The Makololo and the Missionaries

In 1860 a tragedy, almost forgotten today, took place on the Chobe river in northern Namibia. In that year a party from the London Missionary Society set out to bring the gospel to the Makololo at Linyanti. The party comprised Henry and Anne Helmore, their four children, Roger and Isabella Price, John and Ellen Mackenzie and a number of Batswana staff from Kuruman.

The London Missionary Society

The London Missionary Society (LMS) had been founded in 1795 to spread the knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened nations. The Society sent missionaries to many parts of the world including India, China, the South Sea Islands and South Africa.

One of the best known and most successful of the LMS missionaries was Robert Moffat who started a mission to the Batlhaping people at Kuruman in 1820. After a difficult start, his mission prospered.  He mastered the Setswana language, translated the Bible into Setswana and established a printing works producing religious and educational material. The mission station at Kuruman became a base from which many missionaries set out for territories to the north.

The young David Livingstone, later to gain fame as an explorer, arrived at Kuruman in 1841. He spent some time there learning the Setswana language and the customs of the Batswana people. In 1844 he married Moffat's daughter Mary, and the following year the Livingstone's set off to start a mission to the Bakwena at Kolobeng close to Gaborone, the modern capital of Botswana.

By 1848 Livingstone was becoming restless. He had preached the Gospel to the Bakwena. Chief Sechele had become a Christian and had learnt to read the Bible. The slow and steady work of education and pastoral care did not appeal to him. He felt that his role was to be a pioneer, to preach to those who had not yet heard the Gospel, then to move on. He felt it was time for him to bring the Gospel to the tribes to the north, which had not yet heard the message. In particular he wanted to reach the Makololo, a Sotho-Tswana people whom he had heard about from the Bakwena. As a young man Chief Sechele had been restored to power by the Makololo leader Sebetwane at a time when the Bakwena were ruled by a usurper. He would certainly have told Livingstone all about this. Livingstone longed to visit Sebetwane and preach to his people.

The Makololo

The story of the Makololo is an interesting one. The early nineteenth century was a very unsettled time in southern Africa. Shaka united the northern Nguni people under his leadership into the Zulu nation. He created a highly trained and disciplined army and introduced new methods of fighting. This army swept all before it until it met opponents with firearms. It ranged far and wide killing and looting. Not all Zulus were prepared to accept his leadership. Three notable leaders were forced to flee with their followers, Zwengendaba whose Angoni people settled in Malawi and Tanzania, Soshongane whose people conquered and ruled Mozambique south of the Zambezi, and Mzilikazi who eventually settled down in western Zimbabwe (Matebeleland) with his amaNdebele (Tswana Matebele) people.

The Sotho-Tswana people living on the highveld were also a target for Shaka's armies. Their crops and their cattle were stolen. Many people were killed and a lot more left as refugees, destitute and hungry. Several leaders emerged to bring refugees together. The best known of these is Moshoeshoe who created the kingdom of Lesotho which remains independent today under his descendant. Others included Mmantatisi (after whom is named a submarine in the South African navy) and Sebetwane, the leader of the Makololo.

Sebetwane was a clan leader of the Bafokeng people. He grew up in the area  between the headwaters of the Vaal (Lekwa) and Wilge (Namagari) Rivers in the Free State Province of South Africa and Lesotho. In 1824 in response to attacks by Shaka's forces, he led his people to the west. This was the beginning of twenty five years of wandering in search of a secure home. Along the way they adopted the name Makololo. They were almost constantly at war with the tribes whose lands they traversed. Finally they conquered the Balozi or Barotse and settled down at Linyanti on the Chobe River.

After a couple of abortive attempts, Livingstone finally reached Linyanti and met Sebetwane in May or June 1851. He received a warm welcome from the Chief and it appears that they got on very well together. Livingstone was clearly impressed by Sebetwane and wrote "Long before it was day Sebituane came, and sitting down by the fire, which was lighted for our benefit behind the hedge where we lay, he narrated the difficulties he had himself experienced, when a young man, in crossing that same desert which we had mastered long afterward. As he has been most remarkable in his career, and was unquestionably the greatest man in all that country, a short sketch of his life may prove interesting to the reader."

It was fortunate that Livingstone reached Linyanti when he did. Soon after his arrival Sebetwane became ill – the consequence of an old battle wound – and died on the 7^th of July 1851. Livingstone did not want his family to remain in what was a very unhealthy environment so then travelled to Cape Town and put his wife and children on a boat for England.

When Livingstone got back to Kolobeng he found that a Boer commando led by Pieter Scholtz had attacked the Bakwena and had looted his house. He felt that there was nothing to keep him at  Kolobeng any longer and continued on towards Linyanti where he arrived on May 23^rd 1853.

Sebetwane had been succeeded by his daughter  Mmamochisane. However, she had no wish to rule the people and had resigned in favour of her brother Sekeletu. He was now the chief. Livingstone writes of him “I found Sekeletu a young man of eighteen years of age, of that dark yellow or coffee-and-milk colour, of which the Makololo are so proud, because it distinguishes them considerably from the black tribes on the rivers. He is about five feet seven in height, and neither so good looking nor of so much ability as his father was, but is equally friendly to the English.”

Livingstone was given a cordial reception. He had been a friend of Sebetwane and was known and respected by the senior members of the tribe. It was important to Sekeletu not to alienate him.

After some months at Linyanti Livingstone started his epic journey to Luanda on the west coast. Returning, he continued down the Zambezi to Quelimane from where he sailed back to England arriving on 12^th December 1856.  He informed the London Missionary Society that Sekeletu would welcome missionaries from the Society.  They were pleased with the news and began organising a mission. Holloway Helmore, a man with some years’ experience amongst Setswana-speaking people, was selected as leader, with two young missionaries, Roger Price and John Mackenzie to assist him.

The Mission to the Makololo

Price and Mackenzie arrived in Cape Town with their families on the 13th July 1858. They travelled on the mail ship "Athens" on its maiden voyage to South Africa. (The ship was subsequently lost with all hands on 17th May 1865 at Mouille Point (the Great Gale). Part of the engine block can still be seen on the rocks near the Green Point lighthouse.)

Robert Moffat was on the quayside to meet the new missionaries and introduce them to South Africa. While waiting for Helmore who was following on the next mail ship, the missionaries bought wagons, oxen and equipment for their journey, met many of the leading citizens of the Cape, and even had time to climb Table Mountain.

In due course the Helmore family arrived and the whole party set off for Kuruman where they arrived in December 1858.

At the outset Mackenzie proposed that the three men, Helmore, Price and himself should travel to Linyanti as a bachelor party without their wives and families. He reasoned that the men travelling alone would be faster, would learn the road, and would be able to evaluate conditions among the Makololo. One of the main problems which Livingstone had highlighted was the prevalence of malaria at Linyanti. He had hoped it might be possible to persuade the Makololo to move their capital to the more healthy Zambian highlands if they could be given a guarantee that they would not be attacked by the Matebele. Mackenzie said it would be foolish to expose their wives and children to malaria at Linynti if there was the possibility that the people would subsequently settle in a more healthy region. Mackenzie’s proposal was rejected by Helmore and the women and therefore he did not press the point.

Ellen Mackenzie was now pregnant with her first child. Her husband wanted the birth to take place somewhere where there were proper medical facilities so they travelled to Fauresmith in today’s Free State Province of South Africa. It had been decided that Helmore and Price would leave for the north as soon as they were ready, and that Mackenzie would follow later bringing more supplies.

The Journey

On the 8^th of July, 1859, Helmore and Price left Kuruman, a badly timed departure as will be made clear later.

The first part of their journey followed a well-worn track from Kuruman to Kanye, then on to Kolobeng where Livingstone had laboured. Next to the Bangwato capital Shoshong, then on to Lethlakane on the Boteti River.  They rested here for a few weeks before tackling the last and most difficult part of their journey.

Now they travelled northwards across the Ntwetwe Pan. Travelling across pans with heavily-laden wagons, or motor vehicles today for that matter, can be hazardous.  In the dry season a hard crust forms on the surface of the pan. A heavy vehicle may break this crust and will then find itself stuck very firmly in the underlying mud. Apparently this happened to Helmore’s party. Passing the same way a year later, Mackenzie wrote “I found here unmistakable marks of the difficulties into which Mr. Helmore's wagons had got They had sunk down in the mud; and here lay broken wagon-poles and other furniture, indicative of an ox-wagon in a "stick-fast" condition.”

North of the pan there is a long stretch where there is no water in the dry season. The Helmores suffered here as this extract from letter by Anne Helmore to her daughter in England illustrates:

“As we proceeded we found the country more and more dry, and at last we were brought to a complete standstill for want of water. One wagon was unpacked and sent back with all the casks, mackintosh bags, and vessels we could find, to bring water. All the oxen and sheep, and all the men, excepting two, were sent back likewise, and what little water still remained was divided amongst us who stayed. This was only enough for drinking, there was none to cook with, and before the wagon arrived, which was two days and nights, we were so weak from want of food that the children and I could scarcely walk. The weather was at the same time extremely hot, the thermometer at eight o'clock in the morning stood at 96, and in the middle of the day at more than 105. Papa and the two men who remained went out in the evenings in search of water, and walked about all night, but they could find none. I forgot to say that Tabe stayed with one of his men, and they too searched for water; for we were unwilling to go back if there was a possibility of getting on. However, all the pools were empty, so we were most reluctantly obliged to retrace our steps. But by this time the ponds we had left were dried up too.”

There were other difficulties too as a further extract from Anne Helmore’s letter reveals:

“Our cattle, at least some of them, have been lost ever since last Monday. Four men were seeking them three days and nights, and returned with some of them - without having tasted food all that time. They lost their way, which it is very easy to do, as the country is covered with forests and thick bush. Now another party is out after the rest of them. This is their third day. We have had no road for many weeks. Some of the party have to go before, sawing down trees, and chopping bushes to make room for the wagons to pass, and after all we frequently become entangled; so it is very slow work. There are no wild beasts here except elephants, and occasionally troops of zebras. The latter we sometimes manage to shoot. They are excellent eating; so is the gnu.”

I was in this area for some weeks in 1967 clearing a district boundary line running north from the Boteti. I had two water-trailers which accompanied us along the line and a vehicle which spent most of its time replenishing the supply from the nearest water point some distance away. My men worked hard all day clearing the line, which was very thirsty work. I can well imagine the problems the missionaries must have faced here without motor vehicles.

The reader looking a map may well ask why the missionaries didn’t travel further to the west where there is plenty of water in the Okavango delta. The answer to this is the tsetse, a biting fly which spreads animal and human trypanosomiasis (nagana in cattle and sleeping-sickness in humans). This disease is fatal to cattle as Roger Price found out on his return journey from Linyanti to Maun.

Despite these problems the missionaries survived and pressed on. Eventually, on the 14^th of February 1860, Messrs Helmore and Price reached Linyanti. Chief Sekeletu gave them a warm and friendly welcome, sending them an ox as a gift. From this point onwards things went downhill. They had arrived in the middle of the rainy season at the hottest time of the year. Malaria was rampant. Within a fortnight all had fever except Mr & Mrs Price.

They soon started dying. In March Mrs Helmore and two of her children, the Prices’ baby Eliza, and Malatsi, Price’s driver, all died. This was a catastrophe. The Prices suggested to Helmore that they should withdraw to the desert to await the arrival of Dr Livingstone at Linyanti – he was travelling up the Zambezi from the east coast and was expected at any time. Helmore was stubborn and said he would regard such action as desertion and dereliction of duty.  On April 21^st Helmore himself died and the Prices decided that they would have to leave.

As the missionaries sickened and died, Sekeletu’s attitude towards them had become less friendly. In this he was egged on by a trouble-maker from Kuruman called Mahuse. He had been included in the party despite contrary advice, in the hope that he might turn over a new leaf. He told Sekeletu that the property of the missionaries who had died in his territory belonged to him. This gave Sekeletu licence to steal almost everything from the Prices who left with a single wagon and a few poor oxen. Later Sekeletu later confessed to a hunter Sebehwe about his theft and asked him to take Helmore's wagon back to Kuruman.

At the time Roger Price was convinced that his companions had been poisoned by Sekeletu but this seems highly unlikely. With Dr Livingstone expected at any moment, it would have been most imprudent to murder Livingstone’s friends. Besides malaria is quite sufficient to account for the deaths. Helmore’s biggest blunder was to leave Kuruman when he did. His party reached the driest part of the Kalahari at the hottest and driest time of the year, and then got to Linyanti at the time of the year when fever was most virulent. Had they started eight months earlier they would have crossed the desert just after the rains when there would have still been pools along the way. They would then have arrived at Linyanti in mid-winter when there was considerably less risk of malaria.

Roger Price started the journey home on the 26^th of June. He had only been on the road for a week when his wife died. He was left alone with the two surviving Helmore children. His guides led him to the Batawana capital, Maun. After the heartbreaks of the previous year, it is pleasing to report that he was treated with the greatest kindness by Chief Letsholathebe. The Chief heard that Mackenzie was at the Boteti river heading for Linyanti so he sent Price down the river by boat to meet him. After a period of rest and convalescence in Maun, Mackenzie and Price returned to Kuruman with Helmore’s children.

Who was to blame for this disaster? First Mr Helmore. He rejected advice to leave wives and children behind until the men had visited Linyanti and seen the conditions there. Next he left Kuruman at quite the wrong time of the year, and subsequently he rejected Price's proposal to withdraw to the desert to await the arrival of Dr Livingstone. It seems that he either believed that God would save them, or that he was bent on becoming a martyr.

Sekeletu also bears responsibility. He certainly did nothing to help the missionaries. In mitigation it may be said that Sekeletu was young and inexperienced, and was being challenged for leadership of the tribe by a brother. He died soon after the events related here and in 1866 the Barotse  successfully rebelled against their Makololo overlords and re-established their independence. Some Makololo were absorbed into the Barotse nation and others fled in all directions, a sad ending to a people who had wandered in the wilderness for so many years with Sebetwane their Moses.

Sources

The principal sources for this story are

Livingstone D.  "Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa"

Mackenzie J. "Day Dawn in Dark Places"

Much interesting information is also to be found at www.barotseland.com/history1.htm