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Colonial Policy | [P|S|M] |
Reichstagsakten 1888/89, 7. Lp., Vol. 121, Attachment 41: Collection of Documents pertaining the Uprising in East Africa, No.3: Report from the Imperial consul general on
Zanzibar
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Zanzibar, August 25th 1888
arrived at Berlin September 21st 1888
On the 15th of this month reports from the representative of the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft in Pangani arrived, according to which the wali of that place was unwilling to follow the Gesellschaft instructions, and protested against hoisting the flag. I have previously known the Wali of Pangani as an evil-minded, vexatious character, against whom complaints had been raised repeatedly from German and English side during the lifetime of Seyyid Bargasch. Longer cooperation with this man was not to be expected, but I urgently desired to avoid conflicts on the occasion of the Gesellschaft takeover of the administration, and therefore requested His Highness to write a special order fore the aforementioned official, ordering him in the strictest form to follow the instructions of the Gesellschaft and not to oppose the hoisting of the flag. With this order, on the 16th of this month the cruiser S.M.S. "Möwe" sailed to Pangani, and I have agreed in a requisition letter, that the wali upon the eventual request of the Gesellschaft
(p.396) representative has to be arrested and shipped to Zanzibar, in case he would stick to his obstructive position despite the instructions of His Highness. At the same time I have obliged the Gesellschaft general representation to recommend to their representative in Pangani to strive for an amiable relation with the wali and only in case of emergency to request the interference of armed force.
S.M.S. "Möwe" arrived on the 16th of the month in the afternoon, and on the morning of the 17th, the first officer, Capt.Lt. Ferber went ashore with a detachment of the crew. After the Wali had read the order of His Highness he promised, from now on, to follow the instructions of the Gesellschaft, and to recognize the district chief as his superior. At 11 o'clock a.m. the flag was hoisted in the presence of all respected inhabitants; the "Möwe" pulled in the anchor in the afternoon and returned to Zanzibar.
The warship hardly had left Pangani roadsted, when the wali turned rebellious again, explained that he would not follow the instructions of the district chief and caused the soldiers to refuse obedience. The situation was the same as before the arrival of the "Möwe", when on the 18th of this month S.M.S. "Carola", coming from Bagamoyo, appeared off Pangani. At the district chief's request and in consideration of the instructions given to S.M.S. "Möwe", the commander of the "Carola", Corvette Captain von Raven sent a landing corps ashore on the morning of August 19th in order to arrest the wali, after a last attempt to come to an amiable agreement had failed. Despite the fact that the men of the "Carola" surrounded the house of the wali, the latter managed to escape and to leave Pangani; his soldiers at first threatened, with raised rifles, to resist the advance of the Germans; the calm and determined action of the Germans did not fail to make an impression; the Askaris ran around in disorder, hid in the house of the wali, where they were disarmed without resistance. At the request of the district chief, and in consideration of the situation, the commander left behind a guard of 2 N.C.O.s and 16 men and directly left for Zanzibar on the 20th, without visiting Tanga, in order to report on the events in Pangani. On the 23rd of the month the senior officer of the cruiser squadron sent the S.M.S. "Möwe" to Pangani to pick up the guard left behind there by the "Carola" and to bring it back here. This was done, and the situation in Pangani was of a kind that it could be done without misgivings. In the first days after the disembarkation of tropps, many inhabitants had left the town; the district chief informed them that they had nothing to fear and invited them to come back, and one by one they returned into their homes and pursued their usual businesses. The impression of the landing and the decisive action of the Imperial Navy seems to have been a lasting one.
The former wali has succeeded in getting to Zanzibar. The Gesellschaft has given an order of extradition of him from the territories under her administration, because of resisting the authorities, and I will hand over the order to His Highness to transmit to the extradited and to suggest a further punishment because of open disonedience of a Sultan's order. I regard it necessary to insist on the latter, as the wali, dislocated from the mainland, has become harmless for the Gesellschaft.
signed Michahelles
His Excellency the Prince von Bismarck
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Originaldokument [1]
[2]
translation and English language table of contents: AG
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