Christian Missions 



rapidly diminishing the fear which the neighbours 

 formerly entertained for him. Consequently his 

 power, which was nearly always harmful and used 

 for evil intent, is no longer a factor in any events 

 of political importance; a picture of him is given 

 and another of the King's musician, a local 

 Paderewski who has under him a band of native 

 musicians. These play upon crude instruments 

 made out of reeds, bones, and skins, and the result 

 of a serenade is generally somewhat discordant to 

 the ears of the European. 



Many were the current difficulties which faced 

 the Mission, but although formidable in themselves, 

 they would have been in time overcome, had not a 

 second and more intricate obstacle arisen in the 

 path to prevent the smooth advance of Christianity. 

 The arrival in 1879 of the French Roman Catholic 

 Mission, sanctioned by Pope Leo XIII. as a branch 

 of the White Fathers of Algeria, was the signal for 

 a deplorable conflict between the two creeds. It is 

 a painful chapter in the Mission's history, and one 

 would have hoped that the two beliefs would have 

 joined forces in combating the spread of Islam, 

 which, of course, was hostile to them both, as 

 alluded to in the previous chapter. 



King Mtesa, who always took an intelligent in- 

 terest in religious discussion, weary of the continual 

 arguments of the three conflicting parties, reverted 

 to Paganism, dying in 1884. He was succeeded by 

 his son M wanga, a youth of eighteen, both vicious and 

 cruel, who suspected and feared the increasing hold 



33 3 



