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THE WORLD'S WONDERS,
AS SEEN BY THE GREAT
Tropical and Polar Explorers.
BEING AN
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXPLORATION, DISCOVERY AND ADVENTURE
IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD,
AND A HISTORY OF SAVAGE RACES OF MEN, CURIOUS AND FEROCIOUS
ANIMALS, STRANGE AND DEADLY SERPENTS AND REPTILES
WIERD FORESTS, MYSTERIOUS GROWTHS, AND
MARVELOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA.
EMBRACING EVERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY AND ADVENTURE IN THE EXPLORATIONS OF
SUCH DISTINGUISHED TRAVELERS AS SPEKE AND GRANT, SIR SAMUEL BAKER
AND WIFE. LIVINGSTONE, STANLEY, DU CHAILLU, WALLACE, LONG,
SQUIER, GORDON, &C., &C., IN TROPICAL WILDS;
ALSO OF SUCH RENOWNED HEROES OF ARCTIC RESEARCH AS SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, DR.
KANE, DR. HAYES, CAPT. HALL, LIEUT. SCHWATKA, DE LONG, AND MANY
OTHERS; WITH A FULL AND OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE
GREELY EXPEDITION AND ITS DISASTROUS RESULTS
BY J. W. BUEL,
Author of " Travels in Russia and Siberia," " Heroes of the Plains" drv., &*c.
SPLENDIDLY EMBELLISHED WITH
TWO HUNDRED BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS
FHOM DESIGNS BY TIIK EXPLORERS THEMSELVES.
" Such hooks teach most valuable lessons of self-control, patience and courage." Christian
Intelligencer.
"We cannot conceive of a more useful hook than this romantic record to put In the hands.of
young peo
dime novel
young people. Give them facts In proper setting, aud they will have little taste for
els." Christian Advocate.
Such works are not onlv entertaining and informing, but their whole atmosphere is brmc-
lng.---.Vw York Observer.
SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.
PUBLISHED BY
.1. DEWING & COMPANY,
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.
Copyright, 1884*
by
j. w. NORTH.
Stack
Aantt
6
INTRODUCTORY.
THE great and universal need of an encyclopedia of travel and
discovery, and a compendium of the most remarkable natural
wonders of the world, has prompted the production of this
book. In it I have attempted to combine the discoveries and
adventures of all the noted travelers and explorers in Tropical
and Arctic fields, and in so doing to also furnish a history and
description of the animals, reptiles, birds, and savage races of
men, in all parts of the world, not omitting the natural phe-
nomena peculiar to the Tropics and the Arctic regions.
In the restless and ambitious disposition of mankind there is
more than curiosity, or a misdirected desire for familiarity with
remote or insular phases of nature, for there is also that more
wisely considerate wish for such extended knowledge as not alone
gratifies curiosity, but which stimulates and energizes an am-
bition to extend the domain of civilization, with its attendant
resources and comforts.
In the preparation of a work so comprehensive in scope, it
was necessary to give careful perusal to scores of standard publi-
cations, and to collate with critical discrimination from them all ;
for condensation was imperative, and yet every interesting or
valuable incident found in the histories from which this is com-
piled, must needs find place in its appropriate narrative. The
principal authors consulted on Tropical discovery are : Dr. Liv-
ingstone, Sir Samuel Baker, Capts. Speke and Grant, Stanley,
DuChaillu, Wallace, Squier, Long, Cummings, and many other?
IV INTRODUCTORY.
of less note, while in describing Polar exploration, free use has
been made of the works of such distinguished explorers as Sit
John Franklin, Capt. McClintock, Dr. Kane, Dr. Hays, Capt.
Hall, Lieut. Schwatka, Lieut. DeLong, Lieut. Greely, and
others.
The matter of this book does not pretend to originality, save as
an attempt to combine a very large number of books into one
Volume, so arranged as to give clearly the important adventures
and discoveries of all the renowned travelers of the past several
centuries. In this it may be properly classed as an original
work and one of inestimable value, particularly to the young,
since for them it must possess such interest as to lead them from
the vicious literature of the day and inculcate a desire for whole-
some reading, and an ambition to- learn more of the wonders of
the world, the rounds to that mystic ladder which reaches up-
ward from nature unto nature's God.
This book is intended to occupy a place in the literature of
travel, adventure and exploration that is tilled by encyclopedias
of general knowledge, and its mission is to not only instruct, but
also to inspire a lofty courage and generous ambition in the
hearts of men, to the end that dark places may become lighted
by the lamp of a wise intelligence, and the whole earth be
reclaimed and made fruitful with the blessings of a perfect
civilization.
J. W. BUEL.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
Village of the Malay Archipelago 8
Beautiful Birds of Paradise 10
The Baby Mias 12
Battle with a Mias 14
Skull of the Pig Deer 16
A Struggle with a Python 18
Making Sago 20
Native Men of the Malay Archipelago 22
Native Papuan 23
ADyak Girl 24
A Brazilian Forest 32
Steamship and Water-Spout 36
Volcanic Eruption in Island of Java.. 38
Descendants of the Ancient Peruvians 47
Forest along the Amazon River 52
The Two-Horned Rhinoceros 63
Close Quarters 65
A Lucky Shot 66
Sirboko and his Slaves 69
The Royal Musicians 72
Speke and the Rhinoceros Head 76
" N'Yanzziging" to a Superior 80
Mtesa and his Dog 85
Leading a Wife to Execution 89
Licking up the Pombe 91
Capt. Speke saves the Queen's Life.. 94
Mtesa Reviewing his Army 96
The Palace Guards at Dinner 98
The Rain-Doctor receives his Reward. 107
Kamrasi on his Throne 108
The Frolicsome Dwarf no
Mohamed's Return 1 16
Sir Samuel Baker and his Wife 122
Drawing the Hippopotamus Ashore.. 129
The Chief and his Daughter 132
A Shir Village and Man and Woman. 134
Baker Entertains Sptke and Grant 140
Baker quells the Mutiny 155
Latooka Funeral Dance 160
Hunting Large Game 164
Chased by a mad Elephant 166
The old Sorcerer on his Travels 1 74
Latooka Natives and Village 177
Kamrasi's Men manifest their Delight.i85
" The Devil's Own" 190
Native Band and Musical Instruments. 197
Kamrasi's Audience Chamber 202
Page.
Brewing and Drinking Pombe 204
A Savage Dance 211
Killing a Crocodile 224
Slave Gang 226
Terrible fate of the Blind Gheik 223
The savages driving the cattle off. 236
Towing the Crocodile ashore 239
Elephants in the river 241
Elephant shaking down fruit , 24-?
Music-charmed savages 248
Kabba Rega comes in state 251
The Bonosoora 261
Fight with the Natives 26?
Ambushed at every hill 268
Spearing game in the net 272
The Drive of Game 274
Women assisting in the Hunt 276
Charge of the Lioness 278
Defeat of Wat-el-Mek's party 281
Dr. David Livingstone 284
Livingstone Attacked by a Lion .... 287
Scene of the Grand Hunt 289
Feasting after the Hunt 291
Women filling egg-shells with water. .293
Three Lions attack a Buffalo 299
A Buffalo Cow Killing a Lion 301
Hippopotami and young. 306
Wedding Dance of Angola Girls 31^
Attacked by a Mad Hippopotamus.. .320
Victoria Falls 322
Frightened Buffaloes 329
Native African Family 332
Traveling Overland in Africa 335
Terrible Fight with a Leopard 346
Slaves Abandoned to Die 351
A Royal Wedding 357
Livingstone visiting the Cave-Dwellers. 36 1
Animals fleeing from an Overflow .... 363
Ca ching Ants for Food 372
Fight with Sokos 379
Manyuema Warriors 380
Arabs murdering Natives 385
Livingstone waylaid in the Jungle 387
Crossing the Water 392
The Last Day's March 395
Wasting Cartridges on Hippopotami. .405
Women Working in the Fields 407
vi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
The Slave Gang 409
Traveling by 'Water 414
Wagogo Warriors 422
Taking"Dowa" 428
The Hunter's Paradise 430
The Mutiny in Camp 432
Dr. Livingstone Found 436
Stanley and the Friendly Elephant .... 440
A Moment of Peril 443
Natural Bridge Island 449
Mtesa and his Principal Officers 454
Human Sacrifices 457
Mtesa's Council Chamber 465
The High Priest 470
Stanley's War Boat 472
Watuta Warrior 475
Types of Manyuema 479
The Manyuema Village 481
Lip Ring and Peculiar Hair Dressing. 483
Horrible Feast of the Cannibals ,485
Native Blacksmiths 490
Dragging the Boats around the Rapids.49i
Cannibal Warriors seen by Stanley. . .496
A Cannibal Village 598
A Fight on the River 501
King Chumbiri 503
One of Chumbiri's Wives 503
Women of Ngoyo Fishing 508
The Expedition atNsanda 510
Shooting the Gorilla 516
The Cannibal King 518
Adventure with a Snake 523
The Leopard and the Buffalo 525
King Bango and his Subjects 527
Tossed by a Buffalo 529
Capture of a Baby Gorrilla 531
The Nest-Building Ape 533
Leopard and Crocodile Fighting 535
The Witch Doctor 537
Gorilla breaking the Gun 539
Gorilla striking the Hunter 541
Gorillas surprised in a Fores 543
Gorilla Dance 548
A Cannibal Queen in Battle 550
Native Women Mourning 552
Beheading Victims of Witchcraft 554
Du Chaillu and the Dwarfs 556
The Great King Munza 558
Carrying a Snake into Camp 500
Bird's-Eye View of Victoria Falls. . . . 562
Sir John Franklin 569
Ships Frozen Up 572
Page.
The Jeannette 579
Lieut. Greely 583
Highest Northern Point Reached 588
Lieut Greely 's Dog Sledge 594
The Camp in the Snow 597
Elison Succumbing on the March 599
Death of Sergeant Rice 606
Sinking of Capt. Leigh Smith's Ship 610
Discovery of the Frozen Elephant .... 637
Dr. Kane's Ship and Sledge Parties.. 642
Esquimau Dogs 645
Types of Esquimaux 647
Esquimau Woman and Child 649
Inside an Esquimau Igloo 650
Sailors Killing Seals with Clubs 652
Esquimaux Hunting Seals 654
Shooting Seals from behind a Screen . .656
The Bear and Dr. Kane's Dogs 658
The Dead Bear and her Cubs 660
A Sociable Bear 662
Fight between Bears and a Walrus. . .664
Battle with a Walrus 668
Hunting Reindeer
Hunting Musk-Oxen 67
Arctic Ptarmigan 683
Woman Fishing through the Ice 691
Serpentine Aurora 693
Wonderful Aurora seen by Capt. 1 1 nil. 695
Iceberg seen by Capt. Ross 700
Dr. Kane's Ship in Drift-Ice 702
Dr. Kane's Perilous Journey 708
Huts on the Ice-Floe 710
Esquimau Joe going for the Seal 712
Joe and Hans killing the Bear 714
A Night of Horror 716
Rescue of Capt. Tyson's Party 718
The Netchillik Ambassadress 722
Schwatka on King William's Land... 724
Tennyson's Monument 726
Esquimaux meeting Dr. Hayes 728
An Esquimau Dandy 731
An Esquimau Sledge 733
Dr. Hayes and his Savage Visitors 735
Discovery of the Boat and Skeletons. .741
Driftingto Death 743
Wreck of the "Jeannette" 754
Separation of the Boats 758
Landing of DeLong's Boat 7
Huts of Siberian Exiles 762
Melville's Search Party - - 764
Discovery of DeLong's Body 766
Grave of DeLong and Companions.. . . 767
CONTENTS.
THE TROPICAL WORLD.
THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. Indescribable Beauties Hunting the Orang-Utaa
Fights between the Mias and the Crocodile How the Mias Kills the Python
Man-Eating Tigers The Lombock Suicides The Pig-Deer of Celebes Adventure
with a Python Birds of Paradise Making Cakes of the Sago Palm The Papuan
People Their Remarkable Honesty Absence of all Religious Belief New Guinea,
the Unexplored A Primitive Clock Wonderful Gold Fields 925
CHAPTER I. Buckle's observations on Brazil Opposite effects of the sun Ferocious
Beasts and deadly Diseases Ocean Vapors Electrical effects of Vapors Cause of
the Peculiar taste of Rain-water The Great Equatorial Currents How they are Pro-
ducedThe Great Gulf Stream. Its Direction and Effect on Climate What led
Columbus to Continue Westward Remarkable Effects of Ocean Currents on the
Coast of Alaska Great Air Currents How they are Produced Deluges in Brazil
The Change of Seasons Tornadoes, Whirlwinds, Cyclones and Water-spouts The
Great Hurricane of 1866 Formation of Whirlwinds and Cyclones Two Theories as
to how Islands are formed Wonderful Coral Islands The Great Coral Sea-
People, Animals, Birds and Vegetation 25 41
THAPTER II. The Great Plateau and its Wonders The Great Condor Ascending
thg Wonderful Puna At an Altitude where fire is Quenched Insensibility Produced
by rarified Air Precautions to be taken in Ascending Great Mountains Water-fowls
in the Lagoons Close Proximity of Winter and Summer The Sacred Lake Titicaca
The Sacred Island A Beautiful Legend City of the Sun Civilization and wealth
of the Incas The Sacred Rock of Manco Capac Footprints of a God Fountain of
the Incas The Vale of Imperial Delights Wonderful Ruins of a Palace built by the
Deity 1,200 Miles of Roadway built of large square stones A Wonderful Ancient
Postal Service Wonders of Mexico and Central America Ancient Paintings, and
Exquisite Statuary Is our present Civilization Equal to that of Ancient Peru Does
Civilization Rise and Fall like the Tides of the Sea Proofs that it does The Won-
derful Amazon River Its Length, Depth, and Characteristics Great Tidal Waves
Reptiles in its waters Ferocious Beasts And their Peculiarities 4154
1
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
AFRICA.
CHAPTER III. Ancient Discoveries The most Wonderful of all Countries Ancient
Splendor of North Africa Birth place of the Cross and Crescent Earliest Explora-
tions John Ogilby's History Ancient Literature Concerning Africa Disadvantages
of Native Africans The Wonders of Egypt The People Infamous Laws Building
of the Pyramids and other Great Undertakings The Slave Mark which Ham bore
Modern travels through Africa The Source of the Nile known two Centuries ago
Wonders of the Nile EXPLORATIONS OF CAPTAINS SPEKE AND GRANT
Preparations for the Journey The Scientific Requirements of an Expedition First
Sight of Hippopotami Traces of big Game The people of Ugogo A Rhinoceros
Hunt Shooting by Moonlight A Grotesque Scene Another Rhinoceros Hunt 1
Hunting Buffaloes Three Exciting Encounters Fifty Lashes for Desertion Hold-
ing a King Accountable Recruiting the Force The Land of the Moon 54 67
CHAPTER IV. Between two Fires Manua Sera, the Guerilla Chief Seeking
Speke's Aid Meeting with an old Friend ; Queen of a Tribe Liberation of a Slave
Circumcision among the Natives King Rumanika The old King's Delight Fat
Wives Entertained by Native Musicians Deciding the Right to Rule by Magic A
Mystic Drum and three Mighty Maggots Burying five Maidens and fifty Cows wiih
a dead King More Magical tests Freaks of a Spirit-directed Thunderbolt More
Rhinoceros Hunting- A Magic Gun A Narrow Escape Pigmies and Giants
Savage Royalty How Subjects Manifest their Loyalty Drilling with a Red-hot Iron
Presentation of young Virgins The Royal Magicians The King's Magic Horn
Killing Subjects for looking at the King A Sport-loving Boy King Shooting a man
for fun Visit to the King Only a Woman Shot Shooting Birds by Magic Mtesa
Dressed like an Organ-grinder's Monkey Executions every day A Monstrously fat
Queen Savage Cruelties Sentences of An old Man and a young Girl Horrible death
of one of the King's Officers Cutting a. Page's ears off Captain Speke saves the
Queen's life The King Reviewing his Army Grant's Arrival with Supplies Sacri-
fice of a child Departure of the Expedition for U^yoro 67 100
CHAPTER V. Hard Travelling to reach the Nile Among Crocodiles and Hippopot-
ami A wonderful Country Discovering the Nile's Source The Victoria N'yanza
A Fight on the Lake Carbine against Spears An Klephant Hunt Dogs witb
Horns Kidgwiga's Wonderful Stories Feasting on Mountains, Lakes and Human
Flesh A Wonderful Sorcerer How he Found a Stolen Water gauge Meeting witb
King Kamrasi Another Royal Beggar Kamrasi's old Maid S-isters Offering to cuJ
j up four Wives for Amusement Delays and Broken Promises African Twins Thf
queer Dwarf Buying Liberty from Kamrasi Departure of the Expedition fot
Madi 101 ur
CHAPTER VI. Down the Kafu River in Canoes A Pleasant Journey A Wise Man
of Africa Instruments for killing Elephants Remarkable Fish Visit to Chongi
Ceremony of the Meeting Naked people A Happy Meeting not Wholly Unalloyed
Mahamed, a Tarkish Trader An old Scoundrel How Mahamed outwitted Speke
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 3
An Interesting Hunt; Rhinoceri, Buffaloes and Elands In close Quarters again
Joy of the Villagers over a Supper of Meat Journey to Gondokoro Meeting with
Sir Samuel Baker Splendid News Speke's Conclusions Only Eighteen Faithful
out of Three Hundred The Net Results of Speke's Expedition What may be said
in favor of Speke 111121
EXPEDITION OF SIR SAMUEL BAKER.
CHAPTER VII. Off for the Nile Mrs. Baker Accompanies her Husband " Whithei
Thou goest I will go" Preparations for the Journey at Berber Difficulties A
Fight The first Death A Fatal Buffalo Hunt Meeting with a Strange People-
Charcoal Smokers Novel Contest with a Hippopotamus Ludicrous Argument
among the Blacks Another strange Race of People Starving in the midst of plenty
Living on Lizards and Snakes Harpooning fish A Kytch Chief and his pretty
Daughter Naked Savages Fighting Black Amazons The Aliab Tribe Descrip-
tion of their Homes and Manners of life The Shir Tribe Quaint Costumes for
naked People The Women and Warriors '.121135
CHAPTER VIII. Arrival at Gondokoro Characteristics of the Bari Tribe Their
dress and weapons Poisoned Arrows Terrible effects of an Arrow Wound Victim s
for Crocodiles Fight between Baker and a Mutineer A Troublesome Bird Moham-
med's Treachery A Dreadful Plot Discovered A little Boy's Nerve and Faithful-
ness Cruel Treatment of two Slave Women An Apollo Chief Going to the Latooka
Country Opposed by Turkish Traders Curious Natives The Monkey and the
Negroes Legge the Chief, and how he made himself " at home " Dead Men's
Bones Chief Moy and his pretty wife A Funeral Dance 136 147
CHAPTER IX. On the March to Latooka Two Lucky Deserters A Disgusting
Repast Besieged by Curious Natives The Friendly Humpback Mrs. Baker is
declared to be a boy A Monkey and old Ibrahim Making terms with Ibrahim
The Bari People Through a Game Country Lions and Buffaloes Arrival at Latome
A big Turkish row A terrible Prophesy Its Fulfillment Baker hailed as a Great
Magician A Plentiful crop of Dead Men's bones Threatened Attack An African
Prince's Argument on the Hereafter Elephant Hunting Three Narrow Escapes in
one day..... 147169
CHAPTER X. The Cannibals Power of a Royal Sorcerer A fine old Chief Poison
Yams Strange Customs Baboons and Giraffes A Monster Snake Killing a
Jumbo Elephant Wild Boars A visit of State Departure for Unyoro Reception
by King Kamrasi Sick and troubled The R^yal Beggar 169 188
CHAPTER XI. Departure for the Lake Kamrasi proposes an exchange of wives
A Satanic Guard An hour of Sorest Trial Life out of Death Discovery of Albert'
Lake Salt Making in Africa A Sail on the Lake Ascending the Somerset River '
Meeting with a Spurious King Kamrasi begs Baker to Fight his Battles A Great'
Battle Kamrasi in a Cowardly Retreat 188 209
CHAPTER XII. Adieu to Kamrasi Man's Inhumanity Cruelties of the Slave
Hunters Homeward March A Sad Scene Attacked by Bari Savages The Boats
are Gone The Plague In a Boat with Death Poor little Saat Arrival at Khar-
toum Net Results of Baker's Expedition 210219
4 THE WORLD'S WOJSDEBS.
BAKER'S SECOND EXPEDITION INTO AFRICA.
CHAPTER XIII. Suppression of the Slave Trade Purposes and Equipment of the
Second Expedition Departure of the Fleet Attacked by a Hippopotamus Fine
Sport along the River Liberating Slaves A Hippopotamus Kills a Man Capture
of a Slaver Attacked by a Vicious Hippopotamus 220234
CHAPTER XIV. Arrival at Gondokoro An Attack by the Bari's Soldiers Eaten
by Crocodiles Elephants and Hippopotami Starting for the Albert N'Yanza
Wonderful Strength of the Elephant In a Nest of Slave Hunters Establishing a
Government A Wonderful Rain-Maker A Dangerous Lump of Iron Music-
Charmed Savages King Kabba Rega Suspicions Tortures Inflicted by Slave
Hunters A Royal Funeral 234256
CHAPTER XV. Traffic in Slaves A Loving Father Kabba Rega's Bonosoora A
Wonderful Entertainment Treachery and a Great Battle Cutting their Way
Through A Curious Bird Meeting with Rionga The Cannibals A Great Hunt-
How the' Natives Care for their Babies Adventure With a Lioness A Peaceful Gov-
ernment Return to Gondokoro Results of the Expedition 257 283
LIVINGSTONE'S TRAVELS IN AFRICA.
CHAPTER XVI. Missionary Service and First Adventure Stricken Down by a Lion
Entrapping Large Game The Hoppo Crossing an African Desert Wonderful
Plants of the Desert A Beautiful Mirage Diseases of Lions and other Animals A
Thrilling Incident Serpents Some of the Most Dangerous in Africa Vicissitudes
' of Missionary Service Ludicrous Scenes at Church 283 307
CHAPTER XVII. Dangers from Alligators Among Female Chiefs An Amusing
Show How Shinte Proved his Love The Magic Ox African Etiquette Among
the Angolas Wonderful Insects Fatal Superstitions Dread of White Men Nar-
row Escape from a Buffalo Capsized by a Hippopotamus Victoria Falls Curious
Friendship among Animals and Birds The Mother Elephant and her Calf Tossed
by a Buffalo Superstition respecting Albinos Settling Disputes 307 331
LIVINGSTONE'S SECOND EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XVIII. Noble Purposes of a Great Man Laughing Rats Wild Dogs-
Hippopotamus Attacked by Alligators Death of Mrs. Livingstone Exploration of
the Rovuma River A Dreadful Sight Results of Livingstone's Second Expe-
dition 331343
LIVINGSTONE'S THIRD JOURNEY.
CHAPTER XIX. Search for the Nile's Source An Important Commission Land-
ing the Animals Fearful Fight with a Leopard Strange Customs Horrible Scenes
Carried Off by a Lion and a Crocodile The Honey-Bird Arrival at Lake Tangan-
ika Marriage a la Africa Village of Casembe African Pomp and Splendor A
Chief who Crops the Ears and Hands of his Subjects The Troglodytes 343363
CHAPTER XX. Punishment for Unfaithfulness A Grave by the Wayside Discov-
ery of Lake Bangweolo In Trouble Killing Prisoners Arrival at Ujiji A Journey
into the Manyuema Country Among the Tree Dwellers and Cannibals A Singing
Frog and Milk Giving Fish A Soko Hunt Description of the Soko and its Habits
A Marvellously Ignorant People, 364382
tan WORLD'S WONDERS. 5
CHAPTER XXI. Description of the People A Dreadful Massacre Cannibals
Caught in the Act Meeting with Stanley Explorations with Stanley Taking Leave
of Stanley Domestic Life in Africa A Terrible March Painful Illness The End
Comes Dead in an Attitude of Prayer African Honors to the Noble Dead Em-
balming the Body Enroute for Zanzibar Buried at Westminster Abbey .. 382 400
STANLEY'S TRAVELS IN AFRICA.
CHAPTER XXII. In Search of Livingstone An Astounding Order Organizing for
the Journey Enroute for the Interior Death of Stanley's Horses Calamities Begin
The Belles of Kisemo Tidings of Livingstone A Wonderful City The Sul-
tana's Revenge A Terrible March A Fight A Handsome People Entering
Ugogo A Curious Incident In a Mob Arrival at Unyanyembe 401 419
CHAPTER XXIII. Ethnographical Features The More Remarkable Tribes of
Africa The Wonderful Wagogo People Their Superstitions and Fighting Propen-
sities The Wahimbu Agriculturists Singular Punishment for Murder Treatment
cf Witches An African Napoleon 420 426
CHAPTER XXIV. A Sore March Death of Shaw Surprised at the Sight of a
White Man Taking "Dowa" A Hunter's Paradise Narrow Escape From a
Crocodile A Donkey Seized by a Leopard The Monkeys and the Wild Boar
News from Livingstone Meeting with Livingstone Joint Exploration of Tangan-
ika Lake Off for Unyanyembe Adventure With an Elephant The Separation
The Pomp and Circumstance of War Tough Traveling English Jealousy Return
to England 426 445
STANLEY'S SECOND EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XXV. Promptings Which Led to His Second Journey The Herald
and London Telegraph Departure for the Interior Death of Edward Pocock
On the Victoria Nyanza Encounter with Wild Natives An Appearance of Amia-
bility Surprising Belligerent Natives King Mtesa's Invitation to Stanley Mtesa
Welcomes Stanley Human Sacrifices A Liberal Giver A Grand Review Stan-
ley's Impressions of the King Converts Him to Christianity A Sham Naval Battle
Resumption of the Lake Voyage Attacked by the Savages of the Lake Death
of Fred Barker. '. 446461
CHAPTER XXVI. Lukongeh, the King Some Wonderful Superstitions Curious
Modes of Salutation A Wonderful Crocodile A Fierce Battle War in Africa A
Great Naval Battle A Fantastic Priest Stanley's War-BoatSome Native Stories
Mirambo, the Bandit King 461 4751
CHAPTER XXVIL Circumnavigating Tanganika Lake The Wabembe Cannibals
Kind Treatment at a Cannibal Village Savage Dwarfs and Ferocious Cannibals
A Terrible Story Marching Upon the Cannibals A Village of Skulls Human
Meat A Dwarf Captured Cannibals Again A Hospitable King Into the Un-
known Fierce Battles on Livingstone River The Terrible " Bo-Bos" Boy and
Woman Attacked by a Python Drowning of Kalulu A Fine Old King Awful
Death of Frank Pocock Threatened With Starvation Saved in Time Return to
Zanzibar Home Receptions. 4765"
6 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ADVENTURES OF PAUL B. DuCHAILLU.
CHAPTER XXVIII. DuChaillu, the Hunter and Naturalist In the Haunts of Go-
rillas and Serpents Stories about Gorillas On the Hunt Shooting his First Gorilla
Horrible Aspect of the Gorilla A Visit among the Fan Cannibals Shocking
Sights Graveyard Ghouls The Fan Iron Workers 51 1520
CHAPTER XXIX. Adventure with an Enormous Serpent Adventure with a
Leopard A Curious Superstition Tossed by a Buffalo Visit to King Bango Cap-
ture of a Young Gorilla Its Ferocious Disposition Hunting the Nest-Building Ape
Curious Creatures Fight between a Leopard and Crocodile A Witch Doctor A
Gorilla Hunt Killed by a Gorilla Habits of the Gorilla The Gorrilla Dance A
Cannibal Queen Carnivorous Ants Elephants Fleeing Before Them Executions
for Witchcraft Horrible Sights A Leopard seizes a Buffalo A Nation of Dwarfs
The Great King Munza Adventure with a Boa Constrictor 520561
THE POLAR REGIONS.
CHAPTER XXX. Summary of Polar Expeditions John and Sebastian Cabot, the
First to Make a Voyage toward the Pole Important Discoveries Wonderful Ruins
in Greenland Icelandic Civilization The Sir John Franklin Expedition Voyages
Undertaken for his Relief Dr. Hayes and Dr. Kane Shipwreck and Death Dis-
astrous Voyage of the " Jeannette" Fate of DeLong Schwatka's Search Party
Fate of the Franklin Party finally Determined 563 581
THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XXXI. Purposes of the Greely Expedition Names of the Members-
Sketch of Greely The Departure The Highest Point Ever Reached Lockwood's
Achievement A Wonderful Sight Dispovery of Lake Hazen Discipline in Camp
Ruins of an Ancient Village 582595
CHAPTER XXXII. The Return From Fort Conger Indescribable Sufferings Poor
Jo Elison Feet and Fingers Frozen Off Execution of Private Henry Charity for
the Starving A Lecture Official Report of Henry's Execution Death by Starva-
tion Resort to Cannibalism Pangs of Hunger Stop the Sense of Reason The
Cloak of Charity 595608
CHAPTER XXXIII. Efforts to Relieve Greely Voyage of the Neptune Failure-
Voyage of the Proteus and Yantic Sinking of the Proteus Expedition of the Bear,
Thetis, and Alert Discovery of the Greely Party A Joyful Meeting Saved by the
Grace of God "For God's Sake, Let Me Die in Peace" The Dead Shocking
Sights Arrival at St. Johns How the Bodies Were Prepared England Excited
Over the Rescue Welcoming the Heroes Home Meeting of Greely with His
Wife Reports of Cannibalism Proven Exhumation of Lieut: Kislingbury Awful
Revelations What Might Have Been Earning Honors 608 631
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 7
WONDERS OF THE ARCTIC WORLD.
CHAPTER XXXIV. Mystery, Fable and Marvellous Facts Stories of the Arctic
Siren and Phantom Ship Symmes' Theory of a Hollow Earth Some Novel Facts-
Proofs of an Open Polar Sea Change of Climate through Ice Formations Green-
land once the Seat of a Great Empire History of the Famous Symmes Theory
Tropical Animals found in the Arctic Regions The Frozen Elephant Esquimau
Dogs Their Habits and Manner of Training Interesting Facts about Them Ef-
fects of an Arctic Night Newfoundland Dogs Life and Habits o'/the Esquimaux
Obedienoe of Children Absence of Law Marriages Murder of Female Children
Polygamy Exchange and Borrowing of Wives Manner of Dress How their
Huts are Made Life in an Igloo Queer Ways of Eating Making Fire.. 632 651
CHAPTER XXXV. Seal Hunting Habits of the Seal How it is Captured by Es-
quimaux Perils Capt. Hall's Battle with a Seal Hunting the Polar Bear Peculiar
Methods employed by Natives to Kill it A Savage Contest A Bear raids Dr. Kane's
Vessel Tossing the Dogs Another Battle with a Bear An Ugly Visitor in Camp-
Habits of the Polar Bear Adventures with the Walrus An Exciting Walrus Hunt
Battle between Walrus and Bears A Dreadful Struggle The Reindeer Its useful
Habits and Enemies The Musk Ox Arctic Foxes Mosquitoes and Gnats Arctic
Birds The Great Sea Eagle Voracious Gulls 65 1684
CHAPTER XXXVI. Inhabitants of the Arctic Deep Teeming with Life Wonders
of the Whale The Most Marvellous of All Animals How It Nurses Its Young Its
Habits Generally Adventure with a Whale The Norwhal Its Wonderful Tusk
The Dolphin How It is Killed by Greenlanders Arctic Sharks The Grampus, the
Tiger of the Arctic Seas 684692
CHAPTER XXXVIL Natural Phenomena of the Arctic Regions Marvellous Beau-
lies of Nature The Aurora Its Cause Wonderful Aurora seen by Capt. Hall'
Mock Moons Colored Snow Icebergs and Wonderful Ice-Formations Tussle of
- the Giants How Icebergs are Formed Kane's Narrow Escape Wonderful Adven-
tures on Icefloes Perilous Position of Dr. Kane Tyson's Marvellous Drift Threat-
ened Cannibalism At Sea on a Cake of Ice Battle with a Bear The Most Extra-
ordinary Adventure ever Recorded Night in the Arctic Regions Five Months of
Darkness Its effects on Man and Domestic Animals 692 J2i
CHAPTER XXXVIII. Incidents of Arcuc Life Schwatka and the Old Exquimau
Woman Esquimau Ice Cream Dr. Hayes' Singular Experience with the Esquimaux
Attacked by Dogs A Dashing Esquimau Widow A Wonderful Feast Esqui-
mau Le'gend of the Sun and Moon 721 738
CHAPTER XXXIX. The McClintock Search A Ghastly Discovery Capt Hall's
Wonderful Discoveries Esquimau Children Hanging their Parent^ The "Jean-
nette" Expedition Two Years' Drift in the Ice Sinking of the Ship Helpless on
the Wide Sea Separation of the Boats Terrible Suffering and Starvation Marvel-
lous Heroism Search for and Discovery of the Bodies of the Dead Honors to the
Brav 738768
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
THE WORLD S WONDERS,
THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
INDESCRIBABLE BEAUTIES.
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, an English naturalist of great repu-
tation, has added to ^the sum of geographic knowledge a vast
amount of information respecting the Malay ^Archipelago, in
which region of the earth he made a protracted t*ur of discovery,
extending over eight years. This archipelago proper, the largest
group "of islands, including also the greatest islands in size, on
the globe, comprises the Indo-Malay islands, the Timour group,
the Celebes group, the Moluccas, and the Papuan group, all
lying north and northwest of Australia, between that continent
and the countries of southeastern Asia. The largest of these
islands are, New Guinea, Borneo, Summatra, Java, and Celebes,
in the order named, though there are hundreds of islands. in the
several groups. This extensive archipelago lies under or near the/
equator, and being bathed by the tepid water of the great tropical
ocean, the region enjoys a climate more uniformly hot and moist
than any other portion of the globe, and teems with natural pro-
ductions which are elsewhere unknown. In some respects it is
the most wonderful district of the earth. It not alone teems with
animal life, as Africa, but nowhere else does nature revel in such
gorgeous hues and enrapturing beauty. Flowers bejewel the
10 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
prolific soil, not only in lowly beds carpeting the earth, but also
ascend trailing vines and gather in clusters of richest coloring to
BEAUTIFUL BIRDS OF PARADISE.
bedeck the trees. Insects flash like prismatic fires from flower to
flower, and tree to tree, their iridescent hues reflecting the lam-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 11
bent sunlight like a million of diamonds. Here alone are found
the birds of paradise, those gorgeous plumaged warblers whose
coats seem fresh with the glory of heaven, or a thousand rain-
bows. On every side the eye is charmed with scenes of nature
more delectable than a shifting kaleidoscope ; in short, it is a re-
gion of pure delight, so far as the sight can measure it, but yet
not wholly free from lurking dangers, which seem to be added
by beneficent design, in order that the eye might not weary by
gazing always on the beautiful.
A FLYING FROG.
OF the many wonderful things which Wn Wallace describes as
having seen during his visits to the several islands, one of the
most remarkable is a flying frog, which he found in Borneo.
This is a most curious reptile, lives among the trees, and in its
habits is not wholly unlike our common flying squirrel, for its
food is very similar and its mode of flight almost identical. The
body is about four or five inches long and of a deep shimering
green color, the under surface and the inner toes yellow, while
the webs are black rayed with yellow. The webs, of each hind
foot, when expanded, cover a surface of four square inches,
the webs of all feet together about twelve square inches, and its
body is capable of considerable inflation. It literally flies with
its feet, very much like the action of swimming.
HUNTING THE ORANG-UTAN.
MR. WALLACE spent much of his time in Borneo hunting the
great man ape Orang-Utan specimens of which he was
anxious to obtain for his friend, Charles Darwin, and the British
Museum. This animal is found in great numbers in some parts
of Borneo, but to enable him to be more successful in the hunt
Mr. Wallace employed someDyaks (natives) to accompany him,
as they were familiar with the habits of the animal.
On the first day's hunt two medium sized orang-utans which
are called mias by the natives were killed, and a small baby
one captured. It was so young that, as a substitute for milk,
Wallace fed it on rice-water and sugar ; but though it ate heartily
12
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
enough and seemed very tame, it did not grow in the least and at
the end of three months died.
On the following day a monster male was met with in a deep
jungle, and though Wallace repeatedly wounded it, yet so
tenacious of life was the animal that it did not succumb until
both legs were broken, one hip bone and the root of the spine
completely shattered and two bullets were flattened in its neck
and jaw. This monster measured four feet two inches in height
ind the spread of its arms was seven feet three inches.
About ten days
after this, some
Dyaks came to
tell Wallace that
the day before a
mias had nearly
killed one of their
companions. A
few miles down
the river there
was aDyak house,
and the inhabi-
tants saw a large
orang feeding on
the young shoots
of a palm by the
river-side. On
being alarmed, he retreated toward the jungle which was close
by, and a number df men, armed with spears and choppers, ran
out to intercept him. The man who was in front tried to run
his spear through the animal's body, but the mias seized it in his
hands, and in an instant got hold of the man's arm, which he
seized in his mouth, making his teeth meet in the flesh above the
elbow, which he tore and lacerated in a dreadful manner. Had
not the others been close behind him, the man would have been
more seriously injured, if not killed, as he was quite powerless,
but they soon destroyed the creature with their spear, 3 ai*4
THE BABY MIAS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 13
choppers. The man remained ill for a long time, and never
fully recovered the use of his arm.
The Djaks all declare that the mias is never attacked by
any animal in the forest, with two rare exceptions ; and the
accounts received of these are so curious that they are given as
related by Dyak chiefs, who lived all their lives in the places
where the animal is most abundant. " No animal is strong
enough to hurt the mias," said one of the chiefs, " and the
only creature he ever fights with is the crocodile. When there is
no fruit in the jungle, he goes to seek food on the banks of the
river, where there are plenty of young shoots that he likes, and
fruits that grow close to the water. Then the crocodile some-
times tries to seize him, but the mias gets upon him and beats
him with his hands and feet, and tears him and kills him." The
chief added that he hud once seen such a fight, and that he
believed the mias was always the victor.
Another chief relates that the mias has no enemies ; no animals
dare attack it but the crocodile and the python. He always kills the
crocodile by main strength, standing upon it pulling open its
jaws, and ripping up its throat. If a python attacks a mias, he
seizes it with his hands, and then bites it, and soon kills it. The
mias is very strong ; there is no animal in the jungle so strong
as he.
THE LOMBOCK SUICIDES.
IN the island of Lombock, which is separated from Java by a
narrow ?ti*ait, there is a singular people who are peculiar in their
remarkable disposition to commit suicide ; yet, the word is a mis-
nomer, for they do not kill themselves, but invite death in a manner
that is unaccountably strange. The least misfortune, such as loss
at gaining, inability to pay debts, insults, sickness, loss of friends,
and similar annoyances of life, often provoke them to "run a
muck," as they call it. The person thus troubled seizes a sword
or spear and runs through the village killing everybody he meets,
making no distinction between friend or foe, age or sex, and
continues his indiscriminate slaughter until the people set upon
him and kill him in self-defense. There is some superstitious
14
THE WORLB'S WONDERS.
fear which restrains them from committing suicide, and another
superstition which incites them to murder and invite their own
death at the hands of the community.
Lombock is govertied by a Rajah, who has established some
very severe laws, as well as queer ones. Theft is punished with
/d
BATTLE WITH THE MIAS.
eath, without regard for the value of the article stolen. A
person found in the house of another after dark, without per-
mission, may be killed and thrown into the street. The men are
woefully jealous, and this feeling is a fruitful source of crime.
A wife must not accept a cigar, flower, or the simplest article
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 15
from a gentleman ; should she be detected in so doing her life
would pay the penalty. Infidelity is punished by tying the
woman and her paramour back to back and throwing them into
the sea, where they are quickly devoured by crocodiles which
infest the shore.
THE PIG-DEER OF CELEBES.
THE wild pig seems to be of a species peculiar to the island of
Celebes ; but a much more curious animal of this family is the
Babirusa, or pig-deer, so named by the Malays from its long and
slender legs, and curved tusks resemWing horns. This extraor-
dinary creature resembles a pig in general appearance, but it does
not root with its snout, as it feeds on fallen fruits. The tusks
of the lower jaw are very long and sharp, but the upper ones,
instead of growing downward, in the usual way, are completely
reversed, growing upward, out of bony sockets, through the skin
on each side of the snout, curving backward to near the eyes,
and in old animals often reaching eight or ten inches in length.
It is difficult to understand what can be the use of these extraor-
dinary horn-like teeth. Some of the old writers supposed that
they served as hooks, by which the creature could rest its head
on a branch. But the way in which they usually diverge just
over and in front of the eyes has suggested the more probable
idea that they serve to guard these organs from thorns and spines
while hunting for fallen fruits among the tangled thickets of rat-
tans and other spiny plants. Even this, however, is not satisfac-
tory, for the female, who must seek her food in the same way,
does not possess them. It is probable that these tusks were once
useful, and were then worn down as fast as they grew ; but that
changed conditions of life have rendered them unnecessary, and
they now develop into a monstrous form, just as the incisors of
the beaver or rabbit will go on growing, if the opposite teeth do
not wear them away.
ADVENTURE WITH A PYTHON.
SNAKES, though not particularly numerous in the Archipelago,
are wonderfully sociable, preferring houses to trees and caves, so
16 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
that it is not an unusual thing for a family to be seriously disturbed
by a huge boa, which has stealthily gained entrance to the dwell-
ing. Wallace met with one of these unbidden guests while on
Amboyna island, which he describes as follows :
" One night, about nine o'clock, I heard a curious noise and
nestling overhead, as if some animal were crawling slowly over
the thatch. The noise soon ceased, and I thought no more about
't and went to bed soon afterward. The next afternoon, being
SKULL OF THE PIG-DEER.
rather tired with my day's work, I was lying on the couch with
a book in my hand, when, gazing upward, I saw a large mass of
something overhead which I had not noticed~before. Looking
more carefully, I could see yellow and black marks, and thought
it must be a tortoise-shell put up there out of the way, between
the ridge-pole and the roof. Continuing to gaze, it suddenly
resolved itself into a large snake, compactly coiled up in a kind
of knot ; and I could detect his head and bright eyes in the very
centre of the folds. The noise of the evening before was now
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 17
explained. A python had climbed up one of the posts of the
house, and had made his way under the thatch within a yard of
my head, and taken up a comfortable position in the roof and
I had slept soundly all night directly under him.
" I called to my two boys, who were skinning birds below, and
said, ' Here's it big snake in the roof ;' but as soon as I had shown
it to them they rushed out of the house and begged me to come out
directly. Finding they were too much afraid to do anything, we
called some of the laborers in the plantation, and soon had half-
a-dozen men in consultation outside. One of these, -a native of
Bouru, where there are a great many snakes, said he would gftt him
out, and proceeded to work in a business-like manner. He made
a strong noose of rattan, and with a long pole in the other hand
poked at the snake, which then began slowly to uncoil itself.
He then managed to slip the noose over its head, and getting it
well on to the body, dragged the animal down. There was a
great scuffle as the snake coiled round the chairs and posts to
resist his enemy, but at length the man caught hold of its tail,
rushed out of the house (running so quick that the creature
seemed quite confounded), and tried to strike its head against a
tree. He missed, however, and let go, and the snake got under
a dead trunk close by. It was again poked out, and again the
Bouru man caught hold of its tail, and running away quickly
dashed its head with a swing against a tree, and it was then easily
killed with a hatchet. It was about twelve feet long, and very
thick, capable of doing much mischief, and of swallowing a dog
or a child."
MAKING CAKES OF THE SAGO PALM.
A SINGULAR tree grows in the island of Ceram, called the sago
palm, the trunk of which provides most excellent food aftei pass-
ing through a process of beating and washing, which dissolves
the pfth from the trunk. Water is then poured on the pith,
which is kneaded and pressed against a strainer till the starch is
dissolved and has passed through, when the fibrous refuse is
thrown away. The water, charged with sago starch, passes on
to a trough, with a depression in the centre., where the sediment
2
18
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
is deposited, the surplus water trickling off by a shallow outlet.
The sago thus gathered is taken out of the trough and dried into
cylinders of about thirty pounds weight. It makes excellent
bread and delicious cakes, particularly when eaten with butter
and a little sugar.
It is truly an extraordinary sight to witness a whole tree-trunk,
perhaps twenty feet long and four or five in circumference, con-
verted into food with so little labor and preparation. A good-
THE STRUGGLE WITH THE PYTHON.
sized tree will produce thirty tomans or bundles of thirty pounds
each, and each toman will make sixty cakes of three to the pound.
Two of these cakes are as much as a man can eat at one meal,
and five are considered a full day's allowance ; so that reckoning
a tree to produce 1800 cakes, weighing 600 pounds, it wiltsupply
a man with food for a whole year. The labor to produce this is
very moderate. Two men will finish a tree in five days, and two
women will bake the whole into cakes in five days more ; but the
raw sago will keep very well, anji can b0 bakecj as w0nt.ec}, SQ
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 19
that we may estimate that in ten days a man may produce food
for the whole year. This is on the supposition that he possesses
sago trees of his own, for they are now all private property. If
he does not he has to pay about two dollars for one ; and as labor
here is ten cents a day, the total cost of a year's food for one
man is about three dollars. The effect of this cheapness of food
is decidedly prejudicial, for the inhabitants of the sago country
are never so well off as those where rice is cultivated. Many of
these people have neither vegetables nor fruit, but live almost
entirely on sago and a little fish. Having few occupations at
home, they wander about on petty trading or fishing expeditions
to the neighboring islands ; and as far as the comforts of life are
concerned, are much inferior to the wild Hill Dyaks of Borneo,
or to many of the more barbarous tribes of the Archipelago.
THE PAPUAN PEOPLE.
As Wallace extended his journey eastward, he found the peo-
ple in feature and habit greatly changed, and that the birds wore
more beautiful plumage. At the Abu Islands, near New Guinea,
he met the original Papuans, who compose one of the most dis-
tinct and strongly marked races of the earth. They are intensely
black, but with this exception they very little resemble negroes,
for all their features, except the nose, which is aquiline with large
nostrils, greatly resemble the Caucasian. They have no idea of
a hereafter, profess no kind of religion, are not even superstitious,
have no laws, and yet they are an apparently happy and con-
tented people, free from vice. They recognize only the relation-
ship -which commerce gives, and therefore the importance of pre-
serving peace and practicing honesty. Concerning these people,
Mr. Wallace writes :
" Here, as among most savage people with whom I have dwelt,
I was delighted with the beauty of the human form a beauty of
which stay-at-home civilized people can scarcely have any con-
ception. What are the finest Grecian statues to the living, mov-
ing, breathing men I saw daily around me? The unrestrained
grace of the naked savage as he goes about his daily occupations,
or lounges at his ease, must be seen to be understood ; and a
20 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
youth bending his bow is the perfection of manly beauty. The
women, however, except in extreme youth, are by no means so
pleasant to look at as the men. Their strongly-marked features
are very unfcmiiiine, and hard work, privations, and very early
marriages soon destroy whatever of beauty or grace they may for
a short time possess. Their toilet is very simple, but also, I am
sorry to say, very coarse and disgusting. It consists solely of a
mat of plaited strips of palm-leaves, worn tight round the body,
and reaching from the hips to the knees. It seems not to be
MAKING SAGO.
changed till worn out, is seldom washed, and is generally very
dirty. This is the universal dress, except in a few cases where
Malay ' sarongs' have come into use. Their frizzly hair is tied
in a bunch at the back of the head. They delight in combing, or
rather forking it, using for that purpose a large wooden fork with
four diverging prongs, which answers the purpose of separating
and arranging the long, tangled, frizzly mass of cranial vegeta-
tion much better than any comb could do. The only ornaments
of the women are earrings and necklaces, which they arrange in
various tasteful ways."
Speaking of the remarkable honesty of the Papuans, Mr, Wai-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 21
lace says : " Toward the end of September it became absolutely
necessary for me to return, in order to make our homeward voy-
age before the end of the east monsoon. Most of the men who
had taken payment from me had brought the birds they had
agreed for. One poor fellow had been so unfortunate as not to
get one, and he very honestly brought back the axe he had re-
ceived in advance ; another who had agreed for six, brought me
the fifth two days before I was to start, and went off immediately
to the forest again to get the other. He did not return, how-
ever, and we loaded our boat, and were just on the point of
starting, when he came running down after us holding up a bird,
which he handed to me, saying with great satisfaction, ' Now I
owe you nothing.' These were remarkable and quite unexpected
instances of honesty among savages, where it would have been
very easy for them to have been dishonest without fear of detec-
tion or punishment."
MAN-EATING TIGERS.
THE island of Java is more thickly populated than any others
of the Archipelago, and the people are more nearly civilized,
owing to the fact that this island enjoys a large trade with the
Dutch who have settled along tlfe coast in considerable numbers.
The city of Batavia, which has a population of nearly 200,000,
is largely composed of Europeans. The principal large animals
of Java are the tiger, tapir and a small species of rhinoceros,
which latter frequently visits interior villages in quest of food,
but it rarely shows anydisposition to fight.
The tigers of Java are similar to those of India, being savage
and .bold. Many persons are destroyed by them annually.
During Wallace's visit to the island he entered a village where a
man-eating tiger had carried off a boy the day before. Nearly
the entire village was in arms, ready to pursue the savage beast.
The natives, armed only with spears, surrounded a dense jungle,
where they believed the animal lay concealed, and began beating
it in a rather reckless manner. The tiger was roused at length,
and finding itself surrounded, made a savage attack, but a half-
dozen natives received it on their spears and killed it without
sustaining any injury themselves.
22
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
WONDERFUL RUINS.
NEAR the east coast of Java there are found vast ri'ins of an
ancient civilization, such as elegantly sculptured figures, forts,
palaces, baths, aqueducts, and temples, the latter having been at
one time decorated with the most extravagantly rich and delicate
sculpture work. On the mountain of Gunoug Prau are the ruins
NATIVE MEN OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO.
of a magnificent temple covering a large elevated plateau. To
reach this temple four flights of steps were cut in the solid stone
of the mountain side, each flight consisting of more than one
thousand steps. These gigantic works will doubtless forever
remain a mystery ; they show the deteriorating effects of time,
and rude houses of bamboo and thatch occupy the site of the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
23
undent temple. The natives regard these ruins as the undoubted
productions of giants or demons.
NEW GUINEA, THE UNEXPLORED.
NEW GUINEA lies immediately north of Australia, from wmch
it is separated by Torres strait, which is only ninety miles in
width. Since Australia is classed as a continent, New Guinea is
the largest island in the world, and certainly one of the most in-
teresting regions of the earth. Yet, with all this it is a terra
incognita, no explorer having
ever penetrated it beyond a
distance of fifteen miles from
the coast. That it has a
salubrious climate toward the
interior is attested by the
lofty, snow-capped moun-
tains which maybe seen from
the sea, and the numerous
large rivers which pour their
sparkling waters into the
ocean.
It is remarkable that this
great island, which has been
known since the year 1636,
has never been explored,
though small Dutch colonies
have existed on its southern
coast for nearly one hundred
years". Frequent attempts have been made to advance into the
interior, but always without success, owing entirely to the fact
that the parties were not properly equipped or of insufficient
strength to give them confidence to proceed.
The Papuans, who occupy New Guinea, are uncivilized, but
they are much in advance of all other barbaric tribes in many
particulars. They live in houses fairly comfortable, resting on
a foundation of upright posts which elevate them eight or ten
feet above the ground. The place of building is usually over
NATIVE PAPUAN.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
streams of water, and the flooring is made of bamboo with intet.
stices left, through which all refuse is thrown, so that using the
streams to carry off all obnoxious matter, the villages are always
clean. They have a novel instrument for measuring time, and
are the only savage people known who ever devised any means
for this purpose, or who ever conceived the idea of dividing the
days into hours. The primitive clock of the Papuans consists
of the half of a cocoanut-shell, through the bottom of which
a small hole is made. This
shell is placed in a basin of
water and as it receives a
delicate jet, gradually settles
until it sinks at the expira-
tion of one hour, causing a
bubblingsound which attracts
the attention of any one
standing near. This shell is
their only measure of time,
but it suggests the idea of a
clock, from which a more
elaborate time-piece might
be made.
Capt. Paget, who visited
the island in 1871, declares
that he found many of the
natives wearing anklets and
armlets of beaten gold, and
that he saw a chief who bore
a club made of the same precious metal. Not being able to
converse with them, they misconstrued his gestures and fled to
the hills, where it was considered inexpedient to follow them.
This incident is mentioned as furnishing an additional incentive
for a thorough exploration of the island, which will no dor 4 >t be
made at an early date.
A DYAK GIRL.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE TROPICAL WORLD.
CHAPTER I.
SOUTH AMERICA.
IN describing the WORLD'S WONDERS as seen by the Great
Explorers, we will divide our subject into three parts, or divi-
sions, viz : The Tropical, Arctic, and Antarctic, so as to preserve
a sequence, and have system in the narrative. The Tropical
World will have precedence, in consideration of its more prolific
life, both animal and vegetable, and because it presents more
anomalous and curious features than other parts of the globe.
Indeed, in the tropics there seems to be a superabundance of
growth, which led Sir Thomas Buckle to declare: "Amid this
pomp and splendor of nature no place is left for man. He is
reduced to insignificance by the majesty with which he is
surrounded. The forces that oppose him are so formidable that
he has never been able to make headway against them, never
able to rally against their accumulated pressure. The whole of
Brazil, notwithstanding its immense apparent advantages, has
always remained entirely uncivilized ; its inhabitants wandering
savages, incompetent to resist those obstacles which the very
bounty of nature had put in their way."
In the tropics we have two directly opposite effects of the sun,
one tending toward the multiplication of life, while the other
operates to destroy it. In no other part of the globe do we find
great deserts like that of Sahara, or such pestilential vapors as
continually arise from a profuse vegetation which is as rapid
w
26 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
in its decomposition as in its growth ; in no other zone are there
such destructive earthquakes and storms, nor does disease stalk
with such dreadful fatality in any other division of the earth.
Another characteristic of the tropics is found in the size and
ferociousness of its wild animals, whether beasts, birds, or rep-
tiles, which find their homes either in the deep jungles or on the
craggy peaks of great mountains, where the most intrepid hunter
cannot pursue them. But there are many other interesting
features found in the tropical zone which should be understood
before we proceed to a description of the animal life found within
its limits.
The lands lying within the tropics comprise a portion of
Mexico, all of Central America, and nearly all of South America,
Africa, the West India Islands, Polynesia, and about one-half of
Australia. The very great excess of water over land within the
tropics is one of the most important facts in physical geography,
for, were the proportions reversed, there would be a like reduc-
tion of growth and a corresponding amount of sterility, without
water there can be neither vegetable nor animal life. All the
water that gushes up in fountains or swells into brooks and rivers
comes from the ocean, whence it is raised by evaporation and
carried along unseen channels of the air to be precipitated in the
form of rain or snow, sometimes thousands of miles distant from
the place whence it was drawn up. This water when first evapo-
rated has the salty taste of the ocean or, more directly speaking*
is strongly impregnated with salt, but as it is borne upward into
clouds, the vapor is subjected to an electrical influence not clearly
understood, but which decomposes the salt and precipitates the
vapor into pure water ; but in the descent it absorbs from the air
fi small quantity of carbonic acid, ammonia, or nitric acid, which
imparts to rain-water its peculiar taste. All water that is evapo-
rated and ascends into the clouds, of course does not come from
the ocean, as every fresh as well as salt body of water contributes
to that continual ascent and descent which nourishes the earth
and the fullness thereof. It has been computed by some patient
calculator that 200,000 cubic miles of water are raised each year
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 27
from the ocean, in the form of vapor. At least three-fourths of
this immense volume is raised within the tropics, and a great
part falls beyond them. If the extent of the tropical ocean
were diminished by half, there is no part, perhaps, of the tem-
perate zones which would not be parched by excessive drought,
and hardly a river but whose bed would be a dry ravine.
The water which fills the great lakes of North America and,
thundering down the cataract of Niagara, finds its way through
the St. Lawrence Kiver into the ocean almost on the verge of the
Polar World, only a few weeks before, perhaps, laved the coral
reefs of the tropical seas.
If any considerable part of the tropical ocean were converted
into land, the heat of the Torrid Zone would become so greatly
increased that no animal life, such as now exists, could endure
it; and, as the vegetation of a climate is adapted to the prevail-
ing temperature, the trees and plants which now flourish would
become extinct. Water, in being converted into a gaseous form
by the process of evaporation, absorbs heat from surrounding
objects, or, as we may say, produces cold. Thus the burning
rays of a vertical sun, pouring down upon the ocean, in a measure
quench themselves. The same rays, which, falling upon the
ocean never raise the water beyond a grateful temperature, falling
upon the land produce an intolerable heat.
The great extent of the tropical seas is the cause of those
mighty ocean currents which sweep from the equatorial to the
polar regions. Cool as the waters of the tropics are, they are
warm when compared with the other parts of the ocean. The
water-thus heated becomes specifically lighter than that of colder
regions, is lifted up, and in obedience to the laws of gravitation,
runs off in both directions toward the poles. There, having 1
become cooled, the salt waters are heavier than the comparatively
fresh ones of the polar regions, and sinking beneath them, return
in an undercurrent to their starting-place.
This great equatorial current, or rather series of currents, is
the marvel of physical geography. Let us follow that of the
Atlantic in its long career. Starting on the line of the Equator,
28 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
it flows north-westwardly along the coast of South America,
enters the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, from whence
it derives the name of the Gulf Stream. It passes out through
the Straits of Bernini, between Florida and Cuba, a great river
32 miles wide, 2,200 feet deep, flowing at the rate of four miles
an hour. Its volume is a thousand times greater than that of the
Amazon or the Mississippi, and its banks of cold water are more
clearly defined than are those of either of these rivers at flood.
So clear is the line of demarkation between the warm water of
the river and its cool liquid banks, that a ship sailing along may
be half in one and half in the other ; and a bucket of water
dipped from one side will be twenty degrees cooler than one
from the other. Skirting the coast at a distance of about 100
miles, its width is increased and its velocity diminished. Striking
the projecting banks of Newfoundland, its course is deflected
almost due east, until it arrives at mid-ocean. Here it spreads
out like a fan, skirting the shores of Spain, France and Great
Britain. It then divides, one branch sweeping around the west
coast of Iceland, the other approaching the shores of Norway,
and its temporary influence is perceptible in the ameliorated
climate of Spitzbergen.
It is owing to this great ocean river that the temperature of
the western shores of Europe is so much higher than that of the
eastern shore of America in the same latitudes. Maury estimates
that the amount of heat which the Gulf Stream diffuses over the
northern Atlantic in a winter's day is sufficient to raise the whole
atmosphere which covers France and Great Britain from the
freezing point to summer heat. The olives of Spain, the vines
of France, the wheat-fields of England, and the green expanse of
the Emerald Isle, are the gifts of the tropical seas, dispensed
through the Gulf Stream.
Near the Azores another branch of the Gulf Stream encounters
the return flow from the Arctic Ocean, bends around, and
skirting the coast of Africa, returns to its starting-place in the
Gulf of Guinea, leaving in its great bend near the Azores an
expanse of almost motionless waters larger than the whole of
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 29
France. This is known as the Sargasso Sea, from the surface
being covered with a sea-weed called the Sargassum natans. So
thick is the covering of weeds that at a little distance it seems
solid enough to walk upon. The discovery of the bodies of
strange animals and unknown trees and plants flung ashore at
the Azores suggested to Columbus the idea that there was land
lying beyond the western ocean ; so that to the Gulf Stream we
are indebted for the discovery of the New World. Bottles have
been thrown overboard at various points in the Gulf Stream,
containing the date and position of the ship. Many of these
have been picked up. From these it appears that the stream
takes eight months to flow from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores
of Europe, and the broader and slower current takes a year to
travel from the Bay of Biscay back to the gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf Stream, though the best known, and in many
respects the most remarkable of the great equatorial currents, is
by no means the largest. The great current of the Pacific and
Indian Oceans may be regarded as one mighty stream flowing
from east to west. It crosses the Pacific in a sheet nearly 3,500
miles broad, spreading over almost half the distance from pole
to pole; another great current originates in the Indian Ocean,
flows into the China Sea through the Straits of Malacca, thence
into the North Pacific, between the coast of Asia and the Philip-
pine Islands, thence crosses the ocean by the north-westward,
modifying the climate of the Pacific coast and Alaska. It is
stated by Lieutenant Schwatka, of the U. S. A., who explored
the Yukon River in 1883, that the Aleutian Islands have a climate
the mean temperature of which is 60, and that this spring
warmth is almost perpetual, there being only the slightest
difference between the extreme seasons. This statement, how-
ever, I have found no where corroborated, but on the other hand
openly disputed by the seal and whale fishers of Behrings Strait,
who frequently go ashore 1 on the Aleutian Isles. However,
Schwatka may have referred to some particular island of the
group that was specially sheltered, or perhaps abnormally heated
by volcanic influence.
30 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
All the water poured by the trade currents from the tropical
ocean, and all raised from it by evaporation and transported
through aerial channels to feed the rivers of the temperate and
polar regions, must find its way back by counter currents. Heat,
according to the dictum of modern Science, may be reduced to
force. The force of the sun's rays poured upon the tropical
oceans, is sufficient to raise thousands of yards into the air five
hundred cubic miles of \Yater every day, and to put and keep in
motion the mighty currents which sweep back and forth from the
equator to the poles. The study of the course, direction and
elevation of these currents has as yet only begun. We know
that sometimes, as on the coast of America, the currents of cold
and warm water run side by side in opposite directions, sometimes
a warm current is on the surface and sometimes below it. In the
Gulf Stream the warm current is above, the cold below ; while
on the coast of Japan a cold current from the Okotsk Sea runs
on the surface, giving rise to a fishery not inferior in magnitude
to that caused on the banks of Newfoundland by the cold cur-
rents from Baffins Bay. Enough, however, is now known of
ocean currents to warrant the assumption that they are mainly
governed by the great law of gravitation. The lighter water
flows on the surface, the heavier underneath. But the specific
gravity of ocean water depends upon two things, the temperature
and amount of salt contained. The heated water of the tropics
is rendered lighter than that which surrounds it of the same
saltness and so floats on the surface ; but the cold currents from
the poles are less saline, and consequently lighter than the
tropical waters of the same temperature. When these two
opposing currents meet there is a struggle ; but at length the one
which is specifically heavier sinks, while the lighter rises. So
facile is the movement of fluids among each other, that a
difference in gravity which we can scarcely detect with our nicest
instruments may be abundantly sufficient to decide which of two
opposing currents shall run above and which below.
The air has currents as well as the ocean, and these have
very much to (Jo in modifying the climate of the tropical
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 31
world. Rarified by the intense heat of a vertical sun, the air
within the tropics rises in perpendicular columns high above the
surface of the earth, and thence flows off toward the poles ;
while, to fill up the void, cold air currents come rushing in from
the Arctic and Antarctic regions ; but tlie rotation of the earth
gradually diverts the direction of these cold currents, and changes
them into trade-winds which regularly blow over the greater
portion of the tropical ocean from east to west and materially
contribute to the health and comfort of the navigator whom they
waft over the equatorial waters. The trade-wind is an air current
of even greater importance than the water current known as the
Gulf Stream. This wind covers no less than 56 of latitude
28 north and 28 south of the equator. In this large tract,
which comprises many of the most fertile countries on the globe,
the trade-wind blows during the whole year, either from the
north-east or from the south-east. The causes of this regularity
are now well understood, and are known to depend partly on the
displacement of air at the equator, and partly on the motion of
the earth ; for the cold air from the poles is constantly flowing
toward the equator and thus producing northerly winds in the
northern hemisphere, and southerly winds in the southern.
The trade- wind, blowing on the eastern coast of South America,
and proceeding from the east, crosses the Atlantic Ocean, and
therefore reaches the land surcharged with the vapors accumula-
ted in its passage. The vapors, on touching the shore, are, at
periodical intervals, condensed into rain ; and as their progress
westward is checked by that gigantic mountain chain, the Andes,
which they are unable to pass, they pour the whole of their
moisture on Brazilj which, in consequence, is often deluged by
the most destructive torrents. This abundant supply, being
aided by that vast river system peculiar to the eastern part of
South America, and being also accompanied by heat, has stimu-
lated the soil into an activity unequaled in any other part of the
world. Brazil, which is nearly as large as the whole of Europe,
is covered with a vegetation of incredible profusion. A great
part of this immense country is filled with dense and tangled
32
THE WORLD'S WONDEKS.
forests, whose noble trees, blossoming in unrivaled beauty, and
exquisite with a thousand hues, throw out their products in
endless prodigality. On their branches are perched birds of
gorgeous plumage ; below, their base and trunks are crowded
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 33
with brushwood, creeping plants, innumerable parasites, all
swarming with life. There, too, are myriads of insects of every
variety ; reptiles of strange and singular forms ; serpents and
lizards; spotted with deadly beauty : all of which find means of
existence in this vast workshop and repository of nature. Dr.
Gardener, who looked at these things with the eye of a botanist,
says that near Eio Janeiro the heat and moisture are sufficient to
compensate even the poorest soil; so that "rocks, on which
scarcely a trace of earth is to be observed, are covered with a
profuse vegetation, all in the vigor of life." That nothing may
be wanting in this land of marvels, the forests are skirted by
enormous meadows which, reeking with heat and moisture,
supply countless herds of wild cattle, that browse and fatten on
their herbage ; while the adjoining plains, rich in another form
of life, are the chosen abode of the subtlest and most ferocious
animals, which prey upon each other, but which it might almost
seem no human power can hope to extirpate. Mr. Darwin, the
eminent naturalist, says, " In England, any person fond of
natural history, enjoys in his walks a great advantage, by always
having something to attract his attention ; but in these fertile
climates, teeming with life, the attractions are so numerous that
he is scarcely able to walk at all."
We have spoken of the trade winds as extending oVer the
whole breadth of the Tropical World. But to this there is a
notable exception. Near the equator, but a little to the north of
it, the two currents from the Arctic and Antarctic regions
meet and neutralize each other, producing a belt of calms, which
sailors call the "Doldrums," of about six degrees in breadth.
Here it rains almost every day during the year, for the ascending
currents of heated air loaded with moisture become suddenly
cooled in the higher regions, and are forced to give up the water
'which they have lifted from the ocean. Toward noon, dense
clouds form in the sky, and dissolve in torrents of rain. Toward
evening the vapors disperse, and the sun sets in a cloudless
horizon. The quantity of rain which here falls during the
year is enormous. In the United States the annual rainfall is
8
34 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
from 25 to 70 inches ; in Europe from 15 to 104 ; in the
Atlantic doldrums it reaches 225. So copious is tho rainfall at
times that fresh water has been dipped up from the surface of
the tropical seas.
Proceeding north or south from the belt of calms, we come to
a region characterized by two rainy and two dry seasons. The
rainy seasons take place while the sun is passing the zenith,
more or less neutralizing the influence of the trade winds. In
Jamaica, for example, the first rainy season begins in April, the
second in October ; the first dry season in June, the secon^ in
December. Toward the verge of the tropics follow the zones
characterized by a single rainy and a single dry season ; the rains
lasting from the vernal to the autumnal equinox.
The two rainy seasons which characterize the middle zone
between each tropic and the equator have a tendency to merge
into one rainy season of six months' duration on advancing
toward the tropics, and into a perpetual rainy season on
approaching the equator. As the sun goes north or south he
opens the flood-gates of the heavens, and closes them behind
him as he passes to the other hemisphere ; while he keeps them
continually open where he is always vertical. But this general
state of things, which would be the normal condition of the
tropical regions if their surface was an unbroken sheet of water,
and no disturbing forces existed, is liable to great modifications.
Thus in the monsoon region, extending from the eastern coast of
Africa to the northern part of Australia, and from the tropic of
Capricorn to the Himalayas and China, it is not the sun directly,
but the winds that regulate the periodical rains. Thus in India
and the Malayan peninsula the western coasts are watered during
-the southwest monsoon, which prevails from April to October ;
Tind the eastern coasts during the northeast monsoon, from
October to April. For example, the southwest wind, condenses
its vapor on the western side of the Ghauts, the northeast on
the eastern, so that violent rains fall daily on the coast of Coro-
mandel, while it is the reverse on that of Malabar, and vice
versa. In the southern hemisphere the rainy season corresponds
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 35
with the northern monsoon, the dry season with the south-
eastern. In South Africa and Australia winter is the rainy
season. In South America, in the same latitudes, summer
is the rainy season on the eastern side of the Cordilleras, and
winter on the western side.
TORNADOES AND HURRICANES
rage in the tropical world with a frequency, extent and violence
unknown in other climes. They sometimes move with a direct
velocity of forty-five miles per hour ; but the violence and
destructiveness of a whirlwind depends less upon the velocity
with which the whole storm moves than upon the speed with
which the wind whirls around and in upon the centre. The
great Bahama hurricane of 1866 moved forward at the rate of
thirty miles per hour ; but the velocity of its whirling motion
was from eighty to 100, and for short intervals from 100 to 120
miles an hour. The diameter of the great storms of the tropi-
cal Atlantic is often from 600 to 1,000 miles; those of
the Indian Ocean 1,000 to 1,500. These, however, move but
slowly. The smaller storms are usually more rapid than the
larger ones.
The revolving motion accounts for the sudden and violent
changes observed during hurricanes. In consequence of this
rotation, the wind blows in opposite directions on each side of
the axis of the storm ; the violence increases from the circum-
ference inward ; but at the centre the air is in repose. Hence,
when the body of a storm passes over a place, the wind begins
to blow moderately, and increases to a hurricane as the centre of
the whirlwind approaches ; then, in a moment, a dead calm suc-
ceeds", followed suddenly by a renewal of the storm in all its
Violence, but now blowing in a direction opposite to which it hadj
before. From this rotary motion it follows that the direction of
the wind at any moment is no indication of the direction which
the body of the storm is pursuing.
Water-spouts and cyclones belong to the same class of phe-
nomena as whirlwinds and hurricanes. In fact, water-spouts are
but whirlwinds at sea, while the term cyclone is used to distin-
36
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
guish the most violent hurricanes or tornadoes. Whirlwinds
may be formed by the rapid rotary movement of either ascending
or descending currents of air ; when the former occurs over a
body of water not infrequently water-spouts are the result, and
A STEAMSHIP ENCOUNTERING A WATER-SPOUT AT SEA.
at times so violent are these that at their base they have power
to wreck a small boat, and to lift an immense column of water
which is drawn upward with a noise like the rush of Niagara. In
cloud-bursts we have the very opposite, for they are produced by
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 37
the rapid rotary motion of descending currents, and in the equa-
torial regions they often deluge and desolate vast tracts of land,
destroying buildings and stock, and sometimes washing up large
trees.
FORMATION OF ISLANDS.
NINE-TENTHS of the islands which dot the ocean lie within the
tropics. These islands are divided into two great classes. The
one class is of volcanic origin, upheaved from the depth of the
ocean ; or, rather, they are lofty peaks of- mountains, whose
sides and base lie deep in the water. There are two opposite
theories to account for the existence and present appearance of
these islands. According to one theory a continent once occu-
pied a large portion of the Pacific Ocean within the tropics, a
great portion of which has sunk beneath the water, and these
islands are but the peaks and table-lands of that lost continent.
The other theory is that these islands have been for unknown
ages, and now are, slowly being lifted up from the depth below.
Both theories rest upon so wide an induction of facts that both
may be accepted as true ; or rather as parts of the one great
truth, that the crust of the earth, which we are wont to consider
so firm and stable, is now, as it always has been, rising and
falling, as truly as the surface of the water rises and falls by
the attraction of the sun and moon ; only that these periodic
changes are measured by ages instead of by hours. Who shall
say that in the higher knowledge which we shall gain during the
ages of the future we may not attain to the understanding that
the rise and sinking of continents is like that of the tWes, gov-
erned by law, and that we may not be able to express in figures,
which will then be quite finite to us, though now seeming infinite,
the years that have elapsed since " heaven and earth rose out of
chaos?"
Volcanic islands are found in all oceans. Iceland has its
Heckla, Sicily its ^Etna, Hawaii its Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa,
Niphon its Fusiyama. From Sumatra, Java and Sumbawa,
Ternate and Tidore, Borneo, Celebes and Gilolo, close by the
equator, thence northward and north-westward to the Kurile
38 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Islands, hard by the frozen coast of Kamchatka, is one great
belt of volcanic islands, spreading out like a fan through Polyn-
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AS SEEN IN THE ISLAND OF JAVA.
esia. But in the tropical seas, and there alone, are coral ine
islands, built up, grain by grain, by minute living beings.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 39
The simplest form of these coral islands is a ring enclosing a
portion of the ocean. Sometimes this ring is barely two miles
in diameter ; sometimes it reaches a hundred miles, rising only
a half-score of feet above the level of the water,, and owing to
the convexity of the surface of the ocean invisible from the
deck of a ship at a distance of a mile or two, unless they
happen to be covered with tall palms or pandanus. The roar of
the surf dashing upon their windward side is often heard be-
fore the island itself comes into view. On the outer side this
ring, or atoll, slopes gradually for a hundred yards or more, to
a depth of twenty-five fathoms, and then plunges sheer down
into the waters with a descent more rapid than the cone of any
volcano. At a distance of five hundred yards no bottom has
been reached with a sounding line of a mile and a half in length.
All below the surface of the water to the depth of one hundred
feet is alive, all above and below this section dead, for the coral
insect can live only within this range.
These atolls assume every form and condition. Sometimes
they are solitary specks in the waste of waters. Oftener
they occur in groups. The Caroline Archipelago has sixty
groups extending over a space of 1,000 square miles. Some-
times a group of atolls becomes partially joined into one,
the irregular ring encircling an island-studded lagoon, with open-
ings through which a ship may enter. Sometimes these coral
formations take the form of long reefs bordering an extensive
coast. Such a reef runs parallel to the coast of Malabar for
nearly 500 miles. It consists of a series of atolls arranged in a
double row, separated by a sea whose depth no line has
sounded ; yet from outer to inner edge of the double row is a
space of but fifty miles. Such a broken coral reef often
girdles a volcanic island. Tahiti, the largest of the Society
group, is a fine example of this kind. The island rises in
mountains 7,000 feet high, with only a narrow plain along
the shore. The lagoon which encompasses it like a great moat
is thirty fathoms deep, and is shut out from the ocean by a coral
band at a distance of from half a mile to thre miles.
40 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
But there are coral reefs of far greater magnitude. The
grandest is that extending along the northeast coast of Australia.
Rising from an unfathomed ocean, it extends for 1,000 miles
along the coast, with a breadth of from 200 yards to a
mile, and at an average distance of twenty or thirty miles,
though sometimes double that space. This long, narrow lagoon
is never less than ten fathoms deep, and often six times as much,
so that the " Great Eastern," the hugest vessel that ever floated,
if it once passed through one of the openings in the reef,
might sail as though in a tranquil harbor for 1,000 miles in sight
of land on either side, without its keel for an instant reaching
half-way to the bottom.
The direct influence of the ocean upon the islands of
the Tropical World is great in every respect. It gives an almost
temperate climate to low lauds lying under the equator, and thus
modifies their fauna and flora, in accordance with known
laws of nature. But the ocean and air in their currents also
determine the vegetable, animal and human life of the islands of
the Tropical World in an accidental manner.
Time was when the volcanic islands of the tropics were
masses of naked rock, the coralline islands patches of barren
sand. The elements disintegrated the surface of the rock
and ground the coral into the soil. Some day a fruit, perhaps a
cacoa or bread-fruit, drifted along by currents, touched the
island, or a bird, swept far out to sea, having in its crop an undi-
gested seed, rested its weary wing upon solid land. The chance-
planted fruit or seed took root and grew, and produced its kind,
and in time the waste island was clothed with verdure. Other
birds found a home in the new forests, built their nests,
and raised thjeir young, so that the islands became populous
with the winged tribes. Animals, of course, could only rarely
cross the waste of waters. Hence the comparative paucity of
this form of life in islands remote from the main land. Swine
were almost the only quadrupeds which the early European navi-
gators found in Polynesia ; and they were doubtless brought
there by human means. Mankind reached the islands in a like
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 41
I
accidental manner. Perhaps a canoe from the Malayan shores
drifted upon the Fiji Islands, and its rowers became the progeni-
tors of the black cannibals ; or a junk from China or Japan was
cast away upon Tahiti or Hawaii. These wanderers, cut off
from intercourse with the rest of the world, developed their
barbarism or semi-civilization in their own way, under the influ-
ence of altered conditions, climate and productions. The story
of the " Bounty," and the first settlement of Pitcairn's Island,
too well known to require more than a passing allusion, shows
that such a canoe or junk voyage is altogether possible, and how
widely in the course of a single generation a group of isolated
individuals deviate from their original stock.
CHAPTER II.
THE GREAT PLATEAU AND ITS WONDEES.
WITHIN the geographical limits of the tropical world is found
every variety of climate upon the globe. There are great moun-
tain ranges which even at the equator rise above the limits of
perpetual snow. Their summits, untrodden by man, and unvisi-
ted by any other form of animal life, must be more desolate than
the most extreme polar regions to which explorers have been
unable to penetrate. Of living creatures the strong-winged
condor alone has reached so high. Upon these dreary crags this
great bird is king of all ; here it rears its brood unmolested, and
from its eyrie surveys the valleys below and swoops down,
with rushing wings, upon defenceless flocks and bears away in
its cruel talons the young of the various folds. Keen of vision,
and no less wary, it has no enemies to fight and thus lords its
way in the world, multiplies and annually becomes more destruc-
tive in its ravages. Nature has provided this wonderful bird
with a power which is given to no other bird or animal, that of
sustaining life at such great altitudes.
The most remarkable, as well as one of the most lofty plateaus
42 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
that has heen occupied by man, is known as tliefuna or Altos of
Peru. It extends through a great part of the length of Peru and
Bolivia at a height of 10,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level. It
is that cold and rugged region which forms the broad summit of
the Cordillera. It has the aspect of an irregular plain and is
diversified with mountain ridges and snowy volcanic peaks,
imposing in their proportions, notwithstanding that they rise
from a level of 14,000 feet above the sea. Squier, who has writ-
ten much on South America, describing his travels through its
several countries, presents a very graphic picture of the Puna
and its ascent as follows : " Pocla is a poor but picturesque little
village, with a small white church gleaming out against the dull
brown of the bare mountain side. It is 9,700 feet above the sea.
Still ascending, our mules began to pant under the influence of
the soroche, or rarification of the air, but which the drivers
insisted was from the veta, or influence due to the veins of metal
in the earth. At La Portada, 12,600 feet above sea level, or
1,000 feet higher than the Hospice of the grand St. Bernard,
I witnessed a scene more wild and desolate than I have beheld in
crossing the Alps by the routes of the Simplon, the Grand St.
Bernard or the St. Gothard. There is neither tree nor shrub ;
the frosty soil cherishes no grass, and the very lichens find scant
hold on the bare rocks. The native rum which I had purchased
for making a fire for preparing my coffee, refused to burn, and
extinguished the lighted match thrust into it as if it were -water.
I was obliged to abstract some refined alcohol from my photo-
graphic stores to supply its place-. At the pass of Guaylillos,
14,750 feet above the sea, one of my companions fell from his
saddle under the influence of the rarified air. On lifting him
from the ground we found him nearly senseless, with blood trick-
ling from his mouth', ears, nostrils, and the corners of his eyes.
Copious vomiting followed and we administered the usual rem-
edies with good effect. In doing this I drew off my gloves, and
was surprised to find my hands swollen and covered with blood,
which appeared as if it had oozed from a thousand minute punct-
ures.v
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 43
PERILS OF HIGH ALTITUDE.
OTHER travelers give similar accounts of the climate of the
Puna. Cold winds from, the icy Cordilleras, whose summits
often rise 8,000 feet above the plateau, sweep over their surface,
and during eight months of the year they are daily visited by
fearful storms. In a few hours the change of the temperature
often amounts to forty or fifty degrees, and the sudden fall is
rendered still more disagreeable to the traveler by the biting
winds which irritate the hands and face. The lips suffer especial-
ly, breaking out into deep rents which heal with difficulty. The
eyes also suffer intensely. The rapid changes from a cloudy sky
to the brilliancy of a snow-field, glistening in the sun, produces
an affection which the natives call the sarumpe. So intolerable
is the burning and stinging that even the stoical Indian, when
attacked, will fling himself on the ground uttering cries of an-
guish and despair. Chronic ophthalmia, suppuration of the eye-
lids, and total blindness, are frequent consequences of the
sarumpe, against which the traveler over the highlands endeavors
to guard himself by wearing green spectacles or a dark veil.
The first symptoms of the veto, or soroche usually appear at an
elevation of some 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. They
frequently manifest themselves in those who ride, but are greatly
aggravated when the traveler ascends on foot. The giddiness
and nausea are accompanied with an insupportable sense of lassi-
tude, difficulty of breathing, and violent palpitation of the heart,
followed by spitting of blood and a bloody diarrhoea. This last
affliction is, however, to a considerable extent, occasioned by the
noxious character of the water. "All the water of the Despobla-
do," says Squier, " even that which does not display any evidence
of foreign or mineral substances in solution, is more' or less pur-
gative, and often productive of very bad effects. In many parts
the thirsty traveler discovers springs as bright and limpid as
those of our New England hills ; yet when he dismounts to drink,
his muleteer will rush forward in affright, with the warning cry,
* Beware, es agua de Verugaf The Veruga water is said to pro-
duce a terrible disease called by the same name, which manifests
44 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
itself outwardly in both men and animals in great bleeding boils
and carbuncles, which occasion much distress, and often result in
death."
The veto, shows itself also in animals unaccustomed to moun-
tain traveling. They proceed more and more slowly, frequently
stop, trembling all over, and fall to the ground. If not allowed
to rest they inevitably die. The natives are accustomed to slit
the nostrils of their mules and horses in order to allow a greater
influx of air. Mules and asses are less affected by the veto, than
horses ; but it is fatal to cats, who are unable to live at a height
of more than 13,000 feet.
Another consequence of the diminished pressure of the air is
that water boils at so low a temperature that meat, vegetables
and eggs cannot be boiled sufficiently to be edible, and whoever
wishes a warm meal in the Puna must have it baked or roasted.
Winter and spring are no where in such close proximity as in
the Peruvian highlands, for deep valleys furrow the bleak Puna,
and when the traveler, benumbed by the cold blasts of the moun-
tain plateaus, descends into these valleys, he finds the change as
great as between the rigors of a Polar climate and the soft balm
of delicious spring redolent with nature's perfumes. There are
regions in Peru where a traveler may, in the morning, leave the
snow-covered Puna hut in which he has shivered over night, and
before sunset pluck pine-apples and bananas on the cultivated
margin of a forest and repose in comfort under no other cover-
ing than the drooping feathery leaves of gigantic palms.
But in this vast elevated region there is nothing else which
possesses so deep human interest as Lake Titicaca, for in it is
embosomed the sacred island, to which the Incas traced their
origin, and which to this day is to their descendants all that
Jerusalem and Mecca are to Christians and Mohammedans.
This beautiful body of fresh water is at the elevation of 12,864
feet above the sea, higher than any point in Europe except the
ten loftiest peaks of the Alps. It is 120 miles long, and from
fifty to sixty miles wide. Though the temperature falls quite
low the lake never freezes over, but ice forms along its shores.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 45
Tn the winter months the temperature of the lake is usually ten
or twelve degrees higher than that of the atmosphere.
SACRED LAKES AND BEAUTIFUL TRADITIONS.
THE largest island in this lake is the sacred island of Titicaca,
bare and rocky, about six miles long and five miles broad.
Tradition tells us that here Manco Capac and Mama Oella, at
once his wife and sister, who were both children of the sun and
messengers of that luminary, started on their errand to civilize
the barbarous tribes which then occupied the country. Manco
Capac was directed to travel northward until he should reach a
spot where his golden staff would sink inlo the ground of its own
accord ; and there he was to fix the seat of his empire. In
obedience to these directions he traveled slowly along the western
shore of lake Titicaca, through the barren Puna lands, until he
reached the Vilcanota river, one of the principal branches of the
Amazon, when he descended its valley and after a journey of
three hundred miles his golden staff sank into the ground upon
the spot where the city of Cuzco now stands. Here he fixed his
seat of empire, and here arose the city of the sun, the capital of
the Inca Empire, which in time spread over a length of 37 of
latitude, and in breadth from the eastern base of the Andes
westward to where the Pacific beats against the deeply planted
feet of the Cordilleras.
So runs the legend ; but there is much mythical matter incor-
porated into the traditions respecting Manco Capac. We find
his counterpart in the Fohi. of the Chinese, the Buddha of the
Hindus, the Osiris of Egypt, the Odin of Scandinavia, the Jatza-
coal of Mexico, and the Votan of Central America. Still there can
be no doubt that he is a real historical character, to whom, how-
ever, have been attributed many of the achievements of those
who preceded him, and perhaps of some who followed him.
The time when he lived is altogether uncertain. Some, studying
the quippus, or knotted cords, which are the only records of
ancient Peruvian history, place his advent back to within five
centuries after the deluge. But the best authorities give the
date approximately at about four centuries before the arrival of
46 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
the Spaniards under Pizarro, or about 1000, A. D., the period
when all Christendom was hurling itself in the crusades upon the
Holy Land.
WONDERS OF AN EXTINCT CIVILIZATION.
THIS civilization, in some respects one of the most remarkable
which the world has ever seen, had its origin in the lofty table-
land of the Puna, which we are now considering ; and far and
wide as the reign of the Incas subsequently extended, they and
their subjects always retained their reverence for the little rock;
islet in Lake Titicaca, where it had its origin. At the northern
end of the island is a frayed and water-worn mass of red sand-
stone, about 225 feet long and twenty-five feet high. This is
the sacred rock of Manco Capac, the most Holy spot in all Peru.
Upon it, as was believed, no bird would alight, no animal venture,
and upon which no human being not of royal blood dared sev
his foot. From this rock the sun first rose to dispel the primal
vapors and illuminate the world. It was, so runs the legend,
planted all over with gold and silver, and except upon the mosf.
solemn occasions, covered with a veil of cloth of costly material
and gorgeous colors. The gold and silver, as well as the
gorgeous covering, have long since disappeared, and what is now
seen is only a bare rock, on the crest of the island, which rises
2,000 feet above the waters of the lake. Yet .even now, when
the Indian guides come within sight of it, they raise their hats,
bow reverently, and mutter words of mystic import, which they
themselves most likely do not understand. In front of the rock
is a level artificial terrace 372 feet long and 125 feet broad, sup-
ported by a low stone wall. According to tradition the soil
which once covered this terrace was carried upon the backs of
fcnen from the distant valleys of the Amazon, so that it might
'nourish a vegetation denied by the hard, ungrateful soil of the
island.
Everywhere on the holy island are the ruins of Inca structures,
and the sites of the most sacred spots are still shown. Here is
the sheltered bay where the Incas landed when they came to visit
the spot consecrated to the sun. Halfway up the ascent are the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
47
"footprints" of the great Inca Tupanqui, marking the place
where he stood when, catching his first view of the hallowed
rock, he removed the imperial covering from his head in token
of adoration of the divinity whose shrine rose before him. These
so-called foot prints bear strong resemblance to the impressions
of a gigantic foot, thirty-six inches long and of proportionate
48 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
breadth. Their outline is formed by hard ferruginous veins
around which the softer rock has been worn away, leaving them
in relief.
THE FOUNTAIN OF THE INCA8.
THE Fountain of the Incas is situated in a sheltered nook,
surrounded with terraces upon which grow patches of maize with
ears not longer than one's finger. The bath is a pool forty feot
long, ten wide, and five deep, built of worked stones. Into this
[pour four jets of water, as large as a man's arm, from openings
'cut in the stones behind. The water comes through subterranean
passages from sources now unknown, and never diminishes in
volume. It flows to-day as freely as when the Incas resorted
here and cut the deep hill-sides into terraces, bringing the earth
all the way from the Valley of Yucay, or "Vale of Imperial
Delights," four hundred miles distant. Over the walls droop the
tendrils of vines ; and what with the odors, and the tinkle and
patter of the water, one might imagine himself in the court of
the Alhambra.
Besides the sacred Island of Titicaca, there are eight smaller
ones in the lake. Soto was the Isle of Penitence, where the
Incas were wont to resort for fasting and humiliation. Coati
was sacred to the moon, the wife and sister of the sun, and on it
is the palace of the Virgins of the Sun, one of the most remark-
able and best preserved remains of aboriginal architecture on the
continent of America.
At Tihuanico, on the border of the lake, are immense ruins
which clearly" antedate the time of the Incas. They were ruins
when the Spaniards made their appearance, and the natives could
give no account of them. They supposed that they were built
by divine architects in a single night. Cieza do Leon, one of the
companions of Pizarro, writes of them : " What most surprised
me was that the enormous gateways were formed on other great
masses of stone, some of which were thirty feet long, fifteen
wide, and six thick. I can not conceive with what tools or instru-
ments these stones were hewn out, for they must have been vastly
larger than we now see them . It is supposed that some of these
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 49
structures were built long before the dominion of the Tncas ; and
I have heard the Indians affirm that these sovereigns constructed
their great building at Cuzco after the plans of the walls of
Tihuanico." The most remarkable thing in these ruins are the
great doorways of a single block of stone. The largest of these
is ten feet high and thirteen broad, the opening cut through it
being six feet four inches high, and three feet two inches wide.
The whole neighborhood is strewn with immense blocks of stone
elaborately wrought, equalling if not surpassing in size any
known to exist in Egypt, India, or any part of the world. Some
of these are thirty feet long, eighteen broad, and six thick.
All these gigantic remains of a past civilization are found in the
Jofty table-land of the Puna. When these come to be fully
described and illustrated, it will be seen that here, in a climate
so cofd that hardly a vegetable will grow which man can use for
food, were planted the seeds of a civilization as remarkable as
any which ever existed. More wonderful, perhaps, than these
great architectural works were the great military roads con-
structed by the Incas. One reached from Cuzco down to the
ocean. The other stretched from the capital, along the very
crest of the Cordilleras, and down their ravines, to Quito, 1,200
miles distant. The length of these great roads, including
branches, was not less than 3,000 miles. Modern travelers com-
pare them with the best in the world. They were from eighteen
to twenty-five feet broad, paved with immense blocks of stone,
sometimes covered with asphaltum. In ascending steep moun-
tains, broad steps were cut in the rock ; ravines were filled with
heavy embankments flanked with parapets, and, wherever the
climate permitted, lined with shade trees and shrubs, with houses
at regular distances for the accomodation of travelers, and
specially serving as post-stations. For there was a regular pos-
tal service by which the Incas could send messages from one
extremity of their dominion to the other. This service was per-
formed by runners ; for the Peruvians had no beasts of burden
stronger or swifter than the llama. These messengers were
trained to great speed. On approaching a station they gave a
50 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
loud shout to warn the uext courier of their approach, so that he
might be ready to take the message or parcel without delay. In
this manner it is said that dispatches were sent at the rate of 150
miles a day, a speed unequaled until within our own times, when
the railway and the telegraph have brought the ends of the world
almost together.
WONDERS OF THREE DEAD CITIES.
THE only parts of America which, before the arrival of
Europeans, were in some degree civilized, were Mexico and Peru ;
to which may probably be added that long and narrow tract
which stretches from the south of Mexico to the Isthmus
of Panajna. In this latter country, which is now known as
Central America, the inhabitants, aided by the fertility of the
soil, seem to have worked out for themselves a certain amount of
knowledge, since the ruins still extant prove the possession "of a
mechanical and architectural skill too considerable to be acquired
by any nation entirely barbarous. Beyond this, nothing is
known of their history ; but the accounts we have of such build-
ings as Copan, Palenque and Uxmal, make it highly probable
that Central America was the ancient seat of a civilization in all
essential points similar to those of India and Egypt ; that is to
say, similar to them in respect to the unequal distribution
of wealth and power, and the thraldom in which the great body
of the people consequently remained.
Mr. Squier, who explored Nicaragua, says of the statues which
he saw in large numbers about the ruins of old palaces : " The
material, in every case, is a black basalt, of great hardness,
which, with the best of modern tools, can only be cut with diffi-
culty." Mr. Stephens, another explorer of Central America,
say a he found at Palenque " elegant specimens of art and models
for study," and of the paintings he found at Chichen he writes :
" They exhibit a freedom of touch which could only be the
result of discipline and training under masters." At Copan
the ame writer declares that " it would bo impossible, with the
bost instruments of modern times, to cut stones more per-
fectly." These evidences unmistakably confirm the impression
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 51
that in many respects the civilization of Europe or the United
States does not show a greater degree of intellectual refinement
or any more progress in the arts and sciences than the people of
Mexico, Central America and Peru were acquainted with.. The
same is true of Egypt, and we cannot contemplate these wonders
to-day without being impressed with the belief that civilizations,
like tides, ebb and flow, their rise and fall being dependent upon
change of climate, revulsions of nature, or protracted wars,
though measured by centuries.
THE AMAZON RIVER.
THE wonders of South America do not, however, cluster
around the ruins of a past civilization, for one of the greatest
of natural wonders is the mighty Amazon River and its marvel-
lous effect upon the vegetation and animal life of Brazil. This
remarkable stream was discovered by Yanez Pinzor in the year
1500, and was first navigated by one of Pizarro's officers named
Orellana, in 1541. The word Amazon is supposed to be derived
from the story of Orellaua's fight with a body of Amazons a
nation of female warriors, although some declare it is from an
Indian word, Amassona boat destroyer which is decidedly im-
probable. The men who opposed Orellana wore long tunics and
parted their hair in the middle, which fact, aided by the fabled
Amazons of the Caucasus, doubtless led him to believe them
women.
The total length of this gigantic stream, as estimated by
Lieutenant Herndon, is 3,944 miles, and its average depth forty-
three feet, quite enough to float the largest ocean steamers, but
owing to the numerous falls and rapids it is really navigable for
steam vessels only about 500 miles from its mouth. A singular
feature of the Amazon is its abrupt v banks, there being no shoal
water near trie shore as in other rivers, soundings taken from
the bank often showing fifty feet or more, equalling the greatest
depth of the mid-stream. Like nearly all tropical rivers, the
Amazon is subject to periodical inundations. The banks, which
are generally high, are overflowed and vast tracts of land flooded
to such an extent, indeed, that its freshening effects are percept-
52
THE WORLD'S WONERS.
ible for many miles on either side The rise above the lowest
level of the stream is sometimes as great as fifty feet, and the
ocean tide, following the river, is noticeable nearly 500 miles
from the mouth. The bore tidal wave of the Amazon exceeds
that of any other river of the world. La Condamine, more
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 58
than 100 years ago, accurately described it in these words:
DESTRUCTIVE TIDES OF THE AMAZON.
" DURING three days before the full and new moons, the period
of highest tides, the sea, instead of occupying six hours to reach
its flood, swells to its highest limits in one or two minutes. The
noise of this terrible flood is heard five or six miles and
increases as it approaches. Presently may be seen a liquid
promontory, twelve or fifteen feet high, followed by another and
another, and sometimes by a fourth. These watery mountains
spread across the whole channel, and advance with a prodigious
rapidity, rending and crushing everything in their way. Im-
mense trees are instantly uprooted by it, and sometimes whole
tracts of land are swept away."
Another characteristic feature is the system of back channels
joining the tributaries, and the canoe paths through the forest.
Following these narrow water roads one may go in a canoe from
Santaren 1,000 miles up the Amazon without once ever enter-
ing the river.
The enormous valley of the Amazon is walled in by the Andes
and the highlands of Guiana and Matto Grosso. No other region
of equal area has such a remarkably uniform character, and its
geological formation is of deep interest. The territory through
which the Amazon flows is covered with vast forests and pos-
sesses a soil of extraordinary fertility. "If," says Humboldt,
" the name of primeval forest can be given to any forests on the
face of the earth, none, perhaps, can so strictly claim it as those
that fill the connected basin of the Orinoco and Amazon."
" From the grassy steppes of Venezuela to the treeless pampas
of Buenos Ayres," says a later traveler, " expands a sea of ver-
dure in which we may draw a circle of 1,100 miles in diameter,
which shall include an evergreen, unbroken forest. There is a
most bewildering diversity of grand and beautiful trees a wild,
unconquered race of vegetable giants, draped, festooned, corded,
matted and ribboned with climbing and creeping plants, woody
and succulent in endless variety."
Animal life is not so conspicuous in the forest as on the river;
54 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
the latter is fairly crowded with strange fishes, alligators, great
turtles, porpoises, manitees sea cow and enormous anacondas.
Through the forest are scattered mammals, birds and reptiles,
the more common being the ferocious puma and jaguar, tapir,
copyboras, piccaries, sloths, deer, armadillos, monkeys, parrots,
to weans and macaws. The shores of the Amazon are but thinly
inhabited ; the most important tribes being Mundurucus, Tucunas
and Yagnos, who are an idle, vagabondish people, regardless of
the past and heedless of the future.
AFRICA.
CHAPTER III.
ANCIENT DISCOVERIES.
FROM the foregoing outline of the interesting phases of nature
in South America, we now turn to that most interesting of all
countries, Africa, which, though lying within the same zone belts
as South America, and having a somewhat similiar physical
aspect, is yet possessed of very many peculiar features not found
elsewhere in the world. Here the most ancient records place the
beginning of creation, which, though in allegory, give evidence
of the birth of civilization in the neighborhood of that mighty
and wonderful river, the Nile. It was in Africa that the father
of history was born, and on its north-eastern coast or interior
were builded the great cities of Carthage, Memphis and Alexan-
dria, which for a time, in succession, ruled the world. Here also
the Saracens, in their practice of alchemy, found greater than
philosophers' stones, in discovering, by accident, so many useful
facts in chemistry.
The history of Ancient Africa is unwritten, nor has it ever
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 55
been determined from whence the name originated, though hun-
dreds of philologists have attempted to explain its origin. The
earliest mention we have of any attempt to explore the country
is the following, from a book published by John Ogilby, " Master)
of His Majesties Revels in the Kingdom of Ireland" in 1670,
the full title of which would occupy nearly one page of this
work, but which is descriptive of Africa. In the quaint style
then used, it says :
" Amongst the Ancients, Hanno, a Carthaginian, sent forth by
that State, discovered long since much of the Coasts of Africa,
but pierced not far the Inland Country, nor did his Voyage give
great light that they might after steer by, though translated from
the Puriick Language into Greek, and published by Sigismund
Gelenius at Brazill in 1533. And in the reign of Necho, King
of Egypt, some Phenicians from the Red- sea sayl'd by the Coast
of Africa to Gibralter, from thence returning the same way they
came. Of which Herodotus (Herodotus wrote nine Books of
History, according to the number of the Muses, entituling them
in order by one of their names) in his Melpomene (Fourth Book)
says : The Phenicians sayling from the Red-sea, came into the
Southern Ocean, and after three years reaching Hercules Pillars,
returned through the Mediterranean, reporting wonders ! how
that they had the Sun at Noon on their Starboard, or North-side,
to which I give little credit, and others may believe as they
please. Nor did Sataspes' Voyage in the Reign of Xerxes, King
of Persia, in the year of the world 3435, give us any better
Hints ; of which thus Herodotus in the same book :
** 'Sataspes, Teaspes' son, ravishing a virgin, and condemned
to be crucified, by the mediation of his Mother, Darius' sister*
was to suffer no more than to undertake a voyage round Africa,
which he but slightly performed ; for passing Gibralter, he sayl'd
to the utmost point called Siloe (Cape de Verd), from thence
sayling on southward ; but being weary, returning the same way
he came, made a strange relation to Xerxes, how he had seen
remote countreys, where he found few people in Tynan Purple,
but such as when they drew near the Land, forsook their abodes,
56 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
and fled up into the Mountains, and that they only drove some
of their Cattle thence, doing them no further damage ; adding
also, that he had sayled round Africa, had it not been impossible :
To which the King giving small credit, and for that Sataspes
had not performed his Undertaking, remitted him to his former
sentence.'
. " As little availed that expedition of the Nasamones (a People
inhabiting Tunis) to this discovery, who (as Herodotus relates in
his Euterpe, second book) chose by lot five young men of good
Fortunes and Qualifications, to explore the African Deserts,
never yet penetrated, to inform themselves of their Vastness, and
what might be beyond ; these setting forth with fit Provisions,
came first where only wild Beasts inhabited ; thence travelling
westward through barren Lands, after many days, they saw a
Plain planned with- Trees, to which drawing near they tasted
their Fruits, whilest a Dwarf-like People came to them about
half their stature, neither by speech understanding the other,
they led them by hand over a vast Common, to their City, where
all the inhabitants were Blacks, and of the same size ; by this
City ran towards the East a great River, abounding with Croco-
diles, which Etearchus, King of the Ammonians, to whom the
Nasamones related this, supposed to be the Nile. This is all we
have of Antiquity, and from one single Author, who writ 420
years before the Incarnation, which sufficiently sets forth the
Ignorance of the Ancients concerning Africa."
. THE DISADVANTAGES OF NATIVE AFRICANS.
WHAT has been written of South America in no inconsiderable
measure applies to Africa, but there are disadvantages noticeable
in the latter against which natives of the former country do not
have to contend. Africa has ever appeared like a country cursed
by God, its people in the greater part bearing a mark that has
descended apparently from posterity to posterity since the day
that Ham was bitterly cursed by his father, and made a slave to
his heartless brothers. Egypt, the seat of learning, the birth-place
of genius, with her Alexandria palace and her great philosophic
schools, is now only a mausoleum of a dead civilization, like an
TME WORLD'S WONDERS. 57
instrument once giving forth the most exquisite melody, now
broken and stringless. From a wonderfully brilliant sunlight,
which once lighted her forums, palaces, specimens of art and
culture, she has fallen under the pall of age, and her glory now
abides under the sands ; her Memphis and her Thebes are inurned
by pelting storms, the Sphynx and the Pyramids, broken, and
crusted by time, are now only curious monuments of a past age
that will return no more. The blood of Hypatia, the noblest
woman that ever championed a cause, rose round the temples
which her murderers desecrated, and the demons of vengeance
made brooding night settle upon its ruins.
In Egypt, as in all Africa, there has ever been an impassable
barrier between the rich and poor. In the olden time, when
Egypt was in her glory, the laws were atrociously oppressive ;
if a member of the industrious classes changed his usual
employment, or was known to pay any attention to political
matters, he was severly punished, and under no circumstances
was the possession of land allowed to an agricultural laborer,
to a mechanic, or indeed to any one except the King, the
Clergy, and the Army. The people at large were little better
than beasts of burden ; and all that was expected of them was
unremitting and unrequited labor. If they neglected their work
they were flogged ; and the same punishment was frequently
inflicted upon domestic servants, and even upon women. Hence
it was that the industry of the whole nation, being at the absolute
command of a small part of it, there arose the possibility of
rearing those vast edifices, which inconsiderate observers admire
as a proof of civilization, but which in reality are evidences of a
state of things altogether depraved and unhealthy.
That in such a society as this, much regard should be paid to
human suffering, it would be idle to suppose. Still, we are
startled by the reckless prodigality with which, in Egypt, the
upper classes squandered away the labor and lives of the people.
In this respect, as the monuments yet remaining abundantly
prove, they stood alone, without a rival. We may form some
idea of the almost incredible waste, when we hear that two
68 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
thousand men were occupied for three years removing a single
stone from Elephantine to Sais ; that the canal of the Red Sea
cost the lives of a hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians ; and
that to build one of the Pyramids required the labor of three
hundred and sixty thousand men for twenty yeiu-s. This reckless
disregard for the people so impoverished the lower classes, chiefly
by confiscations, that subsistence became finally so difficult that
families were compelled to support life almost exclusively from
the fruit of date trees.
This was the condition of the most civilized portion of Egypt,
but when we describe the life found in Central Africa, there will
be seen influences so nearly identical that we must conclude
there were the same causes operating throughout the whole
country, to keep it in darkness and terror. While the poten-
tates of Central Africa are never wealthy, as we value posses-
sions, yet they hold their subjects by hooks of steel, as it were,
and place no estimate whatever on human life, using it only as it
may please or advantage them. Through all Africa, therefore,
as well as in Egypt, there is seen the slave-mark, the curse of all
uncivilized nations.
THE RIVER NILE.
Of all rivers which traverse the habitable portions of the earth,
the Nile is pre-eminently the grandest ; grand not alone because
it flows through the wild, dark, pathless region, nor because of
its long hidden source, but because of its singular character in
its adaptation to the sand-covered, scorching desert which it
cleaves, spreading a wondrous fertility over the otherwise barren
and uninhabitable waste, fructifying the sands and establishing
a seat for the earliest civilization. Oh, marvellous Nile! Oh,
wonderful Egypt I That great country in which the infant of
industry and progress was cradled ; which gave to science its
swaddling clothes, and nursed art and religion into strong and
imperishable vitality, has not only been sustained by the Niles'
gifts of prodigal fertility, but was created by the alluvial soil
which flowed down through the long centuries, and deposited
in continual accretions to the delta. Thus has Egypt grown
v THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 59
out into the sea, a creature of that wonder of wonders,
the great Nile. At so remote a period that history cannot even
approximate, Egypt came into existence, washed down from hills
and mountains, lagoons and lakes, to take her rank as mother of
the civilized world.
"Egypt," as Sir Samuel Baker says, "was not only created
by the Nile, but the very existence of its inhabitants depended
upon the annual inundation of the river. Thus all that related
to the Nile was of vital importance to the people ; it was the
hand- that fed them.
"Egypt, depending so entirely upon the river, it was natural
that the origin of those mysterious waters should have absorbed
the attention of thinking men. It was unlike all other rivers.
In July and August, when streams in all portions of the world
are at their lowest, by reason of the summer heat, the Nile is at
its flood I In Egypt there is no rainfall not even a drop of dew
in those parched deserts through which, for 860 miles of latitude,
the glorious river flowed without a tributary. Licked up by the
burning sun, and gulped by the exhausting sand of Nubian
deserts, supporting all losses by evaporation and absorption, the
noble flood shed its annual blessings upon Egypt. An anomaly
among rivers ; flooding in the driest season ; everlasting in sandy
deserts ; where was its hidden origin? where were the sources of
the Nile? This was, from the earliest period, the great geo-
graphical question to be solved."
MODERN TRAVELS THROUGH AFRICA.
STRANGE as it appears, it is none the less true, that one of the
most -accurate maps of Africa ever published, was printed in
Ogilby's book over two hundred years ago, not only showing tho
true source of the Nile, just as Stanley found it, but generally all
the water ways and topography of the entire country are faithfully
exhibited. Vasquez de Gamma, who figures so conspicuously in
the discoveries of North America, was the first explorer we have
any authentic history of who circumnavigated Africa, and incited
a national desire to effect a thorough exploration of its interior,
though it was twenty years after his death before an expedition
60 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
suitably equiped, attempted to cross the country. Since that
time African exploration parties have been very numerous, nearly
every nation on the globe contributing adventurous spirits to
battle with the wild animals and wilder jungles which charac-
terize its interior, in pursuit of a curiosity which every person
possesses more or less.
In this volume T shall confine myself to the results and more
exciting incidents, discoveries and ad ventures of the great modern
explorers of Africa, giving prominence to those whose achieve-
ments entitle them to public recognition.
CAPT. J. H. SPEKE'S TRAVELS.
THE first to be considered is Capt. J. H. Speke, of the Eng-
lish army, as he was the first to claim the discovery of the
source of the Nile, although subsequent explorations have shown
that he discovered only one of the principal lakes or reservoirs
that feed that wonderful river.
Capt. Speke made three expeditions into the heart of Africa,
first as the companion of the celebrated traveler, Richard Francis
Burton, during which they discovered lake Tanganika. On his
second expedition, which he undertook alone, Speke discovered
Victoria Lake, one of the principal reservoirs from which the Nile
is fed, and which for some years was supposed to be the real source
of this mysterious river. His third expedition was undertaken in
1860, in company with Capt. J. W. Grant, also an officer in the
British army, and who had previously made extensive explora-
tions in Australia. As this third expedition contains the most
important results of Capt. Speke's discoveries, we shall confine
ourselves principally to it.
The explorers were aided in this expedition by a contribution
of $12,000 from the Royal Geographical Society of England, and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 61
$15,000 granted by the Cape Parliament. They set sail on an
English steamer for Zanzibar, and upon nearing that place they
encountered a Spanish slaver which was just leaving the African
coast with 544 starving slaves penned up in the deadly atmos-
phere of the ship's hold, where the dead and dying were lying in
ghastly confusion. The slaver was captured and the miserable
black wretches returned to their native shores. Directly after
this event Speke and his companion arrived at Zanzibar, where
preparations were made, and on October 2d, with two hundred
men, they departed for the interior of Africa. Capt. Speke thus
describes the manner of taking observations and making up the
records of his journey :
" My first occupation was to map the country. This is done
by timing the rate of inarch with a watch, taking compass-bear-
ings along the road or on any conspicuous marks as, for
instance, hills off it and by noting the watershed in short, all
topographical objects. On arrival in camp every day came the
ascertaining, by boiling a thermometer, of the altitude of the
station above the sea-level ; of the latitude of the station by the
meridian altitude of a star taken with a sextant ; and of the com-
pass variation by azimuth. Occasionally there was the fixing of
certain crucial stations, at intervals of sixty miles or so, by lunar
observations, or distances of the moon either from the sun or
from certain given stars, for determining the longitude, by
which the original-timed course can be drawn out with certainty
on the map by proportion. Should a date be lost, you can
always discover it by taking a lunar distance and comparing
it with the Nautical Almanac, by noting the time when a star
passes the meridian if your watch is right, or by observing
the phases of the moon, or her rising or setting, as compared
with the Nautical Almanac. The rest of my work, besides
sketching and keeping a diary, which was the most troublesome
of all, consisted in making geological and zoological collections.
With Captain Grant rested the botanical collections and ther-
mometrical registers. He also boiled one of the thermometer's,
kept the rain-gauge, and undertook the photography ; but after
62 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
a time I sent the instruments back, considering this work
too severe for the climate, and he tried instead sketching
with water-colors, the results of which form the chief part of the
illustrations in my book. The rest of our day went in break-
fasting after the march was over a pipe, to prepare us for rum-
maging the fields and villages to discover their contents for scien-
tific purposes dinner close to sunset, and tea and pipe before
turning in at night."
FIRST SIGHT OF HIPPOPOTAMI.
THE journey was without special incident until the vicinity of
Mbume was reached, when they passed an immense lagoon in
which many hippopotami were seen sporting very near, as if
inviting attack. There were also numerous traces of elephants,
buffaloes, rhinoceros and antelopes, but no stoppage was made
for a hunt.
They had now proceeded far enough into the interior to be al-
most constantly beset by native chiefs, who demanded tribute
for the privilege of crossing their respective districts. On the
24th of October the party reached the Ugogo plateau, the inhabi-
tants of which are a fierce, repulsive and dangerous people.
The men, indeed, are never seen without their usual arms the
spear, the shield, and the assegai. They live in flat-topped,
square, tembe villages, wherever springs of water are found,
keep cattle in. plenty, and farm enough generally to supply not
only their own wants, but those of the thousands who annually
pass in caravans. They are extremely fond of ornaments, the
most common of which is an ugly tube of the gourd thrust
through the lower lobe of the ear. Their color is a soft ruddy
brown, with a slight infusion of black, not unlike that of a rich
plum. Impulsive by nature, and exceedingly avaricious, they
pester travelers beyond all conception by thronging the road,
jeering, quizzing, and pointing at them ; and in camp, by intru-
sively forcing their way into the midst of the kit, and even into
the stranger's tent,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
63
A RHINOCEROS HUNT.
UPON arriving on the farthest border of Ugogo, at a settlement
called Kanyenye, eight of the porters deserted, taking with
them as many mules laden with stores, which compelled a day's
stoppage. While here, one of the natives, upon noticing fire-
arms among the party, told Capt. Speke that in the immediate
locality were not a few two-horned rhinoceros, which every night
visited the bitter pools near by to bathe. This information
greatly delighted Speke % and Grant, who directly made prepara-
THE TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS.
lions to indulge their bent for a hunt, while others of the party
vere sent in search of the deserters and stolen mules.
At ten o'clock, an hour before the moon would rise, they set
out for the lagoons, accompanied by a guide and two sheikh
boys carrying rifles. Reaching the foot-hills, the party hid
themselves until midnight to await the rising moon and their
dangerous game. They had not long to wait, for presently
a gigantic beast loomed up against the horizon and came on t-
64 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ward a large pool of water. Speke attached a bit of white paper
to the sight of his rifle and crawled undercover of the bank until
within eighty yards of the animal. It chanced that the shot
struck in a vital spot, penetrating the beast's heart, so that it
died with but few struggles. Capt. Speke, being anxious to in-
crease his store of meat, then retired to his former position and
again waited. After two hours had elapsed two more rhinoceros
approached in the same stealthy, fidgety way as the first one.
They came even closer than the first, but the moon having
passed beyond their meridian, he could not obtain so clear
a mark. Still they were big marks, and Speke determined on
doing his best before they had time to wind him ; so, stepping
out, with the sheikh's boys behind, carrying the second rifle to
meet all emergencies, he planted a ball in the larger one,
and brought him round with a roar and whooh-whooh, exactly to
the best position that one could wish for receiving a second shot ;
but, alas ! on turning sharply round for the spare rifle, Speke
had the mortification to see that both the black boys had made
off, and were scrambling like monkeys up a tree. At the same
time, the rhinoceros, fortunately, on second consideration,
turned to the right-about, and shuffled away, leaving, as is
usually the case when conical bullets are used, no traces of
blood.
Thus ended the night's work. The party now went home by
dawn to apprise all the porters that they had flesh in store
for them, when the two boys who had so shamelessly deserted,
instead of hiding their heads, described all the night's scenes
with such capital mimicry as set the whole camp in a roar.
They had all now to hurry back to the carcass before the native
Wagogo could find it ; but, though this precaution was quickly
taken, still, before the tough skin of the beast could be cut
through, the Wagogo began assembling like vultures, and fight-
ing with Speke's men. A more savage, filthy, disgusting, but,
at the same time, grotesque scene than that which followed can
not be conceived. All fell to work, armed with swords, spears.
Knives, and hatchets, cutting and slashing, thumping and bawl-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 65
ing, fighting and tearing, tumbling and wrestling up to their
knees in filth and blood in the middle of the carcass. When
a tempting morsel fell to the possession of any one, a stronger
neighbor would seize and bear off the prize in triumph. All
right was now a matter of pure might, and lucky it was that it
did not end in a fight between the opposing parties. The natives
might be afterward seen, one by one, covered with blood, scam-
pering home each with his spoil a piece of tripe, or liver,
or lights, or whatever else it might have been his fortune to get
CLOSE QUARTERS.
On the 7th of November, through sickness and desertion,
Speke's followers were so much reduced that it became necessary
for hi ill to secure more recruits, for which purpose he halted
three days and sent to Sheikh Said for several men. That the
time of waiting might not hang heavily on his hands, he went
upon another hunt. Shortly after starting out he came suddenly
upon a two-horned rhinoceros which stood quietly feeding off a
bush. He shot the beast at a distance not exceeding five paces.
Proceeding farther, he soon came upon a herd of buffaloes and
secured four shots before the animals discovered him or from
whence the shots had conie. They then galloped off with Speke
66
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
after them, and he succeeded in killing four or five and wounding
several, among the latter a large bull, full of fight and sullen-
ness ; this one, struck in the flank, charged down upon him and
his boy, who carried the rifles ; the boy, nimble as a monkey,
swung himself from a friendly bough just as the bull swept under
him like a cyclone, and made directly for Speke, who had but a
single gun left. Happily this was enough, for the bullet was so
well directed that it broke the infuriated beast's neck. Speke
had barely escaped from one bull before another, that had also
been wounded, charged at him, giving only sufficient time for
A LUCKY SHOT.
him to pick up another gun that had been dropped by the nimble
boy. As the bull came rapidly on, Speke jumped behind
a small knoll and fired, but the shot did not take effect ; most
fortunately, however, the smoke from the discharge hung so
'heavy about the bull's head that he could not see his assailant,
knd after fighting it awhile, he bolted off into the woods, to the
intense delight of the now defenceless banter.
At the end of five days seventy porters were secured, to whom
were given sixteen pieces of cloth each, in advance, for their ser-
vices as carriers. Two of the deserters were also captured, and
having received fifty lashes each for their offense, were again
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 67
placed in service. While waiting for the Sheikh to return, how-
ever, some of the villagers stole several loads of beads, for which
Speke held the chief responsible. After a long and heated argu-
ment, fifteen cows were given as a compensation for the loss,
whereupon the expedition started forward again and did not halt,
except at night, until Unyanyembe was reached, which is the
most considerable place within the rich district of the Land
of the Moon.
Up to November 23d the losses sustained by the expedition
were as follows : One Hottentot dead and five returned ; one
freeman sent back with the Hottentots, and one flogged and
turned off ; twenty-five of Sultan Majid's gardeners deserted ;
ninety-eight of the original Wanyamuezi porters deserted ; twelve
mules and three donkeys dead. Besides which, more than half
of the property had been stolen ; while the traveling expenses
had been unprecedented, in consequence of the severity of the
famine throughout the whole length of the march.
CHAPTER IV.
BETWEEN TWO FIRES.
AFTER leaving the Land of the Moon, Speke encountered
many serious difficulties which crippled his force materially and
threatened him with disaster. The country in which he was now
travelling was particularly precarious on account of a war then
waging between the Arabs and a deposed native chief, named
Manua Sera, who proved himself a bitter antagonist, full of
strategy and the daring of a guerilla. This chief paid a visit tof
the explorer, and after detailing the wrongs which had been done
him, begged Speke to join him against the Arabs. To have de-
clined this request abruptly might have imperiled his own safety,
so Speke was compelled to resort to strategy to avoid serious
trouble. While deferring his answer, the Arabs, in pursuit of
Manua ' Sera, reached the country and were soon in com-
68 TILE WOULD *S WONDERS.
munication with Speke, whom they besought to join them
in expelling or destroying the guerilla chief. Speke was there-
fore put to it again, for the interior tribes generally sympathized
with Manua Sera, and had the English explorer combined with
the Arabs, he would have certainly met with disaster.
After passing Masange and Zimbili, Speke put up a night in
the village of Iviri, on the northern border of Unyanyembe, and
found several officers there, sent by Mkisiwa, to enforce a levy
of soldiers to take the field with the Arabs at Kaze against
Manua Sera ; to effect which, they walked about ringing bells,
and bawling out that if a certain percentage of all the inhabitants
did not muster, the village chief would be seized, and their plan-
tations confiscated. Speke's men all mutinied here for increase
of ration allowances. To find themselves food with, he had
given them all one necklace of beads each per diem since leaving
Kaze, in lieu of cloth, which hitherto had been served out for
that purpose. It was a very liberal allowance, because the
Arabs never gave more than one necklace to every three men,
and that, too, of inferior quality to what Speke served. He
brought them to at last by starvation, and then went on. Dip-
ping down into a valley between two clusters of granitic hills,
beautifully clothed with trees and grass, studded hereand there
with rich plantations, they entered the district of Usagari, and
on the second day forded the Gornbe Nullah again in its upper
course, called Kuale. Here ("apt. Speke met with a chief whose
wife was an old friend, formerly a waiting-maid at Ungugu,
whom he had met on previous voyages. Her husband, the
chief, was then absent, engaged in war with a neighbor, so
the queen gave Speke such assistance as enabled him to avoid
joining either the Arabs or Manua Sera, without inciting their
hostility.
On Christmas day the expedition halted to await the arrival of
three hundred porters that had been sent for by a chief named
Musa, who had accompanied Speke for several weeks, giving
much valuable service as guide and interpreter. The expedition
did not move again until January 2d, the interim being employed
WOKLD'S WONDE&S.
70 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
by Speke and Grant in collecting specimens, stuffing birds
and animals, and making sketches. While thus employed, they
came upon a poor slave, owned by a chief named Sirboko, who
was chained up in a most merciless manner. The pitiful appear-
ing fellow cried out to Speke :
" Hal Baua wangi, Bana wangi (Oh, my lord, my lord) take
pity on me ! When I was a free man I saw you at Uvira, on the
Tanganyika Lake, when you were there ; but since then the
Watuta, in a tight at Ujiji, speared me all over and left me for
flead, when I was seized by the people, sold to the Arabs, and
have been in chains ever since. Oh, I say, Bana wangi, if you
would only liberate me I would never run away, but would serve
you faithfully alt my life." This touching appeal was too strong
to be withstood, so Speke called up Sirboko, and told him if he
would liberate this one man he should be no loser ; and the
release was effected. He was then christened Farhan (Joy), and
was enrolled with the rest of the freedmen. Inquiry was then
made if it were true the Wabembe were cannibals, and also
circumcised. In one of the slaves the latter statement was
easily confirmed. Speke was assured that the slave was a
cannibal ; for the whole tribe of Wabembe, when they cannot
get human flesh otherwise, give a goat to their neighbors for a
sick or dying child, regarding such flesh as the best of all. No
other cannibals, however, were known of; but the Masai, and
their cognates, the Wahumba, Wataturu, Wakasange, Wanyar-
amba, and even the Wagogo and Wakimbu, circumcise.
THE KING OF KARAGUE AND HIS FAT WIFE.
SUCH slow progress had been made, owing to wars, desertions,
oppositions from chiefs, etc., that it was not until the latter part
of October, more than one year after starting, that Capt. Speke
reached the Karague country. Here he found a fine stretch of
elevated lands which are drained by the Kitangule River directly
into the Victoria lake. It was here also that he met Rumanika,
the king, and Nnanaji, his brother, a famous Doctor. Both
these men had most regular features, denoting the best blood of
Abyssinia. Speke paid a visit to the king, and was received in
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 71
a becoming manner; his surprise was great to hear him
inquire so intelligently about people and governments in other
lands, and when he asked his visitor to take two of the princes
with him to England, that they might become educated, and
return to tell him all about the world, his admiration was greatly
increased . As to the domestic character and tastes of Eumanika,
Capt. Speke writes :
"In the afternoon, as I had heard from Musa that the wives
of the king and princes were fattened to such an extent that they
could not stand upright, .1 paid my respects to Wazezeru, the
king's eldest brother who, having been born before his father
ascended the throne, did not come in the line of succession with
the hope of being able to see for myself the truth of the story.
There was no mistake about it. On entering the hut, I found
the old man and his chief wife sitting side by side on a bench of
earth strewed over with grass, and partitioned like stalls for
sleeping apartments, while in front of them were placed numer-
ous wooden pots of milk, and, hanging from the poles that sup-
ported the hee-hive shaped hut, a large collection of bows six
feet in length, while below them were tied an even larger col-
lection of spears, intermixed with a goodly assortment of heavy-
handled assegais. I was struck with no* small surprise at the
way he received me, as well as with the extraordinary dimensions,
yet pleasing beauty, of the immoderately fat fair one, his wife.
She could not rise ; and so large were her arms that between the
joints the flesh hung down like large, loose-stuffed puddings.
Then in came their children, all models of the Abyssinian type
of beauty, and as polite in their manners as thorough-bred gen-
tlemen. They had heard of my picture-books from the king,
and all wished to see them ; which they no sooner did, to their
infinite delight, especially when they recognized any of the
animals, than the subject was turned by my inquiring what they
did with so many milk-pots. This was easily explained by
Wazezeru himself, who, pointing to his wife, said, This is all
the product of those pots ; from early youth upward we keep
these pots to their mouths, as it is the fashion at court to have
very fat wives.' "
72 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Before leaving the Karague country, Capt. Speke sent the
king's brother a blanket and seventy-five blue egg beads as a
present, which were received with many signs of pleasure. The
king then, ever attentive to his guests, sent his royal musicians
to play for Speke and Grant. The men composing the band
were a mixture of Waganda and Wanyambo, who played on reed
THE ROYAL MUSICIANS.
instruments made telescope fashion, marking time by hand-
drums. At first they marched up and down, playing tunes
exactly like the regimental bands of the Turks, and then com-
menced dancing a species of " hornpipe," blowing furiously all
the while.
DECIDING THE EIGHT TO RULE BY MAGIC.
SPEKE gave the king a rifle, together with some ammunition,
whereat the royal savage was so intensely delighted that he
insisted upon explaining how he was the rightful successor to the
throne, being moved thereto by the fact that his brother, Rogero,
was contesting the succession by war then. Rumanika, the king,
thus explained : When Dogara, my father, died, and myself,
Nnanaji and Rogero were the only three sons left in line of suc-
cession to the crown, a small mystic drum of diminutive size was
placed before them by the officers of state. It was only a
feather's weight in reality, Hut, being loaded with charms,
became so heavy to those who were not entitled to the crown,
THE WORLD*S WONDERS. 73
that none of them could lift it. Now, of all the three brothers,
he, Rumanika, alone could raise it from the ground ; and while
his brothers labored hard, in a vain attempt to move it, he with
his little finger held it up without exertion.
This disclosure led to inquiries concerning a king's death and
burial, when the king related that according to the customs of
the country, when a king died his body was sewed up in a cow-
skin, and placed in a boat floating in the adjacent lake, where it
remained for three days, when decomposition set in and maggots
were engendered, three of which were taken from the putrid
body, and carried into the palace ; after remaining there three
days, one of the maggots was transformed into a lion, another
into a leopard, and the third into a stick. After this the body
of the dead king was taken out of, the boat and carried to a
sacred hill, where it was deposited on the ground and alargehut
built over it ; in this hut were placed five maidens and fifty cows
to provide entertainment and food for the royal spirit. The
doorway to the hut was then so strongly closed that the maidens
and cows perished.
Rumanika continued to explain his greatness and that of his
ancestors, by declaring that his grandfather was a most wonder-
ful man ; indeed Karague was blessed with more supernatural
agencies than any other country. Rohinda the Sixth, who was
his grandfather, numbered so many years that people. thought he
never would die ; and he even became so concerned himself about
it, reflecting that his son Dagara would never enjoy the benefit
of his position as successor to the crown of Karague, that he
took some magic powders and charmed away his life. His
remains were then taken to Moga-Namirinzi, in the same manner
as were those of Dagara ; but, as an improvement on the maggot
story, a young lion emerged from the heart of the corpse and kept
guard over the hill, from whom other lions came into existence,
until the whole place became infested by them, and has since
made Karague a power and dread to all other nations ; for these
lions became subject to the will of Dagara, who, when attacked
by the countries to the northward, instead of assembling an army
74 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
of men, assembled his lion force, and so swept all before him.
Another test was then advanced at the instigation of K'yengo,
who thought Rumanika not quite impressive enough of his right
to the throne ; and this was, that each heir in succession, even
after the drum dodge, was required to sit on the ground in a cer-
tain place of the country, where, if he had courage to plant him-
self, the land would gradually rise up, telescope-fashion, until it
reached to the skies, when, if the aspirant was considered by the
spirits the proper person to inherit Karague, he would gradually
be lowered again without any harm happening ; but otherwise,
the elastic hill would suddenly collapse, and he would be dashed
to pieces. Now Rumanika, by his own confession, had gone
through this ordeal with marked success ; so Speke asked him if
he found the atmosphere cold when so far up aloft, and as he
said he did so, Speke, laughing at the quaintness of the question,
told him that he saw he had learned a good practical lesson on
the structure of the universe, which he wished he would explain
to him. In a state of perplexity, K'yengo and the rest, on
seeing him laugh, thought something was wrong; and turning
about, they thought again, and said, "No, it must have been hot,
because the higher one ascended the nearer he got to the sun."
This led on to one argument after another, on geology, geog-
raphy, and all the natural sciences, and ended by Rumanika
showing Speke an iron much the shape and size of a carrot.
This he said was found by one of his villagers while tilling the
ground, buried some way down below the surface ; but, dig as he
would, he could not remove it, and therefore called some more
men to his help. Still the whole of them united could not lift
the iron, which induced them, considering there must be some
magic in it, to inform the king. "Now," says Rumanika, "I
no sooner went there and saw the iron, than, without the smallest
exertion, I uplifted the iron, and brought it here as you see it.
What can such a sign mean?" " Of course that you are the
rightful king," said his flatterers. " Then," said Rumanika, in
exuberant spirits, " during Dagara's time, as the king was sitting
with many other men outside his hut, a fearful storm of thunder
fttti WORLD'S WONDERS. 75
and lightning arose, and a thunderbolt struck the ground in the
midst of them, which dispersed all the men but Dagara, who
calmly took up the thunderbolt and placed it in the palace. I,
however, no sooner came into possession, and Rogero began to
contend with me, than the thunderbolt vanished. How would
you account for this?" The flatterers said, " It is clear as pos-
sible ; God gave the thunderbolt to Dagara as a sign he was
pleased with him and his rule ; but when he found two brothers
contending, he withdrew it to show their conduct was wicked."
ANOTHER RHINOCEROS HUNT.
ON the 9th of December, before leaving the Karague country,
Capt. Speke, learning that the immediate district in which he
was encamped abounded with rhinoceros, took two attendants
and posted to the foot-hills about Little Windermere lake.
Taking up a position in a thicket of acacia shrubs, he sent the
men out to beat the brush toward him. In a few minutes a
large male rhinoceros came lumbering through the brush until he
was within a few yards of the concealed hunter, who delivered a
broadside from his Blissett rifle, which sont the huge beast off in
a trot toward the beaters ; but after going a short distance it fell
and was quickly disposed of by another shot. The natives then
came running up to Speke, surprised beyond measure at what
they saw, for they did not believe that a rhinoceros could be
killed by shooting with a rifle. Among those who assembled to
view the dead beast was a native who exhibited frightful scars
on his abdomen and shoulder, which he declared were the
result of a wound he had received by a rhinoceros thrusting its
horn through his body.
Just at this time a cry went up from several beaters that
another rhinoceros was near, concealed in a, thicket. Speke at
.Dnce set off to find it. He traveled as rapidly as possible along
a path made by the animals, with his two gun bearers directly in
the rear. Suddenly he was confronted by a full grown female,
with her young one close behind, which came " whoof whoofing "
toward him. To escape and shoot at the same time, he was
compelled to push to one side in the prickley acacias, and as
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WOKJLD'S WONDERS. 77
the huge beast approached he fired at her head ; the bullet only
served to divert her course, for she received no perceptible injury.
She broke away from the brush into an open, with Speke follow-
ing. He fired again, but the animal kept on and took to the
hills, crossed over a spur and entered another thicket. The
hunter kept up the pursuit, but as he came to the head of a glen
he was greatly astonished to find three more rhinoceros, all of
which charged towards him. Fortunately the gun bearers were
at his heels and he was thus enabled to shoot all three of the
brutes ; one of them dropped dead, but the other two kept on
dow r n the glen, though one had its leg broken. The wounded one
was given over to the natives, but so savage were its charges that
another shot was necessary before the negroes could dispatch it
with their spears and arrows.
On the following d;iy Speke called on the king and had a head
of the largest rhinoceros brought into court. Rumanika, in his
surprise, said :
"Well, this must have been done with something more potent
than powder, for neither the Arabs nor Nnannji, although they
talk of their shooting powers, could have accomplished such a
great feat as this. It is no wonder the English are the greatest
men in the world."
Neither the Wanyambo nor the Wahuma would eat the rhinoc-
eros, so Speke was not sorry to find all the Wanyamuezi porters
of the Arabs at Kufro, on hearing of the sport, come over and
carry away the flesh. They passed by the camp half borne
down with their burdens of sliced flesh, suspended from poles
which they carried on their shoulders ; but the following day
Speke was disgusted upon hearing that their masters had for-
bidden their eating " the carrion," as the throats of the animals
had not been cut.
PIGMIES AND GIANTS.
IN confirmation of Musa's old stories, the king told Speke that
in Ruanda, a near country, there existed pigmies who lived in
trees, but occasionally came down at night, and listening at the
hut doors of the men, would wait until they heard the name of
78 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
one of its inmates, when they would call him out, and firing an
arrow into his heart, disappear again in the same way as they
came. But, more formidable even than these little men, there
were monsters who could not converse with men, and never
showed themselves unless they saw women pass by; then, in
voluptuous excitement, they squeezed them to death.
After a long and amusing conversation with the king in the
morning, Speke called on one of his sisters-in-law, married to an
elder brother who was born before Dagara ascended the throne.
She was another of those wonders of obesity, unable to stand
excepting on all fours. He was eager to obtain a good view of
her, and actually to measure her, and induced her to give him
facilities for doing so by offering in return to show her a bit of
his naked legs and arms. The bait took as he wished it, and
after getting her to sidle and wriggle into the middle of the hut,
he took her dimensions, which were as follows : Round the arm,
1 foot 4 inches ; chest 52 inches ; thigh 31 inches ; calf 20
inches ; height 5 feet 8 inches. All of these are exact except the
height, which Speke believed he could have obtained more ac-
curately if he could have had her laid on the floor. Not knowing
what difficulties he should have to contend with in such a piece ot
engineering, he tried to get her height by raising her up. This,
after infinite exertions, was accomplished, when she sank down
again, fainting, for her blood had rushed into her head. Mean-
while, the daughter, a lass of sixteen, sat stark-naked before
them, sucking at a milk-pot, on which the father kept her at
work by holding a rod in his hand ; for, as fattening is the first
duty of fashionable female life, it must be duly enforced by the
rod if necessary. Speke got up a bit of flirtation with missy,
and induced her to rise and shake hands with him. Her features
were lovely, but her body was as round as a ball.
SAVAGE ROYALTY IN A SAVAGE LAND.
THE next stoppage was in the land of the Wahuma, the most
interesting district of Africa, and one which has an extended
importance now on account of the commercial aid rendered
England and France by its present King, Mtese. The country
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 79
was formerly a portion of Karague, but became separated by
reason of a contention between two brothers who both claimed
the rulership, but who were satisfied to separate the district so
that each might become a king. The ceremonies connected with
the royal household of Wahuma, and also the officials and their
duties, are so exceedingly strange that some of them must be
described: The various offices held, without regard for prece-
dence, for I do not know the order of rank, are : The lima, a
woman whose good fortune it was to cut the umbilical cord at
the king's birth ; the king's barber ; admiral of the fleet of
canoes ; guardian of the king's sisters ; first and second-class
executioners ; commissioner in charge of the tombs ; the brewer ;
the cook ; commander of the guards ; seizer of refractory per-
sons ; the drummers ; the pea-gourd rattlers ; the flute players ;
clarionet players ; also players on wooden harmonicans and lap
harps, and lastly men who whistle on their fingers, for music
is more than one-half tie amusement of the court. Uganda is
the palace seat of the Wahuma country, and everybody who lives
there is expected to keep spears, shields, and dogs, the Uganda
arms and cognizance, while the wakungu (officers) are entitled
to drums. There is also a Neptune Mgussa, or spirit, who lives
in the depths of the lake, communicates through the medium of
his temporal nikungu, and guides to a certain extent the naval
destiny of the king.
It is the duty of all officers, generally speaking, to attend at
court as constantly as possible; should they fail, they forfeit
their lands, wives, and all belongings. These will be seized and
given to others more worthy of them, as it is presumed that
either insolence or disaffection can be the only motives which
would induce any person to absent himself for any length of time
from the pleasure of seeing his sovereign. Tidiness in dress is
imperatively necessary, and for any neglect of this rule the head
may be the forfeit. The punishment for such offenses, however,
may be commuted by fines of cattle, goats, fowls, or brass 1
wire. All acts of the king are counted benefits, for which he
must be thanked ; and so every deed done to his subjects is a
80
THE WORLD 8 AVONDEKS.
gift received by them, though it should assume the shape of flog-
ging or fine ; for are not these, which make better men of them
as necessary as any thing? The thanks are rendered by groveling
on the ground, floundering about and whining after the manner
of happy dogs, after which they rise up suddenly, take up sticks
spears are not allowed to be carried in court make as if
"N'YANZIGING" TO A SUPERIOR.
charging the king, jabbering as fust as tongues can rattle, and
so they swear fidelity for all their lives.
This is the greater salutation ; the lesser one is performed
kneeling in an attitude of prayer, continually throwing open the
hands, and repeating sundry words. Among them the word
** n'yanzig" is the most frequent and conspicuous ; and hence
these gesticulations receive the general designation n'yauzig, a
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 81
term which will be frequently met with, and which it is necessary
to use like an English verb. In consequence of these salutations,
there* is more ceremony in court than business, though the king,
ever having an eye to his treasury, continually finds some trifling
fault, condemns the head of the culprit, takes his liquidation-
present, if he has anything to pay, and thus keeps up his
revenue.
No one dare stand before the king while he is either standing
still or sitting, but must approach him with downcast eyes and
bended knees, and kneel or sit when arrived. To touch the
king's throne or clothes, even by accident, or to look upon his
women, is certain death. When sitting in court holding a levee,
the king invariably has in attendance several women, Wabandwa,
evil-eye averters or sorcerers. They talk in feigned voices raised
to n shrillness almost amounting to a scream. They wear dried
lizards on their heads, small goatskin aprons trimmed with little
bells, diminutive shields and spears set off with cock-hackles,
their functions in attendance being to administer cups of marwa
(plantain wine). To complete the picture of the court, one
must imagine a crowd of pages to run royal messages ; they dare
not walk, for such a deficiency in zeal to their master might cost
their life. A farther feature of the court consists in the national
symbols a dog, two spears, and a shield.
With the company squatting in a large half-circle, or three
sides of a square, many deep, before him, in the hollow of which
are drummers and other musicians, the king, sitting on his
throne ir> high dignity, issues his orders for the day much to the
following effect : "Cattle, women, and children are short in
Uganda ; an army must be formed of one to two thousand strong
to plunder Unyoro. The Wasoga have been insulting his sub-
jects, and must be reduced to subjection, for this emergency
another army must be formed, of equal strength, to act by land
in conjunction with the fleet. The Wahaiya have paid no tribute
to his greatness lately, and must be taxed." For all these
matters the commander-in-chief tells off the divisional officers,
who are approved by the king, and the matter is ended in court.
82 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The divisional officers then find subordinate officers, who find
men, and the army proceeds with its march. Should any fail
with their mission, re-enforcements are sent, and the runaways,
called women, are drilled with a red-hot iron until they are men
no longer, and die for their cowardice. All heroism, however,
insures promotion. The king receives his army of officers with
great ceremony, listens to their exploits, and gives as rewards
women, cattle, and command over men the greatest elements
of wealth in Uganda with a liberal hand.
As to the minor business transacted in court, culprits are
brought in bound by officers, and reported. At once the
sentence is given, perhaps awarding the worst torture, linger-
ing death probably without trial or investigation, and for all the
king knows, at the instigation of some one influenced by wicked
spite. If the accused endeavors to plead his defense, his voice
is at once drowned, and the miserable victim dragged off in the
roughest manner possible by the officers who love their king
and delight in promptly carrying out his orders. Young virgins,
the daughters of officers, stark naked, and smeared with grease,
but holding, for decency's sake, a small square of cloth at the
upper corners in both hands before them, are presented by their
fathers in propitiation of some offense, or to fill the harem.
Seizing-officers receive orders to hunt down offending officers,
and confiscate their lands, wives and children. An officer
observed to salute informally, is ordered for execution, when
everyone near him rises at once, the drums beat, drowning his
cries, and the victim of carelessness is dragged off, bound by
cords, by a dozen men at once. Another man, perhaps, exposes
an inch of naked leg while squatting, or has his cloth tied con-
trary to regulation, and is condemned to the same fate.
CHARMS AND MAGIC.
STICK-CHARMS, being pieces of wood of all shapes, supposed
to have supernatural virtues, and colored earths, endowed with
similar qualities, are produced by the royal magicians ; the
master of the hunt exposes his spoils, such as antelopes, cats,
gebras, lions, etc. ; the fishermen bring their catches ; the cutlers
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
83
show knives made of iron, inlaid with brass und copper ; the
furriers, most beautifully-sewn patchwork of antelopes' skins ;
the habit-maker, sheets of mbugu bark-cloth ; the blacksmith,
spears ; the maker of shields, his productions, and so forth ; but
nothing is ever given without rubbing it down, then rubbing the
MTESA AND HIS DOG.
the
face, and going through a long form of salutation for
gracious favor the king has shown in accepting it.
When tired of business, the king rises, spear in hand, and,
leading his dog, walks off without word or comment, leaving his
company, like dogs, to take care of themselves.
Strict as the discipline of the exterior court is, that of the inte-
rior is not less severe. The pages all wear turbans of cord made
from aloe fibres. Should a wife commit any trifling indiscretion,
84 TUT! WORLD'S WONDERS.
either by word or deed, she is condemned to execution on the
spot, bound by the pages and dragged out. Notwithstanding the
stringent laws for the preservation of decorum by all male attend-
ants, stark-naked full-grown women are the valets.
On the first appearance of the new moon every month, the
king shuts himself up, contemplating and arranging his magic
horns the horns of wild animals stuffed with charm-powder
for two or three days. These may be counted his Sundays
or church festivals, which he dedicates to devotion. On other
days he takes his women, some hundreds, to bathe or sport in
ponds ; or, when tired of that, takes long walks, his women
running after him, when all the musicians fall in, take precedence
of the party, followed by the officers and pages, with the king in
the centre of the procession, separating the male company from
the fair sex. On these excursions no common man dare look
upon the royal procession. Should anybody by chance happen
to be seen, he is at once hunted down by the pages, robbed
of everything he possesses, and may count himself very lucky if
nothing worse happens. Pilgrimages are not uncommon, and
sometimes the king spends a fortnight yachting ; but whatever
he does, or wherever he goes, the same ceremonies prevail his
musicians, officers, pages, and the wives take part in all. His
sorcerers are important personages, who are always upon
attendance, especially on all journeys whicna young king, who is
not yet crowned, takes, when by signs of certain trees and
plants, they determine what destiny awaits the king. According
to the prognostics, they report that he will either have to live a
life of peace, or, after coronation, take the field at the head of an
army to fight east, west or both ways, when usually the inarch is
first on Kittara or the second on Usogo. These preliminaries
being completed, the actual coronation takes place, when the
king ceases to hold any communion with his mother. The
brothers are burnt to death, and the king, we shall suppose,
takes tho field at the head of his army.
A SPORT-LOVING BOY KING. SHOOTS A MAN FOR FUN.
MTESA, though now more nearly civilized than any other of the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 85
Central African kings, when he came to the throne, was certainly
one of the most singularly unfeeling savages that white men have
ever come in contact with. Speke's visit to this dusky potentate,
however, was one which he had no reason to regret, for, on
account of a message carried forward from the Karague king,
requesting Mtesa to receive the white man graciously, Speke's
reception was very cordial, the king granting him privileges
which even the highest officers in the realm were denied.
On Speke's second visit to Mtesa at the palace, he carried with
him some rifles as presents for the king, being anxious to
ingratiate himself into his favor, to the end that he might obtain
such assistance as would be needed. Upon being admitted to
the palace, which was no more than an unusually large grass hut,
the king was found sitting on his throne, while mats were
arranged on the ground for the guests to sit on, no one being
allowed to sit upon any kind of raised seat in the presence of the
monarch. The magic horns, by which his magicians determined
his destiny, occupied a 'prominent place before Mtesa. Four
cows were grazing near the palace, unconscious of the presence
of royalty or the fate that awaited them. Speke presented
the guns to his sable majesty, who immediately requested him to
try them on the cows. He did so with fatal accuracy, killing
them all, whereat the king was greatly delighted, and directed
the carcasses to be delivered to Speke's men. Mtesa then loaded
one of the rifles with his own hands, and, cocking it, gave it to a
page and ordered him to " go out and shoot a man," with
a view to discovering if the weapon would kill men as readily as
it had dispatched the cows. The order was obeyed with alacrity*
and the young man soon returned in high glee over his success.
" Did you do it well ?" asked Mtesa. " Oh, yes, capitally," was
the response. He spoke the truth, for he dared not trifle with
the king. The affair created no special interest, no curiosity
being exhibited as to what particular man had been slaughtered.
A DOUBLE CHARGE ONLY A WOMAN KILLED.
MTESA was so delighted with fire-arms that he continually
begged his guest to shoot before him, usually at cows for a mark f
86 TBE WORLD'S WONBERS.
and as these were generally given to the men for food, Speke had
no compunctions of conscience in complying. Only occasionally,
however, would the king use the gun himself, appearing to have
suspicions that in some way it was under the control of a wicked
spirit. Once he loaded the weapon, putting in a double charge
of powder, and fired at a cow ; the bullet not only passed through
the animal, but also through a fence, and then through the center
of a woman who chanced to be passing along on the outside.
fThis shot greatly pleased the king, leading him to believe that
one bullet, well directed, might slay an entire line of soldiers, and
that he might be able to shoot down an army by ranks.
DROLL DELIGHTS OF A BOY KING.
ON the following day the king sent for Speke, to join him on
a neighboring hill, and to bring the shot>guns with him. He
cheerfully complied, and on reaching the appointed place,
he found Mtesa hat in hand and his face wreathed in smiles
of welcome. After examining the gun, the king led off toward
a large tree in which were many adjutant birds and vultures
nesting. He requested his companion to shoot some of the birds
for his amusement, but Speke passed the gun back to him and
asked him to display his own skill. Mtesa, however, was still
fearful lest there might be dangerous magic in the gun. To
please him, therefore, Speke killed an adjutant as it sat in a nest,
and as a vulture flew out, he brought that down with the other
barrel. This created immense excitement, and the natives were
spell-bound with astonishment, while the king jumped about,
clapping his hands and shouting, " Woh 1 woh ! woh ! what
wonders I Oh, Bana, Banal what miracles he performs!" in
which exultation he was joined by his servants and under-officers.
" Now load, Bana load, and let us see you do the same again,"
cried the king, but before the loading was half completed he
said, " Come along, and let us see the birds." Then directing
the officers which way to go for, by the etiquette of the palace,
every one must precede the king he sent them through a court
where his women, afraid of the guns, were concealed. Here
some fences interfered with the impetuous rush, but the king
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 87
shouted to his officers to tear them down, which was no sooner
said than done, by the attendants in a body shoving on and
trampling them under as an elephant would crush small trees to
keep his course. So pushing, floundering through plantain and
shrub, pell-mell one upon the other, that the king's pace might
not be checked, or any one come in for a royal kick or blow,
they came upon the prostrate bird. " Woh. woh, woh !" cried
the king again, " there he is, sure enough ; come here women
come and look what wonders!" And all the women, in the
highest excitement, " woh-wohed " as loud as any of the men.
But that was not enough. " Come along, Bana," said the king,
" we must have some more sport ;" and, saying this, he directed
the way toward the queen's palace, the attendants leading,
followed by the pages, then the king, next Speke, and finally the
women, some forty or fifty, who constantly attended him.
To make the most of the king's good humor, while he wanted
to screen himself from the blazing sun, Speke asked him if
he would like to enjoy the pleasures of an umbrella ; and without
giving him time to answer, he held his own over him as they walked
side by side. The wakungu were astonished, and the women
prattled in great delight ; while the king, hardly able to control
himself, sidled and spoke to his flatterers as if he were doubly
created monarch of all he surveyed. Then, growing more
familiar, he said, "Now, Bana, do tell me did you not shoot
that bird with something more than common ammunition? I am
sure you did, now ; there was magic in it." And all that could
be said to the contrary would not convince him. " But we will
see again." " At buffaloes?" said Speke.' " No, the buffaloes
are too far off now ; we will wait to go after them until I have
given you a hut close by." Presently, as some herons were
flying overhead, he said, "Now shoot, shoot!" and Speke
brought a couple down right and left. He stared, and everybody
stared, believing the white man to be a magician, when the king
said he would like to have pictures of the birds drawn and hung
up in the palace ; " but let us go and shoot some more, for it is
truly wonderful." Similar results followed, for the herons were
88 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
continually whirling round, as they had their nests upon a
neighboring tree ; and then the king ordered his pages to carry
all the birds, save the vulture which, for some reason, they did
not touch and show them to the queen.
He then gave the order to move on, and they all repaired to
the palace. Arrived at the usual throne-room, he took his seat,
dismissed the party of wives who had been following him,
received pombe a* brewed drink from his female evil-eye
averters, and ordered Speke and his men to sit in the sun facing
liim, till the traveler complained of the heat, and was allowed to
sit by his side. Kites, crows, and sparrows were flying about in
all directions, and as they came within shot, nothing would
satisfy the excited boy-king but that Speke must shoot them, and
his pages take them to the queen, till the ammunition was totally
expended. He then wanted to send for more shot ; but was told
to wait until new supplies could be had, whereupon he con-
tented himself with taking two or three sample pellets and
ordering his ironsmiths to make some like them.
THE KING DRESSED LIKE A MONKEY.
SPEKE had given KingMtesa odd garments from time to time,
until at length the royal stripling appeared dressed in European
garb, although, on account of the shortness of the pantaloons
and the arms of the coat, his black ankles and wrists stuck out
so that his appearance was almost identical Avith that of an organ
grinder's monkey. To add to his inimitably grotesque costume,
the king's cockscomb of hair was surmounted by a little rod-fez
cap, which completed his dressed-monkey appearance, though he
felt that no one was ever dressed more becomingly. Thus
attired, the king held a levee, at which twenty naked virgins, all
smeared and shining with grease, each holding a very small,
square piece of cloth to serve for a fig leaf, marched in a line
before the king and his white guest. These were fresh additions
to the royal harem, and the happy fathers groveled on the
ground, giving thanks in profuse " n'yanziging," for the
gracious favor of the king's acceptance. The sight was in keep-
ing with the whimsical tastes of Mtesa, so that Speke could not
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
S9
control his mirth, but laughed out, whereupon the king and all
others present also began laughing, in imitation, like a crowd of
apes. A sedate old dame then arose, and turning the maidens
right about, sent them marching out of the tent with their
backs completely exposed. In describing this levee with the
king, Speke adds the following :
"I have now been for some time within the court precincts,
and have consequently had an opportunity of witnessing court
customs. Among these, nearly every day since I have changed
my residence, incredible as it may appear to be, I have seen one,
LEADING A WIFE TO EXECUTION.
two, or three of the wretched palace women led away to execu-
tion, tied by the hand, and dragged along by one of the body-
guard, crying out, as she went to premature death, " Hai
minange!" (Oh my lord!) " Kbakka !" (My king!) " Hai
n'yawo !" (My mother !) at the top of her voice, in the utmost
despair and lamentation ; and yet there was not a soul who dared
lift hand to save any of them, though many might be heard
privately commenting on their beauty."
, A MONSTROUSLY FAT QUEEN.
MTESA, who was not more than twenty years of age at the
time Speke visited him, was ruler of Uganda, but not absolute,
90 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
for his mother, a woman of about forty years, was queen-
dowager, whose influence in civil matters was almost equal to
that of her royal son. She was goodnatured and received Speke
with great friendliness, even offering him any one of her many
daughters for a wife. This offer led the Captain to inquire what
ceremony was connected with marriage in the Uganda country,
to which the queen replied in substance as follows :
There are no such things as marriages in Uganda ; there are
.no ceremonies attached to it. If any mkungu possessed of a
pretty daughter committed an offense, he might give her to the
king as a peace-offering ; if any neighboring king had a pretty
daughter, and the king of Uganda wanted her, she might be
demanded as a fitting tribute. The wakungu officers in
Uganda are supplied with women by the king, according to their
merits, from seizures in battle abroad, or seizures from refractory
officers at home. The women are not regarded as property,
though many exchange their daughters ; and some women,
for misdemeanors, are sold into slavery, while others are flogged,
or are degraded to do all the menial services of the house
The company now became jovial, when the queen improved
the opportunity by making a significant gesture, and with roars
of laughter asking Speke if he would like to be her son-in-law,
for she had some beautiful daughters, either of the Wahuma or
Waganda breed. Rather staggered at first by this awful
proposal, he consulted his interpreter as to what he should
do with one if he got her. Bombay, looking strictly to number
one, said, " By all means accept the offer, for if you don't like
her, we should, and it would be a good means of getting her out
of this land of death."
The queen appeared much amused at Bombay's selfish solici-
tude, and became quite hilarious with her visitors under the
influence of the pombe that she had swallowed, and they all
seemed bent upon having a truly royal time of it. Cups were
not enough to keep up the excitement of the occasion, so a large
wooden trough was placed before the queen and filled with
liquor. If any wa6 spilled, the officers instantly fought over it,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
91
dabbing their nosos on the ground, or grabbing it with their
hands, that not one atom of the queen's favor might be lost;
for every thing must be adored that comes from royalty,
whether by design or accident. The queen put her head to the
trough and drank like a pig from it, and was followed by her
ministers. The band, by order, then struck up a tune called the
LICKING UP THE POMBE.
Milele, playing on a dozen reeds, ornamented with beads and
cow-tips, and five drums, of various tones and sizes, keeping
time. The musicians, dancing with zest, were led by four band-
masters, also dancing, but with their backs turned to the company
to show off their long, shaggy goatskin jackets, sometimes
upright, at other times bending and on their heels, like the
hornpipe-dancers of western countries.
92 THE WORLD'S WONBEBS.
SAVAGE CRUELTIES.
THE savage nature of Mtesa is well described in the incidents
following : While holding a levee with Speke one day, a large
body of officers entered the palace with an old man whose
two ears had been cut off for having been too handsome in
his youth ; with the old man was a young girl who, after a dis-
appearance of four days, had been found by a searching party in
the old man's house. These two were brought before the king
for his judgment. No one but the plaintiff was suffered to make
any statement, and he, after bowing and kissing the ground,
declared that he had lost the girl, and after considerable search,
had found her concealed in the house of the old man, who was,
indeed, old enough to be her grandfather. From all appearances,
one would have said the wretched girl had run away from
the plaintiff's house in consequence of ill-treatment, and had
harbored herself on this decrepit old man without asking
his leave ; but their voices in defense were never heard, for
the king instantly sentenced both to death, to prevent the
occurrence of such impropriety again ; and, to make the example
more severe, decreed that their lives should not be taken at once,
but, being fed to preserve life as long as possible, they were to
be dismembered bit by bit, as rations for the vultures, every
day, until life was extinct. The dismayed victims, struggling
to be heard, in utter despair were dragged away boisterously in
the most barbarous manner, to the drowning music of the milele
and drums.
The king, in total unconcern about the tragedy he had thus
enacted, immediately on their departure said, " Now, then, for
shooting, Bana ; let us look at your gun." It happened to be
loaded, but fortunately only with powder, to fire S^eke's announce-
ment at the palace ; for the king instantly placed caps on the nipples
and let off one barrel by accident, the contents of which stuck in
the thatch. This created a momentary alarm, for it was supposed
'the thatch had taken fire ; but it was no sooner suppressed
than the childish king, still sitting on his throne, to astonish his
officers still more, leveled the gun from his shoulder.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 93
th? contents of the second barrel into the faces of his squatting
officers, and then laughed at his own trick.
At the next levee the king gave one of his officers a woman, as
a reward of merit. This gift displeased the officer, who
grumbled because he had not been given more than one wife.
This made the king so angry that he ordered his men to seize the
officer and cut him to pieces. The sentence was immediately
carried out, but not with knives, for they are prohibited, but
with slips of sharp-edged grass, after the executioners had first
dislocated his neck by a blow delivered behind the head with a
heavy-headed club. Following these exhibitions of savagery
was another, illustrating the whimsical nature of this anomalous
ruler. On the day succeeding the execution of the officer, a lad,
not yet twenty, came upon the king suddenly and attempted
to kill him, at the same time declaring that he ought not to live
because he took the lives of men unjustly. The king had a
revolver with him, which had been presented by Speke, and
though it was unloaded, he threw its muzzle against the
young man's cheek, which so frightened him that he fled in great
terror. For this grave offense it would be natural to suppose
that the savage king would order his immediate execution, but
instead of capital punishment, he only required the young man to
pay a fine of one cow, and then released him.
Mtesa's eccentricities were constanty being displayed, but his
savage nature was seldom tempered by deeds of mercy. Every
day, while Speke was sojourning in Uganda, waiting the arrival
of Capt. Grant and new supplies, he was in the company of the
boy king, whose importunities to see the white man shoot were
incessant. One day he requested Speke to accompany him on a
hunt for hippopotami. They started early in the morning,
accompanied by pages and fifty or more of the king's wives.
After a long and useless pursuit of wary hippopotami in canoes,
Mtesa ordered the boats rowed ashore to give his guest a picnic
entertainment. The party there indulged themselves drinking
pombe and plucking delicious fruits, which grew in great abun-
ds^ce everywhere in the forest. There was ne Kttl enjeyment
94
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
manifested by all until, by unlucky chance, one of the royal
wives, a most charming creature, and one of the best in the harem,
found some unusually fine fruit which she gathered and graciously
offered to the king, thinking to please him much ; but he, like a
savage monster or madman, flew into a towering passion, declared
it was the first time a women had ever had the impertinence to
CAPT. SPEKE SAVES THE QUEEN'S LIFE.
offer him anything, and ordered the pages to seize, bind and
lead her off to execution. The order was no sooner given than
the whole bevy of page? slipped their cord turbans from their
heads, and rushed like a pack of cupid beagles upon the fairy
queen, who, indignant at the little urchins daring to touch her
majesty, remonstrated with the king, and tried to beat them off
like flies, but she was soon captured, overcome, and dragged away,.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 95
crying, in the names of the kamraviona and mzungu (Speke), for
help and protection ; while Lubuga, the pet sister, and all the
other women, clasped the king by his legs and, kneeling, im-
plored forgiveness for their sister. The more they craved for
mercy the more brutal he became, till at last he took a heavy
stick and began to belabor the poor victim on the head. Speke
says that hitherto he had been extremely careful not to interfere
with any of the king's acts of arbitrary cruelty, knowing that
such interference, at an early stage, would produce more harm
than good. This last act of barbarism, however, was too much
for his English blood to stand ; and, as he heard his name im-
ploringly pronounced, he rushed at the king, and, staying his
uplifted arm, demanded from him the woman's life. Of course
he ran imminent risk of losing his own life, in thus thwarting
the capricious tyrant ; but his caprice proved the friend of both.
The novelty of interference even made him smile, and the woman
was instantly released.
Upon returning from the picnic, a little page brought a mes-
sage to the king, which was of course oral ; but it happened that
the message was not given exactly correct, whereupon Mtesa cut
the little boy's ears off and sent him away from the palace.
THE KING AND HIS ARMY.
ON the day following this incident, Colonel Congow, com-
mandant of the king's army, returned from a neighboring district,
tvhere they had been plundering the Unyoro people, and drew
his troops up before the palace for review. The king soon ap-
peared, armed with spears and shield, and accompanied by his
little dog and his chiefs who sat upon the ground. The battalion,
consisting of what might be termed three companies, each con-
taining 200 men, being drawn up on the left extremity of the
parade-ground, received orders to march past in single file from
the right of companies, at a long trot, and re-form again at the
other end of the square.
Nothing conceivable could be more wild or fantastic than the
sight which ensued the men all nearly naked, with goat or cat
skins depending from their girdles, and smeared with war colors
96
THE WOKLD JS WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 97
according to the taste of each individual one-half of the body
red or black, the other blue, not in regular order as, for instance,
one stocking would be red, the other black, while the breeches
above would be the opposite colors, and so with the sleeves and
waistcoat. Every man carried the same arms two spears and
one shield held as if approaching an enemy, and they thus'moved
in three lines of single rank and file, ut fifteen to twenty paces
asunder, with the same high action and elongated step, the ground
leg only being bent, to give their strides the greater force. After
the men had all started, the captains of companies followed, even
more fantastically dressed ; and last of all came the great Colonel
Congow, a perfect Robinson Crusoe, with his long white-haired
goatskins, a fiddle-shaped leather shield, tufted with white hair
at all six extremities, bands of long hair tied below the knees, and
a magnificent helmet, covered with rich beads of every color, in
excellent taste, surmounted with a plume of crimson feathers, from
the centre of which rose a bent stem, tufted with goat-hair. Next
they charged in companies to and fro; and, finally, the senior
officers came charging at their king, making violent professions
of faith and honesty, for which they were applauded. The
parade then broke up, and all went home.
GRANT'S ARRIVAL WITH SUPPLIES.
AFTER weeks of patient waiting, Capt. Speke had the pleasure
of again seeing his anxiously looked for comrade approaching
Uganda, borne in a litter carried by four porters. Capt. Grant
had been suffering from a stubborn ulcer on his heel, and for a
long while was unable to travel, which accounted for the long
delay of his arrival. On the day after reaching Uganda, Mtesa
sent one of his ambassadors to bring Captains Speke and Grant
to his palace, where he had arranged for another levee in honor
of the new guest. In the afternoon the two travelers repaired to
the court, where the king gave them a courteous welcome, being
particularly well pleased because they presented him with another
double-barreled shot-gun and some more ammunition. Grant
showed the king many of his sketches, not a few of which were
7
98 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
pictures of the natives, whereupon the royal barbarian besought
him to sketch his highness and the scene of the levee.
MAKING THINGS EVEN IN THE HAREM.
On the following day, when Speke and Grant went to visit the
king, they found the guards at the gate of the palace f eeeding on
scraps of meat that had been thrown to them as though they
were dogs, and they faithfully carried out the simile by fighting
over pieces of the meat just as dogs do, the strongest and fiercest
THE PALACE GUARDS AT DINNER.
gettingthe best part of the dinner. Reaching the palace, the visitors
found his majesty sitting on the ground, within a hut, behind
a portal, encompassed by his women, and they took their seats
outside. At first all was silence, till one told -the king the white
men had some wonderful pictures to show him, when in an instant
he grew lively, crying, "Oh, let us see them I" and they were
shown, Bombay explaining. Three of the king's wives then
came in, and offered him their two virgin sisters, n'yanziging
incessantly, and beseeching their acceptance, as by that means
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 99
they themselves would become doubly related to him. Nothing,
however, seemed to be done to promote the union, until one old
lady, sitting by the king's side, who was evidently learned in the
etiquette and traditions of the court, said, " Wait and see if he
embraces, otherwise you may know he is not pleased." At this
announcement the girls received a hint to pass on, and the king
commenced bestowing on them a series of huggings, first sitting
on the lap of one, whom he clasped to his bosom, crossing his
neck with hers to the right, then to the left, and, having finished
with her, took post in the second one's lap, then on that of the
third, performing on each of them the same evolutions. He then
retired to his original position, and the marriage ceremony was
supposed to be concluded, and the settlements adjusted, when
all went on as before.
Speke says that during this one day they heard the sad voices
of no less than four women dragged from the palace to the
slaughter-house. It seemed to be the king's method of keeping
his harem stocked with fresh wives.
SACRIFICE OF A CHILD BY COOKING.
A FEW days before the departure of Speke and Grant from
Mtesa's palace, one of his officers, K'yengo, informed them that,
considering the surprising events which had lately occurred at
court, the king being anxious to pry into the future, had resolved
upon a very strange measure for accomplishing that end. This
was the sacrifice of a child by cooking, and K'yengo was detailed
to perform the barbarous ceremony, which is described as follows :
The doctor places a large earthen vessel, half full of water, over
a fire, and over its mouth a grating of sticks, whereon he lays a
small child and a fowl side by side, and covers them over with ar
second large earthen vessel, just like the first, only inverted, to'
keep the steam in, when he sets fire below, cooks for a certain
period of time, and then looks to see if his victims are still
living or dead. If dead, as they usually are, the omen is consid-
ered propitious, and the king at once proceeds upon whatever
enterprise he may have been contemplating.
100 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
LEAVING UGANDA.
ON returning home from the palace, the evening before their
departure, one of the king's wives overtook Speke and Grant,
walking, with her hands clasped at the back of her head, to
execution, crying " N'yawo ! " in the most pitiful manner. A
man preceded her, but did not touch her ; for she loved to obey
the orders of her king voluntarily, and, in consequence of previous
attachment, was permitted, as a mark of distinction, to walk
free. Wondrous world ! it had not been ten minutes since they
had parted from the king, yet he had found time to transact this
bloody piece of business.
The next day they repaired early to the palace to make their
final adieus, and after a very friendly reception they arose to
depart, the white men making English bows and placing their
hands upon their hearts, Mtese instantly imitating whatever they
did, with the mimicking instincts of a monkey. The king and
his entire court followed them to their own camp, where Mtesa
expressed a wish to have a final look at Speke' s men, and he
accordingly ordered them to turn out with their arms and " li'yan-
zig" for the many favors they had received. Mtesa, much
pleased, complimented them on their goodly appearance, remark-
ing that with such a force Speke would have no difficulty in reach-
ing his destination; and exhorted them to follow him through
fire and water; then, exchanging adieus again, he walked ahead
in gigantic strides up the hill, the pretty favorite of his harem,
Lubuga beckoning and waving with her little hands, and crying
"Banal Bana ! " trotting after him conspicuous among the
rest, though all showed a little feeling at the severance.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 10 1
CHAPTER V.
HARD TRAVELING TO REACH THE NILE.
TRAVELING in Africa is necessarily slow, on account of the
dense jungles, the great heat and annoying insects. After pro-
ceeding about thirty miles one of the escort sent by Mtesa was
set upon and killed by lurking natives, which caused much
excitement, as the party desired to engage in war at once to
avenge the death of their comrade. No such stoppage, of course,
was allowed, but the expedition was continually harassed by
lurking foes, who resisted the advance of Speke's party through
their country. As a corrective measure Grant was hurried for-
ward with a small party to Kamrasi, king of Unyoro, to whom
a visit was contemplated, with a request for his protection.
In fourteen days after departing from Uganda, Speke reached
the Victoria Nile, in a beautiful natural park full of wonders. The
stream at this point was from 600 tq 700 yards wide, dotted with
islets and rocks, the former occupied by fishermen's huts,
the latter by sterns and crocodiles basking in the sun, flowing
between fine high grassy banks, with rich trees and plantains in
the background, where herds of the n'sunnu and hartebeest could
be seen grazing, while the hippopotami were snorting in the
water, and florikan and Guinea-fowl rising at their feet. Unfor-
tunately, the chief district officer, Mlondo, was from home, but
Speke took possession of his huts clean, extensive, and tidily
kept facing the river, and felt as if a residence there would do
h ; men good. This camping-place was confronting Usoga,
a country which may be said to be the very counterpart of
Uganda in its richness and beauty. Here the people use such
huge iron-headed spears with short handles, that they appear to
be better fitted for digging potatoes than piercing .men. Ele-
phants had been very numerous in this neighborhood, but a short
time before Speke's arrival a party from Unyoro, ivory-hunting,
had driven them away. Lions were also described as very
numerous and destructive to human life. Antelopes were com-
102 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
mon in the jungle, and the hippopotami, though frequenters of
the plantain gardens and constantly heard, were seldom seen on
land in consequence of their unsteady habits.
DISCOVERING THE NILE'S SOURCE.
AFTER remaining a day in this beautiful retreat, the expedition
started again and filed along the left bank of the Nile until the
Isambo Rapids were reached. Here the surroundings were weird
and suggestive of dark and bloody deeds ; a jutting cliff, over-
shadowed by deep foliage which bars the sun's rays, and below,
a dangerous pit of boiling water lashed by hungry crocodiles
seeking prey. Pushing further on, across hills and over planta-
tions devastated by elephants, the party arrived at the extreme
end of the journey, the farthest point ever visited by the expe-
dition on the same parallel of latitude as kingMtesa's palace, and
just forty miles east of it, on Victoria Lake.
Speke writes, " We were well rewarded ; for the * stones,' as
the Waganda caJJ the falls, were by far the most interesting sight
I had seen in Africa. Everybody ran to see them at once,
though the march had been long and fatiguing, and even my
sketch-block was called into play. Though beautiful, the scene
was not exactly what I expected ; for the broad surface of the
lake was shut out from view by a spur of hill, and the falls,
about twelve feet deep, and 400 to 500 feet broad, were broken
by rocks. Still it was a sight that attracted one to it for hours
the roar of the waters, the thousands of passenger-fish, leaping
at the falls with all their might, the Wasoga and Waganda
fishermen coming out in boats and taking post on all the rocks
with rod and hook, hippopotami and crocodiles lying sleepily on
the water, the ferry at work above the falls, and cattle driven
down to drink at the margin of the lake, made, in all, with
the pretty nature of the country small hills, grassy-topped, with
trees in the. folds, and gardens on the lower slopes as interest-
ing a picture as one could wish to see."
Spcke felt certain that he had really discovered the source of
the Nile, and in his exultation procured some boats, intending to
have a sail on the lake. He had not gone far on its tranquil
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 108
bosom before he saw a large canoe, well laden with natives,
who came toward him a short space, then retreated to the
shore with drums beating. This was a signal of war, but Speke
did not understand it, though cautioned by his guides. He had
heard the drum beat daily at Uganda, and could not believe that
within fprty miles of that place the customs could be so widely
variant.
As he came near the shore, a large party of the Unyoro
natives were seen dancing, beating drums, and jabbing their
spears, challenging Speke's boats to come to shpre. It was now
growing dusk, and hoping to conciliate the vengeful barbarians,
he offered them presents ; but these were disdained, and as
the shadows of darkness increased, the hostile natives pushed out
in boats and attacked Speke's men, who numbered only twenty ;
these, instead of offering resistance, as ordered, began to cry out
for mercy, and refused abjectly to use their carbines. The
resistance, therefore, fell entirely upon Speke, who shot three of
the attacking party. The noise and effect of the gun produced
a panic among the enemy, who returned to shore as quickly as
possible, and gaining that, scrambled up the bank and rapidly
disappeared.
After boating on the lake for some time, Speke resumed his
march toward the palace of Kamrasi, who had already been
apprised by Grant of his coming, and he sent 150 of his
warriors to conduct Speke to the capital of his dominion.
This accession of men was very fortunate, as Speke's party had
been reduced by desertion to less than twenty, and they would
have been compelled to abandon a portion of the supplies except
for the opportune arrival of Kamrasi's men.
On the 9th of September Unyoro was reached. There was
much disappointment at the failure of king Kamrasi to receive
the party, but after some parley with the chief officer, quarters
were provided in some miserable little huts outside of the palace
grounds. They also received a small supply of provisions,
and were told to wait until the next day, when better accommo-
dations would be provided. The afternoon was spent ia conver-
104 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
sation with Kidgwiga, the king's embassador, who proved
himself not an uninteresting conversationalist. Among many
other things, he said that Kainrasi and Mtesa in fact, all the
Wahuma came originally from a stock of the same tribe
dwelling beyond Kidi. All bury their dead in the same way,
under ground ; but the kings are toasted first for months till they
are like sun-dried meat, when the lower jaw is cut out and
preserved, covered with beads. The royal tombs are put under
the charge of special officers, who occupy huts erected over
them. The umbilical cords are preserved from birth, and, at
death, those of men are placed within the door-frame, while
those of women are buried without this last act corresponding,
according to Bombay, the interpreter, with the custom of
the Wahiyow. On the death of any of the great officers of
state, the finger-bones and hair are also preserved ; or, if they
have died shaven, as sometimes occurs, a bit of their mbugu
dress is preserved in place of the hair. Their families guard
their tombs.
Kidgwiga also confirmed a story which Speke first heard
at Karague, that there were dogs in Unyoro that had horns, and
to carry his assurance further, declared that he had seen one in
the possession of an official person, but it died. The horns of
these fabled dogs are filled with magic powder and placed on a
war-track for the marching army to step over, to secure them a
victory. Sometimes a child is roasted with a cock to subserve
a like purpose. Kidgwiga also stated that all the bachelors of
his tribe have their habitations in trees, where they invariably
sleep, while married people dwell in houses.
FEASTING ON MOUNTAINS, LAKES, AND HUMAN FLESH.
IT was several days before Kamrasi would consent to receive,
personally, Speke or Grant, giving all manner of excuses,
appointing meetings, but never appearing at them, though
he sent pombe, plantains and flour, with his regards. Bombay
was dispatched to the king sometimes twice a day, requesting an
audience for his masters, but could only get promises, until he
carried a rifle with him and, at the king's request, shot a cow
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 105
before a large number of visiting natives from an adjoining
kingdom. The king then became quite communicative, and
finally gave to Bombay the following curious reasons for his
conduct :
" You don't understand the matter. At the time the white
men were living in Uganda, many of the people who had seen
them there came and described them as such monsters, they ate
up mountains and drank the lake dry ; and although they fed on
both beef and mutton, they were not satisfied until they got a
dish of the ' tender parts ' of human beings three times a day.
Now I was extremely anxious to see men of such wonderful
natures. I could have stood their mountain-eating and lake-
drinking capacities, but on no consideration would I submit
to sacrifice my subjects to their appetites."
This was quite a sufficient reason, for the king evidently wanted
to wait until he could determine whether indeed the white men
were such great feasters as they had been represented.
After much more parleying and deceiving, the king at length
appointed an interview at a hut which he had specially built for
the purpose, where, as he said, no strange eyes could see them.
When Speke and Grant arrived at the new palace, they found
the king sitting on a low wooden stool which rested upon a double
matting of cow and leopard skins. The presents which were
brought for his highness were spread before him, whereupon he
expressed great delight, and then referring to the absurd stories
told of the white men, said he did not believe them, else his
rivers, deprived of their fountain sources, would have run dry ;
and that even if they did eat hills and the tender parts of man-
kind, they should have had enough to satisfy any reasonable
appetite before reaching Unyoro.
A WONDERFUL SORCERER.
THEREAFTER the travellers had no difficulty in seeing the king,
as his simple fancy was usually tickled by some new present.
On one occasion, Speke relates that when the usual hour
arrived for him to measure the rainfall for the past twenty-four
hours, he found the rain-guage and bottle had been removed.
106 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
He therefore sent Kidgwiga to the king to request him to send
his magician, and institute search for it. Kidgwiga soon returned
with an old man, who was almost blind, whose dress consisted of
strips of leather fastened to his waist. In one hand he carried a
cow's horn primed with magio powder; the mouth of which
was carefully covered with a piece of leather, from which dan-
gled an iron bell. The old creature jingled the bell, entered
Speke's hut, squatted on his hams, looked first at one, then at
the other ; inquired what the missing things were like, grunted,
moved his skinny arm round his head, as if desirous of catching
air from all four sides of the hut, then dashed the accumulated
air on the head of his horn, smelt it to see if all was going right,
jingled the bell again close to his ear, and grunted his satisfac-
tion ; the missing articles must be found.
To carry out the incantation more effectually, however, all of
Speke's men were sent for to sit in the open before the hut, when
the old doctor rose, shaking the horn and tinkling the bell close
to his ear. Then, confronting one of the men, he dashed the
horn forward as if intending to strike him on the face, then smelt
the head, then dashed at another, and so on, till he became satis-
fied that the thief was not among them. He then walked into
Grant's hut, inspected that, and finally went to the place where
the bottle had been kept. There he walked about the grass with
his arm up, and jingling the bell to his ear, first on one side, then
on the other, till the track of a hyena gave him the clew, and in
two or three more steps he found .it. A hyena had carried it
into the grass and dropped it. Bravo for the infallible horn !
and well done the king for his honesty in sending it ! So Speke
gave the king the bottle and guagc, which delighted him amaz-
ingly ; and the old doctor, who begged for pombe, got a goat
for his trouble.
EFFORTS TO LEAVE UNYORO.
KAMRASI proved himself as persistent a beggar as Mtesa, and
to enable him to get more than Speke was willing to give, the
old king cunningly held his white guests prisoners, though all the
time professing the warmest friendship and promising whatever
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
107
aid he could give. Kamrasi was hardly so blood-thirsty as Mtesa,
but his propensities were very far from the merciful, particularly
to women, whom he destroyed with savage delight at times. On
one occasion he offered to entertain his visitors by having four
women cut to pieces in their Dresence, just for amusement.
108 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
King Karnrasi's sisters arc not allowed to wed ; they live and die
virgins in his palace. Their only occupation in life consists in
drinking milk, of which each 'one consumes the produce daily of
from ten to twenty cows, and hence they become so inordinately
fat that they cannot walk. Should they wish to see a relative,
or go outside the hut for any purpose, it requires eight men to
lift anyone of them on a litter. The brothers, too, are not al-
lowed to go out of his reach. This confinement of the palace
family is considered a state necessity, as a preventive to civil
KAMRAS! ON HIS THRONE.
wars, in the same way as the destruction of the Uganda
after a certain season, is thought necessary for the preservation
of peace there.
On one occasion, when Speke went to visit Kamrasi, the latter
became quite communicative, and informed his guest that he was
sadly afflicted with a disorder which no one but the white man
could cure. " What is it, your majesty?" said Speke ; " I can
see nothing in your face ; it msiy,^ perhaps, require a private
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 109
inspection." "My heart," he said, "is troubled because you
will not give me your magic horn the thing, I mean, in your
pocket, which } T OU pulled out one day when you were discussing
the way ; and you no sooner looked at it than you said, * This is
the way to the palace.' ' It was Speke's chronometer, the only
one he had with him, that the old fellow was angling for. The
instrument was very valuable, and could not well be spared, so
he begged the king to wait until he could go to the white
man's country and send him another. " No, I must have the
one in your pocket," said Ivamrasi ; " pull it out and show it."
Speke reluctantly obeyed, when the impetuous savage seized
chronometer, chain and all, and deposited it on his own greasy
person. The next day Speke sent a message to Kamrasi asking
that he might be allowed to depart. The king, thinking him
angry for having taken the watch so rudely, took fright at the
message, and sent the chronometer back by an attendant, but in
a badly damaged condition, as he had used his fingers in showing
his people how the hands worked.
AFRICAN TWINS.
A GREAT deal of superstition surrounds the birth of twin chil-
dren in Africa. If one should die the mother continues to milk
herself every evening for five months, in order that the spirit of
the dead child may have plenty to eat and not persecute her.
Twins are not buried as ordinary people, under ground, but are
placed in earthenware pots and carried to the jungle, where the
pots are left, mouths downward, near the roots of a tree. Among
some tribes, on the death of a twin, the mother ties a little gourd
around her neck, and puts into it a trifle of everything she gives
to the living child, lest the spirit of the dead one should become
jealous. In some localities, on the death of a child the mother
smears herself with butter and ashes, and runs frantically about,
tearing her hair and bewailing piteously ; while the men of the
place use toward her the foulest language, apparently as if in abuse
of her person, but in reality to frighten away the demons who
have robbed her nest.
Delays and broken promises at length so exasperated Speke,
110 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
who was exceedingly anxious to return home, that he sent a mes-
sage to Kamrasi reminding him of his deceptive promises, and
declaring that unless he was permitted to depart at once he would
return all the presents the king had given him and regard his
actions as hostile. Upon receiving this message Kamrasi was
much concerned, and sent Speke a present of a dwarf called
Kimenya, thinking to thus allay his wrath. This dwarf was less
than a yard in height, had many deformities, and walked with a
cane much taller than himself. He made himself quite familiar
with the travelers, and amused them by dancing, singing **<3
THE FROLICSOME DWARF.
performing many queer antics, ending by giving the charging-
march and asking for 500 beads. The colored beads were given
him, and he was then sent back to the king, because no possible
use could be made of him.
i Two days more were spent persuading Kamrasi to consent to
a departure of the expedition, but to all requests he returned
some cunning reply : it was impossible to get his men together
so soon ; or, he was fearful lest they should fall into the hands
of savages, who had already threatened to exterminate the white
travelers ; or, that the weather was unfavorable, and a dozen
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. Ill
other pretenses equally unreasonable and vexatious. Forbearance
finally lost its virtue, and Speke began to declare his independ-
ence, notwithstanding his great need for an escort and some pro-
visions which the king had promised him. His bold attitude had
the desired effect upon Kamrasi, and his consent to their depar-
ture was finally obtained. Before saying adieu, however, the
old beggar asked for medicine that would prevent the death of
offspring, which is a calamity that overtakes a very large propor-
tion of children in that country before they are able to walk.
He also wanted a medicine that would cause his subjects to love
him. Both these remedies, of course, had to be denied, where-
upon the king compromised on six carbines, a hair brush, some
matches, a pot, and a quantity of ammunition. An escort of
twenty-four warriors was then provided/and ten cows were given
for meat. The expedition now began its march to Madi.
CHAPTER VI.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
UPON leaving Kamrasi' s, Speke and his men proceeded part of
the way by water, in canoes, on the Kafu river, on which they
saw many floating islands of grass and reeds, frequently large
and compact enough to support cattle, which grazed upon them.
One evening, after camping on the banks of the river, a half-
drunken native brought them a pot of pombe, and greatly amused
them with frantic charges, as if he were fighting with his spear;
and after settling the supposed enemy, he delighted in trampling
him under foot, spearing him repeatedly through and through,
then wiping the blade of the spear in the grass, and finally pol-
ishing it on his tufty head, when, with a grunt of satisfaction,
he shouldered arms and walked away a hero.
They continued their water journey until they reached Parau-
112 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
goni, where they halted to please the governor, Magamba, who
received them with great kindness. This titled savage was
anxious to see all the white men's possessions, which he regarded
with inexpressible wonder. He told the travelers, among other
things, that in the neighboring district of Ururi, which is a
province of Unyoro, there was a very noted governor, named
imeziri, whose wisdom was greater than that of any other man
in Africa. This wise man had an original way of doing things ;
for example, when his wives presented him children there was
always more or less doubt about their paternity ; so, to settle
the question, he covered the new infants with beads and threw
them into the lake ; if they sank he accepted the fact as proof
that they were not his offspring. It may be inferred that Kime-
ziri had very few children out of the lake.
Speke did not tarry long with the hospitable Magamba, for he
was in a country badly infested by thieves', who were daily making
efforts to reduce the small store of provisions which he had with
much difficulty accumulated.
Ukoro, governor-general of Chopi, sent a message to Speke,
requesting him not to proceed further down the river, lest the
Chopi ferryman at Karuma falls should take fright at the strange
appearance of white men and flee away. Careful to give no
offence, he complied with this singular request, and sent his
packs overland.
The ground on the line of march was highly cultivated, and
intersected by a deep ravine of running water, whose sundry
branches made the surface very irregular. The sand-paper tree,
whose leaves resemble a cat's tongue in roughness, and which is
used in Uganda for polishing their clubs and spear-handles, was
conspicuous ; but at the end of the journey only was there any
thing of much interest to be seen. There suddenly, in a deep
ravine, the formerly placid river, up which vessels of moderate
size might steam two or three abreast, was changed into a turbu-
lent torrent. Beyond lay the land of Kidi, a forest of mimosa
trees rising gently away from the water in soft clouds of green.
This the governor of the place, Kija, described as a sporting-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 113
field, where elephants, hippopotami and buffalo are hunted by
the occupants of both sides of the river.
The name given to the Karuma Falls arose from the absurd
belief that Karuma, the agent or familiar of a certain great spirit,
placed the stones that break the waters in the river, and, for so
doing, was applauded by his master, who, to reward his services
by an appropriate distinction, allowed the stones to be called by
his own name. Near this is a tree which contains a spirit whose
attributes for gratifying the powers and pleasures of either men
or women who summon its influence in the form appropriate to
each, appeared to be almost identical with that of Mahadeo's
Ligra in India.
AMONG ELEPHANTS, BUFFALOES AND HARTEBEEST.
WITH an increased force the party moved on through very
high grass with great difficulty. This was a rich pasture-ground
for elephants, buffaloes and hartebeest, many of which were
seen, but none happened to be within gun shot, except a single
large buffalo, which Speke put a bullet through and then allowed
the savage porters who accompanied him the pleasure of
dispatching the wounded animal in their own wild fashion with
spears.
It was a sight quite worthy of a little delay. No sooner was it
observed that the huge beast could not retire, than, with
springing bounds, the men, all spear in hand, as if advancing on
an enemy, went top speed at him, over rise and fall alike, till, as
they nearedthe maddened bull, he instinctively advanced to meet
his assailants with the best charge his exhausted body could
muster _up. Wind, however, failed him soon ; he knew his dis-
advantage, and tried to hide byplunging into the water the worst
policy he could have pursued ; for the men from the bank above
soon covered him with bristling spears, and gained their
victory. They then proceeded to cut up and cook the carcass,
all the while indulging in loud praises of their personal bravery
and prowess.
After a journey of more than one whole day, Speke accom-
plished the distance which lay between the spot where he bad
114 THE WORLD'S WONTERS.
shot the buffalo and the village of Koki, in the province of
Gani. The weather now was fine, and the view afforded wag
very beautiful, looking toward the village, which was composed
of about fifty conical huts, located on the ridge of a small chain
of granitic hills. As they approached nearer, knots of naked
men could be seen perched like monkeys on the granite blocks
awaiting their arrival. According to the usage of the country,
Speke and his porters halted while the guides were sent forward
to notify Chongi, the governor-general, that a party of visitors
from Kamrasi were coming to be his guests for a day or more.
This information was very pleasing to Chongi, who had been
appointed governor of the district by Kamrasi. All the notables
of the place, covered with war-paints, and dressed, so far as their
nakedness was covered at all, like clowns in a fair, charged
down the hill full tilt with their spears, and, after performing
their customary evolutions, mingled with Speke's men and
invited them up the hill, where they no sooner arrived than
Chongi, a very old man, attended by his familiar, advanced to
receive them one holding a white hen, the other a small gourd
of pombe and a little twig.
Chongi gave the party a friendly harangue by way of greeting,
and, taking the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the
ground in front of his assembled visitors. After this ceremony
had been repeated by the familiar, Chongi took the gourd and
twig and sprinkled the contents all over the travellers ; retired
to the Uganda, or magic house a very diminutive hut sprinkled
pombe over it ; and, finally, spreading a cowskin under a tree,
bade Speke and Grant sit, and gave them a jorum of pombe,
making many apologies that he could not show them more hospi-
tality, as famine had reduced his stores. What politeness in the
midst of such barbarism ! Nowhere had they seen such naked
creatures, whose sole dress consisted of bead, iron, or brass orna-
ments, with some feathers or cowrie-beads on the head. Even
the women contented themselves with a few fibres hung like tails
before and behind. The hair of the men was dressed in the same
fantastic fashion. Babies were carried at their mother's backs,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 115
erx in all savage countries, and the women placed gourds over
them to protect them from the sun. These people, like the Kidi.
whom they much fear, carry diminutive stools to sit upon
wherever they go.
A HAPPY MEETING NOT WHOLLY UNALLOYED.
NEARLY two days were spent with Chief Chongi, who enter-
tained his white guests very agreeably, but when Speke desired
to move again, he found his porters in a mutinous mood, and
more than one-half of them deserted. With such a diminution
of their carrying force, they were seriously inconvenienced, but
they pushed on anxious to meet an expedition under Petherick,
who had come to their relief, and was reported to be then in the Ma-
di country. Late in the afternoon of the day of their departure
they came in sight of what they supposed was Petherick' s out-
post, under charge of a very black Turk named Mohamed.
Guns were fired, flags waved, and other evidences of joy mani-
fested. Mchamed came out and greeted Speke and Grant with
hugs and kisses, and in reply to inquiries declared that Petherick
was then at Gondokoro, about fifteen days' marches distant.
Speke was anxious to set off at once, but Mohamed detained him
by various excuses, until at length, by a cunning stratagem, he
induced Speke to remain and guard the camp until he returned
from a short expedition into the interior on a trading expedition.
Mohamed marched his regiment out of the place, drums and fifes
playing, colors flying, a hundred guns firing, officers riding, some
of them on donkeys, and others .on cows ! while a host of the
natives under Kionga, a rebellious brother of Kamrasi, accom-
panied them, carrying spears and bows and arrows. The outfit
looked very little like a peaceful caravan of merchants, but much
more like a band of marauders, as they really were.
In this matter Speke was badly outwitted, for the wily Turk
was an independent trader, having no connection with Petherick
whatever, but by his pretenses induced Speke to guard the camp
while he went out to plunder one of Kamrasi's allies. When
Mohamed returned to carnp he brought his army in laden with
iv<>ry, and drove before him five slave girls and thirty head of
116
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 117
cattle. During the time that Speke guarded the camp he was
surprised to see an entire village of Madi people removing their
habitations from the vicinity. They had suffered enough from
Mohamed, and when they saw their opportunity, they literally
took up the frames of their houses and went off to found another
village, where they hoped the brutal Turk would not find them.
Shortly after Mohamed's arrival with his spoils of victory,
there came into camp the head man of a village which the Turk
had assisted Rionga in destroying, carrying with him a large tusk
of ivory with which to ransom his daughter, who was one of the
five girls seized for slaves. As girls were numerous and of no
value, Mohamed accepted the ransom. On the following day
his villainous character was again illustrated. Some men who
had fled from their vrllage when his plundering party passed by
them, surprised that he did not stop to sack their homes, now
brought ten larpre tusks of ivory to him to express the gratitude
they said they felt for his not having molested them. Mohamed,
on finding bow easy it was to get taxes in this fashion, instead of
thanking them, assumed the air of the great potentate, whose
clemency was abused, and told the poor creatures that, though
they had done well in seeking his friendship, they h:id not suffi-
ciently considered his dignity, else they would have brought
double that number of tusks, for it was impossible he could be
satisfied at so low a price. " What," said these poor creatures,
" can we do, then, for this is all we have got?" " Oh," says
Mohamed, " if it is all you have got now in store, I will take
these few for the present, but when I return from Gondokoro I
expect you will bring me just as many more. Good-by, and
look out for yourselves." Impatient of delays, and disgusted
with Mohamed's barbarity, Speke at length procured two guides
from him, and pushed ahead for the Nile, which they reached
after several hard marches, at a place called Jaifi. Here they
were overtaken by the advanced guard of -the Turks, who killed
a crocodile and ate him on the spot, much to the amusement of
Speke' s men, who immediately shook their heads laughingly, and
said, " Ewa Allah ! are these men, then, Mussulmans? Savages
in onr country don't much like a crocodile,"
118 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
JOYFUL MEETING WITH SIR SAMUEL BAKER.
Two days later Mohamed overtook Speke, and together they
journeyed, with plundered cattle, slave girls and ivory, which the
old Turk had so cruelly wrested from the helpless savages, on to
Gondokoro. On reaching that place, they met the noted English
traveler, Samuel White Baker, and his wife, on their way to the
interior of Africa. This meeting must be described in Speke' s
own language :
" Walking down the bank of the river where a line of vessels
was moored, and on the right hand a few sheds, one-half broken
down, with a brick house representing the late Austrian mission
establishment we saw hurrying on toward us the form of an
Englishman, who for one moment we believed was the Simon
Pure [Petherick] ; but the next moment' my old friend Buker,
famed for his sports in Ceylon, seized me by the hand. A little
boy of his establishment had reported our arrival, and he in an
instant came out to welcome us. What joy this was I can hardly
tell. We could not talk fast enough, so overwhelmed were we
both to meet again. Of course we were his guests in a moment,
and learned everything that could be told. I now first heard of
the death of H. R. H. the Prince Consort, which made me reflect
on the inspiring words he made use of, in compliment to myself,
when I was introduced to him by Sir Roderick Murchison a short
while before leaving England. Then there was the terrible war
in America, and other events of less startling nature, which came
on us all by surprise, as years had now passed since we had
received news from the civilized world.
" Baker then said he had come up with three vessels one
dyabir and two nuggers fully equipped with armed men,
camels, horses, donkeys, beads, brass wire, and everything neces-
sary for a long journey, expressly to look after us, hoping, as he
jokingly said, to find us on the equator in some terrible fix, that
he might have the 'pleasure of helping us out of it. He had
heard of Mohamed's party, and was actually waiting for him to
come in, that he might have had the use of his return-men to
t start with comfortably. Three Dutch ladies, also, with a viw
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 119
to assist us in the same way as Baker (God bless them), had
come here in a steamer, but were driven back to Khartum by
sickness. Nobody had even dreamed for a moment it was pos-
sible we could come through. An Italian, named Miani, had
gone farther up the Nile than any one else, and had cut his name
on a tree by Apuddo, at the furthest point reached by him. But
what had become of Petherick? He was actually trading at
N'yambara, seventy miles due west of this, though he had, since
I left him in England, raised a subscription of XI, 000 from my
friends to aid him in finding me."
ALARM ABOUT PETHERICK.
SPEKE felt some alarm about the safety of Petherick, and was
upon the point of going to his succor, especially as it was reported
he had already had one engagement with the natives. But when
he was about ready to start, Petherick returned to Gondokoro, and
the joy of meeting was complete.
We have now followed Speke through Africa, describing all
the important facts and incidents recorded in his journal, but
before dismissing him to call up another, will present his conclu-
sions, which, as will hereafter be seen, were frequently at fault.
He says :
" Having now, then, after a period of twenty-eight months ?
come upon the tracks of European travelers, and met them face
to face, I close my Journal, to conclude with a few explanations,
for the purpose of comparing the various branches of the Nile
with its affluents, so as to show their respective values.
" The first affluent, the Bahr el Ghazal, took us by surprise;
for, instead of finding a huge lake, as described in our maps, at
an elbow of the Nile, we found only a small piece of water!
resembling a duck-pond buried in a sea of rushes. The old
Nile swept through it with majestic grace, and carried us next to
the Geraffe branch of the Sobat river, the second affluent, which
we found flowing into the Nile with a graceful semicircular sweep
and good stiff current, apparently deep, but not more than fifty
yards broad.
" Next in order came the main stream, of th Sobat, flowing
120 THE WoltLD's
into the Nile in the same graceful way as the Geraffe, which in
breadth it surpassed, but in velocity of current was inferior.
The Nile by these additions was greatly increased ; still, it did
not assume that noble appearance which astonished us so much,
immediately after the rainy season, when we were navigating it
:n canoes in Unyoro.
" The Sobat has a third mouth farther down the Nile, which
unfortunately was passed without my knowing it ; but as it is so
Well known to be unimportant, the loss was not great.
"Next to be treated of is the famous Blue Nile, which we
found a miserable river, even when compared with the Geraffe
branch of the Sobat. It is very broad at the mouth, it is true,
but so shallow that our vessel with difficulty was able to come up
it. It had all the appearance of a mountain stream, subject to
great periodical fluctuations. I was never more disappointed
than with this river ; if the White river was cut off from it, its
waters would all be absorbed before they could reach Lower
Egypt.
"The Atbara River, which is the last affluent, was more like
the Blue River than any of the other affluents, being decidedly
a mountain stream, which floods in the rains, but runs nearly dry
in the dry season.
" I had now seen quite enough to satisfy myself that the White
River, which issues from the lake at the Ripon Falls, is the true
or parent Nile ; for in every instance of its branching, it carried
the palm with it in the distinctest manner, viewed, as all the
streams were by me, in the dry season, which is the best time for,
estimating their relative perennial values."
Of the original number of three hundred porters, guides and
interpreters, only eighteen remained faithful and returned with
Capt. Speke to Alexandria. These were well provided for, and
greatly lionized by the English residents of that city, who took
them to places of amusement, gave them liberal purses and then
returned them to Zanzibar, to remain under the protection of
the English consul there.
Speke proved himself to be a good traveler, in some respects
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 121
superior to those who preceded him or came after, for he
managed so well as to avoid collisions with the natives, and
to leave Africa with the good will of all its savage kings and
eaiefs, all of whom were treated with kindly consideration and
bsttered by reason of his visit among them.
EXPEDITION OF.
SIR SAMUEL BAKER.
CHAPTER VII.
OFF FOR THE NILE.
SAMUEL WHITE BAKER, subsequently knighted in recognition
o/ his services as an African explorer, thus begins the account of
his first expedition up the Nile :
" In March, 1861, I commenced an expedition to discover the
sources of the Nile, with the hope of meeting the East African
expedition of Captains Speke and Grant, that had been sent
by the English Government from the South, via Zanzibar,
for that object. I had not the presumption to publish my
intention, as the sources of the Nile had hitherto defied all
explorers, but I had inwardly determined to accomplish this
difficult task or die in the attempt. From my youth 1 had been
inured to hardships and endurance in wild sports in tropical
climates, and when I gazed upon the map of Africa, I had a wild
hope, mingled with humility, that, even as the insignificant worm
bores through the hardest oak, I might by perseverance reach the
heart of Africa.
122
THE WORLD'S WONDERS
" I could not conceive that anything in thir world had power
to resist a determined will, so long as health ai?d life remained.
The failure of every former attempt to reach the Tale's source,
did not astonish me, as the expeditions had consisted of parties
which, when difficulties occur, generally end in difference of
opinion and retreat j I therefore determined to proceed alono,
THE WORLD'S 'WONDERS. 123
trusting in the guidance of a Divine Providence, and the good
fortune that sometimes attends tenacity of purpose. I weighed
carefully the chances of the undertaking. Before me untrodden
Africa ; against me the obstacles that had defeated the world
since its creation ; on my side a somewhat tough constitution,
perfect independence, a long experience in savage life, and both
time and means which I intended to devote to the object without
limit. England had never sent an expedition to the Nile sources
previous to that under the command of Speke and Grant.
Bruce, ninety years ago, had succeeded in tracing the source of
the Blue or Lesser Nile: thus the honor of that discovery
belonged to Great Britain ; Speke was on his road from the
South ; and I felt confident that my gallant friend would leave
his bones upon the path rather than submit to failure. I trusted
that England would not be beaten ; and although I hardly dared
to hope that I could succeed where others greater than I had
failed, I determined to sacrifice all in the attempt. Had I been
alone it would have been no hard lot to die upon the untrodden
path before me, but there was one who, although my greatest
comfort, was also my greatest care ; one whose life yet dawned
at so early an age that womanhood was still a future. I shud-
dered 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. And Ruth said,
* Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after
thee : for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I
will lodge ; thy people shall be jny people, and thy God my
God : where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried : the
Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but death part thee
and me.'
" Thus accompanied by my wife, on the 15th of April, 1861,
124 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
I sailed up the Nile from Cairo. The wind blc\v fair and strong
from the north, and we flew towards the south against the
stream, watching those mysterious waters with a firm resolve to
track them to their distant fountain."
When Baker arrived at Berber, he found that a knowledge of
Arabic was essential to his success, and therefore devoted the
first year to exploring affluents of the Nile from the Abyssinian
range of mountains, which gave him a very excellent means for
acquiring the language, as association is a better school than
study.
STARTING FOR THE NILE SOURCE.
HAVING made himself familiar with Arabic, as .did also his
wife, Baker prepared, in December, 1862, to proceed with his
original purpose. The principal requirement now was a force of
arms-bearers and sailors. This preparation had to be made at
Kartoum, where many men could be had, but they were gener-
ally of a dissolute and perfidious character. However, he
enlisted ninety-six men, forty of whom he armed with double-
barreled guns and rifles, forty others were sailors, and the
remainder servants. He had three boats specially built, which
he loaded with twenty-one donkeys, four camels and four horses,
hoping these would render him independent of porte.s, who are
so given to desertion. Each man received five months' wages in
advance, and just before starting they were treated to an
entertainment at which they had an abundance to eat and drink.
Everything was now ready for the departure, all the supplies
and animals having been taken on board, and the' men at their
several posts, when an officer arrived from Divan to demand a
poll-tax from Baker for each of his men, equal to one months'
wages per head, threatening to detain the boats if it was not paid
forthwith. Baker ordered his captain to hoist the British flag
upon each of the boats, aitd then answered the demand by
declaring that he was neither a Turk nor a trader, but an English
explorer, and therefore not responsible for the tax, and that if
any official attempted to board his boats he would lake pleasure,
in the name of Great Britain, in throwing him overboard. Thu
THE WOKLU'S \VOXl) KKS. . ! 25
tax-gatherer made no effort to force a collection, hut quietly
departed.
A FIGHT.
THE boats were now got under way, but had moved or.ly a
short distance when a government boat came sailing swiftly
down the river and in a most reckless manner crushed into
Baker's boat, breaking the oars and otherwise damaging it.
The reis, or captain, instead of apologizing, broke forth in the
wildest abuse and invectives, positively refusing to make repara-
tion for the damage done, and dared any one of Baker's men to
come- on board. This captain of the government boat was
a gigantic black, so conscious of his physical powers that he felt
a savage pride in parading them. As the boats had fallen foul
of each other, Baker brushed aside his men and stepped over
to the government vessel, where the muscular black stood ready
to receive him. A fight took place between the two, with natural
weapons, in which Baker pommeled his adversary so soundly that
the black captain was exceedingly glad to escape further punish-
ment by giving Baker new oars in the place of those that were
broken and to abjectly apologize for his conduct.
The expedition met with no further embarrassments and pro-
ceeded up the river for Gondokoro, which is the head of naviga-
tion on the Nile.
THE FIRST DEATH.
IN the party engaged at Kartoum was an adventurous German
named John Schmidt. He had been an old hunter in India, well
experienced in tropical sports and exposures, and a most service-
able man with such an expedition as Baker now commanded, but
the poor fellow was badly afflicted with consumption. He was
very anxious to accompany Baker, feeling that such a journey
would improve his health, which he did not believe was seriously
impaired. Baker tried hard to advise him against such an under-
taking, dwelling upon the extreme hardships which he must
certainly suffer ; but Schmidt was determined, and Baker, on the
ground, of old comradeship, finally consented to take him, espe-
126 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
dally since he had rendered such excellent service in preparing
for the departure.
Baker's diary, which was kept throughout the long journey,
shows how poor Schmidt began to fail, though his great energy
kept him from giving up for a long time, but the struggle grew
less until the year began to fade out, when with it sped the brave
spirit. Baker's chronicle of this event is as follows :
"Johann is in a dying state, but sensible ; all his hopes, poor
fellow, of saving money in my service and returning to Bavaria
are past. I sat by his bed for some hours ; there was not a ray
of hope; he could 'speak with difficulty, and the flies wajked
across his glazed eyeballs without his knowledge. Gently bathing
his face and hands, I asked him if I could deliver any message
to his relatives. He faintly uttered, ' I am prepared to die ; I
have neither parents nor relations ; but there is one she ' he
faltered. He could not finish his sentence, but his dying thoughts
were with one he loved ; far, far away from this wild and miser-
able land. Did not a shudder pass over her, a chill warning at
that sad moment when all was passing away? I pressed his cold
hand and asked her name. Gathering his remaining strength he
murmured, ' Es bleibt nur zu sterben.' * Ich bin sehr dankbar.'
These were the last words he spoke, *I am very grateful.' I
gazed sorrowfully at his attenuated figure, and at the now power-
less hand that had laid low many an elephant and lion in its day
of strength ; and the cold sweat of death lay thick upon his
forehead. Although the pulse was not yet still, Johann was gone.
I made a huge cross with my own hands from the trunk of a
tamarind tree, and by moonlight we laid him in his grave in this
lonely spot."
" No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him ;
But he lay like a Pilgrim taking his rest,
With his mantle drawn around him."
A FATAL BUFFALO HUNT.
ON the evening of January 9th, while the boats were moving
at the rate of five niiles an hour against tbe current, a buffalo
WORLD'S WONDERS. 127
was sighted m the deep grass about one hundred yards from the
river. As meat was scarce, Baker had the boats run to bank,
and as the buffalo's head appeared above the grass he fired, and
the animal dropped as if struck dead. Several of the men ran
pell-mell after it, and as the beast still appeared to be dead,
instead of falling to at. once and cutting it up, they danced about
it in savage delight, one holding its tail while another danced on
the body brandishing his knife. Suddenly the buffalo jumped
up, scattered the blacks, and ran off into a morass, where it fell
again. The boats tied up for the night, and on the following
morning the groans of the wounded animal could plainly be
heard. About forty of the men now took their guns and waded
knee-deep through mud, water and high grass in search of it.
One hour after Baker heard shouting and shooting, which lasted
fully twenty minutes ; by aid of the telescope he could see a
crowd of his men standing on an ant-hill three hundred yards
distant, from which point they were still shooting at some indis-
tinguishable object. The death-howl then followed, and the men
were seen to rush down from their secure position, and directly
afterward returned to the boats, carrying the dead and mangled
body of Sali Achmet, Baker's most valuable man. It truiiupired
that this man had been attacked by the wounded buffalo and
killed in sight of his comrades, who were too cowardly to render
him any assistance. The poor fellow was horribly mangled, and,
as usual with buffaloes, the furious beast had not rested content
until it pounded the breath out of the body, which was found
imbedded and trampled so tightly in the mud that only a portion
of the head appeared above the marsh.
In relating the story to Baker, the men stated that three men
were with Sali when the buffalo charged him, but that the
cowards bolted without firing a gun, and took position on an ant
hill, from which they saw their comrade tossed into the air and
heard his distressing cries for help without responding. This
was a fair sample of the courage of the native Africans, who exalt
their bravery when danger is not near, but who run like sheep at
the first intimation of peril.
123 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The buffalo was found dead from exhaustion, its shoulder
having been broken, and was secured, while poor Suli was
buried according to the usages of his countrymen. The boats
were then got under way again.
MEETING WITH A STRANGE PEOPLE.
ON the 13th of January the expedition stopped near a village
on the right bank of the river. The natives came down to the
boats, they were something superlative in the way of savages ;
the men as naked as they came into the world ; their bodies
rubbed with ashes, and their hair stained red by a plaster
of ashes and cow's urine. Baker says these fellows were the
most unearthly-looking devils he ever saw there was no other
expression for them. The unmarried women were also entirely
naked ; the married had a fringe made of grass around their
loins. The men wore heavy coils of beads about their necks,
two heavy bracelets of ivory on the upper portion of the arms,
copper rings upon the wrists, and a horrible kind of bracelet of
massive iron armed with spikes about an inch in length, like
leopard's claws, which they used for a similar purpose. The
chief of the Nuehr village, Joctian, with his wife and daughter,
paid a visit to the boats, and asked for all they saw in the shape
of beads and bracelets, but declined a knife as useless. They
went away delighted with their presents. The women were very
ugly. The men were tall and powerful, armed with lances.
They carried pipes that contained nearly a quarter of a pound of
tobacco, in which they smoked simple charcoal should the loved
tobacco fail. The carbonic acid gas of the charcoal produces a
slight feeling of intoxication, which is the effect desired. Baker
took the chief's portrait ; of course he was delighted. In reply to
a question as to the use of the spiked iron bracelet, he exhibited
his wife's arms and back covered with jagged scars. Charming
people, these poor blacks ! He was quite proud of having
clawed his wife like a wild beast.
NOVEL CONTEST WITH A HIPPOPOTAMUS.
ON the 15th of January, while the men ashore were drawing
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
129
the boats, their heads being invisible on account of the tall
grass, a hippopotamus was frightened out of his lair and
appeared directly under the bow of the boat. In an instant,
about twenty men, thinking the animal an infant one, jumped
overboard to grapple with it, but as the supposed baby suddenly
9
130 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
appeared again about three times as large as they expected
it was, they showed no further eagerness to close with it. How-
ever, the captain of the boat, more courageous than the rest,
pluckily seized the hippopotamus by one of its hind legs, where-
upon the others rushed in and a grand tussle followed. Ropes
were thrown from the boat and nooses slipped over the animal's
head, but these efforts for its capture were so futile that the hip-
popotamus swam rapidly toward midstream and would have
carried everything with it, had not Baker put an end to the sport
by shooting the beast.
He was scored all over by the tusks of some other hippopo-
tamus that had been bullying him. The men declared that his
father had thus misused him ; others were of opinion that it was
his mother ; and the argument ran high and hecam-3 hot. These
Arabs have an extraordinary taste for arguments upon the most
trifling points. Baker says he has frequently known his men to
argue throughout the greater part of the night, and recommence
the same argument on the following morning. These debates
generally end in a fight ; and in the present instance the excite-
ment of the hunt only added to the heat of the argument. They
at length agreed to refer it to the master, and both parties
approached, vociferously advancing their theories ; one-half
persisting that the young hippo had been bullied by his father,
and the others adhering to the mother as the cause. Baker,
being referee, suggested that "perhaps it was his uncle."
" Wah Illahi sahe I" (By Allah, it is true !) Both parties were
satisfied with the suggestion ; dropping their theory they became
practical, and fell to with knives and axes to cut up the cause of
the argument. The hippopotamus was as fat as butter, and was
^i perfect godsend to the people, who divided him with great
'excitement and good humor.
A STRANGE RACE OF PEOPLE.
ON the 19th of January the boats emerged from the apparently
endless region of marsh-grass and saw on the right bank a large
herd of grazing cattle tended by naked natives. This proved to
be the Kytch country, a tribe of the most strange and singular
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 131
people that can be found in Africa. At the principal station,
Zareebo, one of the natives generously offered Baker a bullock,
which he refused, until he saw that the man was affronted.
Notwithstanding the vast herds of cattle these people own, their
misery is beyond description. They will not kill their cattle, nor
do they ever taste meat unless an animal dies of sickness ; neither
will they work, and thus starvation is common among them, as
they exist almost wholly upon rats, lizards, snakes and fish.
They capture fish by means of a harpoon, which is a neatly made
instrument, attached to a reed pole about twenty feet in length,
and secured by a long line. They cast the harpoon haphazard,
anywhere among the reeds, without regard for signs of fish ;
thus they may make and do make hundreds of casts before
striking a fish. Occasionally, but always by accident, they har-
poon species of fish weighing as much as two hundred pounds ;
and in such an event a long and exciting chase ensues, for the fish
carries' away the harpoon and the spearman has to swim with the
line and play with the fish until it is tired out.
Baker was introduced to the chief of the Kytch tribe, and he
describes him and his people as follows: "The chief of the
Kytch people wore a leopard skin across his shoulders, and
a skull-cap of white beads, with a crest of ostrich feathers ;
but the mantle was merely slung over his shoulders, and all
other parts of his person were naked. His daughter was
the best-looking girl that I have seen among the blacks ;
she was about sixteen. Her clothing consisted of a little'
piece of dressed hide, about a foot wide, slung across her shoul-
ders, all other parts being exposed. All the girls of this country
wear merely a circlet of little iron jingling ornaments round their
waists. They came in numbers, bringing small bundles of wood,
to exchange for a few handfuls of corn. Most of the men are
tall, but wretchedly thin ; the children are mere skeletons, and
the entire tribe appears thoroughly starred. The language is
that of the Dinka. The chief carried a curious tobacco-box, an
iron spike about two feet long, with a hollow socket, bound with
iguana-skin ; this served for either tobacco-box, club, or dagger.
132
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
The whole day we were beset by crowds of starving people,
bringing small gourd-shells to receive the expected corn."
Among the Kytch polygamy is, of course, common. When a
man becomes too old for his several wives his eldest son becomes
his substitute.
s
THE CHIEF AND HIS DAUGHTER.
FIGHTING BLACK AMAZONS.
SHORTLY after leaving the Kytch country, a squall of wind
came up, which took away one mast of the best boat and left it
|:i wreck. Baker had now to proceed entirely by cordelling,
which process was very slow and not without danger to the men,
who had to wade through marshes in which were numerous croc-
odiles, snakes and hippopotami ; besides, the country was filled
with malaria, mosquitoes and a sultry atmosphere. Thus day by
day passed, and but for one incident the monotony of the journey
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 133
would have been vexatiously wearisome. This diversion was
afforded, strange enough, by the fighting black women on board,
who worried, quarreled and scratched like Gehenna cats. Among
these was one little black terrier named Gaddum Her, very short,
but wonderfully strong and plucky ; she was the embodiment of
long-cultivated vice, and was always spoiling for a fight. On
one occasion this little wretch fought with another of her tribe
until they rolled all over the boat, and finally down into the hold,
where they landed upon a number of water-jars, which they
broke. On the next day the fight was renewed, and did not end
until both had fallen into the river. This irritability was not
only manifested among the women, but the donkeys, horses and
camels also had their daily fights.
THE ALIAS TRIBE.
ON January 28th Baker passed two bivouacs of Aliabs, who
were tending large herds of cattle. These people appeared quite
friendly ; they were hardly so bad as the Kytch tribe, but were
very low in the scale of humanity. They not only milk their
cows, but bleed them every month, by driving a lance into a vein
of the neck, and boil the blood for food. Living in a country
where mosquitoes are so numerous, they make tumuli of dung,
which are kept constantly on fire, fresh fuel being added as fast
as wasted ; this burns like smudge, producing a heavy smoke
that drives the mosquitoes away. Around these smouldering
dung-heaps the cattle crowd in hundreds, living with the natives
in the smoke. By degrees the heaps of ashes become about
eight feet high ; they are then used as sleeping places and watch
stations by the natives, who, rubbing themselves all over with
the ashes, have a ghastly and devilish appearance positively hor-
rible to look upon.
THE SHIR TRIBE.
Two days later, Baker came upon the Shir tribe, which he
describes as follows : " The men are, as usual in these countries,
armed with well-made ebony clubs, two lances, a bow (always
strung), and a bundle of arrows : their hands are completely full
134
THE WORLD'S WONDEBS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 135
of weapons ; and they carry a neatly-made miniature stool slung
upon their backs, in addition to an immense pipe. Thus a man
carries all that he most values about his person. The females in
this tribe are not absolutely naked ; like those of the Kytch, they
wear small lappets of tanned leather as broad as the hand ; at the
back of the belt, which supports this apron, is a tail which
reaches to the lower portions of the thighs ; this tail is formed of
finely-cut strips of leather, and the costume has doubtless been
the foundation for the report I had received from the Arabs,
that a tribe in Central Africa had tails like horses. The women
cany their children very conveniently in a skin slung from their
shoulders across the back, and secured by a thong round the
waist ; in this the young savage sits delightfully. The huts
throughout all tribes are circular, with entrances so low that the
natives creep both in and out upon their hands and knees. The
men wear tufts of cock's feathers on the crown of the head ; and
their favorite attitude, when standing, is on one leg while leaning
on a spear, the foot of the raised leg resting on the inside of the
other knee. Their arrows are about three feet long, without
feathers, and pointed with hard wood instead of iron, the metal
being scarce among the Shir tribe. The most valuable article of
barter for this tribe is the iron hoe generally used among the
White Nile negroes. In form it is precisely similar to the * ace
of spades.' The finery most prized by the women are polished
iron anklets, which they wear in such numbers that they reach
nearly half-way up the calf of the leg ; the tinkling of these
rings is considered to be very enticing, but the sound reminds
one of the clanking of convicts' fetters."
136 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
CHAPTEE VHT.
ARRIVAL AT GONDOKORO.
ON the 1st of February, Baker arrived at Gondokoro, which is
a Turkish slave and trading station, composed of miserable little
grass huts and the ruins of an old mission. Here a long stay
was made, waiting the arrival of a Turkish trader from the
interior, whom Baker hoped to accompany on the return to
Central Africa.
The natives of Gondokoro belong to the Bari tribe, a singular
people who have become savage in their nature by contact with
the barbarous Turks. Their dwellings are very cleanly, but far
from picturesque. The domicile of each family is surrounded by
a hedge of impenetrable thickness, and the interior of the
enclosure usually consists of a yard neatly plastered with a
cement of ashes, cow-dung and sand. The huts have projecting
roofs, in order to afford shade, and the entrance is only about
two feet high.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BARI TRIBE.
WHEN a member of the family dies he is buried in the yard ; a
few ox-horns and skulls are suspended on a pole above the spot,
while the top of the pole is ornamented with a bunch of cock's
feathers. Every man carries his weapons, pipe, and stool, the
whole (except the stool) being held between his legs when
standing. The men are well grown, the women are not prepos-
sessing, but the negro type of thick lips and flat nose is wanting ;
their features are good, and the woolly hair alone denotes the
trace of negro blood. They are tattooed upon the stomach,
sides, and back so closely that it has the appearance of a broad
belt of fish-scales, especially when they are rubbed with red
ochre, which is the prevailing fashion. This pigment is made of
a peculiar clay, rich in oxide of iron, which, when burnt, is
reduced to powder, and then formed into lumps like pieces of
soap ; both sexes anoint themselves with this ochre, formed into
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 137
a paste by the admixture of grease, giving themselves the
appearance of new red bricks. The only hair upon their persons
is a small tuft upon the crown of the head, in which they stick
one or more feathers. The women are generally free from hair,
their heads being shaved. They wear a neat little lappet, about
six inches long, of beads, or of small iron rings, worked like a
coat of mail, in lieu of a fig-leaf, and the usual tail of fine shreds
of leather or twine, spun from indigenous cotton, pendant
behind. Both the lappet and tail are fastened on a belt, which is
worn round the loins, like those in the Shir tribe ; thus the
toilette is completed at once. It would be highly useful, could
they only wag their tails to whisk off the flies which are torments
in this country.
The cattle are very small ; the goats and sheep are quite Lilli-
putian, but they generally give three at a birth, and thus
multiply quickly. The people of the country were formerly
friendly, but the Khartoumers pillage and murder them at
discretion in all directions ; thus, in revenge, they will shoot a
poisoned arrow at a stranger unless he is powerfully escorted.
The effect of the poison used for the arrow-heads is very extra-
ordinary. A man came to Baker for medical aid ; five months
before he had been wounded by a poisoned arrow in the leg,
below the calf, and the entire foot had been eaten away by the
action of the poison. The bone rotted through just above the
ankle, and the foot dropped off. The most violent poison is the
produce of the root of a tree, whose milky juice yields a resin
that is smeared upon the arrow. It is brought from a great dis-
tance, from some country far west of Gondokoro. The juice of
the species of euphorbia, common in these countries, is also used
for poisoning arrows. Boiled to the consistence of tar, it is then
smeared upon the blade. The action of the poison is to corrode
the flesh, which loses its fibre, and drops away like jelly, after
severe inflammation and swelling. The arrows are barbed with
diabolical ingenuity ; some are arranged with poisoned heads that
fit into sockets ; these detach from the arrow on an attempt to
withdraw them ; thus the barbed blade, thickly smeared with
138 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
poison, remains in the wound, and before it can be cut out, the
poison is absorbed by the system. Fortunately the natives are
bad archers. The bows are invariably made of the male bam-
boo, and are kept perpetually strung ; they are exceedingly stiff,
but not very elastic, and the arrows are devoid of feathers, being
simple reeds or other light wood, about three feet long, and
slightly knobbed at the base as a hold for the finger and thumb ;
the string is never drawn with the two fore-fingers, as in most
countries, but is simply pulled by holding the arrow between the
middle joint of the fore-finger and the thumb. A stiff bow
drawn in this manner has very little power; accordingly the
extreme range seldom exceeds a hundred and ten yards.
The Bari tribe are very hostile, and are considered to be about
the worst of the White Nile. They have been so often defeated
by the traders' parties in the immediate neighborhood of Gondo-
koro, that they are on their best behavior while within half a mile
of the station ; but it is not at all uncommon to be asked for
beads as a tax for the right of sitting under the shade of a tree,
or for passing through the country. The traders' people, in
order to terrify them into submission, were in the habit of bind-
ing them,, hands and feet, and carryingthem to the edge of a cliff
about thirty feet high, a little beyond the ruins of the mission
house ; beneath this cliff the river boils in an eddy, and into this
watery grave the victims were remorsely hurled as food for
crocodiles. It appeared that this punishment was dreaded by the
natives more than the bullet or rope, and it was accordingly
adopted by the Turkish trading parties.
BAKER'S TROUBLES IN GONDOKORO.
BAKER was regarded by the Turks in Gondokoro as an intruder
'or as a spy sent by England to obtain information concerning the
slave trade ; they therefore set about to create dissatisfaction
among his men and to annoy him into a hasty departure. The
slaves were kept out of sight as much as possible, being heavily
manacled and confined in close stockades. There were about six
hundred traders in the town, who spent their leisure drinking,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 139
quarreling and maltreating the slaves. The majority were con-
tinually intoxicated, and in this condition amused themselves by
promiscuous firing of guns, so that there was no safety from
stray bullets, one of which killed a little boy in Baker's party.
Baker had remained in Gondokoro only a short time before he
observed a general discontent among his men ; its first outcrop-
ping was a demand made upon him for privilege to steal some
cattle from the natives for a feast ; this being refused, they
threatened to steal such cattle as they wanted, regardless of
orders. Baker then had the men called for muster, and made
them a sharp address, but this only served to provoke an outburst
of insolence. The ringleader, named Elsar, was so impertinent
and violent, that Baker ordered him to be bound and given
twenty-five lashes. When an attempt was made to enforce this
order, a large number of the men came to Elsar's assistance and
a mutiny was raised. There was now no other alternative than
for Baker himself to carry out the order, as any concessions
would have entirely destroyed his power over the men ; accord-
ingly he attempted to seize Elsar, when the savage black rushed
at him with a stick, eager for a fight. Baker accepted the
challenge, and with a powerful blow of his fist knocked him
sprawling on the ground and followed up his advantage by
administering a severe punishment with his boot. His savage
companions suffered their ringleader to be well castigated,
apparently awed at Baker's boldness ; but soon they rallied and
set upon him with sticks and stones. The affair would no doubt
have terminated seriously for Baker, had not his wife, seeing the
danger, rushed to the rescue, and by ordering the drums beaten,
stopped the fray. A settlement of the difficulty was effected by
Baker remitting the further punishment of Elsar upon condition
that the mutineer should kiss his hand and apologize.
This incident proved to Baker how unreliable his men were,
and that to take such a force with him into Africa would only
invite danger and defeat his objects, although the men swore
fidelity again, and Elsar declared that he would stand before his
master and receive every arrow rather than have him injured.
140
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
MEETING WITH SPEKE AND GRANT.
Two days after the mutinous outbreak, Baker was startled by
the rapid firing of guns and shouts apparently from the whole
village. Rushing out of his hut he was overjoyed to see two
white men approaching, who, upon close inspection, proved to
be his old friend Capt. Speke, accompanied by Capt. Grant, botn
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 141
ragged, lean and much careworn. After embracing, the three
adventurous Englishmen repaired to one of the boats, and there,
seated under an awning, they talked upon the one subject so
absorbing to them all, namely, the source of the Nile. Speke
gave Baker much information concerning the natives of the inte-
rior and the best routes for his journey, at the same time encour-
aging him to pursue his intended explorations, as there were
possibly other sources of the Nile than the Victoria lake, which
circumstances had not permitted him to seek for. Speke enter-
tained some doubts about Victoria lake being the sole source of
the Nile, because he had been told by Kamrasi that there was a
river or lake called the Luta N'zige, which extended in a direct
line from south to north with the same general system of drainage
as the Nile, and in like direction, and which he believed held a
very important position in the Nile basin. Speke gave Baker his
maps and written instructions how to proceed.
On the 26th of February Speke and Grant sailed from Gon-
dokoro for home, while Baker at once proceeded to strike for
the interior, regardless of the danger which threatened him from
his treacherous force, relying almost wholly upon the protection
and assistance of the Turk Mohammed, who promised to accom-
pany him to where his ivory was stored, which would require but
a few days' time.
A TROUBLESOME BIRD.
AFTER the departure of Speke and Grant, Baker moved his
tent to the high ground above the river ; the effluvium from the
filth of some thousands of people was disgusting, and fever was
prevalent in all quarters. Baker and his wife were both sick,
also several of the men, one of whom died. The animals were
all healthy, but the donkeys and camels were attacked by a bird,
about the size of a thrush, which caused them great uneasiness.
This bird is a greenish brown color, with a powerful red beak
and excessively strong claws. It is a perfect pest to animals,
and positively eats them into holes. The original object of the
bird in settling upon the animal is to search for vermin, but it is
not contented with the mere insects, and industriously pecks
142 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
holes in all parts of the beast, more especially on the back. A
wound onCe established adds to the attraction, and the unfortu-
nate animal is so pestered that it has no time to eat. Baker was
obliged to hire little boys to watch the donkeys, and to drive off
these plagues ; but so determined and bold were the birds, that
they would run under the body of the donkey, clinging to the
belly with their feet, and thus retreating to the opposite side of
the animal when chased by the watchboys. In a few days the
animals were full of wounds, excepting the horses, whose long
tails were effectual whisks. With the exception of this annoy-
ance everything appeared in fair condition for the journey.
Mahommed had promised to accompany the expedition through,
in consideration of such presents as Baker had agreed to give
him, but he had not reckoned on the duplicity of the Arab scoun-
drel thus engaged. While professing friendship, he was doing
all in his power to hinder and defeat Baker's expedition, by
circulating false and alarming stories among his ignorant and
superstitious men.
Influenced by these stories, they began to evince a sullen
demeanor, which was not long developing into an insurrection,
having for its purpose the murder of Baker and the confisca-
tion of his property. It chanced, however, that among his
force there were two really faithful subjects, one named Richarn,
a fellow of dissolute habits, but honorable and trustworthy ; the
other a little boy named Saat, only twelve years of age, whom
Mrs. Baker had taken compassion on at Kartourn as a friendless
outcast, and adopted. This boy had received some Christian
instruction and was anxious to be taught more, which made him
a source of tender care to Mrs. Baker, and in return for this he
was obedient, loving, ready to lay down his innocent life for his
master and mistress.
/
A DREADFUL PLOT DISCOVERED.
How these two faithful servants saved Baker's life is related
by himself as follows: " We were to start upon the following
Monday. Mahommed had paid me a visit, assuring me of his
devotion, and begging me to have my baggage in marching order,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 143
as he would send me fifty porters on the Monday, and we would
move off in company. At the very moment that he thus pro-
fessed, he was coolly deceiving me. He had arranged to start
without me on the Saturday, while he was proposing that we
should march together on Monday. This I did not know at the
time. One morning I had returned to the tent after having, as
usual, inspected the transport animals, when I observed Mrs.
Baker looking extraordinarily pale, and immediately upon my
arrival she gave orders for the vakeel (headman) to be brought.
There was something in her manner so different to her usual
calm that I was utterly bewildered when I heard her question the
vakeel, 'whether the men were willing to march?' 'Perfectly
ready,' was the reply. ' Then order them to strike the tent and
load the animals ; we start this moment.' The man appeared
confused, but not more so than I. Something was evidently on
foot, but what I could not conjecture. The vakeel wavered, and
to my astonishment I heard the accusation made against him that,
' during the night, the whole of the escort had mutinously con-
spired to desert me, with my arms and ammunition that were in
their hands, and to fire simultaneously at me should I attempt to
disarm them.' At first this charge was indignantly denied, until
the boy Saat manfully stepped forward, and declared that the
conspiracy was entered into by the whole of the escort, and that
both he and Richarn, knowing that mutiny was intended, had
listened purposely to the conversation during the night ; at day-
break the boy had .reported the fact to his mistress. Mutiny,
robbery and murder were thus deliberately determined."
Realizing that it would never do to attempt to penetrate Africa
with such men, Baker determined to get rid of them. He first
disarmed them, with the assistance of his courageous wife and
the faithful Richarn and Saat, and then gave them their dis-
charges, writing the word "mutineer" above his signature on
each of them. None of the men being able to read, they uncon-
sciously carried the evidence of their own guilt, which he resolved
to punish should he ever find them on his return to Kartourn.
Most of the men that Baker disaimed at once joined trading
144 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
parties, while the others made off at the first intimation of trouble
and were seen no more. It was the expressed intention of the
mutineers to shoot Baker, which no doubt would have been done
had they not found him so well prepared to return their shots.
GLOOMY REFLECTIONS.
HAVING been deserted by Mohammed and compelled to dis-
charge the force he had engaged at Kartoum, Baker sent for a
Circassian chief, named Koorshid, from whom he requested the
service of ten elephant hunters and two interpreters ; but his
request was denied, for the reason that no men could be hired to
serve under him. This denial took away all hope from Baker,
and nothing remained for him to do but establish a depot and
remain at Goudokoro for another season. No expedition had
ever been more carefully planned ; everthing being prepared
under his own directions and without regard for expense, but the
promise of success and reward was defeated by the very ones
whom he had employed to assist him. These reflections weighed
heavily upon the minds of Baker and his courageous wife.
During the night they were startled by a succession of loud
screams, and upon listening attentively, heard the heavy breath-
ing of something in their hut ; searching through the dark, they
discovered an object cowering close to the head of the bed.
Baker noiselessly drew a revolver from under his pillow, and
pointing it at the crouching object, asked, "Who is that?"
Just as he was upon the point of firing, a voice replied,
" Fadeela !'* It was one of the black women of the party, who
had crept into the tent for an asylum. Upon striking a light
Baker found that the woman was streaming with blood, being
cut in the most frightful manner with the coorbatch (whip of
hippopotamus hide). Hearing the screams continued at some
distance from the tent, he found a party in the act of flogging
two women ; two men were holding each woman upon the
ground by sitting upon her legs and neck, while two men with
powerful whips operated upon each woman alternately. Their
backs were cut to pieces, and they were literally covered with
blood. The brutes had taken upon themselves the task of thus
THE WOULU'S WONDEUS. 145
punishing the women for a breach of discipline in being absent
without leave. Fadeela had escaped before her punishment had
been completed, and came near being shot by running to
the tent without giving warning. Seizing the coorbatch from
the hands of one of the executioners, Baker administered them a
dose of their own prescription, to their intense astonishment, as
they did not appear conscious of any outrage ; " they were only
slave women." In all such expeditions it is necessary to have
women belonging to the party to grind the corn and prepare the'
food for the men ; Baker had accordingly hired several from
their proprietors at Kartoum, and these had been maltreated as
described.
DETERMINED TO LEAVE GONDOKORO.
BAKER determined at all hazards to leave Gondokoro, having
engaged seventeen men whom he knew to be fully as treacherous
as those he had dismissed, but he hoped to overcome their evil
designs by kind treatment and by impressing them with the
importance of yielding obedience, as the only way of successfully
penetrating a country filled with hostile savages.
A party of Koorshid's people had just arrived from the
Latooka country, bringing with them a number of porters.
These people wore helmets of glass beads and were remarkably
handsome, though destitute of clothing. Adda, the chief, pre-
sented himself at Baker's tent, accompanied by a few of his men ;
he was a man of remarkable symmetry, a dusky Apollo ; he was
very friendly with Baker and gave much information about the
Latooka country, at the same time urging the white man to visit
him. To further excite his friendship, Baker took the chief's
portrait, and made him a variety of presents, such as copper
bracelets, beads and a red cotton handkerchief. This latter
article Adda carefully folded in the shape of a triangle and tied
it around his body so that the pendant corner would fall behind,
occupying half an hour in arranging it to suit his fancy.
Finding their chief so cleverly entertained, the others crowded
around, asking for presents, which they generally received, as
Baker was anxious to promote their friendship, hoping to
146 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
i
accompany them back to Latooka, as the chief had requested.
There was a party of Turks also in Gondokoro, who were going
to the Latooka country, and these declared that Baker should
not follow. Adda despised the Turks, but was compelled to
labor in their service, carrying ivory, his tribe being too poorly
equipped to contend with them. Though he would have been
glad to treat Baker as a friend, the open hostility displayed by
these Turks caused him to remain neutral. Notwithstanding the
threats repeated by the Turks, Baker resolved to follow with his
small force of seventeen men.
On the route between Gondokoro and Latooka there was a
powerful tribe amqng the mountains of Ellyria. The chief of
that tribe (Legge) had formerly massacred one hundred and
twenty men of a traders' party. He was an ally of Koorshid,
whom the Turks declared would raise an army against Baker to
defeat and destroy him. It would only be necessary for the
traders to request the chief of Ellyria to attack his party to
inspire its destruction, as the pi under of the baggage would be an
ample reward. Baker, however, had great faith in presents.
The venality of Arabs is proverbial, and having many valuable
effects with him, he trusted that when the proper moment should
arrive, he would be able to overcome all opposition by an open
hand.
A MOMENTOUS HOUR.
THE day arrived for the departure of Koorshid' s people.
They commenced firing their usual signals ; the drums beat ; the
Turkish ensign led the way ; and they marched at two o'clock,
P.M., sending a polite message, "daring" the Englishman to
follow them.
Baker immediately ordered the tent to be struck, the luggage
to be arranged, the animals to be collected, and everything to be
ready for the march. Richarn and Saat were in high spirits,
even Baker's unwilling men were obliged to work, and by seven
p. M., they were all ready. The camels were too heavily loaded,
carrying about seven hundred pounds each. The donkeys were
ajsp overloaded, but there was no help for it. JVIrs. Buker wa?
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 147
well mounted on a good Abyssinian horse, and was carrying
several leather bags slung to the pommel, while her husband was
equally loaded on his horse, in fact, they were all carrying as
much as they could stow.
They had neither guide nor interpreter. Not one native was
procurable, all being under the influence of the traders, who had
determined to render their advance utterly impossible by pre-
venting the natives from assisting them. They commenced the
desperate journey in darkness about an hour after sunset.
"Where shall we go?" said the men, just as the order was
given to start. "Who can travel without a guide? No one
knows the road." The moon was up, and the mountain of
Belignan was distinctly visible about nine miles distant. Know-
ing that the route lay on the east side of that mountain, Baker
led the way, Mrs. Baker riding by his side, and the British flag
following close behind as a guide for the caravan of heavily-
laden camels and donkeys.
CHAPTER IX.
ON THE MARCH TO LATOOKA.
IT being late when the cavalcade started, Baker halted after a
march of three hours and went into camp one-half mile from
where the Turks had bivouacked, hoping to conciliate Ibrahim,
the Turkish chief, and procure a guide from him. The haughty
Mussulman, however, rejected all overtures, and repeated his
threat to have the Englishman annihilated by the Ellyrians.
Baker now saw that his safety lay in out-traveling the Turks and
passing the Ellyrian mountains before Ibrahim could communi-
cate with the savages. Accordingly, he struck his tents before
daylight the next morning and pushed on with all possible speed,
but on account of his badly overloaded camels and donkeys, he
could travel but slowly.
Having no guides, the route taken was extremely bad, being
obstructed by deep ravines, and penetrating a jungle that was
148 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
composed chiefly of thorn bushes. The camels being tall the
overhanging branches caught in their packs, either shifting the
loads or dragging them off altogether, and while going down
ravines the animals frequently stumbled, and would sometimes
roll over and over to the bottom. Thus it was that the men
would have to unload, carry the packs up the opposite hill, and
reload the camels about every half hour. The Turks made slow
progress also, as they were trading with the natives along the
route, and had no object to hurry them.
While proceeding under great difficulty, two Latookas, who
had deserted Ibrahim for being severely beaten by him, overtook
Baker and offered to guide him through the Ellyria country ;
this was a piece of extraordinarily good luck, for his men, having
neglected to supply themselves with water, were now suffering
much from thirst. The Latooka guides led the way, and soon
brought the half-famished party to a place where water was pro-
cured by digging a few feet in a dry basin. While the men were
regaling themselves and the animals at the wells thus made, some
natives appeared, carrying the head of a wild boar that was in a
horrible state of decomposition and fairly alive with maggots.
They made themselves familiar with Baker's men, and building
a fire proceeded to cook the unsavory dish. The skull becoming
too hot for its inhabitants, the maggots wriggled out from the
ears and nose like a jam of people escaping from the doors of a
theatre on fire. The natives tapped the skull with a stick to
hasten their exit, and when the cooking was done they devoured
the meat and sucked the bones. No matter how putrid meat may
be, it does not appear to affect the health or stomach of native
A-fricans.
BESIEGED BY CURIOUS NATIVES.
THE blacks having finished their repast, joined the caravan,
which now moved on again, with Mr. and Mrs. Baker about one
mile in advance, accompanied by the Latooka guides. Crossing
a deep gully they halted under a large fig tree at the extremity
of a vale, to await the party. They were soon observed by the
Tolloga natives, who emerged from their villages among the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 149
rocks and surrounded them. They were all armed with bows
and arrows and lances, and were much excited at seeing the
horses, which to them were unknown animals. Says- Baker :
"There were five or six hundred natives pressing round us.
They were excessively noisy, hallooing to us as though we were
deaf, simply because we did not understand them. Finding that
they were pressing rudely around us, I made signs to them to
stand off, when at that moment a curiously ugly, short, humped-
back fellow came forward and addressed me in broken Arabic.
I was delighted to find an interpreter, and requesting him to tell
the crowd to stand back, I inquired for their chief. The hump-
back spoke very little Arabic, nor did the crowd appear to heed
him, but they immediately stole a spear that one of my Latooka
guides had placed against the tree under which we were sitting.
It was getting rather unpleasant ; but having my revolver and a
double-barreled rifle in my hands, there was no fear of their
being stolen.
" In reply to a question to the humpback, he asked me ' Who
I was ? ' I explained that I was a traveler. * 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.' 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 in the one
expressive Arabic word, ' Katab.'
"After this charmingly frank conversation he addressed the
crowd, explaining, I suppose, that I was endeavoring to pass off
150 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
a boy for a womari. Mrs. Baker was dressed similar to myself
in a pair of loose trousers and gaiters, with a blouse and belt
the only difference being that she wore long sleeves, while my
arms were bare from a few inches below the shoulder." ,
A MONKEY AND OLD IBRAHIM.
TOMBE, chief of the tribe, was not long in making his appear-
ance, with a gourd full of honey and a pot of native beer, which
was very refreshing. The chief drove the importunate natives
away, Baker having gained his favor by giving him a variety of
beads and copper bracelets. This display of presents brought
the natives back again, when they discovered Mrs. Baker's pet
monkey, one of a red species of Abyssinia, quite unknown to
them. This attracted their attention, but the monkey resisted
all attempts at familiarity by viciously attacking their unprotected
legs, which made the crowd roar with laughter, and resulted in
winning their friendship.
The humpback was employed as interpreter, and the party then
moved on, Baker believing that he had distanced the hated Turk,
and would be able to pass through Ellyria, which was now only
six miles distant, before they could reach there. The remainder
of the road, however, was extremely rough, and ran through a
rocky defile, from the heights of either side of which a fe\r
savages might, by rolling down stones, have destroyed an army
Baker could not help feeling some alarm at the position he was
now in, for it would take him several hours to pass through thie
place ; he knew it was here that more than one hundred traders
met their deaths at the hands of the barbarous Ellyrians, and he
therefore felt a growing insecurity as he neared the principal
village of that tribe, realizing that the Turks must be very clos?
in his rear.
Just before emerging onto the plain, within a mile of Ellyria,
he was horrified to see the Turks immediately in the rear of hi?
party, and they soon marched by without the slightest recogni'-
tion. He felt that all must now bg lost, and with no definite
plan to pursue he stood still till the "hated caravan had gone by f
and Ibrahim, who was some distance iu the rear, approached-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 151
This man had the visage of a demon, a merciless, cold, villainous
face, and the scowl of a savage brute. He did not turn his head
to recognize Baker, who, in turn, was too proud and defiant to
notice him. But Mrs. Baker insisted upon her husband calling
to Ibrahim and placating him, and upon his refusal she called to
the Turk herself. With a sullen look he turned and gruffly asked
what she wanted. Baker now saw that his wife's ideas were more
reasonable than his own, and he accordingly addressed the Turk
as follows :
" Ibrahim, why should we be enemies in the midst of this
hostile country? We believe in the same God, why should we
quarrel in this land of heathens, who believe in no God? You
have your work to perform ; I have mine. You want ivory ; I
am a simple traveler ; why should we clash? If I were offered
the whole ivory of the country I would not accept a single tusk,
nor interfere with you in any way. Transact your business, and
don't interfere with me : the country is wide enough for us both.
I have a task before me, to reach a great lake the head of the
Nile. Reach it I will (Inshallah). No power shall drive me
back. If you are hostile I will imprison you in Kartoum ; if
you assist me, I will reward you far beyond any reward you have
ever received. Should I be killed in this country you will be
suspected ; you know the result ; the Goverament would hang
you on the bare suspicion. On the contrary, if you are friendly,
I will use my influence in any country that I discover, that you
may procure its ivory for the sake of your master Koorshid, who
was generous to Captains Speke and Grant, and kind to me.
Should you be hostile, I shall hold your master responsible as
your employer. Should you assist me, I will befriend you both.
Choose your course frankly, like a man friend or enemy?"
This speech caused Ibrahim to pause, whereupon Baker fur-
nished him a new double-barreled gun and some gold, which
completely won the old scoundrel, and they marched into Ellyria
together.
LEGGE, THE SAVAGE CHIEF.
THE party had not time to unpack their loads before they were
152 THE WORLD'S
surrounded by a large body of Ellyrians, and among the first was
their chief, Legge, who was intent on securing blackmail. His
first demand was for fifteen heavy copper bracelets and ten pounds
of assorted beads. A bottle of spirits had accidentally been
broken in one of the packs, and smelling the liquor he immedi-
ately clamored for a " belly-fully," as he expressed it. A pint
bottle of the strongest spirits was given him, which he emptied
without once removing it from his mouth. Baker says :
"Although I had presented Legge with what he desired, he
Would give nothing in return, neither wou-ld he sell either goats
or fowls ; in fact, no provision was procurable except honey. I
purchased about eight pounds of this luxury for a hoe. My men
were starving, and I was obliged to serve them out rice from my
sacred stock, as I had nothing else to give them. This they
boiled and mixed with honey, and they were shortly sitting round
an immense circular bowl of this rarity, enjoying themselves
thoroughly, but nevertheless grumbling as usual. In the coolest
manner possible the great and greedy chief, Legge, who had
refused to give or even to sell anything to' keep us from starving,
no sooner saw the men at their novel repast than he sat down
among them and almost choked himself by cramming handfuls
of the hot rice and honey into his mouth, which yawned like an
old hippopotamus. The men did not at all approve of this
assistance, but as it is the height of bad manners in Arab
etiquette to repel a self-invited guest from the general meal, he
was not interfered with, and was thus enabled to swallow the
share of about three persons."
Legge, although the worst of his tribe, had a similar formation
of head. The Bari and those of Tollogo and Ellyria have
generally bullet-shaped heads, low foreheads, skulls heavy behind
the ears and above the nape of the neck : altogether their
appearance is excessively brutal, and they are armed with bows
six feet long, and arrows horribly barbed and poisoned.
THROUGH A GAME COUNTRY.
THE Ellyrians would sell nothing but honey, while their inces-
sant begging wap very annoying, so that the halt among them
TttE WORLD'S WONDERS. 153
was only for one day. The route from this place toward
Latooka led generally through a flat country, with few difficulties
to surmount, The Turks took the lead, with Ibrahim in advance,
alongside of whom rode Mr. and Mrs. Baker. They soon got
into friendly conversation, which Baker improved by flattering
the old Turk and winning his friendship. Ibrahim at length
became confidential and told Baker that his men had agreed to
mutiny as soon as they should arrive at Latooka, and named the
leader. This was bad news in one sense, but good in another,
for it gave Baker time to prepare for the trouble, whereas he
might otherwise have been shot down and his wife left to perish
in that barbarous region. They pushed on together, and two
days after leaving Ellyria they came into the Wakkula country
which, owing to its rich pasturage and abundant water, abounded
with all kinds of game, such as elephants, rhinoceros, buffaloes,
giraffes, wild boars, and several varieties of large antelope.
Just before going into camp in this beautiful region, some of
Baker's men found a buffalo that had been caught in a trap and
partially eaten by a lion ; that which remained the men devoured
with great relish, as it was the first meat they had tasted since
leaving Gondokoro. Baker went on a hunt in'this paradise and
bagged several antelope, enough to provision the force until their
arrival at Latooka, but his great anxiety to push forward pre-
vented him from enjoying a hunt for larger game.
Shortly after leaving the lovely plain on which he had
found such an abundance of game, still in the company of
Ibrahim and his party, they saw a large Latooka town, named
Latorne, in the distance, and could discover a considerable crowd
of Turks assembled in the shade of two enormous trees. These
issued forth, upon observing the approaching columns, and com-
ing near, fired their guns off with great rapidity, as a salute.
This was the place where Baker's men had agreed to mutiny,
and the salute was therefore no indication of an agreeable spot to
camp. Directly afterward, however, a Turkish trading party,
under Mohammed Her, that had bivouacked in the village, came
out and forbid the passage of Ibrahim through the country,
154 THE WORLD'S WONDERS,
claiming an exclusive right to trade there. A big row was the
result, in which Mohammed was strangled almost to death by one
of Ibrahim's sergeants. Baker's men showed an unmistakable
sympathy for Mohammed, though their time had not yet arrived
for making an outbreak.
ANOTHER MUTINY.
AFTER violent quarreling for some hours, the several parties
repaired to their tents and slept, but on the following morning
when Baker called his men to resume the march, they sullenly
disobeyed and four of them rose, seized their guns and assumed
a threatening attitude. He knew that the mutiny was now about
to manifest itself, and acted accordingly. Belaai, the leading spirit
of this outbreak, stood near, and upon being ordered to fall in and
begin loading the camels, he advanced upon Baker, looking him
fiercely in the eyes, and dashing the butt of his gun violently to the
ground, said, " Not a man shall go with you! go where you
like with Ibrahim, but we won't follow you, nor move a step
farther. The men shall not load the camels ; you may employ
the ' niggers' to do it, but not us."
" I looked at this mutinous rascal for a moment," says Baker ;
"this was the burst of the conspiracy, and the threats and inso-
lence that I had been forced to pass over for the sake of the
expedition all rushed before me. ' Lay down your gun !' I
thundered, * and load the camels !' * I won't ' was his reply.
* Then stop here !' I answered ; at the same time lashing out as
quick as lightning with my right hand upon his jaw.
" He rolled over in a heap, his gun flying some yards from his
hand ; and the late ringleader lay apparently insensible among
the luggage, while several of his friends ran to him, and did the
good Samaritan. Following up on the moment the advantage I
had gained by establishing a panic, I seized my rifle and rushed
into the midst of the wavering men, catching first one by the
throat, and then another, and dragging them to the camels,
which I insisted upon their immediately loading. All except
three, who attended to the ruined ringleader, mechanically
obeyed. Richarn and Sali both shouted to them to hurry ' j
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
155
and the Vetke^l Arriving at this moment and seeing how matters
stood, himself assisted, and urged the men to obey.
"Ibrahim's party had started. The t animals were soon
loaded, and leaving the vakeel to take them in charge we
cankered on to overtake Ibrahim, having crushed the mutiny,
and given such an example that, in the event of future con-
spiracies, my men would find it difficult to obtain a ringleader."
A short time after the event just related, Belaal and four
others deserted and joined Mohammed Her, taking- their guns
and ammunition with them. Baker roundly abused his leader
for permitting them to escape, and declared that the vultures
156 . THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
would pick the bones of the base recreants who had abandoned
them. This threat seemed to have much effect upon the men,
and when, three days later, Belaal and his four compatriots
were killed by a bartd of savage natives, the superstitious
people believed that it was through some magic power exerted by
Baker, so that they hailed him as a powerful magician. This
belief he did not attempt to dispel, and it was fortunate that he
did not, for it served him well on future occasions.
THE PEOPLE OF TARRANGOLLE.
THIRTEEN miles from Latome lay the largest village in the
Latooka country, Tarrangolle, where Moy, the chief, resided.
This was Ibrahim's destination, the place where he collected his
ivory and slaves, and carried them back to Gondokoro, which, by
dead reckoning, was only 101 miles distant, but nearly a
month is required to make the journey.
Crowds of natives came out of the village to receive Baker and
the Turks, but their curiosity was attracted almost exclusively
to the camels and the white .woman, paying little heed to Baker
himself, because he was brown as an Arab.
The Latookas are doubtless the finest made savages in all
Africa. A score or more of them who came into Baker's tent
were measured, and averaged five feet eleven and one-half inches.
Not only are they tall, but they possess a wonderful muscular
development, having beautifully proportioned legs and arms ;
and although extremely powerful, they are never fleshy or corpu-
lent. The formation of head and general physiognomy is totally
different from all other tribes in the neighborhood of the Whito
Nile. They have high foreheads, large eyes, rather high cheek-
bones, mouths not very large, well shaped, and the lips rather
full. They have a remarkably pleasing cast of countenance, and
are a great contrast to other tribes in civility of manner. They
are frank but warlike, excessively merry, ready either for a laugh
or fight.
The town of Tarrangolle contains about three thousand
houses, which are not only surrounded by iron-wood palisades,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 157
but every individual house is fortified by a stockaded courtyard.
The cattle are kept in large kraals and very carefully tended,
even to the lighting of fires to keep annoying insects from them.
The houses are bell-shaped, rising into a sharp-pointed cone,
twenty-five feet high, resting on a circular wall four feet in height.
The doorway is only two feet high, so that entrance is made by
crawling; the interior is clean, but unlighted by windows, the
only light received being through the door.
A PLENTIFUL CROP OF DEAD MEN'S BONES.
BAKER says he noticed during the march from Latome, that
the vicinity of every town was announced by heaps of human
remains, bones and skulls forming an incipient Golgotha within
a quarter of a mile of every village. Some of the bones were in
earthenware pots, generally broken ; others lay strewn here and
there ; while a heap in the centre showed that some form had
originally been observed in their disposition. This was explained
by an extraordinary custom most rigidly observed by the
Latookas. Should a man be killed in battle the body is allowed
to remain where it fell, and is devoured by the vultures and
hyenas ; but should he die a natural death, he or. she is buried in
a shallow grave within a few feet of his own door, in the little
courtyard that surrounds each dwelling. Funeral dances are
then kept up in memory of the dead for several weeks ; at the
expiration of which time, the body being sufficiently decomposed,
is exhumed. The bones are cleaned, and are deposited in
an earthenware jar, and carried to a spot near the town, which is
regarded as the cemetery.
The costume of the Latookas is simple enough, as they make
no effort to cover any part of the body, but infinite care is
bestowed upon the hair, which is trained to grow into the shape
of a helmet, the perfecting of which requires unremitting
attention for eight or ten years. Their weapons consist of the
lance, a powerful iron head mace, a long-bladed knife, and
an ugly iron bracelet, armed with knife-blades about four inches
in length by one-half inch broad ; this latter weapon is used to
158 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
strike with if disarmed and to cut with when struggling with an
enemy.
The women are as plain as the men are fastidious ; they are
not even acquainted with the use of a loin cloth. They are not
well made as the men, for while the latter are sinewy and
graceful, the women are immense creatures, with prodigious
limbs and in all respects appear to be admirably fitted for
the drudgery service they are put to.
CHIEF MOY AND HIS WIFE.
ON the day after Baker's arrival he was visited by the chief,
who had never before seen a white person. Seating him upon a
piece of Persian carpet, Baker poured out a quantity of beads,
riecklaces, copper bars and colored cotton handkerchiefs.
Among the gifts was a necklace composed of opal beads, the
size of marbles. He seized them like a greedy child and
requested a similar necklace for his wife, Bokke ; this being also
given him, the chief said, " What a row there will be in the
family when my other wives see Bokke (who was his chief wife)
dressd up with this finery." This was, of course, a demand
for more opal beads, whereupon Baker gave him three pounds of
beads to be divided among his wives.
On the next day Bokke called at Baker's hut, covered with
beads, and presenting a singular spectacle by reason of the scars
on her cheeks, tattoo marks on her temples, and a piece of ivory
pending from a perforation through her lower lip. Despite these
disfigurations she was real pretty, and her daughter, Baker
declares, was the handsomest savage girl he ever saw.
Bokke made herself entertaining by asking how many wives
the white man had, and laughing with scorn, if not incredulity,
when told that he had but one. She also suggested to Mrs. Baker
that her looks would be very much improved by knocking out
her four lower front teeth, according to the custom of that
country, and wearing red ointment on her hair and a piece of
bone through her lower lip.
In the afternoon of the following day she came again, with the
information that Mohanimed Her and his party of 110 men had
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 159
been massacred by the Latookas, one of whose villages he had
tried to destroy and to make slaves of the inhabitants. Very
soon after other runners arrived with particulars of the fight,
confirming the first reports. This news put the people of Tar-
rangolle into a furore of excitement, particularly as Ibrahim's
followers had been maltreating the Latooka women. A big fight
threatened, the war drums were beaten, and several thousand
warriors assembled to exterminate the Turks in their village, and
Baker as well ; but chief Moy, who had become somewhat
attached to his white guests, on account of the presents given,
prevented his people from making an attack.
Although there were not less than 10,000 head of cattle belong-
ing to the people of Tarrangolle, they would not sell a single
beef. The want of meat was so badly felt that Baker had to
resort to his gun. Fortunately ducks and geese were very plen-
tiful in a stream near the town, and every day he shot a sufficient
number to supply his men.
A FUNERAL DANCE.
A VERY interesting ceremony was witnessed by Baker at
Latooka, being nothing less than a funeral dance in honor of one
of the brave warriors of the tribe. The dancers were grotesquely
appareled, as is the custom of all savage tribes during such cere-
monies. A dozen very large ostrich feathers adorned their helmets
of hair, while leopard or black and white monkey skins were
suspended from their shoulders, and a leather strap tied round
the waist supported a large iron bell, which was girded upon the
loins like a woman's bustle ; this they rung to the time of the
dance, by jerking their posteriors in the most ridiculous manner.
Every dancer wore an antelope's horn suspended round the neck,
which he blew occasionally in the height of his excitement.
These instruments produced a sound partaking of the braying of
a donkey and the screech of an owl. Crowds of men rushed
round and round in a sort of "galop infernel," brandishing
their lances and iron-headed maces, and keeping tolerably in line
five or six deep, following the leader who headed them, dancing
kackwarcj. The women kept outside t)ie line, dancing a low,
160
THE VVOKLD S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 161
stupid step, and screaming a wild and most inharmonious chant,
while a long string of young girls and small children, their heads
and necks rubbed with red ochre and grease, and prettily orna-
mented with strings of beads around their loins, kept a very good
line, beating the time with their feet, and jingling the numerous
iron rings which adorned their ankles, to keep time with the drums.
One woman attended upon the men, running through the crowd
with a gourd full of wood-ashes, handfuls of which she showered
over their heads, powdering them like millers ; the object of the
operation Baker could not understand. The " premiere danseuse"
was immensely fat ; she had passed the bloom of youth, but
despite her unwieldy state, she kept up the pace to the last, quite
unconscious of her general appearance, and absorbed with the
excitement of the dance.
AN AFRICAN PRINCE'S IDEA OF THE HEREAFTER.
WHEN the funeral services were over, Baker, anxious to learn
something of the origin of the ceremonies he had just witnessed,
and hoping to find in them some analogy to Christian rites and
beliefs, sent for Commoro (the " Lion "), brother of Moy, the
chief, and entered into conversation with him on the resurrection
of the body. He declares that Commoro was one of the most
clever and common-sense savages any white man ever met with,
and reports the conversation, which was interpreted, as follows :
" Have you no belief in existence after death? " asked Baker.
" Existence after death ! " exclaimed the savage. " Can a dead
man get out of his grave unless we dig him out? "
" Do you think man is like a beast, that dies and is ended? "
" 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."
" Is not a man superior in sense to an ox ; has he not a mind
to direct his actions?"
" 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."
11
162 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
" Do you not know that there is a spirit within you more than
flesh? Do you not dream and wander in thought to distant places
in your sleep? Nevertheless, your body rests in one spot. How
do you account for this ?"
"Well, how do you account for it? " said Common), laughing.
" It is a thing I cannot understand ; it occurs to me every night."
" The mind is independent of the body ; the actual body can
be fettered, but the mind is uncontrollable ; the body will die
and will become dust, or be eaten by vultures, but the spirit will
exist forever."
" Where will the spirit live ?"
" Where does fire live? Cannot you produce a fire by rubbing
two sticks together, yet you see no fire in the wood ? Have you
no idea of the existence of spirits superior to either man or
beast? Have you no fear of evil except from bodily causes? "
"I am afraid of elephants and other animals when in the
jungle at night, but of nothing else."
"Then you believe in nothing; neither in a good nor evil
spirit ! And you believe that when you die it will be the end of
body and spirit ; that you are like other animals ; and that there
is no distinction between man and beast ; both disappear and end
at death?"
" Of course they do."
" Do you see no difference in good and bad actions? "
" Yes, there are good and bad in men and beasts."
" Do you think that a good man and a bad must share the same
fate, and alike die, and end?"
"Yes; what else can they do? How can they help dying.'
Good and bad all die."
, "Their bodies perish, but their spirits remain; the good in
happiness, the bad in misery. If you have no belief in a future
state, why should a man be good? Why should he not be bad,
if he can prosper by wickedness? "
" Most people are bad ; if they are strong they take from the
weak. The good people are all weak ; they are good because
they are not strong enough to be bad."
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 1G3
Some corn had been taken out of a sack for the horses, and a
few grains lying scattered on the ground, Baker tried the beau-
tiful metaphor of St. Paul as an example of a future state.
Making a small hole with his finger in the ground, he placed a
grain within it; "That," he said, "represents you when you
"die." Covering it with earth, he continued, " That grain will
decay, but from it will rise the plant that will produce a reappear-
ance of the original form."
" Exactly so ; that I understand. But the original grain does
not rise again ; it rots like the dead man, and is ended ; the fruit
produced is not the same grain that we buried, but the production
of that grain : so it is with man, I die, and decay, and am
ended ; but my children grow up like the fruit of the grain.
Some men have no children, and some grains perish without
fruit ; then all are ended."
Baker saw it was useless to argue further, and frankly says :
" I was obliged to change the subject of conversation. In this
wild, naked savage there was not even a superstition upon which
to found a religious feeling ; there was a belief in matter ; and
to his understanding everything was material. It was extraor-
dinary to find so much clearness of perception combined with
such complete obtuseness to anything ideal."
ELEPHANT HUNTING.
BAKER remained at Latooka two weeks or more, waiting the
return of Ibrahim from Gondokoro, whither he had gone for a
new supply of ammunition ; and to better employ the time of his
detention, on the 15th of April, just as the rainy season was
setting in, he resolved upon a hunt for large game, traces of
which were numerous within five miles of Latooka. Accordingly,!
with a good guide and several servants to carry the guns, he set
out, and coming to a plain covered with long rich grasses, he
was suddenly startled by a rhinoceros bolting out of a copse close
to his horse's head, and plunging into another before he could
seize his gun. He would have followed had not his attention
been called away from the rhinoceros by a shout from his servants,
164
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
who reported a herd of large bull elephants browsing in a forest
at the edge of the plain. Stopping short to locate the herd, he
was delighted to see two large bulls bearing down toward him,
less than one hundred yards distant. He dismounted to get
a steady shot, but the elephants saw the Latookas and, taking
fright, rushed off to join the main herd, only a short distance
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. lf>5
away. Baker soon mounted and dashed toward the elephants,
but his horse stepped into a buffalo hole and fell hard on his leg.
He fortunately extricated himself without difficulty, and, mount-
ing another horse, rode at full speed toward the fugitive game,
which had gained considerable distance, and disappeared in the
wood. After a quarter of an hour of hard riding he saw
an enormous bull ploughing through the brush like an im-
mense engine, tearing down everything in his way. The
country was unfavorable for the hunter, on account of buffalo
holes, and though approaching within twenty yards, he was
unable to get a fair shot. Away they flew over ruts and gullies
until the ponderous brute was chased to another open plain, when
a ball was planted in his shoulder ; though badly struck the
elephant did not alter his course or speed until another shot was
put close to the first one. The animal now slackened his speed,
then turned about and made straight for his assailant, screaming
like an infuriated demon. Baker put spurs to his horse, having
urgent business in another vicinity, and as he was not pursued
more than a hundred yards, made his escape. He prepared for
another attack by taking a larger gun and starting after the
wounded beast, but had gone less than a dozen yards when he
saw a closely packed herd of eighteen elephants coming directly
toward him ; but as soon as they discovered him they broke off
In another direction. In the herd he noticed an uncommonly
large bull that was armed with an immense and beautiful pair of
tusks ; this one he determined to cut out from the others, and
by shouting succeeded in scattering them ; he now rode for the
chosen one, but the elephant seeing himself pursued, turned and
charged so determinedly upon his assailant that his escape
appeared for a time impossible ; fortunately, again the elephant
stopped, almost at the moment he might have caught the bold
hunter, and entered a thicket where a horse could not well follow.
Baker went into the woods to find the herd again, and soon came
upon the one he had wounded. It was standing in a painful
attitude as if upon the very point of dissolution, but the moment
its fiery eyes rested upon the hunter the maddened beast charged
166
THE WOfctl/s \VoNbfiKS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 167
him again ; another shot brought the elephant to his knees, but
he rallied quickly, and lifting his great trunk and screaming with
rage, he rushed after Baker, whose horse was now badly jaded.
The race this time was more exciting than before, for, instead of
stopping after a short run, the elephant kept its swift pace and
followed for more than a mile, all the while gradually gaining,
until the distance between pursued and pursuer was not more
than ten yards, while the horse was nearly ready to fall from
exhaustion. The cowardly servants, who were also mounted on
horses, were so mindful of their own safety that they made no
effort to divert the attention of the elephant, but ran as swiftly
and as far away as possible. Baker was almost upon the point of
despair ; he knew that the climax must soon be reached, which
would be hastened should his horse fall. In a moment of desper-
ation he turned his horse aside, like a hare doubling on the dogs,
just in time to feel the swish of the elephant's trunk as it grazed
him, but the momentum of the great brute carried him by.
Seeing his enemy now running in a new direction, the elephant
broke off up hill, and on the following morning was found dead
in a jungle not far distant from where he had abandoned the
pursuit.
ELEPHANT PITS AND NATIVE HUNTERS.
ELEPHANT flesh is very poor eating to white men, but it is
highly esteemed by the black races of Africa, notwithstanding its
leathery consistency and strong taste ; the fat is prized above the
meat, however, as it is used both for food and to grease their
bodies.
The more common method used by the natives to capture ele-
phants, is by pit-falls ; these are dug near some drinking place
and trees are so felled that they leave only a pathway in which
the pitfalls are placed. These pits are usually three feet broad,
twelve feet long and nine feet deep, tapering to ward the bottom ;
they are concealed by straw and sticks over which elephant dung
is scattered to complete the deception. When an animal falls
into the pit his two feet are jammed together in the narrow
168 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
bottom and so nearly upright that he can scarcely move,
in which helpless condition he is easily dispatched with spears.
Another way of killing elephants, much resorted to, generally
in January, when the prairies are parched, is by locating a large
herd and then firing the grass. Surrounded by a circle of fire,
the animals huddle together or blindly rush from one side of the
circle to another and become so panic-stricken that there is no
danger incurred in attacking them with spears or lances.
The next method of hunting is perfectly legitimate. Should
many elephants be in the neighborhood, the natives post about a
hundred men in as many large trees ; these men are armed with
heavy lances specially adapted to this sport, with blades about
eighteen inches long and three inches broad. The elephants are
driven by a great number of men toward the trees in which the
spearmen are posted, and those that pass sufficiently near are
speared between the shoulders. The spear being driven deep
into the animal, creates a frightful wound, as the tough handle,
striking against the intervening branches of trees, acts as a lever,
and works the long blade of the spear within the elephant,
cutting to such an extent that he soon drops from exhaustion.
The best and only really great elephant-hunters of the White
Nile are the Bagara Arabs, on about the 13 N. lat. These men
hunt on horseback, and kill the elephant in fair fight with their
spears. The lance is about fourteen feet long, of male bamboo ;
the blade is about fourteen inches long by nearly three inches
broad, and as sharp as a razor. Two men, thus armed and mounted,
form the hunting party. Should they discover a herd, they ride
up to the finest tusker and single him from the others. One
man now leads the way, and the elephant, finding himself
pressed, immediately charges the horse. There is much art
required in leading the brute, who follows the horse with great
determination, and the rider adapts his pace so as to keep his
horse so near that his attention is entirely absorbed with the
hope of catching him. The other hunter should by this time
have followed close to the elephant's heels, and, dismounting
when at full gallop, with wonderful dexterity, he plunges his
THE WORLD'S WONJDERS. 169
spear with both hands into the animal about two feet below the
junction of the tail, and with all his force he drives the weapon
deep into the abdomen, and withdraws it immediately. Should
he be successful in his stab, he remounts his horse and flies,
or does his best to escape on foot, should he not have time
to mount, as the elephant generally turns to pursue him. His
comrade immediately turns his horse, and dashing at the
elephant, in his turn dismounts, and stabs the beast with his
lance.
Generally, if the first thrust is scientifically given, the elephant
is at once disabled. Two good hunters, will frequently kill
several out of one herd ; but in this dangerous hand-to-hand
fight the hunter is often the victim. Hunting the elephant on
horseback is certainly far less dangerous than on foot, but
although the speed of the horse is undoubtedly superior, the
chase generally takes place upon ground so disadvantageous
that he is liable to fall, in which case there is little chance for
either animal or rider.
So savage are the natural instincts of Africans, that they
attend only to the destruction of the elephant, and never attempt
its domestication.
CHAPTER X.
THE MAKKARIKA CANNIBALS.
AMONG the Turkish soldiery Ibrahim had left at Latooka, was
a black Bornu man, named Ibrahimawa, who had been captured
when a lad twelve years old and sold at Constantinople to Moham-
med Ali Pasha. This man had been to London, Paris, and all
over Europe, and besides being a great traveler was smart and
valorous. He was an object of much interest to Baker, from the
fact that, in addition to his travels, he had served for some years
with a trading party that had penetrated through the Makkarika
170 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
country. This country lies two hundred miles west of Gondokoro
and is inhabited by cannibals. The stories of his adventures
among these man-eaters were highly edifying and of no little
importance, since Baker's steps were bent in that direction.
. Ibrahimawa and many of his party had been frequent witnesses
to acts of cannibalism during their residence among the Makka-
rikas. They described these cannibals as remarkably good
people, but possessing a peculiar taste for dogs and human flesh.
They accompanied the trading parties in their raids, and
invariably ate the bodies of the slain. The traders complained
that they were bad associates, as they insisted on killing and
eating the children which the party wished to secure as slaves :
their custom was to catch a child by its ankles, and to dash its
head against the ground ; thus killed, they extracted the stomach
and intestines, and tying the two ankles to the neck, they carried
the body by slinging it over the shoulder, and thus returned to
camp, where they divided it by quartering, and boiled it in a
large pot.
On one occasion, many slave women and children, on witness-
ing such a scene, rushed panic-stricken from the spot and took
refuge in the trees. The Makkarikas, seeing them in flight, were
excited to give chase, and pulling the children from their refuge
among the branches of the trees, they killed several, and in a
short time a great feast was prepared for the whole party.
ON THE MARCH TO OBBO.
IBRAHIM returned from Gondokoro on the last day of April,
having made the trip with much expedition, considering the large
supply of ammunition that he brought back with him. Having
had some very favorable reports from the Obbo country, whose
natives desired to trade with the Turks, Ibrahim decided to pay
it a visit, much to the delight of Baker, who had now only
fifteen men and no porters ; besides, Obbo lay directly in the
path of Baker's intended journey to the Nile source. Accord-
ingly, on the 2d of May the two parties started from Latooka
for the new country, forty miles distant, their friendship being
now well and truly cemented.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 171
Most of the country traversed in going to Obbo was exceed-
ingly beautiful, being richly diversified by mountains, on the
peaks of which native villages could be seen, impregnable by
position, and green valleys covered with large herds of wild
game lent variety to the view. There was also an abundance of
wild fruits and nuts of most delicious taste, providing sufficient-
support for the natives.
The journey was made without special incident, and on arrival
they were most hospitably received by the chief, Katchiba, who
was an old man, but a great clown and joker. He had one
specially good point, however he did not beg.
In the evening an entertainment was provided by the chief for
his visitors, which Baker describes as follows : " About a
hundred men formed a circle ; each man held in his left hand a
small, cup-shaped drum, formed of hollowed wood, one end only
being perforated, aud this was covered with the skin of the
elephant's ear, tightly stretched. In the centre of the circle was
the chief dancer, who wore, suspended from his shoulders,
an immense drum, also covered with the elephant's ear. The
dance commenced by all singing remarkably well a wild but
agreeable tune in chorus, the big drum direct-ing the time, and
the whole of the little drums striking at certain periods with such
admirable precision, that the effect was that of a single instru-
ment. The dancing was most vigorous, and far superior to
anything that I had seen among either Arabs or savages, the
figures varying continually, and ending with a * grand galop * in
double circles, at a tremendous pace, the inner ring revolving in
a contrary direction to the outer, the effect of which was
excellent."
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OBBO PEOPLE.
THE men of Obbo wear a dress consisting of a skin slung
across the shoulder and loins, but the women are almost naked,
and instead of wearing the leather apron and tail of the
Latookas, they are contented with a slight fringe of leather
shreds, about four inches long by two broad, suspended from a
belt. The unmarried girls go entirely naked ; or, if they are
172 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
specially rich in finery, they wear two or three strings of beads
as a covering. The old ladies are antiquated Eves, whose dress
consists of a string around the waist, in which is stuck a bunch
of green leaves, the stalks uppermost. Some of the more
prudish young ladies indulge in a like covering, but they do not
appear to be fashionable. One great advantage of this leaf
costume is that it may be always clean and fresh, as the nearest
bush (if not thorny) provides a clean petticoat. "When in the
society of these very simple and really modest Eves, one cannot
help reflecting upon the Mosaics! description of our first parents,
" and they sewed fig leaves together."
A ROYAL SORCERER.
CHIEF or as Speke would call him, king Katchiba, holds his
subjects by a power which is most effective among savages, viz :
sorcery. Should one of his people displease him or refuse a gift
asked for, the old chief threatens to curse his goats and wither
his crops, and the fear of his power usually forces obedience.
Should there be either a drouth or destructive rainfall, Katchiba
assembles his subjects and in a fatherly way expresses his regrets
that their conduct has forced him to afflict them with unfavorable
weather, but that it is their own fault. If they are so greedy
or stingy that they will not supply him properly, how can they
expect him to regard their ^terests? He must have goats and
corn " No goats, no rain ; that's our contract, my friends."
Should his people complain of too much rain, he threatens to
pour storms and lightening upon them forever, unless they bring
him corn, beer and provisions.
No man would think of starting upon a journey without first
receiving the old chief's blessing, which is supposed to act as a
spell to avert all evil. In case of sickness he is called in to
charm away the disease, but his practice exhibits the same
fluctuating results that attend the efforts of all doctors. In
order to propitiate this royal sorcerer, his people frequently pre-
sent him with their prettiest daughters, so that he is enabled to
keep a harem at every village in his country, and in his journeys
he is at home wherever he goes. His multiplicity of wives has
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 173
made him a famous father ; at the time of Baker's visit the ol
chief had one hundred and sixteen children living, and perhaps as
many more dead. Each village in the Obbo country is ruled by
one of his sons, so that the entire government is a family affair.
A FINE OLD CHIEF.
KATCHIBA was not a bad man, although a sorcerer, and he
treated Baker with much kindness, besides furnishing most
valuable information concerning the country south of him. It
was now May, and ha told Baker that on account of the Asua
river being swollen by heavy rains, it would be impossible to'
cross it before December, and he must therefore postpone his
departure. In his anxiety to proceed, however, Baker left his
wife at Obbo, under a guard of eight men, and the immediate
care of Katchiba, who promised to protect her ; and taking
three men with him, he started upon a short trip to test the
accuracy of the chief's assertions in regard to the river.
Proceeding southward, the route lay through a lovely country,
park-like and well wooded, though generally overgrown with
grass about six feet high. Upon reaching the Asua river it was
found to be a roaring torrent, and Baker's conclusions in regard
to it were confirmed by a local chief , who assured him that it
could not be crossed during the rainy season. He accordingly
returned to Obbo.
He had been absent more than a week, and naturally felt some
anxiety in regard to the safety of his wife, but he found her
looking remarkably well, and regularly installed "at home."
Several fat sheep were tied by the legs to pegs in front of the
hut, a number of tame fowls were pecking around the entrance,
and she met her husband on the threshhold with a large pumpkin
shell containing about a gallon of native beer. These luxuries
were all presents from the kind-hearted old chief, who soon
appeared upon the scene, wearing a very self-satisfied countenance
at having so faithfully carried out his promise to protect the
white woman. Mrs. Baker gave him an excellent character; he
had even been so careful of her safety as to place several of his
own sons as guards over the hut day and night. Baker accord-
174
THE WORLD'S WONDEKS.
ingly presented him with some beads, bracelets, and other odds
and ends, which threw him into ecstacies of delight. Among
the presents was a pair of sun-goggles, which he placed upon his
flat nose and then viewed himself with great complacency in a
small mirror, which had ftlso been given to him. He regarded
his presents with the pleasure and pride of a child, and his kind
old heart swelled with gratitude toward his beloved white guests.
Baker noticed that the old chief was lame in the back, and was
THE OLD SORCERER ON HIS TRAVELS.
told that he had received a bad fall during his absence. Mrs.
Baker laughingly explained the matter. Katchiba had come to
her one morning, saying that he wished to procure some chickens
for her from one of his distant villages, but, said he, " my
people no good ; he say he got no chicken but you lend
me horse, and I ride him, then they be fraid and give Hie
plenty chicken." Katchiba was not a good walker, owing
to his age and infirmities, and also to the fact that his
old head was nearly always fuddled with large draughts of
native beer that he constantly guzzled. His usual method
of traveling was upon the back of a very strong subject, precisely
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 175
as children ride "pick-a-pack." He generally had two or three
spare men, who alternately acted as guides and ponies, while one
of his wives invariably accompanied him, bearing a large jar of
beer, with which it was said the old chief refreshed himself so
copiously during the journey, that it sometimes became necessary
for two men to carry him instead of one. This may have been
merely a scandalous report in Obbo ; however, it appeared that
Katchiba was ready for a start, as usual accompanied by a Hebe
with a jar of beer. Confident in his powers as a rider across
country on a man, he considered that he could easily ride a horse.
It was in vain that Mrs. Baker protested, and prophesied a broken
neck should he attempt to bestride the hitherto unknown animal ;
to ride he was determined. Accordingly one of the blooded
horses was brought out, and Katchiba was assisted upon his back.
Recognizing an awkward hand, the horse did not move. " Go
on," said Katchiba; but as the steed did not understand the
Obbo language, he remained perfectly still. "Touch him with
your stick," cried one of Baker's men; and acting upon the
suggestion, the old sorcerer gave him a tremendous whack with
his staff. This was immediately responded to by the spirited
animal, who, quite unused to such eccentricities, gave a vigorous
kick, the effect of which was to convert the sorcerer into a
spread-eagle, flying head over heels, and landing heavily on the
ground, amidst roars of laughter from the crowd that had col-
lected to witness the scene. The old chief was assisted upon his
feet, and being considerably stunned, he regarded the horse with
great astonishment. But his natural instinct prompted him soon
to call for his beer, and after a long draught from the mighty
cup his courage returned. He made no further effort, however,
to ride the white man's horse, expressing the sage opinion that
he was " too high it was a long way to tumble down."
RETURN TO LATOOKA.
As they could not advance southward on account of the rainy
season, Baker and the Turks determined to return to their former
camp at Latooka, where supplies were more abundant, and wait
until the weather became more settled. Before parting, a cere-
176 THE WORLD'S WONDERS
mony had to be performed by Katchiba, whose brother was to
be their guide, and who was to receive power as deputy-magician
to control the elements during the journey. With great solemnity
the dear old sorcerer broke a branch from a tree, upon the leaves
of which he spat in several places. The branch thus blessed
with holy water, was laid upon the ground, and a fowl was
dragged around it ; he then handed the branch to his brother,
accompanied by a magic whistle of antelope's horn, both of
(vhich were received with great gravity. All the natives wore
Hvhistles similar in appearance, but none were supposed to be
effective unless previously blessed by the great magician. The
ceremony being over, the travelers took leave of Katchiba, prom-
ising soon to return, and departed on their journey amidst a din
of " toot-too-too-ing " from rain whistles and horns.
. POISON YAMS.
BORDERING a ravine near which they camped that night, were a
number of large trees covered with a thorny creeper whose leaves
resembled those of a species of yam. These Ibrahimawa, the
traveled Bornu man, who daubed to be a learned botanist, at
once pronounced to be excellent food, and digging at the roots
of the vines he soon procured a basket full of fine-looking yams.
The rest of the men, not being botanists, left the search for
food to Ibrahimawa, but when he produced the basketful of
tempting-looking food they made a rush for it and helped
themselves. The scientific botanist was left without a yam ;
but he had his revenge. The roots were soon cooked, and the
men ate them voraciously ; but in a few minutes they began to
disappear one by one, and from a distance came smothered but
unmistakable sounds similar to those produced by seasick passen-
gers on a rolling ship. All who had dined from Ibrahimawa's
botanical specimens were suffering from a powerful " vomi-pur-
gatif." They were intensely sick for about an hour, but no
further inconvenience was experienced from the poison yams,
although Ibrahimawa's reputation as a botanist fell to a very low
gmde.
Hpon reaching the Latooka valley, where game was abundant,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
177
a herd of twenty hartebeests was seen peacefully grazing on the
plain. Baker dismounted to stalk them, but he had scarcely left
his horse when the red flags of the Turks attracted the attention
of a \afge gang of baboons, that at once set up a chattering and
hoarse ciids of alarm which frightened the hartebeests. One of
the men fired at a large baboon sitting on a rock, and by accident
shot it through the head. It was about the size of a large mastiff.
12
178 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
and had a long brown mane like that of the lion. This is much
prized by the natives as an ornament, which is cut into strips and
worn round the body.
As the party went into camp that evening Baker rode out alone
in quest of game, and found a herd of giraffes, whose towering
heads could be seen as they were cropping the tops of mimosa
trees. Not being able to stalk thorn, he relied on speed, and
chased the beautiful animals a long distance, but was unable to
get a shot, owing to the dense undergrowth which they ran into.
A TERRIBLE AFFLICTION.
ON the next day the party arrived in Latooka, only to find that
small-pox had broken out in a virulent form, and the disease was
soon communicated to the Turkish camp. In addition to this
misfortune, two of Baker's best horses died, as did also three
camels and five donkeys, while his wife was laid up with gastric
fever. Although the entire journey, since leaving Godokoro,
had been little else than a succession of misfortunes, none had
equalled those which they were now experiencing. The Turkish
camp was reeking with small-pox, and Baker, as a precaution,
had to change his quarters and pay special attention to his men
to avoid the pestilence. To add to their other troubles, Moy and
Comiworo induced the Turks to join them in an attack upon a
Kayala village, from which a great many cows were stolen, and
sixty-five women killed, but the Turks were forced to retreat.
Thus more enemies were made, who might at any time attack
Latooka in return, and overwhelm Baker with the rest, for th?
natives of Kayala were powerful and warlike.
BACK TO OBBO.
THE position of affairs now became so desperate that the Turks
decided to proceed once more to Obbo, and as Baker was
dependent entirely upon them, he was compelled to follow.
Upon reaching that place again, they found the people on the
verge of starvation ; the small-pox had also broken out among
them, and they were dying rapidly from this dreadful plague.
In addition to their other calamities, the Turks had robbed the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 179
natives of nearly everything, so that it was impossible to buy
either cows or oxen. Soon after their return Baker's last horse
died, and both himself and wife became excessively ill from
bilious fever, so that neither could assist the other. The kind
old chief, hearing that they were dying, came to charm them
with his magic. He found the invalids lying helpless, and imme-
diately procured a small branch of a tree, and filling his mouth
with water, he squirted it over the leaves and about the floor of
the hut ; he then waved the branch around his patients' heads,
and completed the ceremony by sticking it in the thatch above
the doorway ; he told them they should now get better, and per-
fectly satisfied, he took his leave. The hut wa& swarming with
rats and white ants ; the former racing over them during the
night, and burrowing through the floor, filled their only room
with mounds like mole-hills. As fast as the holes were stopped,
others were made with determined perseverance. Having a
supply of arsenic, Baker gave them an entertainment, the effect
being disagreeable to all parties, as the rats died in their holes
and created a horrible effluvium, while fresh hosts took the place
of the departed. Now and then a snake would be seen gliding
within the thatch, having taken shelter from the pouring rain.
The animals were no better off, for they were attacked by the
dreadf ul tsetse fly, 'so that they soon had no hair left on their
bodies, and died one after another.
A VISIT TO KATCHIBA.
AFTER two months of severe illness, Baker and his wife were
sufficiently recovered to be out again, and they decided to pay a
morning call to chief Katchiba. He received them very politely,
and begged them to enter his principal residence. Creeping on
all fours through the narrow doorway, they found themselves in
the presence of one of the chief's wives, who was preparing
merissa beer. The whole establishment appeared to be devoted
to the brewing of this drink, of which Katchiba was excessively
fond. The apartment contained several immense jars, holding
about thirty gallons each, in one of which the chief had stored
the presents that he had received, among the rest a red-flannel
180 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
shirt which Baker had given him, and which he considered
exceedingly recherche. Several dressed ox-hides were spread on
the ground, and the chief invited his visitors to be seated, Mrs.
Baker on the right and her husband on the left. Then, after the
beer had been passed around, and Katchiba had taken enough to
warm himself up pretty well, the delightful old sorcerer called
for his harp, and after tuning it, politely asked his visitors " if
he should sing?" Prepared for something comic, they begged
him to begin, and he sang, to their surprise, a most plaintive,
wild, but pleasing air, accompanying himself perfectly on the
harp. Music, dancing, and drinking beer were Katchiba's prin-
cipal amusements, and he excelled in all of them. The enter-
tainment over, he led a sheep in by a string, and begged his
guests to accept it; but they politely declined, saying they did
not expect a present, but had merely called on him as friends.
He accordingly handed the sheep to his wife, and they departed ;
but on arriving at their own camp, they found the sheep awaiting
them. The following day Katchiba returned their visit in great
state, carrying a large red flag made from a piece of cloth the
Turks had given him, and accompanied by two meji beating
drums and another blowing a sort of clarionet.
NEWS FROM THE INTERIOR.
WHILE waiting at Obbo, Baker's hopes were somewhat revived
by an Unyoro slave woman, who gave him a very good account
of the Luta N'zige, which she described as a large lake, lying in
almost the exact latitude in which Baker expected to find the
Albert N'yanze the object of his expedition, but the Asua river
was still too badly swollen to be crossed safely ; so he continued
in Obbo, oppressed with fever and the knowledge that the Turks
were stirring up the natives to war, on account of their thievery.
On the 17th of October, Baker concludes an entry in his
journal, chiefly descriptive of the symptoms of an approaching
fever, as follows: * My stock of quinine is reduced to a few
grains, and my work lies before me ; my cattle are all dead.
We are both weakened by repeated fever, and traveling must be
on foot,"
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 181
KILLING AN ELEPHANT AS LARGE AS JUMBO.
THE- rains finally ceased, and beautiful crops were growing,
which, however, were seriously threatened by elephants, large
herds of which went prowling at night, eating and trampling the
crisp tullaboon plants a grain somewhat resembling corn.
Although weak and feverish, like a true hunter, Baker was
anxious^to secure some of the big game, the meat of which he
knew would be very acceptable to the half-famished natives.
So, taking his servant, they went about half-a-mile from the
village, and dug a hole in which to hide, and at night the watch
began. Baker reports the result as follows :
" There was no sound throughout the night. I was well
wrapped up in a Scotch plaid, but an attack of ague came on, and
I shivered as though in Lapland. I had several rifles in the
grave ; among others the .' Baby,' that carried a half-pound
explosive shell. At about four, A. M., I heard the distant trum-
pet of an elephant, and I immediately ordered Richarn to watch,
and to report to me their arrival. It was extremely dark, but
Richarn presently sank slowly down, and whispered, ' Here they
are !'
" Taking the Baby,' I quietly rose, and listening attentively,
I could distinctly hear the elephants tearing off the heads of the
tullaboon, and crunching the crisp grain. I could distinguish
the dark forms of the herd about thirty paces from me, but much
too indistinct for a shot. I stood with my elbows resting on the
edge of the hole, and the heavy rifle balanced, waiting for an
opportunity. I had a paper sight arranged for night shooting,
and several times tried to get the line of an elephant's shoulder,
but to no purpose. While waiting, I suddenly heard a trumpet
close to my left, and quickly perceived an elephant walking
toward my grave. I waited, with the rifle to my shoulder, until
he was within about twelve paces ; I then whistled, and he
stopped and turned, exposing his side. Taking the line of the
foreleg, I fired at the shoulder. The tremendous flash and smoke
of ten drachms of powder completely blinded me, and the sudden
reaction of darkness increased the obscurity."
182 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The result of Baker's shot could not be determined that night,
but early in the morning a short search discovered the elephant
standing about ten yards in the grass jungle, so nearly dead on
its feet that it fell over upon making an attempt to move, and
died. It was so large that Baker took its measurement, and
found it to be ten feet six and one-half inches in height.
The word being given, a crowd of waiting natives rushed upon
the huge carcass, and about three hundred people were soon
atta x^ing it with knives and lances. About a dozen men were
working inside as though in a tunnel ; they had chosen this
locality as being near to the fat, which was greatly coveted.
A WILD BOAR.
A FEW days after killing the elephant, Baker fired the grass
and then strolled over the burnt ground in quest of game.
Although elephants were plentiful, not a single one could be
found, and he was returning to his hut greatly disappointed,
when there suddenly sprang out from a hole in his pathway a
wild boar and sow, and the former viciously attacked him. It
was a moment of extreme peril, but quick action and a steady aim
saved his life. He fired at the vicious beast and killed it almost
at the muzzle of the gun. The natives were soon apprised of the
lucky shot, and as they value pork above all other meat, the boar
was very quickly cut up and a feast prepared.
It is a singular fact that the wild pigs of the Obbo country
live underground ; the manis, or great scaled ant-eater, burrows
in a considerable excavation ; these habitations the pigs enter,
dispossess the manis, and enlarging the retreat, make it their
abode.
DEPARTURE FOR KAMRASl'S COUNTRY.
JANUARY had now arrived, and though enfeebled by fever and
seriously inconvenienced by the loss of his pack-animals, Baker
determined to proceed south in quest of the great lake which he
believed formed the chief source of the Nile. Reports which
Ibrahim received from Kamrasi's kingdom to the south, in regard
to the abundance of ivory there, prompted the Turk to accom-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 183
pany him, particularly since neither slaves nor ivory had been
secured in the Latooka or Obbo countries. In fact, up to this
time both expeditions had been practically failures, as hardships
had been constant and progress retarded by incessant difficulties.
Ibrahim had a force of more than two hundred men, and this
'made his company very agreeable to Baker, who, if alone, must
have fallen a victim to the murderous Bari tribes whose business
was war and plunder, and through whose country they were com-
pelled to pass.
Katchiba, who had become extremely fond of his white guests,
was induced to sell Baker three oxen, which were purchased as
riding animals, as these were more serviceable for the purpose
than any other animals in that country. On the 5th of January
the combined party started on their journey, Mrs. Baker riding
one of the oxen and her indomitable husband another, while the
third was loaded with supplies. On account of extreme shyness
the ox which Baker rode was unharnessed and driven awhile until
it should become accustomed to the people, but the moment it
was loosed it ran off with all possible speed into the jungle and
was never seen again. They had not gone far when a large fly
fastened upon the rump of Mrs. Baker's ox, the effect of which
was to produce so sudden a kick and plunge that she was thrown
to the ground with much violence, bruising and stunning her.
Ibrahim very civilly gave her another ox, however, which she was
fortunately still able to ride ; but Baker had no other alternative
than to walk, although he was so weak that several times the
caravan had to halt to allow him time to rest, but he continued
the inarch until they arrived at Farajoke, eighteen miles from
Obbo, where he purchased an ox.
A COUNTRY FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY.
ON the 13th of January they reached a town called Shooa, where
they received a most friendly welcome, and found the place, in
figurative language, "flowing with milk and honey." Fowls,
butter, goats, etc., were in abundance and very cheap; beads
were of great value, as few had ever reached that country. The
women flocked to see Mrs. Baker, bringing presents of milk and
184 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
flour, and receiving beads and bracelets in return. The people
were like those of Obbo in language and appearance, exceedingly
mild in their manner, and anxious to be on good terms. The
cultivation in this country was superior to anything they had seen,
and the people appeared to be in a very prosperous condition.
THE POLITE FATIKOANS.
REMAINING in Shooa five days, to recruit and perfect their
plans for the future, they proceeded on their way, and after a
march of eight miles came to the village of Fatiko. In a short
time the natives assembled around them ; they were wonderfully
friendly, and insisted upon a personal introduction to both Baker
and his wife, as they were the first white people the natives had
ever seen. They were thus compelled to hold a levee ; not the
passive and cold ceremony of the whites, but a most active under-
taking, as each native that was introduced performed the salaam
of his country, by seizing both of his visitors' hands and raising
the arms three times to their full stretch above the head. After
about one hundred natives had been thus gratified, Baker gave
the order to saddle the oxen immediately, and they escaped a
further proof of Fatiko affection that was already preparing, as
masses of natives were streaming down the rocks hurrying to be
introduced. Notwithstanding the fatigue of the ceremony, they
took a great fancy to these poor people ; they had prepared a
quantity of merissaand a sheep for their lunch, which they begged
their guests to remain and enjoy before they started ; but the
pumping action of half a village was too much ; and mounting
their oxen, with aching shoulders, they bade adieu to Fatiko
ARRIVAL IN KAMRASl'S COUNTRY.
AFTER several days' marching through a most lovely country,
they approached the Karuma Falls, close to the village of Atada.
The heights were crowded with natives, and a canoe was sent
across to within parleying distance. Bachecta, the black woman
who acted as interpreter, now explained that "Spekes brother
had arrived from his country to pay Kamrasi a visit, and had
brought him valuable presents." " Why has he brought so many
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
185
men with him?" inquired the people from the canoe. " There
are so many presents for the king that he has many men to carry
them," shouted Bacheeta. "Let us look at him," cried the
headman in the boat ; and having prepared for the introduction
by changing his clothes to a tweed suit, something similar to that
worn by Speke, Baker climbed up a high and almost perpendio
186 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ular rock that formed a natural pinnacle on the face of the cliff,
and waving his cap to the crowd on the opposite side, he instructed
Bacheeta to shout to the people that an English lady, his wife,
had also arrived, and that they wished immediately to be pre-
sented to the king and his family, as they had come to thank
him for his kind treatment of Speke and Grant, who had arrived
safe in their own country. Upon this being explained and
repeated several times, the canoe approached the shore. Baker
ordered all the people to retire, and to conceal themselves among
the plantains, that the natives might not be startled by so im-
posing a force, while he and Mrs. Baker advanced alone to meet
Kamrasi's people, who were men of some importance. Upon
landing through the high reeds, they immediately recognized the
similarity of Baker's beard and general complexion to that of
Speke ; and their welcome was at once displayed by the most
extravagant dancing and gesticulating with lances and shields, as
though intending to attack, rushing at the travelers with the points
of their lances thrust close to their faces, and shouting and
singing in great excitement.
THE UNYORO NATIVES.
THE difference between the people of Unyoro (Kamrasi's
country) and the tribes they had hitherto seen was most striking.
On the north side of the river the natives were either stark naked
or wore a mere apology for clothing, in the shape of a skin slung
across their shoulders ; the river appeared to be the limit of utter
savagedom, and the people of Unyoro considered the indecency
of nakedness precisely in the same light as among Europeans.
The men wore robes of dark cloth arranged in various fashions,
generally either like the Arab " tope," or the Roman toga.
In spite of the very friendly reception, the explorers were still
not permitted to cross the river. Only a few months before a
party of Arabs had allied themselves with Rionga, Kamrasi's
deadly enemy, and made an attack on the latter's people, slaying
three hundred of them. This made the king suspicious of all
strangers, and he had given strict orders that none should be
ferried across the river. The travelers were therefore compelled
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 187
to remain on the opposite hank two days longer, but finally suc-
ceeded, through a liberal display of presents and the use of
various stratagems, in getting over the stream.
Still their troubles were not ended, and it was some time before
Baker was permitted to have an interview with the king. He
and his wife were both so prostrated with fever at this time that
they had to be carried in litters, and Kamrasi's procrastination
worried them greatly. Finally it was announced that the king
was ready to receive them, and although more fit for a hospital
than an interview, Baker instructed his men to carry him into the
presence of the African potentate. He was shortly laid on a mat
at the king's feet, whom he found to be a fine-looking man, but
with a peculiar expression of countenance, owing to his extremely
prominent eyes ; he was about six feet high, beautifully clean,
and was dressed in a long robe of bark-cloth most gracefully
folded. The nails of his hands and feet were carefully attended,
and his complexion was about as dark a brown as that of an
Abyssinian. He sat upon a copper stool placed upon a carpet
of leopard skins, and was surrounded by about ten of his
principal chiefs.
This interview proved to be a pleasant one, and after explain-
ing that the object of his visit to Unyoro was to find the great
lake from which the Nile flows, Baker ordered his men to unpack
a Persian carpet, which was spread upon the ground before the
king. He then gave him 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 great heap
of first-class beads made up into gorgeous necklaces and girdles.
Kamrasi took very little notice of the presents, but requested
that the gun might be fired off. This was done, to the utter
confusion of the crowd, who rushed away in such haste that
they tumbled over each other like so many rabbits ; this delighted
the king, who, although himself startled, now roared with
laughter. He told Baker that he must be hungry and thirsty,
therefore he hoped he would accept something to eat and drink :
accordingly he presented him with seventeen cows, twenty pots
of sour plantain cider, and many lods of unripe plantains.
188 THE WORLD* 8 WONDERS.
On the following morning the king visited Baker in his hut,
and solicited him to join in an expedition against Eionga.
This request was declined, as the explorers could not afford to
embroil themselves with any of the natives. Baker was extremely
anxious to proceed, as he and his wife were both sick and out of
medicine; so he importuned Kamrasi for porters and guides.
These were readily promised " to-morrow." But the king's
promises resulted in nothing ; he was determined to keep the
travelers with him, if possible, as long as they had anything to
give. He continued to put them off from day to day, constantly
begging for everything he saw, being particularly anxious to
secure Baker's watch, which was the last one he had, and could
not be parted with. Speke had given Kamrasi several watches,
also a chronometer and compass, but all these were now " dead.'
as the king declared, and he wanted at least one " live one."
CHAPTER XI.
DEPARTURE FOR THE LAKE.
AFTER a provoking and unreasonable delay of three weeks at
Unyoro, Kamrasi provided porters and guides and suffered
Baker to depart, Ibrahim remaining; but at the first camping-
place, about ten miles on the journey, the king overtook the
party for the purpose, he explained, of taking a final leave, but
in reality to try again for the watch and the other things which
his importunities had failed to secure. Baker gave him some
handkerchiefs and several opal beads, but again refused to give
him the watch, as parting with the only time-piece in the company
would cause much inconvenience, while it could be of no service
to the king. All his argument with the greedy savage was of no
avail, and when he again requested leave to depart, Kamrasi, in
the coolest manner, replied, " I will send you to the lake, as I
have promised ; but you must leave your wife with me!" This
insult so incensed Baker that, drawing his revolver and placing
its muzzle within two feet of the king, he told him that should he
TILE WORLD'S WONDERS. 189
dare to repeat such language he would shoot him on the spot, at
the same time explaining that in England such insolence would
be certain to provoke bloodshed. Mrs. Baker also gave ex-
pression to her indignation in such a way that the king, no
doubt, was glad his proposition was not accepted. " Don't be
angry !" he exclaimed ; " 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 objection 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." Baker
received this very practical apology sternly, and insisted upon
starting. The king seemed rather confused at having committed
himself, and to make amends he called his people and ordered
them to carry the loads. His men ordered a number of women
who had assembled out of curiosity, to shoulder the luggage and
carry it to the next village, where they would be relieved.
Baker assisted his wife upon her ox, and with a very cold adieu
to Kamrasi, they turned their backs gladly upon that country.
A SATANIC GUARD.
NOTWITHSTANDING his enfeebled condition, Baker rejoiced
that he was finally rid of the persistent old beggar, and the cav-
alcade moved southward along the banks of the Kafoor river
with excellent progress. As they approached the next village, at
least six hundred men came rushing out with spears and lances
to receive them. Baker's men thought they were to be attacked,
but his experienced judgment told him different, for women and
children were mixed up with the crowd of natives, which is never
the case when an attack is intended.
" With a rush, like a cloud of locusts," says Baker, "the
natives closed around us, dancing, gesticulating, and yelling
before my ox, feinting to attack us with spears and shields, then
engaging in sham fights with each other, and behaving like so
many madmen. A very tall chief accompanied them. One
of their men was suddenly knocked down, and attacked by the
crowd with sticks and lances, and lay on the ground covered
190
THE WOULD S WONDEB8.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 191
with blood : what his offense had been I did not hear. The
entire crowd were most grotesquely gotten up, being dressed in
either leopard or white monkey skins, with cows' tails strapped
on behind, and antelopes' horns fitted upon their heads, while
their chins were ornamented with false beards, made of the bushy
ends of cows' tails sewed together. Altogether, I never saw a
more unearthly set of creatures ; they were perfect illustrations
of my childish ideas of devils horns, tails, and all, excepting
the hoofs ; they were our escort I furnished by Karnrasi to
accompany us to the lake."
The following morning Baker found much difficulty in getting
the escort together, as they had been foraging throughout the
neighborhood; these "devil's own" were a portion of Kam-
rasi's troops, who considered themselves entitled to plunder ad
libitum throughout the march ; however, after some delay, they
collected, and their tall chief, who evidently considered himself
an important personage, from the lofty manner in which he
strutted about, approached, and begged that a gun might be fired
as a curiosity. The escort crowded around, and as the boy Saat
was close to Baker, he ordered him to fire his gun. This was
Saat's greatest delight, and bang went one barrel unexpectedly
close to the tall chief's ear. The effect was charming. The
chief thought his time had come, and clasping his head with both
hands, he ran howling into the woods ; the others were no less
excited, and in a very few moments not one of the escort of three
hundred was visible they had all fled from the instrument that
vomited thunder and lightning. It required several hours of
patient search and coaxing to get them back again, so that the
joke was more upon Baker, perhaps, than upon the frightened
natives.
AN HOUR OF SOREST TRIAL.
THE expedition moved forward, and on the sixth day out,
having made a detour, came again upon the Kafoor river, at a
bend where it became necessary to cross it. The stream was in
the center of a marsh, and although deep, it was so covered with
thickly matted water-grass, and other aquatic plants, that a
192 THE WOKLD'S WONDEKS.
natural floating bridge was formed two feet thick, over which it
was possible to pass by stepping quickly. Baker started across
with his wife following, but when near mid-stream, he looked
back and was horrified to see her standing still, sinking grad-
ually through the weeds, while her face was distorted and purple.
Bushing to her side, he found her insensible, and quickly calling
two of the men to his assistance, they dragged her to the shore,
for if they had attempted to carry her, all would have sunk
through the grass bridge into the water beneath.
On reaching the shore, Mrs. Baker was laid under a tree, and
her face and hands were bathed, but she continued insensible, as
though dead, with teeth and hands firmly clenched, and eyes open
but fixed. A litter was hastily constructed, upon which she was
carried mournfully forward like a corpse. Every few minutes a
halt was necessary, as a painful rattling in the throat betokened
suffocation, which an elevation of her head could alone relieve.
At night the poor woman was laid in a hut and carefully attended
by her husband, but she remained insensible. For three days
and nights she lay in a comatose state, every fleeting breath
anxiously watched by her distracted companion. The third
morning came, and Baker thus describes what came with it :
" My lamp had just burnt out, and, cramped with the night's
watching, I rose from my low seat, and seeing that she lay in the
same unaltered state, I went to the door of the hut to breathe
one gasp of the fresh morning air. I was watching the first red
streak that heralded the rising sun, when I was startled by the
words, * Thank God,' faintly uttered behind me. Suddenly she
awoke from her torpor, and with a heart overflowing I went to
her bedside. Her eyes were full of madness I She spoke, but
the brain was gone ! "
Brain fever now set in, and lasted seven days, during all of
which time they were compelled to travel, as they could not
remain in one place. At last, on the seventh morning, broken
down with watching and fatigue, Baker fell asleep. He says :
** The sun had risen when I awoke. I had slept, and horrified as
the idea flashed upon me that sho must be dead, and that I had
THE WORLD WONDERS. 193
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 1
will not attempt to describe."
They now remained in camp two days, to afford Mrs. Baker
rest, but she gained very slowly in strength, having neither med-
icine nor any of the delicacies so necessary to a sick person. It
was finally decided to proceed on the journey, and carry her in a
litter, which was so arranged as to make her as comfortable as
possible.
CARRYING AN OX EIGHT MILES.
THE route now lay through swamps, chocked with immense
papyrus rushes ; and in passing through a muddy bottom one of
the riding oxen that was ill stuck fast, and had to be abandoned.
On arriving at the next village, fifty men were hired to return
and drag the ox out with ropes, so that its life might be saved,
while Baker and his party continued on to a village some eight
miles distant, where they camped for the night. Shortly after
sunset they suddenly heard a great singing in chorus advancing
rapidly from a distance. At first they imagined that the natives
intended to compliment them with a dance ; but in a few minutes
the boy Saat introduced a headman, who told Baker that the
riding ox had died in the swamp where he had stuck fast in the
morning, and that the natives had brought his body to camp.
"What!" he exclaimed, "brought his body, the entire ox, to
me?" "The entire ox as he died is delivered at your door,"
answered the headman ; " I could not allow any of your property
to be lost upon the road. Had the body of the ox not been
delivered to you, we might have been suspected of having stolen
it." They had carried the ox about eight miles on a litter, which
194 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
they had constructed of two immensely long posts with cross-
pieces of bamboo, upon which they had laid the body. They
would not eat the flesh, and seemed quite disgusted at the idea,
as they replied that " it had died."
DISCOVERY OF ALBERT LAKE.
THE guides informed Baker that the place where they were
camping was only one day's journey from the great lake, and
that night he slept but little. For years he had striven to reach
the " sources of the Nile," and after so much hard work, suffer-
ing and perseverance the cup was at his lips before another sun
would set his eyes would rest upon the great reservoir of Nature
that ever since creation had baffled all discovery. The weary
but triumphant explorer can best describe his own feelings on
this great occasion. " The sun had not risen," he says, " when
I was spurring my ox after the guide, who, having been promised
a double handful of beads on arrival at the lake, had caught the
enthusiasm of the moment. The day broke beautifully clear,
and having crossed a deep valley between the hills, we toiled up
the opposite slope. I hurried to the summit. The glory of our
prize burst suddenly upon me ! There, like a sea of quicksilver,
lay far beneath the grand expanse of water, a boundless sea
horizon on the south and southwest, glittering in the noon-day
sun ; and on the west, at fifty or sixty miles distance, blue moun-
tains rose from the bosom of the lake to a height of about 7,000
feet above its level. It is impossible to describe the triumph of
that moment ; here was the reward for all our labor for the
years of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa.
England had won the sources of the Nile ! Long before I reached
this spot, I had arranged to give three cheers with all our men in
"English style in honor o'f the discovery, but now that I looked
lown upon the great inland sea lying nestled in the very heart of
Africa, and thought how vainly mankind had sought these sources
throughout so many ages, and reflected that I had been the
humble instrument permitted to unravel this portion of the great
mystery when so many greater than I had failed, I felt too serious
to vent my feelings in vain cheers for victory, and I sincerely
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 195
thanked God for having guided and supported us through all
dangers to the good end. We were about 1,500 feet above the
lake, and I looked down from the steep granite cliff upon those
welcome waters upon that vast reservoir which nourished Egypt
and brought fertility where all was wilderness upon that great
source so long hidden from mankind ; that source of bounty and
of blessings to millions of human beings ; and as one of the
greatest objects in nature, I determined to honor it with a great
name. As an imperishable memorial of one loved and mourned
by our gracious Queen and deplored by every Englishman, I
called the great lake the Albert N'yanza.' The Victoria and the
Albert lakes are the two sources of the Nile. My wife, who had
followed me so devotedly, stood by my side, pale and exhausted
a wreck upon the shores of the great Albert Lake that we had
so long striven to reach. No European foot had ever trod upon
its sand, nor had the eyes of a white man ever scanned its vast
expanse of water. We were the first ; and this was the key to
the great secret that even Julius Caesar yearned to unravel, but
in vain."
SALT MAKING IN AFRICA.
THEY painfully descended to the lake shore, assisting one
another down the steep cliff, both being so weak from sickness
and fatigue that they could scarcely walk. On the beach they
found a small village, called Vacovia, the inhabitants of which
were fishers, as evidenced by the large amount of crude tackle
displayed before every hut. The soil was so impregnated with
salt as to unfit it for cultivation, and yet salt itself was most
difficult to procure, impossible in a pure state. The process
employed by the natives to secure this necessary article, was by
placing quantities of the saline mud in vessels and allowing v it to|
drain through perforations in the bottom ; this drainage was sub-|
mitted to a cleansing process of imperfect distillation, and then
boiled. The product, though salt, is very bitter and unpleasant
to the taste. In other sections of Africa the means for manu-
facturing salt are equally defective. At Latooka, for example,
it is made chiefly of goats' dung, which is burned to ashes, these
196 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
are saturated, after which the water is strained and evaporated by
boiling. Another, much poorer, quality is made of a peculiar
grass, that has a thick, fleshy stem, something like sugar-cane.
This is reduced to ashes, which are subjected to a similar process.
So precious is English salt in Africa that the natives will eat it
by handfuls with the greatest relish, and will barter supplies for
it more readily than for beads or other trinkets
A SAIL ON ALBERT LAKE.
VACOVIA is about one hundred and fifty miles, coast-line, from
where the lake has its outlet in the Nile river. The season was
very late and Baker was exceedingly anxious to get back to
Gondokoro before the last of April, in time for the annual
trading boats from Kartoum, which, if he missed, he would be
delayed another year in reaching England. Traveling by land
had become very monotonous and painful, and besides, all the
party was sick of fever, so they now prepared to journey in
canoes as far as possible. After a stay of eight days in Vacovia,
they started in two canoes, the carrying capacity of each being
twenty-five men and necessary luggage. The first day's voyage
was delightful, the air being bracing, though the temperature
was veiy warm. Hippopotami and crocodiles were numerous,
both in and out of the water, lying along the banks or sporting
near the shore. At night a camp was made close by a small
village, from which a few fowls and one young kid were pur-
chased. In the morning Baker discovered that all the oarsmen,
whom Kamrasi had furnished him, had absconded. His party
was now reduced to his own force of thirteen men, but his
progress was not materially affected, for in the evening he
secured twenty more oarsmen from the next village,
j On the next day a bay had to be crossed that was eight miles
jWide, and while nearly in the centre of it, a storm arose which
came so near swamping the boats that the most desperate bailing
by all hands barely kept them afloat. They steered toward the
beach, and just as the canoes struck the sand a large wave over-
whelmed them and left them struggling in the water, while all
the provisions were destroyed. Fortunately, a village was near
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
197
by, and the party took possession . of some huts, dried their
clothes and as far as possible repaired their losses.
They remained here two days, entertained by the natives,
who, in addition to supplying them with food, honored them
with music, dancing and games. Baker was much interested
in their musical instruments, which were curiously and ingeni-
ously made, and produced a harmony that, though wild, was not
discordant.
NATIVE BAND AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
Directly after leaving this village, Baker killed a large croco-
dile, measuring sixteen feet in length, which his men soon cut up
into chunks ready for the pot ; but he could not relish such
meat,. as it fiad a combined flavor of bad fish, decayed flesh, and
musk.
Large herds of elephants and great numbers of hippopotami
were almost continually in sight, but time was too precious to
give them any attention. Owing to the severe thunder storms
which broke during every afternoon, traveling had to be sus-
196 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
are saturated, after which the water is strained and evaporated by
boiling. Another, much poorer, quality is made of a peculiar
grass, that has a thick, fleshy stem, something like sugar-cane.
This is reduced to ashes, which are subjected to a similar process.
So precious is English salt in Africa that the natives will eat it
by handfuls with the greatest relish, and will barter supplies for
it more readily than for beads or other trinkets
A SAIL ON ALBERT LAKE.
VACOVIA is about one hundred and fifty miles, coast-line, from
where the lake has its outlet in the Nile river. The season was
very late and Baker was exceedingly anxious to get back to
Gondokoro before the last of April, in time for the annual
trading boats from Kartoum, which, if he missed, he would be
delayed another year in reaching England. Traveling by land
had become very monotonous and painful, and besides, all the
party was sick of fever, so they now prepared^ to journey in
canoes as far as possible. After a stay of e'
they started in two canoes, the carrying caj '
twenty-five men and necessary luggage. Tl
was delightful, the air being bracing, thoi
was very warm. Hippopotami and croco(-^-_
both in and out of the water, lying along the banks or sporting
near the shore. At night a camp was made close by a small
village, from which a few fowls and one young kid were pur-
chased. In the morning Baker discovered that all the oarsmen,
whom Kamrasi had furnished him, had absconded. His party
was now reduced to his own force of thirteen men, but his
progress was not materially affected, for in the evening he
secured twenty more oarsmen from the next village,
j On the next day a bay had to be crossed that was eight miles
jWide, and while nearly in the centre of it, a storm arose which
came so near swamping the boats that the most desperate bailing
by all hands barely kept them afloat. They steered toward the
beach, and just as the canoes struck the sand a large wave over-
whelmed them and left them struggling in the water, while all
the provisions were destroyed. Fortunately, a village was nea.r
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
197
by, and the party took possession of some huts, dried their
clothes and as far as possible repaired their losses.
They remained here two days, entertained by the natives,
who, in addition to supplying them with food, honored them
with music, dancing and games. Baker was much interested
in their musical instruments, which were curiously and ingeni-
ously made, and produced a harmony that, though wild, was not
discordant.
NATIVE BAND AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
Directly after leaving this village, Baker killed a large croco-
dile, measuring sixteen feet in length, which his men soon cut up
into chunks ready for the pot ; but he could not relish such
meat, as it nad a combined flavor of bad fish, decayed flesh, and
musk.
Large herds of elephants and great numbers of hippopotami
were almost continually in sight, but time was too precious to
give them any attention. Owing to the severe thunder storms
which broke during every afternoon, traveling had to be sus-
198 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
pended at mid-day ; nevertheless, on the thirteenth day from
Vacovia they landed at the mouth of the Somerset river where it
empties into Albert lake. From this point, with the aid of their
glasses, the explorers could plainly see the outlet of the main
Nile, some thirty miles to the north-west of them, from whence
they could trace its line northward to the Madi country, through
which they had passed on their outward journey. Mrs. Baker,
though still too weak to walk, and suffering greatly from fever,
proposed, with Spartan heroism, that they should follow the
lake to the head of the Nile, and then proceed down the stream
in canoes, so as to prove beyond a doubt that they had really
discovered the principal source of the great river. But the guides
declared that it would be impossible to descend the rapids, and
that they would be beset by hostile natives who would dispute
every mile of their journey, and murder them before they could
reach a place of safety. Similar objections were urged against
Stanley attempting to descend the Congo, a few years later, but
instead of heeding them he relied upon his own judgment and
accomplished the feat, as related elsewhere in this volume, and
proved himself to be the greatest and most determined explorer
that ever visited Africa. Had Baker followed the advice and
wishes of his heroic wife, he would have settled the Nile question
beyond all dispute, and reached home fully a year sooner than
he did. But some allowance must be made for his sick and
dispirited condition, and due honor be accorded him for the per-
severance and daring he displayed on all occasions. The only
regret is that, having come so near the solution of the great
problem, he did not fully prove it.
ASCENDING THE SOMERSET RIVER.
HE decided that it was not advisable to attempt*, return by
way of the Nile, but that their proper course was to ascend the
Somerset river to the falls, and then proceed overland to Unyoro,
returning from thence by the same route they had come.
Accordingly, after resting two days and procuring food from the
natives, they proceeded up the river in canoes, reaching the falls
at a distance of eighteen miles from the lake. Here the river
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 199
plunges, at one leap, over a precipice 120 feet deep into an abyss
below, forming one of the grandest waterfalls on the known
globe. Baker designated these as the Murchison Falls in honor
of the President of the Royal Geographical Society of England.
The river below the falls is one hundred and eighty feet wide,
clear and sluggish ; in fact, the current is almost imperceptible.
The banks, at places, are high and percipitous ; but the beach is
generally flat and sandy, and crocodiles are so numerous that a
hundred or more may be counted without moving from one
position. While Baker was sketching the falls, a crocodile came
up so near the canoe that he shot it; the noise of the gun
frightened the native canoemen so badly that they dropped their
paddles and allowed the boat to swing around onto some rushes,
when a hippopotamus, surprised in its retreat, rushed under the
canoe and almost capsized it. The thought of being dumped out
among thousands of voracious crocodiles was anything but agree-
able, so a landing was quickly made to await the riding oxen that
had been sent overland and were expected the following day
True to appointment, the oxen came, but their condition was
so bad from fly bites that they were scarcely able to walk, so that
riding them was out of the question. The overland journey now
began by ascending to the high plateau far above the falls.
Baker and his wife were again stricken down with fever, so that
she had to be carried, while he was barely able to proceed by the
aid of a staff. In this miserable condition they continued on to
the next village through a drenching rain. On reaching the
village, they were placed in a hut so badly dilapidated that the
clouds overhead were visible through its leaky roof ; nevertheless,
this was the best that could be done, and here they lay on an
oxhide, spread upon the soggy ground, all night, while torrents
of water poured over them continually.
At this place the guide and porters previously furnished by
Kamrasi deserted them, the intention apparently being to leave
them in this sickly and destitute locality until they should either
die or Baker with his force of thirteen men would agree to join
the king in his war on Rionga. During their journey to the lake
200 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
the latter had been reinforced by a party of Turks under a half-
civilized leader named Debono, and Kararasi found it impossible
to withstand this combined force. He had sent repeatedly to
Baker, asking his assistance, which the latter refused ; but now
it seemed that he was determined to force compliance with his
wishes. But rather than die the death of a dog, or be forced to
accede to the demands of the brutal Kamrasi, Baker determined,
sick and feeble as he and his wife were, to move on and trust to
providence.
A day's journey through grass eight feet high brought the
party to a burned and deserted village, and here they halted in
another torrent of rain, the invalids being now so sick that they
could not bear even the motion of a litter. While in this most
hopeless and wretched condition, one of Kamrasi' s head men
appeared and promised food and porters in abundance if Baker
and his men would join the king in the war against Rionga and
Debono. In the desperation of his situation, Baker asked to be
taken to Kamrasi, leading the ambassador to believe that his
terms would be accepted. A few hours afterward oxen were
produced and slaughtered, while several cows were furnished to
supply the party with milk. Avfeast followed, which came none
too early, for the entire party were almost dead from starvation.
The travelers, being somewhat refreshed by the milk, were
carried to another village to meet the king. On their arrival
they found a hut fitted up with all the comforts possible
in that country, and soon thereafter announcement was made
that the king was present.
MEETING WITH A SPURIOUS KING.
IN a few moments the king entered the hut, and with a coarse
laugh said : " Well, here you are at last. So you have been to
the M'wootan N'zige ! Well, you don't look much the better for
it. Why, I should not have known you! ha! ha! ha!"
Baker was in no condition to enjoy facetious remarks, and
upbraided the royal brute for so basely deceiving him and suffer-
ing him to almost die of starvation.
" Never mind," he replied, " it's all over now ; you really are
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 201
thin, both of you ; it was your own fault, why did you not
agree to fight Eionga? You should have been supplied with fat
cows and milk and butter, had you behaved well. I will have
my men ready to attack Kionga to-morrow ; the Turks have ten
men ; you have thirteen ; thirteen and ten make twenty-three ;
you shall be carried if you can't walk, and we will give Rionga
no chance he must be killed only kill him, and MY BROTHER
will give you half of his kingdom." He continued, " You shall
have supplies to-morrow ; I will go to my brother, who is the
great M'Kamma Kamrasi, and he will send you all you require.
I am a little *nan, he is a big one ; I have nothing ; he has every-
thing, and he longs to see you ; you must go to him directly, he
lives close by." Baker hardly knew whether the man was drunk
or sober "my brother, the great M'Kamma Kamrasi!" He
felt bewildered with astonishment, and asked, "If you are not
Kamrasi, pray who are you?" "Who am I?" he replied;
that's very good ; who am I? why, I am M'Gambi, the brother
of Kamrasi, I am the younger brother, but he is the king."
This circumstance illustrated the alnfost incredible deceit of
the country. Baker had never actually seen the king up to this
time, though he had given so many presents to the man who had
personated Kamrasi, believing that by so doing he was securing
the king's friendship and aid. He hardly knew how to act, but
the pale face of his very sick wife admonished prudence. He
therefore requested to be taken to Kamrasi at once, but this was
not according to royal custom, for the king had first to be apprised
of the intended visit. A messenger being therefore dispatched
soon returned with word from Kamrasi to have the white rnan
brought to his palace on the following day.
Baker's clothes had been worn to rags, and his wan and hag-
gard features made him a truly ill-looking object, so he deter-
mined to present a somewhat improved appearance before the
king. This he accomplished by putting off his rags and substi-
tuting a full-dress Highland suit, which he had carried with him
but never worn. The change thus effected was so great that his
own men hardly recognized him. He was carried in the litter a
202
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
half hour's journey from his hut and deposited at the palace
door, and was soon thereafter in the presence of Kamrasi.
The reception, instead of being cordial, was cold and formal.
The old king scrowledon his guest, but gave him no greeting, nor
did a single word pass between them for five minutes or more.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 203
M'Gambi, who had played king, was among the chiefs who sur-
rounded Kamrasi, but he occupied a seat on the ground, thus
proving how really unimportant he was.
At length the king asked Baker why he had not visited him
before. " Because I had been starved in this country and was
unable to walk," was the reply. A conversation ensued, but of
little satisfaction. Kamrasi justified the personating of himself
by his brother upon the ground that he was not certain but that
Baker was an ally of Debono. He then began to beg, as usual,
asking for the Highland suit, watch, compass and rifle, all of
which Baker refused, telling him that he was certainly not
the real Kamrasi, as a great king could not be such an. inveterate
beggar.
In personal appearance Kamrasi was a remarkably fine-looking
man, tall and well proportioned, with a handsome face of dark-
brown color, but his expression was peculiarly sinister. He was
beautifully clean, and instead of wearing the bark-cloth common
among the Unyoro people, he was dressed with an elegant mantle
of black and white goat-skins, as soft as chamois. His officers
sat on the ground at some distance from his throne. When they
approached to address him on any subject, they crawled upon
their hands and knees to his feet, and touched the ground with
their foreheads.
Kamrasi, though acting very coolly, dismissed Baker with an
-assurance that his wants would be attended to, and on the same
evening sent him two loads of flour, a goat and two jars of
plantain cider.
Kisoona was the name of the town where they were now
encamped, and since the boats had no doubt already left Gondo-
koro, Baker gave himself no further concern about continuing
his journey. The fever was still so tenacious in its hold upon
himself and wife that they were unable to walk, but fortunately
they had an abundance of milk, which, being allowed to curdle
before using, gave' such nourishment that both rapidly increased
in flesh, though but little in strength. Upon the recommendation
of the Turks under Ibrahim, who had remained with Kamrasi
204
THE WORLD *S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 205
duimg the journey to the lake, Baker procured a quantity of
castor-oil plants, and every morning he had a portion of them
boiled in a large pot, and then steamed himself over the vessel.
This remedy proved to be so beneficial that in two weeks the fever
had left him. The plantain cider was also healthgiving, because
it created an appetite, and was an excellent stimulant. The
method of cider-making was simple. The fruit was buried in a
deep hole and covered with straw and earth ; at the expiration
of about eight days the green plantains thus interred had become
ripe ; they were then peeled and pulped within a large wooden
trough resembling a canoe; this was filled with water, and the
pulp being well mashed and stirred, was left to ferment for two
days, after which it was fit to drink. Throughout Unyoro plan-
tains are the staple article of food. The natives invariably eat
the unripe fruit, which, when boiled, is a good substitute for
potatoes. Cider is made from ripe fruit only.
A TROUBLESOME KING.
ONE day after Baker had recovered sufficiently to be able to
walk about, he was visited by the king, who desired his assistance
forthwith against Rionga. Baker tried to reason with him against
the injustice of his request, reminding him that he was an explorer
and a subject of the queen, and had no right to make offensive
alliances against one who had 'done him no injury. But Kamrasi
was still urgent, nor could he be pacified with trinkets, though he
did not refuse any that were offered, nor neglect to ask for every-
thing he saw. Among other articles which Baker gave him was
an ivory comb, which he at once applied to his wool, and then
handed it around to his officers, who also went through a vigorous
scratching with it. To this present was added a quantity of
ammunition and a looking glass, besides several beads. But the
comb pleased him most, and he wanted his guest to take back
with him to England an elephant's tusk and have it made into
combs for his majesty's use. The medicine chest had also to be
inspected, and each powder, pill and phial smelt of. He begged
for some of the medicine, and Baker gave him several doses of
tartar-emetic, with instructions not to use it until he had returned
206 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
to the palace. The directions were faithfully followed, but the
king took sojarge a dose of the medicine that it made him very
sick, whereat he imagined that his guest had used "magic"
against him, and was very unfriendly for several days. From
that time Baker's supplies were cut off, and his subsistence was
confined to such articles as he could buy from the natives, princi-
pally butter and plantains, which provided an exceedingly slim
diet. About a week after these events he was suddenly aroused
one night by a horrible din of beating drums, blowing horns and
screaming natives. Gathering his rifle and cartridge belt, he
rushed out to find Kamrasi's camp in a state .of consternation,
produced by the report that Debono, with a party of one hundred
and fifty men, was marching on Kisoona with the intention of
laying waste the country and killing Kamrasi. The old king
was not long in making his appearance, dressed simply in a
kilt of blue baize which Speke had given him. He was shaking
with fright and implored aid. Baker commended his dress, and
said it was well adapted to fighting. "FightingI" the king
exclaimed, with the horror of " Bob Acres," " I am not going
to fight ! I have dressed lightly to be able to run quickly.
I mean to run away! Who can fight against guns'? Those
people have one hundred and fifty guns ; you must run with
me ; we can do nothing against them ; you have only thirteen
men ; Ibrahim has only ten ; what can twenty-three do against
a hundred and fifty? Pack up }^our things and run ; we must
be off into the high grass and hide, at once ; the enemy is
expected every moment ! " Baker frankly told Kamrasi that his
cowardice ill became a king, and that such a man was not a fit
ruler for any people ; but this failed to reassure him. To prevent
an attack, however, Baker sent eight of his men witn Turkish
guides to confer with Debono. On the next evening they returned
with one of Debono' s headmen, who stated that the Turks had
no intention of disturbing Baker's party ; that indeed the report
had reached them that both he and his wife had died several
weeks before, from starvation, for which Kamrasi was respon-
sible. Baker told the officer that Debono must at once recross
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 207
the Nile and quit Kamrasi's country, as the right of trading
therein had been secured to Ibrahim, and if the request was not
complied with by the following day he would report the affair to
the Turkish authorities and have Debono and his chief hanged.
Baker then raised the British flag, and informed the Turks that
he claimed the country by right of discovery, and ordered them
to withdraw at once, which they did.
The result of the stratagem so pleased Kamrasi that he sent
a large supply of flour, goats, cows, and cider, accompanying
them with his thanks and offering a portion of his kingdom to
his white friend.
DEFEAT OF RIONGA.
SHORTLY after the Turks had departed, news was received that
Debono had quarreled with Riongaand a great battle had ensued,
in which the Turks had gained a complete victory, and destroyed
the power of the native chief. Kamrasi could scarcely contain
his joy at this piece of good news, while the entire village went
into a delirium of celebration, and became royally drunk on
the beer which the king had given for all to drink. Kamrasi
visited Baker to acquaint him of his good fortune, but while so
doing turned the subject suddenly by asking again for the rifle
he had so long coveted. Baker was much irritated, and told him
that he must never ask again for the gun, for under no circum-
stances would he part with it.
. A BARBAROUS EXECUTION.
JUST at this moment an uproar was heard outside, and loud
screams and heavy blows. A man was dragged past the entrance
of the court-yard bound hand and foot, and was immediately
cudgeled to death by a crowd of natives. This operation con-
tinued for some minutes, until his bones had been thoroughly
broken by the repeated blows of clubs. The body was dragged
to a grove of plantains, and was there left for the vultures, who
in a few minutes congregated around it. It appeared that the
offense thus summarily punished was the simple act of conversing
with some of Rionga's men, who had come with Debono's mes-
sengers to see Baker. A conversation with one of the enemy
208 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
was considered high treason, and was punished with immediate
death. In such cases, where either Kamrasi or his brother
determined upon the sudden execution of a criminal, the signal
was given by touching the condemned with the point of a lance,
whereupon the person who had been so unfortunate as to incur
the king's displeasure was beaten to death upon the spot. Some-
times the condemned was touched by a stick instead of a lance-
point ; this was a signal that he should be killed by the lance,
laid the sentence was carried out by thrusting him through the
'6ody with numerous spears thus the instrument used to slay
the criminal was always contrary to the sign.
KAMRASI IN A COWARDLY RETREAT.
THE victory over Rionga bore fruit which Kamrasi was not
destined to partake of, for, while he was contending over the
spoils, news came that Mtesa, of Uganda, hearing that Kamrasi
had intercepted Baker and held him a prisoner in order to pre-
vent him from visiting the former with presents, was coming to
kill the perfidious king and take Baker to Uganda. This report,
which was speedily confirmed, threw the cowardly Kamrasi into
a panic again, and although Baker counseled a stand and offered
to help him repel the invaders, he was bent on beating a retreat
to his fastness on the islands of the river, nor would anything
stay his purpose. The grass huts were accordingly set on fire
and the retreat began. Baker intended to proceed to Atada,
Kamrasi having promised to send porters to carry his things, but
when morning came the porters failed to report, and he at once
saw that the king's promise was merely a ruse to keep him at
the village and be first attacked by Mtesa. So incensed was
he at such perfidy, that he sent a messenger to Kamrasi, telling
him if the porters were not sent at once, he would join Mtesa
and attack him on the islands. This message frightened the
king into a compliance.
The journey toward Atada was by a narrow pathway leading
through very high grass. Mrs. Buker had yet to be carried on a
litter and the progress was very slow. After a short march it
was discovered that Richarn, Baker's most faithful and service-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 209
aole man, was missing, and after a short search in a village near
by, the ramrod of his gun was found broken and covered with
blood, which indicated that he had been murdered. Two days
were spent searching for him, and during this delay the porters
which Kamrasi had provided deserted. To make matters still
worse, the war drums of Mtesa were heard beating as his army
advanced, and it therefore became necessary to abandon the lug-
gage and branch off toward Foweera, where a part of Ibrahim's
followers were encamped, as it was desirable to form a junction
with them. After many tedious delays and incidents the party
reached Foweera, where they were astonished to find Eicharn.
His disappearance was caused by a fight with some villagers,
during which he killed the chief, and in order to escape their
vengeance, he had taken to the tall grass, lost his way, but finally-
reached his party again almost famished.
Ibrahim thought proper now to join Kamrasi against the
enemy, and so well did he direct his forces that Mtesa was
speedily driven out of the country and Kamrasi regained all that
he had lost. For this service Ibrahim received an immense
quantity of ivory, so that both parties were intensely pleased. In
the fight many of Mtesa 's men were captured, all of whom were
led before the king and butchered in his presence without trial.
While these brutal operations were going on, Baker decided to
make an effort to distil whiskey from sweet potatoes, believing
that the spirit would benefit himself and wife in their weak con-
dition. His still was an original one, made of pots and reeds,
but it served all purposes, and a really excellent article of spirits
was manufactured. Some of the liquor was given to Kamrasi,
who promptly drank enough to make an elephant drunk, and
when he had recovered from the comatose state into which it
threw him, he vowed that every hill in his kingdom should be
planted with potatoes and that his subjects should devote them-
selves to manufacturing whiskey, and one of Ibrahim's Turks
was detailed to establish and undertake the direction of " King
Kamrasi 's Central African Unyoro Potato-Whiskey Company,
aolimited "
21U THE WOBLD'S WONDERS.
CHAPTER XH.
ADIEU TO KAMRASI.
IN the middle of November, at the end of the rainy season,
after so many months of suffering, Baker left Uuyoro for Shooa,
accompanied by Ibrahim, whose collection of ivory was so great
that it required the services of 700 porters to carry it. Kamrasi
came out to bid them adieu, and to beg Baker oiice more for
the little rifle, as he said the gun given him by Speke had bursted,
which was true, for he had driven a ball into the muzzle and then
fired it with disastrous results. But Baker would not yield the
coveted weapon. The journey was through a dry country, and
the difficulties of traveling were light in comparison to what they
had been.
"On the fifth day's march from the Victoria Nile," says
Baker, " we arrived at Shooa ; the change was delightful after
the wet and dense vegetation of Unyoro : the country was dry,
and the grass low and of fine quality. We took possession of our
camp, that had already been prepared for us in a large court-
yard well cemented with cow-dung and clay, and fenced with a
strong row of palisades. A large tree grew* in the centre.
Several huts were erected for interpreters and servants, and a
tolerably commodious hut, the roof overgrown with pumpkins,
was arranged for our mansion. That evening the native women
crowded to our camp to welcome my wife home, and to dance in
honor of our return ; for which exhibition they expected a present
of a cow. They danced in a circle, holding each other's hands,
while three stood just outside the circle and directed the move-
ments of the dancers. They were all quite naked except the
little cloth in front and the tail-piece behind."
At Shooa many of Ibrahim's porters deserted, which left him
in a sad plight. To compensate his loss, he sent 300 of his men
upon a marauding expedition against a neighboring village that
was under the rule of a brave chief named Werclalle. This map
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
211
had been on several such expeditions himself, and possessed five
stands of fire-arms, therefore, when the Turks attacked him, he
hid his men behind rocks and opened fire, killing five of the
assailants with as many shots. The Turks retreated, but on the
way back captured a beautiful young girl whom they put in
chains, intending to make her a slave. On the next day her
THE DANCE IN HONOR OF THE RETURN.
father came into camp to ransom his child, as is customary
among these people. As soon as he appeared, his daughter
rushed to him, and throwing her arms around his neck in the
most affectionate manner, cried, "Father?" as lovingly and
earnestly as any civilized child could have done. But the brutal
Turks tore him from her arms, tied him to a tree and inhumanly
buthered him before her eyes,
212 THE WOKLD'S WONDERS.
MAN'S INHUMANITY.
ANOTHER case of almost equal horror and brutality occurre
on the following day. A woman and her little boy, not mor
than two years of age, had been captured in a battle with th
natives and brought along as slaves by the Turks. This woma
tried five times to escape with her child, but was each time appre
hended, and being, at length, regarded as incorrigible, she wa
given 144 stripes with the coorbatch (hippopotamus whip) an<
then sold separately to another Turkish party of traders. Mrs
Baker's pity was excited and she took the little motherless bo;
under her care and gave him the name of Abbai, and by kim
treatment soon reconciled him to his new condition. There wer
two little girls also in the camp whose history was exceeding!
pathetic. They were three and eight years of age, respectively
and had fallen into the possession of Ibrahim under the following
circumstances : They were daughters of Owine, one of the grea
chiefs who were allied with Rionga against Kamrasi. Afte
the defeat of the former, Owine and many of his people quittei
the country, and forming an alliance with the Turk Mohammed
they settled in the neighborhood of his camp at Faloro
where they built a village. For a time they were on the best o
terms, but some cattle of the Turk's being missing, suspicion fel
upon the new settlers. Mohammed's men desired that thej
might be expelled, but in a moment of drunken frenzy he ordere<
them to be massacred. His men, eager for murder and plunder
immediately started upon their bloody errand, and surrounding
the unsuspecting colony, they fired the huts and killed everj
man, including chief Owine ; capturing the women and childrei
as slaves. Ibrahim had received the mother and two girls a;
presents from Mohammed. Of these little waifs of adversity
Baker very feelingly writes :
" AVe had now six little dependents, none of whom could evei
belong to us, as they were all slaves, but who were well looked
after by my wife ; fed, amused, and kept clean. The boy Abba
was the greatest favorite, as, having neither father nor mother,
he claimed the greatest care ; he was well washed every morning
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 213
and then to his great delight smeared all over from head to toes
with red ochre and grease, with a cock's feather stuck in his
woolly pate. He was then a most charming pet savage, and his
toilette completed, he invariably sat next to his mistress, drinking
a gourd-shell of hot milk, while I smoked my early morning pipe
beneath the tree. I made bows and arrows for my boys, and
taught them to shoot at a mark, a large pumpkin being carved
into a man's head to excite their aim. Thus the days were,
passed until the evening ; at that time a large fire was lighted to
create a blaze, drums were collected, and after dinner a grand
dance was kept up by the children, until the young Abbai ended
regularly by creeping under my wife's chair, and falling sound
asleep : from this protected spot he was carried to his mat,
wrapped up in a piece of old flannel (the best cloth we had), in
which he slept till morning. Poor little Abbai ! I often wonder
what will be his fate, and whether in his dreams he recalls the
few months of happiness that brightened his earliest days of
slavery."
ON THE HOMEWARD MARCH. A SAD SCENE.
THE want of porters still detained Ibrahim, and seeing little
hope of procuring men for that service, in February Baker de-
cided to start for Gondokoro with a party of Mohammed's men,
who had to go there for new supplies. As the oxen were saddled
to start, crowds of people came to say " good bye." There were
ties, even in this savage country, which were painful to sever,
and which caused sincere regrets to both Baker and his wife when
they saw their little flock of slave children crying at the separa-
tion. He says, " In this moral desert, where all humanized
feelings were withered and parched like the sands of the Soudan,
the guilelessness of the children had been welcomed like springs
of water, as the only refreshing feature in a land of sin and
darkness. * Where are you going?' cried poor little Abbai in the
broken Arabic that we had taught him. * Take me with you,
Sitty !' (lady,) and he followed us down the path as we regret-
fully left our proteges, with his fists tucked into his eyes,
weeping from his heart, although for his own mother he had not
214 THE WORLD* 8 WONDERS.
shed a tear. We could not take him with us ; he belonged to
Ibrahim ; and had I purchased the child to rescue him from his
hard lot and to rear him as a civilized being, I might have been
charged with slave dealing. With heavy hearts we saw him
taken up in the arms of a woman and carried buck to camp, to
prevent him from following our party, that had now started."
ATTACKED BY BARI SAVAGES.
THE first day's journey toward Gondokoro was uneventful, but
on the next the party was attacked by the implacable Bari people,
who hung in great crowds on the flank and kept discharging their
arrows. The Turks returned the fire with their guns, but only
one casualty resulted. This, however, was only the beginning,
for day by day the Baris kept up their annoyance, and at night
continually threatened an attack. In fact, they did make one
after dark, one night, which resulted in the death of one of their
number. They succeeded in shooting several barbed and poisoned
arrows into the camp, but fortunately none of them did any injury.
As the cavalcade, at length, came in sight of Gondokoro, there
were loud huzzas and great rejoicings, especially expressed by
Baker and his wife, for the journey had been so long and painful
that home now seemed " just over the hill." The English flag
was raised on a tall bamboo pole and the march into Gondokoro
was made like a victorious army returning from a bloody field.
The Turks came out and saluted them with a* lively popping of
guns, which so frightened Mohammed's riding ox that it ran
away and threw him over its head, greatly demoralizing the
pompous Turk.
NO BOATS OR LETTERS.
BAKER'S first inquiries were for letters from home, and a boat
to descend the Nile with. Before leaving Kartoum on his out-
ward journey, he had left money with a merchant there to pay
for sending a boat to Gondokoro to await his return ; but he was
now astonished and chagrined to find that neither boat nor letters
were awaiting him. It was supposed that he and his wife were
long since dead, as no tidings had been received from them since
their departure from Obbo, three years before. Baker writes;
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 215
"At this cold and barren reply I 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 find-
ing us, 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 succeeded and
what was the result? Not even a letter from home to welcome
us if alive 1 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 1 wasted some of the
best years of my life to obtain a shadow ? I recalled to recollec-
tion the practical question of Commoro, the chief of Latooka
* Suppose you get to the great laks, 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?' "
VISITED BY THE PLAGUE.
THE plague had broken out among the natives at Gondokoro,
and as they fell victims they were dragged to the edge of the
cliff and thrown into the river, and the stench which arose from
the festering bodies was absolutely stifling. Baker therefore
determined to depart from this frightful place at all hazards.
It chanced that there was an open boat lying at the wharf,
that had come up to take a cargo of ivory to Kartoum, but as
none was offering, he chartered the vessel for $200. It was a
desperate alternative, because several men had died of the plague
on the boat during her trip up, so that a visitation of the dreadful
disease promised to terminate the difficulties of the entire journey.
But he ordered the boat to be thoroughly scrubbed with boiling
water and sand, after which it was fumigated by burning several
pounds of tobacco in the cabin.
21b' THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER.
ON the third day out from Gondokoro a herd of antelope was
discovered foraging in the vicinity of some ant-hills a hundred
yards from the river. As meat had become scarce, Baker ordered
the boat stopped, and, with his servant carrying a spare gun, he
stalked the game until a fair shot was obtained at a large buck,
which fell dead at the first fire. The herd seemed dazed, and
did not break away until another one was killed. They then ran
toward a covert, and in their flight he fired again, and by acci-
dent shot a doe in the neck at a distance of six hundred yards.
As the herd gained the covert some native hunters, who were
there concealed, charged them with spears, and drove them
back again toward Baker, who succeeded in killing two more.
This was five antelopes in one day, and they were now well sup-
plied with meat for the trip.
THE PLAGUE APPEARS.
ON the following day one of Baker's men was sei7ed with
pains in the back and bleeding of the nose, and similar symp-
toms speedily developed in six others the plague had broken out.
In two days more the vessel became a hospital, and death fol-
lowed death with fearful rapidity. Poor little Saat, whom Mrs.
Baker had adopted at Kartoum, and who had been so faithful
throughout the three years' journeyings in Central Africa, fell
also before the dreadful disease. Helplessly he lay upon a mat
before his loved mistress, who watched with tenderest care and
deep anxiety, moistening his parched lips and trying to cool his
burning head, while the little fellow only muttered in a delirium
from which he could not be roused. . But at last she saw that he
slept, and hoping that he would awaken refreshed and better, she
kept everything quiet, that undisturbed sleep might bring him
back to life. Old Karka, the good-natured slave woman, stole
softly to the poor boy, stretched his legs into a straight position,
and laid his arms close by his side. She then covered his face
with a cloth. "Does he still sleep well?" asked Mrs. Baker,
but the old slave answered only with her tears, for little Saat was
fSE WORLD'S WONDERS. 217
dead. The failhlul child had been taken from Paganism and
died in Christianity ; he was laid gently away in a grave on the
banks of the Nile, with a rude cross for a grave-stone.
ARRIVAL AT KARTOUM. . '
AFTER many delays and difficulties, they reached Kartoum on
the 5th of May, 1865. Here they found letters from friends in
England, but the consolation these brought was marred by the
report, already authenticated, that Speke was no longer among
the living, having accidentally shot himself while hunting. Besides
this deplorable news, there were obstacles to prevent Baker's
immediate departure for England. An extraordinary drougth of
two years had created a famine throughout the land, attended
by a disease among the camels and cattle, which had caused a
commercial stagnation, as no goods could be transported from
Kartoum. The plague, malignant typhus, had run riot in the
town, and reduced the black troops from 4,000 to less than 400.
Yet in this place, reeking with filth, and death running riot in
the streets, they were compelled to wait until there was a rise in
the Nile that would enable boats to pass the cataracts between
Kartoum and Berber. They were detained here for two months,
subjected to intense heat and dust-storms. It seemed -as if the
plagues of Egypt had broken loose again. Respecting the dust-
storms, Baker writes: " On the 26th of June we had the most
extraordinary dust-storm that had ever been seen by the inhab-
itants. I was sitting in the court-yard of my agent's house at
about 4.30 p. M. : there was no wind, and the sun was as bright
as usual in this cloudless sky, when suddenly a gloom was cast
over all a dull yellow glare pervaded the atmosphere. Knowing
that this effect portended a dust-storm, and that the present calm
would be followed by a hurricane of wind, I rose to go home,
intending to secure the shutters. Hardly had I risen, when I
saw approaching, from the S. W., apparently a solid range of
immense brown mountains, high in air. So rapid was the passage
of this extraordinary phenomenon, that in a few minutes we were
in actual pitchy darkness. At first there was no wind, and the
peculiar calm gave an oppressive character to the event. We
218 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
were in a darkness that might be felt.* Suddenly the wind
arrived, but not with the violence that I had expected. There
were two persons with me, Michael Latfalla, my agent, and Mon-
sieur Lombrosio. So intense was the darkness that we tried to
distinguish our hands placed close before our eyes ; not even an
outline could be seen. This lasted for upwards of twenty minutes ;
it then rapidly passed away, and the sun shone as before ; but
we had felt the darkness that Moses had inflicted upon the
Egyptians."
HOME AGAIN.
ON June 30th they departed from Kartourn, and proceeded by
boat to Berber, from which point they traveled overland on
camels to Souakim, a considerable town, the houses of which
are all built of coral. After two weeks' deky here, passage was
secured on an Egyptian steam transport for Suez. The journey
was now about ended, for in a few days they reached Cairo,
where Baker paid off his attendants, one of whom, Richarn, he
saw married to a six-foot Dinga girl, who had accompanied him
from Central Africa. Here he received notice that the Royal
Geographical Society had awarded him the Victoria gold medal,
at a time, too, when it was not known whether he was living or
dead.
NET RESULTS OF BAKER* 8 EXPEDITION.
BAKER is entitled to very great credit for the indomitable per-
severance with which he overcame all obstacles and forced his
way through Africa. He is also entitled to much consideration
because his expedition was equipped at his own expense, and
therefore he did not have the natien at his back, as did Speke ;
but did he discover the source of the Nile? By his own record
he saw but an exceedingly small portion of the Albert N'yanza.
*-d coasted it for only one hundred miles, and did not even visit
the point where the lake takes its outlet into the Nile. Speke is
chargeable with the same omission, for when he came in sight of
the Victoria N'yanza, instead of coasting it he contented himself
with a view of its waters, and did not even follow the stream
which he assumed was the Nile. It is now well known that
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 219
Central Africa is drained by numerous rivers, many of which are
very eccentric in their sudden disappearance. For this reason it
was the duty of Baker if insurmountable obstacles did not pre-
clude, and he does not mention any to proceed to the river
where it flows from the lake, as he claims that he saw it at a
distance of thirty miles, and then follow the stream on his return
journey, instead of leaving it, as he did. Of course it is impos-
sible to judge correctly of the reasons which he had for taking
certain courses on his return journey, but since he does not him-
self give us these very natural explanations, it must remain a
source of wonder why he did not return from the Albert N'yanza
by way of the Nile, as his spirited wife implored him to do. He
had canoes, and though there were many obstructions in the river,
no doubt these light boats might have been drawn over them, as
they were in several places below Gondokoro. By adopting such
a plan the source of the Nile would have been indisputable. The
question which still continues undecided is this : " Did Baker see
the Nile, as it takes its source from Albert lake, or was it the
embouchure or outlet of some other stream, which gave him so
much delight as his vision rested upon it from Magungo's heights ?"
220 THE WOBLD'S WONDERS.
ISMAILIA.
SIR SAMUEL BAKER'S SECOND EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XIII.
EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE.
SIR SAMUEL BAKER published the results of his explorations in
Central Africa in a work entitled "The Albert N'Yauza."
The book had a large sale and gave him an importance which he
no doubt well deserved greater than that of any other African
explorer at that time. He had paid particular attention ^o the
slave trade, which was productive of ruin and demoralization
among the native tribes, and so faithfully and graphically did he
describe the horrors attending the nefarious traffic, that England
was aroused and threatened to take such severe measures against
those who were engaged in it, that the Khedive of Egypt felt
called upon to act, as the slave-hunters were nearly all his
subjects. It is unfair, perhaps, to doubt the motives of the
Khedive, but certain it is that Khartoum was long known to be a
slave station, and that thousands of these poor creatures were
sent from there to Cairo and Alexandria with the full knowledge
of the Egyptian authorities, who never by word or deed
attempted even to mitigate the curse. It was estimated that not
less than 50,000 men, women and children were kidnaped from
the tribes of Central Africa annually, and brought captive into
Khartoum ; here they were confined in limited quarters reeking
with pestilence and filth, so that nearly one-half of the whole
number died, while the other half was being disposed of as
slaves.
Baker's descriptions fired the English heart against these
revolting cruelties, and the Prince of Wales, on a visit to Egypt,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 221
t
had a conference with the Khedive, in which the former
plainly indicated that the slave trade had to be suppressed, either
by the Egyptian government or some other power. This confer-
ence stimulated Ismail, the Khedive, to action, and sending for
Sir Samuel Baker, he had an interview with him, which resulted
in placing him in command of an expedition for the suppression
of the nefarious trafic.
To effect this grand reform it would be necessary to annex the
Soudan and that country lying within the Nile basin, that it
might be under the direct rulership of the Khedive.
The expedition was fitted out with a lavish hand, as Baker was
directed to make all his preparations without regard to expense.
Under such liberal instructions, he had specially built in England
three small steamers and two life-boats for navigating the Nile.
These vessels were fitted with engines of the best construction,
and were to be carried across the Nubian desert in plates and
sections.
In addition to the steamers were steam saw-mills, with a boiler
that weighed eight hundred pounds in one piece all of which
would have to be transported by camels for several hundred
miles across the Nubian desert, and by boats and camels alter-
nately from Alexandria to Gondokoro, a distance of about three
thousand miles.
The English party accompanying the expedition consisted of
Sir Samuel Baker and his courageous wife ; Lieutenant Julian A.
Baker, R. N. ; Edward Higginbotham, civil engineer; Mr.
Wood, secretary ; Dr. Joseph Gedge, physician ; Mr. Marcopolo,
chief store-keeper and interpreter; Mr. Me William, chief engi-
neer of steamers ; Mr. Jarvis, chief ship-wright ; together with
Messrs. Whitfield, Samson, Hitchman and Eamsdell. $45,000
were expended in stores, calculated to last the expedition for four
years.
Six steamers, varying from forty to eighty horse-power,
were ordered to leave Cairo in June, together with fifteen sloops
and fifteen diahbeeahs total, thirty-six vessels to ascend the
cataracts of the Nile to Khartoum, a distance by river of about
222 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. ,
one thousand four hundred and fifty miles. These vessels were
to convey the whole of the merchandise.
Twenty-five vessels were ordered to be in readiness at Khar-
toum, together with three steamers. The governor-general
(Djiaffer Pasha) was to provide these vessels by a certain date,
together with the camels and horses necessary for the land
transport.
Thus, when the fleet should arrive at Khartoum from Cairo,
the total force of vessels would be nine steamers and fifty-five
sailing vessels, the latter averaging about fifty tons each.
The military arrangements comprised a force of one thousand
six hundred and forty-five troops, including a corps of two hun-
dred irregular cavalry, and two batteries of artillery. The
infantry were two regiments, supposed to be well selected. The
black, or Soudani, regiment included many officers and men who
had served for some years in Mexico with the French army under
Marshal Bazaine. The Egyptian regiment turned out to be for
the most part convicted felons who had been transported for
various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan.
The artillery were rifled mountain guns of bronze, the barrel
weighing two hundred and thirty pounds, and throwing shells of
eight and a quarter pounds. The authorities at Woolwich had
kindly supplied the expedition with two hundred Hale's rockets
three pounders and fifty Snider rifles, together with fifty
thousand rounds of Snider ammunition. The military force and
supplies were to be massed in Khartoum ready to meet Baker
upon his arrival.
DEPARTURE OF THE FLEET.
THIS imposing army and flotilla left Suez on August 29th,
1869, and proceeded on to Souakim, where, after a week's delay,
camels were obtained to carry the expedition across the desert,
two hundred and seventy-five miles, to Berber. Beaching this
place, another fleet of thirty-three vessels of fifty and sixty tons
burden was built which carried the expedition to Gondokoro, one
thousand four hundered and fifty miles from Berber.
The trip to Gondokoro was full of incidents. The start was
made in the latter part of February, with so many sail-boats that
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 223
the Nile was covered, apparently, for miles, as boat straggled
behind boat, strung out until those in front could not be seen by
the navigators of those in the rear. A few days after starting,
one of the troopers, while lazily dangling his feet over the side
of a boat, in the water, was seized by a crocodile and carried off,
the poor fellow having no time to make any outcry ; a little blood
on the water was the last sign left of him. Three days later
great excitement was created on the flag steamer by the attack of
a hippopotamus.
ATTACKED BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS.
BAKER says : " At 1 p. M., as we were steaming easily, I hap-
pened to be asleep on the poop-deck, when I was suddenly
awakened by a shock, succeeded almost immediately by the cry,
' The ship's sinking !* A hippopotamus had charged the steamer
from the bottom, an that there was con-
stant danger of annihilation should combined attacks be made by
the natives upon the scattered forces. He considered well his
position and therefore sent a small party back to Gondokoro for
a reinforcement of two hundred men, with instructions to bring
some milch cows.
When Abou Saood left Fabbo, the natives began to enlist
under the government standard, and therefore, when news came
that a large body of the Arab slave hunters, including three
thousand Makkarika cannibals, had arrived on the Nile from the
far west, to take the ivory, the people of Fabbo became very
much alarmed ; this alarm was greatly increased by a second re-
port that the cannibals had reached the Koshi country, which was
separated frem the Madi, in which Fabbo was situated, only by
the Nile river.
Every day people arrived at Fatiko with horrible reports of the
cannibals, who were devouring the children in the Koshi district.
Spies went across the river and brought every intelligence. It
appeared that the three thousand Makkarikas had been engaged
by Ali Erameen under the pretense that they were to go to Fatiko
272
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
and fight a chief called "the Pasha," who had enormous flocks
and herds, together with thousands of beautiful women and other
alluring spoil ; but they had not heard that they were to carry
three thousand elephants' tusks to the station of Atroosh.
Baker's spies now told them the truth. "Fight the Pasha!"
they exclaimed ; "do you not know who he is? and that he could
kill you all like fowls? He has no cows for you to carry off, but
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 273
he has guns that are magic, and which load from behind instead
of ut the muzzle !"
This was a terrible disappointment to the deluded Makkarikas,
which at once spread dissension among them, when they found
that they had been cajoled in order to transport the heavy loads
of ivory. A providential visitation suddenly fell upon them.
The small-pox broke out, and killed upward of eight hundred
blood-thirsty cannibals who had been devouring the country.
This visitation of small-pox created a panic that entirely broke
up and dispersed the invading force, and defeated their plans.
A GREAT HUNT.
ABOU SAOOD'S plans had failed, and there was now compara-
tive peace, while prospects for the future were all flattering.
Mtesa had sent a messenger to Baker offering his aid to destroy
Kabba Rega, while Rionga had sworn allegiance to the Khedive
and had been made the vakeel, or ruler of the Unyoro country,
so that Kabba Rega was really now only a wandering outcast,
incapable of offering any serious resistance.
, Baker had won the good opinion and friendship of many na-
tives during his first journey through Africa, by joining with them
in the chase and so effectively killing and sharing with them the
large game. It was now the hunting season, and as arrange-
ments were being made for the great annual hunt, he resolved to
participate with the natives, which gave them much pleasure, for
they appreciated his gun, which was certain to secure for them
considerable meat.*
The natives, in their annual hunts, use a large net, or a number
of nets, which are made fast successively to stakes so as to form
a large quarter circle stretching across the country which they
have previously selected to beat. They then form a circle them-
selves, more than a mile in diameter, facing the nets, and fire the
grass to windward. In the high grass the net would be invisible
until the game, in trying to escape, would rush into it, when they
were checked and speared to death by hunters who remained
secreted, two to each section of netting.
274
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
After the grass had been burnt, large quantities of the crimson
fruit of the wild ginger showed in many directions, growing
half-exposed from the earth. This is a leathery, hard pod,
about the size of a goose-egg, filled with a semi-transparent
pulp of a subaeid flavor, with a delicious perfume between
pine-apple and lemon-peel. It is very juicy and refreshing,
and is decidedly the best wild fruit of Central Africa,
THE WORLD'S WONDE-RS. 2?5
Everything was ready and the men had already been stationed
at regular intervals about two miles to windward, where they
waited with their fire-sticks ready for the appointed signal. A
s-hrill whistle disturbed the silence. This signal was repeated at
intervals. In a few minutes after the signal, a long line of sep-
arate thin pillars of smoke ascended into the blue sky, forming a
band extending over about two miles of the horizon. The thin
pillars rapidly thickened and became dense volumes, until at
length they united and formed a long black cloud of smoke that
drifted before the wind over the bright yellow surface of the high
grass. The fire traveled at a rate of several miles an hour and
very soon, from an ant-hill which he had selected, Baker saw the
startled game begin to move about. A rhinoceros was first to
appear, but it was too far for a successful shot, and kept along
an. incline toward the nets ; antelopes shot by, and presently a
lion and lioness leaped into view, but just as Baker was about to
fire, the head of a native rose in the direct line of aim. Beauti-
ful lencotis, hartebeests and antelopes were now running on every
side, affording excellent shots, which Baker thoroughly improved
until he had killed nearly a dozen of these animals without mov-
ing from the ant-hill. The natives killed many antelopes, but
the rhinoceros ran through the net as though it had been a cob-
web, followed by a number of buffaloes.
HOW THE NATIVES CARE FOR THEIR BABIES.
THE results of the hunt were very gratifying, enough meat
having been obtained to last the village for several (Jays. The
women who participated in the hunt, to carry the game, took
their babies with them, slung across their backs by a piece of
bark-cloth and protected against rain by inverted gourd-shells ;
yet with this burden they managed also to carry large loads of
meat.
The treatment of children in Central Africa is most inhuman
and accounts for the extraordinary mortality among them.
According to the population of the village, there are certain
houses built upon pedestals, or stone supports, about three feet
from the ground. Jn the clay wall of the circular building is a
276
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
round hole about a foot in diameter ; this is the only aperture,
At sunset, 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 morn-
WOMEN, WITH THEIR CHILDREN, ASSISTING IN THE HUNT.
ing, 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.
ADVENTURE WITH A LIONESS.
ON December 30th, a week after the hunt just described,
another hunt was arranged for, which was attended with even
greater excitement than the first, though the preparations were
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 277
all the same. Baker had taken position on an ant-hill and directly
after the grass was fired, a beautiful picture was presented, for
they had surrounded an unusually large number of animals, which
advanced slowly as the pace of the fire was hardly more than two
miles an hour. As Baker was firing with deadly effect upon a
herd of antelopes, he saw a yellow tail rise suddenly from a water
hole not far distant, immediately followed by glimpses of an im-
mense lion, which disappeared again in the grass, with its
head in the direction of the hunter, as though approaching.
Presently a rustling in the dry grass within forty yards of his
stand, apprised him that the ferocious beast was coming nearer ;
he had three guns with him, suited for different kinds of game,
and seizing a rifle which was specially suited for lion shooting, in
another moment he caught a fair view of the animal and fired.
Instead of being the one he had first seen, it proved to be a
lioness ; she rolled over backward and turned three convulsive
somersaults, at the same time roaring furiously ; she then re-
covered and rose as if unharmed ; Baker fired again, but must
have missed, for she charged at him, roarrig all the while; a
load of buck-shot, however, sent her back again and she disap-
peared in the high grass.
The lioness could he heard groaning at a short distance, so
carefully picking his way, Baker approached near enough to get
another shot, which broke her ankle joint, but again she got
away. Several natives now came upon the scene, and locating
the wounded beast, offered to throw their spears at her, which
would result in bringing her out so that a fair shot could be
secured. Baker would not allow this, but fired at her as she lay
partially concealed in a bottom. The reply was an immediate
charge, and the enraged brute came bounding toward him w r ith
savage roars. The natives threw their spears, but missed, and
some one would have been badly torn had not a shot from a
smooth-bore No. 10 gun caused her to retreat again into the
grass. Baker now took his large rifle and followed stealthily
until he saw the lioness sitting up on her haunches like a dog.
A careful aim put a bullet in the back of her neck, from which
278
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
she fell over dead. She measured nine feet six inches from nose
to tail extremity, and upon being cut open, they found the half
of a leucotis, which had been simply divided by her teeth into
two-pound lumps. These were greedily seized by the natives
and divided between them as a particularly dainty dish.
. A PEACEFUL GOVERNMENT.
THESE hunts had a very beneficial influence, for they served to
establish confidence in Baker on the part of the natives.
The
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 27^
women were especially friendly and loyal, to such a degree that
they visited him in a body and begged that he would not go
upon the hunt again lest he should fall a victim to some wild
animal, in which event they declared the slave-hunters would
return and either kill or carry them again into captivity. They
looked upon him as their sole protector, and therefore were ever
anxious for his life.
Everything was now peaceful ; there were no quarrels, no
intoxication, no thieving. The troops were all Mohammedans
without an opposing sect ; therefore, for lack of opposition, they
were lukewarm. The natives believed in nothing. Baker notes
the following :
"The curious fact remained, that without the slightest prin-
ciple of worship, or even a natural religious instinct, these people
should be free from many vices that disgrace a civilized commu-
nity. I endeavored to persuade the most intelligent of the exist-
ence of a Deity who could 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."
HOW TO CIVILIZE THE AFRICANS.
BAKER arrives at the following conclusions in regard to the
best methods of civilizing the savage tribes of Africa: "The
Madi and Shooli tribes would be found tractable, and capable of
religious instruction. It is my opinion that the time has not yet
arrived for missionary enterprise in those countries ; but at the
same time a sensible man might do good service by living among
the natives, and proving to their material minds that persons do
exist whose happiness consists in doing good to others. The
personal qualifications and outfit for a single man who would thus
settle among the natives should be various. If he wished to
secure their attention and admiration, he should excel us a rifle-
shot and sportsman. If musical, he should play the Highland
bagpipe. He should be clever as a conjuror, and be well pro-
vided with conjuring tricks, together with a magic lantern, mag-
netic battery, dissolving views, photographic apparatus, colored
pictorial illustrations, etc., etc. He should be a good surgeon
280 THU WORLD'S WONDERS.
and general doctor, and 1)6 well supplied with drugs, remember-
ing that natives have a profound admiration for medical skill.
11 A man who in full Highland dress could at any time collect
an audience by playing a lively air with the bagpipes, would be
regarded with great veneration by the natives, and would be list-
ened to when an archbishop by his side would be totally disre-
garded. He should set all psalms to lively tunes, and the natives
would learn to sing them immediately. Devotional exercises
should be chiefly musical. In this manner a man would become
a general favorite ; and if he had a never-failing supply of beads,
copper rods : brass rings for arms, fingers, and ears, gaudy cotton
handkerchiefs, red or blue blankets, zinc-mirrors, red cotton
shirts, etc., to give to his parishioners, and expected nothing in
return, he would be considered a great man, whose opinion would
carry considerable weight, provided that he only spoke of sub-
jects which he thoroughly understood. A knowledge of agricul-
ture, with a good stock of seeds of useful vegetables and cereals,
iron hoes, carpenters' and blacksmiths' tools, and the power of
instructing others in their use, together with a plentiful supply
of very small axes, would be an immense recommendation to a
lay missionary who should determine to devote some years of his
life to the improvement of the natives."
PREPARING TO RETURN TO ENGLAND.
ON January 15, 1873, envoys arrived from Mtesa, bringing a
letter offering an army of his men to Baker, with which to destroy
Kabba Rega and place Rionga on the throne, as the Egyptian
representative over Unyoro. He also desired Baker to visit him,
and expressed much anxiety to promote such commercial inter-
course as the Khedive desired to establish. All these matters
had been arranged, for Kabba Rega had been deposed and Rionga
was in full possession of Unyoro, which facts were communicated
to Mtesa, with thanks for his very kind offer of assistance.
Baker had felt no little solicitude for Wat-el-Mek, whom he
had sent to Gondokoro for reinforcements, double the time he
had allowed for the return having now elapsed. At length, on
March 8, on the ninety-second day after their departure, he was
THE WORLD'S WOKDERS.
281
rejoiced to see the advance-guard approaching, and forming his
troops quickly, he went out to give them a military welcome.
After an inspection of the men, Baker was annoyed very much
by the fact that not a single head of cattle had been brought with
them ; a quarrel had taken place between Wat-el-Mek and Tayib
Agha, the two commanding officers, a Bari village had been
burned, and in a battle with the natives twenty-eight of the sol-
282 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
diers had been killed, their arms taken, and all the cattle cap-
tured. The ill-feeling between the two officers was the cause of
all their calamities.
There had been enough recruits brought from Gondokoro,
however, to swell the total force to six hundred and twenty men,
with which Baker strongly garrisoned Fatiko, Fabbo, and the
stockade he had built opposite Rionga's island, at Foweera.
Unyoro was now completely in the power of Rionga, and a route
was opened from Fatiko to Zanzibar. Everything was in per-
fect order, so leaving Major Abdullah commandant at Fatiko, ho
gave him full instructions as to the government of Central Africa,
and then departed with a small body-guard for Gondokoro, whk-h
place was reached without special incident on April 1st, 18V3,
the date on which his commission from the Khedive expired.
After turning over his effects to the government officers at
Gondokoro, he secured a vessel and started for Khartoum.
Enroute he overtook three vessels having on board seven hundred
slaves, among whom the small-pox had broken out and the mor-
tality was frightful. He hailed the slavers and was astonished
to learn that the vessels belonged to Abou Saood, who had been
to Cairo and so established himself in the confidence of the au-
thorities that he could continue his nefarious traffic without fear
of any unpleasant results ; nor was this the only discouraging
news which Baker heard, for he learned positively that ever since
his departure from Gondokoro for Fatiko the slave vessels had
been carrying their human cargoes directly on to Alexandria or
the Red Sea, meeting with no opposition they could not easily
overcome by bribery. He now saw that all his labors for a sup-
pression of the slave trade in Central Africa had been without
fruit ; that the government, so far from renderingits aid to that
end, had nullified its declarations and orders by refusing to pun-
ish convicted slavers, and by receiving them as worthy merchants
at the Khedive's capital. Sick with disgust, he quitted Egypt
and sailed for England.
Colonel Gordon, R. E., now known as " Chinese Gordon,"
was appointed Baker's successor, and at this writing is invested
at Khartoum by El Mhadi, the false prophet.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 283
The annexation of the Soudan has been of much advantage to
Egypt, and has resulted in diminishing the slave trade, since
ivory traffic is found to be more profitable ; but Egypt is not
entitled to the credit of this improvement more than America
and the European powers, which have demanded a suppression
of the slave trade.
LIVINGSTONE'S
TRAVELS IN AFRICA.
CHAPTER XVI.
MISSIONARY SERVICE AND FIRST ADVENTURE.
DR. DAVID LIVINGSTONE, a Scotchman, has won a greater
reputation for travel and research in Africa than any other man,
though his actual discoveries have not been so important as those
of our own Stanley. Livingstone was a born philantropist. The
son of uncommonly observant and strict Presbyterians, he was
encouraged to read only theological literature, all other reading
being prohibited under pain of condign punishment. As might
be expected, he disliked religion in his youth, and smuggled
books of travel and adventure to such retreats as offered immu-
nity from detection. He mentions it as a fact that the last pun-
ishment he ever received from his father was for reading books
which he declared were inimical to religion.
Livingstone gained the means to school himself by spinning
cotton, and completed a course of medicine by the same ener-
getic application. He was now ready to see the world, and his
284
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
desire was first to visit China, which was then closed to all na-
tionalities, existing as a government in a marvellous exclusiveness
which could alone incite the building of a wall as a protection
against intrusion. About this time, however, the London Mis-
sionary Society desired to send a missionary into Southern
Africa, and Livingstone's friends recommended him as a most
DR. DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
/
suitable person. As sectarianism was not a characteristic of the
society, which urged the teachings of Christ only, and salvation
without creed or discipline, it pleased Livingstone, whose ideas
were strictly in accord with these principles. Accordingly he was
engaged, and in 1840 embarked for Africa, reaching Cupe Town
after a voyage of three months. Spending but a short time
X
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 285
there, he started for the interior, where he spent the following
sixteen years of his life in explorations and missionary and medi-
cal labors, without cost to the inhabitants. During his short
stay at Cape Town, he became acquainted with a fellow-missionary
named Robert Moffat, whose daughter he married, and she sub-
sequently accompanied him on his various expeditions.
Soon after his marriage he started by ox-team for the mission-
ary station at Kuruman, in the Bechuana country, about 600
miles north-east of Cape Town, where, after resting three months,
he journeyed to Litubaruba, fifteen miles to the south. He
entered upon a study of the native language and in six months
had gathered enough to express himself in the Bechuana tongue.
He now went north to visit the Bakaa Mountains, much of which
journey he was compelled to make on foot on account of his
oxen being sick. Here he tried to found a settlement, but' a war
between neighboring tribes put an end to his plans. A return to
Kuruman became necessary, to secure provisions, which, being
obtained, he went into a beautiful valley called Mabotsa (lat. 25
14' south, long. 26 30') and there founded a missionary station,
to which he removed in 1843.
The natives of Mabotsa were called Bakatla, and were a very
superstitious but friendly people. About this place lions were
very troublesome, as they carried off cattle, both in the night and
day-time, so that the Bakatla came to believe that the beasts
were witches sent by their enemies to prey upon their flocks,
and they made little effort to kill them. It is a well-known fact
that if one of a troop of lions is killed, the others will leave that
part of the country ; and in order to take advantage of this pecu-
liarity, Livingstone resolved to destroy at least one of the
marauders. The. order for a hunt was given, which was obeyed
by the natives forming in a large circle to drive in whatever they
might surround. In this way one of the lions was discovered
sitting on a rock within the now closed circle. A native fired at
it, but the ball struck the rock, which caused the lion to bite at
the spot as a dog will at a stick thrust at him, but in another
moment he founded off and rushed through the circle, the
2&S TIIT? \7OKl,?'? WOWDKBS
giving way instead of spearing him, owing to their fear of witK
craft.
When the circle was reformed and advanced, two more lions
were found within it, but these also escaped without injury. The
cowardly action of the Bakatla so disgusted Livingstone that he
decided to hunt the lions on his own account, though a number
of the more courageous natives followed hkn. They were not
long in discovering another lion sitting on a rock not more than
thirty yards distant ; Livingstone aimed at the body and fired
both barrels, at which the natives cried out, " He is shot ! he is
shot!" and were making toward it while Livingstone stood to
reload his gun. When in the act of ramming down the bullet, a
shout attracted his attention just as the lion sprang upon him,
catching his shoulder and bearing him to the ground. With a
horrible growl the lion seized him by the arm, crunching the
bone and shaking him like a terrier dog does a rat. Of the im-
mediate effect of the bite, Livingstone writes :
" The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to
be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a
sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling
of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It
was like what patients partially under the influence of chloro-
form descr-ibe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife.
This singular condition was not the result of any mental process.
The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in
looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is probably pro-
duced in all animals killed by the carnivora ; and if so, is a mer-
ciful provision bv our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain
of death."
As he turned to relieve the weight of the animal's paw,
which rested upon his head, he saw one of the men of his
party trying to shoot at a distance of ten yards, but his
gun missed fire. At the same instant a dog belonging to
one of the natives rushed in and bit the lion on the leg,
which attracted his attention away from Livingstone, but he im-
mediately sprang upon a native named Mebalwe, and dreadfully
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
287
lacerated his thigh. In an instant another brave fellow
rushed to the assistance of his comrade, with a spear, but
the lion seized him by the shoulder and would doubtless
have killed the poor native except for the fact that the
288 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
loss of blood from the wound inflicted by Livingstone's shots
had so weakened him that his grip soon relaxed, and he fell dead.
All this was the work of a few moments, and was evidently done
by the animal in his dying paroxysms of rage. Besides crunch-
ing the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the
upper part of Livingstone's arm. A wound from a lion's tooth
resembles a gun-shot wound ; it is generally followed by a great
deal of sloughing discharge, and pains are felt in the part period-
ically ever afterward. Livingstone had on a tartan jacket on this
occasion, and it evidently wiped off all the virus from the teeth
that pierced the flesh, for his two companions in this affray both
suffered from the peculiar pains, while he escaped with only
the inconvenience of a false joint in the limb. The man whose
shoulder was bitten showed his wound actually burst forth
afresh on the same month of the following year.
ENTRAPPING LARGE GAME.
THE settlement at Mabotsa soon became a flourishing place, as
the natives were anxious to be near Livingstone, whom they re-
garded as a great chief and doctor able to cure their ills and pro-
tect them against their enemies. One of the principal chiefs of
the Bakwains was named Sechele, an intelligent fellow, who
quickly perceived how superior the white man was to his people,
and he therefore sought to imitate Livingstone as nearly as pos-
sible. He was easily converted to Christianity, and became a
very active disciple whose labors for a time seemed to bear ex-
cellent fruit, for he converted a great many of his people and
had them attend a school, which Livingstone established, that
they might learn to read the Bible. Everything appeared pro-
pitious, until a dreadful drought set in ; vegetation parched up,
the streams ran dry, and even the birds and insects perished.'
In vain the rain-maker practiced his magic, the clouds would roll
up and break in copious showers, sometimes within ten miles of
Mabotsa, but never a drop in the scorched fields of the Bakwains.
Patience at length ceased, and the people openly declared that
the drought was a curse sent upon them for becoming Christains,
a belief wbicfr was readily received because rajn fell in abunrj-
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
289
ance an-o.ig all the neighboring tribes. Yet they continued to
h % eat Livingstone w:th the greatest kindness, though constantly
him to quit praying, lest his wickedness in so doing
should bring other calamities upon the country.
The drought having destroyed all corn and other vegetables
upon which the natives were dependent, to obtain food a hunt
290 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
was proposed by Livingstone, which suggestion was received
with general satisfaction, though some werj3 doubtful if any suc-
cess could be had with the " drought-maker" among the hunters.
Nevertheless, a hunt was organized. Some miles from Mabotsa
there was a small creek not yet quite dry, which Livingstone
knew must be resorted to by numbers of wild animals, and in
this neighborhood he had the natives construct what they call a
" hopo." The hopo consists of two brush hedges in the form of
an open-ended V, which are high and thick near the angle.
Instead of the hedges being joined, they are made to form a lane
about fifty yards in length, at the extremity of which is a pit
eight feet deep and fifteen feet in breadth and length. Trees are
laid carefully about the borders so as to overlap the edge of the
pit to prevent entrapped animals from leaping out. The entire
pit is carefully covered over with green rushes, to make it
appear like a roadway, thoroughly disguising the pitfall.
As the hedge-wings are generally a mile or more in length and
as broad at the entrance, by beating up the adjacent covert, a
large amount of game is driven into the hopo, particularly as two
'or three hundred hunters make a great circuit and by loud shouts
drive in the game from an immense district of country.
In the hunt which Livingstone organized, an unusually large
quantity of game was beat up, consisting of rhinoceri, antelopes,
hartebeests and lions, so that the pit was not only filled, but
hundreds escaped over the bodies of the less fortunate. The
natives destroyed those Jhat were entrapped with spears and
javelins, while Livingstone added much to the store of meat by
shooting several antelopes that would have otherwise escaped. A
great feast followed and cnousdi food was secured to last until
^.he rains came to freshen vegetimon again.
CROSSING AN AFRICAN DESERT.
AFTER a residence of eight years at Mabotsa, Livingstone had
thoroughly established the Christian doctrine and had so far edu-
cated many of the Bakwains that they were qualified to continue
the schools. Two English sportsmen, named Murray and Os-
well, -^ho had penetrated to Lattakoo, hearing of Livingstone
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
291
292 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
at Mabotsa, paid him a visit and requested him to accompany
them across the great Kalahari desert to Lake Ngami, which i? in
lat. 20 30' ; long. 23. '
Kalahari is not, strictly speaking, a desert, but is called so
from the fact that it contains no running water, and very little
can be procured by digging wells ; notwithstanding this, it is
covered with grass and a great variety of creeping plants, while
game, especially antelope, abounds in numbers like buffaloes on
our western plains twenty years ago. A peculiarity of this so-
called desert is the vast amount of delicious tubers and refreshing
vine fruits which are everywhere found on its surface. One of
these is the Leroshua, which is a small plant with linear leaves
and a stem not larger than a crow's quill ; on digging down a
foot or eighteen inches, a tuber is found, generally four to six
inches in diameter. The meat, which is enclosed within a thin
rind, is most excellent. Another plant, named Mokuri, which
grows only in parched districts, is found here. It is an herbacious
creeper and deposits under ground a number of tubers, in a circle
of a yard or more, some of which are as large as a man's head.
The natives, who are Bushmen, strike the ground on the circum-
ference of the circle with stones, until by a peculiar sound they
know the tuber is beneath. They then dig a foot or so and find
it. Strange enough, this tuber does not contain food, but is
filled with deliciously cool water, furnishing an inestimable
blessing to the natives when traveling through the country.
PECULIAR WATERMELONS.
Bur the most surprising plant of the desert is a peculiar sort
of watermelon. The elephant, true lord of the forest, revels in
this fruit, and so do the different species of rhinoceros, although
naturally so diverse in their choice of pasture. The various kinds
of antelopes feed on them with equal avidity, and lions, hyenas,
jackals, and mice, all seem to know and appreciate the common
blessing. These melons are not, however, all of them eatable ;
some are sweet, and others so bitter that the whole are named by
the Boers the " bitter watermelon." The natives select them by
striking one melon after another with a hatchet, and applying th
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
293
tongue to the gashes. They thus readily distinguish between the
bitter and sweet. The bitter are deleterious, but the sweet are
quite wholesome. This peculiarity of one species of plants
bearing both sweet and bitter fruit occurs also in a red, eatable
cucumber, often met with in the country.
WOMEN FILLING UP EGG-SHELLS WITH WATER.
The Bushmen, also known as Bakalahari, choose their resi-
dences far from water on account of their dread of visits from
strange tribes. They not unfrequently hide their liquid supplies
in pits and build fires over them. When water is desired, the
women come with twenty or thirty of their vessels in a bag or
net on their backs. These water-vessels consist of ostrich egg-
shells, with a hole in the end of each barely large enough to
admit one's finger. The women tie a bunch of grass to one end
of a reed about two feet long, and insert it in a hole dug as deep
as the arm will reach ; then ram down the wet sand firmly round
it. Applying the mouth to the free end of the reed, they form
a vacuum in the grass beneath, in which the water collects, and
in a short time rises into the mouth. An egg-shell is placed on
294 THK WORLD'S WONDERS.
the ground alongside the reed, some inches below the mouth x>f the
sucker. A straw guides the water into the hole of the vessel, as
the woman draws mouthful after mouthful from below. The water
is made to pass along the outside, not through the straw. If any
one will attempt to squirt water into a bottle placed some distance
below his mouth, he will soon perceive the wisdom of the Bush-
woman's contrivance for giving the stream direction by means of
a straw. The whole stock of water is thus passed through the
woman's mouth as a pump, and, when taken home, is carefully
buried.
A DREARY MARCH ACROSS THE DESERT.
To turn from such a refreshing scene the bubbling spring,
that wells up like an eternal joy and picture a hoary waste,
whitened by the glare of a scorching sun, one vast sheen of track-
less, waterless, arid desert, is not a pleasurable transformation ;
yet we must now view Livingstone on his march across the Baka-
lahari desert in quest of new fields, untrodden by the European.
It was on the 1st of June, 1849, that he, in company with three
English hunters, started upon the march, provided with oxen and
horses to convey their baggage, and guides to direct the way.
From the beginning the journey was a painful one, for there was
a sandy stretch before them over which it was most difficult to
draw the wagons. The distance from Mabotsa to Lake Ngami is
about three hundred and fifty miles, two points west of north.
Water was nowhere obtainable on the route except at Bushman
settlements, which were so far apart that the party often went
for forty hours without wetting their parched lips. Oxen are
naturally slow travelers, but in this burning waste they some-
times made only six miles a day, being so nearly overcome by
heat and thirst that any attempt to drive them further would
have caused their death. Hartebeests and antelopes were very
numerous notwithstanding the want of water, which led Living-
stone to examine the alimentary canal of several that he killed, in
order that he might discover by what peculiar endowment nature
enabled them to subsist without water so long ; but he found
nothing in them that was not common to other animals.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 205
A REMARKABLE SALT BASIN.
AT Nchokotsa, a little more than half-way from Mabotsa to
Ngaini, the party came upon a great number of salt basins, cov
ered with an efflorescence of lime. This salt basin, which is
twenty miles in circumference, is obscured, however, in approach-
ing from the southeast, by a thick belt of mopaue trees ; and, at
the time the basin burst upon their view, the setting sun was
casting a beautiful blue haze over the wide incrustations, making
the whole look exactly like a lake. Here not a particle of imagi-
nation was necessary to enable them to believe that they were
gazing upon a large body of water ; the waves seemed to dance
along the shore, and the shadows of the trees were vividly reflected
beneath the surface in such an admirable manner that the loose
cattle and the horses, dogs, and even the Hottentots. *;. i <>fr
toward the deceitful lake. A herd of zebras in the miragt .txi..-v
so exactly like elephants that preparations were made ^- ^~o-.-
them, but a break in the haze dispelled the illusion.
DISCOVERY OF LAKE NGAMI.
ON August 1, 1849, exactly two months after leaving Mabotsa,
the party came in sight of Lake Ngami, they being the first white
men that had ever gazed upon its placid bosom. The lake is not
very large, perhaps fifty miles in circumference, but it is the
basin for many rivers, which pour their waters into it during the
wet season until it inundates an immense district of country.
One of the principal rivers which flow into it from the south is
the Zouga, a considerable stream, but remarkable chiefly for its
fish and the prodigious amount of game that lines its shores.
Elephants and a new species of antelope, called leche, were par-
ticularly numerous, but the former are inferior in size to those
found further south.
The natives of this locality, called Bakurutse, who are gener-
ally friendly, live chiefly on fish, which they spear, and also catch
iil nets that are woven exactly like fish-nets in America ; and
with these they catch such great quantities that they do not pre-
tend to consume them all.
296 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
After some days sper t on the banks of the lake, Livingstone
resolved upon a visit tf> Sebituane, chief of the Mak >lol >s, tiree
hundred miles north, th^re to begin again his missionary labors-
As Oswell and Murray' vere elephant hunters, they h<:re sepa-
rated from Livingstone and continued their sport in the surround-
ing country, but not w thouh first giving a quantity cf new dress
goods to Mrs. Livingstone, 1'or herself and three children, who
were greatly in need of clotnes, their old ones be ng fairly in
tatters.
Six months after'his arrival at the Makololo country, Living-
stone met Mr. Oswell again, and together they tra v( led one hun-
dred and thirty miks northeast, lo a place called tjesheko, which
was near the very centre of the continent. On hm-ting through
this country they fortunately discovered the Zambosi riv^er, one
of the most considerable streams in Africa, bein.'j fro.n three
hundred to six hundred yards broad at extreme low wacer, and
rising twenty feet perpendicularly at : ts flood.
Livingstone met with difficulties in the Makololo country which
he had not anticipated: the people were hospitable, lut had
recently engaged i i the slave-trade, wh'ch seemed tc render them
impervious to Christian teaching. Mrs. Livingsl one and her
children were also suffering severely from fever, which rasisted
all the remedies and became so serious that he decided
to return to Cape Town with them, and from there :-end tl-em to
England, and th3n return to Makololo to prosecite his work
alone. This he .'Accomplished, and was much encouraged <;o see
his family greatly improved in health when they took passage
on the vessel for home.
STRANGE DISEASES AND PECULIARITIES OF ANIMALS.
LIVINGSTONE procured several oxen and two guidos at Cape
Town, with such necessaries as his journey required, and started
on his return to the Makololo country, ne-irly fifteen hui dred
miles from the Cape. Being free from anxie y, he descnbe/j this
trip as a pleasant picnic, for all the people on hi? rcute were
friendly, hundreds of whom received medical and surgical atten-
tion from him ; for his fame as a physician seemed to precede
THJB WORLD'S WONDERS. 297
him, so that at every village great crowds came begging his pro-
fessional services.
Being in no special haste, he spent much of his time hunting
and studying the animal life which came under his observation.
He was somewhat astonished to learn, in dissecting the large
game which he killed, that it was subject to most annoying and
fatal diseases, not wholly unlike those from which our domestic
animals Buffer. He saw several gnu, giraffes?, buffaloes, harte-
beestes, etc., afflicted with a mangy disorder, from which they
died with a frothing at the nostrils. He saw one buffalo blind
from ophthalmy, and rhinoceri that were worried by worms which
infested the conjunction of the eyes.
The carnivora, too, become diseased and mangy ; lions grow
lean and perish miserably by reason of the decay of the teeth.
When a lion becomes too old to catch game, he frequently takes
to killing goats in the villages ; a woman or child happening to
go out at night falls a prey, too ; and as this is his only source of
subsistence now, he continues it. From this circumstance has
arisen the idea that the lion, when he has once tasted human
flesh, loves it better than any other. A man-eater is invariably
an old lion ; and when he overcomes his fear of man so far as to
come to villages for goats, the people remark, "His teeth are
worn, he will soon kill men." They at once acknowledge the
necessity of instant action, and turn out to kill him. When
living far away from population, or when, as is the case in some
parts, he entertains a wholesome dread of the Bushmen, as soon
as either disease or old age overtakes him, he begins to catch
mice and other small rodents, and even to eat grass ; the latter
may be eaten as medicine, however, as is observed in dogs.
When encountered in day time, the lion stands a second or
two gazing, then turns slowly round, and walks away for
a dozen paces, looking over his shoulder ; then he begins to trot,
and when he thinks himself out of sight bounds off like a grey-
hound. By day there is not, as a rule, the least danger of lions
which are not molested attacking man, nor even on a clear moon-
light night, except when breeding ; at such times they will brave
298 TUB WORLD'S WONDERS.
almost any danger ; and if a man happens to cross to the wind,
ward of them, both lion and lioness will rush at him, in the man-
ner of a bitch with whelps. This- does not often happen, and
Livingstone knew of only two or three instances of the kind.
In one case a man, passing where the wind blew from him to the
animals, was bitten before he could climb a tree ; occasionally a
man on horseback has been caught by the leg under the same
circumstances. So general, however, is the sense of security on
moonlight nights, that travelers seldom tie up their oxen, but let
them lie loose by the wagons ; while on a dark, rainy night, if a
lion is in the neighborhood, he is almost sure to venture to kill
an ox. His approach is always stealthy, except when wounded ;
and any appearance of a trap is enough to cause him to refrain
from making the last spring. This seems characteristic of the
feline species.
When a lion is very hungry, and lying in wait, the sight of an
animal may make him commence stalking it. In one case a man,
while stealthily crawling to ward a rhinoceros, happened to glance
behind him, and found to his horror a lion stalking him; he only
escaped by springing up a tree like a cat. At Lopepe a lioness
sprang on the after quarter of Mr. Oswell's horse, and when his
companions came up to him they found the marks of the claws
on the horse, and a scratch on Mr. O.'s hand. The horse, on
feeling the lion on him, sprang away, and the rider, caught by a
wait-a-bit thorn, was brought to the ground and rendered insen-
sible. His dogs saved him. Another English gentleman (Cap-
tain Codrington) was surprised in the same way, though^not
hunting the lion at the time, but turning round he shot him dead
in the neck. By accident a horse belonging to Codrington ran
away, but was stopped by the bridle catching a stump ; there he
remained a prisoner two days, and when found the whole space
around was marked by the footprints of lions. They had evi-
dently been afraid to attack the haltered horse from fear that it
was a trap. Two lions came up by night to within three yards
of Livingstone's oxen, which were tied to a wagon, and a sheep
tied to a tree, and stood roaring but afraid to make a spring.
THE WOULD *S WONDERS.
299
Most of the feats of strength which Livingstone saw performed
by lions, such as the taking away of an ox, etc., were not by
carrying, but by dragging the carcase along the ground. They
will spring, on some occasions, on to the hind-quarters of a horse,
but no one has ever seen them on the withers of a giraffe. They
do not mount on the hind-quarters of an eland even, but try to
tear it down with their claws.
300 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Oswell and Vardon, while hunting together once, saw three
lions endeavoring to drag down a buffalo which was mortally
wounded, but they were unable to do so. This very exciting
circumstance is thus described by Mr. Yardon in a letter to Liv-
ingstone : "Oswell and I were riding this afternoon along the
banks of the Limpopo, when a water-buck started in front of us.
1 dismounted and was following it through the jungle, when three
buffaloes got up, and, after going a short distance, stood still,
and the nearest bull turned round and looked at me. A ball
from the two ouncer crashed into his shoulder, and they all three
made off. Oswell and I followed as soon as I had reloaded, and
when we were in sight of the buffalo, and gaining on him at every
stride, three lions leaped on the unfortunate brute ; he bellowed
most lustily as he kept up a kind of running fight, but he was,
of course, soon overpowered and pulled down. We had a fine
view of the struggle, and saw the lions on their hind legs tearing
away with teeth and claws in most ferocious style. We crept up
within thirty yards, and, kneeling down, blazed away at the lions.
My rifle was a single barrel, and I had no spare gun. One lion
fell dead almost 041 the buffalo ; he had merely time to turn to-
ward us, seize a bush with his teeth, and drop dead with the stick
in his jaws. The second made off immediately; and the third
raised his head, coolly looked round for a moment, then went on
tearing and biting at the carcass as hard as ever. We retired a
short distance to load, then again advanced and fired. The lion
made off, but a ball that he received ought to have stopped him,
as it went clean through his shoulder-blade. He was followed
up and killed, after having charged several times. Both lions
were males. It is not often that one bags a brace of lions and a
bull buffalo in about ten minutes. It was an exciting adventure,
and I shall never forget it."
In general the lion seizes the animal he is attacking by the
flank near the hind-leg, or by the throat below the jaw. It is
questionable whether he ever attempts to seize an animal by the
withers. The flank is the most common point of attack, and that
is the part he begins to feast on first. The natives and lions are
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
301
very similar in their tastes in the selection of tid-bits : an eland
may be seen disemboweled by a lion so completely that he
scarcely seems cut up at all The bowels and fatty parts form a
full meal for even the largest lion. The jackal comes sniffing
about, and sometimes suffers for his temerity by a stroKe from
the lion's paw laying him dead. When gorged, the lion falls fast
asleep, and is then easily dispatched. Hunting a lion with dogs
involves very little danger as compared with hunting the Indian
302 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
tiger, because the dogs bring him out of cover and! make him
stand at bay, giving the hunter plenty of time for a good delib-
erate shot. A man is in much more danger of being run over
when walking in the streets of New York, than he is of being de-
voured by lions in Africa, unless engaged in hunting the animal.
The lion has other checks on inordinate increase besides man.
He seldom attacks full-grown animals ; but frequently, when a
buffalo calf is caught by him, the cow rushes to the rescue, and
a toss from her often kills him. It is questionable if a single
lion ever attacks a full-grown buffalo. The amount of roaring
heard at night, on occasions when a buffalo is killed, seem* to
indicate there are always more than one lion engaged in the on-
slaught.
On the plain, south of Sebituane's ford, a herd of buffaloes
kept a number of lions from their young by the males turning
their heads to the enemy. The young and the cows were in the
rear. One toss from a bull would kill the strongest lion that
ever breathed. Livingstone says that in one part of India even
the tame buffaloes feel their superiority to some wild animals,
for they have been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as
if they enjoyed the sport. Lions never go near any elephants
except the calves, which, when young, are sometimes torn by
them ; every living thing retires before the lordly elephant, yet
a full-grown one would be an easier pre,y than the rhinoceros ;
the lion rushes off at the mere sight of this latter beast.
SERPENTS.
THE Zouga river, besides attracting large numbers of wild
game to its waters, seems also to be the resort of many serpents,
not a few of which are of the most venomous kind. Livingstone
mentioned having seen one at Kolobeng of a dark brown, nearly
black color, that measured eight feet three inches in length ; and
it continued to distil clear poison for several hours after its head
was cut off. This serpent is so copiously supplied with poison
that it can strike an ox dead. It is sometimes called the " spit-
ting serpent," and is believer' fro be able to eject its poison a
considerable distance.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 303
Along the reedy and marshy banks of the Zouga are also
found several species of vipers, and that most dangerous serpent,
the puff-adder, which, when angered, distends the skin about its
neck to wonderful proportions and is so vicious that it will read-
ily attack anything, whether man or beast. There is a snake
peculiar to this region which the natives call " Noga-putsane,"
or serpent of a kid, so named because at night it utters a cry
exactly like the bleating of that little animal. Cobras are quite
numerous, and greatly feared by the people, yet it is seldom that
any one is bitten by them, as they usually give ample warning
by rearing up and swaying their heads back and forth several
times before striking. The large python, measuring from fifteen
to twenty feet in length, is also found near the Zouga. Their
bite is harmless, but they often kill and devour animals of medi-
um size, which they crush and swallow like the boa constrictor ;
generally, however, their food is small animals, such as field mice,
rats, etc. The python is hunted by the natives for its flesh, which
they greatly esteem, indeed preferring it to the flesh of nearly all
animals.
TEACHING THE NATIVES.
NOTWITHSTANDING the journey was a pleasant one, Living-
stone was glad when he arrived at Makololo, for much
traveling becomes tedious however great the attractions may
be on the route. He found a hearty welcome among the
people, and everything propitious for the establishment of a
successful missionary school. He invited the chiefs to come
first, but they held books in mysterious awe, fearing there
was some lurking danger in a thing which could relate in-
cidents that had transpired in remote localities. At length
Matibe, father-in-law of the principal chief, Sekeletu, offered
himself as a student, but he affected the disposition of a
doctor who must first take his own medicine in order
to show his patients that it contains no poisonous ingredi-
ent. Gradually the school increased, and so soon as one had
mastered the rudiments he was sent out to become a teacher of
others,
304 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
LUDICROUS SCENES AT CHURCH.
ON each Sunday Livingstone held religious service, which was
very largely attended, but not always with becoming seriousness
or beneficial effects. When all knelt down, many of those who
had children, in following the example of the rest, would bend
over their little ones ; the children, in terror of being crushed to
death, would set up a simultaneous yell, which so tickled the
whole assembly that there was often a subdued titter, to be
turned into a hearty laugh as soon as they heard Amen. Long
after Livingstone had settled at Mabotsa, when preaching on the
most solemn subjects, a woman might be observed to look round,
and, seeing a neighbor seated on her dress, give her a hunch with
the elbow to make her move off ; the other would return it with
interest, and perhaps the remark, " Take the nasty thing away,
will you ?" Then three or four would begin to hustle the first,
offenders, and the men to swear at them all, by way of enforc-
ing silence.
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
AFTER laying the foundation for a mission at Makololo, hav-
ing taught several of the tribe to read, Livingstone departed for
the northwest, having for his ultimate destination Loanda, which
is at the mouth of the river Coanza where it empties into the
Atlantic ocean. Sekeletu had taken such an interest in the mis-
sion and was so devoted to Livingstone that he resolved to ac-
company his white friend a considerable portion of the journey,
and provided an escort to protect him from harm.
Being fully prepared for a long trip, with provisions, oxen and
guides, Livingstone departed from Makololo, taking his route
along the Leeambye river, on which he had several canoes
launched that were of great service in transporting the baggnge.
The country was generally fine, and thickly inhabited, but none
of the natives manifested hostility, being disposed rather to
friendly curiosity on observing the first white man who had ever
visited them. Approaching the Loeti river they came upon a
number of hippopotamus hunters who fled with every indication
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 305
of terror upon seeing Livingstone, whom they no doubt regarded
us some mysterious being.
The numbers of large game above Libonta are prodigious, and
they proved remarkably tame. Eighty-one buffaloes defiled in
slow procession before the camp-fire one evening, within gun-
shot ; and herds of splendid elands stood by day, without fear,
at two hundred yards distance. They were all of the striped
variety, and with their forearm markings, large dewlaps, and
sleek skins, were a beautiful sight to see. The lions here roar
much more than in the country near the lake. One evening
they had a good opportunity of hearing the utmost exertions the
animal can make in that line. They had made their beds on a
large sand-bank, and could be easily seen from all sides. A
lion on the opposite shore amused himself for hours by rdaring
as loudly as he could, putting, as is usual in such cases, his
mouth near the ground, to make the sound reverberate. The
river was too broad for a ball to reach him, so they let him enjoy
himself, certain that he durst not have been guilty of the im-
pertinence in the Bushman country. Wherever the game abounds,
these animals exist in proportionate numbers. Here they wej'e
very frequently seen, and two of the largest seemed about as
tall as common donkeys ; but the mane made their bodies appear
rather larger.
SINGULAR BIRDS, REPTILES AND ANIMALS.
ROWING along the river, there were always interesting sights
of birds, reptiles, and animals. Fish-hawks sailed through the
air, or ^attacked the full-pouched pelican ; the alligator-bird, the
tinc-tinc-tinc, or iron-beating bird, the great ibis* the rhinoceros-
bird, and a thousand other singular species. Numbers of iguanos
sat sunning themselves on overhanging branches of trees. They
are highly esteemed as an article of food, so the chief boatman
sits at the bow of his canoe armed with a javelin to spear those
that are not too quickly out of sight.
The rapids in the part of the river between Katima-molelo and
Xaineta are relieved by several reaches of still, deep water, fifteen
or twenty miles long, lu these very large herds of hippopotami
306
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
are seen, and the deep furrows they make in ascending thebankh
to graze during th6 nights, are everywhere apparent. They are
guided back to the water by the scent, but a long-continued pour-
ing rain makes it impossible for them to perceive, by that means,
in which direction the river lies, and they are found bewildered
on the land. The hunters take advantage of their helplessness
on these occasions to kill them.
It is impossible to judge of the
numbers in a herd, for they are
almost always hidden beneath
the waters ; but as they require
to come up every few minutes to
breathe, when there is a con-
stant succession of heads thrown up then the herd is supposed
to be large. They love a still reach of the stream, as in the more
rapid parts of the channel they are floated down so quickly tluit
much exertion is necessary to regain the distance lost by fre-
quently swimming up again : such constant exertion disturb*
them in their nap. They prefer to remain by day in a drowsy ?
THE WORLD'S WO.NDERS. 307
yawning state, and, though their eyes are open, they take little
notice of things at a distance. The males utter a loud succession
of snorting grunts, which may be heard a mile off. Livingstone
says that in passing over a wounded one in a canoe a distinct
grunting was elicited, though the animal lay entirely under water..
The young, when very little, take their stand on the neck of
the dam, and the small head, rising above thelarger, comes soon-
est to the surface. The dam, knowing the more urgent need of
her calf, comes more frequently to the surface when it is in her
care. But in the rivers of Londa, where they are much in danger
of being shot, even the hippopotamus gains wit by experience ;
for, while those in the Zambesi put up their heads openly to blow,
those referred to keep their noses among water-plants, and
breathe so quietly that one would not dream of their existence
'n the river except by footprints on the banks.
CHAPTER XVII.
DANGERS FROM ALLIGATORS.
PART of Livingstone's company marched along the banks with
the oxen, and part went in the canoes, but their pace was regu-
lated by the speed of the men on shore. Their course was rather
difficult, on account of the numbers of departing and re-entering
branches of the Leeambye, which they had to avoid or wait at
till ferried over. The number of alligators is prodigious, and
in this river they are more savage than in some others. Many
children are carried off annually at Sesheke and other towns ;
for, notwithstanding the danger, when they go down for water
they almost always must play a while. This reptile is said by
the natives to strike the victim with its tail, then drag him in and
drown him. When lying in the water watching for prey, the
body never appears. Many calves are lost also, and it is seldom
that a number of cows can swim over at Sesheke without some
308 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
loss. Livingstone says he never could avoid shuddering on seeing
his men swimming across these branches, after one of them had
been caught by the thigh and taken below. He, however, retained,
as nearly all of them in the most trying circumstances do, his
full presence of mind, and having a small, square, ragged-edged
javelin with him, when dragged to the bottom gave the alligator
a stab behind the shoulder. The alligator, writhing in pain, left
him, and he came out with the deep marks of the reptile's teeth
on his thigh.
The great abundance of game which was constantly met with,
was consoling to the invariably hungry natives, but on account of
certain difficulties it had its unpleasant features to Livingstone.
He tried in vain to instruct certain men in his company how to
shoot, but with all his care they fired so wildly that if they had
been his sole reliance all the ammunition must have been expended
without any game to show for it ; thus the shooting all devolved
on Livingstone. His arm had never recovered fully from the
lion's bite, which he received near Mabotse, as, owing to the lack
of proper surgical attention, the broken and crushed bone had
not united well. Continual hard manual labor, -and several falls
from oxen had lengthened the ligament by Which the ends of the
bones were united, and a false joint was the consequence. On
this account he could not himself shoot well, and a great part
of his time had to be spent hunting in order to supply his men
with meat.
AMONG FEMALE CHIEFS.
PASSING out of the Leeambye river, which in some places
further east is called the Zambesi, Livingstone's party came to
another river called the Luba. He was now among the Belonda
people, a tribe that has a vague idea of spirit life, which we may
possibly call religion, but instead of this idea benefitting them, it
has a contrary effect, for their superstitions only seem to degrade
them the more. They file their teeth to a point and tattoo them-
selves in various parts, but chiefly on the abdomen : the skin is
raised in small elevated cicatrices, each nearly half an inch long
and a quarter of an inch in diameter, so that a number of them
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 309
may constitute a star or other device. The dark color of the
skin prevents any coloring matter being deposited in these figures,
but they love much to have the whole surface" of their bodies
anointed with a comfortable varnish of oil. Sheakondo was
chief of the Barotse tribe, and his wife ruled over the Balonda,
a neighboring people, considerably intermixed with the former.
Beyond these is another tribe of Balonda, over whom the great
female chief, Nyamoana, ruled. She was reputed to have been
a woman of much cunning and immense influence, due princi-
pally to her powers of necromancy. Nyamoana treated Living-
stone in a most hospitable manner, and besides giving him some
oxen insisted on furnishing a guide to conduct him to the next
village, which was also governed by a woman, named Maneuko.
She was a finely formed young woman, having no other covering
upon her person than a thick daubing of yellow ochre. She was
a dealer in charms, and when one of Livingstone's Masiko guides
entered a tent of her tribe without first requesting permission,
she expressed her belief that it was for the purpose of leaving
some wicked charm ; she therefore raised a big row, and detained
the party two days. Like women in general, this chief suddenly
changed her mind, and became as friendly as at first. She not
only suffered Livingstone to depart in peace, but accompanied
him to the next village, named Kabompo, which contained many
thousand people, ruled by a chief called Shinte. Here Living-
stone was treated to a royal reception, at which Shinte sat on his
throne and had his warriors go through their military exercise of
leaping and throwing 'spears.
AN AMUSING SHOW.
OWING to the fact that Livingstone was now suffering from an
enervating fever, he was unable for several days to visit Shinte,
as that chief had repeated!}' requested him to do. When he was
a little recovered, however, he called upon the chief, and to
amuse him exhibited a magic lantern which threw pictures life-
size. Shinte at once sent for all his wives and the dignitaries of
his small court, and upon their assembling, the show was begun.
The first picture exhibited was Abraham about to slaughter his
310 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
son Isaac ; it was shown as large as life, and the uplifted knife
was in the act of striking the lad ; the Balonda men remarked
that the picture was much more like a god than the things of
wood or clay they worshiped. Livingstone explained that this
man was the first of a race to whom God had given the Bible,
now held, and that among his children our Savior appeared.
The ladies listened with silent awe ; but when he moved the
slide, the uplifted dagger moving toward them,. they thought it
was to be sheathed in their bodies instead of Isaac's. " Mother !
mother !" all shouted at once, and off they rushed helter-skelter,
tumbling pell-mell over each other, and over the little idol-huts
and tobacco-bushes : nor could they be induced to come back
again. Shinte, however, sat bravely through the whole perform-
ance and afterward examined the instrument with interest. An
explanation was always added after each time of showing its
powers, so that no one should imagine there was aught super-
natural in it.
HOW SHINTE PROVED HIS LOVE.
IT being now in the rainy season, everything was so wet that
it was almost impossible to procure guides, and more especially
'since Shinte had contracted such a great liking for Livingstone
that he was anxious to detain him, believing that so long as the
white man remained in the village there would befall himself and
people nothing but good luck and pleasure.
One miserably rainy day, while Livingstorie was alone in his
tent, Shinte stepped in as though anxious uo one should observe
him ; after examining such curiosities as a looking-glass, books,
hair brushes, comb, watch, etc., he closed the tent opening that
no one might witness the extravagance of which he was about to
be guilty. He then drew out from his limited clothing a string
of beads and the end of a conical shell which he hung about Liv-
ingstone's neck with the remark, " There, now, you have a proof
of my friendship." The value of this present in the estimation
of Shinte was very great, for such a shell is considered in that
region of as much value as the Lord Mayor's badge in England.
For two of them a slave might be bought, and five would be con-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 311
sidered a handsome price for an elephant's tusk worth in
England $150.
AFRICAN ETIQUETTE.
AFTER leaving Shinte, Livingstone proceeded northward, and
he observed that the guides furnished him at the various villages
had much more etiquette than any of the tribes further south.
They would not partake of food which they had given to his party,
nor would they eat their own food in their presence. When it
was cooked they retired into a thicket and ate their porridge ;
then all stood up and clapped their hands and praised Intemese
for it.
The dress of the Balonda men consists of the softened skins
of small animals, as the jackal or wild cat, hung before and behind
from a girdle round the loins. The dress of the women is of a
nondescript character ; but they were not immodest. They stand
before strangers perfectly unconscious of any indecorum. But,
while ignorant of their own deficiency, they could not maintain
their gravity at the sight of the nudity of Livingstone's men
behind. Much to their annoyance the young girls laughed out-
right whenever their backs were turned to them.
THE TAILLESS OX.
WHILE passing through a village governed by a chief named
longa Panza, one of the guides deserted, and stealing some articles
from the chief, made off. The chief held Livingstone -responsible
for the loss of his property, as he had brought the thief into the
country, and the controversy came near ending in a row ; but in
order to avoid such a calamity, Livingstone agreed to give Panza
an ox in place of the stolen articles. It happened that the ox had
lost part of his tail, which led the natives to suspect that it had
been purposely cut off and some witchcraft medicine inserted,
whereupon they rejected the ox and another had to be substi-
tuted. Livingstone now had only four oxen left, and, seizing
upon the idea which this incident had suggested, he had his men
cutoff apart of each of their tails, in which "magical" con-
dition he had no difficulty in retaining them.
312 THE WORLD'S WONDERS,
ST. PAUL DE LOANDA.
THE objective point of the expedition was the Portuguese set-
tlement of St. Paul de Loanda, on the southwestern coast of
Africa, and as they drew near the sea, Livingstone observed
that his men became very uneasy. On ascending some hills near
the town they caught a glimpse of the ocean, which the men re-
garded with the utmost awe. On describing their feelings after-
Ward, they remarked that "we marched along with our father,
believing that what the ancients, had always told us was true,
that the world has no end ; but all at once the world said to us,
* I am finished : there is no more of me ! ' ' They had always
imagined that the world was one extended plain without limit.
Livingstone arrived at Loanda on the 31st of May, 1854<
almost worn out, with fatigue and severe dysentery.
Loanda, with a population of twelve thousand souls, com
tained but a single Englishman, who was a commissioner for
the suppression of the slave trade. This man looked upon Liv-
ingstone as a brother, and took him at once to his house, giving
him his own bed and making him comfortable in every way.
A JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
LIVINGSTONE remained at Loanda nearly four months, much
of which time he was bedridden by fever, although under excel-
lent medical care all the while. There was an English man-of-
war anchored in Loanda or Bengo bay, the surgeon of which
devoted most assidious attention to the traveler, but he was so
emaciated and debilitated and the malaria had such firm hold that
his system was almost incapable of rallying, and thus, despite
his anxiety to return to the interior and open up a route across
the continent by way of the Zambesi river, he was forced to
either keep to his bed or act with great prudence during a long
convalesence.
During his stay in Loanda, when able to sit up, he wrote sev-
eral letters which were published in the town paper, elaborating
his plan for opening up an interior and transcontinental trade,
which so commended itself to the Portuguese residents that they
proffered him such aid as he might require to complete his pur-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 313
poses. The merchants gave to each of bis men a good horse and
an elegant uniform, and also, by a public subscription, presented
to Livingstone handsome specimens of all their articles of trade,
and two donkeys.
Having at length recovered from the fever, he prepared to re-
enter Africa and make a crossing by way of the Zambesi, if that
should prove possible, which his slight knowledge of the stream
led him to believe could be done.
He says : "I took with me a good stock of cotton cloth, fresh
supplies of ammunition and beads, and gave each of my men a
musket. As my companions had amassed considerable quantities
of goods, they were unable to carry mine, but the bishop fur-
nished me with twenty carriers, and sent forward orders to all the
commandants of the districts through which we were to pass to
render me every assistance in their power. Being now supplied
with a good new tent made by my friends on board the Philo-
mel, we left Loanda on the 20th of September, 1854, and passed
round by sea to the mouth of the Eiver Bengo."
He ascended the Bengo for a hundred miles and then took to
the country, passing over the same route he had come for several
hundred miles, as he found any deviation from the regular route
impracticable. In order to familiarize himself with the district
generally, he made short incursions on transverse water-ways to
villages, in many of which he found primitive iron works and
sugar refineries, which had been abandoned, no doubt, on account
of wars, for there were proofs that they had been profitable when
unmolested.
AMONG THE ANGOLAS.
ONE of the most interesting people whose country borders the
Bengo river, and also the Atlantic, are the Angola tribe, which at
one time possessed a higher culture than at present'. Through-
out their country may still be seen ruins of convents and forts,
as well as of manufacturing industries. They have greatly retro-
graded, but from what cause is indifferently understood. The
chief recreations of the natives of Angola are marriages and
funerals. When a young woman is about to be married, she is
314
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 315
placed in a hut alone and anointed with various unguents, and
many incantations are employed in order to secure good fortune
and fruitfulness. Here, as almost everywhere in the south, the
height of good fortune is to bear sons. They often leave a hus-
band altogether if they have daughters only. In their dances,
when any one may wish to deride another, in the accompanying
song a line is introduced, " So and so has no children, and never
will get any." She feels the insult so keenly that it is not un-
common for her to rush away and commit suicide. After some
days the bride elect is taken to another hut, and adorned with all
the richest clothing and ornaments that the relatives can either
len^l or borrow. She is then placed in a public situation, saluted
as a lady, and presents made by all her acquaintances are placed
around her. After this she is taken to the residence of her hus-
band, where she has a hut for herself, and becomes one of several
wives, for polygamy is general. Dancing, feasting, and drinking
on such occasions are prolonged for several days. In case of
separation, the woman returns to her father's family, and the
husband receives back what he gave for her. In nearly all cases
a man gives a high price for a wife, and in cases of mulattoes, as
much as $300 are often given to the parents of the bride.
In cases of death the body is kept several days, and there is a
grand concourse of both sexes, with beating of drums, dances,
and debauchery, kept up with feasting, etc., according to the
means of the relatives. The great ambition of many of the
blacks of Angola is to give their friends an expensive funeral.
Often, when one is asked to sell a pig, he replies, I am keeping
it in case of the death of any of my friends." A pig is usually
slaughtered and eaten on the last day of the ceremonies, and its
head thrown into the nearest stream or river. A native will
sometimes appear intoxicated on these occasions, and, if blamed
for his intemperance, will reply, " Why ! my mother is dead !"
as if he thought it a sufficient justification. The expenses of
funerals are so heavy that often years elapse before they can
defray them.
316 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
A CURIOUS INSECT.
IN the Angola country there is found a very singular insect,
which inhabits trees of the fig family. Seven or eight of these
small bugs cluster around a spot, generally on a small branch of
the tree, and there keep up a constant distillation of a clear fluid
which, dropping to the ground, forms a little puddle below. If
a vessel is placed under them in the evening it will contain three
or four pints of fluid in the morning. Naturalists assert that the
water thus obtained is really the tree sap which these insects, by
a process they do not attempt to explain, draw from the tree,
but Livingstone, after making many experiments, denies this,
and says the fluid is undoubtedly obtained by a condensation of
the atmosphere, but he does not undertake to explain how it is
done.
AFRICAN ANTS.
AT Tola Mungongo, about four hundred miles east of Loanda t
Livingstone's attention was called to a peculiar red ant that in-
fests that part of the country. He accidentally trod upon one of
their nests, and hardly an instant seemed to elapse before a sim^
ultaneous attack was made on various parts of his body, up the
trousers' legs from below and on his neck and breast above. The
bites of these, furies were like sparks of fire, and the only means
of ridding himself of them was by hurriedly removing his cloth-
ing and picking them off one by one. It is astonishing how such
small bodies "can contain such an amount of ill-nature. They
not only bite, but twist themselves round after the mandibles are
inserted, to produce laceration and pain, more than would be
effected by the Dimple bite. They are very useful in consuming
the dead animal matter of the country, and when they visit
human habitations they clean them entirely of the destructive
white ants and other vermin. The severity of their attacks ia
greatly increased by their vast numbers, and rats, mice, lizards,
and even the great python when in a state of surfeit from recent
feeding, fall victims to their fierce onslaught. When an ox ia
slaughtered, the natives are compelled to build fires around the
carcass to prevent the red ants from devouring it.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 317
FATAL SUPERSTITIONS.
IN the Cassanga country, which adjoins that of Mungongo, the
people are extremely superstitious, and pray to a god whom they
call Buriino. They believe that the spirits of the dead, instead
of taking up their abode in remote regions, remain always with
the tribe and spend their time in vexing the living. A person
accused of witchcraft must consent to undergo the ordeal of
drinking a tea made from an infusion of a poisonous tree ; if the
first dose nauseates and causes the stomach to reject it, the
accused must drink again, so that death is certain. The same
superstitious ideas being prevalent through the whole of the
country north of the Zambesi, seems to indicate that the people
must originally have been one. In sickness, sacrifices of fowls
and goats are made to appease the spirits. It is imagined that
they wish to take the living away from earth and all its enjoy-
ments. When one man has killed another, a sacrifice is made,
as if to lay the spirit of the victim. A sect is reported to exist
who kill men in order to take their hearts and offer them to the
Barimo. The chieftainship is elective from certain families.
Among the B&ngalas of the Cassange valley the chief is chosen
from three families in rotation. A chief's brother inherits in
preference to his son. The sons of a sister belong to her brother ;
and he often sells his nephews to pay his debts. By this and
other unnatural customs, more than by war, is the slave-market
supplied. The prejudices in favor of these practices are very
deeply rooted in the native mind. Even at Loanda they retire
out of the city in order to perform their heathenish rites without
the cognizance of the authorities. Their religion, if such it may
be called, is one of dread. Numbers of charms are employed to
avert the evils with which they feel themselves to be encompassed.
DREAD OF WHITE MEN.
AMONG nearly all the nations of South Africa the sight of a
white person excites terror. In the villages the dogs run away
with their tails between their legs, as if they had seen a lion.
The women peer from behind the walls ^11 he comes near them,
318 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
and then hastily dash into the house. When a little child, uncon-
scious of danger, meets you in the street, he sets up a scream at
the apparition, and conveys the impression that he is not far
from going into fits. Among the Bechuanas Livingstone was
often obliged to reprove the women for making a hobgoblin of
the white man, and telling their children that they would send
for him to bite them.
AFRICAN DANDIES.
ON a- rivulet called Tamba, Livingstone foand a people of a
light olive color, who were timid and civil. They file their teeth
to a point, which makes the smile of the women frightful, as it
reminds one of the grin of an alligator. Many of the men are
dandies ; their shoulders are always wet with the oil dripping
from tlieir lubricated hair, and everything about them is orna-
mented in one way or another. Some thrum a musical instru-
ment the livelong day, and when they wake at night proceed at
once to their musical performance. Many of these musicians
are too poor to have iron keys to their instruments, but make
them of bamboo, and persevere, though no one hears the music
but themselves. Others try to appear warlike t>y never going
out of their hut except with a load of bows and arrows, or a gun
ornamented with a strip of hide for every animal they have shot ;
and others never go anywhere without a canary in a cage. Ladies
may be seen carefully tending little lap-dogs, which are intended
to be eaten. Their villages are generally in forests, and com-
posed of groups of irregularly-planted brown huts., with banana
and cotton trees and tobacco growing around. Round baskets
are laid on the thatch of the huts for the hens to lay in, and on
the arrival of strangers, men, women, and children ply their call-
ing as hucksters with a great neal of noisy haggling ; all their
transactions are conducted with civil banter and good temper.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM A BUFFALO.
LIVINGSTONE tarried a few days with his good friend Shintc,
already spoken of, and then began a descent of the Leeba river.
This is a beautiful stream, and aside from its tranquil, clear
bosom, its banks are adorned with a rich and varied vegetable
THE WORLD'S WONDEKS. 319
production, while game is found in great abundance. As they
arrived at a village on the river banks, several of the inhabitants
came out and entreated Livingstone to attack a herd of buffaloes
that were then feeding in the village garden, and so tame were
the animals that he was able to come within six yards of them.
His arm was so badly disabled by the lion bite already described,
that he could shoot only with the greatest effort and uncertainty,
which made him a very inferior shot. Presently he saw a large
buffalo running directly toward him, evidently with hostile inten-
tions. He glanced around, but the only tree on the plain was a
hundred yards off, and there was no escape elsewhere. He there-
fore cocked his rifle, with the intention of giving the buffalo a
steady shot in the forehead when he should come within three or
four yards. The thought flashed across his mind, " What if your
gun misses fire?" 'He placed it to his shoulder as the brute came
on at full speed, and that is tremendous, though generally he is
a lumbering-looking animal in his paces. A small bush and
bunch of grass fifteen yards off made him swerve a little, and
exposed his shoulder. Livingstone fired j and heard the ball
strike, at the same time falling flat on his face. The pain must
have made the buffalo renounce his purpose, for he bounded
close past and on to the water, where he was found dead.
CAPSIZED BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS.
UPON reaching Libonta in the Makololo country, and the neigh-
boring villages, Livingstone was received with manifestations of
much joy by the simple-hearted natives. There were some awk-
ward scenes at this reception, however ; several of the Makololos
who had left their wives to accompany him to Loanda, upon re-
turning now found them remarried and not a few had children
to show by their new husbands. But as polygamy is almost
universally practiced among all African tribes, their feelings are
naturally blunted in regard to such things, and they are but little-
thought of.
Livingstone left Naliele on the 13th of August, and while pro-
ceeding along the shore at midday a hippopotamus struckthe canoe
with her forehead, lifting one-half of it quite out of the water.
320
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
so as nearly to overturn it. The force of the butt tilted Mash-
auana, one of the natives, out into the river ; the rest sprang to
the shore, which was only about ten yards off. Glancing back,
Livingstone saw the hippopotamus come to the surface a short
way off, and look to the canoe, as if to see if she had done mgch
mischief. It was a female, whose young one had been speared
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 321
the day before. No damage was done except wetting their per-
sons and goods. The attack was so unusual an occurrence, when
the precaution is taken to coast along the shore, that the men
exclaimed, "Is the beast mad?" There were eight in the canoe
at the time, and the shake it received shows the immense power
of this animal in the water.
THE WONDERFUL VICTORIA FALLS.
LIVINGSTONE continued down the river, and being in the vicin-
ity of Victoria Falls resolved to visit them. The Leeba river had
no\v given place to the Leeambye, which is further east called
the Zambesi, all being one and the same, only called differently
by the natives of the northeast, south, central and eastern tribes.
Approaching to where the rapids begin he saw an island quite
large enough for a considerable town, and upon going ashore he
found the grave of a chief, named Sekote, ornamented with
seventy large elephant tusks planted round it with the points
turned inward. This was an indication of his wealth and great-
ness.
The falls of Victoria, called by the natives Mosioatunya, or
more anciently Shongwe, were not far off, and on the following
day he pushed on with only one native as a guide, and soon came
near enough to see five great columns of vapor ascending and
moving off like smoke, descending again in torrents of rain upon
a thick covert of trees a mile or more distant. Describing this
sight and the falls, Livingstone says :
* * * No one can imagine the beauty of the view from
any thing witnessed in England. It had never been seen before
by European eyes ; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed
upon by angels in their flight. The only want felt is that of
mountains in the background. The falls are bounded on three
sides by ridges 300 or 400 feet in height, which are covered with
forest, with the red soil appearing among the trees. When about
half a mile from the falls, I left the canoe by whjch we had come
down thus far, and embarked in a lighter one, with men well
acquainted with the rapids, who, by passing down the centre of
the stream in the eddies and still places caused by many jutting
322
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 323
rocks, brought me to an island situated in the middle of the river,
and on the edge of the lip over which the water rolls. In com-
ing hither there was danger of being swept down by the streams
which rushed along on each side of the island ; but the river was
now low, and we sailed where it is totally impossible to go when
the water is high. But, though we had reached the island, and
were within a few yards of the spot, a view from which would
solve the whole problem, I believe that no one could perceive
where the vast body of water went ; it seemed to lose itself in
the earth, the opposite lip of the fissure into which it disappeared
being only 80 feet distant. At least I did not comprehend it
until, creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large
rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zam-
besi, and saw the stream of a thousand yards broad leap down
a hundred feet, and then become suddenly compressed into a
space of fifteen or twenty yards. The entire falls are simply a
crack made in a hard basaltic rock from the right to the left
bank of the Zambesi, and then prolonged from the left bank
away through thirty or forty miles of hills."
These falls are, without doubt, one of the greatest natural
curiosities on the earth, and should they ever become accessible
to the civilized world, they will attract millions of tourists and
pleasure seekers. Victoria Falls may in truth be designated as
one of the " World's Wonders."
After indulging in a long view of the falls, measuring the
stream, and estimating the character of the surrounding soil for
garden purposes, Livingstone planted some peach and apricot
seeds, and some coffee grains, on the little island shown in the
illustration, and then proceeded on his journey to the east coast,
CURIOUS FRIENDSHIP AMONG ANIMALS AND BIRDS.
ON the Kolomo river he saw an elephant which had no tusks,
a sight quite as rare in Africa as it is to see one with tusks in
Ceylon. The elephant was extremely wary and made off with
great haste at sight of the men. Buffaloes were plentiful, and
shooting into a herd, Livingstone brought one down ; the others,
not perceiving their enemy, tried to gore their wounded comrade,
324 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
and in so doing actually lifted him with their horns and bore him
a considerable distance. All wild animals usually gore a wounded
.companion and expel it from the herd; even zebras bite and
kick a diseased one. This instinct is a wise provision of nature
to prevent any but the perfect and healthy from propagating
their species.
Among the great numbers of buffaloes Livingstone noticed
that nearly every animal was attended by a peculiar bird, which
served the double purpose of ridding them of insects and sound-
ing an alarm when danger threatened. Rhinoceri were also
plentiful, and these, too, were followed by a companion-bird,
which seemed attached to the huge beast out of pure affection,
for owing to its hard, hairless skin it is not much troubled with
insects.
One species of this bird possesses a bill of a peculiar scoop or
stone forceps form, as if intended only to tear off insects from
the skin ; and its claws are as sharp as needles, enabling it to
hang on to an animal's ear while performing a useful service
within it. This sharpness of the claws allows the bird to cling
to the nearly insensible cuticle without irritating the nerves of
pain on the true skin, exactly as a burr does to the human hand.
THE MOTHER ELEPHANT AND HER CALF.
ONE evening, on the Zambesi, Livingstone shot an elephant
and on the following day, while his men were cutting it up, great
numbers of the villagers came to enjoy the feast. They were on
the side of a tine green valley, studded here and there with trees
and cut by numerous rivulets. Livingstone had retired from the
noise, to take an observation among some rocks of laminated
grit, when he beheld an elephant and her calf at the end of the
valley, about two miles distant. The calf was rolling in the
'mad, and the dam was standing fanning herself with her great
ears. As he looked at them through his glass, he saw a long
string of his own men appearing on the other side of them,
while one of the men came and told him that these had gone off
saying, '* Our father will see to-day what sort of men he has
got." He then went higher up the side of the valley, iu on :
Tttfi WORLD'S WONDER^. 325
to have a distinct view of their mode of hunting. The beast,
totally unconscious of the approach of an enemy, stood for some
time suckling her young one, which seemed about two years old ;
they thea went into a pit containing mud, and smeared themselves
all over with it, the little one frisking about his dam, flapping his
ears and tossing his trunk incessantly, in elephantine fashion.
She kept flapping her ears and wagging her tail, as if in the
height of enjoyment. Then began the piping of her enemies,
which was performed by blowing into a tube, or the hands closed
together, as boys do into a key. They called out to attract the
animal's attention,
" O chief! chief ! we have come to kill you.
O chief! chief! many more will die besides you, etc.
The gods have said it," etc., etc.
Both animals expanded their ears and listened, then left their
bath as the crowd rushed toward them. The little one ran for-
ward toward the end of the valley, but, seeing the men there,
returned to his dam. She placed herself on the danger side of
her calf, and passed her proboscis over it again and again, as if
to assure it of safety. She frequently looked back to the men,
who kept up an incessant shouting, singing, and piping ; then
looked at her young one and ran after it, sometimes sideways, as
if her feelings were divided between anxiety to protect her off-
spring and desire to revenge the temerity of her persecutors.
The men kept about a hundred yards in her rear, and some that
distance from her flanks, and continued thus until she was obliged
to cross a rivulet. The time spent in descending and getting up
the opposite bank allowed of their coming up to the edge, and
discharging their spears at about twenty yards distance. After
the first discharge she appeared with her sides red with blood,
and, beginning to flee for her own life, seemed to think no more
of her young. Livingstone sent word to spare the calf. It ran
very fast, but neither young nor old ever enter into a gallop ;
.'their quickest pace is only a sharp walk. Before the messenger
could reach them, the calf had taken refuge in the water, and
was killed. The pace of the d:im gradually became slower. She
326 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
turned with a shriek of rage, and made a furious charge back
among the men. They vanished at rigl;t angles to her course, or
sideways, and, as she ran straight on, she went through the
whole party, hut came near no one except a man whB wore a
piece of cloth on his shoulders. Bright clothing is always dan-
gerous in these cases. She charged three or four times, and,
except in the first instance, never went farther than 100 yards.
She often stood after she had crossed a rivulet, and faced the
men, though she received fresh spears. It was by this process
of spearing and loss of blood that she was killed ; for at last,
making a short charge, she staggered round and sank down dead
in a kneeling posture.
ADVENTURES WITH WILD ANIMALS.
CHANGING his course to get back to the Zambesi river, Living-
stone reached a great plain covered with broad-leaved bushes, in
which he found elephants so numerous that several times he had
to shout and fire his gun in order to frighten them out of the
path so as to enable his party to get through. At an open space
a herd of buffaloes came trotting up to the oxen, and were only
driven away after Livingstone had shot one of their number.
The elephants were generally good-natured, but at one place a
female with three young ones of different sizes charged through
the center of the extended line and produced a panic ; one of the
men was courageous enough, however, to thrust a spear into her
side which caused her to retreat without doing any injury.
Along the Zambesi Livingstone found enormous flocks of
water-fowl, chiefly geese and ducks, which, having never been
hunted, were exceedingly tame, and might have been killed with
stones. This great game country, which perhaps excels that of
any other section of Africa, was near the conjunction of the
Kaf ue with the Zambesi river.
SUPERSTITION RESPECTING ALBINOS.
OCCASIONALLY white or albino children are born in Africa, and
they are regarded with dread and superstition. Livingstone
relates that during the time he resided at Mabotsa, a woman
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 327
came to the station with a fine albino boy. The father had
ordered her to throw him away, but she e^ung to her offspring
for many years. He was remarkably intelligent for his age.
The pupil of the eye was of a pink color, and the eye itself was
unsteady in vision. The hair, or rather wool, was yellow, and
the features were those common among the Bechuanas. Some
time after Livingstone left the place the mother is said to have
become tired of living apart from the father, who refused to
have her while she retained the son ; so she took him out one day
and killed him close to the village.
In some tribes a case of twins renders one of them liable to
death ; and an ox, which, while lying in the pen, beats the ground
with its tail, is treated in the same way. It is thought to be call-
ing death to visit the tribe. If a fowl crows before midnight, it
is guilty of " tlolo," and is killed. Livingstone's men often
carried them sitting on their guns, and if one began to crow in
a forest, the owner would give it a beating, by way of teaching
it not to be guilty of crowing at unseasonable hours.
SETTLING DISPUTES.
LIVINGSTONE says that only on one occasion did he ever wit-
ness anything like a fist-tight between natives. An old woman,
standing by his camp, continued to belabor a good-looking young
man for hours with her tongue. Irritated at last, he uttered
some words of impatience, when another man sprang at him,
exclaiming, " How dare you curse iny Mama?' " They caught
each other, and a sort of pushing, dragging wrestling-match-
ensued. The old woman who had been the cause of the affray
wished Livingstone to interfere, and the combatants themselves
hoped as much ; but he preferred to remain neutral, and allow
them to fight it out. It ended by one falling under the other,
both, from their scuffling, being in a state of nudity. They
picked up their clothing and ran off in different directions, each
threatening to bring his gun and settle the dispute in mortal com-
bat. Only one, however, returned, and the old woman continued
her scolding till the men, fairly tired of her tongue, ordered her
to be gone. Their disputes are usually condupted with great
328 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
volubility and noisy swearing, but they generally terminate by
both parties bursting into a laugh.
PECULIARITIES OF THE BATOKA TRIBE.
THE Batokas inhabit a part of the country near the Kafue
river. They are friendly, and came out in great numbers to see
the white man, bringing with them presents of corn and provis-
ions. The men go entirely naked. They walk about without the
smallest sense of shame. They have even lost the tradition of
the " fig-leaf." Livingstone asked a fine, large-bodied old man
if he did not think it would be better to adopt a little covering.
He looked with a pitying leer, and laughed with surprise at being
thought at all indecent ; he evidently considered himself above
such weak superstition. It was regarded as a good joke when
Livingstone told them that if they had no other clothing, they
might put on a bunch of grass.
Their mode of salutation is quite singular. They throw them-
selves on their backs on the ground, and, rolling from side to
side, slap the outside of their thighs as expressions of thankful-
ness and welcome, uttering the words " Kina bomba." Living-
stone says that this method of salutation was to him very
disagreeable, and he never could get reconciled to it. He would
call out, " Stop, stop; don't do that;" but they, imagining he
was dissatisfied, only tumbled about more furiously, and slapped
their thighs with greater vigor.
"A chief named Monze came to us one Sunday morning,"
says Livingstone, "wrapped in a large cloth, and rolled himself
about in the dust, screaming Kina bomba/ as they all do. The
sight of great naked men wallowing on the ground, though
intended to do me honor, was always very painful : it made me feel
thankful that my lot had been cast in such different circumstances
from that of so many of my fellow-men. One of his wives
accompanied him : she would have been comely if her teeth had
been spared ; she had a little battle-axe in her hand, and helped
her husband to scream. She was much excited, for she had
never seen a white man before 1
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
320
ADVENTURE WITH THUEE BUFFALOES.
One day, in passing through some thick trees and brush, Liv-
ingstone and his men were surprised by the sudden appearance
II
St,,, . J. '-, '.,%. .. ,: ..,. /I
yz
1
of three buffaloes, which had scented them, and imagining they
were surrounded, dashed through the lines. Livingstone's ox
330 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
set off at a gallop, and when he could manage to glance back he
saw one of the men up in the air about five feet above a buffalo,
which was tearing along with a stream of blood running down
his flank. The poor fellow alighted on his face, and though he
had been carried on the horns of the buffalo about twenty yards
before getting the final toss, the skin was not pierced nor was a
bone broken. When the beasts appeared, he had thrown down
his load and stabbed one in the side. It turned suddenly upon
him, and before he could use a tree for defense, carried him off.
His bruises were dressed, and in about a week he was able to
perform his customary duties.
COMPLETING THE JOURNEY.
SHOOTING of elephants, rhinoceri, and hyenas was a daily
occurrence, but no special incident took place until they reached
Tete, which is on the Zambesi, about three hundred miles from
the coast. Here Livingstone was greatly astonished to find a
Portuguese fort and settlement, and his reception was of the
most cordial character. The commandant provided every dainty
that was procurable, and lodged his guest and his entire party in
the best possible manner.
After resting a few days a canoe was* obtained, and eight of
the men accompanied Livingstone to Quilimane, on*the seacoast,
paddling the canoe down the Zambesi. One of the men, old
Sekwebu; had become so attached to his white friend that he
begged to accompany him to England, and Livingstone finally
consented, at the same time warning him that he might die if he
went to so cold a country. " That is nothing," replied Sekwebu ;
" let me die at your feet."
They sailed on the brig " Frolic," and reached Mauritius on
the 12th of August, 1856. Sekwebu was picking up English and
'becoming a favorite with both men and officers. He seemed a
little bewildered, everything on board a man-of-war being so new
and strange ; but he remarked to Livingstone several times,
"Your countrymen are very agreeable," and "What a strange
country this is all water together!" When they reached the
Mauritius a steamer came out to tow them into the harbor. The
MOULD'S WONDERS. 331
Constant strain on his untutored mind seemed now to reach a
climax, for during the night he became insane. He had descended
into a boat, and when Livingstone attempted to go down and
bring him into the ship, he ran to the stern and said, " No ! no !
it is enough that I die alone. You must not perish ; if you
cornel shall throw myself into the water." The officers pro-
posed to secure him by putting him in irons ; but, being a gen-
tleman in his own country, Livingstone objected, knowing that
the insane often retain an impression of ill treatment, and he
could not bear to have it said in Sekwebu's country that he had
chained one of the principal men as they had seen slaves treated.
In the evening a fresh accession of insanity occurred ; he tried
to spear one of the crew, then leaped overboard, and, though he
could swim well, pulled himself down hand under hand by the
chain cable. They never found the body of poor Sekwebu.
.LIVINGSTONE'S
SECOND EXPEDITION
CHAPTER XVHI.
NOBLE PURPOSES OF A GREAT MAN.
THE sixteen years which Livingstone had spent in Africa served
to largely increase the spirit of adventure which first led him to
renounce the influences of civilization for the barbarous regions
of an unknown country. He was restless in England, and longed
to return and continue the labors he had begun in Africa. He
Tttfi WORLD'S woxofiftfl.
longed to strike a death blow to the accursed slave trade, which
at that time existed in nearly all parts of Africa, destroying
happy families, debasing and degrading the people, and keeping
up a constant state of alarm which rendered futile all efforts to
civilize or Christianize the natives. He had witnessed happy
domestic scenes in Africa, and the good of that people lay close
to his great heart.
THE WOULD g WUNDERS. 33o
To give expression to his wishes he wrote several papers to the
English Geographical Society, and proposed an expedition to the
Zambesi, with the avowed double intention of promoting com-
mercial intercourse with the interior natives and suppressing, as
far as possible, the infamous slave-trade, which flourished
throughout Africa to the disgrace of the civilized world. He
also wished to make the Zambesi a highway by which commerce
and Christianity could pass into the interior of the country.
A considerable fund was raised, one gentleman contributing
$5,000, to aid the expedition, which was organized and set sail
on the 10th of March, 1858. Livingstone was accompanied by
his wife, also his brother Charles, and Dr. Kirk, superintendent
of the Kew Gardens, London. They embarked on the steamer
Pearl, and carried with them a steam launch, in sections. Arriv-
ing at the mouth of the Zambesi, the launch was put together,
and in this an ascent of the river was begun. Owing to several
sand-bars in the lower end of the Zambesi, after penetrating a
few miles it was found that a lateral stream, named the Kongone,
was more easily navigated, and into this the launch was turned.
The banks of this stream, which is a branch of the Zambesi,
were lined with a profusion of tropical growth, mangroves,
screw-palms, and climbing plants, which imparted a most pictur-
esque and charming view.
LAUGHING RATS.
ONE hundred miles from the Zambesi's mouth Livingstone
discovered the river Shire, which was such a considerable stream
that he ascended it several hundred miles, until he entered a large
lake, to which he gave the name Nyassa. He coasted the lake a
distance of nearly two hundred miles, and found it to be a basin
into which a great portion of Central Africa is drained. He
found the slave-trade flourishing here to a fearful extent, pro-
moted by continual wars, in which all prisoners on either side
were reduced to slavery. Criminals were also sold into slavery.
From Lake Nyassa the expedition returned down the Shire to
Vfazaro, where they camped two days, preparatory to following
p the Zambesi. During this stop they were grievously annoyed
334 THE WORLD'S WONDERS..
by a singular species of rat, whose continual laughing was sorely
perplexing and uncanny. They were so numerous that at night
sleep was impossible, on account of their boldness in scampering
over the men, and their loud, unceasing " he ! he ! he !" almost
exactly like a human laugh. Any effort to get rid of them was
certain to be followed by a most diabolical " he-he-iug," so weird
as to be suggestive of the infernal regions,
AMONG ELEPHANTS.
LIVINGSTONE was now in the elephant country again, and every
day there was some adventure with these animals. One morning
the launch ran into a herd that was bathing in the river, and
so frightened were they that'a young one was caught. Its
screams attracted the dam, which came immediately to the rescue
of her calf ; but ropes were thrown over the little one so quickly,
while the vessel moved off rapidly, that she was left behind. The
little fellow was brought on board and soon became quite friendly,
but, unfortunately, one of the natives employed on the boat had
cut its proboscis during the capture, from which it died after
several days.
On the same day a large female elephant was killed, and as it
was then growing late a halt was made for the night. The ele-
phant was cut up, a big fire lighted, and a royal feast began.
Says Livingstone : " We had the elephant's forefoot cooked for
ourselves in native fashion. A large hole was dug in the ground,
in which a fire was made: and when the inside was thoroughly
heated, the entire foot was placed in it, and covered over with
the hot ashes and soil ; another fire was made above the whole,
and kept burning all night. We had the foot thus cooked for
breakfast next morning, and found it delicious. It is a whitish
mas;;, slightly gelatinous, and sweet, like marrow. A long march,
jto prevent biliousness, is a wise precaution after a meal of ele-
phant's foot. Elephant's trunk and tongue are also good, and,
after long simmering, much resemble the hump of a buffalo and
the tongue of an ox; but all the other meat is tough and, from
its peculiar flavor, only to be eaten by a hungry man. The quan-
tities of meat our men devour is quite astounding. They boil as
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
335
much as their pots will hold, and eat till it becomes physically
impossible for them to stow away any more. An uproarious
dance follows, accompanied with stentorian song ; and as soon as
they have shaken their first course down, and washed off the
s\teat and dust of the after performance, they go to work to
roast more ; a short snatch of sleep succeeds, and they are up
and at it again ; an night long it is boil and eat, roast and devour,
with a few brief interludes of sleep.
336 THE WORLD'S WOXDEKS.
The Portuguese had introduced rum into the country through
which they were now traveling, in connection with the slave
trade, and its painfully degrading effects were manifested among
the people. One chief remarked that the white men were greatly
favored by their God, who was so kind as to send them guns
and powder from heaven, and to cause rivers of rum to flow
,through their country all the year round. He said he would
like to live on the banks of such a river.
WILD DOGS.
THE expedition proceeded up the river above three hundred
miles, to the head of navigation, and from thence by oxen, don-
keys, and on foot to a place near Bazizulu, where there is a very
dense jungle. Here the attention of Charles Livingstone was
attracted by a ferocious yelping, like dogs fighting. Proceeding
forward to locate the sound, he was astonished to behold a troop
of dogs wrangling over the remains of a buffalo, which they had
killed and nearly devoured. This was a strange sight, for wild
dogs were not previously known. This singular animal has a
large head and jaws of great power ; the ears are long, the color
black and yellow in patches, with a white tuft at the tip of the
tail. They hunt their game in packs, and perseveringly follow
the animal they first start till they bring him down. The Balala
of the Kalahari desert are said to have formerly tamed them and
to have employed them to hunt. An intelligent native at Kolo-
beng remembered when a boy to have seen a pack of the dogs
returning from a hunt in charge of their masters, who drove them
like a herd of goats, and for safety kept them in a pit.
A HIPPOPOTAMUS ATTACKED BY ALLIGATORS.
THE explorers continued their journey along the banks of tho
Zambesi until the Zongwe river was reached, up which they went
by canoes nearly fifty miles, then crossed the country to Victoria
Falls. Being now in the Makololo country, Livingstone's first
inquiries were for Sekeletu and the fate of the Mabotso mission.
The report was most discouraging, for Sekeletu was fatally
afflicted with leprosy and his power among the tribe whollv lost
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 337
by reason of his helpless condition, his people believing him to
be bewitched. Mr. Helmore and his wife, who had succeeded
Livingstone at the Mabotse mission, had both died of fever, and
there was now scarcely a remembrance left of his labors among
the Makololo tribe.
There was nothing now to detain him in that country, as the
fate of the mission destroyed all hope of any good coming from
further Christian labors in that district ; so they visited Victoria
Falls and then by canoe descended the rapids. We give a bird's-
eye view of these wonderful falls on page 562, showing the
very singular condensed and winding form of the river after its
plunge down the precipice. This is one of the most remarkable
curiosities of nature, even surpassing Niagara Falls or the won-
ders of the Yellowstone region. While going down the stream,
which is considered very dangerous, an old native offered his>
services to pray for their safe passage for a small remuneration,
which was, however, declined, and when the canoes safely
descended through the chasm of boiling water, there was great
surprise manifested by the natives. Upon reaching a flat place
under the cliffs where an eddy was formed, a large herd of hip-
popotami, thirty or more in number, were found sporting ; while
a number of native boys were amusing themselves by pelting
them with stones. The native canoemen were afraid to pass
through the herd, declaring that there was a certain old bull who,
from anger or viciousness, would attack canoes if run in among
them. Livingstone, to frighten the animals, killed one, which
floated off but was caught a short distance below. An effort was
made to drag it from the water, but at this moment the huge car-
cass was attacked by a dozen or more alligators, and despite the
throwing of stones, shooting and shouting, the ferocious reptiles
dragged the hippopotamus away and feasted upon it.
Directly after this incident a fine water-buck was shot while
drinking from the river ; the animal fell and was instantly seized
by a crocodile, but being only wounded it regained its feet,
though still held by the reptile, and for some minutes there was
a dreadful contest. The water-buck got away, however, but as
338 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
it attempted to swim the stream, another crocodile seized it and
dragged it under.
A few nights afterward, while encamped on a small stream,
they were aroused by a scream of anguish, and quickly running
to the bank of the river, they found that a woman had been
caught by a crocodile ; they seized a boat and pushed off to the
rescue, but just as they were almost within reach of the unfor-
tunate woman, she gave a fearful shriek : the horrid reptile had
snapped off her leg at the knee. Mangled and fainting she was
carried to the village and her limb bandaged, but she soon died.
RETURN TO LAKE NYASSA.
LIVINGSTONE journeyed about one hundred miles west of Vic-
toria Falls, then retraced his steps, varying his route by a few
short detours, to Lake Nyassa, which he desired to more fully
explore. A considerable boat was constructed and ah effort made
to cross the lake, but a storm arose and for six hours threatened
their boat with destruction and forced them to return. The
country lying north of the lake is mountainous, but well suited
for agriculture, and occupied by a tribe of Zulus. These people
own large herds of cattle and are constantly increasing in num-
bers by annexing other tribes. Referring to this fact, Living-
stone says : " Never before in Africa have we seen anything like
the dense population on the shores of Lake Nyassa. In the
southern part there was an almost unbroken chain of villages.
On the beach of wellnigh every little sandy bay, dark crowds
were standing, gazing at the novel sight of a boat under sail ;
and wherever we landed we were surrounded in a few seconds by
hundreds of men, women, and children, who hastened to have a
stare at the chirombo ' (wild animals). To see the 'animals'
feed was the greatest attraction ; never did the Zoological So-
ciety's lions or monkeys draw more sight-seers than we did.
Indeed, we equaled the hippopotamus on his first arrival among
the civilized on the banks of the Thames.
" How far is it to the end of the lake?' we inquired of an
intelligent-looking native at the south part. * The other end of
the lake!' he exclaimed, hi real or well-feigned astonishment ;
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 339
' who ever heard of such a thing? Why, if one started when a
mere boy to walk to the other end of the lake, he would be an
old, gray-headed man before he got there. I never heard of such
a thing being attempted.' '
This answer indicates how little the tribes of Central Africa
travel. The end of the lake was not more than one hundred
miles from the place where this ignorant native resided, and yet
neither he nor any of his companions had any idea of the dis-
tance, having lived and fished all their lives in one place.
DEATH OF MRS. LIVINGSTONE.
LIVINGSTONE'S exploration of the lake extended from Septem-
ber 2 to October 27, 1861, when, having expended or lost most
of his goods, it was necessary to go back to the ship. He did
not return again to the lake, but established several missions and
devoted himself to freeing slaves, being now in a country where
slavery appeared to be the principal occupation of the natives.
There was incessant war, one tribe preying upon another, cap-
turing and selling, massacreing and burning, until barbarity
could go no further. Fever broke out among the party on board
the vessel, and became exceedingly virulent and obstinate. About
the middle of April Mrs. Livingstone was prostrated by this dis-
ease ; and it was accompanied by obstinate vomiting. Nothing
is yet known that can allay this distressing symptom, which of
course renders medicine of no avail, as it is instantly rejected.
She received whatever medical aid could be rendered from Dr.
Kirk, but became unconscious, and her eyes were closed in the
sleep i)f death as the sun set on the evening of the Christian
Sabbath, the 27th of April, 1862. A coffin was made during the
night, a grave was dug next day under the branches of the great
baobab-tree, and with sympathizing hearts the little band of his
countrymen assisted the bereaved husband in burying his dead.
At his request, the Rev. James Stewart read the burial service ;
and the seamen kindly volunteered to mount guard for some
nights at the spot where her body rests in hope. Those who are
not aware how this brave, good English wife made a delightful
home at Kolobeng, a thousand miles inland from the Cape, and
340 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
as the daughter of Moffat and a Christian lady exercised most
beneficial influence over the rude tribes of the interior, may
wonder that she should have braved the dangers and toils of this
down-trodden land. She knew them all, and, in the disinterested
and dutiful attempt to renew her labors, was called to her rest
instead.
EXPLORATION OF THE ROVUMA RIVER.
IT was Livingstone's intention to launch a steam vessel on Lake
Nyassa, and he had one built for this purpose, but when ready the
Shire river had fallen so low that the attempt had to be aban-
doned. Learning from some natives that the Eovuma river had
its source in Lake Nyassa, he determined to explore that stream.
So preparations were made for a final departure from the Zam-
besi. Upon reaching the mouth of the Rovuma, they found the
stream too shallow to admit anything but small, flat-bottomed
crafts, which, fortunately, they had brought with them. In three
light-draught sail-boats they began an ascent of the river. There
was a fertile valley reaching several miles on each side near the
mouth, but as they proceeded inland, hills arose, until at several
places the river ran zig-z;ig through a deep cut which was almost
like piercing a mountain. There was an utter absence of game
and the natives were far from friendly. While passing by an
island, several natives appeared armed with bows and muskets
and demanded toll ; a long parley ensued in which Livingstone
understood that he would have to either pay toll or fight ; he paid
the toll, thirty pieces of cloth, but had proceeded less than a mile
when another party attacked the boats ; bullets fairly riddled the
sails, but a few well-directed volleys from the boats dispersed
the enemy with some loss.
I The expedition ascended a distance of one hundred and fifty-
six miles, and then found the river so narrow and obstructed by
dangerous cataracts, that it was necessary to return, much to
their disappointment, as they had not gained any particularly
valuable information concerning its source. Crocodiles are scarce
in the Rovuma, on account of being hunted so persistently by
tbe natives, who relish their meat * English do roast beef, while
THE WORLD'S WOSTDERS. 341
crocodile eggs are considered even more delicious, tasting some-
thing like hen's eggs, with a slight flavor of custard.
There is only one other animal whose habitat is near the Ro-
vuma that the natives make any show of hunting, viz : the seuze,
which in size equals our domestic cat, but in shape somewhat
resembles a pig or peccari. It keeps from sight in dense reeds,
where it feeds on succulent young vegetable growths, and perhaps
also on snakes and toads. The natives set fire to the reeds dur-
ing the dry season, and as the seuze rush out to escape a scorch-
ing they are speared or shot in great numbers.
TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF SLAVERY.
THEY now descended the Rovuma to their large vessel, and
returned to the Zambesi, hoping that by this time the Shire river
would be navigable for the steam launch. While proceeding up
the Zambesi several natives were employed as sailors, and thou-
sands offered their services for a few pieces of cloth. Owing to a
severe drought in the country between Luputa and Kebrabosa,
the people were driven to the woods by hunger, where they were
subsisting on such wild fruits as the country afforded. Game
was abundant, but the natives are such poor hunters that they
cannot depend upon it.
The Shire river having risen so as to promise successful navi-
gation, on January 10, 1863, they departed from Shupanga.
They had scarcely got well into the river before .they became wit-
nesses of the dreadful atrocities being then perpetrated by a chief
named Mariano. He was a Portuguese slave-agent, and had
invaded the country, capturing slaves, burning villages, killing
and robbing the people. Says Lfvingstone :
"Dead bodies floated past us daily, and in the mornings the
paddles had to be cleared of corpses, caught by the floats during
the night. For scores of miles the entire population of the
valley was swept away by this scourge, Mariano. The sight and
smell of dead bodies was everywhere. Many skeletons lay beside
the path, where in their weakness they had fallen and expired.
The corpse of a boy floated past the ship ; a monstrous crocodile
rushed at it with the speed of a greyhound, caught it, and shook
342 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
it as a terrier does a rat. Others dashed at the prey, each with
his powerful tail churning the water into froth as ho furiously
tore off a piece. In a few seconds it was all gone. The sight
was fearful to behold."
So numerous were the reptiles that Livingstone counted sixty.
seven lying on a single bank. One of the men, in reaching down
to dip up a cup of water, was seized, but fortunately he grasped
a tree branch and held fast, while the ferocious reptile tugged
desperately to drag him into the water. The crocodile did not
release its hold until it had terribly gashed and lacerated the
man's hand.
The little steamer was taken by water within thirty-five miles
of Lake Nyassa, and there she was taken apart, having been
constructed in sections so as to be portable. It was neces-
sary, however, to cut a road through the intervening forests,
which required great labor and patience, so many trees having to
be felled and stones removed. The object of placing this boat
on the lake was to use her as a corvette in breaking up the slave-
trade, and carrying ivory, and in opening up a commercial route
to the sea by way of the Rovuma river. The vessel was carted
half the distance, when Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone became
so ill from dysentery that they were compelled to abandon the
expedition and return to England ; Dr. Livingstone was also
attacked and reduced to a mere skeleton. In addition to these
troubles, the lack of food was seriously felt, and a number of the
carriers deserted. Against all these annoyances Livingstone
struggled, but he found, as the road became more difficult, that
it would be impossible to convey the boat to the lake, and rather
than lose her by the desertion of his carriers, he had the vessel
carried back and floated in the Shire.
He could not endure the idea of returning without seeing more
of the lake, and he therefore left a dozen of his party in charge
of the vessel while, with twice as many more, he went on to the
lake and followed its banks until within sight of the head waters,
which were very shallow. He noted many small streams on the
left bank flowing into the lake, but no considerable river. He
remained in the vicinity.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS* 343
Speaking of the results of his second expedition, Livingstone
says : " We opened a cotton-field, which, taking in the Shire and
Lake Nyassa, was 400 miles in length. We had gained the con-
fidence of the people wherever we had gone ; and a new era had
commenced in a region much larger than the cotton-fields of the
Southern States of America." His hopes for the future of that
country, however, were not fulfilled, and it is yet almost as wild
and barbarous as when he visited it, the curse of slave-hunting
seeming to rest upon it from generation to generation.
LIVINGSTONE'S
THIRD EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XIX.
SEARCH FOR THE NILE'S SOURCE.
SOON after his return from Africa, in '1864, Livingstone was
apprised of the results of Speke and Grant's discoveries, and
upon reading their journals was impressed with a belief that they
had not found the true source of the Nile, which he thought must
be in a chain of lakes lying south of Victoria N'Yanza. Revolv-
ing the matter much in his own mind, he soon concluded to visit
Africa for the third time, to test the claims put forth by Speke
and Grant and to make other explorations.
It chanced that at this time the government of India desired to
present to the Sultan of Zanzibar the steamer Thule, which had
344 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
belonged to Captain Osborne's Chinese fleet, but was no longer
required in that service. Dr. Livingstone was commissioned to
make the formal presentation, and just previous to his departure,
Sir Bartle Frere gave him a note to the Sultan, warmly com-
mending him to his Excellency and begging the favor that the
distinguished traveler might be assisted in making a journey into
Central Africa. With these advantages he set sail for Zanzibar
in the steamer Thule and after a voyage of twenty-three days
from Bombay, landed his vessel January 23, 1866, and reported
to the Sultan who was representing the Arabian government.
Dr v . Livingstone was cordially received by the Sultan, and also
by Dr. Seward, acting British consul at Zanzibar. The presen-
tation of the steamer was made according to the terms of his
commission, before a gathering of English officers from the
steamers Wasp and Vigilant, which were lying off the port, and
so pleased was the Sultan that he not only was ready to fulfill the
request of Sir Bartle Frere, but his kindness went so far as to
'offer Livingstone a vessel, crew and provisions, and to give him
any protection which the Arabic arms could afford.
A stay of nearly two months was made at Zanzibar, outfitting
and perfecting details for the contemplated march, Livingstone
being provided with a handsome house in the meantime and his
desires carefully attended to. On March 18th he arranged witl.
a Banian who farmed the custom-house revenue, to send a sup-
ply of beads, cloth, flour, tea, coffee and sugar to Ujiji, on Lake
Tanganika, with a man to remain in charge of the goods on their
arrival. Ujiji was made a principal base for supplies, and the
first journey was therefore directed toward that place.
The steamer Penguin was placed at his disposal, and on March
19th he set sail for the Rovuma river. On the following day the
river was reached, where a dhoW (a coasting vessel of East
Africa) was in waiting to receive the animals which Livingstone
took with him for riding and as beasts of burden ; these com-
prised six camels, three buffaloes and a calf, two mules and four
donkeys. The men in his company consisted of thirteen Sepoys,
ten Johanna men, nine Nassick boys, two Shupanga men, and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 345
others, members of interior tribes, making forty in all. Several
of these had accompanied Livingstone on his second journey, and
were of the greatest service to him.
LANDING THE ANIMALS.
OWING to shallow water and extremely miry banks he found it
quite impossible to land his animals at the Rovuma, and had to
search for a safer spot, which, he at length found at Mikindamy
Bay, which lies twenty-five miles north of Rovuma. The animals
were so badly bruised by being tossed about in the dhow, that a
rest was necessary before starting for the interior. Twenty
natives were engaged here to carry some of the burdens, and
saddles were made for the camels and donkeys. During this
delay a buffalo gored one of the donkeys so badly that it had to
be shot, which was a loss much to be deplored, as no other animal
is so well suited for carrying purposes in Africa.
It was not until April 6th that the expedition started for the
interior along the Rovuma valley.
BURNING A LEOPARD.
ON the 23d they passed a spot where, on the previous night, a
leopard had been burned. Upon questioning the natives, Liv-
ingstone found that it was the custom to burn the bodies of
leopards that are killed, but to preserve the skins. The reason
which they gave for not eating the flesh, as nearly all other tribes
do, is that the leopard devours men ; this shows the opposite of
an inclination to cannibalism.
Upon reaching the Makoa country, a queer people were met
with, quite unlike those of any tribe toward the south. The
men have their faces thickly tattooed in double raised lines of
about half an inch in length. After the incisions are made char-
coal is rubbed in and the flesh pressed out, so that all the cuts
are raised above the level of the surface. The women are gen-
erally tall and well-made, with fine limbs and feet, and are pro-
fusely tattooed all over ; even the hips and buttock are elaborately
marked, no shame being felt at an exposure of those parts.
34(5
WORLD'S WONDERS.
TERRIBLE COMBAT WITH A LEOPARD.
ON May 21st, while they were encamped, a leopard slipped in
among the tents and caught a little dog which Livingstone had
brought with him. Its yelps and agonizing cries awakened him,
and hto rushed out0f his tent in time to catch a glimpse of the
retreating leopard as it made off with the dog. Mentioning the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 347
incident at the next village, winch was near, the natives related
an adventure which some of them had had with perhaps the same
leopard on that day. Having lost many of their goats and calves
by wild animals, a spring-gun was set by the natives, near which
a small goat was tied so that any attempt to seize the goat would
fire the gun. After waiting several hours, five of the natives
went to see the result, but as they approached, one of them,
being in advance, was attacked by a large leopard that leaped
upon his shoulder and with the utmost ferocity began to tear him
with its huge claws. The suddenness of the attack prevented
him from using his spear, and he would have been torn to pieces
in a moment except for the assistance of his comrades, who,
hearing his agonized screams, ran to his assistance, and after a
terrible battle, in which several of them were wounded, they suc-
ceeded in dispatching the brute with their spears. It was one of
the largest of its species, and being pressed with hunger, was
doubtless in the act of springing upon the decoy goat when the
man appeared, and it at once directed its fury against him. The
men who had slain the leopard had suddenly become heroes in
the eyes of their countrymen, and the lofty manner in which
they strutted about showed how much they appreciated their
honors.
STRANGE CUSTOMS.
THE cattle of Africa are like the Indian buffalo, only partially
tamed ; they never give their milk without the presence of the
calf , or its stuffed skin, the "fulchan." The women adjacent
to Mozambique partake a little of the wild animal's nature ; for,
like most members of the inferior races of animals, they refuse
all intercourse with their husbands when enceinte, and they con-
tinue this for about three years afterward, or until the child is
\veaned, which usually happens about the third year. Living-
stone was told, on most respectable authority, that many fine
young native men marry one wife, and live happily with her till
this period ; nothing will then induce her tocontinue to cohabit
with him ; and as the separation is to continue for three years,
the m an is almost compelled to take up with another wife : this
348 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
was mentioned as one of the great evils of society. The same
absurdity prevails on the West Coast, and there it is said that
the men acquiesce from ideas of purity.
The beasts o burden which had been bitten by the tsetse fly,
continued to droop and die, while one of the camels was beaten to
death by the Sepoys, who proved to be the most worthless and
irresponsible people Livingstone had ever met with. Their con-
duct was so bad, and they were so lazy and worthless, that he
$vas finally obliged to discharge and send them back.
HORRIBLE SCENES.
THEY were now Hearing Lake Nyassa, a fact which became
evident from the number of slave parties that were met on the
route, whose tallow marks showed that they came from the region
of the Lake. Livingstone's journal shows the following entry
on June 19th : " We passed a woman tied by the neck to a tree,
and dead. The people of the country explained that she had
been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, and her
master had determined that she should not become the property
of any one else if she recovered after resting for a time. I may
mention here that we saw others tied up in a similar manner, and
one lying in the path shot or stabbed, for she was in a pool of
blood. The explanation we got invariably was that the Arab
who owned these victims was enraged at losing his money by the
slaves becoming unable to march, and vented his spleen by mur-
dering them. A poor little boy with prolapsus ani was carried
yesterday by his mother many a weary mile, lying over her right
shoulder the only position he could find ease in ; an infant at
the breast occupied the left arm, and on her head were carried,
two baskets. The mother's love was seen in binding up the part
when we halted, while the coarseness of low civilization was
evinced in the laugh with which some black brutes looked at the
sufferer."
HABITS OF THE NATIVES.
THE natives about Metaba are more intelligent than those found
farther east on the Rovuma, and their appearance is not at all
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 349
displeasing. Stone boiling is unknown in their country, but
ovens are made in ant-hills. Holes are dug in the ground for
baking large heads of game, such as of zebras, the feet of ele-
phants, and humps of the rhinoceros. In the production of fire
they use two sticks, which are usually carried with them, one of
which has a hole through the center. They wet the blunt end of
the upright stick with the tongue and dip it in the sand to cause
some particles of silica to adhere before inserting it in the hori-
zontal piece, which they then rub briskly. The wood of a cer-
tain wild fig-tree is esteemed as yielding fire readily. In wet
weather they usually carry fire in the dried balls of elephant's
dung.
The country is generally beautiful, but the curse of slave-
trading had blighted it until at the time Livingstone passed
through, famine and starvation were rife ; skeletons by the way-
side, and slaves in galling yokes dying for want of food. He
mentions having met with a number of slaves, all yoked together,
that had been abandoned by their captors to die of starvation ;
some of them were already in an unconscious condition from
want of food, and others barely able to raise their heads from the
ground. It was a shocking sight, but only one of a thousand
such.
CARRIED OFF BY A LION AND A CROCODILE.
LIVINGSTONE reached Lake Nyassa at the confluence of the
Misinje on August 8th, having surmounted many obstacles, not
the least of which was a distressing scarcity of food. He passed
around the south end of the Lake and was most hospitably en-
tertained at all the villages. So dense is the population that there
is a succession of villages with scarcely any break or line of sep-
aration between them. At a village called Mponda he found an
Arab party with nearly eight hundred slaves confined in a pen
made of dura stalks ; nearly all of them were in the taming stick
except the boys, who were tied together by a thong passing round
their necks.
Livingstone remained two days at Mponda ; on the morning of
the second day a woman was found in a bush by the village who
350 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
had been killed by a lion and more than one-half eaten. It is n
common occurrence for women and children to be carried off by
lions in this vicinity, the beasts being much encouraged in their
attacks bj the cowardice of the na{iyes, who never hunt them.
Two days later a native drank so much beer that he went to sleep
near the edge of the lake and was seized by a crocodile and car-
tried off. A great wail was raised by his wives, of which he pos-
sessed twenty, and this was kept up for several days.
AFRICAN IRON FURNACES.
THE people about the lake are much engaged in iron working,
though their furnaces and smithies are extremely crude. There
is an abundance of iron ore in the district, but it is not rich.
Livingstone watched a founder Drawing off slag from the bottom
of a furnace, which process he describes in the following manner :
" He broke through the hardened slag by striking it with an iron
instrument inserted in the end of a pole, when the material
flowed out of the small hole left for the purpose in the bottom of
the furnace. The ore (probably the black oxide) was like sand,
and was put in at the top of the furnace, mixed with charcoal.
Only one bellows was at work, formed out of a goat-skin, and
the blast was very poor. Many of these furnaces, or their re-
mains, are met with on knolls ; those at work have a peculiar!}
tall hut built over them."
Hoes and spears are the articles chiefly manufactured, the for-
mer being generally supplied with two handles so that it may be
worked by two persons at the same time. The people are good-
looking and friendly. They do not commonly wear the lip-ring,
but submit to what must be keen torture, in ornamenting thc-ir
arms, which are covered with large, ridge scars, lattice shaped,
extending also to the back and shoulders, which are produced by
deep gashing, the wounds being afterward irritated to prevent
quick healing.
INHUMANITY AND SUPERSTITION.
THE people who live about the northern shores of the lake,
while friendly and in a measure industrious, are most inhuman
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
351
and superstitious. They usually have a store-house in some large
hill, where grain is kept but not touched except in case of war ;
over this store-house they place a cow, which occupies a shed on
the summit of the hill ; the people believe that this cow will in-
dicate, by lowing, when an enemy is near, and will bring good
influences in case of war. Their inhumanity extends to selling
their own people, and even their children. Livingstone, upon
352 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
remonstrating with an old chief for selling his subjects to the
Portuguese and Arabs for slaves, was astonished at the reply,
" Oh, I have too many people, they cause me trouble, and I will
be better off without them."
The helpless children of a mother who dies are left to the mer-
cies of nature only, as no one will care for another's child, except,
sometimes, a near relative. Livingstone mentions seeing a little
child in a village crying and calling its dead mother ; those who
heard it as they passed by, would say, " She is coming,*' but no
one would give it food or shelter, and death from starvation soon
relieved the little sufferer.
THE HONEY-BIRD.
LIVINGSTONE left the banks of Nyassa in November, and took
a course northwest, which led through dense forests, where game
was plentiful but very difficult to come at. Nyassa is 2,600 feet
above sea level, but toward the west the elevation increases to
2,800 feet, and in fifty miles there is a descent into a large valley
of surpassing fertility. The people west of the lake were almost
continually at war, and in consequence provisions could not be
purchased at any price. At one time Livingstone was positively
in fear of starving, being reduced to the most desperate straits.
Fortunately, he encountered some bee-hunters, who were using
the honey-bird as a guide. The bird came quietly with them,
and patiently waited on the limb of a tree while the hunters sat
for half an hour smoking and chatting with Livingstone's men.
This extraordinary bird flies from tree to tree in front of the
hunter, chirruping loudly, and will not be content till he arrives
at the spot where the bees'-nest is ; it then waits quietly till the
honey is taken, and feeds on the broken morsels of comb which
fall to its share. Livingstone followed the bird a mile or more,
and was rewarded with a rich store of honey, enough to appease
the hunger of his men for two days, and until they reached a
village, where an elephant had recently been killed, and a small
quantity of its dried flesh was purchased.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 353
DANGER FROM SERPENTS.
As food was scarce in all the villages, Livingstone could not
stop in any of them, but pushed on where everything appeared
distressingly gloomy. On January 1, 1867, he had reached the
Chambeze river, but now the rains set in, and ten miles a day
was all that could be made, as rank grass obscured the paths,
and even the guides had to depend upon the configuration of the
country. Snakes were numerous, and there was an ever-present
danger lurking in the grass. One morning Livingstone sat down
by a tree, and accidentally glancing down by his side saw a large
cobra, and a little further off a puff-adder, both of which, how-
ever, were somewhat benumbed by the cold.
FAMINE AND A SERIOUS LOSS.
RAIN and hunger now united to stay further progress, and a
less resolute man must have succumbed to these deperate obsta-
cles. On the 20th of January the most serious loss that Living-
stone could sustain befel him : Two Waiyan carriers, who had
served most faithfully for several weeks, deserted, carrying with
them, among other things, the medicine chest; they took also
all the dishes, a large powder-box, two guns, a cartridge-pouch,
and all the tools ; these latter, though of inestimable value in
such a country, could be dispensed with, but in the medicine
chest lay all the hope and possibility of the expedition, for no
constitution can withstand the malarial exhalations of tropical
Africa unaided by that fever specific, quinine Livingstone says :
" I felt as if I had now received the sentence of death."
MEETING WITH CHIEF CHITAPANGWA.
LIVINGSTONE came upon a small stream called the Lopiri, a
branch of the Chambeze, on the last day of January, and follow-
ing it down some distance he entered a village over which Chita-
pangwa, sometimes called Motoka, was ruler. Fish were very
plentiful in the Lopiri, and this fact mainly induced Livingstone
to make a short stay in the village, where he supposed food
must be procurable. Entering the place he was gladdened by
the sight of a party of Arabs, who were upon the point of going
354 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
to Zanzibar for supplies. He sent by these men for coffee,
candles, sugar, quinine, calomel, resin of jalap, and some other
things, to be forwarded to TJjiji, but only with a slight hope that
the articles would reach him, as the Arabs were unfriendly to
Livingstone's purposes.
Chitapangwa, who was a great chief among his people, was
not long in seeking an audience with his white guest, whose goods
he appeared very anxious to inspect. The first meeting was a
very friendly one, during which Chitapangwa gave Livingstone a
large cow, and begged him to remain several days in his country.
On the following day, however, when the cow was about to be
slaughtered, one of the chief's head men objected, saying that a
blanket must first be given ; as Livingstone had no blanket that
he could spare, a long palaver took place, which resulted in the
cow being sent back, and Livingstone's party had either to fast
or eat dried hippopotamus meat, that was anything but appetizing.
At his next audience with the chief, Livingstone declared his
intention to go a little way east to buy goats, but at this Chita-
paugwa appeared angry, and said that he would give the cow
first offered, which was finally brought and slaughtered. Chita-
pangwa was a singular creature, so jolly in his intercourse and
full of good promises, but provokingly chary about fulfilling
them. He wanted cloths, which were given to the value of two
or three cows ; but he still demanded a blanket, and was so per-
sistent that he refused Livingstone permission to depart until a
well-worn blanket belonging to one of the men was given him.
He had an idea that Livingstone's purpose in visiting his country
was for individual gain, and upon being assured that there was
no selfish object connected with the expedition, he pulled down
-the underlid of his eye exactly like some of our precocious lads
Iwhen they ask, " Do you see anything green in my eye?" Liv-
ingstone finally obtained the confidence and good-will of the
chief, who then declared that he had given the cow in the first
place as an evidence of his friendship ; that he had instructed
his head man to ask for a blanket, but in case this was refused
to give the cow anyhow, and beg the white man to send any
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 355
pretty thing which he might have. This explanation Livingstone,
of course, had to accept, though he knew it to be a falsehood.
He remained three weeks, and on taking leave Chitapangwa gave
him a brass knife with ivory sheath, and sent some of his men
to accompany him and show the way to Lake Tanganika, which
was nearly two hundred miles distant.
ARRIVAL AT LAKE TANGANIKA.
THE country was somewhat more open on the route north than
that which Livingstone had pasr.ed through to reach Chitapangwa's
village, but food continued scarce. At Moamba, a village about
twenty miles north of Chitapangwa's, and ruled over by that
chief's brother, Livingstone was well received and provided with
meat and guides, much to his surprise, for it had been repre-
sented that here he would meet with hostility. Upon leaving this
place food again became scarce, and to add to his troubles he was
attacked with fever. Wearied, sick and hungry, he still con-
tinued his journey, sustained wholly by his wonderful will power ;
and on March 31st he came in sight of Lake Tanganika. So
mountainous are its shores, that from the point where he first
observed the lake he had to descend two thousand feet before
reaching the level of the water. It seemed about twenty miles
broad, and in the view of thirty miles northward he could see
four different rivers pouring their waters into it. After.a fort-
night's stay on the lake Livingstone writes of it as follows :
"Its peacefulness is remarkable, though at times it is said to be
lashed up by storms. It lies in a deep basin, whose sides are
nearly perpendicular, but covered well with trees; the rocks
which appear are bright-red argillaceous schist; the trees at
present all green : down some of these rocks come beautiful cas-
cades, and buffaloes, elephants, and antelopes wander and graze
on the more level spots, while lions roar by night. The level
place below is not two miles from the perpendicular. The village
(Pambete), at which we first touched the lake, is surrounded by
palm-oil-trees not the stunted ones of Lake Nyassa, but the
real West Coast palm-oil-tree, requiring two men to carry a bunch
of the ripe fruit. In the morning and evening huge crocodiles
356 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
may be observed quietly making their way to their
grounds ; hippopotami snort by night and at early morning."
THE LAKE PEOPLE.
THE Balungu people, who inhabit the south shores of the lake,
are exceedingly affable, and would be superior subjects for the
civilizing influences of missionaries, were it not for their cowardice
and laziness. The Mazitu tribe attack theiri very often, and take
their women and children captives without meeting any resist-
ance. Their politeness, however, is remarkable ; in marching
with them they labor incessantly to promote the comfort of
strangers, and bow and salute on every occasion, like the most
fastidious Frenchman.
There is nothing interesting in a heathen town. All are busy
in preparing food or clothing, mats or baskets, while the women
are cleaning or grinding their corn, which involves much hard
labor. They first dry this in the sun, then put it into a mortar,
and afterward with a flat basket clean off the husks and the dust,
and grind it between two stones ; the next thing is to bring wood
and water to cook it. The mode of salutation among relatives
is to place the hands round each other's chests, kneeling; they
then clasp their hands close to the ground. Some more abject
individuals kiss the soil before a chief ; the generality kneel only,
with the forearms close to the ground, and the head bowed down
to them, saying, " O Ajadla chiusa, Mari a bwino." The Usanga
say, "Aje senga." The clapping of hands to superiors, and
even equals, is in some villages a perpetually-recurring sound.
Aged persons are usually saluted : how this extreme deference to
each other could have arisen cannot be conceived; it does not
seem to be fear of one another that elicits it. Even the chiefs
{inspire no fear, and those cruel old platitudes about governing
savages by fear seem unknown, yet governed they certainly are,
and upon the whole very well.
A WEDDING IN AFRICA.
LIVINGSTONE'S intention was to pass along the lake coast, but
from this purpose he was persuaded by a report that a powerful
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
357
chief, named Nsama, was at war with the Arabs under Hamees,
and that between these two he would be certain to fall into diffi-
culty. To evade these hostile people, he turned southwest,
intending to make a circuit back to the lake. The country
through which he was now traveling was very fertile, and the
food supply of every village was abundant ; but this lasted for
358 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
u distance of only fifty miles, when it was necessary, in making
a detour, to pass through the village of Hara, in the Itawa
country, which had recently been burned by Hamees ; here they
were so near Nsama that he heard of Livingstone's being in his
vicinity, and sent for him to visit him at his new stockade, about
five miles from Hara, but to bring no guns. Livingstone com-
plied with the request, and was received becomingly, except that
the chief insisted on searching his person to see if any arms were
concealed. The Arabs had defeated him in a desperate battle,
and though previously Nsama had been regarded as invincible,
now his influence was almost destroyed. Yet, for commercial
purposes, Hamees desired to make peace with him, and came to
Hara to cement the friendship by marrying one of his daughters.
The proposal was not readily acceded to, and the people were
sorely concerned as to the outcome. In the midst of these
doubts, however, a daughter of Nsama came riding piok-a-pack
on a man's shoulder into Hara, to be a wife and sacrifice herself
for the sake of peace. She was a nice, modest, good-looking
young woman, her hair rubbed all over with grease and a red
pigment made from the cam-wood, and much used as an orna-
ment. She was accompanied by a dozen young and old female
attendants, each carrying a small basket with some provisions
cassava, ground-nuts, etc. The Arabs were all dressed in their
finery, and the slaves, in fantastic costumes, flourished swords,
fired guns, and yelled vociferously. When she was brought to
Hamees' hut she descended from her perch, and with her maids
passed in at the door. She and her attendants had all small,
neat features. Livingstone had been sitting beside Hamees, and
as he got up and walked away he heard the Abrab chief say to
himself, " Hamee wadini Tagh I " "See to what you have
brought yourself." This completed the marriage ceremony.
Nsama's people have generally small, well-chiseled features,
and many are really handsome, and have nothing of the. West
Coast Negro about them ; but they file thtir teeth to sharp points,
and greatly disfigure their mouths. The only difference between
them and Europeans is the color. Many of the men have very
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 359
finely-formed heads, and so have the women ; and the fashion of
wearing the hair sets off their foreheads to advantage. The
forehead is shaved off to the crown, the space narrowing as it
goes up.
THE VILLAGE OF CASEMBE.
DURING his stay at Hara, which was really enforced by pro-
tracted rains, Livingstone gained the friendship of Hamees, and
when ne left the village on the 22d of September, he was accom-/
panied by several Arabs, while Hamees followed a short distance,
and then supplied guides to take him to Lake Moero. The journey
thence was through a beautiful country, very thickly populated,
but the natives were so terror-stricken at the sight of guns, owing
to the recent Arab incursions and battles, that they would not
stop to barter, but ran off and hid themselves ; thus food was
somewhat difficult to obtain ; fortunately, however, a considerable
amount was brought along.
Beaching the Kalongi river the natives were more friendly dis-
posed, and as the river teemed with fish, there was feast succeed-
ing a famine. Rapid progress was now made, and on November
1st the village of Casembe was entered, to the great delight of
the tired travelers. Casembe is a term applied to both village
and governor, or, literally, General. Just before Livingstone's
arrival there had been an interregnum in the rulership, the old
Casembe having recently died. As the son or heir does not suc-
ceed to the chieftainship, the village was without a ruler for
nearly a year before a new Casembe was selected to succeed the
dead chief.
The plain extending from the Lunde river to Casembe is level,
and studded thickly with red-ant hills, from fifteen to twenty
feet high. The chief's residence is inclosed in a wall of reeds,
eight or nine feet high and three hundred yards square ; the
gateway is ornamented with about sixty human skulls ; a shed
stands in the middle of the road fronting the gate, under which
is a cannon ornamented with gaudy cloth. A number of noisy
fellows tried to stop Livingstone and his party and compel them
to pay a tribute for the cannon, but they burst through without
360 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
regarding the demand. Mohamid bin Saleh, the Arab leader at
this place, met Livingstone and gave him a reception by firing
guns, then ledjiis party to a large shed for further ceremonies,
such as bowing, firing salutes, rubbing elbows, etc. After this
a large hut was given Livingstone for his residence until others
could be built. The town is a headquarters for the Arab slave-
trade, and there is a very large stockade for slaves, which Liv-
ingstone found full.
Many of the Casembe people appeared with their ears cropped
and hands lopped off. Upon inquiring the cause, Livingstone
was told that it was the practice of the Casembe to mutilate his
subjects for petty offenses, and sometimes merely to gratify his
barbarous inclination.
AFRICAN POMP AND SPLENDOR.
THE third day after his arrival, Livingstone was tendered a
reception by the Casembe, who was seated in grea^t state in front
of his council chamber, while his principal chiefs squatted on the
ground around him. A " tom-toming " was kept up by two
musicians on native drums, while Casembe's wives danced up to
Livingstone with small branches of trees in their hands, with
which they swept the ground as they bowed before him. One of
the principal officers was instructed to present the white guest
with an elephant's tusk, as an evidence of the great esteem with
which he was regarded. The affair was one of the most stately
that Livingstone had ever witnessed in Africa, and he describes
the incident and the people at some length.
"The present Casembe," says Livingstone, "has a heavy,
uninteresting countenance, without beard or whiskers, and some-
what of the Chinese type, and his eyes have an outward squint.
He smiled but once during the day, and that was pleasant enough,
though the cropped ears and lopped hands, with human skulls at
the gate, made me indisposed to look on anything with favor.
His principal wife came with her attendants, after he had de-
parted, to look at the Englishman (Moengerese). She was afine,
tall, good-featured lady, with two spears in her hand. The prin-
cipal men who had come around made way for her, and called on
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS-.
361
me to salute ; I did so ; but she, being forty yards off, I invol-
untary beckoned her to come nearer : this upset the gravity of
all her attendants : all burst into a laugh, and ran off.
"Casembe's smile was elicited by a dwarf making some un-
couth antics before him. His executioner also came forward to
look: he had a broad Lunda sword on his arm, and a curious
362 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
scissor-like instrument at his neck for cropping ears. On saying
to him that his was nasty work, he smiled, and so did many who
were not sure of their ears a moment ; many men of respecta-
bility show that at some former time they have been thus pun-
ished. Casembe's chief wife passes frequently to her plantation,
carried by six, or more commonly by twelve, men in a sort of
palanquin : she has European features, but light-brown complex-
ion. A number of men run before her, brandishing swords and
battle-axes, and one beats a hollow instrument, giving warning to
passengers to clear the way ; she has two enormous pipes ready
filled for smoking. She is very attentive to her agriculture ;
cassava is the chief product, but they also raise sweet-potatoes,
maize, sorghum, millet, ground nuts and cotton. The people
seem more savage than any I have yet seen ; they strike each
other barbarously from mere wantonness, but they are civil
enough to me."
THE TROGLODYTES.
LIVINGSTONE took leave of Casembe on December 22d, and on
January 1st, after a severe journey through dreadful bogs,
reached Moero Lake, which lies in a basin surrounded by the
Rua Mountains. Its shape is almost circular, wit't a diameter of
about fifty miles. Numerous villages line its shores, and large
game, such as buffaloes, elephants, zebras, lions and leopards,
abound.
In the vicinity of Moero are found that singular race or species
known as Troglodytes, which, like the bat, are impossible of
classification. They live in under-ground houses along the Rua
Mountain sides for twenty miles or so. In some cases the door-
ways are level with the adjacent country, while a ladder is used
in reaching others. Generally, these habitations are caves, a
singularly large number of which are found in the Rua Mountains,
but not a few are artificial excavations.
Livingstone had left Casembe with the assurance of his guides,
that they should reach Ujiji within a month, but the rains wer&
so incessant that traveling was nearly impossible for several
months, and necessitated a stay in the vicinity of Lttt
WONDE&S.
and Casembe for nearly four months. During this time, how-
ever, he was not entirely idle, but went from village to village as
far as the floods would permit. At a small place, called Mofwe,
he found an Arab digging and fencing up a well, to prevent his
slaves from being taken away by crocodiles ; this precaution was
not thought of until after he had lost three slaves. The coun-
try, being almost covered with water, was badly infested by
crocodiles ; while the wild animals were driven from their accus-
WILD ANIMALS DRIVEN TO HIGH GROUND BY THE FLOODS.
tomed haunts and forced to seek refuge on hills, knolls, and other
high places. Their terror seemed to rob them of their fierce
propensities and natural instincts, and lions, hyenas, leopards,
antelopes, monkeys, and other animals were often seen huddled
close together in small dry spots, without any attempt of the
strong and ferocious to attack the weak and defenceless. Such
scenes were very remarkable and made Livingstone think of the
time when " the lion and + u lamb shall lie down together."
364 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
CHAPTER XX.
PUNISHMENT FOR UNFAITHFULNESS*
IT was not until the first of June that the floods had subsided
sufficiently to admit of a resumption of the journey, which was
now to be directed toward Lake Bangweolo, of which Living-
stone had heard much. As he was upon the point of leaving
Casembe, he was struck by the sight of a sub-chief's wife, who
was uncommonly good-looking, in a slave chain-gang. Enquiry
elicited the fact that she had been sold for unfaithfulness ; her
husband, Kapika, was an old man, while she was both youthful
and pretty ; her offense, therefore, was but the counterfeit of
what we frequently see among civilized people who are similarly
mis-mated.
The case of the chieftainess excited great sympathy among the
people ; many brought her food, and one man offered to redeem
her with three slaves. The matter was finally brought before
Casembe, but this chief, owing to the fact that he himself was an
old man having a pretty young wife, declared that ten slaves
could not redeem the faithless woman. He pronounced this
judgment with a scowl and looked at his own wife at the same
time.
On the sixth day after leaving Casembe, a small party of na-
tives was met, carrying a dead lion slung across a pole. The
lion had killed a man and it was being taken to Casembe for
judgment ; its mouth was carefully strapped and the paws tied
tightly across its chest. Some of the lions of this district stand
more than five feet high, and are nearly as large as a buffalo.
JOY AMONG SLAVES.
ONE day Livingstone met a gang of slaves being driven along
the path, and some of them were singing as if they did not feel
the weight and degradation of the slave-sticks. Livingstone
asked the cause of their mirth, and was told that they rejoiced
at the idea " of coming back after death, and haunting and kill-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. f 365
ing those who had sold them." Some of the words he had to
inquire about; f or instance, the meaning of the words " to haunt
and kill by spirit power;" then it was, " Oh, you sent me off
to Manga (sea-coast), but the yoke is off when I die, and back I
shall come to haunt and to kill you." Then all joined in the
chorus, which was the name of each vendor. It told not of fun,r
but of the bitterness and tears of such as were oppressed.
Kapika's wife was among the slaves, and she was asked if she
would return to kill Kapika. Her heart was evidently sore : for
a lady to come so low down is to her grievous. She had lost her
jaunty air, and with her head shaved, was ugly ; but she never
forgot to address her captors with dignity, and th'ey seemed to
fear her.
A GRAVE BY THE WAYSIDE.
ON June 25th, Livingstone reached the Luongo Kiver, along
which were several villages, but the people wjere afraid of the
" white man," whose purposes and singular color they could not
comprehend, so that no stop was made among them. Wild beasts
were so numerous and daring in their depredations that the vil-
lages were protected by high hedges. Leaving these villages,
he came to a grave in the forest ; it was a little rounded mound,
,as if the occupant sat in it in the usual native way ; it was strewn
over \Vith flour, and a number of the large blue beads put on it :
a little path showed that it had visitors. " This," says Living-
stone, " is the sort of grave I should prefer : to lie in the still,
still forest, and no hand ever disturb my bones. The graves at
home always seemed to me to be miserable, especially those in
the cold, damp clay, and without elbow-room : but I have
nothing to do but wait till He who is over all decides where I
have to lay me down and die. Poor Mary (his wife) lies on Shu-
panga brae, * and beeks foment the sun.' '
A more pathetic allusion to a sad circumstance was never made
than is contained in these few lines. He must have a hard heart
indeed, who can read them without emotion as he thinks of the
wild, lonesome spot where this noble and courageous woman re-
poses, so far from home and civilization, wrapt in the mysteries
of nature, alone with nature's Hod.
366 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
DISCOVERY OF LAKE BANGWEOLO.
ON July 18th, Livingstone's heart was gladdened by the dis-
covery of Lake Bangweolo, one of the largest bodies of water in
Central Africa, and thirty-six hundred feet above sea level. The
modesty with which he announces this important discovery is re-
markable, after reading Baker and Speke's self-laudations on
similar occasions. Livingstone does not even give " thanks for
being made the instrument in God's hands for exploring this
great lake, and adding so much to the geography of Africa."
His modest announcement is as follows: "Reached the chief
village of Mapuni, near the north bank of Bangweolo. On the
18th I walked a little way out, and saw the shores of the lake for
the first time, thankful that I had come safely hither."
The people living near Bangweolo Lake are called Mboghwa ;
their features would not be unpleasant if they abstained from the
practice of filing'their teeth to a point and tattooing their fore-
heads and chins. Their occupation is chiefly fishing, in which
they show much skill ; a singular thing is the fact that their fish-
hooks are made exactly like those we use in America, excepting
that there are no barbs on them. The shores of the lake being
shallow, many men may be seen on stilts strapped to their knees
on which they wade far out into the water and fish from their
precarious perch.
A very large canoe, capable of carrying twenty men, was en-
gaged by Livingstone, and in this he visited several islands in the
lake, all of which he found thickly inhabited. The lake is com-
puted to be one hundred and fifty miles long, by eighty broad ;
its water is clear as crystal and the bottom is of beautiful white
sand, so that objects are visible at a great depth.
IN TROUBLE.
LIVINGSTONE had gone directly away from Ujiji in proceeding
to Bangw^lo, which is nearly one hundred miles south of Cas-
embe, bud" tne importance of his discovery recompensed him for
the trouble" he had encountered. But when he was about to re-
turn to Casembe, the news reached him that hostilities had broken
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 367
out between the Arabs and natives, under the following cir-
cumstances : The Mazitu tribes had overrun Casembe's territory
and so devastated it that the trade in ivory had been almost
utterly destroyed. To preserve their own interests, therefore,
the Arabs had joined Casembe and defeated the Mazitu with great
slaughter. This success gave the Arabs a hope of finally possess-
ing the entire country, but Casembe soon became aware of their
ambitions, and forming an alliance with another strong chief,
named Chikumbi, the two attacked Kombokombo, an Arab
leader, but were repulsed. There was now fighting on all sides,
so that Livingstone could not hope to go unmolested through so
large a district as lay between him and Casembe.
Shortly after leaving Bangweolo Lake, he was intercepted by
a large body of furious Imbozhwa (Casembe soldiers) who, mis-
taking his party for plunderers, raised their 'spears and were upon
the point of attacking, when an old man who had seen Living-
stone at Casembe, rushed % out in front of his people and ordered
them to desist. It was only by a piece of extraordinary good
fortune that Livingstone was not killed, but on the following day
his party was again besieged by another army of natives under
the false impression that he was heading a crowd of Mazitu, but
for a second time good luck attended him.
On the 23d of September he fell in with some Arab traders and
four hundred Wanyamwezi people, who were trying to get out of
the country, and together they marched northward. In antici-
pation of attacks they built fences each night around their camp
and kept out a sharp watch for enemies until reaching the Kalon-
gosi river, which is the southern boundary of Casembe's territory.
KILLING PRISONERS.
LIVINGSTONE hardly expected an attack after reaching Cas-
embe's country, but in this he was mistaken ; for, on account of
the killing of a woman by an Arab, the Imbozhwa turned out in
strong force and attacked the combined parties of Livingstone,
the Wanyamwezi , and Arabs. A stockade was hastily constructed ,
but this would have afforded little protection had it not been
for the Wanyamwezi, who shot vigorously with their arrows and
368 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
occasionally charged the Imbozhwa. The women went up and
down the village with sieves, as if winnowing, and singing songs
and lullilooing to encourage their husbands and friends who were
fighting: each had a branch of the Ficus Indica in her hand,
which she waved as a charm. About ten of the Imbozhwa were
killed, but dead and wounded were at once carried off by their
countrymen. They continued the assault from early dawn till
1 p. M., and showed great bravery, but they wounded only two
with their arrows. Their care to secure the wounded was admir-
able : two or three at once seized the fallen man, and ran off
with him, though pursued by a great crowd of Wanyamwezi with
spears, and fired at by the Arabs Victoria-cross fellows truly
many of them were ! Those who had a bunch of animals' tails,
with medicine, tied to their waists, came sidling and ambling up
to near the unfinished stockade, and shot their arrows high up
into the air, to fall among the Wanyamwezi, then picked up any
arrows on the field, ran back and returned again. They thought
that by the ambling gait they avoided the balls, and when these
whistled past them they put down their heads, as if to allow
them to pass over: they had never encountered guns before.
When a man was killed and not carried off, the Wanyamwezi
brought his head and put it on a pole on the stockade : six heads
were thus placed. A fine young man was caught and brought in
by the Wanyamwezi ; one stabbed him behind, and another cut
his forehead with an axe. Livingstone called in vain to them
not to kill him. As a last appeal, he said to the crowd that sur-
rounded him, " Don't kill me, and I shall take you to where the
women are." "You lie," said his enemies; "you intend to
take us where we may be shot by your friends ;" and they killed
him.
For two weeks or more the Imbozhwa kept up the siege, and
finally forced the Arabs to restore all the prisoners taken ; but
still they did not leave, and when a small party of Wanyamwezi
went out to feel the enemy they were set upon and driven back.
At length it was decided to quietly abandon the stockade at night,
and under cover of darkness steal away, a stratagem which worked
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 3GU
successfully, and on December llth Livingstone, in company
with the Arabs and their strings of wretched slaves, yoked
together in heavy slave sticks, started for TJjiji. It was with
great disgust and humiliation that he marched with such a motley
crowd, but self-preservation compelled him to, for had he under-
taken to go alone he would certainly have fallen a victim to the
furious hordes which swarmed and plundered the country. For-
tunately, no more enemies appeared to impede the march, but
owing to stoppages on account of escaping slaves, which the
Arabs always tried to recapture, though nearly always in vain,
the journey was a slow one. Many streams had to be waded,
and this, with the worry and lack of rest, brought the fever back
again on Livingstonei
On New Year's day the party came to the Lofuko river, which
they crossed by wading waist deep ; this exposure, in his already
enfeebled condition, caused such severe illness that Livingstone
was unable to march any further. He was attacked by pneumonia
in the right lung, and soon his brain became so affected that he
lost count of the days of the week and mouth. In his delirium
he* fancied himself lying dead on the road to Ujiji. The Arabs
were very kind, however, and carried him for sixteen days, until
they arrived at Tanganika Lake. Here arrangements were at
once made for transporting him by canoe to Ujiji, on the east
side of the lake, more than one hundred miles north of the point
where he now lay.
The Lake air, and some medicine administered by the Arabs,
revived him, and when, on February 27, 1869, he embarked for
Ujiji, he was able to sit up and eat a little gruel. High winds on
the lake proved a serious obstacle, sometimes days being spent
ashore on account of dangerous waves, so that it was not until
March 14th that Ujiji was reached.
Great was his disappointment to find that only a small part of
the goods which he had ordered sent from Zanzibar had reached
Ujiji, the most having been stolen by the Arab who was commis-
sioned to bring them. This was a sad blow, at a time, too, when
his bodily infirmities were so sreat that he had to be assisted to
M
370 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
rise from his bed, yet so infinite was his patience and so strong
his courage, that he mentions the fact only as a passing event,
and hopes on.
Ujiji is an Arab settlement, and Livingstone naturally ex-
pected, in view of the letter which he carried from the Sultan
at Zanzibar, to receive every attention becoming his position, but
instead, so vicious had been the rule of the governor at this place,
that he would allow no one to carry Livingstone's communica-
tions to the coast, lest the injustice, brutality, and corruption of
his rule might be made public. Anxious to communicate with
civilized people, he wrote forty-two letters while in his enfeebled
state, to friends who had not heard from him for years, and
entrusted them to an Arab for conveyance to Zanzibar, but not
one of these precious missives reached its destination.
While at Ujiji Livingstone conceived the idea that the Tan-
ganika was rather the expansion of a river than a lake, an opin-
ion which he formed by observing that there was a current of
about one mile per hour flowing northward. This led him to
suppose that it was connected with the Nile, and that indeed the
large chain of lakes in Central Africa were all connected, and
that the Nile derived its waters from them all. He therefore
determined, as soon as he was able, to explore the region around
Lake Tanganika, going as far south as Lake Bangweolo, and
westward into the Manyuema country, to ascertain if the large
river on that side of Lake Tanganika was the Nile or the Congo.
He sent again to Zanzibar for men and supplies, with little hope,
however, of receiving them.
A JOURNEY INTO THE MANYUEMA COUNTRY.
ALTHOUGH still weak and much reduced in flesh, on the 12th
of July he procured a boat and some rowers, also several carriers,
and crossing Lake Tanganika landed at Kasinge, in pursuance of
his intention to visit the Manyuema country, about two hundred
miles northwest of Ujiji. This was an unexplored district, not
even the Arab traders having ever visited it, chiefly because the
people \vere reputed to be cannibals. Some Arab traders became
so much interested in the proposed trip, that they decided alsp
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 371
to visit the country, since their chief trade in the southwest was
now destroyed, at least for a time, by the wars then waging.
A native of Kasange was engaged by Livingstone to act as
guide, and on August 4 the party started on the land journey.
There was no incident worthy of record until September 2d, when
they reached Katemba, fairly exhausted from continual traveling.
Game was plentiful in the vicinity of Katemba, especially buffa-
loes and elephants. One of the latter was killed, and Living-
stone had the heart cooked for himself, and found it a surpris-
ingly savory dish. On the 9th another stop was made to shoot
elephants and buffaloes, which were so abundant that they were
scarcely ever out of sight from the wayside.
On arriving atBamberre, Livingstone found a singular country
and a curious people. The roadways were all good, and appeared
to have been used for hundreds of years, as indicated by worn
passages in the rocks, sometimes two or more feet deep. The
forests were so dense that nothing but wild animals could pene-
trate them, so that though game is wonderfully plentiful, it is
almost impossible to shoot. The people tattoo themselves with
figures of crocodiles, elephants, and other animals. The houses
are all kept well filled with firewood on shelves, and each has a
bed on a raised platform in an inner room. They were so simple
and unused to strangers that on the appearance of the white
traveler they thought he had come from another world to kill
them. They have little wooden idols and charms, and believe in
the efficacy of the beetle to prevent harm. There is a wood in
this country which, when burned, emits a horrid fecal odor,
and, as Livingstone says, " one would think the camp polluted
if the fire were made of it."
SOLDIER-ANTS.
LIVINGSTONE'S quarters were very comfortable at Manyuema,
and he improved in health and flesh rapidly. The only incon-
venience suffered was from the depredations of soldier-ants, which
filled his hut and not only destroyed every kind of food within
their reach, but at times they would even attack the occupants.
But these ants have deadly enemies in what is called the siruf u
372
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ant, which sometimes swarm into the huts and devour every
soldier-ant in them ; an incident of this kind occurred in Living-
stone's hut, which he describes as follows :
" A whole regiment of soldier-ants in my hut were put into a
panic by a detachment of driver-ants, called siruf u. The chungu,
or black soldiers, rushed out with their eggs and young, putting
them down and running for more. A dozen siruf u pitched on one
chungu, and killed him. The chungu made new quarters for
'themselves. When the white ants cast off their colony of winged
METHOD OF CATCHING ANTS FOR FOOD.
emigrants, a canopy is erected like an umbrella over the ant-hill.
As soon as the ants fly against the roof, they tumble down in a
shower, and their wings instantly become detached from their
bodies. They are then helpless, and are swept up in baskets to
be fried, when they make a very palatable food.'*
The soldier-ants are deadly enemies of the white species, and
if it were not so, the latter would overrun the country, as they
increase with great rapidity. When on their way to attack the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 373
abode of the white ants, they march in a column of three or four
abreast, like soldiers, and are led by several officers, who are
larger than the rest and direct their movements, but never carry
loads. As they approach the homes of their victims, the latter
may be observed rushing about in the greatest alarm. The black
leaders seize the white ants one by one, and inflict a sting, which
seems to inject a portion of fluid similar in effect to chloroform,
as it.renders them insensible, but not dead, and only able to move
one or two front legs. As the leaders toss them on one side, the
rank and file seize them and carry them off.
The natives of nearly all parts of Africa are exceedingly fond
of white ants as a dish* On one occasion, while camping on the
banks of the Zouga, Livingstone was visited by a chief, and as he
was at dinner at the time, he gave him a piece of bread and some
preserved apricots. The chief seemed to relish it very much,
and Livingstone asked him if he had anything equal to that in his
country. "Ah," said he, "did you ever taste white ants?"
Livingstone assured him that he had never tried that delicacy.
"Well, if you had," replied the chief, licking his mouth with
pleasant memories, "you never could have desired anything
better."
AMONG THE TREE DWELLERS.
AFTER more than a month's stay among the Manyuema, chiefly
at Bambarre, Livingstone concluded to explore theLualaba river,
which is a stream of considerable size, flowing through the Man-
yuema country and discharging its waters into Lake Kamalondo,
to the south. On the journey he met with no little opposition
from the natives ; some of these people mistrusted his intentions
and endeavored to turn him back, but great caution prevented a
collision. The women, all of whom are stark naked, appeared
more hostile, or, rather captious, than the men, but a few beads
or other trinkets usually placated them.
Ivory was exceedingly plentiful, and little or no value was
placed upon it by the natives. The Arab traders brought with
them several slaves with the expectation of trading them to the
Manyuernas for ivory, but the latter would have none but female
374 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
slaves, which they desired for wives, and refused to receive a mat
slave even as a present. This was a sore disappointment to the
Arabs, who scarcely knew what to do with their slaves, unless
they liberated them. They finally concluded to go further north
and try traffic with other natives.
Livingstone met with no better success than the Arabs, for
with all his persuasion and proffers of presents, he could not hire
a canoe, and was forced to abandon his intended exploration of
the Lualaba.
The forests which lined the road were exceedingly dense, and
Livingstone noticed that wherever any clearing had been attempted
gigantic grass usurped the place in a very short time ; this grass,
however, is burned frequently. Large trees do not readily suc-
cumb to the fire, but put out new wood below the burnt places.
Upon these Livingstone found large numbers of parrots building
their nests, while above, the natives construct straw huts and live
secure from the attacks of wild animals. The men make a stair
up one hundred and fifty feet by tying climbing plants (called
binayoba) around, at about four feet distance, as steps. Near
the confluence of the Luaino, men build huts on this same species
of tree for safety against the arrows of their enemies.
A SINGING FROG AND FISH THAT GIVE MILK.'
BEING defeated in his purposes of exploring the river, Living-
stone returned to Bambarre, and there joined the Arabs in a
journey to the north. The route lay through a marshy district
and so many streams had to be crossed that fever again attacked
him, which, aided by a severe spell of dysentery, so exhausted his
strength that he could scarcely support himself. They came to
a village among fine gardens of maize, bananas, ground-nuts, and
cassava, but the villagers said, " Go on to next village ;" which
meant, "We don't want you here." The main body of the
Arabs was about three miles in advance ; but Livingstone was so
weak he sat down in the next hamlet, and asked for a hut to rest
in. A woman with leprous hands gave him hers, a nice clean
one, and a very heavy rain came on : of her own accord she pre-
pared dumplings of green maize, pounded and boiled, which are
THE WORLD'S WONDEES. 375
sweet, for she said that she saw he was hungry. Seeing that he
did not eat for fear of the leprosy, she kindly pressed him :
"Eat; you are weak only from hunger; this will strengthen
you." He put it out of her sight, and blessed her motherly
heart.
February 3d Livingstone made the following memoranda :
" Caught in a drenching rain, which made me fain to sit, ex-
hausted as I was, under an umbrella for an hour trying to keep
the trunk dry. As I sat in the rain, a little tree-frog, about half
an inch long, leaped on to a grassy leaf, and began a tune as loud
as that of many birds, and very sweet ; it was surprising to hear
so much music out of so small a musician.'*
After a rest of eight days, during which time he used water
only that had been boiled, and lived principally upon a species of
potatoes called nyumbo, much famed among the natives as a
restorative, Livingstone found his health very much improved.
The village in which he was resting was on the banks of a con-
fluent of the Lualaba, which abounded with fish ; among the sev-
eral species is one called Mamba, which has breasts with milk,
and which utters a peculiar cry. Its flesh is very white and
savory. While here, an elephant was killed which had three
tusks, all of good size ; the third tusk grew out from the base of
the trunk, mid-way between the other two.
On June 26th Livingstone resolved to start again for the Lu-
alaba river by a north-west route, although he had been deserted
by all but three of his followers, Chuma, Susi and Gardner.
His purpose was accelerated by the fact that the Arabs had made
war on the Manyuema people, ostensibly on account of a string
of beads which had been stolen, but really because they could
not trade their men slaves for ivory ; forty of the natives had
been killed and several villages burned. Knowing that general
hostilities would follow, Livingstone decided that Arabs were
bad companions, and that he would be safer alone than with
them. But for once he made a mistake. After traveling several
days, wading rivers breast and neck deep, through awful beds of
mud, over fallen trees and through dense brush, he discovered
376 ! WORLD'S WONDERS.
that the Lualaba did not lay where he expected to find it, but he
had gone far to the north, directly away from the object of his
search. His feet were dreadfully lacerated, and instead of heal-
ing as heretofore, the sores became irritable eating ulcers, s(
painful that it was only by the utmost determination that he
could limp back to Bambarre.
THE MANYUEMA CANNIBALS.
LIVINGSTONE had heard much concerning the cannibal propen.
sities of the Manyuema people, but principally from the tribe&
around Lake Nyassa, so that he was disposed to believe the reports
were little else than traditions, similar to those which asserted
that white men live in the sea, that there is a tribe in North
Africa whose people have tails like cows, and another race that
has four eyes, two in front and two behind, while another race
has but a single eye. Actual contact of several months with the
Manyuema, however, convinced him that the reports he had
received of them were in no wise exaggerated. He says : " On
August 17th, Monayembe, the chief, came bringing two goats ;
one he gave to Mohamad, the other to Moenekuss' son, acknowl-
edging that he had killed his elder brother : he had killed eleven
persons over at Linamo in our absence, in addition to those killed
in villages on our southeast, when we were away. It transpired
that Kandahara, brother of old Moenekuss, whose village is near
this, killed three women and a child, and that a trading man
came over from Kassangangaye and was murdered too, for no
reason but to eat his body. When they tell of eaoh other's deeds
they disclose a horrid state of blood-thirsty callousness. The
people over a hill north-north-east of this killed a person out
hoeing : if a man is alone in the field, he is almost sure of being
slain. Some said that people in the vicinity, or hyenas, stole the
buried dead ; but Posho's wife died, and, in Wanyamesi fashion,
was thrown out of camp unburied. Mohamad threatened an
attack if Manyuema did not cease exhuming the dead. It was
effectual ; neither men nor hyenas touched her, though exposed
now for seven days.
" The head of Moenekuss is said to be preserved in a pot io
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 377
his house, and till public matters are gravely communicated to it,
as if his spirit dwelt therein ; his body was eaten ; the flesh was
removed from the head and eaten too ; his father's head is said to
be kept also. The foregoing refers to Bambarre alone. In other
districts graves show that sepulture is customary, but here no
grave appears : some admit the existence of the practice here
others deny it. In the Metamba country, adjacent to the Lualaba^
a quarrel with a wife often ends in the husband killing her and
eating her heart, mixed up in a huge mess of goats' flesh : this
has the charm character. Fingers are taken as charms in other
parts, but in Bambarre alone is the depraved taste the motive for
cannibalism."
A GORILLA, OR SOKO, HUNT.
FOR a period of eighty days Livingstone was laid up at Bam-
barre by the ulcerations in his feet. The only thing which
afforded the slightest relief was malachite, rubbed down with
water on a stone and applied with a feather. While he was suffer-
ing with this worst of all afflictions, thirty slaves died in Bam-
barre of the same complaint, which shows with what fatality it
attacks the natives.
During his prolonged enforced stay at Bambarre, some natives
went on a gorilla hunt, that animal being quite numerous through-
out the Manyuema country. It is probable, however, that the
gorilla of which Livingstone writes, and which he usually calls a
soko, is a species of chimpanzee, and not the true gorilla, which
is much larger than the animal referred to in the following
description, which he gives of the hunt and the animal;
*' Four gorillas, or sokos, were killed yesterday : an extensive
grass-burning forced them out of their usual haunt, and coming
on the plain, they were speared. They often go erect, but place
the hand on the head, as if to steady the body. When seen
thus, the soko is an ungainly beast. The most sentimental young
lady would not call him a ' dear,' but a bandy-legged, pot-bellied,
low-looking villain, without a particle of the gentleman in him.
Other ahimals are graceful, especially the antelope, and it is
pleasant to see them, either at rest or in motion ; the natives are
378 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
also well made, lithe, and comely to behold, but the soko, if
large, would do well to stand for a picture of the devil. He
takes away my appetite by his disgusting bestiality of appear-
ance. His light-yellow face shows off his ugly whiskers and
faint apology of a beard ; the forehead, villainously low, with
high ears, is well in the back-ground of the great dog-mouth ;
the teeth are slightly human, but the canines show the beast by
their large development. The hands, or rather the fingers, are
like those of the natives. The flesh of the feet is yellow, and
the eagerness with which the Manyuemas devour it leaves the
impression that eating sokos was the first stage by which they
arrived at being cannibals ; they say the flesh is delicious. The
soko is represented by some to be extremely knowing, success-
fully stalking men and women while at their work, kidnapping
children and running up trees with them : he seems to be amused
by the sight of the young native in his arms, but comes down
when tempted by a bunch of bananas, and, as he lifts that, drops
the child : the young soko in such a case would cling closely to
the arm-pit of the elder. One man was cutting out honey from
a tree, and naked, when a soko suddenly appeared and caught
him, then let him go. Another man was hunting, and missed in
his attempt to stab a soko : it seized the spear and broke it, then
grappled with the man, who called to his companions, Soko has
caught me :' the soko bit off the ends of his fingers and escaped
unharmed. Both men are now alive at Bambarre.
" The soko is so cunning, and has such sharp eyes, that no one
can stalk him in front without being seen ; hence, when shot it is
always in the back ; when surrounded by men and nets, he is
generally speared in the back, too ; otherwise he is not a very
formidable beast ; he is nothing,- as compared in power of dam-
aging his assailant, to a leopard or lion, but is more like a man
unarmed, for it does not occur to him to use his canine teeth,
which are long and formidable. Numbers of them come down
in the forest within a hundred yards of our camp, and would be
unknown but for giving tongue like fox-hounds: this is their
nearest approach to speech. A man hoeing was stalked bj a
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
379
soko and seized : he roared out, but the soko giggled and grinned,
and left Lira as if he had done it in play. A child caught up by
a soko is often abused by being pinched and scratched, and letfalL
" The soko kills Ihe leopard occasionally, by seizing both paws
and biting them so as to disable them ; he then goes up a tree,
groans over his wounds, and sometimes recovers, while the leop-
ard dies : at other times both soko and leopard die. The lion
380 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
kills him at once, and sometimes tears his limbs off, but does not
eat him. The soko eats no flesh ; small bananas are his dainties,
but not maize. His food consists of wild fruits, which abound.
The soko brings forth at times twins. A very large soko was
seen by Mohamad's hunters sitting picking his nails: they tried
to stalk him, but he vanished. Some Manyuema think that their
juried dead rise as sokos, and one was killed with holes in his
ears, as if he had been a man. He is very strong, and fears
guns, but not spears ; he never catches women.
" Sokos collect together, and make a drumming noise, some
say with hollow trees, then burst forth into loud yells, which are
well imitated by the natives' embryotic music. If a man has no
spear the soko goes away satisfied ; but if wounded, he seizes the
wrist, lops off the fingers, and spits them out, slaps the cheeks
of his victim, and bites without breaking the skin : he draws out
a spear (but never uses it), and takes some leaves and stuffs
them into his wound to staunch the blood : he does not wish an
encounter with an armed man. He sees women do him no harm,
and never molests them : a man without a spear is nearly safe
from him. They beat hollow trees as drums with hands, and
then scream as music to it : when men hear them, they go to the
sokos, but sokos never go to men with hostility. Manyuema say,
* Soko is a man, and nothing bad in him.'
" They live in communities of about ten, each having his own
female : an intruder from another camp is beaten off with their
fists and loud yells. If one tries to seize the female of another,
he is caught on the ground, and all unite in boxing and biting
the offender. A male often carries a child, especially if they
are passing from one patch of forest to another over a grassy
space ; he then gives it to the mother."
A MARVELOUSLY IGNORANT PEOPLE.
LIVINGSTONE was detained at Bambarre a considerable time,
even after his ulcerated feet had healed, for, since all but three
of his men had deserted, he was forced to send back to Ujiji for
more, expecting now the arrival of those sent for to Zanzibar, aa
before explained ; but he was doomed to sorest disappointment-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 381
Nothing could engage his attention during this long delay except
the habits of the Manyuema, whose characteristics, however,
were striking enough. His journal at Bambarre is therefore
rambling and disconnected, giving information on a variety of
matters just as they chanced to come under his observation, as,
the following will show :
"December 16, 1870. Oh, for Dugumbe or Syde to come !f
(the messengers sent to Zanzibar for men and medicine) but this
delay may be all for the best. The parrots all seize their food
and hold it with the left hand: the lion, too, is left-handed ; he
strikes with the left ; so are all animals left-handed save man.
" I noticed a very pretty woman come past quite jauntily about
a month ago, on marriage with Monasiamba. Ten goats were
given ; her friends came and asked another goat, which, being
refused, she was enticed away, became sick of rheumatic fever
two days afterward, and died yesterday. Not a syllable of regret
for the beautiful young creature does one hear; but for the
goats Oh, our ten goats !' they cannot grieve too much < Our
ten goats oh ! oh !'
" Basanga wail over those who die in bed, but not over those
who die in battle : the cattle are a salve for all sores.
"A man died near this: Monasiamba went to his wife, and
after washing he may appear among men. If no widow can be
obtained, he must sit naked behind his house till some one hap-
pens to die ; all the clothes he wore are thrown away. The man
who killed a woman without cause goes free ; he offered his
grandmother to be killed in his stead, but after a great deal of
talk nothing was done with him. 'Heresi,' a ball of hair rolled
in the stomach of a lion, is a grand charm to the animal and to
Arabs. Mohamad has one.
" Lion's fat is regarded as a sure preventive of tsetse or bungo.
This was noted before, but I add now that it is smeared on the
ox's tail, and preserves hundreds of the Wanyamwesi cattle in
safety while going to the coast : it is also used to keep pigs and
hippopotami away from gardens ; the smell is probably the effi-
cacious part in heresi,' as they call it.
382 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
" The neggeri, an African animal, attacks the tenderest parts
of man and beast, cuts them off, and retires contented ; buffaloes
are often castrated by him. Men who know it squat down, and
kill him with knife or gun. The zibu, or mbuiue, flies at the
..tendon Achilles : it is most likely the ratel."
CHAPTER XXI.
DEPARTURE FROM BAMBARRE.
ON February 4 Livingstone was much encouraged by a report
that ten of his men from the coast were come near to Bambarre,
and would arrive that day. In his great exultation, he writes :
" I am extremely thankful to hear it, for it assures me that my
packet of letters was not destroyed. They know at home by
this time what has detained me, and the end to which I strain !"
On the next day, however, his hopes were dissipated, when his
men arrived with the information that only one of his letters
reached Zanzibar. After referring to his disappointment, he
writes: "James was killed by an arrow to-day; the assassins
hid in the forest till my men, going to buy food, came up. They
found indisputable proof that his body had been eaten by the
Manyuema who lay in ambush."
DESCRIPTION OF THE PEOPLE.
ON the 16th of February, Livingstone started from Bambarre
again on a third attempt to explore the Lualaba river. The
people whose villages he passed through generally received him
kindly, as his reputation for justice, as distinguished from the
depredations of the Arabs, had preceded him. Before getting
out of the Manyuema country he adds another paragraph to his
journal, concerning the comely features of the people, in the fol-
lowing language :
" The Manyuema are far more beautiful than either the bond
or free of Zanzibar : I overheard the remark often, If we had
Manyuema wives, what beautiful children we should beget.'
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 383
The men are usually handsome, and many of the women are very
pretty ; hands, feet, limbs, and forms perfect in shape, and the
color light-brown, but the orifices of the nose are widened by
snuff-takers, who ram it up as far as they can with the finger and
thumb : the teeth are not filed, except a small space Between the
two upper front teeth. The men here deny that cannibalism is
common : they eat only those killed in war, and, it seems, in re-
venge ; for, said Mokandira, the meat is not nice ; it makes one
MANYUEMA WARRIORS.
dream of the dead man.' Some west of Lualaba eat even those
bought for the purpose of a feast ; but I am not quite positive on
this point: all agree in saying that human flesh is saltish, and
needs but little condiment. And yet they are a fine-looking race.
I would back a company of Manyuema men to be far superior in
shape of head, and generally in physical form too, against the
whole Anthropological Society. Many of the women are very
light-colored , and very pretty ; they dress in a kilt of many folds
7f gaudy lambaB,"
384 THE WORLD '8 WONDERS.
ON THE BANKS OF THE LUALABA.
ON the 30th of March, after a pleasant journey of about fifty
miles, Livingstone reached the Lualaba river at a village called
Nyangwe. He found the stream to be much larger than he ex-
pected, at its narrowest parts being at least half-a-mile broad and
so deep that at no season of the year is it fordable ; the banks
are steep and deep, though the current is hardly more than two
miles an hour, running toward the north. Several soundings
showed a depth from nine feet near shore to twenty feet in the
center of the stream. Villages lined the river bank, and so nu-
merous are the people that one morning Livingstone counted
seven hundred market women file past him. Yet, notwithstand-
ing the great number of people, he was unable to get any canoes ;
to gain the confidence of the natives, he built a hut and con-
cluded to remain awhile among them, or until they concluded to
assist him.
The market scenes in the villages along the river are interest-
ing and not altogether unlike those which may be witnessed in
Billingsgate fish-market, except in the articles offered for sale.
Here were queer vessels, snails, fruits, cowrie-shells, and name-
less things without number. One man had ten human under-
jaw-bones hung by a string over his shoulder ; on inquiry, he
professed to have killed and eaten the owners, and showed with
his knife how he cut up his victims. When Livingstone expressed
disgust, he and others laughed. Two nice girls were trying
to sell their venture, which was roasted white ants, called
"gumbe."
A DREADFUL MASSACRE.
A VERY popular market had been established at the village of
Nyangwe, where Livingstone and a party of Arabs were stopping,
to which hundreds of people came daily with their simple wares,
from both sides of the river. No fear of the dreadful sequel
seemed to haunt the natives, but the Arabs had determined to
turn this little earthly paradise into a hell of murder. It was
almost an invariable custom with them to add murder to their
other horrid crimes, and as the traffic in slaves among the natives
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
385
of the Lualaba had not been profitable, they seemed more blood,
thirsty than usual.
One morning Livingstone was startled by the sound of guns in
the market, and running out of his hut, he saw that the massacre
had commenced. Arabs were firing indiscriminately upon the
people, hundreds of whom had come to the market that day.
386 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The murdering was continued nearly all day ; seventeen villages
were burnt, and many hundreds of the natives killed. Living-
stone saved scores who rushed to him for protection, the Arabs
not daring to murder them in his presence. He exerted himself
to the utmost to stop the bloodshed, and also ministered to the
wounded, and showed a friendship which the natives had never
known before. An old man, called Kabono, came to him and
asked for his wife, who had taken shelter, like many others,
under Livingstone's protection. Kabono expected him to keep
her as his slave, according to the custom of the Arabs, and even
the natives, unless he could buy her back ; he was, therefore, not
prepared for the good luck which awaited him. Turning to the
old woman, Livingstone asked her if Kabono was her husband ;
she went to the old man, and putting her arms lovingly around
him, replied, " Yes." Livingstone gave them, in addition to his
blessings, five strings of beads with which to buy food, as all
their stores had been destroyed with their home. She bowed
down and put her forehead to the ground as an expression of her
thanks, Kabono did the same ; tears stood in their eyes as they
went away.
FORCED TO RETURN TO UJIJI.
ALL the canoes available were taken by the Arabs, so that, how-
ever friendly the natives might be with Livingstone, he could not
get a single boat ; but this was not his worst misfortune, for the
hostilities now inaugurated so frightened the men (who were
Banian slaves) sent to him from Zanzibar, that they ran off and
made their way as fast as possible to the coast. Here was a ter-
rible dilemma to face ; nothing but a return to Ujiji, nearly six
hundred miles distant, was possible, and accordingly, on July
20th, he again turned his back on the Lualaba without having
made a last exploration of its source or outlet.
A few Arabs and friendly Manyuemas accompanied him back
to Bambarre, but the country was so excited that traveling was
extremely dangerous. They were frequently waylaid and attacked
by scouting parties of Manyuemas, but happily without serious
results. Twice in one day Livingstone miraculously escaped
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
387
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
but we have followed him fur enough to form a correct judg-
ment of his character. This great man traveled over a dis-
tance of ten thousand miles in Africa, and was the first to cross
through the continental center ; he spent nearly thirty years of
his life in that vast wilderness, learned to speak the native
tongues of many tribes; and with all this experience he does not
mention having met one single king, nor did he have the vanity
to say that even a chief deigned to do him homage.
Livingstone had a fixed purpose, and his inflexible motto was,
" Prove all things." There was not the very least vanity in his
nature ; he believed that Bangweolo Lake was the Nile's chief
source, and that the Lualaba river was the connecting stream be-
tween Lake Albert and Bangweolo. He had every reason to
believe his theory to be correct, both from his own observations
and the information he received from natives whom he consulted.
But he would not retire on a theory ; he would not claim a dis-
covery that he had not rightly made and incontestibly proved.
His modesty is positively wonderful, and can only be equaled by
the noble, exalted, pure and beautiful Christianity which filled his
great heart. While journeying toward Bangweolo the last time,
to prove his theory respecting the Lualaba being its outlet and
the Nile source, with a hand almost palsied by a fatal disease, he
wrote : ' The discovery of the true source of the Nile is nothing
to me, except as it may be turned to the advantage of Christian
Missions."
That his soul was without dross is proved not alone by the
civilizing influence he exerted through Africa, but also by the
attitude in which he died, surrendering up his precious life in a
blaze of Christian glory. All honor to the name of Dr. David
Livingstone, the greatest of all African explorers I Worthily he
sleeps beside kings, though his desire was to rest at Shupanira,
in the silent wilderness, beside the lonely grave of his loved
, Mary.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS, 401
STANLEY'S
TRAVELS IN AFRICA.
CHAPTER XXII.
IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE.
JAMES GORDON BENNETT, JR.,. proprietor of the New York
Herald, though often pronounced eccentric, is none the less a
genius in making a great newspaper greater. He is an American
in all that constitutes dash, pluck, energy and bold conception,
but he is also a cosmopolitan, having a home everywhere, so that
the whole world is familiar to him.
For nearly two years the civilized world believed the common
report that Livingstone was dead ; this news was circulated at
Zanzibar by traders coming from Central Africa. Baker, who
had penetrated as far as the Albert Nyanza, enquired of natives
concerning the lost white man, but no tidings from him could be
gained, so that he too believed the great traveler had passed the
bourne whence none return. Bennett alone believed that Living-
stone was still alive, and he conceived the idea of proving his be-
lief by sending a man into Africa to find him.
HENRY M. STANLEY, a vigorous, daring and most capable jour-
nalist, whose first schooling was received as a war correspondent
of the St. Louis Democrat, had attracted the notice of Bennett,
who gave him a roving commission through Europe as corres-
pondent of the Herald. Bennett had so much confidence in
Stanley, that he telegraphed him at Madrid, on the 16th of Oc-
tober, 1869, as follows ; " Come to Paris on important business. "
26
402 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Responding to the order, Stanley reached Paris on the night of
October 18th, and going at once to Mr. Bennett's room in the
Grand Hotel, he found him already retired. An interview took
place, however, at which Mr. Bennett explained to Stanley his
purpose of sending an expedition into Africa in search of Living-
stone, and that he (Stanley) had been selected to command it.
Stanley was dumbfounded, and did not attempt to disguise his
feelings ; he confessed his belief in the popular opinion that Liv-
ingstone was dead, and besides, he urged, the expense of such an
expedition would be enormous.
" What will it cost?" Bennett abruptly asked.
" Burton and Speke's journey to Central Africa cost between
$15,000 and $25,000, and I fear it cannot be done under
$12,000," replied Stanley
Bennett's order, after hearing this estimate of the cost, shows
the character of the man. Said he :
"Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a thousand
pounds now; and when you have gone through that, draw
another thousand, and when that is spent, draw another thou-
sand, and when you have finished that, draw another thousand,
and so on ; but, FIND LIVINGSTONE."
Mr. Bennett then gave Stanley several commissions in the East,
such as reporting the ceremonies attending the opening of the
Suez Canal, a visit to Jerusalem, Constantinople, the Crimea bat-
tle-grounds, Persia, India, Bagdad, etc.
After giving these instructions, apparently laying out work
enough to last a man a lifetime, Bennett went to bed and left
Stanley to work out his own salvation, which he proved himself
abundantly able to do.
\ He completed the first part of his commission in a little less
than a year, arriving in Bombay, ready to start on his search for
Livingstone, in August, 1870. Two months later, having pur-
chased his supplies, he set sail for Zanzibar, on the barque
"Polly," and reached his destination after a voyage of thirty
seven days.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 403
ORGANIZING FOR THE JOURNEY.
STANLEY was well received by the American consul at Zanzibar,
who gave him a room in his own house and seemed to take delight
in ministering to his needs. He had engaged one man, Wra. L.
Farquhar, on the barque Polly, to accompany him into Africa,
but with this single exception he had to enlist his force at Zan-
zibar. John Shaw, an Englishman, was found adrift in this
Arabian port, and upon his application was enlisted at a salary of
$300 per annum. It was desirable, however, to secure and equip
an escort of twenty free blacks for the road. There were scores
of such fellows offering, but they were very unreliable, and it
was with no little pleasure that Stanley heard of several of
Speke's "faithfuls" who would be glad to go upon another expe-
dition. Five of these men were soon found and engaged at $40
each per annum, and a few days later Bombay, who was Speke's
head man, came to Zanzibar and he too was enlisted and made
captain of the black escort. Bombay succeeded in getting
eighteen more free men to volunteer as " askari " (soldiers),
men whom he knew would not desert, and for whom he declared
himself responsible. Their wages were set down at $36 each per
annum. Each soldier was provided with a flint-lock musket,
powder-horn, bullet-pouch, knife, and hatchet, besides enough
powder and ball for 200 rounds. Bombay, in consideration of
his rank, and previous faithful services to Burton, Speke, and
Grant, was engaged at $80 a year, half that sum in advance, and
a good muzzle-loading rifle, a pistol, a knife, and a hatchet were
given him .
Two boats were purchased from the American consul, for
$120, one of which would carry twelve men and the other
half as many. These boats were stripped of their boards and
tarred canvass was substituted, as a much lighter material and
less liable to leakage or rupture. These boats were intended for
crossing streams and navigating rivers and lakes. Twenty
donkeys were purchased, and a cart was constructed eighteen
inches wide and five feet long, to carry the narrow ammunition
boxes along the goat paths.
404 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
When his purchases were all completed Stanley found materials
aggregating a weight of six tons, nearly all of which had to be
carried to the center of Africa on the shoulders of men ; and for
this purpose one hundred and sixty carriers had to be engaged at
Bagamoyo, situated on the mainland, across from the island of
Zanzibar.
Twenty-eight days after his arrival in Zanzibar Stanley was
ready to start upon his search for Livingstone, but before depart-
ing the Sultan gave him an audience, at which royal letters were
prepared by his Highness commending Stanley to the gracious
favor of all Arabs whom he might meet. The Sultan also gave
him a beautiful horse, and an American merchant at Zanzibar
added another, a fine blooded animal worth $500. But when
everything was ready and the dhow that was to ferry the expe-
dition to Bagamoyo was on the point of leaving, it was discovered
that Farquhar and Shaw were missing ; a long search finally re-
vealed them in a beastly state of intoxication at one of the grog-
shops in a quiet corner of the town ; they had to be led down to
the boat.
EN ROUTE FOR THE INTERIOR.
THE expedition reached Bagamoyo on February 6, 1871, but
here most provoking delays occurred by reason of the numerous
false promises made by native agents whom Stanley employed to
engage carriers for him. He did not start the first caravan until
February 18th, and the fifth, or last, did not get away until
March 21st. The total number, inclusive of all souls connected
with the expedition, was 192. These, when together, presented
an imposing appearance, headed by the American flag, which for
the first time was carried into the wilds of Africa. The expedition
was now on the road to Ujiji, by way of Unyanyembe.
The first trouble encountered was at the turbid Kingani river.
The jungle along its right bank was threaded some distance, when
a narrow sluice of black mud, not more than eight feet broad,
crossed the path, and to get the animals over this it was neces-
sary to construct a bridge by felling trees and covering them with
grass. Further on the river had to be crossed, which was effected.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
405
after much patient labor, in one frail canoe, hollowed out of an
immense tree.
After seeing the work of ferrying the expedition properly corn-
on a condemned canoe to amuse him-
potami by peppering their thick skulls with
Foetie Tribute bore> The Winchester rifle (calibre 44) did
m Lous: Beach. . v ...
jh sends up a wail and a ;ly tap them, causing about as much injury as
h win tenderly appeal to the s perfect in its accuracy of fire, for ten times
if all readers of tho TIMES
iveled over the dummy road
g Beach Junction and Long
? "pome" was written by a
iCt-lariat to be snug at an
it which was got up in aid
iboat fund. The powers
wind of the able song,
d tbiukiug it better that
I be no life-boat than that
h unteemly levity should be
.>g Beach, gently but firmly
the entertainment, and re-
30 of the tabernacle for it.
d the entertainment on the
e "pome" was saved from
id is herewith presented.
THE O. O. P R. B.
Paddy Dr-ffy's Car;.")
Bong of railroads,
e tlieiron host!
:run btnpath the BUII
g Beach is the boss;
irteeu-rat-power engine
rts with s big pin; h-bar
body Get Out and Push
K O. P. R R.
ks of rust, aballa*t of dust
70-foot right of war,
1 space at an a . ful pace
ejatd aba'f a day;
of cold-rolled hairpins,
iOe-box for a car
acdy Oct Out, and Fu?h
J, O. P. B. R.
n.fill tbe wa-oup,
tr't running low;
better scratch a parlor match
as we go .
tbe equlrrela off the track
liey wreck the car
body Gtt Out and Push
K 0.1'. R. K.
the teapot moJor
js to snueas and bump;
we gain ti-.e level plain
alnly up a *tump.
able off. you loafers,
it the iron bar
bcdy Get Out and Puh
U. O. P. R. R.
i they cn walk to to? n
7 two Dalles at large
othing email in us at sll,
be no txtra charge
iING CARTRIDGES ON THE HIPPOPOTAMI.
|uck the tops of their heads between the ears.
ih the look of a sage, was tapped close to the
f these bullets. Instead of submerging him-
done, he coolly turned round his head as if to
ivaste of valuable cartridges on us?" The
te inquiry of his sageship was an ounce-and-a
n the smooth-bore, which made him bellow
a few moments he rose again tumbling in
As his groans were so piteous, Stanley
404 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
When his purchases were all completed Stanley found materials
aggregating a weight of six tons, nearly all of which had to be
carried to the center of Africa on the shoulders of men ; and for
this purpose one hundred and sixty carriers
Bagamoyo, situated on the mainland, across 7^^
Zanzibar.
??~wsx
Twenty-eight days after his arrival in Za : 66 Baker siocs. LOB Angeug. 3 oi
ready to start upon his search for Livingstone, TT J5fjJ ni . ams & McKinley
ing the Sultan gave him an audience, at which BIa *
prepared by his Highness commending Stanl
favor of all Arabs whom he might meet. Tlr
him a beautiful horse, and an American
-i -i n ,1 r> 11-11 i
added another, a fine blooded animal
everything was ready and the dhow that was " e ' and Joseph c. Nev
J & * lOHITEOTtt Boom 2, 108 Norlb S
ditionto Bagamoyo was on the point of leaving 03 Ac ^ leB - _
that Farquhar and Shaw were missinsr ; a lon< J - W. Forsyth,
fcOHITECT-Soom 8, Bumlller
vealed them in a beastly state of intoxication ! ovfer People's store.
shops in a quiet corner of the town : they had Ca ^^'nt Haas & Borim
J Successors to Boring & Ea>8,
the boat. SOHITEOTS-OFFICI!:. u *. t
EN ROUTE FOR THE INTERIOR St " L S A " 2t:lea -
A. M. Edolman.
THE expedition reached Bagamoyo on Fet B 9Hi T ECT AND s VNITABS
J , glneer. Office, 17 N. Main Be..
here most provoking delays occurred by reaso"' Cal - R 00 '-^ 6 2 ^ *** as iieiimaa
false promises made by native agents whom S * B - Y oung,
... TT .; ", , ,, BOHITBOT AND 80PfcBINTE2
engage carriers for him. He did not start the o^e- Boom B is and 19, Roe^r
February 18th, and the fifth, or last, did IJ *"KYSOR & MORGAN '
March 21st. The total number, inclusive of BOHITEOTS. BOOM 1,3 ANI> ^
... ,, .... 100 ' , Boutta Spring E t. Let, Angela. C.-I.
with the expedition, was 192. These, when 1 B REEVE
an imposing appearance, headed by the
the first time was carried into the wilds of
was now on the road to Ujiji, by way of
The first trouble encountered was at the
The jungle along its right bank was threaded sc
a narrow sluice of black mud, not more thtuSTBACT AND LAW OKFMOE, t
1, iC and 11, WUcox Block 40
crossed the path, and to get the animals overf p itree *- '< Angeie*. oai.
sary to construct a bridge by felling trees and OH.
grass. Further on the river had to be crossed, ^ Caiioway^Lienau
JI1NSK8 OF TlTt ES AND CONVJ
wj. City of Paris Block. 109
I ft. Log Angeles. Oai
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
405
after much patient labor, in one frail canoe, hollowed out of an
immense tree.
After seeing the work of ferrying the expedition properly com-
menced, Stanley sat down on a condemned canoe to amuse him-
self with the hippopotami by peppering their thick skulls with
his No. 12 smooth-bore. The Winchester rifle (calibre 44) did
no more than slightly tap them, causing about us much injury as
a boy's sling ; it was perfect ill its accuracy of fire, for ten times
WASTING CARTRIDGES ON THE HIPPOPOTAMI.
in succession he struck the tops of their heads between the ears.
One old fellow, with the look of a sage, was tapped close to the
right ear by one of these bullets. Instead of submerging him-
self, as others had done, he coolly turned round his head as if to
ask, "Why this waste of valuable cartridges on us?" The
response to the mute inquiry of his sageship was an ounce-and-a
quarter bullet from the smooth-bore, which made him bellow
with pain, and in a few moments he rose again tumbling in
his death agonies. As his groans were so piteous, Stanley
406 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
refrained from a useless sacrifice of life, and left the amphibious
horde in peace.
The route he had chosen to reach Ugogo was a new one, never
before traveled by a white man. This new route was thickly
populated, which proved of no small advantage, for it enabled
him to buy meat and save his herd of goats, which would be
needed for food when the interior should be reached. The natives
were in their fields, at heedless labor, men and women in the
scantiest costumes, compared to which Adam and Eve, in their
fig-leaf apparel, would have been en grande tenue. Nor were
they at all abashed by the devouring gaze of men who were
strangers to clotheless living bodies ; they did not seem to com-
prehend why inordinate curiosity should be returned with more
than interest. They left their work as the Wasungu (white men)
drew nigh : such hybrids in solar topees, white flannels, and
horse-boots were they 1 Had the Wasungu been desirous of
studying the outlines of anatomy and physiology, what a rich
field was here ! They laughed and giggled, and pointed their
index fingers at this and that, which to them seemed so strange
and bizarre.
After crossing the Kingani, they soon came to a village called
Eosako, where they camped, and Stanley was much annoyed by
the obtrusive curiosity of the natives. .He says : " Among other
experiments which I was about to try in Africa, was that of a
good watch-dog on any unmannerly people who would insist upon
coming into my tent at untimely hours and endangering valuables.
Especially did I wish to try the effect of its bark on the mighty
Wgogo, who, I was told by certain Arabs, would lift the door of
the tent and enter whether you wished them or not ; who would
chuckle at the fear they inspired, and say to you, 'Hi, hi, white
man, I never saw the like of you before ; are there many more
like you? where do you come from?' Also would they take hold
of your watch and ask you with a cheerful curiosity, < What is
this for, white man ?' to which you of course would reply that it
was to tell you the hour and minute. But the Wgogo, proud of
his prowess, and more unmannerly than a brute, would answer
THE WORLD'S WONDEES.
407
you with a snort of insult, saying, Oh, you fool ! ' or, You be
damned for a liar I* I thought of a watch-dog, and procured a
good one at Bombay, not only as a faithful companion, but to
threaten the heels of just such gentry."
The dog proved to be a great wonder to the prying natives,
and kept them at a respectful distance.
The fine horse presented to Stanley by the Sultan was taken
, April 1st, and after a few hours of suffering died.
WOMEN WORKING IN THE FIELDS.
a victim of the tsetse fly. Fifteen hours after the death of his
Arabian horse, the other became violently sick, and died of con-
vulsions the following morning.
They were now marching through thick jungle, the road being
merely a goat-path, so narrow that a single man could hardly
push his way through. This necessitated frequent halts to rear-
range the loads of the donkeys, which were torn by the ".wait-
a-bit" thorns. Ten of the best men were stricken with fever,
and the rest were almost worn out with fatigue and greatly dis-
408 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
couraged. Their progress was very slow, only four or five miles
a day. Shaw was in charge of the little cart, far in the rear,
and he enlivened the march with a constant flow of the express-
ively wicked adjectives for which sailors are famous.
On the 18th of April they met a chained slave gang, bound
east. The slaves did not appear to be in the least down-hearted ;
DII the contrary, they seemed imbued with the philosophic jollity
of the jolly servant of Martin Chuzzlewit. Were it not for
their chains, it would have been difficult to discover master from
slave ; the physiognomic traits were alike the mild benignity
with which they regarded Stanley's party was equally visible on
all faces. The chains were ponderous, they might have held
elephants captive ; but as the slaves carried nothing but them-
selves, their weight could not have been insupportable.
THE BELLES OF KISEMO.
THE expedition encamped one evening at a prettily situated
village, named Kisemo. The district was extremely populous,
there being five villages in a circuit of as many miles, each forti-
fied by stakes and thorny abattis.
The belles of Kisemo are famed for their extraordinary natural
development, and their vanity finds expression in brass wire,
which adorns their waists and ankles, while their less at-
tractive brothers are content with such adornments as dingy
cloths and split ears. A more comical picture is seldom pre-
sented than one of these highly-dressed females with the mag-
nificent developments already noted, engaged in the homely and
necessary task of grinding corn for herself and family. The
grinding apparatus consists of two portions: one, a thick pole
of hard wood, about six feet long, answering for a pestle ; the
other, a capacious wooden mortar, three feet in height ; and the
swaying motion of the woman in handling this pestle forms a
rare and Judicious picture.
TIDINGS OF LIVINGSTONE.
THE fourth caravan, which had been making up for lost time
by traveling anead for several days, was come up with at the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
409
village of Muhalleh ; several of the men had fallen sick, so that
the caravan went into camp to await Stanley and the medi-
cine chest. During a two day's encampment at this village
Stanley met an Arab trader, bound eastward, with a large caravan
carry ing three hundred elephant tusks. ThL good Arab, besides
welcoming the new-comer with a present of rice, gave him news
of Livingstone. He had met the old traveler at Ujiji, had lived
410 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
in the next hut to him for two weeks, described him as looking
old, with long grey moustaches and beard, just recovered from
severe illness, looking very wan ; when fully recovered, Living-
stone intended to visit a country called Manyuema, by way of
Marungu.
A WONDERFUL AFRICAN CITY.
THE march now followed the valley of the Ungerengeri until
the walled city of Simbamwenni was reached. This is one of
the wonderful cities of Africa. The town contains about one
thousand houses, and a population of perhaps 5,000. The houses
are eminently African, but are strongly constructed. The forti-
fications are after an Arabic-Persian model combining Arab neat-
ness with Persian architecture. They are of stone, pierced with
two rows of loop-holes for musketry. The area of the town is
about half a square mile, its plan being quadrangular. Well-
built towers of stone guard each corner; four gates, one facing
each cardinal point, and set half-way between the several towers,
permit ingress and egress for its inhabitants. The gates are
closed with solid square doors, made of African teak, and carved
with the infinitesimally fine and complicated devices of the
Arabs, from which it is supposed that the doors were made either
at Zanzibar or on the coast, and conveyed to Simbamwenni plank
by plank ; yet as there is much communication between Baga-
moyo and Simbamwemii, it is just possible that native artisans
are the authors of this ornate workmanship, as several doors,
chiseled and carved in the same manner, though not quite so
elaborately, are visible in the largest houses.
The Sultana, or ruler of this African city, is the eldest daughter
of the famous Kisabengo, who was another Theodore on a small
scale. Sprung from humble ancestry, he acquired distinction for
his personal strength, his powers of harangue, and his amusing
and versatile address, by which he gained great ascendency over
fugitive slaves, and was chosen a leader among them. Fleeing
from justice which awaited him at the hands of the Zanzibar Sul-
tan, he arrived in Ukami, and here he commenced a career of
conquest, the result of which was the acquisition of an immense
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 411
tract of fertile country. On its most desirable site, with the river
flowing close under the walls, he built his capital, and called it
Simbamwenni, which means " The Lion," or the strongest city.
In old age the successful robber and kidnapper changed his name
of Kisabengo, which had gained such a notoriety, to Simbam-
wenni, after his town ; and when dying, after desiring that his
eldest daughter should succeed him, he bestowed the name of the
town upon her also.
Stanley, after praising the country for its great beauty and
marvellous fertility, says : " A railroad from Bagamoyo to Sim-
bamwenni might be constructed with as much ease and rapidity
as, and at far less cost than the Union Pacific Railway, whose
rapid strides day by day toward completion the world heard of
and admired. A residence in this part of Africa, after a thor-
ough system of drainage had been carried out, would not be at-
tended with any more discomfort than generally follows upon the
occupation of new land. The temperature at this season during
the day never exceeded 85 Fahrenheit. The nights were pleas-
ant too cold without a pair of blankets for covering.
THE SULTANA'S REVENGE.
WHILE passing Simbamwenni, Stanley was accosted by some
soldiers sent out by the Sultana to collect a tribute for the priv-
ilege of a passage. He refused to pay anything, and sent back
word that he recognized no right by which such a demand should
be made. He heard nothing further at that time from the bold
princess.
Five miles further on, a cook belonging to the expedition was
arrested for stealing. This being his fourth offense, Stanley
ordered him to be flogged with a cowhide over his jacket, a pun-
ishment which was hardly as severe as the thief deserved ; and
in order to frighten him, Stanley told him that he must leave the
camp and get back to Zanzibar the best way he could. The man,
thinking the order was given in earnest, bolted off and disap-
peared in the jungle. Stanley knew that the man must perish if
he really attempted to travel to Zanzibar, and supposing he would
412 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
comeback, left a donkey tied to a tree, upon which he might ride
and overtake the caravan.
Directly after this incident Bombay came riding up to Stanley
and reported the loss of a gun, a pistol, an American axe, a bale
of cloth, and some beads ; he explained that he had laid the ar-
ticles down while going to a stream for water, and upon return-
ing found them gone, stolen, he declared, by the subjects of the
Sultana.
The caravan was now obliged to stop, while Stanley sent back
three soldiers to recover the articles, if possible, and also to find
the culprit who had run off. After a search of two days the
soldiers found the donkey and missing articles in possession of
two natives, whom he took to the Sultana, where they were
charged with murdering the missing man. This they strongly
denied, but the Sultana believed them guilty and threw them into
prison to await the next caravan going to Zanzibar, whither she
would send them for sentence. The Sultana next ordered the
three soldiers seized and placed in chains, and also confiscated
their property, and declared she would detain them until their
master should return and pay her the tribute she had demanded.
The unfortunate soldiers were kept in chains in the market-place,
exposed to the taunts of the servile multitude for sixteen hours,
when they were discovered by a Sheik who had passed Stanley
five days before. This man recognized the soldiers as members
of the expedition, and sought an audience with them. After
hearing their story, the good-hearted Sheik sought the presence
of the Sultana, and informed her that she was doing very wrong
a wrong that could only terminate in blood. " The Musungu
is strong," he said, very strong; he has got two guns which
shoot forty times without stopping, carrying bullets half an hour's
distance ; he has got several guns which carry bullets that burst,
and tear a man in pieces. He could go to the top of that moun-
tain, and could kill every man, woman, and child in the town,
before one of your soldiers could reach the top. The road will
then be stopped, Syed Burghash will march against your country,
the Wadoe and Wakami will come and take revenge on what is
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 413
le-fl ; and the place that your father made so strong will know the
Waseguhha no more. Set free the Musungu's soldiers ; give
them their food, and grain for the Musungu ; return the guns to
the men and let them go ; for the white man may even now be
on his way here."
These exaggerated reports of Stanley's power produced a good
effect, for the soldiers were released, their arms and the donkeys
restored, and sufficient food was furnished to last them for four
days, until they could overtake the caravan. Stanley was very
much exercised over the outrage which he felt had been commit-
ted on his men, but he was now so far advanced that he could
not afford to turn back and obtain satisfaction. But the run-
away cook was not found.
MARCHING THROUGH SWAMPS.
THE expedition started again, after a delay of four days, for
flgogo, in the midst of a pelting rain storm which flooded the
country and rendered travelling excessively difficult. They soon
struck a swamp from which the malarial evaporations rose up so
rank that Shaw took sick and the labor of driving the caravan fell
entirely on Stanley. The donkeys stuck in the mire as if they
were rooted to it. As fast as one was flogged from his stubborn
position, prone to the depths fell another, so that the labor of ex-
tricating them was maddening under pelting rain, assisted by such
men as Bombay and Uledi, who could not for a whole skin's sake
stomach the storm and mire. Two hours of such a task enabled
Stanley to drag his caravan over a savannah one mile and a half
broad ; and barely had he finished congratulating himself over
Lis success before he was halted by a deep ditch, which, filled
with rain-water from the inundated savannahs, had become a con-
siderable stream, breast-deep, flowing swiftly into the Makata.
Donkeys had to be unloaded, led through a torrent, and loaded
again on the other bank an operation which consumed a full
hour.
INTERNAL DISSENSIONS AND A FIGHT.
ON the following day another part of the swamp was reached,
which was five miles across and from one to four feet iii depth ;
414
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 415
this was the sorest march made by the expedition, and so serious-
were its effects that two of the carriers (and the dog) died, also
twelve of the donkeys, and Stanley was brought to the brink of
the grave with fever and acute dysentery.
On May 4th they ascended a gentle slope to a village named
Reheuneko, where a halt of four days was made, to rest and
recover from the effects of the fever with which all were suffer-
ing. It was a delightful place, most fortuitously reached, for 1
another day in the swamps would have no doubt destroyed the:
expedition.
Farquhar, who had charge of the fourth caravan, had preceded 1
Stanley about two days, but sent back word that all but one of:
his donkeys had died and his provisions were almost exhausted..
Stanley was thus compelled to push on to Lake Ugombo, where)
he met Farquhar and found a most deplorable state of affairs..
Farquhar was in a pitiable condition, barely able to stagger out of
his tent. His legs and feet were swollen to frightful proportions;
from Elephantiasis. But much of this trouble had been brought
on by his dissipation. Sluggish, cross and feeble, he had expeiE-
ded nearly all his goods, which should have lasted him to UjijJ,
before he had gone over one-third the distance.
Shaw had also been remiss in all his duties, and was a. sore
drag upon the expedition. These two Englishmen, who should
have been Stanley's mainstay, were worse than the native carriers,
and as their worthlessness increased they became insolent.
While camped on Ugombo lake, Shaw insulted Stanley in his
own tent, when the latter, feeling that this was the crowning
period of the most inexcusable and contemptible insolence, struck
him to the ground. The Englishman then demanded his dis-
charge papers, which Stanley gave him, with great pleasure.
Shaw packed his things and went away, declaring he would
return to Zanzibar by the next Arab caravan. He soon changed
his mind, however, and came back and humbly apologized for
his unreasonable conduct, and begged to be taken again into >
service. Stanley reinstated him, in charge of the third caravan. .
That night, when all the camp was still in slumber, Shaw stole
416 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
out of his tent with a loaded gun and tried to assassinate his
leader, the bullet passing through the pillow on which Stanley's
head was resting. Of course the entire camp was speedily
aroused, and Stanley went straight to Shaw's tent, having been
told who fired the shot. Shaw pretended to be soundly asleep,
but being aroused and confronted with the indisputable evidence
of his guilt, a warm gun with freshly burnt powder in the bar-
rel, he declared he had been dreaming of a thief, whom he shot
at. Stanley warned him not to indulge in such dreams again,
intimating that it would be very unsafe for him to do so.
Farquhar was in no condition to travel, so, at his own request,
he was left at a small native village in the Ugogo country, in
charge of a kindly mannered old man. Six month's provisions, a
rifle, with 300 cartridges, and an interpreter were left with him.
They now marched on to Chungo, where they joined a trading
party of Arabs going west, and twelve new carriers were engaged,
so that the entire force was increased to four hundred souls, with
flags, horns, drums, guns,- etc., making a most formidable cara-
van for Central Africa. They were now only thirty miles from
Ugogo.
ENTERING UGOGO.
THE entrance into Ugogo was the very counterpart of a circus
parade ; Stanley rode at the head, and as he came in sight of the
village its swarming inhabitants rushed out to meet him, shouting
with all the strength of their lungs. The whole village was soon
before, abreast and behind his heels, lullalooing and shouting in
the most excited manner ; for Stanley was the first white man
they had ever seen. From village to village, which are in imme-
diate succession and called Ugogo, the crowd kept gathering,
until a furious mob of naked men, women and children, their
bodies ornately tattooed, pressed upon the white man. " Hither-
to," says Stanley, " I had compared myself to a merchant
of Bagdad, traveling among the Kurds of Kurdistan, selling
his wares of Damascus silk, kefiyehs, &c. ; but now I was
compelled to lower rny standard, and thought myself not
much better than the monkey in the zoological collection
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 417
at Central Park, whose funny antics elicit such bursts
of laughter from young New Yorkers. One of my soldiers
requested them to lessen their vociferous noise; but the evil-
minded race ordered him to shut up, as a thing unworthy to
speak to the Wagogo ! When I imploringly turned to the Arabs
for counsel in this strait, old Sheikh Thani, always worldly wise,
said, * Heed them not ; they are dogs who bite beside barking.' "
A camp was made, and negotiations with the natives soon be-
gan. The quantity and variety of 'provisions produced in the
country was positively astonishing, proving Ugogo to be one of
the very richest districts of all Africa. The natives brought and
sold milk, both sour and sweet, honey, beans, Indian corn, a
variety of peas, peanuts, bean-nuts, pumpkins, water melons,
musk melons, cucumbers, and many other kinds of vegetables.
The Great Sultan of Mvumi, or ruler of Ugogo, was a most ex-
tortionate old relic of Arabic cupidity and autocracy, and com-
pelled Stanley to pay a large tribute of cloth and beads for the
privilege of crossing his country.
AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE NATIVES.
As the expedition continued its march, each village was emp-
tied of its inhabitants, who ran along staring at the Musungu
(white man) and frequently committing insolent acts, until Stan-
ley's patience with them became quite exhausted. Rewrites:
" Hitherto, those we had met had contented themselves with
staring and shouting ; but these outstepped all bounds, and my
growing anger at their excessive insolence vented itself in grip-
ping the rowdiest of them by the neck, and before he could re-
cover from his astonishment administering a sound thrashing
with my dog-whip, which he little relished. This proceeding
educed from the tribe of starers all their native power of vituper-
ation and abuse, in expressing which they were peculiar. Ap-
proaching in manner to angry tom-cats, they jerked their words
with something of a splitting hiss and a half bark. The ejacu-
lation, as near as I can spell it phonetically, was ' hahcht '
uttered in a shrill crescendo tone. They paced backward and
forward, asking themselves, * Are the Wagogo to be beaten like
87
418 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
slaves by this Musungu? A Mgogo is a Mgwana (a free man) ;
he is not used to be beaten, hahcht.' But whenever I made
a motion, flourishing my whip toward them, these mighty brag-
garts found it convenient to move to respectable distances from
the irritated Musungu."
A HANDSOME PEOPLE.
A MARCH of three days brought the expedition to the Wahumba
district, which is small, comprising only a few villages, and these
not numerously inhabited ; but the people are none the less re-
markable. They live in cone huts plastered with cow-dung, and
shaped like the Tartar tents of Turkestan. The men are remark-
ably well formed and handsome, having clean limbs and the most
exquisite features. Athletes from their youth, they intermarry
and keep the race pure. The women are as handsome as the men ,
and have a clear ebon skin of an inky hue. Their ornaments
consist of spiral rings of brass, pendant from the ears, brass ring
collars about their necks, and a spiral cincture of brass around
the loins, used as an ornament and also to keep the goat-skins
folded about their persons in place ; these skins depend from the
shoulder and shade one-half the bosom.
A CURIOUS INCIDENT.
THE village of Mukondoku, on the borders of Ugogo, is a large
place, containing perhaps 3000 people. They flocked to see the
wonderful man whose face was white, who wore the most won-
derful things on his person, and possessed the most wonderful
weapons ; guns which " bum-bummed " as fast as you could
count on your fingers. They formed such a mob of howling
savages that Stanley for an instant thought there was something
besides mere curiosity which caused such commotion and attracted
such numbers to the roadside. Halting, he asked what was the
matter, and what they wanted, and why they made such a noise?
One burly rascal, taking his words for a declaration of hostilities,
promptly drew his bow, but in an instant Stanley's faithful Win-
chester, with thirteen shots in the magazine, was ready and at the
shoulder, but he waited to see the arrow fly before pouring the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 419
leaden messengers of death into the crowd. They vanished as
quickly as they had come, leaving the burly Thersites, and two or
three irresolute fellows of his tribe, standing within pistol range.
Such a sudden dispersion of the mob which, but a moment before,
was overwhelming in numbers, caused Stanley to lower his rifle,
and to indulge in a hearty laugh at the disgraceful flight of the
men-destroyers. The Arabs, who were as much alarmed at their
boisterous obtrusiveness now came up to patch a truce, in which
they succeeded to everybody's satisfaction. A few words of ex-
planation and the mob came back in greater numbers than be-
fore ; and the savage who had been the cause of the momentary
disturbance, was obliged to retire abashed before the pressure of
public opinion. A chief now came up, whom Stanley afterward
learned was the second man to Swaruru, the Sultan, and lectured
the people upon their treatment of the " White Stranger."
" Know ye not, Wagogo," shouted he, " that this Musungu is a
sultan (mtemi a most high title). He has not come to Ugogo
like the Wakonongo (Arabs), to trade in ivory, but to see us,
and give presents. Why do you molest him and his people? Let
them pass in peace. If you wish to see him, draw near, but do
not mock him. The first of you who creates a disturbance, let
him beware ; our great mtemi shall know how you treat his
friends." He thereupon seized a long stick and laid about him
so vigorously that the crowd was driven into the huts and did not
offer any further annoyances.
ARRIVAL AT UNYANYEMBE.
THE march, after the foregoing incident, was uninterrupted,
until the caravan reached Unyanyembe, which is situated in an
undulating plain, surrounded by most picturesque scenery, and
lies nearly five hundred miles, by the route, or three hundred as
the crow flies, from Zanzibar. As will be remembered, the last
caravan left Bagamoyo March 21, 1871 ; they arrived in Unyan-
yembe on the 22d of June, having been three months on the
way. Considering the character of the country traversed and
obstacles met with, this average of five miles per day was an
uncommonly good one.
420 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
CHAPTER
ETHNOGRAPHICAL FEATURES.
MR. STANLEY has injected into the record of his march to
Ujiji, in a separate chapter following his arrival in Unyanyembe,
much that is interesting, having immediate application to the
ethnographical features of the country through which he had
passed. Some of this, the more important, is here reproduced
in a summary that cannot but prove valuable to every reader.
The tribes living within a hundred miles of the coast do not
show any strongly-marked distinguishing features by which to
classify them : only the most critical observer will note the tribal
connections : punctures of the ear, very little difference in garb,
and tattoo marks. But as we approach nearer to the interior,
there is a very noticeable distinction, extending to habits of life,
dress, disposition, and physical contour. Some of the people
are frank and friendly, notably the Wasagara, who are peculiarly
susceptible to missionary teachings. Their country is literally a
land flowing with milk and honey, and a more trustworthy and
kind people never lived. They are an exception. They are first
met with at the village Mpwapwa. Here the long slender ring-
lets, ornamented with brass and copper pendicles, balls, with
bright pice from Zanzibar, with a thin line of miniature beads
running here and there among the ringlets, are first seen. A
youthful Wasagara, with a faint tinge of ochre embrowning the
dull black hue of his face, with four or five bright copper coins
ranged over his forehead, with a tiny gourd's neck in each ear,
distending his ear-lobes, with a thousand ringlets well greased
and ornamented with tiny bits of brass and copper, with a head
well thrown back, broad breast thrown well forward, muscular
arms, and full-proportioned limbs, represents the beau-ideal of a
handsome young African savage.
The Wasagara, male and female, tattoo the forehead, bosom
and arms. Besides inserting the neck of a gourd in each ear
which carries his little store of *' tumbac," or tobacco and lime,
THE -WORLD'S WONDERS. 421
which he has obtained by burning land shells he carries quite" a
number of most primitive ornaments around his neck, such as
two or three snowy cowrie-shells, carved pieces of wood, or a
small goat's horn, or some medicine consecrated by the medicine-
man of the tribe, a fundo of white or red beads, or two or three
pierced Sungomazzi egg-beads, or a string of copper coin, and
sometimes small brass chains, like a Cheap-Jack watch-chain.
The "Waseguhla are neighbors of the Wasagara, but they are
one of the most treacherous and ferocious tribes of Africa, find-
ing congenial occupation only in fighting and enslaving the neigh-
boring tribes who are too weak to resist them.
THE WONDERFUL WAGO6O TRIBE.
THE Wagogo are the most extortionate tribe in Africa ; being
numerous and good fighters they show their strength by levying
the heaviest burdens on all who enter their country. They are,
physically and intellectually, the best of the races between Un-
yamwezi and the sea. Their color is a rich dark brown. There
is something in their frontal aspect which is almost leonine.
Their faces are broad and intelligent. Their eyes are large and
round. Their noses are flat, and their mouths are very large.
For all this, though the Wagogo is a ferocious man, capable of
proceeding to any length upon the slightest provocation, he is an
attractive figure to the white traveler.
The Wagogo, or Mgogo, as he is more frequently called, makes
a splendid soldier, for he is brave and cunning. Their weapons
are a bow and sheaf of murderous-looking arrows, pointed,
pronged and barbed ; a couple of light, beautifully-m-ade asse-
gais, a broad, sword-like spear, with a blade over two feet long ;
a battle-axe, and a rungu, or knob-club. He has also a shield,
painted with designs in black and white, oval-shaped, sometimes
of rhinoceros, or elephant, or bull-hide. From the time he was
a toddling urchin he has been familiar with his weapons, and by
the time he was fifteen years old he was an adept with them. He
is armed for battle in a very short time. The messenger from
the chief darts from village to village and blows his ox-horn, the
signal for war. The warrior hears it, throws his hoe over his
422
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
shoulder, enters his house, and in a few seconds issues forth
again, arrajed in war paint and full fighting costume. .F withers
of the ostrich, or the eagle, or the vulture, nod above his head ;
his long crimson robe streams behind him, his shield is on his
left arm, his darting assegai ill hie left hand, and his ponderous
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 423
man-cleaver double-edged and pointed, heading a strong staff
is in his right hand ; jingling bells are tied around his ankles and
knees ; ivory wristlets are on his arms, with which he sounds his
approach. With the plodding peasant's hoe he has dropped the
peasant's garb, and is now the proud, vain, exultant warrior
bounding aloft like a gymnast, eagerly sniffing the battle-field.
The tembe (dwelling-house) is divided into apartments, sepa-
rated from each other by a wattled wall. Each apartment may
contain a family of grown-up boys and girls, who form their
beds on the floor out of dressed hides. The father of the family,
only, has a kitanda, or fixed cot, made of ox-hide stretched over
a frame, or of the bark of the myombo tree. The floor is of
tamped mud, and is exceedingly filthy, smelling strangly of every
abomination. In the corners, suspended to the rafters, are the
fine airy dwellings of black spiders of very large size, and other
monstrous insects.
The Wagogo believe in the existence of a god, or sky spirit,
whom they call Mulungu. Their prayers are generally diiected
to him when their parents die. A Mgogo, after he has consigned
his father to the grave, collects his father's chattels .together, his
cloth, his ivory, his knife, his jembe (hoe), his bows and arrows,
his spears, and his cattle, and kneels before them, repeating a
wish that Mulungu would increase his worldly wealth, that he
would bless his labors, and make him successful in trade.
The following conversation occurred between Stanley and a
Mgogo trader :
" Who do you suppose made your parents?"
" Why, Mulungu, white man I"
"Well, who made you?"
"If God made my father, God made me, didn't he?"
"That's very good. Where do you suppose your father ia.
gone to, now that he is dead ?"
" The dead die," said he, solemnly : " they are no more. The.
sultan dies, he becomes nothing he is then no better than a dead
dog, he is finished, his words are finished there are no words
fpm. him. It is tru," he addec}, sQeing; a smile on Stanley.' %
424 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
face, "the sultan becomes nothing. He who says other words
is a liar. There I"
" How do you bury a Mgogo?"
" His legs are tied together, his right arm to his body, and his
left is put under his head. He is then rolled on his left side in
the grave. His cloth he wore during his life is spread over him.
We put the earth over him, and put thorn bushes over it to pre-
vent the hyenas from getting at him. A woman is put on her
right side in a grave apart from the man."
" In cases of murder, what do you do to the man who kills
another?"
" The murderer has to pay fifty cows. If he is too poor to
pay, the sultan gives his permission to the murdered man's friends
or relatives to kill him. If they catch him, they tie him to a
tree, and throw spears at him one at a time first ; they then
spring on him, cut his head off, then his arms, and limbs, and
scatter them about the country.'*
" How do you punish a thief?"
"If he is found stealing, he is killed at once, and nothing is
said about it. Is he not a thief?"
** But suppose you do not know who the thief is?"
" If a man is brought before us accused of stealing, we kill a
chicken. If the entrails are white, he is innocent if yellow, he
is guilty."
" Do you believe in witchcraft?"
" Of course we do, and punish the man with death if he
bewitches cattle, or stops rain."
The Wakimbu are something like theWasagara in appearance,
and also in disposition, only much more industrious. They are
the best agriculturists in Africa, and though their country is far
from being the richest, by their industrious tillage they make it
the most productive. But they are arrant cowards. Their
bomas communal dwellings are so well constructed that it
would require heavy cannon to break them down. They do little
or no hunting, but are skilful in constructing traps for elephants
and buffaloes, in which they frequently catch lions and leopards '
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 425
A ROYAL RECEPTION.
STANLEY was royally received at Ui^anyembe by the Arab
population, which numbered about 500 out of a total of 5000
persons. The governor, Sayd bin Salim, invited him to his
house, where a delightful repast awaited him, with accompanying
condiments and delicious sherbet. Stanley entertained the
governor by relating to him the latest news concerning the per-
sonal and political affairs of Arabia and Egypt. When the enter-
tainment was finished Sayd bin Salim showed him to the house he
was to occupy during his stay in Unyanyembe, and took great
pride in calling his attention to its many rooms, as follows :
"Walk in, master, this is your house, now; here are your
men's quarters ; here you will receive the great Arabs, .here is the
cook-house, here is the store-house ; here is the prison for the
refractory ; here are your white man's apartments ; and these are
your own : see, here is the bedroom, here is the gun-room, bath-
room," &c.
Stanley now turned his attention to storing his goods and pay-
ing off his carriers, this being the end of the trade route from
Bagamoyo. When they were dismissed his force was reduced to
twenty-five men, all the caravans having arrived and reported.
"Just as I began to feel hungry again," says Stanley, " came
several slaves in succession, bearing trays full of good things
from the Arabs ; first an enormous dish of rice, with a bowlful of
curried chicken, another with a dozen huge wheaten cakes,
another with a plateful of smoking hot crullers, another with
papaws, another with pomegranates and lemons ; after these
came men driving five fat hump-backed oxen, \eight sheep, and
ten goats, and another man came with a dozen chickens and a
dozen fresh eggs. This was real, practical, noble courtesy,
munificent hospitality, which quite took my gratitude by storm.
My people were as delighted at the prodigal plenitude visible on
my tables and in my yards, as I was myself. And, as I saw
their eyes light up at the unctuous anticipations presented te
them by their riotous fancies, I ordered a bullock to be slaugh-
tered and distributed."
426 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Owing to sickness and a war that took place between the
Arabs and a native chief named Mirambo, soon after Stanley's
arrival, he was detained at Unyanyembe nearly three months,
and was at last compelled, by the disturbed state into which this
war threw the country, to abandon the regular route to Ujiji and
make a long circuit to the south-west, in order to avoid coming
in conflict with the terrible Mirambo, who had defeated the
Arabs in two pitched battles, and who is described as the Napo-
leon of Africa. On the 20th of September, having organized a
new force, he started ouce more for Ujiji, by the southern route
just described.
CHAPTER XXIV.
DEATH OF SHAW.
THE march from Unyanyembe was begun under very unfavor-
able auspices, and evil circumstances arose one after another,
until the end of the sixth day's march. Shaw was afflicted with
hypochondria, and though his sickness was a brooding despon-
dency, it preyed upon his nerves until he really was unfitted for
travel ; he frequently fell from his donkey, and groaned with
such an agony of despair that, at his oft-repeated request, he was
sent back to Unyanyembe, though Stanley warned him that in
his condition, and among a barbarous people whose language he
could not understand, he would be sure to die. This prediction
was verified a few weeks later.
After passing Ugunda, which is a well-fortified city of 3,000
people, the troubles of the expedition gradually ceased, for the
country became more elevated and healthful.
SURPRISED AT THE SIGHT OF A WHITE MAN.
OCTOBER 4th found Stanley on the hot plains of Manyara,
which are on the margin of a great country abounding with large
game. Tha village qf v Miinyara is iipt large, . bj;/ t.h country Ls^.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 427
t
rich and populous. He was denied admission at the village gate,
and had to camp near a pool of clear water beside a number of
ruined huts.
Owing to the general insecurity felt by every village since Mi-
rarnbo had begun his guerilla warfare, the chief of Manyara re-
fused to sell Stanley any grain or provisions, claiming that he
was prohibited by the district governor from having any commu-
nication with caravans.
Stanley was much disappointed by this refusal, but relying on
diplomacy to procure provisions, he selected two royal cloths
from a bale and gave them to Bombay with an order to deliver
them to the chief, with his compliments. Bombay carried out
his master's orders, but the chief refused the presents, and in a
husky voice told Bombay that he did not want to be bothered.
In consequence of this futile effort to obtain food, the men had
to go to bed supperless. On the following morning, Stanley
sent Bombay again, with four royal cloths and a quantity of
brass, which the chief received with much delight, and sent in
return a large supply of honey, fowls, goats, beans, etc., enough
to last four days.
This evidence of astonishing liberality was shortly after fol-
lowed by a visit from the chief himself, together with several
other prominent natives. Stanley received them politely, on a
piece of Persian carpet and a bear-skin. They looked at him
with great surprise, he being the first white man they had ever
seen, and gave expression to their wonder by fits of laughter.
The Winchester rifle elicited a thousand flattering remarks, while
they looked upon the revolvers as pieces of magic. When a
double-barreled shot-gun was discharged near them, they jumped
with remarkable elasticity, but seeing no harm was done, they
fell to laughing in the most immoderate manner. As their en-
thusiasm increased, they seized each other's index fingers,
screwed, them, and pulled at them until it seemed as if those use~
ful members would be dislocated. After having explained to
them the difference between white men and Arabs, Stanley
pulled out his medicine chest, which evoked another burst of
428
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
rapturous sighs at the cunning neatness of the array of vials.
The chief asked what they meant.
" Down.," replied Stanley, scntentiously, a word which uiu> b<>
interpreted medicine.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 429
" Oh-h, oh-h," they murmured admiringly. " Dowa, dowa,"
they added.
" Here," said Stanley, uncorking a vial of medicinal brandy,
" is the Kisungu pombe " (white man's beer) ; " take a spoon-
ful and try it," at the same time handing it to the Sultan, who
gulped down a large mouthful of it.
"Hacht, hacht, oh, hachtl what! eh I what strong beer the
white men have! Oh, how my throat burns!" exclaimed the
Sultan.
" Ah, but it is good," said Stanley, " a little of it makes men
feel strong, and good ; but too much of it makes men bad, and
they die."
"Let me have some," said one of the chiefs; " and me,"
" and me," " and me," as soon as each had tasted.
He next produced a bottle of concentrated ammonia, which he
explained was for snake bites, and head-aches ; the Sultan imme-
diately complained that he had a head-ache, and must have a
little. Telling him to close his eyes, Stanley suddenly uncorked
the bottle and presented it to his Majesty's nose. The effect
was magical, for he fell back as if shot, and such contortions
as his features underwent are indescribable. His chiefs roared
with laughter, and clapped their hands, pinched each other,
snapped their fingers, and performed many other ludicrous
actions.
A HUNTER'S PARADISE.
ONE day's march from Manyara brought the caravan to the
banks of the Gombe river, along which are thousands of harte-
beests, buffaloes, giraffes, spring-boks, zebras and elands.
This was indeed a hunter's paradise ; a fine grassy plain, soft as
velvet carpet, healthful and picturesque ; no one could well resist
the temptation which here offered for a hunt. Stanley made
preparations for his camp, after which, taking up his double-
barreled smooth-bore, he went out into the park-land. Scarcely
had he entered a clump of brush-wood, hardly one hundred
yards from the camp, when three beautiful young spring-boks
were seen browsing on the succulent grass. A quick shot brought
430
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
one to the ground, the throat of which was reverently cut a i\. ..
ment after by the Arab gun-bearer with a fervent " Bismillah."
As it was nearly time for supper, Stanley hurried back to
camp to have the fresh meat prepared ; then followed a repast of
delicious steak, hot corn cake and Mocha coffee, with a pipe >f
fine tobacco for desert. Glorious life in Africa ! On the fol-
lowing day and the next the royal sport was continued, but the
Winchester was too small for the lordly forest game, as only a
very few out of the hundreds wounded were killed. The animals
taken to camp during the three days' sport were two buffaloes,
two wild boars, three
g hartebeests, one zebra,
and one pallah ; besides
which were shot eight
guinea-fowls, three flori-
cans, two fish eagles, one
pelican, and one of the
men caught a couple of
large silurus fish. In the
meantime the people had
cut, sliced, and dried this
bounteous store of meat
I for the transit through
the long wilderness be-'
fore them.
THE HUNTER'S PARADISE.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM A CROCODILE.
ONE day during the hunt Stanley came upon the bank of the
Yombe river, and the water looked so pure, cool and limpid that
he decided to take a bath. He had divested himself of his
clothes and was just preparing for a headlong plunge, when he-
saw the indistinct form of a monster crocodile glide a few feet
under the water and stop immediately under him, as if waiting
I for him to spring. If he had dived, as he intended, he would have
gone into the very jaws of the ferocious reptile. With a shud-
der of horror he quickly dressed and left the seductive but dan-
gerous spot.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 431
On the 7th of October Stanley ordered his men to break
camp and resume the march ; an ominous silence followed ; the
order was repeated in a tone of severity, and the men moved off,
but after proceeding a short distance they threw down their
loads and refused to go any further. He saw at once that he
was in the midst of a mutiny, and that Bombay was the leader.
Shoving some buckshot shells into his gun, he walked quickly
toward the head of the column, but was arrested by observing
two guns pointed toward him from an ant-hill which partially
screened two murderous guides. He threw his gun into position
and threatened to blow their heads off if they did not come to
him at once. Being too cowardly to shoot and take the chances,
they sullenly left their hiding place and walked slowly forward.
These two men were Asmani and his sworn companion Ma-
bruki. Stanley kept his eye on Asmani, and saw him move
his finger to the trigger of his gun, -and bring the gun to a
"ready." Again Stanley lifted his gun, and threatened him
with instant death if he did not drop his weapon.
Asmani came on in a sidelong way, with a smirking smile on
his face, but in his eyes shone the lurid light of murder,
plainly as ever it shone in a villain's eyes. Mabruki sneaked to
the rear, deliberately putting powder in the pan of his musket,
but quickly turning Stanley planted the muzzle of his gun about
two feet from his wicked-looking face, and ordered him to drop
his gun instantly. He let it fall from his hand, and giving him
a vigorous poke in the breast with his gun, sent him reeling
away a few feet from him. Stanley faced round to Asmani, and
ordered him to put his gun down, pressing gently on the trigger
of his own gun at the same time. Never was a man nearer his
death than was- Asmani during those few moments, and realizing
the fact he obeyed. The truth was, they feared to proceed
further on the road, and the only possible way of inducing them
to move was by firmness and determination.
The men appeared all the better for this escapade, in which
they had gained nothing, but learned that they were governed by
a resolute leader. They marched with quick step, and even cheer-
432
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
f ul countenances, and gained Mrera on the 17th of October.
Here they were beyond the country so disturbed by Mirambo,
and felt that all danger had been passed. Confidence returned,
and Bombay was ready to embrace Stanley, to show his loyalty.
The forests, too, were invitingly laden with wild fruits, among
other kinds being the peach, which grew in great abundance and
was most delicious in taste. The distance to Ujiji was now less
than one hundred miles, and the guides declared they could
WORLD'S WONDERS. 433
already smell the fish in Lake Tanganika. In short, everybody
was happy.
A FRIGHTENED LEOPARD.
OCTOBER 22 brought the caravan to a small pellucid stream of
water, called Mtambu ; they had now reached the home of the
lion, leopard, and wild boar. Here they went into camp in a 1
beautiful spot, about one hundred yards from the river. The
herd-keeper drove the donkeys and goats down to the stream of
water, to reach which they had to pass through a path in a brake
made by elephants and rhinoceri. They had barely entered the
dark passage, when a black-spotted leopard sprang out and fas-
tened its fangs in the neck of one of the donkeys, causing it to
emit several loud, unearthly brays. The other donkeys joined
their comrades in braying, and at the same time commenced a
vigorous kicking with their heels. The poor leopard was so
frightened at the terrible and unusual noise, that he released his
victim and fled into the jungle. The donkey was badly bitten,
but recovered from its hurts.
THE MONKEYS AND THE WILD BOAR.
THIS incident led Stanley to take a stroll round the camp, to
see what game he could discover, taking his boy Kalulu with him
to carry an extra gun. They walked some time without seeing
any kind of animal, and were on the point of returning to camp
when a troop of monkeys, perched in the branches of a tree
overhead, and disturbed by the sight of a white man, chattered
and grimaced so vigorously that Stanley was provoked into a
hearty laugh. As the monkeys were startled by a strange sight,
so was Stanley, when, in turning from them, he discovered a
huge, reddish-colored wild boar, armed with horrid tusks, stand-
ing near him. Recovering his self-possession, he advanced within
forty yards of the beast, and fired at its fore-shoulder. The
boar made a furious bound, and then stood with his bristles
erected and his tufted tail curved over his back. Another shot
was planted in his chest, and ploughed its way entirely through
his body ; but, instead of falling, the boar charged at Stanley,
and received another bullet through the body, whereupon it
434 HE WORLD'S WONDERS.
dropped, but as Stanley stooped to cut its throat, it sprang up
and darted off into the jungle.
On the 2d of November the expedition reached the Malagazazi
river, and in attempting to swim one of the donkeys over, a large
crocodile seized it by the neck, and in spite of its terrific braying
and struggling, and the efforts of the men in tugging on the
rope, the poor donkey was carried under and devoured.
LIVINGSTONE HEARD FROM.
THE following day Stanley met a caravan of eighty Waguhha,
a tribe living in a district on the south-western side of Lake Tan-
ganika. They had come direct from Ujiji, and reported the pres-
ence of a white man there who was very sick, having marched
from a far country in the west and been deserted by his carriers.
Stanley questioned the captain of the caravan closely, and soon
became convinced that the white man was none other than Liv-
ingstone. He was almost beside himself with joy over this news,
and succeeded in imparting some of his enthusiasm to his men,
by promises of rewards and extra pay if they would push ahead
under rapid marches for Ujiji. He hoped to reach that place
without another halt, but they were soon detained by a warlike
chief, who demanded excessive tribute for the privilege of pass-
ing through his country. Fifty robust and well-armed warriors
appeared to enforce the demand, whereupon Stanley decided to
camp for the night and endeavor to compromise matters. He
learned, also, that there were several other chiefs between him
and Ujiji, who would demand toll, and as his goods, which were
his only means of traveling through the country, were running
very low, matters were beginning to assume a serious aspect.'
Upon consulting with his men, he learned that it would be pos-
sible to reach their destination by turning aside from the traveled
road and pursuing some paths through the jungle, until they had
passed the limits of the toll-demanding chiefs. He at once
decided upon this course, and a native guide having been pro-
cured, and the strictest silence imposed upon every member of
the expedition, about midnight, after the moon had risen, they
stole out of camp, in squads of four, and followed the new guide
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 435
through the intricate paths of the jungle. * By this means they
succeeded in evading the unfriendly chiefs, and having passed
their country, after a fatiguing and painful march, they again
turned into the traveled road, and pushed on with light hearts
for Ujiji.
Upon camping for a very much needed rest, Stanley heard a*
noise in the west like distant thunder. Enquiring the cause,
one of the guides told him it was Kabogo.
Kabogo ? what is that ?' '
"It is a great mountain on the other side of the Tanganika,
full of deep holes, into which the water rolls ; and when there is
wind on the Tanganika, there is a sound like mvuha (thunder).
Many boats have been lost there, and it is a custom with Arabs
and natives to throw cloth Merikani and Kaniki and especially
white (Merikani) beads, to appease the mulungu (god) of the
lake. Those who throw beads generally get past without trouble,
but those who do not throw beads into the lake get lost, and are
drowned. Oh, it is a dreadful place !" This story was told by
the ever-smiling Asmani, and was corroborated by other former
mariners of the lake who were with the expedition. The dis-
tance from camp to Kabogo was fully one hundred miles. The
noise is produced by the thundering waves dashing into the caves
along the mountain side.
MEETING WITH LIVINGSTONE.*
ON the 16th of November they reached Ujiji, and marched
into the village with flags flying, drums beating and guns firing.
Crowds of Arabs and natives came running to meet them, and
upon arriving within a short distance of the huts of the village
Stanley was startled to hear a pleasant " Good morning, Sir," in
English, close to his side. Looking around he saw a very black
man with an animated and joyous face, who proved to'be Susi,
Dr. Livingstone's faithful servant. From him Stanley soon
learned that the Doctor was at his house in the village only a
short distance from them. In a moment Chuma, another one of
the Doctor's servants, appeared, and Stanley directed them to
run and tell their master that he was coming. Then pushing his
436
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
way through the crowd he walked toward a small group of
Arabs, in front of whom stood a white man with grey beard.
Approaching him, Stanley lifted his hat and said:
"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 437
" Yes," said he, lifting his cap and smiling.
They then shook hands, and Stanley exclaimed, " I thank God,
Doctor, I have been permitted to see you."
"I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you," was the
reply. AND LIVINGSTONE WAS FOUND.
Stanley says he had expected to find a haughty, reserved man
who would probably resent his visit as an unnecessary intrusion ;
and it was his intention to simply interview him as he would any
other distinguished stranger, and then return to America. But
he was most agreeably surprised to find the Doctor a very conge-
nial and pleasant companion.
Stanley delivered the packet of letters which he had brought
from Zanzibar, now 365 days old. Livingstone opened the bag
and taking them out read one from his children, then laid the
rest aside in order that he might hear the news of the world,
which for two years had been as a sealed book to him. It was
an animated conversation on both sides, equally interesting and
refreshing. A repast was prepared and both indulged a vigor-
ous appetite. Livingstone kept repeating, "You have brought
me new life you have brought me new life." Suddenly inter-
rupting, Stanley exclaimed :
"Oh, by George! I have forgotten something. Hasten, Se-
lim, and bring that bottle ; you know which ; and bring me the
silver goblets. I brought this bottle on purpose for this event,
which I hoped would come to pass, though often it -seemed use-
less to expect it."
Selim knew where the bottle was, and he soon returned with
it a bottle of Sillery champagne; and, handing the Doctor a
silver goblet brimful of the exhilarating wine, and pouring a small
quantity into his own, he said :
" Dr. Livingstone, to your very good health, sir."
" And to yours," he responded.
And the champagne which had been treasured for this happy
meeting was drunk with hearty good wishes to each other.
438 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
JOINT EXPLORATIONS ON TANGANIKA LAKE.
STANLEY remained with Livingstone in Ujiji for about a week,
interviewing him each day as a voracious press reporter, anxious
to obtain the incidents of his explorations and adventures for the
Herald. In these daily intercourses he learned to admire, in-
deed, almost venerate, the great Englishman, whose character he
declares was .as near angelic as mortal's ever became.
Livingstone had reached Ujiji sick and so destitute that he was
dependent upon the generosity of Sayd bin Majid, an Arab
trader, who proved himself a most amiable and generous friend.
In his impoverished condition, Livingstone could not renew his
travels, and he was therefore in idleness, awaiting supplies from
Zanzibar.
Stanley had reached Ujiji in the most opportune time, and per-
ceiving the Doctor's poverty, suggested that they should make a
joint exploration of the north end of Tangamka Lake and settle
the question of the Eusizi river, after which they would return to
Unyanyembe, where, from the many bales of goods left by Stan-
ley, Livingstone could be well supplied for another year's cam-
paign. To this proposition the Doctor assented, and, procuring
a large canoe from Sayd bin Majid, capable of carrying sixteen
men and necessary pro visions, the two set sail. The incidents of
this trip have already been given in Livingstone's travels, and it
is not necessary to repeat them here.
They returned to Ujiji on the 13th of December, 1871, intend-
ing to start at once for Unyanyembe, but Stanley was taken sick
and confined to his bed until Christmas, and even then he was
unable to celebrate the day by a feast such as he had intended.
On the 26th they began their preparations for the journey to
Unyanyembe, having decided to follow the lake south to a vil-
lage called Urimba, and march overland from that point, in order
to evade the tribute-gatherers on the regular route. They ob-
tained two canoes from the Arabs, in which they embarked with
a portion of their men, the remainder following along the shores
of the lake to the starting point. They set sail on the 27th,
Stanley in the larger canoe with the American flag flying at the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 439
stern, and Livingstone in the smaller one under the British flag.
The men were greatly delighted over the shrewd evasion of the
tribute-gatherers, and broke into impromptu song, as follows :
11 We have given the Waha, the slip ! ha, ha !
The Wavinza will trouble us no more ! oh, oh !
Mionvu can get no more cloth from us! hy, hy!
And Kiala will see us no more never more ! he, he ! "
On the 5th of January, 1872, they reached TJrimba, where an
encampment was made and two days spent in hunting zebras and
buffaloes, and enough meat was procured and dried to last the
caravan several days, thus saving the goats and sheep. On the
7th they started on the overland journey.
ADVENTURE WITH AN ELEPHANT.
THEY had traveled several days, and after camping one after-
noon, Stanley thought he would endeavor to procure some meat,
which the interesting region where they then were seemed to
promise. He sallied out with his little Winchester along the
banks of the river eastward. After traveling for an hour or two,
the prospect getting more picturesque and lovely, he went up a
ravine which looked very promising. Unsuccessful, he strode up
the bank, and to his astonishment found himself directly in front
of an elephant, who had his large broad ears held out like stud-
ding sails the colossal monster, the incarnation of might of the
African world.
Kalulu, who was with his master, shouted, " Tembo, tembo !
bana yango ! Lo ! an elephant ! an elephant, my master !" For
the young black rascal had fled as soon as he saw the awful
colossus in such close vicinage. Recovering from his astonish-
ment, Stanley thought it prudent to retire also especially with
a pea-shooter loaded with treacherous sawdust cartridges in his
hand. As he looked behind, he saw the elephant waving his 1
trunk, as much as to say, " Good-bye, young fellow, it is lucky
for you that you went in time, for I was going to pound you to
a jelly."
Upon arriving at camp he found the men grumbling; their
provisions were ended, and there was no prospect for three days,
440
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
at least, of procuring any. With the improvidence usual with
the gluttons, they had eaten their rations of grain, all their store
STANLEY AND THE FRIENDLY ELEPHANT.
of zebra and dried buffalo meat, and were now crying out that
they were famished.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 441
The caravan was forced to subsist on short rations for two days,
uudl Stanley shot a very large giraffe and some zebras, the flesh
of which afforded food until they reached Uganda, where they
were hospitably received and generously provided for. After
leaving Ugunda the slaughter of goats and sheep commenced,
and these furnished abundant meat until they arrived at Unyan-
yembe.
THE SEPARATION.
THEY rested at Unyanyembe until March 18th, when Stanley
divided his goods with the Doctor and set out on a hurried march
for Zanzibar, where it was arranged that he should enlist a new
company and send them back to the Doctor, with such additional
supplies and goods as he needed. It was a sad farewell. A
strong mutual attachment had sprung up between the two men,
alone in the wilderness of Central Africa, and when the time
came they found it hard to separate. Stanley was going home,
to the comforts and pleasures of civilization, while his friend
would again plunge into the dark forests in search of that ignis
fatuus, the sources of the Nile. They walked together along the
homeward route for some distance ; then Livingstone stopped
and held out his hand. The time to part had come. Words
stuck fast in the throats of each during that silent, earnest grip
of the hands. Livingstone turned his face to the west, and
walked slowly back toward Unyanyembe, and descending a gentle
slope he disappeared forever from the civilized world, while
Stanley thoughtfully and sorrowfully turned his face to the east.
THE POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE OF WAR.
EVERYTHING went well with the returning expedition until the
27th, when the village of Kiwyeh, on the borders of Ugogo, was
entered. They had barely encamped, when they heard the boom-
ing, bellowing war-horns sounding everywhere, and espied mes-
sengers darting swiftly in all directions giving the alarm of war.
When first informed that the horns were calling the people to
arm themselves and prepare for war, Stanley half suspected that
an attack was about to be made on the expedition ; but the words
"Urugu, warugu" (thief I thieves!) bandied about, declared
442 THE WORLD'S
the cause. Mukondoku, the chief of the populous district two
days to the north-east, was marching to attack the young Mtemi,
Kiwyeh, and the latter' s soldiers were called to the fight. The
men rushed to their villages, and in a short time they were arrayed
in full fighting costume. Feathers of the ostrich and the eagle
waved over their fronts, or the mane of the zebra surrounded
their heads ; their knees and ankles were hung with little bells ;
joho robes floated behind, from their necks ; spears, assegais,
knob-sticks and bows were flourished over their heads, or held
in their right hands, as if ready for hurling. On each flank of
a large body which issued from the principal village, and which
came at a uniform swinging double-quick, the ankle and knee-
bells all chiming in admirable unison, were a cloud of skirmishers,
consisting of the most enthusiastic, who exercised themselves in
mimic war as they sped along. Column after column, companies,
and groups from every village hurried on past the camp, until
probably there were nearly a thousand soldiers gone to the war.
ROUGH TRAVELING.
THE alarm, very fortunately, proved a false one, and on the
following day the march was renewed with the rapidity of a
flying column. No further difficulties were experienced until
April l^th, when the caravan reached the valley of the Mukon-
dokwa river. Here they had to wade through mire and water,
sometimes up to a man's neck, while torrents of rain poured
down incessantly. On the 13th it rained the whole night, and
the morning brought no cessation. Mile after mile they trav-
ersed over fields covered by the inundation, until they came to a
branch river-side once again, where the river was narrow,, and
too deep to ford in the middle. They cut a tree down, and so
contrived. that it should fall right across the stream. Over this
fallen tree the men, bestriding it, cautiously moved before them
their bales and boxes ; but one young fellow through over-zeal,
or in sheer madness took up the Doctor's box, containing his
letters and journal of his discoveries, on his head, and started
into the river. Stanley had been the first to arrive on the oppo-
site bank, in order to superintend the crossing, when he caught
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
443
sight of this man walking in the river with the most precious box
of all on his head. Suddenly he fell into, a deep hole, and man
and box wejit almost out of sight, while Stanley was in agony
at the fate which threatened the dispatches. Fortunately, he
recovered himself and stood up, while Stanley shouted to him,
with a loaded revolver pointed at his head, "Look out ! Drop
that box, and I'll shoot you !" All the men halted in their work
while they gazed at their comrade, who was thus imperiled by
bullet and flood. The man himself seemed to regard the pistol
444 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
with the greatest awe, and after a few desperate efforts succeeded
in getting the box safely ashore.
It would be tedious to write more concerning the home march,
as no incident of special interest occurred. Stanley reached
Bagamoyo on May 7th, in good health and astonishingly good
spirits. He was much surprised to meet, among the first persons
he saw in the village, Lieutenant Heun, of the Royal Navy, and
Mr. Oswald Livingstone, son of the Doctor, who had been dis-
patched to relieve the great traveler. The lieutenant, a young,
dandyish-looking fellow, was delighted to learn that Stanley had
accomplished the object for which the " Herald " had sent him,
as it saved him a " nawsty twip among the howid people of Cen-
twal Afwica." The English relief expedition was abandoned,
and the young lieutenant and Oswald Livingstone both returned
to England.
ENGLISH JEALOUSY.
STANLEY'S success at first greatly aroused the jealousy of the
English people. He being an American, they seemed to think it
a piece of Yankee impertinence for him to try to find and
save Livingstone. This jealousy even extended to the Govern-
ment, for in the instructions to the commander of the British
relief expedition, not a word of reference was made to the
American expedition.
"In your orders," said Stanley to Lieut. Henn, "is there noth-
ing said as to what you were to do in the event of your meeting
me?"
" Not a word, though they knew it well ; for one of the mem-
bers of the Royal Geographical Society suggested to me privately
that I might possibly be able to relieve you. I knew nothing
of your expedition except from your letter to the ' Herald ;' but
we had been informed that you were sick from fever, and pro-
bably dead. When I arrived here I heard much about you, and
we heard a report that you had found Livingstone the very day
we came here ; but we did not jpay much attention to it. It was
not until I talked with your own men that I came to the conclu-
sion that I was not wanted, and therefore resigned."
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 445
"Why did they not mention my name in the instructions?
They knew, according to what you say, that I was in the country ;
and, no matter how poor a traveler I might have been, it was a
contingency that might arise."
" The truth is, they didn't want you to find him. You can-
not imagine how jealous they are at home about this Expedition
of yours."
"Not find Livingstone! What does it matter to them who
finds and helps him, so long as he is found and relieved?"
. This was the first shock Stanley had received, and from this
moment he regarded himself as a doomed man with the English
people. That anyone should have been so inhuman as to desire
his failure, because it was an American Expedition, was' the
remotest idea that could have been entertained. Until that
moment he had never given a thought as to how people would
regard his success or failure. He had been too busily employed
in his work even to think of such wild and improbable things, as
that any people would rather hope that Dr. Livingstone should be
irrecoverably lost than an American journalist should find him.
But he was not long at Zanzibar before he was thoroughly
aware of the animus that prevailed in England. He was shown
clippings from newspapers, wherein several members of the
Royal Geographical Society had ridiculed the American Expedi-
tion, and one member had even gone so far as to say that it
required the " steel head of an Englishman " to penetrate Africa.
Englishmen are peculiar and sometimes distressingly stupid,
but they are not always unjust, and sometimes not often
change rashly formed opinions. In Stanley's case, their jealousy
was soon modified. He left Zanzibar on May 29th, and
after some trying delays arrived in England, and was afterward
received with kindness and distinction by the English people ; but
it cannot be said that they have ever put a worthy estimate upon
his labors in behalf of their distinguished fellow-countryman.
446 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
STANLEY'S
SECOND EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XXV.
PROMPTINGS WHICH LED TO HIS SECOND JOURNEY.
STANLEY introduces his second famous expedition across the
continent of Africa in the following words :
" While returning to England in April, '74, from the Ashantee
War, the news reached me that Livingstone was dead that his
body was on its way to England I
" Livingstone had then fallen ! He was dead ! He had died by
the shores of Lake Bemba, on the threshold of the dark region
he wished to explore ! The work he had promised to perform
was only begun when death overtook him !
" The effect which this news had upon me, after the first shock
had passed away, was to fire me with a resolution to complete his
work, to be, if God willed it, the next martyr to geographical
science, or, if my life was to be spared, to clear up not only the
secrets of the Great River throughout its course, but also all that
remained still problematic and incomplete of the discoveries of
Burton and Speke, and Spcke and Grant.
" The solemn day of the burial of the body of my great friend
arrived. I was one of the pall-bearers in Westminster Abbey,
and when I had seen the coffin lowered into the grave, and had
heard the first handful of earth thrown over it, I walked away
sorrowing over the fate of David Livingstone."
One day, strolling into the office of the London Daily Tele-
graph, he engaged its proprietors, Messrs. Levy and Lawson, in
conversation on his favorite subject, and before leaving they
WORLD'S WONDERS. 447
asked him how he would like to complete the labors left unfin-
ished by Livingstone. The inquiry added fresh fuel to his most
ardent desire, and the result was an arrangement between the
proprietors of the Telegraph and the New York Herald by which
he was commissioned to undertake an exploration of Central
Africa with the special view of finding the Nile's source.
The preliminaries having been agreed upon, he was not long in
making his departure. Applications poured in upon him from
the adventure-loving spirits of Europe and America, begging per-
mission to join the expedition, but he chose only three young
Englishmen, John and Edward Pocock, and Frederick Barker.
In the matter of dogs, however, he was more liberal, for he se-
lected four, a mastiff, retriever, bull-terrier, and a bull-dog.
There was no lack of money at his disposal, and he was thereby
enabled to equip his expedition with everything that he might by
any possibility require ; and when he set sail on the 15th of
August, 1874, for Zanzibar, he was better prepared for the work
before him than any previous expedition. He arrived at Zanzi-
bar on the 21st of September, and on November 12th, more than
200 porters having been engaged, the expedition set sail for Bag-
amoyo. When ready to start for the interior, the expedition
comprised 356 persons, among whom were thirty-six women, and
when they marched out of Bagamoyo on the 17th of November,
they formed a line half a mile in length. Among the heaviest
articles was a boat, 'named " Lady Alice," forty feet long, six
feet beam, and thirty inches deep. It was made in twelve sec-
tions," and afterward cut into as many more, to facilitate its
transportation.
DEATH OF EDWARD POCOCK.
NOTHING out of the usual course of events in African travel
occurred until the 17th of January, 1875, when Edward Pocock
died of typhus fever, after a short illness. This deplorable event
was intensified in its sadness by the facts connected with his en-
listment. Possessing a laudable ambition to unite his name with
discoveries that would benefit mankind, he had left England with
a mother's blessing, to share the hardships and trials of the ex-
448 THE WORLD'S WONDERS,
pecfition across the Dark Continent. Although in the wilds of
Africa when death struck him down, young Pocock had a Chris-
tian burial, and a brother and loving companions laid their
tributes on his grave. He was buried by the foot of a large tree
on which was cut the emblem of his faith, a cross, and there he
rests, under the moving shadows of the swaying branches.
ON THE VICTORIA LAKE.
UPON' reaching a village situated nearly midway between Baga-
moyo and Ujiji, Stanley left the route by which he had previously
traveled and took a due north course, by which he reached Vic-
toria Lake on the 28th of February. The camping-place was at
a village called Kagehyi, where provisions were plentiful enough
but not obtainable except at a high price. This was the place
where Speke first viewed the lake, and his stay there served to
give the natives an idea of values, and made Stanley a victim to
their extortions ; but unpleasant things had to be endured, and it
was important that the friendship of Prince Kaduma, who ruled
that country, should be secured.
On the second day after the arrival the Lady Alice was pre-
pared for sea, Stanley being determined to circumnavigate the
lake. Kaduma declared the lake was so large that it would
require years to cross it, while along its northern shores lived
tribes so ferocious that no stranger dared approach them ; some
of these people were gifted with tails ; others trained enormous
and fierce dogs, while others preferred human flesh to all other
kinds of meat. These superstitious fears had such an effect
upon Stanley's men, that when he called for volunteers to accom-
pany him on the voyage, not a single one came forward. Per-
suasion being of no avail, he was compelled to conscript ten of
the young guides enlisted at Bagamoyo, who were boatmen, and
on the 8th of March the lake voyage was begun. Five miles
from Kagehyi they came to the village of Igusa, where, by offers
of large rewards, a fisherman named Saramba, who had been
much on the lake, was engaged as guide.
Interesting sights were often presented to view, but incidents
of adventure were few. Hippopotami, crocodiles, and monitors
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
449
were abundant along the shores. This latter animal is a species
of lizard, which accompanies the crocodile and gives it warning
of approaching danger. In this respect it is the crocodile's
friend, but this friendship is an interested one, for it subsists
almost exclusively on crocodile eggs. Stanley shot one of these
singular and rare animals which measured seven feet in length.
On the 21st of .March they landed at an island having some
most singular wonders, among which was a natural bridge of
basaltic rock, which formed an irregular areh of about twenty-
four feet in length by twelve feet in depth, under which they
NATURAL-BRIDGE ISLAND.
were able to pass from one side of the island to the other. An-
other island near it contains a grotto, like that in which the
enchantress Calypso lived ; while still another near by resembles
the Sphynx of Egypt.
ENCOUNTER WITH WILD NATIVES.
THE shores of the lake were thickly populated, there being
village after village in almost unbroken continuity. Generally
the people were disposed to be friendly, but occasional hostile
parties were encountered, who resisted every attempt to land
among them. Upon reaching a bay that lay within a border of
a plain on one side, and a promontory on the other, in the extreme
450 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
north-east corner of the lake, a people speafcing the Usoga
tongue were met, who were very kind and generous, and freely
supplied Stanley with sheep and vegetables in exchange for blue
beads. They were entirely naked, except that some of the women
wore a kirtle of green banana leaves, which afforded barely the
covering of a fig-leaf.
About five hours after leaving this pleasant people, a storm
arose so fierce as to compel them to put into a small cove in an
island. Within ten minutes after coming to anchor a small canoe,
paddled by two men, approached from the shore. Stanley hailed
them in mild tones, but nothing would induce them to come
nearer than one hundred yards. Soon after another canoe, much
larger than the first, containing forty men, all rowing, came up
within fifty yards, and seizing long tufted lances and shields
began swaying them in a menacing manner. Stanley's men made
no demonstrations of resistance, while the hostile canoe ap-
proached within twenty yards, when the savages began to row in
a circle around Stanley's boat, making hostile demonstrations.
The quiet disposition of the Lady Alice's- crew prompted
the natives to come nearer and nearer, until the two boats were
brought side by side. The paddlers, half of whom were intoxi-
icated, laid their hands on everything within reach, not even
excepting Stanley himself, whose person they felt with some
astonishment but no less rudeness. This familiarity, which none
of Stanley's party in the least resented, evidently led the natives
to believe that they had inspired the white man with helpless
terror. Reeling and jostling one another in their eagerness to
offend, they seized their spears and shields, and began to chant
in bacchanalian tones a song that was tipsily discordant. Some
seized their slings and flung stones to a great distance, which
Stanley applauded. Then one of them, under the influence of wine,
and his spirits elated by the chant, waxed bolder, and looked
as though he would aim at the white man, seated observant but
mute in the stern of the boat. Stanley made a motion with his
hand as though deprecating such an action. The sooty villain
seemed to become at once animated by hysteric passion, and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 451
whirled a stone from his sling close over Stanley's head, a loud
drunken cheer applauding his boldness.
Perceiving that they were becoming wanton on account of his
inaction, Stanley seized his revolver and fired rapidly into the
water, in the direction the stone had been flung ; the effect was
painfully ludicrous. The bold, insolent bacchanals at the first
shot had sprung overboard, and were swimming for dear life,
leaving their canoe unmanned. " Friends, come back, come
back; why this fear?" cried out the interpreter; "we simply
wished to show you that we had weapons as well as yourselves.
Come, take your canoe ; see, we push it away for you to seize
it." The savages were eventually won back with smiles. They
were now more respectful in their demeanor. They laughed,
cried out admiringly, and imitated the pistol shots, "Bum,
bum, bum." They then presented Stanley with a bunch of
bananas 1
A few days afterward, when moving under a swift breeze,
Stanley's boat was hailed from the shore, and the natives appear-
ing friendly he landed. Immediately they were attacked with
stones, one of which badly wounded the steersman. Upon
beginning the attack a large number of natives ran to the boat
and seized the oars, while others began rifling the bales of goods.
It was time for quick action ; Stanley seized his gun and fired
over their heads, which so alarmed them that they ran off a little
distance, but began throwing their spears ; a few shots from a
large rifle doubled up a half-dozen, whereupon they ran off.
A KING'S INVITATION.
ON the 2d of April the party proceeded in a happy mood along
the beautiful shore until the village of Kerudo was reached, where
they were received with much hospitality, and from which place
the Kabaka (King) of Uganda was notified by messengers of the
white man's approach.
Just as Stanley was about to depart, on the following morn-
ing, he perceived six beautiful canoes, crowded with men, all
dressed in white, approaching ; they were the Kabaka's people
conveying a messenger who carried an invitation from the King
452 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
of Uganda to Stanley, begging a visit from him. This messen-
ger was gorgeously arrayed for the important occasion ; he wore
ahead-worked head-dress, above which long white cock's feathers
waved, and a snowy white and long-haired goat-skin, intertwin-
ed with a crimson robe, depending from his shoulders, com-
pleted his costume. Approaching Stanley, he delivered his
message thus :
"The Kabaka sends me with many salaams to you. He is in
great hopes that you will visit him, and has encamped at Usa-
vara, 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 messen-
ger with a canoe who 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. Twiyanzi-yanzi-yanzi !" (Thanks, thanks,
thanks.)
Thus delivering himself, the messenger, whose name was Ma-
gassa, implored Stanley to remain one day longer, that he
might show him the hospitalities of his country, and prepare
him for a grand reception by the king, to which Stanley con-
sented.
Magassa was in his glory now. His voice became imperious to
his escort of 182 men ; even the feathers of his curious head-
dress waved prouder, and his robe had a sweeping dignity
worthy of a Koman emperor's. Upon landing, Magassa's stick
was employed frequently. The sub-chief of Kadzi was com-
pelled to yield implicit obedience to his viceregal behests.
" Bring out bullocks, sheep, and goats, milk, and the mellow-
est of your choicest bananas, and great jars of maramba, and let
the white man and his boatmen eat, and taste of the hospitalities
of Uganda. Shall a white man enter the Kabaka' s presence with
an empty belly? See how sallow and pinched his cheeks are.
We want to see whether we cannot show him kindness superio*
to what the pagans have shown him."
THE WOBLD'S WONDERS. 453
MTESA WELCOMES STANLEY.
ON the following day Magassa, in his superb canoe, led the
way, with Stanley following. When about two miles from Usa-
vara, they saw what they estimated to be thousands of people
arranging themselves in order on a gently rising ground. When
about a mile from the shore, Magassa gave the order to signal
the advance upon it with fire-arms, and was at once obeyed by
a dozen musketeers. Half a mile off Stanley saw that the people
on the shore had formed themselves into two dense lines, at the
ends of which stood several finely dressed men, arrayed in crim-
son and black and snowy white. As they neared the beach,
volleys of musketry burst out from the long lines. Magassa's
canoes steered outward to right and left, while 200 or 300 heav-
ily loaded guns announced to all around that the white man
whom Mtesa's mother had dreamed about had landed. Nu-
merous kettle and bass drums sounded a noisy welcome, and
flags, banners, and bannerets waved, and the people gave a great
shout. Very much amazed at all this ceremonious and pompous
greeting, Stanley strode up toward the great standard, near
which stood a short young man, dressed in a crimson robe which
covered an immaculately white dress of bleached cotton, before
whom Magassa, who had hurried ashore, kneeled reverently, and
turning to the visitor, begged him to understand that this short
young man was the Katekiro (Prime Minister.)
A dozen well-dressed officers came forward, and grasping
Stanley's hand, welcomed him to Uganda. By these he was
conducted to a courtyard, surrounded by a circle of grass-
thatched huts, in the midst of which was a larger house where he
was invited to make his quarters. He was soon besieged by all
manner of questions concerning the earth, air, and the heavens,
which he apparently answered to the satisfaction of the natives,
for they went immediately to the king (Mtesa)and told him the
white man knew everything ; at this his Majesty rubbed his hands
as though he had just come into possession of a treasure, and
sent fourteen fat oxen, sixteen goats and sheep, a hundred
bunches of bananas, three dozen fowls, four wooden jars of milk,
454
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
four baskets of sweet potatoes, fifty ears of green Indian corn, a
basket of rice, twenty fresh eggs, and ten pots of maramba
wine. Kauta, Mtesa's steward or butler, at the head of the
drovers and bearers of these various provisions, fell on his knees
before Stanley and said :
" The Kabuka sends salaams unto his friend who lias traveled
so far to see him. The Kabaka cannot see the face of his friend
MTESA AND HIS PRINCIPAL OFFICERS.
until he has eaten and is satisfied. The Kabaka has sent his
slave with these few things to his friend that he may eat, and at
the ninth hour, after his friend has rested, the Kabaka will send
and call for him to appear at the burzah. I have spoken. Twi-
yanzi-yanzi-yanzi ! "
The appointed time approached, and Stanley was prepared
for the memorable hour wbx~ he should meet the Foremost
Man of Equatorial Africa. Two o*. *^e Kabaka' s pages came to
THE WOKLD'S WONDEKS. 455
announce that everything was ready. Forthwith issued from
the court-yard five of the boat's crew on each side of Stanley,
armed with Snider rifles. They reached a short broad street, at
the end of which was a hut. Here the Kabaka was seated while
a multitude of chiefs, Wakungu (generals) and Watongoleh
(colonels), ranked from the throne in two opposing kneeling or
seated lines, the ends being closed in by drummers, guards, exe-
cutioners, pages, etc. As they approached the nearest group, it
opened, and the drummers beat mighty sounds. The Foremost
Man of Equatorial Africa arose and advanced, and all the kneel-
ing and seated lines rose generals, colonels, chiefs, cooks, but-
lers, pages, executioners, etc.
Mtesa took a deliberate view of Stanley, as if studying him,
while the compliment was reciprocated, since the latter was no
less interested in the king. After the audience Stanley repaired
to his hut and wrote the fotlowing: " As I had read Speke's
book for the sake of its geographical information, I retained but
a dim remembrance of his description of his life in Uganda. If
I remember rightly, Spoke described a youthful prince, vain and
heartless, a wholesale murderer and tyrant, one who delighted in
fat women. Doubtless he described what he saw, but it is far
from being the state of things now. Mtesa 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 the most
hearty sympathies that Europe can give him. In this man I see
the possible fruition of Livingstone's hopes, for with his aid the
civilization of Equatorial Africa becomes feasible. I remember
the ardor and love which animated Livingstone when he spoke of
Sekeletu ; had he seen Mtesa, his ardor and love had been for
him tenfold, and his pen and tongue would have been employed
in calling all good men to assist him."
Five days later Stanley added to his observations the following :
', { v see that Mtesa is a powerful Emperor, with great influence
456 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
over his neighbors. I have to-day seen the turbulent Manko-
rongo, king of Usui, and Mirambo, that terrible phantom who
disturbs men's minds in Unyamwezi, through their embassies,
kneeling and tendering their tribute to him. I saw over three
thousand soldiers of Mtesa nearly half-civilized. 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 obtainable in semi-civilized countries. All this is
the result of a poor Muslim's labor; his name is Muley bin
Salim. He it was who first began teaching here the doctrines of
Islam. False and contemptible as these doctrines are, they are
preferable to the ruthless instincts of a savage despot, whom
Speke and Grant left wallowing in the blood of women, and I
honor the memory of Muley bin Salim Muslim and slave-trader
though he be the poor priest who has wrought this happy
change. With a strong desire to improve still more the character
of Mtesa, I shall begin building on the foundation stones laid by
Muley bin Salim. I shall destroy his belief in Islam, and teach
the doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth."
HUMAN SACRIFICES.
COL. LONG, an officer of the Egyptian army under Gen. Gor-
don, had visited Mtese nearly a year previous to Stanley's
arrival, and he describes the Emperor as exceedingly fierce and
brutal, altogether different from Stanley's conceptions of the great
African ruler. Col. Long traveled on horseback from Gondo-
koro to Mtese's capital, and as the horse is an unknown animal
in Central Africa, the natives at first supposed that the gallant
Colonel and his steed were united in some mysterious manner,
and concluding frpm this that he was an extraordinary being they
gave him an unusually grand reception. Mtese ordered thirty
human beings to be slain in honor of his visit, the victims
being selected from among prisoners captured in war. Col.
Long, being unaccompanied except by a few native servants, did
not consider it prudent to interfere with the shocking ceremony,
t>ut was compelled to be $n unwilling witness of this
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
457
brutality. He describes the executioners as exceedingly ferocious
in dress and appearance, with a wild g.lare of brutality in their
gleaming eyes, and a long black beard proclaiming them of other
.origin than the Ugandi, undoubtedly Malay. Their dress consists
of a pantaloon of red and black flannel, bordered with black ; a
tunic of red flannel with black stripes, dolman -like across the
458 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
breast, from which hangs a fringe of peculiar monkey skin ; a
red cloth turban, around which is wound in tasteful coils a finely
plaited rope-cord, badge and instrument of their deadly office.
These monsters surround Mtese on all public occasions, and at
a nod from their master they rush upon their victims and behead
them with their long keen-bladed knives.
This incident is so utterly at variance with the character given
to Mtesa by Stanley and other explorers, that it seems hardly
worthy of credit ; yet it will be remembered that Capt. Speke,
in the commencement of this volume, represents the great
African ruler as exceedingly bloodthirsty and vain. It is evi-
dent that he is a man of varying moods, as each visitor gives
him a different character. He has also been improved by
intercourse with foreigners, and having but recently embraced
the Muslim faith, he was on his best behavior when Stanley saw
him.
A GRAND REVIEW.
ON the 7th of April Mtesa invited Stanley to witness a sham
naval battle, between forty magnificent canoes, each containing
thirty soldiers, so that twelve hundred men were engaged. The
captain of each canoe, was dressed in a white cotton shirt and a
cloth head-cover, neatly folded turban-fashion, while the admiral
wore over his shirt a crimson jacket, profusely decorated with
gold braid, and on his head the red fez of Zanzibar. Each cap-
tain, as he passed, seized shield and spear, and, with the bravado
of a matador addressing the Judge of the Plaza to behold his
prowess, went through the performance of defence and attack
by water. The admiral won the greatest applause, for he was
the Hector of the fleet, and his actions, though not remarkably
graceful, were certainly remarkably extravagant. The naval
review over, Mtesa commanded one of the captains of the canoes
to try and discover a crocodile or a hippopotamus. After fifteen
minutes he returned with the report that there was a young croc-
odile asleep on a rock about two hundred yards away. " Now,
Stamlee," said Mtesa, " show my women how white men can
ahoot." Stanley fired a three-ouiacG bajl,, with, such admirable.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 459
precision that the head of the crocodile was almost severed,
though the distance was full fifty yards.
Mtesa conceived a strong affection for Stanley, and repeatedly
invited him to his palace, where much of the time was devoted
to a discussion of religion, and so earnestly did Stanley relate
the story of Christ's life and sufferings that he won the king
over from Mohammedanism to the Christian faith.
ATTACKED BY THE SAVAGES OF THE LAKE.
UPON Stanley's departure for his camp at the southern ex-
tremity of Victoria Lake, Mlesa supplied him with thirty canoes
and a large force of men under the leadership of Magassa, but
this fellow, who had been promoted, proved to be an obstinate,
lazy, and most unreliable officer, whom Stanley had to frequently
scold and threaten, and finally send back to Uganda. The escort
of thirty canoes did not accompany him more than fifty miles,
when he was left alone again to complete the exploration of the
lake.
Nothing occurred to arrest their progress until the 28th of
April, when hunger induced them to steer for an island in quest
of food. When fifty yards from shore, a great number of natives
rushed down the slopes, uttering fierce ejaculations and war cries.
As this was a common circumstance, Stanley thought but little of
it, having no doubt that the natives would be speedily reconciled
by the payment of a few yards of cloth and strings of beads.
As the boat came near the shore, several rushed into the water
and seizing it, dragged it about twenty yards over the rocky
beach, high and dry. Then ensued an indescribable scene ; a
thousand black devils, armed with bows, spears and knotty war-
clubs, swarmed around the boat, with threatening gestures, and
yelling like demons. Stanley arose to confront them, with a
revolver in each hand, but his guides restrained him, as any re-
sistance would have only invited a massacre. At length, an old
man, who was a leader of the warlike host, was somewhat pla-
cated by a liberal present of beads and cloth, and through his
influence the crowd was drawn off a little way for a council.
Stanley seized this opportunity to effect his escape ; he ordered
460 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
his men to push the boat again into the water with all possible
speed. This scheme succeeded so well that the boat was out in
the lake before the natives could reach the water. A fight now
took place that was very lively for a time. Stanley fired his
Reilley rifle four times and killed five men. A shot-gun loaded
with buck-shot was brought to bear on them next, by which
several more were slain. This served to stop their attempts to
reach the boat by wading, but others quickly njanned a half-dozen
canoes and shot out from shore to continue the battle. Two of
these canoes Stanley sunk with the shell-bullets from his Reilley
gun. In the midst of the fight, two monster hippopotami were
observed advancing with wide-open mouths upon the Lady Alice,
their auger having no doubt been excited by the booming of fire-
arms. Stanley shot one through the brain when it was hardly
more than a yard distant, and so badly wounded the other that it
sank and retreated. The result of these two shots seemed to
produce a panic among the natives, for they immediately relin-
quished the attack and the canoes were put back to shore with
great energy. It was a narrow escape.
At the end of fifty-seven days the circumnavigation of Victoria
Nyanza was completed, the distance being 1000 miles. As the
boat came in sight of the camp at Kagehyi, a joyful shout was
sent up, and when they landed, Stanley was raised upon the
shoulders of several men and carried triumphantly around the
camp, while salutes were fired from all the muskets. This joyful
return was sadly marred, however, by news of the death of
Frederick Barker, who had died twelve days before. Six other
members of the expedition had also fallen victims to dysentery
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 461
CHAPTEEXXVI.
LUKONGEH, THE KING.
IT was Stanley's intention to return to Mtesa's with his expe-
dition in boats, butasMagtissa had deserted him with the canoes
furnished by Mtesa, he was compelled to look elsewhere. The
chief of the village where his camp was located had no boats,
but he informed Stanley that he could obtain all the canoes he
would need from Lukongeh, king of Ukerewe, whose capital was
about fifty miles distant. Accordingly, on May 29th, Stanley
set out for Lukongeh' s palace, where he arrived on the evening
of the 31st, but found the king indisposed, his Majesty being on
a royal drunk, so that an audience could not be had until the
third day afterward. Then Stanley showed Lukongeh the pres-
ents he had brought for him, the magnificence of which so aston-
ished the king that he hastily motioned for them to be covered
up again, lest his subjects should see them and become jealous.
He whispered to Stanley that he would come to his hut after dark
and see them ; and, true to his promise, on the succeeding night,
accompanied by five of his principal chiefs, he made his appear-
ance. Stanley presented each of them with a quantity of fine
cloths, beads, wire, two rugs, two red blankets, and some copper
ornaments. His munificence pleased them amazingly, and in the
exuberance of his feelings Lukongeh promised Stanley that he
should have all the canoes he wanted ; but first he desired to sit
by the fountain of wisdom, which he considered the white man
to be, and drink great draughts of learning. To this end he
came nearly every hour to talk and ask questions, by which Stan-
ley perceived that the king would prove an easy subject for con-
version to the Christian faith, and gave him much enlightenment.
SOME WONDERFUL SUPERSTITIONS.
THE king is supposed, by his subjects, to be endowed with
supernatural power, and Lukongeh made no effort to lessen this
'belief. His people imagined that he could parch the laud with
462 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
drought, or flood it with rain at will. Aware of the value of a
reputation as rain-maker, he was ambitious to add to it that of
"great medicine man," and he besought Stanley earnestly to
impart to him some of the grand secrets of Europe such as how
to transform men into lions and leopards, to cause the rains to
fall or cease, the winds to blow, to give fruitfulness to women
and virility to men. Demands of this character are fequently
made by African chiefs. When Stanley declared his inability to
comply with his requests, he whispered to his chiefs :
" He will not give me what I ask, because he is afraid that he
will not get the canoes ; but you will see when my men return
from Uganda, he will give me all I ask."
The custom of greeting this king is a most curious one, differ-
ing from any observed elsewhere in Africa. His people, after
advancing close to him, clap their hands and kneel to him. If
the king is pleased, he reveals his pleasure by blowing and spit-
ting into their hands, with which they affect to anoint their faces
and eyes. They seem to believe that the king's saliva is a good
thing for the eyes.
To each other the Wakerewe kneel, clap hands, and cry,
"Wachel wache 1" " Wache sug I" " Mohoro I" "Eg sura?"
which, translated, signifies, "Morning I morning!" "Good
morning!" " A good day 1" " Are you well ?"
The stories current in this country about the witchcraft prac-
ticed by the people of Ukara Island prove that those islanders
have been at pains to spread abroad a good reputation for them-
selves, and, aware that superstition is a weakness of human
nature, have sought to thrive upon it
One of the king's officers, named Khamis, upon oath declared
jthat a crocodile once lived in the house of a Ukara chief, which
fed from his hands, and was as docile and obedient as a dog, and
as intelligent as a man. Lukongeh had once a pretty woman in
his harem, who was coveted by the Ukara chief, but the latter
could devise no means to possess her, until he thought of his
crocodile. He immediately communicated his desire to the rep-
tile, and bade him lie in wait in the rushes near Msossi until the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 463
woman approached the lake to bathe, as was her daily custom , and
then seize and convey her without injury across the eight mile
channel to Ukara. The next day, at noon, the woman was in the
Ukara chief's house. "Ask Lukongeh, and he will confirm
what I have told you," said the honest Khamis.
He then added, " Machunda, Lukongeh's father, owned a
crocodile, that stole an Arab's wife and carried her across the
country to the king's house." Kaduma of Kagehyi, according
to Khamis, possessed a hippopotamus which came to him each
morning, for a long period, to be milked I
Families in mourning are distinguished by bands of plantain
leaf around their heads, and by a sable pigment of a mixture
of pulverized charcoal and butter. The clothing of men and
women consists of half-dressed ox-hides, goat-skins, a cincture of
banana leaves, or kirtles of a coarsely made grass cloth.
On the 7th of June, Stanley obtained twenty-seven canoes from
the king, who cautioned him particularly against allowing any
of his subjects to know that they were to be used for any pur-
pose except to convey him back to his camp, as they were a very
suspicious people and might raise a disturbance. In the canoes,
accompanied by 216 of Lukongeh's men, Stanley returned to his
camp, and as a preliminary to securing the vessels he had them
hauled about two hundred yards on shore, and the paddles stored
in a strong house. The natives were not long in discovering that
something was wrong ; they then raised a big row and threatened
bloodshed, which was only averted by a strong show of force
backed- by numerous guns.
A FIERCE BATTLE.
HAVING got rid of the dissatisfied and quarrelsome Ukerewe-
ans by intimidating some and hiring others, Stanley prepared for
the lake voyage to Uganda, and on the morning of June 20th em-
barked his entire force of 150 men, women and children in the
canoes and led the flotilla with the Lady Alice, which carried
fifteen persons and the ammunition.
Owing to the very bad condition of the canoes, five of them
sank the first night out, and several persons came near being
4(J4 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
drowned ; but other canoes were secured without serious delay.
Stanley stopped at Bumbireh island for provisions ; this is the
place where he so narrowly escaped death on his return from
Uganda; but his force was now strong enough for defensive
purposes, and he felt secure. On the evening of July 22d
several natives appeared in canoes, but seeing they were likely to
meet a dangerous foe, should an attack be made, they tried to
hold a parley, at which they insolently declared that, although
they would bring some food, their king was brave and powerful
and was disposed to fight the white man.
The following morning another canoe, containing fifteen men,
approached in a bold, defiant manner. Stanley asked their crew
if they brought food for sale. They replied, " No ; but you will
get food in plenty by and by." After taking a searching look at
the camp, they turned away, giving expression to their contempt
by a method which obtains all round the Uvuma, Uganda, Uzon-
gora, and Ukerewe coasts, viz., by throwing up water behind
them in the air with their paddles, which is as well understood as
the American youth's gesture of placing a thumb to his nose.
Stanley was kept in close quarters for several days, during
which time Magassa, who had been sent by Mtesa to search for
him, came to the island with 300 men. These recruits were of
great service to Stanley, who was almost at the mercy of 3,000
natives, for they held a passage which he was compelled to go
through to reach Uganda. Mustering his force, which now num-
bered 300 men, all told, he started again. At the narrow part
of the passage-way thousands of natives rushed down with spears,
bows and slings, and in defiant tones hailed the white man. As
the canoes came near the shore, arrows, stones and spears began
to fly, in answer to which Stanley opened a brisk fire with his
guns, that fairly mowed the fierce Bumbirehans with swaths of
flame, and put them to rout so completely that they gave him no
further trouble.
WAR IN AFRICA.
THE expedition reached Mtesa's on the 23d of August, and
the king received Stanley in his council chamber with great
!TflE WORLD'S
465
ceremony and many evidences of friendship. Stanley took
this occasion to inform him of the object of his visit* which
was to procure guides and an escort to conduct him to Albert
Lake. Mtesa replied that he was now engaged in a war
with the rebellious people of Uvuma, who refused to pay
their tribute, harassed the coast of Chagwe, and abducted his
people, " selling them afterward for a few bunches of bananas,"
and that it was not customary in Uganda to permit strangers to
proceed on their journeys while the Kabaka was engaged in War ;
but as soon as peace should be obtained he Would send a chief
MTESA S COUNCIL CHAMBER.
with an army to give him safe conduct by the shortest route to
the lake. Being assured that the war would not last long, Stan-
ley resolved to stay and witness it as a novelty, and take advan-
tage of the time to acquire information about the country and
its people.
On the 27th of August Mtesa struck his camp, and began the*
march to Nakaranga, a point of land lying within seven hundred
yards of the island of Ingira, which had been chosen by the
Wavuma as their depot and stronghold. He had collected an
466 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
army numbering 150,000 warriors, as it was expected that he
would have to fight the rebellious Wasoga as well as the Wavuma.
Besides this great army must be reckoned nearly 50,000 women,
and about as many children and slaves of both sexes, so that at
a rough guess, after looking at all the camps and various tribu-
tary nations which, at Mtesa's command, had contributed their
quotas, the number of souls in Mtesa's camp must have been
about 250,000 !
Stanley had the pleasure of reviewing this immense army aa
it was put in motion toward the battle-ground. He describes
the officers and troops in the following graphic style :
" The advance-guard had departed too early for me to see
them, but, curious to see the main body of this great army pass s
I stationed myself at an early hour at the extreme limit of the
camp.
" First with his legion, came Mkwenda, who guards the fron-
tier between the Katonga valley and Willimiesi against the Wan.
yoro. He is a stout, burly young man, brave as a lion, having
much experience of wars, and cunning and adroit in their con-
duct, accomplished with the spear, and possessing, besides, other
excellent fighting qualities. I noticed that the Waganda chiefs,
though Muslimized, clung to their war-paint and national charms,
for each warrior, as he passed by on the trot, was most villain-
ously bedaubed with ochre and pipe-clay. The force under the
command of Mkwenda might be roughly numbered at 30,000
warriors and camp-followers, and though the path was a mere
goat-track, the rush of this legion on the half-trot soon crushed
out a broad avenue.
" The old general Kangau, who defends the country between 1
Willimiesi and the Victoria Nile, came next with his following,
their banners flying, drums beating, and pipes playing, he and
his warriors stripped for action, their bodies and faces daubed
with white, black, and ochreous war-paint.
"Next came a rush of about 2,000 chosen warriors, all tall
men, expert with epear and shield, lithe of body and nimble of
foot, shouting as they trotted past their war-cry of Kavya,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 467
kavya ' (the two last syllables of Mtesa' s title when young Mu-
kavya, 'king'), and rattling their spears. Behind them, at a
quick march, came the musket-armed body-guard of the Empe-
ror, about two hundred in front, a hundred on either side of the
road, enclosing Mtesa and his Katekiro, and two hundred bring-
ing up the rear, with their drums beating, pipes playing, and,
standards flying, and forming quite an imposing and warlike
procession.
" Mtesa marched on foot, bare-headed, and clad in a dress of
blue check cloth, with a black belt of English make round his
waist, and like the Roman emperors, who, when returning in
triumph, painted their faces a deep vermillion his face dyed a
bright red. The Katekiro preceded him, and wore a dark-grey
cashmere coat. I think this arrangement was made to deceive
any assassin who might be lurking in the bushes. If this was
the case, the precaution seemed wholly unnecessary, as the inarch
was so quick that nothing but a gun would have been effective,
and the Wavuma and Wasoga have no such weapons.
" After Mtesa' s body-guard had passed by, chief after chief,
legion after legion, followed, each distinguished to the native ear
by its different and peculiar drum-beat. They came on at an
extraordinary pace, more like warriors hurrying up into action
than on the march, and it is their custom, I am told, to movo
always at a trot when on an enterprise of a warlike nature."
The war-cries of the Waganda begin by shouting the full title
of their respective chiefs, and end with the last syllable, thus :
"Mukavya, kavya, kavya!"
" Ohamburango, ango, ango!"
"Mkwenda, kwenda, kwendal"
"Sekibobo, bobo, bobo!"
"Kitunzi, tunzi, tunzi!"
This perhaps explains why Speke spells thanks "N'yanzig,"
for the Waganda return thanks by first saying, " Twiyanzi-yanzi-
yanzi," and this, when repeated rapidly, sounds like "N'yanzig."
About two hours after the main body began its march, Kasuju,
the guardian of the young princes and Mtesa's women, preceded
by a thousand spears and followed by a similar number, trotted
468 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
by. The women numbered about 5000, but not more than 500
were wives of the king ; the others were for the duties of the
household.
A GREAT NAVAL BATTLE.
IN Mtesa's immense army there were but few warriors who
had ever had any experience on water, most of them coming
from the interior. His enemies, on the contrary, inhabited large
islands in Victoria Lake, which were natural fortresses, and the
warriors were in their element when fighting on water. Their
number did not exceed 30,000 fighting men, but nevertheless,
they presented a formidable force against the inexperienced army
sent against them. To add to his disadvantage, Mtesa had only
300 canoes, capable of carrying less than 900 men. Many of
these boats were 70 feet in length and of corresponding breadth
and depth, but they were badly manned. Upon reaching the
lake, the boats were filled with soldiers and sent across to make
a landing on the island, but they were promptly met by the enemy
and in the skirmish Mtesa's men were defeated, and thirteen of
his canoes captured. This so discouraged him that, at Stanley's
suggestion, he tried to build a causeway of stones and trees across
the 500 yards which separated the island from the main shore,
but abandoned it after 130 yards had been filled. A long period
of inaction now ensued, during which Stanley taught Mtesa the
principles of Christianity and had a considerable portion of the
New Testament translated for his benefit.
It was not until the 14th of September that Mtesa renewed the
war, having found agreeable relaxation from offensive prepara-
tions in the pleasant teachings of Stanley. In the morning, in
accordance with Mtesa's orders, forty Waganda canoes sallied
out from the beach in front of his camps to Nakaranga Point,
where they formed in line of battle before the causeway, with the
sterns of their canoes fronting Ingira island.
Mtesa was followed by about three-fourths of his army when
he proceeded to the point to view the battle, and with him went
the great war-drums, to the number of fifty or thereabouts, and
fifes about a hundred, and a great number of men shaking gourd*
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 469
filled with pebbles, and the court criers and mad charmers against
evil were not wanting to create din and noise, and celebrate
victory.
A hut of ample size had been erected on the mountain slope
overlooking the strait, into which Mtesa and his favorite women
retired. When the Emperor was seated, the "prophets of
Baal," or the priests and priestesses of the Muzimu, or witch-
craft, came up, more than a hundred in number, and offered the
charms to Mtesa one after another in a most tedious, ceremonious
way, and to all of them Mtesa condescended to point his imperial
forefinger.
The chief priest was a most wonderfully dressed madman. On
his head he wore a huge crown of feathers, curiously and fan-
tastically arranged ; in his ears and around his neck were hung
long strings of beads ; his ankles, wrists and arms were adorned
with brass rings, from which depended bits of bone, teeth of
animals, and other charms ; around his loins was girded a leopard
skin with the tail in front, while in his right hand he carried a
native harp, on one end of which was a well carved imitation of
a human head. This fantastic old villain was a rain-doctor as
well as a priest, and exercised a wonderful influence over
the ignorant savages who believed in his supernatural powers. It
is customary before commencing a battle to carry all the potent
medicines or charms of Uganda (thus propitiating the dreadful
Muzimu or evil spirits) to the monarch, that he may touch or
point his forefinger at them. They consist of dead lizards, bits
of wood, hide, nails of dead people, claws of animals, and beaks
of birds, a hideous miscellany, with mysterious compounds of
herbs and leaves carefully enclosed in vessels ornamented with
varicolored beads.
During the battle these wizards and witches chant their incan-
tations, and exhibit their medicines on high before the foe, while
the gourd-and-pebble bearers sound a hideous alarum, enough to
cause the nerves of any man except an African to relax at once.
Mtesa and his army were in full war-paint, and the principal
men wore splendid leopard-skins over their backs, but the Wa-
470
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
soga bore the palm for splendor of dress and ornate equipments.
Ankori, the chief, and his officers were wonderfully gay.
Snow-white ostrich plumes decorated their heads, and lion and
leopard-skins covered
their backs, while their
loins were girded with
snow-white, long-haired
monkey and goat-skins;
even the staves of their
lances were ornamented
with feathers and rings of
white monkey-skin.
The fleet, bearing
Mtesa's men, numbering
230 canoes, moved across
the water again ; hardly a
Uvuma (generally written
Wavuma) was to be seen
and only the prows of a
few of their boats were
risible among the tall
reeds on the other side.
As the Waganda (Mtesa's
forces) approached near
the opposite shore, how-
ever, 192 boats shot out
from among the reeds and
made an impetuous dash
upon the superior force,
and drove them rapidly to
Nakarang point, where
their retreat was covered
by a large body of soldiers
with muskets and four small cannon. Thus the second attack
terminated, leaving the Wavuma masters of the situation.
Mtesa was dreadfully affected by this second defeat, and
THE HIGH PRIEST.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 471
calling his men about him, he berated them soundly for their
cowardice, reminding them that everything they had was due to
his generosity, and swearing that if any of them again showed
the least symptom of fear he would roast them over a slow fire.
On the 18th the battle was renewed again. The Waganda
manned their 230 canoes and advanced resolutely toward the
island, but in mid-channel they were met by the Wavuma with
196 canoes. This time the Waganda carried two howitzers with
them, each in a large canoe, and these were used with such extra-
ordinary effect that ten canoes were sunk and the Wavuma were
driver back in confusion. Instead of following up their advan-
tage by charging the panic-stricken Wavuma, the Waganda
returned to the shore to receive the congratulations of Mtesa.
The war was continued in a desultory manner until the 5th of
October, when Stanley called upon Mtesa and said : " Send me
2000 men and to-morrow I will begin the construction of such a
wonderful war-boat that the mere appearance of it will bring the
Wavuma quickly to terms and establish peace in your kingdom."
This proposition gave Mtesa intense delight, for he had begun
to entertain grave doubts of being able to subjugate the brave
rebels. The 2,000 men being furnished, Stanley set them to
cutting trees and poles, which were peeled and the bark used for
ropes. He lashed three canoes, of seventy feet length and six-
and-a-half feet breadth, four feet from each other. Around the
edge of these he caused a stockade to be made of strong poles,
set in upright and then intertwined with smaller poles and rope
bark. This made the floating stockade seventy feet long and
twenty-seven feet wide, and so strong that spears could not
penetrate it. This novel craft floated with much grace, and as.
the men paddled in the spaces between the boats they could not
be perceived by the enemy, who thought it must be propelled
by some supernatural agency. It was manned by two hundred
and fourteen persons, and moved across the channel like a thing
of life.
As this terrible monster of the deep approached the enemy,
Stanley caused a proclamation to be made to them, in deep and
472 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
awful tones, that if they did not surrender at once their whole
island would be blown to pieces. The stratagem had the desired
effect ; the Wavuma were terror-stricken and surrendered uncon-
ditionally. Two hours later they sent a canoe and fifty men with
the tribute demanded. Thus ended the war, on the 13th day of
October, 1875.
DEPARTURE FOR THE WEST.
AT a levee held on the last day of October, Stanley reminded
Mtesa of his promise to send a suitable escort to conduct him
through the Unyoro country to the Muta Nzige Lake. The
king not only renewed his promise, but immediately sent for
Sambuzi, one of his leading generals, and ordered him to muster
STANLEY'S DREADFUL WAR BOAT.
a thousand men at once for the service. Preparations were made
with such celerity that on November 2d the expedition moved
toward the lake which Stanley was so eager to explore. The
march was begun with a total force of 2,800 souls, 2,300 of
whom were Mtesa's warriors, but at the first intimation of dan-
ger, in a threatened attack from the king of Uzimba and his ally,
'the king of Unyampaka, the greater portion deserted, including
General Sambuzi, who, though an irrepressible boaster, was also
an arrant coward.
Stanley moved his force with but little opposition through
Unyoro, being attacked only once, when he repulsed the enemy
without loss.
THE WOELD'S WONDERS. 473
On the 28th of February, Stanley reached Kafurro, where he
remained a month, the guest of the kind old king Rumanika,
who was a giant in height (six feet six inches), but a man of
great benevolence and peacefully-disposed nature ; in fact, an
African gentleman.
SOME NATIVE STORIES.
ONE day after leaving Rumanika' s country, Stanley shot three
rhinoceri, from the bodies of which he obtained ample supplies
of meat for the journey through the wilderness of Uhimba. One
of these enormous brutes possessed a horn 2 feet long, with a
sharp dagger-like point, and below that a stunted horn, 9 inches
in length. He appeared to have had a tussle with some wild
beast, for a hand's breadth of hide was torn from his rump.
The natives of this country informed Stanley, with the utmost
gravity, that the elephant maltreats the rhinoceros frequently,
because of a jealousy that the former entertains of his fiery
cousin. It is said that if the elephant observes the excre-
ment of the rhinoceros unscattered, he waxes furious, and
proceeds instantly in search of the criminal, when woe befall him
if he is sulky and disposed to battle for the proud privilege of
leaving his droppings as they fall ! The elephant in that case
breaks off a heavy branch of a tree, or uproots a stout sapling
like a boat's mast, and belabors the unfortunate beast until he is
glad to save himself by hurried flight. For this reason, the
natives say, the rhinoceros always turns round and thoroughly
scatters what he has dropped.
Should a rhinoceros meet an elephant, he must observe the
rule of the road and walk away, for the latter brooks no rivalry ;
but the former is sometimes headstrong, and the elephant then
despatches him with his tusks by forcing him against a tree and
goring him, or by upsetting him, and leisurely crushing him.
MEETING WITH MIRAMBO* THE BANDIT KING.
ARRIVING at Serombo, April 20th, Stanley learned that the
great Napoleonic bandit king, Mirambo, the mighty warrior of
Unyamwezi, was in the neighborhood ; this report greatly fright-
ened the Wagauda soldiers who had been sent with Stanley by
474. THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Mtese, and had been obedient enough to remain with him. They
now felt more disposed than ever to desert, but on the following
day their fears were dissipated by a friendly message from Mi-
rambo. His ambassadors, three fine-looking young men, were
handsomely dressed in fine red and blue cloth coats, and snowy
white shirts, with ample turbans around their heads. They were
confidential captains of Mirambo's bodyguard.
" Mirambo sends his salaams to the white man," said the
principal of them. " He hopes the white man is friendly to him,
and that he does not share the prejudices of the Arabs, and
believe Mirambo a bad man. If it is agreeable to the white man,
he will send words of peace to Mirambo?"
"Tell Mirambo,' 1 replied Stanley, "that J. am eager to see
him, and would be glad to shake hands with so great a man, and
as I have made strong friendship with Mtesa and Rumanika, I
shall be rejoiced to do likewise with Mirambo. Tell him I hope
he will come and see me as soon as he can."
The next day Mirambo, having despatched a Ruga-Ruga (one
of his captains) to announce his coming, appeared with about
twenty of his principal men.
Stanley shook hands with him with fervor, which drew a
smile from the chief, as he said, " The white man shakes hands
like a strong friend."
His person quite captivated Stanley, for he was a thorough
African gentleman in appearance, very different from any con-
ception of the terrible bandit who had struck his telling blows at
native chiefs and Arabs with all the rapidity of a Frederick the
Great environed by foes.
The interview was of the most friendly character, and they
parted each with a high regard for the other. On the following
day Stanley returned the visit, and the ceremony of blood-
brotherhood 'was performed.
On leaving Serombo, Mirambo accompanied Stanley a con-
siderable distance outside the village, gave hiro several presents,
and otherwise showed the kind and friendly ftciiu^ which be
really felt for the white man.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 475
Such excellent progress was made, that on May 2d the expedi-
tion approached Ubagwe, which is the capital of the Watuta
country. This tribe is composed of genuine Ishmaels, for their
hands are against every man, and every man's hand appears to be
against them. The Arabs kill Watutas as they do snakes, and it
may be also said that the Watutas kill Arabs in the same way.
In passing the country of this ferocious people there is need for
coolness and bravery, for a show of force will not intimidate
them. They cultivate their fields with spear in hand, always
WATUTA WARRIOR.
prepared to fight. Fortunately Stanley was skilful enough to
evade their village, and passed through the country undiscovered.
On the 27th of May the expedition reached Ujiji, having skirted
lake Tanganika from the northern point where the Rusizi river
empties into it. No great changes had occurred, except the ever-
changing mud tembes of the Arabs. The square or plaza where
Stanley met Livingstone in November, 1871, was now occupied
by large tembes. The house where they lived had long ago been
burnt down, and in its place there remained only a few embers
and a hideous void.
476 THE WORLD'S WOKTDERS.
CHAPTER XXVII.
CIRCUMNAVIGATING TANGANIKA LAKE.
STANLEY was sorely disappointed to find that not a single letter
awaited him after an absence of seventeen months. Before
leaving Unyanyembe he had requested the Governor to forward
all his mail to Ujiji, but this he had neglected to do. Eager for
the news which he knew the letters must contain, he despatched
ten men to Unyanyembe, but they never returned.
Ou the llth of June he launched his boat, the " Lady Alice,"
on the beautiful waters of Tanganika Lake, with the intention of
circumnavigating it to find its outlet. He also secured a large
canoe to carry provisions, and started southward on his voyage
of exploration.
At Uriraba he remained two days on the same spot where he
and Livingstone had camped four years before.
In the afternoon of the 19th they came in sight of a village
called Kiwesa, which occupied a position on the apex of a high
hill. Landing, and making the ascent with the hope of pur-
chasing milk, they were astounded to find a population of dead
men. Some ruthless enemies had attacked the village a few days
before and massacred its inhabitants, regardless of sex or age ; in
the streets were seen the bodies of men, women and children,
recently killed, many of whom were horribly mutilated with knife
and spear. Not a living thing, save one black cat, was to be seen,
the desolation being so complete.
THE WABEMBE CANNIBALS.
CONTINUING on, nothing occurred to interrupt their journey
until July 27th, when, coasting along Burton Gulf, near a village
on the west bank of the Kasansagara river, they were warned by
the people against landing. These were the Wabembe cannibals.
On nearing the shore, the boats were attacked by the cannibals,
many of whom hurled heavy stones, while others showed their
defiance by striking the ground with their spears, hopping up and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 477
down and beating the water. The interpreter explained that the
white man was very much shocked at such rudeness, that his visit
was a peaceable one, with no other desire than to buy grain of
them , if they would sell. This speech did not mollify their anger,
for they shouted back that they were not slaves and had not sown
their lands to sell the grain to strangers. Stanley attempted to
proceed quietly out of their reach, but several canoes were
launched and filled with warriors who were anxious for a fight ;
they evidently wanted a fresh supply of human meat, and desired
particularly to sample a white man. Abrisk breeze was blowing,
which enabled Stanley to sail away from his pursuers, while his
large canoe was manned by such excellent boatmen that it
bounded over the water with equal swiftness away from the hungry
man-eaters.
At the end of fifty-one days from the time of departure from
Ujiji, Stanley had completed the circumnavigation of the lake and
returned to his old camp. He found the extreme length of the
lake to be 810 miles and the coast line 930 ; its breadth ranges
from ten to forty-five miles, with an average of twenty-eight
miles, making its superficial area 9,240 miles. Repeated sound-
ings with a plummet line of over 1,200 feet in length failed to
find any bottom one mile from shore.
FACTS ABOUT LAKE TANGANIKA.
STANLEY proved by his careful explorations of the lake that it
had no outlet at the time he was there. The body of water had
formerly occupied a much higher altitude, and then had an outlet
through the Lukuga river, on the west coast, which flowed into
the Livingstone, or Congo river;- but an earthquake, or some
great internal disturbance, at some remote period, had sunk the
bed of the lake until its waters fell below the level of the river,
and it was in that condition when first discovered by Burton and.
Speke. Several large rivers, however, continued to pour their
waters into the lake, which had risen to such an extent during
the interval of four years between Stanley's first and second
expeditions, as to cover large tracts of land that had formerly
lain high and dry. The lake had gained a sufficient altitude in
478 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
1875 to again extend its waters into the dry bed of the Lukuga
river, and Stanley estimated that in a very short time this ancient
outlet would once more resume its function, and become a rapidly
flowing affluent of the Livingstone, or Congo. These facts are
interesting, as settling beyond dispute the sources of the Nile.
Stanley circumnavigated the lake, closely examining every stream
connected with it, and while he found a number that flowed into
it from various directions, there were none flowing out, thoughts
just stated, if the lake continued to rise, it would soon find an
outlet through the Lukuga and the Livingstone, thus pouring its
waters into the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Nile and the Med-
iterranean Sea, as Livingstone and others had supposed. The
question, therefore, of the Nile's sources is definitely settled in
favor of Speke and Sir Samuel Baker, the discoverers, respect-
ively, of Lakes Victoria and Albert.
INTO THE COUNTRY OF THE CANNIBALS.
ON returning to Ujiji Stanley found Frank Pocock, who had
been left in charge of the expedition during his absence, pale
and haggard from a long spell of fever, five of the Wagwara
soldiers had died of small-pox, and six others were down with
the dreadful scourge, which was also decimating the population
of the town. Stanley was stricken with fever the day after his
arrival, but was again on his feet at the end of five days. He
now decided to cross the lake, and push westward as quickly as
possible, and so announced to his men. This created a panic
among them, for they fully believed that if they went among
the cannibals they would be roasted and eaten. Thirty-eight
had already deserted during his absence, and many of the others
now threatened to do likewise. As a precaution against further
desertions, he had those whom he suspected of being untrust-
worthy arrested and put into a large hut, where they were guarded
until he was ready to depart.
Everything at last being ready, they crossed the lake on the
25th of August, and after a necessary halt of a few days to rest
and organize, the expedition pushed westward through the wil-
derness toward the Manyuema country, for the purpose of explor-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
479
Ing the great river flowing to the north-west through that region,
and from which Livingstone had been driven back by the war
between the Arabs and natives previous to his meeting with
Stanley. The Manyuema nation is composed of a number of
tribes, varying greatly in disposition and general appearance.
Some are handsome and intelligent, others are filthy, ugly and,
degraded ; but, with a few exceptions, all are mild' and gentle in-
disposition, although
universally addicted to
cannibalism. Stan-
ley's acquaintance with
them commenced at
the village of Lambo.
"In these people,"
says he, "we first saw
the mild, amiable, un-
sophisticated inno-
cence of this part of
Central Africa, and
their behavior was ex-
actly the reverse of
the wild, ferocious,
cannibalistic races the
Arabs had described P
to us."
In passing through
the country they came
to a village which
consisted of a number of low, conical grass huts, ranged
round a circular common, in the centre of which were three
or four fig-trees, kept for the double purpose of supplying
shade to the community and bark-cloth to the chief. The door-
ways to the huts were very low, scarcely thirty inches high. On
presenting himself in the common, Stanley attracted out of doors
the owners and ordinary inhabitants of each hut, until he found
himself the centre of quite a promiscuous population of naketf
MILD TYPES OF MANYUEMA.
480 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
men, women, children, and infants. Though he had appeared
for the purpose of studying these people, and making a treaty of
friendship with the chief, the villagers seemed to think he had
come merely to make a free exhibition of himself as some natural
monstrosity.
j Hundreds of people of the most degraded and unpresentable
type crowded around the traveler and gazed with open mouths at
his wonderful white skin. Turning to an aged savage, whosq
amazed countenance was pushed close to his face, Stanley said>
" My brother, sit you down on this mat, and let us be friendly
and sociable," at the same time thrusting into his wide-open hancl
a number of beads, the currency of that country. As Stanley
looked at his huge, rough hand, he imagined that he could carve
a more comely one out of rhinoceros hide. The thick black skin
of his face resembled an extravagant mask, and his nose was so
flat that Stanley asked him the reason for such a feature. "Ah,"
said he, with a sly laugh, "it is the fault of my mother, who v
when I was young, bound me too tight to her back."
Descending from the face, which, crude, large-featured, rough-
hewn as it was, bore witness to the possession of much sly humor
and a kindly disposition, Stanley's eyes fastened on his naked
body. Through the ochreous daubs could be detected strange
freaks of pricking, circles and squares and crosses, while he
traced with wonder the many hard lines and puckers created by
age, weather, ill-usage, and rude keeping.
His feet were monstrous abortions, with soles as hard as hoofs,
and his legs, as high up as his knees, were plastered with suc-
cessive strata of dirt; his loin-cover, or the queer " girding-
tackle," need not be described. It was absolutely appalling to
good taste, and the most ragged British beggar or Neapolitan
lazzarone is sumptuously clothed in comparison to this African
" king." The subjects of this mighty monarch wore around their
waists tags of monkey-skin, bits of gorilla bone, goat horns, and
shells, while around their necks were strung skins of vipers, and
other hideous contrivances.
As they gazed and crowded and jostJed on* another, they ex-
THE WORLD'S WINDERS.
481
claimed , ' ' Wa-a-a-antu ! " ( " Men ! " ) " Eha-a I and these are
men ! "
Presently a dead silence prevailed for an instant, during which
the females of this strange group dropped their lower jaws far
dowii^ and then cried out again, "Wa-a-a-a-a-antu ! " ("Men !")
Their jaws dropped so low that when, in a posture of reflection,
they put their hands up to their chins, it really looked as if they
482 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
had done so to lift the jaws up to their proper place and to sus-
tain them there. And in that position they pondered upon the
fact that there were men " white all over " in this queer world !
The uncontrollable, irrepressible wonder of the juvenile part
of the population seemed to find its natural expression in hopping
on one leg, thrusting their right thumbs into their mouths to
repress the rising scream, and slapping the hinder side of the
thighs to express or give emphasis to what was speechless.
While thus engaged, one of these restless youths stumbled across
a long heavy pole which was leaning insecurely against one of
the trees. The pole fell, striking one of Stanley's men severely
on the head. All at once there went up from the women a gen-
uine and unaffected cry of pity, while their faces expressed a
lively sense of tender sympathy with the wounded man, showing
through the disguise of filth, nakedness, and ochre, the human
heart beating for another's suffering, causing Stanley to recog-
nize and hail them, though poor and degraded, as indeed sisters.
The women tenderly cared for the man's wounds, and before the
expedition departed from the village the chief and his people
loaded the men with bounties of bananas, chickens, Indian corn,
and malafu (palm-wine), and escorted them respectfully far
beyond the precincts of the village and their fields, parting at
last with the assurance that, should they ever happen to return
by their country, they would endeavor to make the second visit
much more agreeable than the first had been.
The Manyema have, several very noteworthy peculiarities.
Their weapons are a short sword scabbarded with wood, to which
are hung small brass and iron bells, a light, beautifully balanced
spear probably, next to the spear of Uganda, the most perfect
in the world. Their shields are veritable wooden doors. Their
dress consists of a narrow apron of antelope skin or finely made
grass cloth. They wear knobs, cones, and patches of mud
attached to their beards, back hair, and behind the ears. The
old chief hacj rolled his beard in a ball of dark mud : his children
wore their hair in braids with mud fringes. His drummer had a
great crescent-shaped patch of mud at the back of the head. At
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
483
another village, the natives had horns and cones of nind on the
tops of their heads. Others, more ambitious, covered the entire
head with a crown of mud.
The women, blessed with an abundance of hair, manufacture
it with a stiffening of light cane into a bonnet-shaped head dress,
allowing the back hair to flow down to the waist in masses of
ringlets. They seem to do all the work of life, for at all hours
they may be seen, with their large wicker baskets behind them,
LIP RING AND PECULIAR HAIR DRESSING.
setting out for the rivers or creeks to catch fish, or returning
with their fuel baskets strapped on across their foreheads.
CANNIBALS AND DWARFS.
SOME tribes of the Manyuema are addicted to cannibalism in
its most horrid features. They carry on predatory wars
against their neighbors, and the dead bodies of the slain are
always eaten. In the mad frenzy of their cannibalistic propen-
sities they impale tender infants on their horrid spears, and tear
the bodies of the slain limb from limb. Even the women take a
prominent part in these terrible orgies.
484 THE WORLD'S WONTMERS.
Near the middle of October, Stanley arrived at Mkwanga,
which is only eight miles from the confluence of the Luama and
the Lualaba rivers, the latter being the one that Stanley intended
to explore. While encamped here two Wangwana arrived with
the news that a party of Arabs were encamped at a village called
Mwana Mamba, eighteen miles distant, and forthwith Stanley
decided to join them, which he did on the following day, meet-
ing with a very cordial welcome. The leader of the Arabs,
Tipo-Tib, had escorted Lieutenant Cameron across the Lualaba
river and as far as Utotera, south latitude 5 and east longitude
25 54'. He was dressed in clothes of spotless white, his waist
was encircled by a rich dowle, his dagger was splendid with silver
filigree, and his head was adorned by a beautiful new fez, giving
him the air of a sultan or rich Arab gentleman.
The reader will remember Livingstone's painful disappoint-
ment at being unable to procure canoes from the Manyuema in
which to explore the Lualaba river, even after he had saved many
of them from massacre at the hands of the blood-thirsty Arabs.
Stanley anticipated similar trouble, and also feared that he
would not be able to pass through their country with his small
force. He therefore made the Arab leader a liberal offer to
accompany him a certain distance toward the north v/ith his
entire company.
THE WONDERFUL DWARFS.
TiPO-TiB listened respectfully to Stanley's proposition, and
then called in one of his officers who had been to the far north
along the river, requesting him to impart such information as he
possessed in regard to the people inhabiting that country. This
man told a marvelous tale, almost rivaling the wonderful creations
of the Arabian Nights ; and Stanley subsequently learned by his
own experience that much of the story was true.
" The great river," said he, " goes always toward the north,
until it empties into the sea. We first reached Uregga, a forest
land, where there is nothing but woods, and woods, and woods,
for days and weeks and months. There was no end to the
woods. In a month we reached Usongora Meno, and here we
WORLD'S WONEERS.
485
fought day after day. They are fearful fellows and desperate ;
We lost many men, and all who were slain were eaten. But we
were ^rave, and pushed on. When we came to Kima-Kima we
heard of the land of the little men, where a tusk of ivory could
be purchased for a single cowrie (bead). Nothing now could
hold us back. We crossed the Lumami, and came to the land of
the Wakuma. The'Wakuma are big men themselves, but among
486 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
them we saw some of the dwarfs, the queerest little creatures
alive, just a yard high, with long beards and large heads. The
dwarfs seemed to be plucky little devils, and asked us many
questions about where we were going and what we wanted. They
told us that in their country was so much ivory we had not enough
men to carry it ; but what do you want with it, do you eat it?'
said they. No, we make charms of it, and will give you beads
to show us the way ' Good, come along.'
" We followed the little devils six days, when we came to their
country, and they stopped and said we could go no further until
they had seen their king. Then they left us, and after three days
they came back and took us to their village, and gave us a house
to live in. Then the dwarfs came from all parts. Oh ! it is a
big country! and everybody brought ivory, until we had about
four hundred tusks, big and little, as much as we could carry.
We bought it with copper, beads, and cowries. No cloths, for
the dwarfs were all naked, Tdng and all. We did not starve in
the dwarf land the first ten days. Bananas as long as my arm,
and plantains as long as the dwarfs were tall. One plantain was
sufficient for a man for one day.
" When we had sufficient ivory and wanted to go, the little
king said no ; this is my country, and you shall not go until I
say. You must buy all I have got ; I want more cowries ;' and
he ground his teeth and looked just like a wild monkey. We
laughed at him, for he was very funny, but he would not let us
go. Presently we heard a woman scream, and rushing out of our
house, we saw a woman running with a dwarf's arrow in her
bosom. Some of our men shouted, The dwarfs are coining
from all the villages in great numbers ; it is war prepare !' We
had scarcely got our guns before the little wretches were upon us,
shooting their arrows in clouds. They screamed and yelled like
monkeys. Their arrows were poisoned, and many of our men
who were hit, died. Our captain brandished his two-handed
sword, and cleaved them as you would cleave a banana. The
arrows passed through his shirt in many places. We had many
good fellows, and they fought well ; but it was of no use. The
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 487
dwarfs were firing from the tops of the trees ; they crept through
the tall grass close up to us, and shot their arrows in our faces.
Then some hundred of us cut down banana-trees, tore doors out,
and houses down, and formed a boma at each end of the street,
and then we were a little better off, for it was not such rapid,
random shooting ; we fired more deliberately, and after several
hours drove them off.
" But they soon came back and fought us all that night, so
that we could get no water, until our captain oh ! he was a brave
man, he was a lion ! held up a shield before him, and looking
around, he just ran straight where the crowd was thickest; and
he seized two of the dwarfs, and we who followed him caught
several more, for they would not run away until they saw what
our design was, and then they left the water clear. We filled our
pots and carried the little Shaitans (devils) into the boma; and
there we found we had caught the king. We wanted to kill him,
but our captain said no, kill the others and toss their heads over
the wall ; but the king was not touched.
" Then the dwarfs wanted to make peace, but they were on us
again in the middle of the night, and their arrows sounded
1 twit,' twit ' in all directions. At last we ran away, throwing
down everything but our guns and swords. But many of our
men were so weak by hunger and thirst that they burst their
hearts running, and died. Others lying down to rest found the
little devils close to them when too late, and were killed. Out
of our great number of people only thirty returned alive, and I
am one, of them."
Stanley listened with rapt attention to the recital of this won-
derful story, and at its conclusion he said : " Ah I good. Did
you see anything else very wonderful on your journey?"
'* Oh yes ! There are monstrous large boa-constrictors in the ,
forest of Uregga, suspended by their tails to the branches,
waiting for the passer-by or for a stray antelope. The ants in
that forest are not to be despised. You cannot travel without
your body being covered with them, when they sting you like
wasps. The Jeopards are so, numerous that you cannot go very
488 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
far without seeing one. Almost every native wears a leopard-
skin cap. The sokos (gorillas) are in the woods, and woe befall
the man or woman met alone by them ; for they run up to you
and seize your hands, and bite the fingers off one by one, and as
fast as they bite one off, they spit it out. The Wasongora Meno
and Waregga are cannibals, and unless the force is very strong,
they never let strangers pass. It is nothing but constant fight-
ing. Only two years ago a party armed with three hundred guns
started north of Usongora Meno ; they only brought sixty guns
back, and no ivory. If one tries to go by the river, there are
falls after falls, which carry the people over and drown tjiem."
These were sorry stories for men to listen to who were then
contemplating a trip that would lead them directly through all
these dreadful obstacles. Stanley knew that if he depended
alone on his own force his expedition must fail, and disaster
would no doubt follow failure. After a lengthy interview with
Tipo-Tib a contract was drawn up between them by which
Stanley agreed to pay the Arab $5000 for an escort of 140 guns
and 70 spearmen a distance of sixty marches of four hours each,
which would be equivalent to nearly 500 miles. This force
added to his own would furnish him with such protection as was
needed.
The expedition now marched to Nyangwe, where another section
of the Arab party was encamped ; Tipo-Tib' s party consisted of
700 persons when united. Nyangwe is a village of 300 huts and
nearly 2000 people ; it is a great market for slaves, and is the
westernmost Arab trading station on the road from the east. As
the village is situated on the Lualaba river, Stanley here launched
his boat, the Lady Alice, to make soundings. He found the
river studded with large islands, and its mean depth, taken in
thirty-six soundings, was 18 feet nine inches, while its breadth
was from 4000 to 5000 yards, making it one of the greatest
rivers of the earth.
AMONG THE CANNIBALS.
ON the morning of November 5th, 1876, the combined expedi-
tion broke camp and marched out of Nyangwe. Stanley savs :
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 489
" The object of this desperate journey is to flash a torch of light
across the western half of the Dark Continent. For from
Nyangwe east, along the fourth parallel of south latitude, are
some 830 geographical miles, discovered, explored, and surveyed,
but westward to the Atlantic Ocean, along the same latitude, are
956 miles over 900 geographical miles of which are absolutely
unknown. Instead, however, of striking directly west, we are
about to travel north on the eastern side of the river, to prevent
it bending easterly to Muta Nzige, or Nilewards, unknown to us,
and to ascertain, if the river really runs westward, what affluents
flow to it from the east ; and to deduce from their size and vol-
ume some idea of the extent of country which they drain, and the
locality of their sources."
After five days' marching through dense, almost inpenetrable
forests, where they were compelled to hew their way with axes
step by step, they came to the country of Uregga, and halted to
rest. The inhabitants of this country live as secluded in their dark
forests as the chimpanzees ; but they provide themselves with
comforts unknown to other African tribes. Their houses, in the
villages, are all connected together in one block, from 50 to 300
yards in length, and are covered with a kind of pitch. They
furnish their homes with many luxuries known to civilization,
such as cane settees, beautifully covered stools, sociable benches,
exquisitely carved spoons, etc. The women of Uregga wear
only aprons 4 inches square, of bark or grass cloth, fastened by
cords of palm fibre. The men wear skins of civet, or monkey,
in front and rear, the tails downward. It may have been from
a hasty glance of a rapidly disappearing form of one of these
people in the wild woods that native travelers in the lake regions
felt persuaded that they had seen " men with tails."
At Wane-Kirumbu the Waregga were engaged chiefly in iron-
working, in which they seem to be very expert, making hammers,
axes, hatchets, spears, knives, swords, wire, iron-balls with
spikes, leglets, armlets, and iron beads. At every village there
was , furnace in full blast, charcoal being the fuel used.
490
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
A VILLAGE OF SKULLS.
KAMPUNZEE is a village about five hundred yards in length,
formed of one street thirty feet wide, flanked by a row of gable
roofed but low houses. Stanley was astonished to see in this village
two rows of what appeared to be human skulls, placed about ten
feet apart and running the entire length of the street. He counted
186 of them. Addressing the chief of the village, he said :
NATIVE BLACKSMITHS.
"My friend, what are those things with which you adorn thk
streets of your village?"
He replied, "Nyama," (meat).
4 Nyama, I. Nyama of what Y '
" Nyamai of, the forest."
< Of the forest I What kind of a thing is this Nyama of the
forest?"
"It is about the size of this boy,'' pointing to
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 491
who was 4 feet 10 inches in height. " He walks like
a man, and goes about with a stick, with which he beats the
trees in the forest, and makes hideous noises. The Nyama eat
our bananas, and we hunt them, kill them, and eat them."
The animal thus described by the chief is the soko, or gorilla ;
but with his utmost efforts Stanley was never able to secure one,
or even to see any indications of them in the woods. He
therefore concluded that the horrible relics along the street
were human skulls, and procuring several of them he took them
with him and had them examined by the distinguished scientist,
Prof. Huxley, after his return to England. He confirmed Stan-
ley's suspicions, by pronouncing them skulls of human beings,
and stated that more than half of those examined by him bore
marks of a hatchet which had been driven into the head while
the victims were alive.
On the 19th a march of five miles through the forest west from
Kampunzu brought the expedition to the Lualaba, in south lati-
tude 3 35' , just forty-one geographical miles north of the Arab
depot Myangwe. An afternoon observation for longitude showed
east longitude 25 49'. The name Lualaba terminates here.
Thenceforth Stanley speaks of it as the Livingstone river, which
name he gave it.
Arrangements were made to cross the river by launching the
Lady Alice, and calling upon the people of a small village on the
opposite shore for assistance with their canoes. After a long
talk and the giving of many presents, canoes were furnished to
cross the caravan, but scarcely had they landed when an attack
was made upon them by a thousand or more natives, who, how-
ever, were soon driven off. They were now in the Ukusee
country, among savages whose lives were apparently devoted to
slaughter, and whose choice meat was human flesh. Each village
street was ornamented with two rows of bleached trophies of.
eaten humanity, forming a ghastly imitation of shell decorations
along the paths of our parks and gardens.
A sufficient number of canoes having been secured, Stanley
embarked his expedition, with the intention of completing his
492 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
explorations by following the course of the river, no matter
where it might lead him. Besides, they were safer on the river
than on the land, as they could keep beyond the range of the
arrows of the venomous cannibals through whose country they
were passing, and avoid ambushes and sudden surprises.
As they floated down with the current, from the villages below
rang out the strange war-cries, " Ooh-hu-hu I Ooh-hu-hu !" and
the savages decamped into the bush, leaving everything they pos-
sessed in situ. This was only to lure the travelers to their destruc-
tion, for had they been tempted to land and capture their goats
and black pigs, they -would no doubt have rushed from the bushes
on the unwary. But they were not to be thus tempted to felony
and destruction, and quietly floated down past them.
One day, while stealthily passing a large and apparently
wealthy village,. a little child, coming down the high banks to
fetch water, suddenly lifting her head, saw them close to the
landing, and screamed out, " Mama, the Wasambye I the Wasam*
bye are coming!"
The Wasambye are a tribe with whom these people were at
war, and the child mistook the travelers for an attacking party
of their dreaded enemies. The people who, it seemed, were
holding a market, scattered immediately, the women screaming,
"Wasamfcye I Wasambye I" and the banana stalks and bushes
shaking violently as everybody in a panic flew into the jungle,
like a herd of wild buffaloes.
They passed three or four other villages near there, but the
inhabitants simply responded to their attempts at intercourse by
protruding their heads from the bushes and shouting " Ooh-hu-
hu I Ooh-hu-hu I Ooh-hu-hu 1"
Stanley relates the remarkable fact that among many of the
tribes of this part of Africa the rite of circumcision is practiced
in the same manner that it was among the ancient Israelites, and
apparently as a similar religious rite ; but he could not ascertain
how the ceremony originated. Those who performed it only
knew that it had always been so. The circumcised tribes, like
the Israelites, were " a peculiar people," having but little inter-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 493
course with their neighbors ; in fact, a perpetual war seemed to
be raging between them and the other tribes.
On November 26th they reached the village of Nakanpemba,
which presented the usual horrible picture of streets lined with
human skulls, the dread relics of many a feast; throughout this
barbaric country human flesh seemed to be a common dish at
nearly every man's table.
The numerous rapids encountered in this part of the river
added greatly to the dangers and trials of the voyage. On
approaching the rapids they were compelled to land and carry
DRAGGING THE BOATS AROUND THE RAPIDS.
the boats around them, frequently for a distance of several miles,
over rocky hills and through thick brush, in which excessive and
exhausting labor the men suffered greatly. Small-pox and dys-
entery were also thinning their ranks, and the outlook for the
future was anything but promising.
CAPTURE OP A DWARF.
ABOUT noon one day, while they were on shore repairing a
canoe, a curious little savage was found concealed in the bushes,
and was captured and brought to camp. He was armed with a
small bow and a quiver of miniature arrows, the points of the
latter being carefully rolled in leaves. This led to a suspicion
that they were poisoned, and in order to verify his belief, Stan-
494 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ley uncovered one of the points, and grasping the little savage's
arm pretended to be about to inoculate him with the dark sub-
stance that stained the point of the weapon, and which had an
odor resembling that of cantharides. His loud screams, visible
terror, and cries of " Mabi ! Mabi !" ("Bad, bad!") with a
persuasive eloquence of gesture, left no doubt as to the character
of the dark substance.
This strange creature stood, when measured, four feet six-and-
a-half inches in height, and proved to be fully a head taller than
the average of his people. His head was large, his face decked
with a scraggy fringe of whiskers, and his complexion light choc-
olate. He was exceedingly bow-legged and thin-shanked, and
was altogether a hideous-looking fiend and ugly little savage
brute, and as to intelligence, very little above the beasts of .the
forest. Stanley retained him as a prisoner and guide for several
days, but finally dismissed him and sent him home with a handful
of beads and shells and some bead necklaces. He had expected
to be eaten, according to the custom of his country, and though
his captors shook hands with him at parting, and smiled, and
patted him on the shoulder, he could not comprehend why he
had not furnished a feast for them, and evidently did not feel
safe until he had plunged out of sight in his native woods.
INTO THE UNKNOWN.
ON the 26th of December, Tipo-Tib and his Arabs bade fare-
well to Stanley, and started on their return. They had not fully
kept their contract, but their excessive fear of the cannibals
and the dwarfs was having a bad effect on Stanley's men,
and he decided to let them go ; so, after a grand banquet in the-
wilderness, they shook hands and parted. At this time Stanley
was not sure whether the stream that he was following would
empty into the Niger or the Congo, as everything in advance of
him was unknown and doubtful ; but he determined to proceed
and let the future take care of itself. His force now consisted
of 149 persons in 23 boats, and on the departure of the Arabs,
they embarked and commenced their long and dangerous drift
toward the unknown.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 495
Standing up in his boat, Stanley surveyed his people. How
few they appeared to dare the region of fable and darkness ! They
were nearly all sobbing. They were leaning forward, bowed, as
it seemed, with grief and heavy hearts. He spoke to them words
of encouragement; told them of their past brave deeds, and
exhorted them to be men. But it was with wan smiles that they
responded to his words, and feebly they paddled down the dark-
brown current. Poor fellows ! Many of them were indeed
going into the land of the Unknown.
. CANNIBALS AGAIN.
THE river soon assumed a breadth of 1800 yards, and the
banks were thickly populated . Directly the great war-drums, hol-
lowed out of huge trees, thundered the signal along the shores,
and they could see the savage cannibals rushing to arms and
leaping and gesticulating in their frenzied war-dances. Presently
a canoe dashed out from the shore, filled with warriors armed
with broad black wooden shields and long spears. As they ap-
proached, Stanley's interpreter cried out, " Scnnenneh I"
(peace!), but they paid no attention to the peaceful overture.
Dashing up near Stanley's boat, they ordered him, in peremptory
tones, to go back with them.
" It is the river that takes us down," said he ; " the river will
not stop and go back."
" If you don't go back we will fight you," they exclaimed.
" No ; let us be friends."
" We don't want you for friends ; we will eat you."
But as they talked and gazed at the wonderful white man, the
current carried them far beyond their village, seeing which, they
nervously turned and paddled back.
At the next village, as soon as the boats approached within
fifty yards of the bank, the savages threw their spears, and cried
out, "Meat! meat I Ah I ha I We shall have plenty of meat I
Bo-bo-bo-bo, Bo-bo-bo-bo-o-o I"
"For these people," says Stanley, "we had no anger. It
seemed so absurd to be angry with people who looked upon one
only as an epicure would regard a fat ox. Sometimes also a
49G
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
faint suspicion came to my mind that this was all but a part of a
hideous dream. Why was it that I should be haunted with the
idea that there were human beings who regarded me and my
friends only in the light of meat? Meat ! We 9 Heavens ! what
an atrocious idea.
"There was a fat-bodied wretch in a canoe, whom I allowed
to crawl within spear-throw of me ; who, while he swayed the
spear with a vigor far from assuring to one who stood within
reach of it, leered with such a clever hideousness of feature that
I felt, if only within arm's length of him, I could have bestowed
upon him a hearty thump on the back, and cried out applaud-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 497
ingly, * Bravo, old boy ! You do it capitally !' Yet not being
able to reach him, I was rapidly being fascinated by him. The
rapid movements of the swaying spear, the steady Wide-mouthed
grin, the big square teeth, the head poised on one side with the
confident pose of a practised spear-thrower, the short brow and
square face, hair short and thick. Shall I ever forget him? It
appeared to me as if the spear partook of the same cruel, inexor-
able look as the grinning savage."
But the spell was soon broken, for the savage hurled his spear
with all his force and it whizzed close over Stanley's head. He
now ordered his men to fire, which they did with such terrible
accuracy that a score or more of the savages fell dead into the
water, their shields floating off with the current. These were
gathered up, and served an excellent purpose in forming breast-
works against future attacks.
Day after day they were compelled to fight as they floated
down the stream, the savages seeming bent on securing their
bodies for a feast. On the first of January, as they were passing
a village, the war-canoes came out as usual to attack them.
Stanley instructed his interpreter to be mild in voice and pacific
in gesture, hoping to conquer these savages with kindness ; but
they brandished their spears and cried out, " We shall eat Wa-
jiwa meat to-day. Oho, we shall eat Wajiwa meat !" and then
an old chief gave some word of command, and at once 100 pad-
dles beat the water into foam, and the canoes darted onward.
But the contest was short ; one well-directed volley from the
guns so frightened those who were not killed that they sprang
into the water and swam ashore. They did not eat "Wajiwa meat
that day.
On arriving at a village called Kankore, Stanley was agreeably
surprised to find the people mild and friendly. They came to
his boats unarmed, as an evidence of their peaceful disposition,
and supplied his men with food in abundance. These people
were not cannibals, but, on the contrary, they regarded the hor-
rible man-eating customs of their neighbors with the utmost
loathing, and refused to have any intercourse with them. But,
498
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
strangely enough, they were sandwiched in between tribes of the
most disgusting cannibalistic tendencies, and soon after leaving
their village Stanley's party was again attacked.
HUGE SPEARS.
AT one place the savages paraded up and down the banks hold-
ing up to the view of Stanley and his people bright spear-blades,
six feet long and six inches broad, with edges as sharp as razors.
Realizing the danger of being attacked with such weapons, Stan-
ley had his camps fortified at night, while passing through that
country, by surrounding them with a cirgle of felled trees and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 499
interlaced branches. But in spite of these precautions, one of
his best men was killed in a night attack by one of these spears
striking him in the abdomen and cutting his body almost in two.
Evidences of cannibalism were on every hand in the human
and "soko" skulls that grinned on many poles, and the bones
that were so freely scattered near the village garbage-heaps and
the river banks, where one might suppose hungry canoemen to
have enjoyed a cold collation of ancient matron's arm ; as the
most positive and downright evidence of this hideous practice,
was the thin forearm of a person that was picked up near a tire,
with certain scorched ribs which might have been tossed into the
fire after being gnawed. The explorers were constantly taunted
with threats that they would furnish "meat" for the savages,
that word having but a slight dialectic difference in many of their
languages.
Upon coming to anchor one day about fifty yards from shore,
two old, queer-looking men came down the steep bank from a
neighboring village, and rattled pebbles, enclosed in basket-work,
toward them, hoping to charm the strangers away. But the
interpreter soon quieted the fears of the old men, and Stanley
succeeded in obtaining some very important information from
them in regard to the direction and character of the river below.
NATIVES OF RUBUNGA.
WHILE passing through the cannibal country it was almost im-
possible to procure food, and the expedition was reduced nearly
to the point of starvation. Therefore, on arriving at a village
called Rubunga, Stanley determined to make a desperate effort
to obtain provisions, and having anchored the boats some distance
out in the river, he began to make signs to the crowd of savages
on the shore, indicating that he was hungry and wanted something
to eat. At length an old chief came down the high bank to the
lower landing near some rocks. Other elders of the people, in
head-dresses of leopard and civet skin, joined him soon, and
then all sat down. The old chief nodded his head. In an instant
the anchor of the "Lady Alice" was raised, and with two
strokes of the oars Stanley was on shore, and seizing the skinny
500 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
hand of the old chief pressed it for joy. These people were
friendly and hospitable, and gladly received beads in exchange
for such food as fresh and dried fish, snails, oysters, mussels,
dried dog-meat, live dogs and goats, bananas, plantains, cassava
tubers, flour, and bread of the consistence of -sailors' "duff,''
and other articles. The knives of these people were singular
specimens of the African smith's art, being of a waving sickle-
shaped pattern, while the principal men carried brass-handled
weapons, eighteen inches long, double-edged, and rather wide-
pointed, with two, blood-channels along the centre of the broad
blade, while near the hilt the blade-shaft was pierced by two
quarter-circukir holes, and the top of the shaft was ornamented
with the fur of the otter.
To add to the atrocious bad taste of these aborigines, their
necklaces consisted of human, gorilla, and crocodile teeth, in
such quantity in many cases that little or nothing could be seen
of the neck. A few possessed polished boars' tusks, with the
points made to meet from each side of the neck, imparting to
the wearers a frightfully hideous appearance.
The most curious objects discovered at Rubunga were four
ancient Portuguese muskets, at the sight of which the people of
the expedition raised a glad shout. These appeared to them cer-
tain signs that they had not lost the road, that the great river
did really reach the sea, and that their master was not deluding
them when he told them that some day they would see the ocean.
But after leaving this village, in nearly all their subsequent com-
bats with the savages, muskets were used against them, often
with deadly effect. On the 14th of February they were attacked
by a fleet of sixty canoes, filled with desperate savages, many of
whom were armed with guns. They approached at a furious
pace, shouting their war-cry of " Yaha-ha-ha ! Ya Bangala !"
"YaBangala! Yaha-ha-ha!" and a desperate fight took place.
One young chief in particular fought with extraordinary bravery.
He wore a head-dress of white goat-skin, and a short mantle of
the same material, and wreaths of thick brass wire onhis neck,
arms, and legs, sufficient, indeed, to have protected those parts
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
501
from slugs, and proving him to be a man of consequence. He
was finally wounded with a Snider bullet in the thigh, when he
coolly took a piece of cloth and deliberately bandaged it, and
then calmly retreated toward shore. Stanley was so impressed
502 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
by the bravery of this young chief, that he ordered his men not .
to fire on him again, and soon afterward the savages followed
their leader and retired to the shore.
On January 19th they made a camp on shore without molesta-
tion, but great was their astonishment in the morning to find that
during the night a net-work of rope had been set around the
camp, in which the natives expected to ensnare the entire expe-
dition, like so many wild animals. In a short fight which now
took place eight of the cannibals were captured, who, upon being
questioned, admitted that they had set their nets for man-meat.
They also declared that their village was an hour's journey from
the camp, that they ate old men and old women, as well as every
stranger captured in the woods. The three donkeys which Stan-
ley had with him struck the captives with great awe and terror,
and when they were led up to the animals they cried out in such
pitiable accents and begged so hard for mercy, that they elicited
Stanley's sympathy ; but they were taken along to pilot the expe-
dition to the next falls, which were soon reached, and being the
most picturesque as well as the largest in the river, were named,
in honor of the explorer, Stanley Falls.
KING CHUMBIR.I.
AT Balobo they were rejoiced to find a humane old king,
named Chumbiri, who treated Stanley with such large hospitality
that he was induced to camp there for several days. The king
came to visit him in great state, having a large escort of mus-
keteers who were dressed in bright colored cloths. The old
man was a character, even for Africa. He wore a singular look-
ing tall hat, fashioned like those worn by Armenian priests. It
was constructed out of close-plaited hyphene-palm fibre, suffici-
ently durable to outlast his life, though he might live a century.
From his left shoulder, across his chest, was suspended a sword
of the bill-hook pattern. 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,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
503
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. He was constantly filling
his nose with snuff and then sneezing it out again. He also
carried a pipe six feet long, decorated with brass tacks. From
this pipe he would draw long whiffs until his cheeks were dis-
tended, and then fumigate his charms with the smoke. He had
forty wives, each of whom was permanently collared with thick
brass rings, which must have weighed as much as twenty pounds.
When one of his. wives dies
he cuts her head off and
thus secures the brass collar.
This clever and really
kind-hearted old monarch
was one of the richest char-
KING CHUMBIRI.
ONE OF CHUMBIRl'S WIVES.
acters that Stanley met in all his travels, and he remained in his
village several days, studying his peculiarities and recruiting his
almost famished people. On taking his departure the old king
furnished him with an escort of forty-five men, under the com-
mand of one of his sons, who accompanied him nearly fifty
miles, and rendered him valuable services in that wild and
unknown country.
504 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ADVENTURE WITH A PYTHON.
SOON after going into camp after the first day's march from
Babolo, everybody was thrown into a state of nervous excitement
by the terrible shrieks of a boy, and upon rushing to the spot
from whence the alarm came Stanley was horrified to see a huge
python uncoil itself from the body of one of the black boys of
the expedition and glide quickly off into the jungle. In the
darkness the boy had mistaken the snake for one of his com-
panions, as it reared its horrid head to the height of a man, and
he approached so near that it seized him in its dreadful folds.
His screams and the rush of men to his assistance so alarmed the
reptile that it released its hold and fled. In half an hour the
python, or another one, was discovered in a different part of the
camp, about to embrace a woman in its folds ; but this time, after
tremendous excitement, the monster was despatched. It meas-
ured only 13 feet 6 inches in length, and 15 inches round the
thickest part of the body.
DEATH OF KALULTJ.
ON the 13th of March the expedition reached the first cataract
of the Livingstone Falls, and more than a month was consumed
in passing the long series of cataracts that break the flow of the
river here. The passage of this part of the river was saddened
by the loss of many good men. On the 28th of March one of the
large canoes, called the " Crocodile," containing the boy Kalulu
and five other favorite members of the expedition, was swept
over a cataract and all were drowned. Stanley felt this loss
keenly, for he loved Kalulu almost like a younger brother. The
boy had been presented to him by the Arabs of Unyanyembe on
the occasion of his first visit there in search of Livingstone. He
was then a mere child, but very bright and quick for one of his
race and age. Stanley took him to the United States where he
attended school eighteen months, and rapidly developed into an
intelligent and quick-witted youth. When Stanley was prepar-
ing for his second expedition Kalulu begged to be allowed to
accompany him, and he cheerfully granted his request. His un-
THE WORLD'S WONDEKS. 505
timely death made so deep an impression upon Stanley that he
named the fatal cataract Kalulu Falls in honor of his memory.
After leaving Kalulu Falls the expedition experienced but few
difficulties until the' latter part of May, when they arrived at a
village called Mowa, the people of which were very hospitable
but wondrously superstitious. They furnished the party with
food in abundance and manifested their peaceable inclinations in
many ways. It was Stanley's custom to employ himself with
his note book almost constantly when his attention was not other-
wise required, making sketches, memoranda, or preparing
vocabularies of the various languages he met with. During his
short stay among the Mowa he was thus engaged one afternoon,
when, being observed by some of the savages, they immediately
set up a hallooing, the war drums began to beat and the people
prepared for fighting. Stanley was astounded at this surprising
action from natives who had received him with such kindness.
He called them to him and asked one of the chiefs the cause of
the sudden outbreak.
"Our people," said the chief, "saw you yesterday make
marks on some tara-tara (paper). This is very bad. Our
country will waste, our goats will die, our bananas will rot, and
our women will dry up. What have we'done to you, that you
should wish to kill us? We have sold you food, and we have
brought you wine, each day. Your people are allowed to wander
where they please, without trouble. Why is the Mundele so
wicked? We have gathered to fight you if yon do not burn that
tara-tara now before our eyes. If you burn it we go away, and
shall be friends as heretofore."
Stanley requested them to allow him a moment to visit his
tent, and he would then satisfy them that he had no desire to do
anything that would cause them injury. Having a copy of
Shakespeare in his tent, he took this and holding it up asked if
that was the tara-tara they wished burnt.
"Yes, yes, that is it."
" Well, take it and burn it as you desire."
"M ml no, no, no. We will not touch it. It is fetich.
You must burn it."
506 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
To satisfy their superstitious fears he was compelled to sacri-
fice his Shakespeare, but it was the means of saving his valuable
note book.
TERRIBLE DEATH OF FRANK POCOCK.
ON June 3d another accident occurred at Masassa whirpool,
which was more deplorable than all the others. Frank Pocock,
who had been Stanley's mainstay and next in command to himself,
attempted to drive the rapids against the advice of his experi-
enced boatman, Uledi, who was the bravest native connected with
the expedition, though a Zanzibar f reedman. Pocock was warned
of the danger of such an undertaking, but with a rashness quite un-
like himself he ordered the canoe pushed out into the stream. As
they approached nearer and nearer the mad breakers Frank realized
his peril, but it was too late. They were soon caught in the dread-
ful whirl of waters and sucked under with a mighty force suffi-
cient to swallow up a ship. Pocock was an expert swimmer, but
his art did not now avail him, for he was swept away to his
death, though his eight companions saved themselves.
The dreadful news was borne to Stanley by the brave Uledi.
This last and greatest calamity, coming in the midst of his
already heavy weight of woe, so overcame the great explorer that
he wept bitter tears of anguish.
"My brave, honest, kindly-natured Frank," he exclaimed,
"have you left me so? Oh, my long-tried friend, what fatal
rashness! Ah, Uledi, had you but saved him, I should have
made you a rich man."
Of the three brave boys who sailed away from England with
Stanley to win the laurels of discovery in the unknown wilds of
Africa, not one was left, but all were now slumbering for
eternity in that strange land, where the tears of sorrowing
friends and relatives could never moisten their rude beds of
earth.
The repeated calamities of the expedition had by this time so
discouraged the people that it was with the greatest effort Stan-
ley could induce them to proceed. They seemed to think they
were going to certain destruction, and became languid, sullen,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. ' 507
and despondent. On the 20th of June thirty-one of them de-
serted in a body, but returned a few days afterward, having met
with anything but a friendly reception from the natives. Stan-
ley's great leadership now manifested itself in keeping his people
together, quieting their complaints, and infusing enough energy
and determination into their wasted bodies to induce them to
push on to the ocean. Famine stared them in the face, and he
knew that nothing but a persevering, persistent, impetuous
advance toward the sea could save them.
About the middle of July they reached the district of Ngoyo,
where they found a very amiable and friendly people, almost as
innocent of clothing as our first parents, and whose principal
decorations consisted in boring their ears and noses. These
people supplied the almost famished travelers with bananas, pine-
apples, guavas, limes, onions, fish, cassava bread, ground-nuts,
and palm butter in abundance. They were exceedingly well-
behaved and gentle, and many of them were handsome. The
fishing, as well as all other work, was done by the women. Their
nets were constructed of palm-fibres and bark, cone-shaped, and
open at the bottom, as shown in the engraving. When fishing
the women waded in the shallow water near the shore, and en-
trapped the fish by dropping the open mouth of the net down
over them.
There were some dangerous falls near this village, and the
natives, to the number of more than four hundred, volunteered
to convey Stanley's boats below the point of danger, which they
did in" admirable style, though unfortunately one small canoe was
wrecked. They expressed much concern about the accident, as
though they had been the authors of it ; but Stanley reassured
them and paid them liberally for their services. He declares
that they were the politest people he encountered in Africa
On the 31st of July, 1877, having explored the river to Isan-
jrila Falls, and proved that it was the Congo, Stanley decided to
leave the water and proceed overland by a direct route to Em-
bomma, a Portuguese settlement on the coast, and only a few
day's march distant. The delight of the people at this announce-
508'
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ment manifested itself in loud and fervid exclamations of grati-
tude to Allah !
It was a wayworn, feeble, and suffering column that filed across
the rocky terrace of Isangila and sloping plain the following day,
and strode up the ascent to the table-land. Nearly forty men
filled the sick-list with dysentery, ulcers, and scurvy, and the
victims of the latter disease were steadily increasing.
They found the coast natives so degraded that they would not
exchange food for any article except rum, the use of which they
had derived from the Portuguese traders ; so that starvation soon
stared them in the face. On the evening of the third day they
THE WORLD'S WONDERS* 509
reached the village of Nsanda, and marching through the one
street in melancholy and silent procession, voiceless as sphinxes,
they felt their way down'into a deep gully, and crawled up again
to the level of the village site, and camped about two hundred
yards away. They were soon visited by the chief, a young,
slightly-made man, much given to singing, being normally drunk
from an excess of palm-wine. He was kindly, sociable laughed,
giggled, and was amusing, but would not furnish food to the
starving travelers unless they would give him rum. Having no
rum, they were compelled to go hungry.
From this point Stanley sent a letter, written in English,
French, and Spanish, by three of his best men, to Embomma,
asking relief for his starving people. The men set out about
noon on August 4th, and reached the settlement the next day
after sun-down. Here they were shown to the factory, or store,
of Messrs. Hatton & Cookson, an English firm, represented by
Mr. John W. Harrison, of Liverpool. That night an abundance
of provisions was prepared and packed, and early the next morn-
ing Stanley's men were started on their return with full stomachs
and accompanied by a number of stout men carrying everything
that was needed. They met the starving expedition late the next
evening, after they had camped, and a lively scene ensued, as
preparations were begun for a royal supper. Relief had come,
and all were happy.
On the 9th of August, 1877, the 999th day from the date of
his departure from Zanzibar, Stanley prepared to greet the van
of civilization, and in the evening of that day he marched into
Embomma, and was received by Mr. Harrison and the Portuguese
residents with great eclat. They insisted upon carrying him
through the town in a swinging hammock, as a mark of special
honor, and afterward a grand banquet was provided for him.
After enjoying the generous hospitality of these people for two
days, Stanley was ready to depart, but he first strolled down to
the river, on the banks of which Embomma is situated, to take a
farewell look at its broad and placid waters. "Glancing at the
mighty river on whose brown bosom we had endured so much,"
510
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
said he, " I saw it approach, awed and humbled, the threshold
of the watery immensity, to whose immeasurable volume and il-
limitable expanse, awful as had been its power, and terrible as
had been its fury, its flood was but a drop. And I felt my heait
suffused with purest gratitude to Him whose hand hud protected
us, and who had enabled us to pierce the Dark Continent from
east to west, and to trace its mightiest river to its Ocean bourne."
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 511
i
He proceeded with his company on a steamer to Kabinda, and
thence to Luanda, where his sick and suffering people were re-
ceived into the Portuguese hospital, and remained until Septem-
ber 27th, five of them dying in the meantime. From Loandathe
expedition sailed to Cape Town, and thence back to Zanzibar,
where the people were paid off and discharged. Stanley started
for England December 13, 1877, and upon his arrival in London
was received with distinguished honors, such as he well deserved.
He fairly won the English heart as well as the heartiest praise of
his own country. He had proved himself, next to Livingstone,
the greatest explorer that ever nenetrated Africa.
ADVENTURES OF
PAUL B. DU CHAILLU.
CHAPTER XXVIH.
PAUL B. Du CHAILLU was not an explorer in the literal mean-
ing of the word, but rather an investigator, for his ambition was
to acquaint himself with the animal life of Africa, while the
plvysical features of the country were merely incidental to the
purpose of his travels. He had lived several years on the African
coast, where his father had a factory, and during this residence
his curiosity had led him to acquire the languages of the tribeg
that came to trade in his vicinity ; he had also become acclimated
to equatorial temperature, and was in a measure exempt from
fevers which prevail near the coast He was a Frenchman by
birth, but a cosmopolitan by travel and citizenship, for he had
512 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
lived in many different countries, the last being the United
States, from whence he sailed for Africa in October, 1855. Du
Chaillu was also a naturalist and sportsman, for in the preface to
his " Adventures in Equatorial Africa," he says :
" A brief summary of the results of my four years' travel will
perhaps interest the reader. I traveled always on foot, and
unaccompanied by other white men about 8000 miles. I shot,
sluffed, and brought home over 2000 birds, of which more than
60 are new species, and I killed upward of 1000 quadrupeds, of
which 200 were stuffed and brought home, with more than 80
skeletons. Not less than 20 of these quadrupeds are species
hitherto unknown to science. I suffered fifty attacks of the
African fever, taking, to cure myself, over fourteen ounces of
quinine. Of famine, long-continued exposures to the heavy
tropical rains, and attacks of ferocious ants and venomous flies,
it is not worth while to speak.'*
IN THE HAUNTS OF GORILLAS AND SERPENTS.
Du CHAILLU had traveled several months in the interior, ac-
companied by an armed escort of natives, and women carriers,
before he met with any important adventure, as the time had
been devoted chiefly to considering the people he met and try-
ing to instil in them the principles of Christianity. Along the
Ntambounay river and Sierre del Crystal mountains, however, his
attention became directed to other things more immediately con-
cerning his own well-being. The region was very thinly popu-
lated and the difficulties of procuring food became so great that
his entire party was seriously threatened with starvation. While
sitting under a tree, tired and intensely hungry, he began to
reflect upon his miserable condition ; his gun lay beside him, his
only dependence for food, and this seemed now as useless as a
walking-stick. He had not long continued in this rever , when,
looking up, merely by chance, he was horrified by seeing an
enormous serpent swinging from a branch immediately over his
head, and, slowly slipping its great body so as to extend its length,
was preparing to seize him. Quick as a flash he grasped his gun
and shot it through the head. An examination of the snake
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 513
showed it to have been of a venomous species, though of an ex-
traordinary size. Du Chaillu's men were delighted with the
good fortune that had befallen them ; they immediately cut the
snake in pieces, and after a thorough roasting, ate it with a keen
relish. Though very hungry, he could not bring his stomach to
a condition that would receive a morsel of such food.
Within a few hours after this adventure, the party came upon
a kind of sugar-cane which grew rank in a large patch that was
surrounded by a dense covert. They had hardly observed the
cane, before one of the party discovered fresh signs of several
gorillas, which hud been making their meal off the juicy cane,
and in so doing had broken down and chewed up a large quantity,
leaving a wide swathe to mark their course. There was much
confusion at this discovery, for while Du Chaillu was eager to
follow the animals, the men and women of the party were agitated
with great fear ; they might reasonably be excused for exhibit-
ing their nervousness, since the male gorilla is literally king of the
African forests, and not even the lion disputes his rule.
By command of Du Chaillu, the armed escort accompanied
him, each man first looking well to his gun, for a misfire would
be followed by almost sure death. To guard against accident,
however, the party kept close together, and proceeded with the
greatest caution, since it was certain, from the number of fresh
tracks, that there must be four or five gorillas in company. They
had traveled only a few hundred yards when, in rounding a large
rock, they saw four young gorillas running off at great speed,
having taken an alarm before the hunters espied them. Du
Chaillu says: " I protest I felt almost like a murderer when I
saw the gorillas this first time. As they ran on their hind legs
they looked fearfully like hairy men ; their heads down, their
bodies inclined forward, their whole appearance like men running
for their lives. Take with this their awful cry, which, fierce and
animal as it is, has yet something human in its discordance, and
you will cease to wonder that the natives have the wildest super-
sxitions about these wild men of the woods."
Among the stories which are current and universally believed,
514 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
respecting the gorilla's characteristics, is the following, told to
Du Chaillu by one of his escort: Two Mbondemo women were
one day walking together through the woods, when suddenly an
immense gorilla stepped into the path and seizing the handsomer
one bore her off in spite of her screams and struggles. The
other woman ran to the village people and related the occurrence,
and a search was made for the beast, but to no purpose. Several
days elapsed without any signs of the missing woman, and her
fate no one doubted. Great was the surprise, therefore, when
she returned home uninjured, and told her experience with the
gorilla. She said he handled her so carefully that not the least
injury was done, though he held her so tightly that escape was
impossible. For the several days she was kept a prisoner, the
gorilla treated her with much kindness, making a great bed of
leaves for her to lie on and supplying an abundance of berries for
her food. He proved a devoted lover, covering her with caress-
es and other affectionate manifestations, but at length he left her
and she returned home none the worse for her experience.
Other stories were told of how the gorilla lies in wait in the low
branches of trees over a path and seizing the unfortunate persons
who may chance to pass beneath, draws them up and quickly
chokes them to death. Many natives declare that the spirits of
their dead take up their abode in gorillas, in which shape they
wreak vengeance on their enemies.
In the evening after this vain hunt, Du Chaillu killed a
monkey, while some of his men found a beehive full of honey.
The monkey was roasted, and from this and the honey he was
able to satisfy the craving hunger which was fast enfeebling him.
Famine was still threatening, however, and to save himself
from starvation Du Chaillu set off for a Fan village, where he
hoped to purchase food. Seeing a monkey in the high branches
of a tree, he tried to shoot the little animal, but it cunningly hid
itself; and while walking around in an effort to discover the
monkey, he was suddenly confronted by a Fan warrior
with his two wives. The sight of the dread cannibals gave
Du Chaillu great fright, until he saw that the warrior himself
THE WORLD'S WONDRRS. 515
was quaking with fear , one of his three spears fell to the ground,
his lips were ashen, and his shield rattled with His trembling.
The women were no less agitated, for all thought the white man
was a spirit just come down out of the sky, nor did their fears
subside until Du Chaillu's men came up, when a few presents of
beads seemed to reassure them, and on going to their village Du
Chaillu was kindly received, and food was purchased in any
quantity desired, so that his party were enabled to continue their
journey with full stomachs.
SHOOTING HIS FIRST GORILLA.
Two days after leaving the Fan village, while working their
tedious way through a thick jungle, the guide, Miengai, gave a
cluck with his tongue, which indicated caution and the approach
to something unusual. Following this warning, quickly came the
noise of breaking branches, and with this Du Chaillu felt certain
that he was Hearing one of the kings of the forest. He relates
the adventure as follows :
"Suddenly, as we were yet creeping along, in a silence which
made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at
once filled with a tremendous barking roar of the gorilla.
Then the underbrush swayed rapidly just ahead, and presently
before us stood an immense male gorilla. He had gone through
the jungle on his all-fours ; but when he saw our party he
erected himself and looked us boldly in the face. He stood
about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight I think never to
forget. Nearly six feet high, with immense body, huge chest,
and great muscular arms, with fiercely-glaring large deep gray
eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like
some nightmare vision : thus stood before us this king of the Afri-
can forests. He was not afraid of us. He stood there, and beat
his breast with his huge fists till it resounded like an immense
bass-drum., which is their mode of offering defiance : meantime
giving vent to roar after roar.
"The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise
heard in these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like
an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally
516
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 517
and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder along the sky,
for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it where I did
not see the animal. So deep is it that it seems to proceed less
from the mouth and throat than from the deep chest and vast
paunch. His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as we stood motion-
less on the defensive, and the crest of short hair which stands
on his forehead began to twitch rapidly up and down, while his
powerful fangs were shown as he again sent forth a thunderous
roar. And now truly he reminded me of nothing but some hellisfy
dream-creature a being of that hideous order, half-man, half-
beast, which we find pictured by old artists in some representa-
tions of the infernal regions. He advanced a few steps then
stopped to utter that hideous roar again advanced again, and
finally stopped when at a distance of about six yards from us.
And here, as he began another of his roars and beating his breast
in rage, we fired and killed him.
" With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and
yet was full of brutishness, it fell forward on its face. The
body shook convulsively for a few minutes, the limbs moved
about in a struggling way, and then all was ^juiet death had
done its work, and I had leisure to examine the huge body. It
proved to be five feet eight inches high, and the muscular devel-
opment of the arms and breast showed what immense strength
it had possessed."
A quarrel took place among DuChaillu's men about the appor-
tionment of the meat, of which they are excessively fond, which
would no doubt have led to bloodshed had he not interfered and
divided the carcass himself. The brain was very carefully pre-
served by the men to make charms, which were of two kinds,
one of which would give them a strong hand for the hunt, and
the 'other make them successful with women.
A VISIT AMONG THE FAN CANNIBALS.
THE next morning after killing the gorilla, Du Chaillu accepted
an invitation to visit a large Fan village, in order that he might
learn whether the stories told about their cannibal propensities
were true or not, a curiosity which he had an unquenchable desire
518
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
to satisfy. He had hardly entered the village when he met a
woman who was
carry ingthe thigh
of a human body,
just as if she
were returning
from market with
a roast. Keach-
ing the palaver
house (council
chamber), he was
yet further con-
vinced of the
horrible custom
of these people,
by seeing a large
party boisterous-
ly disputing over
the division of a
dead body which
lay freshly killed
before them. The
head had already
been severed and
sent to the king,
who is entitled to
that portion, as it
is regarded as
being the mosc
delicious dish
that can possibly
be prepared. On
every side were
human bones that
had been gnawed
THK CANmBAJ. KIN* *>* of flesh.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 519
Du Chaillu was presented to the king, who was a savage-look-
ing creature, fully armed, with face, chest, stomach, and back
tattooed, while the rest of his body was painted-red, making him
look every inch a cannibal king. His beard, which was quite
long, was plaited in two braids, tipped with beads, and a long
queue, fashioned in the same manner, hung down his back. This
same style, however, was affected by all the men, whether of
royal blood or not. Brass anklets were also worn, which jingled
as he walked. The women were so nearly naked that all their
costuming was confined to the hair.
All of the savage people regarded Du Chaillu as a spirit, and
to propitiate him they gave a great dance, which was chiefly per-
formed by women, and it was one of the wildest and most inde-
cent orgies the mind of man can conceive ; it was accompanied
by inharmonious singing to the music of a drum made of the
hollowed trunk of a tree, four feet long, covered at one end with
dried goat-skin. After the dance was over they kindly sent him
a basket of cooked plantains, which, however, seemed to smell
of the flesh-pot, so that Du Chaillu rejected them, as he could
not bear the thought of man-eating even at second hand.
On the following day an elephant hunt was organized, in which
four elephants were killed, but one of the natives lost his life by
being trampled under the feet of one of the huge animals. The
man's body was brought into the village to be sold to a neigh-
boring tribe for meat.
Du Chaillu writes : " While I was talking to the king to-day,
some Fans brought in a dead body which they had bought in a (
neighboring town, and which was now to be divided. I could -
see that the man had died of some disease. I confess I could,
not bear to stay for the cutting up of the body, but retreated,
when all was ready. It made me sick all over. I remained till
the infernal scene was about to begin, and then retreated. After-
ward I could hear them from my house growing noisy over the
division. This is a form of cannibalism eating those who have
died of sickness of which I had never heard in any people, so
that I determined to inquire if it were indeed a general custom,
520 THIS WORLD'S WONDERS.
or merely an exceptional freak. They spoke without embarrass-
ment about the whole matter, and I was informed that they con-
stantly buy the dead of the Oshieba tribe, who, in return, buy
theirs. They also buy the dead of other families in their own
tribes, and, besides this, get the bodies of a great many slaves
from the Mbichos and Mbondemos, for which they readily give
ivory, at the rate of a small tusk for a body."
THE IRON- WORKERS.
IRON ore is found in considerable quantities throughout the Fan
country, cropping out at the surface. They do not dig into the
ground for it, but gather what lies about. To get the iron they
build a huge pile of wood, place on this a considerable quantity of
the ore broken up, then comes more wood, and then fire is applied
to the whole heap. As it burns away wood is thrown on contin-
ually, till at last they perceive, by certain signs, that they have
made the iron fluid. All is then permitted to cool, and they have
now cast iron. To make this malleable and give it temper, they
put it through a most tedious series of heatings and hammerings,
till at last they turn out a very superior article of iron and steel,
much better than that which is brought to them from Europe.
It is a fact that, to make their best knives and arrow-heads, they
will not use the European or American iron, but prefer their
own. And many of their knives and swords. are really very finely
made, and, for a rude race, beautifully ornamented by scroll-
work on the blades.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ADVENTURE WITH AN, ENORMOUS SERPENT.
AFTER stopping for several days in the Fan country, Du
Chaillu took leave of the cannibal king, who had really treated
him in a most friendly manner, and proceeded to Cape Lopez to
inspect the Portuguese slave-pens, which are nearly always
crpwded with poor black unfortunates. Some .Dreadful scenes
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 521
were here witnessed, such as have been previously described in
Baker's expedition. Du Chtiillu remarks upon the great .differ-
ence shown in the dispositions' of the slaves he saw at Lopez ;
some were merry and quite contented with their fate, while others
were in the depths of despair ; for, to add to the horror of their
position, they nearly all believed that the white people purchased
them for food ; they could conceive of no use to which they might
be applied unless it was to eat them ; hey said : " The white men
beyond the sea are great cannibals, who have to import blacks
for the market." This belief arises from their own customs.
Thus a chief in the interior who received Du Chaillu, immedi-
ately ordered a slave killed for his dinner.
After wandering about the town until night, Du Chaillu re-
paired to his house and prepared for bed. He set fire to a torch
for light and began to undress by its flickering rays. Before en-
tirely disrobing, his eye caught sight of a glittering object which
lay under his bedstead, but he gave it no particular attention
until he Avas ready to retire ; then, approaching nearer, he was
horrified to find that the shining object was an enormous serpent
that had coiled itself up under his couch for a quiet sleep. Grasp-
ing a shot-gun that was near at hand, he placed the muzzle
against the coiled monster and fired, quickly retreating from the
room. The shot brought several persons to the spot, and upon
cautiously entering the room, the snake was found cut almost in
two, but still squirming and floundering about the room. It was
now despatched with a heavy stick, and was found to measure
eighteen feet in length, a little too large for a comfortable bed-
fellow.
ADVENTURE WITH A LEOPARD.
.Du CHAILLU did not remain long at Cape Lopez, as there was
little of interest there, so, purchasing a new supply of ammuni-
tion, he hired two guides and a dozen porters, and started again
for the interior by a route which brought hiai.back again to the
equator in the gorilla and cannibal region.
Upon reaching the Sangatanga country, he established a camp*
from which he hunted with great success- obtaining, joany speci-
522 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
mens of birds and animals. One evening, while hunting elephants,
he came to a small lake on the borders of which he saw a solitary
buffalo ; the grass being very high, stalking was easy, and in a
stealthy manner, followed by his guide, he came so near the buf-
falo that he was upon the point of firing, when the guide arrested
his arm with a nervous " Sh-h-h !" and there fell on his ear a
low, purring sound, barely noticeable above the rustling grasses.
" Njego, master," said the guide (a leopard.)
The quick and experienced ear of the guide had detected its
hear presence by the purring noise, something like that made by
a cat, though louder.
Du Chaillu knew that the leopard hunts only at night and that
they do not stir about during day-light except when driven by
hunger, when they are very dangerous and will not hesitate
to attack men. Cautiously the two moved along, each moment
expecting the still hidden animal to spring upon them,
until, at length, the beautiful but ferocious beast was observed
gazing so intently at the buffalo, that it had not noticed the enemy
approaching from behind. It was a very large .female, with a
half-grown cub beside her, capable of doing much mischief.
Almost at the same moment that the two men saw her she turned
her fiery eyes toward them, and lashing the ground with her tail,
was upon the point of springing at them, when a bullet from
Du Chaillu's large rifle crashed into her brain and she rolled over
dead. The guide made an equally true shot at the cub, which
also dropped and instantly died.
These leopards, royal game indeed, became the subject of a
protracted contention among Du Chaillu's men, all of whom were
anxious to possess the tip of the tail, which they regarded as be-
ing a powerful charm. The brain was also a portion which they
much desired, for similar purposes. A few days later another,
yet larger leopard, was killed near the same place, just as it was
in the act of springing upon Aboko, the guide referred to. His
escape was a narrow one.
During his encampment at Sangatanga, Du Chaillu and his
men v kiUefL s.uph an enormous atupunt of game , that the eKir
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
523
village was fairly overrun with meat. Among the trophies was
a fine elephant, which was shot dead by Aboko at a single dis-
charge of his musket, a feat very rarely accomplished. The
people buried the larger portion of the meat obtained in this,
hunt, just outside their village, where the soil contained soma
524 THE WORLD'S WONDER.
kind of preservative properties which the natives declared would
keep the meat fresh for many months.
A CURIOUS SUPERSTITION.
DURING a visit to the village of King Alapay, Du Chaillu wit-
nessed the performance of a curious superstitious rite. On the
first night when the new moon is visible all is kept silent in the
village ; nobody speaks but in an undertone ; and in the course
of the evening King Alapay came out of his house and danced
along the street, his face and body painted in black, red, and
white, and spotted all over with spots the size of a peach. In the
dim moonlight he had a frightful appearance, which made one
shudder at first. Du Chaillu asked him why he painted thus, but
he only answered by pointing to the moon, without speaking a
word.
Soon after leaving King Alapay's village, Du Chaillu and his
men had to cross a swamp that lay in their course. It was about
a mile in width, but near the center there was a deep place
covered with a thick growth of mangrove, whose roots interlaced
and formed a sort of bridge, over which the men hopped and
jumped like so many monkeys. Suddenly, one of them flopped
down into the mud, crying out'* Omemba !" (snake !) Thepoor
fellow had put his hand on an enormous black snake, and, feel-
ing its cold, slimy scales, let go his hold and fell through. All
hands immediately began to run faster than before, and to shout
and make all kinds of noises to frighten the serpent. But the
poor reptile also took fright, and began to crawl away among
the branches as fast as he could. Unfortunately, his fright led
him directly toward the party ; and a general panic now ensued,
everybody running as fast as he could to get out of the way of
danger. Du Chaillu shot the serpent, and they were soon out of
the swamp and in a place of safety.
FIGHT BETWEEN A LEOPARD AND A BUFFALO.
WHILE hunting, one day, Du Chaillu fired at a wild buffalo,
but the bullet struck a vine and glanced from its course, wound-
ing the beast in the neck. It was a lai'ge, fierce bull, and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
525
snorting with pain it lowered its horns and dashed toward the
hunter. He had but a moment to consider, and prudently deter-
mined to run, for though he had his second barrel in reserve, he
felt that the animal was too close upon him to risk another shot.
He
As he turned to escape, his foot caught in a tough vine.
was a prisoner, and the bull dashing toward him, head down and
eyes aflame, tearing asunder the vines which barred his progress
as though they had been threads. Du Chaillu had been nervous
526 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
a moment before ; but now turning to meet the enemy, he felt
his nerves at once as firm as a rock, and his whole system braced
for the emergency. All depended on one shot, for, if he missed
the bull would not. He waited till the beast was within five
yards of him, and then fired at his head. He gave one loud,
hoarse bellow, and tumbled to the ground dead, his body almost
falling upon Du Chaillu.
One evening, soon after this adventure, Du Chaillu went some
distance from his camp to a noted buffalo walk, and seating him-
self behind an ant-hill waited for the approach of game. At
last he fell asleep ; how long he dozed he could not say, but he
was finally awakened by an unearthly roar or yell, as of some
wild animal in extreme agony. He started up, but could see
nothing. A dull booming roar succeeded, and he inferred that
some fortunate leopard had found a buffalo. Determined to see
the fight if possible, he made toward the sounds, and, emerging
from a piece of woods, saw scudding across the plain, and at but
little distance from him, a wild bull, on whose neck was crouched
a leopard. Vainly the poor beast reared, tossed, ran, stopped,
roafed, and yelled. In its blind terror it at last even rushed
against a 'tree, and nearly tumbled over with the recoil. But
once more anguish lent it strength, and it set out on another
race. Du Chaillu took as good aim at the leopard's figure as he
could and fired, but with no effect that he could discover. The
exciting spectacle lasted but a minute ; then the bull was lost to
sight, and presently his roars ceased. The leopard had sucked
away his life, and was now feasting on his prey.
VISIT TO MING BANGO.
BEING in KingBango's country, Du Chaillu determined to pay
his majesty a visit. The king's palace was situated on the top
of a high hill, and surrounded by the huts of his wives, of whom
he had three hundred. Wherever King Bango went he was
accompanied by his ministers of state, and a bevy of his wives
bearing his pipes and his pots of rum ; and none were allowed
to address him without first falling on their faces to the ground
and imploring the royal favor. The king's usual costume was a
'THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
527
darning yellow coat, probably the cast-off garment of some
Portuguese lackey, and a dilapidated pair of short pantaloons.
On the occasion of Du Chaillu's visit, the effect of tin royal
costume was heightened by a tawdry-looking crown, like those
worn by actors on the stage, of which he appeared to be very
528 THE WORLD'S WO$JDKS.
proud. He sat 6ii A dirty sofa for a throne, and held his spear
in his hand as a sceptre.
The following day he returned the white man's visit, being
borne in a hammock on the shoulders of his officers. At first
Du Chaillo thought he was drunk, but was presently informed
that his left arm and leg were paralyzed, so that he could not
walk. His wives surrounded him, and Du Chaillu soon perceived
.that they were all drunk. While he and the king were talking
one of the women was slyly kicking him on the shins and wink-
ing at him, which made Du Chaillu extremely nervous, as he feared
King Bango might notice her actions and have his jealousy aroused .
The succeeding night a grand ball was given by the king in
Du Chaillu's honor. Shortly after dark about one hundred -and
fifty of Bango' s wives assembled, many of whom were accounted
the best dancers in the country. A stiff drink of rum was given
to each woman, and then the singing and dancing commenced,
the women only taking part in the latter. This dance is inde-
scribable. Any one who has seen a Spanish fandango, and can
imagine its wild movements tenfold exaggerated, will have some
faint conceptions of the postures of these black women. The
ball went on for about two hours, when, the rum having been in
the meanwhile freely distributed, the assembly became so up-
roarious that Du Chaillu attempted to retire, but the king would
not suffer it. He and all his people seemed to enjoy the fun
amazingly. But as the revelry grew madder and madder all the
time, Du Chaillu at length slipped out and went to bed.
TOSSED BY A BUFFALO.
Du CHAILLU returned to Cape Lopez again from Sangatanga,
and taking a vessel went to the Gaboon river, which is nearly ten
miles wide at its mouth. He here secured a schooner, the Caro-
line, and loaded her with provisions sufficient to last his party
twenty months. They found the river navigable for a distance
of one hundred miles, while along its banks were numerous vil-
lages and much game. At Kanpano village Du Chaillu went on
shore and established a camp, being assured that hunting in the
neighborhood was exceptionally fine.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
529
Early the following morning he started, with a hunter named
Ifouta, with the hope of getting a shot at some buffaloes that
were said to be in the prairie back of the town. They had been
out about an hour, when they came upon a bull feeding in the
midst of a little prairie surrounded by a wood, which made their
approach easy. Ifouta walked around opposite to where Du
530 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
.
Chaill u lay in wait, so that if the animal took alarm at him it
might fly toward his master; and then began to crawl, in the
hunter fashion, through the grass toward his prey. All went
Well till he came near enough for a shot. Just then, unluckily,
the bull saw him. Ifouta immediately fired. The gun made a
long fire, and he only wounded the beast, which, quite infuriated,
as it often is at the attack of hunters, immediately rushed upon
him.
It was now that poor Tfouta lost his presence of mind. In
such cases, which are continually happening to those who hunt
the buffalo, the cue of the hunter is to remain perfectly quiet
till the beast is within a jump of him, then to step nimbly to one
side and let it rush past. But Ifouta got up and ran. Of course,
in a moment the bull had him on his horns. It tossed him high
into the air three times before Du Chaillu could run up, and, by
his shouts, draw its fury to himself. Then it came rushing at
him. But his gun did not hesitate, and, as he had a fair shot,
he killed it without trouble. Ifouta proved to be considerably
bruised, but, on the whole, more scared than hurt ; and when he
had washed in a creek near by, he was able to walk home.
CAPTURE OF A GORILLA.
A MONTH after debarking at Ranpauo, Du Chaillu's heart was
gladdened by the sight of a young gorilla, which some daring
members of his party had captured. They were passing through
the forest on their way to camp after an unsuccessful hunt, when
their attention was attracted by the cries of the baby gorilla for
its mother ; knowing how intensely delighted their master wotlld
be to possess such a prize, they resolved upon its capture. Cau-
tiously approaching through the wood, they saw the baby sitting
on the ground eating some berries which grew close to the earth.
A few feet further on sat the mother, also eating the same food..
They instantly made ready to fire on the mother, who had already
discovered them, and was advancing with great rage. Three
guns were fired together, and she fell mortally wounded. The
baby, alarmed by the noise of the guns, rushed to his mother,
and in a manner pitiably affectionate embraced her, and in many
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 531
ways tried to arouse her ; his heart seemed breaking by the ap-
pealing look he gave while he tugged at his dead mother's face
and nestled down beside her, until the hunters were fairly upon
him. Taking fright only when they attempted to seize him, he
fled to a large tree near by,
and nimbly ascended to its
topmost branches, roaring all
the while with savage fury.
The tree was too large to
climb, so, after much debating,
they cut it down and then
rushed upon the young gorilla
with a large cloth which they
dextrously threw over its head,
and thus secured it, but not
before one of the men had his
finger bitten off, and another
lost a piece of his leg. It
proved to be a male, about
three years old, and two feet six
inches in height ; though so
young, it was very strong and
dreadfully pugnacious.
During a captivity of
several days, his anger
only seemed to increase.
He' finally succeeded in J
forcing the bars of his 1
cage apart and escaped
into Du Chaillu's room.
, .. CAPTURE OF THE BABY GORILLA.
Pie re he was master of
the situation for some time, no one being willing to measure
strength with him. At length Du Chaillu thought of a happy
exedient : a net was brought and fastened by the door so that
he must become entangled in its meshes in passing out. The
plan worked successfully, and the baby was again placed in his
532 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
cage, but not until a chain had been attached to a collar about
his neck to prevent the possibility of future escape.
It was pitiful to see the little gorilla in the mad frenzy which
he displayed after recapture. But he seemed to grow more com-
posed after two days and would come to eat out of Du Chaillu's
hand, but it was always with a treacherous intent. Assuming a
most bland and peaceful expression, he would approach from the
rear of his cage and take the food proffered him, but in a twinkling
he would throw out his hind feet and try to grasp the arm or
legs of his captor. After ten days' captivity he died, continuing
untamable to the last.
THE NEST-BUILDING APE.
NOT long after losing his baby gorilla, Du Chaillu went upon
a hunt with a proper escort and his favorite man Aboko. They
were not very successful in- finding game, but the enthusiastic
naturalist found something that was even more delightful to him.
As he was trudging along, rather tired of the sport, he happened
to look up at a high tree which they were passing, and saw a most
singular-looking shelter built in its branches. He asked Aboko
whether the hunters here had this way to sleep in the woods, but
was told, to his surprise, that this very ingenious nest was built
by an ape, called nshiego, an animal with no hair on its head
so Aboko said.
Du Chaillu saw at once that he was on the trail of an animal
till then unknown to the civilized world. I^e no longer felt tired,
but pushed on with renewed ardor and with increased caution,
determined not to rest till he had killed the nest-building ape.
These nests, many of which were found in the forest, were
built on the lowest branches of large trees, invariably isolated,
and usually from fifteen to twenty feet from the ground. The
materials of which they are made are leafy branches with which
the roof is constructed, and vines to tie these branches to the
tree. They are so admirably built that human hands could
scarcely improve them, certainly much better than are the habi-
tations of the tree-dwellers in some of the Malay islands. The
nests are never found in company, nor do the females and males
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
533
occupy the same abode, but live in separate nests built in trees
not far apart. Their food is wild berries, and they build their
houses where they find these. When they have consumed all
THE NSHIEGO OR NEST-BUILDING APE.
that a particular spot affords, they remove and build new houses,
so that a nest is not inhabited for more than eight or ten days.
Du Chaillu and his guide traveled with great caution, not to
534 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
alarm their prey, and had a hope that, singling out a shelter and
waiting till dark, they should find it occupied. In this hope they
were not disappointed. Lying quite still in their concealment,
just at dusk they heard the loud peculiar " Hew ! Hew ! Hew !"
which is the call of the male to his mate. They waited till it
was quite dark and then saw what they had so longed for all the
weary afternoon. A nshiego was sitting in his nest; his feet
rested on the lower branch ; his head reached quite into the little
dome of a roof, and his arm was clasped firmly about the tree-
trunk. This is their way of sleeping. A shot quickly brought
the poor beast to the earth.
The largest one which Du Chaitlu killed measured four feet,
four inches in height, and had a spread of arms of more than
seven feet. This shows it to be larger than the chimpanzee, but
considerably smaller than the gorilla ; while it bears no resem-
blance to either.
FIGHT BETWEEN A LEOPARD AND A CROCODILE.
ON the following day a crocodile hunt was arranged to take>
place on Anengue Lake, which was fairly alive with the dreadful
reptiles. The natives, having only harpoons, very seldom hunted
them, as their only vulnerable spot is in the soft place just be-
hind or under the fore-legs, which is very difficult to hit with a
harpoon. This immunity from danger, which the crocodile
shares, tends to multiply their numbers and make them easy of
approach. Du Chaillu went out in a canoe paddled by two men,
while others followed to pick up the game. Several were shot,
measuring from eighteen to twenty feet in length, which were
towed to the village behind canoes, crocodile meat being regarded
as a great luxury by all Africans.
About two hours after this incident, Du Chaillu's attention
was attracted by a loud splashing among the reeds near the shore,
and a fierce growling which plainly told of some wild animal in
distress. A few vigorous strokes of the paddles brought him in
plain view of a leopard and crocodile engaged in deadly combat.
It was evident at a glance that the leopard had been attacked by
the reptile while drinking, aiid was battling for his life. It was
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
535
a ternble fight, in which neither apparently had any advantage.
The water's edge was dyed with blood while the two animals
were covered with wounds. Du Chaillusat a mute spectator for
several minutes, and until he saw them both struggling in their
death throes. The crocodile was first to succumb, but the
leopard was unable to drag himself away, and died in less than
ten minutes beside his victim.
COMBAT BETWEEN THE LEOPARD AND THE CROCODILE
A WITCH DOCTOR.
DURING his visit among the Gamma people Du. Chaillu was
witness" of a strange, unearthly ceremony, which was performed
to drive away the spirit that was vexing one of his men. De-
scribing this ceremony he writes :
" The Camma theory of disease is that Okamboo (the devil)
has got into the sick man. Now this devil is only to be driven
out with noise, and accordingly they surround the sick man and
beat drums and kettles close to his head ; fire off guns near to
his ears ; sing, shout, and dance all they can. This lasts till the
poor fellow either dies or is better unless the operators become
tired out first, for the Camma doctors either kill or cure."
538 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
In this case the sick man died and was buried in a shallow
grave, from which wild beasts soon tore the body and devoured
it. The mourning was now begun and lasted six days, at the end
of which time a celebrated doctor was sent for in order that
he might discover by a fetich ceremony who it was that had
bewitched the dead man ; for it was not believed that a young
man of general good health could die so suddenly'by the natural
course of nature.
A canoe was dispatched to bring the doctor, who arrived in
Que time and at once prepared to exorcise the vexatious spirit.
He wore a high head-dress of black feathers ; his eyelids were
painted red and a red stripe, from the nose upward, divided his
forehead into two parts. The face was painted white, and on
eah side of his mouth were two round red spots, while around
his neck was a grass cord suspending a box of snake bones and
other charms. He sat on a box or stool, before which stood
another box containing charms. On this stood a looking-glass,
beside which lay a buffalo-horn containing some black powder,
and said, in addition, to be the refuge of many spirits. He had
a little basket of snake-bones, which he shook frequently during
his incantations ; and also several skins, to which little bells were
attached. Near by stood another fellow beating a board with
two sticks. All the people of the village gathered about this
couple, who, after continuing their incantations for quite awhile,
at last came to the climax. Jombuai was told to call over the
names of persons in the village, in order that the doctor might
ascertain if any one of those named did the sorcery. As each
name was called the old cheat looked in the glass to see the
result. He was unable to name the witch, but declared that htf
was hidden in the village and would kill every one who remained
there. At once there was great excitement, for the people began
to shout and tear down their houses, making all the while hideous
noises to frighten the witch away while they were preparing for
removal. At the end of a few hours the village had entirely
disappeared from its old site and was re-established again in a
spot about a mile away.
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
587
538 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
TERRIBLE COMBAT WITH A GORILLA.
SOME time after this event, Du Chaillu went on another gorilla
hunt, taking with him six companions, all of whom he armed
iwith guns, in anticipation of an exciting adventure, for the male
igorilla is the only wild animal that does not fear man. The hunt
is thus described by Du Chaillu :
" Our little party separated, as is the custom, to stalk the
woods in various directions. One brave fellow went off alone in
a direction where he thought he could find a gorilla. The other
three took another course. We had been about an hour sepa-
rated when Gambo and I heard a gun fired but a little way from
us, and presently another. We were already on our way to the
spot where we hoped to see a gorilla slain, when the forest began
to resound with the most terrific roars. Gainbo seized my arms
in great agitation, and we hurried on, both filled with a dreadful
and sickening fear. We had not gone far when our worst fears
were realized. The poor brave fellow who had gone off alone,
was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and I
thought at first quite dead. Beside him lay his gun. The stock
was broken, and the barrel was bent and flattened. It bore
plainly the marks of the gorilla's teeth.
* We picked him up, and I dressed his wounds as well as I
could with rags torn from my clothes. When I had given him a
little brandy to drink he came to himself, and was able, but with
great difficulty, to speak. He said that he had met the gorilla
suddenly and face to face, and that it had not attempted to es-
cape. It was, he said, a huge male, and seemed very savage.
It was in a very gloomy part of the woods, and the darkness
made him miss. He said he took good aim, and fired when the
beast was only about eight yards off. The ball merely wounded
it in the side. It at once began beating its breasts, and with the
greatest rage advanced upon him. To run away was impossible.
He would have been caught in the jungle before he had gone a
dozen steps.
" He stood his ground, and as quickly as he could reloaded his
gun. Just as he raised it to fire, the gorilla dashed it out of his
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
539
hands, the gun going off an the fall, and then in an instant, and
with a terrible roar, the animal gave him a tremendous blow with
its immense open paw, frightfully lacerating the abdomen, and
vith this single blow laying bare part of the intestines. As he
sank, bleeding, to the ground, the monster seized the gun, and
the poor hunter thought he would have his brains dashed out
with it. But the gorilla seemed. to have looked upon this also as
540 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
an enemy, and in his rage flattened the barrel between his strong
jaws. When we came upon the ground the gorilla was gone.
This is their mode when attacked to strike one or two blows,
and then leave the victims of their rage on the ground and go off
into the woods.
"We hunted up our companions and carried our poor fellow
to the camp, where all was instantly excitement and sorrow.
They entreated me to give him medicine, but I had nothing to
suit his case. I saw that his days were numbered ; and all I
could do was to make him easy by giving him a little brandy or
wine at intervals. He had to tell the whole story over again ;
and the people declared at once that this was no true gorilla that
had attacked him, but a man a wicked man turned into a gorilla.
Such a being no man could escape, they said ; and it could not
be killed, even by the bravest hunters."
The poor fellow died in great pain on the second day. On the
same day Du Chaillu killed a gorilla which hfe thought must be
the same one that had fatally wounded his servant, as it answered
to the description which the dying man gave. Its height was five
feet, seyeii inches, and it had a spread of arms of nearly eight
feet. Its weight was about 225 pounds. Two days later, Du
Chaillu killed a still larger male that' measured five feet, nine
inches in height and its arms spread out a distance of nine feet,
while its chest circumference was sixty-two inches-
HABITS OF THE GORILLA.
Du CHAILLU is the only explorer who has ever hunted and
made a special study of the gorilla. His observations are there-
fore of great importance, since he is recognized as the only
authority on the subject. His descriptions of the haunts and
habits of the animal are as follows :
"The gorilla is not gregarious. Of adults, I found almost
always one male with one female, though sometimes the old male
wanders companionless. In such cases, as with the 'rogue' ele-
pliant, he is particularly morose and malignant, and dangerous to
approach. Young gorillas I found sometimes in companies of
five ; sometimes less, but never more. The young always run
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
541
off, on all fours, shrieking with fear. They are difficult to ap-
proach, as their hearing is acute, and they lose no time in making
their escape, while the nature of the ground makes it hard for
the hunter to follow. The adult animal is also shy, and I have
hunted all day at times without coming upon them, when I felt
sure they were carefully avoiding me. When, however, at last'
fortune favors the hunter, and
he comes accidentally or by
good management upon his
prey, he need not fear its run-
ning away. In all my hunts
and encounters with this ani-
mal, I never knew a grown
male to run off. When I sur-
prised a pair of gorillas, the
male was gen-
erally sitting on
a rock
against a tree,
in some darkest
corner 'of the
jungle, where
the brightest
sun left its
traces only in a
dim and gloomy
twilight. The
female was
mostly feeding
near by ; and it is singular that she almost always gave the
alarm by running off, with loud and sudden cries or shrieks.
Then the male, sitting for a moment with a savage frown on his
face, slowly rises to his feet, and, looking with glowing and ma-
lign eyes at the intruders, begins to beat his breast, and, lifting
up his round head, utters his frightful roar. This begins with
several sharp barks, like an enraged or mad dog, whereupon
THE GORILLA STRIKING THE HUNTER.
542 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ensues a long, deeply guttural rolling roar, continued for over &
minute, and which, doubled and multiplied by the resounding
echoes of the forest, fills the hunter's ears like the deep rolling
thunder of an approaching storm. I have reason to believe that
I have heard this roar at a distance of three miles. The horror
of the animal's appearance at this time is beyond description.
It seems as monstrous as a nightmare ; so impossible a piece of
hideousness that, were it not for the danger of its savage ap-
proach, the hunter might fancy himself in some ugly dream.
" It is a maxim with a well-trained gorilla-hunter to reserve
his fire till the very last moment, for if he misses, the gorilla at
once rushes on him, and this onset no man can withstand. One
blow of that huge paw, with its bony claws, and the poor hun-
ter's entrails are torn out, his breast-bone broken, or his skull
crushed. It is too late to reload, and flight is vain.
"The gorilla is only met in the most dark and impenetrable
jungle, where it is difficult to get a clear aim, unobstructed by
vines and tangled bushes, for any distance greater than a few
yards. For this reason the hunter wisely stands still and awaits
the approach of the infuriated beast. The gorilla advances at
short stages, stopping to utter his diabolical roar and to- beat his
vast breast with his paws. His walk is a waddle, from side to
side, his hind legs, which are short, being somewhat inadequate
to the proper support of his huge superincumbent body. He
balances himself by swinging his arms, and the vast paunch, the
round bullet-head joined awkwardly to the trunk with scarce a
vestige of neck, and the great muscular arms, and deep, cavern r
ous breast, give to this waddle an ungainly horror, which adds to
his ferocity of appearance. At the same time, the deep-set
grey eyes sparkle out with gloomy malignity ; the features are
contorted in hideous wrinkles, and the slight, sharply-cut lips,
drawn up, reveal the long fangs and the powerful jaws, in which
a human limb would be crushed as a biscuit.
" The hunter, looking with fearful care to his priming, stands
still, gun in hand, often for five weary minutes, waiting with
growing nervousness for the moment when he may relieve his
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
543
GORILLAS SURPRISED U* A FOREST.
544 fHE WOfeLD'S WOKDfcfcS.
suspense by firing. I have never fired at a male at a greater dis-
tance than eight yards, and from fourteen to eighteen feet is the
usual shot. At last the opportunity comes ; and now the gun is
quickly raised, a moment's anxious aim at the vast breadth of
breast, and then pull trigger.
\ "In shooting the hippopotamus at night and on shore, the
negro always scampers off directly he has fired his gun. When
he fires at the gorilla he stands still. I asked why they did not
prun in this case too, and was answered that it was of no use ; to
run would be fatal. If the hunter has missed, he must battle
for his life face to face, hoping by some piece of unexpected
good fortune to escape a fatal blow, and come off, perhaps,
maimed for life, as I have seen several in the up-river villages.
Fortunately, the gorilla dies as easily as man ; a shot in the breast,
if fairly delivered, is sure to bring him down. He fulls forward
on his face, his long, muscular arms outstretched, and uttering,
with his last breath, a hideous death-cry, half roar, half shriek,
which, while it announces his safety to the hunter, yet tingles his
ears with a dreadful note of human agony. It is this lurking
reminiscence of humanity, indeed, which makes one of the chief
ingredients of the hunter's excitement in his attack of the gorilla.
" The common walk of the gorilla is not on his hind legs, but
on all-fours. In this posture, the arms are so long that the head
and breast are raised considerably, and as it runs the hind legs
are brought far beneath the body. The leg and arm on the same
side move together, which gives the beast a curious waddle. It
can run at great speed. The young, parties of which I have
often pursued, never take to trees, but run along the ground,
and at a distance, with their bodies half-erect, look not unlike
negroes making off from pursuit. I have never found the
female to attack, though I have been told by the negroes that a
mother with a young one in charge will sometimes make fight.
'It is a pretty thing to see such a mother with the baby gorilla
sporting about it. I have watched them in the woods, till, eager
as I was to obtain specimens, I had not the heart to shoot. But
in such cases my negro-hunters exhibited no tender-heartedness,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 545
but killed their quarry without loss of time. When the mother
runs off from the hunter, the young one grasps her about the
neck, and hangs beneath her breast with its little legs about her
body.
" The gorilla uses no artificial weapon of offense, but attacks
always with its arms, though in a struggle no doubt the powerful
teeth would play a part. I have several times noticed skulls in
which the huge canines were broken off, not worn down, as they
are in almost all the adult gorillas by gnawing at trees which
they wish to break, and which, without being gnawed into, are
too strong even for them. The negroes informed me that such
teeth were broken in combats between the males for the posses-
sion of a female, and I think this quite probable. Such a com-
bat must form a magnificent and awful spectacle. A struggle
between two well-matched gorillas would exceed in that line any-
thing ever witnessed by the Romans."
CARNIVOROUS ANTS.
ONE of the most dangerous pests of Africa are the bashikonay
ants, whose ravages are wonderful, and whose powers of destruc-
tion are even more remarkable. They are the dread of all living
creatures, from the elephant to the smallest insect. They do not
build nests, nor do they lay up stores for future use, but eat their
prey on the spot. It is their habit to march through the country
in a long, regular line, which is usually two inches broad and
several miles in length. All along this line are stationed at
regular distances, larger ants that act as officers ; they inarch
about half an inch from the line and in every respect act like
officers keeping their men in order. If they come to a place
where there are no trees to shelter them from the sun, whose
heat they cannot bear, they immediately build underground
tunnels, through which the whole army passes in columns to the
forest beyond. These tunnels are four or five feet underground,
and are used only in the heat of the day or during a storm.
When they get hungry the long file spreads itself through the
forest in a front line, and attacks and devours all it comes to
with a fury that is quite irresistible. The elephant and gorilla
646 TflE WORLD'S WONDERS.
fly before this attack. The black men run for their lives. Every
animal that lives in their line of march is chased. They seem to
understand and act upon the tactics of Napoleon, and concentrate,
with great speed, their heaviest forces upon the point of attack.
In an incredibly short space of time the mouse, or dog, or
leopard, or deer is overwhelmed, killed, eaten, and the bare
skeleton only remains.
They seem to travel night and day. " Many a time," says
Du Chaillu, " have I been awakened out of a sleep, and obliged
to rush from the hut and into the water to save my life, and after
all suffered intolerable agony from the bites of the advance-
guard, who had got into my clothes." When they enter a house
they clear it of all living things. Roaches are devoured in an
instant. Rats and mice spring round the room in vain. An
overwhelming force of ants kills a strong rat in less than a minute,
in spite of the most frantic struggles, and in less than another
minute its bones are stripped. Every living thing in the house is
devoured. They will not touch vegetable matter. Thus they are
in reality very useful (as well as dangerous) to the negroes, who
have their huts cleaned of all the abounding vermin, such as im-
mense roaches and centipedes, at least several times a year.
When on their march the insect world flies before them . Wher-
ever they go they make a clean sweep, even ascending to the tops
of the highest trees in pursuit of their prey. Their manner of
attack is an impetuous leap. Instantly the strong pincers are
fastened, and they only let go when the piece gives way. At such
times this little animal seems animated by a kind of fury which
causes it to disregard entirely its own safety, and to seek only
the conquest of its prey. The bite is very painful.
Two very remarkable practices of theirs remain to be related.
When, on their line of march, they must cross a stream, they
throw themselves across and form a tunnel a living tunnel
connecting two trees or high bushes on opposite sides of the little
stream. This is done with great speed, and is effected by a great
number of ants, each of which clings with its fore-claws to its
next neighbor's body or hind claws. Thus they form a high.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 547
safe tubular bridge, through which the whole vast regiment
marches in regular order. If disturbed, or if the arcii is broken
by the violence of some animal, they instantly attack the offender
with the greatest animosity.
THE GORILLA DANCE.
DURING one of his visits to the cannibal country, Du Chaillu
was entertained by a gorilla dance, which was one of the most
grotesque and wonderful exhibitions he ever witnessed. Among
the natives was a man named Etia, whose skin was like that of
an alligator, all horny and wrinkled ; his left hand had been crip-
pled by the teeth of a gorilla, and his countenance was almost as
hideous as the face of that terrible beast. In a house allotted to
slaves, three old men, their faces grotesquely chalked, played
the drum, the sounding log. and the one-stringed harp. To them
danced Etia, imitating the uncoum movements of the gorilla.
Then the iron bell was rung, and Ombuiri, the Evil Spirit, was
summoned to attend, and a hoarse rattle mingled with the other
sounds. Three other dancers now rushed yelling into the midst,
and sprang into the air. There would be a pause, broken only
by the faint, slow tinkling of the harp ; then the measure grew
quicker and quicker, and the drum would be beaten, and the sticks
thundered on the log. Etia assumed the various attitudes pecu-
liar to the ape. Now he would be seated on the ground, his legs
apart, his hands resting on his knees, his head drooping, and in
his face the vacant expression of the brute ; sometimes he folded
his arms on his forehead. Suddenly he would raise his head with
prone ears and flaming eyes, while a loud shout of applause would
prove how natural it was. In the chorus all the dancers assumed
such postures as these, while Etia, climbing ape-like up the pole
which supported the roof, towered above them all.
In the third dance he imitated the gorilla being attacked and
killed. The man who played the hunter inimitably acted
terror and irresolution before he pulled the trigger of his imag-
inary gun. Etia, as gorilla, charged upon all-fours, and fell dead
at the man's feet, in the act of attempting to seize him with one
-hand.
548
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Nothing short of an actual gorilla hunt could have been more
realistic, and it made such an impression upon Du Chaillu that
he could not close his eyes in sleep during the remainder of the
night, the dance having been kept up until nearly morning.
THE CANNIBAL QUEEN TEMBANDUMBA.
THE history of the cannibal queen Tembandumba, of the
Congo country, as related by Du Chaillu, is one of the most
remarkable and thrilling ever placed on record. Donii. who was
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 549
a captain in the army of the great King Zimbo, of the Jaga
tribe, had a daughter by his wife Mussasa, whom he named Tem-
bandumba. On the death of King Zimbo, his empire was divided
into petty principalities among his officers, one of which was
governed by Donji. He having also died, his wife Mussasa con-
tinued his enterprises and conquests. She was a skillful warrior
and extremely cruel and bloodthirsty. She gave her daughter
the education of a warrior; and these two women, at the head
of their army, were always the first to charge the enemy, and
the last to retreat. Mussasa was so struck with her daughter's
courage, wisdom, and endurance, that she gave her command of
half the troops. Tembandumba, having gained several victories,
and now confident of her superior genius, no longer deigned to
listen to her mother's advice. A lioness in war, she became a
tigress in passion ; savage in her wantonness at once voluptuous
and bloodthirsty she admitted a crowd of lovers to her arms,
and killed them with the cruelest tortures as soon as her lusts
were satisfied. Her mother having remonstrated with her respect-
ing these excesses, she openly rebelled, and proclaimed herself
queen of the Jagas. Following now in the footsteps of the great
Zimbo, she determined to turn the world into a wilderness. She
would kill all the animals, burn all the forests, and destroy all
vegetable food, so that the only sustenance of her subjects should
be the flesh of nisin, and his blood their drink.
In a furious harangue to her Amazon warriors, she'commanded
that all male children, all twins, and all infants whose upper
teeth appeared before their lower ones, should be killed by their
own mothers. From their bodies an ointment should be made
in the way which she would show. The female children should
be reared and instructed in war ; and male prisoners, before being
killed and eaten, should be used for purposes of procreation, so
that there might be no future lack of female warriors. Having
concluded her harangue, this young woman seized her own child,
which was feeding at her breast, flung him into a mortar, and
pounded him to a pulp. She threw this into a large earthen pot,
adding roots, leaves, and oils, and made the whole into an oint-
550
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
merit, with which she rubbed herself before them all, telling them
that this would render her invulnerable, and that now she could
subdue the universe. Immediately her subjects, seized with a
savage enthusiasm, massacred all their male children, and immense
quantities of this human ointment were made.
Tembandumba wished to found an empire of Amazons, suck as
we read of as existing among the Scythians, in the forests of
South America, and in Central Africa. She not only enjoined
THE WORJLD'8 WONDERS. 551
the massacre of male children ; she forbade the eating of woman's
llesh. But she had to conquer an instinct in order to carry out
her views ; she fought against nature, and in time she was sub-
dued. As she grew older she became more cruel, more lustful,
and more capricious. She embraced a lover one day, and dined
off him the next. But filially she fell in love with a young man
named Culemba, a private soldier in her army. He was strong
and finely proportioned ; cruel, bloodthirsty and remorseless.
He possessed all the arts of flattery and insinuation. He studied
the nature of this extraordinary woman, and gained such influ-
ence over her that she 'married him publicly, and gave him the
half of her throne and kingdom.
In course of time she began to tire of married life. She
yawned sometimes, and Culemba knew that such yawns meant
danger to him ; she had begun to study his beautiful form as a
gourmand rather than as a lover. He hesitated no longer, but
inviting her to a grand feast, he entertained her magnificently on
the bodies of roasted infants and palm-wine served in the skulls
of her enemies? She drank the wine and died on the spot.
Culemba displayed such violent grief, being scarcely restrained
from killing himself upon her body, that no one supposed he had
poisoned her. She was buried on a high hill, where a large vault
was excavated and divided into several cells, which were furnished
with the finest mats and skins. Her favorite drinks and dishes
were placed there. Clothed in her warrior's dress, she was
buried sitting on her throne in a commanding attitude. Her
body w-as accompanied to the grave by an army ; a herd of vic-
tims were sacrificed ; the musical instruments made a sound .like,
thunder; and above all rose the cries of the unhappy Culemba,
who succeeded to the throne.
EXECUTION OF WOMEN ACCUSED OF WITCHCRAFT,
WHILE Du Chaillu was among the Bakalai people he was made
a witness of many barbaric sights, but none that affected him so
much as the following : At the village of Goumbi, an old friend
of Du Chaillu's, named Mpoino, was taken violently ill, and his
condition was very much aggravated by the unearthly noises
552
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
made by the natives to drive the devil out of him. The poor
fellow could not survive the effects of the disease and noises
combined, and after a short illness he died. On such occasions
,it is the custom of the dying man's head wife to throw herself
Vy him on the bed ; then, encircling his body with her arms, she
sings to him songs of love" and pours a torrent of endearing
phrases into his ears, while the friends standing near utter wail-
ings of a very mournful character. Such a scene is always touch-
ing. After a husband dies the wives sit upon the ground throwing
GROUP OF WOMEN AT THE GRAVE OF A DEAD HUSBAND.
moistened ashes and dust over their bodies, and shave their heads
and rend their clothes.
On the day Mpomo was buried proceedings were begun to dis-
cover the persons who had bewitched the poor fellow. A great
doctor was brought from up the river, and for two nights and
days the village was in an uproar of excitement. At last, on the
third morning, when the turmoil was at its height when old and
young, male and female, were frantic with the. desire for revenge
pn the sorcerers, the doctor assembled them about him in the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 553
centre of the town, and began his final incantation, which should
disclose the names of the murderous sorcerers. Every man and
boy was armed, some with spears, some with swords, some with
guns and axes, and on every face was shown a determination to
wreak bloody revenge on those who should be pointed out as the
criminals. The whole town was wrapt in an indescribable fury
and horrid thirst for human blood. After a certain devilish cere-
Q,. ny the infernal doctor commanded silence, while he said :
4 There is a very black woman, who lives in a house (describ-
ing its location) ; she bewitched Mpomo."
Scarcely had he ceased speaking, when the crowd, raving and
screaming like so many infuriated beasts, rushed frantically for
the place indicated. They seized upon a poor girl named Okan-
daga, who was the sister of Du Chaillu's guide and friend,
Adonma. Waving their weapons over her head, they tore her
away to the water-side. Here she was quickly bound with cords,
and then all rushed away to the diabolical doctor again.
The ceremony was repeated as before, and the doctor accused
another woman, who was likewise seized. He continued his accu-
sations until half-a-dozen poor wretches were brought to judg-
ment, which was execution by beheading. A large canoe was
next brought, in which the victims were placed, with the execu-
tioners, doctor, and several armed persons. The poison-cup,
called inboundon, was handed to each. Poor Okandaga was a
picture of despair as her brother handed the chalice to her ; the
cries she uttered were pitiful to hear, for life was lovely to her,
and innocence only rendered her more sensitive to her fate. All,
however, were forced to take the poison, which, in a moment,
produced an intoxication, when the headsmen began their bloody
work, literally hacking off the heads of the accused with a short
knife, which was so light that several strokes were required to
complete the horrible butchery. After their heads were stricken
off, the bodies were cut into small pieces and scattered over the
water, a ceremony which is supposed to destroy their power to
work evil in their spiritual condition.
554
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
A NATION OF DWARFS.
WHILE traveling in the Apingi country, Du Chaillu heard that
there was a villager of' the Obongos, or dwarfed wild negroes,
not far distauti/iujl.hs^de.cidsdv.to viait : these .singular spechnen&.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 555
of humanity. His guides advised him to take a small party, so
as to make but little noise, for the dwarfs were very wild and
would run as soon as they saw a stranger. Securing a few
guides, he set out and in due time came upon a dwarf village, in
a secluded part of the woods, consisting of twelve singular little
huts constructed of the branches of trees. But the inhabitants
had observed the approach of the strangers and fled.
Leaving the abandoned huts, they continued their way through
the forest ; and presently, within a quarter of a mile, they came
on another village, composed, like the first, of about a dozen ill-
constructed huts, scattered about, without any regular order, in
a small open space. The dwellings had been newly made, for
the branches of trees of which they were formed had still their
leaves on them, quite fresh. Approaching with the greatest
caution, in order not to alarm the wild inmates, the Ashango
guide held up a bunch of beads in a friendly way ; but all this
care was fruitless, for the men were -gone when they came up.
Their flight was hurried. Hastening to the^huts, they luckily<
found three old women and one young man, who had not had
time to run away, besides several children, the latter being hid in
one of the huts.
The little holes which served as doors were closed by fresh-
gathered branches of trees, with their foliage, stuck in the
ground. Du Chaillu finally succeeded in approaching the tremb-
ling creatures, their powers of motion seeming to be paralyzed
by fear. One of the old women, in the course of a short time,
lost all her shyness, and began to ridicule the men for having
run away. She said they were as timid as the nchende
(squirrel), who cried "que! que !" and she twisted her little
body into odd contortions with such droll effect that they all
laughed. But when Du Chaillu attempted to measure her with
his tape-line she imagined it was some sort of a snake, and
trembled so violently that he was compelled to desist until her
fears were again quieted.
During subsequent visits to the little people, he succeeded in
measuring several of them, and found that they averaged about
556
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
4 feet 3 inches in height. Their color was a dirty yellow, ai\J
their eyes had an untameable wildness about them that was
remarkable. They held no intercourse with other tribes, bit
intermarried among themselves, frequently sister with brother,
go as to keep their families together. Their forehead" H'or
exceedingly low and narrow, and their legs were very suc--t u>
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 557
proportion to their bodies ; the palms of their hands were white.
Their arms, legs, and breasts were thickly covered with hair,
which grew in curly tufts like that on their heads. They plant
nothing, and depend partly for their vegetable food on roots,
berries, and nuts, which they find in the forest; indeed, the men
spend most of their days and many of their nights in the woods,'
and their excessive shyness is probably due in part to this fact.
Their appetite for animal food is more like that of a carnivorous
beast than that of a man. They trap leopards, wild boars, ante-
lope, and monkeys, and devour the carcasses like ravenous
animals. Their traps were placed so thickly around their villages
that on several occasions Du Chaillu had his legs caught in them.
These dwarfs are entirely unlike those encountered by Stanley
on the Congo river. The latter were fierce and desperate canni-
bals, while those seen by Du Chaillu were very timid and mild,
and, though exceedingly fond of meat, were never known to eat
human flesh.
The Akka tribe of dwarfs, who inhabit a country several hun-
dred miles west of Gondokoro, are also described as being canni-
bals, but not fierce like those seen by Stanley. Col. Long,
previously mentioned as one of Gen. Gordon's staff officers, led
an expedition into this country in 1875, and captured several of
these people. One of them, a female, was at first very much
alarmed, and refused to eat for several days, assigning as a rea-
son that if she became fat, the white man would eat her. She
was entirely naked except a small covering of leaves before and
behind, even less extensive than the fig-leaf covering mentioned
in the Bible. When she saw that the white man did not intend
to eat her, she grew tamer, and eventually became very docile
ajid communicative. Her people live in the high jungle grass,
and are armed with little spears with which they attack and slay
the elephant and other game ; but they very rarely engage in war|
with other tribes. They are about the same size as the dwarfs
described by Stanley and Du Chaillu.
558
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE GREAT KING MUNZA.
THE Akkas have been conquered by King Munza, of the Mon-
buttoo tribe, and are now his subjects. This African monarch is
second in power arid wealth only to Mtesa, of Uganda, but is
grossly addicted to cannibalism. A distinguished traveler who
THE GREAT KING MUNZA.
recently visited his country, and was received with royal honors*
by the king on his throne, says :
" I was intensely interested in gazing at the strange weird-
looking sovereign, of whom it was commonly reported that his
daily food was human flesh. With arms and logs, neck and
WORLD'S WONDERS. 559
breast, all bedizened with copper rings, chains, and other strange
devices, and with a great copper crescent at the top of his head,
the potentate gleamed with a shimmer that was to our ideas un-
worthy of royalty, but savored far too much of the magazines of
civic opulence, reminding one almost unavoidably of a well-kept,
kitchen ! His appearance, however, was decidedly marked with,'
his nationality, for every adornment that he had about him be-
longed exclusively to Central Africa, as none but the fabrications
of his native land are deemed worthy of adorning the person of
a king of the Monbuttoo.
" Agreeably to the national fashion, a plumed hat rested on
the top of his chignon, and soared a foot and a half above his
head ; this hat was a narrow cylinder of closely-plaited reeds ; it
was ornamented with three layers of red parrots' feathers, and
crowned with a plume of the same ; there was no brim, but the
copper crescent projected from the front like the vizor of a Nor-
man helmet. The muscles of Munza's ears were pierced, and
copper bars as thick as the finger inserted in the cavities. The
entire body was smeared with the native unguent of powdered
cam-wood, which converted the original bright brown tint of his
skin into the color that is so conspicuous in ancient Pompeian
halls. His single garment consisted of a large piece of fig-bark
impregnated with the same dye that served as his cosmetic, and
this, falling in graceful folds about his body, formed breeches
and waistcoat all in one. Around the king's neck hung a copper
ornament made in little points which radiated like beams over his
chest ; on his bare arms were strange-looking pendants which in
shape could only be compared to drumsticks with rings at the
end. Halfway up the lower part of the arms and just below the
knee were three bright, horny-looking circlets cut out of hippo-
potamus-hide, likewise tipped with copper. As a symbol of his
dignity, Munza wielded in his right hand the sickle-shaped Mon- (
buttoo scimitar, in this case only an ornamental weapon, and
made of pure copper."
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ADVENTURE WITH A BOA CONSTRICTOR.
AFTER leaving the country of the dwarfs, while hunting wld
pigs one day, in thick, tangled grass, in company with several of
his men, Du Chaillu met with an adventure of a peculiar char-
acter, and which made a lasting impression on his mind. They
had been out several hours, when, hearing the Brunts of a herd
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 561
of pigs, they sprang behind trees to await their approach. In his
haste, Du Chaillu stumbled over some large object lying in his
path, and looking down, he was horrified to see an immense ser-
pent of the boa species snugly coiled up beside the roots of his
tree. The thing was in a state of stupefaction, consequent upon
having eaten too heavy a dinner. It scarcely moved, and did notj
raise its head. Securing a heavy cutlass, carried by one of his
men, at a single blow he cut the reptile almost in two, when it
began to squirm in a most horrible fashion, and soon ejected a
small deer which it had swallowed.
After killing the serpent, they proceeded with the hunt, and
having secured sufficient game, returned to a neighboring
village to spend the night. Just before dark, Du Chaillu was
astonished to see a party of his men approaching with the dead
snake in their arms ; they had brought it to camp for the purpose
of having a grand feast, as they consider the flesh of the serpent
superior to any other kind of meat.
In 1867 Du Chaillu returned to America, where he published
a history of his wonderful adventures, which elicited the profound
attention of the civilized world. Since then he has traveled and
lectured extensively in the United States, and has also written
much for the press. During the years 1872-73 he traveled
through Sweden, Norway, Lapland and Finland, returning to
New York in 1873, where he has since resided.
562
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
LAND OF THE MID-NIGHT SUN.
THE WORLD S WONDERS,
THE POLAR REGIONS.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE restless spirit of man, though limited to a definable com-
pass of action, is yet boundless as the universe. Over his small
sphere no danger checks the mad ambition of his curiosity, and
chafing under the restraints of this earth, he creates new worlds
in which to continue his search for the unknowable. Whether in
Tropic heat or Polar cold, through the fogs and fens of lurking
death, or the roseate and jocund beams of inviting salubrity, the
beacon of his ambition is at all times equally bright, and causes
him to tread dangerous paths with heart as proud as when he
walks the easy road of safety.
The'rigors of the distant North, around which gather the per-
petual mists of secrecy, where Ithuriel guards, with flaming
spears of polar light, the regions of eternal ice and boding night,
do not quench the noble resolution of man, who must knock at
every door that encloses one of nature's secrets ; even Ithuriel' s
spears are fended by the bold knights of discovery, who charge
on until they fall before the walls which forever limit the foot-
steps of mankind. Many, yea ! many, go out upon the highway
to the bleak and barren North, no more to return to relate around
the fireside of happy homes their adventures on the frozen
563
564 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
wastes, or to tell of the fierce light which flashes around the
northern sphinx; yet they have not died in vain, for the glory
that crowns the human race is composed of the daring deeds of
the heroic few. Like a king who sends his armies into battle
under brave leaders, who return again laden with the trophies of
(signal victory ; by this he fortifies his throne and gathers fresh
honors for his royal name. So is it with the nation that bids
farewell to her heroic sons who seek new fields to explore ; their
deeds are the trophies of a greater victory, for the honor falls
upon all alike, and makes men proud of their nativity. What is
life, save as we estimate it for results accomplished? It is but a
span at most, but maybe made glorious and fruitful by sacrifice.
Therefore, he who gives his life in an undertaking to contribute
to the sum of human knowledge, has lived usefully and dies
heroically. If one die in such an effort, let another hero take
his place until the long procession at length shall give from its
ranks a victor. So shall all great things be accomplished, and so
shall the North Pole be reached.
A SUMMARY OF POLAR EXPEDITIONS.
IT is a singular fact that Iceland and Greenland were inhabited
and comparatively well-know countries before America was dis-
covered by Columbus. However, as to the discovery of America,
this honor belongs to Columbus only as the second discoverer,
for the American coast as far south as Long Island was known to
the Sea Kings of Norway in the 9th and 10th centuries. In the
year 1000 a Norwegian, with a crew of Icelanders, landed on the
coast of Massachusetts, which he named Vinland. They also
established colonies on the Greenland coast and on Spitzbergen,
which remained highly prosperous for several centuries. Ruins
of once magnificent churches may yet be seen along the coast of
Greenland. The Icelanders and Northmen were the first arctic
explorers. But as these colonies finally perished, though from
what cause we know not, no trace of the discoveries made by
these people was communicated to Europe, so that Columbus has
the honor, in no wise detracted by the Norwegian explorers, of
having discovered America.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 565
In 1497 John and Sebastian Cabot landed in Labrador and
projected a voyage to the North Pole, but they did not penetrate
further than 67 30' N, which is about half-way up Davis Strait.
This was the first effort ever made to reach the North Pole.
In 1500-1502 the Cortcreal brothers made three voyages,
extending as far as 60N., but they resulted in nothing but disaster
and loss of life Fifty years later Sir Hugh Willoughby was sent
out by the Moscovy Company to find a north-east passage to
Cathay and Iiidi-*. He was driven back by ice, after reaching
Nova Zernbla, to the mouth of the Arzina in Lapland, where he
and his crew perished after experiencing untold sufferings.
This was the first effort ever made to find a north-west passage.
In 1576-8 MaiTin Frobisher made three voyages to the north-
west for scientific investigations, but beyond discovering the
entrance to Hudson and Frobisher Straits, leading into Hudson
Bay, his trips were without importance. These were the first
voyages to the arctic regions for scientific purposes.
In 1585-7 Davis made a trip to the far north, where he dis-
covered the strait which bears his name, and surveyed a con-
siderable portion of Greenland coast, and added more important
accessions to a knowledge of the Polar Sea than any of his
predecessors. William Barentz made three voyages in this
direction in 1594-6, but perished during the third on Icy Cape,
without adding anything material to what was already known
of the arctic regions.
In 1607 Henry Hudson was sent out by the Moscovy Company
with orders to steer directly for the North Pole, but after
advancing to lat. 80 his further progress was barred by an
impassable barrier of ice. He therefore returned, but made
another voyage a year later in quest of a north-west passage to
India, but was again forced to abandon the effort. Still en-
tertaining hope of success, he set sail for the third time, but
again finding his way impeded by ice, he returned, and sailing
westward and searching along the American coast, discovered
.Hudson Bay, and wintered on one of the islands in the mouth of
the bay. In the spring of 1611 he started north again, but his
566 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
progress was beset with storms, the provisions gave out, the
crew mutinied, and finally a portion of the mutineers returned to
England without Hudson, whom they had set adrift to perish.
In 1616 Baffin explored the bay which bears his name and
entered the mouth of Lancaster Sound. His survey was very
exact and for a period of fifty years no navigator penetrated
beyond him. In the meantime, however, two Russian expedi-
tions were sent out, but beyond first observing the variations of
the magnetic needle, their voyages were without results.
In 1741 Behriug set sail from a Russian harbor in Kamtchatka,
discovered the strait which is named for him, but died before he
added anything new to polar discoveries. In 1760 Shalaroff,
another Russian, attempted a north-west passage, but he perished
from starvation, together with all his crew. Two more Russian
expeditions were started from North Siberia, one under An-
dreyeff, the other under Capt. Billings, but they bore no fruits
worthy of mention. It was not until 1820-' 23 that any effort
was made to reach the North Pole by sledges, when Von
Wrangell andAnjon undertook to make the journey in that way.
They proceeded as far as lat. 70 51' n., long. 157 25' w., and
reported an open sea in the distant north, which precluded
further operations with sledges.
Hudson Bay was still considered as oemg a great outlet
toward the northwest, and in 1743 the British Parliament offered
a reward of $100,000 to any one who should accomplish a north-
west passage through it. Expeditions now followed one another
almost annually, but generally without any beneficial results. In
1769-73 Samuel Hearne made three overland journeys, in one of
which he discovered Coppermine River and traced it to its mouth.
In 1773 Capt. Phipps (Lord Mulgrove) went as far north as
Hudson had reached. Capt. Cook followed in 1776 on his last
expedition, but he only reached lat. 70 45'.
In 1789 Mackenzie, in a land expedition, discovered and traced
to its mouth the great river which was named in his honor. In
1818 two more expeditions were dispatched to find a northwest
passage : one of these was commanded by Capt. Ross and Lieut.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 567
Parry, and the other under Capt. Buchan and Lieut. (Sir John)
Franklin, but they encountered so much ice in lat. 80 34' that
one of the vessels was badly shattered, forcing them to return.
In the following year Lieut. Parry started again really to
determine whether Lancaster was a sound or a bay, a question of
so much dispute among geographers at the time. He approached
so near the magnetic pole that his compasses became useless, but
he sailed on and passed the 110th meridian, thereby entitling him
to a reward of $25,000 which Parliament had offered for this
achievement.
In 1819 Sir John Franklin set out on an overland journey to
explore the north coast of America, and was followed by Lieut.
Parry in 1821, with an understanding that the two expeditions
would co-operate, should the latter reach the north coast. Frank-
lin made a foot journey of 856 miles through such intense cold
that the mercury in their thermometer froze in the bulb. In
July, 1820, they traveled 500 miles further and went into winter
quarters at Fort Enterprise ; here they remained until the follow-
ing year and then started again, paddling along the shore in
canoes a distance of 550 miles, and ascended Hood River. Their
supplies were now completely exhausted, and to sustain life, they
were compelled to eat their old shoes and scraps of leather
straps ; two of them, however, died of starvation, but the others
managed, by eating rock mosses, to reach York Factory, the
place of starting. Lieut. Parry was unable to find Franklin, nor
did he make any important discoveries, but returned home in
1823, only to reorganize another expedition. Franklin also
equipped another, while two others were fitted out, one by Capt.
Beechey and the other by Capt. Lyon. All of these were
iespatched in different directions, but each was expected to re-
port at Point Turnagain, where they might co-operate or render
mutual assistance. Parry was most unfortunate, for his progress
was continually interrupted by vast fields of ice, by which one of
his two vessels was sunk. However, during this expedition Parry
devised a contrivance whereby the compass may be made to work
perfectly under all circumstances, thus obviating a most serious
568 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
difficulty in Arctic navigation. This was accomplished by simply
placing a small circular plate of iron near the compass. Neither
of the other three expeditions made any discoveries, nor did any
of them meet, but each party met with great difficulties and ex-
perienced intense suffering.
In May, 1829, Capt. Ross set sail in the steamer Victory, with
the purpose of reaching the North Pole, if possible, but chiefly
to make scientific investigations at all eligible points. This was
the first voyage to the north ever undertaken in a steamer, and it
served to prove the advantages of this mode of navigation over
sails. Ross explored 300 miles of new coast, and by leaving his
vessel and taking to the sledges, he reached lat. 70 5' 17", and
long. 96 46' 45" W., at which spot he fixed the position of the
true magnetic pole. Scurvy appeared among the crew in such a
virulent form that he had to abandon his ship, and wander about
for nearly two years in a hopeless state, many of the men dying,
and all suffering from cold and hunger. They were finally picked
up by a vessel which returned them to the Orkney Islands.
1 In February, 1833, Capt. Bock was sent out in search of Ross,
but shortly afterward, learning of his friend's safety, continued
on toward the north for nearly two years, but his voyage was
without results except the discovery of Victoria Land. On May
27, 1847, Dr. Rae, sent out by the Hudson Bay Company,
completed the entire survey of the north coast of America, with
the exception of Fury and Hecla Straits.
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
THIS brings us to the explorations of the celebrated Sir John
Franklin, whose eminent services and tragic death in the Polar
regions merit more than a passing notice. This distinguished
v explorer was born at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England, April 16,
'1786. He was the youngest son of a respectable yeoman, who
was compelled to sell his estate and engage in trade. John was
intended for the clerical profession, but had such a consuming
desire to follow the sea that, after a short voyage to Lisbon, his
father procured his admission to the navy as midshipman, at the
age of 14 years. He accompanied his cousin, Capt. Flinders, on
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
569
an expedition sent out by the English government to explore the
coast of Australia, but the vessel in which they sailed proved un-
sea worthy, and they were transferred to the ship Porpoise, but
their condition was by no means improved, for that vessel was
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
wrecked August 18, 1803, about 200 miles from the Australian
coast, and Franklin and his companions were barely saved from
drowning by escaping to a sand-bank 600 feet long, on which
they remained fifty days at the imminent risk of starvation, be-
fore relief reached them from Port Jackson. On reaching Eng-
570 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
land, he joined the ship of the line Betterophon, and in 1805
took part in the battle of Trafalgar as signal midshipman. Of
the 40 persons who stood round him on the poop, only seven es-
caped unhurt. He also served in a similar capacity in the war of
1812-15 with the United States, *and was promoted to the com-
mand of a vessel which engaged our forces at New Orleans, where
he boarded one of our small toats and captured her ; he was
slightly wounded, and for his gallant act was promoted to Lieu-
tenant. In the year 1818, the British government fitted out an
expedition to attempt a passage to India by crossing the Polar
sea north of Spitzbergen, in which Franklin was given command
of the Trent, one of the two vessels sent out. He was forced to
return after reaching latitude 80 on account of the injuries re-
ceived by his companion-vessel, the Dorothea. In 1819 he was
appointed to command an expedition which set out to travel
overland from Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Ocean, and make a
survey of the American coast. He returned to England and
shortly after was made post-captain and elected a Fellow of the
Hoyal Society. In 1823 he published, " Narrative of a Journey
to the Shores of the Polar Sea in 1819-22," and in August of
the same year married Eleanor Porden. In 1825 he was appointed
to the command of another expedition to the Arctic Ocean. On
the day assigned for his departure his wife was lying at the point
of death ; she begged him not to delay on her account, and gave
him a small silk flag which she requested him to hoist when he
should reach the polar sea. She died the day he sailed. He re-
turned home in September, 1827, and in March following married
Jane Griffin, who was afterward the celebrated Lady Franklin.
In the same year he published his " Narrative of a Second Ex-
pedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea 1825-27," and in the
[following year was knighted and received the degree of Doctor
of Civil Law from Oxford University, and the gold medal from
the Geographical Society of Paris. In 1836 Franklin was made
governor of Van Dieman's Land, in which office he continued
until 1843, when the Colonial Legislature voted an increase in the
governor's salary ; Sir John refused to accept it, but secured it for
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 571
his successor, Long; afterward, the colonists, in remembrance of
his great and beneficent services, voted a contribution of $8,000,
which was sent to Lady Franklin to assist in paying the expenses
of the search for her missing husband.
The greatest ambition of Franklin's life was to discover a
northwest passage, and in this desire he was much encouraged
by the confidence in which he was held by the English public and
government as well. On May 19, 1845, he sailed again for the
North in the good steam screw propeller, Erebus, accompanied
by a similar vessel, the Terror, commanded by Capt. Richard
Crozier. A tender, carrying provisions, bore them company as
far as Davis Strait, where stores were landed sufficient to last
the expedition for three years. On July 26, 1845, the two
steamers were sighted by a whale ship in lat. 74 48' and long.
66 13', about the center of Baffin's Bay, anchored to an iceberg,
awaiting an opening into Lancaster Sound. This is the last time
either of the vessels was ever seen. So much anxiety was felt
for their safety after the expiration of three years, that in 1848
three expeditions were sent out to search for them. These meet-
ing with no success, in 1850 three more expeditions were
despatched, but these, too, returned without finding any trace of
the lost explorers. In 1849 the British government offered
$100,000 to any private exploring party, from any country, who
should render efficient aid to the missing crews. Under this
stimulus no less than eight other expeditions, consisting of twelve
vessels in all, started in search of Franklin ; one of these was
sent by the United States government, chiefly through the influ-
ence of Henry Grinnell ; the English government equipped an-
other ; the Hudson Bay Company another ; while Lady Franklin
sent one entirely at her own expense, and bore two-thirds of the
expense of another ; while a final expedition was equipped by
public subscription, this last one being commanded by Sir John
Ross.
Capt. Shepherd Osborne, in charge of the Hudson Bay Expe-
dition, came upon the first traces of the missing explorers on the
23d of August, 1850. These traces were found scattered over a
572
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
space of several miles in the vicinity of Beechey island and Cape
Riley, and consisted of empty tin cans, the embankment of a
house, with carpenter's and armorer's working places, and
finally the graves of three men who belonged to the Erebus and
Terror, which bore date of the winter 1845-6. Other expedi-
tions visited the same grounds and explored 675 miles, of hitherto
undiscovered coast, but without finding any further traces, nor
SIR EDWARD BELCHER'S FLEET FROZEN UP IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.
were any documents found giving indications of the condition or
intention of the missing men. Sir John Ross came to the con-
'clusion that the Franklin party had been murdered in Wosten-
holm Sound by Esquimaux. This opinion was supported by
Capt. McClure, who, in August, 1850, discovered a flat brass
button in the ear of an Esquimau chief, near the mouth of the
Mackenzie River. This chief admitted that it had been taken
from the ear of a white man who had been killed, but he could
not tell the place where the murder was committed.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 573
In April, 1852, five vessels were dispatched under command of
Sir Edward Belcher, and in the following year five more expedi-
tions were sent in search of Franklin. One of these was fitted out
by Mr. Grinnell of New York and Mr. Peabody of London, and
was commanded by Dr. E. K. Kane, who had acted as surgeon,
naturalist and historian of the former Grinnell expedition under
DeHaven. One of these expeditions very fortunately found and
rescued McClure and his ship's company, who had been buried in
the ice since the summer of 1850, three years. These returned
home with Belcher, abandoning their ship, and were thus the
first and only ship's company who ever entered Behring's Strait
and returned to Europe by Baffin Bay. Thus was established at
last the great fact of a continuous water passage between
Baffin Bay and Behring Strait, parallel with the American coast.
In the spring of 1854 no less than five vessels were abandoned in
the ice and their crews had to return home in the vessels of
other search parties.
In 1854 Dr. Rae met a party of Esquimaux who had in their
possession various articles of silverware belonging to officers of
the JUrebus and Terror. These Esquimaux related that in 1851
they saw a company of forty white men dragging sledges and
going where they might kill deer, their ship having been crushed
in the ice. They purchased a few provisions from the natives,
and showed evidences of great destitution. At a later date, the
same summer, were found the corpses of about thirty persons and
some graves on the American shore, and five dead bodies on an
island near it. Of the bodies on the island one was supposed to
be an officer, as a telescope was slung about the neck. These men
had undoubtedly been driven to cannibalism before they perished,
as there were on each the evidences of the fleshy portions having
been cut away. Dr. Rae found guns, watches, various scientific
instruments, clothing, etc., among the natives who had taken
them from the dead bodies. Mr. Anderson found similar traces
of the lost party in 1855, and conversed with natives who
declared that the men had died of starvation.
Dr. Kane, the American explorer, left New York in the
574 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Advance, May 30, 1853. The expedition which he commanded
was sent out with the double purpose of finding the Sir John
Franklin party, and to test a theory which Dr. Kane had long
entertained, viz: that there was somewhere between the North
Pole and 80 N., a vast open sea and a milder climate than was to
be found some degrees further south. He hoped to reach this
clear water and continue north on it until the goal was reached.
He established his winter camp at Rensselar harbor^ and during
the continuance of day light excursions were made into the
interior of Greenland in which 800 miles were traversed. Kane's
winter harbor was further north than that of any previous expe-
dition.
The crew was much enfeebled by the long winter, and it was
not until April that Dr. Kane started on a sledging tour to the
north. The extreme severity of the weather defeated his prime
purpose, but he was rewarded by the discovery of some remarkable
natural wonders, which he named the Three Brothers Turrets,
Tennyson's Monument, and the great Humboldt Glacier. He
returned to his vessel May 14th, and six days later started upon
another journey, in which they attained to lat. 79 45' and long.
69 12', and discovered two prominent capes which were named
Joseph Leidy and John Frazier. On June 30th two of Kane's
officers, accompanied by an escort, left on another excursion,
but upon reaching Humboldt Glacier four of the party were
stricken blind and had to be sent back. The others pushed on
until July 31st, when they sighted open water, which they called
Kennedy Channel.
Dr. Kane was ill much of the time, and the cold was so severe
that there was no prospect of releasing his vessel ; so in August
he abandoned her and pushed on overland to Upernavik, where he
arrived without losing any of his party, but not without enduring
indescribable sufferings. Fears for Kane's safety had induced
/the United States government to send out two vessels for his
relief, the Release and Arctic, commanded by Capt. Hartstene.
He reached lat. 78 32' when his further progress was barred by
impassable barriers of ice. Returning he found Kane and his
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 575
crew at Upernavik, and with them reached New York in the fall
of 1855. In a scientific point of view Dr. Kane's voyage was the
most important one thai had ever been made to the arctic
regions.
In 1857 Lady Franklin resolved to send another vessel, at her
own expense, in quest of her lost husband. The screw steamer^
Fox, formerly a pleasure yacht, was purchased and fitted up for
the purpose, and the command given to Capt. Francis McClin-
tock.
This steamer left Aberdeen, July 1st, for Lancaster Sound,
but she was caught in an ice pack, nearly opposite the channel
entrance to Baffin's Bay, and held for eight months. The mov-
ing pack had in the meantime carried her back a distance of
1395 miles southward. She was refitted at Holsteinborg and
started again, this time being unusually successful, for with
comparatively little trouble she reached Port Kennedy in Frank-
lin Strait, and there went into winter quarters. On March 1st
McClintock met a party of Esquimaux near Cape Victoria, who
told him that several years before two ships, with white crews,
had been crushed in the ice and sunk in deep water.off the north-
west shore of King William Land. The crews went away to a
great river, where they all died of starvation. This was all he
could learn from them. McClintock then followed the south and
west coast of King William Land and found several traces of the
lost explorers near Cape Herschel. A skeleton, with European
clothing lying near by, was found, and a few miles further he
came upon a boat, fitted to a sledge, in which were two more
skeletons. Some remnants of tents, three small cairns and one
larger one were found. Displacing some stones of the larger one,
the first and only record of the unfortunate Franklin party was
found, it was only a bit of paper dated May 28, 1847,
announcing tnat all were well, and that a small party had four,'
days previously left the ships. On the margin of this slip was
another memorandum, written in a different hand, dated April
25, 1848, stating that Sir John Franklin had died June 11, 1847,
and that the total loss by death up to that time had been nine
576 THB WORLD'
officers and fifteen men. The crews of both vessels, all told,
originally numbered 129 souls. McClintock's discoveries finally
decided the fate of the Franklin Expedition.
Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, a member of Dr. Kane's party, and an
enthusiastic believer in the existence of an open polar sea,
succeeded, by the aid of private subscriptions, in organizing an
exploring party of fourteen men, with whom he embarked in the
schooner United States, from Boston, July 6, 1860. Hayes
entered Baffin Bay, August 20, and added to his crew three
Danes, and three Esquimaux hunters, and secured sledge dogs
for the winter's work. He harbored at Port Foulke, and during
the winter made several sledge journeys northward. April 3,
1861, he reached lat. 81 35', long. 70 30', beyond which the ice
was so rotten as to make further progress impossible. This was
the most northerly point that had ever been reached, and from a
lofty headland he looked out upon what he believed was an open
polar sea. Having no boat he was obliged to return, and as his
vessel was already becoming badly broken by the ice he hud to
make his way back to Boston, where he arrived in October,
1861.
In 1860 Capt. Charles F. Hall left New London, Connecticut,
in a whale ship, which landed him on the west coast of Davis
Strait. From thence he prosecuted a search for the remains of
the Franklin party in sledges. He found no trace of them, how-
ever, though he did discover relics of the Frobisher expedition,
made 300 years before. Hall returned to the United States
September 30th, but in 1864 he again sailed for the Arctic regions
with only two Esquimaux companions. He landed on the coast
of Hudson Bay and thence journeyed to King William Land,
where he found many relics of the Franklin party, and from a
number of Esquimaux obtained indisputable evidence that the
explorers had died of starvation, but not until they had accom-
plished the northwest passage. Capt. Hall spent five years
among the Esquimaux, learning their language and acclimating
himself to the Arctic regions, and then returned to the United
States in 1869 to organize another expedition.
I
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 577
A German expedition was sent out from Bremen in 1868, which
reached lat. 81 5' N., long. 60 W., but accomplished nothing of
importance ; and an expedition despatched by the Swedish gov-
ernment in the same year had no better success. In 1869 Dr.
Hayes made a trip to Upernavik to make preparations for a
journey which he hoped to undertake the following year. He
made a short voyage in the steamer Panther, but added no new
discoveries. The German government sent out two vessels in
1869, one of which was wrecked in Sabine Bay, and the crew al-
most perished on an iceberg, where they had taken refuge. The
other vessel returned within the year with nothing new to report.
Several other expeditions started from the continent of Europe
in 1869, but none of them made any important discoveries.
In 1871 four more expeditions started from Europe, but only
one succeeded in gaining any honors. Two Austrian lieutenants,
Payer and Weyprecht, sailed from Tromso, Norway, in a small
sailing vessel, and proceeded due north of Nova Zembla and en-
tered an open ocean in which navigation was only slightly im-
peded by light and scattering ice. Dr. Petermann, the German
geographer, regards this discovery as of the greatest importance,
since the two lieutenants must have penetrated into the open sea
and thus found the only free passage to the pole.
The other European expeditions of '71 were attended with no
important results. It was in this year that Capt. Hall organized,
by the aid of Congress, an expedition which departed from New
York, June 29th, in the steamer Polaris, of about 400 tons.
For Tiearly two years no important news was received from
Hall, but as yet there was no alarm felt for his safety, as he ex-
pected to be absent three years. On April 29, 1873, the British
steamer Tigress struck an ice floe in lat. 53 35' N., long. 35 W.
On this floe were found Capt. Tyson, one of Hall's officers, and
eighteen members of the Polaris expedition, who had been 196
days on the ice, and had drifted nearly 2000 miles. They re-
ported that while landing provisions from their vessel, which was
fast in the ice, the floe broke up and separated them from the
ship, and rapidly drifting southward, they saw her no more.
87
578 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
They also reported that Capt. Hall had suddenly taken sick and
died on November 28, 1871. The command then devolved on
Capt. Buddington, who resolved to return, and on August 2,
1872, the Polaris turned southward, but drifted with the ice into
Baffin Bay, where Tyson left her. The Polaris was so seriously
injured by the breaking floe, that it was only by extraordinary
exertion and the use of steam pumps that she was prevented from
foundering. She was kept afloat during the night, however, and
on the following morning was run aground in Kane's Life Boat
Cove, where she was abandoned. Here they remained encamped,
waiting for the ice to break up, until June 3, 1873, when they
loaded their small boats with provisions and started on the waters
of Smith Sound for the south. On June 23 they sighted a
vessel, which proved to be the Ravenscraig ', of Dundee, Capt.
Allen, a Scotch whaler. The explorers were picked up and landed
at Dundee on September 19, 1873.
The reported loss of the Polaris by Capt. Tyson, caused the
government to send out the steamers Juniata and Cabot, under
Lieutenant DeLong, to search for them, but they had gone only
a short distance beyond St. Johns when the news of the rescue
was received from a passing vessel, when the expedition at once
returned. In a future chapter further notice will be made of the
unfortunate Polaris and the treacherous death of Capt. Hall.
The next expedition was organized in 1877, by Lieutenant
Geo. W. DeLong, of the United States Navy, the expenses of
which were provided by James Gordon Bennett, of the New York
Herald. A suitable vessel was found in the steamer Pandora,
which was put in prime condition for a contest with Arctic cold
and dangerous ice-bergs, and then re-named the Jeannetle, for
Mr. Bennett's sister. She put into Havre, after all repairs were
made, from which port she sailed July 15, 1878, for San Fran-
cisco. Here the expedition was recruited from the navy, some
of the officers being then in service in Chinese waters, so that a
delay of nearly one year was unavoidable. On the 8th of July,
1879, the Jeannette departed with her select crew for Lawrence
Bay, Lieut. DeLong* s intentions being to attempt a passage to
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
579
the pole through the open water found north of Nova Zembla by
the Austrian lieutenants, Payer and Weyprecht.
On the 19th of January, 1880, the Jeannette was caught be-
tween two ice-floes and severely strained by the enormous press-
ure, but the resistance she offered told how wonderfully strong
had been her timbers and bracings. But on June 12, 1881, in
lat. 77 14' 20", long 156 7 30" E. she was caught again and
this time crushed so badly that she sank on the following after-
noon, but not until all provisions had been removed. The party
THE JEANNETTE.
wer6 in no wise discouraged by the disaster, for they had food in.
abundance, also boats and sledges. ' So buoyant, indeed, were
their spirits that a concert was given on the evening the Jean-
nette sank. Camp was pitched not far from where the vessel was.
crushed, and here the party remained in general good health for
a few days, arranging the loads for sledge transportation. On
June 15th the order to march was given, three cutters and two
whale-boats being taken, in which to carry supplies. They
marched southward with the hope of reaching the New Siberian.
Islands, and from thence make their way to the Siberian coast-
580 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The horrors of this dreadful inarch to open water, separation of
the boats in a gale, loss of Lieut. Chipp's boat and crew, are all
fresh in the public mind. So also is the sad death of DeLong
and so many of his party near the Lena Delta, where frost and
starvation overwhelmed them ; then the closing chapter of this
most unfortunate expedition, the finding of the dead bodies and
bringing them from their far resting places in the bleak wastes of
Siberia's eternal winter, back to their homes in America and
graves in native soil. The escape of Melville and his boat-crew
is the only result of the Jeannette expedition that is not extremely
painful,
On the 19th of June, 1878, Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, of
the Third United States Cavalry, set sail in the JEothen in search
of the remains of Sir John Franklin and his party. The vessel
and crew were both small, but resolution brought the expedition
a success which its most earnest promoters had hardly antici-
pated.
They proceeded directly for King William Land, upon reach-
ing which they went into winter quarters to await the disappear-
ance of snow, so as to prosecute their search for traces of the
fated party more easily. Eight months in tents at Camp Daly
served to inure Schwatka and his men to the severe climate, and
in April he set out with sledges to search for relics of the Frank-
lin expedition. Reaching the Netchillik country, he interviewed
several of the old natives, from whom he gathered considerable
information. One of these people described the finding of sev-
eral bodies near Eichardson Point, and the ornaments which he
himself had taken from them, consisting of a gold watch and
watch-chain, gold ring, gold earrings, pipes, tobacco, and a num-
ber of silver watches. These bodies were all in a tent-covered
boat ; a number of them bore evidences of having been eaten by
their comrades, for many of the bones had been cut with knife
and saw.
Between Franklin Point and Collinson Inlet, Schw^tka found
the graves of two white men, and on the following day was found
the camp which Capt. Crozier and his command had made after
WOELD'S WONDERS. 581
abandoning the vessels, Erebus and Terror. Next Lieutenant
Irving' s grave was found and near it a silver medal. They were
now in a district fruitful with relics of the unfortunate party, and
discovered in several weeks of search the remains of no less than
thirty members of the expedition, all of which were re-buried
with the exception of one entire skeleton, which, together with
numerous relics, was brought back to the United States, and :
afterward turned over to the English Government. This skele-j
ton proved to be the remains of Lieut. Irving.
We are now brought to the last expedition undertaken in the
Arctic regions, the horrors of which are fresh in the minds of all
people. The foregoing resume of Arctic exploration is intended
as a mere recapitulation of the heroic efforts directed toward dis-
covering a Northwest Passage for the benefit of commerce, and
the location of the North Pole for the benefit of science. We
will now proceed to relate some of the dreadful experiences of
Arctic travelers, as well also the incidents, amusing and other-
wise, connected therewith, which will necessarily include a de-
scription of the wonders of that forbidden region. The Greely
expedition must first be reported, because public interest now
centers about the discovery of the survivors and dead of that
woefully unfortunate party.
582 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
CHAPTER XXXI.
PURPOSES OF THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
THE frequent disasters that have overtaken expeditions sent to
the Arctic regions, involving loss of life by cold and starvation,
and intense suffering always, even when no fatalities occurred,
have not in the least diminished interest in Arctic exploration,
but on the other hand, seem only to incite renewed endeavor.
Governments, reflecting popular desire, continue their efforts to
gain honors by fresh discoveries in the almost inaccessible region,
and each year serves to prove that civilization will not be content
until the secrets and mysteries of the frozen North are yielded
up to resolute explorers. The loss of the Jeannette only stimu-
lated scientific curiosity, and a hundred daring travelers an-
nounced their desire to continue the search for the North Pole.
New theories were immediately advanced to take the place of
those that had been exploded.
The Signal Service Department, under Gen. Hazen, took great
interest in Arctic research, and when some scientist proposed the
establishment of international polar stations by which it was be-
lieved the Pole might be reached by gradual approaches, Gen.
Hazen at once gave the scheme his unqualified sanction. The
question was industriously agitated, until at length Congress, in
1880, voted an ample appropriation for equipping an expedition
which was to proceed to ce.tain specified points, as will hereafter
appear, and establish permanent stations.
Lieutenant and Brevet-Major Adolphus W. Greely, assistant
to the chief signal officer, was an enthusiast on arctic discovery,
TH.K
LD 8 VVONDEK8.
583
and supported Gen. Hazen with all bis influence in carrying the
appropriation bill through Congress. Greely had seen some
service and was a man of acknowledged bravery. He entered
tlie volunteer service as a private in 1861, at the age of seventeen,
joining a Massachusetts regiment, and served continuously until
appointed, in March, 1867, a lieutenant in the 5th calvary U. S.
LIEUT. ADOLPHUS W. GREELY.
regular army. He attained in the volunteer service the grade of
captain and brevet-major for bravery exhibited at the storming of
Fredericksburg, December, 1862, in which he was wounded
three times, but still kept, the field. After his appointment in
the regular army he was attached to the signal service corps,
where he served in the several capacities of inspector, constructor
and superintendent of telegraph lines and as the official predict-
584 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ing officer. At the time DeLong was recruiting from the army
list his crew for the Jeannette, Greely offered his services and, in
fact, tried in every possible way to accompany the expedition,
and was deeply chagrined at being refused.
When Congress passed the bill providing for the establishment
of polar stations, Gen. Hazen interested himself in procuring
for Greely the appointment as commander of the expedition, in
which effort he was successful.
The expedition, when organized, consisted of twenty-four
officers and men, chosen from different branches of the army, as
follows :
Frederick F. Kislingbury, second lieutenant Eleventh Infantry ;
acting signal officer ; widower; two children.
James B. Lockwood, first lieutenant Twenty-third Infantry;
acting signal officer ; Washington, D. C. ; unmarried ; is a son
of Gen. Lockwood (retired) U. S. A.
Dr. Octave Pavey, medical officer; married; wife's address,
Maryville, Nodaway County, Mo.
Edward Israel, sergeant of Signal Corps, Kalamazoo, Mich. ;
unmarried ; born at Kalamazoo, Mich.
Winfield S. Jewell, sergeant of Signal Corps ; unmarried ;
born at Lisbon, N. H.
George W. Rice, sergeant of Signal Corps, Washington, D. C. ;
unmarried ; born at Sidney, Nova Scotia.
David C. Ralston, sergeant of Signal Corps ; unmarried ; born
at Bloomfield, Ohio.
Hanipden S. Gardiner, sergeant of Signal Corps, Philadelphia^
Pa. ; married ; born at Philadelphia.
William H. Cross, sergeant of general service, Washington,
D. C. ; married ; born at Washington, D. C.
David L. Brainerd, sergeant of Company L, Second Cavalry
enlisted at New York City ; born at Oswego County, N. Y.
David Linn, sergeant of Company C, Second Cavalry ; enlisted
at Philadelphia ; born at Philadelphia.
Nicholas Nalor, corporal of Company H, Second Cavalry : ;
enlisted at Cincinnati, Ohio ; unmarried ; born at Luxembourg,
re.rmany.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 585
Joseph Elison, corporal of Company E, Tenth Infantry;
enlisted at Fort Wayne, Mich. ; born in Germany.
Charles B. Henry, private of Company E, Fifth Cavalry ;
enlisted at Cincinnati ; born at Hanover, Germany.
Maurice Council, private of Company B, Third Cavalry ;
enlisted at Camp-on-Goose-Creek, Wyoming ; born at Kerry,
Ireland.
Jacob Bender, private of Company F, Ninth Infantry ; enlisted
at Omaha Barracks, Neb. ; born in Friedberg, Germany.
Wm. Whistler, private of Company F, Ninth Infantry ;
enlisted at Omaha Barracks, Neb. ; born in Carroll County,
Ind. ; father's address Monon, Indiana.
Henry Biederbick, private Company G, Seventeenth Infantry ;
enlisted at Cincinnati, O. ; born at Waldeck, Germany.
Julius Fredericks, private of Company I, Second Cavalry ;
enlisted at Cleveland, O. ; unmarried ; born at Dayton, O.
Wm. A. Ellis, private of Company C, Second Cavalry ;
enlisted at New York City ; born at Seneca Falls, N. Y.
R. R. Schneider, private of Company A, First Artillery ;
enlisted at Fort Columbus, New York harbor ; born at Chem-
nitz, Germany.
Francis Long, sergeant of Company F, Ninth Infantry ; en-
listed at Omaha Barracks, Neb. ; born in Wurtenibourg, Germany.
THE DEPARTURE.
LIEUTENANT GREELY* sailed from St. Johns, N. F., July 7,
188 1-, on the steamer Proteus, and reached Disco Island, at God-
haven, two weeks later. Here he secured two Esquimaux inter-
preters, fourteen dogs, two sledges, and a large quantity of pro-
visions, including several tons of walrus flesh and dried fish as
food for the dogs. Several hundred pounds of white whale
skin were also added to the store on account of its antiscorbutic
properties. Sailing from Godhaven, the Proteus reached Uper-
navik on the 24th of July, and left there July 29, going north at
full speed. Baffin's Bay, Smith's Sound and Kennedy Channel
were found remarkably free from obstructions. The season was
yery exceptional. Th'ere .the Proteus in 1881 found open water;
586 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
the Neptune in 1882 and the Proteus in 1883 were driven back
by immeasurable and impenetrable fields of ice. The Nares
expedition in 1875 made the passage with great difficulty,
battling with the ice continually and nearly losing their ships.
They were twenty-one days in reaching Cape Frazer from Little-
ton Island, but the Proteus made the same distance in sixteen
hours. The explorers passed Cape Constitution, Kane's highest
point, and there they met with the first obstruction. On the 4th
they steamed up to the solid main pack, extending right across
the channel and appearing to be at least twenty feet thick. The
Proteus had then reached the southwest part of Lady Franklin
Bay, and was within ten miles of her destination. For seven
days the vessel was moored to the ice, and Lieut. Greely almost
despaired of attaining his object. But the ice moved to the east-
ward, and the ship was forced at full speed until Discovery
Harbor was reached, and there Lieut. Greely established his
settlement, calling it Fort Conger, in honor of Senator Conger,
of Michigan, who had been instrumental in passing the bill
through Congress which authorized the expedition. The Proteus
left the party well provided for at Fort Conger on August 18th,
and arrived safely at St. John's.
The company at Fort Conger was well equipped for its exile.
Stores of provisions sufficient to last two years were at hand.
The house erected had double frames and measured 61 by 21
feet. In addition to stores and supplies about 140 tons of coal
were landed. It was not doubted that thtfcmembers of the expe-
dition could be made as comfortable and as safe from atmos-
pheric dangers as are the men of the Signal Service stationed
on the summits of Pike's Peak and Mt. Washington, or the
employes of the Hudson Bay Company stationed at Fort York,
where a temperature of 60 is not uncommon.
Scientific work began at once. The formal observations of
the international series, however, did not commence until August
1,1882. They then, continued for one year. The obligatory
work was to incJuKjlfc researches into meteorology, magnetism,
the aurora, aoxd^trpnomy. The voluntary or optional obscrvu-.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 587
tions, which might be made without the Congress insisting upon
them, embraced every department of natural science, including
the temperature of the soil, snow and ice, evaporation, terrestrial
magnetism, and galvanic earth currents in close connection
with magnetic and auroral phenomena, hydrographical, spectro-
scopical and pendulum observations, as well as observations on
atmospheric electricity, the growth and structure of ice, the
physical properties of sea water, etc. Zoological, geological and
botanical collections were to be accumulated, and though mere
explorations was not forbidden, it was to be regarded as second-
ary to the proper work of the different parties.
THI HIGHEST POINT EVER REACHED.
DURING the two years that Greely remained at Fort Conger,
he busied himself with the duties which had been entrusted to
him, while the spirit of discovery possessed many of his compan-
ions, producing results of the most valuable character. The
prime objects of the expedition were at no time neglected, but so
admirably had the commander perfected his arrangements for
scientific operations, that opportunity was left him and his officers
to make a series of journeys, the happy results of which are
modestly told in a dispatch sent by Greely to Gen. Hazen from
St. John's, July 17, 1884 :
" For the first time in three centuries England yields the honor
of the furthest north. Lieut. Lockwood and Sergeant Brainerd,
May 13, reached Lockwood Island, lat. 83 24' N., long. 44 5'
W. They saw from 2000 feet elevation no land north, or north-
west, but to northeast Greenland, Cape Eobert Lincoln, lat. 83
35', long. 38., Lieut. Lockwood was turned back in 1883 by
open .water on North Greenland shore, the party barely escaping
drift into the Polar Ocean. Dr. Pavy, in 1882, followed Mark- x
ham's route, was adrift one day in the Polar Ocean north of
Cape Joseph Henry, and escaped to laud, abandoning nearly
sverything.
" In 1882 I made a spring and later summer trip into the in-
terior of Grinnell Land, discovering Lake Hazen, some sixty by
ten rnil<>6 in extent, which, fed by ice-caps of North Grinnell
588
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Land, drains Ruggles Eiver and Weyprecht Fiord into Cony-
beare Bay and Archer Fiord . From the summit of Mount Arthur,
5000 feet, the contour of land west of the Conger Mountains
convinced rne that Grinneli Land travels directly south from
Lieut. Aldrich's furthest in 1876.
"In 1883 Lieutenant- Lockwood and Sergeant Brainerd suc-
ceeded in crossing Grinneli Land, and ninety miles from Beatrix
Bay, the head of Archer Fiord, struck the head of a fiord from
the western sea, temporarily named by Lockwood the Greely
TH WORLD'S WONDERS. ' 589
Fiord. From the centre of the fiord, in lat. 80 30', long. 78
N 30', Lieut. Lockwood saw the northern shore termination, some
twenty miles west, the southern shore extending some fifty miles,
with Cape Lockwood some seventy miles distant apparently a
separate land from Grinnell Land. Have named the new land
Arthur Land. Lieut. Lockwood followed, going and returning,
on an ice cape averaging about one hundred and fifty feet perpen-
dicular face. It follows that the Grinnell Land interior is ice-
capped, with a belt of country some sixty miles wide between the
northern and southern ice-capes.
"In March, 1884, Sergeant Long, while hunting from the
northwest side of Mount Carey to Hayes Sound, saw on the
northern coast three capes westward of the furthest seen by
Nares in 1876. The sound extends some twenty miles further
west than is shown by the English chart, but is possibly shut in
by land which showed up across the western end.
" The two years' station duties, observations, all explorations,
and the retreat to Cape Sabine, were accomplished without loss
of life, disease, serious accident, or even severe frost-bites. No
scurvy was experienced at Conger, and but one death occurred
from it last winter."
A WONDERFUL SIGHT.
THIS dispatch merely outlines the discoveries made, the im-
portance of which can only be estimated when a fuller description
is given. The altitude attained by Lockwood and Brainerd is
four miles further north than any other explorer ever reached.
This remote point was the summit of Lockwood Island, which is
2000 feet above the sea, affording a wonderful and awe-inspiring
view. The awful panorama of the Arctic which their elevation
spread out before them, made a profound impression upon the
explorers. The exultation natural to the achievement which they
had accomplished was tempered by the reflections inspired by the
suhlime desolation of that stern and silent coast and the menace 1
of its unbroken solitude. Beyond to the eastward was the inter-
minable defience of the unexplored coast black, cold, and re-
pellant. Below them lay the Arctic Ocean, buried beneath frozen
590 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
chaos. No words can describe the confusion of this sea of ice
the hopeless asperity of it, the weariness of its torn and tortured
surface. Only at the remote horizon did distance nnd the fallen
snow mitigate its roughness and soften its outlines ; and beyond
it in the yet unattainable recesses of the great circle they looked
toward the Pole itself.
It was a wonderful sight, one never to be forgotten, and in
some degree a realization of the picture that astronomers conjure
to themselves when the moon is nearly full and they look down
into the great plain which is called the Ocean of Storms, and
watch the shadows of sterile and airless peaks follow a slow pro-
cession across its silver surface.
When further progress northward was barred by open water,
and the party almost miraculously escaped drifting into the Polar
Sea, Lieut. Lockwood erected, at the highest point of latitude
reached by civilized man, a pyramidal-shaped cache of stone, six
feet square at the base, and eight or nine feet high. In a little
chamber about a foot square, half-way to the apex, and extend-
ing to the centre of the pile, he placed a self-recording spirit
thermometer, a small tin cylinder containing records of the ex-
pedition, etc., and then sealed up the aperture with a closely
fitting stone. The cache was surmounted with a small American
flag made by Mrs. Greely. There were but thirteen stars in the
field, as Mrs. Greely, finding the work rather wearing, had con-
cluded to limit the stars to the number of the old Revolutionary
flag.
REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES.
THIS lofty reach of the world was attained on the 13th of May,
which hereafter will remain a memorable date, and the event will
find record in all future works on Arctic geography. Parry, in
1827, reached lat. 79; Kane, 80 30' in 1854 ; Hayes, 81 30' in
1861 ; Hall, 82 16' in 1871 ; and Nares, 83 20' in 1876. These
latitudes are given approximately. Lieut. Lockwood stopped at
lat. 83 24', but saw and computed 83 35', which most northern
land now known he called Cape Robert Lincoln. The journey to
and from this point occupied fifty-nine days. It would MTIII
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 591
from accounts of it that even at a temperature of minus sixty-
one degrees hares, lemmings, ptarmigan, snow-birds, snowy
owls, polar bears, musk-oxen, and even vegetation exist and
thrive. Grinnell Land was quite thoroughly explored. Lake
Hazen, of either 600 or 3700 square miles area (the dispatches
are contradictory), was discovered therein. It would be inter-
esting to know more of this fresh-water body and its inhabitants,
if any. Nordenskjold discovered that late in the summer, great
rivers, formed of melted ice, with icy beds and banks, make travel:
in the uorth impossible without small boats. Lake Hazen is de-
scribed as being fed by streams from the ice cap of northern
Grinnell Land, and emptying into Weyprecht Fiord. It was
discovered in April, when some open water was seen. Doubt-
less in August a much larger-sized lake, fed by innumerable large
and swift-flowing rivers, would have been found. This lake,
named after Genera Hazen, is the most northern fresh-water
body on the globe, one-fourth the size of Lake Erie. Lying
contiguously to it, and parallel with the United States Moun-
tains, were two ranges named after Senator Conger and the late
President Garfield. The highest land in the latter range, and
indeed of all the country north of Disco Bay, was named Arthur
Peak. It is 5000 feet in height.
On the shores of Lake Hazen the remains of an Esquimaux
village were found, apparently the most northern habitation at-
tempted by the Esquimaux. Here were evidences of possession
by this people of dogs, sledges, and iron. It would argue that
at no distant period there was a beautiful valley about the lake,
with an abundance of vegetation and game. That the rigors of
the most northern climate are slowly advancing south is evident,
in the gradual retreat of the Esquimaux. From this high lati-
tude they have been forced several degrees, and that for no lack
of game. Add to this the migration of Icelanders to Manitoba,
after becoming hereditarily inured to the climate through an 1
ancestry dating back a thousand years. Of late the ice-flow south
has. been increasing, until in 1884 it exceeded the combind
fields of any three years known. The bergs have augmented in.
592 TIIK WORM)' WONDERS.
size, and this year were described as of enormous size, mountain-
like, with valleys, rivers, and bays. The summers are growing
so cool in the United States that the great cities, instead of being
depopulated during alleged warm weather, are crowded,
It is revelant to note that in 1824 Scandinavian seal-men found
an open winter, the snow melting as it fell. Kane, in the winter
of 1851, recorded an average temperature of about minus 5.
The Polaris expedition during the winter of 1872-3 experienced
a temperature of minus 40. Dr. Hall asserts that the mercury
froze. Lieutenant Greely, ten years later, records a mean ther-
mometer of minus 41, with a maximum of minus 62 and a half
degrees the' lowest yet rioted.
Among the many interesting discoveries of the party were
some enormous glaciers. Many were found by Lieutenant
Greely in the vicinity of Lake Hazen, the largest of which was
named Henrietta Nesmith. This is the third prominent feature
of the arctics named after women. The others are Lady Frank-
lin Bay and Victoria and Albert Mountains. The largest glazier
discovered, and perhaps in existence, was found beyond Lake
Hazen, in Grinnell Land, toward the Polar Ocean, and was named
after Agassiz. It resembled the great wall of China, and was at
first so christened. It forms the southern ice cap of Grinnell
Land, and is separated from the northern ice cap by sixty miles.
Looking out on the Polar Sea, not far from this glacier, Lieuten-
ant Lockwood saw the northern termination of Grinnell Land,
which he named after Sergeant Brainerd, who followed him
persistently and faithfully during the long arctic night. To the
south the southern termination was seen, and called Cape Lock-
wood. Beyond was open water, and across that a new country,
which was named after President Arthur. Grinnell Land, so
thoroughly explored by the Greely party, may bo called the land
of glaciers. The Agassiz Glacier is now the most northern, and
those of the Grand Tetons, in Wyoming, the most southern,
known to North America. If these enormous ice mountains are
increasing in size and number, it would not be too much to
expect that the temperature of the entire continent is gradually
lowering.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 593
DISCIPLINE IN CAMP.
DURING their sojourn in the arctic regions, the Greely party
tfas subjected to a most salutary discipline. During the long
arctic night the explorers lived in a house within a house. They
breakfasted at eight, lunched lightly at eleven A. M. and nine P.
M., and dined at four. Observations were taken daily in
meteorology, astronomy, magnetism* sea temperatures, ice thick-
nesses, tidal motion, and velocity of sound at different tempera-
tures. Military discipline, one hour's exercise per day, and a
weekly bath were required of all. The living apartments were
kept clean. National holidays were observed with an extra din-
ner, and an interchange of presents on Christmas. Thus the
dread disease of scurvy, which wore out two ship's crews for
Nares, was prevented, and a fairly contented life enjoyed.
The men were allowed to grow full beard, except under the
mouth, where it was clipped short. They wore knitted mittens,
and over these heavy seal-skin mittens were drawn, connected by
a tanned seal-skin string that passed over the neck, to hold them
when the hands were slipped out. Large tanned-leather pockets
were fastened outside the jackets, and in very severe weather
jerseys were sometimes worn over the jackets for greater pro-
tection against the intense cold.
On the sledge journeys the dogs were harnessed in a fan-
shaped group to the traces, and were never run tandem. In
traveling, the men were accustomed to hold on to the back of
the sledge, never going in front of the team, and often took off
their heavy overcoats and threw them on the load.
The instructions issued by the government, by which Greely
was to be controlled in the possibility of his having to retreat
from Fort Conger, read as follows :
" In case no vessel reaches the permanent station in 1882, the
vessel sent in 1883 will remain in Smith's Sound until there is
danger of closing by ice, and on leaving will land all her sup-
plies and a party at Littleton Island, which party will be pre-
pared for a winter's stay, and will be instructed to send sledge
parties up the east side of Grinuell Laud to meet this party. If
594
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
not visited in 1882 Lieut. Greely will abandon his station not
later than September 1, 1883, and will retreat southward by
boat, following closely the east coast of Grinnell Laud until the
relieving vessel is met or Littleton Island is reached."
In accordance with these instructions, after spending two years
at Fort Conger, Greely abandoned the station, August 9, 1883,
and started, with his entire party, all of whom were iu excellent
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 595
health, for Cape Sabine, which they reached after a dreadful
journey of two month's duration.
On reaching Cape Sabine, Lieut. Garlington's record of the
loss of the Proteus (which will be described hereafter), was dis-
covered, and the poor fellows then learned that another winter,
on short allowance, was before them. For eight months, be-
tween October 21, when the camp was established, and June 22,
it seems Greely and his followers had only the scant allowance
of food brought with them from Fort Conger ; some supplies,
much damaged, cached in 1875 by Sir George Nares at two or
three points passed on the retreat ; a small amount saved from
the Proteus in 1882 (July 23), and landed by Lieuts. Garling-
ton and Colwell on the beach.
CHAPTER XXXI
THE RETURN FROM FORT CONGER.
THE march from Fort Conger to Cape Sabine was replete with
intense suffering and narrow escapes. Upon reaching Baird In-
let, on the 29th of September, Greely had to abandon his boats
at}d was adrift for thirty days on an ice-floe in Smith's Sound.
By rare good luck they were driven upon Cape Sabine on the 31st
of October, 1883. A permanent camp was established here, and
named Camp Clay, in honor of a nephew of the great statesman,
who accompanied the expedition to Disco Island, but returned on
the Proteus. They expected relief to reach them at this point,
according to the promises made in his instructions from the gov-
ernment. Littleton Island is just across the Sound from Camp
Clay, but owing to violent gales and ice, they were unable to
make a crossing.
INDESCRIBABLE SUFFERING.
ALL the provisions brought with them from Fort Conger were
fairly exhausted before the expedition reached Sabine (Jape, so
that when they went into camp, it was with the gloomiest pros-
59(3 THU WORLD'S WONDERS.
pects possible before them. An occasional auk was killed, but
very few were secured, as they usually fell in the water, where
they could not be recovered, all the boats being lost. Seals,
walrus, and ducks were plentiful and continually sporting in the
sea before them as if to tempt and aggravate their hunger, for
none of these could have been secured if* killed. Their deplor-
able situation was rapidly destroying the minds of the men,
weakened by the lack of food and strained by despair, and Greely
realized the increasing necessity of securing relief at all hazards
or giving up to fate. As a last resource, in which there was but
the least gleam of hope, on November 2d, he detailed Corporal
Joseph Elison and three others to attempt the recovery of the
beef cached by Capt. Nares at Cape Isabella in 1879, distant
thirty miles from camp. The weather at the time was terrible,
but the threatened starvation made it absolutely necessary to ob-
tain the food if possible. Sergeants Kice and Linn, and Privates
Fredericks and Elison started with a daily ration of four ounces
of meat, eight ounces of bread, a little tea and five ounces of al-
cohol for cooking purposes, with the temperature 35 below zero,
the wind strong, the snow soft and the ice hummocky. In four
days they had reached the cached meat and were on their return
journey on the morning of November 6. They had left -their
rations and sleeping-bags at Cape Isabella, where they had en-
camped on the ice, and started with only a cup of tea, intending
to subsist on the frozen meat and save the extra weight of sleep-
ing-bags, provisions, and cooking-gear. They also intended to
use the wooden barrels for fuel, and thus save their alcohol, and
return to the ice camp for dinner. On their return Elison suffered
with thirst and began to eat snow, against the orders and advice of
the others. His hands and mits became wet, and, as a northwest
gale was blowing, his hands were soon frozen. The snow had also
caused his mouth and tongue to blister and he rapidly became weak.
The men hurried into camp and then discovered that Elison had
also frozen his feet. They cut his boots off and put him into the
sleeping-bag, and restored the circulation in his hands and feet
by friction. After a terrible night they continued on their
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
597
598 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
journey with the temperature at 25 below zero. Elison was un-
able to help haul the load, which had been increased by their
sleeping bags and camp gear. His hands and feet were soon
frozen, and Fredericks was obliged to help him along. Eice and
Linn struggled manfully with the sled, but the whole party
was soon forced by exhaustion to go into camp. The men passed
another horrible night. They had no tent and their sleeping
bags were frozen so stiff that it required an hour's work to unroll
them. The men gradually worked themselves into their bags as
the heat of their bodies thawed them out. A strong wind, drift-
ing snow, and their exhaustion prevented them from restoring the
circulation in their frozen companion. Words cannot describe
the horrors of that night. When they broke camp they were
obliged to abandon the meat or their companion, and they chose
the former. Elison, noble fellow, begged them to leave him to
die and save their meat and his starving companions. They left
the meat cached on the ice and also a rifle as a mark, and pushed
ahead to Eskimo Point, where they could secure shelter in their
old camp. After reaching the camp they worked from 7 in the
evening until 3 in the morning, and partially restored the circu-
lation in Elison's hands and feet. They dried his clothes and
made him warm tea, the only warm food they had been able to
secure, the wind preventing them from lighting a fire. Early
the next day Elison was able to walk, and was sent ahead while
the others packed and hauled the sled. They soon overtook
him, he having strayed from the road. His hands and feet
were frozen and he was scarcely able to see. His cheeks and
nose were also frozen. The men took turns at leading and help-
ing him, while two hauled the sled. At last it required all three
'at the ropes, and they tied Elison's arms to the back of the sled
and hauled him in that way. His legs were stiff and he would
frequently fall and be dragged several yards before his cries
were heard. T^inn began to fail, and it was decided that Rice
should push ahead while Fredericks remained with Elison and
Linn. Rice, with a little frozen beef, started for assistance. The
other men remained in their sleeping bags twenty-four hours,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 599
when Sergeant Brainerd reached them and gave them some hot
tea and soup and started back to hurry up the relief party, which
arrived ten hours later. Lieutenant Lockwood and Dr. Pavy
hauled Elison into camp, Fredericks and Linn walking. Eli-
son's feet were frozen beyond cure and all his fingers and thumbs
were lost. Linn never fully recovered from the exposure. Kice
was unable to move for a day, and Fredericks was prostrated for
ELISON'S COMRADES ASSISTING HIM ON THE MARCH.
two days. Elison was carefully cared for and lived through the
whole winter, receiving the best of rations and more than the
others, and only died on July 8. His joy at his rescue and his
terrible suffering were more than his weakened constitution could
stand.
This calamitous failure to bring the meat from Isabella Camp
plunged the already despairing party into more wretched woe ;
their few stores, though portioned out in exceedingly small
600 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
quantities, grew less until they were at last reduced to a soup
made of boiled seal-skins, boots cut up fine and mixed with rein-
deer moss, rock lichens and small shrimps. They also made tea
from the saxifrage and arctic willow, but in all this unpalatable
and indigestible mixture there was very little nourishment, for
the shrimps, which contained most substance, were least in
quantity, as they were so small that it required more than 1000
to weigh a pound, and the men were too weak to catch them.
Famine stalked into the camp at length and began pointing its
bony finger at the victims. Still, discipline was fairly maintained
among the starving men. The rule of the camp was to allow no
man to sleep longer than two hours at a time, this precaution
being necessary to prevent torpor and death, the usual accompa-
niments of intense cold. The men were awakened only by rough
means and were then made to shake themselves, and beat and
stamp their feet to restore circulation, for it must be remembered
that no fuel was procurable, and that there was nothing but
alcohol left to cook with.
THE EXECUTION OF PRIVATE HENRY.
IN calamities such as had now overtaken the Greely party,
stern character and heroism must become conspicuous ; when
death sits in judgment, the accused, if faint-hearted, is sure to
quail, but there are others who will not cringe with obsequious
fear, even before the monster though he were a thousand times
blacker than Dante painted him. What better example of the
heroic can be found than in the character of Joseph Elison, beg-
ging his companions to leave him to die, that they might thereby
be enabled to reach their starving comrades with meat.
On the other hand, the conduct of Charles B. Henry, in steal-
ing rations from his fellow-sufferers, shows the weaker side of
human nature, at a time when only the more heroic qualities are
expected to manifest themselves. But let us remember that the
pangs of excessive hunger, which had disordered the brain and
enfeebled the frame, rendered these men scarcely responsible for
their acts, and in considering the resorts to which they were
forced at last, let it be with charity.
THE WOULD 'S WONDERS. 601
Starvation was setting its seal fast on the party ; to save him-
self, Private Henry forgot his duty to his suffering comrades, and
as early as November 1st he began stealing provisions from the
scanty store. At first he was not suspected, though there was a
suspicion that theft had been committed, and a threat was made
by the men to kill any one they might detect in such an act.
On January 24th the party was near perishing from asphyxia,
and several of its members were unconscious. Private Henry,
during this terrible experience, was seen by one of the Esquimaux
to steal some of the bacon from the stores. He soon afterward
was taken ill from overloading his stomach, and vomited up bacon
undigested. Investigation was had and Henry proved guilty, not
.only of this, but of several previous thefts. It was a terrible
state of affairs. Henry's indignant comrades demanded his
death. Over and over again he promised to reform, but this
did not still the clamor for his life. Lieut. Greely remonstrated
with the men, and all were quieted.
A LECTURE.
TAKING Henry in hand, Lieut. Greely represented to him the
immensity of his offense and pointed out to him the necessity for
concentrated action in the party if all would be saved. He
was then placed under guard for several weeks, until increasing
feebleness of the other members of the party rendered it neces-
sary for them to avail themselves of his personal services.
Shortly afterward he stole liquor from the stores and became in-
toxicated. Again his comrades clamored for his life, and again
Lieut. Greely restrained them. June 5th he again stole and car-
ried away some of the provisions. Lieut. Greely spoke firmly to
him, and told him it would be policy for him to stop. Said the
Lieutenant, *' For God's sake, Henry, as you seem to have no
moral sense, remember our lives depend upon our holding to-
gether !" With great earnestness Henry promised not to be
guilty of theft again. But Lieut. Greely felt he could not trust
him. After revolving in his mind their circumstances, he, on his
own responsibility, issued a written order, now in possession of
one of the survivors, commanding that Henry be shot on sight of
602 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
the commission of any more thefts of food. At this time the
party had left, as a last resort, only pieces of seal-skin and such
shrimps as they could procure. About June 6th, Henry went to
the old winter quarters at Camp Clay, near Cape Sabine, and
stole some of the last seal-skin, which was the only food left.
He also took the last pair of boots in store. Being closely ques-
tioned by Lieut. Greely, he admitted his guilt. He was again
ready with promises to do better.
THE SHOOTING.
His fate was upon him. He was, in the afternoon of that day,
a little distance at the rear of the summer quarters, alone by him-
self. The written order for his execution was committed to
three of the party. They were ordered to shoot him, encounter-
ing as little danger to themselves as possible, as Henry was the
(Strongest of the party. Sadly the men departed on their terrible
errand. Their comrades, left in the camp, turned their eyes to
the ocean. In a few minutes the breeze bore to their ears the
.sound of two pistol shots. All were silent. Slowly, after a
short interval, the men returned. The written order was handed
to Lieut. Greely, and the horrible, but necessary execution, was
over. Henry was never seen again alive.
The order for the execution was that afternoon read to
the survivors, and all concurred in the justice and necessity of
the act.
OFFICIAL REPORT OF HENRY'S EXECUTION.
UPON his return, Greely made the 'folio wing official report of
the execution :
PORTSMOUTH, N. H., August llth.
To the Adjutant- General of the United States Army, through
the Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army :
' SIR : I have the honor to report that on June 6, 1884, at
Camp Clay, near Cape Sabine, Grinnell Land, it became neces-
feary for me to order the military execution of Private Charles B.'
Henry, Fifth Cavalry, for continued thieving. The order was
given in writing, on my individual responsibility, being deemed
absolutely essential for the safety of the surviving members of
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 603
the expedition. Ten had already died of starvation, and two
more lay at the point of death. The facts inducing my action
were as follows :
Provisions had been stolen in November, 1883, and Henry's
complicity therein was more than suspected. March 24, 1884,
the party nearly perished from asphyxia ; while several men were
unconscious and efforts being made for their restoration, Private
Henry stole about two pounds of bacon from the mess stores.
He was not only seen by the Esquimau, Jans Edwards, but his
stomach being overloaded, he threw up undigested bacon. An
open investigation was held and every member of the party de-
clared him guilty of this and other thefts. A clamor for his life
was raised, but was repressed by me. I put him under surveil-
lance until our waning strength rendered his physical services in-
dispensable. Later, he was found one day intoxicated, having
stolen the liquor on hand for general issue. A second time his
life was demanded, but I again spared him. On June 5th, thefts
of provisions on his part having been reported to me, I had a
conversation with him, in which I appealed to his practical sense,
pointing out what was necessary to our preservation. He prom-
ised entire reformation, but, distrusting him, I issued a written
order that he should be shot if detected stealing.
On June 6th he not only stole part of the shrimps for our
breakfast, but visiting, unauthorized, our winter camp, stole cer-
tain seal-skins reserved for food. I then ordered him shot. On
his person was found a silver chronograph, abandoned by me at
Fort Conger and stolen by him. In his bag was found a large
quantity of sealskin boots stolen a few days before from the
hunter. Suspecting complicity on the part of several, I ordered
his execution by three of the most reliable men. After his'
death the order was read to the entire party and concurred in by
every member as being not only just, but essential to our safety.
To avoid public scandal I ordered that no man should speak of
this matter until an official report was made of the facts.
I have the honor to request that a court of inquiry be ordered,
or a court-martial convened, should the honorable Secretary of
604 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
War deem either advisable. In this case I have thought it
best not to ask for written statements of the surviving members
of the party for appendices to this report, lest I might seem to
be tampering with them. I have not asked, since our rescue,
June 22, whether their opinions concurring in my action have
changed or not, leaving such questions to your action, if deemed
requisite. I naturally regret that circumstances imposed such a
terrible responsibility upon me, but I am conscious I should have
failed in my duty to the rest of my party had I had not acted
promptly and summarily.
(Signed) A. W. GREELY.
DEATH BY STARVATION.
IT was a terrible thing to order the execution of a comrade
wko had borne with them the sufferings of an arctic winter with-
out food or shelter, but the party could not allow their sympa-
thies to affect justice at the expense of their own lives. The
death of Henry was an inexorable necessity.
Starvation and cold had destroyed several of the party before
Henry was executed, and after January 1, 1884, the death rate
was appalling. Seventeen of the original twenty-five persons
composing the expedition perished tof starvation, the names of
the dead recovered, with date of death, being as follows :
Sergeant Cross, January 1, 1884 ; Wedenck, an Esquimau,
April 5th ; Sergeant Linn, April 6th ; Lieutenant Lockwood,
April 9th; Sergeant Jewell, April 12th; Private Ellis, May
19th; Sergeant Ralston, May 23d; Private Whistler, May
24th ; Sergeant Israel, May 27th ; Private Henry, June 6th ;
and Private Schneider, June 18th. The names of the dead
buried in the ice-foot, with the date of death (bodies not
recovered), are as follows: Sergeant Rice, April 6, 1884;
Private Bender, June 6th ; Acting Assistant Surgeon Pavy, June
6th; and Sergeant Gardiner, June 12th.
Jens Edwards, one of Greely's faithful Esquimaux, while try-
ing to harpoon a seal, broke through some newly formed ice on
April 18th and was drowned. In the list of fatalities appears the
name of Lieutenant Lockwood, to whose energies and ambitious
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 605
daring the United States owes the honor of having its standard
planted nearer the North Pole than that of any other nation.
How we should have rejoiced at his return and with gladness
given him the welcome of a hero!
DEATH OF SERGEANT EICE.
THE death of Sergeant Rice, photographer of the Greely expe-
dition, which occurred April 6th, was even more tragic than that
of Sergeant Elison. The detail of men sent to Cape Isabella to
bring supplies from the cache there, were forced to abandon their
loaded sledge on the return, as previously related. Pen cannot
picture the disappointment felt by those in the miserable camp
when they saw 1 the party return without food and dragging the
almost lifeless body of Elison instead. They gave a true report
of their misfortunes, of having been compelled to abandon the
meat brought from Cape Isabella, about fifteen miles from camp,
in order to save their companion from certain death. Starvation
was now so near at hand that Sergeants Rice and Fredericks vol-
unteered to bring the meat, which involved a journey of thirty
miles through deep snow and a temperature of 40 to 60 below
zero.
It was, at best, with them a struggle for life, so the two heroes
set out for the deserted meat, weakened by the insufficient food
which they had so long been compelled to subsist upon, but
strong in heart and purpose. They took with them a sledge, rifle
and hatchet, and provisions for a five daj^s' journey, which al-
lowance would force them to march at least six miles a day, a
thing extremely difficult to do under the circumstances.
For three days the two brave fellows traveled, but without be-
ing able to find the meat, as it was, no doubt, now covered with
snow. Enfeebled by scanty diet, and exhausted, by excessive
cold and exposure, Sergeant Rice was seized with a blood-flux,
which so rapidly sapped his little remaining strength, that he
speedily succumbed and died in his companion's arms.
The horror of this moment to Sergeant Fredericks is beyond
description ; alone in that awful field of sheeted desolation, with
death clinging to his very bosom. The spirit of mercy seemed
606 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
never to have cast eyes even upon that horrible wilderness -of
woeful destitution, and all nature had apparently shunned the
bleak expanse. .Yet here was one of God's no"blest creatures,
battling the fiercest tide of misery, with death Only for companion-
DEATH OF SERGEANT RICE.
ship and lost ! Poor Fredericks camped out alone that night,
and stayed beside his dead comrade until he could dig a grave in
the frozen earth with his hatchet, in which he interred with rev-
erent respect the remains of a brave man, a noble friend, and a
generous brother.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. . 607
The profound grief felt at the loss of his comrade, nerved
Fredericks to greater effort, by suppressing hunger and cold,
under his acute sufferings of heart. The little store of provis-
ions, from which only one mouth was now to be fed, was drawn
from more generously, and supplied strength and renewed hope,
so that after three more days of wandering over the frozen plains,
Fredericks at length found the camp again. His return without
food plunged the party into despair, for the star of hope ap-
peared now to set forever.
RESORT TO CANNIBALISM.
No one is able to decide what desperate resources should be
availed of in dire extremity. There are recorded in the pages of
history, such extraordinary experiences in efforts to stay the
ravages of starvation, that though we may recoil with disgust at
such loathsome practices, we are none the better prepared to
declare that under similar circumstances we should have been
more circumspect or bumane. The eating of snakes, bugs,
worms, and reptiles of every species, has frequently occurred, all
shocking enough to our well-fed senses, but these must be for-
gotten in the recollection of well authenticated ^ases which we
have of cannibalism.
An English officer, during a successful campaign in the East,
many years ago, expressed a wish for a well cooked boar's
head. On the following day his table was graced with what
was represented to him as a native dish of the food that he
desired > prepared with especial care by one of the most noted
cooks of India. The officer ate with unusual relish, not neglect-
ing to bestow most extravagant praise on the manner of cooking,
and begged that the recipe for preparing boar's head might be
given him. The reader may imagine his horror when the
Englishman afterward received incontestible proof that he had
dined off a slave's head, who had been killed for the purpose,
instead of a boar, no such animal being known in that country.
It is therefore the loathsome thought, rather than any disgust
in taste, which makes the very heart sick in contemplating a
repast on human flesh. Who can say that this disgust is not
608 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
banished by overpowering hunger, like mirages of crystal waters
rise before the vision of those suffering from thirst?
Is it really a matter for wonder that the Greely party, cast
away and lost among the ice crags and pitiless snows of a per-
petual wilderness ; freezing, starving, dying, with minds dis-
torted by acute suffering, where all nature howled a requiem of
despair, and desolation swept round their tattered tents like a
ghoul hunting for victims ; is it wonderful that, under such
desperate circumstances, the surviving members of the Greely
party should relieve their famine on the pulseless bodies of those
lying under the snow? Self-preservation being in truth the first
law of nature, every one must answer, "No."
The sense of shame civilization's most enduring mark did
not abandon these brave men even in the last hour of their
dreadful trial, for as hunger drove them to break their fast upon
their dead comrades, they waited until the still watches of night
and crept in half bent attitudes to where the bodies lay ; then,
scraping back nature's winding sheet, they began the butchery.
From arms, legs and bodies the pale flesh was stripped with keen
blades and devoured only as starving men can devour ; but that,
for grace, God was asked to look down with pity and forgive-
ness, we cannot doubt. Let us draw a veil of charity over this
sad and wretched scene.
CHAPTER XXXHI.
EFFORTS TO RELIEVE THE EXPLORERS.
DURING all the years that Greely was carrying out instructions
and battling, for honor and life, he was not forgotten by our
Government or people. In 1882 a relief expedition was fitted
out, according to promise, and despatched for Littleton Island in
the steamer Neptune. The relief party left St. Johns with a
large quantity of supplies, July 8th, but on the 29th following
found an impassable barrier of ice extending from Cape Sabine
THE WORLD'S WONDEfcS. 609
to Cape Inglesfield, and after wa'ting until September 5th for an
opening in the pack, (never being able to penetrate it further
than lat. 79 20'), returned to St. John's, warned by the form-
ation of new ice, which was five inches thick, that the attempt to
reach the colony must be deferred until another season. The
winter quarters of Dr. Kane were r early a degree further south
than this. The Release and Arctic, ;n 1855, had their progress
arrested in 78 and 32'. Dr. Hayes' sr'p was frozen in a degree
and a half south of the Neptune 's furthest. The Pandora, in
1876, could scarcely more than enter Smith's Sound, although
the Alert and Discovery came down from Lady Franklin Bay the
same year. Capt. Hall, in 1873, with the Polaris; Sir George
Nares, in 1875, with the Alert and Discovery; and Lieut. Greely,
in 1881, with the Proteus, have gone beyond this barrier.
The Neptune left a few stores cached at Beebe, which is near
the point selected on Littleton Island, and then hastened back to
St. John's to escape the ice which was rapidly moving down.
One year later, June 28, 1883, another relief expedition, con-
sisting of the steamer Proteus and whaler Yantic, sailed, com-
manded by Lieutenants Gartington and Con well, for Fort Conger,
hoping to reach that far north and distribute supplies from that
point at the several caches southward to Cape Sabine.
This expedition met with swift disaster, for, a few miles above
Gape Sabine, the Proteus was caught in the ice and crushed like
an egg-shell. The crew barely escaped with their lives onto the
ice, and were picked up by the Yantic, which returned with them
to St. John's, thus marking a conspicuous failure.
The loss of the Proteus brought to light a most serious blun-
der. The landing of her stores at Littleton Island, or Cape
Sabine, at the mouth of Smith Sound, before the ship herself
encountered the perils of a heavy pack north of Cape Sabine, was
of the utmost importance. Prudent Arctic navigators, under
similar circumstances, have always endeavored to secure the
safety of their food supply by getting the bulk of it on solid land
as soon as possible after reaching their base of operations, and
before running the extreme risk which is necessarily involved in.
39
610
THE WORLD'S WOVTERS.
an attempt to penetrate any part of the great Polar pack. The
experienced Arctic navigator, Leigh Smith, on his last voyage to
Franz Josef Land, took the precaution to put a largo part of his
provisions ashore at the very earliest possible moment, so as not
to be entirely at the mercy of the ice. The wisdom of this course
was demonstrated only a few days later by the crushing and
sinking of his ship. If the bulk of the Proteus' stores and the
ready-made house which she had on board had been landed in
SINKING OF CAPT. LEIGH SMITH'S SHIP.
this way on Littleton Island or on Capo Sabine as soon as the
ship reached either of these points, it would not have been neces-
sary for Lieut. Garlinglon to seek safety at Upernavik, 800 miles
away, and the lives of Lieut. Greely's party would not have been
sacrificed after their arrival where they had a right to expect to
find food and shelter.
It has been frequently asserted that Commander Garlington
did not have the thorough confidence of his crew, in consequence
of which there were serious dissensions on shipboard, amounting
THE WORLDS WONDERS. 611
\
to almost a mutiny. The orders issued from Washington appear
to have been also misunderstood, so that there could have been
no other result than failure anticipated.
THE THIRD RELIEF EXPEDITION.
THE ill results of the Neptune and Proteus expeditions did not
wholly stifle public interest in the relief of Greely, though it did
give rise to a pretty general impression that any further attempts
would be an unjustifiable waste of public money. It may be
safely asserted that not one person in a thousand believed Greely
or any of his men had survived the winter of 188384, since it
was known, from the instructions given him before sailing, that
he must be traveling toward Cape Sabine destitute of provisions,
and therefore must have perished. Nevertheless, the few who
still believed or hoped that the party might yet be relieved, had
sufficient influence to induce the Government to make another
effort to reach the explorers.
Congress made an ample appropriation for the purpose, and
the preparations for a third relief expedition were made with the
utmost care. The English Government, which had taken very
great interest in Greely, made an unconditional tender to the
United States of the good steamer Alert, to assist in the search,
a gift that evidenced the warm sympathy felt in England
for the lost explorers. This steamer was the advance ship of Sir
George Nares' expedition in 1875, and was specially fitted for
voyaging amid ice-floes and ice-bergs. The United States pur-
chased two other vessels, the Thetis and Sear, both of which,
however, were much smaller than the Alert, but were strongly
built and well suited for such service as they were now to be used
for. These ships were brought to America and specially fitted
for their voyage, being strengthened by every appliance and
means known to modern engineering, while the comfort of the
crews was equally provided for.
The command of the expedition was given to Commander W.
S. Schley, who was placed in immediate charge of the Thetis*
while Lieut. Emory was given command of the Bear, and Com-
mander Coffin assigned to the Alert. Enlistment of volunteers
612 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
/
for the voyage was then begun, and the list of 140 men, all told,
was completed by the middle of April, 1884. No other expedi-
tion was ever so well equipped for an Arctic voyage as this one,
and great expectations were aroused in consequence. Previous
to starting, Commander Schley issued the following order to
Lieut. Emory :
" Should you receive any information before my arrival that
Lieut. Greely's party, or any of them, have come as far South
as Littleton Island, you are to seek the earliest occasion to reach
them. This fact you will report to me in a communication to be
left at Disco or Upernavik, or both places. Should you not hear
at Disco or Upernavik of Greely or his party having reached
Littleton Island, you may proceed beyond Upernavik, but you
will not, under any circumstances, advance into Smith Soand
until one of the other vessels of the Greely relief expedition
shall arrive at Littleton Island."
DISCOVERY OF THE GREELY PARTY.
THE Bear sailed from New York April 24th, the Tlietis fol-
lowed May 1st, while the Alert, being a steamer, and thus able to
overtake the sailing vessels before they should reach Disco, de-
ferred her departure until May 10th.
The ships made a favorable voyage, meeting with many obsta-
cles, but none that seriously impeded their progress. On the
18th of June the Bear and the Thetis, in company with several
whalers, passed into clear water off Cape York, and being now
in a region where they might hope to find traces of the Greely
party, colors were hoisted to attract attention. On Sunday, the
22d, both ships arrived at Cape Sabine and made fast to the ice,
and parties were landed to scour the hills for records.
THE RESCUE.
THE Bear's steam launch whistled at frequent intervals, hoping
thereby to attract the attention of either the Greely party or
Esquimaux, should there be any in the neighborhood. It hap-
pened that the welcome sound fell upon the ears of Sergeants
Brainerd and Long as they lay in their torn and tattered tent,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 613
only able to stir out by joint assistance. When Long got clear
of the entanglement of the tent, which had been swept to the
ground, he rose to his feet with great difficulty, and succeeded in
clambering up to a rock that gave the most extensive view in that
neighborhood. Brainerd went back to the tent, but Long re-
mained, looking out searchingly in every direction for some
strange object. At length he saw the unwonted sight of a large
black object about a mile distant, which at first looked like a
rock, but he knew there was no rock in that line. Suddenly the
advancing steam launch changed its course, and Long recognized
the approach of the rescuers. He came down from the rock,
went toward the camp, raised the flag-pole and flag, which had
been blown down during a gale, and held it for about two minutes,
until his strength gave out, and it was blown once more to the
ground.
The look-out from the steam launch had spied Long, and under
:i full head of steam drove through bursting billows with all pos-
sible speed toward the nearest point for landing, while Long tot-
tered in the direction of the little vessel, falling at every few
paces from sheer weakness, but rising again under the stimulating
influence of hope, until at length, within nearly half a mile of
the place where the tug had landed, he fell into the arms of Cap-
tain Ash, who was the first of the relief party to reach him.
Brainerd was too weak to follow, and had to remain by the tent,
where he prayed that the hope which had suddenly sprung into
being might not prove the delusive dream of a chaotic mind.
Capt. Ash pushed on quickly to ward 'the tent, with Commander
Schley and five men, upon reaching which a sight met their gaze
which beggars description.
Camp Clay, into which Lieutenant Greely and his entire party
moved on November 1, 1883, was situated about five miles west
of Cape Sabine, in a little cove, about the same distance from
Cocked Hat Island. This site was selected because it was near
the scattered provisions that they found there, and because there
were plenty of small rocks near by with which to build the house,
the party being too weak to transport tbein from any distance.
514 THE WORLD s WONDERS.
There was also a small lake, which supplied them with watei up
to the middle of February.
In May the party moved into the tent, at the place where they
were found, on a slight elevation overlooking the former camp,
and about two hundred and fifty yards to the eastward of it.
This change was made owing to the summer thaw setting in and
washing out their winter quarters.
The scene about the entire camp was one of the most wretched
imaginable. Quantities of debris, old clothes, cans, camp uten-
sils everything but fuel and food covered the ground. Valu-
able chronometers, barometers, and other meteorological instru-
ments were strewn about, showing the disregard that the poor
fellows had come to have at the last for anything but life. The
tent was an army wall-tent, nine by nine feet, and was pitched
with its opening to the north-east.
The first words that gave signs of life to the rescuing party
were those of Greely, who said, in a feeble voice, " Cut the tent."
The front and western sides had blown down, and the poles were
lying across three of the party, who were stretched out in their
sleeping-bags, entirely too weak to lift the burden off. They
had been in this condition sixty-two hours. Forty-eight hours
more was the most that any of the party thought they could have
survived under the circumstances.
The winter house was twenty-five by seventeen feet, with walls
of small rocks, about six inches in thickness, piled to a height of
three feet. Over the centre was laid the Neptune's whale-boat,
forming a ridge-pole, and canvas was stretched across this for a
roof. Blocks of snow were banked on the outside to keep out
the wind. The door was on the south side, and was abjout two-
and-a-half by three feet, with a covered tunnel of the same size
running out about twenty-five feet. There were no windows,
and their only source of light during the dark, dreary winter
nights was an Esquimau blubber-lamp. At the best it was a
wretched hovel.
TILE WOULD* S WONDERS. 615
OFFICIAL REPORT OF, THE DISCOVERT.
THE report of Commander Winfield Scott Schley, of the ex-
^edition under his command for the relief of the Greely party,
'vas submitted to the Secretary of the Navy October 21, 1884.
It cites the orders under which the expedition was organized, and
then enters upon a graphic narrative of the events of the voyage.
Early in the evening of June 7, the ships Thetis and Bear
reached Duck Islands, which locality Commander Schley terms
" a desired outpost for advance into the more peril! ous dangers
of Melville Bay." Violent gales, snow storms and dense fogs
now prevailed, delaying further progress until the morning of
June 11, when, open water having been observed through rifts
in the fog to the northwest, the lines were cast off and the
voyage was resumed.
The usual perils of Arctic navigation were experienced upon
the northward journey from this point. Constant and anxious
watch was kept for opportunities to make headway. Mile by mile
a way was forced around obstructions and through dangerous
and tortuous leads until, on the morning of June 18, the neigh-
borhood of Cape York was reached. Here communication was
opened with the natives, but no tidings of Greely's party could
be obtained.
Littleton Island was reached on June 21, up to which time
nothing had been heard of the objects of the search. The pas-
sage across to Payer Harbor was made on the afternoon of the
22d, during a heavy gale, and the vessels were moored to the
ice-foot with ice-anchors. Parties were started at once to visit
the cairns and caches at this point, in order that no opportunity
should be lost to push northward if no tidings of Greely were, to,
be found. Soon cheers were heard above the, roaring winds by.
those on shipboard, but could not be located accurately. In a
few minutes, seaman Yewell made his appearance, almost out of
breath, and reported that Greely and his party were at Cape Sa-
bine. He brought and delivered to Commander Schley records
found by Lieut. Taunt in a cairn on Brevoort Island. The
records had been chieily prepared by Lieut. Greely in person and
616 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
were found to bear dates of eight and nine months previous.
The latest paper, written Sunday, October 21, 1883, was as
follows :
"My party is now permanently in camp on the west side of a
small neck of land which connects the wreck cache cove, and
the one to its west, distant about equally from Cape Sabine and
Cocked Hat Island. All well."
Shortly after Ye well's arrival, Ensign Harlow signalled from
Stalknecht Island : "Send five men. I have found all Greely's
records, instruments, etc."
Lieut. Colwell was now instructed to proceed to the wreck
camp cache, and if any of the party were alive, to inform them
that their relief was at hand. Commander Schley followed in
the Hear, leaving the Thetis with instructions to pick up the re-
maining searching parties, and then follow the Bear.
As the steam cutter reached the wreck camp cache, Lieut.
Colwell and Ice-Masters Ash and Norman discovered Sergeant
Long reclining on the rocks. Taking him into the cutter, and
(earning from him the location of the camp, they went to it and
Announced to Lieut. Greely the coming of relief. Ice-Master
Norman returned to the steam cutter from the camp and took
Long off at once to the Sear. Long was too weak to get on
board himself, and was carried up the side by the crew and placed
on a chair in the saloon. Full particulars having been learned
from him in a few moments, Commander Schley, with Lieut.
Emory, Ensign Reynolds, Dr. Ames and several of the crew of
the Hear, went ashore and reached Greely's camp about nine, p.
M. Lieut. Colwell now reported that he found the tent, covering
the party, blown down on them and that he had partially raised
it with the assistance of Ash and Norman, and, had given the
survivors some milk and beef extract. Signal was made to the
Thetis to send more officers and men with Ensign Harlow and
the photographic instruments ; also to send clothing, blankets,
and stretchers. To this signal, Chief Engineer Melville, Dr.
Green, Lieutenants Taunt and Lemly, and Ensign Harlow, of the
and Jjieut. Usher, of the .Bear, responded. Thesp officers
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 617
were assigned various duties in connection with the removal of
the living and the dead, their effects, etc. The doctors were left
to administer stimulants to Lieut. Greely, Sergeant Elison, Ser-
geant Braiuerd, Hospital-Steward Bierderbick, Sergeant Fred-
ericks and Private Connell, who were found alive in this wretched
tent.
All the survivors, except Long, were found in the tent, but
Brainerd, Bierderbick and Fredericks subsequently emerged and
insisted that they were strong enough to walk to the boat. It
required but a short time to demonstrate their mistake, and they
with the others were carried upon stretchers.
By eleven, P. M., the survivors were so far strengthened by
stimulants, that all were removed to the ships bieut. Greely,
Sergeant Brainerd, Hospital-Steward Bierderbick and Private
Connell to the Thetis ; Sergeants Fredericks and Elison to the
Bear. The gale which had blown all day increased to a hurri-
cane during the night. Work with boats, therefore, was both
difficult and dangerous. With much difficulty the ships were
kept head to the wind. The frequent squalls often drove them
off, broadside to, and while in such position, without sail, their
rails would be driven almost into the water. Although the shore
was distant, at times, hardly one hundred feet, the boats would
nearly swamp in traversing that short distance.
The work of exhuming the bodies of the dead for transporta-
tion to the United States was carried on under the orders of
Lieut. Emory, and so energetically and promptly performed that
the ships were able to start for Payer Harbor at four o'clock on
the morning of June 23
Commander Schley describes as follows the impressive scene
inside Greely 's tent :
" Lieutenant Greely was found in his sleeping bag, his body
inclined forward and head resting upon his left hand. The Book
of Common Prayer was open and held in his right hand. He
appeared to be reading prayers to Private Connell, whose condi-
tion was most desperate and critical. He was cold to the waist;
all sepsation of hunger gone.; was speechless and almost breath-
618 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
less ; his eyes were fixed and glassy. Indeed, his weakness was
such that.it was with difficulty he swallowed the stimulants given
him by Drs. Green and Ames ; his jaws had dropped, his heart
was barely pulsating, aud his body temperature very low.
" This tender scene of a helpless, almost famished officer con-
soling a dying companion, was in itself one that brought tears to
the eyes of the strongest and stoutest of those who stood about
them on the merciful errand of relief.
" Sergeants Brainerd and Fredericks and Hospital Steward
Bierderbick were extremely weak and hardly able to stand ; the}>
were no longer able to venture away from their camp to seek
food, nor to prepare the simple diet of boiled sealskin, nor to
collect lichens, nor to catch shrimps, upon which they had to de-
pend to a great extent to sustain life. Their faces, hands and
limbs were swollen to such an extent that they could not be recog-
nized. This indicated that the entire party had but a short lease
of life probably not more than forty-eight hours at most. This
fact was recognized by them all, and had come to them from
their experience during that long and desolate winter in watching
their dying companions, as one after another passed away from
among them forever.
" Poor Sergeant Elison was found in his sleeping bag, where
he had lain helpless and hopeless for months, with hands and
feet frozen off. Strapped to one of the stumps was found a
spoon, which some companion had secured there to enable him to
feed himself. His physical condition otherwise appeared to be
the best of any of the survivors, and this may be attributed to
the fact that each of his companions had doled out to him from
their small allowance of food something to help him, on account
of his complete helplessness to add anything to his own by hunt-
ing about the rocks for lichens or shrimps. He suffered no waste
of strength by exertion incident thereto. This care of Elison
was such as only brave and generous men, suffering with each
other under the most desperate circumstances, could think of.
" Sergeant Long was very much reduced, though in somewhat
better condition than . soiue. of . tUe others. I}is office .ojf .hunter.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 619
for the starving party had made it necessary to increase slightly
his pittance of food to maintain his strength, that he might con-
tinue the battle for food and life to the helpless. In his case,
however, the effect of this continued effort had told its story in
his wasted form. Shorter and shorter journeys were made in
good weather, while in the frequent bad weather of that region
his strength was so much impaired that when the joyful signii
whistle was heard he had only enough left to stagger out to the
rocks overlooking the water to see if the signal had proceeded
from ships in sight. His first visit was a bitter disappoint-
ment, as he saw nothing. A second visit, fifteen minutes later,
brought him within fifty yards of the Bear's steam-cutter and in
view of the relief ships coming around Cape Sabine. When the
steam-cutter ran into the beach where Long was seen he rolled
down the ice-covered cliff and was taken into the cutter. He
informed Lieutenant Col well that the location of the camp was
just over the cliff.
" In the case of Sergeant Elison the medical officers were fear-
ful from the first that his chances of life were very small. As
soon as proper food was available and the digestive functions
should be re-established fully, the healthful round of blood cir-
culation would begin its distribution of new life to the injured
parts, and inflammation would naturally occur. If Elison's
strength should increase more rapidly than the inflammation, am-
putation of the injured parts would perhaps save his life. Sev-
eral days after his rescue, June 28, Dr. Green reported that
Elison was threatened with congestion of the brain. The symp-
toms increased rapidly until the poor fellow lost his reason. At
Godhaven his condition was so critical that the surgeon of the
expedition, after consultation, determined to amputate both feet
above the ankle as the only chance of life left the sufferer. Dis-
ease, however, triumphed, and amid the bleak scenes that had)
surrounded him for three years in his heroic sacrifice, and within?
the desolate solitude of that region of everlasting ice and snow,
surrounded by his son-owing comrades, he passed away about
three A. M. of July 7, three days after the anputation.
620 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
" Lieutenant Greely was physically the weakest, but mentally
the most vigorous of his party. He had lain in his sleeping bag
for weeks on account of his gradually failing strength. He was
unable to stand alone for any length of time, and was almost
helpless except in a sitting posture ; all pangs of hunger had
ceased ; his appearance was wild ; his hair was long and unkempt ;
his face and hands were covered with sooty black dirt ; his body
was scantily covered with worn out clothes ; his form was wasted,
his joints were swollen, and his eyes were sunken.
** His first inquiry was if they were not Englishmen, but when
he was told that we were his own countrymen, he paused for a
moment as if reflecting, then said, ' And I am glad to see you.'
"The condition of his camp was in keeping with the scene
inside the tent, desperate and desolate ; the bleak barrenness of
the spot, over which the wild Arctic bird would not fly ; the row
of graves on a little ridge, one hundred feet away, with the pro-
truding heads and feet of those lately buried, a sad but silent
witness to the daily increasing weakness of the little band of sur-
vivors ; the deserted winter quarters in the hollow below, with
its broken wall invaded by the water from the melting snow and
ice above it ; the dead bodies of two companions stretched on the
ice foot that remained ; the wretched apology for cooking uten-
sils improvised by them in their sore distress, hardly deserving the
name ; the scattered and worn out clothes and sleeping bags of
the dead ; the absence of all food save a few cupfuls of boiled
sealskin scraps; the wild and weird scene of snow, ice and
glaciers overlooking and overhanging this desolate camp, com-
pleted a picture as startling as it was impressive. I hope nevei
again in my life to look upon such wretchedness and such desti-
tution. The picture was more startling and more deeply pathetic
than I had ever dreamed could be possible. In beholding it I
stood for a moment almost unmanned, and then realized that if
the expedition had demonstrated any one thing more than
another it was that an hour had its value to at least one of that
party. Stouter hearts than mine felt full of sorrow. Eyes that
had not wept for years were moistened with tears in t^e solemnity
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. t>21
of that precious hoar in the lives of that heroic little band of
sufferers, until this moment so hopeless and helpless.'*
PREPARING THE DEAD FOR TRANSPORTATION.
A PORTION of the report is devoted to a detailed description of
the exhuming of the dead and the preparation of the bodies for
transportation. In reference to the condition of the bodies
Commander Schley says :
"In preparing the bodies of the dead for transportation in
alcohol to St. Johns, it was found that six of them Lieutenant
Kislingbury, Sergeants Jewell and Kalston, Privates Whistler,
Henry and Ellis had been cut, and the fleshy parts removed to
a greater or less extent. All other bodies were found intact.
Wheto the bodies of the dead were exposed in preparing them
the identification was found to be complete. Some of them could
be recognized by aid of a picture taken with us from home ;
others, whose features had decayed, were identified by other
characteristics. I am therefore satisfied that no mistake was
made in this important matter, which so impressed us from the
beginning."
Maurice Connell was so exhausted by starvation that when
found he was delirious and remained wholly unconscious for
several days after his rescue. When aroused by the rescuers
he wildly exclaimed, " For God's sake let me die in peace." A
transfer of the survivors to the Thetis and Sear, which lay off
shore about 300 yards, was attended with great difficulty.
There was a terrific gale blowing from the southwest. A heavy
sea was running and a formidable ice nip was apparently inevi-
table. Lieut. Greely and the other six survivors had to be
transferred from their camp to a steam launch and whaleboat in
their sleeping bags, end while steaming from land to the ships
the destruction of the whole party at one time seemed certain.
The sea swept furiously over them. At length they were safely
placed on board the rescuing squadron, where every possible
preparation had been made to insure their recovery.
622 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE DEAD.
AFTER removing the survivors, the rescuing party turned their
attention to recovering the dead bodies, which lay under the
snow and ice, some in marked and others in unmarked graves.
Twelve of the victims were dug out of their ice-beds and carried
to the Tlietis, where they were dressed in becoming winding
sheets, preparatory to bringing them back to the green hills of
their birth for honored burial.
The Alert had become separated from her companion vessels
in a gale, and was not, therefore, present at the recovery, but the
three were again united, on the return journey, off Wilcox Head.
Upon arriving at Upernavik, July 2d, Commander Schley dis-
patched the Alert and her tender, the Loch Garry ^ to Godhs^en,
while the Bear and TJietis remained, the former to coal and the
latter to shift her broken rudder. At Godhaven the Alert re-
paired some of hot broken machinery, and buried one of the Es-
quimaux who had accompanied Greely. The vessels started south
together on the 10th of July, but on the 15th, when off the coast
of New Foundland, the steel barrier which bound the Alert and
Loch Garry together, parted three times in a gale, and the
former had to finally be cast adrift.
July 17th the Bear and TJietis dropped anchor off St. John's
at 9, A. M., and Commander Schley immediately telegraphed
Secretary Chandler the results of his successful search as here
given, and also the following further particulars of his voyage :
" The channel between Cape Sabine and Littleton Island did
not close, on account of violent gales, all winter, so that 240
rations at the latter point could not be reached. All of Greely's
records and all the instruments brought by him from 'Fort Con-
ger are recovered and are on board. From Hare Island to'
Smith's Sound I had a constant and furious struggle with ice in
impassable floes. The solid barriers were overcome by watch-
fulness and patience. No opportunity to advance a mile escaped
me, and for several hundred miles the ships were forced to ram
their way from lead to lead, through ice varying in thicknes?
from three to six feet, and when rafted, much greater
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 623
The Thetis and the Bear reached Cape York June 18th, after
a passage of twenty-one days in Melville Bay, with two advance
ships of a Dundee whaling fleet, and continued to Cape Sabine.
Returning seven days later, we fell in with seven others of this
fleet off Wostenholme Island, and announced Greely's rescue to
them, that they might not be delayed from their fishing grounds
nor be tempted into the dangerous Smith's Sound in view of the
reward of $25,000 offered by Congress. Returning across Mel-
ville Bay we fell in with the Alert and Loch Garry off Devil's
Thumb, struggling through the ice. Commander Coffin did ad-
mirably to get along so far with the transport so early in the
season before the opening had occurred. Lieut. Emory, with the
Bear, has supported me throughout with great skillfulness and
unflinching readiness in accomplishing the great duty of relieving
Lieut. Greely. The Greely party are very much improved since
the rescue, but were critical in the extreme when found and for
several days after. Forty-eight hours' delay in reaching them
would have been fatal to all now living. The season north is
late and the coolest for years. Smith's Sound was not open
when I left Cape Sabine. The winter about Melville Bay was
the most severe for twenty years. This great result is entirely
due to the unwearied energy of yourself and the Secretary of
War in fitting out this expedition for the work it has the honor
of accomplishing.
" W. S. SCHLEY, Commander."
TERRIBLE SUFFERING.
ON the 17th of July Lieutenant Greely sent another dispatch
to G*n. Hazen, in which he says : " Learning by scouting parties
of the Proteus disaster, and that no provisions had been left for
us from Cape Isabella to Sabine, moved and established winter
quarters at Camp Clay, half-way between Sabine and Cocked
Hat. An inventory showed that by daily ration of four-and-a-
half ounces of meat, seven ounces of bread and dog biscuit?,
and four ounces miscellaneous, the party would have ten days*
full rations left for crossing Smith Sound to Littleton Island.
Unfortunately, Smith Sound remained open the entire winter.
f)f4 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
rendering crossing impracticable. Game failed, despite daily
hunting from early February. Before the sun returned only five
hundred pounds of meat had been obtained. This year minute
shrimps, sea-weed, sassafras, rock lichens, and seal-skins were
resorted to for food, with results as shown by the number of
survivors. The last regular food was issued May 14. Only 150
pounds of meat left by Garlingtou compelled me to send in No-
vember four men to obtain 144 pounds of meat at Isabella.
During the trip Elison froze solid both hands and feet, and lost
them all, surviving, however, through our terrible winter and
spring until July 8. The survivors owe their lives to the indom-
itable energy of Capt. Schley and Lieut. Emory, who, preceded
by three and accompanied by five whalers, forced their vessels
from Upernavik through Melville Bay into North Water at Cape
York, with the foremost whaler. They gained a yard whenever
possible, and always held it. Smith Sound was crossed and the
party rescued during one of the most violent gales I have ever
known. Boats were handled only at imminent risk of swamping.
Four of us were then unable to walk, and could not have sur-
vived exceeding twenty-four hours. Every care waS given us.
I saved and bring back copies of meteorological, tidal, astronom-
ical, magnetic, pendulum, and other observations; also pendu-
lum, Yale, and standard thermometers ; forty-eight photographic
negatives, a collection of blanks and photographic proofs. Es-
quimaux relics and other things were necessarily abandoned. The
Thetis remains here five days probably.
(Signed) "GREELY, Commanding."
The following dispatch was sent in reply to the above :
SIGNAL SERVICE, July 17.
Lieut. A. If. Greely, St. Johns:
Our hearts are overflowing with gladness and thanks to God
for your safety, und in sadness .for those who without fault of
yours are dead. Your family are well and in San Diego. Your
dispatches are most satisfactory, and show your expedition to
have been in the highest degree successful in every particular.
This fact is not affected by the disaster later.
W. B. HAZEN.
THE WORLD'S WOOERS. 6*26
HOW THE BODIES WERE PREPARED.
EX the dead bodies were brought on board the TJietis, they
were all, at first, laid out in the forecastle, and a screen was
placed in front of them, to prevent a close examination being
made by the sailors. They were left in this position for twenty-
four hours, when half of them were transferred to the Beat
after dark. Under ordinary circumstances the disagreeable task
of packing away the bodies would have been considered unfit for
officers and left to the seamen, but on 'this occasion, in order
to obtain greater secrecy, commissioned officers were specially
detailed for this duty. On the Thetis they were Surgeon Green,
Ensign Harlow, and Chief Engineer Melville, and on the Bear,
Dr. Ames and Lieut. Cross. They cut off all the clothing and
sewed the corpses up in sheets. Then the limbs and bodies were
tightly enveloped in muslin bandages, which were also sewn up,
and the heads and faces were all concealed in like manner. The
only article of clothing which was not removed was a woollen
skull-cap worn by each. They left that on because they were
afraid to remove it. After being thus prepared, the bodies were
placed in iron tanks and covered with alcohol. The bodies were
removed from the tanks and placed in the iron caskets by officers
also, and no others saw them. Thus prepared, they were brought
to St. Johns, and there Capt. Schley ordered iron caskets to be
made for their reception. He therefore sent the following tele-
gram :
" ST. JOHNS, July 18. To Hon. Wm. Chandler, Secretary of
the Navy : Iron caskets for the dead will be delivered July 25.
As soon as remains are transferred to them I will sail for New
York, advising you when ready. A week's rest for officers and
men, after the incessant labor and perils of the past sixty days,
is most grateful to them. Your telegram and that of the Acting
Secretary, Admiral Nichols, gave us great satisfaction. Please
accept our thanks for them. In respect to the memory of the
dead on board, flags of the ships will fly at half-mast during my
stay.
( Signed ) " W. S. SCHLEY, Commander.'*
40
626 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The news of the rescue was cabled to England on the day the
squadron put into St. Johns, and produced a very great sensation
among all classes of people. A meeting of the London Balloon
Society was called on the same evening to take action upon Capt.
Schley's brave work, and reported the following resolutions :
"Resolved, That in the accomplishment of the work of the
relief of Lieut. Greely and the survivors of his noble party a
boon has been conferred on mankind.
"Resolved, That this society congratulates Lieut. Greely and
his noble comrades upon their magnificent achievement in the
Arctic seas, in having proceeded further north than all other
Arctic explorers.
" Resolved , That this society hereby order a gold medal com-
memorating this event specially struck, and presented to Lieut.
Greely.
"JResolved, That Lieut. Greely be hereby elected a life mem-
ber of this society."
The resolutions were seconded and carried unanimously, amid
the greatest furore ever witnessed in any of the meetings of the
Balloon Society.
Immediately after the above action Capt. Pfounds proposed
and Sir William Wheelhouse seconded the following resolution :
"Resolved, That this society cable to the President of the
United States the following message: To Chester A. Arthur,
President of the United States of America, Washington, D. C. :
The Balloon Society of Great Britain tenders through you to the
people of the United States and to Lieut. Greely and the other
gallant American citizens who participated in this noble task, its
congratulations upon the accomplishment of the work of cach-
ing an unequaled Northern latitude.' '
Following this action the Royal Geographical Society called a
meeting on the 19th, and adopted similar congratulatory and
laudatory resolutions.
MEETING BETWEEN GREELY AND HIS WIFE.
ON August 1st the Greely relief squadron reached Portsmouth
Harbor, bearing the dead and survivors of the expedition, and
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 627
was met by the North Atlantic Squadron of United States men-of-
war, with Secretary Chandler on board the flag-ship Tennessee.
What a scene, as the noble, weather-beaten ships, moving as if
instinct with life, and bearing home the six living and the twelve
dead heroes, steamed slowly around old Fort Constitution and
dropped anchor in the harbor. The grim men-of-war, drawn up
to greet them, displayed all their bunting; their decks were
alive with officers in gold lace ; their yards were manned by
gallant tp-rs who cheered right lustily, and their guns roared deep-
mouthed welcome, while, the- strains of the familiar old melody,
" Home Again," played by the band of the Tennessee, brought
tears to many eyes. And then what greetings, what embraces,
what fervent " God bless ytm's," and what deep, undemonstra-
tive joy 1 Secretary Chandler gathered the commanding officers
of the relief squadron around him in the cabin of the flag-ship,
while Commander Schley arranged for the long-looked for meet-
ing of Lieutenant Greely and his wife. It was a dramatic scene
of pathos and joy. Mrs. Greely had but just arrived in Ports-
mouth, and had been at once taken on board the Thetis, where
her husband was. Lieutenajit Greely had not been informed that
his wife was about to come on board, and a few moments before
her arrival, in conversation with Commander Schley, the hero
said lie did not expect to see her, as she probably had not been
able to reach there so soon. When the Secretary's barge was
seen to leave the Tennessee, with Mrs. Greely and her two
brothers, Messrs. G. O. and C. A. Nesmith, sitting in the stern
sheets, Commander Schley said to Lieutenant Greely : " Lieuten-
ant, I would like to see you in my own cabin for a few moments."
This wns to engage Lieutenant Greely 's attention until a peculiar
signal given on the boatswain's whistle indicated that Mrs.
Greely was on board. With trembling steps she descended to
the cabin-door, and just at the instant she entered Commander
Schley left the room, leaving the long separated couple alone.
Lieutenant Greely was sitting with his back to the door, but
when Commander Schley so abruptly left him, he turned, and at
the same instant saw his wife enter. There was one wild excla-
628 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
mation of joy, smothered by a frantic embrace, and what fol-
lowed none know but those two. Later in the afternoon the
mother of Lieut. Greely arrived from Newburyport, and there was
another affecting meeting. Mr. and Mrs. Greelyand the latter' s
brothers were seated in Commander Schley's cabin, alternately
crying, laughing and embracing. Old Mrs. Greely suddenly
entered and threw her arms around her son's neck, saying only,
"My son! my son!" Lieutenent Greely spoke no word save
" Mother I" Fearing the excitement would be too much for his
shattered constitution, Commander Schley entered the cabin and
directed the conversation into less emotional channels.
The great land demonstration in honor of the return of the sur-
vivors took place in Portsmouth on Monday, the 4th. Com-
mander Schley, Lieut. Emory, and Commander Coffin, with the
crews of the Thetis, the Bear and the Alert, a body of naval
cadets and apprentices, a battalion of marines, and the naval
brigade of the North Atlantic Squadron, formed a superb pro-
cession which was reviewed by the survivors from the balcony of
the Rockingham House. As the crews of the relief squadron
passed, Lieut. Greely bowed very, low and seemed to look his
gratitude to the men who had so recently rescued him from an
Arctic grave. The scene was affecting, and much emotion
seemed to pervade the entire throng. In a carriage following
those of the officers of the relief squadron, rode Secretary Chand-
ler, General Hazen, Commodore Wells and Acting Admiral Luce.
These gentlemen received a tribute of applause. The marching
of the long procession was very fine, and the manoeuvres of the
battalion of marines from the squadron was brilliant.
In the evening an enthusiastic meeting of the citizens, at which
a large number of distinguished persons were present, was held
at the Music Hall. The official welcome of the City of Ports-
mouth was extended to the surviving members of the Lady
Franklin Bay expedition, who were not, however, allowed by
their physicians to attend the gathering. Secretary Chandler
reviewed the history of the expedition and the rescue, and paid
a glownig and well -deserved tribute to the noble work of Com-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 629
manders Schley and Coffin and Lieutenant Emory. A letter of
grateful and heartfelt acknowledgment from Lieutenant Greely
was read, and other speeches were made by Mr. S. J. Randall,
Senator Hale, Commanders Schley and Coffin, Lieut. Emory and
General Butler.
The Thetis, the. Bear, and the Alert arrived in New York on
"*- -*'- brought from Cape Sabine to be re-
friends. On the following day they
mposing ceremonies from the Thetis and
;ter A. Arthur, and thence conveyed to
UNPLEASANT FACTS.
S3JJS
\za-H
*?\r te d % tne Government troops and then sent
veral places of their residences for burial,
ere no suspicions of any disloyal act hav-
any member of the expedition, nor had
irculated any story save that of heroism
re many days had elapsed after the fu-
completed, some member of the relief
squadron intimated that Private Henry had not died of starva-
tion, as first reported, but that he had been officially executed.
This was at first denied, but afterward admitted in a report made
by Lieut. Greely, already quoted. This news produced consid-
erable excitement, though no one spoke condemnatory of Greely,
beyond expressing an opinion that he should have stated the facts
at once in his general report to Secretary Chandler. But the
little surprise thus created was quickly overshadowed by a rumor
that the Greely party had been guilty of cannibalism. This cre-
ated a profound sensation, notwithstanding an emphatic denial
made by Lieutenant Greely himself. It was then remembered
that he had opposed any removal of the dead bodies from their
original burial-places, by saying: " Often in talking over what
seemed to be inevitably our fate, the men all expressed the wish
to be buried on the verge of the great Polar Sea, by whose
shores they had met their death. Out of deference to the solemn
wishes of the dead I spoke against disinterring the bodies, and
628 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
mation of joy, smothered by a frantic embrace, and what fol-
lowed none know but those two. Later in the afternoon the
mother of Lieut. Greely arrived from Newburyport, and there was
another affecting meeting. Mr. and Mrs. Greelyand the latter' s
brothers were seated in Commander Schley's cabin, alternately
crying, laughing and embracing. Old Mrs
entered and threw her arms around her
" My son I my son !" Lieutenent Grey\
** Mother!" Fearing the excitement woi\ .,
shattered constitution, Commander SchleM ^ 2
directed the conversation into less emotion? 1 ^. | >;
The great land demonstration in honor q
vivors took place in Portsmouth on
mander Schley, Lieut. Emory, and Come
crews of the Thetis, the Bear and the, . -c^r
cadets and apprentices, a battalion of ri \ ^ -|?/t,| 7,
brigade of the North Atlantic Squadroi]
cession which was reviewed by thesurvivt \ * '?*'* ~z ''
J *-. \ ""
the Rockingham House. As the crews <7T~Tl\ '-^ ~~~zi
passed, Lieut. Greely bowed very, low and seemed to look his
gratitude to the men who had so recently rescued him from an
Arctic grave. The scene was affecting, and much emotion
seemed to pervade the entire throng. In a carriage following
those of the officers of the relief squadron, rode Secretary Chand-
ler, General Hazen, Commodore Wells and Acting Admiral Luce.
These gentlemen received a tribute of applause. The marching
of the long procession was very fine, and the manoeuvres of the
battalion of marines from the squadron was brilliant.
In the evening an enthusiastic meeting of the citizens, at which
a large number of distinguished persons were present, was held
at the Music Hall. The official welcome of the City of Ports-
mouth was extended to the surviving members of the Lady
Franklin Bay expedition, who were not, however, allowed by
their physicians to attend the gathering. Secretary Chandler
reviewed the history of the expedition and the rescue, and paid
a glowing and well -deserved tribute to the noble work of Com-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 629
manders Schley and Coffin and Lieutenant Emory. A letter of
grateful and heartfelt acknowledgment from Lieutenant Greely
was read, and other speeches were made by Mr. S. J. Randall,
Senator Hale, Commanders Schley and Coffin, Lieut. Emory and
General Butler.
The Thetis, the Bear, and the Alert arrived in New York on
the 7th, bearing the bodies brought from Cape Sabine to be re-
claimed by the relatives and friends. On the following day they
were transferred with imposing ceremonies from the Thetis and
Bear to the barge Chester A. Arthur, and thence conveyed to
Governor's Island.
UNPLEASANT FACTS.
THE bodies were saluted by the Government troops and then sent
to their friends in the several places of their reoidences for burial.
Up to this time there were no suspicions of any disloyal act hav-
ing been committed by any member of the expedition, nor had
the breath of rumor circulated any story save that of heroism
and endurance. But ere many days had elapsed after the fu-
neral ceremonies were completed, some member of the relief
squadron intimated that Private Henry had not died of starva-
tion, as first reported, but that he had been officially executed.
This was at first denied, but afterward admitted in a report made
by Lieut. Greely, already quoted. This news produced consid-
erable excitement, though no one spoke condemnatory of Greely,
beyond expressing an opinion that he should have stated the facts
at once in his general report to Secretary Chandler. But the
little surprise thus created was quickly overshadowed by a rumor
that the Greely party had been guilty of cannibalism. This cre-
ated a profound sensation, notwithstanding an emphatic denial
made by Lieutenant Greely himself. It was then remembered
that he had opposed any removal of the dead bodies from their
original burial-places, by saying: " Often in talking over what
seemed to be inevitably our fate, the men all expressed the wish
to be buried on the verge of the great Polar Sea, by whose
shores they had met their death. Out of deference to the solemn
wishes of the dead I spoke against disinterring the bodies, and
630 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.^
for no other reason. Had I died I should have wished \\ grave
in the North."
He said again, Why did we not allow poor Elison to die, if
we were so far past the line between humans and savages? Why
did we share our food with him to the last?" These were manly
words, and were, no doubt, sincere, for cannibalism may have
been practiced without his knowledge ; but, still the report grew
apace, until it was definitely stated that Lieutenant Kislingbury's
body had been partially devoured after his death. So specific
were these statements, that the three brothers of the deceased,
John F., Frank W. and William H. Kislingbury, decided to have
the body exhumed from its resting place in Mount Hope Ceme-
tery, Rochester, N. Y., and an investigation made. Doctors
Charles Buckley and Frederick A. Maudeville were engaged to
make the examination. Accordingly the body was exposed on
August 13th, and after performing the duties for which they
were engaged, the two doctors made a sworn statement declar-
ing that the flesh had been stripped from the limbs and the larger
part of the body, reducing it almost to a skeleton of bare bones,
weighing only about fifty pounds.
This statement set at rest all doubts of the dreadful resorts to
which at least some of Greely'smen had been driven, and reports
began to increase until several other bodies were exhumed, some
of Which bore unmistakable marks of the knife, while others did
not. There is also the best of evidence that the body of Private
Henry was eaten, for his headless remains were found a mile
from Greely's camp, and some of his bones were bare and scat-
tered, but no official investigation was held to determine the full
extent to which cannibalism was carried. Quite enough became
known, however, through investigation, to shock the moral sense
of those who cannot be brought to a proper consideration of what
starvation might force men to do.
* WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
IN the light of subsequent events we feel justified in saying
that had the relief expedition succeeded in reaching Fort Conger,
or in making caches of supplies where they could be found along
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 631
the line of retreat, the whole party might have returned alive,
with the story of the most successful Arctic expedition that ever
spent three winters in the " Land of Desolation." The arrange-
ments for the comfort and security of the men left nothing to be
desired, and Lieutenant Greely's management was in the highest
degree judicious. There was no sickness in the party. The men
were kept in good health and spirits by active employment, and
such amusements as were possible under the circumstances.
Lieutenant Greely and Dr. Pavy occasionally gave the men lec-
tures on various subjects, and each man was allowed to celebrate
his birthday by choosing the dinner, of which all partook. No
jealousies or dissensions marred the harmony of the little band.
The discipline was of necessity rigid, but kind. A sense of fra-
ternity and common dependence ruled the spirits of all. Even
the failure to receive supplies and news from home does not ap-
pear to have made the men despondent. It is impossible to read
of their quiet heroism, their manly self-control, without admira-
tion for the noble qualities they displayed, and profound sorrow
that so few of them have survived to share in the plaudits of
the world.
The unstable character of Henry is the only blot that stains
the brilliant crew that sailed with Greely, which, however, is
almost wiped out by the marvelously heroic Elison, who offered
his own life freely that his comrades might live. But they were
all heroes, save the one weak brother, and their bright example
is a wealth of glory for all America. Disaster and death did not.
rob them of the grand success which they attained, nor does any
fact connected with *their desolate camp in the frozen region of
Sabine diminish the glorious honors which they earned. The
Greely Expedition must stand as the most successful ever made
to the Arctic regions up to the year 1884.
632 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
WONDERS OF THE ARCTIC WORLD.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
MYSTERY, FABLE AND MARVELLOUS FACTS.
THE wonders of Nature are distributed throughout all space,
except that there is no space, for all conceivable distances in the
apparent void are inhabited by atoms of life ; airy motes, yet
living, and performing the duties of their several spheres accord-
ing to creation's laws. So, in the hyperborean regions of per-
petual ice, where freezing cold repels every effort at exploration,
there, also, animal life teems, though with less diversification
than in tropical climates.
The mystery which surrounds the impenetrable region of the
North Pole is embalmed in numerous stories and wild theories,
in which goblins, ghouls, and ice-sprites figure conspicuously.
There sits a siren, wrapped in a mantle of snow, decorated with
glittering icicles and her hair sparkling with frost spangles,
crooning a lay which the north wind sings so monotonously in
winter. Her voice is husky, but her eyes are bright as Venus
shining over a waste of sleet on a cold, clear night. The light
of her eye attracts explorers, who follow as it recedes, until
drawn within the magnetic circle of her power, she sends a shiver
of death through them, and they become spirits of her frost
realm. There is also a phantom ship, manned by a phantom
crew. Her rigging hangs thick with jagged ice, and the shrouds
are clothed with snow. The silent men are muffled in overcoats
white with frost, while their hair and beards are hoary, but not
with age. This phantom vessel appears in the offing to Arctic
travelers, and is the sure precursor of fatal calamity. These and
other wild stories are told of the mysterious North to deter ad-
THE MYSTERIOUS NORTH REGION.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 633
venturers from seeking to penetrate the forbidden fields of nature.
Of the theories respecting the North Pole the most singularly
interesting is that advanced by John Cleves Symmes, an Ameri'
can, who, in a wonderfully plausible manner, argued that the
earth is hollow, open at the poles, and capable of being inhabited
within. He both lectured and wrote extensively on this theory,
but though his arguments were well conceived, and not without
a measure of consistency, yet some of his claims appeared so
absurd that he made few converts. His theory of concentric
spheres, however, was pretty well received by many scientists,
which had the effect of preserving his name among the list of
noted men.
It will be remembered by readers of the Greely Expedition,
that Lockwood and Brainerd, upon reaching the greatest altitude
ever attained by man, found a current setting in so strong to-
ward the north that they were compelled to turn back, to avoid
being caught in the drift and carried irresistibly away into the
unknown, although their nearest approach to the North Pole was
four hundred miles. This is an important fact, explainable only
upon two hypotheses, viz : that there is a current which sweeps
constantly toward and around the pole, where a warmer climate
exists ; or that a fissure or verge in the earth attracts the waters to
that spot, as Symmes maintained. The former, it must be con-
fessed, is altogether the more reasonable, and must, therefore, be
popularly accepted. There is another almost equally important
fact, however, which tends materially to confuse all theories
respecting the North Pole, except that of Symmes, which is, that,
after reaching 80 North, there is a gradual increase of tempera-
ture and a corresponding increase of animal life. Symmes' theory
is that this warmth is the result of the electrical force of the inner
earth expending its effect on the atmosphere adjacent to the pole.
This theory, though, is combatted by the discovery that the cold
toward the North Pole is not nearly so intense as that which sur-
rounds the South Pole, and the yet further and still more import-
ant fact, that the lowest temperature is not found at either pole,
but in the neighborhood of Yakoutsk, Siberia. We are there-
634 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
fore lost in an inextricable confusion of conflicting facts, which
must be left to future discoveries, or forever remain an unan-
swered problem, a mystery of mysterious nature.
Scientists, whose most ambitious flights of speculation can
hardly go back of the withered age of time, assert, by a process
of analogous reasoning, that climatic change is due to glacial
formation ; that the earth shifts about on its axis to maintain its
equilibrium, which is destroyed through a gradual process of ice
formations at its poles. As a result of this shifting movement,
one portion of the earth is submerged as the other rises, the
change being so gradual, however, as to be perceptible only after
ages of observation and comparison. There are evidences that
at one time nearly all of North America was under water, at
which period South America must have been of much greater
extent than it is now, and must also have had a very different
temperature. Then, as North America gradually rose, by reason
of heavy glaciers collecting at the South Pole, South America
was slowly being submerged, thus reversing their climates and
undergoing the most radical changes, which are partially ex-
plained by geologic and fossiliferous formations and remains
found on mountain tops and in deep valleys. The remarkable
ruins of temples found in Greenland indicate most conclusively
that that country must have had a comparatively mild climate at
one time, favorable to agriculture and a high state of civilization,
while now it is a desolate waste from the intense cold which pre-
vails. Further proofs of a reversal of climate, from warm to
cold, in the Arctic region, seems to be found in the extinct animal
life of Northern Siberia, unless it can be accounted for on the
Symmes' theory. This is now the coldest district of the earth,
but along the rigorous coast are numerous remains of the mam-
moth, elephant, rhinoceros, and other equatorial beasts. The
change of temperature seems to have been so sudden that they
were overwhelmed before being able to retreat to a warmer cli-
mate, unless their remains were drifted there by currents in the
Arctic Ocean from a warm country near the pole, as claimed by
Capt. Symmes and his supporters. The mammoth may possibly
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 635
i
have existed in a cold region, for it was clothed with a heavy
coat of long hair, but, on the other hand, being an herbaceous
animal, or, certainly a vegetable feeder, it could hardly have sus-
tained life in a cold region, no more than the elephant and rhi-
noceros, which we know do not exist beyond the tropics. These
wonders only increase the appetite for exploration, since in them
we discover what very pigmies we are in knowledge, and how
little are the wonders of nature comprehended in our short grasp
of intellect.
HISTORY OF THE SYMMES THEORY OF THE EARTH ; OR, A WORLD
WITHIN A WORLD.
OWING to the interest in this subject, revived by the recent
discoveries of the Greely expedition, we present here a history
of the Symmes theory.
Capt. John Cleves Symmes, author of the startling theory of
concentric spheres, was born in New Jersey about 1780, and died
at Hamilton, Ohio, in 1829. He received a good common Eng-
lish education, which he afterward greatly improved by reading
books of travels and explorations. In 1802 he entered the United
States Army as ensign, and served until after the close of the
war with Great Britain in 1812, being promoted in the meanwhile,
for gallantry and good conduct, to the office of captain. Some
time after the close of the war he resigned his commission and
retired to private life, devoting most of his time until his death
to the study of his pet theory. According to this theory the
earth is globular, hollow, and open at the poles. The diameter
of the northern opening is about two thousand miles, or four
thousand miles from outside to outside. The south opening is
somewhat larger. The planes of these openings are parallel to
each other, but form an angle of 12 with the equator, so that
the highest part of the north plane is directly opposite the lowest
part of the south plane. The shell of the earth is about one
thousand miles thick, and the edges of the shell at the openings
are called verges, and measure, from the regular concavity within
to the regular convexity without, about fifteen hundred miles.
The explorers who furnish facts for the support of this theory
636 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
seem, none of them, to have had the remotest conjecture of it.
The facts are admitted, and it cannot be urged against its author
that he has marshalled in its support fictitious premises. His
arguments, drawn from the facts, may be erroneous. Yet it is
true that many of them which have not as yet been otherwise
satisfactorily explained are easily accounted. for upon his theory.
Modern explorers have added much to our knowledge of the
Arctic regions which corroborates the arguments of Captain
Symmes. The most of them have found an open sea. They
tell of immense flocks of birds and migrating animals going
north in winter. They speak of warm currents of air and water
coming from the north.
Spitzbergen, on the south side of the verge, is a bleak, barren
country, while, to the northward, plants, flowers, and trees are
found. This island is upon or partly within the verge, and the
north part would lie within and be warmer than the southern por-
tion of the island.
Driftwood is found in great quantities upon the northern coasts
of Iceland, Norway, Spitzbergen, and the Arctic borders of Si-
beria, having every appearance of a tropical production. Trees
of large dimensions and of different kinds are found, some in a
good state of preservation. Vegetables of singular character,
and flowers of peculiar fragrance and color, unknown to botan-
ists, are sometimes found in this drift. These could not be the
production of the cold Arctic regions, nor is it probable they
were drifted thither by the Gulf Stream or by submarine cur-
rents, for their specific gravity would make this impossible.
Besides, they are not found along the southern coasts of these
localities, as they would be if borne north by the Gulf Stream
along through the Atlantic.
Eminent modern scientists, Darwin among others, declare that
the climate of the Polar regions, as far as explored, is the same
now that it alwaj^s has been, yet the farther north we penetrate
in greater abundance are found vestiges of elephants, tortoises,
crocodiles, and other beasts and reptiles of a tropical climate.
These are found in greatest abundance along the banks of rivers
THE WORLD 8 WONDEKS.
637
flowing from the north, seeming to prove that there is, some-
where beyond the frozen belt not yet penetrated by man, a warm
country, with climate and productions similar to those of the
tropics. Along the borders of Siberia the remains of tropical
animals are so commonly found as to constitute a considerable
source of commerce. In Asiatic Russia there is not a single
stream or river on the banks or in the bed of which are not found)
bones of elephants, or other animals equally strange to that cli-
DISCOVERY OF THE FROZEN ELEPHANT.
mate. In 1799 a fisherman of Tongoose, named Schumachoff.
discovered a tremendous elephant perfect as when, a thousand
years before, death had arrested its breath encased in a huge block
of ice, clear as crystal. This man, like his neighbors, was accus-
tomed, at the end of the fishing season, to employ his time in
hunting for elephant tusks along the banks of the Lena River,
for the sake of the bounty offered by the government ; arid while
so employed, in the ardor of his pursuit, he passed several miles
beyond his companions, when suddenly there appeared before his
638 THE WORLDS WONDERS.
wondering eyes the miraculous sight above alluded to. But this,
man was ignorant and superstitious, and instead of hastening to
announce his wonderful discovery for the benefit of science, he
stupidly gazed upon it in wonder and awe, not daring to approach
it. For five' successive seasons from the time when he first dis-
covered it, did Schumachoff make stealthy journeys to his crys-
tallized monster, never finding courage sufficient to approach it
closely, but simply standing at a distance, once more to feast his
eyes on the wonder, and to carry away in his thick head enough
of terror to guarantee him nightmare for a whole month of
nights. At last he found the imprisoned carcase stranded on a
convenient sand-bank, and boldly attacking it, broke the glitter-
ing casing, and rougly despoiling the great beast of its splendid
tusks, hurried home and sold them for fifty roubles, leaving the
well-preserved bulk of elephant meat, a thousand years old, yet
juicy and without taint, to be devoured by wolves and bears, or
hacked to bits by the natives as food for their dogs.
The most common objection to the Symmes theory is, that, if
it were true, the sun could not possibly light and warm the interior
of the world. But the sun's rays, passing over the dense, cold
air of the verges, would be refracted many degrees, probably not
less than ten or fifteen, and would thus produce abundant light
and heat throughout the whole interior. In fact, eminent scien-
tists declare that the refracted light and heat of the sun's rays
would probably be so intense that the interior would be uninhab-
itable except around the vicinity of the verges.
Another popular objection is, that the law of gravitation would
be overturned. How, says the objector, could bodies be attracted
alike to both the outer and inner surfaces of the earth ? But this
objection may be explained. All we know of gravitation is, that
a body let fall above the surface of the earth is drawn toward the
centre ; but whether the cause exists there or above the surface,
we know not. It would be difficult to prove, also, that bodies in
the interior, as well as upon the exterior, surface, when let fall,
would not tend to the surface in each case. The matter of the
earth, like a great magnet, may attract to itself all bodies coming
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 639
within its influence, as well upon the concave, as upon the con-
vex, surface.
Whether there is any truth in the Symmes theory or not,
enough has come to light since its promulgation to prove that
its author was correct in his views of a warmer climate and an
open sea near the Pole ; and the mysterious current, flowing to-
ward the north, which almost carried Lieut. Lockwood and Ser-
geant Brainerd away from the known regions of the earth, at the
most northern point ever reached by man, may be the stream
that will carry some future bold explorer into the summer lands
of the earth's interior. Who can say that this may not be so?
Time, the great revealer of secrets, will alone determine
whether this startling theory is true, in whole or in part, and
whether its author was a visionary enthusiast, or a profound
philosopher whose name will be honored among men, like that of
Franklin or Newton, as a benefactor of his race, and an honor
to the country which gave him birth
ESQUIMAU DOGS.
ARCTIC travel would be impossible without Esquimau dogs.
Reindeer may be used as far north as 70, possibly further, but
they cannot stand travel nearly as well as dogs, and are more
difficult to manage. The true Esquimau dog is neither domes-
tic nor savage, but a hybrid in character, with little or none of
the characteristics of our faithful animals so fond of man. They
do not appreciate kindness nor attempt any familiarities with
their masters, but rather repel any effort made to fondle
them. The sledges used in traveling at the far North, are light,
though strongly made, about eight feet long by three wide, ca-
pable of supporting a load of a thousand pounds. The runners
are usually iced by pouring water on them, which is allowed to
freeze. This is done preparatory to starting on a journey, and
should this ice become detached from any cause, or worn off by
passing over stones, a stop is made at once to ice the runners
again. Each dog is expected to draw seventy-five poimds of
weight, though in extreme cases they could pull twice that amount,
but it is best not to overload them. They are hitched to the
640
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
sledge by means of a single trace attached to a breast-strap, but
instead of becoming entangled in running, a dozen dogs to a single
sledgo will spread out in fan-shape and thus keep their traces
from fouling. The outside worker thinks his place is harder
than any other, so, after pulling in that position for a time, as
he considers it his duty to do, the outside dog will slack up and
skillfully run under several traces and reappear near the centre
of the group, without having created the least confusion.
Every pack of dogs has a boss, or king, usually the largest and
LIEUT. SCHWATKA'S SLEDGE TRAVELLING OVERLAND.
fiercest among them, who takes upon himself the duty of regu-
lating the conduct of all his comrades. This ruler is never lazy,
and sees to it that, while- traveling, none of his subjects shirk
their work. He keeps his eyes about him, and whenever he dis-
covers a dog slacking his trace too much, the king jumps on him
and administers such a sound thrashing, that it is rarely neces-
sary to repeat it. Around the camp, too, this dog-king exacts
obedience and will not permit an unnecessary amount of fighting.
When there is more than one pack of dogs in camp, each keeps
strictly to itself, for if one dog ventures to visit another pack, he
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 641
is at once set upon and whipped or killed, unless his own com-
panions rush to his assistance, in which case a dreadful fight takes
place, that hardly terminates before many dogs are fairly cut to
pieces, for it is quite impossible to separate them even though
clubs be used with cruel effect.
A pack of ten dogs will draw a load of 1000 pounds ninety
miles a day and show little signs of fatigue. Before starting on
a long journey, they are kept without food for three or four
days, until they are ravenously hungry and extremely gaunt, and
while traveling they are fed sparingly on frozen meat which is
bolted without chewing. When in flesh o'r his hunger is satisfied,
the Esquimaux dog is very lazy and becomes easily fatigued,
though more sociable. It is astonishing the amount and char-
acter of food they will eat when voraciously hungry. In one
respect they are like an ostrich, being ready to swallow anything
that may be thrown to them. Dr. Kane, while fast bound in the
ice near Cape Grinnell, makes the following entry in his journal
respecting the voracity of his dogs :
" More bother with these wretched dogs ; worse than a street
of Constantinople emptied upon our decks ; the unruly, thieving,
wild-beast pack ! Not a bear's paw, or an Esquimau cranium, or
basket of mosses, or any specimen whatever, can leave your hands
for a moment without their making a rush at it, and, after a
yelping scramble, swallowing it at a gulp. I have seen them at-
tempt a whole feather-bed ; and here, this very morning, one of
my Karsuk brutes has eaten up two entire birds'-nests which I
had just before gathered from the rocks ; feathers, filth, pebbles,
and moss a peckful at the least. When we reach a floe, or
berg, or temporary harbor, they start out in a body, neither voice
nor lash restraining them, and scamper off like a drove of hogs
in an Illinois oak-opening."
Though active under the excitement of hunger, Esquimaux
dogs are not driven merely by words, but must be industriously
stimulated with a whip, in the handling of which a novice would
punish himself more than the dogs. Kane describes it as fol-
lows :
41
642
THE WORLD'S WONDKUS.
" The whip is six yards long, and the handle but sixteen
inches, a short lever, of course, to throw out such a, length of
seal-hide. Learn to do it, however, with a masterly sweep, or
else make up your mind to forego driving sledge ; for the dogs
are guided solely by the lash, and you must be able not only to
hit any particular dog out of a team of twelve, but to accompany
the feat also with a resounding crack. After this, you find that
to get your lash back involves another difficulty ; for it is apt to
DR. KANE'S SHIP AND SLEDGE PARTIES.
entangle itself among the dogs and lines, or to fasten itself cun
ningly round bits of ice-, so as to drag you head over heels into
the snow.
" The secret by which this complicated set of requirements is
fulfilled consists in properly describing an arc from the shoulder,
with a stiff elbow, giving the jerk to the whip-handle from the
hand and wrist alone. The lash trails behind as you travel, and
when thrown forward is allowed to extend itself without an ef-
fort to bring it back. You wait patiently after giving the pro-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 643
jectile impulse until it unwinds its slow length, reaches the end
of its tether, and cracks to tell you that it is at its journey's end.
Such a crack on the ear or forefoot of an unfortunate dog is sig-
nalized by a howl quite unmistakeable in its import.
" The mere labor of using this whip is such that the Esqui-
maux travel in couples, one sledge after the other. The hinder
dogs follow mechanically, and thus require no whip ; and the
drivers change about so as to rest each other."
EFFECTS OF AN ARCTIC NIGHT ON DOGS.
DRS. KANE and Hayes carried with them to the Polar regions
several large Newfoundland dogs, partly as an experiment, but
chiefly for the faithful companionship they would afford. It is
true that a dog can live wherever man can support life, but these
sagacious animals are more susceptible to brain affections and
succumb more readily to a life of inactivity than man. The ef-
fects of an Arctic night on his Newfoundland dogs is thus related
by Dr. Kane :
" This morning at five o'clock for I am so afflicted with the
insom nium of this eternal night, that I rise at any time between
midnight and noon I went upon deck. It was absolutely dark ;
the cold not permitting a swinging lamp. There was not a glim-
mer came to me through the ice-crusted window-panes of the
cabin. While I was feeling my way, half puzzled as to the best
method of steering clear of whatever might be before me, two of
my Newfoundland dogs put their cold noses against my hand,
and instantly commenced the most exuberant antics of satisfac-
tion. It then occurred to me how very dreary and forlorn must
these poor animals be, at atmospheres of plus 10 in-doors and
minus 50 without living in darkness, howling at an accidental
light, as if it reminded them of the moon and with nothing,
either of instinct or sensation, to ^ell them of the passing hours,
or to explain the long-lost daylight.
" The mouse-colored dogs, the leaders of my Newfoundland
team, have, for the past fortnight, been nursed like babies. No
one can tell how anxiously I watch them. They are kept below,
tended, fed, cleansed, caressed and doctored, to the infinite dis-
644 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
comfort of all hands. To-day I gave up the last hope of saving
them. Their disease is as clearly mental as in the case of any
human being. The more material functions of the poor brutes
go on without , interruption ; they eat voraciously, retain their
strength, and sleep well. But all the indications beyond this go
to prove that the original epilepsy, which was the first manifes-
tation of brain disease among them, has been followed by a true
lunacy. They bark frenziedly at nothing, and walk in straight
and curved lines with anxious and unwearying perseverance.
" They fawn on you, but without seeming to appreciate the
notice you give them in return ; pushing their heads against your
person, or oscillating with a strange pantomime of fear. Their
most intelligent actions seem automatic: sometimes they claw
you, as if trying to burrow into your seal-skins ; sometimes they
remain for hours in moody silence, and then start off howling as
if pursued, and run up and down for hours.
"So it was with poor Flora, our ' wise dog.' She was seized
with the endemic spasms, and, after a few wild, violent parox-
ysms, lapsed into a lethargic condition, eating voraciously, but
gaining no strength. This passing off, the same crazy wildness
took possession of her, and she died of brain disease in about six
weeks. Generally, they perish with symptoms resembling
locked-jaw in less than thirty-six hours after the first attack."
In another portion of his Journal, Dr. Kane announces the
death of his favorite dog by suicide ; this dog appeared to be
seized with a fit, but coming out of this he was still somewhat
delirious, and went into the water, where he drowned hijiself like
a human distracted by a burden of insupportable woe.
There is so much of identical character between Arctic dogs
and wolves that they are very properly assigned to a family
origin. The oblique position of the wolf's eye is common among
Esquimaux dogs. Kane had a slut, one of the tamest and most
affectionate of the whole of them, who had the long .legs and
compact body, and drooping tail, and wild, scared expression of
the eye, which some naturalists have supposed to characterize
the wolf alone. When domesticated early and it is easy to
TILE WORLD'S WONDERS.
645
domesticate him the wolf follows and loves you like a dog.
That they are fond of a loose foot proves nothing. " Many of
our pack," says Kane, " will run away for weeks into the wilder-
ness of ice ; yet they cannot be persuaded when they come back
to inhabit the kennel we have built for them only a hundred
yards off. They crouch round for the companionship of man."
Both animals howl alike, and their footprints are very similar,
while there are well-authenticated instances of their inter-
breeding. The dog is to the Esquimaux what the horse is to us,
ESQUIMAU DOPS.
if not, indeed, a more valuable friend ; yet these faithful crea-
tures are subjected to a treatment unreasonably cruel. The
poor dogs are driven hundreds of miles on a pitiful allowance
of frozen food, and when they return to camp their hunger
is so great that they attack and devour almost anything
that can be bolted, when they are beaten off with dreadful
blows of axe or hatchet. Capt. Hall mentions a fact as not
uncommon, of the Esquimaux brutally whipping their dogs just
before starting on a journey, merely to excite and " warm them
646 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
up." Capt. Hall relates the following as illustrative of Esqui-
mau cruelty and superstition :
" The old woman, E-vit-shung, gave a specimen of her treat-
ment of her own dogs, which was amusing though severe. She
found them one day asleep when tied up to the rocks, as was
often necessary to prevent their cutting with their teeth into the
oil-drugs and meat ; a valuable drug had just been almost entirely
ruiued. This, however, was not the cause of E-vit-shung's fear-
ful pounding. When she arrived where some of the dogs were
constantly kept fast to the rocks by long thongs, she stopped and
commenced pelting one of the largest with stones. Every time
she made a throw she spoke to the dog as though he could com-
prehend Innuit speech. What she did say amounted simply to
this:
"' Here you are, old dog, and all the rest of you, sleeping
and basking in the hot sun's rays all day, and at night wide
awake, howling, barking, and crying, keeping me and all others
about from getting any quiet sleep ; and now, old fellow, I am
giving you these stones for pay. As for the rest of you brutes,
I will give you some another time.' Her throws were of .some
account so far as this goes. She hit every time, and made the
dog cry wofully. Each time she picked up a stono and hold it
in her hand, the dog watched her closely. Several false-throw
motions were first made by the old woman, and when the dog
ceased dodging, out would fly the huge stone from her hand,
hitting him on the head, nose, or other parts of the body. My
laughing so heartily was from the business-like manner in which
the old lady addressed the dog during the severe castigation she
was administering to it. If E-vit-shung can whip Innuit dogs a
long time after they have done their evil work, and make them
understand just what their chastisement is for, then either she
has a supernatural power, or the Innuit dogs are intelligent beings,
moral agents, so to call them."
LIFE AND HABITS OF THE ESQUIMAUX.
THERE is not a more singular people on the earth than those
living withiu the Arctic belt; nomadic, and yet all their resources
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
647
a e taxed to procure a living ; always pressed for food, and yet
wonderfully hospitable ; true barbarians, but none the less peace-
able and clever. How different from other indolent and improv-
ident races ; in the hot climates nature yields a prodigal supply
j>f nourishing fruits, and tempers the winds so generously that
clothing is even unnecessary, thus fulfilling all the conditions to
inspire effeminacy and languor. Away in the chilly North nature
withholds her gifts of food and warmth, and then with hard and
pitiless niggardness, she drives such chilly blasts as if life within
ter sphere had angered her. Under a glintling sky of frost,
TYPES OF ESQUIMAUX.
within an unbroken landscape of inexpressibly lonesome desola-
tion, the Esquimau makes his home and lives, despite the rigoi
and barren waste of his nameless country.
These wonderful children of eccentric creation are controlled
by no law, either written or traditional, and acknowledge account-
ability only to their own conscience, and yet they are orderly and
given little to crime. They have patriarchs in their tribes who
give advice, but never assert authority. Esquimaux children
render singular obedience to their parents, even after reaching
maturity, which proceeds from y. remarkable fraternal devotion.,
648 THE WORLD'S WONDEK&.
for there is no such thing as punishment of a male child by its
parents. Females, however, fare badly, whether babes, maidens,
or wives, for it is considered quite proper to control the female
sex with an iron hand. In former times, at least among some of
the Esquimaux tribes, it was customary for the parents to smother
all their girl babies except one. Girls are married before they
reach twenty, a thing not difficult to do, owing to their scarcity
and the polygamous practices of the men. As soon as a man
dies his widows are almost immediately appropriated by others,
so that there .are neither old maids nor widows among the Esqui-
maux. Another convenient custom which they practice is to ex-
change wives when, for any reason, the consorts of a man who
is about to set out on a journey cannot accompany him. There
are always other women who will take their places, and thus a
clever exchange is effected. So is the borrowing of wives very
common.
An exchange of children is also sometimes made, while the
giving away of infants is an ordinary occurrence. Children are
rarely weaned before they reach seven and eight years of age,
though they begin eating meat at one year. Marriage among
these savages is purely and entirely a matter of convenience, as
love is a feeling unknown to them. Wives are usually purchased
for a trifle, and after being taken to their husbands' igloos (huts),
they are tattooed in the forehead with a character resembling the
letter V. Others tattoo themselves for ornamentation, but with-
out regard to definite figures, straight lines being mostly made,
and these confined principally to the chin.
Their dress is admirably adapted to the severity of their cli-
mate. With their two pairs of breeches made of reindeer or
seal skin, the outer one having the hair outside and the inner one
next the body, and their two jackets of which the upper one is
provided with a great hood with their water-tight seal-skin
boots, lined with the downy skins of birds, and their enormous
gloves, they bid defiance to the severest cold, and even in the
hardest weather pursue their occupations in the open air when-
ever the moon is in the sky, or during the doubtful meridian tyri-
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
649
light. The women are perfect in the art of making water-tight
shirts, or " kamleikas," of the entrails of the seal or walrus,
which in summer serve to replace their heavy skin jackets. They
also sew their boots so tight that not the slightest wet can pene-
trate, and with a neatness of which the best shoemaker in Europe
might be proud. The dress of the two sexes is much alike, the
outer jacket having a pointed skirt before and behind, but that
of the females is a little longer. The women also wear larger
hoods, in which they carry their children ; and sometimes the
inner boot has in
front a long, pointed
flap, to answer the
same purpose.
The Esquimaux are
no less skillful in the
construction of their
dome-shaped huts of
a single room. These
they make from
blocks of frozen
snow, which are cut
out with knives made
of walrus bone.
These blocks are not
more than two inches
thick, and thus admit ESQUIMAU WOMAN AND CHILD.
considerable light while serving well to keep out the wind.
When more light is required, a small window is cut, over which
a sheet of ice is placed, or a well-oiled piece of dried deer skin.
To secure warmth in specially severe seasons, which it seems
they have a faculty of forecasting, the Esquimaux dig out a large
space, deep euougn to contain their huts, so that the dome will
be even with the surface of the earth. To reach this under-
ground habitation they dig a tunnel, usually about fifteen feet
long, which first slants downward, then upward, where it enters
the hut ; the tunnel is sp low that it can only be entered by
650
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS.
creeping on the hands and knees. As may be imagined, these
huts are very warm, the temperature inside reaching 90 above,
while outside it is 50 below zero. The igloo is lighted by a rude
window, covered with a piece of scraped seal intestine instead of
glass, and the smoke and gases are permitted to escape throu
a small hole a the top. In these furnaces the natives go almost
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 651
naked, the women invariably stripped to the waist, and when
lying down to sleep even the garments covering the lower
extremities are removed.
Matches, of course, are unknown among the Esquimaux, nor
do they resort to friction to produce fire, as they have a much
more admirable and expeditious means. They use two stones,
one an oxide of iron, in appearance, and the other a milky-look-
ing quartz; these are struck together in flint-and-steel fashion,
over a tinder composed of the silky down of the villow-catkins,
which is held on a lump of dried moss. Under favorable condi-
tions, matches are but a small improvement over this native way
of producing fire.
The Esquimaux subsist on an exclusively meat diet, and all eat
like gourmands. Cleanliness is something which they do not
appreciate, but in this they are excused by the rigor of their cli-
mate, which makes water both scarce and disagreeable. Usually
they prefer uncooked flesh, though sometimes they boil their
meat, but only for the soup it yields. Their mode of eat-
ing from a fresh carcass is ingeniously curious. They cut the
moat in long strips, one end of which is introduced into the
mouth and swallowed as far as the powers of deglutition will
allow, then cutting off the portion left protruding from the mouth,
they repeat the process of swallowing. It is not wholly unlike
feeding a hungry dog with a fat piece of bacon tied to a string.
CHAPTER XXXV.
SEAL HUNTING.
THERE are several species of seals living in the Arctic waters,
ranging in size from three or four feet in length, and weighing
fifty pounds, to what is known as the large-bearded seal, which
often measures twelve' feet in length and weighs nearly one thou-
sand pounds. In the capture of these animals the Esquimaux are
wonderfully skillful, fur they nwke a study of their habits until
652
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
every action is thoroughly understood. The Hispid species is
most generally hunted, and it is almost the staple diet of the
Esquimaux. When raw it has a flabby look, more like coagulated
blood than muscular fibre, but cooking imparts to it a dark soot
color. The meat is close-grained, but soft and tender, with a
slight flavor of lamp-oil, yet during spring and summer the blub-
ber, when fresh, is sweet and delicious. The summer season is
SAILORS KILLING SEALS WITH CLUBS.
also most favorable for hunting them, as the sun's glare so seri-
ously affects their eyes that they are rendered almost blind. At
such seasons they are often slaughtered with clubs, in great
numbers, by the sailors of whale ships.
If an Esquimau has any reason to suppose that a seal is busy
gnawing beneath the ice, he immediately attaches himself to the
place, and seldom leaves it, even in the severest frost, till he has
Succeeded in killing the animal. For this purpose fre first builds
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 653
a snow-wall about four feet in height, to shelter him from the
wind, and seating himself under the lee of it, deposits his spears,
lines, and other implements upon several little forked sticks
inserted into the snow, in order to prevent the smallest noise
being made in moving them when wanted. But the most
curious precaution consists in tying his knees together with
a thong so securely as to prevent any rustling of his clothes,
which might otherwise alarm the animal. In this situation a man
will sit quietly sometimes for hours together, attentively listening
to any noise made by the seal, and sometimes using the " deep-
kuttuk" in order to ascertain whether the animal is still at work
below. This simple little instrument which affords another
striking proof of Esquimaux ingenuity is merely a slender rod
of bone (as delicate as a fine wire, that the seal may not see it),
nicely rounded, and having a point at one end and a knob at the
other. It is inserted into the ice, and the knob remaining above
the surf ace, informs the fisherman by its motion whether the seal
is employed in making his hole ; if not, it remains undisturbed,
and the attempt is given up in that place. "When the hunter sup-
poses the hole to be nearly completed, he cautiously lifts his spear
(to which the line has been previously attached), and as soon as
the blowing of the seal is distinctly heard and the ice conse-
quently very thin he drives it into him with the force of both
arms, -and then cuts away with his "panna," or well-sharpened
knife, the remaining crust of ice, to enable him to repeat the
wounds and get him out. The neituk" being the smallest seal,
is held, while struggling, either simply by hand, or by putting
the line round a spear with the point stuck into the ice. For the
" oguke," the line is passed round the man's leg or arm; and
for a walrus, round his body, his feet being at the same time
firmly set against a hummock of ice, in which position these
people can, from habit, hold against a very heavy strain. A boy
of fifteen is equal to the killing of a " neituk," but it requires a
full-grown person to master either of the larger animals. This
sport is not without the danger which adds to the excitement of
success, particularly if the creature struck by the hunter be a
654
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
large peal or walrus ; for woe betide him if he does not instantly
plant his feet firmly in (he ice, and throw himself in such a posi-
tion that the strain on the line is as nearly as possible brought
into the direction of the length of the spine of his back and axis
of his lower limbs. A transverse pull from one of these power-
ful animals would double him up across the air-hole, and perhaps
break his back ; or, if the opening be large, as it often is wnen
the spring is advanced, ho would be dragged under water and
drowned. When the water is clear of ice, the natives hunt tin
seals in their kyaks, which is not only exciting, but dangerous
sport, as the seais often climb upon and upset the frail craft.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 655
CAPT. HALL CAPTURES A SEAL.
KILLING seals by using harpoons is peculiar to the Esquimaux,
whose patience is immeasurable ; they will sit over a seal-hole for
twenty-four hours, in the most terrific cold, without moving a
muscle, awaiting the animal's appearance, and even if then un-
successful in capturing it, they do not manifest any petulance.
They declare that no white man can harpooji a seal, but Capt.
Hall refuted this statement by a very clever capture which is re-
lated in his journals.
Being directed to a seal-hole which, it must be remembered,
is not really a hole, but an excavation made on the under side of
the ice, shelved so as to admit the animal's body out of water,
while a surface ice is still overhead Hall took his seat over the
spot and there remained for an hour without moving, awaiting
signs of the seal's presence underneath. At length he heard a
softly-breathing and slightly-scratching noise below the snow and
ice. Raising himself cautiously to his feet, he lifted the harpoon
over the spot, and with all his strength drove it dowii vertically ;
the blow was effective, for in a moment the line was jerked from
his hand, but, " quick as a flash," he says, " I seized it again,
or I would have loot my prize, as well as the harpoon and line.
The sealers far and near saw that I was fast to a seal, and al-
though I called to Nu-ker-zhoo, ' kietel Jciete!" 1 come here !
come here ! there was no necessity for it, for before I uttered
a word he and all the others were making their way to me. Had
I caught a whale, there could not have been more surprised and
happy souls than were these Innuits on finding I was really fast
to a seal. Laughter, hilarity, joyous ringing voices abounded.
Almost the last Innuit who arrived to congratulate me was my
good friend Ou-e-la, accompanied by his dog, dragging a seal
which he had just captured. Last of all came the young ladies,
Tuk-too and Now-yer^ with dogs and sledge, and a seal which
Ar-mou had taken a little while before. All this time nobody
had seen my seal, for it was flipping away down in salt water
beneath the snow and ice, still fast to one end of my line while I
held on to the other. Nu-ker-zlioo , with his pelong (long knife),
656 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
then cut away the snow, two feet in depth, covering the seal-hole,
and removing still more with my spear, he chiseled away the ice-
lining just above the hole. Soon the seal came up to breathe,
and then the death-blow was given to it by a thrust of the spindle
of the spear directly into the thin skull. The prize was drawn
forth a larger seal than either Ou-e-la's or A.r-mou's. Again
the air resounded with shouts and joyous laughter. It was the
first case among them of a white man's success in harpooning."
Another method of killing seals is to place a screen of canvas
on a sledge, and cautiously push it toward the wary animals until
SHOOTING SEALS FROM BEHIND A SCREEN.
within range, and then shoot them through a- hole near the
center of the screen, made for that purpose, the hunter remain-
ing concealed behind the screen.
HUNTING THE POLAR BEAR.
As the Polar bear is as great a seal-hunter as the Esquimaux,
one of the usual methods employed by the latter to catch
bears is to imitate the motions of the seal by lying flat on the ice
until the bear approaches sufficiently near to insure a good aim ;
but a gun is necessary to practice this stratagem with success.
The Esquimaux have another ingenious mode of capturing the
THE WORLD 8 WONDERS. 657
Dear by taking advantage of the well-known voracity of the ani-
mal, which generally swallows its food without much mastica-
tion. A thick and strong piece of whalebone, about four inches
broad and two feet long, is rolled up into a small compass, and
carefully enveloped in blubber, forming a round ball. It is then
placed in the open air at a low temperature, where it soon be-
comes hard and frozen. The natives, armed with their knives,
bows, and arrows, together with this frozen bait, proceed in
quest of the bear. As soon as the animal is seen, one of the na-
tives discharges an. arrow at it ; the monster, smarting from this
assault, chases the party, then in full retreat, until, meeting with
the frozen blubber dropped in his path, he greedily swallows it,
and continues the pursuit doubtless fancying that there must be
more where that came from. The natural heat of the body soon
causes the blubber to thaw, when the whalebone, thus freed,
springs back, and frightfully lacerates the stomach. The writh-
ing brute fulls down in helpless agony, and the Esquimaux, hur-
rying to the spot, soon put an end to his sufferings.
A SAVAGE CONTEST.
DR. KANE, while wintering in his vessel, in 1854-55, witnessed
a most interesting fight between his dogs and a large Polar bear,
with a four-months cub that had invaded the deck in quest of
food. Hearing a racket above his head, he ran out of the cabin
with his six-shooter, in time to see his native dogs engaging a
medium-sized she-bear which was at bay but recklessly slinging
the dogs right and left. The Polar bear does not hug, but snaps
somewhat like a dog and occasionally uses its paws with telling
effect. In the fight which was now progressing, the bear acted
always on the defensive, and waiting until a dog ventured near
enough, she would seize him by the neck and fling him several
yards with a barely perceptible motion of the head ; one of the
dogs was thrown entirely over the deck, a distance of twenty-five
feet, onto the snow and ice below. The dogs were fairly van-
quished very soon, when, without a. sign of fear, the bear pro-
ceeded to turn over beef barrels and ram her nose into the meat.
Dr. Kane lodged all the bullets of his pistol in her side, while his
658
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 659
companion wounded her with a Webster rifle, but even this pro-
duced little or no effect, for she continued touring down barrels
of beef which made triple walls to the store-house, and thus
mounting the rubbish, seized a keg of herrings and made off.
Reaching the ice, however, the bear was again beset with dogs,
which worried her by running around and snapping at her heels,
until, to ward off her enemies, she again came to bay, and as be-
fore, placed the cub between her hind-feet and bade defiance.
More guns were brought, with which she was dispatched only
after six more bullets had pierced her body. When dressed, she
proved to be exceedingly lean, and without a particle of food in
her stomach. But bears furnish much more palatable food when
in a lean condition than when fat, for the impregnation of fatty
oil through the cellular tissues makes a well-fed bear nearly un-
eatable.
ANOTHER BATTLE WITH A BEAR.
SOME members of Dr. Kane's expedition had another exciting
contest with a bear and her cubs, while journeying by sledge to-
ward Cape Jackson. Upon being pursued, the bear fled, but the
little ones, being unable either to keep ahead of the dogs or to
keep pace with her, she turned back, and, patting her head under
their haunches, threw them some distance forward. The cubs,
safe for the moment, she would wheel round and face the dogs,
so as to give them a chance to run away ; but they always stopped
just as they alighted, till she came up and threw them ahead
again : they seemed to expect her aid, and would not go on with-
out it. Sometimes the mother would run a few yards ahead, as
if to coax the young ones up to her, and when the dogs came up
she would turn on them and drive them back ; then, as they
dodged her blows, she would rejoin the cubs and push them on,
sometimes putting her head under them, sometimes catching
them in her mouth by the nape of the neck.
For a time she managed her retreat with great celerity, leaving
the men far in the 'rear. They had engaged her on the land-
ice ; but she led the dogs in-shore, up a small stony valley
which opened into the interior. After she had gone a mile
! went
off toward the open water, twelve miles from the brig. As they
came to the sea, the two hunters would from time to time remove
their hoods and listen intently for the walrus* voice.
After a while Myouk became convinced, from signs or sounds,
which were inappreciable to Morton or Kane, that walruses were
sporting not far off, under a thin formation of ice. As they ap-
proached nearer they heard the characteristic bellow of a bull of
the awuk species. The walrus, like some of the higher order of
beings to which he has been compared, is fond of his own music,
and will lie for hours listening to himself. His vocalization is
something between the mooing of a cow and the deepest baying
of a mastiff; very round and full, with its barks or detached
notes repeated rather quickly seven to nine times in succession.
The party now formed in single file, following in each other's
steps ; and, guided by an admirable knowledge of ice-topograph}',
wound behind hummocks and ridges in a serpentine approach to-
ward a group of pond-like discolorations, recently-frozen ice-
spots, but surrounded by firmer and older ice.
When within half-a-mile of these the line broke, and each man
crawled toward a separate pool ; Morton, on his hands and knees,
following Myouk. In a few minutes the walruses were in sight.
They were five in number, rising at intervals through the ice in
a body, and breaking it up with an explosive puff which might
have been heard for miles. Two large, grim-looking bulls were
conspicuous as leaders of the group.
Now for the marvel of the hunting-craft. When the walrus
is above water the hunter is flat and motionless. The animal's
head is hardly below the water-line before every man is in a rapid
run; and again, as if by instinct, before the beast returns, all
are motionless behind protecting knolls of ice. They seem to
THE WORLD'S WONDEKS. 067
know beforehand not only the time he will be absent, but the
very spot at which he will reappear. In this way, hiding and
advancing by turns, Myouk, with Morton at his heels, reached a
plate of thin ice, hardly strong enough to bear them, at the very
brink of the water-pool the walruses were curvetting in. Myouk,
till now phlegmatic, seems to awaken with excitement. His coil
of walrus-hide, a well-trimmed line of many fathoms' length, is
lying at his side. He fixes one end of it in an iron barb, and
fastens this loosely by a socket upon a shaft of unicorn's horn ;
the other end is already looped, or, as sailors would say, " doubled
in a bight." It is the work of a moment. He has grasped the
harpoon ; the water is in motion. Puffing with pent-up respira-
tion, the walrus is within a couple of fathoms directly before
him. Myouk rises slowly ; his right arm thrown back, the left
flat at his side. The walrus looks about him, shaking the dripping
brine from his arched neck: Myouk throws up his left arm,
while the animal rises breast high to fix one look before plung-
ing below again, but as he poises the harpoon is buried under
his left flipper.
Down now the wounded walrus buries itself deep under water,
while Myouk runs with desperate speed from the scene, paying
off his coil freely, but clutching the end by its loop. As he runs
he seizes a small piece of bone, rudely pointed with iron, and by
a sudden movement drives it into the ice ; to this he secures his
line, pressing it down close to the ice-surface with his feet.
Now comes the struggle. The hole is dashed in mad commo-
tion with the struggles of the wounded beast ; the line is drawn
tight at one moment, the next relaxed ; the hunter has not left
his station. There is a crash of the ice ; and rearing up through
it are two walruses, not many yards from where he stands. One
of them, the male, is excited and seemingly terrified : the other,
the female, collected and vengeful. Down they go again, after
one grim survey of the field : and on the instant Myouk has
changed his position, carrying his coil with him and fixing it anew.
He has hardly fixed it before the pair have again risen, break-
ing up an area of ten feet diameter about the very spot he lef i-
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 669
As they sink once more he again changes his place. And so the
conflict goes on between address and force, till the victim, half
exhausted, receives a second wound, and is played like a trout by
the angler's reel.
The instinct of attack which characterizes .the walrus is inter-
esting to the naturalist, as it is characteristic also of the land
animals, the pachyderms, with which he is classed. When wounded
he rises high out of the water, plunges heavily against the ice,
and strives to raise himself with his fore-flippers upon its surface.
As it breaks under his weight, his countenance assumes a still
more vindictive expression, his bark changes to a roar, and the
foam pours out from his jaws till it froths his beard.
Even when not excited, he manages his tusks bravely. They
are so strong that he uses them to grapple the rocks with, and
climbs steeps of ice and land which would be inaccessible to him
without their aid. He ascends in this way rocky islands that are
sixty and a hundred feet above the level of the sea.
The battle between the walrus and Dr. Kane, Morton and
Myouk, lasted for over four hours, during which the desperate
animal rushed continually at them, tearing off great tables of ice
with his tusks and showing no fear whatever. He received up-
ward of seventy lance wounds before giving up the contest, and
even then remained hooked to the ice with his tusks, vanquished
only by death.
To land this huge animal required no little skill, for its weight
was fully two thousand pounds, perhaps more. Incisions were
made on both sides of the neck, through which a line of sealskin
was passed, and a pulley made in the ice, by which it was dragged
out, several Esquimaux assisting.
HALL'S BATTLE WITH A WALRUS.
DURING the winter of 18(54 Capt. Hall participated, with several
Esquimaux, in an exciting walrus hunt ; indeed, the pursuit of this
animal is always exciting, for it is in the water what the tiger, or
elephant, is on land, a beast of extraordinary viciousness and
power, capable of destroying even small ships, should its energies
be so directed. Several dogs were taken with the party to assist
670 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
in attacking, as they are very serviceable for diverting the atten-
tion of the walrus, and thus affording the hurpooners good op-
portunities to approach and throw their deadly instruments.
The walrus feeding grounds, which had recently changed, were
now in a newly formed field of ice that had been detached from
shore and was grinding in broken floes. Here they could be seen
sporting, coming up under the ice with such force as to throw
fragments many feet into the air. To cross over this moving
field, broken here and there, leaving fissures between, was a haz-
ardous undertaking, but the promise of rare sport gave the party
courage to brave all dangers. For scores of miles to the north
and south, the drifting floe was grinding its uneven face against
the firm but jagged front on which Hall stood. Mounting a high
ridge of ice, he saw, as far as the eye could reach seaward and
up and down the bay, a boundless field slowly moving onward
toward the south, but crushing to atoms miles and miles of mas-
sive ice ; now rearing up mountains on mountains, now plowing
up acres into high ridges.
One of the Innuits, who had joined him, was unable to reach
a large walrus which rose in a small water-space five fathoms off,
for the "squeezed, rolling, crunching mass" was working be-
tween the floes. He gave a quick signal to those on the drifting
floe, and his companions ran rapidly toward the walrus ; but just
as he had his harpoon raised, the animal disappeared in the water.
Hall then directed their steps toward the loose pack which the
others had already gained, to reach which the sharp eye of < he
Innuit quickly discovered the only possible crossing. A quick
run, a few steps over sludge and powdered ice, a leap from this
trembling block to that one, and a final leap to the driving floe,
brought the two safely over.
Walruses could now be seen in every direction ; some butting up
ice-fragments from the solid main, some with heads through the
butted holes, and "ome with their bodies half-distended upon the
ice. The hunters aow began their exciting work. In one direc-
tion two Innuits **ere under full run for the same blowing wal-
rus, the dogs ru-'^ang around them. Suddenly the two men
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 671
stopped, for the walrus had become alarmed and gone down. In
another direction an excited group of Esquimaux was seen, one
throwing a lance, another holding onto a line, for a walrus had
been struck. With some difficulty Hall gained this group, but
only to find the ice reddened with blood without any further ap-
pearance of the animal. He soon learned that a very large walrus
had been harpooned and lanced almost to death, but that the har-
poon had slipped out, leaving the lance-head, so that the animal
had escaped.
Hall hastened to a second group of Innuits, who were as busily
occupied as the first, and in a few moments found himself pulling
away with others on a line which was fast to a large walrus.
After a few pulls, the half-killed animal came up in a flouncing,/
tumbling way. He was furiously mad. He had not only been
harpooned, but lanced and lanced again and again, sso that at '
every blow, quarts of thick, dark blood were thrown up, scatter-
ing itself about, painting the ice, the dogs, and the party with a
crimson hue.
A hard death did this one die. He fought desperately, but
steel and sinewy arms, under the control of cool, courageous
hearts, finally conquered.- As often as he came up to blow, he
was met by the lance of the harpooner, who thrust it quick and
deep into the heart and churned away until the walrus withdrew
by diving under the ice and flippering away to the length of the
line. Then, at each new appearance, he would fasten his long
ivory tusk (one had been broken off, probably in some fight)
upon the edge of the ice, and turning his blazing, yet blood-shot
eyes around, would dash at his nearest enemy, the very incarna-
tion of madness ; failing to do injury, after each futile blow, he
would dive down again, drawing the line with great rapidity after
him. When he came up to breathe, which he did several times
tli rough different holes, resting with his tusk hooked onto the
e^ge of the ice, ho expelled through his white-walled mouth a
frightful stream of hot life-blood, and as the hungry dogs rushed
up fearlessly to the very fountain whence the luscious, savory
gore issued, the dying walrus quickly raised his head and struck
672 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
it forward with tremendous force, though to little purpose, as
the dogs were too quick dodgfng the blows. Shoo-she-ark-nook
at last cut a gash in the neck with his peloud (long knife) and
thrust the point into the very marrow of the spine.
A fresh opening was now made in the ice, and to this the car-
cass was towed. Then the line, made fast to the tough skin on
the nose, was taken to the point of a small hummock five fathoms
distant, and back again through a hole in the same tough skin.
With this purchase, five of the party pulled away on the line,
gradually sliding the carcass upon the ice. It weighed about
2,200 pounds.
THE REINDEER.
THE reindeer, though an Arctic animal, is confined chiefly to
Labrador and Northern Siberia, where it roams in vast herds,
both wild and domestic. In Northern America it is called " Cari-
bou," but they are not nearly so numerous there as in Lapland,
Norway and Siberia, where they are used extensively for draught
purposes, and also ridden, though it never makes an easy
riding animal. When it walks a peculiar clattering noise is
heard a considerable distance, the cause of which is a matter
about which travelers and naturalists are not agreed.
Its antlers are very different from those of the stag, having
broad, palmated summits, and branching back to the length of
three or four feet, and frequently weighing as much as twenty-five
pounds. It is remarkable that both sexes have horns, while in
all other deer species the male alone possesses these weapons.
The female brings forth in May a.single calf, rarely two. The
Offspring is small and very weak for the first few days, but devel-
ops strength so rapidly that in a month it has even ceased nursing
and finds its own food.
The reindeer gives very little milk at the very utmost, after the
yo.ung has been weaned, abottleful daily ; but the quality is excel-
lent, for it is uncommonly thick and nutritious. It consists almost
entirely of cream, so. that a great deal of water can be added be-
fore it becomes inferior to the best cow-milk. Its taste is excel-
lent, but the butter made from it is rancid, and hardly to be caien
while the cheese is very good.
ARCTIC EXPLORERS ATTACKED BY A HERD OF WALRUSES.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 673
The reindeer's food consists almost wholly of moss, which lies
deep under the snow. Nature has provided this animal with such
a marvelous instinct that however deeply his food may be covered
by snow he unerringly finds it by smelling along the surface.
The reindeer attains an age of from twenty to twenty-five
years, but in its domesticated state it is generally killed when
from six to ten years old. Its most dangerous enemies are the
wolf, and the glutton or wolverine, which belongs to the blood-
thirsty marten and weasel family, and is said to be of uncommon
fierceness and strength. It is about the size of a large badger,
between which animal and the pole-cat it seems to be interme-
diate, nearly resembling the former in its general figure and as-
pect, and agreeing with the latter as to its dentition. No dog is
capable of mastering a glutton, and even the wolf is hardly able
to scare it from its prey. Its feet are very short, so that it can-
not run swiftly, but it climbs with great facility upon trees, or
ascends even almost perpendicular rock-walls, where it also seeks
a refuge when pursued.
When it perceives a he i of reindeer browsing near a wood or
a precipice, it generally lies in wait upon a branch or some high
cliff, and springs down upon the first animal that comes within
its reach. Sometimes also it steals unawares upon its prey, and
suddenly bounding upon its back, kills it by a single bite in the
neck. Many fables worthy of Munchausen have been told about
its voracity ; for instance, that it is able to devour two reindeer
at one meal, and that, when its stomach is exorbitantly distended
with food, it will press itself between two trees or stones to make
room for a new repast. It will, indeed, kill in one night six or
eight reindeer, but it contents itself with sucking their blood, as
the weasel does with fowls, and eats no more at one meal than
any other carnivorous animal of its own size
Besides this voracious enemy, the reindeer has two others, both
of which are a species of gad-fly. One of these deposits its eggs
in the back of the animal, where a larvae soon develops, produc-
ing a bad sore. The other lays its eggs in the reindeer's nose,
where the larv bore their way into the fauces and under the
tt
674
THE
WONDERS.
tongue of the poor animal, producing intense pain, followed by
.emaciation and sometimes death by exhaustion from suffering.
The Samoyeds of Northern Siberia own vast herds of reindeer.
by which their wealth is estimated. While thousands of domesti-
cated reindeer roam over the tundras of Siberia, under the charge
of herders, thousands of wild ones share the same regions. These
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 675
latter furnish the Samoyeds with hunting sport which they indulge
in throughout all the long winter months. There are -two ways
of taking the animal, and both equally popular. One is by mak-
ing a large corral on the snow-plains, which is approached by
wide converging wings. One or more domestic reindeer are tied
in the center of the corral, after which a wild herd is driven to-
ward the enclosure, which they enter through the wings, and are
then quickly slaughtered. Keindeer are easily driven, notwith-
standing their shyness, for they keep together like sheep and do
not run very far before stopping to graze. This habit is taken
advantage of iby Samoyeds, not only to capture them in corrals,
but also to drive them into rivers, where men previously posted
on shore and in boats, armed with lances, easily despatch hundreds
without trouble.
THE MUSK-OX.
ONE of the most remarkable quadrupeds of the high northern
regions is the musk-ox, which by some naturalists has been con-
sidered as intermediate between the sheep and the ox. It is about
the height of a deer, but of much stouter proportions. The horns
are very broad at the base, almost meeting on the forehead, and
curving downward between the eye and ears until about the level
of the mouth, when they turn upward. Its long, thick, brown
or black hair hanging down below the middle of the leg, and cov-
ering on all parts of the animal a fine kind of soft ash-colored
wool, which is of the finest description, and capable of forming
the most beautiful fabrics manufactured, enables it to remain
even during the winter beyond 70 of northern latitude. In spring
it wanders over the ice as far as Melville Island, or even Smith's
Sound. They are exclusively confined to the New World now,
though that they were at one time numerous in Siberia is attested
by the great number of fossil remains of the animal still to be
found there. Its legs are short, but it runs with much speed and
climbs lofty precipices like the Rocky Mountain goat. They go
in herds of twenty or thirty, but are so scarce as to be seldom
met with. Dr. Kane, in all his travels in the Arctic regions, did
not see a single herd, though he obtained an excellent specimen
676
THE WORLD'S WONBEBS.
from some Esquimaux, which he stuffed and presented to the
Smithsonian Institute. Schwatka was more fortunate, however,
for he met with several and his party was for sometime sustained
on their flesh. Capt. Tyson, of the Polaris, also mentions sev-
eral successful hunts for Musk-Oxen, which he describes as af-
fording little sport. When attacked by dogs, they form in a circle
with their heads all pointed outward, and thus stand and suffer
themselves to be shot.
HUNTING MUSK-OXEN.
ANOTHER FIGHT WITH MUSK-OXEN.
THE Innuits hunt the musk-ox with great success, by taking
advantage of the stubborn character which this animal exhibits.
Capt. Hall was a witness of an Esquimaux attack on a herd of
musk-oxen, which he describes as being very exciting. A herd
of nine being discovered, the Innuits slipped their dogs from the
sledges and made ready for a big fight. As the dogs went
bounding and barking toward the herd, the animals stopped
quickly and formed a circle, with their heads outward and horns
prepared to receive the charge. Here they stood defiantly until
one of the Esquimau hunters advanced with a long lance to
WORLD'S WONDERS. 67?
ydthin twelve feet of a large bull and then threw it with such
precision that the animal received the weapon in its shoulder ;
maddened by the pain the bull plunged desperately at the man,
barely grazing his fur jacket with its sharp horns. To prevent
further mischief, Capt. Hall shot the infuriated bull. Usually, a
herd of musk-oxen will brave any danger, but in this instance, at
the sound of the gun all except two broke away over the hills
and escaped. These two stood their ground, each throwing his
massive head up and down between his fore feet, rubbing the
tips of his horns, which were already almost as sharp as needles.
This is their habit when in open ground, but if there are any
rocks near by they sharpen their horns on these. It was a grand
sight to see the two bulls at bay, fire shooting from their eyes
and their tails lashing from side to side like lions before charging.
The dogs kept running round the bulls, sometimes snapping at
their heels and so distracting their attention that the Innuits
were enabled to advance close enough to use their lances. The
contest was very much more exciting, because more dangerous,
than a Spanish bull-fight, and for a time, Capt. Hall had great
fears for the safety of the men, but they were skilled in such
fighting. Gradually the Innuits contracted the circle they had
formed around the animals, until at last they threw their lances
with such accuracy and fatal effect that the bulls charged blindly,
only to rush upon other lances, which speedily dispatched them.
Viewed in open ground, where there is no undue advantage
taken, an Esquimaux attack with lances on a herd of musk-oxen
is wonderfully interesting, and is frequently attended by fatal
results to the attacking party.
THE ARCTIC FOX.
THE Arctic fox almost exclusively inhabits the treeless wastes
that fringe the Polar Ocean, and is found on almost all the islands
that lie buried in its bosom. This pretty little creature, which in
winter grows perfectly white, knows how to protect itself against
the most intense cold, either by seeking a refuge m the clefts of
rocks, or by burrowing to a considerable depth in a sandy soil.
It principally preys upon lemmings, stoats, Polar hares, as well
678 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
as upon all kinds of water-fowl and their eggs ; but when pinched
by hunger, it does not disdain the carcasses of fish, or the niol-
lusks and crustaceans it may chance to pick up on the shore. Its
enemies are the glutton, the snowy owl, and man, who, from the
Equator to the poles, leaves no creature unmolested that can in
any way satisfy his wants.
ARCTIC LEMMINGS.
LEMMINGS, of which there are several species, are small ro-
dents, peculiar to the Arctic regions, and are found as far north
as vegetation extends. They breed like rabbits, bringing forth
five and six at a birth, and would be very destructive but for
their numerous enemies. With the exception of the bear and the
hedgehog, they are pursued by all the northern carnivora. The
wolf, the fox, the glutton, the marten, the ermine, devour them
with avidity, and a good lemming season is a time of unusual
plenty for the hungry Laplander's dog. The snowy owl, whose
dense plumage enables it to be a constant resident on the tundra,
almost exclusively frequents those places where lemmings, its fa-
vorite food, are to be found ; the buzzards are constantly active
in their destruction ; the crow feeds its young with lemmings ;
and even the poor Lap, when pressed by hunger, seizes a stick,
and, for want of better game, goes out lemming hunting, and
rejoices when he can kill a sufficient number for his dinner.
MOSQUITOES AND GNATS.
THE greatest plagues of the tropical countries mosquitoes and
gnats are found in increased abundance in the Polar regions,
where they swarm at times in such myriads as to almost obscure
the sun. Lapland is particularly cursed with mosquitoes, and
the people are plagued into devising a thousand different ways to
escape the voracious insects. The gnats are no less troublesome,
for they are even more numerous than mosquitoes and bite with
almost equal severity. If anything eatable be exposed for even
a few minutes, the gnats and mosquitoes dispose of it in about as
quick time as the crustaceans of the deep devour a piece of meat
flung into the Arctic sea. For one thing, however, " God be
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 679
praised," declare the Laplanders, the Arctic mosquitoes are not
so large as those of tropical countries ; if they were, they would
devour men and animals.
Capt. Hall describes the torment which he suffered from these
pests of the Arctic regions during a walk in July, in the follow-
ing language :
" The sun was about five degrees high. Not a breath of air
stirring, the sun shining hot, and the mosquitoes desperately
intent on getting all the blood of the only white man of the
country. I kept up a constant battling with my seal-skin mit-
tens directly before my face, now and then letting them slap first
on one and then on the other of my hands, which operations
crushed many a foe. It seemed to me at times as if I never
would get back. Minutes were like hours, and the distance of
about two miles seemed more like half a score. At length I got
back to my home, both temperature and temper high. I made
quick work in throwing open the canvas roof of our stores, arid,
getting to our medicine-chest, snatched a half-pint bottle of
mosquito-proof oil, and with a little of this besmeared every ex-
posable part of my person. How glorious and sudden was the
change. A thousand devils, each armed with lancet and blood-
pump, courageously battling my very face, departed at once in
supreme disgust at the confounded stink the coal-oil had diffused
about ine."
EATS BY THOUSANDS.
IT is well-known with what generous favor rats estimate ship-
board; which they will only desert when the vessel is sinking. It
might be supposed that climate would affect them unfavorably,
particularly a frigid temperature, but the supposition is ill-
founded. They wil,l not on]y, accompany a vessel to the, Arctic
regions, but their rapid reproduction is not affected by rigorous
experience. Kane speaks of the rats which clung to his ship until
their numbers were really prodigious. They attacked everything
placed below decks, furs, woollens, shoes, specimens of natural
history, and everything else. He writes, " We have moved ev-
erything movable out upon the ice, and, besides our dividing
680 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
moss wall between our sanctum and the forecastle, we have built
up a rude barrier of our iron sheathing to prevent these abomi-
nable rats from gnawing through. It is all in vain. They are
everywhere already, under the stove, in the steward's lockers, in
*our cushions, about our beds. If I was asked what, after dark-
ness and cold and scurvy, are the three besetting curses of our
Arctic sojourn, I should say, Rats, Rats, Rats. A mother-rat
bit my finger to the bone, as I was intruding my hand into a bear-
skin mitten which she had chosen as a homestead for her little
family. I withdrew it of course with instinctive courtesy ; but
among them they carried off the mitten before I could suck the
finger.
" Last week, I sent down the most intelligent dog of our
whole pack, to bivouac in their citadel forward : I thought she
might at least be able to defend herself against them, for she
had distinguished herself in the bear-hunt. She slept very well
for a couple of hours on a bed she had chosen for herself on the
top of some iron spikes. But the rats could not or would not
forego the horny skin about her paws ; and they gnawed her feet
and nails so ferociously that we drew her up yelping and van-
quished."
Kane next fell to eating the rats, which he affirms made a most
palatable food, and to this rat diet he attributed his comparative
immunity from scurvy. He says : " I had only one competitor
in the dispensation of this entremet, or rather one companion ;
for there was an abundance for both. It was a fox : we caught
and domesticated him late in the winter ; but the scantiness of
our resources, and of course his own, soon instructed him in ail
the antipathies of a terrier. He had only one fault as a rat-
catcher : he would never catch a second till he had eaten the
first."
ARCTIC HARES.
ONE of the most beautiful animals in the Polar regions is the
Arctic hare. In size it is about equal to our jack-rabbit, but its
coat is a beautiful clear white, while the ears a~e tipped with
^lack. They are numerous ap$ .distribute^! over a great extent
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 881
)f country, from North British America as far as any explorer
has ever gone toward the pole. They feed on the bark and cat-
kins of the willow, and lie on the stony sides of worn-down rocks
in order to protect themselves from the wind and snow-drifts.
They do not burrow like our rabbits, but squat in crevices or un-
der large stones. Their average weight is about nine pounds.
Esquimaux dogs hunt them pertinaciously and regard them with
such relishing appetite that they cannot be relied on as an assist-
ant to man. The Arctic hare is enabled to penetrate the snow
crusts and obtain food where the reindeer and the musk-ox
perish in consequence of the glazed covering of their feeding
grounds.
A TRADITIONARY ANIMAL.
THE Esquimaux, like all barbaric people, are much given to
exaggeration, so that it will not do to place reliance in many of
their statements. Their country being a strange one, sometimes
it is impossible to decide between truth and misrepresentation,
for they do frequently describe things that appear improbable to
us, and yet their statements are true. For example, during Capt.
Hall's five years' residence among these people, he had often de-
scribed to him an animal which the Esquimaux call A.rcla, but
which is not mentioned in any work of natural history, nor did
he ever see a specimen himself, yet he was indisposed to declare
it mythical. The natives speak of this animal as being larger
than the bear, and as very ferocious and much more difficult to
be killed. It has grayish hair, a long tail, and short, thick legs,
its fore-feet being divided into three parts like the partridge's ;
its hind feet are like a man's heels. When resting, it sits upright
like a man. A Neitchille Innuit, crawling into a hole for shelter
in the night, had found one sound asleep and quickly dispatched
it with his knife. It may be added here that Ebierbing, who wd k s
Hall's interpreter, now residing in the United States, confirms
such accounts of the Arcla, and says that the animal once inhab-
ited his native country on Cumberland Sound.
We know that stranger appearing creatures than this once
joained over the earth, some of which are jtupw,n itP .us through
682 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
their fossil remains, while no doubt many others existed of which
we have no conception, because every veVtige of them has long
since disappeared under the fading effects of time, soil and cli-
mate. It was once stoutly denied that there was any such ani-
mal as the gorilla, who shall therefore say that the Arcla exists
only as the coinage of a fertile brain?
ARCTIC BIRDS.
BIRDS, of many and varjjing species, are numerous in the
Arctic regions, such as snow-owls, ptarmigan both of which
seek their food under the snow the king eider duck, brent
geese, great northern black and red-throated divers, Bermide
geese, sea eagles, and others of less size and quiet habits, such as
the Lapland bunting, pin-tail ducks, and the snow bunting. This
latter may properly be called the Polar singing bird, for it sings
the sweetest lays throughout the fugitive summer, and to a trav-
eler in that bleak region is a genuine joy. The auk is a prolific
inhabitant of the Polar climate, where it breeds with the rapidity
of English sparrows in our own country. There are islands in
the Arctic seas which seem to be composed almost entirely of
auk guano, and so thickly do the birds settle at times that they
cover acres of the rocky and precipitous formations which rise
out of the Northern Ocean. The Esquimaux catch them in great
numbers by means of a circular net, made fast to a handle of nor-
whal bone and used as we do a fish net.
The ptarmigan, or snow-partridge, is found in great abundance
in many parts of the Polar regions. Its flesh is delicious, and is
highly prized by natives and Arctic travelers. They go in flocks,
like the quail, which they somewhat resemble ; but their winter
dress is snow-white, except their tail-feathers, and whenat rest,
they are scarcely distinguishable from the snow at a distance oi
ten feet.
The sea eagle is monarch of the frigid air, in which his lordly,
sway is acknowledged by the fear which his presence inspire* in
all the feathered creatures which share his kingdom. At his ap-
proach the gull and the auk conceal themselves in the fissures of
the rock8,,b.v.t. are frequently d.rag^ed fo;lh by their releutless o
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
683
enemy. The divers are, according to Wahlengren, more imper-
illed from his attacks than those sea-birds which do not plunge,
for the latter rise into the air as soon as their piercing eye espies
the universally dreaded tyrant, and thus escape ; while the for-
mer, blindly trusting to the element in which they are capable of
finding a temporary refuge, allow him to approach, and then sud-
denly diving, fancy themselves in safety, while the eagle is only
waiting for the moment of their re-appearance to repeat his at-
tack. Twice or thrice they may possibly escape his claws by a
ARCTIC PTARMIGAN.
rapid plunge, but when for the fourth time they rise out of the
water, and remain but one instant above the surface, that instant
seals thefr doom. The sea eagle is equally formidable to the
denizens of the ocean, but sometimes too great a confidence in his
strength leads to his destruction, for Kittlitz was informed by the
inhabitants of Kamschatka that, pouncing upon a dolphin, he is
not infrequently dragged down into the water by the diving ceta-
cean in whose skin his talons remain fixed.
Sea gulls of the Arctic regions are as rapacious as sea eagles,,
though their carnivorous appetite does not fea,st itself on such a
684 THE WORLD'& WONDERS.
diyersity of flesh. The glaucous gulls are like cormorants, al-
ways watching for fish, but equally glad when they can seize a
young duck. During breeding time the mother gulls are very
destructive to the ducks, over whose peaceful shallows they sail
until opportunity invites, when down they swoop with a loud
rush of wing and carry off young eiders as thejr wants require.
A more domineering or insatiable rapacity is not exhibited by any
other bird or animal. The gull will gobble up and swallow a
fledgling duck in less time than it takes to describe the act. For
a moment the paddling feet of the poor little victim are seen pro-
truding from the mouth ; then comes a distension of the neck as
the duck descends into the stomach ; a few moments more and
the young gulls are feeding on the ejected morsel.
The mother duck, nearly distracted by her loss, battles with all
her might, but she cannot always reassemble her scattered brood.
In trying to defend one she uncovers others, until frequently she
is left as destitute as Niobe ; but in this case she adopts a new
progeny.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
INHABITANTS OF THE ARCTIC DEEP.
THE sparse life found on the ice and snowy wastes in the
northern zone is well compensated by the multitude of marine
animals which sport under and about the pole. There is a marked
difference of temperature in the air and water, for below the sur-
face there is a rapid increase of warmth, caused by under-cur-
rents and streams flowing from the tropics. This modification ia
highly conducive to the propagation of many water animals, pe-
culiar to the Arctic regions, which could not survive in as low a
temperature as obtains on the land. It is a fact that animal
life is greater in the Arctic than in the Tropical seas. There is a
portion of the Arctic ocean between 74 and 80 which wears a
color varying from purest ultra-marine to olive green, and from
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 685
crystalline transparency to striking opacity, which is due mainly to
small medusae sea-nettles and jelly-fish and nudibranchiate
naked moHusks. These arc calculated to form one-fourth part
of the surface of the sea between the above mentioned parallels,
so that many thousands of square miles are absolutely teeming
with life.
On the coast of Greenland, where the waters are so transparent
that the bottom is clearly visible at a distance of 300 feet, there
may be seen gigantic tangles growing in the depth, around the
fronds of which millions of tiny creatures are always circulating.
A dead seal or fish is speedily converted into a skeleton by the myr-
iads of small crustaceans which infest these icy waters, and, like
the ants of equatorial forests, perform the part of scavengers of
the deep. This minute animal life affords most interesting study
to the scientist, but our remaining space must be reserved for
the greater wonders, such as whales, norwhals, sea unicorns,
dolphins, and other large inhabitants of the polar seas.
WONDERS OF THE WHALE.
THE largest of all animals is the whale, a very leviathan, pon-
derous with bulk and powerful with energy. The wonders of
nature are shown in this animal more amazingly than in any other
creature. These remarkable phenomena are not found alone
in its extraordinary size, but in its structure and habits as well.
The largest species attains a length of one hundred feet, while
its head measures fully thirty feet, a wonderful proportion ; and
yet there is no trace of neck even in the skeleton ; they have
nostrils, but not for the exercise of smell, being used for respira-
tion and also for hearing ; there is no external ear, and the audi-
tory opening is extremely small, to prevent the undue access of
water. Air penetrates into the large eustachian tubes through
the blow-holes, permitting the appreciation of sounds, both in
the air and water. It may therefore be said, paradoxically, that
the whale smells with his ears and hears with his nose. The r
mouth is of great width and the jaws are armed with plates of
whalebone, or numerous conical teeth, the former acting as
strainer of its food for one species, while in another the teeth
686 teE WORLD'S
perform the usual function of grinding. The skin is naked, ex-
cept a few bristles about the jaws, and beneath it is a thick coat
of fat or blubber, preserving the temperature of the body and
reducing its specific gravity ; this fat affords the oil for which
whales are chiefly pursued. Formerly, naturalists regarded the
blubber as subcutaneous, but it is now a settled fact that it is a
part of the true skin, the fibres forming an open net-work in
which the fat is held.
Though all whales are carnivorous, the stomach is divided into
from three to six different compartments, but for what reason is
not understood. Until the time of Linneus whales were regarded
as fishes, but they are no longer thus classed. They are a true
mammal, warm-blooded, air-breathing, bring forth their young
(usually one) alive, and suckle them for a considerable time by
means of two abdominal mammae. Though a whale's mouth is
quite large enough to contain a ship's long-boat, yet the opening
into the gullet is not larger than a man's fist. It feeds upon jelly
fish and small swimming mollusks, and rarely, if ever, swallows
anything larger than a herring.
The period of gestation is variously placed at from eight to
eighteen months ; at birth the young measures from ten to four-
teen feet in length, and is very tenderly cared for by the mother
for one year. While nursing they roll from side to side, so as to
give each a chance for breathing. The mother has great affection
for her young, and will defend it as long as life lasts.
There are a great many species of whales, in which the size
varies from twelve to one hundred feet in length, and with the
single exception of being mammals, they vary as greatly in habits.
The ones most sought within the Polar circle are either the " right
whale" or the " white whale:" but there is the bow-head, sul-
phur-bottoms, spermaceti, and others. All the large ones of
that region are called " balleeners," as their mouths are furnished
with the balleen, or whalebone, of commerce. The oil of an
average whale is worth about $2,300, while the value of the
bone is about $3,000.
The right whale is often fifty or sixty fe^t long, but the white
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 687
whale does mot average more than fifteen from twelve to twenty.
The blubber produces a very superior kind of oil, and its texture
is more gelatinous and less gross than that of the larger whales.
In the water this fish is 9, brilliant, shiny white. A common har-
poon is scarcely fit for this fish, for it is necessary to penetrate
through the blubber to the flesh to have it hold. The Esquimaux
consider the flesh of the white whale excellent eating.
ADVENTURE WITH A WHALE.
CAPT. TYSON, who was with Capt. Hall in the Polaris expedi-
tion, thus describes the killing of a whale, in which he partici-
pated :
" I once had, when I was boat-stcrer, quite an adventure with
a whale which was determined not to die. It was a large and
valuable balleener. Soon after the boat was lowered we got
alongside. As I r*ose to heave the harpoon, it seemed, almost in
an instant, that the whale had plunged down to the bottom of the
bay ; as the rope uncoiled and went over the gunwale it fairly
smoked with the intense rapidity of the friction, and I had to
order it * doused' to prevent its' taking fire. It came, too, within
a hair-breadth of capsizing us. Fortunately, the line was over
seventy fathoms long, and of the strongest kind. After she plunged
we followed oh, it taking all our strength to bring the boat near
enough to keep the line slack. She staid under water the first
time so long that we thought she was dead and sunk. It was
nearly an hour before she rose ; and when she did, the jerk
almost snapped our strong line, already weakened by the friction
and unusual tension.
"As soon as she appeared she began to beat the water with
her flukes, and swirled around so that it appeared impossible to
get a lance into her, and, while I was endeavoring to do this, our
line parted, and away she went, carrying the harpoon with her.
We followed with all the speed we could force, and at last, after
several hours' hard pull, came up with her. She seemed to know
we were following, and several times disappeared, and then coming
up to blow, perhaps half a mile off ; but we were bound to have
her. On and on she went, on and on we followed. The moon
688 THE WORLD'S WONDB*.
was shining 1 , and the Arctic summer night was almost as light as
day, and deep into the night we followed her. Down she went,
for the sixth or seventh time, but fatigue was getting the better
of her. She was weakening, while, with all the fatigue, our
spirits, and strength, too, were kept up by the excitement. At
last, when we had been nearly twenty-four hours on the chase, I
got another harpoon in her. This seemed to madden her afresh.
Another plunge, which had nearly carried us with her ; but this
time she did not stay down more than ten or twelve minutes.
Up she came once more, the water all around covered with blood,
:and we knew she was done for. Three or four lances were hurled
into her ponderous bulk, and at last our exertions were rewarded
by seeing her roll over on her side. &he was dead. We bent on
another strong line, and soon towed her to a floe. But we found
ourselves, with our prize, a good nine miles -from the ship. We
could not, therefore, save the blubber, but we made a good
haul of balleen, with which we loaded our boat to its utmost ca-
pacity, and then dragged her, with her heavy cargo, the whole
distance over the ice to the ship, which is w'hat I call a fair day's
work."
But not every attack upon the whale is as successful as was the
one Capt. Tyson relates. The spermaceti whale, which grows to
the length of seventy-five feet, is really a dangerous animal, for
it not only uses its flukes to dash a boat to pieces, but it is not
slow to attack with its well-armed jaws. These whales usually go
in herds of twenty or thirty, and the whole herd have been known
to rush to the assistance of a wounded comrade, in which case
they will even sink a sailing ship
THE NORWHAL.
THE seas of Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and Greenland are the
domain of the norwhal, or sea-unicorn, a cetacean quite as
strange, but not so fabulous, as the terrestrial animal which figures
in the arms of England. The use of the enormously spirally-
wound tusk projecting from its upper jaw, and from which it
derives its popular name, has not been clearly ascertained, some
maintaining that it is a weapon of defense, while others suppose
THE WORLD'S wottbEm 689
it to be only an ornament, or mark of the superior dignity of the
sex to whick it has been awarded. It is known to use it for
breaking ice to obtain a breathing hole, and Scoresby asserts that
with the tusk it transfixes flat fish, upon which it feeds.
The norwhal attains a length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and
the tusk is sometimes ten feet in length. This tusk is of solid
ivory, and grows from the intermaxillary bone from a permanent
pulp, as in the elephant. They are generally in bands of ten to
twenty, and are often seen sporting and spouting around whaling
vessels, elevating their tusks as though specially proud of show-
ing them. Norwhals are migratory, and their appearance is
hailed with delight by the Greeulanders, who consider them the
certain forerunners of the right whale, as they both feed on the
same kinds of food. They are harpooned for their ivory, oil and
flesh, which latter the Greenlanders consider a rare delicacy. The
ivory is very hard and susceptible of a high polish. A famous
throne of the kings of Denmark is said to be made of walrus
tusks.
THE DOLPHIN.
THERE are so many species of this animal inhabiting the Polar
and tropical seas alike, that any attempt to describe it in detail
would be foreign to our general subject, treating as it does of
Arctic animals. The dolphin is allied to the whale, though not
in resemblance, but it is a warm blooded animal, brings forth its
young and suckles them in the same manner, and also projects
water through a similar spiracle opening at the top of its head.
Those inhabiting the Arctic waters are called black dolphins and
bottle-nosed whales. It grows to a length of twenty feet, and be-
ing armed with 136 powerful teeth, it is a dreadful enemy to
small fish, upon which it preys. No cetacean strands more fre-
quently than the black dolphin, and occasionally large herds have
been driven on the shores of Iceland, Norway, and the Orkney,
Shetland and Faeroe islands, where their capture is hailed as a
godsend. The intelligence that a shoal of ca'ing whales or grinds
has been seen approaching the coast, creates great excitement
among the otherwise phlegmatic inhabitants of the Faeroe
690 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
Islands. The whole neighborhood, old and young, is instantly in
motion, and soon numerous boats shoot off from shore to inter-
cept the retreat of the dolphins. Slowly and steadily they are
driven toward the coast ; the phalanx of their enemies draws
closer and closer together ; terrified by stones and blows, they run
ashore, and lie gasping as the flood recedes. Then begins the
work of death, amid the loud shouts of the executioners and the
furious splashings of the victims.
THE GRAMPUS.
THE ferocious ore, or grampus, is the tiger of the Arctic seas.
Black above, white beneath, it is distinguished by its large dorsal
fin, which curves backward to ward the tail, and rises to the height
of two feet or more. Measuring no less than twenty-five feet in
length and twelve or thirteen in girth, of a courage equal to its
strength, and armed with formidable teeth, thirty in each jaw,
the grampus is the dread of the seals, whom it overtakes in spite
of their rapid flight ; and the whale himself would consider it as
his most formidable enemy, were it not for the persecutions of
man. The grampus generally ploughs the seas in small troops of
four or five, following each other in close single file, and alter-
nately disappearing and rising so as to resemble the undulatory
motions of one large serpentine animal. In summer they appear
in the Greenland seas, and the seals instantly seek refuge
from them in the various creeks and inner harbors ; and the
Esquimau hunter in his frail kyak, when he sees the huge pointed
dorsal fin swiftly cleaving the surface of the sea, is scarcely less
anxious to shun such dangerous company.
THE ARCTIC SHARK.
THE white, or basking shark, of Polar waters is an animal pos-
sessing some very peculiar habits, and is said to be absolutely
insensible to pain. Greenland fishers use nets to take even the
white whale, which is a small species, and these nets are service-
able also to capture sharks, though they are principally taken by
means of a large hook adapted to the purpose. These sharks are
caught for the sake of their livers, which yield a considerable
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
691
quantity of oil, and a valuable substance resembling spermaceti
may be expressed from their bodies, and for this purpose power-
ful screw-presses are employed.
In early winter the sharks are caught with hook and line
through holes in the ice, like salmon, for which the Esquimaux
women fish so industriously. It is by no means an easy task to
land one of these cetaceans, for they are sometimes ten feet in
length and of corresponding strength.
ESQUIMAU WOMAN FISHING THROUGH THE ICE.
The nets set for white whales are deftly made of seal-skin and
attached to the shore extending off at right angles, so as to inter-
cept them in their annual southern migration, when they swim
close among the rocks to avoid their direst foe, the grampus.
When the white whale is stopped by the net it often appears at
first to be unconscious of the fact, and continues to swim against
it, affording time for the approach of a boat and deadly harpoon
692 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
from behind. If entangled in the net, a short time suffice, to
drown them, since they are compelled frequently to rise to the
surface to breathe.
It is on the carcasses of dead whales that white sharks delight
to feed, and they therefore become a great pest to the Greenland
fishers, who often find what would have been a rich haul, if left
unmolested, reduced to bones by the sharks. No amount of
noise or beating will drive these sharks from their feast, and it is
almost impossible to kill them ; a large knife thrust scores of
times through their heads seems to produce no more effect than
like thrusts through a jelly-fish. The brain is so extremely small
that it is very difficult to find, therefore the fishers can only save
their captured whales when thus attacked, by towing the vora-
cious sharks a considerable distance away from the nets.
CHAPTER XXXVH.
NATURAL PHENOMENA OF THE POLAR REGIONS.
LIKE flowers wasting their sweetness on desert air, so do the
wonderful beauties of nature in the Arctic regions display them-
selves before inhabitless space, like a modest virgin who blushes,
though not without pride, at her own reflected image. For, in
the far North where even echo does not build her airy haunt,
there are such gorgeous splendors as would wake the soul of pes-
simism and thrill the hopeless heart. How wantonly nature
luxuriates in her charms in the icy regions, as if jealous of their
exhibition in populous climates, but even in this reserve, man
discovers her, like Diana at the bath, and we may, therefore, all
read about, if we cannot see, the wonderful beauties which she
shows to the voiceless and insensate Polar world.
Nothing can exceed the magnificence of an Arctic sunset,
clothing the snow-clad mountains and the skies with all the glories
of color, or be more serenely beautiful than the clear star-light
night, illumined by the brilliant moon, which for days continually
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 693
circles around the horizon, never setting until she has run her
long course of brightness. The uniform whiteness of the land-
scape and the general transparency of the atmosphere add to the
lustre of her beams, which serve the natives to guide their no-
madic life, and to lead them to their hunting-grounds.
But of all the magnificent spectacles that relieve the monoto-
nous gloom of the Arctic winter, there is none to equal the magical
beauty of the Aurora. Night covers the snow-clad earth ; the
stars glimmer feebly through the haze which so frequently dims
SERPENTINE AURORA.
their brilliancy in the high latitudes, when suddenly a broad and
clear bow of light spans the horizon in the direction where it is
traversed by the magnetic meridian. This bow sometimes re-
mains for several hours, heaving or waving to and fro, before it
sends forth streams of light ascending to the zenith. Sometimes
these flashes proceed from the bow of light alone ; at others they
simultaneously shoot forth from many opposite parts of the hori-
zon, and form a vast sea of fire whose brilliant waves are contin-
ually changing their position. Finally they all unite in a magnili-
694 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
cent crown or cupola of light, with the appearance of which the
phenomena attains its highest degree of splendor. The brilliancy
of the streams, which are commonly red at their base, green in
the middle, and light yellow toward the zenith, increases, while
at the same time they dart with greater vivacity through the skies.
The colors are wonderfully transparent, the red approaching to a
clear blood-red, the green to a pale emerald tint. On turning
from the flaming firmament to the earth, this also is seen to glow
with a magical light. The dark sea, black as jet, forms a strik-
ing contrast to the white snow-plain or the distant ice-mountain ;
all the outlines tremble as if they belonged to the unreal world
of dreams. The imposing silence of the night heightens the
charms of the magnificent spectacle.
But gradually the crown fades, the bow of light dissolves, the
streams become shorter, less frequent, and less vivid ; and finally
the gloom of winter once more descends upon the northern
desert.
The aurora varies greatly in shape, sometimes assuming a ser-
pentine form, then again an oval, and at other times representing
giant lances which flash with a splendor almost dazzling to behold.
Not frequently it maybe seen in the shape of an arch ; some ob-
servers sent out by the French government saw, from their station
in Finland, no fewer than nine arches, separated by dark spaces
and resembling in their arrangement magnificent curtains of light,
hung behind and below each other, their brilliant folds stretching
completely across the sky.
An aurora, seen on the night of October 18, 1864, is thus de-
scribed by Capt. Hall : "At 10 P. M. I went out, and the aurora
was spanning the azure vault. A smart breeze from the north
was blowing nearly the whole night. This seemed to add to the
briskness of the merry dancers as they crossed the heavens to and
fro. An hour before, the sky was clear, not a cloud or an aurora
ray to be seen ; now, a belt extended across the heavens, arch-
like, some 25 above the horizon, its direction being from south-
east to northwest. I watched the rising arch. Every few mo-
ments gave varied and magnificent changes. At length patches
THE WORLD'S WONDEES. 695
of nurora burst forth here and there. Gradually the main arch
reached the zenith, and then was the grand part of the scene.
Much of what was before in perpendicular rays shot athwart and
across the heavens swiftly like a river of molten gold, here and
there forming vast whirlpools, here and there an eddy, here and
there a cataract of stupendous fall. When above my head, it
WONDERFUL AURORA SEEN BY CAPT. HALL.
seemed less than a pistol-shot distant. Indeed, it was near by.
When I moved quickly, running up to the top of the hill by the
igloo, making a distance of less than 50 fathoms, the arch of the
aurora, that seemed stationary while I was by the igloo and in
transitu, was now several degrees to the soutliwest of me. I re-
turned as quickly to the igloo, and the aurora belt was directly
overhead. So small a base, with so palpable a change in the
696 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
bearing of the aurora, proved that it must have been quite close
to the earth. A ball of fire fell during the display, and burst
just before it reached the earth, throwing out prismatic scintilla-
tions in every direction."
In January, 1865, Capt. Hall witnessed another aurora even
more wonderful than the one above described. The rays of this
one were vertical ; it appeared all alive, as if in high glee,
dancing to and fro with almost the rapidity of lightning. The
three belts extending from southeast to northwest were the most
interesting, as they often flashed into the brilliant colors of the
rainbow. Each belt occasionally resolved itself into two lines or
tiers of rays ; as one line would dance rapidly to windward, the
other would dance as quickly in the opposite direction. This
extraordinary display lasted five minutes an unusual time. He
was so impressed with it that he wrote, " If at home it could be
witnessed for one moment, one would say, ' I never saw northern
lights before.' "
That the aurora borealis is due to the earth's magnetism, or a
surplus charge of electricity, is most generally believed, though
the conditions and result are not clearly understood. Capt.
McClintock observed in the Arctic regions that the aurora was
never visible above ice fields, but that whenever one was in prog-
ress the light appeared always to be gathered over the open water.
Water being an excellent conductor of electricity, while ice is a
non-conductor, we may infer that the peculiarity observed by
McClintock was due to this difference in the conducting powers
of ice and water.
It is held by some that the aurora is due to electrical discharges
from the earth. Through some cause the earth, regarded as a
vast magnet, becomes overcharged with electrical energy, and it
is as this energy is gradually dissipated that the splendors of the
aurora are displayed. Prof. Olmstead, however, assigns to the
aurora an interplanetary origin. " The nebulous* matter," he
reasoned, " like that which furnishes the material of the meteoric
showers or the zodiacal light, and is known to exist in the inter-
planetary spaces, is probably the cause of the auroral display.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 697
The periodical return of the phenomena indicates such a position ;
so, too, its rapid motion, which exceeds that of light or elec-
tricity, and the extent of surface over which the phenomena is
seen at the same time."
Mock moons and paraselenes, which are a rare sight even in the
Arctic zone, are due to electrical disturbance of a misty atmos-
phere. The paraselense are luminous rings surrounding the moon,
and are multiplied by refraction until three, and sometimes even
four, circles are seen impinging one another. Within the centre
of each circle the moon appears, from which radiates four spears
of light, light spokes to a wheel, and at the points where the
spears touch the circle a mock moon is seen, thus affording at
once a novel and beautiful view.
COLORED SNOW.
THERE is almost perpetual snow in the Polar regions, but it
does not fall to such great depth there as in the North Temperate
zone. But the most striking peculiarity in the fall of snow
within the Arctic circle, is found in the fact that it is often deeply
colored, green, red, yellow and black, red being the color most
commonly seen. The black color is produced by the snow being
impregnated with a dust of carbon and iron, either from the
eruptions of volcanoes or from meteors. The other colors are
due to the presence of microscopic organisms, described by Dr.
Wollaston as minute spherical globules, having a transparent cov-
ering, and divided into seven or eight cells, filled with a red oily-
like liquid, insoluble in water. Girodchantraus describes these
as plants, while Bauer demonstrated that they are a fungous
growth. Robert Brown says they are algoae, water plants or sea-
weeds. Recent investigation confirms the theory that these colors
are produced by vegetable growth, and that the several colors
are due to the ripening stages of the algoae. Ehrenburg main,
tains that red snow receives its coloring not only from vegetable
spores, but from an animalcule also, to which he gave the name
Philodina roseola.
698 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
ICEBERGS AND WONDERFUL ICE FORMATIONS.
THE Arctic world is full of pulseless wonders, staid and insen-
sate things of nature, which move upon the waters with a majesty
awesome and grand. Ice is king in this frosty realm, and he
gives strange evidences of his mighty power. More dangerous
jthan hidden shoals and sunken cliffs to the navigator are the
{floating islands of ice which swing about and grind one another,
or break up and fall with a force that will crush any ship. Arctic
navigators have given various names to these movable shoals,
which are the cause of so much delay and danger. They are
icebergs when they tower to a considerable height' above the
waters, and ice-fields when they have a vast horizontal extension.
A floe is a detached portion of a field ; pack-ice, a large area of
floes or smaller fragments closely driven together so as to oppose
a firm barrier to the progress of a ship ; and drift-ice, loose ice
in motion, but not so firmly packed as to prevent a vessel from
making her way through its yielding masses.
The large ice-fields which the whaler encounters in Baffin's
Bay, or on the seas between Spitzbergen and Greenland, consti-
tute one of the marvels of the deep. There is a solemn grandeur
in the slow, majestic motion with which they are drifted by the
currents to the south ; and their enormous masses, as mile after
mile comes floating by, impress the spectator with the idea of a
boundless extent and an irresistible power. But, vast and mighty
as they are, they are unable to withstand the elements combined
for their destruction, and their apparently triumphal march leads
them only to their ruin.
When they first descend from their northern strongholds, the
ice of which they are composed is of the average thickness of
from ten to fifteen feet, and their surface is sometimes tolerably
smooth and even, but in general 5t is covered with numberless
ice-blocks, or hummocks, piled upon each other in wild confu-
sion to a height of forty or fifty feet, the result of repeated col-
lisions before flakes and floes were soldered into fields. Before
the end of June they are covered with snow, sometimes six feet
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 699
i
deep, which, melting during the summer, forms small ponds or
lakes upon their surface.
Frequently ice-fields are whirled about in a rotary motion,
which causes their circumference to gyrate with a velocity of
several miles per hour. When a field, thus sweeping through tke
waters, comes into collision with another which may possibly be
revolving with equal rapidity in an opposite direction when
masses often twenty or thirty miles in diameter, and each weigh-
ing many millions of tons, clash together imagination can hardly
conceive a more appalling scene. The whalers at all times require
unremitting vigilance to secure their safety, but scarcely in any
situation so much as when navigating amidst these fields, which
are more particularly dangerous in foggy weather, as their mo-
tions cannot then be distinctly observed. No wonder that since
the establishment of the fishery numbers of vessels have been
crushed to pieces between two fields in motion, for the strongest
ship ever built must needs be utterly unable to resist their power.
Some have been uplifted and thrown upon the ice ; some have
had their hulls completely torn open ; and others have been over-
run by the ice, and buried beneath the fragments piled upon their
wreck.
The icebergs, which, as their name indicates, rise above the
water to a much more considerable height than the ice-fields,
have a very different origin, as they are not formed in the sea
itself, but by the glaciers of the northern highlands. As our
rivers are continually pouring their streams into the ocean, so
many of the glaciers or ice-rivers of the Arctic zone, descending
to the water-edge, are slowly but constantly forcing themselves
farther and farther into the sea. In the summer season, when
the ice is particularly fragile, the force of cohesion is often over-
come by the weight of the prodigious masses that overhang the
sea or have been undermined by its waters ; and in the winter,
when the air is probably 40 or 50 below zero, and the sea from
28 to 30 above, the unequal expansion of those parts of the
mass exposed to so great a difference of temperature cannot fail
to produce the separation of large portions. This is the geuer-
700
THE WORLD'S WONDEBS.
ally-accepted theory as to the manner in which icebergs are formed.
Most of these swimming fragments, or icebergs, are formed
on the mountainous west coast of Greenland, by the large gla-
ciers which discharge themselves into the fiords from Smith's
Sound to Disco Bay, as here the sea is sufficiently deep to float
them away, in spite of the enormous magnitude they frequently
attain.
THE WORLDS WOttDEfcS.
Capt. Ross, in his first voyage, mentions one of these
bergs, which was found to be 4,169 yards long, 3,689
broad, and 51 feet high above the level of the sea. It wa3
aground in 61 fathoms, and its weight was estimated by an officer
of the Alexander at 1,292,397,673 tons. On ascending the flat
top of this iceberg, it was found occupied by a huge white bear,
who justly deeming " discretion the best part of valor," sprang
into the sea before he could be fired at.
The vast dimensions of the icebergs appear less astonishing
when we consider that many of the glaciers or ice-rivers from
which they are dislodged are equal in size or volume to the largest
streams of continental Europe.
In a high sea the waves beat against an iceberg as against a
rock ; and in calm weather where there is a swell, the noise made
by their rising and falling is tremendous. Their usual form is
that of a high vertical wall, gradually sloping down to the oppo-
site side, which is very low ; but frequently they exhibit the most
fantastic shapes, particularly after they have been a long time
exposed to the corroding power of the waves, or of warm rains
pelting them from above.
A number of icebergs floating in the sea is one of the most
magnificent spectacles of nature, but the wonderful beauty of
these crystal cliffs never appears to greater advantage than when
clothed by the midnight sun with all the splendid colors of twi-
light.
" The bergs," says Dr. Hayes, describing one of these en-
chanting sights, "had wholly lost their chilly aspect, and glit-
tering in the blaze of the brilliant heavens, seemed in the distance
like masses of burnished metal or solid flame. Nearer at hand
they were huge blocks of Parian marble inlaid with mammoth
gems of pearl and opal. One in particular exhibited the perfec-
tion of the grand. Its form was not unlike that of the Colos-
seum, and it lay so far away that half its height was buried be-
neath the line of blood-red waters. The sun, slowly rolling along
the horizon, passed behind it, and it seemed as if the old Roman
ruins had suddenly taken fire. In the shadow of the bergs the
702
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
water was a rich green, and nothing could be more soft and ten-
der than the gradations of color made by the sea shoaling on the
sloping tongue of a berg close beside us. The tint increased io
intensity where the ice overhung the water, and a deep cav-fn
near by exhibited the solid color of the malachite mingled w ; th
the transparency of the emerald, while in strange contrast a br"ad
streak of cobalt blue ran diagonally through its body. The be-
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 703
witching character of the scene was heightened by a thousand
little cascades which leaped into the sea from the?e floating
masses, the water being discharged from lakes of melted snow
and ice which reposed in quietude far up in the valleys separating;
the high icy hills of their upper surface. From other bergs large:
pieces were now and then detached, plunging down into the water
with deafening noise, while the slow moving swell of the ocean?
resounded through their broken archways.'*
A similar gorgeous spectacle was witnessed by Dr. Kane in
Melville Bay. The midnight sun came out over a great berg,
kindling variously-colored fires on every part of its surface, and
making the ice around the ship one great resplendency of gem-
work, blazing carbuncles and rubies, and molten gold. These
are the beauties of the iceberg, but it has its terrible features as
well. On one occasion Kane was beset by a heavy squall which
gave him no small concern for the safety of his vessel, which was
threatened by the heavy floes blowing off shore and promising to
nip him if shelter was not soon reached. As a measure of pro-
tection, he resolved to fasten to an iceberg, which he was onlj
able to do after hard labor of eight hours. His crew had hardly
time for a breathing spell before they were startled by loud!
srackling sounds above them and small fragments of ice, not;
larger than a walnut, began to disturb the water like the firsft
drops of a summer shower. The indications were unmistakable,
and they had barely time to cast off before the face of the berg
fell in ruins, crashing with a roar like artillery.
AN ORIGINAL THEORY RESPECTING ICEBfRGS.
ICEBERGS are all composed of fresh water, which Arctic dis-
coverers declare, and no doubt very properly, and are made by
gradual freezing accretions from great rivers which pour out their
water over precepices, as already explained. But a very strange
fact is worthy of consideration in this connection, viz : that th^
frequent freezing of salt water produces fresh water.
McClintock, during his voyage in search of the Franklin party,
discovered this singular phenomenon. A portion of his diary
reads : " By my desire Dr. Walker is occupied in making every
704 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
possible experiment upon the freezing of salt water ; the first
crop of ice is salt, the second less so, the third produces drink-
able water, and the fourth is fresh. Frosty efflorescence appears
upon ice formed at low temperatures in calm weather it is brine
expressed by the act of freezing."
Is it not possible that the commonly accepted theory as to the
manner in which icebergs are formed, is false? If repeated con-
gelation destroys the saline crystalization of sea water, may not
a similar chemical decomposition take place under continuous
congealment? The rivers of Greenland, to whose debouchement
the formation of icebergs is ascribed, are yet to be discovered,
though the point of apparent iceberg formation has been visited.
It is an open question yet whether these ice-mountains are not
created under atmospheric influence. If, as seems to be well
proved, there is a comparatively warm climate prevailing about
the poles, the proximity of excessive cold and warm currents
would be productive of the most violent paroxysms of the air,
such as cyclones, waterspouts, etc. These might suck up vast
quantities of sea water, which would be precipitated again at cer-
tain points, like the vapor of the Gulf-stream which condenses
and falls over England because it there first meets with a counter
cold cuirent. If this uplifted water, now vaporized, should strike
against the mountain barriers along the Greenland coast, it would
certainly be precipitated in the form of rain, and meeting with
an intensely cold atmosphere, would congeal as it gradually fell,
thus building up great peaks of fresh water ice just as we see
them. This theory might extend farther with perfect consis-
tency, to account for icebergs of fresh water by repeated con-
gelation, for it is plausible to assume that there are air-stratus
of hot and cold at altitudes above the poles, passing through
which the sea water would alternate from rain to hail until the
chemical change to fresh water is complete. Not infrequently
icebergs, or rather glaciers, form in the interior of Greenland,
.and always at the feet of mountains or slopes to the sea ; after
Teaching a certain size, gravity causes them to break loose and
sweep into the sea, carrying with them great boulders, driftwood,
or anything in their path.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 705
This theory, which I have the boldness to present, is merely an
individual's speculation, and does not claim to be the results of
any extended research or special study of the subject ; it is given
only for what it is worth.
THE ICE-BLINK.
ONE of the most remarkable phenomena of the Polar Sea is the
ice-blink, or reflection of the ice against the sky. A stripe of
light, similar to the early dawn of morning, but without its red-
ness, appears above the horizon, and traces a complete aerial
map of the ice to a distance of many miles beyond the ordinary
reach of vision. To the experienced navigator the "blink" is
frequently of the greatest use, as it not only points out the vi-
cinity of the drift-ice, but indicates its nature, whether compact
or loose, continous or open. Thus Scoresby relates that on the
7th of June, 1821, he saw so distinct an ice-blink, that as far as
twenty or thirty miles all round the horizon he was able to ascer-
tain the figure and probable extent of each ice-field. The packed
ice was distinguished from the larger fields by a more obscure
and yell ow color ; while each water-lane or open passage was in-
dicated by a deep blue stripe or patch. By this means he was
enabled to find his way out of the vast masses of ice in which he
had been detained for several days, and to emerge into the open
sea.
On SMnny, days, the strong contrasts of light and shade be-
tween the glistening snow and the dark protruding rocks produce
a remarkable deception in the apparent distance of the land,
along a steep mountainous coast. When at the distance of twenty
miles from Spitzbergen, for instance, it would be easy to induce
even a judicious stranger to undertake a passage in a boat to the
shore, from a belief that he was within a league of the land. At
this distance the portions of rock and patches of snow, as well as
the contour of the different hills, are as distinctly marked as
similar objects in many other countries, not having snow about
them, would be at a fourth or a fifth part of the distance. A
ship's top-gallant mast, at the distance of five or six leagues,
may be discerned when just appearing above the horizon with a
706 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
common perspective-glass, and the summits of mountains are
visible at the distance of from sixty to a hundred miles.
MIRAGE.
NOTHING can be more wonderful than the phenomena of the
atmosphere, dependent upon reflection and refraction, which are
frequently observed in the Arctic seas. They are probably occa-
sioned by the commixture of two currents of air of different
temperature, so as to create an irregular deposition of imper-
fectly condensed vapor, which, when passing the verge of the
horizon, apparently raises the objects there situated to a consid-
erable distance above it, or extends their height beyond their
natural dimensions. Ice, land, ships, boats, and other objects,
when thus enlarged and elevated, are said to loom. The lower
portions of looming objects are sometimes connected with the
horizon by an apparent fibrous or columnar extension of their
parts ; at other times they appear to be quite lifted into the air,
a void space being seen between them and the horizon.
A most remarkable delusion of this kind was observed by
Scoresby while sailing through the open ice, far from land. Sud-
denly an immense amphitheatre, inclosed by high walls of basaltic
ice, so like natural rock as to deceive one of his most experi-
enced officers, rose around the ship. Sometimes the refraction
produced on all sides a similar effect, but still more frequently
remarkable contrasts. Single ice-blocks expanded into architec-
tural figures of an extraordinary height, and sometimes the dis-
tant, deeply-indented ice-border looked like a number of towers
or minarets, or like a dense forest of naked trees. Scarcely had
an object acquired a distinct form, when it began to dissolve into
another.
It is well known that similar causes produce similar effects in
the warmer regions of the earth. In the midst of the tropical
ocean the mariner sees verdant islands rise from the waters, and
in the treeless desert fantastic palm-groves wave their fronds, as
if in mockery of the thirsty caravan.
WORLD'S WONDERS. 707
WONDERFUL ADVENTURES ON ICE FLOES.
DANGERS arising from the breaking up of the ice, which gathers
at the shore for miles seaward, are sometimes very great. In
traveling in the Arctic regions it is necessary to pass over im-
mense tracts of ice, and thus the danger of being carried adrift
on detached fields, called floes, is ever present. Kane had sev-
eral narrow escapes from such accidents, one of which he records
as having taken place at a north-east headland named Cape Wil-
liam Ford. While far from the mainland the spring tides began
breaking up great areas of ice around him, which compelled him
to flee toward the shore to avoid being carried out to sea and
possible starvation. As he sped over the ice, his sledge was inter-
rupted frequently by fissures, now breaking in every direction,
over which it required the boldest effort to pass, and especially
to draw the laden sledge which contained their stores. Had the
sledge been abandoned it would have been lost forever, and in
case escape to shore were cut off, starvation was certain ; hence
they necessarily drew the sledge with them, though it diminished
their chances of reaching land. The forced journey was full of
perils and hardships, during which the men frequently fell into
the water, and had to be rescued at the imminent risk of life ;
the thermometer was 30 below zero, and their clothes of seal
and bear skin froze so hard as to almost prevent the exercise of
their limbs. However, by extra good fortune, they gained the
shore, but were so benumbed by the cold that it was impossible
to raise a tent. It chanced that there was no wind, and a fire of
seal oil was started, by which they dried their clothes and sleep-
ing-bags, which restored them to a measure of comfort and
enabled them to reach the brig.
But the most remarkable adventure that ever befel any one
cast adrift on an ice-floe, happened to Capt. Geo. E. Tyson and
the following eighteen members of the Polaris expedition :
Frederick Meyers, meteorologist; John Herron, steward ; Wil-
liam Jackson, cook. Seamen: J. W. C. Kruger (called Robert),
Fred. Jamka, William Lindermann, Fred. Anthing, Gus. Lind-
quist, Peter Johnson. Esquimaux: Joe, Hannah (Joe's wife),
708
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 709
Puney (child), Hans, Merkut or Christiana (Hans' wife), Augus-
tina, Tobias, Succi (children), Charley Polaris (baby of Hans).
The Polaris sailed from the Brooklyn navy-yard June 29, 1871,
in command of Capt. C. E. Hall, whose construing ambition had
been, for many years, to reach the North Pole. The Polaris
was housed in winter quarters at Thank God Harbor, Hall intend-
ing to proceed from there by sledge toward the North. About
the 1st of November, however, he foil sick of a strange malady
some say poison and on the 8th died in great agony. He was
buried, wrapped in the national colors, in a shallow grave, dug
only by great labor in the hard^frozen earth. Capt. S. O. Bud-
dington, who had been acting as sailing and ice-master, succeeded
to the command. Immediately upon assuming charge of the
expedition, Capt. Buddington abandoned every effort to carry
out the objects for which it was dispatched, and awaited, with
much impatience, the coming of spring and the breaking up of
the ice, that he might return to the United States. Capt. Tyson
begged Buddington to remain, or hold the Polaris until he could
himself make a sledge journey to the north. This was refused
upon the most unjust liable grounds, and on July 25, 1872, the
season being very late, there was a break-up in the ice sufficient
to allow them to sail, but being in a bay the ice was found thick
at the mouth, and the ship was soon so beset that it became neces-
sary to anchor to a floe, in latitude 80 2' N. They now drifted
helplessly until October 15th, when there was so much danger
from being nipped and the vessel crushed, that a considerable
quantity of provisions was thrown off the steamer onto the ice
as a precaution. At six o'clock in the afternoon of that day all
hands were at vrork throwing off packages, as the vessel was
already leaking badly, and h.r timbers were cracking under the
great pressure of ice about her. Suddenly, at ten o'clock at
night, while a gale was Mowing, the vessel was released and
blown out to sea, through a large rift, giving no one time to an-
ticipate such an accident ; thus several were left on broken bits of
ice struggling for their lives, while others were on the main floe,
710
THE WORLD S WONDERS.
wondering what had become of the vessel, which some thought
had sunk, so suddenly did she disappear in the darkness.
Fortnately, two boats were left on the floe, and with these,
when morning came, those on the small ice were rescued, and
then the long drifting on a shelterless shore of ice began. They
looked in vain for the Polaris to return to them, but she had been
irresistibly carried away to the shore of Greenland, as already
related in the summary of Arctic voyages.
The floe upon which Tyson and his party were now floating
HUTS ON THE ICE-FLOE.
was four miles in circumference, nearly circular, and was full of
hillocks and small lakes of fresh water, which had been formed
by the melting of ice during the short summer. To feed his
eighteen men, women and children, Capt. Tyson had only four-
teen cans of pemmican, eleven and a-half bags of bread, one
can of dried apples, and fourteen hams. On the following day
this large floe broke in two, separating the party from one of
their boats and six bags of bread of their original store of pro-
visions. They were now on a piece of ice not more than five
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 711
hundred feet in diameter, and this was gradually lessening from
grinding with other ice. Tyson now appointed hunters, as it
was possible to kill seals, which were their only hope of escape
from starvation ; these would furnish warm food and blubber-oil
to cook with. Three seals were killed October 18th, and on the
21st the lost boat and provisions were recovered. Igloos (huts
built of ice-blocks) were made sufficiently large to accommodate
half the party, by packing them in like herrings, while the other
half had to be content with their skins and sleeping bags, though
the comforts were shared in turn. They had a lamp with them,
which was extraordinary good fortune, for by it they were ena-
bled to warm their quarters and cook their food, though it was
not one of the most serviceable lamps which the Esquimaux use.
The ordinary lamp in use among the natives is made out of a
soft kind of stone, indigenous to the country ; it is hollowed out
like a shallow dish, with an inverted edge, on which they place
a little moss for wicking, which, when lighted, sucks up the oil
from the blubber : and this is all the fire they have in their cold
country, either for heating their huts or for cooking. To dry
their clothing, they put them in nets suspended over the lamp.
As day after day went by without killing any more seals, pro-
visions ran so low that Tyson had to establish a daily allowance,
which he doled out at the rate of eleven ounces of meat for each
grown person, and half that amount to each child. Capt. Tyson
gives a sad picture of their sufferings during this period, on the
occasion of a visit to the hut occupied by Hans and his family.
" On going into Hans' hut the other day, to see the sick boy, the
miserable group of children made me sad at heart. The mother
was trying to pick a few scraps of tried-out' blubber out of,
their lamp, to give to the crying children, Augustina is almost,
as large as her mother, and is twelve or thirteen years old.* She
is naturally a fat, heavy-built girl, but she looks peaked enough
now. Tobias is in her lap, or partly so, his head resting on her
as she sits on the ground, with a skin drawn over her. She
seemed to have a little scrap of something she was chewing on.
712 THE WOBLD'S WONDERS.
though I could not see that she swallowed anything. The little
girl, Succi, about four years old, was crying a kind of chronic
hunger whine and I could just see the baby's head in the mother's
hood, or capote. The babies have no clothing whatever, and are
carried about in this hood, which hangs down the mother's back,
like young kangaroos in the maternal pouch, only on the reversed
side of the body. All I could do was to encourage them a little.
I had nothing that I could give them to make them any more com-
fortable. 1 was glad, at least, to see that they had some oil left."
Two of their nine dogs were at length killed and eaten by the
ESQUIMAU JOE GOING FOR THE SEAL.
.now starving party, who were left in a yet more abject state by
the exhaustion of their originally small stock of blubber-oil .,
which wa.s needed for warmth, light, and cooking purposes. The
Jong, brooding darkness of Arctic night was upon them, when
,only during high-noon time was there even a short twilight, ren-
.dering objects dimly visible. Drifting away in the darkness,
without food, light or fuel, exposed to a constantly-freezing teni-
.perature, their condition was most pitiable.
November 21st, three seals were killed, and so ravenously hun-
gry were the men that they ate them raw, skin, hair, and all.
T?his lucky stroke of the hunters was a God-sentf to the people,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 713
who were upon the point of succumbing to starvation. But there
was another long spell of fasting to follow, broken on December
29th by another seal, which, being small, was eaten raw at one
meal, including the skin and intestines. No more seals were
killed for so long a time that all but two of the dogs were slaugh-
tered and devoured. After an absence of eighty-three days the
sun reappeared, aud though it brought little warmth, its rnys
cheered anew the drooping spirits of the starving and half-frozen
party.
One day in February, after the appearance of the sun, Esqui-
mau Joe discovered a seal on some young ice near the wretched
camp. The ice had been formed during the night,- and was not
strong enough to bear the weight of a man while remaining sta-
tionary, and yet too thick to force a boat through. It was a
dangerous experiment, but Joe decided to make an effort to cap-
ture the seal. Seating himself in his kyack, two of the men
gave him a vigorous push from the floe, and he went skimming
over the smooth ice toward the seal, like a boy on his sled. The
seal was asleep, and allowed the boat to glide close to him, when
Joe quickly dispatched it with his harpoon. Cut the most dan-
gerous part of the adventure was yet to be performed, for if the
kyack should break through the thin ice, it would be impossible
to get it out or to walk back to tho floe ; but by skillful manage-
ment he succeeded in shoving the frail boat in safety over the
dangerous ice, dragging the seal after him, which was quickly
devoured by the hungry people, v. .th many compliments to Joe
for his daring and successful hunt.
When March approached seals became more plentiful, and were
shot almost daily. Bears, also, were occasionally killed, for in
the latitude in which they were now drifting these animals are
both land and aquatic in their habits, and are often seen swim-
ming between ice-floes more than one hundred miles from land.
A BEAR HUNT Off THE FLOE.
ON the 28th of March, just after dark, Capt. Tyson heard a
noise outside the ice hut in which he and the Esquimaux lodged,
the other hut, in which the men lived, being a.e.w,feet distant. Joe,
714
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
the Esquimau who accompanied Capt. Hull on all his expeditions,
was preparing to retire, but on hearing the noise thought it was
the ice breaking up, and went out to see what the situation was.
He was not gone more than ten seconds before he came back,
pale and frightened, exclaiming, ' There is a bear close to my
kyack !' The kyack was within ten feet of the entrance to the
hut. Joe's rifle, and also Capt. Tyson's, were outside the latter
lying close to the kyack Joe's inside of it ; but Joe had his
pistol iu the hut. They both now crept cautiously out, and,
getting to the outer entrance, they could hear the bear distinctly
JOE AND HANS KILLING THE BEAR.
eating. There were several seal-skins and a good deal of blubber
lying around in all directions. Some of these skins were being
dried for clothing, and some were yet green. They could plainly
see his bearship. He had now hauled some of the skins and
blubber about thirty feet from the kyack, and was eating away,
having a good feast. Joe crept into the sailors' hut to alarm
them. While he was gone, Tyson crawled stealthily to his rifle,
but in taking it he knocked down a shot-gun standing by. The
bear heard it, but Tyson's rifle was already on him ; he growled,
Tyson pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go ; he pulled the
second and third time it. did not go, but Tyson. did,for.tlie.beAr,
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 715
now came for him. Getting in the hut he put another cartridge
in, and placing two reserves in his vest pocket, crept out again,
getting a position where he could see the animal, although it was
what might be called quite dark. The bear saw him, too, and
again faced him ; but this time, to Tyson's joy and his sorrow,
tho rifle-ball went straight to its mark. Joe now came out of the,
men's hut, and cracked both a rifle and pistol at him. The bear
ran about two rods, and fell dead. On skinning him in the morn-
ing, they found that the ball had entered the left shoulder, passed
through the heart, and out at the other side a lucky shot in the
dark I
Several other bears and seals were killed about this time, so
that there was no longer a lack of food, such as it was.
Joe and Hans, the Esquimaux hunters, had quite a contest,
one day, with a large bear on the ice, which they finally killed
with their spears, in native fashion. This is accomplished by
approaching close to the animal, and as it rears up to strike with
its paws, a sudden thrust of the spear into some vital part soon
ends the contest. But it is exceedingly dangerous sport, for the
bear frequently knocks the spear out of the hunter's hands, or
breaks it with a blow of his huge paw, and then the fate of the
poor hunter is sealed.
Food was now in abundance, but new dangers arose, for as
they drifted into a warmer temperature, the ice began to break
up, and they were in constant dread of their lives from drowning.
They had one boat left, the other having been broken up for
fuel, but a small boat could not live many minutes amid the
crushing and grinding cakes of ice tossed by an angry sea, as they
had to leap and scramble from one floe to another, the ones they
were drifting on sometimes breaking at their feet.
This dreadful state of affairs continued so long that the food
supply again ran short, there being no opportunity to recruit it.
April 15th and 16th Tyson made the following entry in his
journal :
" Some of the men have dangerous looks ; this hunger is dis-
turbing their brains. I cannot but fear that they contemplate
716
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
crime. After what we have gone through, I hope this company
may be preserved from any fatal wrong. We can and we must
bear what God sends without crime. This party must not dis-
grace humanity by cannibalism."
Some of the men had threatened to kill and eat the Esquimaux,
and the latter were in constant dread of that terrible fate ; but
jCapt. Tyson had determined that if an attack should be made
*upon them, he would stand by them and die with them. The
following night he writes :
A NIGHT OF HORROR.
" One more day got over without a catastrophe. The ice is
still the same. We keep an hour-watch now through the
night. The men are too weak to keep up long together.
Some one has been at the pemmican. This is not the first
time. I know the men ; there are three of them. They
have been the three principal pilferers of the party. I should
not blame them much for taking food, but of course all the
others will have less in consequence, We have but a few days'
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 717
provisions left. We came down still lower on our allowance this
morning. Rather weakening work, but it must be done to save
life in the end. The idea that cannibalism can be contemplated
by any human being troubles me very much."
April 28th was a day, or rather a night, which can never be
forgotten by Tyson or any of his party, for, from 9 p. M. to 7,
A. M., the whole night, each one was compelled to face a fury
and fight death with a nerve and endurance which only a des-
perate love of life could inspire. Resting on a small floe, a gale
came up, lashing the ocean into tempestuous billows that rolled
over them and swept away their tent, skins, and nearly every-
thing but the boat; this the men held on to with a death-grip,
for it was the only thing between them and destruction. All night
long they held the boat, which a hundred times was nearly dashed
from their weakened grasps by the mad waves, while they were
assailed by a battery of loose ice of all sizes, which bruised their
legs in a shocking manner ; but they bravely held on throughout
the night and until the storm abated, when all were bundled into
the boat and rowed away to a more secure floe, where they had
the extraordinary good fortune to kill a bear.
April 28th the joyful sight of a steamer burst upon their view,
but it was afar off, and vanished like fleeting hope in the dark-
ness, which was near. All the party were now embarked in the
boat, watches were posted, and there was an intense nervous
strain excited by the hope of seeing another vessel. In the after-
noon smoke was descried eight miles to the east, and soon a
steamer hove in sight. They pulled with a will toward the
vessel, until so beset with ice that they could go no further. They
landed on a small piece of ice, hoisted their colors, and fired three
volleys from the guns. The sound of three shots was wafted
back to them in response, and the vessel headed for them ; every-
one's heart is leaping with rapture, for rescue seems at hand,
but, like a will-o'-the-wisp, the ship changed her course and
faded away.
They were now in latitude 53 35' N., where they might expect
to see frequent sails, as fishing vessels are numerous off the Lab-
718
THE WORT.D'8 WOXTVRR8.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 719
rador coast, where they were now drifting. At 5 p. M., of April
30th, they were overjoyed by the near approach of a steamer,
pushing her way through a thick fog. The guns were instantly
fired, while the noise of the discharge was increased by a great
shout which they set up to attract attention. Being very near,
the ship's officers soon perceived the drifting party, and lying to,
sent out a boat, into which they were lifted and speedily trans-
ferred on board the steamer. It would be impossible to describe
the joy felt by Tyson and his fellow-sufferers at finding them-
selves in warm, comfortable quarters, feasting from a bounteous
table, and saved from the very jaw of a terrible death. The
vessel that rescued them was a sealer, the Tigress, commanded
by Capt. Bartlett, who returned with them to St. 'Johns, arriv-
ing there May 12th. The extraordinary character of this adven-
ture has passed into history as one of the greatest wonders of
shipwreck and endurance c For a period of 196 days they were
drifting on the ice-floes, during which time they traveled, by the
current, 2,000 miles. It is a story which almost surpasses belief,
yet true to the letter.
NIGHT IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.
DARKNESS is a condition of nature which we instinctively shun ;
it seems to curtain the world like a pall of death, or afford con-
cealment for hideous things ; horrible mirages of the brain, and
misty apparitions, which tradition has conceived and transmitted.
With our natural dread of twelve hours night succeeding a like
period of day, what must be the effect of an uninterrupted night
of nearly five months? Not clouds and shadows, but the deep
shades of changeless darkness, when the moon, in her phases,
is the only source of light, save the stars that twinkle like a frost-
setting gathering gleams from a setting sun.
Dr. Kane's Journal of November 7th reads: "The darkness
is coming on with insidious steadiness, and its advances can only
be perceived by comparing one day with its fellow of some time
hack. We still read the thermometer at noonday without a light,
and the black masses of the hills are plain for about five hours-
with their glaring patches of snow ; but all the rest is darkness.
720 TSE WO&LD'S WONDERS.
Lanterns are always on the spar-deck, and the lard-lamps never
extinguished below. The stars of the sixth magnitude shine out
at noonday. Our darkness has ninety days to run before we
shall get back again even to the contested twilight of to-day.
Altogether, our winter will have been sunless for one hundred
and forty days."
" December 15. We have lost the last vestige of our mid-day
twilight. We cannot see print, and hardly paper ; the fingers
cannot be counted a foot from the ej r es. Noonday and midnight
are alike, and, except a vague glimmer on the sky that seems to
define the hill outlines to the south, we have nothing to tell us that
this Arctic world of ours has a sun. In one week more we shall
reach the midnight of the year."
Later he writes : " The influence of this long, intense darkness
was most depressing. Even our dogs, although the greater part
of them were natives of the Arctic circle, were unable to with-
stand it. Most of them died from an anomalous form of disease,
to which, I am satisfied, the absence of light contributed as much
as the extreme cold."
The nervous disorder which destroyed several of his dogs has
been described in a previous chapter, but Kane affirms that there
were at least three cases of hydrophobia among them, which, he
believed, was produced by the protracted night.
While man is not so seriously affected by a long period of
darkness as are dogs, cats, and other domestic animals, he docs
not wholly escape, and frequently succumbs to a melancholia
which the Arctic night induces. To ward off this insidious dis-
ease, Polar explorers kaep their men busy, even if it is only play-
ing fox, leap-frog, or other active pastimes. Cards, checkers,
chess, and other games, serve also to occupy the mind, and thus
render the body less receptive to the influence of darkness. In
every respect an Arctic night is awful, and it tries the strongest
constitution, for, aside from scurvy, it is the most deleterious,
exhaustive influence with which Polar travelers have to contend.
Beyond the quarters where lie housed the men, there is no sound ;
the snow, falling soft as shadows, is the only moving thing in
WO&lb'S WONDERS ?21
apparent creation; if the stillness be broken by a halloo, no
echo comes back, and the spell remains yet undisturbed. So
perfectly quiet, lonesome, and weirdly stagnant does all the world
seem, that it weighs with a wonderful oppressiveness upon the
brain and soul alike, until a charnel house would appear more'
endurable, for in the presence of death the soul finds interest in
reflection ; spirit would at least b company there for chaotic
thoughts.
CHAPTER XXXVIH.
INCIDENTS OF AECTIC LIFE.
LIFE among the Esquimaux is peculiar. I have given a brief
description of their customs in a previous .apter, but there are
incidents to be met with from time to time which gradually dis-
close their character in a specific way. It is rarely pleasant to
record unpleasant things, yet to the end that a faithful and accu-
rate description be made, it is sometimes necessary.
Like all barbarous tribes, the Esquimaux have little or no
regard for their wives, or old people. Hunting being the sole
occupation with them, they value each other for valor and suc-
cess in procuring game. Aged people, too infirm for active ser-
vice, are treated with great cruelty, and are frequently aban-
doned and left to perish by their own children, though there is
no nation in which filial affection, for the males, is more pro-
nounced than among the Esquimaux when the parents are of a
vigorous age. The Esquimau women are entitled to the pity of
all Christendom, for their condition is that of the most oppres-
sive form of slavery. They are sold into the marriage bondage
at the age of twelve and fifteen years, and though their lot was
hard enough under the parental roof, it is doubly severe in mat-
rimony. They perform all the drudgery of camp life, carry
immense burdens when traveling, and their food is generally the
leavings of their lords' feasts. When in child-birth, they are
46
722
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
entirely abandoned and left to care for themselves, not even pro-
vided with food or fuel. The heartlessness of the Esquimau men
toward their women is well illustrated in the following incident,
described by Lieut. Schwatka :
THE NETCHILLIK AMBASSADRESS.
While the Schwatka Expedition was searching for relics of the
Sir John Franklin party, on reaching an inlet west of Richardson
Point, they came upon an encampment of Netchillik Esquimaux,
who are more combative than any other tribe found in the Arctic
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 723
regions, and are therefore generally in trouble, for which reason
they are extremely vigilant. Schwatka was anxious to open com-
munication with them, hoping thereby to learn something about
the lost explorers. A firing of guns brought the Esquimaux out
of their huts, and seeing a party of whites near their camp, they
quickly formed in line of battle. After forming, they sent out
an old woman toward Schwatka' s party, with the purpose of
testing whether the strangers were bent on hostilities; if they
should kill the old creature, the act would reveal their intentions,
but if she should be received with a friendly spirit, it would be
construed as a desire for amicable relations. After Schwatka
met the Netchilliks, he asked them why they sent an old woman
to him. " Oh," they replied, in effect, " if you had killed her
it would have been a small gain to us, for there would have been
one loss woman to care for, while if we had sent a man, and you
should have killeu him, it would have reduced our fighting strength
and proved a serious loss."
While the Esquimaux are usually reliable, peaceable, and hos-
pitable, three very commendable characteristics, they are certainly
as far removed from cleanliness as are pigs left to their own
resources in small quarters. "We can excuse them somewhat for
indulging foul habits of eating, on account of the precarious and
often limited diet upon which they are compelled to subsist.
Raising no vegetables, they are confined to flesh, which is obtained
entirely by hunting ; as a consequence, at times they are luxuri-
ating in great abundance, while again they have nothing. Every
particle of the animals which they kill, excepting the skins or
horns, is eaten, and that, too : with the keenest relish. It is true
that they will not eat a bear's liver, but purely from the fact that
it is poisonous, or, at least, it produces the most intense nausea,
which no amount of physics can relieve under a week of dosing.
The intestines of all animals are esteemed a delicacy, especially
when stuffed with tallow, and frozen. A dish made of the stom-
ach of a reindeer, or seal, and mixed with seal-oil, is the Esqui-
mau substitute for ice-cream. Lieut. Schwatka thus describes
the preparation of this confection :
724
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
" The confectioner was a toothless old hag, who mixed the in-
gredients in a wooden dish dirtier than anything I ever saw before,
and filled with reindeer hairs, which, however, were not conspic-
uous when well mingled with the half-churned grass and moss.
She extracted the oil from the blubber by crunching it between
her old gums, and spat it into the dish, stirring it with her fingers
LIEUT. SCHWATKA AND HIS MEN TRAVELING IN KING WILLIAM LAND.
until the entire mass became white, and of about the consistency
of cottage cheese. I ato some, merely to say I had eaten it, and
not to offend my entertainers, but I cannot say I enjoyed it."
A very clever reason may be assigned for the gluttonous,
improvident, character of the Esquimaux, and that is the neces-
sity for quick consumption of the flesh they obtain in order to
prevent its putrefaction. This statement appears unreasonable
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 725
to those unacquainted with a Polar climate, but it is none the less
a fact. Dr. Kane made the following observation in his diary of
February 24, 1854 :
"A bitter disappointment met us at our evening meal. The
flesh of our deer was nearly uneatable from putrefaction ; the
liver and intestines, from which I had expected so much, utterly
so. The rapidity of such a change, in a temperature as low as
minus 35, seems curious ; but the Greenlanders say that extreme
cold is rather a promoter than otherwise of the putrefactive pro-
cess. All the grass-eating animals have the same tendency, as is
well known to the butchers. Our buffalo-hunters, when they
condescend to clean a carcass, do it at once ; they have told me
that the musk-ox is sometimes tainted after five minutes' expo-
sure. The Esquimaux, with whom there is no fastidious sensi-
bility of palate, are in the practice at Yotlik and Horses' Head,
in latitude 73 40', even in the severest weather, of withdrawing
the viscera immediately after death and filling the cavity with
stones."
Another fact, hardly less interesting, is found in the serious
effect produced by the eating of ice or snow, the latter particu-
larly. Reference is made to this in a description of the suffer-
ings of Elison, of the Greely Expedition. In a Polar atmos-
phere there is such rapid evaporation of heat from the body that
the internal temperature is materially lowered, sometimes as much
as two degrees, while in the mouth there is a total absence of
caloric, so that snow or ice will not melt within the closed mouth.
During such time any attempt to quench thirst by eating snow is
followed by results almost identical with that of a piece of highly-
heated iron held in the mouth ; it burns so intensely that the
tongue is speedily reduced to a blistered and then raw condition,
just as if the covering, or papilla?, were entirely burned off. Its
effects upon the mucous membrane of the mouth are no less dis-
astrous. Many persons tortured by thirst have lain down their
lives in the Arctic regions after the most excruciating sufferings,
by not heeding the warnings given them against eating snow.
Capt. Hall, during his expedition to King Willtam Land, iu
726
THE WORLD S WONDEES,
TENNYSON'S MONUMENT.
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 727
1869, had some excellent brandy, x of so high a proof that it would
not freeze ; and one very cold night, upon camping after a long
day's journey, he thoughtlessly took a swallow of the liquor
without first warming it, and it burnt his mouth and stomach like
boiling water.
TENNYSON*S MONUMENT.
THE far fields of the extreme North are not always covered
with frozen incrustations of ice, snow, or monster bergs, nor do
these comprise all the wonders of the desolate Arctic regions.
The most picturesque portion of the North Greenland coast is
found between Cape George Russell and Dallas Bay, and along
this margin, which ascends precipitously to a height of more than
one thousand feet, some remarkable red sandstone formations
are noticeable. The seasons have acted on the different layers of
the cliff so as to give them the appearance of jointed masonry,
and the narrow line of greenstone at the top caps them with well-
simulated battlements.
The sloping rubbish at the foot of the coast wall leads up, like
an artificial causeway, to a gorge that glows at noonday with the
southern sun ; while everywhere else the rock stands out in the
olackest shadow. Just at the edge of this bright opening rises
the dreamy semblance of a castle, flanked with triple towers,
completely isolated and clearly defined. These monuments of
sandstone are known as the " Three Brothers." But there is
another, of still more striking symmetry and grandeur, in the
immediate vicinity, to which Dr. Kane gave the name, Tenny-
son's Monument, and which he has described as follows :
"A single cliff of greenstone, marked by the slaty limestone
that once encased it, rears itself from a crumbled base of sand-
stones, like the boldly-chiseled rampart of an ancient city. At
its northern extremity, on the brink of a deep ravine which has
worn its way among the ruins, there stands a solitary column, or
minaret-tower, as sharply finished as if it had been cast for the
Place Vedome. Yet the length of the shaft alone is four hun-
dred and eighty feet ; and it rises on a plinth or pedestal itself
two hundred and eighty feet high."
728
THE WORLD'S WONDEES.
DR. HAYES* EXPERIENCES WITH THE ESQUIMAUX.
DR. ISAAC I. HATES, surgeon of the Grinnell Expedition under
Dr. Kane, has given us some excellent pen-portraitures of the
Esquimaux, about whom he seemed never to tire of writing, be-
cause he found them to be such an uncommonly interesting people.
He describes a meeting with an Angekok (sorcerer or doctor)
and several Esquimaux a few miles above Cape Parry. When
they perceived the approach of the white men, every one set up
a howl of " Kabulenetl OomeakI" " White men and ships I"
THE ESQUIMAUX RUNNING TO MEET DR. HAYES.
and they all rushed down upon the ice-foot, gesticulating in the
wildest manner, to meet them. The old sorcerer was most con-
spicuous in his cries and friendly exclamations, until Hayes was
induced to row ashore and take the man of magic into the boat.
This courtesy was acknowledged by the Angekok crying out in
his childish pride to his less fortunate people, " Tek-kona! tek-
konat" " Look at me !" " look at me I"
Says Hayes: "The bay was covered with pane;ikc-icc, which
greatly retarded our progress ; and it was nightfall when we
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 72D
reacLed the settlement, a mile and a-half up the bay. The whole
colony eagerly assisted us in landing the boats and in carrying
up the cargo. About twenty of them, as if it were fine sport,
seized the painter and the gunwale, and endeavored to imitate us
in every motion ; breaking out into loud peals of laughter when-
ever they made a mistake. The subject which caused them the
most merriment was the Heave-oh I* of the sailors. This they
attempted to imitate ; and it was very amusing to observe their
efforts to chime in and keep time. They could not approach
nearer than I-e-u ! ' They afterward i-e-u-d everything, and
* I-e-u ! i-e-u ! ' rang through the settlement the livelong night."
.On the following day friendly intercourse was established, and
the Esquimaux were invited to share with Hayes some of his
food. Writing of their astonishment at the customs of white
people, he says :
"We gave them a share of our meal, offered them a taste of
coffee, and passed around some pieces of ship-biscuit. The bis-
cuit proved too hard for their teeth, and, until they saw us eat,
they could not divine its use. They laughed and nibbled at it
alternately, and then stuck it into their boots their general tem-
porary receptacle for all curiosities. They made wry faces over
the coffee, and a general laugh arose against the Angekok, who
persisted in taking a drink of the hot liquid. We had, altogether,
an amusing time with tluem. The evening being warm, we sat
upon the rocks for several hours ; and after supper, our men
lighted their pipes. This capped the climax of our strange cus-
toms. The Esquimaux seemed amazed, and looked first at us,
then at each other, then at us again. They evidently thought it
a religious ceremony, seeing how solemn were our faces. At
length I could not abstain from a smile ; the signal thus given
was followed by shouting, clapping of hands, and general confu-
sion among the troop. They ran about, puffing out their cheeks,
and imitating, as nearly as they could, the motions of the
smokers. Kalutunah, the chief, who was determined to try eve-
rything, begged to be allowed to smoke a'pipe. One being handed
to him, he was directed to take a long and deep inhalation ; this
730 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
accomplished, he desired no more, and his rueful face brought
the mirth of the party again upon him."
ATTACKED BY DOGS.
DR. HAYES fared well enough among the Esquimaux them-
selves, but he had a very narrow escape from a pack of their
dogs, which beset him. It is a common thing for them to keep
their dogs without food for two days, at the end of which time
they become so ravenously hungry as to take upon themselves
the nature of wolves. The dogs are tied to stakes by long traces,
made of seal-skin, which they sometimes eat. In the adventure
alluded to, Hayes was returning to the encampment from a visit
to his boats ; a furious snow-storm was prevailing, which almost
blinded him, so that he unconsciously came within reach of the
tied pack. The dogs set on him most savagely, and would un-
doubtedly have devoured him but for a long whip which fortu-
nately was within reach. With this he laid about him so vigor-
ously as to repel their attack, though not without receiving several
severe bites. A little child or disabled person is never safe among
Esquimau dogs, and Hayes mentions two instances, one of a
child, the other a woman, in which these dogs killed and devoured
their victims in the midst of a very considerable camp.
A DASHING ESQUIMAU WIDOW.
THERE are dashing widows, though extremely rare, among the
Esquimaux, for it is the usual custom with them to make the
funeral-baked meats furnish forth the wedding feast. Hayes,
however, was fortunate enough to see a dashing, that is to say,
vivacious, widow, though her attractions were somewhat marred
by the fact that she was neither young nor pretty, but she had a
" fellow" on her string nevertheless. The couple came to visit
Hayes' camp, she with an armful of frozen auks, and her lover
carrying a large chunk of walrus meat. With the courtesy be-
coming his sex, Dr. Hayes tendered the widow the use of his
cooking apparatus, which she politely declined, preferring to eat
her meat raw, but to show her appreciation for the friendly offers
made by Hayes, she proffered to share her small store of birds
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
731
and walrus meat with the men ; singling out the astronomer of
the expedition, who sat next to her, .she first chewed a piece t)f
frozen bird meat, and then presented to him the well-masticated
morsel, which, however, he declined, upon the plea of a weak
stomach. Hayes continues the description of this characteristic
incident as follows :
"So great a courtesy she did not expect would be declined
under any pretense, and she seemed quite mortified ; but nothing
daunted, she passed the lump over to me; but no, I could not
AN ESQUIMAU DANDY THE WIDOW'S "FELLOW
oblige her. With quite a desponding face she crossed the floor
and tried Whipple. Not meeting with success in that quarter,
she came buck to Mr. Bonsall, who was already quite a philoso-
pher in making his tastes subservient to his physical wants. ' Now
for it, Bonsall ! ' cried Petersen. These words of encouragement
had the effect to call forth a hearty laugh on all sides ; which,
being misunderstood by the widow, she hastily withdrew her
offering of friendship, bolted it herself, and in offended silence
went on with her work of skinning birds and swallowing them.
732 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
We all felt that henceforth we should have an enemy in the
widow.
" This widow greatly interested me. She ate birds for con-
science' sake. Her husband's soul had passed into the body of a
walrus as a temporary habitation, and the Angekok hud prescribed
that, for a certain period, she should not eat the flesh of this ani-
mal ; and since, at this time of year, bear and seal were scarce,
she was compelled to fall back upon a small stock of birds which
had been collected during the previous summer."
AN ESQUIMAU SLEDGE.
CONSIDERING the means at hand, there are few things that ex-
hibit greater skill and ingeniousness than an Esquimau sledge. It
is constructed wholly of bone and leather, as follows : The vun-
ners, which are of bone, are square behind and rounded upward
in front, usually about five feet in length, three-fourths of an
inch thick, and seven inches in height. These runners are not of
solid bone, but composed of many pieces, of various shapes and
sizes, most wondrously fitted or spliced together by means of
seal-skin strings ; so extremely nice are these fittings that but for
the strings the interstices would hardly be perceptible, while the
joinings are as strong as if the entire runner were one piece of
solid bone. One very remarkable fact connected with the making
of the runner is that each piece of bone is cut into the required
shape by means of stone implements ; therefore the necessary
grinding to make such nice joints must require constant labor for
many months. The runners are shod with ivory obtained from
walrus tusks ; this also must be ground flat and very smooth, and
the corners squared with stones. This ivory sheathing is fastened
to the runner by a seal string looped through counter-sunk holes,
but as it, too, is in many pieces, the joining work is even more
deftly done than in the composition of the main slab, the surface
being left as uniform and smooth as glass.
The runners stand about fourteen inches apart, fastened to-
gether by bone cross-pieces, tightly lashed by seal strings ; those
pieces are usually either the femur bone of the bear, antlers of
the reindeer, or ribs of the norwhal. Two walrus ribs are lashed
WORLD'S WONDERS. 733
to the after end of each runner for standards, and braced by
pieces of reindeer antlers secured across the top. Thus the whole
isjso perfect and strong that such a sledge can stand enormous
strains, and may be tumbled recklessly over the roughest ice,
heavily loaded, without fear of breakage.
The construction of an entire new sledge is a thing almost un-
known among the Esquimaux. Repairs are made when any part
becomes broken or decayed, but they are handed down from gen-
eration to generation, and the origin of some of them antedates
tradition.
Upon such a vehicle an Esquimau trusts himself for long jour-
AN ESQUIMAU SLEDGE.
neys in quest of game, being drawn generally by seven dogs,
which receive their cue from his inspiriting words, " Kat kal
Ka! Tea I" which sets them bounding over ice-fields. When he
gets among hummocks he lightens his load by walking, and
pushes to help the dogs tug their heavy burden up glacial heights ;
sometimes the sledge breaks away and tumbles pell-mell down
the ice crags, but it is rarely injured, and the load is so well
strapped on as to resist displacement even under the strongest
shocks.
A LIVELY-SMELLING FEAST.
DR. HAYES had a queer experience with a party of Esquimaux
while encamped at Netlik, which he describes in a facetious vein.
734 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
His provisions had run very low, and to keep from absolute star-
vation he had to open trade with the neighboring Esquimaux,
with whom he managed to barter knives, needles, pieces of wood
and iron for meat, but it was not always that even these highly-
prized articles would obtain food, on account of its extreme
v scarcity. He was occupying a hut with fourteen companions,
and these fairly crowded it to its capacity, nevertheless, when an
Esquimau hunter, with wife and two children, chanced to visit
him, Hayes courteously invited the family to share his meagre
quarters. With this increase of occupants, the temperature in
the hut rose from 29 to 60, and the ice walls melted so that
droppings of soot-black water soon covered the entire party, and
rendered their condition extremely dis/igreeable. During this
friendly visit of the hunter and his family, another Esquimau
brought to the hut a walrus flipper, weighing nearly fifty pounds,
and several lumme birds ; he also brought with him the dashing
widow already referred to, with the intention of having a joyous
feast, for the Esquimaux think of very little save hunting and
eating. Dr. Hayes describes the happy scene in the following
felicitous manner:
** If the reader will follow me into the hut he will see there a
succession of tableaux which may be novel to him. The two
above-mentioned hunters sit facing each other, and facing the
lump of frozen meat which lies upon the ground. Kalutunah
has the sentimental widow at his left, and the visiting hunter has
his wife at his right. The children are crawling about over the
brecks (raised platforms of ice-blocks, used for sleeping pur-
poses) ; the rest of us are mixed up indiscriminately, white men
and red men ; some sitting on the edge of the breck ; some lying
at full length upon it ; all leisurely eating leisurety, I say, for
the meat is so icy that it is chipped off with difficulty, and we
obtain it only in little crisp pieces, which make the teeth ache
with cold.
' ' An hour later scarcely any impression had been made upon the
walrus flipper ; but the warmth of the hut had partially thawed
it, and the knives penetrated it more readily, while strips were cut
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
735
off. These now fly about in all directions. Everybody has one.
The strip may be three inches, or it may be a foot in length :
its width two inches, and its thickness one inch. The feeder
takes one end of it in his mouth, and seizing, between his
736 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
teeth, a convenient portion, he cuts it off close to his lips, and
then swallows it as quickly as possible, and repeats the process.
Having taken two or three bites of meat he then takes one of
blubber. The rod men have taught the white men how to flourish
the knife, and what is the proper motion to insure safety to the
lips. The walrus meat is very juicy, and is also very dark. The
faces and hands of all of us are covered with blood ; and but for
the beards on the faces of some of us, it would be difficult to
distinguish the civilized men from the savages. The children
have each a strip of beef and blubber, and are disposing of these
equally with the best of us. The seven-year-old stands with his
back against the post, straddling across one corner of the flipper,
rapidly shortening a slice which his father has given him. His
body is naked to the waist, as, indeed, are the bodies of all our
guests. His face and his hands are red with the thick fluid which
he squeezes from the spongy meat, and which streams down his
arms, and drops from his chin upon his distended abdomen, over
the hemispherical surface of which it courses, leaving crimson
stains behind.
" Still an hour later, and there is nothing left upon the floor
but a well-picked bone ; and we have wiped our hands with the
bird-skins which the widow has torn from the Uimine of which
she has made her supper. As usual, she had her feast alone,
and, with little assistance, she has consumed six birds, each as
large as a young pullet.
" We have now established the most friendly relations. Mr.
Sountag sits behind me, questioning one of the hunters about
astronomy. Godfrey is amusing the women and children with a
negro song, keeping time with an imaginary banjo. I am seated
behind Kalutunah, and we are teaching each other scraps of our
widely-different languages. I try to get the savage to articulate
yes and no, and to teach him of what Esquimau words they are
equivalents. He pronounces ees and noe, after several efforts,
and says inquiringly, ' tymaT (right?) I nod my head and
say tyma, to encourage him ; whereupon he laughs heartily at
iny bad pronunciation of the word."
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 737
)r. Hayes then tried to teach his barbaric pupil how to count,
but soon found that the Esquimau could not sound the " th" in
three, and was so inapt in other ways that the effort was futile.
These people have no conception of figures, and do not enumer-
ate above ten ; any number beyond that is indicated by a general
name, so that there is no difference in their expression of the
number twelve and a thousand.
ESQUIMAU LEGEND OF THE SUN AND MOON.
THE Esquimaux have original ideas about the sun, moon, and
stars ; the latter serve them as time-pieces, for so closely have
they studied their movements that the time of night is reckoned
by them with great accuracy. They regard all the bright lumi-
naries of the sky as spirits of the departed, but the sun and
moon are brother and sister. The story of their origin is told in
the following strange legend :
In a distant country there once lived an unmarried woman who
had several brothers. Being once at a festive gathering, she felt
herself suddenly and violently seized by the shoulders. This she
iwell knew was a declaration of love, for such is the custom of
her people ; but who the man was she could not discover, since
the hut was quite dark. There being to her knowledge no men
in the village, beside her brothers, she at once suspected that it
must be one of these. She broke from him, and, running away,
smeared her hand with soot and oil. Upon returning to the hut
she was seized again, and this time she blackened one side of the
face of her unknown lover. A lighted taper being brought soon
afterward, her suspicions were confirmed. Seizing the taper, she
now ran out of the hut, and bounded over the rocks with the
fleetness of a deer. Her brother lighted a taper and pursued
her, but his light soon went out, yet he still continued the chase,
and, without having overtaken her, they came to the end of the
earth. Determined not to be caught, the girl then sprang out
into the heavens. Her brother followed her, but he stumbled
while in the act of springing, and, before he could recover him-
self, the object of his pursuit was far away from him. Still
bent upon gaining the prize, he continued the race ; and from
43
738 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
that time until this the sun has been going around and around,
and the moon around and around after her, trying still to catch
her. The bright light of the sun is caused by the taper which
the maiden carries ; while the moon, having lost his taper, is
cold, and could not be seen but for his sister's light. One side
of his face being smeared with soot, is therefore black, while the
other side is clean ; and he turns one side or the other toward
the earth as suits his pleasure.
That cluster of stars in " Ursa Major," which we designate as
" the dipper," they call a herd of " took-took," (reindeer.) The
stars of "Orion's belt," seen faraway in the south, are seal-
hunters who have lost their way. The " Pleiades" are a pack of
dogs in pursuit of a bear. Other clusters and other stars have
other names. The aurora borealis is caused by the spirits at
play with one another. Rain is the overflowing of the heavenly
lakes on the ever-green banks of which live the happy spirits who
have taken up their abode in the skies, where sunshine and sum-
mer are eternal. These happy spirits have abundance to eat with-
out the trouble of catching it.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
M'CLINTOCK'S SEARCH.
THE search for the Sir John Franklin party has occupied such
a large amount of public attention in both hemispheres, that it
is next in interest to the discovery of the Pole itself. A sum-
mary of the several expeditions sent out from England and
America for the search or relief of Franklin and his men has
been given in an earlier part of this book. Of these the most
important, because it obtained the greatest success, was an expe^
dition commanded by Capt. F. L. McClintock, who sailed from
England, in the steamer Fox, July 2, 1857, one-half the expenses
of the expedition being borne by Lady Franklin.
McClintock did not go into winter quarters with his ship until
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 739
October 28th, 1858, when he selected Port Kennedy for his per-
manent station, and then started by sledge for King William's
Land. About |March 1st, following, while encamped very near
the position of the magnetic pole, he saw four Esquimaux ap-
proaching in a friendly manner, and upon meeting them received
the first intimation of the fate which had befallen Franklin's
party. These Esquimaux conducted him to their village, several
miles distant, and entertained him en route with information con-
cerning the lost explorers. One of the Esquimaux wore a naval
button sewed upon his skin coat, and in reply to inquiries freely
confessed that the button, together with many other things, was
obtained from the bodies of several white men who had starved
to death upon an island in Repulse Bay. One of them counted
upon his fingers seven, representing the number of bodies he had
seen.
Ten miles further travel brought McClintock to Cape Victoria,
where the four Esquimaux built for him and his men a commodi-
ous snow-hut, occupying little more than half an hour in its con-
struction, and here he was visited by nearly fifty more Esquimaux,
who came to barter relics of Franklin's party for knives and
needles. In this exchange McClintock secured six silver spoons
and forks, a silver medal, part of a gold chain, several buttons,
and pieces of wood taken from the wi;eck of the boats belonging
to the vessel in which Franklin had sailed. The Esquimaux told
him that one of the vessels had been crushed in the ice and sunk,
but they did not know what had become of the other. McCliu-
tock, writing of this traffic, says: *' Esquimau mothers carry
their infants on their backs within their large fur dresses, and
where the babes can only be got at by pulling them out over the
shoulder. Whilst intent upon my bargaining for silver spoons
and forks belonging to Franklin's expedition, at the rate of a
few needles or a knife for each relic, one pertinacious old dame,
after having obtained all she was likely to get from me for her-
self, pulled out her infant by the arm, and quietly held the poor
little creature (for it was perfectly naked) before me in the
breeze, the temperature at the time being 60 below freezing
740 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
point ! Petersen informed me that she was begging for a needle
for her child. I need not say I gave it one as expedition sly as
possible ; yet sufficient time elapsed before the infant was again
put out of sight to alarm me considerably for its safety in such
a temperature. The natives, however, seemed to think nothing
of what looked to me like cruel exposure of a naked baby."
A GHASTLY DISCOVERT.
McCLiNTOCK returned to his ship after a week spent among
the natives referred to, in order to increase his provisions, that
he might be prepared to proceed further north and follow up the
interesting clue he had obtained. In April, 1859, he loaded sev-
eral sledges, increased his foie, and started again for the head
of King William's Land. In latitude 70 30' N. he met with two
Esquimau families, numbering twelve persons. From these he
purchased a file, and a ship cutlass, besides seeing several other
things that had belonged to the Franklin party. These natives
also told him that they had seen one of the Franklin ships sink,
while the other was driven upon the shore, where she was broken
up, and from this latter vessel they had obtained the relics. The
natives also declared that the men on both vessels had escaped,
and rowed away in two boats up a " large river," to an island on
which their bones were afterward found. The largo stream
proved to be the Great Fisk River, which McClintock followed,
and on May 24th came upon a human skeleton partly exposed,
with a few fragments of clothing still adhering to it ; but there
was nothing found by which the body could be identified. This
skeleton was convincing proof to McClintock that he was now on
the route traveled by the Franklin party in their retreat, when,
as had been told him by an old Esquimau woman, the white men
had fallen down one after another and died on the march. Two
days later a cairn was found in which were deposited the records
of the Franklin party, with many relics, evidently abandoned
because they could be carried no further.
On May 30th a large boat was found, 28 feet long and 7 feet
3 inches wide, which had been built at the Woolwich dockyard ;
in this boat were two skeletons, one of a spare young man ; the
THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
741
other of a large, middle-aged man. They were in opposite ends
of the boat, and not entire, as portions of the lower extremities
had been displaced, probably by wolves. Several articles lay
within the boat, including among other less valuable things, five
watches and two double-barreled guns one barrel in each loaded
and cocked standing muzzle upward against the boat's side.
There was also a great quantity of clothing ; eight pairs of boots
of various kinds, and a number of silk handkerchiefs. In addi-
DISCOVERY OF THE BOAT AND SKELETONS.
tion to these, there were towels, soap, sponges, tooth-brushes,
hair-combs, gun-covers, twine, nails, saws, files, bristles, wax-
ends, powder, bullets, shot, cartridges, needles, knives, slow-
matches, bayonet scabbards, sheet-lead, a large quantity of sil-
ver-ware, and numberless o#ier things, enough dead weight to
break down the strength^wf any sledge crew.
Capt. McClintock's surmises concerning these men are thus
expressed by him: "Of the many men, probably twenty or
742 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
thirty, who were attached to this boat, it seemed most strange
that the remains of only two individuals were found, nor were
there any graves upon the neighboring flat land ; indeed, bearing
in mind the season at which these poor fellows left their ships, it
should be remembered that the soil was then frozen hard, and
the labor of cutting a grave very great indeed. A little reflection
led me to satisfy my own mind, at least, that the boat was return-
ing to the ships ; and in no other way can I account for two men
having been left in her, than by supposing the party were unable
to drag the boat further, and that these two men, not being able
to keep pace with their shipmates, were therefore left by them
supplied with such provisions as could be spared to last until the
return of the others from the ship with a fresh stock."
Though McClintock continued the search with great persis-
tency, he could never come upon any other bodies. Several
cairns were found, in one of which he discovered a pile of cloth-
ing four feet high. The Dockets in these were all searched, but
nothing was found.
It is a remarkable circumstance that when, in 1830, Sir James
Ross discovered Point Victory, he named two points of land,
then in sight, Cape Franklin and Cape Jane Franklin, respect-
ively. Eighteen years afterward Franklin's ships perished within
sight of these headlands.
Capt. McClintock returned to England September 23, 1859,
and for his success was knighted, besides being received by his
countrymen generally with the most generous demonstrations.
CAPT. HALL DISCOVERS THE LOST VESSELS.
IT will be remembered that Capt. Hall was a great enthusiast
on Arctic exploration, and that through Congressional assistance
and aid from English friends, he started from New London, Con-
necticut, in July, 1864, to continue the search so hopefully and
encouragingly prosecuted by Sir. Francis McClintock.
In April, 1866, while seeking a passage across Colville Bay,
near Cape Beaufort, Hall discovered four Esquimaux in the dis-
tance, sealing. He was much concerned lest these strangers
should prove to be ee-ne-mee-utes, who are more hostile than
THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 743
the other Esquimau tribes, being, in fact, highwaymen dangerous
to meet. As a measure of precaution, Hall unloaded one of his
sledges, and sent it back for reinforcements ; these arriving, he
advanced toward the strangers, until coming near he was rejoiced
to find them friendly Innuits. A snow igloo was speedily built
for Hall, who then received the scores of Esquimaux who now
surrounded him. From these he obtained, through barter, some
spoons which had
been given a native
by Capt. Crozier of
the Erebus. A sil-
ver watch-case and
other relics of the
Franklin party were
purchased of the
DRIFTING TO DEATH THE LAST SURVIVORS OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION.
Esquimaux, some of whom acknowledged that they had been on,
board Sir John Franklin's vessels. Two of the older natives a
man and his wife said they had camped along-side of Franklin
during one spring and summer, and described him so well as to
leave no doubt that they told the truth. They spoke of him in
the highest terms ; that he was always hospitable, sharing his
provisions liberally with tljem ^ antf, was. so good-natured as to t?.
ajways laughing.
744 THE WORLD'S WONDERS.
The old man and his wife agreed in saying that the ship on
board of which they had often seen Franklin was overwhelmed
with heavy ice in the spring of the year. While the ice was
slowly crushing it, the men all worked for their lives in getting
out provisions ; but, before they could save much, the ice turned
the vessel down on its side, crushing the masts and breaking a
hole in her bottom, and so overwhelming her that she sank at
once, and had never been seen again. Several men at work in
her could not get out in time, and were carried down with her
and drowned. On this account Crozier's company had died of
starvation, for they had not time to get the provisions out of her.
Crozier and one other white man the latter called " Nar-tar"
(steward) started and went toward Great Fish or Back's River,
saying they were going there on their way home. That was the
last they saw of them, but they heard of them some time after
from a Kin-na-pa-too, who said he and his people heard shots or
reports of guns of strangers somewhere near Chesterfield Inlet.
On getting the Innuits to try to pronounce the word " doctor,"
they invariably said " nar-tar." This made Hall think that the
white man with Crozier was some one called " doctor" perhaps
Surgeon MacDonald, of Franklin's ship, the JSrebus.
Another ship was spoken of as having been seen near Ook-
goo-lik, which was in complete order, having three masts, and
four boats hanging at the davits whale-ship like. For a long
time the Innuits feared to go on board ; but on the report by one
of them that he had seen one man on the vessel alive, many of
the natives visited it, but saw nothing of the man. They then
rummaged everywhere, taking for themselves what they wanted,
and throwing overboard guns, powder, ball and shot.
At an interview with the mother of Too-shoo-art-thar-iu , whcse
son saw Crozier on the island of Ook-goo-lik, Hall was told that
during the previous summer or winter, the Innuits of Ook-goo-
lik had found two boats with dead white men in them the boats
on sledges ; and that an Esquimau then had one of the sledges.
This information excited Hall very much with an eager desire
to go at once to the place where the stranded vessel was reported
THE WOKLD'S WONDEKS. 745
to be lying, but he could induce none of the natives to accom-
pany him. They represented that Ook-goo-lik had become an
exceedingly dangerous locality, by reason of a vendetta then
waging between two Esquimau tribes growing out of the stealing
of a woman. While trying to prevail upon the friendly natives
to assist him in reaching Cape Victoria, Hall saw two Esquimaux
of a different tribe approaching. These were the avaunt couriers
of a considerable company which would arrive on the following
day. The strangers were anxious to engage in a wrestling match
with some of Hall's men, but a friendly woman quietly advised
him that the two strangers were intent upon murder ; that in
their mittens they had each concealed a sharp-pointed bone, with
which to strike their adversaries near the eye, producing a death-
blow. Hall was now convinced that no good would follow the
visit of the strangers, when their force should be increased by
fresh arrivals, and not being able to continue his journey toward
King William's Land without more men, he retreated back to
Repulse Bay, his winter quarters, with the intention of renewing
his efforts to reach Cape Victoria in the following spring.
The chief reason of Hall's failure to continue on to Cape Vic-
toria, after reaching the boundary of King William's Land, was
owing to the dread the Pelly Bay natives, who accompanied him,
had of the See-ne-meeW
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