole Rhodes business
+policy. A project had to be carried through regardless
+of expense. It applied to the Cape-to-Cairo dream just
+as it applied to every other enterprise with which he was
+associated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+<p>The all-rail route would cost billions upon billions,
+although now that German prestige in Africa is ended
+it would not be a physical and political impossibility.
+A modification of the original plan into a combination
+rail and river scheme permits the consummation of the
+vision of thirty years ago. The southern end is all-rail
+mainly because the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia
+are civilized and prosperous countries. I made the entire
+journey by train from Capetown to the rail-head at
+Bukama in the Belgian Congo, a distance of 2,700 miles,
+the longest continuous link in the whole scheme. This
+trip can be made, if desirable, in a through car in about
+nine days.</p>
+<p>I then continued northward, down the Lualaba
+River,&#8212;Livingstone
+thought it was the Nile&#8212;then by
+rail, and again on the Lualaba through the posts of
+Kongolo, Kindu and Ponthierville to Stanleyville on
+the Congo River. This is the second stage of the Cape-to-Cairo
+Route and knocks off an additional 890 miles
+and another twelve days. Here I left the highway to
+Egypt and went down the Congo and my actual contact
+with the famous line ended. I could have gone on, however,
+and reached Cairo, with luck, in less than eight
+weeks.</p>
+<p>From Stanleyville you go to Mahagi, which is on
+the border between the Congo and Uganda. This is
+the only overland gap in the whole route. It covers
+roughly,&#8212;and the name is no misnomer I am told,&#8212;680
+miles through the jungle and skirts the principal
+Congo gold fields. A road has been built and motor
+cars are available. The railway route from Stanleyville
+to Mahagi, which will link the Congo and the Nile, is
+surveyed and would have been finished by this time but
+for the outbreak of the Great War. The Belgian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+Minister of the Colonies, with whom I travelled in the
+Congo assured me that his Government would commence
+the construction within the next two years, thus
+enabling the traveller to forego any hiking on the long
+journey.</p>
+<p>Mahagi is on the western side of Lake Albert and is
+destined to be the lake terminus of the projected Congo-Nile
+Railway which will be an extension of the Soudan
+Railways. Here you begin the journey that enlists
+both railways and steamers and which gives practically
+a straight ahead itinerary to Cairo. You journey on
+the Nile by way of Rejaf, Kodok,&#8212;(the Fashoda that
+was)&#8212;to Kosti, where you reach the southern rail-head
+of the Soudan Railways. Thence it is comparatively
+easy, as most travellers know, to push on through
+Khartum, Berber, Wady Halfa and Assuan to the
+Egyptian capital. The distance from Mahagi to Cairo
+is something like 2,700 miles while the total mileage from
+Capetown to Cairo, along the line that I have indicated,
+is 7,000 miles.</p>
+<p>This, in brief, is the way you make the trip that
+Rhodes dreamed about, but not the way he planned it.
+There are various suggestions for alternate routes after
+you reach Bukama or, to be more exact, after you start
+down the first stage of the journey on the Lualaba. At
+Kabalo, where I stopped, a railroad runs eastward from
+the river to Albertville, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
+Rhodes wanted to use the 400-mile waterway
+that this body of water provides to connect the railway
+that came down from the North with the line that begins
+at the Cape. The idea was to employ train ferries.
+King Leopold of Belgium granted Rhodes the right to
+do this but Germany frustrated the scheme by refusing
+to recognize the cession of the strip of Congo terri<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg
+61]</a></span>tory
+between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, which
+was an essential link.</p>
+<p>This incident is one evidence of the many attempts
+that the Germans made to block the Cape-to-Cairo project.
+Germany knew that if Rhodes, and through
+Rhodes the British Empire, could establish through
+communication under the British flag, from one end
+of Africa to the other, it would put a crimp into the
+Teutonic scheme to dominate the whole continent. She
+went to every extreme to interfere with its advance.</p>
+<p>This German opposition provided a reason why the
+consummation of the project was so long delayed.
+Another was, that except for the explorer and the big
+game hunter, there was no particular provocation for
+moving about in certain portions of Central Africa until
+recently. But Germany only afforded one obstacle.
+The British Government, after the fashion of governments,
+turned a cold shoulder to the enterprise. History
+was only repeating itself. If Disraeli had consulted
+his colleagues England would never have acquired
+the Suez Canal. So it goes.</p>
+<p>Most of the Rhodesian links of the Cape-to-Cairo
+Route were built by Rhodes and the British South
+Africa Company, while the line from Broken Hill to
+the Congo border was due entirely to the courage and
+tenacity of Robert Williams, who is now constructing
+the so-called Benguella Railway from Lobito Bay in
+Portuguese Angola to Bukama. It will be a feeder to
+the Cape-to-Cairo road and constitute a sort of back
+door to Egypt. It will also provide a shorter outlet
+to Europe for the copper in the Katanga district of the
+Congo.</p>
+<p>When you see equatorial Africa and more especially
+that part which lies between the rail-head at Bukama<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg
+62]</a></span>
+and Mahagi, you understand why the all-rail route is not
+profitable at the moment. It is for the most part an uncultivated
+area principally jungle, with scattered white
+settlements and hordes of untrained natives. The war
+set back the development of the Congo many years.
+Now that the world is beginning to understand the possibilities
+of Central Africa for palm oil, cotton, rubber,
+and coffee, the traffic to justify the connecting railways
+will eventually come.</p>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></div>
+<h2>II</h2>
+<p>Shortly after my return from Africa I was
+talking with a well-known American business
+man who, after making the usual inquiries about
+lions, cannibals and hair-breadth escapes, asked: "Is it
+dangerous to go about in South Africa?" When I
+assured him that both my pocket-book and I were safer
+there than on Broadway in New York or State Street
+in Chicago, he was surprised. Yet his question is typical
+of a widespread ignorance about all Africa and even
+its most developed area.</p>
+<p>What people generally do not understand is that the
+lower part of that one-time Dark Continent is one of
+the most prosperous regions in the world, where the
+home currency is at a premium instead of a discount;
+where the high cost of living remains a stranger and
+where you get little suggestion of the commercial rack
+and ruin that are disturbing the rest of the universe.
+While the war-ravaged nations and their neighbors are
+feeling their dubious way towards economic reconstruction,
+the Union of South Africa is on the wave of a
+striking expansion. It affords an impressive contrast
+to the demoralized productivity of Europe and for that
+matter the United States.</p>
+<p>South Africa presents many economic features of distinct
+and unique interest. A glance at its steam transportation
+discloses rich material. Fundamentally the
+railroads of any country are the real measures of its
+progress. In Africa particularly they are the mileposts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg
+64]</a></span>
+of civilization. In 1876 there were only 400 miles on the
+whole continent. Today there are over 30,000 miles.
+Of this network of rails exactly 11,478 miles are in the
+Union of South Africa and they comprise the second
+largest mileage in the world under one management.</p>
+<p>More than this, they are Government owned and
+operated. Despite this usual handicap they pay. No
+particular love of Government control,&#8212;which is invariably
+an invitation for political influence to do its
+worst,&#8212;animated the development of these railways.
+As in Australia, where private capital refused to build,
+it was a case of necessity. In South Africa there was
+practically no private enterprise to sidestep the obligation
+that the need of adequate transportation imposed.
+The country was new, hostile savages still swarmed the
+frontiers, and the white man had to battle with Zulu and
+Kaffir for every area he opened. In the absence of
+navigable rivers&#8212;there are none in the Union&#8212;the
+steel rail had to do the pioneering. Besides, the
+Boers had a strong prejudice against the railroads and
+regarded the iron horse as a menace to their isolation.</p>
+<p>The first steam road on the continent of Africa was
+constructed by private enterprise from the suburb of
+Durban in Natal into the town. It was a mile and three-quarters
+in length and was opened for traffic in 1860.
+Railway construction in the Cape Colony began about
+the same time. The Government ownership of the lines
+was inaugurated in 1873 and it has continued without
+interruption ever since. The real epoch of railway
+building in South Africa started with the great mineral
+discoveries. First came the uncovering of diamonds
+along the Orange River and the opening up of the
+Kimberley region, which added nearly 2,000 miles of
+railway. With the finding of gold in the Rand on what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg
+65]</a></span>
+became the site of Johannesburg, another 1,500 miles
+were added.</p>
+<p>Since most nationalized railways do not pay it is
+interesting to take a look at the African balance sheet.
+Almost without exception the South African railways
+have been operated at a considerable net profit. These
+profits some years have been as high as &pound;2,590,917.
+During the war, when there was a natural slump in
+traffic and when all soldiers and Government supplies
+were carried free of cost, they aggregated in 1915, for
+instance, &pound;749,125.</p>
+<p>One fiscal feature of these South African railroads
+is worth emphasizing. Under the act of Union "all
+profits, after providing for interest, depreciation and
+betterment, shall be utilized in the reduction of tariffs,
+due regard being had to the agricultural and industrial
+development within the Union and the promotion by
+means of cheap transport of the settlement of an agricultural
+population in the inland portions of the Union."
+The result is that the rates on agricultural products,
+low-grade ores, and certain raw materials are possibly
+the lowest in the world. In other countries rates had
+to be increased during the war but in South Africa no
+change was made, so as not to interfere with the agricultural,
+mineral and industrial development of the
+country.</p>
+<p>Nor is the Union behind in up-to-date transportation.
+A big program for electrification has been blocked out
+and a section is under conversion. Some of the power
+generated will be sold to the small manufacturer and
+thus production will be increased.</p>
+<p>Stimulating the railway system of South Africa is a
+single personality which resembles the self-made American
+wizard of transportation more than any other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+Britisher that I have met with the possible exception of
+Sir Eric Geddes, at present Minister of Transport of
+Great Britain and who left his impress on England's
+conduct of the war. He is Sir William W. Hoy, whose
+official title is General Manager of the South African
+Railways and Ports. Big, vigorous, and forward-looking,
+he sits in a small office in the Railway Station at
+Capetown, with his finger literally on the pulse of
+nearly 12,000 miles of traffic. During the war Walker
+D. Hines, as Director General of the American Railways,
+was steward of a vaster network of rails but his
+job was an emergency one and terminated when that
+emergency subsided. Sir William Hoy, on the other
+hand, is set to a task which is not equalled in extent,
+scope or responsibility by any other similar official.</p>
+<p>Like James J. Hill and Daniel Willard he rose from
+the ranks. At Capetown he told me of his great admiration
+for American railways and their influence in the
+system he dominates. Among other things he said:
+"We are taking our whole cue for electrification from
+the railroads of your country and more especially the
+admirable precedent established by the Chicago, Milwaukee
+&amp; St. Paul Railway. I believe firmly in wide
+electrification of present-day steam transport. The
+great practical advantages are more uniform speed and
+the elimination of stops to take water. It also affords
+improved acceleration, greater reliability as to timing,
+especially on heavy grades, and stricter adherence to
+schedule. There are enormous advantages to single lines
+like ours in South Africa. Likewise, crossings and train
+movements can be arranged with greater accuracy,
+thereby reducing delays. Perhaps the greatest saving
+is in haulage, that is, in the employment of the heavy
+electric locomotive. It all tends toward a denser traffic.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg
+67]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Behind this whole process of electrification lies the
+need, created by the Great War, for coal conservation
+and for a motive power that will speed up production of
+all kinds. We have abundant coal in the Union of
+South Africa and by consuming less of it on our railways
+we will be in a stronger position to export it and
+thus strengthen our international position and keep the
+value of our money up."</p>
+<p>Since Sir William has touched upon the coal supply
+we at once get a link,&#8212;and a typical one&#8212;with the
+ramified resource of the Union of South Africa. No
+product, not even those precious stones that lie in the
+bosom of Kimberley, or the glittering golden ore imbedded
+in the Rand, has a larger political or economic
+significance just now. Nor does any commodity figure
+quite so prominently in the march of world events.</p>
+<p>In peace, as in war, coal spells life and power. It
+was the cudgel that the one-time proud and arrogant
+Germany held menacingly over the head of the unhappy
+neutral, and extorted special privilege. At the moment
+I write, coal is the storm center of controversy that
+ranges from the Ruhr Valley of Germany to the Welsh
+fields of Britain and affects the destinies of statesmen
+and of countries. We are not without fuel troubles, as
+our empty bins indicate. The nation, therefore, with
+cheap and abundant coal has a bargaining asset that
+insures industrial peace at home and trade prestige
+abroad.</p>
+<p>South Africa not only has a low-priced and ample
+coal supply but it is in a convenient point for distribution
+to the whole Southern hemisphere,&#8212;in fact
+Europe and other sections. On past production the
+Union ranked only eleventh in a list of coal-producing
+countries, the output being about 8,000,000 tons a year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg
+68]</a></span>
+before the war and something over 10,000,000 tons in
+1919. This output, however, is no guide to the magnitude
+of its fields. Until comparatively recent times they
+have been little exploited, not because of inferiority
+but because of the restricted output prior to the new
+movement to develop a bunker and export trade. Without
+an adequate geological survey the investigations
+made during the last twelve months indicate a potential
+supply of over 60,000,000 tons and immense areas have
+not been touched at all.</p>
+<p>The war changed the whole coal situation. Labour
+conflicts have reduced the British output; a huge part
+of Germany's supply must go to France as an indemnity,
+while our own fields are sadly under-worked, for a
+variety of causes. All these conditions operate in favor
+of the South African field, which is becoming increasingly
+important as a source of supply.</p>
+<p>Despite her advantage the prices remain astonishingly
+low, when you compare them with those prevailing
+elsewhere. English coal, which in 1912 cost about
+nine shillings a ton at pithead, costs considerably more
+than thirty shillings today. The average pithead price
+of South African coal in 1915 was five shillings twopence
+a ton and at the time of my visit to South Africa
+in 1919 was still under seven shillings a ton. Capetown
+and Durban, the two principal harbours of the Union,
+are coaling stations of Empire importance. There you
+can see the flags of a dozen nations flying from ships
+that have put in for fuel. Thanks to the war these
+ports are in the center of the world's great trade routes
+and thus, geographically and economically their position
+is unique for bunkering and for export.</p>
+<p>The price of bunker coal is a key to the increased
+overhead cost of world trade, as a result of the war. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg
+69]</a></span>
+Belgian boat on which I travelled from the shores of the
+Congo to Antwerp coaled at Teneriffe, where the price
+per ton was seven pounds. It is interesting to compare
+this with the bunker price at Capetown of a little more
+than two pounds per ton, or at Durban where the rate
+is one pound ten shillings a ton. In the face of these
+figures you can readily see what an economic advantage
+is accruing to the Union of South Africa with reference
+to the whole vexing question of coal supply.</p>
+<p>We can now go into the larger matter of South
+Africa's business situation in the light of peace and world
+reconstruction. I have already shown how the war,
+and the social and industrial upheaval that followed in
+its wake have enlarged and fortified the coal situation
+in the Union. Practically all other interests are similarly
+affected. The outstanding factor in the prosperity
+of the Union has been the development of war-born
+self-sufficiency. I used to think during the conflict
+that shook the world, that this gospel of self-containment
+would be one of the compensations that Britain
+would gain for the years of blood and slaughter. So far
+as Britain is concerned this hope has not been realized.
+When I was last in England huge quantities of German
+dyes were being dumped on her shores to the loss
+and dismay of a new coal-tar industry that had been
+developed during the war. German wares like toys
+and novelties were now pouring in. And yet England
+wondered why her exchange was down!</p>
+<p>In South Africa the situation has been entirely different.
+She alone of all the British dominions is asserting
+an almost pugnacious self-sufficiency. Cut off from
+outside supplies for over four years by the relentless
+submarine warfare, and the additional fact that nearly
+all the ships to and from the Cape had to carry war<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg
+70]</a></span>
+supplies or essential products, she was forced to develop
+her internal resources. The consequence is an expansion
+of agriculture, industry and manufactures. Instead
+of being as she was often called, "a country of
+samples," she has become a domain of active production,
+as is attested by an industrial output valued at
+&pound;62,000,000 in 1918. Before the war the British and
+American manufacturer,&#8212;and there is a considerable
+market for American goods in the Cape Colony,&#8212;could
+undersell the South African article. That condition
+is changed and the home-made article produced
+with much cheaper labour than obtains either in Europe
+or the United States, has the field.</p>
+<p>Let me emphasize another striking fact in connection
+with this South African prosperity. During the war
+I had occasion to observe at first-hand the economic
+conditions in every neutral country in Europe. I was
+deeply impressed with the prosperity of Sweden, Spain
+and Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Holland, who
+made hay while their neighbors reaped the tares of
+war. Japan did likewise. These nations were largely
+profiteers who capitalized a colossal misfortune. They
+got much of the benefit and little of the horror of the
+upheaval.</p>
+<p>Not so with South Africa. She played an active
+part in the war and at the same time brought about a
+legitimate expansion of her resources. One point in
+her favor is that while she sent tens of thousands of her
+sons to fight, her own territory escaped the scar and
+ravage of battle. All the fighting in Africa, so far
+as the Union was concerned, was in German South-West
+Africa and German East Africa. After my years
+in tempest-tossed Europe it was a pleasant change to
+catch the buoyant, confident, unwearied spirit of South
+Africa.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+<p>I have dwelt upon coal because it happens to be a
+significant economic asset. Coal is merely a phase of
+the South African resources. In 1919 the Union
+produced &pound;35,000,000 in gold and &pound;7,200,000 in
+diamonds.
+The total mining production was, roughly,
+&pound;50,000,000. This mining treasure is surpassed by the
+agricultural output, of which nearly one-third is exported.
+Land is the real measure of permanent wealth.
+The hoard of gold and diamonds in time becomes exhausted
+but the soil and its fruits go on forever.</p>
+<p>The moment you touch South African agriculture you
+reach a real romance. Nowhere, not even in the winning
+of the American West by the Mormons, do you get a
+more dramatic spectacle of the triumph of the pioneer
+over combative conditions. The Mormons made the
+Utah desert bloom, and the Boers and their British colleagues
+wrested riches from the bare veldt. The Mormons
+fought Indians and wrestled with drought, while
+the Dutch in Africa and their English comrades battled
+with Kaffirs, Hottentots and Zulus and endured a no
+less grilling exposure to sun.</p>
+<p>The crops are diversified. One of the staples of South
+Africa, for example, is the mealie, which is nothing
+more or less than our own American corn, but not quite
+so good. It provides the principal food of the natives
+and is eaten extensively by the European as well. On
+a dish of mealie porridge the Kaffir can keep the human
+machine going for twenty-four hours. Its prototype in
+the Congo is manice flour. In the Union nearly five
+million acres are under maize cultivation, which is
+exactly double the area in 1911. The value of the
+maize crop last year was approximately a million six
+hundred thousand pounds. Similar expansion has been
+the order in tobacco, wheat, fruit, sugar and half a
+dozen other products.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p>
+<p>South Africa is a huge cattle country. The Boers
+have always excelled in the care of live stock and it is
+particularly due to their efforts that the Union today
+has more than seven million head of cattle, which represents
+another hundred per cent increase in less than ten
+years.</p>
+<p>This matter of live stock leads me to one of the really
+picturesque industries of the Union which is the breeding
+of ostriches, "the birds with the golden feathers."
+Ask any man who raises these ungainly birds and he will
+tell you that with luck they are far better than the proverbial
+goose who laid the eighteen-karat eggs. The
+combination of F's&#8212;femininity, fashion and
+feathers&#8212;has
+been productive of many fortunes. The business
+is inclined to be fickle because it depends upon the
+female temperament. The ostrich feather, however, is
+always more or less in fashion. With the outbreak of
+the war there was a tremendous slump in feathers,
+which was keenly felt in South Africa. With peace,
+the plume again became the thing and the drooping
+industry expanded with get-rich-quick proportions.</p>
+<p>Port Elizabeth in the Cape Colony is the center of
+the ostrich feather trade. It is the only place in the
+world, I believe, devoted entirely to plumage. Not long
+before I arrived in South Africa &pound;85,000 of feathers
+were disposed of there in three days. It is no uncommon
+thing for a pound of prime plumes to fetch &pound;100. The
+demand has become so keen that 350,000 ostriches in
+the Union can scarcely keep pace with it. Before the
+war there were more than 800,000 of these birds but the
+depression in feathers coupled with drought, flood and
+other causes, thinned out the ranks. It takes three
+years for an ostrich chick to become a feather producer.</p>
+<p>America has a considerable part in shaping the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg
+73]</a></span>
+ostrich feather market. As with diamonds, we are the
+largest consumers. You can go to Port Elizabeth any
+day and find a group of Yankees industriously bidding
+against each other. On one occasion two New York
+buyers started a competition that led to an eleven weeks
+orgy that registered a total net sale of more than
+&pound;100,000 of feathers. They are still talking about it
+down there.</p>
+<p>South Africa has not only expanded in output but
+her area is also enlarged. The Peace Conference gave
+her the mandate for German South-West Africa, which
+was the first section of the vanished Teutonic Empire in
+Africa. It occupies more than a quarter of the whole
+area of the continent south of the Zambesi River. While
+the word "mandate" as construed by the peace sharks at
+Paris is supposed to mean the amiable stewardship of
+a country, it really amounts to nothing more or less than
+an actual and benevolent assimilation. This assimilation
+is very much like the paternal interest that holding
+companies in the good old Wall Street days felt for
+small and competitive concerns. In other words, it is
+safe to assume that henceforth German South-West
+Africa will be a permanent part of the Union.</p>
+<p>The Colony's chief asset is comprised in the so-called
+German South-West African Diamond Fields, which,
+with the Congo Diamond Fields, provide a considerable
+portion of the small stones now on the market. These
+two fields are alike in that they are alluvial which means
+that the diamonds are easily gathered by a washing
+process. No shafts are sunk. It is precisely like gold
+washing.</p>
+<p>The German South-West mines have an American
+interest. In the reorganization following the conquest
+of German South-West Africa by the South African<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+Army under General Botha the control had to become
+Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-American Corporation
+which has extensive interests in South Africa and which
+is financed by London and New York capitalists, the
+latter including J. P. Morgan, Charles H. Sabin and
+W. B. Thompson, acquired these fields. It is an interesting
+commentary on post-war business readjustment
+to discover that there is still a German interest in these
+mines. It makes one wonder if the German will ever
+be eradicated from his world-wide contact with every
+point of commercial activity.</p>
+<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that South Africa, in
+the light of all the facts that I have enumerated, should
+be prosperous. Take the money, always a test of national
+economic health. At Capetown I used the first
+golden sovereign that I had seen since early in 1914.
+This was not only because the Union happens to be a
+great gold-producing country but because she has an
+excess of exports over imports. Her money, despite
+its intimate relation with that of Great Britain, which
+has so sadly depreciated, is at a premium.</p>
+<p>I got expensive evidence of this when I went to the
+bank at Capetown to get some cash. I had a letter of
+credit in terms of English pounds. To my surprise, I
+only got seventeen shillings and sixpence in African
+money for every English pound, which is nominally
+worth twenty shillings. Six months after I left, this
+penalty had increased to three shillings. To such an
+extent has the proud English pound sterling declined
+and in a British dominion too!</p>
+<p>South Africa has put an embargo on the export of
+sovereigns. One reason was that during the first three
+years of the war a steady stream of these golden coins
+went surreptitiously to East India, where an unusually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg
+75]</a></span>
+high premium for gold rules, especially in the bazaars.
+The goldsmiths find difficulty in getting material. The
+inevitable smuggling has resulted. In order to put a
+check on illicit removal, all passengers now leaving the
+Union are searched before they board their ships. Nor
+is it a half-hearted procedure. It is as drastic as the
+war-time scrutiny on frontiers.</p>
+<p>To sum up the whole business situation in the Union
+of South Africa is to find that the spirit of production,&#8212;the
+most sorely needed thing in the world today&#8212;is
+that of persistent advance. I dwell on this because
+it is in such sharp contrast with what is going on
+throughout the rest of a universe that staggers under
+sloth, and where the will-to-work has almost become a
+lost art. That older and more complacent order which
+is represented for example by France, Italy and England
+may well seek inspiration from this South African
+beehive.</p>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></div>
+<h2>III</h2>
+<p>With this economic setting for the whole
+South African picture and a visualization
+of the Cape-to-Cairo Route let us start on
+the long journey that eventually took me to the heart
+of equatorial Africa. The immediate objectives, so far
+as this chapter is concerned, are Kimberley, Johannesburg
+and Pretoria, names and towns that are synonymous
+with thrilling chapters in the development of
+Africa and more especially the Union.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-085-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-085-thumbnail.jpg" alt="CECIL RHODES" title="CECIL RHODES" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">CECIL RHODES &#8212; <i>Photograph
+Copyright by W. &amp; D. Downey</i></div>
+</div>
+<p>You depart from Capetown in the morning and for
+hours you remain in the friendly company of the mountains.
+Table Mountain has hovered over you during the
+whole stay at the capital and you regretfully watch this
+"Gray Father" fade away in the distance. In the evening
+you pass through the Hex River country where the
+canyon is reminiscent of Colorado. Soon there bursts
+upon you the famous Karoo country, so familiar to all
+readers of South African novels and more especially
+those of Olive Schreiner, Richard Dehan and Sir
+Percy Fitz Patrick. It is an almost treeless plain
+dotted here and there with Boer homesteads. Their
+isolation suggests battle with element and soil. The
+country immediately around Capetown is a paradise
+of fruit and flowers, but as you travel northward the
+whole character changes. There is less green and more
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>brown. After the
+Karoo comes the equally famous
+veldt, studded with the <i>kopjes</i> that became a part
+of the
+world vocabulary with the Boer War. Behind these
+low, long hills,&#8212;they suggest flat, rocky
+hummocks&#8212;the
+South African burghers made many a desperate
+stand against the English.</p>
+<p>When you see the <i>kopjes</i> you can readily
+understand
+why it took so long to conquer the Boers. The Dutch
+knew every inch of the land and every man was a crack
+shot from boyhood. In these hills a handful could hold
+a small army at bay. All through this region you encounter
+places that have become part of history. You
+pass the ruins of Kitchener's blockhouses,&#8212;they really
+ended the Boer War&#8212;and almost before you realize
+it, you cross the Modder River, where British military
+prestige got a bloody repulse. Instinctively there come
+to mind the struggles of Cronje, DeWet, Joubert, and
+the rest of those Boer leaders who made this region a
+small Valhalla.</p>
+<p>Late in the afternoon of the second day you suddenly
+get a "feel" of industry. The veldt becomes populated
+and before long huge smokestacks loom against the
+sky. You are at Kimberly. The average man associates
+this place with a famous siege in the Boer War and the
+equally famous diamond mines. But it is much more
+for it is packed with romance and reality. Here came
+Cecil Rhodes in his early manhood and pulled off the
+biggest business deal of his life; here you find the first
+milepost that the American mining engineer set up in
+the mineral development of Africa: here is produced
+in greater quantities than in any other place in the world
+the glittering jewel that vanity and avarice set their
+heart upon.</p>
+<p>Kimberley is one of the most unique of all the treas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg
+78]</a></span>ure
+cities. It is practically built on a diamond mine in
+the same way that Johannesburg rests upon a gold
+excavation. When the great diamond rush of the
+seventies overwhelmed the Vaal and Orange River regions,
+what is now the Kimberley section was a rocky
+plain with a few Boer farms. The influx of fortune-hunters
+dotted the area with tents and diggings. Today
+a thriving city covers it and the wealth produced&#8212;the
+diamond output is ninety per cent of the world supply&#8212;exceeds
+in value that of a big manufacturing community
+in the United States.</p>
+<p>At Kimberley you touch the intimate life of Rhodes.
+He arrived in 1872 from Natal, where he had gone to
+retrieve his health on a farm. The moment he staked
+out a claim he began a remarkable career. In his early
+Kimberley days he did a characteristic thing. He left
+his claims each year to attend lectures at Oxford where
+he got his degree in 1881, after almost continuous commuting
+between England and Africa. Hence the
+Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford created by his remarkable
+will. History contains no more striking contrast perhaps
+than the spectacle of this tall curly-haired boy with
+the Caesar-like face studying a Greek book while he
+managed a diamond-washing machine with his foot.</p>
+<p>Rhodes developed the mines known as the DeBeers
+group. His great rival was Barney Barnato, who gave
+African finance the same erratic and picturesque tradition
+that the Pittsburgh millionaires brought to American
+finance. His real name was Barnett Isaacs. After
+kicking about the streets of the East End of London
+he became a music hall performer under the name by
+which he is known to business history. The diamond
+rush lured him to Kimberley, where he displayed the
+resource and ingenuity that led to his organization of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg
+79]</a></span>
+the Central mine interests which grouped around the
+Kimberley Mine.</p>
+<p>A bitter competition developed between the Rhodes
+and Barnato groups. Kimberley alternated between
+boom and bankruptcy. The genius of diamond mining
+lies in tempering output to demand. Rhodes realized
+that indiscriminate production would ruin the market,
+so he framed up the deal that made him the diamond
+dictator. He made Barnato an offer which was refused.
+With the aid of the Rothschilds in London Rhodes
+secretly bought out the French interests in the Barnato
+holdings for $6,000,000, which got his foot, so to speak,
+in the doorway of the opposition. But even this did not
+give him a working wedge. He was angling with other
+big stockholders and required some weeks time to consummate
+the deal. Meanwhile Barnato accumulated an
+immense stock of diamonds which he threatened to dump
+on the market and demoralize the price. The release of
+these stones before the completion of Rhodes' negotiations
+would have upset his whole scheme and neutralized
+his work and expense.</p>
+<p>He arranged a meeting with Barnato who confronted
+him with the pile of diamonds that he was about to
+throw on the market. Rhodes, so the story goes, took
+him by the arm and said: "Barney, have you ever seen
+a bucketful of diamonds? I never have. I'll make a
+proposition to you. If these diamonds will fill a bucket,
+I'll take them all from you at your own price."</p>
+<p>Without giving his rival time to answer, Rhodes swept
+the glittering fortune into a bucket which happened to
+be standing nearby. It also happened that the stones
+did not fill it. This incident shows the extent of the
+Rhodes resource, for a man at Kimberly told me that
+Rhodes knew beforehand exactly how many diamonds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+Barnato had and got the right sized bucket. Rhodes
+immediately strode from the room, got the time he
+wanted and consummated the consolidation which made
+the name DeBeers synonymous with the diamond output
+of the world. One trifling feature of this deal was
+the check for $26,000,000 which Rhodes gave for some
+of the Barnato interests acquired.</p>
+<p>The deal with Barnato illustrated the practical operation
+of one of the rules which guided Rhodes' business
+life. He once said, "Never fight with a man if you can
+deal with him." He lived up to this maxim even with
+the savage Matabeles from whom he wrested Rhodesia.</p>
+<p>Not long after the organization of the diamond trust
+Rhodes gave another evidence of his business acumen.
+He saw that the disorganized marketing of the output
+would lead to instability of price. He therefore
+formed the Diamond Syndicate in London, composed
+of a small group of middlemen who distribute the whole
+Kimberley output. In this way the available supply is
+measured solely by the demand.</p>
+<p>Rhodes had a peculiar affection for Kimberley. One
+reason perhaps was that it represented the cornerstone
+of his fortune. He always referred to the mines as
+his "bread and cheese." He made and lost vast sums
+elsewhere and scattered his money about with a lavish
+hand. The diamond mines did not belie their name and
+gave him a constant meal-ticket.</p>
+<p>In Kimberley he made some of the friendships that
+influenced his life. First and foremost among them was
+his association with Doctor, afterwards Sir, Starr
+Jameson, the hero of the famous Raid and a romantic
+character in African annals. Jameson came to Kimberley
+to practice medicine in 1878. No less intimate was
+Rhodes' life-long attachment for Alfred Beit, who ar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg
+81]</a></span>rived
+at the diamond fields from Hamburg in 1875 as an
+obscure buyer. He became a magnate whose operations
+extended to three continents. Beit was the balance
+wheel in the Rhodes financial machine.</p>
+<p>The diamond mines at Kimberley are familiar to
+most readers. They differ from the mines in German
+South-West Africa and the Congo in that they are
+deep level excavations. The Kimberley mine, for example,
+goes down 3,000 feet. To see this almost grotesque
+gash in the earth is to get the impression of a
+very small Grand Canyon of the Colorado. It is an
+awesome and terrifying spectacle for it is shot through
+with green and brown and purple, is more than a thousand
+feet wide at the top, and converges to a visible
+point a thousand feet below. You feel that out of this
+color and depth has emerged something that itself incarnates
+lure and mystery. Even in its source the diamond
+is not without its element of elusiveness.</p>
+<p>The diamonds at Kimberley are found in a blue earth,
+technically known as kimberlite and commonly called
+"blue ground." This is exposed to sun and rain for
+six months, after which it is shaken down, run over a
+grease table where the vaseline catches the real diamonds,
+and allows the other matter to escape. After
+a boiling process it is the "rough" diamond.</p>
+<p>I spent a day in the Dutoitspan Mine where I saw
+thousands of Kaffirs digging away at the precious blue
+substance soon to be translated into the gleaming stone
+that would dangle on the bosom or shine from the finger
+of some woman ten thousand miles away. I got an evidence
+of American cinema enterprise on this occasion
+for I suddenly debouched on a wide level and under
+the flickering lights I saw a Yankee operator turning
+the crank of a motion picture camera. He was part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg
+82]</a></span>
+a movie outfit getting travel pictures. A hundred naked
+Zulus stared with open-eyed wonder at the performance.
+When the flashlight was touched off they ran for their
+lives.</p>
+<p>This leads me to the conspicuous part that Americans
+have played at Kimberley. Rhodes had great confidence
+in the Americans, and employed them in
+various capacities that ranged from introducing California
+fruits into South Africa and Rhodesia to handling
+his most important mining interests. When someone
+asked him why he engaged so many he answered,
+"They are so thorough."</p>
+<p>First among the Americans that Rhodes brought to
+Kimberley was Gardner F. Williams, a Michigander
+who became General Manager of the DeBeers Company
+in 1887 and upon the consolidation, assumed the same
+post with the united interests. He developed the
+mechanical side of diamond production and for many
+years held what was perhaps the most conspicuous technical
+and administrative post in the industry. He retired
+in favor of his son, Alpheus Williams, who is the
+present General Manager of all the diamond mines at
+Kimberley.</p>
+<p>A little-known American had a vital part in the
+siege of Kimberley. Among the American engineers
+who rallied round Gardner Williams was George
+Labram. When the Boers invested the town they had
+the great advantage of superiority in weight of metal.
+Thanks to Britain's lack of preparedness, Kimberley
+only had a few seven pounders, while the Boers had
+"Long Toms" that hurled hundred pounders. At
+Rhodes' suggestion Labram manufactured a big gun
+capable of throwing a thirty-pound shell and it gave the
+besiegers a big and destructive surprise. This gun, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg
+83]</a></span>
+was called "Long Cecil," was built and booming in exactly
+twenty-eight days. Tragically enough, Labram
+was killed by a Boer shell while shaving in his room
+at the Grand Hotel exactly a week after the first discharge
+of his gun.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>IV</h2>
+<p>The part that Americans had in the development
+of Kimberley is slight compared with
+their participation in the exploitation of the
+Rand gold mines. Not only were they the real pioneers
+in opening up this greatest of all gold fields but they
+loomed large in the drama of the Jameson Raid. One
+of their number, John Hays Hammond, the best-known
+of the group, was sentenced to death for his r&ocirc;le in it.
+The entire technical fabric of the Rand was devised
+and established by men born, and who had the greater
+part of their experience, in the United States.</p>
+<p>The capital of the Rand is Johannesburg. When
+you ride in a taxicab down its broad, well-paved streets
+or are whirled to the top floor of one of its skyscrapers,
+it is difficult to believe that thirty years ago this thriving
+and metropolitan community was a rocky waste. We
+are accustomed to swift civic transformations in America
+but Johannesburg surpasses any exhibit that we can
+offer in this line. Once called "a tin town with a gold
+cellar," it has the atmosphere of a continuous cabaret
+with a jazz band going all the time.</p>
+<p>No thoroughly acclimated person would ever think
+of calling Johannesburg by its full and proper name.
+Just as San Francisco is contracted into "'Frisco," so
+is this animated joytown called "Joburg." I made the
+mistake of dignifying the place with its geographical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg
+85]</a></span>
+title when I innocently remarked, "Johannesburg is a
+live place." My companion looked at me with pity&#8212;it
+was almost sorrow, and replied,</p>
+<p>"We think that 'Joburg' (strong emphasis on 'Joburg')
+is one of the hottest places in the world."</p>
+<p>The word Rand is Dutch for ridge or reef. Toward
+the middle of the eighties the first mine was discovered
+on what is the present site of Johannesburg. The original
+excavation was on the historic place known as
+<i>Witwatersrand</i>, which means White Water Reef.
+Kimberley
+history repeated itself for the gold rush to the
+Transvaal was as noisy and picturesque as the dash
+on the diamond fields. It exceeded the Klondike movement
+because for one thing it was more accessible and
+in the second place there were no really adverse climatic
+conditions. Thousands died in the snow and ice
+of the Yukon trail while only a few hundred succumbed
+to fever, exposure to rain, and inadequate food on the
+Rand. It resembled the gold rush to California in 1849
+more than any other similar event.</p>
+<p>The Rand gold fields, which in 1920 produced half
+of the world's gold, are embodied in a reef about fifty
+miles long and twenty miles wide. All the mines immediately
+in and about Johannesburg are practically
+exhausted. The large development today is in the eastern
+section. People do everything but eat gold in
+Johannesburg. Cooks, maids, waiters, bootblacks&#8212;indeed
+the whole population&#8212;are interested, or at some
+time have had an interest in a gold mine. Some historic
+shoestrings have become golden cables. J. B.
+Robinson, for example, one of the well-known magnates,
+and his associates converted an original interest of
+&pound;12,000 into &pound;18,000,000. This Rand history sounds
+like an Aladdin fairy tale.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p>
+<p>What concerns us principally, however, is the American
+end of the whole show. Hardly were the first Rand
+mines uncovered than they felt the influence of the
+American technical touch. Among the first of our
+engineers to go out were three unusual men, Hennen
+Jennings, H. C. Perkins and Captain Thomas Mein.
+Together with Hamilton Smith, another noted American
+engineer who joined them later, they had all worked
+in the famous El Callao gold mine in Venezuela. Subsequently
+came John Hays Hammond, Charles Butters,
+Victor M. Clement, J. S. Curtis, T. H. Leggett, Pope
+Yeatman, Fred Hellman, George Webber, H. H.
+Webb, and Louis Seymour. These men were the big
+fellows. They marshalled hundreds of subordinate engineers,
+mechanics, electricians, mine managers and
+others until there were more than a thousand in the
+field.</p>
+<p>This was the group contemporaneous and identified
+with the Jameson Raid. After the Boer War came
+what might be called the second generation of American
+engineers, which included Sidney Jennings, a brother
+of Hennen, W. L. Honnold, Samuel Thomson, Ruel
+C. Warriner, W. W. Mein, the son of Capt. Thomas
+Mein, and H. C. Behr.</p>
+<p>Why this American invasion? The reason was
+simple. The American mining engineer of the eighties
+and the nineties stood in a class by himself. Through
+the gold development of California we were the only
+people who had produced gold mining engineers of large
+and varied practical experience. When Rhodes and
+Barnato (they were both among the early nine mine-owners
+in the Rand) cast about for capable men they
+naturally picked out Americans. Hammond, for example,
+was brought to South America in 1893 by Bar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>nato
+and after six months with him went over to Rhodes,
+with whom he was associated both in the Rand and
+Rhodesia until 1900.</p>
+<p>Not only did Americans create the whole technical
+machine but one of them&#8212;Hennen Jennings&#8212;really
+saved the field. The first mines were "outcrop," that
+is, the ore literally cropped out at the surface. This outcrop
+is oxidized, and being free, is easily amalgamated
+with mercury. Deeper down in the earth comes the unoxidized
+zone which continues indefinitely. The iron
+pyrites found here are not oxidized. They hold the
+gold so tenaciously that they are not amalgamable.
+They must therefore be abstracted by some other process
+than with mercury. At the time that the outcrop in
+the Rand become exhausted, what is today known as
+the "cyanide process" had never been used in that part
+of the world. The mine-owners became discouraged
+and a slump followed. Jennings had heard of the
+cyanide operation, insisted upon its introduction, and
+it not only retrieved the situation but has become an
+accepted adjunct of gold mining the world over. In
+the same way Hammond inaugurated deep-level mining
+when many of the owners thought the field was exhausted
+because the outcrop indications had disappeared.</p>
+<p>These Americans in the Rand made the mines and
+they also made history as their part in the Jameson
+Raid showed. Perhaps a word about the Reform movement
+which ended in the Raid is permissible here. It
+grew out of the oppression of the <i>Uitlander</i>&#8212;the
+alien&#8212;by
+the Transvaal Government animated by Kruger,
+the President. Although these outsiders, principally
+English and Americans, outnumbered the Boers three
+to one, they were deprived of the rights of citizenship.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg
+88]</a></span>
+The Reformers organized an armed campaign to capture
+Kruger and hold him as a hostage until they could
+obtain their rights. The guns and ammunition were
+smuggled in from Kimberley as "hardware" under the
+supervision of Gardner Williams. It was easy to bring
+the munitions as far as Kimberley. The Boers set up
+such a careful watch on the Transvaal border, however,
+that every subterfuge had to be employed to get
+them across.</p>
+<p>Dr. Jameson, who at that time was Administrator of
+Southern Rhodesia, had a force of Rhodesian police on
+the Transvaal border ready to come to the assistance
+of the Committee if necessary. The understanding was
+that Jameson should not invade the Transvaal until he
+was needed. His impetuosity spoiled the scheme. Instead
+of waiting until the Committee was properly
+armed and had seized Kruger, he suddenly crossed the
+border with his forces. The Raid was a fizzle and the
+commander and all his men were captured by the Boers.
+This abortive attempt was the real prelude to the Boer
+War, which came four years later.</p>
+<p>Most Americans who have read about this episode
+believe that John Hays Hammond was the only countryman
+of theirs in it. This was because he had a leading
+and spectacular part and was one of the four ringleaders
+sentenced to death. He afterwards escaped by the
+payment of a fine of $125,000. As a matter of fact,
+four other prominent American mining engineers were
+up to their necks in the reform movement and got long
+terms in prison. They were Capt. Thomas Mein, J. S.
+Curtis, Victor M. Clement and Charles Butters. They
+obtained their freedom by the payment of fines of
+$10,000 each. This whole enterprise netted Kruger
+something like $2,000,000 in cash.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p>
+<p>The Jameson Raid did more than enrich old Kruger's
+coffers and bring the American engineers in the Rand
+to the fore. Indirectly it blocked a German scheme
+that might have played havoc in Africa the moment
+the inevitable Great War broke. If the Boer War had
+not developed in 1899 it is altogether likely that, judging
+from her whole campaign of world-wide interference,
+Germany would have arranged so that it should
+break out in 1914. In this unhappy event she could
+have struck a death blow at England in South Africa
+because in the years between the Boer War and 1914
+she created close-knit colonial organizations in South-West
+and East Africa; built strategic railways; armed
+and drilled thousands of natives, and could have invaded
+the Cape Colony and the Transvaal.</p>
+<p>In connection with the Jameson Raid is a story not
+without interest. Jameson and Rudyard Kipling happened
+to be together when the news of Roosevelt's coup
+in Panama was published. The author read it first and
+handed the paper to his friend with the question: "What
+do you think of it?"</p>
+<p>Jameson glanced at the article and then replied
+somewhat sadly, "This makes the Raid look like thirty
+cents."</p>
+<p>I cannot leave the Rand section of the Union of
+South Africa without a word in passing about Pretoria,
+the administrative capital, which is only an hour's journey
+from Johannesburg. Here you still see the old house
+where Kruger lived. It was the throne of a copper-riveted
+autocracy. No modern head of a country ever
+wielded such a despotic rule as this psalm-singing old
+Boer whose favorite hour for receiving visitors was at
+five o'clock in the morning, when he had his first cup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg
+90]</a></span>
+of strong coffee, a beverage which he continued to consume
+throughout the day.</p>
+<p>The most striking feature of the country around
+Pretoria is the Premier diamond mine, twenty-five miles
+east of the town and the world's greatest single treasure-trove.
+The mines at Kimberley together constitute the
+largest of all diamond fields but the Premier Mine is
+the biggest single mine anywhere. It produces as much
+as the four largest Kimberley mines combined, and
+contributes eighteen per cent of the yearly output
+allotted to the Diamond Syndicate.</p>
+<p>It was discovered by Thomas M. Cullinan, who
+bought the site from a Boer farmer for $250,000. The
+land originally cost this farmer $2,500. The mine has
+already produced more than five hundred times what
+Cullinan paid for it and the surface has scarcely been
+scraped. You can see the natives working in its two
+huge holes which are not more than six hundred feet
+deep. It is still an open mine. In the Premier Mine
+was found the Cullinan diamond, the largest ever discovered
+and which made the Koh-i-noor and all other
+fabled gems look like small pebbles. It weighed 3,200
+karats and was insured for $2,500,000 when it was sent
+to England to be presented to King Edward. The
+Koh-i-noor, by the way, which was found in India only
+weighs 186 karats.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-101-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-101-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE" title="THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE &#8212; <i>Photograph
+Copyright by South African Railways</i></div>
+</div>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></div>
+<h2>V</h2>
+<p>No attempt at an analysis of South Africa
+would be complete without some reference to
+the native problem, the one discordant note in
+the economic and productive scheme. The race question,
+as the Smuts dilemma showed, lies at the root of all
+South African trouble. But the racial conflict between
+Briton and Boer is almost entirely political and in no
+way threatens the commercial integrity. Both the
+Dutchman and the Englishman agree on the whole
+larger proposition and the necessity of settling once
+and for all a trouble that carries with it the danger of
+sporadic outbreak or worse. Now we come to the whole
+irritating labor trouble which has neither color, caste,
+nor creed, or geographical line.</p>
+<p>First let me bring the South African color problem
+home to America. In the United States the whites outnumber
+the blacks roughly ten to one. Our coloured
+population represents the evolution of the one-time African
+slave through various generations into a peaceful,
+law-abiding, and useful social unit. The Southern "outrage"
+is the rare exception. We have produced a Frederick
+Douglass and a Booker Washington. Our Negro
+is a Christian, fills high posts, and invades the professions.</p>
+<p>In South Africa the reverse is true. To begin with,
+the natives outnumber the whites four and one-half to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg
+92]</a></span>
+one&#8212;in Rhodesia they are twenty to one&#8212;and they
+are increasing at a much greater rate than the Europeans.
+Moreover, the native population draws on half
+a dozen races, including the Zulus, Kaffirs, Hottentots
+and Basutos. These Negroes represent an almost primitive
+stage of development. They are mainly heathens
+and a prey to savagery and superstition. The Cape
+Colony is the only one that permits the black man to
+go to school or become a skilled artisan. Elsewhere the
+white retains his monopoly on the crafts and at the
+same time refuses to do any labour that a Negro can
+perform. Hence the great need of white immigration
+into the Union. The big task, therefore, is to secure
+adequate work for the Negro without permitting him to
+gain an advantage through it.</p>
+<p>It follows that the moment the Kaffir becomes efficient
+and picks up a smattering of education he begins
+to think about his position and unrest is fomented. It
+makes him unstable as an employee, as the constant
+desertions from work show. The only way that the gold
+and diamond mines keep their thousands of recruited
+native workers is to confine them in compounds. The
+ordinary labourer has no such restrictions and he is
+here today and gone tomorrow.</p>
+<p>It is not surprising to discover that in a country
+teeming with blacks there are really no good servants,
+a condition with which the American housewife can
+heartily sympathize. Before I went to Africa nearly
+every woman I knew asked me to bring her back a
+diamond and a cook. They were much more concerned
+about the cook than the diamond. Had I kept every
+promise that I made affecting this human jewel, I
+would have had to charter a ship to convey them. The
+only decent servant I had in Africa was a near-savage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg
+93]</a></span>
+in the Congo, a sad commentary on domestic service
+conditions.</p>
+<p>The one class of stable servants in the Colony are
+the "Cape Boys," as they are called. They are the
+coloured offspring of a European and a Hottentot or a
+Malay and are of all shades, from a darkish brown to
+a mere tinge. They dislike being called "niggers."
+The first time I saw these Cape Boys was in France during
+the war. South Africa sent over thousands of them
+to recruit the labour battalions and they did excellent
+work as teamsters and in other capacities. The Cape
+Boy, however, is the exception to the native rule
+throughout the Union, which means that most native
+labour is unstable and discontented.</p>
+<p>Not only is the South African native a menace to
+economic expansion but he is likewise something of a
+physical danger. In towns like Pretoria and Johannesburg
+there is a considerable feeling of insecurity.
+Women shrink from being left alone with their servants
+and are filled with apprehension while their little
+ones are out under black custodianship. The one native
+servant, aside from some of the Cape Boys, who has
+demonstrated absolute fidelity, is the Zulu whom you
+see in largest numbers in Natal. He is still a proud and
+kingly-looking person and he carried with him a hint
+of the vanished greatness of his race. Perhaps one
+reason why he is safe and sane reposes in his recollection
+of the repeated bitter and bloody defeats at the
+hands of the white men. Yet the Zulu was in armed
+insurrection in Natal in the nineties.</p>
+<p>South Africa enjoys no guarantee of immunity from
+black uprising even now in the twentieth century when
+the world uses the aeroplane and the wireless. During
+the past thirty years there have been outbreaks through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg
+94]</a></span>out
+the African continent. As recently as 1915 a fanatical
+form of Ethiopianism broke out in Nyassaland which
+lies north-east of Rhodesia, under the sponsorship of
+John Chilembwe, a negro preacher who had been educated
+in the United States. The natives rose, killed a
+number of white men and carried off the women. Of
+course, it was summarily put down and the leaders
+executed. But the incident was significant.</p>
+<p>Prester John, whose story is familiar to readers of
+John Buchan's fine romance of the same name, still has
+disciples. Like Chilembwe he was a preacher who had
+acquired so-called European civilization. He dreamed
+of an Africa for the blacks and took his inspiration from
+the old kings of Abyssinia. He too met the fate of
+all his kind but his spirit goes marching on. In 1919 a
+Pan-African Congress was held in Paris to discuss some
+plan for what might be called Pan-Ethiopianism. The
+following year a negro convention in New York City
+advocated that all Africa should be converted into a
+black republic.</p>
+<p>One example of African native unrest was brought
+strikingly to my personal attention. At Capetown I
+met one of the heads of a large Cape Colony school for
+Negroes which is conducted under religious auspices.
+The occasion was a dinner given by J. X. Merriman,
+the Grand Old Man of the Cape Colony. This particular
+educator spoke with glowing enthusiasm about
+this institution and dwelt particularly upon the evolution
+that was being accomplished. He gave me a pressing
+invitation to visit it. He happened to be on the train
+that I took to Kimberley, which was also the first stage
+of his journey home and he talked some more about the
+great work the school was doing.</p>
+<p>When I reached Kimberley the first item of news<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg
+95]</a></span>
+that I read in the local paper was an account of an uprising
+in the school. Hundreds of native students rebelled
+at the quality of food they were getting and went
+on the rampage. They destroyed the power-plant and
+wrecked several of the buildings. The constabulary had
+to be called out to restore order.</p>
+<p>In many respects most Central and South African
+Negroes never really lose the primitive in them despite
+the claims of uplifters and sentimentalists. Actual contact
+is a disillusioning thing. I heard of a concrete
+case when I was in the Belgian Congo. A Belgian
+judge at a post up the Kasai River acquired an intelligent
+Baluba boy. All personal servants in Africa are
+called "boys." This particular native learned French,
+acquired European clothes and became a model servant.
+When the judge went home to Belgium on leave
+he took the boy along. He decided to stay longer than
+he expected and sent the negro back to the Congo. No
+sooner did the boy get back to his native heath than he
+sold his European clothes, put on a loin cloth, and
+squatted on the ground when he ate, precisely like
+his savage brethren. It is a typical case, and merely
+shows that a great deal of so-called black-acquired civilization
+in Africa falls away with the garb of civilization.</p>
+<p>The only African blacks who have really assimilated
+the civilizing influence so far as my personal observation
+goes are those of the West Coast. Some of the
+inhabitants of Sierra Leone will illustrate what I mean.
+Scores have gone to Oxford and Cambridge and have
+become doctors, lawyers and competent civil servants.
+They resemble the American Negro more than any
+others in Africa. This parallel even goes to their fondness
+for using big words. I saw hundreds of them hold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>ing
+down important clerical positions in the Belgian
+Congo where they are known as "Coast-men," because
+they come from the West Coast.</p>
+<p>I had an amusing experience with one when I was
+on my way out of the Congo jungle. I sent a message
+by him to the captain of the little steamboat that took
+me up and down the Kasai River. In this message I
+asked that the vessel be made ready for immediate departure.
+The Coast-man, whose name was Wilson&#8212;they
+all have English names and speak English fluently&#8212;came
+back and said:</p>
+<p>"I have conveyed your expressed desire to leave immediately
+to the captain of your boat. He only returns
+a verbal acquiescence but I assure you that he will leave
+nothing undone to facilitate your speedy departure."</p>
+<p>He said all this with such a solemn and sober face that
+you would have thought the whole destiny of the British
+Empire depended upon the elaborateness of his utterance.</p>
+<p>To return to the matter of unrest, all the concrete
+happenings that I have related show that the authority
+of the white man in Africa is still resented by the natives.
+It serves to emphasize what Mr. Lothrop Stoddard,
+an eminent authority on this subject, so aptly calls "the
+rising tide of colour." We white people seldom stop
+to realize how overwhelmingly we are outnumbered.
+Out of the world population of approximately 1,700,000,000
+persons (I am using Mr. Stoddard's figures),
+only 550,000,000 are white.</p>
+<p>A colour conflict is improbable but by no means impossible.
+We have only to look at our own troubles
+with the Japanese to get an intimate glimpse of what
+might lurk in a yellow tidal wave. The yellow man
+humbled Russia in the Russo-Japanese War and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+smashed the Germans at Kiao Chow in the Great War.
+The fact that he was permitted to fight shoulder to
+shoulder with the white man has only added to his cockiness
+as we have discovered in California.</p>
+<p>Remember too that the Germans stirred up all Islam
+in their mad attempt to conquer the world. The Mohammedan
+has not forgotten what the Teutonic propagandists
+told him when they laid the cunning train of
+bad feeling that precipitated Turkey into the Great
+War. These seeds of discord are bearing fruit in many
+Near Eastern quarters. One result is that a British
+army is fighting in Mesopotamia now. A Holy War
+is merely the full brother of the possible War of Colour.
+In East Africa the Germans used thousands of native
+troops against the British and Belgians. The blacks
+got a taste, figuratively, of the white man's blood and
+it did his system no good.</p>
+<p>Throughout the globe there are 150,000,000 blacks
+and all but 30,000,000 of them are south of the Sahara
+Desert in Africa. They lack the high mental development
+of the yellow man as expressed in the Japanese,
+but even brute force is not to be despised, especially
+where it outnumbers the whites to the extent that they
+do in South Africa. I am no alarmist and I do not
+presume to say that there will be serious trouble. I
+merely present these facts to show that certainly so far
+as affecting production and economic security in general
+is concerned, the native still provides a vexing and
+irritating problem, not without danger.</p>
+<p>The Union of South Africa is keenly alive to this
+perplexing native situation. Its policy is what might
+be called the Direct Rule, in which the whole administration
+of the country is in the hands of the Europeans and
+which is the opposite of the Indirect Rule of India, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg
+98]</a></span>
+example, which recognizes Rajahs and other potentates
+and which permits the brown man to hold a variety
+of public posts.</p>
+<p>The Government of the Cape Colony is becoming
+convinced that Booker Washington's idea is the sole
+salvation of the race. That great leader maintained
+that the hope for the Negro in the United States and
+elsewhere lay in the training of his hands. Once those
+hands were skilled they could be kept out of mischief.
+I recall having discussed this theory one night with
+General Smuts at Capetown and he expressed his hearty
+approval of it.</p>
+<p>The lamented Botha died before he could put into
+operation a plan which held out the promise of still
+another kind of solution. It lay in the soil. He contended
+that an area of forty million acres should be set
+aside for the natives, where many could work out their
+destinies themselves. While this plan offered the opportunity
+for the establishment of a compact and perhaps
+dangerous black entity, his feeling was that by the
+avoidance of friction with the whites the possibility of
+trouble would be minimized. This scheme is likely to be
+carried out by Smuts.</p>
+<p>Since the Union of South Africa profited by the
+whirligig of war to the extent of acquiring German
+South-West Africa it only remains to speak of the new
+map of Africa, made possible by the Great Conflict.
+Despite the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France one
+fails to see concrete evidence of Germany's defeat in
+Europe. Her people are still cocky and defiant. There
+is no mistake about her altered condition in Africa.
+Her flag there has gone into the discard along with the
+wreck of militarism. The immense territory that she
+acquired principally by browbeating is lost, down to
+the last square mile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p>
+<p>Up to 1884 Germany did not own an inch of African
+soil. Within two years she was mistress of more than
+a million square miles. Analyze her whole performance
+on the continent and a definite cause of the World War
+is discovered. It is part of an international conspiracy
+studded with astonishing details.</p>
+<p>Africa was a definite means to world conquest. Germany
+knew of her vast undeveloped wealth. It is now
+no secret that her plan was to annex the greater part of
+French, Belgian, Italian and Portuguese Africa in the
+event that she won. The Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway
+would have hitched up the late Teutonic Empire with
+the Near East and made it easy to link the African
+domain with this intermediary through the Turkish dominions.
+Here was an imposing program with many
+advantages. For one thing it would have given Germany
+an untold store of raw materials and it would
+also have put her into a position to dictate to Southern
+Asia and even South America.</p>
+<p>The methods that Germany adopted to acquire her
+African possessions were peculiarly typical. Like the
+madness that plunged her into a struggle with civilization
+they were her own undoing. Into a continent
+whose middle name, so far as colonization goes, is intrigue
+she fitted perfectly. Practically every German
+colony in Africa represented the triumph of "butting
+in" or intimidation. The Kaiser That Was regarded
+himself as the mentor, and sought to recast continents
+in the same grand way that he lectured his minions.</p>
+<p>The first German colony in Africa was German
+South-West, as it was called for short, and grew out of a
+deal made between a Bremen merchant and a native
+chief. On the strength of this Bismarck pinched out an
+area almost as big as British East Africa. Before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg
+100]</a></span>
+twelve months had passed the German flag flew over
+what came to be known as German East Africa, and
+also over Togoland and the The Cameroons on the
+West Coast.</p>
+<p>Germany really had no right to invade any of this
+country but she was developing into a strong military
+power and rather than have trouble, the other nations
+acquiesced. Once intrenched, she started her usual interference.
+The prize mischief-maker of the universe,
+she began to stir up trouble in every quarter. She embroiled
+the French at Agadir and got into a snarl with
+Portugal over Angola.</p>
+<p>The Kaiser's experience with Kruger is typical.
+When the Jameson Raid petered out William Hohenzollern
+sent the dictator of the Transvaal a telegram of
+congratulation. The old Boer immediately regarded
+him as an ally and counted on his aid when the Boer
+War started. Instead, he got the double-cross after
+he had sent his ultimatum to England. At that time
+the Kaiser warily side-stepped an entanglement with
+Britain for the reason that she was too useful.</p>
+<p>It is now evident that a large part of the Congo atrocity
+was a German scheme. The head and front of the
+expos&eacute; movement was Sir Roger Casement of London.
+He sought to foment a German-financed revolution in
+Ireland and was hanged as a traitor in the Tower.</p>
+<p>Behind this atrocity crusade was just another evidence
+of the German desire to control Africa. By
+rousing the world against Belgium, Germany expected
+to bring another Berlin Congress, which would be expected
+to give her the stewardship of the Belgian Congo.
+The result would have been a German belt across
+Africa from the Indian to the Atlantic Oceans. She
+could thus have had England and France at a disad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg
+101]</a></span>vantage
+on the north, and England and Portugal where
+she wanted them, to the south. Hence the Great War
+was not so much a matter of German meddling in the
+Balkans as it was her persistent manipulation of other
+nations' affairs in Africa. She was playing "freeze-out"
+on a stupendous scale. You can see why Germany
+was so much opposed to the Cape-to-Cairo Route. It
+interfered with her ambitions and provided a constant
+irritant to her "benevolent" plans.</p>
+<p>So much for the war end. Turn to the peace aspect.
+With Germany eliminated from the African scheme the
+whole region can enter upon a harmonious development.
+More than this, the fact that she is now deprived of
+colonies prevents her from recovering the world-wide
+economic authority she commanded before the war. A
+congested population allows her no more elbow room at
+home. Before she went mad her whole hope of the
+future lay in a colonization where her flag could fly in
+public, and in a penetration which cunningly masked the
+German hand. The world is now wise to the latter procedure.</p>
+<p>The new colour scheme of the African map may now
+be disclosed. The Union of South Africa, as you have
+seen, has taken over German South-West Africa; Great
+Britain has assumed the control of all German East
+Africa with the exception of Ruanda and Urundu,
+which have become part of the Belgian Congo. Togoland
+is divided between France and Britain, while the greater
+part of The Cameroons is merged into the Lower French
+West African possessions of which the French Congo
+is the principal one. Britain gets the Cameroon Mountains.</p>
+<p>The one-time Dark Continent remains dark only for
+Germany.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-115-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-115-thumbnail.jpg" alt="VICTORIA FALL" title="VICTORIA FALLS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">VICTORIA FALLS &#8212; <i>Photograph
+Copyright British South Africa Co.</i></div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></div>
+<h1><a name="CHAPTER_III_RHODES_AND_RHODESIA" id="CHAPTER_III_RHODES_AND_RHODESIA"></a>CHAPTER
+III&#8212;RHODES AND RHODESIA</h1>
+<h2>I</h2>
+<p>For fifty-eight hours the train from Johannesburg
+had travelled steadily northward, past
+Mafeking and on through the apparently endless
+stretches of Bechuanaland. Alternately frozen and
+baked, I had swallowed enough dust to stock a small-sized
+desert. Dawn of the third day broke and with
+it came a sharp rap on my compartment door. I had
+been dreaming of a warm bath and a joltless life when
+I was rudely restored to reality. The car was stationary
+and a blanketed Matabele, his teeth chattering with the
+cold, peered in at the window.</p>
+<p>"What is it?" I asked.</p>
+<p>"You are in Rhodesia and I want to know who you
+are," boomed a voice out in the corridor.</p>
+<p>I opened the door and a tall, rangy, bronzed man&#8212;the
+immigration inspector&#8212;stepped inside. He looked
+like a cross between an Arizona cowboy and an Australian
+overseas soldier. When I proved to his satisfaction
+that I was neither Bolshevik nor Boche he departed
+with the remark: "We've got to keep a watch on
+the people who come into this country."</p>
+<p>Such was my introduction to Rhodesia, where the
+limousine and the ox-team compete for right of way on
+the veldt and the 'rickshaw yields to the motor-cycle in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg
+104]</a></span>
+the town streets. Nowhere in the world can you find a
+region that combines to such vivid and picturesque extent
+the romance and hardship of the pioneer age with
+the push and practicality of today. Here existed the
+"King Solomon's Mines" of Rider Haggard's fancy:
+here the modern gold-seekers of fact sought the treasures
+of Ophir; here Nature gives an awesome manifestation
+of her power in the Victoria Falls.</p>
+<p>It is the only country where a great business corporation
+rules, not by might of money but by chartered
+authority. Linked with that rule is the story of a conflict
+between share-holder and settler that is unique in
+the history of colonization. It is the now-familiar and
+well-nigh universal struggle for self-determination
+waged in this instance between all-British elements and
+without violence.</p>
+<p>All the way from Capetown I had followed the trail
+of Cecil Rhodes, which like the man himself, is distinct.
+It is not the succession of useless and conventional monuments
+reared by a grateful posterity. Rather it is expressed
+in terms of cities and a permanent industrial
+and agricultural advance. "Living he was the land,"
+and dead, his imperious and constructive spirit goes
+marching on. The Rhodes impress is everywhere.
+Now I had arrived at the cap-stone of it all, the domain
+that bears his name and which he added to the British
+Empire.</p>
+<p>Less than two hours after the immigration inspector
+had given me the once-over on the frontier I was in
+Bulawayo, metropolis of Rhodesia, which sprawls over
+the veldt just like a bustling Kansas community spreads
+out over the prairie. It is definitely American in energy
+and atmosphere. Save for the near-naked blacks you
+could almost imagine yourself in Idaho or Montana back
+in the days when our West was young.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+<p>Before that first day ended I had lunched and dined
+in a club that would do credit to Capetown or Johannesburg;
+had met women who wore French frocks, and had
+heard the possibilities of the section acclaimed by a dozen
+enthusiasts. Everyone in Rhodesia is a born booster.
+Again you get the parallel with our own kind.</p>
+<p>To the average American reader Rhodesia is merely
+a name, associated with the midnight raid of stealthy
+savage and all the terror and tragedy of the white man's
+burden amid the wild confines. All this happened, to
+be sure, but it is part of the past. While South Africa
+still wrestles with a serious native problem, Rhodesia
+has settled it once and for all. It would be impossible
+to find a milder lot than the survivors and sons of the
+cruel and war-like Lobengula who once ruled here like
+a despot of old. His tribesmen&#8212;the Matabeles&#8212;were
+put in their place by a strong hand and they remain
+put.</p>
+<p>Bulawayo was the capital of Lobengula's kingdom.
+The word means "Place of Slaughter," and it did not
+belie the name. You can still see the tree under which
+the portly potentate sat and daily dispensed sanguinary
+judgment. His method was quite simple. If anyone
+irritated or displeased him he was haled up "under the
+greenwood" and sentenced to death. If gout or rheumatism
+racked the royal frame the chief executed the
+first passerby and then considered the source of the
+trouble removed. The only thing that really departed
+was the head of the innocent victim. Lobengula had
+sixty-eight wives, which may account for some of his
+eccentricities. Chaka, the famous king of the Zulus,
+whose favourite sport was murdering his sons (he feared
+a rival to the throne), was an amateur in crime alongside
+the dusky monarch whom the British suppressed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+and thereby gained what is now the most prosperous
+part of Southern Rhodesia.</p>
+<p>The occupation and development of Rhodesia are so
+comparatively recent&#8212;(Rhodes and Dr. Jameson
+were fighting the Matabeles at Bulawayo in 1896)&#8212;that
+any account of the country must at the outset include
+a brief historical approach to the time of my visit
+last May. Probe into the beginnings of any African
+colony and you immediately uncover intrigue and militant
+imperialism. Rhodesia is no exception.</p>
+<p>For ages the huge continent of which it is part was
+veiled behind mystery and darkness. The northern and
+southern extremes early came into the ken of the explorer
+and after him the builder. So too with most of
+the coast. But the vast central belt, skirted by the arid
+reaches of Sahara on one side and unknown territory on
+the other, defied civilization until Livingstone, Stanley,
+Speke, and Grant blazed the way. Then began the
+scramble for colonies.</p>
+<p>Early in the eighties more than one European power
+cast covetous glances at what might be called the South
+Central area. Thanks to the economic foresight of
+King Leopold, Belgium had secured the Congo. Between
+this region which was then a Free State, and the
+Transvaal, was an immense and unappropriated country,&#8212;a
+sort of no man's land, rich with minerals, teeming
+with forests and peopled by savages. Two
+territories, Matabeleland, ruled by Lobengula, and
+Mashonaland, inhabited by the Mashonas, who were to
+all intents and purposes vassals to Lobengula, were the
+prize portions. Another immense area&#8212;the present
+British protectorate of Bechuanaland&#8212;was immediately
+south and touched the Cape Colony and the Transvaal.
+Portuguese East Africa lay to the east but the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+backbone of Africa south of the Congo line lay ready
+to be plucked by venturesome hands.</p>
+<p>Nor were the hands lacking for the enterprise. Germany
+started to strengthen the network of conspiracy
+that had already yielded her a million square miles of
+African soil and she was reaching out for more. Control
+of Africa meant for her a big step toward world
+conquest. Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal
+Republic, which touched the southern edge of this unclaimed
+domain, saw in it the logical extension of his
+dominions.</p>
+<p>Down at Capetown was Rhodes, dreaming of a
+Greater Britain and determined to block the Kaiser and
+Kruger. It was largely due to his efforts while a member
+of the Cape Parliament that Britain was persuaded
+to annex Bechuanaland as a Crown Colony. Forestalled
+here, Kruger was determined to get the rest of
+the country beyond Bechuanaland and reaching to the
+southern border of the Congo. His emissaries began
+to dicker with chiefs and he organized an expedition to
+invade the territory. Once more Rhodes beat him to
+it, this time in history-making fashion.</p>
+<p>Following his theory that it is better to deal with
+a man than fight him, he sent C. D. Rudd, Rochfort
+Maguire, and F. R. ("Matabele") Thompson up to deal
+directly with Lobengula. They were ideal envoys for
+Thompson in particular knew every inch of the country
+and spoke the native languages. From the crafty chieftain
+they obtained a blanket concession for all the mineral
+and trading rights in Matabeleland for &pound;1,200 a
+year and one thousand rifles. Rhodes now converted
+this concession into a commercial and colonizing achievement
+without precedent or parallel. It became the
+Magna Charta of the great British South Africa Com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg
+108]</a></span>pany,
+which did for Africa what the East India Company
+did for India. Counting in Bechuanaland, it
+added more than 700,000 square miles to the British
+Empire.</p>
+<p>Like the historic document so inseparably associated
+with the glories of Clive and Hastings, its Charter
+shaped the destiny of the empire and is associated with
+battle, blood, and the eventual triumph of the Anglo-Saxon
+over the man of colour. Other chartered companies
+have wielded autocratic power over millions of
+natives but the royal right to exist and operate, bestowed
+by Queen Victoria upon the British South Africa Company&#8212;the
+Chartered Company as it is commonly
+known&#8212;was the first that ever gave a corporation
+the administrative authority over a politically active
+country with a white population. The record of its rule
+is therefore distinct in the annals of Big Business.</p>
+<p>It was in 1899 that Rhodes got the Charter. In his
+conception of the Rhodesia that was to be&#8212;(it was
+first called Zambesia)&#8212;he had two distinct purposes
+in view. One was the larger political motive which was
+to widen the Empire and keep the Germans and Boers
+from annexing territory that he believed should be
+British. This was Rhodes the imperialist at work. The
+other aspect was the purely commercial side and revealed
+the same shrewdness that had registered so successfully
+in the creation of the Diamond Trust at Kimberley.
+This was Rhodes the business man on the job.</p>
+<p>The Charter itself was a visualization of the Rhodes
+mind and it matched the Cape-to-Cairo project in bigness
+of vision. It gave the Company the right to acquire
+and develop land everywhere, to engage in shipping, to
+build railway, telegraph and telephone lines, to establish
+banks, to operate mines and irrigation undertakings and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg
+109]</a></span>
+to promote commerce and manufacture of all kinds.
+Nothing was overlooked. It meant the union of business
+and statesmanship.</p>
+<p>Under the Charter the Company was given administrative
+control of an area larger than that of Great
+Britain, France and Prussia. It divided up into Northern
+and Southern Rhodesia with the Zambesi River as
+the separating line. Northern Rhodesia remains a
+sparsely settled country&#8212;there are only 2,000
+white inhabitants to 850,000 natives&#8212;and the only
+industry of importance is the lead and zinc development
+at Broken Hill. Southern Rhodesia, where there are
+35,000 white persons and 800,000 natives, has been the
+stronghold of Chartered interests and the battleground
+of the struggle to throw off corporate control. It is
+the Rhodesia to be referred to henceforth in this chapter
+without prefix.</p>
+<p>The Charter is perpetual but it contained a provision
+that at the end of twenty-five years, (1914) and at the
+end of each succeeding ten years, the Imperial Government
+has the power to alter, amend or rescind the instrument
+so far as the administration of Rhodesia is concerned.
+No vital change in the original document has
+been made so far, but by the time the next cycle expires
+in 1924 it is certain that the Company control will have
+ended and Rhodesia will either be a part of the Union
+of South Africa or a self-determining Colony.</p>
+<p>The Company is directed by a Board of Directors in
+London, but no director resides in the country itself.
+Thus at the beginning the fundamental mistake was
+made in attempting to run an immense area at long
+range. With the approval of the Foreign Office the
+Company names an Administrator,&#8212;the present one
+is Sir Drummond Chaplin,&#8212;who, like the average<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg
+110]</a></span>
+Governor-General, has little to say. The Company has
+exercised a copper-riveted control and this rigid rule
+led to its undoing, as you will see later on.</p>
+<p>The original capitalization was
+&pound;1,000,000,&#8212;it was
+afterwards increased to &pound;9,000,000,&#8212;but it is only a
+part of the stream of pounds sterling that has been
+poured into the country. In all the years of its existence
+the company has never paid a dividend. It is only since
+1914 that the revenue has balanced expenditures. More
+than 40,000 shareholders have invested in the enterprise.
+Today the fate of the country rests practically
+on the issue between the interests of these shareholders
+on one hand and the 35,000 inhabitants on the other.
+Once more you get the spectacle, so common to American
+financial history, of a strongly intrenched vested
+interest with the real exploiter or the consumer arrayed
+against it. The Company rule has not been harsh but
+it has been animated by a desire to make a profit. The
+homesteaders want liberty of movement without handicap
+or restraint. An irreconcilable conflict ensued.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-125-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-125-thumbnail.jpg" alt="CULTIVATING CITRUS LAND IN RHODESIA" title="CULTIVATING CITRUS LAND IN RHODESIA" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">CULTIVATING CITRUS LAND IN RHODESIA
+&#8212; <i>Photograph Copyright by British South Africa Co.</i></div>
+</div>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></div>
+<h2>II</h2>
+<p>We can now go into the story of the occupation
+of Rhodesia, which not only unfolds a
+stirring drama of development but discloses
+something of an epic of adventure. With most corporations
+it is an easy matter to get down to business once
+a charter is granted. It is only necessary to subscribe
+stock and then enter upon active operations, whether
+they produce soap, razors or automobiles. The market
+is established for the product.</p>
+<p>With the British South Africa Company it was a far
+different and infinitely more difficult performance, to
+translate the license to operate into action. Matabeleland
+and Mashonaland were wild regions where war-like
+tribes roamed or fought at will. There were no roads.
+The only white men who had ventured there were hunters,
+traders, and concession seekers. Occupation preceded
+exploitation. A white man's civilization had to be
+set up first. The rifle and the hoe went in together.</p>
+<p>In June, 1890, the Pioneer Column entered. Heading
+it were two men who left an impress upon African
+romance. One was Dr. Jameson, hero of the Raid and
+Rhodes' most intimate friend. The first time I met
+him I marvelled that this slight, bald, mild little man
+should have been the central figure in so many heroic
+exploits. The other was the famous hunter, F. C.
+Selous, who was Roosevelt's companion in British East
+Africa. Under them were less than two hundred white
+men, including Captain Heany, an American, who now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg
+112]</a></span>
+invaded a country where Lobengula had an army of
+20,000 trained fighters, organized into <i>impis</i>&#8212;(regiments)&#8212;after
+the Zulu fashion and in every respect a
+formidable force. Although the old chief had granted
+the concession, no one trusted him and Jameson and
+Selous had to feel their way, sleep under arms every
+night, and build highways as they went.</p>
+<p>Upon Lobengula's suggestion it was decided to
+occupy Mashonaland first. This was achieved without
+any trouble and the British flag was raised on what is
+now the site of Salisbury, the capital of Southern
+Rhodesia. Most of the members of the expedition remained
+as settlers, and farms sprang up on the veldt.
+The Company had to organize a police force to patrol
+the land and keep off predatory natives. But this
+was purely incidental to the larger troubles that now
+crowded thick and fast. In the South the Boers
+launched an expedition to occupy Matabeleland by force
+and it had to be headed off. To the east rose friction with
+the Portuguese and a Rhodesian contingent was compelled
+to occupy part of Portuguese East Africa until
+the boundary line was adjusted.</p>
+<p>In 1893 came the first of the events that made
+Rhodesia a storm center. A Matabele regiment raided
+the new town of Victoria and killed some of the Company's
+native servants. The Matabeles then went on the
+warpath and Dr. Jameson took the field against them.
+For five weeks a bitter struggle raged. It ended with
+the defeat and disappearance of Lobengula and the
+occupation of Bulawayo by the Company forces. This
+brought the whole of Matabeleland under the direct
+authority of the British South Africa Company. The
+campaign cost the Company $500,000.</p>
+<p>Three years of peace and progress followed. Rail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg
+113]</a></span>way
+construction started in two directions. One line
+was headed from the south through Bechuanaland toward
+Bulawayo and another from Beira, the Indian
+Ocean port in Portuguese East Africa, westward toward
+Salisbury. Gold mines were opened and farms
+extended. At the end of 1895 came the Jameson Raid.
+Practically the entire force under the many-sided Doctor
+was recruited from the Rhodesian police and they
+were all captured by the Boers. Rhodesia was left
+defenceless.</p>
+<p>The Matabeles seized this moment to strike again.
+Ever since the defeat of 1893 they had been restless and
+discontented. Various other causes contributed to the
+uprising. One is peculiarly typical of the African
+savage. An outbreak of rinderpest, a disease hitherto
+unknown in Southern Africa, came down from the
+North and ravaged the cattle herds. In order to check
+the advance of the pest the Government established a
+clear belt by shooting all the cattle in a certain area. It
+was impossible for the Matabeles to understand the wisdom
+of this procedure. They only saw it as an outrage
+committed by the white men on their property for they
+were extensive cattle owners. In addition many died
+after eating infected meat and they also held the settlers
+responsible. The net result of it all was a sudden descent
+upon the white settlements and scores of white men,
+women and children were slaughtered.</p>
+<p>This time the operations against them were on a large
+scale. The present Lord Plumer, who commanded the
+Fourth British Army in France against the Germans,&#8212;he
+was then a Lieutenant Colonel&#8212;came up with eight
+hundred soldiers and drove the Matabeles into the fastnesses
+of the Matopos,&#8212;a range of hills fifty miles long
+and more than twenty wide. Here the savages took
+refuge in caves and could not be driven out.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+<p>You now reach one of the remarkable feats in the life
+of Cecil Rhodes. The moment that the second Matabele
+war began he hastened northward to the country that
+bore his name. As soon as the Matabeles took refuge
+in the Matopos he boldly went out to parley with them.
+With three unarmed companions, one of them an interpreter,
+he set up a camp in the wilds and sent emissaries
+to the syndicate of the chiefs who had succeeded Lobengula.
+He had become Premier of the Cape Colony, was
+head of the great DeBeers Diamond Syndicate, and had
+other immense interests. He was also Managing Director
+of the British South Africa Company and the biggest
+stockholder. He was determined to protect his
+interests and at the same time preserve the integrity
+of the country that he loved so well.</p>
+<p>He exposed himself every night to raids by the most
+blood-thirsty savages in all Africa. Plumer's command
+was camped nearly five miles away but Rhodes
+refused a guard.</p>
+<p>Rhodes waited patiently and his perseverance was
+eventually rewarded. One by one the chiefs came down
+from the hills and succumbed to the persuasiveness and
+personality of this remarkable man who could deal with
+wild and naked warriors as successfully as he could dictate
+to a group of hard-headed business men. After two
+months of negotiating the Matabeles were appeased and
+permanent peace, so far as the natives were concerned,
+dawned in Rhodesia. After his feat in the Matopos the
+Matabeles called Rhodes "The Man Who Separated the
+Fighting Bulls." It was during this period in Rhodesia
+that Rhodes discovered the place which he called "The
+View of the World," and where his remains now lie in
+lonely grandeur.</p>
+<p>At Groote Schuur, the Rhodes house near Capetown,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg
+115]</a></span>
+which he left as the permanent residence of the Prime
+Minister of the Union of South Africa, I saw a prized
+souvenir of the Matopos conferences with the Matabeles.
+On the wall in Rhodes' bedroom hangs the faded picture
+of an old and shriveled Matabele woman. When I
+asked General Smuts to tell me who she was he replied:
+"That is the woman who acted as the chief negotiator
+between Rhodes and the rebels." I afterwards found
+out that she was one of the wives of Umziligazi, father
+of Lobengula, and a noted Zulu chieftain. Rhodes
+never forgot the service she rendered him and caused the
+photograph of her to be taken.</p>
+<p>Following the last Matabele insurrection the Imperial
+Government which is represented in Rhodesia by a Resident
+Commissioner assumed control of the natives. The
+Crown was possibly guided by the precedent of Natal,
+where a premature Responsible Government was followed
+by two Zulu wars which well-nigh wrecked the
+province. It has become the policy of the Home Government
+not to permit a relatively small white population
+to rule the natives. Whatever the influence,
+Rhodesia has had no trouble with the natives since
+Rhodes made the peace up in the hills of the Matopos.</p>
+<p>The moment that the war of force ended, another
+and bloodless war of words began and it has continued
+ever since. I mean the fight for self-government that
+the settlers have waged against the Chartered Company.
+This brings us to a contest that contributes a significant
+and little-known chapter to the whole narrative of self-determination
+among the small peoples.</p>
+<p>Through its Charter the British South Africa Company
+was able to fasten a copper-rivetted rule on
+Rhodesia. Most of the Directors in London, with the
+exception of men like Dr. Jameson, knew very little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg
+116]</a></span>
+about the country. There was no resident Director in
+Africa and the members of the Board only came out
+just before the elections. The Administrator was
+always a Company man and until 1899 his administrative
+associates in the field were the members of an
+Executive Council nominated by the Company. Meanwhile
+thousands of men had invested their fortunes in
+the land and the inevitable time came when they believed
+that they should have a voice in the conduct of its
+affairs.</p>
+<p>This sentiment became so widespread that in 1899
+the country was given a Legislative Council which for
+the first time enabled the Rhodesians to elect some of
+their own people to office. At first they were only
+allowed three members, while the Company nominated
+six others. This always gave the Chartered interests
+a majority. Subsequently, as the clamour for popular
+representation grew, the number of elected representatives
+was increased to thirteen, while those nominated
+by Charter remained the same. To get a majority
+under the new deal it was only necessary for the Company
+to get the support of four elected members and on
+account of its relatively vast commercial interest it was
+usually easy to do this.</p>
+<p>It would be difficult to find an exact parallel to this
+situation. In America we have had many conflicts with
+what our campaign orators call "Special Privilege,"
+an institution which thrived before the searchlight of
+publicity was turned on corporate control and prior to
+the time when fangs were put into the stewardship of
+railways. These contestants were sometimes decided at
+the polls with varying degrees of success. Perhaps the
+nearest approach to the Rhodesian line-up was the struggle
+of the California wheat growers against the Southern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg
+117]</a></span>
+Pacific Railway, which Frank Norris dramatized in his
+book, "The Octopus."</p>
+<p>All the while the feeling for Responsible Government
+in Rhodesia grew. A strong group which opposed the
+Chartered r&eacute;gime sprang up. At the beginning of the
+struggle the line was sharply drawn between the Charter
+adherents on one side and unorganized opponents on
+the other. By 1914 the issue was sharply defined. The
+first twenty-five years of the Charter were about to end
+and the insurgents realized that it was an opportune
+moment for a show of strength. The opposition had
+three plans. Some advocated the conversion of Rhodesia
+into a Crown Colony, others strongly urged admission
+to the Union of South Africa, while still another
+wing stood for Responsible Government. It was decided
+to unite on a common platform of Responsible
+Government.</p>
+<p>For the first time the Company realized that it had a
+fight on its hands and Dr. Jameson, who had become
+president of the corporation, went out to Rhodesia and
+made speeches urging loyalty to the Charter. His
+appearance stirred memories of the pioneer days and
+almost without exception the old guard rallied round
+him. A red-hot campaign ensued with the result that
+the whole pro-Charter ticket, with one exception, was
+elected, although the antis polled 45 per cent of the
+total vote.</p>
+<p>Out of this defeat came a partial victory for the
+Progressives.
+The Imperial Government saw the handwriting
+on the wall and acting within its powers, which
+permitted an administrative change in the Charter at
+the end of every ten years, granted a Supplemental
+Charter which provided that the Legislative Council
+could by an absolute majority of all its members pass a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg
+118]</a></span>
+resolution "praying the Crown to establish in Southern
+Rhodesia the form of Government known as Responsible
+Government," provided that it could financially
+support this procedure. It gave the insurgents fresh
+hope and it made the Company realize that sooner or
+later its authority must end.</p>
+<p>Then the Great War broke. Every available man
+that could possibly be spared went to the Front and the
+life of the Council was extended until 1920, when a conclusive
+election was to be held. Meanwhile the Company,
+realizing that it must sooner or later bow to the
+people's will, got busy with an attempt to realize on its
+assets. Chief among them were the millions of acres of
+so-called "unalienated" or Crown land in Southern
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company claimed this land
+as a private asset. The settlers alleged that it belonged
+to them. The Government said it was an imperial
+possession. The Privy Council in London upheld the
+latter contention. Thereupon the Company filed a claim
+for $35,000,000.00 against the Government to cover the
+value of this land and its losses throughout the years
+of administration.</p>
+<p>Yielding to pressure the Legislative Council in 1919
+asked the British Government to declare itself on the
+question of replacing the Charter with some form of
+Government suited to the needs of the country. Lord
+Milner, the Colonial Secretary, answered in what came
+to be known as the "Milner Despatch." In it he said
+that he did not believe the territory "in its present stage
+of development was equal to the financial burden of Responsible
+Government." He mildly suggested representative
+government under the Crown.</p>
+<p>The general expectation throughout Rhodesia was
+that no election would be held until a Government Com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg
+119]</a></span>mission
+then sitting, had inquired into the validity of the
+Company's immense claim for damages. Early in
+March 1920, however, the Legislative Council gave notice
+that the election was set for April 30th. It proved
+to be the most exciting ever held in Rhodesia. The Chartered
+Company made no fight. The contest was really
+waged between the two wings of the anti-Charter crowd.
+One favored Responsible Government and the other,
+admission to the Union of South Africa.</p>
+<p>The arguments for Responsible Government briefly
+were these: That under the Supplemental Charter it was
+the only constitutional change possible; that the financial
+burden was not too heavy; that the native question
+was no bar; that the Imperial Government would never
+saddle the country with the huge debt of the Company;
+that under the Union a hateful bi-lingualism would be
+introduced; that taxation would not be excessive, and
+that finally, the right of self-determination as to Government
+was the birthright of the British people.</p>
+<p>The adherents of Union contended that the original
+idea of Cecil Rhodes was to make Rhodesia a part of
+the Union of South Africa; that by this procedure the
+vexing problem of customs with the Union would be
+solved; that the system of self-government in South
+Africa meets every requirement of self-determination.
+Moreover, the point was made that by becoming a part
+of the Union the whole railway question would be
+settled. At present the Rhodesian railways have three
+ends, one in South Africa at Vryburg, another on the
+Belgian border, and a third at the sea at Beira. It was
+claimed that through the Union, Rhodesia would benefit
+by becoming a part of the nationalized railway system
+there and get the advantage of a British port at the Cape
+instead of Beira, which is Portuguese. In other words,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg
+120]</a></span>
+Union meant stability of credit, politics, finance and
+industry.</p>
+<p>The outcome of the election was that twelve Responsible
+Government candidates, one of them a woman,
+were elected. Women voted for the first time in Rhodesia
+and they solidly opposed the union with South
+Africa. The thirteenth member elected stood for the
+conversion of the country into a Crown Colony under
+representative government. Throughout the campaign
+the Chartered Company remained neutral, although it
+was obviously opposed to Responsible Government.
+The feeling throughout Rhodesia is that it favors Union
+because it could dispose of its assets to better advantage.</p>
+<p>I arrived in Rhodesia immediately after the election.
+The country still sizzled with excitement. Curiously
+enough, the head, brains and front of the fight for union
+with South Africa was a former American, now a
+British subject and who has been a ranchman in Rhodesia
+for some years. He prefers to be nameless.</p>
+<p>In the light of the landslide at the polls it naturally
+followed that the new Legislative Council at its first
+meeting passed a resolution declaring for Responsible
+Government. The vote was twelve to five. Since this
+was not an absolute majority, as required by the Supplementary
+Charter, it is expected that the Imperial
+Government will decide against granting this form of
+government just now. The next procedure will probably
+be a request for representative government under
+the Crown or some modification of the Charter, and for
+an Imperial loan. Rhodesia has no borrowing power
+and the country needs money just as much as its needs
+men. The adherents of Union claim that on a straight
+show-down between Crown Colony or Union at the next
+election, Union will win. From what I gathered in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg
+121]</a></span>
+conversation with the leaders of both factions, there
+would have been a bigger vote, possibly victory for
+Union, but for the Nationalist movement in South
+Africa, which I described in a previous chapter. The
+Rhodesians want no racial entanglements.</p>
+<p>Northern Rhodesia has no part in the fight against the
+Charter. It is only a question of time, however, when
+she will be merged into Southern Rhodesia for, with the
+passing of the Company, her destiny becomes identical
+with that of her sister territory. Northern Rhodesia's
+chief complaint against the Company was that it did
+not spend any money within her borders. After reading
+the story of the crusade for Responsible Government
+you can understand the reason why.</p>
+<p>Whatever happens, Charter rule in Rhodesia is
+doomed and the great Company, born of the vision and
+imperialism of Cecil Rhodes, and which battled with the
+wild man in the wilderness, will eventually vanish from
+the category of corporations. But Rhodesia remains a
+thriving part of the British Empire and the dream of the
+founder is realized.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+III</h2>
+<p>Rhodesia produces much more than trouble
+for the Chartered Company. She is pre-eminently
+a land of ranches and farms. Here
+you get still another parallel with the United States
+because it is no uncommon thing to find a farm of
+50,000 acres or more.</p>
+<p>I doubt if any other new region in the world contains
+a finer or sturdier manhood than Rhodesia. Like the
+land itself it is a stronghold of youth. Likewise, no
+other colony, and for that matter, no other matured
+country exercises such a rigid censorship upon settlers.
+Until the high cost of living disorganized all economic
+standards, no one could establish himself in Rhodesia
+without a minimum capital of &pound;1,000. So far as farming
+is concerned, this is now increased to &pound;2,000. Therefore,
+you do not see the signs of failure which so often
+dot the semi-virgin landscape. Knowing this, you can
+understand why the immigration inspector gives the
+incoming travellers a rigid cross-examination at the
+frontier.</p>
+<p>Also it is simon-pure British, and more like Natal in
+this respect than any other territory under the Union-jack.
+I had a convincing demonstration in a personal
+experience. I made a speech at the Bulawayo Club. The
+notice was short but I was surprised to find more than
+a hundred men assembled after dinner, many in evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg
+123]</a></span>
+clothes. Some had travelled all day on horseback or in
+buckboards to get there, others had come hundreds of
+miles by motor car.</p>
+<p>I never addressed a more responsive audience. What
+impressed me was the kindling spirit of affection they
+manifested for the Mother Country. In conversation
+with many of them afterwards it was interesting to hear
+the sons of settlers referring to the England that they
+had never seen, as "home." That night I realized as
+never before,&#8212;not even amid the agony and sacrifice
+of the Somme or the Ancre in France,&#8212;one reason
+why the British Empire is great and why, despite all
+muddling, it carries on. It lies in the feeling of imperial
+kinship far out at the frontiers of civilization. The
+colonial is in many respects a more devoted loyalist than
+the man at home.</p>
+<p>Wherever I went I found the Rhodesian
+agriculturist&#8212;and
+he constitutes the bulk of the white population,&#8212;essentially
+modern in his methods. He reminds me
+more of the Kansas farmer than any other alien agriculturists
+that I have met. He uses tractors and does
+things in a big way. There is a trail of gasoline all over
+the country. Motorcycles have become an ordinary
+means of transport for district officials and engineers,
+who fly about over the native paths that are often the
+merest tracks. You find these machines in the remotest
+regions. The light motor car is also beginning to be
+looked upon as a necessary part of the outfit of the
+farmer.</p>
+<p>There was a time when the average Rhodesian believed
+that gold was the salvation of the country.
+Repeated "booms" and the inevitable losses have
+brought the people to agree with the opinion of one of
+the pioneers, that "the true wealth of the country lies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg
+124]</a></span>
+in the top twelve inches of the soil." Agriculture is
+surpassing mining as the principal industry.</p>
+<p>The staple agricultural product is maize, which is
+corn in the American phraseology. Until a few years
+ago the bulk of it was consumed at home. Recently,
+however, on account of the farm expansion, there is an
+increasing surplus for export to the Union of South
+Africa, the Belgian Congo, and even to Europe.</p>
+<p>The facts about maize are worth considering. Every
+year 200,000,000 bags, each weighing 200 pounds, are
+consumed throughout the world. Heretofore the principal
+sources of supply have been the Argentine and the
+United States. We have come to the time, however,
+when we absorb practically our whole crop. Formerly
+we exported about 10,000,000 bags. There is no decrease
+in corn consumption despite prohibition. Hence
+Rhodesia is bound to loom large in the situation. Last
+year she produced more than a million bags. Maize is a
+crop that revels in sunshine and in Rhodesia the sun
+shines brilliantly throughout the year practically without
+variation. This enables the product to be sun-dried.</p>
+<p>Other important crops are tobacco, beans, peanuts
+(which are invariably called monkey nuts in that part
+of the universe), wheat and oranges. Under irrigation,
+citrus fruits, oats and barley do well.</p>
+<p>Cattle are a bulwark of Rhodesian prosperity. The
+immense pasturage areas are reminiscent of Texas and
+Montana. For a hundred years before the white settlers
+came, the Matabeles and the Mashonas raised live stock.
+The natives still own about 700,000 head, nearly as
+many as the whites. I was interested to find that the
+British South Africa Company has imported a number
+of Texas ranchmen to act as cattle experts and advise
+the ranchers generally. This is due to a desire to begin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg
+125]</a></span>
+a competition with the Argentine and the United States
+in chilled and frozen meats. One of the greatest British
+manufactures of beef extracts owns half a dozen ranches
+in Rhodesia and it is not unlikely that American meat
+men will follow. Mr. J. Ogden Armour is said to be
+keenly interested in the country with the view of expanding
+the resources of the Chicago packers. This is one
+result of the World War, which has caused the producer
+of food everywhere to bestir himself and insure future
+supplies.</p>
+<p>In connection with Rhodesian farming and cattle-raising
+is a situation well worthy of emphasis. There is
+no labour problem. You find, for example, that miracle
+of miracles which is embodied in a native at work. It is in
+sharp contrast with South Africa and the Congo, where,
+with millions of coloured people it is almost impossible to
+get help. The Rhodesian black still remains outside the
+leisure class. Whether it is due to his fear of the whites
+or otherwise, he is an active member of the productive
+order.</p>
+<p>The native will work for the white man but, save to
+raise enough maize for himself, he will not become an
+agriculturist. I heard a typical story about Lewaniki,
+Chief of the Barotses, who once ruled a large part of
+what is now Northern Rhodesia. Someone asked him
+to get his people to raise cotton. His answer was:</p>
+<p>"What is the use? They cannot eat it."</p>
+<p>In Africa the native's world never extends beyond his
+stomach. I was soon to find costly evidence of this in
+the Congo.</p>
+<p>The African native is quite a character. He is not
+only a born actor but has a quaint humor. In the center
+of the main street at Bulawayo is a bronze statue of
+Cecil Rhodes, bareheaded, and with his face turned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg
+126]</a></span>
+toward the North. Just as soon as it was unveiled the
+Matabeles expressed considerable astonishment over it.
+They could not understand why the figure never moved.
+Shortly afterwards a great drought came. A native
+chief went to see the Resident Commissioner and solemnly
+told him that he was quite certain that there
+would be no rain "until they put a hat on Mr. Rhodes'
+head."</p>
+<p>The Lewaniki anecdote reminds me of an admirable
+epigram that was produced in Rhodesia. Out there
+food is commonly known as "skoff," just as "chop" is
+the equivalent in the Congo. A former Resident Commissioner,
+noted for the keenness of his wit, once
+asked a travelling missionary to dine with him. After
+the meal the guest insisted upon holding a religious
+service at the table. In speaking of the performance
+the Commissioner said: "My guest came to 'skoff' and
+remained to pray."</p>
+<p>Whenever you visit a new land you almost invariably
+discover mental alertness and progressiveness that often
+put the older civilizations to shame. Let me illustrate.
+Go to England or France today and you touch the really
+tragic aftermath of the war. You see thousands of
+demobilized officers and men vainly searching for work.
+Many are reduced to the extremity of begging. It has
+become an acute and poignant problem, that is not
+without its echo over here.</p>
+<p>Rhodesia, through the British South Africa Company,
+is doing its bit toward solution. It has set aside
+500,000 acres which are being allotted free of charge to
+approved soldier and sailor settlers from overseas. Not
+only are they being given the land but they are provided
+with expert advice and supervision. The former service
+men who are unable to borrow capital with which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+to exploit the land, are merged into a scheme by which
+they serve an apprenticeship for pay on the established
+farms and ranches until they are able to shift for
+themselves.</p>
+<p>The Chartered Company, despite its political machine,
+has developed Rhodesia "on its own," and in
+rather striking fashion. It operates dairies, gold mines,
+citrus estates, nurseries, ranches, tobacco warehouses,
+abattoirs, cold storage plants and dams, which insures
+adequate water supply in various sections. It is a
+profitable example of constructive paternalism whose
+results will be increasingly evident long after the famous
+Charter has passed into history.</p>
+<p>No phase of the Company's activities is more important
+than its construction of the Rhodesian railways.
+They represent a double-barrelled private ownership
+in that they were built and are operated by the Company.
+There are nearly 2,600 miles of track. One section
+of the system begins down at Vryburg in Bechuanaland,
+where it connects with the South African Railways,
+and extends straight northward through Bulawayo
+and Victoria Falls to the Congo border. The
+other starts at Beira on the Indian Ocean and runs west
+through Salisbury, the capital, to Bulawayo.</p>
+<p>These railways have a remarkable statistical distinction
+in that there is one mile of track for every thirteen
+white inhabitants. No other system in the world can
+duplicate it. The Union of South Africa comes
+nearest with 143 white inhabitants per mile or just
+eleven times as many. Canada has 27, Australia 247,
+the United States and New Zealand 400 each, while
+the United Kingdom has over 200 inhabitants for every
+mile of line.</p>
+<p>Rhodesia is highly mineralized. Coal occurs in three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg
+128]</a></span>
+areas and one of them, Wankie,&#8212;a vast field,&#8212;is
+extensively operated. Gold is found over the greater
+part of the country. Here you not only touch an American
+interest but you enter upon the region that Rider
+Haggard introduced to readers as the setting of some of
+his most famous romances. We will deal with the practical
+side first.</p>
+<p>Rhodes had great hopes of Rhodesia as a gold-producing
+country. He wanted the economic value of
+the country to rank with the political. Thousands of
+years ago the natives dug mines and many of these
+ancient workings are still to be seen. They never exceed
+forty or fifty feet in depth. Many leading authorities
+claimed that the South Arabians of the Kingdom of
+Saba often referred to in the Bible were the pioneers
+in the Rhodesian gold fields and sold the output to the
+Phoenicians. Others contended that the Phoenicians
+themselves delved here. Until recently it was also maintained
+by some scientists and Biblical scholars that
+modern Southern Rhodesia was the famed land of
+Ophir, whence came the gold and precious stones that
+decked the persons and palaces of Solomon and David.
+This, however, has been disproved, and Ophir is still
+the butt of archaeological dispute. It has been "located"
+in Arabia, Spain, Peru, India and South-East Africa.</p>
+<p>Rhodes knew all about the old diggings so he engaged
+John Hays Hammond, the American engineer, to
+accompany him on a trip through Rhodesia in 1894 and
+make an investigation of the workings. His report
+stated that the rock mines were undoubtedly ancient,
+that the greatest skill in mining had been displayed and
+that scores of millions of pounds worth of the precious
+metal had been extracted. It also proved that practically
+all this treasure had been exported from the coun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg
+129]</a></span>try
+for no visible traces remain. This substantiates the
+theory that perhaps it did go to the Phoenicians or to a
+potentate like King Solomon. Hammond wrote the
+mining laws of Rhodesia which are an adaptation of the
+American code.</p>
+<p>The Rhodesian gold mines, which are operated by
+the Chartered Company and by individuals, have never
+fully realized their promise. One reason, so men like
+Hammond tell me, is that they are over-capitalized and
+are small and scattered. Despite this handicap the country
+has produced &pound;45,227,791 of gold since 1890. The
+output in 1919 was worth &pound;2,500,000. In 1915 it was
+nearly &pound;4,000,000.</p>
+<p>Small diamonds in varying quantities have also been
+found in Rhodesia. In exchange for having subscribed
+heavily to the first issue of British South Africa Company
+stock, the DeBeers which Rhodes formed received
+a monopoly on the diamond output and with it the assurance
+of a rigid enforcement of the so-called Illicit Diamond
+Buying Act. This law, more commonly known as
+"I. D. B." and which has figured in many South
+African novels, provided drastic punishment for dishonest
+dealing in the stones. More than one South
+African millionaire owed the beginnings of his fortune
+to evasion of this law.</p>
+<p>Just about the time that Rhodes made the Rhodesian
+diamond deal a prospector came to him and said: "If
+I bring you a handful of rough diamonds what will I get?"</p>
+<p>"Fifteen years," was the ready retort. He was never
+at a loss for an answer.</p>
+<p>We can now turn to the really romantic side of the
+Rhodesian mineral deposits. One of the favorite pilgrimages
+of the tourist is to the Zimbabwe ruins, located
+about seventeen miles from Victoria in Southern Rho<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg
+130]</a></span>desia.
+They are the remains of an ancient city and must
+at various times have been the home of large populations.
+There seems little doubt that Zimbabwe was the work of
+a prehistoric and long-forgotten people.</p>
+<p>Over it hangs a mantle of mystery which the fictionist
+has employed to full, and at times thrilling advantage.
+In this vicinity were the "King Solomon's Mines," that
+Rider Haggard wrote about in what is perhaps his
+most popular book. Here came "Allan Quartermain"
+in pursuit of love and treasure. The big hill at Zimbabwe
+provided the residence of "She," the lovely and
+disappearing lady who had to be obeyed. The ruins in
+the valley are supposed to be those of "the Dead City"
+in the same romance. The interesting feature of all
+this is that "She" and "King Solomon's Mines" were
+written in the early eighties when comparatively nothing
+was known of the country. Yet Rider Haggard, with
+that instinct which sometimes guides the romancer,
+wrote fairly accurate descriptions of the country long
+before he had ever heard of its actual existence. Thus
+imagination preceded reality.</p>
+<p>The imagination miracles disclose in the Haggard
+books are surpassed by the actual wonder represented
+by Victoria Falls. Everybody has heard of this stupendous
+spectacle in Rhodesia but few people see it
+because it is so far away. I beheld it on my way from
+Bulawayo to the Congo. Like the Grand Canyon of
+the Colorado, it baffles description.</p>
+<p>The first white man to visit the cataract was Dr.
+Livingstone, who named it in honor of his Queen. This
+was in 1855. For untold years the natives of the region
+had trembled at its fury. They called it <i>Mois-oa-tunga</i>,
+which means "Smoke That Sounds." When you see
+the falls you can readily understand why they got this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg
+131]</a></span>
+name. The mist is visible ten miles away and the terrific
+roar of the falling waters can be heard even farther.</p>
+<p>The fact that the casual traveller can see Victoria
+Falls from the train is due entirely to the foresight and
+the imagination of Cecil Rhodes. He knew the publicity
+value that the cataract would have for Rhodesia
+and he combined the utilitarian with his love of the
+romantic. In planning the Rhodesian railroad, therefore,
+he insisted that the bridge across the gorge of the
+Zambesi into which the mighty waters flow after their
+fall, must be sufficiently near to enable the spray to wet
+the railway carriages. The experts said it was impossible
+but Rhodes had his way, just as Harriman's will
+prevailed over that of trained engineers in the construction
+of the bridge across Great Salt Lake.</p>
+<p>The bridge across the Zambesi is a fit mate in audacity
+to the falls themselves. It is the highest in the world
+for it rises 400 feet above the low water level. Its main
+parabolic arch is a 500 foot span while the total length
+is 650 feet. Although its construction was fraught with
+contrast hazard it only cost two lives, despite the fact
+that seven hundred white men and two thousand natives
+were employed on it. In the building of the Firth of
+Forth bridge which was much less dangerous, more than
+fifty men were killed.</p>
+<p>I first saw the Falls in the early morning when the
+brilliant African sun was turned full on this sight of
+sights. It was at the end of the wet season and the flow
+was at maximum strength. The mist was so great that
+at first I could scarcely see the Falls. Slowly but defiantly
+the foaming face broke through the veil. Niagara
+gives you a thrill but this toppling avalanche awes
+you into absolute silence.</p>
+<p>The Victoria Falls are exactly twice as broad and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg
+132]</a></span>
+two and one-half times as high as Niagara Falls. This
+means that they are over a mile in breadth and four
+hundred and twenty feet high. The tremendous flow
+has only one small outlet about 100 yards wide. The
+roar and turmoil of this world of water as it crashes
+into the chasm sets up what is well called "The Boiling
+Pot." From this swirling melee the Zambesi rushes with
+unbridled fury through a narrow and deep gorge, extending
+with many windings for forty miles.</p>
+<p>In the presence of this marvel, wars, elections, economic
+upheavals, the high cost of living, prohibition,&#8212;all
+"that unrest which men miscall delight"&#8212;fade into
+insignificance. Life itself seems a small and pitiful
+thing. You are face to face with a force of Nature that
+is titanic, terrifying, and irresistible.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-149-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-149-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE GRAVE OF CECIL RHODES" title="THE GRAVE OF CECIL RHODES" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE GRAVE OF CECIL RHODES</div>
+</div>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>IV</h2>
+<p>Since we bid farewell to Cecil Rhodes in this
+chapter after having almost continuously touched
+his career from the moment we reached Capetown,
+let us make a final measure of his human side,&#8212;and he
+was intensely human&#8212;particularly with reference to
+Rhodesia, which is so inseparably associated with him.
+His passion for the country that bore his name exceeded
+his interest in any of his other undertakings. He liked
+the open life of the veldt where he travelled in a sort
+of gypsy wagon and camped for the night wherever the
+mood dictated. It enabled him to gratify his fondness
+for riding and shooting.</p>
+<p>He was always accompanied by a remarkable servant
+named Tony, a half-breed in whom the Portuguese
+strain predominated. Tony bought his master's clothes,
+paid his bills, and was a court of last resort "below
+stairs." Rhodes declared that his man could produce
+a satisfactory meal almost out of thin air.</p>
+<p>Rhodes and Tony were inseparable. Upon one occasion
+Tony accompanied him when he was commanded by
+Queen Victoria to lodge at Sandringham. While
+there Rhodes asked Tony what time he could get breakfast,
+whereupon the servant replied:</p>
+<p>"Royalty does not breakfast, sir, but you can have
+it in the dining-room at half past nine." Tony seemed
+to know everything.</p>
+<p>Throughout Rhodesia I found many of Rhodes' old
+associates who affectionately referred to him as "The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg
+134]</a></span>
+Old Man." I was able to collect what seemed to
+be some new Rhodes stories. A few have already been
+related. Here is another which shows his quickness in
+capitalizing a situation.</p>
+<p>In the days immediately following the first Matabele
+war Rhodes had more trouble with concession-hunters
+than with the savages, the Boers, or the Portuguese.
+Nearly every free-lance in the territory produced some
+fake document to which Lobengula's alleged mark was
+affixed and offered it to Rhodes at an excessive price.</p>
+<p>One of these gentry framed a plan by which one of the
+many sons of Lobengula was to return to Matabeleland,
+claim his royal rights, and create trouble generally.
+The whole idea was to start an uprising and derange
+the machinery of the British South Africa Company.
+The name of the son was N'jube and at the time the
+plan was devised he held a place as messenger in the diamond
+fields at Kimberley. By the system of intelligence
+that he maintained, Rhodes learned of the frame-up, the
+whereabouts of the boy, and furthermore, that he was
+in love with a Fingo girl. These Fingoes were a sort
+of bastard slave people. Marriage into the tribe was a
+despised thing, and by a native of royal blood, meant
+the abrogation of all his claims to the succession.</p>
+<p>Rhodes sent for N'jube and asked him if he wanted to
+marry the Fingo girl. When he replied that he did, the
+great man said: "Go down to the DeBeers office, get
+&pound;50 and marry the girl. I will then give you a job for
+life and build you a house."</p>
+<p>N'jube took the hint and the money and married the
+girl. Rhodes now sent the following telegram to the
+conspirator at Bulawayo:</p>
+<p>"Your friend N'jube was divided between love and
+empire, but he has decided to marry the Fingo girl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg
+135]</a></span>
+It is better that he should settle down in Kimberley and
+be occupied in creating a family than to plot at Bulawayo
+to stab you in the stomach."</p>
+<p>This ended the conspiracy, and N'jube lived happily
+and peacefully ever afterwards.</p>
+<p>Rhodes was an incorrigible imperialist as this story
+shows. Upon one occasion at Bulawayo he was discussing
+the Carnegie Library idea with his friend and
+associate, Sir Abe Bailey, a leading financial and political
+figure in the Cape Colony.</p>
+<p>"What would you do if you had Carnegie's money?"
+asked Bailey.</p>
+<p>"I wouldn't waste it on libraries," he replied. "I
+would seize a South American Republic and annex it to
+the United States."</p>
+<p>Rhodes had great admiration for America. He once
+said to Bailey: "The greatest thing in the world would
+be the union of the English-speaking people. I wouldn't
+mind if Washington were the capital." He believed
+implicitly in the invincibility of the Anglo-Saxon race,
+and he gave his life and his fortune to advance the
+British part of it.</p>
+<p>For the last I have reserved the experience that will
+always rank first in my remembrance of Rhodesia. It
+was my visit to the grave of Rhodes. Most people who
+go to Rhodesia make this pilgrimage, for in the well-known
+tourist language of Mr. Cook, like Victoria
+Falls, it is "one of the things to see." I was animated
+by a different motive. I had often read about it and I
+longed to view the spot that so eloquently symbolized
+the vision and the imagination of the man I admired.</p>
+<p>The grave is about twenty-eight miles from Bulawayo,
+in the heart of the Matopo Hills. You follow the
+road along which the body was carried nineteen years<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg
+136]</a></span>
+ago. You see the native hut where Rhodes often lived
+and in which the remains rested for the night on the
+final journey. You pass from the green low-lands to
+the bare frontiers of the rocky domain where the Matabeles
+fled after the second war and where the Father
+of Rhodesia held his historic parleys with them.</p>
+<p>Soon the way becomes so difficult that you must
+leave the motor and continue on foot. The Matopos are
+a wild and desolate range. It is not until you are well
+beyond the granite outposts that there bursts upon you
+an immense open area,&#8212;a sort of amphitheatre in
+which the Druids might have held their weird ritual.
+Directly ahead you see a battlement of boulders projected
+by some immemorial upheaval. Intrenched between
+them is the spot where Rhodes rests and which is
+marked by a brass plate bearing the words: "Here Lie
+the Remains of Cecil John Rhodes." In his will he
+directed that the site be chosen and even wrote the simple
+inscription for the cover.</p>
+<p>When you stand on this eminence and look out on
+the grim, brooding landscape, you not only realize why
+Rhodes called it "The View of the World," but you also
+understand why he elected to sleep here. The loneliness
+and grandeur of the environment, with its absence
+of any sign of human life and habitation, convey that
+sense of aloofness which, in a man like Rhodes, is the inevitable
+penalty that true greatness exacts. The ages
+seem to be keeping vigil with his spirit.</p>
+<p>For eighteen years Rhodes slept here in solitary state.
+In 1920 the remains of Dr. Jameson were placed in a
+grave hewn out of the rock and located about one hundred
+feet from the spot where his old friend rests. It
+is peculiarly fitting that these two men who played such
+heroic part in the rise of Rhodesia should repose within
+a stone's throw of each other.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p>
+<p>During these last years I have seen some of the great
+things. They included the British Grand Fleet in battle
+array, Russia at the daybreak of democracy, the long
+travail of Verdun and the Somme, the first American
+flag on the battlefields of France, Armistice Day amid
+the tragedy of war, and all the rest of the panorama that
+those momentous days disclosed. But nothing perhaps
+was more moving than the silence and majesty that
+invested the grave of Cecil Rhodes. Instinctively there
+came to my mind the lines about him that Kipling wrote
+in "The Burial":</p>
+<blockquote>
+<p>It is his will that he look forth<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Across the world he
+won&#8212;</span><br />
+The granite of the ancient North&#8212;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Great spaces washed with
+sun.</span><br />
+</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>When I reached the bottom of the long incline on my
+way out I looked back. The sun was setting and those
+sentinel boulders bulked in the dying light. They
+seemed to incarnate something of the might and power
+of the personality that shaped Rhodesia, and made of it
+an annex of Empire.</p>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-157-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-157-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A KATANGA COPPER MINE" title="A KATANGA COPPER MINE" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A KATANGA COPPER MINE</div>
+</div>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h1><a name="CHAPTER_IV_THE_CONGO_TODAY" id="CHAPTER_IV_THE_CONGO_TODAY"></a>CHAPTER
+IV&#8212;THE CONGO TODAY</h1>
+<h2>I</h2>
+<p>Unfold the map of Africa and you see a huge
+yellow area sprawling over the Equator, reaching
+down to Rhodesia on the south-east, and
+converging to a point on the Atlantic Coast. Equal in
+size to all Latin and Teutonic Europe, it is the abode of
+6,000 white men and 12,000,000 blacks. No other section
+of that vast empire of mystery is so packed with
+hazard and hardship, nor is any so bound up with
+American enterprise. Across it Stanley made his way
+in two epic expeditions. Livingstone gave it the glamour
+of his spiritualizing influence. Fourteen nations
+stood sponsor at its birth as a Free State and the whole
+world shook with controversy about its administration.
+Once the darkest domain of the Dark Continent, it is
+still the stronghold of the resisting jungle and the last
+frontier of civilization. It is the Belgian Congo.</p>
+<p>During these past years the veil has been lifted from
+the greater part of Africa. We are familiar with life
+and customs in the British, French, and to a certain degree,
+the Portuguese and one-time German colonies.
+But about the land inseparably associated with the economic
+statesmanship of King Leopold there still hangs
+a shroud of uncertainty as to r&eacute;gime and resource. Few
+people go there and its literature, save that which grew
+out of the atrocity campaign, is meager and unsatisfactory.
+To the vast majority of persons, therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+the country is merely a name&#8212;a dab of colour on the
+globe. Its very distance lends enchantment and heightens
+the lure that always lurks in the unknown. What
+is it like? What is its place in the universal productive
+scheme? What of its future?</p>
+<p>I went to the Congo to find out. My journey there
+was the logical sequel to my visit to the Union of South
+Africa and Rhodesia, which I have already described.
+It seemed a pity not to take a plunge into the region
+that I had read about in the books of Stanley. In my
+childhood I heard him tell the story of some of his
+African experiences. The man and his narrative were
+unforgettable for he incarnated both the ideal and the
+adventure of journalism. He cast the spell of the
+Congo River over me and I lingered to see this mother of
+waters. Thus it came about that I not only followed
+Stanley's trail through the heart of Equatorial Africa
+but spent weeks floating down the historic stream, which
+like the rivers that figured in the Great War, has a distinct
+and definite human quality. The Marne, the
+Meuse, and the Somme are the Rivers of Valour. The
+Congo is the River of Adventure.</p>
+<p>In writing, as in everything else, preparedness is all
+essential. I learned the value of carrying proper credentials
+during the war, when every frontier and police
+official constituted himself a stumbling-block to progress.
+For the South African end of my adventure I
+provided myself with letters from Lloyd George and
+Smuts. In the Congo I realized that I would require
+equally powerful agencies to help me on my way.
+Wandering through sparsely settled Central Africa with
+its millions of natives, scattered white settlements, and
+restricted and sometimes primitive means of transport,
+was a far different proposition than travelling in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg
+141]</a></span>
+Cape Colony, the Transvaal, or Rhodesia, where there
+are through trains and habitable hotels.</p>
+<p>I knew that in the Congo the State was magic, and
+the King's name one to conjure with. Accordingly, I
+obtained what amounted to an order from the Belgian
+Colonial Office to all functionaries to help me in every
+possible way. This order, I might add, was really a command
+from King Albert, with whom I had an hour's private
+audience at Brussels before I sailed. As I sat in the
+simple office of the Palace and talked with this shy, tall,
+blonde, and really kingly-looking person, I could not
+help thinking of the last time I saw him. It was at La
+Panne during that terrible winter of 1916-1917, when the
+Germans were at the high tide of their success. The
+Belgian ruler had taken refuge in this bleak, sea-swept
+corner of Belgium and the only part of the country that
+had escaped the invader. He lived in a little ch&acirc;let near
+the beach. Every day the King walked up and down
+on the sands while German aeroplanes flew overhead
+and the roar of the guns at Dixmude smote the ear.
+He was then leading what seemed to be a forlorn hope
+and he betrayed his anxiety in face and speech. Now I
+beheld him fresh and buoyant, and monarch of the only
+country in Europe that had really settled down to
+work.</p>
+<p>King Albert asked me many questions about my trip.
+He told me of his own journey through the Congo in
+1908 (he was then Prince Albert), when he covered
+more than a thousand miles on foot. He said that he
+was glad that an American was going to write something
+about the Congo at first hand and he expressed
+his keen appreciation of the work of American capital in
+his big colony overseas. "I like America and Americans,"
+he said, "and I hope that your country will not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+forget Europe." There was a warm clasp of the hand
+and I was off on the first lap of the journey that was to
+reel off more than twenty-six thousand miles of strenuous
+travel before I saw my little domicile in New York
+again.</p>
+<p>Before we invade the Congo let me briefly outline
+its history. It can be told in a few words although the
+narrative of its exploitations remains a serial without
+end. Prior to Stanley's memorable journey of exploration
+across Equatorial Africa which he described in
+"Through the Dark Continent," what is now the Congo
+was a blank spot on the map. No white man had traversed
+it. In the fifties Livingstone had opened up part
+of the present British East Africa and Nyassaland. In
+the Luapula and its tributaries he discovered the headwaters
+of the Congo River and then continued on to
+Victoria Falls and Rhodesia. After Stanley found the
+famous missionary at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika in
+1872, he returned to Zanzibar. Hence the broad expanse
+of Central Africa from Nyassaland westward
+practically remained undiscovered until Stanley crossed
+it between 1874 and 1877, when he travelled from
+Stanley Falls, where the Congo River actually begins,
+down its expanse to the sea.</p>
+<p>As soon as Stanley's articles about the Congo began
+to appear, King Leopold, who was a shrewd business
+man, saw an opportunity for the expansion of his little
+country. Under his auspices several International Committees
+dedicated to African study were formed. He
+then sent Stanley back to the Congo in 1879, to organize
+a string of stations from the ocean up to Stanley Falls,
+now Stanleyville. In 1885 the famous Berlin Congress
+of Nations, presided over by Bismarck, recognized the
+Congo Free State, accepted Leopold as its sovereign,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg
+143]</a></span>
+and the jungle domain took its place among recognized
+governments. The principal purposes animating the
+founders were the suppression of the slave trade and
+the conversion of the territory into a combined factory
+and a market for all the nations. It was largely due
+to Belgian initiative that the traffic in human beings
+which denuded all Central Africa of its bone and sinew
+every year, was brought to an end.</p>
+<p>The world is more or less familiar with subsequent
+Congo history. In 1904 arose the first protest against
+the so-called atrocities perpetrated on the blacks, and
+the Congo became the center of an international dispute
+that nearly lost Belgium her only colonial possession.
+In the light of the revelations brought about by the
+Great War, and to which I have referred in a previous
+chapter, it is obvious that a considerable part of this
+crusade had its origin in Germany and was fomented
+by Germanophiles of the type of Sir Roger Casement,
+who was hanged in the Tower of London. During the
+World War E. D. Morel, his principal associate in the
+atrocity campaign, served a jail sentence in England for
+attempting to smuggle a seditious document into an
+enemy country.</p>
+<p>With the atrocity business we are not concerned.
+The only atrocities that I saw in the Congo were the
+slaughter of my clothes on the native washboard, usually
+a rock, and the American jitney that broke down and
+left me stranded in the Kasai jungle. As a matter of
+fact, the Belgian rule in the Congo has swung round
+to another extreme, for the Negro there has more freedom
+of movement and less responsibility for action than
+in any other African colony. To round out this brief
+history, the Congo was ceded to Belgium in 1908 and has
+been a Belgian colony ever since.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+<p>We can now go on with the journey. From Bulawayo
+I travelled northward for three days past Victoria
+Falls and Broken Hill, through the undeveloped reaches
+of Northern Rhodesia, where you can sometimes see
+lion-tracks from the car windows, and where the naked
+Barotses emerge from the wilds and stare in big-eyed
+wonder at the passing trains. Until recently the telegraph
+service was considerably impaired by the curiosity
+of elephants who insisted upon knocking down the
+poles.</p>
+<p>While I was in South Africa alarming reports were
+published about a strike in the Congo and I was afraid
+that it would interfere with my journey. This strike
+was without doubt one of the most unique in the history
+of all labor troubles. The whole Congo administration
+"walked out," when their request for an increase in pay
+was refused. The strikers included Government agents,
+railway, telegraph and telephone employes, and steamboat
+captains. Even the one-time cannibals employed
+on all public construction quit work. It was a natural
+procedure for them. Not a wheel turned; no word
+went over the wires; navigation on the rivers ceased.
+The country was paralyzed. Happily for me it was
+settled before I left Bulawayo.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-165a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-165a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="LORD LEVERHULME" title="LORD LEVERHULME" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">LORD LEVERHULME</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-165b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-165b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="ROBERT WILLIAMS" title="ROBERT WILLIAMS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">ROBERT WILLIAMS</div>
+</div>
+<p>Late at night I crossed the Congo border and stopped
+for the customs at Sakania. At once I realized the
+potency that lay in my royal credentials for all traffic
+was tied up until I was expedited. I also got the initial
+surprise of the many that awaited me in this part of the
+world. In the popular mind the Congo is an annex of
+the Inferno. I can vouch for the fact that some sections
+break all heat records. The air that greeted me, however,
+might have been wafted down from Greenland's icy
+mountain, for I was chilled to the bone. In the flicker<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg
+145]</a></span>ing
+light of the station the natives shivered in their
+blankets. The atmosphere was anything but tropical
+yet I was almost within striking distance of the Equator.
+The reason for this frigidity was that I had entered the
+confines of the Katanga, the most healthful and highly
+developed province of the Congo and a plateau four
+thousand feet above sea level.</p>
+<p>The next afternoon I arrived at Elizabethville, named
+for the Queen of the Belgians, capital of the province,
+and center of the copper activity. Here I touched two
+significant things. One was the group of American
+engineers who have developed the technical side of mining
+in the Katanga as elsewhere in the Congo; the other
+was a contact with the industry which produces a considerable
+part of the wealth of the Colony.</p>
+<p>There is a wide impression that the Congo is entirely
+an agricultural country. Although it has unlimited
+possibilities in this direction, the reverse, for the moment,
+is true. The 900,000 square miles of area (it is eighty-eight
+times the size of Belgium) have scarcely been
+scraped by the hand of man, although Nature has been
+prodigal in her share of the development. Wild rubber,
+the gathering of which loosed the storm about King
+Leopold's head, is nearly exhausted because of the one-time
+ruthless harvesting. Cotton and coffee are infant
+industries. The principal product of the soil, commercially,
+is the fruit of the palm tree and here Nature again
+does most of the ground work.</p>
+<p>Mining is, in many respects, the chief operation and
+the Katanga, which is really one huge mine, principally
+copper, is the most prosperous region so far as bulk of
+output is concerned. Since this area figures so prominently
+in the economic annals of the country it is worth
+more than passing attention. Like so many parts of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg
+146]</a></span>
+Africa, its exploitation is recent. For years after
+Livingstone planted the gospel there, it continued to
+be the haunt of warlike tribes. The earliest white visitors
+observed that the natives wore copper ornaments
+and trafficked in a rude St. Andrew's cross&#8212;it was the
+coin of the country&#8212;fashioned out of metal. When
+prospectors came through in the eighties and nineties
+they found scores of old copper mines which had been
+worked by the aborigines many decades ago. Before
+the advent of civilization the Katanga blacks dealt
+mainly in slaves and in copper.</p>
+<p>The real pioneer of development in the Katanga is
+an Englishman, Robert Williams, a friend and colleague
+of Cecil Rhodes, and who constructed, as you
+may possibly recall, the link in the Cape-to-Cairo Railway
+from Broken Hill in Northern Rhodesia to the
+Congo border. He has done for Congo copper what
+Lord Leverhulme has accomplished for palm fruit and
+Thomas F. Ryan for diamonds. Congo progress is
+almost entirely due to alien capital.</p>
+<p>Williams, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, went
+out to Africa in 1881 to take charge of some mining
+machinery at one of the Kimberley diamond mines.
+Here he met Rhodes and an association began which
+continued until the death of the empire builder. On his
+death-bed Rhodes asked Williams to continue the Cape-to-Cairo
+project. In the acquiescence to this request
+the Katanga indirectly owes much of its advance. Thus
+the constructive influence of the Colossus of South
+Africa extends beyond the British dominions.</p>
+<p>In building the Broken Hill Railway Williams was
+prompted by two reasons. One was to carry on the
+Rhodes project; the other was to link up what he
+believed to be a whole new mineral world to the needs of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg
+147]</a></span>
+man. Nor was he working in the dark. Late in the
+nineties he had sent George Grey, a brother of Sir
+Edward, now Viscount Grey, through the present
+Katanga region on a prospecting expedition. Grey
+discovered large deposits of copper and also tin, lead,
+iron, coal, platinum, and diamonds. Williams now
+organized the company known as the Tanganyika Concessions,
+which became the instigator of Congo copper
+mining. Subsequently the Union Miniere du Haut
+Kantanga was formed by leading Belgian colonial capitalists
+and the Tanganyika Concessions acquired more
+than forty per cent of its capital. The Union Miniere
+took over all the concessions and discoveries of the
+British corporation. The Union Miniere is now the
+leading industrial institution in the Katanga and its
+story is really the narrative of a considerable phase of
+Congo development.</p>
+<p>Within ten years it has grown from a small prospecting
+outfit in the wilderness, two hundred and fifty
+miles from a railway, to an industry employing at the
+time of my visit more than 1,000 white men and 15,000
+blacks. It operates four completely equipped mines
+which produced nearly 30,000 tons of copper in 1917,
+and a smelter with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons
+of copper. A concentrator capable of handling 4,000
+tons of ore per day is nearing completion. This bustling
+industrial community was the second surprise that
+the Congo disclosed.</p>
+<p>Equally remarkable is the mushroom growth of
+Elizabethville, the one wonder town of the Congo. In
+1910, when the railway arrived, it was a geographical
+expression,&#8212;a spot in the jungle dominated by the
+huge ant-hills that you find throughout Central Africa,
+some of them forty feet high. The white population<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg
+148]</a></span>
+numbered thirty. I found it a thriving place with over
+2,000 whites and 12,000 blacks. There are one third as
+many white people in the Katanga Province as in all
+the rest of the Congo combined, and its area is scarcely
+a fourth of that of the colony.</p>
+<p>The father of Elizabethville is General Emile Wangermee,
+one of the picturesque figures in Congo history.
+He came out in the early days of the Free State, fought
+natives, and played a big part in the settlement of the
+country. He has been Governor-General of the Colony,
+Vice-Governor-General of the Katanga and is now
+Honorary Vice-Governor. In the primitive period he
+went about, after the Congo fashion, on a bicycle, in
+flannel shirt and leggins and he continued this rough-and-ready
+attire when he became a high-placed civil
+servant.</p>
+<p>Upon one occasion it was announced that the Vice-Governor
+of the Katanga would visit Kambove. The
+station agent made elaborate preparations for his reception.
+Shortly before the time set for his arrival a
+man appeared on the platform looking like one of the
+many prospectors who frequented the country. The
+station agent approached him and said, "You will have
+to move on. We are expecting the Vice-Governor of
+the Katanga." The supposed prospector refused to
+move and the agent threatened to use force. He was
+horrified a few minutes later to find his rough customer
+being received by all the functionaries of the district.
+Wangermee had arrived ahead of time and had not
+bothered to change his clothes.</p>
+<p>When I rode in a motor car down Elizabethville's
+broad, electric-lighted avenues and saw smartly-dressed
+women on the sidewalks, beheld Belgians playing tennis
+on well-laid-out courts on one side, and Englishmen at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg
+149]</a></span>
+golf on the other, it was difficult to believe that ten
+years ago this was the bush. I lunched in comfortable
+brick houses and dined at night in a club where every
+man wore evening clothes. I kept saying to myself,
+"Is this really the Congo?" Everywhere I heard
+English spoken. This was due to the large British
+interest in the Union Miniere and the presence of so
+many American engineers. The Katanga is, with the
+exception of certain palm fruit areas, the bulwark of
+British interests in the Congo. The American domain
+is the Upper Kasai district.</p>
+<p>Conspicuous among the Americans at Elizabethville
+was Preston K. Horner, who constructed the smelter
+plant and who was made General Manager of the Union
+Miniere in 1913. He spans the whole period of Katanga
+development for he first arrived in 1909. Associated
+with him were various Americans including Frank
+Kehew, Superintendent of the smelter, Thomas Carnahan,
+General Superintendent of Mines, Daniel Butner,
+Superintendent of the Kambove Mine, the largest of
+the Katanga group, Thomas Yale, who is in charge of
+the construction of the immense concentration plant at
+Likasi, and A. Brooks, Manager of the Western Mine.
+For some years A. E. Wheeler, a widely-known American
+engineer, has been Consulting Engineer of the
+Union Miniere, with Frederick Snow as assistant.
+Since my return from Africa Horner has retired as
+General Manager and Wheeler has become the ranking
+American. Practically all the Yankee experts in the
+Katanga are graduates of the Anaconda or Utah Mines.</p>
+<p>With Horner I travelled by motor through the whole
+Katanga copper belt. I visited, first of all, the famous
+Star of the Congo Mine, eight miles from Elizabethville,
+and which was the cornerstone of the entire metal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg
+150]</a></span>
+development. Next came the immense excavation at
+Kambove where I watched American steam shovels
+in charge of Americans, gouging the copper ore out of
+the sides of the hills. I saw the huge concentrating
+plant rising almost like magic out of the jungle at
+Likasi. Here again an American was in control. At
+Fungurume I spent the night in a native house in the
+heart of one of the loveliest of valleys whose verdant
+walls will soon be gashed by shovels and discoloured
+with ore oxide. Over all the area the Anglo-Saxon has
+laid his galvanizing hand. One reason is that there are
+few Belgian engineers of large mining experience. Another
+is that the American, by common consent, is the
+one executive who gets things done in the primitive
+places.</p>
+<p>I cannot leave the Congo copper empire without referring
+to another Robert Williams achievement which
+is not without international significance. Like other
+practical men of affairs with colonial experience, he
+realized long before the outbreak of the Great War
+something of the extent and menace of the German ambition
+in Africa. As I have previously related, the
+Kaiser blocked his scheme to run the Cape-to-Cairo
+Railway between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu,
+after King Leopold had granted him the concession.
+Williams wanted to help Rhodes and he wanted to help
+himself. His chief problem was to get the copper from
+the Katanga to Europe in the shortest possible time.
+Most of it is refined in England and Belgium. At
+present it goes out by way of Bulawayo and is shipped
+from the port of Beira in Portuguese East Africa.
+This involves a journey of 9,514 miles from Kambove
+to London. How was this haul to be shortened through
+an agency that would be proof against the German intrigue
+and ingenuity?</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-173a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-173a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="ON THE LUALABA" title="ON THE LUALABA" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">ON THE LUALABA</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-173b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-173b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A VIEW ON THE KASAI" title="A VIEW ON THE KASAI" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A VIEW ON THE KASAI</div>
+</div>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></div>
+<p>Williams cast his eye over Africa. On the West
+Coast he spotted Lobito Bay, a land-locked harbour
+twenty miles north of Benguella, one of the principal
+parts of Angola, a Portuguese colony. From it he ran
+a line straight from Kambove across the wilderness
+and found that it covered a distance of approximately
+1,300 miles. He said to himself, "This is the natural
+outlet of the Katanga and the short-cut to England and
+Belgium." He got a concession from the Portuguese
+Government and work began. The Germans tried in
+every way to block the project for it interfered with
+their scheme to "benevolently" assimilate Angola.</p>
+<p>At the time of my visit to the Congo three hundred
+and twenty miles of the Benguella Railway, as it is
+called, had been constructed and a section of one hundred
+miles or more was about to be started. The line
+will pass through Ruwe, which is an important center
+of gold production in the Katanga, and connect up with
+the Katanga Railway just north of Kambove. It is
+really a link in the Cape-to-Cairo system and when completed
+will shorten the freight haul from the copper
+fields to London by three thousand miles, as compared
+with the present Biera itinerary.</p>
+<p>There is every indication that the Katanga will justify
+the early confidence that Williams had in it and become
+one of the great copper-producing centers of the world.
+Experts with whom I have talked in America believe
+that it can in time reach a maximum output of 150,000
+tons a year. The ores are of a very high grade and since
+the Union Miniere owns more than one hundred mines,
+of which only six or seven are partially developed, the
+future seems safe.</p>
+<p>Copper is only one phase of the Katanga mineral
+treasure. Coal, iron, and tin have not only been discov<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg
+152]</a></span>ered
+in quantity but are being mined commercially. Oil-shale
+is plentiful on the Congo River near Ponthierville
+and good indications of oil are recorded in other places.
+The discovery of oil in Central Africa would have a
+great influence on the development of transportation since
+it would supply fuel for steamers, railways, and motor
+transport. There is already a big oil production in
+Angola and there is little doubt that an important field
+awaits development in the Congo.</p>
+<p>It is not generally realized that Africa today produces
+the three most valuable of all known minerals in
+the largest quantities, or has the biggest potentialities.
+The Rand yields more than fifty per cent of the entire
+gold supply and ranks as the most valuable of all gold
+fields. Ninety-five per cent of the diamond output
+comes from the Kimberley and associated mines, German
+South-West Africa, and the Congo. The Katanga
+contains probably the greatest reserve of copper in
+existence. Now you can see why the eye of the universe
+is being focused on this region.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>II</h2>
+<p>When I left Elizabethville I bade farewell
+to the comforts of life. I mean, for example,
+such things as ice, bath-tubs, and
+running water. There is enough water in the Congo
+to satisfy the most ardent teetotaler but unfortunately
+it does not come out of faucets. Most of it flows in
+rivers, but very little of it gets inside the population,
+white or otherwise.</p>
+<p>Speaking of water brings to mind one of the useful
+results of such a trip as mine. Isolation in the African
+wilds gives you a new appreciation of what in civilization
+is regarded as the commonplace things. Take the
+simple matter of a hair-cut. There are only two barbers
+in the whole Congo. One is at Elizabethville and the
+other at Kinshassa, on the Lower Congo, nearly two
+thousand miles away. My locks were not shorn for seven
+weeks. I had to do what little trimming there was done
+with a safety razor and it involved quite an acrobatic
+feat. Take shaving. The water in most of the Congo
+rivers is dirty and full of germs. More than once I
+lathered my face with mineral water out of a bottle.
+The Congo River proper is a muddy brown. For
+washing purposes it must be treated with a few tablets
+of permanganate of potassium which colours it red. It
+is like bathing in blood.</p>
+<p>Since my journey from Katanga onward was through
+the heart of Africa, perhaps it may be worth while to
+tell briefly of the equipment required for such an ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg
+154]</a></span>pedition.
+Although I travelled for the most part in
+the greatest comfort that the Colony afforded, it was
+necessary to prepare for any emergency. In the Congo
+you must be self-sufficient and absolutely independent
+of the country. This means that you carry your own
+bed and bedding (usually a folding camp-bed), bath-tub,
+food, medicine-chest, and cooking utensils.</p>
+<p>No detail was more essential than the mosquito net
+under which I slept every night for nearly four months.
+Insects are the bane of Africa. The mosquito carries
+malaria, and the tsetse fly is the harbinger of that most
+terrible of diseases, sleeping sickness. Judging from
+personal experience nearly every conceivable kind of
+biting bug infests the Congo. One of the most tenacious
+and troublesome of the little visitors is the jigger,
+which has an uncomfortable habit of seeking a soft
+spot under the toe-nail. Once lodged it is extremely
+difficult to get him out. These pests are mainly found
+in sandy soil and give the Negroes who walk about barefooted
+unending trouble.</p>
+<p>No less destructive is the dazzling sun. Five minutes
+exposure to it without a helmet means a prostration
+and twenty minutes spells death. Stanley called the
+country so inseparably associated with his name "Fatal
+Africa," but he did not mean the death that lay in the
+murderous black hand. He had in mind the thousand
+and one dangers that beset the stranger who does not
+observe the strictest rules of health and diet. From the
+moment of arrival the body undergoes an entirely new
+experience. Men succumb because they foolishly think
+they can continue the habits of civilization. Alcohol
+is the curse of all the hot countries. The wise man
+never takes a drink until the sun sets and then, if he
+continues to be wise, he imbibes only in moderation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg
+155]</a></span>
+The morning "peg" and the lunch-time cocktail have
+undermined more health in the tropics than all the flies
+and mosquitoes combined.</p>
+<p>The Duke of Wellington recommended a formula
+for India which may well be applied to the Congo. The
+doughty old warrior once said:</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>I know but one recipe for good health in this country, and
+that is to live moderately, to drink little or no wine, to use
+exercise, to keep the mind employed, and, if possible, to keep
+in good humour with the world. The last is the most difficult,
+for as you have often observed, there is scarcely a good-tempered
+man in India.</p>
+</div>
+<p>If a man will practice moderation in all things, take
+five grains of quinine every day, exercise whenever it
+is possible, and keep his body clean, he has little to fear
+from the ordinary diseases of a country like the Congo.
+It is one of the ironies of civilization that after passing
+unscathed through all the fever country, I caught a cold
+the moment I got back to steam-heat and all the comforts
+of home.</p>
+<p>No one would think of using ordinary luggage in the
+Congo. Everything must be packed and conveyed in
+metal boxes similar to the uniform cases used by British
+officers in Egypt and India. This is because the white
+ant is the prize destroyer of property throughout Africa.
+He cuts through leather and wood with the same ease
+that a Southern Negro's teeth lacerate watermelon.
+Leave a pair of shoes on the ground over night and you
+will find them riddled in the morning. These ants eat
+away floors and sometimes cause the collapse of houses
+by wearing away the wooden supports. Another frequent
+guest is the driver ant, which travels in armies
+and frequently takes complete possession of a house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg
+156]</a></span>
+It destroys all the vermin but the human inmates must
+beat a retreat while the process goes on.</p>
+<p>Since my return many people have asked me what
+books I read in the Congo. The necessity for them was
+apparent. I had more than three months of constant
+travelling, often alone, and for the most part on small
+river boats where there is no deck space for exercise.
+Mail arrives irregularly and there were no newspapers.
+After one or two days the unceasing panorama of tropical
+forests, native villages, and naked savages becomes
+monotonous. Even the hippopotami which you see in
+large numbers, the omnipresent crocodile, and the occasional
+wild elephant, cease to amuse. You are forced to
+fall back on that unfailing friend and companion, a
+good book.</p>
+<p>I therefore carried with me the following books in
+handy volume size:&#8212;Montaigne's Essays, Palgrave's
+Golden Treasury of English Verse, Lockhart's Life of
+Napoleon, Autobiography of Cellini, Don Quixote, The
+Three Musketeers, Lorna Doone, Prescott's Conquest
+of Mexico and The Conquest of Peru, Les Miserables,
+Vanity Fair, Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin,
+Pepys' Diary, Carlyle's French Revolution, The Last
+of the Mohicans, Westward Ho, Bleak House, The
+Pickwick Papers, A Tale of Two Cities, and Tolstoi's
+War and Peace. When these became exhausted I was
+hard put for reading matter. At a post on the Kasai
+River the only English book I could find was Arnold
+Bennett's The Pretty Lady, which had fallen into
+the hands of an official, who was trying to learn English
+with it. It certainly gave him a hectic start.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-181-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-181-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A STATION SCENE AT KONGOLA" title="A STATION SCENE AT KONGOLA" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A STATION SCENE AT KONGOLA</div>
+</div>
+<p>Then, too, there was the eternal servant problem, no
+less vexing in that land of servants than elsewhere. I
+had cabled to Horner to engage me two personal ser<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg
+157]</a></span>vants or "boys" as they are called in
+Africa. When I
+got to Elizabethville I found that he had secured two.
+In addition to Swahili, the main native tongue in those
+parts, one spoke English and the other French, the official
+language in the Congo. I did not like the looks of
+the English-speaking barbarian so I took a chance on
+Number Two, whose name was Gerome. He was a
+so-called "educated" native. I was to find from
+sad experience that his "education" was largely in the
+direction of indolence and inefficiency. I thought that
+by having a boy with whom I had to speak French I
+could improve my command of the language. Later on
+I realized my mistake because my French is a non-conductor
+of profanity.</p>
+<p>Gerome had a wife. In the Congo, where all wives
+are bought, the consort constitutes the husband's fortune,
+being cook, tiller of the ground, beast-of-burden
+and slave generally. I had no desire to incumber myself
+with this black Venus, so I made Gerome promise that
+he would not take her along. I left him behind at
+Elizabethville, for I proceeded to Fungurume with
+Horner by automobile. He was to follow by train with
+my luggage and have the private car, which I had
+chartered for the journey to Bukama, ready for me on
+my arrival. When I showed up at Fungurume the
+first thing I saw was Gerome's wife, with her ample
+proportions swathed in scarlet calico, sunning herself
+on the platform of the car. He could not bring himself
+to cook his own food although willing enough to cook
+mine.</p>
+<p>I paid Gerome forty Belgian francs a month, which,
+at the rate of exchange then prevailing, was considerably
+less than three dollars. I also had to give him a weekly
+allowance of five francs (about thirty cents) for his food.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg
+158]</a></span> To the American employer of servants these
+figures will
+be somewhat illuminating and startling.</p>
+<p>One more human interest detail before we move on.
+In Africa every white man gets a name from the natives.
+This appellation usually expresses his chief characteristic.
+The first title fastened on me was "<i>Bwana Cha
+Cha</i>," which means "The Master Who is Quick."
+When I first heard this name I thought it was a reflection
+on my appetite because "<i>Cha Cha</i>" is pronounced
+"Chew Chew." Subsequently, in the Upper Congo and
+the Kasai I was called "<i>Mafutta Mingi</i>," which means
+"Much Fat." I must explain in self-defense that in the
+Congo I ate much more than usual, first because something
+in the atmosphere makes you hungry, and second,
+a good appetite is always an indication of health in the
+tropics.</p>
+<p>Still another name that I bore was "<i>Tala Tala</i>,"
+which
+means spectacles in practically all the Congo dialects.
+There are nearly two hundred tribes and each has a distinctive
+tongue. In many sections that I visited the
+natives had never seen a pair of tortoise shell glasses
+such as I wear during the day. The children fled from
+me shrieking in terror and thinking that I was a sorcerer.
+Even gifts of food, the one universal passport
+to the native heart, failed to calm their fears.</p>
+<p>The Congo native, let me add, is a queer character.
+The more I saw of him, the greater became my admiration
+for King Leopold. In his present state the only
+rule must be a strong rule. No one would ever think of
+thanking a native for a service. It would be misunderstood
+because the black man out there mistakes kindness
+for weakness. You must be firm but just. Now you
+can see why explorers, upon emerging from long stays
+in the jungle, appear to be rude and ill-mannered. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg
+159]</a></span>
+simply because they had to be harsh and at times unfeeling,
+and it becomes a habit. Stanley, for example,
+was often called a boor and a brute when in reality he
+was merely hiding a fine nature behind the armour necessary
+to resist native imposition and worse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+<h2>III</h2>
+<p>The private car on which I travelled from
+Fungurume to Bukama was my final taste of
+luxury. When Horner waved me a good-bye
+north I realized that I was divorcing myself from comfort
+and companionship. In thirty hours I was in sun-scorched
+Bukama, the southern rail-head of the Cape-to-Cairo
+Route and my real jumping-off place before
+plunging into the mysteries of Central Africa.</p>
+<p>Here begins the historic Lualaba, which is the initial
+link in the almost endless chain of the Congo River.
+I at once went aboard the first of the boats which were
+to be my habitation intermittently for so many weeks.
+It was the "Louis Cousin," a 150-ton vessel and a fair
+example of the draft which provides the principal means
+of transportation in the Congo. Practically all transit
+not on the hoof, so to speak, in the Colony is by water.
+There are more than twelve thousand miles of rivers
+navigable for steamers and twice as many more accessible
+for canoes and launches. Hence the river-boat is
+a staple, and a picturesque one at that.</p>
+<p>The "Louis Cousin" was typical of her kind both in
+appointment, or rather the lack of it, and human interest
+details. Like all her sisters she resembles the small
+Ohio River boats that I had seen in my boyhood at
+Louisville. All Congo steam craft must be stern-wheelers,
+first because they usually haul barges on
+either side, and secondly because there are so many sand-banks.
+The few cabins&#8212;all you get is the bare room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg
+161]</a></span>&#8212;are on the upper deck, which is
+the white man's domain,
+while the boiler and freight&#8212;human and
+otherwise&#8212;are
+on the lower. This is the bailiwick of the black.
+These boats always stop at night for wood, the only
+fuel, and the natives are compelled to go ashore and sleep
+on the bank.</p>
+<p>The Congo river-boat is a combination of fortress,
+hotel, and menagerie. Like the "accommodation" train
+in our own Southern States, it is most obliging because
+it will stop anywhere to enable a passenger to get off
+and do a little shopping, or permit the captain to take
+a meal ashore with a friendly State official yearning for
+human society.</p>
+<p>The river captain is a versatile individual for he is
+steward, doctor, postman, purveyor of news, and dictator
+in general. He alone makes the schedule of each
+trip, arriving and departing at will. Time in the Congo
+counts for naught. It is in truth the land of leisure.
+For the man who wants to move fast, water travel is a
+nightmare. Accustomed as I was to swift transport, I
+spent a year every day.</p>
+<p>The skipper of the "Louis Cousin" was no exception
+to his kind. He was a big Norwegian named Behn,&#8212;many
+of his colleagues are Scandinavians,&#8212;and he
+had spent eighteen years in the Congo. He knew every
+one of the thousand nooks, turns, snags and sand-bars
+of the Lualaba. One of the first things that impressed
+me was the uncanny ingenuity with which all the Congo
+boats are navigated through what seems at first glance
+to be a mass of vegetation and obstruction.</p>
+<p>The bane of traffic is the sand-bar, which on account
+of the swift currents everywhere, is an eternally changing
+quantity. Hence a native is constantly engaged
+in taking soundings with a long stick. You can hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg
+162]</a></span>
+his not unmusical voice, from the moment the boat
+starts until she ties up for the night. The native word
+for water is "<i>mia</i>." Whenever I heard the cry "<i>mia
+mitani</i>," I knew that we were all right because that
+meant five feet of water. With the exception of the
+Congo River no boat can draw more than three feet because
+in the dry season even the mightiest of streams
+declines to an almost incredibly low level.</p>
+<p>My white fellow passengers on the "Louis Cousin"
+were mostly Belgians on their way home by way of
+Stanleyville and the Congo River, after years of service
+in the Colony. We all ate together in the tiny dining
+saloon forward with the captain, who usually provides
+the "chop," as it is called. I now made the acquaintance
+of goat as an article of food. The young nanny is not
+undesirable as an occasional novelty but when she is
+served up to you every day, it becomes a trifle monotonous.</p>
+<p>The one rival of the goat in the Congo daily menu is
+the chicken, the mainstay of the country. I know a
+man who spent six years in the Congo and he kept a
+record of every fowl he consumed. When he started
+for home the total registered exactly three thousand.
+It is no uncommon experience. Occasionally a friendly
+hunter brought antelope or buffalo aboard but goat and
+fowl, reinforced by tinned goods and an occasional egg,
+constituted the bill of fare. You may wonder, perhaps,
+that in a country which is a continuous chicken-coop,
+there should be a scarcity of eggs. The answer lies in
+the fact that during the last few years the natives have
+conceived a sudden taste for eggs. Formerly they
+were afraid to eat them.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-189-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-189-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A NATIVE MARKET AT KINDU" title="A NATIVE MARKET AT KINDU" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">A NATIVE MARKET AT KINDU</div>
+</div>
+<p>Of course, there was always an abundance of fruit.
+You can get pineapples, grape fruit, oranges, bananas
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>and a first
+cousin of the cantaloupe, called the <i>pei pei</i>,
+which when sprinkled with lime juice is most delicious.
+Bananas can be purchased for five cents a bunch of one
+hundred. It is about the only cheap thing in the Congo
+except servants.</p>
+<p>Not all my fellow passengers were desirable companions.
+At Bukana five naked savages, all chained together
+by the neck, were brought aboard in charge of
+three native soldiers. When I asked the captain who
+and what they were he replied, "They are cannibals.
+They ate two of their fellow tribesmen back in the
+jungle last week and they are going down the river to
+be tried." These were the first eaters of human flesh
+that I saw in the Congo. One conspicuous detail was
+their teeth which were all filed down to sharp points.
+I later discovered that these wolf teeth, as they might be
+called, are common to all the Congo cannibals. The
+punishment for cannibalism is death, although every
+native, whatever his offence, is given a trial by the Belgian
+authorities.</p>
+<p>So far as employing the white man as an article of diet
+is concerned, cannibalism has ceased in the Congo.
+Some of the tribes, however, still regard the flesh of their
+own kind as the last word in edibles. The practice must
+be carried on in secret. To have partaken of the human
+body has long been regarded as an act which endows
+the consumer with almost supernatural powers. The
+cannibal has always justified his procedure in a characteristic
+way. When the early explorers and missionaries
+protested against the barbarous performance
+they were invariably met with this reply, "You eat fowl
+and goats and we eat men. What is the difference?"
+There seems to have been a particular lure in what the
+native designated as "food that once talked."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+<p>In the days when cannibalism was rampant, the liver
+of the white man was looked upon as a special delicacy
+for the reason that it was supposed to transmit the
+knowledge and courage of its former owner. There was
+also a tradition that once having eaten the heart of the
+white, no harm could come to the barbarian who performed
+this amiable act. Although these odious practices
+have practically ceased except in isolated instances,
+the Congo native, in boasting of his strength, constantly
+speaks of his liver, and not of his heart.</p>
+<p>It was on the Lualaba, after the boat had tied up for
+the night, that I caught the first whisper of the jungle.
+In Africa Nature is in her frankest mood but she expresses
+herself in subdued tones. All my life I had
+read of the witchery of these equatorial places, but no
+description is ever adequate. You must live with them
+to catch the magic. No painter, for instance, can translate
+to canvas the elusive and ever-changing verdure
+of the dense forests under the brilliant tropical sun,
+nor can those elements of mystery with their suggestion
+of wild bird and beast that lurk everywhere at night,
+be reproduced. Life flows on like a moving dream that
+is exotic, enervating, yet intoxicating.</p>
+<p>Accustomed as I was to dense populations, the loneliness
+of the Lualaba was weird and haunting. On the
+Mississippi, Ohio, and Hudson rivers in America and
+on the Seine, the Thames, and the Spree in Europe,
+you see congested human life and hear a vast din. In
+Africa, and with the possible exception of some parts of
+the Nile, Nature reigns with almost undisputed sway.
+Settlements appear at rare intervals. You only encounter
+an occasional native canoe. The steamers frequently
+tie up at night at some sand-bank and you fall
+asleep invested by an uncanny silence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+<p>I spent six days on the Lualaba where we made many
+stops to take on and put off freight. Many of these
+halts were at wood-posts where our supply of fuel was
+renewed. At one post I found a lonely Scotch trader
+who had been in the Congo fifteen years. Every night
+he puts on his kilts and parades through the native
+village playing the bagpipes. It is his one touch with
+home. At another place I had a brief visit with another
+Scotchman, a veteran of the World War, who had
+established a prosperous plantation and who goes about
+in a khaki kilt, much to the joy of the natives, who see
+in his bare knees a kinship with themselves.</p>
+<p>At Kabalo I touched the war zone. This post marks
+the beginning of the railway that runs eastward to Lake
+Tanganyika and which Rhodes included in one of his
+Cape-to-Cairo routes. Along this road travelled the
+thousands of Congo fighting men on their way to the
+scene of hostilities in German East Africa.</p>
+<p>When the Great War broke out the Belgian Colonial
+Government held that the Berlin Treaty of 1885, entitled
+"A General Act Relating to Civilization in
+Africa" and prohibiting warfare in the Congo basin,
+should be enforced. This treaty gave birth to the Congo
+Free State and made it an international and peaceful
+area under Belgian sovereignty. Following their usual
+fashion the Germans looked upon this document as a
+"scrap of paper" and attached Lukuga. This forced
+the Belgian Congo into the conflict. About 20,000
+native troops were mobilized and under the command
+of General Tambeur, who is now Vice-Governor General
+of the Katanga, co-operated with the British
+throughout the entire East African campaign. The
+Belgians captured Tabora, one of the German strongholds,
+and helped to clear the Teuton out of the country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg
+166]</a></span></p>
+<p>Lake Tanganyika was the scene of one of the most
+brilliant and spectacular naval battles of the war. Two
+British motor launches, which were conveyed in sections
+all the way from England, sank a German gunboat
+and disabled another, thus purging those waters of the
+German. The lake was of great strategic importance
+for the transport of food and munitions for the Allied
+troops in German East Africa. It is one of the
+loveliest inland bodies of water in the world for it is
+fringed with wooded heights and is navigable throughout
+its entire length of four hundred miles. Ujiji, on
+its eastern shore, is the memorable spot where Stanley
+found Livingstone. The house where the illustrious
+missionary lived still stands, and is an object of veneration
+both for black and white visitors.</p>
+<p>From Kabalo I proceeded to Kongolo, where navigation
+on the Lualaba temporarily ends. It is the usual
+Congo settlement with the official residence of the Commissaire
+of the District, office of the Native Commissioner,
+and a dozen stores. It is also the southern rail-head
+of the Chemin de Fer Grands Lacs, which extends
+to Stanleyville. Early in the morning I boarded what
+looked to me like a toy train, for it was tinier than any
+I had ever seen before, and started for Kindu. The
+journey occupies two days and traverses a highly
+Arabized section.</p>
+<p>Back in the days when Tippo Tib, the friend of
+Stanley, was king of the Arab slave traders, this area
+was his hunting ground. Many of the natives are Mohammedans
+and wear turbans and long flowing robes.
+Their cleanliness is in sharp contrast with the lack of
+sanitary precautions observed by the average unclothed
+native. The only blacks who wash every day in the
+Congo are those who live on the rivers. The favorite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg
+167]</a></span>
+method of cleansing in the bush country is to scrape off
+a week's or a month's accumulation of mud with a stick
+or a piece of glass.</p>
+<p>In the Congo the trains, like the boats, stop for the
+night. Various causes are responsible for the procedure.
+In the early days of railroading elephants and other
+wild animals frequently tore up the tracks. Another
+contributory reason is that the carriages are only built
+for day travel. Native houses are provided for the
+traveller at different points on the line. Since everyone
+carries his own bed it is easy to establish sleeping
+quarters without delay or inconvenience. On this particular
+trip I slept at Malela, in the house ordinarily
+occupied by the Chief Engineer of the line. The Minister
+of the Colonies had used it the night before and
+it was scrupulously clean. I must admit that I have had
+greater discomfort in metropolitan hotels.</p>
+<p>I was now in the almost absolute domain of the native.
+The only white men that I encountered were an occasional
+priest and a still more occasional trader. At
+Kibombo the train stopped for the mail. When I got
+out to stretch my legs I saw a man and a woman who
+looked unmistakably American. The man had Texas
+written all over him for he was tall and lank and looked
+as if he had spent his life on the ranges. He came
+toward me smiling and said, "The Minister of the Colonies
+was through here yesterday in a special train and
+he said that an American journalist was following close
+behind, so I came down to see you." The man proved
+to be J. G. Campbell, who had come to install an American
+cotton gin nine kilometers from where we were
+standing. His wife was with him and she was the only
+white woman within two hundred miles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p>
+<p>Campbell is a link with one of the new Congo industries,
+which is cotton cultivation. The whole area
+between Kongolo and Stanleyville, three-fourths of
+which is one vast tropical forest, has immense stretches
+ideally adapted for cotton growing. The Belgian Government
+has laid out experimental plantations and they
+are thriving. In 1919 four thousand acres were cultivated
+in the Manyema district, six thousand in the Sankuru-Kasai
+region, and six hundred in the Lomami territory.
+Altogether the Colony produced 6,000,000 pounds
+of the raw staple in 1920 and some of it was grown by
+natives who are being taught the art. The Congo
+Cotton Company has been formed at Brussels with a
+capitalization of 6,000,000 francs, to exploit the new
+industry, which is bound to be an important factor in
+the development of the Congo. It shows that the ruthless
+exploitation of the earlier days is succeeded by
+scientific and constructive expansion.</p>
+<p>Campbell's experience in setting up his American
+gin discloses the principal need of the Congo today
+which is adequate transport. Between its arrival at the
+mouth of the Congo River and Kibombo the mass of
+machinery was trans-shipped exactly four times, alternately
+changing from rail to river. At Kibombo the
+550,000 pounds of metal had to be carried on the heads
+of natives to the scene of operations. In the Congo
+practically every ton of merchandise must be moved by
+man power&#8212;the average load is sixty pounds&#8212;through
+the greater part of its journey.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-197-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-197-thumbnail.jpg" alt="NATIVE FISH TRAPS AT STANLEY FALLS" title="NATIVE FISH TRAPS AT STANLEY FALLS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">NATIVE FISH TRAPS AT STANLEY FALLS</div>
+</div>
+<p>Late in the afternoon of the day which marked the
+encounter with the Campbells I reached Kindu, where
+navigation on the Lualaba is resumed again. By this
+time you will have realized something of the difficulty
+of travelling in this part of the world. It was my third
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>change since
+Bukama and more were to come before I
+reached the Lower Congo.</p>
+<p>At Kindu I had a rare piece of luck. I fell in with
+Louis Franck, the Belgian Minister of the Colonies, to
+whom I had a letter of introduction, and who was making
+a tour of inspection of the Congo. He had landed
+at Mombassa, crossed British East Africa, visited the
+new Belgian possessions of Urundi and Ruanda which
+are spoils of war, and made his way to Kabalo from
+Lake Tanganyika. He asked me to accompany him
+to Stanleyville as his guest. I gladly accepted because,
+aside from the personal compensation afforded by his
+society, it meant immunity from worry about the river
+and train connections.</p>
+<p>Franck represents the new type of Colonial Minister.
+Instead of being a musty bureaucrat, as so many are,
+he is a live, alert progressive man of affairs who played
+a big part in the late war. To begin with, he is one of
+the foremost admiralty lawyers of Europe. When the
+Germans occupied Belgium he at once became conspicuous.
+He resisted the Teutonic scheme to separate the
+French and Flemish sections of the ravaged country.
+After the investment of Antwerp, his native place, accompanied
+by the Burgomaster and the Spanish Minister,
+he went to the German Headquarters and made
+the arrangement by which the city was saved from
+destruction by bombardment. He delayed this parley
+sufficiently to enable the Belgian Army to escape to the
+Yser. Subsequently his activities on behalf of his
+countrymen made him so distasteful to the Germans that
+he was imprisoned in Germany for nearly a year. For
+two months of this time he shared the noble exile of
+Monsieur Max, the heroic Burgomaster of Brussels.</p>
+<p>I now became an annex of what amounted to a royal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg
+170]</a></span>
+progress. To the Belgian colonial official and to the
+native, Franck incarnated a sort of All Highest. In
+the Congo all functionaries are called "Bula Matadi,"
+which means "The Rock Breaker." It is the name
+originally bestowed on Stanley when he dynamited a
+road through the rocks of the Lower Congo. Franck,
+however, was a super "Bula Matadi." We had a
+special boat, the "Baron Delbecke," a one hundred
+ton craft somewhat similar to the "Louis Cousin" but
+much cleaner, for she had been scrubbed up for the
+journey. The Minister, his military aide, secretary and
+doctor filled the cabins, so I slept in a tent set up on the
+lower deck.</p>
+<p>With flags flying and thousands of natives on the
+shore yelling and beating tom-toms, we started down
+the Lualaba. The country between Kindu and Ponthierville,
+our first objective, is thickly populated and
+important settlements dot the banks. Wherever we
+stopped the native troops were turned out and there were
+long speeches of welcome from the local dignitaries.
+Franck shook as many black and white hands as an
+American Presidential candidate would in a swing
+around the circle. I accompanied him ashore on all
+of these state visits and it gave me an excellent opportunity
+to see the many types of natives in their Sunday
+clothes, which largely consist of no clothes at all. This
+applies especially to the female sex, which in the Congo
+reverses Kipling's theory because they are less deadly
+than the male.</p>
+<p>At Lowa occurred a significant episode. This place
+is the center of an immense native population, but there
+is only one white resident, the usual Belgium state official.
+We climbed the hill to his house, where thirty of
+the leading chiefs, wearing the tin medal which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg
+171]</a></span>
+Belgian Government gives them, shook hands with the
+Minister. The ranking chief, distinguished by the extraordinary
+amount of red mud in his wool and the
+grotesque devices cut with a knife on his body, made a
+long speech in which he became rather excited. When
+the agent translated this in French to Franck I gathered
+that the people were indignant over the advance in
+cost of trade goods, especially salt and calico. Salt is
+more valuable than gold in the Congo. Among the
+natives it is legal tender for every commodity from a
+handkerchief to a wife.</p>
+<p>Franck made a little speech in French in reply&#8212;it
+was translated by the interpreter&#8212;in which he said
+that the Great War had increased the price of everything.
+We shook hands all round and there was much
+muttering of "yambo," the word for "greeting," and
+headed for the boat.</p>
+<p>Halfway down the hill we heard shouting and hissing.
+We stopped and looked back. On the crest were a
+thousand native women, jeering, hooting, and pointing
+their fingers at the Minister, who immediately asked the
+cause of the demonstration. When the agent called
+for an explanation a big black woman said:</p>
+<p>"Ask the 'Bula Matadi' why the franc buys so little
+now? We only get a few goods for a big lot of money."</p>
+<p>I had gone into the wilds to escape from economic
+unrest and all the confusion that has followed in its
+wake, yet here in the heart of Central Africa, I found
+our old friend the High Cost of Living working overtime
+and provoking a spirited protest from primitive
+savages! It proves that there is neither caste, creed nor
+colour-line in the pocket-book. Like indigestion, to repeat
+Mr. Pinero, it is the universal leveller of all ranks.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>IV</h2>
+<p>On this trip Franck outlined to me his whole
+colonial creed. It was a gorgeous June morning
+and we had just left a particularly picturesque
+Arabized village behind us. Hundreds of natives
+had come out to welcome the Minister in canoes.
+They sang songs and played their crude musical instruments
+as they swept alongside our boat. We now sat
+on the upper deck and watched the unending panorama
+of palm trees with here and there a clump of grass huts.</p>
+<p>"All colonial development is a chain which is no
+stronger than its weakest link and that is the native," said
+the Minister. "As you build the native, so do you build
+the whole colonial structure. Hence the importance of
+a high moral standard. You must conform to the native's
+traditions, mentality and temperament. Give him
+a technical education something like that afforded by
+Booker Washington's Tuskegee Institute. Show him
+how to use his hands. He will then become efficient and
+therefore contented. It is a mistake to teach him a
+European language. I prefer him to be a first-class
+African rather than third-class European.</p>
+<p>"The hope of the Congo lies in industrialization on
+the one hand, and the creation of new wealth on the
+other. By new wealth I mean such new crops as cotton
+and a larger exploitation of such old products as rice
+and palm fruit. Rubber has become a second industry
+although the cultivated plantations are in part taking
+the place of the old wild forests. The substitute for
+rubber as the first product of the land is the fruit of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg
+173]</a></span>
+oil palm tree. This will be the industrial staple of the
+Congo. I believe, however, that in time cotton can be
+produced in large commercial quantities over a wide
+area."</p>
+<p>Franck now turned to a subject which reflects his
+courage and progressiveness. He said, "There is a
+strong tendency in other Colonies to give too large a
+place to State enterprise. The result of this system
+is that officers are burdened with an impossible task.
+They must look after the railways, steamers, mills, and
+a variety of tasks for which they often lack the technical
+knowledge.</p>
+<p>"I have made it a point to give first place to private
+enterprise and to transfer those activities formerly under
+State rule to autonomous enterprises in which the State
+has an interest. They are run by business men along
+business lines as business institutions. The State's principal
+function in them is to protect the native employes.
+The gold mines at Kilo are an example. They are still
+owned by the State but are worked by a private company
+whose directors have full powers. The reason
+why the State does not part with its ownership of these
+mines is that it does not want a rush of gold-seekers.
+History has proved that in a country with a primitive
+population a gold rush is a dangerous and destructive
+thing.</p>
+<p>"We are always free traders in Belgium and we are
+glad to welcome any foreign capital to the Congo. We
+have already had the constructive influence of American
+capital in the diamond fields and we will be glad to have
+more."</p>
+<p>The average man thinks that the Congo and concessions
+are practically synonymous terms. In the Leopold
+day this was true but there is a new deal now.
+Let Monsieur Franck explain it:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+<p>"There was a time when huge concessions were freely
+given in the Congo. They were then necessary because
+the Colony was new, the country unknown, and the
+financial risk large. Now that the economic possibilities
+of the region are realized it is not desirable to grant
+any more large concessions. It is proved that these concessions
+are really a handicap rather than a help to a
+young land. The wise procedure is to have a definite
+agricultural or industrial aim in mind, and then pick
+the locality for exploitation, whether it is gold, cotton,
+copper or palm fruit."</p>
+<p>"What is the future of the Congo?" I asked.</p>
+<p>"The Congo is now entering upon a big era of development,"
+was the answer. "If the Great War had
+not intervened it would have been well under way. Despite
+the invasion of Belgium, the practical paralysis of
+our home industry, and the fact that many of our Congo
+officials and their most highly trained natives were off
+fighting the Germans in East Africa, the Colony more
+than held its own during those terrible years. In building
+the new Congo we are going to profit by the example
+of other countries and capitalize their knowledge and
+experience of tropical hygiene. We propose to combat
+sleeping sickness, for example, with an agency similar
+to your Rockefeller Institute of Research in New
+York.</p>
+<p>"The Congo is bound to become one of the great
+centers of the world supply. The Katanga is not only
+a huge copper area but it has immense stores of coal,
+tin, zinc and other valuable commodities. Our diamond
+fields have scarcely been scraped, while the agricultural
+possibilities of hundreds of thousands of square miles are
+unlimited.</p>
+<p>"The great need of the Congo is transport. We are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg
+175]</a></span>
+increasing our river fleets and we propose to introduce
+on them a type of barge similar to that used on the
+Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers.</p>
+<p>"An imposing program of railway expansion is
+blocked out. For one thing we expect to run a railway
+from the Katanga copper belt straight across country
+to Kinshassa on the Lower Congo. It is already surveyed.
+This will tap a thickly populated region and
+enable the diamond mines of the Kasai to get the labour
+they need so sorely. The Robert Williams railway
+through Angola will be another addition to our transportation
+facilities. One of the richest regions of the
+Congo is the north-eastern section. The gold mines
+at Kilo are now only accessible by river. We plan to
+join them up with the railway to be built from Stanleyville
+to the Soudan border. This will link the Congo
+River and the Nile. With our railroads as with our industrial
+enterprises, we stick to private ownership and
+operation with the State as a partner.</p>
+<p>"The new provinces of Ruanda and Urundi will contribute
+much to our future prosperity. They add millions
+of acres to our territory and 3,000,000 healthy
+and prosperous natives to our population. These new
+possessions have two distinct advantages. One is that
+they provide an invigorating health resort which will
+be to the Central Congo what the Katanga is to the
+Southern. The other is that, being an immense cattle
+country&#8212;there is a head of live stock for every
+native&#8212;we
+will be able to secure fresh meat and dairy products,
+which are sorely needed.</p>
+<p>"The Congo is not only the economic hope of Belgium
+but it is teaching the Belgian capitalist to think in
+broad terms. Henceforth the business man of all countries
+must regard the universe as his field. As a prac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>tical
+commercial proposition it pays, both with nations
+as with individuals. We have found that the possession
+of the Congo, huge as it is, and difficult for a country
+like ours to develop, is a stimulating thing. It is quickening
+our enterprise and widening our world view."</p>
+<p>It would be difficult to find a more practical or
+comprehensive
+colonial program. It eliminates that bane
+of over-seas administration, red tape, and it puts the
+task of empire-building squarely up to the business man
+who is the best qualified for the work. I am quite
+certain that the advent of Monsieur Franck into office,
+and particularly his trip to the Congo, mean the beginning
+of an epoch of real and permanent exploitation
+in the Congo.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-207a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-207a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE MASSIVE BANGALAS" title="THE MASSIVE BANGALAS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE MASSIVE BANGALAS</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-207b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-207b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS" title="CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS</div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h1><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+<a name="CHAPTER_V_ON_THE_CONGO_RIVER" id="CHAPTER_V_ON_THE_CONGO_RIVER"></a>CHAPTER
+V&#8212;ON THE CONGO RIVER</h1>
+<h2>I</h2>
+<p>Two days more of travelling on the Lower
+Lualaba brought us to Ponthierville, a jewel
+of a post with a setting of almost bewildering
+tropical beauty. Here we spent the night on the boat
+and early the following morning boarded a special train
+for Stanleyville, which is only six hours distant by rail.
+Midway we crossed the Equator.</p>
+<p>Thirty miles south of Stanleyville is the State Experimental
+Coffee Farm of three hundred acres, which
+produces fifteen different species of the bean. This institution
+is one evidence of a comprehensive agricultural
+development inaugurated by the Belgian Government.
+The State has about 10,000 acres of test plantations,
+mostly Para rubber, cotton, and cacao, in various parts
+of the Colony.</p>
+<p>One commendable object of this work is to instill the
+idea of crop-growing among the natives. Under ordinary
+circumstances the man of colour in the tropics will
+only raise enough maize, manioc, or tobacco for his own
+needs. The Belgian idea is to encourage co-operative
+farming in the villages. In the region immediately adjacent
+to Stanleyville the natives have begun to plant
+cotton over a considerable area. At Kongolo I saw hundreds
+of acres of this fleecy plant under the sole supervision
+of the indigenes.</p>
+<p>Stanleyville marked one of the real mileposts of my
+journey. Here came Stanley on his first historic expe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg
+178]</a></span>dition
+across Central Africa and discovered the falls
+nearby that bear his name; here he set up the Station
+that marked the Farthest East of the expedition which
+founded the Congo Free State. Directly south-east of
+the town are seven distinct cataracts which extend over
+fifty miles of seething whirlpools.</p>
+<p>Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo
+and like Paris, is built on two sides of the river. On the
+right bank is the place of the Vice-Governor General,
+scores of well stocked stores, and many desirable residences.
+The streets are long avenues of palm trees.
+The left bank is almost entirely given over to the railway
+terminals, yards, and repair shops. My original
+plan was to live with the Vice-Governor General, Monsieur
+de Meulemeester, but his establishment was so
+taxed by the demands of the Ministerial party that I
+lodged with Monsieur Theews, Chief Engineer of the
+Chemin de Fer des Grands Lacs, where I was most
+comfortable in a large frame bungalow that commanded
+a superb view of the river and the town.</p>
+<p>At Stanleyville the Minister of the Colonies had a
+great reception. Five hundred native troops looking
+very smart were drawn up in the plaza. On the platform
+of the station stood the Vice-Governor General and staff
+in spotless white uniforms, their breasts ablaze with decorations.
+On all sides were thousands of natives in gay
+attire who cheered and chanted while the band played
+the Belgian national anthem. Over it all waved the
+flag of Belgium. It was a stirring spectacle not without
+its touch of the barbaric, and a small-scale replica of
+what you might have seen at Delhi or Cairo on a f&ecirc;te
+day.</p>
+<p>I was only mildly interested in all this tumult and
+shouting. What concerned me most was the swift,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+brown river that flowed almost at our feet. At last I
+had reached the masterful Congo, which, with the sole
+exception of the Amazon, is the mightiest stream in the
+world. As I looked at it I thought of Stanley and his
+battles on its shores, and the hardship and tragedy that
+these waters had witnessed.</p>
+<p>Stanleyville is not only the heart of Equatorial Africa
+but it is also an important administrative point. Hundreds
+of State officials report to the Vice-Governor
+General there, and on national holidays and occasions
+like the visit of the Colonial Minister, it can muster a
+gay assemblage. Monsieur Franck's presence inspired
+a succession of festivities including a garden party which
+was attended by the entire white population numbering
+about seventy-five. There was also a formal dinner
+where I wore evening clothes for the first and only
+time between Elizabethville and the steamer that took
+me to Europe three months later.</p>
+<p>At the garden party Monsieur Franck made a graceful
+speech in which he said that the real missionaries of
+African civilization were the wives who accompanied
+their husbands to their lonely posts in the field. What he
+said made a distinct impression upon me for it was not
+only the truth but it emphasized a detail that stands
+out in the memory of everyone who visits this part of the
+world. I know of no finer heroines than these women
+comrades of colonial officials who brave disease and discomfort
+to share the lives of their mates. For one thing,
+they give the native a new respect for his masters. All
+white women in the Congo are called "mamma" by the
+natives.</p>
+<p>The use of "mamma" by the African natives always
+strikes the newcomer as strange. It is a curious fact
+that practically the first word uttered by the black in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg
+180]</a></span>fant
+is "mamma," and in thousands of cases the final
+utterance of both adult male and female is the same
+word. In northern Rhodesia and many parts of the
+Congo the native mother frequently refers to her child
+as a "piccannin" which is almost the same word employed
+by coloured people in the American South.</p>
+<p>Stanleyville's social prestige is only equalled by her
+economic importance. It is one of the great ivory markets
+of the world. During the last two years this
+activity has undergone fluctuations that almost put
+Wall Street to the blush.</p>
+<p>During the war there was very little trafficking in ivory
+because it was a luxury. With peace came a big demand
+and the price soared to more than 200 francs a kilo.
+The ordinary price is about forty. One trader at
+Stanleyville cleaned up a profit of 3,000,000 francs in
+three months. Then came the inevitable reaction and
+with it a unique situation. In their mad desire to corral
+ivory the traders ran up the normal price that the native
+hunters received. The moment the boom burst the white
+buyers sought to regulate their purchases accordingly.
+The native, however, knows nothing about the law of
+demand and supply and he holds out for the boom price.
+The outcome is that hundreds of tons of ivory are piled
+up in the villages and no power on earth can convince
+the savage that there is such a thing as the ebb and flow
+of price. Such is commercial life in the jungle.</p>
+<p>Northeast of Stanleyville lie the most important
+gold mines in the Colony. The precious metal was discovered
+accidentally some years ago in the gravel of
+small rivers west of Lake Albert, and near the small
+towns of Kilo and Moto. Four mines are now worked
+in this vicinity, two by the Government and two by a
+private company. At the outbreak of the war this area<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg
+181]</a></span>
+was on the verge of considerable development which has
+just been resumed. At the time of my visit all these
+mines were placers and the operation was rather primitive.
+With modern machinery and enlarged white staffs
+will come a pretentious exploitation. The Government
+mines alone yield more than $2,000,000 worth of gold
+every year. Shortly before my arrival in the Congo
+what was heralded as the largest gold nugget ever discovered
+was found in the Kilo State Mine. It weighed
+twelve pounds.</p>
+<p>Stanleyville has a significance for me less romantic
+but infinitely more practical than the first contact with
+the Congo River. After long weeks of suffering from
+inefficient service I sacked Gerome and annexed a boy
+named Nelson. The way of it was this: In the Katanga
+I engaged a young Belgian who was on his way home,
+to act as secretary. He knew the native languages and
+could always convince the most stubborn black to part
+with an egg. Nelson was his servant. He was born
+on the Rhodesian border and spoke English. I could
+therefore upbraid him to my heart's content, which was
+not the case with Gerome. Besides, he was not handicapped
+with a wife. In Africa the servants adopt the
+names of their masters. Nelson had worked for an
+Englishman at Elizabethville and acquired his cognomen.
+I have not the slightest doubt that he now masquerades
+under mine. Be that as it may, Nelson was
+a model servant and he remained with me until that
+September day when I boarded the Belgium-bound
+boat at Matadi.</p>
+<p>Nelson reminded me more of the Georgia Negro than
+any other one that I saw in the Congo. He was almost
+coal black, he smiled continuously, and his teeth were
+wonderful to look at. He had an unusual capacity for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg
+182]</a></span>
+work and also for food. I think he was the champion
+consumer of <i>chikwanga</i> in the Congo. The <i>chikwanga</i>
+is
+a glutinous dough made from the pounded root of the
+manioc plant and is the principal food of the native.
+It is rolled and cut up in pieces and then wrapped in
+green leaves. The favorite way of preparing it for
+consumption is to heat it in palm oil, although it is
+often eaten raw. Nelson bought these <i>chikwangas</i>
+by the dozen. He was never without one. He even
+ate as he washed my clothes.</p>
+<p>The Congo native is in a continuous state of receptivity
+when it comes to food. Nowhere in the world
+have I seen people who ate so much. I have offered
+the leavings of a meal to a savage just after he had
+apparently gorged himself and he "wolfed" it as if he
+were famished. The invariable custom in the Congo
+is to have one huge meal a day. On this occasion every
+member of the family consumes all the edibles in sight.
+Then the crowd lays off until the following day. All
+food offered in the meantime by way of gratuity or
+otherwise is devoured on the spot.</p>
+<p>In connection with the <i>chikwanga</i> is an
+interesting
+fact. The Congo natives all die young&#8212;I only saw
+a dozen old men&#8212;because they are insufficiently
+nourished. The <i>chikwanga</i> is filling but not
+fattening.
+This is why sleeping sickness takes such dreadful toll.
+From an estimated population of 30,000,000 in Stanley's
+day the indigenes have dwindled to less than one-third
+this number. Meat is a luxury. Although the natives
+have chickens in abundance they seldom eat one for the
+reason that it is more profitable to sell them to the white
+man.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-215-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-215-thumbnail.jpg" alt="CENTRAL AFRICAN PYGMIES" title="CENTRAL AFRICAN PYGMIES" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">CENTRAL AFRICAN PYGMIES</div>
+</div>
+<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that the Congo native
+suffers from ailments. Unlike the average small boy
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>of
+civilization, he delights in taking medicine. I suppose
+that he regards it as just another form of food. You
+hear many amusing stories in connection with medicinal
+articles. When you give a savage a dozen effective pills,
+for example, and tell him to take one every night, he
+usually swallows them all at one time and then he wonders
+why the results are disastrous. A sorcerer in the
+Upper Congo region once obtained what was widely
+acclaimed as miraculous results from a red substance
+that he got out of a tin. It developed that he had stolen
+a can of potted beef and was using it as "medicine."</p>
+<p>Stanleyville was called the center of the old Arab
+slave trade. While the odious traffic has long ceased
+to exist, you occasionally meet an old native who bears
+the scars of battle with the marauders and who can tell
+harrowing tales of the cruelties they inflicted.</p>
+<p>The slave raiders began their operations in the Congo
+in 1877, the same year in which Stanley made his historic
+march across Africa from Zanzibar to the north of
+the Congo. It was the great explorer who unconsciously
+blazed the way for the man-hunters. They
+followed him down the Lualaba River as far as Stanley
+Falls and discovered what was to them a real human
+treasure-trove. For twenty years they blighted the
+country, carrying off tens of thousands of men, women
+and children and slaughtering thousands in addition.
+This region was a cannibal stronghold and one bait that
+lured local allies was the promise of the bodies of all
+natives slain, for consumption. Belgian pioneers in the
+Congo who co-operated with the late Baron Dhanis who
+finally put down the slave trade, have told me that it
+was no infrequent sight to behold native women going
+off to their villages with baskets of human flesh. They
+were part of the spoils of this hideous warfare.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p>
+<p>Tippo Tib was lord of this slave-trading domain. This
+astounding rascal had a distinct personality. He was
+a master trader and drove the hardest bargain in all
+Africa. Livingstone, Cameron, Stanley, and Wissmann
+all did business with him, for he had a monopoly
+on porters and no one could proceed without his help.
+He invariably waited until the white man reached the
+limit of his resources and then exacted the highest price,
+in true Shylockian fashion.</p>
+<p>According to Herbert Ward, the well-known African
+artist and explorer, who accompanied Stanley on the
+Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, Tippo Tib was something
+of a philosopher. On one occasion Ward spent
+the evening with the old Arab. He occupied a wretched
+house. Rain dripped in through the roof, rats scuttled
+across the floor, and wind shook the walls. When the
+Englishman expressed his astonishment that so rich and
+powerful a chief should dwell in such a mean abode
+Tippo Tib said:</p>
+<p>"It is better that I should live in a house like this
+because it makes me remember that I am only an ordinary
+man like others. If I lived in a fine house with
+comforts I should perhaps end by thinking too much of
+myself."</p>
+<p>Ward also relates another typical story about this
+blood-thirsty bandit. A missionary once called him to
+account for the frightful barbarities he had perpetrated,
+whereupon he received the following reply:</p>
+<p>"Ah, yes! You see I was then a young man. Now
+my hair is turning gray. I am an old man and shall
+have more consideration."</p>
+<p>Until his death in 1907 at Zanzibar, Tippo Tib and
+reformation were absolute strangers. He embodied that
+combination of cruelty and religious fanaticism so often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg
+185]</a></span>
+found in the Arab. He served his God and the devil
+with the same relentless devotion. He incarnated a
+type that happily has vanished from the map of Africa.</p>
+<p>The region around Stanleyville is rich with historic
+interest and association. The great name inseparably
+and immortally linked with it is that of Stanley. Although
+he found Livingstone, relieved Emin Pasha, first
+traversed the Congo River, and sowed the seeds of civilization
+throughout the heart of the continent, his greatest
+single achievement, perhaps, was the founding of
+the Congo Free State. No other enterprise took such
+toll of his essential qualities and especially his genius
+for organization.</p>
+<p>Stanley is most widely known as an explorer, yet
+he was, at the same time, one of the master civilizers.
+He felt that his Congo adventure would be incomplete
+if he did not make the State a vast productive region
+and the home of the white man. He longed to see it
+a British possession and it was only after he offered it
+twice to England and was twice rebuffed, that he accepted
+the invitation of King Leopold II to organize the
+stations under the auspices of the International African
+Association, which was the first step toward Belgian
+sovereignty.</p>
+<p>I have talked with many British and Belgian associates
+of Stanley. Without exception they all acclaim
+his sterling virtues both in the physical and spiritual
+sense. All agree that he was a hard man. The best
+explanation of this so-called hardness is given by Herbert
+Ward, who once spoke to him about it. Stanley's
+reply was, "You've got to be hard. If you're not hard
+you're weak. There are only two sides to it."</p>
+<p>Stanley always declared that his whole idea of life
+and work were embodied in the following maxim: "The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg
+186]</a></span>
+three M's are all we need. They are Morals, Mind and
+Muscles. These must be cultivated if we wish to be
+immortal." To an astonishing degree he worked and
+lived up to these principles.</p>
+<p>No explorer, not even Peary in the Arctic wilds, was
+ever prey to a larger isolation than this man. In the
+midst of the multitude he was alone. He shunned intimacy
+and one of his mournful reflections was, "I have
+had no friend on any expedition, no one who could possibly
+be my companion on an equal footing, except while
+with Livingstone."</p>
+<p>I cannot resist the impulse to make comparison between
+those two outstanding Englishmen, Rhodes and
+Stanley, whose lives are intimately woven into the fabric
+of African romance. They had much in common and
+yet they were widely different in purpose and temperament.
+Each was an autocrat and brooked no interference.
+Each had the same kindling ideal of British
+imperialism. Each suffered abuse at the hands of his
+countrymen and lived to witness a triumphant vindication.</p>
+<p>Stanley had a rare talent for details&#8212;he went on the
+theory that if you wanted a thing done properly you
+must do it yourself&#8212;but Rhodes only saw things in a
+big way and left the interpretation to subordinates.
+Stanley was devoutly religious while Rhodes paid scant
+attention to the spiritual side. Each was a dreamer in
+his own way and merely regarded money as a means to
+an end. Rhodes, however, was far more disdainful of
+wealth as such, than Stanley, who received large sums
+for his books and lectures. It is only fair to him to say
+that he never took pecuniary advantage of the immense
+opportunities that his explorations in the Congo afforded.</p>
+<p>Still another intrepid Englishman narrowly missed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg
+187]</a></span>
+having a big r&ocirc;le in the drama of the Congo. General
+Gordon agreed to assume the Governorship of the
+Lower Congo under Stanley, who was to be the Chief
+Administrator of the Upper Congo. They were to unite
+in one grand effort to crush the slave trade. Fate intervened.
+Gordon meanwhile was asked by the British
+Government to go to Egypt, then in the throes of the
+Mahdist uprising. He went to his martyrdom at
+Khartoum, and Stanley continued his work alone in
+Central Africa.</p>
+<p>While Stanley established its most enduring traditions,
+other heroic soldiers and explorers, contributed to
+the roll of fame of the Upper Congo region. Conspicuous
+among them was Captain Deane, an Englishman
+who fought the Arab slave traders at Stanley Falls
+and who figured in a succession of episodes that read
+like the most romantic fiction.</p>
+<p>With less than a hundred native troops recruited from
+the West Coast of Africa, he defended the State
+Station founded by Stanley at the Falls against thousands
+of Arab raiders. Most of the caps in his rifle
+cartridges were rendered useless by dampness and the
+Captain and his second in command, Lieutenant Dubois,
+a Belgian officer, fought shoulder to shoulder with his
+men in the hand-to-hand struggle that ensued. Subsequently
+practically all the natives deserted and Deane
+was left with Dubois and four loyal blacks. Under
+cover of darkness they escaped from the island on which
+the Station was located. On this journey Dubois was
+drowned.</p>
+<p>For thirty days Deane and his four faithful troopers
+wandered through the forests, hiding during the day
+from their ferocious pursuers and sleeping in trees at
+night. On the thirtieth day he was captured by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg
+188]</a></span>
+savages. Unarmed, he sank to the ground overcome
+with weariness. A big native stood over him with his
+spear poised for the fatal thrust. A moment later the
+Englishman was surprised to see his enemy lower the
+weapon and grasp him by the hand. He had succored
+this savage two years before and had not been forgotten.
+Deane and his companions were convoyed under an
+escort to Herbert Ward's camp and he was nursed back
+to health.</p>
+<p>Deane's death illustrates the irony that entered into
+the passing of so many African adventurers. Twelve
+months after he was snatched from the jaws of death on
+the banks of the Congo in the manner just described,
+he was killed while hunting elephants. A wounded
+beast impaled him on a tusk and then mauled him almost
+beyond recognition.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>II</h2>
+<p>Since Stanleyville is the head of navigation on
+the Congo there is ordinarily no lack of boats.
+I was fortunate to be able to embark on the
+"Comte de Flandre," the Mauretania of those inland
+seas and the most imposing vessel on the river for she
+displaced five hundred tons. She flew the flag of the
+Huileries du Congo Belge, the palm oil concern founded
+by Lord Leverhulme and the most important all-British
+commercial interest in the Congo. She was one of a
+fleet of ten boats that operate on the Congo, the Kasai,
+the Kwilu and other rivers. I not only had a comfortable
+cabin but the rarest of luxuries in Central Africa,
+a regulation bathtub, was available. The "Comte de
+Flandre" had cabin accommodations for fourteen
+whites. The Captain was an Englishman and the Chief
+Engineer a Scotchman.</p>
+<p>On this, as on most of the other Congo boats, the food
+is provided by the Captain, to whom the passengers pay
+a stipulated sum for meals. On the "Comte de Flandre,"
+however, the food privilege was owned jointly by the
+Captain and the Chief Engineer. The latter did all the
+buying and it was almost excruciatingly funny to watch
+him driving real Scotch bargains with the natives who
+came aboard at the various stops to sell chickens, goats,
+and fruit. The engineer could scarcely speak a word of
+any of the native languages, but he invariably got over
+the fact that the price demanded was too high.</p>
+<p>The passenger list of the "Comte de Flandre" included
+Englishmen, Belgians, Italians, and Portuguese.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+I was the only American. The steerage, firemen, and
+wood-boys were all blacks. With this international congress
+over which beamed the broad smile of Nelson, I
+started on the thousand-mile trip down the Congo River.</p>
+<p>It is difficult to convey the impression that the Congo
+River gives. Serene and majestic, it is often well-nigh
+overwhelming in its immensity. Between Stanleyville
+and Kinshassa there are four thousand islands, some of
+them thirty miles in length. As the boat picks its way
+through them you feel as if you were travelling through
+an endless tropical park of which the river provides the
+paths. It has been well called a "Venice of Vegetation."
+The shores are brilliant with a variegated growth whose
+exotic smell is wafted out over the waters. You see
+priceless orchids entwined with the mangroves in endless
+profusion. Behind this verdure stretches the dense
+equatorial forest in which Stanley battled years ago in
+an almost impenetrable gloom. Aigrettes and birds of
+paradise fly on all sides and every hour reveals a hideous
+crocodile sunning himself on a sandspit.</p>
+<p>Night on the Congo enhances the loneliness that you
+feel on all the Central African rivers. Although the
+settlements are more numerous and larger than those
+on the Lualaba and the Kasai, there is the same feeling
+of isolation the moment darkness falls. The jungle
+seems to be an all-embracing monster who mocks you
+with his silence. Joseph Conrad interpreted this atmosphere
+when he referred to it as having "a stillness of
+life that did not resemble peace,&#8212;the silence of an
+implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention."
+This is the Congo River.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-225a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-225a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="WOMEN MAKING POTTERY" title="WOMEN MAKING POTTERY" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">WOMEN MAKING POTTERY</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-225b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-225b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE CONGO PICKANINNY" title="THE CONGO PICKANINNY" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE CONGO PICKANINNY</div>
+</div>
+<p>The more I saw of the Congo River&#8212;it is nearly
+twice as large as the Mississippi&#8212;the more I realized
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>that it is in
+reality a parent of waters. It has half a
+dozen tributaries that range in length from 500 to 1,000
+miles each. The most important are the Lualaba and
+the Kasai. Others include the Itimbiri, the Aruwimi
+and the Mubangi. Scores of smaller streams, many of
+them navigable for launches, empty into the main river.
+This is why there is such a deep and swift current in
+the lower region where the Congo enters the sea.</p>
+<p>The astonishing thing about the Congo River is its
+inconsistency. Although six miles wide in many parts
+it is frequently not more than six feet deep. This makes
+navigation dangerous and difficult. As on the Lualaba
+and every other river in the Colony, soundings must be
+taken continually. This extraordinary discrepancy between
+width and depth reminds me of the designation
+of the Platte River in Nebraska by a Kansas statesman
+which was, "A river three-quarters of a mile wide and
+three-quarters of an inch deep." Thus the Congo journey
+takes on a constant element of hazard because you
+do not know what moment you will run aground on a
+sand-bank, be impaled on a snag, or strike a rock.</p>
+<p>Although the "Comte de Flandre" was rated as the
+fastest craft on the Congo our progress was unusually
+slow because of the scarcity of wood for fuel. This
+seems incredible when you consider that the whole Congo
+Basin is one vast forest. Millions of trees stand ready
+to be sacrificed to the needs of man, yet there are no
+hands to cut them. In the Congo, as throughout this
+distracted world, the will-to-work is a lost art, no less
+manifest among the savages than among their civilized
+brothers. The ordinary native will only labour long
+enough to provide himself with sufficient money to buy
+a month's supply of food. Then he quits and joins the
+leisure class. Hence wood-hunting on the Congo vies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg
+192]</a></span>
+with the trip itself as a real adventure. The competition
+between river captains for fuel is so keen that a skipper
+will sometimes start his boat at three o'clock in the morning
+and risk an accident in the dark in order to beat a
+rival to a wood supply.</p>
+<p>All up and down the river are wood-posts. Most of
+them are owned by the steamship companies. It was
+our misfortune to find most of them practically stripped
+of their supplies. A journey which ordinarily takes
+twelve days consumed twenty. But there were many
+compensations and I had no quarrel with the circumstance:</p>
+<p>I had the good fortune to witness that rarest of sights
+that falls to the lot of the casual traveller&#8212;a serious
+fight between natives. We stopped at a native wood-post&#8212;(some
+of them are operated by the occasionally
+industrious blacks)&#8212;for fuel. The whole village
+turned out to help load the logs. In the midst of the
+process a crowd of natives made their appearance, armed
+with spears and shields. They began to taunt the men
+and women who were loading our boat. I afterwards
+learned that they owned a wood-post nearby and were
+disgruntled because we had not patronized them. They
+blamed their neighbours for it. Almost before we
+realized it a pitched battle was in progress in which
+spears were thrown and men and women were laid out
+in a generally bloody fracas. One man got an assegai
+through his throat and it probably inflicted a fatal
+wound.</p>
+<p>In the midst of the m&ecirc;l&eacute;e one of my fellow
+passengers,
+a Catholic priest named Father Brandsma, courageously
+dashed in between the flying spears and logs of
+wood and separated the combatants. This incident shows
+the hostility that still exists between the various tribes in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg
+193]</a></span>
+the Congo. It constitutes one excellent reason why
+there can never be any concerted uprising against the
+whites. There is no single, strong, cohesive native
+dynasty.</p>
+<p>Father Brandsma was one of the finest men I met in
+the Congo. He was a member of the society of priests
+which has its headquarters at Mill Hill in England. He
+came aboard the boat late one night when we were tied
+up at Bumba, having ridden a hundred miles on his
+bicycle along the native trails. We met the following
+morning in the dining saloon. I sat at a table writing
+letters and he took a seat nearby and started to make
+some notes in a book. When we finished I addressed
+him in French. He answered in flawless English. He
+then told me that he had spent fifteen years in Uganda,
+where he was at the head of the Catholic Missions.</p>
+<p>The Father was in his fifth year of service in the
+Congo and his analysis of the native situation was accurate
+and convincing. Among other things he said, "The
+great task of the Colonial Government is to provide
+labour for the people. In many localities only one
+native out of a hundred works. This idleness must be
+stopped and the only way to stop it is to initiate highway
+and other improvements, so as to recruit a large
+part of the native population."</p>
+<p>Father Brandsma is devoting some of his energy to
+a change in copal gathering. This substance, which is
+found at the roots of trees in swampy and therefore
+unhealthy country, is employed in the manufacture of
+varnish. To harvest it the natives stand all day in water
+up to their hips and they catch the inevitable colds from
+which pneumonia develops. Copal gathering is a considerable
+source of income for many tribes and usually
+the entire community treks to the marshes. In this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg
+194]</a></span>
+way the lives of the women and children are also
+menaced. The Father believes that only the men
+should go forth at certain periods for this work and leave
+their families behind.</p>
+<p>Father Brandsma was the central actor in a picturesque
+scene. One Sunday morning I heard a weird
+chanting and I arose to discover the cause. I found that
+the priest was celebrating mass for the natives on the
+main deck of the boat. Dawn had just broken, and on
+the improvised altar several candles gleamed in the
+half light. In his vestments the priest was a striking
+figure. All about him knelt the score of naked savages
+who made up the congregation. They crossed themselves
+constantly and made the usual responses. I must
+confess that the ceremony was strangely moving and
+impressive.</p>
+<p>As soon as I reached the Congo River I saw that the
+natives were bigger and stronger than those of the
+Katanga and other sections that I had visited. The most
+important of the river tribes are the Bangalas, who are
+magnificent specimens of manhood. In Stanley's day
+they were masters of a considerable portion of the
+Upper Congo River region and contested his way skilfully
+and bitterly. They are more peacefully inclined
+today and hundreds of them are employed as wood-boys
+and firemen on the river boats.</p>
+<p>The Bangalas practice cicatrization to an elaborate
+extent. This process consists of opening a portion of
+the flesh with a knife, injecting an irritating juice into
+the wound, and allowing the place to swell. The effect
+is to raise a lump or weal. Some of these excrescences
+are tiny bumps and others develop into large welts
+that disfigure the anatomy. Extraordinary designs are
+literally carved on the faces and bodies of the men and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg
+195]</a></span>
+women. Although it is an intensely painful operation,&#8212;some
+of the wounds must be opened many times&#8212;the
+native submits to it with pleasure because the more
+ornate the design the more resplendent the wearer feels.
+The women are usually more liberally marked than the
+men.</p>
+<p>Cicatrization is popular in various parts of Central
+Africa but nowhere to the degree that it prevails on the
+Congo River and among the Bangalas, where it is a
+tribal mark. I observed women whose entire bodies
+from the ankles up to the head were one mass of
+cicatrized designs. One of the favorite areas is the
+stomach. This is just another argument against clothes.
+Cicatrization bears the same relation to the African
+native that tattooing does to the whites of some sections.
+Human vanity works in mysterious ways to express
+itself.</p>
+<p>In this connection it is perhaps worth while to point
+out one of the reasons why the Congo atrocity exhorters
+found such ready exhibits for their arguments. The
+Central African native delights in disfigurement not
+only as a sign of "beauty," but as a means of retaliation
+for real or fancied wrongs among his own. In the old
+days dozens of slaves, and sometimes wives, were sacrificed
+upon the death of an important chief. Their
+spirits were supposed to provide a bodyguard to escort
+the departed potentate safely into the land of the hereafter.
+One of the former prerogatives of a husband
+was the sanction to chop off the hand or foot of a wife
+if she offended or disobeyed him. Hence Central Africa
+abounded in mutilated men, women and children. While
+some of these barbarities may have been due to excessive
+zeal or temper in State or corporation officials there is
+no doubt that many instances were the result of native
+practices.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+<p>The reference to cicatrization brings to mind another
+distinctive Central African observance. I refer to the
+ceremony of blood brotherhood. When two men, who
+have been enemies, desire to make the peace and swear
+eternal amity, they make a small incision in one of their
+forearms sufficiently deep to cause the flow of blood.
+Each then licks the blood from the other's arm and
+henceforth they are related as brothers. This performance
+was not only common among the blacks but was
+also practiced by the whites and the blacks the moment
+civilization entered the wild domains. Stanley's arms
+were one mass of scars as the result of swearing constant
+blood brotherhood. It became such a nuisance and
+at the same time developed into such a serious menace
+to his health, that the rite had to be amended. Instead
+of licking the blood the comrades now merely rub the incisions
+together on the few occasions nowadays when
+fealty is sworn. I am glad to say that I escaped the
+ordeal.</p>
+<p>Much to my regret I saw only a few of the much-described
+pygmies who dwelt mainly in the regions northeast
+of Stanleyville, where Stanley first met them. They
+are all under three feet in height, are light brown in
+colour, and wear no garments when on their native
+heath. They are the shyest of all the tribes I encountered.
+These diminutive creatures seldom enter
+the service of the white man and prefer the wild life of
+the jungle. I was informed in the Congo that the real
+pygmy is fast disappearing from the map. Intermarriage
+with other tribes, and settlement into more or less
+permanent villages, have increased the height of the
+present generation and helped to remove one of the last
+human links with Stanley's great day.</p>
+<p>The Congo River native is perhaps the shrewdest in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg
+197]</a></span>
+all Central Africa. He is a born trader, and he can
+convert the conventional shoe-string into something
+worth while. One reason why the Bangalas take positions
+as firemen and woodboys on the river boats is that
+it enables them to go into business. The price of food at
+the small settlements up river is much less than at
+Kinshassa, where navigation from Stanleyville southward
+ends. Hence the blacks acquire considerable
+stores of palm oil and dried fish at the various stops
+made by the steamers and dispose of it with large profit
+when they reach the end of the journey. I have in
+mind the experience of a capita on the "Comte de
+Flandre." When we left Stanleyville his cash capital
+was thirty-five francs. With this he purchased a sufficient
+quantity of food, which included dozens of pieces
+of <i>chikwanga</i>, to realize two hundred and twenty
+francs
+at Kinshassa.</p>
+<p>These river natives are genuine profiteers. They
+invariably make it a rule to charge the white man three
+or four times the price they exact from their own kind.
+No white man ever thinks of buying anything himself.
+He always sends one of his servants. As soon as the
+vendor knows that the servant is in the white employ
+he shoves up the price. I discovered this state of affairs
+as soon as I started down the Lualaba. In my innocence
+I paid two francs for a bunch of bananas. The moment
+I had closed the deal I observed larger and better
+bunches being purchased by natives for fifty centimes.</p>
+<p>This business of profiteering by the natives is no new
+phase of life in the Congo. Stanley discovered it to his
+cost. Sir Harry Johnston, the distinguished explorer
+and administrator, who added to his achievements during
+these past years by displaying skill and brilliancy as a
+novelist, tells a characteristic story that throws light on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg
+198]</a></span>
+the subject. It deals with one of the experiences of
+George Grenfell, the eminent British missionary who
+gave thirty years of his unselfish life to work in the
+Congo. On one of his trips he noticed the corpse of a
+woman hanging from the branches of a tree over the
+water of the great river. At first he thought that she had
+been executed as a punishment for adultery, one of the
+most serious crimes in the native calendar. On investigation
+he found that she had been guilty of a much more
+serious offense. A law had been imposed that all goods,
+especially food, must be sold to the white man at a far
+higher price than the local market value. This unhappy
+woman had only doubled the quotation for eggs, had
+been convicted of breaking the code, and had suffered
+death in consequence.</p>
+<p>Since I have referred to adultery, let me point out
+a situation that does not reflect particular credit on so-called
+civilization. Before the white man came to
+Africa chastity was held in deepest reverence. The
+usual punishment for infidelity was death. Some of the
+early white men were more or less promiscuous and set
+a bad moral example with regard to the women. The
+native believed that in this respect "the white man can
+do no wrong" and the inevitable laxity resulted. When
+a woman deserts her husband now all she gets is a
+sound beating. If a man elopes with the wife of a
+friend, he is haled before a magistrate and fined.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-233-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-233-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE HEART OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST" title="THE HEART OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE HEART OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST</div>
+</div>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>III</h2>
+<p>On the Congo I got my first glimpse of the
+native fashion in mourning. It is a survival
+of the biblical "sackcloth and ashes." As soon
+as a death occurs all the members of the family smear
+their faces and bodies with ashes or dirt. Even the
+babies show these rude symbols of woe. It gives the
+person thus adorned a weird and ghastly appearance.
+When ashes and dust are not available for this purpose,
+a substitute is found in filthy mud. The mourner is not
+permitted to wash throughout the entire period of grief,
+which ranges from thirty to ninety days.</p>
+<p>Like the Southern Negro in America these African
+natives are not only born actors but have a keen sense of
+humour. They are quick to imitate the white man. If
+a Georgia darkey, for example, wants to abuse a member
+of his own race he delights to call him "a fool
+nigger." It is the last word in reproach. In the Congo
+when a native desires to express contempt for his fellow,
+he refers to him as a <i>basingi</i>, which means
+bush-man.
+It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.</p>
+<p>Up the Kasai I heard a story that admirably illustrates
+the native humour. A Belgian official much inclined
+to corpulency came out to take charge of a
+post. After the usual fashion, he received a native name
+the moment he arrived. It is not surprising that he became
+known as <i>Mafutta Mingi</i>. As soon as he learned
+what it meant he became indignant. Like most fat men
+he could not persuade himself that he was fat. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg
+200]</a></span>
+demanded that he be given another title, whereupon the
+local chief solemnly dubbed him <i>Kiboko</i>. The
+official
+was immediately appeased. He noticed that a broad
+smile invariably illumined the countenance of the person
+who addressed him in this way. On investigation he
+discovered that the word meant hippopotamus.</p>
+<p>The Congo native delights in argument. Here you
+get another parallel with his American brother. A
+Bangala, for example, will talk for a week about five
+centimes. One day at Dima I heard a terrific shouting
+and exhorting down at the native market which is held
+twice a week. I was certain that someone was being
+murdered. When I arrived on the scene I saw a hundred
+men and women gesticulating wildly and in a
+great state of excitement. I learned that the wife of
+a wood-boy on a boat had either secreted or sold a scrap
+of soap, and her husband was not only berating her with
+his tongue but telling the whole community about it.</p>
+<p>The chief function of most Belgian officials in the
+Congo is to preside at what is technically known as a
+"palaver." This word means conference but it actually
+develops into a free-for-all riotous protestation by the
+natives involved. They all want to talk at the same
+time and it is like an Irish debating society. Years ago
+each village had a "palaver ground," where the chief
+sat in solemn judgment on the disputes of his henchmen.
+Now the "palavers" are held before Government officers.
+Most of the "palavers" that I heard related to
+elopements. No matter how grievous was the offense
+of the male he invariably shifted the entire responsibility
+to the woman. He was merely emulating the ways of
+civilization.</p>
+<p>Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa we not only
+stopped every night according to custom, but halted at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg
+201]</a></span>
+not less than a dozen settlements to take on or deliver
+cargo. These stations resemble each other in that they
+are mainly a cluster of stores owned or operated by
+agents of various trading companies. Practically every
+post in the Congo has, in addition, a shop owned by a
+Portuguese. You find these traders everywhere. They
+have something of the spirit of adventure and the hardihood
+of their doughty ancestors who planted the flag
+of Portugal on the high seas back in that era when the
+little kingdom was a world power.</p>
+<p>Some of them have been in the Congo for fifteen and
+twenty years without ever stirring outside its confines.
+On the steamer that took me to Europe from the Congo
+was a Portuguese who had lived in the bush for twenty-two
+years. When he got on the big steamer he was
+frightened at the noise and practically remained in his
+cabin throughout the entire voyage. As we neared
+France he told me that if he had realized beforehand the
+terror and tumult of the civilization that he had forgotten,
+he never would have departed from his jungle
+home. He was as shy as a wild animal.</p>
+<p>One settlement, Basoko, has a tragic meaning for the
+Anglo-Saxon. Here died and lies buried, the gallant
+Grenfell. I doubt if exploration anywhere revealed a
+nobler character than this Baptist minister whose career
+has been so adequately presented by Sir Harry
+Johnston, and who ranks with Stanley and Livingstone
+as one of the foremost of African explorers. In the
+Congo evangelization has been fraught with a truly
+noble fortitude. When you see the handicaps that have
+beset both Catholic and Protestant missionaries you are
+filled with a new appreciation of their calling.</p>
+<p>The most important stop of this trip was at Coquilhatville,
+named in honor of Captain Coquilhat, one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+the most courageous of the early Belgian soldier-explorers.
+It was the original Equatorville (it is at the
+point where the Equator cuts the Congo), founded by
+Stanley when he established the series of stations under
+the auspices of the International African Association.
+Here dwells the Vice-Governor of the Equatorial Province.
+Near by is a botanical garden maintained by the
+Colonial Government and which contains specimens of
+all the flora of Central Africa.</p>
+<p>At Coquilhatville I saw the first horse since I left
+Rhodesia and it was a distinct event. Except in the
+Kasai region it is impossible to maintain live stock in
+the Congo. The tsetse fly is the devastating agency.
+Apparently the only beasts able to withstand this
+scourge are goats and dogs. The few white men who
+live in Coquilhatville have been able to maintain five
+horses which are used by the so-called Riding Club.
+These animals provide the only exercise at the post.
+They are owned and ridden by the handful of Englishmen
+there. A man must drive himself to indulge in any
+form of outdoor sport along the equator. The climate is
+more or less enervating and it takes real Anglo-Saxon
+energy to resist the lure of the <i>siesta</i> or to
+remain in bed
+as long as possible.</p>
+<p>Bolobo is a reminder of Stanley. He had more
+trouble here than at any of the many stations he set up
+in the Congo Free State in the early eighties. The
+natives were hostile, the men he left in charge proved to
+be inefficient, and on two occasions the settlement was
+burned to the ground. Today it is the seat of one of
+the largest and most prosperous of all the English
+Baptist Congo missions and is presided over by a Congo
+veteran, Dr. Stonelake. One feature of the work here
+is a manual training school for natives, who manufacture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg
+203]</a></span>
+the same kind of wicker chairs that the tourist buys at
+Madeira.</p>
+<p>The farther I travelled in the Congo the more deeply
+I became interested in the native habits and customs.
+Although cluttered with ignorance and superstition the
+barbaric mind is strangely productive of a rude philosophy
+which is expressed in a quaint folklore. Seasoned
+Congo travellers like Grenfell, Stanley, Ward, and
+Johnston have all recorded fascinating local legends.
+I heard many of these tales myself and I shall endeavour
+to relate the best.</p>
+<p>Some of the most characteristic stories deal with
+the origin of death. Here is a Bangala tradition gathered
+by Grenfell and which runs as follows:</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>The natives say that in the beginning men and women
+did not die. That one day, <i>Nza Komba</i> (God) came
+bringing
+two gifts, a large and a small one. If they chose the smaller
+one they would continue to live, but if the larger one, they
+would for a time enjoy much greater wealth, but they
+would afterwards die. The men said they must consider the
+matter, and went away to drink water, as the Kongos say.
+While they were discussing the matter the women took the
+larger gift, and <i>Nza Komba</i> went back with the
+little one.
+He has never been seen since, though they cried and cried for
+Him to come back and take the big bundle and give them
+the little one, and with it immortality.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The Baluba version of the great mystery is set forth
+in this way:</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>God (<i>Kabezya-unpungu</i>) created the sun,
+moon, and
+stars, then the world, and later the plants and animals.
+When all this was finished He placed a man and two women
+in the world and taught them the name and use of all things.
+He gave an axe and a knife to the man, and taught him to
+cut wood, weave stuffs, melt iron, and to hunt and fish. To
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>the women he
+gave a pickaxe and a knife. He taught both
+of them to till the ground, make pottery, weave baskets, make
+oil,&#8212;that is to say, all that custom assigns to them to-day.</p>
+<p>These first inhabitants of the earth lived happily for a
+long time until one of the women began to grow old. God,
+foreseeing this, had given her the gift of rejuvenating herself,
+and the faculty, if she once succeeded, of preserving the
+gift for herself and for all mankind. Unfortunately, she
+speedily lost the precious treasure and introduced death into
+the world.</p>
+<p>This is how the misfortune occurred: Seeing herself all
+withered, the woman took the fan with which her companion
+had been winnowing maize for the manufacture of beer and
+shut herself into her hut, carefully closing the door. There
+she began to tear off her old skin, throwing it on the fan.
+The skin came off easily, a new one appearing in its place.
+The operation was nearing completion. There remained the
+head and neck only when her companion came to the hut to
+fetch her fan and before the old woman could speak, pushed
+open the door. The almost rejuvenated woman fell dead
+instantly.</p>
+<p>This is the reason we all die. The two survivors gave birth
+to a number of sons and daughters, from whom all races have
+descended. Since that time God does not trouble about His
+creatures. He is satisfied with visiting them incognito now and
+again. Wherever He passes the ground sinks. He injures
+no one. It is therefore superfluous to honour him, so the
+Balubas offer no worship to Him.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-241a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-241a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="NATIVES PILING WOOD" title="NATIVES PILING WOOD" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">NATIVES PILING WOOD</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-241b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-241b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A WOOD POST ON THE CONGO" title="A WOOD POST ON THE CONGO" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">A WOOD POST ON THE CONGO</div>
+</div>
+<p>The animal story has a high place in the legends of
+these peoples. They represent a combination of Kipling's
+Jungle Book, Aesop's Fables, and Br'er Rabbit.
+Nor do they fail to point a moral. Naturally, the elephant
+is a conspicuous feature in most of them. The
+tale of "The Elephant and the Shrew" will illustrate.
+Here it is:</p>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg
+205]</a></div>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>One day the elephant met the shrew mouse on his road.
+"Out of the way," cried the latter. "I am the bigger, and
+it is your place to look out," replied the monster. "Curse
+you!" retorted the shrew mouse furiously. "May the long
+grass cut your legs!" "And may you meet your death when
+you walk in the road!" replied the other crushing him under
+his huge foot. Both curses have been fulfilled. From that day
+the elephant wounds himself when he goes through the long
+grass, and the shrew-mouse meets her death when she crosses
+the road.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The story of the elephant and the chameleon is equally
+interesting. One day the chameleon challenged the
+elephant to a race. The latter accepted the challenge
+and a meeting was arranged for the following morning.
+During the night the chameleon placed all his
+brothers from point to point along the length of the
+track where the race was to be run. When day came the
+elephant started. The chameleon quickly slipped behind
+without the elephant noticing. "Are you not
+tired?" asked the monster of the first chameleon he met.
+"Not at all," he replied, executing the same man&#339;uvre
+as the former. This stratagem was renewed so many
+times that the elephant, tired out, gave up the contest
+and confessed himself beaten.</p>
+<p>In the wilds, as in civilization, the relation between
+husband and wife, and more especially the downfall of
+the autocrat of the home, is a favorite subject for jest.
+From the northeastern corner of the Congo comes this
+illuminating story:</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>A man had two wives, one gentle and prepossessing, the
+other such a gossip that he was often made angry. Neither
+remonstrances nor beating improved her, and finally he made
+up his mind to drive her into a wood amongst the hyenas.
+There she built herself a little hut into which a hyena came
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>and boldly
+installed herself as mistress. The wife tried to
+protest but the hyena, not content with eating and drinking
+all that the wife was preparing, compelled her furthermore to
+look after her young. One day the hyena had ordered the
+woman to boil some water. While waiting the wife had the
+sudden idea of seizing the young hyenas and throwing them
+into the boiling water. She did this and then she ran trembling
+to take refuge in the home of her husband whom she found
+calmly seated at the entrance of the house, spear in hand.
+She threw herself at the feet of her spouse, beseeching him for
+help and protection. When the hyena arrived foaming with
+rage her husband stretched it dead on the ground with a blow
+of his spear. The lesson was not lost on the wife. From that
+day forth she became the joy and delight of her husband.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The Congo can ever reproduce its own version of the
+fable of "The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg." It is
+somewhat primitive but serves the same purpose. As
+told to the naked piccaninnies by the flickering camp-fires
+it runs thus:</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Four fools owned a chicken which laid blue glass beads instead
+of eggs. A quarrel arose concerning the ownership of
+the fowl. The bird was subsequently killed and divided into
+four equal portions. The spring of their good fortune dried
+up.</p>
+</div>
+<p>To understand the significance of the story it must
+be understood that for many years beads have been one
+of the forms of currency in Central Africa. Formerly
+they were as important a detail in the purchase of a wife
+as copper and calico. The first piece of attire, if it may
+be designated by this name, that adorns the native baby
+after its entrance into the world is an anklet of blue
+beads. Later a strand of beads is placed round its loins.</p>
+<p>When you have heard such stories as I have just re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg
+207]</a></span>lated,
+you realize that despite his ignorance, appetite,
+and indolence, the Congo native has some desirable
+qualities. He is shiftless but not without human instincts.
+Nowhere are they better expressed than in
+his folklore.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>IV</h2>
+<p>Two stops on the Congo River deserve
+special attention. In the Congo there began in
+1911 an industry that will have an important
+bearing on the economic development of the Colony. It
+was the installation of the first plant of the Huileries du
+Congo Belge. This Company, which is an offshoot of the
+many Lever enterprises of England, resulted from the
+growing need of palm oil as a substitute for animal fat in
+soap-making. Lord Leverhulme, who was then Sir
+William Lever, obtained a concession for considerably
+more than a million acres of palm forests in the Congo.
+He began to open up so-called areas and install mills
+for boiling the fruit and drying the kernels. He now
+has eight areas, and two of them, Elizabetha and
+Alberta,&#8212;I visited both&#8212;are on the Congo River.</p>
+<p>For hundreds of years the natives have gathered the
+palm fruit and extracted the oil. Under their method
+of manufacture the waste was enormous. The blacks
+threw away the kernel because they were unaware of
+the valuable substance inside. Lord Leverhulme was
+the first to organize the industry on a big and scientific
+basis and it has justified his confidence and expenditure.</p>
+<p>Most people are familiar with the date and the cocoa-nut
+palms. From the days of the Bible they have
+figured in narrative and picture. The oil palm, on the
+other hand, is less known but much more valuable. It
+is the staff of life in the Congo and for that matter,
+practically all West Africa. Thousands of years ago<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg
+209]</a></span>
+its sap was used by the Egyptians for embalming the
+bodies of their kingly dead. Today it not only represents
+the most important agricultural industry of the
+Colony, having long since surpassed rubber as the
+premier product, but it has an almost bewildering
+variety of uses. It is food, drink and shelter. Out of
+the trunk the native extracts his wine; from the fruit,
+and this includes the kernel, are obtained oil for soap,
+salad dressing and margarine; the leaves provide a
+roof for the native houses; the fibre is made into mats,
+baskets or strings for fishing nets, while the wood goes
+into construction. Even the bugs that live on it are food
+for men.</p>
+<p>The "H. C. B." as the Huileries du Congo Belge is
+more commonly known in the Congo, really performed
+a courageous act in exploitation when it set up shop in
+the remote regions and devoted itself to an absolutely
+fresh enterprise, so far as extensive development is concerned,
+at a time when the rich and profitable products
+of the country were rubber, ivory and copal. The company's
+initiative, therefore, instigated the trade in
+oleaginous products which is so conspicuous in the
+economic life of the country.</p>
+<p>The installation at Alberta, while not so large as the
+Leverville area on the Kwilu River, will serve to show
+just what the corporation is doing. Five years ago this
+region was the jungle. Today it is the model settlement
+on the Congo River. The big brick office building
+stands on a brow of the hill overlooking the water. Not
+far away is the large mill where the palm fruit is reduced
+to oil and the kernels dried. Stretching away from the
+river is a long avenue of palms, flanked by the commodious
+brick bungalows of the white employes. The
+"H. C. B." maintains a store at each of its areas, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg
+210]</a></span>
+food and supplies are bought by the personnel. These
+stores are all operated by the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; d'Entreprises
+Commerciales au Congo Belge, known locally under the
+name of "Sedec," formed as its name indicated, with a
+view of benefiting by the great resources opened to
+commerce in the Colony.</p>
+<p>For miles in every direction the Company has laid
+out extensive palm plantations. In the Alberta region
+twenty-five hundred acres are in course of cultivation
+in what is known as the Eastern Development, while
+sixteen hundred more acres are embodied in the Western
+development. An oil palm will bear fruit within seven
+years after the young tree is planted. The fruit comes
+in what is called a <i>r&eacute;gime</i>, which
+resembles a huge bunch
+of grapes. It is a thick cluster of palm fruit. Each
+fruit is about the size of a large date. The outer portion,
+the pericarp, is almost entirely yellow oil encased
+in a thick skin. Imbedded in this oil is the kernel, which
+contains an even finer oil. The fruit is boiled down and
+the kernel, after a drying process, is exported in bags
+to England, where it is broken open and the contents
+used for salad oil or margarine.</p>
+<p>Before the war thousands of tons of palm oil and
+kernels were shipped from the West Coast of Africa to
+Germany every year. Now they are diverted to England
+where large kernel-crushing plants have been installed
+and the whole activity has become a British
+enterprise. With the eclipse of the German Colonial
+Empire in Africa it is not likely that she can regain this
+lost business.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-249a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-249a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA" title="RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-249b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-249b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE COMTE DE FLANDRE" title="THE COMTE DE FLANDRE" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE COMTE DE FLANDRE</div>
+</div>
+<p>The creation of new palmeries is merely one phase of
+the company's development. One of its largest tasks
+is to safeguard the immense natural palmeries on its
+concessions. The oil palm requires constant attention.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>The undergrowth
+spreads rapidly and if it is not removed
+is liable to impair the life of the tree. Thousands
+of natives are employed on this work. A large
+knife something like the Cuban machete is used.</p>
+<p>Harvesting the <i>r&eacute;gimes</i> is a
+spectacular performance
+not without its element of danger. The <i>r&eacute;gime</i>
+grows
+at the top of the tree, usually a height of sixty or
+seventy-five feet and sometimes more. The native
+literally walks up the trunk with the help of a loop
+made from some stout vine which encircles him. Arriving
+at the top he fixes his feet against the trunk, leans
+against the loop which holds him fast, and hacks away
+at the <i>r&eacute;gime</i>. It falls with a heavy thud
+and woe betide
+the human being or the animal it strikes. The
+natives will not cut fruit in rainy weather because many
+have slipped on the wet bark and fallen to their death.</p>
+<p>So wide is the Alberta fruit-producing area that a
+narrow-gauge railway is necessary to bring the fruit in
+to the mill. Along its line are various stations where the
+fruit is mobilized, stripped from the <i>r&eacute;gime</i>
+and sent
+down for refining in baskets. Each station has a superintendent
+who lives on the spot. The personnel of all
+the staff in the Congo is almost equally divided between
+British and Belgians.</p>
+<p>While the "H. C. B." is the largest factor in the
+palm oil industry in the Congo, many tons of kernels
+are gathered every year by individuals who include thousands
+of natives. One reason why the savage takes
+naturally to this occupation is that it demands little
+work. All that he is required to do is to climb a tree in
+the jungle and lop off a <i>r&eacute;gime</i>. He uses
+the palm oil
+for his own needs or disposes of it to a member of his
+tribe and sells the kernels to the white man.</p>
+<p>The "H. C. B." is independent of all other water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg
+212]</a></span>
+transport in the Congo. Its river tonnage aggregates
+more than 6,000, and in addition it has many oil barges
+on the various rivers where its vessels ply. The capacity
+of some of the barges is 250 tons of oil. They are
+usually lashed to the side of the steamer. The decks of
+these barges are often piled high with bags of kernels
+and become a favorite sleeping place for the black
+voyagers for whom the thousands of insects that lurk
+in them have no terrors. No bug inflicts a sharper sting
+than these pests who make their <i>habitat</i> among the
+palm
+kernels.</p>
+<p>One of my fellow passengers on the "Comte de
+Flandre" was I. F. Braham, the Associate Managing
+Director of the "H. C. B." in the Congo. Long the
+friend and companion in Liberia of Sir Harry Johnston,
+he was a most desirable and congenial companion. It
+was on his suggestion and invitation that I spent the
+week at Alberta and he shared the visit. Our hosts
+were Major and Mrs. Claude Wallace.</p>
+<p>Major Wallace was the District Manager of the
+Alberta area and occupied a brick bungalow on the
+bank of the river. He is a pioneer in exploration in the
+French Congo and Liberia and went almost straight
+from the battlefields of France, where he served with
+distinction in the World War, out to his post in the
+Congo. His wife is a fine example of the white woman
+who has braved the dangers of the tropics. She left the
+luxury and convenience of European life to establish
+a home in the jungle.</p>
+<p>It is easy to spot the refining influence of the woman
+in the African habitation. You always see the effect
+long before you behold the cause. One of these effects
+is usually a neat garden. Mrs. Wallace had half an
+acre of English roses in front of her house. They were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg
+213]</a></span>
+the only ones I saw in Central Africa. The average
+bachelor in this part of the world is not particularly
+scrupulous about the appearance of his house. The
+moment you observe curtains at the window you know
+that there is a female on the premises.</p>
+<p>My life at Alberta was one of the really delightful
+experiences in the Congo. Every morning I set out
+with Braham and Wallace on some tour of inspection.
+Often we rode part of the way on the little light railroad.
+The method of transport was unique. An ordinary
+bench is placed on a small flat car. The propelling
+power is furnished by two husky natives who stand on
+either side of the bench and literally shove the vehicle
+along with long sticks. It is like paddling a railroad
+canoe. This transportation freak is technically called a
+<i>maculla</i>. The strong-armed paddlers were able to
+develop
+an astonishing speed. I think that this is the
+only muscle-power railroad in the world. Light engines
+are employed for hauling the palm fruit trains.</p>
+<p>After our day in the field&#8212;for frequently we took
+our lunch with us&#8212;we returned before sunset and
+bathed and dressed for dinner. In the Congo only a
+madman would take a cold plunge. The most healthful
+immersion is in tepid water. More than one Englishman
+has paid the penalty with his life, by continuing
+his traditional cold bath in the tropics. This reminds me
+of a significant fact in connection with colonization.
+Everyone must admit that the Briton is the best colonizer
+in the world. One reason is that he knows how to
+rule the man of colour for he does it with fairness and
+firmness. Another lies in the fact that he not only
+keeps himself clean but he makes his environment sanitary.</p>
+<p>There is a tradition that the Constitution follows the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg
+214]</a></span>
+flag. I contend that with the Englishman the bath-tub
+precedes the code of law and what is more important, it
+is in daily use. There are a good many bath-tubs in the
+Congo but they are employed principally as receptacles
+for food supplies and soiled linen.</p>
+<p>Those evenings at Alberta were as unforgettable as
+their setting. Braham and Wallace were not only men
+of the world but they had read extensively and had
+travelled much. A wide range of subjects came under
+discussion at that hospitable table whose spotless linen
+and soft shaded lights were more reminiscent of London
+and New York than suggestive of a far-away post on
+the Congo River on the edge of the wilderness.</p>
+<p>At Alberta as elsewhere, the "H. C. B." is a moral
+force. Each area has a doctor and a hospital. No detail
+of its medical work is more vital to the productive
+life of the Colony that the inoculation of the natives
+against sleeping sickness. This dread disease is the
+scourge of the Congo and every year takes toll of hundreds
+of thousands of natives. Nor is the white man
+immune. I saw a Belgian official dying of this loathsome
+malady in a hospital at Matadi and I shall never
+forget his ravings. The last stage of the illness is always
+a period when the victim becomes demented. The
+greatest boon that could possibly be held out for Central
+Africa today would be the prevention of sleeping
+sickness.</p>
+<p>Another constructive work carried out under the
+auspices of the "H. C. B." is embodied in the native
+schools. There is an excellent one at Alberta. It is
+conducted by the Catholic Fathers of the Scheut Mission.
+The children are trained to become wood-workers,
+machinists, painters, and carpenters. It is the Booker
+Washington idea transplanted in the jungle. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+Scheut Missionaries and their Jesuit colleagues are doing
+an admirable service throughout the Congo. Some
+of them are infused with the spirit that animated Father
+Damien. Time, distance, and isolation count for naught
+with them. It is no uncommon thing to encounter in
+the bush a Catholic priest who has been on continuous
+service there for fifteen or twenty years without a holiday.
+At Luluaburg lives a Mother Superior who has
+been in the field for a quarter of a century without
+wandering more than two hundred miles from her field
+of operations.</p>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>V</h2>
+<p>Now for the last stage of the Congo River
+trip. Like so many of my other experiences
+in Africa it produced a surprise.
+One morning when we were about two hundred miles
+north of Kinshassa I heard the whir of a motor engine,
+a rare sound in those parts. I thought of aeroplanes
+and instinctively looked up. Flying overhead toward
+Coquilhatville was a 300-horse power hydroplane containing
+two people. Upon inquiry I discovered that it
+was one of four machines engaged in carrying passengers,
+mail, and express between Kinshassa and Coquilhatville.</p>
+<p>The campaign against the Germans in East Africa
+proved the practicability of aeroplanes in the tropics.
+The Congo is the first of the Central African countries
+to dedicate aviation to commercial uses and this precedent
+is likely to be extensively followed. Fifteen
+hydroplanes have been ordered for the Congo River
+service which will eventually be extended to Stanleyville.
+Only those who have endured the agony of slow transport
+in the Congo can realize the blessing that air travel
+will confer.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-257a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-257a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A TYPICAL OIL PALM FOREST" title="A TYPICAL OIL PALM FOREST" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A TYPICAL OIL PALM FOREST</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-257b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-257b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="BRINGING IN THE PALM FRUIT" title="BRINGING IN THE PALM FRUIT" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">BRINGING IN THE PALM FRUIT</div>
+</div>
+<p>I was naturally curious to find out just what the
+African native thought of the aeroplane. The moment
+that the roar of the engine broke the morning silence,
+everybody on the boat rushed to some point of vantage
+to see the strange sight. The blacks slapped each other
+on the shoulder, pointed at the machine, and laughed
+and jabbered. Yet when my secretary asked a big
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>Baluba if he
+did not think that the aeroplane was a
+wonderful thing the barbarian simply grunted and replied,
+"White man can do anything." He summed up
+the native attitude toward his conqueror. I believe that
+if a white man performed the most astounding feat of
+magic or necromancy the native would not express the
+slightest surprise.</p>
+<p>At Kwamouth, where the Kasai flows into the Congo
+River, we entered the so-called "Channel." From this
+point down to Stanley Pool the river is deep and the
+current is swift. This means that for a brief time the
+traveller enjoys immunity from the danger of running
+aground on a sandbank. The whole country-side is
+changed. Instead of the low and luxuriantly-wooded
+shores the banks become higher with each passing hour.
+Soon the land adjacent to the river merges into foothills
+and these in turn taper off into mountains. The
+effect is noble and striking. No wonder Stanley went
+into ecstasies over this scenery. He declared on more
+than one occasion that it was as inspiring as any he had
+seen in Wales or Scotland.</p>
+<p>In the "Channel" another surprise awaits the traveller.
+The mornings are bitterly raw. This is probably
+due to the high ground on either side of the river and the
+strong currents of air that sweep up the stream. I can
+frankly say that I really suffered from the cold within
+striking distance of the equator. I did not feel comfortable
+until I had donned a heavy sweater.</p>
+<p>This sudden change in temperature explains one reason
+why so many Congo natives die under forty. They
+are scantily clad, perspire freely, and lie out at night
+with scarcely any covering. They go to sleep in a humid
+atmosphere and wake up with the temperature forty
+degrees lower. The natural result is that half of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg
+218]</a></span>
+constantly have colds and the moment pneumonia develops
+they succumb. Congestion of the lungs vies with
+sleeping sickness as the ravager of Middle Africa, and
+especially certain parts of the Congo.</p>
+<p>Kinshassa is situated on Stanley Pool, a lake-like
+expansion of the Congo more than two hundred square
+miles in area. It is dotted with islands. Nearly one-third
+of the northern shore is occupied by the rocky
+formations that Stanley named Dover Cliffs. They reminded
+him of the famous white cliffs of England and
+with the sunlight on them they do bear a strong resemblance
+to one of the familiar signposts of Albion.
+More than one Englishman emerging from the jungle
+after long service remote from civilization has gotten a
+thrill of home at the name and sight of these hills.</p>
+<p>Stanley Pool has always been associated in my mind
+with one of the most picturesque episodes in Stanley's
+life. He tells about it in his monumental work on the
+Congo Free State and again relates it in his Autobiography.
+It deals with Ngalyema, who was chief of
+the Stanley Pool District in the early eighties. He demanded
+and received a large quantity of goods for the
+permission to establish a station here. After the explorer
+had camped within ten miles of the Pool the old
+pirate pretended that he had not received the goods
+and sought to extort more. Stanley refused to be
+bullied, whereupon the chief threatened to attack him in
+force. Let Stanley now tell the story, for it is an illustration
+of the way he combated the usury and cunning
+of the Congo native.</p>
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>I had hung a great Chinese gong conspicuously near the
+principal tent. Ngalyema's curiosity would be roused. All my
+men were hidden, some in the steamboat on top of the wagon,
+and in its shadow was a cool place where the warriors would
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>gladly rest
+after a ten-mile march. Other of my men lay still
+as death under tarpaulins, under bundles of grass, and in the
+bush round about the camp. By the time the drum-taps and
+horns announced Ngalyema's arrival, the camp seemed abandoned
+except by myself and a few small boys. I was indolently
+seated in a chair reading a book, and appeared too lazy to
+notice anyone; but, suddenly looking up and seeing my "brother
+Ngalyema" and his warriors, scowlingly regarding me, I sprang
+up and seized his hands, and affectionately bade him welcome,
+in the name of sacred fraternity, and offered him my own chair.</p>
+<p>He was strangely cold, and apparently disgruntled, and
+said:&#8212;</p>
+<p>"Has not my brother forgotten his road? What does he
+mean by coming to this country?"</p>
+<p>"Nay, it is Ngalyema who has forgotten the blood-bond
+which exists between us. It is Ngalyema who has forgotten the
+mountains of goods which I paid him. What words are these
+of my brother?"</p>
+<p>"Be warned, Rock-Breaker. Go back before it is too late.
+My elders and people all cry out against allowing the white
+man to come into our country. Therefore, go back before it
+be too late. Go back, I say, the way you came."</p>
+<p>Speech and counter-speech followed. Ngalyema had exhausted
+his arguments; but it was not easy to break faith and
+be uncivil, with plausible excuse. His eyes were reaching round
+seeking to discover an excuse to fight, when they rested on
+the round, burnished face of the Chinese gong.</p>
+<p>"What is that?" he said.</p>
+<p>"Ah, that&#8212;that is a fetish."</p>
+<p>"A fetish! A fetish for what?"</p>
+<p>"It is a war-fetish, Ngalyema. The slightest sound of that
+would fill this empty camp with hundreds of angry warriors;
+they would drop from above, they would spring up from the
+ground, from the forest about, from everywhere."</p>
+<p>"Sho! Tell that story to the old women, and not to a
+chief like Ngalyema. My boy tells me it is a kind of a bell.
+Strike it and let me hear it."</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+</p>
+<p>"Oh, Ngalyema, my brother, the consequences would be too
+dreadful! Do not think of such a thing!"</p>
+<p>"Strike it, I say."</p>
+<p>"Well, to oblige my dear brother Ngalyema, I will."</p>
+<p>And I struck hard and fast, and the clangourous roll rang
+out like thunder in the stillness. Only for a few seconds,
+however, for a tempest of human voices was heard bursting
+into frightful discords, and from above, right upon the heads
+of the astonished warriors, leaped yelling men; and from the
+tents, the huts, the forest round about, they came by sixes,
+dozens, and scores, yelling like madmen, and seemingly animated
+with uncontrollable rage. The painted warriors became
+panic-stricken; they flung their guns and powder-kegs away,
+forgot their chief, and all thoughts of loyalty, and fled on the
+instant, fear lifting their heels high in the air; or, tugging at
+their eye-balls, and kneading the senses confusedly, they saw,
+heard, and suspected nothing, save that the limbo of fetishes
+had suddenly broken loose!</p>
+<p>But Ngalyema and his son did not fly. They caught the tails
+of my coat, and we began to dance from side to side, a loving
+triplet, myself being foremost to ward off the blow savagely
+aimed at my "brothers," and cheerfully crying out, "Hold
+fast to me, my brothers. I will defend you to the last drop
+of my blood. Come one, come all."</p>
+<p>Presently the order was given, "Fall in!" and quickly the
+leaping forms became rigid, and the men stood in two long
+lines in beautiful order, with eyes front, as though "at attention!"
+Then Ngalyema relaxed his hold of my coat-tails, and
+crept from behind, breathing more freely; and, lifting his hand
+to his mouth, exclaimed, in genuine surprise, "Eh, Mamma!
+where did all these people come from?"</p>
+<p>"Ah, Ngalyema, did I not tell you that thing was a powerful
+fetish? Let me strike it again, and show you what else
+it can do."</p>
+<p>"No! no! no!" he shrieked. "I have seen enough!"</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-263a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-263a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A SPECIMEN OF CICATRIZATION" title="A SPECIMEN OF CICATRIZATION" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A SPECIMEN OF CICATRIZATION</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-263b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-263b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A SANKURU WOMAN PLAYING NATIVE DRAUGHTS" title="A SANKURU WOMAN PLAYING NATIVE DRAUGHTS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A SANKURU WOMAN PLAYING NATIVE
+DRAUGHTS</div>
+</div>
+<p>The day ended peacefully. I was invited to hasten on to
+Stanley Pool. The natives engaged themselves by the score
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>to assist me in
+hauling the wagons. My progress was thenceforth
+steady and uninterrupted, and in due time the wagons
+and good-columns arrived at their destination.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Kinshassa was an accident. Leopoldville, which is
+situated about ten miles away and the capital of the
+Congo-Kasai Province, was expected to become the
+center of white life and enterprise in this vicinity. It
+was founded by Stanley in the early eighties and named
+in honour of the Belgian king. It commands the river,
+cataracts, forests and mountains.</p>
+<p>Commerce, however, fixed Kinshassa as its base of
+operation, and its expansion has been astonishing for
+that part of the world. It is a bustling port and you can
+usually see half a dozen steamers tied up at the bank.
+There is a population of several hundred white people
+and many thousands of natives. The Banque du Congo
+Belge has its principal establishment here and there are
+scores of well-stocked mercantile establishments. With
+the exception of Matadi and Thysville it has the one
+livable hotel in the Congo. Moreover, it rejoices in that
+now indispensable feature of civic life which is expressed
+in a cinema theatre. In the tropics all motion picture
+houses are open-air institutions.</p>
+<p>In cataloguing Kinshassa's attractions I must not
+omit the feature that had the strongest and most immediate
+lure for me. It was a barber shop and I made
+tracks for it as soon as I arrived. I was not surprised
+to find that the proprietor was a Portuguese who had
+made a small fortune trimming the Samson locks of the
+scores of agents who stream into the little town every
+week. He is the only barber in the place and there is
+no competition this side of Stanleyville, more than a
+thousand miles away.</p>
+<p>The seasoned residents of the Congo would never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg
+222]</a></span>
+think of calling Kinshassa by any other name than
+"Kin." In the same way Leopoldville is dubbed "Leo."
+Kinshassa is laid out in streets, has electric lights, and
+within the past twelve months about twenty automobiles
+have been acquired by its residents. There is a gay
+social life, and on July first, the anniversary of the
+birth of the Congo Free State, and when a celebration
+is usually held, I saw a spirited football game between
+British and Belgian teams. Most of the big international
+British trading companies that operate in Africa
+have branches in Kinshassa and it is not difficult to
+assemble an English-speaking quorum.</p>
+<p>In the matter of transportation Kinshassa is really
+the key to the heart of the Congo. It is the rail-head
+of the narrow-gauge line from Matadi and all merchandise
+that comes from Europe is transshipped at this
+point to the boats that go up the Congo river as far as
+Stanleyville. Thus every ton of freight and every
+traveller bound for the interior must pass through
+Kinshassa. When the railway from the Katanga is
+constructed its prestige will increase.</p>
+<p>Kinshassa owes a part of its development to the
+Huileries du Congo Belge. Its plant dominates the
+river front. There are a dozen huge tanks into which
+the palm-oil flows from the barges. The fluid is then
+run into casks and sent down by rail to Matadi, whence
+it goes in steamers to Europe. More than a hundred
+white men are in the service of the "H. C. B." at Stanley
+Pool. They live in standardized brick bungalows in
+their own area which is equipped with tennis courts and
+a library. On all English f&ecirc;te days the Union Jack is
+hoisted and there is much festivity.</p>
+<p>Two months had elapsed since I entered the Congo
+and I had travelled about two thousand miles within its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg
+223]</a></span>
+borders. This journey, short as it seems as distances go
+these days, would have taken Stanley nearly two years
+to accomplish in the face of the obstacles that hampered
+him. I had only carried out part of my plan. The
+Kasai was calling. The time was now at hand when I
+would retrace my way up the Congo River and turn my
+face towards the Little America that nestles far up in
+the wilds.</p>
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-267-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-267-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE BELGIAN CONGO" title="THE BELGIAN CONGO" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE BELGIAN CONGO</div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></div>
+<h1><a name="CHAPTER_VI_AMERICA_IN_THE_CONGO" id="CHAPTER_VI_AMERICA_IN_THE_CONGO"></a>CHAPTER
+VI&#8212;AMERICA IN THE CONGO</h1>
+<h2>I</h2>
+<p>Go up the Kasai River to Djoko Punda and
+you believe, despite the background of tropical
+vegetation and the ever-present naked savage,
+that for the moment you are back in the United
+States. You see American jitneys scooting through
+the jungle; you watch five-ton American tractors hauling
+heavy loads along the sandy roads; you hear American
+slang and banter on all sides, and if you are lucky
+enough to be invited to a meal you get American hot
+cakes with real American maple syrup. The air tingles
+with Yankee energy and vitality.</p>
+<p>All this means that you have arrived at the outpost
+of Little America in the Belgian Congo&#8212;the first
+actual signboard of the least known and most
+picturesque piece of American financial venturing
+abroad. It has helped to redeem a vast region from
+barbarism and opened up an area of far-reaching
+economic significance. At Djoko Punda you enter the
+domain of the Forminiere, the corporation founded by
+a monarch and which has a kingdom for a partner.
+Woven into its story is the romance of a one-time barefoot
+Virginia boy who became the commercial associate
+of a king.</p>
+<p>What is the Forminiere and what does it do? The
+name is a contraction of Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Internationale
+Forestiere
+&amp; Miniere du Congo. In the Congo, where companies
+have long titles, it is the fashion to reduce them to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg
+226]</a></span>
+the dimensions of a cable code-word. Thus the high-sounding
+Compagnie Industrielle pour les Transports
+et Commerce au Stanley Pool is mercifully shaved to
+"Citas." This information, let me say, is a life-saver
+for the alien with a limited knowledge of French and
+whose pronunciation is worse.</p>
+<p>Clearly to understand the scope and purpose of the
+Forminiere you must know that it is one of the three
+companies that have helped to shape the destiny of the
+Congo. I encountered the first&#8212;the Union
+Miniere&#8212;the
+moment I entered the Katanga. The second is
+the Huileries du Congo Belge, the palm-oil producers
+whose bailiwick abuts upon the Congo and Kwilu
+Rivers. Now we come to the third and the most important
+agency, so far as American interest is affected,
+in the Forminiere, whose empire is the immense section
+watered by the Kasai River and which extends
+across the border into Angola. In the Union Miniere
+you got the initial hint of America's part in the development
+of the Congo. That part, however, was entirely
+technical. With the Forminiere you have the combination
+of American capital and American engineering in
+an achievement that is, to say the least, unusual.</p>
+<p>The moment I dipped into Congo business history I
+touched the Forminiere for the reason that it was the
+pet project of King Leopold, and the last and favorite
+corporate child of his economic statesmanship. Moreover,
+among the leading Belgian capitalists interested
+were men who had been Stanley's comrades and who
+had helped to blaze the path of civilization through the
+wilds. King Albert spoke of it to me in terms of appreciation
+and more especially of the American end.
+I felt a sense of pride in the financial courage and
+physical hardihood of my countrymen who had gone so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg
+227]</a></span>
+far afield. I determined to see the undertaking at first
+hand.</p>
+<p>My experience with it proved to be the most exciting
+of my whole African adventure. All that I had
+hitherto undergone was like a springtime frolic compared
+to the journey up the Kasai and through the
+jungle that lurks beyond. I saw the war-like savage
+on his native heath; I travelled with my own caravan
+through the forest primeval; I employed every conceivable
+kind of transport from the hammock swung
+on a pole and carried on the shoulders of husky natives,
+to the automobile. The primitive and modern met at
+almost every stage of the trip which proved to be first
+cousin to a thriller from beginning to end. Heretofore
+I had been under the spell of the Congo River. Now I
+was to catch the magic of its largest tributary, the Kasai.</p>
+<p>Long before the Forminiere broke out its banner,
+America had been associated with the Congo. It is not
+generally known that Henry M. Stanley, who was born
+John Rowlands, achieved all the feats which made him
+an international figure under the name of his American
+benefactor who adopted him in New Orleans after he
+had run away to sea from a Welsh workhouse. He was
+for years to all intents and purposes an American, and
+carried the American flag on two of his famous expeditions.</p>
+<p>President Cleveland was the first chief dignitary of
+a nation to recognize the Congo Free State in the
+eighties, and his name is perpetuated in Mount Cleveland,
+near the headwaters of the Congo River. An
+American Minister to Belgium, General H. S. Sanford,
+had a conspicuous part in all the first International
+African Associations formed by King Leopold to study
+the Congo situation. This contact, however, save Stan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg
+228]</a></span>ley's
+share, was diplomatic and a passing phase. It
+was the prelude to the constructive and permanent part
+played by the American capitalists in the Forminiere,
+chief of whom is Thomas F. Ryan.</p>
+<p>The reading world associates Ryan with the whirlpool
+of Big Finance. He ruled New York traction and he
+recast the tobacco world. Yet nothing appealed to his
+imagination and enthusiasm like the Congo. He saw
+it in very much the same way that Rhodes viewed
+Rhodesia. Every great American master of capital has
+had his particular pet. There is always some darling of
+the financial gods. The late J. P. Morgan, for example,
+regarded the United States Steel Corporation as his
+prize performance and talked about it just like a doting
+father speaks of a successful son. The Union Pacific
+System was the apple of E. H. Harriman's eye, and
+the New York Central was a Vanderbilt fetish for
+decades. So with Ryan and the Congo. Other powerful
+Americans have become associated with him, as you
+will see later on, but it was the tall, alert, clear-eyed
+Virginian, who rose from penniless clerk to be a Wall
+Street king, who first had the vision on this side of the
+Atlantic, and backed it with his millions. I am certain
+that if Ryan had gone into the Congo earlier and had
+not been engrossed in his American interests, he would
+probably have done for the whole of Central Africa
+what Rhodes did for South Africa.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-273-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-273-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THOMAS F. RYAN" title="THOMAS F. RYAN" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THOMAS F. RYAN</div>
+</div>
+<p>We can now get at the beginnings of the Forminiere.
+Most large corporations radiate from a lawyer's office.
+With the Forminiere it was otherwise. The center of
+inspiration was the stone palace at Brussels where King
+Leopold II, King of the Belgians, held forth. The year
+1906 was not a particularly happy one for him. The
+atrocity campaign was at its height abroad and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>Socialists were
+pounding him at home. Despite the
+storm of controversy that raged about him one clear
+idea shone amid the encircling gloom. That idea was
+to bulwark the Congo Free State, of which he was also
+sovereign, before it was ceded to Belgium.</p>
+<p>Between 1879 and 1890 Leopold personally supported
+the cost of creating and maintaining the Free
+State. It represented an outlay of more than $2,500,000.
+Afterwards he had adequate return in the revenues
+from rubber and ivory. But Leopold was a royal
+spender in the fullest sense. He had a variety of fads
+that ranged from youthful and beguiling femininity to
+the building of palaces and the beautifying of his own
+country. He lavished millions on making Brussels a
+sumptuous capital and Ostend an elaborate seaside resort.
+With his private life we are not concerned.
+Leopold the pleasure-seeker was one person; Leopold
+the business man was another, and as such he was unique
+among the rulers of Europe.</p>
+<p>Leopold contradicted every known tradition of
+royalty. The king business is usually the business of
+spending unearned money. Your royal spendthrift is
+a much more familiar figure than the royal miser. Moreover,
+nobody ever associates productive power with a
+king save in the big family line. His task is inherited
+and with it a bank account sufficient to meet all needs.
+This immunity from economic necessity is a large price
+to pay for lack of liberty in speech and action. The
+principal job of most kings, as we all know, is to be
+a noble and acquiescent figure-head, to pin decorations
+on worthy persons, and to open public exhibitions.</p>
+<p>Leopold did all of these things but they were incidental
+to his larger task. He was an insurgent from
+childhood. He violated all the rules of the royal game<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg
+230]</a></span>
+not only by having a vision and a mind all his own but
+in possessing a keen commercial instinct. Geography
+was his hobby at school. Like Rhodes, he was forever
+looking at maps. When he became king he saw that the
+hope of Belgium economically lay in colonization. In
+1860 he made a journey to the Far East, whence he
+returned deeply impressed with trade opportunities in
+China. Afterwards he was the prime mover in the
+construction of the Pekin-Hankow Railway. I do not
+think most persons know that Leopold at one time tried
+to establish a Belgian colony in Ethiopia. Another act
+in his life that has escaped the casual biographer was
+his effort to purchase the Philippines from Spain. Now
+you can see why he seized upon the Congo as a colonizing
+possibility the moment he read Henry M. Stanley's
+first article about it in the London Telegraph.</p>
+<p>There was a vital reason why Belgium should have a
+big and prosperous colony. Her extraordinary internal
+development demanded an outlet abroad. The
+doughty little country so aptly called "The Cockpit of
+Europe," and which bore the brunt of the first German
+advance in the Great War, is the most densely populated
+in the world. It has two hundred and forty-seven
+inhabitants for each square kilometer. England only
+counts one hundred and forty-six, Germany one hundred
+and twenty-five, France seventy-two, and the
+United States thirteen. The Belgians had to have
+economic elbow room and Leopold was determined that
+they should have it.</p>
+<p>His creation of the Congo Free State was just one
+evidence of his shrewdness and diplomacy. Half a
+dozen of the great powers had their eye on this untouched
+garden spot in Central Africa and would have
+risked millions of dollars and thousands of men to grab<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg
+231]</a></span>
+it. Leopold, through a series of International Associations,
+engineered the famous Berlin Congress of 1884
+and with Bismarck's help put the Free State on the
+map, with himself as steward. It was only a year ago
+in Germany that a former high-placed German statesman
+admitted to me that one of the few fundamental
+mistakes that the Iron Chancellor ever made was to
+permit Leopold to snatch the Congo from under the
+very eyes and hands of Germany. I quote this episode
+to show that when it came to business Leopold made
+every king in Europe look like an office boy. Even so
+masterful a manipulator of men as Cecil Rhodes failed
+with him. Rhodes sought his aid in his trans-African
+telegraph scheme but Leopold was too shrewd for him.
+After his first audience with the Belgian king Rhodes
+said to Robert Williams, "I thought I was clever but
+I was no match for him."</p>
+<p>The only other modern king interested in business
+was the former Kaiser, Mr. Wilhelm Hohenzollern.
+Although he has no business sense in the way that
+Leopold had it, he always had a keen appreciation of
+big business as an imperial prop. Like Leopold, he
+had a congested country and realized that permanent
+expansion lay in colonization. The commercial magnates
+of Germany used him for their own ends but
+their teamwork advanced the whole empire. Wilhelm
+was a silent partner in the potash, shipping, and electric-machinery
+trusts. He earned whatever he received
+because he was in every sense an exalted press-agent,&#8212;a
+sort of glorified publicity promoter. His
+strong point was to go about proclaiming the merits
+of German wares and he always made it a point to
+scatter samples. On a visit to Italy he left behind a
+considerable quantity of soap. There was a great rush<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg
+232]</a></span>
+to get these royal left-overs. Two weeks later a small
+army of German soap salesmen descended upon the
+country selling this identical product.</p>
+<p>Whatever may be said of Leopold, one thing is certain.
+He was not small. Wilhelm used the brains of
+other men; Leopold employed his own, and every capitalist
+who went up against him paid tribute to this
+asset.</p>
+<p>We can now go back to 1906, the year that was to
+mark the advent of America into the Congo. Leopold
+knew that the days of the Congo as a Free State were
+numbered. His personally-conducted stewardship of
+the Colony was being assailed by the Socialists on one
+hand and the atrocity proclaimers on the other.
+Leopold was undoubtedly sincere in his desire to economically
+safeguard the African possession before it
+passed out of his control. In any event, during the
+summer of that year he sent a message to Ryan asking
+him to confer with him at Brussels. The summons
+came out of a clear sky and at first the American financier
+paid no attention to it. He was then on a holiday
+in Switzerland. When a second invitation came from
+the king, he accepted, and in September there began a
+series of meetings between the two men which resulted
+in the organization of the Forminiere and with it the
+dawn of a real international epoch in American enterprise.</p>
+<p>In the light of our immense riches the timidity of
+American capital in actual constructive enterprise
+overseas is astonishing. Scrutinize the world business
+map and you see how shy it has been. We own rubber
+plantations in Sumatra, copper mines in Chile, gold
+interests in Ecuador, and have dabbled in Russian and
+Siberian mining. These undertakings are slight, how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg
+233]</a></span>ever,
+compared with the scope of the world field and
+our own wealth. Mexico, where we have extensive
+smelting, oil, rubber, mining and agricultural investments,
+is so close at hand that it scarcely seems like a
+foreign country. Strangely enough our capital there
+has suffered more than in any other part of the globe.
+The spectacle of American pioneering in the Congo
+therefore takes on a peculiar significance.</p>
+<p>There are two reasons why our capital has not
+wandered far afield. One is that we have a great country
+with enormous resources and consequently almost
+unlimited opportunities for the employment of cash at
+home. The other lies in the fact that American capital
+abroad is not afforded the same protection granted the
+money of other countries. Take British capital. It is
+probably the most courageous of all. The sun never
+sets on it. England is a small country and her money,
+to spread its wings, must go elsewhere. Moreover,
+Britain zealously safeguards her Nationals and their
+investments, and we, I regret to say, have not always
+done likewise. The moment an Englishman or the
+English flag is insulted a warship speeds to the spot
+and John Bull wants to know the reason why.</p>
+<p>Why did Leopold seek American capital and why
+did he pick out Thomas F. Ryan? There are several
+motives and I will deal with them in order. In the
+first place American capital is about the only non-political
+money in the world. The English pound, for
+example, always flies the Union Jack and is a highly
+sensitive commodity. When England puts money into
+an enterprise she immediately makes the Foreign
+Office an accessory. German overseas enterprise is
+even more meddlesome. It has always been the first
+aid to poisonous and pernicious penetration. Even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg
+234]</a></span>
+French capital is flavoured with imperialism despite the
+fact that it is the product of a democracy. Our dollars
+are not hitched to the star of empire. We have no
+dreams of world conquest. It is the safest politically to
+deal with, and Leopold recognized this fact.</p>
+<p>In the second place he did not want anything to interfere
+with his Congo rubber industry. Now we get to
+the real reason, perhaps, why he sent for Ryan. In
+conjunction with the late Senator Nelson W. Aldrich,
+Ryan had developed the rubber industry in Mexico, by
+extracting rubber from the guayele shrub which grows
+wild in the desert. Leopold knew this&#8212;he had a way
+of finding out about things&#8212;and he sought to kill
+two birds with one stone. He wanted this Mexican
+process and at the same time he needed capital for the
+Congo. In any event, Ryan went to see him and the
+Forminiere was born.</p>
+<p>There is no need of rehearsing here the concrete details
+of this enterprise. All we want are the essential
+facts. Leopold realized that the Forminiere was the last
+business venture of his life and he projected it on a
+truly kingly scale. It was the final chance for huge
+grants and the result was that the Forminiere received
+the mining and mineral rights to more than 7,000,000
+acres, and other concessions for agriculture aggregating
+2,500,000 acres in addition.</p>
+<p>The original capital was only 3,000,000 francs but
+this has been increased from time to time until it is now
+more than 10,000,000 francs. The striking feature of
+the organization was the provision inserted by Leopold
+that made Belgium a partner. One-half of the shares
+were assigned to the Crown. The other half was divided
+into two parts. One of these parts was subscribed by
+the King and the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale of Belgium, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg
+235]</a></span>
+other was taken in its entirety by Ryan. Subsequently
+Ryan took in as associates Daniel Guggenheim, Senator
+Aldrich, Harry Payne Whitney and John Hays Hammond.
+When Leopold died his share went to his heirs.
+Upon the death of Aldrich his interest was acquired by
+Ryan, who is the principal American owner. No shares
+have ever been sold and none will be. The original trust
+certificate issued to Ryan and Guggenheim remains
+intact. The company therefore remains a close corporation
+in every respect and as such is unique among
+kindred enterprises.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p>
+<h2>II</h2>
+<p>At this point the question naturally arises&#8212;what
+is the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale? To ask it
+in Belgium would be on a par with inquiring
+the name of the king. Its bank notes are in circulation
+everywhere and it is known to the humblest peasant.</p>
+<p>The Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale was organized in 1822
+and is
+therefore one of the oldest, if not the oldest, joint stock
+bank of the Continent. The general plan of the famous
+Deutsche Bank of Berlin, which planted the German
+commercial flag everywhere, and which provided a large
+part of the bone and sinew of the Teutonic world-wide
+exploitation campaign, was based upon it. With finance
+as with merchandising, the German is a prize imitator.</p>
+<p>The Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale, however, is much more
+than a
+bank. It is the dynamo that drives Belgian enterprise
+throughout the globe. We in America pride ourselves
+on the fact that huge combinations of capital geared up
+to industry are a specialty entirely our own. We are
+much mistaken. Little Belgium has in the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; an
+agency for development unique among financial institutions.
+Its imposing marble palace on the Rue Royale
+is the nerve center of a corporate life that has no geographical
+lines. With a capital of 62,000,000 francs
+it has piled up reserves of more than 400,000,000 francs.
+In addition to branches called "filial banks" throughout
+Belgium, it also controls the powerful "Banque pour
+l'Etranger," which is established in London, Paris, New
+York, Cairo, and the Far East.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-283-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-283-thumbnail.jpg" alt="JEAN JADOT" title="JEAN JADOT" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">JEAN JADOT</div>
+</div>
+<p>One distinctive feature of the Soci&eacute;t&eacute;
+Generale is its
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>close alliance
+with the Government. It is a sort of
+semi-official National Treasury and performs for Belgium
+many of the functions that the Bank of England
+transacts for the United Kingdom. But it has infinitely
+more vigour and push than the Old Lady of Threadneedle
+Street in London. Its leading officials are required
+to appear on all imposing public occasions such
+as coronations and the opening of Parliament. The
+Belgian Government applies to the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale
+whenever any national financial enterprise is to be
+inaugurated and counts upon it to take the initial steps.
+Thus it became the backbone of Leopold's ramified projects
+and it was natural that he should invoke its assistance
+in the organization of the Forminiere.</p>
+<p>Long before the Forminiere came into being, the
+Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale was the chief financial factor in
+the
+Congo. With the exception of the Huileries du Congo
+Belge, which is British, it either dominates or has large
+holdings in every one of the sixteen major corporations
+doing business in the Colony and whose combined total
+capitalization is more than 200,000,000 francs. This
+means that it controls railways and river transport, and
+the cotton, gold, rubber, ivory and diamond output.</p>
+<p>The custodians of this far-flung financial power are
+the money kings of Belgium. Chief among them is
+Jean Jadot, Governor of the Soci&eacute;t&eacute;
+Generale&#8212;the
+institution still designates its head by this ancient
+title&#8212;and
+President of the Forminiere. In him and his
+colleagues you find those elements of self-made success
+so dear to the heart of the human interest historian. It
+would be difficult to find anywhere a more picturesque
+group of men than those who, through their association
+with King Leopold and the Soci&eacute;t&eacute;, have developed the
+Congo and so many other enterprises.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p>
+<p>Jadot occupies today the same position in Belgium
+that the late J. P. Morgan held in his prime in America.
+He is the foremost capitalist. Across the broad, flat-topped
+desk of his office in that marble palace in the
+Rue Royale the tides of Belgian finance ebb and flow.
+Just as Morgan's name made an underwriting in New
+York so does Jadot's put the stamp of authority on it
+in Brussels. Morgan inherited a great name and a fortune.
+Jadot made his name and his millions.</p>
+<p>When you analyze the lives of American multi-millionaires
+you find a curious repetition of history. Men
+like John D. Rockefeller, Henry H. Rogers, Thomas F.
+Ryan, and Russell Sage began as grocery clerks in small
+towns. Something in the atmosphere created by spice
+and sugar must have developed the money-making germ.
+With the plutocrats of Belgium it was different. Practically
+all of them, and especially those who ruled the
+financial institutions, began as explorers or engineers.
+This shows the intimate connection that exists between
+Belgium and her overseas interests.</p>
+<p>Jadot is a good illustration. At twenty he graduated
+as engineer from Louvain University. At thirty-five he
+had directed the construction of the tramways of Cairo
+and of the Lower Egyptian Railways. He was now
+caught up in Leopold's great dream of Belgian expansion.
+The moment that the king obtained the concession
+for constructing the 1,200 mile railway from Pekin
+to Hankow he sent Jadot to China to take charge.
+Within eight years he completed this task in the face
+of almost insuperable difficulties, including a Boxer uprising,
+which cost the lives of some of his colleagues and
+tested his every resource.</p>
+<p>In 1905 he entered the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale. At
+once he
+became fired with Leopold's enthusiasm for the Congo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg
+239]</a></span>
+and the necessity for making it an outlet for Belgium.
+Jadot was instrumental in organizing the Union
+Miniere and was also the compelling force behind the
+building of the Katanga Railway. In 1912 he became
+Vice Governor of the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; and the following year
+assumed the Governorship. In addition to being President
+of the Forminiere he is also head of the Union
+Miniere and of the new railroad which is to connect the
+Katanga with the Lower Congo.</p>
+<p>When you meet Jadot you are face to face with a
+human organization tingling with nervous vitality. He
+reminds me more of E. H. Harriman than of any
+other American empire builder that I have met, and
+like Harriman he seems to be incessantly bound up to
+the telephone. He is keen, quick, and forceful and
+talks as rapidly as he thinks. Almost slight of body,
+he at first gives the impression of being a student for
+his eyes are deep and thoughtful. There is nothing
+meditative in his manner, however, for he is a live
+wire in the fullest American sense. Every time I talked
+with him I went away with a new wonder at his stock of
+world information. Men of the Jadot type never climb
+to the heights they attain without a reason. In his case
+it is first and foremost an accurate knowledge of every
+undertaking. He never goes into a project without
+first knowing all about it&#8212;a helpful rule, by the way,
+that the average person may well observe in the employment
+of his money.</p>
+<p>If Jadot is a live wire, then his confrere, Emile Francqui,
+is a whole battery. Here you touch the most romantic
+and many-sided career in all Belgian financial
+history. It reads like a melodrama and is packed with
+action and adventure. I could almost write a book
+about any one of its many stirring phases.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+<p>At fourteen Francqui was a penniless orphan. He
+worked his way through a regimental school and at
+twenty was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. It was 1885
+and the Congo Free State had just been launched.
+Having studied engineering he was sent out at once to
+Boma to join the Topographic Brigade. During this
+first stay in the Congo he was in charge of a boat-load of
+workmen engaged in wharf construction. The captain
+of a British gunboat hailed him and demanded that he
+stop. Francqui replied,</p>
+<p>"If you try to stop me I will lash my boat to yours
+and destroy it with dynamite." He had no further
+trouble.</p>
+<p>After three years service in the Congo he returned
+to Brussels and became the military instructor of Prince
+Albert, now King of the Belgians. The African fever
+was in his veins. He heard that a mission was about
+to depart for Zanzibar and East Africa. A knowledge
+of English was a necessary part of the equipment of the
+chief officer. Francqui wanted this job but he did not
+know a syllable of English. He went to a friend and
+confided his ambition.</p>
+<p>"Are you willing to take a chance with one word?"
+asked his colleague.</p>
+<p>"I am," answered the young officer.</p>
+<p>He thereupon acquired the word "yes," his friend's
+injunction being, "If you say 'yes' to every question
+you can probably carry it off."</p>
+<p>Francqui thereupon went to the Foreign Office and
+was immediately asked in English:</p>
+<p>"Can you speak English?"</p>
+<p>"Yes," was his immediate retort.</p>
+<p>"Are you willing to undertake the hazards of this
+journey to Zanzibar?" queried the interrogator.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Yes," came the reply.</p>
+<p>Luck was with Francqui for, as his good angel had
+prophesied, his one word of English met every requirement
+and he got the assignment. Since that time, I
+might add, he has acquired a fluent command of the
+English language. Francqui has always been willing to
+take a chance and lead a forlorn hope.</p>
+<p>It was in the early nineties that his exploits made his
+name one of the greatest in African conquest and exploration.
+He went out to the Congo as second in command
+of what was known as the Bia Expedition, sent
+to explore the Katanga and adjacent territory. After
+two hard years of incessant campaigning the expedition
+fell into hard lines. Captain Bia succumbed to smallpox
+and the column encountered every conceivable hardship.
+Men died by the score and there was no food.
+Francqui took charge, and by his indomitable will held
+the force together, starving and suffering with his men.
+During this experience he travelled more than 5,000
+miles on foot and through a region where no other white
+man had ever gone before. He explored the Luapula,
+the headwaters of the Congo, and opened up a new world
+to civilization. No other single Congo expedition save
+that of Stanley made such an important contribution to
+the history of the Colony.</p>
+<p>Most men would have been satisfied to rest with this
+achievement. With Francqui it simply marked a milepost
+in his life. In 1896, when he resigned from the
+army, Leopold had fixed his eyes on China as a scene
+of operations, and he sent Francqui there to clinch the
+Pekin-Hankow concession, which he did. In the course
+of these negotiations he met Jadot, who was later to become
+his associate both in the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale and in
+the Forminiere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+<p>In 1901 Francqui again went to China, this time as
+agent of the Compagnie d'Orient, which coveted the
+coal mines of Kaiping that were supposed to be among
+the richest in the world. The British and Germans also
+desired this valuable property which had been operated
+for some years by a Chinese company. As usual,
+Francqui got what he went after and took possession of
+the property. The crude Chinese method of mining had
+greatly impaired the workings and they had to be entirely
+reconstructed. Among the engineers employed
+was an alert, smooth-faced, keen-minded young American
+named Herbert Hoover.</p>
+<p>Upon his return to Brussels Francqui allied himself
+with Colonel Thys, who was head of the Banque d'Outremer,
+the rival of the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale. After he had
+mastered the intricacies of banking he became a director
+of the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; and with Jadot forged to the front in
+finance. If Jadot stood as the Morgan, then Francqui
+became the Stillman of the Belgian money world.</p>
+<p>Then came the Great War and the German avalanche
+which overwhelmed Belgium. Her banks were converted
+into hospitals; her industry lay prostrate; her
+people faced starvation. Some vital agency was necessary
+to centralize relief at home in the same way that
+the Commission for Relief in Belgium,&#8212;the famous
+"C. R. B."&#8212;crystallized it abroad.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-291-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-291-thumbnail.jpg" alt="EMILE FRANCQUI" title="EMILE FRANCQUI" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">EMILE FRANCQUI</div>
+</div>
+<p>The Comite Rationale was formed by Belgians to
+feed and clothe the native population and it became the
+disbursing agent for the "C. R. B." Francqui was
+chosen head of this body and directed it until the
+armistice. It took toll of all his energy, diplomacy
+and instinct for organization. Needless to say it was
+one of the most difficult of all relief missions in the war.
+Francqui was a loyal Belgian and he was surrounded
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>by the
+suspicious and domineering German conquerors.
+Yet they trusted him, and his word in Belgium for more
+than four years was absolute law. He was, in truth,
+a benevolent dictator.</p>
+<p>His war life illustrates one of the quaint pranks that
+fate often plays. As soon as the "C. R. B." was
+organized in London Francqui hastened over to England
+to confer with the American organizers. To his
+surprise and delight he encountered in its master spirit
+and chairman, the smooth-faced young engineer whom
+he had met out in the Kaiping coal mines before. It
+was the first time that he and Hoover had seen each
+other since their encounter in China. They now worked
+shoulder to shoulder in the monster mercy of all history.</p>
+<p>Francqui is blunt, silent, aggressive. When Belgium
+wants something done she instinctively turns to him.
+In 1920, after the delay in fixing the German reparation
+embarrassed the country, and liquid cash was imperative,
+he left Brussels on three days' notice and
+within a fortnight from the time he reached New York
+had negotiated a fifty-million-dollar loan. He is as
+potent in official life as in finance for as Special Minister
+of State without portfolio he is a real power behind
+a real throne.</p>
+<p>Although Francqui is a director in the
+Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale,
+he is also what we would call Chairman of the
+Board of Banque d'Outremer. This shows that the well-known
+institution of "community of interests" is not
+confined to the United States. With Jadot he represents
+the Soci&eacute;t&eacute; in the Forminiere Board. I have used
+these two men to illustrate the type represented by the
+Belgian financial kings. I could mention various others.
+They include Alexander Delcommune, famous as Congo
+fighter and explorer, who is one of the leading figures of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg
+244]</a></span>
+the Banque d'Outremer; Edmond Solvay, the industrial
+magnate, and Edward Bunge, the Antwerp merchant
+prince. Almost without exception they and their
+colleagues have either lived in the Congo, or have been
+guided in their fortunes by it.</p>
+<p>You have now had the historical approach with all
+personal side-lights to the hour when America actually
+invaded the Congo. As soon as Leopold and Ryan
+finally got together the king said, "The Congo must
+have American engineers. They are the best in the
+world." Thus it came about that Central Africa, like
+South Africa, came under the galvanizing hand of the
+Yankee technical expert. At Kimberley and Johannesburg,
+however, the task was comparatively easy. The
+mines were accessible and the country was known. With
+Central Africa it was a different and more dangerous
+matter. The land was wild, hostile natives abounded
+on all sides, and going in was like firing a shot in the
+dark.</p>
+<p>The American invasion was in two sections. One
+was the group of engineers headed by Sydney H. Ball
+and R. D. L. Mohun, known as the Ball-Mohun Expedition,
+which conducted the geological investigation. The
+other was in charge of S. P. Verner, an American who
+had done considerable pioneering in the Congo, and devoted
+itself entirely to rubber. The latter venture was
+under the auspices of the American Congo Company,
+which expected to employ the Mexican process in the
+Congo. After several years the attempt was abandoned
+although the company still exists.</p>
+<p>I will briefly narrate its experience to show that the
+product which raised the tempest around King Leopold's
+head and which for years was synonymous with
+the name of the Congo, has practically ceased to be an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg
+245]</a></span>
+important commercial commodity in the Colony. The
+reason is obvious. In Leopold's day nine-tenths of
+the world's supply of rubber was wild and came from
+Brazil and the Congo. It cost about fifty cents a pound
+to gather and sold for a dollar. Today more than ninety
+per cent of the rubber supply is grown on plantations
+in the Dutch East Indies, the Malay States, and the
+Straits Settlements, where it costs about twenty cents
+a pound to gather and despite the big slump in price
+since the war, is profitable. In the Congo there is still
+wild rubber and a movement is under way to develop
+large plantations. Labor is scarce, however, while in
+the East millions of coolies are available. This tells the
+whole rubber story.</p>
+<p>The Ball-Mohun Expedition was more successful
+than its mate for it opened up a mineral empire and laid
+the foundations of the Little America that you shall soon
+see. Mohun was administrative head and Ball the
+technical head and chief engineer. Other members
+were Millard K. Shaler, afterwards one of Hoover's
+most efficient aids in the relief of Belgium, and Arthur
+F. Smith, geologists; Roland B. Oliver, topographer;
+A. E. H. and C. A. Reid, and N. Janot, prospectors.</p>
+<p>Mohun, who had been engaged on account of his
+knowledge of the country, had been American Consul
+at Zanzibar and at Boma, and first left diplomacy to
+fight the Arab slave-traders in the interior. When
+someone asked him why he had quit the United States
+Government service to go on a military mission he said,
+"I prefer killing Arabs in the interior to killing time
+at Boma." He figured as one of Richard Harding
+Davis' "Soldiers of Fortune" and was in every sense a
+unique personality.</p>
+<p>You get some idea of the hazards that confronted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg
+246]</a></span>
+American pioneers when I say that when they set forth
+for the Kasai region, which is the southwestern part of
+the Congo, late in 1907, they were accompanied by a
+battalion of native troops under Belgian officers. Often
+they had to fight their way before they could take specimens.
+On one occasion Ball was prospecting in a region
+hitherto uninvaded by the white man. He was attacked
+by a large body of hostile savages and a pitched battle
+followed. In informal Congo history this engagement
+is known as "The Battle of Ball's Run," although Ball
+did no running. As recently as 1915 one of the Forminiere
+prospectors, E. G. Decker, was killed by the
+fierce Batshoks, the most belligerent of the Upper Kasai
+tribes. The Ball-Mohun group, which was the first of
+many expeditions, remained in the field more than two
+years and covered a wide area.</p>
+<p>Up to this time gold and copper were the only valuable
+minerals that had been discovered in the Congo and
+the Americans naturally went after them. Much to
+their surprise, they found diamonds and thereby opened
+up a fresh source of wealth for the Colony. The first
+diamond was found at <i>Mai Munene</i>, which means "Big
+Water," a considerable waterfall discovered by Livingstone.
+This region, which is watered by the Kasai River,
+became the center of what is now known as the Congo
+Diamond Fields and remains the stronghold of American
+engineering and financial enterprise in Central
+Africa. On a wooded height not far from the headwaters
+of the Kasai, these path-finding Americans
+established a post called Tshikapa, the name of a small
+river nearby. It is the capital of Little America in the
+jungle and therefore became the objective of the second
+stage of my Congo journey.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-297a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-297a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A BELLE OF THE CONGO" title="A BELLE OF THE CONGO" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A BELLE OF THE CONGO</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-297b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-297b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="WOMEN OF THE BATETELAS" title="WOMEN OF THE BATETELAS" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">WOMEN OF THE BATETELAS</div>
+</div>
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>III</h2>
+<p>Kinshassa is nearly a thousand miles from
+Tshikapa. To get there I had to retrace my
+way up the Congo as far as Kwamouth, where
+the Kasai empties into the parent stream. I also found
+that it was necessary to change boats at Dima and continue
+on the Kasai to Djoko Punda. Here begins the
+jungle road to the diamond fields.</p>
+<p>Up to this time I had enjoyed the best facilities that
+the Congo could supply in the way of transport. Now
+I faced a trip that would not only try patience but
+had every element of the unknown, which in the Congo
+means the uncomfortable. Fortunately, the "Lusanga,"
+one of the Huileries du Congo Belge steamers, was
+about to start for the Kwilu River, which branches off
+from the Kasai, and the company was kind enough to
+order it to take me to Dima, which was off the prescribed
+itinerary of the vessel.</p>
+<p>On a brilliant morning at the end of June I set forth.
+Nelson was still my faithful servant and his smile and
+teeth shone as resplendently as ever. The only change
+in him was that his appetite for <i>chikwanga</i> had
+visibly increased.
+Somebody had told him at Kinshassa that the
+Kasai country teemed with cannibals. Being one of
+the world's champion eaters, he shrank from being
+eaten himself. I promised him an extra allowance of
+food and a khaki uniform that I had worn in the war,
+and he agreed to take a chance.</p>
+<p>Right here let me give an evidence of the Congo na<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg
+248]</a></span>tive's
+astounding quickness to grasp things. I do not
+refer to his light-fingered propensities, however. When
+we got to Kinshassa Nelson knew scarcely a word of the
+local dialect. When we left a week later, he could jabber
+intelligently with any savage he met. On the four
+weeks' trip from Elizabethville he had picked up enough
+French to make himself understood. The Central African
+native has an aptitude for languages that far surpasses
+that of the average white man.</p>
+<p>I was the only passenger on the "Lusanga," which
+had been reconstructed for Lord Leverhulme's trip
+through the Congo in 1914. I occupied the suite installed
+for him and it was my last taste of luxury for
+many a day. The captain, Albert Carrie, was a retired
+lieutenant in the British Royal Navy, and the chief
+engineer was a Scotchman. The Congo River seemed
+like an old friend as we steamed up toward Kwamouth.
+As soon as we turned into the Kasai I found that conditions
+were different than on the main river. There
+was an abundance of fuel, both for man and boat. The
+daily goat steak of the Congo was relieved by duck and
+fish. The Kasai region is thickly populated and I saw
+a new type of native, lighter in colour than elsewhere,
+and more keen and intelligent.</p>
+<p>The women of the Kasai are probably the most attractive
+in the Congo. This applies particularly to the
+Batetelas, who are of light brown colour. From childhood
+the females of this tribe have a sense of modesty
+that is in sharp contrast with the nudity that prevails
+elsewhere throughout the country. They swathe their
+bodies from neck to ankle with gaily coloured calico.
+I am often asked if the scant attire in Central Africa
+shocked me. I invariably reply by saying that the contemporary
+feminine fashion of near-undress in America<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+and Europe made me feel that some of the chocolate-hued
+ladies of the jungle were almost over-clothed!</p>
+<p>The fourth day of my trip was also the American
+Fourth of July. Captain Carrie and I celebrated by
+toasting the British and American Navies, and it was
+not in Kasai water. This day also witnessed a somewhat
+remarkable revelation of the fact that world economic
+unrest has penetrated to the very heart of the primitive
+regions. While the wood-boys were getting fuel at a
+native post, Carrie and I went ashore to take a walk
+and visit a chief who had once been in Belgium. When
+we got back to the boat we found that all the natives had
+suspended work and were listening to an impassioned
+speech by one of the black wheelmen. All these boats
+have native pilots. This boy, who only wore a loin
+cloth, was urging his fellows not to work so hard.
+Among other things he said:</p>
+<p>"The white man eats big food and takes a big sleep in
+the middle of the day and you ought to do the same
+thing. The company that owns this boat has much
+money and you should all be getting more wages."</p>
+<p>Carrie stopped the harangue, fined the pilot a week's
+pay, and the men went back to work, but the poison had
+been planted. This illuminating episode is just one of
+the many evidences of industrial insurgency that I
+found in Africa from the moment I struck Capetown.
+In the Rand gold mining district, for example, the natives
+have been organized by British agitators and it
+probably will not be long before Central Africa has the
+I. W. W. in its midst! Certainly the "I Won't Works"
+already exist in large numbers.</p>
+<p>This essentially modern spirit was only one of the
+many surprises that the Congo native disclosed. Another
+was the existence of powerful secret societies which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg
+250]</a></span>
+have codes, "grips," and pass-words. Some antedate
+the white man, indulge in human sacrifice, and have
+branches in a dozen sections. Although Central Africa
+is a land where the husband can stray from home at will,
+the "lodge night" is thus available as an excuse for domestic
+indiscretion.</p>
+<p>The most terrible of these orders is the Society of
+the Leopard, formed to provide a novel and devilish
+method of disposing of enemies. The members wear
+leopard skins or spotted habits and throttle their foes
+with a glove to which steel blades are affixed. The victim
+appears to have been killed by the animal that cannot
+change its spots. To make the illusion complete, the
+ground where the victim has lain is marked with a stick
+whose end resembles the feet of the leopard.</p>
+<p>The leopard skin has a curious significance in the
+Congo. For occasions where the white man takes an
+oath on the Bible, the savage steps over one of these
+skins to swear fealty. If two chiefs have had a quarrel
+and make up, they tear a skin in two and throw the
+pieces into the river, to show that the feud is rent asunder.
+It corresponds to the pipe of peace of the American
+Indian.</p>
+<p>Another secret society in the Congo is the Lubuki,
+whose initiation makes riding the goat seem like a
+childish amusement. The candidate is tied to a tree and
+a nest of black ants is distributed over his body. He is
+released only after he is nearly stung to death. A repetition
+of this jungle third degree is threatened for violation
+of any of the secrets of the order, the main purpose
+of which is to graft on non-members for food and
+other necessities.</p>
+<p>In civilized life the members of a fraternal society
+are summoned to a meeting by telephone or letter. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg
+251]</a></span>
+the Congo they are haled by the tom-tom, which is the
+wireless of the woods. These huge drums have an uncanny
+carrying power. The beats are like the dots and
+dashes of telegraphy. All the native news of Central
+Africa is transmitted from village to village in this way.</p>
+<p>I could continue this narrative of native habits and
+customs indefinitely but we must get back to the "Lusanga."
+On board was a real character. He was Peter
+the capita. In the Congo every group of native workmen
+is in charge of a capita, who would be designated a
+foreman in this country. Life and varied experience had
+battered Peter sadly. He spoke English, French, German,
+Portuguese, and half a dozen of the Congo dialects.
+He learned German while a member of an African
+dancing team that performed at the Winter Garden
+in Berlin. His German almost had a Potsdam flavour.
+He told me that he had danced before the former Kaiser
+and had met many members of the Teutonic nobility.
+Yet the thing that stood out most vividly in his memory
+was the taste of German beer. He sighed for it daily.</p>
+<p>Six days after leaving Kinshassa I reluctantly bade
+farewell to Peter and the "Lusanga" at Dima. Here
+I had the first piece of hard luck on the whole trip. The
+little steamer that was to take me up the Kasai River
+to Djoko Punda had departed five days before and I
+was forced to wait until she returned. Fifteen years
+ago Dima was the wildest kind of jungle. I found it a
+model, tropical post with dozens of brick houses, a shipyard
+and machine shops, avenues of palm trees and a
+farm. It is the headquarters of the Kasai Company in
+the Congo.</p>
+<p>I had a brick bungalow to myself and ate with the
+Managing Director, Monsieur Adrian Van den Hove.
+He knew no English and my alleged French was pretty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg
+252]</a></span>
+bad. Yet we met three times a day at the table and
+carried on spirited conversations. There was only one
+English-speaking person within a radius of a hundred
+miles and I had read all my English books. I vented
+my impatience in walking, for I covered at least fifteen
+miles through the jungle every day. This proceeding
+filled both the Belgians and the natives with astonishment.
+The latter particularly could not understand
+why a man walked about the country aimlessly. Usually
+a native will only walk when he can move in the direction
+of food or sleep. On these solitary trips I went
+through a country that still abounds in buffalo. Occasionally
+you see an elephant. It is one thing to watch
+a big tusker doing his tricks in a circus tent, but quite
+another to hear him floundering through the woods,
+tearing off huge branches of trees as he moves along
+with what seems to be an incredible speed for so heavy
+an animal.</p>
+<p>There came the glad Sunday&#8212;it was my thirteenth
+day at Dima&#8212;when I heard the whistle of the steamboat.
+I dashed down to the beach and there was the
+little forty-ton "Madeleine." I welcomed her as a long-lost
+friend and this she proved to be. The second day
+afterwards I went aboard and began a diverting chapter
+of my experience. The "Madeleine" is a type of the
+veteran Congo boat. In the old days the Belgian pioneers
+fought natives from its narrow deck. Despite incessant
+combat with sand-banks, snags and swift currents&#8212;all
+these obstructions abound in the Kasai
+River&#8212;she was still staunch. In command was the
+only Belgian captain that I had in the Congo, and he
+had been on these waters for twenty years with only one
+holiday in Europe during the entire time.</p>
+<p>I occupied the alleged cabin-de-luxe, the large room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg
+253]</a></span>
+that all these boats must furnish in case an important
+State functionary wants to travel. My fellow passengers
+were two Catholic priests and three Belgian
+"agents," as the Congo factors are styled. I ate alone
+on the main deck in front of my cabin, with Nelson in
+attendance.</p>
+<p>Now began a journey that did not lack adventure. It
+was the end of the dry season and the Kasai was lower
+than ever before. The channel was almost a continuous
+sand-bank. We rested on one of them for a whole day.
+I was now well into the domain of the hippopotamus.
+I am not exaggerating when I say that the Kasai in
+places is alive with them. You can shoot one of these
+monsters from the bridge of the river boats almost as
+easily as you could pick off a sparrow from the limb of
+a park tree. I got tired of watching them. The flesh
+of the hippopotamus is unfit for white consumption,
+but the natives regard it as a luxury. The white man
+who kills a hippo is immediately acclaimed a hero. One
+reason is that with spears the black finds it difficult to
+get the better of one of these animals.</p>
+<p>Our first step was at a Lutheran Mission set in the
+middle of a populous village. As we approached I saw
+the American flag hanging over the door of the most
+pretentious mud and grass house. When I went ashore
+I found that the missionaries&#8212;a man and his
+wife&#8212;were
+both American citizens. The husband was a
+Swede who had gone out to Kansas in his boyhood to
+work on a farm. There he married a Kansas girl, who
+now speaks English with a Swedish accent. After
+spreading the gospel in China and elsewhere, they
+settled down in this lonely spot on the Kasai River.</p>
+<p>I was immediately impressed with the difference between
+the Congo River and the Kasai. The Congo is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+serene, brooding, majestic, and fringed with an endless
+verdure. The Kasai, although 1,500 miles in length, is
+narrower and more pugnacious. Its brown banks and
+grim flanking mountains offer a welcome change from
+the eternal green of the great river that gives the Colony
+its name. The Kasai was discovered by Livingstone
+in 1854.</p>
+<p>I also got another change. Two days after I left
+Dima we were blanketed with heavy fog every morning
+and the air was raw and chill. On the Kasai you can
+have every experience of trans-Atlantic travel with the
+sole exception of seasickness.</p>
+<p>As I proceeded up the Kasai I found continued evidence
+of the advance in price of every food commodity.
+The omnipresent chicken that fetched a franc in 1914
+now brings from five to ten. My old friend the goat
+has risen from ten to thirty francs and he was as tough
+as ever, despite the rise. But foodstuffs are only a small
+part of these Congo economic troubles.</p>
+<p>We have suffered for some time under the burden of
+our inseparable companion, the High Cost of Living.
+It is slight compared with the High Cost of Loving in
+the Congo. Here you touch a real hardship. Before
+the war a first-class wife&#8212;all wives are
+bought&#8212;sold
+for fifty francs. Today the market price for a choice
+spouse is two hundred francs and it takes hard digging
+for the black man to scrape up this almost prohibitive
+fee. Thus the High Cost of Matrimony enters the list
+of universal distractions.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-307a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-307a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="FISHERMEN ON THE SANKURU" title="FISHERMEN ON THE SANKURU" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">FISHERMEN ON THE SANKURU</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-307b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-307b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE FALLS OF THE SANKURU" title="THE FALLS OF THE SANKURU" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">THE FALLS OF THE SANKURU</div>
+</div>
+<p>On the "Madeleine" was a fascinating black child
+named Nanda. He was about five years old and strolled
+about the boat absolutely naked. Most Congo parents
+are fond of their offspring but this particular youngster,
+who was bright and alert, was adored by his father, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>head fireman on
+the vessel. One day I gave him a cake
+and it was the first piece of sweet bread he had ever
+eaten. Evidently he liked it for afterwards he approached
+me every hour with his little hands outstretched.
+I was anxious to get a photograph of him
+in his natural state and took him ashore ostensibly for
+a walk. One of my fellow passengers had a camera and
+I asked him to come along. When the boy saw that he
+was about to be snapped he rushed back to the boat
+yelling and howling. I did not know what was the matter
+until he returned in about ten minutes, wearing an
+abbreviated pair of pants and a short coat. He was willing
+to walk about nude but when it came to being pictured
+he suddenly became modest. This state of mind,
+however, is not general in the Colony.</p>
+<p>The African child is fond of playthings which shows
+that one touch of amusement makes all childhood kin.
+He will swim half a mile through a crocodile-infested
+river to get an empty tin can or a bottle. One of the
+favorite sports on the river boats is to throw boxes or
+bottles into the water and then watch the children race
+for them. On the Congo the fathers sometimes manufacture
+rude reproductions of steamboats for their
+children and some of them are astonishingly well made.</p>
+<p>Exactly twelve days after we left Dima the captain
+told me that we were nearing Djoko Punda. The
+country was mountainous and the river had become
+swifter and deeper for we were approaching Wissmann
+Falls, the end of navigation for some distance. These
+falls are named for Herman Wissmann, a lieutenant in
+the Prussian Army who in the opinion of such authorities
+as Sir Harry Johnston, ranks third in the hierarchy
+of early Congo explorers. Stanley, of course, comes
+first and Grenfell second.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p>
+<p>On account of the lack of certain communication save
+by runner in this part of Africa&#8212;the traveller can
+always beat a wireless message&#8212;I was unable to send
+any word of my coming and I wondered whom and what
+I would find there. I had the strongest possible letters
+to all the Forminiere officials but these pieces of paper
+could not get me on to Tshikapa. I needed something
+that moved on wheels. I was greatly relieved, therefore,
+when we came in sight of the post to see two unmistakable
+American figures standing on the bank.
+What cheered me further were two American motor
+cars nearby.</p>
+<p>The two Americans proved to be G. D. Moody and
+J. E. Robison. The former is Assistant Chief Engineer
+of the Forminiere in the field and the latter is in
+charge of the motor transport. They gave me a genuine
+American welcome and that night I dined in Robison's
+grass house off American food that had travelled
+nearly fifteen thousand miles. I heard the first unadulterated
+Yankee conversation that had fallen on my
+ears since I left Elizabethville two months before.
+When I said that I wanted to push on to Tshikapa at
+once, Moody said, "We will leave at five in the morning
+in one of the jitneys and be in Tshikapa tomorrow
+night." Moody was an incorrigible optimist as I was
+soon to discover.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p>
+<h2>IV</h2>
+<p>At dawn the next morning and after a
+breakfast of hot cakes we set out. Nelson was
+in a great state of excitement because he had
+never ridden in an automobile before. He was destined
+not to enjoy that rare privilege very long. The rough
+highway hewed by American engineers through the
+thick woods was a foot deep in sand and before we had
+proceeded a hundred yards the car got stuck and all
+hands save Moody got out to push it on. Moody was
+the chauffeur and had to remain at the wheel. Draped
+in fog, the jungle about me had an almost eerie look.
+But aesthetic and emotional observations had to give
+way to practicality. Laboriously the jitney snorted
+through the sand and bumped over tree stumps. After
+a strenuous hour and when we had reached the open
+country, the machine gave a groan and died on the
+spot. We were on a broad plain on the outskirts of a
+village and the broiling sun beat down on us.</p>
+<p>The African picaninny has just as much curiosity
+as his American brother and in ten minutes the whole
+juvenile population was assembled around us. Soon the
+grown-ups joined the crowd. Naked women examined
+the tires as if they were articles of food and black warriors
+stalked about with the same sort of "I told you so"
+expression that you find in the face of the average
+American watching a motor car breakdown. Human
+nature is the same the world over. The automobile is
+a novelty in these parts and when the Forminiere employed
+the first ones the natives actually thought it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg
+258]</a></span>
+an animal that would finally get tired and quit. Mine
+stopped without getting tired!</p>
+<p>For six hours Moody laboured under the car while I
+sat in the glaring sun alongside the road and cursed
+fate. Nelson spent his time eating all the available
+food in sight. Finally, at three o'clock Moody gave up
+and said, "We'll have to make the rest of this trip in
+a teapoy."</p>
+<p>A teapoy is usually a hammock slung on a pole carried
+on the shoulders of natives. We sent a runner in to
+Robison, who came back with two teapoys and a squad
+of forty blacks to transport us. The "teapoy boy," as he
+is called, is as much a part of the African scheme of
+life as a driver or a chauffeur is in America. He must
+be big, strong, and sound of wind, because he is required
+to go at a run all the time. For any considerable
+journey each teapoy has a squad of eight men who alternate
+on the run without losing a step. They always
+sing as they go.</p>
+<p>I had never ridden in a teapoy before and now I
+began a continuous trip in one which lasted eight hours.
+Night fell almost before we got started and it was a
+strange sensation to go sailing through the silent black
+woods and the excited villages where thousands of
+naked persons of all sizes turned out to see the show.
+After two hours I began to feel as if I had been tossed
+up for a week in an army blanket. The wrist watch that
+I had worn throughout the war and which had withstood
+the fiercest shell shocks and bombardments, was
+jolted to a standstill. After the fourth hour I became
+accustomed to the movement and even went to sleep for
+a while. Midnight brought us to Kabambaie and the
+banks of the Kasai, where I found food and sanctuary
+at a Forminiere post. Here the thousands of tons of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg
+259]</a></span>
+freight that come up the river from Dima by steamer
+and which are carried by motor trucks, ox teams, and on
+the heads of natives to this point, are placed on whale-boats
+and sent up the river to Tshikapa.</p>
+<p>Before going to bed I sent a runner to Tshikapa to
+notify Donald Doyle, Managing Engineer of the
+Forminiere in the field, that I was coming and to send
+a motor car out to meet me. I promised this runner
+much <i>matabeesh</i>, which is the African word for a
+tip,
+if he would run the whole way. The distance through
+the jungle was exactly seventy-two miles and he covered
+it, as I discovered when I reached Tshikapa, in exactly
+twenty-six hours, a remarkable feat. The <i>matabeesh</i>
+I bestowed, by the way, was three francs (about eighteen
+cents) and the native regarded it as a princely gift because
+it amounted to nearly half a month's wages.</p>
+<p>By this time my confidence in the African jitney was
+somewhat shaken. A new motor-boat had just been
+received at Kabambaie and I thought I would take a
+chance with it and start up the Kasai the next day.
+Moody, assisted by several other engineers, set to work
+to get it in shape. At noon of the second day, when we
+were about to start, the engine went on a sympathetic
+strike with the jitney, and once more I was halted. I
+said to Moody, "I am going to Tshikapa without any
+further delay if I have to walk the whole way." This
+was not necessary for, thanks to the Forminiere organization,
+which always has hundreds of native porters at
+Kabambaie, I was able to organize a caravan in a few
+hours.</p>
+<p>After lunch we departed with a complete outfit of
+tents, bedding, and servants. The black personnel was
+thirty porters and a picked squad of thirty-five teapoy
+boys to carry Moody and myself. Usually these cara<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg
+260]</a></span>vans
+have a flag. I had none so the teapoy capita fished
+out a big red bandanna handkerchief, which he tied to
+a stick. With the crimson banner flying and the teapoy
+carriers singing and playing rude native instruments,
+we started off at a trot. I felt like an explorer going
+into the unknown places. It was the real thing in
+jungle experience.</p>
+<p>From two o'clock until sunset we trotted through the
+wilds, which were almost thrillingly beautiful. In
+Africa there is no twilight, and darkness swoops down
+like a hawk. All afternoon the teapoy men, after their
+fashion, carried on what was literally a running crossfire
+of questions among themselves. They usually boast
+of their strength and their families and always discuss
+the white man they are carrying and his characteristics.
+I heard much muttering of <i>Mafutta Mingi</i> and I knew
+long before we stopped that my weight was not a pleasant
+topic.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-315a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-315a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A CONGO DIAMOND MINE" title="A CONGO DIAMOND MINE" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A CONGO DIAMOND MINE</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-315b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-315b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="HOW THE MINES ARE WORKED" title="HOW THE MINES ARE WORKED" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">HOW THE MINES ARE WORKED</div>
+</div>
+<p>I will try to reproduce some of the conversation that
+went on that afternoon between my carriers. I will
+not give the native words but will translate into English
+the questions and answers as they were hurled back and
+forth. By way of explanation let me say beforehand
+that there is no word in any of the Congo dialects for
+"yes." Affirmation is always expressed by a grunt.
+Here is the conversation:</p>
+<p>"Men of the white men."</p>
+<p>"Ugh."</p>
+<p>"Does he lie?"</p>
+<p>"He lies not."</p>
+<p>"Does he shirk?"</p>
+<p>"No."</p>
+<p>"Does he steal?"</p>
+<p>"No."</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Am I strong?"</p>
+<p>"Ugh."</p>
+<p>"Have I a good liver?"</p>
+<p>"Ugh."</p>
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p>So it goes. One reason why these men talk so much
+is that all their work must be accompanied by some
+sound. Up in the diamond fields I watched a native
+chopping wood. Every time the steel blade buried itself
+in the log the man said: "Good axe. Cut deep." He
+talked to the weapon just as he would speak to a human
+being. It all goes to show that the Congo native is
+simply a child grown to man's stature.</p>
+<p>The fact that I had to resort to the teapoy illustrates
+the unreliability of mechanical transport in the wilds.
+I had tried in vain to make progress with an automobile
+and a motor boat, and was forced as a last resort to get
+back to the human being as carrier. He remains the
+unfailing beast of burden despite all scientific progress.</p>
+<p>I slept that night in a native house on the outskirts
+of a village. It was what is called a <i>chitenda</i>,
+which is
+a grass structure open at all the sides. The last white
+man to occupy this domicile was Louis Franck, the
+Belgian Minister of the Colonies, who had gone up to
+the Forminiere diamond fields a few weeks before. He
+used the same jitney that I had started in, and it also
+broke down with him. Moody was his chauffeur. They
+made their way on foot to this village. Moody told the
+chief that he had the real <i>Bula Matadi</i> with him.
+The
+chief solemnly looked at Franck and said, "He is no
+<i>Bula Matadi</i> because he does not wear any medals."
+Most high Belgian officials wear orders and the native
+dotes on shiny ornaments. The old savage refused to
+sell the travellers any food and the Minister had to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg
+262]</a></span>
+share the beans of the negro boys who accompanied
+him.</p>
+<p>Daybreak saw us on the move. For hours we swung
+through dense forest which made one think of the beginnings
+of the world when the big trees were king.
+The vastness and silence were only comparable to the
+brooding mystery of the jungle nights. You have no
+feel of fear but oddly enough, a strange sense of security.</p>
+<p>I realized as never before, the truth that lay behind
+one of Stanley's convictions. He once said, "No luxury
+of civilization can be equal to the relief from the tyranny
+of custom. The wilds of a great city are greater than
+the excruciating tyranny of a small village. The heart
+of Africa is infinitely preferable to the heart of the
+world's largest city. If the way were easier, millions
+would fly to it."</p>
+<p>Despite this enthralling environment I kept wondering
+if that runner had reached Doyle and if a car had
+been sent out. At noon we emerged from the forest into
+a clearing. Suddenly Moody said, "I hear an automobile
+engine." A moment later I saw a small car
+burst through the trees far ahead and I knew that relief
+was at hand. Dr. John Dunn, the physician at Tshikapa,
+had started at dawn to meet me, and my teapoy adventures,
+for the moment, were ended. Dr. Livingstone
+at Ujiji had no keener feeling of relief at the sight of
+Stanley that I felt when I shook the hand of this
+bronzed, Middle Western medico.</p>
+<p>We lunched by the roadside and afterwards I got
+into Dunn's car and resumed the journey. I sent the
+porters and teapoy men back to Kabambaie. Late in
+the afternoon we reached the bluffs overlooking the
+Upper Kasai. Across the broad, foaming river was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+Tshikapa. If I had not known that it was an American
+settlement, I would have sensed its sponsorship. It
+radiated order and neatness. The only parallels in the
+Congo are the various areas of the Huileries du Congo
+Belge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p>
+<h2>V</h2>
+<p>Tshikapa, which means "belt," is a Little
+America in every sense. It commands the
+junction of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers.
+There are dozens of substantial brick dwellings, offices,
+warehouses, machine-shops and a hospital. For a hundred
+miles to the Angola border and far beyond, the
+Yankee has cut motor roads and set up civilization
+generally. You see American thoroughness on all sides,
+even in the immense native villages where the mine employees
+live. Instead of having compounds the company
+encourages the blacks to establish their own settlements
+and live their own lives. It makes them more contented
+and therefore more efficient, and it establishes a colony
+of permanent workers. When the native is confined
+to a compound he gets restless and wants to go back
+home. The Americans are helping to solve the Congo
+labour problem.</p>
+<p>At Tshikapa you hear good old United States spoken
+with every dialectic flavour from New England hardness
+to Texas drawl. In charge of all the operations in the
+field was Doyle, a clear-cut, upstanding American engineer
+who had served his apprenticeship in the Angola
+jungles, where he was a member of one of the first
+American prospecting parties. With his wife he lived
+in a large brick bungalow and I was their guest in it
+during my entire stay in the diamond fields. Mrs.
+Doyle embodied the same courage that animated Mrs.
+Wallace. Too much cannot be said of the faith and forti<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg
+265]</a></span>tude
+of these women who share their husband's fortunes
+out at the frontiers of civilization.</p>
+<p>At Tshikapa there were other white women, including
+Mrs. Dunn, who had recently converted her hospitable
+home into a small maternity hospital. Only a few
+weeks before my arrival Mrs. Edwin Barclay, wife of
+the manager of the Mabonda Mine, had given birth to
+a girl baby under its roof, and I was taken over at once
+to see the latest addition to the American colony.</p>
+<p>On the day of my arrival the natives employed at this
+mine had sent Mrs. Barclay a gift of fifty newly-laid
+eggs as a present for the baby. Accompanying it was
+a rude note scrawled by one of the foremen who had
+attended a Presbyterian mission school. The birth of a
+white baby is always a great event in the Congo. When
+Mrs. Barclay returned to her home a grand celebration
+was held and the natives feasted and danced in honour
+of the infant.</p>
+<p>There is a delightful social life at Tshikapa. Most
+of the mines, which are mainly in charge of American
+engineers, are within a day's travelling distance in a
+teapoy and much nearer by automobile. Some of the
+managers have their families with them, and they foregather
+at the main post every Sunday. On Thanksgiving,
+the Fourth of July, and Christmas there is always a
+big rally which includes a dance and vaudeville show in
+the men's mess hall. The Stars and Stripes are unfurled
+to the African breeze and the old days in the
+States recalled. It is real community life on the
+fringe of the jungle.</p>
+<p>I was struck with the big difference between the
+Congo diamond fields and those at Kimberley. In
+South Africa the mines are gaping gashes in the earth
+thousands of feet wide and thousands deep. They are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg
+266]</a></span>
+all "pipes" which are formed by volcanic eruption.
+These pipes are the real source of the diamonds. The
+precious blue ground which contains the stones is spread
+out on immense "floors" to decompose under sun and
+rain. Afterwards it is broken in crushers and goes
+through a series of mechanical transformations. The
+diamonds are separated from the concentrates on a
+pulsating table covered with vaseline. The gems cling
+to the oleaginous substance. It is an elaborate process.</p>
+<p>The Congo mines are alluvial and every creek and
+river bed is therefore a potential diamond mine. The
+only labour necessary is to remove the upper layer of
+earth,&#8212;the "overburden" as it is termed&#8212;dig up the
+gravel, shake it out, and you have the concentrate from
+which a naked savage can pick the precious stones.
+They are precisely like the mines of German South-West
+Africa. So far no "pipes" have been discovered
+in the Kasai basin. Many indications have been found,
+and it is inevitable that they will be located in time.
+The diamond-bearing earth sometimes travels very far
+from its base, and the American engineers in the Congo
+with whom I talked are convinced that these volcanic
+formations which usually produce large stones, lie far
+up in the Kasai hills. The diamond-bearing area of the
+Belgian Congo and Angola covers nearly eight thousand
+square miles and only five per cent has been
+prospected. There is not the slightest doubt that one
+of the greatest diamond fields ever known is in the
+making here.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-323a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-323a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE" title="GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-323b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-323b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS" title="CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS</div>
+</div>
+<p>Now for a real human interest detail. At Kimberley
+the Zulus and Kaffirs know the value of the diamond
+and there was formerly considerable filching. All the
+workers are segregated in barbed wire compounds and
+kept under constant surveillance. At the end of their
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>period of
+service they remain in custody for two weeks
+in order to make certain that they have not swallowed
+any stones.</p>
+<p>The Congo natives do not know what a diamond
+really is. The majority believe that it is simply a piece
+of glass employed in the making of bottles, and there
+are a good many bottles of various kinds in the Colony.
+Hence no watch is kept on the hundreds of Balubas
+who are mainly employed in the task of picking out the
+glittering jewels. During the past five years, when
+the product in the Congo fields has grown steadily, not
+a single karat has been stolen. The same situation
+obtains in the Angola fields.</p>
+<p>In company with Doyle I visited the eight principal
+mines in the Congo field and saw the process of mining
+in all its stages of advancement. At the Kisele development,
+which is almost within sight of Tshikapa,
+the small "jigs" in which the gravel is shaken, are operated
+by hand. This is the most primitive method. At
+Mabonda the concentrate pans are mounted on high
+platforms. Here the turning is also by hand but on a
+larger scale. The Ramona mine has steam-driven pans,
+while at Tshisundu, which is in charge of William McMillan,
+I witnessed the last word in alluvial diamond
+mining. At this place Forminiere has erected an imposing
+power plant whose tall smokestack dominates
+the surrounding forest. You get a suggestion of Kimberley
+for the excavation is immense, and there is the
+hum and movement of a pretentious industrial enterprise.
+Under the direction of William McMillan a
+research department has been established which is expected
+to influence and possibly change alluvial operations.</p>
+<p>Our luncheon at Tshisundu was attended by Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg
+268]</a></span>
+McMillan, another heroine of that rugged land. Alongside
+sat her son, born in 1918 at one of the mines in
+the field and who was as lusty and animated a youngster
+as I have seen. His every movement was followed by
+the eagle eye of his native nurse who was about twelve
+years old. These native attendants regard it as a special
+privilege to act as custodians of a white child and invariably
+a close intimacy is established between them.
+They really become playmates.</p>
+<p>It is difficult to imagine that these Congo diamond
+mines were mere patches of jungle a few years ago.
+The task of exploitation has been an immense one. Before
+the simplest mine can be operated the dense forest
+must be cleared and the river beds drained. Every day
+the mine manager is confronted with some problem
+which tests his ingenuity and resource. Only the Anglo-Saxon
+could hold his own amid these trying circumstances.</p>
+<p>No less difficult were the natives themselves. Before
+the advent of the American engineers, industry was unknown
+in the Upper Kasai. The only organized activity
+was the harvesting of rubber and that was rather
+a haphazard performance. With the opening of the
+mines thousands of untrained blacks had to be drawn
+into organized service. They had never even seen the
+implements of labour employed by the whites. When
+they were given wheel-barrows and told to fill and
+transport the earth, they placed the barrows on their
+heads and carried them to the designated place. They
+repeated the same act with shovels.</p>
+<p>The Yankees have thoroughly impressed the value
+and the nobility of labour. I asked one of the employes
+at a diamond mine what he thought of the Americans.
+His reply was, "Americans and work were born on the
+same day."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p>
+<p>The labour of opening up the virgin land was only
+one phase. Every piece of machinery and every tin of
+food had to be transported thousands of miles and this
+condition still obtains. The motor road from Djoko
+Punda to Kabambaie was hacked by American engineers
+through the jungle. It is comparatively easy
+to get supplies to Djoko Punda although everything
+must be shifted from railway to boat several times. Between
+Djoko Punda and Tshikapa the material is
+hauled in motor trucks and ox-drawn wagons or conveyed
+on the heads of porters to Kabambaie. Some of
+it is transshipped to whale-boats and paddled up to
+Tshikapa, and the remainder continues in the wagons
+overland. During 1920 seven hundred and fifty tons
+of freight were hauled from Djoko Punda in this
+laborious way.</p>
+<p>At the time of my visit there were twelve going mines
+in the Congo field, and three new ones were in various
+stages of advancement. The Forminiere engineers also
+operate the diamond concessions of the Kasai Company
+and the Bas Congo Katanga Railway which will run
+from the Katanga to Kinshassa.</p>
+<p>More than twelve thousand natives are employed
+throughout the Congo area alone and nowhere have I
+seen a more contented lot of blacks. The Forminiere
+obtains this good-will by wisely keeping the price of
+trade goods such as salt and calico at the pre-war rate.
+It is an admirable investment. This merchandise is
+practically the legal tender of the jungle. With a cup
+of salt a black man can start an endless chain of trading
+that will net him a considerable assortment of articles
+in time.</p>
+<p>The principal natives in the Upper Kasai are the
+Balubas, who bear the same relation to this area as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg
+270]</a></span>
+Bangalas do to the Upper Congo. The men are big,
+strong, and fairly intelligent. The principal tribal mark
+is the absence of the two upper central incisor teeth.
+These are usually knocked out in early boyhood. No
+Baluba can marry until he can show this gaping space
+in his mouth. Although the natives abuse their teeth
+by removing them or filing them down to points, they
+take excellent care of the remaining ivories. Many
+polish the teeth with a stick and wash their mouths
+several times a day. The same cannot be said of many
+civilized persons.</p>
+<p>I observed that the families in the Upper Kasai
+were much more numerous than elsewhere in the Congo.
+A Bangala or Batetela woman usually has one child
+and then goes out of the baby business. In the region
+dominated by the Forminiere it is no infrequent thing
+to see three or four children in a household. A woman
+who bears twins is not only hailed as a real benefactress
+but the village looks upon the occasion as a good omen.
+This is in direct contrast with the state of mind in East
+Africa, for example, where one twin is invariably killed.</p>
+<p>I encountered an interesting situation concerning
+twins when I visited the Mabonda Mine. This is one of
+the largest in the Congo field. Barclay, the big-boned
+American manager, formerly conducted engineering
+operations in the southern part of America. He therefore
+knows the Negro psychology and the result is that
+he conducts a sort of amiable and paternalistic little
+kingdom all his own. The natives all come to him with
+their troubles, and he is their friend, philosopher and
+guide.</p>
+<p>After lunch one day he asked me if I would like to
+talk to a native who had a story. When I expressed
+assent he took me out to a shed nearby and there I saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg
+271]</a></span>
+a husky Baluba who was labouring under some excitement.
+The reason was droll. Four days before, his
+wife had given birth to twins and there was great excitement
+in the village. The natives, however, refused
+to have anything to do with him because, to use their
+phrase, "he was too strong." His wife did not come
+under this ban and was the center of jubilation and
+gesticulation. The poor husband was a sort of heroic
+outcast and had to come to Barclay to get some food
+and a drink of palm wine to revive his drooping spirits.</p>
+<p>The output in the Congo diamond area has grown
+from a few thousand karats to hundreds of thousands
+of karats a year. The stones are small but clear and
+brilliant. This yield is an unsatisfactory evidence of
+the richness of the domain. The ore reserves are more
+than ten per cent of the yearly output and the surface
+of the concession has scarcely been scratched. Experienced
+diamond men say that a diamond in the ground
+is worth two in the market. It is this element of the
+unknown that gives the Congo field one of its principal
+potentialities.</p>
+<p>The Congo diamond fields are merely a part of the
+Forminiere treasure-trove. Over in Angola the concession
+is eight times larger in area, the stones are
+bigger, and with adequate exploitation should surpass
+the parent production in a few years. Six mines are already
+in operation and three more have been staked out.
+The Angola mines are alluvial and are operated precisely
+like those in Belgian territory. The managing
+engineer is Glenn H. Newport, who was with Decker
+in the fatal encounter with Batchoks. The principal
+post of this area is Dundu, which is about forty miles
+from the Congo border.</p>
+<p>As I looked at these mines with their thousands of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg
+272]</a></span>
+grinning natives and heard the rattle of gravel in the
+"jigs" my mind went back to Kimberley and the immense
+part that its glittering wealth played in determining
+the economic fate of South Africa. Long before the
+gold "rush" opened up in the Rand, the diamond mines
+had given the southern section of the continent a rebirth
+of prosperity. Will the Congo mines perform the same
+service for the Congo? In any event they will be a
+determining factor in the future world diamond output.</p>
+<p>No record of America in the Congo would be complete
+without a reference to the high part that our missionaries
+have played in the spiritualization of the land. The
+stronghold of our religious influence is also the Upper
+Kasai Basin. In 1890 two devoted men, Samuel N.
+Lapsley, a white clergyman, and William H. Sheppard,
+a Negro from Alabama, established the American Presbyterian
+Congo Mission at Luebo which is about one
+hundred miles from Tshikapa straight across country.</p>
+<p>The valley of the Sankuru and Kasai Rivers is one of
+the most densely populated of all the Belgian Congo.
+It is inhabited by five powerful tribes&#8212;the Baluba, the
+Bena Lulua, the Bakuba, the Bakete and the Zappozaps,
+and their united population is one-fifth of that of
+the whole Colony. Hence it was a fruitful field for labour
+but a hard one. From an humble beginning the
+work has grown until there are now seven important
+stations with scores of white workers, hundreds of native
+evangelists, one of the best equipped hospitals in Africa,
+and a manual training school that is teaching the youth
+of the land how to become prosperous and constructive
+citizens. Under its inspiration the population of Luebo
+has grown from two thousand in 1890 to eighteen thousand
+in 1920.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-331a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-331a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="WASHING OUT GRAVEL" title="WASHING OUT GRAVEL" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">WASHING OUT GRAVEL</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-331b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-331b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="DONALD DOYLE (LEFT) AND MR. MARCOSSON" title="DONALD DOYLE (LEFT) AND MR. MARCOSSON" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">DONALD DOYLE (LEFT) AND MR. MARCOSSON</div>
+</div>
+<p>The two fundamental principles underlying this
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>splendid
+undertaking have been well summed up as
+follows: "First, the attainment of a Church supported
+by the natives through the thrift and industry of their
+own hands. The time is past when we may merely
+teach the native to become a Christian and then
+leave him in his poverty and squalor where he can
+be of little or no use to the Church. Second, the preparation
+of the native to take the largest and most influential
+position possible in the development of the
+Colony. Practically the only thing open to the
+Congolese is along the mechanical and manual lines."</p>
+<p>One of the noblest actors in this American missionary
+drama was the late Rev. W. M. Morrison, who went out
+to the Congo in 1896. Realizing that the most urgent
+need was a native dictionary, he reduced the Baluba-Lulua
+language to writing. In 1906 he published a
+Dictionary and Grammar which included the Parables
+of Christ, the Miracles, the Epistles to the Romans in
+paraphrase. He also prepared a Catechism based on
+the Shorter and Child's Catechisms. This gave the
+workers in the field a definite instrument to employ, and
+it has been a beneficent influence in shaping the lives and
+morals of the natives.</p>
+<p>One phase of the labours of the American Presbyterian
+Congo Mission discloses the bondage of the
+Congo native to the Witch Doctor. The moment he
+feels sick he rushes to the sorcerer, usually a bedaubed
+barbarian who practices weird and mysterious rites, and
+who generally succeeds in killing off his patient. More
+than ninety per cent of the pagan population of Africa
+not only acknowledges but fears the powers of the Witch
+Doctor. Only two-fifths of one per cent are under
+Christian medical treatment. The Presbyterian Missionaries,
+therefore, from the very outset have sought to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+bring the native into the ken of the white physician. It
+is a slow process. One almost unsurmountable obstacle
+lies in the uncanny grip that the "medicine man" wields
+in all the tribes.</p>
+<p>It is largely due to the missionaries that the practice
+of handshaking has been introduced in the Congo.
+Formerly the custom was to clap hands when exchanging
+greetings. The blacks saw the Anglo-Saxons grasp
+hands when they met and being apt imitators in many
+things, they started to do likewise. One of the first things
+that impressed me in Africa was the extraordinary
+amount of handshaking that went on when the people
+met each other even after a separation of only half an
+hour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VI</h2>
+<p>I had originally planned to leave Africa at St.
+Paul de Loanda in Portuguese West Africa, where
+Thomas F. Ryan and his Belgian associates have
+acquired the new oil wells and set up still another important
+outpost of our overseas financial venturing. But
+so much time had been consumed in reaching Tshikapa
+that I determined to return to Kinshassa, go on to
+Matadi, and catch the boat for Europe at the end of
+August.</p>
+<p>There were two ways of getting back to Kabambaie.
+One was to go in an automobile through the jungle, and
+the other by boat down the Kasai. Between Kabambaie
+and Djoko Punda there is practically no navigation
+on account of the succession of dangerous rapids. Since
+my faith in the jitney was still impaired I chose the
+river route and it gave me the most stirring of all my
+African experiences. The two motor boats at Tshikapa
+were out of commission so I started at daybreak in a
+whale-boat manned by forty naked native paddlers.</p>
+<p>The fog still hung over the countryside and the scene
+as we got under way was like a Rackham drawing of
+goblins and ghosts. I sat forward in the boat with the
+ranks of singing, paddling blacks behind me. From the
+moment we started and until I landed, the boys kept up
+an incessant chanting. One of their number sat forward
+and pounded the iron gunwale with a heavy stick.
+When he stopped pounding the paddlers ceased their
+efforts. The only way to make the Congo native work
+is to provide him with noise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p>
+<p>All day we travelled down the river through schools
+of hippopotami, some of them near enough for me to
+throw a stone into the cavernous mouths. The boat
+capita told me that he would get to Kabambaie by sundown.
+Like the average New York restaurant waiter,
+he merely said what he thought his listener wanted to
+hear. I fervently hoped he was right because we not
+only had a series of rapids to shoot up-river, but at
+Kabambaie is a seething whirlpool that has engulfed
+hundreds of natives and their boats. At sunset we had
+only passed through the first of the troubled zones.
+Nightfall without a moon found me still moving, and
+with the swirling eddy far ahead.</p>
+<p>I had many close calls during the war. They ranged
+from the first-line trenches of France, Belgium, and
+Italy to the mine fields of the North Sea while a winter
+gale blew. I can frankly say that I never felt such apprehension
+as on the face of those surging waters, with
+black night and the impenetrable jungle about me.
+The weird singing of the paddlers only heightened the
+suspense. I thought that every tight place would be
+my last. Finally at eight o'clock, and after it seemed
+that I had spent years on the trip, we bumped up against
+the shore of Kabambaie, within a hundred feet of the
+fatal spot.</p>
+<p>The faithful Moody, who preceded me, had revived
+life in the jonah jitney and at dawn the next day we
+started at full speed and reached Djoko Punda by
+noon. The "Madeleine" was waiting for me with steam
+up, for I sent a runner ahead. I had ordered Nelson
+back from Kabambaie because plenty of servants were
+available there. He spent his week of idleness at Djoko
+Punda in exploring every food known to the country.
+At one o'clock I was off on the first real stage of my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg
+277]</a></span>
+homeward journey. The swift current made the downward
+trip much faster than the upward and I was not
+sorry.</p>
+<p>As we neared Basongo the captain came to me and
+said, "I see two Americans standing on the bank. Shall
+I take them aboard?"</p>
+<p>Almost before I could say that I would be delighted,
+we were within hailing distance of the post. An American
+voice with a Cleveland, Ohio, accent called out to
+me and asked my name. When I told him, he said,
+"I'll give you three copies of the <i>Saturday Evening
+Post</i> if you will take us down to Dima. We have been
+stranded here for nearly three weeks and want to go
+home."</p>
+<p>I yelled back that they were more than welcome for
+I not only wanted to help out a pair of countrymen in
+distress but I desired some companionship on the boat.
+They were Charles H. Davis and Henry Fairbairn,
+both Forminiere engineers who had made their way
+overland from the Angola diamond fields. Only one
+down-bound Belgian boat had passed since their arrival
+and it was so crowded with Belgian officials on their way
+to Matadi to catch the August steamer for Europe, that
+there was no accommodation for them. By this time they
+were joined by a companion in misfortune, an American
+missionary, the Rev. Roy Fields Cleveland, who was
+attached to the Mission at Luebo. He had come to
+Basongo on the little missionary steamer, "The
+Lapsley," and sent it back, expecting to take the Belgian
+State boat. Like the engineers, he could get no passage.</p>
+<p>Davis showed his appreciation of my rescue of the
+party by immediately handing over the three copies of
+the Post, which were more than seven months old and
+which had beguiled his long nights in the field. Cleve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg
+278]</a></span>land
+did his bit in the way of gratitude by providing
+hot griddle cakes every morning. He had some American
+cornmeal and he had taught his native servant how
+to produce the real article.</p>
+<p>At Dima I had the final heart-throb of the trip. I
+had arranged to take the "Fumu N'Tangu," a sister
+ship of the "Madeleine," from this point to Kinshassa.
+When I arrived I found that she was stuck on a sandbank
+one hundred miles down the river. My whole
+race against time to catch the August steamer would
+have been futile if I could not push on to Kinshassa at
+once.</p>
+<p>Happily, the "Yser," the State boat that had left
+Davis, Fairbairn, and Cleveland high and dry at
+Basongo, had put in at Dima the day before to repair
+a broken paddle-wheel and was about to start. I beat
+the "Madeleine's" gangplank to the shore and tore over
+to the Captain of the "Yser." When I told him I had
+to go to Kinshassa he said, "I cannot take you. I only
+have accommodations for eight people and am carrying
+forty." I flashed my royal credentials on him and he
+yielded. I got the sofa, or rather the bench called a
+sofa, in his cabin.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-339a-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-339a-thumbnail.jpg" alt="THE PARK AT BOMA" title="THE PARK AT BOMA" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">THE PARK AT BOMA</div>
+</div>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-339b-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-339b-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A STREET IN MATADI" title="A STREET IN MATADI" /> </a>
+<div class="caption">A STREET IN MATADI</div>
+</div>
+<p>On the "Yser" I found Mr. and Mrs. Charles L.
+Crane, both Southerners, who were returning to the
+United States after eight years at service at one of the
+American Presbyterian Mission Stations. With them
+were their two youngest children, both born in the
+Congo. The eldest girl, who was five years old, could
+only speak the Baluba language. From her infancy
+her nurses had been natives and she was facing the
+problem of going to America for the first time without
+knowing a word of English. It was quaintly amusing
+to hear her jabber with the wood-boys and the firemen
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>on board and
+with the people of the various villages
+where we stopped.</p>
+<p>The Cranes were splendid types of the American missionary
+workers for they were human and companionable.
+I had found Cleveland of the same calibre. Like
+many other men I had an innate prejudice against the
+foreign church worker before I went to Africa. I
+left with a strong admiration for him, and with it a
+profound respect.</p>
+<p>Kinshassa looked good to me when we arrived after
+four days' travelling, but I did not tarry long. I was
+relieved to find that I was in ample time to catch the
+August steamer at Matadi. It was at Kinshassa that
+I learned of the nominations of Cox and Harding for
+the Presidency, although the news was months old.</p>
+<p>The morning after I reached Stanley Pool I boarded
+a special car on the historic narrow-gauge railway that
+runs from Kinshassa to Matadi. At the station I was
+glad to meet Major and Mrs. Wallace, who like myself
+were bound for home. I invited them to share my car
+and we pulled out. On this railway, as on all other
+Congo lines, the passengers provide their own food.
+The Wallaces had their servant whom I recognized as
+one of the staff at Alberta. Nelson still held the fort
+for me. Between us we mobilized an elaborate lunch
+fortified by fruit that we bought at one of the many
+stations where we halted.</p>
+<p>We spent the night at the hotel at Thysville high
+in the mountains and where it was almost freezing cold.
+This place is named for General Albert Thys, who was
+attached to the colonial administration of King Leopold
+and who founded the Compagnie du Congo Pour le
+Commerce et l'Industrie, the "Queen-Dowager," as it
+is called, of all the Congo companies. His most endur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg
+280]</a></span>ing
+monument, however, is the Chemin de Fer du Congo
+Matadi-Stanley Pool. He felt with Stanley that
+there could be no development of the Congo without a
+railway between Matadi and Stanley Pool.</p>
+<p>The necessity was apparent. At Matadi, which is
+about a hundred miles from the sea, navigation on the
+Congo River ceases because here begins a succession of
+cataracts that extend almost as far as Leopoldville. In
+the old days all merchandise had to be carried in sixty-pound
+loads to Stanley Pool on the heads of natives.
+The way is hard for it is up and down hill and traverses
+swamps and morasses. Every year ten thousand men
+literally died in their tracks. The human loss was only
+one detail of the larger loss of time.</p>
+<p>Under the stimulating leadership of General Thys,
+the railway was started in 1890 and was opened for
+traffic eight and a half years later. Perhaps no railway
+in the world took such heavy toll. It is two hundred
+and fifty miles in length and every kilometer cost a
+white life and every meter a black one. Only the graves
+of the whites are marked. You can see the unending
+procession of headstones along the right of way. During
+its construction the project was bitterly assailed.
+The wiseacres contended that it was visionary, impracticable,
+and impossible. In this respect it suffered the
+same experience as all the other pioneering African
+railways and especially those of Sierra Leone, the Gold
+Coast, Uganda, and the Soudan.</p>
+<p>The scenery between Thysville and Matadi is noble
+and inspiring. The track winds through grim highlands
+and along lovely valleys. The hills are rich with
+colour, and occasionally you can see a frightened antelope
+scurrying into cover in the woods. As you approach
+Matadi the landscape takes on a new and more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
+rugged beauty. Almost before you realize it, you
+emerge from a curve in the mountains and the little
+town so intimately linked with Stanley's early trials as
+civilizer, lies before you.</p>
+<p>Matadi is built on a solid piece of granite. The name
+is a version of the word <i>matari</i> which means rock.
+In
+certain parts of Africa the letter "r" is often substituted
+for "d." Stanley's native name was in reality "Bula
+Matari," but on account of the license that I have indicated
+he is more frequently known as "Bula Matadi,"
+the title now bestowed on all officials in the Congo. It
+was at Matadi that Stanley received the designation because
+he blasted a road through the rocks with dynamite.</p>
+<p>With its winding and mountainous streets and its
+polyglot population, Matadi is a picturesque spot. It is
+the goal of every official through the long years of his
+service in the bush for at this place he boards the
+steamer that takes him to Europe. This is the pleasant
+side of the picture. On the other hand, Matadi is where
+the incoming ocean traveller first sets foot on Congo
+soil. If it happens to be the wet season the foot is
+likely to be scorched for it is by common consent one of
+the hottest spots in all the universe. That well-known
+fable about frying an egg in the sun is an every-day
+reality here six months of the year.</p>
+<p>Matadi is the administrative center of the Lower
+Congo railway which has extensive yards, repair-shops,
+and hospitals for whites and blacks. Nearby are the
+storage tanks and pumping station of the oil pipe line
+that extends from Matadi to Kinshassa. It was installed
+just before the Great War and has only been
+used for one shipment of fluid. With the outbreak of
+hostilities it was impossible to get petroleum. Now that
+peace has come, its operations will be resumed because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg
+282]</a></span>
+it is planned to convert many of the Congo River
+steamers into oil-burners.</p>
+<p>Tied up at a Matadi quay was "The Schoodic," one of
+the United States Shipping Board war-built freighters.
+The American flag at her stern gave me a real thrill for
+with the exception of the solitary national emblem I
+had seen at Tshikapa it was the first I had beheld since
+I left Capetown. I lunched several times on board and
+found the international personnel so frequent in our
+merchant marine. The captain was a native of the
+West Indies, the first mate had been born in Scotland,
+the chief engineer was a Connecticut Yankee, and
+the steward a Japanese. They were a happy family
+though under the Stars and Stripes and we spent many
+hours together spinning yarns and wishing we were
+back home.</p>
+<p>In the Congo nothing ever moves on schedule time.
+I expected to board the steamer immediately after my
+arrival at Matadi and proceed to Antwerp. There was
+the usual delay, and I had to wait a week. Hence the
+diversion provided by "The Schoodic" was a godsend.</p>
+<div class="center"> <a href="images/illus-345-full.jpg"> <img src="images/illus-345-thumbnail.jpg" alt="A GENERAL VIEW OF MATADI" title="A GENERAL VIEW OF MATADI" />
+</a>
+<div class="caption">A GENERAL VIEW OF MATADI</div>
+</div>
+<p>The blessed day came when I got on "The Anversville"
+and changed from the dirt and discomfort of the
+river boat and the colonial hotel to the luxury of the
+ocean vessel. It was like stepping into paradise to
+get settled once more in an immaculate cabin with its
+shining brass bedstead and the inviting bathroom
+adjacent. I spent an hour calmly sitting on the divan
+and revelling in this welcome environment. It was almost
+too good to be true.</p>
+<p>Nelson remained with me to the end. He helped the
+stewards place my luggage in the ship, which was the
+first liner he had ever seen. He was almost appalled
+at its magnitude. I asked him if he would like to ac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg
+283]</a></span>company me to Europe. He shook his head
+solemnly
+and said, "No, master. The ship is too big and I am
+afraid of it. I want to go home to Elizabethville." As
+a parting gift I gave him more money than he had ever
+before seen in his life. It only elicited this laconic
+response, "Now I am rich enough to buy a wife." With
+these words he bade me farewell.</p>
+<p>"The Anversville" was another agreeable surprise.
+She is one of three sister ships in the service of the
+Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo. The other two
+are "The Albertville" and "The Elizabethville." The
+original "Elizabethville" was sunk by a German submarine
+during the war off the coast of France. These
+vessels are big, clean, and comfortable and the service
+is excellent.</p>
+<p>All vessels to and from Europe stop at Boma, the
+capital of the Congo, which is five hours steaming down
+river from Matadi. We remained here for a day and a
+half because the Minister of the Colonies was to go
+back on "The Anversville." I was glad of the opportunity
+for it enabled me to see this town, which is the
+mainspring of the colonial administration. The palace
+of the Governor-General stands on a commanding hill
+and is a pretentious establishment. The original capital
+of the Congo was Vivi, established by Stanley at a
+point not far from Matadi. It was abandoned some
+year ago on account of its undesirable location. There
+is a strong sentiment that Leopoldville and not Boma
+should be the capital and it is not unlikely that this
+change will be made.</p>
+<p>The Minister of the Colonies and Monsieur Henry,
+the Governor-General, who also went home on our boat,
+received a spectacular send-off. A thousand native
+troops provided the guard of honour which was drawn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg
+284]</a></span>
+up on the bank of the river. Native bands played, flags
+waved, and the populace, which included hundreds of
+blacks, shouted a noisy farewell.</p>
+<p>Slowly and majestically the vessel backed away from
+the pier and turned its prow downstream. With
+mingled feelings of relief and regret I watched the
+shores recede as the body of the river widened. Near the
+mouth it is twenty miles wide and hundreds of feet deep.</p>
+<p>At Banana Point I looked my last on the Congo
+River. For months I had followed its winding way
+through a land that teems with hidden life and resists
+the inroads of man. I had been lulled to sleep by its dull
+roar; I had observed its varied caprice; I had caught the
+glamour of its subtle charm. Something of its vast and
+mysterious spirit laid hold of me. Now at parting the
+mighty stream seemed more than ever to be invested
+with a tenacious human quality. Sixty miles out at sea
+its sullen brown current still vies with the green and
+blue of the ocean swell. It lingers like the spell of all
+Africa.</p>
+<p>The Congo is merely a phase of the larger lure.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+<a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2>
+<p>
+Albert, Lake, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br />
+Alberta, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>,
+<a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+Albertville, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+Ants, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a><br />
+Armour, J. Ogden, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br />
+<br />
+Bailey, Sir Abe, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br />
+Ball, Sidney H., <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Baluba, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+Bangala, The, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>,
+<a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+Barclay, Mrs. Edwin, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br />
+Barclay, Mr. Edwin, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+Barnato, Barney, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Basuto, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br />
+<br />
+Bechuanaland, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_108">108</a>,
+<a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+Behr, H. C., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Beira, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+Belgian Congo, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>,
+<a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>,
+<a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>,
+<a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_230">230</a>,
+<a href="#Page_241">241</a>-<a href="#Page_284">284</a><br />
+Benguella, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+Bia Expedition, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br />
+Bolobo, <a href="#Page_202">202</a><br />
+Botha, General, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>,
+<a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>,
+<a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a>,
+<a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>,
+<a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+Braham, I. F., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+Brandsma, Father, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br />
+British South Africa Company, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>,
+<a href="#Page_126">126</a>-<a href="#Page_127">127</a><br />
+Broken Hill Railway, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+Bukama, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+Bulawayo, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>,
+<a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>,
+<a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>,
+<a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>,
+<a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+Bunge, Edward, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br />
+Butner, Daniel, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+Butters, Charles, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+<br />
+Cairo, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br />
+Cameroons, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br />
+Campbell, J. G., <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_168">168</a><br />
+"Cape-boy," <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+Cape Colony, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br />
+"Cape-to-Cairo," <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>,
+<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+Capetown, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a>,
+<a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>,
+<a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>,
+<a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>,
+<a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+Carnahan, Thomas, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+Carrie, Albert, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>-<a href="#Page_249">249</a><br />
+Carson, Sir Edward, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+Casement, Sir Roger, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br />
+Chaka, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br />
+Chaplin, Sir Drummond, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a><br />
+Chilembwe, John, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+Clement, Victor M., <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+Cleveland, President, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br />
+Cleveland, Rev. Roy Fields, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>,
+<a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+"Comte de Flandre," <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br />
+Congo-Kasai Province, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+Congo River, The, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>-<a href="#Page_145">145</a>,
+<a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_284">284</a><br />
+Coquilhatville, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><br />
+Crane, Mr. and Mrs. Charles L., <a href="#Page_278">278</a>-<a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+Creswell, Col. F. H. P., <a href="#Page_29">29</a>-<a href="#Page_30">30</a><br />
+Cullinan, Thomas M., <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br />
+Curtis, J. S., <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+<br />
+Davis, Charles H., <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+Dean, Captain, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a><br />
+DeBeers, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br />
+Delcommune, Alexander, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a><br />
+Diamonds, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>,
+<a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>,
+<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>,
+<a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Congo Fields, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>-<a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Congo Output, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br />
+Djoko Punda, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>,
+<a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>,
+<a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+Doyle, Donald, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br />
+Doyle, Mrs. Donald, <a href="#Page_264">264</a><br />
+Dubois, Lieutenant, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a><br />
+Dunn, Dr. John, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>Durban <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+Dutoitspan Mine, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br />
+<br />
+Elizabethville, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>,
+<a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>,
+<a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br />
+<br />
+Fairbairn, Henry, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br />
+Forminiere, The, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>,
+<a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>,
+<a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br />
+Franck, Louis, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br />
+Francqui, Emile, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>-<a href="#Page_243">243</a><br />
+Fungurume, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br />
+<br />
+George, Lloyd, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br />
+German East Africa, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br />
+German South-West Africa, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>,
+<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>,
+<a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>,
+<a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+Germany in Africa, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>,
+<a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>,
+<a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>,
+<a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>,
+<a href="#Page_231">231</a><br />
+Gerome, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br />
+Gordon, General, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br />
+Grenfell, George, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>,
+<a href="#Page_255">255</a><br />
+Grey, George, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br />
+Groote Schuur, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>,
+<a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>,
+<a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a><br />
+Guggenheim, Daniel, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+<br />
+Hammond, John Hays, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>,
+<a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_129">129</a>,
+<a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+Harriman, E. H., <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br />
+Hellman, Fred, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Hertzog, General W. B. M., <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>,
+<a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>,
+<a href="#Page_53">53</a><br />
+Hex River, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br />
+Honnold, W. L., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Horner, Preston K., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+Hottentot, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+Hoy, Sir William W., <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+Huileries du Congo Belge, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>,
+<a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_212">212</a>,
+<a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>,
+<a href="#Page_263">263</a><br />
+<br />
+Jadot, Jean, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>,
+<a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br />
+Jameson, Raid, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>,
+<a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>,
+<a href="#Page_115">115</a><br />
+Jameson, Sir Starr <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>,
+<a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>,
+<a href="#Page_136">136</a><br />
+Janot, N., <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Jenkins, Hennen, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+Jennings, Sidney, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Johannesburg, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>,
+<a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>,
+<a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>,
+<a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>,
+<a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br />
+Johnston, Sir Harry, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>,
+<a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a><br />
+<br />
+Kabalo, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br />
+Kabambaie, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>,
+<a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+Kaffir, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>,
+<a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+Kahew, Frank, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+Kambove, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+Karoo, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+Kasai River, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>-<a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>,
+<a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>,
+<a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>,
+<a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>,
+<a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>,
+<a href="#Page_247">247</a>,
+<a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>,
+<a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+Katanga, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>,
+<a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>,
+<a href="#Page_150">150</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a>,
+<a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>,
+<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>,
+<a href="#Page_241">241</a><br />
+Kimberley, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>,
+<a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>,
+<a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>,
+<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>,
+<a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br />
+Kindu, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_169">169</a>,
+<a href="#Page_170">170</a><br />
+Kinshassa, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>,
+<a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>,
+<a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>,
+<a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>,
+<a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+Kitchener, Lord, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+Kito, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>-<a href="#Page_181">181</a><br />
+Kongolo, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>,
+<a href="#Page_177">177</a><br />
+Kruger, Paul, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>,
+<a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_88">88</a>,
+<a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>,
+<a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+Kwamouth, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a><br />
+Kwilu River, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Labram, George, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+Lane, Capt. E. F. C., <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+Leggett, T. H., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Leopold, King, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>,
+<a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>,
+<a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>,
+<a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>,
+<a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a href="#Page_235">235</a>,
+<a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Leopoldville, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br />
+Leverhulme, Lord, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+Leverville, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br />
+Lewaniki, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br />
+Livingstone, Dr., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br />
+Lobengula, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>,
+<a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br />
+"Louis Cousin," <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_162">162</a><br />
+Lowa, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br />
+Lualaba River, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>,
+<a href="#Page_161">161</a>-<a href="#Page_164">164</a>,
+<a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>,
+<a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>,
+<a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br />
+Luluaburg, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br />
+Lusanga, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span><br />
+Mabonda Mine, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br />
+"Madeleine," <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+Mafeking, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br />
+Maguire, Rochfort, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+Mahagi, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+Maize, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_125">125</a><br />
+Mashonaland, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a><br />
+Matabele, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>,
+<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>,
+<a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>,
+<a href="#Page_134">134</a><br />
+Matadi, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>-<a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br />
+Matopo Hills, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>-<a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>,
+<a href="#Page_135">135</a><br />
+McMillan, William, <a href="#Page_267">267</a><br />
+McMillan, Mrs. William, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br />
+Mein, Capt. Thomas, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+Mein, W. W., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Merriman, J. X., <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+Milner, Lord, <a href="#Page_118">118</a><br />
+Mohun, R. D. L., <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br />
+Moody, G. D., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>,
+<a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>,
+<a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+Morgan, J. P. <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+Morrison, Rev. W. M., <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br />
+Moul, R. D., <a href="#Page_143">143</a><br />
+<br />
+Nanda, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a><br />
+Natal, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>,
+<a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+Nelson, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-<a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>,
+<a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>,
+<a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>,
+<a href="#Page_283">283</a><br />
+Newport, Glenn H., <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br />
+Nile River, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+Nyassaland, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br />
+<br />
+Oliver, Roland B., <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Orange Free State, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>,
+<a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>,
+<a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+Perkins, H. C., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Plumer, Lord, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br />
+Ponthierville, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br />
+Port Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+Portuguese East Africa, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>,
+<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>,
+<a href="#Page_150">150</a><br />
+Prester, John, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br />
+Pretoria, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>,
+<a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+<br />
+Rand, The, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>,
+<a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>,
+<a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br />
+Reid, A. E. H., <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Reid, C. A., <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Rey, General de la, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a><br />
+Rhodes, Cecil, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>,
+<a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>,
+<a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a>,
+<a href="#Page_114">114</a>-<a href="#Page_121">121</a>,
+<a href="#Page_125">125</a>,
+<a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_137">137</a>,
+<a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>,
+<a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br />
+Rhodesia, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>,
+<a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>-<a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>-<a href="#Page_131">131</a><br />
+Roberts, Lord, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
+Robinson, J. B., <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+Robison, J. E., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a><br />
+Rondebosch, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br />
+Roos, Tielman, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>-<a href="#Page_54">54</a><br />
+Roosevelt, Theodore, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br />
+Rudd, C. D., <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+Ryan, Thomas F., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>-<a href="#Page_235">235</a>,
+<a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Sabin, Charles H., <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+Sakania, <a href="#Page_144">144</a><br />
+Sanford, General H. S., <a href="#Page_227">227</a>,
+<a href="#Page_228">228</a><br />
+Selous, F. C., <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+Seymour, Louis, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Shaler, Millard K., <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+Smartt, Sir Thomas, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br />
+Smith, Hamilton, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Smuts, Jan Christian, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>,
+<a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a>,
+<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>-<a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+Snow, Frederick, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+Soci&eacute;t&eacute; Generale, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>-<a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br />
+Solvay, Edmond, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br />
+Soudan Railway, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+Stanley, Henry M., <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>,
+<a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>,
+<a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>,
+<a href="#Page_196">196</a>,
+<a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>,
+<a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>-<a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>,
+<a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>,
+<a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br />
+Stanley Pool, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+Stanleyville, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>,
+<a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>,
+<a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>,
+<a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>,
+<a href="#Page_190">190</a>,
+<a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+Steyne, President, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br />
+Stoddard, Lothrop, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br />
+Stonelake, Dr., <a href="#Page_202">202</a><br />
+<br />
+Tambeur, General, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br />
+Tanganyika Lake, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>,
+<a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a><br />
+Teneriffe, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+Thompson, F. R., <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+Thompson, Samuel, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Thompson, W. B., <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br />
+Thys, General Albert, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>Tippo Tib, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>,
+<a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+Togoland, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>-<a href="#Page_101">101</a><br />
+"Tony", <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br />
+Transvaal, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>,
+<a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+Tshikapa, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>,
+<a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>,
+<a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>,
+<a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>,
+<a href="#Page_282">282</a><br />
+<br />
+Uganda, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br />
+Union of South Africa, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br />
+<br />
+Van den Hove, Adrian M., <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_252">252</a><br />
+Venezilos, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br />
+Verner, S. P., <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br />
+Victoria Falls, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+Vryburg, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br />
+<br />
+Wallace, Major Claude, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>,
+<a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+Wallace, Mrs. Claude, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+Wangermee, General Emile, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br />
+Wankie, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br />
+Ward, Herbert, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+Warriner, Ruel C., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Webb, H. H., <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Webber, George, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+Wheeler, A. E., <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+Whitney, Harry Payne, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br />
+Williams, Gardner F., <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+Williams, Robert, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>,
+<a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+Wilson, Woodrow, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>,
+<a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+Wissmann, Herman, <a href="#Page_255">255</a><br />
+<br />
+Yale, Thomas, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+Yeatman, Pope, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Zambesi River, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+Zambesia, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br />
+Zimbabwe Ruins, <a href="#Page_130">130</a><br />
+Zulu, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>,
+<a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>,
+<a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+</p>
+<div class="mynote">
+<p><b>Transcriber's notes:</b></p>
+<p>Typos replaced:</p>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#Page_26">p 26</a>: separate
+streams &#8594; separate streams"</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_38">p 38</a>:
+Africa.&#8212;the &#8594; Africa,&#8212;the</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_40">p 40</a>: betwen
+&#8594; between</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_49">p 49</a>: man con
+&#8594; man can</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_51">p 51</a>: betwen
+&#8594; between</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_52">p 52</a>: Britian
+&#8594; Britain</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_56">p 56</a>: 'The
+destiny &#8594; "The destiny</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_56">p 56</a>: Britian
+&#8594; Britain</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_57">p 57</a>: n the world
+&#8594; in the world</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_59">p 59</a>: beteween
+&#8594; between</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_72">p 72</a>: It no
+&#8594; It is no</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_73">p 73</a>: a quarter
+or &#8594; a quarter of</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_73">p 73</a>:
+reoganization &#8594; reorganization</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_82">p 82</a>: speriority
+&#8594; superiority</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_89">p 89</a>: Eeast
+&#8594; East</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_89">p 89</a>: stragetic
+&#8594; strategic</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_100">p 100</a>: auother
+&#8594; another</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_101">p 101</a>: Belian
+&#8594; Belgian</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_103">p 103</a>: III
+&#8594; CHAPTER III</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_103">p 103</a>: 'We've
+&#8594; "We've</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_110">p 110</a>:
+irrenconcilable &#8594; irreconcilable</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_124">p 124</a>:
+considering, Every &#8594; considering. Every</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_140">p 124</a>: stock,
+The &#8594; stock. The</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_131">p 131</a>: maximun
+&#8594; maximum</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_132">p 132</a>: marval
+&#8594; marvel</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_139">p 139</a>: IV
+&#8594; CHAPTER IV</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_139">p 139</a>:
+controversay &#8594; controversy</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_152">p 152</a>:
+developent &#8594; development</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_163">p 163</a>: invarably
+&#8594; invariably</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_163">p 163</a>:
+conspicious &#8594; conspicuous</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_166">p 166</a>: rail-dead
+&#8594; rail-head</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_169">p 169</a>:
+distaseful &#8594; distasteful</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_174">p 174</a>:
+Rockerfeller &#8594; Rockefeller</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_177">p 177</a>: V
+&#8594; CHAPTER V</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_182">p 182</a>: Adthough
+&#8594; Although</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_184">p 184</a>: invaribly
+&#8594; invariably</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_184">p 184</a>: cruelity
+&#8594; cruelty</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_186">p 186</a>:
+exporations &#8594; exploration</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_187">p 187</a>: capured
+&#8594; captured</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_190">p 190</a>: removed
+whole line "from his automobile and the creaky, jolty
+train started" from between "that you" and "feel on"</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_191">p 191</a>: sacrified
+&#8594; sacrificed</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_193">p 193</a>: Uguanda
+&#8594; Uganda</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_195">p 195</a>:
+resplendant &#8594; resplendent</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_201">p 201</a>: high
+sease &#8594; high seas</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_210">p 210</a>: incased
+&#8594; encased</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_214">p 214</a>:
+unforgetable &#8594; unforgettable</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_219">p 219</a>: arival
+&#8594; arrival</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_222">p 222</a>: Begian
+&#8594; Belgian</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_225">p 225</a>: VI
+&#8594; CHAPTER VI</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_226">p 226</a>:
+Transporte &#8594; Transports</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_241">p 241</a>: Forminere
+&#8594; Forminiere</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_243">p 243</a>: Banqe
+&#8594; Banque</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_249">p 249</a>:
+chololate-hued &#8594; chocolate-hued</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_255">p 255</a>: heirarchy
+&#8594; hierarchy</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_255">p 255</a>: Wissman
+&#8594; Wissmann</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_258">p 258</a>: Fir
+&#8594; For</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_270">p 270</a>: that
+&#8594; than</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_283">p 283</a>: that
+&#8594; than</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_285">p 285</a>: 194
+&#8594; 194,</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_286">p 286</a>: 85'
+&#8594; 85,</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_287">p 287</a>: Societe
+&#8594; Soci&eacute;t&eacute;</li>
+<li><a href="#Page_288">p 288</a>: Wissman
+&#8594; Wissmann</li>
+</ul>No attempt was made to harmonise the inconsistent hyphenation; e.g. both spellings <i>bed-room</i> and <i>bedroom</i> can be found in this book.
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: An African Adventure
+
+Author: Isaac F. Marcosson
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2008 [EBook #25569]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Julio Reis, Linda McKeown and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+        BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+
+        ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING
+
+        PEACE AND BUSINESS
+
+        S. O. S: AMERICAS'S MIRACLE IN FRANCE
+
+        THE BUSINESS OF WAR
+
+        THE REBIRTH OF RUSSIA
+
+        THE WAR AFTER THE WAR
+
+        LEONARD WOOD: PROPHET OF PREPAREDNESS
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: KING ALBERT]
+
+
+
+
+                AN AFRICAN
+                ADVENTURE
+
+
+                    BY
+
+            ISAAC F. MARCOSSON
+
+AUTHOR OF "ADVENTURES IN INTERVIEWING," ETC.
+
+
+        NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY
+    LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
+
+                  MCMXXI
+
+
+
+
+              COPYRIGHT . 1921
+      BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
+
+              COPYRIGHT . 1921
+            BY JOHN LANE COMPANY
+
+
+
+            THE PLIMPTON PRESS
+          NORWOOD . MASS . U.S.A
+
+
+                    _To_
+              THOMAS F. RYAN
+        WHO FIRST BEHELD THE VISION
+            OF AMERICA IN THE
+                  CONGO
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+From earliest boyhood when I read the works of Henry M. Stanley and
+books about Cecil Rhodes, Africa has called to me. It was not until I
+met General Smuts during the Great War, however, that I had a definite
+reason for going there.
+
+After these late years of blood and battle America and Europe seemed
+tame. Besides, the economic war after the war developed into a struggle
+as bitter as the actual physical conflict. Discord and discontent became
+the portion of the civilized world. I wanted to get as far as possible
+from all this social unrest and financial dislocation.
+
+So much interest was evinced in the magazine articles which first set
+forth the record of my journey that I was prompted to expand them into
+this book. It may enable the reader to discover a section of the
+one-time Dark Continent without the hardships which I experienced.
+
+                                                          I. F. M.
+
+NEW YORK, _April, 1921_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+       CHAPTER                PAGE
+
+    I. SMUTS                    15
+
+   II. "CAPE-TO-CAIRO"          57
+
+  III. RHODES AND RHODESIA     103
+
+   IV. THE CONGO TODAY         139
+
+    V. ON THE CONGO RIVER      177
+
+   VI. AMERICA IN THE CONGO    225
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  King Albert                     _Frontispiece_
+
+  Groote Schuur                 _facing page_ 28
+
+  General J. C. Smuts                         44
+
+  Mr. Marcosson's Route in Africa             56
+
+  Cecil Rhodes                                76
+
+  The Premier Diamond Mine                    90
+
+  Victoria Falls                             102
+
+  Cultivating Citrus Land in Rhodesia        110
+
+  The Grave of Cecil Rhodes                  132
+
+  A Katanga Copper Mine                      138
+
+  Lord Leverhulme                            144
+
+  Robert Williams                            144
+
+  On the Lualaba                             150
+
+  A View on the Kasai                        150
+
+  A Station Scene at Kongola                 156
+
+  A Native Market at Kindu                   162
+
+  Native Fish Traps at Stanley Falls         168
+
+  The Massive Bangalas                       176
+
+  Congo Women in State Dress                 176
+
+  Central African Pygmies                    182
+
+  Women Making Pottery                       190
+
+  The Congo Pickaninny                       190
+
+  The Heart of the Equatorial Forest         198
+
+  Natives Piling Wood                        204
+
+  A Wood Post on the Congo                   204
+
+  Residential Quarters at Alberta            210
+
+  The Comte de Flandre                       210
+
+  A Typical Oil Palm Forest                  216
+
+  Bringing in the Palm Fruit                 216
+
+  A Specimen of Cicatrization                220
+
+  A Sankuru Woman Playing Native Draughts    220
+
+  The Belgian Congo                          224
+
+  Thomas F. Ryan                             228
+
+  Jean Jadot                                 236
+
+  Emile Francqui                             242
+
+  A Belle of the Congo                       246
+
+  Women of the Batetelas                     246
+
+  Fishermen on the Sankuru                   254
+
+  The Falls of the Sankuru                   254
+
+  A Congo Diamond Mine                       260
+
+  How the Mines Are Worked                   260
+
+  Gravel Carriers at a Congo Mine            266
+
+  Congo Natives Picking out Diamonds         266
+
+  Washing out Gravel                         272
+
+  Donald Doyle and Mr. Marcosson             272
+
+  The Park at Boma                           278
+
+  A Street in Matadi                         278
+
+  A General View of Matadi                   282
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+
+
+AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I--SMUTS
+
+
+I
+
+Turn the searchlight on the political and economic chaos that has
+followed the Great War and you find a surprising lack of real
+leadership. Out of the mists that enshroud the world welter only three
+commanding personalities emerge. In England Lloyd George survives amid
+the storm of party clash and Irish discord. Down in Greece Venizelos,
+despite defeat, remains an impressive figure of high ideals and
+uncompromising patriotism. Off in South Africa Smuts gives fresh
+evidence of his vision and authority.
+
+Although he was Britain's principal prop during the years of agony and
+disaster, Lloyd George is, in the last analysis, merely an eloquent and
+spectacular politician with the genius of opportunism. One reason why he
+holds his post is that there is no one to take his place,--another
+commentary on the paucity of greatness. There is no visible heir to
+Venizelos. Besides, Greece is a small country without international
+touch and interest. Smuts, youngest of the trio, looms up as the most
+brilliant statesman of his day and his career has just entered upon a
+new phase.
+
+He is the dominating actor in a drama that not only affects the destiny
+of the whole British Empire, but has significance for every civilized
+nation. The quality of striking contrast has always been his. The
+one-time Boer General, who fought Roberts and Kitchener twenty years
+ago, is battling with equal tenacity for the integrity of the Imperial
+Union born of that war. Not in all history perhaps, is revealed a more
+picturesque situation than obtains in South Africa today. You have the
+whole Nationalist movement crystallized into a single compelling
+episode. In a word, it is contemporary Ireland duplicated without
+violence and extremism.
+
+I met General Smuts often during the Great War. He stood out as the most
+intellectually alert, and in some respects the most distinguished figure
+among the array of nation-guiders with whom I talked, and I interviewed
+them all. I saw him as he sat in the British War Cabinet when the German
+hosts were sweeping across the Western Front, and when the German
+submarines were making a shambles of the high seas. I heard him speak
+with persuasive force on public occasions and he was like a beacon in
+the gloom. He had come to England in 1917 as the representative of
+General Botha, the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, to
+attend the Imperial Conference and to remain a comparatively short time.
+So great was the need of him that he did not go home until after the
+Peace had been signed. He signed the Treaty under protest because he
+believed it was uneconomic and it has developed into the irritant that
+he prophesied it would be.
+
+In those war days when we foregathered, Smuts often talked of "the world
+that would be." The real Father of the League of Nations idea, he
+believed that out of the immense travail would develop a larger
+fraternity, economically sound and without sentimentality. It was a
+great and yet a practical dream.
+
+More than once he asked me to come to South Africa. I needed little
+urging. From my boyhood the land of Cecil Rhodes has always held a lure
+for me. Smuts invested it with fresh interest. So I went.
+
+The Smuts that I found at close range on his native heath, wearing the
+mantle of the departed Botha, carrying on a Government with a minority,
+and with the shadow of an internecine war brooding on the horizon, was
+the same serene, clear-thinking strategist who had raised his voice in
+the Allied Councils. Then the enemy was the German and the task was to
+destroy the menace of militarism. Now it was his own unreconstructed
+Boer--blood of his blood,--and behind that Boer the larger problem of a
+rent and dissatisfied universe, waging peace as bitterly as it waged
+war. Smuts the dreamer was again Smuts the fighter, with the fight of
+his life on his hands.
+
+Thus it came about that I found myself in Capetown. Everybody goes out
+to South Africa from England on those Union Castle boats so familiar to
+all readers of English novels. Like the P. & O. vessels that Kipling
+wrote about in his Indian stories, they are among the favorite first
+aids to the makers of fiction. Hosts of heroes in books--and some in
+real life--sail each year to their romantic fate aboard them.
+
+It was the first day of the South African winter when I arrived, but
+back in America spring was in full bloom. I looked out on the same view
+that had thrilled the Portuguese adventurers of the fifteenth century
+when they swept for the first time into Table Bay. Behind the harbor
+rose Table Mountain and stretching from it downward to the sea was a
+land with verdure clad and aglare with the African sun that was to
+scorch my paths for months to come.
+
+Capetown nestles at the foot of a vast flat-topped mass of granite
+unique among the natural elevations of the world. She is another melting
+pot. Here mingle Kaffir and Boer, Basuto and Britisher, East Indian and
+Zulu. The hardy rancher and fortune-hunter from the North Country rub
+shoulders with the globe-trotter. In the bustling streets modern
+taxicabs vie for space with antiquated hansoms bearing names like "Never
+Say Die," "Home Sweet Home," or "Honeysuckle." All the horse-drawn
+public vehicles have names.
+
+You get a familiar feel of America in this South African country and
+especially in the Cape Colony, which is a place of fruits, flowers and
+sunshine resembling California. There is the sense of newness in the
+atmosphere, and something of the abandon that you encounter among the
+people of Australia and certain parts of Canada. It comes from life
+spent in the open and the spirit of pioneering that within a
+comparatively short time has wrested a huge domain from the savage.
+
+What strikes the observer at once is the sharp conflict of race, first,
+between black and white, and then, between Briton and Boer. South of the
+Zambesi River,--and this includes Rhodesia and the Union of South
+Africa,--the native outnumbers the white more than six to one and he is
+increasing at a much greater rate than the European. Hence you have an
+inevitable conflict. Race lies at the root of the South African trouble
+and the racial reconciliation that Rhodes and Botha set their hopes upon
+remains an elusive quantity.
+
+I got a hint of what Smuts was up against the moment I arrived. I had
+cabled him of my coming and he sent an orderly to the steamer with a
+note of welcome and inviting me to lunch with him at the House of
+Parliament the next day. In the letter, among other things he said: "You
+will find this a really interesting country, full of curious problems."
+How curious they were I was soon to find out.
+
+I called for him at his modest book-lined office in a street behind the
+Parliament Buildings and we walked together to the House. Heretofore I
+had only seen him in the uniform of a Lieutenant General in the British
+Army. Now he wore a loose-fitting lounge suit and a slouch hat was
+jammed down on his head. In the change from khaki to mufti--and few men
+can stand up under this transition without losing some of the character
+of their personal appearance,--he remained a striking figure. There is
+something wistful in his face--an indescribable look that projects
+itself not only through you but beyond. It is not exactly preoccupation
+but a highly developed concentration. This look seemed to be enhanced by
+the ordeal through which he was then passing. In his springy walk was a
+suggestion of pugnacity. His whole manner was that of a man in action
+and who exults in it. Roosevelt had the same characteristic but he
+displayed it with much more animation and strenuosity.
+
+We sat down in the crowded dining room of the House of Parliament where
+the Prime Minister had invited a group of Cabinet Ministers and leading
+business men of Capetown. Around us seethed a noisy swirl which
+reflected the turmoil of the South African political situation.
+Parliament had just convened after an historic election in which the
+Nationalists, the bitter antagonists of Botha and Smuts, had elected a
+majority of representatives for the first time. Smuts was hanging on to
+the Premiership by his teeth. A sharp division of vote, likely at any
+moment, would have overthrown the Government. It meant a regime hostile
+to Britain that carried with it secession and the remote possibility of
+civil war.
+
+In that restaurant, as throughout the whole Union, Smuts was at that
+moment literally the observed of all observers. Far off in London the
+powers-that-be were praying that this blonde and bearded Boer could
+successfully man the imperial breach. Yet he sat there smiling and
+unafraid and the company that he had assembled discussed a variety of
+subjects that ranged from the fall in exchange to the possibilities of
+the wheat crop in America.
+
+The luncheon was the first of various meetings with Smuts. Some were
+amid the tumult of debate or in the shadow of the legislative halls,
+others out in the country at _Groote Schuur_, the Prime Minister's
+residence, where we walked amid the gardens that Cecil Rhodes loved, or
+sat in the rooms where the Colossus "thought in terms of continents." It
+was a liberal education.
+
+Before we can go into what Smuts said during these interviews it is
+important to know briefly the whole approach to the crowded hour that
+made the fullest test of his resource and statesmanship. Clearly to
+understand it you must first know something about the Boer and his long
+stubborn struggle for independence which ended, for a time at least, in
+the battle and blood of the Boer War.
+
+Capetown, the melting pot, is merely a miniature of the larger boiling
+cauldron of race which is the Union of South Africa. In America we also
+have an astonishing mixture of bloods but with the exception of the
+Bolshevists and other radical uplifters, our population is loyally
+dedicated to the American flag and the institutions it represents. With
+us Latin, Slav, Celt, and Saxon have blended the strain that proved its
+mettle as "Americans All" under the Stars and Stripes in France. We have
+given succor and sanctuary to the oppressed of many lands and these
+foreign elements, in the main, have not only been grateful but have
+proved to be distinct assets in our national expansion. We are a merged
+people.
+
+With South Africa the situation is somewhat different. The roots of
+civilization there were planted by the Dutch in the days of the Dutch
+East India Company when Holland was a world power. The Dutchman is a
+tenacious and stubborn person. Although the Huguenots emigrated to the
+Cape in considerable force in the seventeenth century and intermarried
+with the transplanted Hollanders, the Dutch strain, and with it the
+Dutch characteristics predominated. They have shaped South African
+history ever since. This is why the Boer is still referred to in popular
+parlance as "a Dutchman."
+
+The Dutch have always been a proud and liberty-loving people, as the
+Duke of Alva and the Spaniard learned to their cost. This inherited
+desire for freedom has flamed in the hearts of the Boers. In the early
+African day they preferred to journey on to the wild and unknown places
+rather than sacrifice their independence. What is known as "The Great
+Trek" of the thirties, which opened up the Transvaal and subsequently
+the Orange Free State and Natal, was due entirely to unrest among the
+Cape Boers. There is something of the epic in the narrative of those
+doughty, psalm-singing trekkers who, like the Mormons in the American
+West, went forth in their canvas-covered wagons with a rifle in one hand
+and the Bible in the other. They fought the savage, endured untold
+hardships, and met fate with a grim smile on their lips. It took Britain
+nearly three costly years to subdue their descendants, an untrained army
+of farmers.
+
+A revelation of the Boer character, therefore, is an index to the South
+African tangle. His enemies call the Boer "a combination of cunning and
+childishness." As a matter of fact the Boer is distinct among
+individualists. "Oom Paul" Kruger was a type. A fairly familiar story
+will concretely illustrate what lies within and behind the race. On one
+occasion his thumb was nearly severed in an accident. With his
+pocket-knife he cut off the finger, bound up the wound with a rag, and
+went about his business.
+
+The old Boer--and the type survives--was a Puritan who loved his
+five-thousand-acre farm where he could neither see nor hear his
+neighbors, who read the Good Word three times a day, drank prodigious
+quantities of coffee, spoke "_taal_" the Dutch dialect, and reared a
+huge family. Botha, for example, was one of thirteen children, and his
+father lamented to his dying day that he had not done his full duty by
+his country!
+
+Isolation was the Boer fetich. This instinct for aloofness,--principally
+racial,--animates the sincere wing of the Nationalist Party today. Men
+like Botha and Smuts and their followers adapted themselves to
+assimilation but there remained the "bitter-end" element that rebelled
+in arms against the constituted authority in 1914 and had to be put down
+with merciless hand. This element now seeks to achieve through more
+peaceful ends what it sought to do by force the moment Britain became
+involved in the Great War. The reason for the revolt of 1914, in a
+paragraph, was Britain's far-flung call to arms. The unreconstructed
+Boers refused to fight for the Power that humbled them in 1902. They
+seized the moment to make a try for what they called "emancipation."
+
+To go back for a moment, when the British conquered the Cape and
+thousands of Englishmen streamed out to Africa to make their fortunes,
+the Boer at once bristled with resentment. His isolation was menaced. He
+regarded the Briton as an "_Uitlander_"--an outsider--and treated him as
+an undesirable alien. In the Transvaal and the Orange Free State he was
+denied the rights that are accorded to law-abiding citizens in other
+countries. Hence the Jameson Raid, which was an ill-starred protest
+against the narrow, copper-riveted Boer rule, and later the final and
+sanguinary show-down in the Boer War, which ended the dream of Boer
+independence.
+
+In 1910 was established the Union of South Africa, comprising the
+Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal and the Cape Colony which
+obtained responsible government and which is to all intents and purposes
+a dominion as free as Australia or Canada. England sends out a
+Governor-General, usually a high-placed and titled person but he is a
+be-medalled figure-head,--an ornamental feature of the landscape. His
+principal labours are to open fairs, attend funerals, preside at
+harmless gatherings, and bestow decorations upon worthy persons. First
+Botha, and later Smuts, have been the real rulers of the country.
+
+The Union Constitution decreed that bi-lingualism must prevail. As a
+result every public notice, document, and time-table is printed in both
+English and Dutch. The tie of language is a strong one and this eternal
+and unuttered presence of the "_taal_" has been an asset for the
+Nationalists to exploit. It is a link with the days of independence.
+
+Following the Boer War came a sharp cleavage among the Boers. That great
+farm-bred soldier and statesman, Louis Botha, accepted the verdict and
+became the leader of what might be called a reconciled reconstruction.
+Firm in the belief that the future of South Africa was greater than the
+smaller and selfish issue of racial pride and prejudice, he rallied his
+open-minded and far-seeing countrymen around him. Out of this group
+developed the South African Party which remains the party of the Dutch
+loyal to British rule. To quote the program of principles, "Its
+political object is the development of a South African spirit of
+national unity and self-reliance through the attainment of the lasting
+union of the various sections of the people."
+
+Botha was made Premier of the Transvaal as soon as the Colony was
+granted self-government and with the accomplishment of Union was named
+Prime Minister of the Federation. The first man that he called to the
+standard of the new order to become his Colonial Minister, or more
+technically, Minister of the Interior, was Smuts, who had left his law
+office in Johannesburg to fight the English in 1900 and who displayed
+the same consummate strategy in the field that he has since shown in
+Cabinet meeting and Legislative forum. With peace he returned to law but
+not for long. Now began his political career--he has held public office
+continuously ever since--that is a vital part of the modern history of
+South Africa.
+
+In the years immediately following Union the genius of Botha had full
+play. He wrought a miracle of evolution. Under his influence the land
+which still bore the scars of war was turned to plenty. He was a farmer
+and he bent his energy and leadership to the rebuilding of the shattered
+commonwealths. Their hope lay in the soil. His right arm was Smuts, who
+became successively Minister of Finance and Minister of Public Defense.
+
+The belief that reconciliation had dawned was rudely disturbed when the
+Great War crashed into civilization. The extreme Nationalists rebelled
+and it was Botha, aided by Smuts, who crushed them. Beyers, the
+ringleader, was drowned while trying to escape across the Vaal River,
+DeWet was defeated in the field, De la Rey was accidentally shot, and
+Maritz became a fugitive. Botha then conquered the Germans in German
+South-West Africa and Smuts subsequently took over the command of the
+Allied Forces in German East Africa. When Botha died in 1919 Smuts not
+only assumed the Premiership of the Union but he also inherited the
+bitter enmity that General J. B. M. Hertzog bore towards his lamented
+Chief.
+
+Now we come to the crux of the whole business, past and present. Who is
+Hertzog and what does he stand for?
+
+If you look at your history of the Boer War you will see that one of the
+first Dutch Generals to take the field and one of the last to leave it
+was Hertzog, an Orange Free State lawyer who had won distinction on the
+Bench. He helped to frame the Union Constitution and on the day he
+signed it, declared that it was a distinct epoch in his life. A Boer of
+the Boers, he seemed to catch for the moment, the contagion that
+radiated from Botha and spelled a Greater South Africa.
+
+Botha made him Minister of Justice and all was well. But deep down in
+his heart Hertzog remained unrepentant. When the question of South
+Africa's contribution to the Imperial Navy came up in 1912 he fought it
+tooth and nail. In fiery utterances attacking the Government he
+denounced Botha as a jingoist and an imperialist. Just about this time
+he made the famous speech in which he stated his ideal of South Africa.
+He declared that Briton and Boer were "two separate streams"--two
+nationalities each flowing in a separate channel. The "two streams"
+slogan is now the Nationalist battlecry.
+
+Such procedure on the part of Hertzog demanded prompt action on the part
+of Botha, who called upon his colleague either to suppress his
+particular brand of anathema or resign. Hertzog not only built a bigger
+bonfire of denunciation but refused to resign.
+
+Botha thereupon devised a unique method of ridding himself of his
+uncongenial Minister. He resigned, the Government fell, and the Cabinet
+dissolved automatically. Hertzog was left out in the cold. The
+Governor-General immediately re-appointed Botha Prime Minister and he
+reorganized his Cabinet without the undesirable Hertzog.
+
+Hertzog became the Stormy Petrel of South Africa, vowing vengeance
+against Botha and Britain. He galvanized the Nationalist Party, which up
+to this time had been merely a party of opposition, into what was
+rapidly becoming a flaming secession movement. The South African Party
+developed into the only really national party, while its opponent,
+although bearing the name of National, was solely and entirely racial.
+
+The first real test of strength was in the election of 1915. The
+campaign was bitter and belligerent. The venom of the Nationalist Party
+was concentrated on Smuts. Many of his meetings became bloody riots. He
+was the target for rotten fruit and on one occasion an attempt was made
+on his life. The combination of the Botha personality and the Smuts
+courage and reason won out and the South African Party remained in
+power.
+
+Undaunted, Hertzog carried on the fight. He soon had the supreme
+advantage of having the field to himself because Botha was off fighting
+the Germans and Smuts had gone to England to help mould the Allied
+fortunes. The Nationalist leader made hay while the red sun of war
+shone. Every South African who died on the battlefield was for him just
+another argument for separation from England.
+
+When Ireland declared herself a "republic" Hertzog took the cue and
+counted his cause in with that of the "small nations" that needed
+self-determination. "Afrika for the Afrikans," the old motto of the
+_Afrikander Bond_, was unfurled from the masthead and the sedition
+spread. It not only recruited the Boers who had an ancient grievance
+against Great Britain, but many others who secretly resented the Botha
+and Smuts intimacy with "the conquerors." Some were sons and grandsons
+of the old "_Vortrekkers_," who not only delighted to speak the "_taal_"
+exclusively but who had never surrendered the ideal of independence.
+
+While the Dutch movement in South Africa strongly resembles the Irish
+rebellion there are also some marked differences. In South Africa there
+is no religious barrier and as a result there has been much
+intermarriage between Briton and Boer. The English in South Africa bear
+the same relation to the Nationalist movement there that the Ulsterites
+bear to the Sinn Feiners in Ireland. Instead of being segregated as are
+the followers of Sir Edward Carson, they are scattered throughout the
+country.
+
+At the General Election held early in 1920,--general elections are held
+every five years,--the results were surprising. The Nationalists
+returned a majority of four over the South African Party in Parliament.
+It left Smuts to carry on his Government with a minority. To add to his
+troubles, the Labour Party,--always an uncertain proposition,--increased
+its representation from a mere handful to twenty-one, while the
+Unionists, who comprise the straight-out English-speaking Party, whose
+stronghold is Natal, suffered severe losses. Smuts could not very well
+count the latter among his open allies because it would have alienated
+the hard-shell Boers in the South African Party.
+
+This was the situation that I found on my arrival in Capetown. On one
+hand was Smuts, still Prime Minister, taxing his every resource as
+parliamentarian and pacificator to maintain the Union and prevent a
+revolt from Britain--all in the face of a bitter and hostile majority.
+On the other hand was Hertzog, bent on secession and with a solid array
+of discontents behind him. The two former comrades of the firing line,
+as the heads of their respective groups, were locked in a momentous
+political life-and-death struggle the outcome of which may prove to be
+the precedent for Ireland, Egypt, and India.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright South African Railways_
+
+GROOTE SCHUUR]
+
+
+II
+
+Yet Smuts continued as Premier which means that he brought the life of
+Parliament to a close without a sharp division. Moreover, he
+manoeuvered his forces into a position that saved the day for Union
+and himself. How did he do it?
+
+I can demonstrate one way and with a rather personal incident. During
+the week I spent in Capetown Smuts was an absorbed person as you may
+imagine. The House was in session day and night and there were endless
+demands on him. The best opportunities that we had for talk were at
+meal-time. One evening I dined with him in the House restaurant. When we
+sat down we thought that we had the place to ourselves. Suddenly Smuts
+cast his eye over the long room and saw a solitary man just commencing
+his dinner in the opposite corner. Turning to me he said:
+
+"Do you know Cresswell?"
+
+"I was introduced to him yesterday," I replied.
+
+"Would you mind if I asked him to dine with us?"
+
+When I assured him that I would be delighted, the Prime Minister got up,
+walked over to Cresswell and asked him to join us, which he did.
+
+The significant part of this apparently simple performance, which had
+its important outcome, was this. Colonel F. H. P. Cresswell is the
+leader of the Labour Party in South Africa. By profession a mining
+engineer, he led the forces of revolt in the historic industrial
+upheaval in the Rand in what Smuts denounced as a "Syndicalist
+Conspiracy." Riot, bloodshed, and confusion reigned for a considerable
+period at Johannesburg and large bodies of troops had to be called out
+to restore order. At the very moment that we sat down to dine that night
+no one knew just what Cresswell and the Labourites with their new-won
+power would do. Smuts, as Minister of Finance, had deported some of
+Cresswell's men and Cresswell himself narrowly escaped drastic
+punishment.
+
+When Smuts brought Cresswell over he said jokingly to me:
+
+"Cresswell is a good fellow but I came near sending him to jail once."
+
+Cresswell beamed and the three of us amiably discussed various topics
+until the gong sounded for the assembling of the House.
+
+What was the result? Before I left Capetown and when the first of the
+few occasions which tested the real voting strength of Parliament arose,
+Cresswell and some of his adherents voted with Smuts. I tell this little
+story to show that the man who today holds the destiny of South Africa
+in his hands is as skillful a diplomat as he is soldier and statesman.
+
+It was at one of these quiet dinners with Smuts at the House that he
+first spoke about Nationalism. He said: "The war gave Nationalism its
+death blow. But as a matter of fact Nationalism committed suicide in the
+war."
+
+"But what is Nationalism?" I asked him.
+
+"A water-tight nation in a water-tight compartment," he replied. "It is
+a process of regimentation like the old Germany that will soon merge
+into a new Internationalism. What seems to be at this moment an orgy of
+Nationalism in South Africa or elsewhere is merely its death gasp. The
+New World will be a world of individualism dominated by Britain and
+America.
+
+"What about the future?" I asked him. His answer was:
+
+"The safety of the future depends upon Federation, upon a League of
+Nations that will develop along economic and not purely sentimental
+lines. The New Internationalism will not stop war but it can regulate
+exchange, and through this regulation can help to prevent war.
+
+"I believe in an international currency which will be a sort of legal
+tender among all the nations. Why should the currency of the country
+depreciate or rise with the fortunes of war or with its industrial or
+other complications? Misfortune should not be penalized fiscally."
+
+I brought up the question of the lack of accord which then existed
+between Britain and America and suggested that perhaps the fall in
+exchange had something to do with it, whereupon he said: "Yes, I think
+it has. It merely illustrates the point that I have just made about an
+international currency."
+
+We came back to the subject of individualism, which led Smuts to say:
+
+"The Great War was a striking illustration of the difference between
+individualism and nationalism. Hindenberg commanded the only army in the
+war. It was a product of nationalism. The individualism of the
+Anglo-Saxon is such that it becomes a mob but it is an intelligent mob.
+Haig and Pershing commanded such mobs."
+
+I tried to probe Smuts about Russia. He was in London when I returned
+from Petrograd in 1917 and I recall that he displayed the keenest
+interest in what I told him about Kerensky and the new order that I had
+seen in the making. I heard him speak at a Russian Fair in London. The
+whole burden of his utterance was the hope that the Slav would achieve
+discipline and organization. At that time Russia redeemed from autocracy
+looked to be a bulwark of Allied victory. The night we talked about
+Russia at Capetown she had become the prey of red terror and the
+plaything of organized assassination.
+
+Smuts looked rather wistful when he said:
+
+"You cannot defeat Russia. Napoleon learned this to his cost and so will
+the rest of the world. I do not know whether Bolshevism is advancing or
+subsiding. There comes a time when the fiercest fires die down. But the
+best way to revive or rally all Russia to the Soviet Government is to
+invade the country and to annex large slices of it."
+
+These utterances were made during those more or less hasty meals at the
+House of Parliament when the Premier's mind was really in the
+Legislative Hall nearby where he was fighting for his administrative
+life. It was far different out at _Groote Schuur_, the home of the Prime
+Minister, located in Rondebosch, a suburb about nine miles from
+Capetown. In the open country that he loves, and in an environment that
+breathed the romance and performance of England's greatest
+empire-builder, I caught something of the man's kindling vision and
+realized his ripe grasp of international events.
+
+_Groote Schuur_ is one of the best-known estates in the world. Cecil
+Rhodes in his will left it to the Union as the permanent residence of
+the Prime Minister. Ever since I read the various lives of Rhodes I had
+had an impatient desire to see this shrine of achievement. Here Rhodes
+came to live upon his accession to the Premiership of the Cape Colony;
+here he fashioned the British South Africa Company which did for
+Rhodesia what the East India Company did for India; here came prince and
+potentate to pay him honour; here he dreamed his dreams of conquest
+looking out at mountain and sea; here lived Jameson and Kipling; here
+his remains lay in state when at forty-nine the fires of his restless
+ambition had ceased.
+
+_Groote Schuur_, which in Dutch means "Great Granary," was originally
+built as a residence and store-house for one of the early Dutch
+Governors of the Cape. It is a beautiful example of the Dutch
+architecture that you will find throughout the Colony and which is not
+surpassed in grace or comfort anywhere. When Rhodes acquired it in the
+eighties the grounds were comparatively limited. As his power and
+fortune increased he bought up all the surrounding country until today
+you can ride for nine miles across the estate. You find no neat lawns
+and dainty flower-beds. On the place, as in the house itself, you get
+the sense of bigness and simplicity which were the keynotes of the
+Rhodes character.
+
+One reason why Rhodes acquired _Groote Schuur_ was that behind it rose
+the great bulk of Table Mountain. He loved it for its vastness and its
+solitude. On the back _stoep_, which is the Dutch word for porch, he sat
+for hours gazing at this mountain which like the man himself was
+invested with a spirit of immensity.
+
+It was a memorable experience to be at _Groote Schuur_ with Smuts, who
+has lived to see the realization of the hope of Union which thrilled
+always in the heart of Cecil Rhodes. I remember that on the first night
+I went out the Prime Minister took me through the house himself. It has
+been contended by Smuts' enemies that he was a "creature of Rhodes." I
+discovered that Smuts, with the exception of having made a speech of
+welcome when Rhodes visited the school that he attended as a boy, had
+never even met the Englishman who left his impress upon a whole land.
+
+_Groote Schuur_ has been described so much that it is not necessary for
+me to dwell upon its charm and atmosphere here. To see it is to get a
+fresh and intimate realization of the personality which made the
+establishment an unofficial Chancellery of the British Empire.
+
+Two details, however, have poignant and dramatic interest. In the
+simple, massive, bed-room with its huge bay window opening on Table
+Mountain and a stretch of lovely countryside, hangs the small map of
+Africa that Rhodes marked with crimson ink and about which he made the
+famous utterance, "It must be all red." Hanging on the wall in the
+billiard room is the flag with Crescent and Cape device that he had made
+to be carried by the first locomotive to travel from Cairo to the Cape.
+That flag has never been unfurled to the breeze but the vision that
+beheld it waving in the heart of the jungle is soon to become an
+accomplished fact.
+
+It was on a night at _Groote Schuur_, as I walked with Smuts through the
+acres of hydrangeas and bougainvillea (Rhodes' favorite flowers), with a
+new moon peeping overhead that I got the real mood of the man. Pointing
+to the faint silvery crescent in the sky I said: "General, there's a new
+moon over us and I'm sure it means good luck for you."
+
+"No," he replied, "it's the man that makes the luck."
+
+He had had a trying day in the House and was silent in the motor car
+that brought us out. The moment we reached the country and he sniffed
+the scent of the gardens the anxiety and preoccupation fell away. He
+almost became boyish. But when he began to discuss great problems the
+lightness vanished and he became the serious thinker.
+
+We harked back to the days when I had first seen him in England. I asked
+him to tell me what he thought of the aftermath of the stupendous
+struggle. He said:
+
+"The war was just a phase of world convulsion. It made the first rent in
+the universal structure. For years the trend of civilization was toward
+a super-Nationalism. It is easy to trace the stages. The Holy Roman
+Empire was a phase of Nationalism. That was Catholic. Then came the
+development of Nationalism, beginning with Napoleon. That was
+Protestant. Now began the building of water-tight compartments,
+otherwise known as nations. Germany represented the most complete
+development.
+
+"But that era of 'my country,' 'my power,'--it is all a form of national
+ego,--is gone. The four great empires,--Turkey, Germany, Russia and
+Austria,--have crumbled. The war jolted them from their high estate. It
+started the universal cataclysm. Centuries in the future some
+perspective can be had and the results appraised.
+
+"Meanwhile, we can see the beginning. The world is one. Humanity is one
+and must be one. The war, at terrible cost, brought the peoples
+together. The League of Nations is a faint and far-away evidence of this
+solidarity. It merely points the way but it is something. It is not
+academic formulas that will unite the peoples of the world but
+intelligence."
+
+Smuts now turned his thought to a subject not without interest for
+America, for he said:
+
+"The world has been brought together by the press, by wireless, indeed
+by all communication which represents the last word in scientific
+development. Yet political institutions cling to old and archaic
+traditions. Take the Presidency of the United States. A man waits for
+four months before he is inaugurated. The incumbent may work untold
+mischief in the meantime. It is all due to the fact that in the days
+when the American Constitution was framed the stagecoach and the horse
+were the only means of conveyance. The world now travels by aeroplane
+and express train, yet the antiquated habits continue.
+
+"So with political parties and peoples, the British Empire included.
+They need to be brought abreast of the times. The old pre-war British
+Empire, for example, is gone in the sense of colonies or subordinate
+nations clustering around one master nation. The British Empire itself
+is developing into a real League of Nations,--a group of partner
+peoples."
+
+"What of America and the future?" I asked him.
+
+"America is the leaven of the future," answered Smuts. "She is the
+life-blood of the League of Nations. Without her the League is stifled.
+America will give the League the peace temper. You Americans are a
+pacific people, slow to war but terrible and irresistible when you once
+get at it. The American is an individualist and in that new and
+inevitable internationalism the individual will stand out, the American
+pre-eminently."
+
+Throughout this particular experience at _Groote Schuur_ I could not
+help marvelling on the contrast that the man and the moment presented.
+We walked through a place of surpassing beauty. Ahead brooded the black
+mystery of the mountains and all around was a fragrant stillness broken
+only by the quick, almost passionate speech of this seer and thinker,
+animate with an inspiring ideal of public service, whose mind leaped
+from the high places of poetry and philosophy on to the hiving
+battlefield of world event. It seemed almost impossible that nine miles
+away at Capetown raged the storm that almost within the hour would again
+claim him as its central figure.
+
+The Smuts statements that I have quoted were made long before the
+Presidential election in America. I do not know just what Smuts thinks
+of the landslide that overwhelmed the Wilson administration and with it
+that well-known Article X, but I do know that he genuinely hopes that
+the United States somehow will have a share in the new international
+stewardship of the world. He would welcome any order that would enable
+us to play our part.
+
+No one can have contact with Smuts without feeling at once his intense
+admiration for America. One of his ambitions is to come to the United
+States. It is characteristic of him that he has no desire to see
+skyscrapers and subways. His primary interest is in the great farms of
+the West. "Your people," he once said to me, "have made farming a
+science and I wish that South Africa could emulate them. We have farms
+in vast area but we have not yet attained an adequate development."
+
+I was amazed at his knowledge of American literature. He knows Hamilton
+backwards, has read diligently about the life and times of Washington,
+and is familiar with Irving, Poe, Hawthorne and Emerson. One reason why
+he admires the first American President is because he was a farmer.
+Smuts knows as much about rotation of crops and successful chicken
+raising as he does about law and politics. He said:
+
+"I am an eighty per cent farmer and a Boer, and most people think a Boer
+is a barbarian."
+
+Despite his scholarship he remains what he delights to call himself, "a
+Boer." He still likes the simple Boer things, as this story will show.
+During the war, while he was a member of the British War Cabinet and
+when Lloyd George leaned on him so heavily for a multitude of services,
+a young South African Major, fresh from the Transvaal, brought him a box
+of home delicacies. The principal feature of this package was a piece of
+what the Boers call "biltong," which is dried venison. The Major gave
+the package to an imposing servant in livery at the Savoy Hotel, where
+the General lived, to be delivered to him. Smuts was just going out and
+encountered the man carrying it in. When he learned that it was from
+home, he grabbed the box, saying: "I'll take it up myself." Before he
+reached his apartment he was chewing away vigorously on a mouthful of
+"biltong" and having the time of his life.
+
+The contrast between Smuts and his predecessor Botha is striking. These
+two men, with the possible exception of Kruger, stand out in the annals
+of the Boer. Kruger was the dour, stolid, canny, provincial trader. The
+only time that his interest ever left the confines of the Transvaal was
+when he sought an alliance with William Hohenzollern, and that person, I
+might add, failed him at the critical moment.
+
+Botha was the George Washington of South Africa,--the farmer who became
+Premier. He was big of body and of soul,--big enough to know when he was
+beaten and to rebuild out of the ruins. Even the Nationalists trusted
+him and they do not trust Smuts. It is the old story of the prophet in
+his own country. There are many people in South Africa today who believe
+that if Botha were alive there would be no secession movement.
+
+The Boers who oppose him politically call Smuts "Slim Jannie." The
+Dutch word "slim" means tricky and evasive. Not so very long ago Smuts
+was in a conference with some of his countrymen who were not altogether
+friendly to him. He had just remarked on the long drought that was
+prevailing. One of the men present went to the window and looked out.
+When asked the reason for this action he replied:
+
+"Smuts says that there's a drought. I looked out to see if it was
+raining."
+
+When you come to Smuts in this analogy you behold the Alexander Hamilton
+of his nation, the brilliant student, soldier, and advocate. Of all his
+Boer contemporaries he is the most cosmopolitan. Nor is this due
+entirely to the fact that he went to Cambridge where he left a record
+for scholarship, and speaks English with a decided accent. It is because
+he has what might be called world sense. His career, and more especially
+his part at the Peace Conference and since, is a dramatization of it.
+
+To the student of human interest Smuts is a fertile subject. His life
+has been a cinema romance shot through with sharp contrasts. Here is one
+of them. When leaders of the shattered Boer forces gathered in
+_Vereeniging_ to discuss the Peace Terms with Kitchener in 1902, Smuts,
+who commanded a flying guerilla column, was besieging the little mining
+town of O'okiep. He received a summons from Botha to attend. It was
+accompanied by a safe-conduct pass signed "D. Haig, Colonel." Later Haig
+and Smuts stood shoulder to shoulder in a common cause and helped to
+save civilization.
+
+Smuts is more many-sided than any other contemporary Prime Minister and
+for that matter, those that have gone into retirement, that is, men like
+Asquith in England and Clemenceau in France. Among world statesmen the
+only mind comparable to his is that of Woodrow Wilson. They have in
+common a high intellectuality. But Wilson in his prime lacked the hard
+sense and the accurate knowledge of men and practical affairs which are
+among the chief Smuts assets.
+
+Speaking of Premiers brings me to the inevitable comparison between
+Smuts and Lloyd George. I have seen them both in varying circumstances,
+both in public and in private and can attempt some appraisal.
+
+Each has been, and remains, a pillar of Empire. Each has emulated the
+Admirable Crichton in the variety and multiplicity of public posts.
+Lloyd George has held five Cabinet posts in England and Smuts has
+duplicated the record in South Africa. Each man is an inspired orator
+who owes much of his advancement to eloquent tongue. Their platform
+manner is totally different. Lloyd George is fascinatingly magnetic in
+and out of the spotlight while Smuts is more coldly logical. When you
+hear Lloyd George you are stirred and even exalted by his golden
+imagery. The sound of his voice falls on the ear like music. You admire
+the daring of his utterance but you do not always remember everything he
+says.
+
+With Smuts you listen and you remember. He has no tricks of the
+spellbinder's trade. He is forceful, convincing, persuasive, and what is
+more important, has the quality of permanency. Long after you have left
+his presence the words remain in your memory. If I had a case in court I
+would like to have Smuts try it. His specialty is pleading.
+
+Lloyd George seldom reads a book. The only volumes I ever heard him say
+that he had read were Mr. Dooley and a collection of the Speeches of
+Abraham Lincoln. He has books read for him and with a Roosevelt faculty
+for assimilation, gives you the impression that he has spent his life in
+a library.
+
+Smuts is one of the best-read men I have met. He seems to know something
+about everything. He ranges from Joseph Conrad to Kant, from Booker
+Washington to Tolstoi. History, fiction, travel, biography, have all
+come within his ken. I told him I proposed to go from Capetown to the
+Congo and possibly to Angola. His face lighted up. "Ah, yes," he said,
+"I have read all about those countries. I can see them before me in my
+mind's eye."
+
+One night at dinner at _Groote Schuur_ we had sweet potatoes. He asked
+me if they were common in America. I replied that down in Kentucky where
+I was born one of the favorite negro dishes was "'possum and sweet
+potatoes." He took me up at once saying:
+
+"Oh, yes, I have read about ''possum pie' in Joel Chandler Harris'
+books." Then he proceeded to tell me what a great institution "Br'er
+Rabbit" was.
+
+We touched on German poetry and I quoted two lines that I considered
+beautiful. When I remarked that I thought Heine was the author he
+corrected me by proving that they were written by Schiller.
+
+Lloyd George could never carry on a conversation like this for the
+simple reason that he lacks familiarity with literature. He feels
+perhaps like the late Charles Frohman who, on being asked if he read the
+dramatic papers said: "Why should I read about the theatre. I _make_
+dramatic history."
+
+I asked Smuts what he was reading at the moment. He looked at me with
+some astonishment and answered, "Nothing except public documents. It's a
+good thing that I was able to do some reading before I became Prime
+Minister. I certainly have no time now."
+
+Take the matter of languages. Lloyd George has always professed that he
+did not know French, and on all his trips to France both during and
+since the war he carried a staff of interpreters. He understands a good
+deal more French than he professes. His widely proclaimed ignorance of
+the language has stood him in good stead because it has enabled him to
+hear a great many things that were not intended for his ears. It is part
+of his political astuteness. Smuts is an accomplished linguist. It has
+been said of him that he "can be silent in more languages than any man
+in South Africa."
+
+Lloyd George is a clever politician with occasional inspired moments but
+he is not exactly a statesman as Disraeli and Gladstone were. Smuts has
+the unusual combination of statesmanship with a knowledge of every
+wrinkle in the political game.
+
+Take his experience at the Paris Peace Conference. He was distinguished
+not so much for what he did, (and that was considerable), but for what
+he opposed. No man was better qualified to voice the sentiment of the
+"small nation." Born of proud and liberty-loving people,--an infant
+among the giants--he was attuned to every aspiration of an hour that
+realized many a one-time forlorn national hope. Yet his statesmanship
+tempered sentimental impulse.
+
+In that gallery of treaty-makers Lloyd George, Clemenceau, and Wilson
+focussed the "fierce light" that beat about the proceedings. But it was
+Smuts, in the shadow, who contributed largely to the mental power-plant
+that drove the work. Lloyd George had to consider the chapter he wrote
+in the great instrument as something in the nature of a campaign
+document to be employed at home, while Clemenceau guided a steamroller
+that stooped for nothing but France. The more or less unsophisticated
+idealism of Woodrow Wilson foundered on these obstacles.
+
+Smuts, with his uncanny sense of prophecy, foretold the economic
+consequences of the peace. Looking ahead he visualized a surly and
+unrepentant Germany, unwilling to pay the price of folly; a bitter and
+disappointed Austria gasping for economic breath; an aroused and
+indignant Italy raging with revolt--all the chaos that spells "peace"
+today. He saw the Treaty as a new declaration of war instead of an
+antidote for discord. His judgment, sadly enough, has been confirmed. A
+deranged universe shot through with reaction and confusion, and with
+half a dozen wars sputtering on the horizon, is the answer. The sob and
+surge of tempest-born nations in the making are lost in the din of older
+ones threatened with decay and disintegration. It is not a pleasing
+spectacle.
+
+Smuts signed the Treaty but, as most people know, he filed a memorandum
+of protest and explanation. He believed the terms uneconomic and
+therefore unsound, but it was worth taking a chance on interpretation, a
+desperate venture perhaps, but anything to stop the blare and bicker of
+the council table and start the work of reconstruction.
+
+At Capetown he told me that for days he wrestled with the problem "to
+sign or not to sign." Finally, on the day before the Day of Days in the
+Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, he took a long solitary walk in the
+Champs Elysee, loveliest of Paris parades. Returning to his hotel he
+said to his secretary, Captain E. F. C. Lane, "I have decided to sign,
+but I will tell the reason why." He immediately sat down at his desk and
+in a handwriting noted for its illegibility wrote the famous
+memorandum.
+
+
+III
+
+What of the personal side of Smuts? While he is intensely human it is
+difficult to connect anecdote with him. I heard one at Capetown,
+however, that I do not think has seen the light of print. It reveals his
+methods, too.
+
+When the Germans ran amuck in 1914 Smuts was Minister of Defense of the
+Union of South Africa. The Nationalists immediately began to make life
+uncomfortable for him. Balked in their attempt to keep the Union out of
+the struggle they took another tack. After the Botha campaign in German
+South-West Africa was well under way, a member of the Opposition asked
+the Minister of Defense the following question in Parliament: "How much
+has South Africa paid for horses in the field and the Nationalists
+sought to make some political capital out of an expenditure that they
+remounts?" The Union forces employed thousands of called "waste."
+
+Smuts sent over to Army Headquarters to get the figures. He was told
+that it would take twenty clerks at least four weeks to compile the
+data.
+
+"Never mind," was his laconic comment. The next day happened to be
+Question Day in the House. As soon as the query about the remount charge
+came up Smuts calmly rose in his seat and replied:
+
+"It was exactly eight million one hundred and sixty-nine thousand
+pounds, ten shillings and sixpence." He then sat down without any
+further remark.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by Harris & Ewing_
+
+GENERAL J. C. SMUTS]
+
+When one of his colleagues asked him where he got this information he
+said:
+
+"I dug it out of my own mind. It will take the Nationalists a month to
+figure it out and by that time they will have forgotten all about it."
+And it was forgotten.
+
+Smuts not only has a keen sense of humor but is swift on the retort.
+While speaking at a party rally in his district not many years after the
+Boer War he was continually interrupted by an ex-soldier. He stopped his
+speech and asked the man to state his grievance. The heckler said:
+
+"General de la Rey guaranteed the men fighting under him a living."
+
+Quick as a flash Smuts replied:
+
+"Nonsense. What he guaranteed you was certain death."
+
+Like many men conspicuous in public life Smuts gets up early and has
+polished off a good day's work before the average business man has
+settled down to his job. There is a big difference between his methods
+of work and those of Lloyd George. The British Prime Minister only goes
+to the House of Commons when he has to make a speech or when some
+important question is up for discussion. Smuts attends practically every
+session of Parliament, at least he did while I was in Capetown.
+
+One reason was that on account of the extraordinary position in which he
+found himself, any moment might have produced a division carrying with
+it disastrous results for the Government. The crisis demanded that he
+remain literally on the job all the time. He left little to his
+lieutenants. Confident of his ability in debate he was always willing to
+risk a showdown but he had to be there when it came.
+
+I watched him as he sat in the House. He occupied a front bench directly
+opposite Hertzog and where he could look his arch enemy squarely in the
+eyes all the time. I have seen him sit like a Sphinx for an hour without
+apparently moving a muscle. He has cultivated that rarest of arts which
+is to be a good listener. He is one of the great concentrators. In this
+genius, for it is little less, lies one of the secrets of his success.
+During a lull in legislative proceedings he has a habit of taking a
+solitary walk out in the lobby. More than once I saw him pacing up and
+down, always with an ear cocked toward the Assembly Room so he could
+hear what was going on and rush to the rescue if necessary.
+
+In the afternoon he would sometimes go into the members' smoking room
+and drink a cup of coffee, the popular drink in South Africa. In the old
+Boer household the coffee pot is constantly boiling. With a cup of
+coffee and a piece of "biltong" inside him a Boer could fight or trek
+all day. Coffee bears the same relation to the South African that tea
+does to the Englishman, save that it is consumed in much larger
+quantities. I might add that Smuts neither drinks liquor of any kind nor
+smokes, and he eats sparingly. He admits that his one dissipation is
+farming.
+
+This comes naturally because he was born fifty years ago on a farm in
+what is known as the Western Province in the Karoo country. He did his
+share of the chores about the place until it was time for him to go to
+school. His father and his grandfather were farmers. Inbred in him, as
+in most Boers, is an ardent love of country life and especially an
+affection for the mountains. On more than one occasion he has climbed to
+the top of Table Mountain, which is no inconsiderable feat.
+
+There are two ways of appraising Smuts. One is to see him in action as
+I did at Capetown, while Parliament was in session. The other is to get
+him with the background of his farm at Irene, a little way station about
+ten miles from Pretoria. Here, in a rambling one-story house surrounded
+by orchards, pastures, and gardens, he lives the simple life. In the
+western part of the Transvaal he owns a real farm. He showed his
+shrewdness in the acquisition of this property because he bought it at a
+time when the region was dubbed a "desert." Now it is a garden spot.
+
+Irene has various distinct advantages. For one thing it is his permanent
+home. _Groote Schuur_ is the property of the Government and he owes his
+tenancy of it entirely to the fortunes of politics. At Irene is planted
+his hearthstone and around it is mobilized his considerable family.
+There are six little Smutses. Smuts married the sweetheart of his youth
+who is a rarely congenial helpmate. It was once said of her that she
+"went about the house with a baby under one arm and a Greek dictionary
+under the other."
+
+Most people do not realize that the Union of South Africa has two
+capitals. Capetown with the House of Parliament is the center of
+legislation, while Pretoria, the ancient Kruger stronghold, with its
+magnificent new Union buildings atop a commanding eminence, is the
+fountain-head of administration. With Irene only ten miles away it is
+easy for Smuts to live with his family after the adjournment of
+Parliament, and go in to his office at Pretoria every day.
+
+I have already given you a hint of the Smuts personal appearance. Let us
+now take a good look at him. His forehead is lofty, his nose arched, his
+mouth large. You know that his blonde beard veils a strong jaw. The eyes
+are reminiscent of those marvelous orbs of Marshal Foch only they are
+blue, haunting and at times inexorable. Yet they can light up with humor
+and glow with friendliness.
+
+Smuts is essentially an out-of-doors person and his body is wiry and
+rangy. He has the stride of a man seasoned to the long march and who is
+equally at home in the saddle. He speaks with vigour and at times not
+without emotion. The Boer is not a particularly demonstrative person and
+Smuts has some of the racial reserve. His personality betokens potential
+strength,--a suggestion of the unplumbed reserve that keeps people
+guessing. This applies to his mental as well as his physical capacity.
+Frankly cordial, he resents familiarity. You would never think of
+slapping him on the shoulder and saying, "Hello, Jan." More than one
+blithe and buoyant person has been frozen into respectful silence in
+such a foolhardy undertaking.
+
+His middle name is Christian and it does not belie a strong phase of his
+character. Without carrying his religious convictions on his
+coat-sleeve, he has nevertheless a fine spiritual strain in his make-up.
+He is an all-round dependable person, with an adaptability to
+environment that is little short of amazing.
+
+
+IV
+
+Now let us turn to another and less conspicuous South African whose
+point of view, imperial, personal and patriotic, is the exact opposite
+of that of Smuts. Throughout this chapter has run the strain of Hertzog,
+first the Boer General fighting gallantly in the field with Smuts as
+youthful comrade; then the member of the Botha Cabinet; later the bitter
+insurgent, and now the implacable foe of the order that he helped to
+establish. What manner of man is he and what has he to say?
+
+I talked to him one afternoon when he left the floor leadership to his
+chief lieutenant, a son of the late President Steyn of the Orange Free
+State. Like his father, who called himself "President" to the end of his
+life although his little republic had slipped away from him, he has
+never really yielded to English rule.
+
+We adjourned to the smoking room where we had the inevitable cup of
+South African coffee. I was prepared to find a fanatic and fire-eater.
+Instead I faced a thin, undersized man who looked anything but a general
+and statesman. Put him against the background of a small New England
+town and you would take him for an American country lawyer. He resembles
+the student more than the soldier and, like many Boers, speaks English
+with a British accent. Nor is he without force. No man can play the role
+that he has played in South Africa those past twenty-five years without
+having substance in him.
+
+When I asked him to state his case he said:
+
+"The republican idea is as old as South Africa. There was a republic
+before the British arrived. The idea came from the American Revolution
+and the inspiration was Washington. The Great Trek of 1836 was a protest
+very much like the one we are making today.
+
+"President Wilson articulated the Boer feeling with his gospel of
+self-determination. He also voiced the aspirations of Ireland, India and
+Egypt. It is a great world idea--a deep moral conviction of mankind,
+this right of the individual state, as of the individual for freedom.
+
+"Never again will Transvaal and Orange Free State history be repeated.
+No matter how a nation covets another--and I refer to British
+covetousness,--if the nation coveted is able to govern itself it cannot
+and must not be assimilated. It is one result of the Great War."
+
+"What is the Nationalist ideal?" I asked.
+
+"It is the right to self-rule," replied Hertzog. "But there must be no
+conflict if it can be avoided. It must prevail by reason and education.
+At the present time I admit that the majority of South Africans do not
+want republicanism. The Nationalist mission today is to keep the torch
+lighted."
+
+"How does this idea fit into the spirit of the League of Nations?" I
+queried.
+
+"It fits in perfectly," was the response. "We Nationalists favor the
+League as outlined by Wilson. But I fear that it will develop into a
+capitalistic, imperialistic empire dominating the world instead of a
+league of nations."
+
+I asked Hertzog how he reconciled acquiescence to Union to the present
+Nationalist revolt. The answer was:
+
+"The Nationalists supported the Government because of their attachment
+to General Botha. Deep down in his heart Botha wanted to be free and
+independent."
+
+"How about Ireland?" I demanded.
+
+The General smiled as he responded: "Our position is different. It does
+not require dynamite, but education. With us it is a simple matter of
+the will of the people. I do not think that conditions in South Africa
+will ever reach the state at which they have arrived in Ireland."
+
+Commenting on the Union and its relations to the British Empire Hertzog
+continued:
+
+"The Union is not a failure but we could be better governed. The thing
+to which we take exception is that the British Government, through our
+connection with it, is in a position by which it gets an undue advantage
+directly and indirectly to influence legislation. For example, we were
+not asked to conquer German South-West Africa; it was a command.
+
+"Very much against the feeling of the old population, that is the Dutch
+element, we were led into participation in the war. Today this old
+population feels as strongly as ever against South Africa being involved
+in European politics. It feels that all this Empire movement only leads
+in that direction and involves us in world conflicts.
+
+"One of the strongest reasons in favor of separation and the setting up
+of a South African republic is to get solidarity between the English and
+the Dutch. I cannot help feeling that our interests are being constantly
+subordinated to those of Great Britain. My firm conviction is that the
+freer we are, and the more independent of Great Britain we become, the
+more we shall favor a close co-operation with her. We do not dislike the
+British as such but we do object to the Britisher coming out as a
+subject of Great Britain with a superior manner and looking upon the
+Dutchman as a dependent or a subordinate. There will be a conflict so
+long as they do not recognize our heroes, traditions and history. In
+short, we are determined to have a republic of South Africa and England
+must recognize it. To oppose it is fatal."
+
+"Will you fight for it?" I asked.
+
+"I hardly think that it will come to force," said the General. "It must
+prevail by reason and education. It may not come in one year but it will
+come before many years."
+
+Hertzog's feeling is not shared, as he intimated, by the majority of
+South Africans and this includes many Dutchmen. An illuminating analysis
+of the Nationalist point of view was made for me by Sir Thomas Smartt,
+the leader of the Unionist Party and a virile force in South African
+politics. He brought the situation strikingly home to America when he
+said:
+
+"The whole Nationalist movement is founded on race. Like the Old Guard,
+the Boer may die but it is hard for him to surrender. His heart still
+rankles with the outcome of the Boer War. Would the American South have
+responded to an appeal to arms in the common cause made by the North in
+1876? Probably not. Before your Civil War the South only had individual
+states. The Boers, on the other hand, had republics with completely
+organized and independent governments. This is why it will take a long
+time before complete assimilation is accomplished. A second Boer War is
+unthinkable."
+
+We can now return to Smuts and find out just how he achieved the miracle
+by which he not only retained the Premiership but spiked the guns of the
+opposition.
+
+When I left Capetown he was in a corner. The Nationalist majority not
+only made his position precarious but menaced the integrity of Union,
+and through Union, the whole Empire. For five months,--the whole session
+of Parliament,--he held his ground. Every night when he went to bed at
+_Groote Schuur_ he did not know what disaster the morrow would bring
+forth. It was a constant juggle with conflicting interests, ambitions
+and prejudices. He was like a lion with a pack snapping on all sides.
+
+Now you can see why he sat in that front seat in the House morning, noon
+and night. He placated the Labourites, harmonized the Unionists, and
+flung down the gauntlet openly to the Nationalists. Throughout that
+historic session, and although much legislation was accomplished, he did
+not permit the consummation of a single decisive division. It was a
+triumph of parliamentary leadership.
+
+When the session closed in July,--it is then mid-winter in Africa,--he
+was still up against it. The Nationalist majority was a phantom that
+dogged his official life and political fortunes. The problem now was to
+take out sane insurance against a repetition of the trial and
+uncertainty which he had undergone.
+
+Fate in the shape of the Nationalist Party played into his hands. Under
+the stimulation of the Nationalists a _Vereeniging_ Congress was called
+at Bloenfontein late last September. The Dutch word _Vereeniging_ means
+"reunion." Hertzog and Tielman Roos, the co-leader of the
+secessionists, believed that by bringing the leading representatives of
+the two leading parties together the appeal to racial pride might carry
+the day. Smuts did not attend but various members of his Cabinet did.
+
+Reunion did anything but reunite. The differences on the republican
+issues being fundamental were likewise irreconcilable. The Nationalists
+stood pat on secession while the South African Party remained loyal to
+its principles of Imperial unity. The meeting ended in a deadlock.
+
+Smuts, a field marshal of politics, at once saw that the hour of
+deliverance from his dilemma had arrived. The Nationalists had declared
+themselves unalterably for separation. He converted their battle-cry
+into coin for himself. He seized the moment to issue a call for a new
+Moderate Party that would represent a fusion of the South Africanists
+and the Unionists. In one of his finest documents he made a plea for the
+consolidation of these constructive elements.
+
+In it he said:
+
+    Now that the Nationalist Party is firmly resolved to continue its
+    propaganda of fanning the fires of secession and of driving the
+    European races apart from each other and ultimately into conflict
+    with each other, the moderate elements of our population have no
+    other alternative but to draw closer to one another in order to
+    fight that policy.
+
+    A new appeal must, therefore, be made to all right-minded South
+    Africans, irrespective of party or race, to join the new Party,
+    which will be strong enough to safeguard the permanent interests of
+    the Union against the disruptive and destructive policy of the
+    Nationalists. Such a central political party will not only continue
+    our great work of the past, but is destined to play a weighty role
+    in the future peaceable development of South Africa.
+
+The end of October witnessed the ratification of this proposal by the
+Unionists. The action at once consolidated the Premier's position. I
+doubt if in all political history you can uncover a series of events
+more paradoxical or perplexing or find a solution arrived at with
+greater skill and strategy. It was a revelation of Smuts with his ripe
+statesmanship put to the test, and not found wanting.
+
+At the election held four months later Smuts scored a brilliant triumph.
+The South African Party increased its representation by eighteen seats,
+while the Nationalists lost heavily. The Labour Party was almost lost in
+the wreckage. The net result was that the Premier obtained a working
+majority of twenty-two, which guarantees a stable and loyal Government
+for at least five years.
+
+It only remains to speculate on what the future holds for this
+remarkable man. South Africa has a tragic habit of prematurely
+destroying its big men. Rhodes was broken on the wheel at forty-nine,
+and Botha succumbed in the prime of life. Will Smuts share the same
+fate?
+
+No one need be told in the face of the Smuts performance that he is a
+world asset. The question is, how far will he go? A Cabinet Minister at
+twenty-eight, a General at thirty, a factor in international affairs
+before he was well into the forties, he unites those rare elements of
+greatness which seem to be so sparsely apportioned these disturbing
+days. That he will reconstruct South Africa there is no doubt. What
+larger responsibilities may devolve upon him can only be guessed.
+
+Just before I sailed from England I talked with a high-placed British
+official. He is in the councils of Empire and he knows Smuts and South
+Africa. I asked him to indicate what in his opinion would be the next
+great milepost of Smuts' progress. He replied:
+
+"The destiny of Smuts is interwoven with the destiny of the whole
+British Empire. The Great War bound the Colonies together with bonds of
+blood. Out of this common peril and sacrifice has been knit a closer
+Imperial kinship. During the war we had an Imperial War Cabinet composed
+of overseas Premiers, which sat in London. Its logical successor will be
+a United British Empire, federated in policy but not in administration.
+Smuts will be the Prime Minister of these United States of Great
+Britain."
+
+It is the high goal of a high career.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEAVY LINE INDICATES MR. MARCOSSON'S ROUTE IN
+AFRICA]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II--"CAPE-TO-CAIRO"
+
+
+I
+
+When you take the train for the North at Capetown you start on the first
+lap of what is in many respects the most picturesque journey in the
+world. Other railways tunnel mighty mountains, cross seething rivers,
+traverse scorching deserts, and invade the clouds, but none has so
+romantic an interest or is bound up with such adventure and imagination
+as this. The reason is that at Capetown begins the southern end of the
+famous seven-thousand-mile Cape-to-Cairo Route, one of the greatest
+dreams of England's prince of practical dreamers, Cecil Rhodes. Today,
+after thirty years of conflict with grudging Governments, the project is
+practically an accomplished fact.
+
+Woven into its fabric is the story of a German conspiracy that was as
+definite a cause of the Great War as the Balkan mess or any other phase
+of Teutonic international meddling. Along its highway the American
+mining engineer has registered a little known evidence of his
+achievement abroad. The route taps civilization and crosses the last
+frontiers of progress. The South African end discloses an illuminating
+example of profitable nationalization. Over it still broods the
+personality of the man who conceived it and who left his impress and his
+name on an empire. Attention has been directed anew to the enterprise
+from the fact that shortly before I reached Africa two aviators flew
+from Cairo to the Cape and their actual flying time was exactly
+sixty-eight hours.
+
+The unbroken iron spine that was to link North and South Africa and
+which Rhodes beheld in his vision of the future, will probably not be
+built for some years. Traffic in Central Africa at the moment does not
+justify it. Besides, the navigable rivers in the Belgian Congo, Egypt,
+and the Soudan lend themselves to the rail and water route which, with
+one short overland gap, now enables you to travel the whole way from
+Cape to Cairo.
+
+The very inception of the Cape-to-Cairo project gives you a glimpse of
+the working of the Rhodes mind. He left the carrying out of details to
+subordinates. When he looked at the map of Africa,--and he was forever
+studying maps,--and ran that historic line through it from end to end
+and said, "It must be all red," he took no cognizance of the
+extraordinary difficulties that lay in the way. He saw, but he did not
+heed, the rainbow of many national flags that spanned the continent. A
+little thing like millions of square miles of jungle, successions of
+great lakes, or wild and primitive regions peopled with cannibals, meant
+nothing. Money and energy were to him merely means to an end.
+
+When General "Chinese" Gordon, for example, told him that he had refused
+a roomful of silver for his services in exterminating the Mongolian
+bandits Rhodes looked at him in surprise and said: "Why didn't you take
+it? What is the earthly use of having ideas if you haven't the money
+with which to carry them out?" Here you have the keynote of the whole
+Rhodes business policy. A project had to be carried through regardless
+of expense. It applied to the Cape-to-Cairo dream just as it applied to
+every other enterprise with which he was associated.
+
+The all-rail route would cost billions upon billions, although now that
+German prestige in Africa is ended it would not be a physical and
+political impossibility. A modification of the original plan into a
+combination rail and river scheme permits the consummation of the vision
+of thirty years ago. The southern end is all-rail mainly because the
+Union of South Africa and Rhodesia are civilized and prosperous
+countries. I made the entire journey by train from Capetown to the
+rail-head at Bukama in the Belgian Congo, a distance of 2,700 miles, the
+longest continuous link in the whole scheme. This trip can be made, if
+desirable, in a through car in about nine days.
+
+I then continued northward, down the Lualaba River,--Livingstone thought
+it was the Nile--then by rail, and again on the Lualaba through the
+posts of Kongolo, Kindu and Ponthierville to Stanleyville on the Congo
+River. This is the second stage of the Cape-to-Cairo Route and knocks
+off an additional 890 miles and another twelve days. Here I left the
+highway to Egypt and went down the Congo and my actual contact with the
+famous line ended. I could have gone on, however, and reached Cairo,
+with luck, in less than eight weeks.
+
+From Stanleyville you go to Mahagi, which is on the border between the
+Congo and Uganda. This is the only overland gap in the whole route. It
+covers roughly,--and the name is no misnomer I am told,--680 miles
+through the jungle and skirts the principal Congo gold fields. A road
+has been built and motor cars are available. The railway route from
+Stanleyville to Mahagi, which will link the Congo and the Nile, is
+surveyed and would have been finished by this time but for the outbreak
+of the Great War. The Belgian Minister of the Colonies, with whom I
+travelled in the Congo assured me that his Government would commence the
+construction within the next two years, thus enabling the traveller to
+forego any hiking on the long journey.
+
+Mahagi is on the western side of Lake Albert and is destined to be the
+lake terminus of the projected Congo-Nile Railway which will be an
+extension of the Soudan Railways. Here you begin the journey that
+enlists both railways and steamers and which gives practically a
+straight ahead itinerary to Cairo. You journey on the Nile by way of
+Rejaf, Kodok,--(the Fashoda that was)--to Kosti, where you reach the
+southern rail-head of the Soudan Railways. Thence it is comparatively
+easy, as most travellers know, to push on through Khartum, Berber, Wady
+Halfa and Assuan to the Egyptian capital. The distance from Mahagi to
+Cairo is something like 2,700 miles while the total mileage from
+Capetown to Cairo, along the line that I have indicated, is 7,000 miles.
+
+This, in brief, is the way you make the trip that Rhodes dreamed about,
+but not the way he planned it. There are various suggestions for
+alternate routes after you reach Bukama or, to be more exact, after you
+start down the first stage of the journey on the Lualaba. At Kabalo,
+where I stopped, a railroad runs eastward from the river to Albertville,
+on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Rhodes wanted to use the 400-mile
+waterway that this body of water provides to connect the railway that
+came down from the North with the line that begins at the Cape. The idea
+was to employ train ferries. King Leopold of Belgium granted Rhodes the
+right to do this but Germany frustrated the scheme by refusing to
+recognize the cession of the strip of Congo territory between Lake
+Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, which was an essential link.
+
+This incident is one evidence of the many attempts that the Germans made
+to block the Cape-to-Cairo project. Germany knew that if Rhodes, and
+through Rhodes the British Empire, could establish through communication
+under the British flag, from one end of Africa to the other, it would
+put a crimp into the Teutonic scheme to dominate the whole continent.
+She went to every extreme to interfere with its advance.
+
+This German opposition provided a reason why the consummation of the
+project was so long delayed. Another was, that except for the explorer
+and the big game hunter, there was no particular provocation for moving
+about in certain portions of Central Africa until recently. But Germany
+only afforded one obstacle. The British Government, after the fashion of
+governments, turned a cold shoulder to the enterprise. History was only
+repeating itself. If Disraeli had consulted his colleagues England would
+never have acquired the Suez Canal. So it goes.
+
+Most of the Rhodesian links of the Cape-to-Cairo Route were built by
+Rhodes and the British South Africa Company, while the line from Broken
+Hill to the Congo border was due entirely to the courage and tenacity of
+Robert Williams, who is now constructing the so-called Benguella Railway
+from Lobito Bay in Portuguese Angola to Bukama. It will be a feeder to
+the Cape-to-Cairo road and constitute a sort of back door to Egypt. It
+will also provide a shorter outlet to Europe for the copper in the
+Katanga district of the Congo.
+
+When you see equatorial Africa and more especially that part which lies
+between the rail-head at Bukama and Mahagi, you understand why the
+all-rail route is not profitable at the moment. It is for the most part
+an uncultivated area principally jungle, with scattered white
+settlements and hordes of untrained natives. The war set back the
+development of the Congo many years. Now that the world is beginning to
+understand the possibilities of Central Africa for palm oil, cotton,
+rubber, and coffee, the traffic to justify the connecting railways will
+eventually come.
+
+
+II
+
+Shortly after my return from Africa I was talking with a well-known
+American business man who, after making the usual inquiries about lions,
+cannibals and hair-breadth escapes, asked: "Is it dangerous to go about
+in South Africa?" When I assured him that both my pocket-book and I were
+safer there than on Broadway in New York or State Street in Chicago, he
+was surprised. Yet his question is typical of a widespread ignorance
+about all Africa and even its most developed area.
+
+What people generally do not understand is that the lower part of that
+one-time Dark Continent is one of the most prosperous regions in the
+world, where the home currency is at a premium instead of a discount;
+where the high cost of living remains a stranger and where you get
+little suggestion of the commercial rack and ruin that are disturbing
+the rest of the universe. While the war-ravaged nations and their
+neighbors are feeling their dubious way towards economic reconstruction,
+the Union of South Africa is on the wave of a striking expansion. It
+affords an impressive contrast to the demoralized productivity of Europe
+and for that matter the United States.
+
+South Africa presents many economic features of distinct and unique
+interest. A glance at its steam transportation discloses rich material.
+Fundamentally the railroads of any country are the real measures of its
+progress. In Africa particularly they are the mileposts of
+civilization. In 1876 there were only 400 miles on the whole continent.
+Today there are over 30,000 miles. Of this network of rails exactly
+11,478 miles are in the Union of South Africa and they comprise the
+second largest mileage in the world under one management.
+
+More than this, they are Government owned and operated. Despite this
+usual handicap they pay. No particular love of Government
+control,--which is invariably an invitation for political influence to
+do its worst,--animated the development of these railways. As in
+Australia, where private capital refused to build, it was a case of
+necessity. In South Africa there was practically no private enterprise
+to sidestep the obligation that the need of adequate transportation
+imposed. The country was new, hostile savages still swarmed the
+frontiers, and the white man had to battle with Zulu and Kaffir for
+every area he opened. In the absence of navigable rivers--there are none
+in the Union--the steel rail had to do the pioneering. Besides, the
+Boers had a strong prejudice against the railroads and regarded the iron
+horse as a menace to their isolation.
+
+The first steam road on the continent of Africa was constructed by
+private enterprise from the suburb of Durban in Natal into the town. It
+was a mile and three-quarters in length and was opened for traffic in
+1860. Railway construction in the Cape Colony began about the same time.
+The Government ownership of the lines was inaugurated in 1873 and it has
+continued without interruption ever since. The real epoch of railway
+building in South Africa started with the great mineral discoveries.
+First came the uncovering of diamonds along the Orange River and the
+opening up of the Kimberley region, which added nearly 2,000 miles of
+railway. With the finding of gold in the Rand on what became the site
+of Johannesburg, another 1,500 miles were added.
+
+Since most nationalized railways do not pay it is interesting to take a
+look at the African balance sheet. Almost without exception the South
+African railways have been operated at a considerable net profit. These
+profits some years have been as high as L2,590,917. During the
+war, when there was a natural slump in traffic and when all soldiers and
+Government supplies were carried free of cost, they aggregated in 1915,
+for instance, L749,125.
+
+One fiscal feature of these South African railroads is worth
+emphasizing. Under the act of Union "all profits, after providing for
+interest, depreciation and betterment, shall be utilized in the
+reduction of tariffs, due regard being had to the agricultural and
+industrial development within the Union and the promotion by means of
+cheap transport of the settlement of an agricultural population in the
+inland portions of the Union." The result is that the rates on
+agricultural products, low-grade ores, and certain raw materials are
+possibly the lowest in the world. In other countries rates had to be
+increased during the war but in South Africa no change was made, so as
+not to interfere with the agricultural, mineral and industrial
+development of the country.
+
+Nor is the Union behind in up-to-date transportation. A big program for
+electrification has been blocked out and a section is under conversion.
+Some of the power generated will be sold to the small manufacturer and
+thus production will be increased.
+
+Stimulating the railway system of South Africa is a single personality
+which resembles the self-made American wizard of transportation more
+than any other Britisher that I have met with the possible exception of
+Sir Eric Geddes, at present Minister of Transport of Great Britain and
+who left his impress on England's conduct of the war. He is Sir William
+W. Hoy, whose official title is General Manager of the South African
+Railways and Ports. Big, vigorous, and forward-looking, he sits in a
+small office in the Railway Station at Capetown, with his finger
+literally on the pulse of nearly 12,000 miles of traffic. During the war
+Walker D. Hines, as Director General of the American Railways, was
+steward of a vaster network of rails but his job was an emergency one
+and terminated when that emergency subsided. Sir William Hoy, on the
+other hand, is set to a task which is not equalled in extent, scope or
+responsibility by any other similar official.
+
+Like James J. Hill and Daniel Willard he rose from the ranks. At
+Capetown he told me of his great admiration for American railways and
+their influence in the system he dominates. Among other things he said:
+"We are taking our whole cue for electrification from the railroads of
+your country and more especially the admirable precedent established by
+the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. I believe firmly in wide
+electrification of present-day steam transport. The great practical
+advantages are more uniform speed and the elimination of stops to take
+water. It also affords improved acceleration, greater reliability as to
+timing, especially on heavy grades, and stricter adherence to schedule.
+There are enormous advantages to single lines like ours in South Africa.
+Likewise, crossings and train movements can be arranged with greater
+accuracy, thereby reducing delays. Perhaps the greatest saving is in
+haulage, that is, in the employment of the heavy electric locomotive. It
+all tends toward a denser traffic.
+
+"Behind this whole process of electrification lies the need, created by
+the Great War, for coal conservation and for a motive power that will
+speed up production of all kinds. We have abundant coal in the Union of
+South Africa and by consuming less of it on our railways we will be in a
+stronger position to export it and thus strengthen our international
+position and keep the value of our money up."
+
+Since Sir William has touched upon the coal supply we at once get a
+link,--and a typical one--with the ramified resource of the Union of
+South Africa. No product, not even those precious stones that lie in the
+bosom of Kimberley, or the glittering golden ore imbedded in the Rand,
+has a larger political or economic significance just now. Nor does any
+commodity figure quite so prominently in the march of world events.
+
+In peace, as in war, coal spells life and power. It was the cudgel that
+the one-time proud and arrogant Germany held menacingly over the head of
+the unhappy neutral, and extorted special privilege. At the moment I
+write, coal is the storm center of controversy that ranges from the Ruhr
+Valley of Germany to the Welsh fields of Britain and affects the
+destinies of statesmen and of countries. We are not without fuel
+troubles, as our empty bins indicate. The nation, therefore, with cheap
+and abundant coal has a bargaining asset that insures industrial peace
+at home and trade prestige abroad.
+
+South Africa not only has a low-priced and ample coal supply but it is
+in a convenient point for distribution to the whole Southern
+hemisphere,--in fact Europe and other sections. On past production the
+Union ranked only eleventh in a list of coal-producing countries, the
+output being about 8,000,000 tons a year before the war and something
+over 10,000,000 tons in 1919. This output, however, is no guide to the
+magnitude of its fields. Until comparatively recent times they have been
+little exploited, not because of inferiority but because of the
+restricted output prior to the new movement to develop a bunker and
+export trade. Without an adequate geological survey the investigations
+made during the last twelve months indicate a potential supply of over
+60,000,000 tons and immense areas have not been touched at all.
+
+The war changed the whole coal situation. Labour conflicts have reduced
+the British output; a huge part of Germany's supply must go to France as
+an indemnity, while our own fields are sadly under-worked, for a variety
+of causes. All these conditions operate in favor of the South African
+field, which is becoming increasingly important as a source of supply.
+
+Despite her advantage the prices remain astonishingly low, when you
+compare them with those prevailing elsewhere. English coal, which in
+1912 cost about nine shillings a ton at pithead, costs considerably more
+than thirty shillings today. The average pithead price of South African
+coal in 1915 was five shillings twopence a ton and at the time of my
+visit to South Africa in 1919 was still under seven shillings a ton.
+Capetown and Durban, the two principal harbours of the Union, are
+coaling stations of Empire importance. There you can see the flags of a
+dozen nations flying from ships that have put in for fuel. Thanks to the
+war these ports are in the center of the world's great trade routes and
+thus, geographically and economically their position is unique for
+bunkering and for export.
+
+The price of bunker coal is a key to the increased overhead cost of
+world trade, as a result of the war. The Belgian boat on which I
+travelled from the shores of the Congo to Antwerp coaled at Teneriffe,
+where the price per ton was seven pounds. It is interesting to compare
+this with the bunker price at Capetown of a little more than two pounds
+per ton, or at Durban where the rate is one pound ten shillings a ton.
+In the face of these figures you can readily see what an economic
+advantage is accruing to the Union of South Africa with reference to the
+whole vexing question of coal supply.
+
+We can now go into the larger matter of South Africa's business
+situation in the light of peace and world reconstruction. I have already
+shown how the war, and the social and industrial upheaval that followed
+in its wake have enlarged and fortified the coal situation in the Union.
+Practically all other interests are similarly affected. The outstanding
+factor in the prosperity of the Union has been the development of
+war-born self-sufficiency. I used to think during the conflict that
+shook the world, that this gospel of self-containment would be one of
+the compensations that Britain would gain for the years of blood and
+slaughter. So far as Britain is concerned this hope has not been
+realized. When I was last in England huge quantities of German dyes were
+being dumped on her shores to the loss and dismay of a new coal-tar
+industry that had been developed during the war. German wares like toys
+and novelties were now pouring in. And yet England wondered why her
+exchange was down!
+
+In South Africa the situation has been entirely different. She alone of
+all the British dominions is asserting an almost pugnacious
+self-sufficiency. Cut off from outside supplies for over four years by
+the relentless submarine warfare, and the additional fact that nearly
+all the ships to and from the Cape had to carry war supplies or
+essential products, she was forced to develop her internal resources.
+The consequence is an expansion of agriculture, industry and
+manufactures. Instead of being as she was often called, "a country of
+samples," she has become a domain of active production, as is attested
+by an industrial output valued at L62,000,000 in 1918. Before the
+war the British and American manufacturer,--and there is a considerable
+market for American goods in the Cape Colony,--could undersell the South
+African article. That condition is changed and the home-made article
+produced with much cheaper labour than obtains either in Europe or the
+United States, has the field.
+
+Let me emphasize another striking fact in connection with this South
+African prosperity. During the war I had occasion to observe at
+first-hand the economic conditions in every neutral country in Europe. I
+was deeply impressed with the prosperity of Sweden, Spain and
+Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Holland, who made hay while their
+neighbors reaped the tares of war. Japan did likewise. These nations
+were largely profiteers who capitalized a colossal misfortune. They got
+much of the benefit and little of the horror of the upheaval.
+
+Not so with South Africa. She played an active part in the war and at
+the same time brought about a legitimate expansion of her resources. One
+point in her favor is that while she sent tens of thousands of her sons
+to fight, her own territory escaped the scar and ravage of battle. All
+the fighting in Africa, so far as the Union was concerned, was in German
+South-West Africa and German East Africa. After my years in
+tempest-tossed Europe it was a pleasant change to catch the buoyant,
+confident, unwearied spirit of South Africa.
+
+I have dwelt upon coal because it happens to be a significant economic
+asset. Coal is merely a phase of the South African resources. In 1919
+the Union produced L35,000,000 in gold and L7,200,000 in
+diamonds. The total mining production was, roughly, L50,000,000.
+This mining treasure is surpassed by the agricultural output, of which
+nearly one-third is exported. Land is the real measure of permanent
+wealth. The hoard of gold and diamonds in time becomes exhausted but the
+soil and its fruits go on forever.
+
+The moment you touch South African agriculture you reach a real romance.
+Nowhere, not even in the winning of the American West by the Mormons, do
+you get a more dramatic spectacle of the triumph of the pioneer over
+combative conditions. The Mormons made the Utah desert bloom, and the
+Boers and their British colleagues wrested riches from the bare veldt.
+The Mormons fought Indians and wrestled with drought, while the Dutch in
+Africa and their English comrades battled with Kaffirs, Hottentots and
+Zulus and endured a no less grilling exposure to sun.
+
+The crops are diversified. One of the staples of South Africa, for
+example, is the mealie, which is nothing more or less than our own
+American corn, but not quite so good. It provides the principal food of
+the natives and is eaten extensively by the European as well. On a dish
+of mealie porridge the Kaffir can keep the human machine going for
+twenty-four hours. Its prototype in the Congo is manice flour. In the
+Union nearly five million acres are under maize cultivation, which is
+exactly double the area in 1911. The value of the maize crop last year
+was approximately a million six hundred thousand pounds. Similar
+expansion has been the order in tobacco, wheat, fruit, sugar and half a
+dozen other products.
+
+South Africa is a huge cattle country. The Boers have always excelled in
+the care of live stock and it is particularly due to their efforts that
+the Union today has more than seven million head of cattle, which
+represents another hundred per cent increase in less than ten years.
+
+This matter of live stock leads me to one of the really picturesque
+industries of the Union which is the breeding of ostriches, "the birds
+with the golden feathers." Ask any man who raises these ungainly birds
+and he will tell you that with luck they are far better than the
+proverbial goose who laid the eighteen-karat eggs. The combination of
+F's--femininity, fashion and feathers--has been productive of many
+fortunes. The business is inclined to be fickle because it depends upon
+the female temperament. The ostrich feather, however, is always more or
+less in fashion. With the outbreak of the war there was a tremendous
+slump in feathers, which was keenly felt in South Africa. With peace,
+the plume again became the thing and the drooping industry expanded with
+get-rich-quick proportions.
+
+Port Elizabeth in the Cape Colony is the center of the ostrich feather
+trade. It is the only place in the world, I believe, devoted entirely to
+plumage. Not long before I arrived in South Africa L85,000 of
+feathers were disposed of there in three days. It is no uncommon thing
+for a pound of prime plumes to fetch L100. The demand has become
+so keen that 350,000 ostriches in the Union can scarcely keep pace with
+it. Before the war there were more than 800,000 of these birds but the
+depression in feathers coupled with drought, flood and other causes,
+thinned out the ranks. It takes three years for an ostrich chick to
+become a feather producer.
+
+America has a considerable part in shaping the ostrich feather market.
+As with diamonds, we are the largest consumers. You can go to Port
+Elizabeth any day and find a group of Yankees industriously bidding
+against each other. On one occasion two New York buyers started a
+competition that led to an eleven weeks orgy that registered a total net
+sale of more than L100,000 of feathers. They are still talking
+about it down there.
+
+South Africa has not only expanded in output but her area is also
+enlarged. The Peace Conference gave her the mandate for German
+South-West Africa, which was the first section of the vanished Teutonic
+Empire in Africa. It occupies more than a quarter of the whole area of
+the continent south of the Zambesi River. While the word "mandate" as
+construed by the peace sharks at Paris is supposed to mean the amiable
+stewardship of a country, it really amounts to nothing more or less than
+an actual and benevolent assimilation. This assimilation is very much
+like the paternal interest that holding companies in the good old Wall
+Street days felt for small and competitive concerns. In other words, it
+is safe to assume that henceforth German South-West Africa will be a
+permanent part of the Union.
+
+The Colony's chief asset is comprised in the so-called German South-West
+African Diamond Fields, which, with the Congo Diamond Fields, provide a
+considerable portion of the small stones now on the market. These two
+fields are alike in that they are alluvial which means that the diamonds
+are easily gathered by a washing process. No shafts are sunk. It is
+precisely like gold washing.
+
+The German South-West mines have an American interest. In the
+reorganization following the conquest of German South-West Africa by the
+South African Army under General Botha the control had to become
+Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-American Corporation which has extensive
+interests in South Africa and which is financed by London and New York
+capitalists, the latter including J. P. Morgan, Charles H. Sabin and W.
+B. Thompson, acquired these fields. It is an interesting commentary on
+post-war business readjustment to discover that there is still a German
+interest in these mines. It makes one wonder if the German will ever be
+eradicated from his world-wide contact with every point of commercial
+activity.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that South Africa, in the light of all
+the facts that I have enumerated, should be prosperous. Take the money,
+always a test of national economic health. At Capetown I used the first
+golden sovereign that I had seen since early in 1914. This was not only
+because the Union happens to be a great gold-producing country but
+because she has an excess of exports over imports. Her money, despite
+its intimate relation with that of Great Britain, which has so sadly
+depreciated, is at a premium.
+
+I got expensive evidence of this when I went to the bank at Capetown to
+get some cash. I had a letter of credit in terms of English pounds. To
+my surprise, I only got seventeen shillings and sixpence in African
+money for every English pound, which is nominally worth twenty
+shillings. Six months after I left, this penalty had increased to three
+shillings. To such an extent has the proud English pound sterling
+declined and in a British dominion too!
+
+South Africa has put an embargo on the export of sovereigns. One reason
+was that during the first three years of the war a steady stream of
+these golden coins went surreptitiously to East India, where an
+unusually high premium for gold rules, especially in the bazaars. The
+goldsmiths find difficulty in getting material. The inevitable smuggling
+has resulted. In order to put a check on illicit removal, all passengers
+now leaving the Union are searched before they board their ships. Nor is
+it a half-hearted procedure. It is as drastic as the war-time scrutiny
+on frontiers.
+
+To sum up the whole business situation in the Union of South Africa is
+to find that the spirit of production,--the most sorely needed thing in
+the world today--is that of persistent advance. I dwell on this because
+it is in such sharp contrast with what is going on throughout the rest
+of a universe that staggers under sloth, and where the will-to-work has
+almost become a lost art. That older and more complacent order which is
+represented for example by France, Italy and England may well seek
+inspiration from this South African beehive.
+
+
+III
+
+With this economic setting for the whole South African picture and a
+visualization of the Cape-to-Cairo Route let us start on the long
+journey that eventually took me to the heart of equatorial Africa. The
+immediate objectives, so far as this chapter is concerned, are
+Kimberley, Johannesburg and Pretoria, names and towns that are
+synonymous with thrilling chapters in the development of Africa and more
+especially the Union.
+
+You depart from Capetown in the morning and for hours you remain in the
+friendly company of the mountains. Table Mountain has hovered over you
+during the whole stay at the capital and you regretfully watch this
+"Gray Father" fade away in the distance. In the evening you pass through
+the Hex River country where the canyon is reminiscent of Colorado. Soon
+there bursts upon you the famous Karoo country, so familiar to all
+readers of South African novels and more especially those of Olive
+Schreiner, Richard Dehan and Sir Percy Fitz Patrick. It is an almost
+treeless plain dotted here and there with Boer homesteads. Their
+isolation suggests battle with element and soil. The country immediately
+around Capetown is a paradise of fruit and flowers, but as you travel
+northward the whole character changes. There is less green and more
+brown. After the Karoo comes the equally famous veldt, studded with
+the _kopjes_ that became a part of the world vocabulary with the Boer
+War. Behind these low, long hills,--they suggest flat, rocky
+hummocks--the South African burghers made many a desperate stand against
+the English.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by W. & D. Downey_
+
+CECIL RHODES]
+
+When you see the _kopjes_ you can readily understand why it took so long
+to conquer the Boers. The Dutch knew every inch of the land and every
+man was a crack shot from boyhood. In these hills a handful could hold a
+small army at bay. All through this region you encounter places that
+have become part of history. You pass the ruins of Kitchener's
+blockhouses,--they really ended the Boer War--and almost before you
+realize it, you cross the Modder River, where British military prestige
+got a bloody repulse. Instinctively there come to mind the struggles of
+Cronje, DeWet, Joubert, and the rest of those Boer leaders who made this
+region a small Valhalla.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the second day you suddenly get a "feel" of
+industry. The veldt becomes populated and before long huge smokestacks
+loom against the sky. You are at Kimberly. The average man associates
+this place with a famous siege in the Boer War and the equally famous
+diamond mines. But it is much more for it is packed with romance and
+reality. Here came Cecil Rhodes in his early manhood and pulled off the
+biggest business deal of his life; here you find the first milepost that
+the American mining engineer set up in the mineral development of
+Africa: here is produced in greater quantities than in any other place
+in the world the glittering jewel that vanity and avarice set their
+heart upon.
+
+Kimberley is one of the most unique of all the treasure cities. It is
+practically built on a diamond mine in the same way that Johannesburg
+rests upon a gold excavation. When the great diamond rush of the
+seventies overwhelmed the Vaal and Orange River regions, what is now the
+Kimberley section was a rocky plain with a few Boer farms. The influx of
+fortune-hunters dotted the area with tents and diggings. Today a
+thriving city covers it and the wealth produced--the diamond output is
+ninety per cent of the world supply--exceeds in value that of a big
+manufacturing community in the United States.
+
+At Kimberley you touch the intimate life of Rhodes. He arrived in 1872
+from Natal, where he had gone to retrieve his health on a farm. The
+moment he staked out a claim he began a remarkable career. In his early
+Kimberley days he did a characteristic thing. He left his claims each
+year to attend lectures at Oxford where he got his degree in 1881, after
+almost continuous commuting between England and Africa. Hence the Rhodes
+Scholarship at Oxford created by his remarkable will. History contains
+no more striking contrast perhaps than the spectacle of this tall
+curly-haired boy with the Caesar-like face studying a Greek book while
+he managed a diamond-washing machine with his foot.
+
+Rhodes developed the mines known as the DeBeers group. His great rival
+was Barney Barnato, who gave African finance the same erratic and
+picturesque tradition that the Pittsburgh millionaires brought to
+American finance. His real name was Barnett Isaacs. After kicking about
+the streets of the East End of London he became a music hall performer
+under the name by which he is known to business history. The diamond
+rush lured him to Kimberley, where he displayed the resource and
+ingenuity that led to his organization of the Central mine interests
+which grouped around the Kimberley Mine.
+
+A bitter competition developed between the Rhodes and Barnato groups.
+Kimberley alternated between boom and bankruptcy. The genius of diamond
+mining lies in tempering output to demand. Rhodes realized that
+indiscriminate production would ruin the market, so he framed up the
+deal that made him the diamond dictator. He made Barnato an offer which
+was refused. With the aid of the Rothschilds in London Rhodes secretly
+bought out the French interests in the Barnato holdings for $6,000,000,
+which got his foot, so to speak, in the doorway of the opposition. But
+even this did not give him a working wedge. He was angling with other
+big stockholders and required some weeks time to consummate the deal.
+Meanwhile Barnato accumulated an immense stock of diamonds which he
+threatened to dump on the market and demoralize the price. The release
+of these stones before the completion of Rhodes' negotiations would have
+upset his whole scheme and neutralized his work and expense.
+
+He arranged a meeting with Barnato who confronted him with the pile of
+diamonds that he was about to throw on the market. Rhodes, so the story
+goes, took him by the arm and said: "Barney, have you ever seen a
+bucketful of diamonds? I never have. I'll make a proposition to you. If
+these diamonds will fill a bucket, I'll take them all from you at your
+own price."
+
+Without giving his rival time to answer, Rhodes swept the glittering
+fortune into a bucket which happened to be standing nearby. It also
+happened that the stones did not fill it. This incident shows the extent
+of the Rhodes resource, for a man at Kimberly told me that Rhodes knew
+beforehand exactly how many diamonds Barnato had and got the right
+sized bucket. Rhodes immediately strode from the room, got the time he
+wanted and consummated the consolidation which made the name DeBeers
+synonymous with the diamond output of the world. One trifling feature of
+this deal was the check for $26,000,000 which Rhodes gave for some of
+the Barnato interests acquired.
+
+The deal with Barnato illustrated the practical operation of one of the
+rules which guided Rhodes' business life. He once said, "Never fight
+with a man if you can deal with him." He lived up to this maxim even
+with the savage Matabeles from whom he wrested Rhodesia.
+
+Not long after the organization of the diamond trust Rhodes gave another
+evidence of his business acumen. He saw that the disorganized marketing
+of the output would lead to instability of price. He therefore formed
+the Diamond Syndicate in London, composed of a small group of middlemen
+who distribute the whole Kimberley output. In this way the available
+supply is measured solely by the demand.
+
+Rhodes had a peculiar affection for Kimberley. One reason perhaps was
+that it represented the cornerstone of his fortune. He always referred
+to the mines as his "bread and cheese." He made and lost vast sums
+elsewhere and scattered his money about with a lavish hand. The diamond
+mines did not belie their name and gave him a constant meal-ticket.
+
+In Kimberley he made some of the friendships that influenced his life.
+First and foremost among them was his association with Doctor,
+afterwards Sir, Starr Jameson, the hero of the famous Raid and a
+romantic character in African annals. Jameson came to Kimberley to
+practice medicine in 1878. No less intimate was Rhodes' life-long
+attachment for Alfred Beit, who arrived at the diamond fields from
+Hamburg in 1875 as an obscure buyer. He became a magnate whose
+operations extended to three continents. Beit was the balance wheel in
+the Rhodes financial machine.
+
+The diamond mines at Kimberley are familiar to most readers. They differ
+from the mines in German South-West Africa and the Congo in that they
+are deep level excavations. The Kimberley mine, for example, goes down
+3,000 feet. To see this almost grotesque gash in the earth is to get the
+impression of a very small Grand Canyon of the Colorado. It is an
+awesome and terrifying spectacle for it is shot through with green and
+brown and purple, is more than a thousand feet wide at the top, and
+converges to a visible point a thousand feet below. You feel that out of
+this color and depth has emerged something that itself incarnates lure
+and mystery. Even in its source the diamond is not without its element
+of elusiveness.
+
+The diamonds at Kimberley are found in a blue earth, technically known
+as kimberlite and commonly called "blue ground." This is exposed to sun
+and rain for six months, after which it is shaken down, run over a
+grease table where the vaseline catches the real diamonds, and allows
+the other matter to escape. After a boiling process it is the "rough"
+diamond.
+
+I spent a day in the Dutoitspan Mine where I saw thousands of Kaffirs
+digging away at the precious blue substance soon to be translated into
+the gleaming stone that would dangle on the bosom or shine from the
+finger of some woman ten thousand miles away. I got an evidence of
+American cinema enterprise on this occasion for I suddenly debouched on
+a wide level and under the flickering lights I saw a Yankee operator
+turning the crank of a motion picture camera. He was part of a movie
+outfit getting travel pictures. A hundred naked Zulus stared with
+open-eyed wonder at the performance. When the flashlight was touched off
+they ran for their lives.
+
+This leads me to the conspicuous part that Americans have played at
+Kimberley. Rhodes had great confidence in the Americans, and employed
+them in various capacities that ranged from introducing California
+fruits into South Africa and Rhodesia to handling his most important
+mining interests. When someone asked him why he engaged so many he
+answered, "They are so thorough."
+
+First among the Americans that Rhodes brought to Kimberley was Gardner
+F. Williams, a Michigander who became General Manager of the DeBeers
+Company in 1887 and upon the consolidation, assumed the same post with
+the united interests. He developed the mechanical side of diamond
+production and for many years held what was perhaps the most conspicuous
+technical and administrative post in the industry. He retired in favor
+of his son, Alpheus Williams, who is the present General Manager of all
+the diamond mines at Kimberley.
+
+A little-known American had a vital part in the siege of Kimberley.
+Among the American engineers who rallied round Gardner Williams was
+George Labram. When the Boers invested the town they had the great
+advantage of superiority in weight of metal. Thanks to Britain's lack of
+preparedness, Kimberley only had a few seven pounders, while the Boers
+had "Long Toms" that hurled hundred pounders. At Rhodes' suggestion
+Labram manufactured a big gun capable of throwing a thirty-pound shell
+and it gave the besiegers a big and destructive surprise. This gun,
+which was called "Long Cecil," was built and booming in exactly
+twenty-eight days. Tragically enough, Labram was killed by a Boer shell
+while shaving in his room at the Grand Hotel exactly a week after the
+first discharge of his gun.
+
+
+IV
+
+The part that Americans had in the development of Kimberley is slight
+compared with their participation in the exploitation of the Rand gold
+mines. Not only were they the real pioneers in opening up this greatest
+of all gold fields but they loomed large in the drama of the Jameson
+Raid. One of their number, John Hays Hammond, the best-known of the
+group, was sentenced to death for his role in it. The entire technical
+fabric of the Rand was devised and established by men born, and who had
+the greater part of their experience, in the United States.
+
+The capital of the Rand is Johannesburg. When you ride in a taxicab down
+its broad, well-paved streets or are whirled to the top floor of one of
+its skyscrapers, it is difficult to believe that thirty years ago this
+thriving and metropolitan community was a rocky waste. We are accustomed
+to swift civic transformations in America but Johannesburg surpasses any
+exhibit that we can offer in this line. Once called "a tin town with a
+gold cellar," it has the atmosphere of a continuous cabaret with a jazz
+band going all the time.
+
+No thoroughly acclimated person would ever think of calling Johannesburg
+by its full and proper name. Just as San Francisco is contracted into
+"'Frisco," so is this animated joytown called "Joburg." I made the
+mistake of dignifying the place with its geographical title when I
+innocently remarked, "Johannesburg is a live place." My companion looked
+at me with pity--it was almost sorrow, and replied,
+
+"We think that 'Joburg' (strong emphasis on 'Joburg') is one of the
+hottest places in the world."
+
+The word Rand is Dutch for ridge or reef. Toward the middle of the
+eighties the first mine was discovered on what is the present site of
+Johannesburg. The original excavation was on the historic place known as
+_Witwatersrand_, which means White Water Reef. Kimberley history
+repeated itself for the gold rush to the Transvaal was as noisy and
+picturesque as the dash on the diamond fields. It exceeded the Klondike
+movement because for one thing it was more accessible and in the second
+place there were no really adverse climatic conditions. Thousands died
+in the snow and ice of the Yukon trail while only a few hundred
+succumbed to fever, exposure to rain, and inadequate food on the Rand.
+It resembled the gold rush to California in 1849 more than any other
+similar event.
+
+The Rand gold fields, which in 1920 produced half of the world's gold,
+are embodied in a reef about fifty miles long and twenty miles wide. All
+the mines immediately in and about Johannesburg are practically
+exhausted. The large development today is in the eastern section. People
+do everything but eat gold in Johannesburg. Cooks, maids, waiters,
+bootblacks--indeed the whole population--are interested, or at some time
+have had an interest in a gold mine. Some historic shoestrings have
+become golden cables. J. B. Robinson, for example, one of the well-known
+magnates, and his associates converted an original interest of
+L12,000 into L18,000,000. This Rand history sounds like an
+Aladdin fairy tale.
+
+What concerns us principally, however, is the American end of the whole
+show. Hardly were the first Rand mines uncovered than they felt the
+influence of the American technical touch. Among the first of our
+engineers to go out were three unusual men, Hennen Jennings, H. C.
+Perkins and Captain Thomas Mein. Together with Hamilton Smith, another
+noted American engineer who joined them later, they had all worked in
+the famous El Callao gold mine in Venezuela. Subsequently came John Hays
+Hammond, Charles Butters, Victor M. Clement, J. S. Curtis, T. H.
+Leggett, Pope Yeatman, Fred Hellman, George Webber, H. H. Webb, and
+Louis Seymour. These men were the big fellows. They marshalled hundreds
+of subordinate engineers, mechanics, electricians, mine managers and
+others until there were more than a thousand in the field.
+
+This was the group contemporaneous and identified with the Jameson Raid.
+After the Boer War came what might be called the second generation of
+American engineers, which included Sidney Jennings, a brother of Hennen,
+W. L. Honnold, Samuel Thomson, Ruel C. Warriner, W. W. Mein, the son of
+Capt. Thomas Mein, and H. C. Behr.
+
+Why this American invasion? The reason was simple. The American mining
+engineer of the eighties and the nineties stood in a class by himself.
+Through the gold development of California we were the only people who
+had produced gold mining engineers of large and varied practical
+experience. When Rhodes and Barnato (they were both among the early nine
+mine-owners in the Rand) cast about for capable men they naturally
+picked out Americans. Hammond, for example, was brought to South America
+in 1893 by Barnato and after six months with him went over to Rhodes,
+with whom he was associated both in the Rand and Rhodesia until 1900.
+
+Not only did Americans create the whole technical machine but one of
+them--Hennen Jennings--really saved the field. The first mines were
+"outcrop," that is, the ore literally cropped out at the surface. This
+outcrop is oxidized, and being free, is easily amalgamated with mercury.
+Deeper down in the earth comes the unoxidized zone which continues
+indefinitely. The iron pyrites found here are not oxidized. They hold
+the gold so tenaciously that they are not amalgamable. They must
+therefore be abstracted by some other process than with mercury. At the
+time that the outcrop in the Rand become exhausted, what is today known
+as the "cyanide process" had never been used in that part of the world.
+The mine-owners became discouraged and a slump followed. Jennings had
+heard of the cyanide operation, insisted upon its introduction, and it
+not only retrieved the situation but has become an accepted adjunct of
+gold mining the world over. In the same way Hammond inaugurated
+deep-level mining when many of the owners thought the field was
+exhausted because the outcrop indications had disappeared.
+
+These Americans in the Rand made the mines and they also made history as
+their part in the Jameson Raid showed. Perhaps a word about the Reform
+movement which ended in the Raid is permissible here. It grew out of the
+oppression of the _Uitlander_--the alien--by the Transvaal Government
+animated by Kruger, the President. Although these outsiders, principally
+English and Americans, outnumbered the Boers three to one, they were
+deprived of the rights of citizenship. The Reformers organized an armed
+campaign to capture Kruger and hold him as a hostage until they could
+obtain their rights. The guns and ammunition were smuggled in from
+Kimberley as "hardware" under the supervision of Gardner Williams. It
+was easy to bring the munitions as far as Kimberley. The Boers set up
+such a careful watch on the Transvaal border, however, that every
+subterfuge had to be employed to get them across.
+
+Dr. Jameson, who at that time was Administrator of Southern Rhodesia,
+had a force of Rhodesian police on the Transvaal border ready to come to
+the assistance of the Committee if necessary. The understanding was that
+Jameson should not invade the Transvaal until he was needed. His
+impetuosity spoiled the scheme. Instead of waiting until the Committee
+was properly armed and had seized Kruger, he suddenly crossed the border
+with his forces. The Raid was a fizzle and the commander and all his men
+were captured by the Boers. This abortive attempt was the real prelude
+to the Boer War, which came four years later.
+
+Most Americans who have read about this episode believe that John Hays
+Hammond was the only countryman of theirs in it. This was because he had
+a leading and spectacular part and was one of the four ringleaders
+sentenced to death. He afterwards escaped by the payment of a fine of
+$125,000. As a matter of fact, four other prominent American mining
+engineers were up to their necks in the reform movement and got long
+terms in prison. They were Capt. Thomas Mein, J. S. Curtis, Victor M.
+Clement and Charles Butters. They obtained their freedom by the payment
+of fines of $10,000 each. This whole enterprise netted Kruger something
+like $2,000,000 in cash.
+
+The Jameson Raid did more than enrich old Kruger's coffers and bring the
+American engineers in the Rand to the fore. Indirectly it blocked a
+German scheme that might have played havoc in Africa the moment the
+inevitable Great War broke. If the Boer War had not developed in 1899 it
+is altogether likely that, judging from her whole campaign of world-wide
+interference, Germany would have arranged so that it should break out in
+1914. In this unhappy event she could have struck a death blow at
+England in South Africa because in the years between the Boer War and
+1914 she created close-knit colonial organizations in South-West and
+East Africa; built strategic railways; armed and drilled thousands of
+natives, and could have invaded the Cape Colony and the Transvaal.
+
+In connection with the Jameson Raid is a story not without interest.
+Jameson and Rudyard Kipling happened to be together when the news of
+Roosevelt's coup in Panama was published. The author read it first and
+handed the paper to his friend with the question: "What do you think of
+it?"
+
+Jameson glanced at the article and then replied somewhat sadly, "This
+makes the Raid look like thirty cents."
+
+I cannot leave the Rand section of the Union of South Africa without a
+word in passing about Pretoria, the administrative capital, which is
+only an hour's journey from Johannesburg. Here you still see the old
+house where Kruger lived. It was the throne of a copper-riveted
+autocracy. No modern head of a country ever wielded such a despotic rule
+as this psalm-singing old Boer whose favorite hour for receiving
+visitors was at five o'clock in the morning, when he had his first cup
+of strong coffee, a beverage which he continued to consume throughout
+the day.
+
+The most striking feature of the country around Pretoria is the Premier
+diamond mine, twenty-five miles east of the town and the world's
+greatest single treasure-trove. The mines at Kimberley together
+constitute the largest of all diamond fields but the Premier Mine is the
+biggest single mine anywhere. It produces as much as the four largest
+Kimberley mines combined, and contributes eighteen per cent of the
+yearly output allotted to the Diamond Syndicate.
+
+It was discovered by Thomas M. Cullinan, who bought the site from a Boer
+farmer for $250,000. The land originally cost this farmer $2,500. The
+mine has already produced more than five hundred times what Cullinan
+paid for it and the surface has scarcely been scraped. You can see the
+natives working in its two huge holes which are not more than six
+hundred feet deep. It is still an open mine. In the Premier Mine was
+found the Cullinan diamond, the largest ever discovered and which made
+the Koh-i-noor and all other fabled gems look like small pebbles. It
+weighed 3,200 karats and was insured for $2,500,000 when it was sent to
+England to be presented to King Edward. The Koh-i-noor, by the way,
+which was found in India only weighs 186 karats.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by South African Railways_
+
+THE PREMIER DIAMOND MINE]
+
+
+V
+
+No attempt at an analysis of South Africa would be complete without some
+reference to the native problem, the one discordant note in the economic
+and productive scheme. The race question, as the Smuts dilemma showed,
+lies at the root of all South African trouble. But the racial conflict
+between Briton and Boer is almost entirely political and in no way
+threatens the commercial integrity. Both the Dutchman and the Englishman
+agree on the whole larger proposition and the necessity of settling once
+and for all a trouble that carries with it the danger of sporadic
+outbreak or worse. Now we come to the whole irritating labor trouble
+which has neither color, caste, nor creed, or geographical line.
+
+First let me bring the South African color problem home to America. In
+the United States the whites outnumber the blacks roughly ten to one.
+Our coloured population represents the evolution of the one-time African
+slave through various generations into a peaceful, law-abiding, and
+useful social unit. The Southern "outrage" is the rare exception. We
+have produced a Frederick Douglass and a Booker Washington. Our Negro is
+a Christian, fills high posts, and invades the professions.
+
+In South Africa the reverse is true. To begin with, the natives
+outnumber the whites four and one-half to one--in Rhodesia they are
+twenty to one--and they are increasing at a much greater rate than the
+Europeans. Moreover, the native population draws on half a dozen races,
+including the Zulus, Kaffirs, Hottentots and Basutos. These Negroes
+represent an almost primitive stage of development. They are mainly
+heathens and a prey to savagery and superstition. The Cape Colony is the
+only one that permits the black man to go to school or become a skilled
+artisan. Elsewhere the white retains his monopoly on the crafts and at
+the same time refuses to do any labour that a Negro can perform. Hence
+the great need of white immigration into the Union. The big task,
+therefore, is to secure adequate work for the Negro without permitting
+him to gain an advantage through it.
+
+It follows that the moment the Kaffir becomes efficient and picks up a
+smattering of education he begins to think about his position and unrest
+is fomented. It makes him unstable as an employee, as the constant
+desertions from work show. The only way that the gold and diamond mines
+keep their thousands of recruited native workers is to confine them in
+compounds. The ordinary labourer has no such restrictions and he is here
+today and gone tomorrow.
+
+It is not surprising to discover that in a country teeming with blacks
+there are really no good servants, a condition with which the American
+housewife can heartily sympathize. Before I went to Africa nearly every
+woman I knew asked me to bring her back a diamond and a cook. They were
+much more concerned about the cook than the diamond. Had I kept every
+promise that I made affecting this human jewel, I would have had to
+charter a ship to convey them. The only decent servant I had in Africa
+was a near-savage in the Congo, a sad commentary on domestic service
+conditions.
+
+The one class of stable servants in the Colony are the "Cape Boys," as
+they are called. They are the coloured offspring of a European and a
+Hottentot or a Malay and are of all shades, from a darkish brown to a
+mere tinge. They dislike being called "niggers." The first time I saw
+these Cape Boys was in France during the war. South Africa sent over
+thousands of them to recruit the labour battalions and they did
+excellent work as teamsters and in other capacities. The Cape Boy,
+however, is the exception to the native rule throughout the Union, which
+means that most native labour is unstable and discontented.
+
+Not only is the South African native a menace to economic expansion but
+he is likewise something of a physical danger. In towns like Pretoria
+and Johannesburg there is a considerable feeling of insecurity. Women
+shrink from being left alone with their servants and are filled with
+apprehension while their little ones are out under black custodianship.
+The one native servant, aside from some of the Cape Boys, who has
+demonstrated absolute fidelity, is the Zulu whom you see in largest
+numbers in Natal. He is still a proud and kingly-looking person and he
+carried with him a hint of the vanished greatness of his race. Perhaps
+one reason why he is safe and sane reposes in his recollection of the
+repeated bitter and bloody defeats at the hands of the white men. Yet
+the Zulu was in armed insurrection in Natal in the nineties.
+
+South Africa enjoys no guarantee of immunity from black uprising even
+now in the twentieth century when the world uses the aeroplane and the
+wireless. During the past thirty years there have been outbreaks
+throughout the African continent. As recently as 1915 a fanatical form
+of Ethiopianism broke out in Nyassaland which lies north-east of
+Rhodesia, under the sponsorship of John Chilembwe, a negro preacher who
+had been educated in the United States. The natives rose, killed a
+number of white men and carried off the women. Of course, it was
+summarily put down and the leaders executed. But the incident was
+significant.
+
+Prester John, whose story is familiar to readers of John Buchan's fine
+romance of the same name, still has disciples. Like Chilembwe he was a
+preacher who had acquired so-called European civilization. He dreamed of
+an Africa for the blacks and took his inspiration from the old kings of
+Abyssinia. He too met the fate of all his kind but his spirit goes
+marching on. In 1919 a Pan-African Congress was held in Paris to discuss
+some plan for what might be called Pan-Ethiopianism. The following year
+a negro convention in New York City advocated that all Africa should be
+converted into a black republic.
+
+One example of African native unrest was brought strikingly to my
+personal attention. At Capetown I met one of the heads of a large Cape
+Colony school for Negroes which is conducted under religious auspices.
+The occasion was a dinner given by J. X. Merriman, the Grand Old Man of
+the Cape Colony. This particular educator spoke with glowing enthusiasm
+about this institution and dwelt particularly upon the evolution that
+was being accomplished. He gave me a pressing invitation to visit it. He
+happened to be on the train that I took to Kimberley, which was also the
+first stage of his journey home and he talked some more about the great
+work the school was doing.
+
+When I reached Kimberley the first item of news that I read in the
+local paper was an account of an uprising in the school. Hundreds of
+native students rebelled at the quality of food they were getting and
+went on the rampage. They destroyed the power-plant and wrecked several
+of the buildings. The constabulary had to be called out to restore
+order.
+
+In many respects most Central and South African Negroes never really
+lose the primitive in them despite the claims of uplifters and
+sentimentalists. Actual contact is a disillusioning thing. I heard of a
+concrete case when I was in the Belgian Congo. A Belgian judge at a post
+up the Kasai River acquired an intelligent Baluba boy. All personal
+servants in Africa are called "boys." This particular native learned
+French, acquired European clothes and became a model servant. When the
+judge went home to Belgium on leave he took the boy along. He decided to
+stay longer than he expected and sent the negro back to the Congo. No
+sooner did the boy get back to his native heath than he sold his
+European clothes, put on a loin cloth, and squatted on the ground when
+he ate, precisely like his savage brethren. It is a typical case, and
+merely shows that a great deal of so-called black-acquired civilization
+in Africa falls away with the garb of civilization.
+
+The only African blacks who have really assimilated the civilizing
+influence so far as my personal observation goes are those of the West
+Coast. Some of the inhabitants of Sierra Leone will illustrate what I
+mean. Scores have gone to Oxford and Cambridge and have become doctors,
+lawyers and competent civil servants. They resemble the American Negro
+more than any others in Africa. This parallel even goes to their
+fondness for using big words. I saw hundreds of them holding down
+important clerical positions in the Belgian Congo where they are known
+as "Coast-men," because they come from the West Coast.
+
+I had an amusing experience with one when I was on my way out of the
+Congo jungle. I sent a message by him to the captain of the little
+steamboat that took me up and down the Kasai River. In this message I
+asked that the vessel be made ready for immediate departure. The
+Coast-man, whose name was Wilson--they all have English names and speak
+English fluently--came back and said:
+
+"I have conveyed your expressed desire to leave immediately to the
+captain of your boat. He only returns a verbal acquiescence but I assure
+you that he will leave nothing undone to facilitate your speedy
+departure."
+
+He said all this with such a solemn and sober face that you would have
+thought the whole destiny of the British Empire depended upon the
+elaborateness of his utterance.
+
+To return to the matter of unrest, all the concrete happenings that I
+have related show that the authority of the white man in Africa is still
+resented by the natives. It serves to emphasize what Mr. Lothrop
+Stoddard, an eminent authority on this subject, so aptly calls "the
+rising tide of colour." We white people seldom stop to realize how
+overwhelmingly we are outnumbered. Out of the world population of
+approximately 1,700,000,000 persons (I am using Mr. Stoddard's figures),
+only 550,000,000 are white.
+
+A colour conflict is improbable but by no means impossible. We have only
+to look at our own troubles with the Japanese to get an intimate glimpse
+of what might lurk in a yellow tidal wave. The yellow man humbled Russia
+in the Russo-Japanese War and he smashed the Germans at Kiao Chow in
+the Great War. The fact that he was permitted to fight shoulder to
+shoulder with the white man has only added to his cockiness as we have
+discovered in California.
+
+Remember too that the Germans stirred up all Islam in their mad attempt
+to conquer the world. The Mohammedan has not forgotten what the Teutonic
+propagandists told him when they laid the cunning train of bad feeling
+that precipitated Turkey into the Great War. These seeds of discord are
+bearing fruit in many Near Eastern quarters. One result is that a
+British army is fighting in Mesopotamia now. A Holy War is merely the
+full brother of the possible War of Colour. In East Africa the Germans
+used thousands of native troops against the British and Belgians. The
+blacks got a taste, figuratively, of the white man's blood and it did
+his system no good.
+
+Throughout the globe there are 150,000,000 blacks and all but 30,000,000
+of them are south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. They lack the high
+mental development of the yellow man as expressed in the Japanese, but
+even brute force is not to be despised, especially where it outnumbers
+the whites to the extent that they do in South Africa. I am no alarmist
+and I do not presume to say that there will be serious trouble. I merely
+present these facts to show that certainly so far as affecting
+production and economic security in general is concerned, the native
+still provides a vexing and irritating problem, not without danger.
+
+The Union of South Africa is keenly alive to this perplexing native
+situation. Its policy is what might be called the Direct Rule, in which
+the whole administration of the country is in the hands of the Europeans
+and which is the opposite of the Indirect Rule of India, for example,
+which recognizes Rajahs and other potentates and which permits the brown
+man to hold a variety of public posts.
+
+The Government of the Cape Colony is becoming convinced that Booker
+Washington's idea is the sole salvation of the race. That great leader
+maintained that the hope for the Negro in the United States and
+elsewhere lay in the training of his hands. Once those hands were
+skilled they could be kept out of mischief. I recall having discussed
+this theory one night with General Smuts at Capetown and he expressed
+his hearty approval of it.
+
+The lamented Botha died before he could put into operation a plan which
+held out the promise of still another kind of solution. It lay in the
+soil. He contended that an area of forty million acres should be set
+aside for the natives, where many could work out their destinies
+themselves. While this plan offered the opportunity for the
+establishment of a compact and perhaps dangerous black entity, his
+feeling was that by the avoidance of friction with the whites the
+possibility of trouble would be minimized. This scheme is likely to be
+carried out by Smuts.
+
+Since the Union of South Africa profited by the whirligig of war to the
+extent of acquiring German South-West Africa it only remains to speak of
+the new map of Africa, made possible by the Great Conflict. Despite the
+return of Alsace-Lorraine to France one fails to see concrete evidence
+of Germany's defeat in Europe. Her people are still cocky and defiant.
+There is no mistake about her altered condition in Africa. Her flag
+there has gone into the discard along with the wreck of militarism. The
+immense territory that she acquired principally by browbeating is lost,
+down to the last square mile.
+
+Up to 1884 Germany did not own an inch of African soil. Within two years
+she was mistress of more than a million square miles. Analyze her whole
+performance on the continent and a definite cause of the World War is
+discovered. It is part of an international conspiracy studded with
+astonishing details.
+
+Africa was a definite means to world conquest. Germany knew of her vast
+undeveloped wealth. It is now no secret that her plan was to annex the
+greater part of French, Belgian, Italian and Portuguese Africa in the
+event that she won. The Berlin-to-Bagdad Railway would have hitched up
+the late Teutonic Empire with the Near East and made it easy to link the
+African domain with this intermediary through the Turkish dominions.
+Here was an imposing program with many advantages. For one thing it
+would have given Germany an untold store of raw materials and it would
+also have put her into a position to dictate to Southern Asia and even
+South America.
+
+The methods that Germany adopted to acquire her African possessions were
+peculiarly typical. Like the madness that plunged her into a struggle
+with civilization they were her own undoing. Into a continent whose
+middle name, so far as colonization goes, is intrigue she fitted
+perfectly. Practically every German colony in Africa represented the
+triumph of "butting in" or intimidation. The Kaiser That Was regarded
+himself as the mentor, and sought to recast continents in the same grand
+way that he lectured his minions.
+
+The first German colony in Africa was German South-West, as it was
+called for short, and grew out of a deal made between a Bremen merchant
+and a native chief. On the strength of this Bismarck pinched out an area
+almost as big as British East Africa. Before twelve months had passed
+the German flag flew over what came to be known as German East Africa,
+and also over Togoland and the The Cameroons on the West Coast.
+
+Germany really had no right to invade any of this country but she was
+developing into a strong military power and rather than have trouble,
+the other nations acquiesced. Once intrenched, she started her usual
+interference. The prize mischief-maker of the universe, she began to
+stir up trouble in every quarter. She embroiled the French at Agadir and
+got into a snarl with Portugal over Angola.
+
+The Kaiser's experience with Kruger is typical. When the Jameson Raid
+petered out William Hohenzollern sent the dictator of the Transvaal a
+telegram of congratulation. The old Boer immediately regarded him as an
+ally and counted on his aid when the Boer War started. Instead, he got
+the double-cross after he had sent his ultimatum to England. At that
+time the Kaiser warily side-stepped an entanglement with Britain for the
+reason that she was too useful.
+
+It is now evident that a large part of the Congo atrocity was a German
+scheme. The head and front of the expose movement was Sir Roger Casement
+of London. He sought to foment a German-financed revolution in Ireland
+and was hanged as a traitor in the Tower.
+
+Behind this atrocity crusade was just another evidence of the German
+desire to control Africa. By rousing the world against Belgium, Germany
+expected to bring another Berlin Congress, which would be expected to
+give her the stewardship of the Belgian Congo. The result would have
+been a German belt across Africa from the Indian to the Atlantic Oceans.
+She could thus have had England and France at a disadvantage on the
+north, and England and Portugal where she wanted them, to the south.
+Hence the Great War was not so much a matter of German meddling in the
+Balkans as it was her persistent manipulation of other nations' affairs
+in Africa. She was playing "freeze-out" on a stupendous scale. You can
+see why Germany was so much opposed to the Cape-to-Cairo Route. It
+interfered with her ambitions and provided a constant irritant to her
+"benevolent" plans.
+
+So much for the war end. Turn to the peace aspect. With Germany
+eliminated from the African scheme the whole region can enter upon a
+harmonious development. More than this, the fact that she is now
+deprived of colonies prevents her from recovering the world-wide
+economic authority she commanded before the war. A congested population
+allows her no more elbow room at home. Before she went mad her whole
+hope of the future lay in a colonization where her flag could fly in
+public, and in a penetration which cunningly masked the German hand. The
+world is now wise to the latter procedure.
+
+The new colour scheme of the African map may now be disclosed. The Union
+of South Africa, as you have seen, has taken over German South-West
+Africa; Great Britain has assumed the control of all German East Africa
+with the exception of Ruanda and Urundu, which have become part of the
+Belgian Congo. Togoland is divided between France and Britain, while the
+greater part of The Cameroons is merged into the Lower French West
+African possessions of which the French Congo is the principal one.
+Britain gets the Cameroon Mountains.
+
+The one-time Dark Continent remains dark only for Germany.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright British South Africa Co._
+
+VICTORIA FALLS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III--RHODES AND RHODESIA
+
+
+I
+
+For fifty-eight hours the train from Johannesburg had travelled steadily
+northward, past Mafeking and on through the apparently endless stretches
+of Bechuanaland. Alternately frozen and baked, I had swallowed enough
+dust to stock a small-sized desert. Dawn of the third day broke and with
+it came a sharp rap on my compartment door. I had been dreaming of a
+warm bath and a joltless life when I was rudely restored to reality. The
+car was stationary and a blanketed Matabele, his teeth chattering with
+the cold, peered in at the window.
+
+"What is it?" I asked.
+
+"You are in Rhodesia and I want to know who you are," boomed a voice out
+in the corridor.
+
+I opened the door and a tall, rangy, bronzed man--the immigration
+inspector--stepped inside. He looked like a cross between an Arizona
+cowboy and an Australian overseas soldier. When I proved to his
+satisfaction that I was neither Bolshevik nor Boche he departed with the
+remark: "We've got to keep a watch on the people who come into this
+country."
+
+Such was my introduction to Rhodesia, where the limousine and the
+ox-team compete for right of way on the veldt and the 'rickshaw yields
+to the motor-cycle in the town streets. Nowhere in the world can you
+find a region that combines to such vivid and picturesque extent the
+romance and hardship of the pioneer age with the push and practicality
+of today. Here existed the "King Solomon's Mines" of Rider Haggard's
+fancy: here the modern gold-seekers of fact sought the treasures of
+Ophir; here Nature gives an awesome manifestation of her power in the
+Victoria Falls.
+
+It is the only country where a great business corporation rules, not by
+might of money but by chartered authority. Linked with that rule is the
+story of a conflict between share-holder and settler that is unique in
+the history of colonization. It is the now-familiar and well-nigh
+universal struggle for self-determination waged in this instance between
+all-British elements and without violence.
+
+All the way from Capetown I had followed the trail of Cecil Rhodes,
+which like the man himself, is distinct. It is not the succession of
+useless and conventional monuments reared by a grateful posterity.
+Rather it is expressed in terms of cities and a permanent industrial and
+agricultural advance. "Living he was the land," and dead, his imperious
+and constructive spirit goes marching on. The Rhodes impress is
+everywhere. Now I had arrived at the cap-stone of it all, the domain
+that bears his name and which he added to the British Empire.
+
+Less than two hours after the immigration inspector had given me the
+once-over on the frontier I was in Bulawayo, metropolis of Rhodesia,
+which sprawls over the veldt just like a bustling Kansas community
+spreads out over the prairie. It is definitely American in energy and
+atmosphere. Save for the near-naked blacks you could almost imagine
+yourself in Idaho or Montana back in the days when our West was young.
+
+Before that first day ended I had lunched and dined in a club that would
+do credit to Capetown or Johannesburg; had met women who wore French
+frocks, and had heard the possibilities of the section acclaimed by a
+dozen enthusiasts. Everyone in Rhodesia is a born booster. Again you get
+the parallel with our own kind.
+
+To the average American reader Rhodesia is merely a name, associated
+with the midnight raid of stealthy savage and all the terror and tragedy
+of the white man's burden amid the wild confines. All this happened, to
+be sure, but it is part of the past. While South Africa still wrestles
+with a serious native problem, Rhodesia has settled it once and for all.
+It would be impossible to find a milder lot than the survivors and sons
+of the cruel and war-like Lobengula who once ruled here like a despot of
+old. His tribesmen--the Matabeles--were put in their place by a strong
+hand and they remain put.
+
+Bulawayo was the capital of Lobengula's kingdom. The word means "Place
+of Slaughter," and it did not belie the name. You can still see the tree
+under which the portly potentate sat and daily dispensed sanguinary
+judgment. His method was quite simple. If anyone irritated or displeased
+him he was haled up "under the greenwood" and sentenced to death. If
+gout or rheumatism racked the royal frame the chief executed the first
+passerby and then considered the source of the trouble removed. The only
+thing that really departed was the head of the innocent victim.
+Lobengula had sixty-eight wives, which may account for some of his
+eccentricities. Chaka, the famous king of the Zulus, whose favourite
+sport was murdering his sons (he feared a rival to the throne), was an
+amateur in crime alongside the dusky monarch whom the British
+suppressed, and thereby gained what is now the most prosperous part of
+Southern Rhodesia.
+
+The occupation and development of Rhodesia are so comparatively
+recent--(Rhodes and Dr. Jameson were fighting the Matabeles at Bulawayo
+in 1896)--that any account of the country must at the outset include a
+brief historical approach to the time of my visit last May. Probe into
+the beginnings of any African colony and you immediately uncover
+intrigue and militant imperialism. Rhodesia is no exception.
+
+For ages the huge continent of which it is part was veiled behind
+mystery and darkness. The northern and southern extremes early came into
+the ken of the explorer and after him the builder. So too with most of
+the coast. But the vast central belt, skirted by the arid reaches of
+Sahara on one side and unknown territory on the other, defied
+civilization until Livingstone, Stanley, Speke, and Grant blazed the
+way. Then began the scramble for colonies.
+
+Early in the eighties more than one European power cast covetous glances
+at what might be called the South Central area. Thanks to the economic
+foresight of King Leopold, Belgium had secured the Congo. Between this
+region which was then a Free State, and the Transvaal, was an immense
+and unappropriated country,--a sort of no man's land, rich with
+minerals, teeming with forests and peopled by savages. Two territories,
+Matabeleland, ruled by Lobengula, and Mashonaland, inhabited by the
+Mashonas, who were to all intents and purposes vassals to Lobengula,
+were the prize portions. Another immense area--the present British
+protectorate of Bechuanaland--was immediately south and touched the Cape
+Colony and the Transvaal. Portuguese East Africa lay to the east but
+the backbone of Africa south of the Congo line lay ready to be plucked
+by venturesome hands.
+
+Nor were the hands lacking for the enterprise. Germany started to
+strengthen the network of conspiracy that had already yielded her a
+million square miles of African soil and she was reaching out for more.
+Control of Africa meant for her a big step toward world conquest. Paul
+Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, which touched the southern
+edge of this unclaimed domain, saw in it the logical extension of his
+dominions.
+
+Down at Capetown was Rhodes, dreaming of a Greater Britain and
+determined to block the Kaiser and Kruger. It was largely due to his
+efforts while a member of the Cape Parliament that Britain was persuaded
+to annex Bechuanaland as a Crown Colony. Forestalled here, Kruger was
+determined to get the rest of the country beyond Bechuanaland and
+reaching to the southern border of the Congo. His emissaries began to
+dicker with chiefs and he organized an expedition to invade the
+territory. Once more Rhodes beat him to it, this time in history-making
+fashion.
+
+Following his theory that it is better to deal with a man than fight
+him, he sent C. D. Rudd, Rochfort Maguire, and F. R. ("Matabele")
+Thompson up to deal directly with Lobengula. They were ideal envoys for
+Thompson in particular knew every inch of the country and spoke the
+native languages. From the crafty chieftain they obtained a blanket
+concession for all the mineral and trading rights in Matabeleland for
+L1,200 a year and one thousand rifles. Rhodes now converted this
+concession into a commercial and colonizing achievement without
+precedent or parallel. It became the Magna Charta of the great British
+South Africa Company, which did for Africa what the East India Company
+did for India. Counting in Bechuanaland, it added more than 700,000
+square miles to the British Empire.
+
+Like the historic document so inseparably associated with the glories of
+Clive and Hastings, its Charter shaped the destiny of the empire and is
+associated with battle, blood, and the eventual triumph of the
+Anglo-Saxon over the man of colour. Other chartered companies have
+wielded autocratic power over millions of natives but the royal right to
+exist and operate, bestowed by Queen Victoria upon the British South
+Africa Company--the Chartered Company as it is commonly known--was the
+first that ever gave a corporation the administrative authority over a
+politically active country with a white population. The record of its
+rule is therefore distinct in the annals of Big Business.
+
+It was in 1899 that Rhodes got the Charter. In his conception of the
+Rhodesia that was to be--(it was first called Zambesia)--he had two
+distinct purposes in view. One was the larger political motive which was
+to widen the Empire and keep the Germans and Boers from annexing
+territory that he believed should be British. This was Rhodes the
+imperialist at work. The other aspect was the purely commercial side and
+revealed the same shrewdness that had registered so successfully in the
+creation of the Diamond Trust at Kimberley. This was Rhodes the business
+man on the job.
+
+The Charter itself was a visualization of the Rhodes mind and it matched
+the Cape-to-Cairo project in bigness of vision. It gave the Company the
+right to acquire and develop land everywhere, to engage in shipping, to
+build railway, telegraph and telephone lines, to establish banks, to
+operate mines and irrigation undertakings and to promote commerce and
+manufacture of all kinds. Nothing was overlooked. It meant the union of
+business and statesmanship.
+
+Under the Charter the Company was given administrative control of an
+area larger than that of Great Britain, France and Prussia. It divided
+up into Northern and Southern Rhodesia with the Zambesi River as the
+separating line. Northern Rhodesia remains a sparsely settled
+country--there are only 2,000 white inhabitants to 850,000 natives--and
+the only industry of importance is the lead and zinc development at
+Broken Hill. Southern Rhodesia, where there are 35,000 white persons and
+800,000 natives, has been the stronghold of Chartered interests and the
+battleground of the struggle to throw off corporate control. It is the
+Rhodesia to be referred to henceforth in this chapter without prefix.
+
+The Charter is perpetual but it contained a provision that at the end of
+twenty-five years, (1914) and at the end of each succeeding ten years,
+the Imperial Government has the power to alter, amend or rescind the
+instrument so far as the administration of Rhodesia is concerned. No
+vital change in the original document has been made so far, but by the
+time the next cycle expires in 1924 it is certain that the Company
+control will have ended and Rhodesia will either be a part of the Union
+of South Africa or a self-determining Colony.
+
+The Company is directed by a Board of Directors in London, but no
+director resides in the country itself. Thus at the beginning the
+fundamental mistake was made in attempting to run an immense area at
+long range. With the approval of the Foreign Office the Company names an
+Administrator,--the present one is Sir Drummond Chaplin,--who, like the
+average Governor-General, has little to say. The Company has exercised
+a copper-riveted control and this rigid rule led to its undoing, as you
+will see later on.
+
+The original capitalization was L1,000,000,--it was afterwards
+increased to L9,000,000,--but it is only a part of the stream of
+pounds sterling that has been poured into the country. In all the years
+of its existence the company has never paid a dividend. It is only since
+1914 that the revenue has balanced expenditures. More than 40,000
+shareholders have invested in the enterprise. Today the fate of the
+country rests practically on the issue between the interests of these
+shareholders on one hand and the 35,000 inhabitants on the other. Once
+more you get the spectacle, so common to American financial history, of
+a strongly intrenched vested interest with the real exploiter or the
+consumer arrayed against it. The Company rule has not been harsh but it
+has been animated by a desire to make a profit. The homesteaders want
+liberty of movement without handicap or restraint. An irreconcilable
+conflict ensued.
+
+[Illustration: _Photograph Copyright by British South Africa Co._
+
+CULTIVATING CITRUS LAND IN RHODESIA]
+
+
+II
+
+We can now go into the story of the occupation of Rhodesia, which not
+only unfolds a stirring drama of development but discloses something of
+an epic of adventure. With most corporations it is an easy matter to get
+down to business once a charter is granted. It is only necessary to
+subscribe stock and then enter upon active operations, whether they
+produce soap, razors or automobiles. The market is established for the
+product.
+
+With the British South Africa Company it was a far different and
+infinitely more difficult performance, to translate the license to
+operate into action. Matabeleland and Mashonaland were wild regions
+where war-like tribes roamed or fought at will. There were no roads. The
+only white men who had ventured there were hunters, traders, and
+concession seekers. Occupation preceded exploitation. A white man's
+civilization had to be set up first. The rifle and the hoe went in
+together.
+
+In June, 1890, the Pioneer Column entered. Heading it were two men who
+left an impress upon African romance. One was Dr. Jameson, hero of the
+Raid and Rhodes' most intimate friend. The first time I met him I
+marvelled that this slight, bald, mild little man should have been the
+central figure in so many heroic exploits. The other was the famous
+hunter, F. C. Selous, who was Roosevelt's companion in British East
+Africa. Under them were less than two hundred white men, including
+Captain Heany, an American, who now invaded a country where
+Lobengula had an army of 20,000 trained fighters, organized into
+_impis_--(regiments)--after the Zulu fashion and in every respect a
+formidable force. Although the old chief had granted the concession, no
+one trusted him and Jameson and Selous had to feel their way, sleep
+under arms every night, and build highways as they went.
+
+Upon Lobengula's suggestion it was decided to occupy Mashonaland first.
+This was achieved without any trouble and the British flag was raised on
+what is now the site of Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia.
+Most of the members of the expedition remained as settlers, and farms
+sprang up on the veldt. The Company had to organize a police force to
+patrol the land and keep off predatory natives. But this was purely
+incidental to the larger troubles that now crowded thick and fast. In
+the South the Boers launched an expedition to occupy Matabeleland by
+force and it had to be headed off. To the east rose friction with the
+Portuguese and a Rhodesian contingent was compelled to occupy part of
+Portuguese East Africa until the boundary line was adjusted.
+
+In 1893 came the first of the events that made Rhodesia a storm center.
+A Matabele regiment raided the new town of Victoria and killed some of
+the Company's native servants. The Matabeles then went on the warpath
+and Dr. Jameson took the field against them. For five weeks a bitter
+struggle raged. It ended with the defeat and disappearance of Lobengula
+and the occupation of Bulawayo by the Company forces. This brought the
+whole of Matabeleland under the direct authority of the British South
+Africa Company. The campaign cost the Company $500,000.
+
+Three years of peace and progress followed. Railway construction
+started in two directions. One line was headed from the south through
+Bechuanaland toward Bulawayo and another from Beira, the Indian Ocean
+port in Portuguese East Africa, westward toward Salisbury. Gold mines
+were opened and farms extended. At the end of 1895 came the Jameson
+Raid. Practically the entire force under the many-sided Doctor was
+recruited from the Rhodesian police and they were all captured by the
+Boers. Rhodesia was left defenceless.
+
+The Matabeles seized this moment to strike again. Ever since the defeat
+of 1893 they had been restless and discontented. Various other causes
+contributed to the uprising. One is peculiarly typical of the African
+savage. An outbreak of rinderpest, a disease hitherto unknown in
+Southern Africa, came down from the North and ravaged the cattle herds.
+In order to check the advance of the pest the Government established a
+clear belt by shooting all the cattle in a certain area. It was
+impossible for the Matabeles to understand the wisdom of this procedure.
+They only saw it as an outrage committed by the white men on their
+property for they were extensive cattle owners. In addition many died
+after eating infected meat and they also held the settlers responsible.
+The net result of it all was a sudden descent upon the white settlements
+and scores of white men, women and children were slaughtered.
+
+This time the operations against them were on a large scale. The present
+Lord Plumer, who commanded the Fourth British Army in France against the
+Germans,--he was then a Lieutenant Colonel--came up with eight hundred
+soldiers and drove the Matabeles into the fastnesses of the Matopos,--a
+range of hills fifty miles long and more than twenty wide. Here the
+savages took refuge in caves and could not be driven out.
+
+You now reach one of the remarkable feats in the life of Cecil Rhodes.
+The moment that the second Matabele war began he hastened northward to
+the country that bore his name. As soon as the Matabeles took refuge in
+the Matopos he boldly went out to parley with them. With three unarmed
+companions, one of them an interpreter, he set up a camp in the wilds
+and sent emissaries to the syndicate of the chiefs who had succeeded
+Lobengula. He had become Premier of the Cape Colony, was head of the
+great DeBeers Diamond Syndicate, and had other immense interests. He was
+also Managing Director of the British South Africa Company and the
+biggest stockholder. He was determined to protect his interests and at
+the same time preserve the integrity of the country that he loved so
+well.
+
+He exposed himself every night to raids by the most blood-thirsty
+savages in all Africa. Plumer's command was camped nearly five miles
+away but Rhodes refused a guard.
+
+Rhodes waited patiently and his perseverance was eventually rewarded.
+One by one the chiefs came down from the hills and succumbed to the
+persuasiveness and personality of this remarkable man who could deal
+with wild and naked warriors as successfully as he could dictate to a
+group of hard-headed business men. After two months of negotiating the
+Matabeles were appeased and permanent peace, so far as the natives were
+concerned, dawned in Rhodesia. After his feat in the Matopos the
+Matabeles called Rhodes "The Man Who Separated the Fighting Bulls." It
+was during this period in Rhodesia that Rhodes discovered the place
+which he called "The View of the World," and where his remains now lie
+in lonely grandeur.
+
+At Groote Schuur, the Rhodes house near Capetown, which he left as the
+permanent residence of the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa,
+I saw a prized souvenir of the Matopos conferences with the Matabeles.
+On the wall in Rhodes' bedroom hangs the faded picture of an old and
+shriveled Matabele woman. When I asked General Smuts to tell me who she
+was he replied: "That is the woman who acted as the chief negotiator
+between Rhodes and the rebels." I afterwards found out that she was one
+of the wives of Umziligazi, father of Lobengula, and a noted Zulu
+chieftain. Rhodes never forgot the service she rendered him and caused
+the photograph of her to be taken.
+
+Following the last Matabele insurrection the Imperial Government which
+is represented in Rhodesia by a Resident Commissioner assumed control of
+the natives. The Crown was possibly guided by the precedent of Natal,
+where a premature Responsible Government was followed by two Zulu wars
+which well-nigh wrecked the province. It has become the policy of the
+Home Government not to permit a relatively small white population to
+rule the natives. Whatever the influence, Rhodesia has had no trouble
+with the natives since Rhodes made the peace up in the hills of the
+Matopos.
+
+The moment that the war of force ended, another and bloodless war of
+words began and it has continued ever since. I mean the fight for
+self-government that the settlers have waged against the Chartered
+Company. This brings us to a contest that contributes a significant and
+little-known chapter to the whole narrative of self-determination among
+the small peoples.
+
+Through its Charter the British South Africa Company was able to fasten
+a copper-rivetted rule on Rhodesia. Most of the Directors in London,
+with the exception of men like Dr. Jameson, knew very little about the
+country. There was no resident Director in Africa and the members of the
+Board only came out just before the elections. The Administrator was
+always a Company man and until 1899 his administrative associates in the
+field were the members of an Executive Council nominated by the Company.
+Meanwhile thousands of men had invested their fortunes in the land and
+the inevitable time came when they believed that they should have a
+voice in the conduct of its affairs.
+
+This sentiment became so widespread that in 1899 the country was given a
+Legislative Council which for the first time enabled the Rhodesians to
+elect some of their own people to office. At first they were only
+allowed three members, while the Company nominated six others. This
+always gave the Chartered interests a majority. Subsequently, as the
+clamour for popular representation grew, the number of elected
+representatives was increased to thirteen, while those nominated by
+Charter remained the same. To get a majority under the new deal it was
+only necessary for the Company to get the support of four elected
+members and on account of its relatively vast commercial interest it was
+usually easy to do this.
+
+It would be difficult to find an exact parallel to this situation. In
+America we have had many conflicts with what our campaign orators call
+"Special Privilege," an institution which thrived before the searchlight
+of publicity was turned on corporate control and prior to the time when
+fangs were put into the stewardship of railways. These contestants were
+sometimes decided at the polls with varying degrees of success. Perhaps
+the nearest approach to the Rhodesian line-up was the struggle of the
+California wheat growers against the Southern Pacific Railway, which
+Frank Norris dramatized in his book, "The Octopus."
+
+All the while the feeling for Responsible Government in Rhodesia grew. A
+strong group which opposed the Chartered regime sprang up. At the
+beginning of the struggle the line was sharply drawn between the Charter
+adherents on one side and unorganized opponents on the other. By 1914
+the issue was sharply defined. The first twenty-five years of the
+Charter were about to end and the insurgents realized that it was an
+opportune moment for a show of strength. The opposition had three plans.
+Some advocated the conversion of Rhodesia into a Crown Colony, others
+strongly urged admission to the Union of South Africa, while still
+another wing stood for Responsible Government. It was decided to unite
+on a common platform of Responsible Government.
+
+For the first time the Company realized that it had a fight on its hands
+and Dr. Jameson, who had become president of the corporation, went out
+to Rhodesia and made speeches urging loyalty to the Charter. His
+appearance stirred memories of the pioneer days and almost without
+exception the old guard rallied round him. A red-hot campaign ensued
+with the result that the whole pro-Charter ticket, with one exception,
+was elected, although the antis polled 45 per cent of the total vote.
+
+Out of this defeat came a partial victory for the Progressives. The
+Imperial Government saw the handwriting on the wall and acting within
+its powers, which permitted an administrative change in the Charter at
+the end of every ten years, granted a Supplemental Charter which
+provided that the Legislative Council could by an absolute majority of
+all its members pass a resolution "praying the Crown to establish in
+Southern Rhodesia the form of Government known as Responsible
+Government," provided that it could financially support this procedure.
+It gave the insurgents fresh hope and it made the Company realize that
+sooner or later its authority must end.
+
+Then the Great War broke. Every available man that could possibly be
+spared went to the Front and the life of the Council was extended until
+1920, when a conclusive election was to be held. Meanwhile the Company,
+realizing that it must sooner or later bow to the people's will, got
+busy with an attempt to realize on its assets. Chief among them were the
+millions of acres of so-called "unalienated" or Crown land in Southern
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company claimed this land as a private asset.
+The settlers alleged that it belonged to them. The Government said it
+was an imperial possession. The Privy Council in London upheld the
+latter contention. Thereupon the Company filed a claim for
+$35,000,000.00 against the Government to cover the value of this land
+and its losses throughout the years of administration.
+
+Yielding to pressure the Legislative Council in 1919 asked the British
+Government to declare itself on the question of replacing the Charter
+with some form of Government suited to the needs of the country. Lord
+Milner, the Colonial Secretary, answered in what came to be known as the
+"Milner Despatch." In it he said that he did not believe the territory
+"in its present stage of development was equal to the financial burden
+of Responsible Government." He mildly suggested representative
+government under the Crown.
+
+The general expectation throughout Rhodesia was that no election would
+be held until a Government Commission then sitting, had inquired into
+the validity of the Company's immense claim for damages. Early in March
+1920, however, the Legislative Council gave notice that the election was
+set for April 30th. It proved to be the most exciting ever held in
+Rhodesia. The Chartered Company made no fight. The contest was really
+waged between the two wings of the anti-Charter crowd. One favored
+Responsible Government and the other, admission to the Union of South
+Africa.
+
+The arguments for Responsible Government briefly were these: That under
+the Supplemental Charter it was the only constitutional change possible;
+that the financial burden was not too heavy; that the native question
+was no bar; that the Imperial Government would never saddle the country
+with the huge debt of the Company; that under the Union a hateful
+bi-lingualism would be introduced; that taxation would not be excessive,
+and that finally, the right of self-determination as to Government was
+the birthright of the British people.
+
+The adherents of Union contended that the original idea of Cecil Rhodes
+was to make Rhodesia a part of the Union of South Africa; that by this
+procedure the vexing problem of customs with the Union would be solved;
+that the system of self-government in South Africa meets every
+requirement of self-determination. Moreover, the point was made that by
+becoming a part of the Union the whole railway question would be
+settled. At present the Rhodesian railways have three ends, one in South
+Africa at Vryburg, another on the Belgian border, and a third at the sea
+at Beira. It was claimed that through the Union, Rhodesia would benefit
+by becoming a part of the nationalized railway system there and get the
+advantage of a British port at the Cape instead of Beira, which is
+Portuguese. In other words, Union meant stability of credit, politics,
+finance and industry.
+
+The outcome of the election was that twelve Responsible Government
+candidates, one of them a woman, were elected. Women voted for the first
+time in Rhodesia and they solidly opposed the union with South Africa.
+The thirteenth member elected stood for the conversion of the country
+into a Crown Colony under representative government. Throughout the
+campaign the Chartered Company remained neutral, although it was
+obviously opposed to Responsible Government. The feeling throughout
+Rhodesia is that it favors Union because it could dispose of its assets
+to better advantage.
+
+I arrived in Rhodesia immediately after the election. The country still
+sizzled with excitement. Curiously enough, the head, brains and front of
+the fight for union with South Africa was a former American, now a
+British subject and who has been a ranchman in Rhodesia for some years.
+He prefers to be nameless.
+
+In the light of the landslide at the polls it naturally followed that
+the new Legislative Council at its first meeting passed a resolution
+declaring for Responsible Government. The vote was twelve to five. Since
+this was not an absolute majority, as required by the Supplementary
+Charter, it is expected that the Imperial Government will decide against
+granting this form of government just now. The next procedure will
+probably be a request for representative government under the Crown or
+some modification of the Charter, and for an Imperial loan. Rhodesia has
+no borrowing power and the country needs money just as much as its needs
+men. The adherents of Union claim that on a straight show-down between
+Crown Colony or Union at the next election, Union will win. From what I
+gathered in conversation with the leaders of both factions, there would
+have been a bigger vote, possibly victory for Union, but for the
+Nationalist movement in South Africa, which I described in a previous
+chapter. The Rhodesians want no racial entanglements.
+
+Northern Rhodesia has no part in the fight against the Charter. It is
+only a question of time, however, when she will be merged into Southern
+Rhodesia for, with the passing of the Company, her destiny becomes
+identical with that of her sister territory. Northern Rhodesia's chief
+complaint against the Company was that it did not spend any money within
+her borders. After reading the story of the crusade for Responsible
+Government you can understand the reason why.
+
+Whatever happens, Charter rule in Rhodesia is doomed and the great
+Company, born of the vision and imperialism of Cecil Rhodes, and which
+battled with the wild man in the wilderness, will eventually vanish from
+the category of corporations. But Rhodesia remains a thriving part of
+the British Empire and the dream of the founder is realized.
+
+
+III
+
+Rhodesia produces much more than trouble for the Chartered Company. She
+is pre-eminently a land of ranches and farms. Here you get still another
+parallel with the United States because it is no uncommon thing to find
+a farm of 50,000 acres or more.
+
+I doubt if any other new region in the world contains a finer or
+sturdier manhood than Rhodesia. Like the land itself it is a stronghold
+of youth. Likewise, no other colony, and for that matter, no other
+matured country exercises such a rigid censorship upon settlers. Until
+the high cost of living disorganized all economic standards, no one
+could establish himself in Rhodesia without a minimum capital of
+L1,000. So far as farming is concerned, this is now increased to
+L2,000. Therefore, you do not see the signs of failure which so
+often dot the semi-virgin landscape. Knowing this, you can understand
+why the immigration inspector gives the incoming travellers a rigid
+cross-examination at the frontier.
+
+Also it is simon-pure British, and more like Natal in this respect than
+any other territory under the Union-jack. I had a convincing
+demonstration in a personal experience. I made a speech at the Bulawayo
+Club. The notice was short but I was surprised to find more than a
+hundred men assembled after dinner, many in evening clothes. Some had
+travelled all day on horseback or in buckboards to get there, others had
+come hundreds of miles by motor car.
+
+I never addressed a more responsive audience. What impressed me was the
+kindling spirit of affection they manifested for the Mother Country. In
+conversation with many of them afterwards it was interesting to hear the
+sons of settlers referring to the England that they had never seen, as
+"home." That night I realized as never before,--not even amid the agony
+and sacrifice of the Somme or the Ancre in France,--one reason why the
+British Empire is great and why, despite all muddling, it carries on. It
+lies in the feeling of imperial kinship far out at the frontiers of
+civilization. The colonial is in many respects a more devoted loyalist
+than the man at home.
+
+Wherever I went I found the Rhodesian agriculturist--and he constitutes
+the bulk of the white population,--essentially modern in his methods. He
+reminds me more of the Kansas farmer than any other alien agriculturists
+that I have met. He uses tractors and does things in a big way. There is
+a trail of gasoline all over the country. Motorcycles have become an
+ordinary means of transport for district officials and engineers, who
+fly about over the native paths that are often the merest tracks. You
+find these machines in the remotest regions. The light motor car is also
+beginning to be looked upon as a necessary part of the outfit of the
+farmer.
+
+There was a time when the average Rhodesian believed that gold was the
+salvation of the country. Repeated "booms" and the inevitable losses
+have brought the people to agree with the opinion of one of the
+pioneers, that "the true wealth of the country lies in the top twelve
+inches of the soil." Agriculture is surpassing mining as the principal
+industry.
+
+The staple agricultural product is maize, which is corn in the American
+phraseology. Until a few years ago the bulk of it was consumed at home.
+Recently, however, on account of the farm expansion, there is an
+increasing surplus for export to the Union of South Africa, the Belgian
+Congo, and even to Europe.
+
+The facts about maize are worth considering. Every year 200,000,000
+bags, each weighing 200 pounds, are consumed throughout the world.
+Heretofore the principal sources of supply have been the Argentine and
+the United States. We have come to the time, however, when we absorb
+practically our whole crop. Formerly we exported about 10,000,000 bags.
+There is no decrease in corn consumption despite prohibition. Hence
+Rhodesia is bound to loom large in the situation. Last year she produced
+more than a million bags. Maize is a crop that revels in sunshine and in
+Rhodesia the sun shines brilliantly throughout the year practically
+without variation. This enables the product to be sun-dried.
+
+Other important crops are tobacco, beans, peanuts (which are invariably
+called monkey nuts in that part of the universe), wheat and oranges.
+Under irrigation, citrus fruits, oats and barley do well.
+
+Cattle are a bulwark of Rhodesian prosperity. The immense pasturage
+areas are reminiscent of Texas and Montana. For a hundred years before
+the white settlers came, the Matabeles and the Mashonas raised live
+stock. The natives still own about 700,000 head, nearly as many as the
+whites. I was interested to find that the British South Africa Company
+has imported a number of Texas ranchmen to act as cattle experts and
+advise the ranchers generally. This is due to a desire to begin a
+competition with the Argentine and the United States in chilled and
+frozen meats. One of the greatest British manufactures of beef extracts
+owns half a dozen ranches in Rhodesia and it is not unlikely that
+American meat men will follow. Mr. J. Ogden Armour is said to be keenly
+interested in the country with the view of expanding the resources of
+the Chicago packers. This is one result of the World War, which has
+caused the producer of food everywhere to bestir himself and insure
+future supplies.
+
+In connection with Rhodesian farming and cattle-raising is a situation
+well worthy of emphasis. There is no labour problem. You find, for
+example, that miracle of miracles which is embodied in a native at work.
+It is in sharp contrast with South Africa and the Congo, where, with
+millions of coloured people it is almost impossible to get help. The
+Rhodesian black still remains outside the leisure class. Whether it is
+due to his fear of the whites or otherwise, he is an active member of
+the productive order.
+
+The native will work for the white man but, save to raise enough maize
+for himself, he will not become an agriculturist. I heard a typical
+story about Lewaniki, Chief of the Barotses, who once ruled a large part
+of what is now Northern Rhodesia. Someone asked him to get his people to
+raise cotton. His answer was:
+
+"What is the use? They cannot eat it."
+
+In Africa the native's world never extends beyond his stomach. I was
+soon to find costly evidence of this in the Congo.
+
+The African native is quite a character. He is not only a born actor but
+has a quaint humor. In the center of the main street at Bulawayo is a
+bronze statue of Cecil Rhodes, bareheaded, and with his face turned
+toward the North. Just as soon as it was unveiled the Matabeles
+expressed considerable astonishment over it. They could not understand
+why the figure never moved. Shortly afterwards a great drought came. A
+native chief went to see the Resident Commissioner and solemnly told him
+that he was quite certain that there would be no rain "until they put a
+hat on Mr. Rhodes' head."
+
+The Lewaniki anecdote reminds me of an admirable epigram that was
+produced in Rhodesia. Out there food is commonly known as "skoff," just
+as "chop" is the equivalent in the Congo. A former Resident
+Commissioner, noted for the keenness of his wit, once asked a travelling
+missionary to dine with him. After the meal the guest insisted upon
+holding a religious service at the table. In speaking of the performance
+the Commissioner said: "My guest came to 'skoff' and remained to pray."
+
+Whenever you visit a new land you almost invariably discover mental
+alertness and progressiveness that often put the older civilizations to
+shame. Let me illustrate. Go to England or France today and you touch
+the really tragic aftermath of the war. You see thousands of demobilized
+officers and men vainly searching for work. Many are reduced to the
+extremity of begging. It has become an acute and poignant problem, that
+is not without its echo over here.
+
+Rhodesia, through the British South Africa Company, is doing its bit
+toward solution. It has set aside 500,000 acres which are being allotted
+free of charge to approved soldier and sailor settlers from overseas.
+Not only are they being given the land but they are provided with expert
+advice and supervision. The former service men who are unable to borrow
+capital with which to exploit the land, are merged into a scheme by
+which they serve an apprenticeship for pay on the established farms and
+ranches until they are able to shift for themselves.
+
+The Chartered Company, despite its political machine, has developed
+Rhodesia "on its own," and in rather striking fashion. It operates
+dairies, gold mines, citrus estates, nurseries, ranches, tobacco
+warehouses, abattoirs, cold storage plants and dams, which insures
+adequate water supply in various sections. It is a profitable example of
+constructive paternalism whose results will be increasingly evident long
+after the famous Charter has passed into history.
+
+No phase of the Company's activities is more important than its
+construction of the Rhodesian railways. They represent a
+double-barrelled private ownership in that they were built and are
+operated by the Company. There are nearly 2,600 miles of track. One
+section of the system begins down at Vryburg in Bechuanaland, where it
+connects with the South African Railways, and extends straight northward
+through Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to the Congo border. The other
+starts at Beira on the Indian Ocean and runs west through Salisbury, the
+capital, to Bulawayo.
+
+These railways have a remarkable statistical distinction in that there
+is one mile of track for every thirteen white inhabitants. No other
+system in the world can duplicate it. The Union of South Africa comes
+nearest with 143 white inhabitants per mile or just eleven times as
+many. Canada has 27, Australia 247, the United States and New Zealand
+400 each, while the United Kingdom has over 200 inhabitants for every
+mile of line.
+
+Rhodesia is highly mineralized. Coal occurs in three areas and one of
+them, Wankie,--a vast field,--is extensively operated. Gold is found
+over the greater part of the country. Here you not only touch an
+American interest but you enter upon the region that Rider Haggard
+introduced to readers as the setting of some of his most famous
+romances. We will deal with the practical side first.
+
+Rhodes had great hopes of Rhodesia as a gold-producing country. He
+wanted the economic value of the country to rank with the political.
+Thousands of years ago the natives dug mines and many of these ancient
+workings are still to be seen. They never exceed forty or fifty feet in
+depth. Many leading authorities claimed that the South Arabians of the
+Kingdom of Saba often referred to in the Bible were the pioneers in the
+Rhodesian gold fields and sold the output to the Phoenicians. Others
+contended that the Phoenicians themselves delved here. Until recently it
+was also maintained by some scientists and Biblical scholars that modern
+Southern Rhodesia was the famed land of Ophir, whence came the gold and
+precious stones that decked the persons and palaces of Solomon and
+David. This, however, has been disproved, and Ophir is still the butt of
+archaeological dispute. It has been "located" in Arabia, Spain, Peru,
+India and South-East Africa.
+
+Rhodes knew all about the old diggings so he engaged John Hays Hammond,
+the American engineer, to accompany him on a trip through Rhodesia in
+1894 and make an investigation of the workings. His report stated that
+the rock mines were undoubtedly ancient, that the greatest skill in
+mining had been displayed and that scores of millions of pounds worth of
+the precious metal had been extracted. It also proved that practically
+all this treasure had been exported from the country for no visible
+traces remain. This substantiates the theory that perhaps it did go to
+the Phoenicians or to a potentate like King Solomon. Hammond wrote the
+mining laws of Rhodesia which are an adaptation of the American code.
+
+The Rhodesian gold mines, which are operated by the Chartered Company
+and by individuals, have never fully realized their promise. One reason,
+so men like Hammond tell me, is that they are over-capitalized and are
+small and scattered. Despite this handicap the country has produced
+L45,227,791 of gold since 1890. The output in 1919 was worth
+L2,500,000. In 1915 it was nearly L4,000,000.
+
+Small diamonds in varying quantities have also been found in Rhodesia.
+In exchange for having subscribed heavily to the first issue of British
+South Africa Company stock, the DeBeers which Rhodes formed received a
+monopoly on the diamond output and with it the assurance of a rigid
+enforcement of the so-called Illicit Diamond Buying Act. This law, more
+commonly known as "I. D. B." and which has figured in many South African
+novels, provided drastic punishment for dishonest dealing in the stones.
+More than one South African millionaire owed the beginnings of his
+fortune to evasion of this law.
+
+Just about the time that Rhodes made the Rhodesian diamond deal a
+prospector came to him and said: "If I bring you a handful of rough
+diamonds what will I get?"
+
+"Fifteen years," was the ready retort. He was never at a loss for an
+answer.
+
+We can now turn to the really romantic side of the Rhodesian mineral
+deposits. One of the favorite pilgrimages of the tourist is to the
+Zimbabwe ruins, located about seventeen miles from Victoria in Southern
+Rhodesia. They are the remains of an ancient city and must at various
+times have been the home of large populations. There seems little doubt
+that Zimbabwe was the work of a prehistoric and long-forgotten people.
+
+Over it hangs a mantle of mystery which the fictionist has employed to
+full, and at times thrilling advantage. In this vicinity were the "King
+Solomon's Mines," that Rider Haggard wrote about in what is perhaps his
+most popular book. Here came "Allan Quartermain" in pursuit of love and
+treasure. The big hill at Zimbabwe provided the residence of "She," the
+lovely and disappearing lady who had to be obeyed. The ruins in the
+valley are supposed to be those of "the Dead City" in the same romance.
+The interesting feature of all this is that "She" and "King Solomon's
+Mines" were written in the early eighties when comparatively nothing was
+known of the country. Yet Rider Haggard, with that instinct which
+sometimes guides the romancer, wrote fairly accurate descriptions of the
+country long before he had ever heard of its actual existence. Thus
+imagination preceded reality.
+
+The imagination miracles disclose in the Haggard books are surpassed by
+the actual wonder represented by Victoria Falls. Everybody has heard of
+this stupendous spectacle in Rhodesia but few people see it because it
+is so far away. I beheld it on my way from Bulawayo to the Congo. Like
+the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it baffles description.
+
+The first white man to visit the cataract was Dr. Livingstone, who named
+it in honor of his Queen. This was in 1855. For untold years the natives
+of the region had trembled at its fury. They called it _Mois-oa-tunga_,
+which means "Smoke That Sounds." When you see the falls you can readily
+understand why they got this name. The mist is visible ten miles away
+and the terrific roar of the falling waters can be heard even farther.
+
+The fact that the casual traveller can see Victoria Falls from the train
+is due entirely to the foresight and the imagination of Cecil Rhodes. He
+knew the publicity value that the cataract would have for Rhodesia and
+he combined the utilitarian with his love of the romantic. In planning
+the Rhodesian railroad, therefore, he insisted that the bridge across
+the gorge of the Zambesi into which the mighty waters flow after their
+fall, must be sufficiently near to enable the spray to wet the railway
+carriages. The experts said it was impossible but Rhodes had his way,
+just as Harriman's will prevailed over that of trained engineers in the
+construction of the bridge across Great Salt Lake.
+
+The bridge across the Zambesi is a fit mate in audacity to the falls
+themselves. It is the highest in the world for it rises 400 feet above
+the low water level. Its main parabolic arch is a 500 foot span while
+the total length is 650 feet. Although its construction was fraught with
+contrast hazard it only cost two lives, despite the fact that seven
+hundred white men and two thousand natives were employed on it. In the
+building of the Firth of Forth bridge which was much less dangerous,
+more than fifty men were killed.
+
+I first saw the Falls in the early morning when the brilliant African
+sun was turned full on this sight of sights. It was at the end of the
+wet season and the flow was at maximum strength. The mist was so great
+that at first I could scarcely see the Falls. Slowly but defiantly the
+foaming face broke through the veil. Niagara gives you a thrill but this
+toppling avalanche awes you into absolute silence.
+
+The Victoria Falls are exactly twice as broad and two and one-half
+times as high as Niagara Falls. This means that they are over a mile in
+breadth and four hundred and twenty feet high. The tremendous flow has
+only one small outlet about 100 yards wide. The roar and turmoil of this
+world of water as it crashes into the chasm sets up what is well called
+"The Boiling Pot." From this swirling melee the Zambesi rushes with
+unbridled fury through a narrow and deep gorge, extending with many
+windings for forty miles.
+
+In the presence of this marvel, wars, elections, economic upheavals, the
+high cost of living, prohibition,--all "that unrest which men miscall
+delight"--fade into insignificance. Life itself seems a small and
+pitiful thing. You are face to face with a force of Nature that is
+titanic, terrifying, and irresistible.
+
+[Illustration: THE GRAVE OF CECIL RHODES]
+
+
+IV
+
+Since we bid farewell to Cecil Rhodes in this chapter after having
+almost continuously touched his career from the moment we reached
+Capetown, let us make a final measure of his human side,--and he was
+intensely human--particularly with reference to Rhodesia, which is so
+inseparably associated with him. His passion for the country that bore
+his name exceeded his interest in any of his other undertakings. He
+liked the open life of the veldt where he travelled in a sort of gypsy
+wagon and camped for the night wherever the mood dictated. It enabled
+him to gratify his fondness for riding and shooting.
+
+He was always accompanied by a remarkable servant named Tony, a
+half-breed in whom the Portuguese strain predominated. Tony bought his
+master's clothes, paid his bills, and was a court of last resort "below
+stairs." Rhodes declared that his man could produce a satisfactory meal
+almost out of thin air.
+
+Rhodes and Tony were inseparable. Upon one occasion Tony accompanied him
+when he was commanded by Queen Victoria to lodge at Sandringham. While
+there Rhodes asked Tony what time he could get breakfast, whereupon the
+servant replied:
+
+"Royalty does not breakfast, sir, but you can have it in the dining-room
+at half past nine." Tony seemed to know everything.
+
+Throughout Rhodesia I found many of Rhodes' old associates who
+affectionately referred to him as "The Old Man." I was able to collect
+what seemed to be some new Rhodes stories. A few have already been
+related. Here is another which shows his quickness in capitalizing a
+situation.
+
+In the days immediately following the first Matabele war Rhodes had more
+trouble with concession-hunters than with the savages, the Boers, or the
+Portuguese. Nearly every free-lance in the territory produced some fake
+document to which Lobengula's alleged mark was affixed and offered it to
+Rhodes at an excessive price.
+
+One of these gentry framed a plan by which one of the many sons of
+Lobengula was to return to Matabeleland, claim his royal rights, and
+create trouble generally. The whole idea was to start an uprising and
+derange the machinery of the British South Africa Company. The name of
+the son was N'jube and at the time the plan was devised he held a place
+as messenger in the diamond fields at Kimberley. By the system of
+intelligence that he maintained, Rhodes learned of the frame-up, the
+whereabouts of the boy, and furthermore, that he was in love with a
+Fingo girl. These Fingoes were a sort of bastard slave people. Marriage
+into the tribe was a despised thing, and by a native of royal blood,
+meant the abrogation of all his claims to the succession.
+
+Rhodes sent for N'jube and asked him if he wanted to marry the Fingo
+girl. When he replied that he did, the great man said: "Go down to the
+DeBeers office, get L50 and marry the girl. I will then give you a
+job for life and build you a house."
+
+N'jube took the hint and the money and married the girl. Rhodes now sent
+the following telegram to the conspirator at Bulawayo:
+
+"Your friend N'jube was divided between love and empire, but he has
+decided to marry the Fingo girl. It is better that he should settle
+down in Kimberley and be occupied in creating a family than to plot at
+Bulawayo to stab you in the stomach."
+
+This ended the conspiracy, and N'jube lived happily and peacefully ever
+afterwards.
+
+Rhodes was an incorrigible imperialist as this story shows. Upon one
+occasion at Bulawayo he was discussing the Carnegie Library idea with
+his friend and associate, Sir Abe Bailey, a leading financial and
+political figure in the Cape Colony.
+
+"What would you do if you had Carnegie's money?" asked Bailey.
+
+"I wouldn't waste it on libraries," he replied. "I would seize a South
+American Republic and annex it to the United States."
+
+Rhodes had great admiration for America. He once said to Bailey: "The
+greatest thing in the world would be the union of the English-speaking
+people. I wouldn't mind if Washington were the capital." He believed
+implicitly in the invincibility of the Anglo-Saxon race, and he gave his
+life and his fortune to advance the British part of it.
+
+For the last I have reserved the experience that will always rank first
+in my remembrance of Rhodesia. It was my visit to the grave of Rhodes.
+Most people who go to Rhodesia make this pilgrimage, for in the
+well-known tourist language of Mr. Cook, like Victoria Falls, it is "one
+of the things to see." I was animated by a different motive. I had often
+read about it and I longed to view the spot that so eloquently
+symbolized the vision and the imagination of the man I admired.
+
+The grave is about twenty-eight miles from Bulawayo, in the heart of the
+Matopo Hills. You follow the road along which the body was carried
+nineteen years ago. You see the native hut where Rhodes often lived and
+in which the remains rested for the night on the final journey. You pass
+from the green low-lands to the bare frontiers of the rocky domain where
+the Matabeles fled after the second war and where the Father of Rhodesia
+held his historic parleys with them.
+
+Soon the way becomes so difficult that you must leave the motor and
+continue on foot. The Matopos are a wild and desolate range. It is not
+until you are well beyond the granite outposts that there bursts upon
+you an immense open area,--a sort of amphitheatre in which the Druids
+might have held their weird ritual. Directly ahead you see a battlement
+of boulders projected by some immemorial upheaval. Intrenched between
+them is the spot where Rhodes rests and which is marked by a brass plate
+bearing the words: "Here Lie the Remains of Cecil John Rhodes." In his
+will he directed that the site be chosen and even wrote the simple
+inscription for the cover.
+
+When you stand on this eminence and look out on the grim, brooding
+landscape, you not only realize why Rhodes called it "The View of the
+World," but you also understand why he elected to sleep here. The
+loneliness and grandeur of the environment, with its absence of any sign
+of human life and habitation, convey that sense of aloofness which, in a
+man like Rhodes, is the inevitable penalty that true greatness exacts.
+The ages seem to be keeping vigil with his spirit.
+
+For eighteen years Rhodes slept here in solitary state. In 1920 the
+remains of Dr. Jameson were placed in a grave hewn out of the rock and
+located about one hundred feet from the spot where his old friend rests.
+It is peculiarly fitting that these two men who played such heroic part
+in the rise of Rhodesia should repose within a stone's throw of each
+other.
+
+During these last years I have seen some of the great things. They
+included the British Grand Fleet in battle array, Russia at the daybreak
+of democracy, the long travail of Verdun and the Somme, the first
+American flag on the battlefields of France, Armistice Day amid the
+tragedy of war, and all the rest of the panorama that those momentous
+days disclosed. But nothing perhaps was more moving than the silence and
+majesty that invested the grave of Cecil Rhodes. Instinctively there
+came to my mind the lines about him that Kipling wrote in "The Burial":
+
+        It is his will that he look forth
+          Across the world he won--
+        The granite of the ancient North--
+          Great spaces washed with sun.
+
+When I reached the bottom of the long incline on my way out I looked
+back. The sun was setting and those sentinel boulders bulked in the
+dying light. They seemed to incarnate something of the might and power
+of the personality that shaped Rhodesia, and made of it an annex of
+Empire.
+
+[Illustration: A KATANGA COPPER MINE]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV--THE CONGO TODAY
+
+
+I
+
+Unfold the map of Africa and you see a huge yellow area sprawling over
+the Equator, reaching down to Rhodesia on the south-east, and converging
+to a point on the Atlantic Coast. Equal in size to all Latin and
+Teutonic Europe, it is the abode of 6,000 white men and 12,000,000
+blacks. No other section of that vast empire of mystery is so packed
+with hazard and hardship, nor is any so bound up with American
+enterprise. Across it Stanley made his way in two epic expeditions.
+Livingstone gave it the glamour of his spiritualizing influence.
+Fourteen nations stood sponsor at its birth as a Free State and the
+whole world shook with controversy about its administration. Once the
+darkest domain of the Dark Continent, it is still the stronghold of the
+resisting jungle and the last frontier of civilization. It is the
+Belgian Congo.
+
+During these past years the veil has been lifted from the greater part
+of Africa. We are familiar with life and customs in the British, French,
+and to a certain degree, the Portuguese and one-time German colonies.
+But about the land inseparably associated with the economic
+statesmanship of King Leopold there still hangs a shroud of uncertainty
+as to regime and resource. Few people go there and its literature, save
+that which grew out of the atrocity campaign, is meager and
+unsatisfactory. To the vast majority of persons, therefore, the country
+is merely a name--a dab of colour on the globe. Its very distance lends
+enchantment and heightens the lure that always lurks in the unknown.
+What is it like? What is its place in the universal productive scheme?
+What of its future?
+
+I went to the Congo to find out. My journey there was the logical sequel
+to my visit to the Union of South Africa and Rhodesia, which I have
+already described. It seemed a pity not to take a plunge into the region
+that I had read about in the books of Stanley. In my childhood I heard
+him tell the story of some of his African experiences. The man and his
+narrative were unforgettable for he incarnated both the ideal and the
+adventure of journalism. He cast the spell of the Congo River over me
+and I lingered to see this mother of waters. Thus it came about that I
+not only followed Stanley's trail through the heart of Equatorial Africa
+but spent weeks floating down the historic stream, which like the rivers
+that figured in the Great War, has a distinct and definite human
+quality. The Marne, the Meuse, and the Somme are the Rivers of Valour.
+The Congo is the River of Adventure.
+
+In writing, as in everything else, preparedness is all essential. I
+learned the value of carrying proper credentials during the war, when
+every frontier and police official constituted himself a stumbling-block
+to progress. For the South African end of my adventure I provided myself
+with letters from Lloyd George and Smuts. In the Congo I realized that I
+would require equally powerful agencies to help me on my way. Wandering
+through sparsely settled Central Africa with its millions of natives,
+scattered white settlements, and restricted and sometimes primitive
+means of transport, was a far different proposition than travelling in
+the Cape Colony, the Transvaal, or Rhodesia, where there are through
+trains and habitable hotels.
+
+I knew that in the Congo the State was magic, and the King's name one to
+conjure with. Accordingly, I obtained what amounted to an order from the
+Belgian Colonial Office to all functionaries to help me in every
+possible way. This order, I might add, was really a command from King
+Albert, with whom I had an hour's private audience at Brussels before I
+sailed. As I sat in the simple office of the Palace and talked with this
+shy, tall, blonde, and really kingly-looking person, I could not help
+thinking of the last time I saw him. It was at La Panne during that
+terrible winter of 1916-1917, when the Germans were at the high tide of
+their success. The Belgian ruler had taken refuge in this bleak,
+sea-swept corner of Belgium and the only part of the country that had
+escaped the invader. He lived in a little chalet near the beach. Every
+day the King walked up and down on the sands while German aeroplanes
+flew overhead and the roar of the guns at Dixmude smote the ear. He was
+then leading what seemed to be a forlorn hope and he betrayed his
+anxiety in face and speech. Now I beheld him fresh and buoyant, and
+monarch of the only country in Europe that had really settled down to
+work.
+
+King Albert asked me many questions about my trip. He told me of his own
+journey through the Congo in 1908 (he was then Prince Albert), when he
+covered more than a thousand miles on foot. He said that he was glad
+that an American was going to write something about the Congo at first
+hand and he expressed his keen appreciation of the work of American
+capital in his big colony overseas. "I like America and Americans," he
+said, "and I hope that your country will not forget Europe." There was
+a warm clasp of the hand and I was off on the first lap of the journey
+that was to reel off more than twenty-six thousand miles of strenuous
+travel before I saw my little domicile in New York again.
+
+Before we invade the Congo let me briefly outline its history. It can be
+told in a few words although the narrative of its exploitations remains
+a serial without end. Prior to Stanley's memorable journey of
+exploration across Equatorial Africa which he described in "Through the
+Dark Continent," what is now the Congo was a blank spot on the map. No
+white man had traversed it. In the fifties Livingstone had opened up
+part of the present British East Africa and Nyassaland. In the Luapula
+and its tributaries he discovered the headwaters of the Congo River and
+then continued on to Victoria Falls and Rhodesia. After Stanley found
+the famous missionary at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika in 1872, he returned
+to Zanzibar. Hence the broad expanse of Central Africa from Nyassaland
+westward practically remained undiscovered until Stanley crossed it
+between 1874 and 1877, when he travelled from Stanley Falls, where the
+Congo River actually begins, down its expanse to the sea.
+
+As soon as Stanley's articles about the Congo began to appear, King
+Leopold, who was a shrewd business man, saw an opportunity for the
+expansion of his little country. Under his auspices several
+International Committees dedicated to African study were formed. He then
+sent Stanley back to the Congo in 1879, to organize a string of stations
+from the ocean up to Stanley Falls, now Stanleyville. In 1885 the famous
+Berlin Congress of Nations, presided over by Bismarck, recognized the
+Congo Free State, accepted Leopold as its sovereign, and the jungle
+domain took its place among recognized governments. The principal
+purposes animating the founders were the suppression of the slave trade
+and the conversion of the territory into a combined factory and a market
+for all the nations. It was largely due to Belgian initiative that the
+traffic in human beings which denuded all Central Africa of its bone and
+sinew every year, was brought to an end.
+
+The world is more or less familiar with subsequent Congo history. In
+1904 arose the first protest against the so-called atrocities
+perpetrated on the blacks, and the Congo became the center of an
+international dispute that nearly lost Belgium her only colonial
+possession. In the light of the revelations brought about by the Great
+War, and to which I have referred in a previous chapter, it is obvious
+that a considerable part of this crusade had its origin in Germany and
+was fomented by Germanophiles of the type of Sir Roger Casement, who was
+hanged in the Tower of London. During the World War E. D. Morel, his
+principal associate in the atrocity campaign, served a jail sentence in
+England for attempting to smuggle a seditious document into an enemy
+country.
+
+With the atrocity business we are not concerned. The only atrocities
+that I saw in the Congo were the slaughter of my clothes on the native
+washboard, usually a rock, and the American jitney that broke down and
+left me stranded in the Kasai jungle. As a matter of fact, the Belgian
+rule in the Congo has swung round to another extreme, for the Negro
+there has more freedom of movement and less responsibility for action
+than in any other African colony. To round out this brief history, the
+Congo was ceded to Belgium in 1908 and has been a Belgian colony ever
+since.
+
+We can now go on with the journey. From Bulawayo I travelled northward
+for three days past Victoria Falls and Broken Hill, through the
+undeveloped reaches of Northern Rhodesia, where you can sometimes see
+lion-tracks from the car windows, and where the naked Barotses emerge
+from the wilds and stare in big-eyed wonder at the passing trains. Until
+recently the telegraph service was considerably impaired by the
+curiosity of elephants who insisted upon knocking down the poles.
+
+While I was in South Africa alarming reports were published about a
+strike in the Congo and I was afraid that it would interfere with my
+journey. This strike was without doubt one of the most unique in the
+history of all labor troubles. The whole Congo administration "walked
+out," when their request for an increase in pay was refused. The
+strikers included Government agents, railway, telegraph and telephone
+employes, and steamboat captains. Even the one-time cannibals employed
+on all public construction quit work. It was a natural procedure for
+them. Not a wheel turned; no word went over the wires; navigation on the
+rivers ceased. The country was paralyzed. Happily for me it was settled
+before I left Bulawayo.
+
+Late at night I crossed the Congo border and stopped for the customs at
+Sakania. At once I realized the potency that lay in my royal credentials
+for all traffic was tied up until I was expedited. I also got the
+initial surprise of the many that awaited me in this part of the world.
+In the popular mind the Congo is an annex of the Inferno. I can vouch
+for the fact that some sections break all heat records. The air that
+greeted me, however, might have been wafted down from Greenland's icy
+mountain, for I was chilled to the bone. In the flickering light of
+the station the natives shivered in their blankets. The atmosphere was
+anything but tropical yet I was almost within striking distance of the
+Equator. The reason for this frigidity was that I had entered the
+confines of the Katanga, the most healthful and highly developed
+province of the Congo and a plateau four thousand feet above sea level.
+
+[Illustration: LORD LEVERHULME]
+
+[Illustration: ROBERT WILLIAMS]
+
+The next afternoon I arrived at Elizabethville, named for the Queen of
+the Belgians, capital of the province, and center of the copper
+activity. Here I touched two significant things. One was the group of
+American engineers who have developed the technical side of mining in
+the Katanga as elsewhere in the Congo; the other was a contact with the
+industry which produces a considerable part of the wealth of the Colony.
+
+There is a wide impression that the Congo is entirely an agricultural
+country. Although it has unlimited possibilities in this direction, the
+reverse, for the moment, is true. The 900,000 square miles of area (it
+is eighty-eight times the size of Belgium) have scarcely been scraped by
+the hand of man, although Nature has been prodigal in her share of the
+development. Wild rubber, the gathering of which loosed the storm about
+King Leopold's head, is nearly exhausted because of the one-time
+ruthless harvesting. Cotton and coffee are infant industries. The
+principal product of the soil, commercially, is the fruit of the palm
+tree and here Nature again does most of the ground work.
+
+Mining is, in many respects, the chief operation and the Katanga, which
+is really one huge mine, principally copper, is the most prosperous
+region so far as bulk of output is concerned. Since this area figures so
+prominently in the economic annals of the country it is worth more than
+passing attention. Like so many parts of Africa, its exploitation is
+recent. For years after Livingstone planted the gospel there, it
+continued to be the haunt of warlike tribes. The earliest white visitors
+observed that the natives wore copper ornaments and trafficked in a rude
+St. Andrew's cross--it was the coin of the country--fashioned out of
+metal. When prospectors came through in the eighties and nineties they
+found scores of old copper mines which had been worked by the aborigines
+many decades ago. Before the advent of civilization the Katanga blacks
+dealt mainly in slaves and in copper.
+
+The real pioneer of development in the Katanga is an Englishman, Robert
+Williams, a friend and colleague of Cecil Rhodes, and who constructed,
+as you may possibly recall, the link in the Cape-to-Cairo Railway from
+Broken Hill in Northern Rhodesia to the Congo border. He has done for
+Congo copper what Lord Leverhulme has accomplished for palm fruit and
+Thomas F. Ryan for diamonds. Congo progress is almost entirely due to
+alien capital.
+
+Williams, who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, went out to Africa in 1881
+to take charge of some mining machinery at one of the Kimberley diamond
+mines. Here he met Rhodes and an association began which continued until
+the death of the empire builder. On his death-bed Rhodes asked Williams
+to continue the Cape-to-Cairo project. In the acquiescence to this
+request the Katanga indirectly owes much of its advance. Thus the
+constructive influence of the Colossus of South Africa extends beyond
+the British dominions.
+
+In building the Broken Hill Railway Williams was prompted by two
+reasons. One was to carry on the Rhodes project; the other was to link
+up what he believed to be a whole new mineral world to the needs of
+man. Nor was he working in the dark. Late in the nineties he had sent
+George Grey, a brother of Sir Edward, now Viscount Grey, through the
+present Katanga region on a prospecting expedition. Grey discovered
+large deposits of copper and also tin, lead, iron, coal, platinum, and
+diamonds. Williams now organized the company known as the Tanganyika
+Concessions, which became the instigator of Congo copper mining.
+Subsequently the Union Miniere du Haut Kantanga was formed by leading
+Belgian colonial capitalists and the Tanganyika Concessions acquired
+more than forty per cent of its capital. The Union Miniere took over all
+the concessions and discoveries of the British corporation. The Union
+Miniere is now the leading industrial institution in the Katanga and its
+story is really the narrative of a considerable phase of Congo
+development.
+
+Within ten years it has grown from a small prospecting outfit in the
+wilderness, two hundred and fifty miles from a railway, to an industry
+employing at the time of my visit more than 1,000 white men and 15,000
+blacks. It operates four completely equipped mines which produced nearly
+30,000 tons of copper in 1917, and a smelter with an annual capacity of
+40,000 tons of copper. A concentrator capable of handling 4,000 tons of
+ore per day is nearing completion. This bustling industrial community
+was the second surprise that the Congo disclosed.
+
+Equally remarkable is the mushroom growth of Elizabethville, the one
+wonder town of the Congo. In 1910, when the railway arrived, it was a
+geographical expression,--a spot in the jungle dominated by the huge
+ant-hills that you find throughout Central Africa, some of them forty
+feet high. The white population numbered thirty. I found it a thriving
+place with over 2,000 whites and 12,000 blacks. There are one third as
+many white people in the Katanga Province as in all the rest of the
+Congo combined, and its area is scarcely a fourth of that of the colony.
+
+The father of Elizabethville is General Emile Wangermee, one of the
+picturesque figures in Congo history. He came out in the early days of
+the Free State, fought natives, and played a big part in the settlement
+of the country. He has been Governor-General of the Colony,
+Vice-Governor-General of the Katanga and is now Honorary Vice-Governor.
+In the primitive period he went about, after the Congo fashion, on a
+bicycle, in flannel shirt and leggins and he continued this
+rough-and-ready attire when he became a high-placed civil servant.
+
+Upon one occasion it was announced that the Vice-Governor of the Katanga
+would visit Kambove. The station agent made elaborate preparations for
+his reception. Shortly before the time set for his arrival a man
+appeared on the platform looking like one of the many prospectors who
+frequented the country. The station agent approached him and said, "You
+will have to move on. We are expecting the Vice-Governor of the
+Katanga." The supposed prospector refused to move and the agent
+threatened to use force. He was horrified a few minutes later to find
+his rough customer being received by all the functionaries of the
+district. Wangermee had arrived ahead of time and had not bothered to
+change his clothes.
+
+When I rode in a motor car down Elizabethville's broad, electric-lighted
+avenues and saw smartly-dressed women on the sidewalks, beheld Belgians
+playing tennis on well-laid-out courts on one side, and Englishmen at
+golf on the other, it was difficult to believe that ten years ago this
+was the bush. I lunched in comfortable brick houses and dined at night
+in a club where every man wore evening clothes. I kept saying to myself,
+"Is this really the Congo?" Everywhere I heard English spoken. This was
+due to the large British interest in the Union Miniere and the presence
+of so many American engineers. The Katanga is, with the exception of
+certain palm fruit areas, the bulwark of British interests in the Congo.
+The American domain is the Upper Kasai district.
+
+Conspicuous among the Americans at Elizabethville was Preston K. Horner,
+who constructed the smelter plant and who was made General Manager of
+the Union Miniere in 1913. He spans the whole period of Katanga
+development for he first arrived in 1909. Associated with him were
+various Americans including Frank Kehew, Superintendent of the smelter,
+Thomas Carnahan, General Superintendent of Mines, Daniel Butner,
+Superintendent of the Kambove Mine, the largest of the Katanga group,
+Thomas Yale, who is in charge of the construction of the immense
+concentration plant at Likasi, and A. Brooks, Manager of the Western
+Mine. For some years A. E. Wheeler, a widely-known American engineer,
+has been Consulting Engineer of the Union Miniere, with Frederick Snow
+as assistant. Since my return from Africa Horner has retired as General
+Manager and Wheeler has become the ranking American. Practically all the
+Yankee experts in the Katanga are graduates of the Anaconda or Utah
+Mines.
+
+With Horner I travelled by motor through the whole Katanga copper belt.
+I visited, first of all, the famous Star of the Congo Mine, eight miles
+from Elizabethville, and which was the cornerstone of the entire metal
+development. Next came the immense excavation at Kambove where I watched
+American steam shovels in charge of Americans, gouging the copper ore
+out of the sides of the hills. I saw the huge concentrating plant rising
+almost like magic out of the jungle at Likasi. Here again an American
+was in control. At Fungurume I spent the night in a native house in the
+heart of one of the loveliest of valleys whose verdant walls will soon
+be gashed by shovels and discoloured with ore oxide. Over all the area
+the Anglo-Saxon has laid his galvanizing hand. One reason is that there
+are few Belgian engineers of large mining experience. Another is that
+the American, by common consent, is the one executive who gets things
+done in the primitive places.
+
+I cannot leave the Congo copper empire without referring to another
+Robert Williams achievement which is not without international
+significance. Like other practical men of affairs with colonial
+experience, he realized long before the outbreak of the Great War
+something of the extent and menace of the German ambition in Africa. As
+I have previously related, the Kaiser blocked his scheme to run the
+Cape-to-Cairo Railway between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu, after King
+Leopold had granted him the concession. Williams wanted to help Rhodes
+and he wanted to help himself. His chief problem was to get the copper
+from the Katanga to Europe in the shortest possible time. Most of it is
+refined in England and Belgium. At present it goes out by way of
+Bulawayo and is shipped from the port of Beira in Portuguese East
+Africa. This involves a journey of 9,514 miles from Kambove to London.
+How was this haul to be shortened through an agency that would be proof
+against the German intrigue and ingenuity?
+
+[Illustration: ON THE LUALABA]
+
+[Illustration: A VIEW ON THE KASAI]
+
+Williams cast his eye over Africa. On the West Coast he spotted Lobito
+Bay, a land-locked harbour twenty miles north of Benguella, one of the
+principal parts of Angola, a Portuguese colony. From it he ran a line
+straight from Kambove across the wilderness and found that it covered a
+distance of approximately 1,300 miles. He said to himself, "This is the
+natural outlet of the Katanga and the short-cut to England and Belgium."
+He got a concession from the Portuguese Government and work began. The
+Germans tried in every way to block the project for it interfered with
+their scheme to "benevolently" assimilate Angola.
+
+At the time of my visit to the Congo three hundred and twenty miles of
+the Benguella Railway, as it is called, had been constructed and a
+section of one hundred miles or more was about to be started. The line
+will pass through Ruwe, which is an important center of gold production
+in the Katanga, and connect up with the Katanga Railway just north of
+Kambove. It is really a link in the Cape-to-Cairo system and when
+completed will shorten the freight haul from the copper fields to London
+by three thousand miles, as compared with the present Biera itinerary.
+
+There is every indication that the Katanga will justify the early
+confidence that Williams had in it and become one of the great
+copper-producing centers of the world. Experts with whom I have talked
+in America believe that it can in time reach a maximum output of 150,000
+tons a year. The ores are of a very high grade and since the Union
+Miniere owns more than one hundred mines, of which only six or seven are
+partially developed, the future seems safe.
+
+Copper is only one phase of the Katanga mineral treasure. Coal, iron,
+and tin have not only been discovered in quantity but are being mined
+commercially. Oil-shale is plentiful on the Congo River near
+Ponthierville and good indications of oil are recorded in other places.
+The discovery of oil in Central Africa would have a great influence on
+the development of transportation since it would supply fuel for
+steamers, railways, and motor transport. There is already a big oil
+production in Angola and there is little doubt that an important field
+awaits development in the Congo.
+
+It is not generally realized that Africa today produces the three most
+valuable of all known minerals in the largest quantities, or has the
+biggest potentialities. The Rand yields more than fifty per cent of the
+entire gold supply and ranks as the most valuable of all gold fields.
+Ninety-five per cent of the diamond output comes from the Kimberley and
+associated mines, German South-West Africa, and the Congo. The Katanga
+contains probably the greatest reserve of copper in existence. Now you
+can see why the eye of the universe is being focused on this region.
+
+
+II
+
+When I left Elizabethville I bade farewell to the comforts of life. I
+mean, for example, such things as ice, bath-tubs, and running water.
+There is enough water in the Congo to satisfy the most ardent teetotaler
+but unfortunately it does not come out of faucets. Most of it flows in
+rivers, but very little of it gets inside the population, white or
+otherwise.
+
+Speaking of water brings to mind one of the useful results of such a
+trip as mine. Isolation in the African wilds gives you a new
+appreciation of what in civilization is regarded as the commonplace
+things. Take the simple matter of a hair-cut. There are only two barbers
+in the whole Congo. One is at Elizabethville and the other at Kinshassa,
+on the Lower Congo, nearly two thousand miles away. My locks were not
+shorn for seven weeks. I had to do what little trimming there was done
+with a safety razor and it involved quite an acrobatic feat. Take
+shaving. The water in most of the Congo rivers is dirty and full of
+germs. More than once I lathered my face with mineral water out of a
+bottle. The Congo River proper is a muddy brown. For washing purposes it
+must be treated with a few tablets of permanganate of potassium which
+colours it red. It is like bathing in blood.
+
+Since my journey from Katanga onward was through the heart of Africa,
+perhaps it may be worth while to tell briefly of the equipment required
+for such an expedition. Although I travelled for the most part in the
+greatest comfort that the Colony afforded, it was necessary to prepare
+for any emergency. In the Congo you must be self-sufficient and
+absolutely independent of the country. This means that you carry your
+own bed and bedding (usually a folding camp-bed), bath-tub, food,
+medicine-chest, and cooking utensils.
+
+No detail was more essential than the mosquito net under which I slept
+every night for nearly four months. Insects are the bane of Africa. The
+mosquito carries malaria, and the tsetse fly is the harbinger of that
+most terrible of diseases, sleeping sickness. Judging from personal
+experience nearly every conceivable kind of biting bug infests the
+Congo. One of the most tenacious and troublesome of the little visitors
+is the jigger, which has an uncomfortable habit of seeking a soft spot
+under the toe-nail. Once lodged it is extremely difficult to get him
+out. These pests are mainly found in sandy soil and give the Negroes who
+walk about barefooted unending trouble.
+
+No less destructive is the dazzling sun. Five minutes exposure to it
+without a helmet means a prostration and twenty minutes spells death.
+Stanley called the country so inseparably associated with his name
+"Fatal Africa," but he did not mean the death that lay in the murderous
+black hand. He had in mind the thousand and one dangers that beset the
+stranger who does not observe the strictest rules of health and diet.
+From the moment of arrival the body undergoes an entirely new
+experience. Men succumb because they foolishly think they can continue
+the habits of civilization. Alcohol is the curse of all the hot
+countries. The wise man never takes a drink until the sun sets and then,
+if he continues to be wise, he imbibes only in moderation. The morning
+"peg" and the lunch-time cocktail have undermined more health in the
+tropics than all the flies and mosquitoes combined.
+
+The Duke of Wellington recommended a formula for India which may well be
+applied to the Congo. The doughty old warrior once said:
+
+    I know but one recipe for good health in this country, and that is
+    to live moderately, to drink little or no wine, to use exercise, to
+    keep the mind employed, and, if possible, to keep in good humour
+    with the world. The last is the most difficult, for as you have
+    often observed, there is scarcely a good-tempered man in India.
+
+If a man will practice moderation in all things, take five grains of
+quinine every day, exercise whenever it is possible, and keep his body
+clean, he has little to fear from the ordinary diseases of a country
+like the Congo. It is one of the ironies of civilization that after
+passing unscathed through all the fever country, I caught a cold the
+moment I got back to steam-heat and all the comforts of home.
+
+No one would think of using ordinary luggage in the Congo. Everything
+must be packed and conveyed in metal boxes similar to the uniform cases
+used by British officers in Egypt and India. This is because the white
+ant is the prize destroyer of property throughout Africa. He cuts
+through leather and wood with the same ease that a Southern Negro's
+teeth lacerate watermelon. Leave a pair of shoes on the ground over
+night and you will find them riddled in the morning. These ants eat away
+floors and sometimes cause the collapse of houses by wearing away the
+wooden supports. Another frequent guest is the driver ant, which travels
+in armies and frequently takes complete possession of a house. It
+destroys all the vermin but the human inmates must beat a retreat while
+the process goes on.
+
+Since my return many people have asked me what books I read in the
+Congo. The necessity for them was apparent. I had more than three months
+of constant travelling, often alone, and for the most part on small
+river boats where there is no deck space for exercise. Mail arrives
+irregularly and there were no newspapers. After one or two days the
+unceasing panorama of tropical forests, native villages, and naked
+savages becomes monotonous. Even the hippopotami which you see in large
+numbers, the omnipresent crocodile, and the occasional wild elephant,
+cease to amuse. You are forced to fall back on that unfailing friend and
+companion, a good book.
+
+I therefore carried with me the following books in handy volume
+size:--Montaigne's Essays, Palgrave's Golden Treasury of English Verse,
+Lockhart's Life of Napoleon, Autobiography of Cellini, Don Quixote, The
+Three Musketeers, Lorna Doone, Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and The
+Conquest of Peru, Les Miserables, Vanity Fair, Life and Writings of
+Benjamin Franklin, Pepys' Diary, Carlyle's French Revolution, The Last
+of the Mohicans, Westward Ho, Bleak House, The Pickwick Papers, A Tale
+of Two Cities, and Tolstoi's War and Peace. When these became exhausted
+I was hard put for reading matter. At a post on the Kasai River the only
+English book I could find was Arnold Bennett's The Pretty Lady, which
+had fallen into the hands of an official, who was trying to learn
+English with it. It certainly gave him a hectic start.
+
+Then, too, there was the eternal servant problem, no less vexing in that
+land of servants than elsewhere. I had cabled to Horner to engage me two
+personal servants or "boys" as they are called in Africa. When I got
+to Elizabethville I found that he had secured two. In addition to
+Swahili, the main native tongue in those parts, one spoke English and
+the other French, the official language in the Congo. I did not like the
+looks of the English-speaking barbarian so I took a chance on Number
+Two, whose name was Gerome. He was a so-called "educated" native. I was
+to find from sad experience that his "education" was largely in the
+direction of indolence and inefficiency. I thought that by having a boy
+with whom I had to speak French I could improve my command of the
+language. Later on I realized my mistake because my French is a
+non-conductor of profanity.
+
+[Illustration: A STATION SCENE AT KONGOLA]
+
+Gerome had a wife. In the Congo, where all wives are bought, the consort
+constitutes the husband's fortune, being cook, tiller of the ground,
+beast-of-burden and slave generally. I had no desire to incumber myself
+with this black Venus, so I made Gerome promise that he would not take
+her along. I left him behind at Elizabethville, for I proceeded to
+Fungurume with Horner by automobile. He was to follow by train with my
+luggage and have the private car, which I had chartered for the journey
+to Bukama, ready for me on my arrival. When I showed up at Fungurume the
+first thing I saw was Gerome's wife, with her ample proportions swathed
+in scarlet calico, sunning herself on the platform of the car. He could
+not bring himself to cook his own food although willing enough to cook
+mine.
+
+I paid Gerome forty Belgian francs a month, which, at the rate of
+exchange then prevailing, was considerably less than three dollars. I
+also had to give him a weekly allowance of five francs (about thirty
+cents) for his food. To the American employer of servants these figures
+will be somewhat illuminating and startling.
+
+One more human interest detail before we move on. In Africa every white
+man gets a name from the natives. This appellation usually expresses his
+chief characteristic. The first title fastened on me was "_Bwana Cha
+Cha_," which means "The Master Who is Quick." When I first heard this
+name I thought it was a reflection on my appetite because "_Cha Cha_" is
+pronounced "Chew Chew." Subsequently, in the Upper Congo and the Kasai I
+was called "_Mafutta Mingi_," which means "Much Fat." I must explain in
+self-defense that in the Congo I ate much more than usual, first because
+something in the atmosphere makes you hungry, and second, a good
+appetite is always an indication of health in the tropics.
+
+Still another name that I bore was "_Tala Tala_," which means spectacles
+in practically all the Congo dialects. There are nearly two hundred
+tribes and each has a distinctive tongue. In many sections that I
+visited the natives had never seen a pair of tortoise shell glasses such
+as I wear during the day. The children fled from me shrieking in terror
+and thinking that I was a sorcerer. Even gifts of food, the one
+universal passport to the native heart, failed to calm their fears.
+
+The Congo native, let me add, is a queer character. The more I saw of
+him, the greater became my admiration for King Leopold. In his present
+state the only rule must be a strong rule. No one would ever think of
+thanking a native for a service. It would be misunderstood because the
+black man out there mistakes kindness for weakness. You must be firm but
+just. Now you can see why explorers, upon emerging from long stays in
+the jungle, appear to be rude and ill-mannered. It is simply because
+they had to be harsh and at times unfeeling, and it becomes a habit.
+Stanley, for example, was often called a boor and a brute when in
+reality he was merely hiding a fine nature behind the armour necessary
+to resist native imposition and worse.
+
+
+III
+
+The private car on which I travelled from Fungurume to Bukama was my
+final taste of luxury. When Horner waved me a good-bye north I realized
+that I was divorcing myself from comfort and companionship. In thirty
+hours I was in sun-scorched Bukama, the southern rail-head of the
+Cape-to-Cairo Route and my real jumping-off place before plunging into
+the mysteries of Central Africa.
+
+Here begins the historic Lualaba, which is the initial link in the
+almost endless chain of the Congo River. I at once went aboard the first
+of the boats which were to be my habitation intermittently for so many
+weeks. It was the "Louis Cousin," a 150-ton vessel and a fair example of
+the draft which provides the principal means of transportation in the
+Congo. Practically all transit not on the hoof, so to speak, in the
+Colony is by water. There are more than twelve thousand miles of rivers
+navigable for steamers and twice as many more accessible for canoes and
+launches. Hence the river-boat is a staple, and a picturesque one at
+that.
+
+The "Louis Cousin" was typical of her kind both in appointment, or
+rather the lack of it, and human interest details. Like all her sisters
+she resembles the small Ohio River boats that I had seen in my boyhood
+at Louisville. All Congo steam craft must be stern-wheelers, first
+because they usually haul barges on either side, and secondly because
+there are so many sand-banks. The few cabins--all you get is the bare
+room--are on the upper deck, which is the white man's domain, while the
+boiler and freight--human and otherwise--are on the lower. This is the
+bailiwick of the black. These boats always stop at night for wood, the
+only fuel, and the natives are compelled to go ashore and sleep on the
+bank.
+
+The Congo river-boat is a combination of fortress, hotel, and menagerie.
+Like the "accommodation" train in our own Southern States, it is most
+obliging because it will stop anywhere to enable a passenger to get off
+and do a little shopping, or permit the captain to take a meal ashore
+with a friendly State official yearning for human society.
+
+The river captain is a versatile individual for he is steward, doctor,
+postman, purveyor of news, and dictator in general. He alone makes the
+schedule of each trip, arriving and departing at will. Time in the Congo
+counts for naught. It is in truth the land of leisure. For the man who
+wants to move fast, water travel is a nightmare. Accustomed as I was to
+swift transport, I spent a year every day.
+
+The skipper of the "Louis Cousin" was no exception to his kind.
+He was a big Norwegian named Behn,--many of his colleagues are
+Scandinavians,--and he had spent eighteen years in the Congo. He knew
+every one of the thousand nooks, turns, snags and sand-bars of the
+Lualaba. One of the first things that impressed me was the uncanny
+ingenuity with which all the Congo boats are navigated through what
+seems at first glance to be a mass of vegetation and obstruction.
+
+The bane of traffic is the sand-bar, which on account of the swift
+currents everywhere, is an eternally changing quantity. Hence a native
+is constantly engaged in taking soundings with a long stick. You can
+hear his not unmusical voice, from the moment the boat starts until she
+ties up for the night. The native word for water is "_mia_." Whenever I
+heard the cry "_mia mitani_," I knew that we were all right because that
+meant five feet of water. With the exception of the Congo River no boat
+can draw more than three feet because in the dry season even the
+mightiest of streams declines to an almost incredibly low level.
+
+My white fellow passengers on the "Louis Cousin" were mostly Belgians on
+their way home by way of Stanleyville and the Congo River, after years
+of service in the Colony. We all ate together in the tiny dining saloon
+forward with the captain, who usually provides the "chop," as it is
+called. I now made the acquaintance of goat as an article of food. The
+young nanny is not undesirable as an occasional novelty but when she is
+served up to you every day, it becomes a trifle monotonous.
+
+The one rival of the goat in the Congo daily menu is the chicken, the
+mainstay of the country. I know a man who spent six years in the Congo
+and he kept a record of every fowl he consumed. When he started for home
+the total registered exactly three thousand. It is no uncommon
+experience. Occasionally a friendly hunter brought antelope or buffalo
+aboard but goat and fowl, reinforced by tinned goods and an occasional
+egg, constituted the bill of fare. You may wonder, perhaps, that in a
+country which is a continuous chicken-coop, there should be a scarcity
+of eggs. The answer lies in the fact that during the last few years the
+natives have conceived a sudden taste for eggs. Formerly they were
+afraid to eat them.
+
+Of course, there was always an abundance of fruit. You can get
+pineapples, grape fruit, oranges, bananas and a first cousin of the
+cantaloupe, called the _pei pei_, which when sprinkled with lime juice
+is most delicious. Bananas can be purchased for five cents a bunch of
+one hundred. It is about the only cheap thing in the Congo except
+servants.
+
+[Illustration: A NATIVE MARKET AT KINDU]
+
+Not all my fellow passengers were desirable companions. At Bukana five
+naked savages, all chained together by the neck, were brought aboard in
+charge of three native soldiers. When I asked the captain who and what
+they were he replied, "They are cannibals. They ate two of their fellow
+tribesmen back in the jungle last week and they are going down the river
+to be tried." These were the first eaters of human flesh that I saw in
+the Congo. One conspicuous detail was their teeth which were all filed
+down to sharp points. I later discovered that these wolf teeth, as they
+might be called, are common to all the Congo cannibals. The punishment
+for cannibalism is death, although every native, whatever his offence,
+is given a trial by the Belgian authorities.
+
+So far as employing the white man as an article of diet is concerned,
+cannibalism has ceased in the Congo. Some of the tribes, however, still
+regard the flesh of their own kind as the last word in edibles. The
+practice must be carried on in secret. To have partaken of the human
+body has long been regarded as an act which endows the consumer with
+almost supernatural powers. The cannibal has always justified his
+procedure in a characteristic way. When the early explorers and
+missionaries protested against the barbarous performance they were
+invariably met with this reply, "You eat fowl and goats and we eat men.
+What is the difference?" There seems to have been a particular lure in
+what the native designated as "food that once talked."
+
+In the days when cannibalism was rampant, the liver of the white man was
+looked upon as a special delicacy for the reason that it was supposed to
+transmit the knowledge and courage of its former owner. There was also a
+tradition that once having eaten the heart of the white, no harm could
+come to the barbarian who performed this amiable act. Although these
+odious practices have practically ceased except in isolated instances,
+the Congo native, in boasting of his strength, constantly speaks of his
+liver, and not of his heart.
+
+It was on the Lualaba, after the boat had tied up for the night, that I
+caught the first whisper of the jungle. In Africa Nature is in her
+frankest mood but she expresses herself in subdued tones. All my life I
+had read of the witchery of these equatorial places, but no description
+is ever adequate. You must live with them to catch the magic. No
+painter, for instance, can translate to canvas the elusive and
+ever-changing verdure of the dense forests under the brilliant tropical
+sun, nor can those elements of mystery with their suggestion of wild
+bird and beast that lurk everywhere at night, be reproduced. Life flows
+on like a moving dream that is exotic, enervating, yet intoxicating.
+
+Accustomed as I was to dense populations, the loneliness of the Lualaba
+was weird and haunting. On the Mississippi, Ohio, and Hudson rivers in
+America and on the Seine, the Thames, and the Spree in Europe, you see
+congested human life and hear a vast din. In Africa, and with the
+possible exception of some parts of the Nile, Nature reigns with almost
+undisputed sway. Settlements appear at rare intervals. You only
+encounter an occasional native canoe. The steamers frequently tie up at
+night at some sand-bank and you fall asleep invested by an uncanny
+silence.
+
+I spent six days on the Lualaba where we made many stops to take on and
+put off freight. Many of these halts were at wood-posts where our supply
+of fuel was renewed. At one post I found a lonely Scotch trader who had
+been in the Congo fifteen years. Every night he puts on his kilts and
+parades through the native village playing the bagpipes. It is his one
+touch with home. At another place I had a brief visit with another
+Scotchman, a veteran of the World War, who had established a prosperous
+plantation and who goes about in a khaki kilt, much to the joy of the
+natives, who see in his bare knees a kinship with themselves.
+
+At Kabalo I touched the war zone. This post marks the beginning of the
+railway that runs eastward to Lake Tanganyika and which Rhodes included
+in one of his Cape-to-Cairo routes. Along this road travelled the
+thousands of Congo fighting men on their way to the scene of hostilities
+in German East Africa.
+
+When the Great War broke out the Belgian Colonial Government held that
+the Berlin Treaty of 1885, entitled "A General Act Relating to
+Civilization in Africa" and prohibiting warfare in the Congo basin,
+should be enforced. This treaty gave birth to the Congo Free State and
+made it an international and peaceful area under Belgian sovereignty.
+Following their usual fashion the Germans looked upon this document as a
+"scrap of paper" and attached Lukuga. This forced the Belgian Congo into
+the conflict. About 20,000 native troops were mobilized and under the
+command of General Tambeur, who is now Vice-Governor General of the
+Katanga, co-operated with the British throughout the entire East African
+campaign. The Belgians captured Tabora, one of the German strongholds,
+and helped to clear the Teuton out of the country.
+
+Lake Tanganyika was the scene of one of the most brilliant and
+spectacular naval battles of the war. Two British motor launches, which
+were conveyed in sections all the way from England, sank a German
+gunboat and disabled another, thus purging those waters of the German.
+The lake was of great strategic importance for the transport of food and
+munitions for the Allied troops in German East Africa. It is one of the
+loveliest inland bodies of water in the world for it is fringed with
+wooded heights and is navigable throughout its entire length of four
+hundred miles. Ujiji, on its eastern shore, is the memorable spot where
+Stanley found Livingstone. The house where the illustrious missionary
+lived still stands, and is an object of veneration both for black and
+white visitors.
+
+From Kabalo I proceeded to Kongolo, where navigation on the Lualaba
+temporarily ends. It is the usual Congo settlement with the official
+residence of the Commissaire of the District, office of the Native
+Commissioner, and a dozen stores. It is also the southern rail-head of
+the Chemin de Fer Grands Lacs, which extends to Stanleyville. Early in
+the morning I boarded what looked to me like a toy train, for it was
+tinier than any I had ever seen before, and started for Kindu. The
+journey occupies two days and traverses a highly Arabized section.
+
+Back in the days when Tippo Tib, the friend of Stanley, was king of the
+Arab slave traders, this area was his hunting ground. Many of the
+natives are Mohammedans and wear turbans and long flowing robes. Their
+cleanliness is in sharp contrast with the lack of sanitary precautions
+observed by the average unclothed native. The only blacks who wash every
+day in the Congo are those who live on the rivers. The favorite method
+of cleansing in the bush country is to scrape off a week's or a month's
+accumulation of mud with a stick or a piece of glass.
+
+In the Congo the trains, like the boats, stop for the night. Various
+causes are responsible for the procedure. In the early days of
+railroading elephants and other wild animals frequently tore up the
+tracks. Another contributory reason is that the carriages are only built
+for day travel. Native houses are provided for the traveller at
+different points on the line. Since everyone carries his own bed it is
+easy to establish sleeping quarters without delay or inconvenience. On
+this particular trip I slept at Malela, in the house ordinarily occupied
+by the Chief Engineer of the line. The Minister of the Colonies had used
+it the night before and it was scrupulously clean. I must admit that I
+have had greater discomfort in metropolitan hotels.
+
+I was now in the almost absolute domain of the native. The only white
+men that I encountered were an occasional priest and a still more
+occasional trader. At Kibombo the train stopped for the mail. When I got
+out to stretch my legs I saw a man and a woman who looked unmistakably
+American. The man had Texas written all over him for he was tall and
+lank and looked as if he had spent his life on the ranges. He came
+toward me smiling and said, "The Minister of the Colonies was through
+here yesterday in a special train and he said that an American
+journalist was following close behind, so I came down to see you." The
+man proved to be J. G. Campbell, who had come to install an American
+cotton gin nine kilometers from where we were standing. His wife was
+with him and she was the only white woman within two hundred miles.
+
+Campbell is a link with one of the new Congo industries, which is cotton
+cultivation. The whole area between Kongolo and Stanleyville,
+three-fourths of which is one vast tropical forest, has immense
+stretches ideally adapted for cotton growing. The Belgian Government has
+laid out experimental plantations and they are thriving. In 1919 four
+thousand acres were cultivated in the Manyema district, six thousand in
+the Sankuru-Kasai region, and six hundred in the Lomami territory.
+Altogether the Colony produced 6,000,000 pounds of the raw staple in
+1920 and some of it was grown by natives who are being taught the art.
+The Congo Cotton Company has been formed at Brussels with a
+capitalization of 6,000,000 francs, to exploit the new industry, which
+is bound to be an important factor in the development of the Congo. It
+shows that the ruthless exploitation of the earlier days is succeeded by
+scientific and constructive expansion.
+
+Campbell's experience in setting up his American gin discloses the
+principal need of the Congo today which is adequate transport. Between
+its arrival at the mouth of the Congo River and Kibombo the mass of
+machinery was trans-shipped exactly four times, alternately changing
+from rail to river. At Kibombo the 550,000 pounds of metal had to be
+carried on the heads of natives to the scene of operations. In the Congo
+practically every ton of merchandise must be moved by man power--the
+average load is sixty pounds--through the greater part of its journey.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the day which marked the encounter with the
+Campbells I reached Kindu, where navigation on the Lualaba is resumed
+again. By this time you will have realized something of the difficulty
+of travelling in this part of the world. It was my third change since
+Bukama and more were to come before I reached the Lower Congo.
+
+[Illustration: NATIVE FISH TRAPS AT STANLEY FALLS]
+
+At Kindu I had a rare piece of luck. I fell in with Louis Franck, the
+Belgian Minister of the Colonies, to whom I had a letter of
+introduction, and who was making a tour of inspection of the Congo. He
+had landed at Mombassa, crossed British East Africa, visited the new
+Belgian possessions of Urundi and Ruanda which are spoils of war, and
+made his way to Kabalo from Lake Tanganyika. He asked me to accompany
+him to Stanleyville as his guest. I gladly accepted because, aside from
+the personal compensation afforded by his society, it meant immunity
+from worry about the river and train connections.
+
+Franck represents the new type of Colonial Minister. Instead of being a
+musty bureaucrat, as so many are, he is a live, alert progressive man of
+affairs who played a big part in the late war. To begin with, he is one
+of the foremost admiralty lawyers of Europe. When the Germans occupied
+Belgium he at once became conspicuous. He resisted the Teutonic scheme
+to separate the French and Flemish sections of the ravaged country.
+After the investment of Antwerp, his native place, accompanied by the
+Burgomaster and the Spanish Minister, he went to the German Headquarters
+and made the arrangement by which the city was saved from destruction by
+bombardment. He delayed this parley sufficiently to enable the Belgian
+Army to escape to the Yser. Subsequently his activities on behalf of his
+countrymen made him so distasteful to the Germans that he was imprisoned
+in Germany for nearly a year. For two months of this time he shared the
+noble exile of Monsieur Max, the heroic Burgomaster of Brussels.
+
+I now became an annex of what amounted to a royal progress. To the
+Belgian colonial official and to the native, Franck incarnated a sort of
+All Highest. In the Congo all functionaries are called "Bula Matadi,"
+which means "The Rock Breaker." It is the name originally bestowed on
+Stanley when he dynamited a road through the rocks of the Lower Congo.
+Franck, however, was a super "Bula Matadi." We had a special boat, the
+"Baron Delbecke," a one hundred ton craft somewhat similar to the "Louis
+Cousin" but much cleaner, for she had been scrubbed up for the journey.
+The Minister, his military aide, secretary and doctor filled the cabins,
+so I slept in a tent set up on the lower deck.
+
+With flags flying and thousands of natives on the shore yelling and
+beating tom-toms, we started down the Lualaba. The country between Kindu
+and Ponthierville, our first objective, is thickly populated and
+important settlements dot the banks. Wherever we stopped the native
+troops were turned out and there were long speeches of welcome from the
+local dignitaries. Franck shook as many black and white hands as an
+American Presidential candidate would in a swing around the circle. I
+accompanied him ashore on all of these state visits and it gave me an
+excellent opportunity to see the many types of natives in their Sunday
+clothes, which largely consist of no clothes at all. This applies
+especially to the female sex, which in the Congo reverses Kipling's
+theory because they are less deadly than the male.
+
+At Lowa occurred a significant episode. This place is the center of an
+immense native population, but there is only one white resident, the
+usual Belgium state official. We climbed the hill to his house, where
+thirty of the leading chiefs, wearing the tin medal which the Belgian
+Government gives them, shook hands with the Minister. The ranking chief,
+distinguished by the extraordinary amount of red mud in his wool and the
+grotesque devices cut with a knife on his body, made a long speech in
+which he became rather excited. When the agent translated this in French
+to Franck I gathered that the people were indignant over the advance in
+cost of trade goods, especially salt and calico. Salt is more valuable
+than gold in the Congo. Among the natives it is legal tender for every
+commodity from a handkerchief to a wife.
+
+Franck made a little speech in French in reply--it was translated by the
+interpreter--in which he said that the Great War had increased the price
+of everything. We shook hands all round and there was much muttering of
+"yambo," the word for "greeting," and headed for the boat.
+
+Halfway down the hill we heard shouting and hissing. We stopped and
+looked back. On the crest were a thousand native women, jeering,
+hooting, and pointing their fingers at the Minister, who immediately
+asked the cause of the demonstration. When the agent called for an
+explanation a big black woman said:
+
+"Ask the 'Bula Matadi' why the franc buys so little now? We only get a
+few goods for a big lot of money."
+
+I had gone into the wilds to escape from economic unrest and all the
+confusion that has followed in its wake, yet here in the heart of
+Central Africa, I found our old friend the High Cost of Living working
+overtime and provoking a spirited protest from primitive savages! It
+proves that there is neither caste, creed nor colour-line in the
+pocket-book. Like indigestion, to repeat Mr. Pinero, it is the universal
+leveller of all ranks.
+
+
+IV
+
+On this trip Franck outlined to me his whole colonial creed. It was a
+gorgeous June morning and we had just left a particularly picturesque
+Arabized village behind us. Hundreds of natives had come out to welcome
+the Minister in canoes. They sang songs and played their crude musical
+instruments as they swept alongside our boat. We now sat on the upper
+deck and watched the unending panorama of palm trees with here and there
+a clump of grass huts.
+
+"All colonial development is a chain which is no stronger than its
+weakest link and that is the native," said the Minister. "As you build
+the native, so do you build the whole colonial structure. Hence the
+importance of a high moral standard. You must conform to the native's
+traditions, mentality and temperament. Give him a technical education
+something like that afforded by Booker Washington's Tuskegee Institute.
+Show him how to use his hands. He will then become efficient and
+therefore contented. It is a mistake to teach him a European language. I
+prefer him to be a first-class African rather than third-class European.
+
+"The hope of the Congo lies in industrialization on the one hand, and
+the creation of new wealth on the other. By new wealth I mean such new
+crops as cotton and a larger exploitation of such old products as rice
+and palm fruit. Rubber has become a second industry although the
+cultivated plantations are in part taking the place of the old wild
+forests. The substitute for rubber as the first product of the land is
+the fruit of the oil palm tree. This will be the industrial staple of
+the Congo. I believe, however, that in time cotton can be produced in
+large commercial quantities over a wide area."
+
+Franck now turned to a subject which reflects his courage and
+progressiveness. He said, "There is a strong tendency in other Colonies
+to give too large a place to State enterprise. The result of this system
+is that officers are burdened with an impossible task. They must look
+after the railways, steamers, mills, and a variety of tasks for which
+they often lack the technical knowledge.
+
+"I have made it a point to give first place to private enterprise and to
+transfer those activities formerly under State rule to autonomous
+enterprises in which the State has an interest. They are run by business
+men along business lines as business institutions. The State's principal
+function in them is to protect the native employes. The gold mines at
+Kilo are an example. They are still owned by the State but are worked by
+a private company whose directors have full powers. The reason why the
+State does not part with its ownership of these mines is that it does
+not want a rush of gold-seekers. History has proved that in a country
+with a primitive population a gold rush is a dangerous and destructive
+thing.
+
+"We are always free traders in Belgium and we are glad to welcome any
+foreign capital to the Congo. We have already had the constructive
+influence of American capital in the diamond fields and we will be glad
+to have more."
+
+The average man thinks that the Congo and concessions are practically
+synonymous terms. In the Leopold day this was true but there is a new
+deal now. Let Monsieur Franck explain it:
+
+"There was a time when huge concessions were freely given in the Congo.
+They were then necessary because the Colony was new, the country
+unknown, and the financial risk large. Now that the economic
+possibilities of the region are realized it is not desirable to grant
+any more large concessions. It is proved that these concessions are
+really a handicap rather than a help to a young land. The wise procedure
+is to have a definite agricultural or industrial aim in mind, and then
+pick the locality for exploitation, whether it is gold, cotton, copper
+or palm fruit."
+
+"What is the future of the Congo?" I asked.
+
+"The Congo is now entering upon a big era of development," was the
+answer. "If the Great War had not intervened it would have been well
+under way. Despite the invasion of Belgium, the practical paralysis of
+our home industry, and the fact that many of our Congo officials and
+their most highly trained natives were off fighting the Germans in East
+Africa, the Colony more than held its own during those terrible years.
+In building the new Congo we are going to profit by the example of other
+countries and capitalize their knowledge and experience of tropical
+hygiene. We propose to combat sleeping sickness, for example, with an
+agency similar to your Rockefeller Institute of Research in New York.
+
+"The Congo is bound to become one of the great centers of the world
+supply. The Katanga is not only a huge copper area but it has immense
+stores of coal, tin, zinc and other valuable commodities. Our diamond
+fields have scarcely been scraped, while the agricultural possibilities
+of hundreds of thousands of square miles are unlimited.
+
+"The great need of the Congo is transport. We are increasing our river
+fleets and we propose to introduce on them a type of barge similar to
+that used on the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers.
+
+"An imposing program of railway expansion is blocked out. For one thing
+we expect to run a railway from the Katanga copper belt straight across
+country to Kinshassa on the Lower Congo. It is already surveyed. This
+will tap a thickly populated region and enable the diamond mines of the
+Kasai to get the labour they need so sorely. The Robert Williams railway
+through Angola will be another addition to our transportation
+facilities. One of the richest regions of the Congo is the north-eastern
+section. The gold mines at Kilo are now only accessible by river. We
+plan to join them up with the railway to be built from Stanleyville to
+the Soudan border. This will link the Congo River and the Nile. With our
+railroads as with our industrial enterprises, we stick to private
+ownership and operation with the State as a partner.
+
+"The new provinces of Ruanda and Urundi will contribute much to our
+future prosperity. They add millions of acres to our territory and
+3,000,000 healthy and prosperous natives to our population. These new
+possessions have two distinct advantages. One is that they provide an
+invigorating health resort which will be to the Central Congo what the
+Katanga is to the Southern. The other is that, being an immense cattle
+country--there is a head of live stock for every native--we will be able
+to secure fresh meat and dairy products, which are sorely needed.
+
+"The Congo is not only the economic hope of Belgium but it is teaching
+the Belgian capitalist to think in broad terms. Henceforth the business
+man of all countries must regard the universe as his field. As a
+practical commercial proposition it pays, both with nations as with
+individuals. We have found that the possession of the Congo, huge as it
+is, and difficult for a country like ours to develop, is a stimulating
+thing. It is quickening our enterprise and widening our world view."
+
+It would be difficult to find a more practical or comprehensive colonial
+program. It eliminates that bane of over-seas administration, red tape,
+and it puts the task of empire-building squarely up to the business man
+who is the best qualified for the work. I am quite certain that the
+advent of Monsieur Franck into office, and particularly his trip to the
+Congo, mean the beginning of an epoch of real and permanent exploitation
+in the Congo.
+
+[Illustration: THE MASSIVE BANGALAS]
+
+[Illustration: CONGO WOMEN IN STATE DRESS]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V--ON THE CONGO RIVER
+
+
+I
+
+Two days more of travelling on the Lower Lualaba brought us to
+Ponthierville, a jewel of a post with a setting of almost bewildering
+tropical beauty. Here we spent the night on the boat and early the
+following morning boarded a special train for Stanleyville, which is
+only six hours distant by rail. Midway we crossed the Equator.
+
+Thirty miles south of Stanleyville is the State Experimental Coffee Farm
+of three hundred acres, which produces fifteen different species of the
+bean. This institution is one evidence of a comprehensive agricultural
+development inaugurated by the Belgian Government. The State has about
+10,000 acres of test plantations, mostly Para rubber, cotton, and cacao,
+in various parts of the Colony.
+
+One commendable object of this work is to instill the idea of
+crop-growing among the natives. Under ordinary circumstances the man of
+colour in the tropics will only raise enough maize, manioc, or tobacco
+for his own needs. The Belgian idea is to encourage co-operative farming
+in the villages. In the region immediately adjacent to Stanleyville the
+natives have begun to plant cotton over a considerable area. At Kongolo
+I saw hundreds of acres of this fleecy plant under the sole supervision
+of the indigenes.
+
+Stanleyville marked one of the real mileposts of my journey. Here came
+Stanley on his first historic expedition across Central Africa and
+discovered the falls nearby that bear his name; here he set up the
+Station that marked the Farthest East of the expedition which founded
+the Congo Free State. Directly south-east of the town are seven distinct
+cataracts which extend over fifty miles of seething whirlpools.
+
+Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo and like Paris, is
+built on two sides of the river. On the right bank is the place of the
+Vice-Governor General, scores of well stocked stores, and many desirable
+residences. The streets are long avenues of palm trees. The left bank is
+almost entirely given over to the railway terminals, yards, and repair
+shops. My original plan was to live with the Vice-Governor General,
+Monsieur de Meulemeester, but his establishment was so taxed by the
+demands of the Ministerial party that I lodged with Monsieur Theews,
+Chief Engineer of the Chemin de Fer des Grands Lacs, where I was most
+comfortable in a large frame bungalow that commanded a superb view of
+the river and the town.
+
+At Stanleyville the Minister of the Colonies had a great reception. Five
+hundred native troops looking very smart were drawn up in the plaza. On
+the platform of the station stood the Vice-Governor General and staff in
+spotless white uniforms, their breasts ablaze with decorations. On all
+sides were thousands of natives in gay attire who cheered and chanted
+while the band played the Belgian national anthem. Over it all waved the
+flag of Belgium. It was a stirring spectacle not without its touch of
+the barbaric, and a small-scale replica of what you might have seen at
+Delhi or Cairo on a fete day.
+
+I was only mildly interested in all this tumult and shouting. What
+concerned me most was the swift, brown river that flowed almost at our
+feet. At last I had reached the masterful Congo, which, with the sole
+exception of the Amazon, is the mightiest stream in the world. As I
+looked at it I thought of Stanley and his battles on its shores, and the
+hardship and tragedy that these waters had witnessed.
+
+Stanleyville is not only the heart of Equatorial Africa but it is also
+an important administrative point. Hundreds of State officials report to
+the Vice-Governor General there, and on national holidays and occasions
+like the visit of the Colonial Minister, it can muster a gay assemblage.
+Monsieur Franck's presence inspired a succession of festivities
+including a garden party which was attended by the entire white
+population numbering about seventy-five. There was also a formal dinner
+where I wore evening clothes for the first and only time between
+Elizabethville and the steamer that took me to Europe three months
+later.
+
+At the garden party Monsieur Franck made a graceful speech in which he
+said that the real missionaries of African civilization were the wives
+who accompanied their husbands to their lonely posts in the field. What
+he said made a distinct impression upon me for it was not only the truth
+but it emphasized a detail that stands out in the memory of everyone who
+visits this part of the world. I know of no finer heroines than these
+women comrades of colonial officials who brave disease and discomfort to
+share the lives of their mates. For one thing, they give the native a
+new respect for his masters. All white women in the Congo are called
+"mamma" by the natives.
+
+The use of "mamma" by the African natives always strikes the newcomer as
+strange. It is a curious fact that practically the first word uttered by
+the black infant is "mamma," and in thousands of cases the final
+utterance of both adult male and female is the same word. In northern
+Rhodesia and many parts of the Congo the native mother frequently refers
+to her child as a "piccannin" which is almost the same word employed by
+coloured people in the American South.
+
+Stanleyville's social prestige is only equalled by her economic
+importance. It is one of the great ivory markets of the world. During
+the last two years this activity has undergone fluctuations that almost
+put Wall Street to the blush.
+
+During the war there was very little trafficking in ivory because it was
+a luxury. With peace came a big demand and the price soared to more than
+200 francs a kilo. The ordinary price is about forty. One trader at
+Stanleyville cleaned up a profit of 3,000,000 francs in three months.
+Then came the inevitable reaction and with it a unique situation. In
+their mad desire to corral ivory the traders ran up the normal price
+that the native hunters received. The moment the boom burst the white
+buyers sought to regulate their purchases accordingly. The native,
+however, knows nothing about the law of demand and supply and he holds
+out for the boom price. The outcome is that hundreds of tons of ivory
+are piled up in the villages and no power on earth can convince the
+savage that there is such a thing as the ebb and flow of price. Such is
+commercial life in the jungle.
+
+Northeast of Stanleyville lie the most important gold mines in the
+Colony. The precious metal was discovered accidentally some years ago in
+the gravel of small rivers west of Lake Albert, and near the small towns
+of Kilo and Moto. Four mines are now worked in this vicinity, two by the
+Government and two by a private company. At the outbreak of the war this
+area was on the verge of considerable development which has just been
+resumed. At the time of my visit all these mines were placers and the
+operation was rather primitive. With modern machinery and enlarged white
+staffs will come a pretentious exploitation. The Government mines alone
+yield more than $2,000,000 worth of gold every year. Shortly before my
+arrival in the Congo what was heralded as the largest gold nugget ever
+discovered was found in the Kilo State Mine. It weighed twelve pounds.
+
+Stanleyville has a significance for me less romantic but infinitely more
+practical than the first contact with the Congo River. After long weeks
+of suffering from inefficient service I sacked Gerome and annexed a boy
+named Nelson. The way of it was this: In the Katanga I engaged a young
+Belgian who was on his way home, to act as secretary. He knew the native
+languages and could always convince the most stubborn black to part with
+an egg. Nelson was his servant. He was born on the Rhodesian border and
+spoke English. I could therefore upbraid him to my heart's content,
+which was not the case with Gerome. Besides, he was not handicapped with
+a wife. In Africa the servants adopt the names of their masters. Nelson
+had worked for an Englishman at Elizabethville and acquired his
+cognomen. I have not the slightest doubt that he now masquerades under
+mine. Be that as it may, Nelson was a model servant and he remained with
+me until that September day when I boarded the Belgium-bound boat at
+Matadi.
+
+Nelson reminded me more of the Georgia Negro than any other one that I
+saw in the Congo. He was almost coal black, he smiled continuously, and
+his teeth were wonderful to look at. He had an unusual capacity for
+work and also for food. I think he was the champion consumer of
+_chikwanga_ in the Congo. The _chikwanga_ is a glutinous dough made from
+the pounded root of the manioc plant and is the principal food of the
+native. It is rolled and cut up in pieces and then wrapped in green
+leaves. The favorite way of preparing it for consumption is to heat it
+in palm oil, although it is often eaten raw. Nelson bought these
+_chikwangas_ by the dozen. He was never without one. He even ate as he
+washed my clothes.
+
+The Congo native is in a continuous state of receptivity when it comes
+to food. Nowhere in the world have I seen people who ate so much. I have
+offered the leavings of a meal to a savage just after he had apparently
+gorged himself and he "wolfed" it as if he were famished. The invariable
+custom in the Congo is to have one huge meal a day. On this occasion
+every member of the family consumes all the edibles in sight. Then the
+crowd lays off until the following day. All food offered in the meantime
+by way of gratuity or otherwise is devoured on the spot.
+
+In connection with the _chikwanga_ is an interesting fact. The Congo
+natives all die young--I only saw a dozen old men--because they are
+insufficiently nourished. The _chikwanga_ is filling but not fattening.
+This is why sleeping sickness takes such dreadful toll. From an
+estimated population of 30,000,000 in Stanley's day the indigenes have
+dwindled to less than one-third this number. Meat is a luxury. Although
+the natives have chickens in abundance they seldom eat one for the
+reason that it is more profitable to sell them to the white man.
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that the Congo native suffers from
+ailments. Unlike the average small boy of civilization, he delights
+in taking medicine. I suppose that he regards it as just another form of
+food. You hear many amusing stories in connection with medicinal
+articles. When you give a savage a dozen effective pills, for example,
+and tell him to take one every night, he usually swallows them all at
+one time and then he wonders why the results are disastrous. A sorcerer
+in the Upper Congo region once obtained what was widely acclaimed as
+miraculous results from a red substance that he got out of a tin. It
+developed that he had stolen a can of potted beef and was using it as
+"medicine."
+
+[Illustration: CENTRAL AFRICAN PYGMIES]
+
+Stanleyville was called the center of the old Arab slave trade. While
+the odious traffic has long ceased to exist, you occasionally meet an
+old native who bears the scars of battle with the marauders and who can
+tell harrowing tales of the cruelties they inflicted.
+
+The slave raiders began their operations in the Congo in 1877, the same
+year in which Stanley made his historic march across Africa from
+Zanzibar to the north of the Congo. It was the great explorer who
+unconsciously blazed the way for the man-hunters. They followed him down
+the Lualaba River as far as Stanley Falls and discovered what was to
+them a real human treasure-trove. For twenty years they blighted the
+country, carrying off tens of thousands of men, women and children and
+slaughtering thousands in addition. This region was a cannibal
+stronghold and one bait that lured local allies was the promise of the
+bodies of all natives slain, for consumption. Belgian pioneers in the
+Congo who co-operated with the late Baron Dhanis who finally put down
+the slave trade, have told me that it was no infrequent sight to behold
+native women going off to their villages with baskets of human flesh.
+They were part of the spoils of this hideous warfare.
+
+Tippo Tib was lord of this slave-trading domain. This astounding rascal
+had a distinct personality. He was a master trader and drove the hardest
+bargain in all Africa. Livingstone, Cameron, Stanley, and Wissmann all
+did business with him, for he had a monopoly on porters and no one could
+proceed without his help. He invariably waited until the white man
+reached the limit of his resources and then exacted the highest price,
+in true Shylockian fashion.
+
+According to Herbert Ward, the well-known African artist and explorer,
+who accompanied Stanley on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, Tippo Tib
+was something of a philosopher. On one occasion Ward spent the evening
+with the old Arab. He occupied a wretched house. Rain dripped in through
+the roof, rats scuttled across the floor, and wind shook the walls. When
+the Englishman expressed his astonishment that so rich and powerful a
+chief should dwell in such a mean abode Tippo Tib said:
+
+"It is better that I should live in a house like this because it makes
+me remember that I am only an ordinary man like others. If I lived in a
+fine house with comforts I should perhaps end by thinking too much of
+myself."
+
+Ward also relates another typical story about this blood-thirsty bandit.
+A missionary once called him to account for the frightful barbarities he
+had perpetrated, whereupon he received the following reply:
+
+"Ah, yes! You see I was then a young man. Now my hair is turning gray. I
+am an old man and shall have more consideration."
+
+Until his death in 1907 at Zanzibar, Tippo Tib and reformation were
+absolute strangers. He embodied that combination of cruelty and
+religious fanaticism so often found in the Arab. He served his God and
+the devil with the same relentless devotion. He incarnated a type that
+happily has vanished from the map of Africa.
+
+The region around Stanleyville is rich with historic interest and
+association. The great name inseparably and immortally linked with it is
+that of Stanley. Although he found Livingstone, relieved Emin Pasha,
+first traversed the Congo River, and sowed the seeds of civilization
+throughout the heart of the continent, his greatest single achievement,
+perhaps, was the founding of the Congo Free State. No other enterprise
+took such toll of his essential qualities and especially his genius for
+organization.
+
+Stanley is most widely known as an explorer, yet he was, at the same
+time, one of the master civilizers. He felt that his Congo adventure
+would be incomplete if he did not make the State a vast productive
+region and the home of the white man. He longed to see it a British
+possession and it was only after he offered it twice to England and was
+twice rebuffed, that he accepted the invitation of King Leopold II to
+organize the stations under the auspices of the International African
+Association, which was the first step toward Belgian sovereignty.
+
+I have talked with many British and Belgian associates of Stanley.
+Without exception they all acclaim his sterling virtues both in the
+physical and spiritual sense. All agree that he was a hard man. The best
+explanation of this so-called hardness is given by Herbert Ward, who
+once spoke to him about it. Stanley's reply was, "You've got to be hard.
+If you're not hard you're weak. There are only two sides to it."
+
+Stanley always declared that his whole idea of life and work were
+embodied in the following maxim: "The three M's are all we need. They
+are Morals, Mind and Muscles. These must be cultivated if we wish to be
+immortal." To an astonishing degree he worked and lived up to these
+principles.
+
+No explorer, not even Peary in the Arctic wilds, was ever prey to a
+larger isolation than this man. In the midst of the multitude he was
+alone. He shunned intimacy and one of his mournful reflections was, "I
+have had no friend on any expedition, no one who could possibly be my
+companion on an equal footing, except while with Livingstone."
+
+I cannot resist the impulse to make comparison between those two
+outstanding Englishmen, Rhodes and Stanley, whose lives are intimately
+woven into the fabric of African romance. They had much in common and
+yet they were widely different in purpose and temperament. Each was an
+autocrat and brooked no interference. Each had the same kindling ideal
+of British imperialism. Each suffered abuse at the hands of his
+countrymen and lived to witness a triumphant vindication.
+
+Stanley had a rare talent for details--he went on the theory that if you
+wanted a thing done properly you must do it yourself--but Rhodes only
+saw things in a big way and left the interpretation to subordinates.
+Stanley was devoutly religious while Rhodes paid scant attention to the
+spiritual side. Each was a dreamer in his own way and merely regarded
+money as a means to an end. Rhodes, however, was far more disdainful of
+wealth as such, than Stanley, who received large sums for his books and
+lectures. It is only fair to him to say that he never took pecuniary
+advantage of the immense opportunities that his explorations in the
+Congo afforded.
+
+Still another intrepid Englishman narrowly missed having a big role in
+the drama of the Congo. General Gordon agreed to assume the Governorship
+of the Lower Congo under Stanley, who was to be the Chief Administrator
+of the Upper Congo. They were to unite in one grand effort to crush the
+slave trade. Fate intervened. Gordon meanwhile was asked by the British
+Government to go to Egypt, then in the throes of the Mahdist uprising.
+He went to his martyrdom at Khartoum, and Stanley continued his work
+alone in Central Africa.
+
+While Stanley established its most enduring traditions, other heroic
+soldiers and explorers, contributed to the roll of fame of the Upper
+Congo region. Conspicuous among them was Captain Deane, an Englishman
+who fought the Arab slave traders at Stanley Falls and who figured in a
+succession of episodes that read like the most romantic fiction.
+
+With less than a hundred native troops recruited from the West Coast of
+Africa, he defended the State Station founded by Stanley at the Falls
+against thousands of Arab raiders. Most of the caps in his rifle
+cartridges were rendered useless by dampness and the Captain and his
+second in command, Lieutenant Dubois, a Belgian officer, fought shoulder
+to shoulder with his men in the hand-to-hand struggle that ensued.
+Subsequently practically all the natives deserted and Deane was left
+with Dubois and four loyal blacks. Under cover of darkness they escaped
+from the island on which the Station was located. On this journey Dubois
+was drowned.
+
+For thirty days Deane and his four faithful troopers wandered through
+the forests, hiding during the day from their ferocious pursuers and
+sleeping in trees at night. On the thirtieth day he was captured by the
+savages. Unarmed, he sank to the ground overcome with weariness. A big
+native stood over him with his spear poised for the fatal thrust. A
+moment later the Englishman was surprised to see his enemy lower the
+weapon and grasp him by the hand. He had succored this savage two years
+before and had not been forgotten. Deane and his companions were
+convoyed under an escort to Herbert Ward's camp and he was nursed back
+to health.
+
+Deane's death illustrates the irony that entered into the passing of so
+many African adventurers. Twelve months after he was snatched from the
+jaws of death on the banks of the Congo in the manner just described, he
+was killed while hunting elephants. A wounded beast impaled him on a
+tusk and then mauled him almost beyond recognition.
+
+
+II
+
+Since Stanleyville is the head of navigation on the Congo there is
+ordinarily no lack of boats. I was fortunate to be able to embark on the
+"Comte de Flandre," the Mauretania of those inland seas and the most
+imposing vessel on the river for she displaced five hundred tons. She
+flew the flag of the Huileries du Congo Belge, the palm oil concern
+founded by Lord Leverhulme and the most important all-British commercial
+interest in the Congo. She was one of a fleet of ten boats that operate
+on the Congo, the Kasai, the Kwilu and other rivers. I not only had a
+comfortable cabin but the rarest of luxuries in Central Africa, a
+regulation bathtub, was available. The "Comte de Flandre" had cabin
+accommodations for fourteen whites. The Captain was an Englishman and
+the Chief Engineer a Scotchman.
+
+On this, as on most of the other Congo boats, the food is provided by
+the Captain, to whom the passengers pay a stipulated sum for meals. On
+the "Comte de Flandre," however, the food privilege was owned jointly by
+the Captain and the Chief Engineer. The latter did all the buying and it
+was almost excruciatingly funny to watch him driving real Scotch
+bargains with the natives who came aboard at the various stops to sell
+chickens, goats, and fruit. The engineer could scarcely speak a word of
+any of the native languages, but he invariably got over the fact that
+the price demanded was too high.
+
+The passenger list of the "Comte de Flandre" included Englishmen,
+Belgians, Italians, and Portuguese. I was the only American. The
+steerage, firemen, and wood-boys were all blacks. With this
+international congress over which beamed the broad smile of Nelson, I
+started on the thousand-mile trip down the Congo River.
+
+It is difficult to convey the impression that the Congo River gives.
+Serene and majestic, it is often well-nigh overwhelming in its
+immensity. Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa there are four thousand
+islands, some of them thirty miles in length. As the boat picks its way
+through them you feel as if you were travelling through an endless
+tropical park of which the river provides the paths. It has been well
+called a "Venice of Vegetation." The shores are brilliant with a
+variegated growth whose exotic smell is wafted out over the waters. You
+see priceless orchids entwined with the mangroves in endless profusion.
+Behind this verdure stretches the dense equatorial forest in which
+Stanley battled years ago in an almost impenetrable gloom. Aigrettes and
+birds of paradise fly on all sides and every hour reveals a hideous
+crocodile sunning himself on a sandspit.
+
+Night on the Congo enhances the loneliness that you feel on all the
+Central African rivers. Although the settlements are more numerous and
+larger than those on the Lualaba and the Kasai, there is the same
+feeling of isolation the moment darkness falls. The jungle seems to be
+an all-embracing monster who mocks you with his silence. Joseph Conrad
+interpreted this atmosphere when he referred to it as having "a
+stillness of life that did not resemble peace,--the silence of an
+implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention." This is the
+Congo River.
+
+The more I saw of the Congo River--it is nearly twice as large as the
+Mississippi--the more I realized that it is in reality a parent of
+waters. It has half a dozen tributaries that range in length from 500 to
+1,000 miles each. The most important are the Lualaba and the Kasai.
+Others include the Itimbiri, the Aruwimi and the Mubangi. Scores of
+smaller streams, many of them navigable for launches, empty into the
+main river. This is why there is such a deep and swift current in the
+lower region where the Congo enters the sea.
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN MAKING POTTERY]
+
+[Illustration: THE CONGO PICKANINNY]
+
+The astonishing thing about the Congo River is its inconsistency.
+Although six miles wide in many parts it is frequently not more than six
+feet deep. This makes navigation dangerous and difficult. As on the
+Lualaba and every other river in the Colony, soundings must be taken
+continually. This extraordinary discrepancy between width and depth
+reminds me of the designation of the Platte River in Nebraska by a
+Kansas statesman which was, "A river three-quarters of a mile wide and
+three-quarters of an inch deep." Thus the Congo journey takes on a
+constant element of hazard because you do not know what moment you will
+run aground on a sand-bank, be impaled on a snag, or strike a rock.
+
+Although the "Comte de Flandre" was rated as the fastest craft on the
+Congo our progress was unusually slow because of the scarcity of wood
+for fuel. This seems incredible when you consider that the whole Congo
+Basin is one vast forest. Millions of trees stand ready to be sacrificed
+to the needs of man, yet there are no hands to cut them. In the Congo,
+as throughout this distracted world, the will-to-work is a lost art, no
+less manifest among the savages than among their civilized brothers. The
+ordinary native will only labour long enough to provide himself with
+sufficient money to buy a month's supply of food. Then he quits and
+joins the leisure class. Hence wood-hunting on the Congo vies with the
+trip itself as a real adventure. The competition between river captains
+for fuel is so keen that a skipper will sometimes start his boat at
+three o'clock in the morning and risk an accident in the dark in order
+to beat a rival to a wood supply.
+
+All up and down the river are wood-posts. Most of them are owned by the
+steamship companies. It was our misfortune to find most of them
+practically stripped of their supplies. A journey which ordinarily takes
+twelve days consumed twenty. But there were many compensations and I had
+no quarrel with the circumstance:
+
+I had the good fortune to witness that rarest of sights that falls to
+the lot of the casual traveller--a serious fight between natives. We
+stopped at a native wood-post--(some of them are operated by the
+occasionally industrious blacks)--for fuel. The whole village turned out
+to help load the logs. In the midst of the process a crowd of natives
+made their appearance, armed with spears and shields. They began to
+taunt the men and women who were loading our boat. I afterwards learned
+that they owned a wood-post nearby and were disgruntled because we had
+not patronized them. They blamed their neighbours for it. Almost before
+we realized it a pitched battle was in progress in which spears were
+thrown and men and women were laid out in a generally bloody fracas. One
+man got an assegai through his throat and it probably inflicted a fatal
+wound.
+
+In the midst of the melee one of my fellow passengers, a Catholic priest
+named Father Brandsma, courageously dashed in between the flying spears
+and logs of wood and separated the combatants. This incident shows the
+hostility that still exists between the various tribes in the Congo. It
+constitutes one excellent reason why there can never be any concerted
+uprising against the whites. There is no single, strong, cohesive native
+dynasty.
+
+Father Brandsma was one of the finest men I met in the Congo. He was a
+member of the society of priests which has its headquarters at Mill Hill
+in England. He came aboard the boat late one night when we were tied up
+at Bumba, having ridden a hundred miles on his bicycle along the native
+trails. We met the following morning in the dining saloon. I sat at a
+table writing letters and he took a seat nearby and started to make some
+notes in a book. When we finished I addressed him in French. He answered
+in flawless English. He then told me that he had spent fifteen years in
+Uganda, where he was at the head of the Catholic Missions.
+
+The Father was in his fifth year of service in the Congo and his
+analysis of the native situation was accurate and convincing. Among
+other things he said, "The great task of the Colonial Government is to
+provide labour for the people. In many localities only one native out of
+a hundred works. This idleness must be stopped and the only way to stop
+it is to initiate highway and other improvements, so as to recruit a
+large part of the native population."
+
+Father Brandsma is devoting some of his energy to a change in copal
+gathering. This substance, which is found at the roots of trees in
+swampy and therefore unhealthy country, is employed in the manufacture
+of varnish. To harvest it the natives stand all day in water up to their
+hips and they catch the inevitable colds from which pneumonia develops.
+Copal gathering is a considerable source of income for many tribes and
+usually the entire community treks to the marshes. In this way the
+lives of the women and children are also menaced. The Father believes
+that only the men should go forth at certain periods for this work and
+leave their families behind.
+
+Father Brandsma was the central actor in a picturesque scene. One Sunday
+morning I heard a weird chanting and I arose to discover the cause. I
+found that the priest was celebrating mass for the natives on the main
+deck of the boat. Dawn had just broken, and on the improvised altar
+several candles gleamed in the half light. In his vestments the priest
+was a striking figure. All about him knelt the score of naked savages
+who made up the congregation. They crossed themselves constantly and
+made the usual responses. I must confess that the ceremony was strangely
+moving and impressive.
+
+As soon as I reached the Congo River I saw that the natives were bigger
+and stronger than those of the Katanga and other sections that I had
+visited. The most important of the river tribes are the Bangalas, who
+are magnificent specimens of manhood. In Stanley's day they were masters
+of a considerable portion of the Upper Congo River region and contested
+his way skilfully and bitterly. They are more peacefully inclined today
+and hundreds of them are employed as wood-boys and firemen on the river
+boats.
+
+The Bangalas practice cicatrization to an elaborate extent. This process
+consists of opening a portion of the flesh with a knife, injecting an
+irritating juice into the wound, and allowing the place to swell. The
+effect is to raise a lump or weal. Some of these excrescences are tiny
+bumps and others develop into large welts that disfigure the anatomy.
+Extraordinary designs are literally carved on the faces and bodies of
+the men and women. Although it is an intensely painful operation,--some
+of the wounds must be opened many times--the native submits to it with
+pleasure because the more ornate the design the more resplendent the
+wearer feels. The women are usually more liberally marked than the men.
+
+Cicatrization is popular in various parts of Central Africa but nowhere
+to the degree that it prevails on the Congo River and among the
+Bangalas, where it is a tribal mark. I observed women whose entire
+bodies from the ankles up to the head were one mass of cicatrized
+designs. One of the favorite areas is the stomach. This is just another
+argument against clothes. Cicatrization bears the same relation to the
+African native that tattooing does to the whites of some sections. Human
+vanity works in mysterious ways to express itself.
+
+In this connection it is perhaps worth while to point out one of the
+reasons why the Congo atrocity exhorters found such ready exhibits for
+their arguments. The Central African native delights in disfigurement
+not only as a sign of "beauty," but as a means of retaliation for real
+or fancied wrongs among his own. In the old days dozens of slaves, and
+sometimes wives, were sacrificed upon the death of an important chief.
+Their spirits were supposed to provide a bodyguard to escort the
+departed potentate safely into the land of the hereafter. One of the
+former prerogatives of a husband was the sanction to chop off the hand
+or foot of a wife if she offended or disobeyed him. Hence Central Africa
+abounded in mutilated men, women and children. While some of these
+barbarities may have been due to excessive zeal or temper in State or
+corporation officials there is no doubt that many instances were the
+result of native practices.
+
+The reference to cicatrization brings to mind another distinctive
+Central African observance. I refer to the ceremony of blood
+brotherhood. When two men, who have been enemies, desire to make the
+peace and swear eternal amity, they make a small incision in one of
+their forearms sufficiently deep to cause the flow of blood. Each then
+licks the blood from the other's arm and henceforth they are related as
+brothers. This performance was not only common among the blacks but was
+also practiced by the whites and the blacks the moment civilization
+entered the wild domains. Stanley's arms were one mass of scars as the
+result of swearing constant blood brotherhood. It became such a nuisance
+and at the same time developed into such a serious menace to his health,
+that the rite had to be amended. Instead of licking the blood the
+comrades now merely rub the incisions together on the few occasions
+nowadays when fealty is sworn. I am glad to say that I escaped the
+ordeal.
+
+Much to my regret I saw only a few of the much-described pygmies who
+dwelt mainly in the regions northeast of Stanleyville, where Stanley
+first met them. They are all under three feet in height, are light brown
+in colour, and wear no garments when on their native heath. They are the
+shyest of all the tribes I encountered. These diminutive creatures
+seldom enter the service of the white man and prefer the wild life of
+the jungle. I was informed in the Congo that the real pygmy is fast
+disappearing from the map. Intermarriage with other tribes, and
+settlement into more or less permanent villages, have increased the
+height of the present generation and helped to remove one of the last
+human links with Stanley's great day.
+
+The Congo River native is perhaps the shrewdest in all Central Africa.
+He is a born trader, and he can convert the conventional shoe-string
+into something worth while. One reason why the Bangalas take positions
+as firemen and woodboys on the river boats is that it enables them to go
+into business. The price of food at the small settlements up river is
+much less than at Kinshassa, where navigation from Stanleyville
+southward ends. Hence the blacks acquire considerable stores of palm oil
+and dried fish at the various stops made by the steamers and dispose of
+it with large profit when they reach the end of the journey. I have in
+mind the experience of a capita on the "Comte de Flandre." When we left
+Stanleyville his cash capital was thirty-five francs. With this he
+purchased a sufficient quantity of food, which included dozens of pieces
+of _chikwanga_, to realize two hundred and twenty francs at Kinshassa.
+
+These river natives are genuine profiteers. They invariably make it a
+rule to charge the white man three or four times the price they exact
+from their own kind. No white man ever thinks of buying anything
+himself. He always sends one of his servants. As soon as the vendor
+knows that the servant is in the white employ he shoves up the price. I
+discovered this state of affairs as soon as I started down the Lualaba.
+In my innocence I paid two francs for a bunch of bananas. The moment I
+had closed the deal I observed larger and better bunches being purchased
+by natives for fifty centimes.
+
+This business of profiteering by the natives is no new phase of life in
+the Congo. Stanley discovered it to his cost. Sir Harry Johnston, the
+distinguished explorer and administrator, who added to his achievements
+during these past years by displaying skill and brilliancy as a
+novelist, tells a characteristic story that throws light on the
+subject. It deals with one of the experiences of George Grenfell, the
+eminent British missionary who gave thirty years of his unselfish life
+to work in the Congo. On one of his trips he noticed the corpse of a
+woman hanging from the branches of a tree over the water of the great
+river. At first he thought that she had been executed as a punishment
+for adultery, one of the most serious crimes in the native calendar. On
+investigation he found that she had been guilty of a much more serious
+offense. A law had been imposed that all goods, especially food, must be
+sold to the white man at a far higher price than the local market value.
+This unhappy woman had only doubled the quotation for eggs, had been
+convicted of breaking the code, and had suffered death in consequence.
+
+Since I have referred to adultery, let me point out a situation that
+does not reflect particular credit on so-called civilization. Before the
+white man came to Africa chastity was held in deepest reverence. The
+usual punishment for infidelity was death. Some of the early white men
+were more or less promiscuous and set a bad moral example with regard to
+the women. The native believed that in this respect "the white man can
+do no wrong" and the inevitable laxity resulted. When a woman deserts
+her husband now all she gets is a sound beating. If a man elopes with
+the wife of a friend, he is haled before a magistrate and fined.
+
+[Illustration: THE HEART OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST]
+
+
+III
+
+On the Congo I got my first glimpse of the native fashion in mourning.
+It is a survival of the biblical "sackcloth and ashes." As soon as a
+death occurs all the members of the family smear their faces and bodies
+with ashes or dirt. Even the babies show these rude symbols of woe. It
+gives the person thus adorned a weird and ghastly appearance. When ashes
+and dust are not available for this purpose, a substitute is found in
+filthy mud. The mourner is not permitted to wash throughout the entire
+period of grief, which ranges from thirty to ninety days.
+
+Like the Southern Negro in America these African natives are not only
+born actors but have a keen sense of humour. They are quick to imitate
+the white man. If a Georgia darkey, for example, wants to abuse a member
+of his own race he delights to call him "a fool nigger." It is the last
+word in reproach. In the Congo when a native desires to express contempt
+for his fellow, he refers to him as a _basingi_, which means bush-man.
+It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
+
+Up the Kasai I heard a story that admirably illustrates the native
+humour. A Belgian official much inclined to corpulency came out to take
+charge of a post. After the usual fashion, he received a native name the
+moment he arrived. It is not surprising that he became known as _Mafutta
+Mingi_. As soon as he learned what it meant he became indignant. Like
+most fat men he could not persuade himself that he was fat. He demanded
+that he be given another title, whereupon the local chief solemnly
+dubbed him _Kiboko_. The official was immediately appeased. He noticed
+that a broad smile invariably illumined the countenance of the person
+who addressed him in this way. On investigation he discovered that the
+word meant hippopotamus.
+
+The Congo native delights in argument. Here you get another parallel
+with his American brother. A Bangala, for example, will talk for a week
+about five centimes. One day at Dima I heard a terrific shouting and
+exhorting down at the native market which is held twice a week. I was
+certain that someone was being murdered. When I arrived on the scene I
+saw a hundred men and women gesticulating wildly and in a great state of
+excitement. I learned that the wife of a wood-boy on a boat had either
+secreted or sold a scrap of soap, and her husband was not only berating
+her with his tongue but telling the whole community about it.
+
+The chief function of most Belgian officials in the Congo is to preside
+at what is technically known as a "palaver." This word means conference
+but it actually develops into a free-for-all riotous protestation by the
+natives involved. They all want to talk at the same time and it is like
+an Irish debating society. Years ago each village had a "palaver
+ground," where the chief sat in solemn judgment on the disputes of his
+henchmen. Now the "palavers" are held before Government officers. Most
+of the "palavers" that I heard related to elopements. No matter how
+grievous was the offense of the male he invariably shifted the entire
+responsibility to the woman. He was merely emulating the ways of
+civilization.
+
+Between Stanleyville and Kinshassa we not only stopped every night
+according to custom, but halted at not less than a dozen settlements to
+take on or deliver cargo. These stations resemble each other in that
+they are mainly a cluster of stores owned or operated by agents of
+various trading companies. Practically every post in the Congo has, in
+addition, a shop owned by a Portuguese. You find these traders
+everywhere. They have something of the spirit of adventure and the
+hardihood of their doughty ancestors who planted the flag of Portugal on
+the high seas back in that era when the little kingdom was a world
+power.
+
+Some of them have been in the Congo for fifteen and twenty years without
+ever stirring outside its confines. On the steamer that took me to
+Europe from the Congo was a Portuguese who had lived in the bush for
+twenty-two years. When he got on the big steamer he was frightened at
+the noise and practically remained in his cabin throughout the entire
+voyage. As we neared France he told me that if he had realized
+beforehand the terror and tumult of the civilization that he had
+forgotten, he never would have departed from his jungle home. He was as
+shy as a wild animal.
+
+One settlement, Basoko, has a tragic meaning for the Anglo-Saxon. Here
+died and lies buried, the gallant Grenfell. I doubt if exploration
+anywhere revealed a nobler character than this Baptist minister whose
+career has been so adequately presented by Sir Harry Johnston, and who
+ranks with Stanley and Livingstone as one of the foremost of African
+explorers. In the Congo evangelization has been fraught with a truly
+noble fortitude. When you see the handicaps that have beset both
+Catholic and Protestant missionaries you are filled with a new
+appreciation of their calling.
+
+The most important stop of this trip was at Coquilhatville, named in
+honor of Captain Coquilhat, one of the most courageous of the early
+Belgian soldier-explorers. It was the original Equatorville (it is at
+the point where the Equator cuts the Congo), founded by Stanley when he
+established the series of stations under the auspices of the
+International African Association. Here dwells the Vice-Governor of the
+Equatorial Province. Near by is a botanical garden maintained by the
+Colonial Government and which contains specimens of all the flora of
+Central Africa.
+
+At Coquilhatville I saw the first horse since I left Rhodesia and it was
+a distinct event. Except in the Kasai region it is impossible to
+maintain live stock in the Congo. The tsetse fly is the devastating
+agency. Apparently the only beasts able to withstand this scourge are
+goats and dogs. The few white men who live in Coquilhatville have been
+able to maintain five horses which are used by the so-called Riding
+Club. These animals provide the only exercise at the post. They are
+owned and ridden by the handful of Englishmen there. A man must drive
+himself to indulge in any form of outdoor sport along the equator. The
+climate is more or less enervating and it takes real Anglo-Saxon energy
+to resist the lure of the _siesta_ or to remain in bed as long as
+possible.
+
+Bolobo is a reminder of Stanley. He had more trouble here than at any of
+the many stations he set up in the Congo Free State in the early
+eighties. The natives were hostile, the men he left in charge proved to
+be inefficient, and on two occasions the settlement was burned to the
+ground. Today it is the seat of one of the largest and most prosperous
+of all the English Baptist Congo missions and is presided over by a
+Congo veteran, Dr. Stonelake. One feature of the work here is a manual
+training school for natives, who manufacture the same kind of wicker
+chairs that the tourist buys at Madeira.
+
+The farther I travelled in the Congo the more deeply I became interested
+in the native habits and customs. Although cluttered with ignorance and
+superstition the barbaric mind is strangely productive of a rude
+philosophy which is expressed in a quaint folklore. Seasoned Congo
+travellers like Grenfell, Stanley, Ward, and Johnston have all recorded
+fascinating local legends. I heard many of these tales myself and I
+shall endeavour to relate the best.
+
+Some of the most characteristic stories deal with the origin of death.
+Here is a Bangala tradition gathered by Grenfell and which runs as
+follows:
+
+    The natives say that in the beginning men and women did not die.
+    That one day, _Nza Komba_ (God) came bringing two gifts, a large and
+    a small one. If they chose the smaller one they would continue to
+    live, but if the larger one, they would for a time enjoy much
+    greater wealth, but they would afterwards die. The men said they
+    must consider the matter, and went away to drink water, as the
+    Kongos say. While they were discussing the matter the women took the
+    larger gift, and _Nza Komba_ went back with the little one. He has
+    never been seen since, though they cried and cried for Him to come
+    back and take the big bundle and give them the little one, and with
+    it immortality.
+
+The Baluba version of the great mystery is set forth in this way:
+
+    God (_Kabezya-unpungu_) created the sun, moon, and stars, then the
+    world, and later the plants and animals. When all this was finished
+    He placed a man and two women in the world and taught them the name
+    and use of all things. He gave an axe and a knife to the man, and
+    taught him to cut wood, weave stuffs, melt iron, and to hunt and
+    fish. To the women he gave a pickaxe and a knife. He taught both of
+    them to till the ground, make pottery, weave baskets, make
+    oil,--that is to say, all that custom assigns to them to-day.
+
+    These first inhabitants of the earth lived happily for a long time
+    until one of the women began to grow old. God, foreseeing this, had
+    given her the gift of rejuvenating herself, and the faculty, if she
+    once succeeded, of preserving the gift for herself and for all
+    mankind. Unfortunately, she speedily lost the precious treasure and
+    introduced death into the world.
+
+    This is how the misfortune occurred: Seeing herself all withered,
+    the woman took the fan with which her companion had been winnowing
+    maize for the manufacture of beer and shut herself into her hut,
+    carefully closing the door. There she began to tear off her old
+    skin, throwing it on the fan. The skin came off easily, a new one
+    appearing in its place. The operation was nearing completion. There
+    remained the head and neck only when her companion came to the hut
+    to fetch her fan and before the old woman could speak, pushed open
+    the door. The almost rejuvenated woman fell dead instantly.
+
+    This is the reason we all die. The two survivors gave birth to a
+    number of sons and daughters, from whom all races have descended.
+    Since that time God does not trouble about His creatures. He is
+    satisfied with visiting them incognito now and again. Wherever He
+    passes the ground sinks. He injures no one. It is therefore
+    superfluous to honour him, so the Balubas offer no worship to Him.
+
+The animal story has a high place in the legends of these peoples. They
+represent a combination of Kipling's Jungle Book, Aesop's Fables, and
+Br'er Rabbit. Nor do they fail to point a moral. Naturally, the elephant
+is a conspicuous feature in most of them. The tale of "The Elephant and
+the Shrew" will illustrate. Here it is:
+
+[Illustration: NATIVES PILING WOOD]
+
+[Illustration: A WOOD POST ON THE CONGO]
+
+    One day the elephant met the shrew mouse on his road. "Out of the
+    way," cried the latter. "I am the bigger, and it is your place to
+    look out," replied the monster. "Curse you!" retorted the shrew
+    mouse furiously. "May the long grass cut your legs!" "And may you
+    meet your death when you walk in the road!" replied the other
+    crushing him under his huge foot. Both curses have been fulfilled.
+    From that day the elephant wounds himself when he goes through the
+    long grass, and the shrew-mouse meets her death when she crosses the
+    road.
+
+The story of the elephant and the chameleon is equally interesting. One
+day the chameleon challenged the elephant to a race. The latter accepted
+the challenge and a meeting was arranged for the following morning.
+During the night the chameleon placed all his brothers from point to
+point along the length of the track where the race was to be run. When
+day came the elephant started. The chameleon quickly slipped behind
+without the elephant noticing. "Are you not tired?" asked the monster of
+the first chameleon he met. "Not at all," he replied, executing the same
+manoeuvre as the former. This stratagem was renewed so many times that
+the elephant, tired out, gave up the contest and confessed himself
+beaten.
+
+In the wilds, as in civilization, the relation between husband and wife,
+and more especially the downfall of the autocrat of the home, is a
+favorite subject for jest. From the northeastern corner of the Congo
+comes this illuminating story:
+
+    A man had two wives, one gentle and prepossessing, the other such a
+    gossip that he was often made angry. Neither remonstrances nor
+    beating improved her, and finally he made up his mind to drive her
+    into a wood amongst the hyenas. There she built herself a little hut
+    into which a hyena came and boldly installed herself as mistress.
+    The wife tried to protest but the hyena, not content with eating and
+    drinking all that the wife was preparing, compelled her furthermore
+    to look after her young. One day the hyena had ordered the woman to
+    boil some water. While waiting the wife had the sudden idea of
+    seizing the young hyenas and throwing them into the boiling water.
+    She did this and then she ran trembling to take refuge in the home
+    of her husband whom she found calmly seated at the entrance of the
+    house, spear in hand. She threw herself at the feet of her spouse,
+    beseeching him for help and protection. When the hyena arrived
+    foaming with rage her husband stretched it dead on the ground with a
+    blow of his spear. The lesson was not lost on the wife. From that
+    day forth she became the joy and delight of her husband.
+
+The Congo can ever reproduce its own version of the fable of "The Goose
+that Laid the Golden Egg." It is somewhat primitive but serves the same
+purpose. As told to the naked piccaninnies by the flickering camp-fires
+it runs thus:
+
+    Four fools owned a chicken which laid blue glass beads instead of
+    eggs. A quarrel arose concerning the ownership of the fowl. The bird
+    was subsequently killed and divided into four equal portions. The
+    spring of their good fortune dried up.
+
+To understand the significance of the story it must be understood that
+for many years beads have been one of the forms of currency in Central
+Africa. Formerly they were as important a detail in the purchase of a
+wife as copper and calico. The first piece of attire, if it may be
+designated by this name, that adorns the native baby after its entrance
+into the world is an anklet of blue beads. Later a strand of beads is
+placed round its loins.
+
+When you have heard such stories as I have just related, you realize
+that despite his ignorance, appetite, and indolence, the Congo native
+has some desirable qualities. He is shiftless but not without human
+instincts. Nowhere are they better expressed than in his folklore.
+
+
+IV
+
+Two stops on the Congo River deserve special attention. In the Congo
+there began in 1911 an industry that will have an important bearing on
+the economic development of the Colony. It was the installation of the
+first plant of the Huileries du Congo Belge. This Company, which is an
+offshoot of the many Lever enterprises of England, resulted from the
+growing need of palm oil as a substitute for animal fat in soap-making.
+Lord Leverhulme, who was then Sir William Lever, obtained a concession
+for considerably more than a million acres of palm forests in the Congo.
+He began to open up so-called areas and install mills for boiling the
+fruit and drying the kernels. He now has eight areas, and two of them,
+Elizabetha and Alberta,--I visited both--are on the Congo River.
+
+For hundreds of years the natives have gathered the palm fruit and
+extracted the oil. Under their method of manufacture the waste was
+enormous. The blacks threw away the kernel because they were unaware of
+the valuable substance inside. Lord Leverhulme was the first to organize
+the industry on a big and scientific basis and it has justified his
+confidence and expenditure.
+
+Most people are familiar with the date and the cocoa-nut palms. From the
+days of the Bible they have figured in narrative and picture. The oil
+palm, on the other hand, is less known but much more valuable. It is the
+staff of life in the Congo and for that matter, practically all West
+Africa. Thousands of years ago its sap was used by the Egyptians for
+embalming the bodies of their kingly dead. Today it not only represents
+the most important agricultural industry of the Colony, having long
+since surpassed rubber as the premier product, but it has an almost
+bewildering variety of uses. It is food, drink and shelter. Out of the
+trunk the native extracts his wine; from the fruit, and this includes
+the kernel, are obtained oil for soap, salad dressing and margarine; the
+leaves provide a roof for the native houses; the fibre is made into
+mats, baskets or strings for fishing nets, while the wood goes into
+construction. Even the bugs that live on it are food for men.
+
+The "H. C. B." as the Huileries du Congo Belge is more commonly known in
+the Congo, really performed a courageous act in exploitation when it set
+up shop in the remote regions and devoted itself to an absolutely fresh
+enterprise, so far as extensive development is concerned, at a time when
+the rich and profitable products of the country were rubber, ivory and
+copal. The company's initiative, therefore, instigated the trade in
+oleaginous products which is so conspicuous in the economic life of the
+country.
+
+The installation at Alberta, while not so large as the Leverville area
+on the Kwilu River, will serve to show just what the corporation is
+doing. Five years ago this region was the jungle. Today it is the model
+settlement on the Congo River. The big brick office building stands on a
+brow of the hill overlooking the water. Not far away is the large mill
+where the palm fruit is reduced to oil and the kernels dried. Stretching
+away from the river is a long avenue of palms, flanked by the commodious
+brick bungalows of the white employes. The "H. C. B." maintains a store
+at each of its areas, where food and supplies are bought by the
+personnel. These stores are all operated by the Societe d'Entreprises
+Commerciales au Congo Belge, known locally under the name of "Sedec,"
+formed as its name indicated, with a view of benefiting by the great
+resources opened to commerce in the Colony.
+
+For miles in every direction the Company has laid out extensive palm
+plantations. In the Alberta region twenty-five hundred acres are in
+course of cultivation in what is known as the Eastern Development, while
+sixteen hundred more acres are embodied in the Western development. An
+oil palm will bear fruit within seven years after the young tree is
+planted. The fruit comes in what is called a _regime_, which resembles a
+huge bunch of grapes. It is a thick cluster of palm fruit. Each fruit is
+about the size of a large date. The outer portion, the pericarp, is
+almost entirely yellow oil encased in a thick skin. Imbedded in this oil
+is the kernel, which contains an even finer oil. The fruit is boiled
+down and the kernel, after a drying process, is exported in bags to
+England, where it is broken open and the contents used for salad oil or
+margarine.
+
+Before the war thousands of tons of palm oil and kernels were shipped
+from the West Coast of Africa to Germany every year. Now they are
+diverted to England where large kernel-crushing plants have been
+installed and the whole activity has become a British enterprise. With
+the eclipse of the German Colonial Empire in Africa it is not likely
+that she can regain this lost business.
+
+The creation of new palmeries is merely one phase of the company's
+development. One of its largest tasks is to safeguard the immense
+natural palmeries on its concessions. The oil palm requires constant
+attention. The undergrowth spreads rapidly and if it is not removed
+is liable to impair the life of the tree. Thousands of natives are
+employed on this work. A large knife something like the Cuban machete is
+used.
+
+[Illustration: RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS AT ALBERTA]
+
+[Illustration: THE COMTE DE FLANDRE]
+
+Harvesting the _regimes_ is a spectacular performance not without its
+element of danger. The _regime_ grows at the top of the tree, usually a
+height of sixty or seventy-five feet and sometimes more. The native
+literally walks up the trunk with the help of a loop made from some
+stout vine which encircles him. Arriving at the top he fixes his feet
+against the trunk, leans against the loop which holds him fast, and
+hacks away at the _regime_. It falls with a heavy thud and woe betide
+the human being or the animal it strikes. The natives will not cut fruit
+in rainy weather because many have slipped on the wet bark and fallen to
+their death.
+
+So wide is the Alberta fruit-producing area that a narrow-gauge railway
+is necessary to bring the fruit in to the mill. Along its line are
+various stations where the fruit is mobilized, stripped from the
+_regime_ and sent down for refining in baskets. Each station has a
+superintendent who lives on the spot. The personnel of all the staff in
+the Congo is almost equally divided between British and Belgians.
+
+While the "H. C. B." is the largest factor in the palm oil industry in
+the Congo, many tons of kernels are gathered every year by individuals
+who include thousands of natives. One reason why the savage takes
+naturally to this occupation is that it demands little work. All that he
+is required to do is to climb a tree in the jungle and lop off a
+_regime_. He uses the palm oil for his own needs or disposes of it to a
+member of his tribe and sells the kernels to the white man.
+
+The "H. C. B." is independent of all other water transport in the
+Congo. Its river tonnage aggregates more than 6,000, and in addition it
+has many oil barges on the various rivers where its vessels ply. The
+capacity of some of the barges is 250 tons of oil. They are usually
+lashed to the side of the steamer. The decks of these barges are often
+piled high with bags of kernels and become a favorite sleeping place for
+the black voyagers for whom the thousands of insects that lurk in them
+have no terrors. No bug inflicts a sharper sting than these pests who
+make their _habitat_ among the palm kernels.
+
+One of my fellow passengers on the "Comte de Flandre" was I. F. Braham,
+the Associate Managing Director of the "H. C. B." in the Congo. Long the
+friend and companion in Liberia of Sir Harry Johnston, he was a most
+desirable and congenial companion. It was on his suggestion and
+invitation that I spent the week at Alberta and he shared the visit. Our
+hosts were Major and Mrs. Claude Wallace.
+
+Major Wallace was the District Manager of the Alberta area and occupied
+a brick bungalow on the bank of the river. He is a pioneer in
+exploration in the French Congo and Liberia and went almost straight
+from the battlefields of France, where he served with distinction in the
+World War, out to his post in the Congo. His wife is a fine example of
+the white woman who has braved the dangers of the tropics. She left the
+luxury and convenience of European life to establish a home in the
+jungle.
+
+It is easy to spot the refining influence of the woman in the African
+habitation. You always see the effect long before you behold the cause.
+One of these effects is usually a neat garden. Mrs. Wallace had half an
+acre of English roses in front of her house. They were the only ones I
+saw in Central Africa. The average bachelor in this part of the world is
+not particularly scrupulous about the appearance of his house. The
+moment you observe curtains at the window you know that there is a
+female on the premises.
+
+My life at Alberta was one of the really delightful experiences in the
+Congo. Every morning I set out with Braham and Wallace on some tour of
+inspection. Often we rode part of the way on the little light railroad.
+The method of transport was unique. An ordinary bench is placed on a
+small flat car. The propelling power is furnished by two husky natives
+who stand on either side of the bench and literally shove the vehicle
+along with long sticks. It is like paddling a railroad canoe. This
+transportation freak is technically called a _maculla_. The strong-armed
+paddlers were able to develop an astonishing speed. I think that this is
+the only muscle-power railroad in the world. Light engines are employed
+for hauling the palm fruit trains.
+
+After our day in the field--for frequently we took our lunch with us--we
+returned before sunset and bathed and dressed for dinner. In the Congo
+only a madman would take a cold plunge. The most healthful immersion is
+in tepid water. More than one Englishman has paid the penalty with his
+life, by continuing his traditional cold bath in the tropics. This
+reminds me of a significant fact in connection with colonization.
+Everyone must admit that the Briton is the best colonizer in the world.
+One reason is that he knows how to rule the man of colour for he does it
+with fairness and firmness. Another lies in the fact that he not only
+keeps himself clean but he makes his environment sanitary.
+
+There is a tradition that the Constitution follows the flag. I contend
+that with the Englishman the bath-tub precedes the code of law and what
+is more important, it is in daily use. There are a good many bath-tubs
+in the Congo but they are employed principally as receptacles for food
+supplies and soiled linen.
+
+Those evenings at Alberta were as unforgettable as their setting. Braham
+and Wallace were not only men of the world but they had read extensively
+and had travelled much. A wide range of subjects came under discussion
+at that hospitable table whose spotless linen and soft shaded lights
+were more reminiscent of London and New York than suggestive of a
+far-away post on the Congo River on the edge of the wilderness.
+
+At Alberta as elsewhere, the "H. C. B." is a moral force. Each area has
+a doctor and a hospital. No detail of its medical work is more vital to
+the productive life of the Colony that the inoculation of the natives
+against sleeping sickness. This dread disease is the scourge of the
+Congo and every year takes toll of hundreds of thousands of natives. Nor
+is the white man immune. I saw a Belgian official dying of this
+loathsome malady in a hospital at Matadi and I shall never forget his
+ravings. The last stage of the illness is always a period when the
+victim becomes demented. The greatest boon that could possibly be held
+out for Central Africa today would be the prevention of sleeping
+sickness.
+
+Another constructive work carried out under the auspices of the "H. C.
+B." is embodied in the native schools. There is an excellent one at
+Alberta. It is conducted by the Catholic Fathers of the Scheut Mission.
+The children are trained to become wood-workers, machinists, painters,
+and carpenters. It is the Booker Washington idea transplanted in the
+jungle. The Scheut Missionaries and their Jesuit colleagues are doing
+an admirable service throughout the Congo. Some of them are infused with
+the spirit that animated Father Damien. Time, distance, and isolation
+count for naught with them. It is no uncommon thing to encounter in the
+bush a Catholic priest who has been on continuous service there for
+fifteen or twenty years without a holiday. At Luluaburg lives a Mother
+Superior who has been in the field for a quarter of a century without
+wandering more than two hundred miles from her field of operations.
+
+
+V
+
+Now for the last stage of the Congo River trip. Like so many of my other
+experiences in Africa it produced a surprise. One morning when we were
+about two hundred miles north of Kinshassa I heard the whir of a motor
+engine, a rare sound in those parts. I thought of aeroplanes and
+instinctively looked up. Flying overhead toward Coquilhatville was a
+300-horse power hydroplane containing two people. Upon inquiry I
+discovered that it was one of four machines engaged in carrying
+passengers, mail, and express between Kinshassa and Coquilhatville.
+
+The campaign against the Germans in East Africa proved the
+practicability of aeroplanes in the tropics. The Congo is the first of
+the Central African countries to dedicate aviation to commercial uses
+and this precedent is likely to be extensively followed. Fifteen
+hydroplanes have been ordered for the Congo River service which will
+eventually be extended to Stanleyville. Only those who have endured the
+agony of slow transport in the Congo can realize the blessing that air
+travel will confer.
+
+I was naturally curious to find out just what the African native thought
+of the aeroplane. The moment that the roar of the engine broke the
+morning silence, everybody on the boat rushed to some point of vantage
+to see the strange sight. The blacks slapped each other on the shoulder,
+pointed at the machine, and laughed and jabbered. Yet when my secretary
+asked a big Baluba if he did not think that the aeroplane was a
+wonderful thing the barbarian simply grunted and replied, "White man can
+do anything." He summed up the native attitude toward his conqueror. I
+believe that if a white man performed the most astounding feat of magic
+or necromancy the native would not express the slightest surprise.
+
+[Illustration: A TYPICAL OIL PALM FOREST]
+
+[Illustration: BRINGING IN THE PALM FRUIT]
+
+At Kwamouth, where the Kasai flows into the Congo River, we entered the
+so-called "Channel." From this point down to Stanley Pool the river is
+deep and the current is swift. This means that for a brief time the
+traveller enjoys immunity from the danger of running aground on a
+sandbank. The whole country-side is changed. Instead of the low and
+luxuriantly-wooded shores the banks become higher with each passing
+hour. Soon the land adjacent to the river merges into foothills and
+these in turn taper off into mountains. The effect is noble and
+striking. No wonder Stanley went into ecstasies over this scenery. He
+declared on more than one occasion that it was as inspiring as any he
+had seen in Wales or Scotland.
+
+In the "Channel" another surprise awaits the traveller. The mornings are
+bitterly raw. This is probably due to the high ground on either side of
+the river and the strong currents of air that sweep up the stream. I can
+frankly say that I really suffered from the cold within striking
+distance of the equator. I did not feel comfortable until I had donned a
+heavy sweater.
+
+This sudden change in temperature explains one reason why so many Congo
+natives die under forty. They are scantily clad, perspire freely, and
+lie out at night with scarcely any covering. They go to sleep in a humid
+atmosphere and wake up with the temperature forty degrees lower. The
+natural result is that half of them constantly have colds and the
+moment pneumonia develops they succumb. Congestion of the lungs vies
+with sleeping sickness as the ravager of Middle Africa, and especially
+certain parts of the Congo.
+
+Kinshassa is situated on Stanley Pool, a lake-like expansion of the
+Congo more than two hundred square miles in area. It is dotted with
+islands. Nearly one-third of the northern shore is occupied by the rocky
+formations that Stanley named Dover Cliffs. They reminded him of the
+famous white cliffs of England and with the sunlight on them they do
+bear a strong resemblance to one of the familiar signposts of Albion.
+More than one Englishman emerging from the jungle after long service
+remote from civilization has gotten a thrill of home at the name and
+sight of these hills.
+
+Stanley Pool has always been associated in my mind with one of the most
+picturesque episodes in Stanley's life. He tells about it in his
+monumental work on the Congo Free State and again relates it in his
+Autobiography. It deals with Ngalyema, who was chief of the Stanley Pool
+District in the early eighties. He demanded and received a large
+quantity of goods for the permission to establish a station here. After
+the explorer had camped within ten miles of the Pool the old pirate
+pretended that he had not received the goods and sought to extort more.
+Stanley refused to be bullied, whereupon the chief threatened to attack
+him in force. Let Stanley now tell the story, for it is an illustration
+of the way he combated the usury and cunning of the Congo native.
+
+    I had hung a great Chinese gong conspicuously near the principal
+    tent. Ngalyema's curiosity would be roused. All my men were hidden,
+    some in the steamboat on top of the wagon, and in its shadow was a
+    cool place where the warriors would gladly rest after a ten-mile
+    march. Other of my men lay still as death under tarpaulins, under
+    bundles of grass, and in the bush round about the camp. By the time
+    the drum-taps and horns announced Ngalyema's arrival, the camp
+    seemed abandoned except by myself and a few small boys. I was
+    indolently seated in a chair reading a book, and appeared too lazy
+    to notice anyone; but, suddenly looking up and seeing my "brother
+    Ngalyema" and his warriors, scowlingly regarding me, I sprang up and
+    seized his hands, and affectionately bade him welcome, in the name
+    of sacred fraternity, and offered him my own chair.
+
+    He was strangely cold, and apparently disgruntled, and said:--
+
+    "Has not my brother forgotten his road? What does he mean by coming
+    to this country?"
+
+    "Nay, it is Ngalyema who has forgotten the blood-bond which exists
+    between us. It is Ngalyema who has forgotten the mountains of goods
+    which I paid him. What words are these of my brother?"
+
+    "Be warned, Rock-Breaker. Go back before it is too late. My elders
+    and people all cry out against allowing the white man to come into
+    our country. Therefore, go back before it be too late. Go back, I
+    say, the way you came."
+
+    Speech and counter-speech followed. Ngalyema had exhausted his
+    arguments; but it was not easy to break faith and be uncivil, with
+    plausible excuse. His eyes were reaching round seeking to discover
+    an excuse to fight, when they rested on the round, burnished face of
+    the Chinese gong.
+
+    "What is that?" he said.
+
+    "Ah, that--that is a fetish."
+
+    "A fetish! A fetish for what?"
+
+    "It is a war-fetish, Ngalyema. The slightest sound of that would
+    fill this empty camp with hundreds of angry warriors; they would
+    drop from above, they would spring up from the ground, from the
+    forest about, from everywhere."
+
+    "Sho! Tell that story to the old women, and not to a chief like
+    Ngalyema. My boy tells me it is a kind of a bell. Strike it and let
+    me hear it."
+
+    "Oh, Ngalyema, my brother, the consequences would be too dreadful!
+    Do not think of such a thing!"
+
+    "Strike it, I say."
+
+    "Well, to oblige my dear brother Ngalyema, I will."
+
+    And I struck hard and fast, and the clangourous roll rang out like
+    thunder in the stillness. Only for a few seconds, however, for a
+    tempest of human voices was heard bursting into frightful discords,
+    and from above, right upon the heads of the astonished warriors,
+    leaped yelling men; and from the tents, the huts, the forest round
+    about, they came by sixes, dozens, and scores, yelling like madmen,
+    and seemingly animated with uncontrollable rage. The painted
+    warriors became panic-stricken; they flung their guns and
+    powder-kegs away, forgot their chief, and all thoughts of loyalty,
+    and fled on the instant, fear lifting their heels high in the air;
+    or, tugging at their eye-balls, and kneading the senses confusedly,
+    they saw, heard, and suspected nothing, save that the limbo of
+    fetishes had suddenly broken loose!
+
+    But Ngalyema and his son did not fly. They caught the tails of my
+    coat, and we began to dance from side to side, a loving triplet,
+    myself being foremost to ward off the blow savagely aimed at my
+    "brothers," and cheerfully crying out, "Hold fast to me, my
+    brothers. I will defend you to the last drop of my blood. Come one,
+    come all."
+
+    Presently the order was given, "Fall in!" and quickly the leaping
+    forms became rigid, and the men stood in two long lines in beautiful
+    order, with eyes front, as though "at attention!" Then Ngalyema
+    relaxed his hold of my coat-tails, and crept from behind, breathing
+    more freely; and, lifting his hand to his mouth, exclaimed, in
+    genuine surprise, "Eh, Mamma! where did all these people come from?"
+
+    "Ah, Ngalyema, did I not tell you that thing was a powerful fetish?
+    Let me strike it again, and show you what else it can do."
+
+    "No! no! no!" he shrieked. "I have seen enough!"
+
+    The day ended peacefully. I was invited to hasten on to Stanley
+    Pool. The natives engaged themselves by the score to assist me in
+    hauling the wagons. My progress was thenceforth steady and
+    uninterrupted, and in due time the wagons and good-columns arrived
+    at their destination.
+
+[Illustration: A SPECIMEN OF CICATRIZATION]
+
+[Illustration: A SANKURU WOMAN PLAYING NATIVE DRAUGHTS]
+
+Kinshassa was an accident. Leopoldville, which is situated about ten
+miles away and the capital of the Congo-Kasai Province, was expected to
+become the center of white life and enterprise in this vicinity. It was
+founded by Stanley in the early eighties and named in honour of the
+Belgian king. It commands the river, cataracts, forests and mountains.
+
+Commerce, however, fixed Kinshassa as its base of operation, and its
+expansion has been astonishing for that part of the world. It is a
+bustling port and you can usually see half a dozen steamers tied up at
+the bank. There is a population of several hundred white people and many
+thousands of natives. The Banque du Congo Belge has its principal
+establishment here and there are scores of well-stocked mercantile
+establishments. With the exception of Matadi and Thysville it has the
+one livable hotel in the Congo. Moreover, it rejoices in that now
+indispensable feature of civic life which is expressed in a cinema
+theatre. In the tropics all motion picture houses are open-air
+institutions.
+
+In cataloguing Kinshassa's attractions I must not omit the feature that
+had the strongest and most immediate lure for me. It was a barber shop
+and I made tracks for it as soon as I arrived. I was not surprised to
+find that the proprietor was a Portuguese who had made a small fortune
+trimming the Samson locks of the scores of agents who stream into the
+little town every week. He is the only barber in the place and there is
+no competition this side of Stanleyville, more than a thousand miles
+away.
+
+The seasoned residents of the Congo would never think of calling
+Kinshassa by any other name than "Kin." In the same way Leopoldville is
+dubbed "Leo." Kinshassa is laid out in streets, has electric lights, and
+within the past twelve months about twenty automobiles have been
+acquired by its residents. There is a gay social life, and on July
+first, the anniversary of the birth of the Congo Free State, and when a
+celebration is usually held, I saw a spirited football game between
+British and Belgian teams. Most of the big international British trading
+companies that operate in Africa have branches in Kinshassa and it is
+not difficult to assemble an English-speaking quorum.
+
+In the matter of transportation Kinshassa is really the key to the heart
+of the Congo. It is the rail-head of the narrow-gauge line from Matadi
+and all merchandise that comes from Europe is transshipped at this point
+to the boats that go up the Congo river as far as Stanleyville. Thus
+every ton of freight and every traveller bound for the interior must
+pass through Kinshassa. When the railway from the Katanga is constructed
+its prestige will increase.
+
+Kinshassa owes a part of its development to the Huileries du Congo
+Belge. Its plant dominates the river front. There are a dozen huge tanks
+into which the palm-oil flows from the barges. The fluid is then run
+into casks and sent down by rail to Matadi, whence it goes in steamers
+to Europe. More than a hundred white men are in the service of the "H.
+C. B." at Stanley Pool. They live in standardized brick bungalows in
+their own area which is equipped with tennis courts and a library. On
+all English fete days the Union Jack is hoisted and there is much
+festivity.
+
+Two months had elapsed since I entered the Congo and I had travelled
+about two thousand miles within its borders. This journey, short as it
+seems as distances go these days, would have taken Stanley nearly two
+years to accomplish in the face of the obstacles that hampered him. I
+had only carried out part of my plan. The Kasai was calling. The time
+was now at hand when I would retrace my way up the Congo River and turn
+my face towards the Little America that nestles far up in the wilds.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELGIAN CONGO]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI--AMERICA IN THE CONGO
+
+
+I
+
+Go up the Kasai River to Djoko Punda and you believe, despite the
+background of tropical vegetation and the ever-present naked savage,
+that for the moment you are back in the United States. You see American
+jitneys scooting through the jungle; you watch five-ton American
+tractors hauling heavy loads along the sandy roads; you hear American
+slang and banter on all sides, and if you are lucky enough to be invited
+to a meal you get American hot cakes with real American maple syrup. The
+air tingles with Yankee energy and vitality.
+
+All this means that you have arrived at the outpost of Little America in
+the Belgian Congo--the first actual signboard of the least known and
+most picturesque piece of American financial venturing abroad. It has
+helped to redeem a vast region from barbarism and opened up an area of
+far-reaching economic significance. At Djoko Punda you enter the domain
+of the Forminiere, the corporation founded by a monarch and which has a
+kingdom for a partner. Woven into its story is the romance of a one-time
+barefoot Virginia boy who became the commercial associate of a king.
+
+What is the Forminiere and what does it do? The name is a contraction of
+Societe Internationale Forestiere & Miniere du Congo. In the Congo,
+where companies have long titles, it is the fashion to reduce them to
+the dimensions of a cable code-word. Thus the high-sounding Compagnie
+Industrielle pour les Transports et Commerce au Stanley Pool is
+mercifully shaved to "Citas." This information, let me say, is a
+life-saver for the alien with a limited knowledge of French and whose
+pronunciation is worse.
+
+Clearly to understand the scope and purpose of the Forminiere you must
+know that it is one of the three companies that have helped to shape the
+destiny of the Congo. I encountered the first--the Union Miniere--the
+moment I entered the Katanga. The second is the Huileries du Congo
+Belge, the palm-oil producers whose bailiwick abuts upon the Congo and
+Kwilu Rivers. Now we come to the third and the most important agency, so
+far as American interest is affected, in the Forminiere, whose empire is
+the immense section watered by the Kasai River and which extends across
+the border into Angola. In the Union Miniere you got the initial hint of
+America's part in the development of the Congo. That part, however, was
+entirely technical. With the Forminiere you have the combination of
+American capital and American engineering in an achievement that is, to
+say the least, unusual.
+
+The moment I dipped into Congo business history I touched the Forminiere
+for the reason that it was the pet project of King Leopold, and the last
+and favorite corporate child of his economic statesmanship. Moreover,
+among the leading Belgian capitalists interested were men who had been
+Stanley's comrades and who had helped to blaze the path of civilization
+through the wilds. King Albert spoke of it to me in terms of
+appreciation and more especially of the American end. I felt a sense of
+pride in the financial courage and physical hardihood of my countrymen
+who had gone so far afield. I determined to see the undertaking at
+first hand.
+
+My experience with it proved to be the most exciting of my whole African
+adventure. All that I had hitherto undergone was like a springtime
+frolic compared to the journey up the Kasai and through the jungle that
+lurks beyond. I saw the war-like savage on his native heath; I travelled
+with my own caravan through the forest primeval; I employed every
+conceivable kind of transport from the hammock swung on a pole and
+carried on the shoulders of husky natives, to the automobile. The
+primitive and modern met at almost every stage of the trip which proved
+to be first cousin to a thriller from beginning to end. Heretofore I had
+been under the spell of the Congo River. Now I was to catch the magic of
+its largest tributary, the Kasai.
+
+Long before the Forminiere broke out its banner, America had been
+associated with the Congo. It is not generally known that Henry M.
+Stanley, who was born John Rowlands, achieved all the feats which made
+him an international figure under the name of his American benefactor
+who adopted him in New Orleans after he had run away to sea from a Welsh
+workhouse. He was for years to all intents and purposes an American, and
+carried the American flag on two of his famous expeditions.
+
+President Cleveland was the first chief dignitary of a nation to
+recognize the Congo Free State in the eighties, and his name is
+perpetuated in Mount Cleveland, near the headwaters of the Congo River.
+An American Minister to Belgium, General H. S. Sanford, had a
+conspicuous part in all the first International African Associations
+formed by King Leopold to study the Congo situation. This contact,
+however, save Stanley's share, was diplomatic and a passing phase. It
+was the prelude to the constructive and permanent part played by the
+American capitalists in the Forminiere, chief of whom is Thomas F. Ryan.
+
+The reading world associates Ryan with the whirlpool of Big Finance. He
+ruled New York traction and he recast the tobacco world. Yet nothing
+appealed to his imagination and enthusiasm like the Congo. He saw it in
+very much the same way that Rhodes viewed Rhodesia. Every great American
+master of capital has had his particular pet. There is always some
+darling of the financial gods. The late J. P. Morgan, for example,
+regarded the United States Steel Corporation as his prize performance
+and talked about it just like a doting father speaks of a successful
+son. The Union Pacific System was the apple of E. H. Harriman's eye, and
+the New York Central was a Vanderbilt fetish for decades. So with Ryan
+and the Congo. Other powerful Americans have become associated with him,
+as you will see later on, but it was the tall, alert, clear-eyed
+Virginian, who rose from penniless clerk to be a Wall Street king, who
+first had the vision on this side of the Atlantic, and backed it with
+his millions. I am certain that if Ryan had gone into the Congo earlier
+and had not been engrossed in his American interests, he would probably
+have done for the whole of Central Africa what Rhodes did for South
+Africa.
+
+We can now get at the beginnings of the Forminiere. Most large
+corporations radiate from a lawyer's office. With the Forminiere it was
+otherwise. The center of inspiration was the stone palace at Brussels
+where King Leopold II, King of the Belgians, held forth. The year 1906
+was not a particularly happy one for him. The atrocity campaign was at
+its height abroad and the Socialists were pounding him at home.
+Despite the storm of controversy that raged about him one clear idea
+shone amid the encircling gloom. That idea was to bulwark the Congo Free
+State, of which he was also sovereign, before it was ceded to Belgium.
+
+[Illustration: THOMAS F. RYAN]
+
+Between 1879 and 1890 Leopold personally supported the cost of creating
+and maintaining the Free State. It represented an outlay of more than
+$2,500,000. Afterwards he had adequate return in the revenues from
+rubber and ivory. But Leopold was a royal spender in the fullest sense.
+He had a variety of fads that ranged from youthful and beguiling
+femininity to the building of palaces and the beautifying of his own
+country. He lavished millions on making Brussels a sumptuous capital and
+Ostend an elaborate seaside resort. With his private life we are not
+concerned. Leopold the pleasure-seeker was one person; Leopold the
+business man was another, and as such he was unique among the rulers of
+Europe.
+
+Leopold contradicted every known tradition of royalty. The king business
+is usually the business of spending unearned money. Your royal
+spendthrift is a much more familiar figure than the royal miser.
+Moreover, nobody ever associates productive power with a king save in
+the big family line. His task is inherited and with it a bank account
+sufficient to meet all needs. This immunity from economic necessity is a
+large price to pay for lack of liberty in speech and action. The
+principal job of most kings, as we all know, is to be a noble and
+acquiescent figure-head, to pin decorations on worthy persons, and to
+open public exhibitions.
+
+Leopold did all of these things but they were incidental to his larger
+task. He was an insurgent from childhood. He violated all the rules of
+the royal game not only by having a vision and a mind all his own but
+in possessing a keen commercial instinct. Geography was his hobby at
+school. Like Rhodes, he was forever looking at maps. When he became king
+he saw that the hope of Belgium economically lay in colonization. In
+1860 he made a journey to the Far East, whence he returned deeply
+impressed with trade opportunities in China. Afterwards he was the prime
+mover in the construction of the Pekin-Hankow Railway. I do not think
+most persons know that Leopold at one time tried to establish a Belgian
+colony in Ethiopia. Another act in his life that has escaped the casual
+biographer was his effort to purchase the Philippines from Spain. Now
+you can see why he seized upon the Congo as a colonizing possibility the
+moment he read Henry M. Stanley's first article about it in the London
+Telegraph.
+
+There was a vital reason why Belgium should have a big and prosperous
+colony. Her extraordinary internal development demanded an outlet
+abroad. The doughty little country so aptly called "The Cockpit of
+Europe," and which bore the brunt of the first German advance in the
+Great War, is the most densely populated in the world. It has two
+hundred and forty-seven inhabitants for each square kilometer. England
+only counts one hundred and forty-six, Germany one hundred and
+twenty-five, France seventy-two, and the United States thirteen. The
+Belgians had to have economic elbow room and Leopold was determined that
+they should have it.
+
+His creation of the Congo Free State was just one evidence of his
+shrewdness and diplomacy. Half a dozen of the great powers had their eye
+on this untouched garden spot in Central Africa and would have risked
+millions of dollars and thousands of men to grab it. Leopold, through a
+series of International Associations, engineered the famous Berlin
+Congress of 1884 and with Bismarck's help put the Free State on the map,
+with himself as steward. It was only a year ago in Germany that a former
+high-placed German statesman admitted to me that one of the few
+fundamental mistakes that the Iron Chancellor ever made was to permit
+Leopold to snatch the Congo from under the very eyes and hands of
+Germany. I quote this episode to show that when it came to business
+Leopold made every king in Europe look like an office boy. Even so
+masterful a manipulator of men as Cecil Rhodes failed with him. Rhodes
+sought his aid in his trans-African telegraph scheme but Leopold was too
+shrewd for him. After his first audience with the Belgian king Rhodes
+said to Robert Williams, "I thought I was clever but I was no match for
+him."
+
+The only other modern king interested in business was the former Kaiser,
+Mr. Wilhelm Hohenzollern. Although he has no business sense in the way
+that Leopold had it, he always had a keen appreciation of big business
+as an imperial prop. Like Leopold, he had a congested country and
+realized that permanent expansion lay in colonization. The commercial
+magnates of Germany used him for their own ends but their teamwork
+advanced the whole empire. Wilhelm was a silent partner in the potash,
+shipping, and electric-machinery trusts. He earned whatever he received
+because he was in every sense an exalted press-agent,--a sort of
+glorified publicity promoter. His strong point was to go about
+proclaiming the merits of German wares and he always made it a point to
+scatter samples. On a visit to Italy he left behind a considerable
+quantity of soap. There was a great rush to get these royal left-overs.
+Two weeks later a small army of German soap salesmen descended upon the
+country selling this identical product.
+
+Whatever may be said of Leopold, one thing is certain. He was not small.
+Wilhelm used the brains of other men; Leopold employed his own, and
+every capitalist who went up against him paid tribute to this asset.
+
+We can now go back to 1906, the year that was to mark the advent of
+America into the Congo. Leopold knew that the days of the Congo as a
+Free State were numbered. His personally-conducted stewardship of the
+Colony was being assailed by the Socialists on one hand and the atrocity
+proclaimers on the other. Leopold was undoubtedly sincere in his desire
+to economically safeguard the African possession before it passed out of
+his control. In any event, during the summer of that year he sent a
+message to Ryan asking him to confer with him at Brussels. The summons
+came out of a clear sky and at first the American financier paid no
+attention to it. He was then on a holiday in Switzerland. When a second
+invitation came from the king, he accepted, and in September there began
+a series of meetings between the two men which resulted in the
+organization of the Forminiere and with it the dawn of a real
+international epoch in American enterprise.
+
+In the light of our immense riches the timidity of American capital in
+actual constructive enterprise overseas is astonishing. Scrutinize the
+world business map and you see how shy it has been. We own rubber
+plantations in Sumatra, copper mines in Chile, gold interests in
+Ecuador, and have dabbled in Russian and Siberian mining. These
+undertakings are slight, however, compared with the scope of the world
+field and our own wealth. Mexico, where we have extensive smelting, oil,
+rubber, mining and agricultural investments, is so close at hand that it
+scarcely seems like a foreign country. Strangely enough our capital
+there has suffered more than in any other part of the globe. The
+spectacle of American pioneering in the Congo therefore takes on a
+peculiar significance.
+
+There are two reasons why our capital has not wandered far afield. One
+is that we have a great country with enormous resources and consequently
+almost unlimited opportunities for the employment of cash at home. The
+other lies in the fact that American capital abroad is not afforded the
+same protection granted the money of other countries. Take British
+capital. It is probably the most courageous of all. The sun never sets
+on it. England is a small country and her money, to spread its wings,
+must go elsewhere. Moreover, Britain zealously safeguards her Nationals
+and their investments, and we, I regret to say, have not always done
+likewise. The moment an Englishman or the English flag is insulted a
+warship speeds to the spot and John Bull wants to know the reason why.
+
+Why did Leopold seek American capital and why did he pick out Thomas F.
+Ryan? There are several motives and I will deal with them in order. In
+the first place American capital is about the only non-political money
+in the world. The English pound, for example, always flies the Union
+Jack and is a highly sensitive commodity. When England puts money into
+an enterprise she immediately makes the Foreign Office an accessory.
+German overseas enterprise is even more meddlesome. It has always been
+the first aid to poisonous and pernicious penetration. Even French
+capital is flavoured with imperialism despite the fact that it is the
+product of a democracy. Our dollars are not hitched to the star of
+empire. We have no dreams of world conquest. It is the safest
+politically to deal with, and Leopold recognized this fact.
+
+In the second place he did not want anything to interfere with his Congo
+rubber industry. Now we get to the real reason, perhaps, why he sent for
+Ryan. In conjunction with the late Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, Ryan had
+developed the rubber industry in Mexico, by extracting rubber from the
+guayele shrub which grows wild in the desert. Leopold knew this--he had
+a way of finding out about things--and he sought to kill two birds with
+one stone. He wanted this Mexican process and at the same time he needed
+capital for the Congo. In any event, Ryan went to see him and the
+Forminiere was born.
+
+There is no need of rehearsing here the concrete details of this
+enterprise. All we want are the essential facts. Leopold realized that
+the Forminiere was the last business venture of his life and he
+projected it on a truly kingly scale. It was the final chance for huge
+grants and the result was that the Forminiere received the mining and
+mineral rights to more than 7,000,000 acres, and other concessions for
+agriculture aggregating 2,500,000 acres in addition.
+
+The original capital was only 3,000,000 francs but this has been
+increased from time to time until it is now more than 10,000,000 francs.
+The striking feature of the organization was the provision inserted by
+Leopold that made Belgium a partner. One-half of the shares were
+assigned to the Crown. The other half was divided into two parts. One of
+these parts was subscribed by the King and the Societe Generale of
+Belgium, and the other was taken in its entirety by Ryan. Subsequently
+Ryan took in as associates Daniel Guggenheim, Senator Aldrich, Harry
+Payne Whitney and John Hays Hammond. When Leopold died his share went to
+his heirs. Upon the death of Aldrich his interest was acquired by Ryan,
+who is the principal American owner. No shares have ever been sold and
+none will be. The original trust certificate issued to Ryan and
+Guggenheim remains intact. The company therefore remains a close
+corporation in every respect and as such is unique among kindred
+enterprises.
+
+
+II
+
+At this point the question naturally arises--what is the Societe
+Generale? To ask it in Belgium would be on a par with inquiring the name
+of the king. Its bank notes are in circulation everywhere and it is
+known to the humblest peasant.
+
+The Societe Generale was organized in 1822 and is therefore one of the
+oldest, if not the oldest, joint stock bank of the Continent. The
+general plan of the famous Deutsche Bank of Berlin, which planted the
+German commercial flag everywhere, and which provided a large part of
+the bone and sinew of the Teutonic world-wide exploitation campaign, was
+based upon it. With finance as with merchandising, the German is a prize
+imitator.
+
+The Societe Generale, however, is much more than a bank. It is the
+dynamo that drives Belgian enterprise throughout the globe. We in
+America pride ourselves on the fact that huge combinations of capital
+geared up to industry are a specialty entirely our own. We are much
+mistaken. Little Belgium has in the Societe an agency for development
+unique among financial institutions. Its imposing marble palace on the
+Rue Royale is the nerve center of a corporate life that has no
+geographical lines. With a capital of 62,000,000 francs it has piled up
+reserves of more than 400,000,000 francs. In addition to branches called
+"filial banks" throughout Belgium, it also controls the powerful "Banque
+pour l'Etranger," which is established in London, Paris, New York,
+Cairo, and the Far East.
+
+One distinctive feature of the Societe Generale is its close alliance
+with the Government. It is a sort of semi-official National Treasury and
+performs for Belgium many of the functions that the Bank of England
+transacts for the United Kingdom. But it has infinitely more vigour and
+push than the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in London. Its leading
+officials are required to appear on all imposing public occasions such
+as coronations and the opening of Parliament. The Belgian Government
+applies to the Societe Generale whenever any national financial
+enterprise is to be inaugurated and counts upon it to take the initial
+steps. Thus it became the backbone of Leopold's ramified projects and it
+was natural that he should invoke its assistance in the organization of
+the Forminiere.
+
+[Illustration: JEAN JADOT]
+
+Long before the Forminiere came into being, the Societe Generale was the
+chief financial factor in the Congo. With the exception of the Huileries
+du Congo Belge, which is British, it either dominates or has large
+holdings in every one of the sixteen major corporations doing business
+in the Colony and whose combined total capitalization is more than
+200,000,000 francs. This means that it controls railways and river
+transport, and the cotton, gold, rubber, ivory and diamond output.
+
+The custodians of this far-flung financial power are the money kings of
+Belgium. Chief among them is Jean Jadot, Governor of the Societe
+Generale--the institution still designates its head by this ancient
+title--and President of the Forminiere. In him and his colleagues you
+find those elements of self-made success so dear to the heart of the
+human interest historian. It would be difficult to find anywhere a more
+picturesque group of men than those who, through their association with
+King Leopold and the Societe, have developed the Congo and so many other
+enterprises.
+
+Jadot occupies today the same position in Belgium that the late J. P.
+Morgan held in his prime in America. He is the foremost capitalist.
+Across the broad, flat-topped desk of his office in that marble palace
+in the Rue Royale the tides of Belgian finance ebb and flow. Just as
+Morgan's name made an underwriting in New York so does Jadot's put the
+stamp of authority on it in Brussels. Morgan inherited a great name and
+a fortune. Jadot made his name and his millions.
+
+When you analyze the lives of American multi-millionaires you find a
+curious repetition of history. Men like John D. Rockefeller, Henry H.
+Rogers, Thomas F. Ryan, and Russell Sage began as grocery clerks in
+small towns. Something in the atmosphere created by spice and sugar must
+have developed the money-making germ. With the plutocrats of Belgium it
+was different. Practically all of them, and especially those who ruled
+the financial institutions, began as explorers or engineers. This shows
+the intimate connection that exists between Belgium and her overseas
+interests.
+
+Jadot is a good illustration. At twenty he graduated as engineer from
+Louvain University. At thirty-five he had directed the construction of
+the tramways of Cairo and of the Lower Egyptian Railways. He was now
+caught up in Leopold's great dream of Belgian expansion. The moment that
+the king obtained the concession for constructing the 1,200 mile railway
+from Pekin to Hankow he sent Jadot to China to take charge. Within eight
+years he completed this task in the face of almost insuperable
+difficulties, including a Boxer uprising, which cost the lives of some
+of his colleagues and tested his every resource.
+
+In 1905 he entered the Societe Generale. At once he became fired with
+Leopold's enthusiasm for the Congo and the necessity for making it an
+outlet for Belgium. Jadot was instrumental in organizing the Union
+Miniere and was also the compelling force behind the building of the
+Katanga Railway. In 1912 he became Vice Governor of the Societe and the
+following year assumed the Governorship. In addition to being President
+of the Forminiere he is also head of the Union Miniere and of the new
+railroad which is to connect the Katanga with the Lower Congo.
+
+When you meet Jadot you are face to face with a human organization
+tingling with nervous vitality. He reminds me more of E. H. Harriman
+than of any other American empire builder that I have met, and like
+Harriman he seems to be incessantly bound up to the telephone. He is
+keen, quick, and forceful and talks as rapidly as he thinks. Almost
+slight of body, he at first gives the impression of being a student for
+his eyes are deep and thoughtful. There is nothing meditative in his
+manner, however, for he is a live wire in the fullest American sense.
+Every time I talked with him I went away with a new wonder at his stock
+of world information. Men of the Jadot type never climb to the heights
+they attain without a reason. In his case it is first and foremost an
+accurate knowledge of every undertaking. He never goes into a project
+without first knowing all about it--a helpful rule, by the way, that the
+average person may well observe in the employment of his money.
+
+If Jadot is a live wire, then his confrere, Emile Francqui, is a whole
+battery. Here you touch the most romantic and many-sided career in all
+Belgian financial history. It reads like a melodrama and is packed with
+action and adventure. I could almost write a book about any one of its
+many stirring phases.
+
+At fourteen Francqui was a penniless orphan. He worked his way through a
+regimental school and at twenty was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. It
+was 1885 and the Congo Free State had just been launched. Having studied
+engineering he was sent out at once to Boma to join the Topographic
+Brigade. During this first stay in the Congo he was in charge of a
+boat-load of workmen engaged in wharf construction. The captain of a
+British gunboat hailed him and demanded that he stop. Francqui replied,
+
+"If you try to stop me I will lash my boat to yours and destroy it with
+dynamite." He had no further trouble.
+
+After three years service in the Congo he returned to Brussels and
+became the military instructor of Prince Albert, now King of the
+Belgians. The African fever was in his veins. He heard that a mission
+was about to depart for Zanzibar and East Africa. A knowledge of English
+was a necessary part of the equipment of the chief officer. Francqui
+wanted this job but he did not know a syllable of English. He went to a
+friend and confided his ambition.
+
+"Are you willing to take a chance with one word?" asked his colleague.
+
+"I am," answered the young officer.
+
+He thereupon acquired the word "yes," his friend's injunction being, "If
+you say 'yes' to every question you can probably carry it off."
+
+Francqui thereupon went to the Foreign Office and was immediately asked
+in English:
+
+"Can you speak English?"
+
+"Yes," was his immediate retort.
+
+"Are you willing to undertake the hazards of this journey to Zanzibar?"
+queried the interrogator.
+
+"Yes," came the reply.
+
+Luck was with Francqui for, as his good angel had prophesied, his one
+word of English met every requirement and he got the assignment. Since
+that time, I might add, he has acquired a fluent command of the English
+language. Francqui has always been willing to take a chance and lead a
+forlorn hope.
+
+It was in the early nineties that his exploits made his name one of the
+greatest in African conquest and exploration. He went out to the Congo
+as second in command of what was known as the Bia Expedition, sent to
+explore the Katanga and adjacent territory. After two hard years of
+incessant campaigning the expedition fell into hard lines. Captain Bia
+succumbed to smallpox and the column encountered every conceivable
+hardship. Men died by the score and there was no food. Francqui took
+charge, and by his indomitable will held the force together, starving
+and suffering with his men. During this experience he travelled more
+than 5,000 miles on foot and through a region where no other white man
+had ever gone before. He explored the Luapula, the headwaters of the
+Congo, and opened up a new world to civilization. No other single Congo
+expedition save that of Stanley made such an important contribution to
+the history of the Colony.
+
+Most men would have been satisfied to rest with this achievement. With
+Francqui it simply marked a milepost in his life. In 1896, when he
+resigned from the army, Leopold had fixed his eyes on China as a scene
+of operations, and he sent Francqui there to clinch the Pekin-Hankow
+concession, which he did. In the course of these negotiations he met
+Jadot, who was later to become his associate both in the Societe
+Generale and in the Forminiere.
+
+In 1901 Francqui again went to China, this time as agent of the
+Compagnie d'Orient, which coveted the coal mines of Kaiping that were
+supposed to be among the richest in the world. The British and Germans
+also desired this valuable property which had been operated for some
+years by a Chinese company. As usual, Francqui got what he went after
+and took possession of the property. The crude Chinese method of mining
+had greatly impaired the workings and they had to be entirely
+reconstructed. Among the engineers employed was an alert, smooth-faced,
+keen-minded young American named Herbert Hoover.
+
+Upon his return to Brussels Francqui allied himself with Colonel Thys,
+who was head of the Banque d'Outremer, the rival of the Societe
+Generale. After he had mastered the intricacies of banking he became a
+director of the Societe and with Jadot forged to the front in finance.
+If Jadot stood as the Morgan, then Francqui became the Stillman of the
+Belgian money world.
+
+Then came the Great War and the German avalanche which overwhelmed
+Belgium. Her banks were converted into hospitals; her industry lay
+prostrate; her people faced starvation. Some vital agency was necessary
+to centralize relief at home in the same way that the Commission for
+Relief in Belgium,--the famous "C. R. B."--crystallized it abroad.
+
+The Comite Rationale was formed by Belgians to feed and clothe the
+native population and it became the disbursing agent for the "C. R. B."
+Francqui was chosen head of this body and directed it until the
+armistice. It took toll of all his energy, diplomacy and instinct for
+organization. Needless to say it was one of the most difficult of all
+relief missions in the war. Francqui was a loyal Belgian and he was
+surrounded by the suspicious and domineering German conquerors. Yet
+they trusted him, and his word in Belgium for more than four years was
+absolute law. He was, in truth, a benevolent dictator.
+
+[Illustration: EMILE FRANCQUI]
+
+His war life illustrates one of the quaint pranks that fate often plays.
+As soon as the "C. R. B." was organized in London Francqui hastened over
+to England to confer with the American organizers. To his surprise and
+delight he encountered in its master spirit and chairman, the
+smooth-faced young engineer whom he had met out in the Kaiping coal
+mines before. It was the first time that he and Hoover had seen each
+other since their encounter in China. They now worked shoulder to
+shoulder in the monster mercy of all history.
+
+Francqui is blunt, silent, aggressive. When Belgium wants something done
+she instinctively turns to him. In 1920, after the delay in fixing the
+German reparation embarrassed the country, and liquid cash was
+imperative, he left Brussels on three days' notice and within a
+fortnight from the time he reached New York had negotiated a
+fifty-million-dollar loan. He is as potent in official life as in
+finance for as Special Minister of State without portfolio he is a real
+power behind a real throne.
+
+Although Francqui is a director in the Societe Generale, he is also what
+we would call Chairman of the Board of Banque d'Outremer. This shows
+that the well-known institution of "community of interests" is not
+confined to the United States. With Jadot he represents the Societe in
+the Forminiere Board. I have used these two men to illustrate the type
+represented by the Belgian financial kings. I could mention various
+others. They include Alexander Delcommune, famous as Congo fighter and
+explorer, who is one of the leading figures of the Banque d'Outremer;
+Edmond Solvay, the industrial magnate, and Edward Bunge, the Antwerp
+merchant prince. Almost without exception they and their colleagues have
+either lived in the Congo, or have been guided in their fortunes by it.
+
+You have now had the historical approach with all personal side-lights
+to the hour when America actually invaded the Congo. As soon as Leopold
+and Ryan finally got together the king said, "The Congo must have
+American engineers. They are the best in the world." Thus it came about
+that Central Africa, like South Africa, came under the galvanizing hand
+of the Yankee technical expert. At Kimberley and Johannesburg, however,
+the task was comparatively easy. The mines were accessible and the
+country was known. With Central Africa it was a different and more
+dangerous matter. The land was wild, hostile natives abounded on all
+sides, and going in was like firing a shot in the dark.
+
+The American invasion was in two sections. One was the group of
+engineers headed by Sydney H. Ball and R. D. L. Mohun, known as the
+Ball-Mohun Expedition, which conducted the geological investigation. The
+other was in charge of S. P. Verner, an American who had done
+considerable pioneering in the Congo, and devoted itself entirely to
+rubber. The latter venture was under the auspices of the American Congo
+Company, which expected to employ the Mexican process in the Congo.
+After several years the attempt was abandoned although the company still
+exists.
+
+I will briefly narrate its experience to show that the product which
+raised the tempest around King Leopold's head and which for years was
+synonymous with the name of the Congo, has practically ceased to be an
+important commercial commodity in the Colony. The reason is obvious. In
+Leopold's day nine-tenths of the world's supply of rubber was wild and
+came from Brazil and the Congo. It cost about fifty cents a pound to
+gather and sold for a dollar. Today more than ninety per cent of the
+rubber supply is grown on plantations in the Dutch East Indies, the
+Malay States, and the Straits Settlements, where it costs about twenty
+cents a pound to gather and despite the big slump in price since the
+war, is profitable. In the Congo there is still wild rubber and a
+movement is under way to develop large plantations. Labor is scarce,
+however, while in the East millions of coolies are available. This tells
+the whole rubber story.
+
+The Ball-Mohun Expedition was more successful than its mate for it
+opened up a mineral empire and laid the foundations of the Little
+America that you shall soon see. Mohun was administrative head and Ball
+the technical head and chief engineer. Other members were Millard K.
+Shaler, afterwards one of Hoover's most efficient aids in the relief of
+Belgium, and Arthur F. Smith, geologists; Roland B. Oliver, topographer;
+A. E. H. and C. A. Reid, and N. Janot, prospectors.
+
+Mohun, who had been engaged on account of his knowledge of the country,
+had been American Consul at Zanzibar and at Boma, and first left
+diplomacy to fight the Arab slave-traders in the interior. When someone
+asked him why he had quit the United States Government service to go on
+a military mission he said, "I prefer killing Arabs in the interior to
+killing time at Boma." He figured as one of Richard Harding Davis'
+"Soldiers of Fortune" and was in every sense a unique personality.
+
+You get some idea of the hazards that confronted the American pioneers
+when I say that when they set forth for the Kasai region, which is the
+southwestern part of the Congo, late in 1907, they were accompanied by a
+battalion of native troops under Belgian officers. Often they had to
+fight their way before they could take specimens. On one occasion Ball
+was prospecting in a region hitherto uninvaded by the white man. He was
+attacked by a large body of hostile savages and a pitched battle
+followed. In informal Congo history this engagement is known as "The
+Battle of Ball's Run," although Ball did no running. As recently as 1915
+one of the Forminiere prospectors, E. G. Decker, was killed by the
+fierce Batshoks, the most belligerent of the Upper Kasai tribes. The
+Ball-Mohun group, which was the first of many expeditions, remained in
+the field more than two years and covered a wide area.
+
+Up to this time gold and copper were the only valuable minerals that had
+been discovered in the Congo and the Americans naturally went after
+them. Much to their surprise, they found diamonds and thereby opened up
+a fresh source of wealth for the Colony. The first diamond was found at
+_Mai Munene_, which means "Big Water," a considerable waterfall
+discovered by Livingstone. This region, which is watered by the Kasai
+River, became the center of what is now known as the Congo Diamond
+Fields and remains the stronghold of American engineering and financial
+enterprise in Central Africa. On a wooded height not far from the
+headwaters of the Kasai, these path-finding Americans established a post
+called Tshikapa, the name of a small river nearby. It is the capital of
+Little America in the jungle and therefore became the objective of the
+second stage of my Congo journey.
+
+[Illustration: A BELLE OF THE CONGO]
+
+[Illustration: WOMEN OF THE BATETELAS]
+
+
+III
+
+Kinshassa is nearly a thousand miles from Tshikapa. To get there I had
+to retrace my way up the Congo as far as Kwamouth, where the Kasai
+empties into the parent stream. I also found that it was necessary to
+change boats at Dima and continue on the Kasai to Djoko Punda. Here
+begins the jungle road to the diamond fields.
+
+Up to this time I had enjoyed the best facilities that the Congo could
+supply in the way of transport. Now I faced a trip that would not only
+try patience but had every element of the unknown, which in the Congo
+means the uncomfortable. Fortunately, the "Lusanga," one of the
+Huileries du Congo Belge steamers, was about to start for the Kwilu
+River, which branches off from the Kasai, and the company was kind
+enough to order it to take me to Dima, which was off the prescribed
+itinerary of the vessel.
+
+On a brilliant morning at the end of June I set forth. Nelson was still
+my faithful servant and his smile and teeth shone as resplendently as
+ever. The only change in him was that his appetite for _chikwanga_ had
+visibly increased. Somebody had told him at Kinshassa that the Kasai
+country teemed with cannibals. Being one of the world's champion eaters,
+he shrank from being eaten himself. I promised him an extra allowance of
+food and a khaki uniform that I had worn in the war, and he agreed to
+take a chance.
+
+Right here let me give an evidence of the Congo native's astounding
+quickness to grasp things. I do not refer to his light-fingered
+propensities, however. When we got to Kinshassa Nelson knew scarcely a
+word of the local dialect. When we left a week later, he could jabber
+intelligently with any savage he met. On the four weeks' trip from
+Elizabethville he had picked up enough French to make himself
+understood. The Central African native has an aptitude for languages
+that far surpasses that of the average white man.
+
+I was the only passenger on the "Lusanga," which had been reconstructed
+for Lord Leverhulme's trip through the Congo in 1914. I occupied the
+suite installed for him and it was my last taste of luxury for many a
+day. The captain, Albert Carrie, was a retired lieutenant in the British
+Royal Navy, and the chief engineer was a Scotchman. The Congo River
+seemed like an old friend as we steamed up toward Kwamouth. As soon as
+we turned into the Kasai I found that conditions were different than on
+the main river. There was an abundance of fuel, both for man and boat.
+The daily goat steak of the Congo was relieved by duck and fish. The
+Kasai region is thickly populated and I saw a new type of native,
+lighter in colour than elsewhere, and more keen and intelligent.
+
+The women of the Kasai are probably the most attractive in the Congo.
+This applies particularly to the Batetelas, who are of light brown
+colour. From childhood the females of this tribe have a sense of modesty
+that is in sharp contrast with the nudity that prevails elsewhere
+throughout the country. They swathe their bodies from neck to ankle with
+gaily coloured calico. I am often asked if the scant attire in Central
+Africa shocked me. I invariably reply by saying that the contemporary
+feminine fashion of near-undress in America and Europe made me feel
+that some of the chocolate-hued ladies of the jungle were almost
+over-clothed!
+
+The fourth day of my trip was also the American Fourth of July. Captain
+Carrie and I celebrated by toasting the British and American Navies, and
+it was not in Kasai water. This day also witnessed a somewhat remarkable
+revelation of the fact that world economic unrest has penetrated to the
+very heart of the primitive regions. While the wood-boys were getting
+fuel at a native post, Carrie and I went ashore to take a walk and visit
+a chief who had once been in Belgium. When we got back to the boat we
+found that all the natives had suspended work and were listening to an
+impassioned speech by one of the black wheelmen. All these boats have
+native pilots. This boy, who only wore a loin cloth, was urging his
+fellows not to work so hard. Among other things he said:
+
+"The white man eats big food and takes a big sleep in the middle of the
+day and you ought to do the same thing. The company that owns this boat
+has much money and you should all be getting more wages."
+
+Carrie stopped the harangue, fined the pilot a week's pay, and the men
+went back to work, but the poison had been planted. This illuminating
+episode is just one of the many evidences of industrial insurgency that
+I found in Africa from the moment I struck Capetown. In the Rand gold
+mining district, for example, the natives have been organized by British
+agitators and it probably will not be long before Central Africa has the
+I. W. W. in its midst! Certainly the "I Won't Works" already exist in
+large numbers.
+
+This essentially modern spirit was only one of the many surprises that
+the Congo native disclosed. Another was the existence of powerful secret
+societies which have codes, "grips," and pass-words. Some antedate the
+white man, indulge in human sacrifice, and have branches in a dozen
+sections. Although Central Africa is a land where the husband can stray
+from home at will, the "lodge night" is thus available as an excuse for
+domestic indiscretion.
+
+The most terrible of these orders is the Society of the Leopard, formed
+to provide a novel and devilish method of disposing of enemies. The
+members wear leopard skins or spotted habits and throttle their foes
+with a glove to which steel blades are affixed. The victim appears to
+have been killed by the animal that cannot change its spots. To make the
+illusion complete, the ground where the victim has lain is marked with a
+stick whose end resembles the feet of the leopard.
+
+The leopard skin has a curious significance in the Congo. For occasions
+where the white man takes an oath on the Bible, the savage steps over
+one of these skins to swear fealty. If two chiefs have had a quarrel and
+make up, they tear a skin in two and throw the pieces into the river, to
+show that the feud is rent asunder. It corresponds to the pipe of peace
+of the American Indian.
+
+Another secret society in the Congo is the Lubuki, whose initiation
+makes riding the goat seem like a childish amusement. The candidate is
+tied to a tree and a nest of black ants is distributed over his body. He
+is released only after he is nearly stung to death. A repetition of this
+jungle third degree is threatened for violation of any of the secrets of
+the order, the main purpose of which is to graft on non-members for food
+and other necessities.
+
+In civilized life the members of a fraternal society are summoned to a
+meeting by telephone or letter. In the Congo they are haled by the
+tom-tom, which is the wireless of the woods. These huge drums have an
+uncanny carrying power. The beats are like the dots and dashes of
+telegraphy. All the native news of Central Africa is transmitted from
+village to village in this way.
+
+I could continue this narrative of native habits and customs
+indefinitely but we must get back to the "Lusanga." On board was a real
+character. He was Peter the capita. In the Congo every group of native
+workmen is in charge of a capita, who would be designated a foreman in
+this country. Life and varied experience had battered Peter sadly. He
+spoke English, French, German, Portuguese, and half a dozen of the Congo
+dialects. He learned German while a member of an African dancing team
+that performed at the Winter Garden in Berlin. His German almost had a
+Potsdam flavour. He told me that he had danced before the former Kaiser
+and had met many members of the Teutonic nobility. Yet the thing that
+stood out most vividly in his memory was the taste of German beer. He
+sighed for it daily.
+
+Six days after leaving Kinshassa I reluctantly bade farewell to Peter
+and the "Lusanga" at Dima. Here I had the first piece of hard luck on
+the whole trip. The little steamer that was to take me up the Kasai
+River to Djoko Punda had departed five days before and I was forced to
+wait until she returned. Fifteen years ago Dima was the wildest kind of
+jungle. I found it a model, tropical post with dozens of brick houses, a
+shipyard and machine shops, avenues of palm trees and a farm. It is the
+headquarters of the Kasai Company in the Congo.
+
+I had a brick bungalow to myself and ate with the Managing Director,
+Monsieur Adrian Van den Hove. He knew no English and my alleged French
+was pretty bad. Yet we met three times a day at the table and carried
+on spirited conversations. There was only one English-speaking person
+within a radius of a hundred miles and I had read all my English books.
+I vented my impatience in walking, for I covered at least fifteen miles
+through the jungle every day. This proceeding filled both the Belgians
+and the natives with astonishment. The latter particularly could not
+understand why a man walked about the country aimlessly. Usually a
+native will only walk when he can move in the direction of food or
+sleep. On these solitary trips I went through a country that still
+abounds in buffalo. Occasionally you see an elephant. It is one thing to
+watch a big tusker doing his tricks in a circus tent, but quite another
+to hear him floundering through the woods, tearing off huge branches of
+trees as he moves along with what seems to be an incredible speed for so
+heavy an animal.
+
+There came the glad Sunday--it was my thirteenth day at Dima--when I
+heard the whistle of the steamboat. I dashed down to the beach and there
+was the little forty-ton "Madeleine." I welcomed her as a long-lost
+friend and this she proved to be. The second day afterwards I went
+aboard and began a diverting chapter of my experience. The "Madeleine"
+is a type of the veteran Congo boat. In the old days the Belgian
+pioneers fought natives from its narrow deck. Despite incessant combat
+with sand-banks, snags and swift currents--all these obstructions abound
+in the Kasai River--she was still staunch. In command was the only
+Belgian captain that I had in the Congo, and he had been on these waters
+for twenty years with only one holiday in Europe during the entire time.
+
+I occupied the alleged cabin-de-luxe, the large room that all these
+boats must furnish in case an important State functionary wants to
+travel. My fellow passengers were two Catholic priests and three Belgian
+"agents," as the Congo factors are styled. I ate alone on the main deck
+in front of my cabin, with Nelson in attendance.
+
+Now began a journey that did not lack adventure. It was the end of the
+dry season and the Kasai was lower than ever before. The channel was
+almost a continuous sand-bank. We rested on one of them for a whole day.
+I was now well into the domain of the hippopotamus. I am not
+exaggerating when I say that the Kasai in places is alive with them. You
+can shoot one of these monsters from the bridge of the river boats
+almost as easily as you could pick off a sparrow from the limb of a park
+tree. I got tired of watching them. The flesh of the hippopotamus is
+unfit for white consumption, but the natives regard it as a luxury. The
+white man who kills a hippo is immediately acclaimed a hero. One reason
+is that with spears the black finds it difficult to get the better of
+one of these animals.
+
+Our first step was at a Lutheran Mission set in the middle of a populous
+village. As we approached I saw the American flag hanging over the door
+of the most pretentious mud and grass house. When I went ashore I found
+that the missionaries--a man and his wife--were both American citizens.
+The husband was a Swede who had gone out to Kansas in his boyhood to
+work on a farm. There he married a Kansas girl, who now speaks English
+with a Swedish accent. After spreading the gospel in China and
+elsewhere, they settled down in this lonely spot on the Kasai River.
+
+I was immediately impressed with the difference between the Congo River
+and the Kasai. The Congo is serene, brooding, majestic, and fringed
+with an endless verdure. The Kasai, although 1,500 miles in length, is
+narrower and more pugnacious. Its brown banks and grim flanking
+mountains offer a welcome change from the eternal green of the great
+river that gives the Colony its name. The Kasai was discovered by
+Livingstone in 1854.
+
+I also got another change. Two days after I left Dima we were blanketed
+with heavy fog every morning and the air was raw and chill. On the Kasai
+you can have every experience of trans-Atlantic travel with the sole
+exception of seasickness.
+
+As I proceeded up the Kasai I found continued evidence of the advance in
+price of every food commodity. The omnipresent chicken that fetched a
+franc in 1914 now brings from five to ten. My old friend the goat has
+risen from ten to thirty francs and he was as tough as ever, despite the
+rise. But foodstuffs are only a small part of these Congo economic
+troubles.
+
+We have suffered for some time under the burden of our inseparable
+companion, the High Cost of Living. It is slight compared with the High
+Cost of Loving in the Congo. Here you touch a real hardship. Before the
+war a first-class wife--all wives are bought--sold for fifty francs.
+Today the market price for a choice spouse is two hundred francs and it
+takes hard digging for the black man to scrape up this almost
+prohibitive fee. Thus the High Cost of Matrimony enters the list of
+universal distractions.
+
+On the "Madeleine" was a fascinating black child named Nanda. He was
+about five years old and strolled about the boat absolutely naked. Most
+Congo parents are fond of their offspring but this particular youngster,
+who was bright and alert, was adored by his father, the head fireman
+on the vessel. One day I gave him a cake and it was the first piece of
+sweet bread he had ever eaten. Evidently he liked it for afterwards he
+approached me every hour with his little hands outstretched. I was
+anxious to get a photograph of him in his natural state and took him
+ashore ostensibly for a walk. One of my fellow passengers had a camera
+and I asked him to come along. When the boy saw that he was about to be
+snapped he rushed back to the boat yelling and howling. I did not know
+what was the matter until he returned in about ten minutes, wearing an
+abbreviated pair of pants and a short coat. He was willing to walk about
+nude but when it came to being pictured he suddenly became modest. This
+state of mind, however, is not general in the Colony.
+
+[Illustration: FISHERMEN ON THE SANKURU]
+
+[Illustration: THE FALLS OF THE SANKURU]
+
+The African child is fond of playthings which shows that one touch of
+amusement makes all childhood kin. He will swim half a mile through a
+crocodile-infested river to get an empty tin can or a bottle. One of the
+favorite sports on the river boats is to throw boxes or bottles into the
+water and then watch the children race for them. On the Congo the
+fathers sometimes manufacture rude reproductions of steamboats for their
+children and some of them are astonishingly well made.
+
+Exactly twelve days after we left Dima the captain told me that we were
+nearing Djoko Punda. The country was mountainous and the river had
+become swifter and deeper for we were approaching Wissmann Falls, the
+end of navigation for some distance. These falls are named for Herman
+Wissmann, a lieutenant in the Prussian Army who in the opinion of such
+authorities as Sir Harry Johnston, ranks third in the hierarchy of early
+Congo explorers. Stanley, of course, comes first and Grenfell second.
+
+On account of the lack of certain communication save by runner in this
+part of Africa--the traveller can always beat a wireless message--I was
+unable to send any word of my coming and I wondered whom and what I
+would find there. I had the strongest possible letters to all the
+Forminiere officials but these pieces of paper could not get me on to
+Tshikapa. I needed something that moved on wheels. I was greatly
+relieved, therefore, when we came in sight of the post to see two
+unmistakable American figures standing on the bank. What cheered me
+further were two American motor cars nearby.
+
+The two Americans proved to be G. D. Moody and J. E. Robison. The former
+is Assistant Chief Engineer of the Forminiere in the field and the
+latter is in charge of the motor transport. They gave me a genuine
+American welcome and that night I dined in Robison's grass house off
+American food that had travelled nearly fifteen thousand miles. I heard
+the first unadulterated Yankee conversation that had fallen on my ears
+since I left Elizabethville two months before. When I said that I wanted
+to push on to Tshikapa at once, Moody said, "We will leave at five in
+the morning in one of the jitneys and be in Tshikapa tomorrow night."
+Moody was an incorrigible optimist as I was soon to discover.
+
+
+IV
+
+At dawn the next morning and after a breakfast of hot cakes we set out.
+Nelson was in a great state of excitement because he had never ridden in
+an automobile before. He was destined not to enjoy that rare privilege
+very long. The rough highway hewed by American engineers through the
+thick woods was a foot deep in sand and before we had proceeded a
+hundred yards the car got stuck and all hands save Moody got out to push
+it on. Moody was the chauffeur and had to remain at the wheel. Draped in
+fog, the jungle about me had an almost eerie look. But aesthetic and
+emotional observations had to give way to practicality. Laboriously the
+jitney snorted through the sand and bumped over tree stumps. After a
+strenuous hour and when we had reached the open country, the machine
+gave a groan and died on the spot. We were on a broad plain on the
+outskirts of a village and the broiling sun beat down on us.
+
+The African picaninny has just as much curiosity as his American brother
+and in ten minutes the whole juvenile population was assembled around
+us. Soon the grown-ups joined the crowd. Naked women examined the tires
+as if they were articles of food and black warriors stalked about with
+the same sort of "I told you so" expression that you find in the face of
+the average American watching a motor car breakdown. Human nature is the
+same the world over. The automobile is a novelty in these parts and when
+the Forminiere employed the first ones the natives actually thought it
+was an animal that would finally get tired and quit. Mine stopped
+without getting tired!
+
+For six hours Moody laboured under the car while I sat in the glaring
+sun alongside the road and cursed fate. Nelson spent his time eating all
+the available food in sight. Finally, at three o'clock Moody gave up and
+said, "We'll have to make the rest of this trip in a teapoy."
+
+A teapoy is usually a hammock slung on a pole carried on the shoulders
+of natives. We sent a runner in to Robison, who came back with two
+teapoys and a squad of forty blacks to transport us. The "teapoy boy,"
+as he is called, is as much a part of the African scheme of life as a
+driver or a chauffeur is in America. He must be big, strong, and sound
+of wind, because he is required to go at a run all the time. For any
+considerable journey each teapoy has a squad of eight men who alternate
+on the run without losing a step. They always sing as they go.
+
+I had never ridden in a teapoy before and now I began a continuous trip
+in one which lasted eight hours. Night fell almost before we got started
+and it was a strange sensation to go sailing through the silent black
+woods and the excited villages where thousands of naked persons of all
+sizes turned out to see the show. After two hours I began to feel as if
+I had been tossed up for a week in an army blanket. The wrist watch that
+I had worn throughout the war and which had withstood the fiercest shell
+shocks and bombardments, was jolted to a standstill. After the fourth
+hour I became accustomed to the movement and even went to sleep for a
+while. Midnight brought us to Kabambaie and the banks of the Kasai,
+where I found food and sanctuary at a Forminiere post. Here the
+thousands of tons of freight that come up the river from Dima by
+steamer and which are carried by motor trucks, ox teams, and on the
+heads of natives to this point, are placed on whale-boats and sent up
+the river to Tshikapa.
+
+Before going to bed I sent a runner to Tshikapa to notify Donald Doyle,
+Managing Engineer of the Forminiere in the field, that I was coming and
+to send a motor car out to meet me. I promised this runner much
+_matabeesh_, which is the African word for a tip, if he would run the
+whole way. The distance through the jungle was exactly seventy-two miles
+and he covered it, as I discovered when I reached Tshikapa, in exactly
+twenty-six hours, a remarkable feat. The _matabeesh_ I bestowed, by the
+way, was three francs (about eighteen cents) and the native regarded it
+as a princely gift because it amounted to nearly half a month's wages.
+
+By this time my confidence in the African jitney was somewhat shaken. A
+new motor-boat had just been received at Kabambaie and I thought I would
+take a chance with it and start up the Kasai the next day. Moody,
+assisted by several other engineers, set to work to get it in shape. At
+noon of the second day, when we were about to start, the engine went on
+a sympathetic strike with the jitney, and once more I was halted. I said
+to Moody, "I am going to Tshikapa without any further delay if I have to
+walk the whole way." This was not necessary for, thanks to the
+Forminiere organization, which always has hundreds of native porters at
+Kabambaie, I was able to organize a caravan in a few hours.
+
+After lunch we departed with a complete outfit of tents, bedding, and
+servants. The black personnel was thirty porters and a picked squad of
+thirty-five teapoy boys to carry Moody and myself. Usually these
+caravans have a flag. I had none so the teapoy capita fished out a big
+red bandanna handkerchief, which he tied to a stick. With the crimson
+banner flying and the teapoy carriers singing and playing rude native
+instruments, we started off at a trot. I felt like an explorer going
+into the unknown places. It was the real thing in jungle experience.
+
+From two o'clock until sunset we trotted through the wilds, which were
+almost thrillingly beautiful. In Africa there is no twilight, and
+darkness swoops down like a hawk. All afternoon the teapoy men, after
+their fashion, carried on what was literally a running crossfire of
+questions among themselves. They usually boast of their strength and
+their families and always discuss the white man they are carrying and
+his characteristics. I heard much muttering of _Mafutta Mingi_ and I
+knew long before we stopped that my weight was not a pleasant topic.
+
+I will try to reproduce some of the conversation that went on that
+afternoon between my carriers. I will not give the native words but will
+translate into English the questions and answers as they were hurled
+back and forth. By way of explanation let me say beforehand that there
+is no word in any of the Congo dialects for "yes." Affirmation is always
+expressed by a grunt. Here is the conversation:
+
+"Men of the white men."
+
+"Ugh."
+
+"Does he lie?"
+
+"He lies not."
+
+"Does he shirk?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Does he steal?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Am I strong?"
+
+"Ugh."
+
+"Have I a good liver?"
+
+"Ugh."
+
+[Illustration: A CONGO DIAMOND MINE]
+
+[Illustration: HOW THE MINES ARE WORKED]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it goes. One reason why these men talk so much is that all their work
+must be accompanied by some sound. Up in the diamond fields I watched a
+native chopping wood. Every time the steel blade buried itself in the
+log the man said: "Good axe. Cut deep." He talked to the weapon just as
+he would speak to a human being. It all goes to show that the Congo
+native is simply a child grown to man's stature.
+
+The fact that I had to resort to the teapoy illustrates the
+unreliability of mechanical transport in the wilds. I had tried in vain
+to make progress with an automobile and a motor boat, and was forced as
+a last resort to get back to the human being as carrier. He remains the
+unfailing beast of burden despite all scientific progress.
+
+I slept that night in a native house on the outskirts of a village. It
+was what is called a _chitenda_, which is a grass structure open at all
+the sides. The last white man to occupy this domicile was Louis Franck,
+the Belgian Minister of the Colonies, who had gone up to the Forminiere
+diamond fields a few weeks before. He used the same jitney that I had
+started in, and it also broke down with him. Moody was his chauffeur.
+They made their way on foot to this village. Moody told the chief that
+he had the real _Bula Matadi_ with him. The chief solemnly looked at
+Franck and said, "He is no _Bula Matadi_ because he does not wear any
+medals." Most high Belgian officials wear orders and the native dotes on
+shiny ornaments. The old savage refused to sell the travellers any food
+and the Minister had to share the beans of the negro boys who
+accompanied him.
+
+Daybreak saw us on the move. For hours we swung through dense forest
+which made one think of the beginnings of the world when the big trees
+were king. The vastness and silence were only comparable to the brooding
+mystery of the jungle nights. You have no feel of fear but oddly enough,
+a strange sense of security.
+
+I realized as never before, the truth that lay behind one of Stanley's
+convictions. He once said, "No luxury of civilization can be equal to
+the relief from the tyranny of custom. The wilds of a great city are
+greater than the excruciating tyranny of a small village. The heart of
+Africa is infinitely preferable to the heart of the world's largest
+city. If the way were easier, millions would fly to it."
+
+Despite this enthralling environment I kept wondering if that runner had
+reached Doyle and if a car had been sent out. At noon we emerged from
+the forest into a clearing. Suddenly Moody said, "I hear an automobile
+engine." A moment later I saw a small car burst through the trees far
+ahead and I knew that relief was at hand. Dr. John Dunn, the physician
+at Tshikapa, had started at dawn to meet me, and my teapoy adventures,
+for the moment, were ended. Dr. Livingstone at Ujiji had no keener
+feeling of relief at the sight of Stanley that I felt when I shook the
+hand of this bronzed, Middle Western medico.
+
+We lunched by the roadside and afterwards I got into Dunn's car and
+resumed the journey. I sent the porters and teapoy men back to
+Kabambaie. Late in the afternoon we reached the bluffs overlooking the
+Upper Kasai. Across the broad, foaming river was Tshikapa. If I had not
+known that it was an American settlement, I would have sensed its
+sponsorship. It radiated order and neatness. The only parallels in the
+Congo are the various areas of the Huileries du Congo Belge.
+
+
+V
+
+Tshikapa, which means "belt," is a Little America in every sense. It
+commands the junction of the Tshikapa and Kasai rivers. There are dozens
+of substantial brick dwellings, offices, warehouses, machine-shops and a
+hospital. For a hundred miles to the Angola border and far beyond, the
+Yankee has cut motor roads and set up civilization generally. You see
+American thoroughness on all sides, even in the immense native villages
+where the mine employees live. Instead of having compounds the company
+encourages the blacks to establish their own settlements and live their
+own lives. It makes them more contented and therefore more efficient,
+and it establishes a colony of permanent workers. When the native is
+confined to a compound he gets restless and wants to go back home. The
+Americans are helping to solve the Congo labour problem.
+
+At Tshikapa you hear good old United States spoken with every dialectic
+flavour from New England hardness to Texas drawl. In charge of all the
+operations in the field was Doyle, a clear-cut, upstanding American
+engineer who had served his apprenticeship in the Angola jungles, where
+he was a member of one of the first American prospecting parties. With
+his wife he lived in a large brick bungalow and I was their guest in it
+during my entire stay in the diamond fields. Mrs. Doyle embodied the
+same courage that animated Mrs. Wallace. Too much cannot be said of the
+faith and fortitude of these women who share their husband's fortunes
+out at the frontiers of civilization.
+
+At Tshikapa there were other white women, including Mrs. Dunn, who had
+recently converted her hospitable home into a small maternity hospital.
+Only a few weeks before my arrival Mrs. Edwin Barclay, wife of the
+manager of the Mabonda Mine, had given birth to a girl baby under its
+roof, and I was taken over at once to see the latest addition to the
+American colony.
+
+On the day of my arrival the natives employed at this mine had sent Mrs.
+Barclay a gift of fifty newly-laid eggs as a present for the baby.
+Accompanying it was a rude note scrawled by one of the foremen who had
+attended a Presbyterian mission school. The birth of a white baby is
+always a great event in the Congo. When Mrs. Barclay returned to her
+home a grand celebration was held and the natives feasted and danced in
+honour of the infant.
+
+There is a delightful social life at Tshikapa. Most of the mines, which
+are mainly in charge of American engineers, are within a day's
+travelling distance in a teapoy and much nearer by automobile. Some of
+the managers have their families with them, and they foregather at the
+main post every Sunday. On Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and
+Christmas there is always a big rally which includes a dance and
+vaudeville show in the men's mess hall. The Stars and Stripes are
+unfurled to the African breeze and the old days in the States recalled.
+It is real community life on the fringe of the jungle.
+
+I was struck with the big difference between the Congo diamond fields
+and those at Kimberley. In South Africa the mines are gaping gashes in
+the earth thousands of feet wide and thousands deep. They are all
+"pipes" which are formed by volcanic eruption. These pipes are the real
+source of the diamonds. The precious blue ground which contains the
+stones is spread out on immense "floors" to decompose under sun and
+rain. Afterwards it is broken in crushers and goes through a series of
+mechanical transformations. The diamonds are separated from the
+concentrates on a pulsating table covered with vaseline. The gems cling
+to the oleaginous substance. It is an elaborate process.
+
+The Congo mines are alluvial and every creek and river bed is therefore
+a potential diamond mine. The only labour necessary is to remove the
+upper layer of earth,--the "overburden" as it is termed--dig up the
+gravel, shake it out, and you have the concentrate from which a naked
+savage can pick the precious stones. They are precisely like the mines
+of German South-West Africa. So far no "pipes" have been discovered in
+the Kasai basin. Many indications have been found, and it is inevitable
+that they will be located in time. The diamond-bearing earth sometimes
+travels very far from its base, and the American engineers in the Congo
+with whom I talked are convinced that these volcanic formations which
+usually produce large stones, lie far up in the Kasai hills. The
+diamond-bearing area of the Belgian Congo and Angola covers nearly eight
+thousand square miles and only five per cent has been prospected. There
+is not the slightest doubt that one of the greatest diamond fields ever
+known is in the making here.
+
+Now for a real human interest detail. At Kimberley the Zulus and Kaffirs
+know the value of the diamond and there was formerly considerable
+filching. All the workers are segregated in barbed wire compounds and
+kept under constant surveillance. At the end of their period of
+service they remain in custody for two weeks in order to make certain
+that they have not swallowed any stones.
+
+[Illustration: GRAVEL CARRIERS AT A CONGO MINE]
+
+[Illustration: CONGO NATIVES PICKING OUT DIAMONDS]
+
+The Congo natives do not know what a diamond really is. The majority
+believe that it is simply a piece of glass employed in the making of
+bottles, and there are a good many bottles of various kinds in the
+Colony. Hence no watch is kept on the hundreds of Balubas who are mainly
+employed in the task of picking out the glittering jewels. During the
+past five years, when the product in the Congo fields has grown
+steadily, not a single karat has been stolen. The same situation obtains
+in the Angola fields.
+
+In company with Doyle I visited the eight principal mines in the Congo
+field and saw the process of mining in all its stages of advancement. At
+the Kisele development, which is almost within sight of Tshikapa, the
+small "jigs" in which the gravel is shaken, are operated by hand. This
+is the most primitive method. At Mabonda the concentrate pans are
+mounted on high platforms. Here the turning is also by hand but on a
+larger scale. The Ramona mine has steam-driven pans, while at Tshisundu,
+which is in charge of William McMillan, I witnessed the last word in
+alluvial diamond mining. At this place Forminiere has erected an
+imposing power plant whose tall smokestack dominates the surrounding
+forest. You get a suggestion of Kimberley for the excavation is immense,
+and there is the hum and movement of a pretentious industrial
+enterprise. Under the direction of William McMillan a research
+department has been established which is expected to influence and
+possibly change alluvial operations.
+
+Our luncheon at Tshisundu was attended by Mrs. McMillan, another
+heroine of that rugged land. Alongside sat her son, born in 1918 at one
+of the mines in the field and who was as lusty and animated a youngster
+as I have seen. His every movement was followed by the eagle eye of his
+native nurse who was about twelve years old. These native attendants
+regard it as a special privilege to act as custodians of a white child
+and invariably a close intimacy is established between them. They really
+become playmates.
+
+It is difficult to imagine that these Congo diamond mines were mere
+patches of jungle a few years ago. The task of exploitation has been an
+immense one. Before the simplest mine can be operated the dense forest
+must be cleared and the river beds drained. Every day the mine manager
+is confronted with some problem which tests his ingenuity and resource.
+Only the Anglo-Saxon could hold his own amid these trying circumstances.
+
+No less difficult were the natives themselves. Before the advent of the
+American engineers, industry was unknown in the Upper Kasai. The only
+organized activity was the harvesting of rubber and that was rather a
+haphazard performance. With the opening of the mines thousands of
+untrained blacks had to be drawn into organized service. They had never
+even seen the implements of labour employed by the whites. When they
+were given wheel-barrows and told to fill and transport the earth, they
+placed the barrows on their heads and carried them to the designated
+place. They repeated the same act with shovels.
+
+The Yankees have thoroughly impressed the value and the nobility of
+labour. I asked one of the employes at a diamond mine what he thought of
+the Americans. His reply was, "Americans and work were born on the same
+day."
+
+The labour of opening up the virgin land was only one phase. Every piece
+of machinery and every tin of food had to be transported thousands of
+miles and this condition still obtains. The motor road from Djoko Punda
+to Kabambaie was hacked by American engineers through the jungle. It is
+comparatively easy to get supplies to Djoko Punda although everything
+must be shifted from railway to boat several times. Between Djoko Punda
+and Tshikapa the material is hauled in motor trucks and ox-drawn wagons
+or conveyed on the heads of porters to Kabambaie. Some of it is
+transshipped to whale-boats and paddled up to Tshikapa, and the
+remainder continues in the wagons overland. During 1920 seven hundred
+and fifty tons of freight were hauled from Djoko Punda in this laborious
+way.
+
+At the time of my visit there were twelve going mines in the Congo
+field, and three new ones were in various stages of advancement. The
+Forminiere engineers also operate the diamond concessions of the Kasai
+Company and the Bas Congo Katanga Railway which will run from the
+Katanga to Kinshassa.
+
+More than twelve thousand natives are employed throughout the Congo area
+alone and nowhere have I seen a more contented lot of blacks. The
+Forminiere obtains this good-will by wisely keeping the price of trade
+goods such as salt and calico at the pre-war rate. It is an admirable
+investment. This merchandise is practically the legal tender of the
+jungle. With a cup of salt a black man can start an endless chain of
+trading that will net him a considerable assortment of articles in time.
+
+The principal natives in the Upper Kasai are the Balubas, who bear the
+same relation to this area as the Bangalas do to the Upper Congo. The
+men are big, strong, and fairly intelligent. The principal tribal mark
+is the absence of the two upper central incisor teeth. These are usually
+knocked out in early boyhood. No Baluba can marry until he can show this
+gaping space in his mouth. Although the natives abuse their teeth by
+removing them or filing them down to points, they take excellent care of
+the remaining ivories. Many polish the teeth with a stick and wash their
+mouths several times a day. The same cannot be said of many civilized
+persons.
+
+I observed that the families in the Upper Kasai were much more numerous
+than elsewhere in the Congo. A Bangala or Batetela woman usually has one
+child and then goes out of the baby business. In the region dominated by
+the Forminiere it is no infrequent thing to see three or four children
+in a household. A woman who bears twins is not only hailed as a real
+benefactress but the village looks upon the occasion as a good omen.
+This is in direct contrast with the state of mind in East Africa, for
+example, where one twin is invariably killed.
+
+I encountered an interesting situation concerning twins when I visited
+the Mabonda Mine. This is one of the largest in the Congo field.
+Barclay, the big-boned American manager, formerly conducted engineering
+operations in the southern part of America. He therefore knows the Negro
+psychology and the result is that he conducts a sort of amiable and
+paternalistic little kingdom all his own. The natives all come to him
+with their troubles, and he is their friend, philosopher and guide.
+
+After lunch one day he asked me if I would like to talk to a native who
+had a story. When I expressed assent he took me out to a shed nearby and
+there I saw a husky Baluba who was labouring under some excitement. The
+reason was droll. Four days before, his wife had given birth to twins
+and there was great excitement in the village. The natives, however,
+refused to have anything to do with him because, to use their phrase,
+"he was too strong." His wife did not come under this ban and was the
+center of jubilation and gesticulation. The poor husband was a sort of
+heroic outcast and had to come to Barclay to get some food and a drink
+of palm wine to revive his drooping spirits.
+
+The output in the Congo diamond area has grown from a few thousand
+karats to hundreds of thousands of karats a year. The stones are small
+but clear and brilliant. This yield is an unsatisfactory evidence of the
+richness of the domain. The ore reserves are more than ten per cent of
+the yearly output and the surface of the concession has scarcely been
+scratched. Experienced diamond men say that a diamond in the ground is
+worth two in the market. It is this element of the unknown that gives
+the Congo field one of its principal potentialities.
+
+The Congo diamond fields are merely a part of the Forminiere
+treasure-trove. Over in Angola the concession is eight times larger in
+area, the stones are bigger, and with adequate exploitation should
+surpass the parent production in a few years. Six mines are already in
+operation and three more have been staked out. The Angola mines are
+alluvial and are operated precisely like those in Belgian territory. The
+managing engineer is Glenn H. Newport, who was with Decker in the fatal
+encounter with Batchoks. The principal post of this area is Dundu, which
+is about forty miles from the Congo border.
+
+As I looked at these mines with their thousands of grinning natives and
+heard the rattle of gravel in the "jigs" my mind went back to Kimberley
+and the immense part that its glittering wealth played in determining
+the economic fate of South Africa. Long before the gold "rush" opened up
+in the Rand, the diamond mines had given the southern section of the
+continent a rebirth of prosperity. Will the Congo mines perform the same
+service for the Congo? In any event they will be a determining factor in
+the future world diamond output.
+
+No record of America in the Congo would be complete without a reference
+to the high part that our missionaries have played in the
+spiritualization of the land. The stronghold of our religious influence
+is also the Upper Kasai Basin. In 1890 two devoted men, Samuel N.
+Lapsley, a white clergyman, and William H. Sheppard, a Negro from
+Alabama, established the American Presbyterian Congo Mission at Luebo
+which is about one hundred miles from Tshikapa straight across country.
+
+The valley of the Sankuru and Kasai Rivers is one of the most densely
+populated of all the Belgian Congo. It is inhabited by five powerful
+tribes--the Baluba, the Bena Lulua, the Bakuba, the Bakete and the
+Zappozaps, and their united population is one-fifth of that of the whole
+Colony. Hence it was a fruitful field for labour but a hard one. From an
+humble beginning the work has grown until there are now seven important
+stations with scores of white workers, hundreds of native evangelists,
+one of the best equipped hospitals in Africa, and a manual training
+school that is teaching the youth of the land how to become prosperous
+and constructive citizens. Under its inspiration the population of Luebo
+has grown from two thousand in 1890 to eighteen thousand in 1920.
+
+The two fundamental principles underlying this splendid undertaking
+have been well summed up as follows: "First, the attainment of a Church
+supported by the natives through the thrift and industry of their own
+hands. The time is past when we may merely teach the native to become a
+Christian and then leave him in his poverty and squalor where he can be
+of little or no use to the Church. Second, the preparation of the native
+to take the largest and most influential position possible in the
+development of the Colony. Practically the only thing open to the
+Congolese is along the mechanical and manual lines."
+
+[Illustration: WASHING OUT GRAVEL]
+
+[Illustration: DONALD DOYLE (LEFT) AND MR. MARCOSSON]
+
+One of the noblest actors in this American missionary drama was the late
+Rev. W. M. Morrison, who went out to the Congo in 1896. Realizing that
+the most urgent need was a native dictionary, he reduced the
+Baluba-Lulua language to writing. In 1906 he published a Dictionary and
+Grammar which included the Parables of Christ, the Miracles, the
+Epistles to the Romans in paraphrase. He also prepared a Catechism based
+on the Shorter and Child's Catechisms. This gave the workers in the
+field a definite instrument to employ, and it has been a beneficent
+influence in shaping the lives and morals of the natives.
+
+One phase of the labours of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission
+discloses the bondage of the Congo native to the Witch Doctor. The
+moment he feels sick he rushes to the sorcerer, usually a bedaubed
+barbarian who practices weird and mysterious rites, and who generally
+succeeds in killing off his patient. More than ninety per cent of the
+pagan population of Africa not only acknowledges but fears the powers of
+the Witch Doctor. Only two-fifths of one per cent are under Christian
+medical treatment. The Presbyterian Missionaries, therefore, from the
+very outset have sought to bring the native into the ken of the white
+physician. It is a slow process. One almost unsurmountable obstacle lies
+in the uncanny grip that the "medicine man" wields in all the tribes.
+
+It is largely due to the missionaries that the practice of handshaking
+has been introduced in the Congo. Formerly the custom was to clap hands
+when exchanging greetings. The blacks saw the Anglo-Saxons grasp hands
+when they met and being apt imitators in many things, they started to do
+likewise. One of the first things that impressed me in Africa was the
+extraordinary amount of handshaking that went on when the people met
+each other even after a separation of only half an hour.
+
+
+VI
+
+I had originally planned to leave Africa at St. Paul de Loanda in
+Portuguese West Africa, where Thomas F. Ryan and his Belgian associates
+have acquired the new oil wells and set up still another important
+outpost of our overseas financial venturing. But so much time had been
+consumed in reaching Tshikapa that I determined to return to Kinshassa,
+go on to Matadi, and catch the boat for Europe at the end of August.
+
+There were two ways of getting back to Kabambaie. One was to go in an
+automobile through the jungle, and the other by boat down the Kasai.
+Between Kabambaie and Djoko Punda there is practically no navigation on
+account of the succession of dangerous rapids. Since my faith in the
+jitney was still impaired I chose the river route and it gave me the
+most stirring of all my African experiences. The two motor boats at
+Tshikapa were out of commission so I started at daybreak in a whale-boat
+manned by forty naked native paddlers.
+
+The fog still hung over the countryside and the scene as we got under
+way was like a Rackham drawing of goblins and ghosts. I sat forward in
+the boat with the ranks of singing, paddling blacks behind me. From the
+moment we started and until I landed, the boys kept up an incessant
+chanting. One of their number sat forward and pounded the iron gunwale
+with a heavy stick. When he stopped pounding the paddlers ceased their
+efforts. The only way to make the Congo native work is to provide him
+with noise.
+
+All day we travelled down the river through schools of hippopotami, some
+of them near enough for me to throw a stone into the cavernous mouths.
+The boat capita told me that he would get to Kabambaie by sundown. Like
+the average New York restaurant waiter, he merely said what he thought
+his listener wanted to hear. I fervently hoped he was right because we
+not only had a series of rapids to shoot up-river, but at Kabambaie is a
+seething whirlpool that has engulfed hundreds of natives and their
+boats. At sunset we had only passed through the first of the troubled
+zones. Nightfall without a moon found me still moving, and with the
+swirling eddy far ahead.
+
+I had many close calls during the war. They ranged from the first-line
+trenches of France, Belgium, and Italy to the mine fields of the North
+Sea while a winter gale blew. I can frankly say that I never felt such
+apprehension as on the face of those surging waters, with black night
+and the impenetrable jungle about me. The weird singing of the paddlers
+only heightened the suspense. I thought that every tight place would be
+my last. Finally at eight o'clock, and after it seemed that I had spent
+years on the trip, we bumped up against the shore of Kabambaie, within a
+hundred feet of the fatal spot.
+
+The faithful Moody, who preceded me, had revived life in the jonah
+jitney and at dawn the next day we started at full speed and reached
+Djoko Punda by noon. The "Madeleine" was waiting for me with steam up,
+for I sent a runner ahead. I had ordered Nelson back from Kabambaie
+because plenty of servants were available there. He spent his week of
+idleness at Djoko Punda in exploring every food known to the country. At
+one o'clock I was off on the first real stage of my homeward journey.
+The swift current made the downward trip much faster than the upward and
+I was not sorry.
+
+As we neared Basongo the captain came to me and said, "I see two
+Americans standing on the bank. Shall I take them aboard?"
+
+Almost before I could say that I would be delighted, we were within
+hailing distance of the post. An American voice with a Cleveland, Ohio,
+accent called out to me and asked my name. When I told him, he said,
+"I'll give you three copies of the _Saturday Evening Post_ if you will
+take us down to Dima. We have been stranded here for nearly three weeks
+and want to go home."
+
+I yelled back that they were more than welcome for I not only wanted to
+help out a pair of countrymen in distress but I desired some
+companionship on the boat. They were Charles H. Davis and Henry
+Fairbairn, both Forminiere engineers who had made their way overland
+from the Angola diamond fields. Only one down-bound Belgian boat had
+passed since their arrival and it was so crowded with Belgian officials
+on their way to Matadi to catch the August steamer for Europe, that
+there was no accommodation for them. By this time they were joined by a
+companion in misfortune, an American missionary, the Rev. Roy Fields
+Cleveland, who was attached to the Mission at Luebo. He had come to
+Basongo on the little missionary steamer, "The Lapsley," and sent it
+back, expecting to take the Belgian State boat. Like the engineers, he
+could get no passage.
+
+Davis showed his appreciation of my rescue of the party by immediately
+handing over the three copies of the Post, which were more than seven
+months old and which had beguiled his long nights in the field.
+Cleveland did his bit in the way of gratitude by providing hot griddle
+cakes every morning. He had some American cornmeal and he had taught his
+native servant how to produce the real article.
+
+At Dima I had the final heart-throb of the trip. I had arranged to take
+the "Fumu N'Tangu," a sister ship of the "Madeleine," from this point to
+Kinshassa. When I arrived I found that she was stuck on a sandbank one
+hundred miles down the river. My whole race against time to catch the
+August steamer would have been futile if I could not push on to
+Kinshassa at once.
+
+Happily, the "Yser," the State boat that had left Davis, Fairbairn, and
+Cleveland high and dry at Basongo, had put in at Dima the day before to
+repair a broken paddle-wheel and was about to start. I beat the
+"Madeleine's" gangplank to the shore and tore over to the Captain of the
+"Yser." When I told him I had to go to Kinshassa he said, "I cannot take
+you. I only have accommodations for eight people and am carrying forty."
+I flashed my royal credentials on him and he yielded. I got the sofa, or
+rather the bench called a sofa, in his cabin.
+
+On the "Yser" I found Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Crane, both Southerners,
+who were returning to the United States after eight years at service at
+one of the American Presbyterian Mission Stations. With them were their
+two youngest children, both born in the Congo. The eldest girl, who was
+five years old, could only speak the Baluba language. From her infancy
+her nurses had been natives and she was facing the problem of going to
+America for the first time without knowing a word of English. It was
+quaintly amusing to hear her jabber with the wood-boys and the firemen
+on board and with the people of the various villages where we
+stopped.
+
+[Illustration: THE PARK AT BOMA]
+
+[Illustration: A STREET IN MATADI]
+
+The Cranes were splendid types of the American missionary workers for
+they were human and companionable. I had found Cleveland of the same
+calibre. Like many other men I had an innate prejudice against the
+foreign church worker before I went to Africa. I left with a strong
+admiration for him, and with it a profound respect.
+
+Kinshassa looked good to me when we arrived after four days' travelling,
+but I did not tarry long. I was relieved to find that I was in ample
+time to catch the August steamer at Matadi. It was at Kinshassa that I
+learned of the nominations of Cox and Harding for the Presidency,
+although the news was months old.
+
+The morning after I reached Stanley Pool I boarded a special car on the
+historic narrow-gauge railway that runs from Kinshassa to Matadi. At the
+station I was glad to meet Major and Mrs. Wallace, who like myself were
+bound for home. I invited them to share my car and we pulled out. On
+this railway, as on all other Congo lines, the passengers provide their
+own food. The Wallaces had their servant whom I recognized as one of the
+staff at Alberta. Nelson still held the fort for me. Between us we
+mobilized an elaborate lunch fortified by fruit that we bought at one of
+the many stations where we halted.
+
+We spent the night at the hotel at Thysville high in the mountains and
+where it was almost freezing cold. This place is named for General
+Albert Thys, who was attached to the colonial administration of King
+Leopold and who founded the Compagnie du Congo Pour le Commerce et
+l'Industrie, the "Queen-Dowager," as it is called, of all the Congo
+companies. His most enduring monument, however, is the Chemin de Fer du
+Congo Matadi-Stanley Pool. He felt with Stanley that there could be no
+development of the Congo without a railway between Matadi and Stanley
+Pool.
+
+The necessity was apparent. At Matadi, which is about a hundred miles
+from the sea, navigation on the Congo River ceases because here begins a
+succession of cataracts that extend almost as far as Leopoldville. In
+the old days all merchandise had to be carried in sixty-pound loads to
+Stanley Pool on the heads of natives. The way is hard for it is up and
+down hill and traverses swamps and morasses. Every year ten thousand men
+literally died in their tracks. The human loss was only one detail of
+the larger loss of time.
+
+Under the stimulating leadership of General Thys, the railway was
+started in 1890 and was opened for traffic eight and a half years later.
+Perhaps no railway in the world took such heavy toll. It is two hundred
+and fifty miles in length and every kilometer cost a white life and
+every meter a black one. Only the graves of the whites are marked. You
+can see the unending procession of headstones along the right of way.
+During its construction the project was bitterly assailed. The wiseacres
+contended that it was visionary, impracticable, and impossible. In this
+respect it suffered the same experience as all the other pioneering
+African railways and especially those of Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast,
+Uganda, and the Soudan.
+
+The scenery between Thysville and Matadi is noble and inspiring. The
+track winds through grim highlands and along lovely valleys. The hills
+are rich with colour, and occasionally you can see a frightened antelope
+scurrying into cover in the woods. As you approach Matadi the landscape
+takes on a new and more rugged beauty. Almost before you realize it,
+you emerge from a curve in the mountains and the little town so
+intimately linked with Stanley's early trials as civilizer, lies before
+you.
+
+Matadi is built on a solid piece of granite. The name is a version of
+the word _matari_ which means rock. In certain parts of Africa the
+letter "r" is often substituted for "d." Stanley's native name was in
+reality "Bula Matari," but on account of the license that I have
+indicated he is more frequently known as "Bula Matadi," the title now
+bestowed on all officials in the Congo. It was at Matadi that Stanley
+received the designation because he blasted a road through the rocks
+with dynamite.
+
+With its winding and mountainous streets and its polyglot population,
+Matadi is a picturesque spot. It is the goal of every official through
+the long years of his service in the bush for at this place he boards
+the steamer that takes him to Europe. This is the pleasant side of the
+picture. On the other hand, Matadi is where the incoming ocean traveller
+first sets foot on Congo soil. If it happens to be the wet season the
+foot is likely to be scorched for it is by common consent one of the
+hottest spots in all the universe. That well-known fable about frying an
+egg in the sun is an every-day reality here six months of the year.
+
+Matadi is the administrative center of the Lower Congo railway which has
+extensive yards, repair-shops, and hospitals for whites and blacks.
+Nearby are the storage tanks and pumping station of the oil pipe line
+that extends from Matadi to Kinshassa. It was installed just before the
+Great War and has only been used for one shipment of fluid. With the
+outbreak of hostilities it was impossible to get petroleum. Now that
+peace has come, its operations will be resumed because it is planned to
+convert many of the Congo River steamers into oil-burners.
+
+Tied up at a Matadi quay was "The Schoodic," one of the United States
+Shipping Board war-built freighters. The American flag at her stern gave
+me a real thrill for with the exception of the solitary national emblem
+I had seen at Tshikapa it was the first I had beheld since I left
+Capetown. I lunched several times on board and found the international
+personnel so frequent in our merchant marine. The captain was a native
+of the West Indies, the first mate had been born in Scotland, the chief
+engineer was a Connecticut Yankee, and the steward a Japanese. They were
+a happy family though under the Stars and Stripes and we spent many
+hours together spinning yarns and wishing we were back home.
+
+In the Congo nothing ever moves on schedule time. I expected to board
+the steamer immediately after my arrival at Matadi and proceed to
+Antwerp. There was the usual delay, and I had to wait a week. Hence the
+diversion provided by "The Schoodic" was a godsend.
+
+The blessed day came when I got on "The Anversville" and changed from
+the dirt and discomfort of the river boat and the colonial hotel to the
+luxury of the ocean vessel. It was like stepping into paradise to get
+settled once more in an immaculate cabin with its shining brass bedstead
+and the inviting bathroom adjacent. I spent an hour calmly sitting on
+the divan and revelling in this welcome environment. It was almost too
+good to be true.
+
+Nelson remained with me to the end. He helped the stewards place my
+luggage in the ship, which was the first liner he had ever seen. He was
+almost appalled at its magnitude. I asked him if he would like to
+accompany me to Europe. He shook his head solemnly and said, "No,
+master. The ship is too big and I am afraid of it. I want to go home to
+Elizabethville." As a parting gift I gave him more money than he had
+ever before seen in his life. It only elicited this laconic response,
+"Now I am rich enough to buy a wife." With these words he bade me
+farewell.
+
+[Illustration: A GENERAL VIEW OF MATADI]
+
+"The Anversville" was another agreeable surprise. She is one of three
+sister ships in the service of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo.
+The other two are "The Albertville" and "The Elizabethville." The
+original "Elizabethville" was sunk by a German submarine during the war
+off the coast of France. These vessels are big, clean, and comfortable
+and the service is excellent.
+
+All vessels to and from Europe stop at Boma, the capital of the Congo,
+which is five hours steaming down river from Matadi. We remained here
+for a day and a half because the Minister of the Colonies was to go back
+on "The Anversville." I was glad of the opportunity for it enabled me to
+see this town, which is the mainspring of the colonial administration.
+The palace of the Governor-General stands on a commanding hill and is a
+pretentious establishment. The original capital of the Congo was Vivi,
+established by Stanley at a point not far from Matadi. It was abandoned
+some year ago on account of its undesirable location. There is a strong
+sentiment that Leopoldville and not Boma should be the capital and it is
+not unlikely that this change will be made.
+
+The Minister of the Colonies and Monsieur Henry, the Governor-General,
+who also went home on our boat, received a spectacular send-off. A
+thousand native troops provided the guard of honour which was drawn up
+on the bank of the river. Native bands played, flags waved, and the
+populace, which included hundreds of blacks, shouted a noisy farewell.
+
+Slowly and majestically the vessel backed away from the pier and turned
+its prow downstream. With mingled feelings of relief and regret I
+watched the shores recede as the body of the river widened. Near the
+mouth it is twenty miles wide and hundreds of feet deep.
+
+At Banana Point I looked my last on the Congo River. For months I had
+followed its winding way through a land that teems with hidden life and
+resists the inroads of man. I had been lulled to sleep by its dull roar;
+I had observed its varied caprice; I had caught the glamour of its
+subtle charm. Something of its vast and mysterious spirit laid hold of
+me. Now at parting the mighty stream seemed more than ever to be
+invested with a tenacious human quality. Sixty miles out at sea its
+sullen brown current still vies with the green and blue of the ocean
+swell. It lingers like the spell of all Africa.
+
+The Congo is merely a phase of the larger lure.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+Albert, King of Belgium, 141, 226, 240
+Albert, Lake, 60, 180
+Alberta, 208, 209, 211, 212, 214
+Albertville, 60
+Ants, 155, 156
+Armour, J. Ogden, 125
+
+Bailey, Sir Abe, 135
+Ball, Sidney H., 244, 245
+Baluba, 203
+Bangala, The, 194, 195, 200, 203
+Barclay, Mrs. Edwin, 265
+Barclay, Mr. Edwin, 265, 270
+Barnato, Barney, 70-80, 86
+Basuto, 92
+
+Bechuanaland, 103, 106-108, 113
+Behr, H. C., 86
+Beira, 119, 127, 150
+Belgian Congo, 59, 81, 107, 124, 125, 130, 139-177, 225, 227-230, 241-284
+Benguella, 151
+Bia Expedition, 241
+Bolobo, 202
+Botha, General, 16-17, 19, 22, 23, 24-26, 38, 39, 74, 98
+Braham, I. F., 212, 213, 214
+Brandsma, Father, 192, 193
+British South Africa Company, 108-111, 115, 126-127
+Broken Hill Railway, 146
+Bukama, 61, 160, 163
+Bulawayo, 104-106, 112, 113, 127, 130, 134, 135, 144, 150
+Bunge, Edward, 244
+Butner, Daniel, 149
+Butters, Charles, 86, 88
+
+Cairo, 57
+Cameroons, 100, 101
+Campbell, J. G., 167-168
+"Cape-boy," 93
+Cape Colony, 23, 64
+"Cape-to-Cairo," 57-101, 108, 146, 150-151
+Capetown, 17, 28-30, 57, 68, 74, 76, 104, 105, 114
+Carnahan, Thomas, 149
+Carrie, Albert, 248-249
+Carson, Sir Edward, 27
+Casement, Sir Roger, 100, 142
+Chaka, 105
+Chaplin, Sir Drummond, 109-110
+Chilembwe, John, 94
+Clement, Victor M., 86, 88
+Cleveland, President, 227
+Cleveland, Rev. Roy Fields, 277, 278
+"Comte de Flandre," 189-192, 197
+Congo-Kasai Province, 221, 246, 248
+Congo River, The, 59, 140-145, 153, 160-162, 179-284
+Coquilhatville, 201-202, 216
+Crane, Mr. and Mrs. Charles L., 278-279
+Creswell, Col. F. H. P., 29-30
+Cullinan, Thomas M., 90
+Curtis, J. S., 86, 88
+
+Davis, Charles H., 277, 278
+Dean, Captain, 187, 188
+DeBeers, 78-80, 129
+Delcommune, Alexander, 243-244
+Diamonds, 64, 76, 77-90, 94, 134, 135, 146, 152, 244, 265;
+  Congo Fields, 265-269;
+  Congo Output, 152
+Djoko Punda, 225, 247, 255, 269, 275, 276
+Doyle, Donald, 259, 262, 267
+Doyle, Mrs. Donald, 264
+Dubois, Lieutenant, 187-188
+Dunn, Dr. John, 262
+Durban 69
+Dutoitspan Mine, 81
+
+Elizabethville, 145, 147, 148, 149, 153, 157, 181
+
+Fairbairn, Henry, 277, 278
+Forminiere, The, 225-228, 232-234, 237, 256, 257, 261, 277
+Franck, Louis, 169-176, 179
+Francqui, Emile, 239-243
+Fungurume, 157, 160
+
+George, Lloyd, 15, 38, 40-42, 45
+German East Africa, 70, 101, 166
+German South-West Africa, 25, 70, 73, 81, 99, 101, 152
+Germany in Africa, 98-101, 150, 151, 165, 166, 174, 210, 216, 231
+Gerome, 157, 181
+Gordon, General, 58, 187
+Grenfell, George, 198, 201, 203, 255
+Grey, George, 147
+Groote Schuur, 32-34, 36, 41, 47, 53, 114
+Guggenheim, Daniel, 235
+
+Hammond, John Hays, 84, 86, 88, 128-129, 235
+Harriman, E. H., 238, 239
+Hellman, Fred, 86
+Hertzog, General W. B. M., 25-28, 46, 50-51, 53
+Hex River, 76
+Honnold, W. L., 86
+Horner, Preston K., 149, 157
+Hottentot, 92, 93
+Hoy, Sir William W., 66-67
+Huileries du Congo Belge, 189, 208-212, 222, 226, 263
+
+Jadot, Jean, 237-238, 239, 241, 243
+Jameson, Raid, 23, 86, 87, 89, 100, 115
+Jameson, Sir Starr 80, 89, 106, 111, 117, 136
+Janot, N., 245
+Jenkins, Hennen, 86, 87
+Jennings, Sidney, 86
+Johannesburg, 30, 65, 76, 78, 84, 85, 89, 93, 103, 105, 244
+Johnston, Sir Harry, 197, 201, 203, 212, 255
+
+Kabalo, 60, 165
+Kabambaie, 258, 259, 275, 276
+Kaffir, 64, 71, 82, 92, 266
+Kahew, Frank, 149
+Kambove, 149, 150
+Karoo, 77
+Kasai River, 95-96, 156, 189, 191, 199, 217, 223, 225, 227, 246, 247,
+    249, 253-258, 264, 269, 275
+Katanga, 145-146, 147, 148, 149, 150-153, 165, 174-175, 181, 194, 226, 241
+Kimberley, 64, 76, 77, 90, 94, 134, 135, 146, 154, 244, 265
+Kindu, 59, 168-169, 170
+Kinshassa, 153, 190, 201, 216, 217, 221-222, 247, 275, 281
+Kitchener, Lord, 15, 39, 77
+Kito, 180-181
+Kongolo, 59, 166, 168, 177
+Kruger, Paul, 22, 38, 47, 87-88, 89, 100, 107
+Kwamouth, 217, 247
+Kwilu River, 47, 209, 226
+
+Labram, George, 82-83
+Lane, Capt. E. F. C., 43
+Leggett, T. H., 86
+Leopold, King, 106, 139, 142, 150, 158, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230-235,
+    244, 245
+Leopoldville, 221, 222
+Leverhulme, Lord, 189, 208, 248
+Leverville, 209
+Lewaniki, 125
+Livingstone, Dr., 184, 185, 254
+Lobengula, 105, 106, 112, 115, 134
+"Louis Cousin," 160-162
+Lowa, 170
+Lualaba River, 59, 60, 160, 161-164, 168, 170, 177, 190, 191, 197
+Luluaburg, 215
+Lusanga, 249, 251
+
+Mabonda Mine, 265, 270
+"Madeleine," 252-254, 276
+Mafeking, 103
+Maguire, Rochfort, 107
+Mahagi, 59-60, 62
+Maize, 124-125
+Mashonaland, 106, 111-112
+Matabele, 103, 105, 106, 112, 113, 115, 126, 134
+Matadi, 279-281, 282
+Matopo Hills, 113-114, 115, 135
+McMillan, William, 267
+McMillan, Mrs. William, 268
+Mein, Capt. Thomas, 86, 88
+Mein, W. W., 86
+Merriman, J. X., 94
+Milner, Lord, 118
+Mohun, R. D. L., 244, 245, 246
+Moody, G. D., 256, 257, 258, 259, 261, 276
+Morgan, J. P. 74, 228, 238
+Morrison, Rev. W. M., 273
+Moul, R. D., 143
+
+Nanda, 254, 255
+Natal, 21, 23, 78, 122
+Nelson, 181-182, 248, 257, 258, 276, 282, 283
+Newport, Glenn H., 271
+Nile River, 59, 60, 175
+Nyassaland, 94, 142
+
+Oliver, Roland B., 245
+Orange Free State, 21, 23, 25, 50, 106, 139
+
+Perkins, H. C., 86
+Plumer, Lord, 113
+Ponthierville, 59, 152, 170
+Port Elizabeth, 72, 77
+Portuguese East Africa, 106, 112, 113, 150
+Prester, John, 94
+Pretoria, 47, 76, 90, 93
+
+Rand, The, 84-85, 86, 87, 89, 152, 249
+Reid, A. E. H., 245
+Reid, C. A., 245
+Rey, General de la, 25, 45
+Rhodes, Cecil, 17, 20, 32, 58, 60-61, 77-83, 86, 104-110, 114-121,
+    125, 129-137, 150, 165, 186, 230
+Rhodesia, 18, 33, 59, 94, 103-110, 114-121, 122-131
+Roberts, Lord, 16
+Robinson, J. B., 85
+Robison, J. E., 256, 258
+Rondebosch, 32
+Roos, Tielman, 53-54
+Roosevelt, Theodore, 19
+Rudd, C. D., 107
+Ryan, Thomas F., 228, 232-235, 244, 275
+
+Sabin, Charles H., 74
+Sakania, 144
+Sanford, General H. S., 227, 228
+Selous, F. C., 111
+Seymour, Louis, 86
+Shaler, Millard K., 245
+Smartt, Sir Thomas, 52
+Smith, Hamilton, 86
+Smuts, Jan Christian, 15-20, 23, 24-26, 28, 29-56, 98
+Snow, Frederick, 149
+Societe Generale, 234-236, 239
+Solvay, Edmond, 244
+Soudan Railway, 60
+Stanley, Henry M., 159, 166, 170, 177, 183, 184, 185-188, 194, 196,
+    201, 203, 217, 218-221, 227, 228, 230, 255, 262
+Stanley Pool, 218, 222, 279
+Stanleyville, 59, 162, 166, 168, 169, 175, 177-180, 183, 185, 189,
+    190, 196, 200
+Steyne, President, 49
+Stoddard, Lothrop, 96
+Stonelake, Dr., 202
+
+Tambeur, General, 165
+Tanganyika Lake, 60, 142, 150, 166, 169
+Teneriffe, 69
+Thompson, F. R., 107
+Thompson, Samuel, 86
+Thompson, W. B., 74
+Thys, General Albert, 279, 280
+Tippo Tib, 166, 184-185
+Togoland, 100-101
+"Tony", 133
+Transvaal, 21, 23, 50, 106
+Tshikapa, 247, 256, 259, 262, 263, 264, 265, 267, 275, 282
+
+Uganda, 59
+Union of South Africa, 18, 20, 23
+
+Van den Hove, Adrian M., 251-252
+Venezilos, 15
+Verner, S. P., 244
+Victoria Falls, 104, 127, 130-132
+Vryburg, 119
+
+Wallace, Major Claude, 212, 213, 214
+Wallace, Mrs. Claude, 212
+Wangermee, General Emile, 148
+Wankie, 128
+Ward, Herbert, 184-188, 203
+Warriner, Ruel C., 86
+Webb, H. H., 86
+Webber, George, 86
+Wheeler, A. E., 149
+Whitney, Harry Payne, 235
+Williams, Gardner F., 82, 88
+Williams, Robert, 61, 146, 150, 151, 175
+Wilson, Woodrow, 37, 40, 42, 43, 50
+Wissmann, Herman, 255
+
+Yale, Thomas, 149
+Yeatman, Pope, 86
+
+Zambesi River, 18, 109, 131-132
+Zambesia, 108
+Zimbabwe Ruins, 130
+Zulu, 64, 71, 82, 92, 93, 266
+
+
+
+
+    *Transcriber's notes:*
+
+    Typos replaced:
+
+    Pg 26: separate streams ==> separate streams"
+    Pg 38: Africa.--the ==> Africa,--the
+    Pg 40: betwen ==> between
+    Pg 49: man con ==> man can
+    Pg 51: betwen ==> between
+    Pg 52: Britian ==> Britain
+    Pg 56: 'The destiny ==> "The destiny
+    Pg 56: Britian ==> Britain
+    Pg 57: n the world ==> in the world
+    Pg 59: beteween ==> between
+    Pg 72: It no ==> It is no
+    Pg 73: a quarter or ==> a quarter of
+    Pg 73: reoganization ==> reorganization
+    Pg 82: speriority ==> superiority
+    Pg 89: Eeast ==> East
+    Pg 89: stragetic ==> strategic
+    Pg 100: auother ==> another
+    Pg 101: Belian ==> Belgian
+    Pg 103: III ==> CHAPTER III
+    Pg 103: 'We've ==> "We've
+    Pg 110: irrenconcilable ==> irreconcilable
+    Pg 124: considering, Every ==> considering. Every
+    Pg 124: stock, The ==> stock. The
+    Pg 131: maximun ==> maximum
+    Pg 132: marval ==> marvel
+    Pg 139: IV ==> CHAPTER IV
+    Pg 139: controversay ==> controversy
+    Pg 152: developent ==> development
+    Pg 163: invarably ==> invariably
+    Pg 163: conspicious ==> conspicuous
+    Pg 166: rail-dead ==> rail-head
+    Pg 169: distaseful ==> distasteful
+    Pg 174: Rockerfeller ==> Rockefeller
+    Pg 177: V ==> CHAPTER V
+    Pg 182: Adthough ==> Although
+    Pg 184: invaribly ==> invariably
+    Pg 184: cruelity ==> cruelty
+    Pg 186: exporations ==> exploration
+    Pg 187: capured ==> captured
+    Pg 190: removed whole line "from his automobile and the creaky, jolty
+      train started" from between "that you" and "feel on"
+    Pg 191: sacrified ==> sacrificed
+    Pg 193: Uguanda ==> Uganda
+    Pg 195: resplendant ==> resplendent
+    Pg 201: high sease ==> high seas
+    Pg 210: incased ==> encased
+    Pg 214: unforgetable ==> unforgettable
+    Pg 219: arival ==> arrival
+    Pg 222: Begian ==> Belgian
+    Pg 225: VI ==> CHAPTER VI
+    Pg 226: Transporte ==> Transports
+    Pg 241: Forminere ==> Forminiere
+    Pg 243: Banqe ==> Banque
+    Pg 249: chololate-hued ==> chocolate-hued
+    Pg 255: heirarchy ==> hierarchy
+    Pg 255: Wissman ==> Wissmann
+    Pg 258: Fir ==> For
+    Pg 270: that ==> than
+    Pg 283: that ==> than
+    Pg 285: 194 ==> 194,
+    Pg 286: 85' ==> 85,
+    Pg 287: Societe ==> Societe
+    Pg 288: Wissman ==> Wissmann
+
+    No attempt was made to harmonise inconsistent hyphenation; e.g. both
+    spellings _bed-room_ and _bedroom_ can be found in this book.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's An African Adventure, by Isaac F. Marcosson
+
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