Uganda

On arrival in England Lugard found that the British Government had decided not to give the company any help to maintain its hold upon Uganda. A strong section of the Liberal party, headed by Sir William Harcourt, demanded the abandonment of Uganda ; an equally strong agitation was set on foot for its reten tion, with the result that Lord Rosebery (then prime minister) despatched Sir Gerald Portal to report on the best means of dealing with the country. Portal and his staff reached Uganda in March 1893, the country at the time showing every mark of re turning prosperity. Portal was not long in making up his mind ; he recommended to the imperial government the retention of Uganda (i.e., Buganda), the abandonment of Unyoro (Bunyoro) and Toro, and the construction of a railway half-way only to the lake. He departed after two and a half months' residence, leaving Capt. J. R. L. Macdonald in charge.

In Nov. 1893 Colonel (Sir Henry) Colvile arrived to take charge, and at once led the Baganda army against King Kabarega of Bunyoro. That country was completely overrun and Colvile built a line of forts from Buganda to Lake Albert, of which he left Major A. B. Thruston in command. In June 1894 Uganda (i.e., the kingdom of Buganda) was declared a protectorate, and at the end of the year Sir Henry Colvile was invalided. Peace seemed assured in Uganda ; territorial limits to religious teaching were abolished, English Roman Catholic priests were added to the French Fathers, and the material progress of the country was marked. A few European traders settled in the country, good permanent houses were built, roads were made and kept in repair, and many new industries introduced, chief among which were the expression of oil from various oilseeds and the cultivation of coffee. Trees were imported and land set aside for planting forests. In 1896 the building of a railway from the coast to Uganda was begun. In the same year the protectorate was ex tended over Bunyoro and Busoga.

The Sudanese Mutiny.

In the middle of 1897 this era of peace was rudely interrupted. Macdonald had returned to East Africa in command of an exploring expedition, for which Colonel Trevor Ternan, the acting commissioner, had been ordered to supply 30o Sudanese. In June George Wilson, sub-commissioner at Kampala, discovered a plot to revolt, and in July Mwanga fled to the south of Buddu and raised the standard of rebellion. The rebels were defeated, while Mwanga was made a prisoner by the Germans. Ternan, unaware of the disaffection of his men, now sent three companies to Macdonald, selecting those who had been continuously fighting in Bunyoro, Nandi and Buddu. This caused great discontent, which was increased by the fact that their pay was six months in arrears and their clothing long overdue.

The men, too, had other grievances; they were especially sore at again being sent on service without their wives.

After Colonel Ternan's departure on leave the three companies who had joined Macdonald broke out into revolt in the Nandi district (East Africa Protectorate) and set off to Uganda, looting the countries they passed through. Macdonald and F. J. Jackson followed with a force of Zanzibaris. Meanwhile Major Thruston a man justly loved by his soldiers, in whom he had complete con fidence—hurried to the garrison at Luba's near the Ripon Falls, relying on his personal influence to control the men. He and two other Europeans were seized and made prisoners. On Oct. 19 the mutineers were defeated by Macdonald's force. The same night the Sudanese leaders, fearful lest their men might submit, murdered Thruston and his companions and sent letters to Uganda to incite their comrades to mutiny. Wilson, however, had already disarmed the troops in Kampala, who remained loyal, as also did the Baganda Mohammedans there. A large Protestant army now went to the assistance of Macdonald, and up to Jan. 9, 1898, the siege of Luba's continued, with constant skirmishes. Early in January Mwanga escaped from the Germans, and, declaring him self a Mohammedan, reached Buddu with a large force, which Macdonald defeated with the aid of the Baganda army. Mean while the Sudanese at Luba's escaped and crossed the Nile, making their way to Mruli. It appeared probable that if they reached that point the Sudanese garrisons in Bunyoro would revolt as well as the Baganda Mahommedans, and the situation of the Europeans became desperate. Macdonald pursued the mutineers, overtook them in the swamps of Lake Kioga, and after a couple of skirmishes returned to Kampala, leaving Captain E. G. Har rison in command. That officer attacked the rebel stockade at Kabagambi and carried it with great gallantry. A large number of Indian troops arrived early in 1899 and in May Colonel C. G. Martyr inflicted another heavy defeat on the mutineers at Mruli.

Mwanga, however, managed to get through and join Kabarega and the rebels in the north. In June 1899 Colonel J. T. Evatt had the good fortune to capture both Mwanga and Kabarega, who were subsequently removed to the Seychelles, where Mwanga died in 1903. (For Kabarega see UNYORO.) Colonel C. Delme Radcliffe subdued the last of the Sudanese mutineers in 1900-1901. In the autumn of 1899 Sir Harry Johnston was sent out to Uganda as special commissioner and he remained there till 1902.