Canoes, Cloth, and Conflict: The Wary King Romwa (Hannington Part 4)

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After a brutal trek across the interior, James Hannington and two fellow missionaries finally reach the lands of Romwa of Buzinza, exhausted, sick, and desperate for canoes to cross Lake Victoria. But with empty hands and no tribute to offer, they quickly learn that Romwa is no simple chief. He is a wary monarch guarding his sovereignty in a world where strangers mean danger… and nothing comes for free.

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Youtube Episode link: https://youtu.be/oII9e6b000c

                                     Sources

• Ashe, Robert Pickering. Chronicles of Uganda. London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1894 
• Bennett, Norman Robert. Mirambo of Tanzania, 1840?-1884. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1971.
• Berry, Grinton . “Bishop Hannington and the Story of the Uganda Mission.” New York, Revell, 1908
• “Church Missionary Gleaner (afterwards C.M.S. Gleaner).” [London: Church Missionary Society, year varies]. https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Church_missionary_gleaner_afterw_C_M_S_g/5xkFAAAAQAAJ.
• Dawson, Edwin Collas. Lion-hearted: The Story of Bishop Hannington's Life, Told for Boys and Girls. United Kingdom: Seeley, 1890.
• Europeans in East Africa: Biographical Database. Accessed September 27, 2025. https://www.europeansineastafrica.co.uk/_site/custom/database/default.asp?a=viewIndividual&pid=2&person=4252.
• Hannington, James. Peril and Adventure in Central Africa. Being Illustrated Letters to the Youngsters at Home, by the Late Bishop H. With Illustrations from Original Sketches by the Bishop, and a Biographical Memoir. N.p.: London, 1886.
• Hartwig, Gerald W. “The Victoria Nyanza as a Trade Route in the Nineteenth Century.” The Journal of African History 11, no. 4 (1970): 535–52.
• Holmes, C. F. “Zanzibari Influence at the Southern End of Lake Victoria: The Lake Route.” African Historical Studies 4, no. 3 (1971): 477–503.
• Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography. Vol. 1, no. 2 (February 1879): 135–38. Report of the Evening Meetings, Session 1878–79.
• Michael, Charles D. James Hannington, Bishop and Martyr. London: SW Patridge & C. Ltd. 1910 
• Rockel, Stephen. Caravan Porters of the Nyika: Labour, Culture, and Society in Nineteenth Century East Africa. University of Toronto, 1997.
• Stock, Sarah Geraldina. The Story of Uganda and the Victoria Nyanza Mission. United Kingdom: Religious Tract Society, 1894.

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