' ' ,-> 
 
 ; :
 
 


 
 HENRY M. STANLEY.
 
 THE 
 
 ACHIEVEMENTS OF STANLEY 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 AFRICAN EXPLORERS. 
 
 Comprising all the late and really great achievements won in the exploration 
 of the vast unknown region of equatorial Africa ; chief among which are the 
 finding of the lost Livingstone by Stanley, the explorations of the great 
 lakes, the wonderful experiences of Sir Samuel W. Baker, in his re- 
 markable expedition, with a small army, under royal authority, to the 
 Central Lake Region by way of the Nile ; the discoveries of Lieut. 
 Cameron in his memorable overland journey across the entire 
 continent from east to west ; and the crowning triumph of all, 
 won by the daring and intrepid Stanley, in facing a thousand 
 perils by savages, cataracts, disease, wild beasts and 
 starvation, but by an almost superhuman heroism, 
 forcing his way down the dark river 2500 miles, and 
 solving the great mystery by proving Living- 
 stone's Lualaba verily the headwaters of the mighty 
 
 C O NGhO. 
 
 And thus opening a grand highway from 
 
 the west coast to the heart and treasures 
 
 of one of the most populous and 
 
 productive continents of the globe. 
 
 The story of these wonderful adventures and brilliant achievements from 
 first to last is fully set forth. The whole having been carefully prepared. 
 
 By Hon. J. T. HEADLEY, 
 
 Author of "Napoleon and his Marshals," " Washington and his Generals," "Sherman 
 
 and his Campaigns," " Farragut and our Naval Commanders,'" "Sacred 
 
 Mountains," "Life of General Grant,'" etc., etc. 
 
 SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 HUBBARD BROS., PHILADELPHIA, PA.; SPRINGFIELD, MASS.; 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL. ; CINCINNATI, OHIO: N. D. THOMPSON <fe CO., ST. Louis, 
 
 Mo. : A. L. BANCROFT & CO., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 1878.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by 
 
 HUBBABD BROTHERS, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ALL explorations in Africa in former years were made 
 by travelers simply to gratify curiosity or from a desire to 
 penetrate beyond lines reached by other men. All the re- 
 sults they desired or expected to achieve were amusement 
 and fame. But in later years they have assumed an en- 
 tirely different aspect. From Livingstone, who first began 
 to open up the " dark continent," to Cameron and Stanley, 
 who pierced its very heart, all the explorations have tended 
 to one great end the civilization and Christianization of 
 the vast population that inhabits it. No matter what the 
 ruling motives may have been in each whether, as in 
 Livingstone, to introduce Christianity ; or, in Baker, to put 
 a stop to the slave trade ; or, in Stanley, to unlock the mys- 
 tery of ages the tendency has been the same : to bring 
 Africa into the family of continents instead of being the 
 earth's " pariah ;" to throw light on this black spot of our 
 planet, and make those who inhabit it practically and 
 morally what they are really a portion of the human 
 race. 
 
 The men who have contributed most to this great end 
 are those whose explorations are traced in this volume. 
 As in all books of travel there is much that is merely per- 
 sonal, and a great deal, though necessary to accurate geog- 
 raphy and natural science, yet is of no interest to the ordi- 
 nary reader, one is able to curtail them without in any way 
 lessening their intrinsic value. So, also, the incidents and 
 adventures of any special interest may be grouped together 
 without all those minute details that go to make up a daily 
 journal. In fact, the great drawback to the interest one
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 takes in a book of travsls, is, those tedious details that go 
 so far toward making it up. What the traveler thinks 
 worthy of recording, is not always what the reader deems 
 worthy of perusal. There are also meteorological observa- 
 tions, geological theories, dissertations on language and 
 ethnological questions and statistics, that may be more or 
 less valuable, and yet possess little interest to the general 
 reader. All these may be left out or results alone given, 
 without not only not injuring the book, but really adding 
 to its interest. 
 
 We have acted on this theory in giving in one volume 
 the contents of seven. In doing this, we have endeavored 
 to leave out nothing of real value to the general reader, 
 but, on the contrary, to make the narrative, by being more 
 consecutive and direct, more interesting. The truth is, the 
 trouble is not to make a large book of travels, but a com- 
 pact, racy and readable one. The tendency always is to 
 expand too much to spread a little matter over a large 
 space. The works of the travelers mentioned in this volume 
 cover different ground, and hence each one possesses an 
 interest peculiar to itself, while all tend to the same end. 
 A person, therefore, who reads the narrative of only one, 
 gets but a partial idea of what has been going on in Africa 
 for the last few years. It is desirable to know all, and yet 
 few can buy all the expensive books of the various travelers. 
 We have in this work endeavored to meet that want, so that 
 one, at a moderate expense, can acquaint himself with all 
 that has been lately achieved in Africa, as well as obtain 
 a thorough knowledge of the habits and customs of the 
 various people and tribes that inhabit that continent. 
 
 Acknowledgment is due and is hereby tendered to Messrs. 
 Scribner & Co. for their kind permission to draw from 
 Mr. Stanley's first volume, " How I Found Livingstone," 
 in the preparation of this work.
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 How republican institutions develop character Webster, Clay, Lincoln, 
 Grant and Stanley The latter a native of Wales Educated in a poor-house 
 Becomes a teacher Ships as a cabin-boy to New Orleans Adopted by a 
 merchant and takes his name Lives in the Arkansas forest Given up as 
 dead by his adopted father Returns on board a Mississippi flat-boat 
 Death of his father without making a will Life with the miners and In- 
 dians Enters the Confederate army Is taken prisoner Enlists in the 
 United States navy Goes to join the Cretans to fight against Turkey^ 
 Robbed by brigands Travels Visits his native place Gives the children 
 of the poor-house a dinner Makes an address Herald correspondent in 
 the war between England and Abyssinia Beats the governmental mes- 
 senger Sent to Spain as war correspondent Receives a startling telegram 
 from Mr. Bennett to come to Paris Hasty departure Affectionate part- 
 ing with children Singular interview with Mr. Bennett Accepts the 
 leadership of an expedition to find Livingstone His peculiar fitness for 
 the undertaking His remarkable qualities as exhibited in this and in his 
 last march across Africa 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "The Dark Continent" Description of it -Difficulties of exploring it 
 Hatred of white men The first real encroachment made by a missionary 
 Description of the portion to be explored Its articles of commerce Its 
 future destiny 42 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Outlines of Livingstone's explorations during a period of nearly thirty years 
 First exploration Crosses the continent from west to east His second 
 expedition The last His supposed death Sympathy for him Indiffer- 
 ence of the British Government to his fate Bennett's bold resolution to 
 send Stanley after him 48 
 
 7
 
 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Stanley's search for Livingstone Lands at Zanzibar Organizes his expedi- 
 tion The start Stanley's feelings The march Its difficulties Men 
 sick Delays Meeting with a chief Dialogue on the burial of a horse 
 Loss of his bay horse Sickness and desertion Terrible traveling A 
 hospitable chief A gang of slaves African belles A ludicrous spectacle 
 A queer superstition Punishment of a deserter A ludicrous contrast 
 A beautiful country News from Livingstone A walled town Stanley 
 attacked with fever.... , 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The rainy season sets in Disgusting insects The cook caught stealing 
 His punishment and flight The march Men dispatched after the missing 
 cook Their harsh treatment by the sultana of the walled town A hard 
 march Crossing the Makata river The rainy season ended Five miles 
 of wading An enchanting prospect Reaches his third caravan, and finds 
 it demoralized Shaw, its leader, a drunken spendthrift Delays the 
 march Stanley's dispatch to him Lake, Ugombo Scene between Stan- 
 ley and Shaw at breakfast, the latter knocked down Attempt to murder 
 Stanley Good advice of an Arab sheikh A feast Farquhar left be- 
 hind... 70 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Three of his caravans meet A waterless desert traversed Stanley down 
 with the fever A land of plenty and of extortion A populous district 
 A modern Hercules An African village Stanley curbs his temper for 
 economy's sake A good sultan News from one of his caravans Curious 
 natives Flogged by Stanley into proper behavior Salt plains Stanley 
 stops to doctor himself A curious visit from a chief A noble African 
 tribe A mob Quarrel over the route to be taken Settled by Stanley 
 A merry march Condensation of Stanley's account of the character of 
 the country and the tribes of Central Africa 90 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Reception in Unyanyembe His house Reports of the Chiefs of his caravans 
 A feast Luxurious living of the Arabs Arab country War against 
 Mirambo, in which Stanley becomes an ally Is taken sick Bombay 
 thrashed Stanley joins the Arab army Capture of Mirambo's strong- 
 hold Villages laid waste Mirambo's revenge Arabs defeated and
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Stanley left alone Is sick Final departure His indomitable will 
 and courage A touching extract form his journal Deserters Shaw, the 
 last white man, left behind Corpses on the road Mollifies a sullen chief 
 Strong medicine A ludicrous scene The paradise of hunters A right 
 royal hunt 118 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A beautiful picture A mutiny Narrow escape of Stanley Saved by his 
 prompt courage Swift punishment of the leaders of the mutiny Exciting 
 news from Ujiji Difficulties in the way Resolves to go round the next 
 village Stealthy marching A new danger Vain attempt to stop a 
 woman's screaming Rapid marching Stanley startled by the sound of 
 waves bursting in rocky caverns An unexpected danger Narrow escape 
 The end approaches Hurrah 134 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 View of the Tanganika First sight of Ujiji The American Flag Living- 
 stone's servants Dr. Livingstone, I presume The meeting Livingstone's 
 letter bag A budget of news Bringing new life The cook's excitement 
 Livingstone's deplorable condition The dream realized 143 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Rest at Ujija Stanley's love for Livingstone the best eulogium on his own 
 character The night The morning interview Life with Livingstone 
 Survey the Tanganika together Livingstone accompanies Stanley to 
 Unyanyembe The long march Life in the place Preparations for 
 parting The last breakfast The last sad farewell Stanley's homeward 
 march Its perils Inundations Makata Swamp Terrible marching 
 Stanley sends off for relief Its arrival Bagomayo reached at last 
 Noisy entrance Stanley's joy It is suddenly dashed Cruel conduct of 
 the press Start for home 160 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Expedition of the Khedive of Egypt to suppress the slave trade Sir 
 Samuel W. Baker placed at the head of it Extent of the slave trade 
 outfit of the expedition Preparations on a grand scale The army The 
 rendezvous at Khartoum Failure on the part of the Khedive The expe- 
 dition starts Obstacles met Cutting channels for the fleet Slow, toil- 
 some work A hippopotamus charges the vessel Men become sick Baker 
 shoots a hippopotamus A crocodile killed The expedition permanently 
 stopped Discouragements 174
 
 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Baker's heroic wife A elaver caught A sickening spectacle Freedom 
 Description of the camp A cargo of slaves discovered Slaves freed 
 Wholesale matrimony Exploring the "White Nile A new start A new 
 lake The White Nile reached at last A fierce night attack by a hippo- 
 potamus A thrilling scene Gondokoro at last reached 193 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The country formally taken possession of War at last A night attack on a 
 native village Disaffection in the army Attacked by crocodiles An old 
 man-eater killed A campaign against the enemy The army propose to 
 return home Baker obtains corn and restores subordination The army 
 greatly reduced A fight Target shooting at men 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Vessels leave for Khartoum with the invalids Abdullah's villainy Explor- 
 ing the White Nile Meeting a friendly tribe Interview with the Sheikl 
 Sorcery and Talismans Magic An elephant hunt Its moral effects 
 Scramble for the flesh The tribes seek peace Elephants enter the fort 
 A wild scene Elephants gathering fruit An adventure with a hippo- 
 potamus The country at peace Baker resolves to start south 235 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The determination to advance A desperate position Soldiers draw the 
 carts to Lahore A beautiful country The future capital of Africa 
 Reaches Fatiko power of music over the natives Grotesque dancing of 
 naked women Starts for Unyoro Beautiful country depopulated Pro- 
 claims peace Livingstone 253 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 The start Exodus of the white ants A great luxury A beautiful country 
 Masindi King Abba Rega His walk and appearance The interview 
 Buffoons Queer result of a lecture on the slave trade A station com- 
 menced Planting vegetables The king's visit Magnetic battery- - 
 Photographs A curious interview Formal annexation of the country 
 Sends off a part of his force Commerce established Vegetables planted 
 Dark omens A drunken king Asks after Livingstone A fort built... 265
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The troops poisoned A sudden attack The town set on fire A sad spec- 
 tacle Baker discouraged A perilous position Fears of Abdullah 
 Hypocrisy of Abba Rega Presents pass between him and Baker 
 Treachery A narrow escape Baker's quarters set on fire A second 
 attack The neighboring villages set on fire Forethought of Baker's wife 
 Preparations to start for Rionga 275 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The start The station fired The march The country aroused An ambus- 
 cade Howarte speared Second day's march A sharp fight Stripped 
 for the race Constant fighting Eating the enemy's liver Foweera at 
 last reached Interview with the king His appearance Baker offers to 
 make him ruler over the territory of Abba Rega A treaty made Sealed 
 by drinking each others' blood Baker resolves to return to Fatiko 
 Arrival of messengers with bad naws The return The wife compelled to 
 walk Arrival at Fatiko Treachery The attack Flight and pursuit 
 The victory Baker turns surgeon 286 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Arrival of Cannibals Children devoured Small-pox disperses them A 
 grand hunt The mode of conducting it by nets and fire The result 
 Life at Fatiko The second hunt Killing a lion A woman's rights 
 meeting A happy community, in which neither religious dagmas or law 
 cases enter News from Livingstone King Mtesa Arrival of reinforce- 
 ments Bad military conduct Baker writes out a set of rules for Abdullah 
 and starts for home Releases captive women and children An expression 
 of gratitude not asked for Kissed by a naked beauty Concluding. remarks 
 A missionary's outfit Official report A handsome tribute to his wife 
 Africa's future.... .. 302 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Cameron's expedition Its origin Change of leaders Difficulties at the 
 outset Start A tall and manly race Xaked savages News from Liv- 
 ingstone A methuselah The country improved Unyanyembe reached 
 Occupies Stanley's house A slave auction Sickness and discourage- 
 ments A stunning blow Livingstone dead Death of Dillon Des- 
 pondent thoughts A desperate resolve Crossing the Lugungwa Ujiji... 322
 
 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAGR 
 
 Cameron pushes on to the Lualaba, and resolves to follow it to the sea It 
 has no connection with the Nile system No canoes to be had Tipo-Tipo 
 Handsome women Inquisitiveness of the women Stopped by a ruse 
 Interview with King Kasongo Resolves to visit some curious lakes At- 
 tacked by the natives Contracts with a slave-trader to take him to the 
 coast Explorations of lakes Houses built in the lakes Description of 
 Kasongo and his character and habits His harem The rules that govern 
 it The religion of the country A curious bridal ceremony Floating 
 islands The Congo route abandoned 346 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The departure Character of the caravan Horible ceremonies at the burial 
 of a chief of Urua Start of th* caravan Its bad conduct Joined by a 
 slave-gang Its sorrowful appearance The camps of the caravan Dreary 
 marching Appearance of the country Naked women dressing their hair 
 elaborately Arrival at Alvez village The luxury of coffee, onions and 
 soap Reduced state of Cameron's men Reaches a Portuguese trader's 
 house A festival A lascivious dance Beautiful scenery Interview 
 with King Kongo Cameron's sufferings begin Desperate condition A 
 forced march to the sea with a few men First sight of the sea His wel- 
 come His dangerous sickness Visit to the consul at Loanda Men sent 
 to Zanzibar His return home The slave trade 359 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Stanley thinks of Africa and Livingstone's unfinished work Determines to 
 complete it Takes a boat of his own along At Zanzibar again Starts 
 for the interior Takes a new route The country passed through De- 
 serted by his guides Loses the path A painful march Starvation and 
 death A gloomy prospect Two young lions killed and made into broth 
 A trunk used for a kettle A painful spectacle Men sent off for food at 
 last return Joy of the camp The march A new type of natives Naked 
 beauty Sickness and death Death of Edward Pocoke His burial 
 Stanley's letter to his father A man murdered Itwru reached A popu- 
 lous plain Intercourse with the people A magic doctor 377 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The camp View from it Hostile demonstration A three days' fight A 
 massacre A modern Sodom A terrible vengeance Twenty-one of the 
 expedition killed A complete ruin Provisions obtained The march re-
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTT. 13 
 
 PAGE' 
 
 sumed Only a hundred and ninety-four men left out of three hundred 
 with which he started A gloomy out-look Mistaken for Mirambo The 
 Nyanza reached at last A description of the country he had passed 
 through 392 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Mustering his force The death roll Selecting a crew of eleven men, he 
 sets sail Leaves the camp in charge of Pocoke and Barker "Speke's 
 Bay" Coasting northward Shimeeyu River A large island Descrip- 
 tion of the shores and people Strange stories told him A lonely channel 
 Superstition of the natives '* Bridge Island '' Under the equator 
 Stanley looked upon as a being from another world Fleeing from hippo- 
 potami Treachery A narrow escape Three quarters of the lake tho- 
 roughly explored 404 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Stanley the first white man that ever sailed round the Victoria Nyanza 
 Establishes the southern source of the Nile Treachery of the natives 
 Stanley's revenge A hostile fleet scattered by him Three men killed 
 Two singular islands The Ripon Falls The Nile Curious inlets 
 Mtesa, king of Uganda His reception of Stanley Imposing ceremonies 
 A noble native monarch His capital His army and large territory 
 Half converted to Christianity by Stanley Anxious to have missionaries 
 sent to his country Stanley's mode of sending them, and the kind of men 
 they should be A mission established and broken up False statements 
 in the papers about it corrected 413 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Stanley continues his explorations Drunken natives A suspicious recep- 
 tion A peaceful night A wild waking up A startling spectacle Hur- 
 ried departure Magassa's fleet Lack of food A fearful storm Bum- 
 bireh Island A bright prospect Stanley entrapped In deadly peril 
 A crowd of demons A fearful night Prompt action Barely saved 
 Swift and terrible revenge A frightful storm Refuge Island A grateful 
 camp Provision secured Another storm A staunch boat Steering for 
 camp His joyful greeting Excitement of the men The secret of the 
 men's affection for him .. 424
 
 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The work accomplished Feelings of satisfaction Pocoke's report A nar- 
 row escape for the expedition Death of Barker Sweet repose Pleasant 
 memories Future anticipations Waiting for Magassa Resolves to re- 
 turn to Uganda by land Is prevented Sends to the king of Ukerewe 
 His request granted Visits him The interview Royal hospitality A 
 stratagem Stanley starts for Uganda A new camp Return to the old 
 one Conspirators foiled Refuge Island 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 A rest Resolves to punish the Bumbireh Sets sail Message to the people 
 of Bumbireh Imprisons the king of Iroba The king of Bumbireh in 
 chains Arrival of Mtesa's canoes Hostility of the natives Moves on 
 Bumbireh The savages expecting him Plan of battle The battle 
 Killed, and wounded Rejoicing over the victory The natives completely 
 subdued Stanley gives them a lecture Effect of the victory on the 
 neighboring tribes His losses Prepares to start for the Albert Nyanza 
 Size of the Victoria Nyanza Muta Nzinge Is it and the Albert one 
 lake Stanley's journal and map do not agree Mtesa at war Stanley 
 aid? him Uganda Abba Rega once more Baker's and Stanley's journal 
 agree Stanley asks for fifty thousand men Mtesa gives him two thousand 452 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Force of the expedition Its start First march Through hostile Unyoro 
 The encampment Mount Gambaragara Its summit occupied by white 
 people Live on a rock in the middle of a lake Their origin Other 
 strange tribes The march Frightened people The lake reached with- 
 out opposition A miserable failure The reason of it Stanley's feelings 
 The return Report to Mtesa His wrath Liberal offers Wonders of 
 the country A generous, peaceful king Lake Windomere Source of the 
 Nile Absurd theories The hot springs of Mtagata 462 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Back to Ujiji Pleasant associations The mystery of Tanganika No outlet 
 Cameron's expedition Thinks he discovers the outlet Doubts of Stan- 
 ley The lake constantly rising Stanley starts to examine for himself- 
 Bags two zebras A whole village massacred Reaches Cameron's outlet 
 Explores it thoroughly Declares Cameron to be mistaken The future 
 outlet Livingstone's influence The small-pox in camp Desertion of his 
 men Prompt measures Crosses the Tanganika More desertions People 
 of Manyema Singular customs 484 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Livingstone at Nyangwe Remembrance of him by the natives " The good 
 man " His troubles here awakens Stanley's pity A magnificent country 
 Glowing description of it Ruined by slavery The slave trade Its 
 character Ebony skeletons Horrible sights The traders Mode of cap- 
 tureFaithlessness of the Prince of Zanzibar Extracts from Stanley's 
 journal A depopulated country The way to stop the traffic 493
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 15 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Stanley meets Tipo-tipo, the friend of Cameron Learns all about Cameron's 
 movements Stanley warned not to go on Fearful stories Contracts 
 with Tipo-tipo to escort him sixty camps Self-reliance of Stanley 
 Women an obstacle in the way of advancing Nyangwe Its market A 
 lively scene The two chiefs A large harem The original inhabitants 
 Strength of the expedition 502 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The great march begins Gloomy prospects March through a dense forest 
 Axes used to clear the way A village in the forest Superiority of 
 the iahabitants The men disheartened Slow marching Discontent 
 Difficulties increase Tipo-tipo wishes to be released from his engagement 
 People that smelt iron-ore A row of skulls as an ornament for the 
 village Hunting sokos The cannibals Naked women The Lualaba 
 reached Not to be left again The natives crossing the river 512 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Congo changed to Livingstone Frightened natives The march Deserted 
 villages The land party lost Stanley's anxiety A dash on the natives, 
 one man killed Uledi dispatched after the missing party The lost found 
 The march A floating hospital Passing rapids Tipo-tipo wishes to 
 turn back A queer village Increasing sickness The dead every day 
 thrown into the river A fight Marching on A desperate fight of two 
 days A successful stratagem Tipo-tipo resolves to leave Stanley's 
 speech to his men Christmas day A frolic A boat race The parties 
 separate A touching farewell A sad day Stanley tries to arouse the 
 men 522 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 A common fate binding all "We want to eat you" The home of the hip- 
 popotamus The persuasive eloquence of the cannibal prisoners A novel 
 sensation A peaceful tribe The cannibals prevent a fight A sudden 
 attack A successful stratagem Another fight A hard carry around the 
 falls An advanced tribe River full of islands Magnificent scenery 
 Stanley's expedition A grand barbecue A necessary fight Night-work 
 Seventy-eight hours' incessant toil Passing the rapids A lost man 
 A thrilling spectacle Great daring Lost men A fearful night Rescue 
 in the morning Brave Uledi A carry round the falls A brilliant ma- 
 noeuvre In a net Man meat Another fight The Congo starts for the 
 sea Another fight A deserted village Around the falls Muskets A 
 fight Home of the hippopotami A new war-cry Astonishment of the 
 natives at seeing a white man More enemies Stanley's speech A fight 
 Three hundred and fifteen muskets against forty-four Starving Friendly 
 savages Abundant provisions Death and burial of a chieftain's wife 
 A friendly tribe Beautiful women Serpents in camp The last and 
 fiercest fight Stanley Pool Friendly chiefs Curious interview with 
 King Itsi A general peace 531
 
 16 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Tribal differences What is the cause of them The Congo tribes The can- 
 nibals left behind Change of scenery Livingstone Falls A wild stretch 
 of water Carrying boats over land Exhausting, slow work A canoe 
 lost Stanley falls thirty feet Rocky Falls A fearful sight Kalulu 
 over the falls A canoe shoots the Kalulu Falls in safety A third canoe 
 shoots the falls and disappears Soudi's strange story More rapids 
 Difficulties increase Narrow escape of Stanley Joy at his deliverance 
 Four cataracts in sight Strange music Less than a mile a day The 
 big cataract Scaling a mountain one thousand feet high Astonishment 
 of the natives 554 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Last instructions A magnificent forest Stanley thinks of dug-outs at home 
 Resolves to build canoes The first tree felled Two canoes finished 
 The boats and expedition moving overland Arabs stealing Redeeming 
 a captive held for theft Canoes over the mountain Rest Third canoe 
 built Dispiriting news Native superstition A narrow escape Launch- 
 ing of the third canoe Rains Rise of the river Storms The expedition 
 moves over the mountain Frank takes the canoes by the river Mowwa 
 Falls A terrific scene Passing the Mowwa Falls Uledi caught in theft 
 His sentence A touching scene Atonement Forgiveness Christian 
 principles in Heathens A strange superstition The natives demand that 
 Stanley's note-book be burned up A painful dilemma A successful 
 stratagem Shakespeare burned Frank's last night with Stanley 567 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Elevated from the place of servant to that of friend Proposes to toss up to 
 determine whether they shall follow the Lualaba to the sea or not Chance 
 decides they shaU Pocoke's shoes become worn out in the forest Is made 
 lame Passage of the Mowwa Falls Stanley's peril Pocoke's fatal self- 
 will His death The sight that stunned Stanley A gloomy night for 
 him Pocoke's character 577 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Stanley mourning for his friend A mutiny Sadness of Stanley Return of 
 the deserters Boats carried over a hill The chief carpenter carried over 
 the falls Stanley runs the Mbelo Falls Miraculous escape Feeling of 
 his people The end of the chasm One mile and a quarter a day for eight 
 months The Arabs steal, and are made prisoners Arabs left in slavery 
 for stealing Falls of Isingila reached Stanley resolves to leave the river 
 The Lady Alice abandoned The march for Boma Uledi slaps a king 
 in the face Stanley sends a letter to Boma The messengers depart He 
 moves on Meets an enemy who becomes a friend A glad surprise 
 Food in abundance Luxuries for Stanley A song of triumph Stanley's 
 feelings, as shown by his letter Reach Boma The reaction Stanley 
 offered a steamer home Prefers to stand by his Arabs Reception at Cape 
 Town Zanzibar reached Joy of the Arabs An affecting scene Farewell 
 to Stanley v 537
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece HENRY M. STANLEY. 
 
 PAGE 
 Noted Explorers 27 
 
 Zanzibar 57 
 
 Natives putting off to a Vessel 57 
 
 Landing a Crocodile 61 
 
 Moving Roofs of Huts 77 
 
 Doing Honors to the Queen 77 
 
 Shooting Hippopotami 81 
 
 PotPourri 105. 
 
 African Warfare Ill 
 
 Dance in honor of the Moon Ill 
 
 Human Sacrifices 115 
 
 Execution for Witchcraft 115 
 
 Council of War 119 
 
 Hippopotami Sporting with their Yonng 119 
 
 Saluting a Superior 127 
 
 A King Traveling 127 
 
 Stalking the Sentry .' 129 
 
 Stanley meeting Livingstone 149 
 
 Dr. David Livingstone 155 
 
 Village on Tanganika Lake 163 
 
 The Forty Thieves 179 
 
 Hippopotamus capsizing the Dingy 183 
 
 Hauling the Steamer through the midst of the vegetable obstructions 187 
 
 Crocodile mobbed in the Sudd 189 
 
 Hippopotamus kills the Blind Sheikh in the Shillook Country 201 
 
 Arrival at the Stoppage The Baleniceps Rex 205 
 
 Sandal, Pipe, etc 209 
 
 Attack in the Night '.. 213 
 
 Attack on the Rear Guard 229 
 
 Elephants in a Difficulty 241 
 
 Shaking down the Fruit 249 
 
 Musical Enthusiasts 263 
 
 17
 
 18 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 General Night Attack of the Savages 283 
 
 Reception of Rionga 291 
 
 The Slave-Hunters Attack at Fatiko 297 
 
 Net Hunting 307 
 
 Driving the Prairie with Fire 307 
 
 Charge of a Lioness 311 
 
 Map of Baker's Discoveries 317 
 
 Natives' Weapons 325 
 
 Our Camp 333 
 
 Temporary Village in which Dr. Livingstone's Body was Prepared 337 
 
 Crossing the Lngungwa River 343 
 
 The Chief 's Village 347 
 
 Great Chiefs Returning a Visit 351 
 
 Scene in Alvez Boma 365 
 
 Burial of Pocoke 387 
 
 Scene in Camp 393 
 
 Reception by Mtesa's Body-Guard, Prime Minister and Chiefs 417 
 
 An Unpleasant Situation 431 
 
 Dash across Unyoro 463 
 
 Hot Springs of Mtagata 477 
 
 Setting out to Cross Lake Tanganika 491 
 
 Chief's Home at Nyangwe 503 
 
 Nyangwe 503 
 
 Hunting Sokos 517 
 
 Fighting our Way Round 535 
 
 Death of Kalulu 559 
 
 Drowning of Pocoke 581 
 
 Scaling the Rapids 591
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HENRY M. STANLEY. 
 
 HOW REPUBLICAN INSTITUTION'S DEVELOP CHARACTEP. WEBSTER, CLAY, I-NCOLN, GRAN1 
 AND STANLEY THE LATTER A NATIVE OF WALES EDUCATED IN A POOR-HOUSE BECOMES A 
 TEACHER SHIPS AS A CABIN-BOY TO NEW ORLEANS ADOPTED BY A MEFCHANT AND TAKES HJS 
 NAME LIVES IN THE ARKANSAS FOREST GIVEN UP AS DEAD BY HIS ADOPTED FATHER RE- 
 TURNS ON BOARD A MISSISSIPPI FLAT-BOATDEATH OF HIS FATHER WITHOUT MAKING A WILL 
 LIFE WITH THE MINERS AND INDIANS ENTERS THE CONFEDERATE AfcMY IS TAKEN PRIS- 
 ONER ENLISTS IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY GOES TO JOIN THE CRETANS TO FIGHT AGAINST 
 TURKEY ROBBED BY BRIGANDS TRAVELS VISITS HIS NATIVE PLACE GIVES THE CHILDREN 
 OF THE POOR-HOUSE A DINNER MAKES AN ADDRESS HERALD CORRESPONDENT IN THE WAR 
 BETWEEN ENGLAND AND ABYSSINIA BEATS THE GOVERNMENTAL MESSENGER SENT TO SPAIN 
 AS WAR CORRESPONDENT RECEIVES A STARTLING TELEGRAM FROM MR. BENNETT TO COME TO 
 PARIS HASTY DEPARTURE AFFECTIONATE PARTING WITH CHILDREN SINGULAR INTERVIEW 
 WITH MR. BENNETT ACCEPTS THE LEADERSHIP OF AN EXPEDITION TO FIND LIVINGSTONE 
 HIS PECULIAR FITNESS FOR THE UNDERTAKING HIS REMARKABLE QUALITIES AS EXHIBITED 
 IN THIS AND IN HIS LAST MARCH ACROSS AFRICA. 
 
 TANLEY is one of those characters that forcibly illus- 
 trate the effect of republican institutions in developing 
 a strong man. Despotism cannot fetter thought that is 
 free everywhere but it can and does restrain its outwork- 
 ing into practical action. The former do not make great 
 strong men, they allow those endowed by nature with 
 extraordinary gifts, free scope for action. This fact never 
 had, perhaps, a more striking illustration than in the 
 French Revolution. The iron frame-work of despotism 
 had rested so long over the heads of the people that it had 
 become rusted in its place, and no individual force or 
 strength could rend it asunder. But when the people, in 
 their fury, shattered it into fragments, there was exhibited 
 the marvelous effects of individual character. A lieutenant 
 of artillery vaulted to the throne of France and made 
 
 19
 
 20 EFFECT OF KEPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 marshals and dukes and kings of plebeians. A plebeian 
 himself, he took to his plebeian bed the daughter of the 
 CaBsars. He took base-born men and pitted them against 
 nobles of every degree, and the plebeians proved themselves 
 the better men. In other words, he put men against titles, 
 and the titles went down before the men. Thus, no matter 
 how despotic he became, he and his marshals and new- 
 made kings were the most terrible democracy that could 
 be preached in Europe. The mighty changes that were 
 wrought, simply show what results may be expected when 
 the whole world shall be thus set free and every man be 
 allowed to strike his best and strongest blow. When the 
 race is thus let loose on the planet we inhabit, we shall see 
 the fulfillment of that prophecy, " a nation shall be born in 
 a day." The same truth is apparent in our own country, 
 though its exhibitions are not so sudden and startling. 
 Indeed they could not be, because this freedom of action 
 has no restraints to break through, and hence no violent 
 effort is required. Every man grows and expands by degrees 
 without let or hindrance. In a despotism, Webster would 
 probably have taught school in a log school-house all his 
 days, and the "mill boy of the sloshes" never made the great 
 forum of a nation ring with his words of eloquence, nor 
 the "rail-splitter" been the foremost man of his time, nor 
 the tanner-boy the president of the republic. Republican 
 institutions never made any of those men, they simply 
 .allowed them to make themselves. Stanley is the latest 
 and most extraordinary example of this. It is folly to 
 point to such men as he as a stimulus to youthful ambition, 
 to show what any man may become. No amount of study 
 or effort can make such a boy or man as he was and is. 
 The energy, daring, self-confidence, promptness and indom- 
 itable will were born in him, not acquired. The Latin 
 proverb, "Poeta nascitur, non Jit" the poet is born, not
 
 STANLEY'S BIRTHPLACE AND EEAL NAME. 21 
 
 made, is not truer of the poet than of a character like him. 
 His characteristics may be pointed out for the admiration 
 of others, his good qualities made a lesson to teach youth 
 how perseverance, and determination, and work will elevate 
 a man whatever may be his walk in life. A man born 
 with a combination of qualities like Stanley's, must have 
 room given him or he will make room. He has such a 
 surplusage of energy and will-power that it must have 
 scope and field for action. A despotism could not have 
 repressed him. He would either have become a wanderer 
 or adventurer in strange lands, or he would have headed a 
 revolution, vaulted to power or to a scaffold, as others have 
 done before him. 
 
 But although Stanley developed his whole character 
 under free institutions, he was not born under them, being 
 a native of Wales. He was born near Denbigh, in 1840. 
 His parents' name was Rowland. At three, he was sent to 
 the poor-house at St. Asaph, to get an education. Here 
 the poor, unpromising lad remained till he had finished 
 such an education as this institution could furnish, and 
 then sought employment as teacher ; and for a year was 
 employed as such at Mold, Flintshire. But now the strong 
 instincts of his nature began to show themselves. He felt 
 that a school-teacher's life, however honorable and useful, 
 could not be his, and, with his scant earnings, shipped as 
 cabin-boy in a ship bound for New Orleans. Arriving in 
 safety, he began to look about for employment. By what 
 lucky chance it happened we do not know, but he fell into 
 the hands of a merchant named Stanley, who became so 
 attached to the frank, energetic, ambitious youth that he 
 finally adopted him and gave him his name. Thus the 
 Welsh boy Rowland became the American youth Stanley. 
 Fortune had certainly smiled on him, and his future seemed 
 secure. As the partner and eventually heir of his
 
 22 FORTUNE DESERTS HIM. 
 
 benefactor, as he doubtless would become, fortune, ease and 
 a luxurious life lay before him. But even here, so pleas- 
 antly situated and cared for, the same restless spirit that 
 has since driven him over the world, exhibited itself, and 
 he wandered off into the wilds of Arkansas, and in his 
 log-cabin on the banks of the Wichita River, .with the 
 pine-trees moaning above him, he dwelt for a long time, 
 among the strange, wild dreams of imagination and daring 
 youth. His adopted father mourned him as dead, never 
 expecting to behold him again. But he made his way to 
 the Mississippi, and going on board a flat-boat, became the 
 companion of the rough western characters to be found on 
 these boats, and slowly floated down to New Orleans and 
 was received by his overjoyed father as one risen from the 
 dead. 
 
 But just here, fortune, which seemed to have had him in 
 her special care, took him another step forward by appa- 
 rently deserting him. His adopted father suddenly died 
 without making his will. His place and prospective heir- 
 ship both disappeared together, and the curtain was let down 
 between him and a pleasant successful future. Doubt- 
 less that father intended to provide for his adopted son, but 
 now all the property went to the natural legal heirs, and he 
 was once more thrown upon the world. In the delirium of 
 an African fever, tossing in his hammock, far from the 
 haunts of civilization, there came back to him an episode of 
 his life at this point. We learn that impelled by his roving 
 disposition he wandered away among the California miners, 
 and at last among the Indians, and sat by their council fires. 
 He seemed destined to see every phase of human life, to 
 become acquainted with the roughest characters, to prepare 
 him for the wildest of all men, the African savage. This 
 
 o 
 
 kind of life also toughened and hardened the fibre of the 
 youth, so that he settled down into the man with a constitu-
 
 HIS MILITARY SERVICES. 23 
 
 tion of iron, without which he could not have endured the 
 trials he has since undergone, and still retain his health and 
 physical powers unworn. At this time a new field opened 
 before him. The civil war broke out, and being a Southern 
 man, he enlisted in the Confederate army. This was a kind 
 of service just adapted to his peculiar character, one in 
 which a man with the courage, daring, energy, promptness 
 and indomitable will that he possessed, was sure to win fame 
 and promotion. But before he had time to exhibit these 
 qualities, fate, that seemed against him to human eyes, 
 again advanced him a step toward future success by causing 
 him to be taken prisoner by the Union troops. As a prisoner 
 he was worthless, and the Union cause really having his 
 sympathies, he proposed to enlist in the Northern army. 
 Whether the military authorities were afraid of this sudden 
 conversion, or not daring to give too much freedom of 
 action to one who showed by his whole bearing and lan- 
 guage, that there was no undertaking too daring for him 
 to attempt, we are not told, but they put him where he 
 would probably have little chance to show what stuff he 
 was made of, and he was placed on the iron-clad ship 
 Ticonderoga. It is said, he was released as prisoner and 
 volunteered to enlist in the navy. Be that as it may, though 
 totally unfit for service of any kind on board of a man-of- 
 war, he soon became acting ensign. At the close of the war 
 he looked about for some field of active service, and what 
 little war he had seen seemed to fit his peculiar character, 
 and hearing that the Cretans were about to attempt to throw 
 off the Turkish yoke, he resolved to join them. He proceeded 
 thither with two other Americans, after having first made 
 an engagement with the New York Herald, as its corres- 
 pondent. Disgusted, it is said, with the insurgent leaders, 
 he abandoned his purpose, and having a sort of roving 
 commission from Mr. Bennett, he determined to travel in
 
 24 VISITS HIS BIRTHPLACE. 
 
 the East. But lie and his fellow-travelers were attacked 
 by Turkish brigands, and robbed of all their money and 
 clothing. They laid their complaint before Mr. Morris, 
 our minister at Constantinople, who in turn laid it before 
 the Turkish government. At the same time he advanced 
 them funds to supply their wants and they departed. After 
 various journeyings he finally returned to England. Here 
 a strong desire seized him to visit the place of his nativity 
 in Wales, the house where he was born, and the humble 
 dwelling where he received the first rudiments of his edu- 
 cation at St. Asaph. One can imagine the feelings with 
 which this bronzed young man, who had traveled so far 
 and wide, entered the quiet valley from which he had 
 departed so long ago to seek his fortune. It speaks well 
 for his heart, that his sympathies turned at once toward the 
 poor-house of which he had been an inmate in his childhood. 
 Remembering that the greatest boon that could have been 
 conferred at that time on him would have been a good, 
 generous dinner, he resolved to give those poor children 
 one. One would like to have been present at it. The 
 daring young adventurer in the presence of those simple, 
 wonderstruck children would make a good subject for a 
 picture. We venture to say that Mr. Stanley enjoyed that 
 unobtrusive meal in that quiet Welsh valley more than he 
 has ever since enjoyed a banquet with nobles and princes ; 
 and as the shadows of life lengthen he will look back on it 
 with more real pleasure. He addressed them, giving them 
 a familiar talk, telling them that he was once one of their 
 number, accompanying it with good advice, saying for their 
 encouragement, and to stimulate them to noble endeavors, 
 that all he had been in the past and all he hoped to be in the 
 future, he should attribute to the education he had received 
 in that poor-house. 
 
 This was a real episode in his eventful life, and, though
 
 BEATING THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. 25 
 
 it doubtless soon passed away in the more stirring scenes 
 on which he entered, yet the remembrance of it still lin- 
 gers around that quiet, retired "Welsh valley, and, to-day, 
 the name of Stanley is a household word there, and the 
 pride and glory of its simple inhabitants. And as time 
 goes on and silvers chose dark hairs, and the " almond-tree 
 flourishes" and "desire fails, because man goeth to his 
 long home," he, too, will remember it as one of those green 
 oases he once longed to see and found in the arid desert. 
 
 In 1867, then twenty-seven years of age, he returned to 
 the United States and, in the next year, accompanied the 
 English army in its campaign against Theodore, king of 
 Abyssinia, set on foot to revenge the wrongs the latter had 
 committed against the subjects and representatives of the 
 British government. He went as correspondent of the 
 New York Herald, and gave a vivid and clear account of 
 the painful march and skirmishes up to the last great bat- 
 tle in the king's stronghold, where, with a gallant dash, 
 the fortress was taken, the king killed and the war ended 
 With that promptness in acting, which is one of his chief 
 characteristics, he at once dispatched the news of the vic- 
 tory and the ending of the campaign to London, beating 
 the governmental dispatches sent by the commander-in- 
 chief, so that one morning the readers of the London 
 newspapers knew that of which the government was igno- 
 rant. This, of course, was a genuine surprise. A young 
 American newspaper correspondent, without a vessel at his 
 command, had, nevertheless, by his enterprise, beat the 
 governmental messenger, and steady old conservative 
 England was disgusted to find its time-honored custom re- 
 versed, which was that the government should first give 
 notice of successes to the public, leaving to newspaper cor- 
 respondents to fill up the minor details. But an enter- 
 prising young American had furnished the important
 
 26 SENT TO SPAIN. 
 
 news, leaving the British government the secondary duty 
 of supplying these details. Notwithstanding the admira- 
 tion of the enterprise that had accomplished this great feat, 
 there was a ludicrous aspect to the affair, in the position in 
 which it placed official personages, that raised a quiet laugh 
 on both continents. His letters contain the best history of 
 that expedition that has ever been written. This was still 
 another onward step in the great work before him, of 
 which he, as yet, had no intimation. The next year, 1868, 
 he returned to the United States, and in the following year 
 was sent by the Herald into Spain, to follow the fortunes 
 of the civil war there, as correspondent. Like everything 
 else that he undertook, he performed his duties more than 
 faithfully. Exposure, danger, hardships, nothing inter- 
 fered when there was a prospect of acquiring valuable in- 
 formation. It mattered not to him whether he was on the 
 margin or in the vortex of battle he never thought of 
 anything but the object before him and toward which he 
 bent all his energies. His letters from the seat of war not 
 only gave the best description of the battles fought and of 
 the military position of affairs, but, also, of the political 
 state of the kingdom. But while he was here, considering 
 himself fixed down for an indefinite period, for Spain is 
 proverbial for the protracted duration of its civil wars, 
 Mr. Bennett, in Paris, was planning an expedition to go in 
 search of Dr. Livingstone, buried, alive or dead, somewhere 
 in the heart of Africa. The sympathies of everybody 
 were enlisted in his fate, yet the British government, 
 though he had done so much to enhance the fame of his 
 native country, refused to stir a step toward ascertaining 
 his fate or relieving him if in want or bondage. The Royal 
 Geographical Society, ashamed of the apathy and indiffer- 
 ence of the government, had started a subscription to raise 
 funds from private sources to defray the expenses of an ex-
 
 NOTED TRAVELERS.
 
 ME. BENNETT'S PROFOUND SAGACITY. 29 
 
 pedition to go in search of him. In the meantime this 
 American editor, scorning alike state patronage or private 
 help, conceived the hold project of finding him himself. 
 Looking round for a suitable leader to command an expe- 
 dition, his eye rested on Stanley in Spain. And here 
 should be noted the profound sagacity of Mr. Bennett in 
 selecting such a leader for this desperate expedition, that 
 was to go no one knew where, and end no one knew at what 
 point. Most people thought it was a mammoth advertise- 
 ment of the New York Herald, nothing more. If he was 
 in earnest, why did he not select some one of the many 
 African explorers who were familiar with the regions of 
 Central Africa, and had explored in the vicinity of where 
 Livingstone was, by the best judges, supposed to be, if 
 alive? Men, for instance, like Speke, Baker, Burton, 
 Grant and others. This certainly would have given great 
 eclat to the expedition, and, if it failed in its chief object, 
 would unquestionably furnish new facts for the geographer 
 and the man of science. But to send one who made no pre- 
 tensions to science, no claims to be a meteorologist, botanist, 
 geologist, or to be familiar with astronomical calculations, 
 all of which are indispensable to a great explorer, seemed 
 absurd. But Mr. Bennett had no intention of making 
 new scientific or geographical discoveries. He had but one 
 object in view to find Dr. Livingstone and on the true 
 Napoleonic system of selecting the best man to accomplish 
 a single object, he, with Napoleonic sagacity, fixed on 
 Stanley. The celebrated men who would have given 
 greater distinction to the enterprise would, doubtless, divide 
 up their time and resources between scientific research and 
 the chief object of the expedition, and thus cause delays 
 that might defeat it ; or, with more or less of the martinet 
 about them, push their researches only to a reasonable ex- 
 tent and be content with reports instead of personal inves-
 
 30 QUICKNESS OF JUDGMENT. 
 
 tigation. But he wanted a man who nad but one thing to 
 do, and not only that, but a man who would accomplish 
 the errand on which he was sent or die in the attempt. 
 This was to be no mere well-regulated expedition, that was 
 to turn back when all reasonable efforts had been made. 
 It was one that, if desperate straits should come, would re- 
 sort to desperate means, and he knew that with Stanley at 
 its head this would be done. He knew that Stanley would 
 fetch out Livingstone, dead or alive, or leave his bones to 
 bleach in the wilds of Africa. The latter was compara- 
 tively young, it was true ; had always accompanied, never 
 led, expeditions. He knew nothing of Africa, how an ex- 
 pedition should be organized or furnished ; it mattered not. 
 Bennett knew he had resources within himself nerves 
 that never flinch, courage that no amount of danger could 
 daunt, a will that neither an African fever nor a wasted 
 form could break down, and a resolution of purpose that 
 the presence of death itself could not shake, while, to 
 complete all, he had a quickness and accuracy of judgment 
 in a perilous crisis, followed by equally quick and right 
 'action, which would extricate him out of difficulties that 
 would overwhelm men who had all his courage, will and 
 energy, but were slower in coming to a decision. This lat- 
 ter quality is one of the rarest ever found even in the strongest 
 men ; to think quick and yet think right, to come to a 
 right decision as if by impulse, is a power few men possess. 
 To go swift and yet straight as the cannon ball or light- 
 ning's flash, gives to every man's actions tenfold power. 
 In this lay the great secret of Napoleon's success. The 
 campaigns were started, while those of others were under 
 discussion, and the thunder and tumult of battle cleared 
 his perceptions and judgment so that no unexpected disaster 
 could occur that he was not ready to meet. This quickness 
 and accuracy of thought and action is one of the promi-
 
 THE SECRET OF STANLEY^ SUCCESS. 31 
 
 nent characteristics of Stanley, and more than once saved 
 his life and his expedition. 
 
 On the 16th day of October, 1869, as he was sitting in 
 his hotel at Madrid, having just returned from the car- 
 nage of Valencia, a telegram was handed him. The 
 thunder of cannon and tumult of battle had scarce ceased 
 echoing in his ear when this telegram startled him from 
 his reverie, " Come to Paris on important business." In a 
 moment all was hurry and confusion, his books and pic- 
 tures were packed, his washed and unwashed clothes were 
 stowed away, and in two hours his trunks were strapped 
 and labeled " Paris." The train started at 3 o'clock, and 
 he still had some time to say good-bye to his friends, and 
 here by mere accident comes out one of the most pleasing 
 traits of his character. Of the friends he is thus to leave, 
 he merely refers to those of the American legation, but 
 dwells with regret on the farewell he must give to two lit- 
 tle children, whom he calls his "fast friends." Like a 
 sudden burst of sunlight on a landscape, this unconscious 
 utterance reveals a heart as tender as it is strong, and in- 
 creases our interest in the man quite as much as in the ex- 
 plorer. At 3 o'clock he was thundering on toward Paris 
 ready, as he said, to go to the battle or the banquet, all the 
 same. His interview with Mr. Bennett reveals the char- 
 acter of both these men so clearly that we give it in Stan- 
 ley's own words : 
 
 " At 3* P. M. I was on my way, and being obliged to stop 
 at Bayonne a few hours, did not arrive at Paris until the 
 following night. I went straight to the ' Grand Hotel,' 
 and knocked at the door of Mr. Bennett's room. 
 
 " ' Come in,' I heard a voice say. Entering, I found Mr. 
 Bennett in bed. 
 
 " ' Who are you?' he asked. 
 
 " ' My name is Stanley,' I answered.
 
 32 FIND LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 " ' Ah, yes, sit down ; I have important business on hand 
 for you.' 
 
 " After throwing over his shoulders his robe de chambre, 
 Mr. Bennett asked : ' Where do you think Livingstone 
 is?' 
 
 " ' I really do not know, sir/ 
 
 " ' Do you think he is alive ?' 
 
 " ' He may be, and he may not be,' I answered. 
 
 " ' Well, I think he is alive, and that he can be found, 
 and I am going to send you to find him.' 
 
 " ' What/ said I, ' do you really think I can find Dr. 
 Livingstone ? Do you mean me to go to Central Africa ?' 
 
 " ' Yes ; I mean that you shall go and find him, wherever 
 you hear that he is, and get what news you can of him ; 
 and, perhaps' delivering himself thoughtfully and de- 
 liberately ' the old man may be in want. Take enough 
 with you to help him, should he require it. Of course, 
 you will act according to your own plans, and you will do 
 what is best BUT FIND LIVINGSTONE !' 
 
 " Said I, wondering at the cool order of sending one to 
 Central Africa to search for a man whom I, in common 
 with most other men, believed to be dead : ' Have you 
 considered seriously the great expense you are liable to 
 incur on account of this little journey ?' 
 
 " ' What will it cost ?' he asked, abruptly. 
 
 " ' Burton and Speke's journey to Central Africa cost 
 between 3,000 and 5,000, and I fear it cannot be done 
 under 2,500.' 
 
 " ' Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a thou- 
 sand pounds now, and when you have gone through that, 
 draw another thousand, and when that is spent draw 
 another thousand, and when you have finished that draw 
 another thousand, and so on but FIND LIVINGSTONE !' 
 
 " Surprised, but not confused, at the order, for I knew
 
 INTERVIEW WITH MR. BENNETT. 35 
 
 that Mr. Bennett, when he had once made up his mind, 
 was not easily drawn aside from his purpose, I yet 
 thought, seeing it was such a gigantic scheme, that he had 
 not quite considered in his own mind the pros and cons of 
 the case, I said : * I have heard that should your father 
 die you would sell the Herald, and retire from business/ 
 
 " ' Whoever told you so is wrong, for there is not money 
 enough in the United States to buy the New York Herald. 
 My father has made it a great paper, but I mean to make 
 it a greater. I mean, that it shall be a newspaper in the 
 true sense of the word ; I mean, that it shall publish what- 
 ever news may be useful to the world, at no matter what 
 cost.' 
 
 " ' After that,' said I, ' I have nothing more to say. Do 
 you mean me to go straight on to Africa to search for Dr. 
 Livingstone ?' 
 
 " * No ; I wish you to go to the inauguration of the Suez 
 Canal first, and then proceed up the Nile. I hear Baker 
 is about starting for Upper Egypt. Find out what you can 
 about his expedition, and, as you go up, describe, as well as 
 possible, whatever is interesting for tourists, and then write 
 up a guide a practical one for Lower Egypt; tell us 
 about whatever is worth seeing, and how to see it. 
 
 " ' Then you might as well go to Jerusalem ; I hear that 
 Captain Warren is making some interesting discoveries 
 there. Then visit Constantinople, and find out about the 
 khedive and the sultan. 
 
 " * Then let me see you might as well visit the Crimea 
 and those old battle-grounds. Then go across the Cau- 
 casus to the Caspian Sea. I hear there is a Russian expe- 
 dition bound for Khiva. From thence you may get 
 through Persia to India; you could write an interesting 
 letter from Persepolis. 
 
 " ' Bagdad will be close on your way to India ; suppose
 
 36 A FALSE CHARGE. 
 
 you go there and write up something about the Euphrates 
 Valley Railway. Then, when you have come to India, 
 you may go after Dr Livingstone. Probably you will 
 hear by that time that Livingstone is on his way to Zanzi- 
 bar ; but, if not, go into the interior and find him, if alive. 
 Get what news of his discoveries you can ; and if you find 
 that he is dead, bring all possible proofs you can of his 
 being dead. That is all. Good-night, and God be with 
 you.' 
 
 " ' Good-night, sir,' I said, ' what is in the power of hu- 
 man nature I will do ; and on such an errand as I go upon 
 God will be with me.' 
 
 "I lodged with young Edward King, who is making such 
 a name in New England. He was just the man who would 
 have delighted to tell the journal he was engaged upon 
 what young Mr. Bennett was doing, and what errand I was 
 bound upon. I should have liked to exchange opinions with 
 him upon the probable results of my journey, but dared not 
 do so. Though oppressed with the great task before me, I 
 had to appear as if only going to be present at the Suez 
 Canal. Young King followed me to the express train 
 bound for Marseilles, and at the station we parted he to go 
 and read the newspapers at Bowles's Reading-room, I to 
 Central Africa and who knows? There is no need to 
 recapitulate what I did before going to Central Africa." 
 
 He started on his travels, and we hear of him first in 
 Constantinople, from our minister there, Mr. Morris, who 
 had relieved him and his companions when plundered by 
 Turkish brigands. One of Mr. Stanley's traveling com- 
 panions who had been robbed with himself, accused him of 
 dishonesty in a published letter regarding the money our 
 minister had advanced. It is not necessary to go into this 
 accusation or a refutation of it now, it is sufficient to say 
 that Mr. Morris declared the whole charge false, and as the
 
 STANLEY STARTS ON HIS TRAVELS. 37 
 
 shortest and most complete refutation of such a charge, we 
 give Mr. Morris's own views of Mr. Stanley : 
 
 "The uncouth young man whom I first knew had grown 
 into a perfect man of the world, possessing the appearance, 
 the manners and the attributes of a perfect gentleman. 
 The story of the adventures which he had gone through 
 and the dangers he had passed during his absence, were 
 perfectly marvelous, and he became the lion of our little 
 circle. Scarcely a day passed but he was a guest at my 
 table, and no one was more welcome, for I insensibly grew 
 to have a strong attachment for him myself." In speaking 
 further on of his projected travels, he said he advised 
 him to go to Persia, which Stanley suddenly came to the 
 conclusion to follow out. "He therefore," he says, "busied 
 himself in procuring letters of introduction to the Russian 
 authorities in Caucasus, in Georgia and in other countries 
 through which he would have to pass." 
 
 This is quite enough to put to rest the scandal, that at 
 one time produced quite a sensation, that Stanley had 
 cheated him and misappropriated the funds advanced by 
 him. No explanations are required after this indorsement 
 by Mr. Morris himself. 
 
 Of this long and hazardous journey, the columns of the 
 Herald gave all the principal details. There is nothing in 
 them that illustrates the peculiar characteristics of Stanley 
 any more or even so much as his subsequent acts, hence 
 his brief summary of this tour, that seems to have had no 
 definite object whatever, except to give the correspondent 
 of the Herald something to do, until the proper moment 
 to start on the expedition for Livingstone, is, perhaps, the 
 best account that could be given, so far as the general 
 reader is concerned. All we can say is, it seems a very 
 roundabout way in which to commence such an expedition. 
 
 "I went up the Nile and saw Mr. Higginbotham, chief
 
 38 A WELCOME EVERYWHERE. 
 
 engineer in Baker's expedition, at Philse, and was the 
 means of preventing a duel between him and a mad young 
 Frenchman, who wanted to fight Mr. Higginbotham with 
 pistols, because Mr. Higginbotham resented the idea of 
 being taken for an Egyptian through wearing a fez cap. 
 I had a talk with Captain Warren at Jerusalem, and 
 descended one of the pits with a sergeant of engineers to 
 see the marks of Tyrian workmen on the foundation-stones 
 of the Temple of Solomon. I visited the mosques of Stam- 
 boul with the minister resident of the United States, and 
 the American consul general. I traveled over the Cri- 
 mean battle-grounds with Kinglake's glorious books for 
 reference. I dined with the widow of General Liprandi, 
 at Odessa. I saw the Arabian traveler, Palgrave, at Trebi- 
 zond, and Baron Nicolay, the civil governor of the Cau- 
 casus, at Tiflis. I lived with the Russian embassador 
 while at Teheran, and wherever I went through Persia I 
 received the most hospitable welcome from the gentlemen 
 of the Indo-European Telegraph Company ; and following 
 the example of many illustrious men, I wrote my name 
 upon one of the Persepolitan monuments. In the month 
 of August, 1870, I arrived in India." 
 
 In completing this sketch of Mr. Stanley's character, it 
 is necessary only to add that his after career fully justified 
 the high estimate Mr. Bennett placed on his extraordinary 
 qualities. These were tested to their utmost extent in his 
 persistent, determined search after the man he was sent to 
 find. But we believe that Livingstone, when found, with 
 whom Stanley passed some months, exerted a powerful in- 
 fluence on the character which we have attempted to portray. 
 Stanley was comparatively young, full of life and ambition, 
 with fame, greater probably than he had ever anticipated, 
 now within his reach. Yet, here in the heart of Africa, he 
 found a man well on in years, of a world-wide fame, yet
 
 SUMMARY OF STANLEY'S EASTERN TOUR. 39 
 
 apparently indifferent to it. This man who had spent his 
 life in a savage country, away from home and all the 
 pleasures of civilized society, who expected to pass the 
 remnant of his days in the same isolated state, was looking 
 beyond this life. He was forgetting himself, in the absorb- 
 ing purpose to benefit others. Fame to him was nothing, 
 the welfare of a benighted race everything. This was a 
 new revelation to the ambitious young man. Hitherto he 
 had thought only of himself, but here was a man, earnest, 
 thoughtful, sincere, who was living to carry out a great 
 idea no less than the salvation of a continent nay more 
 than this, who was working not for himself, but for a Master, 
 and that Master, the God of the universe. He remained 
 with him in close companionship for months, and intimate 
 relations with a man borne up by such a lofty purpose, 
 inspired by such noble feelings, and looking so far away 
 beyond time for his reward, could not but have an important 
 influence on a man with Stanley's noble and heroic qualities. 
 It was a new revelation to him. He had met, not a successful, 
 bold explorer, but a Christian, impelled and sustained by the 
 great and noble idea of regenerating a race and honoring 
 the God of man and the earth. We say such a lengthened 
 companionship with a man of this character could not but 
 lift him on to a higher plane, and inspire him with a loftier 
 purpose than that of a mere explorer. 
 
 But while this expedition brought out all the peculiar 
 traits we have spoken of, his last expedition developed quali- 
 ties which circumstances as yet, had not yet exhibited. 
 When he emerged on the Atlantic coast with his company 
 he was hailed with acclamations, and a British vessel was 
 placed at his disposal in which to return home. But the 
 ease and comfort offered him, and the applause awaiting him 
 were nothing compared with the comfort and welcome of 
 the savage band that had for so long a time been his com-
 
 40 PHAKISAICAL PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 panions and his only reliance in the perils through which 
 he had passed. True, they had often been intractible, dis- 
 obedient and trustless, but still they had been his com- 
 panions in one of the most perilous marches ever attempted 
 by man, and with that large charity that allowed for the 
 conduct of these untutored, selfish animals of the desert, he 
 forgot it all, and would do nothing, think of nothing, till 
 their wants were supplied and their welfare secured. He 
 would see them safe back to the spot from which he took 
 them, and did, before he took care of himself. A noble 
 nature there asserted itself, and we doubt not that every 
 one of those ignorant, poor savages would go to the death 
 for that brave man to whom their own welfare was so 
 dear. 
 
 In this sketch of Mr. Stanley, as it appears to us from 
 the record of his life, we have omitted to notice those faults 
 which are incident to poor human nature, in whatever per- 
 son it is enshrined. But perhaps this is as good a place as 
 any to notice the charge brought against him by some per- 
 sons in the English press, of having killed natives, not in 
 self-defense but to carry out his explorations, asserting that 
 neither for fame nor science or any other motive had a man 
 a right to take the life of his fellow-man. Without going 
 into an argument on this point, or bringing forward the 
 circumstances of this particular case, leaving that to be 
 explained in the narrative, as it will appear in subsequent 
 pages, we wish simply to say that the philanthropy and 
 Christianity, in behalf of which the charge is made, is pure 
 Pharisaism. Those writers asserted that life should be taken 
 only in self-defense. But it is right, from mere covetous- 
 nesss to seize territory in India, and thus provoke the right- 
 ful owners to rise in defense of their own, which act converts 
 them into assailants, that must be killed in self-defense. 
 But a man having passed through friendly territory sud-
 
 ENGLISH CHAEGE OF CRUELTY REFUTED. . 41 
 
 denly finds himself stopped by hostile savages, who declare 
 that he must retrace his three months' journey and turn 
 back, not because they are to be despoiled of their land, or 
 wronged in their persons, but from mere savage blood- 
 thirstiness and hate. Mr. Stanley quietly insists on con- 
 tinuing his journey, desiring no conflict, but finding them 
 determined to kill him and break up his expedition, he 
 anticipates their movements and shoots down some of them, 
 and lo, these writers who defend the slaughter of tens of 
 thousands of men in India, so that England may enjoy her 
 wholesale robbery, nay, threaten Europe with bloody war 
 at the mere hint that others may want to share her unjust 
 possessions, call on the English people to refuse to give 
 Stanley a public reception because he killed a half dozen 
 savages who wanted to kill him. He should have waited, 
 they say, till they fired the first shot ; as he did not, his 
 conduct should be investigated by the philanthropic subjects 
 of Her Majesty the Queen. 
 
 From this brief sketch of Mr. Stanley's career and 
 character, one might, without presumption, predict that 
 what he had done for Africa, great as it is, may be only the 
 beginning of what he proposes to do. 
 
 The mantle of Livingstone may fall upon his shoulders, 
 and the* ambition of the explorer give way to the higher 
 impulse of redeeming this benighted country, and these 
 two names become as closely linked with the civilized, 
 Christianized Africa of the future, as that of Columbus with 
 America. Having laid open to the world the great work 
 to be done there, let us hope he will be the great leader in 
 performing it.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "THE DARK CONTINENT "DESCRIPTION OF IT DIFFICULTIES OP EXPLORING IT HATRED Of 
 WHITE MEN THE FIRST REAL ENCROACHMENT MADE BY A MISSIONARY DESCRIPTION OF 
 THE PORTION TO BE EXPLORED ITS ARTICLES OF COMMERCE ITS FUTURE DESTINY. 
 
 ALL there was of civilization in the world was found 
 at one time in Africa. Art and science had their 
 home there, while now it is the most benighted and bar- 
 barous portion of the earth and is, not inaptly, called "the 
 dark continent." With a breadth at the equator of four 
 thousand five hundred miles, with the exception of thin lines 
 of sea-coast on each side, this vast space was as much unknown 
 as the surface of a distant planet. The Barbary States and 
 Egypt, on the Mediterranean and Red Seas, some Portuguese 
 settlements on the Indian Ocean, the English and Dutch 
 colonies of South Africa, a few trading ports and the English 
 and American colonies in Guinea, constituted Africa, so far 
 as the knowledge of the civilized world went. And yet 
 beyond these outer rims lay real Africa, and there lived its 
 vast population. That it was fertile was well-known, for 
 out of its mysterious bosom flowed magnificent rivers, 
 the Congo being ten miles wide at its mouth. That it con- 
 tained a mighty population was equally apparent, for in 
 two centuries it yielded forty millions of slaves, which were 
 distributed over the world. Slave hunters here and there 
 pierced a little way into this unknown region, and faint 
 echoes came now and then out of this vast solitude, but 
 they were echoes only, and Africa rested amid the conti- 
 nents a mystery and a riddle that seemed likely never to
 
 OBSTACLES TO EXPLORATION. 43 
 
 be solved. The vast Desert of Sahara on the north, 
 stretching down to the equator, presented an impenetra- 
 ble barrier to explorers entering from that direction, 
 while along the eastern and western coasts they were 
 beaten back by savage tribes or fell victims to the diseases 
 of the country. Matted forests, wild beasts and venomous 
 reptiles were added to the other obstacles that beset their 
 path, so that only now and then an adventurous explorer 
 got beyond the outer rim of the continent. 
 
 The Nile, piercing to the equator, seemed the most natu- 
 ral avenue by which to enter this region, but the slave 
 hunters by their cruelty, and the petty wars they had en- 
 gendered among the various tribes, made the presence of 
 a white man in their midst the occasion of hostile demon- 
 strations. The lofty mountains and broad rivers that came 
 out of this vast unknown region added to the mysterious 
 interest that enveloped it. Though certain death awaited 
 the daring traveler who endeavored to penetrate far into 
 the interior, fresh victims were found ready to peril their 
 lives in the effort to solve the mystery of Central Africa. 
 The path of these travelers, when traced on the map, ap- 
 pears like mere punctures of the great continent. Mission- 
 ary effort could only effect a lodgment along the coast, 
 while colonies remained stationary on the spot where they 
 were first planted. 
 
 Although holding the entire southern portion, the Eng- 
 lish colony could make but little headway against the 
 tribes that confronted them on the north. The most ad- 
 venturous men urged not by curiosity or desire of knowl- 
 edge, but cupidity, penetrated the farthest into the interior, 
 but, instead of throwing light on those dark places, they 
 made them seem more dark and terrible by the miserable 
 naked and half-starved wretches they brought out to civ- 
 ilization, to become more wretched still by the life of 
 slavery to which they were doomed.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "THE DARK CONTINENT "DESCRIPTION OP IT DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING IT HATRED OP 
 
 WHITE MEN THE FIRST REAL ENCROACHMENT MADE BY A MISSIONARY DESCRIPTION OK 
 THE PORTION TO BE EXPLORED ITS ARTICLES OF COMMERCE ITS FUTURE DESTINY. 
 
 ALL there was of civilization in the world was found 
 at one time in Africa. Art and science had their 
 home there, while now it is the most benighted and bar- 
 barous portion of the earth and is, not inaptly, called "the 
 dark continent." With a breadth at the equator of four 
 thousand five hundred miles, with the exception of thin lines 
 of sea-coast on each side, this vast space was as much unknown 
 as the surface of a distant planet. The Barbary States and 
 Egypt, on the Mediterranean and Red Seas, some Portuguese 
 settlements on the Indian Ocean, the English and Dutch 
 colonies of South Africa, a few trading ports and the English 
 and American colonies in Guinea, constituted Africa, so far 
 as the knowledge of the civilized world went. And yet 
 beyond these outer rims lay real Africa, and there lived its 
 vast population. That it was fertile was well-known, for 
 out of its mysterious bosom flowed magnificent rivers, 
 the Congo being ten miles wide at its mouth. That it con- 
 tained a mighty population was equally apparent, for in 
 two centuries it yielded forty millions of slaves, which were 
 distributed over the world. Slave hunters here and there 
 pierced a little way into this unknown region, and faint 
 echoes came now and then out of this vast solitude, but 
 they were echoes only, and Africa rested amid the conti- 
 nents a mystery and a riddle that seemed likely never to
 
 OBSTACLES TO EXPLORATION. 43 
 
 be solved. The vast Desert of Sahara on the north, 
 stretching down to the equator, presented an impenetra- 
 ble barrier to explorers entering from that direction, 
 while along the eastern and western coasts they were 
 beaten back by savage tribes or fell victims to the diseases 
 of the country. Matted forests, wild beasts and venomous 
 reptiles were added to the other obstacles that beset their 
 path, so that only now and then an adventurous explorer 
 got beyond the outer rim of the continent. 
 
 The Nile, piercing to the equator, seemed the most natu- 
 ral avenue by which to enter this region, but the slave 
 hunters by their cruelty, and the petty wars they had en- 
 gendered among the various tribes, made the presence of 
 a white man in their midst the occasion of hostile demon- 
 strations. The lofty mountains and broad rivers that came 
 out of this vast unknown region added to the mysterious 
 interest that enveloped it. Though certain death awaited 
 the daring traveler who endeavored to penetrate far into 
 the interior, fresh victims were found ready to peril their 
 lives in the effort to solve the mystery of Central Africa. 
 The path of these travelers, when traced on the map, ap- 
 pears like mere punctures of the great continent. Mission- 
 ary effort could only effect a lodgment along the coast, 
 while colonies remained stationary on the spot where they 
 were first planted. 
 
 Although holding the entire southern portion, the Eng- 
 lish colony could make but little headway against the 
 tribes that confronted them on the north. The most ad- 
 venturous men urged not by curiosity or desire of knowl- 
 edge, but cupidity, penetrated the farthest into the interior, 
 but, instead of throwing light on those dark places, they 
 made them seem more dark and terrible by the miserable 
 naked and half-starved wretches they brought out to civ- 
 ilization, to become more wretched still by the life of 
 slavery to which they were doomed.
 
 44 AN EFFECTUAL BAR TO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Hence it could not be otherwise than that the name of 
 white man should be associated with everything revolting 
 and cruel, and that his presence among these wild barbarians 
 should awaken feelings of vengeance. A white man, to 
 those inland tribes, represented wrong and cruelty alone. 
 The very word meant separation of wives, and husbands, 
 and families, and carried away to a doom whose mystery 
 only enhanced the actual horrors that really awaited them. 
 Hence the white man's rapacity and cruelty put an effectual 
 bar to his curiosity and enterprise. The love of knowledge 
 and physical science was thwarted by the love of sin and 
 wrong, and the civilized world, instead of wondering at the 
 ignorance and barbarity that kept back all research and all 
 benevolent effort, should wonder that any one bearing the 
 slightest relationship to the so-called outside civilized world, 
 should have been allowed to exist for a day where these 
 wronged, outraged savages bore sway. 
 
 It is not a little singular that the first real encroachment 
 on these forbidden regions was not made by daring ex- 
 plorers either for adventure or geographical knowledge, or 
 to extend commerce, but by a poor missionary, whose sole 
 object was to get the Gospel introduced among these un- 
 counted millions of heathen. Livingstone broke the spell 
 that hung over tropical Africa, and set on foot movements 
 that are to work a change in the continent more important 
 and momentous than the imagination of man can at present 
 conceive. 
 
 But, before entering on the explorations of the last thirty 
 years, which are destined to work such a change in the 
 future history of Africa, we wish to give a clear, definite 
 idea of the region embraced in these explorations, and 
 which is yet but partially unveiled, and on the develop- 
 ment and management of which the future of Africa turns. 
 The names used by these explorers are not, for the most
 
 EXTENT OF TROPICAL AFRICA. 45 
 
 part, found on our maps, and hence the reader is left very 
 much in the dark respecting the territory over which he is 
 carried by the explorer. We endeavored, a little farther 
 back, to give a general idea of the map of Africa, as show- 
 ing its partially civilized and barbarous portions, as well as 
 the known and unknown parts of the continent. We will 
 not give the more scientific divisions, such as the littoral, 
 the lacustrine, the great basins and different plateaus and 
 mountain districts, but would say that it is the tropical 
 regions of Africa that give birth to its largest rivers is 
 covered by its most magnificent forests is crossed by its 
 loftiest mountains, and where dwell its teeming millions. 
 And this is the unknown part of the continent and the 
 central point toward which all explorers press. 
 
 This tropical Africa extends from about ten degrees above 
 to ten degrees below the equator, and from ten to thirty-five 
 east longitude ,in or round numbers, nearly a thousand 
 miles above and below the equator, to two thousand or 
 more east and west between these parallels of latitudes. 
 With an ordinary map before him, and with Zanzibar on 
 the east and Congo on the west, as great landmarks, the 
 reader will get a very clear idea of the ground aimed at 
 and touched, or pierced and crossed by recent explorers, 
 and the thorough final explorations of which will unlock 
 not only the hidden mystery of Africa, but open all there 
 is of interest to both the Christian and commercial world. 
 That to the former there is a field to be occupied that will 
 tax the self-sacrifice and benevolence of the Christian 
 world, there can be no doubt; while to the commercial 
 world a field of equal magnitude and importance will be 
 laid open. From the mere punctures into the borders of 
 this unknown land, and the two slight trails recently made 
 across it, there is no doubt that from sixty to one hundred 
 millions of men are here living in the lowest and most de-
 
 46 A NEW ROUTE DISCOVERED. 
 
 graded condition of heathenism, while the country is bur- 
 dened with those articles which the commercial world need, 
 and can make of vast benefit to man. 
 
 A glance at the map will reveal what a vast territory 
 remains to be explored and what a mighty population 
 exists there, and yet to come into contact with the civilized 
 world. It is probable that that unexplored region between 
 the equator and the great Desert of Sahara will reveal 
 greater wonders than have yet been discovered. 
 
 It is a little strange that the enterprise and the curiosity 
 of man should urge him to make repeated costly and vain 
 attempts to reach the north pole, where there are neither 
 inhabitants nor articles of commerce, while one of the 
 largest continents on our globe, crowded with people and 
 rich in the very products needed by man, should be al- 
 lowed to remain so long a sealed book. 
 
 Previous to Livingstone, most of the expeditions having 
 Central Africa for their objective point, made the Nile 
 their guide. Mungo Park went up the Niger, on the west 
 coast, in the beginning of the present century, and some 
 twenty years later Denham and Clapperton started from 
 Tripoli and, crossing the Great Desert, reached Lake 
 Tschad, nearly a thousand miles north of the equator, and 
 worked west to the Niger, and so to the coast of Guinea. 
 Other explorers have visited this region, comprising the 
 central part of Northern Africa, but the equatorial region 
 was sought by following up the Nile. The western coast 
 had been the scene of so much cruelty by slave traders, 
 that the powerful tribes in the interior were so hostile to 
 white men that they would not allow them to enter their 
 country. It was left to Dr. Livingstone to discover a new 
 route to tropical Africa and make an entering wedge that 
 is likely to force open the whole country. 
 
 What little has been traversed reveals untold wealth
 
 WEALTH OF AFRICA. 47 
 
 waiting the enterprising hand of commerce to bring forth 
 to civilization. A partial list of the products of this rich 
 country will show what a mine of wealth it is destined to 
 be: sugar-cane, cotton, coffee, oil palm, tobacco, spices, 
 timber, rice, wheat, Indian corn, India rubber, copal, hemp, 
 ivory, iron, copper, silver, gold and various other articles 
 of commerce are found here, and some of them in the 
 greatest profusion. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that this vast continent, which from 
 creation seemed destined only to be the abode of wild 
 beasts and reptiles, and man as wild and savage as the 
 animals amid which he dwelt, and when brought into con- 
 tact with civilization to become more debased, if possible, 
 by the bondage in which he was kept, contains almost 
 everything that civilization needs, and in the future, which 
 now seems near, will be traversed by railroads and steam- 
 boats, and the solitudes that have echoed for thousands of 
 years to the howl of wild beasts, and yells of equally wild 
 men, will resound with the hum of peaceful industry and the 
 rush and roar of commerce. The miserable hut will give way 
 to commodious habitations, and the disgusting rites of 
 heathenism to the worship of the true God. Reaching to 
 the temperate zones, north and south, it presents every 
 variety of climate and yields every variety of vegetation. 
 What effect the great revolution awaiting this continent 
 will have on the destiny of the world, none can tell. But 
 he would be considered a mad prophet w T ho would predict 
 one-half of the changes that the discovery of the Ameri- 
 can continent, less than four hundred years ago, has 
 wrought. That the Creator of these continents of the 
 earth had some design in letting this, nearly, fourth part 
 of our planet remain in darkness and mystery and savage 
 debasement till now, and then, by the effort of one poor 
 missionary, cause it to be thrown open to the world, none 
 can doubt.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OUTLINES OF LIVINGSTONE'S EXPLORATIONS DURING A PERIOD OF NEARLY THIRTY YEARS FIRST 
 EXPLORATION CROSSES THE CONTINENT FHOM WEST TO EAST HIS SECOND EXPEDITION THE 
 LAST HIS SUPPOSED DEATH SYMPATHY FOR HIM INDIFFERENCE OF THE BRITISH GOVERN- 
 MENT TO HIS FATE BENNETT'S BOLD RESOLUTION TO SEND STANLEY AFTER HIM. 
 
 WE do not design to give an account of the many ex- 
 plorations of Africa, from Mungo Park down, which 
 have been made to gratify curiosity, or the spirit of adven- 
 ture, or for fame, or even in the interest of science, or to 
 increase our geographical knowledge, but confine ourselves 
 to those only which have had for their great end the 
 destruction of the slave trade and the regeneration of 
 Africa. As Livingstone originated this philanthropic 
 spirit, and lifted the expeditions to explore Central Africa 
 to a higher plane than they had ever before occupied, till 
 finally they became national, and hence have assumed an 
 importance they never before possessed, it is not only 
 proper, but necessary to a full understanding of these ex- 
 plorations, that a brief account or outline of his Herculean 
 labors should be given. 
 
 He was born in 1815, so that if alive now would be near 
 his threescore and ten. Educated as a physician and de- 
 signing, originally, to make this profession an entering 
 wedge to his career as a missionary in China, he having 
 changed his purpose, embarked at the age of twenty-five 
 as a missionary to South Africa, intending to spend his life 
 among the w r ild tribes that bordered on the English settle- 
 ments there. This very simple and by no means extraor- 
 
 43
 
 LIVINGSTONE'S COMMENCEMENT. 49 
 
 dinary step fixed his destiny, and, to all human appearances, 
 has changed the destiny of Africa; and though he is dead, 
 the movement he started will go on widening and deepen- 
 ing, controlling the fate of millions, till time shall end. 
 He located himself among a tribe in the Baknona country, 
 over which a noted and able chieftain named Sechele ruled 
 with arbitrary power. For nine years he labored and ex- 
 plored in this section of the country, learning the various 
 dialects and customs and manners of the people, and thus 
 preparing himself unconsciously for the greater work 
 before him. 
 
 Nine years after, he went to Cape Town and entered on 
 his missionary labors. It must be borne in mind that, 
 though at this time, the tribes that Livingstone visited and 
 dwelt among were strangers- to white men, yet they had 
 little of the hatred of the stranger that characterized the 
 tribes of Central Africa. They had never been so heavily 
 cursed by the slave hunter or trader, and hence had less 
 occasion for animosity and suspicion. The missionary, 
 with his wife and children, trusted themselves fearlessly to 
 the generosity of these savage chiefs, many of whom in 
 intelligence, sagacity and magnanimity, resembled Red 
 Jacket, Tecumseh and others among our Indian tribes. 
 They were received with distinguished hospitality and 
 treated with royal generosity. 
 
 About this time his explorations of the African conti- 
 nent began. Two travelers having arrived at his station, 
 he started with them to visit Lake Ngami, a sheet of water 
 between one and two hundred miles in circumference, that 
 had never before been visited by a white man. They set out 
 on the 1st of June, and arrived on its solitary shores on the 
 1st of August, having been two months on the route, and 
 everywhere treated with kindness. His chief object in visit- 
 ing the lake was to see a great chief, Lekeletu, who was said
 
 50 IN SIGHT OF INONGO. 
 
 to live some hundred and fifty miles beyond it. Livingstone 
 was received and entertained by liim cordially. Consulting 
 with this able and generous chief, Livingstone determined 
 to push west to the coast, and in November, 1853, the two, 
 with quite a train and numerous guides, set out, and, thanks 
 to the precautions and orders of Sekeletu, were received 
 by the various tribes through which they passed with great 
 hospitality. For three 'months he toiled onward across 
 rivers and through swamps, his only companions being 
 wild barbarians, who, notwithstanding their idolatrous 
 worship and heathenish rites, treated this solitary white 
 man, who had put himself completely in their power, as 
 an honored guest. The Inongo Valley, on which he now 
 entered, was under the sway of the Portuguese, though 
 several hundred miles from the Atlantic. The scenery 
 through which he had passed had been tame and uninter- 
 esting, with nothing to alleviate the monotony of the way 
 but the curious customs and wild antics of the savages 
 through whose territory he passed. But he was filled with 
 rapture when he came in sight of Inongo, lying in a beauti- 
 ful valley below him. He thus describes it: 
 
 " It is about one hundred miles broad, clothed with dark 
 forest, except where the light green grass covers meadow- 
 lands on the Inongo River, which here and there glances 
 in the sun as it wends its way to the north. The opposite 
 side of this great valley appears like a range of lofty 
 mountains, and the descent into it about a mile, which, 
 measured perpendicularly, may be from one thousand to 
 twelve hundred feet. Emerging from the gloomy forest of 
 Loanda, this magnificent prospect made us all feel as if a 
 weight had been lifted from our eyelids. A cloud was 
 passing across the middle of the valley, from which rolling 
 thunder pealed, while above all was glorious sunlight. It 
 was one of those scenes which, from its unexpectedness
 
 A LOVELY VALLEY. 51 
 
 and great contrast to all that has gone before, makes it 
 seem more like a vision than a reality, and one wonders 
 that so much beauty and loveliness were created only for 
 wild beasts or wilder men to gaze upon." 
 
 He reached Loanda in April, having made the journey 
 to the coast from the Mokololo district in four months. 
 He now took the bold determination to cross the continent, 
 from west to east. It must be remembered that this daring 
 expedition was undertaken nearly a quarter of a century ago, 
 without the companionship of a single white man. It is true, 
 he crossed the southern portion of Africa, yet he started 
 some two hundred miles north of where Cameron recently 
 came out. Instead of working northerly, his course lay 
 somewhat to the south-east. For a year he was now locked 
 up in these unknown wilds, and reaching the water-shed of 
 the continent, he discovered the Zambezi, in the heart of 
 Africa, and traced it down to its mouth. The results of 
 this remarkable expedition have been long given to the 
 world. But it will be seen at a glance that this formed, as 
 it were, a base line for all his future explorations, and gave 
 that impetus to explorations of the continent which are fast 
 laying it open to the civilized world. 
 
 This brief summary gives a very inadequate idea of Mr. 
 Livingstone's labors in Africa up to this time. He had 
 now been sixteen years among its wild tribes, acting as 
 missionary, statesman and scientific explorer. He had 
 wrought marvelous changes among them, and started them 
 forward toward civilization. 
 
 He now returned to England, reaching there on the 12th 
 of December, where the story of his wonderful career was 
 received with great admiration by people of every class. 
 He published an extended account of his work and explor- 
 ations in Africa, which was warmly received on both sides 
 of the Atlantic.
 
 52 THE ENGLISH PEOPLE AROUSED. 
 
 Having fairly launched liis book in the world, he now 
 determined to return to Africa, but not, as before, alone. 
 He did not go out as a missionary, but as consul to Killi- 
 mane, with the understanding that his duties were in no 
 way to conflict with his explorations. We do not design 
 to give an account of the second expedition, which, among 
 other things, before it ended, shed new light on the sources 
 of the Nile and the waters that flow east into the Indian 
 Ocean. 
 
 He left in 1858, and was gone some four years. He 
 then returned to England. In the meantime, stimulated 
 by his success and fame, several expeditions started up the 
 Nile, by which the vast lake, or, as it might be termed, inland 
 sea system around and beyond the head waters of the Nile 
 was brought to light, as well as all the diabolical cruelties o 
 the slave trade, which was carried on by Egypt and the 
 Portuguese settlements on the east coast of Africa. Living- 
 stone, by his vivid descriptions of its horrors, and loud and 
 righteous outcry against it, had aroused the English people, 
 and created such a public sentiment that the English gov- 
 ernment felt compelled to move in the matter; so that while 
 Livingstone was preparing for a third expedition, or rather 
 continuing this last, which had only been intermitted (for 
 his researches up the Zambezi and Raverna Rivers were 
 preparatory to his great undertaking to explore the sources 
 of the Nile and the great lake region, near which he was 
 to- die) , a movement was on foot to suppress the slave trade 
 in Africa. England and the United States having declared 
 it piracy, and kept their cruisers on the west coast of Africa, 
 had effectually suppressed it there. If, therefore, it could be 
 suppressed by way of Egypt, the Portuguese settlements 
 alone on the east coast could carry it on, and hence its 
 doom be sealed, and this curse of centuries to Africa be 
 ended. There was but one way to do this, to enlist the
 
 LIVINGSTONE EEPOKTED DEAD. 53 
 
 sympathies, or at least secure the co-operation of the 
 kliedive of Egypt in the great undertaking. No matter 
 whether his claims were founded in justice or not, no one 
 had a better one to the vast unknown regions of tropical 
 Africa than he. Certainly no one had the power to enforce 
 that claim as well as he. 
 
 The khedive is the most intelligent ruler that Egypt 
 ever had, of liberal principles, and in sympathy with all 
 the great improvements going on in the civilized world. 
 Though the plan was obnoxious to a great portion of his sub- 
 jects who lived by the slave trade, he at once entered into it 
 and agreed to stop, with her assistance, the traffic in human 
 beings throughout his kingdom. Livingstone at the time was 
 not where he could hear of this first great result of his expo- 
 sure of the iniquities of the slave trade in Africa. He was 
 swallowed up in the wilds of that continent ; in fact, was 
 by most men supposed to be dead, and his body mouldering, 
 unburied, on the field of his last great exploration. He 
 had been three years absent from England. Determined 
 to explore the great water-shed of Central Africa, he had 
 sailed for Zanzibar in August, 1865, and thence, in March 
 of the next year, with a small band, composed of Sepoys 
 and others, left that island, and in the last of the month 
 struck inland, proceeding by the River Bohenna. He was 
 heard from, from time to time, until at last the leader of 
 his Johanna men, arrived at Zanzibar and reported that he 
 had been killed almost at the outset of his journey. The 
 particulars of his death were related with great minuteness 
 of detail how the fight commenced, and that after Living- 
 stone had shot two of the natives, he was struck from behind 
 and shot dead. The news was received with feelings of 
 gloom and sorrow throughout the civilized world. This 
 brave, true-hearted Christian man, whom all the native 
 chiefs who knew him had learned to love, had at last fallen
 
 54 ANOTHER FALSE RUMOR. 
 
 by the hand of those he came to benefit. But at length 
 there came letters from him, dated far in advance of the 
 place where it was said he was murdered. Time passed on, 
 and at long intervals faint echoes came out of the African 
 solitudes, of a white man toiling all alone in those desolate 
 regions. At length came another report that the news of 
 Livingstone's previous death was false, for he had recently 
 been killed. But the former false rumor caused this to be 
 discredited, and sympathy was again aroused for this 
 undaunted solitary Englishman, and wonder was expressed 
 that his government would do nothing to relieve him. At 
 length, Mr. Bennett, of the Herald, determined, at his own 
 expense, to find this daring explorer if he was alive, and if 
 dead, bring his bones out to his friends. He fitted out, as 
 we have seen, an expedition at the cost of $25,000, and 
 placed Stanley at its head, second only to Livingstone for 
 daring, perseverance and an indomitable will. At first he 
 inclined to ascend the Nile and push forward in the direc- 
 tion toward which it was known that Livingstone had de- 
 termined to push his researches, but finding that Baker was 
 to move in that direction, he at last decided to proceed to 
 Zanzibar, and taking the direction in which Livingstone 
 had gone, three years before, follow him up till he found 
 him or the spot where he died, or was killed.
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 STANLEY'S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE LANDS AT ZANZIBAR ORGANIZES HIS EXPEDITION THE 
 START STANLEY'S FEELINGS THE MARCH ITS DIFFICULTIES MEN _SICK DELAYS MEETING 
 WITH A CHIEF DIALOGUE ON THE BURIAL OF A HORSE LOSS OF HIS BAY HORSE SICKNESS 
 AND DESERTION TERRIBLE TRAVELING A HOSPITABLE CHIEF A GANG OF SLAVES AFRICAN 
 BELLES A LUDICROUS SPECTACLE A QUEER SUPERSTITION PUNISHMENT OF A DESERTER A 
 LUDICROUS CONTRAST A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY NEWS FROM LIVINGSTONE A WALLED TOWN 
 STANLEY ATTACKED WITH FEVER. 
 
 WE have seen in a former chapter how suddenly Mr. 
 Stanley was recalled from Spain, to take charge of 
 an expedition to go in search of Livingstone how he was 
 sent to see Baker, who was about to go in toward him from 
 the north, and how he was sent east first. But the time 
 came at last to enter upon his work in earnest, and he sailed 
 from Bombay, on the 12th of October, for Zanzibar. 
 
 On board the barque was a Scotchman, named Farquhar, 
 acting as first mate. Taking a fancy to him, he engaged 
 him to accompany him on his expedition to find Living- 
 stone. 
 
 Nearly three months later, on the 6th of January, ne 
 landed at Zanzibar, one of the most fruitful islands of the 
 Indian Ocean, rejoicing in a sultan of its own. It is the 
 great mart to which come the ivory, gum, copal, hides, etc., 
 and the slaves of the interior. Stanley immediately set 
 about preparing for his expedition. The first thing to 
 decide upon, was : 
 
 " How much money is required ? 
 
 " How many pigeons as carriers ? 
 
 55
 
 56 GOODS THE ONLY COIN. 
 
 " How many soldiers ? 
 
 " How much cloth ? 
 
 " How many beads ? 
 
 " How much wire ? 
 
 "What kinds of cloth is required for the different 
 tribes?" 
 
 After trying to figure this out by himself, from the books 
 of other travelers, he decided to consult an Arab merchant, 
 who had fitted out several caravans for the interior. In a 
 very short time he obtained more information than he had 
 acquired from books in his long three months' voyage from 
 India. 
 
 Money is of no use in the heart of Africa. Goods of 
 various kinds are the only coin that can purchase what 
 the traveler needs, or pay the tribute that is exacted by the 
 various tribes. He found that forty yards of cloth would 
 keep one hundred men supplied with food per day. Thus, 
 three thousand six hundred and fifty yards of three differ- 
 ent kinds of cloths would support one hundred men twelve 
 months. Next to cloths, beads were the best currency of 
 the interior. Of these he purchased twenty sacks of eleven 
 varieties in color and shape. Next came the brass wire, 
 of which he purchased three hundred and fifty pounds, of 
 about the thickness of telegraph wire. Next came the 
 provisions and outfit of implements that would be needed 
 medicines, and arms, and donkeys, and, last of all, men. 
 
 A man by the name of Shaw, a native of England, who 
 came there as third mate of an American ship, from which 
 he was discharged, applied for work, and was engaged by 
 Stanley in getting what he needed together, and to accom- 
 pany him on his expedition. He agreed to give him $300 
 per annum, and placed him next in rank to Farquhar. He 
 then cast about for an escort of twenty men. Five who 
 had accompanied Speke, and were called " Speke's Faith-
 
 STANLEY'S EQUIPMENT COMPLETED. 59 
 
 fuls," among whom, as a leader, was a man named Bombay, 
 were first engaged. He soon got together eighteen more 
 men, as soldiers, who were to receive $3 a month. Each 
 was to have a flint-lock musket, and be provided with two 
 hundred rounds of ammunition. Bombay was to receive 
 $80 a year, and the other five faithfuls $40. 
 
 Knowing that he was to enter, and, perhaps, cross a 
 region of vast inland lakes, much delay and travel might 
 be avoided by a large boat, and so he purchased one .and 
 stripped it of all its covering, to make the transportation 
 easier. He also had a cart constructed to fit the goat-paths 
 of the interior and to aid in transportation. 
 
 When all his purchases were completed and collected 
 together, he found that the combined weight would be 
 about six tons. His cart and twenty donkeys would not 
 suffice for this, and so, the last thing of all, was to procure 
 carriers, or pagosi, as they were called. He himself was 
 presented with a blooded bay horse by an American mer- 
 chant, at Zanzibar, named Gordhue, formerly of Salem. 
 
 On the 4th of February, or twenty-eight days from his 
 arrival at Zanzibar, Mr. Stanley's equipment was com- 
 pleted, and he set sail for Bagomayo, twenty-five miles dis- 
 tant on the mainland from which all the caravans started 
 for the interior, and where he was to hire his one hundred 
 and forty or more pogasis or carriers. He was immedi- 
 ately surrounded with men who attempted in every way to 
 fleece him, and he was harassed, and betrayed, and hin- 
 dered on every side. But, at length, all difficulties were 
 overcome the goods packed in bales weighing seventy-two 
 pounds the force divided into five caravans, and in six 
 weeks after he entered Bagomayo he was ready to start. 
 The first caravan had departed February 18th ; the second, 
 February 21st ; the third, February 25th ; the fourth, on 
 March llth, and the last on March 21st. All told, the
 
 60 STARTING IX HIGH SPIRITS. 
 
 number comprised, in all the caravans connected with the 
 " Herald Expedition," one hundred and ninety. 
 
 It was just seventy-three days after Stanley landed at 
 Zanzibar, that he passed out of Bagomayo, with his last 
 caravan, on his bay horse, accompanied by twenty-eight 
 carriers and twelve soldiers, under Bombay, while his Arab 
 boy, Selim, the interpreter, had charge of the cart and its 
 load. 
 
 Out through a narrow lane, shaded by trees, they passed, 
 the American flag flying in front, and all in the highest 
 spirits. Stanley' had left behind him the quarreling, 
 cheating Arabs, and all his troubles with them. The sun 
 speeding to the west, was beckoning him on ; his heart 
 beat high with hope and ambition ; he had taken a new 
 departure in life, and with success would come the renown 
 he so ardently desired. He says, "loveliness glowed 
 around me ; I saw fertile fields, rich vegetation, strange 
 trees; I heard the cry of cricket and pewit, and jubi- 
 lant sounds of many insects, all of which seemed to tell 
 me, * you are started/ What could I do but lift up my 
 face toward the pure, glowing sky, and cry, ' God be 
 thanked?'" 
 
 The first camp was three miles and a half distant. The 
 next three days were employed in completing the prepara- 
 tions for the long land journey and for meeting the 
 Masike, now very near, and on the 4th, a start was made 
 for Unyanyembe, the great half-way house, which he re- 
 solved to reach in three months. 
 
 The road was a mere foot-path, leading through fields 
 in which naked women were at work, who looked up and 
 laughed and giggled as they passed. Passing on, they en- 
 tered an open forest, abounding in deer and antelope. 
 Reaching the turbid Kingemi, a bridge of felled trees was 
 soon made; Stanley, in the meantime amusing himself
 
 G2 A TERRIBLE COMMOTION. 
 
 Leaving it to rest in his own camp, he pushed on five 
 miles to the village of Kingaru, set in a deep, damp, pes- 
 tiferous-looking hollow, surrounded by pools of water. To 
 add to the gloominess of the scene, a pouring rain set in, 
 which soon filled their camping-place with lakelets and 
 rivulets of water. Toward evening the rain ceased, and 
 the villagers began to pour in with their vendibles. Fore- 
 most was the chief, bringing with him three measures of 
 matama and a half a measure of rice, which he begged 
 Stanley to accept. The latter saw through the trickery of 
 this meagre present, in offering which the chief called him 
 the "rich sultan." Stanley asked him why, if he was a rich 
 sultan, the chief of Kingaru did not bring him a rich pre- 
 sent, that he might give him a rich one in return. "Ah," 
 replied the blear-eyed old fox, " Kingaru is poor, there is 
 no matama in the village." " Well," said Stanley, " if 
 there is no matama in the village, I can give but a yard of 
 cloth," which would be equivalent to his present. Foiled 
 in his sharp practice the chief had to be content with 
 this. 
 
 On the 1st of April, he lost his gray horse. The burial 
 of the carcass, not far from the encampment, raised a ter- 
 rible commotion in the village, and the inhabitants assem- 
 bled in consultation as to how much they must charge him 
 for burying a horse in their village without permission, and 
 soon the wrinkled old chief was also at the camp, and the 
 following dialogue took place, which is given as an illus- 
 tration of the character of the people with whom he was 
 to have a year's trading intercourse : 
 
 "White Man "Are you the great chief of Kingaru?" 
 
 Kingaru " Huh-uh yes." 
 
 W. M. "The great, great chief?" 
 
 Kingaru " Huh-uh yes." 
 
 W. M. How many soldiers have you ?"
 
 THE DIFFICULTY SETTLED. G3 
 
 Kingaru "Why?" 
 
 "W. M. "How many fighting men have you?" 
 
 Kingaru " None." 
 
 W. M. "Oh! I thought you might have a thousand 
 men with you, by your going to fine a strong white man 
 who has plenty of guns and soldiers two doti for burying 
 a dead horse." 
 
 Kingaru (rather perplexed) "No; I have no soldiers. 
 I have only a few young men." 
 
 W. M. " Why do you come and make trouble, then ?" 
 
 Kingaru " It was not I ; it was my brothers who said 
 to me, ' Come here, come here, Kingaru, see what the white 
 man has done ! Has he not taken possession of your soil, 
 in that he has put his horse into your ground without your 
 permission? Come, go to him and see by what right! 
 Therefore have I come to ask you who gave you permission 
 to use my soil for a burying-ground ?" 
 
 W. M. "I want no man's permission to do what is 
 right. My horse died ; had I left him to fester and stink 
 in your valley, sickness would visit your village, your water 
 would become unwholesome, and caravans would not stop 
 here for trade; for they would say, 'This is an unlucky 
 spot, let us go away.' But enough said ; I understand you 
 to say you do not want him buried in your ground ; the 
 error I have fallen into is easily put right. This minute 
 my soldiers shall dig him out again and cover up the soil 
 as it was before, and the horse shall be left where he died." 
 (Then shouting to Bombay) . " Ho, Bombay, take soldiers 
 with jeinbes to dig my horse out of the ground ; drag him 
 to where he died and make everything ready for a march 
 to-morrow morning." 
 
 Kingaru, his voice considerably higher and his head 
 moving to and fro with emotion, cries out, " Akuna, akuna, 
 Baua" no, no, master "Let not the white man get angry.
 
 64 DEATH OF HIS BAY HOUSE. 
 
 The horse is dead and now lies buried ; let him remain so, 
 since he is already there, and let us be friends again." 
 
 The matter had hardly been settled, when Stanley heard 
 deep groans issuing from one of the animals. On inquiry, 
 he found that they came from the bay horse. He took a 
 lantern .and visited him, staying all night, hoping to save 
 his life. It was in vain in the morning he died, leaving 
 him now without any horse, which reduced him to donkey 
 riding. Three days passed, and the lagging caravan had 
 not come up. In the meantime, one of his carriers deserted, 
 while sickness attacked the camp, and out of his twenty- 
 five men, ten were soon on the sick list. On the 4th, 
 the caravan came up, and on the following morning was 
 dispatched forward, the leader being spurred on with the 
 promise of a liberal reward if he hurried to Unyanyembe. 
 The next morning, to rouse his people, he beat an alarm on 
 a tin pan, and before sunrise they were on the march, the 
 villagers rushing like wolves into the deserted camp to pick 
 up any rags or refuse left behind. The march of fifteen 
 miles to Imbike showed a great demoralization in his men, 
 many of them not coming up till nightfall. One of the 
 carriers had deserted on the way, taking with him a quan- 
 tity of cloth and beads. The next morning, before start- 
 ing, men were sent in pursuit of him. They made that 
 day, the 8th, but ten miles to Msuwa. Though the journey 
 was short, it was the most fatiguing one of all. As it gives 
 a vivid description of the difficulties experienced in trav- 
 eling through this country, we quote his own language : 
 
 " It was one continuous jungle, except three interjacent 
 glades of narrow limits, which gave us three breathing 
 pauses in the dire task of jungle-traveling. The odor 
 emitted from its fell plants was so rank, so pungently acrid, 
 and the miasma from its decayed vegetation so dense, that 
 I expected every moment to see myself and men fall down
 
 COMING TO GEIEF. 65 
 
 in paroxysms of acute fever. Happily this evil was not 
 added to that of loading and unloading the frequently- 
 falling packs. Seven soldiers to attend seventeen laden 
 donkeys, were entirely too small a number while passing 
 through a jungle; for while the path is but a foot wide, 
 with a wall of thorny plants and creepers bristling on each 
 side, and projecting branches darting across it, with knots 
 of spiky twigs, stiff as spike-nails, ready to catch and hold 
 anything above four feet in height, it is but reasonable to 
 suppose that donkeys, standing four feet high, with loads 
 measuring across, from bale to bale, four feet, would come 
 to grief. 
 
 " This grief was of frequent recurrence here, causing us 
 to pause every few minutes for re-arrangements. So often 
 had this task to be performed, that the men got perfectly 
 discouraged, and had to be spoken to sharply before they 
 set to work. By the time I reached Msuwa, there was no- 
 body with me and the ten donkeys I drove but Mabruk, 
 the Little, who, though generally stolid, stood to his work 
 like a man. Bombay and Uledi were far behind with the 
 most jaded donkeys. Shaw was in charge of the cart, and 
 his experiences were most bitter, as he informed me he had 
 expended a whole vocabulary of stormy abuse known to 
 sailors, and a new one which he had invented ex tempore. 
 He did not arrive until two o'clock next morning, and was 
 completely worn out. Truly, I doubt if the most pious 
 divine, in traveling through that long jungle, under those 
 circumstances, with such oft-recurring annoyances, Sisy- 
 phean labor, could have avoided cursing his folly for com- 
 ing hither." 
 
 A halt was made here, that men and animals might re- 
 cuperate. The chief of this village was " a white man in 
 everything but color," and brought him the choicest mut- 
 ton. He and his subjects were intelligent enough to com-
 
 66 THE BELLES OF KISEMO. 
 
 prehend the utility of his breech-loading guns, and by their 
 gestures illustrated their comprehension of the deadly effects 
 of those weapons in battle. 
 
 On the 10th, somewhat recuperated, the caravan left this 
 hospitable village, and crossed a beautiful little plain, with 
 a few cultivated fields, from which the tillers stared in won- 
 der at the unwonted spectacle it presented. But here 
 Stanley met one of those sights common in that part of the 
 world, but which, it is to be hoped, will soon be seen no 
 more. It was a chained slave gang, bound east. He says the 
 slaves did not appear in the least to be down-hearted, on the 
 contrary, they were jolly and gay. But for the chains, 
 there was no difference between master and slave. The 
 chains were heavy, but as men and women had nothing 
 else to carry, being entirely naked, their weight, he says, 
 could not have been insupportable. He camped at 10 
 A. M., and fired two guns, to show they were ready to 
 trade with any of the natives in the region. The halting- 
 place was Kisemo, only twelve miles from Msuwa, which 
 was the centre of a populous district, there being no 
 less than five villages in the vicinity, fortified by stakes 
 and thorny abattis, as formidable, in their way, as the old 
 fosse and draw-bridge of feudal times. " The belles of Kise- 
 mo," he says, " are of gigantic posterioral proportions," and 
 are " noted for their variety in brass wire, which is wound 
 in spiral rings round their wrists and ankles, arid for the 
 varieties of style which their hisped heads exhibit ; while 
 their poor lords, obliged to be contented with dingy, torn 
 clouts and split ears, show what wide sway Asmodeus holds 
 over this terrestial sphere for it must have been an un- 
 happy time when the hard besieged husbands gave way be- 
 fore their hotly-pressing spouses. Besides these brassy orna- 
 ments on their extremities, the women of Kisemo frequently 
 wear lengthy necklaces, which run in rivers of colors down
 
 CURIOUS NATIVE SUPERSTITION. 67 
 
 their black bodies." But a more comical picture is seldom 
 presented than that of one of those highly-dressed females, 
 " with their huge posterior development, while grinding out 
 corn. This is done in a machine very much like an old- 
 fashioned churn, except the dasher becomes a pestle and 
 the churn a mortar. Swaying with the pestle, as it rises 
 and falls, the breast and posteriors correspond to the strokes 
 of the dasher in a droll sort of sing-song, which gave to the 
 whole exhibition the drollest effect imaginable." 
 
 A curious superstition of the natives was brought to light 
 here by Shaw removing a stone while putting up his tent. 
 As he did so, the chief rushed forward, and putting it back 
 in its place, solemnly stood upon it. On being asked what 
 was the matter, he carefully lifted it, pointed to an insect 
 pinned by a stick to the ground, which he said had been 
 the cause of a miscarriage of a female of the village. 
 
 In the afternoon the messengers came back with the 
 deserter and all the stolen goods. Some of the natives had 
 captured him and were about to kill him and take the 
 goods, when they came up and claimed both. He was 
 given up, they being content with receiving a little cloth 
 and beads in return. Stanley, with great sagacity, caused 
 him to be tried by the other carriers, who condemned him 
 to be flogged. They were ordered to carry out their own 
 sentence, which they did amid the yells of the culprit. 
 
 Before night a caravan arrived, bringing, among other 
 things, a copy of the Herald, containing an account of a 
 presidential levee in Washington, in which the toilets of 
 the various ladies were given. While engrossed in reading 
 in his tent, Stanley suddenly became aware that his tent- 
 door was darkened, and looking up, he saw the chief's 
 daughters gazing with wondering eyes on the great 
 sheets of paper he was scanning so closely. The sight of 
 these naked beauties, glittering in brass wire and beads,
 
 68 GOOD NEWS OF LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 presented a ludicrous contrast to the elaborately-dressed 
 belles of whom he had been reading in the paper, and 
 made him feel, by contrast, in what a different world he was 
 living. 
 
 On the 12th, the caravan reached Munondi, on the Un- 
 gerangeri River. The country was open and beautiful, 
 presenting a natural park, while the roads were good, 
 making the day's journey delightful. Flowers decked the 
 ground, and the perfume of sweet-smelling shrubs filled 
 the air. As they approached the river, they came upon 
 fields of Indian corn and gardens filled with vegetables, 
 while stately trees lined the bank. On the 14th, they 
 crossed the river and entered the Wakami territory. This 
 and the next day the road lay through a charming coun- 
 try. The day following, they marched through a forest 
 between two mountains rising on either side of them, and on 
 the 16th reached the territory of Wosigahha. As he ap- 
 proached the village of Muhalleh he was greeted with the 
 discharge of musketry. It came from the fourth caravan, 
 which had halted here. Here also good news awaited him. 
 An Arab chief, with a caravan bound east, was in the 
 place, and told him that he had met Livingstone at Ujiji, 
 and had lived in the next hut to him for two weeks. He 
 described him as looking old, with long, gray moustache 
 and beard, just recovered from illness, and looking very 
 wan. He said, moreover, that he was fully recovered, 
 and was going to visit a country called Monyima. This 
 was cheering news, indeed, and filled his heart with joy and 
 hope. The valley here, with its rich crops of Indian corn, 
 was more like some parts of the fertile west than a desert 
 country. But the character of the natives began to change. 
 They became more insolent and brutal, and accompanied 
 their requests with threats. 
 
 Continuing their journey along the valley of the river,
 
 A WALLED TOWN. 69 
 
 they suddenly, to their astonishment, came upon a walled 
 town containing a thousand houses. It rose before them 
 like an apparition with its gates and towers of stone and 
 double row of loop holes for musketry. The fame of Stanley 
 had preceded him, being carried by the caravans he had 
 dispatched ahead, and a thousand or more of the inhabitants 
 came out to see him. This fortified town was established by 
 an adventurer famous for his kidnapping propensities. A 
 barbaric orator, a man of powerful strength, and of cunning 
 address, he naturally acquired an ascendency over the rude 
 tribes of the region, and built him a capital, and fortified it 
 and became a self-appointed sultan. Growing old, he 
 changed his name, which had been a terror to the surround- 
 ing tribes, and also the name of his capital, and just before 
 death, bequeathed his power to his eldest daughter, and 
 named the town the Sultana, in her honor, which it still 
 bears. The various women and children hung on the rear 
 of Stanley's caravan, filled with strange curiosity at sight 
 of this first white man they had ever seen, but the searching 
 sun drove them back one by one, and when Stanley pitched 
 his camp, four miles farther on, he was unmolested. He 
 determined to halt here for two days to overhaul his bag- 
 gage and give the donkeys, whose backs had become sore, 
 time to recuperate. On the second day, he was attacked 
 with the African fever, similar to the chills and fever of 
 the west and south-west. He at once applied the remedies 
 used in the Western States namely, powerful doses of 
 quinine, and in three days he pronounced himself well
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE RAINY SEASON SETS IN DISGUSTING INSECTS THE COOK CAUGHT STEALING HIS PUNISH- 
 MENT AND FLIGHT THE MARCH MEN DISPATCHED AFTER THE MISSING COOK THEIR HARSH 
 TREATMENT BY THE SULTANA OF THE WALLED TOWN A HARD MARCH CROSSING THE 
 MAKATA RIVER THE RAINY SEASON ENDED FIVE MILES OF WADING AN ENCHANTING 
 PROSPECT REACHES HIS THIRD CARAVAN, AND FINDS IT DEMORALIZED SHAW, ITS LEADER, 
 A DRUNKEN SPENDTHRIFT DELAYS THE MARCH STANLEY'S DISPATCH TO HIM LAKE 
 XJGOMBO SCENE BETWEEN STANLEY AND SHAW AT BREAKFAST, THE LATTER KNOCKED 
 DOWN ATTEMPT TO MURDER STANLEY GOOD ADVICE OF AN ARAB SHEIKH A FEAST 
 FARQUHAR LEFT BEHIND. 
 
 HE had now traveled one hundred and nineteen miles 
 in fourteen marches, occupying one entire month 
 lacking one day, and making, on an average, four miles a 
 day. This was slow work. The rainy season now set iii, 
 and day after day it was a regular down-pour. Stanley 
 was compelled to halt, while disgusting insects, beetles, 
 bugs, wasps, centipedes, worms and almost every form of 
 the lower animal life, took possession of hi? tent, and gave 
 him the first real taste of African life. 
 
 On the fifth morning (the 23d of April), he says the 
 rain held up for a short time, and he prepared to cross the 
 river, now swollen and turbid. The bridge over which he 
 carried his baggage was of the most primitive kind, while 
 the donkeys had to swim over. The passage occupied five 
 hours, yet was happily accomplished without any casualties. 
 
 Reloading his baggage and wringing out his clothes, he 
 set out leaving the river and following a path that led off 
 in a northerly direction. 
 
 With his heart made more light and cheerful by being 
 on the march and out of the damp and hateful valley, made 
 
 70
 
 PUNISHMENT FOR PILFERING* 71 
 
 still more hateful by the disgusting insect life that filled his 
 tent, he ascended to higher ground, and passing with his 
 caravan through successive glades, opening one after 
 another between forest clumps of trees hemmed in distantly 
 by isolated peaks and scattered mountains. "Now and 
 then," he says, " as we crested low eminences, we caught 
 sight of the blue Usagara Mountains, bounding the horizon 
 westerly and northerly, and looked down on a vast expanse 
 of plain which lay between. At the foot of the lengthy 
 slope, well watered by bubbling springs and mountain rills, 
 we found a comfortable Khembi with well-made huts, which 
 the natives call Simbo. It lies just two hours, or five miles, 
 north-west from the Ungerengeri crossing." 
 
 We here get incidentally the rapidity with which he 
 traveled, where the face of the country and the roads gave 
 him the greatest facilities for quick marching, two " hours' 
 or five miles," he says, which makes his best time two miles 
 and a half an hour. In this open, beautiful country no 
 villages or settlements could be seen, though he was told 
 there were many in the mountain inclosures, whose inhab- 
 itants were false, dishonest and murderous. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th, as they were about to leave 
 Simbo, his Arab cook was caught, for the fifth time, pilfer- 
 ing, and it being proved against him, Stanley ordered a 
 dozen lashes to be inflicted on him as a punishment, and 
 Shaw was ordered to administer them. The blows being 
 given through his clothes, did not hurt him much, but the 
 stern decree that he, with his donkey and baggage, should 
 be expelled from camp and turned adrift in the forests of 
 Africa, drove him wild and, leaving donkey and everything 
 else, he rushed out of camp and started for the mountains. 
 Stanley, wishing only to frighten him, and, having no idea 
 of leaving the poor fellow to perish at the hands of the 
 natives, sent a couple of his men to recall him. But it
 
 72 SERIOUS LOSSES* 
 
 was of no use, the poor, frightened wretch kept on for the 
 mountains, and was soon out of sight altogether. Believing 
 he would think better of it and return, his donkey was 
 tied to a tree near the camping-ground, and the caravan 
 started forward, and passing through the Makata Valley, 
 which afterward became of sorrowful memory, it halted at 
 Rehenneko, at the base of the Usagara Mountains, six 
 marches distant. This valley is a wilderness, covered with 
 bamboo, and palm, and other trees, with but one village on 
 its broad expanse, through which the harte beast, the an- 
 telope and the zebra roam. In the lower portions, the mud 
 was so deep that it took ten hours to go ten miles, and they 
 were compelled to encamp in the woods when but half-way 
 across. Bombay with the cart did not get in till near mid- 
 night, and he brought the dolorous tale, that he had lost 
 the property tent, an axe, besides coats, shirts, beads, cloth, 
 pistol and hatchet and powder. He said he had left them 
 a little while to help lift the cart out of a mud-hole and 
 during his absence they disappeared. This told to Stanley 
 at midnight roused all his wrath, and he poured a perfect 
 storm of abuse on the cringing Arab, and he took occasion 
 to overhaul his conduct from the start. The cloth if ever 
 found, he said, would be spoiled, the axe, which would be 
 needed at Ujiji to construct a boat, was an irreparable loss, 
 to say nothing of the pistol, powder and hatchet, and, 
 worse than all, he had not brought back the cook, whom 
 he knew there was no intention to abandon, and he then 
 and there told him he would degrade him from office and 
 put another man in his place, and then dismissed him, with 
 orders to return at daylight and find the missing property. 
 Four more were dispatched after the missing cook ; Stanley 
 halted here three days to wait the return of his 
 men. In the meantime, provisions ran low, and though 
 there was plenty of game, it was so wild that but little
 
 BEFORE THE SULTANA. 73 
 
 could be obtained he being able to secure but two potfulls 
 in. two days' shooting these were quail, grouse and 
 pigeons. On the fourth day, becoming exceedingly 
 anxious, he dispatched Shaw and two more soldiers after 
 the missing men. Toward night he returned, sick with 
 ague, bringing the soldiers with him, but not the missing 
 cook. The soldiers reported that they had marched im- 
 mediately back to Sirnbo and, having searched in vain in 
 its vicinity for the missing man, went to the bridge over 
 the river to inquire if he had crossed there. They were 
 told, so they said, that a white donkey had crossed the 
 river in another place driven by some Washensi. Believ- 
 ing the cook had been murdered by those men, who were 
 making off with his property, they hastened to the walled 
 town and told the warriors of the western gate that two 
 Washensi must have passed the place with a white donkey, 
 who had murdered a man belonging to the white man. 
 They were immediately conducted to the sultana, who had 
 much of the spirit of her father, to whom they told their 
 story. 
 
 "The sultana demanded of the watchmen of the towers if 
 they had seen the two Washensi with the white donkey. 
 The watchmen answered in the affirmative, upon which 
 she at once dispatched twenty of her musketeers in pur- 
 suit to Muhalleh, who returned before night, bringing with 
 them the two Washensi and the donkey, with the cook's 
 entire kit. The s'ultana, who is evidently possessed of her 
 father's energy, with all his lust for wealth, had my mes- 
 sengers, the two Washensi, the cook's donkey and property 
 at once brought before her. The two Washensi were ques- 
 tioned as to how they became possessed of the donkey and 
 such a store of Kisunga clothes, cloth and beads ; to which 
 they answered that they had found the donkey tied to 
 a tree with the property on the ground close to it;
 
 74 SENTENCE OF THE SULTANA. 
 
 that seeing no owner or claimant anywhere in the neigh- 
 borhood, they thought they had a right to it, and ac- 
 cordingly had taken it with them. My soldiers were 
 then asked if they recognized the donkey and property, to 
 which questions they unhesitatingly made answer that 
 they did. They further informed Her Highness that they 
 were not only sent after the donkey, but also after the 
 owner, who had deserted their master's service ; that they 
 would like to know from the Washensi what they had 
 done with him. Her Highness was also anxious to know 
 what the Washensi had done with the Hindi, and accord- 
 ingly, in order to elicit the fact, she charged them with 
 murdering him, and informed them she but wished to 
 know what they had done with the body. 
 
 " The Washensi declared most earnestly that they had 
 spoken the truth, that they had never seen any such man 
 as described ; and if the sultana desired, they would swear 
 to such a statement. Her Highness did not wish them to 
 swear to what in her heart she believed to be a lie, but she 
 would chain them and send them in charge of a caravan to 
 Zanzibar to Lyed Burghosh, who would know what to do 
 with them. Then turning to my soldiers, she demanded to 
 know why the Musungu had not paid the tribute for which 
 she had sent her chiefs. The soldiers could not answer, 
 knowing nothing of such concerns of their master's. The 
 heiress of Kisabengo, true to the character of her robber 
 sire, then informed my trembling men that, as the Musungu 
 had not paid the; tribute, she would now take it ; their guns 
 should be taken from them, together with that of the cook ; 
 the cloth and beads found on the donkey she would 
 also take, the Hindi's personal clothes her chiefs should 
 retain, while they themselves should be chained until the 
 Musungu himself should return and take them by force. 
 
 "And as she threatened, so was it done. For sixteen
 
 REPORT OF MY POWER. 75 
 
 hours, my soldiers were in chains in the market-place, ex- 
 posed to the taunts of the servile populace. It chanced 
 the next day, however, that Sheikh Thani, whom I met 
 at Kingaru, and had since passed by five days, had arrived 
 at Simbamwenni, and proceeding to the town to purchase 
 provisions for the crossing of the Makata wilderness, saw 
 my men in chains and at once recognized them as being in 
 my employ. After hearing their story, the good-hearted 
 sheikh sought the presence of the sultana, and informed 
 her that she was doing very wrong a wrong that could 
 only terminate in blood. 'The Musungu is strong/ 
 he said, 'very strong. He has got ten guns which shoot 
 forty times without stopping, carrying bullets half an 
 hour's distance; he has got several guns which carry 
 bullets that burst and tear a man in pieces. He could go 
 to the top of that mountain and kill every man, woman 
 and child in the town before one of your soldiers could 
 reach the top. The road will then be stopped, Lyed Bur- 
 ghosh will march against your country, the Wadoe and 
 Wakami will come and take revenge on what is left ; and 
 the place that your father made so strong will know the 
 "VVaseguh ha no more. Set free the Musungu's soldiers ; 
 give them their food and grain for the Musungu ; return 
 the guns to the men and let them go, for the white man 
 may even now be on his way here.' 
 
 " The exaggerated report of my power, and the dread 
 picture sketched by the Arab sheikh, produced good 
 effect, inasmuch as Kingaru and the Mabrukis were at once 
 released from durance, furnished with food sufficient to last 
 our caravan four days, and one gun with its accoutrements 
 and stock of bullets and powder, was returned, as well as 
 the cook's donkey, with a pair of spectacles, a book in 
 Malabar print and an old hat which belonged to one whom 
 we all now believed to be dead. The sheikh took charge
 
 7G FLOUNDERING AND FLOATING. 
 
 of the soldiers as far as Simbo ; and it was in his camp, 
 partaking largely of rice and ghee, that Shaw found them, 
 and the same bountiful hospitality was extended to him 
 and his companions." 
 
 Stanley was now filled with keen regrets that he had 
 punished the cook in the manner he did, and mentally re- 
 solved that no matter what a member of his caravan should 
 do in the future he would never drive him out of camp to 
 perish by assassins. Still he would not yet believe that he 
 was murdered. But he was furious at the treatment of his 
 soldiers by the black Amazon of Limbamwanni, and the 
 tribute she exacted, especially the seizure of the guns, and 
 if he had been near the place would have made reprisals. 
 But he had already lost four days, and so, next morning, 
 although the rain was coming down in torrents, he broke 
 camp and set forth. Shaw was still sick, and so the whole 
 duty of driving the floundering caravan devolved upon 
 himself. As fast as one was flogged out of the mire in 
 which he had stuck, another would fall in. It took two 
 hours to cross the miry plain, though it was but a mile and 
 a half wide. He was congratulating himself on having at 
 last got over it, when he was confronted by a ditch which 
 the heavy rains had converted into a stream breast deep. 
 The donkeys had all to be unloaded, and led through the 
 torrent, and loaded again on the farther side. They had 
 hardly got under way when they came upon another 
 stream, so deep that it could not be forded, and over which 
 they had to swim, and float across their baggage. They 
 then floundered on until they came to a bend of the river, 
 where they pitched their camp, having made but six miles 
 the whole day. This Biver Makata is only about forty feet 
 in width in the dry saeson, but at this time was a wide, 
 turbid stream. Its shores, with its matted grass, decayed 
 vegetable matter, reeking mists, seemed the very home of
 
 SEVERE ILLXESS OF STANLEY. 70 
 
 the ague and fever. It took five hours to cross it the next 
 morning. The rain came down in such torrents that trav- 
 eling became impossible, and the camp was pitched. 
 Luckily this proved the last day of the rainy season. 
 
 It was now the 1st of May, and the expedition was in a 
 pitiable plight. Shaw was still sick, and one man was down 
 with the small-pox. Bombay, too, was sick, and others com- 
 plaining. Doctoring the sick as well as he knew how, and 
 laying the whip lustily on the backs of those who were 
 shamming, Stanley at length got his caravan in motion and 
 began to cross the Makata plain, now a swamp thirty-five 
 miles broad. It was plash, plash, through the water, in 
 some places three or four feet deep, for two days, until they 
 came in sight of the Rudewa River. Crossing a branch of 
 this stream, a sheet of water five miles broad stretched out 
 before the tired caravan. The men declared it could not 
 be crossed, but Stanley determined to try, and after five 
 hours' of the most prostrating effort reached dry ground, 
 but his animals began to sicken from this day on, while 
 Stanley himself was seized with the dysentery, caused by 
 his exposure, and was brought to the verge of the grave. 
 The expedition seemed about to end there on the borders 
 of the Makata swamp. 
 
 On the 4th, they came to the important village of Re- 
 henneko, the first near which they had encamped since en- 
 tering the district of Usagara. It was a square, compact 
 village, of about one thousand inhabitants, surrounded by 
 a mud wall and composed of cane-topped huts, which the 
 natives moved from place to place at pleasure. The 
 peculiar ceremonies of the queen's court were very 
 interesting to witness. They rested here four days to 
 recruit. On the 8th, they started forward and began to 
 ascend the mountain. Having reached the summit of the 
 first range of hills, Stanley paused to survey the enchant-
 
 80 DEBAUCHERIES OF FARQUHAR. 
 
 ing prospect. The broad valley of Makata stretched out 
 before him, laced with streams sparkling in the sun, while 
 over it waved countless palm-trees, and far away, blue in 
 the distance, stretched a mighty range of mountains. 
 " Turning our faces west," he says, " we found ourselves in a 
 mountain world, fold rising above fold, peak behind peak, cone 
 jostling cone ; away to the north, to the west, to the south, 
 the mountain tops rolled away like so many vitrified waves, 
 not one adust or arid spot was visible in all this scene." 
 The change from the pestilential swamps, through which 
 they had been so long floundering, was most grateful, but the 
 animals suffered greatly, and before they reached their first 
 camping-ground, two had given out. The 9th, they de- 
 scended into the valley of Mukondokno, and there struck 
 the road traversed by Speke and Burton in 1817. Reach- 
 ing the dirty village, Kiora, Stanley found there his third 
 caravan, led by Farquhar. By his debaucheries on the 
 way he had made himself sick and brought his caravan 
 into a sad condition. As he heard Stanley's voice, he came 
 staggering out of his tent, a bloated mass of human flesh 
 that never would have been recognized as the trim mate of 
 the vessel that brought Stanley from India. After he ex- 
 amined him as to the cause of his illness, he questioned him 
 about the condition of the property intrusted to his care. 
 Not able to get an intelligent answer out of him, he re- 
 solved to overhaul his baggage. On examination, he found 
 that he had spent enough for provisions on which to gor- 
 mandize to have lasted eight months, and yet he had been 
 on the route but two and a half months. If Stanley had 
 not overtaken him, everything would have been squan- 
 dered, and of all the bales of cloth he was to take to Un- 
 yanyembe not one bale would have been left. Stanley was 
 sorely puzzled what to do* with the miserable man. He 
 would die if left at Kiora ; he could not walk or ride far, 
 and to carry him seemed well-nigh impossible.
 
 SMETHING WRONG. 83 
 
 On the llth, however, the two caravans started forward, 
 leaving Shaw to follow with one of the men. But he lagged 
 behind, and had not reached the camp when it was roused 
 next morning. Stanley at once dispatched two donkeys, 
 one for the load that was on the cart and the other for 
 Shaw, and with the messenger the following note : " You will, 
 upon the receipt of this order, pitch the cart into the nearest 
 ravine, gully or river, as well as all the extra pack saddles ; 
 and come at once, for God's sake, for we must not starve 
 here" After waiting four hours, he went back himself and 
 met them, the carrier with the cart on his head, and Shaw 
 on the donkey, apparently ready, at the least jolt, to tumble 
 off. They, however, pushed on, and arrived at Madete at 
 4 o'clock. Crossing the river about three, and keeping on, 
 they, on the 14th, from the top of a hill, caught sight of 
 Lake Ugenlo. The outline of it, he says, resembles 
 England without Wales. It is some three miles long by 
 two wide, and is the abode of great numbers of hippopotami, 
 while the buffalo, zebra, boar and antelope come here by 
 night to quench their thirst. Its bosom is covered with 
 wild fowl of every description. Being obliged to halt here 
 two days on account of the desertion of the cooper, with 
 one of the carbines, he explored the lake, and tried several 
 shots at the lumbering hippopotami without effect. 
 
 The deserter having returned of his own free will, the 
 caravan started forward, cursed by the slow progress of the 
 peevish, profane and violent Shaw. The next day, at 
 breakfast, a scene occurred that threatened serious conse- 
 quences. "When Shaw and Farquhar took their places, 
 Stanley saw by their looks that something was wrong. 
 The breakfast was a roast quarter of goat, stewed liver, 
 some sweet potatoes, pancakes and coffee. " Shaw," said 
 Stanley, " please carve and serve Farquhar." Instead of 
 doingso,he exclaimed in an insulting tone, " Whatdog's meat
 
 84 GOOD NEWS OF LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 i 
 
 is this?" "What do you mean," demanded Stanley. "I 
 mean, " replied the fellow, " that it is a downright shame the 
 way you treat us," and then complained of being compelled to 
 walk and help himself, instead, as he was promised, have ser- 
 vants to wait upon him. All this was said in a loud, defiant 
 tone, interluded with frequent oaths and curses of the 
 " damned expedition," etc. When he had got through, Stan- 
 ley, fixing his black, resolute eye on him, said : " Listen to 
 me, Shaw, and. you, Farquhar, ever since you left the coast, 
 you have had donkeys to ride. You have had servants to wait 
 upon you ; your tents have been set up for you ; your meals 
 have been cooked for you ; you have eaten with me of the 
 same food I have eaten ; you have received the same treat- 
 ment I have received. But now all Farquhar's donkeys 
 are dead ; seven of my own have died, and I have had to 
 throw away a few things, in order to procure carriage for 
 the most important goods. Farquhar is too sick to walk, 
 he must have a donkey to ride ; in a few days all our 
 animals will be dead, after which I must have over twenty 
 more pagosis to take up the goods or wait weeks and weeks 
 for carriage. Yet, in the face of these things, you can 
 grumble, and curse, and swear at me at my own table. 
 Have you considered well your position ? Do you realize 
 where you are? Do you know that you are my servant, 
 sir, not my companion ?" 
 
 " Servant, be " said he. 
 
 Just before Mr. Shaw could finish his sentence he had 
 measured his length on the ground. 
 
 " Is it necessary for me to proceed further to teach you ?" 
 said Stanley. 
 
 " I tell you what it is, sir," he said, raising himself up, 
 " I think I had better go back. I have had enough, and 
 I do not mean to go any farther with you. I ask my dis- 
 charge from you."
 
 SHAW PENITENT. S-J 
 
 " Oh, certainly. What who is there ? Bombay, come 
 here." 
 
 After Bombay's appearance at the tent-door, Stanley said 
 to him : " Strike this man's tent," pointing to Shaw ; " he 
 wants to go back. Bring his gun and pistol here to my 
 tent, and take this man and his baggage two hundred yards 
 outside of the camp, and there leave him." 
 
 In a few minutes his tent was down, his gun and pistol 
 in Stanley's tent, and Bombay returned to make his report, 
 with four men under arms. 
 
 " Now go, sir. You are at perfect liberty to go. These 
 men will escort you outside of camp, and there leave you 
 and your baggage," 
 
 He walked out, the men escorting him and carrying his 
 baggage for him. 
 
 After breakfast Stanley explained to Farquhar how 
 necessary it was to be able to proceed ; that he had had 
 plenty of trouble, without having to think of men who were 
 employed to think of him and their duties ; that, as he (Far- 
 quhar) was sick, and would be probably unable to march for 
 a time, it would be better to leave him in some quiet 
 place, under the care of a good chief, who would, for a con- 
 sideration, look after him until he got well. To all of 
 which Farquhar agreed. 
 
 Stanley had barely finished speaking before Bombay came 
 to the tent-door, saying: "Shaw would like to speak to you." 
 
 Stanley went out to the door of the camp, and there met 
 Shaw, looking extremely penitent and ashamed. He com- 
 menced to ask pardon, and began imploring to be taken 
 back, and promising that occasion to find fault with him 
 again should never arise. 
 
 Stanley held out his hand, saying : " Don't mention it, 
 my dear fellow. Quarrels occur in the best of families. 
 Since you apologize, there is an end of it."
 
 8(3 A STRANGE SHOT. 
 
 That night, as Stanley was about falling asleep, he heard 
 a shot, and a bullet tore through the tent a few inches 
 above his body. He snatched his revolver and rushed out 
 from the tent, and asked the men around the watch-fires, 
 "Who shot?" They had all jumped up, rather startled 
 by the sudden report. 
 
 "Who fired that gun?" 
 
 One said the " Bana Mdogo " little master. 
 
 Stanley lit a candle and walked with it to Shaw's tent. 
 
 "Shaw, did you fire?" 
 
 There was no answer. He seemed to be asleep, he was 
 breathing so hard. 
 
 " Shaw ! Shaw ! did you fire that shot ?" 
 
 " Eh eh ?" said he, suddenly awakening ; " me ? me 
 fire ? I have been asleep." 
 
 Stanley's eye caught sight of his gun lying near him. 
 He seized it felt it put his little finger down the barrel. 
 The gun was warm ; his finger was black from the burnt 
 gunpowder. 
 
 " What is this ?" he asked, holding his finger up ; " the 
 gun is warm ; the men tell me you fired." 
 
 " Ah yes," he replied, " I remember it. I dreamed I 
 saw a thief pass my door, and I fired. Ah yes I forgot, 
 I did fire. Why, what's the matter ?" 
 
 " Oh, nothing," said Stanley. " But I would advise you, 
 in future, in order to avoid all suspicion, not to fire into my 
 tent ; or, at least, so near me. I might get hurt, you know, 
 in which case ugly reports would get about, and that, per- 
 haps, would be disagreeable, as you are probably aware. 
 Good-night." 
 
 All had their thoughts about this matter, but Stanley 
 never uttered a word about it to any one until he met 
 Livingstone. The doctor embodied his suspicions in the 
 words : " He intended murder !"
 
 SHAW'S EVIDENT INTENT. 87 
 
 Mr. Livingstone was evidently right in his conjecture, 
 and Mr. Stanley wrong about the intent of Shaw. In the 
 first place, the coincidence in time between the punishment 
 inflicted on Shaw and this extraordinary shot, in which the 
 ball took the still more extraordinary direction of going 
 through Stanley's tent, that is, to say the least, very diffi- 
 cult to explain. In the second place, his drowsy condition 
 when questioned, and finally remembering so much as that 
 he dreamed a thief was passing his door, is more than sus- 
 picious. The fact that, as Mr. Stanley says, he could have 
 had much better opportunities of killing him than this, we 
 regard of very little weight. Opportunities that are abso- 
 lutely certain of success without suspicion or detection, are 
 not so common as many suppose. Besides, an opportunity 
 so good that the would-be murderer could desire nothing 
 better might occur, and yet the shot or stab not prove fatal. 
 In this case, it doubtless never occurred to this man that 
 any one would run his finger down his gun-barrel to see if 
 it was hot from a recent discharge, while no man could tell, 
 in the middle of the night, who fired the shot. It is true, 
 that the wretch knew that the chances were against such a 
 random fire proving fatal, but he knew it was better to 
 take them than the almost certain discovery, if he adopted 
 any other method. If, for instance, he had in a lonely 
 place fired at Stanley, and the shot had not proved mortal, 
 or if mortal, not immediately so, he well knew what would 
 have been his fate, in the heart of Africa, where justice is 
 administered without the form of law. 
 
 On the 16th of May, the little caravan started off again, 
 and after a march of fifteen miles, camped at Matamombo, 
 in a region where monkeys, rhinoceraB, steinlaks and ante- 
 lopes abounded. The next day's march was through an 
 interminable jungle, and extended fifteen miles. Here he 
 came upon the old Arab sheikh, Thani, who gave him the
 
 88 FARQUHAE, LEFT. 
 
 following good advice : " Stop here two or three days, give 
 your tired animals some rest, and collect all the carriers 
 you can ; fill your insides with fresh milk, sweet potatoes, 
 beef, mutton, ghee, honey, beans, matama, maderia, nuts, 
 and then, Inshalla ! we shall go through Ugogo without 
 stopping anywhere." Stanley was sensible enough to take 
 this advice. He at once commenced on this certainly very 
 prodigal bill of fare for Central Africa. How it agreed 
 with him after the short trail of a single day, may be 
 inferred from the following entry in his diary : 
 
 "Thank God! after fifty-seven days of living upon mata- 
 ma porridge and tough goat, I have enjoyed with unctuous 
 satisfaction a real breakfast and a good dinner." 
 
 Here upon the Mpwapwa, he found a place to leave the 
 Scotchman, Farquhar, until he should be strong enough to 
 join him at Unyanyembe. But when he proposed this to 
 the friendly chief, he would consent only on the condition 
 that he would leave one of his own men behind to take 
 care of him. This complicated matters, not only because 
 he could not well spare a man, but because it would be 
 difficult to find one who would consent to undertake this 
 difficult task. This man, whom Stanley had thought 
 would be a reliable friend and a good companion in his 
 long, desolate marches, had turned out a burden and a 
 nuisance. His wants were almost endless, and instead of 
 using the few words in the language of the natives to make 
 them known, he would use nothing but the strongest Anglo- 
 Saxon, and when he found he was not understood, would 
 fall to cursing in equally good round English oaths, and 
 if the astonished natives did not understand this, relapsed 
 into regular John Bull sullenness. When, therefore, Stan- 
 ley opened up the subject to Bombay, the latter was horri-. 
 fied. He said the men had made a contract to go through, 
 not to stop by the way ; and when Stanley, in despair,
 
 SAKO LEFT WITH FARQUHAK. 89 
 
 turned to the men, they one and all refused absolutely to 
 remain behind with the cursing, unreasonable white man 
 one of them mimicking his absurd conduct so completely, 
 that Stanley himself could not help laughing. But the 
 man must be left behind, and .somebody must take care of 
 him ; and so Stanley had to use his authority, and notwith- 
 standing all his protestations and entreaties, Sako, the only 
 one who could speak English, was ordered to stay behind. 
 
 Having engaged here twelve new carriers, and from the 
 nearest mountain summit, obtained an entrancing view of 
 the surrounding region for a hundred miles, he prepared 
 to start, but not before, notwithstanding the good milk it 
 furnished, giving Mpwapwa a thorough malediction for its 
 earwigs. " In my tent," he says, " they might be counted 
 by thousands ; in my slung cot by hundreds ; on my clothes 
 they were by fifties ; on my neck and head they were by 
 scores. The several plagues of locusts, fleas and lice sink 
 into utter insignificance compared with this damnable one 
 of earwigs." Their presence drove him almost insane. 
 Next to these come the white ants, that threatened in a 
 short time to eat up every article of baggage. 
 
 He now pushed on toward the Ugogo district, famous 
 for the tribute it exacted from all caravans.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THREE OF HIS CARAVANS MEET A WATERLESS DESERT TRAVERSED STANLEY DOWN WITH THB 
 FEVER A LAND OF PLENTY AND OF EXTORTION A POPULOUS DISTRICT A MODERN HEP.CULES 
 AN AFRICAN VILLAGE STANLEY CURBS HIS TEMPER FOR ECONOMY'S SAKE A GOOD SULTAN 
 NEWS FROM ONE OF HIS CARAVANS CURIOUS NATIVES FLOGGED BY STANLEY INTO PROPER 
 BEHAVIOR SALT PLAINS STANLEY STOPS TO DOCTOR HIMSELF A CURIOUS VISIT FROM A 
 CHIEF A NOBLE AFRICAN TRIBE A MOB QUARREL OVER THE ROUTE TO BE TAKEN SETTLED 
 BY STANLEY A MERRY MARCH CONDENSATION OF STANLEY'S ACCOUNT OF THE CHARACTER 
 OF THE COUNTRY AND THE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 
 
 ON the 22d of May, the two other caravans of Stan- 
 ley joined him, only three hours' march from Mpwap- 
 wa, so that the one caravan numbered some four hun- 
 dred souls but not too large to insure a safe transit 
 through dreaded Ugogo. A waterless desert, thirty miles 
 across, and which it would take seventeen hours to traverse, 
 now lay before them. On the way, Stanley was struck 
 down with fever, and, borne along in a hammock, was in- 
 different to the herds of giraffes, and zebras, and antelopes 
 that scoured the desert plain around him. The next 
 morning the fever left him, and, mounting, he rode at the 
 head of his caravan, and at 8 A. M. had passed the sterile 
 wilderness and entered the Ugogo district. He had now 
 come into a land of plenty, but one also of extortion. The 
 tribute that all passing caravans had to pay to the chiefs or 
 sultans of this district was enormous. At the first village 
 the appearance of this white man caused an indescribable 
 uproar. The people came pouring out, men and women, 
 naked, yelling, shouting, quarreling and fighting, making 
 it a perfect babel around Stanley, who became irritated at 
 this unseemly demonstration. But it was of no use. One 
 
 90
 
 A MODERN HERCULES. 91 
 
 of his men asked them to stop, but the only reply was 
 "shut up," in good native language. Stanley, however 
 was soon oblivious of their curiosity or noise heavy doses 
 of quinine to check a chill sent him off into a half doze. 
 The next day, a march of eight miles brought him to the 
 sultan of the district. Report did not exaggerate the 
 abundance of provisions to be found here. Now came the 
 pay of tribute to the exorbitant chief. After a great deal 
 of parley, which was irritating and often childish, Stanley 
 satisfied the sultan's greed, and, on the 27th of May, shook 
 the dust of the place from his feet and pushed westward. 
 As he passed the thickly-scattered villages and plenteous 
 fields, filled with tillers, he did not wonder at the haughty 
 bearing of the sultan, for he could command force enough 
 to rob and destroy every caravan that passed that way. 
 Twenty-seven villages lined the road to the next sultan's 
 district, Matomhiru. This sultan was a modern Hercules, 
 with head and shoulders that belonged to a giant. He 
 proved, however, to be a much more reasonable man than 
 the last sultan, and, after a little speechifying, the tribute 
 was paid and the caravan moved off toward Bihawena. 
 The day was hot, the land sterile, crossed with many jun- 
 gles, which made the march slow and difficult. In the 
 midst of this desolate plain were the villages of the tribe, 
 their huts no higher than the dry, bleached grass that 
 stood glimmering in the heat of the noon-day sun. Here 
 he was visited by three natives, who endeavored to play a 
 sharp game upon him, which so enraged Stanley that he 
 would have flogged them with his whip out of camp, but 
 one of his men told him to beware, for every blow would 
 cost three or four yards of cloth. Not willing to pay so 
 dearly to gratify his temper he forbore. The sultan was 
 moderate in his demands, and from him he received news 
 from his fourth caravan, which was in advance, and had
 
 92 THRASHING A NATIVE. 
 
 had a fight with some robbers, killing two of them. It 
 was only eight miles to the next sultan. The water here 
 was so vile that two donkeys died by drinking of it, while 
 the men could hardly swallow it. Stanley, nervous and 
 weak from fever, paid the extravagant tributes demanded 
 of him, without altercation. From here to the next sultan 
 was a long stretch of forest, filled with elephants, rhinoce- 
 ros, zebras, deer, etc. But they had no time to stop and 
 hunt. At noon they had left the last water they should 
 find until noon of the next day, even with sharp march- 
 ing, and, hence, no delay could be permitted. The men 
 without tents bivouacked under the trees, while Stanley 
 tossed and groaned all night in a paroxysm of fever, but 
 his courage in no way weakened. At dawn the caravan 
 started off through the dark forest, in which one of the 
 carriers fell sick and died. 
 
 At 7 A. M. they drew near Nyambwa, where excellent 
 water was found. The villagers crowded round them with 
 shouts and yells, and finally became so insolent that Stan- 
 ley grabbed one of them by the neck and gave him a sound 
 thrashing with his donkey-whip. This enraged them, and 
 they walked backward and forward like angry tom-cats, 
 shouting, "Are the Wagogo to be beaten like slaves?" 
 and they seemed, by their ferocious manner, determined 
 to avenge their comrade, but the moment Stanley raised 
 his whip and advanced they scattered. Finding that the 
 long lash, which cracked like a pistol, had a wholesome 
 effect, whenever they crowded upon him so as to impede 
 his progress, he laid it about him without mercy, which 
 soon cleared a path. 
 
 The Sultan Kimberah was a small, queer and dirty old 
 man, a great drunkard, and yet the most powerful of all 
 the Ugogo chiefs. Here they had considerable trouble in 
 arranging the amount of tribute, but at length everything
 
 THE SULTAN'S ASTONISHMENT. 93 
 
 was settled and the caravan passed on, and emerging from 
 the corn-field, entered on a vast salt plain, containing a 
 hundred or more square miles, from the salt springs of 
 which the Wagogo obtained their salt. At Mizarza, the 
 next camping-place, Stanley was compelled to halt and 
 doctor himself for the fever which was wearing him to 
 skin and bones. Early in the morning he began to take 
 his quinine, and kept repeating the doses at short intervals 
 until a copious perspiration told him he had broken the 
 fever which had been consuming him for fourteen days. 
 During this time, the sultan of the district, attracted by 
 Stanley's lofty tent, with, the American flag floating above 
 it, visited him. He was so astonished at the loftiness and 
 furnishing of the ten,t, that in his surprise he let fall the 
 loose cloth that hung from his shoulders and stood stark 
 naked in front of Stanley, gaping in mute wonder. Ad- 
 monished by his son a lad fifteen years old he resumed 
 his garb and sat down to talk. Stanley showed him his 
 rifles and other fire-arms, which astonished him beyond 
 measure. 
 
 The 4th of June, the caravan was started forward again, 
 and after three hours' march, came upon another district, 
 containing only two villages, occupied by pastoral Wa- 
 humba and Wahehe. These live in cow-dung cone huts, 
 shaped like Tartar tents. 
 
 " The Wahumba, so far as I have seen them, are a fine 
 and well-formed race. The men are positively handsome, 
 tall, with small heads, the posterior parts of which project 
 considerably. One will look in vain for a thick lip or 
 flat nose amongst them ; on the contrary, the mouth is 
 exceedingly well cut, delicately small ; the nose is that of 
 the Greeks, and so universal was the peculiar feature, that 
 I at once named them the Greeks of Africa. Their lower 
 limbs have not the heaviness of the Wagogo and other
 
 94 BOMANS OF AFEICA. 
 
 tribes, but are long and shapely, clean as those of an ante- 
 lope. Their necks are long and slender, on which their 
 small heads are poised most gracefully. Athletes from 
 their youth, shepherd bred, and intermarrying among them- 
 selves, thus keeping the race pure, any of them would form 
 a fit subject for a sculptor who would wish to immortalize 
 in marble an Antrinus, a Hylas, a Daphnis, or an Apollo. 
 The women are as beautiful as the men are handsome. 
 They have clear ebon skins, not coal black, but of an inky 
 hue. Their ornaments consist of spiral rings of brass 
 pendent from the ears, brass ring collars about the neck, 
 and a spiral cincture of brass wire about their loins, for the 
 purpose of retaining their calf and goat skins, which are 
 folded about their bodies, and depending from the shoulder, 
 shade one half of the bosom, and fall to the knees. 
 
 " The Wahehe may be styled the Romans of Africa. 
 
 " Resuming our march, after a halt of an hour, in four 
 hours more we arrived at Mukondoku proper. 
 
 " This extremity of Ugogo is most populous. The villages 
 which surround the central tembe, where the Sultan Swa- 
 ruru lives, amount to thirty-six. The people who flocked 
 from these to see the wonderful men whose faces were white, 
 who wore the most wonderful things on their persons, and 
 possessed the most wonderful weapons ; guns which ' bum- 
 bummed ' as fast as you could count on your fingers, formed 
 such a mob of howling savages, that I, for an instant, thought 
 there was something besides mere curiosity which caused 
 such a commotion, and attracted such numbers to the roadside. 
 Halting, I asked what was the matter, and what they 
 wanted, and why they made such a noise ? One burly 
 rascal, taking my words for a declaration of hostilities, 
 promptly drew his bow, but as prompt as he had fixed his 
 arrow my faithful Winchester with thirteen shots in the 
 magazine was ready and at my shoulder, and but waited to
 
 REACHING THE BOEDER OF UYANZI. 95 
 
 see the arrow fly to pour the leaden messengers of death 
 into the crowd. But the crowd vanished as quickly as they 
 had come, leaving the burly Thersites, and two or three 
 irresolute fellows of his tribe, standing within pistol range 
 of my leveled rifle. Such a sudden dispersion of the mob 
 which, but a moment before, was overwhelming, caused me 
 to lower my rifle and indulge in a hearty laugh at the dis- 
 graceful flight of the men-destroyers. The Arabs, who 
 were as much alarmed at their boisterous obtrusiveness, 
 now came up to patch a truce, in which they succeeded to 
 everybody's satisfaction. 
 
 "A few words of explanation, and the mob came back in 
 greater numbers than before ; and the Thersites who had 
 been the cause of the momentary disturbance were obliged 
 to retire abashed before the pressure of public opinion. A 
 chief now came up, whom I afterwards learned was the 
 second man to Swaruru, and lectured the people upon their 
 treatment of the ' white strangers.' " 
 
 The tribute-money was easily settled here. On the 7th of 
 June, the route was resumed. There were three roads lead- 
 ing to Uyanzi, and which of the three to take caused long 
 discussion and much quarreling, and when Stanley settled 
 the matter and the caravan started off on the road to Kiti, 
 an attempt was made to direct it to another road, which 
 Stanley soon discovered and prevented only by his prompt 
 resort to physical arguments. 
 
 At last, they reached the borders of Uyanzi, glad to be 
 clear of the land of Ugogo, said to be flowing with milk 
 and honey, but which had proved to Stanley a land of 
 gall and bitterness. The forest they entered was a welcome 
 change from the villages of the Ugogo, and two hours after 
 leaving them, they came, with the merry sound of horns, 
 to a river in a new district. Continuing on, they made 
 the forest ring with cheers, and shouts, and native songs.
 
 96 AKKIVED AT UNYANYEMBE. 
 
 The country was beautiful, and the scenery more like cul- 
 tivated England in former times than barbaric Africa. 
 
 Passing thus merrily on, they had made twenty miles 
 by five o'clock. At one o'clock next morning, the camp 
 was roused, and by the light of the moon the march was 
 resumed, and at three o'clock arrived at a village to rest 
 till dawn. They had reached a land of plenty and fared 
 well. Kiti was entered on the 10th of June, where cattle 
 and grain could be procured in abundance. 
 
 A valley fifteen miles distant was the next camp, and a 
 march of three hours and a half brought them to another 
 village, where provisions were very cheap. They were now 
 approaching Unyanyembe, their first great stopping-place, 
 and where the term of service of many of Stanley's men 
 expired. They marched rapidly now to-day through 
 grain-fields, to-morrow past burnt villages, the wreck of 
 bloody wars. 
 
 At last, with banners flying and trumpets and horns 
 blowing, and amid volleys of small arms, the caravan 
 entered Unyanyembe. 
 
 Of the three routes from the coast to this place, Stanley 
 discarded the two that had before been traveled by Speke 
 and Burton and Grant and chose the third, with the origi- 
 nality of an American, and thus saved nearly two hundred 
 miles' travel. 
 
 Mr. Stanley, after reaching this first great objective point, 
 goes back and gives a general description of the regions he 
 has traversed. To the geographer, it may be of interest, 
 but not to the general reader. But the following, taken 
 from his long account, will give the reader a clear idea of 
 the country traversed and of its inhabitants. Beginning 
 with Wiami River, emptying into the Indian Ocean near 
 Zanzibar, he says : 
 
 " First it appears to me that the Wiami Eiver is avail-
 
 ADMIRABLE MISSION SITES. 97 
 
 able for commerce, and, by a little improvement, could be 
 navigated by light-draft steamers near to the Usagara 
 Mountains, the healthy region of this part of Africa, and 
 which could be reached by steamers in four days from the 
 coast, and then it takes one into a country where ivory, 
 sugar, cotton, indigo and other productions can be ob- 
 tained." 
 
 Besides, he says : 
 
 "Four days by steamer bring the missionary to the 
 healthy uplands of Africa, where he can live amongst the 
 gentle Wasagara without fear or alarm; where he can 
 enjoy the luxuries of civilized life without fear of being 
 deprived of them, amid the most beautiful and picturesque 
 scenes a poetic fancy could imagine. Here is the greenest 
 verdure, purest water; here are valleys teeming with 
 grain-stalks, forests of tamarind, mimosa, gum-copal tree ; 
 here is the gigantic moule, the stately mparamnsi, the 
 beautiful palm ; a scene such as only a tropic sky covers. 
 Health and abundance of food are assured to the mission- 
 ary ; gentle people are at his feet, ready to welcome him. 
 Except civilized society, nothing that the soul of man can 
 desire is lacking here. 
 
 " From the village of Kadetamare a score of admirable 
 mission sites are available, with fine health-giving breezes 
 blowing over them, water in abundance at their feet, fer- 
 tility unsurpassed around them, with docile, good-tempered 
 people dwelling everywhere at peace with each other, and 
 all travelers and neighbors. 
 
 " As the passes of the Olympus unlocked the gates of the 
 Eastern empires to the hordes of Othman ; as the passes of 
 Kumayle and Sura admitted the British into Abyssinia ; so 
 the passes of the Mukondokwa may admit the Gospel and 
 its beneficent influences into the heart of savage Africa. 
 
 " I can fancy old Kadetamare rubbing his hands with glee
 
 98 IMPORTANT EIVEES. 
 
 at the sight of the white man coming to teach his people 
 the words of the 'Mulungu' the Sky Spirit; how to 
 sow, and reap, and build houses ; how to cure their sick, 
 how to make themselves comfortable in short, how to be 
 civilized. But the missionary, to be successful, must know 
 his duties as well as a thorough sailor must know how to 
 reef, hand and steer. . He must be no kid-glove, effeminate 
 man, no journal writer, no disputatious polemic, no silken 
 stole and chasuble-loving priest but a thorough, earnest 
 laborer in the garden of the Lord a man of the David 
 Livingstone, or of the Robert Moffatt stamp. 
 
 "The other river, the Rufiji, or Euhwha, is a still more 
 important stream than Wiami. It is a much longer river, 
 and discharges twice as much water into the Indian Ocean. 
 It rises near some mountains about one hundred miles 
 south-west of Nbena. Kisigo River, the most northern 
 and most important affluent of the Ruhwha, is supposed to 
 flow into it near east longitude thirty-five degrees ; from 
 the confluence to the sea, the Ruhwha has a length of four 
 degrees of direct longitude. This fact, of itself, must prove 
 its importance and rank among the rivers of East Africa. 
 
 " After Zanzibar, our debut into Africa is made via Ba- 
 gomayo. At this place we may see Wangindo, Wasawahili, 
 Warori, Wagogo, Wanyamwezi, Waseguhha and Wasa- 
 gara ; yet it would be a difficult task for any person, at 
 mere sight of their dresses or features, to note the differ- 
 ences. Only by certain customs or distinctive marks, such 
 as tattooing, puncturing of the lobes of the ears, ornaments, 
 wearing the hair, etc., which would appear, at first, too 
 trivial to note, could one discriminate between the various 
 tribal representatives. There are certainly differences, but 
 not so varied or marked as they are reported. 
 
 " The Wasawahili, of course, through their intercourse 
 with semi-civilization, present us with a race, or tribe, in-
 
 THE PURE BABBABIAXS. 99 
 
 fluenced by a state of semi-civilized society, and are, con- 
 sequently, better dressed and appear to better advantage 
 than their more savage brethren farther west. As it is. 
 said that underneath the Russian skin lies the Tartar, so 
 it may be said that underneath the snowy dish-dasheh, or 
 shirt of the Wasawahili, one will find the true barbarian. 
 In the street or bazaar he appears semi-Arabized ; his 
 suavity of manner, his prostrations and genuflexions, the 
 patois he speaks, all prove his contact and affinity with 
 the dominant race, whose subject he is. Once out of the 
 coast towns, in the Washensi villages, he sheds the shirt 
 that had half civilized him, and appears in all his deep 
 blackness of skin, prognathous jaws, thick lips the pure 
 negro and barbarian-. Not keenest eye could detect the 
 difference between him and the Washensi, unless his atten- 
 tion had been drawn to the fact that the two men were of 
 different tribes. 
 
 "The next tribe to which we are introduced are the 
 "VVakwere, who occupy a limited extent of country between 
 the Wazaramo and the Wadoe. They are thfe first repre- 
 sentatives of the pure barbarian the traveler meets, when 
 but two day's journey from the sea-coast. They are a timid 
 tribe and a very unlikely people to commence an attack 
 upon any body of men for mere plunder's sake. They 
 have not a very good reputation among the Arab and 
 Wasawahili traders. They are said to be exceedingly dis- 
 honest, of which I have not the least doubt. They fur- 
 nished me with good grounds for believing these reports 
 while encamped at Kingaru, Hera and Imbiki. The 
 chiefs of the more eastern part of Ukwere profess nominal 
 allegiance to the Dwians of the Mrima. They have se- 
 lected the densest jungles wherein to establish their vil- 
 lages. Every entrance into one of their valleys is jealously 
 guarded by strong wooden gates, seldom over four and a
 
 100 OBSTACLES OF JUNGLE ISLETS. 
 
 half feet high, and so narrow, sometimes, that one must 
 enter sideways. 
 
 " These jungle islets which in particular dot the extent 
 of Ukwere, present formidable obstacles to a naked enemy. 
 The plants, bushes and young trees which form their 
 natural defense, are generally of the aloetic and thorny 
 species, growing so dense, interlaced one with the other, 
 that the hardiest and most desperate robber would not 
 brave the formidable array of sharp thorns which bristle 
 everywhere. 
 
 "Some of these jungle islets are infested with gangs of 
 banditti, who seldom fail to take advantage of the weak- 
 ness of a single wayfarer, more especially if he be a 
 Mgwana a freeman of Zanzibar, as every negro resident 
 of the island of Zanzibar is distinguished by the Washensi 
 natives of the interior. 
 
 " I should estimate the population of Ukwere, allowing 
 about one hundred villages to this territory (which is not 
 more than thirty miles square, its bounds on the south 
 being the Rufu Kiver, and on the north the River Wiami), 
 at not more than five thousand souls. Were all these 
 banded together under the command of one chief, the 
 Wakwere might become a powerful tribe. 
 
 " After the Wakwere we come to the Wakami, a rem- 
 nant of a once grand nation, which occupied the lands from 
 the Ungerengeri to the Great Makata River. Frequent 
 wars with the Wadoe and. Waseguhha have reduced them 
 to a narrow belt of country, ten rectilinear miles across, 
 which may be said to be comprised between Kiva Peak 
 and the stony ridge bounding the valley of the Ungeren- 
 geri on the east, within a couple of miles from the east 
 bank of the river. 
 
 " They are as numerous as bees in the Ungerengeri Val- 
 ley. The unsurpassed fertility has been a great inducement
 
 PICTURESQUE FOEEST SCENERY. 101 
 
 to retain for these people the distinction of a tribe. By the 
 means of a spy-glass one may see, as he stands on the top 
 of that stony ridge looking down into the fair valley, clus- 
 ters of brown huts visible amid bosky clumps, fullness and 
 plenty all over the valley, and may count easily over a 
 hundred villages. 
 
 " From Ukami, we pass Southern Udoe, and find a war- 
 like, fine-looking people, with a far more intelligent cast of 
 features, and a shade lighter than the Wakami and Wak- 
 were a people who are full of traditions of race, a people 
 who have boldly rushed to war upon the slightest encroach- 
 ment upon their territories, and who have bravely defended 
 themselves against the Waseguhha and Wakami, as well 
 as against nomadic marauders from Uhumba. 
 
 " Udoe, in appearance, is amongst the most picturesque 
 countries between the sea and Nyanyembe. Great cones 
 shoot upward above the everlasting forest, tipped by the 
 light, fleecy clouds, through which the warm, glowing sun 
 darts its rays, bathing the whole in sunlight, which brings 
 out those globes of foliage, which rise in tier after tier to 
 the summits of the hills, colors which would mock the 
 most ambitious painter's efforts at imitation. Udoe first 
 evokes the traveler's love of natural beauty after leaving 
 the sea, her roads lead him up along the sharp spines of 
 hilly ridges, whence he may look down upon the forest- 
 clad slopes, declining on either side of him into the depths 
 of deep valleys, to rise up beyond into aspiring cones 
 which kiss the sky, or into a high ridge with deep, con- 
 centric folds, which almost tempt one to undergo much 
 labor in exploring them for the provoking air of mystery 
 in which they seem to be enwrapped. 
 
 " What a tale this tribe could relate of the slave-trader's 
 deeds. Attacked by the joint forces of the Waseguhha 
 from the west and north, and the slave-traders of Whinde
 
 102 DISTINCTIVE THIBAL MARKS. 
 
 and Sa'adani from the east, the Wadoe have seen their 
 wives and little ones carried into slavery a hundred times, 
 and district after district taken from their country and 
 attached to Useguhha. For the people of Useguhha were 
 hired to attack their neighbors, the Wadoe, by the Whinde 
 slave-traders, and were also armed with muskets and sup- 
 plied with ammunition by them, to effect large and repeated 
 captures of Wadoe slaves. The people of this tribe, es- 
 pecially women and children, so superior in physique and 
 intelligence to the servile races by which they were sur- 
 rounded, were eagerly sought for as concubines and do- 
 mestics by the lustful Mohammedans. 
 
 " This tribe we first note to have distinctive tribal marks 
 by a line, punctures extending lengthwise on each side 
 of the face, and a chipping of the two inner sides of the 
 two middle teeth of the upper row. 
 
 " The arms of this tribe are similar to the arms of the 
 Wakami and Wakwere, and consist of a bow and arrows, 
 a shield, a couple of light spears or assegais, a long knife, a 
 handy little battle-axe and a club with a large knob at the 
 end of it, which latter is dexterously swung at the head of 
 an enemy, inflicting a stunning and sometimes a fatal blow. 
 
 "Emerging from the forest of Mikeseh, we enter the 
 territory of the Waseguhha, or Wasegura, as the Arabs 
 wrongly call this country. Useguhha extends over two de- 
 grees in length, and its greatest breadth is ninety geo- 
 graphical miles. It has two main divisions, that of South- 
 ern Useguhha, from Uruguni to the Wiami Eiver, and 
 Northern Useguhha, under the chieftain Moto, from the 
 Wiami River to Umagassi and Usumbara. 
 "Mostly all the Waseguhha warriors are armed with 
 muskets, and the Arabs supply them with enough ammuni- 
 tion, in return for which they attack Waruguru, Wadoe 
 and Wakwenni, to obtain slaves for the Arab market, and
 
 THE MAGIC ART. 103 
 
 it is but five years since the Waseguhha organized a suc- 
 cessful raid into the very heart of the Wasagara Mountains, 
 during which they desolated the populated part "of the 
 Makata plain, capturing over five hundred slaves. For- 
 merly wars in this country were caused by blood feuds 
 between different chiefs ; they are now encouraged by the 
 slave buyers of the Mirma, for the purpose of supplying 
 these human chattels for the market of Zanzibar. The 
 Waseguhha are about the most thorough believers in witch- 
 craft, yet the professors of this dark science fare badly at 
 their hands. It is a very common sight to see cinereous 
 piles on the roadside, and the waving garments suspended 
 to the branches of trees above them, which mark the fate 
 of the unfortunate 'Waganga' or medicine man. So long 
 as their predictions prove correct and have a happy culmi- 
 nation, these professors of 'uchawi' magic art are re- 
 garded with favor by the people; but if an unusual calamity 
 overtakes a family, and they can swear that it is the result 
 of the magician's art, a quorum of relentless inquisition is 
 soon formed, and a like fate to that which overtook the 
 'witches' in the dark days of New England surely awaits 
 him. 
 
 "Enough dead wood is soon found in their African 
 forests, and the unhappy one perishes by fire, and, as a 
 warning to all false professors of the art, his loin-cloth is 
 hung up to a tree above the spot where he met his doom. 
 
 "In Southern Usagara, the people are most amiable; 
 but in the north, in those districts adjacent to the Wahumba, 
 the people partake of the ferocious character of their fierce 
 neighbors. Repeated attacks from the Waseguhha kid- 
 nappers, from the Wadirigo or Wahehe robbers on the 
 south-west, from Wagogo on the west and from Wahumba 
 on the north, have caused them to regard strangers with 
 suspicion ; but after a short acquaintance they prove to be
 
 104 THE WASAGARA COSTUMES. 
 
 a frank, amiable and brave people. Indeed, they have 
 good cause to be distrustful of the Arabs and the Wang- 
 wana of Zanzibar. Mbumi, Eastern Usagara, has been 
 twice burned down, within a few years, by the Arabian 
 Waseguhha kidnappers ; Rehemeko has met the same fate, 
 and it was not many years ago since Abdullah bin Nasib 
 carried fire and sword from Misonghi to Mpwapwa. 
 Kanyaparu, lord of the hills around Chunyo, Kunyo, once 
 cultivated one-fourth of the Marenga, Mkali ; but is now 
 restricted to the hill-tops, from fear of the Wadirigo ma- 
 rauders. 
 
 " The Wasagara, male and female, tattoo the forehead, 
 bosom and arms. Besides inserting the neck of a gourd 
 in each ear which carries his little store of ' tumbac ' or 
 tobacco, and lime, which he has obtained by burning land 
 shells he carries quite a number of primitive ornaments 
 around his neck, such as two or three snowy cowrie-shells, 
 carved pieces of wood, or a small goat's horn, or some medi- 
 cine consecrated by the medicine man of the tribe, a fund 
 of red or white beads, or two or three pieced Lungomazzi 
 egg-beads, or a string of copper coins, and sometimes small 
 brass chains, like a cheap Jack watch-chain. These things 
 they have either made themselves or purchased from Arab 
 traders for chickens or goats. The children all go naked ; 
 youths wear a goat or sheep-skin ; grown men and women, 
 blessed with progeny, wear domestic or a loin-cloth of 
 Kaniki, or a barsati, which is a favorite colored cloth in 
 Usagara ; chiefs wear caps such as are worn by the Wam- 
 rima Diwans, or the Arab tarboosh. 
 
 "Next on our line of march, appears the Wagogo, a 
 powerful race, inhabiting the region west of Usagara to 
 Uyanzi, which is about eighty miles in breadth and about 
 one hundred in length. 
 
 " The traveler has to exercise great prudence, discretion
 
 THE MEANING OF "TRIBUTE." 107 
 
 and judgment in his dealings with them. Here he first 
 heard the word 'houga' after passing Limbomwenni, a 
 word which signifies tribute, though it formerly meant a 
 present to a friend. Since it is exacted from him with 
 threats, that if it is not paid they will make war on him, 
 its best interpretation would be, * forcibly extorted tribute 
 or toll.' 
 
 " Naturally, if the traveler desires to be mulcted of a 
 large sum, he will find the Wagogo ready to receive every 
 shred of cloth he gives them. Moumi will demand sixty 
 cloths, and will wonder at his own magnanimity in asking 
 such a small number of cloths from a great Musungu 
 (white man). The traveler, however, will be wise if he 
 permits his chief men to deal with them, after enjoining * 
 them to be careful, and not commit themselves too hastily 
 to any number. 
 
 " They are, physically and intellectually, the best of the 
 races between Unyamwezi and the sea. Their color is a 
 rich dark brown. There is something in their frontal 
 aspect which is almost leonine. Their faces are broad and 
 intelligent. Their eyes are large and round. Their noses 
 are flat, and their mouths are very large ; but their lips, 
 though thick, are not so monstrously thick as those our 
 exaggerated ideal of a negro has. For all this, though the 
 Mgogo is a ferocious man, capable of proceeding to any 
 length upon the slightest temptation, he is an attractive 
 figure to the white traveler. He is proud of his chief, 
 proud of his country, sterile and unlovable though it be ; 
 he is proud of himself, his prowess, his weapons and his 
 belongings ; he is vain, terribly egotistic, a bully, and a 
 tyrant, yet the Mgogo is capable of forming friendships, 
 and of exerting himself for friendship's sake. One grand 
 vice in his character, which places him in a hostile light 
 to travelers, is his exceeding avarice and greed for riches;
 
 108 THE CHARACTER OF THE MGOGO. 
 
 and if the traveler suffers by this, he is not likely to be 
 amiably disposed toward him. 
 
 " This sturdy native, with his rich complexion, his lion 
 front, his menacing aspect, bullying nature, haughty, proud 
 and quarrelsome, is a mere child with a man who will de- 
 vote himself to the study of his nature, and not offend his 
 vanity. He is easily angered, and his curiosity is easily 
 aroused. A traveler with an angular disposition is sure to 
 quarrel with him but, in the presence of this rude child of 
 nature, especially when he is so powerful, it is to his ad- 
 vantage and personal safety to soften those angles of his own 
 nature. The Kigogo 'Rob Hoy' is on his native ground, 
 and has a decided advantage over the white foreigner. He 
 >is not brave, but he is, at least, conscious of the traveler's 
 weakness, and he is disposed to take advantage of it, but is 
 prevented from committing an act because it is to his ad- 
 vantage to keep the peace. Any violence to a traveler 
 would close the road ; caravans would seek other ways, and 
 the chiefs would be deprived of much of their revenues. 
 
 " The Mgogo warrior carries as his weapons a bow and 
 a sheaf of murderous-looking arrows, pointed, pronged and 
 barbed ; a couple of light, beautifully-made assegais ; a 
 broad, sword-like spear, with a blade over two feet long ; 
 a battle-axe, and a rungu or knob-club. He has also a 
 shield, painted with designs in black and white, oval- 
 shaped, sometimes of rhinoceros, or elephant, or bull-hide. 
 From the time he was a toddling urchin he has been 
 familiar with his weapons, and by the time he was fifteen 
 years old he was an adept with them. 
 
 "He is armed for battle in a very short time. The 
 messenger from the chief darts from village to village, and 
 blows his ox-horn, the signal for war. The warrior hears 
 it, throws his hoe over his shoulder, enters his house, and 
 in a few seconds issues out again, arrayed in war-paint and
 
 THE MGOGO WARRIORS. 109 
 
 full fighting costume. Feathers of the ostrich, or the eagle, 
 or the vulture nod above his head ; his long crimson robe 
 streams behind him, his shield is on his left arm, his darting 
 assegai in his left hand, and his ponderous man-cleaver 
 double-edged and pointed, heading a strong staff is in his 
 right hand ; jingling bells are tied around his ankles and 
 knees ; ivory wristlets are on his arms, with which he sounds 
 his approach. With the plodding peasant's hoe he has 
 dropped the peasant's garb, and is now the proud, vain, 
 exultant warrior bounding aloft like a gymnast, eagerly 
 sniffing the battle-field. The strength and power of the 
 Wagogo are derived from their numbers. 
 
 " Though caravans of Wagogo are sometimes found pass- 
 ing up and down the Unyamwezi road, they are not so 
 generally employed as the Wanyamwezi in trade. Their 
 villages are thus always full of warriors. Weak tribes, or 
 remnants of tribes are very glad to be admitted under their 
 protection. Individuals of other tribes, also, who have 
 been obliged to exile themselves from their own tribes, for 
 some deed of violence, are often found in the villages of the 
 Wagogo. In the north, the Wahumba are very numerous ; 
 in the south may be found the Wahehe and Wakimbu, and 
 in the east may be found many a family from Usagara. 
 Wanyamwi are also frequently found in this country. 
 Indeed, these latter people are like Scotchmen, they may 
 be found almost everywhere throughout Central Africa, 
 and have a knack of pushing themselves into prominence. 
 
 "As in Western Usagara, the houses of the Wagogo are 
 square, arranged around the four sides of an area to which 
 all the doors open. The roofs are all flat, on which are 
 spread the grain, herbs, tobacco and pumpkins. The back 
 of each department is pierced with small holes for observa- 
 tion and for defense. 
 
 " The tembe is a fragile affair as constructed in Ugogo ;
 
 110 THE MGOGO HOUSE. 
 
 it merely consists of a line of slender sticks daubed over 
 with mud, with three or four strong poles planted at inter- 
 vals to support the beams and rafters, on which rests the 
 flat clay roof. A musket-ball pierces the wattled walls of 
 a Kigogo tembe through and through. In Uyanzi, the 
 tembe is a formidable affair, because of the abundance of 
 fine trees, which are cut down and split into rails three or 
 four inches thick. 
 
 " The tembe is divided into apartments, separated from 
 each other by a wattled wall. Each apartment may con- 
 tain a family of grown-up boys and .girls, who form their 
 beds on the floor, out of dressed hides. The father of the 
 family, only, has a kitanda, or fixed cot, made of ox-hide, 
 stretched over a frame, or of the bark of the myombo tree. 
 The floor is of tamped mud, and is exceedingly filthy, 
 smelling strongly of every abomination. In the corners, 
 suspended to the rafters, are the fine, airy dwellings of 
 black spiders of very large size, and other monstrous in- 
 sects. 
 
 " Rats, a peculiarly long-headed, dun-colored species, in- 
 fest every tembe. Cows, goats, sheep and cats are the only 
 domestic animals permitted to dwell within the tembe. 
 
 " The Wagogo believe in the existence of a God, or sky 
 spirit, whom they call Mulungu. Their prayers are gen- 
 erally directed to him when their parents die. A Mgogo, 
 after he has consigned his father to the grave, collects his 
 father's chattels together, his cloth, his ivory, his knife, his 
 jeinbe (hoe), his bows and arrows, his spear and his cattle, 
 and kneels before them, repeating a wish that Mulungu 
 would increase his worldly wealth, that he would bless his 
 labors and' make him successful in trade. They venerate, 
 and often perform a dance in honor of the moon. 
 
 " The following conversation occurred between myself 
 and a Mgogo trader :
 
 MODE OF BURIAL. 113 
 
 " ' Who do you suppose made your parents ?' 
 
 " ' Why, Mulungu, white man/ 
 
 " ' Well, who made you Y 
 
 " ' If God made my father, God made me, didn't He ?' 
 
 " ' That's very good., Where do you suppose your father 
 has gone to, now that he is dead Y 
 
 " ' The dead die,' said he, solemnly, ' they are no more. 
 The sultan dies, he becomes nothing he is then no better 
 than a dead dog ; he is finished, his words are finished 
 there are no words from him. It is true,' he added, seeing 
 a smile on my face, ' the sultan becomes nothing. He who 
 says other words is a liar. There.' 
 
 " ' But then he is a very great man, is he not ?' 
 
 " ' While he lives only after death he goes into the pit, 
 and there is no more to be said of him than any other 
 
 man/ 
 
 " ' How do you bury a Mgogo Y 
 
 " ' His legs are tied together, his right arm to his body, 
 and his left is put under his head. He is then rolled on 
 his left side in the grave. His cloth he wore during his 
 life is spread over him. We put the earth over him, and 
 put thorn-bushes over it, to prevent the fize (hyena) from 
 getting at him. A woman is put on her right side in a 
 grave apart from the man/ 
 
 " ' What do you do with the sultan, when he is dead ?' 
 " ' We bury him, too, of course ; only he is buried in the 
 middle of the village, and we build a house over it. Each 
 time they kill an ox, they kill before his grave. When 
 the old sultan dies, the new one calls for an ox, and kills 
 it before his grave, calling on Mulungu to witness that he 
 is the rightful sultan. He then distributes the meat in his 
 father's name/ 
 
 " ' Who succeeds the sultan ? Is he the eldest son Y 
 " < Yes, if he has a son ; if childless, the great chief next
 
 114 THEIR CODE OF JUSTICE. 
 
 to him in rank. The msagira is the next to the sultan, 
 whose business it is to hear the cause of complaint, and 
 convey it to the sultan, who, through the sultan, dispenses 
 justice , he receives the honga, carries it to the mtenii (sul- 
 tan), places it before him, and when the sultan has taken 
 what he wishes, the rest goes to the msagiri. The chiefs 
 are called manya-para ; the msagiri is the chief manya- 
 para.' 
 
 " ' How do the Wagogo marry ?' 
 
 " ' Oh, they buy their women.' 
 
 " ' What is a woman worth ?' 
 
 " ' A very poor man can buy his wife from her father 
 for a couple of goats.' 
 
 " ' How much has the sultan got to pay ?' 
 
 " ' He has got to pay about one hundred goats, or so 
 many cows, so many sheep and goats, to his bride's father. 
 Of course, he is a chief. The sultan would not buy a com- 
 mon woman. The father's consent is to be obtained, and 
 the cattle have to be given up. It takes many days to 
 finish the talk about it. All the family and friends of the 
 bride have to talk about it before she leaves her father's 
 house/ 
 
 " ' In cases of murder, what do you do to the man that 
 kills another?' 
 
 " ' The murderer has to pay fifty cows. If he is too poor 
 to pay, the sultan gives permission to the murdered man's 
 friends or relatives to kill him. If they catch him, they 
 tie him to a tree, and throw spears at him one at a time 
 first ; they then spring on him, cut his head off, then his 
 arms and limbs, and scatter them about the country.' 
 
 " ' How do you punish a thief?' 
 
 "'If he is found stealing, he is killed at once, and 
 nothing is said about it. Is he not a thief?' 
 
 " ' But, suppose you do not know who the thief is ?'
 
 BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT. 117 
 
 " l If a man is brought before us accused of stealing, we 
 kill a chicken. If the entrails are white, he is innocent ; 
 if yellow, he is guilty.' 
 
 " ' Do you believe in witchcraft ?' 
 
 " ' Of course we do, and punish the man with death who 
 bewitches cattle or stops rain.' 
 
 " Sacrifices of human life as penalty for witchcraft and 
 kindred superstitions indeed for many trivial offences 
 are painfully numerous among nearly all the tribes. 
 
 " Next to Ugogo is Uyanzi, or the ' Magunda Mkali ' 
 the Hot Field. 
 
 " Uyanzi or Magunda Mkali is at present very populous. 
 Along the northern route that leading via Munieka 
 water is plentiful enough, villages are frequent and travelers 
 begin to perceive that the title is inappropriate. The people 
 who inhabit the country are Wakimbu from the south. 
 They are good agriculturists, and are a most industrious 
 race. They are something like the Wasagara in appear- 
 ance, but do not obtain a very high reputation for bravery. 
 Their weapons consist of light spears, bows and arrows, 
 and battle-axes. Their tembes are strongly made, showing 
 considerable skill in the art of defensive construction. 
 Their bomas are so well made, that one would require can- 
 non to effect an entrance, if the villages were at all defended. 
 They are skillful, also, in constructing traps for elephants 
 and buffaloes. A stray lion or leopard is sometimes caught 
 by them."
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 BECEPTION IN UNYANYEMBE HIS HOCSE REPORTS OF THE CHIEFS OF HIS CARAVANS A FEAST 
 LUXURIOUS LIVING OF THE ARABS ARAB COUNTRY WAR AGAINST MIRAMBO, IN WHICH 
 STANLEY BECOMES AN ALLY IS TAKEN SICK BOMBAY THRASHED STANLEY JOINS THE ARAB 
 ARMY CAPTURE OF MIRAMBO'3 STRONGHOLD VILLAGES LAID WASTE MIRAMBO'S REVENGE- 
 ARABS DEFEATED AND STANLEY LEFT ALONE IS SICK FINAL DEPARTURE HIS INDOMITABLE 
 WILL AND COURAGE A TOUCHING EXTRACT FROM HIS JOURNAL DESERTERS SHAW, THE LAST 
 WHITE MAN, LEFT BEHIND CORPSES ON THE ROAD MOLLIFIES A SULLEN CHIEF STRONG 
 MEDICINE A LUDICROUS SCENE THE PARADISE OF HUNTERS A BIGHT ROYAL HUNT. 
 
 STANLEY received a noiseless ovation in Unyanyem- 
 be as lie walked with the governor to his house. Sol- 
 diers and men, by the hundreds, hovered round their 
 chief, staring at him, while the naked children peered be- 
 tween the legs of the parents. Tea was served in a silver 
 tea-pot, and a sumptuous breakfast furnished, which Stan- 
 ley devoured only as a hungry man can, who has been shut 
 up for so many months in the wilds of Africa. 
 
 Then pipes and tobacco were produced, and amid the 
 whiffs of smoke, came out all the news that Stanley had 
 brought from Zanzibar, while the gratified sheikh smoked 
 and listened. "When Stanley took his leave to look after 
 his men his host accompanied him to show him the house 
 he was to occupy while he remained. It was commodious 
 and quite luxurious after his long life in a tent. 
 
 All the caravans had arrived, and he received the re- 
 ports of the chief of each, while the goods were unpacked 
 and examined. One had had a fight with the natives and 
 beaten them, another had shot a thief, and the fourth had 
 lost a bale of goods. On the whole, Stanley was satisfied 
 and thankful there had been no more serious misfortunes 
 
 118
 
 THE ARAB CHIEFS VISIT STANLEY. 119 
 
 Food was furnished with lavish prodigality, and while he 
 was surfeiting himself, he ordered a bullock to be slain for 
 his men, now reduced to twenty-five in number. 
 
 On the second day of his arrival, the chief Arabs of 
 Tabna came to visit him. This is the chief Arab settlement 
 of Central Africa, and contains a thousand huts and about 
 five thousand inhabitants. The Arabs are a fine, handsome 
 set of men, and, living amid rich pastures, raise large herds 
 of cattle and goats, and vegetables of all kinds, while their 
 slaves bring back in caravans from Zanzibar, the luxuries 
 of the East, not only coffee, spices, wines and salmon, etc., 
 but Persian carpets, rich bedding, with elegant table ser- 
 vice. Some of them sport gold watches and chains. Each 
 one keeps as many concubines as he can afford the size of 
 his harem being limited only by his means. 
 
 These magnates from Tabna, after finishing their visit, 
 invited Stanley to visit their town and partake of a feast 
 they had prepared for him. Three days after, escorted by 
 eighteen of his men, he returned the visit. He arrived in 
 time to attend a council of war which was being held, as to 
 the best manner of asserting their rights against a robber- 
 chief named Mirambo. He had carried war through seve- 
 ral tribes and claimed the right to waylay and rob Arab 
 caravans. This must be stopped, and it was resolved to 
 make war against him in his stronghold. Stanley agreed 
 to accompany them, taking his caravan a part of the way 
 and leaving it until Mirambo was defeated, and the way to 
 Ujiji cleared. 
 
 Returning to Unyanyembe, he found the caravan which 
 had been made up to carry supplies to Livingstone in No- 
 vember 1st, 1870. Having gone twenty-five miles from 
 Zanzibar, to Bagomayo, it had stayed there one hundred 
 days, when, hearing that the English consul was coming, 
 had started off in affright just previous to Stanley.
 
 120 BOMBAY THKASHED. 
 
 Whether owing to his great change in diet or some other 
 cause, Stanley was now stricken down with fever, and for 
 a week tossed in delirium. Selim, his faithful servant, took 
 care of him. When he had recovered, the latter was 
 seized with it. 
 
 But by the 29th of July, all the sick had recovered, and 
 the caravan was loaded up for Ujiji. But Bombay was 
 absent and they had to wait from eight o'clock till two in 
 the afternoon, he stubbornly refusing to leave his mistress. 
 When he arrived and was ordered to his place he made a 
 savage reply. The next moment Stanley's cane was falling 
 like lightning on his shoulders. The poor fellow soon 
 cried for mercy. The order "March" was then given, and 
 the guide, with forty armed men behind him, led off, with 
 flags streaming. At first, in dead silence, they moved 
 on, but soon struck up a monotonous sort of chorus, which 
 seemed to consist mostly of " Hoy, hoy," and was kept up 
 all day. The second day, he arrived at Masangi, where he 
 was told the Arabs were waiting for him at Mfuto, six 
 hours' march distant. The next morning, he arrived at 
 the place where the Arab army was gathered, numbering 
 in all two thousand two hundred and twenty-five men, of 
 these, fifteen hundred were armed with guns. With ban- 
 ners flying and drums beating, they, on the 3d of August, 
 marched forth, but in a -few hours, Stanley was stricken 
 down with fever. The next day, however, the march was 
 resumed, and at eleven o'clock Zimbize, the stronghold of 
 the enemy, came in view. The forces quickly surrounded 
 it. A general assault followed and the village was cap- 
 tured, the inhabitants fleeing toward the mountains, pursued 
 closely by the yelling Arabs. Only twenty dead bodies 
 were found within. The next day, two more villages were 
 burned, and the day after, a detachment of five hundred 
 strong scoured the country around, carrying devastation
 
 &EPORT OF FARQUHAK'S DEATH. 121 
 
 and ruin in their path. At this critical period of the cam- 
 paign, Stanley was again taken down with fever, and while 
 he lay in his hammock, news came that the detachment of 
 five hundred men had been surprised and killed. Mirambo 
 had turned and ambushed them, and now the boasting of the 
 morning was turning into despondency. The women made 
 the night hideous with shrieks and lamentations over their 
 slain husbands. The next day, there was a regular stam- 
 pede of the Arabs, and when Stanley was able to get out 
 of his tent only seven men were left to him all the rest 
 had returned to Mftu, and soon after to Tabna, twenty-five 
 miles distant. It was plain that it was useless to open the 
 direct road to Ujiji, which lay through Mirambo's district. 
 In fact, it seemed impossible to get there at all, and the 
 only course left open was to return to the coast and abandon 
 the project of reaching Livingstone altogether. But what 
 would Livingstone do locked up at Ujiji? He might per- 
 haps go north and meet Baker, who was moving, with a 
 strong force, southward. But he was told by a man that 
 Livingstone was coming to Nyano Lake toward the Tanga- 
 nika, on which Ujiji is situated, at the very time it was last 
 reported he was murdered. He was then walking, dressed 
 in American sheeting, having lost all his cloth in Lake 
 Leemba. He had a breech-loading double-barreled rifle 
 with him and two revolvers. Stanley felt that he could 
 not give up trying to reach him, now it was so probable 
 that he was within four hundred miles of him. 
 
 On the 13th, a caravan came in from the east and re- 
 ported Farquhar dead at the place where he had left him. 
 Ten days after, Mirambo attacked Tabna and set it on fire. 
 Stanley, at this time, was encamped at Kwihara, and in 
 sight of the burning town. The refugees came pouring in, 
 and Stanley, finding the men willing to stand by him, 
 began to prepare for defense, and counting up his little
 
 122 STANLEY'S LAST DESPEKATE ATTEMPT. 
 
 force, found he had one hundred and fifty men. He was 
 not attacked, however, and five days after, Mirambo re- 
 treated. The Arabs held councils of war and urged Stan- 
 ley to become their ally, but he refused, and finally took 
 the bold resolution of organizing a flying caravan, and 
 by a southern route and quick marching, reach Ujiji. 
 This was August 27th, and the third month he had been 
 in Unyanyembe. Having got together some forty men in 
 all, he gave a great banquet to them prior to their de- 
 parture, but an attack of fever caused him to postpone it. 
 But, on the 20th of September, though too weak to travel, 
 he mustered his entire force outside the town, and found 
 that, by additional men which the Arabs had succeeded in 
 securing, it now numbered fifty-four men. When all was 
 ready, Bombay was again missing, and when found and 
 brought up, excused himself, as of old, by saying he was 
 bidding his " misses " good-bye. As he seemed inclined 
 to pick a quarrel with Stanley, the latter not being in the 
 most amiable mood, and wishing to teach the others a 
 lesson, gave him a sound thrashing. 
 
 Soon, everything being ready, the word "march" passed 
 down the line, and Stanley started on his last desperate 
 attempt to push on to Ujiji not much farther than from 
 Albany to Buffalo as the crow flies but by the way he 
 would be compelled to go, no one knew how far, nor what 
 time it would take to reach it. But Stanley had good 
 reason to believe that Livingstone was alive, and from the 
 reports he could get of his movements, must this time be 
 at or near Ujiji, and therefore to Ujiji he was determined 
 to go, unless death stopped his progress. He had been 
 sent on a mission, and although the conditions were not 
 that he should surmount impossibilities, he would come as 
 near to it as human effort could approach. Though sick 
 with fever, and with that prostration and utter loss of will
 
 STANLEY S TENACITY OF PURPOSE. 123 
 
 accompanying it, he, nevertheless, with that marvelous 
 energy that is never exhibited except in rare exceptional 
 characters, kept his great object in view. That never lost 
 its hold on him under the most disastrous circumstances 
 neither in the delirium of fever nor in the utter prostration 
 that followed it This tenacity of purpose and indomitable 
 will ruling and governing him, where in all other men it 
 would have had no potver, exhibit the extraordinary quali- 
 ties of this extraordinary man. We do not believe that 
 he himself was fully aware of this inherent power, this fix- 
 edness of purpose that makes him different from all other 
 men. No man possessing it is conscious of it any more 
 than an utterly fearless man is conscious of his own cour- 
 age. The following touching extract from his journal at 
 this time lets in a flood of light on the character and the 
 inner life of this remarkable man : 
 
 "About 10 P. M., the fever had gone. All were asleep 
 in the tembe but myself, and an unutterable loneliness came 
 on me as I reflected on my position, and my intentions, and 
 felt the utter lack of sympathy with me in all around. 
 Even my own white assistant, with whom I had striven 
 hard, was less sympathizing than my little black boy Ka- 
 lulu. It requires more nerve than I possess to dispel all 
 the dark presentiments that come upon the mind. But, 
 probably, what I call presentiments are simply the impress 
 on the mind of the warnings which these false-hearted 
 Arabs have repeated so often. This melancholy and lone- 
 liness which I feel, may probably have their origin from 
 the same cause. The single candle which barely lights up 
 the dark shade which fills the corners of my room, is but 
 a poor incentive to cheerfulness. I feel as though I were 
 imprisoned between stone walls. But why should I feel as 
 if baited by these stupid, slow-witted Arabs, and their warn- 
 ings and croakings ? I fancy a suspicion haunts my mind, 
 as I write, that there lies some motive behind all this.
 
 124 A TOUCHING EXTEACT. 
 
 " I wonder if these Arabs tell me all these things to keep 
 me here, in the hope that I may be induced another time 
 to assist them in their war against Mirambo! If they 
 think so, they are much mistaken, for I have taken a 
 solemn, enduring oath an oath to be kept while the least 
 hope of life remains in me not to be tempted to break the 
 resolution I have formed, never to give up the search until 
 I find Livingstone alive, or find his dead body ; and never 
 to return home without the strongest possible proofs that 
 he is alive or that he is dead. No living man or living 
 men shall stop me only death can prevent me. But 
 death not even this ; I shall not die I will not die I 
 cannot die ! 
 
 "And something tells me, I do not know what it is 
 perhaps it is the everliving hopefulness of my own nature ; 
 perhaps it is the natural presumption born out of an 
 abundant and glowing vitality, or the outcome of an over- 
 weening confidence in one's-self anyhow and everyhow, 
 something tells me to-night I shall find him, and write it 
 larger FIND HIM ! FIND HIM ! Even the words are in- 
 spiring. I feel more happy. Have I uttered a prayer ? 
 I shall sleep calmly to-night." 
 
 There is nothing in this whole terribly journey so touch- 
 ing, and revealing so much, as this extract from his jour- 
 nal does. It shows that he is human, and yet far above 
 common human weakness. Beset with difficulties, his only 
 white companion dead or about to be left behind, the Arabs 
 themselves and the natives telling him he cannot go on, left 
 all alone in a hostile country, his men deserting him, he 
 pauses and ponders. To make all these outer conditions 
 darker, he is smitten down with fever that saps the energies, 
 unnerves the heart and fills the imagination with gloomy 
 forebodings, and makes the soul sigh for rest. It is the 
 lowest pit of despondency into which a man may be cast.
 
 TWENTY MEN DESERT. 125 
 
 He feels it, and all alone, fever worn and sad, he surveys the 
 prospect before him. There is not a single soul on which 
 to lean not a sympathizing heart to turn to while fever is 
 burning up his brain, and night, moonless and starless, is 
 settling down around him. He would be less than human 
 not to feel the desolation of his position, and for a moment 
 sink under this accumulation of disastrous circumstances* 
 He does feel how utterly hopeless and sad is his condition; 
 and all through the first part of this entry in his journal, 
 there is something that sounds like a mournful refrain 
 yet at its close, out of his gloomy surroundings, up from his 
 feverish bed speaks the brave heart in trumpet tones, 
 showing the indomitable will that nothing can break, cry- 
 ing out of the all-enveloping gloom, "no living man or 
 living men shall stop me only death can prevent me." 
 There spoke one of the few great natures God has made. 
 The closing words of that entry in his journal ring like a 
 bugle-note from his sick-bed, and foretell his triumph. 
 
 But, at last, they were off. Shaw, the last white man left 
 to Stanley, had been sick, and apparently indifferent whether 
 he lived or died ; but all, after a short march, became en- 
 livened, and things looked more promising. But Stanley 
 was again taken sick with the fever ; the men began to be 
 discouraged. Staggering from his sick-bed, he found that 
 twenty of his men had deserted. Aroused at this new 
 danger, he instantly dispatched twenty men after them, 
 while he sent his faithful follower, Selim, to an Arab chief 
 to borrow a long slave-chain. At night, the messengers 
 returned with nine of the missing men. Stanley then told 
 them that he had never used the slave-chain, but now he 
 should on the first deserters. He had resolved to go to 
 Ujiji, where he believed Dr. Livingstone was, and being so 
 near the accomplishment of the mission he was sent on, he 
 was ready to resort to any measures rather than fail. Deferr-
 
 126 SHAW LEFT BEHIND. 
 
 ing the use of the chain at present, he started forward and 
 encamped at Iresaka. In the morning, two more men 
 were missing. Irritated but determined, this resolute man 
 halted, sent back for the fugitives, caught them, and when 
 brought back, flogged them severely and chained them. 
 Notwithstanding this severe treatment, the next morning 
 another man deserted, while, to add to his perplexities and 
 enhance the difficulties that surrounded him, a man who 
 had accompanied him all the way from the coast asked to 
 be discharged, while several others of the expedition were 
 taken sick and unable to proceed ; and it seemed, notwith- 
 standing the resolute will of the leader, that the expedition 
 must break up. But, fortunately, that evening men who 
 had been in caravans to the coast entered the village 
 where they were encamped, with wondrous stories of what 
 they had seen on the coast, which revived the spirits of all, 
 and the next morning they started off, and after three 
 hours' march through the forest came to Kigandu. Shaw, 
 the last white man now left to him, between real and 
 feigned sickness, had become such a burden, that he deter- 
 mined to leave him. behind, as the latter had often requested 
 to be. 
 
 That night, the poor wretch played on an old accordion 
 " Home, Sweet Home," which, miserable as it was, stirred 
 the depths of Stanley's heart, now about to be left alone 
 amid Arabs and natives in the most desperate part of his 
 undertaking. But it could not be helped speed was now 
 everything on this new route, or Mirambo would close it 
 also. So on the morning of the 27th, he ordered the horn 
 to sound " get ready," and Shaw being sent back to Kwi- 
 hara, set off on his southern unknown route to Ujiji with 
 his caravan, and entered the dark forests and pressed rap- 
 idly forward, and in seven hours reached the village of 
 Ugunda, numbering two thousand souls. It was well forti-
 
 STANLEY'S DIPLOMACY. 127 
 
 fied against the robber, Mirambo. Around their principal 
 village, some three thousand square acres were under culti- 
 vation, giving them not only all the provisions they wanted 
 for their own use, but also enough for passing caravans, 
 besides furnishing carriers for those in want of them. On 
 the 28th, they arrived at a small village well supplied with 
 corn, and the next day reached Kikuru, a place impreg- 
 nated with the most deadly of African fevers. Over desert 
 plains, now sheering on one side to avoid the corpse of a 
 man dead from the small-pox, the scourge of Africa, and 
 now stumbling on a skeleton, the caravan kept on till they 
 came to the cultivated fields of Manyara. A wilderness 
 one hundred and thirty-five miles in extent stretched out 
 before them from this place, and Stanley was inclined to 
 be very conciliatory toward the chief of the village, in 
 order to get provisions for the long and desperate march 
 before him. But the chief was very sullen and wholly 
 indifferent to the presents the white man offered him. 
 With adroit diplomacy, Stanley sent to him some magnifi- 
 cent royal cloths, which so mollified the chief that abundant 
 provisions were soon sent in, followed by the chief himself 
 with fifty warriors bearing gifts quite equal to those which 
 Stanley sent him, and they entered the tent of the first 
 white man they had ever seen. Looking at him for some 
 time in silent surprise, the chiefs burst into an incontrollable 
 fit of laughter, accompanied with snapping their fingers. 
 But when they were shown the sixteen-shooters and 
 revolvers their astonishment knew no bounds, while the 
 double-barreled guns, heavily charged, made them jump to 
 their feet with alarm, followed by convulsions of laughter. 
 Stanley then showed them his chest of medicine, and 
 finally gave them a dose in the form of brandy. They 
 tasted it, making wry faces, when he produced a bottle of 
 concentrated ammonia, saying it was for snake bites. One
 
 128 THE HUNTER'S PARADISE. 
 
 of the chiefs asked for some of it. It was suddenly pre- 
 sented to his nose, when his features underwent such inde- 
 scribable contortions that the other chiefs burst into con- 
 vulsions of laughter, clapped their hands, pinched each 
 other and went through all sorts of ludicrous gesticulations. 
 When the chief recovered himself, the tears in the mean- 
 while rolling down his cheeks, he laughed and simply said, 
 " strong medicine." The others then took a sniff and went 
 off into paroxysms of laughter. 
 
 Wednesday, October 4th, found them traveling toward 
 the Gornbe River. They had hardly left the waving corn- 
 fields, when they came in sight of a large herd of zebras. 
 Passing on, the open forest resembled a magnificent park, 
 filled with buffalo, zebra, giraffe, antelope and other tropi- 
 cal animals, while the scenery on every side was entrancing. 
 These noble animals, coursing in their wild freedom 
 through those grand, primeval forests, presented a mag- 
 nificent sight. Stanley, thoroughly aroused, crept back to 
 his camp, which had been pitched on the Gombe River, 
 and prepared for a right royal hunt. He says : 
 
 " Here, at last, was the hunter's paradise ! How petty 
 and insignificant appeared my hunts after small antelope 
 and wild boar ; what a foolish waste of energies, those long 
 walks through damp grasses and thorny jungles. Did I 
 not well remember my first bitter experience in African 
 jungles, when in the maritime region? But this where 
 is the nobleman's park that can match this scene ? Here is 
 a soft, velvety expanse of young grass, grateful shade under 
 close, spreading clumps, herds of large and varied game 
 browsing within easy rifle-shot. Surely I must feel amply 
 compensated now for the long southern detour I have 
 made, when such a prospect as this opens to the view ! No 
 thorny jungles and rank-smelling swamps are to daunt the 
 hunter, and to sicken his aspirations after true sport. No
 
 STALKING ANTELOPE. 131 
 
 hunter could aspire after a nobler field to- display his 
 prowess. 
 
 " Having settled the position of the camp, which over- 
 looked one of the pools found in the depression of the 
 Gombe Creek, I took my double-barreled smooth bore, and 
 sauntered off to the park-land. Emerging from behind a 
 clump, three fine, plump spring-bok were seen browsing 
 on the young grass just within one hundred yards. I knelt 
 down and fired ; one unfortunate antelope bounded forward 
 instinctively and fell dead. Its companions sprang high 
 into the air, taking leaps about twelve feet in length, as if 
 they were quadrupeds practising gymnastics, and away 
 they vanished, rising up like India-rubber balls, until a 
 knoll hid them from view. My success was hailed with 
 loud shouts by the soldiers, who came running out from 
 the camp as soon as they heard the reverberation of the 
 gun, and my gun-bearer had his knife at the throat of the 
 beast, uttering a fervent 'Bismillah' as he almost severed 
 the head from the body. 
 
 " Hunters were now directed to proceed east and north 
 to procure meat, because in each caravan it generally hap- 
 pens that there are fundi whose special trade it is to hunt 
 for meat for the camp. Some of these are experts in stalk- 
 ing, but often find themselves in dangerous positions, owing 
 to the near approach necessary before they can fire their 
 most inaccurate weapons with any certainty. 
 
 "After luncheon, consisting of spring-bok steak, hot 
 corn-cake and a cup of Mocha coffee, I strolled toward the 
 south-west, accompanied by Kalulu and Majwara, two boy 
 gun-bearers. The tiny perpusilla started up like rabbits 
 from me as I stole along through the underbrush ; the 
 honey-bird hopped from tree to tree chirping its call, as if 
 it thought I was seeking the little sweet treasure, the hiding- 
 place of which it only knew ; but, .no ! I neither desired
 
 132 SHOOTING A ZEBRA. 
 
 perpusilla nor the honey. I was on the search for some- 
 thing great this day. Keen-eyed fish-eagles and bustards 
 poised on trees above the sinuous Gombe thought, and pro- 
 bably with good reason, that I was after them, judging by 
 the ready flight with which both species disappeared as 
 they sighted my approach. Ah, no! nothing but harte 
 beest, zebra, giraffe, eland and buffalo this day. 
 
 " After following the Gornbe's course for about a mile, 
 delighting my eyes with long looks at the broad and 
 lengthy reaches of water, to which I was so long a stranger, 
 I came upon a scene which delighted the innermost 
 recesses of my soul ; five, six, seven, eight, ten zebras 
 switching their beautiful striped bodies, and biting one 
 another, within about one hundred and fifty yards. The 
 scene was so pretty, so romantic, never did I so thoroughly 
 realize that I was in Central Africa. I felt momentarily 
 proud that I owned such a vast dominion, inhabited by 
 such noble beasts. Here I possessed, within reach of a 
 leaden ball, any one I chose of the beautiful animals, the 
 pride of the African forests. It was at my option to shoot 
 any one of them. Mine they were, without money and 
 without price ; yet, knowing this, twice I dropped my rifle, 
 loath to wound the royal beasts, but crack ! and a royal 
 one was on his back, battling the air with his legs. Ah, 
 it was such a pity ! but hasten, draw the keen, sharp-edged 
 knife across the beautiful stripes which fold around the 
 throat, and what an ugly gash ! it is done, and I have a 
 superb animal at my feet. Hurrah ! I shall taste of Uko- 
 nongo zebra to-night. 
 
 " I thought a spring-bok and zebra enough for one day's 
 sport, especially after a long march. The Gombe, a long 
 stretch of deep water, winding in and out of green groves, 
 calm, placid, with lotus leaves resting lightly on its surface, 
 all pretty, picturesque, peaceful as a summer's dream, looked
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE. 133 
 
 very inviting for a bath. I sought out the most shady spot 
 under a wide-spreading mimosa, from which the ground 
 sloped smooth as a lawn to the still, clear water. I ven- 
 tured to undress, and had already stepped to my ankles in 
 'the "water, and had brought my hands together for a glori- 
 ous dive, when my attention was attracted by an enor- 
 mously long body which shot into view, occupying the 
 spot beneath the surface which I was about to explore by a 
 'header.' Great heavens, it was a crocodile! I sprang 
 back instinctively, and this proved my salvation, for the 
 monster turned away with the most disappointed look, and 
 I was left to congratulate myself upon my narrow escape 
 from his jaws, and to register a vow never to be tempted 
 again by the treacherous calm of an African river."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE A MUTINY NARROW ESCAPE OF STANLEY SAVED BY HIS PROMPT COUR- 
 AGESWIFT PUNISHMENT OF THE LEADERS OF THE MUTINY EXCITING NEWS FROM UJIJI DIF- 
 FICULTIES IN THE WAY RESOLVES TO GO ROUND THE NEXT VILLAGE STEALTHY MARCHING 
 A NEW DANGER VAIN ATTEMPT TO STOP A WOMAN SCREAMING RAPID MARCHING STANLEY 
 STARTLED BY THE SOUND OF WAVES BURSTING IN ROCKY CAVERNS AN UNEXPECTED DANGER 
 NARROW ESCAPE THE END APPROACHES HURRAH. 
 
 r I THE following extract from his journal, written up that 
 -L night, shows that this strong, determined, fearless 
 man was not merely a courageous lion, but possessed, also, 
 the eye of an artist and the soul of a poet. With a few 
 strokes of his pen, he sketches a picture on the banks of 
 the forest-lined river, full of life and beauty : 
 
 " The adventures of the day were over ; the azure of the 
 sky had changed to a deep gray ; the moon was appearing 
 just over the trees ; the water of the Gombe was like a 
 silver belt; hoarse frogs bellowed their notes loudly by 
 the margin of the creek ; the fish-eagles uttered their dirge- 
 like cries as they were perched high on the tallest trees ; 
 elands snorted their warning to the herd in the forest; 
 stealthy forms of the carnivora stole through the dark 
 woods outside of our camp. Within the high inclosure of 
 bush and thorn which we had raised about our camp, all 
 was jollity, laughter and radiant, genial comfort. Around 
 every camp-fire, dark forms of men were seen squatted: 
 one man gnawed at a luscious bone ; another sucked the 
 rich marrow in a zebra's leg bone; another turned the 
 stick, garnished with huge kabobs, to the. bright blaze; 
 another held a large rib over a flame ; there were others 
 
 134
 
 A MUTINY. 135 
 
 busy stirring, industriously, great black potfuls of ugali, 
 and watching anxiously the meat simmering, and the soup 
 bubbling, while the firelight flickered and danced bravely, 
 and cast a bright glow over the naked forms of the men, 
 and gave a crimson tinge to the tall tent that rose in the 
 centre of the camp, like a temple sacred to some mysteri- 
 ous god ; the fires cast their reflections upon the massive 
 arms of the trees, as they branched over our camp ; and, 
 in the dark gloom of their foliage, the most fantastic 
 shadows were visible. Altogether, it was a wild, romantic 
 and impressive scene." 
 
 They halted here for two days, the men hunting and 
 gormandizing. Like all animals, after gorging themselves 
 they did not want to move, and when, on the 7th of Octo- 
 ber, Stanley ordered the caravan to be put in motion, the 
 men refused to stir. Stanley at once walked swiftly toward 
 them with his double-barreled gun, loaded with buck shot, 
 in his hand. As he did so he saw the men seize their 
 guns. He, however, kept resolutely on till within thirty 
 yards of two men, whose heads were peering above an ant- 
 hill, with their guns pointed across the road then sud- 
 denly halting, he took deliberate aim at them, determined, 
 come what would, to blow out their brains. One of them, 
 a giant, named Azmani, instantly brought up his gun with 
 his finger on the trigger. " Drop that gun or you are a 
 dead man," shouted Stanley. They obeyed and came for- 
 ward, but he saw that murder was in Azmani's eyes. The 
 other man, at the second order, laid down his gun and, 
 with a blow from Stanley that sent him reeling away, sneaked 
 off. But the giant, Azmani, refused to obey, and Stanley 
 aiming his piece at his head and touching the trigger was 
 about to fire. The former quickly lifted his gun up to his 
 shoulder to shoot. In another second he would have fallen 
 dead at Stanley's feet. At this moment an Arab, who had
 
 136 STANLEY'S NARKOW ESCAPE. 
 
 approached from behind, struck up the wretch's gun and 
 exclaimed, " Man, how dare you point your gun at the 
 master?" This saved his life, and perhaps Stanley's also. It 
 required nerves of iron in a man thus to stand up all alone 
 in the heart of an African forest surrounded by savages 
 and defy them all, and cow them all. But the trouble was 
 over, peace was concluded, and the men with one accord 
 agreed to go on. The two instigators of this mutiny were 
 Bombay and a savage, named Ambari. Snatching up a 
 spear Stanley immediately gave the former a terrible 
 pounding with the handle. Then turning on the latter, 
 who stood looking on with a mocking face, he administered 
 the same punishment to him after which he put them 
 both in chains. 
 
 For the next fourteen days, nothing remarkable occurred 
 in the march, which had been in a south-westerly direction. 
 Near a place called Mrera, Stanley, for the first time, saw a 
 herd of wild elephants, and was deeply impressed with their 
 lordly appearance. Here Selim was taken sick, and the 
 caravan halted for three days, Stanley spending the inter- 
 val in mending his shoes. 
 
 He now had four districts to traverse, which would oc- 
 cupy him twenty-five days. Taking a north-westerly route 
 having, as he thought, got around the country of Mirambo, 
 he pushed forward with all speed. Buffaloes, leopards and 
 lions were encountered; the country was diversified, and 
 many of the petty chiefs grasping and unfriendly, so that 
 it was a constant, long, wearisome fight with obstacles from 
 the beginning to the end of each week. But, on November 
 3d, a caravan of eighty came into Stanley's camp from the 
 westward. The latter asked the news. They replied that 
 a white man had just arrived at Ujiji. This was startling 
 news indeed. 
 
 "A white man!" exclaimed Stanley.
 
 NEWS FROM UJIJI. 137 
 
 " Yes, a white man." 
 
 " How is he dressed ?" 
 
 " Like the master," pointing to him. 
 
 " Is he young or old ?" 
 
 " He is old, with white hair on his face ; and he is sick." 
 
 " Where has he come from ?" was the next anxious in- 
 quiry. 
 
 " From a very far country, away beyond Uguhha." 
 
 " And is he now stopping at Ujiji ?" 
 
 " Yes, we left him there eight days ago." 
 
 " How long is he going to stay there ?" 
 
 " Don't know." 
 
 " Was he ever there before ?" 
 
 " Yes ; he went away a long time ago." 
 
 Stanley gave a shout of exultation, exclaiming : " It is 
 Livingstone !" 
 
 Then came the thought, it may be some other man. 
 Perhaps it is Baker, who has worked his way in there be- 
 fore me. It was a crushing thought, that after all his 
 sufferings, and sickness, and toils, he should have been 
 anticipated, and there was now nothing left for him to do 
 but march back again. No he exclaimed to himself: 
 " Baker has no white hair on his face." But he could now 
 wait no longer, and turning to his men, he asked them if 
 they were willing to march to Ujiji without a single halt. 
 If they were, he would, on their arrival, present each two 
 doti of cloth. They all shouted yes. Stanley jots down : 
 " I was madly rejoiced, intensely eager to resolve the burn- 
 ing question, 'Is it Dr. Livingstone?' God grant me 
 patience ; but I do wish there was a railroad, or at least, 
 horses, in this country. With a horse I could reach him 
 in twelve hours." 
 
 But new dangers confronted him. The chiefs became 
 more exhorbitant in their demands and more hostile in
 
 138 FKESH DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 their demonstrations, and but for Stanley's eagerness to get 
 on, he would more than once have fought his way through 
 some of those pertinacious tribes. But his patience, at last, 
 gave out, for he was told after he had settled the last 
 tribute that there were five more chiefs ahead who would 
 exact tribute. This would beggar him, and he asked two 
 natives if there was no way of evading the next chief, 
 named Wahha. 
 
 " This rather astonished them at first, and they declared 
 it to be impossible ; but, finally, after being pressed, they re- 
 plied that one of their number should guide us at midnight, 
 or a little after, into the jungle which grew on the frontiers 
 of Uhha and Uvinza. By keeping a direct west course 
 through this jungle until we came to Ukavanga, we might 
 be enabled we were told to travel through Uhha with- 
 out further trouble. If I were willing to pay the guide 
 twelve doti, and if I were able to impose silence on my 
 people while passing through the sleeping village, the guide 
 was positive I could reach Ujiji without paying another 
 doti. It is needless to add that I accepted the proffered 
 assistance at such a price with joy. 
 
 " But there was much to be done. Provisions were to 
 be purchased, sufficient to last four days, for the tramp 
 through the jungle, and men were at once sent with cloth 
 to purchase grain at any price. Fortune favored us, for, 
 before 8 P. M. we had enough for six days. 
 
 " November 7th. I did not go to sleep at all last night, 
 but a little after midnight, as the moon was beginning to 
 show itself, by gangs of four the men stole quietly out of 
 the village ; and by 3 A. M. the entire expedition was out- 
 side the bonna and not the slightest alarm had been made. 
 After whistling to the new guide, the expedition began to 
 move in a southern direction along the right bank of the 
 Kanenzi River. After an hour's inarch in this direction,
 
 THE MIDNIGHT MARCH. 139 
 
 we struck west across the grassy plain, and maintained it, 
 despite the obstacles we encountered, which were sore 
 enough to naked men. The bright rnoon lighted our 
 path; dark clouds now and then cast immense long 
 shadows over the deserted and silent plain, and the moon- 
 beams were almost obscured, and at such times our po- 
 sition seemed awful 
 
 "'Till the moon, 
 
 Rising in clouded majesty, at length, 
 Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light, 
 And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.' 
 
 " Bravely toiled the men, without murmur, though their 
 legs were bleeding from the cruel grass. 'Ambrosial 
 morn' at last appeared, with all its beautiful and lovely 
 features. Heaven was born anew to us, with comforting 
 omens and cheery promise. The men, though fatigued at 
 the unusual travel, sped forward with quicker pace as 
 daylight broke, until, at 8 A. M., we sighted the swift 
 Rusugi River, when a halt was ordered in a clump of 
 jungle near it, for breakfast and rest. Both banks of the 
 river were alive with buffalo, eland and antelope, but 
 though the sight was very tempting, we did not fire, 
 because we dared not. The report of a gun would have 
 alarmed the whole country. I preferred my coffee, and 
 the contentment which my mind experienced at our 
 success. 
 
 " An hour after we had rested, some natives carrying 
 salt from the Malagarazi were seen coming up the right 
 bank of the river. When abreast of our hiding-place 
 they detected us, and dropping their salt-bags, they took 
 to their heels at once, shouting out as they ran, to alarm 
 some villages that appeared some four miles north of us. 
 The men were immediately ordered to take up their loads, 
 and in a few minutes we had crossed the Rusugi, and were
 
 140 TAMING A SHKEW. 
 
 making direct for a bamboo jungle that appeared in our 
 front. Almost as soon as we entered, a weak-brained 
 woman raised a series of piercing yells. The men were 
 appalled at this noisy demonstration, which would call 
 down upon our heads the vengeance of the Wahha for 
 evading the tribute, to which they thought themselves 
 entitled. In half an hour we should have hundreds of 
 howling savages about us in the jungle, and probably a 
 general massacre would ensue. The woman screamed 
 fearfully again and again, for no cause whatever. Some 
 of the men, with the instinct of self-preservation, at once 
 dropped their bales and loads and vanished into the jungle. 
 The guide came rushing back to me, imploring me to stop 
 her noise. The woman's husband, livid with rage and 
 fear, drew his sword and asked permission to cut her head 
 off at once. Had I given the least signal, the woman had 
 paid with her life for her folly. I attempted to hush her 
 cries by putting my hand over her mouth, but she violently 
 wrestled with me, and continued her cries worse than ever. 
 There remained nothing else for me to do, but to try the 
 virtue of my whip over her shoulders. I asked her to 
 desist after the first blow. 'No!' She continued her 
 insane cries with increased force and volume. Again my 
 whip descended on her shoulders. * No, no, no.' Another 
 blow. ' Will you hush ?' ' No, no, no,' louder and louder 
 she cried, and faster and faster I showered the blows for 
 the taming of this shrew. However, seeing I was as 
 determined to flog as she was to cry, she desisted before 
 the tenth blow and became silent. A cloth was folded 
 over her mouth, and her arms were tied behind her ; and 
 in a few moments, the runaways having returned to their 
 duty, the expedition moved forward again with redoubled 
 pace." 
 
 That night they encamped at Lake Musunya, which
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DANGEK. 141 
 
 swarmed with hippopotami. No tent nor hut was raised, 
 nor fire kindled, and Stanley lay down with his rifle slung 
 over his shoulders, ready to act on a moment's notice. Be- 
 fore daylight they were off again, and at early dawn 
 emerged from the jungle and stretched rapidly across a 
 naked plain. Reaching the Rugufa River, they halted in 
 a deep shade, when suddenly Stanley heard a sound like 
 distant thunder. Asking one of his men if it were thunder, 
 the latter replied no, that it was the noise made by the 
 waves of Tanganika breaking into the caverns of a moun- 
 tain on its shore. Was he, indeed, so near this great in- 
 land sea, of which Ujiji was the chief harbor? 
 
 Pressing on three hours longer they encamped in the 
 forest. Two hours before daylight they again set out, the 
 guide promising that by next morning they should be 
 clear of the hostile district. On this Stanley exclaims, 
 " Patience, my soul ! A few hours more and then the end 
 of all this will be known. I shall be face to face with that 
 white man with the white beard on his face, whoever he 
 may be." Before daylight they started again, and emerg- 
 ing from the forest on to the high road, the guides, think- 
 ing they had passed the last village of the hostile tribe, 
 set up a shout, but soon, to their horror, came plump upon 
 its outskirts. Fate seemed about to desert him at the last 
 moment, for if the village was roused he was a doomed 
 man. Keeping concealed amid the trees, Stanley ordered 
 the goats to be killed, lest their bleating should lead to 
 their discovery, the chickens to be killed also, and then 
 plunged into the jungle, Stanley being the last man to fol- 
 low. It was a narrow escape. After an half-hour's march, 
 finding they were not pursued, they again took to the road. 
 One more night in the encampment and then the end 
 would come. Next morning they push on with redoubled 
 speed, and, in two hours, from the top of a mountain he
 
 142 NEARING THE GOAL. 
 
 beholds with bounding heart the Lake Tanganika ; a vast 
 expanse of burnished silver with the dark mountains 
 around it and the blue sky above . it. " Hurrah," shouts 
 Stanley, and the natives take up the shout, till the hills and 
 forest ring with their exultant cries. The long struggle 
 was nearly over ; the goal toward which he had been so 
 long straining almost won.
 
 CHAPTER, IX. 
 
 excitement that Stanley felt at this supreme mo- 
 ment of his life can never be described or even 
 imagined. When he started from Zanzibar, he knew 'he 
 had thrown the dice which was to fix his fate. Successful, 
 and his fame was secure, while failure meant death, and all 
 the chances against him. How much he had taken upon 
 himself no one but he knew ; into what gloomy gulfs he 
 had looked before he started, he alone was conscious. Of 
 the risks he ran, of the narrow escapes he had made, of 
 the toils and sufferings he had endured, he alone could 
 estimate them. With the accumulation of difficulties 
 with the increasing darkness of his prospects, the one great 
 object of his mission had increased in importance, till great 
 as it was, became unnaturally magnified so that, at last, it 
 filled all his vision, and became the one, the great, the 
 only object in life worth pursuing. For it he had risked 
 so much, toiled so long and suffered so terribly, that the 
 whole world, with all its interests, was secondary to it. 
 Hope had given way to disappointment and disappointment 
 yielded to despair so often, that his strong nature had got 
 keyed up to a dangerous pitch. But now the reward was 
 near; and Balboa, when alone he ascended the solitary 
 summit that was to give him a sight of the new, the hith- 
 
 143
 
 144 VIEW OF THE TANGANIKA. 
 
 erto unknown, the great Pacific Ocean, was not more 
 intensely excited than Stanley was when he labored up the 
 steep mountain that should give him a view of the Tan- 
 ganika. 
 
 The joy, the exultation of that moment, outbalanced a 
 life of common happiness. It was a feeling that lifts the 
 soul into a region where our common human nature never 
 goes, and it becomes a memory that influences and shapes 
 the character forever. Such a moment of ecstasy of per- 
 fect satisfaction of exultant triumphant feeling that asks 
 nothing better that brings perfect rest with the highest 
 exaltation, can never happen to a man but once in a life- 
 time, and not to one in ten millions of men. To attempt 
 to give any description of this culmination of all his efforts, 
 and longings, and ambition, except in his own words, would 
 be not only an act of injustice to him, but to the reader. 
 
 The descent to Ujiji and the interview with Living- 
 stone is full of dramatic interest and the description of it 
 should not be made by a third party, for to attempt to im- 
 prove on it would be presumption and would end only in 
 failure, and we, therefore, give it in Mr. Stanley's own words, 
 that glow with vivid life from beginning to end, and this 
 shall be his chapter: 
 
 " We are descending the western slope of the mountain, 
 with the valley of the Linche before us. Something like 
 an hour before noon we have gained the thick matite brake, 
 which grows on both banks of the river ; we wade through 
 the clear stream, arrive on the other side, emerge out of the 
 brake, and the gardens of the Wajiji are around us a per- 
 fect marvel of vegetable wealth. Details escape my hasty 
 and partial observation. I am almost overpowered with 
 my own emotion. I notice the graceful palms, neat plats, 
 green with vegetable plants, and small villages, surrounded 
 with frail fences of the matite cane.
 
 FIRST SIGHT OF TJJIJI. 145 
 
 "We push on rapidly, lest the news of our coming 
 might reach the people of Bunder Ujiji before we 
 come in sight and are ready for them. We halt at a little 
 brook, then ascend the long slope of a naked ridge, the 
 very last of the myriads we have crossed. This alone pre- 
 vents us from seeing the lake in all its vastness. We 
 arrive at the summit, travel across and arrive at its western 
 rim, and pause, reader the port of Ujiji is below us, 
 embowered in the palms, only five hundred yards from us. 
 At this grand moment we do not think of the hundreds of 
 miles we have marched, of the hundreds of hills we have 
 ascended and descended, of the many forests we have 
 traversed, of the jungles and thickets that annoyed us, of 
 the fervid salt plains that blistered our feet, of the hot suns 
 that scorched us, nor the dangers and difficulties now hap- 
 pily surmounted. At last the sublime hour has arrived ! 
 our dreams, our hopes, our anticipations are about to be 
 realized. Our hearts and our feelings are with our eyes, 
 as we peer into the palms and try to make out in which hut 
 or house lives the white man, with the gray beard, we 
 heard about on the Malagarazi. 
 
 " ' Unfurl the flags and load the guns.' 
 
 " ' Ay, Wallah, ay, Wallah, bana !' responded the men, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " ' One two three fire.' 
 
 " A volley from nearly fifty guns roars like a salute from 
 a battery of artillery ; we shall note its effect, presently, on 
 the peaceful-looking village below. 
 
 " ' Xow, Kirangazi, hold the white man's flag up high, and 
 let the Zanzibar flag bring up the rear. And you men keep 
 close together, and keep firing until we halt in the market- 
 place, or before the white man's house. You have said to 
 me often that you could smell the fish of the Tanganika. 
 I can smell the fish of the Tanganika now. Theft are fish, 
 and beer, and a long rest awaiting for you. MARCH !'
 
 146 THE AMERICAN FLAG. 
 
 " Before we had gone one hundred yards our repeated 
 volleys had the desired effect. We had awakened Ujiji to 
 the fact that a caravan was coming, and the people were 
 witnessed rushing up in hundreds to meet us. The mere 
 sight of the flags informed every one immediately that we 
 were a caravan, but the American flag, borne aloft by the 
 gigantic Asmani, whose face was one broad smile on this 
 day, rather staggered them at first. However, many of the 
 people who now approached us remembered the flag. They 
 had seen it float above the American consulate, and from the 
 mast-heads of many a ship in the harbor of Zanzibar, and 
 they were soon heard welcoming the beautiful flag with 
 cries of ' Bindera Kisungu !' a white man's flag ! * Bin- 
 dera Mericani !' the American flag ! 
 
 " Then we were surrounded by them by Wajiji, Wan- 
 yamzi, Wangwana, Warundi, Waguhha, Wamanyuema and 
 Arabs, and were almost deafened with the shout of * Yam- 
 bo, yambo, bona ! Yambo bona, Yambo bona !' To all 
 and each of my men the welcome was given. 
 
 "We were now about three hundred yards from the 
 village of Ujiji, and the crowds are dense about me. Sud- 
 denly I hear a voice on my right say : ' Good morning, 
 sir!' 
 
 " Startled at hearing this greeting in the midst of such a 
 crowd of black people, I turn sharply around in search of 
 the man, and see him at my side with the blackest of faces, 
 but animated and joyous a man dressed in a long white 
 shirt, with a turban of American sheeting around his 
 woolly head, and I ask : ' Who the mischief are you ?' 
 
 " ' I am Susi, the servant of Dr. Livingstone,' said he, 
 smiling and showing a gleaming row of teeth. 
 
 " ' What ! is Dr. Livingstone here?' 
 
 "'Yes, sir.' 
 
 "'In this village?'
 
 LIVINGSTONE'S SERVANTS. 147 
 
 "'Yes, sir.' 
 
 " ' Are you sure ?' 
 
 " ' Sure, sure, sir. Why I just left him.' 
 
 " ' Good-morning, sir/ said another voice. 
 
 " ' Hallo,' said I, ' is this another one ?' 
 
 " ' Yes, sir.' 
 
 " * Well, what is your name ?' 
 
 " ' My name is Chumah, sir.' 
 
 " ' What are you, Churnah, the friend of Wekotani ?' 
 
 "'Yes, sir.' ' 
 
 " ' And is the doctor well ?' 
 
 " ' Not very well, sir.' 
 
 " ' Where has he been so long ?' 
 
 " ' In Manyuema.' 
 
 "'Now you, Susi, run and tell the doctor I am 
 coming.' 
 
 " ' Yes, sir,' and off he darted like a madman. 
 
 " By this time we were within two hundred yards of the 
 village, and the multitude was getting denser, and almost 
 preventing our march. Flags and streamers were out; 
 Arabs and Wangwana were pushing their way through the 
 natives in order to greet us, for according to their account 
 we belonged to them. But the great .wonder of all was, 
 ' How did you come from Unyanyembe ?' 
 
 " Soon Susi came running back and asked me my name; 
 he had told the doctor that I was coming, but the doctor 
 was too surprised to believe him, and when the doctor 
 asked him my name Susi was rather staggered. 
 
 " But during Susi's absence the news had been conveyed 
 to the doctor that it was surely a white man that was 
 coming, whose guns were firing and whose flag could be 
 seen ; and the great Arab magnates of Ujiji Mohammed 
 bin Sali, Sayd bin Majid, Abid bin Suliman, Mohammed 
 bin Gharib and others had gathered together before the
 
 148 "DR. LIVINGSTONE, i PRESUME?" 
 
 doctor's house, and the doctor had come out on his veranda 
 to discuss the matter and await my arrival. 
 
 " In the meantime, the head of the expedition had halted 
 and the Kiraugozi were out of the ranks, holding the flag- 
 aloft, and Selim said to me, 'I see the doctor, sir. Oh, 
 what an old man ! He has got a white beard.' And I 
 what would I not have given for a bit of friendly wilder- 
 ness where, unseen, I might vent my joy in some mad 
 freak, such as idiotically biting my hand, turning a somer- 
 sault, or slashing some trees, in order to allay those exciting 
 feelings that were well-nigh uncontrollable. My heart 
 beats fast, but I must not let my face betray my emotions, 
 lest it shall detract from the dignity of a white man ap- 
 pearing under such extraordinary circumstances. 
 
 " So I did that which I thought was most dignified, I 
 pushed back the crowds, and, passing from the rear, walked 
 down a living avenue of people until I came in front of 
 the semi-circle of Arabs, in front of which stood the white . 
 man with the gray beard. As I advanced slowly toward 
 him I noticed he was pale, looked wearied, had a gray 
 beard, wore a bluish cap with a faded gold band around it, 
 had on a red-sleeved waistcoat and a pair of gray tweed 
 trousers. I would. have run to him, only I was a coward 
 in such a mob would have embraced him, only, he being 
 an Englishman, I did not know how he would receive me; 
 so I did what cowardice and false pride suggested was the 
 be^t thing walked deliberately to him, took off my hat 
 and said, ' Dr. Livingstone, I presume ?' 
 
 " ' Yes,' said he, with a kind smile, lifting his hat slightly. 
 
 " I replace my cap on my head, and he puts on his cap, 
 and we both grasp hands, and then I say aloud : ' I thank 
 God, doctor, I have been permitted to see you.' 
 
 " He answered : ' I feel thankful I am here to welcome 
 you.'
 
 THE MEETING. 151 
 
 " I turned to the Arabs, took off my hat to them in re- 
 sponse to the saluting chorus of ' Yambos.' I receive, and 
 the doctor introduces them to me by name. Then oblivious 
 of the crowds, oblivious of the men who shared with me 
 my dangers, we Livingstone and I turn our faces toward 
 his tembe. He points to the veranda, or rather mud plat- 
 form, under the broad over-hanging eaves ; he points to his 
 own particular seat, which I see his age and experience in 
 Africa have suggested, namely, a straw mat with a goat 
 skin over it, and another skin nailed against the wall to 
 protect his back from contact with the cold mud. I protest 
 against taking this seat, which so much more befits him 
 than me, but the doctor will not yield : I must take it. 
 
 " We are seated the doctor and I with our backs to 
 the wall. The Arabs take seats on our left. More than a 
 thousand natives are in our front, filling the whole square 
 densely, indulging their curiosity and discussing the fact 
 of two white men meeting at Ujiji one just come from 
 Manyuema, in the west, the other from Unyanyembe, in 
 the east. 
 
 " Conversation began. What about ? I declare I have 
 forgotten. Oh ! we mutually asked questions of one another, 
 such as : 'How did you come here ?' and ' Where have you 
 been all this long time ? the world has believed you to be 
 dead.' Yes, that was the way it began ; but whatever the 
 doctor informed me, and that which I communicated to him, 
 I cannot exactly report, for I found myself gazing at him, 
 conning the wonderful man, at whose side I now sat in 
 Central Africa. Every hair of his head and beard, every 
 wrinkle of his face, the wanness of his features, and the 
 slightly wearied look he wore, were all imparting intelli- 
 gence to me the knowledge I craved for so much ever 
 since I heard the words, ' Take what you want, but find 
 Livingstone.' What I saw was deeply interesting intelli-
 
 152 LIVINGSTONE'S LETTER-BAG. 
 
 gence to me, and unvarnished truths I was listening and 
 reading at the same time. What did these dumb witnesses 
 relate to me ? 
 
 "Oh, reader, had you been at my side that day at Ujiji, 
 how eloquently could be told the nature of this man's 
 work ! Had you been there but to see and hear ! His lips 
 gave me the details ; lips that never lie. I cannot repeat 
 what he said; I was too much engrossed to take my note- 
 book out and begin to stenograph his story. He had so 
 much to say that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious 
 of the fact that five or six years had to be accounted for. 
 But his account was oozing out ; it was growing fast into 
 grand proportions into a most marvelous history of deeds. 
 
 " The Arabs rose up with a delicacy I approved, as if 
 they intuitively knew that we ought to be left to ourselves. 
 I sent Bombay with them to give them the news they also 
 wanted so much to know about the affairs at Unyanyembe. 
 Sayd bin Majid was the father of the gallant young man 
 whom I saw at Masange, and who fought with me at Zim- 
 bizo, and who soon afterwards was killed by Mirambo's 
 Ruga Buga in the forest of Wilyankuru ; and knowing 
 I had been there, he earnestly desired to hear the tale of 
 the fight ; but they had all friends at Unyanyembe, and it 
 was but natural that they should be anxious to hear of 
 what concerned them. 
 
 "After giving orders to Bombay and Asm.ani for the 
 provisioning of the men of the expedition, I called ' Kaif- 
 Halek,' or * how do ye do,' and introduced him to Dr. Liv- 
 ingstone as one of the soldiers in charge of certain goods 
 left at Unyauyembe, whom I had compelled to accompany 
 me to Ujiji that he might deliver, in person, to his master 
 the letter-bag he had been intrusted with by Dr., Kirk. 
 
 "This was the famous letter-bag marked 'Nov. 1st, 
 1870,' which was now delivered into the doctor's hands,
 
 A BUDGET OF NEWS. 153 
 
 three hundred and sixty-five days after it left Zanzibar! 
 How long, I wonder, had it remained at Unyanyembe, had 
 I not been dispatched into Central Africa in search of the 
 great traveler? 
 
 " The doctor kept the letter-bag on his knee, then, pres- 
 ently, opened it, looked at the letters contained there and 
 read one or two of his children's letters, his face, in the 
 meanwhile, lighting up. 
 
 "He asked me to tell him the news. 'No, doctor/ said 
 I, ' read your letters first, which, I am sure, you must be 
 impatient to read.' 
 
 "'Ah,' said he, 'I have waited years for letters, and I 
 have been taught patience. I can surely afford to wait a 
 few hours longer. No ; tell me the general news ; how is 
 the world getting along ?' 
 
 "'You probably know much already. Do you know 
 that the Suez Canal is a fact is opened and a regular trade 
 carried on between Europe and India through it ?' 
 
 " ' I did not hear about the opening of it. Well, that is 
 grand news ! What else ?' 
 
 " Shortly I found myself enacting the part of an annual 
 periodical to him. There was no need of exaggeration 
 of any penny-a-line news, or of any sensationalism. The 
 world had witnessed and experienced much the last few 
 years. The Pacific Railroad had been completed ; Grant 
 had been elected President of the United States ; Egypt 
 had been flooded with savans; the Cretan rebellion had 
 terminated; a Spanish revolution had driven Isabella 
 from the throne of Spain, and a regent had been ap- 
 pointed; General Prim was assassinated; a Castelar had 
 electrified Europe with his advanced ideas upon the liberty 
 of worship ; Prussia had humbled Denmark and annexed 
 Schleswig-Holstein, and her armies were now around 
 Paris ; the ' Man of Destiny' was a prisoner at Wilhelms-
 
 154 BRINGING NEW LIFE. 
 
 hohe; the queen of fashion and the empress of the 
 French was a fugitive ; and the child born in the purple 
 had lost forever the imperial crown intended for its head ; 
 the Napoleon dynasty was extinguished by the Prussians, 
 Bismarck and Von Moltke, and France, the proud empire, 
 was humbled to the dust. 
 
 " What could a man have exaggerated of these facts ? 
 What a budget of news it was to one who had emerged 
 from the depths of the primeval forests of Manyuema! 
 The reflection of the dazzling light of civilization was cast 
 on him while Livingstone was thus listening in wonder to 
 one of the most exciting passages of history ever repeated. 
 How the puny deeds of barbarism paled before these! 
 Who could tell under what new phases of uneasy life 
 Europe was laboring even then, while we two of her lonely 
 children rehearsed the tale of her late woes and glories ? 
 More worthily, perhaps, had the tongue of a lyric De- 
 modocus recounted them; but in the absence of the poet, 
 the newspaper correspondent performed his part as well 
 and truthfully as he could. 
 
 " Not long after the Arabs had departed, a dishful of hot 
 hashed-meat cakes was sent to us by Sayd bin Majid, and 
 a curried chicken was received from Mohammed bin Sali, 
 and Moeni Kheri sent a dishful of stewed goat meat and 
 rice ; and thus presents of food came in succession, and as 
 fast as they were brought we set to. I had a healthy, 
 stubborn digestion, the exercise I had taken had put it in 
 prime order, but Livingstone he had been complaining 
 that he had no appetite, that his stomach refused every- 
 thing but a cup of tea now and then he ate also ate like 
 a vigorous, hungry man ; and as he vied with me in 
 demolishing the pancakes, he kept repeating, ' You have 
 brought me new life.' 
 
 " * Oh, by George,' I said, ' I have forgotten something.
 
 DR. DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
 
 THE COOK'S EXCITEMENT. 157 
 
 Hasten, Selim, and bring that bottle ; you know which ; 
 and bring me the silver goblets. I brought this bottle on 
 purpose for this event, which I hoped would come to pass, 
 though often it seemed useless to expect it.' 
 
 " Selim knew where the bottle was, and he soon returned 
 with it a bottle of Sillery champagne ; and, handing the 
 doctor a silver goblet brimful of the exhilarating wine, 
 and pouring a small quantity into my own, I said : ' Dr. 
 Livingstone, to your very good health, sir.' 
 
 " ' And to yours/ he responded. 
 
 "And the champagne I had treasured for this happy 
 meeting was drank with hearty good wishes to each other. 
 
 " But we kept on talking and talking, and prepared food 
 was brought to us all that afternoon, and we kept on eating 
 every time it was brought until I had eaten even to reple- 
 tion, and the doctor was obliged to confess that he had 
 eaten enough. Still, Halimah, the female cook of the doc- 
 tor's establishment, was in a state of the greatest excite- 
 ment. She had been protruding her head out of the cook- 
 house, to make sure that there were really two white men 
 sitting down in the veranda, when there used to be only 
 one, who would not, because he could not, eat anything ; 
 and she had been considerably exercised in her mind over 
 this fact. She was afraid the doctor did not properly 
 appreciate her culinary abilities ; but now she was amazed 
 at the extraordinary quantity of food eaten, and she was in 
 a state of delightful excitement. We could hear her tongue 
 rolling off a tremendous volume of clatter to the wonder- 
 ing crowds who halted before the kitchen to hear the cur- 
 rent of news with which she edified them. Poor, faithful 
 soul. "While we listen to the noise of her furious gossip, 
 the doctor related her faithful services and the terrible 
 anxiety she evinced when the guns first announced the 
 arrival of another white man in Ujiji ; how she had been
 
 158 LIVINGSTONE'S DEPLORABLE CONDITION. 
 
 flying about in a state of the utmost excitement, from the 
 kitchen into his presence, and out again into the square, 
 asking all sorts of questions ; how she was in despair at the 
 scantiness of the general larder and treasury of the strange 
 household; how she was anxious to make up for their 
 poverty by a grand appearance to make up a sort of Bar- 
 mecide feast to welcome the white man. 
 
 " ' Why,' said she, ' is he not one of us ? Does he not 
 bring plenty of cloth and beads ? Talk about the Arabs ! 
 Who are they, that they should be compared to white men ? 
 Arabs, indeed !' 
 
 "The doctor and I conversed upon many things, 
 especially upon his own immediate troubles, and his dis- 
 appointment upon his arrival at Ujiji when told that all 
 his* goods had been sold, and he was reduced to poverty. 
 He had but twenty cloths or so left of the stock he had 
 deposited with the man called sheriff, the half-caste, 
 drunken tailor, who was sent by the British consul in 
 charge of the goods. Besides which he had been suffering 
 from an attack of the dysentery, and his condition was 
 most deplorable. He was but little improved on this day, 
 though he had eaten well, and already began to feel stronger 
 and better. 
 
 " This day, like all others, though big with happiness to 
 me, at last, was fading away. We, sitting with our faces 
 looking to the east, as Livingstone had been sitting for 
 days preceding my arrival, noted the dark shadow which 
 crept up above the grove of palms beyond the village, and 
 above the rampart of mountains which we had crossed that 
 day, now looming through the fast-approaching darkness ; 
 and we listened, with our hearts full of gratitude to the 
 great Giver of Good and Dispenser of all Happiness to the 
 sonorous thunder of the surf of the Tanganika, and to the 
 chorus which the night insects sang. Hours passed, and we
 
 THE DREAM REALIZED. 159 
 
 were still sitting there with our minds busy upon the day's 
 remarkable events, when I remembered that the traveler 
 had not yet read his letters. 
 
 " ' Doctor,' I said, ' you had better read your letters. I 
 will not keep you up any longer.' 
 
 " ' Yes,' he answered, ' it is getting late, and I will go 
 and read my friends' letters. Good-night, and God bless 
 you.' 
 
 " ' Good-night, my dear doctor, and let me hope your 
 news will be such as you desire.' ' : 
 
 Since the creation of the world there never has occurred 
 such another interview. The feelings of Stanley that night, 
 in the heart of Africa, can only be imagined. The strain 
 had ended, the doubt and suspense was over he had found 
 Livingstone he had succeeded his most extravagant 
 dreams had been realized his wildest ambition satisfied, 
 and from that hour the adventurer, the newspaper cor- 
 respondent, took his place among the great explorers of 
 the world. But it was no stroke of luck it was the fitting 
 reward of great risks and great endeavor.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 REST AT ujiJi STANLEY'S LOVE FOB LIVINGSTONE THE BEST EULOGIUM ON HIS OWN CHARACTER 
 
 THE NIGHT THE MORNING INTERVIEW LIFE WITH LIVINGSTONE SURVEY THE TANGANIKA 
 TOGETHER LIVINGSTONE ACCOMPANIES STANLEY TO UNYANYEMBE THE LONG MARCH LIFE 
 IN THE PLACE PREPARATIONS FOR PARTING THE LAST BREAKFAST THE LAST SAD FARE- 
 WELL STANLEY'S HOMEWARD MARCH ITS PERILS INUNDATIONS MAKATA SWAMP TERRI- 
 BLE MARCHING STANLEY SENDS OFF FOR RELIEF ITS ARRIVAL BAGOMAYO REACHED AT 
 
 LAST NOISY ENTRANCE STANLEY'S JOY IT is SUDDENLY DASHED CRUEL CONDUCT OF THE 
 
 PRESS START FOR HOME. 
 
 r MHS rest and repose that Stanley now enjoyed cannot 
 -1* be described nor even imagined. His long strug- 
 gle his doubts, and fears, and painful anxiety were over, 
 and the end toward which he had strained with such un- 
 flagging resolution, under the most disheartening circum- 
 stances, and which at times seemed to recede the mbre he 
 pressed forward, was at last reached. The sweet repose, the 
 calm satisfaction and enjoyment which always come with 
 the consciousness of complete success, now filled his heart, 
 and he felt as no one can feel who has not at last won a long 
 and doubtful battle. It was complete rest entire fruition 
 of his hopes ; and, as he sat down there, in the heart of 
 Africa, beside Livingstone, he was, doubtless, for at least 
 the first few days, the happiest man on the globe, and well 
 deserved to be. The goal was won, the prize secured, and 
 for the time being his utmost desires satisfied and why 
 should he not be happy ? 
 
 His intercourse with Livingstone for the next four 
 months will be marked by him with a white stone, as the 
 brightest portion of his eventful life. Independent of all 
 he had undergone to find this remarkable man, the man 
 
 160
 
 STANLEYS LOVE FOR LIVINGSTONE. 1G1 
 
 himself enlisted all his sympathies and awakened his most 
 extravagant admiration and purest love, and a more charm- 
 ing picture can hardly be conceived than these two men, 
 walking at sunset along the beach of the wild and lonely 
 lake of Tanganika, talking over the strange scenes and 
 objects of this strange, new world, or recalling those of 
 home and friends far away, amid all the comforts and 
 luxuries of civilization The man whom Stanley had at 
 last found was almost as new and startling a revelation to 
 him as the country in which he now found himself. Sim- 
 ple, earnest, unselfish nay, unambitious, so far as per- 
 sonal fame was concerned, borne up in all his sufferings 
 and trials by one great and noble purpose, and conquering 
 even savage hate by the power of goodness alone, he was 
 an object of the profoundest interest. And no greater 
 eulogium on the innate goodness and nobleness of Stan- 
 ley's nature could be given than he unconsciously bestowed 
 on himself by the deep attachment, nay, almost devotion, 
 he expresses for this lonely, quiet, good man. He fastens 
 to him at once, and casting off old prejudices and rejecting 
 all former criticisms of his character, he impulsively be- 
 comes his champion, and crowns him the prince of men. 
 
 The talk between them, at this first meeting in this far-off 
 land, was long and pleasant, and when the good-night was 
 given, it was with strange feelings Stanley turned into his 
 not tent but regular bed. After all the toils and 
 almost unnatural excitement of the day, he soon sank into 
 profound slumber. The next morning he awoke with a 
 sudden start, and looked about him for a moment in a 
 dazed way. He was not on the ground, but in a bed a 
 roof, not a tent, was above him, while not a sound broke 
 the stillness save the steady, monotonous roar of the surf 
 beating on the shore. As he lay and listened, strange 
 thoughts and varied emotions chased each other in rapid
 
 162 LIVINGSTONE ASTONISHED. 
 
 succession through his heart. At length he arose and 
 dressed himself, intending, before breakfast, to take a stroll 
 along the shore of the lake. But the doctor was up before 
 him, and met him with a cordial " Good-morning," and 
 the hope that he had rested well. 
 
 Livingstone had sat up late reading the news that Stan- 
 ley had brought him from the outside world, from which 
 he had heard nothing for years. 
 
 " Sit down," said the venerable man, " you have brought 
 me good and bad news," and then repeated, first of all, the 
 tidings he had received from his children. 
 
 In the excitement of the day before, the doctor had for- 
 gotten to inquire of Stanley the object of his coming, or 
 where he was going, and the latter now said : " Doctor, 
 you are probably wondering why I came here." 
 
 " It is true," was the reply, " I have been wondering." 
 
 That wonder was increased when Stanley said : " I came 
 after you, nothing else." 
 
 " After me !" exclaimed the now utterly bewildered man. 
 
 " Yes," said Stanley, " after you. I suppose you have 
 heard of the New York Herald?" 
 
 " Yes," said the doctor. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Bennett, son of the proprietor, sent me, at 
 his own expense, to find you." 
 
 Poor Livingstone could hardly comprehend the fact that 
 an American, and a stranger, should expend $25,000 to 
 find him, a solitary Englishman. 
 
 Stanley lived now some four months in the closest inti- 
 macy with Livingstone. Removed from all the formalities 
 of civilized life the only two in that far-off* land who 
 could speak the English language, and who were of the 
 same lineage and faith their relations of necessity became 
 very intimate. All restraint was thrown off, and this noble 
 man poured into the astonished ears of Stanley all he had
 
 SURVEYING TANGANIKA LAKE. 165 
 
 thought, prayed for, endured and suffered for the last long 
 five years. It was a new revelation to him opened up a 
 new world gave him a new and loftier conception than 
 ever before of what human nature is capable of attaining 
 to, and he says : " I had gone over battle-fields, witnessed 
 revolutions, civil wars, rebellions, emeutes and massacres ; 
 stood close to the condemned murderer, to record his last 
 struggles and last sighs ; but never had I been called to 
 record anything that moved me so much as this man's 
 woes and sufferings, his privations and disappointments, 
 which were now poured into my ear. Verily did I begin 
 to believe that ' the gods above us do with just eyes survey 
 the affairs of men.' I began to recognize the hand of an 
 overruling Providence." 
 
 After resting for a week, during which time Stanley be- 
 came thoroughly acquainted with Livingstone and learned 
 to respect and love him more and more, the former asked 
 the doctor if he would not like to explore the north end of 
 the Tanganika Lake and, among other things, settle the 
 question whether the Kusizi River flowed into or out of the 
 lake. The doctor gladly consented, and they set off in a 
 canoe manned by sixteen rowers. The weather was fine, 
 the scenery charming, and it seemed like floating through 
 a fairy-land. Day after day they kept on landing at 
 night on the picturesque shores, undisturbed, except in one 
 or two instances, by the natives. The luxuriant banks 
 were lined with villages, filled with an indolent, contented 
 people. With no wants, except food to eat, and the lake 
 full of fish, they had nothing to stimulate them to activity 
 or effort of any kind. 
 
 Islands came and went, mountains rose and faded on the 
 horizon, and it was one long holiday to our two explorers. 
 As the rowers bent steadily to their oars and the canoe 
 glided softly through the rippling waters, they spent the
 
 166 A LONG MARCH. 
 
 time in admiring the beautiful scenery that kept changing 
 like a kaleidoscope, or talking of home and friends and the 
 hopes and prospects of the future. A hippopotamus would 
 now and then startle them by his loud snort, as he sud- 
 denly lifted his head near the boat to breathe wild fowl 
 skittered away as they approached a sweet fragrance came 
 down from the hill-sides, and the tropical sky bent soft and 
 blue above them. The conventionalities of life were far 
 away and all was calm and peaceful, and seemed to Stanley 
 more like a dream than a reality. They were thus voy- 
 aging along the coast twenty-eight days, during which time 
 they had traversed over three hundred miles of water. 
 
 But now the time came for Stanley to turn his footsteps 
 homeward. He tried in vain to prevail on Livingstone to 
 go home with him, but the latter, though anxious to see 
 his children, resolutely refused, saying that he must finish 
 his work. He, however, concluded to accompany him as 
 far as Unyanyembe, to meet his stores which had been for- 
 warded to that place for him from Zanzibar. On the 27th 
 of December, they set out by a new route. Nothing oc- 
 curred in the long journey of special interest, except the 
 shooting of a zebra and buffalo, or meeting a herd of ele- 
 phants or giraffes, or a lion. It was a tedious and toilsome 
 journey, during which Stanley suffered from attacks of 
 fever, and Livingstone from lacerated feet. They were 
 fifty-three days on the march, but at last Unyanyembe 
 was reached. Stanley once more took possession of his old 
 quarters. Here both found letters and papers from home, 
 brought by a recent caravan, and once more seemed put in 
 communication with the outside world. Being well housed 
 and provided with everything they needed, they felt thor- 
 oughly comfortable. 
 
 The doctor's boxes were first broken open, and between 
 the number of poor articles they contained and the absence
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR PARTING. 167 
 
 of good ones which had been abstracted on the -way, proved 
 something of a disappointment. Stanley then overhauled 
 his own stores, of which there were seventy-four loads, the 
 most valuable of which he intended to turn over to Living- 
 stone. These, also, had been tampered with ; still many 
 luxuries remained, and they determined to have their 
 Christmas dinner over again. Stanley arranged the bill 
 of fare, and it turned out to be a grand affair. But now 
 he saw that he must begin to prepare for his return to the 
 coast, and so left Livingstone to write up his journal and 
 finish the letters he was to send home. In overhauling 
 his stores and making up the packages he should need on 
 his return route, he was able to select out and turn over to 
 the doctor two thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight 
 yards of cloth, nine hundred and ninety-two pounds of 
 assorted beads, three hundred and fifty pounds of brass 
 wire, besides bed, canvas boat, carpenters' tools, rifles, 
 revolvers, ammunition, cooking utensils and various other 
 articles of use making in all about forty loads ; which, 
 with his own stores, made Livingstone quite a rich man 
 for Central Africa in fact, he had four years' supplies. 
 
 At length the letters were all written, the loads strapped, 
 and the next day fixed for Stanley to turn his face home- 
 ward and Livingstone his to the heart of Africa. At night 
 the natives gave a great dance as a farewell compliment, 
 and a wild, weird dance it was. Bombay wore a water- 
 bucket on his head, while each carried or wore something 
 grotesque or dangerous. The first was a war dance, and 
 when it ended, a second and different one was started, 
 accompanied by a chorus or song chanted in a slow, 
 mournful tone, of which the burden was " Oh-oh-oh, the 
 white man is going home." 
 
 That night as Stanley lay and pondered on the morrow, 
 when he should see the "good man" for the last time, he
 
 168 THE LAST FAREWELL. 
 
 was filled with the keenest sorrow. He had grown to love 
 him like a son ; and to see him turn back alone to the 
 savage life he must encounter in his great work, seemed 
 like giving him over to death. 
 
 . It was a sad breakfast the two sat down to next morning. 
 But it was over at last and the parting hour came. 
 
 "Doctor," said Stanley, " I will leave two men with you 
 for a couple of days, lest you may have forgotten some- 
 thing, and will wait for them at Tura ; and now we must 
 part there is no help for it good-bye." 
 
 "Oh," replied Livingstone, "I am coming with you a 
 little way ; I must see you off on the road ;" and the two 
 walked on side by side, their hearts burdened with grief. 
 
 At last Stanley said : " Now, my dear doctor, the best 
 friends must part, you have come far enough, let me beg 
 of you to turn back." 
 
 Livingstone stopped and, seizing Stanley's hand, said : 
 "I am grateful to you for what you have done for me. 
 God guide you safe home and bless you, my friend." 
 
 "And may God bring you safe back to us all, my 
 friend," replied Stanley, with a voice choked with emotion. 
 "Farewell" 
 
 They wrung each other's hands in silence for a minute, 
 and then Stanley turned away to hide his tears, murmur- 
 ing : " Good-bye, doctor ; dear friend, good-bye." 
 
 He would not have been the man he is, not to have been 
 overcome at this parting ; alas, to be, as it proved, an eter- 
 nal parting, so far as meeting again in this life. But this 
 was not all the doctor's faithful servants would not be 
 forgotten, and, rushing forward, seized Stanley's hands and 
 kissed them for their good master's sake. The stern and 
 almost tyrannical man, that neither danger nor suffering 
 could move, completely broke down under this last demon- 
 stration, and could recover himself only by giving the
 
 HOMEWARD MARCH. 
 
 sharp order, MARCH ! and he almost drove his men before 
 him, and soon a turn in the path shut out Livingstone's 
 form forever. Yes, forever, so far as the living, speaking, 
 man is concerned, but shut out never from Stanley's life. 
 That one man fixed his destiny for this world, and who 
 knows but for the eternal ages. No wonder he said, long 
 after, "My eyes grow dim at the remembrance of that 
 parting. For four months and four days," he says, "I 
 lived with him in the same house, or in the same boat, or in 
 the same tent, and I never found a fault in him. I am a 
 man of a quick temper, and often without sufficient cause, 
 I dare say, have broken ties of friendship ; but with Liv- 
 ingstone I never had cause of resentment, but each day's 
 life with him added to my admiration of him." Thus 
 closed the first volume of the book of Stanley's life. 
 
 The caravan marched wearily back, meeting with 
 nothing eventful till it entered the Ugogo territory, where, 
 owing to a misunderstanding on the part of the natives, 
 who got it into their heads that Stanley meant to pass them, 
 without paying the accustomed tribute, a fight seemed in- 
 evitable. Had it occurred, it is doubtful whether he or 
 Livingstone's papers would ever have been heard of again. 
 But Stanley had seemed from his infancy a child of destiny, 
 and escaped here, as everywhere, by the skin of his teeth* 
 It was a constant succession of toilsome, painful marches, 
 even when the natives were friendly, while there was often 
 a scarcity of provisions. To secure these he, at last, when 
 on the borders of the wilderness of Marenga Mkali, dis- 
 patched three men to Zanzibar, with a request to the consul 
 there to send them back with provisions. These messengers 
 were told not to halt for anything rain, rivers or inunda- 
 tions but push right on. " Then," says Stanley, " with a 
 loud, vigorous hurrah, we plunged into the depths of the 
 wilderness which, with its eternal silence and solitude, was
 
 170 THE DREADED MAKATA SWAMP. 
 
 far preferable to the jarring, inharmonious discord of the 
 villages of the Wagogo. For nine hours we held on our 
 way, starting with noisy shouts the fierce rhinoceros, the 
 timid quagga and the herds of antelopes, which crowd the 
 jungles of this broad Salina. On the 7th, amid a pelting 
 rain, we entered Mpwapwa, where my Scotch assistant, 
 Farquhar, had died." 
 
 In twenty-nine days they had now marched three hundred 
 and thirty-eight miles. Twelve miles a day, including stop- 
 pages and delays, was, in such a country, rapid marching 
 nay, almost unparalleled ; but Stanley had turned his face 
 homeward and could stand no African dilly-dallying on 
 the way. We cannot go into the details of this homeward 
 march to-day startled by a thousand warriors, streaming 
 along on the war-path to-morrow on the brink of a col- 
 lision with the natives, the end of which no one could 
 foresee the caravan pressed on until they came to the 
 neighborhood of the terrible Makata swamps, that Stanley 
 had occasion so well to remember. Heavy rains had set 
 in, swelling all the streams and inundating the plains, so 
 that the marching was floundering through interminable 
 stretches of water. Now swimming turbulent rivers now 
 camping in the midst cf pestiferous swamps, and all the 
 time drenched by the rain, that fell in torrents they strug- 
 gled on until, at last, they came to the dreaded Makata 
 swamp. The sight that now met them was appalling, but 
 there was no retreat, and for long hours they toiled slowly 
 through it sometimes up to their necks in water, some- 
 times swimming^ and where it was shallow sinking in deep 
 mire. They thus fought their way on, and at last, weary, 
 worn and half-starved, came to the Makata Eiver. But no 
 sooner were they over this, than a lake, six miles wide, 
 stretched before them. The natives warned him against 
 attempting to cross it ; but nothing could stop him now,
 
 TERRIBLE MARCHING. 171 
 
 and they all plunged in. He says : " We were soon up to 
 our armpits, then the water shallowed to the knee, then we 
 stepped up to the neck and waded on tiptoe, until we were 
 halted on the edge of the Little Makata, which raced along 
 at the rate of eight knots an hour." Fierce and rapid as it 
 was, there was no course left but to swim it, and swim it 
 they did. For a whole week they had been wading and 
 swimming and floundering through water, till it seemed 
 impossible that any one could survive such exposure, but, 
 at last, came to dry ground, and to the famous walled city 
 of the Sultana Limbomwenni, which we described in his 
 upward journey. But the heavy rains that had inundated 
 the whole country, had so swollen the river, near the banks 
 on which it was situate, that the water had carried away 
 the entire front wall of the town, and fifty houses with it. 
 The sultana had fled and her stronghold had disappeared. 
 All along the route was seen the devastating power of the 
 flood as it swept over the country, carrying away one hun- 
 dred villages in its course. The fields were covered with 
 debris of sand and mud, and what was a paradise when he 
 went in was now a desert. With the subsidence of the 
 water the atmosphere became impregnated with miasma, 
 and the whole land seemed filled with snakes, scorpions, 
 iguanas and ants, while clouds of mosquitoes darkened the 
 air till life became almost intolerable. At last, on May 2d, 
 after forty-seven days of incessant marching, and almost con- 
 tinual suffering, they reached Rosako, where, a few minutes 
 after, the three men he had sent forward arrived, bringing 
 with them a few boxes of jam, two of Boston crackers, and 
 some bottles of champagne ; and most welcome they were 
 after the terrible journey through the Makata Valley. The 
 last great obstacle (a ferry of four miles across a watery 
 plain) being surmounted, the caravan approached Bago- 
 mayo, and in their jubilant excitement announced its ar-
 
 172 A CKUEL BLOW. 
 
 rival by the firing of guns and blowing of horns, and with 
 shouting hurrahs till they were hoarse. The sun was just 
 sinking behind the distant forests, from which they had 
 emerged and which were filled with such terrible associa- 
 tions, when they entered the town, and sniffed with delight 
 the fresh sea-breeze that came softly stealing inland. The 
 putrid air of the swamps, the poisonous miasma that en- 
 veloped the entire country, were left far behind with want 
 and famine, and no wonder the heart was elated and their 
 bounding joy found expression in exultant shouts. 
 
 Happy in having once more reached civilization. 
 Happy in the thought of his triumphant success; and 
 still more happy in the joy that he believed the good 
 news he brought would give to others, Stanley's heart was 
 overflowing with kindness to all, and the world seemed 
 bright to him. But, in a moment it was all dashed on 
 opening the papers at Zanzibar. Scarcely one had a kind 
 word for him ; on the contrary, he found nothing but 
 suspicion, jealousy and detraction, and even charges of 
 fabricating the whole story of having found Livingstone. 
 He was stunned at this undeserved cruel reception of his 
 declaration, and the faith in the goodness of human nature, 
 with which Livingstone had inspired him, seemed about to 
 give way before this evidence of its meanness and little- 
 ness. He could not comprehend how his simple, truthful, 
 unostentatious story could awaken such unkind feelings, 
 such baseless slanders. It was a cruel blow to receive, 
 after all that he had endured and suffered. No wonder 
 he wrote bitter words of the kid-glove geographers, who 
 criticized him, and the press that jeered at him. But he 
 has had his revenge for he has triumphed over them all. 
 
 He now set to work to organize a caravan to send off 
 to Livingstone the things he had promised, and then 
 started for home. Before he left, however, he saw the
 
 CAMERON'S EXPEDITION. 173 
 
 leaders of the new expedition that had reached Zanzibar to 
 go in search of Livingstone. How his arrival broke it up, 
 and its reorganization under Cameron was effected, will be 
 found related in the account given of this explorer in 
 another portion of the volume.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE EXPEDITION OF THE KHEDIVE OP EGYPT TO SFPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE STR SAMUEL \T. 
 BAKER PLACED AT THE HEAD OF IT EXTENT OF THE SLAVE TKADE OUTFIT OF THE EXPEDI- 
 TION PREPARATIONS ON A GRAND SCALE THE ARMY THE RENDEZVOUS AT KHARTOUM- 
 FAILURE ON THE PART OF THE KHEDIVE THE EXPEDITON STARTS OBSTACLES MET CUTTING 
 CHANNELS FOR THE FLEET SLOW, TOILSOME WORK A HIPPOPOTAMUS CHARGES THE VESSEL 
 MEN BECOME SICK BAKER SHOOTS A HIPPOPOTAMUS A CROCODILE KILLED THE EXPEDITION 
 PERMANENTLY STOPPED DISCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER had been distinguished 
 for his explorations in Central Africa; and his repre- 
 sentations of the evil effects produced by the slave trade on 
 a country rich in soil and well peopled induced the khedive 
 of Egypt to fit out an expedition to put a stop to this ne- 
 farious business and give protection to the inhabitants, 
 whom he claimed to be his subjects, from the ravages of 
 slave-traders. Companies of brigands had been formed 
 that absolutely depopulated the country by driving away 
 those they did not enslave. One of these traders had 
 twenty-five thousand Arabs under pay, engaged in this 
 inhuman traffic. And it was estimated that fifteen thou- 
 sand of the khedive's subjects were engaged in this busi- 
 ness. Each trader occupied a special district, and with his 
 band of armed men kept the population in submission. It 
 was estimated that fifty thousand negroes were annually 
 captured by these land pirates. The khedive determined to 
 put a stop to this, and organized an expedition for that 
 purpose and put Mr. Baker at the head of it with supreme 
 power, even that over life and death. Although this was 
 more than a year before Stanley started after Livingstone, 
 he had talked with Baker respecting the route he intended 
 
 174
 
 SIR SAMUEL BAKER'S EXPEDITION. 17-3 
 
 to take, and it was thought likely that if Livingstone was 
 alive he might be working his way to the Nile, and hence 
 be met by him and relieved. 
 
 The force placed under him was to be composed of one 
 thousand four hundred infantry and two batteries of artil- 
 lery, with which he was to march one thousand four hundred 
 and fifty miles to Gondokoro and annex the country. 
 
 He knew that there would be more or less fighting-, for 
 Soudan, the home of the slave-trader, would be wholly op- 
 posed to the attempt to break up their business. The or- 
 ganization of the expedition was as follows : 
 
 The English party consisted of himself and wife, Lieu- 
 tenant Julian Alleyn Baker, K. N. ; Mr. Edwin Higgin- 
 botham, civil engineer ; Mr. Wood, secretary ; Dr. Joseph 
 Gedge, physician ; Mr. Marcopolo, chief storekeeper and 
 interpreter ; Mr. Me William, chief engineer of steamers ; 
 Mr. Jarvis, chief shipwright, together with three others, 
 and two servants. He laid in stores sufficient to last the 
 European party four years, and provided four galvanized 
 iron magazines, each eighty feet long by twenty in width, 
 to protect all material. He personally selected every 
 article that was necessary for the expedition, at an expen- 
 diture of about $45,000. This included an admirable 
 selection of Manchester goods, such as cotton sheeting, 
 gray calico, cotton, and also woolen blankets, white, scarlet 
 and blue ; Indian scarfs, red and yellow ; handkerchiefs 
 of gaudy colors, chintz printed; scarlet flannel shirts, 
 serge of cplors (blue, red), linen trousers, etc., etc. 
 Tools of all sorts axes, small hatchets, harness bells, 
 brass rods, copper rods, combs, zinc mirrors, knives, 
 crockery, tin plates, fish-hooks, musical boxes, colored 
 prints, finger-rings, razors, tinned spoons, cheap watches, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 He thus had sufficient clothing for a considerable body
 
 17G ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRANSPORT. 
 
 of troops, if necessary, while the magazines coula produce 
 anything from a needle to a crowbar or from a handker- 
 chief to a boat's sail. It will be seen hereafter that these 
 careful preparations secured the success of the expedition, 
 as the troops when left without pay could procure all they 
 required from the apparently inexhaustible stores of the 
 magazines. 
 
 In addition to the merchandise and general supplies, he 
 had several large musical boxes with bells and drums, an 
 excellent magic lantern, a magnetic battery, wheels of life, 
 and an assortment of toys. The greatest wonder to the 
 natives were two large girandoles ; also the silvered balls, 
 about six inches in diameter, that, suspended from the 
 branches of a tree, reflected the scene beneath. 
 
 " In every expedition," he says, " the principal difficulty 
 is the transport. 
 
 " ' Travel light, if possible,' is the best advice for all 
 countries ; but in this instance it was simply impossible, 
 as the object of the expedition was not only to convey 
 steamers to Central Africa, but to establish legitimate 
 trade in the place of the nefarious system of pillage 
 hitherto adopted by'the so-called White Kile traders. It 
 was therefore absolutely necessary to possess a large stock 
 of goods of all kinds, in addition to the machinery and 
 steel sections of steamers. 
 
 " I arranged that the expedition should start in three 
 divisions. 
 
 "Six steamers, varying from forty to eighty horse-power, 
 were ordered to leave Cairo in June, together with fifteen 
 sloops and fifteen diahbeeahs total, thirty-six vessels to 
 ascend the cataracts of the Nile to Khartoum, a distance, 
 by river, of about one thousand four hundred and fifty 
 miles. These vessels were to convey the whole of the mer- 
 chandise.
 
 BAKEE'S MILITARY FORCE. 177 
 
 " Twenty-five vessels were ordered to be in readiness at 
 Khartoum, together with three steamers. The governor- 
 general (Djiaffer Pasha), was to provide these vessels by a 
 certain date, together with the camels and horses necessary 
 for the land transport. 
 
 " Thus, when the fleet should arrive at Khartoum from 
 Cairo, the total force of vessels would be, nine steamers 
 and fifty-five sailing vessels, the latter averaging about 
 fifty tons each. 
 
 " I arranged to bring up the rear by another route, via. 
 Bonakim, on the Red Sea, from which the desert journey 
 to Berber, on the Nile, north latitude 17, 37', is two hun- 
 dred and seventy-five statute miles. 
 
 " My reason for this division of routes was to insure a 
 quick supply of camels, as much delay would have been 
 occasioned had the great mass of transport been conveyed 
 by one road. 
 
 " The military arrangements comprised a force of one 
 thousand six hundred and forty-five troops, including a 
 corps of two hundred irregular cavalry and two batteries 
 of artillery. The infantry were two regiments supposed 
 to be well selected. The black, or Soudani, regiment in- 
 cluded many officers and men who had served for some 
 years in Mexico with the French army, under Marshal 
 Bazaine. The Egyptian regiment turned out to be, for the 
 most part, convicted felons, who had been transported for 
 various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan. 
 
 " The artillery were rifled mountain-guns of bronze, the 
 barrel weighing two hundred and thirty pounds and throw- 
 ing shells of eight and a quarter pounds. The authorities 
 at Woolwich had kindly supplied the expedition with two 
 hundred Hale's rockets three pounders and fifty Snider 
 rifles, together with fifty thousand rounds of Snider 
 ammunition. The military force and supplies were to
 
 178 THE FLEET DELAYED. 
 
 be massed in Khartoum ready to meet me upon my 
 arrival. 
 
 "A train of forty-one railway wagons laden with sections 
 of steamers, machinery, boiler sections, etc., etc., arrived at 
 Cairo and were embarked on board eleven hired vessels. 
 With the greatest difficulty, I procured a steamer of one 
 hundred and forty horse-power to tow this flotilla to Ko- 
 rosko, from which spot the desert journey would commence. 
 I obtained this steamer only by personal application to the 
 khedive. 
 
 "On the 5th of December, 1869, we brought up the 
 rear, and left Suez on board an Egyptian sloop-of-war, the 
 Senaar. In four days and a half we reached Sonakim, 
 after an escape from wreck on the reef of Shadwan, and a 
 close acquaintance with a large barque, with which we 
 nearly came into collision. 
 
 "We anchored safely in the harbor of Sonakim, and 
 landed my twenty-one horses without accident, 
 
 " I was met by the governor, my old friend, Moontazz 
 Bey, a highly intelligent Circassian officer, who had shown 
 me much kindness in my former expedition. 
 
 " A week's delay in Sonakim was necessary in order to 
 obtain camels. In fourteen days we crossed the desert, two 
 hundred and seventy-five miles, to Berber on the Nile, and 
 found a steamer and diahbeeah in readiness. We arrived 
 at Khartoum, a distance of two hundred miles by water, in 
 three days, having accomplished the journey from Suez in 
 the short space of thirty-two days, including stoppages." 
 
 But while he had pushed forward with great speed he 
 found, when he reached Khartoum, that his fleet had not 
 arrived. None of the steamers from Cairo had passed the 
 cataracts, the fifteen sloops on which he had depended for 
 the transportation of camels had returned, while only a 
 few small vessels were above the cataract. The first division,
 
 STAKT OF THE EXPEDITION. 181 
 
 consisting of the merchandise, had arrived, and he heard 
 that a train of a thousand camels with all his machinery 
 and steamers were slowly traversing the desert to meet him, 
 while the third division soon came up. Thus everything 
 had moved like clockwork except that portion of the expe- 
 dition especially under the charge of the khedive. Mr. 
 Baker now urged the governor to purchase vessels, and in 
 a few weeks thirty-three of fifty or sixty tons each, such as 
 they were, were rigged for the voyage of one thousand four 
 hundred and fifty miles to Gondokoro. He found that the 
 two hundred and fifty cavalry sent to him were worthless 
 and dismissed them. 
 
 On the 8th of February he was ready to start, and 
 having embraced the black pasha, a host of boys and a fat 
 colonel, that he could not reach around, the bugles rung 
 cheerily out, and two steamers of thirty-two and twenty- 
 four horse-power, and thirty-one sailing vessels, carrying a 
 military force of eight hundred men, moved off under a 
 salute from shore. Among these were forty-six men se- 
 lected from two regiments, half black and half white, which 
 were to serve as a body-guard. They were armed with 
 Snider rifles, and Baker named them " the forty thieves." 
 Sweeping down to the White Nile, they began to ascend it 
 under a strong wind from the north. The White Nile is a 
 grand river up to the junction of the Sobat, when it becomes 
 impassable on account of the masses of vegetation that cover 
 it, and floating islands. He here entered the Bahr Giraffe, a 
 stream some two hundred and fifty feet wide but very deep 
 and winding. Up this they slowly worked their way for 
 two weeks, when they came to so much drift vegetation 
 that it took four hours to force a passage through it. The 
 next day, February 26th, the obstructions increased, and a 
 canal one hundred and fifty yards long had to be cut. 
 Large masses of tangled grass, resembling sugar-canes, had
 
 182 CHAKGE OF A HIPPOPOTAMUS. 
 
 to be cut out with swords and then towed away by ropes. 
 Having at length cleared a passage they pushed on. 
 
 The next day similar obstructions had to be removed, 
 and the day after, just after starting, they were surprised 
 to find the river, though fourteen feet deep, had suddenly 
 disappeared. The entire surface was covered with matted 
 vegetation, under which the invisible river swept on. 
 They now returned down the river eighty miles to their 
 old wooding-place. On the way back they met the fleet, 
 composed of one steamer and twenty-five vessels, coming 
 up with a good supply- of wood and bringing the troops, 
 which were in good health one man alone missing, he 
 having been carried off by a crocodile while sitting with 
 his legs dangling over the side of the vessel. Two days 
 after, a brisk wind sprang up and the vessels started off 
 again. At one o'clock, Baker, who happened to be sleep- 
 ing on the poop-deck, was suddenly awakened by a heavy 
 shock, succeeded by cries of "the ship is sinking." A 
 hippopotamus had charged the steamer's bottom and 
 smashed several floats from one of her paddles. The next 
 instant he charged the diahbeeah, or boat, and striking her 
 bottom about ten feet from her bow with his tusks, drove 
 two holes through her iron plating, letting the water in 
 with a rush. All hands fell to and unloaded as rapidly as 
 possible. They then pumped out the water, and with 
 some thick felt and white lead stopped the leak. 
 
 At length they came to where the river disappeared, 
 and Baker, though he did not know how far this level 
 plain of vegetation extended, ordered seven hundred men 
 to cut a channel. The next day they cut a mile and a 
 half with their swords and knives, piling up the stringy 
 mass on either side like a bank. It was deadly work, 
 and at night thirty-two men were taken sick. Five days 
 of terrible work finally brought them through it, and they

 
 CUTTING CHANNELS FOR THE BOAT. 185 
 
 entered on a lake a half a mile wide with its ripples- 
 dancing in the sunlight. A loud shout went up at the 
 sight, while bugles and drums filled the air with glad 
 sounds. But the farther end was choked up with the 
 same matted vegetation. It was, however, cleared away in 
 an hour, when they emerged on another lake, but its far- 
 ther extremity was closed up solid, and Baker, from the 
 mast-head, could discern nothing but rotten vegetation as 
 far as the eye could reach. This was discouraging, but 
 only two courses lay before him return or cut his way 
 through. He determined on the latter, and by probing 
 the marsh with long poles he discovered the deep channel 
 underneath and set the men to clear it, and soon the 
 stream was black with swimmers hard at work. The men 
 became sick and dispirited, for there seemed no end to 
 their toil. Besides, the marsh was filled with shakes, one 
 of which crawled into Baker's boat. 
 
 In three days, however, they had cut a canal to a third 
 and larger lake some two and a half miles long. On 
 exploring this, another lake was discovered ahead, with 
 only a slight obstruction between. All was wild and 
 desolate around, and now, as the sun stooped to the west, 
 in the south great clouds began to roll up the heavens and 
 the deep thunder broke heavily along the sky. The fleet 
 coming up slowly began to assemble on the lake prepara- 
 tory to passing the night. The paddles had to be taken 
 off, as the channel was made no wider than absolutely 
 necessary, and they were towed through. This retarded 
 their progress, and it became doubtful when they could be 
 used again. Thus their chief reliance became a hindrance, 
 for instead of towing they had to be towed. Here Baker 
 killed a hippopotamus. He says : 
 
 " About half an hour before sunset I observed the head 
 of a hippopotamus emerge from the bank of high grass
 
 SHOOTING A HIPPOPOTAMUS. 
 
 that fringed the lake. My troops had no meat and I 
 must not lose the opportunity of procuring, if possible, a 
 supply of hippopotamus beef. I took a Reilly, No. 8, 
 breech-loader, and started in the little dingy belonging to 
 the diahbeeah. Having paddled quietly along the edge 
 of the grass for a couple of hundred of yards, I arrived at 
 the spot from which the hippopotamus had emerged. It is 
 the general habit of the hippopotami in these marsh dis- 
 tricts to lie in the high-grass swamps during the day, and 
 to swim or amuse themselves in the open water at sunset. 
 I had not waited long before I heard a snort, and I per- 
 ceived the hippopotamus had risen to the surface, about 
 fifty yards from me. This distance was a little too great 
 for the accurate firing necessary to reach the brain, espe- 
 cially when the shot must be taken from a boat in which 
 there is always some movement. I therefore allowed the 
 animal to disappear, after which I immediately ordered the 
 boat forward, to remain exactly over the spot where he had 
 sunk. A few minutes elapsed, when the great, ugly head 
 of the hippopotamus appeared about thirty paces from the 
 boat, and having blown the water from his nostrils and 
 snorted loudly, he turned around and appeared astonished 
 to find the solitary little boat so near him. Telling the two 
 boatmen to sit perfectly quiet, so as to allow a good sight, 
 I aimed just below the eye, and fired a heavy shell, which 
 contained a bursting charge of three drachms of fine-grained 
 powder. The head disappeared. A little smoke hung 
 over the water, and I could not observe other effects. The 
 lake was deep, and after vainly sounding for the body with 
 a boat-hook, I returned to the diahbeeah just as it became 
 dark." 
 
 The next day the body of the hippopotamus was found 
 floating near them, and all hands turned to to cut him up, 
 delighted with the prospect of fresh meat. A pouring rain
 
 DISPATCHING A CROCODILE. 191 
 
 soon after set in, wetting the cargoes and stores of the 
 miserable vessels. 
 
 The next day, while digging the steamers out of the 
 vegetable rafts that, after they had been cut away by the 
 men to make a canal, had drifted into the lake, they felt 
 something struggling beneath their feet. They had hardly 
 scrambled away from the place when the huge head of a 
 crocodile protruded through the mass. The men imme- 
 diately fell upon him with bill-hooks and swords, and soon 
 dispatched him, and that night made a good supper off his 
 flesh. 
 
 They now kept on, day after day, it being a continual 
 succession of marshes and open patches of water. The 
 men grew more discouraged and heart-broken. One sol- 
 dier died, but there was not a foot of dry ground in which 
 to bury him. Day after day it was the same monoto- 
 nous, disheartening, slow pushing up this half-hidden, 
 stream. Another man died, and how many more would 
 follow before the fifteen miles of marsh that now lay before 
 them was cut through, none could tell. By March 26th, 
 six more had died and one hundred and fifty were on the 
 sick-list. Two days after Mr. Baker killed another hip- 
 popotamus. On the 30th, they got once more into the open 
 river, with dry land on both banks. As they were poling 
 along wild buffaloes were seen on the bank, one of which 
 Lieutenant Baker killed, while Mr. Baker wounded 
 another. 
 
 They had now been fifty-one days toiling up this miser- 
 able stream, the men almost constantly in the water, cut- 
 ting a channel ; and just as things became to look hopeful, 
 they were suddenly stopped. The water became so shallow 
 that everything grounded, and Mr. Baker, going ahead for 
 three miles in a row-boat, found the river dividing into 
 shallow channels, which made farther advance impossible.
 
 192 BAKER NOT DISCOURAGED. 
 
 This, then, was the end of it all the end of nearly two 
 months' incessant toil and suffering. All were thoroughly 
 disheartened. Instead of cutting their way to open water, 
 they had reached solid land. Nearly two months of con- 
 stant toil had been wasted, and worse than that, so much 
 must be taken out of the time allowed him to perform his 
 work. It was enough to discourage any man ; but Baker 
 was too old an explorer to give up because he was com- 
 pelled to turn back for awhile.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE KETUKN. 
 
 BAKER'S HEROIC WIFE A SLAVER CAUGHT A SICKENING SPECTACLE FREEDOM DESCRIPTION 
 OF THE CAMP A CARGO OF SLAVES DISCOVERED SLAVES FREED WHOLESALE MATRIMONY- 
 EXPLORING THE WHITE NILE A NEW START A NEW LAKE THE WHITE NILE REACHED AT 
 LAST A FIERCE NIGHT ATTACK BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS A THRILLING SCENE GONDOKORO AT 
 LAST REACHED. 
 
 nnHERE was now nothing left to do but to return, and 
 J- April 3d, with a heavy heart, Baker gave the neces- 
 sary orders. But he had no intention of abandoning his 
 object. He was determined the next season to return by 
 the same route and cut his way through to the Nile. He, 
 however, communicated his resolve to no one but his heroic 
 wife and Lieutenant Baker. One of the most remarkable 
 features of this expedition was the presence of this solitary 
 lady, who, rejecting the comforts and luxuries of a home 
 which were hers, resolved to accompany her husband into 
 the heart of Africa braving fever, toil and probable death 
 to stand by his side and share his fate, with the possibility 
 of being left alone, as she would be in case her husband 
 fell before disease or the bullet of the savages, she thought 
 only of being by his side if struck down by sickness, or 
 perchance to save him in the hour of danger. Cool, self- 
 possessed, fearless and full of resources, she became his 
 guardian angel arid stands out in bold relief in this danger- 
 ous expedition as one of the most remarkable characters 
 in it. 
 
 Not much of interest attended this return trip to-day 
 
 193
 
 194 CAPTURING A SLAVER. 
 
 stalking an antelope, to-morrow shooting a hippopotamus 
 or crocodile, or bagging some wild fowl, made up the most 
 exciting incidents. 
 
 April 20th, just below the junction of the Bahr-Giraffe 
 with the White Nile, he came in sight of one of the gov- 
 ernors' vessels of this district, and, watching it through his 
 powerful telescope, he noticed suspicious movements on 
 board of her, and thought he saw a number of people 
 driven on board. Coming down stream at the rate of 
 eight miles an hour, he soon ranged up along side the 
 bank on which the governor's tent was pitched, and invited 
 him on board. He told him of the impossibility of ad- 
 vancing that year by the way of the Bahr-Giraffe and had 
 therefore returned. After some conversation with him, 
 and putting some close questions as to certain movements 
 he had noticed, Baker sent his aid-de-camp to visit the 
 vessels lying near. The result was the discovery of a gang 
 of slaves. Mr. Baker then politely requested to be shown 
 round the encampment on shore. To his horror, he found 
 a mass of slaves squatted on the ground many of the 
 women secured by ropes round the neck, and amid the 
 filthy fetid mass, not only children but infants. Altogether, 
 on the boats and on shore, were found one hundred and 
 fifty-five slaves. Though this territory was not in Baker's 
 jurisdiction, as fixed by the khedive, yet he insisted on the 
 liberation of the slaves, and though the governor rebelled 
 at first, he, at length, on being threatened with the wrath 
 of the khedive, yielded, and the naked, astonished crowd 
 of slaves departed with loud discordant yells of rejoicing 
 to their distant homes. 
 
 Mr. Baker now determined to establish a permanent 
 camp, and selecting a forest on a bank near the junction 
 of the Sobat, commenced operations. He had passed the 
 junction of this river on his way up in the middle of Feb-
 
 PLAGUE OF FLIES. 195 
 
 ruary, and now in the latter part of April lie found him- 
 self there again, having accomplished nothing except to 
 learn how apparently impossible was the route in that 
 direction. More than two months had been passed, and 
 the total result of his efforts could be summed up in the 
 death report of the number that had sunk before the ex- 
 posures they had to meet in the pestiferous country they 
 had traversed. Mr. Baker says in his journal : 
 
 " I gave the name Tewfikeeyah to the new station, which 
 rapidly grew into a place of importance. It was totally 
 unlike an Egyptian camp, as all the lines were straight. 
 Deep ditches, cut in every direction, drained the station to 
 the river. I made a quay about five hundred yards in 
 length, on the bank of the river, by which the whole fleet 
 could lie and embark or disembark cargo. A large stable 
 contained the twenty horses, which by great care had kept 
 their condition. It was absolutely necessary to keep them 
 in a dark stable on account of the flies which attacked all 
 animals in swarms. Even within the darkened building it 
 was necessary to light fires composed of dried horse-dung, 
 to drive away these persecuting insects. The hair fell 
 completely off the ears and legs of the donkeys (which 
 were allowed to ramble about) owing to the swarms of flies 
 which irritated the skin ; but in spite of the comparative 
 comfort of a stable, the donkeys preferred a life of out-door 
 independence, and fell off in condition if confined to a 
 house. The worst flies were the small gray ones with a long 
 proboscis, similar to those that are often seen in houses in 
 England. 
 
 " In an incredibly short time the station fell in shape. 
 I constructed three magazines of galvanized iron, each 
 eighty feet in length, and the head storekeeper, Mr. Mar- 
 copolo, at last completed his arduous task of storing the 
 immense amount of supplies that had been contained in the 
 fleet of vessels.
 
 WHITE NILE EATS. 
 
 " This introduced us to the White Nile rats, which vol- 
 unteered their services in thousands, and quickly took pos- 
 session of the magazines by tunneling beneath and ap- 
 pearing in the midst of a rat's paradise, among thousands 
 of bushels of rice, biscuits, lentils, etc. The destruction 
 caused by these annuals was frightful. They gnawed holes 
 in the sacks, and the contents poured upon the ground like 
 sand from an hour-glass, to be immediately attacked and 
 devoured by white ants. There was no lime in the coun- 
 try, nor stone of any kind, thus it was utterly impossible to 
 stop the ravages of white ants except by the constant labor 
 of turning over the vast masses of boxes and stores, to 
 cleanse them from the earthern galleries which denote the 
 presence of the termites. 
 
 "I had European vegetable seeds of all kinds, and 
 having cleared and grubbed a portion of forest, we quickly 
 established gardens. The English quarter was particularly 
 neat. The various plots were separated by fences, and the 
 ground was under cultivation for about two acres, extend- 
 ing to the margin of the river. I did not build a house 
 for myself, as we preferred our comfortable diahbeeah, 
 which was moored alongside the garden, from the entrance of 
 which a walk led to a couple of large, shady mimosas that 
 formed my public divan, where all visitors were received. 
 
 " In a short time we had above ground sweet melons, 
 watermelons, pumpkins, cabbages, tomatoes, cauliflowers, 
 beet root, parsley, lettuce, celery, etc.; but all the peas, 
 beans, and a very large selection of maize that I had 
 received from England were destroyed during the voyage. 
 Against my express orders the box had been hermetically 
 sealed, and the vitality of the larger seeds was entirely 
 gone. Seeds should be simply packed in brown paper 
 bags and secured in a basket." 
 
 In a few weeks a marvelous change had taken place in
 
 A SLAVE CARGO. 107 
 
 this uninhabited wilderness. In addition to the long rows 
 of white tents and iron magazines which had been erected, 
 a hundred neat huts stood arranged in an exact line. 
 These, besides various workshops and the sound of lathes, 
 saws, and the hammer and anvil filled the forests with 
 strange, unwonted sights and sounds. Here he killed his 
 first ostrich, notwithstanding his long travels in Africa. 
 He was now located where the governor could be detected 
 in his nefarious business as slave-trader, (which he stoutly 
 denied,) as all cargoes would have to come down the Sobat 
 directly past his encampment. A watch was kept up, and 
 in less than a week it was rewarded by the outlook seeing 
 a vessel descending the river ; and although taken by sur- 
 prise at the number of vessels moored to the bank, the 
 stranger made no signal, but, keeping the middle of the 
 river, endeavored to pass. This looked suspicious, and 
 Baker sent a boat with the orders to halt, and directed his 
 aide-de-camp, Abd-el-Kader, to go on board to inquire 
 about her cargo. She had a quantity of corn stowed in 
 bulk, nothing else, beside her crew and a few soldiers, said 
 the captain, who was indignant at being suspected of any- 
 thing wrong. But there seemed an awkward smell about 
 the cargo, and Abd-el-Kader, drawing a steel ramrod from 
 a soldier's rifle, ran it into the corn ; a smothered cry, fol- 
 lowed by a woolly head, was the result, and a negro woman 
 was pulled out by the wfist. 
 
 "The corn was at once removed; the planks which 
 boarded up the forecastle and the stern were broken down, 
 and there was a mass of humanity exposed, boys, girls and 
 women closely packed like herrings in a barrel, who under 
 the fear of threats had remained perfectly silent until thus 
 discovered. The sail attached to the mainyard of the 
 vessel appeared full and heavy in the lower part ; this was 
 examined, and, upon unpacking it, yielded a young woman 
 who had thus been sewn up to avoid discovery.
 
 198 SETTING THE CAPTIVES FREE. 
 
 " The case was immediately reported to me. I at once 
 ordered the vessel to be unloaded. We discovered one 
 hundred and fifty slaves stowed away in a most inconceiv- 
 ably small area. The stench was horrible when they 
 began to move. Many were in irons ; these were quickly 
 released by the blacksmiths, to the astonishment of tb.e 
 captives, who did not appear to understand the proceedings. 
 I ordered the rakeel and the reis, or captain of the vessel, 
 to be put in irons. The slaves began to comprehend that 
 their captors were now captives. They now began to 
 speak, and many declared that the greater portion of the 
 men of their villages had been killed by the slave-hunters. 
 
 " Having weighed the ivory and counted the tusks, I had 
 the vessel reloaded ; and, having placed an officer with a 
 guard on board, I sent her to Khartoum to be confiscated 
 as a slaver. I ordered the slaves to wash, and issued 
 clothes from the magazines for the naked women. 
 
 " On the following day I inspected the captives, and I 
 explained to them their exact position. They were free 
 people, and if their homes were at a reasonable distance, 
 they should be returned; if not, they must make them- 
 selves generally useful, in return for which they would be 
 fed and t clothed. If any of the women wished to marry, 
 there were many fine young men in the regiments who 
 would make capital husbands. I gave each person a paper 
 of freedom, signed by myself. This was contained in a 
 hollow reed, and suspended round their necks. Their 
 names, approximate age, sex and country were registered 
 in a book corresponding with the number on their papers. 
 
 " These arrangements occupied the whole morning. In 
 the afternoon I again inspected them. Having asked the 
 officers whether any of the negresses would wish to be 
 married, he replied that all the women wished to marry, 
 and that they had already selected their husbands I This
 
 MATRIMONIAL ENGAGEMENTS. 199 
 
 was wholesale matrimony, that required a church as large 
 as Westminster Abbey and a whole company of clergy. 
 
 " Fortunately, matters are briefly arranged in Africa. I 
 saw the loving couples standing hand in hand. Some of 
 the girls were pretty, and my black troops had shown good 
 taste in their selection. Unfortunately, however, for the 
 Egyptian regiment, the black ladies had a strong antipathy 
 to brown men, and the suitors were all refused. This was 
 a very awkward affair. The ladies having received their 
 freedom, at once asserted ' woman's rights.' 
 
 "I was obliged to limit the matrimonial engagements, 
 and those who were for a time condemned to single bless- 
 edness were placed in charge of certain officers to perform 
 the cooking for the troops and other domestic work. I 
 divided the boys into classes ; some I gave to the English 
 workmen to be instructed in carpenters' and blacksmiths' 
 work ; others were apprenticed to tailors, shoemakers, etc., 
 in the regiment, while the best-looking were selected as 
 domestic servants. A nice little girl of about three years 
 old, without parents, was taken care of by my wife. 
 
 "Little Mostoora, as the child was called, was an exceed- 
 ingly clever specimen of her race, and although she was 
 certainly not more than three years old, she was quicker 
 than most children double her age. With an ugly little 
 face, she had a beautifully shaped figure, and possessed a 
 power of muscle that I have never seen in a white child of 
 that age. Her lot had fallen in pleasant quarters; she 
 was soon dressed in convenient clothes, and became the pet 
 of the family." 
 
 He spent some time now in exploring the White Nile 
 and perfecting his arrangements for a new start. Many 
 difficulties had presented themselves, and complications of 
 various kinds arose, owing to the hostility of the traders to 
 the object of his expedition.
 
 200 DEATH OF THE BLIND SHEIKH. 
 
 Baker had determined on starting for Gondokoro from 
 Tewfikeeyah, where he arrived on October 22d, and imme- 
 diately commenced his preparations. The river was then 
 at its maximum, and had risen at this spot from the lowest 
 level of the dry season, fourteen feet and one inch. 
 
 There was an old blind sheikh who frequently visited 
 Baker from the other side of the river, and this poor old 
 fellow came to a most untimely end when returning one 
 day with his son from marketing at Tewfikeeyah. Baker 
 was walking on the temporary quay he had constructed, 
 when all at once he heard a great commotion and saw a 
 splashing in the river, on the surface of which were float- 
 ing the fragments of a native canoe. There happened at 
 the time to be several other canoes on the river, several of 
 which at once went to the rescue of the two men, who could 
 be seen struggling in the water. It appeared that a hippo- 
 potamus had made a sudden and savage attack on the 
 canoe, and seized it in his mouth, together with the poor 
 old blind sheikh, who could not see or avoid the danger. 
 The brute crushed the frail boat to pieces, and so lacerated 
 and mangled the old man that, although he was picked up 
 alive, he died during the night. 
 
 While getting ready for a start, thoroughly repairing 
 and recalking the vessels which were to form part of the 
 fleet, he occupied a small Robinson-Crusoe-like house, 
 which he had built for himself ashore ; and here, only a 
 very short time previous to his departure, he had a very 
 narrow escape from being robbed. 
 
 About four o'clock in the morning, he was wakened by a 
 noise in the room adjoining to that in which he was sleep- 
 ing, and, on listening, he distinctly heard the lid of a metal 
 box opened and again carefully closed. He always slept 
 with a pistol under his pillow, so, grasping his revolver, he 
 made one jump from his bed, which, however, at that mo-
 
 COMPLETING THE DEPARTURE. 203 
 
 ment creaked so loudly as to give the alarm to the thief, 
 and Baker, on rushing through the open doorway, was just 
 in time to see a man jump through the Venetian blinds on 
 the river side of the house. To fire a shot after the re- 
 treating figure and shout for the sentry was the work of an 
 instant, but the would-be thief managed to escape, and no 
 trace was' ever found of him. 
 
 But everything at last being ready, the first division of 
 the fleet, consisting of eight vessels, having started on De- 
 cember 1st, followed up every third or fourth day by an- 
 other division. Baker himself brought up the rear, on 
 December llth, completing the departure, with twenty-six 
 vessels, making quite a formidable fleet with which to 
 pierce to the centre of Africa. 
 
 The extensive and neat station of Tewfikeeyah, where 
 he had been so long, was completely dismantled. The 
 iron magazines, with their contents, were safely stowed in 
 the different vessels ; the horses were shipped, the stables 
 being all pulled down and the wood cut up for fuel. The 
 long rows of white tents were struck, and nothing remained 
 of the station 'save a few rows of deserted huts. It seemed 
 almost impossible that so large a place as Tewfikeeyah 
 could be packed up and stowed away on board the fifty- 
 nine vessels of the fleet. 
 
 Baker had made every preparation for cutting through 
 the Sudd, having on hand many hundred sharp bill-hooks, 
 switching-hooks, bean-hooks, sabres, etc., also several hun- 
 dred miners' spades, shovels, etc., in the event of there 
 being a necessity of deepening the shallows. 
 
 The Nile was unusually high, which was a favorable 
 point for the voyage, as the success of the expedition 
 depended on their crossing the shallows during the flood. 
 
 To attempt to give a general description of this voyage 
 would be impossible, so we shall give a few extracts from
 
 204 TERRIBLE NEWS A VESSEL SUNK. 
 
 Baker's original journal, mentioning the most striking 
 incidents that occurred. 
 
 On December llth, 1870, we find this entry: "Thank 
 goodness, we are off, and in good time, as the river is 
 exceedingly high, though it has already fallen about five 
 inches from its maximum. 
 
 " December 12th. About 2.30 A. M. we were hailed by 
 two noggurs (vessels) in distress. Stopped immediately, 
 and learned that the No. 15 noggur, their consort, had 
 sunk in deep water close to this spot. At daybreak, 
 searched the river and discovered the wreck in eighteen 
 feet of water. Two good divers worked for hours, and 
 recovered several muskets and copper cooking pots. Leav- 
 ing the wholesale wreck, we continued the voyage at 
 10.50 A. M., with a brisk north wind. 
 
 " December 17th. In the afternoon, the two diahbeeahs 
 of the Englishmen came up and gave us the terrible news 
 that one of the vessels had sunk near the mouth of the 
 river Sobat, on the day of our departure from Tewfikeeyah. 
 This vessel was laden with portions of the steamer of fifty 
 feet." 
 
 As the loss of the steamer sections and machinery with 
 which this vessel was laden would have been fatal to the 
 object of the expedition, Baker at once proceeded to the 
 spot, and after waiting for some days for the arrival of 
 assistance from the king, Quat Kan, to whom he had dis- 
 patched a messenger, on the 27th December about two 
 hundred and fifty shillooks, under the command of old 
 Quat Kan himself, arrived. They proceeded to lighten 
 the vessel, and by means of sunken kyasses well secured 
 to the vessel with chains, they succeeded in dragging the 
 vessel from the river's bed, bringing her to the surface and 
 discovering and stopping the leaks. 
 
 On January 9th, Baker reached the mouth of an old
 
 FRESH PERPLEXITIES. 207 
 
 channel where he had been the preceding year, and found 
 it completely blocked up by an accumulation of floating 
 rafts. Here they were frequently stopped by vegetation, 
 through which they had to cut their way. At this stop- 
 page, Baker shot a specimen of the Baleniceps Rex with a 
 rifle. The powerful, spear-like beak of this bird is used 
 by the natives for crushing the shells of the large helix 
 and other mollusks of the White Nile. 
 
 For days succeeding this they made but slow progress, 
 sometimes not over three hundred yards in a whole day, 
 which had to be cut through heavy rafts of vegetation. 
 
 On January 18th, Baker entered the Lake Timsah 
 (Crocodile Lake), which appeared to him from his mast- 
 head to be an unbroken sheet of water for some miles ; but 
 he found out early the next day that he must have been 
 deceived by a mirage, as they were again hindered in 
 their onward progress by the same obstructions as before. 
 
 He soon found a new channel coming from the south, 
 which he explored about two miles, it appearing to be a 
 river of some two to three hundred yards wide. Baker 
 pushed ahead in the dingy till all seemed closed again, but 
 finally succeeded in reaching the old channel, and through 
 which they entered into a lake where a year before he had 
 buried two artillerymen in an ant-hill. 
 
 Tayib Agha, who had twelve vessels with him, had not 
 yet come in sight, which fact gave Baker much uneasiness ; 
 as, should any accident occur, he would be at a loss how to 
 act ; and, to add to perplexities, Julian was very sick with 
 a fever. However, nothing would do but to push ahead. 
 They here observed the tree, at about a mile and a half 
 distant, which marked the open water of last year. A soli- 
 tary dry spot near this is the very heart of desolation ; it is 
 about half an acre, raised like the back of a huge tortoise, 
 about five feet above the highest water level, upon which
 
 208 FORCING THEIR WAY ONWARD. 
 
 crocodiles in great numbers love to bask in undisturbed 
 sleep. 
 
 They soon passed the lake, and found the depth of the 
 river again very unsatisfactory varying from shallows 
 with vegetable obstructions to deep channels as before. 
 
 The journal of the slow ascent of the river during this 
 month and the next is monotonous, relieved only now and 
 then by some accident or the killing of game. Over the 
 same ground, cutting the same canals, the expedition forced 
 its weary way onward sometimes discharging cargoes in 
 the mud to lighten vessels over shallows in one case, cut- 
 ting a channel six hundred yards long through stiff clay, 
 and advanced so slowly that it did not seem difficult to tell 
 where this strange inland navigation with such a fleet 
 would end. But at last, on the 9th of March, they emerged 
 into a lake five miles long, from the extremity of which 
 they found a stream, only a mile and a quarter long, flowing 
 directly into the great White Nile above all its obstructions. 
 " Thank God !" was echoed from all lips. Still it required 
 great labor to get the fleet up to this point which Baker 
 had reached in his exploring boat. A dam had to be made 
 to float them to the lake, a work of immense labor ; but it 
 was at length completed and the fleet brought safely up. 
 Mr. Baker killed that day two hippopotami, and the lake 
 seemed to be full of them. 
 
 The night was clear and cool and the moon silvered this 
 lovely lake with her brightness, while the deck was 
 covered with sleepers under their mosquito nets, arid all 
 was still, when suddenly Mr. Baker was aroused by a loud 
 splash close to his boat, accompanied with the loud snort 
 of a hippopotamus. Jumping up he saw a huge fellow 
 making straight for the boat. Instantly tearing away the 
 strings that held the mosquito netting in its place, he 
 aroused the sleepers and shouted to his servant to bring his
 
 Fig. i. 
 
 Fig, a. 
 
 Figi 3' 
 
 Fig. 1. Packet of plaited rope, in the exact shape as presented by the natives. 
 " 2. Sandal of raw hide. . , L- 
 
 " 3 Skull of the Baleniceps Rex. The powerful spear-like beak is used for crushing in 
 
 shells of the large helix and other molluscs. 
 4. The iron molote, or spade, one-third of the original size. 
 " 5. Pipe bowl.
 
 A DESPERATE FIGHT. 211 
 
 rifle. But before it could be brought, the furious animal, 
 with one blow, capsized and sunk the zinc boat. He then 
 seized the dingy in his immense jaws and Baker heard, with 
 rage, his favorite boat crack. The servant hurried up with 
 the rifle but it was unloaded. In the meantime, the people 
 were shouting and screaming at the top of their voices to 
 scare away the beast, which, however, paid no attention to 
 them, and kept up his ferocious attack. Baker now returned 
 with a loaded rifle, but the beast charged and plunged so 
 rapidly that it was difficult to get a fair shot. In a few 
 moments, however, he come straight for the boat again. 
 The moon was shining bright, and Baker planted a shot 
 in his ugly head. It stopped him but a moment, however, 
 and he charged again. Baker now kept up a rapid fire, 
 till, at length, the beast appeared to be badly wounded, 
 and, crawling to the bank, lay down on the grass blowing 
 and snorting. Thinking he would die, Baker returned to 
 bed again and fell asleep, but was soon awakened by a loud 
 splash. Jumping up, he saw the animal, furious and 
 strong as ever, dashing full on the boat. But a bullet in 
 the head sent him rolling over down the stream. But he 
 soon recovered and came thrashing back. He did not 
 repeat his attack, but retired to the shore, where he re- 
 mained snorting and blowing. Baker again went to bed, 
 when he was awakened the third time by a loud splashing 
 in the water. Rising, he saw the animal slowly walking 
 across the stream broadside to. This gave him a fair shot, 
 and he planted two balls in his shoulder. He, however, 
 kept on, and, reaching the right bank, turned round and 
 attempted to walk back again. This gave Baker a chance 
 at the other side, when a well-planted shot rolled him over, 
 dead. In the morning, on examination, it was discovered 
 that he had received three shots in the side and shoulder, 
 four in the head, while another had passed through his
 
 212 ARRIVED AT GONDOKOKO. 
 
 nose. Beside this, his body was covered with old scars 
 one two feet long showing that he was a desperate fighter, 
 and had had many savage encounters with bulls of his own 
 species. 
 
 The work of getting through to the White Nile now 
 re-commenced, and, being safely accomplished, the fleet in 
 a month from that time reached Gondokoro, its great ob- 
 jective point. This was the 15th of April, or four months 
 from the time he last set out. On this very day, Stanley 
 was climbing the Kira Peak, on his way to Livingstone.
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 THE COUNTRY FORMALLY TAKEN POSSESSION OF WAR AT LAST A NIGHT ATTACK ON A NATIVE 
 VILLAGE DISAFFECTION IN THE ARMY ATTACKED BY CROCODILES AN OLD MAN-EATER 
 KILLED A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE ENEMY THE ARMY PROPOSE TO RETURN HOME BAKER 
 OBTAINS CORN AND RESTORES SUBORDINATION THE ARMY GREATLY REDUCED A FIGHT 
 TARGET-SHOOTING AT MEN. 
 
 MR. BAKER had thus accomplished his one thou- 
 sand nine hundred and fifty-six miles from Khar- 
 toum, surmounting difficulties that would have daunted 
 most men. This was to be the central point of the new 
 territory he was to annex in the name of the khedive. 
 He immediately sent for the chief Alloron, and told him the 
 object for which he had come, but was not well received. 
 In the meantime his men were set to work making garden, 
 and in a few days it was well planted. The Baris, a war- 
 like tribe in the vicinity, Baker expected to have trouble 
 with, and prepared early to meet it. 
 
 The next month, on May 26th, he had fixed for the 
 official annexation of the country to Egypt, but which, by 
 the way, she had no more right to than we to the Indian 
 territory. The troops, one thousand four hundred strong, 
 in clean, bright uniforms, were paraded around the flag- 
 staff; the official proclamation, declaring that the khedive 
 took possession of the country, was then read ; the flag was 
 run up the staff, saluted by the officers with their drawn 
 swords, the artillery fired a salute, and the ceremony was 
 over. The natives looked on in mute surprise, but were 
 told that this was for their own good, to protect them from 
 
 215
 
 216 WAE, AT LAST. 
 
 the slave-traders, who had takeD possession of and deso- 
 lated their country. 
 
 Steps were now taken to get the natives to work, and, 
 for awhile, things looked promising; but the warlike 
 Baris soon showed signs of insubordination and began to 
 be hostile. On the 7th of June, Baker found that the 
 Baris of Gondokoro had leagued themselves with the 
 natives of Belinian against him. War had come at last, 
 and he gave orders for an attack on a town of Belinian 
 that night. With twenty of his ''Forty Thieves," and 
 fifty Egyptian troops, he started off in the darkness. It 
 rained heavily, and the ground was in some places marshy, 
 so that it was nearly five o'clock in the morning when they 
 arrived in the neighborhood of the villages. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Tayib Agha, with three companies of Soudan 
 troops, had been left behind to get the gun through a 
 heavy swamp, and join them as soon as possible. Just 
 before daylight, Baker and his force marched on, but had 
 not proceeded far when they heard the alarm given, which 
 was quickly repeated on every side. No time was now to 
 be lost, and, putting the horses at a hard gallop, and the 
 infantry on a run, they rushed forward, and, in a couple 
 of minutes, emerged into an open space, in which was a 
 circular stockade. This was immediately surrounded, and 
 the firing commenced arrows against musketry. It was 
 awkward fighting and, as the full daylight revealed the 
 door, Baker ordered the bugle to sound " cease firing," and 
 prepare to force the entrance. This was a narrow door- 
 way, about four feet and a half high, built of large pieces 
 of hard wood. Transverse bars of a species of ebony 
 blocked it, between which was jammed a mass of hooked 
 thorn. It was an ugly obstacle to surmount, but Abd-el- 
 Kader and Lieutenant Baker, with the " Forty Thieves," 
 rushed against it, protected by the fire of the other troops.
 
 A NIGHT ATTACK. 217 
 
 "In the meantime," says Baker, "the immense drum 
 within the stockade was thundering out the summons to 
 collect the whole of the neighborhood for war. This signal 
 was answered by the heavy booming sound of innumerable 
 drums throughout the district, far and near ; and, as it had 
 now become light, I could distinguish the natives col- 
 lecting from all parts, and evidently surrounding our 
 position ; I therefore posted my men as skirmishers around 
 the circle, about eighty yards distant from the stockade, 
 facing outward, while the small party forced the gate- 
 way. 
 
 " The fire of the Snider rifles and the steady shooting of 
 the ' Forty Thieves' quickly reduced the number of arrows, 
 and the natives, finding it was getting too hot, suddenly 
 made a dash by a secret entrance and rushed through the 
 troops, now of necessity widely scattered, and they gained 
 the forest.. 
 
 "At the same time the gateway was forced, and we 
 found a prize within of upward of six hundred cows. 
 The stockade, or zaveeba, was immensely strong, formed 
 of massive logs of iron-wood, deeply imbedded in the earth, 
 and arranged so closely together that not one bullet out of 
 ten would have found its way through the crevices if fired 
 from a distance. The proper way to attack the circular 
 strongholds is to make a sudden rush close up to the de- 
 fense, and to lay the rifle between the openings; the 
 stockade then becomes a protection to the attacking party, 
 as there is no flank fire to enfilade them. 
 
 " The natives were now gathering from all sides ; but 
 we were in possession, and although our party consisted of 
 only seventy men, we had an impregnable position, which 
 I could hold until joined by Tayib Agha. I accordingly 
 took a few of the ' Forty Thieves ' to a distance of about 
 one hundred and fifty paces away from the centre and
 
 218 FEKOCITY OF CROCODILES. 
 
 concealed them as sharpshooters wherever I found a con- 
 venient cover. The fire of the Sniders kept the enemy at 
 a respectful distance, and I took a few shots myself at long 
 range, to teach them the real value of a Snider rifle 
 
 "There were no signs of Tayib Agha. The sun was risen 
 and clouds of steam began to rise from the wet ground and 
 the dripping trees. I ordered some grass huts to be fired, 
 as the volumes of smoke might attract the attention of Tayib 
 Agha's detachment, which had evidently gone astray. If 
 near, they must have heard the sound of our rifles. 
 
 " The huts were soon in flames, and the smoke rose high 
 in air, which would be a signal to be seen from a great 
 distance. 
 
 " I sent two buglers to the top of a tall tree, from which 
 elevated post they blew the call for the lieutenant-colonel 
 and his three companies continually for about half an 
 hour." 
 
 The gun having finally come up, Baker marched through 
 the district, scattering the natives in every direction. Soon 
 after this Baker discovered that the Egyptian commander 
 of troops of the khedive was in close intimacy with a native 
 chief who was hostile to the whole expedition, while the 
 officers fraternized with the slave-traders of the White 
 Nile, and had actually purchased slaves. The result was, 
 the army began to be disaffected, and talk of returning 
 home. Added to this, the camp became sickly. In the 
 meantime the crocodiles began to be very ferocious in the 
 neighborhood, and in one day took off two soldiers and a 
 sailor, while others were bitten, and others still had nar- 
 row escapes. Baker shot them at every opportunity. He 
 killed an old man-eater over twelve feet long. In his 
 stomach was found five pounds of pebbles, which he had 
 doubtless swallowed while devouring his prey on the shore, 
 a matted lump of hair, a necklace and two armlets, such
 
 OPEN DISAFFECTION. 219 
 
 as are worn by the negro girls. "The girl had been 
 digested." 
 
 The Baris, in the meantime, kept Baker perpetually 
 harassed. Every night they lurked around the cattle- 
 yard, often attacking the men ; and, on one occasion, made 
 a desperate assault on the camp. 
 
 On the last of July, Baker received news that an officer 
 and six men, whom he had left under the protection of a 
 neighboring sheikh, had been killed by a hostile tribe. 
 As the summer wore away it became certain that all 
 attempts to raise a crop this year would fail, on account of 
 the drought, and hence it was an anxious question how 
 the army was to subsist. But, the first thing to be done 
 was to subdue the Bellinians, and Baker projected and 
 carried out a regular campaign against them of thirty-five 
 days, in which he completely subdued them and drove 
 them out of the country. But now disaffection showed 
 itself openly in the army. They disliked both the disci- 
 pline they were compelled to maintain and the refusal to 
 let them hold as slaves those they had captured in war. 
 
 On the 13th of October it came to a head he received 
 a letter from the Egyptian commander and subordinate 
 officers of the troops, the substance of which was they had 
 determined to abandon the expedition the chief reason 
 given being there was no corn in the country, and the 
 soldiers would starve. 
 
 Baker, disgusted with such conduct, did not condescend 
 to make any reply. Instead, he sent the following unex- 
 pected order : " Colonel Eaouf Bey, with six companies 
 of troops, to be under orders at 2 A. M., to await me at 
 head-quarters.'* 
 
 Leaving Mr. Higginbotham in entire charge of the ves- 
 sels, he ordered three boats to be in readiness to cross the 
 river at two o'clock. With two days' provisions, he de-
 
 220 TAPPING THE GRANAEIES. 
 
 termined to push straight for the Bera island, to look for 
 corn, for the want of which the army wished to return. 
 
 Pushing seven miles up the river, they landed on the 
 west bank, and hauling the boats up stream by ropes, 
 passed through a country that looked more like a gentle- 
 man's park than an African wilderness. Among these, 
 countless villages were scattered, out of which the naked 
 inhabitants swarmed like bees, brandishing their spears 
 and gesticulating wildly. Baker now turned toward them, 
 when they retreated inland to the shelter of some large, 
 isolated, curious-shaped granite blocks. Advancing to 
 within one hundred and twenty paces, he, through his 
 interpreter, told them he had not come to fight, but to buy 
 corn, for which he would pay them in cattle. They replied 
 in insulting language, saying they were going to take his 
 cattle by force, and bade him be off. Still advancing and 
 making offers of peace, which were rejected with scorn, 
 he at length suddenly changed his tactics, and ordered the 
 bugler to sound the assembly, and drew up his troops in 
 force. The echoes of the bugle through the wood, and 
 the sudden approach of such a force, sent them to the right 
 about, and they retreated, blowing their whistles as they 
 did so, in defiance. Baker now extended his two companies 
 a half mile along, so as to cover the villages in front of 
 him, and then advanced, giving strict orders not to enter 
 any of the huts, but to tap on their googoos or granaries 
 to see if they were full These varied in size, some hold- 
 ing forty and others sixty bushels. The inhabitants looked 
 on in mute astonishment at this strange proceeding, while 
 the line steadily moved on through village after village, 
 quietly tapping the granaries till they had gone through 
 twenty or thirty villages or more, in each of which were 
 at least fifteen granaries, nearly all quite full of corn. As 
 far as the eye could reach innumerable villages were seen
 
 DISCOMFITURE OF RAOUF BEY. 221 
 
 scattered around the open glades, all of them containing 
 corn in abundance. 
 
 From the high land near by, he gazed down on a long 
 series of rich islands in the river that looked like a long 
 " line of granaries." He felt as the Israelites did when 
 approaching the promised land, and thanked God and 
 took courage. "Sailors," he said, "who have been in 
 danger of shipwreck on a lee shore in a heavy gale may 
 understand the relief offered by a sudden shift of wind in 
 the moment of extremity. Such experience alone can 
 allow an appreciation of the mental reaction after a great 
 strain of anxiety that I had suffered for some time past." 
 He now addressed his " Forty Thieves," telling them that 
 he knew the country of old, and was well aware that this 
 was the true granary of Gondokoro, and that he was glad 
 that he could increase their rations of corn. 
 
 Having given the necessary orders for the night to the 
 now utterly discomfited Raouf Bey, he, for the first time 
 for twenty-four hours, obtained a little nourishment in the 
 shape of porridge. A fire of dry cattle dung having been 
 made by his officer, Monsoor, to keep off the musquitoes, 
 with a log for his pillow, he lay down and slept. With 
 the bugle's morning call, he arose and sent Raouf Bey to 
 occupy the islands, while he marched south and estab- 
 lished well-posted stations about a mile apart upon high 
 ground which commanded a view of the vessels in the 
 river the three forming a triangle. Having made these 
 arrangements, he returned to the river, and, taking the 
 little dingy, started for Gondokoro, and, in an hour and a 
 half, reached it, ten miles distant. The sight of the boat 
 all alone, advancing with such rapidity, filled soldiers and 
 people with anxiety, and they thronged the shore as it shot 
 to the beach. The report filled all but the disaffected 
 Egyptian troops with delight.
 
 222 ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES. 
 
 On the 17th of October, he started again to hurry on 
 the gathering and shipment of the corn. He found 
 Kaouf Bey negligent and careless he had, in fact, occu- 
 pied but one island, leaving the natives to carry off the 
 corn from the others at their leisure. He immediately 
 detailed troops to occupy these, and sent Raouf Bey back 
 to Gondokoro with orders to dispatch all the invalids to 
 Khartoum, but on no account permit any others to go. 
 
 On the 13th of October, he sent Lieutenant Baker 
 farther up the river to occupy some rich islands in that 
 direction. On the 21st, a boat returned with a letter from 
 him, reporting his success. After twelve days of hard and 
 successful work, he received notice that the two stations he 
 had established were finished, and so he sent Abdullah, 
 commanding one, to take his detachment and march south 
 and occupy the villages on the mainland opposite the 
 vessels anchored alongside the islands. 
 
 On the 24th of October, having loaded several vessels 
 with corn, Baker was amusing himself shooting ducks, 
 when, about half-past four, he heard rapid file-firing in 
 the distance. He at once returned to his boat, where he 
 found his wife stationed on the high poop deck, watching 
 the engagement taking place on the mainland. 
 
 " The troops were about a mile distant, and while steadily 
 on the march according to my instructions, they were sud- 
 denly attacked by the natives in great force. This was a 
 square stand-up fight in the open. The big drums and 
 horns were sounding throughout the country, and the 
 natives were pouring from all directions to the battle. 
 The white uniforms of the soldiers formed a strong con- 
 trast- to the black figures of the naked Baris ; thus we 
 could see the affair distinctly. We could also hear the 
 orders given by bugle. 
 
 "Major Abdullah had prudently secured his rear, by
 
 A SQUARE STAND-UP FIGHT. 223 
 
 the occupation of one of the small villages, fortified by a 
 hedge of impenetrable euphorbia. He then threw out 
 skirmishers in line, supported by the force that held the 
 village. The natives were yelling in all directions, and I 
 never before saw them make such a good fight upon the 
 open ground. They not only outflanked, but entirely 
 surrounded Abdullah's detachment of ninety men. The 
 troops were keeping up a heavy fire, which did not appear 
 to produce any decided result, as the natives thronged to 
 the fight and advanced close up to the fire of the soldiers, 
 whom they attacked with bows and arrows. I ordered 
 our solitary field-piece to be dismounted and placed in the 
 large rowing-boat, together with a rocket-trough and the 
 requisite ammunition, in readiness to support Abdullah 
 with a flank attack upon the natives, by crossing the river 
 should it be necessary. As our vessels were in close view, 
 I waited for the signal by bugle, should Abdullah require 
 assistance. 
 
 "I had only twenty-two men of the ' Forty Thieves ' 
 with me, together with the eight artillery-men belonging 
 to the gun. The remainder of the ' Forty ' were holding 
 the second island, about four miles in our rear. Just 
 before dark, I noticed the Baris were giving way ; they 
 had evidently suffered some loss, which caused a sudden 
 retreat. I heard the bugle sound ' the advance,' and we 
 could see the troops advancing and firing in pursuit. The 
 Baris ceased blowing their horns, and collected in dense 
 bodies at a great distance from the troops, who had halted 
 and now held the position. 
 
 "Only occasional shots were now fired, and the sun 
 having set, darkness gradually dissolved the view. 
 
 " I fully expected that the Baris would renew the attack 
 during the night, but I knew that Abdullah was safe in his 
 strong position within a village surrounded by the high
 
 224 A FLANK MOVEMENT. 
 
 and dense hedge of the euphorbia; the thick, fleshy 
 branches of this tree are the best protection against arrows. 
 I ordered the boat with the gun to remain in readiness, so 
 as to start at a moment's notice, should we hear firing 
 renewed during the night. I should then be able to land 
 the gun and take them unexpectedly on the flank with 
 case shot. 
 
 " Morning broke without any night alarm. I had filled 
 the vessel with the last of the corn upon the island, there- 
 fore I determined to cross over with my force and to meet the 
 detachment under Major Abdullah. This was not easy to 
 accomplish, as there were some awkward sand banks in the 
 middle of the river. It was, therefore, necessary to pass 
 up stream between two islands, and then, by rounding the 
 head of a point, to descend through a channel about one 
 hundred yards wide between the western island and the 
 mainland. This occupied about an hour, and we dropped 
 down the channel and took up an excellent position against 
 a high shore that formed a convenient landing-place. 
 From this point the land rose rapidly, and the entire land- 
 scape was covered with villages abounding in corn. The 
 natives appeared to have deserted the country. 
 
 " Having given the necessary order, I took my shot gun, 
 and, accompanied by Lieutenant Baker, Monsoor and two 
 soldiers of ' the Forty,' I walked along the river's bank 
 toward the village occupied by Major Abdullah's detach- 
 ment, who I imagined might have found a large quantity 
 of corn, which accounted for the delay in commencing the 
 morning's march. 
 
 " There were great numbers of ducks and geese on the 
 river's bank ; thus as we walked toward Abdullah's vil- 
 lage, about a mile and a half distant, we made a tolerable 
 bag. We had at length arrived within half a mile of the 
 village, which was situated upon high ground, about six
 
 AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY. 225 
 
 hundred yards from the river, when I noticed a number of 
 people issuing from the gateway, carrying large baskets 
 upon their heads. 
 
 " ' The soldiers have found plenty of corn/ remarked 
 Monsoor, ' they are carrying it from the googoos/ 
 
 " My eyes were better than Monsoor's. I at once per- 
 ceived that people thus employed were Baris ! 
 
 " We were only five guns now, separated from our ves- 
 sels by about a mile, and the troops under Major Abdullah 
 had evidently evacuated their position ! 
 
 " Where upon earth had they gone ? and for what rea- 
 son ? Certainly we had the river on our right flank, but 
 we might have been attacked and cut off from our vessels 
 had the Baris the pluck to assume the offensive. It was 
 time to retreat, but as I wished the Baris to believe we felt 
 quite at our ease, we accomplished the move very easily, 
 and strolled quietly homeward, shooting ducks and snipe as 
 we walked along. 
 
 " The moment I arrived at the vessels, I dispatched a 
 party in the steamer's large boat, under Captain Moham- 
 med Deii, of the ' Forty Thieves,' to row down the river and 
 to recall Abdullah's detachment, that must have retreated for 
 some inconceivable reason. The current ran at nearly four 
 miles per hour ; thus the boat would be sure to overtake 
 them. 
 
 " I was exceedingly annoyed. A force of ninety men 
 had evidently been cowed by their engagement with the 
 natives on the previous .evening, and had retreated upon 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Achmet's position, instead of joining 
 me according to orders. At the same time my vessels had 
 been in sight, only a mile and a half distant. I was thus 
 left with a small party of thirty men while ninety men 
 had fallen back. 
 
 " This was an example of the utter helplessness of the
 
 226 A LAME APOLOGY. 
 
 officers and men when left to themselves. If the natives 
 had repeated the attack, they would most probably have 
 got into dire confusion. 
 
 "Having started the boat I took ten men of 'the Forty' 
 and, accompanied by Lieutenant Baker, I marched along 
 the bank in order to meet the detachment on its return 
 when recalled by Mohammed Deii. During the march I 
 continued to shoot ducks, as this amusement would deceive 
 the natives respecting the retreat of Major Abdullah, which 
 might then be attributed to some other cause than fear. 
 
 " In about an hour, I distinguished a sail coming round 
 the point of Gebel (Mount) Regiaf. The wind was fair, 
 and she quickly ran up the stream. I now discovered that 
 she was towing the boat that I had sent down the river to 
 recall Abdullah's detachment. Upon her near approach I 
 hailed the vessel and ordered her to land the troops (with 
 which she was crowded) upon the west shore. 
 
 " In a short time, Major Abdullah and his gallant com- 
 pany had landed and formed in line. His excuse for 
 the precipitate retreat which he had commenced at day- 
 break was, that he feared a renewed attack and he was 
 short of ammunition. He had, therefore, determined to 
 fall back on the station occupied by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Achmet. He appeared to have forgotten that he could 
 have communicated with me by bugle. 
 
 " I inspected the men's pouches and found that most of 
 them had eighteen or twenty rounds of cartridge, while the 
 minimum contained eleven rounds ; this is what the major 
 considered a short supply of ammunition for a march of a 
 mile and a half along a beautiful open country to my 
 vessels. 
 
 He described the overwhelming number of the natives 
 and their extreme bravery in the attack which his troops 
 had repelled without any loss to themselves, either killed
 
 TARGET PRACTICE. 227 
 
 or wounded. At the same time, the troops under his com- 
 mand had killed twenty Baris, whose bodies he had him- 
 self counted. 
 
 " I now ordered them to advance to the village, as I 
 wished to examine the position. Upon arrival at the spot 
 where the battle had taken place, there were a number of 
 vultures settled in various spots where the ground was 
 marked with blood, and the cleanly-picked skeleton of a 
 man lying close to the euphorbia hedge, showing that the . 
 Baris had really come to close quarters." 
 
 The natives had carried off their dead with the excep- 
 tion of this one body that had been cleaned by the vul- 
 tures. Baker now marched south until he came to six 
 villages close together all full of corn. Here he established 
 Major Abdullah to collect corn making this his central 
 station. On the 3d, he sent vessels loaded with corn to 
 Gondokoro. The next day, he dispatched fifteen of his 
 " Forty Thieves " to the south, to villages that had not yet 
 been disturbed. In the meantime, he had made a nice 
 little camp on the bank, erected huts and granaries, which 
 were soon filled with corn, awaiting transportation to Gon- 
 dokoro. While busily engaged, in superintending all these 
 arrangements, he suddenly heard steady firing in the direc- 
 tion taken by the small party of " the Forty." 
 
 Ordering his horse, and taking with him three of the 
 "Forty Thieves" and Monsoor, he started off on a trot in the 
 direction of the firing. After riding about a mile and a 
 half, he came suddenly upon a village, on two of the tallest 
 huts of which two of the "Forty Thieves " were standing as 
 sentries, while the rest were taking long shots at negroes 
 who had attacked them. It was regular target practice at 
 long range. Baker says : 
 
 " My arrival on the summit, on a white horse, attended 
 only by Monsoor and three soldiers, was a signal for a great
 
 228 ADVANCE IN OPEN ORDER. 
 
 blowing of horns and beating of drums. Immense num- 
 bers of natives were to be seen in all parts of the view be- 
 fore us. They ran eagerly from their villages, and col- 
 lected from every quarter, evidently bent upon a fight with 
 my little party. 
 
 " I ordered my men to cease firing, as they were wasting 
 their ammunition uselessly and destroying the prestige of 
 the rifles by missing at long ranges. 
 
 " I ordered a general advance in open order, about four 
 yards apart; thus twenty men covered a line of about 
 seventy-six paces. 
 
 " This front, with the men in scarlet uniform, made a 
 tolerable show. I rode at the head on a very beautiful 
 Arab ' Greedy Grey,' that was the most perfect of all the 
 horses I had brought from Egypt; excelling in breed, 
 speed, beauty and temper. He was very powerful; and 
 would stand the fire of heavy guns without flinching. 
 
 " My little company moved forward in quick time. This 
 was the signal for a chorus of yells upon all sides ; the big 
 drums sounded louder than before, and the horns of the 
 Baris bellowed in every direction. 
 
 " Great numbers of natives now advanced with their 
 bows and arrows, gesticulating and leaping from side to side 
 in their usual manner, so as to prevent the possibility of a 
 steady aim. 
 
 " As yet they were about six hundred yards distant, and 
 I continued the march forward as though no enemy were 
 present. As we descended a ravine and marched up the 
 opposite incline, I found that the natives retired over the 
 next undulation. Their line of front extended about a 
 mile and a quarter, while we occupied, at the most, eighty 
 paces. 
 
 " Having marched about a mile without firing a shot, 
 and finding that the natives invariably fell back as we ad-
 
 THE TACTICS OF THE ENEMY. 231 
 
 vanced, at the same time that they kept the same interval 
 between us, I at once understood their tactics. It was now 
 five o'clock ; the sun would set within an hour, and their 
 intention was to draw us forward until darkness would re- 
 duce the power of the rifles. They would then be able to 
 surround us, and very possibly overpower our small force 
 during our retreat to the vessels in the dark. 
 
 " I halied my men and explained to them the Baris's 
 dodge. I now ordered the retreat after this manner. We 
 should hurry down hill and up the next undulation, so as 
 to deceive the enemy with the idea of a precipitate retreat. 
 This would induce an advance on their side. The Baris 
 would be certain to follow us at full speed if they supposed 
 we were afraid of them. It was my intention to cross 
 rapidly the first undulation, where my men would for a few 
 minutes be out of view of the enemy, and there to conceal 
 them in a deserted village which I had noticed during our 
 advance. This would be an ambush that would take the 
 Baris by surprise, as they would imagine we had passed 
 ahead, they would, therefore, tome near the village. 
 
 "The order to the 'right about' was given, and my 
 men, who took a' keen interest in the plan, commenced so 
 precipitate a march down hill, that my horse was forced to 
 a jog-trot. I heard the savage yells of the enemy, who, as 
 I had expected, now followed us with the hope of cutting 
 off our retreat to the vessels. 
 
 " We crossed the dry, rocky bed of the torrent in the 
 bottom, and ascended the hill-face rapidly. Looking back, 
 I saw the natives running at full speed in pursuit. They 
 began to descend the hill just as we had crossed the sum- 
 mit of the high ground ; thus they lost sight of us as we 
 quickly concealed ourselves behind the huts and granaries 
 of a deserted village. I hid my horse behind a hut, and 
 the men, having surrounded the positions, crouched low on
 
 232 SHOT AT THE RED SHEIKH. 
 
 the ground behind the most convenient cover. Unfor- 
 tunately, the natives, who were on the high ground on our 
 right flank as we faced about, perceived the snare, and 
 endeavored to give the alarm by blowing upon their 
 whistles of antelope horn. This was either misunderstood 
 or unheeded by the enemy in our rear, who quickly made 
 their appearance. 
 
 " I had ordered my men to reserve their fire, and not to 
 expend any ammunition until the command should be 
 given. My good Monsoor was to reload for me, and I 
 borrowed a Snider rifle from a soldier. I rested the 
 ' Dutchman ' against the googoo or wicker granary, behind 
 which I was concealed. 
 
 " The natives on our right flank now pressed forward, 
 which would bring them in our rear ; at the same time 
 those in our front appeared in very loose and open order, 
 evidently looking for us in all directions. 
 
 " I observed a man painted red, like a stick of sealing- 
 wax, with large ivory bracelets upon his arms. This fel- 
 low was in advance, and he ascended a small ant-hill to 
 obtain a better view. Monsoor whispered : ' That's the 
 sheikh.' At the same time I had taken a rest with the rifle 
 as I knelt down by the googoo-stand A puff of smoke, 
 and the sharp crack of the rifle startled the enemy, as the 
 red shiekh rolled over. The yells increased on all sides, 
 the whistles of the antelope-horns now sounded a shrill 
 alarm, during which the red shiekh recovered his legs and 
 vainly attempted a dance of defiance. The leading Baris 
 shot off their arrows, but they fell short. In the mean- 
 time my men had remained motionless. Concealment was 
 now useless ; I therefore threw off the cover of a googoo, 
 into which excellent position I had climbed, while Monsoor 
 stood upon the frame-work to hand me a spare rifle. 
 
 " The circular googoo raised three feet from the ground
 
 CHARGE OF THE "FORTY THIEVES." 233 
 
 afforded a splendid lookout. In this I could turn and 
 fire in every direction, like a pivot gun on a Martello 
 tower. 
 
 " The red sheikh was now about two hundred yards dis- 
 tant and was gesticulating to his people, who were evidently 
 shy of closing with our position. A shot from the googoo 
 struck him through the body, and he staggered and fell, 
 never to rise again. 
 
 "A few natives immediately made a rush forward to recover 
 him. One immediately fell at a shot from the googoo, but 
 recovering himself like a cat, he staggered down the hill. 
 Another quick shot cracked upon the body of a native, 
 who was caught in the arms of his comrades and dragged 
 away as they precipitately retreated in all directions from 
 the dangerous locality. 
 
 '' My men now begged me to allow them to charge and 
 capture the man who was endeavoring to escape. I gave 
 them leave, and a party of fifteen dashed out in pursuit, 
 with loud yells, after the retreating natives. For about a 
 minute, the natives faced them and shot their arrows, but 
 the gallant fifteen coolly knelt upon the clear ground, and, 
 taking steady rest upon their knees, opened a fire that 
 wounded one man, who was immediately supported by his 
 fellows, and drove the enemy before them. The fifteen 
 immediately charged forward and bayoneted a fugitive, 
 and returned with his bow and arrows in triumph. 
 
 " The enemy had quickly had the worst of it. They 
 were now standing in all directions at distances varying 
 from four hundred to one thousand paces. Many of them 
 were actually in our rear, but I noticed that these fellows 
 were already opening to the right and left, as though they 
 faltered in their determination to resist -our retreat to the 
 vessels. I determined to follow up the first advantage. I 
 therefore ordered my men to hand ine their rifles as quickly
 
 234 A GENERAL SKEDADDLE. 
 
 as I required them, and I opened fire in all directions from 
 my elevated position. 
 
 " The Baris would not stand in the open ground before 
 the Sniders. 
 
 " Having set the sights for four hundred yards, I took 
 them first and continued until the country was completely 
 cleared of an enemy up to one thousand paces. 
 
 " The ground was dry and dusty, thus each bullet marked 
 its hit as the puff of dust rose from the earth like a jet of 
 smoke. 
 
 " Some of the enemy were knocked over at very long 
 ranges ; others were so scared by the close practice, as the 
 bullets either struck the ground at their feet or pinged 
 close to their ears, that they cleared off as quickly as pos- 
 sible. Their noisy drums had ceased, and suddenly I 
 perceived a general skedaddle, as those upon our right 
 flank started off at full speed, shouting and yelling to 
 alarm the rest. I now distinguished a body of troops hur- 
 rying at the double-quick down the hillside in the distance. 
 These were commanded by an active Sotidani officer (lieu- 
 tenant), who had been in Mexico under Marshal Bazaine. 
 He had heard the firing as he was returning with his day's 
 collection of corn to the vessels ; he had, therefore, dropped 
 the corn and hurried on with "his party to our support. I 
 ordered the bugles to sound the retreat, and, having joined 
 forces, we marched without further opposition. 
 
 " We reached the diahbeeah and my little camp about 
 half an hour after dark."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 VESSELS LEAVE FOR KHARTOUM WITH THE INVALIDS ABDULLAH'S VILLAINY EXPLORING THE 
 WHITE NILE MEETING A FRIENDLY TRIBE INTERVIEW WITH THE SHEIKH SORCERY AND 
 TALISMANS MAGIC AN ELEPHANT HUNT ITS MORAL EFFECTS SCRAMBLE FOR THE FLESH 
 THE TRIBES SEEK PEACE ELEPHANTS ENTER THE FORT A WILD SCENE ELEPHANTS GATHER- 
 ING FRUIT AN ADVFNTURE WITH A HIPPOPOTAMUS THE COUNTRY AT PEACE BAK.EB KE- 
 SOLVF-S TO START SOUTH. 
 
 A FTER the departure of Major Abdullah, the natives 
 *.A- attacked the other station near him, commanded by 
 Colonel Achmet, and had wounded him in the back with 
 a barbed arrow, which had to be cut out. Another passed 
 through the heart of his servant, killing him on the spot, 
 while several soldiers had been wounded. On the 3d of 
 November, thirty vessels had left Gondokoro for Khar- 
 toum, taking about one thousand one hundred people, 
 including women, sailors and invalids. This was contrary 
 to Baker's express orders, and was done on purpose by 
 Raouf Bey, to weaken the force and cripple him so that 
 he could not carry out the object of his expedition. By 
 this means he was reduced to five hundred and two officers 
 and men, which should have numbered one thousand six 
 hundred and forty-five. This was really the work of the 
 ruffianly slave-trader, Abou Saood, who had now apparently 
 gained his point, and the expedition was paralyzed. Baker 
 had written for reinforcements, but he did not know when 
 they would arrive, while there remained but one year and 
 four months of the time allowed him to accomplish his 
 work. But he determined, reduced as he was, not to relax 
 his efforts to secure the great end of the expedition. He 
 
 235
 
 236 FRIENDLY NATIVES. 
 
 had conquered the Baris and Gondokoro was well fortified, 
 so that lie had nothing to fear from that quarter. 
 
 On the 10th of November he took one hundred and fifty 
 men to reconnoitre the country, at the last cataracts of the 
 White Nile, some six miles distant. As he marched along 
 the high ground, nothing could exceed the beauty of the 
 country as an agricultural settlement. The long, sloping 
 undulations were ornamented with innumerable villages, 
 in all of which were overflowing granaries. Ascending a 
 slope, to his astonishment he saw a large number of natives 
 who appeared friendly. Leaving his rifle with Monsoor, 
 he rode up within fifty yards of them. His interpreter 
 explained that he was only on an exploration, and had no 
 intention of taking their property, but wished to see 
 their sheikh. They said they were governed by a great 
 shiekh named Bedden, whose territory was bounded by the 
 torrent-bed that he had just crossed. They promised that 
 he should pay Baker a visit on the morrow ; in the mean- 
 time, if he required any corn, they would supply him. This 
 was a politeness to which he was quite unaccustomed. He 
 therefore thanked them, but declined their offer, saying that 
 he wanted nothing from them except friendship. He now 
 discovered that these people had never had any connection 
 with the slave-traders, who were afraid to molest so power- 
 ful a tribe. At parting, he gave them a white handker- 
 chief, as a signal to his sentries, when they should arrive. 
 
 " We then," he says, " returned to our station, the troops 
 sharing the satisfaction that I felt, in having at length dis- 
 covered friends. 
 
 " On the following day, at about 3 P. M., the sentry on 
 the hill called to the guard that a very large body of natives 
 were approaching the station. I presumed that these were 
 the followers of Bedden, I therefore ascended the slope 
 and examined them with a telescope. My suspicions were
 
 THE SHEIKH'S VISIT. 237 
 
 aroused from the extraordinary number of people at least 
 seven hundred natives were accompanying their sheikh. I 
 returned to camp and made preparations to receive his 
 visit with a guard of honor. I drew up a hundred men 
 parallel with the river, about fifty yards from the bank, 
 near the bow of my diahbeeah. Fifty men were in line at 
 right angles with the river thus the lines formed two 
 sides of a square. In the front I placed the field-piece, 
 loaded with canister-shot. I intended to receive Bedden 
 with due honor in the hollow square, thus protected. In 
 the event of treachery, his force could be almost annihi- 
 lated by one discharge. 
 
 " The hill sentry now reported the arrival of a messen- 
 ger, who waved a white handkerchief on the end of a bam- 
 boo. This was the signal agreed upon, and the messenger 
 was allowed to pass. He communicated the fact of Bedden 's 
 approach ; in a few minutes later the great sheikh arrived. 
 He was very tall and gaunt ; and, without any delay, he 
 and his people were ushered into the hollow square, where 
 they all stuck their lances in the ground and sat down. 
 
 " I now sent for Bedden and a few of his principal men 
 to the poop deck of my diahbeeah, which being covered 
 with carpets, and arranged with sofas and chairs, was 
 something very astonishing to the great sheikh, who had 
 never seen anything but a vessel in the distance. 
 
 " I now explained the objects of the expedition ; at the 
 same time I presented him with a long Egyptian blue shirt 
 that reached to his ankles and made him look more re- 
 spectable. A crimson sash round his waist, and a red tar- 
 boosh (fez) upon his head, improved his appearance won- 
 derfully and he began to feel at home. - 
 
 " I presented him with six pounds of beads of various 
 colors, together with some strings of harness bells. A brass 
 bugle and a large mirror attracted more attention than any
 
 238 THE WONDERFUL PARROT. 
 
 other curiosities. I gave him a brass bugle, to his great 
 delight. 
 
 " The use of the cannon was then explained to him, and 
 the effects of the shell were pardonably exaggerated to pro- 
 duce a respect for the weapon. 
 
 " He gave us six pots of merissa and some fowls, prom- 
 ising to come again to-morrow. 
 
 " All these people believe in sorcery, and each sheikh 
 possesses spells and conjurors. Tortoise shells, scales of the 
 manis, lion's claws and those of the leopard, roots, knots of 
 trees of peculiar shape, and many other things, are worn 
 as talismans. My wife's parrot was supposed to be a cajoor 
 or fetish. This was the gray bird of West Africa, that was 
 unknown in these parts. The interpreter explained that 
 'it could speak like a human being, and that it flew about 
 the country and listened to what people said all of which 
 it reported to its mistress and myself; thus we knew every- 
 thing that occurred, and the natives could not deceive us/ 
 This parrot was exceedingly tame and was never confined. 
 It was now walking about the deck, and while its extraor- 
 dinary powers were being described by my Bari inter- 
 preter, Morgian, to the amazement and fear of the natives, 
 it advanced stoutly to the sheikh Bedden, and would have 
 bitten his big toe had he not quickly jumped up and taken 
 leave. The magnetic battery and large musical box were 
 also believed to be magic. 
 
 " At sunset, the great sheikh departed in the best of 
 spirits, with all his people, as he had drunk a tumbler of 
 marsala before he started, in order to try the quality of our 
 merissa. 
 
 " The population of this country is very large, and the 
 people are good agriculturists. Although the soil is stony, 
 it is very productive, as the cultivation is carefully attended 
 to. Dhurra, sesame, dochan and beans, in addition to a
 
 A HEED OF ELEPHANTS. 239 
 
 species of Hibiscus, which produces an edible seed and also 
 a fine fibre, are sown in exact oblongs or squares, resem- 
 bling the plots in allotment-grounds in England. Near the 
 villages are large heaps of manure, collected from the cattle 
 'zarubas.' These are mixed with the sweepings of the 
 stations, and the ashes from the cattle-fires, and are divided, 
 when required, among the proprietors of the herds." 
 
 ELEPHANT HUNT. 
 
 While here, Baker examined carefully the geological 
 formation of the country, and frequently worked for gold 
 in the most likely spots in the deep ravines, but he found 
 no signs of gold or other precious metals. 
 
 "On 13th November, at sunrise, Lieutenant Saker 
 started with the troops to convey corn from a distant 
 village. I was sitting on the poop deck of the diahbeeah, 
 enjoying a pipe and a cup of coffee, when he suddenly 
 galloped back with the news that a herd of bull elephants 
 was approaching from the west. I was not prepared for 
 elephant-shooting, and I recommended him to return to 
 the troops, who would otherwise waste their time. I had 
 no suspicion that elephants would approach our position 
 after having been disturbed by the soldiers, in a country 
 that was perfectly open. 
 
 " Lieutenant Baker cantered back to his men, while I 
 commenced to write up my journal according to my daily 
 custom. 
 
 " In about a quarter of an hour, the sentry reported a 
 herd of elephants. All my people clambered up upon the 
 googoos and huts to obtain a good view of the herd, which, 
 from the high poop deck of the diahbeeah, we could see 
 distinctly. 
 
 " There were eleven bulls, and they were marching in
 
 240 MAKING PREPARATIONS. 
 
 close order along the bank of the river, approaching us at 
 about four hundred yards distance. 
 
 " I should have thought it almost as likely to meet a 
 herd of elephants in Hyde Park, as to find them in this 
 open and thickly-populated country. I now distinguished 
 natives along the distant heights, all of whom were at- 
 tracted by the uncommon occurrence. In the meantime 
 the elephants approached, swinging their trunks and huge 
 ears to and fro, apparently unconscious of the presence of 
 the vessels and people. 
 
 " I always kept my guns and ammunition in beautiful 
 order, arranged on a rack in the cabin. On the left hand 
 side were the shot guns, i. <?., two breech-loading No. 12 ; 
 four muzzle-loading No. 10. On the right the rifles ; the 
 little ' Dutchman,' two breech-loading Reilly No. 8, two 
 muzzle-loading Holland half-pounders that carried an iron 
 lead-coated explosive shell, containing a bursting charge of 
 half an ounce of fine grain powder. These two elephant 
 rifles were very hard hitters, and carried twelve drachms 
 of powder. The ammunition for the rifles was on a shelf 
 that formed the rack, contained in a small bag with a sim- 
 ple reload, and a large bag with a considerable supply. 
 The small bag was intended for the deck should I call 
 suddenly for a rifle. 
 
 "Seeing that the elephants were so near, I at once 
 ordered my horse, * Greedy Gray/ to be saddled and the 
 rifles and ammunition to be sent after me. My servant, 
 Suleiman, who had started with me from Alexandria, was 
 an honest, good creature, but so exceedingly nervous that 
 he was physically useless in any sudden emergency. The 
 climate of the mashes during our long voyage had so 
 affected his nervous system, that any alarm or start would 
 set him trembling to such an extent that his teeth chat- 
 tered as though he had been bathing in iced water. How-
 
 ELEPHANTS SURROUNDED. 243 
 
 ever, there was no time to lose, as I expected that should 
 the elephants observe our vessels and the troops in their 
 scarlet uniforms, they would immediately wheel round and 
 be off at the pace which an African elephant knows so well 
 how to use. 
 
 " I quickly mounted ' Greedy Gray ' and told Suleiman 
 to send on my rifles directly with ammunition. I ordered 
 my men to run up the heights and to come down at about two 
 hundred paces in the rear of the elephants, where they 
 were to form a line as though in skirmishing order. This 
 line of red shirts would most probably check the elephants 
 from rushing back. My men had orders to fire at the 
 elephants, and to endeavor to turn them should they attempt 
 to retreat. 
 
 " I was now on ' Greedy Gray ;' the sloping ground was 
 as clean as a race course, I therefore galloped up the slope 
 so as to keep above the elephants. The horse flew along 
 at full speed. At this moment, a chorus of shouts from 
 great numbers of natives who had collected on the east 
 bank of the river, was raised in admiration of the white 
 horse which they probably thought would, in some manner, 
 seize the elephants. 
 
 " In a very few seconds, I reined up the slope about a 
 hundred yards above the herd, which had now halted close 
 to the river's bank. They regarded the horse with some 
 curiosity and massed themselves together. 
 
 " In the meantime my ' Forty/ who were capital runners, 
 were moving rapidly along the heights, and they presently 
 came down and formed in a long open line from the edge 
 of the river up the slope. During this operation the ele- 
 phants only moved their ears and trunks, but remained in 
 the same position. They were now completely surrounded ; 
 the diahbeeah and my people were in their front, I was 
 above them on one flank, and the servants were coming up
 
 244 TAKING TO WATER. 
 
 with the rifles. In their rear was a line of about twenty 
 soldiers, and on the other flank was the deep river, about 
 one hundred and ten yards wide from the mainland to the 
 island. 
 
 " Just as the rifles were in a few yards of me, and I was 
 preparing to dismount, the elephants wheeled suddenly 
 round and took to water. They had been standing in a 
 low, swampy spot, that was frequently overflowed; thus 
 they had no difficulty in descending to the river. Close to 
 this place the bank was perpendicular and as hard as brick. 
 
 " I ran down to the river, but, by the time of my arrival, 
 the elephants had gained the opposite bank ; there, how- 
 ever, they were in difficulty. The water was deep, and the 
 shore of the island was perpendicular and about six feet 
 above the water. They could not get out without break- 
 ing down the bank so as to form an incline. Already 
 these enormous creatures, which are accustomed to such 
 difficulties, were tearing down the earth with their tusks 
 and horny-toed feet ; still it was a work of time, that gave 
 me a good opportunity. 
 
 " It was difficult to obtain a shot, as the elephants were 
 end on. The distance was about one hundred and ten 
 yards, which is very uncertain for so large an animal, that 
 must be struck exactly in the right place. I fired several 
 shots with the No. 8 breech-loader, aimed at the back of 
 their heads, but none of these were successful. 
 
 "Monsoor had the ammunition and reloaded for me. 
 The stunning effect of the heavy metal confused the ani- 
 mals and caused one to fall backwards into the scrambling 
 herd. This turned an elephant sideways. The bank had 
 already given way and fallen in large masses into the river 
 which reduced its depth. The elephants, which had now 
 gained a muddy footing, ploughed and tore down the yield- 
 ing earth with redoubled vigor, as my men in great excite-
 
 AMMUNITION EXHAUSTED. 245 
 
 ment opened a hot fire upon them with Snider rifles. 
 These had about as much effect as though they had been 
 pelted with stones. 
 
 " Presently, as the depth was lessened by the falling 
 bank, the elephants showed more body above the surface. 
 The splashing and scrambling was extraordinary ; at 
 length a large bull half ascended the bank, and for a 
 moment exposed his flank ; I fired a quick right and left 
 shot with a Reilly No. 8, behind his shoulder, and he fell 
 backward into the river, where he commenced a series of 
 wild struggles that brought him within twenty yards of 
 me, and I sent a ball into his head which killed him. 
 The powerful stream at once carried away the floating 
 carcass. 
 
 "The bank had now completely given way, and an 
 elephant was nearly on the summit. I fired at him with 
 one of the Holland half-pounders, which, by the recoil, 
 flew out of my hands for the distance of several yards ; 
 this was loaded with twelve drachms of fine-grain powder. 
 The elephant fell on his knees on the steep incline, and 
 was bogged to all intents and purposes ; but believing that 
 I had plenty of ammunition on hand, I fired another half- 
 pounder into his shoulder, which killed him on the spot, 
 and he rolled into the water, and the current took him 
 away. I immediately sent a man to order boats, with 
 ropes and axes, to follow the carcasses. 
 
 " In the meantime, I fired my last No. 8 into the shoulder 
 of an elephant that had just climbed the bank and gained 
 the island. I now had a glorious opportunity of a shoulder- 
 shot at every animal as it should ascend the steep incline. 
 
 " My ammunition was exhausted ! My servant Sulei- 
 man had sent the little bag that contained only one reload 
 for the breech-loaders, and no powder-flask or shells for 
 the half-pounders. I had now the annoyance of witnessing
 
 246 SHELLING ELEPHANTS. 
 
 the difficult ascent of the elephants in single file, exposing 
 their flanks in succession to the shoulder-shot, while I 
 remained a helpless looker-on. 
 
 " I had thus bagged only two out of eleven, but these 
 were killed at very long shots (about a hundred and ten 
 yards). The half-pounder rifles were the same calibre and 
 pattern as that described in * The Nile Tributaries of Abys- 
 sinia' as ' the Baby.' These were made by Mr. Holland, 
 of Bond Street, and are the most overpowering rifles I ever 
 used. They were certain to kill the elephant, and half- 
 kill the man who fired them with twelve drachms of fine- 
 grain powder. I was tolerably strong, therefore I was 
 never killed outright ; but an Arab hunter had his collar- 
 bone smashed by the recoil when the weapon was loaded 
 with simple coarse-grain powder. If he had used fine- 
 grain, I should hardly have insured his life. 
 
 "The elephants having gained the island, remained 
 some time exposed before they made up their minds to 
 cross to the other side. Unfortunately, the boats had 
 followed the carcasses of the elephants down the river, 
 which were two miles distant before they could be secured ; 
 therefore, we had no means of reaching the island. Our 
 vessels could not have crossed, as there were many rocks 
 below stream. I therefore took a few shots with Bale's 
 rockets, one of which just grazed the rump of an elephant, 
 and sent them off in great astonishment. We then tried a 
 few shots with the field-piece, but the gun made bad prac- 
 tice, and the shells exploded very wildly, and not accord- 
 ing to the distances regulated by the fuses. 
 
 " The specific gravity of the elephant differs consider- 
 bly from that of the hippopotamus. The latter animal 
 invariably sinks when killed, and the body rises to the 
 surface in about two hours, when the gas has distended the 
 stomach. The body of an elephant floats on the surface
 
 MORAL EFFECTS OF THE HUNT. 247 
 
 immediately that it is killed, and is capable of supporting 
 one or more persons. The cavity of the carcass is much 
 larger in the elephant than in the hippopotamus the 
 latter is a dense mass of flesh, covered by an exceedingly 
 thick and heavy skin, the specific gravity of which is con- 
 siderably greater than water." 
 
 The moral effects of this elephant hunt were wonderful. 
 The sound of the cannon had brought in the natives from 
 far and near, and they gazed with astonishment on the 
 carcasses of the two dead elephants. Their hostility was 
 at once changed into friendship, and on the following 
 morning Baker held a levee on board his boat, at which 
 twenty chiefs came to him for peace. He gave them 
 presents, and they said the taking of their corn was of no 
 account. 
 
 In their conversation they told him that elephants 
 were seldom seen in that region, and that they did not 
 understand killing them, and concluded by asking for 
 some of their meat. Permission being given, they we'nt off 
 in the direction where the carcasses lay,- and soon there 
 was a general scramble for the precious morsels. This 
 seemed strange, as they had cattle enough. But Baker 
 said " the African negroes are an incomprehensible people, 
 and they cannot be judged by the ordinary rules of human 
 nature." 
 
 Each division of the district in succession followed each 
 other's example in desiring peace, and on the 19th of No- 
 vember he returned to Gondokoro, highly satisfied with the 
 results of the campaign, and he now began to prepare, 
 feeble as his force was, to push into the interior toward the 
 equator. In the meantime the elephants became quite 
 thick around Gondokoro, and one night two immense bull 
 elephants walked coolly past the sentries into the very 
 centre of the fort, and a scene of the wildest confusion
 
 248 AN ELEPHANT'S STRENGTH. 
 
 followed. The garrison was aroused, and for a time it was 
 a random discharge of firearms on the one side, and a wild, 
 frantic charge of elephants on the other. They finally 
 escaped by the way they came in. But Baker had no time 
 to hunt, as he was busy in preparing for his march south- 
 ward. It seems the elephants, at this time of the year, are 
 attracted toward the place by the ripe lalobes. The trees, 
 if of medium size, are frequently torn down for the sake 
 of this small production, that would appear too insignificant 
 for the notice of so huge an animal. 
 
 " I once," he says, "had an opportunity of witnessing an 
 exhibition of an elephant's strength exerted in his search for 
 this small fruit. I was in the Shir country, and, one evening, 
 accompanied by Lieutenant Baker, I strolled into the 
 forest, about half a mile from our vessels, to watcji for 
 water-buck (Redunca Ellipsiprymna) in a small glade, 
 where I had shot one the previous evening. 
 
 " We had not long been concealed when I heard a pecu- 
 liar noise in the thick forest, which denoted the approach 
 of elephants. We at once retreated to some rising ground 
 about one hundred and fifty paces distant, as our small 
 rifles would have been useless against such heavy game. 
 In a short time, several elephants appeared from different 
 portions of the covert, and one of extraordinary size moved 
 slowly toward us, until he halted beneath a tall, spreading 
 heglik. This tree must have been nearly three feet in 
 diameter, and was about thirty feet high from the ground 
 to the first branch ; it was, therefore, impossible for the 
 elephant to gather the coveted fruit. To root up such a 
 tree would have been out of the question. The elephant 
 paused for a short time as though considering; he then 
 butted his forehead suddenly against the trunk. I could 
 not have believed the effect: this large tree, which was 
 equal in appearance to the average size of park-limber,
 
 ADVENTURE WITH A HIPPOPOTAMUS. 251 
 
 quivered in every branch to such a degree, that had a per- 
 son taken refuge from an elephant, and thought himself 
 secure in the top, he would have found it difficult to hold 
 on. 
 
 " When the lalobes fall, they must be picked up indi- 
 vidually, and though the trouble appears disproportioned 
 to the value of the fruit, there is no fruit so much coveted 
 by elephants. 
 
 " Near this spot, on the following day, I had a close ad- 
 venture with a hippopotamus. I had gone to the same 
 place where I had seen the elephants, and as I was return- 
 ing through the forest within a few rods of the river 
 margin, when, upon suddenly turning round a dense thorn 
 bush, I came within four or five paces of a large bull hip- 
 popotamus. This animal had left the river for an evening 
 ramble on the shore, and was munching some succulent 
 grass with such gusto that he had not heard my approach. 
 Unfortunately, I had come upon him exactly at right 
 angles, which restricted my shot to the temple. This is 
 the most difficult of penetration in the hippopotamus. I 
 only had the * Dutchman/ and my attendant, Moonsoor, 
 carried a Snider rifle ; thus we were badly armed for so 
 impenetrable a beast. I fired just in front of his ear, cer- 
 tainly within fifteen feet. The only effect produced was a 
 shake of his head, and he appeared rather stupid, as 
 though stunned. The left hand barrel followed quickly 
 upon the right; Monsoor fired with his Snider. The 
 ' Dutchman ' being a breech-loader, was ready again, and 
 we fired into this stupid-looking brute as though he had 
 been a target, and with about the same effect. 
 
 " Suddenly, as though we had just awakened him, he 
 turned round and bolted into a dense mass of thorns about 
 thirty paces from us. 
 
 " In the meantime, the troops at the vessels, that were
 
 252 THE "FORTY THIEVES" TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 within three hundred paces, having heard the rapid and 
 continued firing supposed I had been attacked by the 
 natives. The 'Forty Thieves' rushed to the rescue. I 
 heard the bugle, and presently the voices of the men, as 
 they approached, running at full speed. The hippopotamus 
 had moved from his thorny retreat, and was moving slowly 
 forward, when he was stumbled against by 'the Forty,' 
 some of whom literally ran against him. The animal ap- 
 peared quite stunned and stupid, and he merely stood and 
 stared at his new assailants. The sight was perfectly 
 ridiculous. Every rifle was fired into him, but the hollow 
 bullets of the Sniders had no penetration, and AVC might as 
 well have peppered the stone bulls of Nineveh in the 
 British Museum. At length, having been the centre of a 
 blaze of fire-work, as every man did his best to kill him, 
 during a space of about a minute, he coolly approached the 
 edge of the cliff, which was quite perpendicular and about 
 eighteen feet high. A tremendous splash was the end of 
 the encounter, as the hippo committed himself to the deep, 
 with a clumsy jump from the midst of the disappointed 
 soldiers." 
 
 Everything was now in order in Gondokoro peace 
 reigned throughout the district, food was abundant and the 
 station strongly fortified, and Baker was ready to start 
 south. He determined to carry a steamer in sections to 
 north latitude 3 32', and there put it together and launch 
 it on the Albert Nyanza.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE DETERMINATION TO ADVANCE A DESPERATE POSITION SOLDIERS DRAW THE CARTS TO 
 LABORS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF AFRICA REACHES FATIKO 
 POWER OF MUSIC OVER THE NATIVES GROTESQUE DANCING OF NAKED WOMEN STARTS FOR 
 UNYORO BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY DEPOPULATED PROCLAIMS PEACE LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 MR. BAKER, in this determination to proceed at all 
 hazards and finish the work assigned him, showed 
 his true Saxon pluck ; while his wife, notwithstanding all 
 she had endured and suffered, and the still greater trials 
 awaiting her, persisting in accompanying him to the end, 
 whatever that end should he, exhibited a spirit, if possible, 
 still braver and more worthy of admiration. Selecting 
 carefully those to compose his force on whom he could 
 rely in the last extremity, he prepared to set out on his 
 hazardous enterprise. Major Abdullah, who had served in 
 Mexico under Marshal Bazaine in that unhappy invasion 
 of Maximilian, formed with six boys the domestic corps. 
 Sending off a hundred and fifty men to drive several thou- 
 sand cattle and sheep to a well-known rocky ravine some 
 six miles in advance, he started at eight o'clock in the 
 morning of the 22d of January, 1871, to complete his 
 annexation of this vast tropical region to Egypt, and open 
 commerce with it through the Nile to Europe. These 
 same two hundred men set out in high spirits, and on the 
 27th arrived with the vessels at the foot of the cataracts, 
 4 38' north latitude. His old friend Bedden, a native 
 chief whom he had known in his former explorations in 
 Africa, met Baker here, but seemed to treat him coldly ; 
 
 253
 
 254 ATTEMPT TO STAMPEDE. 
 
 and when the latter said he wanted to hire two hundred 
 carriers, left him in such a suspicious manner that he was 
 sure he should never see him again. He was right ; and 
 hence felt that his position was becoming desperate. 
 Without" carriers he was helpless. With cattle and sheep 
 together he had over four thousand head, which he saw 
 was a great temptation to these unprincipled savages ; and 
 the first thought when night came on was to secure them. 
 He knew they would think it a far better speculation to 
 get his cattle than to carry his baggage. He was not mis- 
 taken ; that night a stampede was attempted, but, thanks 
 to his precaution, failed. In order to clear the neighbor- 
 hood of the thieves, he set off a number of rockets, which 
 soon sent them scampering in every direction. 
 
 He now was compelled to change his plans ; and, as the 
 steamer could go no farther with his load, he determined 
 to push on to Lahore, sixty miles distant, if the soldiers 
 would draw the carts. There he knew he could obtain 
 carriers and continue his march, and fulfill his mission to 
 establish the khedive's authority in that region and sup- 
 press the slave trade. 
 
 After some objections and complaints by the soldiers, 
 they agreed to take the places of the carriers and move on. 
 Before the carts were all loaded and they were ready to 
 start, an old man seventy or eighty years of age, paid him 
 a visit, and Baker, from the numerous spells hung about 
 his person, concluded he was a " rain-maker." His face 
 was smeared with wood ashes to give him as demoniacal 
 an appearance as possible. Baker gave him a glass of 
 Marsala wine and a blue shirt, as he wished to make friends 
 with him, because the natives hold these rain-makers in 
 respect. He kept giving the old toper wine till his heart 
 was enlarged and he was ready to converse. Pie said that 
 knew the country well and would act as guide to Lahore
 
 A RAIN-MAKER. 25o 
 
 for the small consideration of a cow, saying that if he was 
 with him, the natives on the way would treat him with 
 civility. Baker asked him if he could keep the rain away 
 during the journey. He immediately blew his rain whistle, 
 which he carried suspended to his neck, and looked as 
 much as to say what do you think of that ? Baker sent 
 for a German horn, which was a polished cow's horn with 
 a brass mouth-piece, and presented it to him. The wine 
 had made the old conjurer mellow, and he was profuse in 
 his gratitude, and kept blowing the horn and grinned till 
 the tears ran down his cheeks. He then suspended it 
 round his neck and said proudly, "I am now a great 
 sheikh ; there is no rain-maker so great as I ; you will 
 travel with me and this horn shall keep you dry: Don't 
 trouble yourself about the Baris, they won't molest you, but 
 travel as soon as you can." 
 
 A valuable ally had been gained. At 3 P. M., February 
 8th, they set out, old Lokko, the rain-maker, showing the 
 way and waving a couple of thin-peeled sticks at a black 
 cloud in the sky and blowing his horn frantically. The 
 black cloud soon melted in the clear air. He had 
 evidently conquered, and so gave his face an extra coat of 
 wood ashes to make himself still more hideous. 
 
 Baker's wife rode " Greedy Gray " with as much baggage 
 as could be hung on the saddle, while he himself rode a 
 powerful chestnut. Lieutenant Baker rode a light chest- 
 nut and Colonel Abd-el-Kader an Arab steed, while ten 
 donkeys carried ammunition, flour, etc. Mr. Baker, with 
 his wife and the lieutenant, headed the procession, followed 
 by old Lokko. Behind him marched the " Forty Thieves," 
 while two Egyptian officers led the rear guard, driving 
 one thousand cows and five hundred sheep, which swelled 
 the little caravan into immense proportions and filled the 
 air with their lowing and bleating. All the boys and girls 

 
 256 A DANGEROUS SHELL 
 
 carried loads, and the best of spirits prevailed. After a 
 marcli of three miles, they halted in a little village, from 
 which, at their approach, the inhabitants fled. 
 
 Saving his flour for an emergency, Baker ordered the 
 troops to eat that which was in the village. Next morn- 
 ing, on leaving, he tied up two cows as payment for it, 
 which were worth fifty times as much as the flour, but he 
 wished to show the inhabitants that he had no intention of 
 wronging them. The next morning, he started at half 
 past five, and, after marching for two hours and a half 
 through a beautiful, undulating country, came to a little 
 village where, the people being well acquainted with Lokko, 
 received him kindly, and where he hired five natives to 
 help carry his loads. At night, having made twelve miles, 
 they stopped at a small village, where the natives brought 
 him, as a great curiosity, a shell that Baker had fired at the 
 Baris and which they had sold to these villagers for old 
 iron. He inquired what they were going to do with it. 
 "Oh," they said, "hammer it into hoes." It had never 
 exploded, and he told them if they put it on the fire it 
 would burst and tear them to pieces. They made no reply, 
 but carried away the shell, and it is not known whether 
 they ever tried the experiment. 
 
 The next day, they again took up the line of march, the 
 country being even more beautiful and charming than the 
 day before. That night they slept at a village named 
 Marengo. The next day, old Lokko seemed at fault about 
 the direct road to Lahore, and Baker hired two natives as 
 guides. The following day they marched fourteen miles, 
 straight to the place, and halted beneath a tree to wait for 
 the immense herds to come up. He was now out of the 
 country of the Bari. The following day he held a regular 
 market, trading off cattle for flour. The next day, the 
 whole country turned out to hunt, and the natives returned 
 in the evening with two buffaloes and a few small antelope.
 
 A NIGHT ATTACK. 257 
 
 On the 24th of February, all the troops commanded by 
 Major Abdullah arrived, and reported that after Mr. 
 Baker's departure the Baris had attacked him and tried to 
 burn the vessels. On the night of the 17th, when Baker 
 and his party were quietly sleeping at Moogoo, the troops 
 left behind with the vessels were suddenly attacked, the 
 sentries being nearly all asleep. The one cannon, on which 
 they depended so much, was loaded with shell instead of 
 canister, while the artillery-men were fast asleep beside it. 
 The spies of the Baris having ascertained the state of things 
 came suddenly upon them. If one or two of the cattle 
 sentries had not been awake the whole force would have 
 been massacred. As they approached the silent camp, they 
 gave a succession of terrific yells and shrieks and rushed 
 forward in a mass. Fortunately a row of thorn branches 
 had been laid about sixty feet from the camp, which caused 
 a momentary confusion, during which the cattle sentries 
 fired off their muskets. The cattle guard of sixty men in- 
 stantly jumped to their feet and poured in a volley on the 
 dark mass of warriors that had been momentarily stopped 
 by the thorn-bushes. This gave time for the camp to 
 arouse and fire the cannon which, at that point-blank 
 range, loaded with canister, would have ploughed a lane 
 through the crowded mass of naked warriors and scat- 
 tered them in every direction. But the gunners fled as the 
 appalling yells burst on their ears. One brave fellow, how- 
 ever, stood by the gun and pulled the lanyard ; it missed 
 fire, and he was immediately transfixed with spears and the 
 gun captured. The savages now made for the vessels, with 
 fire-brands in their hands. But the frightened troops had 
 taken refuge here and, being driven into a corner, showed 
 fightand poured rapid volleys into the yelling, excited crowd, 
 and they were forced back and the gun recaptured. 
 Another tube was now found and fitted, and the lanyard
 
 258 A GRAND DANCE. 
 
 again pulled. Again the tube missed fire. Another was 
 brought and fitted, and this time the gun spoke with a roar 
 that drove the assailants back and finally put them to 
 flight. The next morning, however, the big drums of the 
 natives were heard, on both sides of the river, and thou- 
 sands of savages were congregated on the neighboring 
 heights, and a general attack was expected. But they 
 thought better of it, and the troops reached Labore and 
 joiaed Baker. 
 
 The latter was now ready to move forward. He en- 
 gaged five hundred natives to accompany him they to 
 select the cows to be given in payment for their services 
 beforehand. This was a tedious job, for they were very 
 particular ; but the five hundred cows were at last selected 
 and driven out, and everything was ready for a start, when 
 a soldier deserted. The natives found him, but dared not 
 arrest him, as he threatened to shoot them. Baker then 
 sent out a sergeant, with three men of the " Forty," who 
 soon brought him back, when he was put in irons. 
 
 Before he started the natives had a grand dance 
 the men and women, stark naked, leaping, and yelling wild 
 songs, and beating two sticks of wood together. Baker 
 says "some of the girls were pretty, but being smeared 
 with red ochre and fat, were not attractive." At least a 
 thousand were present. 
 
 On the 29th of February, Baker ordered the reveille to 
 be beaten, when, to his surprise, only four hundred and 
 thirty-three of the five hundred carriers engaged presented 
 themselves sixty-seven having absconded with their cows, 
 nor could they be found, and he was compelled to start 
 without them. There was considerable quarreling about 
 the choice of parcels to be carried, especially the zinc boat 
 of Mr. Baker's, weighing three hundred and sixty pounds. 
 But everything was finally arranged, and at half-past three
 
 CARAVAN IN MOTION. 259 
 
 the caravan was put in motion, and Baker, with five 
 picked men, pushed on at the rate of four miles an hour, 
 leaving the rest far behind. They halted at six o'clock in 
 a rocky ravine, where they expected to find water, but were 
 disappointed, and compelled to dig wells in the sand. At 
 half-past seven the troops, and baggage, and cattle arrived 
 by torchlight. 
 
 The next morning, March 1st, there was a frightful 
 scramble among the carriers over the packages they were 
 to carry. Through a fine country of hills and forests they 
 now marched for sixteen miles, but villages and large 
 tracts of land, which had formerly been under cultivation, 
 were now desolate, having been ravaged by the ruthless 
 slave-hunter. This day Baker killed an antelope that 
 would weigh over four hundred pounds. This day, as from 
 an elevation he saw the White Nile flowing on in a calm, 
 deep stream from the Albert Nyanza, far above all the 
 cataracts, he felt sorely disappointed, that, owing to the 
 peculiar obstructions in the White Nile, he had not been 
 able to bring his steamers to this point, and launch them 
 permanently on the Albert Nyanza. 
 
 He now descended into a beautiful plain, to which he 
 gave the name Ibrahimmeyah, in honor of the khedive's 
 father. " This point," he says, " is destined to become the 
 capital of Central Africa." It will be the general depot 
 for steamers when the trade of this vast region is developed 
 by steamers on the Albert Nyanza. He adds : " It is a 
 curious fact, that a short line of a hundred and twenty 
 miles of railway would open up the very heart of Africa 
 to steam-transport between the Mediterranean and the 
 equator, when the line to Khartoum is completed." The 
 country was lovely and full of game, and lie " reveled " 
 in it. 
 
 On the 3d of February, he again started for Fatiko,
 
 260 THE SLAVE-STATION. 
 
 which he reached in three days. He had been here years 
 before. As he now approached it, he passed through a 
 country fit for a paradise. The line of march was as 
 follows: Mr. Baker, his wife and Lieutenant Baker on 
 horseback in advance, preceded by five of the body-guard 
 of the " Forty Thieves." Next came the remaining por- 
 tion of the guard, commanded by Colonel Abd-el-Kader ; 
 after which followed the regiment in single file, succeeded 
 by the four hundred carriers with the baggage the herd 
 of cattle bringing up the long, imposing procession. The 
 sky was clear, the air in this high region cool and balmy, 
 the scenery enchanting, which caused every heart to bound 
 with joy ; while Baker was exhilarated with the fact that 
 he had reached the hot-bed of the slave-trader, and came 
 as a deliverer to the down-trodden inhabitants. The long 
 caravan suddenly appeared on a green plateau that over- 
 looked Fatiko about a mile distant, their presence being 
 announced by the sound of bugles and the beat of drums. 
 The inhabitants streamed out of their houses at the un- 
 wonted sound, and gazed at the long procession winding 
 down to the notes of the bugle, as if it were an apparition. 
 Baker, in the meantime, dismounted, and, taking out his 
 glass, scanned carefully the slave-station of his arch-enemy, 
 Abou Saood, below, covering thirty acres. It was in wild 
 confusion and alarm, and he heard the slaver's drum beat, 
 and saw slaves driven away in great haste. 
 
 Baker and his wife had been here before as travelers, 
 and were at once recognized ; but his present appearance, 
 with a disciplined force of over two hundred men, was a 
 new sight to Central Africa. He was hailed, however, on 
 all sides as a deliverer. Abou Saood was taken completely 
 aback. After he had secretly aroused the Baris to hos- 
 tility at Gondokoro, he had come hither with seventy of 
 them as retainers, and reported that the great expedition
 
 A REVIEW OF BAKER'S TROOPS. 261 
 
 had failed, and was, therefore, lording it in his own way. 
 With his old cunning, he professed great friendship for 
 Baker and his policy. The latter, though knowing his 
 duplicity, did not dare at this moment to liberate the thou- 
 sand or more slaves he had at different stations, but set 
 about his great work methodically and earnestly. He 
 says of the men of this region, that they are the best- 
 proportioned that he has hitherto seen muscular, well- 
 knit and handsome. The women were short, and it was a 
 little singular that the usual custom among savage tribes 
 was here reversed the women going entirely naked, while 
 the men were partially clothed with the skin of an antelope, 
 thrown over the shoulder like a scarf. 
 
 Baker now dispatched two faithful men, Gimoro and 
 Shoole, to go throughout the country and inform the head 
 men and all the inhabitants of his intentions, and that the 
 atrocities committed by Abou Saood and his slave-hunters 
 were at an end, and that in twenty days the latter would 
 have to take all his people out of the country. The news 
 they carried filled the inhabitants with joy ; for, once rid 
 of these banditti, the deserted villages would be repopu- 
 lated and the neglected fields retilled. 
 
 After their departure, he had a long conversation with 
 an old servant of his in his former explorations, who gave 
 him a detailed account of the acts of Abou Saood and his 
 brigands for the last few years. It was a history of mas- 
 sacres and cruelty. 
 
 One day he reviewed his troops, a display that filled the 
 natives with astonishment. The music of the band, which 
 was composed of several bugles, drums and cymbals, to- 
 gether with a big bass-drum, drove them into ecstasies. 
 They are passionately fond of music, and Baker says that 
 he believes that a London organ-grinder could march 
 through Central Africa unguarded followed the whole
 
 262 AN EXTRAORDINARY DANCE. 
 
 way by an admiring and enthusiastic crowd, and adds : 
 " As my troops returned to their, quarters, with the band 
 playing rather cheerful airs, we observed the women racing 
 down from their villages and gathering from all directions 
 toward the common centre. As they approached nearer, 
 the charms of music were overpowering, and halting for 
 an instant, they assumed what they considered the most 
 graceful attitudes, and then danced up to the band. In a 
 short time my buglers could hardly blow their instruments 
 for laughing at the extraordinary effect of their perform- 
 ances. The women throughout the Shooli are entirely 
 naked, and the effect of naked women bounding about as 
 musical enthusiasts was very extraordinary. Even the 
 babies were brought out to dance, and strapped to their 
 mothers' backs, and covered w r ith pumpkin-shells, like 
 tortoises, were jolted about without the slightest considera- 
 tion for the weakness of their necks, by their infatuated 
 mothers. The men, squatted on the rocks, looked on in 
 admiration. We stayed in this ' paradise of Africa ' nearly 
 two weeks, talking with the chiefs and putting things in 
 order."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MARCH TO TJNYOEO. 
 
 THE START EXODUS OF THE WHITE ANTS A GREAT LUXURY A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY MASINDI 
 KING ABBA REGA HIS WALK AND APPEARANCE THE INTERVIEW BUFFOONS QUEER RESULT 
 OF A LECTURE ON THE SLAVE TRADE A STATION COMMENCED PLANTING VEGETABLES THE 
 KING'S VISIT MAGNETIC BATTERY PHOTOGRAPHS A CURIOUS INTERVIEW FORMAL ANNEXA- 
 TION OF THE COUNTRY SENDS OFF A PART OF HIS FORCE COMMERCE ESTABLISHED 
 VEGETABLES PLANTED DARK OMENS A DRUNKEN KING ASKS AFTER LIVINGSTONE A FORT 
 BUILT. 
 
 ABOU-EL SAOOD having sworn by the head of Ma- 
 homet to do all that was right, Baker gave his instruc- 
 tions to Major Abdullah, who was to be left with one hun- 
 dred men in the place, and, on the 18th of March, started for 
 Unyoro, seventy-eight miles south across an uninhabited 
 prairie, nothing occurring to break the monotony of the 
 march except the stalking now and then of an antelope by 
 Baker. On the 23d, they came opposite the last station of 
 Abou Saood, commanded by a man named Suleiman, who, 
 two days after, summoned his men to volunteer for the gov- 
 ernment as irregular troops. On the 28th, Baker received 
 a visit from the great sheikh, Lokara, who was commander- 
 in-chief of Abba Rega's army, encamped a few hours' 
 march on the banks of the Nile, ready to attack King 
 Rionga, who was settled on an island in the river, farther 
 up. He came to ask his aid in his war against Rionga, 
 which the latter refused to give. While here he witnessed 
 an exodus of young white ants from the mound in which 
 they had been hatched out. Millions of these large, fat 
 and winged insects began to struggle out and prepare for 
 
 265
 
 266 EXODUS OF WHITE ANTS. 
 
 their first short flight, and were quickly caught by the men 
 with lighted wisps of straw. The annual exodus of these 
 ants takes place at the commencement of the rainy season, 
 and the gathering of them before they can fly is an im- 
 portant harvest in Central Africa. They are considered 
 a great delicacy when fried in a little butter. Baker, 
 although now started on his journey still farther south, 
 toward the equator, would have stopped had he known how 
 Abou Saood, at Fatiko, was plotting against him. Igno- 
 rant of this he kept on and traveled through a beautiful 
 country, but, as everywhere else, desolated by the slave- 
 traders. Though his carriers deserted him, he pushed 
 resolutely on and, April 20th, from a hill sighted the Al- 
 bert Nyanza Lake, only twenty miles distant. 
 
 At last he arrived at Masindi, the capital of Unyoro. 
 The town is large, composed of a thousand or more straw 
 huts, shaped like a bee-hive and scattered around as if they 
 had been dropped from the clouds at random. The next 
 day, he visited the king, Abba Rega, officially. The king- 
 was about twenty years old and dressed very neatly in 
 bark-cloth. Baker explained to him, at length, the inten- 
 tions of the khedive, and that he hoped the country, once 
 freed from the slave-traders, would be prosperous and 
 happy. He told him, moreover, that he had not released 
 all the slaves that he had found at the different stations 
 because he had no way of returning them home, but now 
 he should do so. 
 
 The next day, Baker made suitable preparations to 
 receive the king in return. But, after waiting a long time, 
 the latter sent word that lie would rather Baker would 
 come to his house, evidently being afraid of foul play. 
 Baker bade the messenger tell the king that he was not 
 old enough yet to have learnt good manners, and that he 
 should at once dismiss his troops that had been kept waiting
 
 KING ABBA EEGA's VISIT. 267 
 
 for two hours and ordered the bugler to sound the " return." 
 The sound of the bugle terrified him, and he agreed to 
 come at once, and the troops resumed their old position. 
 " In a few minutes," he says, " a great din of horns, and 
 drums, and whistles announced his approach, and we ob- 
 served him walking down the road with an extraordinary 
 gait. He was taking enormous strides, as though carica- 
 turing the walk of a giraffe." As he stalked along, he was 
 followed by a number of chiefs. When he came opposite 
 the band, the bugles, and drums, and cymbals saluted him 
 with such a terrible din that he forgot his gait and cau- 
 tiously, shyly entered the tent of Baker and hesitatingly 
 took his seat upon the divan which had been prepared for 
 him, while a crowd of two thousand or more surrounded 
 the tent, which was guarded by Baker's troops. The 
 young king was about five feet, ten inches in height, with 
 a very light complexion and beautifully-shaped hands, 
 which were kept scrupulously clean. His forehead was 
 low but broad, and his mouth large, with exceedingly white 
 but prominent teeth. He was cruel, cunning and treach- 
 erous, and the moment he mounted the throne invited all 
 his principal relations to visit him, and then treacherously 
 murdered them. He was suspicious of Baker, and would 
 not drink the coffee and sherbet offered him. The con- 
 versation soon turned upon Rionga, and the king took it 
 for granted that Baker would assist him to get rid of his 
 enemy, as otherwise, he said, it would be useless to attempt 
 any improvement in the country. Baker changed the con- 
 versation by ordering a large metal box to be brought 
 'forward, filled with an assortment of presents. Among 
 these was a watch, which Baker told him was intended for 
 his father, who was his friend when he visited the country 
 before. The king appropriated them all. Baker gave him, 
 also, a musical snuff-box. After some time had been spent
 
 268 THE KING'S BUFFOONS. 
 
 examining the toy, he again entered at length on the object of 
 his mission and how he hoped to open an extensive com- 
 merce with the country, etc., etc. To all of which Abba 
 Rega's constant reply was, it was all useless to attempt any- 
 thing till Rionga was killed and he must help him. Baker 
 declined, saying he hoped to make peace between them. 
 But to all his propositions, the young barbarian replied, 
 " You were my father's friend, your wife was the same. 
 My father is dead ; but Rionga is still alive. Now, you 
 are my father and your wife is my mother ; will you allow 
 your son's enemy to live ?" 
 
 Baker had no idea of being a father to the young repro- 
 bate, and changed the subject to Abou Saood. He found 
 that the latter had told a pack of absurd lies about him, 
 and, moreover, had acted treacherously. 
 
 After the interview was over, a space was cleared for a 
 number of buffoons of the king to exhibit themselves. A 
 curious theatrical scene was performed, followed by a knock- 
 down fight with clubs the whole ending in a disgusting 
 act of indecency, which created roars of laughter among 
 the natives. 
 
 Baker now set about establishing a station, and began to 
 build a government house. He also commenced restoring 
 slaves and punishing slave-traders. He had given up 
 lecturing the natives on the cruelty of the slave trade. It 
 was all right so long as their women and children w r ere not 
 taken. In fact, slaves were considered by them a legiti- 
 mate article of commerce. Once, when Baker had been 
 lecturing an old chief on the wickedness of the practice, 
 the chief asked him, when he had finished, if he had a 
 son. The latter replied that his sons were all dead. " In- 
 deed !" exclaimed the savage. " I have a son ; an only 
 son ; he is a nice boy, a very good boy," he then w r ent on 
 to expatiate on his good qualities, the chief of which, that
 
 WONDERFUL GROWTH OF VEGETABLES. 269 
 
 lie was always hungry, and wound up by saying " he's a 
 good boy, indeed, and be's my only son. Pll sell Mm to 
 you for an iron spade." It was plain the lecture on slavery 
 had not yielded much fruit. 
 
 Besides the erection of a government house, Baker now 
 began a dwelling for himself, and commenced to clear away 
 some fifty acres of ground for the planting of vegetables. 
 But Abba Rega, under one pretext or another, did not sup- 
 ply the necessary laborers. Things did not go on smoothly 
 between Baker and this young barbaric king- Baker now 
 promised to send to Fatiko, one hundred and sixty miles 
 distant, and recover there all the slaves that Abou Saood 
 had taken captive in his dominion, and then order Major 
 Abdullah, with the one hundred troops there, to join him 
 when Rionga, his old enemy, would have to come to terms 
 peaceably or forcibly. This plan seemed to satisfy Abba 
 Rega, especially as he thought this would necessarily be 
 the first step toward conquering Rionga. In the mean- 
 while, Baker amused the young savage with sky rockets 
 and other European marvels. 
 
 All this time the station was progressing rapidly. The 
 soil was so rich that the seeds planted sprung up like magic. 
 Melons, pumpkins, cucumbers and cotton seeds showed 
 themselves above ground in three days after they were 
 planted. Baker's private residence, which was capacious 
 and well-furnished for Central Africa, had been com- 
 pleted. This, with everything else that Baker did, was 
 reported to Abba Rega by his spies, that were always 
 hanging about. 
 
 Things did not wear a satisfactory aspect, although 
 nothing was done alarming which was not declared to be 
 merely a practical joke. One night, especially, a hellish 
 noise of drums and shouts seemed to announce an attack 
 on the camp, but nothing came of it. The next morning
 
 270 THE MAGNETIC BATTERY. 
 
 after this very serious practical joke, Baker sent to the 
 king to come and visit him. But the messengers returned, 
 saying that he was either drunk or asleep. In fact, it was 
 the custom of this young negro king to get drunk every 
 night and sleep till .two o'clock next day, when he dressed 
 and attended to public business. He was suspfeious of 
 Baker, but the latter, on the llth of May, prevailed on 
 him to visit him, and he was astonished and delighted at 
 the superb appearance of the room, which had been adorned 
 with all sorts of goods, and musical instruments, and toys of 
 endless variety. The magnetic battery was the chief ob- 
 ject of curiosity, and the king ordered each of his chiefs to 
 take a shock, the effect of which sent him into roars of 
 laughter. At length one of the wires gave way as one of 
 the members of his royal cabinet was kicking and rolling 
 on the ground, which finished the entertainment. The 
 king now wished to see the private apartments. As they 
 entered, each one put his hand on his mouth, and cried, 
 " Wah ! wah!" in astonishment at the magnificent display 
 that met their eyes. The large looking-glasses that had 
 been brought on as presents especially two, that hung 
 opposite each other, giving an endless reflection com- 
 pletely bewildered them, and they cried out, "Magic!" 
 The photographs were next examined, and the king wanted 
 to know why the eyes in all the pictures kept looking at 
 him, whichever way he turned. This was also magic. 
 The guns and various breech-loading rifles were curiously 
 examined, and the large musical-box, set agoing, which the 
 king thought would be an excellent thing to send him to 
 sleep when too drunk to play himself. He begged for 
 everything, even Mrs. Baker's trinkets, and was vexed that 
 they were not given him. A small and beautifully-made 
 revolver was shown him, and he asked : " Does this belong 
 to the ' sit ' ' woman ' too ?" When told that it did, he
 
 ANNEXING THE COUNTRY. 271 
 
 burst out laughing, saying : " Bo women also carry 
 arms, in your country ? I see everything belongs to the 
 'sit.'" 
 
 Mrs. Baker now gave him some Venetian beads and a 
 handsome gilt bracelet, set with four large French emeralds 
 something he had never seen before together with a 
 few strings of imitation pearls, which delighted him, and 
 the greedy young cub was finally got rid of. 
 
 The day was fixed for erecting the flag and taking pos- 
 session of the country formally in the name of the khedive. 
 The troops assembled in the morning, the flag was hoisted, 
 the salutes made, the drums beat and the volleys fired ; 
 and, as far as mere form went, the country was annexed 
 to Egypt. 
 
 T\!r. Baker had constant trouble with this young bar- 
 barian, who had more of the thief, and liar, and traitor 
 about him than any man he had yet seen. 
 
 On the 23d of May, he sent off the party to Fatiko, 
 bearing dispatches to England and Egypt. He also sent 
 instructions to Major Abdullah to arrest Abou Saood and 
 Suleiman and send them to Gondokoro, and march him- 
 self with his detachment to Foweera, near Bionga's capital. 
 This reduced his force to a hundred regulars, four sailors 
 and four armed Baris. 
 
 Mr. Baker now began to carry out one of the objects of 
 his expedition, which was, after taking measures to break 
 up the slave trade, to establish the industries of civilized 
 life. There was a vast amount of ivory in this region, and 
 he began to trade off goods for it. Those that the natives 
 prized most were toys such as beads, mirrors, butchers' 
 knives, gaudy-colored handkerchiefs, ear-rings, and all 
 sorts of cheaply-gilded ornaments. A couple of shillings' 
 worth of these would buy a tusk worth $150. Although 
 this looks like taking advantage of the savage, it must be
 
 272 THREATENING OMENS. 
 
 remembered that these paltry trinkets were worth to him 
 more than money or valuable articles of clothing. He was 
 well satisfied with the bargain, for he got just what he 
 wanted. Of course, valuable goods would take the place 
 of these baubles cloths for dresses, ' implements of hus- 
 bandry and mechanical tools be in demand as civilization 
 advanced. The troops behaved well, and kept order as 
 quietly as a police force w^ould have done. Baker next 
 attempted to establish a school making a young man, a 
 clerk of his detachment, schoolmaster. Everything that 
 had been sown was above ground such as cucumbers, 
 melons of various kinds, pumpkins, radishes, onions, to- 
 matoes, as well as some wheat and cotton all growing 
 with that luxuriance and rapidity seen nowhere except in 
 the tropics. Every cottage was surrounded by a garden ; 
 boys and girls had formed partnerships in raising vege- 
 tables, and things began to wear a civilized aspect. 
 Although so near the equator, the air was cool and 
 invigorating, for they were nearly four thousand feet 
 above the sea level. The only drawback was, the men 
 were intolerably lazy, and passed most of the day sleeping, 
 or idling around those at work. But amid all this quiet 
 and peaceful life, Baker could not but observe that things 
 had changed since he had sent away so large a part of his 
 force to Fatiko. At length he became so uneasy, that he 
 sent a messenger to bring the party back. 
 
 The king, in the meantime, began to show his real char- 
 acter ; he studiously kept aloof and did not furnish the 
 provisions as he had promised, while the chiefs showed a 
 different demeanor. Suddenly, one day, things seemed to 
 have come to a head. While Baker was drilling his troops, 
 as usual (lie and his officers being unarmed), the huge war- 
 drum in the house of the king sounded, and in less than 
 ten minutes, horns were blowing in every direction, and the
 
 A DRUNKEN FREAK. 273 
 
 negroes came pouring in from all quarters, till in an in- 
 credible short space of time five or six thousand men were 
 gathered around the little band. Baker immediately gave 
 orders to form a square, and, with the officers, stepped in- 
 side of it, and a row of fixed bayonets confronted the 
 crowd on every side. This puzzled them, though they 
 danced within a few feet of the glittering points of steel. 
 Baker gave strict orders not to fire, and he and the officers 
 stepped outside the little phalanx of eighty men. Walking 
 quietly up to two of the principal chiefs he pretended to 
 think it was all a joke, saying carelessly, "well done, fa- 
 mously managed, let us have a general dance." While 
 they hesitated, he ordered the band to strike up a lively 
 tune. Whatever had been the original intention, all hos- 
 tile demonstrations now ceased, and Baker demanded to see 
 the king. After some delay he came out, but so drunk 
 that he apparently comprehended nothing, and soon reeled 
 back to his hut. Baker now demanded of the principal 
 chief the meaning of this strange proceeding, but he could 
 give no satisfactory answer, except that the king was so 
 drunk that he beat the war-drum without knowing what he 
 was about. He told him the thing must not happen again, 
 for if he allowed his warriors to surround his troops in this 
 fashion, he should certainly fire into them. On the whole, 
 he felt he had a narrow escape, and began to have serious 
 misgivings for the future. 
 
 Ten native merchants, arriving at this time from Kara- 
 gwe, a long distance off, reported that two travelers were 
 with their king. Baker questioned them very closely to 
 ascertain if one of them might not be Livingstone, but he 
 was convinced that neither could be. 
 
 As May now drew to a close, Baker became very anxious 
 the native warriors assembled in great numbers and as- 
 sumed a hostile attitude, which he could not account for.
 
 274 A DKUNKEN FREAK. 
 
 Not dreaming of hostilities, he had not prepared for defense 
 and, hence, became concerned for the safety of his troops, 
 and at once began to. erect a fort or stockade, and in three 
 days (on the 5th of June) had completed it. He now felt 
 secure.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BATTLE OF MASINDI. 
 
 THE TKOOPS POISONED A SUDDEN ATTACK THE TOWN SET ON FIRE A SAD SPECTACLE BAKEB 
 DISCOURAGED A PERILOUS POSITION FEARS OF ABDULLAH HYPOCRISY OF ABBA KEGA 
 PRESENTS PASS BETWEEN HIM AND BAKER TREACHERY A NARROW ESCAPE BAKEK'S 
 QUARTERS SET ON FIRE A SECOND ATTACK THE NEIGHBORING VILLAGES SET ON FIRE FORE- 
 THOUGHT OF BAKER'S WIFE PREPARATIONS TO START FOR HIONGA. 
 
 BUT matters grew steadily worse, until one day, just 
 after dinner, word was brought Baker that many of 
 the troops appeared to be dying. On inquiring what was 
 the matter, he was told that they had been drinking some 
 plantain cider which the natives had sent them. A hor- 
 rible suspicion shot through his mind, and he immediately 
 flew to his medicine-chest and began to give antidotes. 
 He at once suspected that this was preliminary to an attack 
 by the natives. With half the troops sick or dying, they 
 expected to make quick work with the remainder. Hence, 
 as night drew on, Baker had all the sick taken inside the 
 fort and the sentries doubled. About a quarter to six, he 
 was walking with his wife, smoking his pipe, suspecting 
 nothing, when he says : 
 
 " Suddenly we were startled by the savage yells of some 
 thousand voices, which burst unexpectedly upon us ! 
 
 " This horrible sound came from the direction of Ma- 
 tonse's house, and was within a hundred and twenty yards 
 from where we stood ; but the town was not visible, owing 
 
 to the thick covert of oil bushes. 
 
 275
 
 276 A SUDDEN ATTACK. 
 
 " The savage yells were almost immediately followed by 
 two rifle-shots in the same direction. 
 
 " ' Sound the taboor !' Fortunately I gave this order to 
 the bugler at my side without one moment's delay. 
 
 " I had just time to tell my wife to run into the divan 
 and get my rifle and belt, when the sharpshooters opened 
 fire upon me from the bushes, within a few yards. 
 
 "I had white cotton clothes, thus I was a very con- 
 spicuous object. As I walked toward the divan to meet 
 my rifle, the sergeant who followed close behind me fell, 
 shot through the heart. Poor fellow, the shot was aimed 
 at me. 
 
 " The troops had fallen into position with extraordinary 
 rapidity, and several ascended the roof of the fort, so as to 
 see clearly over the high grass. A soldier immediately fell, 
 to die in a few minutes, shot through the shoulder-blade. 
 Another man of the ' Forty Thieves ' was shot through the 
 leg, above the knee. The bullets were flying through the 
 government divan and along the approach. A tumultuous 
 roar of savage voices had burst from all sides, and the 
 whole place was alive in a few instants after the first two 
 shots had been heard. Thousands of armed natives now 
 rushed from all directions upon the station. A thrill went 
 through me when I thought of my good and devoted Mon- 
 soor ! My wife had quickly given me my belt and breech- 
 loading double rifle. Fortunately, I had filled up the 
 pouches on the previous evening with fifty rounds of 
 cartridges. 
 
 " The troops were now in open order, completely around 
 the station, and were pouring a heavy fire into the masses 
 of the enemy within the high grass, which had been left 
 purposely uncleared by Abba Kega, in order to favor 
 this treacherous attack. The natives kept up a steady fire 
 upon the front from behind the castor-oil bushes and the
 
 FIRING THE TOWN. 277 
 
 densely-thronged houses. With sixteen men of the ' Forty 
 Thieves,' together with Colonel Abd-el-Kader and Lieu- 
 tenant Baker, R. N., I directed a heavy fire into the 
 covert, and soon made it too hot for the sharpshooters. I 
 had ordered the blue lights at the commencement of the 
 attack. My black boys, Saat and Beltaal, together with 
 some soldiers, now arrived with a good supply. Covering 
 their advance with a heavy fire from the Sniders, the boys 
 and men rushed forward and immediately ignited Abba 
 Rega's large divan. These active and plucky lads now ran 
 nimbly from hut to hut, and one slight touch of the strong 
 fire of the blue lights was sufficient to insure the ignition 
 of the straw dwellings. 
 
 " I now sent a party of fifteen Sniders, under Lieutenant 
 Ferritch Agha, one of my most courageous officers, with a 
 supply of blue lights, to set fire to the town on our left 
 flank, and to push on to the spot where the missing Mon- 
 soor and Ferritch had fired their rifles. 
 
 " Every arrangement having been rapidly carried out, 
 the boys and a few men continued to fire the houses on our 
 right flank ; and giving the order to advance, our party of 
 sixteen rushed forward into the town. 
 
 " The right and left flanks were now blazing, and the 
 flames were roaring before the wind. I heard the rattling 
 fire of the Sniders, under Firritch Agha, on our left, and 
 knowing that both flanks were now thoroughly secured by 
 the conflagration, we dashed straight for Abba Rega's 
 principal residences and court, driving the enemy before 
 us. Colonel Abd-el-Kader was an excellent officer in 
 action. We quickly surrounded Abba Rega's premises 
 and set fire to the enormous straw building on all 
 sides. 
 
 " If he had been at home, he would have had a warm 
 reception, but the young coward had fled with all his
 
 278 TERRIFIC CONFLAGRATION. 
 
 women before the action had commenced, together with the 
 magic bamba or throne and the sacred drum. 
 
 " In a few minutes, the conflagration was terrific, as the 
 great court of Abba Rega blazed in flames, seventy or 
 eighty feet high, which the wind drove in vivid forks into 
 the thatch of the adjacent houses. 
 
 " We now followed the enemy throughout the town, and 
 the Sniders told with sensible effect wherever they made a 
 stand. The blue lights continued the work of vengeance; 
 the roar of flames and the dense volumes of smoke, min- 
 gled with the continued rattle of musketry and the savage 
 yells of the natives, swept forward with the breeze, and the 
 capital of Unyoro was a fair sample of the infernal regions. 
 
 " The natives were driven out of the town, but the high 
 grass was swarming with many thousands, who, in the 
 neighborhood of the station, still advanced to attack the 
 soldiers. 
 
 " I now ordered ' the Forty ' to clear the grass, and a 
 steady fire of Snider rifles soon purged the covert upon 
 which the enemy had relied. 
 
 " In about an hour and a quarter, the battle of Masindi 
 was won. Not a house remained of the lately extensive 
 town. A vast open space of smoke and black ashes, with 
 flames flickering in some places where the buildings had 
 been consumed, and at others, forked sheets of fire where 
 the fuel was still undestroyed, were the only remains of the 
 capital of Unyoro. 
 
 " The enemy had fled. Their drums and horns, lately 
 so noisy, were now silent. 
 
 " I ordered the bugle to sound ' cease firing.' We 
 marched through the scorching streets to our station, where 
 I found my wife in deep distress. 
 
 " The bugle sounded the assembly, and the men mus- 
 tered and fell in for the roll-call. Four men were missing.
 
 DEATH OF MONSOOK. 279 
 
 " Lying on the turf close to the fort wall, were four 
 bodies, arranged in a row, and covered with cloths. 
 
 " The soldiers gathered around them as I approached. 
 
 " The cloths were raised. 
 
 " My eyes rested on the pale features of my ever-faithful 
 and devoted officer, Monsoor ! There was a sad expression 
 of pain on his face. I could not help feeling his pulse ; 
 but there was no hope; this was still. I laid his arm 
 gently by his side and pressed his hand for the last time, 
 for I loved Monsoor as a true friend. His body was 
 pierced with thirty-two lance wounds ; thus he had fought 
 gallantly to the last, and he had died like a good soldier ; 
 but he was treacherously murdered, instead of dying on a 
 fair battle-field. 
 
 " Poor Ferritch Baggara was lying next to him, with 
 two lance wounds through the chest. 
 
 " The other bodies were those of the choush who had 
 fallen by my side, and the soldier who had been shot on 
 the parapet. 
 
 "We were all deeply distressed at the death of poor 
 Monsoor. There never was a more thoroughly unselfish 
 and excellent man. He was always kind to the boys, and 
 would share even a scanty meal in hard times with either 
 friend or stranger. He was the lamb in peace and the 
 lion in moments of danger. I owed him a debt of grati- 
 tude ; for although I was the general, and he had been 
 only a corporal when he first joined the expedition, he had 
 watched over my safety like a brother. I should ' never 
 see his like again.' 
 
 " Monsoor was the only Christian, excepting the Euro- 
 pean party. 
 
 "The graves were made. I gave out new cloth from 
 the stores in which to wrap the bodies of four of -my best 
 men, and they were buried near the fort.
 
 280 A NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 " My heart was very heavy. God knows I had worked 
 with the best intentions for the benefit of this country, and 
 this was the lamentable result. My best men were trea- 
 cherously murdered. We had narrowly escaped a general 
 massacre. We had won the battle, and Masindi was 
 swept from the earth. What next ? 
 
 " I find these words, which I extract from my journal, 
 as they were written at that moment : 
 
 "'Thus ended the battle of Masindi, caused by the 
 horrible treachery of the natives. Had I not been quick 
 in sounding the bugle and immediately assuming a vig- 
 orous offensive, we should have been overwhelmed by 
 numbers/ >: 
 
 It was a narrow escape for the expedition, and shows on 
 what apparently trivial incidents not only an expedition 
 may fail, but a great moral enterprise come to nought and 
 the fate of a continent be changed. Had Baker fallen 
 before the bullet so coolly aimed at him, it is doubtful 
 whether another expedition would have been started for 
 the same great object during this century. 
 
 Baker now felt himself in a perilous position. Although 
 one of the chiefs assured him that Abba Hega had nothing 
 to do with this treachery, but that it was the work of Ma- 
 tonse, who had escaped, and that the king had hid in the 
 grass through fear, but had ordered provisions and ivory 
 to be sent him as a present, Baker's suspicions, however, 
 were not allayed ; and if Abba Kega was at the bottom of 
 it, then his three hundred natives, whom he had sent as 
 carriers with Abdullah to Fatiko, were traitors too, and 
 would, doubtless, seize the first good opportunity to attack 
 the unsuspecting commander and massacre him and all 
 his troops. He could not communicate with him, and his 
 only course, shut up here in the heart of Africa, seemed to 
 be to push on to Bionga, whom he refused to attack at the
 
 PEEILOUS POSITION. 281 
 
 request of Abba Eega, and claim his support. He knew 
 that the defeat of Abba Rega's army and destruction of his 
 capital had reached him, for he always had spies in Un- 
 yoro, informing him of everything that transpired, and he 
 would be only too glad to help complete the overthrow of 
 his enemy. He thought, too, if he could only get word to 
 him, that he would send three hundred of his own men to 
 Fatiko to take the place of those sent by Abba Rega, and 
 save Abdullah on his way back, as he had, no 
 doubt, received his order to return. While he was plan- 
 ning how to get a message to Rionga, messengers arrived 
 from Abba Rega, who attempted to explain the cause of 
 the late outbreak, declaring that the blame lay on Matonse* 
 and that the king would soon deliver him up. Baker 
 replied, that if the king could clear himself, he should 
 be only too happy. The principal chief said that Abba 
 Rega was in despair, and had given orders for a large 
 quantity of ivory and provisions to be sent him. Baker, 
 pretending to believe him, sent him a porcelain dish, that 
 he had previously promised, as a peace offering. Through 
 his telescope he could see everything that passed in the 
 distant village where the king had taken up his abode, and 
 when he saw that the present was received with great de- 
 light he took hope. Two beautiful white cows were sent 
 as a present in return, together with a polite message from 
 the king ; the bearer stating that a large quantity of pro- 
 visions and twenty large elephant tusks were on the way to 
 him, as a token of Abba Rega's sincerity. This looked 
 well, and Baker, to propitiate still more the black young 
 reprobate, sent him the big musical box the former had so 
 coveted in their first interview. Ramadon, the clerk, who 
 had frequent meetings with the natives since the battle, and 
 believed in the king's sincerity, was sent with Hafiz to pre- 
 sent the box.
 
 282 
 
 BAKER S QUARTERS ON FIRE. 
 
 In the meantime, Baker, with two officers and two of 
 " the Forty," walked around the burnt town, unarmed, in 
 order to conciliate the natives that still lurked amid the 
 ruins. He came upon two men standing close to the high 
 grass at the edge of the town and asked them to approach. 
 They said they were afraid of the two sentries, which were 
 some forty yards in his rear. As he turned round to order 
 these to retire, one of the villains hurled his spear at him, 
 which struck at his feet and stuck quivering in the Aground, 
 and both dodged in the tall grass. This unlooked-for 
 treachery disheartened him .and, for once, Baker feels dis- 
 couraged, and jots down in his journal : " I believe I have 
 wasted my time and energy, and have uselessly encountered 
 difficulties, and made enemies by my attempt to suppress 
 the slave trade and thus improve the condition of the 
 natives." He was now anxious about Ramadon and Hafiz, 
 who had not returned, for, as he said, " it is impossible to 
 believe one word in this accursed country." Evening came 
 and still they did not return, and Baker was without an 
 interpreter. About eight o'clock, he was suddenly aroused 
 by a bright light that soon illumined the whole sky. The 
 quarters which he had abandoned for tt e protection of the 
 fort had been set on fire. The soldiers were immediately 
 placed in position to receive an attack, and all remained as 
 silent as death nothing was heard except the roaring of 
 the flames. Suddenly, loud yells rent the air, seemingly 
 about two hundred yards distant, but not a soldier stirred. 
 The negroes had, doubtless, supposed that the soldiers 
 would rush out to extinguish the fire, when they would 
 fall upon them and murder them. The attempt had failed. 
 
 Two days passed, and still the messengers with the 
 musical box had not returned. This was ominous. They 
 never did return they were cruelly murdered. 
 
 On the 13th of June, the curtain was lifted, and Abba
 
 MRS. BAKER'S FORETHOUGHT. 285 
 
 Rega's treachery stood clearly revealed. About ten o'clock 
 a sudden rush was made upon the cattle, grazing within 
 sixty yards of the fort, and a general attack made upon 
 the station. Baker at once ordered the men into line, and 
 with the bugle gave the order to charge bayonet. With a 
 high and ringing cheer the gallant "Forty" dashed 
 through the ruins of the town and into the high grass, 
 scattering the frightened wretches in every direction. En- 
 raged and thoroughly aroused, Baker now ordered Colonel 
 Abd-el-Kader to take blue lights and burn every village 
 in the neighborhood, and soon the whole region was a mass 
 of rolling flame, that spread with frightful rapidity among 
 the straw huts. This settled the matter, and Baker now 
 saw that his only hope lay in pushing on fast as possible 
 to Rionga. He knew that he would have to fight every 
 inch of the way, but that was safer than to stay there and 
 starve to death. It was possible they might starve on 
 their way ; but, in this critical moment, Baker's wife told 
 him that, as a precaution, while grain was abundant she 
 had, from time to time, secreted a little, till now there was 
 hidden away about twelve bushels. This announcement 
 gave new life to all, for they now had enough to last them 
 during the seven days' march it would take them to reach 
 Foweera, fifteen miles from Rionga and in his dominions, 
 and preparations were made for an immediate departure. 
 The advance and rear guards were to carry nothing but 
 their knapsacks and a small bag of flour, so as to be ready 
 at any moment to meet the enemy. The order of march 
 was carefully arranged, while buglers were scattered the 
 whole length of the line, so that constant communication 
 could be kept up by the troops, though concealed from 
 each other by the tall grass. No talking was allowed- 
 nor, however thirsty, was any one to stop and drink unless 
 the bugle sounded halt.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE MAKCH TO EIOSTGA. 
 
 THE START THE STATION FIRED THE MARCH THE COUNTRY AROUSED AN AMBUSCADE- 
 HOW ARTE SPEARED SECOND DAY'S MARCH A SHARP FIGHT STRIPPED FOR THE RACE CON- 
 STANT FIGHTING EATING THE ENEMY'S LIVER FOWEERA AT LAST REACHED INTERVIEW 
 WITH THE KING HIS APPEARANCE BAKER OFFERS TO MAKE HIM RULER OVER THE TERRI- 
 TORY OF ABBA REGA A TREATY MADE SEALED BY DRINKING EACH OTHERS' BLOOD BA- 
 KER RESOLVES TO RETURN TO FATIKO ARRIVAL OF MESSENGERS WITH BAD NEWS THE 
 RETURN THE WIFE COMPELLED TO WALK ARRIVAL AT FATIKO TREACHERY THE ATTACK 
 THE FLIGHT AND PURSUIT THE VICTORY BAKER TURNS SURGEON. 
 
 THE morning of the 14th of June, 1872, dawned dark 
 and dull, and a drizzling rain began to fall. At nine 
 o'clock the advance guard filed along the path in silence, 
 and halted at a little distance till the station that had been 
 built with so much care should be fired. As the smoke 
 curled slowly up, Baker thought with regret of the pictures 
 and other mementos of home that he had been compelled 
 to leave behind to perish in it. He waited till the flames 
 had got under uncontrollable headway, and then gave the 
 order "forward," and they soon entered the tall grass. 
 Baker's wife carried a Colt's revolver in her belt and a 
 quantity of spare ammunition in her bosom for his favorite 
 rifle, the "Dutchman." When they had gone about a 
 mile, they heard shouts in the rear, evidently made by the 
 natives around the conflagration. The march was slow 
 through the tall grass, while the rain came down steadily. 
 Soon all over the country, in every direction, the sound of 
 drums and horns was heard, as the alarm spread from 
 village to village. The little band heard them with 
 286
 
 AN AMBUSCADE. 287 
 
 anxious hearts, for the fight was to be hundreds against 
 one. 
 
 They were marching steadily on through the rain, when 
 suddenly rapid volleys were heard from the advance guard, 
 and the bugles rang out the order " halt." Lances now 
 flew out of the grass, and Howarte fell thrust through with 
 a spear, which he himself pulled out of his body, but, 
 before doing so, shot dead the negro who had hurled it. 
 Baker bandaged up the wound as best he could, and, amid 
 a shower of lances, again gave the order to advance and 
 fire wherever a spear appeared. At length they came to 
 open ground, where there was no grass. Here they halted 
 and felled the plantain trees to make a wall around the 
 camp. The night passed quietly, but Baker, as he lay 
 awake and pondered on his condition, felt that the coming 
 day would be one long running fight. The next morning, 
 at half-past seven, they again started, Baker ordering the 
 cattle to be left behind, as they cumbered his march. la 
 about an hour and a half, they descended into a valley, in 
 which was a broad swamp. They were just entering this, 
 when suddenly there arose an uproar of yells, screams, 
 drums, horns and whistles from thousands of concealed 
 negroes, as if all the demons in hell had been let loose, 
 while a tremendous rush through the grass showed that a 
 general attack was being made. Instantly every load was 
 upon the ground, and the files knelt facing to the right 
 and left. Next moment the lances were flying thickly 
 across the path, several passing close to Mrs. Baker's head, 
 but she never winced. The bugles rang out "fire," and 
 the rapid volleys swept the grass in every direction. 
 Baker took his elephant breech-loader and sent explosive 
 shells from it into the grass, which carried consternation 
 among the savages. When the fight was over and the 
 men mustered, it was found that Howarte had died during
 
 288 EATING AN ENEMY'S UVEE- 
 
 the conflict. They soon gained an open space, where they 
 felt secure. 
 
 Baker now saw that the men were too heavily laden, and 
 he ordered a fire to be kindled, in which everything (even 
 Lieutenant Baker's naval uniform) which was not abso- 
 lutely indispensable was thrown and consumed. He was 
 stripping himself for the race. When this was done, the 
 order to advance was again given ; and as they once more 
 entered the cover, the horns and drums were again heard. 
 Although frequent halts were made to receive the enemy, 
 they made no attack, and they for some time marched 
 unmolested. The ambuscades were frequent, and Abd-el- 
 Kader received a painful wound in his arm. 
 
 On the 16th of June, the little band started at half-past 
 six. From that time until ten they fought nearly the 
 whole way, and one soldier was killed. The next day it 
 was the same thing over again one man was killed, and a 
 boy, leading a horse a few paces in front of Baker, uttered 
 a wild shriek, as a spear, intended for the latter, passed 
 through his body. Mrs. Baker, in these long and heavy 
 marches, became dreadfully fatigued. Soon a spear passed 
 through Baker's horse, Zofteer, which was a grievous loss 
 to him. The next day wore slowly on, the air ever and 
 anon, pierced by the now familiar cry of " Co-co-me, co- 
 co-me," which always heralded an attack. On this day 
 one of the negroes killed was dragged into camp, and a scene 
 occurred of a most disgusting character. Baker's men 
 had a superstitious idea that if they devoured a part of the 
 enemy's liver, that every bullet they fired would kill an 
 Unyoro. Accordingly, they had cut out the liver of this 
 dead man, and were eating it raw. After the barbaric 
 meal was finished, they cut the body into pieces and hung 
 them on the limbs of trees, as a warning to all Unyoros 
 following them.
 
 CAPTURE OF AN OLD SERVANT. 289 
 
 It is not necessary to recapitulate the events of each 
 day's march. How much the enemy suffered it was im- 
 possible to tell, but Baker's small force was gradually 
 diminishing, and its only hope lay in getting quickly into 
 Eionga's territory. This they did on the 23d of June, after 
 ten days of fatiguing march through an almost endless 
 ambuscade, with a loss of ten killed and eleven wounded. 
 It had been eighty days of almost continual fighting. 
 
 The place where he encamped, and now began to build 
 a new station, was called Foweera, and was only some 
 fifteen miles from the island on which Bionga lived. A 
 fort was soon erected, though of a primitive kind. In the 
 meantime no message w T as received from Bionga. This 
 might be owing to the fact that the inhabitants on that 
 side of the river were hostile to him, and Baker therefore 
 felled palm-trees and constructed canoes, to cross over to 
 the king. These were in a few days completed, and it was 
 arranged that the whole party should cross in two trips. 
 This consisted now of ninety-seven soldiers and officers, 
 five natives, three sailors, fifty-one women, and boys, and 
 servants, and three Europeans in all, one hundred and 
 fifty-eight persons. 
 
 On the evening of the 29th, a party in search of green 
 plaintains, captured a native and brought him into camp. 
 He proved to be an old servant of Baker, in his former ex- 
 plorations of this country. Here was an unexpected piece 
 of good luck. From him he learned that Bionga was 
 friendly disposed, but that he had been deceived so often 
 that he was afraid to trust himself in his hands. From him 
 he also learned that Abdullah had been betrayed by the 
 three hundred natives, as he feared, but that these had not 
 gone on to Fatiko with the detachment. This showed that 
 Abdullah was safe, which was a great relief to /Baker. 
 
 The next day messengers came from Bionga. Baker
 
 290 EXCHANGING BLOOD. 
 
 sent back a present to the king, with a message saying that 
 he had refused to join Abba Rega in a war against him, 
 and had, in consequence, been attacked by him, and that, 
 if he, Rionga, would swear allegiance to the Egyptian 
 government, Abba Rega should be deposed, and he put in 
 his place. He also sent a present of an entire piece of 
 red Turkey cloth, and blue twill, and some handkerchiefs, 
 and asked for provisions, as his people were very hungry. 
 In two days the provisions came, and with them canoes to 
 transport the party to the island. After paddling some 
 fifteen miles, they reached the island at five o'clock, but 
 nobody was there to receive them (" a true negro wel- 
 come ") and they camped for the night with nothing but 
 porridge and curry to eat. 
 
 On the 18th, messengers arrived, saying that Rionga 
 would visit the camp that morning. About eight o'clock, 
 drums beating and horns blowing, announced his arrival. 
 He was a handsome man, about fifty years old, and with 
 exceedingly good manners. It turned out that he had 
 kept himself well posted in all that had transpired, and 
 knew long ago that Abou Saood had conspired with Abba 
 Rega for Baker's destruction, should he push on beyond 
 Gondokoro, and seemed much gratified that the latter, long 
 before he knew him, should have refused to molest him, and 
 took him by the hand. He declared that he would always 
 remain faithful to the Egyptian government, but that to 
 make the contract sure, they must immediately exchange 
 blood a ceremony indispensable if he would secure the 
 co-operation of the people. The next morning was fixed 
 for the performance of this ceremony, which Riongo de- 
 clared, with childish delight, would fill Abba Rega, when 
 he heard of it, with despair. 
 
 The ceremony commenced that evening with drinking 
 large quantities of plaintain cider, and the night passed in
 
 FRIENDS FOREVER. 293 
 
 singing and dancing. At about nine o'clock, amid several 
 witnesses, Baker made a slight incision in his arm with a 
 lancet, from which a few drops of blood flowed. Rionga 
 immediately seized his arm and sucked it. Baker did the 
 same to the king's arm, taking care, however, to make so 
 slight an incision that but a single drop oozed forth, which, 
 with extreme disgust, he was obliged to lick up. Colonel 
 Abd-el-Kader and Lieutenant Baker performed the same 
 ceremony with the king's minister and son, and the bond 
 was sealed and they were friends forever. After this the 
 heads of several tribes appeared, and a general coalition was 
 formed which promised well for the future. Baker now 
 arranged to leave Colonel Abd-el-Kader with sixty men, 
 in the stockade he had built, to support Kionga, and return 
 himself to Fatiko. 
 
 On the 27th of July, he went down the river and ar- 
 rived at his station in the middle of the afternoon. The 
 next day, before starting, he saw eight natives, who shouted: 
 "Are you the pasha's soldiers?" (I. G. Baker's). Being an- 
 swered that they were, they said that they were messengers 
 sent by Abdullah from Fatiko. Abou Saood, it seemed, 
 had been carrying it with a high hand during Baker's 
 absence. Wat-el-Mek, in command of the irregular forces, 
 wished to remain true to the government, but this treach- 
 erous slave-trader had prevented him. These messengers 
 had come to find Baker, if alive, and hurry him back, for 
 Abdullah was in danger of being overpowered and the sta- 
 tion destroyed. If Baker had received this disheartening 
 news sooner, he would not have left Colonel Abd-el-Kader 
 behind with sixty men. But it was too late now to change 
 his plan, and he immediately pushed on for Fatiko, some 
 eighty miles distant. Only one horse was now left to 
 Baker, and he had such a sore back that his wife had to 
 walk, as the mud was too deep for the solitary donkey that
 
 294 ARKIVAL AT FATIKO. 
 
 remained to him. With only dried fish for food, they 
 pushed rapidly on through the uninhabited wilderness, and 
 on the third day arrived within ten miles of Fatiko. He 
 here learned that an attack had been planned on Abdullah, 
 which was to be made by Wat-el-Mek and Ali Hussein, 
 while Abou Saood, its author, had prudently retired to 
 Fabbo, twenty miles distant. 
 
 On the 2d of August, Baker again set out, and marching 
 rapidly through a beautiful country of dells, woods and 
 open park-like lands, at last ascended the hill that rose 
 toward Fatiko. As he approached the place, he ordered 
 the bugles to sound the assembly. He entered the village 
 at half-past nine, and was warmly received by Abdullah, 
 who simply said, as he grasped his hand, " Thank God, you 
 are safe and here, all will go well now." No one from 
 Abou Saood's station came to welcome him, which was meant 
 as an insult. After Baker had changed his dress he or- 
 dered Major Abdullah to form the troops in line, as he 
 wished to inspect them. When he had finished the inspec- 
 tion he was about to return, when Abdullah asked him to 
 wait a little longer, as Wat-el-Mek, with his people, were 
 now approaching, with their numerous flags, to salute him. 
 Seven large crimson flags upon tall staffs, and ornamented 
 with ostrich feathers, marked the intervals in the advancing 
 line. Two hundred and seventy strong, they formed* in 
 line, in open order, directly facing the government troops. 
 Wat-el-Mek was dressed in bright yellow,' with loose flow- 
 ing trowsers, and Ali Hussein in a snow-white long robe 
 and black trowsers. By way of complimenting him they 
 had brought out two large cases of ammunition. These 
 were placed with a guard under a tree. Baker's wife now 
 suspected treachery and begged her husband to dismount. 
 He, however, remained on horseback until all the arrange- 
 ments were finished, when he ordered Abdullah to retire to
 
 TREACHERY. 295 
 
 camp with the troops. He then sent to Wat-el-Mek, say- 
 ing that he wanted to see him ; the latter promised to come 
 but did not. Baker sent five different messengers, with the 
 same result. He then ordered Abdullah to go, himself, 
 with some soldiers and, if he refused to come, arrest him. 
 The bugle summoned the men, who had dispersed, and 
 they immediately formed, two deep, in the open space in 
 the camp. Lieutenant Baker offered to go and see Wat-el- 
 Mek in person, and Baker, having given his consent, ad- 
 vised him to take some soldiers with him. 
 
 THE ATTACK. 
 
 While he was giving them some instructions, he was in- 
 terrupted by a volley of musketry, concentrated on the 
 mass of scarlet uniforms. In a few seconds seven men 
 were struck, and the bullets were whistling on every side. 
 He says : 
 
 "My wife, who was always ready in any emergency, 
 rushed out of her hut with my rifle and belt. 
 
 " The soldiers had already commenced firing by the time 
 that I was armed and had reached the front, by the edge 
 of the light fence of wattles, that were inferior to the 
 lightest hurdles. 
 
 " I now observed the enemy about ninety yards distant ; 
 many of them were kneeling on the ground and firing, but 
 immediately on taking a shot they retired behind the huts 
 to reload. In this manner they were keeping up a hot 
 fire. I perceived a man in white upper garments, but 
 with black trousers ; this fellow knelt and fired. I imme- 
 diately took a shot at him with the 'Dutchman/ and 
 without delay I kept loading and firing my favorite little 
 breech-loader at every man of the enemy that was decently 
 dressed. *
 
 296 THE "DUTCHMAN" SPEAKS. 
 
 " We should have lost many men if this hiding behind 
 huts and popping from cover had been allowed to continue. 
 I therefore ordered my * Forty Thieves' together, and 
 ordered the bugler to sound the charge with the bayonet. 
 
 " Pushing through the narrow wicker gateway, I formed 
 some thirty or forty men in line and led them at full speed, 
 with fixed bayonets, against the enemy. 
 
 "Although the slave-hunters had primed themselves 
 well with araki and merissa before they had screwed up 
 courage to attack the troops, they were not quite up to 
 standing before a bayonet-charge. The 'Forty Thieves' 
 were awkward customers, and in a quarter of a minute 
 they were amongst them. 
 
 " The enemy were regularly crumpled up ! and had they 
 not taken to flight, they would have been bayoneted to a 
 man. 
 
 " I now saw Wat-el-Mek in his unmistakable yellow 
 suit ; he was marching alone across a road about a hundred 
 and eighty yards distant. He was crossing to my right ; 
 and I imagined, as he was alone, that he intended to screen 
 himself behind the houses, and then to surrender. 
 
 " To my surprise, I observed that when he recognized 
 me, he at once raised his gun and took a steady aim. I 
 was at that moment reloading ; but I was ready the instant 
 he had fired and missed me. 
 
 " He now walked quickly toward a hut across to my 
 right. I allowed about half a foot before him for his pace 
 and the ' Dutchman ' had a word to say. 
 
 " The bullet struck his right hand, taking the middle 
 finger off at the root, and then striking the gun in the 
 middle of the lock-plate, it cut it completely in halves as 
 though it had been divided by a blow with an axe. He 
 was almost immediately taken prisoner. One of 'the 
 Forty' (Seroor) was so enraged that he was with difficulty
 
 THE VICTORY. 299 
 
 prevented from finishing Wat-el-Mek with a bayonet- 
 thrust. 
 
 " I now ordered a general advance at the double ; and 
 the troops spread out through the extensive town of huts, 
 which occupied about thirty acres. 
 
 "As we ran through the town, I observed about one 
 hundred and fifty of the enemy had rallied around their 
 flags, and were retreating quickly, but steadily, in the 
 direction of the Shooa hill. They continued to turn and 
 fire from the rear of their party. Having reduced the 
 distance to about one hundred and fifty yards, the crimson 
 silk banners afforded excellent marks for rifle practices. 
 They fell to the right and left, as the shots were directed a 
 little low, so as to hit the bearers. In a few minutes not a 
 flag was to be seen. The fatal Sniders poured bullets into 
 the dense body of men, who, after wavering to and fro, as 
 the shots thinned their number, at length ran off without 
 any further effort to maintain a formation. For upwards 
 of four miles Lieutenant Baker and I chased these ruffians 
 with the ' Forty Thieves.' Many were killed in the pur- 
 suit ; and upon our return to the camp, at Fatiko, at 2 
 P. M., we had captured a herd of three hundred and six 
 cattle, one hundred and thirty slaves, fifteen donkeys, 
 forty-three prisoners, seven flags, together with the entire 
 station. The enemy had suffered the loss of more than 
 half their party killed." 
 
 Abdullah's men had behaved shamefully, and all the 
 fighting had been done by the " Forty Thieves." These, 
 and Baker, and the other officers, had neither eaten nor 
 drank since the previous evening, except to quaff a little 
 water, as the pursuit ended. They, besides, had walked 
 ten miles in the morning to reach Fatiko fought the 
 traitors chased them four miles on a run, and then re- 
 turned four miles.
 
 300 BAKER TURNS SURGEOX. 
 
 Baker's wife, who seemed equal to every emergency, and 
 whose forethought was as remarkable as her presence of 
 mind in danger, had prepared a warm breakfast for them, 
 which was eaten with a sharpened appetite. 
 
 Baker had asked where the villain Ali Hussein was. 
 
 " Dead !" cried a number of voices. 
 
 " Are you certain ?" asked Baker. 
 
 "We will bring you his head," was the reply, and 
 started off. 
 
 He had hardly finished his breakfast, when he heard a 
 heavy thud on the floor of the hut, and turning, saw there 
 the ghastly head, with the hair matted with blood. There 
 was no mistaking the villainous expression, even in death. 
 He had received two bullets, but was still alive when 
 found. The natives, however, soon dispatched him. 
 
 Baker, owing to the death, previously, of his chief sur- 
 geon, and the retirement of another at Gondokoro, had 
 been left with so weak a medical staff, that he could take 
 no surgeon with him, and he therefore was now compelled 
 to act as one himself. In the fight he had not lost a single 
 man killed, but more than a sixth of his force had been 
 wounded, some of them badly. He dressed the wounds 
 with a weak solution of carbolic acid, and removed a bullet 
 from the broken thigh of one of his brave " Forty," and 
 soon had them all doing well. 
 
 The gun of Wat-el-Mek, which he had shivered with a 
 bullet, was one given him by Speke in his travels. The 
 man seemed to be so truly penitent for his conduct, and 
 averred so stoutly that he acted under the orders of Abou 
 Saood, and swore so solemnly that he would serve Baker 
 faithfully in future, that the latter, wishing to have his 
 services, for he was an invaluable man, finally pardoned 
 him. 
 
 Abou Saood swore that he had nothing to do with the
 
 A PROSPEROUS FUTURE. 301 
 
 late conspiracy, and though Baker knew that he lied and 
 ought to be hung, yet he thought it more prudent to let 
 him alone, and the consummate villain started for Cairo to 
 lodge a complaint against him with the khedive of Egypt. 
 From this date all trouble was over. Baker had gained 
 a complete victory. Perfect confidence was established 
 among the natives throughout the large country of Shooli ; 
 the children and women flocked to the camp ; marketing 
 on a large scale was conducted quietly, and Baker felt 
 rewarded for all the toils he had endured ; grieving only 
 for those who had fallen while aiding him in the good 
 work. Slave-hunting was at an end down to the equator, 
 fields were planted, and a prosperous future seemed in store 
 for Africa.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF CANNIBALS CHILDREN DEVOURED SMALL-POX DISPERSES THEM A GRAND HUNT 
 THE MODE OP CONDUCTING IT BY NETS AND FIRE THE RESULT LIFE AT FATIKO A SECOND 
 HUNT KILLING A LION A WOMAN'S RIGHTS MEETING A HAPPY COMMUNITY, IN WHICH 
 NEITHER RELIGIOUS DOGMAS OR LAW CASES ENTER NEWS FROM LIVINGSTONE KING MTESA 
 ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS BAD MILITARY CONDUCT BAKER WRITES OUT A SET OF RULES 
 FOR ABDULLAH AND STARTS FOR HOME RELEASES CAPTIVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN AN 
 EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE NOT ASKED FOR KISSED BY A NAKED BEAUTY CONCLUDING 
 REMARKS A MISSIONARY'S OUTFIT OFFICAL REPORT A HANDSOME TRIBUTE TO HIS WIFE- 
 AFRICA'S FUTURE. 
 
 HT)AKER now sent to Gondokoro for reinforcements. 
 ^-J In the meantime, a large body of Abou Saood's slave- 
 hunters, together with three thousand cannibals, arrived on 
 the Nile from the far west, whom this arch-traitor had sent 
 for before his downfall, which he had not anticipated. 
 These wretches were eating the children of the country as 
 they advanced, and their proximity filled the people of 
 Fatiko and the Shooli country with alarm. Baker at once 
 took measures to prevent them from crossing the Nile. 
 He sent spies among them, and they finding they had been 
 deceived by Abou Saood, began to quarrel among them- 
 selves agreeing in nothing but in devouring the children 
 of the district. Providentially, at this critical juncture, 
 the small-pox broke out among them and killed more than 
 eight hundred of their number, which dispersed the re- 
 mainder. Abba Rega had been defeated by Rionga and 
 his allies, and fled to the shores of the Albert Nyanza. 
 
 Everything having at length been put on a peaceful 
 footing, Baker turned his attention to hunting with the 
 people of Fatiko, much to their delight, especially as they 
 302
 
 A NET-HUNT. 306 
 
 were short of meat. "When the grass is ready to burn, a 
 grand hunt always takes place, in which nets form a con- 
 spicuous part. Every man in the country is provided 
 with a strong net of cord, twelve feet long and eleven feet 
 deep, with meshes six inches square. 
 
 On the day appointed, the big drum is beaten and the 
 natives assemble and select the region for hunting. Some- 
 times a grand entertainment precedes a hunt, at which the 
 natives to the number of a thousand present themselves, 
 painted with fresh cow-dung and adorned with ostrich 
 feathers, leopard skins, etc. On arriving in the district 
 where the hunt is to take place, the nets are lashed 
 together and sunk in the grass, making an invisible fence 
 a mile and a half long, while the men lay concealed behind 
 a screen of grass bound together at the top. 
 
 When everything was arranged in this hunt, men went 
 to windward some two miles to set fire to the grass. The 
 game would, of course, flee before the flames and rush 
 unsuspectingly upon the nets, when they would be shot 
 down. Every man is entitled to the game that is killed 
 in his section of the net. But sometimes an animal is 
 mortally wounded by a man stationed at his net, yet finally 
 killed by his neighbor, which often causes serious quarrels. 
 On this day, when everything was ready, and the men had 
 already been stationed at regular intervals about two miles 
 to windward, to wait with their fire-sticks for the appointed 
 signal, Baker says that suddenly " a shrill whistle disturbed 
 the silence. This signal was repeated at intervals to wind- 
 ward. 
 
 " In a few minutes after the signal, a long line of separate 
 thin pillars of smoke ascended into the blue sky, forming a 
 band extending over about two miles of the horizon. The 
 thin pillars rapidly thickened and became dense volumes, 
 until at length they united and formed a long black cloud of
 
 306 
 
 DRIVING THE GAME. 
 
 smoke, that drifted before the wind over the bright, yellow 
 surface of the high grass. 
 
 " The natives were so thoroughly concealed, that no one 
 would have supposed that a human being beside ourselves 
 was in the neighborhood. I had stuck a few twigs into the 
 top of the ant-hill to hide my cap ; and having, cut for 
 myself a step at the required height, I waited in patience. 
 
 " The wind was brisk and the fire traveled at the rate of 
 about four miles an hour. We could soon hear the distant 
 roar, as the great volume of flame shot high through the 
 centre of the smoke. The natives had also lighted the 
 grass a few hundred yards to our rear. 
 
 " Presently I saw a slate-colored mass trotting along the 
 face of the opposite slope, about two hundred and fifty yards 
 distant. I quickly made out a rhinoceros, and I was in 
 hopes that he was coming toward me. Suddenly he turned 
 to my right and continued along the face of the inclina- 
 tion. 
 
 " Some of the beautiful leucotis antelope now appeared 
 and cantered toward me, but halted when they approached 
 the stream, and listened. The game understood the hunt- 
 ing as well as the natives. In the same manner that the 
 young children went out to hunt with their parents, so had 
 the wild animals been hunted with their parents ever since 
 their birth. 
 
 " The leucotis now charged across the stream ; at the 
 same time a herd of hartbeest dashed past. I knocked 
 over one, and, with the left-hand barrel, I wounded a leu- 
 cotis. At this moment, a lion and a lioness, that had been 
 disturbed by the fire in our rear, came bounding along 
 close to where Molodi had been concealed with the lun- 
 cheon. Away went Molodi at a tremendous pace, and he 
 came rushing past me as though the lions were chasing him; 
 but they were endeavoring to escape, themselves, and had
 
 RESULTS OF THE HUNT. 309 
 
 no idea of attacking. I was just going to take the inviting 
 shot, when, as my finger was on the trigger, I saw the head 
 of a native rise out of the grass directly in the line of fire ; 
 then another head popped up from a native who had been 
 concealed, and, rather than risk an accident, I allowed the 
 lion to pass. At one magnificent bound it cleared the 
 stream and disappeared in the high grass. 
 
 "The fire was advancing rapidly and the game was 
 coming up fast. A small herd of leucotis crossed the 
 brook, and I killed another, but the smoke had become so 
 thick that I was nearly blinded. It was, at length, impos- 
 sible to see ; the roar of the fire and heat were terrific, as 
 the blast swept before the advancing flames and filled the 
 air and eyes with fine black ashes. I literally had to turn 
 and run hard into fresher atmosphere to get a gasp of cool 
 air and to wipe my streaming eyes. Just as I emerged 
 from the smoke a leucotis came past and received both the 
 right and left bullets in a good place before it fell. The 
 fire reached the stream, and at once expired. The wind 
 swept the smoke on before and left in view the black sur- 
 face that had been completely denuded by the flames. 
 
 " The natives had killed many antelopes, but the rhinoce- 
 ros had gone through their nets like a cobweb. Several 
 buffaloes had been seen, but they had broken out in dif- 
 ferent directions. Lieutenant Baker had killed three 
 leucotis, Abd-el-Kader had killed one and had hit a 
 native in the leg with a bullet while aiming at a gallop- 
 ing antelope. I had killed five. I doctored the native^ 
 and gave him some milk to drink, and his friends carried 
 him home. This was a very unfortunate accident, and from 
 that clay the natives gave Abd-el-Kader a wide berth. 
 
 " Most of the women were heavily laden with meat, the 
 nets were quickly gathered up, and with whistles blowing 
 as a rejoicing, the natives returned homeward."
 
 310 A SECOND HUNT. 
 
 The time now passed very pleasantly at Fatiko, and on 
 the 30th of December, Baker went out again to hunt with a 
 few natives in order to obtain some meat. About a half an 
 hour after they were in position the whistles sounded the 
 smoke began to ascend, and soon a long line of fire stretched 
 across the plain and moved slowly toward them. Shots 
 were now heard in various directions, and the game began to 
 break cover in herds of several hundreds. Baker could see 
 the game and heard the firing along the line, but did not 
 get a shot. At length, however, he saw a buck antelope 
 walking slowly straight toward him, and he expected in a 
 few minutes to have him within range, when he says : 
 
 " Just at that moment I saw a long, yellow tail rise sud- 
 denly from the green hollow, and an instant later I saw a 
 fine lion, with tail erect, that had evidently been disturbed 
 by the advancing fire. 
 
 " The lion was down wind of the buck leucotis, which 
 was now close to the unseen enemy, and was just descend- 
 ing the bank which dipped into the green hollow ; this 
 would bring the antelope almost upon the lion's back. 
 The two animals appeared to touch each other as the 
 leucotis jumped down the bank, and the lion sprang to 
 one side, apparently as much startled as the antelope, 
 which bounded off in another direction. The lion now 
 disappeared in the high grass, with the head toward my 
 position. I whispered to my boys not to be afraid, should 
 it appear close to me, and at the same time I took the 
 spare gun from Bellaal and laid it against the ant-hill, to 
 be in readiness. This was a breech-loader, with buck-shot 
 -cartridges for small antelopes. 
 
 " In a few moments, I heard a distinct rustling in the 
 high grass before me. The two boys were squatting on 
 the ground to my right. 
 
 "Presently a louder rustling in the grass, within forty
 
 A WOUNDED LIONESS. 313 
 
 yards in my front, was followed by the head and shoulders 
 of a large lioness, who apparently saw the two boys and, 
 with her brilliant eyes fixed, she advanced slowly toward 
 them. Not wishing a closer acquaintance, I aimed at her 
 chest and fired the ' Dutchman.' The lioness rolled com- 
 pletely over backwards, and three times she turned convul- 
 sive somersaults, at the same time roaring tremendously ; 
 but, to my astonishment, she appeared to recover, and I 
 immediately fired my left-hand barrel. At this, she charged 
 in high bounds straight toward my two boys. I had just 
 time to snatch up my spare gun and show myself from be- 
 hind the ant-hill, when the lioness, startled at my sudden 
 appearance, turned, and I fired a charge of buckshot into 
 her hindquarters as she disappeared in the high grass from 
 my right. I now heard her groaning in a succession of 
 deep guttural sounds, within fifty yards of me. In a few 
 minutes, I heard a shot from Abd-el-Kader, and he shortly 
 came to tell me that the wounded lioness, with her chest 
 and shoulder covered with blood, had come close to his 
 hiding-place; he had fired, and had broken her ankle- 
 joint, but she was still concealed in the grass. 
 
 "Shooli and Gimoro now came up with some of the 
 natives, as they had heard the lioness roar, and feared some 
 accident might have happened. These were very plucky 
 fellows, and they at once proposed to go close up and spear 
 her in the grass, if I would back them up with the rifles. 
 
 " We arrived at the supposed spot and, after a search, 
 we distinguished a yellow mass within some withered 
 reeds. 
 
 " Shooli now proposed that he should throw his spear, 
 upon which the lioness would certainly charge from her 
 covert and afford us a good shot, if the guns were properly 
 arranged. 
 
 " I would not allow this, but determined to fire a shot at
 
 314 A DESPEKATE CHARGE. 
 
 the yellow mass to bring her out, if every one would be 
 ready to receive her. 
 
 "Lieutenant Baker was on my right, with a double- 
 barreled express rifle that 'carried a No. 70 bullet. This 
 minute projectile was of little use against the charge of a 
 lion. 
 
 " I fired into the mass at about twenty yards distance. 
 The immediate reply was a determined charge, and the en- 
 raged animal came bounding toward us with tremendous 
 roars. The natives threw their spears but missed her. 
 Mr. Baker fired, but neither he nor a left-hand barrel from 
 the ' Dutchman ' could check her. Everybody had to run, 
 and I luckily snatched a breech-loading No. 12, smooth- 
 bore, loaded with ball, from a panic-stricken lad, and rolled 
 her over with a shot in the chest, when she was nearly in 
 the midst of us. 
 
 " She retreated with two or three bounds to her original 
 covert. 
 
 " I had now reloaded the ' Dutchman/ and having given 
 orders that every one should keep out of the way, and be 
 ready, I went close up to the grass with Shooli, and quickly 
 discovered her. She was sitting up like a dog, but was 
 looking in the opposite direction, as though expecting an 
 enemy in that quarter. I was within twelve yards of her, 
 and I immediately put a bullet in the back of her neck, 
 which dropped her head." 
 
 She measured nine feet and six inches from the nose to 
 the extremity of the tail. Inside her were the remains of 
 an antelope calf, divided into lumps of about two pounds 
 each, which the natives distributed among themselves as 
 precious morsels. 
 
 The women, who had come to look on Baksr as their 
 protector, and were happy and contented under his rule, 
 heard of his encounter with the lioness, and held a meeting,
 
 NEWS OF LIVINGSTONE. 315 
 
 in which it was resolved that he should not endanger his 
 life again in this way. Mr. Baker jocosely remarks that 
 this was not "petticoat government, as they had not a rag 
 on their bodies, but it was an assertion that they meant to 
 protect the man who had protected them." He stayed 
 here seven months, and says that perfect order prevailed 
 " there were no pickpockets, because nobody had a pocket 
 to pick, for all were naked there were no vagrants, beg- 
 gars or anything to require a police there were no cases 
 of divorce, or crim. con., or in chancery no high church 
 or low church no Dissenters, or Catholics, or Independ- 
 ents no Jews or Gentiles no conflicting interests no 
 dogmas of any kind." 
 
 To his great disappointment, he had obtained no direct 
 news from Livingstone. But one day some envoys arrived 
 from the great King Mtesa, of Uganda, of whom Stanley 
 speaks in such enthusiastic terms in his next and last 
 exploring expedition two years later. Baker had written 
 to him to send out his people in every direction in search 
 of Livingstone. These envoys reported that the king had 
 dispatched messengers to Ujiji, who learned that the ex- 
 plorer had been there, but had crossed the lake to the 
 west, since which nothing had been heard of him. Baker 
 immediately wrote a letter to Livingstone, and gave it to 
 these envoys, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 " FOKT FATIKO (N. lat. 3 1', E. long. 32 36'). 
 
 February 13th, 1873. 
 " MY DEAR LIVINGSTONE 
 
 " Mtesa, the king of Uganda, has been searching for you 
 according to my instructions sent to him in June, 1872. 
 He also forwarded my letters, to be given to you when met 
 with. His envoys have now visited me at Fatiko, with the 
 report that Mtesa's messengers heard of you as having for-
 
 316 ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. 
 
 merly been at Ujiji ; but that you had left that station and 
 had crossed the Tanganika to the west. Nothing more 
 is known of you. I have sent a soldier with the envoys 
 who convey this letter ; he will remain with Mtesa. * 
 
 " Mtesa will take the greatest care of you. He has be- 
 haved very well to the government. * * * 
 
 " I trust, my dear Livingstone, that this letter may reach 
 you. Do not come down the lake. It is now well known 
 that the Tanganika is the Albert Nyanza; both known 
 as the great M'wootan N'zige. 
 
 " A steamer, I trust, will be on the lake this year. 
 " Ever, most sincerely, 
 
 "SAMUEL W. BAKER., H. H." 
 
 Nothing better shows how uncertain all communication 
 is in Africa than this message of the envoy's and Baker's 
 letter. Mtesa's dominions are not far distant from the very 
 lake of which Ujiji is the chief port, where Stanley found 
 Livingstone, more than two years before, and with him ex- 
 plored a large portion of it. Still this report was doubt- 
 less true, and the last departure of Livingstone referred to 
 was the one taken after Stanley had left. This letter not 
 only reached Mtesa, but the latter sent an answer back the 
 whole way to Gondokoro. 
 
 No word had been received respecting the reinforcements 
 he had sent for, and Baker began to despair, when, at last, 
 at the end of three months, they arrived, though bringing 
 no cattle with them. Tayib Agha, the officer in charge of 
 them, had shown his utter unfitness to command troops, 
 for not only had the Baris attacked him and killed twenty- 
 eight of his men, but stripped the bodies and left them 
 unburied, and carried off all the cattle. 
 
 Baker had now six hundred and twenty men, and he at 
 once reinforced the various stations. He also wrote out a
 
 RELEASE OF THE CAPTIVES. 310 
 
 code or set of rules to govern Major Abdullah, who was to 
 remain in command at Fatiko, and turned his face home- 
 ward. He had placed under his protection a number of 
 women and girls of the Baris tribe, whom the Egyptian 
 officers had pressed into their service to carry loads for 
 them in their former journey from Gondokoro to Fatiko, 
 and now took them back with him. Their captors had 
 intended to make perpetual slaves of them, but Baker 
 determined to restore them to their homes. On their way 
 back he directed them to tell him when they came into 
 their native country. One day, as they halted under a 
 large tree for breakfast, about two miles from Gondokoro, 
 the women and children approached in a timid and hesi- 
 tating manner and told him that this was their country and 
 that their villages were near by. They evidently had never 
 fully believed him, which, he said, hurt him exceedingly. 
 Looking at them sorrowfully, he exclaimed, " Go, my good, 
 women, and when you arrive at your homes explain to 
 your people that you were captured entirely against my 
 will, and that I am only happy to have released you." 
 For awhile they stood bewildered, and, looking around, as 
 if hardly believing him to be in earnest. The next instant, 
 as the whole truth flashed on their dazed, overwhelmed 
 hearts, they rushed on him in a body, and before he had 
 time to think what they were about, a " naked beauty " 
 threw her arms about his neck and almost smothered him 
 with kisses, ending by licking both his eyes and tongue in 
 a manner far more affectionate than agreeable. If the 
 sentries and servants had not come to his rescue, both he 
 and his wife would have been subjected to the same exhi- 
 bitions of affection and gratitude from each member of the 
 naked group. 
 
 After a few words of explanation to them, he gave each 
 a present of beads, when, with hearts overflowing with joy,
 
 A MISSIONARY OUTFIT. 
 
 they went singing on their way homeward, to meet friends 
 and relatives they never expected to see again. 
 
 Liberating seven hundred slaves that were on their way 
 down the Nile, he at last reached Souakim, and took ship 
 for Suez. Narrowly escaping wreck on the voyage, he at 
 length arrived safely at Cairo, and laid his report before 
 the khedive, and also his complaint and charges against 
 Abou Saood. 
 
 In conclusion, he states what he has done, and says that 
 if the khedive will now do his duty, the slave trade, by way 
 of the Nile, will be suppressed, civilization extended to the 
 equator, and the whole vast rich and populous country be 
 opened to commerce and the missionary. Speaking of the 
 latter, he says that devotional exercises he may introduce 
 should be chiefly musical, and all psalms should be set to 
 lively tunes, which the natives would learn readily. More- 
 over, the missionary should have a never-failing supply of 
 beads, copper rods, brass rings for arms, fingers and ears, 
 gaudy cotton handkerchiefs, red or blue blankets, zinc, 
 mirrors, red cotton shirts, to give his parishioners, and ex- 
 pect nothing in return, and he would be considered a great 
 man, whose opinion would carry considerable weight, pro- 
 vided he only spoke of subjects which he thoroughly un- 
 derstood. He should have also a knowledge of agriculture, 
 and carry with him seeds, tools and implements of labor. 
 
 He and Stanley seem to have views very similar con- 
 cerning missionary labors, and though they are not exactly 
 of the orthodox kind, they evidently are very practical. 
 
 In his official report of the conduct of those who shared 
 with him the dangers and responsibilities of the expedition, 
 he thus speaks of his noble wife : " Lastly, I must ac- 
 knowledge the able assistance that I have received, in com- 
 mon with every person connected with the expedition, from 
 my wife, who cared for the sick when we were without a
 
 A HANDSOME TRIBUTE. 321 
 
 medical man, and whose gentle aid brought comfort to 
 many whose strength might otherwise have failed. In 
 moments of doubt and anxiety she was always a thought- 
 ful and wise counselor, and much of my success, through 
 long years passed in Africa, is due to my devoted com- 
 panion." 
 
 A handsome, well-deserved tribute to the wife who, in 
 danger, sickness and battle, had ever stood by him with the 
 same fearless, devoted heart. He retired from his arduous 
 work feeling that he had opened a great future to Africa.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CAMERON'S EXPEDITION ITS ORIGIN CHANGE OF LEADERS DIFFICULTIES AT THE OUTSET-- 
 START A TALL AND MANLY RACE NAKED SAVAGES NEWS FROM LIVINGSTONE A METHU- 
 SELAH THE COUNTRY IMPROVED UNYANYEMBE REACHED OCCUPIES STANLEY'S HOUSE A 
 SLAVE AUCTION SICKNESS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS A STUNNING BLOW LIVINGSTONE DEAD 
 DEATH OF DILLON DESPONDENT THOUGHTS A DESPERATE RESOLVE CROSSING THE LUGUN- 
 GWA UJIJI. 
 
 THE English government having refused to send out 
 an expedition in search of Livingstone, the Royal 
 Geographical Society, of London, determined to dispatch 
 one, and raised the money necessary to carry it out by 
 subscription. But, before it started, the news that Stanley 
 had discovered him having been received, the commander 
 of it, Lieutenant Dawson, resigned. Another officer was 
 put in his place, but he also resigned. The position was 
 then given to Oswald Livingstone, son of the great ex- 
 plorer. But, before the expedition was ready to start, he 
 also withdrew, and the whole attempt to reach Livingstone 
 was abandoned. At length it was resolved to use what 
 remained of the subscriptions to the expedition to organize 
 another, which should proceed to Dr. Livingstone, and 
 place itself at his disposal, to be used by him in completing 
 the great work of exploration to which he had been de- 
 voted for the last six or seven years. To the command of 
 this, Lieutenant Cameron was appointed. Taking Dr. 
 Dillon with him as surgeon, he left England on the last 
 day of November, 1872 ; but, retarded by vexatious delays 
 and sickness, he did not start inland from Zanzibar till 
 
 February of the next year. 
 
 322
 
 CAMERON'S EXPEDITION. 323 
 
 Owing to the faithlessness of a man named Bombay, 
 who had been of great service to Speke, in his expedition 
 into Central Africa, the thirty good men and true, which 
 he promised to obtain for him, turned out to be the off- 
 scourings of the place. Engaging a few more men as 
 carriers, and buying six dozen donkeys, he left Zanzibar 
 on the 2d of February, 1873, and set sail for Bagomayo, 
 where he arrived the same afternoon. This, as we have 
 seen, is the principal point of departure for caravans to 
 Unyanyembe and the countries beyond. He returned to 
 Zanzibar on the llth, to receive the rest of the stores de- 
 signed for the expedition, which had just arrived from 
 England, and where Lieutenant Murphy joined him. 
 
 It is needless to go over the delays and troubles that 
 followed in getting away, but the little caravan was finally 
 off on the route which Stanley had taken just before Mur- 
 phy was sick with the fever, and had to be carried by four 
 men. There had been many desertions, and vexatious 
 delays, and changes ; but the expedition, at this time, be- 
 sides Cameron, Dillon, and Murphy, and Issa, the store- 
 keeper, consisted of thirty-five azkari, with Bombay as 
 commander, a hundred and ninety-two pagasi or carriers, 
 six servants and three boys in all, one hundred and forty, 
 besides several women and slaves, which some of the men 
 took along. There was also twenty-two donkeys and three 
 dogs, so that it made quite an imposing little caravan. 
 Cameron and Dillon had each a double-barreled rifle, be- 
 sides revolvers and a double-barreled fowling-piece, which 
 were carried by the men. Murphy also had two double- 
 barreled guns. The men had arms of some kind, revolvers 
 or muskets, except a few, who carried spears and bows and 
 arrows. Of the three dogs, Leo, a large, singular-looking 
 dog Cameron's special favorite was admired much by 
 the natives.
 
 324 DIFFICULTIES AT THE OUTSET. 
 
 To illustrate the difficulties, and vexations, and delays 
 inseparable from traveling in Africa, it is necessary only 
 to state that while we chronicle, the start here on the 30th 
 of May, the expedition had really been organized, and the 
 men under pay, for a whole month. And even now in 
 starting there was a wrangle respecting the duties of each, 
 not so much because of the burdens being unequal to be 
 carried, but because of the distinctions in rank they indi- 
 cated. 
 
 Through rocky gorges, over steep mountains, the long 
 caravan now wound its slow way, pressing on toward 
 Ujiji, in the neighborhood of which Stanley had left Liv- 
 ingstone, and where they expected to find him. The 
 region was not new, for Burton, and Speke, and Stanley 
 had been there before, yet the progress was slow and diffi- 
 cult perhaps as slow and difficult as fifteen years before 
 when some of these explorers first traversed it. There had 
 been desertions and accretions, till now, at the end of the 
 month, the caravan was over five hundred strong destined, 
 alas ! to a terrible diminution in the coining months. It 
 passed through various tribes, the different characteristics 
 of which were not very noticeable, till they came to the Wa- 
 dingo tribe, a tall and manly race, despising all such refine- 
 ments of civilization as clothing the men and many of 
 the women being stark naked, with the exception, perhaps, 
 of a single string of beads around the neck or wrist. One 
 would hardly think it worth while, in speaking of cloth- 
 ing, to guard himself against the charge of misrepresent- 
 ing, or of using unguarded language in asserting that the 
 natives had no clothing, by saying " with the exception of 
 a string of beads around the neck or wrist." 
 
 The progress was slow and toilsome, beset with innumer- 
 able difficulties, but Cameron was borne up with the thought 
 that he was nearing the brave Livingstone every day, and
 
 !z! 
 
 > 
 H 
 
 < *. 
 
 W cfq'
 
 NEWS OF LIVINGSTONE. 327 
 
 would soon be with him in prosecuting the great discove- 
 ries on the immense water plateau of Central Africa. 
 Through drenching rains, matted swamps, across wide 
 rivers and over rugged mountains, accompanied by knavish, 
 trustless men, met at every step by extortionate and thiev- 
 ing or hostile tribes, he, at last, camped at Kanyenze, the 
 largest and most ancient of all the districts in Ugogo, where 
 he received a visit from a grandson of Magomba, the 
 head chief, who invited him to his grandfather's home. 
 But what was more important, he met here a caravan bound 
 to the sea-coast, from which he received the cheering infor- 
 mation that Livingstone was alive and well, though they 
 could not tell his exact whereabouts. 
 
 Moving on to Kanyenze he found a camp already pro- 
 vided for him, built by some of the many caravans that 
 pass backward and forward from the interior to the coast. 
 Cameron found Magomba still living, who was the chief in 
 power when Burton passed there, in 1857. He was said 
 by his subjects to be over three hundred years old, and to 
 be cutting his fourth set of teeth. Whether this extraor- 
 dinary story be true or not, it was evident he was over a 
 century old, if one could judge by his grandchildren, who 
 were gray and grizzled. Livingstone mentions a similar 
 case, showing the longevity of the African race, the man 
 being, he said, at least one hundred and thirty years old. 
 
 He remained here several days, and then passed on to 
 Khoko, the largest settlement he had yet seen. Noting the 
 peculiar customs of the people, he passed on to Mgunda 
 Mkali, or hot field, which lay between him and Unyan- 
 yembe, paying tribute to every tribe through whose terri- 
 tory he took his caravan. This last country was only just 
 beginning to be cleared when Burton and Speke passed 
 through it, but now there were large tracts of cultivation. 
 He had heard that Dr. Livingstone had come to Unyan-
 
 328 STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE'S HOUSE. 
 
 yembe, but here he was informed by an Arab caravan that 
 the report was tmtrue. Still the men were encouraged at 
 finding themselves safely through the first part of their 
 journey. The villages that he passed for the next few days 
 were clean and well-built, for savages. Through tracts of 
 jungle and prairie the caravan now toiled on, the monotony 
 occasionally relieved by a snake in camp, or the desertion 
 of a man, or the news that Mirambo, a warlike chief, was 
 still holding his own against the surrounding tribes. At 
 last, in the forepart of August, he reached Unyanyembe. 
 The governor conducted him to a house which he had for- 
 merly lent to Stanley and Livingstone. He occupied the very 
 rooms where, a short time before, these intrepid travelers 
 had sat and talked over the field of future explorations and 
 the future of Africa. The Arabs live in great comfort 
 here, occupying large and comfortable houses, surrounded 
 with gardens and fields, but still troubled, as they were when 
 Stanley passed through it, by the ravages of Mirambo. 
 Here a part of the men, who had been engaged only to this 
 point, were paid off and departed for Zanzibar. Cameron 
 expected to hear from Livingstone at this point and receive 
 orders to proceed to the Victoria Nyanza, but was disap- 
 pointed. A large auction was held while he was here, to 
 sell the effects of an Arab chieftain who had been killed in 
 battle. After the sale of various articles the slaves were 
 put up. They were led around and made to show their 
 teeth, to cough and run, and exhibit their dexterity. They 
 were all semi-domestic, and, hence, brought high prices 
 one woman, a good cook, fetching $200, while the men 
 ranged from $40 to $80. Cameron stayed here from the 
 1st of August to the latter part of October, he or some of 
 his party being down, most of the time, with fever or some 
 other African disease. He could hear no tidings from 
 Livingstone, except that he was somewhere ahead. Came-
 
 AN UNPLEASANT SITUATION. 329 
 
 ron was anxious to proceed at once, but we find at the last 
 moment the following entry in his journal, which shows 
 the unpleasantness of the situation. Writing on August 
 23d, Dillon, who was usually blessed with buoyant spirits, 
 commenced his letter : 
 
 " Now for a dismal tale of woe ! On or about (none of 
 us know the date correctly) August 13th, Cameron felt 
 seedy. I never felt better, ditto Murphy. In the evening 
 we felt seedy. I felt determined not to be sick. ' I will 
 eat dinner ; I'll not go to bed.' Murphy was between the 
 blankets already. I did manage some dinner ; but shakes 
 enough to bring an ordinary house down came on, and I 
 had to turn in. For the next four or five days, our diet 
 was water or milk. Not a soul to look after us. The ser- 
 vants knew not what to do. We got up when we liked, 
 and walked out. We knew that we felt giddy ; that our 
 legs would scarcely support us. I used to pay a visit to 
 Cameron, and he used to come in to me to make com- 
 plaints. One day he said, 'the fellows have regularly 
 blocked me in I have no room to stir. The worst of it 
 is, one of the legs of the grand piano is always on my head, 
 and people are strumming away on it all day. It's all 
 drawing-room furniture that they have blocked me in 
 with.' I was under the impression that my bed was on 
 top of a lot' of ammunition paniers, and I told Murphy I 
 was sorry I could not get away sooner, to call on him ; but 
 I had the king of Uganda stopping with me, and I must 
 be civil to him, as we should shortly be in his country. 
 Murphy pretty well dozed his fever off, but I never went 
 'to sleep from beginning to end. We all got well on the 
 same day, about, I suppose, the fifth (of the fever), and 
 laughed heartily at each other's confidences. The Arabs 
 sent every day to know how we were, or called themselves, 
 bringing sweet limes, pomegranates or custard apples.
 
 330 A LUDICROUS SIGHT. 
 
 " September 8th. We have had a second dose of the 
 beastly, excuse the word, fever. On the morning of the 
 third day of our attack (about the seventh of Cameron's), 
 I saw Murphy get up and steer for the open end of the 
 room, staggering as he went, and endeavoring to get clear 
 of a lot of ammunition which had been emptied from the 
 paniers, but he failed to keep in the right line ; apparently 
 seeing he must go on to the 'rock ahead/ he staggered 
 slower and slower, taking very short steps, till, coming in 
 contact with a heap of empty cartridges, he gradually sub- 
 sided on the top of them, with a groan, on his hands and 
 knees. The sight appeared to me to be so ludicrous a 
 big, powerful fellow not being able to get out of a room 
 without a door or fourth wall that I laughed as loud as 
 my prostrate condition would admit of. This had the 
 effect of bringing him to his senses, and he struggled to 
 his feet and balanced himself out. The whole thing must 
 have been seen to have been appreciated, and by one in a 
 similar state of helplessness as the victim. You can't 
 imagine how this fever prostrates one. A slight headache 
 is felt, one feels that one must lie down, though one does 
 not feel ill. The next morning one walks, or tries to walk, 
 across the room ; one finds that one must allow one's body 
 to go wherever one's foot chooses to place itself, and a very 
 eccentric course the poor body has to take sometimes in 
 consequence. Drink ! drink ! drink ! cold water, milk, 
 tea anything. Bale it out of a bucket, or drink it out 
 of the spout of the tea-pot." 
 
 Writing himself, on September 20th, with his troubles 
 'uppermost in his mind, he said : 
 
 "I am very savage just at this moment; I have been 
 trying for two days to get enough men together to form a 
 camp a short way out, in order to see all right for march- 
 ing, and all the pagosi declare they are afraid. I think I
 
 STANLEY BLIND. 331 
 
 am past the fever here, now ; as, although I have had it 
 six times, the last attacks have been getting lighter, and 
 the only thing bothering me now is my right eye, which is 
 a good deal inflamed, but I think is getting better. It was 
 caused by the constant glare arid dust round the house. 
 
 " September 30th. Here I am still, trying to make a 
 preliminary start, but not one of my pagosi will come in ; 
 at least, I can't get more than a dozen together out of one 
 hundred and thirty I have engaged, and I can't manage 
 much with them. I am still greatly bothered with my 
 eye, as, if I use the other much, it brings on pain. 
 
 " October 14th. Just able to try and write again, but I 
 have been quite blind, and very bad with fever since my 
 last words. I have been more pulled down by the latter 
 than any I have had before, and was feeling very much as 
 if I should like to be with you all for a day or two. I am 
 in great hopes of getting out of here soon, now. Dillon is 
 more alive, and growling at not getting away. I am 
 writing this bit by bit, as my eyes allow me, so don't 
 expect much sense or coherence in this epistle." 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Clements Markham, he wrote : 
 
 " September 15th. We have all been down with fever 
 since we have been here, but are now pulling round again. 
 It is a great nuisance, as the fever makes me lose my 
 lunars ; I tried directly I was able to think to get some, 
 but I was so shaky and dazed it was utterly impossible. 
 
 "Since I wrote the foregoing I have been down with 
 fever, but am now, thank God, clear of it. We are wait- 
 ing for a few pagosi, and putting our donkeys' saddle-bags 
 to rights, prior to starting for Ujiji, which I find can be 
 reached in about twenty-two marches, or about thirty days. 
 I am afraid Dillon must go back, as he is getting quite 
 blind; in fact, the last day or two he has been quite 
 unable to read or write one eye was affected first, and
 
 332 DILLON TO RETURN. 
 
 now the other is going; he ought, decidedly, in my 
 opinion, to go back, and I have strongly advised him so 
 to do. 
 
 " September 20th. It is something dreadful, this waiting 
 here. Here is the 20th of September, and I am still 
 bothered by the lack of pagosi ; if I had been well, we 
 should have been away weeks ago; but out of forty-five days 
 I have had one fever of eight days, one of seven, one of five, 
 one of four, and am now just getting well of a violent 
 attack of headache which lasted for five days, and of course 
 do not feel particularly bright, so I have only had sixteen 
 days. Dillon is much better, and has decided to go on ; 
 he is not all right yet, though. 
 
 " September 26th and 27th. Still detained by lack of 
 pagosi, but I hope to be off in about ten days or so. I 
 have just had another attack of fever, and this is the first 
 day I have been able to do anything. Dillon seems to 
 have fever every other day nearly, but not very violently ; 
 but what I am most afraid of is his sight. He has quite 
 lost the use of his left eye, and has occasional symptoms in 
 the right. It is atony of the optic nerve ; if he gets quite 
 blind further on, I do not see my way of sending him 
 back ; in fact, it would be impossible for the greater por- 
 tion of our route, and he himself says getting back to a 
 temperate climate would be the only thing to do him 
 good. 
 
 " September 29th. Yesterday, by dint of great labor I 
 got together sixteen pagosi at about 2 P. M., and to-day 
 I hear they are all collected at Taborah, and afraid to go 
 on, and I am here with my tent cleared out and not a soul 
 to move a thing. I shall go mad soon, if this state of 
 affairs continues. I am thinking of going on by myself as 
 light as I can, if I can get enough of the pagosi I have 
 engaged, and making a drive some how."
 
 
 f pi '< 
 
 ji 
 *L^ . 
 
 f
 
 STARTLING NEWS. 335 
 
 The above is sufficient to show how constantly they were 
 ill. But something worse than delay or fever now oc- 
 curred. The object of the whole expedition had disap- 
 peared forever. Cameron jots down in his journal: "A 
 sad and mournful day now arrived." As he was lying on 
 his sick-bed, weak and languid from his repeated attacks 
 of fever, his head dizzy with whirling thoughts of home 
 and its loved ones far away, and with the thick-coming 
 fancies of what might yet be in store for him, his servant 
 came running into his tent with a letter in his hand. 
 Snatching it from him, he asked where it came from. 
 His only reply was, " some man bring him." Tearing it 
 open, he read, with a strange, stunned feeling, the following 
 letter : 
 
 "'UKHONONGO, October, 1873. 
 '"8m: 
 
 " ' We have heard, in the month of August, that 
 you have started from Zanzibar for Unyanyembe, and again 
 and again, lately, we have heard of your arrival. Your father 
 died of disease, beyond the country of Bisa, but we have 
 carried the corpse with us. Ten of our soldiers are lost 
 and some have died. Our hunger presses us to ask you 
 for some clothes to buy provisions for our soldiers, and we 
 should have an answer, that when we shall enter there shall 
 be firing guns or not, and if you permit us to fire guns, 
 then send some powder. We have wrote these few words 
 in place of Sultan or King Albowra. 
 
 "'The writer, JACOB WAINRIGHT, 
 "'Dr. Livingstone's Expedition.' 
 
 " Being half blind, it was with some difficulty that I 
 deciphered the writing, and then failing to attach any 
 definite meaning to it, I went to Dillon. His brain was in 
 much the same state of confusion from fever as mine, and
 
 336 ARRIVAL OF LIVINGSTONE'S BODY. 
 
 we read it again together, each having the same vague idea 
 ' Could it be our own father who was dead.' 
 
 " It was not until the bearer of the letter, Chuma, Liv- 
 ingstone's faithful follower, was brought to us that we fully 
 comprehended what we had been reading. The writer had 
 naturally supposed that the doctor's son was the leader of 
 the relief expedition. We immediately sent supplies for 
 the pressing needs of the caravan, and dispatched a mes- 
 senger to the coast announcing Dr. Livingstone's death. 
 
 " On the arrival of the body, a few days later, Said ibn 
 Salim and other chiefs, and the principal Arabs, without 
 exception, showed their respect to Livingstone's memory 
 by attending the reception of the corpse, which they ar- 
 ranged with such honors as they were able. The askari 
 were drawn up in front of the house in two lines, between 
 which the men bearing the body passed ; and as the body 
 entered, the colors, which, contrary to our usual custom, 
 had not been hoisted that morning, were shown half-mast 
 high. 
 
 "Susi, on whom the command had devolved on the 
 death of Livingstone, brought a couple of boxes belonging 
 to him, and his guns and instruments. He also stated that 
 a box containing books had been left at Ujiji, and that 
 shortly before his death, the doctor had particularly desired 
 that they should be fetched and conveyed to the coast. 
 
 " Dr. Livingstone's death, as far as could be ascertained 
 from the description given by his men, occurred rather to 
 the westward of the place marked in the map published 
 in 'Livingstone's Last Journal.' He had been suffering 
 from acute dysentery for some time, but his active mind 
 did not permit him to remain still and rest. Had he done 
 so for a week or two after his first attack, it was the opinion 
 of Dr. Dillon, upon reading the last few pages of his jour- 
 nal, that he would most probably have recovered.
 
 EXPEDITION BREAKING UP. 339 
 
 " It is not for me here to speak of Livingstone, his life 
 and death. The appreciation of a whole nation nay, 
 more, of the whole civilized world, will testify to succeed- 
 ing generations that he was one of the world's heroes. 
 
 " And that title was never won by greater patience, self- 
 denial and true courage, than that shown by David Living- 
 stone. 
 
 "It was now necessary to consider what course they 
 had better pursue, since he, to whom they were to have 
 looked for guidance, was taken away from them. 
 
 "Murphy resigned his position, and announced his 
 intention of returning to the coast, on the ground that the 
 work of the expedition was now completed, and that 
 nothing further remained for us to do. 
 
 " Dillon and Cameron decided upon proceeding to Ujiji, 
 and securing that box to which Livingstone had referred 
 with almost his last breath, and after having safely dis- 
 patched it to the coast, to push on toward Nyangwe to 
 endeavor to follow up the doctor's explorations. 
 
 " They now redoubled their exertions to get away, and 
 equipped Susi and his companions for the march to 
 Bagomayo. But, unhappily, Dillon and he were not 
 destined to go forward together, for a few days prior to 
 the time fixed for their departure, Dillon was attacked 
 with inflammation of the bowels, and much against his 
 wish, felt constrained to return to the coast, as that seemed 
 the only course which gave hope of recovery." 
 
 Difficulties crowded at this time very heavily about our 
 bold explorer. The object for which the whole expedition 
 was organized could not nojv be secured. He ecu Id only 
 try to carry out the purpose as he understood it of Dr. 
 Livingstone. It was a difficult position in which he found 
 himself, as the plan and design of the expedition having 
 come to nought, he must return with nothing done or take the
 
 340 "WESTWARD HO!" 
 
 responsibility of attempting what might prove a more dis- 
 astrous failure still. Besides, not expecting to go beyond 
 this great lacustrine region of Central Africa, he had made 
 no arrangements for any farther explorations. But still 
 he determined that a movement set on foot by the Royal 
 Geographical Society, of London, should not end in nothing 
 done, and he resolved to move westward and complete, as far 
 as possible, Livingstone's work, and, perhaps, push on to the 
 Atlantic coast. His whole force was now reduced to about 
 one hundred men ; yet, with these, encouraged by the suc- 
 cesses of Livingstone and Stanley, he determined to pro- 
 ceed. It was a condition which, in its sadness, discourage- 
 ment, and the fearful forebodings it conjured up, might 
 well appall the stoutest heart. It was in these circumstances 
 that Cameron showed that he was worthy to stand beside 
 Livingstone and Stanley, as one of the most intrepid ex- 
 plorers of this or of any age. In very simple language, 
 without any attempt at dramatic effect, and yet, in its very 
 simplicity, dramatic in the highest sense, he says : "On the 
 9th of November, Livingstone's caravan, accompanied by 
 Dillon and Murphy, started for the coast, whilst my cry 
 was 'westward ho !" 
 
 While trying to enlist men to compose the force, with 
 which he now proposed to continue his march, and carry 
 out a project not at all contemplated beforehand, he re- 
 ceived another shock by the arrival of a messenger, an- 
 nouncing the death of Dillon, his physician, friend and 
 mainstay. In the delirium of the African fever some fire- 
 arms having been left near him he seized a pistol, and 
 placing the muzzle to his head, blew out his brains. Thus, 
 discouragements, one after another, were piled on him to 
 drive him back. Not only was the main object of the 
 expedition defeated, but his physician, on whom he de- 
 pended, was dead, and taken from him under circum-
 
 DILLON'S GRAVE. 341 
 
 stances calculated to throw a gloom over all his plans. 
 Not only was he now left alone in the heart of Africa, but 
 he himself was under the influence of this same deadly 
 fever, which might end just as tragically. No wonder, in 
 the sudden despondency produced by this irreparable loss, 
 he said : " The day on which I received this news was the 
 saddest of my life. I had lost one of the best and truest of 
 my old messmates and friends ; one whose companionship, 
 during the many weary hours of travel and suffering, had 
 helped to cheer and lessen the difficulties and vexations by 
 which we were so frequently beset. And the shock so 
 stunned me, in my enfeebled state, that for some days I 
 appear to have existed almost in a dream, remembering 
 scarcely anything of the march to Konongo, and leaving 
 my journal a blank." No wonder that he felt so prostrated 
 and bewildered. The wonder is, that, now left alone, the 
 only white man in the party the expedition, so far as ac- 
 complishing the object, being a failure exhausted by 
 sickness, and depressed by the loss of his one dear friend 
 he did not wheel about and return to Zanzibar, his starting 
 point, instead of turning his face, all alone, to the untrod- 
 den wilderness that lay between him and the unknown to 
 which he was hastening. I 
 
 After much delay and troubles with his men, he at 
 length started forward, and soon came to the spot where 
 poor Dillon died. He tried in vain to find where he was 
 buried, in order to put some rude monument over his 
 grave. He found, at last, that he had been buried in a 
 jungle, to keep his grave from being desecrated, and there 
 the true-hearted, brave physician rests to-day adding one 
 more to the number of those who have sacrificed their 
 lives in the attempt to solve the mystery of the dark 
 continent. 
 
 It was now December, and Cameron's journal between
 
 342 BEACHES TJJTJI. 
 
 this and Ujiji is very similar to that of Stanley, as they 
 passed over nearly the same district of country. He took 
 a different road, however, from Stanley, striking westward 
 between his route and the direct one through Mirambo's 
 country. 
 
 He remained some time at a village named Hinnone, 
 waiting to be able to" steer clear of Mirambo, who was 
 carrying on war, as usual, with the native tribes. Some- 
 times he was sick, sometimes he went hunting, and would 
 fetch in a gazelle or zebra. He jots down : " Christmas- 
 day passed very miserably. A heavy rain commenced 
 the day, flooding the whole village the ditch and bank 
 round my tent were washed away, and I had over six 
 inches of water inside it." He describes the huts and 
 modes of life of the inhabitants, manner of dressing the 
 hair by the women, etc. Now and then a ludicrous scene 
 broke the monotony of his dismal journey. One day he 
 was greatly amused by seeing one of his guides, who had 
 got possession of an umbrella, strutting along under it with 
 a pompous air. "He kept 'it open the whole day," he 
 says, " continually spinning it round and round in a most 
 ludicrous manner; and when we came to a jungle, he 
 added to the absurdity of his appearance by taking off his 
 only article of clothing his loin-cloth and placing it on 
 his head, after having carefully folded it. The sight of a 
 naked negro walking under an umbrella was too much for 
 my gravity, and I fairly exploded with laughter." Pass- 
 ing village after village made desolate by the slave-traders, 
 he kept on, crossing river after river among others the 
 Lugungwa, a beautiful stream, which had cut a channel 
 fifty feet deep in the soft sandstone, and not more than 
 eight feet wide at the top. At length he came in sight of 
 the great inland sea of Tanganika. He had finally 
 reached Ujiji. His first inquiries were for Dr. Living-
 
 CROSSING THE LUGUNGWA RIVER.
 
 ARRIVAL AT UJIJI. 345 
 
 stone's papers, which he found safe in the hands of one of 
 the chief men of the place. 
 
 He arrived at Ujiji in February and remained there till 
 March, when he set out on a long cruise around Lake 
 Tanganika, which continued till May. With the excep- 
 tion of the description of the customs and manners of some 
 of the tribes that live on its shores, his journal is of more 
 value to the geographer than to the general reader.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CAMERON PUSHES ON TO THE LUALABA, AND EESOLTES TO FOLLOW IT TO THE SEA IT HAS NO 
 CONNECTION WITH THE NILE SYSTEM NO CANOES TO BE HAD TIPO-TIPO HANDSOME WOMEN 
 INQUISITIVENESS OP THE WOMEN STOPPED BY A P.USE INTERVIEW WITH KING KASONGO 
 KESOLVES TO VISIT SOME CURIOUS LAKES ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES CONTRACTS WITH A 
 SLAVE-TRADER TO TAKE HIM TO THE COAST EXPLORATIONS OF LAKES HOUSES BUILT IN THE 
 LAKES DESCRIPTION OF KASONGO AND HIS CHARACTER AND HABITS HIS HAREM THE RULES 
 THAT GOVERN IT THE RELIGION OF THE COUNTRY A CURIOUS BRIDAL CEREMONY FLOATING 
 ISLANDS THE CONGO ROUTE ABANDONED. 
 
 now resolved to push on to the Lualaba, 
 and thence follow the Congo down to the sea. His 
 first objective point was Nyangwe, where he expected to 
 obtain canoes for the voyage. He describes the natives he 
 met on this route, never traveled by any white man before 
 but Livingstone. He speaks especially of Manyema, and 
 says the huts were ranged in long streets their bright 
 and red walls and sloping roofs differing from those 1 ither- 
 to met with. And in the middle of the street were 
 huts, palm-trees and granaries. 
 
 On the 1st of August he reached the Lualaba, having 
 been two months on the road. Where he struck the river 
 it was fully a mile wide, dotted with islands and flowing in 
 a broad, turbid current, at the rate of three or four knots 
 an hour. The next day he floated down to Nyangwe. 
 Jumping ashore, he entered the settlement alone, much to 
 the astonishment of the natives, to whom this sudden 
 appearance of a solitary white man seemed like an ap- 
 parition. 
 
 The great question to be solved now was, could he trace 
 this river to the sea. No white man but Livingstone had 
 
 346
 
 DIFFICULTIES ABOUT CANOES. 349 
 
 ever penetrated to this remote spot before ; and whether he 
 should go farther or not depended, in the first place, whether 
 he could get canoes and men to work them, who would 
 consent to accompany him. That the Lualaba had no con- 
 nection with the Nile system, was now apparent as noon- 
 day, independent of the former discussions as to the mean 
 heights of this stream and the Nile. Cameron calculated 
 that the volume of water passing Nyangwe was one hun- 
 dred and twenty-three thousand cubic feet per second, even 
 in the dry season, which is five times greater than that of 
 the Nile at Gondokoro, Baker's extreme point of naviga- 
 tion of the river, where it was only twenty-one thousand 
 five hundred feet per second. This settled the fact beyond 
 all controversy, that the Lualaba had nothing to do with 
 the Nile. It settled, also, another fact, that such a stream 
 now evidently on the western slope, could have no connec- 
 tion with any other river flowing west except with the 
 Amazon of Africa, the Congo. The two must constitute 
 one river. 
 
 After Cameron had remained a fortnight at Nyangwe, 
 one of the expeditions that had been off after slaves, re- 
 turned. The men composing it owned the canoes that 
 Mr. Cameron wanted, and he immediately entered into 
 negotiations with them for their purchase, but they would 
 listen to no offers for them. He now began to despair, 
 when, one day, while sitting listlessly in front of his hut, 
 he heard the sound of firearms, and knew at once that 
 another marauding party was returning. It proved to be 
 the advance-guard of Tipo-tipo, whose camp was near a 
 lake called Sankora. Two days after Tipo-tipo himself 
 arrived. 
 
 " He was a good-looking man," Cameron says, " and the 
 greatest dandy I had seen among the traders. Notwith- 
 standing he was perfectly black, he was a thorough Arab
 
 350 INQUISITIVE WOMEN. 
 
 in his ideas and manners." He advised Cameron to re- 
 turn with him to his camp, where he could easily procure 
 guides to Lake Sankora. So, on the 26th of August, he 
 commenced getting his party over the river, preparatory 
 to start with Tipo-tipo for the latter's camp. 
 
 Having crossed with a portion of his men and haggage, 
 he left the everlasting Bombay of Stanley to bring over 
 the rest with the stores. But Bombay, true to his instincts 
 and character, had returned to the village to have a big 
 drunk. Cameron, however, determined to go on to Tipo- 
 tipo's camp, and did, though on the way he had such an 
 attack of fever that he reeled like a drunken man and 
 could scarcely drag one foot after another, they having be- 
 come so swollen and blistered that he had to cut open his 
 boots to get relief. 
 
 They at last encamped two miles from Ruzzuna's village, 
 a friend and ally of Tipo-tipo. This chief, with a half a 
 dozen wives, came to stay near him while he remained, and 
 visited him frequently, bringing a new wife each time. 
 Cameron says : " They were the handsomest women I had 
 seen in Africa, and, in addition to their kilts of gray cloth, 
 wore scarfs of the same material across their breasts." At 
 first they were afraid of him, but on the second day all 
 their timidity disappeared, and they began to examine him 
 very curiously. The pictures he showed them soon wearied 
 them, and they proceeded to investigate him personally. 
 He says: "They turned up the legs and sleeping-suit 
 which I always wore in camp, to discover whether it was 
 my face alone that was white." They prosecuted their 
 investigations so thoroughly, that he saw, if there was not 
 a stop put to it, he would soon be stripped naked, and he 
 sent for some beads and shells, and strewing them over the 
 ground, sent them scrambling after them, and thus escaped 
 their further scrutiny. Ruzzuna, when he came, brought
 
 IMPOSING COURT CEREMONIES. 353 
 
 with him a handsomely-carved stool, on which he sat, 
 using the lap of one of his wives, seated on the ground, as 
 a footstool, on which he planted his feet. 
 
 The next thing "in the programme" was to receive a 
 visit from the great chief or king of the district, Kasongo. 
 The imposing ceremonies that heralded his approach would 
 furnish a good example to the crowned heads of Europe, 
 who in nowise differ from these savage negro chieftains in 
 their ridiculous pageantry. First, each sub-chief arrived, 
 preceded by drummers, while his rank was proclaimed in 
 true European style and his position in the coming re- 
 ception made known. Then drumming and shouting 
 announced the approach of the great man himself. First 
 came a half a dozen drummers, then thirty or forty spear- 
 men, followed by six women carrying shields, and then his 
 negro majesty. A dance followed, and then a talk was 
 held, in which Cameron informed him that he wanted to 
 visit Lake Sankora, through which he believed the Lualaba 
 flowed. 
 
 Two days after, he returned the visit, and was. there 
 informed that the chief of the territory which he must 
 cross to reach the lake had said that "no strangers with 
 guns had ever passed through his country and never 
 should, without fighting their way." Cameron then cast 
 about to see if he could not get to the lake without passing 
 through his dominions. Having received, as he thought, 
 satisfactory information on this point, he, on the 12th of 
 September, set out with his guides. From these he ob- 
 tained information about two other lakes in which huts 
 were built on piles, and still another in which there were 
 floating islands covered with inhabitants. 
 
 For several days they journeyed through a fairly-popu- 
 lated country, " with large villages of well-built and clean 
 huts disposed in long streets with bark-cloth trees planted
 
 354 ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES. 
 
 on each side" all the streets running east and west. The 
 natives seemed friendly, and they traveled on quietly for 
 several days ; but this friendly conduct at last changed, 
 and Cameron found his road ambushed and arrows thickly 
 falling around him. He learned afterward that he had 
 been mistaken for a slave-trader. He finally had to resort 
 to retaliation, and after burning one hut and wounding one 
 man, was allowed to leave quietly the last village where 
 hostilities had been commenced. The next village, how- 
 ever, showed the same hostile feeling, and he was compelled 
 to kill two or three and wound several more before peaceful 
 relations ' could be established. He at length arrived in 
 King Kasongo's dominions, where he found a trader named 
 Judah Merikani, who had traveled the country extensively. 
 He had seen Livingstone, Speke and Burton. He found 
 here, also, a Portuguese trader, but, though he could speak 
 Portuguese, he was an old and ugly negro. 
 
 Here, also, he made an agreement with a man named 
 Alvez, to conduct him to the Atlantic coast; but as the 
 latter said he could not start under a month, Cameron 
 resolved to spend the intermediate time as he could not 
 reach Sankora in exploring the neighboring lake of Mo- 
 heya, in which, it was said, houses were built on piles. 
 But, before starting, he visited Kasongo's capital, which 
 was about a hundred rods long by thirty wide, and sur- 
 rounded by a neat fence of sticks five feet high, in the 
 centre of which was his dwelling. He was absent, but his 
 chief wife received him courteously, and after many ques- 
 tions as to where he came from and what he wanted, made 
 him take off his boots and stockings, that she might exam- 
 ine his feet. 
 
 After some parleying, she consented to give him a guide 
 to Lake Moheya. He started on the 30th of October, and 
 came in sight of the lake two days after, and in it found
 
 EXPLORING SOME CURIOUS LAKES. 355 
 
 three villages built on piles, besides several detached huts 
 scattered over its surface. He could get no canoes to visit 
 them, and had to be content with a distant view of them 
 through his glass. They were built on platforms raised 
 about six feet from the water, and resting on piles driven 
 into the bed of the lake. Underneath them canoes were 
 moored, while men could be seen swimming from hut to 
 hut. 
 
 Kasongo not arriving, and his return being uncertain, 
 he determined to visit some other curious lakes in this 
 region. But, before starting, he gives a description of the 
 large district of Urua, which extends from this point to 
 Lake Tanganika. This vast territory is governed by King 
 Kasongo. He thus speaks of him and his religion : 
 
 " Kasongo, or the chief for the time being, arrogates to 
 himself divine honors and power, and pretends to abstain 
 from food for days without feeling its necessity ; and indeed 
 declares, that as a god he is altogether above requiring 
 food, and only eats, drinks and smokes for the pleasure it 
 affords him. 
 
 " In addition to his chief wife and the harem maintained 
 in his private inclosure, he boasts that he exercises a right 
 to any woman who may please his fancy when on his jour- 
 neys about the country ; and if any becomes enceinte, he 
 gives them a monkey-skin for the child to wear, if a male, 
 as this confers a right to live by taking provisions, 
 cloth, etc., from any one, not of the royal blood. 
 
 " Into the inclosure of his harem no male but himself is 
 allowed between sunset and sunrise, on pain of death or 
 mutilation ; and even if one of the harem should give birth 
 to a male child during the night, the mother and infant 
 are bundled out immediately. 
 
 " His principal wife and the four or five ranking next to 
 her, are all of royal blood, being either his sisters or first
 
 356 KASONGO's HAREM. 
 
 cousins ; and amongst his harein are to be found his step- 
 mothers, aunts, sisters, nieces, cousins, and, still more hor- 
 rible, his own children. 
 
 " As might be expected from such an example, morals 
 are very lax throughout the country, and wives are not 
 thought badly of for being unfaithful ; the worst they may 
 expect being severe chastisement from the injured husband. 
 But he never uses excessive violence, for fear of injuring a 
 valuable piece of household furniture. 
 
 " When Kasongo sleeps at home, his bed-room furniture 
 consists of members of his harem. Some on hands and 
 knees form a couch with their backs, and others lying flat 
 on the ground, provide a soft carpet. 
 
 " It is the rule for all Warna to light their fires them- 
 selves and cook their own food, Kasongo being the only 
 one exempt from this observance ; but should either of the 
 men appointed to do this service for him, by any chance 
 be absent, he then performs these duties himself. 
 
 "No Warna allows others to witness their eating or 
 drinking, being doubly particular with regard to members 
 of the opposite sex ; and on pombe being offered, I have 
 frequently seen them request that a cloth might be held 
 up to hide them whilst drinking. 
 
 " Their religion is principally a mixture of fetish and 
 idolatry. All villages have devil-huts and idols before 
 which offerings of pombe, grain and meat are placed, and 
 almost every man wears a small figure round his neck or 
 arm. Many magicians also move about with idols, which 
 they pretend to consult for the benefit of their clients; 
 -[and some being clever ventriloquists, manage to drive a 
 flourishing business. 
 
 " But the great centre of their religion is an idol named 
 Kunque a Banza, which is supposed to represent the 
 founder of Kasongo's family, and to be all-powerful for
 
 STRANGE BRIDAL CEREMONY. 357 
 
 good or evil. This idol is kept in a hut situated in a 
 clearing amidst a dense jungle, and always has a sister of 
 the reigning chief as a wife, who is known by the title of 
 Mwali a Panga. Round the jungle live a number of 
 priests, who guard the sacred grove from all profane in- 
 truders, and receive offerings for the idol, and also a large 
 portion of the tribute paid to Kasongo. But, although 
 they hold this official position, and are thus intimately 
 connected with all the rights and ceremonies pertaining to 
 the deity, they are not permitted to set eyes upon the idol 
 itself, that privilege being reserved for its wife and the 
 reigning sovereign, who consults it on momentous occa- 
 sions, and makes offerings to it upon his accession, and 
 after gaining any great victory over his adversaries. Not- 
 withstanding my efforts, I could not discover the exact 
 position of this idol's habitation, but am perfectly convinced 
 of its existence, as all the accounts I received were pre- 
 cisely similar on all material points." 
 
 As there appeared no prospect of Kasongo's return, 
 Cameron asked the queen for guides to visit Lake Kasali, 
 that he had heard of. She promised to do so, but kept 
 deferring taking any steps in the matter till he got wearied 
 out, and securing a guide himself, started off. 
 
 Arriving at a village on the way, he witnessed a curious 
 bridal ceremony. A head man and a niece of the chief 
 were to be married. The first day of the ceremony was 
 devoted to dancing, in which yells, and shouts, and rude 
 music made a continual din from morning till night. The 
 next day the bridegroom danced alone for an hour, when a 
 circle was formed, and the bride, a child nine years old, 
 was brought in on the shoulders of a woman and given 
 some tobacco and beads by the bridegroom. " After this 
 ceremony was concluded, the bride was set down and 
 danced with the bridegroom, going through the most ob-
 
 358 FLOATING ISLANDS. 
 
 scene gestures for about ten minutes, when he picked her 
 up, and tucking her under his arms, walked her off to his 
 hut." The dancing and yelling continued, and was still 
 going on when Cameron left next day. 
 
 He at length came to a village in sight of the lake, but 
 there the wife of the chief forbade his farther advance. 
 The husband was with Kasongo, and thither Cameron sent 
 messengers to get permission to proceed to the lake, but 
 could not obtain one. He sent some of his men, however, 
 to it, who reported that a large number of natives lived on 
 floating islands in it. These were made of " large pieces 
 of tingi-tingi, cut from the masses with which the shore is 
 lined." On these, logs and brushwood are placed and 
 covered with earth. Huts are then built and bananas are 
 planted, while goats and poultry are reared upon them. 
 They were usually moored to stakes driven into the bed of 
 the lake, that are pulled up when the people wish to shift 
 their locality, and lines thrown around other stakes, by 
 which the heavy mass is slowly towed along. 
 
 When Cameron returned, he asked Alvez when they 
 could start. He replied he was all ready whenever Ka- 
 songo got back. This was in December, but Kasongo did 
 not return till the end of next month, and even then he 
 was delayed by the falsehood and cowardliness of Alvez. 
 Kasongo received him with barbaric ceremony, and he 
 thought he would now soon be off. But he was destined 
 to disappointment. This savage king, who thought him- 
 self the greatest man in the world, seemed in no haste to 
 lose his novel guest while he absolutely refused to give 
 his consent to let him visit Lake Sankora. 
 
 Cameron was now compelled, with great reluctance, to 
 give up his cherished plan to trace the Congo to its mouth, 
 and to seek the Atlantic coast in another direction by 
 land.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE DEPARTURE CHARACTER OF THE CARAVAN HORRIBLE CEREMONIES AT THE BTTRIAL OF A 
 CHIEF OF URtJA START OF THE CARAVAN ITS BAD CONDUCT JOINED BY A SLAVE-GANG ITS 
 SORROWFUL APPEARANCE THE CAMPS OF THE CARAVAN DREARY MARCHING APPEARANCE 
 OF THE COUNTRY NAKED WOMEN DRESSING THEIR HAIR ELABORATELY ARRIVAL AT ALVEZ 
 VILLAGE THE LUXURY OF COFFEE, ONIONS AND SOAP REDUCED STATE OF CAMERON'S MEN- 
 REACHES A PORTUGUESE TRADER'S HOUSE A FESTIVAL A LASCIVIOUS DANCE BEAUTIFUL 
 SCENERY INTERVIEW WITH KING KONGO CAMERON'S SUFFERINGS BEGIN DESPERATE CON- 
 DITIONA FORCED MARCH TO THE SEA WITH A FEW MEN FIRST SIGHT OF THE SEA HIS WEL- 
 COMEHIS DANGEROUS SICKNESS VISIT TO THE CONSUL AT LOANDA MEN SENT TO ZANZIBAR 
 HIS RETURN HOME THE SLAVE TRADE, 
 
 CONSPIRACIES, duplicity and falsehood kept delay- 
 V_y ing the departure of the caravan, so that it did not 
 get off till the 25th of February. Thus months of valu- 
 able time had been almost entirely wasted. But time 
 seems to be of no account in Africa, and the great object 
 apparently is not to get a thing done, but to see how long 
 they can keep from doing it. 
 
 The undisciplined, motley caravan to which he intrusted 
 himself numbered, at the outset, some seven hundred ; but 
 before they left the kingdom of Urua, Alvez had collected 
 over one thousand five hundred slaves to take to the coast. 
 
 They marched slowly, and, after three days, reached the 
 village of Totelo, where another long delay occurred, in 
 order to build Kasongo a house, whom they found there. 
 During the tedious weeks that followed, Cameron busied 
 himself in writing, drawing, taking lunars and working 
 them out. Evenings he would stroll out with his gun and 
 shoot guinea-fowl and wood-pigeons to replenish his larder. 
 An occasional visit to one of the chiefs varied the monotony. 
 He says : 
 
 359
 
 360 SAVAGE FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 " I also busied myself in collecting a vocabulary of Kirna 
 and in inquiring into the manners and customs of the 
 people, and by this means became acquainted with the 
 ceremonies observed at the burial of a chief of Urua, which 
 are probably unequaled in their savagery. 
 
 " The first proceeding is to divert the course of a stream 
 and in its bed to dig an enormous pit, the bottom of which 
 is then covered with living women. At one end a woman 
 is placed on her hands and knees, and upon her back the 
 dead chief, covered with his beads and other treasures, is 
 seated, being supported on either side by one of his wives, 
 while his second wife sits at his feet. 
 
 " The earth is then shoveled in on them, and all the 
 women are buried alive with the exception of the second 
 wife. To her custom is more merciful than to her com- 
 panions, and grants her the privilege of being killed before 
 the huge grave is filled in. This being completed, a 
 number of male slaves sometimes forty or fifty are 
 slaughtered and their blood poured over the grave ; after 
 which the river is allowed to resume its course. 
 
 "Stories were rife, that no fewer than one hundred 
 women were buried alive with Bambane, Kasongo's father ; 
 but let us hope that this may be an exaggeration. 
 
 " Smaller chiefs are buried with two or three wives, and 
 a few slaves only are killed that their blood may be shed 
 on the grave ; whilst one of the common herd has to be 
 content with solitary burial, being placed in a sitting pos- 
 ture with the right fore-finger pointing heavenward, just 
 level with the top of the mound over his grave." 
 
 When everything at last was ready for a start, Alvez 
 insisted on going through a ridiculous ceremony to pro- 
 pitiate the sun and guard them against fire on the way. 
 . The next day, however, June 10th, the caravan took its 
 departure, and in its march through the country plundered
 
 JOINED BY A SLAVE GANG. 361 
 
 every small party they met on the road, robbing fields of 
 their, fruit, and seizing everything they desired which fell 
 in their way. 
 
 Thus they traveled for four days, crossing four rivers 
 on their route. The country during this time had been 
 wooded and hilly, but they now came to a succession of 
 level plains, indented with the tracks of a herd of ele- 
 phants, that Cameron thought must have numbered over 
 five hundred animals. They at length reached the village 
 of Lunga Mandi, where Cameron was shown the spot on 
 which the first white trader had pitched his camp. Leav- 
 ing this place, they made a march and came to a village 
 where Coimba, who was on a slave-hunt for Kasougo, was 
 to join them. 
 
 He came up in the afternoon with fifty-two women, tied 
 together in lots of seventeen or eighteen. Some had 
 children in their arms, others were far advanced in preg- 
 nancy, and all carried heavy loads. They were footsore 
 and covered with welts and scars, showing how unmerci- 
 fully they had been treated. To obtain them, ten vil- 
 lages had been destroyed, containing a population, in all, 
 of one thousand five hundred. Alvez claimed a part of 
 these slaves, to pay him for waiting, and they were given 
 him. 
 
 " With this additional amount of misery " engrafted on 
 the caravan, it next day started forward again. It con- 
 sisted of several camps one composed of Cameron and his 
 men; another of Alvez, with his people and their slaves; 
 a third, of Coimba, his wives and slave-gang ; Bastian, a 
 fourth ; two independent parties, and two more, made up 
 of different tribes, completed the whole. The long pro- 
 cession moved on over the diversified country and past 
 numerous villages without any exciting incident to vary 
 the tedious monotony of the journey, and came at last to
 
 362 
 
 A DREARY MARCH. 
 
 Lupanda, where the caravan halted a day. Here Cameron 
 had some conversation with the natives, as well as trials of 
 physical strength in holding out weights at arm's length, 
 in which he excelled them all. Keeping on their south- 
 western course, they at length, on the 25th of July, reached 
 the territory of Ulunda, a long, narrow strip of country, 
 about one hundred miles wide where they entered it. 
 
 The next territory was Lovali, the tedious march to 
 which was varied by the escape of a number of slaves. 
 Their condition was becoming fearful the ropes that con- 
 fined them were eating into their flesh, while some of the 
 women were carrying dead infants, that had died from 
 starvation. Cameron was powerless to help them, and 
 could only rejoice at the escape of any. 
 
 The march of this caravan is hardly worth recording. 
 Starting from the Lualaba, and striking south-west through 
 an unknown region, it was reasonable to expect that new 
 and interesting revelations would be made. On the con- 
 trary, the scenery, for the most part, possessed but little in- 
 terest, being tame compared with that on the eastern slope, 
 as the traveler approaches the great lake plateau, with its 
 grand mountain ranges. There was not even the excitement 
 of forcing their way through hostile tribes for the caravan 
 was too large to admit of resistance, while its gang of 
 slaves closed every village which they passed against them. 
 Hence it was a dreary, monotonous march through a coun- 
 try without fine scenery past villages they could not enter 
 without incident, and remarkable only as it revealed a 
 vast region of savage life, that formed a part of a great 
 continent thickly populated, over which is spread the very 
 blackness of darkness. 
 
 Cameron was now traveling on a line that would fetch 
 him to the sea at a rather sharp angle. To state it more 
 accurately, he had started at about five degrees south
 
 LIVINGSTONE'S TRACKS. 363 
 
 latitude, and on the course he was taking would come out 
 nearly fifteen degrees south latitude, or, in round numbers, 
 some seven hundred miles south of the point where Stan- 
 ley was destined to emerge on the Atlantic. . 
 
 Cameron's account of the march through the Lovali 
 country is perhaps a fair specimen of the whole route after 
 he left the Lualaba till he reached the Portuguese settle- 
 ments on the Atlantic. He says : " The first part of the 
 Lovali country consisted of a continuation of large, open 
 plains, patches of forest and jungle, and many neatly-built 
 villages. The huts were square, round and oval, having 
 high roofs in some instances, running into two or three 
 points." The marching, he says, was free from any variety. 
 Delays by runaway slaves old slave-camps on the road 
 " fetishes " of the natives their curious customs, were the 
 only things worth noting. 
 
 On the 28th of August, they came to the principal vil- 
 lage of the kingdom, named Katende. Here Cameron 
 heard of Livingstone, who had passed through this place 
 on his journey across Africa, nearly thirty years before. 
 It seemed that the principal impression the great explorer 
 made on the natives here was that he rode an ox. 
 
 Cameron was now getting reduced very low in the ar- 
 ticles which he could use in the way of barter to procure 
 what he wanted. 
 
 The caravan, however, pressed steadily on, over enormous 
 plains, which are flooded in the wet season, and arrived on 
 the 7th of September, at the village of Sha Kembe, the 
 last in the district of Lovali, through which they had been 
 so long marching. He describes the customs of the natives 
 here, and says : " The women devote most of their time to 
 dressing their hair, which is a very elaborate performance, 
 and when finished is plastered with grease and clay, and 
 made permanently smooth and shiny." With regard to their
 
 364 LUXURY OF SOAP. 
 
 attentions to the adornment of other portions of their 
 bodies, he says : " That a stick of tape would have clothed 
 the female population of a half a dozen villages." 
 
 Caravans were frequently met, but no news could be ob- 
 tained from the outside world. 
 
 At length, in the forepart of October, the caravan arrived 
 at the village where Alvez lived, who was received by the in- 
 habitants with shouts and yells,and a general drunk followed. 
 Here the carriers were paid off, and Cameron began to cast 
 about for new guides to the coast. He stayed here a week, 
 which, compared with those that made up the last year, was 
 one of luxury, for, on being well paid, Alvez supplied him 
 with coffee, onions and soap. This last article he had been 
 without for a year, and he gave himself a thorough cleans- 
 ing, which greatly revived him. Alvez's settlement was 
 very much like those of the natives, except some of the 
 huts were larger. 
 
 Cameron was now approaching Portuguese settlements, 
 near the coast, and it was necessary to buy provisions for 
 the march, and clothes to clothe his people before en- 
 tering civilized society. All his European cloth had dis- 
 appeared, and his men were dressed in rags of grass cloth, 
 often so scant that the wearers might as well have been 
 stark naked. Alvez supplied his wants, but cheated him 
 in doing so. Cameron, however, felt he was at his mercy 
 and paid him his prices, and was finally off on the 10th of 
 October. He w r as glad to get rid of him and his great 
 caravan, with its suffering slaves, and turned his face reso- 
 lutely toward the coast. After passing several villages, he 
 came to the town of Kagnombe, the largest he had yet 
 seen being three miles in circumference. A ceremonial 
 visit to the braggart chief of it ended in the latter getting 
 beastly drunk, when Cameron wandered about the town 
 noting the peculiarities of the place and its savage customs.
 
 A LASCIVIOUS DANCE. 367 
 
 The next morning, after a walk of a few hours, he ar- 
 rived at the settlement of Senor Goncalves, a Portuguese, 
 who had formerly been master of a ship, but had finally 
 settled down in this remote region. He owned six villages, 
 the inhabitants of which were practically his slaves. Each 
 one furnished a caravan, by which he kept up a brisk trade 
 with the coast, and lived in luxury and comfort here, in 
 the healthy uplands of Bibi. For the first time for nearly 
 two years Cameron now slept between sheets. 
 
 It was a long and weary distance yet to the coast, but 
 somewhat refreshed by this slave-trader's hospitality, he 
 set off again, and passing village after village, at length 
 came to Lungi, where there was to be, the day after his 
 arrival, an important festival, and as a natural consequence 
 a big drunk. Of course, his men refused to travel till it 
 was over. At the appointed time, the inhabitants assem- 
 bled under a huge banyan tree, and began to sing, and 
 dance, and drink their pombe. The men and women 
 danced together, their suggestive motions being accom- 
 panied by ribald songs, and the scene was one of licentious- 
 ness almost beyond belief. It was one of those scenes that 
 exhibit in the strongest colors the utter debasement of the 
 savage tribes of Africa. 
 
 He had some difficulty in getting away from here, owing 
 to the rheumatism and swollen feet of many of his people, 
 caused by the wet and cold. At length they were off, and 
 he says : 
 
 " Almost directly after starting, we came upon rocky 
 hills, with brawling burns rushing along their rugged 
 courses, and here and there falls, from twenty to thirty 
 feet in height, the crystal water sparkling in the sunlight, 
 as it dashed from crag to crag. Large tree ferns grew on 
 the banks, and amongst the bushes were myrtle, jasmines 
 and other flowering shrubs, whilst a variety of beautiful
 
 368 AN AFRICAN PARADISE. 
 
 ferns, similar to maiden-hair, and other delicate kinds, 
 flourished in the damp crevices of the rocks. 
 
 " As we went forward the scenery increased in beauty, 
 and at last I was constrained to halt and surrender myself 
 to the enjoyment of the view which lay before me. I will 
 content myself with asserting that nothing could be more 
 lovely than this entrancing scene, this glimpse of a para- 
 dise. To describe it would be impossible, neither poet, 
 with all the wealth of world-imagery, nor painter, with 
 almost supernatural genius, could by pen or pencil do full 
 justice to the country of Bailunda. In the foreground 
 were glades in the woodland, varied by knolls crowned by 
 groves of large, English-looking trees, sheltering villages, 
 with yellow thatched roofs ; shambas, or plantations, with 
 the fresh green of young crops and bright red of newly- 
 hoed ground in vivid contrast, and running streams flash- 
 ing in the sunlight ; whilst in the far distance were moun- 
 tains of endless and pleasing variety of form, gradually 
 fading away, until they blended with the blue of the sky. 
 Overhead there drifted fleecy- white clouds ; and the hum 
 of bees, the bleating of goats and crowing of cocks broke 
 the stillness of the air. 
 
 "As I lay beneath a tree, in indolent contemplation of 
 the beauties of nature in this most favored spot, all thought 
 of the work still before me vanished from my mind ; but 
 I was rudely awakened from my pleasant reverie by the 
 appearance of the loaded caravan, with the men grunting, 
 yelling and laboring under their burdens. Thus the dream 
 of fairy-land was dispelled and the realities of my work, 
 with its toil and trouble, returned. 
 
 " That evening we encamped in a wood, a clear space 
 having literally to be cut out of the masses of sweet-scented 
 creepers which festooned the trees." 
 
 Cameron here turned aside to visit the Kongo chief of
 
 DESPERATE STATE OF AFFAIRS. 369 
 
 the Bailunda at his capital, Kambala. The huts were 
 built on a hill-side among rocks, and were surrounded by a 
 palisade. He was kept some time waiting for his appear- 
 ance, sitting on a stool several of which surrounded an 
 old arm-chair that served as a throne for the sable 
 monarch. Kongo, at last, entered, dressed in a much-faded 
 and dilapidated uniform, with a huge, battered cocked hat 
 on his head, and being very aged and much under the in- 
 fluence of drink, he had to be helped along and placed on 
 his throne. He was too drunk to know what he was about 
 and Cameron, having presented him with a gun, retired. 
 Though now near the coast, among people who had more 
 or less intercourse with white men, Cameron began to 
 suffer more severely than he had at any time since leaving 
 the Lualaba. He had now been some two months pushing 
 his way slowly in a south-westerly direction, since he aban- 
 doned the effort to follow the Congo to the sea. Through 
 the various provinces and districts, and past innumerable 
 villages, the caravan had pressed on without serious incon- 
 venience ; the natives either being too peaceably inclined or 
 too weak to offer any resistance. But, now, his men were 
 gradually giving out getting every day more unfit to 
 march and, at the best, made such short ones that the 
 coast, practically, was yet a great way off. Added to this, 
 the rain set in, and the weak, discouraged, foot-sore caravan, 
 as it slowly dragged itself over the wet ground, looked like 
 a long funeral procession. Besides, the only money that 
 could buy food had given out both cloth and trinkets. 
 Stragglers also disappeared and had to be waited for or 
 hunted up one died and was thrown into a jungle because, 
 if buried, the grave might be discovered and they be de- 
 layed to settle the matter with the natives. Things were 
 getting in a desperate condition. At last, one day, they 
 had been six hours on the march, in a pouring rain, and
 
 370 A FORCED MAKCH. 
 
 yet were compelled to rest so often that they had been 
 moving onward only two hours and a half. Cameron now 
 saw that something decisive must be done. He found that 
 he was yet one hundred and twenty-six miles from the 
 coast, while upwards of twenty men were sick or lame, 
 and all hungry and filling the air with their groans and 
 complaints. When, therefore, they went into camp, he 
 took his pipe and sat down to think over his situation, and, 
 after a half an hour's reflection, resolved to throw away his 
 tent, boat, bed everything but instruments, journals and 
 books and, selecting a few strong men, make a forced 
 march to the sea, and send back assistance to the main 
 body. So, early on the following morning, taking five of 
 his own men and some natives who joined him after his 
 visit to Kongo and hence were fresh, he started. All he 
 had in the way of provisions, or anything to purchase 
 them with for himself personally, were a half a fowl, a little 
 flour and two yards of cloth. They made a sharp march 
 the first day and, at night, pitched their camp on a moun- 
 tain, five thousand eight* hundred feet above the sea. Up 
 with the dawn they pushed on again, meeting caravans from 
 the coast, bound inland, the leaders astonished at seeing a 
 white man on foot and none but natives for his companions. 
 After eleven hours of stiff marching, they were com- 
 pelled to go into camp at an elevation of nearly four thou- 
 sand feet above the sea. At five o'clock the next morning 
 they were off again passing cultivated fields, the owners 
 of which, however, would enter into no negotiations for the 
 sale of food. At two o'clock they came suddenly upon a 
 village so entirely hidden by rocks and trees, that they did 
 not see it till they were almost at the entrance. Here they 
 got a little flour, and pushed on. That night Cameron 
 was completely fagged out, having been on his feet eleven 
 hours.
 
 FIRST SIGHT OF THE SEA. 371 
 
 The next day, the way became fearfully rough, and the 
 tired travelers were compelled to crawl on their hands and 
 knees over rocks and slide down into deep ravines, and 
 then climb their precipitous sides by aid of vines, while 
 graves and skeletons along the path told how many had 
 lain down and died on this terrible march. Clogs and 
 forks of wood were lying by their side, telling the sad 
 story of the fate of many a slave who, wearied with his 
 long, painful journey from the interior, finally succumbed 
 here, getting a happy release from the sufferings of the 
 middle passage and the brutality of a task-master. 
 
 At night they encamped near a village, and Cameron 
 offered all the cloth he had for a little milk, which was 
 refused, and he had to borrow more from one of the cara- 
 vans before he could get it, and then found it sour. He 
 passed a feverish, painful night, but was off at half-past 
 four in the morning, and soon met noisy caravan after 
 caravan pushing inland. At length, with much hard 
 scrambling, he reached the summit of a ridge, and looking 
 off westward, asked himself, with eager anxiety, 
 
 " What is that distant line upon the sky ?" 
 
 At length he exclaimed, in rapture, " The sea! the sea!" 
 His men took up the shout, and " the sea ! the sea ! " went 
 up in one exultant cry. But the welcome sight did not 
 give them strength, and they crawled wearily over the 
 ground, and at four o'clock were obliged to stop and go 
 into camp. 
 
 The next morning they were compelled to march through 
 a pass that was like a furnace, from the reflection of the 
 sun's rays striking against the rocks. That night was the 
 last passed out of civilization. Before sunrise next morn- 
 ing they were on the march, and soon came in sight of the 
 sea and a little later of Katombella, situated on the shore. 
 Swinging his rifle over his head, Cameron ran down the
 
 372 CAMERON'S DANGEROUS ILLNESS. 
 
 slope, crazed with joy, and in a short time was in the house 
 of Monsieur Cauchoix, an old officer of the French navy, 
 who had settled as merchant at Benguella. Here they 
 were all provided with quarters and as much food as they 
 desired, and soon the men were all gloriously drunk. 
 
 Cameron having dispatched relief to the main body, now 
 turned his attention to himself. His mouth, which had 
 begun to bleed the day before, suddenly grew worse his 
 tongue became so swollen that it protruded out of his 
 mouth, from which the blood flowed profusely, while he 
 was unable to speak or swallow. 
 
 In the meantime his body was covered with blotches, 
 purple, blue and green, and he was threatened with imme- 
 diate suffocation. The doctor of the hospital was sent for, 
 who began at once to apply powerful remedies. Yet, in so 
 dangerous a condition did he consider him to be, that he did 
 not leave his side for forty-eight hours. Had this attack 
 seized him a day sooner, when away from medical aid, he 
 would inevitably have died. It was a narrow escape. He 
 now began to mend rapidly, and on November llth, the 
 rest of his men came in except one, who had died since he 
 left them on his forced march. Bombay celebrated his de- 
 liverance by getting drunk and abusing everybody, not 
 excepting the host, Cauchoix, himself. Cameron wished 
 to flog him, but those whom the drunken brute had abused 
 interceded for him, and he was let off. 
 
 Here he came across a queer specimen of a Yankee, who 
 was in the employ of Cauchoix. He asked Cameron 
 whether he had been traveling " on his own hook," or been 
 " working for a company." He said he should like to have 
 been with him, but " he didn't care about the darned walk- 
 ing." Among other things, he had been master of an 
 American barque, and traded in snakes, that he found up 
 some African river. He liked the business, he said, and
 
 WELCOME AT HOME. 373 
 
 asked Cameron if he could easily get hold of some big 
 snakes. 
 
 A fortnight later he and his men were landed in the 
 harbor of Loanda by a little Portuguese steamer, that had 
 been ordered to convey them there. Cameron went at 
 once to the English consulate. As the consul entered the 
 room where he was awaiting his arrival, the latter said : 
 " I have come to report myself from Zanzibar, overland." 
 
 The consul stared at him a moment in blank surprise, 
 then stepping quickly forward, and placing both his hands 
 on his shoulders, exclaimed : " Cameron ! my God f" 
 
 He was detained here some time in getting a ship to 
 convey his men back to Zanzibar ; but at last he saw them 
 aboard a ship and sail out of the harbor, and then took a 
 steamer for home, and on the 2d of April arrived in the 
 Mersey, and was welcomed by scores of delighted friends, 
 wiio never expected to see him again. 
 
 More than three years had passed since he first set sail 
 on his perilous expedition, much of the time having been 
 spent in the very heart of Africa. He had heard nothing 
 of Stanley, and now public attention was turned to this 
 daring explorer. Would he accomplish more than this 
 man, who had crossed the continent without one white man 
 as a companion, or would he leave his bones in some Afri- 
 can forest ? It will be seen in the following chapters what 
 he was doing, and, in the end, accomplished. 
 
 As Mr. Stanley went over the same ground that Came- 
 ron gave most of his attention to, we have not dwelt on the 
 discoveries of the latter, because the former explored it 
 more thoroughly, and hence the results of his work will 
 be more satisfactory to the reader. 
 
 The iniquitous slave trade occupies the same prominence 
 in Cameron's sight that it did in Livingstone's, and as it 
 does in Baker's *and Stanley's estimation, and he says, in
 
 374 THE SLAVE-TRADE QUESTION. 
 
 conclusion : " The question now before the civilized world 
 is, whether the slave trade in Africa, which causes, at the 
 lowest estimate, an annual loss of over a half a million of 
 lives, is to be permitted to continue. Every one worthy 
 of the name of a man will say, ' No ! ' But it is not to be 
 stopped by talking and writing. Every one must put his 
 shoulder to the wheel some to aid commerce, and some 
 missionary effort, till civilization and light are forced into 
 the heart of the dark continent." 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY ON CAMERON'S 
 
 NEW ROUTE. 
 
 Beyond the ranges of Kilimacho and Nyoka are broad 
 and well-watered plains, extending to Kalomba, east of 
 which is a shallow basin about five or six miles across, 
 where the soil is salt and there are some salt springs. 
 
 From Kalomba to Lunga Mandis, the country consisted 
 of wooded hills, flat-topped table-lands of sand and broad 
 marshes bordering streams. The channel of the river is 
 continually changing, and in a year or two no trace remains 
 of its former course. This is owing to the growth of semi- 
 aquatic vegetation, which quickly closes up every space 
 where the water does not flow rapidly ; and this accounts 
 for the fact that toward the end of the dry season, the 
 actual channel is much smaller than in the rainy. 
 
 If these swamps prove to be the modern representatives 
 of the old coal-measures, we should find ferns, papyrus 
 especially its roots ; trees some fallen on their sides and 
 half-rotten, others still standing, and stumps and grasses 
 amongst the vegetable fossils ; whilst those of the animal 
 kingdom should include skeletons of mud-fish and frogs, 
 and also of an occasional crocodile, buffalo or hippo- 
 potamus.
 
 THE KIBOKWI COUNTRY. 375 
 
 The country in Ussambi consisted mostly of flat-topped 
 sandstone hills. Strata of red and yellow sandstone alter- 
 nated, and between them and the granite were usually 
 masses of water- worn pebbles. 
 
 Ulunda is a thickly-wooded country, with gentle undu- 
 lations and occasional savannahs or meadows, watered by 
 numberless streams, most of them running northward to 
 the Kongo. 
 
 At its western side, broad plains stretch right across 
 Lovali. They are light and sandy in the dry season, with 
 belts of trees along the different watercourses intersecting 
 them, but during the rains become quagmires and morasses. 
 The water-shed between the Zambesi and Kongo basins 
 lies along the centre of these plains which in the annu- 
 ally rainy season are waist-deep in water, and the two 
 basins then actually join. 
 
 West of Lovali is the country of Kibokwi, where the 
 rise out of the central depression becomes very marked, 
 and the country is nearly all covered with forests. Bee 
 culture is here the chief occupation of the natives. The 
 large trees are utilized to support their beehives, the pro- 
 duce of which forms a considerable and profitable item of 
 barter. They exchange the wax for all the foreign trade 
 goods they require, and from the honey make a sort* of 
 mead, which is strong and by no means unpalatable. The 
 people work iron tastefully and well. They obtain the ore 
 from the nodules found in the beds of the streams. The 
 basins of the Kongo and Zambesi terminate in the western 
 portion of Kibokwi, where that of the Kwanza com- 
 mences. 
 
 The country of Bihi is entered after the Kwanza is 
 crossed the eastern portion being formed of wooded hills 
 of red sandstone, with many running brooks and rills, 
 whilst in the western part are wide prairies and bare downs,
 
 376 EASTERN AND WESTERN BAILUNDA. 
 
 with a few patches of wood. A peculiar feature is the 
 number of streams which flow underground for a portion 
 of their course, the most remarkable instance being the 
 "Burst of the Kulato," the boundary between Bihi and 
 Bailunda. The eastern portion of Bailunda is moderately 
 level, with rocky hills, on the summits of which are 
 situated the villages of the chiefs ; but, as the western por- 
 tion is reached, the country breaks into mountains of every 
 shape and form, among which are needles and cones of 
 granite. In the foreground the hills are of red sandstone, 
 crowned with groves of magnificent trees, festooned with 
 jasmines and other sweet-scented creepers. 
 
 At the western side of Bailunda the caravan reached 
 the culminating point of the section across the continent. 
 
 A mountainous and rocky tract lies between this and the 
 west coast. In some of the passes the solid granite hills 
 are cupola and dome-shaped, like the Puy-de-Dome, in 
 Auvergne. But even among this mass of rocky, sterile 
 mountains lie fertile valleys, where the people cultivate 
 large quantities of corn, which they carry down to the 
 coast to exchange for aquardienti and cloth. 
 
 After passing Kizanji, forty miles from the sea, no more 
 human habitations are seen till Katombela is reached. 
 Nearly thirty miles of this part of the road is through one 
 continuous pass of bare granite rocks, with only the occa- 
 sional shelter of a boabab-tree, or a giant euphorbia. To 
 this pass succeeds a barren waste of sand and gravel, sepa- 
 rated from the sea by a low, flat strip of land on the sea- 
 ward side; and here the towns of Katombela and Ben- 
 guella are situated. This strip only needs irrigation to 
 make it yield all tropical productions, and, as water is 
 obtained everywhere close to the surface, large and pro- 
 ductive gardens are easily cultivated.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 STANLEY'S LAST GKEAT EXPEDITION. 
 
 STANLEY THINKS OF AFRICA AND LIVINGSTONE'S -^FINISHED WORK DETERMINES TO COMPLETE 
 IT TAKES A BOAT OF HIS OWN ALONG AT ZANZIBAR AGAIN STARTS FOR THE INTERIOR- 
 TAKES A NEW ROUTE THE COUNTRY PASSED THROUGH DESERTED BY HIS GUIDES LOSES 
 THE PATH A PAINFUL MARCH STARVATION AND DEATH A GLOOMY PROSPECT TWO YOUNG 
 LIONS KILLED AND MADE INTO BROTH A TRUNK USED FOR A KETTLE A PAINFUL SPECTACLE- 
 MEN SENT OFF FOR FOOD AT LAST RETURN JOY OF THE CAMP THE MARCH A NEW TYPE Cf 
 NATIVES NAKED BEAUTY SICKNESS AND DEATH DEATH OF EDWARD POCOKE HIS BURIAL 
 STANLEY'S LETTER TO HIS FATHER A MAN MURDERED ITWRU REACHED A POPULOUS 
 PLAIN INTERCOURSE WITH THE PEOPLE A MAGIC DOCTOR. 
 
 STANLEY, after he had found Livingstone, naturally 
 thought much of the latter's explorations. Africa 
 had become to him an absorbing subject, till he began to 
 imbibe the spirit of Livingstone. This was natural, for 
 he had won fame there, and why should he not win still 
 greater laurels in the same field ? This feeling was much 
 increased after the death of the great explorer, with his 
 work unfinished, and he longed to complete it. True, 
 Cameron was on the ground to accomplish this very object, 
 but Stanley knew the difficulties he would have to contend 
 with without a boat of his own. The matter was talked 
 over a good deal, and finally the proprietors of the New 
 York Herald and London Telegraph determined to send 
 him out. The vast lake region, embracing some six de- 
 grees of longitude and extending from the equator to 
 fifteen degrees south latitude, had become a region of the 
 greatest interest to explorers. On this vast water-shed 
 lived a mighty population, and these lakes, with the rivers 
 running into and out of them, must furnish the roads to 
 
 377
 
 378 AGAIN AT ZANZIBAR. 
 
 commerce and be the means by which Africa would be 
 lifted out of its barbarism into the light of civilization. 
 
 The large lakes Nyassa and Tanganika had been more 
 or less explored, but the one possessing the greatest inte- 
 rest the Victoria Nyanza, on account of the general im- 
 pression that it was the head of the Nile was almost 
 wholly unknown. The persistence with which the Nile 
 had mocked all the efforts to find its source, had imparted 
 a mystery to it and caused efforts to be made to unlock the 
 secret, apparently wholly disproportioned to its value or 
 real importance. This lake, therefore, was to be Stanley's 
 first objective point. Livingstone, Speke and Burton, and 
 others had seen it he would sail round it in a boat which 
 he would take with him. This he had made in sections, 
 so that it could be carried the nearly one thousand miles 
 through the jungles of Africa to its destination. 
 
 Everything being completed he started on his route, and 
 in the latter part of 1874 found himself once more at Zan- 
 zibar. Here, in organizing his expedition, he discovered 
 that the builder had made his boat, which he had chris- 
 tened the Lady Alice, a great deal heavier than he had 
 ordered ; but he luckily found a man in Zanzibar who was 
 able to reduce its weight so that it could be transported by 
 the carriers. It is not necessary to go into a description 
 of how he organized the new expedition, nor of his journey 
 along his old route to Unyanyembe. His force consisted 
 in all of a little over three hundred men, and he took with 
 him this time several powerful dogs. The interest of the 
 expedition begins when he struck off from the regular 
 route of the caravans going west, and entered an entirely 
 new country and encountered a new race of people. In- 
 stead of moving directly westward, he turned off to the 
 north, and at length reached the western frontier of Ugogo, 
 on the last day of the year 1874. The country at this
 
 DESERTED BY THE GUIDES. 379 
 
 point stretched before him in one vast plain, which some 
 of the natives said extended clear to Nyauza. He found 
 that his course led him along the extremity of Whumba, 
 which he was glad to know, as he thought his march would 
 now be unmolested. Two days' march brought them to 
 the borders of Usandawa, a country abounding in ele- 
 phants. Here he turned to the north-west and entered 
 Ukimbu or Uyonzi on its eastern extremity. The guides 
 he had hired in Ugogo to take him as far as Iramba here 
 deserted him. Hiring fresh ones, he continued two days 
 in the same direction, when these deserted him also, and 
 Stanley found himself one morning on the edge of a vast 
 wilderness without a guide. The day before, the guides 
 had told him that three days' march would bring him to 
 Urimi. Relying on the truth of this statement, he had 
 purchased only two days' provisions. Thinking, therefore, 
 that they would be there by the evening of the next day, 
 he thought little of the desertion and moved off with con- 
 fidence. But the next morning, the track, which was 
 narrow and indistinct at the best, became so inextricably 
 mixed up with the paths made by elephants and rhinoceros, 
 that they were wholly at loss what course to take. Halting, 
 Stanley sent out men to seek the lost path, but they re- 
 turned unable to find it. They then, of course, had nothing 
 left to do but to march by compass, which they did. 
 
 As might be expected, it brought them, after a few hours' 
 march, into a dense jungle of acacias and euphorbias, through 
 which they could make their way only by crawling, scram- 
 bling and cutting the entangling vines. Now pushing aside 
 an obstructing branch now cutting a narrow lane through 
 the matted mass, and now taking advantage of a slight 
 opening, this little band of three hundred struggled pain- 
 fully forward toward what they thought was open country, 
 and an African village with plenty of provisions.
 
 380 A FEARFUL DEATH ROLL. 
 
 In this protracted struggle the third night overtook them 
 in the wilderness, and there they pitched their lonely, 
 starving camp. To make it more gloomy, one of the men 
 died and was buried ; his shallow grave seeming to be a 
 sad foreboding of what awaited them in the future. The 
 want of provisions now began to tell terribly on the men ? 
 but there was nothing to do but go forward, trusting to 
 some outbreak to this apparently interminable wilderness. 
 But human endurance has its limit, and although Stanley 
 kept his little force marching all day, they made but four- 
 teen miles. It was a continual jungle, with not a drop of 
 water on the route. The poor carriers, hungry and thirsty, 
 sunk under their loads and lagged behind the main force 
 for many miles, until it became a straggling, weary, de- 
 spondent crowd, moving without order and without care 
 through the wilderness. The strong endeavored to help 
 the weak, and did relieve them of their burdens and 
 encourage them to hold on, so that most of them were able 
 to reach the camp at night. But in despite of all effort five 
 sick, despairing men, strayed from the path, which was 
 only a blind trail made by those in advance. After the 
 camp for the night was pitched, Stanley sent back scouts 
 to find them, who explored the woods for a mile each side 
 of the track they had made, but only one man was found, 
 and he full a mile from the trail and dead. The other 
 four had wandered off beyond reach and were never heard 
 of more. This was getting to be fearful marching five 
 men in one day was a death roll that could not be kept up 
 long, and Stanley began to cast about anxiously to deter- 
 mine what step he should next take. But there was but 
 one course left open to him, to attempt to retrace his steps 
 was certain death by famine, to advance could not be worse, 
 while it might bring relief, so push on was the order, and 
 they did push on weary, thirsty, starving, and on the fifth
 
 IN SEARCH OF FOOD. 381 
 
 day came to a little village recently established, and which 
 consisted of only four huts, occupied by four men with 
 their wives and children. These had scarcely provisions 
 enough to keep themselves, and hence could give nothing 
 to Stanley's starving men. It was useless to attempt 
 further marching without food, for the men staggered into 
 camp exhausted, and would rather die there than attempt 
 to move again. 
 
 Stanley's experience had taught him how far he could 
 urge on these African carriers and soldiers, and he saw 
 they had noAv become desperate and would not budge 
 another inch until they had something to eat. He, there- 
 fore, ordered a halt, and selecting twenty of his strongest 
 men, sent them off in search of food. They were to press 
 on to a village called Suna, about thirty miles distant, of 
 which the natives told him, and where they said food was 
 in abundance. As soon as they had disappeared in the 
 forest, Stanley took his gun and strolled out in search of 
 game. But, filled as the country seemed with it, he could 
 find nothing to shoot. One of his men, however, came 
 across a lion's den, in which were two cubs, which he 
 brought to Stanley. The latter skinned them and took 
 them back to camp. As he entered it, the pinched and 
 worn faces of his faithful men, as they sat hungry and 
 despairing, moved him so deeply that he would have wept, 
 but for fear of adding to their despondency. The two cubs 
 would go but a little way toward feeding some two hundred 
 and twenty men, if cooked as ordinary meat, so he resolved 
 to make a soup of them, which would go much farther. 
 But the question was where to get a kettle large enough to 
 make a soup for such a large body of men. Luckily, he 
 bethought himself of a sheet-iron trunk which he had 
 among his baggage, and which was water-tight. He 
 quickly dumped out of it its contents, and filling it with
 
 382 LION BKOTH. 
 
 water, set it over a fire which he had ordered to be made. 
 He then broke open his medical stores, and taking out five 
 pounds of Scotch oatmeal and three one-pound tins of 
 revalenta Arabica, he made with it and the two young 
 lions a huge trunk full of gruel, that would give even two 
 hundred and twenty men a good bowl apiece. He said it 
 was a rare sight to see those hungry, famished men gather 
 around that Torquay dress-trunk and pile on the fuel, and 
 in every way assist to make the contents boil, while with 
 greedy eyes, with gourds in their hands, full of water, they 
 stood ready to pour it in the moment it threatened to boil 
 over and waste the precious contents. But he adds, "it was 
 a rarer sight still to watch the famished wretches, as, with 
 these same gourds full of the precious broth, they drank it 
 down as only starving men swallow food. The weak 
 and sick got a larger portion, and another tin of oatmeal 
 being opened for their supper and breakfast, they waited 
 patiently the return of those who had gone in quest of 
 food." 
 
 Stanley's position now became painfully trying. He 
 was five days' march from where he could obtain food, if 
 he attempted to go back, which, in the present condition of 
 his men,, they could never make, and if any survived, it 
 would be on the terrible condition of the living eating the 
 dead. 
 
 The only hope lay in reaching supplies in advance. 
 But what if those twenty strong men he had sent on to 
 find them never returned, having been ambushed and 
 killed on the way, or what if they, at the end of several 
 days, returned and reported nothing but an unbroken 
 wilderness and impassable jungle or swamps in front, and 
 themselves famished, ready to die ? These were questions 
 that Stanley anxiously put to himself and dared not con- 
 template the answer. The hours of painful anxiety and
 
 RETURN OP THE SCOUTS. 383 
 
 suspense, the maddening thoughts and wild possibilities 
 that fire the brain and oppress the heart in such crises as 
 these cannot be imagined, they can be known only by him 
 who suffers the pangs they inflict. This is a portion of the 
 ^history of the expedition that Stanley can never write, 
 though it is written on his heart in lines that will never 
 be effaced. 
 
 The empty trunk lay on one side, and the night came 
 down and the stars burned bright and tranquilly above, and 
 all was silent in the wide solitude as Stanley sat and listened 
 for the return of his men. But they carne not, and the 
 morning broke and the sun rode once more the tropical 
 heavens in his splendor, but no musket shot from the forest 
 told of the returning scouts. The weary hours wore on 
 and the emaciated men lay around in silent suffering. To 
 Stanley those hours seemed days. Night again darkened 
 the forest and still no sign of the returning party. Would 
 they ever return, was the terrible question Stanley was 
 perpetually putting to himself, and if not, what desperate 
 movement should he attempt ? The third morning broke 
 as calm and peaceful as the rest; he was beginning to 
 despair, when, suddenly, a musket shot broke over the 
 forest, and then another and another, sending sudden life 
 and activity throughout the despairing camp. The men, 
 as they emerged into view laden with food, were greeted 
 with a loud shout, and the hungry wretches fell on the 
 provisions they brought like ravening wolves. The report 
 of abundance ahead so excited the men that they forgot 
 their feebleness and clamored to be led on that very after- 
 noon Stanley was quite willing to get away from the 
 jungle, filled with such painful associations, and cheerfully 
 ordered the march, but before they could get away two men 
 breathed their last in the camp and were left to sleep alone 
 in the wilderness.
 
 384 NEW TYPE OF NATIVES. 
 
 That night they encamped at the base of a rocky hill, 
 from which stretched away a broad plain. The hill 
 lifting itself into the clear air the open plain seemed like 
 civilization compared with the gloomy jungle in which they 
 had been starving for the last two days, and where they 
 had left two of their number, and they awoke next morn- 
 ing cheerful and refreshed. Starting off with the prospect 
 of abundant provisions ahead, they made a steady march 
 of twenty miles and reached the district of Sun a in Urimi. 
 
 Stanley was surprised, on entering the rude village, to 
 see a new type of African life. Men and women of great 
 beauty and fine physical proportions met his astonished sight. 
 They stood before him in all their naked beauty, unabashed ; 
 the women bearing children alone wearing a covering of 
 goat skins, designed evidently as a protection against ex- 
 ternal injury, and not caused by any notions of modesty. 
 Their fine appearance seemed to indicate a greater mental 
 development than any other tribes which they had met. 
 Whether this were so or not, it would be difficult to tell, 
 for they were the most suspicious, reserved people Stanley 
 had ever met, being greatly disinclined to barter provisions, 
 of which they had more than they wanted, for cloth and 
 beads, of which they apparently had none. They had no 
 chief, but seemed to be governed in their actions by the 
 old men. "With these Stanley therefore treated for per- 
 mission to pass through their land. It required great tact 
 to secure this, and still more to obtain the required food. 
 Stanley bore this silent hostility patiently, for though he 
 could have taken all he wanted by force, he wished to avoid 
 all violence. While lingering here, two more of his ex- 
 hausted company gave out and died, while his sick list 
 swelled up to thirty. Among the latter was Edward 
 Pocoke, who, with his brother, Stanley had engaged in 
 England to accompany him as attendants.. This compelled
 
 DEATH OF POCOKE. 385 
 
 him to halt for four days, but finding that the hostile 
 feeling of the natives increased the longer he stayed, he 
 determined, dangerous as it was to the sick, especially to 
 Pocoke, to leave. Dysentery and diarrhoea was prevailing 
 to an alarming extent, and rest was especially necessary for 
 these, if they hoped to recover ; but he was afraid matters 
 would become dangerously complicated if he remained, 
 and he turned his soldiers into carriers and slung the sick 
 into hammocks. Encouraging them with the prospect of 
 plenty and comfort ahead, he gave the order to march, and 
 they passed out and entered upon a clear, open and well 
 cultivated country. Reaching a village at ten o'clock they 
 halted, and here young Pocoke breathed his last "to the 
 great grief of all." In speaking of the sad event that cast 
 a gloom over the camp, Stanley says : " We had finished 
 the four hundredth mile of our march from the sea and 
 had reached the base of the water-shed, where the trick- 
 ling streams and infant waters began to flow Nileward, 
 when this noble young man died." They buried him at 
 night under a tree, with the stars shining down on the 
 shallow-made grave Stanley reading the burial service 
 of the Church of England over the body. Far from home 
 and friends in that distant, lonely land he sleeps to-day, a 
 simple wooden cross marking his burial place. Stanley 
 sent the following letter home to his father, describing his 
 sickness and death : 
 
 LETTER TO POCOKE's FATHER. 
 
 KAGEHYI, ON THE VICTORIA NYAXZA, 
 
 March 4th, 1875. 
 
 DEAR SIR : A most unpleasant, because sad, task de- 
 volves upon me, for I have the misfortune to have to report 
 to you the death of your son Edward, of typhoid fever.
 
 386 STANLEY'S LETTER. 
 
 His service witli me was brief, but it was long enough for 
 me to know the greatness of your loss, for I doubt that few 
 fathers can boast of such sons as yours. Both Frank and 
 Ted proved themselves sterling men, noble and brave 
 hearts and faithful servants. Ted had endeared himself to 
 the members of the expedition by his amiable nature, his 
 cheerfulness and by various qualifications which brought 
 him into high favor with the native soldiers of this force. 
 Before daybreak we were accustomed to hear the cheery 
 notes of his bugle, which woke us to a fresh day's labor ; 
 at night, around the camp-fires, we were charmed with his 
 sweet, simple songs, of which he had an inexhaustible 
 repertoire. When tired also with marching, it was his task 
 to announce to the tired people the arrival of the vanguard 
 at camp, so that he had become quite a treasure to us all ; 
 and I must say, I have never known men who could bear 
 what your sons have borne on this expedition so patiently 
 and uncomplainingly. I never heard one grumble either 
 from Frank or Ted; have never heard them utter an 
 illiberal remark, or express any wish that the expedition 
 had never set foot in Africa, as many men would have 
 'done in their situation, so that you may well imagine, that 
 if the loss of one of your sons causes grief to your paternal 
 heart, it has been no less a grief to us, as we were all, as it 
 were, one family, surrounded as we are by so much that is 
 dark and forbidding. 
 
 On arriving at Suna, in Urina, Ted came to me, after a 
 very long march, complaining of pain in his limbs and loins. 
 I did not think it was serious at all, nor anything uncom- 
 mon after walking twenty miles, but told him to go and lie 
 down, that he would be better on the morrow, as it was 
 very likely fatigue. The next morning I visited him, and 
 he again complained of pains in the knees and back, at 
 which I ascribed it to rheumatism, and treated him accord-
 
 POCOKE'S BURIAL. 389 
 
 ingly. The third day he complained of pain in the chest, 
 difficulty of breathing and sleeplessness, from which I per- 
 ceived he was suffering from some other malady than rheu- 
 matism, but what it could be I could not divine. He was 
 a little feverish, so I gave him a mustard-plaster and some 
 aperient medicine. Toward night he began to wander in 
 his head, and on examining his tongue I found it was 
 almost black and coated with dark-gray fur. At these 
 symptoms I thought he had a severe attack of remittent 
 fever, from which I suffered in Ujiji, in 1871, and there- 
 fore I watched for an opportunity to administer quinine 
 that is, when the fever should abate a little. But, on the 
 fourth day, the patient still wandering in his mind, I sug- 
 gested to Frank that he should sponge him with cold 
 water and change his clothing, during which operation I 
 noticed that the chest of the patient was covered with 
 spots like pimples or small-pox postules, which perplexed 
 me greatly. He could not have caught the small-pox, 
 and what the disease was I could not imagine ; but, turn- 
 ing to my medical books, I saw that your son was suffering 
 from typhoid, the description of which was too clear to 
 be longer mistaken, and both Frank and I devoted our 
 attention to him. He was nourished with arrow-root and 
 brandy, and everything that was in our power to do was 
 done ; but it was very evident that the case was serious, 
 though I hoped that his constitution would brave it out. 
 
 On the fifth day we were compelled to resume our jour- 
 ney, after a rest of four days. Ted was put in a hammock 
 and carried on the shoulders of four men. At ten o'clock 
 on the 17th of January we halted at Chiwyn, and the 
 minute that he was laid down in the camp he breathed his 
 last. Our companion was dead. 
 
 We buried him that night under a tree, on which his 
 brother Frank had cut a deep cross, and read the beautiful
 
 390 STANLEY ELATED WITH HOPE. 
 
 service of the Church of England over him as we laid the 
 poor worn-out body in its final resting-place. 
 
 Peace be to his ashes. Poor Ted deserved a better fate 
 than dying in Africa, but it was impossible that he could 
 have died easier. I wish that my end may be as peaceful 
 and painless as his. He was spared the stormy scenes we 
 went through afterwards in our war with the Waturn ; 
 and who knows how much he has been saved from ? But 
 I know that he would have rejoiced to be with us at this 
 hour of our triumph, gazing on the laughing waters of the 
 vast fountain of old Nile. None of us would have been 
 more elated at the prospect before us than he, for he was 
 a true sailor, and loved the sight of water. Yet again I 
 say peace be to his ashes; be consoled, for Frank still 
 lives, and, from present appearances, is likely to come 
 home to you with honor and glory, such as he and you 
 may well be proud of. Believe me, dear sir, with true 
 sincerity, your well-wisher, 
 
 HENRY M. STANLEY. 
 
 Stanley still traveled in a north-west direction, and the 
 farther he advanced the more he was convinced that the 
 rivulets he encountered flowed into the Nile, and he became 
 elated with the hope that he should soon stand on the shores 
 of the great lake that served as the reservoir of the mighty 
 river. 
 
 Two days' march now brought them to Mongafa, where 
 one of his men who had accompanied him on his former 
 expedition was murdered. He was suffering from the asthma, 
 and Stanley permitted him to follow the party slowly. 
 Straggling thus behind alone, he was waylaid by the 
 natives and murdered. It was impossible to ascertain who 
 committed the deed, and so Stanley could not avenge the 
 crime.
 
 T11E MAGIC DOCTOR. 391 
 
 Keeping on they at length entered Itwru, a district of 
 Northern Urimi. The village where they camped was 
 called Vinyata, and was situated in a broad and populous 
 valley, containing some two thousand to three thousand 
 souls, through which flowed a stream twenty feet wide. 
 The people here received him in a surly manner, but 
 Stanley was very anxious to avoid trouble and used every 
 exertion to conciliate them. He seemed at last to succeed, 
 for at evening they brought him milk, eggs and chickens, 
 taking cloth in exchange. This reached the ears of the 
 great man of the valley, a magic doctor, who, there being 
 no king over the people, is treated with the highest respect 
 and honor by them. The next day he brought Stanley a 
 fat ox, for which the latter paid him twice what it was 
 worth in cloth and beads, besides making a rich present to 
 his brother and son. To all his requests he cheerfully con- 
 sented in his anxiety to conciliate him and the natives. 
 
 That day, taking advantage of the bright sun to dry the 
 bales and goods, he exposed his rich stores, an imprudence 
 which he very quickly deeply regretted, for he saw that the 
 display awoke all the greedy feelings of the natives, as was 
 evinced by their eager looks. But the day passed quietly, and 
 on the third morning the great man made his appearance 
 again and begged for more beads, which were given him 
 and he departed apparently very much pleased, and Stan- 
 ley congratulated himself that he would be allowed to 
 depart in peace.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE CAMP VIEW FROM IT HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS A THREE DAYS' FIGHT A MASSACRE A 
 MODERN SODOM A TERRIBLE VENGEANCE TWENTY-ONE OF THE EXPEDITION KILLED A 
 COMPLETE RUIN PROVISIONS OBTAINED THE MARCH RESUMED ONLY A HUNDRED AND 
 NINETY- FOUR MEN LEFT OUT OF THREE HUNDRED WITH WHICH HE STARTED A GLOOMY OUT- 
 LOOKMISTAKEN FOR MIRAMBO THE NYANZA REACHED AT LAST A DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 COUNTRY HE HAD PASSED THROUGH. 
 
 FOE, a half an hour after the magic doctor left, Stanley 
 sat quietly in his camp, his anxieties now thoroughly 
 dissipated, thinking over his speedy departure for the 
 Nyanza. The camp was situated on the margin of a vast 
 wilderness, which stretched he knew not how far westward, 
 while away to the north, south and east extended a wide, 
 open plain, dotted over, as far as the eye could see, with 
 villages. There were nearly two hundred of them, looking 
 in the distance like clusters of beehives. Everything was 
 peaceful, and not a sound disturbed the Sabbath-like still- 
 ness of the scene, when there suddenly broke on his ears 
 the shrill war-cry, which was taken up by village after 
 village till the whole valley resounded with it. It was one 
 loud "he-hu, he-hu," the last syllable prolonged and 
 uttered in a high, piercing note that made the blood shiver. 
 Still Stanley felt no alarm, supposing that some war expe- 
 dition was about to be set on foot, or some enemy was 
 -reported to be near, and listened to the barbaric cry simply 
 with curiosity. The men in the camp kept about their 
 usual avocations some fetching water from a neighboring 
 pool, while others were starting off after wood when sud- 
 denly a hundred warriors appeared close to camp in full 
 392
 
 A HOSTILE DEMONSTRATION. 393 
 
 war costume. Feathers of the eagle and other birds waved 
 above their heads, " the mane of the zebra and giraffe en- 
 circled their foreheads, their left hand held the bow and 
 arrows, while the right grasped the spear." Stanley arose, 
 and telling the men not to leave camp nor do anything to 
 provoke a hostile act, waited to see what this sudden war- 
 like attitude meant. 
 
 In the meantime the throng increased till the entire 
 camp was surrounded. A slight bush fence had been 
 built around it, which, though it concealed those within, 
 was too slight to be of use in case of an attack. Seeing 
 that this hostile demonstration was against him, Stanley 
 sent out a young man who spoke their language, to inquire 
 what they wanted. Six or seven warriors advanced to 
 meet him, when a lively conversation followed. The mes- 
 senger soon returned and reported that they accused one 
 of the party of having stolen some milk and butter from a 
 small village, and they must be paid for it in cloth. He 
 at once sent the messenger back, directing him to tell the 
 warriors that he did not come into their country to rob or 
 steal, and if anything had been taken from them they had 
 but to name the price they asked for it and it should be 
 paid at once. The messenger brought back word that 
 they demanded four yards of sheeting ; although this was 
 worth four times as much as the articles were which they 
 alleged had been stolen, he was very glad to settle the 
 matter so easily, and it was measured and sent to them. 
 The elders declared that they were perfectly satisfied, and 
 they all withdrew. But Stanley could not at once shake 
 off the suspicion this unexpected show of hostile feeling 
 had excited, and he watched narrowly the villages in the 
 distance. He soon saw that the warriors were not pacified 
 if the elders were, for he could see them hurrying together 
 from all parts of the plain and gesticulating wildly.
 
 THE ATTACK. 
 
 Still he hoped that the elders would keep them from any 
 overt act of hostility. While he was watching them he 
 saw about two hundred separate themselves from the main 
 body, and taking a sweep, make for the woods west of the 
 camp. They had hardly entered them when one of his 
 men rushed out of them into camp bleeding profusely from 
 his face and arms. He said that Suleiman (a youth) and 
 he were gathering wood when the savages came suddenly 
 upon them. He was struck with a stick that broke his 
 nose, and his arm was pierced with a spear, while Suleiman 
 fell pierced with a dozen spears. His story and bloody 
 appearance so excited the soldiers that Stanley could with 
 difficulty restrain them from rushing out at once and at- 
 tacking the murderers. He did not yet despair of pre- 
 venting an outbreak, but took care to open the ammunition 
 and be prepared for the worst. He saw at once that an 
 immensely large force could be brought against him, and 
 he must fortify himself or he would be overwhelmed by 
 numbers, and so ordered the men immediately to commence 
 strengthening the fence. They had not been long employed 
 at it when the savages made a dash at the camp, and sent 
 a shower of arrows into it. Stanley immediately ordered 
 sixty soldiers to deploy fifty yards in front. At the word 
 of command they rushed out, and the battle commenced. 
 The enemy soon turned in flight and the soldiers pursued 
 them. Every man was now ordered to work on the de- 
 fenses; some cut down thorn-trees and threw together 
 rapidly a high fence all round the camp, while others were 
 ordered to build platforms within for the sharp-shooters. 
 All this time Stanley could hear the fire of the soldiers 
 growing more and more indistinct in the distance. When 
 the fence was completed he directed the sections of the 
 Lady Alice to be placed so as to form a sort of central 
 camp, to which they could retire in the last extremity. As
 
 SAVAGES AT BAY. 395 
 
 soon as everything was finished he ordered the bugle to 
 sound the retreat, and soon the skirmishers came in sight. 
 They reported fifteen of the enemy killed. All had 
 fought bravely, even a bull dog had seized a savage and 
 was tearing him to pieces, when a bullet put him out of 
 his misery. 
 
 They were not molested again that day, which gave them 
 time to make their position still stronger. The night 
 passed quietly, and they were allowed to breakfast in peace. 
 But about nine o'clock the savages in great numbers ad- 
 vanced upon the camp. All hopes of peace were now at 
 an end, and since he was forced to fight, Stanley determined 
 to inflict no half-way punishment, but sweep that fair val- 
 ley with the besom of destruction. He therefore selected 
 four reliable men, placed them at the head of four detach- 
 ments, attaching to each one a fleet runner, whose duty was 
 not to fight, but to report to him any disaster that threat- 
 ened or befell the detachment to which he belonged, and 
 ordered them to move out and attack the savages. As the 
 route of the enemy was certain, he directed them to pursue 
 them separately, yet keep before them as the place of final 
 rendezvous, some high rocks five miles distant down the 
 valley. The detachments poured forth from the camp, 
 and the deadly fire-arms so appalled those savage warriors, 
 armed only with the bow and spear, that they at once 
 turned and fled. The detachments followed in hot pursuit, 
 and what promised to be a fight, became a regular stam- 
 pede. But one detachment having pursued a large force 
 of the enemy into the open plain, the latter turned at 
 bay. 
 
 The leader of the detachment, excited by the pursuit, and 
 believing, in his contempt for the savages, that the mere 
 sight of his little band would send them scurrying away in 
 deadly fear, charged boldly on them. Quick as thought
 
 396 A SECOXD SODOM. 
 
 they closed around him in overwhelming numbers. The 
 runner alone escaped and bore the sad tidings to Stanley. 
 The appointment of these runners shows his wonderful 
 prevision that foresight which on many occasions alone 
 saved him. He at once sent assistance to the detachment 
 that the courier had reported surrounded. Alas, before 
 it arrived every man had been massacred. The aid, 
 though it came too late to save the brave detachment, 
 arrived just in time to save the second, which was just 
 falling into the same snare, for the large force that had 
 annihilated the first had now turned on this, and its fate 
 seemed sealed. The reinforcements hurried off by Stanley 
 found it completely hemmed in by the savages. Two 
 soldiers had already been killed, the captain was wounded, 
 and in a few minutes more they would have shared the 
 fate of the first detachment. It was at this critical moment 
 they arrived, and suddenly pouring a deadly volley into 
 the rear of the assailants, sent them to the right about with 
 astonishing quickness. The two detachments now wheeled 
 and poured a concentrated volley into the savages, which 
 sent them flying wildly over the plain. A swift pursuit 
 was commenced, but the fleet enemy could not be over- 
 taken, and the march up the valley was scarcely resisted. 
 Stanley, in camp, carefully watched the progress of the fight, 
 which could be distinguished at first by the volleys of his 
 soldiers, and when, receding in the distance, these could be 
 no longer heard, by the puffs of smoke which showed where 
 the pursuit led. But at length smoke of a different char- 
 acter began to ascend from the quiet valley. To the right 
 and left the dark columns obscured the noonday sun, and 
 far as the eye could reach the plain, with its hundreds of 
 villages of thatched huts, presented one wide conflagration, 
 till the murky mass of cloudy vapor, as it rolled heaven- 
 ward, made it appear like a second Sodom, suffering the
 
 AN UNFORTUNATE EXPERIENCE. 397 
 
 vengeance of heaven. To the distance of eight miles 
 Stanley could see the jets of smoke that told of burning 
 villages. He had delayed to the last moment hostile action, 
 but having once commenced it he meant to leave behind 
 him no power of retaliation. 
 
 It was a victorious but sad day, and the return of the 
 detachments was anything but a triumphal march, for they 
 bore back twenty-one dead men, besides the wounded, 
 while they could report but thirty-five of the enemy killed. 
 So little difference in the number of the slain, when one 
 was the pursued and the other the pursuing party, and 
 when the former was armed only with spears and bows, 
 and the latter with the deadly rifle, seems at first sight 
 unaccountable, but it must be remembered that the 
 unfortunate detachment that was surrounded and massacred 
 to a man, furnished almost the entire list of the killed. 
 
 The camp was at peace that night, but it was a sad 
 peace. A few more such victories as this and Stanley 
 would be left without an expedition. 
 
 This unfortunate experience with these people showed 
 the danger of his undertaking a new route. His object 
 was not to travel among new people but to reach the lake 
 region with his boat and settle great geographical problems 
 and establish certain facts having an intimate bearing on 
 the future of Africa. Yet by his course he obtained really 
 no new and valuable information, but imperiled and well- 
 nigh ruined the expedition fitted out with so much expense 
 and care. 
 
 It was the nearest course to the lake, yet the long one by 
 which Speke reached it was the safest. He had been in a 
 perilous position, and it was clearly his own foresight that 
 saved him. The appointment of a courier or swift runner 
 to each detachment to act as a telegraph, would probably 
 have> occurred to few, yet this saved certainly one detach-
 
 398 THE VALLEY OF DESTRUCTION. 
 
 ment from destruction and how much more no one can 
 tell. 
 
 But he was not satisfied with the vengeance he had 
 taken and the devastation he had wrought. He had 
 resolved to teach those savage negroes a lesson on 'the 
 danger of treachery to strangers, and he meant, now he 
 had commenced it, to make it thorough and complete, and 
 so next morning he sent off sixty men to proceed to the 
 farthest end of the valley, some eight miles away, and 
 destroy what yet remained ; passing on through the ruins of 
 the villages, they came to a large village in the extreme 
 north-east. A very slight resistance was made here, and 
 they entered it and applied the torch, and soon it shared 
 the fate of all the rest. Before they destroyed it, however, 
 they loaded themselves with grain. Provisions were now 
 plenty, for the frightened negroes had left everything 
 behind them in their flight. There was no longer any 
 need of purchasing food, the valley was depopulated, 
 and all the accumulated provisions of the inhabitants at 
 the mercy of the victors. Finding he had enough to last 
 the expedition six days, Stanley next morning started 
 westward before day-break, and was soon far away from 
 this valley of destruction, leaving the thoroughly humbled 
 natives to crawl back to the ashes of their ruined homes. 
 Without further trouble, in three days, he reached Iramba. 
 Here he halted and took a calm survey of his condition and 
 prospects. He found that out of the more than three 
 hundred men with which he had left the coast but one 
 hundred and ninety-four remained. 
 
 Sickness, desertion and battle had reduced his number 
 over a third before he had reached the point where his 
 actual labors were to commence. It was not a pleasant 
 look-out ; for, although two hundred men, well armed with 
 rifles, made a formidable force in a country where only
 
 STANLEY'S CONTROLLING FAITH. 399 
 
 arrows and spears were used, still this heavy ratio of loss 
 must stop or the expedition stop. He was not in a country 
 where he could recruit soldiers, and each one lost was a 
 dead loss, and thousands of miles of exploration lay before 
 him, in prosecuting which he knew not how many battles 
 would be fought, nor how much sickness have to be encoun- 
 tered. It would not seem a difficult piece of arithmetical 
 calculation to determine how long three hundred men 
 would last if one-third disappeared in three months, or 
 how many men it would require to prosecute his labors 
 three years. But Stanley never seemed to act as though 
 he thought defeat possible. Whether his faith was in 
 God, himself or his star, it was nevertheless a strong and 
 controlling faith. Still, now and then it leaks out that he 
 was perfectly conscious of the desperate nature of his con- 
 dition, and felt that disease, which carried off his friends 
 and retainers, or the spear, might end, at any moment, his 
 explorations and his life. 
 
 Though out of Urimi at last, he found the natives of 
 Iramba a very little improvement on those of the former 
 district. Mirambo was their terror, and hence they were 
 suspicious of all strangers. Again and again he was mis- 
 taken for this terrible chieftain, and narrowly escaped 
 being attacked. In fact, this formidable warrior was 
 fighting at one time within a day's march of him. 
 
 Urukuma was the next district he entered after Iramba, 
 and he found it thickly peopled and rich in cattle. It 
 consisted for the most part of rolling plains, with scattered 
 chains of jagged hills. He was on the slope that led to the 
 Nyanza, and the descent was so gradual, that he expected 
 to find the lake, whose exploration he designed to make 
 thorough and complete, comparatively shallow, although it 
 covered a vast area. At last he reached a little village, 
 not a hundred yards from the shore, and encamped. At
 
 400 A NEW COUNTRY. 
 
 this point he describes the topography of the new country 
 he had passed over. He says : 
 
 " As far as Western Ugogo I may pass over without at- 
 tempting to describe the country, as readers may obtain a 
 detailed account of it from ' How I Found Livingstone/ 
 Thence north is a new country to all, and a brief descrip- 
 tion of it may be interesting to students of African 
 geography. 
 
 " North of Mizanza a level plain extends as far as the 
 frontier of Urandawi, a distance of thirty-five miles (Eng- 
 lish). At Mukondoku the altitude, as indicated by two 
 first-rate aneroids, was two thousand eight hundred feet. 
 At Mtiwi, twenty miles north, the altitude was two thou- 
 sand eight hundred and twenty-five feet. Diverging west 
 and north-west, we ascend the slope of a lengthy mountain 
 wall, apparently, but which, upon arriving at the summit, 
 we ascertain to be a wide plateau, covered with forests. 
 This plateau has an altitude of three thousand eight hundred 
 feet at its eastern extremity ; but, as it extends westward it 
 rises to a height of four thousand five hundred feet. It 
 embraces all Uyanzi, Unyanyembe, Usukuma, Urimi and 
 Iramba in short, all that part of Central Africa lying 
 between the valley of the Rufiji south and the Victoria 
 Nyanza north, and the mean altitude of this broad upland 
 cannot exceed four thousand five hundred feet. From Mi- 
 zanza to the Nyanza is a distance of nearly three hundred 
 geographical miles ; yet, at no part of this long journey did 
 the aneroids indicate a higher altitude than five thousand 
 one hundred feet above the sea. 
 
 " As far as Urimi, from the eastern edge of the plateau, 
 the land is covered with a dense jungle of acacias, which, 
 by its density, strangles all other species of vegetation. 
 Here and there, only in the cleft of a rock, a giant euphor- 
 bia may be seen, sole lord of its sterile domain. The soil
 
 GEOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION. 401 
 
 is shallow, and consists of vegetable mould, mixed largely 
 with sand and detritus of the bare rocks, which crown each 
 knoll and ridge, and which testify too plainly to the vio- 
 lence of the periodical rains. 
 
 " In the basin of Matongo, in Southern Urimi, we were 
 instructed by the ruins and ridges, relics of a loftier upland, 
 of what has been effected by nature in the course of long 
 ages. No learned geological savant need ever expound to 
 the traveler who views these rocky ruins, the geological 
 history of this country. From a distance we viewed the 
 glistening naked and riven rocks as a singular scene ; but 
 when we stood among them, and noted the appearance of 
 the rocky fragments of granite, gneiss and porphyry peeled 
 as it were rind after rind, or leaf after leaf, like an arti- 
 choke, until the rock was wasted away, it seemed as if 
 Dame Nature has left these relics, these hilly skeletons, to 
 demonstrate her laws and career. It seemed to me as if 
 she said, ' Lo, and behold this broad basin of Matongo, with 
 its teeming villages and herds of cattle and fields of corn, 
 surrounded by these bare rocks in primeval tune this 
 land was covered with water, it was the bed of a vast sea. 
 The waters were dried, leaving a wide expanse of level 
 land, upon which I caused heavy rains to fall five months 
 out of each year during all the ages that have elapsed 
 since first the hot sunshine fell upon the soil. The rains 
 washed away the loose sand and made deep furrows in 
 course of time, until in certain places the rocky kernel 
 under the soil began to appear. The furrows became 
 enlarged, the waters frittered away their banks and con- 
 veyed the earth away to lower levels, through which it 
 wore away a channel, first through the soil and lastly 
 through the rock itself, which you may see if you but 
 walk to the bottom of that basin. You will there behold 
 a channel worn through the solid rock some fifty feet in
 
 402 PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION. 
 
 depth. ; and as you look on that you will have some idea 
 of the power and force of the tropical rains. It is through 
 that channel that the soil robbed from these rocks has been 
 carried away toward the Nyanza to fill its depths and in 
 time make dry land of it. Now you may ask how came 
 these once solid rocks, which are now but skeletons of hills 
 and stony heaps, to be thus split into so many fragments ? 
 Have you never seen the effect of water thrown upon lime ? 
 The solid rocks have been broken or peeled in an almost 
 similar manner. The tropic sun heated the face of these 
 rocks to an intense heat, and the cold rain falling upon the 
 heated surface caused them to split and peel as you see 
 them.' 
 
 "This is really the geological history of this region 
 simply told. Ridge after ridge, basin after basin, from 
 Western Ugogo to the Nyanza, tells the same tale ; but it 
 is not until we enter Central Urimi, that we begin to marvel 
 at the violence of the process by which nature has trans- 
 formed the face of the land. For here the perennial 
 springs and rivulets begin to unite and form rivers, after 
 collecting and absorbing the moisture from the water-shed ; 
 and these rivers, though but gentle streams during the dry 
 season, become formidable during the rains. It is in Cen- 
 tral Urimi that the Nile first begins to levy tribute upon 
 Equatorial Africa, and if you look upon the map and draw 
 a line east from the latitude of Ujiji to longitude thirty-five 
 degrees you will strike upon the sources of the Leewumbu, 
 which is the extreme southern feeder of the Victoria 
 Nyanza. 
 
 " In Iramba, between Mgongo Tembo and Mombiti, we 
 came upon what must have been in former times an arm 
 of the Victoria Nyanza. It is called the Lumamberri 
 Plain, after a river of that name, and is about forty miles 
 in width. Its altitude is three thousand seven hundred
 
 THE SHIMEEYU KIVEK. 403 
 
 and seventy-five feet above the sea and but a few feet above 
 Victoria Nyanza. We were fortunate in crossing the 
 broad, shallow stream in the dry season, for during the 
 masika or rainy season the plain is converted into a wide 
 lake. 
 
 " The Leewumbu River, after a course of a hundred and 
 seventy-five miles, becomes known as the Monaugh River, 
 in Usukuma. After another run of a hundred miles, it is 
 converted into Shimeeyu, under which name it enters the 
 Victoria east of this port of Kagehyi. Roughly the Shi- 
 meeyu may be said to have a length of three hundred and 
 fifty miles."
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 EXPLORING THE VICTOKIA NYANZA. 
 
 MUSTERING HIS FORCE THE DEATH ROLL SELECTING A CREW OP ELEVEN MEN, HE SETS 
 SAIL LEAVES THE CAMP IN CHARGE OF POCOKE AND BARKER" SPEKE'S BAY " COASTING 
 NORTHWARD SHIMEEYU EIVER A LARGE ISLAND DESCRIPTION OP THE SHORES AND 
 PEOPLE STRANGE STORIES TOLD HIM A LONELY CHANNEL SUPERSTITION OF THE NATIVES 
 " BRIDGE ISLAND" UNDER THE EQUATOR STANLEY LOOKED UPON AS A BEING FROM 
 ANOTHER WORLD FLEEING FROM HIPPOPOTAMI TREACHERY A NARROW ESCAPE THREE 
 QUARTERS OF THE LAKE THOROUGHLY EXPLORED. 
 
 OTANLEY felt, as he stood and looked off on the broad 
 k-/ expanse of water, like one who had achieved a great 
 victory, and said that the wealth of the universe could not 
 then bribe him to turn back from his work. The boat of 
 a white man had never been launched on its surface, and 
 he longed to see the Lady Alice afloat, that he might 
 change the guesses of Livingstone, Speke and others, into 
 certainty. He had started to complete Livingstone's un- 
 finished work, and now he was in a fair way to do it. How 
 much Cameron, who was somewhere in the interior on the 
 same mission, had accomplished, he did not know, he only 
 knew that with no boat at his command, like the Lady 
 Alice, that he had transported through so many hundreds 
 of miles of jungle, his movements would be very much 
 crippled. 
 
 He now mustered his entire force, to see what he had to 
 rely on before setting out, and found it to consist of three 
 white men and one hundred and six Wanguana soldiers, twen- 
 ty-eight having died since leaving Itwru thirty days before, 
 or at an average of nearly one a day. This was a gloomy 
 prospect. Before beginning his real work one-half of his 
 
 404
 
 STRANGE TALES OF DWARFS AND GIANTS. 405 
 
 entire expedition had disappeared. Dysentery had been 
 the great scourge that had thinned their ranks so fearfully. 
 Stanley in the first place was not a physician, while even 
 those remedies which ordinarily might have proved effica- 
 cious were rendered well-nigh useless by the necessity of 
 constant marching. Rest alone would have cured a great 
 many, but he felt compelled to march. Whether the ne- 
 cessity for marching with the rapidity he did, was suffi- 
 ciently urgent to justify him in sacrificing so many lives, 
 he doubtless is the best judge. These poor men were not 
 accustomed to travel at the rate he kept them moving. 
 Had they marched as leisurely as an Arab caravan, they 
 would have been nine months or a year in making the dis- 
 tance which Stanley had accomplished in one hundred and 
 three days. He was at last on the lake that Baker hoped 
 to reach with his steam vessels, and here he expected to 
 meet Gordon, his successor, but he evidently had not yet 
 arrived, for the natives told him that no boats had been 
 seen on the water. They related strange tales, however, of 
 the people inhabiting the shores. One told him of a race 
 of dwarfs, another of a tribe of giants, and another still of 
 a people who kept a breed of dogs so large that even Stan- 
 ley's mastiffs were small in comparison. How much or 
 little of this was true, he, of course, could not tell, still it 
 excited his curiosity, and increased his desire to explore 
 the country. 
 
 He reached the lake on the 28th of February, and in 
 eight days had everything ready, and launched his boat, 
 He selected ten good oarsmen, who, with the steersman 
 and himself, composed the boat's crew, and the whole force 
 with which he was to overcome all the difficulties that he 
 might encounter. 
 
 The camp was left in charge of Frank Pocoke and 
 young Barker. Naming the large body of water, into
 
 406 NAMING SPEKE GULF. 
 
 which the Shimeeyu and Ruana Rivers flowed; Speke Gulf, 
 in honor of the distinguished explorer, he sailed east 
 along the irregular coast. To-day passing a district thinly 
 populated, to-morrow a rugged hill country, through which 
 the elephants wandered in immense droves, and of course, 
 thronged with elephant hunters, he passed various tribes, 
 until he came to the mouth of the Ruano River, discharg- 
 ing a large volume of water into Speke Gulf, but noth- 
 ing in comparison with the Shimeeyu and the Kagera, the 
 two great river supplies of the lake. The former is the 
 largest of all, and at. its mouth a mile wide. Its length is 
 three hundred and seventy miles and is, he says, the ex- 
 treme southern source of the Nile, thus settling a vexed 
 question. The gulf he named Speke Bay is on the north- 
 eastern side, and where he crossed it about twelve miles 
 wide. Sterile plains succeeded barren mountains, thin 
 lines of vegetation along the borders of the lake alone giv- 
 ing space for cultivation, came and went until they reached 
 the great island of Ukerewe, divided from the main-land 
 only by a narrow channel. This was a true oasis, for it 
 was covered with herds of cattle, and verdue, and fruits, and 
 rich in ivory. He found the king an amiable man, and 
 his subjects a peaceful, commercial people. Although this 
 was a large island, more than forty miles long, the king 
 owned several of the neighboring islands. Nothing of 
 importance occurred on this voyage, as day after day they 
 wound in and out along the deeply corrugated coast or 
 sailed by islands, the people on shore all being friendly. 
 They at length came in sight of the high table-land 
 of Majita, which Speke thought to be an island, but which 
 Stanley demonstrated, by actual survey, to be only a 
 promontory. It rises some three thousand feet above the 
 level of the lake, and is surrounded by low brown plains, 
 which, to the distant observer, resembles water.
 
 PEAISES TO GOSHI. 407 
 
 Stanley continued his course along the eastern shore of 
 the lake, proceeding northerly, and at last reached the 
 coast of the Uriri country, a district of pastoral land 
 dotted over with fine cattle. Bordering on this is Ugegeya, 
 a land of fables and wonders, the " El Dorado " of slave 
 hunters and traders in ivory, or it is the natural home of 
 the elephant, which is found here in great numbers. He 
 first got sight of it in crossing a broad bay, rising in a 
 series of tall mountains before him. From their base the 
 country rolls away to the east in one vast plain twenty-five 
 miles wide, over which roam great herds of cattle, getting 
 their own living and furnishing plenty of meat to the 
 indolent inhabitants. Stanley constantly inquired of the 
 natives concerning the country inland, its character and 
 people, and was told many wonderful stories, in which it 
 was impossible to say how much fable was mixed. Among 
 other things, they reported that about fifteen days' 
 march from this place, were mountains that spouted forth 
 smoke. 
 
 Keeping north, he says : " We passed between the Island 
 Ugingo and the gigantic mountains of Ugegeya, at whose 
 base the Lady Alice seems to crawl like a mite in a huge 
 cheese, while we on board admire the stupendous height, 
 and wonder at the deathly silence which prevails in this 
 solitude, where the boisterous winds are hushed and the 
 turbulent waves are as tranquil as a summer dream. The 
 natives, as they pass, regard this spot with superstition, as 
 well they might, for the silent majesty of these dumb, tall 
 mounts awe the very storms to peace. Let the tempests 
 bluster as they may on the spacious main beyond the cape, 
 in this nook, sheltered by tall Ugingo isle and lofty Goshi 
 in the main-land, they inspire no fear. It is this refuge 
 which Goshi promises the distressed canoemen that causes 
 them to sing praises of Goshi, and to cheer one another
 
 408 BRIDGE ISLAND. 
 
 when wearied and benighted that Goshi is near to protect 
 them." 
 
 Sailing in and out among the clustering islands, they see 
 two low isolated islands in the distance, and make toward 
 them to camp there for the night. "There," says Stanley, 
 " under the overspreading branches of a mangrove tree we 
 dream of unquiet waters, and angry surfs, and threatening- 
 rocks, to find ourselves next morning tied to an island, 
 which, from its peculiarity, I called Bridge Island. While 
 seeking a road to ascend the island, to take bearings, I dis- 
 covered a natural bridge of basalt, about twenty feet in 
 length and twelve in breadth, under which one might 
 repose comfortably, and from one side see the waves lashed 
 to fury and spend their strength on the stubborn rocks, 
 which form the foundation of the arch, while from the 
 other we could see the boat, secure under the lee of the 
 island, resting on a serene and placid surface and shaded 
 by mangrove branches from the hot sun of the equator. 
 Its neighborhood is remarkable only for a small cave, the 
 haunt of fishermen." After taking a survey of the neigh- 
 boring main-land, he hoisted sail and scudded along the 
 coast before a freshening breeze. At noon he found him- 
 self, by observation, to be under the equator. Seeing an 
 opening in the lake that looked like the mouth of a river, 
 he sailed into it to find it was only a deep bay. Coming in 
 sight of a village, he anchored near it and tried to make 
 friends with some wild-looking fishermen on the shore, but 
 the naked savages only " stared at them from under pent- 
 houses of hair, and hastily stole away to tell their families 
 of the strange apparition they had seen." 
 
 This sail of one hundred miles along the coast of this 
 vast lake, though somewhat monotonous and tame in its 
 details to the reader, furnished one of the most interesting 
 episodes in Stanley's life not because the scenery was new
 
 A PHENOMENON TO THE NATIVES. 409 
 
 and beautiful, but because he, with his white sail, and fire- 
 arms, and strange dress, was as strange and wonderful to 
 these natives as was Columbus, with his ship, and cannon, 
 and cavaliers to the inhabitants of the New World. Though 
 often differing in appearance, and language, and manner, 
 they were almost uniformly friendly, and in the few cases 
 where they proved hostile, they were drunk, which makes 
 civilized men, as well as savages, quarrelsome. It was fre- 
 quently very difficult to win their confidence, and often 
 Stanley would spend hours in endeavoring to remove their 
 suspicions. In this wild, remote home, their lives pass on 
 without change, each generation treading in the footsteps 
 of the preceding one no progress, no looking forward to 
 increased knowledge or new developments. There were no 
 new discoveries to arouse their mental faculties, no aspira- 
 tions for a better condition, and they were as changeless as 
 their tropical climate. Hence, to them the sudden appear- 
 ance of this strange phenomenon on their beautiful lake 
 could not be accounted for. It had seemingly dropped 
 from the clouds, and at the first discharge of a pistol they 
 were startled and filled with amazement. 
 
 Stanley, whether rowing or sailing, kept close to the 
 shore, that nothing worthy of note should escape him, fre- 
 quently landing to ascertain the name of the district he 
 was in, the bays he crossed, the mountains he saw, and the 
 rivers that emptied into the lake. In short, he omitted 
 nothing which was necessary to a complete survey and 
 knowledge of this hitherto unknown body of water. 
 
 After leaving this bay, they came in a short time to a 
 river which was full of hippopotami. Two huge fellows 
 swam so near the boat that Stanley was afraid they would 
 attack it, and ordered the men to pull away from them. 
 Although hunting these huge beasts might be very exciting 
 sport, and a tolerably safe one in boats properly built, to
 
 410 A FOEEST OF SPEAES. 
 
 expose the Lady Alice, with her slender cedar sides, to 
 their tusks would have been a piece of folly close akin 
 to madness. Her safety was of more consequence than all 
 the hippopotami in Africa. He was an explorer, not a 
 hunter ; and to risk all the future of the former to gratify 
 the pleasure of the latter would have shown him unfit to 
 command so important an expedition as this. Like the 
 boat that carried Caesar and his fortunes, the Lady Alice 
 bore in her frail sides destinies greater than the imagination 
 can conceive. So hoisting sail they caught the freshening 
 breeze and flew along the ever-changing shore lined with 
 villages, out of which swarmed a vast crowd of people, 
 showing a much more densely populated district than they 
 had yet seen. He found the name of it to be Mahita ; and 
 wishing to learn the names of some of the villages he saw, 
 the boat was turned toward shore and anchored within fifty 
 yards of it, but with a cable long enough to let them drift 
 to within a few feet of it. Some half a dozen men wearing 
 small shells above their elbows and a circle round their 
 heads came down to the beach, opening a conversation 
 with them. Stanley learned the name of the country, but 
 they refused to tell him anything more till he landed. 
 While getting ready to do so, he noticed the numbers on 
 the shore increased with astonishing rapidity, and seemed 
 to be greatly excited. This aroused his suspicions, and he 
 ordered the rowers to pull off again. It was lucky he did, 
 for he had scarcely put three lengths between him and the 
 shore, when suddenly out of the bushes on each side of the 
 spot where he was to land arose a forest of spears. 
 
 Stanley did not intend to go away entirely, but lie off 
 till they became less excited, but this evidence of treachery 
 caused him to change his mind, and he ordered the sail to 
 be hoisted, and moved away toward a point at the mouth 
 of the cove, which, with the wind as it was blowing, they
 
 A NAEROW ESCAPE. 411 
 
 could but little more than clear. The negroes seeing this, 
 sent up a loud shout, and hurried off to reach it before the 
 boat did. Stanley penetrating their design, ordered the 
 sail to be lowered and the rowers to pull dead to windward. 
 The discomfited savages looked on in amazement to see the 
 prize slip through their fingers so easily. It was a narrow 
 escape, for had Stanley landed, he would doubtless have 
 been overpowered, before he could use his weapons, and 
 killed. 
 
 It was now late in the afternoon, and the savages made 
 no attempt to follow them, and at dusk, coming to a small 
 island, they tied up and camped for the night, lulled to 
 sleep by the murmur of the waves on the beach. 
 
 The next day continuing their course, they at last sailed 
 into the bay, which forms the north-eastern extremity of 
 the Victoria Nyanza. The eastern side of this bay is lined 
 with bold hills and ridges, but at the extreme end where the 
 Tagama River comes in, the country is flat. The expedi- 
 tion now began to move westward in its slow circumnavi- 
 gation of the lake, and came at length to Muiwanda. 
 Here they found the savages friendly, and they landed 
 and obtained from them, at fair prices, such provisions and 
 vegetables as they desired. They also gave Stanley all the 
 information they could of the neighboring country. They 
 told him that the name of the bay in which they rode, and 
 which was the extreme northern limit of the lake, was 
 Baringo. They had evidently not been great travelers or 
 much visited by any tribes living away from their own 
 coast, for they said that they had never heard of any 
 other lake great or small, except that one the Nyanza. 
 Considering that this whole central region of Africa is 
 dotted with lakes, and that the Tanganika, an inland sea, 
 is not three hundred miles distant, it is evident they must 
 li~e very much isolated from any but their own people.
 
 412 THOROUGH WORK. 
 
 Stanley had now surveyed the southern, eastern and north- 
 eastern shores of the lake, and had taken thirty-seven ob- 
 servations and entered almost every nook and cove of this 
 vast body of water. He had corrected the map of Speke, 
 made on the report of the natives proved that he was 
 wrong in his latitude of the lake, and taken such ample 
 notes that he could make out an accurate chart of that 
 portion he had thus traversed. He makes the extreme 
 eastern point of the lake end in 34 35' east longitude, and 
 33' 43" north latitude. 
 
 After he had finished his exploration thus far, Stanley 
 goes over his route, giving a general description of the 
 country, the location and approximate size of the various 
 districts, and general character of the inhabitants. The 
 north shore he found indented with deep bays, and so com- 
 pletely land-locked, that they might easily be mistaken for 
 separate lakes, while the islands clustered so thickly and 
 closely to the shore that unless thoroughly examined, would 
 be taken for portions of the main-land. But Stanley has 
 traced it out so plainly, that the outline of the shore is as 
 distinct as that of Lake Ontario.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 EXPLORATION OF THE VICTORIA KTANZA. 
 
 STANLEY THE FIRST WHITE MAN THAT EVER SAILED AROUND IT ESTABLISHES THE SOUTHERN 
 SOURCE OF THE NILE TREACHERY OF THE NATIVES STANLEY'S REVENGE A HOSTILE FLEET 
 SCATTERED BY HIM THREE MEN KILLED TWO SINGULAR ISLANDS THE RIPON FALLS THE 
 KILE CURIOUS INLETS MTESA, KINO OF UGANDA HIS RECEPTION OF STANLEY IMPOSING 
 CEREMONIES A NOBLE NATIVE MONARCH HIS CAPITAL HIS ARMY AND LARGE TERRITORY 
 HALF CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY BY STANLEY ANXIOUS TO HAVE MISSIONARIES SENT TO 
 HIS COUNTRY STANLEY'S MODE OF SENDING THEM AND THE KIND OF MEN THEY SHOULD BE 
 A MISSION ESTABLISHED AND BROKEN UP FALSE STATEMENTS IN THE PAPERS ABOUT IT 
 CORRECTED. 
 
 rMHE voyage continued along the northern and then 
 -*- western shore of the lake, revealing at almost every 
 turn new features of scenery and some new formation of 
 land or new characteristic of the people, till the journey 
 was like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope. A tribe friendly 
 and trusting would be succeeded by one suspicious or 
 treacherous, so that it was impossible to be governed by 
 any general rule, and Stanley was compelled to be con- 
 stantly on the alert, watching the motions of each tribe 
 without reference to the actions of the last, and laying his 
 plans accordingly. He continued his course down the west- 
 
 413
 
 414 TREACHEROUS NATIVES. 
 
 ern shore toward his camp from which he started, finding 
 this side more densely populated than the others, and the 
 tribes that occupied it of a more independent, fearless char- 
 acter, and more inclined to hostilities. At Uvuma, an inde- 
 pendent country and the largest on the Victoria Nyanza, 
 the hostility took a more determined form. The natives 
 made signs of friendship to induce them to come near the 
 shore. They did so, sailing up to a few yards of it. At 
 that point a large mass of natives were hid behind the trees, 
 who suddenly rose and hurled a shower of huge stones at 
 the boat in order to sink it, several striking it. Stanley 
 instantly ordered the helm to be put hard up, and the boat 
 was quickly steered away from the dangerous spot, but not 
 before Stanley, enraged at this act of treachery, leveled his 
 revolver at the wretches and dropped one of them. Going 
 on some miles farther, they entered a channel between 
 some islands and the shore, where they discovered a fleet 
 of canoes, thirteen in number, with over one hundred war- 
 riors in them, armed with shells, and spears, and slings. 
 The foremost one had some sweet potatoes aboard, which 
 one of the natives held up as though he wished to trade. 
 Stanley ordered the crew to cease rowine^but as the breeze 
 was light the sail was kept up, but the progress was so slow 
 that this canoe soon came up. While he was bargaining 
 for the potatoes, the other boats approached and completely 
 surrounded the Lady Alice and began to reach over and 
 seize everything they could lay hands on. Stanley warned 
 them away with his gun, when they jeered at him and im- 
 mediately seized their spears, while one man held up a 
 string of beads he had stolen and dared Stanley to catch 
 him. With that promptness which has many a time saved 
 his life the latter drew his revolver and shot the villain 
 dead. Spears instantly flashed in the air, but Stanley 
 seizing his repeating rifle poured shot after shot into them,
 
 CUKIOUS PHENOMENON. 415 
 
 knocking over three of them in as many seconds, when the 
 amazed warriors turned in flight. He then seized his ele- 
 phant rifle and began to pour its heavy shot into their 
 canoes, throwing them into the wildest confusion. As they 
 now continued on their way, an occasional shot from the 
 big gun waked the echoes of the shore to announce before- 
 hand what treatment treachery would receive. As they 
 kept on north they felt the current drawing them on, and 
 soon they came to the Ripon Falls, their foam and thunder 
 contrasting strangely with the quietness of the lake a short 
 time before, and the silence and tranquility of the scene. 
 It was the Nile starting on its long journey to the Mediter- 
 ranean, fertilizing Egypt in its course. Coasting westerly, 
 they came to the island of Krina, where they obtained 
 guides to conduct them to King Mtesa, the most renowned 
 king of the whole region. Sending messengers to announce 
 to the king his arrival, Stanley continued to coast along 
 Uganda, everywhere treated with kindness, so far as words 
 went, but very niggardly in fact. 
 
 He here observed a curious phenomenon. He discovered 
 an inlet in which there was a perceptible tide, the water flow- 
 ing north for two hours and then south for the same length 
 of time. On asking the guides if this was usual, they said 
 yes, and it was common to all the inlets on the coast of 
 Uganda. At Beya they were welcomed by a fleet of canoes 
 sent to conduct them to the king. 
 
 On the 4th of April, Stanley landed, amid the waving of 
 flags, volleys of musketry and shouts of two thousand 
 people, assembled to receive him. The chief officer then 
 conducted him to comfortable quarters, where, soon after, 
 sixteen goats, ten oxen, and bananas, sweet potatoes, plan- 
 tains, chickens, rice, milk, butter, etc., etc., in profuse 
 quantities were sent him.
 
 416 MTESA, KING OF UGANDA. 
 
 KING MTESA. 
 
 in the afternoon, the king sent word that he was ready to 
 receive him. Issuing from his quarters, Stanley found him- 
 self in a street eighty feet broad and a half a mile long, lined 
 with the personal guards, officers, attendants and retinue of 
 the king, to the number of three thousand. At the farther 
 end of this avenue was the king's residence, and as Stanley 
 advanced he could dimly see the form of the king in the 
 entrance, sitting in a chair. At every step volleys of mus- 
 ketry were fired and flags waved, while sixteen drums 
 beaten together kept up a horrible din. As he approached 
 the house, the king, a tall, slender figure, dressed in Arab 
 costume, arose and advancing held out his hand in silence, 
 while the drums kept up their loud tattoo. They looked 
 on each other in silence. Stanley was greatly embarrassed 
 by the novelty of the situation, but soon the king, taking a 
 seat, asked him to be seated also, while a hundred of his 
 captains followed their example. Lifting his eyes to the 
 king, Stanley saw a tall and slender man, but with broad, 
 powerful shoulders. His eyes were large, his face intelli- 
 gent and amiable, while his mouth and nose were a great 
 improvement on those of the ordinary negro, being more 
 like those of a Persian Arab. As soon as he began to 
 speak, Stanley was captivated JHL his courteous, affable 
 manner. He says he was infinitely superior to the sultan 
 of Zanzibar, and impressed you as a colored gentleman 
 who had learned his manners by contact with civilized, cul- 
 tivated men, instead of being, as he was, a native of Cen- 
 tral Africa, who had never seen but three white men before 
 in his life. Stanley was astonished at his native polish and 
 he felt he had found a friend in this great king of this part 
 of the country, where the tribal territories are usually so 
 small. His kingdom extends through three degrees of
 
 A NATURAL BORN KING. 419 
 
 longitude and almost as many of latitude. He professes 
 Islamism now, and no cruelties are practised in his king- 
 dom. He lias a guard of two hundred men, renegadoes 
 from Baker's expedition, and defalcators from Zanzibar, 
 and the elite of his own kingdom. 
 
 Behind his throne or arm-chair, stood his gun-bearers, 
 shield-bearers and lance-bearers, and on either side were 
 arranged his chief courtiers, governors of provinces, etc., 
 while outside streamed away the long line of his warriors, 
 beginning with the drummers and goma-beaters. Mtesa 
 asked him many intelligent questions, and Stanley found 
 that this was not his home, but that he had come there 
 with that immense throng of warriors to shoot birds. In 
 two or three days, he proposed to return to his capital at 
 Ulagala or Uragara (it is difficult to tell which is right) . 
 The first day, for Stanley's entertainment, the king gave a 
 grand naval review with eighty canoes, which made quite 
 an imposing -display, which the king with his three hun- 
 dred wives and Stanley viewed from shore. The crews 
 consisted of two thousand five hundred men or more. The 
 second day, the king led his fleet in person to show his 
 prowess in shooting birds. The third day, the troops were 
 exercised at target practice, and on the fourth, the march 
 was taken up for the capital. In him Stanley sees the 
 hope of Central Africa. He is a natural born king and tries 
 to imitate the manners, as he understands them, of Euro- 
 pean monarchs. He has constructed broad roads which 
 will be ready for vehicles whenever they are introduced. 
 The road they traveled increased from twenty to one hun- 
 dred and fifty feet as they approached the capital, which 
 crowned a commanding eminence overlooking a beautiful 
 country covered with tropical fruit and trees. Huts are 
 not very imposing, but a tall flagstaff and .an immense flag 
 gave some dignity to the surroundings
 
 420 THE KING'S PALACE. 
 
 The capital is composed of a vast collection of lints 
 on an eminence crowned by the royal quarters, around 
 which ran five several palisades and circular courts, between 
 which and the city runs a circular road from one hun- 
 dred to two hundred feet in width, from whence radiate 
 six or seven magnificent avenues lined with gardens and 
 huts. 
 
 The next day, Stanley was introduced into the palace 
 in state. The guards were clothed in white cotton dresses, 
 while the chiefs were attired in rich Arab costumes. This 
 palace was a large, lofty structure built of grass and cane, 
 while tall trunks of trees upheld the roof covered inside 
 with cloth sheeting. On the fourth day, the exciting news 
 was received that another white man was approaching the 
 capital. It proved to be Colonel Lerant de Bellfonds of the 
 Egyptian service, who had been dispatched by Colonel 
 Gordon to make a treaty of commerce with the king and 
 the khedive of Egypt. 
 
 This Mtesa, we said, was a Mohammedan, having been 
 converted by Khamis Bin Abdullah some four or five years 
 before. This Arab, from Muscat, was a man of magnifi- 
 cent presence, of noble descent, and very rich, and dressed 
 in spendid Oriental costume. Mtesa became fascinated 
 with him, and the latter stayed with the king over a year, 
 giving him royal presents and dressing him in gorgeous 
 attire. 
 
 No wonder this brilliant stranger became to such a 
 heathen a true missionary. But Stanley, in a conversation 
 with the king r soon upset his new faith, and he agreed at 
 once to observe the Christian as well as the Moslem Sab- 
 bath, to which his captains also agreed. He, moreover, 
 caused the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, 
 and the Golden Rule, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
 thyself," to be written on a board for his daily perusal.
 
 A GOOD MISSIONARY NEEDED. 421 
 
 In stating this remarkable fact, Stanley says : " Though I 
 ain no missionary, I shall begin to think I may become 
 one if such success is so feasible ;" and exclaims, "Oh, that 
 some pious, practical missionary would come here. What 
 a field and harvest ripe for the sickle of the Gospel. 
 Mtesa would give him everything he desired houses, 
 cattle, lands, ivory, etc. He might call a province his 
 own in one day." But he says he must not be a theological 
 one, nor a missionary of creeds, but a practical Christian, 
 tied to no church or sect, but simply profess God and His 
 Son, and live a blameless life and be able to instruct them 
 in building houses, cultivating land, and all those things 
 that go to make up human civilization. Such a man, he 
 says, would become the savior of Africa. He begged 
 Stanley to tell them to come, and he would give them all 
 they wanted. 
 
 The subjects of this heathen king number not far from 
 two millions, and Stanley affirms that one good missionary 
 among them would accomplish more toward the regenera- 
 tion of Africa in one year than all other missionaries on 
 the continent put together. He suggests that the mission 
 should bring to Mtesa several suits of military clothes, 
 heavily embroidered, pistols, swords, dinner service, etc., 
 etc. This sounds rather strange to the modern missionary, 
 and seems like trusting too much to "carnal weapons," 
 but it is eminently practical. Anything to give the mis- 
 sionary a firm footing on which to begin his labors is 
 desirable, if not wrong in itself or leading to wrong. For 
 its own use the mission should, he says, bring also ham- 
 mers, saws, augers, drills for blasting, and blacksmith and 
 carpenter tools, etc., etc. In short, the missionary should 
 not attempt to convert the black man to his religious views 
 simply by preaching Christ, but that civilization, the hand- 
 maiden of religion, should move side by side with it in
 
 422 FAILURE OF A FORMER MISSION. 
 
 equal step. The practical effect of the missionary work, in 
 order to influence the natives, must not be merely a moral 
 change, which causes the convert to abjure the rites and 
 follies of paganism, but to lift the entire people, whether 
 converted or not to Christianity, to a higher plane of 
 civilization. We know there are different theories on this 
 subject, but we think that Stanley's mode might safely be 
 tried. It was tried, after a fashion, almost immediately, 
 but the station has been broken up and the missionaries 
 murdered. 
 
 Perhaps it is as good a place here as anywhere to cor- 
 rect a wrong statement that has been going the rounds 
 of the papers, which puts Stanley in a false light. It 
 was not pretended that King Mtesa had anything to do 
 with this outrage, but that a tribe with which Stanley 
 had had a fight, killing some of its number, committed 
 it in revenge for what he did. The truth is, the mis- 
 sion was established by some enthusiasts, and some three 
 or four started with false views and hopes entirely. 
 Only two of them reached the ground, one of them not 
 being a minister. They were, however, well received, 
 and allowed to go to work. The king, or chief of a 
 neighboring tribe, had a daughter with whom a native 
 fell in love. This man was repugnant to the father, 
 and he refused to let him have his daughter for a wife. 
 The consequence was they eloped and fled to the island 
 on which the missionaries were stationed, and placed 
 themselves under their protection and remained with 
 them. The enraged savage heard of this, and doubtless 
 believing that the missionaries had connived at the elope- 
 ment certainly harbored the fugitives against his wish 
 attacked the station and murdered the missionaries. How 
 much or how little they were to blame, or if not guilty 
 of any wrong, how unwisely they acted, they unfortu-
 
 AN ACT OF WILD JUSTICE. 423 
 
 nately do not live to tell us. But Stanley's conduct in 
 that region had nothing to do with the tragedy. It was 
 an act of wild justice by an enraged and savage chief- 
 tain, and militates in no way against carrying out the pro- 
 ject of Stanley.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 STANLEY CONTINUES HIS EXPLORATIONS DRUNKEN NATIVES A SUSPICIOUS RECEPTION A 
 PEACEFUL NIGHT A WILD WAKING UP A STARTLING SPECTACLE HURRIED DEPARTURE 
 MAGASSA'S FLEET LACK OF FOOD A FEARFUL STORM BUMBIREH ISLAND A BRIGHT PROS- 
 PECTSTANLEY ENTRAPPED IN DEADLY PERIL A CROWD OF DEMONS A FEARFUL NIGHT 
 PROMPT ACTION BARELY SAVED SWIFT AND TERRIBLE REVENGE A FRIGHTFUL STORM 
 REFUGE ISLAND A GRATEFUL CAMP PROVISIONS SECURED ANOTHER STORM A STAUNCH 
 BOAT STEERING FOR CAMP HIS JOYFUL GREETING EXCITEMENT OF THE MEN THE SECRET 
 OF THE MEN'S AFFECTION FOR HIM. 
 
 r I CHOUGH the royal hospitality was very grateful after 
 ~L his long toils and the intercourse with a white man in 
 that remote land was refreshing, and he longed to rest, yet 
 Stanley felt he must be about his work. To finish this 
 would require much time, and he had now been long 
 absent from his men, who might prove intractable while 
 he was away, and he was anxious to get back, for the 
 exploration of this lake was only the beginning of what he 
 proposed to do. 
 
 With two canoes belonging to his friend, King Mtesa 
 accompanying him as an escort until the grand admiral of 
 his sable majesty, Magassa, who, with thirty canoes, had 
 been detached for his service, should overtake him, he set 
 sail from the river and camped that night on a smooth, 
 sandy beach, at a point called Kagya. The natives who 
 lived there received them in a friendly, and for African 
 negroes, hospitable manner. Stanley took this as a good 
 augury of the reception he should meet with along the 
 coast of Usongora, which he designed to explore. 
 
 In the morning he again set sail, and sweeping leisurely 
 along, came in the afternoon to the village of Makongo. 
 
 424 
 
 h
 
 A SUSPICIOUS RECEPTION. 425 
 
 As the Lady Alice approached the shore, he saw a crowd 
 of naked savages squatted on the ground, sucking the 
 everlasting pombe, or beer, through a straw, just as white 
 men do punch or a sherry cobbler. As the boat reached 
 the shore the chief, with the vacant stare of a drunkard, 
 arose and reeled toward him and welcomed him in a 
 friendly though maudlin manner. The natives also ap- 
 peared good-natured and quite content with their arrival. 
 After they had satisfied their curiosity by examining him 
 and his boat, they went away, leaving him to arrange his 
 camp for the night and prepare his supper. The sun went 
 down in glory beyond the purple mountains a slight 
 ripple dimpled the surface of the lake, while slender 
 columns of smoke ascended here and there along the shore 
 from the huts of the natives ; and all was calm and peace- 
 ful, though wild and lonely. As night came down, and 
 the stars, one by one, came out in the tropical sky, Stanley 
 and his chosen men stretched themselves on their mats, 
 and, unsuspicious of danger, fell asleep. About ten o'clock 
 he was suddenly awakened by a loud and hurried beating 
 of drums, with ever and anon a chorus of shrieks and yells 
 that rung through the clear, still air with a distinctness 
 and sharpness that made the blood shiver. Stanley imme- 
 diately aroused his men, and they listened, wondering what 
 it foreboded. The lake was still below and the heavens 
 calm and serene above, but all around it seemed as if 
 demons of the infernal regions were out on their orgies. 
 Stanley thought it was the forerunner of an attack on the 
 camp, but Mtesa's men, the Waganda, told him that the 
 drumming and yelling were the wild welcome of the 
 natives to a stranger. He doubted it, for he had seen too 
 many savage tribes, and knew their customs too well to 
 believe this blood-curdling, discordant din was a welcome 
 to him.
 
 426 STANLEY ENTRAPPED. 
 
 It is strange that lie did not at once quietly launch his 
 boat and lie off the rest of the night a little way from the 
 shore till morning, and see what it all meant. It would 
 seem that ordinary prudence would have prompted this. 
 His neglect to do so, very nearly cost him his life, and 
 ended there his explorations. For some reason or other, 
 which he does not give, he determined to remain where he 
 was, contenting himself with the precaution of placing his 
 weapons close beside him, and directing his eleven men to 
 load their guns and put them under their mats. He lay 
 .down again, but not to sleep, for all night long the furious 
 beat of drums and unearthly yells rung out over the lake, 
 keeping him not only awake, but anxious. At day- 
 break he arose, and as he stepped out of his tent, he started 
 as if he had seen an apparition, for in the gray light of 
 morning, he saw five hundred naked, motionless forms, 
 with bows, shields and spears, standing in a semicircle 
 around him, and completely cutting him off from his boat 
 and the lake. It was a fearful moment, and to his inquiry 
 what it meant, no answer was given. There was no shout- 
 ing or yelling, none of the frantic gesticulations so com- 
 mon to the African savage. On the contrary, they wore a 
 calm and composed, though stern and determined aspect. 
 Shoulder to shoulder like a regiment of soldiers they stood, 
 the forest of spears above them glittering in the early light. 
 There was nothing to be done -Stanley was entrapped, and 
 with the first attempt to escape or seize his rifle would be 
 transfixed by a hundred spears. It was too late to repent 
 the folly of not heeding the warning of the night before, 
 and so he calmly stood and faced the crowd of stern malig- 
 nant faces. For some minutes this solitary white man met 
 glance for glance, when the drunken chief of the day be- 
 fore stalked into the semicircle, and with a stick which he 
 held in his hand forced back the savages by flourishing it
 
 A HURRIED DEPARTURE. 427 
 
 in their faces. He then advanced, and striking the boat a 
 furious blow, shouted "be off," and to facilitate matters, took 
 hold and helped launch it. Stanley was only too glad to 
 obey him, and his heart bounded within him as he felt the 
 keel gliding into deep water, and soon a hundred rods were 
 between him and the savages that lined the shore. The 
 Wagonda were still on the beach, and Stanley prepared to 
 sweep it with a murderous fire the moment they were at- 
 tacked. So dense was the crowd of natives, that had he 
 fired at that close range, he would have mowed them down 
 with fearful slaughter. But although there was much loud 
 wrangling and altercation, they were, at length, allowed to 
 embark, and followed him as he sailed away toward the 
 isle of Musua. He had learned a lesson that he did not 
 soon forget. 
 
 The whole had been a strange proceeding, and why he 
 was not killed, when so completely in their power, can be 
 accounted for only on the ground that they were in Mtesa's 
 dominions, and feared he would take terrible revenge for 
 the murder. Later in the day this drunken chief came to 
 visit him on the island, and demanded why he had come 
 and what he wanted. Being told, he went away, and sent 
 three branches of bananas, and left him and his party to 
 their fate. They rested here quietly till afternoon, when 
 they saw Magassa's fleet, coming slowly down the lake, steer- 
 ing for a neighboring island. The canoes were beached and 
 the men disembarked and began to prepare their camp 
 for the night. Stanley was getting impatient at these 
 delays, and thinking he would quicken Megassa's move- 
 ments by hastening forward, he set sail for Alice Island, 
 thirty-five miles distant. The two chiefs, with the escort- 
 ing canoes, accompanied him for about a mile and a half, 
 but, getting alarmed at the aspect of the weather, turned 
 back, shouting, as they did so, that as soon as it moderated
 
 423 LACK OF FOOD. 
 
 they would follow. Bowling along before a spanking breeze, 
 the little craft danced gayly over the cresting waves, and 
 when night came down and darkness fell on the lonely lake, 
 kept steadily on and, finally, at midnight reached the island, 
 where they luckily struck upon a sheltered cove and came to 
 anchor. When morning dawned they found they were 
 almost against the base of a beetling cliff, with over- 
 hanging rocks all around them, dotted with the fires of 
 the natives. These came down to the shore holding green 
 wisps of grass in their hands as tokens of friendliness. 
 Stanley and his men were hungry, and now rejoiced in the 
 prospect of a good breakfast. But these friendly natives, 
 seeing their need, became so extortionate in their demands 
 that they would not trade with them, and Stanley deter- 
 mined to stear for Bumbirch Island, twenty-five miles 
 distant, and obtain food. 
 
 The breeze was light and they made slow headway, and 
 it was evidently going to be a long sail to the island. As 
 the sun went down, huge black clouds began to roll up the 
 sky, traversed by lightning, while the low growl of thunder 
 foretold a coming storm. As the clouds rose higher and 
 higher the lightning became more vivid, and the thunder 
 broke with startling peals along the water, and soon the 
 rain came down in torrents, drenching them to the skin. 
 The waves began to rise while darkness, black as mid- 
 night, settled down on the lake. The little craft tossed 
 wildly on the water, and the prospect before them looked 
 gloomy enough. Fortunately, about midnight, they came 
 upon Pocoke Island, and anchored under its lee amid 
 thunder and lightning, and rain and the angry roar of 
 the surf on every side. All night long the flashes lit up 
 the angry scene, while the heavy, tropical thunder shook 
 the bosom of the lake. The haven they had reached was 
 so poor a protection that all hands were kept bailing, to 
 prevent the boat from foundering at her anchor
 
 A FEARFUL NIGHT. 429 
 
 We have a very faint idea in our northern latitudes of 
 what a thunder-storm is in the tropics, and the slight 
 affair that Stanley made of it is one of those apparently 
 insignificant and yet most striking illustrations of his 
 character. Storms on the water starvation on land 
 deadly perils of all kinds are spoken of by him as one 
 would speak of the ordinary incidents of travel. He has 
 no time, and apparently no taste, for sensational writing ; 
 or perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say in his cool 
 courage, calm self-reliance and apparent contempt of death 
 he does not see the dramatic side of the scenes in which he 
 performs so important a part. The most tragic events 
 the most perilous crises are treated by him as ordinary 
 events. An escape so narrow that one's heart stops beating 
 as he contemplates it, he narrates with as much coolness 
 and apparent indifference as he would his deliverance from 
 a disagreeable companion. 
 
 In the morning, Stanley, as he looked around him and 
 saw the surf breaking on every side, ordered the anchor up 
 and the sail hoisted, for this was too dangerous a place for 
 the Lady Alice. The thunder-storm had passed, and a 
 stiff north-east breeze had sprung up, before which he 
 bowled swiftly along, and in three hours reached the 
 mouth of a quiet cove near the village of Kajuri, at the 
 south-eastern extremity of Buuibirch Island. After the 
 storm and peril of the last forty-eight hours, it was a wel- 
 come sight that greeted them. The green slopes of this 
 gem set in the sparkling waters were laden with fruits and 
 covered with cattle. Groves of bananas, herds of cattle 
 lazily feeding, and flocks of goats promised an abundance 
 of food ; and Stanley and his men, as they drew near the 
 lovely, inviting shore, reveled in anticipation of the rest 
 and good cheer awaiting them. Filled with the most 
 peaceful intentions themselves their hearts made glad at
 
 430 TKEACHEKOUS NATIVES. 
 
 the sight of the bountiful provisions before them they 
 did not dream of any hostility, when suddenly they heard 
 a wild, shrill war-cry from the plateau above the huts of 
 the village near the shore, on which were gathered a crowd 
 of excited men. Stanley was surprised at this unexpected 
 hostile demonstration, and halted just as the boat was about 
 to ground, to ascertain what it meant. The savages in the 
 meantime were rushing wildly toward the shore in front 
 of where the boat lay rocking on the water. As they 
 approached, they suddenly changed their warlike attitude, 
 and, ceasing their loud yells, assumed a friendly manner, 
 and invited them to land in tones and gestures so kind 
 and affable that Stanley's first suspicions were at once dis- 
 armed, and he ordered the rowers to send the boat ashore. 
 But the moment the keel grated on the pebbly beach, all 
 this friendliness of manner changed, and the naked savages 
 rushed into the water, and, seizing the boat, lifted it up 
 bodily and, with all on board, carried it high and dry on 
 the bank. 
 
 Stanley was terribly aroused at this sudden treachery, 
 and reckless of consequences, determined to avenge it, and 
 twice he raised his revolver to shoot down the audacious 
 wretches, but his crew begged him to desist, declaring 
 earnestly that these people were friends, and that if he 
 would wait a few minutes, he would see that all was right. 
 He accordingly sat down in the stern sheets and waited to 
 see the end. In the meantime, the savages came leaping 
 from the hill-sides, tossing their naked limbs in the air, 
 and uttering loud yells, till a wild, frantic multitude com- 
 pletely surrounded the boat in which Stanley still sat 
 unmoved and calm. The wretches seemed crazed with 
 passion, and poised their spears as if about to strike him, and 
 drew their arrows to the head, one discharge of which would 
 have riddled Stanley, struck the boat by his side with
 
 SEIZE STANLEY'S OAES. 433 
 
 their spear handles, 'gnashed their teeth, foamed at the 
 mouth, and yelled till their eyes seemed bursting from 
 their sockets. Stanley, however, never moved nor uttered 
 a word. His life did not seem worth a thought in that 
 frenzied, demoniacal crowd. But resistance and expostula- 
 tion were alike usel^s, and he could do nothing but wait 
 the final assault, and then sell his life dearly as possible. 
 For some strange, unaccountable reason, their chief, 
 Thekha, kept them from the last act of violence, and at 
 last so quieted them that Stanley calmly asked him how 
 much he demanded to let him go. The most curious part of 
 this whole affair is, that the chief condescended to enter 
 into negotiations with Stanley. Everything the latter had 
 was in the boat, and he had only to give the word, and in 
 five minutes all was his. But instead of doing this, he 
 struck up a bargain with Stanley, and agreed to let him off 
 for four cloths and ten necklaces of large beads. Stanley 
 at once took them from his packages and gave them to 
 him. But no sooner had he received them, than he gave 
 a quick order to his men to seize the oars of the boat. In 
 a twinkling, before Stanley had time to think what they 
 were about, the oars were caught up and carried away. 
 The natives seeing through the treacherous trick, enjoyed 
 it thoroughly, and their loud laughing jeers roused all the 
 devil in Stanley's nature, but he still said nothing. Having 
 got possession of the oars, they thought he was helpless as 
 a tortoise on his back, and became quiet, seemingly en- 
 joying the white man's helplessness. Having no fear of 
 his escape, they at noon leisurely walked to their huts to get 
 their noonday meal, and to discuss what the next, move 
 should be. Stanley says he was not idle, he wished to 
 
 / / 
 
 impose on the savages by his indifferent manner, but he 
 was all the while planning how to escape, and the best 
 mode of meeting the attack when it came.
 
 434 STANLEY'S SUSPICIONS. 
 
 While the savages were at their dinner, a negress came 
 near them and told them to eat honey with Thekha, as it 
 was the only way to save their lives, for he had determined 
 to kill them and take everything they had. Stanley per- 
 mitted his coxswain to go to Thekha and make the proposi- 
 tion to him to eat honey. The wiljf chief told him to be 
 at ease, no harm was intended them, and next day he 
 would eat honey with them. The coxswain returned de- 
 lighted, and reported the good news. But Stanley checked 
 the confidence of the men, and told them that nothing but 
 their own wit and courage could save their lives. This was 
 all a trick, and their next move would be to seize their guns, 
 as they had the oars, when they would be helpless, and by 
 no means to leave the boat, but be prepared at any mo- 
 ment when he should give the word to act. The men saw 
 at once the truth of Stanley's suspicious, and kept close by 
 him. 
 
 Thus nearly three long hours passed away, neither he 
 nor his crew doing or attempting to do anything. But, 
 about three o'clock, the war-drums began again their horrid 
 din, and soon the loping, naked savages were seen running 
 from every quarter, and in a half an hour five hundred 
 warriors had gathered around the chief within thirty paces 
 of the boat. He was sitting down, and when the warriors 
 were all assembled he made them an address. As soon as 
 he had finished, about fifty of them dashed up to Stanley's 
 men, and seizing his drum, bore it back in triumph. From 
 some cause or other, this last and apparently most harmless 
 act of all aroused Stanley's suspicions to a point that made 
 him act promptly and decisively. 
 
 Perhaps it was their scornful, insulting language, as they 
 walked off, bidding him get his guns ready, as they were 
 coming back soon to cut his throat. At all events, the 
 moment he saw them approach the chief with the drum,
 
 ESCAPE FROM THE SAVAGES. 435 
 
 he shouted to his men to push the boat into the water. 
 The eleven men sprang to its sides, and lifting it as if it 
 had been a toy, carried it, with Stanley in it, to the water's 
 edge, and shot it, with one desperate effort, far out into the 
 lake and beyond their depth, and where they had to swim 
 for it. Quickly as it was done, the savages instantly de- 
 tected the movement, and before the boat had lost its 
 headway were crowding the very edge of the water, to 
 which they had rushed like a whirlwind, shouting and 
 yelling like madmen. Seizing his elephant rule, Stanley 
 sent two large conical balls into the dense mass with 
 frightful effect. Then pulling one of the men in the boat, 
 and bidding him help the others in, he seized his double- 
 barreled gun, loaded with buck-shot, and fired right and 
 left into the close-packed, naked crowd. It was like firing 
 with small shot into a flock of pigeons, and a clean swatli 
 was cut through the naked mass, which was so stunned at 
 the horrible effect, that they ran back up the slope without 
 hurling a spear or shooting an arrow. 
 
 With the oars gone, the great struggle would be to get 
 out iu to the open lake, where they could hoist sail ; for, 
 this once accomplished, they could bid defiance to their 
 enemies. Stanley knew the first move of the savages 
 would be to man their canoes, which lined the shore, and 
 surround his helpless vessel and overwhelm him. He 
 therefore watched the first movement to launch a canoe, 
 and as soon as a desperate-looking savage made the attempt 
 he dropped him with a bullet through his body. A second, 
 following his example, fell on the beach, when they paused 
 at the certain death that seemed to await the man who 
 dared to touch a boat. Just then Stanley caught sight of 
 the sub-chief, who commanded the party that took the 
 drum, and taking a cool, deliberate aim at him with his 
 elephant rifle he sent one of its great conical balls tearing
 
 436 EFFECT OF EXPLOSIVE SHELLS. 
 
 through his body, killing at the same time his wife and 
 infant, behind him. This terrified them, for there seemed 
 something supernatural about this deadly work, and they 
 ceased their efforts to launch the boats, and hastened to get 
 out of the reach of such fatal firing. In the meantime the 
 men were slowly working the boat toward the mouth of the 
 cove. But, just as they were feeling safe, Stanley saw two 
 canoes, loaded heavily with warriors, push out of a little 
 bay and pull toward him. Putting two explosive shells 
 into his elephant rifle, he waited till they came within the 
 distance where they would be most destructive, and then 
 commenced firing. He fired rapidly, but being a dead- 
 shot, with great accuracy, and the shells, as they struck 
 inside the canoes, burst with terrible effect. Four shots 
 killed five men and sunk both the canoes, leaving the war- 
 riors to swim ashore. This ended the fight, and the enraged 
 and baffled crowd vented their fury by shouting out, " Go 
 and die in the Nyanza." 
 
 Stanley's rapid deadly firing killed fourteen, and wounded 
 with buck-shot eight, which he coolly remarks, " I con- 
 sider to be very dear payment for the robbery of eight ash 
 oars and a drum, though barely equivalent, in our estima- 
 tion, to the intended massacre of ourselves." This cool- 
 blooded treachery and narrow escape roused Stanley's 
 \viioie nature, and terrible as had been the punishment he 
 had inflicted, he resolved that he would make it more ter- 
 rible still before he had done with them. 
 
 During the perils of the next night that followed, he had 
 plenty of time to nurse his wrath. Having got clear of 
 the land, he hoisted sail, and favored by a light breeze, by 
 night was eight miles from the treacherous Bumbireh. A 
 little after dark the breeze died away, and he set the men 
 to paddling. But, their oars being gone, they made slow 
 headway. At sunrise they were only twenty miles from
 
 A TERRIFIC NIGHT. 437 
 
 the island, but near noon, a strong breeze springing up 
 from the north-west, they bowled along at the rate of five 
 miles an hour, and soon saw it sink in the distant horizon. 
 At sunset they saw an island named Sousa, toward which 
 they steered, hoping to reach it by midnight and find a 
 safe haven. But about eight o'clock the breeze began to 
 increase till it rose to a fierce gale, and the sail had to be 
 taken in. 
 
 Being without oars they could not keep the light boat 
 before the wind, and she was whirled away by it like a 
 feather, and wallowed amid the waves that kept increasing, 
 till it seemed impossible to keep much longer afloat. The 
 men strove desperately with their boards for paddles to 
 reach the island, and get to the leeward of it, till the storm 
 should break, but it was of no avail. They were swept by 
 it like a piece of drift-wood, and the lightning, as it lit up 
 its green sides, seemed to mock their despair. The terrific 
 crash of the thunder, the roar of the tempest, and the wild 
 waste of the wrathful water as it was incessantly lit up by 
 the blinding flashes, made it the most terrific night Stanley 
 had ever passed in all his wide wanderings. Between the 
 dashing of the waves over the gunwale and the downfall- 
 ing deluge of rain, the helpless boat rapidly filled, and it 
 required constant and rapid bailing to keep it from going 
 to the bottom. The imagination cannot conceive the 
 terrors that surrounded that little boat with its helpless 
 crew on that storm-swept lake during that long, wild 
 night. Above them, rushed the angry clouds, pierced in- 
 cessantly by the lightning ; the heavy thunder shook the 
 very heavens, while all around them were islands and 
 rocks, and a few miles ahead, the main-land peopled by 
 hostile savages. Yet, amid all their terror, the men worn 
 out with their long fasting and exhausting labors, would 
 drop asleep, till awakened by the stern order to bail. The
 
 438 A DOUBLE DELIVEEANCE. 
 
 men of Bumbirch had shouted after them, " go and die in 
 the Nyanza," and they now seemed to be prophetic words. 
 Stanley remembered them, and he lived to make the mur- 
 derous savages remember them, too. At daybreak the 
 tempest broke, and the waves not having the heavy roll of 
 the ocean, quickly subsided, and they saw they had drifted 
 eight miles off the isle of Susa, which they had made such 
 desperate efforts to reach the night before, while other 
 islands rose in the distance. There was not a morsel of 
 food in the boat, and it was now forty-eight hours since 
 they had tasted any, yet the men took to their paddles 
 cheerfully. Soon a gentle breeze set in from the west- 
 ward, and hoisting sail, they steered for an unknown island, 
 which Stanley named Refuge Island. It was small and 
 uninhabited, but on exploring it, they discovered that the 
 natives Jiad once occupied and cultivated it. To their great 
 joy, they found green bananas, and a small fruit resembling 
 cherries, but .tasting like dates. Stanley succeeded, also, in 
 shooting two fat ducks. The men soon stripped these of 
 their feathers and had them in the pot, with which, 
 and the fruit, they made what seemed to them, in their 
 famished condition, a right royal repast. The camp was 
 pitched .close by the sandy beach, and when night closed 
 sweetly in on .the wanderers, " there were few people in the 
 world," says Stanley, "blessed God more devoutly than we 
 did." And well .they might, for their double deliverance, 
 from the savages on shore and the tempest on the 
 water, was almost miraculous. 
 
 They rested here all the next day recruiting, and then 
 set sail, and coming to friendly natives, laid in a supply of 
 provisions. While .at anchor, some of the men plucked 
 the poultry they had bought, and they feasted till they 
 were thoroughly satisfied. 
 
 At midnight. a favorable wind rising, they set sail for
 
 STEERING FOR CAMP. 439 
 
 Usukuma. About three in the morning they were in the 
 middle of the Speke Gulf, from which they had started 
 nearly two months before, and bound for their camp. 
 The wind had died away, and the water lay calm and 
 unruffled beneath the tropical sky. But this calm was only 
 the prelude to a fearful storm. Clouds, black as ink, 
 began to roll up the heavens, their edges corrugated and 
 torn by the contending forces that urged them on, while 
 out from their foldings the lightning leaped in blinding 
 flashes, and the thunder, instead of rolling in angry peals, 
 came down in great crashes as if the very frame-work of 
 nature was rending, and then the hail, in stones big as 
 filberts, beat down on their uncovered heads. The waves 
 rose to an astonishing height, and tore like wild horses 
 over the lake. The boat became unmanageable, and was 
 whirled along at the mercy of the wind and waves. But 
 the staunch little craft outrode the fury of the gale, with a 
 buoyancy that surprised Stanley. 
 
 Next morning, although almost under the equator, they 
 saw the day dawn gray, and cheerless, and raw. On taking 
 his observations Stanley found that he was only about 
 twenty miles north-west of his camp. The news sent new 
 life into the crew. They hoisted sail, and, though at first 
 the wind was unfavorable, yet, as if good luck had come 
 at last, it shifted astern, and, with a full sail, they steered 
 straight for camp every heart bounding with joy. 
 
 The men in camp discovered the boat when miles 
 away, and hurrying to the shore sent up shout after shout, 
 and tossed their arms joyfully in the air. As the boat 
 drove swiftly on, the shouts' were changed to volleys of 
 musketry and waving of flags, while "the land seemed 
 alive with leaping forms of glad-hearted men." Kumors 
 of their destruction had reached camp, and his long 
 absence seemed to confirm them, and they had made up
 
 440 AFFECTIONATE GREETING. 
 
 their minds, that, with their leader lost, they must turn 
 back. As the boat grated on the pebbly shore, fifty 
 men leaped into the water and seizing Stanley lifted him. 
 bodily out, and, running up the bank, placed him on their 
 shoulders, and danced around the camp like madmen. They 
 seemed unable to contain their joy. It showed how strong 
 was the hold Stanley had on their affections. Stern in 
 enforcing discipline and relentless in punishing crime, he 
 was always careful of their welfare, attentive to their 
 wants, just in all his dealings, and generous in his reward 
 for good behavior and faithful service, and, hence, had 
 bound these simple children of nature to him with cords 
 of iron.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED FEELINGS OP SATISFACTION POCOKE'S REPORT A NARROW ESCAPE 
 FOE THE EXPEDITION DEATH OF BARKER SWEET REPOSE PLEASANT MEMORIES FUTURE 
 ANTICIPATIONS WAITING FOR MAGASSA RESOLVES TO RETURN TO UGANDA BY LAND IS PRE- 
 VENTED SENDS TO THE KING OF UKEREWE HIS REQUEST GRANTED VISITS HIM THE INTER- 
 VIEWROYAL HOSPITALITY A STRATAGEM STANLEY STARTS FOR UGANDA A NEW CAMP- 
 RETURN TO THE OLD ONE CONSPIRATORS FOILED REFUGE ISLAND. 
 
 next morning, as Stanley looked out of his tent- 
 door upon the broad and beautiful lake that stretched 
 away to the distant horizon, it was with that intense feel- 
 ing of satisfaction with which one contemplates a great and 
 perilous undertaking, after well-nigh abandoned, at last 
 successfully accomplished. The waters, flittering in the 
 morning sun, had but a short time before seemed to him 
 an angry foe, but now they wore a friendly aspect. They 
 seemed to belong to him. Livingstone, and Speke, and 
 Burton, and others had looked on that lake, and sighed in 
 vain to solve the mystery that enveloped it, while he had 
 not only followed its winding shores their entire length, but 
 had sounded its depths and fixed its geographical position 
 forever. His toils were over, and the victory won in this 
 his first great enterprise, and he could well look forward 
 with hope to the great work still before him. His escapes 
 had been wonderful, and he might take them as good omens 
 for the future. 
 
 It seemed as if fate delighted to place him in positions 
 of danger, from which there appeared to be no escape, in 
 order to show her power to save him, under any and 
 all circumstances. Even now, when contemplating so 
 
 441
 
 442 FKANK POCOKE'S EEPOET. 
 
 satisfactorily his success, he was startled by the narrowness 
 of his escape from a danger of which he had never before 
 dreamed. That trouble, disorder and desertion might be- 
 fall his camp during his absence he had often feared, but 
 now he was told by the men he had left in charge of it 
 that in a few hours more the expedition would have broken 
 up and disappeared forever. 
 
 This was Frank Pocoke's report. He said that a rumor 
 had reached camp that Stanley and his crew had been 
 "taken prisoners soon after leaving, and he at once sent off 
 fifty soldiers to effect his release, who found the report 
 false. They had also heard of his fight with the Wamma, 
 and that he was killed. In the meantime a conspiracy 
 had been formed by three neighboring tribes to capture 
 the camp and seize all the goods. It was discovered, and 
 everything put in the best state possible to defeat it, when 
 the whole fell through on account of the sudden death of 
 one of the conspirators and the disaffection of another. 
 
 With the report uncontradicted of Stanley's death, nay, 
 corroborated by his long absence, and in view of the dan- 
 gers surrounding them, the soldiers and men held a meet- 
 ing to determine what course they should take. He had 
 then been gone nearly a month and a half, and it should 
 not have taken more than half that time to have circum- 
 navigated the lake with a boat, that in a fair breeze could 
 go five or six miles an hour. 
 
 Something must have happened to him, that was certain, 
 and it mattered little whether it was death or captivity. It 
 was finally decided to wait fifteen days longer, or till the 
 new moon, when, if he did not appear, they would strike 
 camp and march back to Unyanyembe. The fifteen days 
 would have expired the next day after Stanley's arrival. 
 If, therefore, he had been delayed forty-eight hours longer, 
 instead of being received with the waving of flags, shouts
 
 DEATH OF BARKER. 443 
 
 and volleys of musketry, and wild demonstrations of 
 delight, there would have been no welcome, but a silent, 
 deserted camp. This would have been, a terrible blow, and 
 dashed all the joy he felt at his task, successfully accom- 
 plished, with the bitterest disappointment. But he had 
 been saved all this ; still one calamity had befallen him 
 for which there was no remedy young Barker had died 
 only a few days before his arrival, and six of his strong 
 men had fallen victims to dysentery and fever. Thus 
 while in all the danger through which he had passed on 
 the lake, he had not lost a man, seven had died while lying 
 idly in a healthy camp. The death of Barker he felt 
 keenly, for of the three white men who had started with 
 him, two had already fallen, and now only one was left. 
 
 In writing to his mother, announcing his death, and ex- 
 pressing his sympathy with her in her affliction, he thus 
 speaks of the manner in which it occurred: "I was 
 absent on an exploring expedition on Lake Victoria, having 
 left Francis Pocoke and Frederick Barker in charge of my 
 camp. Altogether I was absent fifty-eight days. When 
 I returned, hoping that I would find that all had gone 
 well, I was struck with the grievous news that your son 
 had died twelve days before, of an intermittent fever. 
 What little I have been able to learn of your son's death 
 amounts to this : On April 22d, he went out on the lake with 
 Pocoke to shoot hippopotami, and all day enjoyed himself. 
 On the morning of the 23d he went out for a little walk, 
 had his tea and some pancakes, washed himself and then sud- 
 denly said he felt ill, and lay down in bed. He called for 
 a hot stone to be put to his feet ; brandy was given him, 
 blankets were heaped on him, but he felt such cold in his 
 extremities that nothing availed to restore heat in his body. 
 His blood seems to have become congealed. At eight 
 o'clock, an hour after he lay down, he was dead. Such is
 
 444 BEST AND REPOSE. 
 
 what I have been able to glean from Pocoke of the manner 
 of his death. But by our next letter-carrier, Pocoke shall 
 send you a complete account." He then goes on to speak 
 of his excellent qualities and promising future, and his own 
 great loss. 
 
 One of the curious things that struck Stanley as he 
 looked on his party, was the strange contrast between Po- 
 coke's face and his own. The former being most of the 
 time in camp, had bleached to his old English whiteness, 
 while under the reflection of the fierce rays of an equato- 
 rial sun, he had been burned till his face was the color of 
 a lobster in fact, the natives had come to call him, not the 
 pale, but the red-faced man, to which his blood-shot eyes 
 gave a still more sanguinary appearance. 
 
 Now followed a season of rest and of sweet repose ; and 
 how deep and sweet it was, may be gathered from his own 
 language. He says: "Sweet is the Sabbath day to the 
 toil-worn laborer, happy is the long sea-tossed mariner on 
 his arrival in port, and sweet were the days of calm rest 
 we enjoyed after our troublous exploration of the Nyanza. 
 The brusque storms, the continued rains, the cheerless 
 gray clouds, the wild waves, the loneliness of the islands, 
 the inhospitality of the natives that were like mere phases 
 of a dream, were now but the reminiscences of the memory, 
 so little did we heed what was past while enjoying the 
 luxury of a rest from our toils. Still it added to our 
 pleasure to be able to conjure up in the mind the varied 
 incidents of the long lake journey ; they served to enliven 
 and employ the mind while the body enjoyed repose, like 
 condiments quickening digestion. It was a pleasure to be 
 able to map at will, in the mind, so many countries newly 
 discovered, such a noble extent of fresh water explored for 
 the first time. As the memory flew over the lengthy track 
 of exploration, how fondly it dwelt on the many pictur-
 
 BRIGHT ANTICIPATIONS. 445 
 
 esque bays, margined by water-lilies and lotus plants, or by 
 the green walls of the slender reed-like papyrus, inclosing 
 an area of water, whose face was as calm as a mirror, 
 because lofty mountain ridges almost surround it. With 
 what kindly recognition it roved over the little green 
 island in whose snug haven our boat had lain securely at 
 anchor, when the rude tempest without churned the face 
 of the Nyanza into a foaming sheet." The lofty rocks once 
 more rose before him in imagination, while the distant 
 hills were outlined against the fervid horizon, and the 
 rich grain fields of some of the districts smiled in the sun. 
 But his memory dwelt with fondest recollection on Uganda 
 and its hospitable King Mtesa, for there, it not only 
 recalled the present, but pictured a glorious future, in 
 which smiling villages took the places of rude huts, 
 from the midst of which church spires rose, and the clear 
 tones of the bell called the dusky inhabitants to the place 
 of worship. As he thus lay dreaming, close by the equa- 
 torial circle, he saw the land smiling in affluence and 
 plenty ; its bays crowded with the dark hulls of trading 
 vessels, heard the sound of craftsmen at their work, the 
 roar of manufactories and foundries and the ever-buzzing 
 noise of industry. 
 
 With these bright anticipations of the future, the happy 
 result of his endeavors, would mingle his desperate encoun- 
 ters with the savages, his narrow escapes, his nights of 
 danger on the tempestuous lake, his wonderful success so 
 near a failure at last, of all these marvelous experiences 
 and events crowded on him as he lay and rested, and 
 dreamed on the shores of the lake, that he felt to be his 
 own. If half that he anticipated, as he lay and rested 
 and dreamed, turns out true, his name will be linked with 
 changes that will sink all his great discoveries into noth- 
 ingness moral changes and achievements as much above
 
 446 REFUSED A PASSAGE. 
 
 mere material success as mind is above matter civilization 
 above barbarism Christianity above Paganism. 
 
 This successful voyage and safe return inspired the 
 members of the expedition with renewed confidence in 
 their leader, and Stanley soon set about prosecuting the 
 great work to which he had devoted himself, and which, 
 with all its toils and dangers and great sacrifice of life, 
 had only just begun. 
 
 The Grand Admiral Magassa had not yet joined him. 
 There was no reason he had not done so, except that the 
 fight at Bumbireh and subsequent storm on the lake had 
 sent them wide apart. But he had two of Stanley's best 
 men with him, who would direct him to the camp in Speke 
 Bay, toward which he knew Stanley was working, and 
 where he should have been before this time. The latter 
 waited nine days in camp for him, and then concluding 
 that he did not intend to come at all, resolved to march 
 back overland with his party (as he had no canoes to carry 
 them by water) to Uganda. Just as they were ready to 
 start, there came into camp a negro embassy from Ruoma, 
 which lay between him and Uganda on the land route, 
 with the following message : " Ruoma sends salaams to the 
 white man. He does not want the white man's cloth, beads 
 or wire, but the white man must not pass through his 
 country. Ruoma does not want to see him or any other 
 man with long red hair down to his shoulders, white face 
 and big red eyes. Ruoma is not afraid of him, but if the 
 white man will come near his country, Ruoma and Mi- 
 rambo will fight him." 
 
 " Here, indeed," as Stanley says, " was a dilemma." 
 Mtesa's admiral had proved false to the instructions given 
 him by the king, and no boats had arrived to convey his 
 party to Uganda by water, and now the ruler of the dis- 
 trict through which he must pass to reach it by land for-
 
 CANOES OBTAINED. 447 
 
 bade him to cross it. To force a passage was impossible ; 
 for Ruoma, besides having a hundred and fifty muskets 
 and several thousand spearmen and bowmen, had the 
 dreaded Mirambo, with his fierce warriors, within a day's 
 march of him and ready to aid him. Even if he could 
 fight his way across the country, it would be at a sacrifice 
 of life that he could not afford, and which the results he 
 hoped to secure would not justify. Still, he could not give 
 up Uganda, with its half-civilized king, for it was not only 
 the most interesting country that bordered on the lake, but 
 it comprised the unknown region lying between it and 
 Tanganika. If he could only get canoes from some other 
 quarter, he could take his party to Uganda by water ; and 
 once there, his friend Mtesa would give him all the aid he 
 wanted. He therefore set on foot inquiries respecting the 
 various tribes bordering on the gulf on which he was 
 encamped, to ascertain the number of canoes each pos- 
 sessed. He found that the king of Ukerewe, the large 
 island lying at the mouth of the gulf, was the most likely 
 person to have the canoes he wanted, and he applied to, 
 him. But he was unable to negotiate for them in person, 
 as he was taken suddenly and seriously ill the result of 
 his long exposure on the lake under an equatorial sun so 
 sent Pocoke, with Prince Kaduma, to make proposals for 
 them. These, taking a handsome present for the king, 
 departed. In twelve days they returned with fifty canoes 
 and some three hundred natives under the command of the 
 king's brother ; but to convey him and his party to the 
 king, not to Uganda. 
 
 Stanley's joy at the sight of the canoes was dampened 
 by this request, and he told the king's brother that if the 
 forme^ would give him all his land and cattle, he would 
 not let the expedition go to Ukerewe, but that he would go 
 himself, and he himself might return as soon as he pleased.
 
 448 AUDIENCE WITH THE KING. 
 
 As soon as he was well enough he set out, and on the 
 second day reached the island. Knowing how much was 
 at stake, he put on his court costume, which meant the 
 hest clothes in his wardrobe, and equipped himself with his 
 best arms, while his attendants bore valuable presents. 
 
 The next day after his arrival was fixed for the great audi- 
 ence. When the hour arrived Stanley mustered the crew of 
 the Lady Alice, who had been dressed for the occasion, and 
 the bugle sounded the order to march. In ten minutes they 
 came to a level stretch of ground, in the centre of which was 
 a knoll, where the king was seated in state, surrounded by 
 hundreds of bowmen and spearmen. He was a young 
 man, with a color tending more to the mulatto than negro 
 possessing an amiable countenance, and, altogether, he 
 made a favorable impression on Stanley. He was quite a 
 conspicuous object sitting on that knoll in the midst of 
 warriors, for he was wrapped in a robe of red and yellow 
 silk damask cloth. His reception of Stanley consisted in 
 a long, steady stare, but, being informed that the latter 
 ^wished to state the object of his visit to him and a few of 
 his chiefs alone, he stepped aside a short distance to a pile 
 of stones and invited them to join him. Stanley then 
 stated what he wanted, how far he wished the canoes to 
 go, what he would pay for them, etc., etc. The king 
 listened attentively, and replied in a kind and affable 
 manner ; but he said his canoes were many of them rotten 
 and unfit for a long voyage, and he was afraid they would 
 give out, and then he would be blamed and accused of be- 
 ing the cause of the loss of his property. Stanley replied 
 that he might blame the canoes, but not him. At the 
 close of the conference the king said he should have as 
 many canoes as he wanted, but he must remain a few days 
 and partake of his hospitality. This was given in no 
 stinted measure, for beeves, and goats, and chickens, and
 
 A NATIVE STRATAGEM. 449 
 
 milk, and eggs, and bananas, and plantains were furnished 
 in prodigal quantities, together with native beer for the 
 crew. They luxuriated in abundance, and on the fifteenth 
 day the king came to Stanley's tent with his chief coun- 
 selor, and gave him his secret instructions and advice. 
 He said he had ordered fifty canoes to carry him as far as 
 Usukuma, Stanley's camp, but his people would not be 
 willing to go to Uganda. He, therefore, had resorted to 
 stratagem, and caused it to be reported that Stanley was 
 going to come and live among them. He said that the 
 latter must encourage this report, and when he got to 
 Usukuma, and the canoes were drawn up on shore, he must 
 seize them and secure the paddles. Having thus rendered 
 it impossible for them to return, he was to inform them 
 what he intended to do. 
 
 Stanley having promised to obey his instructions im- 
 plicitly, the king sent with him his prime minister and two 
 favorites, and he departed, after leaving behind him a hand- 
 some present as an earnest of what he would do in the future. 
 The natives bent to their paddles cheerfully, and at length 
 reached Stanley's camp ; but, instead of fifty he found there 
 were but twenty-three canoes. Though disappointed, he 
 was compelled to be content with these. 
 
 He accordingly whispered his orders to the captains of 
 his expedition to muster their men and seize the canoes 
 and paddles. This was done and the canoes were drawn 
 up far on land. The astonished natives inquired the mean- 
 ing of this, and when told, flew into a furious passion, 
 and being about equal in number to Stanley's party, 
 showed fight. The latter saw at a glance that any attempt 
 to mollify them by talk would be fruitless, and that energetic, 
 prompt measures alone would answer, and he immediately 
 ordered the bugle to sound the rally. The soldiers stepped 
 quickly into line, when he ordered a charge with the
 
 450 A PLAN TO SEIZE HIM. 
 
 muzzles of their guns, and the astonished, duped creatures 
 were driven out of camp and away from the shore. 
 Stanley then held a parley with them and proposed to 
 send them back, and did, or at least a portion of them, in 
 four canoes, who could return and take off the rest, but 
 the canoes he kept, and on the third day started for 
 Uganda with a portion of the expedition, and at the end of 
 five days arrived at Refuge Island. Remembering when 
 he was there before, that the inhabitants of the main-land, 
 which was not more than six miles off, were not kindly 
 disposed toward him, he built a strong camp among the 
 rocks, locating it so that each high rock could furnish a 
 position for sharp-shooters, and in every way he could ren- 
 dered it impregnable, in case it should be attacked during his 
 absence. As he had not been able to embark all his ex- 
 pedition and baggage, he now returned for them, reaching 
 his old camp again after an absence of fifteen days. He 
 learned on his arrival that two neighboring chiefs were 
 planning to seize him and make him pay a heavy ransom. 
 He, however, said nothing ; spoke pleasantly every day to 
 one of them Prince Kaduma, and made presents to his 
 pretty wife, and went on loading his canoes. When the 
 day of embarkation arrived, the two chiefs, with a strong 
 force came to the water's edge and looked on moodily. Stanley 
 appeared not to notice it, but laughed and talked pleasantly, 
 and proceeding leisurely to the Lady Alice, ordered the 
 boat's crew to shove her off. When a short distance was 
 reached, he halted, and swinging broadside on shore, 
 showed a row of deadly guns in point-blank range of the 
 shore. Taken completely aback by this sudden movement, 
 and not daring to make a hostile demonstration with those 
 guns covering them, the treacherous chiefs let the process 
 of embarkation go on without molestation, and soon the 
 last canoe was afloat and a final good-bye given to the
 
 SAFE AT KEFUGE ISLAND. 451 
 
 camp, a scornful farewell waved to the disappointed natives 
 on shore, and the little fleet steered for Refuge Island. 
 Rough weather followed, and the rotten canoes gave out 
 one after another, so that he had only fifteen when he 
 reached the island. He found the camp had not been 
 disturbed in his absence. On the contrary, the neighbor- 
 ing kings and chiefs, seeing that his camp was impregnable, 
 had proffered their friendship and supplied the soldiers 
 with provisions. They also provided him with a guide 
 and sold him three canoes.
 
 CHAPTEK XXIX. 
 
 A REST RESOLVES TO PtTNISH THE BUMBIREH SETS SAIL MESSAGE TO 7HE PEOPLE OF BUMBIREH 
 IMPRISONS THE KINO OF IROBA THE KING OF BUMBIREH IN CHAINS ARRIVAL OF MTESA'S 
 CANOES HOSTILITY OF THE NATIVES MOVES ON BUMBIREH THE SAVAGES EXPECTING HIM 
 PLAN OF BATTLE THE BATTLE KILLED AND WOUNDED REJOICING OVER THE VICTORY THE 
 NATIVES COMPLETELY SUBDUED STANLEY GIVES THEM A LECTURE EFFECT OF THE VICTORY 
 ON THE NEIGHBORING TRIBES HIS LOSSES PREPARES TO START FOR THE ALBERT NYANZA 
 SIZE OF THE VICTORIA NZANZA MUTA NZIENGE IS IT AND THE ALBERT ONE LAKE STANLEY'S 
 JOURNAL AND MAP DO NOT AGREE MTESA AT AVAR STANLEY AIDS HIM UGANDA ABBA REGA 
 ONCE MORE BAKER'S AND STANLEY'S JOURNAL AGREE STANLEY ASKS EOR FIFTY THOUSAND 
 MEN MTESA GIVES HIM TWO THOUSAND. 
 
 TANLEY now rested a few days on this island before 
 beginning his explorations. It was associated in his' 
 mind with bitter memories, and as he wandered over it, he 
 remembered the insults he had received, and his almost 
 miraculous escape from death near it. The treacherous 
 Bumbireh was almost in sight, and it awakened in him a 
 strong desire for revenge, and he determined to visit the 
 island again, and demand reparation for the wrongs he had 
 received, and if it was not given, to make war on them, 
 and teach them a lesson on good behavior. So at the end 
 of three days he set sail and camped on Mahyiga Island, 
 five miles distant, and sent a message to the natives saying, 
 that if they would deliver their king and two principal 
 chiefs into his hands, he would make peace with them, 
 Otherwise he would make war. This was a cool request, 
 and Stanley himself, suspecting it would be refused, sent a 
 party to invite the king of Iroba, an island only a mile 
 from Bumbireh, to visit him, who, dreading the vengeance 
 of the white man, came, bringing with him three chiefs. 
 On what principle of morals Stanley will justify his course 
 
 452
 
 THE KOYAL CAPTIVE IN CHAINS. 453 
 
 we cannot say, but the moment the king arrived, he had 
 him and his chiefs put in chains ; the conditions of their 
 release being that his people should deliver the king of 
 Bumbireh, and two of his principal chiefs into his hands. 
 Although the people of Bumbireh had treated his mes- 
 sage with contempt, the subjects of Iroba seized their king 
 and delivered him into the hands of Stanley. The peril of 
 their own king had stimulated them to effort, and Stanley 
 at once released him, while he loaded his new royal captive 
 heavily with chains. He also sent a message to king 
 Antari, on the main-land, to whom Bumbireh was tribu- 
 tary, requesting him to redeem his land from war. In 
 reply, the latter sent his son and two chiefs to him to make 
 peace, who brought a quantity of bananas, as a promise of 
 what the king would do in the future. Stanley in con- 
 versing with them detected them in so many falsehoods, 
 and thinking he saw treachery in their faces, or perhaps it 
 would be more in accordance with truth to say, that having 
 got them in his power, he thought it better to keep them 
 as hostages for the appearance of the two chiefs of Bum- 
 bireh, who had not been brought with the king, and did 
 so. In the meantime, seven large canoes of Mtesa came 
 up, which were out on an expedition of the king's. The 
 chief commanding them told him that Magassa had re- 
 covered the oars captured at Bumbireh, and that on his 
 return and reporting Stanley dead, had been put in chains 
 by Mtesa, but subsequently released and dispatched in 
 search of him. The latter persuaded this chief, with his 
 canoes to remain, and assist him in his attack on Bumbireh 
 if they refused his terms of peace. 
 
 Two days after, this chief sent some of his men to Bum- 
 bireh for food, but they were not allowed to land. On the 
 contrary, they were attacked, and one man killed and eight 
 wounded. This gave Stanley another - strong reason for
 
 454 DRAWING OUT THE ENEMY. 
 
 making war at once without further negotiations, to which 
 Mtesa's chief gladly consented. Accordingly, next morn- 
 ing, he mustered two hundred and eighty men with fifty 
 muskets, and two hundred spearmen, and placed them in 
 eighteen canoes and set out for Bumbireh, eight miles dis- 
 tant, and reached the island at two o'clock in the afternoon. 
 The natives of Bumbireh were evidently expecting 
 trouble, for they felt sure the attack on the friends of 
 Stanley the day before would be quickly avenged. As 
 the latter, therefore, drew near the shore, he saw lookouts 
 on every eminence. Looking through his field-glass, he 
 soon discovered messengers running to a plantain grove 
 which stood on a low hill that commanded a clear, open 
 view of a little port on the southern point of the island, 
 from which he concluded that the main force of the enemy 
 was assembled there. He then called the canoes together, 
 and told them to follow him and steer just as he steered, 
 and by no means to attempt to land, as he did not mean 
 that one of Mtesa's men should be killed, or, indeed, any 
 of his own soldiers he intended to punish Bumbireh 
 without any damage to himself. He then ordered the 
 crew to row straight for the port the canoes following in 
 close order behind. He managed to keep out of sight 
 of the lookouts ; and skirting close to the land, at the end 
 of a little more than a mile, rounded a cape and shot into 
 a fine bay, and right in rear and in full view of the enemy. 
 They were gathered in such ' large numbers that Stanley 
 saw it would not do to attack them in such a cover, and so 
 steered for the opposite side of the bay, as though he 
 intended to land there, where the sloping hill-sides were 
 bare of everything but low grass. The savages, perceiving 
 this, broke cover and ran yelling toward the threatened 
 point. This was exactly what Stanley wanted, and he 
 ordered the rowers to pull slowly, so as to give them time
 
 DEADLY WOKK. 455 
 
 to reach the spot toward which he was moving. Very 
 soon they were all assembled on the naked hill-side, bran- 
 dishing their weapons fiercely in the air. Stanley kept 
 slowly on till within a hundred yards of the beach, when 
 he anchored broadside on the shore the English and 
 American flags waving above him. The other seventeen 
 canoes followed his example. Seeing a group of about 
 fifty standing close together, he ordered a volley to be fired 
 into it. Fifty muskets and his own trusty rifle spoke at 
 once, and with such terrible effect that nearly the whole 
 number was killed or wounded. The natives, astounded 
 at this murderous work, now separated and came down to 
 the water's edge singly, and began to yell and sling stones 
 and shoot arrows. Stanley then ordered the anchors up, 
 and gave directions to move the canoes to within fifty yards 
 of the shore, and each soldier to select his man and fire as 
 though he were shooting birds. The savages dropped 
 right and left before this target practice, but the survivors 
 stood their ground firmly, for they knew if Stanley effected 
 a landing he would burn everything on the island. For 
 an hour they endured the deadly fire, and then, unable 
 longer to stand it, moved up the hill, but still not out of 
 range, especially of Stanley's unerring rifle. Though 
 every now and then a man would drop, they refused to 
 move farther away, for they knew that if they were not 
 near enough to make a dash the moment the boats touched 
 the shore, all would be lost. Another hour was therefore 
 passed in this long-range firing, when Stanley ordered the 
 canoes to advance all together, as if about to make a sudden 
 landing. The savages, seeing this, rushed down the hill- 
 side like a torrent, and massed themselves by the hundreds 
 at the point toward which the canoes were moving, some 
 even entering the water with their spears poised ready to 
 strike. When they were packed densely together, Stanley
 
 456 A GREAT VICTORY. 
 
 ordered the bugle to sound a halt, and, as the crews rested 
 on their oars, directed a volley to be fired into them, which 
 mowed them down so terribly that they turned and fled 
 like deer over the hill. Stanley's men had now got their 
 blood up, and urged him to let them land and make a 
 complete end of this treacherous people, but he refused, 
 saying that he came to punish, not destroy. 
 
 They had fired in all about seven hundred cartridges, 
 and as the savages were completely exposed, and in the 
 afternoon, with the sun directly behind the boats, and 
 shining full in their faces, the mortality was great. Over 
 forty were left dead on the field, while the number of 
 the wounded could not be counted, though more than a 
 hundred were seen to limp or to be led away. It was a 
 great victory, and Stanley's dusky allies were in a state of 
 high excitement, and made the air ring with their shouts 
 and laughter, as they bent to their paddles. It was dark 
 when they got back to the island, where they were received 
 with wild songs of triumph. Stanley was a great hero to 
 these untutored children of nature. The next morning more 
 canoes arrived from Uganda, and Stanley prepared to de- 
 part. He had now thirty-two canoes, all well loaded with 
 men, which made quite an imposing little fleet as they 
 moved into order on the lake, and constituted a strong 
 force. They sailed close to Bumbireh, and Stanley looked 
 to see what had been the effect of the severe thrashing he 
 had given them the day before. He found their audacity 
 gone, and their proud, insulting spirit completely quelled. 
 There were no shouts of defiance, no hostile demonstra- 
 tions. Seeing a hundred or more gathered in a group, he 
 fired a bullet over their heads, which scattered them in every 
 direction. The day before they had breasted bravely 
 volley after volley, but now the war spirit was thoroughly 
 cowed. In another place some natives came down to the
 
 LIBERALLY TEEATED. 457 
 
 shore and begged them to go away and not hurt them any 
 more. This gave Stanley an opportunity to preach them 
 a sermon on treachery, and exhort them hereafter to treat 
 strangers, who came to them peaceably, with kindness. 
 The dead, in almost every hut, was, however, the most 
 effectual sermon of the two. 
 
 They camped that evening on the main-land, in the 
 territory of King Kattawa, who treated them in a mag- 
 nificent style for a savage, to show his gratitude for the 
 punishment they had inflicted on Bumbireh, who had a 
 short time before killed one of his chiefs. They stayed 
 here a day, and then steered for the island of Muzina, 
 where he had last seen Magassa and his fleet. The people 
 were not friendly to him, but they had heard of the terrible 
 punishment he had inflicted on the Bumbireh, and hastened 
 to supply him with provisions. They brought him five 
 cattle, four goats and a hundred bunches of bananas, 
 besides honey, milk and eggs. The King of Ugoro, near 
 by, also sent him word that he had given his people orders 
 to supply him with whatever food he wanted. Stanley 
 replied that he wanted no food, but if he would lend him 
 ten canoes to carry his people to Uganda, he would con- 
 sider him as his friend. They were promptly furnished. 
 Mtesa's chief urged him to attack the king, as he had 
 murdered many of Mtesa's people, but Stanley refused, 
 saying he did not come to make war on black people, he 
 only wished to defend his rights and avenge acts of treach- 
 ery. Five days after he landed at Duomo Uganda, half 
 way between the Kagera and Katonga Rivers, and pitched 
 his camp. He selected this spot as the best place from which 
 to start for the Albert Nyanza, which he designed next to 
 explore. He wanted to see Mtesa, and get his advice as 
 to which was the best route to take, because between these 
 two lakes were several powerful tribes, who were continually 
 at war with the king of Uganda.
 
 458 FORMING NEW PLANS. 
 
 In summing up his losses during this journey of two 
 hundred and twenty miles by water, he found he had lost 
 six men drowned, five guns and one case of ammunition, 
 besides ten canoes wrecked and three riding asses dead, 
 leaving him but one. He had been gone fifty-six days, 
 and though the distance was but two hundred and twenty 
 miles, a large portion of it had been traversed three times, 
 so that he had really traveled by water over seven hundred 
 and twenty miles. He had brought scarcely any provisions 
 the expedition subsisting on the corn he bought at the 
 start with one bale of cloth except such as were given 
 them. He now resolved, after he had settled his camp, to 
 visit Mtesa again, and consult with him about the aid he 
 could give him to reach the Albert Nyanza. This lake 
 was the source of the White Nile, up which Baker was 
 forcing his way, the very year Stanley started on his ex- 
 pedition. He hoped to launch steamers upon it, but he failed 
 even to reach it, though he saw its waters, twenty miles 
 distant. Between it and the Victoria Nyanza is an un- 
 known region. The distance from one to the other in a 
 straight line is probably not two hundred miles, though by 
 any traveled route it is, of course, much farther. Nothing 
 is definitely known of its size or shape. Colonel Mason 
 made a partial exploration of it last year, but it still 
 remains a new field for some future explorer, for Stanley 
 failed to reach it if the map of the former is correct. 
 The Victoria Nyanza he computed to contain twenty-one 
 thousand five hundred square miles, and to be nine thousand 
 one hundred and sixty-eight feet above the sea level. 
 There is a large lake almost directly west of the Nyanza 
 called Muta Nzienge, which Stanley conjectures may be con- 
 nected with the Albert Nyanza. The region around the 
 latter is wholly unknown, except that fierce cannibals 
 occupy its western shore. We say that Stanley did not
 
 MTESA AT WAR. 459 
 
 reach the Albert Nyanza at all, though if it and the Muta 
 Nzienge are one he did. He inserts in his journal that he 
 reached the shore of the lake, yet by his map he did not. 
 This discrepancy, owing probably to the fact that he 
 thought, at the time, the lake he saw was the Albert Nyanza, 
 and though Colonel Mason explored it partially last year, 
 and makes it an entirely distinct lake, he may think so 
 still. At all events, his map and journal should agree, 
 but they do not, which confuses things badly. His route, 
 as he has marked it down, does not go near it. On the 
 other hand, if the Albert and the Muta Nzienge are one, 
 it rivals in length that of the great Tanganika, but we 
 believe no one thinks it to be. 
 
 Stanley found Mtesa at war with the Wavuma, who 
 refused to pay their annual tribute. According to his 
 account this monarch had an army with him which, with 
 its camp followers, amounted to a quarter of a million of 
 souls. He remained with him several weeks as the war 
 dragged slowly along, and, in the meantime, translated, 
 with the help of a young, educated Arab, a part of the 
 Bible for him, and apparently sent him forward a great way 
 toward Christianity. He at length, after he had witnessed 
 various naval battles that did not seem to bring the war 
 any nearer to a termination, built for the king a huge 
 naval structure, wholly inclosed, which, when it moved 
 against the brave islanders, filled them with consternation, 
 and they made peace. 
 
 At this point, Stanley makes a break in his journal and 
 devotes nearly a hundred pages to Uganda and its king, 
 Mtesa, He gives its traditions, mingled, doubtless, with 
 much fable ; a description of its land fruits, customs of the 
 people in short, a thorough history, as far as the natives 
 know anything about it This possesses more or less inte- 
 rest, though the information it conveys is of very little
 
 460 A MODERATE REQUEST. 
 
 consequence, while it is destitute of any incident connected 
 with his journey. 
 
 It was now October, and he turned his attention directly 
 to the next scene of his labors the exploration of the 
 Albert Nyanza. The great difficulty here was to get 
 through the warlike tribes that lay between the lakes and 
 around the latter, of which Abba Rega was one of the 
 most hostile chiefs. This king, it will be remembered, 
 was the great foe of Baker, whom the latter drove out of 
 the country, after burning his capital, and put Rionga in 
 his place. He said then that this treacherous king had 
 gone to the shores of the Albert Nyanza. By the way, 
 Baker's statement and Stanley's journal, placed together, 
 seem to make it certain that the Muta Nzienge, which the 
 latter reached, and the Albert Nyanza are the same ; for, 
 in the first place, it will be remembered, Baker's last jour- 
 ney was to Unyoro, where he saw the Albert Nyanza. 
 Now Stanley, it will be seen hereafter, traverses this same 
 district to reach the lake he called Muta Nzienge. Again, 
 Baker says that Abba Rega fled to the Albert Nyanza, and 
 yet Stanley found him on Lake Muta Nzienge. If Stan- 
 ley's attention had been called to this, we hardly think he 
 would have made two lakes on his map, when, from these 
 corroborating statements, there could have been but one. 
 The fact that these separate statements, made two years 
 apart, are purely incidental, makes the fact they go to 
 prove the more certain to be true. We have not seen 
 Colonel Mason's recent voyage on the lake, but it seems 
 impossible that Baker and Stanley should reach through 
 the same tribe two large and entirely separate lakes. 
 
 Aware not only of the hostility, but power of some of the 
 tribes between Uganda and Lake Albert, Stanley asked 
 Mtesa for fifty or sixty thousand men a mighty army. 
 With such a force he thought he could not only overcome
 
 TWO THOUSAND SOLDIERS. 461 
 
 all opposition on the way, but hold the camp he wished to 
 establish, while he spent two months in exploring the lake. 
 But Mtesa told him two thousand would be ample, which 
 he would cheerfully furnish. He said that he need not 
 fear Abba Rega, for he would not dare to lift a spear 
 against his troops, for he had seated him on the throne 
 of Kameazi. Though Stanley was not convinced of the 
 truth of Mtesa's statements, he would not urge him further 
 and accepted the two thousand soldiers, commanded by 
 General Lamboori, as an escort, with many expressions 
 of thanks.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION TO ALBERT NYANZA. 
 
 FORCE OP THE EXPEDITION ITS START FIRST MARCH THROUGH HOSTILE UNYORO THE EN- 
 CAMPMENTMOUNT GAMBAKAGARA ITS SUMMIT OCCUPIED BY WHITE PEOPLE LIVE ON A 
 ROCK. IN THE MIDDLE OF A LAKE THEIR ORIGIN OTHER STRANGE TRIBES THE MARCH- 
 FRIGHTENED PEOPLE THE LAKE REACHED WITHOUT OPPOSITION A MISERABLE FAILURE 
 THE REASON OF IT STANLEY'S FEELINGS THE RETURN REPORT TO MTESA HIS WRATH- 
 LIBERAL OFFERS WONDERS OF THE COUNTRY A GENEROUS, PEACEFUL KING LAKE WINDO- 
 MERE SOURCE OF THE NILE ABSURD THEORIES THE HOT SPRINGS OF MTAGATA. 
 
 OTANLEY'S expedition consisted of one hundred and 
 k-/ eighty men, which, with the troops Mtesa gave him, 
 made a total of two thousand two hundred and ninety men. 
 To this little army were attached some five hundred women 
 and children, making a sum total of two thousand eight 
 hundred. With this force all ordinary opposition could be 
 overcome, and as it moved off with the sound of drums 
 and horns, and the waving of the English and American 
 flags, conspicuous amid those of the negro army, it pre- 
 sented a very animated appearance. But Stanley was 
 destined to find out what others have learned before him, 
 that a small force under one's own immediate command is 
 better than a large undisciplined one, that is subject to 
 the orders of another. 
 
 General Lamboozi had no heart in this expedition, and 
 soon showed it. But they moved off gayly over the swell- 
 ing pasture-lands of Uganda, striking north-west toward 
 the lake, which Stanley hoped to explore, as he had the 
 Victoria Nyanza. The march through Uganda was a 
 
 462
 
 A STRANGE PEOPLE. 465 
 
 pleasant one, and they at length reached the frontier of 
 Unyora and prepared for war. 
 
 On the 5th of January they entered Abba Rega's terri- 
 tory, whom, two years before, Baker had driven from his 
 throne, and who naturally felt peculiarly hostile to all 
 white men. But no resistance was offered the people, as 
 if remembering the past, fleeing before them, leaving their 
 provisions and everything behind them, of which the 
 army made free use. Three days after they came to the 
 base of a mighty mountain, called Kabrogo, rising five 
 thousand five hundred feet into the air, presenting, in its 
 naked, rugged outline, a sublime appearance. They en- 
 camped that night on a low ridge, in sight of the Katonga 
 River, flowing east in its course to the Victoria Nyanza, 
 bringing up many associations to Stanley's mind while to 
 the west the Ruanga filled the night air with its thunder- 
 ous sound, as it tumbled over cataracts toward the Albert 
 Nyanza. From an eminence near by could be seen in the 
 distance the colossal form of Gambaragara Mountain loom- 
 ing up from the wilderness a second Mont Blanc, rising 
 some three miles into the cloudless heavens. Though 
 under the equator, snow is often seen on its summit. But 
 what gives it peculiar interest is, that on its cold and lonely 
 top dwell a people of an entirely distinct race, being white, 
 like Europeans. The king of Uzigo once spoke to Stan- 
 ley and Livingstone of this singular people, and now the 
 latter saw half a dozen of them. Their hair, he says, is 
 "kinky," and inclined to brown in color; their features 
 regular ; lips thin, and noses well shaped. Altogether, they 
 are a handsome race the women, many of them possessing 
 great beauty. Some of their descendants are scattered 
 through the tribes living near the base of the mountain, 
 but the main body occupy its lofty summit. The queen of 
 one of the islands in the Victoria Nyanza is a descendent of
 
 466 SINGULAR TRADITIONS. 
 
 them. The history of this singular people is wrapped in 
 mystery. 
 
 There is a tradition that the first king of Unyoro gave 
 them the land at its base, and the approach of a powerful 
 enemy first drove them to the top for safety. They have 
 become so acclimated that they can stand the cold, while 
 the dwellers of the plain are compelled to flee before it. 
 Mtesa once dispatched his greatest general with an army 
 of a hundred thousand men to capture them. They suc- 
 ceeded in making their way to a great height, but finally 
 had to retreat the cold became so intense. 
 
 The retreat of this pale-faced tribe is said to be inacces- 
 sible. The top is supposed to be the crater of an extinct 
 volcano ; for on it there is a lake nearly a third of a mile 
 long, from the centre of which rises a huge rock to a great 
 height. Around the top of this runs a rim of rock, making 
 a natural wall, in which are several villages, where the 
 principal "medicine-man" and his people reside. 
 
 This account*, if true, does not touch the origin of this 
 peculiar race of people, nor in any way explain the fact of 
 their existence here in tropical Africa. Two men belong- 
 ing to this tribe joined Stanley's expedition in this inarch 
 to the Albert Lake, yet he seems to have obtained no 
 information from them of the history of their tribe. 
 Whether they had any traditions or not we are not in- 
 formed we only know that Stanley found them extremely 
 uncommunicative. It is possible they had nothing to tell, 
 for a vast majority of the negro tribes of Africa have no 
 past ; they care neither for the past or future, so far as 
 external life is concerned, living only in the present. 
 These two men occupied a high position, for some cause, in 
 the army under Lamboozi, and were the only ones who 
 were allowed more than two milch cows on the route 
 Various stories about these people were told Stanley, and
 
 A LAND OF FABLES. 467 
 
 it is difficult to come at the truth. About the only thing 
 that seems established is that this white race exists, of 
 whose origin nothing definite has as yet been obtained. 
 Stanley says that he heard they were of Arab origin, but 
 there are plenty of Arabs in Africa in fact, all the 
 soldiers attached to the expedition were Arabs, and colonies 
 of them had long existed in Central Africa ; but they are 
 not white men. 
 
 It seems impossible that Livingstone, years before, should 
 have heard of this singular people, and Stanley seen speci- 
 mens of them, if no such tribe really existed. It seems 
 almost equally strange that they should be able for cen- 
 turies to keep so isolated that their very home is a myth. 
 The truth is, that Africa is a land of fables and traditions, 
 that partake of the. wonderful and often of the miraculous. 
 Mr. Stanley was told of other tribes of white people living 
 in a remote unknown region, possessing great ferocious 
 dogs, and also of dwarfs of singular habits and customs. 
 These traditions or reports, that are invariably vague in 
 their character, usually have more or less foundation in 
 truth. Mixed with the wonderful, that always holds an 
 important place in savage literature, there will generally 
 be found at least a grain of truth ; and the traditions of 
 white races among a people who had never seen white men, 
 could hardly exist if no such tribes existed. 
 
 The diet of this strange race consists of milk and bananas. 
 Stanley says the first specimen he saw of the tribe was a 
 young man, whom he at first took for a young Arab from 
 Cairo, who for some reason had wandered off to Uganda, 
 and taken up his residence with King Mtesa. The two 
 attached to his expedition would easily have been mistaken 
 for Greeks in white shirts. Stanley, after seeing these 
 white Africans, the stories concerning whose existence he 
 had regarded as one of the fables of the ignorant, super-
 
 468 DESERTED VILLAGES. 
 
 stitious natives, says that he is ready to believe there is a 
 medium of truth in all the strange stories that he has been 
 accustomed to listen to as he would to a fairy tale. Four 
 years previous, while exploring the Tanganika with Liv- 
 ingstone, they both smiled at the story told them of a 
 white people living north of Uzigo, but now he had seen 
 them, and if it were not that their hair resembles some- 
 what that of the negro he should take them for Europeans. 
 He heard afterwards that the first king of Kisbakka, a 
 country to the south-west, was an Arab, whose scimiter is 
 still preserved by the natives, and infers that these people 
 may be his descendants. He also heard of a tribe that 
 wore armor and used a breed of fierce and powerful dogs 
 in battle. 
 
 From this point the expedition moved on toward the 
 Albert Nyanza, along the southern bank of the Rusango 
 River, a rapid, turbulent stream winding in and out 
 among the mountains, and rushing onward in fierce, rapid 
 and headlong cataracts to the peaceful bosom of the lake. 
 For ten hours they marched swiftly through an uninhab- 
 ited country and then emerged into a thickly populated 
 district. Their sudden appearance, with drums beating 
 and colors flying, filled the people, who had no intimation 
 of their coming, with such consternation, that they took to 
 the woods, leaving everything behind them even the 
 porridge on the fire and great pots of milk standing ready 
 for the evening meal. Fields and houses were alike 
 deserted in a twinkling, and the army marched in and 
 took possession. Thus far they had met with no opposition 
 whatever, and the warlike tribe Stanley had feared so 
 much and had taken such a large force with him to over- 
 come, seemed to have no existence.* In fact, the days had 
 passed by monotonously, for the most part the scenery was 
 tame, and the march of the troops from day to day was
 
 A MISERABLE FAILURE. 469 
 
 without incident or interest, and now, at this village, they 
 were within a few miles of the lake, to reach which was 
 the sole object of all this display of force. Instead of 
 fighting their way, they found themselves in undisputed 
 possession of a large and populous district, with not a soul 
 to give them any information. 
 
 We confess there is something about this journey from the 
 Victoria Nyanza to the Albert that we do not understand. 
 By the route on the map it must have been nearly two 
 hundred miles, and yet the expedition started on January 
 5th, and on the evening of the 9th was within three miles 
 of the latter, which would make the marching about fifty 
 miles a day an impossibility. 
 
 Now fifty miles a day for four days would be terri- 
 ble marching for veteran troops. Hence, we say, the 
 map or journal is wrong. If he took the route he has 
 marked down and completed it in the time he says he did, 
 one instead of two parallels of longitude should indicate 
 the distance between the two lakes. In fact, this whole 
 expedition was such a miserable failure, that anywhere 
 but in Africa it would be looked upon as a farce, and 
 shows how utterly futile it is to rely on the native Africans 
 in any great enterprise. The Arabs are bad enough, but 
 they are fidelity itself compared to these black savages. 
 
 Here was an expedition numbering nearly three thousand 
 souls, organized to secure a safe march to a lake not five 
 days distant. It met with no obstacles of any moment, 
 reached the lake, and there, on the mere rumor that 
 hostilities were intended, practically broke up and returned. 
 Stanley had, with about three hundred men, traversed 
 an unknown country for months, fought battles, and at the 
 end of a thousand miles reached the lake he was after, 
 pitched his camp, and with a crew of eleven men explored 
 the lake its entire circuit, and returned in safety. Here,
 
 470 THE ARMY DEMORALIZED. 
 
 with a small army, after a four days' march he reaches 
 the Albert Nyanza, yet does nothing but turn round and 
 march back again. It would seem, at first sight, strange 
 that if he could march a thousand miles from the sea to 
 the Victoria Nyanza and then explore it, he could not now 
 with the same men explore this lake without the aid of 
 Lamboozi and his two thousand or more soldiers. Doubt- 
 less he could but for this very army. Its disaffection and 
 declaration that they were not strong enough to resist the 
 force about to be brought against them, created a panic 
 among Stanley's men. If two thousand fled it would be 
 
 O v 
 
 madness for one hundred and eighty to stay. The simple 
 truth is, the more such men one has with him, unless he is 
 the supreme head and his will is law, even to life and 
 death, the worse he is off. Stanley, planning, controlling 
 and directing every movement is a power ; Stanley under 
 the direction of a swaggering, braggart African negro gen- 
 eral is nobody. 
 
 Lamboozi did, next morning after their approach to the 
 lake, send out two hundred scouts to capture some natives, 
 by whom they could get a message to the king of the dis- 
 trict, saying that they had no hostile intentions, and if per- 
 mitted to encamp on the shores of the lake for two months, 
 would pay in beads, cloth and wire for whatever provisions 
 they consumed. Five were captured and sent to the king 
 with this proposition, but he did not deign an answer. On 
 the llth, they moved the camp to within a mile of the lake, 
 on a plateau that rose a thousand feet above its surface. A 
 place was selected for a camp and men sent out to capture 
 all the canoes they could find. In three hours they re- 
 turned with only five, and those too small for their purpose. 
 But they brought back word that the whole country was 
 aroused, and that a large body of strange warriors had 
 arrived on the coast to aid the king in making war on the 
 new-comers.
 
 THE RETURN. 471 
 
 General Lamboozi now became thoroughly alarmed, and 
 stubbornly refused to grant Stanley's request to move to 
 the edge of the lake and intrench. It seemed probable 
 that the natives meant to give battle, but with what num- 
 bers or prospect of success, Lamboozi took no measures to 
 ascertain. Next day he resolved to march back. En- 
 treaties and threats were alike in vain, and there was 
 nothing left for Stanley to do but march back with him. 
 He was greatly disappointed and thoroughly disgusted, 
 but there was no help for it. That Unyoro and Abba 
 Rega would be hostile, Stanley knew before he started, 
 and on that account took so large a force with him. Yet 
 he says, after this miserable failure, that it was a foolhardy 
 attempt at the outset. Looking at it caimly, he pronounces 
 it a great folly, redeemed from absurdity only by "the 
 success of having penetrated through Unyoro and reached 
 the Albert." It is difficult to see wherein lies the great- 
 ness of this success ; for, according to his own account, it 
 was one of the most peaceful marches he ever performed, 
 with hardly enough incident in it to make it interesting. 
 It matters little, however ; all that can be said is, they 
 marched up to the lake and then marched back again. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th, they began their return in 
 order of battle five hundred spearmen in front, five hun- 
 dred as a rear guard, and the expedition in the centre 
 but no enemy attacked them or attempted to do anything 
 but pick up some stragglers. The next day the expedition 
 formed the rear guard, and once some natives rushed out 
 of the woods to attack them, but were quickly dispersed by 
 a few shots. 
 
 This is all that happened to this army in terrible Un- 
 yoro, and presents a striking contrast to Baker's gallant 
 march through it with his little band, fighting every day 
 for nearly a week. Four days after, without any further
 
 472 A GENEROUS OFFER. 
 
 molestation, they re-entered Uganda, where Samboozi 
 turned off to his home. Stanley had heard no news 
 of Gordon or of the steamers he was to place on the lake 
 according to the plan of Baker ; and though at first he 
 thought that he would seek some other way to reach it and 
 make his explorations, he finally resolved to start for Tan- 
 ganika, which he would reach in about four months, and ex- 
 plore it. Hence, while Samboozi turned eastward toward 
 Lake Victoria, he, with his little band, turned southward. 
 He sent a letter, however, to Mtesa, informing him 
 of Samboozi's cowardice and refusal to build a camp at 
 Lake Albert, and telling him also that this redoubtable 
 general had robbed him. He had intrusted to his care 
 three porter's loads- of goods to relieve his own carriers, 
 and these he had appropriated as his own. 
 
 When the letter reached the emperor he was thrown 
 into a towering passion, and immediately dispatched a 
 body of troops to seize the general, with orders to strip him 
 of his wives, slaves, cattle and everything he possessed, 
 and bring him bound to his presence. He also sent letter 
 after letter to Stanley, begging him to return, and he 
 would give him ninety thousand men, with brave generals 
 to command them, who would take him to Lake Albert, 
 and protect him there till he had finished his explorations. 
 Stanley was very much moved by this generous offer and 
 the anxiety of the king to make amends for Samboozi's 
 poltroonery and thieving conduct. The noble savage felt it 
 keenly that he, who valued so highly the esteem of Stan- 
 ley, should be disgraced in his sight, and it was hard for 
 the latter to refuse his urgent request to be allowed to 
 redeem his character and his pledge. But Stanley had 
 had enough of Waganda troops, and felt that whatever 
 was accomplished hereafter must be by his well-trained, 
 compact, brave little band. He kept on his way, and 
 never saw Mtesa again.
 
 A LAND OF WONDERS. 473 
 
 He had been able to add considerable to the geography 
 of the country bordering on Lake Albert. ITsongora, a 
 promontory running thirty miles into the lake southward, 
 he ascertained to be the great salt field, from, whence all the 
 surrounding countries obtain their salt. From all he could 
 hear, it was truly a land of wonders, but he says the man 
 "who should attempt to explore it would need a thousand 
 muskets, for the natives cannot be enticed into peace by 
 cloth and beads. They care for nothing but milk and 
 goat-skins. " Among the wonders credited to it," he says, 
 "are a mountain emitting fire and stones, a salt lake of 
 considerable extent, several hills of rock-salt, a large plain 
 encrusted thickly with salt and alkali, a breed of very large 
 dogs of extraordinary ferocity, and a race of such long- 
 legged natives, that ordinary mortals regard them with 
 surprise and awe." They do not allow members of their 
 tribe to intermarry with strangers, and their food, like the 
 dwellers in the Himalaya Mountains, in India, consists 
 chiefly of milk. Mtesa once invaded their territory with 
 one hundred thousand men, to capture cows, of which the 
 natives have an immense number, and in watching which 
 consists their sole occupation. The army returned with 
 twenty thousand, but they were obtained at such a fearful 
 sacrifice of life that the raid will not be repeated. 
 
 Stanley rested a few days after Samboozi left him, be- 
 fore proceeding northward. He then continued his march 
 leisurely through the country, inquiring on the way the 
 character of the tribes westward toward that part of Lake 
 Albert which extended south from where he struck it, but 
 one and all were reported hostile to the passage of any 
 strangers through their territory. 
 
 Arriving on the Kagera Eiver in Karagwe, he found the 
 King Rumanika a mild, pleasant-spoken man and very 
 friendly, but he told him that all the neighboring tribes
 
 474 PUSHING THROUGH PAPYEUS. 
 
 would not let him enter their lands. The latter, a little 
 suspicious of the motives that prompted this bad report of 
 the surrounding tribes, to test him, asked him if he had any 
 objections to his exploring his country. He said no, and 
 cheerfully promised to furnish him guides and an escort, 
 and his party should be supplied with food, free of charge. 
 Stanley, surprised at this generosity, at once got ready to 
 start. He first went south to Lake Windermere, a small 
 body of water so named by Captain Speke, because of its 
 fancied resemblance to the lake of that name in England. 
 The Lady Alice was taken there, screwed together and 
 launched on the peaceful waters. Accompanied by six native 
 canoes he sailed round it and then entered Kagera River, 
 called by Speke the Kitangule. Suddenly it flashed on 
 Stanley's mind that he had discovered the true parent of 
 the Victoria Nile. It fed and drained this little lake some 
 nine miles long. Moreover, he found that there was a depth 
 of fifty-two feet of water and a breadth of one hundred and 
 fifty feet. He therefore pushed up it some three days and 
 came to another lake, nine miles long and six miles wide. 
 Working up through the papyrus that covered the stream, 
 he came to another lake or pond, a mile and a half long. 
 Ascending an eminence he discovered that this whole por- 
 tion of the river was a lake large tracts of which were 
 covered with papyrus or that vegetation which we have seen 
 Baker had to contend with in ascending the Nile. It 
 seemed solid ground, while in fact it was a large body of 
 water covered over, with here and there an opening, mak- 
 ing a separate lake, of which Windermere was the largest. 
 This apparently underground lake was some eighty miles 
 in length and fourteen in width. 
 
 Following the river as it flowed eastward into the Victoria 
 Nyanza, he found he entered another lake, thirteen miles 
 long and some eight miles broad. This was, of course, the
 
 ABSURD THEORIES. 475 
 
 continuation of the lake, covered at intervals with this 
 tropical vegetation, which gave to it the appearance of 
 land. There were in all seventeen of these lakes. This 
 river now broadening as the formation of the land causes 
 it to expand, now narrowing till its channel is forty feet 
 deep, it at last tumbles over cataracts and rushes through 
 rapids into the Victoria Nyanza. All this seems of little 
 account, except, as Stanley says, he has found in it the 
 true source of the Victoria Kile. 
 
 The great and persistent efforts to find out the source of 
 the Nile have led explorers to push their theories to an 
 absurd extent. Because Herodotus made the Nile to rise 
 in some large springs, they seem to think they must find 
 something back and beyond a great lake as its source. Now, 
 when a river flows right on through one lake after another, 
 making lakes as the formation of the ground allows, it 
 of course maintains its integrity and oneness. 
 
 In this case there is but one main stream ; and as long 
 as the lakes are the mere spreading out of that stream on 
 low, flat lands, it must remain the same. Thus, in our own 
 State, the two rivers, the Racket and the Saranac, pass 
 through several lakes, yet remain always the same rivers, 
 with no tributaries but little brooks. But when you come 
 to great reservoirs like the Albert and Victoria Nyanza 
 and the Tanganika into which a hundred streams, and 
 perhaps twice that number of springs, flow to go beyond 
 such reservoirs to find the head of the stream is bringing 
 geography down to a fine point. The outlet is plain you 
 have traced the river up till you see it roaring from its 
 great feeder. This is very satisfactory, and should end all 
 research after the source of the stream. But to insist on 
 taking measurements of a dozen different rivers that flow 
 into a lake a thousand miles in circumference, to find which 
 is a mile longest or ten feet deepest, and thus determine
 
 476 HOT SPRINGS OF MTAGATA. 
 
 the source of the outlet, is preposterous. A lake covering 
 twenty-two thousand square miles, fed by a hundred rivers, 
 is a reservoir of itself, and not an expansion of any one 
 river. One might as well try to prove which is the great 
 source or feeder of the Atlantic Ocean the Amazon, 
 Mississippi or Congo. 
 
 Thus we find Stanley, when he struck the Shimeeyu in 
 Speke Gulf, declaring he had found the extreme southern 
 source of the Nile ; and now, when exploring another river 
 on another side of the lake of larger volume, he changes 
 his mind and thinks he has made a great discovery in 
 ascertaining at last the true source of the river. He found 
 it over fifty feet deep, which showed what a volume of water 
 it poured into the Victoria Nyanza. Descending it again, 
 he entered another lake some thirteen miles long by eight 
 wide. Exploring this, he was driven back by the natives 
 when he attempted to land, who hailed him with shrill 
 shouts and wild war-cries. The Kagera, through its entire 
 length, maintains almost the same depth and volume. 
 
 Returning to his generous host, he asked for guides to 
 take him to the hot springs of Mtagata, the healing pro- 
 perties of which he had heard of far and wide from the 
 natives. These were cheerfully given, and after a march 
 of two days he reached them. Here he was met by an 
 astonishing growth of vegetation. Plants of an almost in- 
 finite variety covered the ground, growing so thick and 
 crowding each other so closely, that they became a matted 
 mass the smaller ones stifled by the larger and out of 
 which trees shot up an arrow's-flight into the air, with 
 " globes of radiant green foliage upon their stem-like 
 crowns." He found a crowd of diseased persons here, try- 
 ing the effect of the water. Naked men and women were 
 lying promiscuously around in the steaming water, half- 
 asleep and half-cooked, for the water showed a temperature
 
 WILD AND FIERCE NATIVES. 479 
 
 of one hundred and twenty-nine degrees. The springs 
 were, however, of different temperature. The hottest one 
 issued from the base of a rocky hill, while four others, 
 twenty degrees cooler, came bubbling up out of black mud, 
 and were the favorites of the invalids. Stanley camped 
 here three days, and bathed in the water and drank it, but 
 could perceive no effect whatever on his system. Return- 
 ing to his friend Eumaniki, he prepared to start on his 
 journey south to Lake Tanganika, and finish its explora- 
 tions. 
 
 Having discovered that the Kagera River formed a lake 
 eighty miles long, and was a powerful stream a long dis- 
 tance from its mouth, he resolved, as it flowed from the 
 south, to follow it up and try to find its source. A broad 
 wilderness lay before him, the extent of which he did not 
 accurately know, and he packed ten days' provisions on the 
 shoulders of each man of the expedition, and bidding the 
 soft-voiced pagan king, by whom he had been treated so 
 kindly, a warm good-bye, he entered the forest and kept 
 along the right bank of the stream. This was the 27th of 
 March, and for six days he marched through an unin- 
 habited wilderness, with nothing to break the monotony of 
 the journey. At the end of that time he came to the 
 borders of Karagwe and to the point where the Akanyaru 
 River entered the Kagera. He dared not explore this 
 river, for the natives that inhabit both banks are wild and 
 fierce, having a deadly hatred of all strangers. They are 
 like the long-legged race of Bumbireh, and he did not care 
 to come in collision with them. They possess many cattle, 
 and if one sickens or dies, they do not attribute it to acci- 
 dent, but believe it has been bewitched, and search the 
 country through to find the stranger who has done it, and 
 if he is found, he dies. 
 
 All the natives of the region are passionately fond of
 
 480 A DOMESTIC PICTURE. 
 
 their cows, and will part with anything sooner than milk. 
 Stanley says that his friend E-umaniki, with all his gene- 
 rosity, never offered him a teaspoonful of milk, and if he 
 had given him a can of it he believes his people would 
 have torn him limb from limb. He thinks that half of 
 their hostility arises from the fear of the evil effect that 
 the presence of strangers will have on their cattle. Hence 
 they keep a strict quarantine on their frontiers. It is not 
 strange that they should cherish them carefully, for they 
 are their sole means of subsistence. 
 
 This long journey through various tribes is singularly 
 barren of incident. He lost his last dog, Bull, on the 
 route, who had bravely held out in all their long wander- 
 ings, but at last gave up and laid down and died, with his 
 eyes fixed on the retiring expedition. He also met the 
 redoubtable Mirambo, and found him not the blood-thirsty 
 monster he had been represented to be, but a polite, 
 pleasant-mannered gentleman, and generous to a fault. 
 They made blood brotherhood together, and became fast 
 friends. At length, in the latter part of May, he reached 
 Ujiji, where he formerly found Livingstone. The following 
 extract from a private letter of Stanley's, written to a friend 
 while at Lake Victoria, gives a domestic picture that is 
 quite charming, he says that "Kagehyi is a straggling vil- 
 lage of cane huts, twenty or thirty in number, which are 
 built somewhat in the form of a circle, hedged around by 
 a fence of thorns twisted between upright stakes. Sketch 
 such a village in your imagination, and let the centre of 
 it be dotted here and there with the forms of kidlingg who 
 prank it with the vivacity of kidlings under a hot, glowing 
 sun. Let a couple of warriors and a few round-bellied 
 children be seen among them, and near a tall hut which is 
 a chief's, plant a taller tree, under whose shade sit a few 
 elders in council with their chief; so much for the village.
 
 MY QUARTERS. 481 
 
 Now outside the village, yet touching the fence, begin to 
 draw the form of a square camp, about fifty yards square, 
 each side flanked with low, square huts, under the eaves of 
 which, plant as many figures of men as you please, for we 
 have many, and you have the camp of the exploring ex- 
 pedition, commanded by your friend and humble servant. 
 From the centre of the camp you may see Lake Victoria, 
 or that portion of it I have called Speke Gulf, and 
 twenty-five miles distant you may see table-topped Magita, 
 the large island of Ukerewe, and toward the north-west a 
 clear horizon, with nothing between water and sky to mar 
 its level. The surface of the lake which approaches to 
 within a few yards of the camp is much ruffled just at 
 present with a north-west breeze, and though the sun is 
 glowing hot, under the shade it is agreeable enough, so that 
 nobody perspires or is troubled with the heat. You must 
 understand there is a vast difference between New York and 
 Central African heat. Yours is a sweltering heat, begetting 
 languor and thirst ours is a dry heat, permitting activity 
 and action without thirst or perspiration. If we exposed 
 ourselves to the sun, we should feel quite as though we 
 were being baked. Come with me to my lodgings, now. 
 I lodge in a hut little inferior in size to the chief's. In it 
 is stored the luggage of the expedition, which fills one-half. 
 It is about six tons in weight, and consists of cloth, beads, 
 wire, shells, ammunition, powder, barrels, portmanteaus, 
 iron trunks, photographic apparatus, scientific instruments, 
 pontoons, sections of boat, etc., etc. The other half of the 
 hut is my sleeping, dining and hall-room. It is dark 
 as pitch within, for light cannot penetrate the mud 
 with which the wood-work is liberally daubed. The floor 
 is of dried mud, thickly covered with dust, which breeds 
 fleas and other vermin to be a plague to me and my poor 
 dogs.
 
 482 CURRENCY OF AFRICA. 
 
 " I have four youthful Mercuries, of ebon color, attend- 
 ing me, who, on the march, carry my personal weapons of 
 defense. I do not need so many persons to wait on me, 
 but such is their pleasure. They find their reward in the 
 liberal leavings of the table. If I have a goat killed for 
 European men, half of it suffices for two days for us. 
 "When it becomes slightly tainted, my Mercuries will beg 
 for it, and devour it at a single sitting. Just outside of the 
 door of my hut are about two dozen of my men sitting, 
 squatted in a circle and stringing 'beads. A necklace of 
 beads is each man's daily sum wherewith to buy food. I 
 have now a little over one hundred and sixty men. 
 Imagine one hundred and sixty necklaces given each day 
 for the last three months in the aggregate the sum 
 amounts to fourteen thousand necklaces in a year to 
 fifty-eight thousand four hundred. A necklace of ordinary 
 beads is cheap enough in the States, but the expense of 
 carriage makes a necklace here equal to about twenty-five 
 cents in value. For a necklace I can buy a chicken, or a 
 peck of sweet potatoes, or half a peck of grain. 
 
 "I left the coast with about forty thousand yards of 
 cloth, which, in the States, would be worth about twelve and 
 a half cents a yard, or altogether about five thousand dol- 
 lars the expense of portage, as far as this lake, makes each 
 yard worth about fifty cents. Two yards of cloth will pur- 
 chase a goat or sheep ; thirty will purchase an ox ; fifteen 
 yards are enough to purchase rations for the entire caravan." 
 
 Why these naked savages put such a high value on 
 cloth, none of these African explorers inform us. We can 
 understand why they should like beads, brass wire, shells 
 and trinkets of all sorts. They certainly use very little 
 cloth on their persons. 
 
 He adds : " These are a few of the particulars of our 
 domestic affairs. The expedition is divided into eight
 
 COMPELLED TO KILL. 483 
 
 squads, of twenty men each, with an experienced man over 
 each squad. They are all armed with Snider's percussion- 
 lock muskets. A dozen or so of the most faithful have a 
 brace of revolvers in addition to their other arms." 
 
 He then goes on to speak of the battles he has fought, 
 and it is but just to him to give his feelings as he describes 
 them in confidential private correspondence, on being com- 
 pelled to kill the savages. He says : "As God is my judge, 
 I would prefer paying tribute, and making these savages 
 friends rather than enemies. But some of these people are 
 cursed with such delirious ferocity that we are compelled 
 to defend ourselves. They attack in such numbers and so 
 sudden, that our repeating rifles and Sniders have to be 
 handled with such nervous rapidity as will force them back 
 before we are forced to death ; for if we allow them to come 
 within forty yards, their spears are as fatal as bullets ; their 
 spears make fearful wounds, while their contemptible- 
 looking arrows are as deadly weapons. * * * Since I 
 left Zanzibar, I have traveled seven hundred and twenty 
 miles by land and a thousand miles by water. This is a 
 good six months' work."
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 BACK TO UJIJI PLEASANT ASSOCIATIONS THE MYSTERY OF TANGANIKA NO OUTLET CAME- 
 RON'S EXPEDITION THINKS HE DISCOVERS THE OUTLET DOUBTS OF STANLEY THE LAKE 
 CONSTANTLY RISING STANLEY STARTS TO EXAMINE FOR HIMSELF BAGS TWO ZEBRAS A 
 WHOLE VILLAGE MASSACRED REACHES CAMERON'S OUTLET EXPLORES IT THOROUGHLY 
 DECLARES CAMERON TO BE MISTAKEN THE FUTURE OUTLET LIVINGSTONE'S INFLUENCE THE 
 SMALL-POX IN CAMP DESERTION OF HIS MEN PROMPT MEASURES CROSSES THE TANGANIKA 
 MORE DESERTIONS PEOPLE OF MANYEMA SINGULAR CUSTOM. 
 
 IT was with strange feelings that Stanley caught from 
 the last ridge the sparkling waters of Tanganika. 
 Sweet associations were awakened at the sight, as he 
 remembered with what a thrilling heart he first saw it 
 gleam in the landscape. Then it was the end of a long, 
 wasting and perilous journey the goal of his ambition, 
 the realization of his fondest hopes ; for on its shores he 
 believed the object for which he had toiled so long was 
 resting. No welcomer sight ever dawned on mortal eye 
 than its waters as they spread away on the horizon ; and 
 though he should see it a hundred times, it will never 
 appear to him like any other sheet of water. He has 
 formed for it an attachment that will last forever; and 
 whenever in imagination it rises before him, it will appear 
 like the face of a friend. 
 
 As he now descended to Ujiji, it was with sensations as 
 though he were once more entering civilized life, for there 
 was something almost homelike about this Arab colony. 
 People dressed in civilized garments were moving about 
 the streets, cattle were coming down to the lake to drink, 
 and domestic animals scattered here and there made quite 
 a domestic scene. 
 
 484
 
 THE MYSTERY OF LAKE TANGANIKA. 485 
 
 At first sight, it seems strange that Stanley should have 
 selected this lake as the next scene of his explorations. 
 He had already, with Livingstone, explored thoroughly 
 the upper half of it, and passed part way down the wes- 
 tern side ; Livingstone had been at the foot of it, and to 
 crown all, he had heard, before leaving Zanzibar, that Came- 
 ron had explored the entire southern portion, so that really 
 there was nothing for him to do, but follow a path which 
 had been already trodden. To employ an expedition fitted 
 out at so great a cost, and spend so much valuable time in 
 going over old ground, seems an utter waste of both time 
 and labor, especially when such vast unexplored fields 
 spread all around him. But there was a mystery about 
 Tanganika, that we suspect Stanley did not believe 
 Cameron had solved, and which he meant to clear up. 
 Here was a lake over three hundred miles long, with per- 
 haps a hundred streams, great and small, running into it, 
 and yet with no outlet, unless Cameron had found it, which 
 he thinks he did. To find this was the chief object of the 
 expedition Stanley and Livingstone made together to the 
 north end of the lake. They had heard that the Rusizi 
 River at that extremity was the outlet, but they found it 
 instead a tributary. In fact, they proved conclusively that 
 there was no outlet at the northern end, and it therefore must 
 be at the southern, and if so, the commencement of a river 
 that would become a mighty stream before it reached the 
 ocean. But no such stream was known to exist. The 
 Caspian Sea has large and rapid rivers flowing into it, but 
 no outlet, yet it never fills up. Evaporation, it is supposed, 
 accounts for this. But the Caspian is salt, while the Tan- 
 ganika is fresh water, and such a large body of fresh water 
 as this was never known to exist without an outlet, and if 
 it could be that evaporation was so great as to equal all the 
 water that runs into it, it would not remain so fresh as it is.
 
 486 LUKUGA CKEEK. 
 
 We said, when sketching the route of Cameron, that we 
 omitted his explorations on this lake because it would be 
 better to take them with Stanley's, as the main object of 
 both was the same. We will first let Cameron state his 
 own case. He started with two canoes and thirty-seven 
 men, and sailed down the eastern shore of the lake, now 
 ravished with the surpassing beauty of the scene composed 
 of lake and sky, and smiling shores, and again awed by 
 beetling cliffs one evening camping on the green banks 
 and watching the sun go down behind the purple peaks, 
 and another drenched with rain, and startled by the vivid 
 lightning and awful thunder crashes of a tropical storm, 
 yet meeting with no incident of any peculiar interest to 
 the reader. The natives were friendly, and he describes 
 the different villages and customs of the people and their 
 superstitions, which do not vary materially from other 
 native tribes. At last, on the 3d of May, entered the 
 Lukuga Creek, which a chief told him was the outlet of 
 the lake. He says that the entrance was more than a 
 mile wide, "but closed up by a grass sand-bank, with 
 the exception of a channel three or four hundred 
 yards wide. Across this there is a rill where the surf 
 breaks heavily, although there was more than a fathom of 
 water at its most shallow part." The next day he went 
 down it four or five miles, until navigation was rendered 
 impossible, owing to the masses of floating vegetation. 
 Here the depth was eighteen feet, and breadth six hundred 
 yards, and the current a knot and a half an hour. The 
 chief who accompanied him said that it emptied into the 
 Lualada. He tried in vain to hire men to cut a passage 
 through the vegetation that he might explore the river. 
 This was all the knowledge he obtained by actual observa- 
 tion, the rest of his information being obtained from the 
 natives.
 
 A VILLAGE MASSACRED. 487 
 
 Now, we must say, that this is a sorry exhibit for the 
 outlet to a lake almost twice as long as Lake Ontario. 
 That such an immense body of water should trickle away 
 at this rate seems very extraordinary. Stanley at Ujiji 
 started on foot inquiries respecting this stream, and found 
 Cameron's guide, who stoutly denied that the river flowed 
 south from the lake. Another veteran guide corroborated 
 this statement, while many others declared that before 
 Cameron came, they had never heard of an outflowing 
 river. 
 
 These contradictory statements, together with the uni- 
 versal testimony that the lake was continually rising, the 
 truth of which he could not doubt, as he saw palm-trees 
 standing in the market-place when he was there in 1871, 
 now one hundred feet out in the lake made him resolve 
 to explore this stream himself. He started on the llth 
 of June, and three days after landed to take a hunt, and 
 soon came upon a herd of zebras, two of which he bagged, 
 and thus secured a supply of meat. 
 
 On the 19th, on approaching a large village, they were 
 astonished to see no people on the shore. Landing, they 
 were still more astonished at the death-like silence that 
 reigned around, and advancing cautiously came upon corpses 
 of men and women transfixed with spears or with their 
 heads cut off. Entering into the village they found that 
 there had been a wholesale massacre. A descent had been 
 made upon the place, but by whom no one was left to tell, 
 and its entire population put to death. 
 
 As Stanley proceeded, he found other evidences of the 
 steady rise of the lake. He continued on his course, find- 
 ing the same varied scenery that Cameron did, with 
 nothing of peculiar interest occurring, except to the travel- 
 ers themselves, and at length came to the Lukuga Creek. 
 He found various traditions and accounts here one native
 
 488 THEORY OF THE MYSTERY. 
 
 said the water flowed both ways. The spot on which 
 Cameron encamped, some two years before, was covered 
 with water, another evidence that the lake was rising. He 
 very sensibly says that the "rill," which Cameron states 
 runs directly across the channel, is conclusive evidence 
 that the Lukuga runs into, instead of out of the lake, for it 
 must be formed by the meeting of the inflowing current 
 and the waves. An outpouring stream driven onward by 
 waves would make a deep channel, not a dam of sand. 
 He tried several experiments, by which he proved, to his 
 entire satisfaction, that the stream flowed in the lake 
 instead of being its outlet. Having settled this question 
 he set about finding the other river, which the natives 
 declared flowed out or westward. After traveling some 
 distance inland he did find a place were the water flowed 
 west; it was, however, a mere trickling stream. His ac- 
 count of all his explorations here, and the traditions of the 
 natives and description of the formation of the country and 
 probable geological changes is quite lengthy, but posseses 
 but little interest to the general reader. 
 
 The result of it all, however, is, he believes, that the 
 Lukuga was formerly a tributary of the lake, the bed of 
 which at some former time was lifted up to a higher level, 
 that the whole stretch of land here has been sunk lower by 
 some convulsion of nature, taking the Lukuga with it, and 
 thus making a sort of dam of the land at the foot, which 
 accounts for the steady rise of the river year by year ; and 
 that in three years the lake will rise above it, and, gather- 
 ing force, will tear like a resistless torrent through all this 
 mud and vegetation, and, roaring on as the Nile does where 
 it leaves the Victoria Nyanza, sweep through the country 
 till it pours its accumulated waters into the Lualaba, and 
 thus swell the Congo into a still larger Amazon of Africa. 
 This seems to be the only plausible solution of the mystery
 
 INFLUENCE OF LIVINGSTONE. 489 
 
 attached to Tanganika. The only objection to it is, no 
 such convulsion or change of the bed of the Tanganika 
 seems to have occurred during this generation, and what 
 has become then, for at least seventy years, of all the waters 
 these hundred rivers have been pouring into the lake? 
 We should like the estimate of some engineer of how many 
 feet that lake would rise in fifty years, with all its tribu- 
 taries pouring incessantly such a flood of water into it. 
 We are afraid the figures would hardly harmonize with 
 this slow rise of the lake. It may be that there is a 
 gradual filtering of the water through the ooze at the foot, 
 which will account for the slow filling up of the great 
 basin a leakage that arrests the process of accumulation. 
 But if Stanley's explorations and statements can be relied 
 upon, the mystery will soon solve itself and men will not 
 have to hunt for an outlet long. He makes its length three 
 hundred and twenty-nine geographical miles, and its ave- 
 rage breadth twenty-eight miles. 
 
 The wonderful influence of Livingstone over all African 
 explorers, is nowhere more visible than here at Ujiji, on 
 both Cameron and Stanley. Both had set out with one 
 object to try to complete the work that the great and good 
 man's death had left unfinished. His feet had pressed the 
 shores of almost every lake either had seen, as well as 
 those of others which they had not seen. The man had 
 seemed to be drawn on westward until he reached Nyangwe, 
 where dimly arose before him the Atlantic Ocean into 
 which the waters flowing past his camp might enter, and 
 did enter if they were not the Nile. Discouraged, de- 
 serted and driven back, he could not embark on the 
 Lualaba and float downward with its current, till he un- 
 veiled the mystery that wrapped it. Cameron became 
 filled with the same desire, but disappointed, though not 
 driven back, he had pressed on to the ocean, into which
 
 490 SMALL-POX BREAKS OUT. 
 
 lie had no doubt the river emptied, but by another route. 
 And now last comes Stanley, and instead of finishing 
 Livingstone's work around the lakes, he, too, is drawn 
 forward to the same point. It seemed to be the stopping- 
 place, looking-off-place of explorations in Africa; and 
 although he knew that Cameron had not returned like 
 Livingstone, and hence might have discovered all that was 
 to be discovered and make his further explorations in that 
 direction useless, still he felt he must go on and find out 
 for himself. True, there was an interesting district between 
 Ujiji and the Lualaba. 
 
 There was the beautiful Manyema region, about which 
 Livingstone had talked to him enthusiastically, with its new 
 style of architecture, and beautiful women and simple- 
 minded people. But those did not form the attraction. 
 He must stand on the spot where Livingstone stood, and 
 look off with his yearning desire and see if he could not 
 do what this good man was willing to risk all to accom- 
 plish. 
 
 At all events, he must move somewhere at once, and 
 westward seemed the most natural direction to take, for if 
 he stayed in Ujiji much longer the expedition would break 
 up. He found on his return that the small-pox had broken 
 out in camp, filling the Arabs with dismay. He had taken 
 precaution, on starting, to vaccinate, as he supposed, every 
 member of his party, and hence felt safe from this scourge 
 of Africa. He did not lose a single man with it on his 
 long journey from the sea to the Victoria Nyanza. But 
 here it had broken out in Ujiji with such fury that a pall 
 was spread over the place and had invaded his camp, so 
 that in a few days eight of his men died. 
 
 This created a panic, and they began to desert in such 
 numbers that he would soon be left alone. Thirty-eight 
 were missing, which made quite a perceptible loss in a
 
 DESERTION BECOMES CONTAGIOUS. 491 
 
 force of only one hundred and seventy men. The chiefs 
 of the expedition were thoroughly frightened, but told 
 him that the desertions would increase if he moved west- 
 ward, for the men were as much afraid of the cannibals 
 there as of the small-pox in their midst. They were told 
 horrible stories of these cannibals till their teeth chattered 
 with fear. Besides there were hobgoblins monsters of 
 every kind in the land beyond the Tanganika. Stanley 
 saw, therefore, that prompt measures must be taken, and he 
 at once clapped thirty-two of the discontented in irons, 
 drove them into canoes and sent them off to Ukurenga. He 
 with the rest followed after by land to Msehazy Creek, 
 where the crossing of the lake was to be effected. Reach- 
 ing the other side he proceeded to Uguha, where, on 
 mustering his force, he found but one hundred and twenty- 
 seven out of one hundred and seventy, showing that one- 
 third had disappeared. Among the last to go, and the 
 last Stanley expected would leave him, was young Kalulu, 
 whom he had taken home to the United States with him on 
 his return from his first expedition. He had him placed in 
 school in England for eighteen months, and he had seemed 
 devoted to Stanley. A gloom hung over the camp, and 
 the desertion was becoming too contagious, and if such men 
 as Kalulu could not be trusted, he knew of no one that 
 could be, and with his usual promptness he determined to 
 stop it. He therefore sent back Pocoke and a faithful 
 chief with a squad of men to capture them. 
 
 Paddling back to Ujiji, they one night came upon six, 
 who, after a stout fight, were secured and brought over 
 to camp. Afterward young Kalulu was found on an island 
 and brought in. This desertion is a chronic disease with the 
 Arabs. Their superstitious fears are easily aroused, and 
 they are easily tempted to break their contract and leave 
 the man to whom they have hired themselves in the lurch.
 
 492 PECULIAR CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 It was a sudden fear that caused the Johanna men to 
 desert Livingstone, and then, to cover up their dastardly 
 conduct, invent a battle, in which they said he was killed. 
 
 Stanley's march to Manyema was noticeable only for 
 the curious customs or habits of the people, and on the 5th. 
 of October he reached the frontier of this wonderful coun- 
 try. Livingstone had halted here several months, and this 
 was an inducement to Stanley to stop for a few days. The 
 weapons of the natives were excellent, and there was one 
 peculiar custom that attracted his particular attention the 
 men wore lumps of various form of mud and patches of 
 mud on their beard, hair and head, while the women wove 
 their hair into head-dresses, resembling bonnets, leaving 
 the back hair to wave in ringlets over their shoulders. 
 He, as well as Cameron, was struck with their villages, 
 which had one or more broad streets running through 
 them, one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet wide, 
 alongside of which are ranged the square huts, with well- 
 beaten, cleanly-kept clay floors, to which they cheerfully 
 invite strangers. 
 
 On the 12th he reached a village on the Luma, which 
 he had been following, where both Livingstone and Came- 
 ron left it and turned directly west, to Nyangwe. He, 
 however, determined to follow it till it reached the Lualaba, 
 and then proceed by this stream to the same place. He 
 found the natives kind but timid, with many curious tradi- 
 tions and customs. The expedition at length reached the 
 Lualaba, moving majestically through the forest and 
 making rapid marches, arrived next day at Tubunda.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 LIVINGSTONE AT NYANGWE REMEMBRANCE OF HIM BY THE NATIVES "THE GOOD MAN" HI3 
 TROUBLES HERE AWAKEN STANLEY'S PITY A MAGNIFICENT COUNTRY GLOWING DESCRIPTION 
 OF IT RUINED BY SLAVERY THE SLAVE TRADE ITS CHARACTER EBONY SKELETONS- 
 HORRIBLE SIGHTS THE TRADERS MODE OF CAPTURE FAITHLESSNESS OF THE PRINCE OF 
 ZANZIBAR EXTRACTS FROM STANLEY'S JOURNAL A DEPOPULATED COUNTRY THE WAY TO 
 STOP THE TRAFFIC. 
 
 IN the article on Cameron we said that Nyangwe was 
 the farthest point west in Africa ever reached by a 
 white man coming in from the east. It is about three 
 hundred and fifty miles from Ujiji, or a little over the dis- 
 tance across New York State, but the journey is not made 
 in one day Stanley was forty days in accomplishing it. 
 Here he found that Livingstone, the first white man ever 
 seen there, must have remained from six to twelve months. 
 The women he speaks of he says must be those of the dis- 
 trict Manyema. He found that Livingstone had made a 
 profound impression on the natives of this region. " Did 
 you know him?" asked an old chief eagerly. Stanley 
 replying in the affirmative, he turned to his sons and 
 brothers and said : " He knew the good white man. Ah, 
 we shall hear all about him." Then turning to Stanley, 
 he said : " Was he not a very good man ?" " Yes," replied 
 the latter, " he was good, my friend ; far better than any 
 white man or Arab you will ever see again." " Ah," said 
 the old negro, "you speak true; he was so gentle and 
 patient, and told us such pleasant stories of the wonderful 
 land of the white people the aged white was a good man 
 
 indeed." 
 
 493
 
 494 REMEMBRANCE OF LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 Every now and then it leaks out what a strong impres- 
 sion Livingstone made on Stanley, and he here says : 
 " What has struck me while tracing Livingstone to his 
 utmost researches this Arab depot of Nyangwe revived 
 all my grief and pity for him, even more so than his 
 own relation of sorrowful and heavy things, is, that he 
 does not seem to be aware that he was sacrificing himself 
 unnecessarily, nor warned of the havoc of age, and that his 
 old power had left him. With the weight of years pressing 
 upon him, the shortest march wearying him, compelling 
 him to halt many days to recover his strength, and fre- 
 quent attacks of illness prostrating him, with neither men 
 nor means to escort him and enable him to make practical 
 progress, Livingstone was at last like a blind and infirm 
 man moving aimlessly about. He was his own worst 
 taskmaster." 
 
 Whether Stanley's views of the mental condition of 
 Livingstone growing out of his sickness and want of 
 money while'in Nyangwe are correct or not, one thing is 
 true : that after the great explorer had apparently reached 
 the very point when the problem was to be solved as to 
 where the mysterious Lualaba flowed, he waited here till 
 he found a caravan going east, and then returned to Ujiji 
 " a sorely tried and disappointed man." Standing on the 
 last point which this intrepid explorer reached, Stanley is 
 reminded of his own earnest efforts to induce him to return 
 home and recruit, to which the invariable answer was: 
 " No, no, no ; to be knighted, as you say, by the queen, 
 welcomed by thousands of admirers, yes but impossible, 
 must not, can not, will not be." 
 
 Stanley, on this outmost verge of exploration, remembers 
 the words of Livingstone when speaking of the beauties of 
 the region lying west of the Goma Mountains, and says, 
 " It is a most remarkable region ; more remarkable than
 
 A RE1IAKKABLE REGION. 495 
 
 anything I have seen in Africa. Its woods, or forest, or 
 jungles, or brush I do not know by what particular term to 
 designate the crowded, tall, straight trees, rising from an 
 impenetrable mass of brush, creepers, thorns, gums, palm, 
 ferns of ail sorts, canes and grass are sublime, even ter- 
 rible. Indeed nature here is remarkably or savagely beau- 
 tiful. From every point the view is enchanting the out- 
 lines eternally varying, yet always beautiful, till the whole 
 panorama seems like a changing vision. Over all, nature," 
 he says, " has flung a robe of varying green, the hills and 
 ridges are blooming, the valleys and basins exhale perfume, 
 the rocks wear garlands of creepers, the stems of the trees 
 are clothed with moss, a thousand streamlets of cold, pure 
 water stray, now languid, now quick toward the north and 
 south and west. The whole makes a pleasing, charming 
 illustration of the bounteousness and wild beauty of tropi- 
 cal nature. But, alas ! all this is seen at a distance ; when 
 you come to travel through this world of beauty, the illu- 
 sion vanishes the green grass becomes as difficult to pene- 
 trate as an undergrowth, and that lovely sweep of shrub- 
 bery a mass of thorns, the gently rolling ridge an inacces- 
 sible crag, and the green mosses and vegetation in the low 
 grounds that look so enchanting, impenetrable forest belts." 
 He once penetrated into one of these great forests and 
 was so overwhelmed by the majesty and solemn stillness 
 of the scene, that he forgot where he was, and his imagina- 
 tion went back to the primeval days when that great, still 
 forest was sown, till the silent trees seemed monuments of 
 past history. But still, this district of Manyema (pro- 
 nounced in various ways), he does not think so interesting 
 as that of Uregga, In speaking of the Lualaba, after 
 describing the various ways in which it is spelled and pro- 
 nounced, he says if he could have it his own way he would 
 call it " Livingstone Eiver, or Livingstone's Lualaba," to
 
 496 THE HORRORS OF THE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 commemorate his discovery of it and his heroic struggles 
 against adversity to explore it. The letter in which he 
 thus speaks of this region is dated November 1st, 1876. 
 In three days he says he is going to explore this mysteri- 
 ous river to the utmost of his power. Two days previous 
 to this letter, he wrote a long one on the horrors of the 
 slave trade that casts a pall as black as midnight over all this 
 tropical beauty. He says, that from Unyanyembe to Ujiji 
 one sees horrors enough, but in this region they are mul- 
 tiplied tenfold. The traffic in slaves is so profitable and 
 keeps up such a brisk trade with Zanzibar and the interior 
 of Africa, that the native chiefs enter into it on the grand- 
 est scale, or rather it is more accurate to say banditti under 
 the leadership of so-called chiefs. 
 
 Raids are made on small independent villages, the adults 
 slain and hung up to terrify other villages into a meek ac- 
 quiesence to their demands, and j\)ung men, young women 
 and children are marched off to Ujiji, from whence they are 
 taken to Zanzibar, becoming, by their cruel treatment on the 
 route, living skeletons, before they reach their destination. 
 Gangs, from one hundred to eight hundred, of naked, half- 
 starved creatures, Stanley met in his travels, and he won- 
 ders that the civilized world will let insignificant Zanzibar 
 become the mart of such an accursed, cruel traffic. 
 
 There are regular hunting-grounds for slaves. When 
 the business is dull, the inhabitants are left to grow and 
 thrive, just like game out of season in a gentleman's park ; 
 but when the business begins to look up, the hunt begins 
 and the smiling villages become arid wastes. The country, 
 long before he reached Nyangwe, was a wilderness, where 
 a few years before dwelt a happy population. Stanley 
 gives extracts from his diary, showing up the horrors of 
 this system, that makes the heart sicken as it thinks of 
 what is daily transpiring in the heart of this unknown land.
 
 THE WAY TO STOP IT. 497 
 
 Livingstone saw enough when he was here to awaken 
 his deepest indignation, but since that time the Arabs have 
 pushed farther inland, and swept, with the besom of 
 destruction, districts that, in his tune, had been but 
 slightly touched. 
 
 The trade in ivory is but another name for trade in 
 human beings, and the only real commerce this vast, fruit- 
 ful region has with Zanzibar is through its captured in- 
 habitants, while the slain equal the number of those sent 
 into captivity. But, while Mr. Stanley feels keenly the 
 disgrace to humanity of this accursed traffic, he evidently 
 does not see so clearly the way to put a stop to it. Op- 
 posed to filibustering of all kinds and the interference of 
 strong powers to coerce weak ones, on the ground of 
 humanity or Christianity, because it opens the door too 
 wide to every kind of aggression ; in fact, makes it only 
 necessary to use some philanthropic catch-word to make the 
 annexation of any feeble territory right ; yet he evidently 
 thinks there is some limit to the Monroe doctrine of non- 
 interference in the affairs of other nations, by the following 
 extract from one of his letters, in which, after discussing 
 the whole matter carefully, he says he writes it " hoping 
 he may cause many to reflect upon the fact that there 
 exists one little State on this globe, which is about equal 
 in extent to one English county, with the sole privilege of 
 enriching itself by wholesale murder, and piracy and com- 
 merce in human beings, and that a traffic forbidden in all 
 other nations should be permitted, furtively monopolized 
 by the little island of Zanzibar, and by such insignificant 
 people as the subjects of Prince Burghosh." Mr. Stanley 
 is entirely opposed to filibustering and encroachments of 
 strong powers on feeble ones, under the thousand and one 
 false pretences advanced in support of unrighteous con- 
 quests, yet he evidently thinks little Zanzibar should be
 
 408 SCEXES IX THE SLAVE-MAKKET. 
 
 wiped out, or cease to be the source and centre of this cruel 
 traffic in human beings. One has to travel, he says, in the 
 heart of Africa to see all the horrors of this traffic. 
 
 The buying and selling of a few slaves on the coast gives 
 no idea of its horrors. At Unyambembe, sometimes a sad 
 sight is seen. At Uganda the trade begins to assume a 
 wholesale character, yet it wears here a rather business as- 
 pect ; the slaves by this time become hardened to suffering, 
 " they have no more tears to shed," the chords of sympathy 
 have been severed and they seem stolid and indifferent. At 
 Ujiji, one sees a regular slave-market established. There 
 are " slave-folds and pens," like the stock-yards of railroads 
 for cattle, into which the naked wretches are driven by 
 hundreds, to wallow on the ground and half-starved on food 
 not fit for hogs. By the time they reach here they are 
 mere "ebony skeletons," attenuated, haggard, gaunt human 
 frames. Their very voices have sunk to a mere hoarse 
 whisper, which comes with an unearthly sound from, out 
 their parched, withered lips. Low moans, like those that 
 escape from the dying, fill the air, and they reel and stag- 
 ger when they attempt to stand upright, so wasted are they 
 by the havoc of hunger. They look like a vast herd of 
 black skeletons, and as one looks at them in their horrible 
 sufferings he cannot but exclaim, " how can an all-merciful 
 Father permit such things ?" No matter whether on the 
 slow and famishing march or crowded like starved pigs in the 
 overloaded canoes, it is the same unvarying scene of hun- 
 ger and horror, on which the cruel slave-trader looks with- 
 out remorse or pity. It may be asked how are these slaves 
 obtained. The answer is, by a systematic war waged in 
 the populous country of Marungu by banditti, supported 
 by Arabs. These pay guns and powder for the slaves the 
 former capture, which enables them to keep up the war. 
 These Arabs, who sell the slaves on the coast, furnish the
 
 HOW SLAVES ARE OBTAINED. 499 
 
 only market for the native banditti of the interior. These 
 latter are mostly natives of Unyamwege who band together 
 to capture all the inhabitants of villages too weak to resist 
 them. Marungu is the great productive field of their sa- 
 tanic labors. Here almost every small village is independ- 
 ent, recognizing no ruler but its own petty chief. These 
 are often at variance with each other, and instead of band- 
 ing together to resist a common foe, look on quietly while 
 one after another is swept by the raiders. In crossing a 
 river, Stanley met two hundred of these wretches chained 
 together, and, on inquiry, found they belonged to the gov- 
 ernor of Unyambembe, a former chaperon of Speke and 
 Burton, and had been captured by an officer of the prince 
 of Zanzibar. This prince had made a treaty with Eng- 
 land to put a stop to this horrible traffic, and yet here was 
 one of his officers engaged in it, taking his captives to 
 Zanzibar, and this was his third batch during the year. 
 
 There are two or three entries in Stanley's journal which 
 throw much light on the way this hunt for slaves is carried 
 on. 
 
 "October 17th. Arabs organized to-day from three dis- 
 tricts to avenge the murder and eating of one man and ten 
 women by a tribe half way between Kassessa and Nyangwe. 
 After six days' slaughter, the Arabs returned with three 
 hundred slaves, fifteen hundred goats, besides spears, etc." 
 
 " October 24th. The natives of Kabonga, near Nyangwe, 
 were sorely troubled two or three days ago by a visit paid 
 them by TJanaamwee in the employ of Mohommed el Said. 
 Their insolence was so intolerable that the natives at last 
 said ' we will stand this no longer. They will force our 
 wives and daughters before our eye if we hesitate any 
 longer to kill them, and before the Arabs come we will be 
 off.' Unfortunately, only one was killed, the others took 
 fright and disappeared to arouse the Arabs with a new
 
 500 DEPOPULATING THE COUNTKY. 
 
 grievance. To-day, an Arab chief set out for the scene of 
 action with murderous celerity, and besides capturing ten 
 slaves, killed thirty natives and set fire to eight villages 
 * a small prize/ the Arabs said." 
 
 "October 17th. The same man made an attack on some 
 fishermen on the left bank of the Lualaba. He left at 
 night and returned at noon with fifty or sixty captives, 
 besides some children." 
 
 "Are these kind of wars frequent ?" asked Stanley. 
 
 " Frequent !" was the reply, "sometimes six or ten times 
 a month." 
 
 One of these captives said to Stanley, on the march from 
 Mana to Manibo, "Master, all the plain lying between 
 Mana, Manibo and Nyangwe when I first came here eight 
 years ago, was populated so thickly that we traveled 
 through gardens, villages and fields every quarter of an 
 hour. There were flocks of goats and black pigs around 
 every village. You can see what it now is." He saw that 
 it was an uninhabited wilderness. At that time, Living- 
 stone saw how the country was becoming depopulated 
 before the slave-traders, but says Stanley, "Were it possi- 
 ble for him to rise from the dead and take a glance at the 
 districts now depopulated, it is probable that he would be 
 more than ever filled with sorrow at the misdoings of these 
 traders." 
 
 He thinks there is but one way of putting a perpetual 
 end to this infernal traffic, and that is by stopping it in 
 the interior. English and American cruisers on the coast 
 can have "but partial success. The course of the khedive 
 of Egypt, as described in the article in Baker's expedition, 
 is the true one. Annex the interior of Africa to some 
 strong power and establish stations on the great highways 
 over which these traders are compelled to transport their 
 human chattels, where they will be pounced upon and
 
 DEPOPULATING THE COUNTRY. 501 
 
 made to give up their captives, and the trade will soon 
 cease from its being too hazardous and unprofitable. 
 
 Portugal has no right to the west coast which it claims. 
 Let England, or it and America together, claim and exercise 
 sovereignty over it and it will need no cruisers on the coast 
 to stop the trade in slaves. At any rate, it is high time the 
 Christian nations of the world put a stop to this disgrace 
 to humanity.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 STANLEY MEETS TIPO-TIPO, THE FRIEND OF CAMERON LEARNS ALL ABOUT CAMERON'S MOVE- 
 MENTSSTANLEY WARNED NOT TO GO ON FEARFUL STORIES CONTRACTS WITH TIPO-TIPO TO 
 ESCORT HIM SIXTY CAMPS SELF-RELIANCE OF STANLEY WOMEN AN OBSTACLE IN THE WAY OF 
 ADVANCING NYANGWE ITS MARKET A LIVELY SCENE THE TWO CHIEFS A LARGE HAREM 
 THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS STRENGTH OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 A KKIVING near Nyangwe, one of the first to meet 
 -X him was the Arab, Tipo-tipo, or Tipo-tib, or Tippu- 
 tib (which is the proper spelling, neither Cameron or Stan- 
 ley seems to know), who had conducted Cameron as far as 
 Utotera or the Kasongo country, as described in the ac- 
 count of that traveler's journey. He was a splendid speci- 
 men of a man physically, and just the one to give Stanley 
 all the information he wanted respecting Cameron's move- 
 ments. He told him that the latter wanted to follow the 
 river to the sea, but that his men were unwilling to go ; 
 besides, no canoes could be obtained for the purpose. He 
 also told him that, after staying a long time at Kasongo, 
 he had joined a company of Portuguese traders and pro- 
 ceeded south. 
 
 One thing was clear ; Cameron had not settled the great 
 problem that Livingstone wished of all things to solve 
 this great unfinished work of his had been left for him to 
 complete, or leave it to some future, more daring or more 
 successful explorer. Could he get canoes could he sur- 
 mount difficulties that neither Livingstone nor Cameron 
 were able to overcome ? were the grave questions he asked 
 himself. He had long dialogues with Tipo-tipo and other 
 Arab chiefs, all of whom, dissuaded him from attempting 
 
 502
 
 CHIEF'S HOME AT NYANGWE". 
 
 NYANGWE.
 
 A FASCINATING POSSIBILITY. 505 
 
 to follow the Lualaba by land, or trying to get canoes. 
 They told him frightful stories of the cannibals below of 
 dwarfs striped like zebras and ferocious as demons, with 
 poisoned arrows, living on the backs of elephants, of 
 anacondas, of impenetrable forests in short, conjured up 
 a country and people that no stranger who placed any 
 value on his life would ever encounter. 
 
 From the fact that the Lualaba flowed north to a dis- 
 tance beyond the knowledge of the natives, was doubtless 
 one, and perhaps the chief, reason why Livingstone sus- 
 pected it emptied into the Nile. Stanley now knew better. 
 How far north it might flow before it turned he could not say, 
 yet he felt certain that turn west it would, sooner or later, 
 and empty into the Atlantic Ocean and the possibility of 
 his tracing it, had a powerful fascination for him. Its course, 
 he knew, lay through the largest half of Africa, which was a 
 total blank. Here, by the way, it is rather singular that 
 Stanley, following Livingstone, who alone had explored 
 Lake Benibe, and made it the source of the Lualaba, adopts 
 his statement, while Cameron, on mere hearsay, should 
 assert that its source was in marshes. The river, after 
 leaving the lake, flows two hundred miles and empties into 
 Lake Mweru, a body of water containing about one thou- 
 sand eight hundred square miles ; issuing from which, it 
 takes the name of Lualaba, which it holds and loses by 
 turns as it moves on its mighty course for one thousand 
 one hundred miles, till it rolls, ten miles wide at its mouth, 
 into the broad Atlantic as the Congo. 
 
 Stanley, from first to last, seemed to have a wonderful 
 power not only over the Arabs that composed his expe- 
 dition, as we have before mentioned, but over all those 
 with whom he came in contact in his explorations. Not- 
 withstanding all the horrors depicted as awaiting any 
 attempt to advance beyond Nyangwe, this Tipo-tipo
 
 506 CONTRACT WITH TIPO-TIPO. 
 
 agreed, for $5,000, to accompany him with a strong escort 
 a distance of sixty camps, on certain conditions. That he 
 would do it on any conditions was extraordinary, con- 
 sidering the fact, if it was a fact, that the last attempt to 
 penetrate this hostile territory resulted in the loss of five 
 hundred men. The conditions were, that the march 
 should commence from Nyangwe not occupy more than 
 three months and that if Stanley should finally conclude, 
 at the end of the sixty marches, he could not get through, 
 he would return to Nyangwe ; or if he met Portuguese 
 traders and chose to go on to the coast in the direction 
 they were moving, he should detail two-thirds of his force 
 to accompany said Tipo back to Nyangwe for his pro- 
 tection. 
 
 To all these Stanley agreed, except the one promising, if 
 he concluded to go on at the end of the sixty marches, to 
 give him two-thirds of the men of the expedition to see 
 him safely back. On this article of agreement there was 
 a hitch, and Stanley showed his Yankee education, if not 
 Yankee birth, by putting in a last article, by which if Tipo- 
 tipo, through cowardice, should fail to complete his sixty 
 marches, he should forfeit his $5,000, and have no escort 
 for his return, and then gave him time to think of it while 
 he went to see young Pocoke and confer with him. They 
 went over the whole ground together, and Stanley told him 
 it was a matter of life and death with both of them ; failure 
 was certain, and perhaps a horrible, death; success was 
 honor and glory. It was a fearful picture he drew of the 
 possible future, but Frank's ready response was, "go on." 
 
 At this point Stanley reveals one of his strongest char- 
 acteristics, which we mentioned in the sketch of him at 
 the beginning of the book the Napoleonic quality of re- 
 lying on himself. Ordinary well-established principles and 
 rules often condemned the action of Bonaparte results ap-
 
 OBSTACLES TO BE OVERCOME. 507 
 
 proved them. So ordinary prudence would have turned 
 Stanley back as it did Cameron the stories told him of 
 the character of the tribes in advance the obstacles he 
 would have to encounter, all the mystery, perils and un- 
 certainty of tlie future-^-the universal warning and fearful 
 prognostications of those who were supposed to know best 
 his isolated condition in the heart of Africa, every- 
 thing that can surround a man to influence him in his ac- 
 tions, were gathered there around that lonely man at that 
 outpost of civilized enterprise; yet, falling back on himself, 
 rising superior to all outward influences, gauging all the 
 probabilities and possibilities by his own clear perceptions 
 and indomitable will, he determined to push forward. 
 If he could not get canoes, which he was quite sure he could 
 not any more than Cameron, then he would try to follow 
 the river by land; if that failed, he would make canoes in 
 the African forest ; if he could not go peaceably, he would 
 fight his way, and not turn back till deserted by his own 
 men, and was left alone in the midst of a savage, hostile 
 people. This determination, under the circumstances, show 
 him to be a character of no ordinary stamp, and mark him, 
 as we said, as one who, in a revolution, would control the 
 stormy elements around him, and mount to power or to 
 the scaffold. 
 
 There were also minor obstacles attending this desperate 
 effort to trace the Lualaba to the sea. He had thirteen 
 women in his expedition, wives of his chief Arabs, some 
 of them with young children, others in various stages of 
 pregnancy, who would be delivered of children before they 
 reached the Atlantic coast, and under what circumstances 
 the hour of travail might come, no one knew. It might 
 be in the hour of battle, or in the desperate race for life, 
 when one hour's delay would be total ruin to the expedition, 
 and death to all. It might be in the struggle and fight
 
 508 AN AFRICAN MARKET. 
 
 around a cataract, or in the day of extreme famine. A 
 thousand things had to be taken into consideration before 
 resolving on this desperate movement. But no matter, the 
 obstacles might even be more formidable than represented, 
 the risk tenfold greater, his mind was made up the secrets 
 of that mysterious river lie would unlock, or his last strug- 
 gles and mysterious fate add one more to the secrets it 
 held. 
 
 At length the contract with Tipo-tipo to escort him 
 sixty marches was made and signed, and then Stanley 
 informed his own men of it, and told them that if at the 
 end of that time they came across a caravan bound for the 
 west coast, part would join it, and the rest might, if they 
 wished, return to Nyangwe. They agreed to stand by the 
 contract, and Stanley moved forward into Nyangwe, and 
 was received by one of the two Arab chiefs, that bear 
 sway in the place, with becoming courtesy, who seemed 
 surprised at the orderly, quiet march of his force, and still 
 more when told that the distance from Tanganika, some 
 three hundred and forty miles, had been made in about 
 forty days. 
 
 Stanley describes minutely the place and its political 
 management, but seems, like Livingstone and Cameron, to 
 be particulary struck with its market. This is held every 
 fourth day, and from one to three thousand people 
 assemble to trade; most of the vendors are women, and 
 the animated manner in which trade is carried on amused 
 Livingstone exceedingly. Though he could not under- 
 stand their language, he could their gestures, which were 
 quite as expressive. This pleasant scene, however, was 
 marred one day by a messenger stalking into the market 
 with ten jaw-bones of men tied to a string and hanging over 
 his shoulder, which he boasted of having killed and eaten, 
 and described with his knife how he had cut them up.
 
 A PERFECT BABEL. 509 
 
 Early in the morning of the market-day the river, as 
 far as its course can be seen, presents a lively appearance, 
 for it is covered with canoes, loaded to their gunwales with 
 natives and articles for the market piled on top of each 
 other, as they all press toward one point. Amid the 
 laughter and jargon of the natives, may be heard the 
 crowing of cocks, and squealing of pigs, and bleating of 
 goats. Having reached the landing-place the men quietly 
 shoulder their paddles and walk up the bank, leaving the 
 women to carry the articles up to the market-place. 
 These are placed in a large basket and slung on their 
 backs by a strap across their forehead. When this great 
 crowd of two or three thousand are assembled the babel 
 begins. But the talking and chaffering are done by the 
 women ; the men move about paying but little attention to 
 the bartering, unless something important, as the sale of a 
 slave, is going on. The women do not walk about, but 
 having selected a spot where they propose to do business, 
 they let down the basket, and spreading the articles on the 
 ground so as to appear to the best advantage, they squat 
 themselves in the basket, where they look like some huge 
 shell fish. 
 
 The vendors being thus stationary, the buyers also 
 become so, and hence it is always a close, jammed mass of 
 human beings, screaming, sweating and sending forth no 
 pleasant odor for three or four hours. They do not break 
 up gradually, but on the movement of some person a 
 general scramble will commence, and in twenty minutes 
 the whole two thousand or more be scattered in every 
 direction. The markets of this region are held on neutral 
 ground by the various tribes, and their feuds are laid aside 
 for that day. Except at Nyangwe, uninhabited spots are 
 selected. The neighboring chiefs are always present, and 
 can be seen lounging lazily about. Stanley counted fifty-
 
 510 KIVAL CHIEFS. 
 
 seven different articles for sale, ranging from sweet potatoes 
 to beautiful girls, while the currency was shells, beads, 
 copper and brass wire and palm cloth. 
 
 There are two foreign chiefs at the place, who are very 
 jealous of each other, as they each wish to be regarded by 
 the natives as the most powerful. Sheikh Abed, a tall, 
 thin old man with a white beard, occupies the southern 
 section of the town, and Muini Dugumbi the other. .It 
 has not been long an Arab trading post, for Dugumbi is 
 the first Arab that came here, and that was no later than 
 1868, and pitched his quarters, and now the huts of his 
 friends, with their families and slaves, number some three 
 hundred. He is an Arab trader from the east coast, and soon 
 after his arrival established a harem, composed of more than 
 three hundred slave women. Though a rollicking, joking 
 man himself, his followers are a reckless, freebooting set. 
 The original inhabitants of Nyangwe were driven out by 
 Muini Dugumbi, and now occupy portions of both sides of 
 the river, and live by fishing, and are said to be a singular 
 tribe. Stanley estimated there must have been forty-two 
 thousand of them in the region previous to the coming of 
 this Arab chief, who spread desolation on every side, of 
 which there remain to-day only twenty thousand. 
 
 Stanley remained here only about a week, for Tipo-tipo 
 arriving on the 2d of November, he prepared to start on 
 his unknown journey. The expedition, when he mustered 
 it on the morning of the 4th, numbered one hundred and 
 seventy-six, armed with sixty-three muskets and rifles, two 
 double-barreled guns and ten revolvers. Besides these, 
 there were sixty-eight axes, that Stanley, with great fore- 
 thought, purchased, thinking the time might come when he 
 would need them as much as his guns. Tipo-tipo brought 
 with him seven hundred followers, though only four hun- 
 dred were to accompany the expedition the sixty marches.
 
 AN IMPOSING DISPLAY. 511 
 
 Together, they made quite a little army, but many of them 
 were women and children, who always accompany the 
 Arabs in their marches or forays ; still, the force, all drawn 
 up, presented an imposing display. A hundred of these 
 were armed with flint-lock muskets, the rest with spears 
 and shields.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 THE GREAT MARCH BEGINS GLOOMY PROSPECTS MARCH THROUGH A DENSE FOREST AXES VSED 
 TO CLEAR THE WAY A VILLAGE IN THE FOREST SUPERIORITY OF THE INHABITANTS THE 
 MEN DISHEARTENED SLOW MARCHING DISCONTENT DIFFICULTIES INCREASE TIPO-TIPO 
 WISHES TO BE RELEASED EROM HIS ENGAGEMENT PEOPLE THAT SMELT IRON-ORE A ROW OF 
 SKULLS AS AN ORNAMENT FOR THE VILLAGE HUNTING SOKOS THE CANNIBALS NAKED 
 WOMEN THE LUALABA REACHED NOT TO BE LEFT AGAIN THE NATIVES CROSSING THE 
 RIVER. 
 
 ON the 5th of November, Stanley, at the head of this 
 motley array, turned his back on Nyangwe and his face 
 to the wilderness. It was an eventful morning for him. 
 Eighteen hundred miles of an unknown country stretched 
 before him, wrapped in profound mystery, and peopled with 
 races of which the outside world had never heard, and filled 
 with dangers that would appall the bravest heart. He felt, 
 as he turned and gave a last look at Nyangwe, that the die 
 was cast his fate for good or ill sealed. What sad mis- 
 givings must at times have made a feeling of faintness 
 creep over his heart what terrible responsibilities crowded 
 upon him ; aye, what gloomy forebodings, in spite of his 
 courage, would weigh down his spirit. If he had canoes, 
 the starting would have been more cheerful, but the dense 
 and tangled forest, whose dark line could be traced against 
 the sky, wore a forbidding aspect. They inarched but 
 nine miles the first day, and though the country was open, 
 the manner in which the men bore it, did not promise well 
 for their endurance when they should enter the jungle. 
 Every pound was carried on men's shoulders, besides their 
 weapons, all the provisions, stores of cloth, and beads, 
 and wire, the arms and ammunition, of which there had to 
 
 512
 
 A GLOOMY OUTLOOK. 513 
 
 4 
 
 be a large quantity, (for they might be two years fighting 
 their way across the continent,) and the boat in sections. 
 The next morning, Tipo-tipo's hetrogeneous crowd started 
 first, which impeded the march by its frequent halts, for 
 the women and children had to be cared for. They soon 
 entered the gloomy forest of Mitamba, when the marching 
 became more difficult, and the halts more frequent, while 
 the dew fell from the trees in great rain-drops, wetting the 
 narrow path they were following, till it became a thick 
 mud. The heavy foliage shut out the sky, and the disor- 
 dered caravan marched on in gloomy twilight, and at last, 
 drenched to the skin, reached a village four miles from 
 camp, and waited for the carriers of the boat to arrive. 
 These found the boat a heavy burden, for the foliage grew 
 so thick and low over the path, that the sections had to be 
 pushed by sheer force through it. To make the camp this 
 night more gloomy, one of the Arab chiefs who had been 
 in the forest before, said, with great complacency, that what 
 they had endured was nothing to that which was before 
 them. The next day the path was so overgrown and ob- 
 structed by fallen trees, that axemen had to go before the 
 carriers of the boat to clear the way for them. On the 
 10th, having reached Uregga, a village in the very heart 
 of the forest, they halted for a rest. The isolated inhab- 
 itants seemed to be in advance of those whom Stanley had 
 seen. The houses were built in blocks, and were square 
 like those of Manyema, and contained various fancy arti- 
 cles, some of them displaying a great taste, and he saw 
 curiously carved bits of wood, and handsome spoons, and 
 for the first time in Africa, beheld a cane settee. 
 
 The men carrying the boat did not come up for two 
 days, and then quite broken and disheartened. Indeed, 
 here almost at the very outset, everything seemed to point 
 to an early dissolution of the expedition. Not only were
 
 514 DANGEKS AND DISCONTENT. 
 
 his men discontented, but Tipo-tipo, with all his elegance 
 of manner and pompous pretence, began to glower and 
 grumble, not merely at the hardships his people were com- 
 pelled to encounter, but because sickness had broke out in 
 his camp. 
 
 On the 13th, the three hundred out of the seven hundred 
 of his men branched off on their expedition. The march- 
 ing now became not only monotonous but extremely pain- 
 ful, and so slow that it took a whole day's march to make 
 a distance of nine miles a rate of progress that Stanley 
 saw very clearly would never bring him to the Atlantic 
 Ocean. They had now been seven days on the march and 
 had made but about forty miles, and scarcely one mile west. 
 Thus far their course had been almost due north toward 
 the great desert of Sahara, and not toward the Atlantic 
 Ocean. These five days had been utterly thrown away as 
 far as progress in the right direction was concerned ; not 
 an inch had been gained, and the whole expedition was 
 discouraged. The carriers of the boat begged Stanley to 
 throw it away or go back to Nyangwe, while the Arab 
 chiefs made no attempt to conceal their discontent, but 
 openly gave vent to their disinclination to proceed any 
 farther. Even the splendid barbarian dandy, Tipo-tipo, 
 who prided himself on his superiority to all other Arabs, 
 began to look moody ; while the increasing sickness in the 
 camp cast additional gloom over it. Huge serpents crossed 
 their path, while all sorts of wild beasts and vermin peopled 
 the dense forest and swarmed around them. 
 
 On the 15th, they made but six miles and a half and 
 yet, short as was the distance, it took the men carrying the 
 boat twenty-four hours to make it, and all were so weary 
 that a halt of an entire day was ordered, to let them rest. 
 Added to all this, the forest became ten times more matted 
 than before. Both the heavier timber and the undergrowth
 
 STANLEY DETERMINED. 515 
 
 grew thicker and thicker, shutting out not only the light 
 of the sun, but every particle of moving air, so that the 
 atmosphere became suffocating and stifling. Panting for 
 breath, the little army crawled and wormed itself through 
 the interlacing branches, and when night came down were 
 utterly disheartened. Even the elegant Tipo-tipo now 
 gave out, and came to Stanley to be released from his 
 engagement. It was in vain that the latter appealed to 
 his honor, his pride and fear of ridicule should he now 
 turn back to Nyangwe. But to everything he could urge, 
 the very sensible answer was returned : " If there is nothing 
 worse than this before us, it will yet take us, at the rate we 
 are going, a year to make the sixty marches and as long a 
 time to return. You are only killing everybody by your 
 obstinacy ; such a country was never made for decent men 
 to travel in, it was made for pagans and monkeys." 
 
 It is in such circumstances like these that those quali- 
 ties which have made Stanley the most successful explorer 
 of modern times, exhibit themselves. Napoleon said, 
 when speaking of troops, " Even brave soldiers have 
 their 'moment de peur," the time when he shrinks. 
 But this man seems an exception to this rule. To him 
 the moment of fear never seems to come, for he never 
 feels the contagion of example. He adheres to his 
 resolution to go on if but a handful will stand by him. 
 He seems imperious to the contagion that seizes others, and 
 a panic in battle would sweep by him unmoved. After 
 talking to Tipo-tipo for two hours, he finally got him to 
 agree to accompany him twenty marches farther. 
 
 There were two things in this village, shut up in the 
 heart of the forest, that impressed Stanley much. He 
 found here a primitive forge, in which the natives smelted 
 iron-ore, found in the neighborhood, and a smithy, in 
 which the iron was worked up into instruments of all
 
 516 SOKO SKULLS. 
 
 kinds, from a small knife to a cleaver ; hatchets, hammers, 
 even wire and ornaments for the arms and legs were made. 
 How this rude people, to whom even an Arab trader had 
 never come, should have discovered the properties of iron- 
 ore, how to disengage the iron and then work it into every 
 variety of instruments, seems inexplicable. The whole 
 must have been the product of the brain of some native 
 genius. 
 
 The other remarkable thing was a double row of skulls, 
 running the entire length of the village, set in the ground, 
 leaving the naked, round top glistening in the sun. There 
 were nearly two hundred of them. Amazed, he asked his 
 Arabs what they were, they replied " soko skulls." The 
 soko, Cameron calls a gorilla, and we have no doubt many 
 of the remarkable stories about gorillas refer to this monkey. 
 But Livingstone says it is an animal resembling the gorilla, 
 and his account of their habits shows they are not the 
 fierce, fearless gorilla that is afraid of neither man nor beast. 
 It is about four feet ten inches in height, and often walks 
 erect, with his hands resting on his head, as if to steady him- 
 self. With a yellow face, adorned with ugly whiskers, a 
 low forehead and high ears, he looks as if he might be 
 a hideous cross between a man and a beast. His teeth, 
 though dog-like in their size, still slightly resemble those 
 found in the human head. The fingers are almost exactly 
 like the natives. He is cunning and crafty, and will often 
 stalk a man or woman as stealthily as a hunter will a 
 deer. He seldom does much damage, unless driven to bay, 
 when it fights fiercely. It takes great pleasure in nabbing 
 children and carrying them up into a tree and holding 
 them in his arms, but if a bunch of bananas is thrown on 
 the ground he will descend, and, leaving the child, seize it. 
 It seldom uses its teeth, and then, if it is a man he is in 
 conflict with, will bite off his finders and let him go. They
 
 A PRACTICAL JOKE. 519 
 
 are hunted and trapped by the natives for their flesh, of 
 which they are very fond. A man hunting for them one 
 day, having maimed one, in his attempt to spear it, the soko 
 grabbed the spear, and breaking it, seized the man. The 
 latter calling to his companion for help, he bit off his 
 fingers and ran away. 
 
 A native was hoeing in his field one morning, when a 
 soko, creeping up stealthily behind, threw his arms around 
 him. The latter roared in terror, when the soko, grinning 
 and giggling like a demon, let go and ran away, apparently 
 enjoying the practical joke hugely. He will often snatch 
 up a child, and after pinching and scratching it, let it go. 
 
 Stanley, not satisfied with the answer of his men, sent 
 for the chief and asked him what those skulls were. He 
 said of the sokos, which they hunt because of the destruction 
 they make of the bananas, and that their meat was good. 
 Stanley offered him a hundred cowries if he would bring 
 one to him alive or dead. The chief went into the woods 
 in search of some, but at evening returned without any. 
 He, however, gave him a portion of the skin of one. 
 Stanley had the curiosity to take two of these skulls home 
 with him, and gave them to Professor Huxley to examine, 
 who reported they were the skulls of a man and woman. 
 The former, therefore, comes to the conclusion that they 
 were all the skulls of men and women who had been eaten 
 by these cannibals. But we do not believe this conclusion 
 fairly justifiable, from Professor Huxley's report on two 
 skulls. In the first place, the Arabs would scarcely have 
 made such a mistake as this implies they had seen too 
 many soko skulls. In the second place, the chief corrobo- 
 rated their statement, and he had no reason for telling a 
 falsehood. If those skulls were placed thus prominently 
 in the streets, it was to boast of them and not to lie about. 
 It is far more likely that there were a few human skulls
 
 520 THE LUALABA BEACHED. 
 
 mixed in with the sokos, and when Stanley asked for a 
 couple, the largest and best-shaped were selected for him, 
 and these proved to belong to human beings. His hunting 
 for one was certainly not to prove he had told Stanley a 
 falsehood. The same peculiarity was noticed here that 
 Baker mentions of the natives of Fatiko the women go 
 naked, while the men are partly covered with skins. The 
 whole apparel of the women is an apron four inches 
 square. 
 
 On the 19th of March, they reached the Lualaba, 
 sweeping majestically through the silent- forest. Stanley 
 immediately determined there should be no more tangled 
 forests for him, but that broad current of the river should 
 bear him to the Atlantic Ocean or to death. The camp 
 was prepared and the breakfast eaten, while Pocoke was 
 getting the Lady Alice screwed together. Soon she was 
 launched on the stream, amid the huzzas of the party. 
 Although the river here was nearly three-quarters of a 
 mile wide, and the opposite shore appeared like an unin- 
 habited forest, sharp eyes had detected the wonderful 
 apparition that had appeared on the farther shore, and the 
 news spread so rapidly, that when Stanley in the Lady 
 Alice approached it, he saw the woods alive with human 
 beings, and several canoes tied to the shore. He hailed 
 them, and tried to make a bargain with them to transport 
 his party across. They refused point-blank, but after- 
 wards seemed to relent and offered to exchange blood- 
 brotherhood with them, and appointed a place on a 
 neighboring island where the ceremony should be per- 
 formed. It was, however, discovered that it was a trea- 
 cherous plot to murder them, and, but for precautions 
 taken in view of its possibility, there would have been a 
 fight. 
 
 Stanley now determined to cross his men by detachments
 
 CROSSING THE RIVER. 521 
 
 in his own boat. He took over thirty above the village, 
 and then told the natives that they had better assist him 
 in carrying over the rest, for which they should be well 
 paid. They consented, and the whole expedition was 
 safely landed on the left bank of the river.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 CONGO CHANGED TO LIVINGSTONE FRIGHTENED NATIVES THE MARCH DESERTED VILLAGES 
 THE LAND PARTY LOST STANLEY'S ANXIETY A DASH ON THE NATIVES, ONE MAN KILLED 
 tJLEDI DISPATCHED AFTER THE MISSING PARTY THE LOST FOUND THE MARCH A FLOATING 
 HOSPITAL PASSING RAPIDS TIPO-TIPO WISHES TO TURN BACK A QUEER VILLAGE INCREAS- 
 ING SICKNESS THE DEAD EVERY DAY THROWN INTO THE RIVER A FIGHT MARCHING ON A 
 DESPERATE FIGHT OF TWO DAYS A SUCCESSFUL STRATAGEM TIPO-TIPO RESOLVES TO LEAVE 
 STANLEY'S SPEECH TO HIS MEN CHRISTMAS DAY A FROLIC A BOAT RACE THE PARTIES 
 SEPARATE A TOUCHING FAREWELL A SAD DAY STANLEY TRIES TO AROUSE THE MEN. 
 
 HAVING been ferried across the river by the natives, 
 Stanley felt quite secure of the friendship of this 
 first tribe he had met on the banks of the Lualaba. But 
 here he resolved to change its name to Livingstone, 
 which ever after he continues to call it. Villages lined 
 the banks, all, he says, adorned with skulls of human 
 beings. But instead of finding the inhabitants of them 
 friendly, there were none to be seen ; all had mysteriously 
 disappeared, whether from fright or to arouse the tribes 
 below, it was impossible to determine; it seemed from the 
 former, for notwithstanding they had overcome their first 
 fear so much as to ferry the expedition across the river, 
 they had not taken away their canoes, nor carried with 
 them their provisions. Leaving these untouched, as a sort 
 of promise to the tribes below that their property should 
 be held sacred, the expedition took up its march down the 
 river. Stanley, with thirty-three men, went by water, in 
 the Lady Alice, while Tipo-tipo and young Pocoke with 
 the rest of the party marched along the bank. Village 
 after village was passed ; the natives uttering their wild 
 war-cry, and then disappearing in the forest, leaving every- 
 
 522
 
 FIRST FIGHT ON THE RIVER. 523 
 
 thing behind them. Whether it was a peaceful village, or 
 a crowded market-place they passed, they inspired the 
 same terror, and huts and' market-places were alike de- 
 serted. This did not promise well for the future. 
 
 In the middle of the afternoon, Stanley, in the Lady 
 Alice, came to a river one hundred yards wide. Knowing 
 that the land party could not cross this without a boat, he 
 halted to wait for its approach, in order to ferry it over, 
 and built a strong camp. This was on November 23d, 
 1876. At sunset it had not arrived, and he became 
 anxious*- Next morning it did not make its appearance, 
 and still more anxious, he ascended this river, named the 
 Ruigi, several miles, to see if they had struck it farther 
 up. 
 
 Returning, in the afternoon, without hearing anything 
 of the expedition, he was startled, as he approached the 
 camp, at the rapid firing of guns. Alarmed, he told the 
 rowers to bend to their oars, and sweeping rapidly down- 
 ward, he soon came to the mouth of the stream, and found 
 it blocked with canoes, filled with natives. Dashing down 
 upon them with loud shouts, they fled in every direction. 
 One dead man floating in the stream was the only result 
 of the first fight on the Livingstone. 
 
 The day wore away and night came down, and silence 
 and solitude rested on the forest stretching along the banks 
 of the Kuigi, where he anxiously waited to hear musket- 
 shots announcing the arrival of the land party. It was a 
 long and painful night, for one of two things was certain : 
 Tipo-tipo and Pocoke had lost their way or been attacked 
 and overpowered. The bright tropical sun rose over the 
 forest east of the river Kuigi, but its banks were silent and 
 still. Stanley could not endure the suspense any longer, 
 and dispatched Uledi, with five of the boat's crew, to seek 
 the wanderers. This Uledi, hereafter to the close of the
 
 524 THE LOST EETUENED. 
 
 march, becomes a prominent figure. Stanley had made 
 him coxswain of the boat Lady Alice, and he had proved 
 to be one of the most trustworthy men of the expedition, 
 and was to show himself, in its future desperate fortunes, 
 one of the most cool and daring, worthy, only half-civilized 
 as he was, to stand beside Stanley. The latter gave him 
 strict directions as to his conduct in hunting up the fugi- 
 tives especially respecting the villages he might come 
 across. Uledi told him not to be anxious about him he 
 would soon find the lost party. 
 
 Stanley, of course, could do nothing but wait, though 
 filled with the most anxious thoughts. The river swept 
 by calmly as ever, unconscious of the troubled hearts on 
 its banks; the great forest stood silent and still in the 
 tropical sun, and the day wore away as it ever does- 
 thoughtless of the destinies its hours are settling, and 
 indifferent to the human suffering that crowds them. But 
 at four o'clock a musket-shot rang out of the woods, and 
 soon Uledi appeared leading the lost party. They had 
 gone astray and been attacked by the natives, who killed 
 three of their number. Luckily they captured a prisoner, 
 whom they forced to act as a guide to conduct them back 
 to the river, and, after marching all day, met Uledi in 
 search of them. They were ferried across and allowed to 
 scatter abroad in search of food, which they took wherever 
 found, without any regard to the rights of the natives. 
 Necessity had compelled Stanley to relax his strict rules 
 in this respect. 
 
 The next day the march was continued as before, com- 
 munication being kept up by those on the land and on the 
 water by drum-taps. The villages they passed were de- 
 serted every soul fleeing at their approach. Proceeding 
 down the river, they came across six abandoned canoes 
 more or less injured. Repairing these, they lashed them
 
 BOATS TJPSET. 525 
 
 together as a floating hospital for the sick of the land 
 party, the number of which had greatly increased from the 
 exposures and hardships they were compelled to undergo. 
 In the afternoon they came upon the first rapids they had 
 met. Some boats, attempting their descent, were upset and 
 attacked by the natives, but they were beaten off. Four 
 Snider rifles were lost, which brought down on Pocoke, 
 who had permitted the Arabs to run this risk, a severe re- 
 buke, and a still severer one on the Arab chief, who had 
 asked the former to let him make the attempt. The chief, 
 enraged at the reproaches heaped upon him, went to Tipo- 
 tipo, and declared that he would not serve Stanley any 
 longer. This, together with the increased hostility of the 
 natives, and alarming sickness, and dangerous rapids, 
 brought the head chief to Stanley with a solemn appeal to 
 turn back before it was too late. But the latter had 
 reached a point where nothing but absolute fate could turn 
 him back. 
 
 The rapids were passed in safety by the canoes the 
 Lady Alice being carried on mens' shoulders around them. 
 Natives were occasionally met, but no open hostility was 
 shown for several days. The river would now be con- 
 tracted by the bold shores, and rush foaming along, and 
 now spread into lake-like beauty, dotted with green islands, 
 the quiet abodes of tropical birds and monkeys, that filled 
 the air with a jargon of sounds. 
 
 On the 4th of December they came to a long, straggling 
 town, composed of huts only seven feet long by five wide, 
 standing apart, yet connected by roofs the intervening 
 space covered, and common to the inhabitants of both the 
 adjacent huts. It was, however, deserted, like the rest. 
 This persistent desertion was almost as dispiriting as open 
 hostility, and an evil fate seemed to hang over the expedi- 
 tion. The sickness kept increasing, and day after day all
 
 526 A SERIES OF VILLAGES. 
 
 that broke the monotony of the weary hours was the toss- 
 ing over now and then dead bodies into the river. The 
 land party presented a heart-broken appearance as they 
 crawled, at night, laden with the sick and dying, into 
 camp. At this place Stanley found an old, battered, aban- 
 doned canoe, capable of carrying sixty people. This he 
 repaired, and added it to his floating hospital. 
 
 On the 8th of December he came to another large town, 
 the inhabitants of w T hich, in spite of all attempts to make 
 peace, were determined to fight, and with fourteen canoes 
 approached the bank on which the land party were en- 
 camped, and commenced shooting their arrows. This 
 lasted for some time, when Stanley took the Lady Alice 
 and dashed among them, pouring in at the same time such 
 a close and deadly fire that they turned and fled. 
 
 The story of the slow drifting and marching of the 
 expedition down the Livingstone is a very monotonous one 
 to read, but was full of the deepest interest to the travelers, 
 for the forest on either side of the great river seemed filled 
 with horns and war-drums, while out from a creek or from 
 behind an island canoes w r ould dart and threaten an attack,, 
 Floating peacefully through those primeval forests on this 
 stately river, bearing them ever on to the unknown, would 
 make the heart heave with emotion, but when danger and 
 death were ever present, the intensest feelings were aroused. 
 
 At length they came to a series of villages lining the 
 bank and surrounded with plenty. There was a large 
 population, and the natives, at the approach of Stanley, 
 blew their ivory horns and beat their drums, and soon a 
 whole fleet of canoes, heavily manned, attacked the little 
 party in the boat. By a bold dash Stanley was able to 
 seize and occupy the lower village, where he quickly in- 
 trenched himself. The savages came down in immense 
 numbers, filling the air with hideous shouts and rushed on
 
 A BOLD TRICK. 527 
 
 the slender defenses with desperate fury. It was astonishing 
 to see these men, to whom firearms were new, show so little 
 fear of them. They were the boldest fighters Stanley had 
 as yet encountered in Africa, and though he punished them 
 severely they kept up the attack, with short intervals 
 between, for nearly two days. At last the appearance of 
 Tipo-tipo along the bank with the land forces made them 
 beat a retreat, which they did with a tremendous noise of 
 horns and loud threats of vengeance. Out of the few with 
 Stanley, four were killed and thirteen wounded, or seventeen 
 out of forty nearly half of the whole force. This showed 
 desperate fighting, and as the enemy advanced by hundreds 
 their loss must have been fearful. 
 
 Stanley, who was equal in stratagem to an American 
 Indian, played them a trick that night which took all their 
 bravado out of them. Waiting till he thought they were 
 asleep, he took the Lady Alice, and Frank Pocoke a canoe, 
 and, both with muffled oars, rowed up the river to find their 
 camp. It was a rainy, dark and windy night, and, hence, 
 favorable to the enterprise he had in hand, and his move- 
 ments were undiscovered. By the light of a fire on the 
 bank he ascertained the location of the camp, and advanc- 
 ing cautiously saw some forty canoes drawn up on shore. 
 Bidding Frank go down stream and lie to, to catch them as 
 they floated down, he quietly cut them all adrift. They 
 were caught by the former, and by midnight were at 
 Stanley's camp. He knew that he now had them in his 
 power, and so in the morning proceeded to their camp and 
 made offers of peace, which they were glad to accept on 
 the condition that their canoes were returned to them. 
 This was agreed to and blood-brotherhood made. Stanley, 
 however, whose great need had been canoes, determined 
 not to let all these slip through his hands, and retained 
 twenty-three, giving back only fifteen.
 
 528 TIPO-TIPO RELEASED. 
 
 Tipo-tipo now told Stanley that he would proceed no 
 further, his people were dying rapidly, the difficulties of 
 rnarchingwere increasing and he must return. Thelattersaw 
 he was determined to go, although eight marches remained 
 to be made, and released him. In truth, now he had boats 
 enough to carry his entire expedition, Tipo-tipo, cumbered 
 with the sick, would be a burden rather than a help, and 
 at the rate they were moving, eight marches, more or less, 
 would not amount to much. Besides, marching by land, 
 Stanley saw must be given up or they would never get to 
 the sea. Thus far they had scarcely made any westing at 
 all, having gone almost due north, and were nearly as far 
 from the Atlantic Ocean as when they left Nyangwe. 
 The only thing he feared was the effect the departure of 
 the escort would have on his men. In announcing to them 
 that on the sixth day they should start down the river, he 
 made them quite a speech, in which he asked them if he 
 had not always taken good care of them and fulfilled all 
 his promises, and said that if they would trust him im- 
 plicitly he would surely bring them out to the ocean and see 
 them safe back to Zanzibar. "As a father looks after his 
 children," he said, " so will I look after you." A shout 
 greeted him at the close. One of his chiefs followed in an 
 address to the Arabs, while Uledi, the cockswain, spoke 
 for the boatmen. 
 
 Preparations for starting were now set on foot, canoes 
 mended, provisions gathered and everything provided 
 against future contingencies that could be thought of. 
 Christmas day came, and the poor fugitives had quite a 
 frolic there in the wilderness. The twenty-three boats 
 they had captured were christened by the men, amid much 
 merriment, and then canoe races followed, rowed by both 
 men and women ; all wound up with a wild war-dance on 
 the banks of the river.
 
 A PLAINTIVE FAREWELL SONG. 529 
 
 The next day Tipo-tipo gave a grand dinner. The day 
 after, the camps separated, and all intercourse between them 
 ceased. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th, Stanley embarked his men 
 to the sound of drum and trumpet, and Tipo-tipo hearing 
 it in his camp, knew that the parting hour had come, and 
 paraded his men on the bank. As the expedition slowly 
 floated down the stream toward it, there was heard a deep, 
 plaintive chant from the Arabs on the bank, as a hundred 
 melodious voices arose in a farewell song; out from the 
 dim forest, and over the rippling water it floated, in sweet 
 melancholy strains, that touched every heart in that slowly- 
 moving fleet of canoes. Louder and louder swelled the 
 chant, increasing in volume and pathos, as the wanderers 
 drew nearer. As they approached the Arab camp they 
 saw the singers ranged in a row along the bank. Passing 
 slowly by them, they waved a silent adieu, for their hearts 
 were too full to speak. On they floated, and still the chant 
 went on, until, at last, it died away in the distance, and 
 sadness and silence rested on the stream. No one spoke a 
 word, and Stanley cast his own eyes, not wholly dry, over 
 the crowded boats, and was moved with the deepest pity. 
 Nearly all were sitting with their faces hidden in their 
 hands and sobbing. Those they were leaving behind were 
 about to return to their homes they to enter new dangers, 
 out of which they might never emerge. No wonder they 
 were sad, and it is singular that not a man, even of those 
 who had before deserted, asked permission to go back. It 
 was a mournful scene there in the wilds of Africa, and on 
 that mysterious river, and Stanley said it was the saddest 
 day in his whole life. 
 
 The casting of their fortunes in this desperate venture 
 of his, shows what wonderful influence he had acquired 
 over them, and with what devotion he had inspired them.
 
 530 EFFORT TO BOUSE THE MEN. 
 
 No wonder his heart clung to them to the last, and he 
 would never leave them, until he saw them safe again in 
 their homes. In order to rouse the men, he shouted, 
 "Sons of Zanzibar, lift up your heads and be men. What 
 is there to fear? Here we are all together, like one family, 
 with hearts united, all strong with the purpose to reach our 
 home. See this river, it is the road to Zanzibar. When 
 saw you a road so wide? Strike your paddles deep, and 
 cry out ' Bismillah,' and let us forward." No shout greeted 
 this appeal, as with sickly smiles they paddled downward. 
 Uledi tried to sing, but it was such a miserable failure that 
 his sad companions could not restrain a smile.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 A COMMON FATE BINDING ALL " WE WANT TO EAT YOU" THE HOME OP THE HIPPOPOTAMUS 
 THE PERSUASIVE ELOQUENCE OF THE CANNIBAL PRISONERS A NOVEL SENSATION A PEACE- 
 FUL TRIBE THE CANNIBALS PREVENT 'A FIGHT A SUDDEN ATTACK A SUCCESSFUL STRATA- 
 GEM ANOTHER FIGHT A HARD CARRY AROUND THE FALLS AN ADVANCED TRIBE RIVER 
 FULL OF ISLANDS MAGNIFICENT SCENERY STANLEY'S EXPEDITION A GRAND BARBECUE A 
 NECESSARY FIGHT MGHT WORK SEVENTY-EIGHT HOURS' INCESSANT TOIL PASSING THE 
 RAPIDS A LOST MAN A THRILLING SPECTACLE GREAT DARING LOST MEN A FEARFUL 
 NIGHT RESCUE IN THE MORNING BRAVE ULEDI A CARRY ROUND THE FALLS A BRILLIANT 
 MANOEUVRE IN A NET MAN MEAT ANOTHER FIGHT THE CONGO STARTS FOR THE SEA 
 ANOTHER FIGHT A DESERTED VILLAGE AROUND THE FALLS MUSKETS A FIGHT HOME OF 
 THE HIPPOPOTAMI A NEW WAR-CRYASTONISHMENT OF THE NATIVES AT SEEING A WHITE 
 MAN MORE ENEMIES STANLEY'S SPEECH A FIGHT THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN MUSKETS 
 AGAINST FORTY-FOURSTARVING FRIENDLY SAVAGES ABUNDANT PROVISIONS DEATH AND 
 BURIAL OF A CHIEFTAIN'S WIFE A FRIENDLY TRIBE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN SERPENTS IN 
 CAMP THE LAST AND FIERCEST FIGHT STANLEY POOL FRIENDLY CHIEFS CURIOUS INTER- 
 VIEW WITH KING ITSI A GENERAL PEACE. 
 
 OTANLEY was now like Cortez when he burned his 
 k-J ships behind him there was no returning one and 
 all must move on together to a common fate. All danger 
 of desertion, for the present, was over, and he felt that the 
 consciousness of there being no possible escape, and that 
 one destiny awaited them all, not only bound them closer 
 together, but would make them better fighters. 
 
 At first, on their downward march, they met a peaceful 
 tribe, and then a hostile one who would listen to no terms, 
 and whose reply to eyery request for peace was, " We don't 
 want you ; we will eat you." They, however, passed by 
 unmolested, and swept down the river, astonished to see it 
 so thickly populated. That night they encamped in a 
 dense jungle, which was found to be the home of the hip- 
 popotamus in the dry "season. Tipo-tipo had left with 
 Stanley two cannibals that he had captured, to be used by 
 him in conciliating the savages, as they knew their lan- 
 
 531
 
 532 MEETING CANNIBAIS. 
 
 guage. These tried their arts this night on the natives on 
 the farther bank, who no sooner espied the strangers, than 
 they beat their drums and advanced to attack them. The 
 cannibals talked so eloquently and plausibly to them, that 
 the savages withdrew and left them in peace. The next 
 morning they came to the mouth of a large river named 
 Lowwa, one thousand yards wide. 
 
 On the last day of the year, they were moving quietly 
 down stream the heavens bright above them and the 
 banks green beside them when they suddenly heard the 
 hated war-drum sound ; and soon the canoes of the natives 
 shot out from both shores, and for a moment a collision 
 seemed inevitable ; but the two cannibals shouted Sennen- 
 neh ! " peace," so plaintively, that they desisted and the 
 little fleet passed on unmolested. But the next day they 
 met other boats, which advanced, their crews shouting " we 
 will eat you," but they were easily driven off. It pro- 
 duced a novel sensation in Stanley to be hailed every day 
 and ordered to give himself up for a good roast. At length 
 they came to a peaceful tribe, from whom they obtained 
 provisions. 
 
 Gathering such information as they could from the 
 natives, they now continued on very quietly, when they 
 were suddenly attacked by savages in canoes of immense 
 size. One, eighty-five feet long, singled out the Lady 
 Alice and made for it. The crew of the latter waited till 
 it came within fifty feet, and then, pouring in a deadly 
 volley, made a dash to run it down. 'The frightened crew, 
 just before the collision, jumped overboard, leaving the big 
 boat in the hands of Stanley. 
 
 Keeping on, after this little fight, they passed small 
 tributaries, and at length heard the roar of a cataract 
 below. But while they were listening to the unwelcome 
 sound, there suddenly rose over it the wild, shrill war-cries
 
 A HAED FIGHT. 533 
 
 of the savages from both sides of the river. There was no 
 escape for the expedition now they must turn and fight. 
 Dropping their stone anchors near the bank, they poured 
 in their volleys, but, not being able to dislodge them, they 
 pulled up their anchors and rowed up stream, where Stan- 
 ley divided his forces, and while one attracted the attention 
 of the enemy in front, the other landed, and, marching 
 across the land, took them in rear. As soon as Stanley 
 heard the first shot, announcing its arrival, he landed and 
 attacked the enemy in front and routed them, and camped 
 for the night undisturbed. 
 
 Next morning, however, the natives appeared again in 
 stronger numbers and attacked the camp. The fight was 
 kept up for two hours, when a sally was ordered, and they 
 charged on the enemy, which, though giving way, kept up 
 the fight for four or five hours. Two of Stanley's men 
 were killed and ten wounded. The former were thrown 
 into the river, for Stanley had determined to bury no more 
 men till out of the cannibal country. This defeat of the 
 natives gave the expedition a few days' rest, so that this 
 first of the series of " Stanley falls," as they were named, 
 could be thoroughly explored, not only for geographical 
 purposes, but to ascertain the best way of getting around 
 them. He found that the falls could not be run, and that 
 a carry around them some two miles long must be made. 
 A path was cleared with axes, and boat and canoes were 
 taken from the water and carried with great labor, yet 
 safely, overland, and launched once more on the stream 
 without accident, and he anchored in a creek near its en- 
 trance into the main river. Not wishing to remain here, 
 the order to advance was given, and soon they were again 
 afloat on the great river. Sweeping downward they heard 
 the roar of another cataract, and, although the war-horns 
 were resounding on every side, encamped on an island in
 
 534 BEAUTIFUL ISANDDS. 
 
 the middle of the river. The hostile natives on the island, 
 filled with terror, escaped to the main-land. In the morn- 
 ing Stanley explored the island, and found it contained 
 five villages, all now deserted and in them such a variety 
 of implements as showed that the inhabitants were adepts 
 in the manufacture of all kinds of iron tools. 
 
 The river was full of islands, winding among which, day 
 after day, Stanley often found to be the only means of 
 escape from the pertinacious cannibals. They presented a 
 beautiful appearance with their luxuriant foliage, but while 
 the eye was resting on their loveliness, the ear would be 
 saluted with the sound of war-drums and hideous shouts. 
 Whenever Stanley landed and visited a village from which 
 the inhabitants had fled, he would see human bones scat- 
 tered around, flung aside like oyster-shells, after the meat 
 was removed, and at times the whole expedition felt as if 
 they were destined to make a grand luncheon for these 
 ferocious man-eaters. 
 
 The next day Stanley began to make preparations to get 
 around the falls. The first thing was to clear himself of the 
 savages that crowded the left bank and were ready to pounce 
 on him any moment. So taking thirty-six men he led them 
 through the bushes and drove the natives back to their 
 villages, a mile distant, and after a desperate struggle, out 
 of them. He next cut a narrow path, three miles long, 
 around the cataract. This was slow work, and as haste was 
 imperative, the men were kept at work all night, flaming 
 torches lighting up the way and making the gloomy 
 shadows of the strange forest deeper still. Camps were 
 distributed at short intervals along the route, and to the 
 first of these the canoes were carried before daylight. The 
 savages made a rush on them but were driven back. At 
 night another stretch of path was made, to which the 
 canoes and baggage were hurried before the cannibals were
 
 A PEKILOUS SITUATION. 537 
 
 astir in the morning. There was less hostility and the work 
 went steadily on, and at last, after seventy-eight hours 
 of unwearied labor and almost constant fighting the river 
 was again reached and the boats launched. This was Jan- 
 uary 14th, but though the river had been reached new 
 perils awaited them. There was a stretch of two miles of 
 rapids that must be passed. After six canoes had been passed 
 safely, one was upset, and one of those in it, Zaidi, instead 
 of swimming ashore, as the others did, clung to it, and was 
 borne helplessly down to the cataract below. But on the 
 very verge was a solitary rock on which the boat drifted 
 and split one part getting jammed fast. To this the poor 
 wretch clung with the strength of despair, while all around 
 leaped and whirled and roared the boiling water. Those 
 on shore shrieked in agony, and Stanley was hastily sent 
 for. He immediately set to work making a rattan rope, in 
 order to let down a boat to him by which he could be 
 pulled ashore. But the rope was not strong enough, and 
 snapped asunder as soon as the boat reached the heavy suck 
 of water just above the falls, and it was whirled into the 
 vortex below. Other and stronger ropes were then made 
 and another canoe brought up and three ropes lashed to it. 
 A couple of men would be needed to paddle and steer the 
 boat so that it could reach the unfortunate wretch on his 
 perilous perch, and volunteers were called for. But one 
 glance at the wild and angry waves was enough, and no one 
 responded. Stanley then appealed to their feelings, when 
 the brave Uledi stepped forward and said "I will go." 
 Others of the crew followed, but only one was needed. The 
 two stepped calmly into the boat and pushed off watched 
 with intense anxiety by those on shore. Beaching a 
 certain distance above the falls, it drifted rapidly down 
 toward them, guided by those holding two of the cables on 
 shore. The third floated from the stern of the boat for the
 
 538 TERKLBLE SUSPENSE. 
 
 poor wretch on the rock to seize. Attempt after attempt 
 was made to get this within Zaidi's reach, but the whirling 
 waters flung it about like a whip-lash. At length the 
 boat was lowered so close to the brink of the falls that he 
 was able to reach it, but no sooner had he seized it and 
 flung himself loose, than he was borne over the edge and 
 disappeared below. But he held on to the rope and soon 
 his head appeared above the boiling waves, when the word 
 was given to haul away. The strain, however, was too 
 great, and the cables parted and away dashed the canoe 
 toward certain destruction, and a cry of horror arose 
 from those on shore, for all three now seemed inevitably 
 lost. But Zaidi below, by hanging on to the rope, pulled 
 the boat against the rock where it lay wedged. He was 
 then pulled up, and the three crouched together on the rock. 
 A stone w r as now tied to about three hundred feet of whip- 
 cord and flung to them, but they failed to catch it. Again 
 and again was it thrown only to be pulled in and recast, 
 but at last it whirled so close to them that they caught it. 
 A heavy rope of rattan was then tied to it and drawn 
 across and fastened, and a bridge thus secured. 
 
 But this had taken so much time that night came on 
 before they could finish their work ; the three wretched 
 men were left to crouch on the rock, and wait for the 
 morning. All night long they held on to their wild perch, 
 while the water rushed, and boiled, and roared around them, 
 and the deep thunder of the cataract rising in one deep 
 monotone over all, so that they could not hear each other 
 speak. 
 
 The next morning, early, the Arabs were set to work 
 making more ropes, which were finally hauled across, and 
 fastened round the waists of each man, and then, one by 
 one, they leaped into the water and were drawn safely 
 ashore, amid the shouts of the people.
 
 PEACE BY STRATEGY. 539 
 
 They now set to work cutting a road three miles long 
 through the woods. Over this the canoes were, with great 
 labor, hauled before the savages on the farther side knew 
 what they were about. But the moment they were afloat, 
 they discovered them, and rushed forward with their 
 canoes, and the battle commenced. Stanley dashed through 
 them, and sweeping down stream for a mile, landed on the 
 island where the tribe lived, and quietly detaching twenty 
 men, sent them to the villages, while he kept the savages 
 at bay. In a short time, the detachment returned, bring- 
 ing with them a crowd of women and children as prisoners, 
 and a large herd of sheep. The savages, when they saw 
 these marching down to the landing-place, were taken so 
 completely aback, that they stopped fighting at once, and 
 withdrew to consult what was best to do in this extraordi- 
 nary turn of affairs. They sat in their canoes, waiting to 
 see their friends massacred. Negotiations for peace were soon 
 opened and concluded, and the ceremony of blood-brother- 
 hood was gone through with, the captives and herds were 
 surrendered up, and friendly terms were established. 
 
 The fifth cataract was at the foot of this island, and was 
 safely passed, and the expedition encamped on the bank of 
 the river, on a green plat of ground, and slept undisturbed. 
 In the morning, to their unbounded surprise, they found 
 themselves inclosed in a net of cord, reaching .from the 
 shore above the camp, to the shore below it, passing through 
 the bushes. Stanley knew what this meant that they were 
 to be speared, when they approached it, like so many wild 
 beasts. He at once ordered one of the chiefs, Manwa Sera, 
 to take thirty men, and row up the river a short distance 
 and land, and march inland, and come up behind those 
 lying in wait outside of the net. At the end of an hour 
 he ordered men forward to cut the nets, when the firing 
 commenced. The savages soon turned and fled, but to
 
 540 A FUEIOUS ATTACK. 
 
 their astonishment, met the enemy advancing on them 
 by the road leading from their villages, and fled in every 
 direction. Eight prisoners were, however, captured, and 
 brought into camp. On being questioned, they confessed 
 that they were after man-meat, and said that their tribe, 
 which lived about a day's journey inland, eat old men and 
 women and every stranger that fell into their hands. 
 
 They now kept down the river for several miles unmo- 
 lested, and at length heard the sullen roar of the sixth 
 cataract rising over the woods, and camped on the right 
 bank, near an island covered with villages. Stanley knew 
 what was before him, and ordered a stockade to be com- 
 menced immediately. But, before it was finished, the 
 everlasting drum and horn pealed through the woods, and 
 soon the savages were upon them. After a short fight, 
 they retreated, followed by Stanley's soldiers, to a large 
 village, but there were only three or four old women in it, 
 whom they brought into camp. In a short time a heavier 
 force approached and made a furious attack, but were 
 quickly driven back and two wounded men taken prisoners. 
 A part of the force was all this time cutting a path around 
 the cataract. The next morning they set to work with a 
 will, and by noon had got safely around it. Stanley hav- 
 ing wormed out of his captives all the information he could 
 of the surrounding country and the various tribes that in- 
 habit it set them free. Passing some rapids, they came to 
 a village, in which there was but a single old man, solitary 
 and alone, and who had been there for several days. The 
 next day they halted to repair the boats. The persistent 
 course of the river, till within the last few days, to the 
 north, and sometimes north-east, had troubled Stanley, and 
 but for the immense volume of water that he knew had no 
 eastern outlet, would have shaken his faith in its being the 
 Congo. But, since he past the last cataract he noticed that
 
 ONE INCESSANT FIGHT. 541 
 
 it gradually deflected to the north-west, and now swept by 
 almost due west, having evidently at last started on its 
 march for the sea. Long islands still divided the river, 
 making, most of the time, two streams and shutting out the 
 opposite banks. Keeping down the right channel, they 
 passed through enchanting scenery, undisturbed by war- 
 drums and savage shouts. Though the water was smooth 
 on their side, over the island, on the other, they could 
 hear the roar of rapids, and a few miles farther down the 
 loud roar of the seventh and last cataract of the " Stanley 
 falls" burst on their ears, filling the solitude with its loud 
 thunder. The river here was over a mile wide, and the 
 fall of such an immense body of water over a high ledge 
 made the earth fairly tremble. 
 
 It was one incessant fight, either with the savages 
 or with nature, and it seemed as if fate was determined 
 to wear out these indomitable men. Soon the loud war- 
 drums, and horns, and battle-shouts were mingled with 
 the roar of the cataract, showing them that here, too, 
 they must fight before they could get below it. Drop- 
 ping down as near as it was safe to the commencement 
 of the rapids, they pulled ashore and pitched, their camp 
 in a dense forest. Fearful of being attacked before they 
 could intrench, they immediately set to work with their 
 axes to throw together a brushwood fence, while thirty 
 soldiers were stationed in front toward the river, to repel 
 any assault. They had hardly got it completed before 
 the naked cannibals were upon them with a fury that 
 threatened to break through their defenses. All this time 
 out from the woods, adown the gorge through which the 
 river plunged, war-drums and horns were heard summon- 
 ing the thickly-scattered villages to the scene of combat. 
 Before the steady fire of the musketeers the savages suf- 
 fered so severely that at sunset they abandoned the attack
 
 542 MYSTERIOUS DESERTION. 
 
 and withdrew. Stanley now secured his boats and strength- 
 ened the brushwood fence, and laid his plans for the 
 morning. 
 
 The camp was roused at five o'clock, and they pushed 
 on to a point nearer the falls, so that the work of carrying 
 around them was completed before the Wangas were upon 
 them. Everything being made secure here, they waited 
 for the expected attack to begin, but, no enemy appearing, 
 Stanley sent out scouts to ascertain what they were about. 
 They brought back w r ord that no savages were to be seen. 
 On advancing to the villages, Stanley found to his astonish- 
 ment that they were all deserted. Why or whither they 
 had fled was a profound mystery. Here was a town or 
 cluster of villages, each with four or five streets running 
 through it, and capable of containing two thousand inhab- 
 itants, deserted in a single night. The silence of death 
 reigned over it. 
 
 Left thus at peace, he began to turn his attention to the 
 falls. He found the river here in this terrific gorge was 
 contracted to less than one-third of its breadth a short dis- 
 tance above, and hence flowed with a power and strength 
 that can hardly b.e conceived. Crowded together, the 
 waters struggled and leaped, and tore onward with a wild- 
 ness and fury like the Niagara River below the falls. He 
 here found baskets tied to long poles set to catch fish. 
 They emptied some of these, and found in them about 
 thirty fish, of a different species from any known in our 
 waters, showing that they had got among savages that did 
 not wholly depend on human flesh for subsistence in the 
 way of meat. They showed, also, in their villages apd 
 houses, and various implements and articles of household 
 furniture, that they were in, advance of the cannibals above 
 them. At the same time, they seemed more alert, fearless 
 and determined.
 
 A NEW PERIL MUSKETS 543 
 
 The carry around these falls was not interrupted, and 
 the immense labor of transporting so many boats and so 
 much baggage along a rough-cut path was cheerfully 
 performed. The next day, however, while congratulating 
 themselves on the changed condition of things, they saw a 
 large number of canoes approaching, and soon a musket- 
 shot rang over the water, and one of Stanley's men fell. 
 A new peril now threatened them they found the natives 
 armed with Portuguese muskets. Though it was a sure 
 sign that they were approaching the coast, it showed, also, 
 that hereafter it was to be fire-arms against fire-arms, not 
 rifles against spears and, arrows ; and if the natives con- 
 tinued hostile, the destruction of the expedition seemed cer- 
 tain with such odds against it. Heretofore in every combat 
 the men picked up a number of native shields, almost as 
 big as doors, which they preserved. In battle, the women 
 and children would hold these before the soldiers, which 
 was the chief reason why there had been so few casualties 
 when fighting from the boats ; but if bullets hereafter were 
 to be fired, these would be of no use. Still there was 
 nothing left but to fight to the last. 
 
 This changed condition of things caused Stanley the 
 greatest anxiety. He, however, formed his boats in line of 
 battle and the firing commenced the natives after every 
 discharge retiring to reload. Stanley's soldiers fired so 
 rapidly, and with such deadly effect, that after an hour had 
 past the natives withdrew, and the expedition moved off 
 and was soon lost to sight amid the innumerable islands 
 that studded the river each one loaded with the most 
 luxuriant vegetation. 
 
 The next day they floated down the river undisturbed 
 the islands growing thicker as it expanded, being now 
 several miles wide. On one of them they saw an immense 
 elephant standing amid the trees, but no one proposed to
 
 544 A SHORT SPEECH. 
 
 stop and kill him, though his huge tusks were a tempting 
 sight; there was too much at stake to think of hunting 
 great crocodiles and hippopotami and other amphibious 
 monsters, who make the channels around these islands 
 their home. 
 
 The next day, the 13th of February, they suddenly 
 came upon a large number of villages. They were hidden 
 from view, till they were so close upon them, it was too late 
 to retreat. The next minute the forest resounded with 
 the loud war-drums and ivory horns, while the fierce war- 
 cries had changed their character and sounded like nothing 
 human Stanley had ever heard. Bright gun-barrels 
 gleamed above the light, graceful boats as they came 
 swiftly on. But as they drew near the natives seemed to 
 be filled with such strange wonder at the novel spectacle of 
 two white men, that they did not fire, but sat and stared at 
 them as if they had been ghosts. They followed them for 
 five miles in dead silence, when one of them fired and 
 killed an Arab. In an instant, the boats wheeled and 
 opened such a rapid fire, that the savages retreated. But, 
 when Stanley again resumed his downward course, they 
 turned and followed after, hovering like hawks around 
 him for five miles, but making no attack. 
 
 They were now just above the equator, and were moving 
 south-west. The next morning the islands were so thick 
 that they shut out both banks, but keeping on down stream 
 they at length came upon a village, and attempted to pass 
 it unobserved, but the tap of a drum showed that they were 
 observed, and their hearts sunk within them at the prospect 
 of another fight. In a few minutes drum was answering 
 drum in every direction, and soon the savages were seen 
 manning their canoes. Stanley, seeing his men were worn 
 down by this incessant fighting, made them a short speech, 
 telling them if they must die it would be with their guns in
 
 DESPERATE ODDS. 547 
 
 tlieir hands. He had come to have great contempt for the 
 natives on the water so long as they were without fire-arms. 
 He could soon scatter them and keep them at a respectful 
 distance with his rifles, but when it should be five hundred 
 muskets against his forty guns, the whole character of the 
 struggle would be changed. 
 
 As they quietly floated down, canoe after canoe shot out 
 into the river filled with gayly-decorated savages, till a 
 whole fleet of them was in pursuit Stanley ordered his 
 men to cease paddling and wait their approach, determined, 
 if possible, to make peace. But, while he was standing up 
 holding out cloth and wire and making peaceful gestures, 
 the crew of one canoe fired into his boat wounding three 
 men. 
 
 There was nothing left now to do but to fight, and soon 
 the crash of fire-arms awoke the echoes of the forest-covered 
 shores. The men had raised their shields, and to their 
 joy found them a perfect protection, as the enemy fired 
 bits of iron and copper, that could not penetrate them any 
 more than the native arrows. As the fight went on, other 
 canoes arrived, until Stanley counted sixty-three canoes, 
 which he estimated carried five guns apiece, which would 
 make three hundred and fifteen to his forty-four a desperate 
 odds, and if they had been loaded with bullets, would have 
 doubtless then and there ended the expedition. It is a 
 little curious that whenever Stanley gets into a desperate 
 strait that even his boldness and pluck cannot help him 
 out of, some unforeseen thing comes to his aid, and he 
 escapes. 
 
 In this case, his rifles having so much longer range and 
 greater penetrating force than these old-fashioned muskets, 
 most of the enemy kept at a distance of a hundred 
 yards. One brave fellow, however, kept dashing up to 
 within fifty yards, and firing, till he was wounded. It was
 
 548 NEAKLY HALF-STARVED. 
 
 a lucky thing for Stanley that their guns were poor, their 
 cartridges feeble and their aim bad. At length the fire 
 began to slacken, and dwindling down to now and then a 
 random shot, before six o'clock ceased altogether. 
 
 The fight being over, the men laid down their guns and 
 once more took up their paddles and soon were out of sight 
 of their enemies, and at sunset camped on an island that 
 lay amid a nest of islets. 
 
 The next day, the 15th, they continued their journey, and 
 this and the 16th and 17th, were unmolested and allowed 
 to enjoy the magnificent scenery amid which they floated ; 
 but they had little inclination to admire scenery, for they 
 were nearly half-starved, not having been able to purchase 
 a particle of food for a week. 
 
 On the 19th they came to a great river, the largest 
 tributary yet seen, and pouring an enormous volume of 
 black water into the Livingstone. 
 
 It now began to look as if, after having escaped death 
 by battle and the cataracts, they were about to yield to 
 famine. They met fishermen, but they would have noth- 
 ing to do with them. On the 19th, nine days since they 
 had been able to purchase any provisions, they came to 
 Ikengo, where, to their great joy, they found friendly 
 natives. The next day Stanley held a market on the 
 island, where he had encamped, to which the neighboring 
 chiefs came, as well as the villagers. Trade was brisk, 
 and before night he had a bountiful supply of sheep, 
 goats, bananas, flour, sweet potatoes and various tropical 
 fruits, for which he exchanged cloth, and beads, and wire. 
 The men revelled in the unexpected abundance, and hope 
 and joy again took the place of gloom and discontent. 
 The next day they resumed their apparently endless jour- 
 ney, and floated peacefully amid green islands, scattered like 
 gems over the broad bosom of the now friendly stream.
 
 FRIENDLY FISHERMEN. 549 
 
 On the 23d, while floating quiqtly down, word was brought 
 Stanley that the wife of one of the Arab chiefs, who had 
 been sick for some time, was dying, and he pulled his 
 boat alongside of the one in which she lay. She knew she 
 was going, and bade him an affectionate good-bye. Soon 
 after she expired. At sunset a weight was tied to her body, 
 and she was dropped into the waters of the river, and left 
 to sleep on its lonely bed, far away from the cocoa-nuts 
 and mangoes of her native land. 
 
 Their course now led them among beautiful islets, made 
 gay by the rich plumage of tropical birds, occasionally 
 meeting a few canoes, but no hostility was exhibited. 
 
 On the 27th, they came upon natives fishing, who at 
 once showed themselves to be friendly, and exhibited no 
 distrust at all. It was a new revelation to the wanderers. 
 Hitherto, after the most patient waiting and persevering 
 efforts, could they gain the confidence of the savages if 
 they secured it at all ; while here it was freely given, and 
 they directed them to a good camping place, on an island 
 from whence they looked across to the fields and villages 
 of Chumbiri, where these fishermen belonged. The fisher- 
 men then departed, to report to their king, who sent them 
 back with presents of food, and a promise that he would 
 visit the camp. True to his word, he appeared next day, 
 escorted by five canoes filled with soldiers, carrying muskets. 
 He wore a curious hat, was very cool and self-possessed in 
 his manner, and inclined to be sociable. He took snuff in- 
 cessantly, and in enormous quantities. After a long con- 
 versation, he invited them to make his village their home, 
 and Stanley, wishing to learn all he could of the river 
 below, accepted the invitation, and the expedition crossed 
 the river, and was received in savage pomp. A grand 
 market was held, and exchanges freely made. The women 
 did not seem to be of the pure African blood, being brown
 
 550 A COMPLETE SURPRISE. 
 
 instead of black, with large eyes, beautifully shaped 
 shoulders, and altogether very pretty. They were very 
 fond of ornaments, some of them wearing thirty pounds of 
 brass wire around their necks. Stanley estimated that the 
 forty wives, six daughters and the female slaves of the 
 king carried on their necks about one thousand four hun- 
 dred pounds of brass wire. 
 
 He stayed here a week, enjoying the hospitality of the 
 king, who, to all his other kindness, gave him three canoes, 
 as an escort, and on the 7th of March turned the prows of 
 his boats again down stream. That night they encamped 
 in a jungle, into which two immense serpents crawled, one 
 of which was killed just as he began to twine his folds 
 about a woman. It measured thirteen feet and a half in 
 length, and fifteen inches round the body. The next day 
 passing tributary after tributary, they, on the 9th, went 
 ashore to cook breakfast ; the women were busily engaged 
 in preparing it, when they were startled by loud musket shots, 
 and six of the men fell. They were taken completely by 
 surprise, but springing to their guns, they dashed into the 
 woods, and a fierce fight followed, which lasted an hour. 
 It was one incessant crack of musketry, each one shel- 
 tering himself as best he could. The savages were finally 
 driven off, but not until they had wounded fourteen of 
 Stanley's men. This was the sharpest fight he had had 
 yet, and if it was a prelude to what was to follow, the ex- 
 pedition would soon consist of nothing but wounded men. 
 It is astonishing, that in all these fights, of which this was 
 the thirty-second, and last, neither Stanley nor Pocoke 
 should receive a wound. 
 
 After the wounded men had been attended to, they 
 again set out and floated peaceably down, not suspecting 
 any danger, when they approached a settlement which 
 suddenly swarmed with excited armed men. Rowing
 
 STANLEY S POOL. 551 
 
 away as fast as possible, they soon got clear of the village, 
 and encamped three miles below. The next day the 
 voyage was charming, taking them through beautiful and 
 ever-changing scenery. Nothing occurred to mar their 
 pleasure the following day except a fierce south wind, which 
 now began to set in regularly every day, making the river 
 exceedingly rough for the canoes especially at this point, 
 where the river expanded to nearly two miles in width. 
 This great breadth extended as far as the eye could reach, 
 and, hemmed in by cliffs, resembled a pool, which young 
 Pocoke christened " Stanley Pool." 
 
 Paddling slowly down this pool, they passed several 
 villages. Makoneh, the chief of one, proved very kind 
 and hospitable, and offered to conduct Stanley to the next 
 cataract. As they swept down, they halted at a friendly 
 village, the chief of which inquired how they expected to 
 get over the mighty falls below. He was a bluff, genial, 
 good-souled negro, who seemed glad to assist them in any 
 way in his power, and finally offered to guide them to the 
 cataract. Moving down, soon its low roar was heard 
 swelling over the forest, gradually increasing as they 
 advanced, till it rose like a continuous thunder-peal from 
 the solitude below. 
 
 Makoneh led the way, and, just skirting the first line of 
 breakers, landed on a pebbly beach. The village of Itsi 
 was in sight, who was the petty king of a neighboring 
 tribe. Some canoes soon crossed from it, and were received 
 so kindly that the natives went back with such wonderful 
 stories to their king, that next day he paid Stanley a visit. 
 He came in a large canoe carrying eighty-six persons. It 
 was over eighty-five feet long, and propelled by sixty 
 paddlers. These, standing up and keeping time with their 
 strokes to the steady beat of a drum, sent the boat like an 
 arrow through the water, and made a stirring picture as
 
 552 THE BIG GOAT. 
 
 they dashed up to Stanley's camp. There were several 
 gray-headed men present, one of whom was introduced to 
 Stanley as the king. The latter noticed that the rest 
 laughed heartily at this, which afterwards turned out to be 
 a practical joke. However, Stanley sat down with the 
 venerable person in amicable conversation, while a young 
 native and Frank seemed to strike up a warm friendship 
 for each other, or at least the native for Pocoke, judging 
 by the way he pressed presents on him. 
 
 It seemed strange to Stanley that the young savage 
 should give twice as much to Frank as the king gave to 
 him, but it now came out that this young man was the 
 king, and the aged man Stanley had been conversing with, 
 one of his counselors. Stanley at once changed his attention, 
 and asked him what present would please him. The royal 
 young savage had been looking about at the various things 
 in camp, and seeing a very large goat, told Stanley that he 
 wished " big goat." Now this happened to be the last 
 thing the latter wished to part with. A lady in England 
 had requested him to bring back a goat of this very breed, and 
 he had purchased several, of which this alone had survived 
 the long and dangerous journey. He therefore endeavored 
 to bribe the young king by doubling the other presents he 
 had prepared. No, he would have the " big goat." Stan- 
 ley then offered to give him an ass instead. At this the 
 savage seemed to hesitate. The donkey was very desira- 
 ble, but at this critical moment the animal sent up a huge 
 bray, which so frightened the women, that he would not 
 take him. Other tempting offers were made but nothing 
 would do but the " big goat," and as Stanley was short of 
 provisions (the men having squandered those the king of 
 Chumbiri had given them), and these he must have, he 
 reluctantly turned over the big goat, and the young king 
 departed highly delighted. The next day he returned
 
 EXCHANGE OF CHARMS. 553 
 
 bringing three ordinary goats in exchange and some pro- 
 visions. Soon the kings or chiefs of other neighboring 
 tribes came in bringing fruit, and all was harmonious, and 
 treaties of amity were made with all. The one with Itsi 
 was quite ceremonious. Among other things he gave 
 Stanley a white powder as a charm against evil, in 
 return for which, the latter, with all due gravity, pre- 
 sented him with a half-ounce vial full of magnesia as the 
 white man's charm. This and blood-brotherhood closed the 
 formal proceedings of the treaty-making powers quite as 
 important, in their way, as similar councils in civilized 
 countries. 
 
 Stanley found by observation that though he had traveled 
 from Nyangwe over one thousand two hundred miles, he 
 had descended not quite a thousand feet
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 TRIBAL DIFFERENCES WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THEM THE CONGO TRIBES THE CANNIBALS 
 LEFT BEHIND CHANGE OF SCENERY LIVINGSTONE FALLS A WILD STRETCH OF WATER CAR- 
 RYING BOATS OVER LAND EXHAUSTING, SLOW WORK A CANOE-LOST STANLEY FALLS THIRTY 
 FEET ROCKY FALLS A FEARFUL SIGHT KALXJLU OVER THE FALLS A CANOE SHOOTS THE 
 KALULU FALLS IN SAFETY A THIRD CANOE SHOOTS THE FALLS AND DISAPPEARS SOUDl'S 
 STRANGE STORY MORE RAPIDS DIFFICULTIES INCREASE NARROW ESCAPE OF STANLEY JOY 
 AT HIS DELIVERANCE FOUR CATARACTS IN SIGHT STRANGE MUSIC LESS THAN A MILE A DAY 
 THE BIG CATARACT SCALING A MOUNTAIN ONE THOUSAND FEET HIGH ASTONISHMENT OF 
 THE NATIVES. 
 
 IT is a little singular, that in this age of inquiry and 
 persistent effort to get at the cause of things, no one 
 has yet attempted to explain the reason of tribal differences. 
 Aborigines occupying the same parallels of latitude and 
 longitude, subject to the same influences of climate, living 
 on the same diet, are different in color, features, and 
 more than all, in disposition. The real, or supposed influ- 
 ences, that lie at the bottom of the different races, do not 
 apply here. Difference of origin, of climate, of food, all 
 these must have great effect in changing color, features and 
 character, and hence, to a certain extent, explain how such 
 distinct nationalities exist, but not in the least account for 
 tribal differences, where all these are the same, and 
 where there are not even barriers of mountains and rivers 
 separating them. Why should our western Indian tribes, 
 roaming over the same prairies, living on the same food, 
 and similar in all their mode of life, be yet so different in 
 form, feature and disposition ? 
 
 Is there really no way of getting a satisfactory, true ex- 
 planation of all this? 
 
 So in Africa, Stanley crossed the continent in the same 
 
 554
 
 TRIBAL DIFFERENCES. 555 
 
 general range of latitude. The savages lie met were all 
 dwellers of the equatorial region ; hence, lived in the same 
 climate, using the same food, dressing in the same way, 
 and living the same life, and yet as dissimilar as different 
 nationalities. If any educational influences had been 
 brought to bear upon them, one could understand this, but 
 none have been exerted. These same tribal differences 
 Stanley found on the Congo. Fierce cannibals and gentle 
 agricultural people were living side by side. Suspicious, 
 faithless men, differing very little from the better class of 
 monkeys, lived neighbors to tribes unsuspicious and 
 trustful, and wonderfully advanced in the art of me- 
 chanism. Here at the falls, which he named "Stanley 
 Falls," the natives were suspicious, faithless, cruel, and 
 now when he reaches the Livingstone Falls, he finds them 
 hospitable, kind and trusting. When this difference bursts 
 on him practically, he feels it sensibly, but philosophically 
 dismisses it with the simple remark, such "is the effect of 
 trade." We cannot accept this as any explanation at all, 
 for there was no trade with the outside world, and they 
 showed the same kindly natures before he commenced 
 trading with them. 
 
 The only evidence of their connection with civilized life 
 was that they had muskets, and yet the very first tribe 
 which possessed them was the most fierce, implacable and 
 relentless he met with. This ethnological question has 
 never yet been settled. 
 
 Still it is not singular that Stanley just then did not 
 trouble himself with it. As long as the difference existed 
 and was now in his favor he was content, as well he might 
 be. 
 
 The friendly natives at the head of these falls assured 
 him that he had passed the cannibal country, but they 
 differed materially as to the number of falls below one
 
 556 THE KAPIDS PASSED. 
 
 making them three and another a half a dozen or more. 
 No matter whether they were few or many, they had got 
 to be passed, though he dragged his canoes over lofty 
 mountains to do it. 
 
 But if the change in the character of the natives was 
 great, that in the character of the scenery and aspect of the 
 river was no less so. The wild, fierce savages had become 
 tame, while the gently flowing river, studded with green 
 islands, had become wild and fierce and angry. The 
 gradually descending plain was transformed into the 
 terrific gorge, over which hung beetling cliffs, and the 
 placid current into a roaring torrent, dashing amid rocks 
 and plunging over precipices, and filling the solitudes with 
 an ever-angry voice. Hostile savages were behind, but 
 hostile nature was before the adventurers, to whom there 
 would be no rest till they found the restless sea. 
 
 Immediately before them were two stretches of rapids 
 and then a cataract. The first was a mere piece of broken 
 water that was easily passed. Having no fear of hostile 
 natives, Stanley leisurely explored both river and shore to 
 ascertain the best way of getting around the second rapids. 
 The goods, asses, women and children were taken overland, 
 while the boats were led with hawsers from rock to rock 
 along the shore. Fortunately not a rope broke, and by 
 five o'clock the rapids were passed and all were in camp 
 together. 
 
 The last, Stanley declared to be the wildest stretch of 
 water he had ever seen. For four miles the river looked 
 as if thrown upward by volcanic action beneath, and at the 
 same time swept by a fierce hurricane above, and all the 
 while dashing madly on at the rate of thirty miles an hour. 
 Huge troughs would be formed, as if the stream was yawn- 
 ing asunder, and then the divided water would come to- 
 gether with a crash, sending up columns twenty feet high
 
 MORE UGLY EAPIDS. 557 
 
 to dissolve in foam and spray. The crash of colliding 
 waves and the steady roar of the rapids were awful. It 
 was literally a " hell of waters." The land carriage around 
 this wild stretch was a rough piece of work. Paths of 
 brushwood were made, and the canoes slowly hauled up 
 rocky heights and slid down into deep gullies the women 
 and children toiling after. They were nearly four days 
 getting around this four miles of impassable rapids. The 
 men were fainting for want of food, when smooth water 
 was at last reached. This, however, continued but a short 
 distance, when they had to take to land again, and haul 
 their boats over a rocky point for three-quarters of a mile, 
 which it took three days to accomplish. When it is re- 
 membered that one of the canoes was eighty-five, and 
 another seventy-five feet long and dug out of a solid tree, 
 we can get some conception of the tremendous effort it 
 required to transport them over rocks and hills. When 
 smooth water was again reached, it gave them only a short 
 respite. Stanley, however, found it necessary to halt and 
 give the people rest, for the tremendous strain of the last 
 week was telling fearfully on them. 
 
 On the 25th they found themselves once more confronted 
 by ugly rapids. In endeavoring to lead the boats around 
 them, the best canoe was dragged by the mere force of the 
 current from the hands of fifty men and whirled down the 
 mad stream and dashed to pieces. Toiling amid the rocks 
 several men got injured one had his shoulder dislocated, 
 while Stanley fell into a chasm thirty feet deep, but for- 
 tunately struck on his feet, and thus escaped with some 
 slight bruises, though he was very much stunned. On the 
 27th they succeeded in getting past this " cauldron," as it 
 was called, although they narrowly escaped losing their 
 largest canoe. The next day was smooth water for only a 
 short distance, when they came to " Rocky falls." These,
 
 A FATAL MISTAKE. 
 
 however, were passed with comparative ease, and two men 
 sent forward to explore. They reported, on their return, 
 that about a mile below was another cataract, and that at 
 its head was an excellent camp in a sandy bay. Stanley, 
 therefore, determined to reach it before dark, and so man- 
 ning his remaining seventeen canoes, he led the way, hug- 
 ging the shore, so as not to get into the suction of the water 
 above the falls. All were told to follow him, and by no 
 means to venture out into the middle of the stream. Keep- 
 ing close to the right bank, he felt his way carefully on- 
 ward, and at last floated into the tranquil bay, at the head 
 of the fall. Three canoes followed him, and as he was 
 waiting for the others to come in, he saw, to his horror, 
 the largest canoe he had, in midstream, and coming 
 down like a race-horse. Kalulu had charge of this, and 
 deceived by the smooth, glassy surface of the stream, pulled 
 out into midcurrent. The moment he was caught by it his 
 doom and that of the four men with him was sealed. 
 There was nothing to be done by those on shore but to 
 watch the swiftly-gliding boat till it shot over the edge 
 of the falls to disappear in the tumult below. Three of 
 the men were Stanley's especial favorites, and he felt their 
 loss keenly. While his eye was yet resting on the spot 
 where they had gone down, another canoe shot in sight, 
 driving straight for the falls. Fortunately, they struck 
 them at the least dangerous point, and went over safely, 
 then skillfully working the canoe toward the opposite 
 shore, sprang overboard and swam to land. Stanley im- 
 mediately dispatched his boat's crew up-stream to tell the 
 rest to hug the shore, and in no case venture out into the 
 stream. Before they reached the canoes, another one, with 
 only the lad Soudi in it, shot by, who cried out, as he was 
 borne swiftly onward, " There is but one God I am lost, 
 master," and next moment dropped out of sight. Strange
 
 A STRANGE STORY. 561 
 
 to say, though the canoe was whirled about at the bottom 
 like a spinning-top, it did not sink, and was finally swept 
 out of sight behind an island. The rest of the canoes 
 arrived safely. 
 
 The next day Stanley sent Frank back to bring over the 
 goods to where he was encamped, while he traded with the 
 natives, whom he found very friendly, and from whom he 
 obtained abundant provisions. Resting here one day, they, 
 on the 1st of April, got everything round the falls and 
 encamped. In the afternoon, to the surprise and joy of all, 
 young Soudi walked into camp. He had a strange story to 
 tell. He was borne helplessly down the rapids, confused and 
 dizzy, till at last the boat drifted against a rock, when he 
 jumped out and got on shore. Before he had time to think 
 where he was, he was seized from behind and pinioned, and 
 borne to the top of a mountain by two men, who stripped and 
 examined him with great curiosity. The next day several of 
 the tribe came to see him, one of whom had been in Stanley's 
 camp when King Itsi visited it, and he told them such terri- 
 ble stories about Stanley and of his gun that could shoot 
 all day, that they became frightened and took him back 
 to the place where they had found him, and told him to 
 speak well of them. The other two men had swam across 
 the river, a mile below, and also joined the camp. 
 
 Proceeding on down stream they came to more rapids, 
 in passing which there were many narrow escapes. It 
 was a succession of rapids, and while Stanley carried the 
 boats through them, Frank took the rest of .the party and 
 goods overland. The former examined every inch of the 
 way carefully before starting. Thus day after day passed, 
 always fighting the relentless river. Sometimes the water 
 was too rough to admit the passage of the boats, and then 
 they had to be carried overland. It was slow and tedious 
 work, and but little progress was made. The question each
 
 562 LADY ALICE KAPIDS. 
 
 one kept asking himself was, how long will this last and 
 when shall we see smooth water again ? 
 
 Each day was but the repetition of the former, and if 
 'the natives had been as hostile as those farther up the river, 
 they could not have got on at all. The only variation was 
 when the river took some new whim or the formation of 
 the country required more effort and new modes of getting 
 on. Thus one day they undertook to lead the canoes by 
 hawsers around a rocky point, where the eddies set up 
 stream with the strength and velocity of a torrent, so that 
 it seemed impossible to get them down stream. To add to 
 the difficulty the cliffs, on the top of which the men with 
 the hawsers stood, were fifty feet high, with their jagged 
 edges, sawed the ropes till they parted one after an- 
 other. 
 
 So creeping along the shore to-day, and daring the mid- 
 stream, though boisterous, yet clear of rocks, to-morrow, 
 they kept on, hoping after the next stretch to reach a quiet 
 flowing river. The Lady Alice fared hard in this perilous 
 navigation, and once came near being lost. All this time 
 the resources of the expedition were being exhausted, for 
 though the natives were friendly, everything had to be 
 paid for, and it was not difficult to answer the question 
 " how long would their currency last ?" 
 
 The next rapids they came to Stanley named the "Lady 
 Alice Kapids," because we suppose both he and the boat 
 escaped, almost by a miracle, sharing the same fate in the 
 wild and mad waters of the Livingstone. The cables 
 lashed to bow and stern, to let the boat down, parted, or 
 were snatched from the hands on shore, and away she 
 dashed down the foaming torrent. Above, the naked 
 cliffs rose three hundred feet high around boiled and 
 tossed the tumultuous waters, and certain destruction 
 seemed to await the man who had triumphed over so many
 
 AN OUTBURST OF GRATITUDE. 563 
 
 obstacles, and at last was nearing the goal of his ambition. 
 The Arabs, whose life depended on his life, were in despair 
 their master was gone there was no one left to lead 
 them out of this strange wilderness. Nothing but the 
 coolness of Stanley saved him and his crew. Watching 
 every change in the flow of the water resigning himself 
 to the wild will of the wild waters, when struggling was 
 useless taking advantage of every favorable change of 
 the current, and bidding his men row for life at the right 
 time, he at length reached shore, and at once sent messen- 
 gers to his despairing camp to tell them he was safe. He 
 knew, and they knew, that all their lives hung on his. He 
 had had a narrow escape, and the natives on shore, as they 
 watched his boat flung about like a cockle-shell in the 
 boiling surge, looked upon him as lost. 
 
 If Stanley wanted any new proof of the affection of his 
 Arabs for him, he had it now. He had been only able, 
 after his fierce struggle with the rapids, and being carried, 
 in the meantime, over one fall, to reach land at last two 
 miles below his camp, where he was looked upon as lost. 
 When, therefore, the message was received from him that 
 he was alive and safe, they streamed forth in one confused 
 mass, and hastening down the river, came in a long, strag- 
 gling line in sight of Stanley, waving their arms on high, 
 shouting words of welcome and overwhelming him with 
 their expressions of glad joy. This involuntary outburst 
 of feeling and gratitude that their "master" was safe, was 
 worth tenfold over all the suffering and peril he had en- 
 dured. It is strange, when such momentous results hang 
 on a single life, how we go on as though nothing depended 
 upon it till the moment we are losing it comes. 
 
 The men, women and children had joined in this grand 
 exodus to congratulate Stanley on his deliverance from 
 what appeared certain death, and the men now returned
 
 564 TKEMEKDOUS CATAKACTS. 
 
 to bring up the goods to this point where the camp was 
 pitched. Not twenty rods from it the Nikenke River 
 came foaming, tumbling into the Livingstone from a preci- 
 pice one thousand feet high, with a terrific roar and rum- 
 ble. Almost as near, another tributary dashed over a ledge 
 four hundred feet high, while just above was the wild 
 rapids he had just passed, and just below another stretch 
 of swift and tumbling water. The din of these surround- 
 ing cataracts made a fearful, strange music in these myste- 
 rious solitudes, and awakened strange feelings in Stanley, 
 as he lay and listened and wondered what would come 
 next. 
 
 The sharp crash of the near cataract tumbling from its 
 height of a thousand feet, the low rumble of the lower fall 
 and the deep boom of the mighty river made a grand 
 diapason there in the wilds of Central Africa. West from 
 the great lakes, the continent seemed to stretch in one vast 
 plateau, across which the river moved in placid strength, 
 its gently sweeping current, parted with beautiful islands, 
 that filled the air with perfume exhaled from countless 
 flowers and tropical plants, and making a scene of loveli- 
 ness that intoxicated the senses. 
 
 But all this was marred by the presence of blood-thirsty 
 cannibals, whose war-drums and savage cries filled this 
 world of beauty with terrific sounds and nameless fears. 
 But the moment the stream reached the edge of this plateau, 
 where man seemed to become more human, it rolled into 
 cataracts and rapids, down a steep incline, till it came to 
 the sea. 
 
 Canoes were upset and lost, and men barely saved from 
 death, by expert swimming, during these fearful days, and 
 yet Stanley could get no reliable information from the 
 natives how far down this remorseless stretch of water 
 extended. This terrible struggle, which the party under-
 
 THE SUMMIT BEACHED. 565 
 
 went, and the exhausting nature of their work may be 
 faintly imagined when it is stated that for thirty-seven 
 consecutive days they made less than a mile a day. It 
 was a constant succession of rapids from the middle of 
 March to the latter part of April. 
 
 At length, on the 22d, they came to the " big cataract," 
 called by the natives Inkisi, which Stanley fondly believed 
 would be the last The table-land here is one thousand 
 feet high, and the natives occupying it flocked into Stan- 
 ley's camp, curious to know how he was to get his canoes 
 past the falls. When he told them that he was going to 
 drag them over that table-land one thousand feet high, 
 they looked at him in speechless astonishment. His own 
 men were thunderstruck when he announced to them his 
 determination. But they had got so accustomed to believe 
 that he could do anything he resolved to do, that they 
 silently acquiesced. The natives, as they looked at the 
 heavy canoes and then on the lofty height, with its steep, 
 craggy ascent, took their departure and began to climb 
 back to their homes to secure their property, for, they 
 said, if the white man intended to fly his boats over the 
 mountains, they did not know what terrible things might 
 next happen. 
 
 Having settled on the undertaking, Stanley immediately 
 set to work to carry it out, and the first day built a road 
 nearly a mile long. The next day the Lady Alice and a 
 small canoe were resting on the high summit. The work 
 was done so quietly and without any disastrous results to 
 life and property, that the native chiefs were dumb with 
 admiration and offered to bring six hundred men next day 
 to help haul up the heavy canoes. They kept their word, 
 and soon boats and baggage were in camp on the top of the 
 mountain. Sending off a party ten miles ahead to prepare 
 the natives for his coming, Stanley took the women and
 
 566 FAVORABLE EVIDENCES. 
 
 children, and goods and boat's crew on to the next tribe to 
 make a camp near the river, for the purpose of exploring 
 the defile through which he was to work his way. 
 
 He had found many articles of English make, and 
 dishes, etc., among the natives, showing that he was ap- 
 proaching the coast from which these must have been 
 obtained. They had not, however, been brought there by 
 traders, but had worked their way up from market to 
 market along the river. It was encouraging, nevertheless, 
 to the members of the expedition, who were getting worn 
 out, while disease prevailed to a large extent and threatened 
 to increase. Still they might be a great way off from the 
 coast yet, in time if not in distance, if they continued to 
 make but one mile a day. Hence Stanley had to be very 
 economical in everything, especially in the use of meat 
 though the constant and terrible mental and physical 
 strain on him made it necessary that he should have 
 the most nourishing food. For lack of this in a simple 
 form, he concocted a dish out of vegetables, fruit and oil, 
 which proved a great success.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 LAST INSTRUCTIONS A MAGNIFICENT FOREST STANLEY THINKS OF DUG-OUTS AT HOME EE- 
 8OLVES TO BUILD CANOES THE FIRST TREE FELLED TWO CANOES FINISHED THE BOATS AND 
 EXPEDITION MOVING OVERLAND ARABS STEALING REDEEMING A CAPTIVE HELD FOR THEFT 
 CANOES OVEE THE MOUNTAIN REST THIRD CANOE BUILT DISPIRITING NEWS NATIVE 
 SUPERSTITION A NAEEOW ESCAPE LAUNCHING OF THE THIRD CANOE EAINS RISE OF THE 
 EIVER STORMS THE EXPEDITION MOVES OVEE THE MOUNTAIN FRANK TAKES THE CANOES 
 BY THE EIVER MOWWA FALLS A TERRIFIC SCENE PASSING THE MOWWA FALLS ULEDI 
 CAUGHT JN THEFT HIS SENTENCE A TOUCHING SCENE ATONEMENT FORGIVENESS CHRIS- 
 TIAN PBINCIPLES IN HEATHENS A STRANGE SUPERSTITION THE NATIVES DEMAND THAT 
 STANLEY'S NOTE-BOOK BE BURNED TIP A PAINFUL DILEMMA A SUCCESSFUL STRATAGEM 
 SHAKESPEARE BURNED FRANK'S LAST NIGHT WITH STANLEY. 
 
 IT was the 29th of April when Stanley gave his last 
 instructions to his Arab chiefs about getting the canoes 
 down the mountain to Nzabi, the home of the next tribe 
 west. On his way he entered a magnificent forest the 
 tall and shapely trees of which reminding him of his early 
 wanderings in the wilds of Arkansas and on our western 
 frontiers. It was not strange, while looking at them, that 
 he should be reminded of the "dug-outs" of the Indians 
 which he had so often seen, and that the thought should 
 occur to him to make some canoes, to take the place of 
 those which he had lost in the passage of the rapids and 
 falls above. It seems as if his early life had prepared him 
 especially for all the contingencies that were to occur in his 
 long and varied explorations in Africa. After thinking 
 the matter over a short time, he resolved that the boats 
 should be built, and having obtained permission of the 
 chief of the district, he at once commenced operations. 
 The first tree selected was more than three feet in diameter 
 and run sixty feet straight before it reached a limb. As 
 
 567
 
 568 PROPENSITY TO STEAL. 
 
 soon as it was prone on the ground the men were set to 
 work in sections upon it, and in a week had it finished. In 
 a week more another was completed, measuring forty-five 
 feet' in length and eighteen inches deep. All this time the 
 canoes were advancing over the land at the rate of a little 
 more than a third of a mile a day, and finally reached 
 camp the day before the second boat was finished. 
 
 Things, however, had gone badly in the camp on the 
 mountain-top after Stanley left, for the Arabs, following 
 their apparently natural propensity, began to steal. One 
 man, who had been caught in the act, was seized and made a 
 prisoner by the natives, who resolved to keep him as a slave. 
 Stanley spent an entire day negotiating for his redemption, 
 and finally had to give one hundred and fifty dollars worth 
 of cloth to get him released. It was plain that he could 
 not afford to redeem many men at this price, and he dis- 
 tinctly told them that if, after this, any of them were 
 caught stealing, they would be left in the hands of the 
 natives, to be held as slaves for life. A terrible punish- 
 ment, yet, as it proved, not great enough to deter them 
 from committing the same crime afterwards. 
 
 The labor of the men engaged in hauling the canoes 
 over the high mountain had been so great, that Stanley 
 felt that some days of rest were demanded to recuperate 
 them. But as idleness was always the fruitful source of all 
 kinds of evil with the Arabs, he determined to keep the 
 men who had hewed out the two boats still at work, and 
 set them to making a third canoe. 
 
 The chief of this district now informed Stanley, greatly 
 to his surprise and disappointment, that there were five 
 falls immediately below him, while how many lay between 
 these and the sea no one could tell. No matter ; he must 
 still move on, and, for the present, cling to the river on 
 account of the sick, if for nothing else.
 
 THE LIVINGSTONE LAUNCHED. 569 
 
 On the 18th, he sent off a man to get some axes repaired 
 by a native blacksmith. While the latter was engaged in 
 the work, a spark flew from the anvil against the body of 
 one of his children playing near by, burning him 
 slightly. The enraged man asserted that the accident was 
 owing to a wicked charm of the stranger, and, running 
 out, beat the war-drum, at which the excited natives as- 
 sembled in a great fury, and the poor Arab was in danger 
 of immediate immolation, when the chief happened to 
 arrive and saved him. 
 
 On May 22d, the great teak canoe, the third which had 
 been built, and which Stanley named Livingstone, was 
 launched in the creek just above its entrance into the 
 river, amid the shouts of the natives. It could carry 
 forty-six people. As far as means of transportation was 
 concerned, Stanley was now at ease but would there ever 
 be a peaceful river on which these twelve canoes could 
 float? 
 
 It was now the 22d of May, and since the 24th of Feb- 
 ruary there had been forty rainy days, and hence for the 
 month they had been working their slow, tedious way over 
 the ridges and mountains, the river had been continually 
 rising, and now, more than eleven feet above its usual 
 height, was rolling in a grand, resistless flood through the 
 gorges. Thunder and lightning had accompanied the 
 storms, lighting up the wild river and drowning its fierce 
 roar, and drenching the wanderers, till it seemed as if 
 heaven itself was leagued with the natives and the cata- 
 racts to drive them to despair and to destruction. The 
 river was still rising, and the rush and roar of the waters 
 were only less terrific than the deafening thunder-peals 
 that shook the chasm in which they were confined. Still 
 they must move on, even though it should be to greater 
 horrors and more desperate conditions and a darker fate.
 
 570 SURVEYING A TERRIFIC SCENE. 
 
 So on the 23d of May they set out, and carrying around a 
 short fall in the creek on the banks of which they had 
 been encamping, and ascending a mountain, pushed slowly 
 on for three miles over a plateau the sick and suffering 
 complaining bitterly, while the well were almost ready to 
 give out and die then and there on the shores of the river. 
 Every fall was expected to be the last, and yet proved the 
 forerunner of a worse one to come. 
 
 From this creek Stanley led the expedition those that 
 could walk to the head of the Mowwa Falls. Frank, 
 whose lame foot did not permit him to walk, took the Lady 
 Alice, followed by the canoes, out of the mouth of the 
 creek, to coast carefully along down the river to the same 
 camping-place. In the meantime, Stanley, who had arrived 
 first, took a long and anxious survey of the terrific scene 
 before him. At the head of the falls, where he stood on a 
 grassy plot, a ledge of rock twelve feet high ran straight 
 across the river like a wall for a mile and a quarter and 
 then stopped. From the end to the opposite shore it was 
 a clear space of a little more than a quarter of a mile, 
 through which the compressed river rushed with a strength 
 and shout and fury that were appalling. This wall of rock, 
 however, was not solid here and there it was cut through 
 as if by some mighty blow, making separate channels that 
 had a fall of twelve feet. Below, as far as the eye could 
 reach, treeless mountains arose nearly a mile into the 
 heavens, while halfway up from the mad river, that tore 
 with the sound of thunder along their bases, perpendicular 
 cliffs stood walling in this awful embodiment of power. 
 
 A scene of more utter desolation cannot be imagined 
 than was here presented to his view in this solitary spot. 
 The camp seemed a mere speck amid these gigantic out- 
 lines of mountain and river. As he thus looked and lis- 
 tened, awe-struck and subdued, he saw Frank in the Lady
 
 A TEYING CASE. 571 
 
 Alice coming through the rapids at a terrific pace. This 
 was the first time he had attempted such a feat, and he got 
 confused and was finally thrown into the worst part of the 
 rapids, and, in his frantic struggles to release himself, 
 struck a rock and stove a hole into the boat six inches 
 square. However, all were landed in safety, though Stan- 
 ley mourned greatly over the severe injury to his boat, 
 which thus far had escaped all harm. It took him a 
 whole day to repair it. Two days after, the goods were 
 transferred below and the boats dropped carefully through 
 the ledge near the shore, where the water was less rough, 
 and reached the camp below the great falls in safety. 
 
 While resting here there occurred one of the most inter- 
 esting scenes of this whole remarkable journey. In the 
 transportation of goods over the mountains robberies had 
 been committed of beads, etc., and now the last man in the 
 whole party Stanley would wish to have accused of theft 
 was found guilty the noble, brave, reliable and kind 
 Uledi. True as steel in the hour of danger, quiet, obedient, 
 thinking nothing of his life if Stanley asked him to risk 
 it, he had yet stolen not things of ordinary value, but 
 that on which their very existence might depend. Cloth 
 was getting so plenty among the natives that its value was 
 very much decreased, but beads were worth ten times their 
 weight in gold, and these Uledi had stolen and hidden in 
 his mat. Of course this must be stopped at all hazards 
 and at whatever sacrifice, still Stanley would almost as soon 
 have lost his hand as to leave Uledi, as he threatened he 
 would the next man he found stealing, in the hands of the 
 savages as a slave forever. He therefore called the chiefs 
 together and made them a speech, in which he clearly 
 showed them that their lives depended on putting a stop to 
 theft, for if they were left without anything to buy pro- 
 visions with, they all would inevitably perish of famine
 
 572 "BEAT HIM JUST A LITTLE." 
 
 before they reached -the sea, and asked them what should 
 be done with Uledi, on whom stolen goods had been found. 
 The principal chief would not answer for some time, but 
 being urged to give his opinion said at last : It was very 
 hard, seeing it was Uledi. Had it been anybody else he 
 declared he would vote to pitch him into the river, but 
 now he gave his vote for flogging. The rest of the chiefs 
 concurred with him. Stanley then turned to the boat's 
 crew, of which Uledi was coxswain, and by whom he was 
 dearly loved. The principal one and the most relied on, 
 the watchman of the boat, replied, "Ah, it is a hard ques- 
 tion, master. He is like our elder brother; but, as the 
 fathers of the people have spoke, be it so; yet, for our 
 sakes, master, beat him just a little." He next accosted 
 Zaidi, by whose side Uledi had clung all night in the 
 midst of the cataract, and had saved his life by risking his 
 own. He replied, " Remember it is Uledi, master." Next 
 he addressed Uledi's brother, who cried "Spare Uledi, 
 but, if he must be flogged, give me half of it, I shall not 
 feel it if it is for Uledi." Last of all he asked the poor 
 culprit's cousin, when he replied in a speech that the 
 London Athenaeum, in quoting it, said would stand beside 
 that of Jeanie Dean's, when pleading for her sister. The 
 poor fellow asked, " Will the master give his slave liberty 
 to speak?" "Yes," replied Stanley. He then came 
 forward, and kneeling before him and clasping his feet 
 with his hands, said : " The master is wise. All things 
 that happen he writes in a book. Each day there is some- 
 thing written. We black men know nothing, neither 
 have we any memory. What we saw yesterday is to- 
 day forgotten. Yet the master forgets nothing. Perhaps, 
 if the master will look into his book, he may see some- 
 thing in it about Uledi. How Uledi behaved on Lake 
 Tanganika ; how he rescued Zaidi from the cataract ; how
 
 A TOUCHING APPEAL. 573 
 
 he has saved many men, whose names I cannot remember, 
 from the river Bill Ali, Mabruki, Kom-kusi and others. 
 How he worked harder on the canoe than any three men ; 
 how he has been the first to listen to your voice always ; 
 how he has been the father of the boat-boys. With 
 Uledi, master, the boat-boys are good and ready, without 
 him they are nothing. Uledi is Shumari's brother. If 
 Uledi is bad, Shumari is good. Uledi is my cousin. If, 
 as the chiefs say, Uledi should be punished, Shumari 
 says he will take half of the punishment ; then give Saywa 
 the other half, and set Uledi free. Saywa has spoken." 
 
 All this was uttered in a low, humble tone, with his head 
 bowed to Stanley's feet. Stanley could not resist such an 
 appeal, and said: "Very well, Uledi, by the voice of 
 the people, is condemned; but as Shumari and Saywa 
 have promised to take the punishment on themselves, 
 Uledi is set free and Shumari and Saywa are par- 
 doned." The moment the poor fellow was set free, he 
 stepped forward and said : " Master, it was not Uledi who 
 stole it was the devil which entered into his heart." This 
 touching scene is given, not merely for its pathos, but 
 because these untutored natives, here in the wilds of Africa, 
 illustrated the principles that lie at the very foundation of the 
 Christian religion. First, they recognized the great funda- 
 mental doctrine of atonement of expiation the suffering 
 of the innocent in the place of the guilty, by which the 
 offender can be pardoned. In the second place, Uledi 
 uttered over again the sentiments of Paul When a man's 
 whole nature revolts at the wrong he has done, and hates 
 himself for it, it is not he that commits it, but " sin that 
 dwelleth in him," when he would do good, evil was present 
 with him. It was a happy termination of the affair, for 
 it would have been a cruel act to have had the noble, true, 
 unselfish and brave Uledi suffer the indignity of a whip.
 
 574 AN UNEXPECTED DILEMMA. 
 
 As in God's arrangement, forgiveness here was a severer 
 condemnation of crime than punishment would have been. 
 
 Another scene occurred, while in camp, that shows on 
 what an insignificant, nay, ridiculous, thing the fate of 
 a great expedition may turn. One day, Stanley being at 
 leisure, took out his note-book and began to write, as was 
 his custom when he had a few hours to himself. The na- 
 tives, who flocked into camp in great numbers daily, noticed 
 him and began to whisper among themselves. The crowd 
 around him gradually increased and began to be strangely 
 agitated, as the word "tara tara" passed from lip to lip, and 
 presently, as if seized by a single impulse, they all ran 
 away. Stanley merely observed the fact without stopping 
 to think what the cause of this sudden abandonment of the 
 camp might be. He therefore went on writing, when 
 suddenly he was startled by loud war-cries ringing far and 
 near over the mountain top, and, in two hours after, saw 
 between five and six hundred natives fully armed rushing 
 down the table-land toward the camp. He quickly mus- 
 tered his men to be prepared for what seemed an unpro- 
 voked attack, but determined, if possible, to avoid a collision. 
 He therefore advanced toward them as they drew near, 
 and, sitting down on the ground, in a friendly tone asked 
 what it all meant and why they had come in such a war- 
 like manner to their friends. A large savage, acting as 
 spokesman, replied that they had seen him make marks on 
 some "tara tara." Those black lines he had drawn on 
 paper, he said, would bring sickness and death and utter 
 ruin on the land, and the people, and animals, unless the 
 book containing them was burnt up. 
 
 Here was an unexpected dilemma. He must burn up 
 that note-book or fight these five or six hundred armed, 
 desperate savages. But that note-book, the gathered re- 
 sults of nearly three years of exploration, was the most
 
 STANLEY PERPLEXED. 575 
 
 precious thing on earth to him. He was astounded and 
 sorely perplexed at the strange demand burn up that note- 
 book ! He might as well burn up himself. Even if he 
 could remember his main adventures, he could not recall 
 all the observations, plans of maps and routes, and statistics 
 of every kind it contained, and, without which, the whole 
 expedition was a failure. No, he could not give it up, but 
 what then fight one against four, all armed with muskets, 
 to retain it ? Suppose he could put them to rout, it could 
 not be done without a serious loss of life to himself as well 
 as to them. But this was not the worst of it with the 
 natives friendly and aiding him as they had done and sup- 
 plying him with provisions, it would be almost a miracle 
 if he ever reached the sea-shore ; but with them hostile, 
 even if he could fight his way through them, he would 
 certainly perish from famine, for he could obtain no pro- 
 visions, without which, he and the book would perish 
 together. But, still, he could not give up that book, and 
 he turned over in his mind every conceivable plan of 
 averting the catastrophe. Finally, he told them to wait a 
 moment, while, in the meantime, he stepped back to his 
 tent as if to fetch it. 
 
 All at once it occurred to him that he might substitute 
 another book for it, if, among his scant collection, he 
 could find one at all resembling it. Turning them over, 
 he came across a volume of Shakespeare of just about 
 the same size. True the binding was different, but those 
 savages knew as little of the peculiar binding of a book as 
 they did of its contents. Besides, it lay open on Stanley's 
 knee when they saw it, and they observed only the black 
 lines. However, the attempt to pass it off on these wild 
 savages for the real book was worth making. So taking it 
 in his hand, he walked back to where they stood with 
 ferocious looks waiting for his determination, and handing
 
 576 POCOKE UNUSUALLY EXHILAKATED. 
 
 it to them, told them to take it. No, they would not touch 
 it, he must burn it. Well, Stanley said, he would do any- 
 thing to please such good friends as they were. So together 
 they went to a camp-fire near by, and solemnly consigned 
 poor Shakespeare to the flames. 
 
 The natives were delighted at this evidence of Stanley's 
 good-will, and became faster friends than ever. What he 
 would have done had it come to the issue burn that note- 
 book or fight he does not tell us. 
 
 The river had been thoroughly explored for two miles 
 below where they were encamped to the head of Zinga 
 Falls. It was a rough, wild stretch of water, but it was 
 thought it might be passed safely by using great caution 
 and keeping out of the midstream rapids. At all events, 
 Stanley had determined to try it first himself in his own 
 boat a resolution that nearly cost him his life. The next 
 day, the 3d of June, the attempt was to be made, and 
 Frank passed the evening in Stanley's tent in great spirits, 
 talking and singing songs of merry old England. He was 
 always singing, and most of the time religious songs which 
 he had learned at home. The wilds of Africa had equal- 
 ized these men, and they held sweet communion together 
 this last night on the banks of the wild river. Frank 
 seemed unusually exhilarated, little dreaming, alas, that 
 the next night his lifeless body would be tossing amid the 
 rocks that lined the bed of the fierce torrent below his 
 merry songs all hushed nevermore to while away the 
 weary hours in this dreary solitude of Africa or brighten 
 the life of his England home.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE DEATH OF FRANK POCOKE. 
 
 ELEVATED FROM THE PLACE OF SERVANT TO THAT OF FRIEND PROPOSES TO TOSS UP TO DETER- 
 MINE WHETHER THEY SHALL FOLLOW THE LUALABA TO THE SEA OR NOT CHANCE DECIDES 
 THEY SHALL POCOKE'S SHOES BECOME WORN OUT IN THE FOREST IS MADE LAME PASSAGE 
 OF THEMOWWA FALLS STANLEY'S PERIL POCOKE'S FATAL SELF-WILL HIS DEATH THE SIGHT 
 THAT STUNNED STANLEY A GLOOMY NIGHT FOR HIM POCOKE'S CHARACTER. 
 
 POCOKE, who, as stated previously, joined 
 the expedition under Stanley as a servant, and whose 
 brother had fallen at what proved to be the mere outset of 
 the real main expedition, had, by his intelligence, geniality, 
 ability and courage, and perhaps quite as much by the 
 necessity of companionship that Stanley felt the need of in 
 that wild region, and which only a white, civilized man 
 could furnish, had risen above the position he had taken 
 till Stanley looked upon him more as a friend than as a 
 servant. This was natural ; he was the only man he could 
 talk with in English ; the only man who had the taste and 
 manners of civilized life ; the only one who in the long 
 halt could in any way be his companion ; and, more than 
 all, the only man who he knew positively would stand by 
 him in the hour of danger to the last, and fall, if fall they 
 must, side by side. Whoever else might prove false in 
 these vast untrodden solitudes, Frank Pocoke, he well 
 knew, would not be one of them. Under such circum- 
 stances and conditions, Stanley would not have been the 
 true man he is if he had not lifted the servant up to the 
 place of friend, and he did. It was therefore but natural 
 
 577
 
 578 A TOSS-UP FOE A LIFE. 
 
 that in the long mental discussion at Ziangwe as to whether 
 he should return or choose some other route than through 
 the hostile tribes whose territory the waters of the Lualaba 
 washed, or push on at all hazards by following its current 
 to the sea, that he should take his quondam servant into 
 his confidence and they should together talk over all the 
 probabilities and possibilities of the different routes to be 
 adopted. In another place we have shown what those 
 difficulties were, and what the real or imaginable obstacles 
 were that confronted Stanley if he determined to follow the 
 Lualaba at all hazards to the sea. 
 
 In speaking of the death of young Pocoke, we wish to 
 show what influence he had at last in fixing the determi- 
 nation that led to his own death and Stanley's fame as an 
 explorer. One day, while Stanley was discussing with 
 Pocoke the wisest course to pursue, the latter said : " Mr. 
 Stanley, suppose we toss up, to determine whether we shall 
 follow the Lualaba as far as the Lowra, and then strike off 
 for Monbruto, or follow it to the sea ?" 
 
 Stanley, who had become almost indifferent as to whether 
 one course or the other would end his life, agreed, and a 
 toss-up was made, and the result being on the side of fol- 
 lowing the river to the sea, the drawing of straws was 
 resorted to. Three trials of chances were made, and the 
 decision of fate, as proposed by Pocoke, was to follow the 
 river to the sea. He little thought that accidental toss was 
 a toss-up for his own life, and that so trivial an affair settled 
 his fate forever. We know what was Stanley's final de- 
 cision, and though he does not acknowledge that this trial 
 by chances had any effect on his final determination, the 
 experience of human nature, since the world began, proves 
 that it must have had. Even Napoleon, who believed that 
 Providence was on the side of the strong battalions, had an 
 equally strong belief in his " star." While it, doubtless,
 
 SHOES WEARING OUT. 579 
 
 did have more or less influence on Stanley, it did not 
 weaken his faith in the " strong battalions," which was, in 
 his case, a wise provision, so far as he could make it, 
 against 'all possible and probable contingencies. 
 
 We have said thus much to show the real relations that 
 Frank Pocoke at last sustained to the expedition. In the 
 long and terrible march through the gloomy forest after 
 leaving Zywague, and before finally launching on the 
 Lualaba, to quit it no more till they reached the sea, or 
 lay at rest forever on its solitary banks, Pocoke's shoes 
 had become completely worn out. In traversing, half- 
 barefoot, the tangled undergrowth, they had at last given 
 out entirely, and the result was his feet became chafed, 
 and at last, through constant irritation, caused by the 
 necessity of hastening forward at all hazards, the abrasions 
 that would have healed, could they have made a short halt, 
 became ulcers, so that when they again struck the Lualaba 
 he was unable to walk any farther, and Stanley said that if 
 at any time they would have to leave the river and carry 
 around rapids, Frank would have to be carried also. Stan- 
 ley always led the way over the rapids and selected the 
 paths for hauling around the canoes, while Pocoke super- 
 intended the soldiers and distributed the rations, etc. But 
 now he was placed on the sick-list. 
 
 On the morning of the 3d of June, they came to the 
 Mowwa Falls, around which they must carry, and the men 
 shouldered the goods and baggage and started overland for 
 Zinga, three miles distant, while Stanley attempted to run 
 two small falls, named Massesse and Massassa, with the 
 boat's crew. Hugging the shore for about three-quarters 
 of a mile, they came at last to a lofty cliff, against which 
 the tide threw the down-rushing stream back in such fury 
 that great whirlpools were formed and they steered for the 
 centre of the river and endeavored >to stem the tide, but
 
 580 PASSAGE OF MOWWA FALLS. 
 
 failed. After fighting fiercely against the raging of whirl- 
 pools, they tried again to advance in another direction, 
 when Stanley discovered that his boat was fast filling with 
 water, while the surface became still more terribly agitated 
 at a point toward which he had been unconsciously drift- 
 ing. The danger now became imminent. Shouting to the 
 men to leave off bailing and pull for life for the shore, he 
 threw off his coat, belt and shoes, to be in readiness to 
 swim when the boat should capsize, as he expected it would. 
 A wild whirlpool was near the boat and for a moment it 
 seemed certain that it would drift into the vortex. But by 
 a strong effort it was forced away and they pulled for 
 shore. By the time they had reached it, the leaky boat 
 was half-full of water. Finding it impossible to proceed 
 in it he returned to Mowwa Falls, and after a short rest took 
 a canoe and tried to proceed. But while he was talking 
 with Pocoke, the crew had scattered, and as those who had 
 gone to Zinga had not returned, he determined to go over- 
 land and look after the goods, and leave to his chief cap- 
 tain, Manwa Sera, the supervision of the passage of the 
 falls. He told him to first send forward a reserve canoe 
 with short ropes fastened to the sides. "The crew," he said, 
 " will pick their way carefully down the river until near the 
 falls, then let the men judge for themselves whether they 
 are able to take the canoe farther. Above all things stick 
 to the shore and do not play with the river." He then 
 bade Pocoke good-bye, saying he would send him his 
 breakfast immediately with hammock bearers, shook hands 
 and turned to climb the mountain toward the camp. 
 
 Sending back the breakfast as he had promised, he paid 
 a visit to the kings of Zinga. Becoming anxious about 
 the boats, as this was the first time he had ever permitted 
 any one but himself to lead the way in any dangerous part 
 of the river, he about three o'clock took his glass and going
 
 A WRECKED CANOE. 583 
 
 to the shore began to look up the river that came tearing 
 out of the mountain like a wild animal and shaking the 
 shores with its loud thunder. Suddenly he saw something 
 black tossing amid the turbulent water. Scanning it 
 closely, he saw it was an upturned canoe and to its sides 
 several men were clinging. He instantly dispatched two 
 chiefs and ten men to a bend toward which the wreck was 
 drifting. The crew, however, knowing there was another 
 cataract just below, attempted to right the boat and save 
 themselves ; but, unable to do so, got on the keel and began 
 to paddle for dear life with their hands toward the shore. 
 As they got near the farther bank, he saw them jump off 
 the boat and swim for shore. They had hardly reached it 
 when the overturned boat shot by Stanley like an arrow 
 and with one fierce leap dashed over the brink of the cata- 
 ract and disappeared in the foam and tumult below. In a 
 few minutes a messenger arrived out of breath, saying that 
 eleven men were in that canoe, only eight of whom were 
 saved the other three being drowned, one of whom was 
 Pocoke. Stanley turned fiercely on Uledi, his coxswain, 
 and demanded how he came to let Pocoke, a lame man, go 
 in the rescue canoe. " Ah, master," he replied, " we could 
 not help it ; he would not wait. He said, * since the canoe 
 is going to camp I will go too. I am hungry and cannot 
 wait any longer. I cannot walk and I do not want you to 
 carry me, that the natives may all laugh at me. No, I 
 will go with you;' and refusing to listen to Captain 
 Manwa Sera, who remonstrated with him, he got in and 
 told us to cast off. We found no trouble in forcing our 
 way against the back current. We struck the down cur- 
 rent, and when we were near the fall I steered her into 
 the cove to take a good look at it first. When I had 
 climbed over the rocks and stood over it, I saw that it was 
 a bad place that it was useless to expect any canoe to go
 
 584 DEATH OF POCOKE. 
 
 over it without capsizing, and I went to the little master 
 and told. him so. He would not believe me, but sent other 
 men to report on it. They told the same story : that the 
 fall could not be passed by shooting over it in a canoe. 
 Then he said we were always afraid of a little water and 
 that we were no men. ' All right,' I said, ' if you say cast 
 off I am ready. I am not afraid of any water, but if any- 
 thing happens my master will be angry with me.' ' Cast 
 off,' the little master said, * nothing will happen ; am I not 
 here ?' You could not have counted ten, master, before we 
 were all sorry. The cruel water caught us and tossed and 
 whirled us about and shot us here and shot us there, and 
 the noise was fearful. Suddenly the little master shouted 
 ' Look out ! take hold of the ropes !' and he was tearing 
 his shirt off when the canoe, which was whirling round 
 and round with its bow in the air, was dragged down, 
 down, down, until I thought my chest would burst ; then 
 we were shot out into daylight again and took some breath. 
 The little master and two of the men were not to be seen, 
 but soon I saw the little master with his face upward but 
 insensible. I instantly struck out for him to save him, 
 but we were both taken down again and the water seemed 
 to be tearing my legs away ; but I would not give in ; I 
 held my breath hard then and I came to the surface, but 
 the little master was gone forever. This is my story, 
 master." Stanley then examined the men separately, to 
 ascertain if it were true and found it was. This man was 
 brave but not foolhardy, and the best and most reliable in 
 the whole party. 
 
 Stanley very briefly expressed the sadness and loneliness 
 of his feelings that night as he sat and looked on the 
 empty tent of young Pocoke, but no language can express 
 the utter desolation of his situation. His position, sur- 
 roundings, prospects, all combined to spread a pall black as
 
 DESOLATE CONDITION OF STANLEY. 585 
 
 midnight over his spirit and fill his heart with the gloomiest 
 forebodings. Sitting alone in the heart of a country never 
 before trod by the foot of a white man, on the banks of a 
 mysterious river, on whose bosom he was to be borne he 
 knew not where, the gloomy forest stretching away beyond 
 him, the huts of strange natives behind him, the water in 
 deep shadows rushing by, on whose foam and whirlpools 
 his friend had gone down, and whose body then lay tossing 
 amid the broken rock, the strangely silent tropical sky, 
 brilliant with stars, bending over him, the thoughts of 
 home and friends far away caused a sad and solemn gath- 
 ering of emotions and feelings around his heart till they 
 rushed over it like that rushing water, and made him in- 
 conceivably sad there in the depths of the forest. With 
 no one to talk to in his native tongue, no one to council 
 with, without one friend on whom he could rely, left all 
 alone to meet the unknown future, was to be left desolate 
 indeed. Before, he knew there was one arm on which he 
 always could lean, one stout, brave heart that would stand 
 unflinchingly by his side in the deadliest peril, share all his 
 dangers, and go cheerfully to the very gates of death with 
 him. But now he was alone, with none but natives around 
 him, with whom he must meet all the unknown dangers of 
 the untrodden wilderness before him perhaps be buried by 
 them in the gloomy forest or left to be devoured by canni- 
 bals. It was enough to daunt the bravest spirit, appall the 
 stoutest heart, and that lonely night on the banks of the 
 Lualaba will live in Stanley's memory forever. 
 
 Stanley pronounced a high eulogium on his young friend, 
 saying that he was a true African explorer he seemed to 
 like the dangers and even the sufferings of the expedition, 
 so well did they harmonize with his adventurous spirit. 
 Quick and resolute, he was always docile and in the heat 
 and excitement of battle would obey Stanley's slightest
 
 586 STANLEY'S EULOGIUM ON POCOKE. 
 
 wish with alacrity. He seemed fitted for an explorer : on 
 danger daunted him, no obstacle discouraged him, while 
 his frame, though slight, was tough and sinewy, and he 
 was capable of undergoing any amount of labor and could 
 endure the heaviest strain. He had so endeared himself 
 to Stanley that the latter said, in a letter to young Pocoke's 
 parents, that his death took away all the joy and exulta- 
 tion he should otherwise have felt in .accomplishing the 
 great task the two had undertaken together.
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 STANLEY MOURNING FOB HIS FRIEND A MUTINY SADNESS OF STANLEY RETURN OF THE 
 DESERTERS BOATS CARRIED OVER A HILL THE CHIEF CARPENTER CARRIED OVER THE FALLS 
 STANLEY RUNS THE MBELO FALLS MIRACULOUS ESCAPE FEELING _OF HIS PEOPLE THE 
 END OF THE CHASM ONE MILE AND A QUARTER A DAY FOR EIGHT MONTHS THE ARABS 
 STEAL, AND ARE MADE PRISONERS ARABS LEFT IN SLAVERY FOR STEALING FALLS OF ISIN- 
 GILA REACHED STANLEY RESOLVES TO LEAVE THE RIVER THE LADY ALICE ABANDONED 
 THE MARCH FOR BOMA ULEDI SLAPS A KING IN THE FACE STANLEY SENDS A LETTER TO 
 BOMA THE MESSENGERS DEPART HE MOVES ON MEETS AN ENEMY WHO BECOMES A FRIEND 
 A GLAD SURPRISE FOOD IN ABUNDANCE LUXURIES FOR STANLEY A SONG OF TRIUMPH- 
 STANLEY'S FEELINGS, AS SHOWN BY HIS LETTER REACH BOMA THE REACTION STANLEY 
 OFFERED A STEAMER HOME PREFERS TO STAND BY HIS ARABS RECEPTION AT CAPE TOWN 
 ZANZIBAR REACHED JOY OF THE ARABS AN AFFECTING SCENE FAREWELL TO STANLEY. 
 
 rilHE next morning Stanley arose with a sad and heavy 
 -L heart ; the cruel, relentless river seemed more re- 
 morseless than ever, and its waves flowed on with an 
 angrier voice, and that seemed full of hate and defiance. 
 
 Eighty men were still behind, at Mowwa, and the next 
 day word reached Stanley that they had mutinied, declar- 
 ing they would follow the river no longer, for death was in 
 it. He, borne down with his great loss, paid no attention 
 to the report, and stayed and mourned for his friend for 
 three days before he set out for Mowwa. He found the men 
 sullen, sad and reckless. It would be strange, however, if 
 he could not regain his old influence, which, after much 
 effort, he did. But he did not get all down to Zinga till 
 after four days. Meantime Frank's body had been found 
 floating, face upward, some distance below the falls. All 
 the canoes did not reach Zinga till the 19th, more than a 
 fortnight after Frank's death. 
 
 On June 20th Stanley began to make preparations to 
 continue on down the river. There had been dreadful 
 
 587
 
 588 REBELLION. 
 
 hard work in passing and getting round the falls where 
 Frank lost his life, but the worst of it was, when they had 
 succeeded, they seemed to have just begun their labors, for 
 now it had all got to be repeated over again. The men 
 had lost all spirit and did not seem to care what became of 
 them ; and so, when on the 20th, Stanley ordered the men 
 to their work to lay brushwood along the tracks marked 
 out for hauling the canoes from the Pocoke basin around 
 Zinga point into the basin beyond, the men seemed disin- 
 clined to move. Stanley, in surprise, asked what was the 
 matter. " We are tired of this," growled a burly fellow, 
 " and that's what's the matter." 
 
 Stanley soon discovered that he was not alone in his 
 opinion, and, though once he would have quelled this 
 spirit of rebellion with prompt, determined action, he did 
 not feel like using harsh measures now, or even harsh 
 language. He knew he had tasked them to the uttermost 
 that they had followed his bidding unquestioned, as far 
 as he ought to ask them, and so he called them together to 
 talk with them and give them an opportunity to tell 
 frankly their grievances. But there was nothing to say, 
 except they had gone far enough, and did not mean to 
 make another effort. Death and famine awaited them, and 
 they might as well give up first as last. Stanley did not 
 attempt even to appeal to them, except indirectly. He 
 simply told them that he, too, was hungry, and could have 
 had meat, but saved it for them. He, too, was weary and 
 sad. They might leave him if they choose he had his 
 boat still, and if he was left alone, he had but to step into 
 it the falls were near, and he would soon be at rest with 
 his friend. It is most pitiful and sad .to see how the in- 
 domitable will of this strong man has given way. The 
 bold and confident manner with which he set out from 
 Nyangwe the healthy, cheery tone in which he addressed
 
 WEAEY OF LIFE. 589 
 
 them when bowed down with grief at the farewell song of 
 Tipo-tipo's Arabs are gone, and in their place has come a 
 great weariness and despair. To see such a strong man 
 forced at last to yield, awakens our deepest sympathy. No 
 wonder he was weary of life, and longed to die. Under 
 the terrible mental and physical strain of the last six 
 months the toughest nature must give way, while to this was 
 added the feebleness that comes from want of food and the 
 utterly dreary, hopeless prospect before him. As he stood 
 amid his dusky followers, his once sinewy frame looked 
 lean and languid, and his voice had a weary, despairing 
 tone. The star of fame that had led him on was gone 
 down, and life itself had lost all its brightness, and when 
 he had done speaking he turned away indifferent as to the 
 future. The men listened, but their hungry, despairing 
 hearts felt no sympathy. They, too, had reached the 
 point of indifference as to the future, except they would no 
 longer cling to that cruel river, and thirty-one packed 
 their baggage and filed away up the ascent and were soon 
 lost to view. When it was told to Stanley, he inquired 
 how many had gone. Learning that only thirty-one had 
 left, and that the rest would stand by him to the last, he 
 roused himself, and unwilling that the faithful should perish 
 through the disaffection of a few men, he sent messengers 
 after the deserters to plead with them to come back. They 
 overtook them five miles away and urged them to return, 
 but in vain. Setting the faithful to work, he dispatched 
 two men to cut off the fugitives, and tell the chiefs not to 
 let them pass through their territory. They obeyed, and 
 beat the war-drum, which so terrified the wanderers that 
 they were glad to return. It would seem strange that men 
 who had been accustomed to obey him implicitly for nearly 
 three years, and had stood by him so staunchly in many a 
 fight and through countless perils, could so easily desert
 
 590 THE LIVINGSTONE LOST. 
 
 Mm now. But despair will make even a wise man mad, 
 and these poor creatures had got into that hopeless condi- 
 tion which makes all men reckless. Starting off with no 
 definite aim in view, no point to travel toward, shows how 
 desperate they had become. No wonder they saw no hope 
 in clinging to the river, for they had now been over a month 
 going three miles, and it seemed worse than useless to 
 attempt to push on farther in that direction. 
 
 On the 23d of June, the work was commenced of hauling 
 out the canoes to take them over a hill two hundred feet 
 high, and by noon three were safely on the summit. Next 
 came the Livingstone, which had been recently made. It 
 weighed some three tons, yet, with the aid of a hundred 
 and fifty natives, they had succeeded in getting it twenty 
 feet up the bank, when the cables parted and it shot swiftly 
 back into the river. The chief carpenter clung to it, and, 
 being carried beyond his depth, climbed into it. He was 
 only a short distance above the falls, and the brave Uledi, 
 seeing his peril, plunged into the river, and, swimming to 
 the boat, called out to him to leap overboard instantly. 
 The poor wretch replied that he could not swim. "Jump," 
 shouted Uledi, "you are drifting toward the cataract." 
 The terrified creature, as he cowered in the canoe, faltered 
 out, " I am afraid to." " Well, then," said Uledi, " you 
 are lost brother, good-bye," and struck out with all his 
 might for the shore. A minute's longer delay, and he, 
 too, would have been lost, for, though a strong swimmer, 
 he was able, only by the most desperate effort, to reach 
 shore less than sixty feet from the brink of the falls. The 
 next minute the canoe was shooting over them into the 
 boiling cauldron below. Tossed up and down and whirled 
 about, it finally went down and was seen no more. 
 
 The next day, the other boats were got up, and then the 
 process of letting them down was commenced. This was
 
 SAFELY OVER. 593 
 
 done in safety, when the goods were sent overland to the 
 Mbelo Falls beyond, while the boats should attempt to run 
 the rapids. There was no abrupt descent, but a wild waste 
 of tumbling, roaring water dashing against the cliffs and 
 rocks in reckless fury. Stanley resolved to try them first, 
 before risking his men, and embarked in the Lady Alice, 
 and, with men on shore holding cables attached to the bow 
 and stern, drifted slowly downward amid the rocks. The 
 little boat seemed a mere toy amid the awful scenery in 
 which it floated, and Stanley felt, as it rocked beneath him, 
 what a helpless thing it would be in the wild and turbulent 
 midstream. But just as he had reached the most dangerous 
 point, one of the cables parted. The boat swung to, when 
 the other snapped asunder and the frightened thing was 
 borne like a bubble into the boiling surge and carried 
 downward like an arrow. Down, down, between the 
 frowning precipices, now barely escaping a huge rock, and 
 now lifted like a feather on the top of a wave, it swept on, 
 apparently, to certain destruction. But death had lost all 
 its terrors to these hard-hunted men, and the six in the 
 boat sat resigned to their fate. The brave Uledi, however, 
 kept his hand on the helm and his steady eye on the hell 
 of waters around and before them. Sometimes caught in 
 a whirlpool that whirled them around and around, and 
 then springing like a panther down a steep incline, the 
 boat continued to plunge on its mad course with death on 
 every side, until at last it shot into the Niguru basin, when 
 they rowed to the sandy beach of Kilanga. Here^ amid 
 the rocks, they found the broken boat in which Pocoke 
 went down, and the body of one of the men who was 
 drowned with him jammed among the fragments. 
 
 Stanley looked back on this perilous ride with strange 
 feelings. It seemed as if fate, while trying him to the 
 utmost, was determined he should not perish, but fulfill
 
 594 "IT IS THE HAND OF GOD." 
 
 the great mission he had undertaken. His people seemed 
 to think so, too, for when they saw his boat break adrift 
 and launch into the boiling rapids, they gave him up for 
 lost ; but when they caught sight of him coming toward 
 them alive and well, they gave way to extravagant joy and 
 exclaimed, " it is the hand of God we shall reach the sea." 
 The escape was so wonderful, almost miraculous, that they 
 could not but believe that God had spared him to save 
 them all. 
 
 They now pushed on with little trouble to Mpakambendi, 
 the terminus of the chasm, ninety-three miles long, in 
 which they had been struggling a hundred and seventeen 
 days. This simple statement conveys very little to the 
 ear, yet what fearful shapes does it conjure up to the 
 imagination ! Ninety-three miles of rapids and cataracts, 
 with only here and there a stretch of smooth water ! A 
 mile and a quarter a day was all the progress they had 
 made now for nearly four months. No wonder the poor 
 Arabs gave up in despair and refused any longer to follow 
 the river. 
 
 Although below the chasm the stream did not flow with 
 that placidity it did through the cannibal region, still, it 
 did not present any dangerous rapids, and they glided on 
 toward the sea with new hopes. 
 
 The natives along the banks were friendly, though diffi- 
 culties were constantly arising from the theiving propen- 
 sities of the Arabs. Two were seized by the natives, and 
 Stanley had nearly to bankrupt himself to redeem them, 
 on which he gave the men a talk and told them plainly 
 that this was positively the last time he would redeem a 
 single prisoner seized for theft, nor would he resort to 
 force to rescue him. 
 
 It was now the 7th day of July, and although hope had 
 revived in the hearts of the people, some of the sick felt
 
 PROVISIONS SCARCE. 595 
 
 that they should never see their native island again. Two 
 died this day and were buried on the banks of the river 
 whose course they had followed so long. They now had 
 clear, though not smooth, sailing for some nine or ten 
 miles, when they came to another fall. This was passed 
 in safety, with the assistance of the natives, who assembled 
 in great numbers and volunteered their services, for which 
 they were liberally rewarded. More or less broken water 
 was experienced, but not bad enough to arrest the progress of 
 the boats. Provisions were getting scarce, and consequently 
 the thieving propensity of the Arabs to obtain them more 
 actively exhibited itself, and one man, caught while digging 
 up roots in a garden, was held as a prisoner. The men 
 asked his release, but Stanley, finding that the price which 
 the natives asked for his redemption was far greater than 
 his means to pay, would not interfere, and he was left to 
 live and die in perpetual slavery. But this did not stop 
 thieving, and soon another man was caught in the act and 
 made prisoner. This case was submitted to the chiefs, and 
 tfheir decision was to let him remain in slavery. But the 
 men were starving, and even this terrible exhibition of the 
 doom that awaited them was not sufficient to deter the men 
 from stealing food. The demands of the stomach overrode 
 all fears of punishment, and three or four days after 
 another man was detected and made a prisoner. He, too, 
 was left to live and die a slave in the hands of the natives. 
 Dangerous rapids were now and then encountered, but 
 they were passed without accident, and Stanley at last 
 found that he was close to the sea. He announced the 
 fact to his people, who were intensely excited at the news. 
 One man, a boatman, went crazy over it, and, shouting 
 " we have reached the sea, we are at home," rushed into 
 the woods and was never seen again. The poor wretch, 
 probably, lay down at last in the forest, with the groves of
 
 596 THE LADY ALICE ABANDONED. 
 
 Zanzibar, in imagination, just ahead of him. Sweeping 
 downward, frequent rapids occurred, but the expedition 
 kept on until it reached the district of Kilolo. 
 
 Stanley here lay down weary and hungry, but was 
 aroused by musket-shots. His people, starving and des- 
 perate, had scattered about, entering every garden they saw 
 to get something to eat, and the natives had attacked 
 them. Soon wounded men were brought in, % whom the 
 natives had shot. Several had been captured whom Stan- 
 ley refused to redeem, and they were left to pine in endless 
 captivity, never again to see the hills of Zanzibar, as he 
 over and over again had promised they should. 
 
 Changing from bank to bank, as the character of the 
 river changed, the expedition, on the 30th of July, heard 
 in advance the roar of the cataract of Isingila. Here 
 Stanley ascertained that they were but five days' journey 
 from Embomma, a distance always traveled by land by 
 the natives, on account of the obstructions in the river. 
 
 As the whole object of the expedition had been accom- 
 plished, and the short distance beyond these falls to the sea 
 was known to Europeans, he resolved to leave the river 
 and march by land to Embomma. At sunset the Lady 
 Alice was drawn out of the water to the top of some rocks 
 and abandoned forever. To Stanley it was like leaving a 
 friend behind. The boat had been his companion for 
 nearly three years. It had carried him over the waters of 
 the lakes, dashed at his bidding among hostile canoes, 
 rocked him to sleep amid the storms, borne him all safely 
 over foaming cataracts, and now it must be left ignobly to 
 rot in the wilds of Africa. As he turned to cast a last fare- 
 well glance on it resting mournfully on the rocks, the poor 
 boat had almost a human look, as if it knew it was to be 
 left behind and abandoned forever. . 
 , On the 1st of August, the famished, weary column took
 
 NSANDA REACHED. 597 
 
 up its line of march toward the sea the mothers carrying 
 infants, that had been born amid the cataracts, and the 
 larger children trudging slowly after. Nearly forty of the 
 one hundred and fifteen were sick, and though it was painful 
 to travel, they were cheered by the promise that in four or 
 five days they should once more look on the sea, toward 
 which their longing hearts had been turned for so many 
 weary months. Coming to a village, the king stopped them 
 and told them they could not pass without they gave him a 
 bottle of rum. Uledi, hastening up, asked Stanley what 
 the old man wanted. " Rum," he replied. Hitting him 
 a severe slap in the face, " there is rum for him," growled 
 Uledi, as the drunken negro tumbled over. The latter 
 picked himself up and hurried away, and Stanley and his 
 worn and wasted band passed on without further molestation. 
 
 It was hard to get food, for one party would demand 
 rum and refused to furnish it without, another wanted 
 them to wait till the next market-day. 
 
 On the third day they reached Nsanda, the king of 
 which told Stanley it was but three days' march to the 
 sea. The latter asked him if he would carry a letter to 
 Embomma for him. He replied no, but after four hours 
 of hard urging he agreed to furnish guides for three of 
 Stanley's men. 
 
 The next day they set out, carrying the following letter: 
 
 VILLAGE NSANDA, August 4th, 1877. 
 To any gentleman who speaks English at Embomma. 
 
 DEAR SIR: I have arrived at this place from Zanzibar with 
 one hundred and fifteen souls, men, women and children. 
 We are now in a state of imminent starvation. We can 
 buy nothing from the natives, for they laugh at our kinds of 
 cloth, beads and wire. There are no provisions in the 
 country that may be purchased except on market-days, and
 
 598 APPEAL FOR HELP. 
 
 starving people cannot afford to wait for these markets. I 
 therefore have made bold to dispatch three of my young 
 men, natives of Zanzibar, with a boy named Robert Ferugi 
 of the English mission at Zanzibar, with this letter, craving 
 relief from you. I do not know you, but I am told there 
 is an Englishman at Embomma, and as you are a Christian 
 and a gentlemen, I beg of you not to disregard my request. 
 The boy Robert will be better able to describe our condition 
 than I can tell you in a letter. We are in a state of the 
 greatest distress, but, if your supplies arrive in time, I may 
 be able to reach Embomma in four days. I want three 
 hundred cloths, each four yards long, of such quality as you 
 trade with, which is very different from that we have ; but 
 better than all would be ten or fifteen man-loads of rice or 
 grain to fill their pinched bellies immediately, as, even 
 with the cloths it would require time to purchase food, and 
 starving men cannot wait. The supplies must arrive within 
 two days, or I may have a fearful time of it among the 
 dying. Of course I hold myself responsible for any ex- 
 pense you may incur in this business. What is wanted is 
 immediate relief^ and I pray you to use your utmost ener- 
 gies to forward it at once. For myself, if you have such 
 little luxuries as tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits by you, such 
 as one man can easily carry, I beg you, on my own behalf, 
 that you will send a small supply, and add to "the great debt 
 of gratitude due to you upon the timely arrival of supplies 
 for my people. Until that time, I beg you to believe me, 
 
 Yours, sincerely, 
 
 H. M. STANLEY, 
 Commanding Anglo-American Expedition, 
 
 for Exploration of Africa. 
 
 p. g. You may not know my name ; I therefore add, 
 I am the person that discovered Livingstone. 
 
 H. M. S
 
 ULEDI HEADY. 599 
 
 
 
 After writing this letter, Stanley called his chiefs and 
 boat's crew to his tent and told them of his purpose to send 
 a letter to Embomma for relief, and wanted to know which 
 were the most reliable men would travel fastest and least 
 likely to be arrested or turned back by obstacles. The 
 ever-ready Uledi sprang to his feet and exclaimed, as he 
 tightened his belt, " O master, I am ready now I" The 
 other volunteers responded as quickly, and the next day, 
 the guides appearing, they started off. In the meantime, 
 the expedition resumed its slow march, having eaten 
 nothing but a few nuts to stay their stomachs. Coming 
 to a village, the chief demanded payment for passing 
 through his country, and armed his followers; but on 
 Stanley threatening to destroy every man in the place, his 
 rage subsided, he shook hands, and peace was made and 
 sealed by a drink of palm wine and the promise of a bottle 
 of rum. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Uledi and his companions pressed 
 swiftly on, but when about halfway, the guides, becoming 
 frightened, deserted them. Unable to obtain others, they 
 resolved to follow the Congo. All day long they pressed 
 steadily forward, and, just after sunset, reached Boma, to 
 which Embomma had been changed, and delivered the 
 letter. The poor fellows had not tasted food for thirty 
 hours, and were well-nigh famished. They soon had 
 abundance, and the next morning (August 6th), while 
 Stanley was leading on his bloated, haggard, half-starved, 
 staggering men, women and children, Uledi started back 
 with carriers loaded down with provisions. 
 
 At nine o'clock, the expedition had to stop and rest. 
 While they lay scattered about on the green sward, sud- 
 denly an Arab boy shouted, " I see Uledi coming down 
 the hill !" and sure enough there were Uledi and Kacheche 
 leaping down the slope and waving their arms in the air.
 
 600 WE AKE SAVED. 
 
 4 
 
 " La il Allah, il Allah !" went up in one wild shout " we 
 are saved, thank God!" Uledi had brought a letter to 
 Stanley, who had scarcely finished reading it when the 
 carriers appeared in sight laden with provisions. The 
 sick and lame struggled to their feet, and, with the others, 
 pressed around them. While Stanley was distributing 
 them, one of the boat-boys struck up a triumphant song, 
 that echoed far over the plain. They then set to and ate 
 as only starving men can eat. 
 
 When all were supplied, Stanley turned to his tent, to 
 open the private packages sent to him. Heavens ! what a 
 spectacle met his astonished sight ! A few hours before, 
 he had made his breakfast on a few green bananas and 
 peanuts, washed with a cup of muddy water, and now 
 before him were piled champagne, port and sherry wines, 
 and ale, and bread, and butter, and tea, and sugar, and 
 plum-pudding, and various kinds of jam in short, enough 
 luxuries to supply half a regiment. How Stanley felt that 
 night as he looked on his happy, contented followers, may 
 be gathered from the following extract from a letter he 
 sent back next day to his kind-hearted deliverers. After 
 acknowledging the reception of the bountiful supplies, he 
 says: 
 
 " Dear Sirs though strangers I feel we shall be great 
 friends, and it will be the study of my lifetime to remember 
 my feelings of gratefulness when I first caught sight of 
 your supplies, and my poor faithful and brave people cried 
 out, ' Master, we are saved food is coming !' The old and 
 the young men, the women and the children lifted their 
 wearied and worn-out frames and began lustily to chant an 
 extemporaneous song in honor of the white people by the 
 great salt sea (the Atlantic), who had listened to their 
 prayers. I had to rush to my tent to hide the tears that 
 would come, despite all my attempts at composure.
 
 A GREAT REACTION. 601 
 
 " Gentlemen, that the blessing of God may attend your 
 footsteps, whithersoever you go, is the very earnest prayer 
 of 
 
 "Yours faithfully, 
 
 " HENRY M. STANLEY." 
 
 That day was given up to feasting and rejoicing, and the 
 next morning a very, different looking set of men they 
 started forward. All this and the next day they marched 
 cheerfully over the rolling country, and on the third, while 
 slowly descending a hill, they saw a string of hammocks 
 approaching, and soon Stanley stood face to face with four 
 white men, and so long had he been shut up in a country 
 of blacks that they impressed him strangely. After some 
 time spent in conversation they insisted on his getting into 
 a hammock, and borne by eight stout bearers he was car- 
 ried into Boma, where rest and abundance awaited him. 
 He stayed in this little village of a hundred huts only one 
 day and then embarked on a steamer for the mouth of the 
 river, a hundred or more miles away. Turning northward 
 he reached Kabinda, where one of the expedition died. 
 The reaction on these poor creatures after their long and 
 desperate struggle was great, and they fell back into a sort 
 of stupor. Stanley himself felt its influence and would fall 
 asleep while eating. The sense of responsibility, however, 
 roused him and he attempted in turn to arouse his men. 
 But, notwithstanding all his efforts, four died of this malady 
 without a name after he reached Loanda, and three more 
 afterwards on board the vessel that carried them to Cape 
 Town. 
 
 Stanley gave his poor followers eight days' rest at Ka- 
 binda and then in a Portuguese vessel proceeded to Loanda. 
 Here the governor-general offered to send him in a gun- 
 boat to Lisbon. This generous offer was very tempting,
 
 AT CAPE TOWN. 
 
 arid many would have accepted it, but Stanley would not 
 leave his Arab friends who had shared his toils and hard- 
 ships, and shown an unbounded trust in his promise to see 
 them back to Zanzibar. A passage being offered them in 
 the British ship Industry, to Cape Town, Stanley accepted 
 it and, instead of going home where comfort and fame 
 awaited him, turned southward with his Arab followers. 
 At Cape Town he was received with every mark of distinc- 
 tion, and delivered a lecture there giving a brief account of 
 the expedition, especially that part of it relating to the 
 Congo. A British vessel here was placed at his disposal, 
 and while she was refitting Stanley gave his astonished 
 Arabs a ride on a railroad, on which they were whirled 
 along at the rate of thirty miles an hour. Of all the won- 
 ders they had seen since they left Zanzibar, nearly three 
 years before, this was the greatest. Entertainments were 
 got up for them, suitable garments for that cold latitude 
 provided, till these poor, simple children of nature were 
 made dizzy by the attentions they received. Among other 
 things a special evening was set apart for them in the 
 theatre, and they were thrown into raptures at the per- 
 formance of the acrobats and made the building ring with 
 their wild Arab shouts of approval. 
 
 At length, on the 6th of November, nearly two months 
 from the time they reached the Atlantic coast, they set sail 
 for Zanzibar. Stopping for two days at Natal to coal, 
 where every possible attention was lavished on them, they 
 again put to sea and stretched northward through the 
 Indian Ocean. 
 
 Day after day these now contented people lay around on 
 deck, drinking in health from the salt sea air. All but 
 one was shaking off every form of disease contracted in 
 their long wanderings. This was a woman who was 
 slowly dying, and who was kept alive alone by the thought
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY ENDED. 603 
 
 of seeing her home once more. At last the hills of Zanzi- 
 bar arose over the sea, and as these untutored Arabs traced 
 their well-known outline, their joy was unbounded, and 
 Stanley felt repaid for the self-denial that had refused a 
 passage home from Loanda and to stick by his faithful 
 followers to the last. Their excitement increased as the 
 caves and inlets grew more distinct, and at last the cocoa- 
 nut and mangrove-trees became visible. As the vessel 
 entered port their impatience could not be restrained, and 
 the captain of the vessel, sympathizing with their feelings, 
 had no sooner dropped anchor than he manned the boats, 
 while the eager creatures crowded the gangway and ladder, 
 all struggling to be the first to set foot on their native 
 island. As boat-load after boat-load reached the shore, 
 with a common feeling they knelt on the beach and cried 
 "Allah!" and offered up their humble thanksgiving to 
 God, who had brought them safely back to their homes. 
 
 The news of their arrival spread like wild-fire on every 
 side, and soon their relatives and friends came flocking in 
 from all directions, and glad shouts, and wild embracings, 
 and floods of glad tears made a scene that stirred Stanley's 
 heart to its profoundest -depths. Still, there was a dark 
 side to the picture. Scores of those that came rushing 
 forward to greet them, fell back shedding tears, not of 
 gladness, but of sorrow, for they found not those whom 
 they fondly hoped to meet. Of the three hundred that 
 had set out, nearly three years before, only one hundred 
 and twelve were left and of these, one, the poor sick 
 woman, lived only long enough to be clasped in her 
 father's arms, when she died. 
 
 The great journey was ended, and Stanley, after paying 
 off the living and the relatives of the dead, at last started 
 for home. As he was about to enter the boat that was to 
 bear him to the ship, the brave Uledi and the chiefs
 
 604 TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 shoved it from shore, ana seizing Stanley, bore him through 
 the surf on their shoulders. And when the latter stood on 
 deck, as the vessel slowly steamed away, the last object he 
 saw on shore through his eyes, filled with tears, was his 
 Arab friends watching him till he should disappear from 
 sight. 
 
 An enthusiastic reception awaited him in England, 
 while from every part of the continent distinguished honors 
 were bestowed upon him. 
 
 He had performed one of the most daring marches on 
 record traced out, foot by foot, one of the largest lakes of 
 Central Africa, followed the mightiest river, which, from 
 the creation, has been wrapped in mystery, from its source 
 to its mouth, and made a new map of the "dark conti- 
 nent.' 1 
 
 Among the testimonials of the estimation in which the 
 great work he had accomplished was held, may be men- 
 tioned the gift of the portrait of King Humbert of Italy, 
 by himself, with the superscription : 
 
 "ALL 1 INTREPEDO VIAGGATORE, 
 ENRICO STANLEY. 
 
 UMBERTO EE. 
 
 TO THE INTREPID TRAVELER, 
 HENRY STANLEY. 
 
 KING HUMBERT." 
 
 The Prince of Wales also complimented him warmly on 
 his achievements, while the Khedive of Egypt conferred on 
 him the high distinction of the Grand Commandership of 
 the Order of Medjidie, with the star and collar. The 
 Royal Geographical Society, of London, gave him a public 
 reception, and made him Honorary Corresponding Mem- 
 ber, and the Geographical Societies and Chambers of
 
 HONORED EVERYWHERE. 605 
 
 Commerce, of Paris, Italy and Marseilles sent him medals. 
 He was also made Honorary Member of the Geographical 
 Societies of Antwerp, Berlin, Bordeaux, Bremen, Ham- 
 burg, Lyons, Marseilles, Montpelier, Vienna, etc., etc. 
 Honorary membership of almost every distinguished so- 
 ciety in England and on the continent were conferred on 
 him, and each and all seemed to vie with each other in 
 heaping honors on the most intrepid traveler of modern 
 times. Yet, as an American, it gives us great pleasure to 
 record the following sentiment, showing that Stanley takes 
 especial pride in being an American. He says : " For 
 another honor I have to express my thanks one which 
 I may be pardoned for regarding as more precious than 
 all the rest. The Government of the United States has 
 crowned my success with its official approval, and the 
 unanimous vote of thanks passed in both houses of legisla- 
 ture, has ma'de me proud for life of the expedition and its 
 
 success." 
 
 Dinners and banquets followed wherever he went, and 
 he yet awaits the honor his own country will confer on 
 him when he once more shall visit it.
 
 : 
 
 , : I 
 
 . , - 
 
 -:..'," I , '._; M -;./; 
 ^1 ' ' I ^B 1 1 
 
 1 . rf ^- u:: : " ;.: 
 
 -.-.- 5 J v 
 
 : i ' -. 
 
 I .: P 
 
 1 ' '-.--. '' 
 
 -.; ' - - . - ' 
 ^."' .'v -.'. 
 
 '- I Ij '..":. i '-' ; ^ '. 
 
 H i ' 
 
 " :,'... 3 : 
 
 , -,. ^ | 
 
 H 
 
 
 ""0. '-'- i "-'': g """ ^ ! 
 
 """' '-.- ''.'>- ' ! :,'': ,:/:. M '