THE DRUM, THE CHURCH, AND THE CAMERA: HAM MUKASA AND C. W. HATTERSLEY IN UGANDA

Terry Barringer

In May 1902, two of the most distinguished converts of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) - Apolo Kagwa (18651927) and Ham Mukasa (1870-1956), respectively the Katikiro (prime minister and regent) of Buganda and his secretary came to England for the coronation of King Edward VII. Mukasa, a licensed lay reader and author of a Luganda commentary on Matthew's gospel, was regarded highly as a writer in missionary circles. He kept copious notes on the voyage and visit, which was extended by several months through the postponement of the coronation because of the king's appendicitis. On his return, he wrote an account in Luganda that was subsequently translated and edited for publication by Ernest Millar, the CMS missionary who had acted as the Katikiro's official interpreter. Millar claimed in his introduction to Uganda's Katikiro in England that Mukasa's account was written for the natives of Uganda as a description of the journey and what was seen on it, and everything is described from an entirely native point of view and not with the idea of any translation into English. The book simply shows what impressions the visitors gained during their visit; some of the impressions are obviously false ones... but I have not attempted to rectify such things as I think they add to the charm of the book.

In packaging Mukasa's account for a British readership, Millar chose to illustrate the book not with the photographs that had been taken of the Ugandans in England but with eight photographs of Uganda by a CMS missionary, Mr. C. W. Hattersley. The most striking of these, reproduced here below, combines exotic and Christian elements in such a way that it can be said to encapsulate the Baganda story. An unknown youth, wearing a white garment, stands in Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala, a church designed by Europeans for an African context and built by Africans. He stands on a platform, beating a large drum. Near him is a notice, or reading sheet, a reminder of the Baganda passion for literacy, which almost overwhelmed the missionaries. To the European observer, unfamiliar with East Africa, the young man's apparel suggests an ecclesial surplice. Subliminally perhaps it suggests the white robes of the newly baptized of early church tradition. It is, in fact a kanzu. This garment was introduced by the Arabs and, despite its Islamic associations, was favored by the missionaries as the most suitable garb for converts, preferable to both the native bark cloth, which was considered unhygienic, and to European clothing. "Nothing", said Bishop Alfred Tucker, "could be more seemly".

The drum does not feature in most published accounts of the building and consecration of the cathedral. J. D. Mullins tells us, "The Rev. Henry Wright Duta has given the Cathedral a huge drum, 5 ft. high, whose booming sound carries an immense distance. The drum is not only effective as a church bell, but far more in keeping with national customs". Henry Wright Duta (d. 1913) was one of the first Baganda converts, baptized at Zanzibar in 1882. Narrowly escaping martyrdom in 1885, he survived to be commissioned as a lay evangelist by Tucker in 1891. He was ordained deacon in 1893, one of the first group of native clergy, and priest in 1896. He was George L. Pilkington's chief assistant in his translation work and played a major part in the production of the Luganda Bible. One longs to know more about the drum. Was it made specially for the cathedral, or did it have a pre-Christian past? If the latter, for what purposes had it been used?

Drums in Pre-Christian Uganda

Drums played a great part in the life of the pre-Christian Baganda and gave many proverbs and idioms to their language. A large number of named drums or groups of drums, with their own drumbeats and designated drummers, were associated with the ritual of the court of the Baganda king. For example, when the Kabaka ("king") presented a chief with any office, he would give him a drum, and the man so invested would be said to have "eaten" the drum. Other drums were associated with lesser chiefs, clans, and local shrines. Apart from these special drums, any individual might own one. Drums were widely used to accompany singing and dancing and to announce news. In the words of John Roscoe, the drum "had its place in the most solemn and in the most joyous ceremonies of the nation". The Namirembe Cathedral drum is reminiscent of the royal drums described by Roscoe: The drums were made from hollowed-out tree trunks encased in cowhide; only one end of the drum was beaten upon, and that was always kept uppermost. Some of the drums were beautifully decorated with cowry-shells or beads. It was the rule to suspend them on posts slightly raised from the ground so as to get the full benefit of the sound, and the man stood over the drum with two short sticks for beating it. Given that drums were so closely linked to traditional shrines and the life of a royal court, where human life was held cheap, and that they usually contained fetishes, it seems surprising that the missionaries and converts were willing to countenance their use in Christian contexts. It is not clear from the sources whether the new use of drums arose because of Baganda pressure or whether because of deliberate missionary adoption. Over the years drums lost much of their importance. Allan J. Lush, writing in 1935, reports that although drums were still used, the majority of young Baganda were ignorant about their names and history. He attributes this to the end of despotic rule and the adoption of Western ideas. Henry Wright Duta's drum, re-covered more than once, is still kept in the drum-house at Namirembe and used on special occasions. It is not normally used to summon people to church; that is done, Western-style, by bell.

In Uganda's Katikiro in England the photograph is used to illustrate a particular point in Mukasas text. One of his recurring themes is admiration of the technological feats of the British, "the cleverness of the English which is never-ending", and he struggles to describe these wonders in ways intelligible to his fellow Baganda. He uses a biblical analogy to describe his difficulty. The things of the Europeans are always amazing; and I thought to myself that if we were always wondering at these things which we saw while we were still on the way we should be like the Apostle of our Lord who was called St. John the Evangelist, who when he saw the wonders of God, which he had never seen before; and when he wrote them down in his book he had just to compare them to the earthly things they knew, though they were not really like them. However, unlike the apostle, Mukasa could call photography to his aid. The first marvel he encountered was the steamer that took the Katikiro's party from Mombasa to Aden: Let me tell you about it. Its height is twice as great as that of Silasi Mugwanya's house…. With what can you compare a seven-stories ship? It is as wide as Ham Mukasa's brick house... the masts are as big round as the Katikiro's drum... the length is one and a half times that of Namirembe Cathedral, the great tube out of which the smoke comes is as large or larger than the largest drum in Namirembe Cathedral.

Backing the opposite page in Millar's edition is the photograph that is reproduced here, with Mukasa's comparison to the drum as caption.

We are accustomed to the idea that missionary supporters in England were fascinated and influenced by visual images from the mission field. It is less usual to be able to observe the reactions of Africans to these images. Mukasa describes a visit to Herbert Samuel in London:

He took many photographs of our country and of different kinds of people, peasants and chiefs and of the king and of the old kind of houses which are being done away with at the present time and of our different styles of clothing.... After dinner he showed us a great many photographs from Uganda and the neighbouring countries.

Later Mukasa visited the Millars, and "Mr. Millar showed us a great many photographs of people in our country".

The Katikiro and Mukasa obviously relished the many opportunities to have their own photographs taken. They were photographed with British army officers and at the headquarters of the Mill Hill Fathers. Photographs were taken at the door of the Houses of Parliament and at Crewe with a railway engine. On the return journey to Uganda, Mukasa had further opportunities to indulge his passion for photographs. On a visit to Mombasa prison, Mukasa was particularly struck by photographs of the prisoners "which were very well taken". He went on to commend the prison administration's use of photography:

They register the prisoners very cleverly; they first take photographs of them and then write down the height of each man and the size of his chest, and his colour, and his offense, and the length of his imprisonment, and the place he comes from and his name and religion. All this they do to remind themselves about each man, so that when he commits another offense it is always known what he is like in every respect. I thoroughly approved of this, because it teaches us a spiritual lesson. If we men have the wisdom to mark criminals who offend against our human laws, how will it be with the creator of heaven and earth?

Back in Buganda, the travelers were besieged by people wanting to hear about their experiences. "We had no rest by day or night; some people went to the Katikiro, others came to me, all wanting very much to learn all about England; and I showed them... the photographs which had been taken of us while we were in England and the pictures of the kings coronation."It would be good to know if these photographs survive. But while we may regret that Millar did not share them with the British public, there is no doubt about the quality and interest of the photographs by Hattersley that he used instead.