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C O H E N C O R N E R“Uganda Is Defended by Its Insects”:Churchill’s African TravelogueR O N A L D I. C O H E N___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mr. Cohen (ron@chartwellcomm.com) is author of the Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, 3 vols. (Continuum, 2006)and a longtime Finest Hour contributor. Photographs from the author’s collection. Numbers are from the Cohen Bibliography.Above: Hodder & Stoughton the first English edition (Cohen A27.1, left) but only 903 of thepaper wraps Colonial edition (A27.3, right): the rarest form of MAJ and one of the scarcest inthe entire Churchill canon. The cover was a woodcut of WSC with his white rhinocerous.Left: The striking Hodder& Stoughton SixpennyNovels edition (A27.8),March 1910, reset in twocolumns, with its artisticfront cover: 20,009 copieswere printed for domesticand export use.Right: Preceding allvolume editions wereserialisations in theBritish (C228a) andAmerican (C228b) StrandMagazine, beginning inthe March and April 1908issues respectively.FINEST HOUR 149 / 54
In December 1905, Prime Minister SirHenry Campbell-Bannermanappointed Winston Churchill Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Ayear and a half later, on 5 June 1907,Churchill proposed visiting British EastAfrica. His superior, Colonial SecretaryLord Elgin, wrote: “…if it is convenient& appeals to you to undertake that expedition,it will I am sure be of the greatestadvantage that you should have seen thecountry—where we have so many difficultproblems to deal with.” Elgin addedthat he hoped “it will be a pleasant aswell as an interesting trip.”Plans advanced and LadyRandolph wrote Winston on August22nd that she “hate[d] to think of yourgoing off for so long—and that I shallnot see you again before your departure.”Winston’s soon-to-be sister-in-law, LadyGwendeline Bertie (“Goonie”), wrotehim several letters before his departure,including one in which she expressed thehope he would not be visiting Uganda:“It is a country of fevers, man killingcountry, full of pestilentious insects andpoisonous marshes....” He did plan to gothere and, in a very unusual inscriptionin a copy of My African Journey, he laterwrote: “Uganda is defended by its insects.p. 94”—and on page 94 of the firstedition we read these same words, followedby a typically Churchillian passage:The dreaded Spirillum tick has begun toinfest the roads like a tiny footpad, andscarcely any precautions avail with certaintyagainst him….When he bites aninfected person he does not contract theSpirillum fever himself, nor does hetransmit it directly to other persons. By apeculiarly malevolent provision of naturethis power is exercised not by him butby his descendants, who are numberedin hundreds. So the poison spreads in anincalculable progression. Although thisfever is not fatal, it is exceptionallypainful in its course and distressing in itsconsequences.Subsequent editions of MyAfrican Journey. Above, L-R:Neville-Spearman (Cohen A27.9),Icon (A27.10) and Heron Books(A27.11) appeared 1962-65.Left: The New English Library,1972 (A27.12). Right: The mostrecent Easton Press volume,1995 (A27.16). Below L-R: Issuedin 1989 by Leo Cooper (A27.13),Norton (A27.14) and Mandarinpaperback (A27.15).Churchill set out on September10th, passing through France, Italy,Austria, Malta, Cyprus and Aden beforearriving in Mombasa in early November.Already a much-in-demand author, hehad begun his negotiations (with TheStrand Magazine) for the publication ofa series of articles and photographs onhis East African trip before departing,although it was only after he arrivedthere that those negotiations were concluded.As originally contemplated,Churchill was to be paid £150 per articlefor a five-part serialisation in The Strandplus £30 for the photographs.On November 17th Churchillwrote his brother Jack: “I have received afine offer from the Strand Magazine forfive articles for £750, which I propose toaccept, as it will definitely liquidate allpossible expenses in this journey. Therewill be another £500 in book form.”The excitement of Churchill’stravels can only be appreciated from thetext of the work, which he described as“a continuous narrative of the lighterside of what was to me a very delightfuland inspiring journey.” By the 27th ofDecember, however, our author was backon the Nile, and 3 January 1908 foundhim relaxing in Cairo. Only ten dayslater Churchill stopped at the elegantHotel Bristol in Paris, and was diningwith his brother at the Ritz Hotel inLondon on the 17th. >>FINEST HOUR 149 / 55
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THE JOURNAL OF WINSTON CHURCHILLWIN
Page 6: T H E M E O F T H E I S S U EThe Va
Page 9 and 10: History, Bob Pettengill, CB 17.Chur
Page 11 and 12: Painted Lady: A North Africanvisito
Page 13 and 14: world. I recognised Hillgarth’s n
Page 15 and 16: They Owed Churchill—and He Owed M
Page 18 and 19: “Churchill exploited intelligence
Page 20 and 21: C H U R C H I L L A N D I N T E L L
Page 22 and 23: GOLDEN EGGS...When he was in Britai
Page 24 and 25: GOLDEN EGGS...attack across the Wes
Page 26 and 27: GOLDEN EGGS...called “American Wa
Page 29 and 30: MedmenhamIn July 1943 I was posted
Page 33 and 34: The SIGSALY SystemTo operate this c
Page 37: W I T A N D W I S D O M“Unsinkabl
Page 40 and 41: C O V E R S T O R YWhen the Twain M
Page 42 and 43: WHEN THE TWAIN MET...“I was thril
Page 44 and 45: Twain aged 72, in the robes of Oxfo
Page 46 and 47: ,E D U C A T I O NJames Muller's pa
Page 48 and 49: E D U C A T I O NBelow: We enjoyed
Page 50 and 51: Books, Arts& CuriositiesChurchill C
Page 52 and 53: R E V I E W S“A1” RETURNS...Eas
Page 56 and 57: AFRICAN TRAVELOGUE...Churchill earn
Page 58 and 59: R E V I E W SThe Least of the Lot
Page 60 and 61: FIFTY YEARS HENCE...As a writer, Ch
Page 62 and 63: Churchill QuizJAMES LANCASTEREach q
Page 64: Alan Turing OBE FRS (1912-1954): He
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