The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-27

OF an Empire
From the New York sun.
The Arabs have just and expressive
pharse. "BunIuki sultani ga Bara Bara''
Che gun IS the sultan Of Africa. The ne
groes know it we'll no other commodity is
in such demand. They viii sell everything
they possess Co ger il gun. They know that
ii gives them superiority over their equals
who stIu depend upon the primitive wea-
pons of their fathers. They know that DO
battle FIVE guns are worth more than hum
dreis of arehors COR assogai hurlers. All
through inner Africa 81 gun is worth what
everit takes t0 buy go. 1T is q crime to-day
to carry weapons of precision into the in-
terror Tor tine purpose OF selling them to
The natives.
one day the Iate Mr.. Glave pitched his
camp upon the bank of the Bud trihu-
tary 10 the Congo. A few hours later i'm
the quiet OF The night he thought DE heard
boats moving in the water. Creeping out
OF his tent and listening at the edge of the
river he became convinced that the ma
tivcs living on the olhef snoic were very
quietly gathering their forces for the pun
pose of attacking him. He summoned ms
messenger. who presently sent this mes
sage through the air TO the other SHORE.
.'The first man of you who comes root
ing around this camp VIII be shot
q
then this reply was heard;
1--WE do not wish you any harm, but we
DO not believe you nave any guns II you
have. prove it,
Mr. Glave fired two shots in the air. A
mighty murmur of establishment was
heard in the distance, and then native
chief shouted In his most dulcct tones
White man, you nave guns. O. are
your friends. We VIII come 10 see you TO-
Nat morning the natives came I'm a
Int md o.
death few hours before, they had been
plotting. His guns had increased ther res
pect for him.
A few years ago Malta Bwiki, who has
since died. was the paramount chlei OF lue
great BangaIa tribe. and the reason ne
was feared and famous, far ana wide, is
explained boy his name, which means
Lord of Many Guns, and he was so call
ed because be had more hint-lock guns
than any other chief on the river. a mum
her of years ago the chief OF the baluud
nation ordered his people 70 throw away
their bows and arrows and iances- Noth-
ing but gums were worthy of the warriors
ANY white man with q little capital
who should De permitted to introduce an
the good gums his caravans could carry
into Africa would make fortune ln "a
year. The trade would be more prontapie
than a good gold mine. He could charge
a dozen prices for his weapons. In eN-
change for them he could get ivory al "A
ridiculously low price. lie and others
like him would get rich, but az what n
fearful cost 10 Africa. Ine intermlhaple
native wars would be ten-fold as destruc-
tive as they are to-day, and white enter
prise would be simply impossible, Mhlte
men could not live in the country without
armies behind them. These are the rea-
sons why the Importation OF weapons OF
precision are prohibited.
In January last white trader named
Stokes was hanged in the Congo free
State for the heinous crime OF selling
guns and powder TO the Atab slaNefs,
who were at war with the whites because
Inf afl i'm
derous slave raiding. Fifteen years ago
Stokes was an humble missionary, whose
name was occasionally seen IN the mis-
sionary magazines. Then ne became "a
trader, and 1t has been known Tor years
that some of his business was Illicit lie
probably made 1000 per cent. on the guns
he struggled into inner Africa. There
were 1900 pOrters in some of his recent
caravans Ii is said that the trade goods
in his possession when he was caught RED
handed and hanged We're worth S-0JVJl
Stokes risl1ed everything tOsget rich, ana
lost in the end. Perhaps the Congo state
officials who hanged him viii get INTO
trouble for not turning him over TO
judicial tribunal but that does not alter
the fact which has been known for years,
that the enormous greed for guns ia Al
riea was rapidly making Stokes rlcn
man.
we do not remember to have heard Of
more than one African tribe that has held
its own against guns, and these people
are the unconquered Baribas OF Borgu,
who live north and northeast OF Da-
honey. BenauZln OF DdnOlneg sent MS
women warriors armed with muskets 10
carry carnage and victory tar ana wide.
They were, however, turned back from
Borgu ike all the other tribes that have
assailed the Baribas. They are very skill
ful in their fighting tactics, and gener-
ally succeed in dividing the enemy
FORCES anu cIeaLlllS d P"iiIlS. 49, 49, 90.
son for their success is that they are
held in great repute for their knowledge
of Witchcraft and of deadly pOlSOns, and
their poisoned arrows are greatly dread
ed
men have reached their fetch capital,
and the British have now commercial
A num5ar of remarkable instances
might be given of the omnipotence of the
gun in inner Africa. Four guns were the
foundation of Msiri's greatness. lie was
the man who carved out an empire for
himself near the Congo's headwaters, as
large as all Germany. When he was a
young man his father sent him hundreds
of miles across Lake Tanganyika to buy
copper. The young fellow had four mus
kets, and when he arrived in katanga,
where the copper was mined, he found
the old ruler at war with a powerful
chief who was trying to oVerrun the land.
Msiri, with his muskets. went 10 the res
cue, and the invading enemy who had
never heard of firearms, were appalled,
when they heard the thunderous report
OF the rifles. They took TO their heels,
and the old chief was so happy over his
deliverance that he made Msiri his heir,
and soon the young man was making ag-
gressive war on all the peoples around
him. He was a sort of black Napoleon,
but his big country fell TO pieces after
his violent death a while ago.
A few porters who followed the for
tunes of David Livingstone left him on
the Shire river, south of Lake Nyassa,
and with the aid of their guns deposed
the chiefs Of the surrounding tribes and
became masters of quite a large territory.
There We're only about ten OF them, but
with a small arsenal or firearms they
We're supreme, and to this day they and
their descendants are the men of influence
and importance among the natives of the
lower Shire.
within the past three years there has
been some remarkable doings in the CEN
trail Soudan owing TO the sudden appari-
ton there of man named Rahah form
erly a slave near the Nile with a good
supply of modern rifles. The news about
Rabah's conquests is meager, but he
seems TO have overthrown the ancient
dynasties of Baghirmi and Bornu, and
gone into business as great sultan. He
was first the slave and then the trusted
lieutenant of ZObehr Pasha, the Egyp-
tian governor Of Darfur. One day when
his master sent him west to collect taxes
he kept going west until he was out of
reach He had with him a small. but res
dilute body of adnerents and all the guns
and powder that many camels could car
~, and with his constantly growing
forces he subjugated Baghirmi. entered
upon tfe career of a freelance and free
booter, ana for all We know he is still
faArfr