Tabora

An Arab trading centre is established at Tabora in central Tanganyika.

On the 7th of November, 1857" the 134th day from the date of our leaving the coast" after marching at least 600 miles [960 kilometres], we prepared to enter Kazeh, the principal bandari of Eastern Unyamwezi, and the capital village of the Omani merchants. The Baloch were clothed in that one fine suit without which the Eastern man rarely travels: after a few displays the dress will be repacked, and finally disposed of for barter in slaves. About 8 a.m." when the line of porters, becoming compact, began to wriggle, snake-like, its long length over the plain, with floatingflags, booming horns, muskets ringing like saluting-mortars, and an uproar of voice which nearly drowned the other noises, we made a truly splendid and majestic first appearance.

I have just found some brief notes my father made in the 1970's when talking to my grandfather about his movements with DeVenters 2nd Division in German East Africa during WW1.

One note says 'Tabora to Lake Nigiari' now where the heck is Lake Nigiari?

Secondly ' Ngen Goro - salt / soda lake'

If any of your learned readers can offer clues to these locations I would be most grateful.

Have been reading the site for several years and thouroughly enjoy it. Great stuff.

One is struck by the low incidence of tropical diseases prevalent in the Township. Malaria is definitely uncommon and the Town is not ringed around at close contact with a highly 'infective native population and although "Anopheline" mosquitos are not unknown, their main breeding ground is known and can consequently be dealt with. An old adage "it is better to be safe than sorry" should be remembered in connection with the use of mosquito nets. Other of the more common tropical diseases are conspicuous by their absence in the Township.

Certain persons when they first arrive in Arusha may be under the impression that the place does not suit them but I think that most people require a short time to adjust themselves to the altitude; I know that when I first went to Tabora from Dar-es-Salaam my nose bled.

The water and food supply of Arusha is good and adequate with the exception of milk but it is hoped that early next year a definite control will be put over the native milk supply.

The appointment of a European Sanitary Inspector in Arusha has done and will do much for the Sanitation of the Township. Arusha i,s a young place and before a few years are past many of its primitive featues e.g. the carriage of water in tins from the springs to the houses will be done away with and these things accomplished there is no reason why Arusha with its cool climate (blankets always required at night) should not be a resort for recuperation from the depressions of the coast and the ills of other townships.

The M.O.H.

Dodoma is situated near the watershed of the Indian Ocean and the Rift Valley. The great trough of the Rift, with its salt lakes and its large and small volcanoes, intersects the East African granite-plateau from latitude 6 deg. South, and then continues northwards through the Red Sea into the valley of the Dead Sea and the River Jordan, right to the foot of the Lebanon. The Central Railway cuts this rift near its southern end and, as the train crawls up the steep western scarp, a grand view unfolds itself, and like a gigantic map the valley lies below with the glittering surface of a great salt swamp in its southernmost corner. In the vicinity of Manyoni, on the top of the scarp, is the grave of the explorer James Elton, one of the first Englishmen to cross the interior. He died in 1877. Manyoni was the junction for the Singida railway line, which has how been taken up and replaced by a road from Itigi.

From near the upper edge of the scarp to Tabora and again for a long distance west of that town, the track passes through miles of wilderness into fine agricultural country. At kilometre 634 is a stone monument indicating the highest point of the line (4,350 ft.), and at kilometre 785 in flat country comes the Continental Divide, to the west of which water flows into Lake Tanganyika and thus, through the Congo, into the Atlantic.

At last there is a welcome change from thicket and wood into the open country surrounding Tabora, and soon the town itself, surrounded by granite hills and mango groves, is reached. It is the capital of the Nyamwezi country and, as the place where one of the largest and most industrious Bantu tribes is administered, continues the part it has for long played in East African history. Founded as an Arab colony for securing the long line of communication from the coast to the great lakes, the town is full of links with the past, and the tourist can see here the old" tembe" at Kwihara where Livingstone and Stanley lived together in 1872, the pass between two hills where they parted, or again the battle grounds where first Nyamwezi chiefs and Arabs, then Germans and Belgians have fought for the possession of this country. At Tabora is situated the leading Government school for Africans in the Territory.

As Tabora is at the junction of the Mwanza Line, it is on one of the through routes from Kenya and Uganda to the Congo and Northern Rhodesia ; it is also on one of the trunk air routes to South Africa, and travellers stop the night at the spacious German-built hotel which has recently been modernised.

West of Tabora the journey leads through densely populated and well-cultivated country for about 40 miles until, at Usoke, the savannah woodland is once more entered. From Kaliva, a little farther on, a branch railway has been built to the richly mineralised country containing the Mpanda Mine. Still farther on, the line dips into the deeply eroded Malagarasi Valley, and runs for some distance along the river, with the Uvinza Salt Works visible on the opposite side. The excellent salt produced at this place was well known when Burton, the explorer, passed by on his way to Lake Tanganyika in 1857, and Africans still come from places hundreds of miles away to purchase it. The salt also finds a good market far into the Eastern Congo.

Once more the line leaves the main valley and climbs to a plateau, finally descending into the Central African Rift. Then come a few low hills, a few groves of oil palms, and the train pulls up on the shore of Kigoma Bay, a sheet of dark blue water, surrounded on three sides by pleasant hills, while through the fourth shines the surface of mighty Lake Tanganyika.

Although the development of Kigoma was severely checked by the war, the port now has a considerable trade from the shores of the lake, from the Belgian Congo and from Ruanda-Urundi. From Kigoma the traveller should not fail to visit the old Arab port of Ujiji, three miles across the hills on the open shores of the lake, where a monument marks the site of the old mango tree under which Stanley met Livingstone in 1871. There are many pleasant walks along the hilltops of Kigoma Peninsula, with splendid views of the lake and the distant Congo Mountains.

The construction of the line from Tabora to Mwanza was commenced in April, 1925, and the line was finally opened to traffic in August, 1928. From Tabora it traverses the cleared farm lands of the district for about ten miles, which is followed by an area of" Miombo" forest which extends for another forty. From Bukene, mile 56, to Mwanza, mile 237, a wonderful stretch of open undulating cattle country is traversed�a land which not only raises cattle, but which is capable of producing groundnuts, cotton and other export commodities, as well as food crops.

Mwanza itself is a picturesque, wooded town situated on the shores of Lake Victoria. From the top of Fort Hill a fine view of the lake and town is obtainable. There is a charming nine-hole golf course set amid rocky hills near the lake shore, and the Gymkhana Club maintains three tennis courts. Bathing is to be had at Bwiru. About four miles from the town, near the Government and Native Administration schools.

The circular walk round Capri Point Forest Reserve (about three miles) is recommended, while, for those who prefer motoring, a pleasant drive can be had along the thirty-mile avenue forming the Mwanza end of the Tabora Road, one of the main highways of the Territory.

There are two hotels in the town.

From Mwanza this road runs through heavily cultivated country along a beautiful avenue of Cassia simea trees for 31 miles, rice, cotton, groundnuts and millet fields being met with en route. Shinyanga, headquarters of a district and a railway station, is reached at mile 102 from Mwanza. Old Shinyanga, a few miles away, is the headquarters of the Tsetse Research Department and a visit is recommended. At Mwadui, 18 miles away, is the now famous Williamson Diamond Mine.

From Shinyanga the road runs to Tinde, where the main road to Bukoba and Uganda is met. The Manyonga river is crossed at about mile 130, and the road then proceeds through open cattle country to Nzega, 75 miles from Tabora. Tabora is a town of considerable importance, and contains hotels and two banks. From Nzega a branch road leads to Sekenke and Singida ; the former place was formerly the centre of important gold-mining activities.

The Second Battalion Tanganyika Rifles also mutinied in Tabora.

The next morning a pale golden sunrise lit the east, glinting through the feathery acacias across the clearing in front of our camp. The morning chorus began: doves, the chatter of innumerable quelea birds, and the buzzing and humming of the bees and tsetse flies.

We broke camp at 8:30 a.m. and set off, always keeping our eye out for the names Burton listed along his route: Tura, Kwale, Rubuga, Ukona, Kigwa, Hanga, and then Kazeh. Rubuga and Kigwa are on the modern Tanzanian map. On the way, we heard radio reports of an ebola outbreak in Zaire. This viral infection ruptures cell walls, beginning with those of the internal organs, and turns the victim's body into a sack of bloody pulp.

On and on we went, sometimes passing from red-soil regions into areas of rich, black earth" ideal for growing cotton. Burton specifically mentions the cultivation of cotton at Ukona: "cotton-plots, carefully hedged round against the cattle, afforded material for the loom, which now appeared in every village." Then we came upon a sandy track winding through miombo (woodlands). The railway was some distance north of us, but this was definitely the old caravan route the two explorers had taken to Kazeh. Every now and then we passed a borassus palm" the tallest fruit-bearing palm in the country" planted by the old Arab slave traders. They really are enormous trees, and are distinctive for the cluster of fan-like fronds at the top of a thin, straight bare trunk.

We got lost again, about sixty kilometres from our last camp, and asked a village elder where we were. He confirmed that this was the subdistrict of Kigwa somewhere near the Burton route. Eventually we got to the town of Kigwa proper, then proceeded to Kinamagi. We began to see more settlements and more cultivated land. The Nyamwezi tribe inhabits this area. According to Pollangyo, they are very musical people and love singing. Mango trees lined the route, their branches laden with green fruit. We crossed the railway again coming up from the south, and then, at long last, arrived at Tabora.

It had taken us five and a half days to reach Tabora from Bagamoyo. It took Burton and Speke nearly five months. We had driven 1,400 kilometres, though the distance from Bagamoyo to Tabora is about 680 kilometres in a straight line.

Burton, Speke, and Grant always referred to this town as Kazeh, though everyone else called it Tabora. Kazeh was founded by the Arabs about 1825 as a caravan depot. It eventually became the hub of the slave routes that spread north to Speke's "Great Lake" (Victoria), to Karagwe on its western shore, west to Lake Tanganyika, and south to the populous shoreline of Lake Malawi. Because Kazeh lay on the main route to the coast, it is not surprising that all the early explorers, including Livingstone and Stanley, journeyed through it.

Burton described the expedition's flamboyant entry into the town. As usual the explorers took steps to impress the local population with their dignity and importance:

We did not stay long at Tabora. For me, the main significance of our arrival there was that Ujiji on the shore of Lake Tanganyika now really felt within our reach. I was anxious to get going.

We had a rushed lunch at the Tabora Hotel: Nile perch, chicken, and ugali" enough to satisfy our hunger. We left the hotel at 2:00 p.m. and headed for the market, near the railway station, to replenish supplies for the long journey to Ujiji.

About six kilometres after setting out, in nearby Kwihara, we visited a replica of the tembe (rectangular house) where Livingstone and Stanley stayed after their famous Ujiji meeting. It is a classic rectangular-shaped building with faded brick walls and floor of packed earth. The ailing Livingstone stayed here for five months, reading the Bible, catching up on his journal, and waiting for the supplies and porters that Stanley had promised to send him from Zanzibar. These eventually arrived in August 1872, and Livingstone left on his final journey.