Chapter X · Things We Want to Know

My story is finished—The past and the present—Why are these things so?—The old days—Now we are white men’s slaves—How long will it last?—We are dying—Our only rest is death—How long, how long?

White men of Europe, my story is finished. I have told you about the past, and the two kinds of slavery in which we have been bound; I have told you about the present, our constant work, the difficulty in which our chiefs find themselves placed, our inability to marry because of our poverty, our sickness, the desolation which broods over our villages, the lack of children to take the places of those who die. I think I have told you sufficient to show you that we are in need of pity and help.

I want to ask you, white people of Europe, two questions. The first is, “Why are these things so?”

Long ago, our fathers tell us and some of us can remember, there were no white people in our land; we lived alone and happily in our own way. True, there were feuds and fights, quarrels and bloodshed, and a kind of slavery, but the country was ours, the forest was ours in which to hunt, the river was ours in which to fish, the fruits of the forest and the produce of our gardens were ours to appease our hunger. We did not know anything about white men, nor did we wish to.

And then—suddenly they came in their steamers and settled amongst us. And gradually we learnt that these white men, who came to us uninvited, are our masters—we, our families, our forests, the produce of our gardens, the spoil of our hunting and fishing—all belong to them. And we cannot understand why it should be so.

Once more, we have to work for the white man all the time. Now, when the work is lighter than ever, we are in the forest two out of every three months. We must get a certain quantity of rubber, or there is prison for us, and, when we come out of prison, more rubber must be made in place of what was short before we can make a start on the next three-monthly portion.

Those of us who are taking food are out on the river fishing from the first to the fifth working day, and we take in the food on the sixth. If we hunt, we must be continually going to the forest, which is not any better. The food-tax men are worse off than the rubber men at present. For all this constant work we receive very little pay, and, if we complain, we are told that all this work is “wuta” (“tax”). We knew about “wuta” long ago before the white men came, but our “wuta” was to pass over a part of what we had in consideration of some benefit received, or the use of some implement, or in order to be freed from some obligation, but we never understood it to mean all that we had or anything which would take all our time. Now, everything else has to be let go in order to get “wuta” for Bula Matadi, and I would ask you white men, Why is it so?

I have only one more question to ask you. It is this, For how long will it last?

We were young men when it commenced, now we are middle-aged, and we seem no nearer to the end of it than we were at first. Still there is the demand for rubber, rubber, rubber!

Many of our people have died from exposure to cold and heat, or from lack of comfort; many others from accidents, such as falling from the rubber vines, and many more from the pestilences of which I have told you.

White men, I tell you the truth: we are dying, soon our villages will be put out as a fire that is quenched.

And still we are working, still we are slaves to the white men.

And we have nothing to look forward to, as far as we can see, except constant work—and death. We have heard that when a man reaches what the white men call forty years of age his tax palaver is finished; but that time must be in very old age, for no one ever seems to become old enough to leave off work. No, the only rest we can look forward to is death!

The white men of God are still with us, and they still tell us the news of salvation from sin. That is good news.

But again I say that what we want to hear is the news of salvation from rubber. How long before we shall hear that news? How long a time must pass before this “wuta” business is finished? How long shall we wait before we get a little rest—apart from death?

The End.

UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.

JAMES CHALMERS

His Autobiography and Letters.

By the late RICHARD LOVETT, M.A., Author of “James Gilmour of Mongolia,” etc.

Seventh Impression. With 2 Maps and 8 Portrait Illustrations, 511 pages. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. In padded paste grain, round corners, gilt edges, 6s. 6d. net.

“Altogether no brighter or more skilful narrative of missionary life—from the subjective as well as from the objective point of view—has ever been published than this.”—The Spectator.

“It is the best missionary biography that has appeared during the last twenty years. It is a book that will live and take rank as a missionary classic. It is full of thrills, tremulous with pathos, glowing in its passion, and sublime in its tragic ending. A book to be read and re-read when the enthusiasm of humanity wanes, and we are tempted to let fireside heroics take the place of action.”—The Daily News.

GRIFFITH JOHN

The Story of Fifty Years in China.

By R. WARDLAW THOMPSON, D.D. (Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society).

Fifth Impression. With Two Maps and Sixteen other full-page Illustrations. Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 568 pages, 3s. 6d.

“No one can read this story without being inwardly refreshed. The mere adventure side of it is stirring to a degree. It reveals a Pauline daring and endurance.”—Christian World.

“The story of Dr. John’s life is a very fascinating one, and it is told by Dr. Wardlaw Thompson with much literary skill, and excellent taste and judgment.”—The Westminster Gazette.

W. HOLMAN BENTLEY

The Life and Labours of a Congo Pioneer.

By his Widow, H. M. BENTLEY.

With a Photogravure Portrait, Map, and 19 other Illustrations, 466 pages, demy 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. net (by post, 6s. 5d.).

“This highly interesting memoir forms a worthy tribute to the honourable life and devoted labours of a notable pioneer of Christianity in Darkest Africa, who gave twenty-seven years to missionary work upon the Congo.… The book forms an admirably interesting life-story of successful mission work.”—The Standard.

“Important in itself as the record of a notable, heroic and consecrated life, important also in the influence which it is sure to have on scores of young men and women in our Churches.”—The Baptist Times.

BISHOP HANNINGTON

And the Story of the Uganda Mission.

Prepared by W. GRINTON BERRY, M.A.

With Map, Portrait, 3 Coloured and 4 other Illustrations, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, Coloured Medallion on Cover, 1s. 6d.

The personality of Hannington was full of colour and vigour, and the story of his work, particularly of his adventures in East Africa, ending with his martyrdom on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza, is one of the most fascinating in missionary annals. Hannington was himself a picturesque writer, with a noteworthy gift of producing dashing and humorous descriptive sketches, and quite a third of the present volume consists of Hannington’s own narratives. This volume will serve to sustain and deepen the perennial interest in Uganda, where the Gospel has won some of its most glorious triumphs.

ALFRED SAKER

The Pioneer of the Cameroons.

By his Daughter, E. M. SAKER.

With Map, 3 Coloured and other Illustrations, Coloured Medallion on Cover, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 1s. 6d.

The Cameroons are a little known land, but they have been the scene of some of the most interesting work done by British missionaries on the West Coast of Africa. The land, like Sierra Leone, long justified the title of “The white man’s grave.” The people were savages, amongst whom it was not easy to work. The language was new, and Alfred Saker gave his life to this field. The story of his adventures and encouragements is singularly interesting.

A DOCTOR AND HIS DOG IN UGANDA

From Letters and Journals of A. R. Cook, M.D.

Medical Missionary of the Church Missionary Society.

Edited by Mrs. H. B. COOK.

With a Preface by Eugene Stock. Second Impression. With Photograph, Map of Uganda, and 12 other Illustrations, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s.

“With sincere pleasure I commend this little book. A great deal has been published from time to time on Uganda and the Uganda Mission, but this is the first book recounting the experiences of a Medical Missionary. To one who remembers the past history it is wonderful to read a book like the present.”—Eugene Stock.

“This little book will be of interest to people other than those actively engaged in mission work, for the social and economic conditions of the country are by no means lost sight of.”—Manchester Courier.

“We know of no other book which gives so vivid and realistic a picture of the daily life of the missionaries of Uganda.”—Record.

London: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.