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 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
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C (JocJi -r-scne. r\o be v^t^ 
 LIVES AND DISCOVERIES 
 
 OF 
 
 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 dTomptlefc bg tfje IBtritor of 
 
 'THE ENGLISH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS,' 'THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS,' ' THE TREASURY 
 
 OF MODERN PIOGRAPHY,' ETC. 
 
 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D., D.C.L. 
 
 SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 
 
 HENR Y M. S TA NLE Y. 
 
 MAJOR SERPA PINTO. - (fa^jZ-^u^- 
 
 FIFTH THOUSAND. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 R. WORTHINGTON, 
 
 770 BROADWAY. 
 
 1883. 
 
J^L 
 
 CTr 
 
 4 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 HE following accounts of the Lives and Discoveries 
 of several distinguished modern Travellers form 
 another volume in the list of popular works, 
 issued by the Publishers with the view of meeting the 
 steadily increasing demand for reading of a wholesome and 
 instructive character. The details in each case, for each 
 narrative, have been drawn directly from the original sources 
 of information, Dr. Livingstone's Missionary Travels; Sir 
 Samuel Baker's Albert Nyanza and Is?nailia ; Mr. H. M. 
 Stanley's Across the Dark Continent ; and for Major Pinto's 
 travels, the letter submitted to Lord Northbrook, President 
 of the Royal Geographical Society. 
 
 M313608 
 
D Liir-iLniriLnLniniriirpEi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 David Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L., . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5 
 
 Sir Samuel White Baker, 33 
 
 Henry M. Stanley, . . . 146 
 
 Major Serpa Pinto, 221 
 
T^s& riw. f J J JJ J SJ > <?*<**'? _ 
 
 V^ X /^^T^T- T ^ 
 
 LIVES AND DISCOVERIES OF 
 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D., D.C.L. 
 
 HE facts in the early life of Livingstone, though 
 familiar enough, have an undying interest to the 
 student of biography. In a character which 
 embraced so many simple, sincere, and earnest elements, 
 there is a danger of overlooking his simple, manly great- 
 ness. His great-grandfather fell at the battle of Culloden ; his 
 grandfather was a small farmer in Ulva, where Neil Livingstone, 
 his father, was born, and his youth was nurtured amongst 
 the traditionary legends of a past age. David Livingstone 
 was born at Blantyre, near Glasgow, in 1813. 
 
 Livingstone relates that his grandfather could give par- 
 ticulars of the lives of his ancestors for six generations. One 
 of these traditions told of a hardy islander, who, on his 
 death-bed, called his children round him, and said, * Now, 
 in my lifetime, I have searched most carefully through all 
 the traditions I could find of our family, and I never could 
 
 discover that there was a dishonest man among our fore- 
 
 5 
 
FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 fathers. If, therefore, any of you, or any of your children, 
 should take to dishonest ways, it will not be because it 
 runs in our blood ; it does not belong to you. I leave 
 this precept with you, " Be honest ! " ' Like many of the 
 Highlanders, his ancestors were Roman Catholics; but he 
 says * they were made Protestants by the laird coming 
 round with a man having a yellow staff, which would seem 
 to have attracted more attention than his teaching, for the 
 new religion went long afterwards, perhaps it does so still, 
 by the name of "the religion of the yellow stick." ' 
 
 The island of Ulva yielding insufficient support for a 
 numerous family, his grandfather had removed to Blantyre 
 Works, situated on the Clyde, near Glasgow. His sons 
 were received as clerks in the factory there. His uncles 
 entered the army or navy, but his father remained at home, 
 carrying on the business of a small tea-dealer, but was, as 
 his son remarks, too conscientious to become rich. They 
 were members of the Church of Scotland, a religious estab- 
 lishment which he speaks of as having been an incalculable 
 blessing to the country. During the last twenty years of his 
 life, however, he went to an Independent church in Hamilton, 
 where he held the office of deacon. Livingstone revered 
 his father's memory, and spoke of him as presenting to his 
 family a continuously consistent, pious example. His mother 
 he remembered as an anxious housewife, striving to make 
 both ends meet. 
 
 David Livingstone, at the age of ten, was sent to the 
 factory as a * piecer,' to help the household income. Part 
 of his first week's wages he expended in buying Ruddiman's 
 Rudiments of Latin. The study of Latin he vigorously 
 pursued at an evening school, which met between the hours 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 of eight and ten at night. Not unfrequently he would con- 
 tinue his studies till twelve o'clock, although he had to be 
 at the factory by six o'clock in the morning till eight in the 
 evening, with intervals for breakfast and dinner. He said, 
 in writing his Missionary Travels, that he knew Virgil and 
 Horace better in these early days than he did at that time. 
 In addition he read everything he could lay his hands on, 
 except novels. Works of travel, or books relating to scientific 
 research, were his favourites; and with his limited leisure 
 he managed to make himself acquainted with the scenery/ 
 botany, and geology of his native district. He had a habit 
 of fixing upon the spinning-jenny the book he was reading, 
 so that his eye could catch the sentence as he passed on 
 his work. His father, with a narrowness of mind character- 
 istic of many good men in his position, would have preferred 
 that he should have been poring over such works as the 
 Cloud of Witnesses, or Boston's Fourfold State, to reading 
 such miscellaneous literature. In the fresh glow of Christian 
 ardour, Livingstone determined upon becoming a medical 
 missionary to China, and began to turn his mind towards 
 preparation for the mission field. 
 
 Livingstone was promoted to the more laborious toil of 
 a cotton spinner while in his nineteenth year, and he was 
 thus enabled to support himself while attending the medical, 
 Greek, and Divinity classes in Glasgow. * I never,' he wrote, 
 'received a larthing of aid from any one, and should have 
 accomplished my project of going to China as a medical 
 missionary in the course of time by my own efforts, had 
 not some friends advised my joining the London Missionary 
 Society, on account of its perfectly unsectarian character. 
 It sends neither Episcopacy, nor Presbyterianism, nor Inde- 
 
8 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 pendency, but the Gospel of Christ to the heathen. This 
 exactly agreed with my ideas of what a missionary society 
 ought to do ; but it was not without a pang that I offered 
 myself, for it was not quite agreeable to one accustomed to 
 work his own way to become, in a measure, dependent on 
 others. And I would not have been much put about though 
 my offer had been rejected.' When properly qualified to 
 carry out his original plan, the opium war was raging in 
 China, so he found it inexpedient to go there. Turning 
 his thoughts to Africa, where Moffat was labouring, he went 
 through a more extended theological course in England 
 than he had previously done in Glasgow. In 1840, after 
 a preliminary examination, he was ordained as a medical 
 missionary by the London Missionary Society. He sailed 
 for the Cape, after a brief stay at which he landed at Port 
 Natal, and soon made personal acquaintance at Kuruman 
 with the Rev. Robert Moffat, whose daughter he afterwards 
 married. 
 
 After remaining at Kuruman and the neighbourhood for a 
 few months, Livingstone took up his quarters in the Backwain 
 country at Lepelole ; and cutting himself off from all inter- 
 course with Europeans for six months, devoted himself to 
 acquiring an insight into the habits, ways of thinking, laws, 
 and language of the Bechuanas, and in laying the foundations 
 of a settlement by making a canal for irrigation purposes from 
 a river near by. He visited the Bakaa, Bamangwato, and 
 the Makalaka, living between 22 and 23 south latitude. 
 Obliged to leave the country of the Backwains, he settled 
 in the valley of Mabotsa, the home of the Makatla branch 
 of the Bechuana tribe. The place was infested with lions, 
 which would attack the herds sometimes in broad daylight. 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 
 
 It was in this neighbourhood that Livingstone had the 
 memorable encounter with the lion, when the bone of his 
 left arm was crushed into splinters. After labouring earnestly 
 for some time among the Makatla, he visited Cape Town 
 in 1844, and during his visit was married to Moffat's eldest 
 daughter. In 1845 they set up house at Skokuane, then 
 the headquarters of the Backwain chief Sechele, who, although 
 a rain-maker, helped forward the work of the noble-hearted 
 missionary, and even proposed to convert his people in a 
 body through the agency of whips made of rhinoceros hide. 
 The description which Livingstone gave of the belief of the 
 white man, and of * the great white throne, and Him who 
 shall sit on it,' caused this chief to exclaim, * You startle 
 me. These words make all my bones to shake. I have 
 no more strength in me. But my forefathers were living at 
 the same time as yours were, and how is it they did not send 
 them word about these terrible things sooner? They all 
 passed into darkness without knowing whither they were going/ 
 His early efforts among the Backwains were greatly retarded 
 by a drought, which lasted three years, and which was partly 
 attributed to Livingstone's influence over Sechele, their rain- 
 maker and chief. 
 
 The exertions of those explorers who preceded David 
 Livingstone, however useful, were mostly limited to the Kaffir 
 regions ; and it was not till the time of Livingstone that any 
 attempt was made to pass what is called the desert of Kala- 
 hari, comprehending the space from the Orange river, in 
 south latitude 29 , to Lake Ngami in the north, and from 
 about 24 east longitude to near the west coast. Dr. Living- 
 stone formed the resolution to pass this desert ; and from 
 1849 ne was engaged in carrying that resolution into effect. 
 
io FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 The region of the desert is occupied by the Bakalahari and 
 the Bushmen, who prey upon the game, chiefly antelopes, 
 which require only a scanty supply of water, and feed upon 
 the grass and numerous tuberous plants. The start was 
 made in June, and the party proceeded without interruption. 
 They came on the second day to Serotli, where the country 
 is flat, and composed of white sand. After passing the salt- 
 pan district of Ncho-kotsa, where the play of the mirage on 
 the salt incrustations deceived them into the belief that the 
 reservoirs were lakes, they came to the river Zouga, running 
 to the north-east, and described by the people as coming out 
 of the Lake Ngami. The people of this district possess a 
 language which shows that they are connected by lineage 
 with the north. On ascending the river, described as beauti- 
 fully wooded, they found a large stream flowing into it called 
 the Tamunak'le. The information received that this stream 
 came from a country of rivers, first suggested to Dr. Living- 
 stone that there might be a highway capable of being traversed 
 by boats to an unexplored region ; and when the party came 
 to the lake, this idea became so predominant that it seemed 
 to diminish the value of the actual discovery. The lake, 
 supposed to be about seventy miles in circumference, is 
 shallow, and never can be of much commercial importance. 
 Dr. Livingstone returned to Kolobeng. His next purpose 
 was to go up the Tamunak'le and visit Sebituane, the 
 chief of the Makololo, who live in the swamps between the 
 Chobe and the Zambesi. In June 1851 he saw, in the centre of 
 the continent, the Zambesi itself, which was not previously 
 known to exist there at all; and having come to a resolution 
 to ascend it from Sesheke, he subsequently made the necessary 
 preparations. He collected canoes to the number of thirty- 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. n 
 
 three, with about 160 men. They went rapidly along, admiring 
 the beauty of the banks, a mile asunder, and the many islands 
 finely wooded. The occurrence of cataracts forced them at 
 times to carry their canoes ; but they soon made their way 
 to the Barotse valley, a hundred miles in length, and bearing 
 a resemblance to that of the Nile, with its capital, Naliele, 
 erected on an eminence. Up to Libonta the river presents 
 the appearance of low banks without trees ; but twenty miles 
 beyond that the forest comes down to the water's edge, and 
 along with it the plague of Africa the tsetse, a fly whose 
 bite is fatal to domestic oxen, and to no other animals. 
 Having at length arrived at Ma-Sekelutu, the chief who 
 accompanied the expedition resolved to return, and the party 
 accordingly made again for Sesheke. The Doctor having 
 failed to discover a healthy place for a settlement, now de- 
 termined on endeavouring to open a path to the west coast. 
 This he put into execution by what may be called his third 
 journey. In this he reached the junction of the Loeti and 
 the Zambesi, and having returned to Linyanti, he started for 
 the west coast. Reaching the confluence of the Leeba with 
 the Zambesi, he crossed the Quango, and arrived at Loanda. 
 On his return to Linyanti, once more he visited the falls 
 called Victoria, arrived at the Tete, and finally at Quilimane, 
 on the east coast. 
 
 Dr. Livingstone had thus laid open a wide zone, compre- 
 hending the country of rivers ; but as the Zambesi was fed 
 by large streams from the north, it was necessary that these 
 should be explored. One of these, the Shird, he ascended 
 by means of a small steamer in 1859. He found it a stream 
 with a breadth of 160 yards, and a depth of ten or twelve 
 feet. By this means he was led to the Shirwah, a lake two 
 
12 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 hundred miles long and fifty broad, with an elevation above 
 the sea-level of 1800 feet, and, like the Tanganyika, sur- 
 rounded by verdant mountains, whereof one, Mount Zumba, 
 is 7000 feet high. In the vicinity of this the members of the 
 mission were located. Fish, leeches, alligators, and sea-cows 
 abound in the lake, the water of which is brackish. 
 
 In August 1 86 1 Dr. Livingstone and his party proceeded 
 to explore another lake called Nyassa, by ascending farther 
 *the Shire, and passing through a valley with many villages 
 and plantations. Coming to a series of rapids called Murchi- 
 son Cataracts, they were obliged to carry a four-oared boat 
 for a period of three weeks to get again to the navigable part 
 of the river. These cataracts extend over thirty-five miles of 
 latitude, with a total fall, from the first to the last, of 1200 
 feet. These obstacles having been surmounted, the travellers 
 again launched their boat in the upper parts of the Shird, and 
 soon thereafter they found themselves floating on the Nyassa 
 Lake, or, as it is sometimes called, the Star Lake, the western 
 shores of which they explored for two hundred miles, partly 
 by the banks on foot, and partly by the boat. 
 
 This lake they found to be exposed to frequent storms, so 
 violent that the party could not venture far from the shore ; 
 yet they got some rough measurements by triangulation at 
 those places where the opposite bank could be seen. The lake 
 is represented as having something of the boot shape of Italy, 
 being narrowest at the ankle, where it is 20 miles across ; 
 its average breadth is 38 miles, and its length 350 miles. It 
 is estimated as lying 1500 feet above the sea-level, and being 
 about 350 miles from the coast of Mozambique. The party 
 could learn nothing as to its northern extremity, but it was sup- 
 posed to extend beyond the parallel of the tenth degree south, 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 13 
 
 its southern extremity being in the fourteenth degree. It is 
 surrounded by low marshy plains, frequented by water-fowl, 
 and forming a haunt for the elephant and other wild beasts. 
 Beyond, at a distance of eight miles, were seen ranges of 
 granite hills covered with wood. The party estimated the 
 depth of the lake by the colour of the water ; near the shore 
 it is bright green, and towards the centre a deep blue, like 
 the colour of the sea. Within a mile of the shore a sounding 
 line of 200 fathoms failed to reach the bottom. The tem- 
 perature of the water was 72 Fahrenheit, and the fish were 
 plentiful. It was further observed that the lake is fed by 
 many streams, no fewer than twelve having been crossed by 
 the party as they proceeded on the west side ; and the con- 
 sequence is that during the rainy season the waters rise 
 sometimes to the extent of three feet. 
 
 The natives inhabiting the country to the south of the 
 lake are of one tribe and one language, rearing their villages 
 so close together that they form a continuous line. They are 
 of a superior class of negroes, good cultivators of the soil, 
 and hardy fishermen. Like most of the people in the 
 countries traversed by the party, those in this region were 
 civil to the strangers, and exacted no tribute. The slave 
 trade, which seems to embrace all regions occupied by the 
 negro, was found here to be carried on with activity, there 
 being even a boat called a dhow ready for carrying the victims 
 from one side to the other. 
 
 Thus was another of the African problems solved ; for 
 although Portuguese travellers had mentioned that there was 
 a lake in this quarter, and even given it a name, Maravi, 
 according to which it figures in some old maps, yet the 
 accounts were so vague and valueless that the lake did not 
 
14 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 appear in the more modern maps. Other problems remained, 
 such as the origin of the Rovuma river, which fell into the 
 Indian Ocean about the tenth degree of southern latitude. 
 At this time Dr. Livingstone and a party went up it thirty 
 miles, but the waters began to fall so rapidly that they were 
 obliged to return. 
 
 In the Nyassa district traces of the odious slave trade were 
 everywhere met with in the shape of ruined villages, broken 
 utensils, and human skeletons. The extent of the slave trade 
 in this district was borne out by the fact that 19,000 slaves 
 passed through the custom-house of the island of Zanzibar at 
 that time. 
 
 On the 27th April 1862, Mrs. Livingstone died from the 
 effects of climate at Shupanga, on the Zambesi, where she 
 was buried. The Rev. James Stewart of the Free Church of 
 Scotland read the service over the grave. Livingstone now 
 employed himself in exploring the Rovuma, which he found to 
 have two feeders one from the south-west, rising in the 
 mountains of Nyassa, the other from the west-north-west. He 
 next continued his researches on the Zambesi and Shire\ In 
 January 1863, the Pioneer steamed up the Shire with the 
 Lady Nyassa in tow. Traces of the dreadful results of a 
 slave raid were everywhere visible. The miserable inhabitants 
 who had been spared were in a state of semi-starvation. Dead 
 bodies were frequently met in the huts ' with the poor rags 
 round the loins, the skull fallen off the pillow ; the little 
 skeleton of the child, that had perished first, rolled up in a mat 
 between two large skeletons. " Mr. Thornton, geologist of 
 the expedition, died here, after assisting Baron Vanderdecken 
 in a survey of the Kilimanjaro Mountains ; the height of the 
 highest member of the range has since been proved to be 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 15 
 
 18,700 feet, and the height of a companion peak, only by a little 
 overtopping the line of perpetual snow, to be 2500 feet lower. 
 
 While engaged in making a road through the forest to 
 connect the lower Shire with the upper, the Rev. Charles 
 Livingstone and Dr. John Kirk, after having been repeatedly 
 seized with fever and dysentery, were obliged to part from 
 Livingstone on the 19th of May 1863, and return home. 
 Only two months later he received a despatch from Lord 
 John Russell, Minister for Foreign Affairs, withdrawing the 
 expedition. In accordance with these instructions, he pro- 
 ceeded to the mouth of the Zambesi and to Zanzibar, and 
 navigating the vessel himself, sailed for Bombay, a distance 
 of over 2500 miles. He then disposed of his vessel, the Lady 
 Ny assets for ^2000. Unfortunately, soon after this money was 
 committed to the hands of a Bombay banker, he became 
 bankrupt, and the whole sum was lost. On his return to 
 England in 1864, Livingstone would have retired from active 
 service. Sir Roderick Murchison had asked him to name a 
 leader for a new expedition to explore the watershed between 
 Nyassa and Tanganyika. The eminent traveller who had 
 been asked refused, and Sir Roderick appealed to Livingstone, 
 and overruled any objections he had to make. 
 
 On the 14th August 1865, with recruited health, and after 
 having superintended the publication of his explorations on 
 the Zambesi, the Shire, the Rovuma, and Lake Nyassa, he 
 began to make preparations for a new expedition. Sir 
 Roderick Murchison, president of the Geographical Society, 
 requested him this time to undertake the exploration of the 
 intermediate country lying between Northern Nyassa and 
 Tanganyika. Earl Russell renewed Livingstone's appointment 
 as H.M. Consul to the tribes in the interior. Mr. James 
 
1 6 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Young of Kelly, one of his oldest friends, subscribed ^iooo 
 to further this expedition, and ^500 was given by the Govern- 
 ment, and another ^500 by the Royal Geographical Society 
 for a like purpose. 
 
 He set out from England on the 14th August 1865, accom- 
 panied by his daughter Agnes as far as Paris, thence pro- 
 ceeding alone direct to Bombay. The Government of that 
 Presidency assisted him with a supply of arms and other 
 necessaries for the expedition. He also secured the services 
 of Chuma, Wakatani, Edward Gardner, Simon Price, and 
 other Zambesi liberated slaves who were being educated in a 
 Nassick school there. Having supplied the other necessary 
 requirements for his explorations, he sailed from Bombay to 
 Zanzibar. At Zanzibar the British Consul, Dr. G. E. Seward, 
 did all in his power to further the expedition. 
 
 On the 19th March 1866, he sailed from Zanzibar for 
 Mikindany Bay, a deep indentation in the East African coast, 
 about twenty miles north of the river Rovuma, and about five 
 degrees of latitude south of the island of Zanzibar. His ex- 
 pedition consisted of Dr. Livingstone himself, ten natives of 
 Johanna, engaged by Mr. Sunley the English Consul, thirteen 
 natives of the Zambesi, and thirteen Sepoys of the Bombay 
 Marine altogether thirty-seven souls. The only European of 
 the party was Dr. Livingstone. The animals taken with him 
 were six camels, four buffaloes, four asses, and two mules, 
 with which he had resolved he should experiment as to their 
 adaptability for African travelling. 
 
 Livingstone and his party started for the interior in a south- 
 westerly direction, with the intention of crossing the Rovuma 
 to reach the north end of Lake Nyassa. A few letters reached 
 the coast for friends at home, informing them how he was 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 17 
 
 succeeding in his journey. Then there came a long pause, 
 to be broken, however, in December 1866, by the sad intelli- 
 gence of his murder by a predatory band of the Mazitu. 
 
 ' After some deliberation,' says a leading journalist, ' Sir 
 Roderick Murchison and the Geographical Society entreated 
 the Government to equip a boat expedition to proceed to 
 Lake Nyassa, to discover the truth of the report, as there 
 were a great many influential people in England who, like 
 Sir Roderick, doubted, for several reasons, the veracity of 
 Musa. 
 
 'This boat expedition was entrusted to Mr. E. D. Young, 
 a warrant-officer of the Royal Navy, and Lieutenant Faulkner 
 of the 17th Lancers, and departed from England on the nth 
 June for the Zambesi. Arriving at that river, a portable steel 
 boat, built in sections, was put together, and the first search 
 expedition after Livingstone started for the Shire\ 
 
 ' At Chibisa's, below the Murchison Cataracts of the Shire, 
 the steel boat was disconnected, thence carried overland a 
 distance of forty miles, then launched on the quiet waters of 
 the upper Shire, up which the party sailed for the Nyassa 
 Lake. Mr. Young proved conclusively that, though no 
 member of the expedition saw the traveller, Dr. Livingstone 
 was not murdered anywhere near the locality mentioned by 
 Musa. The natives round about solemnly averred that he 
 had gone to the west in good condition and health. At 
 Marenga the people said that the Johanna men had returned 
 to their village but two days after they had departed from 
 the lake in company with the Doctor, and that, when they 
 were asked why they had returned, they replied that they 
 had simply agreed to take him so far, and therefore were at 
 liberty to return. This was at .least confirmatory evidence 
 
 III. B 
 
1 8 FA MO US TRA VELLERS. 
 
 that the Johanna men had lied ; that they had only concocted 
 their tragic tale after their departure from Nyassa in order 
 to obtain their pay from the Consul. 
 
 4 In 1868, however, letters came from Livingstone himself, 
 dated at Bemba, February 1867, wherein he explained that 
 he had been unable to send despatches before, owing to the 
 absence of caravans in the new lands he had traversed.' 
 
 On the 1 8th of July 1868, Livingstone had seen, for the 
 first time, the shores of Lake Bemba, or Bangweolo, which 
 had never before been visited by a European. The country 
 around the lake was all flat, and very much denuded of trees, 
 except the motsikiri, or mosikisi, which has fine, dark, dense 
 foliage, and is spared for its shade and the fatty oil yielded 
 by its seeds. The bottom of the lake consisted of fine white 
 sand, and a broad belt of strong rushes, about a hundred 
 yards wide, shows shallow water. The innumerable springs 
 in the neighbourhood of this lake Dr. Livingstone looked 
 upon as the primary or ultimate sources of the Zambesi, 
 Congo, and Nile. In his supposition regarding the latter he 
 was, however, mistaken. 
 
 In October of the same year, Livingstone had made his 
 way to Kalongosi. At Kabwabwata, some of his old servants 
 who had previously deserted returned to him. An outbreak 
 of war among the native tribes detained him here for some 
 time. He was now endeavouring to reach Ujiji. Early in 
 1869, a dangerous illness left evils behind it from which he 
 never fully recovered. In January he had to be carried. 
 On 14th February he again reached Tanganyika. The cough 
 and chest pain from which he was suffering now diminished, 
 although he was greatly emaciated. On the 1 7th November 
 he reached the Luamo river (200 yards wide). In January 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 19 
 
 1870, Livingstone again suffered from sickness and choleraic 
 symptoms. In July he was terribly troubled by irritable eating 
 ulcers, which had again fastened on his feet. 
 
 While at Nyangwe, Manyuema, Mr. Stanley said he found, 
 on diligent inquiries, that * Livingstone's residence, his travels 
 hither and thither, and his journeys from and to Ujiji, must 
 have embraced a period of three years or thereabouts. The 
 distance from Ujiji to Nyangwe is about 350 English miles, 
 which we performed in forty days, inclusive of halts. I find 
 he was laid up a very long time with a most painful disease 
 of the feet at Kabambarre. From native accounts he seems 
 to have been there from six to twelve months. The traveller 
 " Daoud," or David, is a well-remembered figure in this region 
 between Nyangwe and the Tanganyika. He has made an im- 
 pression on the people which will not be forgotten for a genera- 
 tion at least. " Did you know him ? " old Mwana Ngoi of the 
 Luama asked of me eagerly. Upon receiving an affirmative, 
 he said to his sons and brothers, " Do you hear what he says ? 
 He knew the good white man. Ah ! we shall hear all about 
 him." Then, turning to me, he asked me, "Was he not a 
 very good man?" to which I replied, "Yes, my friend; he 
 was good : far better than any man, white or Arab, you will 
 ever see again." "Ah! yes; you speak true. He has saved 
 me from being robbed many a time by the Arabs, and he was 
 so gentle and patient, and told us such pleasant stories of 
 the wonderful land of the white people. Hm', the aged 
 white, was a good man indeed ! " Had old Mwana Ngoi 
 been able to speak as an educated person, I should no doubt 
 have had something like a narrative of David Livingstone's 
 virtues from him ; whereas, not being educated, much of what 
 he said was broken by frequent hm's and shakings of his head, 
 
2 o FA MO US TRA VELLERS. 
 
 as though the traveller's good qualities were beyond descrip- 
 tion or enumeration. He wisely left the rest to my imagina- 
 tion, and so I leave them to you. But what has struck me, 
 while tracing Livingstone to his utmost reach this Arab 
 depot of Nyangwe revived all my grief and pity for him, 
 greater, indeed, than even his own relation of sorrowful and 
 heavy things, is that he does not seem to have been aware 
 that he was sacrificing himself unnecessarily, nor submit to 
 be warned of the havoc of age, and of the little power left him. 
 With the weight of many years pressing on him, the shortest 
 march wearying him, compelling him to halt many days to 
 recover his strength, a serious attack of illness frequently 
 prostrating him, with neither men nor means to obtain proper 
 escort and enable him to make practical progress, Livingstone 
 was at last like a blind and infirm man, aimlessly moving 
 about. From my conscience with not a whit of my admira- 
 tion and love for him lessened in the smallest degree, but 
 rather increased by what I have heard from Arabs and natives 
 I must say I think his very hardest taskmaster was himself. ' 
 
 The natives of Bambarre and Manyuema he found to be 
 very superstitious. On the 18th August he made the following 
 notes in his journal at Bambarre : 
 
 *I learn from Josut and Moenepembe, who have been to 
 Katanga and beyond, that there is a lake n.n.w. of the 
 copper mines, and twelve days distant. It is called Chibungo, 
 and is said to be large. Seven days west of Katanga flows 
 another Lualaba, the dividing line between Rua and Lunda 
 or Londa. It is very large, and, as the Lufira flows into 
 Chibungo, it is probable that the Lualaba West and Lufira 
 form the lake. Lualaba West and Lufira rise by fountains 
 south of Katanga, three or four days off. Luambai and Lunga 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 21 
 
 fountains are only about ten miles distant from Lualaba West 
 and Dufira fountains : a mound rises between them, the most 
 remarkable in Africa. Were this spot in Armenia, it would 
 serve exactly the description of the garden of Eden in Genesis, 
 with its four rivers the Gihon, Pison, Hiddekel, and Eu- 
 phrates. As it is, it possibly gave occasion to the story told 
 to Herodotus by the secretary of Minerva in the city of Sais, 
 about two hills with conical tops, Crophi and Mophi. " Mid- 
 way between them," said he, " are the fountains of the Nile, 
 fountains which it is impossible to fathom ; half the water runs 
 northward into Egypt, half to the south towards Ethiopia." 
 
 1 Four fountains rising so near to each other would readily 
 be supposed to have one source, and half the water flowing 
 into the Nile, and the other half into the Zambesi, required 
 but little imagination to originate, seeing the actual visitor 
 would not feel bound to say how the division was effected. 
 He could only know the fact of waters rising at one spot, 
 and separating to flow north and south. The conical tops 
 to the mound look like invention, as also do the names. 
 
 * A slave, bought on Lualaba East, came from Lualaba 
 West in about twelve days. These two Lualabas may form 
 the loop depicted by Ptolemy, and Upper and Lower Tan- 
 ganyika be a third arm of the Nile.' 
 
 His ulcerated feet now became worse and worse. He could 
 not plant them on the ground without causing a discharge of 
 bloody matter. In January 187 1 he was still detained at 
 Bambarre. He termed the Manyuema people the most 
 callous, bloody savages he ever knew. One puts a scarlet 
 feather from a parrot's tail on the ground, and challenges 
 those near to stick it in the hair. He who does so must kill 
 a man or woman. No one was allowed to wear the skin of 
 
22 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the musk cat unless he had murdered somebody. Guns alone, 
 he said, prevented them from killing them all. His men, 
 who had been despatched to the coast, arrived on the 4th 
 February, demanding more money from him, and declaring 
 they had orders from the Consul to force him back. He 
 reached the Lualaba on the 31st March. The part of the 
 river he had reached was 3000 yards across. Although under 
 the impression that it was one of the feeders of the Nile, he 
 suspected it might be the Congo a conclusion established by 
 Stanley's more recent discovery that it is identical with the 
 river Zaire or Congo. His ink having failed him here, he was 
 driven to the expedient of writing with the juice of a plant 
 across old newspapers. His life was also endangered here 
 by a plot amongst his men, who intended to destroy him. 
 They did all in their power to prevent him crossing the 
 Lualaba. He determined to return to Ujiji for other men. 
 He reached Ujiji on the 23d October, and Mr. H. M. Stanley, 
 leader of Mr. Bennett's Livingstone Search Expedition, 
 arrived on the 28th. 
 
 ' The great traveller,' says Mr. Stanley, * was reduced to a 
 skeleton by illness and fatigue; he was sick, destitute, and 
 forlorn. All his men except four had either deserted or 
 had died, and there seemed to be no hope for him. His 
 piteous appeals for help to his friends at Zanzibar were either 
 neglected or his letters were lost. There was no prospect 
 but that of lingering illness and death before him. Under 
 the influence, however, of good cheer and nourishing food, 
 and, perhaps, social fellowship with another of his race, he 
 speedily recovered, and in six or seven days after his rescue 
 was enabled to accompany a portion of the American expedi- 
 tion in a boat to the north end of Lake Tanganyika, where 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 23 
 
 both Livingstone and the author saw a river running through 
 a broad gorge enclosed by lofty mountains into the lake, with 
 no possible outlet whatever at any part in the firmly-connected 
 mountain walls which surround the entire northern hal. of the 
 Tanganyika. After a journey of 750 miles, and a residence 
 of over four months together, Livingstone and the American 
 expedition became parted for ever at Unyanyemb, on 14th 
 March 1872.' 
 
 Before parting with Stanley, the following interesting con- 
 versation took place : 
 
 1 Doctor,' said Stanley, * so far as I can understand it, you 
 do not intend to return home until you have satisfied yourself 
 about the "Sources of the Nile." When you have satisfied 
 yourself, you will come home and satisfy others. Is it not so?' 
 
 * That is it exactly. When your men come back ' (the men 
 whom Stanley was to hire at Zanzibar), * I shall immediately 
 start for Ufipa ' (on the south-eastern shores of Lake Tangan- 
 yika) ; * then ... I shall strike south, and round the extremity 
 of Lake Tanganyika. Then a south-east course will take me to 
 Chikumbis, on the Lualaba. On crossing the Lualaba, I shall 
 go direct south-west to the copper mines of Katanga. Eight 
 days south of Katanga the natives declare the fountains to be. 
 When I have found them, I shall return by Katanga to the 
 underground houses of Rua. From the caverns, ten days 
 north-east will take me to Lake Komolendo. I shall be able 
 to travel from the lake in your boat, up the river Lufira, to 
 Lake Lincoln. Then, coming down again, I can proceed 
 north by the Lualaba to the fourth lake, which will, I think, 
 explain the whole problem.' 
 
 * And how long do you think this little journey will take 
 you ? ' 
 
24 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS, 
 
 ' A year and a half at the farthest from the day I leave 
 UnyanyembeV 
 
 * Suppose you say two years j contingencies might arise, you 
 know. It will be well for me to hire these new men for two 
 years, the day of their engagement to begin from their arrival 
 at UnyanyembeV 
 
 * Yes, that will do excellently well. , 
 
 * Now, my dear Doctor, the best of friends must part. You 
 have come far enough j let me beg of you to turn back.' 
 
 * Well, I will say this to you, you have done what few men 
 could do far better than some great travellers I know ; and 
 
 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 dear 
 friend. Farewell.' 
 
 Livingstone gave a painful enough disclosure of his feelings 
 and circumstances previous to Mr. Stanley's arrival, in a note 
 of thanks to Mr. James Gordon Bennett of the New York 
 Herald: 
 
 * If I explain the forlorn condition in which he found me, 
 you will easily perceive that I have good reason to use very 
 strong expressions of gratitude. I came to Ujiji off a tramp 
 of between four and five hundred miles beneath a blazing 
 vertical sun, having been baffled, worried, defeated, and forced 
 to return, when almost in sight of the end of the geographical 
 part of my mission, by a number of half-caste Moslem slaves 
 sent to me from Zanzibar instead of men. The sore heart, 
 made still sorer by the truly woful sights I had seen of 
 
 II man's inhumanity to man," reacted on the bodily frame, and 
 depressed it beyond measure. I thought that I was dying on 
 my feet. It is not too much to say, that almost every step of 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 25 
 
 the weary sultry way I was in pain, and I reached Ujiji a 
 mere ruckle of bones. Here I found that some ^500 worth 
 of goods I had ordered from Zanzibar had unaccountably been 
 entrusted to a drunken half-caste Moslem tailor, who, after 
 squandering them for sixteen months on the way to Ujiji, 
 finished up by selling off all that remained for slaves and ivory 
 for himself. He had divined on the Koran, and found that I 
 was dead. He had also written to the governor of Unyan- 
 yembe that he had sent slaves after me to Manyuema, who 
 returned and reported my decease, and begged permission to 
 sell off the few goods that his drunken appetite had spared. 
 He, however, knew perfectly well, from men who had seen 
 me, that I was alive, and waiting for the goods and men ; but 
 as for morality, he is evidently an idiot \ and there being no 
 law here except that of the dagger or musket, I had to sit 
 down in great weakness, destitute of everything save a few 
 barter-cloths and beads I had taken the precaution to leave 
 here in case of extreme need. The near prospect of beggary 
 among Ujijians made me miserable. I could not despair, 
 because I laughed so much at a friend who, on reaching the 
 mouth of the Zambesi, said " that he was tempted to despair 
 on breaking the photograph of his wife; we could have no 
 success after that." After that, the idea of despair has to me 
 such a strong smack of the ludicrous, it is out of the question. 
 * Well, when I had got to about the lowest verge, vague 
 rumours of an English visitor reached me. I thought of 
 myself as the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho; 
 but neither priest, Levite, nor Samaritan could possibly pass 
 my way. Yet the good Samaritan was close at hand ; and one 
 of my people rushed up at the top of his speed, and in great 
 excitement gasped out, "An Englishman coming! I see 
 
26 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 him ! " And off he darted to meet him. An American fla^ . 
 the first ever seen in these parts at the head of a caravan, 
 told me the nationality of the stranger. I am as cold and 
 non-demonstrative as we islanders are usually reputed to be, 
 but your kindness made my frame thrill. It was indeed over- 
 whelming ; and I said in my soul, " Let the richest blessings 
 descend from the Highest on you and yours." 
 
 * The news Mr. Stanley had to tell me was thrilling : the 
 mighty political changes on the Continent, the success of the 
 Atlantic cables, the election of General Grant, and many 
 topics riveted my attention for days together, and had an 
 immediate and beneficial effect on my health. I had been 
 without news from home for years, save what I could glean 
 from a few Saturday Reviews and copies of Punch for 1868. 
 The appetite revived, and in a week I began to feel strong 
 again. Mr. Stanley brought a most kind and encouraging 
 despatch from Lord Clarendon, whose loss I sincerely deplore, 
 the first I have received from the Foreign Office since 
 1866, and information that Her Majesty's Government had 
 kindly sent ^1000 to my aid. Up to his arrival I was not 
 aware of any pecuniary aid. I came unsalaried, but this want 
 is now happily repaired ; and I am anxious that you and all 
 my friends should know that, though uncheered by letters, I 
 have stuck to the task which my friend Sir Roderick Murchi- 
 son set me with John-Bullish tenacity, believing that all will 
 come right at last.' 
 
 Before the end came, he had resolved to satisfy himself 
 that the Nile really rose where he supposed. Stanley had 
 urged him to press on no farther \ but Livingstone wrote : 
 * My judgment said, " All your friends will wish you to make 
 a complete work of the exploration of the sources of the Nile 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 27 
 
 before you retire." My daughter Agnes says: "Much as I 
 wish you to come home, I would rather that you finished your 
 work to your own satisfaction than return merely to gratify 
 me." Rightly and nobly said, my darling Nannie. Vanity 
 whispers loudly, " She is a chip of the old block ! " My 
 blessing on her and on all the rest.' 
 
 So he went on, reaching Unyanyemb, where he remained 
 waiting for some promised help. The following entry occurs 
 in his journal (1872) : 
 
 * igt/i March. Birthday. My Jesus, my King, my Life, 
 
 my All ; I again dedicate my whole self to Thee. Accept me, 
 
 and grant, O gracious Father, that ere this year is gone I 
 
 may finish my task. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen, so 
 
 let it be. 
 
 1 David Livingstone.' 
 
 An entry on May 31, 1872, is as follows : 'In reference to 
 this Nile source, 1 have been kept in perpetual doubt and 
 perplexity. I know too much to be positive. Great Lualaba, 
 or Lualubba, as Manyuema say, may turn out to be the Congo 
 or the Nile, a shorter river after all the fountains flowing 
 north and south seem in favour of its being the Nile. Great 
 westing is in iavour of the Congo. It would be comfortable 
 to be positive like Baker. " Every drop, from the passing 
 shower to the roaring mountain-torrent, must fall into Albert 
 Lake, a giant at its birth." How soothing to be positive ! ' 
 
 These doubts about the Nile sources grew stronger, but they 
 never overcame his confidence. He died in the faith that the 
 Nile rose between io and 12 south latitude. 
 
 Livingstone's death took place on the 1st of May 1873, at 
 Ilala, in Central Africa. For some time previous he had been 
 
28 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 very weak. Forcing his feeble strength, however, he pushed 
 on, riding on a donkey. Then he had to be carried on a 
 kitanda or bedstead ; but soon after reaching Ilala, he gave up 
 travelling, and his servants erected a hut, in which he lay for a 
 few days, gradually growing weaker; and at last, on the day 
 mentioned, he expired. 
 
 In his Last Journals^ the now familiar death-scene is thus 
 recorded : * The lad's evident alarm made Susi run to arouse 
 Chuma, Chowpere, Matthew, and Muanyasere ; and the six 
 men went immediately to the hut. Passing inside, they 
 looked towards the bed. Dr. Livingstone was not lying on 
 it, but appeared to be engaged in prayer, and they instinctively 
 drew backwards for an instant. Pointing to him, Majwara 
 said, " When I lay down he was just as he is now, and it is 
 because I find that he does not move that I fear he is dead* 
 They asked the lad how long he had slept. Majwara said he 
 could not tell, but he was sure that it was some considerable 
 time. The men drew nearer. A candle, stuck by its own wax 
 to the top of the box, shed a light sufficient for them to see his 
 form. Dr. Livingstone was kneeling by the side of his bed, 
 his body stretched forward, his head buried in his hands upon 
 the pillow. For a minute they watched him. He did not 
 stir. There was no sound of breathing. Then one of them 
 (Matthew) advanced softly to him, and placed his hands to 
 his cheeks. It was sufficient life had been extinct some 
 time, and the body was almost cold. Livingstone was dead. 
 His sad-hearted servants raised him tenderly up and laid him 
 full length on the bed, then, carefully covering him, they went 
 out into the damp night air to consult together. It was not 
 long before the cocks crew ; and it is from this circumstance, 
 coupled with the fact that Susi spoke to him some time shortly 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 29 
 
 before midnight, that we are able to state with tolerable 
 certainty that he expired early on the 1st of May.' 
 
 The fourth Livingstone Search Relief Expedition arrived 
 at -Zanzibar in February 1873, commanded by Lieutenant 
 Cameron, Murphy, and Dr. Dillon. It was sent to Africa 
 under the auspices of the Geographical Society. At the end 
 of August 1873, the expedition arrived at Unyanyembe; in 
 the following month Chuma, one of Livingstone's servants, 
 appeared in their midst, informing them that Livingstone's 
 body was but twenty days behind, and was being brought up 
 by his followers. Soon afterwards they appeared with their 
 burden, and continued their march to Zanzibar, which they 
 reached in February 1874. The remains of Livingstone were 
 conveyed by ship to Southampton, thence to London. After 
 a formal examination by Sir William Fergusson, the left arm 
 bone, which had been splintered by a lion's jaw over thirty 
 years before, offered convincing evidence that Livingstone was 
 really dead. The body of Livingstone was borne, on Saturday, 
 1 8th April 1874, amidst tokens of profound and universal 
 respect, to its last resting-place in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 A memorial tablet, with the following inscription, now 
 marks the spot in Westminster Abbey where the remains of 
 Dr. Livingstone are deposited : i Brought by faithful hands 
 over land and sea, here rests David Livingstone, missionary, 
 traveller, philanthropist. Born March 19, 1813; died May 1, 
 1873, at Chitambo's village, Ulala. For thirty years his life 
 was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native 
 races, to explore the undiscovered secrets, to abolish the 
 desolating slave trade of Central Africa, and where, with his 
 last words, he wrote : " All I can add in my solitude is, may 
 Hcayen's rich blessing come down on every one American, 
 
3 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 English, or Turk who will help to heal this open sore of the 
 world." ' On each side of the tablet are also the following 
 inscriptions : ' Tantus amor veri, nihil est quod noscere 
 malim, quam fluvii causas per saecula tanta latentes ; ' and : 
 ' Other sheep I have which are not of this fold : them also I 
 must bring, and they shall hear my voice.' 
 
 A Livingstone memorial statue has been erected in the East 
 Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh. The statue represents 
 Livingstone in thorough travelling costume ; in his right hand 
 a Bible, and a revolver in his belt. The statue stands about 
 eight feet high, and is from the design of Mrs. D. O. Hill. 
 As a further honour, Stanley has suggested that the great 
 Lualaba-Congo river be henceforth known as the ' Living- 
 stone.' 
 
 Amongst the tributes to his memory, few are more correct 
 and appropriate than that by Sir Samuel W. Baker : ' The 
 life of Dr. Livingstone is well known ; but although his 
 character as an explorer has been established for many years, 
 there are few persons beyond scientific geographers who truly 
 appreciate his enormous labours. When we examine the maps 
 of all his published works, we must be struck with amaze- 
 ment that any one man should have been able to support the 
 bodily fatigue of travelling over the many thousand miles in 
 Africa marked by that thin and wandering line of red which 
 denotes his track. The world knows but little of such fatigues 
 the toil of body in unhealthy climates, the lack of food, 
 constant exposure to both sun and rain, perpetual anxiety, 
 delays, and passive hostility that wear out the brain with over- 
 taxed patience; hopes deferred, followed by that sickness of 
 heart which is a greater strain upon the nervous system than 
 the heaviest physical work. These are the trials that Living- 
 
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 31 
 
 stone sustained throughout his life of exploration ; and still he 
 endured until he dropped upon his road, worn out in his great 
 work 5 and in solitude he died upon his knees by his bedside, 
 far from the world, but in communion at the last with Him 
 who had been his guide and protector through a life of diffi- 
 culties and perils. 
 
 * His geographical opinions may or may not be accepted on 
 all points, but there can only be one opinion concerning the 
 man : he was the greatest of all explorers of this century ; he 
 was one of a noble army of martyrs who have devoted their 
 lives to the holy cause of freedom ; and he has laid down his 
 life as a sacrifice upon a wild and unknown path, upon which 
 he has printed the first footsteps of civilisation. 
 
 Recent African Exploration. 
 
 The first * Livingstone Search Expedition ' was despatched 
 by the Royal Geographical Society under Lieutenant Dawson, 
 with the view of carrying food and supplies to Dr. Livingstone. 
 They had only reached Bagamoyo, on the African coast, when 
 a message was received from Mr. Stanley to the effect that 
 he had discovered Livingstone, and that the great traveller 
 objected to any * slave ' expedition being sent to him. Lieu- 
 tenant Dawson therewith resigned the command of the 
 expedition, which in turn was taken up by Mr. New, who 
 died shortly afterwards; then by Lieutenant Henn, R.N. ; 
 and lastly by Mr. Oswell Livingstone, a son of Dr. Living- 
 stone. The latter also gave up the idea of reaching his father, 
 and the expedition was abandoned. When the Geographical 
 1 Society resolved on utilizing the remainder of their funds in 
 another expedition, Lieutenant Cameron was chosen com- 
 
32 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 mander. He drew up his scheme of exploration by way of 
 Victoria Nyanza, Mounts Kenia and Kilimanjaro, and the 
 Albert Nyanza, and thence through Ulegga and Nyangwe 
 down the Congo to the west coast. When he had reached 
 Unyamyembe, two-thirds on the way to Tanganyika, on the 
 20th October 1873, while lying in bed blind and almost life- 
 less, the news was brought to him of Livingstone's death. On 
 1 8th February 1874, his eye rested on the blue expanse of 
 Lake Tanganyika, which had been discovered by Captain 
 Burton fifteen years previously. After three years of unheard- 
 of difficulties, in November 1875 he emerged at Benguela, on 
 the west coast, to which he had made his way 2000 miles as 
 the crow flies, from Bagamoyo on the east coast. Some of the 
 results of his journey are his exploration of the southern water- 
 parting of the Congo, and the fixing of the latitude and 
 longitude of all the places at which he halted. 
 
 An expedition sent by the Portuguese Government has been 
 very successful. One division, led by Major Pinto, has crossed 
 Africa in a south-easterly direction from Benguela to Natal, 
 and made a complete exploration of the Upper Zambesi, and 
 discovered a navigable river called the Cuando. 
 
 Missionary effort is following up the work done by explorers ; 
 the English Universities Mission is at the northern extremity 
 of Lake Nyassa ; Livingstonia is the seat of the Scottish Free 
 Church Mission \ the Established Church of Scotland is at 
 Blantyre (after the birthplace of Livingstone) ; the London 
 Missionary Society at Ujiji, Lake Tanganyika \ and the Church 
 Missionary Society at Lake Victoria Nyanza. The Church 
 Mission has also sent representatives to King Mtesa in 
 Uganda. The Baptist Mission is making a settlement on the 
 Congo. 
 

 SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, M.A., F.R.G.S. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 The Albert Nyanza Great Basin of the Nile Explorations of the Mle 
 
 Sources. 
 
 HE great African traveller, Sir Samuel Baker, K.C.B., 
 F.R.S., the son of Samuel Baker, Thorngrove, 
 Worcestershire, was born in 1821. Having been 
 educated as an engineer, he showed a desire for travel at an 
 early age, and went to Ceylon, where he was partly occupied, 
 along with his brother Col. Baker, in organizing an agricultural 
 settlement. Fond also of sport and adventure, he published 
 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon, 1854, and Eight Years* 
 Wanderings in Ceylon, 1855. He married a young Hungarian 
 lady in i860, who has since been the companion of many 
 of his wanderings. In March 1861 he formed the resolution 
 to organize an expedition for the discovery of the sources 
 of the Nile, and with the hope of meeting the East African 
 expedition of Captains Speke and Grant, which had been 
 sent from the south by the English Government, by way of 
 Zanzibar, for the same object. From youth upwards he 
 had been inured to hardships and endurance in wild sports 
 in tropical climates; he besides possessed a tough consti- 
 
34 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 tution, perfect independence, and the time and means for 
 the accomplishment of the object. 
 
 She, 'the dear, near, and true,' with whom his life was 
 linked, his devoted wife, had "determined also to accompany 
 him. 'One who, although my greatest comfort,' he writes, 
 4 was also my greatest care ; one whose life yet dawned at so 
 early an age that womanhood was still a future. I shuddered 
 at the prospect for her, should she be left alone in savage 
 lands at my death \ and gladly would I have left her in the 
 luxuries of home instead of exposing her to the miseries of 
 Africa. It was in vain that I implored her to remain, and 
 that I painted the difficulties and perils still blacker than 
 I supposed they really would be : she was resolved, with 
 woman's constancy and devotion, to share all dangers, and 
 to follow me through each rough footstep of the wild life 
 before me.' So together they sailed up the Nile from Cairo, 
 on the 15th April 1861. Within twenty-six days from Cairo 
 they arrived at Korosko, from whence, starting across the 
 Nubian desert, they reached the river again at Abou Hamed. 
 Berber was the next town which they reached. Resolving 
 to become independent of interpreters as quickly as possible, 
 the plan of exploration for the first year was arranged to 
 embrace the affluents to the Nile from the Abyssinian range 
 of mountains ; also to follow up the Atbara river from its 
 junction with the Nile, twenty miles south of Berber ; to 
 examine also all the Nile tributaries from the south-east as 
 far as the Blue Nile. Having explored all the Abyssinian 
 affluents of the Nile, Baker descended the Blue Nile to 
 Khartoum. 
 
 The waters of the Blue Nile, or Bahr el Azrek, are described 
 as delicious ; those of the White Nile are said to be seldom 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 35 
 
 clear, and to have a disagreeable taste of vegetation. The 
 Blue Nile, being a mountain stream, rises and falls with great 
 rapidity; the other is of lake origin, and flows through vast 
 marshes. The Atbara is perfectly dry during some months 
 of the year; but from June to the middle of September 
 the storms are terrific, and every ravine becomes a raging 
 torrent. The river bed is perfectly dry from the beginning 
 of March to June, with pools at intervals of every few miles, 
 in which congregate all the inhabitants of the river the 
 crocodiles, hippopotami, fish, and large turtle until the floods 
 again set them at liberty. The rainy season begins in 
 Abyssinia in the middle of May, but, owing to the parched 
 nature of the soil, the torrents do not begin to fill until the 
 middle of June. The Blue Nile and the Atbara receive the 
 entire drainage of Abyssinia, and pour their entire floods into 
 the main Nile in the middle of June ; and it is the sudden 
 rush of water descending from Abyssinia which causes the 
 inundation of the Nile in Lower Egypt. 
 
 Baker found the town of Khartoum, which is situated 
 on a point of land forming the angle between the White 
 and Blue Niles at their junction, to be a miserable, 
 filthy, and unhealthy spot. All around there is the sandy 
 desert. The town, consisting of about 30,000 inhabitants, 
 is chiefly composed of huts of unburnt brick, is densely 
 crowded, and there are neither drains nor cesspools. The 
 natives consist of Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Armenians, Turks, 
 Arabs, and Egyptians. There are consuls for France, Austria, 
 and America resident in the town. It is the seat of govern- 
 ment for the Soudan provinces ; about six thousand troops 
 were quartered in the town in 1861. The Egyptian soldier, 
 being badly paid, and under loose discipline, carries out a 
 
3 6 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 system of forage and plunder. The Governor-General of the 
 Soudan in 1862 was Moosa Pasha, a Turkish official who 
 shared all the failings of his race. * Misgovernment, monopoly, 
 extortion, and oppression are the certain accompaniments of 
 Turkish administration. At a great distance from all civilisa- 
 tion, and separated from Lower Egypt by the Nubian deserts, 
 Khartoum affords a wide field for the development of Egyptian 
 official character. Every official plunders ; the Governor- 
 General extorts from all sides ; he fills his private pockets by 
 throwing every conceivable obstacle in the way of progress, 
 and embarrasses every commercial movement in order to 
 extort bribes from individuals. From the highest to the 
 lowest official, dishonesty and deceit are the rule, and each 
 robs in proportion to his grade in the Government employ, 
 the onus of extortion falling upon the natives ; thus exorbitant 
 taxes are levied upon the agriculturists, and the industry of 
 the inhabitants is disheartened by oppression. The taxes are 
 collected by the soldiery, who naturally extort by violence 
 an excess of the actual impost; accordingly, the Arabs limit 
 their cultivation to their bare necessities.' The slave trade 
 was then the curse of Soudan, and every one in Khartoum, 
 with the exception of a few Europeans, was in favour of the 
 slave trade, the White Nile being the great nursery of 
 supply. 
 
 The Egyptian authorities at Khartoum showed no willing- 
 ness to assist Baker in organizing an expedition to discover 
 the Nile sources. They had no wish to encourage English 
 explorations of the slave-producing districts, as this understood 
 an exposure of the odious traffic, and probable interference 
 by the English Government. An application to the British 
 Consul at Alexandria for a few soldiers and boats to aid him 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 37 
 
 in this difficult enterprise was refused. At last preparations 
 were made for sailing; the vessels necessary for the voyage 
 to Gondokoro, the navigable limit of the Nile, were secured. 
 An extra quantity of provisions was embarked, in the hope 
 of meeting Speke and Grant's party. In the boats were 
 conveyed twenty-one donkeys, four camels, and four horses, 
 for use afterwards in land transport. A demand for a 
 certain tax for every man on board the boats, made just as 
 they were ready to start, was refused. The voyage up the 
 Nile was comparatively uneventful. A German servant, 
 Johann, who accompanied Baker, and who was engaged at 
 Khartoum while in failing health, died on the voyage south- 
 wards. * Verily, it is a pleasant voyage,' writes Baker, rather 
 sarcastically, on the 2d January 1863 ; * disgusting naked 
 savages, everlasting marshes teeming with mosquitoes, and 
 the entire country devoid of anything of either common 
 interest or beauty. Course west the whole day ; saw giraffes 
 and one ostrich on the east bank. On the west bank there 
 is a regular line of villages throughout the day's voyage, 
 within half a mile of each other; the country very thickly 
 populated. The huts are of mud, thatched, having a very 
 small entrance ; they resemble button mushrooms. The 
 Shillooks are wealthy ; immense herds of cattle swarm 
 throughout their country.' At another time he writes : * The 
 windings of this monotonous river are extraordinary, and, during 
 dead calms in these vast marshes, the feeling of melancholy 
 produced is beyond description. ' 
 
 The natives of Nuehr village struck Baker as being some- 
 thing superlative in the way of savages : the men were com- 
 pletely naked ; their bodies were rubbed with ashes, and their 
 hair stained red by a plaster 01 ashes and cow's urine. The 
 
38 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 chief of the village, with his wife and daughter, paid them a 
 visit, asking for all that they saw in the shape of bracelets, 
 but declining a knife as useless. The women he thought very 
 ugly. The men were tall and powerful, armed with lances, 
 and carrying pipes which would contain nearly a quarter of a 
 pound of tobacco. They are accustomed to smoke either 
 tobacco or charcoal. The shooting of a fat young hippo- 
 potamus was the signal for a cauldron of hippopotamus soup. 
 This led him to remark that 'real turtle is mock hippo- 
 potamus.' Arriving at Zareeba, the station of an Austrian 
 White Nile trader, the latter presented them with a bullock. 
 Here they had a sight of the chief of the Kytch tribe, who 
 wore a leopard skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of 
 white beads, with a crest of white ostrich feathers. His 
 daughter was a good - looking girl of sixteen, whose only 
 clothing consisted of a little piece of dressed hide, about a 
 foot wide, slung across her shoulders. The entire tribe had 
 a half-starved appearance. So emaciated were they, that they 
 looked as if they had no visible posteriors, and their long thin 
 legs and arms gave them a peculiar gnat-like appearance. 
 They devour both the skins and bones of all dead animals ; 
 the bones they pound between stones, and, when these are 
 reduced to powder, they are boiled to a kind of porridge. 
 
 On 23d January they arrived at the Austrian mission 
 station of St. Croix, where the missionary, Herr Morlang, 
 acknowledged that the mission was absolutely useless among 
 such savages. Accordingly the whole village and mission 
 station was sold to Koorshid Aga for ^30 ! Baker purchased 
 a horse from the missionaries. Herr Morlang described the 
 whole of the White Nile traders as a mere colony of robbers, 
 who pillaged and shot the natives at discretion. On 29th 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 39 
 
 January they passed a multitude of cattle and natives on the 
 right bank. These natives make tumuli of dung, which being 
 constantly on fire, accumulates ; fresh fuel is added to keep the 
 pile burning, and in order to drive away the mosquitoes. 
 The cattle crowd round these piles, living with the natives in 
 the smoke. The heaps of ashes become about eight feet 
 high, when they are used as sleeping - places and watch- 
 stations by the natives, who, rolling themselves amongst the 
 ashes, have a very ghastly appearance. 
 
 The * Shir ' tribe they found well armed with ebony clubs, 
 lances, bows and arrows. The women here wear leather 
 aprons, with a strip of leather hanging down behind resembling 
 a tail. The women carry their children in a skin slung 
 from their shoulders across the back, and secured by a thong 
 round the waist. Their huts or dwelling-places are circular, 
 the entrances being so low that the natives creep both in and 
 out upon their hands and knees. The most valuable article 
 of barter for this tribe is the iron hoe. The lotus seed is 
 utilized by all the tribes of the White Nile, the seed being 
 ground into flour, and made into a kind of porridge. On 
 2d February they arrived safely at Gondokoro. 
 
 Gondokoro consists merely of a few miserable grass huts. 
 Formerly it was a mission station. Then it was occupied for 
 about two months of the year only by the ivory traders. 
 The climate is hot and unhealthy, but the place was a great 
 improvement upon the interminable marshes through which 
 they had been passing. The dwellers in Gondokoro are the 
 Bari tribe. The men are described as well-grown ; the women 
 are not prepossessing, but are awanting in the negro type of 
 thick lips and flat nose. The features are good. Their skin 
 is tattooed and rubbed with a mixture of ochre and grease, 
 
4 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 which gives them the appearance of new red bricks. The 
 most deadly weapons they possess are their poisoned arrows. 
 When they enter the system, death is almost certain to 
 follow. 
 
 When Baker arrived, he was looked upon by the slave- 
 traders as a spy sent by the British Government. In approach- 
 ing the encampments of the different traders, the sounds which 
 were heard were the clanking of fetters, as the slaves were 
 being driven to their hiding-places as secretly as possible. 
 Baker's presence was considered as an unwarrantable intrusion, 
 and he was looked upon as a stumbling-block to the trade. 
 The traders' people, to the number of about six hundred, 
 seemed to spend their time in drinking, quarrelling, and ill- 
 treating the slaves. Guns were also being fired off in the 
 most promiscuous and dangerous fashion. Baker's men 
 mutinied while staying here, and to go farther with such 
 faithless servants looked as if the expedition would be a failure. 
 But by the tact of Baker and his wife, order and regularity 
 were restored. 
 
 On the 15th February, the sound of musketry was heard 
 at a great distance, and a dropping fire from the south. The 
 report was that ivory porters were coming from the next 
 station, and that two white men were with them who had 
 come from the sea. Baker ran to meet them, in the hope that 
 they might be Speke and Grant. He was correct in his sup- 
 position. All his men suddenly became mad with excitement, 
 and firing salutes with ball cartridge, one of the donkeys was 
 shot. 'When I first met them,' writes Baker, 'they were 
 walking along the bank of the river towards my boats. At 
 a distance of about a hundred yards I recognised my old 
 friend Speke, and with a heart beating with joy I took off 
 
S/fi SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, 41 
 
 my cap and gave a welcome hurrah as I ran towards him. 
 For the moment he did not recognise me ; ten years' growth 
 of beard and moustache had worked a change ; and as I was 
 totally unexpected, my sudden appearance in the centre of 
 Africa appeared to him incredible. I hardly required an 
 introduction to his companion, as we felt already acquainted ; 
 and after the transports of this happy meeting, we walked 
 together to my diabbiah, my men surrounding us with smoke 
 and noise by keeping up an unremitting fire of musketry the 
 whole way. We were shortly seated on deck under the awning, 
 and such rough fare as could be hastily prepared was set 
 before these two ragged, careworn specimens of African travel, 
 whom I looked upon with feelings of pride as my own 
 countrymen. As a good ship arrives in harbour, battered and 
 torn by a long and stormy voyage, yet sound in her frame 
 and seaworthy to the last, so both these gallant travellers 
 arrived in Gondokoro. Speke appeared the more worn of 
 the two ; he was excessively lean, but in reality he was in 
 good tough condition ; he had walked the whole way from 
 Zanzibar, never having once ridden during the wearying 
 march. Grant was in honourable rags, his bare knees pro- 
 jecting through the remnants of trousers that were an exhibition 
 of rough industry in tailor's work. He was looking tired and 
 feverish, but both men had a fire in the eye that showed the 
 spirit that had led them through.' 
 
 Baker thought at first that the mystery of the Nile sources 
 was completely unravelled, and even said to Speke, * Does not 
 one leaf of the laurel remain for me?' It was then made 
 evident that although Speke and Grant had discovered the 
 Victoria Nyanza, there was another lake called the Luta 
 Nzige, which must be a second source of the Nile. It 
 
42 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 entered this unknown lake at its northern extremity, while 
 the body of the lake came from the south. Speke wrote in 
 Baker's journal such instructions as he thought might be useful 
 to him, and Grant furnished him with a map of their route 
 and explorations. They parted on 26th February, when 
 Speke and Grant sailed from Gondokoro. 
 
 Baker had arranged with Mahommed, an ivory trader, that 
 he and his men should accompany them in their journey 
 southwards. To this he apparently assented, but it was after- 
 wards found that when they were most friendly, they were 
 plotting against him, and had determined to ruin the expedi- 
 tion. Baker, receiving some hints of their intention, took 
 decided steps to arrest the progress of the mutiny \ he found, 
 however, that a boy named Saat, and Richarn, an habitual 
 drunkard, were the only two amongst his company who re- 
 mained faithful to him. Rendered utterly helpless, Baker 
 decided to leave all his baggage in charge of a friendly 
 chief of the Baris at Gondokoro, take two fast dromedaries 
 for his servant Richarn and Saat, two horses for Mrs. Baker 
 and himself, and so make a push through the hostile tribes 
 until he came amongst those who were friendly, and after- 
 wards to trust to fortune. But his friendly servant, arguing with 
 him, showed the danger and impossibility of this method of 
 travel. Seventeen of his old servants were therefore coerced 
 to join the expedition, although an intention to desert on their 
 part, once the journey was begun, was well known to their 
 leader. They took their departure from Gondokoro on the 
 26th of March 1863. Richarn and Saat were in high spirits 
 when the start was made ; Mrs. Baker was mounted on an old 
 Abyssinian hunter ' Tetel,' Baker rode * Film 1 / and the camels 
 and donkeys were all heavily loaded. They had neither guide 
 
S/R SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 43 
 
 nor interpreter, the natives being too much under the influence 
 of the traders to volunteer their services. 
 
 The first halt was made at Belignan, where they overtook 
 
 the traders' party which had been so unfriendly to them at 
 
 Gondokoro. Two men, deserting from their company, promised 
 
 to act as guides and interpreters for ninety miles forward. 
 
 Pushing on through ravine and jungle, it was plain that the 
 
 camels were overloaded ; the donkeys proved themselves 
 
 better suited for the roughness and inequalities of the road. 
 
 Within six miles of Ellyria, Baker riding in front along with 
 
 his wife, they were met by five or six hundred natives, who 
 
 pressed around them. A humpback interpreter put them 
 
 through the following cross-examination. It may be explained 
 
 that Mrs. Baker was dressed in similar fashion to her husband, 
 
 in a pair of loose trousers and gaiters, with a blouse and belt, 
 
 the only difference being that she wore long sleeves, while her 
 
 husband went with his arms uncovered. 'In reply/ writes 
 
 Baker, * to a question to the humpback, he asked me who I was. 
 
 I explained that I was a traveller. "You want ivory ?" he 
 
 said. "No," I answered, "it is of no use to me." "Ah, 
 
 you want slaves ? " he replied. " Neither do I want slaves," 
 
 I answered. This was followed by a burst of laughter from 
 
 the crowd, and the humpback continued his examination. 
 
 " Have you got plenty of cows ? " " Not one ; but plenty 
 
 of beads and copper." "Plenty! where are they?" "Not 
 
 far off; they will be here presently with my men," and I 
 
 pointed to the direction from which they would arrive. " What 
 
 countryman are you ? " " An Englishman." He had never 
 
 heard of such people. " You are a Turk ? " " All right," 
 
 I replied; "I am anything you like." "And that is your 
 
 son ? " (pointing at Mrs. Baker). " No, she is my wife." 
 
44 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 " Your wife ! What a lie ! He is a boy." "Not a bit of 
 it," I replied ; " she is my wife, who has come with me to 
 see the women of this country." "What a lie!" he again 
 politely rejoined. ' 
 
 The antics of a ' Wallady,' a monkey, diverted the natives 
 very much, though he seemed to have an antipathy to black 
 people. He was remarkably fond of Mrs. Baker, and seemed 
 uneasy out of her sight. Arrived in the country of Ellyria, 
 they were fortunate enough to make friendship with the 
 trader's party formerly hostile to them. The chief Legge 
 proved himself to be a greedy, brutal, and ignorant savage, 
 who made the most of the travellers, but who would give 
 nothing in return. He swallowed a pint bottle of the strongest 
 spirits of wine which had been offered to him, allowing it to 
 trickle down his throat like water, and afterwards asked for 
 more. Baker sketched the face of this remarkable chief for 
 his portfolio. * Of all the villainous countenances that I have 
 ever seen,'* he says, ' that of Legge excelled.' 
 
 Leaving the valley of Ellyria, in crossing the flat country 
 beyond they had an opportunity of observing the marching 
 order of the trader's party. ' Several of the people were 
 mounted on donkeys, some on oxen ; the most were on 
 foot, including all the women to the number of about sixty, 
 who were the slaves of the trader's people. These carried 
 heavy loads ; and many in addition to the burdens carried 
 children strapped to their backs in leather slings.' These 
 women were forced along by their brutal owners, and fre- 
 quently beaten to urge their progress. The flag, guarded by 
 eight or ten men, leads the trader's party ; a native, carrying 
 a box of five hundred cartridges in case of attack, walks 
 beside them. In single file the porters and baggage follow, 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 45 
 
 with soldiers at intervals to guard in case of runaways. The 
 ammunition was carried by about fifteen natives in the centre. 
 Another flag was carried in the rear of the party, and behind 
 this no straggler is allowed. Crossing the Kanieti river, a tribu- 
 tary of the Sobat, and the latter again of the Nile, they arrived 
 at the village of Wakkala. The village consisted of about 
 seven hundred houses, strongly protected by a system of 
 palisades made of * babanoose,' the hard iron - wood of the 
 country. A hedge of thorns strengthened this fence. Since 
 leaving Gondokoro, game had been extremely scarce ; but 
 in the neighbourhood of this village there was abundance. 
 Here they tasted meat for the first time since leaving the 
 latter place. Another halt was made in the neighbourhood 
 of Latomi, one of the principal places in the Latooka country. 
 Here Baker's men carried out their former threat, and 
 attempted to mutiny. The ringleaders having been dealt with 
 in rather a summary manner, order was again restored. An 
 incident occurred on the march which elevated Baker in 
 the eyes of the leader of the party, and also of the Turks 
 themselves. One of the native porters suddenly throwing 
 down his load made off at full speed, pursued by half-a- 
 dozen Turks, who shouted, ' Shoot him ! shoot him V ' Knock 
 him over.' Baker gave chase after him on his horse * Filfil,' 
 and speedily overtook him. But for his interposition, he 
 would have been shot, or well lashed ; as it was, he took 
 his burden and joined the others as if nothing had happened. 
 Thus it was that the Turks now regarded him as an ally, 
 and the Latookas as their friend, in having saved their 
 comrade. 
 
 On arriving at Tarrangolle', one of the chief towns of 
 Latooka, the natives crowded around to witness the two 
 
46 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 objects of great interest to them the camels, and a white 
 woman. These Latookas are remarkably fine savages; their 
 average height is 5 ft. \\\ in., and they possess a splendid 
 muscular development, their arms and legs being beautifully 
 proportioned. The appearance of their countenances is rather 
 pleasing, as they have high foreheads, large eyes, high cheek- 
 bones, mouths not very large, well shaped, and the lips rather 
 full. Our travellers found them frank and warlike, not morose, 
 but ready for either a laugh or a fight. The town of Tarran- 
 golle* comprised about three thousand houses; every house 
 was fortified by a little stockaded courtyard, and the town 
 itself was surrounded by iron-wood palisades. The wealth of 
 the Latookas consists for the most part in their cattle, which 
 are most carefully kept. The houses are usually bell-shaped, 
 others are like a candle extinguisher; the roofs are neatly 
 thatched, the roof forming a cap which descends to within two 
 feet and a half of the ground. The doorway is only two feet 
 and two inches high ; the interior is entirely dark, as neither 
 here nor elsewhere have they risen to the idea of having 
 windows. The bodies of these savages are entirely nude. 
 The greatest attention is paid to their head-dress. To perfect 
 their coiffure requires a period of from eight to ten years. 
 * The Latookas/ writes Baker, ' wear most exquisite helmets, 
 all of which are formed of their own hair, and are, of course, 
 fixtures. . . . The thick, crisp wool is woven with fine twine, 
 formed from the bark of a tree, until it presents a thick net- 
 work of felt. As the hair grows through this matted substance, 
 it is subjected to the same process, until, in the course of 
 years, a compact substance is formed like a strong felt, about 
 an inch and a half thick, that has been trained into the shape 
 of a helmet. A strong rim, of about two inches deep, is 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, 47 
 
 formed by sewing it together with thread ; and the front part 
 of the helmet is protected by a piece of polished copper, while 
 a piece of the same metal, shaped like the half of a bishop's 
 mitre, and about a foot in length, forms the crest.* These 
 elaborate head-dresses are occasionally ornamented with shells 
 or beads, according to the taste of the owner. 
 
 Their fighting weapons consist of the lance, a powerful iron- 
 headed mace, a long-bladed knife or sword, and an iron 
 bracelet, armed with knife-blades about four inches long by 
 half an inch broad ; their shields are made of either buffalo's 
 hide or of giraffe's. 
 
 The women are exceedingly plain in their personal appear- 
 ance. They wear long tails like those of horses, and aprons of 
 tanned leather. Bokkd, the wife of the chief, and her daughter, 
 were the only pretty women he saw in the country. Baker 
 had an interview with this chief of Latooka; his wife and 
 daughter also visited him, and they were loaded with presents. 
 Bokke suggested that Mrs. Baker would be much improved if 
 she would extract her four front teeth from the lower jaw, 
 according to the fashion of the country ; also that she should 
 pierce her under lip, and wear the long, pointed, polished 
 crystal, about the size of a drawing pencil, which is generally 
 worn by the women of the Latookas. Women are mere 
 servants ; they grind the corn, fetch the water, gather firewood, 
 cement the floors, and cook the food. The price of a strong, 
 good-looking young woman would be ten cows. A family of 
 daughters in Latooka is thus exceedingly profitable. * The 
 simple rule of proportion,' writes Baker, * will suggest that if 
 one daughter is worth ten cows, ten daughters must be worth a 
 hundred, therefore a large family is the source of wealth ; the 
 girls produce the cows, and the boys milk them. All being 
 
48 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 perfectly naked (I mean the girls and the boys), there is no 
 expense, and the children act as herdsmen to the flocks as in 
 patriarchal times. A multiplicity of wives thus increases wealth 
 by the increase of family. I am afraid this practical state of 
 affairs will be a strong barrier to missionary enterprise. A 
 savage holds to his cows and his women, but especially to his 
 cows.' 
 
 While staying at Latooka, they heard that a party of Turks, 
 in attacking a village on the mountains for plunder or slaves, 
 had been exterminated. The attacking party consisted of no 
 armed men, in addition to 300 natives. They succeeded in 
 burning a village and in capturing a great number of slaves. 
 These slaves had afterwards retaliated, forced the aggressors to 
 retreat, and had driven them over a precipice. The brutality 
 of the trader's party, shown towards the natives of Latooka, 
 nearly brought about a war. It was only averted when the 
 natives discovered that they must have been hopelessly beaten. 
 
 A proposal made by Adda, a chief, led Baker to moralize on 
 the obtuseness of the nature of the savage. He asked him to 
 join him in attacking a village to procure hoes. * Come along 
 with me,' he said ; * bring your men and guns, and we will 
 attack a village near here, and take their molotes (hoes) and 
 cattle; you keep the cattle, and I will have the molotes.' On 
 being asked whether the village was in an enemy's country, he 
 continued, * Oh, no ! it is close here ; but the people are rather 
 rebellious, and it will do them good to kill a few, and to take 
 their molotes. If you are afraid, never mind, I will ask the 
 Turks to do it.' Adda concluded that it must be weakness 
 which caused such conduct. Baker's feelings at the time were 
 noted in his journal : * 1863, 10th April, Ldtooka. I wish the 
 black sympathizers in England could see Africa's inmost heart 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 49 
 
 as I do ; much of their sympathy would subside. Human 
 nature viewed in its crude state as pictured amongst African 
 savages is quite on a level with that of the brute, and not to 
 be compared with the noble character of the dog. There is 
 neither gratitude, pity, love, nor self-denial ; no idea of duty; no 
 religion ; but covetousness, ingratitude, selfishness, and cruelty. 
 All are thieves, idle, envious, and ready to plunder and enslave 
 their weaker neighbours/ This is certainly a dark picture, 
 and there is all too good ground for admitting its truthfulness. 
 At the same time, Mungo Park and that greatest of missionary 
 travellers, David Livingstone, both wandered among the 
 heathens of Africa, and discovered the existence of virtues 
 which had not been dreamt of before. The same may be said 
 of the explorations of Mr. H. M. Stanley, whose passage across 
 the 'Dark Continent' had so provoked the hostility of the 
 natives. When at their best, as in the case of King Mtesa of 
 Uganda, or King Rumanika, they presented many virtues 
 which only required patient Christian training and less un- 
 toward surroundings to develop into useful and presentable 
 types of manhood. 
 
 The curious custom of the funeral dance led Baker to 
 question an intelligent chief called Commoro regarding this 
 musical festivity in honour of the dead, also the habit of 
 exhuming and scattering abroad the bones of those who had 
 long been buried. He had no better reason to give than that 
 it had been the custom of his forefathers. The idea f 
 existence after death was perfectly unthinkable for him. 
 
 Commoro : ' Existence after death ! How can that be ? 
 Can a dead man get out of his grave, unless we dig him 
 out? 1 
 
 f Do you think man is like a beast, that dies and is ended ? ' 
 
 III. D 
 
5 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Commoro : * Certainly. An ox is stronger than a man ; but 
 he dies, and his bones last longer \ they are bigger. A man's 
 bones break quickly; he is weak/ 
 
 1 Is not a man superior in sense to an ox ? Has he not a 
 mind to direct his actions ? ' 
 
 Commoro : * Some men are not so clever as an ox. Men 
 must sow corn to obtain food, but the ox and wild animals can 
 procure it without sowing.' 
 
 And so the discussion proceeded, it seeming impossible the 
 while to impress his mind with anything beyond the seen 
 and temporal. Baker, in explaining the object of his visit 
 to the country, did not succeed any better; for Com- 
 moro said, ' Suppose you get to the great lake, what will 
 you do with it ? What will be the good of it ? If you find 
 that the large river does flow from it, what then? What's 
 the good of it?' Baker in turn explained that England 
 had an intimate knowledge of the whole world except the 
 interior of Africa, and that the object in exploring was to 
 benefit the unknown countries in introducing legitimate trade 
 and commerce. Commoro replied that the Turks would never 
 trade fairly, that they were extremely bad people, and that the 
 only way in which they would purchase ivory was by bartering 
 cattle, which they stole from one tribe in order to sell to 
 another. 
 
 One of the amusements of Latooka was elephant-hunting, in 
 which Baker excelled, although on one occasion it was at the 
 risk of his life, being pursued by a large bull-elephant while 
 riding an exhausted horse. The traders' party found Baker's 
 camp exceedingly useful to them, being supplied with many 
 articles which they needed ; they did not scruple to send daily 
 for what they required. Having attained celebrity as a gun- 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 51 
 
 smith, hardly a day passed but what some broken guns were 
 brought to him for repair. Baker and Ibrahim, the chief of 
 the Turks' party, received presents from the natives of Obbo, a 
 town south-west from Latooka. As the people were friendly, 
 Ibrahim determined to pay them a visit ; and Baker, delighted 
 to change the scene of his present inaction, started with them 
 on 2d May 1863. Five men were left in charge of Baker's 
 camp and its effects, while the chief Commoro promised to see 
 after its safety. The chief of Obbo, he remarks, might have 
 been the clown of a pantomime, and was far from preserving 
 the dignity of his office, but gave them a very kindly reception, 
 however. The return march furnished the excitement of a 
 giraffe hunt. Sickness now spread among the animals; five 
 donkeys died within a few days, while the remainder looked 
 poor. The Latookas at once ate these animals. Two of the 
 camels died suddenly, having eaten of a poison bush. Mrs. 
 Baker had an attack of gastric fever, and the small-pox had 
 broken out amongst the Turks. 
 
 The first clue to the lake Albert Nyanza was received from 
 Wani, the guide and interpreter. He stated that Magungo 
 was situated on a lake so large that no one knew its limits. 
 Large vessels arrived at Magungo from distant parts, bringing 
 cowrie shells and beads in exchange for ivory. After a long 
 stay amongst the Latookas, a start was made for the Obbo 
 country on 23d June 1863, although Mrs. Baker was at the 
 time dangerously ill with bilious fever. The traders' party 
 with whom they journeyed had provoked the hostility of the 
 Latookas, making it dangerous to remain amongst them. 
 Without the presence of this party, also, he would have been 
 unable to procure porters. Arrived at his former hut in the 
 Obbo country, he found that a great change had taken place. 
 
52 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Old Katchiba, the chief, on meeting them, brought them 
 nothing, but said the Turks had eaten up the country. They 
 had indeed arrived in a land of starvation. The natives 
 refused to supply provisions for beads; they would barter 
 nothing save in exchange for flesh. At first they had nothing 
 to eat except tullaboon, a small bitter grain used instead of 
 corn by the natives. In bad health and ill humour, Baker 
 wrote thus in his journal : ' I hear that the Turks intend to 
 make a razzia on the Shoggo country near Farajoke; thus 
 they will stir up a wasp's nest for me wherever I go, and 
 render it impossible for my small party to proceed alone, or 
 even to remain in peace. I shall be truly thankful to quit this 
 abominable land ; in my experience I never saw such scoun- 
 drels as Africa produces, the natives of the Soudan being 
 worse than alL It is impossible to make a servant of any of 
 these people ; the apathy, indolence, dishonesty, combined 
 with dirtiness, are beyond description ; and their abhorrence of 
 anything like order increases their natural dislike to Euro- 
 peans. I have not one man even approaching to a servant ; 
 the animals are neglected, therefore they die. And were I to 
 die, they would rejoice, as they would immediately join 
 Koorshid's people in cattle-stealing and slave-hunting 
 charming followers in the time of danger ! Such men destroy 
 all pleasure, and render exploration a mere toil.' Baker and 
 his wife were both down with bilious fever; the flies were 
 killing the donkeys. They were tormented with flies by day, 
 with rats and innumerable bugs by night, heavy dew, daily 
 rain, and impenetrable reeking grass, so that the place was 
 rendered about as disagreeable a prison as could exist. On 
 23d August the last camel died, and only eight donkeys 
 remained out of twenty-one. All the horses and camels were 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 53 
 
 now dead; the damp food caused by the excessive rain was 
 supposed to have hastened this catastrophe. 
 
 Accompanied by his wife, he visited the chief Katchiba on 
 30th August, by whom they were very politely received. The 
 circular hut which he inhabited was about twenty-five feet in 
 diameter, with a narrow doorway obliging the visitor to enter 
 on all-fours. He treated them to a wild, plaintive air on a 
 native harp, to which he sang. Afterwards he sent on a sheep 
 to their hut as a present. In return, he received a gorgeous 
 necklace of valuable beads, which delighted him very much. 
 
 The weary months dragged on at Obbo. Worn down by 
 fever, the prospect of continuing the journey was anything but 
 hopeful. Mrs. Baker fortunately did not suffer quite so much 
 as her husband. All the animals being dead, the remainder 
 of the journey must be performed on foot ; and as travelling 
 on foot would have been impossible in their present weak 
 condition, three oxen were purchased and trained in lieu of 
 horses. These oxen were named respectively, ' Beef,' ' Steaks,' 
 and * Suet.' * Beef/ who was at first a fine animal, got so 
 bitten with the flies, and so down in condition, that its name 
 was changed to * Bones.' Baker succeeded in killing a large 
 bull-elephant in the neighbourhood of Obbo, which gratified 
 the natives very much. The start was made at last on 5 th 
 January. The march was now through beautiful park-like 
 scenery, very different from the rank and superabundant 
 vegetation of Obbo. Farajoke was the first village at which 
 they arrived. The next halting-place was at the Asua river. 
 Here the Turks made a raid on a native village, bringing with 
 them about three hundred head of cattle, and a number of 
 slaves tied by the neck with a long leathern thong, so as to 
 form a living chain. Shooa was the next halting- place. 
 
54 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Fowls, butter, and goats were here to be had in abundance ; 
 and as beads were of great value, the women flocked to Mrs. 
 Baker, bringing presents of milk and flour in exchange for 
 them. The country was pretty well cultivated, large quantities 
 of sesame being grown and carefully harvested. Two days 
 after their arrival at Shooa, all the Obbo porters absconded. 
 The reason for this disappearance was, that they had heard 
 the expedition was bound for Kamrasi's country. Kamrasi 
 they feared and dreaded. Ibrahim, the chief of the traders' 
 expedition, had done so badly in the way of collecting ivory, 
 that on being guaranteed ioo cantars (10,000 lbs.) of ivory, he 
 agreed to push on to Kamrasi. In improved health, they left 
 Shooa on the 18th January 1864. A march of eight miles 
 brought them to the village of Fatiko, situated upon a plateau 
 of rock upon elevated ground. Here the natives caused the 
 white travellers to undergo a rather painful method of saluta- 
 tion, that of seizing both the hands and raising the arms 
 three times to their full stretch above the head. After about 
 one hundred Fatikos had been introduced, our travellers 
 thought it was time to get out of their way before the other 
 half of the village should have time to operate upon them. 
 
 Marching to the Victoria White Nile, they halted at Atada, 
 where there was a ferry. A messenger was sent to King 
 Kamrasi, informing him who they were, when they must cer- 
 tainly await his return. In the meantime, to quicken matters 
 and restore confidence, their presents were displayed, consisting 
 of a handsome Persian carpet about fifteen feet square, and a 
 heap of superb necklaces. At last, after considerable delay, 
 the natives consented to ferry across Mrs. Baker and himself, 
 with Ibrahim, Richarn, and Saat. They were welcomed to 
 a blazing fire, and received something to eat, when Baker 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 55 
 
 endeavoured to lull their suspicions. Traces of Speke's visit 
 were apparent, as a man showed a small string of blue beads 
 which he had received for ferrying him across the river. 
 
 The natives of Unyoro exhibited here more decency in 
 clothing than the naked savages amongst whom they had 
 been travelling farther northwards. The women were neatly 
 dressed in short petticoats with a double skirt ; many exposed 
 the bosom, while others wore a piece of bark cloth arranged 
 as a plaid across the chest and shoulders. This cloth is 
 produced from the bark of a species of fig tree, the best 
 quality of which is as soft to the touch as woven cotton. 
 Their native blacksmiihs were very clever, using iron hammers 
 instead of stone, and drawing fine wire from the thick copper 
 and brass wire which they received from Zanzibar. These 
 natives also make a fine quality of jet-black earthenware, 
 making tobacco-pipes finely worked in imitation of the small 
 egg-shaped gourd. Mrs. Baker's blonde hair was a great 
 wonder to the natives : she was literally mobbed by them 
 to see the extraordinary sight, when caught dressing it in the 
 doorway of her hut. The native huts are large (about 20 
 feet in diameter), made entirely of reeds and straw, and in the 
 shape of a beehive, 'very different,' as Baker remarks, 'to 
 the dog-kennels of the northern tribes.' They are extremely 
 neat in all that they do ; what they sell is carefully wrapped up 
 in neat parcels, usually formed of the bark of the plantain. 
 They are in the habit of preparing goat-skins, making them as 
 soft as chamois leather. These they cut into squares, and sew 
 together into mantles as neatly as could be done by a European 
 tailor. Beads, while a marketable commodity, owing to their 
 imperishable nature might slacken in demand; but articles of 
 clothing might here form the basis of a legitimate trade. 
 
56 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Kamrasi treated Baker to an interview, after a most harass- 
 ing delay, near M'rooli, his capital. He was so weak and ill 
 that he had to be laid on a mat at the king's feet. Kamrasi 
 was a fine-looking man, with prominent eyes, about six feet 
 high, beautifully clean, and dressed in a robe of bark-cloth. 
 His complexion was a dark brown ; and he sat on a copper 
 stool placed upon a carpet of leopard skins, and was sur- 
 rounded by ten of his principal chiefs. Baker's presents were 
 very handsome : a large white Cashmere mantle, a red silk 
 netted sash, a pair of scarlet Turkish shoes, several pairs of 
 socks, a double-barrelled gun and ammunition, and a quantity 
 of first-class beads. The firing of a gun caused some of the 
 crowd to tumble over one another like rabbits, much to the 
 amusement of the king. Baker received as a present, seven- 
 teen cows, twenty pots of sour plantain cider, and several loads 
 of unripe plantains. Having heard that the lake was so far 
 distant, all his porters deserted him on 16th February. 
 
 Before leaving for the lake, the king showed the genuine 
 greed of his nature by demanding more presents, concluding 
 by the following, expressed in the coolest possible manner : 
 
 * I will send you to the lake and to Shooa, as I have promised ; 
 but you must leave your wife with me.' The insolence of this 
 last demand drew down upon him the wrath of both Mr. and 
 Mrs. Baker, when in reply he said, in apparent astonishment : 
 
 * Don't be angry ! I had no intention of offending you by 
 asking for your wife. I will give you a wife, if you want one ; 
 and I thought you might have no objections to give me yours 
 it is my custom to give my visitors pretty wives, and I 
 thought you might exchange. Don't make a fuss about it. 
 If you don't like it, there's an end of it ; I will never mention 
 it again.' 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 57 
 
 Glad to turn his back upon M'rooli, Baker continued his 
 march towards the great lake. The escort provided by 
 Kamrasi was anything but an agreeable one. Crossing the 
 marshes near Kafoor river, Mrs. Baker received a sunstroke, 
 when her life was despaired of. On the frontier of Uganda, 
 worn out with fever and marching and anxiety on account of 
 his wife, whose death was hourly expected, he sank helpless. 
 Mrs. Baker had endured seven days of brain fever, when she 
 recovered in an almost miraculous manner. The moment 
 when this change was observed by the worn-out and anxious 
 explorer is best given in his own words : ' I had slept ; and 
 horrified as the idea flashed upon me that she must be dead, 
 and that I had not been with her, I started up. She lay upon 
 her bed, pale as marble, and with that calm serenity that the 
 features assume when the cares of life no longer act upon the 
 mind, and the body rests in death. The dreadful thought 
 bowed me down ; but as I gazed upon her in fear, her chest 
 gently heaved, not with the convulsive throbs of fever, but 
 naturally. She was asleep ; and when, at a sudden noise, she 
 opened her eyes, they were calm and clear. She was saved ! 
 When not a ray of hope remained, God alone knows what 
 helped us. The gratitude of that moment I will not attempt 
 to describe. ' 
 
 Halting at Parkani, the next stage, it was reported, would 
 bring them to the M'wooten N'zige. That night was a restless 
 one with the explorer, as the goal of his hopes was within 
 reach. Next day, the 14th March, they were early astir, 
 and, pushing forward, reached the summit of a slope from 
 which a good view could be obtained. ' The glory of our 
 prize/ writes Baker, * burst suddenly upon me ! There, like a 
 sea of quicksilver, lay far beneath the grand expanse of water, 
 
5 8 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 a boundless sea -horizon on the south and south-west, 
 glittering in the noonday sun; and on the west, at fifty or 
 sixty miles' distance, blue mountains rose from the bosom of 
 the lake to a height of about 7000 feet above its level/ As an 
 imperishable memorial of the consort of the Queen, the much- 
 loved Prince Albert, it was named 'The Albert Nyanza.' 
 The beach was perfectly clean sand, the waves throwing up 
 sea-weed as the sea does on an English sea-shore. The lake 
 was known to extend as far south as Karagwd The eastern 
 shores of the lake, from north to south, were occupied by 
 Chopi, Unyoro, Uganda, Utumbi, and Karagwd. The chief 
 assured them that large canoes had been known to cross over 
 from the other side, but that this required four days and nights 
 of hard rowing to accomplish. Besides, the canoes of Unyoro 
 were not adapted for such a journey. A feast was given to the 
 men in honour of the discovery. 
 
 It was with a hopeful and exultant feeling that Baker 
 stood on the shores of the great lake after three years of 
 arduous toil, his pale and exhausted wife, the attendant of 
 his wanderings, beside him. They settled meanwhile in a 
 miserable fishing village near the lake, called Vacovia. The 
 principal product of the country was salt, with which the 
 ground was strongly impregnated. Further examination 
 showed that the lake was a vast depression, far below 
 the general level of the country, surrounded by precipitous 
 cliffs, bounded on the west and south-west by great ranges 
 of mountains from five to seven thousand feet high. The 
 Victoria Nyanza discovered by Speke was a reservoir for the 
 waters of the Nile, formed at a high altitude. The Albert 
 lake, extending much farther north than the Victoria, receives 
 its waters from the latter lake, and forms the grand reservoir 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 59 
 
 for the waters of the Nile. Different affluents were also seen 
 by telescope flowing into the Albert lake from the mountains 
 on the west side. 
 
 It was imperatively necessary that what was intended to 
 be accomplished in the way of further exploration should be 
 done at once, as the return to England that year depended 
 upon their being forward at Gondokoro before the end of 
 April. Their guide was sent overland with the oxen to 
 Magungo, where the Victoria Nile emptied its waters into 
 the Albert Nyanza. Boats were ordered for the exploration 
 of the coast northwards from Vacovia to Magungo. Before 
 starting, the whole party were down with fever, which augured 
 ill for the success of the expedition. Eight days were 
 passed at Vacovia before the canoes arrived. They were 
 merely single trees neatly hollowed out, the largest being 
 thirty-two feet long ; the one selected for himself was twenty- 
 six feet long, but wider and deeper than the other. On the 
 latter he constructed a framework, thatched with hides, 
 beneath which Mrs. Baker could be defended from the sun 
 and rain. The first part of the voyage was completely suc- 
 cessful ; before they had reached their destination, however, 
 they had experienced many vicissitudes. Their boatmen 
 deserted, and they made a narrow escape from being upset 
 in a storm on the lake. Several fine herds of elephants were 
 seen in the course of the voyage, bathing together in the lake. 
 Mrs. Baker suffered severely during the voyage : during the 
 day they were cramped in the small cabin, and during the 
 night it invariably rained. The mosquitoes, too, were very 
 troublesome. Arrived at Magungo, the riding oxen were 
 reported to be in good order. They found the fishing arrange- 
 ments of the natives to be on a most extensive scale. A 
 
60 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 regular system of basket traps existed along the shores of 
 the lake for the capture of the fish. The portion of a splendid 
 fish, the baggera, was found in the lake; it weighed about 
 fifty pounds. It had evidently been bitten by a crocodile. 
 There are several varieties of fish in the lake which exceed 
 two hundred pounds in weight. 
 
 The appearance of the outlet of the lake northwards, 
 looking from Magungo, is thus described by Baker : ' A 
 few miles north there appeared to be a gap in the range, 
 and the lake continued to the west, but much contracted, 
 while the mountain range on the northern side of the gap 
 continued to the north-east. Due north and north-east the 
 country was a dead flat, and far as the eye could reach was 
 an extent of bright green reeds, marking the course of the 
 Nile as it made its exit from the lake. The sheet of water 
 at Magungo, being about seventeen miles in width, ended in 
 a long strip or tail to the north, until it was lost in the 
 flat valley of green rushes. This valley may have been from 
 four to six miles wide, and was bounded upon its west bank 
 by the continuation of the chain of mountains that had 
 formed the western boundary of the lake.' The natives 
 reported that canoes could navigate the Nile in its course 
 from the lake to the Maudi country, as there were no 
 cataracts for a great distance, but both the Maudi and Koslie 
 tribes were reported to be hostile. The current of the river 
 was also said to be so strong that a canoe could not return 
 without many rowers. 
 
 In order to prove that the body of dead water which entered 
 the lake at Magungo was really the Victoria Nile, they sailed 
 up the river for eighteen miles, when a gentle current towards 
 the lake became perceptible. The current increased as they 
 
S/R SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 61 
 
 proceeded, until they came within sight of a magnificent 
 waterfall. The cliffs on either side were beautifully wooded, 
 rising abruptly to a height of about 300 feet. The river 
 was here contracted into a narrow gorge of scarcely fifty 
 yards in width, and rushing through the gap cleft in the 
 rock, and roaring furiously, it plunged downwards to a depth 
 of 120 feet. In honour of the president of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society, Baker named this magnificent cataract 
 the Murchison Falls. They did not succeed, owing to the 
 strength of the current, in bringing their canoes nearer than 
 about 300 yards of the base. A sandbank to their left was 
 literally covered with crocodiles, lying like trunks of trees 
 ready for shipment. After sketching the Murchison Falls, 
 they drifted rapidly downward to the deserted fishing-village 
 whence they had started. 
 
 They started as soon as possible on the return journey, 
 their route being parallel with the Victoria Nile. A halt 
 was made at an island in the river called Patooan ; but by 
 this time Mr. and Mrs. Baker were both down with fever. 
 The work of exploration was completed, but they had many 
 difficulties to face. Kamrasi, the king of Unyoro, was at 
 war with a neighbouring tribe. The boats which they de- 
 pended upon for a return to civilisation would certainly have 
 left Gondokoro before they could possibly reach them. Porters 
 could not now be procured at any price to convey their 
 goods from Patooan. Only one riding ox remained alive, 
 and that, too, was half dead. Baker offered the natives all 
 the beads he had (about fifty pounds) and all his baggage, 
 if they would but carry him direct to Shooa from the spot. 
 They were in the midst, too, of the rainy season ; neither 
 of them could walk a quarter of a mile without fainting. 
 
62 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 They had no guide, and the country was covered with grass 
 and vegetation about eight feet high. Provisions were also 
 scarce, and many of the men connected with the expedition 
 were weak, the whole party having suffered from fever. In 
 his own words, they 'were completely helpless.' Leaving 
 the island of Patooan, as they were determined to proceed, 
 the natives deposited them in a deserted village, half of 
 which was burnt. The hut which they occupied was filthy 
 in the extreme, and flooded with the rain. Here the natives 
 deserted them. ' Every man had absconded,' writes Baker ; 
 'there were neither inhabitants nor provisions; the whole 
 country was a wilderness of rank grass that hemmed us in 
 on all sides ; not an animal, nor even a bird, was to be seen \ 
 it was a miserable, damp, lifeless country. ' Their distress 
 was a little relieved by discovering amongst the ruins of the 
 village some of the seed called 'tullaboon. , So for many a 
 day the daily dinner consisted of a mess of black porridge 
 made from this mouldy seed, with the addition of several 
 vegetables, which were used instead of spinach. A species 
 of wild thyme found in the jungles was used as a substitute 
 for tea. This poor fare, and the effects of the climate, pros- 
 trated both Mr. and Mrs. Baker for nearly two months. 
 Baker's vision of perfect happiness at this time was an English 
 beefsteak and a bottle of pale ale, could such have been 
 procured. While the men seemed to thrive on such poor fare, 
 both Mr. and Mrs. Baker were reduced to skeletons. In case 
 of death, Baker wrote instructions in his journal, telling his 
 headman to be sure to deliver his maps, observations, and 
 papers to the English Consul at Khartoum. 
 
 Baker now discovered that they were cruelly deserted and 
 were being starved with the knowledge of Kamrasi, king of 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 63 
 
 Unyoro, his aim being that his men should assist him 
 against the enemy. After two months of suffering at this 
 spot, called Shooa Mom, Baker sent messengers to Kamrasi, 
 who were to explain that he was insulted in treating through 
 a third party in proposing an alliance, that he was a more 
 powerful chief than Kamrasi, and that if he wished his 
 alliance he must treat with him in person. Some days elapsed, 
 when a messenger arrived from Kamrasi with orders that 
 Baker's whole party were to proceed to Kamrasi. On reaching 
 his camp, a meeting took place between Ibrahim, the chief 
 of the Turkish traders, with whom they had formerly journeyed 
 from Gondokoro. The report had previously reached them 
 that both Mr. and Mrs. Baker were dead. The greeting 
 between Baker's party and that of the Turks was very 
 hearty. They all came to kiss Baker's hand and that of his 
 wife, saying, ' By Allah, no woman in the world had a heart 
 so tough as to dare to face what she had gone through.' 
 * Thank God be grateful to God.' With the addition of the 
 Turks' party, they now numbered twenty-four armed men. 
 
 Baker was not long in discovering, after his arrival at 
 Kisoona, that he had been deceived in his former interview 
 with the king at Atada. Instead of seeing the real king, he 
 had only interviewed his brother. This conduct was the 
 result of pure cowardice and want of faith in Baker's inten- 
 tions. When Speke passed through the country, he had also 
 been kept waiting for fifteen days before the king had con- 
 descended to see him. On the morning after his arrival, 
 the brother of the king called, requesting him to go and 
 visit his royal highness. Baker very pertinently replied that 
 he was hungry and weak from want of food, and that he 
 wanted meat, and not the man who had starved him. A 
 
64 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 beautiful cow or calf, a fat sheep, and two pots of plantain 
 cider were sent in the afternoon as a present from Kamrasi. 
 The latter, however, kept up his character as a notorious 
 beggar, by sending in the evening for the little double rifle 
 which he always carried, also for his watch and compass. 
 These were refused, and the reason was given that he had 
 failed in his promise to forward him to Shooa ; that he 
 required no presents from him, as he always expected a 
 thousand-fold in return. When the actual introduction to the 
 real Kamrasi took place, Baker threw off the rags in which he 
 had been travelling, and attired himself in a suit of Athole 
 tartan. The king was sitting in a porch in front of a hut, 
 and when Baker approached, he scarcely condescended to 
 look on him, but turned to his attendants and made some 
 remark, which evidently amused them. His brother M'gambi, 
 who had formerly acted the part of the king at M'rooli, sat 
 upon the ground a few feet from Kamrasi. Several of the 
 chiefs sat upon the straw with which the porch was littered. 
 One of his questions was why he had not been to see him 
 before. Baker replied that he had been starved in his 
 country and had not been able. 
 
 Concluding that Kisoona would have to be his home 
 until an opportunity occurred for quitting the country for 
 Shooa, Baker constructed a comfortable little hut for his 
 own use, surrounded by a courtyard strongly fenced ; in the 
 latter he arranged an open shed in which to sit during the 
 heat of the day. With plenty of milk, butcher-meat, and flour, 
 the whole party began to look thriving and fat. The natives 
 there never use their milk until it is curdled. The young 
 girls intended as wives of the king are not appreciated unless 
 extremely fat At an early age, they are forced to swallow 
 
SIX SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 65 
 
 about a gallon of curdled milk daily, which has the effect 
 upon them of making them extremely fat. The staple article 
 of food throughout Unyoro is the plantain, which is eaten 
 in several ways. The green plantains are used as potatoes ; 
 they are also peeled, cut into thin slices, and dried in the 
 sun. In this state they are stored up, when they are after- 
 wards made into soup. They are also ground into flour; 
 the bark serves as brown paper, and is waterproof. The fibre 
 supplies both thread and cord. The natives proved them- 
 selves remarkably sharp at making bargains, and in their 
 dealings required pretty close watching. 
 
 It was one day reported that the king intended to pay a 
 visit to the hut of the traveller, and knowing his begging pro- 
 pensities, although little was left of his original baggage except 
 the guns, ammunition, and astronomical instruments, yet every- 
 thing of any value was hid underneath the beds, in case he 
 should discover that he was in want of something. Kamrasi 
 came with his numerous attendants, but he was scarcely seated 
 in a rude arm-chair, which had been constructed by one of the 
 men, when he asked the chair as a present. The promise 
 was given that one would be made for him immediately. His 
 eye wandering over the hut in search of something which he 
 could ask, and seeing the interior so bare, he laughingly 
 turned to one of his people and said : ' How was it that 
 they wanted so many porters if they have nothing to 
 carry?' A selection of beads having been presented to 
 him, he renewed his request for a No. 24 double rifle, 
 which was refused. Wishing to see the contents of some 
 of the baskets and bags containing several miscellaneous 
 articles, nothing took his fancy except the needles, thread, 
 lancets, medicines, and a small-tooth comb. With the latter 
 
 III. E 
 
66 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 article he scratched his own head, when it was handed round 
 amongst the chiefs for a like purpose. The lancets, medicines, 
 and a concave mirror were also examined. After some con- 
 versation with the king as to his ancestors, Kamrasi 
 endeavoured to get Baker to acquiesce in a scheme for 
 shooting a chief who was at war with him. Baker declined, 
 telling him plainly that he did not intend to mix himself 
 up with his quarrels, that he would harm no one except in 
 self-defence, and that thus he could not be the aggressor. 
 Should the chiefs who were hostile to him, however, Fowooka 
 and Rionga, attack his position, he would be glad to give 
 his aid to repel them. The king left suddenly as if he had 
 been affronted. 
 
 Kamrasi was suddenly alarmed while at Kisoona by the 
 report that a hostile trading party had entered his territory, 
 and was marching against him with the intention of attacking 
 the country and killing himself. The king, who was panic- 
 stricken and determined on flight, secured the intervention 
 of Baker, who had the English ensign hoisted on a tall flag- 
 staff in the courtyard. A deputation from the traders* party 
 waited upon Baker, when he assumed high ground in argu- 
 ment, asking them how they dared presume to attack a 
 country under the protection of the British flag ; that Unyoro 
 belonged to him by right of discovery, and that he had 
 given the exclusive right to the produce of the country to 
 Ibrahim, the head of the traders' party which had formerly 
 accompanied him southward. He also explained that he 
 would resist any attack that should be made on Kamrasi, 
 and that he would report the whole affair to the Turkish 
 authorities at Khartoum. This had the desired effect, and 
 Kamrasi was freed from the invaders. His first emotions of 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 67 
 
 thankfulness were expressed in a desire to secure the British 
 flag which had worked such wonders. On being refused, he 
 replied : ' If you cannot give me the flag, give me at least 
 that little double-barrelled rifle that you do not require, as 
 you are going home ; then I can defend myself should the 
 Turks attack me,' This rifle was refused, now for about 
 the twentieth time. 
 
 Drums were beaten, horns were blown, and singing and 
 dancing took place in all directions when it was known on 
 the following day that the hostile traders' party had retreated 
 across the Nile, as agreed upon. A reply reached Baker from 
 Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, the leader of the party, saying that 
 he was neither afraid of Ibrahim's people nor of Kamrasi, 
 but that as Baker had claimed the country, they must retire. 
 A few days afterwards Kamrasi determined to give the 
 finishing stroke to his enemies. He attacked the neighbour- 
 ing chief Fowooka, captured the islands on which he resided, 
 massacred the greater number of the inhabitants, and brought 
 away their women and children as slaves. Many of the 
 women were wives of the rebel chiefs, who had never worked 
 laboriously, who were for the most part good-looking, with 
 soft and pleasing expression, brown complexion, fine noses, 
 woolly hair, and good figures. Some old women who 
 had also been captured, and were unable to keep up with 
 their victors on the return march, were killed on the road 
 as being cumbersome. This victory delighted Kamrasi ex- 
 ceedingly, and he sent large quantities of ivory to Ibrahim : 
 a large hut was filled with elephants' tusks of the largest 
 size. 
 
 The time arrived for leaving Kisoona. The place was no 
 longer habitable, as the M'was of Uganda had entered the 
 
68 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 country, and Kamrasi had fled the village. Mrs. Baker was 
 carried in a litter, and her husband in a chair. They halted 
 at the village of Deang. Here the porters deserted. The 
 next portion of the march to Foweera was both difficult and 
 dangerous. When they reached the latter village, they found 
 it in great excitement, as the M'was were reported as only 
 three miles distant. Here a favourite servant, Richarn, who 
 was reported killed, returned quite safe. His loss would 
 have been a heavy one, as he carried the gun of that great 
 traveller and hunter Osvvell. On the 20th September, 
 Ibrahim arrived with the post from England, which had 
 come through the Consul at Khartoum. With the exception 
 of a letter and a copy of the Illustrated London News from 
 Captain Speke, this post was of a two years' old date. The 
 letters had been brought from Gondokoro by Ibrahim. He 
 had also thought of other necessities, and had brought a 
 coarse piece of cotton cloth to make into clothes for Baker, 
 with a piece of cotton print as a dress for his wife. He 
 also brought a large jar of honey, some rice and coffee, which 
 had been left for want of porters at Shooa. Ibrahim now 
 came into possession of the large stores of ivory which had 
 been concealed at Kisoona ; Kamrasi also sent an additional 
 supply to the place where they had halted, within half a mile 
 of the Victoria Nile. Ibrahim's men assisted Kamrasi in 
 invading the Langgo country, where Fowooka, his old enemy, 
 had retreated, and received handsome donations of ivory 
 in return. These instalments of ivory were, however, more 
 than paid for by the cattle which he received from the 
 Turks. These cattle had been plundered from their enemies. 
 Ibrahim had brought many presents with him from Gondo- 
 koro for Kamrasi ; amongst them fifty pounds of beads, a 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 69 
 
 revolver pistol, cotton cloths, blue glass tumblers, looking- 
 glasses, etc. When the war was finished, Kamrasi determined 
 to destroy all those inhabitants of Foweera who had been 
 in league with his enemies the M'was, and had a number 
 of them executed daily. Baker moralizes thus on the power 
 of this king. In addition to those slaves captured in the 
 various wars, Kamrasi had presented him with seventy-two. 
 * There never was a more supreme despot/ writes Baker, 
 'than the king Kamrasi. Not only the property, but the 
 families of his subjects were at his disposal ; he boasted that 
 M all belonged to him." Thus, when disposed to be liberal, 
 he took from others and bestowed upon his favourites ; should 
 any sufferer complain, there were no lawyer's costs, but the 
 " shoe" or death. His power depended upon a perfect 
 system of espionage, by which he obtained a knowledge of 
 all that passed throughout his kingdom ; that being divided 
 into numerous small districts, each governed by a chief, who 
 was responsible for the acts committed within his jurisdiction, 
 the government was wonderfully simplified. Should a com- 
 plaint be made against a governor, he was summoned before 
 the king; if guilty, death or the "shoe." To be suspected 
 of rebellion was to die. A bodyguard of about five hundred 
 men, who were allowed to pillage the country at discretion, 
 secured the power of the king, as with this organized force 
 always at hand, he could pounce upon the suspected and 
 extinguish them at once ; thus the tyrant held his sway over 
 a population so timid that they yielded tamely to his op- 
 pression. Having now allied himself to the Turks, he had 
 conceived the most ambitious views of -conquering Uganda, 
 and of restoring the ancient kingdom of Kitwara ; but the 
 total absence of physical courage will utterly frustrate such 
 
70 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 plans for extension, and Kamrasi the Cruel will never be 
 known as Kamrasi the Conqueror.' 
 
 About the middle of November they bade adieu to Kamrasi, 
 as the Turks with whom they intended to travel were ready to 
 return to Shooa. The amount of ivory was so great that seven 
 hundred porters were required to carry it and the provisions 
 for a five days' march through uninhabited country. Baker 
 had now spent ten months of wretchedness in the country of 
 Unyoro, and was glad to turn his back upon it. The whole 
 party, including women and children, numbered about one 
 thousand. At the end of the fifth day's march, Shooa was 
 reached. They found the change delightful after Unyoro, the 
 vegetation there being wet and dense, while it was now dry, 
 and the grass short and of a fine quality. The native women 
 crowded round the camp to welcome Mrs. Baker, dancing in 
 honour of their return; expecting, however, the present of 
 a cow for their trouble. The time spent at Shooa, Baker 
 employed in rambling about the neighbourhood, climbing the 
 mountain, collecting information, and making duplicates of 
 maps. The Turks had discovered a new country called Lira, 
 about thirty miles from Shooa, where the natives were reported 
 to be extremely friendly. In some of those who were located 
 in the Turks' camp, the head-dress formed a remarkable feature 
 in their general appearance. The hair was woven into a thick 
 felt, which covered the shoulders, and extended as low upon 
 the back as the shoulder-blade. Much of this hair w r as 
 borrowed, and they were not particular as to the source from 
 whence it was received. Sometimes this head-dress was further 
 plastered and dressed with bluish clay and pipe-clay. The 
 people of Lira were at this time fighting with their neighbours 
 the Langgos those of Shooa with the natives of Fatiko. The 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 71 
 
 Khartoum traders had, of course, taken advantage of this 
 general discord to advance their own interests. The two 
 leaders of the rival traders' parties Ibrahim and Mahommed 
 Wat-el-Mek had joined themselves with the contending tribes, 
 and so for miles around Shooa there was but a blackened 
 wilderness ; thousands of cattle had been driven off, and the 
 natives had fled either to the hills or to other countries. The 
 natives had been so spoilt, too, by the payment in cows instead 
 of in beads, that they could not be prevailed upon to act as 
 porters to Gondokoro under a payment of four cows each. Thus, 
 according to what was required by the Turks, one thousand 
 men were needed, for whom a payment of four thousand cows 
 would be necessary. This led to extreme and violent measures 
 on the part of the Turks, especially on the part of Debono's 
 people, who were situated about twenty-five miles distant. 
 The tribes combined to thwart them, and refused to carry 
 their ivory to Gondokoro. The chief of Faloro, by name 
 Werdella, declared open war against them, drove off their 
 cattle, and retreating to the mountains, challenged them to 
 rescue them. 
 
 * During the absence of the traders' party upon various 
 expeditions/ Baker further says, 'about fifty men were left 
 in their camp as headquarters. Nothing could exceed the 
 brutality of the people. They had erected stills, and produced 
 a powerful corn spirit from the native mirissa; their entire 
 time was passed in gambling, drinking, and fighting, both by 
 night and day. The natives were ill-treated, their female 
 slaves and children brutally ill-used, and the entire camp was a 
 mere slice from the infernal regions. My portion of the camp 
 being a secluded courtyard, we were fortunately independent.' 
 Baker used his influence against the atrocities which were 
 
72 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 being continually committed, and explained to the Turks that 
 he would use force to prevent such acts, and that he would 
 report the names of all those to the Egyptian authorities who 
 should commit any murder that he could prove. At this time 
 he had gained an extraordinary influence over the people, 
 enabling him to exert such authority as saved the lives of many 
 unfortunate creatures who would have perished but for his 
 intervention. Baker's shooting at Shooa was mostly confined 
 to the antelope ; whenever an animal was shot, the natives 
 always cut its throat and drank the hot blood as it gushed 
 from the artery. In the rambles in search of game, he recog- 
 nised two kinds of cotton indigenous to the country one with 
 a yellow blossom, which proved comparatively worthless ; the 
 other with a red blossom, producing a fine quality, easily 
 detachable from the seeds. 
 
 In the month of February 1865, Baker and his party, with 
 the traders' company, left Shooa for Gondokoro. The camp 
 was full of ivory ; the total results of the ivory campaign for 
 the last two months had yielded upwards of 32,000 lbs., equal 
 to about ^9630 when delivered in Egypt. The largest portion 
 of Ibrahim's immense store of ivory had been given to him by 
 Kamrasi. Baker had guaranteed him 10,000 lbs. of ivory 
 should he quit Obbo and go southwards with him, and he had 
 received more than three times that amount. It was a trial to 
 part with several of the slave children, to whom they had 
 grown attached. The road for several days was through 
 beautiful park-like lands, arriving at the point of junction 
 between the Un-y-Ame and the Nile. About three miles from 
 this point of junction between these rivers stood a tamarind 
 tree, which was, up till the date of Baker's expedition, the 
 farthest southern limit previously reached by any traveller 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 73 
 
 from the north. Here Signor Miani's expedition had been 
 obliged to halt, being deceived by his escort, which had refused 
 to proceed farther. Travelling onwards, from a rocky height 
 about 800 feet high, they could discern the course of the Nile 
 from w.s.w. for about twenty miles winding through marshy 
 ground. The country opposite to where they stood was 
 Koshi, which formed the west bank of the Nile, extending the 
 whole way to the Albert lake. The country they occupied at 
 the time was Madi, which extended as the east bank of the 
 Nile to the angle of the Victoria Nile junction, opposite 
 Magungo. Opposite the summit of the pass from which 
 they scanned the country, rose Gebel Kookoo, 2500 feet 
 high, a prominent feature in the chain of mountains bordering 
 the west bank, until within thirty miles of Gondokoro. The 
 mouth of the Un-y-Ame' is the navigable limit of the river 
 from the Albert lake. 
 
 Baker was now on the track by which Speke and Grant 
 returned. The Nile, entering the valley between Gebel 
 Kookoo and the western range, is obstructed in its course by 
 numerous rocky islets, and mud banks covered with papyrus 
 rush, causing the stream to widen out to about a mile. 
 Below this spot a short distance the channel rapidly con- 
 tracted, becoming a roaring torrent in its passage through a 
 narrow gorge. Still following the Nile banks, several water- 
 falls were seen, * through which for many miles the angry 
 Nile chafed and roared like a lion in its confined den.' On 
 crossing the Asua river, they became aware that they had 
 entered the territory of the hostile Bari tribe. The route led 
 over a fine country on a line with the Nile, with a rock-bound 
 channel to the west oi the march. In passing through a 
 gorge between low rocky hill?, they were attacked by a party 
 
74 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 of the Bari tribe, who discharged poisoned arrows at them. 
 The natives were easily kept at bay, however, and they 
 encamped in safety in an open clearing beyond. The next 
 day they were followed again by the natives, who only waited 
 an opportunity to attack them. In the evening they occu- 
 pied two small deserted villages. Here a night attack was 
 made by the natives, and poisoned arrows were thrown into 
 the camp, but the affair ended when one of the men was 
 shot by a sentry. Marching fifteen miles a day from this 
 point, the mountains around Gondokoro, familiar to him 
 when starting two years previously, now dawned upon him. 
 Resting within three miles of Gondokoro, that night was full 
 of speculations as to whether there would be a boat waiting 
 for him with letters and supplies. Money had been left 
 with an agent at Khartoum for this purpose. Next morning, 
 starting ahead of Ibrahim and his party, the English flag 
 leading the way, his men cheering and firing salutes, they 
 were met by a party of the Turks from Gondokoro. Much 
 to his disappointment, neither boats, supplies, nor letters 
 awaited Baker. He had long since been given up as dead 
 by the inhabitants of Khartoum. Others suggested that he 
 might have gone to Zanzibar, but the prevalent opinion was 
 that he was killed. 'At this cold and barren reply,' writes 
 Baker, 1 1 felt almost choked. We had looked forward to 
 arriving at Gondokoro as to a home ; we had expected that 
 a boat would have been sent on the chance of finding us, as 
 I had left money in the hands of an agent in Khartoum ; 
 but there was literally nothing to receive us, and we were 
 helpless to return. We had worked for years in misery, such 
 as I have but faintly described, to overcome the difficulties 
 of this hitherto unconquerable exploration ; we had sue- 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 75 
 
 ceeded, and what was the result? Not even a letter from 
 home to welcome us if alive ! As I sat beneath a tree, and 
 looked down upon the glorious Nile that flowed a few yards 
 beneath my feet, I pondered upon the value of my toil. 
 I had traced the river to its great Albert source, and as the 
 mighty stream glided before me, the mystery that had ever 
 shrouded its origin was dissolved. I no longer looked upon 
 its waters with a feeling approaching to awe, for I knew its 
 home, and had visited its cradle. Had I overrated the 
 importance of the discovery? and had I wasted some of 
 the best years of my life to obtain a shadow? I re- 
 called to recollection the practical question of Commoro, 
 the chief of Latooka, "Suppose you get to the great 
 lake, what will you do with it? What will be the good of 
 it ? If you find that the large river does flow from it, what 
 then?'" 
 
 The news which had already come from Khartoum was 
 neither bright nor reassuring. The different trading parties 
 now arrived in Gondokoro had with them upwards of three 
 thousand slaves. The message regarding these was to the 
 effect that the Egyptian authorities had received orders from 
 the European powers to stop the slave trade. Four vessels 
 had arrived at Khartoum from Cairo ; two of them had 
 ascended the White Nile, and had captured many slavers. 
 Their crews had been imprisoned, and subjected to the 
 bastinado and torture. An Egyptian regiment had been 
 stationed in the Shillook country ; steamers were cruising to 
 intercept any boats from the interior in their descent to 
 Khartoum. The plague was also raging at Khartoum; 15,000 
 people had fallen victims to its ravages. The White Nile, by 
 a freak of nature, was dammed up ; and the crews of several 
 
76 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 vessels were occupied in endeavouring to cut a passage 
 through the obstruction. 
 
 The discomfiture of the traders at this news was very great, 
 and they were prepared for flight into the interior. Baker 
 secured a boat from one of the traders for ^40, and arranged 
 to leave at once, after cleansing his vessel as thoroughly as 
 possible, several persons having died of the plague within it 
 in the journey from Khartoum. Baker had secured great 
 influence over these traders, as the greater part of what he had 
 promised had been performed, and most of his predictions had 
 been realized. He also received the credit of the present 
 interference in the slave traffic by having written to the 
 Consul-General of Egypt in 1863. They were completely 
 cowed, however, and made no attempt at retaliation. Indeed, 
 much of their good luck in ivory-hunting was credited to him ; 
 disaster had befallen all who had been against him. Crowds 
 lined the cliff and the high ground as they bade good-bye to 
 the station, with the English flag flying at the mast-head. 
 Grateful to Divine Providence that had so shielded and pro- 
 tected them, they glided down the current of the Nile, past 
 the endless marshes, with hearts less full of triumph than of 
 calm content. There was now ample leisure to write letters 
 to England, to be posted at Khartoum ; and one of the 
 pleasures awaiting him was the meeting with Captain Speke, 
 when he could explain how completely he had accomplished 
 the task which he had undertaken. Baker has thus sum- 
 marized his discoveries up till that time. 
 
 * The Nile/ he writes, ' cleared of its mystery, resolves itself 
 into comparative simplicity. The actual basin of the Nile is 
 included between about 22 and 39 east longitude, and from 
 3 south to 1 8 north latitude. The drainage of that vast 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 77 
 
 area is monopolized by the Egyptian river. The Victoria and 
 Albert lakes, the two great equatorial reservoirs, are the 
 recipients of all affluents south of the equator, the Albert 
 lake being the grand reservoir in which are concentrated the 
 entire waters from the south, in addition to tributaries from the 
 Blue Mountains from the north of the equator. The Albert 
 Nyanza is the great basin of the Nile. The distinction 
 between that and the Victoria Nyanza is that the Victoria 
 is a reservoir receiving the eastern affluents, and it becomes a 
 starting-point, or the most elevated source at the point where ^ 
 the river issues from it at the Ripon Falls; the Albert is a 
 reservoir not only receiving the western and southern affluents 
 direct from the Blue Mountains, but it also receives the supply 
 from the Victoria and from the entire equatorial Nile basin. 
 The Nile, as it issues from the Albert Nyanza, is the entire 
 Nile ; prior to its birth from the Albert lake, it is not the entire 
 Nile. A glance at the map will at once exemplify the relative 
 value of the two great lakes. The Victoria gathers all the 
 waters on the eastern side and sheds them into the northern 
 extremity of the Albert; while the latter, from its character 
 and position, is the direct channel of the Nile that receives all 
 waters that belong to the equatorial Nile basin. Thus the 
 Victoria is the first source; but from the Albert the river 
 issues at once as the great White Nile.' Thus Baker finished 
 the discoveries made by Speke and Grant. These travellers 
 had traced the country from Zanzibar to the northern water- 
 shed of Africa. They settled that the Ripon Falls, flowing 
 from the Victoria Nyanza, were the highest source of the 
 Nile. They traced the course of the river to Karuma Falls, 
 and again met the Nile in lat. 3 32' n. They were told that 
 it flowed into the Luta N'Zige, or Albert Nyanza; but it 
 
78 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 remained for Baker to describe and verify this supposition, as 
 he has so ably done. The rainfall, to within 3 north of the 
 equator, extends over ten months, beginning in February and 
 terminating in the end of November. The heaviest rains fall 
 from April to the end of August ; during the last two months 
 of this season the rivers are at their largest. The rivers are 
 thus kept constant throughout the year ; the Albert lake 
 continues at a high level, yielding a steady volume to the 
 Nile. The geological formation of Central Africa shows an 
 altitude of 4000 feet above the sea level, with no indication 
 amongst its prevailing granitic and sandstone rocks that it has 
 ever been submerged, or subjected to any sea change. 
 
 Khartoum was reached on the 5th May 1865, when he 
 received a welcome from the entire European population on 
 the following morning. Sad to relate, his faithful boy Saat 
 had died of the plague on the river. Another sad event was 
 the death of Captain Speke, the tidings of which he had just 
 now heard. The Blue Nile was now so low that they could 
 not descend. The camels used in land transport were also 
 dead. Two months of waiting had therefore to be undergone 
 in Khartoum, subject to the intense heat and constant dust- 
 storms. 
 
 The measures taken by the European powers for the sup- 
 pression of the slave traffic led to the capture of two vessels 
 laden with 850 human beings, packed together, as Baker 
 relates, like anchovies, the living and the dying festering 
 together, and the dead lying beneath them. * European eye- 
 witnesses,' he writes, ' assured me that the disembarking of 
 this frightful cargo could not be adequately described. The 
 slaves were in a state of starvation, having had nothing to eat 
 for several days. They were landed in Khartoum ; the dead, 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 79 
 
 and many of the dying, were tied by the ankles, and dragged 
 along the ground by donkeys through the streets. The most 
 malignant typhus, or plague, had been engendered among this 
 mass of filth and misery, thus closely packed together. Upon 
 landing, the women were divided by the Egyptian authorities 
 among the soldiers. These creatures brought the plague to 
 Khartoum, which, like a curse visited upon this country of 
 slavery and abomination, spread like a fire throughout the 
 town, and consumed the regiments that had received this 
 horrible legacy from the dying cargo of slaves.* While staying 
 in the town, Baker discovered Mahommed Her, the headman 
 of Chenooda's party, who had incited his men to mutiny, 
 and had taken the deserters into his employ. He had him 
 arrested and brought before the Divan, when Mahommed was 
 sentenced to be flogged. 
 
 On 1 st July they left Khartoum for Berber. They had a 
 narrow escape from shipwreck in the cataracts of the Nile ; 
 but Berber was reached in safety, when Baker received a 
 warm welcome from a French gentleman and his wife, who 
 had been resident for many years in the Soudan. From 
 thence they took the route overland to Souakim, a consider- 
 able town on the Red Sea, where the houses are all built of 
 coral. From this place they made the voyage in five days to 
 Suez. Letters awaited him at the British Consulate, one of 
 which informed him that the Royal Geographical Society had 
 awarded him the Victoria Gold Medal for his exertions. 
 This was all the more gratifying, as it was bestowed before 
 they had become aware of the success of the expedition. 
 
 Having introduced his faithful black servant Richarn 
 to a comfortable situation in a hotel in Suez, the journey 
 ended. ' The past,' he writes, ( appeared like a dream : 
 
8o 
 
 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the rushing sound of the train renewed ideas of civilisation. 
 Had I really come from the Nile sources? It was no 
 dream. A witness sat before me : a face still young, but 
 bronzed like an Arab with years of exposure to a burning 
 sun; haggard and worn with toil and sickness, and shaded 
 with cares happily now past ; the devoted companion of my 
 pilgrimage, to whom I owed success and life my wife.' 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, M.A., F.R.G.S. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Expedition to Central Africa for the Suppression of the Slave Trade under 
 
 Ismail, Khedive of Egypt. 
 
 [T has not unfrequently happened in the case of 
 the individual, some special training gone through, 
 or some special experience, has been a prepara- 
 tion for higher and more useful work. A door of usefulness 
 opens to him who is prepared and ready to enter it. The 
 explorations of Sir Samuel White Baker at the Nile sources 
 had given him a useful experience, which was to be utilized 
 in an important expedition for the suppression of the slave 
 trade; and although this expedition may not have been so 
 fruitful in results as was expected, yet he has laid bare a 
 great tract of country hitherto imperfectly known. Baker, 
 from what he knew and had personally seen of the odious 
 slave traffic, concluded that until this blighting scourge was 
 removed, true prosperity and commercial enterprise was 
 impossible in Central Africa. 
 
 So emphatic are the horrors of the traffic, that to the 
 country subjected to them he uses the one strong word 
 
 ruin. 
 
 Those engaged in the traffic were for the most part 
 Arabs, and subjects of the Egyptian Government. Deserting 
 
 III. F 
 
82 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 their agricultural employments in the Soudan, they united them- 
 selves into companies in the pay of different merchants of 
 Khartoum. It was computed, before the expedition was 
 determined upon, that about 15,000 of the subjects of the 
 Khedive of Egypt were engaged in the ivory trade and slave- 
 hunting on the White Nile. At a moderate calculation, fifty 
 thousand slaves were drawn from Central Africa by way of 
 the White Nile annually. While travelling in Egypt in 
 company with their Royal Highnesses the Prince and 
 Princess of Wales, the Khedive at that time determined 
 to strike a blow at the slave trade of the White Nile. Sir 
 Samuel Baker was appealed to in order to sketch out a plan 
 for the proposed expedition to Central Africa, and in due 
 time he was placed in full command of it by the issue of 
 a firman from Ismail the Khedive. Its chief provisions were 
 as follows : 
 
 * To subdue to our authority the countries situated to the 
 south of Gondokoro ; 
 
 i To suppress the slave trade ; to introduce a system of 
 regular commerce ; 
 
 4 To open to navigation the great lakes of the equator ; 
 
 ' And to establish a chain of military stations and com- 
 mercial depots, distant at intervals of three days' march, 
 throughout Central Africa, accepting Gondokoro as the base 
 of operations. 
 
 The supreme command of this expedition is confided to 
 Sir Samuel White Baker for four years, commencing from 
 1 st April 1869 ; on whom also we confer the most absolute 
 and supreme power, even that of death, over all those who 
 may compose the expedition. 
 
 We confer upon him the same absolute and supreme 
 
SIJ? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 83 
 
 authority over all those countries belonging to the Nile basin 
 south of Gondokoro.' 
 
 The purpose of the expedition was, as may be supposed, 
 looked upon with suspicion and dislike by the interested 
 classes in Egypt. The sons of the Khedive and his two 
 ministers, Nubar Pasha and Cherif Pasha (an Armenian 
 and a Circassian), gave him their firm support. Having 
 received full powers, Baker gave orders that the following 
 vessels be fitted up with engines of the best construction, 
 which were to be carried across the Nubian desert in plates 
 and sections : 
 
 No. 1. A paddle steamer of 251 tons, 32 horse-power. 
 
 No. 2. A twin-screw high - pressure steamer of 20 horse- 
 power, 108 tons. 
 
 No. 3. A twin-screw high - pressure steamer of 10 horse- 
 power, 38 tons. 
 
 Nos. 4 and 5. Two steel lifeboats, each 30 feet by 9 = 10 
 tons each. 
 
 For the success of such an expedition, the utmost care and 
 thoughtfulness was required in the preparation for the enter- 
 prise. Here his former African experience proved invaluable. 
 Besides himself and Lady Baker, the English party were : 
 Lieutenant Julian Alleyne Baker, R.N. ; Mr. Edwin Higgin- 
 botham, civil engineer; Mr. Wood, secretary; Dr. Joseph 
 Gedge, physician ; Mr. Marcopolo, chief storekeeper and 
 interpreter ; Mr. M 'William, chief engineer of steamers ; Mr. 
 Jarvis, chief shipwright ; with other shipwrights, boilermaker, 
 and two servants. About ^9000 was spent in providing stores 
 for four years. Four galvanized iron magazines, each eighty 
 feet long by twenty in width, were provided in order to protect 
 the materials necessary for the expedition ; these were of the 
 
84 FA MO US TRA FELLERS. 
 
 most miscellaneous, but at the same time perfect description. 
 The magazines, he declared, could produce anything, from a 
 needle to a crowbar, or from a handkerchief to a boat's sail. 
 The supplies from England had indeed been so carefully 
 arranged that scarcely a want was felt on the journey but 
 could be supplied. Various delays were experienced before 
 the expedition was arranged to start in three divisions. Thirty- 
 six vessels, including six steamers, were to ascend the cataracts 
 of the Nile to Khartoum, conveying the merchandise. 
 Twenty-five vessels were to be ready, together with three 
 steamers, by the time this fleet should arrive. There was also 
 to be a desert transport from Korosko to Khartoum, under 
 the charge of the chief engineer. Baker himself was to 
 bring up the rear, by way of Souakim on the Red Sea, to 
 Berber. The military force under command comprised 1645 
 troops, including a corps of 200 irregular cavalry, and two 
 batteries of artillery. The ammunition and other perishable 
 goods were well packed Medicines and drugs were on hand 
 of the best quality. 
 
 Sir Samuel White Baker, bringing up the rear of the 
 expedition, left Suez on 5th December 1869, reaching Khar- 
 toum in the short space of thirty-two days, including stoppages. 
 While there was no external change in Khartoum, yet the 
 district between that town and Berber bore unmistakeable 
 marks of neglect. The river's bank, formerly so highly culti- 
 vated, was now a wilderness. Oppression had driven the 
 inhabitants from the soil. * This terrible desolation,' writes 
 Baker, * was caused by the Governor-General of the Soudan, 
 who, although himself an honest man, trusted too much to 
 the honesty of others, who preyed upon the inhabitants. 
 As a good and true Mohammedan, he left his territory to 
 
SIX SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 85 
 
 the sole care of God ; and thus, trusting in Providence, he 
 simply increased the taxes. In one year he sent to the 
 Khedive, his master, ; 100,000 in hard dollars, wrung from 
 the poor peasantry, who must have lost an equal amount in 
 the pillage that accompanies the collection. ' The result 
 had been that those who had thus been overtaxed and 
 plundered had betaken themselves to plunder others, in carry- 
 ing out the system of brigandage on the White Nile which 
 Baker's expedition was intended to suppress. 
 
 The transport vessels which were ordered to be ready at 
 Khartoum were found to be awanting, much to the chagrin 
 of the chief of the expedition j the Governor-General giving 
 as a reason that it was impossible to procure the number of 
 vessels required, and as he had purchased a house for Baker, 
 he trusted that he would not start until the following season. 
 Baker, however, insisted on the purchase of vessels, and in 
 a few weeks thirty-three vessels were caulked, rigged, and 
 ready for the voyage of 1450 miles to Gondokoro. Only 
 part of the force of troops could, however, be taken at this 
 time ; the remainder were to be sent on Mr. Higginbotham's 
 arrival. The cavalry, on being reviewed, were left behind as 
 useless. 
 
 The flotilla, consisting of two steamers and thirty-one 
 sailing vessels, with a military force of about eight hundred men, 
 at length left Khartoum on the 8th February 1870. Drop- 
 ping down the Blue Nile, they at length steamed up the 
 White Nile, fairly under weigh, after one month had 
 been wasted in preparation. The news had reached him 
 by this time that Mr. Higginbotham had arrived with 
 the steel steamers for the Albert Nyanza. The following 
 entry occurs in his journal of 8th February : * The usual 
 
S6 FA MOO'S TRAVELLERS, 
 
 Egyptian delays have entirely thwarted my plans. No vessels 
 have arrived from Cairo, as they only started on 29th August. 
 Thus, rather than turn back, I start with a mutilated expedi- 
 tion, without a single transport arrival.' In a hundred and 
 three hours and ten minutes' steaming, Fashooda was reached, 
 being 618 miles by river from Khartoum. This fortified 
 town was garrisoned by a regiment of Egyptian soldiers, 
 under the command of Ali Bey, a Kurd. The governor 
 reported that his country was in excellent order, as he had 
 received instructions from the Khedive to exert himself 
 against the slave trade. A month's rations were taken in 
 here, and starting again, the junction of the Sobat was reached 
 on 1 6th February. The Sobat supplies a large and powerful 
 volume of water to the White Nile. Passing this junction, 
 the character of the river changes, as the traveller now enters 
 upon a region of immense flats and boundless marshes. 
 They reached the junction of the Bahr Giraffe on 17th 
 February, and waited here for the arrival of the fleet. That 
 river was to be their new passage instead of the White Nile, 
 but it was curiously obstructed by masses of vegetation. The 
 whole river had become a marsh, beneath which the river 
 oozed through innumerable channels. Sport was not entirely 
 forgotten, as up to this time Baker had killed a hippopotamus, 
 two crocodiles, two pelicans, and twenty-two ducks with the 
 rifle. The Bahr Giraffe proved to be very deep, averaging 
 about nineteen feet, winding through a perfectly flat prairie 
 country, diversified with forest. The mosquitoes proved 
 terribly troublesome to every one. Occasionally the river 
 would be choked by drift vegetation, when all hands had to 
 clear a passage through the obstructions. 
 
 On 1st March the whole fleet was forced to come to a dead 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 87 
 
 stop, as the river, although fourteen feet immediately before, 
 had entirely disappeared in a sea of high grass. After some 
 delay, thirty vessels were ordered to form in line, single 
 file, and cut a pathway through the morass. Seven hundred 
 men were at work on 9th March, slashing through the 
 vegetation with swords and knives, and pulling out the rub- 
 bish, which they piled up on either side. Fish were caught 
 in the marshy river, and a hippopotamus was shot with an 
 explosive shell from a rifle ; the shell was an invention of 
 Sir Samuel's. By 21st March they had cut away six miles 
 of vegetation, but they had been hard at work for thirteen 
 days with a thousand men, and they had only made twelve 
 miles. The hard work and the smell from the rotting 
 vegetation and the stinking morass laid many of them aside 
 with fever. On 26th March, one hundred and fifty men were 
 on the sick list, and a despairing feeling began to possess 
 the most of them. This hopeless navigation amongst grass 
 and water-weeds was continued until the end of the month. At 
 the beginning of April the task became more hopeless, and 
 it became apparent that the passage could only be made at 
 the end of December, when the river was full. On 2d April, 
 a further attempt at advance was found to be absurd, and 
 accordingly, Baker determined to return to the Shillock 
 country and found a station. A start might probably be 
 made with the entire force about the end of November. 
 The order to return was therefore given at once, the officers 
 and men concluding that this would probably terminate the 
 expedition. To vary the monotony of the voyage, Baker 
 enjoyed some good sport in the downward passage, killing 
 the antelope, hippopotamus, crocodile, some geese, and ducks. 
 Arriving at the station of Kutchuk Ali on 13th April, Baker 
 
88 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 sent for his agent and explained to him the object of his 
 mission, and recommended him not to send cargoes of slaves 
 down to Khartoum, as he had done in previous years. They 
 arrived at the White Nile on 19th April, when they discovered 
 three vessels belonging to the Governor of Fashooda, Ali Bey, 
 the Koordi. Although he had disclaimed all connection with 
 the slave trade to Baker in the upward journey, he was dis- 
 covered now to have on hand one hundred and fifty-five slaves. 
 Of these, seventy-one were concealed in the boat, and eighty- 
 four were on shore guarded by sentries. It was discovered 
 also that he made a considerable fortune by levying toll upon 
 every slave brought down the river. This amount he pocketed 
 himself. In the blandest manner possible, Ali Bey had 
 endeavoured to throw dust in the eyes of those connected with 
 the expedition ; but this was found to be impossible. He 
 admitted that he was collecting the taxes, and that these 
 slaves were only held as hostages until they should pay their 
 taxes. Many of the slave women were secured to each other 
 by ropes passed from neck to neck ; and a crowd of children, 
 including very young infants, were squatted amongst the mass. 
 Baker insisted on the liberation of every slave, adding that he 
 would report the conduct of Ali Bey to the Khedive, from 
 whom he had his authority. Eleven vessels in full sail arrived 
 while these negotiations were pending; it turned out to be 
 that section of the expedition under the charge of Mr. Higgin- 
 botham. They were all in good health, and, in company 
 with Lieutenant Baker and Mr. Higginbotham, a visit was paid 
 to the camp of Ali Bey. *I ordered,' he writes, 'the ropes, 
 irons, and other accompaniments of slavery to be detached ; 
 and I explained, through an interpreter, to the astonished 
 crowd of captives, that the Khedive had abolished slavery, 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 89 
 
 therefore they were at liberty to return to their own homes. 
 At first they appeared astounded, and evidently could not 
 realize the fact ; but upon my asking them where their homes 
 were, they pointed to the boundless rows of villages in the 
 distance, and said, " These are our homes ; but many of our 
 men are killed, and all our cattle and corn are carried off." I 
 could only advise them to pack off as quickly as possible, now 
 that they had the chance of freedom. The women immedi- 
 ately took up their little infants (one had been born during the 
 night), others led the very small children by the hand, and, 
 with a general concert, they burst into the long, quavering, 
 and shrill yell that denotes rejoicing. I watched them as they 
 retreated over the plain to their deserted homes, and I took a 
 coldly-polite farewell of the Koordi.' 
 
 Continuing the voyage, a suitable spot of ground was chosen 
 on the banks of the White Nile on which to prepare a station, 
 where they might remain until the Nile was navigable. The 
 place was named Tewfikeeyah, after the Khedive's eldest son, 
 Mahomed Tewfik Pasha. The place rapidly assumed a 
 civilised aspect ; the engineers and carpenters were soon busy 
 at work. The ground was well drained. A quay about 500 
 yards in length was constructed on the banks of the river, 
 where the whole fleet could lie, or embark and disembark 
 their cargoes. Stables were made for the horses and donkeys. 
 The three magazines of galvanized iron, about 80 feet in 
 length, were completed, and the stores from the vessels were 
 lodged within them. Rats came in thousands, attracted by 
 the corn, rice, and other eatables ; these, with the white ants, 
 proved unspeakably troublesome. Gardens were prepared, 
 fenced off, and European seeds of various kinds were sown. 
 Baker did not build a house for himself, preferring the com- 
 
9 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 fortable diahbeeah moored alongside the garden. A walk led 
 to two large shady mimosas, where all visitors were received. 
 A steam sawmill was set up, and boat-building was com- 
 menced. In the flat and uninteresting country with which 
 they were surrounded, timber was scarce, forest and bush 
 formed but a fringe on the banks of the river, and the only 
 large trees were a species of mimosa. 
 
 On i st May, when the camp was being formed, they 
 received a visit from the King of the Shillooks, Quat Kare. 
 He was accompanied by two of his wives, four daughters, and 
 a retinue of about seventy people. He was tall and thin in 
 appearance ; and as his wardrobe was old and scanty, Baker 
 had him clad in a long blue skirt, an Indian scarf to wear 
 as a waistband, and a fez. He sat down on a carpet, upon 
 which he invited his family to sit near him. He did not at 
 first appear to possess powers of speech, simply fixing his eyes 
 on Baker and his wife, and then upon the officers in attend- 
 ance. A question being asked of him, it was replied to by 
 his wife, a woman apparently about sixty years of age. The 
 account which she gave of the intrigues of the Governor of 
 Fashooda gives, according to Baker, an average picture of 
 Soudan rule. 
 
 On the east side of the river, where they had formed their 
 settlement, it was almost entirely uninhabited. The present 
 Governor of Fashooda was in a great degree responsible for 
 this condition of things, as in the slave raids he had made 
 on the Dinka country, the tribe had been well-nigh exter- 
 minated. In riding over the country, it was no uncommon 
 thing for Baker to discover fragments of broken pottery, 
 vestiges of former villages. A male ostrich was shot in this 
 neighbourhood, the first and last which our traveller ever 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 91 
 
 bagged. The plumage, as usual in the male, was black, with 
 white feathers in the wings and tail. In the stomach of the 
 bird were found scorpions, beetles, leaves of trees, and white, 
 rounded quartz pebbles. The camp began to be crowded 
 with natives, who proved themselves sharp at bargain-making. 
 They exchanged raw cotton and provisions for all kinds of 
 cotton manufactures and iron. Baker bestowed on the natives 
 some good Egyptian cotton-seed, also the seed of various 
 European vegetables. The soldiers at the station were in the 
 habit of giving their corn to the Shillooks to grind, and they 
 invariably returned with the proper complement of flour. An 
 old blind Sheik met his death in returning from marketing. 
 His canoe was bitten and upset by a hippopotamus in the 
 river, and he himself was so lacerated that death ensued. 
 
 On the 10th May a sail appeared up the river, which 
 appeared to be approaching on her way to Khartoum. Baker 
 sent his trusty aide-de-camp, Colonel Abd-el-Kader, on board 
 to make the necessary inquiries. The vessel, according to the 
 captain and the vakeel (agent and commander of station), was 
 laden with corn, with ivory beneath the corn for the supply of 
 the crew and the soldiers. Colonel Abd-el-Kader was, how- 
 ever, not easily deceived. Probing amongst the corn with a 
 steel ramrod from a soldier's rifle, a smothered cry was 
 elicited, and a negro woman was afterwards dragged forth. 
 The forecastle and stern had been boarded up ; and when the 
 planking was removed, a mass of humanity, boys, girls, and 
 women, closely packed like herrings in a barrel, was revealed 
 to view. They had been kept silent under fear of threats. A 
 young woman was also found sewn up in the sail attached to 
 the mainyard of the vessel to avoid discovery. When the 
 vessel was unloaded, one hundred and fifty slaves were dis- 
 
92 FA MO US TRA FELLERS. 
 
 covered to have been concealed on board ; as they had been 
 stowed into an inconceivably small space, the stench was 
 found to be horrible. 
 
 Baker gave orders that the vakeel and the captain of the 
 vessel should be put in irons. Much to the astonishment of 
 the slaves, those in irons were liberated. The ivory having 
 been weighed and the tusks counted, the vessel was reloaded, 
 with an officer and guard on board, who had orders to confis- 
 cate her as a slaver on reaching Khartoum. The slaves were 
 ordered to wash, and clothes were issued for the naked 
 women. A paper of freedom, signed by Baker, was given 
 to each. This was put in a hollow reed and suspended round 
 the neck. Those negresses who wished to marry with any of 
 the young men in the regiments were at liberty to do so. 
 The women who remained single were employed in domestic 
 work, and in cooking for the troops. The boys were divided 
 into classes, and apprenticed to various kinds of work. 
 Mostoora, a precocious little girl of about three years of age, 
 but quicker than most girls of double her age, was adopted 
 by Mrs. Baker. 
 
 The Egyptian troops, while at the station, continued to be 
 sickly and dispirited, going about their work in a slouching 
 way. To the soldiers and sailors, in order to keep them from 
 inaction, was given the employment of cultivating a portion of 
 the land around the station. 
 
 Baker started again on nth August 1870, to explore the 
 obstructions in the main Nile, in the hope of discovering 
 some passage through them. A small channel was discovered, 
 taking them to the Bahr Gazal. The latter proved to be but 
 an extraordinary series of lakes and swamps, changing their 
 appearance every year. Baker, with remarkable foresight, 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, 93 
 
 contradicted the opinion entertained by Dr. Livingstone, that 
 the river Lualaba, which he had discovered south-west of Lake 
 Tanganyika, was an affluent of the Bahr Gazal, and quite cor- 
 rectly concluded that it might possibly be an affluent of the 
 Congo. The discoveries of H. M. Stanley, in crossing Africa, 
 have proved the latter to be indeed the Congo river. Having 
 been absent about ten days, he returned, resolved that the 
 main channel of the Nile must be cleared from the huge rafts 
 of vegetation before navigation could be possible. Any 
 attempt to civilise Central Africa, and annex new territory, 
 would be useless until a proper channel should be opened for 
 regular communication. He now determined that the expedi- 
 tion should start for the south on 1st December, and pro- 
 ceeded to Khartoum to make the necessary arrangements. 
 The measures already taken against the slave trade had 
 rendered the expedition unpopular; but worse than this, it 
 was now discovered that the entire White Nile was rented by 
 the traders. This placed our traveller in the position of 
 attempting to annex a country already leased out by the 
 Government to those who carried on the slave trade. The 
 leases bound the tenant to abstain from slave-hunting; but 
 when away from legitimate authority, they acted pretty much 
 as they pleased. ' If the owner of a pack of wolves/ writes 
 Baker, 'were to send them on a commission to gather wool 
 from a flock of sheep, with the simple protection of such 
 parting advice as, " Begone, good wolves, behave yourselves 
 like lambs, and do not hurt the mutton ! " the proprietor of 
 the pack would be held responsible for the acts of his wolves. 
 This was the situation in the Soudan. The entire country 
 was leased out to piratical slave-hunters, under the name of 
 traders, by the Khartoum Government; and although the 
 
94 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS, 
 
 rent, in the shape of large sums of money, had been received 
 for years into the treasury of the Soudan, my expedition was 
 to explode like a shell among the traders, and would at once 
 annihilate the trade.' The Khedive was thoroughly sincere in 
 his endeavours to put down the slave trade as far as he was 
 individually concerned, only he was placed in a false position 
 by the traders and Governor of the Soudan. Finding that AH 
 Bey of Fashooda had been concerned in the slave trade, as 
 proved by Baker, he was dismissed from his service. 
 
 On ioth October 1870 the start was again made for the 
 south, arriving at their former station, Tewnkeeyah, on 2 2d 
 October. It was now definitely arranged that the first part of 
 the fleet would be started for Gondokoro on 1st December. 
 Towards the end of October, several vessels, in attempting to 
 pass the station with slaves, were captured and detained, and 
 the slaves liberated. They did not behave very handsomely 
 to their liberators, however, as they not only ran away during 
 the night with the new clothes given them by the Government, 
 but they also stole some of the soldiers' kits. The brutal treat- 
 ment they have undergone has helped to do away with all 
 moral distinctions in their own minds : the fact of their having 
 been so frequently deceived has made them incapable of 
 understanding the truth. 
 
 The station of Tewfikeeyah was finally left behind on nth 
 December. The fleet consisted of fifty-nine vessels, in which 
 were stowed away all the goods from the station. Nothing 
 was left save a few rows of deserted huts. The sad news of 
 the death of Dr. Gedge at Khartoum was a decided loss to the 
 expedition. The Shillook country was now at peace; the 
 Governor of Fashooda had been disgraced, and Quat Kare 
 had again been appointed chief of the country in room of the 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 95 
 
 pretender Jangy. The river was very full at starting, which 
 augured well for the voyage. The Egyptian troops, however, 
 appeared dispirited. Two vessels were sunk shortly after start- 
 ing, which gave Baker occasion to observe : * To work in this 
 country is simply heart-breaking ; the material is utterly worth- 
 less boats, officers, and men are all alike. The loss of 
 invaluable time is ruinous, and the ignorance of the people is 
 such that they can do nothing by themselves ; thus I must be 
 everywhere and superintend everything personally/ One of 
 the largest and finest vessels of the fleet, which had been sunk 
 near the junction of the Sobat and Nile, was laden with 
 steamer sections and machinery, the losing of which would 
 have been fatal to the success of the expedition. With great 
 difficulty and loss of time the cargo and the vessel were saved. 
 Another great aggravation was the listless way in which the 
 natives in charge of the fleet had performed their duties. 
 Both officers and men idled their time on the passage. On 
 8th January they were stopped by floating rafts of vegetation, 
 through which a passage had to be cut ; and on till nearly the 
 end of March the passage through the masses of vegetation 
 was extremely difficult. At last they gained the channel of 
 the White Nile, when Gondokoro was reached on 15 th April 
 1871. 
 
 They found the country round Gondokoro sadly changed 
 since their last visit. Villages had been destroyed, and the 
 natives driven for refuge to numerous low islands of the river 
 through the attacks of the people of Loquia at the instigation 
 of the traders. The chief, Alloran, was sent for, and he 
 promised to urge his people to return for protection, cultivate 
 the corn, and build the huts promised for the troops upon 
 arrival. He afterwards took a sullen fit, however, and showed 
 
96 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 most unmistakeably that his mind had been prejudiced against 
 them by the slave traders. The Austrian Mission Station was 
 completely dismantled, and thousands of lemons had fallen 
 from the trees only to grow withered and neglected. The 
 natives had ground down the bricks as a powder wherewith to 
 smear their bodies. The building of a station was com- 
 menced, and the cultivation of a large garden was also begun. 
 In this garden were sown onions, radishes, beans, spinach, 
 water melons, sweet melons, cucumbers, oranges, custard 
 apples, Indian corn, garlic, barmian, tobacco, cabbages, toma- 
 toes, chillies, carrots, parsley, celery. The soldiers and sailors 
 worked at gardening from 6 a.m. till n; the remainder of 
 the day they were at liberty to devote to the construction of 
 their own huts. Gardening, Baker felt to have a localizing and 
 civilising effect upon those who were engaged in it, and he 
 was thus fain to encourage it by every means in his power. 
 His impression was that the young missionary would succeed 
 much better when he carried on some such agricultural work 
 side by side with the savage. 
 
 There was a forest of magnificent tamarind trees in the 
 neighbourhood of the station. One of these trees, about a 
 mile from the station, could have sheltered within its shadow 
 about a thousand cattle. The intractable nature of the Bari 
 natives, upon whose land they had settled, may be gathered 
 from the conversation which took place with the chief. Sheik 
 Alloran would neither sell, nor allow any of his men to sell, 
 sheep or cattle to any of the troops. He sent some of his 
 men to work before them when engaged in gardening opera- 
 tions, in order that they might claim a right to the soil. The 
 following conversation, as related by Baker, then took place : 
 
 ' How long are you going to remain here ? ' he asked. He 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 97 
 
 continued, * You had better go back to Khartoum, and I will 
 eat the corn you have planted when it becomes ripe.' 
 
 Baker explained that Gondokoro would henceforth be head- 
 quarters for troops, and that they should cultivate a large 
 extent for corn. In reply to the question as to whom the 
 land belonged, it was explained that they had been driven 
 from it by superior force, and that now it was under the 
 protection of the Khedive. 
 
 He replied, * Who does this tree belong to?' (they were 
 standing beneath its shade). 
 
 ' It belongs to the Khedive of Egypt,' replied Baker, ' who 
 is now protector of the whole country, and I am his repre- 
 sentative to establish his government.' 
 
 He replied : * Then you had better be off to Khartoum, 
 for we don't want any government here.' 
 
 Baker found the Bari country thickly inhabited, although 
 there was no cohesion amongst the natives ; each district had 
 its distinct chief. The general feature of the land was rolling 
 park-like grass lands, with forests containing excellent timber. 
 Their dwelling-places were usually very neat, each hut being 
 surrounded by a small court made of cement composed of clay 
 from the white ant-hills mixed with cow-dung and ashes. The 
 Baris are a pastoral people, possessing great herds of cattle. 
 These cattle, as well as the sheep, are small and active. All their 
 operations are conducted by signals given by the drum, which 
 with them answers the purpose of the bugle-call in ordinary 
 military movements. The drum is exactly the shape of an 
 egg with a slice taken off the upper end. A certain number 
 of beats answers the purpose of a signal for the milking of the 
 cows, while a beat in another style is given when the country 
 is in danger of invasion. Their weapons are finely-wrought 
 
 III. G 
 
98 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 lances, and bows with barbed arrows. The men are tall and 
 powerful, always naked and smeared with ashes. The women 
 wear aprons before and behind. Salt is one of the com- 
 modities which they were in the habit of selling to natives of 
 the interior. 
 
 It soon became evident at the station that the Baris were 
 hostile to them. Their whole demeanour from the beginning 
 had been unfriendly. Although there were thousands of 
 cattle feeding before their very eyes, not one of them was 
 purchasable. Their policy, pursued at the instigation of the 
 traders, was to starve the troops, so that they would be obliged 
 to evacuate the position and return to Khartoum. 
 
 On 26th May 187 1, the ceremony of the official annexation 
 of Gondokoro was gone through by Baker and his men, in 
 the presence of the natives. A flagstaff about eighty feet 
 high had been erected on the highest point of land over- 
 looking the river. The plain had been cleared of brushwood, 
 and 1200 men marched from the station at Gondokoro in 
 clean uniforms, to take part in the ceremony. The official 
 proclamation describing the annexation of the country to 
 Egypt, in the name of the Khedive, was read at the foot of 
 the flagstaff. The Ottoman flag was then run up the halyards, 
 the officers with drawn swords saluted the flag, the troops 
 presented arms, the batteries of artillery fired a royal salute, 
 and then the ceremony was complete. The troops afterwards 
 marched past in order for a supposed attack on an enemy, 
 and fired away about ten thousand rounds of blank cartridge. 
 After being dispersed, the remainder of the day was spent 
 as a holiday by the men. Baker had a large dinner party 
 that day, to which fourteen of the officers were invited. Roast 
 beef and plum-pudding, and other good things, were indulged 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 99 
 
 in. Dinner over, Lieutenant Baker amused both officers and 
 men by a magic-lantern entertainment. One of the scenes 
 most applauded was Moses going through the Red Sea with 
 the Israelites, which had to be twice displayed. 
 
 The sheik of the Baris around Gondokoro, having been 
 warned, if he still allowed his cattle to graze on the forbidden 
 side of the river, that they would be confiscated, entirely dis- 
 obeyed orders, and two hundred head of cattle were captured. 
 On promising to bring thatch grass, and assist the troops to 
 form the station, their cattle were returned. Their promise of 
 assistance was never kept, however, as they positively refused 
 to work. They would have been gratified if Baker would 
 have consented to attack the enemy of their tribe, Lorquia, 
 by which means cattle and sheep would have been obtained 
 both for themselves and for the station. All attempts to 
 preach morality to them were hopeless; they simply advised 
 him to * take women and cattle, and then the natives would 
 listen to my advice, but not otherwise.' On 1st June, it 
 became evident that hostilities might be expected. A general 
 order was issued to the troops, to the effect that the natives 
 of the Bari had disobeyed the summons of the Government, 
 had refused compliance with the regulations established, and 
 that it had become necessary to compel them to obedience 
 by force. In the event of an outbreak, the soldiers were 
 forbidden on pain of death to capture women or children of 
 either sex. 
 
 The natives had begun to annoy the sentries, and en- 
 deavoured to drive off their cattle by stealth. They appeared 
 to have deserted their villages on the island opposite to the 
 camp, so Baker determined to pay it a visit in return for the 
 attacks which were continually being made. This affair ended 
 
ioo FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 in the capture of some cattle. Not only were the Baris 
 exceedingly troublesome, but they leagued themselves with 
 the natives of Belinian against them. One day the natives 
 of the latter place made a sudden rush upon the cattle guards, 
 shooting one soldier with an arrow, and wounding another 
 with a lance. An order was given at once for an attack on 
 Belinian. Baker left the station on horseback, accompanied 
 by Lieutenant Baker, Mr. Higginbotham, with Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Abd-el-Kader, and twenty men from the detachment 
 called the ' Forty Thieves.' Four companies, with one gun, 
 were added to these from headquarters. A night march was 
 undertaken, when they arrived in the neighbourhood of 
 Belinian in early morning. A stockade, or zareeba, was 
 stormed, and a prize of six hundred cows secured. A fat 
 calf was killed, as the men were hungry, and the cooking 
 began. The fat, kidneys, and liver, having been cut into 
 pieces about two inches square and arranged on a steel 
 ramrod, were well salted and peppered, and laid on the red- 
 hot embers. The ramrod is then stuck upright in the ground, 
 and the meat eaten off as required. The cows gave milk in 
 plenty; so, in the meantime, the camp was well supplied. 
 Three young girls who had been captured were released. The 
 Baris kept aloof, merely watching their movements from the 
 tops of high trees. The cattle were driven over safely to 
 Gondokoro without further trouble from the natives. 
 
 On 9th June, Abou Saood, a noted slave trader, arrived 
 with eight vessels opposite the island in the river. In his 
 passage up the river, he had benefited greatly by the cuttings 
 made in the vegetable obstructions ; his vessels, too, were 
 without cargo, which facilitated their progress. They had 
 with them a large herd of cattle, taken from some tribe during 
 
S/JR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 101 
 
 the voyage. The Baris flocked in great numbers to these 
 new-comers, glad at the return of those who had formerly led 
 them to plunder. They at once assisted them in the forma- 
 tion of their camp, although they had previously refused to 
 do the same for the Government. Baker took an early oppor- 
 tunity of sending an official letter to Abou Saood, asking him* 
 at the expiration of his contract, to withdraw all his people 
 from the district under his command, and at the same time 
 declaring the forfeiture to the Government of the cattle which 
 had been stolen within his jurisdiction. 
 
 While this was pending, Abou Saood used his influence 
 amongst Baker's own men to neutralize and damage the 
 expedition, while he also fraternized with the Bari people. 
 Unfortunately a scarcity of corn threatened them at the time, 
 which helped to dispirit the troops. The crocodiles in the 
 neighbourhood were exceedingly ferocious. Two sailors were 
 carried off in two consecutive days, and a soldier had his leg 
 smashed and shattered while bathing. Another sailor, while 
 engaged in collecting the leaves of a kind of water convol- 
 vulus, which makes an excellent spinach, had his arm 
 wrenched off at the elbow joint. A native woman, who had 
 gone to the river to wash, was carried off. A necklace and 
 two armlets, such as are worn by negro girls, were found in 
 the stomach of a large crocodile shot by Baker afterwards, 
 which proved that some one had been eaten and digested. 
 The stomach also contained about five pounds weight of 
 pebbles, which appeared to have been swallowed while feed- 
 ing on flesh resting on the bank. * The crocodile/ he writes, 
 1 does not attempt to swallow an animal at once, but, retiring 
 with it to some deep hole, tears it limb from limb with teeth 
 and claws, devouring it at leisure.' 
 
io2 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 The detachment of men called the ' Forty Thieves' had 
 been carefully drilled from the beginning of the expedition 
 with most satisfactory results. They had become quite 
 superior in morals and regime to the rest of the men. The 
 Colonel, Abd-el-Kader, had so trained himself that he had 
 become a capital shot. They were distinguished from the 
 line regiment by a scarlet uniform, which was a simple red 
 flannel shirt worn outside zouave trousers. They wore, besides, 
 linen gaiters and a scarlet fez. All these men were thoroughly 
 to be depended upon; in action they were always first; as 
 skirmishers they proved invaluable, climbing rocks, pushing 
 through jungles, and clearing the country of the enemy. 
 They would not admit a thief into their ranks, and generally 
 they became model soldiers. This led Baker to moralize on 
 the fact that discipline such as is undergone by the common 
 soldier, brought to bear on the ignorant savage, would be a 
 rapid stride towards their future civilisation. It was also his 
 opinion that, as the savage learns all he knows from his 
 superiors, he would also quickly adopt their religious opinions. 
 
 They were still being constantly attacked, generally during 
 the night, by those irrepressible vermin,' the Baris. Con- 
 sidering the people at the station fair game, they teased them 
 like rats, sending out scouts in the darkness, who crawled 
 upon hands and knees until within a few yards of the sentries. 
 They then lie flat upon their bellies until they can retreat 
 unobserved. The attacking force next approaches on hands 
 and knees in perfect silence; they spring upon the sentries, 
 and, with wild yells, make a general rush upon the camp. 
 The Baris, combining with their enemies, the Lorquia, made 
 a general attack on the camp on 21st July. They actually 
 surprised the sentries; one corporal was killed, and a lieu- 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 103 
 
 tenant and one soldier were wounded with arrows. The force 
 at the station, in the excitement of the moment, had forgotten 
 that they possessed artillery ; so the natives were simply cowed 
 and driven back by the firing of 1100 men, and their attempts 
 at setting fire to the station were also frustrated by the thorn 
 fence around it. This attack led to the construction of a 
 ditch and earthwork, further to protect the station. During 
 the month of August, the men began to complain of the 
 scarcity of corn ; they concluded that, if provisions fell short, 
 this would oblige them to return to Khartoum. Abou Saood 
 was also anxiously watching and waiting for their disappear- 
 ance. Baker, in the meantime, concluded that he would 
 begin an attack on Belinian during harvest time, by which 
 means he would secure 2000 acres of dhurra, if the troops 
 would work earnestly and secure it. On 30th August 
 1871, preparations were made for an attack on Belinian. 
 There were about a hundred villages situated in the valley 
 and along the base of the mountain at the latter place. An 
 attack was made upon their stockades, and the natives were 
 driven out of them. A number of fat calves and sheep were 
 seized, and the stockades were fired. They next set about 
 securing the corn, after appointing guards and sentries on all 
 places exposed to attack. Baker's men, however, worked 
 badly, because half-heartedly, in securing the corn, the natives 
 working energetically during the night and carrying off ten 
 times the amount gathered by the troops. Thousands of 
 native women and children were engaged in boldly carrying 
 it off. Baker heard at this time of the death of a missing 
 major, Achmet Rafik. A herd of cattle was captured when 
 making inquiries about the missing man. The natives, 
 although routed, infested the plain, lying in the grass like 
 
io 4 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 snakes, and taking their revenge on any one who came near 
 them. They could never tell where they were concealed; 
 sometimes it was amongst the tall dhurra, behind bushes, 
 and amongst the grass and scattered bush by the banks of 
 the river. Ambuscades were appointed to clear the river 
 and the country of them, and, being picked men from amongst 
 the ' Forty Thieves/ they did their work well. After a short 
 experience of them, the Baris were led to confess that it was 
 useless to attempt to fight with such people, as the earth was 
 full of soldiers, who sprang out of the ground beneath their 
 feet. When the corn was conveyed to headquarters, they 
 found it consisted only of about 670 bushels, while 650 men 
 had been engaged in storing it. This would only last the 
 troops two months on full rations, and a spirit of dissatisfaction 
 began to spread amongst them. The men naturally disliked 
 the object of the expedition, and would themselves have liked 
 to have taken part in slave trading. They could not under- 
 stand why the prisoners of war should not be held as slaves. 
 On 13th October, the existence of a conspiracy amongst the 
 officers to abandon the expedition was made known to Baker. 
 This mutinous spirit was arrested by sudden orders being 
 given to six companies of troops to push straight by river 
 for the Bari islands, where abundance of corn was expected. 
 There they indeed found abundance, with which they returned 
 in triumph to Gondokoro. Another granary of corn was dis- 
 covered farther southwards, but the natives keenly contested its 
 possession. About 1100 people, comparatively useless to the 
 expedition, including children, women, sailors, soldiers, and 
 invalids, were sent down to Khartoum on 3d November. 
 Amongst this number, in spite of orders to the contrary, many 
 able-bodied men had been thus sent off; so that, exclusive of 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 105 
 
 fifty-two sailors, the expedition was reduced to 502 officers 
 and men. With this small force it seemed impossible to 
 proceed to the interior. The Baris were still hostile ; the traders 
 were treacherous ; the slave trade was to be suppressed with 
 this handful of men, and territory in the equatorial districts 
 was to be annexed. All this appeared to be favourable to 
 the views of Abou Saood. Baker's term of service, too, 
 would expire on 1st April 1873 : there remained only one 
 year and four months in which to accomplish his work. The 
 Khedive was informed by letter of the conspiracy amongst 
 the officers, and the necessity of opening the channel of the 
 great White Nile was dwelt upon. Djiaffer Pasha at Khar- 
 toum was also communicated with for reinforcements and a 
 supply of dhurra. Though thus reduced in numbers, the 
 men were strong and healthy, and Baker determined to 
 accomplish the mission he had undertaken. 
 
 On 10th November, Baker made a reconnaissance of the 
 country at the last cataracts of the Nile, and about six miles 
 south of their position. The high ground parallel to the river 
 was found to be admirably suited for an agricultural settle- 
 ment. They passed innumerable villages, with overflowing 
 granaries. The population of the country was large, and the 
 natives had proved themselves to be good agriculturists. 
 Dhurra, sesame, dochan, and beans are sown in oblongs and 
 squares. They proved friendly, although of the Bari race. 
 On the 13th November a herd of eleven bull-elephants was 
 observed marching in close order along the bank of the river, 
 totally unconscious of the near presence of enemies. Baker 
 at once saddled his horse ' Greedy Grey,' taking rifles and 
 ammunition with him. With the assistance of his men, these 
 animals were surrounded, when they took to the water, which 
 
106 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 they crossed. While they were attempting to climb the steep 
 bank on the opposite side, Baker shot two of them out of 
 the eleven. The half-pounder rifles used were very deadly. 
 'They were certain/ he writes, 'to kill the elephant, and to 
 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 rifle was loaded with simple 
 coarse-grain powder. If he had used fine-grain, I should 
 hardly have insured his life.' The bodies of the elephants 
 floated two miles down stream, where they were secured. The 
 natives of Bedden, flocking to the camp in hundreds, were 
 delighted on receiving permission to take as much elephant's 
 flesh as they required. Baker retained the two heads for his 
 share of the spoil. The hostile Baris, watching the Baris of 
 Bedden indulging to the full in elephant's flesh, could not 
 resist the temptation. * The temptation/ writes Baker, ' was 
 too great to withstand. Who could resist flesh ? The mouths 
 of our enemies were watering as they watched the heavy loads 
 of red meat carried upon the heads of the rival Baris. In the 
 afternoon a messenger hailed the sentry, to say that one of the 
 sheiks wished to present himself to me to crave a cessation of 
 hostilities. Shortly after the disappearance of this man with a 
 courteous answer, a batch of messengers arrived to beg that 
 their chief might be received, as they all desired peace.' A 
 general levee was held next morning. About twenty headmen 
 of different villages had come to sue for peace. Peace was 
 established with them, when the meeting concluded by a 
 request for meat. This was granted them. This peace Baker 
 concluded was the result of greediness and envy, as they had 
 on previous occasions declined the offer of a large herd of 
 
SIX SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 107 
 
 cattle that would have been worth a hundred elephants. War 
 had been brought on, wherein they had lost numbers of their 
 people, and much corn, ' all of which they might have sold 
 for cows; and they now desired peace, only to join in the 
 scramble, like vultures, over the flesh of two elephants.' 
 Perhaps this extraordinary craving for flesh may partly be 
 accounted for from the fact that the Baris seldom kill their 
 cattle. The cows are simply kept for their milk, and the 
 bullocks to bleed. The cows are also bled at stated times, 
 when the blood is boiled and eaten. Baker was able to bear 
 out the testimony of Bruce, the traveller, as to the practice of 
 cutting a steak from the hind-quarters of a living cow, as he 
 had a fine bull with a hump which was similarly operated 
 upon. The flesh is said to grow and fill up the vacancy 
 caused by this operation. 
 
 Baker returned to Gondokoro highly satisfied with the 
 results of the campaign. The magazines were filled with corn 
 which would last them for a year \ and peace had been estab- 
 lished throughout the district, with a promise of assistance. 
 The fear of the horses and the Snider rifles had spread 
 throughout the country, the natives believing that no herds of 
 cattle could escape the horses, and that the Snider rifles were 
 magic. The nights at the station were now undisturbed. 
 Baker now devoted his attention to all the necessary prepara- 
 tions for starting for the interior. Raouf Bey was to be left 
 with a small force in charge ot the station. The troops which 
 had been under his personal command were very anxious to 
 accompany him to the interior. 
 
 The detachment called the * Forty Thieves' was in the 
 meantime employed in making salt, which was collected in the 
 neighbourhood of the station in a rough state and afterwards 
 
108 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 refined. The other natural productions of the place were: 
 salts, iron, the oil-nut tree, and tamarinds in great abundance. 
 When the cotton crop was ripe, the quality was found to be 
 good, and he had it cleaned with a small hand-gin worked by- 
 two men. 
 
 Baker remarks that he had no time for elephant-shooting, 
 else he might have killed a considerable number in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Gondokoro. The Baris, not being good hunters, 
 only attempt to take the elephant in pitfalls ; so that, as it was 
 seldom attacked, it was daring and easy of approach. The 
 small ripe fruit of a tree called the heglik proved very attractive 
 to them. Not unfrequently they would tear down the tree 
 for the sake of the fruit, and even exert their strength against 
 a huge tree by shaking it and afterwards gathering it up. 
 
 Baker arranged that he should be accompanied by 212 
 officers and men to the interior ; and as they had been twelve 
 months without communication with Khartoum, and their 
 clothes were worn to rags, new scarlet flannel shirts and white 
 trousers were dealt out to them. The number of men left at 
 headquarters was 340, including 52 sailors. He was deter- 
 mined to penetrate into the south, carrying the steamer in 
 sections, where she would be pieced together and launched 
 on the river above the last cataracts, in order to open the 
 communication with the Albert Nyanza. As large a supply 
 of ammunition as possible was carried, in order to trade in 
 ivory when they reached Unyoro or Magungo, Kamrasi's 
 country. 
 
 The start was made from Gondokoro, or Ismailia, as Baker 
 has named it, on 2 2d January 1872. For the first few days 
 the men were in excellent spirits, and appeared to trust their 
 leader. The vessels at times required to be towed round the 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 109 
 
 sandbanks ; this was done with great spirit by the men. An 
 accident happening, which resulted in the death of one of the 
 men, rather damped the spirits of the party at the outset. The 
 foot of the cataracts was reached on 27th January; they found 
 the spot very lovely, as the rocky islands were covered with 
 rich green forest, in perpetual verdure. Bedden, the chief of 
 that part of the country, came on board Baker's diahbeeah with 
 some of his men, and professed to be quite willing to provide 
 carriers to convey the baggage of the expedition farther south- 
 wards. It was agreed that the carriers should proceed as far 
 as Lobore*, about sixty miles from that place. Baker fully 
 believed that he would be able to secure help here, and that 
 they should be able to convey the carts, together with the 
 steamer, to the navigable portion of the Nile in n. lat. 
 
 o t 
 
 3 32. 
 
 Half of the cattle belonging to the expedition were offered 
 to Bedden for this promised help. The conduct of the natives 
 was now anything but reassuring, and several signs of distrust 
 manifested themselves. No women or children came near the 
 vessels, as they might be expected to do, and the cattle had all 
 been driven away from the country. The cattle pens were 
 found to be empty. At length Bedden condescended to 
 return and say that his people had never previously acted as 
 carriers for the Turks, nor would they now do so. The state 
 of the White Nile had prevented all camel transport from 
 Khartoum; and although cart and camel harness had been 
 prepared, neither horse nor camel could be transported. The 
 natives were so rich in dhurra and corn that they would not 
 work; they were only ready to sleep or steal. There were 
 about 2500 head of cattle and 1800 head of sheep in the 
 camp, which were driven for safety to three small villages on 
 
no FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the high sloping ground. A night attack was made on this 
 cattle kraal by the Baris, but they were ultimately repulsed. 
 
 Baker resolved, in his present paralyzed condition, that 
 the Englishmen with the steamer sections must return to 
 Gondokoro. At the same time he determined to push on 
 with one hundred men, in heavy marching order, to Lobore', 
 where in all likelihood a sufficient number of porters could 
 be secured to send back to the vessels, with an escort of fifty 
 soldiers, in order to the advance southwards. Major Abdullah 
 was left in charge of the vessels with 120 men, a field-piece, 
 and artillerymen, and the most careful precautions were 
 taken for their safety in the case of an attack from the Baris. 
 Lokko, an old rainmaker, joined Baker before the start was 
 made, and the present of a cow's horn fitted with brass made 
 him perfectly happy, and he proved a useful guide. The start 
 was made on 8th February, all the people being heavily laden. 
 Mrs. Baker rode the horse called * Greedy Grey/ which 
 carried as much as could be hung upon the saddle. Baker 
 rode a powerful chestnut called ' Jamoos,' of Arab blood. 
 Ten donkeys were laden with the officers' effects, spare 
 ammunition, flour, etc. Boxes were carried by twenty-two 
 boatmen. Colonel Abd-el-Kader and Captain Mohammed 
 Deii were with the rear-guard, which drove 1000 cows and 
 5000 sheep. The boys and girls, the personal servants of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Baker, being remarkably obedient and well trained, 
 all carried loads, and every one departed in good spirits after 
 the check which had lately been imposed upon them. 
 
 The first halt was made at a village about three miles from 
 the vessels. There being plenty corn in the place, and the 
 natives having deserted their habitations at their approach, 
 they used the flour found in the village, and left two cows 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. m 
 
 there by way of payment. Halting next at the village of 
 Gobbohur, the natives brought a shell of 8 lbs., which had 
 not been exploded, and which had been sold to them by 
 the Baris of Belinian as a piece of iron. They hinted that 
 they intended to hammer it into iron hoes, when they were 
 warned that it would explode on being placed in the fire. 
 Marengo was the next halting-place, on ioth February, the 
 way that day being through lovely rocky scenery and fine park- 
 like views. The rocks passed on the way consisted of syenite, 
 gneiss, and large masses of white quartz. 
 
 Lobord was reached on 12th February, when a halt was 
 made to await the cattle, which were some distance in the 
 rear. Up till this time they had marched fifty-seven miles 
 without firing a shot. Baker was glad to discover that the 
 Lobore tribe had no connection with their recent troublesome 
 neighbours the Bari. The old sheik, called Abbio, was half 
 blind, but seemed willing to assist on hearing explanations, 
 and granted a sufficient number of men to go back to the vessels 
 as proposed, provided they were accompanied by the 
 soldiers. A regular market was held shortly after their arrival 
 for the purchase of flour in exchange for sheep and goats. 
 Live goats were exchanged for about thirty pounds of flour, 
 the weight of the one being about exactly equivalent to the 
 weight of the other. The old sheik Abbio did indeed provide 
 the requisite number of men as carriers to return and bring 
 the stores from the vessels. As there was no doubt that the 
 country farther southwards was greatly depopulated by the 
 slave hunters, Baker took the precaution of securing 3740 lbs. 
 of flour by 2 2d February. The ground in the neighbourhood 
 of Lobord was like * a beautiful park, characterized by numerous 
 masses of granite, like ruined castles, among trees of all 
 
ii2 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 shades of green. ' The antelopes and wild pigs which Baker 
 bagged delighted the natives. 
 
 By 24th February the whole of the troops and baggage had 
 arrived from the vessels ; all the arrangements made had been 
 successful. They also brought tidings that the vessel had 
 been attacked by the Baris after Baker's departure. There 
 had been treachery on the part of the natives, and culpable 
 negligence on the part of those in charge. The appearance 
 of the four hundred men of the Lobord, with fifty soldiers in 
 scarlet uniforms, had helped to decide the attack in favour 
 of the troops. Five hundred natives were now engaged for 
 the forward journey. Wani, the interpreter, an old acquaint- 
 ance made on the former journey, superintended the arrange- 
 ments necessary for collecting the carriers. The natives were 
 allowed to select their own cattle by way of payment, and 
 in doing so they proved rather fastidious. Baker found the 
 Lobord great workers in iron, which was generally used for 
 the manufacture of ornaments. They wore large rings of 
 this metal round the neck, and upon the arms and ankles. 
 
 The start was again made on 29th February; the loads 
 were prepared and arranged in divisions of twenty each, under 
 the charge of selected officers. Unfortunately for the honesty 
 of the Lobore', sixty-seven of the carriers had disappeared 
 with as many cows, leaving only 433 for active service. 
 These carriers were very powerful men, but careless and 
 dishonest, and apparently wishing to seize an opportunity to 
 escape on the road. After a halt was made, they would rush 
 and scramble for their loads like wolves over a carcase, and 
 in the process boxes and other et-ceteras were turned upside 
 down quite heedlessly. An inverted canteen was discovered 
 upon the head of one of these men, with the Cognac and gin 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 113 
 
 showering down his body ; he was, as Baker remarks, literally 
 being basted with the liquor. Although these men were under 
 a son of the sheik, his presence did not seem to do much in 
 the way of preserving order. 
 
 In the onward march through a fine country of hills and 
 low forest, they everywhere witnessed the desolating effect of 
 the slave trade, passing large tracts of land which had formerly 
 been under cultivation, and the charred remains of numerous 
 villages. Abou Saood and his followers were responsible for 
 these atrocities. They arrived at the spot where the Atabbi 
 river joins the Asua. They waded through the latter, which 
 was 120 yards in width. From a height of about a thousand 
 feet above the Asua river, they enjoyed a splendid view of 
 the entire landscape. A fine range of lofty hills, stretching 
 in a long line towards Latooka, bordered their view to the 
 east ; on the west, on the left bank of the White Nile, was the 
 precipitous mountain Neri. The river Nile here boils through 
 the narrow gorge between the mountains. Continuing the 
 journey, a magnificent view broke upon them. ' The grand 
 White Nile/ he writes, * lay like a broad streak of silver on 
 our right, as it flowed in a calm deep stream direct from the 
 Albert Nyanza, at this spot above all cataracts. No water had 
 as yet been broken by a fall ; the troubles of river life lay in 
 the future ; the journey to the sea might be said to have only 
 just commenced. Here the entire volume flowed from the 
 Albert Nyanza, distant hardly one degree; and here had I 
 always hoped to bring my steamers, as the starting-point for 
 the opening of the heart of Africa to navigation, I was deeply 
 mortified when I gazed upon this lovely view, and reflected 
 upon the impossibilities that had prevented my success. Had 
 the White Nile been open as formerly, I should have trans- 
 
 III. H 
 
1 14 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 ported the necessary camels from Khartoum, and there would 
 have been no serious difficulty in the delivery of the steamers 
 to this point. 
 
 'We now descended into the beautiful plain, to which I 
 had given the name of Ibrahimeyah, in honour of the father 
 of his Highness the Khedive (Ibrahim Pasha). This point 
 is destined to become the capital of Central Africa. The 
 general depot for the steamers will be near the mouth of 
 the Un-y-Ame' river, which, after rising in the prairies between 
 Fatiko and Unyoro, winds through a lovely country for about 
 eighty miles, and falls into the White Nile opposite to Gebel 
 Kuka. The trade of Central Africa, when developed by the 
 steamers on the Albert Nyanza, will concentrate at this spot, 
 whence it must be conveyed by camels for 120 miles to Gondo- 
 koro, until at some future time a railway may perhaps continue 
 the line of steam communication. 
 
 * It is a curious fact that a short line of 120 miles of 
 railway would open up the very heart of Africa to steam 
 transport, between the Mediterranean and the equator, when 
 the line from Cairo to Khartoum shall be completed ! . . . 
 
 * I revelled in this lovely country. The fine park-like 
 trees were clumped in dark-green masses here and there. 
 The tall dolape palms were scattered about the plain, some- 
 times singly, at others growing in considerable numbers. 
 High and bold rocks ; near and distant mountains ; the richest 
 plain imaginable in the foreground, with the clear Un-y-Ame 
 flowing now in a shallow stream between its lofty banks, and 
 the grand old Nile upon our right all combined to form a 
 landscape that produced a paradise. The air was delightful. 
 There was an elasticity of spirit, the result of a pure atmosphere, 
 that made one feel happy in spite of many anxieties. My 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 115 
 
 legs felt like steel as we strode along before the horses, with 
 rifle on shoulder, into the broad valley, in which the mountain 
 we had descended seemed to have taken root.' 
 
 The native name for this beautiful country was Afuddo, and 
 they were now thirty-seven miles distant from Lobore. There 
 were villages formerly around their present halting-place, but 
 these had been destroyed by the slave-hunters. Baker now felt 
 more at home, as the landscape presented many familiar 
 features to him, and the mountain of Shooa, where he had 
 camped for four or five months on his previous journey, was 
 nw distinctly visible. They were now marching towards 
 
 ||ko, one of Abou Saood's stations. Reaching the neigh- 
 
 ^ood of the Shooa mountain, where the camp of Ibrahim 
 
 0n situated, and where he had formerly resided, they 
 
 the place entirely destroyed. The whole way to Fatiko 
 
 .0 a most lovely route. The whole procession, headed by 
 Baker, marched towards the slave station in the most orderly 
 manner. Their appearance created confusion in the camp, 
 immense numbers of slaves were driven out and hurried away 
 to the south. Natives were seen rushing about armed with 
 spears and shields. Two messengers approached them, one 
 of them proving to be an old Cairo servant of Baker's. 
 Abou Saood came out to meet them as they neared the 
 station, in a humble, cringing attitude inviting them to some 
 huts which had been prepared for their reception. Declining 
 this invitation, Baker established his camp about a quarter of 
 a mile beyond, beneath some large acacias. They were now 
 165 miles distant from Gondokoro. 
 
 The troops were reviewed, and a sham fight and attack on 
 the Fatiko mountain was engaged in on 8th March. The 
 natives appeared to be delighted at the sight, and assembled 
 
n6 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 in considerable numbers to witness it. The music of the 
 band, produced by a number of bugles, drums, and cymbals, 
 together with a large military brass drum, had an overpowering 
 effect on them. The natives proved themselves to be passion- 
 ately fond of music; and Baker hints that a London organ- 
 grinder might make a triumphal march through Central Africa, 
 followed by an admiring crowd, who would dance to the lively 
 tunes. In the present instance, a crowd of naked Shooli 
 women, * bounding about as musical enthusiasts/ began to 
 collect together, attracted by the band. ' Even the babies 
 were brought out to dance; and these infants, strapped to 
 their mothers' backs, and covered with pumpkin shells, like 
 young tortoises, were jolted about, without the slightest con- 
 sideration for the weakness of their necks, by their infatuated 
 mothers. As usual among all tribes in Central Africa, the old 
 women were even more determined dancers than the young 
 girls. Several old Venuses were making themselves extremely 
 ridiculous, as they sometimes do in civilised countries when 
 attempting the allurements of younger days.' The men of the 
 Shooli and Fatiko tribes were the best proportioned Baker 
 had seen up till that time ; they were muscular and well knit, 
 and generally their faces were handsome. The women were 
 short of stature, but strong and compact, and walk about 
 perfectly naked. The men, however, were partially clothed 
 with the skin of an antelope, slung across the shoulders and 
 covering the lower part of the body. 
 
 After these dancing performances were over, Baker was 
 visited by several of the natives, who related to him the 
 atrocities committed by Abou Saood's people. The latter 
 had instigated the natives to attack them on their first appear- 
 ance ; but seeing Baker's powerful force, and perceiving in him 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, 117 
 
 an old friend, they saw that this would be hopeless. The 
 natives assured him that the whole country would rally round 
 a good government that what the people desired was protec- 
 tion and justice. Baker informed them, in return, that his 
 intentions were peaceful, and that a recurrence of the atrocities 
 committed by Abou Saood and his men would now be pre- 
 vented. The traders' contract with the Soudan Government 
 would expire in about twenty days, when Abou Saood would 
 be obliged to retire, and the Government would be entirely in 
 the hands of the Khedive. Baker had previously checked a 
 conspiracy at Gondokoro, which had been instigated by Abou 
 Saood, and now he had appeared at a moment when fortune 
 was turning against them. The traders' people were discon- 
 tented with their leaders, with their clothes and wages. Their 
 parties had been massacred in several directions; about 500 
 loads of ivory, along with one of their stations, had been 
 burned by a night attack of the Madi. Thirty-five of their 
 party had been killed. 
 
 The news reached him here that Kamrasi, the former king 
 of Unyoro, was dead ; also that King Mtesa of Uganda had 
 so far come under the personal influence of the traders from 
 Zanzibar as to have become a Mohammedan. The throats of 
 either man or beast were now cut in the name of God ; he 
 kept clerks, too, who could correspond in Arabic; and in 
 addition to his other forces, he possessed a regiment armed 
 with a thousand guns, Abou Saood had found Mtesa's people 
 too strong for him ; the traders of Zanzibar had been in the 
 habit of dealing with them, and purchasing ivory from Mtesa 
 with cotton stufts, silks, guns, powder, beads, etc. The com- 
 modities of Zanzibar were not uncommon at Fatiko. Abou 
 Saood's slave-hunters received a terrible blow from the Umiro 
 
n8 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 tribe. Ali Hussein, a villainous Arab who had made a 
 successful attack upon them once, determined again to proceed 
 against them. The Umiros had, however, laid an ambuscade, 
 which resulted in the massacre of 103 of Abou Saood's men 
 and about 150 of their allies. This spread a panic amongst 
 the slave - hunters, who returned to Fatiko broken and 
 unsuccessful. Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, the son of a small 
 king on the Blue Nile, was one of the most energetic and 
 adventurous of the slave-hunters, now under Abou Saood 
 every nook and corner of the country was known to him. 
 While occupying the station at Faloro, he had been hospitable 
 to Speke and Grant on their arrival from Zanzibar. Speke, on 
 parting from him at Gondokoro, had presented him with a 
 beautiful double-barrelled rifle and several other articles. 
 Baker was anxious that this man's services should be secured 
 and added to his company. 
 
 Baker issued orders that the sneaking villain Abou Saood 
 should cease his slave -hunting operations immediately his 
 contract had expired. He was only to remain on sufferance 
 in the country, and until his ivory had been removed to 
 Gondokoro. The different stations at Fabbo, Farragenia, it 
 was well known, were crowded with slaves ; but with these 
 Baker did not intend to interfere. It was arranged that a 
 Government officer, with a detachment of 100 men, should 
 be stationed near Fatiko, as a watch upon their movements. 
 This station was within a hundred yards of the south extremity 
 of that of Abou Saood. 
 
 The sheik of the district of Fatiko, in the country of Shooli, 
 appeared in person on a visit to Baker on 16th March. This 
 great man was perfectly smeared with red ochre and grease 
 from head to foot; a well-dressed skin of an antelope was 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. n 9 
 
 slung across his shoulder, and descended across his loins. 
 He expressed himself very bitterly during the interview against 
 the slave-traders, and offered his allegiance to the Khedive. 
 He was assured that he had nothing to fear from the slave- 
 traders in future. Baker gave him several presents, and, 
 according to his usual custom, the seeds of the best Egyptian 
 cotton, tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, water-melons, sweet- 
 melons, barmian, maize, etc. A close acquaintance with the 
 magnetic battery surprised and delighted him. 
 
 Leaving Major Abdullah in charge of the station, the 
 expedition started southwards towards Unyoro. The limit of 
 the inhabited country stretched but three miles beyond the 
 camp at Fatiko ; the remainder of the way was wilderness to 
 Unyoro. They reached the banks of the Victoria Nile on 2 2d 
 March, where the river flowed beneath cliiTs of seventy or 
 eighty feet in depth through magnificent forest. They halted 
 on the day following exactly opposite one of Abou Saood's 
 stations, under the command of a man named Suleiman. ' It 
 is impossible/ he writes, 'to describe the change that has 
 taken place since I last visited this country. It was then a 
 perfect garden, thickly populated, and producing all that man 
 could desire. The villages were numerous; groves of plan- 
 tains fringed the steep cliffs on the river's bank; and the 
 natives were neatly dressed in the bark cloth of the country. 
 The scene has changed ! All is wilderness ! The population 
 has fled ! Not a village is to be seen ! This is the certain 
 result of the settlement of Khartoum traders. They kidnap 
 the women and children for slaves, and plunder and destroy 
 wherever they set their foot.' Baker found that Abou Saood 
 had given no intimation to his agent Suleiman of the expira- 
 tion of his contract. The new king, successor to Kamrasi, 
 
120 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 was Kabba Rega, to whom Baker made known his mission, 
 and sent him many substantial presents. An official message 
 was also sent to Suleiman, telling him i that sixteen days hence 
 the contract would expire, and that he and all his people must 
 be ready to evacuate the country and return to Khartoum on 
 that day. That any person who should remain after this 
 notice would be imprisoned. That, should he or any of his 
 people wish to enlist in the service of the Government as 
 irregular troops, their names must be handed in before the 
 expiration of two days/ Sixty-one men registered their names 
 under Baker. Kabba Rega, like his father Kamrasi, kept 
 Baker waiting a long time for a reply ; and in the meantime 
 his cattle were dying every day, and provisions were only 
 coming in in small quantities. They were obliged to subsist 
 mostly on vegetable food. The rain came down nearly every 
 day. Had he not been provided with cattle, they would have 
 been half-starved, as nothing was procurable save beans, sweet 
 potatoes, and plantains. 
 
 The order was given on 8th April, by Kabba Rega, that 
 Baker was to be supplied with carriers for the journey to 
 Masindi. The start was at last made from Foweera; the 
 march was through forest and grass about four feet high, 
 until Kisoona, a poor straggling place in the centre of the 
 forest, was reached. The neighbourhood was populous, but 
 the villages were all concealed in the forest amidst groves of 
 bananas. Next morning, the 12th of April, it was found that 
 200 carriers had absconded. Colonel Abd-el-Kader was at once 
 sent back to Foweera with a letter to Suleiman, asking him to 
 collect 300 men at once to return with the effects to the latter 
 place. Abd-el-Kader found that Suleiman had acted in a 
 treacherous manner, and that his people had been allowed to 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 12 1 
 
 escape with all their slaves and effects. The greater number 
 of Suleiman's people had escaped to Fabbo. Suleiman and 
 Eddrees were captured and tried before Baker. The charges 
 against Suleiman were all clearly proven. He had conspired 
 to attack Rionga in opposition to Baker's orders ; had spoken 
 treasonably against the Government; had arranged and abetted 
 the escape of the new levy which had joined the Government 
 service, with the slaves ; he had also murdered with his own 
 hand a native confided to his care. As a first instalment of 
 future punishment, 200 lashes were inflicted upon him on the 
 spot, while his accomplice Eddrees received 100 lashes. 
 The native chiefs bore witness that Suleiman was the chief 
 offender ; that he had ruined the country, kidnapping the 
 women and children ; and that, as a result, the natives had 
 fled from their homes. The chiefs who were witnesses of the 
 trial expressed their confidence in the Government. 
 
 On the march to Masindi they encountered Kittakara, a 
 kind of prime minister to Kabba Re'ga, who treated them 
 courteously, and never asked for presents. There was still an 
 impression of general ruin throughout the country when they 
 halted at Chosrobeze, in lat. i 57' n. The traders had 
 ransacked the district for slaves, with the usual result. 
 
 Masindi, the capital of Unyoro, was reached on 25 th 
 April. The town was composed of about a thousand large 
 beehive-shaped straw huts, without any arrangement or plan, 
 and is situated on high undulating land, with a wide view. 
 The country around is open, and is covered with high grass. 
 Having selected a position beneath a large banian tree, they 
 proceeded to form the encampment. Kabba Rega, the young 
 king, sent them presents of provisions. The spot where they 
 had encamped was seventy -nine miles from the river at 
 
122 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Foweera, and three hundred and twenty-two miles by route 
 from Ismailia or Gondokoro. 
 
 An official visit was made to Kabba Re'ga on 26th April. 
 They found the young king sitting in his divan, which was 
 a large newly-constructed hut, ornamented with some common 
 printed cotton cloths from Zanzibar. He was clad in bark- 
 cloth striped with black, beautifully made. He appeared 
 to be about twenty years of age. Baker explained to him 
 the intentions ot the Khedive of Egypt regarding the slave 
 trade, and expressed his regret at the state in which he now 
 found the country. The prisoners who had been captured 
 by Colonel Abd-el-Kader were publicly flogged in the presence 
 of the people, and Suleiman and Eddrees were led away in 
 chains. The slaves belonging to Unyoro found in their 
 possession were then liberated. Kabba Rega returned Baker's 
 visit on 27th April, but it was plain that he was full of sus- 
 picions, and that he was trembling with nervous anxiety. 
 A crowd of about 2000 people had accompanied him, making 
 a tremendous din with whistles, horns, and drums. He 
 was closely accompanied by four of his great chiefs. Amongst 
 the crowd following him were the sorcerers; they were 
 curiously dressed, having fictitious beards, manufactured from 
 a number of bushy cows' tails. Baker has given a capital 
 full-length portrait of Kabba Rega, which we quote : 
 
 1 Kabba Rga was about five feet ten inches in height, and 
 of extremely light complexion. His eyes were very large, 
 but projected in a disagreeable manner. A broad but low 
 forehead and high cheek-bones, added to a large mouth, 
 with rather prominent but exceedingly white teeth, complete 
 the description of his face. His hands were beautifully 
 shaped, and his finger-nails were carefully pared and scrupu- 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 123 
 
 lously clean. The nails of his feet were equally well attended 
 to. He wore sandals of raw buffalo hide, but neatly formed, 
 and turned up round the edges. His robe of bark-cloth, 
 which completely covered his body, was exquisitely made, 
 and had been manufactured in Uganda, which country is 
 celebrated for this curious production. ' This was Kabba 
 Rega, the son of Kamrasi, the sixteenth king of Unyoro, of 
 the Galla conquerors, a gauche, awkward, undignified lout of 
 twenty years of age, who thought himself a great monarch. 
 He was cowardly, cruel, cunning, and treacherous to the last 
 degree. Not only had he ordered the destruction of his 
 brother, Kabka Miro, but, after his death, he had invited all 
 his principal relations to visit him ; these he had received 
 with the greatest kindness, and, at parting, he had presented 
 them with gifts, together with an escort of his body-guard, 
 called barasoora, to see them safe home. These men, by 
 the young king's instructions, murdered them all in the high 
 grass during their return journey. By these means he had 
 got rid of troublesome relations, and he now sat secure upon 
 the throne with only one great enemy; this was Rionga, the 
 staunch and determined foe of his father, who had escaped 
 from every treachery, and still lived to defy him in the north- 
 eastern provinces of Unyoro. 
 
 Of course one of Kabba Rega's first requests was Baker's 
 assistance in order to capture and kill Rionga. His mind 
 was only diverted from this request by a display of the presents 
 which had been brought for his father, Kamrasi. Being the 
 son of his father, he at once demanded that all the presents 
 intended for his father should be bestowed upon himself. 
 The importance of regular commerce and the establishment 
 of proper communication by a regular route from the north 
 
124 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 was dwelt upon by Baker. The whole of the equatorial Nile 
 basin was now to be taken under the protection of the 
 Khedive. No unnecessary wars would be permitted, and 
 he, Kabba Rega, might remain as the representative of the 
 Government. He was assured that no country could prosper 
 without industry and good government, that agriculture was 
 the foundation of a country's wealth, and that war, being a 
 disturbing element, helped to ruin the country. This led 
 Kabba Re*ga to speak of his favourite grievance, that * Rionga 
 was the sole cause of war, therefore it would be necessary to 
 destroy him before any improvements could be made. If 
 Rionga were killed, and the slave-hunters expelled from tho 
 country, there might be some hope of progress; but that it 
 was wasting breath to talk of commerce and agriculture until 
 Rionga should be destroyed.' This was much to the same 
 tune as the continual speeches made by his father, from all 
 of which Baker concluded that Rionga must be a very fine 
 fellow, and much superior to either Kamrasi or his son. 
 No argument was of any avail, and Kabba Rega continued 
 to clamour for help to fight against Rionga. 
 
 Traces of the presence and of the treachery of Abou Saood 
 were soon self-evident. He had arrived at Masindi in a very 
 dirty and miserable condition, and riding on a donkey. He 
 spread the report that the Pasha was a very different person 
 from the traveller who had formerly been in the country, and 
 that the first mentioned was dead. 'The Pasha,' said Abou 
 Saood, * is not like the traveller, or any other man. He is a 
 monster with three separate heads, in each of which are six 
 eyes, three upon each side. Thus, with eighteen eyes, he can 
 see everything and every country at once. He has three 
 enormous mouths, which are furnished with teeth like those 
 
S/E SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 125 
 
 of a crocodile, and he devours human flesh. He has already 
 killed and eaten the Bari people, and destroyed their country. 
 Should he arrive here, he will pull you from the throne and 
 seize your kingdom. You must fight him, and by no means 
 allow him to cross the river at Foweera. My soldiers will 
 fight him on the road from Gondokoro, as will all the natives 
 of the country ; but I don't think he will be able to leave 
 Gondokoro, as he has a large amount of baggage, and I have 
 told the Baris not to transport it. Thus he will have no 
 carriers.' At this absurd picture of himself Baker laughed 
 outright, but felt that all this was quite consistent with the 
 treacherous part he had always acted. 
 
 Baker began the formation of a garden around the camp, 
 employing the prisoners in clearing the grass, while the 
 soldiers began the work of cultivation with native hoes. 
 The building of a government house and public divan was 
 commenced on 29th April. Umbogo, the interpreter, having 
 come to the conclusion that the reason of the difference 
 between white men and black was that the former was, in the 
 habit of using soap, while the latter did not, a piece of soap 
 was given him by Baker, which pleased him immensely. 
 Terrible stories of the atrocities of slavers were told to him. 
 Throughout Unyoro, in troublous times, the corn is not 
 kept in exposed granaries, but buried in the ground in deep 
 holes. When these slave - hunters were in search of corn, 
 they would catch one of the villagers, and holding the captive 
 over a large jar filled with glowing embers, would roast his 
 posteriors in order to make him tell where the corn was 
 hidden. If this did not extract the secret, then the throat 
 of the victim was cut as a warning to the rest. 
 
 The experience of our traveller, gathered from every native 
 
1 26 FA MO US TRA VELLERS. 
 
 tribe amongst which he dwelt, was that slavery was a natural 
 institution of the country, only their reading of the eighth 
 commandment was, 'Thou shalt not steal from me.' Although 
 Kabba Rega and his people had no objection to the restora- 
 tion of the slaves which had been stolen from Unyoro, they 
 still continued the practice of slave-dealing amongst them- 
 selves. The value of a healthy young girl in Unyoro was 
 equal to a single elephant's tusk of the first class, or to a new 
 shirt. In Uganda, where needles were in great demand, a 
 handsome girl might be purchased for thirteen English needles. 
 On the year of his arrival at Gondokoro, Baker had a very 
 interesting conversation with a sheik of the Shir tribe on the 
 subject of the slave trade. Many of his tribe had been 
 kidnapped by neighbouring people, and he wished Baker to 
 organize an expedition against them. In the course of the 
 conversation he seemed moved at the allusion to the forcible 
 separation of children from their parents. 
 
 * Have you a son ? ' he asked. 
 
 * My sons are unfortunately dead/ replied Baker. 
 
 * Indeed ! ' he exclaimed. * I have a son an only son. 
 He is a nice boy a very good boy ; about so high (showing 
 his length upon the handle of his spear). I should like you 
 to see my boy. He is very thin now ; but if he should remain 
 with you he would soon get fat. He's a really nice boy, and 
 always hungry. You'll be so fond of him ; he'll eat from 
 morning till night, and still he'll be hungry. You'll like him 
 amazingly; he'll give you no trouble if you only give him 
 plenty to eat. He'll lie down and go to sleep, and he'll wake 
 up hungry again. He's a good boy indeed ; and he's my only 
 son. I'll sell him to you for a molote ! ' (native iron spade). 
 This is certainly a shocking story, but one which becomes a 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 127 
 
 reality often enough, in seasons of scarcity, amongst the White 
 Nile tribes. 
 
 The only way in which girls are disposed of is by purchase 
 as wives, each daughter in a family selling for twelve or 
 fifteen cows to her suitor. In Unyoro, owing to the scarcity 
 of cows, the girls are bought for such commodities as brass- 
 coil bracelets, bark-cloths, cotton shirts, ivory, eta 
 
 The Government House, as it was called, consisted of a 
 building containing only one room twenty-eight feet long by 
 fourteen wide, and about twenty feet high. It was carefully 
 thatched, and had a commodious porch ; the inside walls were 
 neatly made with canes closely lashed together. This was 
 the divan or public room, but a back door communicated by 
 a covered way to Baker's private residence. The private room 
 was twenty-four feet long by thirteen wide, was arranged as 
 neatly as possible, in order to excite the admiration of the 
 people and make them familiar with the manners and customs 
 of more civilised life, which it was to be hoped they might 
 imitate, and also improve trade. ' The walls/ he writes, 
 1 were as usual made of canes, but these were carefully hung 
 with scarlet blankets, sewn together and stretched to the 
 ground, so as to form an even surface. The floor was covered 
 with mats. Upon the walls opposite to each other, so as 
 to throw endless reflections, were two large oval mirrors 
 (girandoles) in gilt metal frames. A photograph of Her 
 Majesty the Queen stood on the toilet table. At the extreme 
 end of the room was a very good coloured print, nearly life 
 size, of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The 
 scarlet walls were hung with large coloured prints, life size, 
 of very beautiful women, with very gorgeous dresses, all the 
 jewellery being imitated by pieces of coloured tinsel. A 
 
128 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 number of sporting prints, very large, and also coloured, were 
 arranged in convenient places on the walls. There were fox- 
 hunting scenes, and German stag-hunts, together with a few 
 quiet landscapes, that always recalled the dear old country 
 now so far away. The furniture was simple enough ; two 
 angarebs, or Arab stretchers, which during the day were 
 covered with Persian carpets and served as sofas, while at 
 night they were arranged as beds. The tables were made of 
 square metal boxes piled one upon the other, and covered 
 with bright blue cloths. These were arranged with all kinds 
 of odd trinkets of gaudy appearance, but of little value, which 
 were intended to be asked for, and given away. Two native 
 stools curiously cut out of a solid block formed our chairs. 
 The guns and rifles stood in a row against a rack covered 
 with red Turkey cloth j and a large Geneva musical box lay 
 upon a table beneath the Princess of Wales. 
 
 This room, as a matter of course, soon became the wonder 
 of the place. When Kabba Rga honoured this curiosity- 
 shop with his presence on the nth May, the first thing he 
 said was, ' Are these all for me?' ' Certainly,' replied Baker, 
 4 if you wish to exchange ivory. All these things belong to 
 the Khedive of Egypt, and any amount remains in the 
 magazines at Gondokoro. These are simply a few curiosities 
 that I have brought as an experiment to prove the possibility 
 of establishing a trade.' The wheel of life attracted much 
 attention, neither Kabba Re'ga nor any of his chiefs ever tiring 
 of the display. Each of the chiefs had in turn to submit to 
 the magnetic battery, and Kabba Rega was not a little amused 
 to witness a favourite minister rolling on his back in con- 
 tortions. The large looking-glasses were miracles, and they 
 set them down as'cojoor' (magic). Amongst the pictures 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, 129 
 
 of gaily - dressed female figures, they had the good taste to 
 select the picture of the Princess of Wales as the most lovely. 
 One thing Kabba Rega could not understand was, * why the 
 women in the various portraits all looked at him.' Where- 
 ever he moved, their eyes always seemed to follow him. This 
 made the chiefs also feel uncomfortable. In examining the 
 guns and rifles, Kabba Rega inquired which of them were 
 intended for him. His uncle Rabouka also remarked to Baker 
 that he had done wisely in bringing all these guns as presents 
 for Kabba Rega. About the musical box the remark was 
 made that the latter ' might set this going at night to play you 
 to sleep, when you were too drunk to play an instrument 
 yourself, even if you knew how to do it.' On being refused 
 several articles, the personal belongings of Lady Baker, he 
 peevishly exclaimed, * Everything that is worth having seems 
 to belong to the Sit 1 (the lady). 
 
 The ceremony of the official annexation of Unyoro in the 
 name of the Khedive of Egypt was performed on the 14th of 
 May 1872. As a proof of his satisfaction with this arrange- 
 ment, the young king sent Baker a present of twelve goats. 
 
 On 23d May a party was sent off to Fatiko, with letters to 
 be forwarded to Egypt, Khartoum, and England, and also 
 with written instructions to Major Abdullah to arrest Abou 
 Saood, who had, contrary to orders, defied Baker's authority 
 and kidnapped slaves in Unyoro since his contract had 
 expired. He was to be taken prisoner and delivered up to 
 Raouf Bey at Gondokoro, while he was to march himself, 
 together with the liberated slaves, to Foweera. 
 
 A brisk and hopeful trade was now inaugurated. Ivory 
 
 was being received in exchange for different commodities, at a 
 
 profit to the Government, when realized, of between 1500 and 
 in. 1 
 
130 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 2000 per cent. A few beads, three or four coloured cotton 
 handkerchiefs, a zinc mirror, and a fourpenny butcher's knife, 
 would purchase a tusk of ivory worth between twenty and 
 thirty pounds. Baker remarks in regard to these transactions, 
 that at the conclusion of a bargain in Unyoro each party 
 thought he had the best of it. The young king, however, 
 interdicted this system of free trade so auspiciously begun, 
 and ordered that all the tusks for sale should be brought to 
 him. The climate of Masindi had proved excellent for the 
 agricultural experiments ; the produce sown proved very 
 thriving. The air was always fresh and invigorating, as they 
 were 4000 feet above the sea level ; the Unyoro people, 
 however, spent the day in sleep or idleness, unconscious of 
 their privileges. Ramadan, clerk of the detachment, was 
 appointed by Baker to start a school, as he had mastered 
 sufficient of the Unyoro language to make them understand, 
 and as it would be well to bestow upon them the blessings 
 of education as well as of commerce. An incident occurred 
 on the 31st May which filled the explorer's mind with ominous 
 suspicions. While the troops were being put through their 
 musketry drill, they were suddenly surrounded by five or 
 six thousand men, armed with spears and shields, and all in a 
 state of frantic excitement. The order was immediately given 
 to form in square, which puzzled the natives extremely. By 
 putting a bold front on the matter, and appearing only to be 
 amused, the rising was averted and bloodshed prevented. 
 
 As the miserable young king, Kabba Re*ga, spent most of 
 hitime in a state of semi-intoxication, and as they were liable 
 at any moment to the infliction of any foolish order he might 
 issue, and as he was also offended, in self-defence Baker built 
 a fort for greater security. This fort was finished in a few 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 131 
 
 days, so that they had an impregnable protection in a position 
 nearly half-way between the entrance of the main approach 
 and the Government house. 
 
 Envoys were received direct from King Mtesa of Uganda, 
 on 4th June, bearing a letter of welcome for Baker, written in 
 Arabic. These men were well dressed in Indian clothes, and 
 to our traveller appeared quite civilised, as though native 
 merchants of Bombay. Presents were bestowed upon them, 
 for which they were duly grateful. In reply to inquiries made, 
 nothing had been heard of Livingstone. Baker wrote a letter 
 to Mtesa, asking him to use every endeavour to find the great 
 traveller, and send him on to Masindi. Two letters were 
 also written for the great traveller, which were consigned to 
 Mtesa' s care. Baker's letter to Mtesa complimented him upon 
 the general improvement of his country, upon his conversion 
 from heathenism, and described the object of the expedition 
 as one intended to open up a trade from the north that would 
 bring merchandise of every description into the kingdom. 
 Baker here advised him to send his own carriers, as Kabba 
 Rega was jealous, and would endeavour to monopolize the 
 trade. The envoys returned to Uganda, with the tidings of 
 Speke's death, and much gratified by all they had seen. 
 
 Towards the beginning of June, Kabba Rega began to stint 
 them of their provisions, and on the 7th there was really 
 nothing for the troops to eat. Matouse, a tall chief, brought a 
 present of seven jars of plantain cider and two large packages 
 of flour, which he asserted he had borrowed from Rabouka, 
 promising more corn on the following day. The cider was 
 distributed amongst the soldiers, and many of them partook 
 of it. After dinner, Abd-el-Kader made his appearance at the 
 divan in a state of great excitement, saying that * many of the 
 
132 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 troops appeared to be dying, and they had evidently been 
 poisoned by the plantain cider.* Baker appealed at once to his 
 medicine-chest, supplying himself with tartar-emetic, mustard, 
 and salt and water. On arriving at the camp, which was some 
 little distance away, he found the men in a terrible state. 
 Several of them were lying insensible, while about thirty 
 suffered from violent constriction of the throat, which almost 
 stopped their breathing. Each man was dosed with tartar- 
 emetic, and afterwards with mustard and salt and water, and 
 by next morning the danger was past. 
 
 Suspecting a treacherous attack, the sentries were doubled, 
 and Matouse, the chief who had sent the cider, was requested 
 to come over to the Government house. The message was 
 sent that he would come over on the following day. An 
 ominous silence seemed to reign over the village of Masindi 
 that night. On the following morning quite an unexpected 
 attack was made upon them ; shots were fired from behind the 
 bushes surrounding the station, and the sergeant who followed 
 Baker, as he moved towards the divan for his rifle, fell, shot 
 through the heart. The bugle was sounded without a 
 moment's delay, and the troops fell into position around the 
 station, and were soon pouring a heavy fire into the grass 
 around the station where the enemy lay concealed. Those in 
 ambush in front of the station were quickly driven out by a 
 heavy fire from the ' Forty Thieves.' Blue lights were soon in 
 requisition, and Kabba Rega's large divan, as well as a number 
 of the straw dwellings around, were set on fire. The young 
 cowardly king had fled, with all his women, before the action 
 commenced. 
 
 Moving forward under cover of the terrible conflagration of 
 the town, the enemy was met wherever they made a stand. 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 133 
 
 1 The blue lights/ writes Baker, * continued the work of 
 vengeance; the roar of flames and the dense volumes of 
 smoke, mingled 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/ A steady fire of Snider 
 rifles soon cleared the grass, and in one hour and a quarter 
 the battle of Masindi was won. All that remained of the 
 formerly extensive town was a vast open space of smoke and 
 black ashes. The enemy had fled. 
 
 After ordering the bugle to cease firing, Baker found that 
 he had lost four men; one of them was a faithful, devoted, 
 and unselfish officer, Monsoor. After burying these men 
 decently near the fort, with a heavy heart Baker wrote these 
 words in his journal : * 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 vigorous offensive, we should have been overwhelmed by 
 numbers. Since we have been in this country, my men have 
 been models 01 virtue ; nothing has been stolen, except a few 
 potatoes on one occasion, when the thief was publicly 
 punished, and the potatoes restored to the owner; neither 
 have the natives been interfered with in any manner. I have 
 driven the slave-hunters from their country, and my troops 
 from Fatiko are ordered to restore to Unyoro all the slaves 
 that have been stolen by the traders. The disgusting ingrati- 
 tude and treachery of the negro surpasses imagination. What 
 is to become of these countries ? All my good-will brings forth 
 evil deeds.' Baker was, however, eminently well satisfied with 
 the demeanour of his officers and men when the station was 
 
134 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 attacked by the seven or eight thousand natives. Nothing, he 
 writes, could have exceeded their cool, soldier-like bearing. 
 In walking unarmed over the burnt town, Baker narrowly 
 missed being speared by a treacherous native. 
 
 Baker determined that if hostilities should continue, he 
 would proclaim Rionga, the enemy of Kabba Rega, as the 
 representative of the Government, as vassal-chief in Unyoro. 
 As there was no possible means of communication with 
 Abdullah, who had been left in charge of the station at Fatiko, 
 in case of necessity it was decided that a march should be 
 made to the Victoria Nile in order to meet and form an 
 alliance with Rionga. 
 
 Kabba Rega, from a distance, pretended to sue for peace, 
 but all his proposals were blown to the winds by a continuance 
 of treacherous conduct. The abandoned quarters in the 
 neighbourhood of the fort were fired. On the 13th June a 
 sudden rush of natives was made upon the cattle, which were 
 grazing within a short distance of the fort, poisoned arrows 
 were thrown, and guns fired into the camp. The natives were, 
 however, speedily driven from the high grass around the 
 station. Orders were given for the destruction of all the 
 villages in the neighbourhood, as no doubt remained that 
 Kabba Riga's intention was to massacre all at the station. 
 
 Baker collected his forces, and addressing them, arranged 
 the plan of march to Foweera, from whence they would reach 
 Rionga. 'A Bari, who professed to know the path, would 
 lead the advance-guard of fifteen Sniders, commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Abd-el-Kader, supported by myself with 
 ten Sniders in charge of the ammunition, accompanied by 
 Lieutenant Baker, my wife, and two servants, carrying double 
 breech-loading elephant rifles. The rear-guard would consist 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 135 
 
 of fifteen Sniders.' Orders were given as to the plan of march 
 and how to comport themselves in case of attack. The 
 baggage that could be carried was divided into the requisite 
 amount of loads. When this was accomplished, the remainder 
 of the baggage was arranged in piles in the Government house, 
 was soaked with nitrous ether, spirits of wine, lamp-oil, spirits 
 of turpentine ; the building was then fired, and the whole rose 
 in flames. 
 
 The march from Masindi to Foweera was begun on the 
 14th June 1872. They arrived at the latter place, after 
 innumerable perils and hardships, on the 24th June. Nothing 
 remained but blackened ashes of the old station. In the 
 dangerous march of about eighty miles, his losses had been ten 
 men killed and eleven wounded. An enormous quantity of 
 ammunition had been used on the way, which was lined with 
 ambuscades of Kabba Rega's people. 
 
 Rionga's quarters were reached on 18th July, when Baker 
 received a warm welcome. Presents had been exchanged : 
 those from Rionga were a cow, sheep, and a load of corn; 
 Baker had given him a beautiful cloak of gold brocade, 
 together with a new tarboosh and sky-blue turban. ' He was/ 
 we are told, * a handsome man of about fifty, with exceedingly 
 good manners. He had none of the stiffness of Kamrasi, nor 
 the gauche bearing of Kabba Rega, but he was perfectly at his 
 ease.' He was well aware of all that had taken place at 
 Masindi, and he declared that Abou Saood had long ago 
 arranged a plan with Kabba Rega for his destruction. Rionga 
 was well aware of how Baker had refused to attack him ; he 
 promised to remain a faithful representative of the Khedive's 
 Government. The ceremony of blood brotherhood was gone 
 through, and an entertainment was held in honour of his 
 
i 3 6 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 arrival. Baker speedily made friends with these tribes ; the 
 bestowal of a few red and yellow handkerchiefs and two or 
 three pounds of red and white beads was sufficient. Rionga 
 was proclaimed agent of the Government, who would rule 
 Unyoro in place of Kabba Rega, deposed. Leaving sixty-five 
 men in a powerful stockade which he had constructed, Baker 
 started with forty men to the station at Fatiko, in order to 
 inquire as to what had happened in his absence. This place 
 was reached on 2d August, much to the relief of Major 
 Abdullah. No one came to greet the party from Abou Saood's 
 station, which Baker took as a studied insult. A review of 
 the troops was gone through, when the slavers' men gathered 
 in a suspicious attitude some little distance away. Wat-el-Mek, 
 their leader, was summoned to appear before Baker, but he 
 refused. Very shortly the slavers' men began firing on the 
 Government troops, and seven men were struck within a few 
 seconds. The enemy kept at a distance of about ninety yards 
 away, and fired in a kneeling posture, when they retired behind 
 the huts to reload. They thus kept up a hot fire. Baker 
 ordered the bugler to sound * Charge bayonets,' and led his men 
 against them. The slavers' men immediately took to flight. 
 Wat-el-Mek, in attempting to shoot Baker, had one of his 
 fingers cut off and his gun halved in two by a shot from the 
 * Dutchman,' which he always carried. They were pursued for 
 four miles. A herd of 306 cattle, ^30 slaves, 15 donkeys, 
 43 prisoners, 7 flags, and the entire station were thus captured 
 from the enemy. 
 
 The enemy had more than half their number killed. On 
 asking where one of the leaders, Ali Hussein, was, ' Dead ! ' 
 cried a number of voices. 
 
 1 Are you certain ? ' Baker asked. 
 
S/E SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 137 
 
 1 We will bring you his head, for he is not far off,' they 
 replied ; and several men started immediately. 
 
 Breakfast was hardly concluded, when some natives rushed 
 in and threw the head of AH Hussein on the floor of the hut. 
 This noted slave-hunter had been alive when he was dis- 
 covered, but was quickly despatched. 
 
 Baker was obliged to attend personally on the seven wounded 
 men, owing to the fact of his having no medical officer at 
 hand. On the 3d August, evidence was given against Abou 
 Saood by Mahommed Wat - el - Mek and another prisoner, 
 both swearing on the Koran that they had only obeyed his 
 orders in attacking the troops. Wat-el-Mek soon afterwards 
 joined the Government troops, and behaved well from that 
 time. Suleiman, another of the ringleaders, was pardoned 
 and reinstated, being made vakeel of the Fabbo station, under 
 the command of Wat-el-Mek. All the evidence which could 
 be brought forward was to the effect that all the opposition 
 which he had hitherto met with had been caused by Abou 
 Saood. The latter escaped to Khartoum, and thence to 
 Cairo, after a lying interview with Baker, and spread all 
 manner of evil reports regarding him. 
 
 Another attempt was made by Abou Saood's slave-hunters 
 to secure the three thousand tusks of ivory which had been 
 confiscated to the Government at Fabbo station. In this they 
 were entirely unsuccessful, as the three thousand Makkarika 
 cannibals who had been enlisted in the cause heard the real 
 truth regarding the difficulties of the work. Fight the Pasha ! ' 
 the spies had exclaimed 3 * do you not know who he is ? and 
 that he could kill you all like fowls, as he did the people of 
 Ali Hussein ? He has no cows for you to carry off, but he 
 has guns that are magic, and which load from behind instead 
 
138 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 of at the muzzle ! ' News arrived that Rionga, in company 
 with some other tribes, had defeated Kabba Re*ga, and that 
 he was in hiding on the borders of the Albert Nyanza. Mtesa, 
 king of Uganda, had also invaded Unyoro from the south, 
 and had sent six thousand men under his general, Congow, 
 to be placed at Baker's disposal Mtesa had heard with rage 
 and dismay of the destruction of the goods at the station at 
 Masindi, which had been intended for himself. The fort of 
 Fatiko, which had been commenced on the 28th August, 
 was finished on the 25th December, and only awaited the 
 reinforcements which had been sent for from Gondokoro. 
 The natives in the district paid the corn-tax demanded of 
 them with great good-humour. 
 
 The time passed happily at Fatiko. A vast hunt was 
 organized, when about a mile and a half of the prairie land 
 was netted, the grass fired to windward, and the game thus 
 driven towards the nets was speared and shot by those in 
 ambush. The natives acknowledged several clearly-defined 
 laws in the pursuit of game. The natives were very dexterous 
 in the use of the simple hunting spear, but accidents were 
 frequent in fighting with the wounded animals. As the 
 game was abundant around the station, the troops were k^pt 
 well supplied, and large quantities were given to the natives. 
 A lioness having been shot in the grass after a desperate 
 encounter, a meeting of the women was held in Gimoro's 
 village, when the following was the report of what was 
 passed. The conclusion these women had arrived at was, 
 * that the Pasha must not be allowed to go out hunting, as he 
 might possibly be killed by a lion or a buffalo. What would 
 happen to us if any accident should befall our father? 
 Would not the slave - hunters immediately return to the 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 139 
 
 country and destroy us, simply because he had protected us ? 
 Do we not now sleep in peace? and were we not always 
 awake at night before he came among us?' Baker terms 
 them excellent people, and well cared for by the men; but 
 the ladies' declaration regarding himself he could scarcely call 
 petticoat government, as they were entirely without attire of the 
 latter sort. 
 
 * My fort at Fatiko was within call of two large villages 
 those of Gomoro and the sheik of the country. During my 
 sojourn of seven months, I never heard a woman scream, 
 neither was there any domestic or civil disturbance. There 
 were no police required in that country. There were no 
 pickpockets, as there were no pockets to pick, which was 
 one advantage in favour of nudity. A London police magis- 
 trate would have died of ennui ; the constables could not 
 even have sworn to a case of intoxication, merely as a matter 
 of form to afford him employment. There were no immoral 
 females to disgrace the public streets ; neither were there 
 any beggars, vagrants, organ-grinders, or perambulators, to 
 worry, deafen, or upset you. My country was a picture of 
 true harmony. We had no complex machinery of law ; there 
 was no such difficulty as an estate in Chancery ; no divorce 
 court, or cases of crim. con. that necessitated an appeal. . . . 
 I had no ecclesiastical difficulties. . . . My troops were Mo- 
 hammedans, without an opposing sect ; therefore, for lack of 
 opposition, they were lukewarm believers. The natives be- 
 lieved in nothing. The curious fact remained, that without 
 the slightest principle of worship, or even a natural religious 
 instinct, these people should be free from many vices that 
 disgrace a civilised community. I endeavoured to persuade 
 the most intelligent of the existence of a Deity who could 
 
1 4 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 reward or punish; but beyond this I dared not venture, as 
 they would have asked practical questions, which I could not 
 have explained to their material understanding.' 
 
 Baker accounted for the great mortality which existed 
 amongst all infants, from two years old to five, by the absurd 
 custom of public night nurseries. Certain houses were built 
 upon stone supports, about three feet from the ground. In 
 the clay wall of the circular building is a round hole about a 
 foot in diameter, this being the only aperture. 'At sunset,' 
 he writes, ' when the children have been fed, they are put to 
 bed in the simplest manner, by being thrust head foremost 
 through the hole in the wall, assisted, if refractory, by a smack 
 behind, until the night nursery shall have received the limited 
 number. The aperture is then stopped up with a bundle of 
 grass if the nights are cool. The children lie together on the 
 clay floor like a litter of young puppies, and breathe the foulest 
 air until morning, at which time they are released from the 
 suffocating oven, to be suddenly exposed to the chilly day- 
 break. Their naked little bodies shiver round a fire until the 
 sun warms them; but the seeds of diarrhoea and dysentery 
 have already been sown.' 
 
 Envoys arrived from King Mtesa of Uganda on 15th 
 January 1873, w ^ tn a friendly letter, and telling of the army 
 which he had sent Baker on the news of Kabba Rega's 
 treachery. The king requested that he should visit him. 
 There was no news of Livingstone, but the two letters sent 
 addressed to him had been forwarded in different directions. 
 Fresh envoys arrived on nth February with another letter, 
 and the road was declared to be practically open between 
 Fatiko and Zanzibar through his friendship. These envoys 
 returned on 13th February with a representative from Baker, 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 141 
 
 and a letter to Livingstone. Mtesa not only delivered this 
 letter to Lieutenant Cameron, R.N., at Unyanyembe, but 
 actually sent his reply to Baker. The latter asked him to 
 recall his troops from Unyoro, thanked him heartily for his 
 interest and kindness, and sent him a few presents. 
 
 The expected reinforcements arrived from Gondokoro on 
 8th March. Great delays had been experienced on their 
 journey, having been thirteen months on the way from 
 Khartoum. Having now six hundred and twenty men, the 
 stations of Fatiko, Fabbo, and Taniodoli, the stockades 
 opposite Rionga's island, were strongly garrisoned. Clear 
 and explicit orders were written out for the use of Major 
 Abdullah, who was left in charge of the station at Fatiko, 
 and Baker was ready to start for Gondokoro on 20th March. 
 Having been two years and five months without any communi- 
 cation from Egypt or Europe, about six hundred copies of the 
 Times had arrived at once. 
 
 The expedition arrived in good order at Gondokoro on 1st 
 April 1873, the exact day upon which his term of service was 
 to expire with the Khedive. To his great regret he learned, 
 after his arrival, that Mr. Higginbotham, chief engineer of the 
 expedition, had died at the end of February. The station had 
 been much neglected since his departure ; the environs were a 
 mass of filth, and bones and old clothes lay scattered in every 
 direction. Raouf Bey and the troops, however, appeared to 
 be in good health. In his absence, a beautiful new screw- 
 steamer had been built, the work of the Englishmen left at the 
 station. She had been well constructed, and being without 
 paddles, would be able to glide easily through the narrow 
 channels of the Bahr Giraffe. The reinforcements received 
 from Khartoum turned out to be merely slaves who had 
 
1 42 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 been sold to the Government and rapidly trained for 
 soldiers. 
 
 Preparations were now made for the return homewards, and 
 everything was ready by the 25th May. Parting with the 
 * Forty Thieves ' after so many experiences together was 
 rather a sad business; and as Baker walked down the line 
 of troops, they broke the bounds of discipline by exclaiming : 
 1 May God give you a long life ! and may you meet your 
 family in good health at home ! ' In the homeward journey, 
 the passage through the Bahr Giraffe was found to be freer 
 than on the upward journey. Three slave vessels belonging 
 to Abou Saood were captured, and six hundred slaves were 
 liberated. Arriving at Berber, Baker found a considerable 
 improvement in the country ; the Arabs had begun to return 
 to the banks of the river, and to attend to agricultural matters. 
 From Berber they marched to Souakim, on the Red Sea, 
 going by steamer to Suez. Cairo was reached on 24th August, 
 when Baker presented himself to his Highness the Khedive, 
 and explained the large chart of new territory which had been 
 annexed in Central Africa. Baker was honoured by receiving 
 from the Khedive the Imperial Order of the Osmanie, second 
 class, as a token of approval. The botanical collection pre- 
 pared by Lady Baker throughout the journey was also handed 
 to his Highness. These, along with samples of fibres, skins, 
 and the salt of the new territory, were afterwards sent to the 
 Vienna Exhibition. 
 
 Abou Saood, having been previously arrested by Baker's 
 orders, was tried by a special tribunal, but afterwards released ; 
 and, much to Baker's astonishment, the news reached him 
 when in England that he afterwards received a post under 
 the Government. 
 
SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 143 
 
 The soldiers who had fought the battle of Masindi were 
 suitably rewarded, and those who had particularly distinguished 
 themselves were promoted. Before starting for England, a 
 gratuity of a month's pay was given to every English engineer 
 and mechanic. Baker, at the close of his journey, expressed 
 his great thankfulness at the able assistance he, along with 
 every member of the inland expedition, had received from his 
 wife ; also, that during a period of fourteen months he had 
 lost but one man from sickness, out of a detachment of 212 
 officers and men. 
 
 His conclusions in Ismailia regarding the slave trade are, 
 that a sweeping reform is necessary before commerce and 
 civilisation can do their perfect work. Baker's suggestion on 
 this point was to the effect 'that all the present existing 
 traders or tenants of the White Nile should be expelled from 
 the country, precisely as I had expelled them from the territory 
 under my command.' 'The Government,' he remarks, 'might 
 then assume the monopoly of the ivory trade of the White 
 Nile; and the natives would in a few years be restored to 
 confidence. ' Adopting the words used in his Albert Nyanza, 
 he further remarks : ' Should the slave trade be suppressed, 
 there will be a good opening for the ivory trade. The con- 
 flicting trading parties being withdrawn, and the interest of the 
 trade exhibited by a single company, the natives would no 
 longer be able to barter ivory for cattle ; thus they would be 
 forced to accept other goods in exchange. The newly- 
 discovered Albert lake opens the centre of Africa to navigation. 
 Steamers ascend from Khartoum to Gondokoro, in lat. 4 55'. 
 Seven days' march south of that station the navigable portion 
 of the Nile is reached, whence vessels can ascend direct to the 
 Albert lake. Thus an enormous extent of country is opened 
 
i 4 4 FA MO US TRA VELLERS. 
 
 to navigation ; and Manchester goods and various other articles 
 would find a ready market in exchange for ivory at a pro- 
 digious profit, as in those newly-discovered regions ivory has a 
 merely nominal value. Beyond this commencement of honest 
 trade, I cannot offer a suggestion, as no produce of the country 
 except ivory could afford the expense of transport to Europe. 
 If Africa is to be civilised, it must be effected by commerce, 
 which, once established, will open the way for missionary 
 labour; but all ideas of commerce, improvement, and the 
 advancement of the African race that philanthropy can suggest, 
 must be discarded until the traffic in slaves shall have ceased 
 to exist Should the slave trade be suppressed, a field would 
 be opened the extent of which I will not attempt to suggest, 
 as the future would depend upon the good government of 
 countries now devoted to savage anarchy and confusion. Diffi- 
 cult and almost impossible is the task before the missionary. 
 The Austrian Mission has failed, and their stations have been 
 forsaken ; their pious labour was hopeless, and the devoted 
 priests died upon their barren field/ 
 
 Baker remarks ' that those missionaries who may settle 
 amongst the Baris must possess an inexhaustible stock of 
 patience. ' The Madi and Shooli tribes he considers more 
 capable of religious instruction. From experience, he found 
 that a good shot and a good sportsman always commanded the 
 admiration of the natives. Musical instruments, especially the 
 bagpipes, would attract them greatly. Conjuring tricks, the 
 magic lantern, magnetic battery, dissolving views, photographic 
 apparatus, and coloured pictorial illustrations, would all delight 
 and amuse them greatly. A good surgeon would always make 
 his way; and devotional exercises should be chiefly musical. 
 A liberal supply of such articles as beads, copper rods, brass 
 
S/J? SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. 145 
 
 rings for arms, fingers, and ears, gaudy cotton handkerchiefs, 
 red or blue blankets, zinc mirrors, red cotton shirts, etc., dis- 
 tributed amongst them, would add greatly to his weight and 
 influence. A knowledge of agriculture, with a stock of imple- 
 ments suited to the country, carpenters* and joiners' tools, are 
 also necessary to the well-equipped missionary. 
 
 Baker's concluding remarks are in every respect admirable, 
 and contain a summary of the work done by his expedition : 
 1 A paternal Government extended its protection through lands 
 hitherto a field for anarchy and slavery. The territory within 
 my rule was purged from the slave trade. The natives of the 
 great Shooli tribe, relieved from their oppressors, clung to the 
 protecting Government. The White Nile, for a distance of 
 1600 miles from Khartoum to Central Africa, was cleansed 
 from the abomination of a traffic which had hitherto sullied 
 its waters. Every cloud had passed away, and the term of my 
 office expired in peace and sunshine. In this result I humbly 
 traced God's blessing.' 
 
 Writing on 7th June 1879, a correspondent of the Times 
 remarks regarding the work of Colonel Gordon, Baker's suc- 
 cessor on the Nile, that his expeditions are a proof that Egypt 
 has pushed herself farther into the country than her power of 
 orderly rule can warrant. Brigands had .harassed his path 
 throughout the country, which had relapsed from a state of 
 cultivation into a barren desert. Colonel Gordon made many 
 salutary changes in the government, and sent back many use- 
 less Egyptians to Khartoum. His lieutenant, Gessi, had com- 
 pletely conquered the slave dealers of the Bahr Gazelle district 
 
 in. 
 
g lnlritnUiUriUiLnL^Lnlr 
 
 dfdfdrJpJrlfdpJfdpJpJrdp^rrJnJr^FJl^ ^ 
 
 HENRY M. STANLEY. 
 
 I HIS is an age of newspapers : the daily sheet of 
 news has so grown in importance as to be in- 
 dispensable; it has also grown in power and 
 influence. However little reading the business man or the 
 average man of the world may go through, he must see the 
 newspaper. They wield an ever - increasing influence in the 
 growth of public opinion ; if their leaders are not infallible, 
 or the opinions they contain widely adopted, still they give an 
 opportunity to the general public of forming opinions, and 
 of gaining information regarding all matters of current and 
 general interest. Time was when writing for the periodical 
 press was an insignificant and ill-paid employment ; now its 
 contributors may be found amongst the rank and talent of 
 the time ; while for the regular staff, journalism is in every sense 
 a highly respectable profession. To journalism, and to a 
 daring journalist, we are indebted for two of the most 
 important geographical feats of the time the finding of Dr. 
 Livingstone, and the crossing of the continent of Africa by 
 way of the Congo. In the accomplishment of these two ends, 
 Mr. H. M. Stanley must take a foremost place as a journalist 
 and explorer. 
 
 UQ 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 147 
 
 Henry Moreland Stanley, one of the bravest and most 
 daring journalists of the time, was born in Denbigh, North 
 Wales, and while still in his teens, he emigrated to New 
 Orleans. Joining the Confederate army, he was taken prisoner 
 at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, on the 6th of April 1862. 
 He effected his escape while being conveyed to prison, in a 
 daring manner, and returned to England for a few months. 
 Coming back to the United States, he enlisted in the Federal 
 navy, and was present at the capture of Fort Fisher on the 
 15th January 1865. He acted as special correspondent for 
 the New York Tribune after the war. In this capacity he 
 accompanied General Hancock's expedition against the Kiowa 
 and Cheyenne Indians. On his return, along with a com- 
 panion of kindred spirit, he accomplished nearly seven hundred 
 miles of the journey on a raft down the river Platte as far as 
 its junction with the Missouri. At a later date, Stanley and 
 two companions appeared at the American Consulate, Con- 
 stantinople, in a totally destitute condition, having been 
 robbed and maltreated in attempting to reach the interior 
 of Asia Minor. Reaching New York, he was engaged on the 
 staff of the New York Herald as special correspondent with 
 the British military expedition to Magdala in Abyssinia. 
 Before proceeding on his Livingstone search expedition, he 
 had accomplished a journey from Constantinople, through 
 Asia Minor, Persia, and India, to Bombay, with only a single 
 servant as companion. 
 
 When Mr. H. M. Stanley, on returning to England in April 
 1874 from the Ashantee war, heard the news of the death of 
 Dr. Livingstone, it awakened the determination within him, 
 that, if his life was spared, he would proceed to Africa and 
 finish his unaccomplished work. On finishing a new book 
 
148 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 on Coomassie and Magdala (where he had been as special 
 war correspondent), his attention was directed to works upon 
 Africa, its geography, geology, botany, and ethnology. Having 
 already been four times on the African continent, the subjects 
 had a living interest for him. His library of books on the sub- 
 ject consisted of over one hundred and thirty volumes. From 
 these books and from his own personal experience he gained 
 a knowledge of what had been already accomplished in dis- 
 covery and exploration ; and so he mapped out fresh ground, 
 and made a list of instruments and other paraphernalia which 
 would be found useful should a fresh journey be undertaken. 
 
 While in the office of the Daily Telegraph newspaper in 
 London, and while the subject of journalistic enterprise in 
 general was under discussion, the editor of the Telegraph asked 
 Mr. Stanley a question about South African exploration. 
 
 * Could you, and would you, complete the work ? And 
 what is there to do ? * 
 
 Stanley replied that * the outlet of Lake Tanganyika is 
 undiscovered. We know nothing scarcely, except what Speke 
 has sketched out, of Lake Victoria; we do not even know 
 whether it consists of one or many lakes, and therefore the 
 sources of the Nile are still unknown. Moreover, the western 
 half of the African continent is still a white blank.' 
 
 ' Do you think you can settle all this, if we commission 
 you ?' 
 
 1 While I live, there will be something done. If I survive 
 the time required to perform all the work, all shall be done.' 
 
 Mr. James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald, who 
 had a prior claim to Mr. Stanley's services, was communicated 
 with by telegraph, and asked if he would join the Telegraph 
 newspaper in sending Stanley out to Africa to complete the 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 149 
 
 discoveries of Speke, Burton, and Livingstone. The answer 
 received was, * Yes. Bennett.' 
 
 Nothing now remained but to complete his preparations 
 as swiftly as possible. Two weeks were allowed for purchasing 
 boats, a yawl, a gig, and a barge, and for giving orders for 
 the other articles of his equipment. The barge he had 
 constructed on a special plan of his own j it was to be forty 
 feet long, six feet beam, and thirty inches deep, of Spanish cedar 
 three-eighths of an inch thick. Three men were engaged to 
 go with him, two of them being Francis John Pocock and 
 Edward Pocock, sons of a fisherman of Lower Upnor, Kent) 
 and Frederick Barker, a clerk at the Langham Hotel in 
 London. Numberless other requests from parties who wished 
 to join the expedition were refused. A journey was also 
 undertaken to America to take farewell of friends. 
 
 Before leaving, Mr. Stanley received many tokens of regard 
 from numerous friends. Two farewell dinners were also 
 accepted, one given by the editor of the Daily Telegraphy 
 the other by the representative of the New York Herald. 
 Mr. Stanley, with his three Europeans, and all the general 
 property of the expedition, left for Zanzibar on the 15 th 
 August 1874. They arrived there on the 21st September. 
 The following gives the feeling of the traveller on sighting 
 the island : * As he passes close to the deeply-verdant shores 
 of Zanzibar island, he views nature robed in the greenest 
 verdure, with a delightful freshness of leaf, exhaling fragrance 
 to the incoming wanderer. He is wearied with the natural 
 deep blue of the ocean, and eager for any change. He 
 remembers the unconquerable aridity and the dry, bleached 
 heights he last saw, and, lo ! what a change ! Responding 
 to his half-formed wish, the earth rises before him verdant, 
 
1 5 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 prolific, bursting with fatness. Palms raise their feathery 
 heads and mangoes their great globes of dark-green foliage ; 
 banana plantations with impenetrable shade, groves of orange, 
 fragrant cinnamon, and spreading bushy clove, diversify and 
 enrich the landscape. Jack-fruit trees loom up with great 
 massive crowns of leaf and branch, while between the trees 
 and in every open space succulent grapes and plants cover 
 the soil with a thick garment of verdure. There is nothing 
 grand or sublime in the view before him, and his gaze is 
 not attracted to any special feature, because all is toned down 
 to a uniform softness by the exhalation rising from the warm 
 heaving bosom of the island/ Arrived at Zanzibar, the pre- 
 parations for the journey were commenced. All the varied 
 articles which would be of use in dealing with the natives 
 were bought and selected. There were different kinds of 
 cloth, beads, and wire, bales of unbleached cotton, striped 
 and coloured fabrics, handkerchiefs and red caps, bags of 
 blue, green, red, white, and amber-coloured beads, small and 
 large, round and oval, and coils of thick brass wire. 
 
 The character of the Sultan of Zanzibar, Barghash bin Sayid, 
 is drawn in an amiable light by Mr. Stanley. An Arab prince, 
 educated in the school of Islam, at the request of the 
 Government of Britain he became an opponent of the slave 
 trade. The first decided steps taken by the British Govern- 
 ment were due to the letters written by Dr. Livingstone on 
 the subject. The territories over which he is an independent 
 prince are the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia, about 
 a thousand miles of coast; Mr. Stanley calculates that his 
 power extends over an area of 20,000 square miles, with a 
 population of half a million. The following articles of com- 
 merce are exported : Cloves, cinnamon, tortoise-shell, pepper, 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 151 
 
 copal gum, ivory, orchilla weed, india-rubber, and hides. 
 Caoutchouc is abundant, but not yet utilized; the cocoa-nut 
 palm flourishes, also the sugar-cane; rice is grown on the 
 banks of the Rufiji ; cotton would also thrive if cultivated. 
 In order to utilize the products of East Africa, a tramway 
 into the interior is required, as cutting roads through jungles 
 and using waggons are only temporary conveniences. The 
 Arabs of Zanzibar are described as the best of their race, 
 being sociable, frank, good-natured, and hospitable, staunch 
 friends and desperate haters. The Arab gentleman has very 
 perfect manners, and never broaches delicate matters before 
 strangers. 
 
 Mr. Stanley engaged at once all those who had been 
 
 employed in the Livingstone Search Expedition of 1872, as 
 
 servants in the present expedition. Numberless applications 
 
 were made for employment by the most unlikely subjects : 
 
 cripples, the palsied, the consumptive, and the superannuated 
 
 were amongst the number, and so a selection had to be made. 
 
 Many were engaged, however, whose characters would not 
 
 bear inspection. The customary presents were bestowed on 
 
 these servants, and a preliminary palaver was engaged in, 
 
 when the difficulties of the journey were duly discussed. 
 
 When the Lady Alice arrived in four sections, Mr. Stanley 
 
 gave orders that she should be reduced in weight by some 
 
 slight remodelling. A devout Moslem, Turya Topau by name, 
 
 supplied the explorer with cloth, cottons, and kanikis at 
 
 reasonable prices, and accepted his bills on Mr. Joseph M. 
 
 Levy of the Daily Telegraph. When all his stores were 
 
 collected, consisting of cloth, beads, wire, medicine, clothes, 
 
 tents, ammunition, provisions, instruments, stationery, and 
 
 photographic apparatus, etc., they weighed in all over eight 
 
152 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 tons. These articles, when divided into loads of sixty pounds, 
 required the capacity of three hundred men to carry them. 
 A payment in money of four months' wages in advance was 
 made to these men. The entire amount disbursed in pay 
 and rations amounted to nearly ^"1300. 
 
 Leaving Zanzibar, they sailed for Bagamoyo, on the main- 
 land, which they reached on 13th November. Some dis- 
 turbances occurred in the town on the arrival of such a motley 
 crowd of followers \ but these, however, were quelled. 
 
 In speaking of the small results which have attended mis- 
 sionary labour on the east coast of Africa, Mr. Stanley ventures 
 to give his own opinions on the subject. These opinions are 
 worthy of careful remark, coming as they do from such an 
 indefatigable explorer. ' It is strange/ he writes, ' how British 
 philanthropists, clerical and lay, persist in the delusion that 
 the Africans can be satisfied with spiritual improvement only. 
 They should endeavour to impress themselves with the un- 
 deniable fact, that man, white, yellow, red, or black, has also 
 material wants which crave to be understood and supplied. 
 A barbarous man is a pure materialist. He is full of cravings 
 for possessing something that he cannot describe. He is like 
 a child which has not yet acquired the faculty of articulation. 
 The missionary discovers the barbarian almost stupefied with 
 brutish ignorance, with the instincts of a man in him, but 
 yet living the life of a beast. Instead of attempting to 
 develop the qualities of this practical human being, he 
 instantly attempts his transformation, by expounding to him 
 the dogmas of the Christian faith, the doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation, and other difficult subjects, before the barbarian 
 has had time to articulate his necessities, and to explain to 
 him that he is a frail creature, requiring to be fed with 
 
HENR\ M. STANLEY. 153 
 
 bread, and not with a stone. My experience and study of 
 the pagan prove to me, however, that if the missionary can 
 show the poor materialist that religion is allied with sub- 
 stantial benefits and improvement of his degraded condition, 
 the task to which he is about to devote himself will be ren- 
 dered comparatively easy. For the African, once brought 
 in contact with the European, becomes docile enough : he is 
 awed by a consciousness of his own immense inferiority, and 
 imbued with a vague hope that he may also rise in time to 
 the level of this superior being, who has so challenged his 
 admiration. It is the story of Caliban and Stefano over again. 
 He comes to him with a desire to be taught, and, seized with 
 an ambition to aspire to a higher life, becomes docile and 
 tractable ; but, to his surprise, he perceives himself mocked by 
 this being, who talks to him about matters that he despairs of 
 ever understanding, and therefore, with abashed face and a still 
 deeper sense of his inferiority, he retires to his den, cavern, 
 or hut, with a dogged determination to be contented with the 
 brutish life he was born in. 1 
 
 The start for the interior was made on the morning of the 
 17th November 1874, when the quantity and quality of the 
 loads were distributed according to the strength and disposi- 
 tion of the carriers. The following was the order in which the 
 expedition filed out of Bagamoyo : * Four chiefs, a few 
 hundred yards in front; next the twelve guides, clad in red 
 robes of Jobo, bearing the wire coils ; then a long file, 
 270 strong, bearing cloth, wire, beads, and sections of the 
 Lady Alice ; after them, thirty-six women and ten boys, 
 children of some of the chiefs and boat-bearers, following their 
 mothers and assisting them with trifling loads of utensils, 
 followed by the riding asses, Europeans, and gun - bearers \ 
 
154 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the long line closed by sixteen chiefs who act as rear-guard, 
 and whose duties are to pick up stragglers, and act as super- 
 numeraries until other men can be procured : in all, three 
 hundred and fifty-six souls connected with the Anglo-American 
 Expedition. The lengthy line occupies nearly half a mile 
 of the path which, at the present day, is the commercial and 
 exploring highway into the lake regions.' Edward Pocock 
 acted as bugler. Hamadi, the chief guide, was also supplied 
 with a prodigiously long ivory horn, which was used when 
 approaching a suitable camping-place. A boy walked before 
 Hamadi with a native drum, which he was to beat only when 
 in the neighbourhood of villages. The momentous journey 
 had begun in a most auspicious manner. 
 
 The first halt was made at Kikoka on the 1 8th of November. 
 After leaving Kikoka and Rosako, and passing through a 
 stretch of beautiful park land, * green as an English lawn, 
 dipping into lovely vales, and rising into gentle ridges/ the 
 small village of Pongwe was reached on the 23d. The popu- 
 lous village of Congorido was reached on the 24th. Mfutch 
 was the next village, in the neighbourhood of which flourished 
 the baobab, the doum, borassus, and the fan palm. Game 
 was numerous on the march between Mfutch and Rubuti. 
 They had crossed the river Wami three times that day. The 
 Mkundi river was reached on the 3d December. Simba- 
 Mwenni, the Lion Lord, owning five villages in this neigh- 
 bourhood, presented Mr. Stanley with a sheep, some flour, 
 and plantains. In return, he was presented with some 
 cloth. In this march to Makubika, the next settlement, 
 they attained an altitude of 2675 ^ eet above the level of the 
 sea, and were surrounded with grand and impressive scenery. 
 Between Mamboya and Kitangeh, he was struck with the 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 155 
 
 resemblance which many of the scenes bore to others which 
 he had seen in the Alleghanies. Water was abundant, and, 
 when nearing Kitangeh, villages were found dotting every 
 hill. By way of providing food for the camp, Mr. Stanley 
 shot two zebras near Kitangeh. Crossing a plain, six miles 
 in width, Tubugwe was reached. In passing, fourteen human 
 skulls were noted, evidently the relics of unfortunate travellers 
 slain by an attack of the Wahumba from the north-west. After 
 twenty-five days' march from Bagamoyo, Mpwapwa was reached 
 on the 12 th December. 
 
 Mpwapwa is a collection of villages situated on a stream of 
 the same name, at the base of the southern slope of a range 
 of mountains extending from Chunyu to Ugombo. Desertions 
 were now becoming frequent; fifty men had abandoned the 
 expedition before reaching Mpwapwa. By a route skirting 
 the Marenga Mkali desert, they reached Chunyu, an exposed 
 place which overlooked the desert separating Usagara from 
 Ugogo. On the 10th December, Ugogo was entered. The 
 principal features of the landscape were now a broad black 
 plain, on which were spread out a few solitary baobab trees, 
 some wattled enclosures inhabited by the natives, and occa- 
 sional herds of cattle or flocks of goats. Halting at Zingeh 
 on Christmas day 1874, the encampment presented a very 
 forlorn appearance. Food was becoming scarce. The leader 
 of the expedition was reduced to live upon boiled rice, tea, 
 and coffee. The natives were miserable and dispirited beneath 
 the deluge of rain, which lasted several days. The Mukondoku 
 district, which was reached on the 29th December, contained 
 about a hundred small villages. The natives made a warlike 
 show at first, but calmed down into a more pacific demeanour. 
 The king, by name Calula, was noted as being crafty and 
 
156 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 unscrupulous, and extortionate in his tribute upon travellers. 
 Receiving guides from the king, on the 1st January 187^ 
 they struck north, leaving for the first time the path to 
 Unyanyembe. On the way, young Keelusu, the son of a 
 chief, presented the leader of the expedition with a gallon of 
 new milk. After this present had been substantially acknow- 
 ledged, he divined with his sandals, and predicted that the 
 journey would be successful. Halting at Mtiwi on 2d January 
 1875, the aneroid showed that they had reached an altitude 
 of 2825 feet. The night spent here was a disturbed one, as 
 the camp was flooded with water, owing to a rainfall of six 
 inches of water. Ugogo was left behind, and the district of 
 Uyanzi was reached on 4th January. The plains of Ugogo 
 furnished only dwarf bushes of acacia, rank-smelling gum-trees, 
 and euphorbias, but the character of the vegetation was now 
 much improved. The village of Kashongwa, situated on the 
 verge of a trackless wild, was reached on 6th January. The 
 way to the next halting-place, called Urimi, was covered with 
 a vast carpet of scrub or brush, through which the expedition 
 could only make its way with extreme difficulty. Reaching 
 the neighbourhood of a miserable village called Uveriveri, 
 food was not to be obtained, and they were on the verge of 
 starvation. The pangs of hunger were relieved by a mixture 
 of boiled oatmeal and 'revalenta Arabica.' Reaching Suna on 
 12th January, they found the natives not altogether friendly. 
 The Warimi tribe possessed a fine physique, being robust, tall, 
 and manly in bearing. The ornaments they wore were cinc- 
 tures of brass wire round the loins, armlets and leglets of 
 brass, brass-wire collars, and beads plentifully besprinkled 
 amongst their hair. In consequence of the privations under- 
 gone in Ugogo, many of the men were now on the sick list, and 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 157 
 
 -* 
 
 Edward Pocock was attacked with fever. Pushing on, weary 
 and harassed,, Chiwyu was reached, where Pocock died on 
 17 th January. He was buried in English fashion beneath 
 the shade of a large acacia tree, the prayers of the Church 
 Service were read over his remains, and his brother carved 
 a cross on the trunk of the tree as an emblem of the faith in 
 which he died. 
 
 The height at which the expedition had camped at Chiwyu 
 was 5400 feet above sea level. 'To the northward of Suna 
 and Chiwyu/ writes Mr. Stanley, 'the country, however, no 
 longer retained that grand unfurrowed uplift, but presented 
 several isolated hills and short ranges, while to the westward 
 also we saw that it was divided into oval basins, rimmed with 
 low hills. From these same hollows and furrows and basins at 
 the base of the hills, scattered to the north and west of Suna 
 and Chiwyu, issue the first tiny rivulets which, as we continue 
 our journey to the north-west, gradually converge to one main 
 stream, trending towards Lake Victoria. It is in this region, 
 therefore, that the most extreme southern sources of the Nile 
 were discovered.' The springs and headquarters of the Shimuyu, 
 flowing north-north-west into Lake Victoria, were here crossed 
 several times. After passing Mangura, the district of Ituru 
 was entered. The streams here, being numerous, flowed 
 northwards. In spite of the amount of water, however, the 
 cattle were poor and gaunt, the dogs half-starved, and the 
 sheep and goats perfect skeletons. Amongst the birds seen in 
 this region were spur-winged geese, brown short-billed ducks, 
 long-legged plovers, snipes, cranes, herons, spoonbills, paro- 
 quets, and jays. The wealth of the villagers in Ituru consisted 
 in their cattle and asses. A village called Vinyata was reached 
 on 2 1 st January. Sickness was increasing in the camp; 
 
158 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 twenty men had already died, and eighty-nine had deserted 
 since leaving the coast. Two men belonging to the expedition 
 were brutally murdered in this neighbourhood ; and although 
 the magic doctor who visited the camp was handsomely 
 treated, the natives showed such an amount of treachery and 
 hostility as made self-defence imperative. In the second day's 
 encounter twenty-one soldiers and one messenger were killed, 
 and three wounded Another encounter, with the view of 
 driving back the natives to a greater distance, took place on 
 the 25th. On summing up the disasters at the close of this 
 day, it was found that in all twenty-four men had been killed 
 and four wounded ; besides this, there were twenty-five on the 
 sick list. This number of men rendered useless caused a 
 re-arrangement of the burdens and baggage of the camp ; and 
 much of the miscellaneous property was burned ere the 26th, 
 after which the journey was resumed. The expedition at this 
 time consisted of three Europeans, two hundred and six 
 Wangwana and Wanyamwezi, twenty-five women, and six boys. 
 Ten miles from Vinyata another halt was made, at an altitude 
 of 5650 feet above the ocean. They had on one side of them 
 the deep, wooded valley through which the rapid Leewumbu 
 rushes. Its banks on each side slope steeply upward, and at 
 the top become detached hills clothed with forest ; from their 
 base wave the uplands in grand and imposing wooded ridges.' 
 
 Reaching Mgongo Tembo, Mr. Stanley made friends with 
 the chief of the same name, from whom he heard that 
 Mirambo was fighting the Wasukuma farther forward. After a 
 halt of two days, they pushed forward, entering Mangura in 
 Usukuma. Six miles west was Igira, overlooking the plain of 
 Luwamberri. This plain, nearly forty miles broad, stretched 
 n.n.w. towards the Victoria lake; from its low altitude and 
 
HENRY M STANLEY. 159 
 
 the wave-worn appearance of the higher elevations, Mr. Stanley 
 concluded that it must have been at one time a long arm of 
 the great lake. A plentiful supply of meat for the camp was 
 secured in crossing. Mr. Stanley shot one day a giraffe and a 
 small antelope; next day, five zebra; the third day, on the 
 western verge, he shot two gnu, one buffalo, and a zebra, 
 besides two spur-winged geese, four guinea - fowl, and five 
 ducks. 
 
 When Mombiti in the Usukuma country was reached, pro- 
 visions were plentiful, and the whole expedition revelled in 
 abundance. Moving northwards, Usiha was reached on the 
 17th February. 'Usiha,' says Mr. Stanley, 'is the commence- 
 ment of a most beautiful pastoral country, which terminates 
 only in the Victoria Nyanza. From the summit of one of the 
 weird grey rock piles which characterize it, one may enjoy the 
 unspeakable fascination of an apparently boundless horizon. 
 On all sides there stretches toward it the face of a vast circle 
 replete with peculiar features, of detached hills, great crag 
 masses of riven and sharply-angled rock, and outcropping 
 mounds, between which heaves and rolls in low, broad waves 
 a green, grassy plain, whereon feed thousands of cattle 
 scattered about in small herds.' Mr. Stanley revelled for a 
 while in this prospect, and felt 'as gratified as though I 
 possessed the wand of an enchanter, and had raised around 
 me the verdant downs of Sussex.' When the expedition 
 started again over these fair plains on the 1 9th, they moved with 
 a greater sense of freedom than they had hitherto enjoyed in 
 marching up from the coast. To Abaddi, which was reached 
 on 2 1 st February, the country was clear and open, with scarce 
 a tree or shrub \ the grass was only an inch high. The native 
 men stalked about stark naked, but the women were clad with 
 
160 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 stiff skins and half- tanned cow hides. The plains were 
 whitened with herds of cattle, and flocks of goats and sheep. 
 Marya was the next camp ; here the natives were impertinent. 
 Kagehyi, on Lake Victoria Nyanza, was reached on 27 th 
 February. On summing up the number of miles gone over 
 since leaving the coast, he found them to be seven hundred 
 and twenty. 
 
 Fairly settled at Kagehyi, on Speke Gulf, arrangements 
 were made for sailing round Lake Victoria Nyanza. The news 
 spread that the white man had arrived, and traders flocked in 
 to sell their commodities, consisting of dried fish, cassava, ripe 
 bananas, potatoes, and yams. Prince Kaduma, with whom 
 Stanley had several interviews, was a victim of pombe', the 
 native beer, made from fermented grain or coarse flour. This 
 he drank in large quantities several times a day, generally 
 reeling to his cot in a state of intoxication every night. At 
 first Mr. Stanley had hopes that Kaduma would accompany 
 him round the lake, but he was disappointed. While the 
 Lady Alice was being prepared for the journey, the natives 
 treated the Wangwana to most extraordinary accounts of 
 people dwelling on its shores who were gifted with tails, of 
 others who trained enormous and fierce dogs for war, and a 
 tribe of cannibals preferring human flesh to all other kinds of 
 food. When the boat was provided with the necessary stores 
 for the voyage, ten sailors and a steersman were selected. 
 Fred Barker and Frank Pocock were left in charge of the 
 camp, and on 8th March 1875 they set sail on that part of 
 the lake since known, in honour of its discoverer, as Speke 
 Gulf. 
 
 In coasting round the lake a variety of fortunes attended 
 them. At Ugamba they were troubled with the natives, many 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 161 
 
 of whom were intoxicated, and who insisted that they should 
 
 visit their King Kamoydah. Escaping from them, the natives 
 
 of Namungi showed a most ardent desire to do business, 
 
 selling them provisions sufficient for three days, consisting of 
 
 bananas, fowls and eggs, and sweet maramba or native wine. 
 
 About thirty of their canoes, the crews of which were all 
 
 intoxicated, followed them for a few miles. Near Mombiti 
 
 they were mobbed by the natives with intent to steal. In the 
 
 bay of Buka, at the north end of the lake, the Mtongoleh 
 
 invited them to his village, feasting them with clotted milk, 
 
 mellow and ripe bananas, a kid, sweet potatoes, and eggs, 
 
 and also despatched a messenger to Mtesa, king of Uganda, 
 
 announcing the coming of a stranger. The bay of Buka was 
 
 picturesque,, the margin being lined by waving water-cane, and 
 
 up to the highest hill-top all was verdure of varying shades. 
 
 Leaving this delightful spot, they halted at Kirudo, where 
 
 they were met by six beautiful canoes containing a deputation 
 
 from Mtesa. The commander, a fine lusty young man of 
 
 about twenty, springing into their boat, knelt down and 
 
 delivered his errand in the following words : 
 
 * The kabaka sends me with many salaams to you. He is 
 
 in great hopes that you will visit him, and has encamped at. 
 
 Usavara, that he may be near the lake when you come. He 
 
 does not know from what land you have come, but I have a 
 
 swift messenger with a canoe w r ho will not stop until he gives 
 
 all the news to the kabaka. His mother dreamed a dream a 
 
 few nights ago, and in her dream she saw a white man on this 
 
 lake in a boat coming this way, and the next morning she 
 
 told the kabaka, and, lo ! you have come. Give me your 
 
 answer, that I may send the messenger. Ywizanzi yanzi 
 
 yanzi!' (Thanks, thanks, thanks.) 
 III. L 
 
1 62 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Rowing to the village of Kadzi, the young commander, 
 after receiving all the news, determined to show his power, 
 and ordered the sub-chief of the village to bring forth the best 
 they had wherewith to treat the stranger. Two bullocks and 
 four goats, a basketful of fat mellow bananas, and four two- 
 gallon jars of maramba were brought, and ample justice was 
 done to them. Magassa helped himself to three bullocks, cut 
 down as many bananas as they wished, and also made free 
 amongst the chickens. Mr. Stanley at first concluded that 
 this must be a wonderful land, when the mere mention of the 
 kabakcCs name had such an effect. Arrived at Usavara, the 
 kabakcCs hunting village, they received an ostentatious wel- 
 come from King Mtesa. Mr. Stanley was strongly impressed 
 with his power and intelligence. ' Mtesa,' he writes, has 
 impressed me as being an intelligent and distinguished prince, 
 who, if aided in time by virtuous philanthropists, will do more 
 for Central Africa than fifty years of gospel teaching, unaided 
 by such authority, can do. I think I see in him the light that 
 shall lighten the darkness of this benighted region ; a prince 
 well worthy of the most hearty sympathies that Europe can 
 give him. ... I saw over 3000 soldiers of Mtesa nearly half 
 civilised. I saw about a hundred chiefs who might be classed 
 in the same scale as the men of Zanzibar and Oman, clad in 
 as rich robes, and armed in the same fashion, and have 
 witnessed with astonishment such order and law as is obtain- 
 able in semi-civilised countries. All this is the result of a poor 
 Moslem's labour ; his name is Muley bin Salim. He it was 
 who first began teaching here the doctrines of Islam.' 
 
 The personal appearance of this powerful emperor he has 
 thus sketched : * In person Mtesa is tall, probably 6 feet 1 
 inch, and slender. He has very intelligent and agreeable 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 163 
 
 features, reminding me of some of the faces of the great stone 
 images at Thebes, and of the statues in the museum at Cairo. 
 He has the same fulness of lips, but their grossness is relieved 
 by the general expression of amiability blended with dignity 
 that pervades his face ; and the large, lustrous, lambent eyes 
 that lend it a strange beauty, and are typical of the race from 
 which I believe him to be sprung.' 
 
 It seemed to Stanley, when he saw the brown skins of the 
 natives, their brown robes and canoes, that brown must be the 
 national colour. A young crocodile had been found some 
 little distance away. * Now, Stamlee,' said Mtesa, * show my 
 women how white men can shoot.' The explorer was fortunate 
 enough to shoot the crocodile, nearly severing its head from 
 its body at a distance of 100 yards. From the hunting lodges 
 of Usavara, Stanley followed Mtesa to his capital, a cluster of 
 huts situated on a hill-top, called Rabaga. The palace was a 
 spacious, lofty, barn-like structure. The view from the hill- 
 top was charming. 'On all sides rolled in grand waves a 
 voluptuous land of sunshine, and plenty, and early summer 
 verdure, cooled by soft breezes from the great equatorial fresh- 
 water sea. Isolated hill-cones, similar to that of Rabaga, or 
 square tabular masses, rose up from the beautiful landscape to 
 attract, like mysteries, the curious stranger's observation \ and 
 villages and banana groves of still fresher green, far removed 
 on the crest of distant swelling ridges, announced that Mtesa 
 owned a land worth loving. Dark sinuous lines traced the 
 winding courses of deep ravines filled with trees, and grassy 
 extents of gently undulating ground marked the pastures ; 
 broader depressions suggested the cultivated gardens and the 
 grain fields; while, on the far verge of the horizon, we saw 
 the beauty and the charm of the land melting into the blue of 
 
1*4 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 distance. \ Round the imperial palace, which was spacious 
 and lofty, were clean courtyards, with quarters for the harem 
 and the guards, with a cane enclosure surrounding all. In the 
 course of his interviews with Mtesa, Mr. Stanley explained 
 to the great African potentate the leading doctrines of the 
 Christian religion, leaving it with himself and his chiefs to 
 decide as to whether Christ or Mohammed was the worthier 
 character. He also sketched a history of religious beliefs from 
 Adam to Mohammed, and commenced the translation of the 
 Ten Commandments. While this lasted, Mtesa and his 
 principal chiefs were so absorbed that little business was 
 done. 
 
 During Stanley's residence, the court of Mtesa was visited 
 by another white man, M. Linant de Bellefonds, a member of 
 the Gordon-Pasha Expedition. The two men passed many 
 pleasant hours together, joining in the religious conversations 
 with Mtesa, and agreeing so closely in what was said as to 
 astonish him. Stanley parted with Linant on the morning of 
 17th April 1875, starting for Kagehyi with the promise that he 
 would return again within a month. Unforeseen circumstances 
 prevented his return at so early a date. He afterwards found 
 that Colonel Linant had remained six weeks waiting for him. 
 In afterwards journeying northwards, he was killed by the 
 natives. 
 
 Mr. Stanley, in letters written to the Daily Telegraph and 
 the New York Herald from Usavara, made a strong appeal for 
 a Christian mission to be sent to King Mtesa * It is not/ he 
 wrote, * the mere preacher, however, that is wanted here. The 
 bishops of Great Britain collected, with all the classic youth 
 of Oxford and Cambridge, would effect nothing by mere talk 
 with the intelligent people of Uganda. It is the practical 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 165 
 
 Christian tutor, who can teach people how to become 
 Christians, cure their diseases, construct dwellings, understand 
 and exemplify agriculture, and turn his hand to anything, like 
 a sailor, this is the man who is wanted. Such an one, if he 
 can be found, would become the saviour of Africa. He must 
 be tied to no church or sect, but profess God and His Son and 
 the moral law; and live a blameless Christian life, inspired 
 by liberal principles, charity to all men, and devout faith in 
 Heaven.' 
 
 In the return journey to Kagehyi, a halt was made at 
 Makongo, on the coast of Uzongora. They found that the 
 place nestled in a sheltered nook, in a bay-like indentation of 
 the lofty mountain wall, and was crowded with banana groves 
 and huts. The natives appeared friendly at first ; but before 
 Stanley left, they tried to pick a quarrel with him regarding the 
 drawing up of their canoes on the beach, and they made a 
 show of fighting. A better understanding prevailed before 
 leaving ; and the chief of Makongo presented them with ten 
 bunches of green bananas, or sufficient for one day's pro- 
 visions. Visiting Musira Island, about three miles from 
 Makongo, Mr. Stanley, with all the ardour of a boy, enjoyed 
 a solitary exploration of the place. The island he found to be 
 about three-quarters of a mile long and about two hundred 
 yards wide. Expatiating on the prospect, he wrote : * It is a 
 spot from which, undisturbed, the eye may rove over one of 
 the strangest yet fairest portions of Africa hundreds of square 
 miles of beautiful lake scenes ; a great length of grey plateau 
 wall, upright and steep, but indented with exquisite inlets, 
 half surrounded with embowering plantains ; hundreds of 
 square miles of pastoral upland, dotted thickly with villages 
 and groves of banana. From my lofty eyrie I can see herds 
 
1 66 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 upon herds of cattle, and many minute specks, white and 
 black, which can be nothing but flocks of sheep and goats. 
 I can also see pale-blue columns of ascending smoke from the 
 fires, and upright thin figures moving about. Secure on my 
 lofty throne, I can view their movements, and laugh at the 
 ferocity of the savage hearts which beat in those dark figures ; 
 for I am a part of nature now, and for the present as invulner- 
 able as itself. As little do they know that human eyes survey 
 their forms from the summit of this lake-girt isle, as that the 
 eyes of the Supreme in heaven are upon them. How long, I 
 wonder, shall the people of these lands remain thus ignorant 
 of Him who created the gorgeous sunlit world they look upon 
 each day from their lofty upland ? How long shall their 
 untamed ferocity be a barrier to the Gospel; and how long 
 shall they remain unvisited by the Teacher? What a land 
 they possess, and what an inland sea ! How steamers afloat 
 on the lake might cause Ururi to shake hands with Uzongora, 
 and Uganda with Usukuma ; make the wild Wavuma friends 
 with the Waziuza, and unite the Wakerewe with the Wagana. 
 A great trading port might then spring up on the Shimeyu, 
 whence the coffee of Uzongora ; the ivory, sheep, and goats of 
 Ugeyeya, Usoga, Uvuma, and Uganda; the cattle of Uwya, 
 Karagwe, Usagara, Ihangiro, and Usukuma ; the myrrh, cassia, 
 and furs and hides of Uganda and Uddu; the rice of 
 Ukerewe ; and the grain of Uziuza, might be exchanged for 
 the fabrics brought from the coast, all the land be redeemed 
 from wilderness, the industry and energy of the natives stimu- 
 lated, the havoc of the slave trade stopped, and all the 
 countries round about permeated with the nobler ethics of a 
 higher humanity. But at present the hands of the people are 
 lifted murder in their hearts one against the other ; ferocity 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 167 
 
 is kindled at sight of the wayfarer \ the people of Ugeyeya and 
 Wasoga go stark naked \ Mtesa impales, burns, and maims his 
 victims; the Wirigedi lie in wait along their shores for the 
 stranger, and the slingers of the islands practise their art 
 against him ; the Wakara poison anew their deadly arrows at 
 sight of a canoe ; and each tribe, with rage and hate in its 
 heart, remains aloof from the other. " Verily, the dark places 
 of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." \ 
 
 They next touched at Alice island, which they found clothed 
 with abundance of coarse grass. ' The ravines and hollows 
 are choked with a luxuriance of vegetable life, trees, plants, 
 ferns, ground orchids, and wild pine-apples/ The natives 
 here asked such an exorbitant price for what they had to sell, 
 that they were unable to secure more than a few ears of corn. 
 A miserable night was passed, after leaving Alice island, at 
 Baker's island, the easternmost of the Bumbireh group. Bum- 
 bireh is about eleven miles in length by two miles greatest 
 breadth, containing about fifty small villages, with an average 
 population of about 4000. Mr. Stanley and his company, with 
 hunger gnawing at their vitals, were determined to risk some- 
 thing in order to secure a supply of food. In spite of the fact 
 that the natives were rushing down the slopes and uttering 
 fierce ejaculations, they pulled into a cove near the south-east 
 end of Bumbireh. Stanley ordered the men to cease rowing; 
 but they, saying that all the noise made by the natives was but 
 savage bluster, pushed ashore. As the boat neared the water's 
 edge, some of the men lifted great stones, and others prepared 
 their bows ; these they dropped after an exchange of greetings 
 and pretended friendship. Suddenly the boat was seized and 
 dragged about twenty yards high and dry over the rocky beach, 
 much to the astonishment of those inside. ' Then ensued a 
 
1 68 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 scene,' says Stanley, 'which beggars description. Pande- 
 monium all its devils armed raged around us. A forest of 
 spears was levelled ; thirty or forty bows were drawn taut ; as 
 many barbed arrows seemed already on the wing; thick, 
 knotty clubs waved over our heads; two hundred screaming 
 black demons jostled with each other and struggled for room 
 to vent their fury, or for an opportunity to deliver one crushing 
 blow or thrust at us.' 
 
 Their quiet demeanour had an effect. Mr. Stanley assumed 
 a resigned air, though he still retained his revolvers. Baraka 
 addressed them in these words : What, my friends, ails you ? 
 Do you fear empty hands and smiling people like us ? We are 
 friends ; we came as friends to buy food, two or three bananas, 
 a few mouthfuls of grain, or potatoes, or cassava, and, if you 
 permit us, we shall depart as friends.' The oars were taken 
 away from the boat, and they were thus rendered helpless ; 
 a council was held over them, when it was decided that they 
 were to remain there until the following day. Later in that 
 day, by a dexterous movement, Stanley managed to dodge the 
 natives and push the boat forward into the lake. The natives 
 w r ere baffled and furious, and rushing down to the edge of 
 the lake, launched their canoes, and pursued them vigorously. 
 Several shots were fired, killing five or six of the natives, 
 when they attempted nothing further. On resuming their 
 paddles, they heard a voice cry out, 'Go and die in the 
 Nyanza,' and several arrows fell harmlessly near them. 
 
 Seventy-six hours after leaving Alice island they anchored 
 on an uninhabited island, where provisions were secured after 
 their long fast. The camp at Kagehyi was reached on 6th 
 May, much to the joy of the men there. To his sorrow, 
 however, Stanley found that Fred. Barker and two faithful 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 169 
 
 servants were dead. Affairs had gone well otherwise in the 
 camp : the stores had been economically dealt out, and the 
 Wangwana had recovered from the miserable attenuation 
 caused by their march from the coast, and were now robust 
 and fat. Stanley, after his return, was postrated by fever, 
 which weakened him much, and reduced him about seven 
 pounds in weight. 
 
 Making a bargain with Lukongeh, king of Ukerewe, for a 
 certain number of canoes, Stanley prepared to embark on the 
 return journey to Uganda as arranged. Many of these 
 canoes were unseaworthy, and on the first night five of them 
 were lost, with five guns, one case of ammunition, and twelve 
 hundred pounds of grain. No lives were lost, owing to the 
 energetic measures taken to reach the island of Miandereh. 
 In order to punish the natives of Bumbireh for their former 
 dastardly conduct, and for the killing of one of his men and 
 the wounding of other eight, Stanley took the opportunity of 
 inflicting a severe blow upon them, fighting with them from 
 the lake until they were intimidated. Six of his men sub- 
 sequently died from the effects of their wounds before reaching 
 Uganda. 
 
 The result of Stanley's circumnavigation of the Victoria 
 Nyanza was to prove that there is but one outlet from the 
 lake, the Ripon Falls. There are three rivers, the Nagombwa, 
 the Zedziwa, and the Mwerango, all of which flow into the 
 lake. * The Nagombwa empties into the Victoria Nile not 
 far from Urondogani ; the Zedziwa empties into the Victoria 
 Nile near Urondogani ; and Mwerango flows into the Mianja, 
 the Mianja flows into the Kafu, and the Kafu into the Victoria 
 Nile, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Rionga's island/ 
 
 Long before they arrived for the second time in Uganda, 
 
170 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 greetings had been received from King Mtesa, proving the 
 strength of his friendship. On their arrival, they found him 
 at war with the rebellious people of Uvuma, who had been 
 refusing to pay tribute, had harassed the coast of Chagwe, 
 and stolen his people, * selling them afterwards for a few 
 bunches of bananas.' Mtesa also mentioned that it was not 
 customary in Uganda to permit any stranger to leave until 
 the war in which they were engaged was finished. When the 
 war was finished, he would send a chief with an army to 
 conduct him by the shortest route to the Nyanza (Muta 
 N'zige). Mr. Stanley, assured that the war would not last 
 long, resolved to stay and witness its progress, and in the 
 meantime endeavour to gain information about the country 
 and the people. In computing Mtesa's strength, he cal- 
 culated that an army of 150,000 warriors had been gathered 
 together. Including women and children, there could not 
 be fewer than 250,000 souls in Mtesa's camp. Stanley was 
 the witness of a fight in canoes. The Uganda war fleet 
 numbered three hundred and twenty-five large and small 
 canoes. The largest canoe was seventy-two feet in length, 
 seven feet three inches in breadth, and four feet deep within. 
 It could accommodate sixty-four paddlers besides the pilot. 
 There were over a hundred canoes between fifty and seventy 
 feet in length, and about fifty between thirty and fifty feet 
 long; the other eighty canoes were of various sizes, from 
 eighteen to thirty feet long. They would require a force of 
 nearly 8600 men to man them. 
 
 In the intervals of warfare between the Waganda and the 
 Wavuma, Stanley had several interesting conversations with 
 Mtesa. A talk on the nature of angels led to a reference to 
 the Bible, and from this reference sprang a desire on the 
 
HENR Y M. STANLE V. 171 
 
 part of Mtesa to possess a copy of the Holy Scriptures. A 
 boy named Dallington, a pupil of the Universities Mission at 
 Zanzibar, was started with the translation of a portion of the 
 Bible into Kiswahili. With abundance of writing material 
 at hand, the translation made rapid progress, and when com- 
 pleted, Mtesa was in possession of an abridged Protestant 
 Bible in Kiswahili, containing all the principal events from 
 the creation to the crucifixion of Christ. St. Luke's Gospel 
 was given in a complete form. When this Bible was com- 
 piled, Mtesa called his chiefs together. After giving a history 
 of his life in brief, relating his conversion from gross heathenism 
 to Mohammedanism, he said : ' Now, God be thanked, a white 
 man, "Stamlee," has come to Uganda with a book older 
 than the Koran of Mohammed, and Stamlee says that 
 Mohammed was a liar, and much of his book taken from this ; 
 and this boy and Idi have read to me all that Stamlee has 
 read to them from this book, and I find that it is a great deal 
 better than the book of Mohammed, besides it is the first and 
 oldest book. The prophet Moses wrote some of it a long, 
 long time before Mohammed was even heard of, and the 
 book was finished long before Mohammed was born. As 
 Kintu, our first king, was a long time before me, so Moses was 
 before Mohammed. Now I want you, my chiefs and soldiers, 
 to tell me what we shall do. Shall we believe in Isa (Jesus) 
 and Musa (Moses), or in Mohammed ? ' 
 
 Chambarago replied : * Let us take that which is the best.' 
 The Katekiro said : * We know not which is the best. 
 The Arabs say their book is the best, and white men say their 
 book is the best ; how then can we know which speaks the 
 truth ? 
 
 After some further discussion, they all said, * We will take 
 
172 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the white man's book.' So Mtesa renounced his old religion 
 of Islamism, and professed himself a convert, announcing his 
 determination to adhere to his new religion, and build a 
 church, and do all in his power to promote Christian sentiment 
 amongst his people. Stanley offered to release Dallington 
 from his service, in order that he might remain with Mtesa 
 and read the Bible to him. On parting with him at this time, 
 he said, ' Stamlee, say to the white people, when you write 
 to them, that I am like a man sitting in darkness, or born 
 blind, and that all I ask is that I may be taught how to see, 
 and I shall continue a Christian while I live/ Stanley 
 admitted, however, that his conversion was only nominal, and 
 that a few months' talk about Christ and His work upon earth 
 was not sufficient to eradicate the evils consequent upon 
 thirty - five years' sensuous and brutal indulgence. The 
 presence of a painstaking missionary would be required. 
 
 The war between Mtesa and the Wavuma was terminated 
 on the 13th October 1875. Stanley helped this consummation 
 not a little by inventing a floating fort, which moved towards 
 the Wavuma, garrisoned with 214 men, but all of whom were 
 hidden within. Steering directly towards the island of Ingira, 
 where the enemy was stationed, a mysterious and stentorian 
 voice was heard to shout from within, addressing the Wavuma : 
 ' Speak. What will you do ? Will you make peace and sub- 
 mit to Mtesa, or shall we blow up the island ? Be quick and 
 answer.' 
 
 This structure, totally unlike anything previously seen in 
 these waters, appealed to their superstitious feelings, and the 
 reply came from a chief : ' Enough ; let Mtesa be satisfied. 
 We will collect the tribute to-day, and will come to Mtesa. 
 Return, O spirit ; the war is ended ! ' At these words the 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 173 
 
 strange structure moved back to the cove where it had been 
 constructed amidst the shouts of the assembled multitude. 
 The tribute, consisting of several tusks of ivory and two young 
 girls, was paid, and so the war ended. 
 
 The average Uganda peasant, according to Stanley, appears 
 to be healthy and contented. The productions of the land are 
 ivory, coffee, gums, resins, myrrh; lion, leopard, otter, and 
 goat skins, ox -hides, snow-white monkey-skins, bark cloth, 
 cattle, sheep, and goats. The principal vegetable productions 
 are the papaw, banana, plantain, yams, sweet potatoes, peas, 
 beans, melons, cucumbers, vegetable marrow, manioc, and 
 tomatoes. The grains found in the neighbourhood of the 
 capital are wheat, rice, maize, sesamum, millet, and vetches. 
 The soil of the lake coast region is described as of inexhaustible 
 fertility. The banana plant is one of the most important and 
 useful to the natives of Uganda, There are several varieties, 
 and one which is unfit for food is used in the manufacture of 
 wine. The fronds of the banana serve as thatch for houses, 
 fences for enclosures, and as bedding. They are also used as 
 table-cloths, wrappers, and pudding-cloths. The stems are 
 used for fences and enclosures. The pith or heart of the 
 stalk forms an excellent sponge. The fibres are used as 
 cord; shields and sun-hats are also made from the stalk. 
 * Besides its cool, agreeable shade,' writes Mr. Stanley, ' the 
 banana plant will supply a peasant of Uganda with bread, 
 potatoes, dessert, wine, beer, medicine, house and fence, bed, 
 cloth, cooking-pot, table-cloth, parcel wrapper, thread, cord, 
 rope, sponge, bath, shield, sun-hat, even a canoe in fact, 
 almost everything but meat and iron. With the banana plant 
 he is happy, fat, and thriving ; without it, he is a famished, 
 discontented, woe-begone wretch, hourly expecting death.' 
 
174 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS, 
 
 After a stay of three months and five days with Mtesa, 
 Stanley joined the expedition at Dumo, and found that 
 Frank Pocock and the men had enjoyed excellent health. 
 All this time they had been sustained free of cost by the 
 emperor ; so Stanley sent back his escort to Mtesa, with 
 a present of four bales of cloth and 140 lbs. of choice 
 beads. 
 
 Mtesa had sent Sambuzi, provided with an escort of over 
 two thousand warriors, with the command to take Stanley to 
 Lake Nyanza or Muta N'zige. The expedition was once more 
 re-formed, the loads were re-packed, and the boats prepared 
 for transport overland. An india-rubber pontoon previously 
 in use was condemned, and its place was supplied by a new 
 and light canoe, named the Livingstone. Seven days after 
 his arrival at Dumo, Stanley began his march to the general 
 rendezvous at the Katonga river, where they met with Sambuzi 
 in command of King Mtesa's escort. Sambuzi proved dilatory 
 in his movements, and was haughty in his demeanour. At 
 Kawanga, on the frontier of Uganda, where the forces had 
 been collected, the exploring army numbered 2800 strong. 
 On 1st January 1876 the whole band filed out from under 
 the plantain shades of Kawanga, each detachment being under 
 the flag of its respective leader. Entering hostile Unyoro, the 
 difference in the dwelling-places and in the food, as compared 
 with Uganda, was at once apparent. Instead of living chiefly 
 on bananas, their place was supplied by sweet potatoes and 
 salt, and such other vegetables as could be readily obtained. 
 On the 5th January, crossing the river Katonga, from the 
 summit of a tall hill in Western Benga a faint view was 
 obtained of an enormous blue mass afar off, which was called 
 the Great Mountain, in the country of Gambaragara. In 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 175 
 
 honour of one of the promoters of the expedition, Mr. Stanley 
 named it the Gordon-Bennett. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of several villages in Southern 
 Unyoro, several deep pits, with small circular mouths, were 
 discovered, leading downwards to roomy excavations. The 
 expedition camped on the banks of the Mpanga river on 
 8th January. This river, rising near the base of Mount 
 Gordon-Bennett, flows east by Mount Edwin Arnold, unites 
 with the Rasango river, and falls into Beatrice Gulf on the 
 Muta N'zige. Ankori or Usagora was the next district 
 entered. The nights grew colder, the thermometer fell, and 
 fogs now prevailed. The march of 9th January brought them 
 into a singularly wild and beautifully picturesque country 
 what Mr. Stanley has termed the Switzerland of Africa. By 
 the nth January they had sighted the lake. A panic seized 
 hold of Mtesa's escort, however, and they showed decided 
 symptoms of a wish to return. The warlike attitude of the 
 tribes around the lake had fostered this desire. For thus 
 attempting to turn back, Sambuzi was punished by Mtesa, 
 after Stanley had remonstrated with him. 
 
 Returning, Stanley reached Kafurro in Karagwe, which 
 owes its importance to being the seat of several rich Arab 
 traders. In the neighbourhood is situated Chief Rumanika's 
 village, which they visited. * The sons of Rumanika,' writes 
 Stanley, 'nourished on a milk diet, were in remarkably good 
 condition. Their unctuous skins shone as though the tissues 
 of fat beneath were dissolving in the heat, and their rounded 
 bodies were as taut as a drumhead. Their eyes were large, 
 and beaming and lustrous with life, yet softened by an extreme 
 gentleness of expression. The sculptor might have obtained 
 from anv of these royal boys a dark model for another statue 
 
176 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 to rival the classic Antinous.' Mr. Stanley was charmed with 
 the gentleness and tenderness of Rumanika. His face 
 reminded him of a deep, still well, or of a Christian patriarch 
 or saint of old, and the tones of his voice were calm. In this 
 respect he was widely different from the impulsive Mtesa, 
 whose eyes, when in a raging fit, were like balls of fire and 
 large as fists,' and whose words were * like gunpowder.' While 
 staying here, a boat and canoe race was undertaken. On the 
 day following Mr. Stanley sailed round the Windermere lake ; 
 its extreme length, when at its fullest, is about eight miles, and 
 its extreme breadth about two and a half. The six hot springs 
 of Mtagata were also visited. These springs enjoy a great 
 repute amongst invalids throughout the districts of Karagwe 
 and the neighbouring countries. On returning to Rumanika's 
 quarters, Stanley was treated to a good deal of geographical 
 information of a fabulous character. 
 
 Rumanika possessed an armoury and museum, containing 
 arms and curiosities. The armoury was a dome -shaped 
 circular hut, about 30 feet in diameter, neatly thatched with 
 straw. It contained amongst other things sixteen rude brass 
 figures of ducks, with copper wings ; ten representations of 
 elands, and ten headless cows of copper; bill-hooks of iron, 
 doubled-bladed spears, fly-flaps set in iron, and massive 
 cleaver-looking knives. Some exquisite native cloths were as 
 fine as cotton shirting, and were coloured black and red, in 
 patterns and stripes. There were also drinking-cups, goblets, 
 trenchers, and milk-dishes of wood. A revolving rifle, the gift 
 of Captain Speke, had also an honoured place amongst the 
 collection. 
 
 Bidding a regretful good-bye to Rumanika, and after a 
 month's rest at Kafurro, the journey was resumed on the 26th 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 177 
 
 March. On the 27th, Mr. Stanley shot three rhinoceroses, 
 which furnished supplies of meat for their journey through the 
 wilderness of Uhimba. On entering Western Usui, there was 
 a famine, and an extravagant amount of cloth had to be 
 dealt out for four days' rations. On the 7th April the journey 
 was continued in a southerly direction. 
 
 The following is Mr. Stanley's summary of progress made 
 up till this time : * From the 17th January 1875 up to 7th 
 April 1876, we had been engaged in tracing the extreme 
 southern sources of the Nile, from the marshy plains and 
 cultivated uplands, where they are borne down to the mighty 
 reservoir called the Victoria Nyanza. We had circumnavi- 
 gated the entire expanse ; penetrated to every bay, inlet, and 
 creek ; become acquainted with almost every variety of wild 
 human nature the mild and placable, the ferocious and 
 impracticably savage, the hospitable and the inhospitable, the 
 generous-souled as well as the ungenerous ; we had viewed 
 their methods of war, and had witnessed them imbruing their 
 hands in each other's blood with savage triumph and glee ; we 
 had been five times sufferers by their lust for war and murder, 
 and had lost many men through their lawlessness and ferocity ; 
 we had travelled hundreds of miles to and fro on foot along 
 the northern coast of the Victorian sea ; and, finally, had 
 explored with a large force the strange countries lying between 
 the two lakes, Muta N'zige and the Victoria, and had been 
 permitted to gaze upon the arm of the lake named by me 
 " Beatrice Gulf," and to drink of its sweet waters. We had 
 then returned from further quest in that direction, unable to 
 find a peaceful resting-place on the lake shores, and had struck 
 south from the Katonga lagoon down to the Alexandra Nile, 
 the principal affluent of the Victoria lake, which drains nearly 
 
 III. M 
 
1 78 FA MO US TEA VELLERS. 
 
 all the waters from the west and south-west. We had made 
 a patient survey of over one-half of its course, and then, owing 
 to want of the means to feed the rapacity of the churlish tribes 
 which dwell in the vicinity of the Alexandra Nyanza, and to 
 our reluctance to force our way against the will of the natives, 
 opposing unnecessarily our rifles to their spears and arrows, we 
 had been compelled, on the 7th April, to bid adieu to the 
 lands which supply the Nile, and to turn our faces towards the 
 Tanganyika. ... I have not ventured beyond the limits 
 assigned me, viz. the exploration of the southern sources of the 
 Nile, and the solution of the problem left unsolved by Speke 
 and Grant, "Is the Victoria Nyanza one lake, or does it 
 consist of five lakes, as reported by Livingstone, Burton, and 
 others ? " This problem has been satisfactorily solved, and 
 Speke has now the full glory of having discovered the largest 
 inland sea on the continent of Africa, also its principal 
 affluent, as well as the outlet. I must also give him credit 
 for having understood the geography of the countries he 
 travelled through better than any of those who so persistently 
 assailed his hypothesis ; and I here record my admiration of 
 the geographical genius that from mere native report first 
 sketched with such a masterly hand the bold outlines of the 
 Victoria Nyanza.' 
 
 Proceeding southwards towards Lake Tanganyika, a halt was 
 made at Nyambarri. Here there was a rupture in the camp, 
 caused by Msenna, one of the men, who endeavoured to bring 
 about a revolt amongst the Wangwana and Wanyamwezi. 
 Msenna was reduced from his former captaincy of ten men to 
 the ranks. At Ndeverva, on the 18th April, the report 
 reached them that the terrible chief Mirambo, the greatest 
 king in Unyamwezi, was marching towards them. On the 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 179 
 
 following day they reached one of the largest villages in 
 Unyamwezi, called Serombo, when they heard that Mirambo 
 was expected there, but only on a visit to his friend Ndega. 
 The town-criers, preceded by the sound of iron bells, were 
 heard to make the following announcement : 
 
 1 Listen, O men of Serombo ! Mirambo, the brother of 
 Ndega, cometh in the morning. Be ye prepared, therefore, 
 for his young men are hungry. Send your women to dig 
 potatoes ! Mirambo cometh ! Dig potatoes, potatoes ; dig 
 potatoes, to-morrow ! " 
 
 Stanley had an interview with Mirambo on 2 2d April 1876, 
 and found him the reverse of all his previous conceptions. 
 He is * a man about 5 feet 1 1 inches in height, and about 
 thirty-five years old, with not an ounce of superfluous flesh 
 about him. A handsome, regular-featured, mild-voiced, soft- 
 spoken man, with what one might call a " mock " demeanour, 
 very generous and open-handed.' After exchanging presents 
 (those from Mirambo being particularly liberal), and perform- 
 ing the ceremony of blood-brotherhood, they parted the best 
 of friends. The demands made for tribute by the petty chiefs 
 of Unyamwezi were for the most part extortionate, and were 
 refused. Their eyes rested on Lake Tanganyika on 27th May 
 1876. At three o'clock in the afternoon of that day they were 
 in Ujiji. There was little change in the place since the 
 previous visit in 1871. The house where he and Livingstone 
 had lived was, however, burned down ; and the hero who had 
 formerly filled the place with such absorbing interest was 
 gone. 
 
 During this visit, Stanley took the opportunity of describing 
 the place minutely. The port, he tells us, is divided into 
 two districts, Ugoy, occupied by the Arabs ; and Kawele, 
 
180 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 inhabited by the Wangwana, slaves, and natives. The market- 
 place was smaller and more contracted than on his previous 
 visit. On the beach before the market-place, the Arab canoes 
 are drawn up. The commodities brought to the market con- 
 sist of sweet potatoes, yams, sugar-canes, ground nuts, oil nuts, 
 palm-oil and palm-wine, butter, pombe, beans, fowls, goats, 
 broad-tailed sheep and sometimes oxen, tomatoes, plantains, 
 dried fish, etc. The natives had begun to be extortionate in 
 their dealings, which proved rather exasperating to the Arabs. 
 Cloths, sheeting, and beads of various kinds was the currency 
 most commonly used. The country of Ujiji extends along the 
 Tanganyika, between the Linche river, to a distance of forty- 
 five miles. Its breadth is about twenty miles. The king at 
 that time was called Mgassa, and resides amongst the moun- 
 tains bordering upon Uguru. Stanley estimated its population 
 at about 36,000 souls. 
 
 Before proceeding to explore Lake Tanganyika in the Lady 
 Alice, Stanley was much disappointed to find that his letters 
 had not been forwarded as he had desired by the Governor of 
 Unyanyembe. Observations taken during the voyage proved 
 unmistakeably that the waters of the lake were rising. In 
 time it may overflow its banks by way of the Lukuga creek. 
 * When the Tanganyika,' he writes, * has risen three feet higher, 
 there will be no surf at the mouth of the Lukuga, no silt of 
 sand, no oozing mud-banks, no rush-covered old river-course ; 
 but the accumulated waters of over a hundred rivers will 
 sweep through the ancient gap with the force of a cataclysm, 
 bearing away on its flood all the deposits of organic debris at 
 present in the Lukuga creek, down the steep incline, to swell 
 the tribute due to the mighty Livingstone. 7 Stanley arrived at 
 Ujiji after being absent fifty-one days ; and having sailed 810 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY, 181 
 
 miles. The entire coast-line of the Tanganyika he proved to 
 be 930 miles. Frank Pocock, who had been left in charge of 
 the camp, was exceedingly glad to see his master return, as 
 he had been down several times with severe attacks of fever. 
 Five of his Wangwana men were also dead from small-pox, 
 and six others were seriously ill. The pest of small-pox spread 
 dismay in the camp. 
 
 On 25th August the order was given to march, when it was 
 found that 38 out of 170 men had deserted. After crossing 
 the Tanganyika there were other desertions. Seven of the 
 deserters were secured by Francis Pocock and a native, and 
 punished as a warning to the others. Mr. Stanley here takes 
 the liberty of moralizing on Dr. Livingstone's last expedition. 
 He was left at one time with but seven men out of seventy ; 
 had he shown greater firmness, fewer desertions might have 
 taken place, and six good years, and finally his life, might have 
 been saved. While journeying to Manyema, the following 
 remarks on Stanley's character, and the purpose of his mission, 
 were reported to him by a young Arab : * Kassanga, chief of 
 Ruanda, says, " How can the white men be good when they 
 come for no trade, whose feet one never sees, who always go 
 covered from head to foot with clothes ? Do not tell me they 
 are good and friendly. There is something very mysterious 
 about them; perhaps wicked. Probably they are magicians; 
 at any rate, it is better to leave them alone, and to keep close 
 until they are gone." , Crossing a ridge, forming the boundary 
 between Uguha and Ubujwe, they found the country abound- 
 ing in forests and fruit-trees. Honey and buffalo were also 
 plentiful. The natives of Rua, Uguha, and Ubujwe were 
 found to be adepts in the art of hair-dressing. Carved statues 
 in wood are also not uncommoa 
 
1 82 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Uhyeya was the district adjoining Ubujwe, which they found 
 peopled by natives rather lower in the scale of humanity. 
 They were partial to ochre, black paints, and a composition of 
 black mud, which they moulded into the form of a plate and 
 stuck on the back of their heads. They were, however, very 
 ready in supplying the wants of the explorer. Uvinza, the 
 next district which he traversed, consisted of several square 
 miles, and led to Uhombo, a district of remarkable fertility. 
 The natives were very willing to trade, and supplied them with 
 palm-butter for cooking, sugar-cane, goats, chickens, sweet 
 potatoes, bananas, plantain and palm wines, and good water. 
 
 Marching from Uhombo, Riba-Riba, a frontier village of 
 Manyema, was reached on 5th October. Here the form of 
 the huts, instead of being conical as formerly, was square, 
 with gradually sloping roof, wattled and plastered with mud. 
 Nature, in the Manyema district, was on a splendid scale ; the 
 valleys and hill-sides were clothed with a profuse and robust 
 vegetation. * Her grasses,' says Mr. Stanley, * are coarse, and 
 wound like knives and needles ; her reeds are tough, and tall 
 as bamboos; her creepers and convolvuli are of cable thick- 
 ness and length ; her thorns are hooks of steel ; her tree9 
 shoot up to a height of a hundred feet. We find no pleasure 
 in straying in search of wild flowers, and game is left undis- 
 turbed because of the difficulty of moving about ; for, once the 
 main path is left, we find ourselves overhead amongst thick, 
 tough, unyielding, lacerating grass.' 
 
 Leaving Riba-Riba, Ka Bambarre was reached, where traces 
 of Dr. Livingstone still existed amongst the natives. Mats 
 were spread under a palm tree, and the following conversation 
 took place : 
 
 ' Did you know the old white man ? Was he your father ? ' 
 
HENRY M STANLEY. 183 
 
 1 He was not my father ; but I knew him well.' 
 i Eh, do you hear that ? ' he asked his people. * He says he 
 knew him. Was he not a good man ? ' 
 
 * Yes, very good.' 
 
 ' You say well. He was good to me, and he saved me from 
 the Arabs many a time. The Arabs are hard men ; and often 
 he would step between them and me when they were hard on 
 me. He was a good man, and my children were fond of him. 
 I hear he is dead ? \ 
 
 ' Yes ; he is dead.' 
 
 1 Where has he gone to ? ' 
 
 * Above, my friend,' said Stanley, pointing to the sky. 
 
 1 Ah ! ' said he breathlessly, and looking up. * Did he come 
 from above ? ' 
 
 ' No ; but good men like him go above when they die.* 
 The people here, of an Ethiopic-negro type, were more 
 refined and better looking than those of the Uhombo district. 
 Their weapons are a short sword scabbarded with wood, and a 
 spear. Their dress consisted of a narrow apron of antelope- 
 skin or grass cloth. Patches of mud were attached to their 
 beards, back hair, and behind the ears. Some had their 
 entire head crowned with mud. The women sometimes 
 manufactured their hair, with a stiffening of light cane, into 
 a bonnet-shaped head-dress, with the back hair loose and 
 flowing to their waist. They also do the heaviest amount of 
 work, the fishing and agriculture. 
 
 * The houses/ says Mr. Stanley, ' are separated into two or 
 more apartments, and, on account of the compact nature of 
 the clay and tamped floor, are easily kept clean. The roofs 
 are slimy with the reek of smoke, as though they had been 
 painted with coal-tar. The household chattels or furniture are 
 
1 84 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 limited to food baskets, earthenware pots, an assortment of 
 wickerwork dishes, the family shields, spears, knives, swords, 
 and tools, and the fish baskets lying outside. They are 
 tolerably hospitable, and permit strangers the free use of their 
 dwellings. The bananas and plantains are very luxuriant, 
 while the Guinea-palms supply the people with oil and wine ; 
 the forests give them fuel, the rivers fish, and the gardens 
 cassava, ground nuts, and Indian corn/ The Luama river was 
 crossed on the nth on the western side; the women fled at 
 the approach of the caravan. The asses of the expedition 
 were the first seen in Manyema, and attracted great attention. 
 Livingstone and Cameron, after crossing the Luama, had 
 proceeded westward ; Stanley decided to follow the river to its 
 junction with the Lualaba. Kabungwe was reached on the 
 13th; beyond this place he found the country extremely 
 populous. At Mtuyu, the easternmost settlement of the 
 country of Uzura, the people pretended that the small-pox had 
 done away with the population. Near Mpungu, fifteen miles 
 west of Mtuyu, dwelt a tribe with remarkable beards ; the chief, 
 Kitete, was ornamented with one which was plaited and 
 decorated at the tips with blue glass beads, and was 20 inches 
 long. Four miles from Mpungu was seen the confluence of 
 the Luama with the Lualaba. The Luama appeared to be 
 about 400 yards broad at the mouth, and the Lualaba was 
 about 1400 yards wide, winding south and by east, and of a 
 pale grey colour. The young explorer was filled with rapture 
 at the sight. After following one of the affluents, he had now 
 arrived at the great river whose unknown course he was about 
 to determine and settle for ever, by following it to the ocean. 
 Reaching Mwana Mamba's district, Stanley heard from Hamed 
 bin Mohammed, or Tippu Tib, a gentleman Arab who had 
 
HENR Y M. STANLE Y. 185 
 
 escorted Lieutenant Cameron across the Lualaba as far as 
 Utstera, that the reason why he had not proceeded farther in 
 that direction was the want of canoes and the hostility of the 
 savages. Dr. Livingstone was deterred in somewhat the same 
 way. After debating the matter, whether he would go forward, 
 and hearing what the Arabs had to tell about the Lualaba, 
 that it flowed north, and still north, an agreement was drawn 
 up with Tippu Tib. It was to the effect that he would 
 receive one hundred and forty guns and seventy Wanyamwezi 
 spearmen; these were to escort the expedition a distance of 
 sixty camps. If the countries were found to be hostile, and if 
 without hopes of meeting other traders, they should all return 
 to Nyangwe. Ration money to last for ten days was then 
 counted to Tippu Tib, and the expedition started from 
 Mwana Mamba on the 24th October. After a journey of 
 twelve miles through a fine rolling country, they encamped at 
 Kankumba on the 25th; Nyangwe was but five miles distant. 
 The grass of this neighbourhood was 8 feet high, with stalks 
 an inch in diameter, and looking like *a waving country 
 planted with young bamboo. ' 
 
 The expedition was in excellent marching order when 
 Nyangwe was reached on the 27th October. This is the 
 westernmost Arab settlement reached by the traders from 
 Zanzibar, and stands in longitude 2 6 16', south latitude 4 15'? 
 on the east side of the Lualaba. 
 
 Tippu Tib had reached Nyangwe on the 2d November with 
 a force of nearly seven hundred people. About three hundred 
 of these men were to be sent to a country called Tatta, to the 
 east of Usongora Meno. The total number of men, women, 
 and children connected with the expedition was 154. The 
 arms were as follows: 29 Sniders, 32 percussion-lock muskets, 
 
1 86 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 2 Winchesters, 2 double-barrelled guns, 10 revolvers, 68 axes. 
 The men, to the number of 250, who were to accompany the 
 expedition a distance of sixty camps, are Arabs, half-castes, 
 Wangwana, 100 Wanyamwezi, Ruga-Ruga, armed with spears, 
 bows and arrows, and only some of them possessing flint-locks. 
 In addition there are about fifty youths, from ten to eighteen 
 years of age, who will be employed as gun-bearers, house 
 servants, cooks, carpenters, house-builders, blacksmiths, etc 
 Hopefully the young explorer and his men started from 
 Nyangwe, westwards, to explore the nine hundred miles of 
 country unknown to Europeans. 
 
 The expedition was marching through the forest of Mitamba 
 on the 6th November. The path through this twilight forest 
 was gloomy in the extreme, the damp moisture dropping from 
 the leaves, and making the pathway into pasty mud. The 
 growth of tangled underwood, too, was immense. Ditches 
 had to be crossed, and the travellers were being continually 
 tormented by the creepers and climbing plants which ob- 
 structed the pathway. The atmosphere was stifling ; a damp, 
 hot steam was rising from the moist earth, and the clothes of 
 the travellers were saturated with moisture. ' It was crawling, 
 scrambling, tearing through the damp, dank jungles, and such 
 height and depth of woods.' The men who carried the boat, 
 which was in sections, complained bitterly of fatigue when they 
 reached Mpotira. Kimssi, in Uregga, the forest country, was 
 reached on the 10th. The Waregga, the natives of that 
 district, although living secluded lives, could boast of a fair 
 amount of comfort in their dwelling-places. Their villages 
 consist of long rows of houses connected together, and from 
 50 to 300 yards in length. The doorways in the walls are 
 only 2 feet square, and cut at about 18 inches above ground. 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY, 187 
 
 These blocks are divided into separate apartments, in the 
 interior, for the respective families. The pipe and various 
 medicinal herbs are stuck in the roof. Various skins of 
 animals helped to make up the household furniture also. 
 Cane settees, capable of seating three persons comfortably, 
 were also not uncommon. A bench 4 or 5 feet long, cut out 
 of a single log of wood, also formed an article of furniture. 
 The males wear skull-caps of goat or monkey skin. In the 
 case of the chiefs and elders, this was exchanged for leopard 
 skin. The women decorate their arms and legs very lavishly 
 with iron and copper rings. 
 
 The march of the 15th was full of troubles, and extended 
 over six miles and a half. Mr. Stanley's shoes were worn out, 
 and half the march was performed with naked feet. His last 
 pair were drawn from the store and put on. Frank Pocock 
 did the same. The courage of the men was much daunted 
 because of the difficulties of the way. Amongst the animals 
 seen on the march were a python 10 feet long, a green viper, 
 a puff adder, a lemur, and many different species of monkeys 
 and baboons. The undergrowth, which rendered locomotion 
 almost impossible, is thus described by Mr. Stanley : ' It 
 consisted of ferns, spear-grass, water-cane, and orchidaceous 
 plants, mixed with wild vines, cable thicknesses of the Fiats 
 elastica, and a sprinkling of mimosas, acacias, tamarinds, 
 lliams, palms of various species, wild date, Ralphia vinifera, 
 the elais, the fan, rattans, and a hundred other varieties, all 
 struggling for every inch of space, and swarming upward with a 
 luxuriance and density that only this extraordinary hothouse 
 atmosphere could nourish. We had certainly seen forests 
 before, but this scene was an epoch in our lives ever to be 
 remembered for its bitterness \ the gloom enhanced the dismal 
 
1 88 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 misery of our life; the slopping moisture, the unhealthy 
 reeking atmosphere, and the monotony of the scenes ; nothing 
 but the eternal interlaced branches, the tall aspiring stems, 
 rising from a tangle through which we had to burrow and 
 crawl like wild animals, on hands and feet.' At the next 
 halting-place, Wane-Kirumbu, Tippu Tib, the Arab leader, 
 expressed a wish to return, but after much solicitation he 
 agreed to march twenty camps iarther from that place. The 
 present of fifteen cowries to the chief of Wane-Kirumbu was 
 received with emotions of lively gratitude. A large native 
 forge employing about a dozen native smiths was at work, 
 here. They manufactured broad-bladed spears, and broad 
 knives of all sizes. 
 
 The village of Kampunzu was reached on the 17th 
 November. Two rows of skulls 10 feet apart, imbedded 
 about two inches in the ground, ran along the entire length of 
 the village. The skulls were one hundred and eighty-six in 
 number, but they were informed that they were those of * sokos/ 
 or chimpanzees from the forest. Two of these skulls brought 
 to England were examined by Professor Huxley, and pro- 
 nounced to be those of the ordinary African negro. The 
 conclusion to be drawn from this is that the people of 
 Kampunzu may be cannibals. These Wavinzi warriors are 
 armed with short broad-bladed spears and small bows, with 
 arrows dipped in vegetable poison. In the use of the latter 
 they are very dexterous, sending an arrow easily 200 yards. 
 The men wore skins of civet or monkey in back and front, 
 with the tails downward. The women wore narrow aprons of 
 bark or grass cloth. A march of five miles brought them to 
 the Lualaba, in south latitude 3 35', east longitude 25 49'. 
 From this point he decided to drop the name Lualaba, and 
 
HENRY M STANLEY. 189 
 
 call it the Livingstone. They encamped on the banks of the 
 river, which was here 1200 yards wide. Watching the river 
 flowing gently past, he was now more than ever determined to 
 make it his pathway westward. It would at least be better 
 than the trackless forests of which they had already had such 
 experience. On the 20th the whole expedition had crossed 
 the river and encamped in one of the villages of the Wenya. 
 The natives, frightened at this sudden incursion, had all 
 disappeared into the bush on the following morning. The 
 natives behaved in the same manner in several villages through 
 which they passed. On the 23d November they halted at the 
 Ruiki river. The natives here took the opportunity of attack- 
 ing Stanley's party while he was absent exploring the Ruiki. 
 The expedition now proceeded down the river, when the rapids 
 of Ukassa were reached. On the 29th, Mburri, on the left 
 bank, was reached, and the journey downwards was continued 
 on the following day. Two finely- wooded islands in mid-stream 
 were passed, and a halt was made at the market-place of 
 Usako Ngongo. On 1st December, Ukongeh, opposite Mitandeh 
 island, was reached. On the 4th, they reached Muriwa 
 creek, on the north bank of which was a series of villages, 
 having one broad uniform street, thirty feet wide and two miles 
 in length. This town was called Ikondee, but all the natives 
 had fled at their approach, leaving their fine gardens of 
 bananas, melons, sugar-cane, ground nuts, and plantations of 
 cassava, at the mercy of the stranger. As many of the men 
 were here suffering from diseases brought on by the fatigues 
 and troubles of the march, a canoe was procured and con- 
 structed to be used as a floating hospital. A Watwa dwarf 
 was captured in the woods, with a bow and a quiver of 
 poisoned arrows in his hand. On the 8th December, moving 
 
i 9 o FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 down the river to Unya-N'singe, they discovered that it was a 
 large town about a mile in length. The natives here, the 
 Wasongora Mono, attacked the expedition in fourteen canoes, 
 but they were promptly repulsed with considerable loss. 
 
 Still gliding down the river, Kisui Kachiambi was reached 
 on the 14th, which was found to consist of three hundred 
 long houses, and to be about a mile in length. A well- 
 planned attack by the natives was frustrated, as the expedition 
 was thoroughly prepared. Descending the stream on the 
 1 8th, showers of arrows were discharged at them from the 
 jungle. Refuge was taken behind a stockade which was 
 hastily prepared at Vinya-Njara ; here they protected them- 
 selves as they best could from the showers of arrows and 
 spears launched at them. Refuge was next taken in a 
 deserted village lower down the river. Each end of the village 
 was defended. About noon one day a huge flotilla of canoes 
 was discovered, manned by between five and eight hundred 
 men, coming down the river to attack them. The war-horns 
 were sounded, and every man within the village prepared for 
 the attack. At last they were beaten off, with great loss, the 
 arrival of Tippu Tib with the land division helping this con- 
 summation. They took shelter farther down the river. The 
 loss to the expedition consisted of four men killed and thirteen 
 wounded. In a night expedition, over thirty canoes were 
 captured from the natives. In the terms of agreement after- 
 wards made, twenty-three of these canoes were retained, and 
 the ceremony of blood-brotherhood was performed between 
 Safeni and the chief of Vinya-Njara. 
 
 After this engagement, discouraged, and daily growing 
 weaker because of the number of deaths, the Arab leaders, 
 Tippu Tib, Sheikh Abdallah, and Muini Ibrahim, declared 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 191 
 
 their intention of returning by another route to Nyangwe. 
 Their contract was not yet fulfilled, but Mr. Stanley felt that 
 their courage was exhausted. Gifts were distributed, and an 
 assurance was asked from Tippu Tib that he would use his 
 influence to get the principal men of the expedition to follow 
 him in his further explorations. This he promised to do. 
 Stanley then addressed his followers thus : 
 
 % Into whichever sea this great river empties, there shall we 
 follow it. You have seen that I have saved you a score of 
 times, when everything looked black and dismal for us. That 
 care of you to which you owe your safety hitherto, I shall 
 maintain until I have seen you safe and sound in your own 
 homes, and under your own palm trees. All I ask of you is, 
 perfect trust in whatever I say. On your lives depends my 
 own ; if I risk yours, I risk mine. As a father looks after his 
 children, I will look after you. It is true we are not so strong 
 as when the Wanyaturu attacked us, or when we marched 
 through Unyoro to Muta N'zige, but we are of the same band 
 of men, and we are still of the same spirit. Many of our 
 party have already died, but death is the end of all ; and if 
 they died earlier than we, it was the will of God, and who 
 shall rebel against His will ? It may be, we shall meet a 
 hundred wild tribes yet, who, for the sake of eating us, will 
 rush to meet and fight us. We have no wish to molest them. 
 We have monies with us, and are, therefore, not poor. If 
 they fight us, we must accept it as an evil, like disease, which 
 we cannot help. We shall continue to do our utmost to make 
 friends, and the river is wide and deep. If we fight, we fight 
 for our lives. It may be that we shall be distressed by famine 
 and want. It may be that we shall meet with many more 
 cataracts, or find ourselves before a great lake, whose wild 
 
1 92 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 waves we cannot cross with these canoes ; but we are no 
 children, we have heads and arms, and are we not always 
 under the eye of God, who will do with us as He sees fit ? 
 Therefore, my children, make up your minds, as I have made 
 up mine, that as we are now in the very middle of this 
 continent, and it would be just as bad to return as to go on, 
 that we shall continue our journey, that we shall toil on and 
 on, by this river and no other, to the salt sea.' This speech 
 awakened considerable enthusiasm amongst the men, and 
 preparations were proceeded with at once. 
 
 On Christmas Day 1876, the men were mustered and 
 appointed to their respective canoes. The rest of the day was 
 spent in festivity, in canoe races, and in foot races. On the 
 following day, Tippu Tib gave a feast of rice and roasted 
 sheep to the members of the expedition, which helped to 
 prolong and maintain their cheerful feelings and prospects 
 of success. After pulling up stream and camping on an 
 island all night, they prepared to leave Vinya-Njara for ever 
 on the morning of the 28th December. A dense mist hung 
 over the river in the morning, which slowly lifting, the order 
 to embark was given. As the canoes were descending past 
 where Tippu Tib and his men were encamped, they heard 
 them joining in a farewell song. As the notes of the song 
 floated towards them, the leader and his men were well-nigh 
 overcome. 'Louder the sad notes swelled on our ears/ he 
 writes, 'full of a pathetic and mournful meaning. With 
 bated breath we listened to the rich music, which spoke to us 
 unmistakeably of parting, of sundered friendship, a long, 
 perhaps an eternal farewell. We came in view of them, as, 
 ranged along the bank in picturesque costumes, the sons of 
 Unyamwezi sang their last song. We waved our hands to 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 193 
 
 them. Our hearts were so full of grief that we could not 
 speak. Steadily the brown flood bore us by, and fainter and 
 fainter came the notes down the water, till finally they died 
 away, leaving us all alone in our loneliness.' A halt was 
 made that day at Kali-Karero, where the natives were peace 
 ably inclined. Fourteen different villages were passed that 
 day, a proof that the Vinya-Njara district was very populous. 
 Next day, in passing down the river, big wooden drums were 
 beaten, which told of the presence of the stranger, and the 
 natives on the right bank gave them such a salutation as 
 clearly proved they were cannibals. * Meat ! meat ! ah ! ha ! 
 We shall have plenty of meat ! Bo bo bo bo ! Bo bo 
 bo bo o o !-' A show of fight cleared the river of these 
 savages. On 29th December they encamped on an unin- 
 habited spot opposite Vina-Kya. The savages manned their 
 drums and canoes, and advanced towards them. The two 
 interpreters belonging to the expedition did their best to 
 prove to them that their errand was a peaceful one. They 
 were beaten off for that day. The mouth of the Low-wa 
 or Row-wa river now came into view ; its mouth, where it 
 emptied itself into the Livingstone, was a thousand yards 
 wide. The right bank of the Livingstone, at the mouth of 
 the Low-wa, had no appearance of being inhabited. The 
 undergrowth to be witnessed there seemed impenetrable. 
 * Entomologists and naturalists/ he says, * might revel there.' 
 The following animals abounded : Myriapedes, brown, black, 
 and yellow ants, the mautis, the earth caterpillar, the ladybird, 
 and countless insects. Mr. Stanley dissipates the idea of a 
 primeval forest being silent. * The hum and murmur of 
 hundreds of busy insect tribes,' he writes, * make populous the 
 
 twilight shadows that reign under the primeval growth. I hear 
 111. N 
 
i 9 4 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the grinding of millions of mandibles, the furious hiss of a 
 tribe just alarmed or about to rush to battle, -millions of tiny 
 wings rustling through the nether air, the march of an insect 
 tribe under the leaves, the startling leap of an awakened 
 mautis, the chirp of some eager and garrulous cricket, the 
 buzz of an ant-lion, the roar of a bull-frog. Add to these the 
 crackle of twigs, the fall of leaves, the dropping of nut and 
 berry, the occasional crash of a branch, or the constant creak- 
 ing and swaying of the forest tops as the strong wind brushes 
 them or the gentle breezes awake them to whispers.' The 
 night of 30th December was spent in the leafy shelter opposite 
 the Low-wa confluence. The natives, who sold them ten 
 gigantic plantains, 13 inches long and 3 inches in diameter, 
 informed them that they were encamped on the shore of the 
 Lulu, an uninhabited portion of the territory of Wanpuma. 
 They crossed to the Iryamba side of the Livingstone.. A 
 strong breeze had arisen, when two men were drowned by the 
 upsetting of a canoe, and four muskets and a sackful of beads 
 were lost. On the following day the journey was continued. 
 The first day of 1877 began while passing an uninhabited tract, 
 and Stanley found time to ruminate and enjoy the forest 
 beauty and stillness without being troubled with thoughts of 
 the past or future. Sounds of war-drums were, however, 
 heard early that day, both from an island in the river and 
 from its banks. The word Seu-neu-neh, or peace, was shouted 
 out in vain. The reply was, * We shall eat Wajiwa meat to-day. 
 Oho, we shall eat Wajiwa meat.' The natives were beaten 
 back, however, and progress was resumed. On 3d January 
 they glided down to Kankore, the word Seu-neu-neh being 
 all the while shouted out. The natives gathered on the banks 
 in a more peaceful attitude, and presents of beads were given 
 
HENRY M STANLEY. 195 
 
 to two women who had the courage to paddle out towards 
 them to treat with them. The men, like the natives of 
 Waregga, were tattooed and similarly dressed ; the women 
 wore bits of carved wood and necklaces ; polished iron rings 
 were used as armlets and leg ornaments. 
 
 Leaving Kankore, the savages of Mwana Ntaba disturbed 
 their further progress, and alarmed their brethren on the right 
 bank. These natives were in full war-paint, one-half of their 
 bodies being white, the other half red, with broad black bars. 
 In their first attack, a canoe 85 feet 3 inches long was captured 
 from them. About forty canoes were seen making down 
 stream, evidently bent on mischief. Passing the mouth of a 
 river about 200 yards wide, Mr. Stanley named it the Leopold 
 river, after Leopold 11., king of the Belgians. Soon after 
 passing this river, the roar of the first cataract of the Stanley 
 Fall series was heard. But the roar of the savages from either 
 side of the river resounded even more loudly than the noise of 
 the cataract. In an encounter on 5th January, the Mwana 
 Ntaba were repulsed, with a loss to Stanley of two men 
 wounded and two killed. The bodies of the latter were 
 committed to the Livingstone, in order that they might not 
 become the food of the cannibals. By the afternoon of the 
 8th they were beyond the first cataract, and at anchor in a 
 creek between Baswa island and the left bank. Another 
 encounter with natives took place on the nth, farther down 
 the river, and when opposite to Ntunduru island. Three of 
 his men made a narrow escape from drowning just above the 
 second cataract, and were rescued from a small islet just 
 above the falls in a very remarkable manner. A sharp en- 
 counter and some clever manoeuvring with the cannibals of 
 Asama island led to peace, when the expedition was well 
 
io6 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 supplied with bananas. Beyond the fifth cataract, and north 
 of Asama, the river widened out to a breadth of 2000 yards. 
 Encamping on the 19th at Wane-Mpungu, in the morning it 
 was discovered that a tall high net surrounded the camp. The 
 net was cut, an ambuscade was laid, when eight of the Wane- 
 Mpungu were captured. The upper teeth of each of these 
 savages were filed, two carved rows of tattoo marks were on 
 their foreheads, and their temples were punctured. On being 
 questioned, they confessed that they had been lying in wait 
 for man-meat. These captives accompanied Stanley in his 
 examination of the river, and were set at liberty on the right 
 bank. The next camping stage was above the sixth cataract, 
 near an island thickly peopled by a tribe of the Waregga 
 called Wana-Rukura. The natives were troublesome here. 
 On the 20th they halted on a large island which had been 
 deserted by the Wana-Rukura; and by noon of the 23d they 
 had cleared the sixth cataract without accident. Above the 
 seventh cataract an island was discovered peopled by the 
 Wenya, who, after some hostilities, deserted their villages. 
 The population of this cluster of villages was estimated by 
 Mr. Stanley at about 6000. The river above the seventh 
 cataract is 1300 yards wide; contracted to a narrow space 
 between the island of Wenya and the steep banks opposite, it 
 4 rushes with resistless speed for a few hundred yards, and then 
 falls about ten feet into a boiling and tumultuous gulf, wherein 
 are lines of brown waves six feet high leaping with terrific 
 bounds, and hurling themselves against each other in dreadful 
 fury.' Fish were abundant in the neighbourhood of the falls; 
 the natives are in the habit of entrapping them in fish-baskets. 
 The Wenya seemed to be industrious ; many of them possessed 
 large wooden chests, in which were preserved their treasures 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. i 97 
 
 of beads and berries, oyster and mussel shells. The paddles 
 were made out of wood resembling mahogany; and cord 
 made of hyphene palm and banana fibre was also found 
 there. Earthenware jars were in every house. By the 28th 
 of January, Stanley and his men were entirely clear of the falls, 
 which had occupied them twenty-two days, during which time 
 they had been continually beset by the savage denizens of the 
 fastnesses on the route. 
 
 All the members of the expedition were now in good spirits, 
 as they cleared the falls and hastened down the river into 
 open water. Frank Pocock cheered himself by the singing of 
 several hymns, which the leader of the expedition thought 
 were scarcely bright enough for the occasion. On the 28th, 
 the Mburra, a fine river 300 yards wide, was passed ; and a 
 mile below this confluence they encamped first at Ukobia 
 island, and then at Usembi. Farther down the river, at Ituka, 
 the expedition had its twenty-fifth encounter with natives since 
 leaving the Ruiki river. Sixty-five large shields had been 
 taken in these encounters, which were of great service, as they 
 were held up by the women and children before the fighting 
 men. These shields were impervious against spears and 
 arrows, and enabled the gunners to do deadly execution. In 
 order to frighten the natives who were annoying the expedition, 
 opposite Yangambi a capture was made. The captive ex- 
 plained that the river at that point was called Izangi; the 
 settlements on the right bank were in the country of Kovuru ; 
 the country on the left bank he called Yambarri. The river 
 below Yangambi had grown from 3000 to 4000 yards wide. 
 Islands were also getting more numerous. Coming in view of 
 the market-place of Avuwimi on 1 st February, scores of canoes 
 rushed out against the intruders. Passing the mouth of a vast 
 
njS FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 affluent called the Avuwimi, 340 miles north of Nyangwe, and 
 about 2000 yards wide, a number of canoes were also seen 
 hovering about the islets in the centre of the river. Coming 
 in view of the right branch of the affluent, and looking up 
 stream, an immense concourse of canoes were seen to be 
 bearing down upon them. Orders were given to anchor the 
 canoes in line, about ten yards apart; the Lady Alice was 
 moved upwards, and anchored fifty yards above them. The 
 fighting men in the boats were well defended by a line of 
 shields held up by the non-combatants men, women, and 
 children. A monster canoe led the attack, when it was dis- 
 covered that there were fifty-four in all. Forty men were 
 rowing on each side in the large canoe ; ten young warriors 
 stood in the bow, adorned with a head-dress of crimson and 
 grey parrot's feathers ; eight men guided the vessel at the 
 stern with paddles, the tops of which were tipped with ivory ; 
 ten men, apparently chiefs, moved up and down the vessel. 
 The heads of all the natives bore a feather crown. Drums 
 were beaten, horns were sounded, and two thousand throats 
 sent forth a wild chant while preparing for the onset. 
 
 Stanley felt that the supreme hour was arrived, when it 
 would be death or victory. They resolved to sell their lives as 
 dearly as possible. He addressed his people thus : ' Boys, be 
 firm as iron ; wait until you see the first spear, and then take 
 good aim. Don't fire all at once. Keep aiming until you are 
 sure of your man. Don't think of running away, for only your 
 guns can save you/ After five minutes' firing, the enemy was 
 obliged to re-form above the Lady Alice, Lifting their anchors, 
 they pursued them up stream, and did not halt until they had 
 chased them to the woods, which sheltered them from the 
 wrath of their pursuers. In the principal village ivory was as 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 199 
 
 1 abundant as fuel ; ' and in a native temple built of this 
 material, an idol, four feet high, painted with camwood dye, 
 a bright vermilion, and with black eyes and beard and hair, 
 was discovered. The roof of the temple was supported by 
 thirty-three tusks of ivory. These were seized by the Wang- 
 wana. One hundred other pieces of ivory were removed. 
 Some of these pieces were in the shape of war-horns, ivory 
 pestles for pounding cassava and other herbs, ivory armlets 
 and balls, and ivory mallets for beating fig-bark into cloth. 
 
 Mr. Stanley gives a full inventory of the other commodities 
 and articles found in this African village. 'The stores of 
 beautifully-carved paddles, ten feet in length, some of which 
 were iron-pointed ; the enormous six-feet-long spears, which 
 were designed more for ornament than use ; the splendid long 
 knives, like Persian kummars, and bright iron-mounted sheaths, 
 with broad belts of red buffalo and antelope hide ; barbed 
 spears, from the light assegai to the heavy double-handed 
 sword-spear; the tweezers, hammers, prickers, hole-burners, 
 hair-pins, fish-hooks, hammers, arm and leg rings of iron and 
 copper ; iron beads and wrist-bands ; iron bells, axes, war- 
 hatchets, adzes, hoes, dibbers, etc., proved the people on the 
 banks of this river to be clever, intelligent, and more advanced 
 in the arts than any hitherto observed since we commenced 
 our descent of the Livingstone. The architecture of their 
 huts, however, was the same, except the conical structure they 
 had erected over their idol. Their canoes were much larger 
 than those of the Mwana Ntaba, above the Stanley Falls, which 
 had crocodiles and lizards carved on them. Their skull-caps 
 of basket-work, leopard, civet, and monkey skins were similar 
 to those that we had observed in Uregga. Their shields were 
 like those of the Warivva. There were various specimens of 
 
2oo FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 African wood - carving in great and small idols, stools of 
 ingenious pattern, double benches, walking-staffs, spear-staffs, 
 paddles, flutes, grain-mortars, mallets, drums, clubs, troughs, 
 scoops and canoe-balers, porridge spoons, etc. Gourds also 
 exhibited taste in ornamentation. Their earthenware was very 
 superior, their pipes of an unusual pattern in short, every- 
 thing that is of use to a well-found African village exhibited 
 remarkable intelligence and prosperity. Evidences of canni- 
 balism were numerous in the human * soko ' skulls that grinned 
 on many poles, and the bones that were freely scattered in the 
 neighbourhood, near the village garbage-heaps and the river 
 banks, where one might suppose hungry canoemen to have 
 enjoyed a cold collation on an ancient matron's arm. The 
 most positive and downright evidence, in my opinion, of this 
 hideous practice, was the thin forearm of a person that was 
 picked up near a fire, with certain scorched ribs which might 
 have been tossed into the fire after being gnawed.' 
 
 After receiving the waters of the Aruwimi, the great river 
 broadened out to a great width, with from three to six 
 branches, separated from each other by a series of islands. 
 As they floated down between the islands, they had glimpses 
 of several villages on their course. These islands were clothed 
 with the wood indigenous to the tropics teak and cotton- wood, 
 the hyphene, borassus, wild date, and Guinea oil-palms, the 
 rattan, the mangrove, and the shea butter-tree. The under- 
 growth was luxuriant, and grapes flourished by the river's bank. 
 The terrors of the journey were still numerous, the cataract 
 and the whirling pool, the sudden storm blowing up the river, 
 and the continual howling from either bank of the wrathful 
 natives. On 8th February, the expedition was reduced to 
 terrible straits for want of food. The three asses belonging 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 201 
 
 to them were looked upon as well-nigh doomed. At the 
 village of Rubunga, however, by tact and dexterity, Mr. 
 Stanley succeeded in winning the natives over sufficiently to 
 sell them bananas and fish. The chief of Rubunga, on being 
 questioned as to the name of the river, replied that it was 
 Ikutu ya Kongo. This confirmed Stanley's previous impres- 
 sion, since leaving the Stanley Falls, that they were sailing 
 down the Congo. 
 
 The wearied members of the expedition encamped and 
 rested at Rubunga, and a market was held for their benefit 
 on 9th February. From the district around the natives 
 arrived, bringing fresh and dried fish, snails, oysters, mussels, 
 dried dog-meat, live dogs and goats, bananas, plantains, robes 
 of grass cloth, cassava tubers, flour, and bread ; spears, knives, 
 axes, hatchets, bells, iron bracelets, and girdles everything 
 * saleable or purchasable on the shores of the Livingstone/ 
 Many of the knives were of a sickle-shaped pattern \ the 
 principal men carried weapons with brass handles. The 
 Warua and Waguha wore their hair in tufts on the back of 
 the head, fashioned with elegantly-shaped iron hair-pins. 
 Their whole bodies are punctured and tattooed. Their 
 breasts were marked with every conceivable design. The 
 temple and cheek were also adorned with wavy lines. Their 
 necklaces consisted of human, gorilla, and crocodile teeth. 
 Some wore polished boars' tusks. Four ancient Portuguese 
 muskets discovered amongst them strengthened the idea that 
 the river really communicated with the coast. 
 
 On the 10th February, Urangi was reached, but the reception 
 they received was very doubtful, and they found the natives 
 great thieves. On leaving they were made the subject of a 
 treacherous attack, but the expedition escaped amongst the 
 
202 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 windings of the creeks in the river. Below Rubunga the 
 islands were much more numerous, producing great varieties 
 of the palm species. Below Ukaturaka the river broadened 
 out until, it was about seven miles across. On the islands 
 in the river, the elephant, the red buffalo, baboons, and long- 
 tailed monkeys were seen. The channels swarmed with 
 hippopotamus, crocodile, and the monitor. On the 13th 
 February, they were attacked by the warriors of Marunja, 
 whose war-cry was * Yaha-ha-ha.' Stanley, seated in the bow 
 of the Lady Alice, was repeatedly aimed at, nine bright musket 
 barrels being levelled at him at once, only the curiosity and 
 awe inspired by the sight of his white face, and by his dress, 
 had prevented them from shooting him. The sight of their 
 asses was also a matter of great wonder to them. 
 
 One of the most determined fights experienced on the river 
 took place with the Bangala natives on the 14th February. 
 In floating down the river, the usual war signal was given 
 drums were beaten, guns were loaded, spears and broadswords 
 were being sharpened, in order to give a bloody welcome to 
 the intruders. We must leave Mr. Stanley to tell this desperate 
 encounter in his own words. 
 
 Standing up in his boat, Stanley endeavoured to conciliate 
 them by holding out towards them a long piece of red cloth 
 in one hand, and a coil of brass wire in another. ' I observed,' 
 he says, ' three or four canoes approaching Frank's vessel with 
 a most suspicious air about them, and several of their crews 
 menacing him, at which Frank (Pocock) stood up and 
 menaced them with his weapon. I thought the act premature, 
 and ordered him to sit down and look away from them. I 
 again raised the crimson cloth and wire, and, by pantomime, 
 offered to give it to those in front, whom I was previously 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 203 
 
 addressing; but almost immediately those natives who had 
 threatened Frank fired into my boat, wounding three of my 
 young crew Mambu, Murabo, and Joffrai ; and two more 
 natives fired into Frank's canoe, wounding two Hatib and 
 Muftah. The missiles fired into us were jagged pieces of iron 
 and copper ore, precisely similar to those which the Ashantees 
 employed. After this murderous outrage, there was no effort 
 made to secure peace. The shields were lifted, and proved 
 capital defences against the hail of slugs. Boat, shields, and 
 canoes were pitted, but only a few shields were perforated. 
 The conflict began in earnest, and lasted so long that 
 ammunition had to be redistributed. We perceived that as 
 the conflict continued every village sent out its quota. About 
 two o'clock a canoe advanced with a swaggering air, its crew 
 evidently intoxicated, and fired at us when within thirty yards. 
 The boat instantly swept down to it and captured it, but the 
 crew sprang into the river, and, being capital swimmers, were 
 saved by a timely arrival of their friends. At three o'clock I 
 counted sixty-three opposed to us. Some of the Bangala 
 which they disclosed themselves by their peculiar cries, " Yaha- 
 ha-ha, ya Bangala ! " " Ya Bangala, yaha-ha-ha ! " distin- 
 guished themselves by an audacity and courage that, for our 
 own sakes, I was glad to see was not general ; especially one 
 young chief, distinguished by his head-dress of white goat- 
 skin, and a short mantle of the same material, and wreaths of 
 thick brass wire on neck, arms, and legs, sufficient, indeed, to 
 have protected those parts from slugs, and proving him to be 
 a man of consequence. His canoe mates were ten in number, 
 and his steersman, by his adroitness and dexterity, managed 
 the canoe so well that after he and his mates had fired their 
 guns, he instantly presented its prow and only a thin line of 
 
204 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 upright figures to our aim. Each time he dashed up to deliver 
 his fire, all the canoes of his countrymen seemed stimulated by 
 his example to emulate him. And, allowing five guns on an 
 average to each of the sixty -three canoes, there were 315 
 muskets opposed to our 44. Their mistake was in supposing 
 their slugs to have the same penetrative effect and long range 
 as our missiles had. Only a few of the boldest approached 
 after they had experienced our fire within a hundred yards. 
 The young chief already mentioned frequently charged to 
 within fifty yards, and delivered a smashing charge of missiles, 
 almost all of which were either too low or too high. Finally, 
 Manwa Sera wounded him with a Snider bullet in the thigh. 
 The brave fellow coolly, and in presence of us all, took a 
 piece of cloth and deliberately bandaged it, and then calmly 
 retreated towards shore. This action was so noble and 
 graceful that orders were given to let him withdraw 
 unmolested. After his departure the firing became desultory, 
 and at 5.30 p.m. our antagonists retired, leaving us to attend 
 to our wounded, and to give three hearty cheers at our success. 
 This was our thirty-first fight on the terrible river, the last 
 but one, and certainly the most determined conflict that we 
 had endured.' The huts of these savage warriors stretched 
 about ten miles on the river side, at intervals of a mile or 
 half a mile. Their principal trade was in ivory, and the river 
 Bangala flows into the Congo from a northerly direction. 
 The two white men of the expedition, Mr. Stanley and Frank 
 Pocock, enjoyed better health on the river than they had done 
 on any previous part of the journey. 
 
 While descending the left bank of the Livingstone, a large 
 river emptying its waters into it was discovered, the mouth 
 of which was over a thousand yards wide, the current of which 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 
 
 205 
 
 was strong and deep, and of the colour of black tea. The 
 natives of Ikengo called it the Ikelemba river. At this time 
 they were in a great strait for food, any of the natives they had 
 passed steadily refusing to supply it. Their wants were sup- 
 plied at Ikengo, however, on 19th February. The natives 
 held a market for their benefit on the 20th, when abundance 
 of black pigs, goats, sheep, bananas, plantains, cassava, bread, 
 flour, maize, sweet potatoes, yams, and fish were to be had. 
 Passing the shores of Ubangi, the natives fired at them, but 
 the width of the river and the number of channels by which 
 they could escape rendered their hostilities harmless. The 
 islets which they now passed were inexpressibly grateful to 
 them, as they were unpeopled, and after the hard fighting they 
 had endured, and the constant watchfulness which they were 
 obliged to keep up, these islands appeared ' knots of 
 paradise/ The river below Irebu also broadened out so much 
 that, as he says, it might have been a hundred miles in 
 breadth, and was capable, although so widely distributed, of 
 floating the most powerful steamer on the Mississippi. Amina, 
 the faithful wife of Kachechi, was reported to be dying. On 
 being visited by Stanley, she said : ' Ah, master, I shall never 
 see the sea again. Your child Amina is dying. I have so 
 wished to see the cocoa-nuts and the mangoes \ but no 
 Amina is dying dying in a pagan land. She will never see 
 Zanzibar. The master has been good to his children, and 
 Amina remembers it. It is a bad world, master, and you 
 have lost your way in it. Good-bye, master ; do not forget 
 poor little Amina.' After death, the body of Amina was 
 dressed in its shroud, and at sunset was consigned to the waters 
 of the river. 
 
 Passing the heights of Bolobo, the river was studded with 
 
2o6 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 islets, where the natives carried on fishing, and salt-making 
 from the grasses which grew there. On the 27th, below Bolobo 
 and clearing the islets, the river had broadened out into four 
 miles of clear water. The natives began to assume a more 
 civilised aspect. Arrived at Chumbiri on 27th February, they 
 received a welcome from the king. Mr. Stanley gives the 
 following pen-and-ink sketch of the king : 'A small-eyed 
 man of about fifty or thereabout, with a well-formed nose, but 
 wide nostrils and thin lips, clean shaved, or rather clean 
 plucked, with a quiet yet sociable demeanour, ceremonious, 
 and mild-voiced, with the instincts of a greedy trader cropping 
 out of him at all points, and cunning beyond measure. The 
 type of his curious hat may be seen on the head of any 
 Armenian priest. It was formed out of close-plaited hyphene- 
 palm fibre, sufficiently durable to last his life though he might 
 live a century. From his left shoulder, across his chest, was 
 suspended the sword of the bill-hook pattern, already described 
 in the passages about Ikengo. Above his shoulder stood 
 upright the bristles of an elephant's tail. His hand was armed 
 with a buffalo's tail, made into a fly-flapper, to whisk mosquitoes 
 and gnats off the royal face. To his wrist were attached the 
 odds and ends which the laws of superstition had enjoined 
 upon him, such as charm-gourds, charm-powders in bits of red 
 and black flannel, and a collection of wooden antiquities, 
 besides a snuff-gourd and a parcel of tobacco leaves.' The 
 king took snuff in immoderate quantities, and used a tobacco 
 pipe which was 6 feet in length, and adorned with brass tacks 
 and tassels of braided cloth. The bowl of the pipe was made 
 of iron, and was large enough to hold half an ounce of tobacco. 
 The women of Chumbiri attracted the attention of the young 
 explorer; pretty, many of them of a rich brown colour, large- 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 207 
 
 eyed, and with a graceful curve of shoulder, they were such as 
 he had not often observed. Many of them were in the habit 
 of wearing brass collars, the weight of which in some cases 
 must have been 30 lbs. Mr. Stanley estimated that his wives 
 must wear 800 lbs. of brass round their necks until death ; his 
 six daughters, 120 lbs.; and his favourite female slaves, 200 lbs. 
 On being asked what he did with the brass on the neck of a 
 dead wife, he smiled and drew his ringer across his throat in a 
 significant manner, plainly indicating that they were decapi- 
 tated. After seeing five hundred African chiefs, Mr. Stanley 
 leaves it on record that the King of Chumbiri is the most 
 plausible rogue of all Africa. 
 
 Leaving the friendly people of Chumbiri on 7th March, the 
 onward course of the expedition was continued. A rapid river, 
 about 250 yards wide, having two mouths, was discovered; 
 it was named the Lawson river, after Mr. Edward Levy 
 Lawson. The tea-coloured waters of the Ikelemba river, it 
 was remarked, did not mingle with the waters of the Living- 
 stone until they had both flowed side by side for about one 
 hundred and thirty miles, or near Bolobo. It had changed 
 the Livingstone from a clear whitey-grey colour to a deep 
 brown. A river, the Nkutu, issuing from east-north-east, and 
 450 yards wide at the mouth, was passed on 9th March. 
 This Stanley regards as the Coango, or Kwango of the 
 Portuguese, the sources of which were crossed by Livingstone 
 in 1854. Six miles below the mouth of this river the 
 expedition had encamped near a thick grove to cook break- 
 fast ; fires were kindled, and Stanley and Frank were awaiting 
 the cook's voice to acquaint them that breakfast was ready. 
 Suddenly the camp was startled by the report of firing, and six 
 of the men fell wounded. A desperate fight began, when the 
 
2 o8 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 savages were eventually beaten off, leaving fourteen of Stanley's 
 men wounded. This was the last fight, in all the thirty-second, 
 since entering on the waters of the Livingstone. On the 12th, 
 the river, which had previously narrowed down to 1400 yards, 
 now expanded to 2500 yards, into a lake-like stretch of 
 water, with sandy islands rising in front like a sea beach, and 
 on the right a long row of cliffs extended along the river side. 
 This lake-like expansion, extending from these cliffs, which 
 Frank Pocock suggested should be called Dover Cliffs, to the 
 first cataract of the Livingstone Falls, they termed Stanley's 
 Pool. On 12th March they encamped just above the Living- 
 stone Falls. They were visited here by Itsi, king of Ntamo, 
 who supplied them with cassava pudding, tubers of cassava, 
 bananas, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, fowls, and a diminutive 
 goat. They refused the liberal bundle of cloths offered to 
 them in exchange. Itsi explained that he wanted only a big 
 goat connected with the expedition ; if he had that, he would 
 be satisfied. This goat was the last of six couples purchased 
 in Uregga for presentation to an English lady in accordance 
 with a promise made four years previously. An ass was 
 offered in place of the goat, but the chief growing sulky, 
 Stanley at last consented. He received three smaller goats 
 in return. 
 
 After leaving Ntamo, the character of the river began to 
 change. It now rushed vehemently along a steep bed ob- 
 structed by reefs of lava, projections of rock, lines of large 
 boulders, and abounding in rapids, cataracts, and falls. Its 
 general feature was that it rushed and roared through a deep, 
 yawning pass from a broad table-land down to the Atlantic. 
 As the river became wilder, the people seemed to become 
 tamer and more approachable, and willing to trade. 
 
HENR Y M. STANLE K 209 
 
 The Gordon-Bennett river was reached on the 15th of 
 
 March, and they found it to be an impetuous stream 75 yards 
 
 wide ; here they prepared to pass at the lower end of the first 
 
 Livingstone cataract, overland, by means of a brush-covered 
 
 road. Of the three Livingstone cataracts, this was called the 
 
 * Father/ and proved to be the wildest stretch of water 
 
 Stanley had ever seen. It was like * a strip of sea blown over 
 
 by a hurricane. , 'There was/ he says, * first a rush down into 
 
 the bottom of an immense trough, and then, by its sheer 
 
 force, the enormous volume would lift itself upward steeply, 
 
 until, gathering itself into a ridge, it suddenly hurjed itself 
 
 20 or 30 feet straight upward, before rolling down into another 
 
 trough. If I looked up or down along this angry scene, every 
 
 interval of 50 or 100 yards of it was marked by wave towers 
 
 their collapse into foam and spray, the mad clash of watery 
 
 hills, bounding mounds, and heaving billows ; while the base of 
 
 either bank, consisting of a long line of piled-up boulders of 
 
 massive size, was buried in the tempestuous surf/ In passing 
 
 this cataract by hauling the canoes overland, several accidents 
 
 took place. Mr. Stanley himself tumbled into a chasm 30 
 
 feet deep between two large boulders, but escaped with a few 
 
 bruises. In passing a bad piece of river called the * Cauldron,' 
 
 two canoes were lost. On 28th March a terrible catastrophe 
 
 took place; nine men were lost over the falls, afterwards 
 
 called Kalulu Falls, from the name of Kalulu, who was one of 
 
 those who perished there. The falls were cleared by 1st April, 
 
 when they camped on the right bank below them. On the 
 
 following day they descended a mile and a half of rapids, 
 
 when another canoe was lost, reducing their number to thirteen 
 
 vessels. On 3d April they descended another mile and a half 
 
 of rapids, during which Stanley narrowly escaped drowning, 
 in. o 
 
2 1 o FA MO US TRA FELLERS. 
 
 One canoe was upset, containing fifty tusks of ivory and a sack 
 of beads. Four men also narrowly escaped drowning. When 
 approaching rapids, the route of the expedition was taken 
 overland, where a broad track was strewn with bushes over 
 which to haul the canoes. On the ioth the Lady Alice had a 
 narrow escape from being rendered a complete wreck, getting 
 jammed between two rocks at the entrance to Gavubu's Cove. 
 The lower end of the latter cove was reached on the nth, 
 and a series of rapids were passed, down which the Lady Alice 
 was drifted to the peril of those on board. This danger 
 passed, they encamped at Nkenke Bay, where the waters of 
 the Nkenke, in the shape of a cataract, poured themselves 
 into the Livingstone. Stanley now began to contrast the 
 waters, wild with rapids and cataracts, with the calmness of the 
 upper reaches of the river. From the 16th March to the 21st 
 April inclusive, the expedition made only thirty-four miles, 
 during which they experienced many difficulties and mishaps. 
 During the 2 2d and the 23d they descended from Nsougu, a 
 distance of five miles, to below Rocky Island Falls, and the 
 next three days were occupied in descending a six-mile stretch 
 to Inkisi Falls. These falls, we are told, have no clear drop ; 
 * but the river, being forced through a chasm only 500 yards 
 wide, is flanked by curling waves of destructive fury, which 
 meet in the centre, overlap, and strike each other ; while below 
 is an absolute chaos of mad waters, leaping waves, deep 
 troughs, contending watery ridges, tumbling and tossing for a 
 distance of two miles. ' The natives from the neighbourhood 
 crowded around the members of the expedition, expecting to 
 see something extraordinary happen should they venture to go 
 over the rapids. Instead of this, however, Stanley ordered 
 that the canoes be hauled up the mountain beside the falls, 
 
HENR Y M. STANLE Y. 211 
 
 and afterwards pass over the table-land. That this was a work 
 of no small difficulty may be learned from the fact that the 
 height was 1200 feet, and that two or three of the canoes were 
 of heavy teak, over 70 feet in length, and weighing over 
 three tons. 
 
 Stanley and Frank Pocock began to be in want, like the 
 prodigal son in the parable. Their stores of those luxuries 
 of civilisation, tea, coffee, and sugar, had come to an end. 
 Stanley's last pair of boots were worn out, and long ago 
 Frank Pocock had been wearing sandals made of a leather 
 portmanteau, but often also appeared w r ith bare white feet, 
 for which Mr. Stanley reproached him. It required some 
 generalship to induce the native to compound a more savoury 
 mess than usual of cassava, ground nuts, pea nuts, yams, or 
 green bananas. 
 
 While the canoes were being transported by the help of 
 Manwa Sera and neighbouring chiefs over the ground between 
 Inkisi Falls and Nzabi, Stanley explored the neighbouring 
 forests, making jottings of the remarkable trees which fell 
 under his observation ; and choosing two fine trees, well 
 adapted for his purpose, had them cut down and transformed 
 into canoes to replace those he had lost. The largest canoe, 
 of teak- wood, 54 feet long and over 2 feet wide, was launched 
 on 2 2d May. The chief of Nzabi was well rewarded for the 
 assistance rendered to Stanley with gifts of goods far exceed- 
 ing his hopes. In passing the falls of Mowa, the Lady Alice 
 had her bottom stove in. The whole expedition, journeying 
 partly by land and partly by water, had safely passed the 
 great Mowa Falls by the 27th. On this day it was discovered 
 that Uledi, the coxswain, one of the most devoted of Stanley's 
 followers, had stolen a quantity of beads from their already 
 
212 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 impoverished store. Uledi was one of the first-class men of 
 the expedition, and up to that time had saved thirteen persons 
 from drowning. It was proved against him. At the close 
 of the trial, young Saywa stepped forward, and kneeling, 
 seized his feet and embraced them, saying : * The master is 
 wise. All things that happen he writes in a book. Each 
 day there is something written. We black men know nothing, 
 neither have we any memory. What we say yesterday is 
 to-day forgotten. Yet the master forgets nothing. Perhaps," 
 if the master will look into his books, he may see something 
 in it about Uledi. How Uledi behaved on Lake Tanganyika ; 
 how he rescued Zaidi from the cataract ; how he has saved 
 many men, whose names I cannot remember, from the river, 
 Bill Ali, Mabruki, Kom-Kusi, and others ; how he worked 
 harder in the canoes 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, and many other things. 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 a half 
 of the punishment, then give Saywa the other half, and set 
 Uledi free. Saywa has spoken.' 
 
 ' Very well,' I said. ' 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 pardoned.' 
 
 Uledi, upon being released, advanced and said, ' Master, it 
 was not Uledi who stole ; it was the devil which entered into his 
 heart. Uledi will be good in future, and if he pleased his master 
 before, he will please his master much more in time to come.' 
 
HENR Y M. STANLE Y. 213 
 
 The Babwende tribe at Mowa were liberal and hospitable, 
 but easily aroused to the fighting pitch, and very superstitious. 
 Having remarked that Stanley used a note-book for observa- 
 tions, and in order to note down many native words, they 
 ascribed some evil power to its use, and, assuming a hostile 
 appearance, asked him to burn it. If he did not do it, the 
 country would waste, their goats die, their bananas rot, and 
 other evils would come upon them. Our explorer very 
 cleverly substituted a copy of Shakespeare, Chandos edition, 
 and burnt it instead of his note-book, to the immense relief 
 of the people. The neighbourhood of Mowa was rich in 
 bees -wax, about a hundredweight having been discovered 
 clinging to a lofty fragment of rock near Massassa Falls. 
 India-rubber and gum copal were also plentiful. One of their 
 very curious customs was the firing of a gun to announce a 
 death; six shots announced a child's death, ten that of a 
 woman, and fifteen that of a man. The firing is directed 
 at the bananas and palms, their belief being that the death 
 has been caused- by bad bananas or a fault in the palm 
 juice. 
 
 The Zinga Falls lay two miles below Mowa; and half-way 
 between, the Edwin Arnold river descends * in a long cascade- 
 like descent, with a sheer drop of 300 feet * into the Living- 
 stone. Its width is 50 yards, with an average depth of 3 feet. 
 The evening of 2d June Stanley spent, as usual, with Frank 
 Pocock beside him in his tent. Although suffering from 
 virulent ulcers in his feet, Frank was unusually cheerful that 
 night, while repairing tattered clothes, and the other odds and 
 ends which needed repairing connected with the expedition. 
 He sang loudly and well many a song or hymn which he had 
 learned in Rochester Church. They had now been thirty-four 
 
2i 4 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 months together, and the servant, as Stanley remarked, had 
 long ago merged into the companion. 
 
 The 3d day of June was a sad one for the expedition, for 
 on that day Frank Pocock and other three men were drowned 
 in endeavouring to descend the falls of Massassa. Having 
 halted seven days at Mowa, Stanley prepared to leave Mowa 
 for Zinga, to establish a camp above its great cataract. One 
 party, consisting of the women and children, and sixty men, 
 carrying the stores, tents, and equipments, were to travel the 
 three miles by land. Another party, consisting of the boat's 
 crew, were to pick their way carefully down the river, and, 
 on coming to Massassa, were to judge as to their ability to 
 pass the falls. Frank Pocock, being an invalid, was to re- 
 main behind until a hammock and six men should be sent to 
 carry him. Stanley arrived at a point above Zinga Falls in the 
 afternoon. Four kings were present, and hundreds of natives, 
 all anxious to see him, A hammock and breakfast for Pocock 
 were sent at 1 p.m. In the meantime, Frank Pocock had dis- 
 obeyed orders, and entered the canoe which was to make 
 down the river. When they reached the head of the falls of 
 Massassa, Frank made light of the difficulties of passing down 
 the falls, in spite of the decided opinion of Uledi that they 
 could by no means do it and live. He was the means of 
 inducing them to attempt the falls of Massassa, taunting 
 Uledi and his men that they were afraid. The result was 
 that they were hurled irresistibly downward, and plunged 
 headlong among the waves and the spray of the falls. Eight 
 of them escaped alive, and amongst those who perished was 
 Frank Pocock. Ndala, the chief, and many of the natives, 
 sympathized with the young explorer in this terrible calamity. 
 They offered him palm-wine, and showed him all the sympathy 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY. 215 
 
 ^^^_ ___^ * 
 
 they could. His own followers, the Wangwana, seemed to 
 grow benumbed, stupid, and apathetic under the calamity. 
 Stanley's own feelings are expressed in these words : ' As I 
 looked/ he says, * at the empty tent, and the dejected, woe- 
 stricken servants, a choking sensation of unutterable grief 
 filled me. The sorrow-laden mind fondly recalled the lost 
 man's inestimable qualities, his extraordinary gentleness, his 
 patient temper, his industry, cheerfulness, and his tender 
 friendship; it dwelt upon the pleasure of his society, his 
 general usefulness, his piety, and cheerful trust in our success, 
 with which he had renewed our hope and our courage ; and 
 each new virtue that it remembered only served to intensify 
 my sorrow for his loss, and to suffuse my heart with pity and 
 regret that, after the exhibition of so many admirable quali- 
 ties, and such long, faithful service, he should depart this life 
 so abruptly, and without reward.' And so Stanley sat for 
 hours upon a warm boulder near the Zinga Falls, looking 
 upwards towards the treacherous Massassa, hoping against 
 hope that it might not be true, and that he might have escaped. 
 Confirmation of the fact was received, however, eight days 
 afterwards. A fisherman, skimming a certain pool at Kilanga 
 for whitebait, was horrified to witness, floating upon the 
 water, the upturned face of a white man. 
 
 After great labour, by 19th June all the canoes were safely 
 brought down to Zinga, past the dreaded Massassa. These 
 operations had been seriously hindered at first by a mutiny 
 amongst some of the men, who declared that they would rather 
 hoe for the heathen than follow him, as the end of it would 
 surely be death. A body of them left the camp, and were 
 only made to return by using force. On 23d June, the new 
 canoe, the Livi?igstone % was carried over the Zinga Falls, and 
 
216 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 the chief carpenter, who was in it at the time, was drowned. 
 By 25th June, all the canoes of the expedition were safely 
 beyond Zinga. 'A month ago/ he enters in his journal, 'we 
 descended the Upper Mowa Falls ; it is still in sight of me, 
 being only three miles off. Three miles in thirty days, and 
 four persons drowned even in this short distance. ' 
 
 With great danger to themselves, the Lady Alice and her 
 crew shot the Mbelo Falls. These rapids were as dangerous 
 as those which the Lady Alice had sped down on a previous 
 occasion. Kelanga reached, the danger of famine impelled 
 thm towards the sea coast. Mpakambendi was reached on 
 6th July. Here the river assumed a milder aspect, being less 
 hampered by boulders and cliffy narrows. The foot of Nseuga 
 Mount was reached by 10th July. Then Nsovoka was 
 reached, and afterwards Lukalu. The warlike district of 
 Kakougo was reached on 13th July, when a market was held 
 below Matunda Falls, where bananas, pine-apples, guavas, 
 limes, onions, fish, cassava bread, ground nuts, palm-butter, 
 earthenware pots, baskets, and nets, were given in exchange 
 for beads, wire, guns, powder, and crockery. The falls of 
 Ntombo Mataka were passed on the 16th July with the 
 assistance of the natives, the Mtombo Mataka, which Mr. 
 Stanley holds to be the politest people he had met with in 
 Africa. By the 20th July, they had descended to the Mata 
 river, where they found that the natives would not part with 
 food except at extravagant prices. They employed them- 
 selves chiefly here in whitebait and minnow catching. On 
 25th July, Safeni, one of his followers, went mad with joy 
 at the news that they were not far from the sea. He said, 
 We have reached the sea ! We are home ! we are home ! 
 We shall no more be tormented by empty stomachs, and 
 
HENRY M. STANLEY, 217 
 
 accursed savages ! I am about to run all the way to the 
 sea, to tell your brothers you are coming. ' And he did run 
 off to the woods, and was never more heard of. Kilolo was 
 reached on 28th July. The gallant explorer was now way- 
 worn and weary. * The freshness and ardour of feeling with 
 which I had set out from the Indian Ocean had, by this time, 
 been quite worn away. Fevers had sapped the frame ; over- 
 much trouble had strained the spirit ; hunger had debilitated 
 the body ; anxiety preyed upon the mind. My people were 
 groaning aloud ; their sunken eyes and unfleshed bodies were 
 a living reproach to me ; their vigour was now gone, though 
 their fidelity was unquestionable ; their knees were bent with 
 weakness, and their backs were no longer rigid with the vigour 
 of youth, and life, and strength, and fire of devotion. Hollow- 
 eyed, sallow, and gaunt, unspeakably miserable in aspect, we 
 yielded at length to imperious nature, and had but one thought 
 only to trudge on for one look more at the blue ocean. ' 
 After a tolerably long stretch of calm water, they reached the 
 district of Kilolo. Here some of his followers roused the 
 wrath of the natives through stealing cassava and beans. 
 Three of them were taken prisoners, and six of his men were 
 wounded. Ali Kiboga, one of those who had been taken 
 prisoner, afterwards made his escape towards the coast, when 
 he reached Boma. From Boma he was sent to Kabinda, and 
 thence to Loanda. From the latter place he was taken to 
 St. Helena, and thence by one of Donald Currie's steamers, 
 gratuitously, to Cape Town. He was afterwards wrecked when 
 on board the Kaffir^ bound for Zanzibar, but was rescued. 
 
 By 30th July the cataract of Isangila was reached. The 
 supplies received here from the natives of Mwato Zinge, 
 Mwato Wandu, and Mbinda, were scarce and dear. They 
 
218 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 here received the good news that Embomma was distant five 
 days' journey. After deciding in his own mind that he had 
 now unmistakeably proved that the great river of Livingstone 
 had been connected with the Congo of Captain Tuckey, 
 Stanley abandoned the river route, and decided to make the 
 remainder of the journey overland. The joy amongst his 
 men was great at this news. On the 31st July the Lady Alice 
 was carried to the north of the falls and left there. The 
 following is the biography of the boat : * Three years before, 
 Messenger of Teddington had commenced her construction ; 
 two years previous to this date, she was coasting the bluffs of 
 Uzongora on Lake Victoria ; twelve months later she was 
 completing her last twenty miles of the circumnavigation of 
 Lake Tanganyika; and on the 31st July 1877, after a journey 
 of nearly 7000 miles up and down broad Africa, she was con- 
 signed to her resting-place above the Isangila cataract, to 
 bleach and to rot to dust.' The expedition was in a miserable 
 condition when it left Isangila on 1st August. Many were ill 
 with dysentery, ulcers, and scurvy \ their food was scanty and 
 bad, and they were weary and heart-sick. 
 
 Reaching the village of Nsanda, permission was received 
 from the chief to send two of his men, accompanied by 
 three from the expedition with a letter to Embomma for 
 relief. The letter explained the miserable condition of 
 the one hundred and fifteen souls, men, women, and 
 children, and asked supplies of food and cloth. Within 
 two days the fainting spirits of the men were revived by the 
 return of the messengers with relief from the agents of Hatton 
 & Cookson, the English Factory, Embomma. A procession of 
 carriers brought provisions, cloth, rice, fish, tobacco. With 
 profoundest gratitude, Mr. Stanley found, on going to his tent, 
 
HENR Y M. STANLE Y 219 
 
 that the luxuries of civilisation had not been forgotten. Sup- 
 plies of pale ale, sherry, port wine, champagne, several loaves 
 of bread, two pots of butter, tea, coffee, white loaf sugar, 
 sardines and salmon, plum-pudding, currant, gooseberry, and 
 raspberry jam. On the 999th day of his departure from 
 Zanzibar, he was met and feasted by a deputation from 
 Embomma, offered the freedom of Boma, and warmly con- 
 gratulated on the successful completion of his journey. And 
 so the wearied men staggered into Embomma, where they 
 were well fed and cared for. During his two days' stay, 
 three banquets were given in his honour. 
 
 Little remains to add. Leaving Boma in the steamer 
 Kabinda, they called at Kabinda, and received a cordial 
 welcome from Messrs. Phillips, Wills, Price, and Jones. The 
 change upon the Wangwana, from a life of trial and hardship 
 to one of ease and comfort, had a very depressing effect, and 
 many of them took ill in consequence. The expedition, after 
 an eight days' stay at Kabinda, was embarked on board a 
 Portuguese vessel for San Paulo de Loanda; the utmost- 
 courtesy and kindness were experienced from the Portuguese 
 officers towards Stanley and his men. Next embarking on 
 board the Industry for the Cape of Good Hope, they arrived 
 there on 21st October. After receiving the kindest attentions 
 there, on the 6th November they again embarked for Zanzibar, 
 arriving there on 26th November. The arrival home of the 
 Wangwana was the signal for every demonstration of happiness. 
 After settling with the survivors of the expedition, and going 
 through an affecting parting with his men, Mr. H. M. Stanley 
 sailed from Zanzibar for Aden on 13th December. The men 
 shook hands with him twenty times at parting, he believed. 
 * Rapidly, as in some apocalyptic vision,' he writes, * every 
 
2 20 FA MO US TRA VELLERS. 
 
 scene of strife with man and nature through which these poor 
 men and women had borne me company, and solaced me by 
 the simple sympathy of common suffering, came hurrying across 
 my memory ; for each face before me was associated with some 
 adventure or some peril, and reminded me of some triumph or 
 of some loss. . . . For me, too, they are heroes, these poor 
 ignorant children of Africa ; for, from the first deadly struggle 
 in savage Ituru to the last staggering rush into Embomma, 
 they had rallied to my voice like veterans, and in the hour 
 of need they had never failed me. And thus, aided by their 
 willing hands and by their loyal hearts, the expedition had 
 been successful, and the three great problems of the Dark 
 Continent's geography had been fairly solved.' 
 
 Mr. Stanley received an enthusiastic reception from the 
 Royal Geographical Society, London, and delivered lectures 
 on the work which he had accomplished in various parts of 
 the country. With his customary energy, the account of his 
 travels was written and published within a few months after 
 his arrival in this country. 
 
 Mr. Stanley has since acted as the leader of a Belgian 
 International Expedition to the Congo. This expedition is 
 of a scientific, industrial, and commercial nature, thoroughly 
 equipped with materials for constructing houses; possessing 
 wooden huts, tents, provisions, arms, and general merchandise. 
 The expedition attempts to form temporary or permanent 
 stations on the banks of the river, and is accompanied (1879) 
 by men of all trades likely to be of service. 
 
MAJOR SERPA PINTO. 
 
 HE journey performed by Major Pinto across Africa 
 in a south-eastern direction, from Benguela to 
 Natal, during 1877-79, entitles him to take high 
 rank as an adventurous and successful traveller. This journey, 
 undertaken for the sole purpose of geographical investigation, 
 was under the auspices of the Portuguese Government. 
 Immediately upon his return to Lisbon on 7th July 1879, 
 Major Pinto took an early opportunity of laying before the chief 
 geographers in London, Paris, and Brussels, the details of his 
 remarkable journey. He appeared at the meeting of the 
 British Association held at Sheffield in August, reading a paper 
 in the Geographical section. In a letter submitted to Lord 
 Northbrook, President of the Council of the Royal Geographi- 
 cal Society, on 16th July 1879, ne g ave a brief narrative of 
 his travels, of which we present a condensed account. 
 
 Starting from Benguela, on the Atlantic coast, Major Pinto 
 reached Bihe, a native settlement in the interior, notifying as 
 he went the position of rivers, mountains, and villages, the 
 chief of which, subject to Portuguese rule, are Quillengues 
 and Caconda. In May 1878 he left Bihe, travelling east- 
 south-east, with a view of reaching the Zambesi, and deter- 
 
 221 
 
222 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 mining its hydrographical system. The country which forms 
 the southern limit of the Benguelan highlands he found stood 
 5000 feet above sea level, and was well adapted for purposes 
 of agriculture. Indeed, this is the district which of all tropical 
 Africa he considers best adapted for European colonization. 
 After leaving Bihe, owing to circumstances alien to the wishes 
 of the Portuguese Government, his journey had to be performed 
 on his own resources, he and his party supporting themselves 
 by hunting, with occasional help from friendly natives. His 
 hunting exploits and adventures are fully related in the book 
 of travels which he has published. 
 
 Before reaching Bihe, Pinto found the Cubango river taking 
 its rise to the west of that place, instead of to the east, as usually 
 stated. This river receives on the east a great affluent, the Cuito, 
 which unites its waters with the Cubango at a place called 
 Darico. The Cuando, called Chobe by Livingstone, takes its 
 rise east of the river Cuito, in latitude 13 and longitude 19 e. 
 Pinto terms it a fine large navigable river, watering a great extent 
 of inhabited and fertile country. The Cuando also receives 
 several great affluents as navigable as itself. It was in this 
 region, covered in with forests, where the elephant still abounds, 
 that Major Pinto met the Mucassequeres, a tribe of Ethiopian 
 origin, of a yellowish-white colour. They are described as 
 nomadic, and perfectly savage, spending their time in wander- 
 ing continually in the region between the Cuando and the 
 Cubango. 
 
 In his remarks before the Geographical section of the 
 British Association, he mentioned another strange example of 
 the mixture of races he found in a people who, though black, 
 had Caucasian features, many of whom, but for their colour, 
 would have been considered great beauties in this country. 
 
MAJOR SERF A PINTO. 223 
 
 The Bihe district was inhabited, he said, by a mixed race who 
 had come there about a hundred years ago for elephant shooting, 
 and who were as pure Africans as were the Zulus of the south. 
 There the dwellings were square in shape, a sure sign of some 
 civilisation. Their cooking was good, and so well could they 
 work in iron that they converted for him a number of iron 
 hoops into rifle balls. Their courageous character was ex- 
 emplified by the fact that they sometimes went to hunt 
 elephants with bows and arrows, the latter having reed shafts. 
 The Major also gave an amusing account of the coiffures of 
 both men and women. A beauty in Bihe, it appeared, takes 
 about four or five days to complete her coiffure, but then it 
 lasts about six months. 
 
 The country above mentioned is very fertile, inhabited as it 
 is by people of a docile character, susceptible of development, 
 and remarkably fond of dress, which Major Pinto considers 
 augurs well for the after consumption of European manu- 
 factures. They are governed absolutely by independent rulers, 
 and although belonging to different races, they constitute 
 confederations. No missionary had been amongst them, and 
 Major Pinto, who was well received, was the first European 
 they had seen. In travelling eastward the Liambi is the first 
 river met with beyond the Cuando. Livingstone had previously 
 visited this river. Between the 16th parallel of latitude and 
 the Victoria Falls, a distance of 220 geographical miles, the 
 river has seventy-two cataracts and rapids. Livingstone had 
 predicted the extinction of the Makololo tribe in this part of 
 Africa, and Major Pinto was able to confirm and verify this 
 prediction : it is this same people, he remarks, bearing the 
 name of Makololos, in former times so brave, and later on so 
 weakened from the effects of fevers in the marsh lands of the 
 
224 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS. 
 
 Chobe and Zambesi, abased by licentiousness, and enfeebled 
 by the use of bang, who are at last put to death by the assegais 
 of the Luinas. The Makololo race has thus ceased to have 
 a separate existence. Whilst on the Zambesi, Major Pinto 
 had an opportunity of meeting Mochuana, who had been 
 Livingstone's companion on his journey to Loanda, and to 
 this man he owed his life. 
 
 South of the Zambesi and the Cuando, the land surface of 
 the country exhibited a rich vegetation, but as far as popula- 
 tion was concerned was but a desert. In travelling here Major 
 Pinto met a Portuguese naturalist, Dr. Benjamin Bradshaw, 
 a clever sportsman, living principally upon game and in selling 
 his specimens to the dwellers in the Diamond Fields. 
 
 In company with the family of a French missionary, the 
 Coillards, who showed him much kindness, the journey was 
 made from the Zambesi to the Bamangwato country, where 
 they visited the famous Makarikari, the enormous basin into 
 which run and are evaporated the waters of many different 
 African rivers flowing from different points. There ends the 
 Botletle, which, he says, is nothing else than the Cubango, 
 after having made its passage through Lake N'gami. Sho- 
 shong he found to be the chief town of the Bamangwato. 
 From this place he journeyed to Pretoria, and from Pretoria to 
 Natal, in company with a young English officer, Lieutenant 
 Barker. To the country which he crossed between the 
 Botletle and the Zambesi, he gave the name of Baines' Desert, 
 in memory of Thomas Baines, w r ho had laboured and worked 
 amidst great privations for the exploration of Southern Africa. 
 
 THE END. 
 

 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 
 
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 90ct' S!iu 
 
 REC'D LD 
 
 MAR 10 1967-1 
 R EC El V E 
 
 MAR 1'67 
 
 LOAN OEPT 
 
 LD 21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476