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BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA
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See also:BRITISH CENTRAL See also:AFRICA , the See also:general name given to the British protectorates in See also:South Central Africa See also:north of the See also:Zambezi See also:river, but more particularly to a large territory lying between 8° 25' S. on See also:Lake See also:Tanganyika and 17° 6' S. on the river See also:Shire, near its confluence with the Zambezi, and between 36° to' E. (See also:district of Mlanje) and 26° 30' E. (river Luengwe-Kafukwe). Originally the See also:term " British Central Africa " was applied by See also:Sir H, H. See also:Johnston to all the territories under Britishinfluence north of the Zambezi which were formerly intended to be under one See also:administration; but the course of events having prevented the connexion of Barotseland (see BAStoTSE) and the other Rhodesian territories with the more See also:direct British administration north of the Zambezi, the name of British Central Africa was confined officially (in 1893) to the British See also:protectorate on the Shire and about Lake See also:Nyasa. In 19o7 the See also:official See also:title of the protectorate was changed to that of Nyasaland Protectorate, while the titles " North Eastern See also:Rhodesia " and " North Western Rhodesia " (Barotseland) have been given to the two divisions of the British South Africa See also:Company's territory north of the Zambezi. The western boundary, however, of the territory here described has been taken to be a See also:line See also:drawn from near the source of the Lualaba on the See also:southern boundary of Belgian See also:Congo to the western source of the Luanga river, and thence the course of the Luanga to its junction with the Luengwe-Kafukwe, after which the See also:main course of the Kafukwe delimits the territory down to the Zambezi. Thus, besides the Nyasaland Protectorate and North Eastern Rhodesia, See also:part of North Western Rhodesia is included, and for the whole of this region British Central Africa is the most convenient designation. See also:Physical Feotures. =Within these limits we have a territory of about 250,000 sq. m., which includes two-thirds of Lake Nyasa, the south end of Lake Tanganyika, more than See also:half Lake See also:Mweru, and the whole of Lake See also:Bangweulu, nearly the whole courses of the See also:rivers Shire and Luangwa (or Loangwa), the whole of the river Chambezi (the most remote of the headwaters of the river Congo), the right or See also:east See also:bank of the Luapula (or upper Congo) from its exit from Lake Bangweulu to its issue from the north end of Lake Mweru; also the river Luanga and the whole course of the Kafue or Kafukwe.' Other lesser sheets of See also:water included within the limits of this territory are the See also:Great Mweru Swamp, between Tanganyika and Mweru, See also:Moir's Lake (a small See also:mountain tarn—possibly a See also:crater lake—lying between the Luangwa and the Luapula), Lake Malombe (on the upper Shire), and the See also:salt lake See also:Chilwa (wrongly styledShirwa, being the See also:Bantu word See also:Kilwa), which lies on the See also:borders of the Portuguese See also:province of Mocambique. The southern border of this territory is the north bank of the Zambezi from the confluence of the Kafukwe to that of the Luangwa at Zumbo. Eastwards of Zumbo, British Central Africa is separated from the river Zambezi by the Portuguese possessions; nevertheless, considerably more than two-thirds of the See also:country lies within the Zambezi See also:basin, and is included within the subordinate basins of Lake Nyasa and of the rivers Luangwa and Luengwe-Kafukwe. The remaining portions drain into the basins of the river Congo and of Lake Tanganyika, and also into the small lake or half-dried swamp called Chilwa, which at the See also:present See also:time has no outlet, though in past ages it probably emptied itself into the Lujenda river, and thence into the See also:Indian Ocean. As regards orographical features, much of the country is high See also:plateau, with an See also:average See also:altitude of 3500 ft. above See also:sea-level. Only a very See also:minute portion of its area—the country along the See also:banks of the river Shire—lies at anything like a See also:low See also:elevation; though the Luangwa valley may not be more than about 900 ft. above sea-level. Lake Nyasa lies at an elevation of 1700 ft. above the sea, is about 350 m. See also:long, with a breadth varying from 15 to 40 m. Lake Tanganyika is about 2600 ft. above sea-level, with a length of about 400 M. and an average breadth of nearly 40 M. Lake Mweru and Lake Bangweulu are respectively 3000 and 3760 ft. above sea-level; Lake Chilwa is 1946 ft. in altitude. The highest mountain found within the limits previously laid down is See also:Mount Mlanje, in the extreme south-eastern corner of the protectorate. This remarkable and picturesque See also:mass is an isolated " chunk " of the Archean plateau, through which at a later date there has been a volcanic outburst of See also:basalt. The See also:summit and sides of this mass exhibit several craters. The highest See also:peak of Mlanje reaches an altitude of 9683 ft. (In See also:German territory, near the north end of Lake Nyasa, and See also:close to the British frontier, is Mount Rungwe, the altitude of which exceeds 10,000 ft.) Other high mountains are Mounts Chongone and Dedza, in Angoniland, which reach an altitude of 7000 ft., and points on the Nyika Plateau and in the Konde Mountains to the north-See also:west of Lake Nyasa, which probably exceed a height of 8000 ft. There are also Mounts Zomba (69oo ft.) and Chiradzulu (5500 ft.) in the Shire See also:Highlands. The See also:principal plateaus or high ridges are (1) the Shire Highlands, a See also:clump of mountainous country lying between the river Shire, the river Ruo, Lake Chilwa and the south end of Lake Nyasa; (2) Angoniland—a stretch of elevated country to the west of Lake Nyasa and the north-west of the river I The nomenclature of several of these rivers is perplexing. It should be See also:borne in mind that the Luanga (also known as the Lunga) is a tributary of the Luengwe-Kafukwe, itself often called Kafue, and that the Luangwa (or Loangwa) is an See also:independent affluent of the Zambezi (q.v.). Shire; (3) the Nyika Plateau, which lies to the north of.Angoniland; and (g) the Nyasa-Tanganyika Plateau, between the basin of the river Luangwa, the vicinity of Tanganyika and 'the vicinity of Lake Mweru (highest point, 7000–8000 ft.). Finally may be mentioned the See also:tract of elevated country between Lake Bangweulu and the river Luapula, and between Lake Baugweulu and the basin of the Luangwa; and also the Lukinga (Mushinga) or Ugwara Mountains of North Western Rhodesia, which attain perhaps to altitudes of 6000 ft. The whole of this part of Africa is. practically without any stretch of See also:desert country, being on the whole favoured with an abundant rainfall. The nearest approach to a desert is the rather dry See also:land to the east and north-east of Lake Mweru. Here, and in parts of the See also:lower Shire district, the See also:annual rainfall probably does not exceed an average of 35 in. Elsewhere, in the vicinity of the highest mountains, the rainfall may attain an average of 75 in., in parts of Mount Mianje possibly often reaching to too in. in the See also:year. The average may be put at 5o in. per annum, which is also about the average rainfall of the Shire Highlands, that part of British Central Africa. which at present attracts the greatest number of See also:European settlers. See also:Geology.---The whole formation is Archean and See also:Primary (with a few See also:modern plutonic outbursts), and chiefly consists of See also:granite, See also:felspar, See also:quartz, See also:gneiss, See also:schists, See also:amphibolite and other Archean rocks, with Primary sandstones and limestones in the basin of Lake Nyasa (a great rift depression), the river Shire, and the regions within the See also:northern See also:watershed of the Zambezi river. Sandstones of See also:Karroo See also:age occur in the basin of the Luangwa (N.E. Rhodesia).. There are evidences of See also:recent volcanic activity on the summit of the small Mlanje plateau (S.E. corner of the protectorate: here there are two See also:extinct craters with a basaltic outflow), and at the north end of Lake Nyasa and the eastern edge of the Tanganyika plateau. Here there are many craters and much basalt, or even See also:lava; also hot springs. Metals and Minerals.—Gold has been found in the Shire High-lands, in the hills along the Nyasa-Zambezi waterparting, and in the mountainous region west of Lake Nyasa; See also:silver (See also:galena, silver-See also:lead) in the hills of the Nyasa-Zambezi waterparting ; lead in the same district; See also:graphite in the western basin of Lake Nyasa; See also:copper (See also:pyrites and pure ore) in the west Nyasa region and in the hills of North Western and North Eastern Rhodesia; See also:iron Ore almost universally; See also:mica almost universally ; See also:coal occurs in the north and west Nyasa districts (especially in the Karroo sandstones of the Rukuru valley), and perhaps along the Zambezi-Nyasa waterparting; See also:limestone in the Shire basin; See also:malachite in south-west Angoniland and North Western Rhodesia; and perhaps See also:petroleum in places along the Nyasa-Zambezi waterparting. (See also RHODESIA.) See also:Flora.—No part of the country comes within the See also:forest region of West Africa. The whole of it may be said to See also:lie within the See also:savannah or See also:park-like See also:division of the See also:continent. As a general See also:rule, the land-See also:wave is of a pleasing and attractive See also:character, well covered with vegetation and fairly well watered. Actual forests of lofty trees, forests of a West See also:African* type, are few in number, and are chiefly limited to portions of the Nyika, Angoniland and Shire Highlands plateaus, and to a few nooks in valleys near the south end of Tanganyika. Patches of forest of tropical luxuriance may still be seen on the slopes of Mounts Mlanje and Chiradzulu. On the upper plateaus of Mount Mlanje there are forests of a remarkable conifer (Widdring-See also:Ionia whytet), a relation of the See also:cypress, which in See also:appearance resembles much more the See also:cedar, and is therefore wrongly styled the "Mlanje cedar." This See also:tree is remarkable as being the most northern See also:form of a See also:group of See also:yew-like conifers confined otherwise to South Africa (Cape See also:Colony). Immense areas in the lower-lying plains are covered by long, coarse grass, sometimes reaching to ft. in height. Most of the West African forest trees are represented in British Central Africa. A full See also:list of the known flora has been compiled by Sir W. Thiselton-See also:Dyer and his assistants at See also:Kew, and is given in the first and second See also:editions of Sir H. H. ,Johnston's See also:work on British Central Africa. Amongst the principal See also:vegetable products of the country interesting for commercial purposes may be mentioned See also:tobacco (partly native varieties and partly introduced); See also:coffee (See also:wild coffee is said to grow in some of the mountainous districts, but the actual coffee cultivated by the European settlers has been introduced from abroad); See also:rubber —derived chiefly from the various See also:species of Landolphia, Ficus, Clitandra, Carpodinus and See also:Cone pharygia, and from other apoc - naceous See also:plants; the See also:Strophanthus pod (furnishing a valuable See also:drug); ground - nuts (Arachis and Voandzeia) the See also:cotton plant; all' African cultivated cereals (See also:Sorghum; Pennisetum, See also:maize, See also:rice, See also:wheat —cultivated chiefly by Europeans—and Eleusine); and six species of palms—the oil See also:palm on the north-west (near Lake Nyasa, at the south end of Tanganyika and on the Luapula), the Borassus and Hyphaene, See also:Phoenix (or wild date), Raphia and the coco-See also:nut palm. The last named was introduced by See also:Arabs and Europeans, and is found on Lake Nyasa and on the lower Shire. Most of the European vegetables have been introduced, and thrive exceedingly well, especially the See also:potato. The See also:mango has also been introduced from See also:India, and has taken to the Shire Highlands as to a second See also:home. Oranges, lemons and limes have been planted by Europeans and Arabs in a few districts. European See also:fruit't'See also:rees do not ordinarily flourish, though apples are grown to some extent at See also:Blantyre. The See also:vine hitherto has proved a failure. Pineapples give the best resultamong cultivated fruit, and strawberries do well in the higher districts. In the mountains the native wild brambles give See also:black-berries of large See also:size and excellent flavour. The vegetable product through which this protectorate first attracted See also:trade was coffee, the export of which, however, has passed through very disheartening fluctuations. In 1905–1906, 773,919 lb of coffee (value £16,123) were exported ; but during this twelve months the See also:crop of cotton—quite a newly See also:developed product, See also:rose to 776,621 lb, from 285,185 lb in T904°1905. An equally marked increase in tobacco and ground-nuts (Arachis) has taken See also:place. Beeswax is a rising export. See also:Fauna.—The fauna is on the whole very See also:rich. It has See also:affinities in a few respects with the West African forest region, but differs slightly from the countries to the north and south by the absene( of such animals as prefer drier climates, as for instance the ory . antelopes, gazelles and the See also:ostrich. There is a See also:complete See also:blank in the See also:distribution of this last between the districts to the south of the Zambezi and those of East Africa between See also:Victoria See also:Nyanza and the Indian Ocean. The See also:giraffe is found in the Luanga valley; it is also met with in the extreme north-east of the country. The See also:ordinary African See also:rhinoceros is still occasionally, but very rarely, seen in the Shire Highlands, The African See also:elephant is fairly See also:common throughout the whole territory. Lions and leopards are very abundant; the See also:zebra is still found in great See also:numbers, and belongs to the Central African variety of Burchell's zebra, which is completely striped down to the hoofs, and is intermediate in many particulars between the true zebra of the mountains and Burchell's zebra of the plains. The principal antelopes found are the See also:sable and the See also:roan (Hippotrague), five species of Cobus or See also:waterbuck (the puku, the Senga puku, the lechwe, Crawshay's waterbuck and the common water-See also:buck); the pallah, tsessebe (Damaliscus), See also:hartebeest, brindled See also:gnu (perhaps two species),several duykers(including the large Cephalophus sylvicultrix)',khpspringer, See also:oribi, steinbok and See also:reedbuck. Among tragelaphs are two or more bushbucks, the inyala, the water tragelaph (Limnotragus selousi),the See also:kudu and See also:Livingstone's See also:eland. The only See also:buffalo is the common Cape species. The hyaena is the spotted See also:kind. The See also:hunting See also:dog is present. There are some seven species of monkeys, including two baboons and one colobus. The See also:hippopotamus is found in the lakes and rivers, and all these sheets of water are infested with crocodiles, apparently belonging to but one species, the common See also:Nile See also:crocodile.
Inhabitants.—The human See also:race is represented by only one indigenous native type—the See also:Negro. No trace is anywhere found of a Hamitic intermixture (unless perhaps at the north end of Lake Nyasa, where the physique of the native Awankonde recalls that of the Nilotic negro). Arabs from See also:Zanzibar have settled in the country, but not, as far as is known, earlier than the beginning of the 19th See also:century. As the present writer takes the general term "Negro " to include equally the Bantu, Hottentot, Bushman and Congo See also:Pygmy, this designation, will See also:cover all the natives of British Central Africa. The Bantu races, however, exhibit in some parts signs of Hottentot or Bushman intermixture, and there are legends in some mountain districts, especially Mount Mlanje, of the former existence of unmixed Bushman tribes, while Bushman See also: In the more or less plateau country included within these See also:geographical limits, the Bantu dialects are of an archaic type, and to the present writer it has seemed as though one of them, Kibemba or Kiwemba, came near to the See also:original form of the Bantu See also:mother-See also:language, though not nearer than the interesting Subiya of southern Barotseland. Through dialects spoken on the west and north of Tanganyika, these languages of North Eastern Rhodesia and northern Nyasaland and of the Kafukwe basin are connected with the Bantu languages of See also:Uganda. They also offer a slight resemblance to Zulu-Kaffir, and it would seem as though the Zulu-Kaffir race must have come straight down from the countries to the north-east of Tanganyika, across the Zambezi, to their present home. Curiously enough, some hundreds of years after this southward See also:migration, See also:intestine See also:wars and conflicts actually determined a north-eastward return migration of Zulus. From Matabeleland, Zulu tribes crossed the Zambezi at various periods (commencing from about 182o), and gradually extended their ravages and dominion over the plateaus to the west, north and north-east of Lake Nyasa. The Zulu language is still spoken by the dominating See also:caste in West
Nyasaland (see further See also:ZULULAND: See also:Ethnology; RHODESIA: Ethnology; and See also:YAos). As regards See also:foreign settlers in this part of Africa, the Arabs may be mentioned first, though they are now met with only in very small numbers. The Arabs undoubtedly first heard of this rich country—rich not alone in natural products such as See also:ivory, but also in slaves of See also:good quality—from their settlements near the See also:delta of the river Zambezi, and these settlements may date back to an See also:early See also:period, and might be coeval with the suggested pre-Islamite Arab settlements in the See also:gold-bearing regions of South East Africa. But the Arabs do not seem to have made much progress in their penetration of the country in the days before firearms; and when firearms came into use they were for a long time forestalled by the Portuguese, who ousted them from the Zambezi. But about the beginning of the 19th century the increasing See also:power and commercial enterprise of the Arab sultanate of Zanzibar caused the Arabs of Maskat and Zanzibar to See also: The See also:total native population of all British Central Africa is about 2,000,000, that of the Nyasaland
Protectorate being officially estimated in 1907 at 927,355. Of Europeans the protectorate possesses about 600 to 700 settlers,
including some too officials. (For the European population of the other territories, see RHODESIA.) The Europeans of British Central Africa are chiefly natives of the See also:United See also:Kingdom or South Africa, but there are a few Germans, Dutchmen, See also:French, Italians and Portuguese. The protectorate has also attracted a number of Indian traders (over 400), besides whom about 15o British Indian soldiers (Sikhs) are employed as the See also:nucleus of an armed force.'
Trade and Communications.—The total value of the trade of the protectorate in the year 1899-1900 was £255,384, showing an in-crease of 75 % on the figures for the previous year, 1898-1899. Imports were valued at 76,035, an increase of 62 %, and exports at £79,449, an increase of{1 109 %. In 1905–1906 the imports reached £222,581 and the exports £56,778. The value of imports into the Rhodesian provinces during the same period was about £50,000, excluding railway material, and the exports £18,000. The principal exports are (besides minerals) coffee, cotton, tobacco, rubber and ivory. A number of Englishmen and Scotsmen (perhaps 200) are settled, mainly in the Shire Highlands, as coffee planters.
From the See also:Chinde mouth of the Zambezi to See also:Port See also:Herald on the lower Shire communication is maintained by See also:light-See also:draught steamers, though in the dry See also:season (April–November) steamers cannot always ascend as far as Port Herald, and See also:barges have to be used to complete the voyage. A railway runs from Port Herald to Blantyre, the commercial See also:capital of the Shire Highlands. The " Cape to See also:Cairo " railway, which crossed the Zambezi in 1905 and the Kafukwe in 1906, reached the Broken See also: There are See also:regular services by steamer between the ports on Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika. The African trans-See also:continental See also:telegraph line (founded by See also:Cecil See also:Rhodes) runs through the protectorate, and a See also:branch line has been established from Lake Nyasa to Fort See also:Jameson, the present See also:head-quarters of the Chartered Company in North Eastern Rhodesia.
Towns.—The principal European See also:settlement or See also:town is Blantyre (q.v.), at a height of about 3000 ft. above the sea, in the Shire High-lands. This place was named after Livingstone's birthplace, and was founded in 1876 by the See also: J: M. de Lacerda e See also:Almeida, who journeyed from Tete on the Zambezi to the vicinity of Lake Mweru. But the real history of the country begins with the See also:advent of See also:David Livingstone, who in 1859 penetrated up the Shire river and discovered Lake Nyasa. Livingstone's subsequent journeys, to the south end of Tanganyika, to Lake Mweru and to Lake Bangweulu (where he died in 1873), opened up this important part of South Central Africa and centred in it British interests in a very particular manner. Livingstone's See also:death was soon followed by the entry of various missionary See also:societies, who commenced the evangelization of the country; and these missionaries, together. with a few Scottish settlers, steadily opposed the attempts of the Portuguese to extend their sway in this direction from the adjoining provinces of Mocambique and of the Zambezi. From out of the missionary societies See also:grew a trading company, the African Lakes Trading See also:Corporation. This See also:body came into conflict with a number of Arabs who had established themselves on the north end of Lake Nyasa. About 1885 a struggle began between Arab and Briton for the See also:possession of the country, which was not terminated until the year 1896. The African Lakes Corporation in its unofficial See also:war enlisted See also:volunteers, amongst whom were See also:Captain (afterwards Sir F. D.) See also:Lugard and Mr (afterwards Sir) See also:Alfred See also:Sharpe. Both these gentlemen were wounded, and the operations they undertook were not crowned with complete success. In 1889 Mr (afterwards Sir) H. H. Johnston was sent out to endeavour to effect a possible arrangement of the dispute between the Arabs and the African Lakes Corporation, and also to ensure the See also:protection of friendly native chiefs from Portuguese aggression. beyond a. certain point. The outcome of these efforts and the See also:treaties made was the creation of the British protectorate and See also:sphere of See also:influence north of the Zambezi (see AFRICA; § 5). In 1891 Johnston returned to the country as imperial See also:commissioner and See also:consul-general. In the See also:interval between 1889 and 1891 Mr Alfred Sharpe, on behalf of Cecil Rhodes, had brought a large part of the country into treaty with the British South Africa Company. These territories (Northern Rhodesia) were administered for four years by Sir Harry Johnston in connexion with the British Central Africa protectorate. Between 1891 and 1895 a long struggle continued, between the British authorities on the one See also:hand and the Arabs and See also:Mahommedan Yaos on the other, regarding the suppression of the slave trade. By the beginning of 1896 the last Arab stronghold was taken and the Yaos were completely reduced to submission. Then followed, during 1896-1898, wars with the Zulu (Angoni) tribes, who claimed to dominate and harass the native populations to the west of Lake Nyasa. The Angoni having been subdued, and the British South Africa Company having also quelled' the turbulent Awemba and Bashukulumbwe, there is a reasonable See also:hope of the country enjoying a, settled See also:peace and considerable prosperity. This prospect has been, indeed, already realized to a considerable extent, though the increase of See also:commerce has scarcely been as rapid as was anticipated. In 1897, on the transference of Sir Harry Johnston to .See also:Tunis, the commissionership was conferred on Mr Alfred. Sharpe, who was created a K.C.M.G. in 1903. In 1904 the administration of the protectorate, originally directed by the foreign office, was transferred to the colonial office. In 1907, on the See also:change in the title of the protectorate, the designation of the See also:chief official was altered from commissioner to governor, and executive and legislative See also:councils were established. The See also:mineral
surveys and railway construction commenced under the foreign office were carried on vigorously under the colonial office, The increased See also:revenue, from £51,00o in 1901-1902 to £76,000 in 1905-1906, for the protectorate alone (see also RHODESIA), is an See also:evidence of increasing prosperity. See also:Expenditure in excess of revenue is met by grants in aid from the imperial See also:exchequer, so far as the Nyasaland Protectorate is concerned. The British South Africa Company finances the See also:remainder. The native population is well disposed towards European rule, having, indeed, at all times furnished the principal contingent of the armed force with which the African Lakes Company, British South Africa Company or the British government endeavoured to oppose Arab, Zulu or Awemba aggression. The protectorate government maintains three gunboats on Lake Nyasa, and the British South Africa Company an armed steamer on Lake Tanganyika.
Unfortunately, though so rich and fertile, the land is not as a rule very healthy for Europeans, though there are signs of improvement in this respect. The principal scourges are black-water See also:fever and See also:dysentery, besides ordinary malarial fever, malarial ulcers, See also:pneumonia and See also:bronchitis. The See also:climate is agreeable, and except in the low-lying districts is never unbearably hot; while on the high mountain plateaus See also:frost frequently occurs during the dry season.
See Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambezi, &c., by David and See also: See also:Monteith Fotheringham, Adventures in Nyasaland (1891); See also: Werner, the Rev. See also:Govan See also:Robertson, Dr R. See also:Laws, A. C. See also:Madan, See also:Father Torrend and See also:Monsieur E. Jacottet. (H. H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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