Reality versus romance in South Central Africa : An account of a journey across the continent from Benguella on the West, through Bihe, Ganguella, Barotse, the Kalihari Desert, Mashonaland, Manica, Gorongoza, Nyasa, the Shire Highlands, to the mouth of the Zambesi on the East Coast / [James Johnston].

  • Johnston, James, M.D., of Brown's Town, Jamaica.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reality versus romance in South Central Africa : An account of a journey across the continent from Benguella on the West, through Bihe, Ganguella, Barotse, the Kalihari Desert, Mashonaland, Manica, Gorongoza, Nyasa, the Shire Highlands, to the mouth of the Zambesi on the East Coast / [James Johnston]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of course lie had no means of paying to a native ser- vant even the sixpence a day demanded. “ Is it not, therefore, conspicuously unwise, and the very worst possible economy, to encourage, or even permit, the missionary to diminish his already scanty leisure for the real work for which he goes' to Africa, . by frittering it away in manual labor in order that he may have food to eat ? “We trpst that all who have been led to attempt, from right desires, this wrong plan, will do as we did ourselves—for we once tried it—abandon it as a mis- chievous delusion. ‘ The laborer is worthy of his hire.’ When our Lord began His ministry He laid aside His carpentering. Missionary work in Africa is hard enough in any case—why make it harder? Life there is all too apt to be brief—why waste it while it lasts ? And why go the way to shorten it ? ” The last five or six days on board the “ Cazengo ” were anything but agreeable. By some bungling ar- rangement five hundred tons of coal stowed in the after-hold had to be hoisted on deck and removed in wheelbarrows by the Kabindas to the bunkers for’ard, resulting in our being kept in an atmosphere of coal- dust, which permeated and blackened everything. But on the morning of May 18th Benguela was sighted, and here ended our ocean voyage. The town stands only a few feet above sea-level, on an unbroken sandy plain. It boasts a first-rate iron pier, with powerful derrick crane, and a tramway for the conveyance of goods to the custom-house and gov- ernment warehouses adjoining—all spacious and com- modious buildings, constructed of imported material,