The Washington herald., 1915-08-15
TheOverthrow
Of the Arab
SLAYER
By CYRUS c. ADAMS.

By CYRUS c. ADAMS.
Twenty years ago a few hundred Arab s
the absolute masters of scores of thou.
sands of slaves and native allies. ruled
a large region. in the heart of Africa. ex.
tending from Lake Tanganyika about 3N
miles west to and beyond the Upper
Kongo. They had crossed the lake thirty
years ago, had made the new country
their own. and many of them had
amassed fortunes in slaves and ivory.
Today not one of these Arabs can be
found in the whole region. Their power
has been utterly crushed. Fleets of ca.
noes no longer cross Tanganyika carry
ing their ivory and slaves on the way
to the coast markets. Their trained
bands of armed slave-hunters. like the
fierce Manyema. no longer sweep over
the savannas and through the forests
like a pestilence burning the peaceful
villa ges and killing from five to eight
persons for every slave added to their
masters chain gangs.
The Arabs rushed to their own de-
SlIuCilOIl. LOT tHtN lplC'u upon
the war that began in 1892 and which
lasted nineteen montns-a war in which
they lost about 1910 men. When it end
ed. slave-raiding in Central Africa had
stopped forever The great conflict was
4 turning point in the history of Africa.
and some interesting things about it will
hc told here
In a nutshell this was the cause of the
war For more than a half-century a
wave of Arab influence had been rolling
inland from Zanzibar. until it reached
the kongo. Then. twenty years ago.
wave of European influence began to roll
inland from the atlantic. and finally
these two waves met in Central Africa
The whites were few in number and
did not wish war with the Arabs. though
they were determined that. come what
might. certain things should be estab-
lished. For instance. eighteen civilized
governments had held a congress at
Brussels and declared that slave-raiding
must be stopped in Africa. and the white
agents there We're told to enforce this
decree. and this is what the Kongo
State. in substance. said to the Arabs:
Thus far YOU have come west. and
YOU have depopulated thousands Of square
miles in YOUR raids for slaves. We wish
to live on friendly terms with you. but
YOU must observe the law we have made.
We will not interfere with the bonds
81
again rad the country for slaves"
The Ara bs saw what the situation meant
for them All the trade routes from Cen
trail Africa had led east to Zanzibar.
whittier hundreds of thousands of slaves
and countless tons of ivory had been
conveyed. These whites had come from
the west. and they meant to divert the
stream Of trade down the Kongo to the
Atlantic and Europe.
The Arabs declared that a struggle for
existence was coming. and it had bet
ter come at once. while the whites were
weak So they replied that the Upper
Kongo was their country. and they would
raid for slaves where they pleased: and
10 show that they meant business they
killed all the whites at a trading station.
In the nineteen months that the war
lasted about twenty hard battles were
fought The war was waged in a densely
reopled country. where all the men were
fighters. arrayed on one side or the other
of this struggle.
Only 40 Arabs led the native hosts.
with whom they meant to overwhelm the
pioneers of western civilization; only a
score or so Of white men commanded the
few thousands Of trained native soldiers
and the larger number Of wild allies With
whom they fought the Orient Sometimes
the Arab forces outnumbered them ten
to one. but they always drove the slavers
from the field. and the Arab losses were
far greater than those of the whites.
Baron Dhanis. who led the white forces
throughout the war. found 1t useful now
and then to indulge in a little deception.
IL It inspired his men with faith in their
prowess on the eve Of battle.
One night. with the camp fires Of the
enemy in plain view. the soldiers asked
Dndnls 10 MAKE medicine, so they
might know who would win the next
days battle. He told them he would
make medicine. and IL what they saw
was red, the Kongo State would win a
great victory. but II the color as green
it would be better to postpone the fight
They were told to watch a particular
part OF the sky. and the suspense was
great. until a splendid red rocket shot
into the air. Then the glad shout that
went up was re-echoed from the hills
where the astonished enemy were won
dering what was the meaning Of the
portent and of all the tumult they heard
The white officers found it very easy
to communicate their orders even to
parts of the command that were miles
away. They used the system of native
telegraphing which is in vogue from the