Pioneer Mission Work in Central Africa

Arthur B. Arnot; Dorothy Middleton

The Geographical Journal, Vol. 138, No. 1. (Mar., 1972), pp. 127-128.

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 CORRESPONDENCE 127

References
King, R. B. 1968 Periglacial features in the Cairngorm Mountains. Unpublished PhD thesis,
Edinburgh.
-1972 Lobes in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland Biuletyn Peryglacjalny 21 (In Press).
Kerry Stables
Lamas Lane
Esher
Surrey KT10 8 N Y
22 October 1971

Dr. Sugden replies :

I am grateful to Dr. R. B. King for pointing out that he did not attempt to examine
solifluction sheets in detail and that this is one reason why they do not receive full
attention in his thesis. However, even with this modification my main point stands.
Most of the upper Cairngorm slopes are covered with lobes rather than uniform
solifluction sheets. This is particularly striking if one excludes those slopes where
one would not expect to find evidence of solifluction lobes, for example, cliffs, screes,
blockfields, areas of porous fluvioglacial drift and areas covered with peat. If, for
example, one takes the area around Cairn Gorm (King's 'North-East' map) and makes
allowances for the 'unsuitable' areas indicated above, then c.80 per cent of the 'avail-
able' area above c.550 m is covered with solifluction lobes. In addition, it can by no
means be claimed that the remaining area (20 per cent) represents the distribution of
solifluction sheets. In the west of the massif where lobes are scarcer, similar calcula-
tions suggest that c.60 per cent of the 'available' area is covered with lobate features.
The stone orientation strengths mentioned by King probably reflect the effect of
solifluction but, taken alone, they cannot be used as evidence of the amount of
downslope movement of regolith. In this context it is relevant to note that the schist
erratics on the spur crest in the vicinity of the Argyll stone, which I quoted as evidence
of negligible downslope movement of the regolith since deglaciation, are on just such
a slope with no lobes.
Finally, relict permafrost features such as ice wedges may often be seen in plan
view as polygons as well as in sections (e.g. Williams, 1964). The gravel regolith on
the Cairngorm summits is apparently in situ, and indeed collectors of the quartz
'Cairngorm stones' identify likely veins in the solid rock from the occurrences of quartz
pebbles in the gravel. Yet there are no signs of polygonal ice wedges. Negative
evidence must clearly be treated with reserve but it seems fair to point out that none
has been found.
DAVIDE. SUGDEN

Reference
Williams, R. B . G. 1964 Fossil patterned ground in eastern England. Birrletyn Peryglacjalny
14: 337-49.

University of Aberdeen
Old Aberdeen AB9 2 UF
I 8 November I 97 I

PIONEER MISSION WORK I N CENTRAL AFRICA

From The Reverend A . B. Arnot :

I have just received a copy of the republished book by Cass entitled Garenganze:
seven years pioneer mission work in Central Africa. I have referred to your review
(Geogrl J. 136, 3: 477) and am somewhat surprised at the rather summary dismissal
of this book. Having developed an illustrated lecture on Arnot's life over a period of
I 28 CORRESPONDENCE

years I have been impressed by the inspiring effect of his devoted life; it is anything
but dispiriting. Because my father did not make sensational claims does not detract
from the fact that he laid the foundation for a vast organization for evangelism in the
heart of Africa as a pioneer not only of the Plymouth Brethren missions but also of
the SAGM and Baptist work in Lambaland.
I was personally informed when in Rhodesia as president of the Baptist Union of
South Africa that the construction of the Angola railway was greatly assisted by
F. S. Arnot's surveys. Further your reference to my father's negligible effect on
Msidi is somewhat refuted by his rather laconic reference to the immense parting
gift of this old chief: 'At last finding that I sought nothing from him [he had offered
copper claims, etc.] he gave me from his side his rod of authority or sceptre, assuring
me that it would be, to all who knew him, an assurance of friendship that exists
between us' (p. 245). I still hold this treasure in my possession. The Tshombe
government sought its return.
But the value of this book is surely the light that it throws on the anthropology of
Africa and thus on the problems that beset those who are seeking to provide a civilized
answer to the solution of what David Livingstone described as 'This open sore of the
World'.
ARTHUR B. ARNOT

The Algoa Park Baptist Church,

P.O. Box I 1008,

Port Elizabeth,

South Africa.

I 5 December I 97 1 .

Mrs. Middleton replies :

I much regret that my perhaps too brief review of Frederick Arnot's Garenganze
should have seemed to disparage the fine work of this Christian pioneer in Africa.
It has, I confess, always seemed to me that the immediate outcome of Arnot's mission
was somewhat disappointing in view of Msidi's continued barbarity, but I realize
after reading Mr. Arthur Arnot's letter that there is more to the story than I had
understood. I must stress, however, that what I find dispiriting are the adverse
forces against which Arnot had to contend; his own dedication and perseverance
were in the true tradition of Livingstone and must certainly have inspired those who
succeeded him in different parts of Africa.
DOROTHY MIDDLETON

I 9 Sydney Street,
London SW3 GPU.
3 I December 1971.

MEETINGS: SESSION 1971-72

Meeting of 18 October 1971. Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Irving in the Chair
Film :The Empty Quarter

Meeting of I November 1971.T h e President in the Chair

Paper: Return to Shackleton's Elephant Island. By Commander M. K. Burley,
MBE, R N
Elections to Fellowship: Mohed a1 Hadi Abusin; Miss Jane Blackmore; David
Kenneth Chester; A. Carson Clark; Mrs. Muriel Durie Clarke; Wah T i m Hoe;
George Sidney Holland; Byram N. Jeejeebhoy; Thomas William Marsh; Stephen