Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-08-25

Not at ALL Coutinho expressed great
regret for interrupting the journey Of
a sick man anxious to reach the coast,
but owing to the disturbed condition
of the country he had thought it best
to detain my mail, so that l might not
lose my letters. Here they were, and
he begged me to note that the seals on
the mail bags were intact.
Also" he added, hearing that part
Of the cause of your hurry is the ex
haustion Of your stores and supplies,
I have just made up a trifling little
stock of provisions which may enable
you to reach the coast with greater
comfort; and here Is letter to the
Portuguese authorities on the way,
asking them to remove all hindrances
to your journey"
/ was so Ill with exhaustion at the
time, arising from bad and indigestible
food, that this timely gift on the part
Of Lieutenant-now genera1-COutin-
no, certainly restored be to health, If
it did not even save my life and my
treaties; for the "trifling present" Of
stores consisted not only Of all I might
require myself for the next fortnight,
but ample provision for my black fol-
lowers.
At an earlier date-18S9-I had been
a small steamer on the west coast Of
Lake Nyassa, near the large Arab town
Of Kota-kota, at a time when nearly
all the Arabs of Lake Nyassa were at
war with the British traders. / had
only fifteen negro porters with me and
q Swahili interpreter, yet had march
ed fifteen miles to the headquarters OF
the Arab Sultan" and had told him
my story quite frankly-that I wished
to put a stop to this war between the
Arabs and the British, and to bring the
slave trade to close also.
The sultan had known in his youth
the great DR.. Livingstone, to whom his
predecessor had been kind and helpful.
Would he not try to look at this ques-
tion Of the Arab and the negro from
the white mans point Of view?
Jumbe-the sultan in question-then
and there plighted faith with me, a
faith never to be broken through the
succeeding years Of trial and misfor-
tune, at the end Of which he died, rec
ognized by the British government as
the chief over one Of the districts Of
Nyassaland.
I had practically nothing with me in
the way Of food and no money or trade
goods. Yet this man believed my sto-
ry and supplied me not only with trade
goods and such food as the country Of
fered but even foreign luXuries, such
as tea, canned fruit, biscuits and sug-
ar. More than that, he placed me at
the head Of a force of 400 we'll armed
men, 80 that with his backing I was
able to compel the North Nyassa Arabs
and those of South Tanganyika to a
truce which lasted for something like
six years.
In 1889 1 secured for Great Britain
tha NI,o ooo W N oro puika r1afaan which
had been the legitimate object of Ger
man aspiration since the travels Of
German explorers like Bohm and
Reichard. On the other hand after the
conclusion Of the Anglo German con-
vention Of 1890 had done all that was
in my power to facilitate the journeys
of Major Won Wissmann, who wished
to occupy on behalf Of Germany the
northeast coast Of Lake Nyassa and
the east coast Of Tahganyika- He had
travelled through British territory in
order to put together on Lake Nyassa
a fine, large steamer, probably still the
biggest vessel on that lake.
Some time after he had passed
through I was myself drawn into very
serious difficulties with the Arab Yao
slave traders on the upper Shire. l
was completely cut off with small
staff of officers and a force Of Sikh
soldiers, together with a derelict
steamer The river and the roads con-
Meeting my camp with the more set
tied regions. of the Shire highlands,
were in the hands of the enemy. We
had been three days beseiged, without
the possibility Of sleeping, our supplies
and ammunition were nearly gone. two
of the officers were wounded and a
number Of our soldiers either wound
ed or killed. At the conclusion Of the
third day it seemed as If we could
hold out no longer and must fight our
way through the hostile forces an ef-
fort which would no doubt have end
ed in utter disaster.
Suddenly there was a noise Of much
firing down the river and loud shout
ing, and European boats came in sight.
It was a detachment of German officers