and of whose martial deeds the troubadours made

songs.

He was educated at Eton in the house of Mr.
Marindin, with a number of brilliant young con-



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



temporaries, who have already distinguished them-
selves in various branches of the public service. It is
interesting to remark, that already in these youthful
days those who watched his early development had
discerned many of the characteristics which were
especially noticeable in his after life : a courage,
namely, in carrying through to the end whatever he
had set himself to do, a gift for organisation, a power
of influencing others, and of winning the best sort
of popularity, together with a rapid perception of a
favourable opportunity and a capacity for bestowing
all his pains on the work in hand. To quote a
concrete instance : there occurred in those days an
opportunity for lower boys who displayed any apti-
tude for bowling to obtain, rather as a task than as
the amusement of playtime, instruction in " Upper
club " during the vacant hours on the afternoons
of whole -school days. Of this somewhat irksome
privilege Gerald Portal at once availed himself with a
perseverance which no doubt assisted in enabling him
later on to realise his first great ambition, namely, to
represent his school in the cricket-field, as he did in
1886 and 1887.

He achieved a good position in the school, but
was there only credited with fair and not remark-
able abilities. His tact, however, and his power of
winning confidence were displayed in his excellent
management as captain of his house, where also, after
gaining experience in the School Debating Society, he
was mainly instrumental in starting a local Debating
Club — then a somewhat novel institution — which



MEMOIR



maintained a vigorous life as long as the house lasted.
At these debates, curiously enough, were first noticed
the eloquence and the command of general knowledge
of a younger member of the house, who has now
succeeded him as Her Majesty's representative at
Zanzibar. He also acted as editor of the Eton
Chronicle and as Master of the. Beagles, and thus his
school career may fairly be said to heave exemplified
once more the truth of the often-quoted opinion, that
the qualities which distinguish Englishmen in after
life are formed in large measure on the playing-fields.
He became a keen sportsman, a fearless rider, some-
thing more than an amateur in the understanding
of horses, and, it is scarcely necessary to add, pro-
ficient in all those exercises in which Englishmen

o

excel. 1

After leaving school he had intended to matriculate
at Oxford, but for some inexplicable reason he failed
to satisfy the college examiners, and thus afforded a
remarkable instance in support of the theory that
examinations are not a final test of ability. This
accident was the more curious, since he became, at
any rate in later years, a man of wide reading, with
considerable literary taste and discrimination.

Abandoning, therefore, the prospect of a university
career, he entered the diplomatic service after a
due course of studies, and having spent the usual
period of training in the Foreign Office, was in 1880
appointed an attache to the Embassy in Koine, when

1 The Editor is indebted to Mr. Marindiu for the facts concerning Sir
Gerald Portal's school career.



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



Sir Augustus Paget was Her Majesty's representative
in that capital.

Two years later lie was transferred to Cairo, just
at that period of crisis in Egyptian history which
culminated in the bombardment of Alexandria, at
which he was present. Here in the able school of Sir
Evelyn Baring (Lord Cromer) he gained that insight
into Oriental life which was afterwards to serve him
in such good stead, and no pains were spared by his
chief to develop the qualities which he had detected
in so apt a pupil. This, indeed, was the turning-point
in his life, and those who knew him before, as well as
after, a few years' residence in Egypt, could not fail
to be struck by the change which had come over him
with the responsibilities of a position in which he was
annually called upon during the absence of his chief
to take charge of the Agency. Some five years after
his first arrival in Cairo, he was entrusted with the
perilous mission to King John of Abyssinia, the
object of which was to pave the way for a peaceful
solution of the difficulty with Italy, arising from
the disastrous episode of Dogali. The story of that
most difficult and eventful journey has been written
by himself in the simple and unassuming narrative
of My Mission to Abyssinia, originally printed for
private circulation among friends, and subsequently
published by Mr. Edward Arnold.

Without enterino" into the circumstances which led
to the Italian occupation of Massowah, it may suffice
to state here that it had very quickly led to disputes
with the Abyssinian monarch, who not only resisted



MEMOIR



the levying of taxes at that port on goods coming
into his country, but strenuously denied the right of
the Italians to be there at all. Although the coast
and its parts had been occupied for some 300 years
by Turkey, and had finally been transferred to the
Khedive of Egypt, the sleeping traditional claims of
the Abyssinians, ousted only by the power of the
sword, had never been forgotten, and when the suc-
cesses of the Mahdi brought about the retirement of
the Egyptian garrisons from the Soudan forts and the
coastal possessions, they beheld with sullen resentment
a new power, hitherto unknown in these regions,
stepping in to take possession of what they considered
their legitimate reversion. This feeling of resentment
and the irritation caused by customs disputes, had
reached a dangerous point when Easalula, governor
of the frontier province of Hamazen, returning from
his Pyrrhic victory over the Mahdi's forces at Kassala,
found the Italians in possession of Sahati, a strategi-
cal position some ten miles inland from Monkullu.
He assaulted the Italian works without success, but
on the day following the engagement he was able
to intercept with 10,000 Abyssinians a small force
of under 500 men, marching to relieve the garrison
of Sahati, in a narrow plain commanded on every
side by rocky hills which covered the ambuscaded
attack, and they were massacred almost to a man.
This disastrous episode was naturally followed by a
national cry for vengeance, and preparations for an
expedition on a large scale were pushed forward in
Italy, while in Abyssinia all available forces were



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



collected, and savage patriotism was stimulated to
make ready for a desperate resistance.

As time, however, went on, the magnitude of the
task which lay before Italy in embarking on a war of
reprisals began to make itself felt, and the prospect of
extended operations against a far from contemptible
foe in the heart of so savage and inhospitable a
country appeared calculated to cramp her free action
in Europe, so that calmer counsels began to prevail.
It was not, however, until nine months had elapsed
after the disaster at Doo-ali that England was
invited to use her considerable influence with the
object of averting the imminent war. The whole
of Abyssinia was meantime in an ever-increasing
ferment, the passions of the undisciplined soldiery
were thoroughly inflamed, and every province was a
moving camp.

It was into this hotbed of fanaticism that Gerald
Portal was instructed to proceed and endeavour to
impress upon the king the advisability of a pacifica-
tion within the short space of five weeks, beyond
which, for climatic and other reasons, the Italian
Government could not delay warlike operations
should the effort be of none effect. In this brief
space of time he had secretly to equip and organise
his caravan, to reach Massowah, and to make his
way to the king's headquarters, wherever they might
prove to be. He was accompanied in this expedition
by Mr., now Captain, Beech, of the Egyptian army,
and by his English servant Hutchisson, who later
also followed him to Uganda.



MEMOIR



At the outset, on their departure from the Italian
headquarters, the party were led by treacherous
guides a two -days' march away from water, and
there abandoned, to find that all the supplies brought
with them had been drained or spilled from the
bottles, and they were thus forced to return, under
the rays of a pitiless sun, by a path they were not
sure of being able to retrace, speechless with thirst,
with blackened tongues and lips, to the original point
of departure, the interpreter brought from Egypt
falling a victim to his sufferings. New guides and
porters were hastily collected, and a second start was
made. Twice they were detained as prisoners, and
throughout they carried their lives in their hands ; but
in spite of constant opposition and repeated menace,
the determination of their leader carried them through.
It would occupy too much space here to follow their
progress through all the perils and adventures which
beset them until the final accomplishment of the
mission, or to show how, if it had no other results, it
at least served the jmrpose of gaining time until the
inarch of events in the Soudan created a diversion,
and drew the attention of the Abyssinians to another
quarter, where the death of King John at the battle
of Metemmeh and subsequent internal dissensions
finally averted the breaking out of hostilities on the
Italian side. The thrilling story is told at length
in the volume which has been referred to, and it
will here suffice to quote his own words from the
preface : — " Few men, even among African travellers,
have stood face to face with death so often in the



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



course of a few months, — from want of water, from
the decrees of the highest authorities in the land, and
at the hands of unscrupulous and over-zealous chiefs,
— and have lived, absolutely unhurt, to tell the tale."
For his services on this occasion he was rewarded
with the C.B.

In 1889 he was selected to take temporary charge
of the Agency at Zanzibar, and during his six months'
tenure of office there won such golden opinions that
in March 1891 he was definitely appointed to succeed
Sir Charles Euan Smith at that post. In the mean-
time he had married Lady Alice Josephine Bertie,
daughter of the seventh Earl of Abingdon, who did
not hesitate to accompany him to his new destination,
where her name will long be remembered for many
acts of kindness, and will always be associated with
the tropical garden which under her exclusive care
rapidly grew up round the residence of Her Majesty's
Agent.

Zanzibar had now become a British Protectorate,
but as yet it was so little more than in name. The
task before him was to make that Protectorate
effective, and out of the chaos of an uncontrolled
Arab despotism to develop a system of orderly
government, to turn the resources of the islands to
account for the benefit of the inhabitants, and to
reform a thousand abuses. For the work in hand
his Egyptian training had especially qualified him.
Many of the difficulties to be faced were merely
repetitions on a smaller scale of those with which
he had grown familiar in Egypt, and a few words







*****wm



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0V¥*m*



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TIPPOO TIB.

From a Photograph by Colonel Rhodes, taken in Zanzibar.



MEMOIR



about the conditions prevailing in this metropolis of
Eastern Africa will suffice to show how great those
difficulties have been.

It is perhaps scarcely necessary, in view of the
many books of travel in which our latest Protectorate
in Eastern Africa has been described, to enter here
upon its antecedent history. It will be remembered
that, since the time of its conquest by the Arabs
of Muscat, Zanzibar formed an appanage of that
sultanate until the death of Sultan Said, when,
disputes having arisen among his heirs, the throne of
Zanzibar was separated in 1856 from that of Muscat,
with the concurrence of the powers chiefly interested,
and given to Majid, the son of Said. Majid was
succeeded by his son Barghash, a ruler of enlightened
views, who visited England, and brought back with
him to his African dominions a quantity of Euro-
pean plant and machinery, who acquired steamers
to facilitate trade communications, and who greatly
extended the dominions, commerce, and influence of
Zanzibar, while he throughout maintained the most
cordial relations with Great Britain, and relied in all
his acts on the friendly counsels of Her Majesty's
representative, Sir John Kirk. His force of un-
disciplined irregulars was placed under the orders of
another Englishman, Lieutenant Mathews of H.M.S.
London, now Sir Lloyd Mathews, K.C.M.G. ; and it
has been the influence of these two men, their power
of sympathy with both native and Arab, and their
constant upright and just dealing over a long
course of years, which has made the establishment



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



of the British Protectorate a comparatively easy
task.

Sultan Barghash derived a verv large revenue
from the duties which were levied at the coast on all
goods coming down from the interior to his ports,
and the power of his name was respected in the
interior up to the central lakes. But his possessions
were ill defined and his sovereignty not uncontested.
At the settlement, therefore, which took place at
the Conference of Berlin in 1885, the dominions of
Zanzibar on the mainland were specified and recog-
nised as extending to a limit of ten miles inland,
along the eastern coast between the river Tana to
the north and the boundary of Portuguese East
Africa to the south. The islands of Lamu, Manda,
and Patta were also recognised as belonging to
Zanzibar, together with the northern port of Kismayu
and those on the Benadir coast, each including a
small radius of surrounding territory. Then followed
the keenly-contested race of the European powers
for the partition and occupation of Africa, and in
return for a sum of £200,000, Germany acquired the
Zanzibar territories between the Umba river to the
north of Zanzibar Island and the Portuguese boundary.
The coastal region between the Umba and the Tana
was leased to the Imperial British East Africa
Company, together with the islands north of the
latter river and the Kismayu district, but in these
regions the sovereignty of the Sultan was still acknow-
ledged, whereas the cession to Germany was absolute.
The actual territories administered directly by the



MEMOIR



sultanate were, therefore, confined to the two islands
of Pemba and Zanzibar, and the ports on the Benadir
coast, but these last were also shortly destined to
be ceded under lease to Italy. Meanwhile Sultan
Barghash had died, and had been succeeded by his
brother, Seyyid Khalifa, who reigned but a short
time, and was again in turn succeeded by a still
younger brother, Seyyid Ali, who occupied the throne
at the time of Gerald Portal's second arrival in
Zanzibar.

The islands of Pemba and Zanzibar are portions of
the same coral reef running nearly parallel with the
African coast, from which the latter is separated at
the nearest point by a channel not twenty miles in
width. They nowhere rise to a height of more than
400 feet above the sea, and are of extreme fertility,
producing some four-fifths of all the cloves that are
consumed, with magnificent mango groves and cocoa-
nut palm-trees, and it is anticipated that many valu-
able sorts of spices will here find a congenial soil.
The islands are covered with small villages or nests
of native huts, but the only town of any importance
is Zanzibar itself, the population of which it is difficult
to estimate correctly, but which probably contains
upwards of 35,000 souls, while the population of the
islands is supposed now not much to exceed 150,000,
of whom a very large proportion are domestic slaves.
The rest are either Arabs, the original population
of Swahilis, or British Indians, which last probably
number upwards of 6000, and are all to be found in
the city occupied as petty traders, merchants, and



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



clerks. A considerable area is occupied in Zanzibar
by the palace and its dependencies, by the spacious
stone-built houses of the Arabs, of the European and
trading community, the missions and the consulates,
but a far larger circuit is covered by the wattle and
mud huts of the native population with their palm-
leaf thatch, the scene of constant conflagrations.
The native population, and especially the slaves, are a
light-hearted, merry folk, who find life easy enough
in a climate which minimises wants, but the unruly
elements are present also in the shape of half-
caste Arabs, who flock to the island in their dhows
at certain seasons, and a number of semi-savage
irregulars whom former sultans have introduced
into the island, so that the policing of so large a
centre with its narrow, labyrinthine streets, blind
alleys, and ruinous houses is no light task to take
in hand.

Together with his appointment as Agent and
Consul-General at Zanzibar, Gerald Portal was also
nominated Commissioner for the British sphere on
the mainland, including the coastal region and the
hinterland occupied under charter by the I.B.E.A.
Company, where the restless and hostile district of
Witu to the north of the Tana, and Kismayu,
surrounded by a belt of fanatical Somali tribes, gave
cause for constant anxiety.

The position of Zanzibar was a very difficult one,
and required the most delicate handling. In the
first place, as has already been stated, the Protectorate
was so far rather a name than a fact : the Arabs



MEMOIR



were ready enough to accept the advantages of
protection, but had slight appreciation of its re-
ciprocal obligations, and the Sultan was but little
disposed to cede any of his personal prerogative, or
to yield into other hands any portion of his unlimited
control over the revenues. Secondly, domestic slavery
still continues among the populations under Moham-
medan law, and though many decrees are in force for
its strict regulation, Her Majesty's representative
has to exercise the closest scrutiny to prevent their
evasion, and to watch over the interests of thousands
who are as yet incapable of looking after themselves.
At that moment the Arabs, who had hitherto witnessed
no practical demonstration of the resources of the
protecting power, were learning with sullen discontent
that these regulations meant the ultimate extinction
of an institution which to them appeared a necessary
condition of existence. Thirdly, there exist certain
treaties between the sultanate and foreign powers
dating, in one instance, as far back as 1846 (the date
of the French Treaty with Muscat), by which
European merchants and settlers were guaranteed
against what was at the time of their conclusion a
barbarous and fanatical Arab despotism. Under
these treaties foreigners enjoy the privileges of the
capitulations with which we are familiar in Oriental
countries. They are only amenable to the jurisdiction
of their own representative, their persons and houses
are sacrosanct as far as the authority of the ruling-
sovereign is concerned. Moreover, with the exception
of a uniform duty of five per cent on all goods



THE MISSION TO UGANDA



imported, they have entire immunity from any
contribution to the burdens of the state whose
hospitality they enjoy, and even the taxation which
the sovereign may levy on native produce is strictly
defined by these agreements. Such instruments
naturally hamper considerably the development of
a new and equitable administration, but none of the
powers concerned has as yet shown any disposition
to abandon the privileges and immunities, which no
doubt were absolutely indispensable at the time they
were conferred, now that the situation is altered.
Another arduous task imposed upon the repre-
sentative of the protecting power was that of putting
into force and giving practical application to the
provisions of the Brussels Act for the suppression of
the slave-trade, and for the protection of the native
against the poisonous liquors and the cheap firearms
with which the manufactories of Europe were threaten-
ing his extermination.

Gerald Portal at once set to work with a vigorous
hand. The first and most difficult task before him
was to obtain control over the finances, and after
assigning to the Sultan's civil list a sum more than
sufficient to cover reasonable expenditure, to secure
that all revenue should pass through a Government
office presided over by an English chief minister.
For this office the services of General, now Sir
Lloyd, Mathews, who had been appointed Consul-
Gen eral at Mombasa, but who had not taken up his
post, were lent to the sultanate.

The customs department was thoroughly re-



MEMOIR xli



oro-anised, new storehouses were built, a new wharf
completed in a very short space of time with steam
cranes and every convenience — to be used, however,
only by those who were prepared to pay for the
privilege of landing their goods when they were
guaranteed against the risks which they ran at the
old incommodious landing-place. A post-office was
organised under an English officer (Commander
Hardinge, R.N.), and the provisions of the Brussels
Act were promptly put into force. The army was
also placed under a British officer, Brigadier-General
Hatch, and as many of the numberless irregulars
who fattened on the improvidence of the palace
were disbanded as was possible consistently with
the public safety. A department of public works
was instituted, and a shipping -office, the Sultan
ha vino- been induced to make over two of the
smaller vessels which he had inherited to the
Government service. The lighting of the town at
nights was strictly enforced, and a number of minor
reforms, such as the removal of petroleum stores to
a place of security outside the limits of the populous
town, were initiated. As may be imagined, innova-
tions so sweeping and wholesale were not brought
about without considerable opposition from all parties
interested in the maintenance of the old system.
The subjects of Her Majesty were naturally no less
anxious than those of foreign powers not to lose a
particle of the privileges secured them by the old
treaties, and the Sultan grew more and more disposed
to place difficulties in the path as he saw his power



xlii THE MISSION TO UGANDA

ebbing from him ; but with firmness, patience, and
goodwill these objects were all secured.

One change which needed considerable determina-
tion and courage was immediately decided on by
Her Majesty's agent as vitally necessary to the
existence of the Protectorate. The firm establish-
ment of Germany on the mainland was beginning
to attract directly thither a considerable portion of
the import trade from foreign countries, which had
hitherto been discharged at Zanzibar as the emporium
of Eastern Africa, and Sir Gerald foresaw that while,
owing to her valuable clove plantations which yield
far more important results than any portion of the
coast can for a long time compete with, Zanzibar was
certain to attract ships to the port and provide them
with freights, her import trade was in danger of
falling off, and her commanding position as the
universal market of the interior was menaced. He
therefore boldly determined to abolish the five per
cent duty on imports and to make Zanzibar a free
port. This involved considerable loss of income, but
it was anticipated that some compensation would be
provided by the wharf rents and the storage of goods
in Government go-downs, and the choice lay between
accepting such compensation and witnessing an annual
decline in foreign trade. Time has as yet been too
short to judge of results, but hitherto, at any rate,
Zanzibar has fairly well maintained the position
which was undoubtedly menaced, while a better
collection of taxes and certain new sources of revenue,
such as a widely-extended system of registration of



MEMOIR xliii



titles and contracts among the native populations,
have further contributed to make up the deficiency.
In spite of the great initial expenditure entailed by
the reforms undertaken, the first financial year ended
with a slight surplus, and the position appears to be
steadily improving.

It was in the midst of the serious preoccupations
caused by these reforms, and many other still inchoate
schemes, that the summons to undertake the important
Mission to Uganda reached Sir Gerald Portal towards
the end of 1892, and he was compelled to direct all