AFRICA THROUGH WESTERN EYES

Part 4: Papers of Sir John Kirk (1832-1922) from the National Library of Scotland

Extracts

REEL 1

Letter from Sir John Kirk to his brother Alick, written at Kongone, mouth of the Zambezi, 29 November 1859

“Since you heard of me we have been up again among the hills and lakes. Mr Rae, the engineer was with us and made the time pass better…. For many days our route lay over the old ground by which we returned from Shiriwa. Although close to that lake we never got a glimpse of it – the air at that season is full of smoke from the thousands of miles of grass burned. The journey this time was not nearly so fatiguing, the grass being cleared and up to the time we entered new country we had no trouble from the people. Mr C Livingstone was to have taken photographs but on attempting it, when several days on the way, the nitrate was found not to be with him:

A photographer without his nitrate (in the present state of the art) might as well have remained – so we have neither photographs nor sketches. To resume, from the Shiriwa plain we crossed the hills to the West, by the Southern end of Dzomba, entering the Shire plain or valley. We crossed it as far as the river and followed it for many days. We are rejoiced to see it smooth and deep, as in the part we first navigated from the Zambesi to Shibisa - a rocky obstruction of 30 or 35 miles exists. This upper valley is rich and more healthy than the lower – still it is nothing to boast of. One may catch ague even there. But it is undoubtedly rich and the lofty mountains of the Dzomba range promise a healthy station. The navigable shire is a great fact, even with its 35 miles of rough country. Well, we began to get tired of the valley, the grass plains, the iron wood forests, the palaver with every petty chief. Some assured us we were near the Lake, the great Nyassa, others said that we could never reach it….

The caravans or trading parties from Cazembe returning home pass the Southern end of this great Lake, then cross a pass in the mountains to the East which are continuous with those of the Dzomba. From a point in this pass they say that both Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa are visible, thus Shirwa must be 90 miles long and it is said to be small when compared with Nyassa. No one knew anything of the end of Nyassa.

A party from Cazembe crossed the Shire at one of the fords the same day as that on which we arrived. They were rascally looking fellows, natives of the coast. None spoke Arabic, although a few could reply to the commonest salutations among Mahomedan people….”

REEL 3

Letter from Sir John Kirk to Charles Allen, Secretary of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 19 January 1897

“My dear Sir

I thank you for your letter with its enclosures & I return you the press copy as you ask me to do.

Mr Chamberlain is in full possession of the chief facts & he knows the arguments the Govt will have to answer. Perhaps he is the only one who appreciates the political importance of the question & I have been given the impression that a good many of those now in office look at it from a purely House of Commons point of view, with a feeling that the present House is not so sensitive as the last in this point viz; the question of Slavery under British rule. As however the British Parliament quickly reflects popular feeling outside, this may be a dangerous thing to rely on.

If half a million is given to pacify a body of criminal slave holders with the British Protectorate represented by our puppet nomine at their head, we cannot possibly refuse equal compensation to the same men on the mainland for the decree of 1890 clause & on which alone their claim is based, applies equally to the coast & the islands. Please look at that clause & you will see how little it can be used in the way that has been done. It is, as you will see, at best, only conditional & as the Sultan’s subjects have never kept any of the necessary conditions, the other side is inoperative even if it did bear the significance put upon it by the pro arab party.

This I have pointed out to Mr Chamberlain & we must wait & see the result in Cabinet. My belief is that Hardinge’s views will be supported & mine rejected.

Yours truly
John Kirk”

REEL 3

Letter from Sultan Seyyid Ali to Sir John Kirk written at Zanzibar, 23 Ramadan, 1308 (1890)

“In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate
To H E our Magnificent and well-loved friend Sir John Kirk, may his prosperity be perpetual.
Your communication dated 2nd May has reached us and we have understood it. Know, o friend, that we do not doubt the benevolence of the exalted English government and its helpfulness towards us and our subjects. But it may be that the exalted government is not fully aware of Zanzibar’s need of slaves. The people of Zanzibar as a whole can do nothing, not even clip their whiskers, without the servants and slaves they own; if they were deprived of them they would be impoverished and their possessions would be worth nothing. An Arab would refuse any offer for his servant, and would rather perish than manumit his servant. As for clause 28, if its contents became known and the servants found out about it, I do not think a single one of them would remain in Zanzibar longer than four months; they would all run away to the men-of-war. The Arabs would rather perish than lose their servants. I see as plainly as I see the sun that the Arabs would revolt….”

REEL 4

Extract from Sir John Kirk’s Zanzibar diary, December 1871

“….4 December Bishop Pozer returned with Mr Morton from the coast - reports the whole of the Usembowa country as disorganised by war which has extended to the valley and the Washenzi tribes. Samobja one of the sons of old Kimwevi is the leader of one party and many of the younger sons of that chief have now been killed….

5 December Had a long conversation with Ranji of the Custom House. He says that for the slave tax, they keep a book showing the name of each slave shipper with the number to be shipped by each. When the cargo is made up, all slaves in one dhow are made up and a general permit is given for the cargo. This is entered in another book. He says that the Arabs now chiefly engaged in sending slaves north do not ship many in one cargo but divide the risk by each one sending up a few. In case of capture, the loss is distributed and a sure profit left on the transaction collecting at the end of the year. Also an Arab never goes to the Sultan and declares many slaves but when shipping a number, engages poor people to come forward with their name and make the declaration for a small pecuniary consideration….”

REEL 9

Extracts from Frederick D Lugard’s diary concerning Sir John Kirk

….May 17th About 3pm Malele rushed in to say the mail had come. – even the black boys had caught the excitement….Two very long letters from dear old Sir John. He is off to Hyeres with Lady Kirk and Miss Hilda for the latter’s health, and also his own. I am desperately sorry, - however it is only for 3 months and he must be back again already. Between Hardinge and Curzon East Africa will be destroyed if Kirk goes away. As long as he is there it is all right, he is more than a match for all of them – but if he goes I long to be there to represent him. It amuses me that he says in each letter that Curzon is “a bumptious and conceited fellow”: Why he is the very embodiment of those qualities – and Kirk must have seen it long ago…. Hardinge has gone to Zanzibar only “to discuss” the slavery question with the Sultan: The contemptibility of it: - If only I was in England: How I would make Chamberlain’s ears tingle, he would be compelled to hear me….”

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