On 12th October 1875, Dr. Robert Laws wrote in his journal:
“At 6.30 a.m. we entered Lake Nyassa, as the sun rose o’er the eastern hills, a fitting symbol of what we hoped and prayed the coming of the Ilala might be to the inhabitants around the Lake carrying, we trust, some rays from the sun of Righteuousness to lessen the gloomy darkness by which their souls are surrounded. Never perhaps did any member of the party with so full a heart join in signing the 100th Psalm as we did that morning while skimming across the waters of the Lake.”
Laws reached the lake on board the Ilala steamer which was purpose-built to carry the Livingstonia mission party into the interior of Central Africa.
On 26th May 1874, the Livingstonia Mission had been initiated after a moving speech to the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland by Dr. James Stewart, one of the leading missionaries at that time. One month before, the United Kingdom had been gripped by the burial of David Livingstone in the Westminister Abbey. As a result of this “a new thrill of missionary enthusiasm went through Scotland”.
On May 26 in an evening session, the General Assembly was discussing the report of the Foreign Missions Committee, looking at options to plant an additional mission in Africa. The were considering going to Somaliland. But around 10 pm Dr. Stewart took to the floor:
“I have heard with gratification of the proposed memorials to Dr Livingstone – of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Memorial, of the proposed statue, and of various other projects. I hope, with all my heart, that all these will succeed to the utmost wishes and expectations of their supporters. But what I would now humbly suggest as the truest memorial of Livingstone is – the establishment by this Church, or several Churches together, of an institution at once industrial and educational, to teach the truths of the Gospel and the arts of civilised life to the natives of the country; and which shall be placed on a carefully selected and commanding spot in Central Africa, where, from its position and capabilities, it might grow into a town, and afterwards into a city, and become a great centre of commerce, civilisation, and Christianity. And this I would call LIVINGSTONIA.”
Dr. Stewart’s proposal was accepted and the Livingstonia Mission of the Free Church of Scotland was born.
One of the first thing to do next was to gather resources for the mission. The initial, large pledges came from a number of wealthy Scottish businessmen, each of them donating 500 or 1000 GBP. The same group of businessmen took the initiative early 1875 of organising a number of public meetings in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen. During these meetings people were informed of the objectives of the mission and the proposed approach. They were a great success: “People all over Scotland, of all political creeds and of all denominations, gave liberally, many of them unsolicited. The result was that before long, without appealing to the Church as a whole, the large amount of money necessary to commence the Mission was raised.”
At the same time a team of 8 people was recruited:
– Mr. Edward Daniel Young – Lieutenant of the Royal Navy – Leader of the party
– Rev. Dr. Robert Laws – United Presbyterian Church – Second in Command and Medical Officer
– Mr. Henry Henderson – Church of Scotland – pioneer to report on sites for a CoS mission
– Mr. George Johnston – carpenter
– Mr. John MacFayden – 1st engineer & blacksmith
– Mr. Allan Simpson – 2nd engineer & blacksmith
– Mr. Alexander Riddel – agriculturist
– Mr. William Baker – seaman
The mission party was to follow the trail of David Livingstone into the interior of Central Africa via the Zambezi river, up the Shire river, into lake Nyasa. On the Shire river, the party would have to pass the Murchison Cataract, a 100 kilometers stretch of rapids and cascades where it would be impossible for a ship to navigate.
The steamer which was to be used should therefore be built in such a way that it could be taken apart, carried overland and then rebuilt at the top of the rapids. With this in mind, the leader of the Livingstonia Mission party, Royal Navy Lieutenant E.D. Young designed a the Ilala (named after the place where Livingstone died). The ship was 48 feet (15 metres) long and drew only 3 feet (1 metre) of water, a very useful feature when navigating shallow waters on the river or later on the shores of the lake.
The ship was made of steel plates in sections fastened by bolts. The sections were designed in such a way that each could be carried by one person.
The ship had 2 boilers to give it 40 horsepower. This engine had to be portable as well. It required skillful designing so that each piece was not too heavy to be carried by two men. Still more, a worried Robert Laws reported after visiting the ship while it was still at the docks shortly before departure in May 1875: “It is now nearly all to pieces and getting packed up. The boilers are the only uncomfortably large portions, and will be so. They can be divided into three pieces but that is all.”
He had found the ship at the Millwall Docks, located just south of Canary Warf, where it was being built by Yarrow and Headley. The cost of building was 1,724 GBP. This included two teak boats (called ‘Ethiop’ and ‘Sphinx’) for ferry supplies from the land to the ship, and a dinghy for general use.
The mission party left London on May 21, 1875 on board the mail steamer Walmer Castle. They arrived in Cape Town on 17th June. There they chartered a German vessel of 135 tons, called Harah. At Cape Town the mission party was extended with a number of ex-slaves freed by David Livingstone:
– Lorenzo Johnston – cook
– Samuel Sambani – interpreter
– Thomas Boquito – general servant
– Frederick Sorokuti – general servant
On 26th June they left Cape Town. After a stormy journey they entered the mouth of the Zambezi river on July 23rd. There the Ilala was put together with the help of local men. The work took 9 days to complete, one of the complicating factors being that all the nuts and bolts had rusted during the time at sea and needed to be scourged by hand one by one.
About a week later, on 10th of August 1875 the ship left for the last part of the journey to Lake Nyasa. The Zambezi appeared to be very shallow and narrow in many places and as a result it was very difficult to make progress. It took 12 days to reach the mouth of the Shire. From there it was again a very difficult 100 mile journey to reach the Murchison Cataracts. They reached them two weeks later on September 6, 1875.
The Ilala was now taken apart. Sections were carefully numbered and put into loads of roughly 23 kgs each. More than 600 local men were recruited as porters. On Sunday 12th September (after resting in the morning), the march started. It took 5 days to carry all goods for almost 100 kilometers across narrow footpaths (often only 20 cm wide), along deep precipices.
After this, the ship was reconstructed in the trying conditions of a starting rainy season: intense heat but also cold winds, thunderstorms, hailstorms and rainstorms. Finally on 6th October, after 3 weeks of shipbuilding, engineering and painting, the Ilala was again launched. Further engineering of the engine appeared needed. On 8th October, the party started the last 160 km of their journey to Lake Nyasa.
On 11th October they reached Lake Pamalombe and met the Chief M’ponda to ask permission to settle “on your territory up at the point where the rocks dip into the lake, and we wish you to grant us a piece of land for our houses and gardens.” “It is well.” was the reply. “You may choose for yourselves.”
So, the next day the Ilala sailed early in the morning and reached Lake Nyasa as the rising sun shed its golden rays on the western mountains.
The picture above this post shows the Ilala at the Millwall docks in London. The markings of the sections are clearly visible. The Ilala was used by the Livingstonia Mission upto 1882. It was then taken over by the African Lakes Company. It continued in service on the lake until 1903 when it was sold to the African International Flotilla Company and transferred to Chinde, at the mouth of the Zambezi, to end her days as a lighter transferring goods from ocean liners to river steamers. The ‘Ilala’ was still working in 1922 but is believed to have sunk soon afterwards.