i3° 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
Scotland Mission was established. Mr. Sharpe sent a small force of Sikhs and 
Atonga under Corporal William Fletcher, and an Atonga sergeant named 
Bandawe, to defend Malemia’s principal village where the Scotch missionaries 
were. 
This expedition, which only consisted of six Sikhs and a few Atonga, 
built a “ boma ” 1 to protect themselves against any sudden attack from 
Kawinga. It was fortunate they did so, because a day or two afterwards he 
descended on them with 2,000 men, many of them recruited from amongst the 
warlike Anguru of the countries east of Lake Chilwa. It appears that Kawinga, 
in alliance with Zarafi and Matipwiri, had really resolved on attempting 
to drive the British out of the Shire Highlands. An attack was first to 
be made on the unarmed Mission stations at Domasi Their men, whetted 
with success, would then feel the necessary courage to attack the Residency at 
Zomba. Having captured this and possibly succeeded in murdering the Com¬ 
missioner, the forces of Zarafi and Kawinga would advance on Blantyre, whilst 
THREE OF MAKANJIRA’S CAPTURED DAUS (FORT MAGUIRE) 
Matipwiri sweeping through the Mlanje district, would unite his forces to theirs, 
and the Yao then counted on taking possession of the gunboats at Chiromo. 
Zarafi had sent his son and some of his fighting men to assist in the preliminary 
attack on Domasi. 
War with Kawinga was always felt, since our abortive attack on his 
positions in 1891, to be a serious affair not lightly to be encountered. We had 
therefore put up with a great deal of robberies, outrages and slave kidnapping 
on the part of Kawinga without renewing the war with him till we had larger 
forces at our disposal. Mr. Sharpe therefore at first intended to do no more 
than guard the approaches to the main station at Domasi, 2 though he made 
preparations for assembling as large a force of Sikhs and Atonga as were 
available. 
Kawinga’s aggressive action however got no farther than “ Fletcher’s 
boma.” This trumpery little fort was so splendidly defended by the Sikhs 
1 Boma is a Swahili word meaning “ a fence,” “a stockade.” It is a term which has come into 
general use in British Central Africa, and is often applied to Government stations, most of which were at 
first provided with some such defence. 
- Domasi station was defended by Mr. S. Hewitt-Fletcher, 2nd Accountant to the British Central 
Africa Administration. Some confusion arose between the two Fletchers in the subsequent newspaper 
descriptions. 
