8
. far the ablest work on the West Coast that has yet appeared,
is worth a host. He declares that the efforts of the English
Government are worthy of all praise. Had it not been-for
the cruisers, and especially those of England, Africa would
still have been inaccessible to missionary labour; “ and it is
devoutly to be hoped,” he adds, “ that these noble and disinterested
measures may not be relaxed until the foul demon
be driven away from the earth.” The slave-trade is the
greatest obstacle in existence to civilization and commercial
progress; and as the English are the most philanthropic
people in the world, and will probably always have the
largest commercial stake in the African continent, the policy
for its suppression in every possible way shows thorough
wisdom and foresight.
When, in pursuit of the same object, the East Coast was
afterwards reached, it was found sealed up. Although praiseworthy
efforts had been made by Her Majesty’s cruisers,
yet m consequence of foreigners being debarred from’
entering the country, neither traders nor missionaries had
established themselves. The trade was still only in'a
little ivory, gold-dust, and slaves, just as it was on the West
Coast, before Lord Palmerston’s policy came into operation
there. I t was, however, subsequently discovered that the
Portuguese Government professed itself willing, nay anxious,
to let the country be opened to the influences of civilization
and lawful commerce—indeed it could scarcely be otherwise,
seeing that not a grain of benefit ever accrued to Portugal by
shutting it u p ; and the Zambesi, a large river, promised
to be a fine inlet to the highlands and interior generally ;
the natives were agricultural, and all fond of trading; the
soil was fertile indigo, cotton, tobacco, sugar-cane, and other
articles of value, were already either cultivated or growing
wild. It seemed, therefore, that if this region could be
opened to lawful commerce and Christian Missions, it would
have the effect of aiding or supplementing our cruisers in
the same way as had been done by the missionaries and
traders on the West Coast, and that an inestimable service
would be thereby rendered to Africa and Europe.
The main' object of the Zambesi Expedition, as our instructions
from Her Majesty’s Government explicitly stated, was
to extend the knowledge already attained of the geography
and mineral and agricultural resources of Eastern and Central
Africa—to improve our acquaintance with the inhabitants,
and to endeavour to engage them to apply themselves
to industrial pursuits and to the cultivation of their lands,
with a view to the production of raw material to be exported
to England in return for British manufactures; and it was
hoped, that, by encouraging the natives to occupy themselves
in the development of the resources of the country, a considerable
advance might be made towards the extinction of
the slave-trade, as they would not be long in discovering
that the former would eventually be a more certain source
of profit than the latter. The Expedition was sent in accordance
with the settled policy of the English Government;
and the Earl of Clarendon, being then at the head of the
Foreign Office, the Mission was organized under his immediate
care. When a change of Government ensued, we
experienced the same generous countenance and sympathy
from the Earl of Malmesbury, as we had previously received
from Lord Clarendon; and, on the accession of Earl Russell
to the high office he has so long filled, we were always
favoured with equally ready attention and the same prompt
assistance. Thus the conviction was produced that our work
embodied the principles, not of any one party, but of the