IDNO

N.19389.ROS

Description

Distant view of a native-style, thatched house in the Camp of the Provincial Commissioner in a landscape. There are two young African boys? of the Mount Elgon region standing next to the house.

Place

E Africa; Uganda; Elgon; Mount Elgon

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Guy Eden (Provincial Commissioner)

Photographer

?Roscoe, John R.

Collector / Expedition

Roscoe, John R. [Mackie Ethnological Expedition, Uganda, 1919 - 1920]

Date

1919 - 1920

Collection Name

Roscoe Collection

Source

Format

Film Negative Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

This negative was kept in an envelope marked C31/20/ by the cataloguer. The envelope was kept in box marked C31/ by the cataloguer.
Previously stored on Shelf 4, in group of 4 wooden boxes numbered 180.

Publication: Similar images published in Roscoe, J., 1924. The Bagesu and other tribes of the Uganda Protectorate: The Third Part of the Report of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition to Central Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.), Plate I, with the captions: "Scenery on Mount Elgon: Commissioner’s camping ground” and "Commissioner’s Camp”. [ED 23/10/2007]

Bibliographical Reference: Barber, J.P., 1962. ‘The Karamoja District of Uganda: A Pastoral People under Colonial Rule,’ The Journal of African History: 3 (1), pp. 111 - 124.
Bibliographical Reference: Kabwegyere, Tarsis B., ‘The Dynamics of Colonial Violence: The Inductive System in Uganda,’ Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 9, No. 4. (1972), pp. 303 - 314. [ED 23/10/2007]

Context: "On my return from the higher slopes of Elgon to Mbale I found that Mr. Cox, the District Commissioner, had left the station to meet the Provincial Commissioner who, with his wife, was expected to arrive in the district within the next three or four days. However, I used a room in his house for the work of arranging my goods, while I myself was most hospitably entertained by the Assistant District Commissioner. ... Hearing that I should be able to get a place in the Motor Van for Jinja and thus save a march which would take two or three days, I allowed my tent and surplus goods to be sold at once, and, as accommodation in the van was limited, I sent on my rather useless head-boy, along with the small-boy who had been my cook’s assistant, with several cases, to Jinja by road, so that all might be in readiness there on my arrival.
When, however, I had made all these arrangements, Mr. Guy Eden, the Provincial Commissioner, arrived with his wife, and I found that he was an old friend, for I had met him years ago when he first came out to Kampala to join the Service. They urged me to alter my plans and join them in a journey which would take us over the Koko ridge of Elgon, then south towards Lake Victoria, and so round through Busoga to Jinja. I was at first a little disinclined to fall in with this proposal, as I had sold my tent and goods and would have to borrow others, and also because I doubted whether, under the conditions of such a tour, I should be able to do much work, for the natives stand in awe of the Provincial Commissioner, and the fact that he is always accompanied by a body of native police adds to their timidity in approaching them; under such circumstances my special method of investigation would be impossible. However, I determined to take a holiday and accepted their kind invitation to accompany them as their guest. Accordingly two days later I was again moving northward by slow stages, and we took ten days to reach Jinja. This journey, with its easy stages, its pleasant company and its general comfort made a splendid holiday and was a delightful experience after my usual experience of getting around the country. Mr. Cox accompanied Mr. Eden through his own district so society was not lacking, and the novelty of a lady’s presence added much to the pleasure of the journey. Mrs. Eden is one of those women whose part in the making of our Empire is an invaluable one. Not only do they brighten the existence of their husbands, but their encouraging influence reaches farther and does more good than they themselves can possibly realize, cheering and sustaining many others whose life work calls them to dwell in the wild and lonely places” (Roscoe, J., 1922. The Soul of Central Africa: An Account of the Mackie Ethnological Expedition. (London: Cassell and Co.), p. 281 - 282). [ED 23/10/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Elisabeth Deane 23/10/2007]