Paperwork enthusiast seeking new frontiers of paperwork. Former submariner, former Peace Corps Volunteer. Opinions, thoughts, and comments reflect no actual persons, living or in the Navy.
A mea culpa: just two posts ago I talked about how I didn’t really have an explanation for the above map (and an accompanying letter), which was illustrating land that the London Missionary Society was swapping with the British South Africa Company (BSAC) around their Niamkolo station. That post was part of this ongoing series where I put online things I found in the SOAS archives, and this post continues that because if I had scrolled a little bit farther down in my file I would have found the answer. I didn’t fail to do that just to stretch two posts out of it, I was just silly. I had speculated in the previous post that maybe the answer was trains; much more excitingly, it was boats!
The letter transcribed:
Tanganyika Concessions Co. Abercorn
Dec 4th 1900
Dear Sir,
Mr. Irwin, our Traffic Manager, who is about to put together our steamer “Cecil Rhodes” on the lake, has carefully examined the two sites that I had chosen, namely Niamkolo and Kasakalawe. Mr. Irwin has decided to build his steamer at Kasakalawe because he is in hopes of getting there erected houses and sheds of the Flotilla Company. Also there is a good road to the place and no uncertainty about freehold possession. However, there is no anchorage there and Niamkolo is the only possible place where we could with safety erect our patent slipway, being an ideal anchorage. In the future we shall have to find some good anchorage for the repairing & docking of our steamer & other companies’ steamers. The other Cos will probably gladly avail themselves of our slipway.
I therefore shall ask your Committee to consider whether you would let us have permanently one half square mile at the mouth of the straight opposite the island by the shore, about 2 ½ (or 2) miles from the Mission house, & out of sight of it. A road would be made to it from Abercorn, which would skirt the [?] village at some distance – we should be glad to pay for this land, to give you a site in the new Abercorn, which will be begun next year, and which is absolutely the property of our Company, and to grant you special rates in steamer passage & transport on Tanganyika – the B.S.A. Co. have the right to ground enough in our new town to build there their offices, but they will not encourage anybody to build outside our township, except at very large prices as they wish our Company to succeed. I have no doubt that Mr. Codrington will grant us the 2 square miles that I have applied for at Kasakalawe to make an official port, but we would far prefer to be at Niamkolo, as a better anchorage. If there is a possibility of a mile square being sold to us at Niamkolo, we would let Kasakalawe lapse & make the official port at the former place, but if only half or quarter mile is allowed us we shall only be able to put a few [?] and our slipway there – A half-mile would possibly be ample – a quarter mile is rather cramping.
Kindly let me know the Committee’s views on the subject. I hope that if you consult your Directors at home you will be good enough to forward them a copy of this letter. This would be more direct than if I sent a copy through my Directors to yours.
Believe me, yours faithfully,
M.J. Holland, Lake Tanganyika Concession Co Ltd
And photos of the letter itself:
“M.J. Holland” I assume must be Michael James Holland. He worked for Tanganyika Concessions Limited, which was nicknamed “Tanks,” an appropriate moniker for an inherently dispossessive colonialist enterprise. Though still different, it seems to have been closely related to the BSAC. But for our purposes, as you can see from the letter the important bit is that they were putting together the Cecil Rhodes. Loyal readers will recall that I visited the boat’s boiler, which still lies in the village of Kasakalawe right to the west of Mpulungu. I didn’t find it last time I looked, but this page and this page contains more information on the Cecil Rhodes, including pictures of the hulk as it rests on the Tanganyika lakebed.
According to the letter, Tanganyika Concessions was looking for a place to build and anchor the Cecil Rhodes. The LMS was sitting on the best anchorage around so they asked to do a land swap. If my assumption in the previous post that the letter dated July 12, 1900 had something to do with this land swap, then something must have been discussed prior to the above letter, dated five months later. But everything must have worked out between the LMS missionaries and Tanks because according to The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia the Cecil Rhodes was launched in October 1901. The above-linked Mr. Codrington described Lake Tanganyika’s merchant marine in a May 1902 article in The Geographical Journal:
The vessels now plying on Tanganyika are – the “Tanganyika Concessions” steamer Cecil Rhodes (twin screw), with a carrying capacity of from thirty to forty tons; the German Hedwig von Wissmann, with about an equal capacity; the African Lakes Corporation’s steamer Good News, with a carrying capacity of twenty tons; and the Congo Free State schooner, carrying about one hundred tons. Some five or six dhows, the property of Arab and Greek traders, compete in a small way with the European-built vessels. The lake, though said to be more stormy than Nyasa, is considered a safe waterway by the skippers of the vessels, no dangerous rocks being reported. The level of the lake in June, 1901, was 4 or 5 feet higher than in the corresponding month of 1900, the Lukuga outlet having again silted up.
A couple points of the above: by this time the LMS had sold the Good News to the African Lakes Corporation, explaining the ownership status. I did notice the conflicting dates with the fact Mr. Codrington’s journey started in June 1901, before The Great Plateau says the Cecil Rhodes was launched. And finally, before looking into this again I had never heard of the “African International Flotilla and Transportation Company” and so I will have to research more. Nor do I have any idea what the 100-ton Congo Free State schooner could be. So many more questions than answers out of one short paragraph.
But again back to land swaps. Not only did it all work out for the Cecil Rhodes and Tanks but that land is still where the Mpulungu Harbor Corporation is today. It is not immediately clear to me what the exact corporate lineage is between the Tanganyika Concessions Company and the MHC but I am sure it is interesting. Also very interesting is this cool video about the Mpulungu Harbor Corporation from four years back:
One of the most exciting parts of our day bopping around Kigoma was that we got to visit the MV Liemba!!! You all will know this of course, but she was originally constructed in Papenburg, Germany in 1913 before being deconstructed and shipped to Lake Tanganyika in pieces. Our tour guide Peter told us that when this happened the rail had only reached Tabora so between Tabora and Kigoma she was carried by porters, but I don’t think this is true. The internet consensus seems to be that the railway reached Kigoma in February 1914 though the exact source for that is unclear to me, it is potentially from here (the source for my boat-specific claims is The Lake Steamers of East Africa). Anyways that distracts from my point that it was then launched onto Lake Tanganyika as the Goetzen in February 1915 and was the major feature of the Battle of Lake Tanganyika. The Germans though pre-emptively scuttled her in July 1916. After the war the Belgians tried to raise her in 1918 and then the Brits first tried raising her in 1922 but weren’t successful until October 1924. By May 1927 she was back in service as the Liemba (the non-Swahili word for Lake Tanganyika) and for the past century has been plying a fortnightly route up and down Tanganyika except for shipyard periods.
I’m (about to be) on a boat!!!
Which we were in now! This is why it was so exciting to see the Liemba in Kigoma. Ever since learning about her I had wanted to see her but I was very confused as to why she never made, as far as I could tell, any of her famous visits to Mpulungu. My dream was (and remains) to take the train from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma and then ride the Liemba on her whole two-week voyage, or maybe just down to Mpulungu (I would also be very happy with the reverse of this trip), but I could never figure out her schedule. As was confirmed here, this is because her most recent voyage was in 2018 and she had been awaiting a refit. Which is underway! Before I discovered Elizabeth and Kigoma Eco-Cultural Tourism, my big plan was just to beg the shipyard to let me poke around. But since Elizabeth offered a tour of the Liemba I just signed up with her.
I suppose all gangways are over water but this one especially so given the rising lake levels.
And so we arrived at the shipyard and got ready to check out the Liemba. For the record I found the following all very charming, but it was an interesting experience. I had thought Elizabeth had some arrangement with the shipyard but upon arrival it seemed sliiiiightly more like the actual plan was just to show up and sweet-talk our way in. She did this very effectively. There was some hesitation at first. We never actually wound up being able to go inside the ship as they were in the midst of some major I think electrical work, but it was decided we could get close to the ship on the dock. Here you could see the impact of the rising lake level because a chunk of the dock was underwater and we had to skirt around the edge of a fence to keep our shoes from getting wet; between the ship and the limited above-water portions of the dock a walkway had been placed somewhat haphazardly. As we were standing there it was then decided that we could at least go up to the foredeck of the ship of the ship. Not the most exciting tour but I thought it was super fun just to be on the ship! So much history, so very boat, much cool.
MV Liemba bridge from the foredeck.Eponymous heads.
With the actual tour portion over we then spent some time talking to a former port employee that Elizabeth knew and had arranged to meet us to give us the lowdown on the Liemba refit. Since he had worked for the port he also knew a lot about the port operations and I tried to think of all the intelligent questions I could to ask him. Some things he told us:
The new engines they are putting in her will be rated to 1000 horsepower. The previous ones were 750 horsepower. They hope this will get her cruising speed up to 12 knots from 10.
The refit was scheduled to take another six months but our man here was predicting it would take another year (so mid-2026). Though the last journey was in 2018 the refit had started August 2024.
The ship is rated to carry 600 passengers, split among first, second, and third-class. There are three saloons where passengers can get meals at varying price levels. He told us how many first and second-class cabins but I forget how many it was exactly; I think there were ten first-class cabins sleeping two each but only two second-class cabins sleeping four each.
I had asked if refurbishing the Liemba was cheaper than building a new boat and apparently it is not. But since the Liemba is so famous and the ships are government-owned, it is “political.” No complaints from me on this use of Tanzanian taxpayer money.
The usual method of ship lading on Tanganyika.The container crane, and some containers.
For port operations, I had noticed a crane for shipping containers. Given my Mpulungu experience of seeing breakbulk shipping, I asked about container ships. Our guide reported that there are only two ships on Lake Tanganyika designed to carry shipping containers, one rated for something like 36 containers and the other 48. Sometimes though containers are put on ships anyway.
Kigoma is reportedly mostly an export port, again like Mpulungu, because Congo imports so much. From Kigoma he said it is a lot of building materials. From Congo he reports they import logs but the guide’s understanding is that they are mostly re-exported out of Tanzania without further processing. I won’t think too deeply about that.
And so yeah! That was our experience and at this point we said goodbye to our guide and loaded back up into the car. The only awkward part of the whole thing was that Peter had pointedly told us that we could “say goodbye” to our port guide there, so I said goodbye. Later we figured out that this was code for giving a tip; Elizabeth later passed him some cash on our behalf. But still I am over the moon that I got to see the Liemba in the flesh and learn about port operations and so now all I have to do is the same long overland and overlake journey I have wanted to do for years and I can’t wait until I get back to do it on a newly refurbished MV Liemba!
The Liemba as photographed on the Gordon-Gallien Expedition a century ago!A photo I later took of the Liemba from across the other side of the harbor.
Alright. In the last post my super amazing wife and I had travelled from one end of Tanzania to the other to arrive in the historic town of Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. This and the next few posts will be a convoluted and involved effort of trying to unpack the experience and history of a single day trying to explore everything that Kigoma and Ujiji.
I must assure my dear readers that the confused and disjointed nature of the narrative is not a fault of the actual day we had, which was fantastic. Our guide on the experience was Kigoma Eco-Cultural Tourism, who were absolutely phenomenal. Consider this a ringing and unabashed endorsement. If you go to Kigoma you have to hit them up. On our journey we were led by the owner herself, Elizabeth, alongside our tour guide Peter. Elizabeth can put together just about any experience you want in just about any order, which is what she did for us. I wanted to go on three of the experiences (I actually wanted to go on many more but alas there is only so much time) and because I remained wishy-washy about what to do with the rest of our time in Kigoma I asked to do all three in one day and she was more than happy to accommodate.
Caulking close-up.
The first stop on our tour was the Katonga fish market. This was not actually a specific part of any of our itineraries but Elizabeth wanted us to experience the eco-culture which was fine by me because I am always more than happy to admire any of the local boats. We went first thing in the morning so we could catch the boats coming in from fishing. This was indeed pretty cool. I suppose nothing too crazy, men coming in from fishing boats with fish and women buying and selling fish. The main type of fish on sale at this moment was mikebuka (I had it in my notes as “mugabuka” which I only mention here because later in the day I saw a sign that said “Make Ujiji Great Again,” so that made me think of MUGAbuka, but the internet consensus seems to be to spell it as “mikebuka” or, less melodiously, “sleek lates”).
There is a rhythm of which fish get caught at which time of day and at what time of year which I didn’t manage to entirely gather during our visit. At night the men fish with lights to attract the fish, and so much of the bustle while we were there were the fishermen unfitting large LED lights mounted on poles. They are powered by racks of car batteries which in turn, Peter told us, are charged by solar panels during the day. Very ecological! Or maybe not so ecological. The lake is definitely being affected by human activity. Much like Lake Manyara, Tanganyika is rising. This was very noticeable throughout the day. This is not an entirely unusual phenomenon (and many explorers spent much time trying to figure out where all the lake’s water went) but it is bad right now and still getting worse. Fish stocks are also being depleted. Despite the efforts of the Lake Tanganyika Authority it is hard to equitably manage the lake when these fishermen need to put their kids through school. Nonetheless the fishing communities are aware of and feeling the strain of the lake’s ecology changing so rapidly.
But back to the fish market. Peter was proud to tell us that Tanganyika fish were very valuable, way better than those Lake Victoria fish. Tanganyika dagaa was reportedly going for 40,000 Tanzanian shillings (TSh) a kilo for export, whereas Victorian dagaa go for only 7,000 TSh. Fish wind up being exported even to the United States and Canada (again as reported by Peter) where there are Tanzanian ex-pats, and in fact when I was googling the spelling of “mikebuka” most of the results seem to be websites trying to ship you fish. But besides fish I tried to learn about people, and asked about people travelling around the lake. To which Peter reported that many people travel around the lake, and many of these fishermen will have wives on both sides, in Tanzania and Congo. Peter explained they are Muslim and polygamists, you see, but I suppose sailors are the same everywhere. For some more details I wrote down, Peter told us that small mikebuka were known as “nyam nyam” (no telling if I have the spelling right), and that sheep are called “kondoo” in Swahili; disappointingly for us apparently they are used only for meat, and not wool.
Absolutely enormous canoe under construction; you can see a goat for scale in the shadows underneath the prow.
And then also of course were the boats. The ones at Katonga fish market were of average size for fishing boats. Peter explained that the caulking was made with cotton and palm oil. We later got to see this process in action. One of the most stunning things I learned about on this trip to Tanganyika were these absolutely massive canoes. I regret never being able to get a better photo of them, they were almost always too far away. I first spotted them from a distance as we were driving in from the airport, and later in the day I dragged Elizabeth and Peter to a boatyard across from the Livingstone Memorial impromptu to see some being made. “Canoe” is very much not the right word, but what I found so amazing is that they had the exact same construction as the fishing boats, but just on a much more massive scale. The photo I have above is of one under construction, and in this photo it doesn’t even seem so massive but to the right you can see a goat for scale. They are flat-bottomed with a huge freeboard and as far as I can tell powered just by a small outboard. I only ever saw a small poop deck on any of them, which must be where you steer from. Elizabeth and Peter told us they are primarily used for transporting goods to small villages up and down the lake and also to Congo and Burundi, and we saw one near our hotel getting loaded up with bricks. It was in the boatyard we saw the palm oil & cotton caulking in action, with several men in the midst of constructing one. They told us they can finish one in a month if they have all the materials and tools. Amazing.
That was later in the day though. For now we wrapped up our visit to the fish market. We had spent most of the time just hanging out watching the world go by. We spent probably slightly longer watching the proceedings than really felt not rude but no one really batted an eye to us being there. Peter told us to make sure to greet people which we tried to do. Eventually though we wound our way out between the fish and lights and batteries and got back to the car for our next stop: another boat.
Ujiji: The History of a Lakeside Town by Beverly Bolser Brown
The Western Ocean by Alan Villiers (not his best work)
Stuff Every Coffee Lover Should Know by Candace Rose Rardon
With the conclusion of our safari we now turned to the second segment of our Tanzania vacation: the historic city of Ujiji. Well I mean Kigoma. Ujiji is more of a neighborhood now so when booking our flights we were going to Kigoma and the lodge we were staying at was the Kigoma Hilltop Hotel. So we were going to Kigoma but I was going there for Ujiji.
As you will have quickly understood by now the impetus of us travelling to the far side of Tanzania was to see the location of so much of the focus of the London Missionary Society and their Central Africa Mission. They spent so much time and money and lives getting to Ujiji and trying to establish a base there and after all this reading I had to see it for myself. And I also had to go for the sheer number of historical events! We have been to Livingstone’s birthplace, and I have been to Livingstone’s deathplace, and so how could I not go to the spot where the most famous event of his life occurred? And then the final reason for wanting to go, which was to show my super amazing wife the gigantic lake that shaped my Peace Corps experience and in many ways has shaped my subsequent career. I wanted to see it again for myself and show her its wonder.
As an early example of the historical resonances I was searching for, to get to Kigoma we had to go through Zanzibar. It was a stopover on our flight from Arusha (Kilimanjaro airport to be specific) which we woke up rather early for. The fact that we were going to Kigoma caused some consternation among the various tourism industry personnel we encountered; Obedi was surprised we had heard of the place. Even the airport check-in counter lady seemed surprised, exclaiming “what?!” when we said we were going to Kigoma, except we subsequently concluded she just didn’t understand our accents. Then it seemed like we had already somehow missed our flight, but the issue there was only that it wasn’t on the departures board. You would think Kigoma was not so well-travelled, though of course historically it was anything but.
Eland by our deck.
No matter our tribulations though they of course pale in comparison to what every single person doing it by caravan went through. I have read many of their stories; as it is tautologically the first part of getting to the Lakes region, it is the most vivid part of anyone’s narrative before they eventually settle into the new normal of interior Africa living. During our time in Tanzania I was reading a couple London Missionary Society books, including the Rev. Arthur Dodgshun’s journal. He spent the better part of two years getting from Zanzibar to Ujiji, a journey that only took us about two hours (not counting the layover in Dar). And he died at the end (in his journal Dodgshun mentions reading The Last Journals of David Livingstone only for this to be his last journal as well); this post is evidence that luckily didn’t happen to us.
Instead we landed perfectly safety at the Kigoma Airport. As we taxied down the runway I spotted a small decrepit-looking shack that I figured must have been like, the colonial-era terminal, but no it is in fact the current one. Our checked bags were just delivered through an open hatch. But as we stepped outside the ride we had arranged was ready to whisk us off to the Kigoma Hilltop Hotel was waiting there for us. The ride was gorgeous and a mini-preview of the very involved next day I had planned for us. I even saw the MV Liemba way off in the distance. And in a call back to the previous five days upon arrival to the hotel we were greeted by eland, wildebeest, and zebra. Turns out the grounds are a bit of a nature preserve. We checked in and were ferried past the zebra and to our room via golf cart.
And uh we didn’t do much else that night. It was just relaxing being in the midst of such beauty. It was very interesting to see the rhythm of marine traffic going back and forth. When we arrived we watched a fleet of dhow-rigged canoes coming in. Later, a number of larger canoes carrying smaller canoes went back the other way, so many that you could hear the droning from room’s patio. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant where I tried to get my kapenta fix in with dagaa. Eventually the sun set over the lake, and it was exciting to be able to see the DRC backlit by the dazzling reds and oranges. And I mean, man. I was finally here. The place I had read so much about and that was positively palpable with history.
Loyal readers, we have finally come to our final full day in Shetland. Although we had not planned too intense of a day, we had a couple of Wool Week activities slated and were looking forward to those.
The first of these was a class on net mending. This was hosted by George, a former fisherman with the heaviest Shetland accent I had so far heard. During the net mending itself he also tended to talk with a knife held in his mouth, which added significantly to his charm if not clarity. The first half of this experience turns out was actually a tour through Shetland’s fishing history via the Shetland Museum’s collections. This was a particular and unexpected treat because we got to see the boats. What had been one of the museum’s most popular displays was its boat hall where various examples of historic Shetland boats were hung from the ceiling. But as George explained “health and safety” got to ‘em, and the boats had to be taken down and put in the shed, “where no one gets to see ‘em.”
Boats boats boats.Me examining build details.Man I love boats.
So that was a lot of fun to see the boats. Many of the designs are the descendants of traditional Viking designs and I had a blast poking around and looking at details. I tried to take photos of all the details so you know if I ever need to I can make a Viking-adjacent boat and homemade sails and ply the North Sea. After the boats themselves we went on through the museum exhibits, learning all about the Dutch and the Hanseatic League and all that. Then it was time for the net mending itself. George had a net set up with various holes in it and he showed us the proper technique for patching it back together before letting people give it a go. This was fun, but then towards the end people started to ask George more questions about fishing nets and man’s eyes really lit up. He got some paper and started diagramming different net configurations and constructions, and when people asked him about a whole net-making course he told us about trying to get it going but there were budget issues; apparently all the materials are quite expensive. It was very fun to learn from George and hear all about his long and storied fishing experience out of Shetland.
By da sletts (out of frame to the left).
Our next event wasn’t until the evening so we had the afternoon to spend in Lerwick. We first got lunch at the Fort Café & Takeaway, an absolutely lovely little chippy that was kind enough not to make us feel too out of sorts as the confused tourists trying to order some fish. It is the sort of place where if we didn’t speak the local language we would be bragging to our friends about the quaint cultural experience we had. Also we later saw it in Shetland and that was cool; we had sat at the same table as Jimmy Perez! Then there was some final shopping, including soaps from the utterly wonderful Shetland Soap Company and a Jamieson’s Fair Isle sweater jumper along with some yarn. For dinner we celebrated Wool Week by getting the lamb at No. 88. A walk along down to the da sletts rounded out our evening activities before the final talk.
Slide from Dr. Christiansen’s talk.
And what a talk it was! It was all about the folk symbolism of taatit rugs. It was given by Dr. Carol Christiansen and was fascinating. Taatit rugs are in fact heavy pile bedspreads, important for blustery Shetland nights. She had gotten interested in the rugs as a window into Shetland folklore. The rugs often feature particular symbols and no one quite was sure what they meant. So she sat down to figure it out and turns out it is pretty deep. Most of the talk was a dive into Shetland mythology, much of which is linked to Norse stories but which have developed on their own on the isles. Especially important were the trows which inhabit Shetland. With sleep being such vulnerable times, the symbols on the taatit rugs acted to ward off the witches and trows that could come and prey on you at night. The rugs also had other stories associated with them, and would sometimes be made by a betrothed couples’ families as a wedding present. Since these were some rare textiles made purely by and for Shetlanders for their own private homes they were such an interesting window into the local culture.
And with that we were turned out into the night, with no symbols to protect us, and our Wool Week was done. We drove on back to the inn and did our final packing, nervous about the weight of all our souvenirs. In the wee hours of the morning we drove on down to the airport, got confused about where to leave the car (turns out, anywhere), and checked into our flight (I’m not sure they even weighed the bags in the end). Shetland was such an interesting and friendly and beautiful place and we are so very excited for when we get to go back.
We were finally approaching our final Scottish destination: Shetland! As alluded to several times over the course of this series, the primary reason we had gone to the UK was to go to Shetland Wool Week. We had also had some friends who had gone to Shetland, so were excited to see the rest of the place too. But first we had to get there. I left you, dear reader, as my super amazing wife and I were jumping the car and departing Inverness. We had about a two-hour drive ahead of us to Aberdeen, where we would catch the ferry to Shetland. We could have taken a flight to get to Shetland, but I pushed us towards the boat. I was looking forward to spending an overnight at sea and we sprung for the cabin instead of confining ourselves to chairs.
We almost didn’t make it. I should have looked more closely at a map and the locally available transportation options. We had a rental car we had to drop off at the airport and turns out the airport is not at all near the ferry terminal. I was stressed from driving down all the tiny little two-lane roads on the route the GPS took us between Inverness and Aberdeen, and my super amazing wife was stressed because we were looking at the clock and realizing this was going to be close no matter what. But we arrived at the car rental place and jumped on out, forgetting my super amazing wife’s sunglasses in the process (the rental place later emailed us to say we could pick up the sunglasses at our leisure, but we were, you know, in Shetland). We were planning on getting an Uber, but turns out you can’t get a ride share from the Aberdeen airport.
Majestic!
Okay, no matter, we just got in the taxi line. The very long taxi line. And waited a few minutes. And no taxi came. Not great! And then the taxi lady came out and said no taxis were coming anytime soon. This had us very stressed and we had no real time to spare. So we shuffled on down with all of our baggage and the rest of the people in the taxi line to the bus stop, with no real indication of when the bus was going to come either. But then! Our savior! A taxi appeared! With everyone else distracted at the bus stop my super amazing wife and I ran on down with all our bags to claim the taxi and we were on our way! We arrived at the ferry with time to spare but seem to have been some of the last to board.
I left the photo crooked so you could experience what we did.
And so we were onboard our chariot, the MV Hjaltland. We unpacked in our spacious cabin (spacious after the Caledonian Sleeper anyway) and settled in. Despite our very anxious time getting there I was even anxious-er to explore the ship, so we went off to poke around. It is super cool. It’s got a gift shop and a bar and a movie theater. As soon as we were underway I insisted we go up and see the deck before it got too dark and we were too far at sea, dragging my super amazing wife away from her tea to do it. The views were gorgeous man, the open sea, the offshore wind farm, the wind in your face, fantastic.
Things were soon not so fantastic though. After we descended down from the weather deck we got in line for dinner. My super amazing wife was starting to feel not so great from the rocking the boat was already experiencing. I thought some food would help, but not really. It made her feel worse though it made me feel better for a bit. We returned to our cabin and although she avoided puking she was soon confined to her rack. I wasn’t far behind. Before long I, too, was seasick. This was a major blow to my ego. My time as a landlubber has made me weak. I spent a few hours listening to podcasts and feeling nauseous but did eventually recover enough to have a fairly comfortable night.
Shetland at dawn.
The next morning I got up early to have a rather nice shower actually in our ensuite and then explore the boat some more. Back up on the top of the ship I caught my first glimpse of Shetland. I always like the first glimpse of a distant land by sea. I remember my first sight of Australia from the submarine, easing up over the horizon its long and low shores. With my stomach feeling better I also got some very good breakfast. It included a banana though, and maybe that was the root cause of all my troubles. We docked before long and so it was back to the cabin to pack and then unload. I think we were some of the last ones off. No matter, because that meant the car hire lady was easy to find. She ran us through the info, with a stern warning that although we had the comprehensive insurance coverage, that still did not cover the car doors being ripped off by strong winds. Quite the introduction to Shetland! But we were glad to be there, safe, sound, dry, and with a new set of wheels.
Travels in West Africa by Mary Kingsley (abridged Folio Society edition)
In the last post, we discussed how I transcribed some documents from the SOAS LMS archives relating to the SS Good News, my favorite steamship. These included the original purchase contract and then a letter from Mr. Roxburgh celebrating the launch of the boat. But now we get to the good stuff: drama.
These are three letters, two from Edward C. Hore and one from A.J. Swann. I should have put the first letter in the last post, timeline-wise, but only in writing this post did I realize it was dated 1881; I had originally thought it was from 1887 which is silly. This is a good place to note that I found it hard to read Hore’s handwriting. When I couldn’t read a word I put down whatever letters I thought were close and annotated it with a [?]. How much of history will be lost when nobody learns cursive anymore?
Anyway in this first letter, Hore is advocating to I think the LMS board for his preferred sort of ship, a sailboat with auxiliary steam power. By this point Hore, on behalf of the LMS, had used several different sail-powered vessels on the lake and now was looking for something with more oomph.
Islington
9 Dec 81
Dear Sir,
In regard to the Marine Depart. of the Tanganyika Mission I understand that the question of sail versus steam is still to be considered – As I wrote long since from Ujiji, I should be very pleased to work a sailing boat on the Lake, in fact the vessel I have proposed (see former letters on this subject) would perhaps more frequently be sailed – it is my hope to do so, & reserve the steam for occasions when it would mean economy of time & safety. The recommendation of steam by the District Committee (see resolutions Cent. Af. Dist. Com. Oct 80) is of course simply the notion of the Missionaries, & subject anthief [?] (as I would be the first to admit) to the consideration & decision of the Directors & the bearing upon it of their experience in these Missions & perhaps some of those Missionaries in recommending steam, simply intend to recommend “the most efficient & speedy means of water communication.”
But for myself – as well as joining in the above recommendation as a Missionary the steam is included in my professional opinion given to the Directors, or the best means of conducting the ferries [?] they require to be carried out.
Perhaps some misapprehension has arisen from calling the vessel a steamer – the vessel I propose is in fact a fast & safe sailing vessel, which I hope to sail under favorable circumstances up to 10 or 11 knots – with auxiliary steam to give a speed of 8 knots.
As a sailor I am prejudiced against steam but I have proposed what I have not from my idea as a Missionary, which would be a mere suggestion to the Directors, but as my most carefully considered professional opinion of the vessel necessary to carry out what I suppose to the Directors intentions on Lake Tanganyika.
1) The prevailing winds on the Lake are S, S.E., & S.W. so that one can almost always sail N – to get South one must either be able to beat against a strong breeze or make use of the light land breeze close in shore at night or lose of thenna [?] – according to circumstances – but the nights are frequently quite salone [?], so that with steam or other mechanical means of progression a passage could be made or shortened.
Every bend & headland, as the sailor gets acquainted has its peculiarities of wind-currents or smooth water, which the auxiliary steam would enable me to utilize to best effect, both as regards speed & wear & tear of vessel.
To theorize on seamanship we need steady winds & straight & uplaw [?] coast liner – I append a diagram to illustrate the navigation on one small portion of the Lake.
2/ On the Lake generally there are frequent calms (or nearly so) of a week or more for which, undoubtedly, some means of mechanical propulsion should be provided, & to be reduced to oars, would, considering the size of the vessel be most expensive & unsatisfactory & would leave us often as badly off as before – a doctors visit or other urgent service ought never again to be delayed for want of wind – & I take it that the success of the whole mission is very much dependent on the efficiency of the Marine Deps. I hope never to have to say either there is no wind or the weather is too bad – the sails & the good sea boat always for rough weather, either fair or foul – & the auxiliary steam for the perhaps more difficult calms.
3/ The Lake is still (for purposes of navigation) comparatively unexplored, charts, sailing directions, pilot books, steam trap [?], are now so much reformed [?] on in ordinary navigation that we need constantly to remind ourselves, that we have no such assistance on our Lake & in threading narrow waters & going in & out of harbors etc. etc. the steam or other mechanical means of propulsion would be an immense saving of time & expense – With our new vessel we cannot “shove her thro’” or “push her over anyhow” as one would handle an old log canoe.
4/ Although steam would be desirable the Directors would not like to (& there is no reason why they should) have to employ both a nautical man & an Engineer on the Lake by an Engineer of course I mean a superior man, capable of taking sole care & responsibility of the Engine etc. etc. but a steamer properly so called would not be done pisther [?] to without both such men.
The vessel I propose is specially designed to meet this difficulty & to be managed without such an Engineer – I think I have already told the Directors that I am ready myself to undertake the care of the auxiliary machinery I propose – It is also designed specially to meet the requirements of the Locality & service.
In asking for steam power to guarantee 8 knots I would make that the maximum – it is for use chiefly in calms & very light head winds & I saw 8 knots in the hope that I could then be quite certain of 4 or 5 under those circumstances & should keep it for such use – neither wearing the machinery nor incurring the time labor & expense of providing fuel during available winds.
In case of my being disabled my mate could still sail the ship & at the worst could but let the Engine rust – but I hope we may procure a man who would be able to take the whole work when necessary – as to keeping the parts clean & clear of corrosion I will back our intelligent sailor against any engine driver or like assistant. A personal inspection of the steam machinery of any launch or yacht with the power I require would I think convince the Directors of the feasibility of my managing the same – they need no permission to have such machinery in any case of the simplest form & best material & workmanship.
I have referred more than once to “other mechanical power” – I have no Engineer’s prejudice & would be glad to hear of any other method of mechanical propulsion for calms.
5/ The vessel should be able to two rafts of timber & canoes loaded with building materials for which service calm weather must be chosen.
I think I have already laid before you the two plans either of which would I think meet the requirements of the case.
1st the sailing vessel with auxiliary steam machinery (of 8 knots guaranteed)
2nd the sailing vessel solely such which might be then of slightly different lines & smaller dimensions and a small steam launch in sections capable of being secured together in a day or two for immediate use.
Plan 1 has the advantage of compactness [?] & completeness & having both means always at command, but all our force risked on one bottom.
Plan 2 has the advantage of a more roomy sailing vessel – a means of much more rapid service for simple communication & light urgent work without moving a ponderous vessel for every light service & the distribution of our forces & of the risk in two vessels – a tow boat without always using the larger vessel & a means of at once starting work on the Lake without the possible delay in waiting for the transport & construction of the larger vessel at the South end of the Lake, by taking the small launch along the old route – but in using the larger vessel itself we still are dependent on sail & oar.
In such an important matter I should think it necessary for the Directors to be assisted by a professional nautical opinion quite as much as by that of an Engineer – & as to detail of construction & fittings I should much like to be assisted officially with a competent marine surveyor or architect.
I place the glad [?] to enter into detailed planning for caravans etc. as soon as it is known how much is to be undertaken by the trading Co.
I remain dear sir, Yours sincerely
Edw’d C. Hore
It gets more dramatic in the second letter. It starts off as an update on the Good News and then becomes a letter about who, exactly, is in charge of the boat. There seems to have been a lot of personnel drama in the Central Africa mission, and it started early. Here, Hore is complaining that Alexander Carson had come out with the notion that he (Carson) was in charge of the construction of the Good News. Hore, as head of the Marine Department, figured he would be in charge, and if that was to change no one had told him. It’s written from Kavala Island, where Hore had set up the base of the Marine Department. The Good News was built at the south end of Lake Tanganyika, but then after launching brought up to Kavala for fitting-out.
Kavala Island
Tanganyika 22 Oct 86
Dear Mr. Goodwin,
I have received your letter (written by Mr. Moore) of 14 Feb. I am glad to hear from you all again for Mr. Moore both as your representative and on his own account conveys to me your very inclusive regards & good wishes. Certainly pleasing recollections of you all are immediately connected with much that has to do with the Good News – I sincerely hope that some day I may see you again & this time to talk over what has been done instead of what has to be done.
Mr. Carson arrived here on 4th July last, reaching Kavala Island aerors [?] the deck of the Good News which was as you suppose pretty well complete except boiler & machinery – in fact so far as I could go awaiting chains plates & certain other fittings to complete which [?] parts of linings [?] must be left – At that late hour [?] masts were in & rigging aloft with awnings [?] opened fore & aft, wheel & bowsprit shipping etc. etc.
The machinery of course I had left as soon as assured that an Engineer was coming – except that in order to make sure my list of missing parts I connected the Engine & teething [?] gear together putting in carefully made models of wood of the sliding guide blocks & the awadement [?] block. The whole worked smoothly together along with the machinery connection to cockpit & was in face perfect & complete except a small displacement which the Engineer will surely [?] make in the Goodwin [?] chocks to bring the coupling of shafts fair. The funnel, casing etc. etc. got to me in a bad state, but the boiler plates were all right having been packed [?] by Roxburgh in hansil [?], the others were all scraped [?] clused [?] – painted [?] here & the leed [?] & workshop laid out all ready with tools & materials for Mr. Carson’s arrival. “Wonderful & perfect preparation” in my opinion but I daresay a “very rough & makeshift” in the eyes of any one just coming from home – nevertheless it was the result of years of hard work.
It is no doubt astounding [?] to some people how I could have taken such a long time over such a small job. It is perhaps impossible for some who have always lived at home to understand it. The actual amount the work of erection of the vessel has been but a small part of the whole & the largest part the formation of dwellings, working places & conditions on a jungle covered hillside in Central Africa in the intervals of many boat voyages of over 200 miles to fetch provisions & materials.
Mr. A.J. Swann my mate has done all the minelting [?] of cornfrip [?] etc. etc – having paid that attention to the business while Roxburgh was with us & acquired considerable proficiency – he also worked with Mr. Carson at the riveting of the boiler lids [?] was finished all but the last ring [?] before Swann left for home.
The dock tho’ causing much trouble & disappointment (Miro [?] want of density of soil panelling [?] water to percolate thro’ the bottom) was a perfect success for the work required – the dry season has now left it behind on the shore – but the Lake will rise again with the rains.
Here is a copy of the dockings from my official log.
Draft of water 2.9 aft & 1.6 forward – having on board Engine – full 2/3rd of linings & journey – bowsprit – 30 fathoms calle [?] & 140 lbs [?] stone ballast under wooden cabin bulkhead – no masts, stove, anchors, or other heavy weights.
June
7. Draft as stone [?] hauled into dry dock
9. shoud [?] up & baled [?] out – scrubbed bottom, but dock gate leaked at 3 p.m. & stopped work – repaired gate.
10. 1st coat of paint on
11. 2nd coat of paint
12. dock gate leaked & filled – repaired & baled out
14. 3rd coat paint
16. noon let water in & floated vessel
July
6. Good News hauled into dry dock to inspect & adjust propeller & shaft
7. Completed work of adjustment of propeller shaft & examination of sea cocks
8. Hauled out of dock.
On this last occasion masts & all rigging in place but Engine had been taken out [?] also the cable – all else the same – & draft was 2 ft 8 in aft x 1 ft 7 forward. In the dock the foremost block had 1 ft 6 in water over it & the after block under (stern post) 2 ft 4 in – she was hauled up into position by 35 men without purchase (that it took tackle to haul her off again).
I have laid a lot of shels [?] to form a grating on top of the floors – to be filled up to wider cabin sole [?] with clean quartz stones – but New [?] will only store about 1 ½ tons – she is very buoyant & I must determined [?] traiss [?] exclusively by cautious experiment.
The “passengers cabin” will probably for some time be devoted to ballast & fuel.
I am convinced more than ever if possible on the necessity of our being an auxiliary steamer – certain voyages will always be sailed with perhaps an hour or two’s steam to enter port quicker the time for steam and fueling – She wants an iron or steel mizenmast & chains halyards for mizzen. I do not think I shall ask for it I am afraid to be thought so greedy. – the wooden mast & ordinary rigging will soon be destroyed by the fire & smoke.
Both Mr. Carson & Rev. G.H. Lea who arrived 3 weeks ago keep good healthy, they came up quickly without having to escort large caravans & came at once to this place which is undoubtedly healthy – Mr. Carson has been at work all the time & as regards the actual day when steam will first be got up we shall soon be waiting again – of course actually we can always find plenty to do – the boiler is nearly ready & all going on nicely but I do not like to say anything about it – Mr. Carson has absolute charge of boiler & machinery & will doubtless give full report thereon – instead I feel conferred [?] in writing about any of the work that is going on now the position is so peculiar, & at home & away from Missionary surroundings would certainly resulted [?] in horrible [?] & would possible have [?] done to now not for the personal regard I have for Carson whom I like very much – the fact is he arrived here believing that he had charge of the whole work of Good News & that Swann & I would assist under his directions. While on the other hand I understand that my appointment as “superintendent of the construction of Good News” remained un-annulled & that the Engineer was sent out to relieve me of certain details of that work.
I met Carson on his arrival before I knew his ideas or saw his instructions (with the assurance that he should have it all his own way un-interfered [?] with, with the boilers & engine, but felt rather small when he showed me the same in writing & also indicated his ideas with regard to the other part of the work – My private opinion is that we are both deserving of great credit, that the Good News work is proceeding well without at present any pitch [?] or trouble.
As for myself personally I hardly hear [?] whether I am standing on my head or my heels – I have supposed myself (for years) to the holding [?] an appointment which now suddenly I see announced in print as having been held by Mr. Roxburgh – I have risked the health & life of myself & child over & over again in a way I would have considered quite uncalled for & unnecessary but supposing that I hold unique positions.
When I try to get the evidence of my friends as to whether I am palpable [?], one suggests a clerical error, another says it cannot be that I cower [?], had the appointment because I am “incompetent” another that a “sailor” cannot construct vessels etc. etc.
I begin to wonder whether I have built a vessel at all, but have been building a castle in the air all the time & make to find myself a sort of boatkeeper with the best years of my life gone.
Meantime the jungle fades from view & the settlement grows – boys & girls attend the daily schools & Sunday services – and the “savages” become more & more amenable [?] to friendly intercourse & work. Our chief by death of two of his seniors is offered [?], promotions [?] on the mainland but declined to leave his good island & us – so some of the people he was to have governed are coming here to live instead – the Good news meantime is slowly & surely approaching completion & missionaries having a healthy station & houses to come to at once are surviving instead of dying off. The fact nothing stops us but want of men and proper men – with the necessary power funds & men I would settle & colonize the whole Lake shore – A Missionary Society of course is confined to certain lines & methods & within these & the means (in shape of men & money) that have been available, I think I have had remarkable success & if I can only only [sic] see the Good News efficiently running before I leave I think I shall feel restful afterwards.
I shall be grateful [?] for any hints [?] you can give me about ballast & trim of Good News – At present I can only experiment to get 1st sufficient stability and 2nd sufficient immersion for propeller.
You know our boiler will get very irregular work – & sometimes cold water remaining in for along time. I do not think deposit will trouble us at all with proper attention to use of clean water. If you think under these circumstances that simple rust might be prevented by painting inside of boiler I wish you would advise it but do not let it be known that I have anything to do with the suggestion.
With Christian regards & best wishes to you & yours, I remain dear sir, Yours sincerely
Edw. C. Hore
I assume that all was eventually resolved.
The Good News did not have a particularly long service life, even though she was really kinda sorta the impetus of the mission. Mr. Arthington donated money to start a Central Africa mission as long as the London Missionary Society put a steamer on Lake Tanganyika. The theory was that they could do shipborne evangelization, cruising up and down the lake proselytizing to the lacustrine peoples. This never really worked out; the LMS found the best way to get converts was to settle in a particular spot and let a village grow up around them. The Good News was handy for a bit as a transport ship between LMS bases at Ujiji, Kavala, and Niamkolo, but eventually all the missions shifted to the south end of Lake Tanganyika which was most easily supplied via southern routes instead of overland between Zanzibar and Ujiji. The Good News was eventually sold to the African Lakes Company and by WWI was a hulk on Kituta bay. The below letter from A.J. Swann explains some of her faults.
Kavala Island
July 1889
Dear Mr. Goodwin,
I have been going to write you for some time past but the very troublesome times out here has made me postpone it from time to time & even now I see no chance of it clearing up too commence in hopes of this reaching you some day.
First let me say I have written you before I hope you received it & that [?] incient [?] doing so again.
Now a letter about the Good News. You will probably have met Capt Hore ere this & had a long yarn on this subject, since arriving here we have made several voyages. Carson & self & lately there [?] had her ale [?] long [?] reef [?] being Master Mate & Engine overlooker at the same time & now for my opinions of the wee craft.
I have repeatedly tested her speed over known distances & find with 60 lbs of steam & smooth water she goes 7 ½ miles an hour, this is I think good, she has maintained that rate for 12 hours & is her best, but in order to do it, we must have splendid wood & no cargo. Her average speed is about 6 miles an hour in fine weather with about 50 lbs steam. Under sail I think her best will be about 5 miles an hour & then the wind must be free.
Against ahead wind she is no good at all & will scarcely maintain steerage way, the short seas take it all out of her, as a smooth water vessel she is everything to be desired, otherwise a failure, her sail power is too much for her probably & yet insufficient for propulsion; in fact, Hore in trying to get both sail & steam, has in both obtained neither. In overreaching for cabin accommodation he entirely ignored ballast space & fuel storage & to speak honestly has bungled the whole affair, instead of her being so he so persistently termed her an “auxiliary steam vessel” she is to all intents & purposes just the opposite & if he had taken your advice to lower his canvas in the lockers & given her more power behind, we should have had a vessel fit to navigate Tanganyika in any weather whereas she is not able to steam against the South East monsoon or beat against it under sail. This is my report after a fair trail & I simply send it that you may know the fact & it only proves once more, that the fads [?] of amateurs are scarcely ever worth serious consideration in such matters.
You know it must cost me something to write in this strain about a vessel in which I have taken to much interest & in the construction of which I was privileged to take part, I admire her now unisonlon [?] & feel proud to have charge of such a treasure & I know with care she will do the work of this mission for years, yet she is what I have described a failure in many points & in the hands of an amateur sailor will be a source of much anxiety [?] & great risk. I know you won’t take any thing I have written as in the slightest manners reflecting unfavorably on yourself, for from it we shall ever be indebted to you for such a gift as the G. News, the only regret on my part is that you did not have your own way, but was hampered with the good intentions (but mistaken nevertheless) of other people.
Suffice it to say she is the admired of all admirers [?] & it moving under to the natives world [?], A source of pleasure comfort & service to the mission generally & A.I. [?] in my estimation when I look back at the mode of transport up here a few years back & if ever you take it into your head to travel this way, be sure of a Saloon passage & a hearty welcome. Now about ourselves, Mrs. Swann has had very good health indeed since finishing the journey & getting over the loss of our wee babe, which loss was felt very keenly as you may imagine.
At present we are all “tip top” Hellie [?] the worse for our somewhat isolated life. The road to Zanzibar has been shut for some months & supplies are stopped. The road S.E. via Nyassa is also shut & so we are young Emin Pascha on a smaller scale & may come very near competing with Robinson Crusoe for first honors if the game continues many years.
The Arabs have twice planned to assist us off this Planet “nolens volens” but an old friend of mine (an Arab) has nailed his colors to ours & said “come on” if you like, but if you do I could [?] guarantee your safe release to your villages & up to the present they have not “come on.” How long this Arab will be able to shield us is impossible [?] to say & I don’t know it serves any purpose to calculate.
Poor Brooks was foully murdered 2 days from the coast some months ago, but he has gone to his reward where all who are sincere & faithful will congregate someday. May God forgive his murderers is all I can say as I grieve over a lost companion in this great struggle for Africa & if they serve us the same, repeat the prayer. Over us they can have no power unless given them from above & thus we rest & work on believing the time is soon coming for the “day to dawn & the shadow to flee away.” We would live to see this if his Will, if not, it is our to obey.
Mrs. Swann joins me in kindest regards to Mrs & Miss[?] Goodwin & we are so sorry to say your Photographs together with my “Robert Burns” was lost on the voyage out & the case destroyed by someone so that we have not your faces. Please remember me very kindly to Mr. A. Hamilton who I trust has not given up the slave question. Also to Rev. Rogers & others who may remember me & now accept yourself our best wishes for your welfare & happiness & permit me to remain,
Alright! From my last post you are aware that I was able to visit the London Missionary Society archives kept at SOAS in London and it was super cool. The box with the photos is a box of a few different sorts of things, so it also had a chunk of incoming letters about the SS Good News, my favorite missionary steamship. Since I didn’t have a whole lot of time to peruse each letter I just took photos of the ones that seemed like they would be interesting and now after long last I have transcribed them to the best of my ability (“best of my ability” because man I cannot read some of their handwriting). So in two parts I will show you what I found.
The first neat thing is the original contract for the SS Good News, signed by LMS Foreign Secretary R. Wardlaw Thompson and Forrestt and Son boatbuilders (photos at the top):
Memorandum of Agreement entered into this Fifteenth day of April one thousand eight hundred and eighty two between Messr. Forrestt and Son of Britannia Yard Millwall Shipbuilders hereinafter called the builders of the one part and R. Wardlaw Thompson of 15 Blomfield St. London Wall acting for and in behalf of the London Missionary Society hereinafter called the owners of the other part.
The said builders hereby agree to build for the said owners a steam launch in accordance with the terms of the specifications and drawings hereto attached and to deliver the said launch in parcels for shipment free alongside steamer in the river Thames for the sum of £1,600 (one thousand six hundred pounds).
It is further agreed by and between the said builders and the said owners that if the launch be so far completed as to be tried under steam on the river Thames a further sum of £150 (one hundred and fifty pounds) shall be paid for the additional labor and expense incurred thereby.
It is also further agreed by and between the said builders and the said owner that the purchase money for the launch does not include any of the following items of the outfit viz:-
One complete set of spars
One complete set of sails
One complete set of blocks
One large anchor
One compass
And the said owner hereby agrees to pay the said builder the before mentioned purchase money in these equal instalments viz:-
One third when the launch is in frame
One third when the launch is plated and the deck laid
And the remaining third when the launch is finished and delivered to the said owner.
As witness our hands this fifteenth day of April one thousand eight hundred and eighty two
R. Wardlaw Thompson – Foreign Secy London Missionary Soc
J. Messtt Frm [?]
Witness to both signatures (Clerks to the London Missionary Society 14 Blomfield Street E.C.
William Ford Brown
Mm Ley Lerk [?]
After the contract the next neat thing is a letter from James Roxburgh to G.S. Goodwin, Esq. Mr. James Roxburgh was an engineer that went to Lake Tanganyika on behalf of the London Missionary Society to build the Good News. Looking back I should have written a biography of him in my Chronicle transcription. I didn’t because he’s not on the LMS list of missionaries because he wasn’t sent out as a missionary, but as a “practical engineer in the employment of the Society,” as the LMS put it (though they also referred to him at least once as “our missionary engineer”). I have a blog post on Building the SS Good News with excerpts from books by E.C. Hore and A.J. Swann, but it was Roxburgh that was the main man in charge of actually building the boat.
This letter came to the LMS archives when it was sent to them by Andrew Hamilton of A. Goodwin-Hamilton & Adamson Ltd, apparently a firm of naval architects (as I learned from their letterhead), some 40-odd years after it was originally sent to G.S. Goodwin, Esq. It is not clear to me from the letters or some subsequent googling why Mr. Roxburgh was writing to Mr. Goodwin. My guess is that Mr. Goodwin was the boss of a firm of engineers from whence Roxburgh was hired by the LMS. It’s a pretty chatty letter, starting with the story of launching the Good News and talking about parts still missing, but then at the end gets into the state of Roxburgh’s health. Unfortunately this is foreshadowing; James Roxburgh would die on Kavala Island on May 18, 1885, about three months after writing the below letter on the same day he launched the Good News.
The cover letter from A Goodwin-Hamilton & Adamson Ltd.:
I came across the enclosed letter written by Mr. Jas. Roxburgh, dated 3rd March 1885 from Lake Tanganyika at the time of the launch of the “Good News”.
This will I think be of interest and may deserve a place in the Society’s Museum & or History of the Tanganyika Mission.
With Kind Regards.
Yours truly,
Andrew Hamilton
And now the letter from Mr. Roxburgh:
Liendwe Central Africa
3rd March 1885
To G.S. Goodwin Esq.,
Alexandra Buildings,
James Street,
Liverpool.
Dear Mr. Goodwin,
This has perhaps been the greatest day that Central Africa has yet seen, and the Natives here have been privileged to see a work accomplished that has been a very great puzzle to them for a long time past. As they could not conceive how it would be possible for us to carry such a big heavy boat as the “Good News” into the water. I am glad to inform you that the “Good News” was successfully launched today at 10/30 a.m., everything went well. We had not a hitch of any kind.
She now lies at Anchor opposite our camp here on the Lofu river and I am sure if you were here to have a look at her as she is on the river at present I think you would say she is a good clean tidy job and a credit to all who have had an important part of her to do, especially to the designer of her. I got on board as soon as possible after the launch and made a complete examination of her all along and I am glad to say I did not find a single leak. I do not think there will be much work for the bilge pump in our little steamer as no part of her is depending on putty nor paint.
Our Motto here has been, that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. I may say I laid the ways for Launching on the same principle as is carried out at home, but it was a very big job getting and making the ways out here with very poor tools, etc. We had to go to the forest and cut down no less than 42 trees, giving us a total length of 380 feet, as the boat was built a long way back from the river on account of the great floods that often come sweeping down here in great force during the rainy season. She had a clear fun of 105 ft on her ways before the stern touched the water, that length of a run as you know is much longer than usual.
However that part of it is all over now and I am very thankful it is a very great load off my mind to know she is safely afloat on the water.
Though the boat is launched there is still a great amount of work to do at her yet, but I cannot give you any opinion in regard to the time she will be finished, as I don’t know how long it may be yet before I get the fittings. I still want all the cabin combing plates yet, also 2 bulkhead plates and boiler seat plate, then I have got nothing of the boiler here yet but the smoke box and 2 pieces of the funnel.
I have written to the African Lakes Co. about the boiler and engine time after time but as yet my writing has had very little effect. However I have just received a note from one of the Company’s Agents informing me that he was about to try and form a very large Caravan to bring up our boiler fittings etc. from the North end of Lake Nyassa, if he succeeds in getting the men he says he expects to be at Tanganyika by the later end of April or early in May, that itself is very good news, but we shall be at a complete stand long before that time. My patience has been very much tried on account of these long weary waits from time to time. I can enjoy a good week’s holiday at home, but it is not so here with me, for as soon as I am idle for a few days here I get laid down with fever. I think the very best medicine a white man can have for the good of his health in Central Africa is a moderate amount of work to do every day, this has at least been my experience since I came here.
I hope you received my last letter dated January 1885, with the list of boiler fittings I want replaced and sent out as soon as possible, I believe there are more boiler fittings awanting yet but I cannot find out what they are till the boxes arrive here. I know for certain that there is a box lost that contained 60 boiler tubes, but as there is a complete spare set I have never re-ordered them yet.
Now for fear my last letter to you of January 1885 may not have arrived your length, I shall here below repeat the list of lost fittings that I want replaced and sent out here as soon as possible.
2 test cocks.
1 5/8 water gauge cock for the bottom end of glass.
1 ½ steam jet and
12 fire or flue box screws or stays
1 spring for safety valve
I hope nothing else belonging to the boiler may be amissing, so that if the boiler plates etc. arrive here in April, I may be able to get it finished right off and put under steam.
I may here say that Capt Hore has not up till the present time seen much of the “Good News” yet, as he left here just 9 months ago to go and meet his Wife and child at Qillimani [Quelimane] and it happened rather unfortunately for him that the late native war down on the lower Shire river was going on and the river was blocked up for all traffic. However after some delay he got to Quillimane to meet his wife there, but on account of the native war he decided not to come via Nyassa with his Wife so he took steamer for Zanzibar and came up the Old Route, they arrived at Tanganyika on the 7th of January but he has never got this length yet, as I believe he is busy building a house at the other end of the Lake for his Wife and family, as it is a much healthier place than this is. After he gets this finished he informs me he is coming down to see the “Good News”. At the time he left here she was only in frame and she is now lying at anchor out in the Lufo River.
I am sorry to inform you that I have not been in very good health for a long time and if it does not improve very soon I am afraid I must come home. However I sincerely trust that I may soon get stronger again if it is the Lord’s Will, for it will be very grievous to me if I have to part with the “Good News” before she is under steam and has had run round the Lake.
I have been down for over 4 weeks with a severe attack of jaundice and although I seemed to get over it all right, so far I don’t seem to have regained my usual strength since I have been up and moving about for nearly 3 weeks now, but I am so weakly yet that I can only work two or three hours per day, after which I have to turn in to my bed again, in other words, I have to lay in my bed the best half of the day, nearly every day. However I feel pretty well about the body and my appetite is fairly good. My weakness is all in my legs. I send with this Mail a letter to our Secretary in London.
Hoping this may find you and your family all in good health, and may God Bless and Guide you in all you do.
The Strait of Gibraltar! Oh man. As I said last time, we were now wrapping up the Spain portion of our honeymoon and it was on to Part 2: Morocco! But of course those two places are separated by one of the most storied bodies of water on the planet, the Strait of Gibraltar, the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and boundary to the great Atlantic. I had never been before and I was pumped to go across it.
First we had to get there. There was no convenient way to take a train between Granada and Algeciras so instead of a very fun high-speed ride we took the bus. I suppose it was fine. It was from the bus that I caught the first glimpse in my life of the Mediterranean, so that was very cool. We arrived at the port rather early and were a bit confused and there was an initial mix-up with the tickets and at one point they closed off the gate and it seemed like we had missed the ferry and it was very stressful but it worked out in the end and we got on the ferry. It was much less crowded than I expected, just a smattering of people. Spanish passport control was on land but Moroccan passport control was actually on the boat, so not only did I get the “entry by ship” passport stamp that I coveted, I actually got it on a boat, which just takes the cake.And then it was time for the ferry ride! I was so excited about this. A large part was the mystique of arriving at a new continent via ship. The first and only time I ever went to Australia I went by sea. Bermuda, too, arrival by sea. It’s the best way to travel. This was not my first time in Africa of course but first time I got to arrive by ship. Just the utter magic of it, departing one place and traversing the (narrow strait of an) ocean to land upon a whole world of new experiences.
Gibraltar.Can’t resist a sailboat.
I have actually thought about this particular Strait a lot. I used to be on submarines and a number of submarines have collided with merchant ships in the Strait. So we hear about it. The reason the Strait is a submarine-magnet is because it is a relatively narrow body of water and all the ships line up. Submarines can’t really “see” well directly behind them, which they overcome by maneuvering. Since you can’t do a whole lot of maneuvering in the strait, and because merchant ships go pretty fast actually, submarines can get pretty literally run over by merchant ships sneaking up behind them. The fact the submarine is underwater doesn’t save them, because they can get sucked up into the merchant ship via Bernoulli’s principle. And then on top of that, the Strait of Gibraltar has the ferries criss-crossing it all the time, and ferries themselves are kinda submarine magnets, because they go in unexpected directions and are faster than you think and if you’re worried about merchant ships sneaking up from behind and running you over then you might miss the ferry coming at you from the starboard quarter. All that to explain that I was very excited to keep an eye out for submarines and maybe crash into one, which I think would have been a lot of fun for me, personally.
So while we were on the ship I spent as much time as possible up on the deck checking everything out. It was a gorgeous day and an easy crossing. The line for the passport stamp was a bit long and I was longing to look out a window. I did get to look out a window for a little bit while in that line and during that time I saw a dolphin jumping about which was just magnifique (a challenge of this part of the journey is we had to switch over from Spanish to French, and while I have been taught both languages I have learned neither and kept mixing them up, though really the whole time we got away with English and just peppered in some poorly pronounced phrases from each other language). Up on deck I was just dazzled. I suppose I knew the Strait was narrow (you know, like a strait), but I had imagined that you might be able to glimpse the distant shores of one continent from the other, not like, you had a really nice clear view of TWO CONTINENTS, each imbued with their own mystery and history, from your comfy viewpoint atop a ferry. I mean wow! I had a blast. I was taking so many different pictures of boats and looking up the AIS data and verifying that the ship I was clearly seeing with my own eyes really was a ship and now that I look at the pictures they look silly because the ships are tiny little dots on a vast horizon but again man! The Strait of Gibraltar! History! And not to mention it was cool seeing Gibraltar itself! Now we want to go someday. It was a great boat ride and took a little longer than expected but really a very luxurious way to travel, in my opinion!
Ferries that sadly didn’t run over any submarines.Merchant ships that didn’t run over any submarines, either.
Eventually of course we docked in Morocco, the second country in our honeymoon trip. Since we left from Algeciras we arrived in Tangier Med, requiring us to somehow get to Tangier Proper (this was our next destination). We could have taken the bus but decided to live a little and take a taxi. Being experienced travelers we were going to ensure we had agreed upon a fair price before getting in, but that simply did not happen because the man loaded up our bags and off we went. He charged us a fair price in the end so no harm no foul I guess. And then we got to enjoy the ride to Tangier.
As I got my first glimpse of Morocco my overriding thought was that it was greener than I expected, which is stupid. Clearly I had thought you cross the Strait and suddenly it is men on camels in the Sahara. Instead it was grass and shrubland and a few trees, or maybe big shrubs, I couldn’t tell. There were rolling hills and as we drove along the coastline there were gorgeous views of Spain. I also realized I had seen a couple setups where people had like, espresso machines installed in the back of their cars where they were selling espresso, and, like, neat I guess. We passed a Navy base along the way and the Poste Connexion Electrique Maroc-Espagne, which was really just over-the-top as far as stuffing in all the things I like into one day. We also saw a good number of cows, a horse, and a whole herd of wooly goats so that was neat. And a donkey! Then, finally, after a long day of travel we approached Tangier. Arriving the way we did my first impression is that it resembled more Sarasota than anything else, seeing modern high-rises abutting the water. That impression faded away as we entered the old city to arrive at our hotel, and I guess I also don’t recall people offering pony rides on the beach in Sarasota, as they were doing on the beach in Tangier. For dinner instead of going out we enjoyed a to-die-for I think French fusion restaurant in the hotel and then pretty much collapsed asleep.
A Working Woman by Elvira Navarro, translated by Christina MacSweeney
I have discussed before in this forum my Spanish roommate that I had during my Firstie year at the Naval Academy. His name was Francisco and he was a semester-long exchange student from the Spanish naval academy. He had been an enlisted sailor before going to the academy, and as such his lived experiences were unimaginable to me (specifically he was 29 and married). I still have fond memories of Francisco and the deep life lessons he bestowed upon me (see the linked post about sandwiches), and so in tribute to Francisco’s service in the afternoon of our first full day in Madrid my super amazing wife and I visited the Museo Naval!
If you Google the Museo Naval you will find reviews describing it has a “hidden gem” and man that is true. The entrance is unassuming and I wrote down in my journal that the foyer was “dingy.” I had greeted the nice lady at the front desk with my limited Spanish and she seemed very disappointed when I said I preferred English as she handed me a pamphlet on Jorge Juan (they had a special exhibit on him at the time). But you ascend the stairs and man WOW. It’s gotta be one of the better if not the best naval museums in the world. It is surprising how big it is as you wind through the twists and turns that reflect the twists and turns of the Spanish navy’s history. You really oughta go but if you can’t luckily it appears Google has turned it into a street view thing so you can catch a glimpse yourself.
The museum takes the prudent choice of starting at the beginning, with the early history of the Spanish navy (or I guess the Aragonian and Castilian naval forces). Apparently it took about a century between cannons being introduced to Europe in the 12th century and people thinking of putting them on ships in the 13th century, but the museum had the above examples of early 16th century shipboard artillery which is pretty neat.
Especially exciting for me was all the bits about early navigation. The collection here really was especially extraordinary. I have just talked about how much I like astrolabes (man I want an astrolabe), and the museum had them in spades. They also had all sorts of old maps, including even a huge globe dating from 1688. The crown jewel of their map collection was the Juan de la Cosa map, below. This is the oldest known map to feature America. Ole Juan there took part in Columbus’ voyages and only 8 years later in 1500 was banging out the below relatively detailed depiction of the Caribbean to demonstrate the majesty and extent of the Spanish empire. On that note, the museum is pretty laudatory and I don’t recollect them struggling to cope with the cruel nature of colonialism. They had a pretty huge painting of Columbus and a collection of Taíno artifacts to really drive home the number of people subject to the Spanish crown. However even in the midst of all this what I personally was most interested in when it came to the Juan de la Cosa map is the depiction of Africa, especially how the Nile and Congo rivers meet in a lake in the mountains of the moon, because I have my very particular interests and those interests are boats and Africa and navigation and steam power and integrated farming.
Really the sheer number of artifacts on display in the museum was overwhelming. They even had a whole section full of objects recovered from the Spanish nao San Diego, which was sunk by the Dutch in 1600 in the Philippines. A whole room choc-a-bloc with Chinese porcelain and Phillipines pots and Thai jars and man, you know, commerce! History! Boats! Stunning. And of course how could it be a naval museum without being absolutely stuffed to the brim with SHIP MODELS!!!!
After our visit to the museum my super amazing wife suggested I get into ship model building and I don’t think she knows what she is suggesting. I could become so obsessive, you don’t even know. She clearly doesn’t. But they had a whole bunch of ship models, of ships from every era and from so many locations (check out the Malaysian war boat above), and not just of ships! I just told you I love steam power and they had a whole intricate model of the turbines from España-class battleships and even (not pictured) a model of a water-powered sawmill they used to saw all the planks to build all these ships! Unclear if the model sawmill sawed model planks for the model boats.
So all in all a great museum, perhaps the best Naval Museum. Spanning centuries and full of intricate details and all sorts of information about the huge lifespan of the Spanish Navy, presented in both English and Spanish, if you are in Madrid man you gotta go. And then, I forgot to mention in the last post, after the museum we went off and got churros and chocolate, and if you are in Madrid you have to do that too. Do both. Ships, and churros. This is what is best in life.
Pat in the World 
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