Life on the CongoBentley, W. Holman (William Holman)
History
Life on the Congo
Bentley, W. Holman (William Holman)
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Congo River -- Description and travel; Missions -- Africa, Central
C.M.S. Church Missionary Society.
L.M.S. London Missionary Society.
Univ. M. Universities Mission.
Sc. M. Established Church of Scotland.
Sc. M.(Fr.Ch.) Free Church of Scotland.
U.Meth. United Methodist Mission.
B.M.S. Baptist Missionary Society.
A.B.M.U. American Baptist Missionary Union.
U.P. United Presbyterian.
A.P. American Presbyterian Mission.
A.E.M. American Episcopal Mission.
]
The Established Church of Scotland has its mission at Blantyre, near
to the Murchison Cataracts; and lately the Universities Mission has
undertaken work at Chitesi’s, on the eastern shore of the Lake Nyassa;
they have also a steamer.
Beside these societies, the African Lakes Company has been formed for
commercial purposes, seeking to develope the resources of the country
and the industry of the natives, and while carrying on trade on a sound
business basis, to do so on Christian principles.
To-day they are prepared to book passengers and goods from this country
as far as the northern end of Lake Nyassa, from which point the
‘Stevenson Road’ is in process of construction, to the southern end of
Tanganika. This work has been delayed in consequence of the death of
Mr. Stewart, the engineer in charge; and at the end of last July, we
learnt, with regret, that Mr. McEwen, who went to take his place, has
also succumbed to the climate. It is to be hoped that before long some
Society will be able to undertake mission work on the head waters of
the Congo, reaching Lake Bangweolo by way of Lake Nyassa, and so on to
the Luapula and the Lualaba.
A letter from Mr. H. M. Stanley, which appeared in the _Daily
Telegraph_ of Nov. 15, 1875, giving an account of his visit to Mtesa,
the powerful king of Uganda, on the northern shore of Lake Victoria
Nyanza, spoke of Mtesa’s earnest desire that Christian teachers should
be sent to his country. A few days later, an anonymous friend offered
£5000 to the Church Missionary Society, towards the establishment of
a Mission on the Victoria Lake. A similar offer of £5000 followed a
day or two after. The offers were accepted, and in the middle of the
following year the pioneer party of the Mission reached Zanzibar. A
line of stations has now been established between the coast and Rubaga,
the capital of Uganda, at Mamboia, Mpwapwa, Uyui, and Msalala. Although
the missionaries have experienced much difficulty from the first,
and since Mtesa’s death a fierce persecution has raged, still the
Mission has steadily advanced; some eighty natives have been baptized,
including one of Mtesa’s daughters. Schools and translation work have
had a good influence, and the blood of the martyrs at Uganda, as
elsewhere, is proving ‘the seed of the Church.’
[Illustration: BAYNESTON, ON THE CONGO.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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