Volume 1813
Georges Dodds'
The Ape-Man: his Kith and Kin
A collection of texts which prepared the advent of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Presents
http://www.erbzine.com/mag18/buel1a.htm
Heroes of the Dark Continent . . .
J.W. Buel

Coincident with the purpose which Bennett had thus formed was his determination to appoint Henry M. Stanley, who had at the time a roving commission as correspondent of the Herald, commander of the expedition. This selection was not made without a thorough knowledge of his peculiar qualifications to take charge of so important as well as dangerous undertaking, his fitness having been proved by his execution of other commissions of only secondary responsibility, where masterly abilities were absolutely necessary. A brief biographical sketch will better explain what special qualities and hardy experience he possessed.

Stanley has been regarded as an American explorer, but he is an American only by adoption, having been born in Wales, near Denbigh, in 1840. His parentage was obscure, but his real name is known to be John Rowlands; and it was under this name that at the tender age of three years he was sent to the poor-house at St. Asaph. Whether his parents were living at this time, too poor to care for him, or dead, he, himself, does not know; but in either event his patrimony was certainly that of extreme poverty. He remained at the almshouse of St. Asaph ten years, during which time he was given such advantages of schooling as the institution afforded, which is said to have been considerable. So well did he improve his opportunities that upon his own request he left the poor-house and directly after engaged as a teacher at Mold, in Flintshire; but after a year's experience, not entirely profitable, he shipped as cabin boy on a vessel bound for New Orleans. Arriving at that port he soon found employment with a merchant named Henry M. Stanley, whose name he adopted and with whom he remained until his benefactor's death, at the beginning of the civil war. Immediately after this sad event Stanley enlisted in the Confederate Army, but was directly taken prisoner. Securing a parole he then volunteered in the United States Navy and afterwards served as ensign on the iron-clad Ticonderoga. Before the war was ended, however, he secured a discharge and became a war correspondent of the St. Louis Democrat, with which paper he continued for a considerable while after the war, being appointed as correspondent to accompany the Indian Peace Commission that settled the Sioux Indian troubles and located that tribe in the north-west, in 1866.

In the mean time, besides his travels in the far east, Stanley represented the Herald as correspondent with the British expedition sent to Abyssinia to obtain redress from King Theodore for outrages committed upon English subjects. A brief description of the war which followed will be interesting, as well as germane to the general subject of this work, as it reflects, in a degree, the character of the people with whom Chinese Gordon had to deal, as will be thereafter related.

The events which led to a declaration of war, and the tragedies therewith connected, may be briefly described as follows: Between the periods of 1831 and 1855, Abyssinia was visited by a number of explorers, who returned to their respective countries with considerable knowledge of the kingdom, and which served to increase popular interest that had first been excited by the romances about Prester John, as already explained. This public interest prompted the appointment of Walter Plowden as counsel to Abyssinia by the British Government. About this time (1848) there was an internecine war waging between the predatory followers of Lij Kasa (latterly King Theodore) and the queen dowager, who, however, was acting as regent of her infant son, Ras Ali, in the government of the Dembea district. In this war, which Kasa waged for title and rulership, he was successful, and secured, as a concession, not only the governorship of the district, but also a wife in the person of the daughter of Ras Ali of Amhara, the de-facto Governor of Central Abyssinia. His ambition, however, not being fully gratified, a year after his marriage Kasa began a war, upon some frail pretence, against his father-in-law, whom he easily drove out of office, and then following his success with a subjugation of the other chiefs, in 1855 found himself absolute master of the whole country, and was crowned king of the kings of Ethiopia,. taking the new name of Theodore.

Plowden, and another Englishman, named Bell, continued to reside in Abyssinia until 1860, when they were killed, as some assert, by King Theodore himself, but others say by insurgents in an emeute that came near plunging the entire country into another war. In 1862 England appointed Capt. Cameron as Plowden's successor, who landed in due time at Massowa with presents for the king. Though Theodore was not averse to the new appointee, he desired a recognition in the character of a representative at the English court, and accordingly sent a messenger bearing a letter containing a request for such representation to that country. England, however, treated the request with such discourtesy as to even refuse to make any reply thereto, following a precedent set by France the year previous, to which a like letter had been dispatched. Theodore was so incensed at this indignity that in November, 1863, he ordered the missionaries in the Dembea district thrown into prison; and in January following Captain Cameron and his suite were similarly seized, and, being first subjected to many barbaric tortures, were confined in the prison at Gondar, but soon after were removed to Magdala. [The suicide of King Theodore]
 

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 canvas substituted, as a much lighter material and less liable to leakage or rupture, being intended only 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.

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 centre 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 departing 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 expedition to Bagamoyo was on the point of leaving, it was discovered that Farquhar and Shaw were missing; a long search finally revealed them in a beastly state of intoxication at one of the grog-shops in a quiet corner of the town, and they had to be led down to the boat.

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 necessary to construct a bridge by felling trees and [Engaging porters at Bagamoyo] covering them with grass. Further on the river had to be crossed, which was effected, after much labor, in one frail canoe, hollowed out of an immense tree.

After the process of ferrying was fairly begun, Stanley amused himself for a while shooting at the many hippopotami that infested the stream, but as he used a No. 44 Winchester, so little execution was done that he appeared to be less amused than the huge creatures whose thick hides readily deflected the bullets that struck them.

After making a crossing of the Kingani, the expedition came to a village called Rosako, where camp was made, but peace and rest was alike disturbed by the demonstrative curiosities of the natives, especially the women, who added impertinence to their surprise, and made most shocking exhibitions of their disgusting nakedness. The route which the expedition had now entered upon [Affectionate curiosity of Rosako women] to reach Ugogo was a new one, over which no white man had ever before passed, so that the rudeness of the natives was somewhat excusable; but Stanley was so annoyed at length that he turned loose a watch dog which he had brought with him from Bombay, to disperse the crowds that surrounded his tent, and a most effective expedient it proved to be.
 

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; on the contrary, they seemed imbued with the philosophic jollity of the happy servant of Martin Chuzzlewit. Except 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 themselves, their weight was not insupportable. [A belle 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 fortified 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 attractive brothers are content with such adornments as dingy cloths and split ears. A more comical picture is seldom presented than one of these highly-dressed females with the magnificent developments already noted, viewing herself in a looking-glass, or 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 women in handling this pestle forms a rare and ludicrous picture.

The Sultana, or ruler of this African city, was 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 ascendancy over fugitive slaves, and was chosen a leader among them. Fleeing from justice, which awaited him at the hands of the Zanzibar Sultan, he arrived in Ukami, and here he commenced a career of conquest, the result of which was the acquisition of an immense tract of fertile country. On its most desirable site, [City of Simbamwenni] with the river flowing close under the wall, 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 Simbamwenni, 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 Bag-amoyo to Simbamwenni 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 thorough system of drainage had been carried out, would not be attended with any more discomfort than generally follows upon the occupation of new land. The temperature at this season during the day never exceeded eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. The nights were pleasant -- too cold without a pair of blankets for covering."

Five miles further on, a cook belonging to the expedition was arrested for stealing. This being his fourth offence, Stanley ordered him to be flogged with a cowhide over his jacket, a punishment 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 disappeared in the jungle. Stanley knew that the man must perish if he really attempted to travel to Zanzibar, and supposing he would come back, 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 articles down while going to a stream for water, and upon returning 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 they 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 shiek 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 to pieces. He could go to the top of that mountain, 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 left, 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." [Stanley crossing the inundated savannah]

These exaggerated reports of Stanley's power produced a good effect, for the soldiers were released, their arms and the donkey 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 committed on his men, but he was now so far advanced that he could not afford to turn back and obtain satisfaction. But the runaway cook was not found, nor were any tidings of him, good or bad, ever obtained.

On the following day another part of the swamp was reached, which was five miles across and from one to four feet deep; 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 from 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 suffering. It was a delightful place, most fortuitously reached, for another day in the swamps would have, no doubt, destroyed the expedition.

Farquhar, who had charge of the fourth caravan, had preceded Stanley two days, but he sent back word to Reheuneko that all but one of his donkeys had died and his provisions were almost exhausted. Upon learning this Stanley pushed on to Lake Ugombo, where he met Farquhar and found him in a most pitiable condition, his feet and limbs being swollen to frightful proportions from elephantiasis, which made it almost impossible to move about even in his tent. But this affliction was largely the result of his inordinate dissipation, while the exhaustion of his supplies was likewise attributable to his neglect of duty, due to drunkenness. Shaw was no more reliable, and to his worthlessness he added insolence, which Stanley was finally compelled to rebuke by knocking him down. Smarting under this punishment and humiliation, on the following night he attempted to assassinate Stanley, the bullet from his rifle passing through the pillow on which Stanley was resting his head. Being unable, as well as indisposed, to move further, Farquhar, at his request, was left at a village in the Ugogo country, with plenty of supplies and in charge of a kind old man.

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 one village to another, which are in immediate 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. "Hitherto," says Stanley, "I had compared myself to a merchant of Bagdad, travelling among the Kurds of Kurdistan, selling his wares of Damascus silk, kefiyehs, etc.; but now I was compelled to lower my standard, and thought myself not much better than the monkey in the zoological collection 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 Sheik Thani, always worldly wise, said, 'Heed them not; they are dogs who bite besides barking.'"

A camp was made, and negotiations with the natives soon began. 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, watermelons, musk-melons, cucumbers, and many other kinds of vegetables. But the great Sultan of Mvumi, or ruler of Ugogo, was a most extortionate old relic of Arabic cupidity and autocracy, and compelled Stanley to pay a large tribute of cloth and beads for the privilege of crossing his country.

"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 gripping the rowdiest of them by the neck, and before he could recover 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 vituperation and abuse, in expressing which they were peculiar. Approaching in manner to angry tom-cats, they jerked their words with something of a splitting hiss and a half bark, and spitting at my legs. The ejaculation, as near as I can spell it phonetically, was 'hahcht,' uttered in a shrill crescendo tone. [Impertinent curiosity of the Wagogo] They paced backward and forward, asking themselves, 'Are the Wagogo to be beaten like this by 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 braggarts found it convenient to move to respectful distances from the irritated Musungu."

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 Winchester, with thirteen shots in the magazine, was ready and at the shoulder, but he waited to see the arrow fly before pouring the 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 explanation and the mob came back in greater numbers than before, 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 [The chief teaching his subjects manners] 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.

The Arab governor of Unyanyembe, Sayd bin Salim, received Stanley in a most hospitable manner and with delightful courtesy, which did not relapse during the three months that he was compelled, by sickness and a war which was at the time being prosecuted by a native chief named Mirambo against the [Only a whiff of ammonia] Arabs, to remain in Unyanyembe. This interval also gave Stanley time to reorganize a new force, of which he stood greatly in need, because of the insubordination of a large part of his original escort.

The public highway to Ujiji was rendered very dangerous to travellers by Mirambo's soldiers, who were in ambush in many places along the route watching for Arab troops and caravans, so that Stanley very prudently decided to proceed by a long circuit to the south-west, which, though it presented many difficulties, was at least secure. Accordingly, on the 20th of September, the expedition set forward again, but not without many interruptions. Shaw became a victim to hypochondria, and so totally unfitted for travel that at his entreaties he was sent back to Unyanyembe, where a few weeks later he died.

The route taken by Stanley led through Ugunda, a well fortified city of three thousand people, and an elevated, healthy and highly productive country in which he expected supplies would be easily obtained. But the general fear of Mirambo made it difficult to open negotiations with the natives, and but for the diplomacy of Bombay, the expedition would have suffered from a scarcity of food. This cunning and most serviceable lieutenant finally gained the ear of the Manyara chief, and by the presentation of a quantity of royal cloths and brass secured not only the chief's confidence, but a liberal supply of honey, fowls, goats and vegetables. This confidence soon assumed the air of familiarity by the chief and his principal men entering Stanley's tent, where their curiosity was regaled by a dose of strong brandy and a whiff of ammonia. They complained of the terrible strength of the white man's pombe and the chief of the tumbled over backwards when he took a deep inhalation the ammonia, to very great amusement of all present. [A glorious hunt]
 

Confidence returned after the subsidence of the mutineers, and Bombay came forward to embrace Stanley and swear perpetual allegiance. The country too was now much improved, and as Lake Tanganyika was less than one hundred miles distant, the spirits of everyone appeared to suddenly rise at the pleasing prospects before them. On the 22d of October, Stanley went into camp on a clear stream of water called the Mtambu, at which lions, leopards and wild boars came to quench their thirst, and about which elephants and rhinoceri were very numerous. When driving the donkeys and goats down to water a black leopard leaped out of the adjacent jungle and fastened on the neck of a [A boar! A boar!] donkey. The surprise was so great that the men broke in precipitate retreat, leaving their herds to the mercies of whatever ravenous animal might wish to satisfy its hunger. The poor donkey stood his ground, however, and set up such a deafening braying that the leopard was more frightened than the men, and leaving its perch on the donkey's neck retreated into the thicket, nor did any of the wild animals, so plentiful thereabouts, show themselves to any member of the expedition. The braying donkey had cleared the country.

Two days after this incident, November 2d, the expedition reached the Malagazazi river, which was considerably swollen by recent rains. There was no other means of crossing the donkeys than by swimming them over, while the men walked across on a large fallen tree, holding to the lariats. In making the passage one of the donkeys was seized by a monster crocodile, and despite its braying and struggling and the shouts of the men as they pulled on the rope to which it was fast, the poor creature was drawn under and carried away, to be devoured.

The following day Stanley met a party of Waguphas, who lived in a district south-west of Lake Tanganyika, from whom he learned the welcome news that they had just come from Ujiji, where they saw a white man who had marched from a far country, and being deserted by his carriers had come into Ujiji in a sick and greatly enfeebled condition.

The entrance into the post was made amid the beating of drums, firing of guns and waving of flags, so great a noise being thus made that, weak as he was, Livingstone came out of his quarters to discover the cause. The servants of Livingstone preceded him to the place of tumult, and from these Stanley learned that the object of his search was near by; directly after Livingstone himself came up, to whom Stanley addressed the first words -- "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."

The joy of this meeting was inexpressible, and hence no attempt was made by either to measure his thankfulness in words. It was like the reunion of the prodigal son and his father, who feasted upon the fatted calf in order to place the stomach in harmony with the spirit, for after the first greeting Stanley and Livingstone at once indulged themselves at a rich repast with champagne accompaniment, a few bottles of which Stanley had brought with him in anticipation of just such an occasion.

They had travelled several days, and after camping one afternoon, 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 travelling 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 studding 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 astonishment, 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 trunk, as much as to say, "Goodbye, young fellow, it is lucky for you that you went in time, for I was going to pound you to a jelly."

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 Livingstone, 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 source 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 [Stanley's meeting with Livingstone] 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 news of Stanley's return and the success of his expedition was immediately sent to all parts of the world, where the telegraph reaches, and Europe and America stood with outstretched hands waiting for his presence to load him with honor. The English were at first jealous of his success, because he was an American, but this feeling soon changed to admiration. He arrived in England late in July, and read on account of his expedition before the British Association at Brighton, August 16th. This report was immediately published, and being read by the Queen, as a testimonial of her appreciation of his services she sent him a gold snuff-box set with diamonds, and a month later he was honored with a banquet furnished by the Royal Geographical Society.

When the distinguished dead arrived in England, funeral arrangements were made to give to the burial a pomp equal to that bestowed on a dead king, and Stanley was selected as one of the pall-bearers. When the body was lowered into the grave, besides kings, queens, and the great potentates and master minds who have lent fame and lustre to England, Stanley turned away in a reflective mood, thinking of the energy, self-denial, aspirations and accomplishments of the great Livingstone, and how his life had suddenly terminated when the allurements of hope for ambition attained seemed most seductive. In this mood he conceived the idea of taking up the work which the beloved explorer had thus laid down, and with like aspirations pursue it to such an end as God would give him to accomplish.

Shortly after Livingstone's funeral Stanley was a caller at the office of the London Daily Telegraph, where, engaging in conversation with the proprietors, the subject of African exploration was introduced, in which Stanley expressed some opinions regarding the lake regions of that continent that excited so much interest in the proprietors of the paper that they asked him how he would like to attempt a completion of the labors left unfinished by Livingstone. The question immediately aroused him to a pitch of enthusiasm, and he exhibited such an intense desire to enter upon the undertaking that arrangements were directly made by the Telegraph and New York Herald to jointly equip an expedition, and place Stanley at the head with a commission to explore the lake regions of Africa, to complete the discoveries of Burton, Speke, Grant and Baker; and, incidentally, to determine the true sources of the Nile, and the Lualaba, or Livingstone, rivers.

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 Zanzibar on the 21st of September, and on November 12th, more than two hundred porters having been engaged, the expedition set sail for Bagamoye. When ready to start for the interior, the expedition comprised three hundred and fifty-six 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 sections, and afterward cut into as many more, to facilitate its transportation.

Stanley's experience, obtained on his previous expeditlon, was of such service to him that he pushed forward with great rapidity, being detained at few places, because he knew the character of the people along the route and had learned [Stanley's dogs in the village of Kagehyi] how to avoid oppressive tolls without exciting their open hostility. The first serious misfortune that befell the expedition was in the death of Edwark Pocock, on the 17th of January, 1875, who succumbed to a virulent attack of typhus fever, after a very short illness.
 

But the great cost of living in the district made it necessary to move as quickly as possible, so that on the second day after their arrival Stanley launched the Lady Alice and prepared for a circumnavigation of the lake. Kaduma endeavored to dissuade Stanley from his purpose, by declaring that the lake was so large that it would take 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 [Village of Igusa] to accompany him on the voyage, not a single one came forward. Persuasion 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 engaged the attention of the navigators. Hippopotami and crocodiles were almost plentiful enough to dispute the passage, and many were shot, without the party being attacked in return, as is often the case. On the 21st of March they landed on a beautiful little island, which, besides its verdure and inviting shades, contained a remarkable natural bridge of basaltic rock, which formed an irregular arch more than twenty feet in length, under which there was great depth of water and which permitted the Lady Alice to pass. Another island nearby was distinguished as possessing a grotto which might be likened unto that in which Calypso, the enchantress, lived. [Stanley circumnavigates Lake Victoria]
 

"The Kabaka sends me with many salaams to you. He is in great hopes that you will visit him, and has encamped at Usavara, that he may be near the lake when you come. He does not know from what land you have come, but I have a swift messenger with a canoe 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 [Magassa inviting Stanley to M'tesa's court] answer, that I may send the messenger. Twiyanzi- yanzi-yanzi!" (Thanks, thanks, thanks.) By Magassa's request Stanley remained another day at Kerudo, to give time for more ample preparation at the court to receive him, as the king had not supposed that a realization of the queen's dream was so near at hand.

On the following day Magassa, in his superb canoe, led the way, with Stanley following. When about two miles from Usavara, 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 [Reception of Stanley by M'tesa] 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 crimson 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 two hundred or three hundred heavily loaded guns announced to all around that the white man -- whom M'tesa's mother had dreamed about -- had landed. Numerous kettle and brass 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).
 

"The Kabaka (king) sends salaams unto his friend who has travelled so far to see him. The Kabaka cannot see the face of his friend 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. Twiyanzi-yanzi- yanzi!"

The appointed time approached, and Stanley was prepared for the memorable hour when he should meet the foremost man of Equatorial Africa. Two of the king's pages came to 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, executioners, pages, etc. As they approached the nearest group it opened, and the drummers beat mighty sounds. The Great King of Equatorial Africa arose and advanced, at which all the kneeling and seated lines stood up-generals, colonels, chiefs, cooks, butlers, pages, executioners, etc.

M'tesa 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 following: "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, Speke 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. M'tesa 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 [M'tesa's capital and palace] which animated Livingstone when he spoke of Sekeletu; had he seen M'tesa, 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."

But that the effects of conversion to Mohammedanism were most beneficial to M'tesa cannot be disputed, though no other traveller than Stanley had the opportunity of visiting him after his adoption of the faith. It was not long after Stanley's visit, however, that the king died, and whatever good influence he exerted as a convert was buried with him, for his subjects have since exhibited all their former savageness, as subsequent expeditions have proved.

Among other entertainments which M'tesa provided for the amusement of his guest was a sham naval battle between forty splendid canoes, each having a crew of thirty men, in which the most admirable manouvring and skilful throwing of spears was witnessed. At the conclusion of the battle, in which several persons were injured, M'tesa showed that he had not lost his interest in firearms since Speke's visit, for he sent several of his servants out in search of hippopotami and crocodiles, anxious to see Stanley display his skill in shooting such large creatures. A crocodile was soon discovered, and the king, taking Stanley, ran quickly to the place where it was reported lying on a log, calling his women to come and see the white man shoot. The crocodile was found lying in an exposed position, and Stanley fired his Reilly rifle, carrying a three-ounce ball, with such precision that the reptile's head was half severed, which drew many rounds of applause from the king and his escort.

When at last, against many requests to protract his visit, Stanley determined to resume the circumnavigation of the lake, M'tesa 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 to send back to Uganda. The escort of thirty canoes, therefore, 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 [Stanley attacked by savage islanders] 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 native's 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, [Along the shores of Lake Victoria] but his guides restrained him, as any resistance would have only invited a massacre. At length an old man, who was leader of the warlike host, was somewhat placated by a liberal present of beads and cloth, and through his influence the crowd was drawn off a little way for council. Stanley seized this opportunity to effect his escape; he ordered 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 Reilly 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 manned a half-dozen canoes and shot out from shore to continue the battle. Two of these canoes Stanley sank with the shell-bullets from his Reilly gun. In the midst of the fight two monster hippopotami were observed advancing with wide-open mouths upon the Lady Alice, their anger having no doubt been excited by the booming of firearms. 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 relinquished 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 N'yanza 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.

Upon reaching the island where he had been attacked, Stanley put in for provisions, considering himself secure now against attack, but the people were still defiant, and being so numerous they surrounded him, and though afraid to attack at close quarters they harassed and prevented a resumption of the journey. He was thus besieged for several days and until the fortunate arrival of Magassa, who had. been sent out by M'tesa with 300 men in search of him, for a purpose which will soon be explained. With this augmentation of his force Stanley started again, but being compelled to pass through a narrows, where the points of land came within fifty yards of each other, the natives laid in wait there to give him battle. As the canoes approached the passage, arrows, stones and spears began to fly, which were answered by a fusillade of firearms that killed hundreds of the fierce natives and sent the rest flying with a fear that the white man had sent flames to devour them.

The expedition reached M'tesa's on the 23d of August, and the king received Stanley in his council chamber with great 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 Lake Albert. M'tesa replied that he was now engaged in a war with the rebellious people of Wavuma, 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 (king) was engaged in war; but as soon as peace should be obtained he would send a chief with an army to give him safe conduct by the shortest route to the lake. Being assured that the war would not last long, Stanley resolved to stay and witness it as a novelty, and take advantage of the time to acquire information about the country and its people.

"The advance-guard had departed too early for me to see them, but, curious to see the main body of this great army pass, I stationed myself at an early hour at the extreme limit of the camp. First, with his legion, came Mkwenda, who guards the frontier between the Katonga valley and Willimiesi against the Wanyoro. He is a stout, burly young man, brave as a lion, having much experience of wars, and cunning and adroit in their conduct, accomplished with the spear, and possessing, besides, other excellent fighting qualities. I noticed that the Waganda chiefs, though Moslemized, clung to their war-paint and national charms, for each warrior, as he passed by on the trot, was most villanously 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 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 bedaubed with white, black and ochreous war-paint.

"Next came a rush of about 2000 chosen warriors, all tall men, expert with spear and shield, lithe of body and nimble of foot, shouting as they trotted past their war-cry of 'Kavya, kavya' (the two last syllables of M'tesa's title when young -- Mukavya, 'king '), and rattling their spears. Behind them, at a quick march, came the musket-armed body-guard of the Emperor, about two hundred in front, a hundred on either side of the road, enclosing M'tesa and his Katekiro, and two hundred bringing up the rear, with their drums beating, pipes playing and standards flying, and forming quite an imposing and warlike procession.

"M'tesa 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 vermilion -- his face dyed a bright red. The Katekiro preceded him, and wore a dark gray 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 march was so quick that nothing but a gun would have been effective, and the Wavuma and Wasoga have no such weapons.

"After M'tesa'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 all extraordinary pace, more like warriors hurrying up into action than on the march; but it is their custom, I am told, to move always at a trot when on an enterprise of a warlike nature." [M'tesa's war canoes]

When finally, M'tesa grew weary of theological dispute, he resolved to renew hostilities as a fresh divertissement, and on the 14th of September he ordered forty canoes to cross over to the island, or within hailing distance, to feel the enemy, while with the rest of his army he took up a position on a high point from whence a view of the lake was obtainable. This time he adopted the very wise precaution, so to speak, of bringing into action the services of a large number of his medicine men or wizards, who, armed with gourds filled with pebbles, took upon themselves the duty of creating such a din as would frighten away all evil; but it strangely happened that their noise must have had a contrary effect. In addition to the tumult thus raised, these priests brought also their charms, which they laid at M'tesa's feet, followed by the witches or priestesses, who also made their oblations, and then offered their fetiches to the king. These charms consisted of dried lizards, pieces of hide, nails of dead people, claws of animals, beaks of birds, compounds of deadly herbs borne in ornamented vessels, and wooden fetiches.

When all had thus been made ready, the forty canoes crossed over to the island, where they were met by the Wavuma, who chased them back to Nakaranga Point. At this, 230 more canoes, laden with M'tesa's soldiers, started to the succour of their retreating friends, and these were in turn met by 192 canoes bearing the Wavumas. A great battle now seemed imminent, but M'tesa's navy again retreated to a point where they were re-enforced by the entire army, and where four small cannons had been planted.

The cowardice of his men, whose numbers greatly exceeded those of the Wavuma, so incensed M'tesa that he was in a towering passion, in which he threatened all who would again exhibit such pusillanimity with the punishment of a slow fire. Under this dreadful threat, on the 18th the fight was renewed by the advance of 230 canoes, in two of which howitzers were carried. But the Wavuma were undeterred, and moved resolutely to the centre of the intervening space in the lake and began a fusillade with spears and arrows. The howitzers, however, proved a surprise, for when these opened fire the Wavuma became panic stricken and precipitatedly retreated, but did not make their escape until ten of their canoes were destroyed and several of the occupants were killed.

The small victory obtained, M'tesa's men did not attempt a pursuit of the enemy, but forthwith returned to the shore to receive the king's congratulations.

On the 20th of April following, upon arriving at Seromo, Stanley learned that the great bandit king, Mirambo, was in the neighborhood and desired an audience with the white man. At this news that portion of the escort sent by M'tesa, which had remained loyal, were so frightened that the utmost efforts of Stanley hardly availed to prevent their desertion, but fortunately a second and very friendly message followed fast on the first, which had the good effect of disarming their fears.

In response to Mirambo's message desiring to establish friendly relations with Stanley, a reply was sent in equally assuring terms, and on the following day the renowned bandit and Napoleonic general appeared before Stanley's tent and was cordially bidden to enter. A very pleasant interview followed, which ended in a return of the visit by Stanley, at which the ceremony of blood-brotherhood was performed.

On the 27th of May the expedition reached Ujiji, having failed to discover the Muta Nziga, but skirted the shore of Lake Tanganyika from the point where the Rusizi river enters it to that station without meeting with any serious obstacle. [Mirambo. The great African chief]
 

This disappointment made him the mare anxious to prosecute the great work he had set his heart upon and return to England as soon as possible. He accordingly had the Lady Alice launched again in the waters of LakeTanganyika, determined to accomplish its circumnavigation, with the view of discovering its outlet, if it had any. This enterprise was accomplished without special incident in fifty-one days, and resulted in an exposition of the fact that it had no outlet proper, all streams with which it had any connection being inlets, though there was evidence that in former years the Lualaba, or Congo river, furnished an outlet to the lake and drained its waters into the Atlantic.

On returning to Ujiji again, Stanley found Frank Pocock, who had been left in charge of a part 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 Manyuema 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 untrustworthy 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 an the 25th of August, and after a necessary halt of a few days to rest and organize, the expedition pushed westward through the wilderness toward the Manyuema country, for the purpose of exploring the great river flowing to the northwest, 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.

Stanley continued his march westward until the middle of October, when he arrived at M'K wanga, which is only eight miles from the confluence of the Luama and Lualaba rivers. While here encamped he learned of the presence of a large party of Arabs at a village called Mwana Mambo, eighteen miles distant, which he decided to join at once. A meeting occurred on the following day, at which Stanley was received most cordially by the commander of the [Leopard hunters of Uregga] Arab force, Tipo Tib. This ivory dealer had considerable knowledge of the country, gained in frequent journeys through it, besides a large force of soldiers and porters; hence his services were of the greatest importance to Stanley, who was fearful that his present small force would be unable to make a passage through the wild region it was necessary to cross.

In the interview which followed their meeting, Tipo Tib told Stanley that the "great river" -- Lualaba -- flowed directly towards the north until it emptied into the sea, and that its shores were covered with dense woods, which were inhabited by the most ferocious savages, reptiles and animals. He also declared that he had made one trip through this dangerous region, in one part of which his party found ivory so plentiful that a tusk might be purchased for a single cowrie shell. But while the trade in ivory appeared most promising of enormous profit, his party was not permitted to leave the country with their stores. The Wakuma, a large race, were very hostile, but to their enmity was added the implacable vengeance of a race of dwarfs, whose territory bordered that of the Wakuma. These little incarnate devils descended upon the Arabs at night, and with their poisoned arrows fought so courageously that the Arabs were forced to retreat with the greatest precipitation, and in the flight all save thirty of the party were killed.

But there were other evils besides savage cannibals, which the Wakuma and dwarfs were represented to be, for Tipo Tib declared that in the adjoining country of Uregga the dense woods harbored thousands of boa constrictors, which, suspended from tree-branches, watched for the passing underneath of men and antelopes, which these reptilian monsters greedily devoured. In these same woods were also the greatest number of leopards, which, emboldened by hunger and the fear they inspired in the natives, committed the most appalling ravages among the people. The sokos, a species of chimpanzee, were also numerous and attacked men without provocation, biting off their fingers and otherwise maiming them. Tipo Tib averred that travelling on the river was but little less dangerous than on land because of the great number of wicked falls that it was necessary to pass over, and which resulted in the drowning of nearly every one who attempted their passage.

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 [Encounter with a boa-constrictor] 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 eighteen feet nine inches, while its breadth was from 4000 to 5000 yards, making it one of the greatest rivers of the earth.

After five days' marching through dense, almost impenetrable 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 four 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 travellers in the lake regions felt persuaded that they had seen "men with tails."

In one of these villages, called Kampunzee, Stanley was much astonished to see two rows of what appeared to be human skulls, and upon counting them found there were 186. He asked the chief of the village the meaning of these gruesome trophies, but a direct answer was avoided by a pretence that the skulls were those of sokos captured in the hunt. Stanley was none the less satisfied that they were human, but to prove the matter more thoroughly he brought several to England on his return and had them examined by Prof. Huxley, who not only pronounced them to be human skulls, but found on nearly all the marks of a hatchet that had been driven into the head while the victim was alive.

Five miles beyond Kampunzee the expedition came again to the Lualaba, at which point Stanley renamed the river the Livingstone, by which it has since been called. Here he made arrangements to cross the stream, and after launching the Lady Alice he called on the natives of the opposite shore for their assistance with canoes. After an offer of many presents the canoes were furnished, but the moment the expedition had made a crossing the natives attacked it with great vigor, but were driven off without loss.

The obstacles to land travel had been so great, while the dangers from [A village in Uregga] ambushing parties seemed to be increasing, that Stanley decided to take to the river and follow it down to its outlet, regardless of Tipo Tib's warning against the many falls that must be passed. After much difficulty and the payment of a large sum in presents, the required number of canoes was procured, in which the expedition embarked.

On November 26th they reached the village of Nakanpemba, which presented [Fighting their way through the cannibals] the usual horrible picture of streets lined with human skulls, the dreadful relics of many a barbarous feast. Throughout this region the evidences of cannibalism were so numerous that human flesh must have been a common dish at every table.

Tipo Tib's story about the many dangerous rapids that made navigation of the Livingstone river so perilous was soon found to be true. As the expedition went on down the river, the first fifty miles were hardly covered before they came to a rock shoal over which the water dashed in a mad and impetuous manner, rendering passage impossible. It was therefore necessary to land and carry the canoes and Lady Alice around the treacherous place, which involved, besides great delay, the most exhausting labors.

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 chocolate. 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, the dwarf could not comprehend why he had not furnished a feast for his captors, and evidently did not feel safe until he had plunged out of sight in his native woods.

On the 26th of December, Tipo Tib and his Arabs bade farewell 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 one hundred and forty-nine persons, in twenty-three boats, and on the departure of the Arabs, they embarked and commenced their long and dangerous drift toward the unknown.

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. [Reptile King of the Jungle]
 

It was not until January 19th, 1876, that Stanley passed by the last tribe of cannibals, and came to a greater falls than any theretofore passed, to which he gave the name of Stanley Falls. Just below these was a village called Balobo, where he met a very kind old king named Chumberi, who relieved the very pressing needs of the expedition with a good supply of provisions, and also furnished Stanley with an escort of forty-five men to accompany him the next fifty miles down the river and pilot the expedition through some treacherous rapids.

Soon after going into camp after the first day's march from Balobo, 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 off quickly into the jungle. In the darkness the boy had mistaken the snake for one of his companions, 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 dispatched. It measured only thirteen feet six inches in length, and fifteen inches around the thickest part of the body. [Killing a boa]

The repeated calamities of the expedition had by this time so discouraged the people that it was with the greatest effort Stanley could induce them to proceed. They seemed to think they were going to certain destruction, and became languid, sullen and despondent. On the 20th of June thirty-one of them deserted in a body, but returned a few days afterwards, having met with anything but a friendly reception from the natives. Stanley'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.

On the 31st of July, 1877, having explored the river to Isarigila Falls, and proved that it was the Congo, Stanley decided to leave the water and proceed overland by a direct route to Embomma, a Portuguese settlement on the coast, and only a few days' march distant. The delight of the people at this announcement manifested itself in loud and fervid exclamations of gratitude.

But the sufferings of the expedition, even with the glad promise of reaching a Portuguese settlement soon, were not yet ended, nor indeed had their most desperate straits been passed. Forty of the men were sick of dysentery, ulcers and scurvy, and the list became greater each day as their exhaustion increased. When at length they reached the coast, it was at a point where the most imbruted natives had formed a small settlement, and from whom they were unable to obtain any food whatever. Weak from their long fast, the expedition continued on until, three days later, Nsanda was reached, where a stop was made with the hope of obtaining some provisions. The chief came out to Stanley's camp and asked at once for rum, but as all that had been brought from Zanzibar had long before been exhausted, Stanley was unable to grant the chief's request. At this the old savage became angry, and refused to supply the starving men with any kind of food whatever.

The situation was now critical in the extreme, as his men were literally dying of starvation; and as a last recourse to secure relief, Stanley wrote [Stanley's starving people] a letter in English, French and Spanish, addressed to the people of Embomma, describing his condition and asking relief. This letter was dispatched by three of his best men, and on the following day, August 4th, it was placed in the hands of Mr. John W. Harrison, representing an English firm, who immediately sent a large amount of provisions, by a score of carriers, to the suffering expedition, and thus saved them from dying of starvation within a day's march of the journey's end.

On the 9th of August Stanley marched into Embomma, where he was most graciously received by Mr. Harrison and the Portuguese population, who, as a mark of honor, gave him a magnificent banquet on the following evening.

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 Embamma 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," said he, "I saw it approach, awed and humbled, the threshold of the watery immensity, to whose immeasurable volume and illimitable expanse, awful as had been its power and terrible as had been its fury, its flood was but a drop. And I felt my heart suffused with purest gratitude to Him whose hand had 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."

Stanley proceeded with his company an a steamer to Kabinda, and thence to Loanda, where his sick and suffering people were received into the Portuguese hospital, and remained until September 27th, five of them dying in the mean time. From Loanda the expedition sailed to Cape Town, and thence back to Zanzibar, where the people were paid off and discharged. Stanley started for England December 13th, 1877, and upon his arrival in London was received with distinguished honors, such as he well deserved. He had 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 penetrated Africa.

Portugal, as stated in an early part of this book, held possession, for centuries, of the lower Congo, their district extending inland about one hundred miles; but their trade was of no consequence fifty miles from the coast, and so little had this profited them that they seemed to set no value on the trade of the interior or its possibilities. Within a few months after Stanley's return, therefore, "The International Association" took steps to profit by his discoveries.

This Association was the result of an assembling in 1876, at Brussels, of the principal geographical societies of Europe and America, in response to an [Cutting a passage around the cataracts] invitation from Leopold 11., King of Belgium. The intention was to extend the