Swedish Ventures in Cameroon, 1883-1923: Trade and Travel, People and Politics

By Shirley Ardener

The 1880s were a critical time in Cameroon. A German warship arrived in the Douala estuary and proclaimed Cameroon a protectorate. At that time, two Swedes, Knutson and Waldau, were living on the upper slopes of the Cameroon Mountain. Very little is known about their activities. One, Knutson, wrote a long memoir of his time in Cameroon (1883-1895) which is published here for the first time. It gives fascinating insights into everyday life in Cameroon and into the multifaceted relationships among the various Europeans, and between them and the Africans, at the end of the 19th century; we learn about the Swedes' quarrels first with the Germans and later with the British, over land purchases, thus revealing the origins of long on-going disputes over Bakweri lands. We are given vivid descriptions of Bakweri notables and their, and the Europeans', cultural practices, a rare eye-witness account of the sasswood witchcraft ordeal, and learn about Knutson's friendships with slaves. Together with appended contemporary correspondence, legal opinions, and early (translated) texts, this memoir must be considered as a unique and invaluable primary source for the pre-colonial history of Cameroon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Release date: Aug 1, 2002
• ISBN: 9781782388715

Book preview

PREFACE

How I came to edit the memoir

Shirley Ardener

Knutson’s memoir is of interest because of the rarity of early, first-hand, intimate accounts in English of the people of the Cameroon Mountain area before the turn of the last century. There are none in English from the Swedish point of view by someone who lived for several years in the villages at that time, who spoke the local language, and who hunted and traded. Knutson shows us the great events of the day in Cameroon from the ground, looking upwards, as it were. The interrelations between the many contending groups, Cameroonian and foreign, the thoughts of the chiefs and villagers as they respond to the dramatic events taking place, the critical moments changing pre-colonial to colonial times, are vividly expressed in the minutiae of the daily life he describes. Knutson in his memoir and Waldau in his published articles, give us pictures of the lived customs of the people on and around the Cameroon Mountain who became their friends and trading partners.

The memoir, dealing with Knutson’s stay with his friend Waldau, from 1882 to 1896, came my way on a visit to Buea in March 1997. A few days before I left Buea, a copy in the possession of Mr Burnley of Limbe was shown to me privately by Chief Peter Efange. I was excited to see it, since I had long been interested in Knutson and Waldau. In the 1960’s I had seen a note in the Buea National Archives, hand-written in 1884 by Waldau, which said he had ‘bought’ Buea for the German authorities, for a sum in goods valued at less than £25.

Despite this highly significant demarche, the impact of which is felt today, the two Swedes were not normally mentioned in Buea then. Their role on the mountain did not figure in the historical accounts compiled from local oral traditions by Paul Kale (1967) and Dan Matute (1988, 1990). I had referred briefly to the Swedes in an earlier publication (Ardener, S.G. 1968) but the full details of their agreement with the elders of Buea setting out the terms of ‘the purchase of Buea’ was not published until 1996, in Kingdom on Mount Cameroon written by my husband, Edwin. Why Waldau had been buying on behalf of the Germans had remained a puzzle for me. I was not then warmly predisposed in favour of the Swedes, because of what seemed such a paltry transaction.¹ However, having read his manuscript, I now see Knutson (perhaps more than his colleague) as liberal for his times, compared to others, and even visionary in outlook. For Knutson came to envisage a post-colonial, independent Cameroon when the mountain would return to the hands of the local population – then meaning the Bakweri and Bomboko people (see memoir, Part II. 12).

I was then told that Penuel Malafa, another local ‘elite’, had unsuccessfully contacted Sweden for support for publication, and I was asked if I could help. I agreed to try to edit the MS and get it published.² It had long been an interest of Edwin Ardener and mine that accounts of historical events by those involved in them should be made available to the Cameroon public, and others interested in the country.³ The night before I left Buea the MS was returned to my hands with a note from Chief Efange (on behalf of Chief Liwonjo and Mr Burnley) saying that I should proceed as suggested.

Some months later in Oxford, I was surprised to come across a copy of the very letter written by Pen Malafa lying among my late husband’s papers. Addressed to the Swedish Ambassador in Lusaka, by a circuitous route through Sweden, it had been sent to Oxford for comment by Jan Ovesen, a former student of Edwin’s; the response, if indeed made, was not available. With this find it seemed that the ends of a story had been joined. But another knot in the tangle of connections was soon to be tied. Enclosed with the memoir was a copy of another letter, dated 1978, written to the chief of Mapanja by a Swedish journalist, Per Wästberg, which indicated that he was in touch with Knutson’s son, Bertil. An enquiry via the Stockholm telephone directory, to my surprise, brought forth Wästberg’s name. I telephoned him with a mixture of hesitation and anticipation, wondering whether he would welcome my interest or would draw my attention to possible obstacles to publication. However, Per Wästberg immediately encouraged me. From our long conversation I learned that Bertil Knutson (now dead) had entrusted him with his father’s papers, which he invited me to see. Years ago, Wästberg told me, he had favoured publication of Knutson’s memoir, but this came to nothing. Not to be totally thwarted, however, he drew on Knutson’s material for a novel entitled, Bergets Kalla (1987).⁴ However, he still felt that there was a place for Knutson’s original English text, and now gave his blessing to my endeavours. This was most welcome.

Another coincidence was presented when a friend, Dr. B. Bawa Yamba, came from Sweden to Oxford in June 1999. I opened Knutson’s MS to ask him to translate a list of items hand-written on headed paper of the Zoological Museum of Sweden. He recognized it immediately as part of the MS which had been sent some ten years earlier from the Swedish Institute to the Museum where he was working at the time, asking whether the museum could publish it. The covering letter from Penuel Malafa to the Ambassador in Lusaka was included. At the same time the Swedish Institute had sent a copy to Per Wästberg asking for his opinion. As often happens in such cases, no decision to publish emerged. Dr Yamba now expressed his delight that the memoir was eventually to see the light of day in its original form.

Meanwhile Per Wästberg, having occasion to spend a few days at a conference in Oxford, had been to see me, and generously made available to me in Oxford Knutson’s archival material, which includes letters from Waldau, and correspondence which Knutson had conducted with legal representatives in Berlin, London and Nigeria in a vain attempt to have his ‘purchases’ of land from Cameroon notables legally recognized. Examples of these contracts, and a summary of his legal battles to have them ratified, can be found below. The story of his land claims throws fascinating light on the morality and manoeuvres of the expatriates – including the German authorities – living on the Coast of Cameroon in those critical times, and on Knutson’s relations with the local Africans.

Staff at the Riksbibliotec in Stockholm have been very helpful in getting me photocopies of letters to the press written by Knutson. Johan Malmström, Jenny Collster and Carl Broden gave help with some translations of these and of articles from the journal Ymer. Not only can I not read Swedish; I also needed help with German. For the translation of Zöller’s text I am indebted variously to Rosemary Frances, Ena Pedersen, Fiona Moore and Marion Berghahn. Mrs E.M. (Sally) Chilver has diligently kept her eye open and has sent me notes on some relevant items. She also kindly passed on to me some references Ute Röschenthaler came across in Germany. In return I give some cross-references to their own book which gives a German view of events connected with the plantations until the First World War, Cameroon’s Tycoon; Max Esser’s Expedition and its Consequences. This text is the translated and annotated edition of an account by Esser of his expedition in Cameroon to recruit labour with help from the Bali. It gives further details on the forest areas between the coast and grassfields of Cameroon. I also refer to two books already in this series, Edwin Ardener’s Kingdom on Mount Cameroon, and African Crossroads, the volume dedicated to Mrs Chilver and edited by Ian Fowler and David Zeitlyn, which will amplify the picture, and to Ardener (S.G.) 1968, as I know these books are available in Cameroon. Among others whom I should mention must be Gay Cohen, for reading the manuscript and for saving me from certain errors. Bob and Carrie McIntyre were always on call when I needed advice and practical help with my computer. Dr Ian Fowler, being a well-known Cameroonist scholar, generously gave his attention both to detail and to making a number of valuable editorial suggestions. Finally, I had the benefit of the skilfull copy-editing of Judy Mabro.

The MS I received from Mr. Burnley was an old photocopy of a typescript done on an old typewriter, with a few hand-written corrections. It included some photocopies of old photographs, which have been included here. In Oxford, after clarifying some of the words and names, and supplying missing letters, I had the MS typed by Joan Peacock. Not all of the text was perfectly legible, and here and there some assumptions had to be made regarding spelling and missing words; some guesses have been put in square brackets. There was a strong temptation to edit Knutson’s language thoroughly to conform to more conventional English. But, while some tidying up has been done for ease of reading and to avoid misunderstandings, by and large his own Swedish-English, influenced at times by pidgin or Creole English, has been left in order to let his authentic voice come through. Unlike a translation where the original text is widely available to scholars, this is the first time this text has been printed as written. I felt it necessary, therefore, not to epitomize or cut, even where I have misgivings as to his accuracy or judgement, or where there is repetition. The main editorial changes have been in paragraphing, which was almost absent, and punctuation, which was inconsistent and did not follow modern conventions. Consequently, although the sentence order has been retained, sentences have been grouped into paragraphs for ease of reading.

Knutson (like other authors quoted here) was inconsistent in his spelling of words (e.g. palm tree, palmtree and palm-tree), and personal and place names. Unless the latter were obviously the result of mistyping, rather than risk guessing, some of the inconsistent spellings of names and places have been retained. However, a few exceptions have been made. Throughout this book, the people now commonly known as Bakweri, and the Bomboko, who figure prominently in this text are here so called, rather than by Knutson’s (and others’) terms for them. Also the spelling Kru, for the immigrant labourers, has similarly been standardized throughout to avoid confusion. Only a few prominent personal names have been standardized: Mbua (Knutson’s M’Boe) of Mapanja, King Attokkoro (variously spelled) of Oron, King Kuva (sometimes Knutson’s Cova) of Buea, King Njeka (Gecka) of Mbinga (Bwenga), and King Mussakka of Ekumba Liongo. Having spent some years on the Mountain, I have a little knowledge of the area about which Knutson wrote, and had met some of the descendants of those with whom he had lived. But there is no substitute for local knowledge, and Chief Efange of Soppo, in consultation with Chiefs Efesoa of Bonjongo and Liwonjo of Mapanja, kindly helped me confirm the identity of some of the villages, and their notables, who are mentioned in the MS, and clarified some Bakweri text. Their suggestions are found in square brackets. However, with these exceptions, to avoid risk of false identifications, variation in terminology is usually retained, as explained in the next section.

Besides the memoir, other materials from Knutson’s archives are given here (personal letters, legal documents, and printed papers) in parts II and III of the book. In addition extracts from published sources relating to the same events or places described by Knutson have been included in Part IV as they confirm, or sometimes give different versions of, these events. It would have been possible to attempt to conflate the memoir, the documents, and the alternative views, and come up with a synthesis. But, the aim of this volume being to provide primary, ‘warts and all’ material in a way which makes the reader feel contemporary to those events, the whole text of the memoir, in its original ordering, is provided. Primary sources enable the personalities and predispositions of the players in historical events, which to some extent determine their course, to be given weight when interpreting ‘the facts’. Readers, and scholars with local knowledge in particular, will, I hope, take this material further. Finally, I am only too aware of my lack of Swedish, and my ignorance of the Swedish contribution in Africa, and of time and space constraints. This is certainly not the final word on the Swedes and those they met.⁵

Notes

1. It seems even stranger now I know that Zöller had offered £300 earlier (see p. 263), only to have negotiations break down.

2. Knutson dedicated his memoir to the people of Mapanja. In a letter to Chief Liwonjo, sent from Sweden with the MS, permission to publish was given by Knutson’s son, Bertil. I first met Chief Kongo Liwonjo in 1998; his enthusiasm, trust and co-operation since has been greatly appreciated. I arranged that any royalties arising, though certainly not likely to be large, should go to him, as representing the family into whose hands Knutson’s son had entrusted this MS.

3. Edwin had issued from the Buea Archives Office a short series of booklets, written variously by him, E.M. Chilver, P.M. Kaberry, Margaret Field, and myself, in the 1960s, mainly to fulfil this function. This was also the methodology adopted by Edwin and me when we wrote, for example, Eye-witnesses to the Annexation of Cameroon (1884–1887) and Kingdom on Mount Cameroon in the 1960s (though the latter did not get published until 1996).

4. Per Wästberg has a long list of publications in Swedish, including twelve novels, as well as having edited some collections of papers in English. In his Cameroon novel, he invented a contemporary character, a diplomat, supposedly the grand nephew of Knutson and heir to Knutson’s papers (in fact a bit like Wästberg himself, who was all but adopted by Bertil), who visits Mapanja where he finds further material in a box. Wästberg said that in fact Knutson did state that he had left materials with the chief of Mapanja, but there is no sign of them today. Since he was presenting Knutson’s story as fiction, Wästberg was free, of course, to use his art to flesh out Knutson’s material with imagined conversations, with invented persons, and invented episodes.

5. There are many loose ends, which time and place – not to speak of language – prevent me from following up. My friends in Cameroon have been waiting too long for this book. It is hoped that the memoir, and the material in which it has been framed, will give them and others some idea of the importance of the Swedes and their ventures, even adventures, on Mount Cameroon from pre-colonial times to the beginning of the League of Nations’ Mandate, enough at least to stimulate further research. Note that the reported actions and the opinions expressed by writers quoted here are not necessarily endorsed by this editor. Good or bad, they speak for themselves.

PART I

Introduction

Shirley Ardener

Map 1: Sketchmap of Cameroon Mountain Area. Main towns and villages, modern spelling

CHAPTER 1

Biographical Notes on Knutson and Waldau

Knutson (29.11.1857–22.12.1930) and Waldau (17.10.1862–27.12.1942)

Knut Vilhelm Knutson was born in 1857 at Sjonjd farm outside Vanersborg in the Province of Vastergotland. The small manor house where Knut was brought up lay some 20 miles Northeast of Göteborg. Per Wästberg (see Preface) has traced the family back to about 1600. He reports that more recently – in the early nineteenth century – some of its members became quite important officers under the first Bernadotte king. Knutson was unmarried at the time of his departure to Cameroon, though he had already met his future wife, Amanda, daughter of Knut Leidberg. She was from a neighbouring estate, about five miles away at Ulfstorp. Unlike Knutson’s family home, his wife’s is still occupied by relatives. Knutson and Amanda produced one son, Bertil, and one daughter.

Knutson was, first and foremost, an adventurer. The books written by the early European explorers of Africa had, according to Knutson himself, ‘caused a great sensation especially amongst the West European youth’ (see memoir). These stories had inspired Knutson to try to join the Stanley expedition to the Congo, but in vain. His brother-in-law, Professor Jacob Eriksson, then put him in touch with another young man whose plans for Africa were well advanced, George Waldau, who had been born in Melbys district. According to Wästberg, the end of the nineteenth century was a period ‘when it was hard for young men in [Sweden] to find work, especially in the countryside. Knutson and Waldau were students, well educated both in business studies and in the natural sciences.’ Unemployed, may be, but as the memoir explains, each was able to take with him a manservant; sad to say, both of these died on the Cameroon Mountain. Knutson, said by Wästberg to be then a student, was later to be described as a former landowner and a wholesale merchant. Moreover he probably had had military training. Both Swedes were proud of being good shots, but the young German journalist Huge Zöller especially noted Knutson’s essentially military outlook. Indeed, Knutson refers to a toast the Swedes made ‘in our usual military way’ (Part II, 11).

On arrival in Cameroon Waldau and Knutson settled on the upper slopes of Mount Cameroon and hunted for food and collected specimens, but when hunger and illness caught them, they moved further down the mountain, to Mapanja village, and turned to trade for survival. We have a detailed description of the conditions under which they lived in the account of Zöller, who arrived in Mapanja in January 1885 with Herr Stehr, the German agent of Woermann’s trading company at Bimbia. They found that Knutson and Waldau were away on a trek, but their Swedish companion, Gustafsson invited them into the house:

There, there was an enormous number of hunting trophies, horns, furs and so on, as well as weapons of all possible systems and calibers. Against the walls are structures like divans which are covered with cloths and which are of the type natives use as beds. Here too, as I later discovered, they serve as beds and the frames were made of imitation wood. In the middle stood an absolutely enormous table around which, since there were no chairs, trunks and boxes were set. A side room to the left, or perhaps one should say a partitioned section, which was covered with carpets on the boards, contained the small storage space from which a small window provided with a table acted as the counter. That’s from where the native trade goods were sold. Small [Bakweri] boys, cute as monkeys, acted as servants and assistants, and were busy also in the kitchen, which was in the house next door. (Zöller 1885: 177)

When hunting failed them, and almost at the end of their resources, as is well known, quite fortuitously the young Swedes (all in their twenties) discovered the wild rubber vine¹ growing in the forest. How this significant event happened is now clarified in the memoir. They soon saw its potential for commerce and the advantage of acquiring land rights from the locals. In 1890, with consul (sedermera generalkonsul) Otto Heilborn in Sweden, they established a business called Knutson, Waldau and Heilborns Afrikanska Handelsaktiebolag. The order of the names is probably significant, and one is tempted to assume that Knutson invested more money in the business than Waldau. He was also the elder of the two, and Zöller certainly pictures Knutson as in the more dominant role. Oddly enough, Knutson does not once mention the name of this business in his memoirs, perhaps because it went bankrupt seven years after it was established.

Once established in business in Cameroon, Knutson and Waldau opened a number of collecting and trading points, known as ‘factories’, on the beaches and riverbanks. The manner in which they negotiated with the chiefs is well described in the memoir (see especially II, 6). The symbols on the map provided here, based originally on Waldau’s sketch, possibly indicate roughly the placing of their ‘factories’. Fascinating details of their trading practices, including mishaps, are given (ibid.). As they expanded their work, Waldau returned home for a visit to get helpers. Wästberg explains that,

through their circle of friends, and via different acquaintances they recruited people of the same age who were skilled in different crafts: carpenters, machinists, sea captains, bookkeepers and administrators. What was particular about almost all of them was that they came from Vanerbygden and Varaslatten. This was where some already-famous Swedes who had experience in Africa came from, including Charles John Andersson who discovered Lake Ngami and the River Okavangi in Namibia and Botswana, and Alex Eriksson from Vanersborg, who explored Damaraland in the South Afrika of that time, and great bold-hearted personalities who had great influence over the others: the bear hunter Lloyd, and the conservator Gustaf Kolthoff, who later founded the Biologiska Museet in Stockholm. (Wästberg, in Pouncette 1989: 6)

Knutson characterizes ‘the young Swedes engaged by us as almost all brave and fearless’ (memoir). Among those recruited in 1892, on a three-year contract, was Carl Johan Pouncette (born 15.4.71), who left Göteborg aboard the steamer Rollo on 3 February 1893, with Captain G. B. Carlmark from Karlstad; among the passengers were Fridolf Pettersson from Lundby and Klas Johansson from Ulfstorp. Waldau met them at Liverpool, where they transferred to the Benguela. After the end of his three-year contract, Pouncette (together with Pettersson and one Svenson) returned to Sweden. Sadly he died on 16 April 1896, but he left behind him some day books which a relative, Nils Pouncette, has edited into a small but valuable booklet Ett Afrikanskt aventyr, 1987. In this publication we are given some details of trading life at Lobe, of the business which employed him and of its eventual bankruptcy.

Knutson’s memoirs are not a work of scholarship, nor by a hand with great literary skill. He did not wield power, with vast resources at his command, nor was he backed up by an imposing organization, whether administrative, military or commercial. Men with these resources, including Zintgraff, Esser, Dominik, Puttkamer, Seitz and Kemner, among others, have all produced German versions of local events, some of which are noted in the bibliography below. One value of Swedish recollections of this period of great social, economic and political change in Cameroon is that, not being members of the great naval and commercial powers of the times – the Germans, British and French – the Swedes were as neutral as any expatriate of those days was likely to be. Their comments are therefore particularly welcome. And in a small community of expatriates, they were necessarily on familiar terms with others from abroad in various walks of life.

They arrived in Cameroon just before imperial rule came to it in the form of the German Protectorate, and they became involved in the turbulent negotiations between the various chiefs and powers of the day. They were not entirely without their own political aspirations, however, for Knutson dreamed of establishing a colony in Cameroon for his own countrymen² – as various Englishmen had done before him (see Ardener, S.G. 1968, for examples), and as did the Polish patriot Rogozinski, who competed with the Swedes (see below). But the Swedes, like some other adventurers before them (op cit.) did not have the support of their home government. Forestalled by the Germans, who did support Zöller, the Swedes decided to co-operate with them, in the hope of securing personal commercial success. Despite their relative powerlessness, at a significant moment or two in the history of the annexation of lands by the Germans, Knutson and his colleague Waldau played a key part. For a short while, he and Waldau were at the heart of events in Cameroon. They may even have changed the course of that history. It may have been because Knutson felt that those he trusted had manipulated him, and that his role had not been acknowledged, that he so vigorously conducted his later legal battles over land. He may well have felt duped. Zöller’s account of the help Knutson gave him makes that understandable (see Part IV, 6, below). For Waldau, an accommodation with the Germans was achieved; Knutson was embittered by the experience.

Meanwhile Knutson and Waldau undertook explorations, and Knutson published an account (given more briefly in his memoirs) of his climb up to the summit of the Cameroon Mountain. It appeared in the scholarly Swedish journal, Ymer (1885), as ‘Ein bestigning af Kamerunbergets stora pik’ (‘A Climb to the big peak of Mount Cameroon’) and is not included here, as the essentials are covered in the memoir. Knutson also wrote long letters to the Swedish press (for example he described his climb of the Small Cameroon Mountain in the Aftenblatdet of 24 April 1886).

Knutson left fewer scholarly writings than his younger colleague, the student Georg Waldau, who was already a member of the Svenska Sallskapet for Antropologi och Geografi (the Swedish Association for Anthropology and Geography), which Knutson was to join only later. Waldau wrote several long pieces in Ymer, the titles of which I give here in English:

1885: 271–301. A Journey to the land north of the Cameroon Mountain

1885: 163–77. About the Bakweri People

1887: 219–30. New Trips to the land north of the Cameroon Mountain

1888: 138–68. Report from Mount Cameroon I

1889: 97–112. Report from Mount Cameroon II

1890: 135–43. Discovery of Lake Soden

1892: 113–27. Journey to Ngolo-land

1892: 132–52. Journey from Ndian Factory through Ngolo, north Bakundu and over the Rumbi mountain to Bonge factory

Knutson’s rich descriptions of village customs were paralleled by Waldau’s paper ‘About the Bakweri People’ included here (IV, 1). As they spent so much time together, and had access to each other’s writings, they do not differ greatly in subject and approach. It seemed useful, however, to include here a translation of Waldau’s ethnography; any overlap offers confirmation of Knutson’s observations. There is no space in this volume to reproduce in English all of Waldau’s interesting texts on his travels in Cameroon, which he mostly undertook with Knutson. However, the first of Waldau’s papers, about his trip inland, was translated into German and published (as by Valdau) in Bremen. An English epitome is provided below (Part IV, 2). I hope that his, and other Swedish texts, including those by Düben and Dusén, will be made available in English soon.

Particularly interesting is the picture the Swedes draw of daily life in Mapanja village before the turn of the century. We do have an earlier description by Sir Richard Burton, who stayed in the village in 1865 on his way to and from the summit of the Mountain; this, and the later description by George Thomson, who stayed in Mapanja for about six years, from 1873 onwards, are included in Part IV for comparison. It is unusual to have three intimate accounts of life in one African village in the nineteenth century. Some readers might like to turn to the two short descriptions of Mapanja provided below, before reading Knutson’s later and longer account in the memoir. Zöller’s description of the Swedes’ dwelling has already been mentioned. He also gives us a vivid account of the turbulence surrounding the Swedes’ land transactions, which he witnessed, and of the ceding of territory to the Germans. This alternative view, which can be compared to Knutson’s, adds valuable detail which Knutson omits, and increases our understanding of those events (see Part IV, 6).

In his diary Knutson gives high praise to Waldau, who sold his rights in their joint holdings of land in Cameroon to Knutson in 1899. This was two years after the bankruptcy of Knutson, Valdau [sic] and Heilborns Afrikanska Handelsktiebolag, which took place in 1897 (Pouncette 1987: 68). It is noted that although Waldau conducted the negotiations regarding winding up the business, only Knutson and Heilborn signed the papers. Perhaps at that time Waldau was in Cameroon or at Santa Cruz or elsewhere.

Waldau came to face the inevitable political facts, and, although he intermittently assisted Knutson in his legal claims, he eventually collaborated with the Germans. His services were used by the huge concession company, the Gesellschaft Nord-West Kamerun, which was set up in the autumn of 1899, in which he became a shareholder (see III below). He continued to manage plantation estates, even after the British forces appeared during the First World War after which, for a while, he even administered the estates on behalf of the Custodian of Enemy Property. We do not yet know exactly when Waldau left Cameroon, although we have some knowledge of his activities up to 1923. He made two visits home to Sweden, before finally settling in the Canary Islands.

Long before this, in 1896, Knutson had resettled in Sweden. He had married Amanda and had established his family in Stockholm, living comfortably in a house of fifteen rooms. Wästberg described to me Knutson’s dwelling in Stockholm which his son Bertil occupied until his death at the end of 1930. It had remained unchanged since Knut had lived there. Knutson had filled his house with African artefacts, and stuffed birds and animals, as he had done in Mapanja. They were comfortably off; Amanda had inherited some money on her side and they could employ private teachers for Bertil and his sister.

Knutson started a wholesale company importing tropical goods, including spices and the like, which he sold to the local retailers. He and Waldau apparently sold to the Riksmuseets Zoologiska Afdelning 315 specimens – mainly skins and skeletons – of the fauna which they had collected (which, together with the cost of transport from Mapanja to the Kamerun River, was assessed as worth 2035 Kroner). According to Wästberg, Knutson, and later his son, were pioneers in introducing prefabricated wooden dwellings. One wonders whether his African experience had inspired this innovation in Sweden. Wästberg felt that none of the few relatives Bertil had, on either side, was noticeably interested in Knutson’s African adventure, which they did not see as especially successful. It is unlikely that they would have been too pleased by the time and money Knutson expended during the rest of his life in seeking recognition of his rights in Cameroon. Meanwhile, despite his legal battles, as outlined below, Knutson maintained a rich social life and kept up his interest in Cameroon by founding a small dining club which often met in his house, or elsewhere. It included, among others, a botanist, a zoologist, a musician, and another merchant; the gathering discussed birds, museums and the like and listened to music. He also occupied his time writing his memoir. This was probably intended for publication, and although Wästberg drew upon it for his novel, that did not come about – until now. Knutson died on 22 December 1930.³ Waldau outlived him by twelve years.⁴ Bertil had no children, his wife and his sister are also now dead; further, the latter’s only child, a daughter, is also dead.

Notes

1. According to enquiries made by Chief Efange, this rubber plant was probably the vine called veyoma in the Bakweri language (mokpe). Knutson gives it as Ladollphie Florida [Landolphia?]; Preuss propagated Kikxia in the botanic gardens at Limbe until Hevea was found to give better results.

2. Knutson’s thwarted ambitions for a role for Sweden are intriguing. Sweden had no colonies. Back in Sweden Knutson sent a letter to the Swedish foreign office suggesting that the Germans be officially approached with a view to setting up some kind of protectorate. Per Wästberg said to me, ‘the government quickly buried the letter’. In considering Knutson’s frustrations with the Germans, one cannot help remembering the similar disappointment of Eduard Schmidt, on whose deals with the chiefs the German administration’s colonial legality depended. For Schmidt left Cameroon in disgust and determined to ‘live henceforth in a British territory. So he settled down in Lagos… and vowed he would never again set foot on German soil…’ (Ardener, S.G. 1968: 47, quoting Thomas Lewis who had met Schmidt in Lagos).

3. See obituaries in G.H.T., 22.12.30, Swenska Dagbladet, 27.12.1942, Nya Verlden (1942/43?)

4. See obituaries.

CHAPTER 2

The Manuscript

Knutson finished writing his memoir during the First World War.¹ Some of his opinions clearly reflect this. He writes freely, in retrospect, but drew on his day-books contemporary to the events he describes. According to Johan Malmström, who translated some texts for me, even Knutson’s writing style in Swedish in his published paper is less formal than Waldau’s.

The axe Knutson and Waldau had to grind was kinder than were those of the German administration, and of the military and the employers of labour, who helped each other to achieve their various goals. Knutson makes a good claim for himself and Waldau being, more than most expatriates, on intimate terms with the indigenous population of the Cameroon Mountain (the Bakweri, whom they recorded as Bakhiviris or Ba-kwileh (the Swedish ‘v’ being soft), and Bomboko, see footnote 30) and its immediate hinterland. This acceptance by the native population is confirmed from the German preamble to a translation of one of Waldau’s papers from Ymer reproduced in the Deutsche Geographische Blätter, (Bd 3,1886, pp.30–34, 120–41). In this text Georg Valdau [sic] is described as a student (aged 21 in 1883) and Knut Knutson as a former landowner (being five years older than Waldau). It states that, when perplexed by the political changes taking place in 1884, the local people turned to the Swedes ‘who now spoke their language and who had by their behaviour earned their complete trust: this went as far as giving them extensive land without compensation’. Not only did Knutson – and presumably Waldau – speak Bakweri but, according to Knutson, Gustafsson also spoke it fluently, as did some of their other Swedish employees (e.g. Pouncette, see below, and Bovallius). Because of their close relationship with the villagers, Zöller, eager to annexe the mountain area for the Germans, spent a sleepless night before meeting the Swedes, so very anxious was he to get them on his side.

Knutson frequently writes of his friends among the people, admiring their intelligence and wisdom, and at many points contrasts their practices (discipline, medical procedures, demeanour, songs and legal practices) favourably with those of Europe (see, for example, II, 8). Waldau’s attitude to the locals seems at times less sympathetic (IV, 2). The intimacy the Swedes established with local villagers was, from their earliest days, learnt from their acute dependency on them. Their Bakweri host in Mapanja, Mbua Mosekao [Knutson’s M’Boe Mosikao] and in particular Mbua’s mother, who saved their lives when they were ill, ‘poor as rats’ and almost starving to death, made an impression upon them which they never forgot. The tribute Knutson pays to this lady, and later the story of her sad exile as a witch, make moving reading (II, 8). Mbua figures prominently here as guide and interpreter; both Waldau and Zöller spelled his name thus (IV, 1 and 6). He is probably the Mbua Mocki who was witness to some of the Swedes’ land claims (III, 1). Knutson writes ‘I found so many pleasing traits of philanthropy in the people of Mapanja I have as a small reward for all the good and humane service they showed Mr. Waldau and me when poor and sick, dedicated this my book ‘to the Mapanja-people.’’ This memory bore fruit in 1978 when Knutson’s son, then 80 years of age, sent a copy of his father’s memoir to Chief Liwonjo, with his permission to publish. The present Chief Kongo Liwonjo’s direct grandfather was Wotany wo Liwota, brother of the Mosaso mo Liwota who signed a treaty with Knutson.² Chief Kongo Liwonjo himself formerly worked for the Cameroon Development Corporation, which at the time of writing still manages most of the plantations in the mountain region. This is a situation which his forefathers and their neighbours could not have envisaged when they permitted the Swedes (and later the Germans) the use of their land, for what can only appear as a token of acknowledgement.

The story of these land acquisitions, which still concern many today, throws interesting light on international relations over the next 50 years. Besides the account which Knutson gives of the manner in which the Swedes obtained rights to land, we are fortunate in having the independent eyewitness account by Zöller of some of these transactions. The relaxed demeanour of the more experienced Swedes is in sharp contrast to Zöller’s frantic, rough methods. Indeed Knutson’s good-humoured contempt, perhaps appropriate in a military man, for Zöller’s fear, and, later, for that of Schwartz, are made clear in the memoir. Zöller had the advantage of a journalist’s skills, and he includes many details which Knutson omits. He also had other purposes behind his actions and accordingly interprets events differently. Hence his witness, though valuable, is not unbiased, especially in his attitude to those who thwarted him. The consequences of these transactions are still felt keenly today by the Bakweri descendants of those Kings and Chiefs who befriended Knutson and Waldau. For the Bakweri themselves have never ceased to protest about the alienation of these lands by the Germans and those who succeeded them. For comments on the so-called ‘Bakweri Land Question’, see, for example, Matute (1990, chapter 9, pp.124–46) and Molua (1985). As I write, however, most of the descendants of those who made their marks on the land contracts are probably as yet unaware of all the historical details provided below. The Bakweri Land Question has taken a new lease of life recently as the future of the plantation lands are under national and international consideration; besides discussions in Cameroon they are being now actively debated abroad on the internet newsletter known as Camnet. The Bakweri Land Claims Committee has its own website (www.bakwerilands.org). If the former Bakweri lands are privatized, and come under new foreign ownership, as is rumoured might be the case, we can imagine Knutson turning in his grave!

Knutson and Waldau were proud of their country, and on occasion were pleased, as they saw it, to impress other expatriates by wearing Swedish hunting dress. They drank Swedish punch, hoisted their national flag, and they obviously grew to have a vision of a prosperous future for Swedes in Cameroon, a hope rudely disappointed, as the text tells, by the arrival of the Germans. As might be expected, his fellow countrymen come in for sympathetic treatment, especially Knutson’s companion Waldau (always referred to by him formally as Mr Waldau, never Waldau or Georg) and the two servants who accompanied them, J.A. Gustafsson and Richard Ohlsson (sometimes spelled Gustafson and Ohlson, and aged 18 and 27 respectively when they arrived). Nevertheless, Knutson went out of his way to be even-handed, for in his memoir he admits that far from always being heroic some of his countrymen behaved – according to his standards – badly, and some Germans (e.g. Nehber) behaved well.

There were (surprisingly for me, for their presence has been comparatively neglected in the English-language literature) quite a number of Swedes on the West Coast of Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. For example, thirteen Swedes were listed as members of the Stanley Expedition up the Congo – the expedition that Knutson tried unsuccessfully to join. In 1883, at a Christmas party given in Douala by Woermann’s agent Eduard Schmidt, the four newly arrived Swedes were among the guests, little knowing that Schmidt was soon to play a large part in the annexation of Cameroon, to the dashing of some of their aspirations! Present also were ten Germans and, outnumbering them, fifteen Englishmen. These were not the only Europeans in Cameroon then, of course, but the preponderance of English among the expatriates would probably have reflected reality. However, some time after this, as already noted, Knutson and Waldau were employing Swedes in their business ventures, and they also had a number of Swedish visitors, including Waldau’s cousin, Levin. The success of Knutson and Waldau’s ventures are attested by the number of trading points listed in the Kolonial-Handbuch of 1896, compiled from official sources by Rudolph Fitzner, which provides us with a census of expatriates in Cameroon. The Swedish presence around the mountain is given thus:

Douala – Factory of Knutson, Valdau and Heilborns Afrikanska Handelsaktiebolag (no staff being mentioned);

Man o’War Bay (Kriegschiffbucht) – Kamerun Land-und Plantagen-Gesellschaft (KLPG), Hamburg. 3 Germans, 1 Swede; Manager – Frederici (earlier Teudt);

Debundscha Plantation – owned by Linnel & Co. (cocoa). 2 Swedes;

Bonge [Mbonge] – 1 Factory owned by Knutson, Valdau and Heilborn, 1 by Ambas Bay Trading Co. 1 Swede, 1 English;³

Bavo – branch of K.V. & H. [no personnel given];

Lobe – K. V. & H. factory. 1 Swede;

Bioki – K. V. & H. branch. 1 Swede;

Moko – K.V.& H. branch. 1 Swede;

Rio del Rey – (Customs Post, Postal Agent here) Branch of K.V.& H. (consisting of huts of bamboo and mangrove poles, plus a corrugated iron storehouse). 2 Germans, 2 Swedes;

Ndian – branch of K. V. & H, and of Ambas Bay Trading Co. 1 Swede.

This gives ten Swedes. Yet fifteen are given as the total number of Swedes in Cameroon; possibly the missing five are women and children, or they may have been seafarers (pilots), servants, or visitors.⁴ The opening of Swedish factories at Ekumba Lyonga (on 5/2/1888, being managed by G. Linnell) and Bonge [Mbonge] (under Bovallius, on 10/3/1888) is described in the memoir. Pouncette built up the Lobe factory. At some time Waldau’s wife joined him on the coast. She is mentioned once, briefly, by Knutson as living in Debundscha – possibly after Knutson himself had left. Though she and Waldau could be the two Swedes in Debundscha mentioned above, so far I have not found her name in print, although her presence in the 1920s is acknowledged in a file name on a list in the Buea archives. Knutson did not have a wife with him in Africa.

Throughout the memoir, but especially in his penultimate chapter (II, 11), Knutson gives pen portraits of many of the other members of the ethnically mixed expatriate community. With exceptions (e.g. Soden), it was the farmers and officials who were criticized. Those with whom Knutson felt he shared most in common were the missionaries and the traders, of all nationalities. They, like Knutson and Waldau, depended for their success on the goodwill of the local people. They therefore maintained good relations with their local contacts and tried to defuse conflict by tact rather than by imposing solutions by force.

Commendably, Knutson often names his informants, which notably include ‘his special friend’. King Mussakka of Kumba Lyonga, King Mosingi [Mosenge⁵] of Soppo, King N’diba Ekoa of Bonjongo, and his friend named M’Boe or Mbua Mosekao [Mbua Mosika⁶] of Mapanja, his guide and probably his witness for the sale of land, who became well known to the Germans. Indeed Zöller treated him very badly (see IV, 6 below). Some other personalities of local people come through clearly, like that of his wily co-conspirator, King Dualla of Oron Battekaba [Batoki (Isangele)], who helped him establish trading posts. There is also the historically minded King Attokorro of Oron with whom he shared wild speculations about the past, the dignified King Njeka of Binga [Bwenga (Mbinga)], King Mottutue of Sanje (Sanji), as well as less prestigious, but no less interesting characters, like his hunter friends and the contented slave at Kumbe. Knutson felt he was trusted by the famous King Kuva of Buea and by the influential Letongo.

On many occasions Knutson saved people from punishment, or aided those that received it. He helped a man pass the sasswood poison ordeal, for example (see below). On the other hand, at times, Knutson’s (and Waldau’s) writings are far from what today would be considered as ‘politically correct’, or socially or morally acceptable. He tolerated the beating of a ‘witchman’ whom he felt was evil (see Zöller, IV, 6, for a comment on this event). Knutson and Waldau speak disparagingly of the attempts by chiefs to prise out of the Swedes what they saw as their entitlements to fees, earned for assisting them in their travels, also for providing water and food, for supplying guides and, probably more important, imparting valuable local knowledge. Some chiefs, of course, were well versed in negotiating with Europeans (see Burton at Mapanja, IV, 3 below) and probably with Africans from Calabar (Waldau, IV, 2). Indeed there was a long tradition on the West Coast of Africa of merchants paying ‘comeys’, which can be seen as commissions, or customs duties. The tradition continues to some extent even today, not only in the form of legal custom duties and licences, but in the ‘dashes’ companies sometimes pay to those that assist them – business expenses which can be seen as fair recompense for services rendered, or as corrupting bribes, depending on the degree of secrecy and privilege involved, and the public interest. Today, as formerly, all over the world private enterprises recognize the value of information given, and services rendered by local middlemen, in the form of seats on the Boards of Directors, fees for public relation or other expertise, and the like.

Discursive primary sources, such as those here, throw light on the reality of everyday negotiations between expatriates and the village leaders, who would be expected by their people to use their debating skills to acquire wealth for redistribution among them. Waldau gives a telling description of the Babinga ‘King’ who, though trembling in every limb, persisted in obtaining for himself and his people (for they were consulted) the fees he felt appropriate for their services. This was quite courageous since, as Waldau explains, the chiefs on his route knew the party was well provided with the most sophisticated weaponry, which they made sure the locals knew the power of (IV, 2);