Research station in the Kamerunggebiet
The expedition to establish a research station in the Kamerunggebiet was an expedition financed by the Federal Foreign Office in the newly established protected area of Cameroon since 1886 . It was led in turn by officers Richard Kund and Curt Morgen .
The most important goal was the establishment of a German outpost on the other side of the rainforest in order to open up the densely populated areas of Cameroon and at the same time avoid the intermediate trade there, which is dominated by Duala and Bassa . The expedition ended with the conversion of the research station Yaoundé (today Yaoundé ) into a military station and the associated takeover of its administration by the Schutztruppe in May 1895.
At the same time there was an expedition led by Eugen Zintgraff , which penetrated into the northwestern hinterland of Cameroon from 1889 .
Attendees
The Foreign Office offered Prime Minister Richard Kund to lead the expedition. He had already led an expedition of the German Africa Society in the lower reaches of the Congo in 1884 and 1885. As has already happened in the Congo, Hans Tappenbeck became Kund's deputy . Other participants at the beginning of the expedition were the botanist Johannes Braun and the zoologist Bernhard Weißenborn . The most important African participant was Elmina David Cornelius , who has also accompanied Kund in the Congo.
Africans from various West African coastal areas were recruited as porters. During the entire course of the expedition, the situation of the porters repeatedly led to tensions, not least because, contrary to the treaties, they were obliged to serve in arms.
The headman of the porters were the Lagos man Lampty and Elmina Arsenoa . An important local leader became Mebenga m'Ebono aka Martin Paul Samba .
Braun left the expedition in 1887. Weissenborn died on February 21, 1889 Douala to dysentery . Tappenbeck died of malaria on July 26th of the same year in Duala. Kund suffered a stroke in October 1889 and then had to travel home.
An as yet unknown number of porters were killed in combat, illness and accidents.
course
First foray by Kund and Tappenbeck (1886–1888)
Kund first tried to penetrate inland from the navigable end of the Sanaga near today's Edéa . This attempt quickly failed due to resistance from the local population. It was therefore decided to move the starting point of the expedition to Kribi on the Batanga coast . Here, too, there was resistance to the expedition's plans from the start. The attempt to cross the forest in October 1887 failed because the Batanga headman Toko had led the expedition around in a circle for several days in pouring rain. It was not until the two Batanga chiefs Toko and Madola were taken hostage on board the gunboat Cyclop that the Batanga gave way. After this unsuccessful attempt, Braun left the expedition and subsequently devoted himself to establishing a first Cameroonian plant system in Klein-Batanga.
The first successful advance through the uninhabited forest region began on November 7th, 1887. Less than a week later, the troops reached the place Bongolo, at that time the most important place in the Ngumba area . The local headman Tungo allegedly received Kund with the words that he had not called for whites.
Tungo's lack of support was compensated for by the support of neighboring Ewondo boss Owono Fuda, who made it possible to continue the journey. The route was continued over the area of the Bane and the area of the future Yaounde station to the Sanaga, which the expedition reached in mid-January 1888 at the height of the Nachtigal rapids. The direction of flow quickly made it clear that the Sanaga does not belong to the Congo Basin.
The attempt to advance beyond the Sanaga failed because of the resistance of the Vute . Kund then tried to advance the Sanaga downstream to the coast. This attempt almost ended in disaster when the troops were ambushed by the Basaa of Ndog Beha on February 8, 1888, not far from Bot Makak . Ten porters died and thirty members of the expedition were wounded, including Kund in both arms and Tappenbeck in the temple. Under Weissenborn's leadership, the expedition reached Groß-Batanga on March 3rd.
Second advance by Kund and Tappenbeck (1888–1889)
The second attempt, this time with the clear order to build a station inland, began with a strike. Some of the porters refused to arm. The background to the action was also that a repetition of the attacks on the Sanaga was feared. The conflict was resolved with a policy of incentives and sanctions. Later, several porters in Elmina reported charges against the German government, including the suicide of a porter Jannu Arkel after he had been illegally flogged twice.
On January 4, 1889 Kund set out with an advance guard from Kribi. Tappenbeck followed four days later together with Weißenborn and the adventurer Karl Hörhold . A short time later Weißenborn had to be sent back to the coast accompanied by Hörhold due to illness. Both groups reunited on January 31st on Njong . At that time, various health problems created a serious crisis. Kund suffered from severe rheumatism, Tappenbeck had an attack of fever. Several porters had to be left behind earlier.
On February 6, 1889 Kund reported about a station under construction "on the upper Njong" in a park landscape in Yaoundé Land, seven days' journey from the Sanaga. It is not entirely clear whether this is the later Yaounde station. Its construction is mentioned for the first time in a report from April 4, 1889.
What is certain is that the Yaoundé Station was founded in February 1889. It was the local headman Esono Ela who gave the expedition permission to build the station in the immediate vicinity of his village. Undoubtedly, he promised himself economic advantages as well as better protection against competing communities.
Weakened by his illness, Kund had to march back to Kribi on March 12th. A short time later, his caravan was attacked in the Janda and Etenga area, but without taking much damage.
Hörhold arrived in Yaoundé on May 9th from Kribi. A letter from Governor Julius von Soden to Kund, regarding the request for Hörhold's dismissal because of a "disreputable past", did not reach Kund. When Tappenbeck opened the letter in Yaoundé, he was unable to send Hörhold back accompanied by Cornelius or Lampty, because "he is too foolish". The actual plan to entrust Cornelius with the management of the station and to grant Hörhold only guest rights, Tappenbeck postponed to the time of his planned return in November.
Tappenbeck left Yaounde on May 15 for the north. His assignment was to establish a connection with the Zintgraff expedition in Bali . At that time it was not yet clear that Zintgraff's Bali was not identical to Balinga on Mbam . The misunderstanding, however, resulted in Tappenbeck becoming the first European at the court of Ngrang Gomtsé in Ndumba. This first diplomatic encounter between the Vute and the German colonial power was peaceful. Although Gomtsé gave Tappenbeck a rich gift of ivory, he still did not allow him to continue his journey.
Tappenbeck returned briefly to Yaoundé on June 10th and temporarily commissioned Hörhold to manage the station. On June 17, he marched on towards the coast, but five hours after leaving the station, his caravan was also attacked by the Etenga. However, Tappenbeck decided to set an example. His attack resulted in the death of several dozen Etenga.
On July 4th, Tappenbeck reached Kribi, from where he continued to Cameroon City, today's Duala. He died of malaria three weeks later.
swell
- ↑ Laburthe-Tolra, Philippe: Vers la lumière? Ou le désir d'Ariel. Vol. 3, p. 75 ff.
- ^ Archives Nationales de Yaoundé, Fonds Allemand, FA 1/79, p. 33
- ↑ Federal Archives R 1001/3268, p. 119f
- ↑ Federal Archives R 1001/3268, Bl. 14f
- ↑ Tappenbeck to Kund of July 4, 1889, Federal Archives R 1001/3268, p. 126F