Lyons McLeod

“ Some portion of the powder yet remained in the after-compartment, and over it the flames enjoyed their dance of death; high up they soared, licking the top-mast shrouds, and encircling the mizen-mast with ropes of fire.
The boom, the gaff, the deck, all had disappeared, and ever and anon, as the ship rolled [176] from side to side, and the flames leaped to starboard or to port, the iron beams which had formerly supported the decks were seen of a fiery red, forming an awful lattice-work, through which the burning element raged with its fearful roar. ”

“ All the ancient defences have been abandoned, and the place has been entirely re-fortified. Strong by nature, immense sums have been expended, and the highest engineering skill employed, to render it impregnable to any probable attack. Nothing short of a large European force, naval and military, supplied with a complete siege train, could succeed in making any impression on it; and as long as Great Britain rules the ocean, with the aid which our navy would render in case of being attacked, it may be deemed impregnable, and pronounced the British Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean. ”

“ In distant ages, when the glories of the “Isles of the West” are told, the memory of Boadicea, the Queen of the British Iceni, who boldly met the [282] invading Roman legions, may be forgotten; so, likewise, that of Queen Elizabeth and the Spanish Armada may fade from the memory of man; but while the world lasts, and humanity has a heart for other’s woes, the tale of Victoria and the slave shall not pass away, while generations yet unborn will exclaim: “Blessed art thou among women.” ”

“ The sacrifices made by Great Britain in this cause are ever a subject of ridicule with the Mozambiquers; and they never lose an opportunity of retaliating in their own way upon those persons belonging to the English nation who may unfortunately fall into their power. Each individual is made answerable for the wrongs which they perseveringly assert have been heaped upon them by the suppression of the slave-trade, and even this feeling is carried out to the natives of India who may be under our rule or our protection. ”

“ The two greatest powers of Europe have resolved that Africa shall have the opportunity of developing her own material resources; and it now only remains for Portugal to prove that her professions for the abolition of the slave-trade are as sincere and as loyal as the great head of the French nation has shown his to be. ”

“ How different is the view presented by France to the Malagasy people. Ever bent on conquering the great island, the bravery of whose sons has baffled her for more than two and a half centuries, she has seized upon every pretext [191] for obtaining possession of neighbouring small islands, from which she could harass and irritate the natives of Madagascar.
These possessions have been obtained in the most illegitimate manner—native princes springing up and ceding to the great French nation territory which does not belong to them. ”

“ No higher approval of the conduct of the British functionary who had pursued the path of duty, undaunted by continued persecution, could have been afforded to the world; while the subsequent decree, ordering this traffic to cease on the east coast of Africa, proved the loyalty of Napoleon, and prepared Europe to hail in him the liberator of Central Italy. ”

“ The advantages, both politically and commercially, which such a communication will afford to the mother country, by uniting it with its rich African colonies, through our own possessions of Aden, Seychelles, and Mauritius, are too apparent to be dwelt upon, and of too vital importance to British interests in the Indian Ocean to be neglected.
Along the whole of the east coast of Africa, and the island of Madagascar, we are outstripped by the Americans, Germans, and French.
Almost the whole of the ivory-trade is now in the hands of the Americans. ”

“ The Portuguese, entirely devoted to slavery, have neglected the natives in religion, as in all other matters; and as the Makuas have not imbibed Mahometan principles from the Moors or Arabs, who do not here attempt any proselytism, there is an admirable opening at Mozambique for Protestant missionaries; but Moloch, in the shape of the slave-trade, must first be done away with, when a noble field for missionary labour will be laid open. ”

“ In the foregoing pages of this work, attention has been drawn to the capabilities which East Africa offers, on its coast line, for the production of the finest cotton, by the fact of its whole sea-board being washed by that great ocean-current which subsequently, in its course on the east coast of America, obtains the name of the Gulf Stream. The wonderful effect which the heat contained in this great body of water has on the climate of England, and other more torridly-situated [259] countries, is a fact too well attested to be disputed. ”

“ Berbera has been for centuries the outlet for north-eastern Africa, and especially Harrar. In former times it was one of the numerous emporia of the Arabs at the entrance of the Red Sea, and its harbour is by no means ill-adapted for steam communication.
Zeyla, or Zeïla, if properly encouraged by the British Government, would be a very good outport, as the descent to that place from the interior is easier than to Massoa, and it is the best outlet of ancient Ethiopia. It is situated opposite Aden, where steam communication would place its productions at once in European markets. ”

“ The sand raised from the beach was formed into sand-whirlwinds, which reached to a great altitude, and, breaking, descended with the torrents of rain invading every place; the houses themselves, even those most solidly built, trembled from the impetuous violence of the wind, and shook everything contained in them. ”

“ It requires a residence at Mozambique to unmask the slave-dealers there. One casually visiting the place is hospitably entertained, and those deepest engaged in the traffic are the loudest in their apparent denunciations of it. Thus our naval officers have been misled, and made to believe that parties there were opposed to the slave-trade when they were actually conversing with the prime movers of the whole scheme. ”

“ Various attempts have been made to establish trade between Natal and Delagoa Bay; and it is openly stated by the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay, that more Englishmen have perished in these attempts from the poisoned cup than from the deleterious climate. In England people may be startled at this statement, but the Natal people will be only too glad to hear that such a statement has gone forth to the world, as it may call for a searching inquiry into the fate of those who have perished, and give some hope that property, belonging to British subjects, now lying there, may be restored. ”

“ On the east lies the Gulf of Persia, which, by the river Euphrates, reaches the heart of Western Asia; while the island of Ormus forms a stepping-stone from its coast to that of India.
On the west the Red Sea protects it from the invasion of the Ethiopian nations; placing it in communication with Egypt and Abyssinia: while on the south the continent of Africa, at the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, visibly invites the natives of Arabia to visit its coasts. ”

“ So permanent and profitable has this supply of labour been to the western inter-tropical portion of the earth, that the Europeans, Arabs, and Asiatics, located on the east sea-board of Africa, have neglected to develop the resources of the [260] country where nature is so prolific, and have confined their attention to speedily enriching themselves, and retiring to more healthy parts of the globe, to enjoy those riches which they have rapidly amassed by supplying labour for less densely populated portions of the world. ”

“ During my stay at Mauritius, my attention was called to the following gross outrage committed under the British flag by an inhuman monster, who, calling himself an Englishman, proceeds to distant parts of the world, and, seizing unoffending natives in the most open manner, sells them from under the British ensign into the most hopeless slavery. ”

“ The only period at which France has ever had a shadow of a chance of obtaining the sovereignty of this magnificent island—which from its commanding position is deservedly called the Great Britain of Africa—was when the French settlements were under the command of the mastermind of the Count Benyowski, one of the magnates of the kingdom of Hungary and Poland, who, after escaping from a Russian prison in Kamtschatka, took service in that of the King of France ”

“ The profits derived from the trade which they carry on with Mozambique, to which place all the ivory of the province generally finds its way, are so considerable that the Banyans are induced to submit to great exactions and considerable injustice. They have no appeal, and must either put up with the robberies to which they are liable, or entirely abandon the trade.
It may be easily imagined that they rejoiced on seeing a British consul established at Mozambique ”

“ There being some misunderstanding as to what portion of the coast between Cape Delgado and Delagoa Bay has belonged to Portugal, and, as the British government has never been represented by any agent on that coast until within the last three years, it naturally devolved upon me, as the first British functionary employed by Great [35] Britain in the province of Mozambique, to make myself thoroughly acquainted with the real state of the question of Portuguese possession in Eastern Africa, on which, in a great measure, hangs the future commercial development and civilization of Central Africa ”

“ I had, indeed, many fears, on embarking, that ill-treatment would have been continued during our passage; but happy am I to state that, amidst many troubles, the passage to Mozambique was an interval of ease and plenty, added to which was the pleasure derived from delightful weather. Nothing could have proved a greater relief and change (except that of being homeward-bound in our little craft) , from what we had suffered under the Russian despotism of the Portuguese Governor Mochado, at Lourenço Marques. ”

“ Mauritius has two splendid harbours, and a number of minor ones; but Réunion has not a single harbour. Vessels anchor all round Réunion, for every place is equally safe and equally dangerous; when it comes on to blow there is nothing for it but to stand out to sea. The French Imperial Government have voted a million and a half of francs for the construction of a harbour; and there is one part of the island where this may be effected. ”

“ Gums, dyes from woods, nuts, and roots are in great plenty, and it only [204] requires the independence of this noble people to be secured, when the trade would be enormous.
The French will never obtain possession of the island, for the forests and fevers in the lower districts are its natural protectors; and while the present state of things lasts, there will be no roads made, for these would only facilitate the conquest of the island—a fact to which the Malagasy are quite alive.
A specimen of the coal from the north-west end of Madagascar was given to me when at Mauritius. ”

“ From the Arab word “Maussem” (meaning “remarkable epoch”) the modern name, monsoon, for [236] the periodical winds which blow in the Indian Ocean, is derived; and we know that when Vasco de Gama arrived at Mozambique, the Arab dhows which he met with there, trading to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Madagascar, and India, were all supplied with an astrolabe, or instrument for taking the altitude of the sun, moon, and stars, and with the mariner’s compass. ”