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ALTEMUS’ YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIBRARY
TE STORY
EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE
AFRICA
COMPILED
FROM THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES
With Eighty Illustrations
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS
1896
IN UNIFORM STYLE
Coptously [ilustrated
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND |
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THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS & WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE |
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ROBINSON CRUSOE
THE CHILD’S STORY OF THE BIBLE
THE CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
THE FABLES OF ESOP
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
MOTHER GOOSE’S RHYMES, JINGLES AND TALES
EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE IN THE FROZEN SEAS
THE STORY OF DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION IN AFRICA
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS
ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS
ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES
GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES
Others 11 Preparation
Price 50 Cents Each
Henry ALTEMUS, PHILADELPHIA
Copyright 1896 by Henry Altemus
Henry ALremus, Manufacturer
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY . 3 : ‘ : 3 {
Bruck’s TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA : 2 $
Munco Park’s TRAVELS . : ; 5 :
DENHAM, CLAPPERTON, AND OUDNEY : ‘
JoURNEY OF THE LANDERS TO THE NIGER .
Dr. BaRTH IN CENTRAL AFRICA. ; .
BurTON AND SPEKE IN CENTRAL AFRICA :
SPEKE AND GRANT AT THE SOURCES OF THE NILE
Livinesrone’s First ExXpEpITION TO AFRICA .
LIvINGSTONE’S EXPEDITION TO THE ZAMBESI .
SAMUEL BAKER, AND EQUATORIAL AFRICA
LivinesTone’s Last JouRNEYS AND DEATH
STANLEY’s EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE
CAMERON’s JOURNEY Across AFRICA , :
STANLEY’s EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO $
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EmIN PASHA : :
PAGE
18
25
36
46
52
57
2.
86
109
127
140
153
179
185
198
8 KAFFIR MAN AND WOMAN,
INTRODUCTORY.
TuE name “The Dark Continent,†appropriately given
to Africa, will soon cease to be applicable to that inter-
esting continent—the third in point of size of the great
divisions of the globe. Our knowledge of that great
continent until within the past forty years was very
limited; but the host of travelers, who, following the
example of Bruce and Mungo Park, have penetrated into
the innermost recesses of Africa, leave little fresh ground
to be explored. Very soon our future Livingstones
and Stanleys will sigh in vain, like Alexander, for fresh
worlds to conquer, and Africa, the last of the continents
to yield its secrets to the prying eyes of Western civili-
zation, will cease to be a ¢erra incognita.
(9)
10 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Half a century ago the sources of the Nile were unex-
plored, the great lake system of Equatorial and South-
eastern Africa was unknown, the Mountains of the
Moon, which find a place in Ptolemy’s map as the
source of the Nile, were regarded as mythical, though
Stanley’s discoveries would seem to have identified them
with Mount Gordon Bennett (discoverec in 1876), and
Ruwenzori (the Snowy Mountain, near or on the
Equator), which he discovered on his last journey.
Then the Niger and Congo have been traced througha
great portion of their courses, and Livingstone taught
us most of what we know of the chief river of Southern
Africa, the Zambesi.
The first geographical system of Africa which deserves
the name, is that of Herodotus, the “ Father of History,â€
who gave a full description of these regions, and the
accuracy of his reports have received singular confirma-
tion by more recent discoveries. The Nile figured as
the great feature in the system of Herodotus, and he
described, with tolerable correctness, the northwest
of Africa as far as the Straits.
Herodotus tells us that the Egyptian King, Necho,
sent out an expedition with the design of circumnavigat-
ing Africa. Nothing is known as to whether or not
they accomplished their purpose. The Phcenicians are
known to have formed colonies on the northern coast
more than 3000 years ago.
The next geographical system was that of Ptolemy,
who flourished in the second century. To Ptolemy is
due the theory that the Nile has its sources in the
Mountains of the Moon, under or beyond the Equator,
and he depicts in his map the lakes through which the
river flows, thus in a remarkable manner shadowing
INTRODUCTORY. Il
forth the discoveries of Speke, and Baker, and Stanley.
He also represents the junction of the Blue Nile of
Abyssinia with the White Nile at Meroe, which he makes
into an island. Westward he describes the vast Libyan
desert as watered by the Gir and Niger, spoken of as
“rivers of the greatest magnitude,†the former of which
might have been the Gambia or Senegal River.
Ptolemy, therefore, is entitled to the credit of beingâ€
the first of the ancients to show that the Nile and Niger
were distinct rivers, one having its sources: far to the
southward, and the Niger, he says, forms the lake of
Nigritia, which lies in latitute 15°, longitude 18°, thus
clearly denoting its source from Lake Tchad.
Respecting Northern Africa, our first authentic in-
formation comes from the Arabs, who, by means of the
camel (the ship of the desert), crossed the great
desert to the centre of the continent, and _pro-
ceeded along the two coasts as far as the Sene-
gal and the Gambia on the west, and to Sofala on the
east. The Arabs planted colonies here and elsewhere.
In the fifteenth century there was a new era in mari-
time discovery. The Portuguese were the first to give
an accurate outline of the two coasts, and to complete
the circumnavigation of the continent. The discovery
of America and the West India Islands gave rise to the
traffic in African negroes. Nefarious as is this traffic,
it was the means of obtaining an accurate knowledge of
the coast as it lies between the Rivers Senegal and the
Cameroons. Systematic surveys of the coast and the
interior followed the French and English settlements in
Africa.
A few learned and scientific gentlemen in England
formed a society in 1788, under the name of “The
12 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
African Association,†their design being the exploration
of Inner Africa. Owing to the efforts of this Associa-
tion, important additions were made to the geography
of Africa, by Houghton, Mungo Park, Hornemana, and
Burckhardt. Repeated failures discouraged the so-
ciety, and it was merged into the Royal Geographical
Society in 1831. Much more has been done in the last
65 years to make us acquainted with Africa than was
accomplished in the preceding 18 centuries. With
Mungo Park begins the era of increasing endeavors to
explore the interior. A resume of the travels from
Park down to the present time will be detailed in the
present volume.
In 1892 the area of Africa was given as 11,600,000
square miles; and its population was estimated at
192,520,000,
Africa is a land of deserts. The Nile is the oldest of
historical rivers, and afforded the only means of sub-
sistence to the earliest civilized people on earth, and yet
the origin of this river remained an enigma almost to
the present day. It is one of the largest rivers of the
globe, having a course of about 4000 miles, and drain-
ing over a million of miles in Africa. The other great
rivers are the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambesi.
Lake Tchad is the largest of the lakes. It is situated
nearly in the centre of the continent: it is about 220
miles long, and at its widest point is 140 miles broad.
At some seasons it is nearly dry.
The climate of Africa, particularly in the rainy zone,
is entirely uniform, and by reason of its position (four-
fifths in the tropics), of the large extent of Sahara within ~
the hot zone, and of the small water-supply and the
limited area of the forests, it is extremely dry and hot.
TRAVELERS AND THE MIRAGE. 13
14 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
The interior of Africa is in all probability the hottest
region on the globe, but exhibits great contrasts of
temperature. The days often reach a temperature of 125°
Fahrenheit, yet the nights sometimes have only 55°.
In the extreme northern and southern parts, the four
seasons of the temperate zone are found. The supply
of rain is very scanty. The deserts of Sahara and
Kalahari are almost rainless.
The animal lifeis distinguished by large and clumsy
forms. Here are found the elephant and rhinoceros and
the hippopotamus. The average weight ofa full grown
hippopotamus is about 3500 pounds. They abound in
allthelargerivers. The African lion isthenoblestanimal
of the race. Leopards are numerous and very fierce.
Hyenas, ichneumons, and civets are met with. Ante-
lopes are found everywhere, sometimes in herds of
100,000. The camel, the Barbary horse, and the ass
are the beasts of burden mostly used, Numerous genera
of apes and monkeys are found. The zebra, quagga,
and the giraffe, the tallest existing mammal in Central
and Southern Africa, are peculiar to the continent.
Among birds, the ostrich, described as the feathered
camel, or the giraffe among birds, is the most remark-
able. Parrots and bright-colored, noisy birds enliven
the forests. Among reptiles, the crocodile is found in
all the large rivers and lakes. Various species of ser-
pents and lizards are met with; but they are fewer than
in other tropical countries, owing to the dryness of the
climate. Among insects, the termites, or white ants, with
their cone-like habitations, are most destructive. They
attack and demolish everything, but metals and stones,
that comes in their way. Locusts are still more de-
structive. An army of them passing over a country
TERMITES: AN ANT HILL. 15
16 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
leaves it as bare as if it had been swept with a broom.
They are used as food by many of the native tribes.
Fish in great variety are to be found in most of the
rivers and on the coast. On the coast sharks are nu-
merous; as are also black and spermaceti whales.
Mohammedanism and Fetichism are the prevailing re-
ligions of Africa, except in Abyssinia, where a corrupt
form of Christianity exists. Human sacrifices are offered
in some of the negro nations, but rarely except on great
occasions. The Mohammedans number from 60 to 100
millions. Jews are numerous in Morocco, Algeria, and
Abyssinia; their aggregate in all Africa being about
800,000. The Roman Catholics claim from one to
four millions of the population.
Never has the future of Africa been brighter than at
the present time. There is no hope fora return of
those glories which ages upon ages past adorned Egypt ;
the might of Carthage has long since gone for ever—
the whole of North Africa has been divided, and the
signs of improvement are very limited. In other parts
of the continent, however, new life is springing, channels
for the introduction of civilization are constantly ap-
pearing.
The scramble for Africa goes on apace. Italy has
secured a firm foothold upon the eastern borders of
Abyssinia and has schemes of further conquest by war
or negotiation; the influence of France is being felt
throughout Algeria. The first months of the year 1891
found the French pushing trade routes beyond Ghadmes
and on through the oases of the Sahara Desert to the
broad central Soudan; in Senegambia and the West
Coast countries, commerce flourishes ; the Congo basin
INTRODUCTORY. 17
teems with trading vessels, as the river will surely do
in the near future; almost the whole of South Africa
has fallen under British protection. Mashonoland, a
vast tract of country owned by the Matabele, north of
the Kuruman River, and not very far from the western
bends of the Zambesi, has since 1891 come under the
sway of the English through the enterprise of the British
South Africa Company; in Nyassaland the claims of
England are firmly established. In Central Africa, in-
deed, an expanse—six hundred thousand square miles—
of rich territory came within recognized British control
in 1890. Germany then received a large slice of country
as her share of the bargain.
All this cannot fail to exert a powerful influence for
good upon Africa. With still greater strides will Chris-
tianity and civilization advance, until the whole conti-
nent shall be flooded with their light.
2
CHAPTER II.
Brucer’s TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA.
To discover the country of Prester John, the mysteri-
ous Christian monarch of the East—first supposed to be
in Tartary, and then in Abyssinia—and to effect the
passage to India, were the chief motives of the voyage
in 1486, of Bartholomew Diaz, the first navigator to
round the Cape of Good Hope (which he very correctly
named Cape Stormy), and of Vasco de Gama, who,
twelve years after, voyaged up the east coast of Africa,
and passing Mozambique, Mombassa, and Melinda,
crossed the Indian Ocean in 23 days, and cast anchor in
Calicut, on the Malabar coast.
The first European to penetrate into Abyssinia, of
whom we have any record, was the Portuguese Covil-
ham, who was sent ona mission by land to Prester
John from the King of Portugal, with the object of in-
quiring whether it was possible to sail to India from the
Cape of Good Hope, which Diaz had os discovered.
Covilham quitted Lisbon in May, 1487, and first visiting
India, proceeded to Abyssinia, where he was detained
by the King, and held high office in the state. In the
year 1525, when Rodriguez de Lima went as Portuguese
ambassador to Abyssinia, Covilham was still alive.
(18)
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19
20 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Lima’s secretary, Alvarez, wrote a narrative of his six
years’ residence in the country, which is of great interest.
In this work Alvarez speaks of the King of Abyssinia
as Prete Janni, or Prester John.
The Portuguese attained much influence in the coun-
try through Payz and other priests of the Roman
Catholic Church. Payz has the distinction of discover-
ing the sources of the Blue Nile, known as the Bahr-el-
Aazrek, to distinguish it from the Bahr-el-Abiad, which
D’Anville was the first to point out was the true, or
“White Nile.†The following passage from Payz’s
Journal, is of interest, as giving the first description of
the so-called fountains of the Nile, which Bruce visited
at a later period :—
“ The source of the Nile is situated on the elevated
point of a valley, which resembles a large plain, sur-
rounded on every side with ridges of hills. While I re-
sided in this kingdom, I ascended this place on April
21, 1618, and took a diligent survey of every part of it.
I saw two round fountains, but about five palms in di-
ameter. Great was my pleasure in beholding what
Cyrus, King of the Persians, Cambyses, Alexander the
Great, and the renowned Julius Cesar sought eagerly,
but in vain, to find. The water is very clear, light and
agreeable to the taste; yet these two fountains have no
outlet in the higher part of the mountain plain, but only
at the foot. The inhabitants say the whole mountain is
full of water, which they prove by this: that all the
plain about the fountain is tremulous and bubbling—a
sure proof of water underneath; and that, for the same
cause, the water does not run over the sources, but
throws itself out with greater force lower down. The
inhabitants affirmed, that, though the ground had
BRUCE’S TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 21
trembled little this year on account of the great dryness,
yet that in common seasons it shook and bubbled to such
a degree as scarcely to be approached without danger.
Payz relates the course of the Nile, the tributaries
which it receives, its crossing lake Dembea, with a visi-
ble separation of waters, the tremendous cataract of
Alata, and then the semicircular course round Begun-
der, Shooa, Amhara, and Damot, till it approaches within
a day’s journey of its sources. The regions which it
chiefly watered were barbarous, and almost unknown;
so, by an Abyssinian prince, who had marched an army
into them, they were called the “ New World.†“ Pass-
ing then,†he says, “through innumerable regions and
over stupendous precipices, it enters Egypt.â€
A long period elapsed before a European again visited
Abyssinia, and the first to do so was James Bruce, then
English Consul at Algiers. He explored Tripoli, Tunis,
Syria, and Egypt; his object being to penetrate to the
sources of the Nile, and in seeking to do this, he ex-
plored a great portion of the country, and displayed
great resolution and perseverance in surmounting end-
less difficulties and dangers. Bruce left Massowah for
the.interior on November 10, 1769, and passing through
Adowa, in Tigre, visited the monastery of Fremma, the
chief establishment of the Jesuits. He describes it as
about a mile in circumference, surrounded by walls
flanked with towers, presenting the appearance of a
castle rather than a convent.
_ He arrived at Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, in
February, 1770, where was the palace of the King,
Here he ingratiated himself with the sovereign, and
other influential persons, by professing to be a physician,
courtier, and soldier.
22 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
He obtained permission to visit the sources of the
Nile (Bahr-el-Azrek) which Payz claimed to have dis-
covered. He visited first the great cataract of Alata, -
down which the Nile falls after passing through the
Lake of Dembea. He describes it as the most magnifi-
cent sight he ever beheld. The whole river fell down
in one sheet from the height of about 40 feet, with a
force and noise which made our traveler dizzy. A
thick haze covered the fall, and spread over the course
of the stream both above and below.
Bruce had an interview at Bamba with Fasil, the Galla
chief, who, with other confederates, had captured Gondar
and set up a king of their own. At length he reached
the district, a green and fertile region, in which those
long-sought-for fountains were to be found. His emo-
tions were first raised to the highest pitch by arriving
at a portion of the infant stream so narrow that it could
be stepped over, which he did in triumph, fifty or sixty
times. He was led by his guide to the principal foun-
tain. He now burst into raptures similar to those of
Payz, at having arrived at an object which the most
powerful sovereigns of ancient or modern times had
sought in vain to explore.
Bruce quitted Gondar on December 26, 1771, and re-
turned homewards by the route of Senaar, and arrived
at the point of junction of the White and Blue Niles,
near the spot where the city of Khartoum is now situ-
ated. He made the mistake of considering the Abyssin-
ian Nile, the sources of which he had visited, as the true
Nile, though he observes that the Bahr-el-Abiad rolls
three times the volume of water and is constantly full,
while the other is a great stream only in the rainy
season. This theory has been disproved by the ge-
DESERT TRAVELER AND GUIDE,
24 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
ographer D’Anville, who showed conclusivély, that the
main stream of the Nile is the mighty river that flows
through Equatorial Africa, having its rise in the great
lake system discovered by Speke and Baker.
From here Bruce journeyed to Shendy, and pushing
on to Berber, soon quitted the course of the river, which
takes a great bend tothe west. He and his companions
traversed the great Nubian desert, where, for 500 miles,
they met no human habitation. Only a few watering-
places interrupted the expanse of naked rock and burn-
ing sands. The travelers had nearly sunk under this
journey, especially as, towards the close of it, the camels
were unable to proceed. He made, however, a last
effort, by which they at length came in sight of the Nile,
near Syene, where their sufferings terminated.
Bruce arrived at Alexandria early in March, 1773,
whence he sailed for Marseilles, and proceeded to Paris,
and thence to England, where he arrived in June, 1774,
having been absent twelve years. He published, in
1790, a record of his travels. It met with a kind re-
ception from the public, though there were critics who
took exception to some of his statements, and insisted
that he was unworthy of credence. Though there may
have been exaggerations, the general truth of his facts
have long since been established.
That Bruce considered he had discovered the sources
of the great Nile instead of the lesser stream, was
scarcely a subject of wonder considering the ignorance
that existed in his day. After escaping great and man-
ifold dangers in his wanderings through barbarous
countries, this enterprising traveler lost his life in conse-
quence of an accidental fall downstairs in his own house
on April 26, 1794.
CHAPTER III.
Munco PArk’s TRAVELS.
In 1618, the African Company sent a vessel with the
object of exploring the Gambia, commanded by Richard
Thompson, with a cargo of goods to trade with the
natives. Thompson proceeded as high up the river as
Kassan; but the Portuguese, animated by jealousy,
massacred most of the crew. It was subsequently
learned that Thompson was murdered by his men.
The company did nothing in the way of discovery
until 1723, when they sent another expedition to the
Gambia; but it only proceeded 59 miles above Barra-
conda. While the English sought to ascend the Gambia,
deeming it the Niger, the French navigated the Senegal,
hoping to reach the city of Timbuctoo and the region
of gold. At the mouth of this river they founded the
settlement of Louis about the year 1625, and their
director, General Brue, ascended the Senegal in the years
1697-98, reaching as high as Felu. He founded a fort
called St. Joseph, which long continued the principal seat
of French commerce on the Upper Senegal. Subsequent
governors visited Bambouk ; but the glories of African
discovery in the regions of the Niger, as in those of
Zambesi and the Equatorial lake region, were reaped
by their English rivals. :
(25)
26 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Much of the success achieved was due to the African
Association. Although the Company only offered their
expenses to travelers who engaged to explore the
interior of Africa, there were many eager aspirants for
the honor. The first was Ledyard, who had circum-
navigated the globe with Captain Cook, and lived for
many years with the North American Indians, Ledyard,
however, got no farther than Cairo, where he died in
1788. The next traveler engaged was Lucas, who had
been three years a galley slave among the Moors, but
he penetrated only a short distance from Tripoli. The
third expedition was made by Major Houghton from a
different quarter. He undertook to reach the Niger by
the route of the Gambia, and not by boats, but by land.
He set out early in 1791, and quitting the Gambia at
Medina, arrived at Ferbanna onthe Faleme. He pushed
on, reached Timbuctoo, but was robbed and stripped, to
wander about in the desert until he perished miserably,
Mungo Park, who long ranked as the chief of African
travelers, was born on September 16, 1771, in Scotland.
He received a good seminary education, and afterwards
studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Hav-
ing spent two years in London gaining the necessary
qualifications, he set sail in May, and on June 21, 1795,
arrived at Jillifree, near the mouth of the Gambia.
His instructions were to make his way to the Niger
by Bambouk, or any other route, to ascertain the course
of that river, and to visit the principal towns in its
neighborhood, particularly Timbuctoo, and afterwards
to return by way of the Gambia, or any other route he
might deem advisable. Park at once proceeded up the
Gambia to Pisania, where he set to work to learn the
Madingo tongue, and to collect information from black
MUNGO PARK’S TRAVELS. 27
traders. During his stay at Pisania, he was ill for two
months with a severe fever, from which he recovered.
MUNGO PARK.
A caravan was about to start forthe interior of Africa,
and Park arranged to accompany it. He reached the
town of Wassiboo, where he met eight fugitive Kaartan
28 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
negroes, who had escaped from the Moors, and who
were on their road to offer their allegiance to the King
of Bambarra. Park agreed to accompany them. The
near approach to Sego was indicated by the crowds
hastening to its markets, and on July 21, 1796, one of
his companions called out, ‘See the water !†and, look-
ing forward, he says :—
“T saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my
mission, the long-sought-for, majestic Niger, glittering
in the morning sun, and flowing slowly to the east. I
hastened to the brink, and having drunk of the water,
lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the Great Ruler
of allthings for having thus far crowned my efforts with
success.†Sego, the capital of Bambarra, consists of
four distinct towns ; two on the north, and two on the
south bank of the Niger, on which floated numerous
canoes. The place is surrounded by high mud walls.
The houses are built of clay, of a square form, with flat
roofs, some of them of two stories, and most of them
whitewashed. Moorish mosques are seen in every
quarter, and the streets, though narrow, are broad
enough for every useful purpose in a country where
street carriages are unknown. Sego contains about
30,000 inhabitants.
He heard that Timbuctoo, the great object of his search,
was entirely in possession of a savage and merciless
band of Moors, who allowed no Christian to live there.
He had advanced too far to think of returning, and de-
termined to proceed.
Being provided with a guide, Park left the village on
the morning of July 24, traveling through a cultivated
country, the scenery resembling England more than he
expected to find in the middle of Africa. In the even-
A HOMESTEAD OF THE BARI TRIBE: THE USUAL ATTITUDE OF THE MEN, 29
30 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
ing he reached the large town of Sansanding, the resort
of numerous Moorish caravans from the shores of the
Mediterranean.
On September 16, he reached the town of Kamalia,
where he met a negro, Kafa Taura, who was collecting
acaravan of slaves to convey to the European settle-
ments on the Gambia, as soon as the rains should be
over. Here Park was laid up by a fever, and passed
five weeks in gloomy isolation, The fever left him ina
very debilitated condition.
The caravan departed on April 19, 1797; and the
irons being removed from the slaves, every one had his
load assigned to him. Kafa had 27 slaves for sale, but
eight others afterwards joined them. Altogether the
caravan numbered 73 persons.
The worst part of the journey was through the
Jallouka wilderness. The country was beautiful, and
abounded with birds and deer, but so anxious were they
to push on that they made 30 miles that day. Being
advised that 200 Jalloukas were lying in wait to plunder
them, they changed their course, and entered the town
of Koba. On June 10, 1797, Pisania was reached, and
Park was welcomed as one risen from the dead by his
friends who had heard that the Moors had murdered
him.
Park waited at Pisania some time, and finding no ves-
sel likely to sail direct to England, he took his passage
on board a slave vessel, bound for South Carolina.
She, however, through stress of weather, put into Anti-
gua, and from thence he sailed in an English packet,
and arrived at Falmouth on December 22, 1797, having
been absent from England about two years and seven
months,
SLAVE HARDSHIPS.
32 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Park published the narrative of his journey, early in
1799, and the interest attaching to his adventures made
it very popular. After his return to England, Park
married the daughter of Mr. Anderson, with whom he
had served his apprenticeship as a surgeon, and resided
a couple of years on the farm in Scotland.
After this he practised his profession for some time;
but this sort of life not satisfying his ardent temperament,
in October, 1801, he accepted an invitation made by the
Government, to undertake an expedition, on a large
scale, into the interior of Africa. Owing to the war
with France, it was not until 1804, that he was author-
ized to make arrangements for the journey.
The expedition consisted of Park himself, his brother-
in-law (Mr. Anderson), and George Scott, draughtsman,
together with four artificers, who, on his arrival at Sego,
were to build two boats, in which he purposed to sail
down the Niger to the estuary of the Congo. Park
sailed from Portsmouth on January 30, 1805, and after
touching at the Cape Verde Islands, reached Goree on
March 28. Here he selected 35 soldiers, under the
command of Lieutenant Martyn, as well as two sailors
from the Sgurre/, a frigate.
On arriving at the Gambia, the party, ful hye hope and
in high spirits, pushed on to Pisania. On May 4, the
caravan set forth from Pisania, whence nearly ten years
before Park had commenced his adventurous journey
into the interior.
The arrangements for the march were well devised, but
no human foresight could guard against the deadly in-
fluence of the African climate. One by one, in rapid
succession, Park’s companions were attacked by the fever.
Some of them died; some were left behind on the road,
MUNGO PAREK’S TRAVELS. 33
and were no doubt robbed and murdered by the prowling
thieves. Park himself, Scott, Martyn and Anderson were
forced to give up, and stopped at some of the villages
till they recovered sufficiently to resume their journey.
A SLAVE.
On August 19, the sad remnant of the expedition as-
cended the mountairous ridge which separates the Niger
from the remote branches of the Senegal. Park hastened
on ahead, and, coming to the brow of the hill, once
3
34 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
more saw the mighty river. Descending from thence
towards Bambakoo, the travelers pitched their tents ©
under a tree near that town.
Of the 34 soldiers and four carpenters who left the
Gambia, only six soldiers and one carpenter reached
the Niger. All were suffering from sickness, and some
nearly at the last extremity.
The sad news now reached him of Scott’s death, and
soon after his brother-in-law, Anderson, breathed his last.
“No event,†Park remarks, ‘which took place during
the journey ever threw the smallest gloom over my
mind, till I laid Mr. Anderson in the grave. I then felt
myself left a second time lonely and “friendless amidst
the wilds of Africa.â€
Some days before this, the guide returned with a
large canoe, much decayed and patched. Park and one
of the surviving soldiers, took out all the rotten pieces,
and, by adding on portions of another canoe, with 18
days’ hard labor, they changed the Bambarra canoe
into His Majesty’s schooner Yoltda. Her length was 40
feet, breadth six feet; and, being flat-bottomed, she
drew only one foot of water when loaded. In this craft
he and his surviving companions embarked on Novem-
ber 17, on which day his journal closes. He intended
to begin his adventurous voyage down the Joliba.
Besides Park and Lieutenant Martyn, two Europeans
only survived. They purchased three slaves to assist in
the navigation of the vessel.
Descending the stream, they passed Silla and Jenne
without molestation ; but lower down, in the neighbor-
hood of Timbuctoo, they were followed by armed ca-
noes, which they beat off, killing several of the natives.
They had to fight their way down past a number of
MUNGO PARK’S TRAVELS. 35
places, once striking on the rocks, and being nearly
capsized by a hippopotamus which rose near them.
Having a large stock of provisions, they were able to
proceed without going on shore. At Yaour, the people
threw lances and stones at him. He defended himself
for a long time, till two of his slaves in the stern of the
boat were killed.
Finding no nope of escape, Park took hold of one of
the white men and jumped into the water, and Martyn
did the same, hoping to reach the shore, but all were
drowned in the attempt. The only slave remaining in
the boat, seeing the natives persist in throwing their
weapons, entreated them to stop. On this they took
possession of the canoe and the man, and carried them
to the King. From the interpreter was learned the
manner in which Park and his companions had perished.
Park could not have been aware of the numerous
rapids and other difficulties he would have to encounter
in descending the upper courses of the Niger. In all
probability his frail and ill-constructed vessel would
have been wrecked before he had gone many miles be-
low the spot where he lost his life. Had he succeeded
in passing that dangerous part, he might have navigated
the mighty stream to its mouth.
Although at first the account of Park's death was not
believed in England, subsequent inquiries left no doubt
that all the statements were substantially correct. Thus
perished, in the prime of life, that heroic traveler, at the
very time when he had good reason to believe that he
was about to solve the problem of the Niger’s course,
and to dispel the belief that it was identical with the
Congo. He died about the end of the year 1805.
CHAPTER IV.
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON, AND OUDNEY—TRAVELS
IN THE GREAT SAHARA BORDERLAND.
THE dreadful termination to the wanderings and suf-
ferings of Mungo Park in no way damped the ardor of
British merchants for the extension of trade upon the
Gambia, the Senegal, and the Niger; nor were geogra-
phers any the less inclined to push on inquiries east-
wards from Senegambia and the Kong Mountains.
Park’s life was not the first that had been sacrificed
in those regions; his endeavors were not the only ones
that had been partially futile. Richard Thompson went
out in 1618, and died east of Kasson. Upon news
of Park’s decease being received, expeditions were
launched, under Captain Tuckay and Major Peddie, the
latter ascending the Congo to find its bearing, if any, up-
on the Niger, a doubt existing in many minds that the
waters of the two rivers joined somewhere. As in
Park’s second enterprise, dysentery, fever, and death
wrought fearful havoc and defeat, and subsequent ex-
ploration parties, headed by capable officers, did not
accomplish very much more than confirming the dis-
coveries of Houghton and Park, until a series of daring en-
terprises conducted by Captain Clapperton and Richard
Lander added greatly to the knowledge concerning the
(36)
THE GREAT SAHARA BORDERLAND. 37
rivers finding a limit upon the north-west coast of Africa,
and in the discovery of Lake Tchad or Chad, 300 miles
Ys
i
HS taeh
5S
Uf
\e ie
HUGH CLAPPERTON.
in circumference, and in the regions of Bornou and
Kassem—districts, like Songhay, Timbuctoo, and Sock-
38 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
atoo, centuries old, and whose history is very dimly
recorded, notwithstanding the once mighty, well-organ-
ized rule of men.
Hugh Clapperton was a born explorer, of magnificent
physique, and fearless in spirit; he sailed the Indian seas
when a lad, was pressed into the navy, saw active ser-
vice in Canada, and was affected by a desire to go out
and fill in the gap left open by Mungo Park. Dr.
Oudney, a personal friend of his, placed his services at
the disposal of the Government for African exploration ;
and was appointed Consul to Bornou, with full permis-
sion to traverse the regions of North, Central, and North-
west Africa, and to take with him Captain Clapperton
and Major Dixon Denham.
The course selected by Dr. Oudney was across the
great Sahara. The desert was full of dangers, but the
route was preferable for North Central African explora-
ation to any course from the west or from the Nile and
the east.
The port of Tripoli was left behind in February, 1822,
a caravan was constituted inland, and the town of Mour-
zak was reached with trifling loss.
A number of merchants swelled the caravan, and
everything pointed to a successful march across the
desert, which was duly completed, Kouka, upon the
shores of Lake Tchad, and in the Bornou country, being
reached February 7, 1823. Not, however, before every
member of the united caravan had suffered greatly.
Oudney and Clapperton were unwell at starting, and the
terrible heat of the desert did not tend to improve their
condition. Broad salt fields, glistening in the sun, had
to be crossed; and we are told in Clapperton and Den-
ham’s account of their journeyings, how that, at irregular
THE DESERT—MIRAGE ON THE HORIZON, 39
40 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
intervals in the desert, skeletons of men, horses, and
camels were to be seen. Human beings and animals
had been overtaken by terrific sand-storms, or had sur-
vived them only to die of hunger and thirst. At one
spot alone, nearly 100 skeletons were counted. They
were but skeletons of blacks, carelessly exclaimed the
Arabs, who laughed at the sympathy exhibited by the
Englishinen. Large numbers were those of Soudanese
captured for the slave market, and left to perish on the
road to Fezzan, owing to the scarcity of provisions.
From Kouka expeditions were made, and much that
was valuable geographically exposed. Denham went
among the Mandara horsemen, and was robbed and
stripped naked, as Park had been. Denham returned to
Kouka, then went eastward, saw no more of Lake Tchad,
and was back at Kouka, to welcome Clapperton from a
journey into the Soudan region. Denham had started
for the Soudan in company with Dr. Oudney in the
middle of December, 1823. Joining a caravan, they
passed among the Shooa Arabs, entered the city of
Katagum, where they were received in state, and offered
slaves as presents, and coming to Murmur, Oudney,
who had healed many in these far-off towns and villages,
and in the desert, was obliged himself to yield to the
merciless inroads of consumption. He was buried in a
deep grave by Clapperton, who was impelled to proceed
to the walled trading city of Kano. He narrowly es-
caped death, fever attacking him. Three weeks later
Clapperton was at Sockatoo, where he was received by
the Sultan, from whose officers he learned something
concerning poor Mungo Park’s last days, and was
told that the Niger flowed on to the sea at a place
to the west, known as Jagra. Clapperton thereupon
A CARAVAN CROSSING THE DISERT. 41
42 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
resolved to follow the Niger, whose waters rolled on
past Sockatoo,
At Bilma they laid in a stock of dates for the next
14 days, during which man and beast nearly subsisted
upon them, the slaves for 20 days together mostly get-
ting no other food.
Then came the stony desert, which the camels, already
worn out by the heavy sand-hills, had to cross for nine
days.
On the day they made El Wahr, and the two follow-
ing, camels in great numbers dropped down and died,
or were quickly killed and the meat brought in by the
hungry slaves.
On January 21, 1825, they reached Tripoli, and soon
after embarked for Leghorn, where they were long de-
tained by quarantine, so that the three survivors of the
expedition did not reach England till June 1, 1825,
having been absent three years.
From the favorable report which Clapperton on his
return home brought of the Sultan Bello of Sockatoo,
and his wish to open up a commercial intercourse with
the English, the Government determined to send out
another expedition, in the hope that that object might
be carried out, and that means might be found for
putting a check on the slave trade in that part of Africa.
Clapperton, now raised to the rank of commander, was
placed at the head of the expedition. Captain Pearce
and a Mr. Morrison,a naval surgeon, were appointed to
serve under him. He also engaged the services of Mr.
Dickson, another surgeon, and of a very intelligent
young man, Richard Lander, who was to act as his
servant.
After a stay of only four months, Clapperton sailed
TRIPOLI.
44 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
from Portsmouth, and, touching at Sierra Leone, arrived
at Benin on November 26, 1825.
Dickson, wishing to make his way alone to Sockatoo,
was landed at Whidah, and set off for Dahomey. Here
he was well received and set forward to a place called
Shar, 17 days’ journey from Dahomey. From thence
he was known to have set forward with another escort,
but from that time nothing whatever was heard of him.
At Benin, Clapperton met an English merchant who
advised him not to ascend the river, but to take a route
from Badagarry across the country to Katumga, the
capital of Youriba. That the journey was an ill one
was quickly shown, for fever and dysentery broke out,
Pearce and Morrison being the first victims. Their
death was a great blow to Clapperton; but like all ex-
plorers he was resolved, and he proceeded to the capital
of Youriba, arriving there in the middle of January, 1826.
The Clapperton expedition struck the Niger at
Boussa, the place of Park’s death. Instead, however,
of tracing its waters southwards, the direction in which
it runs, the route was continued to Sockatoo. Report
has it that a deadly aversion to sailing down the river
or traversing its banks seized upon Clapperton, that a
strong conviction took root in his mind, after viewing
the scene of Park’s tragic decease, that no white man
would live to tell the story of the Niger outlet. Having
stayed a short time at Sockatoo, Clapperton was prepar-
ing to leave when he was attacked by dysentery, and died
April 13, 1827, yet one more victim to the Niger outlet
fever.
Richard Lander tells the story of Clapperton’s last
days. The hero was aware that his end approached.
Every day he would be carried into the open air and
THE GREAT SAHARA BORDERLAND. 45
have read to him a portion of Scripture, particularly
Psalm xcv. One day he called Lander into his wretched
dwelling and said with calmness, ‘“ Richard, I shall soon
be no more; I feel myself dying.†Not long after that
sad interview in the lonely hut, Clapperton breathed his
last.
Having seen his master decently interred, and col-
lected his papers and clothing, Richard Lander very
pluckily led those remaining of the force to the coast by
much the same route as that taken to Sockatoo. He
would have trusted himself, young as he was, to the
Niger, and discovered its outlet, had not the natives ab-
solutely barred his progress.
Lander returned to Badagarry by the route which had
been traversed by Clapperton, and reached London
April 30, 1826.
Denham returned to Sierre Leone in 1826, as super-
intendent of the liberated Africans, and in 1828 he was
appointed governor of the colony. On June g, 1828,
he died ofa fever, after a few days’ illness.
Denham and Clapperton made important contributions
to the geography of Africa, though they failed in the
chief object of their expedition to discover the course
and connections of the Niger.
CHAPTER V.
Tue LANDERS: ON THE BANKS OF THE ROLLING NIGER.
Tue achievment by Richard Lander was postponed.
On his return home the probability of the Niger los-
ing itself in the Atlantic was admitted, and to him was
entrusted a mission to revisit, on behalf of the British
Government, the town of Boussa. He was not to leave
the Niger until its outlet should be determined, whether
its disappearance was to the sea in the south-west, or
eastwards to Lake Tchad; but to follow its course, if
possible, to its termination, wherever that might be.
That voyage from Portsmouth to Cape Coast Castle,
inthe month of January, 1830, was surely the most re-
markable, as regards the circumstances surrounding it,
ever known. }
Richard Lander was 26 years old, He had not. the
advantage of education upon his side. He was at sea,
off to the West Indies, when a boy of twelve; and was in
South Africa more than once while a lad, so that of
scholarly attainments he could have none. His prede-
cessors in North African exploration were versed in
Arabic ; Lander knew it not, nor anything worth the
name of dialect. Of astronomy and navigation he could
have a smattering, not more; while of medicine he was
positively ignorant, and of trade he was as innocent.
(46)
THE SOURCE OF THE NIGER.
48 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Evidently he was imbued with courage—who else would
have faced the dangers and fevers of the north-west
coast territory, when so many able-bodied travelers had
fallen a prey to their temerity ?
Richard Lander possessed the qualities of a success-
ful explorer. The courage, perseverance, and judg-
ment exhibited by him in making his way from Sockatoo
to the coast after the death of Clapperton, and the bold
attempt to follow the course of the Niger to the sea,
pointed him out to the Government as a fit person to
lead another expedition with that object in view.
They went to Badagarry, and, on March 31, 1830,
began their journey into the interior, proceeding up the
river as far as it was navigable. Up country they pro-
cured horses, on which they continued their journey.
Both the brothers suffered from sickness; but, un-
daunted, they pursued their course till they reached
Katunga, the capital of Youriba.
Lander informed the King that his purpose was
to go to Bornou by way of Youri, and requested a
safe conduct through his territories. This permission
was granted, and, sending their horses by land, they
proceeded up the river in a canoe, which was furnished
them, towards Youri.
After proceeding a short distance, the stream grad-
ually widened to two miles, in some places the water
being very shallow, but in others of considerable depth.
Steering directly northward they voyaged on for four
days, having passed, they were told, all the dangerous
rocks and sand-banks which are to be found ahove
Youri or below Boussa.
Landing ata little village on the bank, where their
o
ON THE BANKS OF THE ROLLING NIGER. 49
horses met them, they rode a distance of eight miles to
the walls of Youri.
Their visit to the Sultan of Youri was not without
interest, as it enabled them to obtain the only relics of
the last journey of Mungo Park that have ever come to
light. These were a richly embroidered robe, a gun,
an old nautical almanac, a book of the Psalms of David,
and his journal,* describing his journey from the Gambia
to the Niger.
The King expressed his readiness to assist them, but
declared that he could not forward them on their way
to the eastward, as he would be unable to guarantee
their safety, and that the best thing he could do was to
send them back to Boussa.
On August 2, they set off on their road to Boussa,
but here they were kept some weeks.
It was September 30 before they obtained the canoes,
and were able to embark. The current rapidly bore
them down the stream. Their voyaye began prosper-
ously ; but they were detained at several places by the
chiefs, who wished to get as much as they could out of
them.
At Leechee the Niger was found to be three miles in
width. The boatmen they engaged here paddled on
* With this journal was the following letter from the heroic traveler,
addressed to Lord Camden, dated, “On board H. M. schooner JSoliba,
at anchor off Sansandig, November 17, 1805.—I have turned a large
canoe into a tolerably good schooner, on board of which I this day
hoisted the British flag, and set sail with the fixed resolution to discover
the termination of the Niger, or perish in the attempt. . . . . My
dear friend Mr. Anderson, and likewise Mr. Scott, are both dead: but,
though all the Europeans who are with me should die, and though I were
myself half dead, I would still proceed, and if I could not succeed in
the object of my journey, I would at least die on the Niger.†This
heroic resolve the great traveler sealed a few days later with his life.
4
50 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
for forty minutes, refused to go farther, and they had to
wait till they could obtain a fresh crew. Indeed, at
the different places at which they stopped, they were
vexatiously delayed on various pretexts by the natives.
A palaver with King Obie of Brass Town had an un-
pleasant sequel. Near as the Landers were to the sea,
they were to be disposed of as slaves, they were informed
secretly. Provisions could scarcely be procured, there
were renewed threats of detention; and more attacks of
fever made the situation most depressing. The brothers
were prisoners without any prospect of freedom.
Richard Lander had nothing to offer; he and John
were reduced to poverty and wretchedness. Only one
condition they could propose—that, given their liberty,
any tax or ransom fixed upon by the sable chief, would
be forthcoming the moment they arrived within the
sphere of British influence. That promise the brothers
faithfully discharged.
Richard Lander, leaving his brother as hostage and
his men at the town, set off in a canoe that was to con-
vey him to the sea. After traveling 60 miles down the
river, his feelings of delight may be imagined when he
had ocular evidence that he had at length succeeded in
tracing the mysterious Niger down to the ocean, by see-
ing before him two vessels, one the Spanish slaver, the
other an English brig.
The chief was induced to go back to bring John
Lander and the rest of the men on Richard's reiterated
promise that he would obtain the goods they had
promised him. He took passage on the English brig
for Rio Janeiro, which they reached on March 16, and
from there obtained a passage to England, which they
reached safely on June 10, 1831,
ON THE BANKS OF THE ROLLING NIGER. 51
Thus with very humble means, by the energy and
courage of two unpretending men, was the long-disputed
problem of the course of the Niger to the sea completely
solved—a discovery for long years denied to older and
more experienced men.
The Royal Geographical Society awarded to Richard
Lander their gold medal and a money prize of fifty
guineas.
The discoveries disclosed by the Landers quickened
the desire for further extension of trade upon the north-
west coast of Africa and to towns far inland, and Rich-
ard Lander embarked July 25, 1832, to act from the
mouth of the river whose possibilities were now partially
understood. It was a difficult enterprise; more serious
than the merchants who commissioned Lander imagined.
He got many miles inland, to the banks of the Tchadda,
a tributary to the Niger, it will be remembered; was
beaten back by superior numbers, tried again, was forced
to escape coastwards, and he ascended the Niger from
the ocean a third time. It was his last effort. He was
attacked, wounded by a poisoned arrow, and from its
effects he expired, February 6, 1834.
CHAPTER VI.
EXPLORATIONS OF Dr. BartH IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
Tue British Government had, in 1849, appointed
James Richardson, an experienced traveler in Africa, to
the command of an expedition which was to start from
Tripoli, and thence endeavor to penetrate to the central
part of the continent. Dr. Barth, who had spent three
years traveling through Barbary and the desert tracts
to the westward bordering the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, was allowed, accompanied by another German,
Dr. Overweg, to join the expedition. A light boat,
which was divided into two portions and could be
carried on the backs of camels, was provided, and a
sailor to navigate her either on Lake Tchad or down
the Niger.
One of the principal objects of the expedition was the
abolition of the slave trade, which it was known was
carried on toa fearful extent in those regions. The
principal employment of the Moorish tribes on the
borders of the territories inhabited by blacks was still,
as in the days of Mungo Park and Clapperton, slave-
hunting. Villages were attacked for the purpose, when
the prisoners captured were carried northward across
the desert and sold in Morocco and the other Barbary
states.
(52)
CENTRAL AFRICA. 53
Another object was the opening upa lawful commer-
cial intercourse with the people who might be visited,
and the exploration of the country for scientific purposes,
as well as to discover the course of the great river which
the Landers had seen flowing into the Niger in their
adventurous voyage down that stream.
Dr. Barth was the man to succeed. That success
stamps him as a true hero; no individual save
one with all the qualities of heroism could or would
have passed through the perils he experienced. He
started with Richardson and Dr. Overweg in 1849 to
explore the forbidding Sahara and parts of Central
Africa. Richardson, the leader of the expedition,
arrived safely at Mousak, Tripoli, branched due west
to a point near Ghat, and wandered hither and thither,
north and south. On March 4, 1851, Richardson fell a
victim to fatigue, and 18 months afterwards Dr. Over-
weg expired in the region between Sockatoo and Lake
Tchad. Practically alone, and his ardor for explora-
tion unabated, Barth left no place of importance west
of Lake Tchad and east of Sockatoo, and on the southern
banks of the lake untouched, striking the Niger at a
point south of the latter place, and some miles north of
Boussa. To him is owing the discovery of the Binue,
the largest affluent of the Niger. News came to
England of the deaths of Richardson and Overweg, and
the worst was feared regarding Barth. In the early
part of 1853, a relief force was despatched, which reached
the banks of the Tchad. Not to meet Barth, however,
who returned across the Sahara without coming in con-
tact with his would-be rescuer, after a course of travel
quite unique.
The route of ‘Richardson, Barth, and Overweg was
54 ; AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
through the Fezzan country from Tripoli. They had
more than the average amount of luggage, which gave
them great trouble. A steel boat carried in two sections,
for use upon Lake Tchad, proved cumbersome in the
extreme, until divided into four parts distributed more
evenly among the camels of the caravan. South of
Mouzak, Barth was literally lost in the desert. Anxious
to ascend a mountain he left the caravan without a
guide, hoping to follow in its track, and come up with
it. But his excitement took him on too far. Having
satisfied his curiosity he gazed around, hungry, thirsty,
footsore and overheated; but there was nothing to in-
dicate the course he ought now to pursue. He was
harried in every direction, sinking sometimes in soft
dry sand, firing his rifle the while in the hope that his
friends would learn of his whereabouts and await his
coming. To no purpose. Darkness fell upon the des-
ert with Barth a solitary wanderer, in it, and so ex-
hausted, mentally and physically was he, that the sight
of a number of large fires in the distance served but to
bring laments instead of serving to cheer him. He
could not move a step farther. Fever came upon him,
and he could not sleep, he fired again, but to no pur-
pose, morning broke, and the sun rising higher and
higher in the heavens, his situation was pitiful in the ex-
treme. Just as he was resigning himself to what he be-
lieved would be his last sleep, he was aroused by a
mounted Arab who had tracked him, and stretching out
his hands for help, had the pleasure of being relieved by
water from the skin carried by the camelman. He was
assisted by him to the caravan a few miles away.
Barth’s providential escape served to sharpen his de-
sire for further adventure, for when eight miles from
CENTRAL AFRICA. 55
Sellufet, in the desert region, he set out upon a bullock
to the old and partially decayed town of Agades, and
surprised the Sultan, as the first white man his majesty
had beheld. Barth was two months absent from the
caravan, rejoined it, left it again on the south-western
confines of the Soudan; thence passing through a well-
cultivated country, and among smiling homesteads, he
arrived at Kano, in Haussa, about equally distant be-
tween Sockatoo and Lake Tchad. Kano isa city of
much importance, a centre for trade among the owners
of caravans from the north, south, east and west, and a
resting-place for those eager for repose after passing
amid the difficulties of travel in Northern Africa. Barth
reckoned upon a fair reception, but he arrived in a re-
duced condition, presents to chiefs and princes having
considerably lessened his stock of goods. He was as-
tonished to see the extent of the city, its large, well-
built houses, its trading establishments, the briskness
of its commerce, its workshops and the superior, even
elegant, fashions of dress among the free men and
women. But the Moors are in large numbers in Kano,
and this fact speaks volumes. At Kouka, again, Barth
found it as Clapperton had done, a city of more than
50,000 souls, engaged more or less in trade and com-
merce, and living in houses and amid surroundings
quite equal to those obtaining in Kano. It was at
Kouka that Barth heard of Richardson’s death. The
latter died in the city some weeks prior to the doctor’s
arrival. Overweg came in subsequent to a flying visit
paid by Barth to Lake Tchad, and the two started for
exploration in the south, moved in towns and villages
notorious for their systems of slavery, went to the
eastern shores of Lake Tchad, were attacked and plun-
56 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
dered by Arabs, and had a ripe experience in the Man-
dara country. At Kouka once more, in February, 1852,
the two parted—Overweg to visit Lake Tchad, Barth to
go to the Begharmi country.
Some tribes of Arabs had rebelled against.the Turks,
and he was in some danger while in their hands. Es-
caping from them, he reached Tripoli in the middle of
August, and arrived safely in London on September 6,
1855.
Although much of the country he had passed over
was already known, no previous African traveler more
successfully encountered and overcame the difficulties
and dangers of a journey through that region.
The most important result of his adventurous journey
was the discovery of a large river, hitherto unknown,
falling into Lake Tchad from the south, and of the
still larger affluent of the Niger, the Binue, which, rising
in the far-off centre of the continent, flows through the
province of Adamawa.
The courage and perseverance of Dr. Barth, while for
five years traveling 12,000 miles, amidst hostile and
savage tribes, in an enervating climate, frequently with
unwholesome or insufficient food, having ever to keep
his energies on the stretch to guard himself from the
attack of open foes or the treachery of pretended friends,
have gained for him the admiration of all who read his
travels, and place him among the foremost of African
travelers,
CHAPTER VII.
Discoveries or Caprains BuRTON AND SPEKE IN
CENTRAL AFRICA.
RicHarp Burton, better known as a traveler by the
name of Captain Burton, may be regarded as the doyen
of African travelers. Burton’s discovery of Lake Tan-
ganyika in 1857, started the race for Central African
exploration, in which he was followed by his fellow-
traveler on that occasion, Speke, the discoverer of Lake
Victoria Nyanza, by Grant, the companion of Speke, by
Samuel Baker, and by Stanley, the ‘‘ Prince of African
travelers,†as Burton acknowledged him to be.
Captain Burton’s name was already familiar to the
public, especially in India, by his adventurous journey
to Mecca, where, in the character of one of “ the faith-
ful,†he worshipped at the Kaaba, the shrine of Ma-
homet, in the eyes of every Mussulman the most sacred
spot on earth. Burton’s adventures on this memorable
journey had made him a notable man when he under-
took the exploration of Somaliland, and his pen had al-
ready found congenial occupation in writing an account
of the newly acquired province of Scinde, where he had
served under Napier.
Besides being, perhaps, the most eminent linguist of
his age—he was more or less familiar, we believe, with
(57)
58 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
twenty-five languages of Europe, Asia and Africa—he
has explored many parts of East and West Africa. He
was the author of numerous books of travel, and was dis-
tinguished as an archeologist and man of letters, as his
work on Etruria, and his translations of Camoens, and
of “ The Thousand and One Nights,†prove. Sir Rich-
ard Burton was one of the most remarkable men of his
day, and his many-sidedness is shown in his physical
acquirements, no less than in the points indicated above.
He is noted as an accomplished swordsman, and his
book on the sword is astandard work. Altogether, we
may regard him as a veritable “admirable Crichton.â€
He had served in the Indian army, and was regarded
as a reliable and able officer. Little was known of the
Somali when he was selected to explore their country
from Berbera, opposite Aden.
Burton’s companion in his expedition was John Han-
ning Speke. His career from his 18th year was one
continuous round of strange and extremely perilous ad-
venture. Born in 1827, he went to India at the age of
17, as a lieutenant in the British army, and served ina
number of general actions, The desperate hazard of
war was not enough for the uneasy, daring, roving spirit
of Speke—he must wander into mysterious Thibet,
climb the great lonely Himalayas, and explore country,
whenever he could obtain leave, in the intervals of
peace allowed to the English troops in India in those
days.
The enterprise of seeing the towering snow-capped
Mountains of the Moon, Kilimandjaro and Keina, was
exactly the thing to suit Speke’s taste. Captain Burton
having received a commission from the Government of
India to explore the country of the Somalis, in
RICHARD BURTON.
59
60 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Northeast Africa, and bounded partly by the Gulf of
Aden, Speke obtained permission to join him.
Burton, Speke, and two other Europeans of the party,
Lieutenants Stoyan and Herne, were soon to learn the
character of some of the natives, in an unpalatable
fashion. Hardly had they located themselves near Ber-
bera, when, in the dead of night, they were set upon by
a body of marauders, the animals bought for caravan
purposes were taken, while Speke was made. captive,
Stroyan was brutally murdered; Burton and Herne es-
caping ‘without injury. Speke eluded his captors, and
running for the sands upon the Gulf of Aden, he and
his companions were rescued by a passing boat on her
way to the port of Aden.
The expedition to the Somali country having been
formally recalled, Speke hastened to the Crimea. The
war was then drawing to a close, and he had no oppor-
tunity to test the strength of Russian steel. It happened,
as he desired—he was permitted to associate himself
with the force fitting for exploration in Southeast
Africa, taking in the Mountains of the Moon. A broad
and magnificent lake had been spoken of by natives and
Arab traders, and Captain Burton, given the lead of the
party, was empowered to inquire, explore, and report,
as to whether the report was correct or otherwise. On
December 21, 1856, Burton and Speke landed at Zanzi-
bar; not, however, until May, 1857, was the ex-
pedition fairly launched; the rainy season and
illnesses caused inconvenience and delay.
The objective was Ujiji. It was believed then that the
town was at the southern end of the great central lake,
supposed by the way, to be 800 miles long by 350 broad
SOMALI MAN,
61
62 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
—wofully under the estimates made at later times, as
we shall presently see.
Through the lands of the Wazaramo, the Wakhuta,
and, extraordinary feature among African natives, the
long-bearded Waziraha, proceeded the caravan to Zun-
gomero. The Wazaramo lived’ in small huts, sur-
rounded, a number of them together, by strong palisad-
ing. The men and wonien bestow devoted attention
to their hair, twisting it tightly, and using clay and oil
in the process, while no attention is paid to shielding
the body beyond wearing a cloth round theloins. The
Wakhuta and Waziraha are inferior in some respects,
and take no pride in their dwellings, nor their personal
appearance. Slavery prevails, though not in its worst
forms. West of Zungomero, the aspect of the country
changes—at one time hot springs rise from sandy plains,
at another there are swamps in which the dregs of fever
lie, as Burton and Speke found to their cost, a number
of native porters succumbing, while Burton himself was
stricken and could only journey on in great pain. To
render matters worse, carriers begun a dispute as to
food, and at one place where the leaders expected to
find a good supply of necessaries, not a particle was to
be picked up—slave-hunters had been busy and literally
ruined the village by fire and kidnapping. There was
some compensation for the travelers, however, at
Rumuma, where caravans were wont to stop. Food
was purchased, stores were replenished, and there was a
resumption of the march under more favorable condi-
tions, until the Usagara mountain ranges were practi-
cally left behind, and rest was obtained in Ugogo.
Men and animals were by this time thoroughly fagged
out. Burton was far from well, and Speke was pros-
CENTRAL AFRICA. 63
trated. Still, the halt was not a long one—a party of
Unyamenzi were starting for their homes after serving
as porters, and as those homes were within easy distance
of the Mountains of the Moon, the opportunity of
profiting by the presence of these men was not to be
lost. They were conversant with the route from Ugogo,
and had information to impart as to the wonderful snow-
clad mountains. A start was made in the desired di-
rection, which took the explorers through Unyamyembe,
where Stanley and Livingstone were to part 15 years
afterwards. Burton and Speke were imposed upon by
petty chiefs until Tura was reached, when a fulsome re-
ception was accorded them.
The caravan pushed on, and in September the Unya-
menzi country, embracing the Mountains of the Moon,
was actually reached. It is charming in parts, well
wooded mounds and fertile valleys being conspicuous—
villages lie clustered ‘above the impervious walls of
milk-bush with its coral-shaped arms, and in rich pas-
ture lands graze extensive herds of plump, high-humped
cattle.†Speke thinks that Unyamenzi must have been
one of the largest kingdomsin Africa. He refers to the
people as hereditarily the greatest traders in the conti-
nent, and as the only people who for love of barter and
change willleave their own countryas porters and go to
the coast. “ The whole country ranges nearly 4000 feet
above the sea level. The natives are generally indus-
trious, cultivate extensively, make cloths of cotton in
their own looms, smelt iron, and work it up very ex-
pertly, and keep flocks and herds to a considerable ex-
tent. Some of the men are handsome and the women
pretty.â€
At Kaze, in December, Burton and Speke were soon
64 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
mixing among the Arab merchants who make the town
a caravan centre. Offers of help were made to the
Englishmen, and some valuable information was
gleaned. Our travelers were assured that Ujiji was not
upon the southern end of the great lake of which they
were really in search—that it did not stand upon the
lake. The vast sheet they desired to explore was farther
north, and from it ran a river flowing north again. This
was news indeed. Another wonder. What solution?
Burton and Speke had no definite idea then that the
“farther lake†was the Victoria Nyanza, and that the
“river†flowing north was none other than the mighty
Nile, whose sources had been for long centuries a secret
to geographers, and the search for which was to cost
Livingstone so tremendous an amount of trouble and
eventually his very life.
Increasingly curious as to the developments of the
future, the explorers left Kaze after a stay of three weeks’
duration—only to be mortified, however, by mutiny
among the carriers, by the desertion of a number of
those men they were depending upon to assist them in
the selection of route, and by inability, for a season, to
obtain others. The eyes of the leaders were seriously
affected, and, fora week Burton lay prostrated by an
illness that threatened his existence. The dawn of the
year 1858 was a sad one; notwithstanding the travelers
were marching past the bases of what they believed to
be those mountains, word of which had prompted them
to start upon their journeyings.
February 13, 1858, was to be a red-letter day, alike
for the expedition and in the history of geographical
discovery. Burton had mounted the summit of a rocky
eminence, when his heart leaped—he beheld the water
ji;
NZ
5 A VIEW ‘TAKEN AT UJIJL 65
66 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
of Tanganyika. In the first place his gaze filled him
with dismay, he records; the remains of his blindness,
the veil of trees, and a broad ray of sunshine illuminat-
ing but one reach of the lake, had shrunk its fair pro-
portions. Somewhat prematurely he began to curse
his folly in having risked life and lost health for so poor
a prize, and to propose a return to the coast. But ad-
vancing a few yards, the whole scene burst upon his
view, filling him with admiration, wonder, and delight.
Nothing, in sooth, could be more picturesque than this
first view of Tanganyika Lake, as it lay in the lap of the
mountains in the gorgeous tropical sunshine, its clear
waters gleaming against a background of steel-colored
mountains.†To Speke the magnificent spectacle and
the thrill of delight were denied. He was not far from
Burton, but was suffering from inflammation of the eyes,
his vision was dimmed, he was the only one in the
throng standing within the shadows of what they re-
garded as the Mountains of the Moon, who could not
look upon their imposing slopes nor yet upon the waters
of the vast lake. An amount of keen disappointment
would have been saved to Speke, had he known that the
exploration party were not standing anywhere near the
Mountains of the Moon. These grand, snow-capped
giants are much farther north; they are east-southeast
of the then undiscovered Victoria Lake—not rising from
the eastern shores of Tanganyika. The explorers
scarcely realized their true position.
Boats for the conveyance of the party to Kanele, in
the Ujiji district, were obtained; but their reception,
though pleasing, was followed by the extortions of the
chief Kannina and his refusal of help towards procuring
a boat, that the great lake might be explored. A month
CENTRAL AFRICA. 67
was wasted, in an unsuccessful attempt to hire an Arab
sailing vessel, and it was not until many more days had
elapsed that two wretched canoes were obtained ; for
which an exorbitant price had to be paid. With them
went the chief Kannina. He knew something of a
river flowing from the mountains into the lake, and
would show it to them. He refused to continue in their
company after the arrival at Uvira, at the north-east end
of the lake—the Warundi regarded him as an enemy,
and he feared to provoke their hostility.
All the searching and all the inquiries made by Bur-
ton and his followers yielded nothing to their view in the
shape ofa river. They were now at the farthest point
traders were permitted to touch—beyond was a country
of savages among whom it was advisable not to venture.
Provisions were short,and the means of barter, and the
presents were running out. The order was given, there-
fore, for a return to Ujiji.
On May 13, Burton and Speke were back at Ujiji,
whence a return was made to Kaze, and Speke, accom-
panied by 10 Beloochs and 20 carriers,set out in search
of the second lake, concerning which information had
been given by Arabs and traders. Burton was so ill
that he had to me carried from Ujiji to Kaze, and at the
latter place he remained during Speke’s absence north
It wasa journey beset with trials of patience—bad con-
duct on the part of the porters, detention by petty chiefs,
and, by no means least, a detour anda long suspense
in the new lake region, owing to the prevalence of bitter
war.
But the daring and faith of Speke were to be re-
warded. He was certain, before the end of July arrived,
that he was approaching another great inland sea; and
68 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
on August 3, his eyes were gladdened and his senses
quickened by the vast expanse of the blue waters of the
Nyanza or lake, bursting suddenly upon his gaze. He
had seen its waters, as a fact, on July 30, but in narrow
creeks,
Speke, in his book of travels, says: “ The pleasure
of the mere view vanished in the presence of those
more intense and exciting emotions which were called up
by the consideration of the commercial and geograph-
ical importance of the prospect before me. I no
longer felt any doubt that the lake at my feet gave birth
to that interesting river the source of which has been
the subject of so much speculation and the object of so
many explorers. The lake is so broad you could not
see across it,and so long that nobody knew its length.â€
The breadth was estimated at 100 miles—as Speke re-
marks, no one had any idea of its length, more than
one native seemed to think its termination in the north
was in the end of the earth. Speke was forced to make
his way back to Burton without obtaining any concep-
tion of the area of this the largest inland sea of Africa.
People at home could scarcely credit Speke’s account
and estimate of this vast lake when he recited them—a
lake to which ‘he gave the name of “ Victoria,†in honor
of the Queen of England.
Extraordinary, however, as Speke’s opinion of the
Victoria Nyanza seemed, it was no exaggeration. Much
as he saw, and great as was his estimate of areas unseen,
what he has stated has actually fallen below the mark.
Subsequent travelers have sailed its waters and explored
its banks, but even they have had an inadequate notion
of its vastness. It has been left to Stanley to give usa
more correet idea of the tremendous extent of this lake.
WAVIGATION ON LAKE TANGANYIKA,
70 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Thirty years after its discovery by Speke, he passed its
southern limits in the company of Emin Pasha, after
bringing him from the Equatorial province, and says, he
and his companions then made an unexpected discovery
of real value in Africa of a considerable extension of
the Victoria Nyanza to the south-west. The utmost
southerly reach of this extension is south latitude 20° 48’,
which brings the water within 155 miles from Lake
Tanganyika. No one had ever a suspicion of this before.
He made a rough sketch of it, and found that the area
of the lake was increased by this the latest discovery to
26,900 square miles, or just 1900 square miles larger
than the reputed exaggerations of Captain Speke. An
inconceivably wonderful lake, and having possibilities
we are quite unable to understand!
Speke rejoined Burton at Kaze, August 28, and re-
ported to him his momentous discovery. Circumstan-
ces prevented a return to the Victoria Nyanza,and a six
months’ march was begun to the coast, Zanzibar being
the limit reached.
Again in England, Barton and Speke were the lions
of the season, and their discoveries formed the main
theme for cseographers for many aday. To Burton were
awarded the gold medals of the English and French
Geographical Societies. In the following year he was
appointed British Consul in Fernando Po. On October
20, 1890, he closed his varied and eventful career.
Lady Burton, in the “life†of her husband, says:
“Burton was the pioneer (without money, without food,
without men, or proper escort, without the bare access-
aries of life, to dare and do, in spite of every obstacle,
and every crushing thing, bodily and mentally), who
opened upthat country. It is to Az that later followers,
CENTRAL AFRICA. 71
that Grant, and Speke, and Baker, and Stanley, and all
the other men that have ever followed, owe it that he
opened the oyster shell for them, and they went in to
take the pearl. J don’t want to detract from any other
traveler's merits, for they are all brave and great, but I
will say that if Richard Burton had had Stanley’s money,
escort, luxuries, porterage, and white comrades, backed
by influence, there would not have been one single
white spot on the whole map of the great Continent of
Africa that would not have been filled up.
“Tt was the first successful attempt to penetrate that
country, and laid the foundation for others. It was the
base on which all subsequent journeys were founded;
Livingstone, Cameron, Speke and Grant, Baker and
Stanley carried it out. During these African explora-
tions he was attacked with fever 21 times, by temporary
paralysis, and partial blindness. Tanganyika was Bur-
ton’s discovery. Nyanza was Speke’s.â€
CHAPTER VIII.
SPEKE AND GRANT AT THE SOURCES OF THE NILE.
SpEKE could not rest in England. His adventurous
spirit was in no sense subdued by the vicissitudes he had
met among mountain passes of India and Thibet, upon
the Somali plains, in the Crimea, and in connection with
three years’ exploration in South-east Africa; he was
convinced that what he had seen of the Victoria Nyanza
and in the country of the Mountains of the Moon was
but a tithe of what might be gleaned thereabouts.
There were, he felt sure, immense openings arising from
a resumption of travel in those regions—elements to
lead men on to sustained discoveries of greatest impor-
tance. The scheme Speke had cherished of traveling
to the sources of the Nile and following it to its very
outlet far away in North Africa was not forgotten by
him. And he determined that at all costs he would
reduce his convictions to the test. If no public body
would help him, he would go out at his own expense as
he originally intended, pursue his way, and come out
victorious, or—perish in the endeavor.
Speke was not to launch his enterprise unsupported.
Roderick Murchison was President of the Geographical
Society, and his active sympathy was enlisted. The
theory of Captain Speke (he had been promoted in the
(72)
DEPARTURE OF CAPTAINS SPEKE AND GRANT.
74 _. AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
British Army) that the Nile took its rise in the Victoria
Nyanza, was favored by many, and they were very anx-
ious that it should be thoroughly established. Nine
months elapsed before he left the shores of England,
as leader of the new expedition. He was somewhat
disappointed in the amount of money voted him—
$12,500,—and in his vovage to Zanzibar. He could
not obtain passage thither at the time fixed by him—
he and an old friend, Captain Grant, who was to ac-
company him inland, had to take the West African
coast route to the Cape, and to sail thence for the port
of debarkation. The time was not wholly lost, how-
ever. Speke received carbines, ammunition, and instru-
ments from the Government at home, and, while at the
Cape, a sum of $1500 was set apart by Parliament
there for the purposes of the expedition, and ten Hot-
tentot members of the Mounted Rifles were placed at
his disposal, as well as a corvette for the shipment of
his party to Zanzibar. On the way there the vessel
chased and overtook a slave ship, in which were 500
poor blacks, who were released, when opportunity
offered.
Speke and Grant left Zanzibar in August 1860, and
the start eastwards was made from Bagomoyo. Provis-
ions and articles for presents to native potentates were
borne in plenty by the blacks. Eleven mulesand five asses
were taken for carrying purposes also. Very soon the
force was reduced by sickness and desertion, and the
gaps could not be filled without much trouble and prov-
ocation. There were 54 Wanguana freed-men, and
about 20 Zanzibaris as porters, in addition to the Hot-
tentots. _
The march was through the flat country of Uzaramo,
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 75
through uneven stretches of Usagara, Ugogo, and Un-
yameuzi, until Lake Victoria was touched upon its
x ne
Seyi
peri
A
THE KING ADDRESSING HIS SUBJECTS,
south-western limits. Experiences passing through
were not of the happiest. There were greedy chiefs to
satisfy, porters.mutinied and deserted, natives were sus-
76 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
picious, because they had the impression a slave-raiding
caravan was approaching ; guides were not to be trusted,
porters were deceived and robbed, and in one village an
illness contracted by Speke nearly proved fatal. Grant
was then at some distance making observations
and confirming native reports, and before rejoining
Speke his escort was attacked, stripped of their loads,
and put to flight. A few only of the loads were re-
covered.
But compensation was in store for the travelers who
had now been fighting against nature, and often against
savages, for twelve months. Speke and Grant left Usai
behind and crossed into Karagwe, upon the western
shores of the Victoria Lake, to find it a land of milk and
honey. It contained a hitherto undiscovered lake, to
which Speke gave the name of Little Windermere.
Upon the very borders of Karagwe the badly-used, re-
duced explorers were met by messengers sent by Ru-
manika, the king, to accord them hearty welcome, and
to offer them the best food and liquor in the land.
Speke says, “To do royal honors to the king of this
charming land, I ordered my men to put down their loads
and firea volley. Here we saw, sitting cross-legged
upon the ground, Rumanika and. his brother Nnanaji,
both of them men of noble appearance and size. The
king was plainly dressed in an Arab’s black choga, and
wore for ornament, dress stockings of rich-colored
beads, and neatly-worked wristlets of copper. At their
sides lay huge pipes of black clay. The king and his
brother had fine oval faces, large eyes and high noses,
denoting the best blood of Abyssinia.†The curiosity
of the monarch as to how the explorers had found their
way into his kingdom had to be satisfied, time flying
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. a7
“like magic†until the shades of evening fell and royalty
and visitors separated, the latter to choose their own
camping-ground amid charming scenery.
Throughout a month’s intercourse with Rumanika,
‘Speke experienced nothing save pleasure. Hunting,
exploring, inquiring into the customs of the people,
resting, day succeeded day all too quickly. When,
however, a message came from the mighty Mtesa,
king of Uganda, in January (1862), that he would re-
ceive the travelers, and the protection of Arab traders
could be had, Speke was compelled to bid good-bye to
Rumanika and his well-disposed people. Grant was too
ill to be moved. After the lapse of a month, Speke
neared Mtesa’s capital. Like Rumanika, he sent cour-
iers to welcome the explorer, and to promise to make
him comfortable.
Speke’s first view of the capital presented a magnifi-
cent sight—a whole hill was covered with gigantic huts
such as he had never seen in Africa before. “TI pre-
pared for my first presentation at court,†says Speke in
his account of the reception by Mtesa, “though I cut
a sorry figure in comparison with the display of the
dressy Waganda. They had head-dresses, and were
rich in ornaments. A number of the four hundred
wives kept by Mtesa stood in little groups gazing upon
us. Courtiers of high dignity stepped forward to greet
me, dressed in the most scrupulously neat fashions.
Men, women, bulls, dogs, and goats were led about by
strings; cocks and hens were carried in men’s arms ;
and little pages, with rope-turbans, rushed about, con-
veying messages, as if their lives depended on their
swiftness, everyone holding his skin cloak tightly round
him lest his naked legs might by accident be shown.
78 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
“The mighty king was sitting on his throne. He
was a good-looking, well-figured, tall young man of
twenty- five, sitting on a red blanket spread upon a
square platform of royal grass, encased in tiger-grass
reeds. The hair of his head was cut short, excepting
on the top, where it was combed up into a high ridge,
running from stem to stern like a cockscomb. The
king wore many ornaments, principally of brass and
copper. He was very affable and our interview was
very satisfactory.â€
Speke appears to have taken Mtesa’s fancy. Proba-
bly his presents had much to do with it. A healthy
spot was fixed upon for Speke’s abode, food in plenty
was set apart for him, and on many days Mtesa ac-
companied him on hunting expeditions. So fond, in-
deed, was the king of Speke, that he would not hear of
him leaving his dominions, and for more than four
months our hero was compelled to stay in the neighbor-
hood of the court. All was not pleasant to Speke of
course. Mtesa showed distinct traits of cruelty. He
thought nothing of ordering subjects off to grinding,
lingering tortures and to execution ; to treat them as
beasts, and to countenance daily sacrifices of human
beings. At times Speke’s blood was roused and he
dared to appeal to the monarch for clemency ; nor were
his desires ee unheeded. With the queen-dowager,
Speke was much of a favorite—she bestowed two wives
upon him as a signal mark of favor, but to his disgust.
Speke’s detention was a source of great annoyance te
him. _ Through one channel only was there any pros-
pect of release. Mtesa desired to open up his country
to trade, and as Speke conversed with him repeatedly
of the constant trading operations upon the Nile right
MTESA’S RESIDENCE IN UGANDA, 79
80 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
away north and east from Khartoum through the Sou-
dan to the Red Sea, and of the impetus that would be
given to it by extension to Uganda, if he, Speke, were
permitted to go and relate all that he had seen in the
kingdom, Mtesa began to think that perhaps the best
course would be to allow the visitor to depart. He
promised that the departure of Speke and his men
should not be long delayed. This rejoiced Speke, and
Grant arriving at the capital under an escort of Mtesa’s
men, his pleasure was unbounded.
The end came with the dawn of July 7, when Speke
and Grant and their faithfyl henchmen bade farewell to
Mtesa, bearing with them a large quantity of ivory for
trade. Grant was too unwell to proceed rapidly, and it
was decided that he and a portion of the caravan should
march slowly to the west into Ungoro. Speke made
for the head of the Victoria Lake, and on July 19, his
was the magnificent reward of standing upon the banks
of old Father Nile. Speke describes the scene as most
beautiful. ‘ Nothing could surpass it. It was the very
perfection of the kind of effect aimed at in a highly-kept
park, with a magnificent stream about 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 high grassy banks
with rich trees and plantains in the background, where
herds of hartbeests could be seen grazing, while the
hippopotami were snorting in the water, and florikan
and guinea-fowl, rising at our feet.†A few trials more,
—now in thick jungle, anon crossing streams and rapids,
and among wondering and suspicious natives, and Speke
. was thrilled by the fact that he was standing near the
head of a series of charming falls constituting the outlet
FALLS,
RIPON
82 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
of the Victoria Nyanza and the principal source of old
Father Nile. Here was a grand discovery indeed—one
denied to all other Europeans throughout the ages ‘in
spite of unwearied searchings.
To the falls Speke gave the name of “ Ripon.â€
“Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I
expected,†Speke writes in his book, “for the broad
surface of the lake was shut out from view bya spur of
hill, and the falls, about twelve feet deep and 500 feet
broad, were broken by rocks. Still it was a sight that
attracted one to it for hours.†Thence upon the bosom
of the Nile, upon roughly constructed boats, Speke and
his party sailed northwards for some days, to leave the
water, after being attacked by Wanyoro, and to rejoin
Grant, and, subsequently, the whole united caravan en-
tered Unyoro and stood before the capital of the king,
Kamrasi, who had sent the presents of fowls and plan-
tains in token of friendship.
Like the monarch of Uganda, the king of Unyoro
was surrounded by courtiers, but there was a lack of
imposing ceremony. Kamrasi sat upon a stool when
receiving thestrangers, but there wasa variety of dressed
skins about and around him, and his ornaments were
profuse. Speke’s chronometer was a special object of
envy to Kamrasi. They got on fairly well with Kamrasi,
aroused his curiosity by presenting him with a Bible,
spoke to him of trade, and delighted him by their prow-
ess in the hunting-field. Hearing that the servants of
Petherick, the noted English trader upon the Nile, south
of Khartoum, was in the neighborhood of Gondokoro,
in what has since been known as the Equatorial, or
Emin’s province of the Soudan, Speke and Grant were
delighted beyond measure. Nearly two years had
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 83
elapsed since they saw a third white man, and as they
were still 2000 miles from the mouth of the Nile, it may
be imagined how eagerly both looked forward to the
meeting.
Starting from Kamrasi's palace at last, Speke and his
A GROUP OF GANI AND MADI.
followers headed for the Nile banks, trusted themselves
to the Nile waters again, passed the Karuma Falls, and
through what is known as the Kidi Wilderness, and on
November 29, the conical huts of the naked Koki in
Gani were sighted, then the Madi, to be known here-
84 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
after by Samuel Baker, Gordon, and Emin Pasha, were
seen, and the outpost of civilization, garrisoned by ir-
regular troops in the pay of the Egyptian Government,
was reached with feelings of profound gratitude, news
of Petherick being a short distance away heightening the
joy of the explorers. Egyptian rule as understood in
the Soudan territory had become hateful and fearful to
the natives, not a few of whom fled as Speke and his
men advanced, not feeling safe by any means in their
company. They could not know that the travelers
were not plunderers. In February (1863), Gondokoro,
then little more than a cluster of huts, still a trading
station of some importance upon the White Nile, came
in view, small sailing craft and dhows were seen, and to
the unspeakable delight of Speke and Grant, Samuel
Baker appeared in the midst of a throng of people to
accord them the very heartiest congratulations at an
escape from what he and many others believed would
have been certain death in the vast lake regions. Baker
had ascended the Nile thus far in search of Speke and
Grant, and was prepared to go much farther. Petherick
was at the moment 70 miles away, and did not come in
for some time afterwards.
While Baker went exploring south-west, one result
of which was the discovery of the Albert Nyanza—
Speke and Grant took a voyage down the Nile to Khar-
toum. This took a month. On April 15, they were
aboard a sailing vessel bound for Berber, whence they
joined a caravan across the desert to Korosko, and took
Nile boats for Cairo, where they arrived at the latter
end of May, 1863. It was at Cairo that the “ faithfulsâ€
and Speke and Grant separated. The former were “ paid
off†and sent coastwise to their homes, via Zanzibar,
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 85
in charge of Bombay—the two Englishmen returning
to England, after an absence of four years and eight
months, to be deservedly honored on every hand.
Captain Speke did not live long to enjoy his wonder-
ful successes. He died September 15, 1864, from the
effects of wounds received by him accidentally while out
shooting. He was then but 38 years old.
Although not, as he supposed, the discoverer of the
remotest source of the Nile, Speke was undoubtedly
the first European who saw the Victoria Nyanza, while
the adventurous and hazardous journey he and Grant
performed together, places them in the front rank of
African travelers. They opened up an extensive and
rich district hitherto totally unknown, and made many
important discoveries.
Captain Speke was the first to traverse the territories
of those savage potentates, M’wanga, Mtesa and Kam-
rasi. The names of Uganda, Unyoro, the Somerset
Nile, the Ripon and Karuma Falls, are now familiar in
our mouths, and among the honored names of Great
African Travelers, that of Speke, and in a lesser degree,
of his accomplished companion, Grant, will ever hold a
prominent place.
CHAPTER IX.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
Davin Livincstone was born at Blantyre, near Glas-
gow, Scotland, about the year 1817. He worked in a
cotton factory in his youth; and studied medicine and
theology, with an intention to labor as a missionary,
and was sent by the London Missionary Society to
South Africa, in 1840. He landed at Cape Town, and
for the next sixteen years of his life (to 1856) he
labored in medical and missionary efforts for the good
of the people, without any cost to them.
Up to this time the explorers of Africa had confined
their travels to the north-western regions; they had
traversed the Niger to its mouth, they had visited Tim-
buctoo, sailed on Lake Tchad, and crossed the continent
from the Gulf of Benin to the Mediterranean. Every-
where the Europeans had passed through scenes of
horror caused by the slave-hunters; ruined towns, de-
populated districts, roads lined with skeletons, and car-
avans of negroes dragged from their homes to be sold.
From Cape Town, he went round to Algoa Bay,
where he proceeded about 800 miles into the interior to
Kuruman, the missionary station of the Rev. R. Moffatt,
whose daughter he afterwards married.
He went on to Lepole, where he spent six months
(86)
Vv Page me
nf
cnt eee)
LIVINGSTONE UNDER THE LION. 87
88 / AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
learning the language and habits of the Bakwains. These
people being driven by another tribe from their country,
he was unable to form a station at that place. He was
more successful at Mabotsa, also inhabited by the Bak-
wains, to which place he removed in 1843. It was here,
while chasing a lion, that he nearly lost his life. He
had fired both barrels of his gun, and was reloading
when the lion, though desperately wounded, sprang
upon him, catching his shoulder, both man and beast
coming to the ground together. Growling horribly,
the fierce brute shook him as a “ terrier dog does a rat.â€
The gun of his companion missed fire, when the lion,
leaving Livingstone, attacked him. Another native came
up with a spear, when the lion pounced on him; but
the bullets at that moment taking effect, the fierce brute
fell down dead. “ Besides crunching the bones into
splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds upon the upper
part of my arm.†The wounds soon healed, but to the
end of his life he occasionally felt the effects of the
knawing he had received.
The-chief of the Bakwains, Sechele, became a Chris-
tian, and exerted himself for the conversion of his peo-
ple. The Dutch Boers (or farmers), who had pushed
forward to the confines of the country, proved, however,
most adverse to the success of the mission, by carrying
off the natives and forcing them to labor as slaves.
By the advice of Dr. Laidley, Sechele and his people
moved to the Kolobeng, a stream about 200 miles to the
north of Kuruman, where Livingstone formed a station.
He here built a house with his own hands, having
learned carpentering and gardening from Mr. Moffatt,
as also blacksmith’s work. He had now become handy
at almost any trade, in addition to doctoring and preach-
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 89
ing, and as his wife could make candles, soap and clothes,
they possessed what may be considered the indispensa-
ble accomplishments of a missionary family in Africa.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
Among the visitors to the station was Mr. Oswell, who
deserves to take rank as an African traveler. Hearing
that Livingstone purposed crossing the Kalahari Desert
go AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
in search of the great Lake Ngami, he came from India
on purpose to join him, accompanied by Mr. Murray,
volunteering to pay the entire expenses of the guides.
The Kalahari, though called a desert from being com-
posed of soft sand and being destitute of water, at this
time supported prodigious herds of antelopes, while
numbers of elephants, rhinoceros, lions, hyzenas, and
other animals roamed over it. They find support
from the astonishing quantity of grass which grows in
the region, as also from a species of water-melon, and
tuberous roots.
Such was the desert Livingstone and his party pur-
posed crossing when they set out with their wagons on
June 1, 1849, from Kolobeng, They traversed 300
miles of desert, when at the end of a month, they reached
the banks of the Zonga, a large river, richly fringed with
fruit-bearing and other trees, many of them of ‘gigantic
growth, running north-east towards Lake Ngami. They
were cordially received by the peace-loving inhabitants
of its banks.
Leaving the wagons in charge of the natives, Living-
stone embarked in one of their canoes. Frail as are
the canoes of the natives, they make long trips in them,
and manage them with great skill, often standing up
and paddling with long, light poles. They thus daringly
attack the hippopotami in their haunts, or pursue the
swift antelope which ventures to swim across the
river. After voyaging on the stream for twelve days,
they reached the broad expanse of Lake Ngami.
Though wide, it is very shallow and brackish during
the rainy season. They here heard of some large rivers
flowing into the lake.
Livingstone’s main object in coming was to visit
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. gl
Sebituane, the great chief of the Makololo, who live
about 200 miles to the northward. The chief of the
district refused either to give them goods or allow them
to cross the river. The season being far advanced, they
returned to Kolobeng, Mr. Oswell going down to the
Cape to bring up a boat for the next season.
Half of the premium for the encouragement of geo-
graphical science and discoveries was awarded to Liv-
ingstone for the discoveries he made on this journey.
Sechele, the Christian chief of the Bakwains, offered
his services, and with him as a guide, accompanied by
Mrs. Livingstone and their three children, they set out,
in April, 1850, taking a more easterly course than before.
They again reached the lake, but most of the party
being attacked by fever, the design of visiting Sebituane
was abandoned.
The third journey, was begun in the Spring of 1851.
First traveling north, and then to the north-east, through
a region covered with baobab-trees, abounding with
springs, and inhabited by Bushmen, they entered an
arid and difficult country. Here, the supply of water
being exhausted, great anxiety was felt for the children,
who suffered greatly from thirst. At length a small
stream, the Mababe, was reached, running into a marsh,
across which they had to make their way. During the
night they traversed a region infested by the ésedse, a fly
not much larger than the common house-fly, the bite of
which destroys cattle and horses. It is remarkable that
neither man, wild animals, nor even calves as long as
they continue to suck, suffer from the bite of this fear-
ful pest. While some districts are infested by it, others
in the immediate neighborhood are free, and, as it does
not bite at night, the only way the cattle of travelers
92 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
can escape is by passing quickly through the infested
district before the sun is up. Sometimes the natives
lose the whole of their cattle by its attacks, and
travelers frequently have been deprived of all means
of moving with their wagons. Having reached the
Chobe, a large river which falls into the Zambesi,
leaving their attendants camped with the cattle on an
island, Livingstone and his family, with Oswell, em-
barked in a canoe, and went down about 20 miles to
an island, where Sebituane was waiting to recieve them.
The chief, pleased with the confidence Livingstone
had shown in bringing his wife and children, promised
to take them to see his country, that they might choose
a spot to form a missionary station. He had been at
war nearly all his life, with the neighboring savage
tribes, but had got himself in a secure position behind
the Chobe and Leeambye, whose broad streams
guarded him from the inroads of his enemies. He
had more subjects and was richer in cattle than any
chief in that part of Africa. The rivers and swamps,
however, of the region produced fever, which proved
fatal to many of his people. He was anxious for inter-
course with Europeans, and showed every wish to en-
courage those who now visited him to remain in his
territory. A few days later the chief was attacked with
inflammation of the lungs, and in a short time breathed
his last. Before his death he expressed the hope that
the English would be as friendly to his children as they
had been to himself. The chieftainship devolved ona
daughter, who gave the visitors leave to travel through
any part of the country they chose. They accordingly
set out, and traversing 130 miles to the north-east,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 93
reached the banks of the Zambesi, the chief river of
Southern Africa.
From the prevalence of the ¢se¢se, and the periodical
rise of the numerous streams causing malaria, Living-
stone was compelled to abandon the intention he had
formed of removing the Bakwain people thither that
I. THE TSETSE, 2. THE SAME MAGNIFIED, 3. THE PROBOSCIS.
they might be out of the reach of their rapacious neigh-
bors, the Dutch Boers. The river was, he at once saw,
the key of Southern Africa. This was a most impor-
tant discovery, for that river was not previously known
to exist there.
The magnificent stream, on the bank of which he now
stood, flows. hundreds of miles east to the Indian Ocean
04 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
—a mighty artery supplying life to the teeming popu-
lation of that part of Africa. 5
Livingstone determined to send his wife and children
to England, and to return himself and spend two or
three years in the new region he had discovered, in the
hopes of evangelizing the people and putting a stop to
the trade in slaves, which had begun even thus far from
the coast.
He returned to Kolobeng, and then set out with his
family, a journey of 1000 miles, to Cape Town. Placing
them on board a homeward-bound ship, he turned his
face northward in June, 1852.
As Livingstone’s chief object was to select a spot for
a settlement, he ascended, accompanied by Sekeletu,
the great River Zambesi, the upper courses of which he
had traversed in the year 1851.
From Linyanti Livingstone set out on his journey
westward to Loanda, on the West Coast, and, on his
return, commenced from thence that adventurous ex-
pedition to the East Coast, which resulted in so many
important discoveries.
Recovering from his fever, Livingstone, accompanied
by Sekeletu and about 160 attendants, set out for
Sesheke. They passed numerous mounds, the work of
termites or white ants; which are literally gigantic
structures, and often wild date-trees were seen growing
on them,
Livingstone had a little gipsy tent in which he slept,
though the Makololo huts, which are kept tolerably
clean, afforded the party accommodation. The best sort
of hut consists of three circular walls, having small
holes to serve as doors, through which it is necessary
to creep on all fours. The roof resembles in shape a
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 95
' Chinaman’s hat, and is bound together with circular
bands. The framework is first formed, and it is then
HOUSE-BUILDING.
lifted to the top of the circle of poles prepared for sup-
porting it.
The roof is covered with fine grass and sewed with
96 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the same material as the lashings. Women are the
chief builders of huts among the Makololo.
Reaching the village of Katonga, on the banks of the
Leeambye, some time was spent there in collecting
canoes. During this delay Dr. Livingstone visited the
country to the north of the village, where he saw large
herds of buffaloes, zebras, and elans. He was enabled,
by this hunting expedition, to supply his companions
with an abundance of food.
A sufficient number of canoes being collected, they
began the ascent of the river. Livingstone’s canoe had
six paddlers, while Sekeletu’s had ten. The men
paddled standing upright, and kept stroke with great
exactness. Being flat-bottomed, they can float in very
shallow water. The fleet consisted altogether of 33
canoes and 160 men.
During this nine weeks’ tour Livingstone took a more
intense disgust of heathenism than he had ever before
felt, and formed a higher opinion of the civilizing effects
of the missions in the south among tribes which were
once as savage as the Makololo.
Returning down the stream at a rapid rate, they
quickly reached Linyanti.
The chief agreeing that the object of Livingstone’s
expedition to the west was desirable, took pains to assist
him. A band of 27 men were to accompany him by
the chief’s command, whose desire was to obtain a free
and profitable trade with the white men, and this, Living-
stone was convinced, would lead to their elevation and
improvement.
As they approached the sea, the Makololo gazed at
it, spreading out before them, with feelings of awe,
having before believed that the whole world was one
97
A MAKOLOLO CHIEF AND HIS WIVES AT HOME.
98 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
extended plain. They again showed their fears that
they might be kidnapped, but Livingstone reassured
them, telling them as they had stood by each other
hitherto, so they would do to the last.
On May 31, they descended a declivity leading to the
city of Loanda, where Livingstone was warmly welcomed
by Mr. Gabriel, the British commissioner for the sup-
pression of the slave trade. Seeing him so ill, he offered
his bed to him. “ Never shall I forget,’ says Living-
stone, “ the luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling my-
self again on a good couch, after for six months sleep-
ing on the ground.â€
It took many days before he recovered, from the ex-
posure and fatigue he had endured. All that time he
was watched over with the most generous sympathy by
his kind host.
His men, while he was unable to attend to them, em-
ployed themselves in going into the country and cutting
firewood, which they sold to the inhabitants of the town.
Mr. Gabriel also found them employment in unloading
a collier, at sixpence a day. They continued at this
work for upwards of a month, astonished at the vast
amount of “stones that burn†which were taken out
of her. With the money they purchased clothing,
beads and other articles to carry home with them.
From the kind and generous treatment Livingstone
received from the Portuguese, they rose deservedly high
in his estimation.
He now prepared for his departure. The merchants
sent a present to Sekeletu, consisting of specimens of
all their articles of trade and two donkeys, that the breed
might be introduced into his country, as the ¢seése can-
not kill those beasts. Livingstone was furnished. with
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 99
letters of recommendation to
the Portuguese authorities in
Eastern Africa.
They were now accom-
panied by their Portuguese
friends, the Londa_ people,
who inhabit the banks of the
Loajima.
They elaborately dress
their hair in a number of
ways. It naturally hangs
down on their shoulders in
large masses, which, with
their general features, gives
them a strong resemblance
to the ancient Egyptians.
MEN’S HEAD-DRESSES.
Some of them twist their hair into a number of small
cords, which they stretch out to a hoop encircling the
100 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
head. Others adorn their heads with ornaments of
woven hair and hide, to which they suspend the tails
of buffaloes. Some weave the hair on pieces of hide
in the form of buffalo horns, projecting on either side
of the head. The young men twine their hair in
the form of a single horn, projecting over their fore-
head in front. They frequently tattoo their bodies,
producing figures in the form of stars. Although their
heads are thus elaborately adorned, their bodies are
almost naked.
Reaching Calongo, Livingstone directed his course
towards the territory of his old friend, Katema; which
they reached on June 2.
They now took their way across the level plain, which
had been flooded on their former journey. Vultures
were flying in the air, showing the quantity of carrion
which had been left by the waters.
They passed Lake Dilolo, a sheet of water six or
eight miles long and two broad. The sight of the blue
waters hada soothing effect on Livingstone, who was
suffering from fever, after his journey through the
gloomy forest and across the wide flat.
Old Shinti, whose capital they now reached, received
them in a friendly way, and supplied them with provi-
sions. They left with him a number of plants, among
which were orange, cashew, custard, apple, and fig-trees,
with coffee, acacias, and papaws, which he had brought
from Loanda. They were planted out in the enclosure
of one of his principal men, with a promise that Shinti
should have a share of them when grown,
They now again embarked in six small canoes on the
waters of the Leeba. Paddling down it, they next en-
tered the Leeambye. Here they found a party of hunt-
|
xml record header identifier oai:www.uflib.ufl.edu.ufdc:UF0008406200001datestamp 2008-12-05setSpec [UFDC_OAI_SET]metadata oai_dc:dc xmlns:oai_dc http:www.openarchives.orgOAI2.0oai_dc xmlns:dc http:purl.orgdcelements1.1 xmlns:xsi http:www.w3.org2001XMLSchema-instance xsi:schemaLocation http:www.openarchives.orgOAI2.0oai_dc.xsd dc:title The story of exploration and adventure in Africa : compiled from the most authoritative sourcesExploration and adventure in AfricaAltemus' young people's librarydc:creator Holmes, Prescott.Altemus, Henry. ( Contributor )dc:subject Explorers -- Juvenile literature.Adventure and adventurers -- Juvenile literature.Voyages and travels -- Juvenile literature.Juvenile literature. -- Discovery and exploration -- AfricaBldn -- 1896.dc:description Publisher's advertisements precede text.dc:publisher Henry Altemusdc:date 1896dc:type Bookdc:format 264 p. : ill., port. ; 16 cm.dc:identifier http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?b=UF00084062&v=00001002238000 (aleph)220687430 (oclc)ALH8495 (notis)dc:source University of Floridadc:language Englishdc:coverage United States -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
| Fi Wariner We ? lg
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KING MUNZA IN FULL DRESS.
ALTEMUS’ YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIBRARY
TE STORY
EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE
AFRICA
COMPILED
FROM THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES
With Eighty Illustrations
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS
1896
IN UNIFORM STYLE
Coptously [ilustrated
THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND |
|
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS & WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE |
|
|
|
ROBINSON CRUSOE
THE CHILD’S STORY OF THE BIBLE
THE CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
THE FABLES OF ESOP
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
MOTHER GOOSE’S RHYMES, JINGLES AND TALES
EXPLORATION AND ADVENTURE IN THE FROZEN SEAS
THE STORY OF DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION IN AFRICA
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS
ARABIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS
ANDERSEN’S FAIRY TALES
GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES
Others 11 Preparation
Price 50 Cents Each
Henry ALTEMUS, PHILADELPHIA
Copyright 1896 by Henry Altemus
Henry ALremus, Manufacturer
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY . 3 : ‘ : 3 {
Bruck’s TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA : 2 $
Munco Park’s TRAVELS . : ; 5 :
DENHAM, CLAPPERTON, AND OUDNEY : ‘
JoURNEY OF THE LANDERS TO THE NIGER .
Dr. BaRTH IN CENTRAL AFRICA. ; .
BurTON AND SPEKE IN CENTRAL AFRICA :
SPEKE AND GRANT AT THE SOURCES OF THE NILE
Livinesrone’s First ExXpEpITION TO AFRICA .
LIvINGSTONE’S EXPEDITION TO THE ZAMBESI .
SAMUEL BAKER, AND EQUATORIAL AFRICA
LivinesTone’s Last JouRNEYS AND DEATH
STANLEY’s EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE
CAMERON’s JOURNEY Across AFRICA , :
STANLEY’s EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO $
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EmIN PASHA : :
PAGE
18
25
36
46
52
57
2.
86
109
127
140
153
179
185
198
8 KAFFIR MAN AND WOMAN,
INTRODUCTORY.
TuE name “The Dark Continent,†appropriately given
to Africa, will soon cease to be applicable to that inter-
esting continent—the third in point of size of the great
divisions of the globe. Our knowledge of that great
continent until within the past forty years was very
limited; but the host of travelers, who, following the
example of Bruce and Mungo Park, have penetrated into
the innermost recesses of Africa, leave little fresh ground
to be explored. Very soon our future Livingstones
and Stanleys will sigh in vain, like Alexander, for fresh
worlds to conquer, and Africa, the last of the continents
to yield its secrets to the prying eyes of Western civili-
zation, will cease to be a ¢erra incognita.
(9)
10 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Half a century ago the sources of the Nile were unex-
plored, the great lake system of Equatorial and South-
eastern Africa was unknown, the Mountains of the
Moon, which find a place in Ptolemy’s map as the
source of the Nile, were regarded as mythical, though
Stanley’s discoveries would seem to have identified them
with Mount Gordon Bennett (discoverec in 1876), and
Ruwenzori (the Snowy Mountain, near or on the
Equator), which he discovered on his last journey.
Then the Niger and Congo have been traced througha
great portion of their courses, and Livingstone taught
us most of what we know of the chief river of Southern
Africa, the Zambesi.
The first geographical system of Africa which deserves
the name, is that of Herodotus, the “ Father of History,â€
who gave a full description of these regions, and the
accuracy of his reports have received singular confirma-
tion by more recent discoveries. The Nile figured as
the great feature in the system of Herodotus, and he
described, with tolerable correctness, the northwest
of Africa as far as the Straits.
Herodotus tells us that the Egyptian King, Necho,
sent out an expedition with the design of circumnavigat-
ing Africa. Nothing is known as to whether or not
they accomplished their purpose. The Phcenicians are
known to have formed colonies on the northern coast
more than 3000 years ago.
The next geographical system was that of Ptolemy,
who flourished in the second century. To Ptolemy is
due the theory that the Nile has its sources in the
Mountains of the Moon, under or beyond the Equator,
and he depicts in his map the lakes through which the
river flows, thus in a remarkable manner shadowing
INTRODUCTORY. Il
forth the discoveries of Speke, and Baker, and Stanley.
He also represents the junction of the Blue Nile of
Abyssinia with the White Nile at Meroe, which he makes
into an island. Westward he describes the vast Libyan
desert as watered by the Gir and Niger, spoken of as
“rivers of the greatest magnitude,†the former of which
might have been the Gambia or Senegal River.
Ptolemy, therefore, is entitled to the credit of beingâ€
the first of the ancients to show that the Nile and Niger
were distinct rivers, one having its sources: far to the
southward, and the Niger, he says, forms the lake of
Nigritia, which lies in latitute 15°, longitude 18°, thus
clearly denoting its source from Lake Tchad.
Respecting Northern Africa, our first authentic in-
formation comes from the Arabs, who, by means of the
camel (the ship of the desert), crossed the great
desert to the centre of the continent, and _pro-
ceeded along the two coasts as far as the Sene-
gal and the Gambia on the west, and to Sofala on the
east. The Arabs planted colonies here and elsewhere.
In the fifteenth century there was a new era in mari-
time discovery. The Portuguese were the first to give
an accurate outline of the two coasts, and to complete
the circumnavigation of the continent. The discovery
of America and the West India Islands gave rise to the
traffic in African negroes. Nefarious as is this traffic,
it was the means of obtaining an accurate knowledge of
the coast as it lies between the Rivers Senegal and the
Cameroons. Systematic surveys of the coast and the
interior followed the French and English settlements in
Africa.
A few learned and scientific gentlemen in England
formed a society in 1788, under the name of “The
12 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
African Association,†their design being the exploration
of Inner Africa. Owing to the efforts of this Associa-
tion, important additions were made to the geography
of Africa, by Houghton, Mungo Park, Hornemana, and
Burckhardt. Repeated failures discouraged the so-
ciety, and it was merged into the Royal Geographical
Society in 1831. Much more has been done in the last
65 years to make us acquainted with Africa than was
accomplished in the preceding 18 centuries. With
Mungo Park begins the era of increasing endeavors to
explore the interior. A resume of the travels from
Park down to the present time will be detailed in the
present volume.
In 1892 the area of Africa was given as 11,600,000
square miles; and its population was estimated at
192,520,000,
Africa is a land of deserts. The Nile is the oldest of
historical rivers, and afforded the only means of sub-
sistence to the earliest civilized people on earth, and yet
the origin of this river remained an enigma almost to
the present day. It is one of the largest rivers of the
globe, having a course of about 4000 miles, and drain-
ing over a million of miles in Africa. The other great
rivers are the Congo, the Niger, and the Zambesi.
Lake Tchad is the largest of the lakes. It is situated
nearly in the centre of the continent: it is about 220
miles long, and at its widest point is 140 miles broad.
At some seasons it is nearly dry.
The climate of Africa, particularly in the rainy zone,
is entirely uniform, and by reason of its position (four-
fifths in the tropics), of the large extent of Sahara within ~
the hot zone, and of the small water-supply and the
limited area of the forests, it is extremely dry and hot.
TRAVELERS AND THE MIRAGE. 13
14 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
The interior of Africa is in all probability the hottest
region on the globe, but exhibits great contrasts of
temperature. The days often reach a temperature of 125°
Fahrenheit, yet the nights sometimes have only 55°.
In the extreme northern and southern parts, the four
seasons of the temperate zone are found. The supply
of rain is very scanty. The deserts of Sahara and
Kalahari are almost rainless.
The animal lifeis distinguished by large and clumsy
forms. Here are found the elephant and rhinoceros and
the hippopotamus. The average weight ofa full grown
hippopotamus is about 3500 pounds. They abound in
allthelargerivers. The African lion isthenoblestanimal
of the race. Leopards are numerous and very fierce.
Hyenas, ichneumons, and civets are met with. Ante-
lopes are found everywhere, sometimes in herds of
100,000. The camel, the Barbary horse, and the ass
are the beasts of burden mostly used, Numerous genera
of apes and monkeys are found. The zebra, quagga,
and the giraffe, the tallest existing mammal in Central
and Southern Africa, are peculiar to the continent.
Among birds, the ostrich, described as the feathered
camel, or the giraffe among birds, is the most remark-
able. Parrots and bright-colored, noisy birds enliven
the forests. Among reptiles, the crocodile is found in
all the large rivers and lakes. Various species of ser-
pents and lizards are met with; but they are fewer than
in other tropical countries, owing to the dryness of the
climate. Among insects, the termites, or white ants, with
their cone-like habitations, are most destructive. They
attack and demolish everything, but metals and stones,
that comes in their way. Locusts are still more de-
structive. An army of them passing over a country
TERMITES: AN ANT HILL. 15
16 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
leaves it as bare as if it had been swept with a broom.
They are used as food by many of the native tribes.
Fish in great variety are to be found in most of the
rivers and on the coast. On the coast sharks are nu-
merous; as are also black and spermaceti whales.
Mohammedanism and Fetichism are the prevailing re-
ligions of Africa, except in Abyssinia, where a corrupt
form of Christianity exists. Human sacrifices are offered
in some of the negro nations, but rarely except on great
occasions. The Mohammedans number from 60 to 100
millions. Jews are numerous in Morocco, Algeria, and
Abyssinia; their aggregate in all Africa being about
800,000. The Roman Catholics claim from one to
four millions of the population.
Never has the future of Africa been brighter than at
the present time. There is no hope fora return of
those glories which ages upon ages past adorned Egypt ;
the might of Carthage has long since gone for ever—
the whole of North Africa has been divided, and the
signs of improvement are very limited. In other parts
of the continent, however, new life is springing, channels
for the introduction of civilization are constantly ap-
pearing.
The scramble for Africa goes on apace. Italy has
secured a firm foothold upon the eastern borders of
Abyssinia and has schemes of further conquest by war
or negotiation; the influence of France is being felt
throughout Algeria. The first months of the year 1891
found the French pushing trade routes beyond Ghadmes
and on through the oases of the Sahara Desert to the
broad central Soudan; in Senegambia and the West
Coast countries, commerce flourishes ; the Congo basin
INTRODUCTORY. 17
teems with trading vessels, as the river will surely do
in the near future; almost the whole of South Africa
has fallen under British protection. Mashonoland, a
vast tract of country owned by the Matabele, north of
the Kuruman River, and not very far from the western
bends of the Zambesi, has since 1891 come under the
sway of the English through the enterprise of the British
South Africa Company; in Nyassaland the claims of
England are firmly established. In Central Africa, in-
deed, an expanse—six hundred thousand square miles—
of rich territory came within recognized British control
in 1890. Germany then received a large slice of country
as her share of the bargain.
All this cannot fail to exert a powerful influence for
good upon Africa. With still greater strides will Chris-
tianity and civilization advance, until the whole conti-
nent shall be flooded with their light.
2
CHAPTER II.
Brucer’s TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA.
To discover the country of Prester John, the mysteri-
ous Christian monarch of the East—first supposed to be
in Tartary, and then in Abyssinia—and to effect the
passage to India, were the chief motives of the voyage
in 1486, of Bartholomew Diaz, the first navigator to
round the Cape of Good Hope (which he very correctly
named Cape Stormy), and of Vasco de Gama, who,
twelve years after, voyaged up the east coast of Africa,
and passing Mozambique, Mombassa, and Melinda,
crossed the Indian Ocean in 23 days, and cast anchor in
Calicut, on the Malabar coast.
The first European to penetrate into Abyssinia, of
whom we have any record, was the Portuguese Covil-
ham, who was sent ona mission by land to Prester
John from the King of Portugal, with the object of in-
quiring whether it was possible to sail to India from the
Cape of Good Hope, which Diaz had os discovered.
Covilham quitted Lisbon in May, 1487, and first visiting
India, proceeded to Abyssinia, where he was detained
by the King, and held high office in the state. In the
year 1525, when Rodriguez de Lima went as Portuguese
ambassador to Abyssinia, Covilham was still alive.
(18)
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JAMES BRUCE.
19
20 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Lima’s secretary, Alvarez, wrote a narrative of his six
years’ residence in the country, which is of great interest.
In this work Alvarez speaks of the King of Abyssinia
as Prete Janni, or Prester John.
The Portuguese attained much influence in the coun-
try through Payz and other priests of the Roman
Catholic Church. Payz has the distinction of discover-
ing the sources of the Blue Nile, known as the Bahr-el-
Aazrek, to distinguish it from the Bahr-el-Abiad, which
D’Anville was the first to point out was the true, or
“White Nile.†The following passage from Payz’s
Journal, is of interest, as giving the first description of
the so-called fountains of the Nile, which Bruce visited
at a later period :—
“ The source of the Nile is situated on the elevated
point of a valley, which resembles a large plain, sur-
rounded on every side with ridges of hills. While I re-
sided in this kingdom, I ascended this place on April
21, 1618, and took a diligent survey of every part of it.
I saw two round fountains, but about five palms in di-
ameter. Great was my pleasure in beholding what
Cyrus, King of the Persians, Cambyses, Alexander the
Great, and the renowned Julius Cesar sought eagerly,
but in vain, to find. The water is very clear, light and
agreeable to the taste; yet these two fountains have no
outlet in the higher part of the mountain plain, but only
at the foot. The inhabitants say the whole mountain is
full of water, which they prove by this: that all the
plain about the fountain is tremulous and bubbling—a
sure proof of water underneath; and that, for the same
cause, the water does not run over the sources, but
throws itself out with greater force lower down. The
inhabitants affirmed, that, though the ground had
BRUCE’S TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. 21
trembled little this year on account of the great dryness,
yet that in common seasons it shook and bubbled to such
a degree as scarcely to be approached without danger.
Payz relates the course of the Nile, the tributaries
which it receives, its crossing lake Dembea, with a visi-
ble separation of waters, the tremendous cataract of
Alata, and then the semicircular course round Begun-
der, Shooa, Amhara, and Damot, till it approaches within
a day’s journey of its sources. The regions which it
chiefly watered were barbarous, and almost unknown;
so, by an Abyssinian prince, who had marched an army
into them, they were called the “ New World.†“ Pass-
ing then,†he says, “through innumerable regions and
over stupendous precipices, it enters Egypt.â€
A long period elapsed before a European again visited
Abyssinia, and the first to do so was James Bruce, then
English Consul at Algiers. He explored Tripoli, Tunis,
Syria, and Egypt; his object being to penetrate to the
sources of the Nile, and in seeking to do this, he ex-
plored a great portion of the country, and displayed
great resolution and perseverance in surmounting end-
less difficulties and dangers. Bruce left Massowah for
the.interior on November 10, 1769, and passing through
Adowa, in Tigre, visited the monastery of Fremma, the
chief establishment of the Jesuits. He describes it as
about a mile in circumference, surrounded by walls
flanked with towers, presenting the appearance of a
castle rather than a convent.
_ He arrived at Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, in
February, 1770, where was the palace of the King,
Here he ingratiated himself with the sovereign, and
other influential persons, by professing to be a physician,
courtier, and soldier.
22 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
He obtained permission to visit the sources of the
Nile (Bahr-el-Azrek) which Payz claimed to have dis-
covered. He visited first the great cataract of Alata, -
down which the Nile falls after passing through the
Lake of Dembea. He describes it as the most magnifi-
cent sight he ever beheld. The whole river fell down
in one sheet from the height of about 40 feet, with a
force and noise which made our traveler dizzy. A
thick haze covered the fall, and spread over the course
of the stream both above and below.
Bruce had an interview at Bamba with Fasil, the Galla
chief, who, with other confederates, had captured Gondar
and set up a king of their own. At length he reached
the district, a green and fertile region, in which those
long-sought-for fountains were to be found. His emo-
tions were first raised to the highest pitch by arriving
at a portion of the infant stream so narrow that it could
be stepped over, which he did in triumph, fifty or sixty
times. He was led by his guide to the principal foun-
tain. He now burst into raptures similar to those of
Payz, at having arrived at an object which the most
powerful sovereigns of ancient or modern times had
sought in vain to explore.
Bruce quitted Gondar on December 26, 1771, and re-
turned homewards by the route of Senaar, and arrived
at the point of junction of the White and Blue Niles,
near the spot where the city of Khartoum is now situ-
ated. He made the mistake of considering the Abyssin-
ian Nile, the sources of which he had visited, as the true
Nile, though he observes that the Bahr-el-Abiad rolls
three times the volume of water and is constantly full,
while the other is a great stream only in the rainy
season. This theory has been disproved by the ge-
DESERT TRAVELER AND GUIDE,
24 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
ographer D’Anville, who showed conclusivély, that the
main stream of the Nile is the mighty river that flows
through Equatorial Africa, having its rise in the great
lake system discovered by Speke and Baker.
From here Bruce journeyed to Shendy, and pushing
on to Berber, soon quitted the course of the river, which
takes a great bend tothe west. He and his companions
traversed the great Nubian desert, where, for 500 miles,
they met no human habitation. Only a few watering-
places interrupted the expanse of naked rock and burn-
ing sands. The travelers had nearly sunk under this
journey, especially as, towards the close of it, the camels
were unable to proceed. He made, however, a last
effort, by which they at length came in sight of the Nile,
near Syene, where their sufferings terminated.
Bruce arrived at Alexandria early in March, 1773,
whence he sailed for Marseilles, and proceeded to Paris,
and thence to England, where he arrived in June, 1774,
having been absent twelve years. He published, in
1790, a record of his travels. It met with a kind re-
ception from the public, though there were critics who
took exception to some of his statements, and insisted
that he was unworthy of credence. Though there may
have been exaggerations, the general truth of his facts
have long since been established.
That Bruce considered he had discovered the sources
of the great Nile instead of the lesser stream, was
scarcely a subject of wonder considering the ignorance
that existed in his day. After escaping great and man-
ifold dangers in his wanderings through barbarous
countries, this enterprising traveler lost his life in conse-
quence of an accidental fall downstairs in his own house
on April 26, 1794.
CHAPTER III.
Munco PArk’s TRAVELS.
In 1618, the African Company sent a vessel with the
object of exploring the Gambia, commanded by Richard
Thompson, with a cargo of goods to trade with the
natives. Thompson proceeded as high up the river as
Kassan; but the Portuguese, animated by jealousy,
massacred most of the crew. It was subsequently
learned that Thompson was murdered by his men.
The company did nothing in the way of discovery
until 1723, when they sent another expedition to the
Gambia; but it only proceeded 59 miles above Barra-
conda. While the English sought to ascend the Gambia,
deeming it the Niger, the French navigated the Senegal,
hoping to reach the city of Timbuctoo and the region
of gold. At the mouth of this river they founded the
settlement of Louis about the year 1625, and their
director, General Brue, ascended the Senegal in the years
1697-98, reaching as high as Felu. He founded a fort
called St. Joseph, which long continued the principal seat
of French commerce on the Upper Senegal. Subsequent
governors visited Bambouk ; but the glories of African
discovery in the regions of the Niger, as in those of
Zambesi and the Equatorial lake region, were reaped
by their English rivals. :
(25)
26 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Much of the success achieved was due to the African
Association. Although the Company only offered their
expenses to travelers who engaged to explore the
interior of Africa, there were many eager aspirants for
the honor. The first was Ledyard, who had circum-
navigated the globe with Captain Cook, and lived for
many years with the North American Indians, Ledyard,
however, got no farther than Cairo, where he died in
1788. The next traveler engaged was Lucas, who had
been three years a galley slave among the Moors, but
he penetrated only a short distance from Tripoli. The
third expedition was made by Major Houghton from a
different quarter. He undertook to reach the Niger by
the route of the Gambia, and not by boats, but by land.
He set out early in 1791, and quitting the Gambia at
Medina, arrived at Ferbanna onthe Faleme. He pushed
on, reached Timbuctoo, but was robbed and stripped, to
wander about in the desert until he perished miserably,
Mungo Park, who long ranked as the chief of African
travelers, was born on September 16, 1771, in Scotland.
He received a good seminary education, and afterwards
studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Hav-
ing spent two years in London gaining the necessary
qualifications, he set sail in May, and on June 21, 1795,
arrived at Jillifree, near the mouth of the Gambia.
His instructions were to make his way to the Niger
by Bambouk, or any other route, to ascertain the course
of that river, and to visit the principal towns in its
neighborhood, particularly Timbuctoo, and afterwards
to return by way of the Gambia, or any other route he
might deem advisable. Park at once proceeded up the
Gambia to Pisania, where he set to work to learn the
Madingo tongue, and to collect information from black
MUNGO PARK’S TRAVELS. 27
traders. During his stay at Pisania, he was ill for two
months with a severe fever, from which he recovered.
MUNGO PARK.
A caravan was about to start forthe interior of Africa,
and Park arranged to accompany it. He reached the
town of Wassiboo, where he met eight fugitive Kaartan
28 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
negroes, who had escaped from the Moors, and who
were on their road to offer their allegiance to the King
of Bambarra. Park agreed to accompany them. The
near approach to Sego was indicated by the crowds
hastening to its markets, and on July 21, 1796, one of
his companions called out, ‘See the water !†and, look-
ing forward, he says :—
“T saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my
mission, the long-sought-for, majestic Niger, glittering
in the morning sun, and flowing slowly to the east. I
hastened to the brink, and having drunk of the water,
lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the Great Ruler
of allthings for having thus far crowned my efforts with
success.†Sego, the capital of Bambarra, consists of
four distinct towns ; two on the north, and two on the
south bank of the Niger, on which floated numerous
canoes. The place is surrounded by high mud walls.
The houses are built of clay, of a square form, with flat
roofs, some of them of two stories, and most of them
whitewashed. Moorish mosques are seen in every
quarter, and the streets, though narrow, are broad
enough for every useful purpose in a country where
street carriages are unknown. Sego contains about
30,000 inhabitants.
He heard that Timbuctoo, the great object of his search,
was entirely in possession of a savage and merciless
band of Moors, who allowed no Christian to live there.
He had advanced too far to think of returning, and de-
termined to proceed.
Being provided with a guide, Park left the village on
the morning of July 24, traveling through a cultivated
country, the scenery resembling England more than he
expected to find in the middle of Africa. In the even-
A HOMESTEAD OF THE BARI TRIBE: THE USUAL ATTITUDE OF THE MEN, 29
30 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
ing he reached the large town of Sansanding, the resort
of numerous Moorish caravans from the shores of the
Mediterranean.
On September 16, he reached the town of Kamalia,
where he met a negro, Kafa Taura, who was collecting
acaravan of slaves to convey to the European settle-
ments on the Gambia, as soon as the rains should be
over. Here Park was laid up by a fever, and passed
five weeks in gloomy isolation, The fever left him ina
very debilitated condition.
The caravan departed on April 19, 1797; and the
irons being removed from the slaves, every one had his
load assigned to him. Kafa had 27 slaves for sale, but
eight others afterwards joined them. Altogether the
caravan numbered 73 persons.
The worst part of the journey was through the
Jallouka wilderness. The country was beautiful, and
abounded with birds and deer, but so anxious were they
to push on that they made 30 miles that day. Being
advised that 200 Jalloukas were lying in wait to plunder
them, they changed their course, and entered the town
of Koba. On June 10, 1797, Pisania was reached, and
Park was welcomed as one risen from the dead by his
friends who had heard that the Moors had murdered
him.
Park waited at Pisania some time, and finding no ves-
sel likely to sail direct to England, he took his passage
on board a slave vessel, bound for South Carolina.
She, however, through stress of weather, put into Anti-
gua, and from thence he sailed in an English packet,
and arrived at Falmouth on December 22, 1797, having
been absent from England about two years and seven
months,
SLAVE HARDSHIPS.
32 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Park published the narrative of his journey, early in
1799, and the interest attaching to his adventures made
it very popular. After his return to England, Park
married the daughter of Mr. Anderson, with whom he
had served his apprenticeship as a surgeon, and resided
a couple of years on the farm in Scotland.
After this he practised his profession for some time;
but this sort of life not satisfying his ardent temperament,
in October, 1801, he accepted an invitation made by the
Government, to undertake an expedition, on a large
scale, into the interior of Africa. Owing to the war
with France, it was not until 1804, that he was author-
ized to make arrangements for the journey.
The expedition consisted of Park himself, his brother-
in-law (Mr. Anderson), and George Scott, draughtsman,
together with four artificers, who, on his arrival at Sego,
were to build two boats, in which he purposed to sail
down the Niger to the estuary of the Congo. Park
sailed from Portsmouth on January 30, 1805, and after
touching at the Cape Verde Islands, reached Goree on
March 28. Here he selected 35 soldiers, under the
command of Lieutenant Martyn, as well as two sailors
from the Sgurre/, a frigate.
On arriving at the Gambia, the party, ful hye hope and
in high spirits, pushed on to Pisania. On May 4, the
caravan set forth from Pisania, whence nearly ten years
before Park had commenced his adventurous journey
into the interior.
The arrangements for the march were well devised, but
no human foresight could guard against the deadly in-
fluence of the African climate. One by one, in rapid
succession, Park’s companions were attacked by the fever.
Some of them died; some were left behind on the road,
MUNGO PAREK’S TRAVELS. 33
and were no doubt robbed and murdered by the prowling
thieves. Park himself, Scott, Martyn and Anderson were
forced to give up, and stopped at some of the villages
till they recovered sufficiently to resume their journey.
A SLAVE.
On August 19, the sad remnant of the expedition as-
cended the mountairous ridge which separates the Niger
from the remote branches of the Senegal. Park hastened
on ahead, and, coming to the brow of the hill, once
3
34 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
more saw the mighty river. Descending from thence
towards Bambakoo, the travelers pitched their tents ©
under a tree near that town.
Of the 34 soldiers and four carpenters who left the
Gambia, only six soldiers and one carpenter reached
the Niger. All were suffering from sickness, and some
nearly at the last extremity.
The sad news now reached him of Scott’s death, and
soon after his brother-in-law, Anderson, breathed his last.
“No event,†Park remarks, ‘which took place during
the journey ever threw the smallest gloom over my
mind, till I laid Mr. Anderson in the grave. I then felt
myself left a second time lonely and “friendless amidst
the wilds of Africa.â€
Some days before this, the guide returned with a
large canoe, much decayed and patched. Park and one
of the surviving soldiers, took out all the rotten pieces,
and, by adding on portions of another canoe, with 18
days’ hard labor, they changed the Bambarra canoe
into His Majesty’s schooner Yoltda. Her length was 40
feet, breadth six feet; and, being flat-bottomed, she
drew only one foot of water when loaded. In this craft
he and his surviving companions embarked on Novem-
ber 17, on which day his journal closes. He intended
to begin his adventurous voyage down the Joliba.
Besides Park and Lieutenant Martyn, two Europeans
only survived. They purchased three slaves to assist in
the navigation of the vessel.
Descending the stream, they passed Silla and Jenne
without molestation ; but lower down, in the neighbor-
hood of Timbuctoo, they were followed by armed ca-
noes, which they beat off, killing several of the natives.
They had to fight their way down past a number of
MUNGO PARK’S TRAVELS. 35
places, once striking on the rocks, and being nearly
capsized by a hippopotamus which rose near them.
Having a large stock of provisions, they were able to
proceed without going on shore. At Yaour, the people
threw lances and stones at him. He defended himself
for a long time, till two of his slaves in the stern of the
boat were killed.
Finding no nope of escape, Park took hold of one of
the white men and jumped into the water, and Martyn
did the same, hoping to reach the shore, but all were
drowned in the attempt. The only slave remaining in
the boat, seeing the natives persist in throwing their
weapons, entreated them to stop. On this they took
possession of the canoe and the man, and carried them
to the King. From the interpreter was learned the
manner in which Park and his companions had perished.
Park could not have been aware of the numerous
rapids and other difficulties he would have to encounter
in descending the upper courses of the Niger. In all
probability his frail and ill-constructed vessel would
have been wrecked before he had gone many miles be-
low the spot where he lost his life. Had he succeeded
in passing that dangerous part, he might have navigated
the mighty stream to its mouth.
Although at first the account of Park's death was not
believed in England, subsequent inquiries left no doubt
that all the statements were substantially correct. Thus
perished, in the prime of life, that heroic traveler, at the
very time when he had good reason to believe that he
was about to solve the problem of the Niger’s course,
and to dispel the belief that it was identical with the
Congo. He died about the end of the year 1805.
CHAPTER IV.
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON, AND OUDNEY—TRAVELS
IN THE GREAT SAHARA BORDERLAND.
THE dreadful termination to the wanderings and suf-
ferings of Mungo Park in no way damped the ardor of
British merchants for the extension of trade upon the
Gambia, the Senegal, and the Niger; nor were geogra-
phers any the less inclined to push on inquiries east-
wards from Senegambia and the Kong Mountains.
Park’s life was not the first that had been sacrificed
in those regions; his endeavors were not the only ones
that had been partially futile. Richard Thompson went
out in 1618, and died east of Kasson. Upon news
of Park’s decease being received, expeditions were
launched, under Captain Tuckay and Major Peddie, the
latter ascending the Congo to find its bearing, if any, up-
on the Niger, a doubt existing in many minds that the
waters of the two rivers joined somewhere. As in
Park’s second enterprise, dysentery, fever, and death
wrought fearful havoc and defeat, and subsequent ex-
ploration parties, headed by capable officers, did not
accomplish very much more than confirming the dis-
coveries of Houghton and Park, until a series of daring en-
terprises conducted by Captain Clapperton and Richard
Lander added greatly to the knowledge concerning the
(36)
THE GREAT SAHARA BORDERLAND. 37
rivers finding a limit upon the north-west coast of Africa,
and in the discovery of Lake Tchad or Chad, 300 miles
Ys
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Uf
\e ie
HUGH CLAPPERTON.
in circumference, and in the regions of Bornou and
Kassem—districts, like Songhay, Timbuctoo, and Sock-
38 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
atoo, centuries old, and whose history is very dimly
recorded, notwithstanding the once mighty, well-organ-
ized rule of men.
Hugh Clapperton was a born explorer, of magnificent
physique, and fearless in spirit; he sailed the Indian seas
when a lad, was pressed into the navy, saw active ser-
vice in Canada, and was affected by a desire to go out
and fill in the gap left open by Mungo Park. Dr.
Oudney, a personal friend of his, placed his services at
the disposal of the Government for African exploration ;
and was appointed Consul to Bornou, with full permis-
sion to traverse the regions of North, Central, and North-
west Africa, and to take with him Captain Clapperton
and Major Dixon Denham.
The course selected by Dr. Oudney was across the
great Sahara. The desert was full of dangers, but the
route was preferable for North Central African explora-
ation to any course from the west or from the Nile and
the east.
The port of Tripoli was left behind in February, 1822,
a caravan was constituted inland, and the town of Mour-
zak was reached with trifling loss.
A number of merchants swelled the caravan, and
everything pointed to a successful march across the
desert, which was duly completed, Kouka, upon the
shores of Lake Tchad, and in the Bornou country, being
reached February 7, 1823. Not, however, before every
member of the united caravan had suffered greatly.
Oudney and Clapperton were unwell at starting, and the
terrible heat of the desert did not tend to improve their
condition. Broad salt fields, glistening in the sun, had
to be crossed; and we are told in Clapperton and Den-
ham’s account of their journeyings, how that, at irregular
THE DESERT—MIRAGE ON THE HORIZON, 39
40 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
intervals in the desert, skeletons of men, horses, and
camels were to be seen. Human beings and animals
had been overtaken by terrific sand-storms, or had sur-
vived them only to die of hunger and thirst. At one
spot alone, nearly 100 skeletons were counted. They
were but skeletons of blacks, carelessly exclaimed the
Arabs, who laughed at the sympathy exhibited by the
Englishinen. Large numbers were those of Soudanese
captured for the slave market, and left to perish on the
road to Fezzan, owing to the scarcity of provisions.
From Kouka expeditions were made, and much that
was valuable geographically exposed. Denham went
among the Mandara horsemen, and was robbed and
stripped naked, as Park had been. Denham returned to
Kouka, then went eastward, saw no more of Lake Tchad,
and was back at Kouka, to welcome Clapperton from a
journey into the Soudan region. Denham had started
for the Soudan in company with Dr. Oudney in the
middle of December, 1823. Joining a caravan, they
passed among the Shooa Arabs, entered the city of
Katagum, where they were received in state, and offered
slaves as presents, and coming to Murmur, Oudney,
who had healed many in these far-off towns and villages,
and in the desert, was obliged himself to yield to the
merciless inroads of consumption. He was buried in a
deep grave by Clapperton, who was impelled to proceed
to the walled trading city of Kano. He narrowly es-
caped death, fever attacking him. Three weeks later
Clapperton was at Sockatoo, where he was received by
the Sultan, from whose officers he learned something
concerning poor Mungo Park’s last days, and was
told that the Niger flowed on to the sea at a place
to the west, known as Jagra. Clapperton thereupon
A CARAVAN CROSSING THE DISERT. 41
42 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
resolved to follow the Niger, whose waters rolled on
past Sockatoo,
At Bilma they laid in a stock of dates for the next
14 days, during which man and beast nearly subsisted
upon them, the slaves for 20 days together mostly get-
ting no other food.
Then came the stony desert, which the camels, already
worn out by the heavy sand-hills, had to cross for nine
days.
On the day they made El Wahr, and the two follow-
ing, camels in great numbers dropped down and died,
or were quickly killed and the meat brought in by the
hungry slaves.
On January 21, 1825, they reached Tripoli, and soon
after embarked for Leghorn, where they were long de-
tained by quarantine, so that the three survivors of the
expedition did not reach England till June 1, 1825,
having been absent three years.
From the favorable report which Clapperton on his
return home brought of the Sultan Bello of Sockatoo,
and his wish to open up a commercial intercourse with
the English, the Government determined to send out
another expedition, in the hope that that object might
be carried out, and that means might be found for
putting a check on the slave trade in that part of Africa.
Clapperton, now raised to the rank of commander, was
placed at the head of the expedition. Captain Pearce
and a Mr. Morrison,a naval surgeon, were appointed to
serve under him. He also engaged the services of Mr.
Dickson, another surgeon, and of a very intelligent
young man, Richard Lander, who was to act as his
servant.
After a stay of only four months, Clapperton sailed
TRIPOLI.
44 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
from Portsmouth, and, touching at Sierra Leone, arrived
at Benin on November 26, 1825.
Dickson, wishing to make his way alone to Sockatoo,
was landed at Whidah, and set off for Dahomey. Here
he was well received and set forward to a place called
Shar, 17 days’ journey from Dahomey. From thence
he was known to have set forward with another escort,
but from that time nothing whatever was heard of him.
At Benin, Clapperton met an English merchant who
advised him not to ascend the river, but to take a route
from Badagarry across the country to Katumga, the
capital of Youriba. That the journey was an ill one
was quickly shown, for fever and dysentery broke out,
Pearce and Morrison being the first victims. Their
death was a great blow to Clapperton; but like all ex-
plorers he was resolved, and he proceeded to the capital
of Youriba, arriving there in the middle of January, 1826.
The Clapperton expedition struck the Niger at
Boussa, the place of Park’s death. Instead, however,
of tracing its waters southwards, the direction in which
it runs, the route was continued to Sockatoo. Report
has it that a deadly aversion to sailing down the river
or traversing its banks seized upon Clapperton, that a
strong conviction took root in his mind, after viewing
the scene of Park’s tragic decease, that no white man
would live to tell the story of the Niger outlet. Having
stayed a short time at Sockatoo, Clapperton was prepar-
ing to leave when he was attacked by dysentery, and died
April 13, 1827, yet one more victim to the Niger outlet
fever.
Richard Lander tells the story of Clapperton’s last
days. The hero was aware that his end approached.
Every day he would be carried into the open air and
THE GREAT SAHARA BORDERLAND. 45
have read to him a portion of Scripture, particularly
Psalm xcv. One day he called Lander into his wretched
dwelling and said with calmness, ‘“ Richard, I shall soon
be no more; I feel myself dying.†Not long after that
sad interview in the lonely hut, Clapperton breathed his
last.
Having seen his master decently interred, and col-
lected his papers and clothing, Richard Lander very
pluckily led those remaining of the force to the coast by
much the same route as that taken to Sockatoo. He
would have trusted himself, young as he was, to the
Niger, and discovered its outlet, had not the natives ab-
solutely barred his progress.
Lander returned to Badagarry by the route which had
been traversed by Clapperton, and reached London
April 30, 1826.
Denham returned to Sierre Leone in 1826, as super-
intendent of the liberated Africans, and in 1828 he was
appointed governor of the colony. On June g, 1828,
he died ofa fever, after a few days’ illness.
Denham and Clapperton made important contributions
to the geography of Africa, though they failed in the
chief object of their expedition to discover the course
and connections of the Niger.
CHAPTER V.
Tue LANDERS: ON THE BANKS OF THE ROLLING NIGER.
Tue achievment by Richard Lander was postponed.
On his return home the probability of the Niger los-
ing itself in the Atlantic was admitted, and to him was
entrusted a mission to revisit, on behalf of the British
Government, the town of Boussa. He was not to leave
the Niger until its outlet should be determined, whether
its disappearance was to the sea in the south-west, or
eastwards to Lake Tchad; but to follow its course, if
possible, to its termination, wherever that might be.
That voyage from Portsmouth to Cape Coast Castle,
inthe month of January, 1830, was surely the most re-
markable, as regards the circumstances surrounding it,
ever known. }
Richard Lander was 26 years old, He had not. the
advantage of education upon his side. He was at sea,
off to the West Indies, when a boy of twelve; and was in
South Africa more than once while a lad, so that of
scholarly attainments he could have none. His prede-
cessors in North African exploration were versed in
Arabic ; Lander knew it not, nor anything worth the
name of dialect. Of astronomy and navigation he could
have a smattering, not more; while of medicine he was
positively ignorant, and of trade he was as innocent.
(46)
THE SOURCE OF THE NIGER.
48 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Evidently he was imbued with courage—who else would
have faced the dangers and fevers of the north-west
coast territory, when so many able-bodied travelers had
fallen a prey to their temerity ?
Richard Lander possessed the qualities of a success-
ful explorer. The courage, perseverance, and judg-
ment exhibited by him in making his way from Sockatoo
to the coast after the death of Clapperton, and the bold
attempt to follow the course of the Niger to the sea,
pointed him out to the Government as a fit person to
lead another expedition with that object in view.
They went to Badagarry, and, on March 31, 1830,
began their journey into the interior, proceeding up the
river as far as it was navigable. Up country they pro-
cured horses, on which they continued their journey.
Both the brothers suffered from sickness; but, un-
daunted, they pursued their course till they reached
Katunga, the capital of Youriba.
Lander informed the King that his purpose was
to go to Bornou by way of Youri, and requested a
safe conduct through his territories. This permission
was granted, and, sending their horses by land, they
proceeded up the river in a canoe, which was furnished
them, towards Youri.
After proceeding a short distance, the stream grad-
ually widened to two miles, in some places the water
being very shallow, but in others of considerable depth.
Steering directly northward they voyaged on for four
days, having passed, they were told, all the dangerous
rocks and sand-banks which are to be found ahove
Youri or below Boussa.
Landing ata little village on the bank, where their
o
ON THE BANKS OF THE ROLLING NIGER. 49
horses met them, they rode a distance of eight miles to
the walls of Youri.
Their visit to the Sultan of Youri was not without
interest, as it enabled them to obtain the only relics of
the last journey of Mungo Park that have ever come to
light. These were a richly embroidered robe, a gun,
an old nautical almanac, a book of the Psalms of David,
and his journal,* describing his journey from the Gambia
to the Niger.
The King expressed his readiness to assist them, but
declared that he could not forward them on their way
to the eastward, as he would be unable to guarantee
their safety, and that the best thing he could do was to
send them back to Boussa.
On August 2, they set off on their road to Boussa,
but here they were kept some weeks.
It was September 30 before they obtained the canoes,
and were able to embark. The current rapidly bore
them down the stream. Their voyaye began prosper-
ously ; but they were detained at several places by the
chiefs, who wished to get as much as they could out of
them.
At Leechee the Niger was found to be three miles in
width. The boatmen they engaged here paddled on
* With this journal was the following letter from the heroic traveler,
addressed to Lord Camden, dated, “On board H. M. schooner JSoliba,
at anchor off Sansandig, November 17, 1805.—I have turned a large
canoe into a tolerably good schooner, on board of which I this day
hoisted the British flag, and set sail with the fixed resolution to discover
the termination of the Niger, or perish in the attempt. . . . . My
dear friend Mr. Anderson, and likewise Mr. Scott, are both dead: but,
though all the Europeans who are with me should die, and though I were
myself half dead, I would still proceed, and if I could not succeed in
the object of my journey, I would at least die on the Niger.†This
heroic resolve the great traveler sealed a few days later with his life.
4
50 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
for forty minutes, refused to go farther, and they had to
wait till they could obtain a fresh crew. Indeed, at
the different places at which they stopped, they were
vexatiously delayed on various pretexts by the natives.
A palaver with King Obie of Brass Town had an un-
pleasant sequel. Near as the Landers were to the sea,
they were to be disposed of as slaves, they were informed
secretly. Provisions could scarcely be procured, there
were renewed threats of detention; and more attacks of
fever made the situation most depressing. The brothers
were prisoners without any prospect of freedom.
Richard Lander had nothing to offer; he and John
were reduced to poverty and wretchedness. Only one
condition they could propose—that, given their liberty,
any tax or ransom fixed upon by the sable chief, would
be forthcoming the moment they arrived within the
sphere of British influence. That promise the brothers
faithfully discharged.
Richard Lander, leaving his brother as hostage and
his men at the town, set off in a canoe that was to con-
vey him to the sea. After traveling 60 miles down the
river, his feelings of delight may be imagined when he
had ocular evidence that he had at length succeeded in
tracing the mysterious Niger down to the ocean, by see-
ing before him two vessels, one the Spanish slaver, the
other an English brig.
The chief was induced to go back to bring John
Lander and the rest of the men on Richard's reiterated
promise that he would obtain the goods they had
promised him. He took passage on the English brig
for Rio Janeiro, which they reached on March 16, and
from there obtained a passage to England, which they
reached safely on June 10, 1831,
ON THE BANKS OF THE ROLLING NIGER. 51
Thus with very humble means, by the energy and
courage of two unpretending men, was the long-disputed
problem of the course of the Niger to the sea completely
solved—a discovery for long years denied to older and
more experienced men.
The Royal Geographical Society awarded to Richard
Lander their gold medal and a money prize of fifty
guineas.
The discoveries disclosed by the Landers quickened
the desire for further extension of trade upon the north-
west coast of Africa and to towns far inland, and Rich-
ard Lander embarked July 25, 1832, to act from the
mouth of the river whose possibilities were now partially
understood. It was a difficult enterprise; more serious
than the merchants who commissioned Lander imagined.
He got many miles inland, to the banks of the Tchadda,
a tributary to the Niger, it will be remembered; was
beaten back by superior numbers, tried again, was forced
to escape coastwards, and he ascended the Niger from
the ocean a third time. It was his last effort. He was
attacked, wounded by a poisoned arrow, and from its
effects he expired, February 6, 1834.
CHAPTER VI.
EXPLORATIONS OF Dr. BartH IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
Tue British Government had, in 1849, appointed
James Richardson, an experienced traveler in Africa, to
the command of an expedition which was to start from
Tripoli, and thence endeavor to penetrate to the central
part of the continent. Dr. Barth, who had spent three
years traveling through Barbary and the desert tracts
to the westward bordering the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, was allowed, accompanied by another German,
Dr. Overweg, to join the expedition. A light boat,
which was divided into two portions and could be
carried on the backs of camels, was provided, and a
sailor to navigate her either on Lake Tchad or down
the Niger.
One of the principal objects of the expedition was the
abolition of the slave trade, which it was known was
carried on toa fearful extent in those regions. The
principal employment of the Moorish tribes on the
borders of the territories inhabited by blacks was still,
as in the days of Mungo Park and Clapperton, slave-
hunting. Villages were attacked for the purpose, when
the prisoners captured were carried northward across
the desert and sold in Morocco and the other Barbary
states.
(52)
CENTRAL AFRICA. 53
Another object was the opening upa lawful commer-
cial intercourse with the people who might be visited,
and the exploration of the country for scientific purposes,
as well as to discover the course of the great river which
the Landers had seen flowing into the Niger in their
adventurous voyage down that stream.
Dr. Barth was the man to succeed. That success
stamps him as a true hero; no individual save
one with all the qualities of heroism could or would
have passed through the perils he experienced. He
started with Richardson and Dr. Overweg in 1849 to
explore the forbidding Sahara and parts of Central
Africa. Richardson, the leader of the expedition,
arrived safely at Mousak, Tripoli, branched due west
to a point near Ghat, and wandered hither and thither,
north and south. On March 4, 1851, Richardson fell a
victim to fatigue, and 18 months afterwards Dr. Over-
weg expired in the region between Sockatoo and Lake
Tchad. Practically alone, and his ardor for explora-
tion unabated, Barth left no place of importance west
of Lake Tchad and east of Sockatoo, and on the southern
banks of the lake untouched, striking the Niger at a
point south of the latter place, and some miles north of
Boussa. To him is owing the discovery of the Binue,
the largest affluent of the Niger. News came to
England of the deaths of Richardson and Overweg, and
the worst was feared regarding Barth. In the early
part of 1853, a relief force was despatched, which reached
the banks of the Tchad. Not to meet Barth, however,
who returned across the Sahara without coming in con-
tact with his would-be rescuer, after a course of travel
quite unique.
The route of ‘Richardson, Barth, and Overweg was
54 ; AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
through the Fezzan country from Tripoli. They had
more than the average amount of luggage, which gave
them great trouble. A steel boat carried in two sections,
for use upon Lake Tchad, proved cumbersome in the
extreme, until divided into four parts distributed more
evenly among the camels of the caravan. South of
Mouzak, Barth was literally lost in the desert. Anxious
to ascend a mountain he left the caravan without a
guide, hoping to follow in its track, and come up with
it. But his excitement took him on too far. Having
satisfied his curiosity he gazed around, hungry, thirsty,
footsore and overheated; but there was nothing to in-
dicate the course he ought now to pursue. He was
harried in every direction, sinking sometimes in soft
dry sand, firing his rifle the while in the hope that his
friends would learn of his whereabouts and await his
coming. To no purpose. Darkness fell upon the des-
ert with Barth a solitary wanderer, in it, and so ex-
hausted, mentally and physically was he, that the sight
of a number of large fires in the distance served but to
bring laments instead of serving to cheer him. He
could not move a step farther. Fever came upon him,
and he could not sleep, he fired again, but to no pur-
pose, morning broke, and the sun rising higher and
higher in the heavens, his situation was pitiful in the ex-
treme. Just as he was resigning himself to what he be-
lieved would be his last sleep, he was aroused by a
mounted Arab who had tracked him, and stretching out
his hands for help, had the pleasure of being relieved by
water from the skin carried by the camelman. He was
assisted by him to the caravan a few miles away.
Barth’s providential escape served to sharpen his de-
sire for further adventure, for when eight miles from
CENTRAL AFRICA. 55
Sellufet, in the desert region, he set out upon a bullock
to the old and partially decayed town of Agades, and
surprised the Sultan, as the first white man his majesty
had beheld. Barth was two months absent from the
caravan, rejoined it, left it again on the south-western
confines of the Soudan; thence passing through a well-
cultivated country, and among smiling homesteads, he
arrived at Kano, in Haussa, about equally distant be-
tween Sockatoo and Lake Tchad. Kano isa city of
much importance, a centre for trade among the owners
of caravans from the north, south, east and west, and a
resting-place for those eager for repose after passing
amid the difficulties of travel in Northern Africa. Barth
reckoned upon a fair reception, but he arrived in a re-
duced condition, presents to chiefs and princes having
considerably lessened his stock of goods. He was as-
tonished to see the extent of the city, its large, well-
built houses, its trading establishments, the briskness
of its commerce, its workshops and the superior, even
elegant, fashions of dress among the free men and
women. But the Moors are in large numbers in Kano,
and this fact speaks volumes. At Kouka, again, Barth
found it as Clapperton had done, a city of more than
50,000 souls, engaged more or less in trade and com-
merce, and living in houses and amid surroundings
quite equal to those obtaining in Kano. It was at
Kouka that Barth heard of Richardson’s death. The
latter died in the city some weeks prior to the doctor’s
arrival. Overweg came in subsequent to a flying visit
paid by Barth to Lake Tchad, and the two started for
exploration in the south, moved in towns and villages
notorious for their systems of slavery, went to the
eastern shores of Lake Tchad, were attacked and plun-
56 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
dered by Arabs, and had a ripe experience in the Man-
dara country. At Kouka once more, in February, 1852,
the two parted—Overweg to visit Lake Tchad, Barth to
go to the Begharmi country.
Some tribes of Arabs had rebelled against.the Turks,
and he was in some danger while in their hands. Es-
caping from them, he reached Tripoli in the middle of
August, and arrived safely in London on September 6,
1855.
Although much of the country he had passed over
was already known, no previous African traveler more
successfully encountered and overcame the difficulties
and dangers of a journey through that region.
The most important result of his adventurous journey
was the discovery of a large river, hitherto unknown,
falling into Lake Tchad from the south, and of the
still larger affluent of the Niger, the Binue, which, rising
in the far-off centre of the continent, flows through the
province of Adamawa.
The courage and perseverance of Dr. Barth, while for
five years traveling 12,000 miles, amidst hostile and
savage tribes, in an enervating climate, frequently with
unwholesome or insufficient food, having ever to keep
his energies on the stretch to guard himself from the
attack of open foes or the treachery of pretended friends,
have gained for him the admiration of all who read his
travels, and place him among the foremost of African
travelers,
CHAPTER VII.
Discoveries or Caprains BuRTON AND SPEKE IN
CENTRAL AFRICA.
RicHarp Burton, better known as a traveler by the
name of Captain Burton, may be regarded as the doyen
of African travelers. Burton’s discovery of Lake Tan-
ganyika in 1857, started the race for Central African
exploration, in which he was followed by his fellow-
traveler on that occasion, Speke, the discoverer of Lake
Victoria Nyanza, by Grant, the companion of Speke, by
Samuel Baker, and by Stanley, the ‘‘ Prince of African
travelers,†as Burton acknowledged him to be.
Captain Burton’s name was already familiar to the
public, especially in India, by his adventurous journey
to Mecca, where, in the character of one of “ the faith-
ful,†he worshipped at the Kaaba, the shrine of Ma-
homet, in the eyes of every Mussulman the most sacred
spot on earth. Burton’s adventures on this memorable
journey had made him a notable man when he under-
took the exploration of Somaliland, and his pen had al-
ready found congenial occupation in writing an account
of the newly acquired province of Scinde, where he had
served under Napier.
Besides being, perhaps, the most eminent linguist of
his age—he was more or less familiar, we believe, with
(57)
58 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
twenty-five languages of Europe, Asia and Africa—he
has explored many parts of East and West Africa. He
was the author of numerous books of travel, and was dis-
tinguished as an archeologist and man of letters, as his
work on Etruria, and his translations of Camoens, and
of “ The Thousand and One Nights,†prove. Sir Rich-
ard Burton was one of the most remarkable men of his
day, and his many-sidedness is shown in his physical
acquirements, no less than in the points indicated above.
He is noted as an accomplished swordsman, and his
book on the sword is astandard work. Altogether, we
may regard him as a veritable “admirable Crichton.â€
He had served in the Indian army, and was regarded
as a reliable and able officer. Little was known of the
Somali when he was selected to explore their country
from Berbera, opposite Aden.
Burton’s companion in his expedition was John Han-
ning Speke. His career from his 18th year was one
continuous round of strange and extremely perilous ad-
venture. Born in 1827, he went to India at the age of
17, as a lieutenant in the British army, and served ina
number of general actions, The desperate hazard of
war was not enough for the uneasy, daring, roving spirit
of Speke—he must wander into mysterious Thibet,
climb the great lonely Himalayas, and explore country,
whenever he could obtain leave, in the intervals of
peace allowed to the English troops in India in those
days.
The enterprise of seeing the towering snow-capped
Mountains of the Moon, Kilimandjaro and Keina, was
exactly the thing to suit Speke’s taste. Captain Burton
having received a commission from the Government of
India to explore the country of the Somalis, in
RICHARD BURTON.
59
60 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Northeast Africa, and bounded partly by the Gulf of
Aden, Speke obtained permission to join him.
Burton, Speke, and two other Europeans of the party,
Lieutenants Stoyan and Herne, were soon to learn the
character of some of the natives, in an unpalatable
fashion. Hardly had they located themselves near Ber-
bera, when, in the dead of night, they were set upon by
a body of marauders, the animals bought for caravan
purposes were taken, while Speke was made. captive,
Stroyan was brutally murdered; Burton and Herne es-
caping ‘without injury. Speke eluded his captors, and
running for the sands upon the Gulf of Aden, he and
his companions were rescued by a passing boat on her
way to the port of Aden.
The expedition to the Somali country having been
formally recalled, Speke hastened to the Crimea. The
war was then drawing to a close, and he had no oppor-
tunity to test the strength of Russian steel. It happened,
as he desired—he was permitted to associate himself
with the force fitting for exploration in Southeast
Africa, taking in the Mountains of the Moon. A broad
and magnificent lake had been spoken of by natives and
Arab traders, and Captain Burton, given the lead of the
party, was empowered to inquire, explore, and report,
as to whether the report was correct or otherwise. On
December 21, 1856, Burton and Speke landed at Zanzi-
bar; not, however, until May, 1857, was the ex-
pedition fairly launched; the rainy season and
illnesses caused inconvenience and delay.
The objective was Ujiji. It was believed then that the
town was at the southern end of the great central lake,
supposed by the way, to be 800 miles long by 350 broad
SOMALI MAN,
61
62 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
—wofully under the estimates made at later times, as
we shall presently see.
Through the lands of the Wazaramo, the Wakhuta,
and, extraordinary feature among African natives, the
long-bearded Waziraha, proceeded the caravan to Zun-
gomero. The Wazaramo lived’ in small huts, sur-
rounded, a number of them together, by strong palisad-
ing. The men and wonien bestow devoted attention
to their hair, twisting it tightly, and using clay and oil
in the process, while no attention is paid to shielding
the body beyond wearing a cloth round theloins. The
Wakhuta and Waziraha are inferior in some respects,
and take no pride in their dwellings, nor their personal
appearance. Slavery prevails, though not in its worst
forms. West of Zungomero, the aspect of the country
changes—at one time hot springs rise from sandy plains,
at another there are swamps in which the dregs of fever
lie, as Burton and Speke found to their cost, a number
of native porters succumbing, while Burton himself was
stricken and could only journey on in great pain. To
render matters worse, carriers begun a dispute as to
food, and at one place where the leaders expected to
find a good supply of necessaries, not a particle was to
be picked up—slave-hunters had been busy and literally
ruined the village by fire and kidnapping. There was
some compensation for the travelers, however, at
Rumuma, where caravans were wont to stop. Food
was purchased, stores were replenished, and there was a
resumption of the march under more favorable condi-
tions, until the Usagara mountain ranges were practi-
cally left behind, and rest was obtained in Ugogo.
Men and animals were by this time thoroughly fagged
out. Burton was far from well, and Speke was pros-
CENTRAL AFRICA. 63
trated. Still, the halt was not a long one—a party of
Unyamenzi were starting for their homes after serving
as porters, and as those homes were within easy distance
of the Mountains of the Moon, the opportunity of
profiting by the presence of these men was not to be
lost. They were conversant with the route from Ugogo,
and had information to impart as to the wonderful snow-
clad mountains. A start was made in the desired di-
rection, which took the explorers through Unyamyembe,
where Stanley and Livingstone were to part 15 years
afterwards. Burton and Speke were imposed upon by
petty chiefs until Tura was reached, when a fulsome re-
ception was accorded them.
The caravan pushed on, and in September the Unya-
menzi country, embracing the Mountains of the Moon,
was actually reached. It is charming in parts, well
wooded mounds and fertile valleys being conspicuous—
villages lie clustered ‘above the impervious walls of
milk-bush with its coral-shaped arms, and in rich pas-
ture lands graze extensive herds of plump, high-humped
cattle.†Speke thinks that Unyamenzi must have been
one of the largest kingdomsin Africa. He refers to the
people as hereditarily the greatest traders in the conti-
nent, and as the only people who for love of barter and
change willleave their own countryas porters and go to
the coast. “ The whole country ranges nearly 4000 feet
above the sea level. The natives are generally indus-
trious, cultivate extensively, make cloths of cotton in
their own looms, smelt iron, and work it up very ex-
pertly, and keep flocks and herds to a considerable ex-
tent. Some of the men are handsome and the women
pretty.â€
At Kaze, in December, Burton and Speke were soon
64 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
mixing among the Arab merchants who make the town
a caravan centre. Offers of help were made to the
Englishmen, and some valuable information was
gleaned. Our travelers were assured that Ujiji was not
upon the southern end of the great lake of which they
were really in search—that it did not stand upon the
lake. The vast sheet they desired to explore was farther
north, and from it ran a river flowing north again. This
was news indeed. Another wonder. What solution?
Burton and Speke had no definite idea then that the
“farther lake†was the Victoria Nyanza, and that the
“river†flowing north was none other than the mighty
Nile, whose sources had been for long centuries a secret
to geographers, and the search for which was to cost
Livingstone so tremendous an amount of trouble and
eventually his very life.
Increasingly curious as to the developments of the
future, the explorers left Kaze after a stay of three weeks’
duration—only to be mortified, however, by mutiny
among the carriers, by the desertion of a number of
those men they were depending upon to assist them in
the selection of route, and by inability, for a season, to
obtain others. The eyes of the leaders were seriously
affected, and, fora week Burton lay prostrated by an
illness that threatened his existence. The dawn of the
year 1858 was a sad one; notwithstanding the travelers
were marching past the bases of what they believed to
be those mountains, word of which had prompted them
to start upon their journeyings.
February 13, 1858, was to be a red-letter day, alike
for the expedition and in the history of geographical
discovery. Burton had mounted the summit of a rocky
eminence, when his heart leaped—he beheld the water
ji;
NZ
5 A VIEW ‘TAKEN AT UJIJL 65
66 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
of Tanganyika. In the first place his gaze filled him
with dismay, he records; the remains of his blindness,
the veil of trees, and a broad ray of sunshine illuminat-
ing but one reach of the lake, had shrunk its fair pro-
portions. Somewhat prematurely he began to curse
his folly in having risked life and lost health for so poor
a prize, and to propose a return to the coast. But ad-
vancing a few yards, the whole scene burst upon his
view, filling him with admiration, wonder, and delight.
Nothing, in sooth, could be more picturesque than this
first view of Tanganyika Lake, as it lay in the lap of the
mountains in the gorgeous tropical sunshine, its clear
waters gleaming against a background of steel-colored
mountains.†To Speke the magnificent spectacle and
the thrill of delight were denied. He was not far from
Burton, but was suffering from inflammation of the eyes,
his vision was dimmed, he was the only one in the
throng standing within the shadows of what they re-
garded as the Mountains of the Moon, who could not
look upon their imposing slopes nor yet upon the waters
of the vast lake. An amount of keen disappointment
would have been saved to Speke, had he known that the
exploration party were not standing anywhere near the
Mountains of the Moon. These grand, snow-capped
giants are much farther north; they are east-southeast
of the then undiscovered Victoria Lake—not rising from
the eastern shores of Tanganyika. The explorers
scarcely realized their true position.
Boats for the conveyance of the party to Kanele, in
the Ujiji district, were obtained; but their reception,
though pleasing, was followed by the extortions of the
chief Kannina and his refusal of help towards procuring
a boat, that the great lake might be explored. A month
CENTRAL AFRICA. 67
was wasted, in an unsuccessful attempt to hire an Arab
sailing vessel, and it was not until many more days had
elapsed that two wretched canoes were obtained ; for
which an exorbitant price had to be paid. With them
went the chief Kannina. He knew something of a
river flowing from the mountains into the lake, and
would show it to them. He refused to continue in their
company after the arrival at Uvira, at the north-east end
of the lake—the Warundi regarded him as an enemy,
and he feared to provoke their hostility.
All the searching and all the inquiries made by Bur-
ton and his followers yielded nothing to their view in the
shape ofa river. They were now at the farthest point
traders were permitted to touch—beyond was a country
of savages among whom it was advisable not to venture.
Provisions were short,and the means of barter, and the
presents were running out. The order was given, there-
fore, for a return to Ujiji.
On May 13, Burton and Speke were back at Ujiji,
whence a return was made to Kaze, and Speke, accom-
panied by 10 Beloochs and 20 carriers,set out in search
of the second lake, concerning which information had
been given by Arabs and traders. Burton was so ill
that he had to me carried from Ujiji to Kaze, and at the
latter place he remained during Speke’s absence north
It wasa journey beset with trials of patience—bad con-
duct on the part of the porters, detention by petty chiefs,
and, by no means least, a detour anda long suspense
in the new lake region, owing to the prevalence of bitter
war.
But the daring and faith of Speke were to be re-
warded. He was certain, before the end of July arrived,
that he was approaching another great inland sea; and
68 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
on August 3, his eyes were gladdened and his senses
quickened by the vast expanse of the blue waters of the
Nyanza or lake, bursting suddenly upon his gaze. He
had seen its waters, as a fact, on July 30, but in narrow
creeks,
Speke, in his book of travels, says: “ The pleasure
of the mere view vanished in the presence of those
more intense and exciting emotions which were called up
by the consideration of the commercial and geograph-
ical importance of the prospect before me. I no
longer felt any doubt that the lake at my feet gave birth
to that interesting river the source of which has been
the subject of so much speculation and the object of so
many explorers. The lake is so broad you could not
see across it,and so long that nobody knew its length.â€
The breadth was estimated at 100 miles—as Speke re-
marks, no one had any idea of its length, more than
one native seemed to think its termination in the north
was in the end of the earth. Speke was forced to make
his way back to Burton without obtaining any concep-
tion of the area of this the largest inland sea of Africa.
People at home could scarcely credit Speke’s account
and estimate of this vast lake when he recited them—a
lake to which ‘he gave the name of “ Victoria,†in honor
of the Queen of England.
Extraordinary, however, as Speke’s opinion of the
Victoria Nyanza seemed, it was no exaggeration. Much
as he saw, and great as was his estimate of areas unseen,
what he has stated has actually fallen below the mark.
Subsequent travelers have sailed its waters and explored
its banks, but even they have had an inadequate notion
of its vastness. It has been left to Stanley to give usa
more correet idea of the tremendous extent of this lake.
WAVIGATION ON LAKE TANGANYIKA,
70 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Thirty years after its discovery by Speke, he passed its
southern limits in the company of Emin Pasha, after
bringing him from the Equatorial province, and says, he
and his companions then made an unexpected discovery
of real value in Africa of a considerable extension of
the Victoria Nyanza to the south-west. The utmost
southerly reach of this extension is south latitude 20° 48’,
which brings the water within 155 miles from Lake
Tanganyika. No one had ever a suspicion of this before.
He made a rough sketch of it, and found that the area
of the lake was increased by this the latest discovery to
26,900 square miles, or just 1900 square miles larger
than the reputed exaggerations of Captain Speke. An
inconceivably wonderful lake, and having possibilities
we are quite unable to understand!
Speke rejoined Burton at Kaze, August 28, and re-
ported to him his momentous discovery. Circumstan-
ces prevented a return to the Victoria Nyanza,and a six
months’ march was begun to the coast, Zanzibar being
the limit reached.
Again in England, Barton and Speke were the lions
of the season, and their discoveries formed the main
theme for cseographers for many aday. To Burton were
awarded the gold medals of the English and French
Geographical Societies. In the following year he was
appointed British Consul in Fernando Po. On October
20, 1890, he closed his varied and eventful career.
Lady Burton, in the “life†of her husband, says:
“Burton was the pioneer (without money, without food,
without men, or proper escort, without the bare access-
aries of life, to dare and do, in spite of every obstacle,
and every crushing thing, bodily and mentally), who
opened upthat country. It is to Az that later followers,
CENTRAL AFRICA. 71
that Grant, and Speke, and Baker, and Stanley, and all
the other men that have ever followed, owe it that he
opened the oyster shell for them, and they went in to
take the pearl. J don’t want to detract from any other
traveler's merits, for they are all brave and great, but I
will say that if Richard Burton had had Stanley’s money,
escort, luxuries, porterage, and white comrades, backed
by influence, there would not have been one single
white spot on the whole map of the great Continent of
Africa that would not have been filled up.
“Tt was the first successful attempt to penetrate that
country, and laid the foundation for others. It was the
base on which all subsequent journeys were founded;
Livingstone, Cameron, Speke and Grant, Baker and
Stanley carried it out. During these African explora-
tions he was attacked with fever 21 times, by temporary
paralysis, and partial blindness. Tanganyika was Bur-
ton’s discovery. Nyanza was Speke’s.â€
CHAPTER VIII.
SPEKE AND GRANT AT THE SOURCES OF THE NILE.
SpEKE could not rest in England. His adventurous
spirit was in no sense subdued by the vicissitudes he had
met among mountain passes of India and Thibet, upon
the Somali plains, in the Crimea, and in connection with
three years’ exploration in South-east Africa; he was
convinced that what he had seen of the Victoria Nyanza
and in the country of the Mountains of the Moon was
but a tithe of what might be gleaned thereabouts.
There were, he felt sure, immense openings arising from
a resumption of travel in those regions—elements to
lead men on to sustained discoveries of greatest impor-
tance. The scheme Speke had cherished of traveling
to the sources of the Nile and following it to its very
outlet far away in North Africa was not forgotten by
him. And he determined that at all costs he would
reduce his convictions to the test. If no public body
would help him, he would go out at his own expense as
he originally intended, pursue his way, and come out
victorious, or—perish in the endeavor.
Speke was not to launch his enterprise unsupported.
Roderick Murchison was President of the Geographical
Society, and his active sympathy was enlisted. The
theory of Captain Speke (he had been promoted in the
(72)
DEPARTURE OF CAPTAINS SPEKE AND GRANT.
74 _. AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
British Army) that the Nile took its rise in the Victoria
Nyanza, was favored by many, and they were very anx-
ious that it should be thoroughly established. Nine
months elapsed before he left the shores of England,
as leader of the new expedition. He was somewhat
disappointed in the amount of money voted him—
$12,500,—and in his vovage to Zanzibar. He could
not obtain passage thither at the time fixed by him—
he and an old friend, Captain Grant, who was to ac-
company him inland, had to take the West African
coast route to the Cape, and to sail thence for the port
of debarkation. The time was not wholly lost, how-
ever. Speke received carbines, ammunition, and instru-
ments from the Government at home, and, while at the
Cape, a sum of $1500 was set apart by Parliament
there for the purposes of the expedition, and ten Hot-
tentot members of the Mounted Rifles were placed at
his disposal, as well as a corvette for the shipment of
his party to Zanzibar. On the way there the vessel
chased and overtook a slave ship, in which were 500
poor blacks, who were released, when opportunity
offered.
Speke and Grant left Zanzibar in August 1860, and
the start eastwards was made from Bagomoyo. Provis-
ions and articles for presents to native potentates were
borne in plenty by the blacks. Eleven mulesand five asses
were taken for carrying purposes also. Very soon the
force was reduced by sickness and desertion, and the
gaps could not be filled without much trouble and prov-
ocation. There were 54 Wanguana freed-men, and
about 20 Zanzibaris as porters, in addition to the Hot-
tentots. _
The march was through the flat country of Uzaramo,
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 75
through uneven stretches of Usagara, Ugogo, and Un-
yameuzi, until Lake Victoria was touched upon its
x ne
Seyi
peri
A
THE KING ADDRESSING HIS SUBJECTS,
south-western limits. Experiences passing through
were not of the happiest. There were greedy chiefs to
satisfy, porters.mutinied and deserted, natives were sus-
76 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
picious, because they had the impression a slave-raiding
caravan was approaching ; guides were not to be trusted,
porters were deceived and robbed, and in one village an
illness contracted by Speke nearly proved fatal. Grant
was then at some distance making observations
and confirming native reports, and before rejoining
Speke his escort was attacked, stripped of their loads,
and put to flight. A few only of the loads were re-
covered.
But compensation was in store for the travelers who
had now been fighting against nature, and often against
savages, for twelve months. Speke and Grant left Usai
behind and crossed into Karagwe, upon the western
shores of the Victoria Lake, to find it a land of milk and
honey. It contained a hitherto undiscovered lake, to
which Speke gave the name of Little Windermere.
Upon the very borders of Karagwe the badly-used, re-
duced explorers were met by messengers sent by Ru-
manika, the king, to accord them hearty welcome, and
to offer them the best food and liquor in the land.
Speke says, “To do royal honors to the king of this
charming land, I ordered my men to put down their loads
and firea volley. Here we saw, sitting cross-legged
upon the ground, Rumanika and. his brother Nnanaji,
both of them men of noble appearance and size. The
king was plainly dressed in an Arab’s black choga, and
wore for ornament, dress stockings of rich-colored
beads, and neatly-worked wristlets of copper. At their
sides lay huge pipes of black clay. The king and his
brother had fine oval faces, large eyes and high noses,
denoting the best blood of Abyssinia.†The curiosity
of the monarch as to how the explorers had found their
way into his kingdom had to be satisfied, time flying
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. a7
“like magic†until the shades of evening fell and royalty
and visitors separated, the latter to choose their own
camping-ground amid charming scenery.
Throughout a month’s intercourse with Rumanika,
‘Speke experienced nothing save pleasure. Hunting,
exploring, inquiring into the customs of the people,
resting, day succeeded day all too quickly. When,
however, a message came from the mighty Mtesa,
king of Uganda, in January (1862), that he would re-
ceive the travelers, and the protection of Arab traders
could be had, Speke was compelled to bid good-bye to
Rumanika and his well-disposed people. Grant was too
ill to be moved. After the lapse of a month, Speke
neared Mtesa’s capital. Like Rumanika, he sent cour-
iers to welcome the explorer, and to promise to make
him comfortable.
Speke’s first view of the capital presented a magnifi-
cent sight—a whole hill was covered with gigantic huts
such as he had never seen in Africa before. “TI pre-
pared for my first presentation at court,†says Speke in
his account of the reception by Mtesa, “though I cut
a sorry figure in comparison with the display of the
dressy Waganda. They had head-dresses, and were
rich in ornaments. A number of the four hundred
wives kept by Mtesa stood in little groups gazing upon
us. Courtiers of high dignity stepped forward to greet
me, dressed in the most scrupulously neat fashions.
Men, women, bulls, dogs, and goats were led about by
strings; cocks and hens were carried in men’s arms ;
and little pages, with rope-turbans, rushed about, con-
veying messages, as if their lives depended on their
swiftness, everyone holding his skin cloak tightly round
him lest his naked legs might by accident be shown.
78 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
“The mighty king was sitting on his throne. He
was a good-looking, well-figured, tall young man of
twenty- five, sitting on a red blanket spread upon a
square platform of royal grass, encased in tiger-grass
reeds. The hair of his head was cut short, excepting
on the top, where it was combed up into a high ridge,
running from stem to stern like a cockscomb. The
king wore many ornaments, principally of brass and
copper. He was very affable and our interview was
very satisfactory.â€
Speke appears to have taken Mtesa’s fancy. Proba-
bly his presents had much to do with it. A healthy
spot was fixed upon for Speke’s abode, food in plenty
was set apart for him, and on many days Mtesa ac-
companied him on hunting expeditions. So fond, in-
deed, was the king of Speke, that he would not hear of
him leaving his dominions, and for more than four
months our hero was compelled to stay in the neighbor-
hood of the court. All was not pleasant to Speke of
course. Mtesa showed distinct traits of cruelty. He
thought nothing of ordering subjects off to grinding,
lingering tortures and to execution ; to treat them as
beasts, and to countenance daily sacrifices of human
beings. At times Speke’s blood was roused and he
dared to appeal to the monarch for clemency ; nor were
his desires ee unheeded. With the queen-dowager,
Speke was much of a favorite—she bestowed two wives
upon him as a signal mark of favor, but to his disgust.
Speke’s detention was a source of great annoyance te
him. _ Through one channel only was there any pros-
pect of release. Mtesa desired to open up his country
to trade, and as Speke conversed with him repeatedly
of the constant trading operations upon the Nile right
MTESA’S RESIDENCE IN UGANDA, 79
80 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
away north and east from Khartoum through the Sou-
dan to the Red Sea, and of the impetus that would be
given to it by extension to Uganda, if he, Speke, were
permitted to go and relate all that he had seen in the
kingdom, Mtesa began to think that perhaps the best
course would be to allow the visitor to depart. He
promised that the departure of Speke and his men
should not be long delayed. This rejoiced Speke, and
Grant arriving at the capital under an escort of Mtesa’s
men, his pleasure was unbounded.
The end came with the dawn of July 7, when Speke
and Grant and their faithfyl henchmen bade farewell to
Mtesa, bearing with them a large quantity of ivory for
trade. Grant was too unwell to proceed rapidly, and it
was decided that he and a portion of the caravan should
march slowly to the west into Ungoro. Speke made
for the head of the Victoria Lake, and on July 19, his
was the magnificent reward of standing upon the banks
of old Father Nile. Speke describes the scene as most
beautiful. ‘ Nothing could surpass it. It was the very
perfection of the kind of effect aimed at in a highly-kept
park, with a magnificent stream about 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 high grassy banks
with rich trees and plantains in the background, where
herds of hartbeests could be seen grazing, while the
hippopotami were snorting in the water, and florikan
and guinea-fowl, rising at our feet.†A few trials more,
—now in thick jungle, anon crossing streams and rapids,
and among wondering and suspicious natives, and Speke
. was thrilled by the fact that he was standing near the
head of a series of charming falls constituting the outlet
FALLS,
RIPON
82 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
of the Victoria Nyanza and the principal source of old
Father Nile. Here was a grand discovery indeed—one
denied to all other Europeans throughout the ages ‘in
spite of unwearied searchings.
To the falls Speke gave the name of “ Ripon.â€
“Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I
expected,†Speke writes in his book, “for the broad
surface of the lake was shut out from view bya spur of
hill, and the falls, about twelve feet deep and 500 feet
broad, were broken by rocks. Still it was a sight that
attracted one to it for hours.†Thence upon the bosom
of the Nile, upon roughly constructed boats, Speke and
his party sailed northwards for some days, to leave the
water, after being attacked by Wanyoro, and to rejoin
Grant, and, subsequently, the whole united caravan en-
tered Unyoro and stood before the capital of the king,
Kamrasi, who had sent the presents of fowls and plan-
tains in token of friendship.
Like the monarch of Uganda, the king of Unyoro
was surrounded by courtiers, but there was a lack of
imposing ceremony. Kamrasi sat upon a stool when
receiving thestrangers, but there wasa variety of dressed
skins about and around him, and his ornaments were
profuse. Speke’s chronometer was a special object of
envy to Kamrasi. They got on fairly well with Kamrasi,
aroused his curiosity by presenting him with a Bible,
spoke to him of trade, and delighted him by their prow-
ess in the hunting-field. Hearing that the servants of
Petherick, the noted English trader upon the Nile, south
of Khartoum, was in the neighborhood of Gondokoro,
in what has since been known as the Equatorial, or
Emin’s province of the Soudan, Speke and Grant were
delighted beyond measure. Nearly two years had
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 83
elapsed since they saw a third white man, and as they
were still 2000 miles from the mouth of the Nile, it may
be imagined how eagerly both looked forward to the
meeting.
Starting from Kamrasi's palace at last, Speke and his
A GROUP OF GANI AND MADI.
followers headed for the Nile banks, trusted themselves
to the Nile waters again, passed the Karuma Falls, and
through what is known as the Kidi Wilderness, and on
November 29, the conical huts of the naked Koki in
Gani were sighted, then the Madi, to be known here-
84 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
after by Samuel Baker, Gordon, and Emin Pasha, were
seen, and the outpost of civilization, garrisoned by ir-
regular troops in the pay of the Egyptian Government,
was reached with feelings of profound gratitude, news
of Petherick being a short distance away heightening the
joy of the explorers. Egyptian rule as understood in
the Soudan territory had become hateful and fearful to
the natives, not a few of whom fled as Speke and his
men advanced, not feeling safe by any means in their
company. They could not know that the travelers
were not plunderers. In February (1863), Gondokoro,
then little more than a cluster of huts, still a trading
station of some importance upon the White Nile, came
in view, small sailing craft and dhows were seen, and to
the unspeakable delight of Speke and Grant, Samuel
Baker appeared in the midst of a throng of people to
accord them the very heartiest congratulations at an
escape from what he and many others believed would
have been certain death in the vast lake regions. Baker
had ascended the Nile thus far in search of Speke and
Grant, and was prepared to go much farther. Petherick
was at the moment 70 miles away, and did not come in
for some time afterwards.
While Baker went exploring south-west, one result
of which was the discovery of the Albert Nyanza—
Speke and Grant took a voyage down the Nile to Khar-
toum. This took a month. On April 15, they were
aboard a sailing vessel bound for Berber, whence they
joined a caravan across the desert to Korosko, and took
Nile boats for Cairo, where they arrived at the latter
end of May, 1863. It was at Cairo that the “ faithfulsâ€
and Speke and Grant separated. The former were “ paid
off†and sent coastwise to their homes, via Zanzibar,
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 85
in charge of Bombay—the two Englishmen returning
to England, after an absence of four years and eight
months, to be deservedly honored on every hand.
Captain Speke did not live long to enjoy his wonder-
ful successes. He died September 15, 1864, from the
effects of wounds received by him accidentally while out
shooting. He was then but 38 years old.
Although not, as he supposed, the discoverer of the
remotest source of the Nile, Speke was undoubtedly
the first European who saw the Victoria Nyanza, while
the adventurous and hazardous journey he and Grant
performed together, places them in the front rank of
African travelers. They opened up an extensive and
rich district hitherto totally unknown, and made many
important discoveries.
Captain Speke was the first to traverse the territories
of those savage potentates, M’wanga, Mtesa and Kam-
rasi. The names of Uganda, Unyoro, the Somerset
Nile, the Ripon and Karuma Falls, are now familiar in
our mouths, and among the honored names of Great
African Travelers, that of Speke, and in a lesser degree,
of his accomplished companion, Grant, will ever hold a
prominent place.
CHAPTER IX.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
Davin Livincstone was born at Blantyre, near Glas-
gow, Scotland, about the year 1817. He worked in a
cotton factory in his youth; and studied medicine and
theology, with an intention to labor as a missionary,
and was sent by the London Missionary Society to
South Africa, in 1840. He landed at Cape Town, and
for the next sixteen years of his life (to 1856) he
labored in medical and missionary efforts for the good
of the people, without any cost to them.
Up to this time the explorers of Africa had confined
their travels to the north-western regions; they had
traversed the Niger to its mouth, they had visited Tim-
buctoo, sailed on Lake Tchad, and crossed the continent
from the Gulf of Benin to the Mediterranean. Every-
where the Europeans had passed through scenes of
horror caused by the slave-hunters; ruined towns, de-
populated districts, roads lined with skeletons, and car-
avans of negroes dragged from their homes to be sold.
From Cape Town, he went round to Algoa Bay,
where he proceeded about 800 miles into the interior to
Kuruman, the missionary station of the Rev. R. Moffatt,
whose daughter he afterwards married.
He went on to Lepole, where he spent six months
(86)
Vv Page me
nf
cnt eee)
LIVINGSTONE UNDER THE LION. 87
88 / AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
learning the language and habits of the Bakwains. These
people being driven by another tribe from their country,
he was unable to form a station at that place. He was
more successful at Mabotsa, also inhabited by the Bak-
wains, to which place he removed in 1843. It was here,
while chasing a lion, that he nearly lost his life. He
had fired both barrels of his gun, and was reloading
when the lion, though desperately wounded, sprang
upon him, catching his shoulder, both man and beast
coming to the ground together. Growling horribly,
the fierce brute shook him as a “ terrier dog does a rat.â€
The gun of his companion missed fire, when the lion,
leaving Livingstone, attacked him. Another native came
up with a spear, when the lion pounced on him; but
the bullets at that moment taking effect, the fierce brute
fell down dead. “ Besides crunching the bones into
splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds upon the upper
part of my arm.†The wounds soon healed, but to the
end of his life he occasionally felt the effects of the
knawing he had received.
The-chief of the Bakwains, Sechele, became a Chris-
tian, and exerted himself for the conversion of his peo-
ple. The Dutch Boers (or farmers), who had pushed
forward to the confines of the country, proved, however,
most adverse to the success of the mission, by carrying
off the natives and forcing them to labor as slaves.
By the advice of Dr. Laidley, Sechele and his people
moved to the Kolobeng, a stream about 200 miles to the
north of Kuruman, where Livingstone formed a station.
He here built a house with his own hands, having
learned carpentering and gardening from Mr. Moffatt,
as also blacksmith’s work. He had now become handy
at almost any trade, in addition to doctoring and preach-
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 89
ing, and as his wife could make candles, soap and clothes,
they possessed what may be considered the indispensa-
ble accomplishments of a missionary family in Africa.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
Among the visitors to the station was Mr. Oswell, who
deserves to take rank as an African traveler. Hearing
that Livingstone purposed crossing the Kalahari Desert
go AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
in search of the great Lake Ngami, he came from India
on purpose to join him, accompanied by Mr. Murray,
volunteering to pay the entire expenses of the guides.
The Kalahari, though called a desert from being com-
posed of soft sand and being destitute of water, at this
time supported prodigious herds of antelopes, while
numbers of elephants, rhinoceros, lions, hyzenas, and
other animals roamed over it. They find support
from the astonishing quantity of grass which grows in
the region, as also from a species of water-melon, and
tuberous roots.
Such was the desert Livingstone and his party pur-
posed crossing when they set out with their wagons on
June 1, 1849, from Kolobeng, They traversed 300
miles of desert, when at the end of a month, they reached
the banks of the Zonga, a large river, richly fringed with
fruit-bearing and other trees, many of them of ‘gigantic
growth, running north-east towards Lake Ngami. They
were cordially received by the peace-loving inhabitants
of its banks.
Leaving the wagons in charge of the natives, Living-
stone embarked in one of their canoes. Frail as are
the canoes of the natives, they make long trips in them,
and manage them with great skill, often standing up
and paddling with long, light poles. They thus daringly
attack the hippopotami in their haunts, or pursue the
swift antelope which ventures to swim across the
river. After voyaging on the stream for twelve days,
they reached the broad expanse of Lake Ngami.
Though wide, it is very shallow and brackish during
the rainy season. They here heard of some large rivers
flowing into the lake.
Livingstone’s main object in coming was to visit
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. gl
Sebituane, the great chief of the Makololo, who live
about 200 miles to the northward. The chief of the
district refused either to give them goods or allow them
to cross the river. The season being far advanced, they
returned to Kolobeng, Mr. Oswell going down to the
Cape to bring up a boat for the next season.
Half of the premium for the encouragement of geo-
graphical science and discoveries was awarded to Liv-
ingstone for the discoveries he made on this journey.
Sechele, the Christian chief of the Bakwains, offered
his services, and with him as a guide, accompanied by
Mrs. Livingstone and their three children, they set out,
in April, 1850, taking a more easterly course than before.
They again reached the lake, but most of the party
being attacked by fever, the design of visiting Sebituane
was abandoned.
The third journey, was begun in the Spring of 1851.
First traveling north, and then to the north-east, through
a region covered with baobab-trees, abounding with
springs, and inhabited by Bushmen, they entered an
arid and difficult country. Here, the supply of water
being exhausted, great anxiety was felt for the children,
who suffered greatly from thirst. At length a small
stream, the Mababe, was reached, running into a marsh,
across which they had to make their way. During the
night they traversed a region infested by the ésedse, a fly
not much larger than the common house-fly, the bite of
which destroys cattle and horses. It is remarkable that
neither man, wild animals, nor even calves as long as
they continue to suck, suffer from the bite of this fear-
ful pest. While some districts are infested by it, others
in the immediate neighborhood are free, and, as it does
not bite at night, the only way the cattle of travelers
92 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
can escape is by passing quickly through the infested
district before the sun is up. Sometimes the natives
lose the whole of their cattle by its attacks, and
travelers frequently have been deprived of all means
of moving with their wagons. Having reached the
Chobe, a large river which falls into the Zambesi,
leaving their attendants camped with the cattle on an
island, Livingstone and his family, with Oswell, em-
barked in a canoe, and went down about 20 miles to
an island, where Sebituane was waiting to recieve them.
The chief, pleased with the confidence Livingstone
had shown in bringing his wife and children, promised
to take them to see his country, that they might choose
a spot to form a missionary station. He had been at
war nearly all his life, with the neighboring savage
tribes, but had got himself in a secure position behind
the Chobe and Leeambye, whose broad streams
guarded him from the inroads of his enemies. He
had more subjects and was richer in cattle than any
chief in that part of Africa. The rivers and swamps,
however, of the region produced fever, which proved
fatal to many of his people. He was anxious for inter-
course with Europeans, and showed every wish to en-
courage those who now visited him to remain in his
territory. A few days later the chief was attacked with
inflammation of the lungs, and in a short time breathed
his last. Before his death he expressed the hope that
the English would be as friendly to his children as they
had been to himself. The chieftainship devolved ona
daughter, who gave the visitors leave to travel through
any part of the country they chose. They accordingly
set out, and traversing 130 miles to the north-east,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 93
reached the banks of the Zambesi, the chief river of
Southern Africa.
From the prevalence of the ¢se¢se, and the periodical
rise of the numerous streams causing malaria, Living-
stone was compelled to abandon the intention he had
formed of removing the Bakwain people thither that
I. THE TSETSE, 2. THE SAME MAGNIFIED, 3. THE PROBOSCIS.
they might be out of the reach of their rapacious neigh-
bors, the Dutch Boers. The river was, he at once saw,
the key of Southern Africa. This was a most impor-
tant discovery, for that river was not previously known
to exist there.
The magnificent stream, on the bank of which he now
stood, flows. hundreds of miles east to the Indian Ocean
04 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
—a mighty artery supplying life to the teeming popu-
lation of that part of Africa. 5
Livingstone determined to send his wife and children
to England, and to return himself and spend two or
three years in the new region he had discovered, in the
hopes of evangelizing the people and putting a stop to
the trade in slaves, which had begun even thus far from
the coast.
He returned to Kolobeng, and then set out with his
family, a journey of 1000 miles, to Cape Town. Placing
them on board a homeward-bound ship, he turned his
face northward in June, 1852.
As Livingstone’s chief object was to select a spot for
a settlement, he ascended, accompanied by Sekeletu,
the great River Zambesi, the upper courses of which he
had traversed in the year 1851.
From Linyanti Livingstone set out on his journey
westward to Loanda, on the West Coast, and, on his
return, commenced from thence that adventurous ex-
pedition to the East Coast, which resulted in so many
important discoveries.
Recovering from his fever, Livingstone, accompanied
by Sekeletu and about 160 attendants, set out for
Sesheke. They passed numerous mounds, the work of
termites or white ants; which are literally gigantic
structures, and often wild date-trees were seen growing
on them,
Livingstone had a little gipsy tent in which he slept,
though the Makololo huts, which are kept tolerably
clean, afforded the party accommodation. The best sort
of hut consists of three circular walls, having small
holes to serve as doors, through which it is necessary
to creep on all fours. The roof resembles in shape a
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 95
' Chinaman’s hat, and is bound together with circular
bands. The framework is first formed, and it is then
HOUSE-BUILDING.
lifted to the top of the circle of poles prepared for sup-
porting it.
The roof is covered with fine grass and sewed with
96 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the same material as the lashings. Women are the
chief builders of huts among the Makololo.
Reaching the village of Katonga, on the banks of the
Leeambye, some time was spent there in collecting
canoes. During this delay Dr. Livingstone visited the
country to the north of the village, where he saw large
herds of buffaloes, zebras, and elans. He was enabled,
by this hunting expedition, to supply his companions
with an abundance of food.
A sufficient number of canoes being collected, they
began the ascent of the river. Livingstone’s canoe had
six paddlers, while Sekeletu’s had ten. The men
paddled standing upright, and kept stroke with great
exactness. Being flat-bottomed, they can float in very
shallow water. The fleet consisted altogether of 33
canoes and 160 men.
During this nine weeks’ tour Livingstone took a more
intense disgust of heathenism than he had ever before
felt, and formed a higher opinion of the civilizing effects
of the missions in the south among tribes which were
once as savage as the Makololo.
Returning down the stream at a rapid rate, they
quickly reached Linyanti.
The chief agreeing that the object of Livingstone’s
expedition to the west was desirable, took pains to assist
him. A band of 27 men were to accompany him by
the chief’s command, whose desire was to obtain a free
and profitable trade with the white men, and this, Living-
stone was convinced, would lead to their elevation and
improvement.
As they approached the sea, the Makololo gazed at
it, spreading out before them, with feelings of awe,
having before believed that the whole world was one
97
A MAKOLOLO CHIEF AND HIS WIVES AT HOME.
98 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
extended plain. They again showed their fears that
they might be kidnapped, but Livingstone reassured
them, telling them as they had stood by each other
hitherto, so they would do to the last.
On May 31, they descended a declivity leading to the
city of Loanda, where Livingstone was warmly welcomed
by Mr. Gabriel, the British commissioner for the sup-
pression of the slave trade. Seeing him so ill, he offered
his bed to him. “ Never shall I forget,’ says Living-
stone, “ the luxurious pleasure I enjoyed in feeling my-
self again on a good couch, after for six months sleep-
ing on the ground.â€
It took many days before he recovered, from the ex-
posure and fatigue he had endured. All that time he
was watched over with the most generous sympathy by
his kind host.
His men, while he was unable to attend to them, em-
ployed themselves in going into the country and cutting
firewood, which they sold to the inhabitants of the town.
Mr. Gabriel also found them employment in unloading
a collier, at sixpence a day. They continued at this
work for upwards of a month, astonished at the vast
amount of “stones that burn†which were taken out
of her. With the money they purchased clothing,
beads and other articles to carry home with them.
From the kind and generous treatment Livingstone
received from the Portuguese, they rose deservedly high
in his estimation.
He now prepared for his departure. The merchants
sent a present to Sekeletu, consisting of specimens of
all their articles of trade and two donkeys, that the breed
might be introduced into his country, as the ¢seése can-
not kill those beasts. Livingstone was furnished. with
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 99
letters of recommendation to
the Portuguese authorities in
Eastern Africa.
They were now accom-
panied by their Portuguese
friends, the Londa_ people,
who inhabit the banks of the
Loajima.
They elaborately dress
their hair in a number of
ways. It naturally hangs
down on their shoulders in
large masses, which, with
their general features, gives
them a strong resemblance
to the ancient Egyptians.
MEN’S HEAD-DRESSES.
Some of them twist their hair into a number of small
cords, which they stretch out to a hoop encircling the
100 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
head. Others adorn their heads with ornaments of
woven hair and hide, to which they suspend the tails
of buffaloes. Some weave the hair on pieces of hide
in the form of buffalo horns, projecting on either side
of the head. The young men twine their hair in
the form of a single horn, projecting over their fore-
head in front. They frequently tattoo their bodies,
producing figures in the form of stars. Although their
heads are thus elaborately adorned, their bodies are
almost naked.
Reaching Calongo, Livingstone directed his course
towards the territory of his old friend, Katema; which
they reached on June 2.
They now took their way across the level plain, which
had been flooded on their former journey. Vultures
were flying in the air, showing the quantity of carrion
which had been left by the waters.
They passed Lake Dilolo, a sheet of water six or
eight miles long and two broad. The sight of the blue
waters hada soothing effect on Livingstone, who was
suffering from fever, after his journey through the
gloomy forest and across the wide flat.
Old Shinti, whose capital they now reached, received
them in a friendly way, and supplied them with provi-
sions. They left with him a number of plants, among
which were orange, cashew, custard, apple, and fig-trees,
with coffee, acacias, and papaws, which he had brought
from Loanda. They were planted out in the enclosure
of one of his principal men, with a promise that Shinti
should have a share of them when grown,
They now again embarked in six small canoes on the
waters of the Leeba. Paddling down it, they next en-
tered the Leeambye. Here they found a party of hunt-
VICTORIA FALLS, ZAMRESI RIVER, IOr
102 . AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
ers, who had been engaged in stalking buffaloes, hippo-
potami, and other animals.
On reaching the town of Lebouta they were welcomed
with joy, the women coming out, dancing and singing,
Livingstone now heard that the trading party which set
out, reached Loanda in safety, and it must have been a
great satisfaction to him to feel that he had thus opened
out a way to the enterprise of these industrious and in-
telligent people.
The donkeys which had been brought excited much
admiration, and, as they were not affected by the bite
of the ¢se¢se, it was hoped that they might prove of great
use. Their music, however, startled the inhabitants
more than the roar of lions.
Arrangements were now made for performing another
adventurous journey to the East Coast.
As soon as Livingstone announced his intention of
proceeding to the east, numerous volunteers came for-
ward to accompany him. From among them he se-
lected 114 trustworthy men. They sailed down the
river to its confluence with the Chobe; reaching this spot,
they prepared to strike across country to the north-
east, in order to reach the northern bank of the Zam-
besi. Before doing so, Livingstone determined to visit
the Victoria Falls, of which he had often heard. The
meaning of the word is; “ Smoke does sound there,†in
reference to the vapor and noise produced by the falls.
After twenty minutes’ sail from Kalai, they came in
sight of five columns of vapor, appropriately called
“smoke,†rising at a distance of five or six miles off,
and bending as they ascended before the wind, the tops
appearing to mingle with the clouds. The scene was
beautiful. The banks and the islands which appeared
CURIOUS MODE OF SALUTATION. 103
104. AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
here and there amid thestream, were richly adorned with
trees and shrubs of various colors, many being in full
blossom. High above all rose an enormous baobab-
tree, surrounded by groups of graceful palms.
As the water was now low, they proceeded in the
canoe to an island‘in the centre of the river, the further
end of which extended to the edge of the falls. At the
spot where they landed it was impossible to discover
where the vast body of water disappeared. It seemed
suddenly to sink into the earth, for the opposite lip of
the fissure into which it descends was only eighty feet
distant. On peering over the precipice the doctor saw
the stream, 1000 yards broad, leaping down 100 feet
and then becoming suddenly compressed into a space of
20 yards, when, instead of flowing as before, it turned di-
rectly to the right, and went boiling and rushing amid
the hills. :
The vapor which rushes up from this caldron to the
height of 300 feet, being condensed, changes its hue to
that of dark smoke, and then comes down in a constant
shower. The chief portion falls on the opposite side of
the fissure, where grow a number of evergreen trees,
their leaves always wet. The walls of this gigantic
crack are perpendicular. Livingstone considered these
falls the most wonderful sight he had beheld.
Returning to Kalai, the party met Sekeletu, and,
bidding him a final farewell, set off northwards to Le-
kone, through a beautiful country, on November 20.
The farther they advanced the more the country
swarmed with inhabitants, and great numbers came to
see the white men, invariably bringing presents of
maize.
The natives of this region have a curious way of
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 108
saluting a stranger. Instead of bowing they throw them-
selves on their backs on the ground, rolling from side to
side and slapping the outsides of their thighs, while
they utter the words, “ Kina bombal kina bomba!â€
In vain Livingstone implored them to stop. They,
imagining him pleased, only tumbled about more fiercely
and slapped their thighs with greater vehemence. These
villagers supplied the party with ground-nuts, maize and
corn.
The inhabitants of the north side of the Zambesi are
the Batonga; those on the south bank, the Banyai.
At each village they passed, two men were supplied
to conduct them to the next, and lead them through the
parts least covered with jungle.
The villagers were busily employed in their gardens.
- Most of the men have muscular figures. Their color
varies from a dark to a light olive. The women have
the extraordinary custom of piercing the upper lip, and
gradually enlarging the orifice till a ring can be inserted.
The lip appears drawn out beyond the nose, and gives
them a very ugly appearance. As Sekwebu remarked :
“ These women want to make their mouths like those
of ducks.†The commonest of these rings are made of
bamboo, but others are made of ivory or metal.
The favorite weapon of the Banyai isa huge axe,
which is carried over the shoulder. It is used chiefly
for hamstringing the elephant.
Those curious birds, the “ honey guides,†were very
attentive to them, and, by their means, the Makololo
obtained an abundance of honey. Of the wax, however,
in those districts no use appears to be made.
It was not till March 20 that Tete was reached.
Livingstone was then so prostrated that, though only
106 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
eight miles from it, he could proceed no farther. He
forwarded the letters of recommendation he received in
Angola to the commandant. The following morning a
company of soldiers with an officer arrived, bringing the
materials for a civilized breakfast, and a litter in which
to carry him. He felt so greatly revived by the break-
fast that he was able to walk the whole way.
Tete is a mere village, built on a slope reaching to
the water, close to which the fort is situated. There
are about thirty European houses; the rest of the build-
ings, inhabited by the natives, are of wattle and daub.
Formerly, besides gold-dust and ivory, large quanti-
ties of grain, coffee, sugar, oil and indigo were exported
from Tete, but, on the establishment of the slave-trade,
the merchants found a more speedy way of becoming
rich by selling off their slaves, and the plantations and
gold-washings were abandoned, the laborers having
been exported to the Brazils. Many of the white men
then followed their slaves. After this, a native of Goa,
Nyaude by name, built a stockade at the confluence
of the Luenya and Zambesi, took the commandant of
Tete, who attacked him, prisoner, and sent his son
Bonga with a force against that town and burned it.
Others followed his example, till commerce, before
rendered stagnant by the slave-trade, was totally ob-
structed.
The forests in the neighborhood abound with elephants,
and the natives attack them in the boldest manner. Only
two hunters sally forth together—one carrying spears,
the other an axe of a peculiar shape, with a long handle.
As soon as an elephant is discovered, the man with the
spears creeps among the bushes in front of it, so as to
attract its attention, during which time the axe-man
107
STRINGING AN ELEPHANT.
HAM:
108 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
cautiously approaches from behind, and with a sweep
of his formidable weapon, severs the tendon of the
animal’s hock. The huge creature, now unable to
move, in spite of its strength and sagacity falls an easy
prey to the two hunters.
Among other valuable productions of the country is
found a tree allied to the cinchona. The Portuguese
believe that it has the same virtues as quinine.
After waiting about six weeks at Quillimane, an
English brig arrived, on board of which Livingstone
embarked.
Having been three and a half years, with the excep-
tion of a short interval in Angola, without speaking
English, and for thirteen but partially using it, Living-
stone found the greatest difficulty in expressing himself
on board the ship.
The brig sailed on July 12, for the Mauritius, which
was reached on August 12.
After remaining some time at the Mauritius, till he
had recovered from the effects of the African fever, our
enterprising traveler sailed by way of the Red Sea for
England, which he reached on December 12, 1856, after
an absence of 16 years; during which time he had
traversed 11,000 miles, and erossed the continent from
west to east.
Livingstone, in the series of journeys which have
been described, had accomplished more than any pre-
vious traveler in Africa, besides having gained informa-
tion of the greatest value as regards both missionary
and mercantile enterprise. He had as yet, however,
performed only a portion of the great work his untiring
zeal and energy had prompted him to undertake.
CHAPTER X.
Dr. LivincsTone’s SECOND EXPEDITION TO EXPLORE
THE ZAMBESI.
LIVINGSTONE passed more than a year in England,
and on March 10, 1858, sailed in the Pear/, at the head
of a Government expedition for the purpose of explor-
ing the Zambesi and the neighboring region. He was
accompained by Dr. Kirk, his brother, Charles Living-
stone, and Mr. Thornton; and Mr. Baines was appointed
artist to the expedition.
A small steamer, which was called the Ma-Rodert, in
compliment to Mrs. Livingstone, was provided by the
Government for the navigation of the river.
The East Coast was reached in May. Running up
the River Luawe, supposed to be a branch of the Zam-
besi, the Pearl came to anchor, and the Ma-Robert.
which had been brought out in sections, was screwed
together. The two vessels then went together in search
of the true mouth of the river from which Quillimane
is some 60 miles distant, the Portuguese having con-
cealed the real entrance, in order to deceive the English
cruisers in search of slavers. The crew consisted of
about a dozen Krumen and a few Europeans.
On August 17, 1858, the Ma-Rodert began her voyage
(109)
110 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
up the stream for Tete. It was soon found that from
her furnaces being badly constructed, she was ill adapted
for the work before her. She soon obtained the name of
the Asthmatical.
Tete was reached on September 8. No sooner did
Livingstone go on shore, than his Makololo rushed
down to the water’s edge and manifested the greatest
joy at seeing him. The Portuguese at this place keep
slaves, whom they treat with tolerable humanity. When
they can, they purchase the whole of a family, thus tak-
ing away the chief inducement for running off.
The expedition, hearing of the Kebrabasa Falls,
steamed up the river, and on November 14, reached
Panda Mokua, where the navigation ends, about two
miles below them. Hence the party started overland,
by a frightfully rough path among rocky hills, where
no shade was tobe found. At last their guides declared
that they could go no farther; indeed, the surface of
the ground was so hot that the soles of the Makololo’s
feet became blistered. The travelers, however, pushed
on. Passing round a steep promontory, they beheld
the river at their feet, the channel jammed in between
two mountains with perpendicular sides, and less than
fifty yards wide. When the river rises upwards of 80
feet, as it does in the rainy season, the cataract might
be passed in boats.
After returning to Tete, the steamer went up the
Shiré, January, 1859. The natives, as they passed them,
collected at their villages in large numbers, armed with
bows and poisoned arrows, threatening to attack them.
Livingstone went on shore, and explained to the chief,
that they had come neither to take slaves nor to fight,
but wished to open upa path by which his countrymen
KRUMEN AND THEIR CANOES. Til
ti2 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
could ascend to purchase their cotton. On this the
chief became friendly.
Their progress was arrested, after steaming up 100
miles ina straight line (although, counting the windings
of the river, double that distance), by magnificent cata-
racts, to which Livingstone gave the name of the Mur-
chison Falls, after the President of the Geographical
Society.
Rain prevented them making observations, and they
returned at a rapid rate down the river. A second trip
up the Shiré was made in March.
They returned to Tete on June 23, 1859, and thence
proceeded to the Kongone, where they received provi-
sions from the Perszax, which also took on board their
Krumen, as they were found useless for land journeys.
In their stead a crew was picked out from the Makololo,
who soon learned to work the ship, and who, besides
being good travelers, could cut wood and required only
native food. Frequent showers fell on their return
voyage up the Zambesi, and the vessel being leaky, the
cabin was constantly flooded.
A second trip up the Shiré was performed in the mid-
dle of August, when they set out in search of Lake
Nyassa, about which they had heard. The river,
though narrow, is deeper than the Zambesi, and more
easily navigated. On both banks a number of hippo-
potamus traps were seen.
The animal feeds on grass alone, its enormous lip
acting like a mowing machine, forming a path before it
as it feeds. Over these paths the natives construct
a trap, consisting of a heavy beam, five or six feet long,
with a spear head at one end, covered with poison.
This weapon is hung to a forked pole by a rope which
8 SPEARING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. II3
114 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
leads across the path, and is held bya catch, set free as
the animal treads upon it. A hippopotamus was seen
which, being frightened by the steamer, rushed on shore
and ran immediately under one of these traps, when
down came the heavy beam on its head.
On August 28, 1859, an expedition, consisting of four
whites, 36 Makololo, and two guides, left the ship in the
hope of discovering Lake Nyassa. The-natives on the
road were eager to trade. As soon as they found that
the strangers would pay for their provisions in cotton
cloth, women and girls were sent to grind and pound
meal, and the men and boys were seen chasing scream-
ing fowl over the village.
The Highland women of these regions all wear the
lip-ring. An old chief, when asked why such things
were worn, replied: “ For beauty; men have beards and
whiskers, women have none. What kind of a creature
would a woman be with whiskers and without the
ring Pâ€
When, as they calculated, they were about a day’s
march from Lake Nyassa, the chief of the village as-
sured them that no lake had ever been heard of there,
and that the River Shiré stretched on, as they saw it, to
a distance of two months, and then came out between
two rocks which towered to the skies. The Makololo
looked blank and proposed returning to the ship.
“Never mind,†said Livingstone, “we will go on and
see these wonderful rocks,â€
Their head man, Massakasa, declared that there must
be a lake, because it was in the white men’s books, and
scolded the natives for speaking a falsehood. They
then admitted that there was a lake.
The expedition moving forward, on September 16,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 115
1859. The long-looked-for Lake Nyassa was discovered,
with hills rising on both sides.
Dr. Kirk and Mr. Rae, the engineer, set off with
guides to go across the country to Tete, the distance
PELELE, OR LIP-RING.
being about 100 miles. From want of water they suf-
fered greatly, while the ¢se¢se infested the district.
Livingstone returned in the M/a-Robert once more to
the Kongone. After this trip, the poor Asthmatical
broke down completely.
116 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Active preparations were now made for the intended
journey westward; cloth, beads. and brass wire were
formed into packages, with the bearer’s name printed
on each. ;
The Makololo who had been employed by the expe-
dition received their wages. Some of those who had
remained at Tete had married, and resolved to continue
where they were.
All arrangements had been concluded by May 15,
1860, and the journey was begun. On August 4, the
expedition reached Moachemba, the first of the Batoka
villages which. owe allegiance to Sekeletu. From
thence, beyond a beautiful valley, the columns of vapor
rising from the Victoria Falls, upwards of 20 miles
away, could clearly be distinguished.
The travelers landed at the head of Garden Island,
and, Livingstone peered over the giddy heights at the
farther end across the chasm. The measurement of the
chasm was now taken; it was found to be 80 yards
opposite Garden Island, while the waterfall itself was
twice the depth of that of Niagara, and the river where
it went over the rock fully a mile wide. Charles
Livingstone, who had seen Niagara, pronounced it in-
ferior in magnificence to the Victoria Falls.
The Batokas consider Garden Island and another
farther west as sacred spots, and here, in days gone by,
they assembled to worship the Deity.
Zumbo was reached on November 1, 1860, and Tete
on the 23d, the expedition having been absent rather
more than six months. They were glad to find that
the two English sailors were in good health, and had
behaved very well; but their farm had been a failure.
One night a hippopotamus destroyed their vegetable
DAVID LIVINGSTONE, 117
garden, the sheep ate up their cotton plants, while the
crocodiles carried off the sheep, and the natives had
stolen their fowls.
On December 31, the Pioveer, the steamer which had
been sent to replace the Asthmatical, appeared off the
bar, but the bad weather prevented her entering. At the
same time two men-of-war arrived, bringing Bishop
Mackenzie, at the head of the Oxford and Cambridge
mission to the tribes of the Shiré and Lake Nyassa.
It consisted of six Englishmen and five colored men
from the Cape.
Charles Livingstone collected specimens of cotton,
and upwards of 300 pounds were obtained, at a price of
a penny a pound, which showed that cotton of a superior
quality could be raised by native labor alone and that
but for the slave-trade a large amount might be raised
in the country.
Wherever they went they gained the confidence of
the people, and hitherto the expedition had been very
successful. No sooner did they come in contact with
the Portuguese slave-trade than reverses commenced.
Plundering parties of the Ajawa were desolating the
land, and a gang had crossed the river with slaves.
They halted at the village of their old friend, Mpende,
who supplied them with carriers and informed them that
a slave party, on its way to Tete, would soon pass
through his village. Soon afterwards this party, con-
sisting of a long line of manacled men, women and
children, escorted by black drivers, armed with muskets,
adorned with articles of finery, and blowing horns,
marched by them with a triumphant air. As soon as
the rascals caught sight of the English, they darted off
into the forest, with the exception of the leader, who
118 . AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
was seized by the Makololo. He proved to be a slave
of the late commandant of Tete, and was well known to
them. He declared that he had bought the slaves;
but directly his hands were released he bolted.
The captives, now kneeling down, expressed their
thanks by clapping their hands. Knives were soon
busily at work setting free the women and children.
It was more difficult to liberate the men, who had
each his neck in the fork of a stout stick, six or seven
feet long, and kept in by an iron rod riveted at both
ends across the throat. A saw did the work. The
men could scarcely believe what was said, when they
were told to take the meal they were carrying and cook
breakfast for themselves and children. Many of the
latter were about five years of age and under. One of
them observed to the men: “Those others tied and
starved us, you cut the ropes, and tell ustoeat. What
sort of people are you?â€
Eighty-four persons, chiefly women and_ children,
were thus liberated; and being told that they might
go where they liked, they decided on remaining with
the English.
Eight others were freed in a hamlet on the road; but
another party, with nearly 100 slaves, though foll owed
by Dr. Kirk and his four Makololo, escaped. Six more
captives were soon afterwards liberated, and two slave-
dealers were detained for the night, but being carelessly
watched, they escaped. The next day 50 more slaves
were freed at another village and comfortably clothed.
Marching forward, on January 22, 1861, news was
received that the Ajawa were near, burning villages and
killing the people.
It was evident that the Ajawa was instigated by the
MURCHISON FALLS, 119
120 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Portuguese agents from Tete. It was possible that they
might by persuasion be induced to follow the better
course, but, from their long habit of slaving for the
Quillimane market, this appeared doubtful. The Bishop
consulted Livingstone as to whether, should his assist-
ance be asked against the Ajawa, it would be his duty
to give it? He displayed his usual sagacity in his re-
ply: “ Do not interfere in native quarrels.â€
Leaving the members of the mission camped on a
beautiful spot, near the clear little stream of Magomiero,
the expedition returned tothe ship to prepare for their
journey to Lake Nyassa.
On August 6, 1861, Livingstone, Kirk and Charles
Livingstone started in a four-oared gig, with one white
sailor and 20 Makololo for Nyassa. Carriers were
easily engaged to convey the boat past the 40 miles of
the Murchison Cataracts. Several volunteers came
forward, and the men of one village transported it to
the next. They passed the little Lake of Pamalombe,
about ten miles long and five broad, surrounded thickly
by papyrus. Myriads of mosquitos showed the pres-
ence of malaria, and they hastened past it.
Again launching their boat, they proceeded up the
river, and entered the lake on September 2 1861, greatly
refreshed by the cool air which came off its wide ex-
panse of water. The centre appeared to be of a deep
blue, while the shallow water along the edge was indi-
cated by its light green color. A little distance from the
shore the water was 75 feet in depth, but round a grand
mountain promontory no bottom could be obtained with
their lead-line of over 200 feet. Lake Nyassa was esti-
mated to be about 200 miles long, and from twenty to
sixty broad, and appeared to be surrounded by moun-
ZULUS. 121r
122 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
tains, but on the west they were merely the edges of a
high table-land.
Nyassa is visited by sudden and tremendous storms,
Every night they hauled the boat up on the beach;
and, had it not been supposed that these storms were
peculiar to one season, they would have given the
Nyassa the name of the Lake of Storms.â€
A dense population exists on the shores of the lake,
including a tribe of Zulus who came from the south
some years ago. The people cultivate the soil, grow-
ing large quantities of rice, sweet potatoes, maize and
millet, Those at the north end reap a curious harvest.
Clouds of what appeared to be smoke rising from miles
of burning grass were seen in the distance. The ap-
pearance was caused by countless millions of midges,
called “kungo†by the natives. As the boat passed
through them, eyes and mouth had to be kept closed.
The people collect these insects by night, and boil them
into thick cakes, to be eaten as a relish.
Abundance of fish were caught, some with nets and
others with hook and line. Women were seen fishing,
with babies on their backs. Enormous crocodiles were
seen, but, as they can obtain abundance of fish, they
seldom attack men.
The lake tribes appear to be open-handed, and, when-
ever a net was drawn, fish was always offered. On one
occasion the inhabitants, on their arrival, took out their
seine, dragged it, and made their visitors a present of the
entire haul. The chief treated them with great kindness,
On the high lands at the northern end, a tribe of Zu-
lus, known as the Mazitu, make sudden swoops on the
hamlets of the plains, and carry off the inhabitants and
burn villages.
ZANZIBAR. 123
124 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
The slave-trade on the lake was pursued with fearful
activity. A dhow had been built by two Arabs, who
were running her regularly, crowded with slaves, across
its waters. Part of the captives were carried to the
Portuguese slave-exporting town of Iboe, while others
were sent to Kilwa.
The chiefs showed but little inclination to trade, their
traffic being chiefly in human chattels. The Consul at
Zanzibar, stated that 19,000 slaves, from the Nyassa
country alone, passed at this time annually through the
custom-house at Zanzibar.
They, however, represent but a small portion of the
sufferers. Besides those actually captured, thousands
were killed and died of their wounds and famine, and
thousands more perished in internecine war waged for
slaves with their own clansmen and neighbors. The
numerous skeletons seen among rocks and woods, by
the pools, and on the paths of the wilderness, attested
the awful sacrifice of human life.
Livingstone saw that a small armed steamer on Lake
Nyassa could, by furnishing goods in exchange for
ivory and other products, exercise a powerful influence
in stopping the traffic in that quarter.
The expedition had spent from September 2 to
October 27 in exploring the lake, and their goods
being now expended, it was found necessary to return
to the ship, The Zambesi was reached on January It,
1862.
On January 30, 1862, the Gorgon arrived, towing the
brig which brought out Mrs. Livingstone and some
ladies about to join the University mission, as well as
the sections of a new iron steamer intended for the
navigation of Lake Nyassa. The name of Lady Nyassa
DAVID LIVINGSTONE. 125
was given to the new vessel. Mrs. Livingstone was
attacked by fever, and died on April 27, 1862.
Hoping that the Lady Nyassa might be the means
of putting a check on the slavers across the lake, they
hurried on with their work. She was unscrewed below
the first cataract, and they began to make a road over
the portage of 40 miles, by which she was to be carried
piecemeal. :
Trees had to be cut down and stones removed. The
first half-mile of road was formed up a gradual slope
till 200 feet above the river was reached, where a sensi-
ble difference in the climate was felt. Before much
progress was made, Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone
were seized with fever, and it was deemed necessary to
send them home. Soon afterwards Livingstone was
himself attacked.
On June 16, the remaining members started for the
upper cataracts. Cotton of superior quality was seen
dropping off the bushes, with no one to gather it. The
huts in several villages were found entire, with mortars
and stones for pounding and grinding corn, empty corn
safes and kitchen utensils, water and beer pots untouched,
but the doors were shut, as if the inhabitants had gone
to search for roots or fruit and had néver returned;
while in others, skeletons were seen of persons who died
apparently while endeavoring to reach something to
allay the gnawings of hunger.
Several journeys had been made over the portage,
when, on returning to the ship on July 2, they received
a despatch from England, directing the return home of
the expedition.
Considering the utter devastation caused by the slave-
hunting, and the secret support given by the Portuguese
126 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
officials to the slave-traders, notwithstanding the prot-
estations of their government that they wished to put
an end to the trade, it was impossible not to agree in
the wisdom of this determination.
Altogether in this expedition they traveled 760 miles
in a straight line, averaging about 15 miles a day, and
they reached the ship on November 1, 1862, where all
were found in good health and spirits.
Soured and disappointed at the non-success of the
expedition, Livingstone now returned to England, where
he arrived on July 20, 1864.
CHAPTER XI.
TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND Lapy BAKER.
SAMUEL Baker came to his majority with a fair edu-
cation, a liberal inheritance, which relieved him from
any claims of business, and an engrossing spirit of ad-
venture,
He was known as an experienced traveler and prac-
tised sportsman in Ceylon, when, in March, 1861,
having resolved to devote his energies to the discovery
of the sources of the Nile, and the exploration of Cen-
tral Africa, he set forth from England to trace the mys-
terious river from its mouth. He was accompanied by
his young wife, who, notwithstanding the dangers and
difficulties she knew must be enconntered, entreated
permission to be the companion of his travels.
The geography of Equatorial Africa had already
been attacked from several quarters. The problem of
the Niger had been solved. The traditions concerning
a vast interior lake had been more than verified, as two
great lakes had been determined. Speke and Grant
were already prosecuting the journey which would
demonstrate the Victoria Nyanza to be the reservoir of
the White Nile; while Livingstone was at work upon
the territory farther south and east. The Blue Nile
was known; that the White Nile was the outlet of the
(127)
128 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Victoria Nyanza was an accepted theory rather than a
demonstrated fact, the objective of expeditions already
afield. The sources of the western tributaries of the
great river has not yet been determined, and to these
points Baker addressed himself.
His first essay was an exploration of territory already
fairly known, where he carefully mapped the Nile tribu-
taries of Abyssinia, and served his apprenticeship for
severer labors. In the last month of 1862 he left Khar-
toum for an exploration of the upper Nile. After two
months he met Speke and Grant, who were tracing
northward the outlet of the Nyanza, and so much of
the determination was completed. Pushing his own
expedition still farther to the southward, he broke into
new territory, which he traversed under great diffi-
culties, until after the toil of a year he was rewarded
by the discovery of the Albert Nyanza, then believed
to be second of the great Nile reservoirs. The sub-
sequent discovery by Stanley of the Albert Edward
Nyanza, a smaller body of water at a greater elevation,
whose waters flow through the Albert Lake, has recog-
nized in the more elevated lake the second source of
the Nile. With the finding of the Albert Nyanza,
Baker’s labors as a discoverer were substantially closed.
The second great enterprise undertaken by Baker
was at the instance of Ismail Pasha, the Khedive of
Egypt, and with the authority of the Egyptian Govern-
ment; it was the herculean task of suppressing the
slave-trade within the jurisdiction of Egypt.
The year 1869 saw the inauguration of the Suez
Canal, andthe high tide of apparent Egyptian prosperity.
The eyes of the world were upon the rejuvenated king-
dom of the Pharaohs. The Khedive, dazzled by the
TRAVELS OF SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 129
achievement, aspired to be an independent ruler, to ob-
tain possession of all the territory tributary to the Nile,
and to acquire a place in the charmed circle of European
rulers. He leaned upon the strong arm of England;
and to secure the sympathy of that mighty power, he
proposed to destroy the trade in slaves in all his realm.
SAMUEL AND LADY JAKER.
Asa step toward the accomplishment of these purposes,
in May, 1869, he issued a firman in which he proposed
to subdue the countries about the great Equatorial
lakes, to suppress the slave-trade, and to introduce a
system of commerce and the navigation of the lakes.
The enterprise was entrusted to Baker for four years;
he was made a Pasha, given the rank of major-general,
9
130 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
and was clothed with supreme and absolute power, in-
cluding that of death, over all connected with his expe-
dition.
Like every other scheme for real progress, proposed
by Egyptian or Turk, the only validity of these propo-
sitions lay in their paper announcements. Men and
materials were wanting either in quantity or quality
suited to the enterprise. The real question was how not
to do it. The slave-trade was to be suppressed, but the
slave-trader, and his powerful and subsidized friends at
court, were not to be hurt. The land was a land of
paradox, and the labor was the task of Sisyphus.
With such means as he could get, Baker moved to the
scene of operations. He occupied Gondokoro, the
farthest important point towards the south, and made it
his capital and base of operations, with the new name
Ismalia. He made friends with some of the chiefs in
the country beyond; others he coerced into a pretence
of friendship. Then he fought his way southward, and
after a continuous and harrassing campaign he placed
under subjection the whole territory assigned as a thea-
tre to his operations. By then the period named in his
commission had expired, and he returned to Cairo,
where he transferred his command to one whom he
himself had named as his successor, that remarkable
figure in modern English history, Colonel Gordon, of
Chinese and afterward of Egyptian fame.
In the four years of Baker’s administration of the
Equatorial provinces he had accomplished scarcely
more than to lay the foundation of Egyptian authority,
with the subjection of the native tribes. Commerce, ex-
cept the united movement of ivory and slaves, could fol-
low only a more advanced civilization. The slave-trade
132 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
was a disease of the social system, as fixed and as fatal as
the leprosy which has once fastened its fangs upon the
human frame. None of the objectives assigned to his
enterprise could be established in the brief period of
four years, even under favorable auspices. Could his
strong hand and vigorous intellect have ruled during a
period of longer duration, the result would have been
more nearly commensurate with the effort.
Baker’s commission expired in 1873; Gordon’s fol-
lowed in 1875, and lasted until 1879. During that
period, great changes occurred in Egypt. The golden
era of Ismail passed, and Tewfik followed his deposed
father. War pitted the Russian against the Turk.
England came to the succor of the “sick man,†taking
Cyprus for a doctor’s fee, and postponing all dreams of
Egyptian independence. To secure the debts incurred
by Ismail’s extravagance, Egypt passed under the dual
control of the English and French; Arabi revolted; the
bombardment of Alexandria was followed by the cam-
paign in the desert, and the victoryat Tel-el-Kebir. The
fanaticism of the Moslem and the Bedouin was aroused,
and an insurrection under the leadership of a self-
styled prophet, the Mahdi, spread like a pestilence until
it had involved the whole of Soudan and of the Equa-
torial provinces which Baker and Gordon had so labori-
ously subjugated.
In 1884 Gordon was sent back to Khartoum as one
whose person and prestige could repeat in the Soudan
what they had effected in China. Neglected by Egypt
and abandoned by England, in 1885 he sealed with his
life a devotion which was ill-compensated by the bronze
effigy quickly placed in St. Paul’s to typify a nation’s
contrition,
lS
GONDOROKO, OR ISMALIA, 133
134 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Baker had cause to feel bitterly the conduct of the
English Government in the reversal of the policy of the
Khedive in administering as an Egyptian satrapy the
vast territories in Central Africa, of which the annexa-
tion of the Equatorial Province was his handiwork. He
had cause to approve Gordon’s saying, “‘ We are a won-
derful people. It was never the Government that made
us a great nation. It has always been the drag upon
our wheels.â€
On Emin Pasha taking service with the German
Government in their East African possessions in 1890,
after his rescue by Stanley, Baker wrote as follows on
the situation at the time he and Gordon relinquished
the government of the Equatorial Province, and as it
had become under the new order of affairs : —
“From 1869 until General Gordon quitted the Sou-
dan we built up a grand fabric of British influence, and
linked the Albert Nyanza in direct steam communica-
tion with Khartoum. The British Government did not
see it, although the slave-trade of the White Nile was
suppressed, and a good government was established
throughout the basin of the Nile, with far greater con-
tent to the governed than we can boast in Ireland.
“England knocked all this progressive influence on
the head. All that Englishmen had achieved, first in
independent exploration of the Nile sources by Speke
and Grant, from the south, by myself from the north;
subsequently Ismail’s expedition under my own com-
mand to annex the Equatorial regions and suppress the
slave-trade; then—after nearly five years by the late
General Gordon’s untiring energy in consolidating and
extending the work which I had commenced—all had
been paralyzed by England,
BAKER’S DEPARTURE FROM KHARTOUM. 135
136 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
“Fifteen steamers were plying up the Blue and the
White Niles, and two upon the Albert Nyanza.
“The produce of the Equatorial regions, which,
excepting ivory, could not bear the ordinary cost of
transport, could be delivered at Khartoum by the
bi-monthly steamers from Gondokoro, as, being Govern-
inent vessels, they might as well travel full as empty,
without additional expense.
“All this wonderful progress had been achieved
within the extraordinary interval of 20 years, before
which the sources of the Nile were as dark a mystery
as they had been 5000 years ago. The British Govern-
ment had no hand in this; the instruments were indi-
vidual Englishmen. The employer was Ismail, the
present ex-Khedive of Egypt.
“England has taken a wet sponge and completely
effaced this picture of successful development and at-
tempt at civilization. Emin was clinging to the last
floating spar of the general wreck when Stanley appeared
upon the scene to his relief.
“Stanley’s was not a Government expedition; it was
the result of independent organization, with a special
object, which was heroically attained; but there was no
official plan for future operations. When Emin turned
his back upon the Equatorial Province there was no
British policy of re-occupation; the abandonment was
complete, and the White Nile regions, including the
Albert Nyanza, reverted to savagedom.â€
Baker did not take a hopeful view of the commercial
advantages to be derived from an occupation of the
regions he annexed and governed with such energy
and spirit. He says:—‘I should be sorry to invest
any coin in the annexation of the Equatorial Province
A STORM ON THE ALBERT NYANZA. 137
138 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
with the expectation of seeing it again. During many
years’ experience in those parts I never saw any natural
production worth one penny a pound, and the cost of
transport to the coast would be a shilling, in the absence
of the White Nile route and the line of steamers that
we had established. Ivory cannot be purchased by
legitimate means. The outlook commercially is not
promising, but there is a grand field for adventure
and for missionary enterprise in countries which have
remained in savagedom since the time of the Creation,
with a population that will fight and dance, but stead-
fastly refuse to work.â€
In the scramble for Africa, which set in about the
time of the founding of the Congo State, a portion of
the regions discovered by Livingstone was seized by
the Germans, owing to the negligence of the Govern-
ment, or a desire to conciliate that exacting people, who
gave little in return for all our concessions.
Lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa were discovered by
Burton and Livingstone, and the Stevenson Road,
between these lakes, is the work of Englishmen,
yet Germany laid claim to these parts, and divides
with England the regions round Victoria Nyanza, dis-
covered by Speke.
Germany demanded a portion of Ngamiland, dis-
covered by Livingstone, and forgotten till the year
1890. It lies south of the Zambesi, on the limits of
the German Protectorate of Damaraland. Its actual
boundaries are: on the west, the twentieth degree; on
the south, the twenty-second parallel; on the east, a
line drawn from the point of intersection of the Chobe
River and the Zambesi, which is about 50 miles west of
the Victoria Falls, to the twenty-second parallel; and
SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER. 139
on the north,a line drawn from the same point of
intersection, through Andara, to the twentieth degree.
Within these limits is one of the most fertile districts
in South Africa. The heart of it is the point marked
on the maps as Lake Ngami. South of the lake the
country is undulating, woody and well watered. It
is also said to be very rich in minerals, and the climate
is so good that Livingstone conceived the idea of mak-
ing it a health resort for Central South Africa. The
River Chobe is navigable only for canoes to the
Zambesi, and the more important waterway of the
Okavango rises in the neighborhood of the Cunene, in
Portuguese territory, to the north, and passing south-
wards by Lake Ngami, changes its name to the Botletli
(or Zuga), and runs out into the Kari Kari Lakes of
Khama’s country, within ten days’ march of Shoshong.
Ngamiland was formerly declared to be within the
sphere of British influence when their Protectorate was
announced over the neighboring country of Northern
Bechuanaland.
Baker died in January, 1894. He was a stalwart,
self-contained Englishman; a mighty hunter; a clear
writer; an intelligent organizer, and an efficient execu-
tive, a noble specimen of a worthy race.
CHAPTER XII.
Livinestone’s Last JOURNEYS AND DEATH.
NOTHWITHSTANDING the dangers and hardships he
had endured during the many years spent in penetrat-
ing into the interior of Africa and exploring the Zam-
besi, Livingstone, unwearied and undaunted, felt an
ardent desire to make further discoveries.
His previous expedition, “to promote the production
of cotton, and to open up commercial enterprise,†was
substantially a failure. He was as keenly alive to this
fact as any of his enemies. He had spent large sums
of Government money, and all of his own, with results
which caused general and outspoken dissatisfaction,
and brought the whole subject of African exploration
into disfavor.
He wished to resume his explorations, but lacked the
means. Roderick Murchison and others interested
themselves in his behalf, and got the Government to
advance $2500. The Geographical Society advanced a
further $2500, and $5000 more was subscribed by per-
sonal friends. Thus, before the end of 1865, Livingstone
was once more in Africa, on a third expedition which
lasted over seven years.
For the particulars of this expedition we have to
(140)
AMID THE REEDS OF LAKE BANGWEOLO. 141
142 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
depend on the brief letters he sent home at distant
periods, and more especially on the deeply interesting
account of Stanley, who made his adventurous journey
to find him.
The Governor of Bombay gave Livingstone permis-
sion to take twelve Sepoys, who, being provided with
Enfield rifles, were to act as guards to the expedition.
He had brought nine men from Johanna, in the Comoro
Islands, and these, with seven liberated slaves and two
Zambesi men, making 30 in all, formed his attendants,
who were considered sufficient to enable him to pass
through the country without having to fear any plunder-
ing raids from the natives.
Leaving Zanzibar in March, 1866, he landed in a bay
to the north of the Rovuma River early in the following
month, and on April 7 he began his journey into the
interior. His baggage consisted of bales of cloth and
bags of beads, to enable him to purchase food and pay
tribute to the chiefs through whose territories he might
pass. He had, besides, his chronometer, sextant, artifi-
cial horizon and thermometers carried in cases, as also
medicines, and the necessary clothing and other articles
for himself. To carry the baggage he had six camels,
three horses, two mules and three donkeys.
The route chosen was beset with difficulties, For
miles on the banks of the river he found the country
covered with dense jungle, through which the axe was
required to hew a way.
Greatly to his disappointment the Sepoys and Johanna
men, unused to such labor, showed a great dislike to it,
and soon tried to frustrate the expedition, in order to
compel their leader to return to the coast. So cruelly
did they neglect and ill-treat the camels and other
LIVINGSTONE’S LAST JOURNEYS. 143
animals, that in a short time they all died. Natives
were obtained to carry the loads.
Livingstone, feeling that should he be attacked, they
would probably desert him, dismissed the Sepoys, and,
sent them back to the coast.
For several days together he and his remaining men
traveled through a_ wilderness, and, being unable to
obtain food, they suffered much from hunger, while sev-
eral of the men deserted. Thus was Livingstone left with
only three or four attendants to prosecute his journey,
while those who had gone off had robbed him of much
of his property and even the greater part of his clothes.
Directing his course to the north-west, through the
province of Londa, he reached the town of a chief
named Kazembe, Londa, Kazembe’s capital, is situated
on the small Lake Mopo. To the north of it is a very
much larger lake, called Moero.
This is only one of a series of lakes which Living-
stone discovered in this portion of Central Africa. The
most southern in the large Lake of Bangweolo, 4000 feet
above the level of the sea, its area almost equal to that
of Lake Tanganyika. It is into this lake that the
Chambezi and a vast number of other smaller streams
empty themselves.
The next important fact he observed was that a larger
river than any of them, called the Luapula, runs out of
the lake into Lake Moero. Out of the northern end of
the Lake Moero again another large river, the Lualaba,
runs thundering forth through a vast chasm, and then,
expanding into a calm stream of great width, winds its
way north and west till it enters a third large lake, the
Kamolondo. To this was given the additional name of
Webb’s River. In some places it was found to be three
144 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
miles broad. He followed it down its course, and found
it again making its exit from Lake Kamolondo, till it
was joined by other large rivers, some coming from the
south and others from the east, till he reached the village
of Nyangwé, in latitude 4° south. Here, having ex-
hausted the means of purchasing fresh provisions, and
his followers refusing to proceed farther, he was com-
pelled to bring his journey northward to a termination.
This was not till the year 1871.
Livingstone’s discoveries entitle him to rank as,
perhaps, the greatest of African explorers. All the
ground he traversed during these years was virgin soil
so far as the foot of the white man had traversed them.
This place, Nyangwé, was the starting-point for a
traveler equally eminent, whose fortunes were strangely
linked with Livingstone’s, in his remarkable journey
down the Congo in 1874-77. In this journey Stanley
proved, by following the river to its mouth, that the
Lualaba of Livingstone, on which Nyangwé is situated,
is the Congo, the second greatest river of Africa, and
the course of which was the enigma of all ages.
He heard of another lake to the northward, into
which, as he supposed, the Lualaba empties itself,
bounded by arange to the westward, called the Balegga
Mountains. From information -received, he believed
that this last-mentioned lake was connected by a series of
small lakes, or by a somewhat sluggish stream, with the
Albert Nyanza, the waters of which undoubtedly flow
into the Nile.
To the south-west of Lake Kamolondo Livingstone
discovered another large lake, to which he gave the
name of Lincoln, after the President of the United
States, the liberator of the negro slaves.
10 YOUNG BAMBARAS, 145
146 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Another large river, the Lomane, flowing from the
southward, enters this lake, and, passing out again at
its northern end, joins the Luaba, which after that takes
an almost northerly course. These important dis-
coveries occupied Livingstone three years.
During his journeys, now to the west, now to the
east, he met, in the latter quarter, a large sheet of
water, which he discovered to be the southern end of
Lake Tanganyika, and, after remaining some time with
Kazembe, he set off, and crossed over to Ujiji, which he
reached about the middle of March, 1869. After rest-
ing here till June, he again crossed the lake, and went
westward with a party of traders till he reached the
large village of Bambarra, in Manyuema. This is the
chief ivory depot in that province, where large quantities ©
are obtained.
He was here detained six months, suffering severely
from ulcers in his feet, which prevented him putting
them to the ground, and from thence it was, when
again able to set out, that he tracked for a certain dis-
tance the course of the Lualaba, which occupied him
till the year 1871.
From Nyangwé, he returned eastward to Ujjiji, a dis-
tance of 7oo miles. Ruo, in which he discovered
copper mines, lies directly to the south of it. Each
village is governed by its own chief, holding little or no
communication with its neighbors. - They possess a con-
siderable amount of ingenuity, and manufacture a fabric
from fine grass, equal to the finest grass cloth of India.
Livingstone describes the people as of light color,
with well-formed features. Being of gentle manners,
the women are eagerly sought for by the Arabs, whose
wives they sometimes become.
LIVINGSTONE’S LAST JOURNEYS. 147
On reaching Ujiji,on October 16, 1871, greatly to
his dismay he found that his agent, believing him to be
dead, had sold all the goods for ivory, which he had
appropriated.
Thus Livingstone, already suffering fearfully from
illness, found himself deprived of the means of pur-
chasing food or paying his way back to the coast. The
letters, stores and provisions sent to him from Zanzibar
had been detained on the road, but relief, when least
expected, was at hand.
It has been mentioned that, in the year 1866, his fol-
lowers deserted him and then made for the coast, where
they at once spread the report that Livingstone had
been murdered by the sanguinary tribe of Mazitu.
We know that this tale was false, for we have already
tracked the doctor to Ujiji, but the authorities at Zanzi-
bar, in 1866, had no such evidence. Musa stated sup-
posed facts in a very circumstantial manner, and rumors
thus circulated gave rise to the activity which resulted
in the Search Expeditions despatched from England;
which, however, were rendered abortive by the enter-
prise of the Mew York Herald and its correspondent,
Henry M. Stanley.
The news of Livingstone’s murder was received in
England with sorrow. The story had so many elements
of apparent truth in its composition, that friends and
relatives feared the worst.
But some people discredited the news; and it was
suggested that an expedition should be despatched to
find the explorer, but this proposal was combated as
one which, if carried out, would prove useless and dis-
astrous.
After some months had elapsed, his adherents gained
148 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
their point. A former companion of Livingstone, Ed-
ward D. Young, was appointed leader, and proceeded
from the Cape in June, 1867, to the mouth of the Zam-
besi, where a small steel vessel, named the Search,
was successfully launched upon the waters of the great
river.
After some adventures, and a visit to a Portuguese
settlement, whose chief gave the members confirmation
of Livingstone’s death—which, however, Young did not
credit—the Search continued her course, and entered
the Shiré River. Here they were attacked by the na-
tives, but, on being recognized as English, were hos-
pitably received, and everywhere, as the little party con-
tinued their route, the inhabitants recognized the Eng-
lish as old friends.
Information coming in from time to time, assured
Young that he was on the right trail. No hostile tribe
opposed their progress, and the Search continued her
venturesome way unmolested. At length, in the begin-
ning of September, 1867, Nyassa Lake was gained, and
it became now a difficult matter to decide in what
direction the course should be steered. A “ white
man†had been reported as having gone in a north-
westerly direction, but that was long ago, and Young
and his men were somewhat undecided.
The appearance of a native, however, gave them
hope; on being questioned, enough was learned to
assure Young that, so far, he had been proceeding
in the right direction, and that Livingstone had cer-
tainly not been murdered.
Proceeding up the lake, the good news was con-
firmed. The illustrious traveler had remained in a
small village by the water during the past winter
LOANDA. 149
150 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
season, and had left an excellent impression upon the
natives.
Doubt could no longer exist in the minds of the
members of the Search party that they had found
“warm†traces of the great explorer. Further in-
quiries resulted in information respecting his observa-
tions of the sun with the sextant—which were illus-
trated by means of sticks—by a detail of the number
of his men, “two or three tens†of persons, his feet
clothed in “skins†(boots)—and his little dog was
mentioned.
Mr. Young at once continued his course, crossing
the lake to Chivola, where more relics and reminis-
cences of the doctor were discovered and related.
The villagers gave many faithful and interesting de-
tails of the white man’s residence with them, and
held his memory in great reverence, for he and his
countrymen set their faces against slave-dealing.
A native, who was encountered by the lake, gave
the valuable intelligence that he had himself seen and
assisted Livingstone, after the desertion of Musa and
his faithless companions. The man scouted the idea
of Livingstone having been murdered, and Musa’s
ingenious fabrication of the death and burial was
fully proved false when the Search party penetrated
to the Babisa country, and interviewed the old chief.
Young came to the conclusion that Livingstone
was alive, and that he had wandered through terri-
tories infested by a hostile tribe, who had destroyed
the villages. The Babisa chief warmly dissuaded
Young from attempting to follow, and accordingly,
the Search expedition returned to the coast, and to
England, with the information they had acquired.
DRAGGING A STEAMER THROUGH THE VEGETATION.
Tihs AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Though nothing definite had actually been heard
of the great explorer since May, 1869, Murchison
expressed his belief in Livingstone’s existence. He
had been reported at Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, where
he was waiting supplies. Samuel Baker hoped to
find him, but this hope had no actual result, owing
to geographical difficulties.
A relief expedition was now proposed. aiieney was
subscribed throughout England, and the Geographi-
cal Society took the matter in hand for the nation.
Lieutenants Dawson and Henn were selected as the
leaders, from a list of 400 volunteers. Oswell Liv-
ingstone went with them.
The Livingstone Search Expedition landed at Zanzi-
bar on March 17, 1872, and made their preparations
for advancing. On April 27, Lieutenants Henn and
Dawson were about to start, when three men came in
who had been sent on by a person, named Stanley,
with the announcement that Livingstone had been
found. Livingstone had sent certain instructions by
Stanley, and there was nothing to be done but despatch
to his aid the men and stores he required.
CHAPTER XIII.
STANLEY'S EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE.
Henry Morton StTANnLey, who found and relieved
Livingstone, and has since performed the more arduous
task of succoring Emin Pasha, is one of the most re-
markable men of the century. To be a successful
traveler demands uncommon qualities, but Stanley pos-
sesses them all in a degree so marked, that he may well be
called the “ Prince of African Travelers,’ and the name
deservedly applied to him by Burton has, with character-
istic generosity, been conceded to this world-renowned
explorer.
At the time Stanley proceeded to Abyssinia as the
correspondent of the Mew York Herald, he was a
naturalized citizen of the United States, and the traveler
encouraged the belief that he was an American by birth,
and always called himself an American. But his birth,
antecedents, and early life have all been ferreted out by
a public which demands to know every particular of its
great men, and it has been ascertained that Stanley is a
Welshman.
He was born in the year 1840, and his name is. John
Rowlands. Like many celebrated characters, including
travelers, such as Livingstone and the Landers, Stafaley,
as we must continue to call him, was of humble origin.
(153)
4p
154 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
His mother was left a widow when he was only two
years of age, and he was placed in the workhouse
school of St. Asaph, near to which he was born. There
he remained for ten years, and though little is known of
his early life, it has been ascertained that he was remark-
able at school for intelligence and determination of
character, characteristics which he displayed throughout
his career.
He ran away from school, and finding his way to
Liverpool, worked his passage on a sailing ship bound
for New Orleans. Arrived here he found employment in
the office of a gentleman named Stanley, who took a
fancy to him, and adopted him, Thus John Rowlands
became Henry Morton Stanley, a name known through-
out the civilized world, and even in the pathless forests
and wilds of Africa.
But now a misfortune befell him. His kind employer
and benefactor died suddenly, and, having made no will,
his property was claimed by his relatives, and Stanley
found himself once more thrown on the world, with
nothing to aid him but his indomitable will, When the
American Civil War broke out, Stanley joined the Con-
federate Army, under General Johnston, and was en-
gaged in some of the battles until he became a prisoner
at Pittsburg Landing. He managed, however, to escape
by swimming across a river, and subsequently made his
way toEngland. But the great Republic hada superior
fascination for one of his adventurous tastes, and again
he worked his passage out, this time to New York.
Stanley now transferred his allegiance to the Northern
States, and served in the Federal Navy until the close
of the war, when he joined, as a newspaper correspon-
dent, an expedition against the Indians in the Far West,
(155)
156 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
and, on his return, was taken on the staff of the Mew
York Herald.
In this capacity, he served through the Abyssinian
War, and by his enterprise anticipated his fellows in an
account of the capture of Magdala. He was correspon-
dent of the Mew York Herald in the Carlist War, in
Spain, and, in the years 1873-74, in the brief and ar-
duous Ashantee campaign.
But before this last service, Stanley undertook his
expedition for the discovery and relief of Livingstone,
which first brought him prominently before the world.
The circumstances of his appointment are sufficiently
singular and amusing to be recorded. Stanley was at
Madrid on October 16, 1869, when he received a tele-
gram from James Gordon Bennett, proprietor of the
New York Herald, to join him at Paris. He thus
records the interview with Mr. Bennett on his arrival at
his hotel at Paris :—
“T went straight to the ‘Grand Hotel,’ and knocked
at the door of, Mr. Bennett’s room.
““ Come in,’ I heard a voice say. Entering I found
Mr. Bennett in bed.
“ «Who are you?’ he asked.
“My name is Stanley,’ I answered.
“« Ah, yes, sit down. I have important business in
hand for you. Where do you think Livingstone is ?’
“*T really do not know, sir.’
“* Do you think he is alive ?’
“«He may be, and he may not be,’ I answered.
“Well, I think he is alive,and that he can be found;
and I am going to send you to find him. Of course,
you can act according to your own plans, and do what
you think best; but find Livingstone!’†:
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE. 157
When Stanley spoke of the expense, Mr. Bennett
said :—
‘Draw a thousand pounds now, and when you have
gone through that, draw another thousand, and when
that is spent, draw another thousand, and when you
have finished that, draw another thousand, and so on;
but find Livingstone!â€
Stanley’s instructions were, first, to ascertain in Egypt
what Samuel Baker—then about to start up the Nile—
intended to do, and then to make his way, via Bombay
and Mauritius, to Zanzibar.
He arrived on January 6, 1871, at Zanzibar, and with-
out delay set about making the preparations for his
journey into the interior of the African Continent.
He had engaged at Jerusalem a Christian Arab boy,
named Selim, who was to act as his interpreter, and he
had also on the voyage attached to the expedition two
mates of merchantmen, Farquhar and Shaw, who were
useful in constructing tents and arranging two boats for
the journey. He also secured the services of Bombay,
captain of Speke’s “faithfuls,†and five of his other
followers, Uledi, Grant’s valet, and Mabruki, who had
in the meantime lost one of his hands. They were the
only remains of the band to be found, the rest having
died or gone elsewhere.
The boats, one of which was capable of carrying 20
people, and the other six, were stripped of their planks,
the timbers and thwarts only being carried. Instead of
the planking it was proposed to cover them with double
canvas skin, well tarred. They and the rest of the
baggage were carried in loads, none exceeding 68
pounds in weight. Two horses and 27 donkeys were
purchased, and a small cart, while the traveler had
158 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
brought with him a watch-dog, which he hoped would
guard his tent from prowling thieves. An ample supply
of beads, cloth and wire were also laid in, with tea,
sugar, rice, and medicine. To Bombay and his “ faith-
fuls†were added 18 more freemen, well armed, who
were to act as escort to the carriers.
On February 5, 1871, the expedition embarked in
four dhows, which conveyed it across to Bagamoyo on
the mainland. Here it was detained five weeks, while
its leader was struggling to overcome the rogueries of
the Arabs, who had undertaken to secure 140 porters,
and in making the necessary arrangements. At Baga-
moyo he found a caravan which had been despatched
by the British Consul 100 days before to the relief of
Livingstone; but which had hitherto remained inactive,
its leader making an excuse that he was unable to obtain
a fresh supply of carriers.
Stanley divided his expedition into five caravans, the
first of which he started off on February 18, although
it was not till March 21, 1871, that he, with the largest,
was able to begin his journey westward. Altogether
the expedition numbered on the day of departure, be-
sides the commander and his two white attendants, 23
soldiers, four chiefs, and 154 carriers. Every care had
been bestowed on the outfit, which was deemed complete.
Bombay proved to be as honest and trustworthy as
formerly, while Ferajji and Mabruki turned out true
men and staunch, the latter on one occasion, finding a
difficulty in dragging the cart, having brought it along
on his head rather than abandon it.
The Kingani River was crossed by a bridge rapidly
formed with American axes, the donkeys refusing to
pass through the water.
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE, 159
Few men were better able to deal with the rogueries
of the petty chiefs he met with than Stanley. He had
always a ready answer, and caught them in their own
traps, while the “great master,†as he was called,
managed to keep all his subordinates in good order.
Before long Stanley was attacked with fever, which
greatly prostrated his strength, though he quickly
- recovered by taking strong doses of quinine.
The report from Farquhar’s caravan was most unsat-
isfactory, he, as far as Stanley could make out, having
lost all his donkeys. The unhappy man was suffering
from dropsy, and had to be sent back.
The expedition was now about to enter Ugogo.
During the passage of the intervening desert, five out
of the nine donkeys died, the cart having some time be-
fore been left behind. The expedition was now joined
by several Arab caravans, so that the number of the
party amounted to about 400 souls, strong in guns, flags,
horns, sounding drums, and noise. This host was to be
led by Stanley and Hamed through the dreaded Ugogo.
On May 26, they were at Mvurni, paying heavy trib-
ute to the Sultan. While here five more donkeys died,
and their bones were picked clean before the morning
by the hyenas.
The tribute was paid to preserve peace, and the party
proceeded westward. The country was one vast field
of grain, and thickly populated. Between that place
and the next Sultan’s district, 25 villages were counted.
After this wearisome journey Stanley was again at-
tacked by fever, which it required a whole day’s halt
and fifty grains of quinine to cure. As may be sup-
posed, they were thankful when Ugogo was passed, and
they entered Unyanyembe.
160 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
The expedition at length entered Kivihara, the cap-
ital of the province ruled over by the aged Sultan
Mkaswa, who received Stanley in a friendly way. The
Sheik Said Ben Salim invited him to take up his
quarters in his -house, where Stanley’s goods were
stored and his carriers paid off. His three other cara-
vans had arrived safely.
Soon after, the Livingstone caravan arrived, and the .
goods were stored with those of Stanley, the men being
quartered with his. The chief of the caravan brought
Stanley a package of letters directed to Livingstone at
Ujiji.
After his long journey, Stanley was completely pros-
trate, and fortwo weeks was perfectly senseless. Selim,
who had faithfully watched over his master and treated’
him according to the written directions he received, was
also prostrated, and in a state of delirium for four days.
On July 28, 1871, all had again recovered, and on the
next day, 50 carriers were ready to start.
The road ahead was closed by the chief Mirambo,
who declared that no Arab caravan should pass that
way. The Arabs, therefore, had resolved to attack him,
and mustered an army of upwards of 2000 men. Stan-
ley, with his followers, determined to join them, to as-
sist in bringing the war to a speedy conclusion.
The palace was soon surrounded, and, though the
party were received with a volley, the fire of the de-
fenders was soon silenced. They took to flight, and
the village was entered. Notwithstanding the heavy
fire which had been kept up on it, 20 dead bodies
only were found. Other villages were attacked and
burned.
A more serious affair occurred soon afterwards.
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE. 161
When Stanley was again attacked with fever, a number
of his men, notwithstanding his orders to the contrary,
joined the Arabs in an attack on a more important
place, commanded by Mirambo himself. The result
was that, though the place was taken, the Arabs fell
into an ambush, laid by Mirambo, and were completely
defeated, many of them, including some of Stanley’s
soldiers, being killed. Mirambo, following up his suc-
cesses, pursued the Arabs, and Stanley had to mount his
donkey, Shaw being lifted on his, and to fly at midnight
for their lives. His soldiers ran as fast as their legs
could carry them, the only one of his followers who re-
mained by his master’s side being young Selim. At
length they reached Mfuto, from which they had issued
forth so valiantly a short time before.
Stanley had felt it his duty to assist the Arabs, though
he had now cause to regret having done so. He re-
turned to Kivihara. Here he was detained a long time,
during which he received authentic news of Livingstone
from an Arab, who had met with him traveling into
Manyuema, and who affirmed that, having gone toa
market at Liemba in three canoes, one of them, in
which all his cloth had been placed, was upset and lost.
The news of Farquhar’s death here reached him.
Month after month passed away, and he had great
difficulty in obtaining soldiers to supply the places of
those who had been killed or died. One day he received
a present of a little slave boy from an Arab merchant,
to whom, at Bombay’s suggestion, the name of Kalulu,
meaning a young antelope, was given.
Stanley was again attacked with fever, but his white
companion in no degree sympathized with him, even
little Kalulu showing more feeling. Weak as he was,
II
162 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
he again began his march to the westward, with about
40 men added to his old followers.
Bombay, not for the first time, proving refractory and
impudent, received a thrashing before starting, and when
Stanley arrived at his camp at night, he found that up-
wards of twenty men had remained behind. He sent a
strong body back, under Selim, who returned with the
men and some heavy slave-chains, and Stanley declared
that if any behaved in the same way again he would
fasten them together and make them march like slaves.
As war was going on in the country, it was necessary
to proceed with caution. Some of his followers showed
a strong inclination to mutiny, which he had to quell by
summary proceedings, and Bombay especially sank
greatly in his good opinion. As they approached Lake
Tanganyika, all got into better humor, and confidence
was restored between them.
On November 2, 1871, the left bank of the Malagarazi
River was reached. The greater part of the day had
been occupied in dealing with the chief of the greedy
Wavinza tribe, who demanded an enormous sum. This
being settled, the ferrymen asked payment for carrying
across the caravan. These demands having been settled,
the next business was to swim the donkeys across.
One fine animal was being towed with a rope round its
neck, when, just as it reached the middle of the stream,
it was seen to struggle fearfully. An enormous crocodile
had seized the poor animal by the throat. The black
in charge tugged at the rope, but the donkey sank and
was no more seen. Only one donkey now remained,
and this was taken across by Bombay the next morning.
The next day was an eventful one. Just before start-
ing, a caravan was seen approaching, consisting of a
‘DR. LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME ?â€â€™
164. AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
large party of a tribe occupying a tract of country to the
south-west of Lake Tanganyika.
The news wasasked. A white man had been seen by
them who had lately arrived at Ujiji from Manyuema.
He had white hair and a white beard, and was sick.
Only eight days ago they had seen him. He had been
at Ujiji before, and had gone away and returned, There
could be no doubt that this was Livingstone.
Stanley started in high spirits, pushing on as fast as
his men could move. On November 10, just 236
days after leaving Bagomoyo, and 51 since they set out
from Unyanyembe, surmounting a hill, the Lake of
Tanganyika was seen before them. Six hours’ march
brought them to its shores,
The “stars and stripes†were given to the breeze;
and repeated volleys were fired. The faithful Chumah
and Susi, Livingstone’s old followers, rushed out of the
village to see the stranger, and in a short time Stanley
was rewarded for all the dangers and hardships he had
undergone by greeting the long-looked-for traveler face
to face. The meeting of these two remarkable men has
become historical. Stanley, advancing, held out his
hand, with the words, “ Dr. Livingstone, I presume ;â€
and the travel-worn, but indomitable explorer replied
simply in the affirmative.
At this time, when reduced almost to death’s door by
sickness and disappointment, the assistance thus brought
to Livingstone was of inestimable worth. The society
of his new friend, the letters from home, the well-cooked
meal which the doctor was able to enjoy, and the cham-
pagne quaffed out of silver goblets, brought carefully
those hundreds of miles for that especial object, had a
wonderfully exhilarating influence,
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE. 165
Some days were spent at Ujiji, during which Living-
stone regained health and strength. Future plans
were discussed, and his previous adventures described.
The longer the intercourse Stanley enjoyed with Living-
stone, the more he rose in his estimation.
“ Dr. Livingstone,†he says, “is about sixty years old.
His hair has a brownish color, but here and there
streaked with grey lines over the temples. His beard
and moustache are very grey. His eyes, which are
hazel, are remarkably bright: he has a sight keen as a
hawk’s. His frame is a little over the ordinary height;
when walking, he has a firm but heavy tread, like that
of an over-worked or fatigued man. I never observed
any spleen or misanthropy about him. He has a fund
of quiet humor, which he exhibits at all times when he
is among friends. During the four monthsI was with
him I noticed him every evening making most careful
notes. His maps evince great care and industry. He
is sensitive on the point of being doubted or criticised.
His gentleness never forsakes him, his hopefulness never
deserts him; no harassing anxiety or distraction of mind,
though separated from home and kindred, can make
him complain. He thinks all will come out right at
last, he has such faith in the goodness of Providence.
Another thing which especially attracted my attention
was his wonderfully retentive memory. His religion is
not of the theoretical kind, but it is constant, earnest,
sincere, practical; it is neither demonstrative nor loud,
but manifests itself in a quiet, practical way, and is al-
ways at work. In him religion exhibits its loveliest
features ; it governs his conduct not only towards his
servants, but towards the natives. I observed that uni-
versal respect was paid to him ; even the Mohammedans
166 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
never passed his house without calling to pay their com-
pliments, and to say: ‘The blessing of God rest on
you!’ Every Sunday morning he gathers his little
flock around him, and reads prayers and a chapter from
the Bible in a natural, unaffected, and sincere tone, and
afterwards delivers a short address in the Kiswahili
language, about the subject read to them, which is
listened to with evident interest and attention.
“His consistent energy is native to him and his race.
He is a very fine example of the perseverance, dogged-
ness and tenacity which characterize the Anglo-Saxon
spirit. His ability to withstand the climate is due not
only to the happy constitution with which he was born,
but to the strictly temperate life he has ever led.â€
In another place Stanley says: “ Livingstone followed
the dictates of duty. Never was sucha willing slave to
that abstract virtue. Surely, as the sun shines on both
Christian and infidel, civilized and pagan, the day of en-
lightenment will come: and though the apostle of
Africa may not behold it himself, nor we younger men,
nor yet our children, the hereafter will see it, and pos-
terity will recognize the daring pioneer of its civiliza-
tion.â€
After they had been some weeks together at Ujiji,
Stanley and Livingstone agreed to make a voyage on
Lake Tanganyika, one of the chief objects of which was
to settle the long-mooted point as to whether the Rusizi
River is an affluent or an effluent. They embarked ina
cranky canoe, hollowed out of a tree, which carried
16 rowers, Selim, and two guides, besides themselves.
The lake was calm, its waters of a dark green color,
reflecting the serene blue sky above. At one place
where they sounded, the depth was found to be 210
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE. 167
feet near the shore, and farther out 350 feet of line was
let down without finding bottom, and Dr. Livingstone
stated that he had sounded opposite the lofty Kabogo,
and attained the depth of 1800 feet.
We will not venture to attempt a description of the
magnificent scenery of this enormous lake. Each night
they landed and encamped, continuing their voyage the
next day. Generally they were well received by the
natives, though they had to avoid one or two spots
where the people were said to be treacherous and
quarrelsome. On reaching the mouth of the Rusizi,
they pushed up it a short distance, but found that it was
navigable only for the smallest canoes.
The most important point, however, which they dis-
covered was that the current was flowing, at the rate of
six to eight miles an hour, zzéo the lake.
Coasting round the north shore, they paddled down
the west coast till nearly opposite the island of Muzimu,
when they crossed back to the shore from whence they
had come, and steered southward beyond Ujiji till they
reached nearly the sixth degree of latitude, at a place
called Urimba. Their voyage, altogether, took 28
days, during which time they traversed over 300 miles
of water.
On their return to Ujiji, they resolved to carry out
one of the several plans which Stanley had suggested to
Livingstone. One of them was to return to Unyany-
embe to enlist men to sail down the Victoria Nyanza
in Stanley’s boat, for the purpose of meeting Samuel
Baker; but this, with several others, was dismissed.
Livingstone’s heart was set on endeavoring to settle
numerous important points in Manyuema connected
with the supposed source of the Nile. He finally agreed
168 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
to allow Stanley to escort him to Unyanyembe, where
he should receive his own goods and those which Stan-
ley proposed to deliver up to him, and where he could
rest in a comfortable house, while his friend would hurry
down the coast, and organize a new expedition, com-
posed of Go men, well armed, by whom an additional
supply of needful luxuries might be sent.
Christmas Day was kept up with such a feast as Ujiji
could furnish them, the fever from which Stanley had
lately been suffering having left him the night before.
On December 27, 1871, they embarked in two canoes,
the one bearing the flag of England, the other that of
America; and their baggage being on board, and hav-
ing bidden farewell to Arabs and natives, together they
commenced their voyage on the lake, steering for the
south. At the same time the main body of their men
began their journey, which was to be performed on foot,
along the shores of the lake. It had been arranged
that the canoes should meet them at the mouth of
every river, to transport them across from bank to bank.
Their intention was to land at Cape Tongwe, when they
would be opposite the village of Itaga, whence by tra-
versing the uninhabited districts to the east, they would
avoid the exactions of the roguish Wavinza and the
plundering Wahha, and then strike the road by which
Stanley had come. This plan was completely carried
out. Stanley had procured a strong donkey at Ujiji,
that Livingstone might perform the journey on its back.
Pouring rain came down during the whole journey,
and it was to their intense satisfaction that at length the
two friends walked into Stanley’s old quarters, who said,
“Doctor, we are at home.â€
Here they were again busily employed in examining
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE. 169
stores, and Livingstone in writing despatches and letters
to his friends. Here he resolved to remain, while Stan-
ley went down to the coast to enlist men and collect
such further stores as were required, and to send them
back. On their arrival he purposed returning with them
to Ujiji, and from thence crossing over into Manyuema,
to make further researches in that province and Ruo;
among other things, to examine the underground hab-
itations which he had heard of ona previous journey.
On March 14, 1872, Stanley and Livingstone break-
fasted together, and then the order was given to raise
the flag and march. Livingstone accompanied him
some way, but they had to part at last.
The return journey was not performed without many
adventures and a considerable amount of suffering by
the enterprising traveler.
Passing the stronghold of Kisalungo, a large portion
had disappeared. The river had swept away the entire
front wall and about 50 houses, several villages having
suffered disastrously, while at least 100 people had
perished. The whole valley, once a paradise in appear-
ance, had been converted into a howling waste.
Farther on, a still more terrible destruction of human
life and property had occurred. It was reported that
100 villages had been swept away by the inundation
ofariver. Passing a dense jungle, and wading for sev-
eral miles through a swamp, on May 6, the caravan was
again en route at a pace its leader had never seen equalled.
At sunset the town of Bagamoyo was entered.
His first greeting was with Lieutenant Henn, who had
come out as second in command of the proposed Liv-
ingstone Search and Relief Expedition. He next met
Oswell Livingstone. The two proposed shortly starting
170 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
on their journey, having come over with no less than
190 loads of stores, which they would have had no
small difficulty inconveying. Stanley was not overwell
pleased with some of the remarks made in the papers
about himself, some having regarded his expedition
into Africa as a myth.
“ Alas! he observes, “it has been a terrible, earnest
fact with me: nothing but hard, conscientious work, pri-
vations, sickness and almost death.â€
However, welcomed cordially by numerous friends at
Zanzibar, he soon recovered his spirits, and, having dis-
banded his own expedition, set to work to arrange the
one he had promised to form for the assistance of Liv-
ingstone, Mr. Henn having in the meantime resigned,
and Oswell Livingstone being compelled from ill health
to abandon the attempt to join his father.
Fifty rifles, with ammunition, stores and cloth, were
furnished by Oswell Livingstone out of the English ex-
pedition. 57 men, including 20 of those who had fol-
lowed Stanley, were also engaged, the services of Johari,
chief dragoman to the American consulate, being also
obtained to conduct them across the inundated plains
of the Kingani.
Having engaged a dhow, Stanley saw them all on
board, and again urged them to follow the “ great mas-
ter,†as they called Livingstone, wherever he might lead
them, and to obey him in all things. He then shook
hands with them, and, watched the dhow. as she sped
westward on her way to Bagamoyo. !
Those who had accompanied him were rewarded,
and he states to their credit, though Bombay and many
others had at first annoyed him greatly, that from Ujjji
to the coast, they had all behaved admirably.
STANLEY IN SEARCH OF LIVINGSTONE, 171
Dr. Livingstone, in parting with Stanley, stated that
he did not intend to return home until he had satisfied
himself concerning the sources of the Nile. He ex-
pressed his determination to strike across country from
Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River. “ Crossing
that,†he continued, “I will go to the Katanga mines,â€
and eight days south of the Katanga, the natives had
assured the explorer the “fountains of the Nile†were
to be found. The doctor proposed to return from Ka-
tanga, then journey to Lake Komolondo, up the Lufira
to Lake Lincoln. Coming down again, he would pro-
ceed by the Lualaba to the next lake, and then make
his way to Zanzibar, which he estimated would occupy
him a year and a half.
“May God bring you back safe to us all, my dear
friend,†was Stanley’s last wish. “ Farewell.â€
Stanley sent the men and the supplies for two years
to Livingstone, who waited for them until August, at
Unyanyembe, where Stanley had left him. On August
25, 1872, the little caravan, which numbered 60 persons,
including many faithful adherents, quitted Unyanyembe
upon Livingstone’s last journey towards the eastern
shore of Lake Tanganyika. The expedition proceeded
without any very remarkable incident occurring till, on
September 15, we find the significant entry in the jour-
nal, which on that day closes with the word “TIIl.
Nevertheless next day Livingstone passed over the
range of hills, and then westward to the village of Kam-
irambo. On the 18th, the party “ remained at Miriras,
and Livingstone’s old foe (dysentery) attacked him, and
afterwards his followers spoke of few periods of health.
But the explorer still pressed on, with occasional
halts for rest, and on October 8, he “ came on early, as
172 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the sun was hot, and in two hours saw the Tanganyika
from a gentle hill.†After a short rest, Livingstone pro-
ceeded along the top of the range, which runs parallel
with the lake about 1000 feet above it. Then, crossing
several inlets of the lake, the party proceeded through a
country swarming with game, and so on over the hills
and mountains; then southwards. After suffering from
want of food, and by the falseness of a guide, the expe-
dition climbed up a steep mountain, whence a view of
the lake was obtained. They descended to the valley ;
and on the 12th and 13th, their journey led them over low
ranges of sandstone, past several stockaded villages,
and they arrived at Zombe’s Town.
The loss of the best donkey is recorded as a calamity.
So the journey continued with varying daily progress
till the Lofu was reached on November 28, 1872, and
subsequently the Lower Katanta, through heavy rains
and many streams. Food was scarce; while the en-
tries in the journal show that the doctor was feeble and
ailing.
Christmas Day was cold and wet, but a day of rest
and some rejoicing. They pushed on again, in wet and
drizzling weather, till on January 8, 1873, they were de-
tained by heavy rains at Moenje. ‘“ We are near Lake
Bangweolo,†says Livingstone, “and in a damp region.â€
Thenceforward it appears that the journey was a con-
tinual plunge into and out of morasses, “and through
rivers which were only distinguishable from the sur-
rounding waters by their deep currents, and the necessity
for using canoes.†Toa man reduced in strength, and
chronically affected with dysenteric symptoms ever
likely to be aggravated by exposure, the effect may well
be conceived.
174 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
A dry day enabled the caravan to “move forward an
hour to arivulet and sponge ’’—through flat forest, “to
a running rivulet with one hundred yards of sponge on
each side.†There was a great want of canoes, and no
assistance was afforded by the natives. Sometimes Liv-
ingstone was carried across the rivulets; for he was too
weak to wade, and thus, in a continued series of troubles
and worries, the painful pilgrimage was continued. An
entry, under date of January 24, with an illustration, in
the “Journal,†tells us the extreme difficulty of the
passage. Plunging through a stream, neck deep, in
pouring rain, he was passed from one pair of shoulders
to another for fifty yards ata time. A terrible journey
indeed, and nothing but the greatest pluck and deter-
mination, united with respect for the leader, could have
kept the people together.
So February passed, and March found them ona
miserable island. “We are surrounded by scores of
miles of rushes, an open sward, and many lotus plants,
but no mosquitoes,†adds the diarist, thankfully.
Still wandering in the swamps of Lake Bangweolo,
the explorer continued his search for evidence of the
junction of the Lualaba with the Lake; but doubt of
success seems to have filled the doctor’s mind. “Can
I hope for ultimate success?†he writes on March 19;
““so many obstacles have arisen!†This was Living-
stone’s last birthday, when, perhaps, the shadow of the
coming darkness was perceptible to his mind.
At length, in the beginning of April, the complaint
from which he had been so long suffering assumed a
bad character, and left him “bloodless and weak, from
bleeding profusely since March 31. Oh! how I longto be
permitted by the Over Power to finish my work.†This
———— =
==>
= — = = —S =
DISCOVERY OF LAKE BANGWEOLO. 175
176 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS,
entry tells us, more than many pages of description,
what the sufferings of the brave man were. On April
12 he adds, “ Lay down quite done, cooked coffee—our
last—and went on, but in an hour I was compelled to
lie down.†The toth tells us: “ I am excessively weak,
and but for the donkey I could not move a hundred -
yards. Jtzs not all pleasure, this exploration!†The
end was, indeed, drawing near.
“Tried to ride, but was forced to lie down. They
carried me back to vil. exhausted.†Fight on, brave
heart, fight on, but it is in vain. Chuma and Susi, his
faithful followers, undid Livingstone’s belt, and carried
him to the village. The men perceived the increasing
weakness of their master, and made him a litter, in
which they carried him, suffering acutely.
Then only dates are entered. Passing through the
flooded, treeless wastes, the men were sheltered in
villages, the doctor becoming weaker and weaker.
Sunday, April 20, 1873, was the date of the last service
he held with his followers, and on the 27th he appeared
to be dying.
“Knocked up quite, and remain—recover—sent to
buy milch goats. We are on the banks of the Molilamoâ€
(Lulimala).
These were the last words Livingstone ever wrote.
Great difficulties were encountered in the transport
of Livingstone across the river, for he was in great
pain. Then the dying explorer was carried forward to
Chitumbo’s village, but even in this brief transit he
begged his bearers many times to stop and let him rest.
The house was erected and made ready as soon as
possible, and the litter placed within it. At eleven
o'clock Pp. M. on April 30, Livingstone asked some ques-
NGSTONE’S TRAVELS.
THE LAST MILE OF LIVI
12
178 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
tions of his attendant, Susi, and then dozed off. An
hour later Susi was again called, and Livingstone took
some medicine. “ Allright; you can go now,†he said.
And Susi left him.
Early on the morning of May 1, a lad came to Susi
and called him to “ Bwana,†for “Idon’t know if he is
alive!†Susi, alarmed, ran to fetch the rest.
A candle stuck by its own wax to the top of the
box shed a light sufficient for them to see his form.
Livingstone was kneeling by the side of his bed, his
body stretched forward, his head buried in his hands
upon the pillow. For a minute they watched him; he
did not stir; there was no sign of breathing; then one
of them, Matthew, advanced softly to him and placed
his hands to his cheeks. It was sufficient ; life had been
extinct some time, and the body was almost cold: Liv-
ingstone was dead.
The heart of Livingstone was buried where he died,
his body was preserved by being fully exposed to the
sun and then was reverently conveyed by his faithful
servants to Zanzibar, whence it was transferred to
England, and placed, with stately ceremonies and amid
crowds of mourners, with the remains of the greatest
and noblest of the English race who sleep in the Abbey
of Westminster.
The coffin bore this inscription—
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
Born at Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland,
1g Marcu, 1813,
Died at Hala, Central Africa,
I May, 1873.
CHAPTER XIV.
CaMERON’s JOURNEY Across AFRICA.
LIEUTENANT VERNEY CAMERON, of the British Navy,
volunteered, in the year 1872, to conduct an expedi-
tion to explore the region which Livingstone had
traversed, and in which he had so long lived.
Cameron, accompanied by Dr. Dillon, a former mess-
mate, reached Zanzibar in January, 1873. He declared
his purpose of crossing Africa from sea to sea, and
this he accomplished. But his party was not a very
strong one, for only 30 men were collected, and Bombay,
who had the selection, took no trouble in the matter.
In February, 1873, the expedition marched into the
interior without impediment, and reached Killoa with-
out having encountered any important adventure by
the way. Cameron had meantime been joined by R.
Moffat, a nephew of Doctor Livingstone, who was left
with Lieutenant Murphy.
The journey from Killoa was most enervating—across
the swamps and the terrible Makata morass, where Dr.
Dillon was taken ill, and could go no farther. Cam-
eron, however, pushed on into higher and more healthy
country, and at once sent back assistance and convey-
ance for his friend, who was conveyed to Rehenucko.
The march to Unyanyembe was accomplished under
(179)
180 ‘AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the greatest difficulties. Death, desertion and suf-
fering marked the course with sad milestones, as day by
day the route was pursued, But in August, 1873, the
place so famous in African travel, from the time when
Burton and Speke first entered it, was gained.
At Unyanyembe, Cameron met with a kind welcome,
and was installed in the same dwelling which had
already sheltered Livingstone and Stanley. But once
again trouble arose with the men. A mutiny broke
out, which was quelled, but fever and desertion deci-
mated the following of Cameron and Dillon. The head
man, Bombay, already mentioned, gave himself up to
the habit of intoxication; while, to add to the trouble,
Cameron himself suffered from a severe attack of fever,
which nearly proved fatal.
This was a trying time, and in the letters written by
Dillon may be found the affecting record of the young
leader’s sufferings and delirium in that fearful fever
which soon was to lay its fell grasp upon Dillon him-
self, and caused him to die by his own hand in a
paroxysm of madness. During many weary weeks
Cameron remained prostrate, but October found him
on the road to convalescence.
October 20 brought in news of a very sadden-
ing nature. As Cameron was slowly recovering, his
servant entered the tent and gave hima letter which had
just arrived. The man could tell nothing more than it
had come in by a messenger.
The letter, of which we give a literal copy, was from
Jacob Wainright to Oswell Livingstone.
“S1r:—We have heard, in the month of August,
that you have started from Zanzibar for Unyanyembe,
CAMERON'S JOURNEY ACROSS AFRICA. 181°
and, again, have lately heard of your arrival. Your
father died by disease beyond the country of Bisa, but
we have carried the corpse with us. Ten of our soldiers
are lost, and some have died. Our hunger presses us
to ask of you some clothes to buy provisions for our
soldiers, and we should have an answer that, when
we shall enter, there shall be firing guns or not;
and, if you will permit us to fire guns, then send us some
powder. We have written these few words in the place
of Sultan or King Mborwa.
“The Writer,
“JacoB WAINWRIGHT,
“Dr. Livingstone Expedition.â€
This was the first intimation of the death of the cele-
brated African explorer, and it fell upon eyes and ears
dimmed and dulled by fever. Dillon and Cameron, both
only half recovered, took some time to grasp the mean-
ing; but on the arrival of the faithful Chumah, all doubt
of the fact was put an end to. Cameron’s occupation
was virtually gone! The Livingstone Search Expedi-
tion had been arrested by the hand of death. Cam-
eron and his companions might now return, for their
mission had been accomplished.
But Cameron determined to proceed across the conti-
nent westwards, while Dillon and Murphy accompanied
the funeral procession of Dr. Livingstone, as already
related. Poor Dillon shot himself in delirium; and
hearing of the sad event, Cameron hurried back to see
Murphy and learn particulars, At Kasekerah, where
the suicide had happened, Cameron collected his men
‘and started thence, accompanied by Bombay, on De-
cember 2, 1873.
182 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
It was not till the following February that Cameron
and his party reached Tanganyika. Canoes had been
sent hither for his use: and in them he was enabled to
reach Ujiji, or rather Kowele, the landing-place.
By the last of April, the boats reached the end of the
lake, and of the district near which Livingstone had
passed in his last fatal march. The outlet of the lake
was discovered, and the important fact revealed that the
Lukuga carries its stream into the Lualaba, which had
been discovered by Livingstone, who thought it belonged
to the “ Nile system;†while Cameron declared it was
a branch of the Congo. The true solution of the
problem was left for Stanley, as we shall see later.
The expedition left Kwakasongo on August I, and
after two marches came in sight of the mighty Lualaba
—a strong, sweeping current, fully a mile wide, and
flowing at the rate of three or four knots an hour, with
many islands, like the eyots in the Thames, lying in its
course. The crocodiles and hippopotami were numer-
ous and dangerous. Without delay Cameron started
for Nyangwé, and was carried at a rapid pace down
stream. ‘At last,†he says, “I was at Nyangwé, and
now the question before me was, what success would
attend the attempt at tracing the river to the sea.â€
In the beginning of August, 1875, the Zambesi was
seen, and at the end of the month Katende, near Lake
Dilolo, was reached. Livingstone had penetrated so
far. Then the want of food began to make itself felt.
The pleasant traders with whom Cameron journeyed
had stripped him of nearly all he possessed, and he was
actually obliged to sell his shirts for food. So the
march proceeded. In November the Kukewi River was
crossed ; then they marched through the mountains,
THE ZAMBESI.
184 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
until the approach to Katombela, on the coast, filled
Cameron with delight.
A messenger sent in advance had obtained provisions
which reached the half-starved explorer, and when
within sight of the sea, Cameron ran down the slope of
the hill towards Katombela, “swinging his rifle round
his head.†Unfurling the English flag he carried, Cam-
eron advanced, and met a Frenchman, who, with three
men bearing wine, welcomed him, and drank to the
health of the first European who had crossed the Con-
tinent from east to west, Livingstone having performed
the same feat in a contrary direction.
After a delay caused by sickness, Cameron proceeded
to Loanda. Here he found letters and a hearty wel-
come, and having seen his people off in a schooner for
Zanzibar, in February, 1876, he embarked for Liver-
pool in the steamer Congo.
The results of this journey across Africa were very
important. The traveler proved that the Lualaba has
no connection with the Nile system, and was of opinion
that it was the head-waters of the Congo, a result which
Stanley has since ascertained to be true. Thus Living-
stone was actually exploring the Congo, and not the Nile,
during his later years. Cameron also discovered a water
system by the Lomané, which he called the true Lualaba.
For his great services to geographical science, the
gallant explorer received the Gold Medal of the Geo-
graphical Society, and it has seldom been more worthily
bestowed. Cameron was not only a successful traveler,
but he was an accomplished observer. His observa-
tions were conducted on scientific principles and were
of vast extent, displaying untiring industry under the
most depressing influences of climate, and constancy
and courage of a high order,
CHAPTER XV.
STANLEY'S EXPLORATION OF THE CoNnGo.
Once again Stanley appears on the scene, commis-
sioned jointly by the Daily Telegraph and the New York
flerald, to complete the discoveries of Speke and Liv-
ingstone, especially to clear up all doubts regarding the
Central African Lakes, and to follow the Lualaba until
it reaches the sea, the task which Livingstone sought to
accomplish. His party from England consisted of
Frank and Edward Pocock, Frederick Barker, and
Halleck. A barge named the Lady Alice, was taken in
sections, besides two other boats, with a perfect equip-
ment.
Stanley left England, to begin his perilous journey,
on August I5, 1874. He reached Zanzibar on Sep-
tember 21, and left for the mainland on November 12,
and five days later, started for the interior, on his peril-
ous and famous journey through Africa, of which he
has given so graphic an account in his work, “ Across
the Dark Continent.â€
The first stage was to the Victoria Nyanza, which
Stanley desired to explore. The imperfect description
of previous explorers had left much to be decided con-
cerning this great inland sea.
(185)
186 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
The advance to the great Lake Victoria was full of
adventurous interest. Those who read his volumes will
learn that traveling in the “ Dark Continent†means
being at times in the wilderness without a guide, or with
traitors acting as guides, which is a worse alternative.
This was Stanley’s fate, and he was deserted in the
waste, with a small stock of food. Through the difficult
jungle the men had to crawl, cutting their way, guided
solely by the compass, overcome by hunger and thirst,
with desertions frequent, and much sickness. This was
in “ famine-stricken Ugogo.â€
While on this disastrous march he lost five of his
people, who, “ wandering on helplessly, fell down and
died.†The country produced no food, or even game,
unless lions could be so called. Two young lions were
found in a den, and were quickly killed and eaten.
Stanley tells us how he returned to camp, and was so
struck by the pinched jaws of his followers that he
nearly wept. He decided to utilize his precious medical
stores, for the people were famishing. So he made a
quantity of gruel, which kept the expedition alive for
48 hours, and then the men he had despatched to Suma
for provisions, returned with food. Refreshed, they all
marched on, so that they might reach Suma next morn-
ing.
After proceeding 20 miles they came to the cultivated
districts and encamped. But the natives of Suma were
hostile, and the increasing sick-list made a four days’
halt necessary. There were 30 men ailing from various
diseases. Edward Pocock was taken ill here, and on
the fourth day, he became delirious; but the increasing
suspicions of the natives—who are represented as a very
fine race—made departure necessary, and so a start was
STANLEY'S EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO. 187
made, on January 17, 1875, in hostile company. The
famine in Ugogo had severely tried every man’s consti-
{
i
2
y
THE CONGO KING.
tution, and all felt weary in spirit if not ill in body.
“Weary, harassed, feeble creatures,†they reached
188 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Chiwyu, 400 miles from the sea, and camped near the
crest of a hill 5400 feet high. Here Edward Pocock
breathed his last.
Hence two rivulets ran, gradually converging and
finally uniting into a stream which trends towards
Lake Victoria. Up to this point the explorer had,
as he said, “child’s play†to what he afterwards
encountered.
After passing Mangina the expedition pushed on and
reached Izanjih, where Halleck was seized with asthma.
He would lag behind, and so Stanley proceeded slowly
to Vinyata, where the expedition arrived on January
21, 1875. Here a magic doctor paid Stanley a visit
and cast longing eyes at the stores. Scouts had been
meantime sent after the man Halleck, and he was found
murdered on the edge of a wood, his body gashed by
many wounds,
Next day, after the departure of the magic doctor,
who came for another present, the natives showed hos-
tile symptoms. One hundred savages, armed and in
warlike costume, came around, shouting and brandish-
ing their weapons. At this juncture Stanley, following
Livingstone’s practice, decided to make no counter
demonstration; but to remain quiet in camp, and _ pro-
voke no hostility. This plan did not answer, however.
The natives mistook for cowardice the wish for peace.
There were so many tempting articles and stores which
the natives coveted. No peace could be made at any
price, and the savages attacked the camp in force.
Stanley disposed his men behind hastily erected
earthworks and other shelter, and used the sections of
the Lady Alice barge as a citadel for final occupation.
There were only 70 effective men to defend the camp,
STANLEV’S EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO. 189
and these were divided into detachmentsand subdivided.
One sub-detachment was quickly destroyed, and in the
day’s fight 21 soldiers and one messenger were killed
—three wounded. Stanley’s men, however, pursued
the retreating enemy, and burned many villages, the
men bringing in cattle and grain as spoils. Next day
the natives came on again, but they were quickly routed,
and the expedition, after three days of battle, continued
its way through the now desolate valley unmolested.
The victors, however, had not much to boast of.
After only three months’ march, the expedition had
lost 120 Africans and one European from the effects of
sickness and battle. There were now only 194 men
left. They pressed on, however, towards the Victoria
Nyanza, and after escaping the warlike Mirambo, who
fought everybody on principle, Stanley reached Kagehyg
on February 27. He was now close to the lake, having
marched 720 miles; average daily march, ten miles.
On March 8, Stanley, leaving Frank Pocock to com-
mand the camp, set forth with eleven men in the Lady
Alice to explore the lake and ascertain whether it is one
of a series, as Livingstone said it was. The explorer be-
gan by coasting Speke Gulf. Many interesting obser-
vations were made. He penetrated into each little bay
and creek, finding indications that convinced him that
the slave-trade is carried on there. But the explorer
had to battle for his information. Near Chaga the
natives came down, and after inducing him to land, at-
tacked him; but Stanley shot and killed one man, and
the natives subsided. On another occasion the natives
tried to entrap him, but he escaped by firing on the
savages, killing three men and sinking their canoes with
bullets from an elephant rifle.
190 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Continuing his course now unopposed, Stanley
coasted along the Uganda shore, and a messenger
came from the King to Stanley requesting his attend-
ance. Five canoes escorted the travelers to Usavara,
the capital of King Mtesa. The explorer landed on
April 5, and was most kindly received, but closely ques-
tioned.
King Mtesa appeared almost a civilized monarch,
quite a different being from what he had been when
Speke and Grant visited him as a young man. He had
become a Mohammedan, wore Arab dress, and con-
ducted himself well. He entertained Stanley with re-
views of canoes, a naval “ demonstration †of eighty-four
“ships†and 2500 men! Shooting-matches, parades,
and many other civilized modes of entertainment were
practised for the amusement of the white man. In
Uganda the traveler was welcomed, and perfectly safe.
Stanley met Bellfonds and Linant, whom Gordon had
sent on a mission to Mtesa.
While exploring the lake, serious conflicts gece
at Bumbireh Island, where he had put in for food, but
was not amicably received. After a time, however, he
was induced to go ashore, and when he landed, the boat
was immediately seized. The crew and Stanley rushed
to the boat, while the crowd yelled and branished their
weapons. Some presents checked the fury of the peo-
ple; but their object was apparently to kill the white
man. The chief, who had already stolen the oars, was
anxious to secure Stanley’s weapons, but he caused his
boat to be suddenly pushed off. Furious with rage,
they rushed to their canoes; but a few bullets and some
elephant explosive shells settled the question. Of the
savages, 14 were killed and two canoes sunk,
STANLEY’S EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO. Igt
Paddling with the bottom-boards of the boat, Stan-
ley’s men pushed on through storm and rain, until a
favorable wind at length carried the voyagers to camp.
Here, on May 6, Frank Pocock met his chief, who then
learned that Frederick Barker had died a fortnight be-
fore. This was sad news, and much trouble was still
ahead of Stanley. Other men had died, and fever at-
tacked the leader himself.
In the continuation of his voyage Stanley again came
into collision with the people of Bumbireh. Finding
they would-not return his oars, he sailed with 18 canoes
to chastise them in Bumbireh Island.
Here he was expected, and the fight begun. Stanley,
by pretending to land, drew the enemy from their am-
bush, and then fired on them, killing 42 of them;
and this put an end to the resistance of the tribe. Their
treachery was sufficiently punished, and they had de-
clined peace. Stanley then proceeded to the Court of
Uganda, where he found Mtesa at war.
Stanley had now explored the entire coast of the Vic-
toria Nyanza, and found only one outlet, the Ripon
Falls. The King was at the head of a numerous army,
which had some skirmishing. While the army was en-
camped, and making ready for its final advance, Stanley
converted King Mtesa to Christianity.
After remaining some time with Mtesa, he departed
in October, 1875, to explore the country lying between
Muta Nzige (Albert Nyanza) and the Victoria Nyanza.
This time he had with him an escort of Mtesa’s men,
under a “general†named Sambusi. The expedition,
after a pleasant march, came within a few miles of the
Albert Nyanza, but then the native warriors wished to
return, and Stanley yielded perforce. He returned, but
192 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the faint-hearted “general†was put in irons by Mtesa,
whom he had disgraced. Stanley had now confirmed
Speke’s discoveries. He proceeded towards the Alex-
andria Nile and thence turned towards Lake Tangan-
yika, and camped at Ujiji, where he had met Dr. Living-
stone. Thence he prepared to journey to Nyangweé,
the farthest northern place attained by Cameron, as al-
ready related. Stanley carried the Lady Alice across
350 miles which intervened between Ujiji and Nyangweé,
which is situated on the Lualaba (of Livingstone),
which Stanley demonstrated to be none other than the
mighty Congo. We shall now follow Stanley briefly in
his discovery along that river, which he had determined
to explore.
On November 5 he set out from Nyangwé. He had
with him 140 rifles and 70 spearmen and could defy the
warlike tribes of which he had heard so much, and he
made up his mind to “stick to the Lualaba, fair or
foul!†For three weeks he pushed his away along the
banks, meeting with tremendous cifficulties, till all be-
came disheartened. Stanley said he would try the
river. The Lady Alice was put together and launched,
and then the leader declared he would never quit it
until he reached the sea. “All Task,†said he to his
men, ‘is that you will follow me in the name of God.â€
“In the name of God, master, we will follow you,â€
they replied. And they did so bravely.
A skirmish occurred at the outset, by the Ruiki
River, and then the Ukassa Rapids were reached.
These were passed in safety, one portion of the expedi-
tion on the bank, the remainder in canoes. So the jour-
ney continued, but under very depressing circum-
stances, for the natives, when not openly hostile, left
STANLEV’S EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO, 193
their villages, and would hold no communication with
the strangers. Sickness was universal. Small-pox,
dysentery, and other diseases raged, and every day a
body or two was tossed into the river. A canoe was
found, repaired, and constituted the hospital, and so was
towed down stream. On December 8, a skirmish oc-
curred, but speedily ended in the defeat of the savages,
who had used poisoned arrows. Again, another serious
fight ensued, the savages rushing against the stockades
which surrounded the camp, and displaying great. de-
termination. The attack was resumed at night. At
daybreak, a part of the native town was occupied, and
there again the fighting continued. The village was
held, but the natives were still determined, and again
attacked; the arrows fell thickly, and it was a very
critical time for the voyagers.
Fortunately the land division arrived and settled the
matter. The savages disappeared, and the marching
detachment united with Stanley’s crews. That night
Pocock was sent out to cut away the enemy’s canoes,
and the danger was over. But now the Arab escort,
which had joined Stanley at Nyangwé, became rebel-
lious, and infected the rest. Stanley feared that all
his people would mutiny, but he managed them with a
firm and friendly hand. All this time the people had
been dying of fever, small-pox and poisoned arrows,
and constant attacks of the enemy prevented burial of
the dead or attendance of the sick and wounded.
On December 26, after a merry Christmas, consider-
ing the circumstances, the expedition embarked, 149
in all, not a man having deserted. On January 4,
1877, they reached the first of a series of cataracts,
now named Stanley Falls. This was a cannibal country,
13
194 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
and the man-eaters hunted the voyagers “like game.â€
For 24 days the conflict continued, fighting, foot by foot,
the 40 miles or so which were covered by the cataracts,
and which the expedition had to follow by land, forag-
ing, fighting, encamping, dragging the fleet of canoes,
all the time with their lives in their hands, cutting their
away alike through the forest and their deadly enemies.
Yet, as soonas he had avoided the cannibals on land,
they came after him on the water. A flotilla of 54
canoes, some of great size, with a total of nearly 2000
warriors, were formidable obstacles in the way. But dis-
cipline and gunpowder won the day, and the natives were
dispersed with great loss and the village plundered of
its ivory. In effecting this great success Stanley only
lost one man, making the sixteenth since the expedition
had left Nyangwé.
Some of the cataracts Stanley describes as magnifi-
cent, the current boiling and leaping in waves six feet
high. The width in places is 2000 feet, narrowing at
the falls. After the great naval battle, Stanley found
friendly tribes who informed him the river, the Lualaba,
which he had named the Livingtone, was surely the
Congo. Here was a great geographical problem settled.
Proceeding on his way, Stanley encountered further de-
termined opposition, but he overcame all resistance and
pushed on rapidly. Soon the friendly tribes were again
met with, and at length the warfare with man ceased,
but the struggle with the Congo continued.
There are 57 cataracts and rapids in the course of
the river from Nyangwé to the ocean, a distance of
1800 miles. One portion of 180 miles took the ex-
plorer five months. During that terrible passage, of
which graphic details are given in his work, he lost
STANLEY FALLS. 195
196 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
many of his followers, including the brave Pocock and
Kalulu—the black boy.
March 12 found them ina wide reach of the river,
named Stanley Pool, and below that they “ for the first
time heard the low and sullen thunder of the Living-
stone Falls.†From this date the river was the chief
enemy, and at the cataracts the stream flows like a mill-
race. The canoes suffered or were lost in the “ cal-
dron,†and portages became necessary. The men were
hurt also; and Stanley had a fall, and was half-stunned.
There were only 17 canoes remaining on March 27.
The descent was made along shore below Rocky Island
Falls, and in gaining the camping-place, Kalulu, in the
Crocodile canoe, was lost. This boat got into mid-
stream, and went gliding over the smooth, swift river
to destruction. Nothing could save it or its occu-
pants. It whirled round three or four times, plunged
into the depths, and Kalulu and his canoe-mate were
seen no more. Nine men, including others in other
canoes, who were likewise swept over, were lost that
day. By April 21 thirty-seven days had passed in cover-
ing 34 miles. One big fall only remained, the voyagers
were told, and so they resolved to persevere till they
had passed it; but subsequently, on May 17, a chief in-
formed them that five falls were in front. Mowa was
quitted on June 3, and a new camp was to be pitched
above the great cataract,near Zinga. These falls proved
to be whirpools, and not rapids. Stanley went up to
Zinga Point to survey the rapids, when he perceived a
canoe tumbling about in the Massassa Pool. It was
capsized, and he sent men to aid the wrecked with
ropes in the little bay to which the current tended.
The men struggled to avoid the cataract, and impelled
STANLEY'S EXPLORATION OF THE CONGO. 197
the boat toward the land. They gained it nearly,
then they swam ashore, while the current swept the
canoe away into the whirlpools. Eight only of the
occupants were saved. Three were lost and one was
Pocock, ‘‘ Little Master,†as he was called. By some
fatal rashness he had urged the coxswain, against his
will, to try the stream, and though repeatedly told of
the danger, he had persisted in urging the men to the
attempt. He paid a heavy penalty for his rashness.
The descent by the river had cost Stanley, besides
Pocock, and many of the natives, 1800 dollars’ worth of
ivory, 12 canoes, and a mutiny, not to mention grave
anxiety and incessant cares and conflicts.
After a weary time, nearly starved, the remainder of
the expedition, reduced to 115 persons, arrived at Boma,
on August 9, 1877, nine months from the date they left
Nyangwé. Stanley thus demonstrated that the Lualaba
is the Congo, and opened up a splendid waterway into
the interior of the “ Dark Continent,†which the Afri-
can International Association—founded by the King
of the Belgians, in 1876, for the suppression of the
slave-trade and the civilization of the interior—has
planted with stations over a wide extent of country.
At the request of the enlightened ruler of Belgium,
Stanley undertook the task of organizing the adminis-
tration of the Congo Free State, which received its first
impulse from the great explorer, who returned to Africa
in the following year to start the infant State on its
course of progress and civilization. Under the rule of
Stanley the Congo Free State became a pattern to the
other Colonies of what such an administration should
be, and, but for his untimely end, General Gordon would
have carried on the grand work of civilization.
CHAPTER XVI.
STANLEY'S Rescue OF Emin Pasa.
One of the results of the abandonment of the Soudan
by the Egyptian Government was that Emin Pasha,
governor* of the Equatorial Province, was placed in
great jeopardy after the death of General Gordon at
Khartoum, in January, 1885. A Relief Committee was
formed in London, and a sum of $100,000 was sub-
scribed, including $50,000 from the Egyptian Govern-
ment, and $5,000 from the Geographical Society.
From accounts which leaked out of Emin Pasha’s
position, in which English people took a keen interest,
as in great part due to the policy forced on the Khedive
by the action of their Government, it seemed that he
remained undisturbed till the beginning of 1874, when
the Mahdi’s followers invaded the Bahr-el-Ghazel Prov-
ince, and carried off its governor, Lupton Bey. Emin,
* The other governors under General Gordon’s orders as Governor-
General of the Soudan, were Slatin Bey, in Kordofan, and Lupton
Bey in the Bahr-el-Ghazel Province. Not long after Gordon’s death,
Slatin surrendered his province to the Mahdi, and Lupton, being
attacked, also yielded obedience, and became, like Slatin, an enslaved
captive. Emin alone held out and defended himself successfully
against all the efforts of the Mahdist generals, withdrawing from po-
sition to position, and stubbornly defending each in turn,
(198)
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 199
expecting that he would soon be assailed, withdrew all
his troops and stores from Lado to Wadelai. In this
remote corner of Central Africa, whence he was rescued
EMIN PASHA.
by Stanley, he was able to carry on his work unmolested.
But discontent was brewing among his people, and
supplies and ammunition were running short.
Emin wrote from Lado, November 16, 1884, imploring.
200 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Mr. Mackey, the English Missionary, to inform his cor-
respondents that by their aid the Eg gyptian Government
might learn his position, and help be sent to him, or, as
he ‘said, ‘ ‘we perish.â€
On January 1, 1886, he wrote, “ Two years and a half
are passed away since I had the last news from our
Government. The Bahr-el-Ghazel Province (Lupton
Bey’s) has been overwhelmed by the followers of the
false prophet, and with the greatest exertions only I
have been able to preserve this province (the Equa-
torial) from a similar fate. Ihave lost a good many
gallant men; we rest now a little flock in the midst of
thousands of negroes. Our munitions are nearly ex-
hausted, our people short of their most modest wants
(clothing) ; our way to the north has now been cut off
by Arabs and negroes. So I came here and opened
intercourse with the King of Unyoro, who kindly as-
sisted me, and I venture now to forward you some
letters by way of Uganda and Unyanyembe, requesting
‘you most earnestly to send the despatches for the Prime
Minister in Cairo as soon as possible by way of your
official post. The existence of our people may depend
upon them.â€
Emin wrote in a similar strain to the Anti-Slavery
Society. These letters appealed to the generous in-
stincts of the English people, who, after the death of
Gordon, and the fate of Lupton and Slatin, recognized
in the Governor of the Equatorial Province the last
of the lieutenants of their great and much re-
gretted countryman. When suggestions for his relief
began to take shape, Stanley was applied to, just as he
was about to leave England-for America on a lecturing
tour. Asked,“ Would you be willing to lead the Relief
STANLEYV’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASITIA. 201
Expedition?†he replied, “If your choice devolves
on me, and you are really in earnest, I will accept the
command instantly and gratuitously ; but if the choice
of the Committee devolves on Mr. Thompson, I will
subscribe $2500 to the Relief Fund.â€
In a letter dated November 15, 1886, Stanley ex-
presses his readiness to go at once, and states that he
had been examining the question of routes, of which he
said there were four from which to select. He was
allowed to proceed to America, but on December 11,
he was telegraphed, in the following terms: “ Your
plan and offer accepted. Authorities approve. Funds
provided. Business urgent. Come promptly. Reply.â€
The answer came from New York ; “ Just received
Monday’s cablegram. Many thanks. Everything all
right. Will sail per Zider. If good weather and bar-
ring accidents, arrive December 22, Southampton. It is
only one month’s delay, after all. Tell authorities pre-
pare Holmwood, Zanzibar, and Seyyid Barghash.â€
Thus the work of the rescue of Emin Pasha was fairly
started.
Shortly after his arrival in England, Stanley paid a
' visit to the King of the Belgians, at Brussels, in whose
service he was still retained. After mature consideration,
the route by the Congo was chosen as the most desirable,
and Stanley had reason to congratulate himself on the
selection.
On this point of route, Stanley says that the simple
reason why he adopted that by the Congo, was “to en-
sure success.†When the expedition was committed to
his charge, he decided instantly in favor of the Congo
route. Both routes, by the east and west coasts, were
familiar to him for nine-tenths of the distance, as he had
202 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
penetrated to within 150 miles of Lake Albert from
Zanzibar, and 320 miles from the side of the Congo.
But the Emin Relief Committee expressed their prefer-
ence for the route from the east coast, and preparations
were at once set on foot with that object. Under
orders sent to Zanzibar, several tons of rice were for-
warded 200 miles inland, 60 baggage animals, and
$2000 worth of saddlery were purchased, besides goods
valued at $5000, and one steel boat was ordered.
The Congo route was adopted, not however, so com-
pletely but that a change might be effected any mo-
ment, if it were necessary, on arriving at Zanzibar.
This change of route, had one mischievous effect.
There was no time to order the construction of a steam
flotilla, which would have carried the entire expedition
up the Congo, to within 60 miles of the Albert Nyanza,
and he had to be content with one boat only, and ar-
range that a rear column should follow with the re-
mainder of the men and stores.
Meantime, Stanley was busy collecting supplies and
selecting a staff of officers to accompany him. He re-
ceived hundreds of applications from all parts. The
task of making a selection was a difficult one, but the
result has proved that the choice was judicious.
The following were selected—Major Edmund Bartte-
lot, distinguished in Afghanistan and the Nile cam-
paigns; Lieutenant W. G. Stairs, of the Royal Engi-
neers, lately engaged on the survey in New Zealand ;
Captain R. H. Nelson, who had served in Zululand and
against the Basutos; Surgeon T. H. Parke, Army
Medical Department; A. M. Bonny, of the same service ;
John Rose Troup, Herbert Ward, an explorer in Bor-
neo and New Zealand. Two gentlemen, Mounteney
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 203
Jephson and J. S. Jameson, having applied rather late,
were admitted upon payment of $5000 each, which
sums were added to the Relief Fund. Of these gentle-
men, Major Barttelot and Mr. Jameson never returned.
Quitting England in January, 1887, Stanley arrived
at Alexandria on the 27th, and, proceeding on to Cairo,
had interviews there with the Khedive and Mr. Junker,
who was return-
ing after many
years’ absence in
the Soudan and
Equatorial Af
rica. Zanzibar
was reached on
February 21, and
so well had _ ev-
erything been ar-
ranged, that, on
the 25th, Stanley
sailed from Zan- “
zibar for the Con-
go by the Cape ‘4
of Good Hope. Ha eae
The personnel 'TIPPOO TIB.
of the expedition
consisted of 800 men. There were 11 English officers ;
605 Zanzibari men and 12 Zanzibari boys ; 62 Soudanese
and 13 Soomaulis. In addition, there were embarked in
the ship Tippoo Tib and 96 of his people. Some special
mention is required of this remarkable Arab chief, who
has played an important part in Central African explora-
tions. While at Brussels, Stanley was consulted by the
King of the Belgians respecting Tippoo Tib and the
204 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Congo State. He advised that he should be employed as
an agent of the Congo State, it being a far cheaper and
more humane method to disarm his hostility than the
costly method of force, and he was entrusted with the
mission to negotiate with him. With the aid of the
Consul at Zanzibar, Tippoo Tib was enlisted as the sal-
aried governor of the Stanley Falls region, whose duty
it would be to arrest the advance of the Arabs down
the Congo and to save the stations on its banks from
the devastation which, in 1883, had already commenced
below the Falls. Stanley also obtained Tippoo’s sig-
nature toa formal contract, that he would furnish him
with a contingent of 600 Manyuema carriers, to be paid
for at the rate of thirty dollars a head, to assist in th
carriage of the goods and ammunition for Emin Pasha’s
force, for which promise he was given a free passage for
himself and 96 of his followers from Zanzibar to Stanley
Falls, and also free rations.
On March 24, 1887, the expedition began the over-
land march to Leopoldville, at Stanley Pool, 235 miles
from Metadi, which was reached on April 21. Three
days after Stanley mustered his force, when it was found
that the number was already reduced by 63 men and 28
rifles out of 524. Three-fourths of this loss was due to
desertion, which is characteristic of an expedition con-
sisting of Zanzibaris. “It is a proof,†he says, “if any
were needed, of the disaster that would have overtaken
us had we proceeded by any East African route on such
a distant mission.†Yet this was but the beginning of
his troubles on this head. Desertion continued from
the day he began the land march at Metadi, until he ar-
rived within a few days’ march of Zanzibar.
At Stanley Pool it was found that the steamers prom-
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 20%
ised by the King of the Belgians were not ready, though,
after undergoing some repairs, the Stanley was made
available. There remained the steamer Peace, of the
Baptist Mission, and the Heury Reed, of the Livingstone
Mission. On the steamer Peace, and two boats, were
embarked 112 people and their loads; the Henry Reed
and two boats held 131 and their loads, and the steamer
Stanley, with the hulk Florida, took up 364—total, 607.
The flotilla steamed from Stanley Pool on May 1, and
on the r2th arrived at Bolobo. The Svan/ey steamer
was instantly despatched back again down stream for
the remainder of the men who were marching along the
south bank of the Congo from the Pool, and the ex-
pedition was assembled at Bolobo by May 14. Leaving
131 men at Bolobo, under Ward and Bonny, the flotilla
resumed its journey up the river.
On June 16, after a voyage of 1050 miles from Stan-
ley Pool, the flotilla made fast to the landing-place of
Yambuya, on the Lower Aruwhimi, just below the first
rapids, and without trouble or bloodshed occupied the
village. Meantime the Henry Reed and lighters had
been despatched to Stanley Falls with Tippoo Tib and
his people, who had thus been saved a year’s journey
on foot.
When the flotilla parted, Tippoo Tib said that, nine
days after arrival at his station, he would set out with
his 600 carriers for Yambuya camp, to join Stanley in
his march to the Albert Nyanza.
If Tippoo Tib arrived with his carriers, Major Bartte-
lot was to march with his column and follow Stanley’s
track, which, as long as it traversed the forest region,
would be known by the “blazing†of the trees and by
the camps, but in the event of Tippoo Tib and his
206 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
carriers not coming as promised, he was to proceed by
double or treble stages until he should be met by the
advance column, under Stanley, returning from the
Albert Nyanza to relieve him.
On June 28, 1887, Stanley set out from Yambuya
with the advance column, consisting of Captain Nelson,
Lieutenant Stairs, Mr. Jephson and Dr. Parke, and 389
men, and set his face on his adventurous journey through
the forest. The objective point was Kavalli, distant, in
a direct line from Yambuya, 322 miles, and until it was
traversed by the expedition, the region was entirely un-
explored and untrodden by the foot of either white man
or Arab. They bore with them a steel boat, twenty-
eight feet by six feet, about three tons of ammunition,
and two tons of provisions and sundries. Of the entire
body of 389, some 180 were reserved men, half of
whom were pioneers, carrying, besides their Winches-
ter rifles, axes and bill-hooks to pierce the bush and cut
down obstructions.
He entered the forest with confidence, but on emerg-
ing from its horrid shade, found that it extended in
an unbroken wave, beginning at the confluence of the
Congo with the Aruwhimi, and maintaining the same
aspect, density and character, across nearly four and one-
half degrees of longitude. Though daily expecting to
hear from natives some news of a grassy country lying
north, south, or east of them, it was not until they were
seven days’ march from the grassy region that they en-
countered any one who had ever heard of grass-land.
To the rest all the world was overgrown with one endless
forest.
For a few days after Stanley set out, news of him
was received at the camp at Yambuya, and then, as he
207
E THROUGH THE FOREST.
E ADVANC
THE
208 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
plunged deeper into the recesses of the African forest, all
intelligence of his movements was lost to the world.
Many months rolled by and no word came of the ad-
venturous traveler. Rumors were rife of a great disas-
ter, in which those who believed in the boundless re-
source and good luck of the remarkable man who
had brought relief to Livingstone, placed no credit.
Reports were prevalent in the Soudan and were brought
to Suakin of a white Pasha whom some thought was
Stanley, and he was represented as a successful warrior
who had scattered the forces of the Mahdi and was
marching on Khartoum. But all was conjecture and, as
month succeeded month, the prospect of success, or
even of Stanley’s emerging alive from that wilderness,
grew fainter. :
The first definite news that arrived from the traveler
was conveyed ina letter he had addressed to Tippoo Tib,
dated, “Boma of Banalaya (Urenia), August 17, 1888,â€
giving information of his safety and of having success-
fully performed his mission. This letter, which was
brought by a messenger to Stanley Falls, reached Brus-
sels on January 15, 1889. The remainder of the let-
ters brought by this man remained at Stanley Falls, and
did not arrive in Europe till the end of March.
And now we will follow Stanley’s slow and pain-
ful steps on his journey to Emin Pasha at Wadelai, on
the Albert Nyanza, and back again to the vicinity of
his “ good friend,†or as he was to find him, his fazthless
ally, Tippoo Tub.
On June 28, the expedition quitted the camp at
Yambuya, carrying 50,000 rounds of Remington am-
munition and a ton of gunpowder as a first instalment
of relief for Emin Pasha. They followed the river-
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 209
bank, and at the end of a march of 12 miles arrived in the
district of Yaukonde. Only the first five miles of this
first day’s march were tolerable, and then they had diffi-
culties which impeded their movements and arrested
progress for 160 days. These consisted of creepers
varying from one-eighth of an inch to 15 inches in
diameter, swinging across the path in “ bow-lines,†or
loops, sometimes massed and twisted together, also of a
low, dense bush, occupying the sites of old clearings,
which had to be cut through before a passage was possi-
ble for the carriers, so that the pioneers with their axes
and bill-hooks had no sinecures. During a great por-
tion of each day the darkness was increased by the
heavily-charged rain clouds.
The inhabitants of this forbidding region were in
keeping with their sinister surroundings, being wild,
savage and vindictive. The race of dwarfs called
Wambutti were even worse. These pigmies were
known to exist nine centuries before the Christian era.
The geographer Hipparchus located these dwarfs near
the Equator, close to the Mountains of the Moon,
where Stanley discovered them twenty-three centuries
later.
Stanley describes his first interview with this ancient
and interesting race :—‘‘ Near a place called Avetilko, on
the Ituri River, our hungry men found the first male and
female of the pigmies squatted in the midst of a wild
Eden, peeling plantains. You can imagine what a shock
it was to the poor little creatures at finding themselves
suddenly surrounded by gigantic Soudanese, six feet
four inches in height, nearly double their own height
and weight, and black as coal. But my Zanzibaris,
always more tender-hearted than the Soudanese, pre-
14
210 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
vented the clubbed rifles and cutlasses from extinguish-
ing their lives there and then, and brought them to me
as prizes. The height of the man was four feet; that of
the woman alittle less. He may have weighed about 85
pounds; the color of the body was that of a half-baked
brick, and a light brown fell stood out very clearly. So
far as natural intelligence was concerned, within his
limited experience, he was certainly superior to any
black man in our camp.
“We began to question him by gestures. ‘Do you
know where we can get bananas?’
“He grasps his leg to show us the size, and nods his
head rapidly, informing us that he knows where to find |
bananas about the size of his leg.
“We point to the four quarters of the compass, ques-
tioningly. He points to the sunrise in reply.
“
“ He shows a hand’s length. Ah, a good day’s jour-
ney without loads, two days with loads.
“Do you know the Iburu?’ He nods his head
rapidly.
“ ‘How far is it?’ He rests his right hand sideways
on the elbow-joint.
“¢QOh, four days’ journey.’
“TI suppose we must have passed through as many as
100 villages inhabited by the pigmies. Long, however,
before we reached them they were deserted and utterly
cleared out. Our foragers and scouts may have captured
about 50 of these dwarfs, only one of whom reached the
height of 54 inches. They varied from 39 to 50 inches
generally.
“The agricultural settlements in this region are to be
found every nine or ten miles apart, and near each set-
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 11
tlement, at an hour’s march distance, will be found from
four to eight pigmy villages situated along the paths
leading to it.
“The larger aborigines are very industrious, and form
a clearing of 400 to 1000 acres. Amid the prostrate
forest they plant their banana and plantain bulbs, and in
12 months the trees are almost hidden by the luxuriant
fronds and abundant fruit of unrivaled quality, size and
flavor. A forest village consists of from 20 to 100
families of pigmies, and probably in that area between
the Iburu and Ituri Rivers there are as many as 2000
families living this nomadic and free life in the per-
petual twilight of the great and umbrageous forest of
Equatorial Africa.â€
On the first day of the journey in the forest they were
attacked. The people set fire to their villages, and under
cover of the smoke attacked the pioneers, when a
skirmish ensued, The expedition had scarcely begun
to traverse the inhospitable region between Yambuya
and the grass-land within 50 miles of the Albert
Nyanza, than they were initiated into the subtleties of
savage warfare practised by the inhabitants, great and
small alike, The path frequently had shallow pits, filled
with sharpened splinters, or skewers, covered over with
large leaves, which for barefooted people proved a terri-
ble infliction. Often the skewers would perforate the
feet quite through, in other cases the tops would be
buried in the feet, causing gangrenous sores. “In this
manner the men were so lamed that few of them re-
covered to be of much further use.
On the second day they followed a path leading in-
land, but trending east, and for five days they continued
on this road, through a dense population. On July 5,
212 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
they diverged and struck the river again. As it was
apparently free from rapids, Stanley launched the boat,
as she not only carried the cripples, but also relieved
the carriers of two tons.
From July 5, to October 18, they clung to the left
bank of the Aruwhimi River. In favor of this course
was the certainty of obtaining food, but its immense
curves and long trend north-east caused Stanley, at
times, to doubt the wisdom of so doing. The river re-
tained “the width of from 500 to goo yards, with an
island here and there, the resort of oyster fishermen,
whose calling was manifest by the piles of oyster shells â€
—one Stanley measured being 30 paces long, 12 feet
wide at the base, and 4 feet high.
At almost every bend of the river was a village of
conical huts, and in some of the bends were many villages,
populated by some thousands of natives. After 17
days’ continuous marching they halted for one day’s
rest, and, during the month of July, only four halts
were made. They reached the Mariri Rapids on the
17th of that month, and those of Bandeya on the 25th.
On August 1, the first death took place, but as they
entered a wilderness, which occupied nine days to trav-
erse, their sufferings increased, and several deaths oc-
curred. Any attempts to deal with the natives for food
by means of barter were useless. They would declare
that they had none. Ultimately, Stanley and his men
helped themselves to what they required in order to
maintain life, and prepared food for the wilderness al-
ready referred to, where no food was procurable.
Above Panga the falls became more frequent. The
character of the architecture, and of the language, had
now changed. Below, the huts were of the “ candle-
Y A POISONED ARROW.
B
DED Ff
NT STAIRS WOUN
A
N'
LIEUTE
214 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
extinguisher†order; and, above the Rapids, the villages
consisted of detached square huts, surrounded by tall
logs, which formed separate courts. The walls of the
huts are also screened with logs, precautions the natives
are compelled to adopt against the poisoned arrows in
use throughout the region.
At Avisibba, situated about midway between the
Falls of Panga and the Nepoko, a tributary stream, the
natives made a determined attack on a boatload of for-
agers. Five men were wounded with poisoned arrows,
and also Lieut. Stairs. Fortunately the poison, in his
case, was dry, having, in all probability, been put on
some days before, and it was three weeks before he re-
covered his strength, though the wound was not closed
for months. In the case of every wounded man death
ensued from tetanus.
On revisiting this place, on their return march to
relieve the rear column, Stanley discovered the na-
ture of the poison. In the huts were several packets
of dried red ants. These insects were ground into
powder when in this state, and cooked in palm oil,
when they were smeared over the wooden points of
the arrows.
On August 15, Mr. Jephson, in command of the land
party, led his men inland, and, losing his way, was not
reunited with the main column until the 21st. Four
days after, forming a junction, the expedition arrived
opposite the mouth of the Nepoko. After a few days
it was found that progress by the river became im-
possible. The canoes and steel boat were accordingly
emptied of their loads, and the expedition started on
the second stage of its journey, but famine, dysentery
and ulcers had so sapped the strength of a great many
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PAS#A. 215
of the men that they could, with difficulty, stagger
along under their loads.
On August 21 the expedition encountered a party of
Manyuema, belonging to the caravan of Ugarrowwa, or
Uledi Balyuz, formerly a tent-boy of Speke, now be-
come a wealthy and important personage. Up to this
date Stanley had adopted the Congo route to avoid the
Arabs, who he knew would tamper with his men and
tempt them to desert. Within three days of this meet-
ing no less than 26 men deserted. On September 16
they arrived at a camp opposite Ugarrowwa’s station,
but as food was very scarce, Stanley pushed on after a
halt of only one day. All the Soomaulis, 51 in num-
ber, and five of the Soudanese, preferred to remain be-
hind at this station, to the continuous marching, which
would have been certain death to them owing to their
state of health. Stanley arranged with Ugarrowwa to
feed them, at five dollars a month for each man.
Between September 18 and October 18 the expedition
was only able to traverse 50 miles of ground, to a
settlement about 460 miles from Yambuya. It was the
most terrible part of the journey, owing to the Arabs
having so devastated the country that no food was pro-
curable. They lived on fungi, a large bean-shaped nut,
and wild fruit, and those who could not get sufficient
perished or deserted the famine-stricken column to die
elsewhere. Of the sufferings he and his followers had
endured on this occasion Stanley says:
“ For six weeks they had not seen a bit of meat; for
ten days they had not seen a banana or grain, and the
faces of the people were getting leaner and their bodies
were getting thinner, and their strength was fading
day by day, One day the officers asked him if he had
216 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
seen anything like it in any African expedition before.
He replied, ‘ No,’ though he remembered on a former
occasion when they were nine days without food, and
ended their famine with a fight. Then, however, they
knew where there was grain, and all they had to do was
to hurry on; but in the late expedition they had been
ten days without food, and they did not know where
their hunger was to terminate. They were all sitting
down at the time, and he expressed his belief that the
age of miracles was not altogether past. Moses struck
water out of the Horeb rock, the Israelites were fed
with manna in the wilderness, and he told them that he
did not think they should be surprised to see some
miracle for themselves—perhaps on the morrow or the
following day. He had scarcely finished, when some
guinea fowl flocked round them and were at once
seized,â€
On October 18, they entered the settlement occupied
by Kilonga-Longa. “No one,†says Stanley, “ white
or black, belonging to the expedition, will ever for-
get that awful month.†On leaving Ugarrowwa’s
station, the party numbered 273 souls, having left 56
there, and lost the balance by desertion and death. On
reaching Ipoto, the Arab station of Kilonga-Longa, the
column was still further reduced by the loss of 56 men
from death or desertion.
To obtain food the starving men sold their ammuni-
tion, so that 3000 rounds were thus made away with.
Over 30 rifles were also sold, and some of the people
disposed of their clothes.and equipments, and even en-
tered the tents of the European officers by night and
stole their bedding, which they disposed of to the slaves
at the station. Surgeon Parke lost his entire kit of
STANLEYV’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 217
clothing; Captain Nelson had his blankets stolen, and
Stanley lost his cutlery and spoons. The bonds of dis-
cipline were relaxed by the continuous suffering they
had endured, and the people were thoroughly demor-
alized and jeered at their leaders. “It required,†says
Stanley, “an infinite patience to bear with their taunts
and insolence. But their sufferings were great. They
might have proceeded to extremities, and murdered the
European officers who had beguiled them into this in-
terminable forest only to die of starvation, and that
they did not do so seems wonderful.â€
Stanley, finding that expostulations and mild punish-
ments were of no avail, took two of the worst offenders,
and hanged them in the presence of their comrades.
When the expedition issued from Kilonga-Longa’s
station to prosecute the march,.the people were beg-
gared, and some were almost naked. They had be-
come so weakened by starvation that they were com-
pelled to leave behind their boat, and about 70 loads of
goods. In charge of these remained Surgeon Parke
and Captain Nelson, who were unable to travel.
A march of 12 days, almost in a direct line, brought
them to Ibwiri, within a few miles of which the Arab
devastations had been carried. Between this point and
Kilonga-Longa’s station not a hut had been left stand-
ing, and what man had not laid waste, the elephants
had destroyed, so that the whole region was a howling
waste. But at Ibwiri they entered upon a region of
plenty, supporting a large population.
Their sufferings from hunger, which began August 31,
ended on November 12, by which date Stanley and
his men were reduced to the condition of skeletons, and
many of them were almost at the last gasp. Out of
218 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
389, which they numbered at the start from Yambuya,
only 174 were left. In this land of plenty, where sup-
plies were plentiful, a halt was made for the column to
recuperate.
A relief party was sent back to bring on Captain Nel-
son and the sick men left at the station, which received
the name of “ Starvation Camp.†This party was con-
ducted by Jephson, of whom his leader says:
“The relief of Captain Nelson at Starvation Camp is
a striking example of spirit, courage, and celerity of
movement. Poor Nelson had been left in a most for-
lorn situation to await supplies of food for himself and
52 sick men who were unable to travel. For 18 days
we had been unable to obtain carriers, but finally Jeph-
son volunteered to return about 50 miles to convey
food to the party. What had taken the wearied, suffer-
ing expedition twelve days he performed in two anda
half days, and arrived when the party had been reduced
to Nelson and five men. A few more days and not one
would have lived to tell the tale. The enfeebled rem-
nant was saved and brought safely, and left in the
charge of Surgeon Parke.â€
Captain Nelson’s position had been a truly desperate
one, and he, like the other officers of the expedition,
displayed great qualities. Stanley writes:
“No position was worse calculated to inspire courage
and the virtue of endurance than the unhappy one
which Captain Nelson was by force of adverse circum-
stances compelled to fill in October, 1887. There were
52 men most wofully smitten with disease of all kinds,
and there was nota particle of provisions to be obtained
in the neighborhood. The outlook was of the gloomiest
kind. We left them witha promise that as soon as food
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 219
could be procured we should send some to them. For
12 days the expedition labored on and searched one
FIRST SIGHT OF THE ALBERT NYANZA,
bank after another without success. Six of the most
intelligent chiefs had been despatched in advance.
220 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
While these were wandering hopelessly bewildered by
the apparently illimitable waste of woods, the expedi-
tion on the 12th day stumbled across an Arab settle-
ment. Despite every effort, no relief party could be
sent for nine days more and then, after 25 days’ absence,
Jephson found Nelson still in the camp with the dead,
and only five left out of the 52, Those who had not
died had fled or been lost.
‘ Hitherto,†says Stanley, “ our people were sceptical
of what we told them, the suffering had been so awful,
calamities so numerous, the forest so apparently endless,
and they refused to believe that soon they should come
to a land of grass, with cattle,and reach the Nyanza
and Emin Pasha, whom they had come to rescue.
They regarded it all as a pleasing tale, and the farther
they were led into the recesses of the forest, the more
hopeless appeared their condition.†Stanley would say
to them: “ Cheer up, boys; beyond this lies a country
where food is abundant, and where you will forget your
miseries. Be men; press ona little faster.’ But they
turned a deaf ear to his entreaties. Now, however, all
was changed, and they regarded him with wonder as a
superior being.
The expedition halted 13 days at Ibwiri, and revelled
in fowls, goat’s flesh, bananas, sweet potatoes and corn.
The result was that when Stanley started, November
24, to make the 126 miles still intervening between this
station and the Albert Nyanza Lake, the force was
transformed from 173 skeletons—one had been killed by
an arrow—to that number of strong, robust men, fit for
any toil, and full of hope. On December 1 they
sighted the open country from the top of a ridge con-
nected with Mount Pisgah, so named from their first
VIEWING THE ALBERT NYANZA. 221
322 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
view of the Land of Promise beyond. A few more
days’ march, and on December 5 they emerged at length
from the forest upon the plains.
When in England, Stanley thought he had made a
liberal allowance when he set down a fortnight as
the time that would be required for traversing this
forest, but 160 days had elapsed while they made their
painful and laborious way through that region of gloom
and despair. That any member of the expedition
should have issued alive out of this terrible forest, so de-
structive of life and depressing to the spirits, is mar-
velous, and no words can do justice to the buoyant
courage of the leader of this forlorn hope of civiliza-
tion, who never faltered, or lost faith, when success
seemed hopeless.
But they had now issued from the Cimmerian dark-
ness of the forest into the light of open day, with the
blue vault of heaven overhead, and the rays of the blessed
sun shedding warmth and happiness into their hearts.
Stanley describes the scene: “Emerging from the forest,
finally, we all became enraptured. Like a captive set
free, we rejoiced at sight of the blue light of heaven,
and freely bathed in the warm sunshine, and aches and
gloomy thoughts were banished. We raced with our
loads over a wide, unfenced field, and herds of buffalo,
eland, and roan antelope, stood on either hand with
pointed ears and wide eyes, wondering at the sudden
wave of human beings, yelling with joy.â€
After a brief period of license, order was restored
in the column, and the march was resumed. They en-
tered the villages of the open country and regaled them-
selves on melons, plantains, bananas, and great pots full
of wine. The fowls were chased, killed-and cooked, and
THE PROMISED LAND: END OF THE GREAT CONGO FOREST REGION, 223
224 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the goats were seized and decapitated. Every village
was well stocked with provisions, and the men quickly
regained their strength, and had spirit to undertake any-
thing.
It was fortunate it was so,as they met with armed op-
position from the inhabitants the whole way intervening
between the forest and the Albert Lake. The region
they were now about to traverse is inhabited by rem-
nants of tribes who have migrated from Unyoro, Itoro,
from the southward, and from other tribes to the north-
ward.
The villages were scattered over a great extent of
country so thickly that there was no other road except
through them or the fields. From a long distance the
natives had sighted the expedition, and prepared to stop
their progress. “The war-cries were terrible; from
hill to hill they were sent pealing across the valleys, the
people gathered by hundreds from every point, and
war-horns and drums announced that a struggle was
about to take place. Such natives as became too bold
were checked with but little effort, anda slight skirmish
ended in the capture of a cow, the first beef tasted
since we left the ocean. The night passed peacefully,
both sides preparing for the morrow.â€
On December 10,Stanley attempted to open negotia-
tions. The natives were anxious to know who they
were, and the intruders were desirous to learn details
of the people that barred the way. Hours were passed
talking, both parties keeping a respectable distance apart.
The parties said they were subject to Uganda, but that
Kabba-Rega, the ruler of Unyoro, son of Mtesa, was
their real King, Mazamboni holding the country for
Kabba-Rega. They finally accepted cloth and brass
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 228
rods to show Mazamboni, and his answer was to be
given on the following day. In the meantime, all hos-
tilities were suspended.
The morning of the 11th dawned, and they were told
that it was Mazamboni’s wish that they should be driven
back from the land.
“Our hill,†says Stanley, “stood between a lofty
range of hills and a lower range. On one side of us
was a narrow valley, about 250 yards wide, on the other
side the valley was three miles wide. East and west of
us the valley broadened into an extensive plain. The
higher range of hill was lined with hundreds preparing
to descend, and the broader valley was already muster-
ing its hundreds.. There was no time to lose. A body
of 40 men was sent, under Lieutenant Stairs, to attack
the broader valley, Jephson marched with 30 men east,
and a choice body of sharpshooters was sent to test the
courage of those descending the slope of the higher
range. Stairs pressed on, crossed a deep and narrow
river in the face of hundreds of natives, and assaulted
the first village and took it. The sharpshooters drove
the descending natives rapidly up the slope until it be-
came a general fight. Meantime Jephson was not idle.
He marched straight up the valley east, driving the
people back and taking their villages as he went. By
3 Pp. M. there was not a native visible anywhere, except
on one small hill about a mile and a half west of us.
On the 12th we continued our march—during the day
we had four little fights. On the 13th marched straight
east, attacked by new forces every hour until noon,
when we halted for refreshments.
“The Remington rifles of the column were too much
for undisciplined valor. The 50 miles of intervening
15
226 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
open country was now traversed, and 15 minutes
after, Stanley cried out, ‘ Prepare yourselves for a sight
of the Nyanza.’
“The men murmured and doubted, and said, ‘Why
does the master continually talk to us in this way?
Nyanza, indeed! Is not this a plain and can we not see
mountains at least four days’ march ahead of us?’â€
But, true enough, at midday the Albert Nyanza was
below them. Now it was the turn of their leader to
jibe at the doubters, but as he was about to ask them
what they saw, “so many came to kiss my hand, and
beg my pardon, that I could not say aword. This was
my reward.â€
The mountains, they learned, were the mountains of
Unyoro. Kavalli, the objective point of the expedition,
was six miles distant as the crow flies. They stood at an
altitude of 5200 feet above the sea, and 2900 feet below
them glistened the waters of the southern end of the
Albert Nyanza. Right across to the eastern side, every
dent in its low, flat shores was visible, and, traced like a
silver snake on a dark ground, was the tributary Semliki,
flowing into the Albert from the south-west.
It was a memorable and proud moment in Stanley’s
life. After a short halt to enjoy the prospect, they com-
menced the rugged and stony descent, to gain the ter-
race that extends from the base of the plateau to the
lake. Before the rear-guard had descended 100 feet,
the natives of the plateau just left behind poured after
them. Had they shown as much obstinacy on the plain
as they now exhibited, the progress of the column
might have been seriously delayed. The rear-guard
was kept very busy until within a few hundred feet of
the Nyanza plains.
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 227
That night they camped at the foot of the plateau
wall. An attack was made on the camp, but the enemy
were easily disposed of. Continuing their march in
the morning, the column approached the village of Ka-
Kongo, situate at the south-west corner of the Albert
Lake. Three hours were fruitlessly spent attempting
to make friends. The natives would neither exchange
“blood-brotherhood †with the strangers, because they
never heard of any good people coming from the west
end of the lake, nor would they accept any presents.
They were civil enough, but wanted to be left alone.
The column was shown the path and followed it fora
few miles, when they camped about half a mile from the
lake,
From the natives of Ka-Kongo Stanley learned that
there was no white man on the lake in the neighbor-
hood; that no steamer had been seen since Mason Bey’s,
in 1877; that they had a faint rumor that there was a
white man somewhere in Unyoro; and there might be
another far to the north, but they knew nothing of him.
Though it took Stanley three hours to extract this in-
formation from the villagers, after close questioning, it
was found to be reliable. Emin Pasha, though estab-
lished at Wadelai, on the north extremity of the lake,
had never visited the south end of Albert Nyanza and
up to this time had not even been heard of by the
fishermen.
CHAPTER XVII
STANLEY’s RescuE oF Emin Pasua (Continued).
Durine@ the next three days, Stanley discussed with
his officers the information he had gleaned from the
villagers, and arrived at the conclusion that his only
course was to return to Kilonga-Longa’s station for the
boat, with which they could then navigate the Albert
Nyanza and reach Emin Pasha at Wadelai. In order
to store the extra goods, it would be necessary to build
a fort, as the natives on the coast were aggressive.
The expedition retraced its steps from the lake on
December 17, and, after some skirmishing with the
natives, recrossed the Ituri, and, entering the forest re-
gion on January 8, 1888, arrived on the site selected in
the extensive clearing of Ibwiri, eleven marches from
the lake. Here they erected a fort, surrounded by a
ditch, to which they gave the name of Fort Bodo, or
“Peace,†and having cleared the bush, planted about
seven acres with corn, beans and tobacco. Stanley’s
first step was to send a party back to the Arab settle-
ment of Kilonga-Longa, a distance of 80 miles, for the
boat, and to escort Captain Nelson and Dr. Parke, with
the invalids left at that place. Lieutenant Stairs, in
command of the party, was instructed to be conciliatory
towards the Arabs, as intemperate language, or even a
(228)
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA, 229
haughty demeanor, might bring on acollision. Within
25 days, Lieutenant Stairs marched 160 miles, relieved
Parke and Nelson, brought the boat, and returned,
“having,†says Stanley, “endeared himself to his fol-
lowers, and made the Arabs respect him so highly as
to yield to him in all he wished.†Out of 38 sick in
charge of these officers, only 21 were brought to the
fort, the rest having died or deserted.
Two days later, ‘Stanl ey again sent Stairs a distance
of 184 miles to escort the 56 convalescents from Ugar-
rowwa’s station to Fort Bodo. He returned to Fort
Bodo after 69 days’ absence, escorted couriers, with
letters, to Major Barttelot, brought back the convales-
cents, in going and returning having marched by dif
erent routes,
On the day of this officer’s departure, Stanley fell ill
of a stomach complaint, called ‘sub-acute gastritis,â€
and also suffered from a painful abscess on the left arm.
Between February 18 and March 26 his life was in im-
minent peril. He could not partake of food, and was
too weak to do anything for himself. Throughout his
illness, Dr. Parke * nursed him with constant care and
great skill.
Parke mentions how, when Stanley was apparently at
the point of death, he said :—“ Doctor, put up the Stars
and Stripes and cheer me with something bright to look
at, that I may at least die under the American flag.â€
On applying for the appointment of medical officer
Dr. Parke wrote out with his own hand the terms of
his engagement, of which one was “loyal and devoted
* Stanley’s original intention was to dispense with a qualified medical
officer, and it was well for him that Dr. Parke volunteered his services,
and that they were accepted,
230 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
service †gratuitously. His leader has acknowledged
with gratitude the noble way in which he fulfilled to
the letter and the spirit this labor of love, and how
throughout the expedition he worked unremittingly,
and with singular skill to cure his patients, who varied
from twenty to fifty daily, and at one time numbered
124, fully one-third of the total strength of the column.
It was not until April 2, 1888, that Stanley had suffi-
ciently recovered to be moved in a hammock. The
boat had been received, but Stairs had not returned
with the convalescents, and Stanley resolved to wait no
longer for him, but return to the Albert Lake. The party,
headed by their leader in a hammock, and carrying the
boat, set out from Fort Bodo, where Captain Nelson
remained as commandant, Jephson and Dr. Parke ac-
companying Stanley.
The natives, who had sought to destroy them when
first marching through their country, responded to
Stanley’s advances, and entered into an agreement to
supply him with stores gratuitously and to wage war on
the common enemy, the Wanyoro. Each day the na-
tives brought gifts of plaintains, corn, goats and cattle,
for which they would take no payment, and the wants
of the expedition were supplied, while they furnished
guides and carried their ammunition and goods.
One day’s march from the lake, a chief handed Stan-
ley letters from Emin, who, two months after their first
arrival at the lake, had heard of the visit.
The boat was launched on the Nyanza, and Jephson
left with a picked crew to communicate with the Pasha.
On the second day, Jephson came to Mswa Station, the
southernmost in the Equatorial Province, and May 1,
Stanley and his men had the satisfaction of seeing the
232 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
steamer Khedive on the lake, and soon they welcomed
in their camp at Nyamsassi, Emin Pasha, for whom they
had gone through so much suffering, and his companion,
Captain Casati, and a number of Egyptian officials.
But now came the disillusionment. Instead of finding,
as they anticipated, and as would be gathered by a pe-
rusal of his letters,a man eager to return to civilization
from fulfilling an impossible task, they saw before them
one who seemed content with his position, and only
asked for ammunition and stores. Stanley says:
“Contrary to our expectations, we did not find the
Pasha disposed to return to the sea, neither was Cap-
tain Casati; nor did any one impress us with his eager-
ness to return to civilization. They all seemed content
to remain in the land. They praised it highly for its
fertility and agreeable climate, they loved the natives,
and praised everything connected with life in that re-
gion. All the Pasha and Casati seemed to care for was
means of defence against occasional disturbances.
None seemed to reflect that after our experiences of the
forest few would care to repeat them; that the powerful
Kings of Uganda and Unyoro would always be a bar to
sure communication with the east coast; that caravans
would never venture by Masailand to be decimated by
famine and thirst for the uncertain profits to be derived
from the dangerous risks of the journey; that no body
of philanthropists would repeat these expensive outlays
on behalf of a province so remote from the sea as
Emin Pasha’s, when there were thousands of square
miles of equally fertile soil lying close to the ocean.â€
The united party stayed together until May 25, 1888,â€
and then Stanley, who had been expecting the arrival
of the rear column, under Major Barttelot, or at least
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 233
some news of it, determined to return to Fort Bodo,
and if no information had been received there, then
to march back through the dreary forest region until he
met his friend or heard news of him, dead or alive.
Leaving Jephson with Emin Pasha, and also a few
Soudanese, Stanley started with the rest of his force for
Fort Bodo, where they arrived early in June. Still
there was no news of the rear column, and the anxiety
of all daily deepened. Food was prepared in abun-
dance to enable them to cross the dreaded wilderness
in which they had all so nearly perished, and June 15
Stanley set out on his search for Major Barttelot’s
column, leaving Stairs in command at Fort Bodo, with
Nelson and Parke, and 59 men as a garrison.
The column, he says, who now marched with him
were very different from the weak, starving wretches
who had ona former occasion entered the stations of
Kilonga-Longa and Ugarrowwa. Then they were so
dispirited by want that they had no pluck to resent the
ill-treatment received at the hands of these chiefs and
their men. But now, that they knew the country from
Yambuya to the Albert, that they had witnessed the
worst horrors of the wilderness, and had measured their
strength against tribes from the presence of whom
the slaves of Ugarrowwa and Kilonga-Longa would
have fled, inspired them with the belief that in every
way they were superior men to those for whose smile
they had a few months before fawned. When the
column entered Kilonga-Longa settlement, their bearing
attracted attention, and though no one uttered a threat,
Kilonga-Longa, of his own accord, collected what Rem-
ingtons there were with him and quietly laid them at
Stanley’s feet, pleading that it was the fault of his slaves
234 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
and their ignorance, and that he would not bear malice.
As he had no commission to punish any subjects of
the Sultan of Zanzibar, Stanley coldly accepted the guns
and assured him that he did not pretend to judge of his
conduct, and would therefore leave the matter in the
hands of his master.
Twenty-eight days’ march from Fort Bodo brought
them once more to Ugarrowwa’s station. But it was
now abandoned, the slave-trader and his hundreds of
desperadoes having started home with 600 tusks of
ivory.
“ People in England,†writes Stanley, “have not the
slightest idea what the present fashion of ivory collect-
ing, as adopted by the Arabs and Zanzibari half-castes
west of the lake regions, means. Slave-trading becomes
innocence when compared with ivory-trading. The
latter has become literally a most bloody business.
Bands consisting of from 300 to 600 Manyuema, armed
with Enfield carbines and officered by Zanzibari Arabs,
range over the immense forest-land east of the Upper
Congo, destroying every district they discover, and
driving such natives as escape the sudden fusillades
into the deepest recess of the forest. In the middle of
a vast circle described by several days’ march in every
direction, the ivory-raiders select a locality wherein
plaintains are abundant, prepare a few acres for rice,
and, while the crop is growing, sally out by twenties or
forties to destroy every village within the circle and to
hunt up the miserable natives who had escaped their
first secret and sudden onslaughts.
“They are aware that the forest is a hungry wilder-
ness outside the plantain grove of the clearing, and
D>?
that to sustain life the women must forage far and near
THE KING OF THE IVORY COAST.
(235)
236 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
for berries, wild fruit and fungi. These scattered bands
of ivory-hunters find these women and children an easy’
prey. The explosion of heavy-loaded guns in the deep
woods paralyze the timid creatures, and before they
recover from their deadly fright, they are rushed upon
and secured. By the possession of these captives they
impose upon the tribal communities the necessity of
surrendering every article of value, ivory, or goats, to
gain the liberty of their relatives.
“The ivory tusks that Ugarrowwa was bearing now
to the coast had been acquired by just such destruction
of human life, and condemnation to misery of the un-
happy survivors of the tribal communities. What
Ugarrowwa had within his elected circle, Kilonga-Longa
performed with no less completeness, and with greater
disregard to interests of humanity, within his reserve;
and the same cruel, murderous policy was being pursued
with dozens of other circles into which the region as far
south as Uregga, north to the Welle, east to longitude
29° 30’, and west to the Congo, was parcelled out.â€
Early in August the column overtook the immense
caravan of Ugarrowwa, his flotilla of 57 canoes laden
with helpless children, girls, and young women. His
hoard of ivory, equal to about fifteen tons, was at the
landing-place of a village near Wasp Rapids, on the
Ituri River.
With Ugarrowwa were found the surviving couriers
who had been despatched from Fort Bodo, February 16,
in search of Major Barttelot’s column, and the mail,
delivered to Ugarrowwa for transmission to the Major,
on September 18, 1887, was also returned. The couriers
had been specially unfortunate. Three of their number
had been killed, and only five were whole from grievous
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 237
arrow-wounds. Ugarrowwa’s band of 40 picked men
had been also unable to proceed below Wasp Rapids.
Pursuing their course down stream, on August 17,
they discovered all that were left of the rear column
within a palisaded village formerly belonging to the
Banalya tribe, a few marches from Yambuya. Major
Barttelot had been shot by one of his Manyuema head-
men a year earlier; and Jameson had returned to Stanley
Falls to secure from Tippoo Tib an Arab assistant to
govern the unruly mob of Manyuema carriers, whom
Tippoo Tib had, after eleven months’ constant solicita-
tions on the part of these officers, finally furnished with
an inefficient leader. Troup had been invalided home
in the previous May. Ward was somewhere on the
Lower Congo, having been despatched, after nine
months’ stay at Yambuya, to cable to the Home Relief
Committee some unauthenticated rumors respecting
misfortunes which were said to have overtaken the
advance column, and to ask for instructions.
Of the gallant band of officers, only Bonny* remained,
and from him Stanley heard a sad tale of disaster and
failure. He learned that on his arrival at Banalya
Jameson died. It seems that on August 12 he com-
menced the descent of the Congo from Stanley Falls in
a canoe, and that, five days later, he died of fever.
Stanley witnessed in that crowded village some of the
miseries they had endured. The small-pox was raging,
six bodies lay unburied; and if any member of the
* Stanley expressly exempts Mr. Bonny from any blame for the mis-
fortunes which overtook the rear column. On the day of the murder
of Major Barttelot, when the property of the expedition was looted,
Bonny recovered 300 loads, and by his firmness kept the remnant of the
column intact until Stanley arrived.
238 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
rear column presented himself to his old comrades for _
recognition, they saw only a living skeleton.
Thus a well-equipped and organized column of 271
had been reduced to 102 miserable, starved wretches,
and, in a great measure, this sad result was due to
breach of contract on the part of Tippoo Tib, who
induced Major Barttelot, by repeated promises to sup-
ply the carriers, which he had no intention of fulfilling,
to delay his march in the track of the advance column.
Not until eleven months after they were promised did
the porters arrive, but in the meantime, the rear column,
consisting of Zanzibaris and Soudanese, had lost three-
fourths of their number in the camp from disease, caused
in a measure by this long inaction.
Stanley now busied himself in reorganizing the ex-
pedition, and on August 31, 1888, began his return
march to the Albert Nyanza, taking with him the sur-
viving members of the rear column, including Mr.
Bonny, and such Manyuema carriers as volunteered to
accompany him. The goods and sick men were placed
in a number of canoes he had collected.
The expedition experienced much opposition from
the wild tribes, and some of the best men were killed.
On October 30, four days’ journey above Ugarrowwa’s
station, or about 300 miles from Banalya, Stanley aban-
doned his canoes and began his march along the north
bank of the Ituri River. Two days later, they dis-
covered a plantation of plantains in charge of the
dwarf natives, when the people revelled in this luxury,
and carried off a week’s provisions of plantain flour.
Ten days’ march brought them to another plantation.
During this time the small-pox made great ravages
among the Manyuema carriers, but the Zanzibari men
REAR COLUMN.
ARRIVAL OF STANLEY WITH THE
240 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
escaped, owing to their having been vaccinated on
board ship.
Continuing along the right bank of the Ihuru, a trib-
utary of the Ituri, about 60 yards wide, until they could
find a crossing, they stumbled across a large village,
called Andikuma, surrounded by a fine plantation of
plantains, where the people, after many days’ fast,
gorged themselves with this food to such excess, that
a large number were unfit for duty. A six days’ march
brought them to another flourishing ‘settlement, called
Indeman. They found a place where they could build
a bridge to cross the river. Bonny and the Zanzibaris
worked with such celerity, that in a few hours the
Dui, as the right branch of the Ihuru River is called,
was passed, and they crossed from the Indeman dis-
trict into one entirely free from the ravages of the Man-
yuema. In this land, between the right and left branches
of the Ihuru, the dwarfs, called the Wambutti, were
very numerous, and came into constant collision with
the rear-guard of the expedition.
Following elephant and game tracks in the required
south-easterly direction, on December g, they were com-
pelled to halt to search for food in the middle of a vast
forest. Stanley sent 150 armed men back to a settle-
ment, 15 miles distant, on the route they had traversed,
and many of the Manyuema carriers followed them to
assist in foraging.
At this place the expedition was nearly overwhelmed
with disaster, as is shown by the following extracts
from Mr. Stanley’s diary, written on December 14,
six days after the departure of the foragers: “Six
days have transpired since our foragers left us. For
the first four days time passed rapidly—I might say al-
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 241
most pleasantly—being occupied in recalculating all my
observations from Ugarrowwa to Lake Albert and down
to date, owing to a few discrepancies here and there,
which my second and third visits, and duplicate and
triplicate observations, enabled me to correct. My oc-
cupation then ended, I was left to wonder why the
large band of foragers did not return. The fifth day,
having distributed all the stock of flour in camp, and
killed the only goat we possessed, I was compelled to
‘open the officers’ provision boxes and take a pound pot
of butter, with two cupfuls of my flour to make an
imitation gruel, there being nothing else save tea, cof-
fee, sugar, and a pot of sago in the boxes. In the after-
noon a boy died, and the condition of a majority of
the rest was most disheartening ; some could not stand,
but fell down in the effort. These constant sights acted
on my nerves, until I began to feel not only moral, but
physical sympathy as well, as though weakness was
contagious. Before night a Madi carrier died; the last
of our Soomaulis gave signs of collapse; the few
Soudanese with us were scarcely able to move.â€
On the morning of the sixth day, the broth was made
as usual, consisting of a pot of butter, a tin of condensed
milk, and a cupful of flour, with water, for one hundred
and thirty people. The case had now become despe-
rate, and Stanley called’ Bonny and the leaders into
council. Bonny offered to stay in camp if ten days’
food was provided, while Mr. Stanley proceeded in
search of the missing party. Accordingly a store of
butter, milk, flour and biscuits was handed over to him.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, Stanley mus-
tered all of his men, and addressing the 43 feeble,
starving people who were to be left behind, informed
16
242 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
them that he hoped to meet the foragers on the road
and return rapidly with the food they had doubtless
found, and encouraged them to keep up their hearts,
though his own was heavy with anxiety and foreboding.
That afternoon Stanley traveled back nine miles,
having passed several dead bodies on the road, and
early on the following day, being the eighth on which
the foragers had quitted the camp, he met them march-
ing at their ease. He changed the pace into a quick-
step, and within 26 hours of leaving Starvation Camp,
they were back, bringing an abundance with them, and
soon gruel and porridge were boiling, plantains were
roasting and meat simmering in pots for soup.
“This,†writes Stanley, “has been the nearest ap-
proach to absolute starvation in all my African experi-
ence. Twenty-one persons altogether succumbed in this
dreadful camp.â€
Proceeding on their march on December 17, the
Ihuru River was crossed on the following day, and
Stanley pushed on for Fort Bodo with the greatest de-
spatch. Marching through the forest, regardless of
paths, they had the good fortuneto strike the western
angle of the Fort Bodo plantations on the 20th, which
was two days before the expiration of the term of his ab-
sence, as arranged by Stanley seven months before.
But here again, as in the case of the rear-guard, he was
doomed to experience a disappointment. When leaving
Jephson and Emin Pasha, they had both promised to
be at Fort Bodo by the middle of August, or therea-
bouts, when it was arranged that the fort was to be
evacuated and a newstation formed near Kavalli, on the
south-western side of Albert Nyanza. But Lieut. Stairs,
who was still at Fort Bodo, with 51 out of his original
aan
Rear
Be
EN ROUTE TO THE COAST.
iN
;
244 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS,
garrison of 59, had heard no word from Emin or Jephson
since Stanley’s departure. This filled the leader with
anxiety on Jephson’s account, for, as to Emin, he was
convinced that he loved the country and his people, and
the life he had led, too much to be induced to retire
with him to the coast, and Casati, he considered, held
the same views.
On December 23, having first set fire to the fort,
which had so long sheltered the sick and feeble mem-
bers of the expedition, Stanley started once more for
the Albert Lake. In order to remove all the surplus
stores left in the fort, some 50 loads, and those brought
with the rear column, they had to work by relays, and
double marches were made from Fort Bodo to the edge
of the grass-land, in order to leave nothing behind that
might be of service to Emin Pasha. On January 9,
1889, they reached the Ituri Ferry, which was the last
halt in the forest region before reaching the open coun-
try; and selecting a good camping site, on the east
bank of the river, Stanley left Lieut. Stairs in com-
mand with 124 people, including Nelson and Parke,
and, two days later, continued his march for the Albert
Nyanza.
They were welcomed by the people of the plains,
who, fearing a repetition of the fighting in December,
1887, flocked to the camp headed by their chiefs,
and tendered their submission, agreeing to supply con-
tributions of grain and plantains, and bringing small
droves of cattle for the subsistence of the strangers.
They also constructed the huts for the camps, and
brought fuel and water each day. On January 16,
1889, a messenger arrived from the friendly chief at
Kavalli, with a packet of letters, one from Jephson,
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 245
written at intervals of several days, and two from
Emin, confirming Jephson’s news. With amazement,
Stanley read his lieutenant’s letter, which was dated,
“ Dufflé, November 7, 1888,†in which he stated that,
on August 18, a rebellion broke out there, got up by
some Egyptian officers and officials, and he and Emin
were arrested and placed in confinement, though they
feared to do any personal injury to the Pasha, who was
popular with the soldiers.
Plans were also made to entrap Stanley on his re-
turn, and strip the expedition of its stores and supplies.
Emin Pasha confirmed this intelligence in his letter,
but gave no hint of the course he proposed to adopt.
Stanley wrote a formal letter, which might be read
by any person, and on a separate piece of paper, a
postscript for Jephson’s perusal. In this, addressed
from Kavalli, on January 18, 1889, he says he is send-
ing 30 of his own men and three of Kavalli’s to the
lake with his letters, and that he (Jephson) would be
escorted to his camp, and added, that he must “be
wise, be quick, and waste no hour of time.’’
On February 6, Jephson arrived at the camp at
Kavalli, on the plateau above the lake, and, in a few
words, he enlightened Stanley as to the views of Emin,
and his friend Casati. “Sentiment,†he said, “is the
Pasha’s worst enemy; no one keeps Emin Pasha back,
but Emin Pasha himself.†This expressed a correct
estimate of Emin’s character formed by Jephson, after
an acquaintance lasting from May 25, 1888, to Febru-
ary 6, 1880.
Casati had no views on this question but those of
the Pasha, with whose fortunes his own were bound up.
Stanley, in order to bring matters to a crisis one
246 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
way or the other, wrote to Emin urging him, in the
strongest terms, to come to a decision; and on Febru-
ary 13, he received a letter from the Pasha, in-
forming him that, onthe preceding day, he had
arrived with his two steamers “carrying a first
lot of people desirous to leave this country under
your escort,’ and adding, ‘as soon as I have
arranged for cover for my people, the steamers
have to start for Mswa Station, to bring on another
lot of people waiting transport.†Stanley sent carriers
and an escort down to the lake, and on February 17,
Emin Pasha arrived in his camp with about 65 people,
also Selim Bey, and seven other officers, the deputation
sent by the mutineers of the Equatorial Province.
Emin was in #uft, but the officers, three of whom were
Egyptians, and the remainder Nubians, of soldierly ap-
pearance, were in uniform.
To sum up Stanley’s labors to this point, for the
third time he had come to the Albert Nyanza from
the west.
A wonderful record is the story of his marches.
The first journey from Yambuya to the lake, 171
days; the second journey from the lake to Fort Bodo,
22 days; the third journey from the fort to the lake,
20 days; the fourth journey from the lake to Banalya,
82 days; and then this fifth journey from Banalya
back to the lake, 107 days, making a total of 402
days.
Thus it is seen how for more than thirteen months
out of a year and a half the leader was on the con-
stant move, making his way through virgin forests
that had neither road nor track; forcing his path
through tangled brushwood and over rushing torrents ;
ASHA
N P.
ND EMI
STANLEY A
EETING OF S$
M
248 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
carrying in his train many thousands of pounds’
weight of goods, provisions, and ammunition ; harassed
over and over again by warlike and suspicious sav-
ages; uncertain as to the means of providing food for
his hundreds of followers; exposed to an unhealthy
atmosphere, and personally suffering the pangs of
hunger and privation. Such was the man who, in
spite of climate, in spite of hostilities, in spite of
famine, in spite of sickness, never swerved from his
line of duty and devotion, but faced all difficulties, re-
solved to overcome them till his work was done.
Next day Lieut. Stairs arrived, with his column,
from the Ituri River, and the same day, the durbar
was held, the Pasha acting as interpreter between
Stanley and the deputation, who presented him with
a document, signed by the leaders in the province,
regretting their action in deposing the Pasha, express-
ing loyalty to the Khedive, and a hope that he would
allow a reasonable time for the officers to collect the
troops and their families, and bring them to his camp.
Learning from the Pasha that twenty days would be
considered a reasonable time, Stanley consented, and
sent them back with a written promise to this effect,
but the Pasha was to remain meanwhile in his camp.
The two steamers were employed bringing fresh batches
of refugees to the campon the plateau, 2800 feet above
the Nyanza, with their loads, no less than 1355 in
number; but the soldiers made no appearance.
Stanley waited until March 16, but there was no
sign of the arrival of the troops, who numbered 1500
regulars, with 3000 irregulars and their families. At
Emin’s request the time was extended to April 10, and,
meantime, there were frequent communications between
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 249
the Egyptians in his camp and their compatriots at Wade-
lai. While Stanley was rendered uneasy by furtive meet-
ings in his camp, the Pasha continued to express un-
bounded confidence in the loyalty of his men. On
April 5, an attempt was made to steal several of the
Remington rifles, and during the night Stanley re-
ceived notice of the result of a secret meeting of the
rebels in his camp. Accordingly, he mustered the
fugitives, and gave them to understand that the death
penalty would be inflicted on any one engaged in sedi-
tious plots.
On April ro, 1889, the Egyptians and their families
and following, numbering 570 persons, escorted by the
expedition and 350 carriers of the district, started for
the south end of the Albert Nyanza on their journey
towards Zanzibar. But their advance was arrested on
the second day by an unexpected incident. Stanley
was seized with a recurrence of his malady; his life
was despaired of, and it was only by the care and skill
of Surgeon Parke that, on May 8, he had sufficiently
recovered to enable him to order the march for the
coast.
Meantime the rebels continued their schemings.
Rifles, equipment and ammunition were stolen every
day. Parties of four or five deserted, and finally, twenty
men disappeared with five rifles. Under Stanley’s
directions, a party of his men—of whom everyone of
the 350 under his command were loyal to the core to
him—was despatched in pursuit, and a ringleader and
twelve men were discovered and brought back to the
camp. Some letters, intended for the rebels at Wadelai,
fell by accident into his hands, and in one of them, an
Egyptian captain wrote to Selim Bey, at Wadelai, in
250 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the following terms :—‘“ For God’s sake, hurry up 50
soldiers to our aid. With their help, we may at least
delay the march of the expedition until you arrive with
your force. Had we 200, we could effect immediately
what we mutually wish.†This was plain-speaking
enough, and by means of this, and other letters, Stanley
became acquainted with the names of the traitors and
their plans. Even Emin could no longer doubt their
treachery, or their intention of carrying into effect the
grand idea of effecting the “capture of the expedition,
with all its members, arms, and property, and present
it to the Khalifa, at Khartoum.â€
Stanley convened a court, consisting of the European
officers in camp, by whom the ringleader, referred to
above, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
Stanley says: “The scene of the execution was most
solemn, and it is my opinion that it affected the rebellious
most profoundly, for during all their service in. the
Equatorial Province, not one death sentence was passed.
They seemed to perceive that now there was another
végime, and to understand that to play at revolt and
mutiny was dangerous. We may observe the effect of
the lesson taught, in the absolute peacefulness of the
march hence to Zanzibar.†The last Stanley heard of
Selim Bey was on May 8, when he received a letter,
taking him to task for compelling Egyptian officers
to carry loads (which was an unfounded charge), and
he ended by begging him to extend the time of his
departure, and announced that some of the rebel officers
and their adherents had broken into the storehouses
and stolen the reserve ammunition and stores. Stan-
ley replied that he would proceed forward at a slow
rate, but could no longer delay his march.
STANLEYV’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 251
But the attention of the leader of this great exodus
was now fully taken up with measures for the security
of the mixed mass of human beings under his charge.
The route he adopted skirted the Baregga Mountains,
at a distance of about forty miles from the Albert
Nyanza. On the fourth day they arrived at the southern
end of these mountains, when they became aware that
Kabba-Rega, King of Unyoro, whose territories they
now entered, intended to dispute their passage. But
without making a great detour through the forest, which
would have been fatal to most of the Egyptians, they
had no option but to press on through the open grass-
land between it and the Semliki River.
On the first day of entering the Unyoro territory, they
were attacked by the Warasura, or Wanyoro sol-
diers, many of whom had breech-loaders—Remingtons,
Sniders, and Winchesters—who were beaten back. The
effect of this defeat was to clear the country of the
Warasura as far as the Semliki, though a second attack,
with a like result, was made as they were ferrying across
that river.
After crossing to the eastern shore of the Semliki,
they entered the Awamba region, and for several days,
marched through plantations of plantains in the clear-
ings. Day by day, as they advanced, was brought into
greater prominence a splendid range of snow-clad
mountains, whose north-western base line they skirted,
having an altitude of 18,000 to 19,000 feet above sea-
level, which had first arrested their attention on arriving
at the Albert Nyanza in May of the preceding year.
This range, whence issue the streams which supply the
Semliki, is called Ruwenzori, or the “Snowy Range,â€
252 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
and might well be the “Mountains of the Moon †of
the ancients, the fabled source of the Nile.
Stanley wrote to the Geographical Society of his dis-
covery of this range of mountains, and of the lake, to
which he gave the name of Albert Edward Nyanza.
“ Baker, in 1864, reported the Albert Nyanza to stretch
‘illimitably ’ in a south-westerly direction from Vacovia ;
and Gessi Pasha, who first circumnavigated that lake,
and Mason Bey, who, in 1877, made a more careful in-
vestigation of it, never hinted at the existence of a
snowy mountain in that neighborhood, nor did the two
last travelers pay any attention to the Semliki River.
I might even add that Emin Pasha, for years resident
at or near the Lake Albert, or Captain Casati, who, for
some months resided in Unyoro, never heard of any
snowy mountain being in that region, therefore we may
well call it an unsuspected part of Africa, Surely, it
was none of our purpose to discover it. It simply
thrust itself direct in our homeward route and as it in-
sisted on our following its base-line, we viewed it from
all sides but the north-east.â€
The beginning of the Semliki Valley, extending from
the Albert Lake in a south-west direction, is very level;
for a distance of 30 miles it only attains an altitude of
50 feet above the lake. Beyond this is a region of
dense and rank tropical forest, and the valley rises sen-
sibly higher until, at about 75 miles from the Albert
Nyanza, it has attained an elevation of about 900 feet
above its waters. Here the forest region abruptly ends,
and gives place to a stretch of grass-land until the Al-
bert Edward Nyanza is reached.
* Rounding the south-western extremity of Ruwenzori,
two days later they entered Usongora, and camped on
tit Vane SAE ee
CO ARR
RUWENZORI—THE SNOW MOUNTAINS.
(Mountains of the Moon.) 253
254 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
the shores of the newly-discovered lake, ‘‘ which,†says
Stanley in his official report, “is, in reality, the source
of the south-western branch of the White Nile.â€
Pushing on, they skirted Ruanda, an extensive country
lying between this river and the Congo watershed to
the west, and now entered the better-known land of
Karagwé, south of that river, on the shores of the Vic-
toria Nyanza. They were welcomed by the grateful
people as their deliverers from the dreaded Wanyoro,
and were supplied with cattle, grain and bananas.
Stanley says:—‘An expedition, such as I led, of 800
souls, would, under ordinary circumstances, have needed
forty bales of cloth and twenty sacks of beads, as
currency to purchase food. Not a bead, or yard of
cloth was’ demanded from us. Such small gifts of
cloth as we.gave to the chiefs, were given of our own
accord.â€
On August 28, the expedition arrived at Mslala, the
Missionary Society’s station at the south end of the Vic-
toria Nyanza Lake, under the charge of Mr. Mackay,
whom Stanley calls “the modern Livingstone.†About
a degree west of Mackay’s mission station, they dis-
covered the south-western extremity of Lake Victoria.
“Our journey,†says Stanley, “had led us along an
entirely undiscovered portion of the western coast, which
was extended to 2° 48’ S. Lat., whence we turned directly
east for Usambiro, situated at the termination of the long
bay on the south coast of the lake. This considerable
extension of the Victoria increases its superficial area,
and gives it a length of 270 statute miles.â€
At the missionary station, Emin Pasha addressed to
the Relief Committee, in London, a letter of thanks, in
which he says:—‘‘It would be impossible to tell you
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 255
what has happened here after Mr. Stanley’s first start;
his graphic pen will tell you everything much better
than I could. I hope, also, the Egyptian Government
permitting it, some future day to be allowed to present
myself before you, and to express to you then the feel-
ings of gratitude my pen would be short in expressing,
in a personal interview. Until such happy moments
come, I beg to ask you to transmit to all subscribers of
the fund, the sincerest thanks of a handful of forlorn
people, who through your instrumentality have been
saved from destruction and now hope to embrace their
relatives. To speak here of Mr. Stanley’s and his
officers’ merits wouid be inadequate. If I live to return
I shall make my acknowledgments.â€
On their arrival at the missionary station of Mstlala,
the expedition bad traversed, since leaving the Albert
Edward Nyanza, “400 miles of an absolutely new region,
untraveled and unvisited by any white man,†and for
three-fourths of this journey they were the recipients
of welcome and daily bounties such as are unparalleled
in African travel. Once a week Stanley was able, by
means of the herds captured from the hostile Wanyoro,
and the gifts of the people, to distribute 8000 pounds
of meat rations to the entire column.
After a stay of 19 days at the station, the expedition,
guided by one of Mr. Mackay’s people, resumed its
march towards the coast; but they were not destined to
complete the journey without serious opposition from
the natives. - The Wasukuma had been accustomed to
stop caravans and extort what they wished. They tried
the same course of insolent extortion, and when this
was repelled, disputed the advance of the column
26 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
through their territory for five days. They attacked in
great numbers, and, says Stanley, “ frequently advanced
by hundreds on either flank of the column, but the
breachloaders restrained them from reaching the line of
march.â€
On leaving this hostile country they entered friendly
territory and thence to Mpwapwa, their progress was
unimpeded and without incident. Many European
nationalities were now represented in his camp. Be-
sides German, French, Italian, Greek and Egyptians, for
whom they acted as escorts, almost every district be-
tween Usukuma and Mpwapwa sent new accessions of
Africans who were unable to reach the coast or feared
oppression by the way, until the column numbered
about 1000 souls.
Long before reaching Mpwapwa, however, rumor was
busy with the events of the coast. They heard of mis-
sionaries murdered and mission-houses burnt, of Ger-
man officers killed, and coast towns levelled to the
ground in retaliation; and at Mpwapwa they witnessed
the results of the war in the ruined English mission-
house, and the dismantled fort of the German East
African Company.
Near Simbaruwemi the expedition received a wel-
come supply of European comforts, which had been
sent by the thoughtful kindness of Major Wissmann,
the German Commissioner, and thence each day their
hearts were gladdened with kindly notes and gifts
from English friends at Zanzibar. At the Kingani
Ferry they had the pleasure of meeting Major Wiss-
mann, and being escorted thence to Bagamoyo, and
within ten minutes of their arrival the officers were
17 LANDING OF EMIN PASHA AT KATALLI. 257
258 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
seated before a breakfast as sumptuous as any Berlin
restaurant could have furnished.*
Out of the number of 570 refugees from the Equa-
torial Province who had sought convoy to the coast, ac-
cording to the muster-roll at Kavalli, on April 5, there
arrived, on December 4, 1889, at Bagamoyo, on the
mainland opposite Zanzibar, only 291 souls. The loss
was, therefore, 279, or nearly one-half, during a journey
of 1400 miles, but the greater portion of these, about
200, were left under the care of various friendly native
chiefs, The remainder, about 80 souls, perished of
ulcers, fevers or debility.
“Here,†says Stanley, “ my duty ended. The Pasha
was among his friends. Casati was with the Italian
consul, the English officers were with their country-
men, the faithful Zanzibars were in their own land,
and I was once more free.â€
The loss among the members of the expedition was
very heavy. Of the 13 Soomaulis, engaged by Major
Barttelot at Aden, only one survived the journey.
Three of them were killed by natives while foraging for
food; nine died from fever and debility: Of the 60
Soudanese enlisted at Cairo, only 12 returned to the
coast, seven having been already sent home from Yam-
buya. Of the 41 thus lost, two suffered the death
* After passing unscathed through the dangers of his long residence
in Central Africa, surrounded latterly by traitors, Emin Pasha narrowly
fell a victim to an accident such as might happen to any stay-at-home
old lady anywhere. As Bruce was killed by falling down the stairs of
his house in Scotland, after his wanderings in Abyssinia, so Emin Pasha,
after the banquet at Bagamoyo in honor of himself and Stanley, walked
out of an open window, which, with his impaired sight, he mistook for
a door. For many weeks he lingered between life and death, and re-
covered as by a miracle, thanks chiefly to the care of Surgeon Parke.
STANLEY'S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 259
penalty for mutiny and murder, and one deserted. Of
the 620 Zanzibaris,* only 225 returned to their native
island; 55 were killed in the skirmishes which took
place between Yambuya and the Albert Nyanza; two
were executed for selling their rifles and ammunition to
the enemy; 202 died of starvation and disease, and the
rest deserted.
Of the Europeans, Major Barttelot was murdered,
Mr. Jameson died of fever, and Messrs. Stairs, Nelson,
Jephson, Parke, Bonny, Ward and Troup, and Hoffman
(Stanley's servant) emerged out of Africa in safety.â€
Stanley drew special attention to the good service
rendered by Lieutenant Stairs, Captain Nelson, Mr.
Jephson, and Surgeon Parke, his companions through-
out the period embraced between March, 1887, when
the expedition started on the land journey on the Lower
Congo, and on December 4, 1889, on which date, after
crossing the continent of Africa, it reached the port of
Bagamoyo on the Indian Ocean. He says:—‘ Words
fail to express my deep feelings of thankfulness that it
was my fortune to be blessed with such noble com-
panionship. Never, while human nature remains as we
know it, will there be found four gentlemen so match-
less for their constancy, devotion to their work, earnest
purpose, and unflinching obedience to honor and duty.â€
*Lieutenant Stairs, second in command of the expedition, said of
these faithful Zanzibaris :—* From first to last the Zanzibaris taken round
to the Congo behaved in a manner in every way worthy of the situation.
They had many difficulties to contend with, but in six months they got
to understand the character of the Zanzibaris, and he thought the Zanzi-
baris understood them, and it was through kindness and firmness they
succeeded so well. They treated them as if they were white men and
soldiers, and they never failed them. In the open country through
which they went they always responded to the whistle of Mr. Stanley,
which was sounded in the morning for the march.’
260 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
Besides effecting their object, the expedition ex-
plored about 1200 miles of an unknown region, and
made several interesting discoveries. Stanley proved
that east and north and north-east of the Congo there
exists an immense area of about 250,000 square miles,
which is covered by one unbroken forest. Hie added
to our knowledge of the sources of the Nile, to ascer-
tain which so many brave and valuable lives have been
sacrificed. Stanley’s discovery of the source of the
south-west branch of the White Nile is of great in-
terest. He says:—‘ We now know that the White
Nile is formed by the surplus waters of the two lakes,
the Victoria and the Albert Edward respectively, to the
south-east and south-west, which are received by the
Albert, and discharged northward towards the Mediter-
ranean in one grand river, called the Bahr-el-Abiad, or
the White River. We also know now the exact limits of
the Albert, Victoria, and Albert Edward Lakes, which
are embraced within the Nile basin, and are situated
near the sources of the famous river. We have dis-
covered the mountains, called by the early Arab geo-
graphers, the Mountains of the Moon, and whose
snowy tops, known by the modern name, Ruwenzori,
furnish the waters which form the Semliki River and
the Albert Edward Lake.â€
The distance traveled in the interior of Africa by
Stanley, personally, is estimated by him at 5400 miles,
of which all but ro00 miles were on foot. The expedi-
tion occupied three years, and rescued nearly 300
persons at a cost of less than $150,000, so that on the
lower grounds of economy, its success must be regarded
as remarkable.
As we have followed him in all his travels, we will
THE YELLALA FALLS, LOWER CONGO.
262 AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
give a recapitulation of his discoveries. In company
with Livingstone, he explored the northern portion of
Lake Tanganyika, and settled, in the negative, the
question, then much debated among geographers,
whether the Nile did or did not take its rise among
those ample waters. Then, upon the second expedi-
tion, he traced down the Shimeyu River, which flows
from the south, about 300 miles, into the Victoria
Nyanza, and is accordingly one of the ultimate sources
of the Nile. He circumnavigated the Victoria Nyanza,
and discovered Lake Albert Edward. He also cir-
cumnavigated Lake Tanganyika, and showed that it
discharged its waters into the Lualaba through the
Opoco. Then he traced the Lualaba itself, which he
proved to be the Congo, thus settling the question
which had perplexed the mind of Livingstone so much
in his last years. Lastly, he traced the Congo down to
the sea, “through an Odyssey of wandering and an
Iliad of combat,†and by that means, he threw open to
the enterprise of Europe a territory fully as large as
British India. Throughout all his journeys, Stanley
was his own surveyor, his own astronomical observer,
and the recorder of his own actions. Like Ulysses, he
had seen many races, and had traversed many lands;
and he has said that his journeys in Abyssinia and
Ashantee, in search of Livingstone, across Africa, the
expeditions up the Congo, and the last, to relieve Emin
Pasha, covered about 24,000 miles of ground.
Honors and congratulations were showered from many
lands upon Stanley for his last great journey, perhaps
the most remarkable in the whole history of travel: in
Egypt, by the Khedive and all the nationalities who
congregate in the winter at Cairo, that cosmopolitan
STANLEY’S RESCUE OF EMIN PASHA. 263
resort; in Belgium, by its enlightened ruler, and all
classes among his subjects; and in England, which is
proud to claim the Welshman as one of her own sons.
The English people appreciated the magnitude of the
discoveries made by Stanley; the brilliance of his last
achievement, and the remarkable combination of quali-
ties which have made him pre-eminent among modern
explorers.
The statements of Stanley’s cruelty and disregard for
human life are baseless. He was most forbearing
throughout his last journey; and only attacked the
natives when they refused to permit the expedition to
proceed on its march and attacked him. Then he
brushed them on one side, but with no needless
slaughter. As to the stories of his executing many of
his followers, he only inflicted the death penalty on
four.*
He risked his life, and a reputation as an explorer who
had never known failure; success, therefore, could add
little to his fame, whereas he imperilled everything
an ambitious man, or self-seeker, values.
Stanley’s training as a soldier in the Confederate army
was serviceable when promptitude and decision were
required in dealing with the traitors under Emin Pasha’s
* He writes on this head: “I had to execute four men during our ex-
pedition : two for stealing rifles, cartridges and ammunition; one of the
Pasha’s people for conspiracy, theft and decoying about thirty women
belonging to the Egyptians, besides for seditious plots—court-martialed
by all officers and sentenced to be hung; a Soudanese soldier, the last,
who deliberately proceeded to a friendly tribe and began shooting at the
natives. One man was shot dead instantly and another was seriously
wounded. The chief came and demanded justice, the peopie were
mustered, the murderer and his companions were identified, the identifi-
cation by his companions confirmed, and the murderer was delivered to
them according to the law of ‘blood for blood.’ â€â€
264, AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS.
command; and his readiness as a sailor who had served
in the Federal navy was equally valuable in enabling
him to deal with any unexpected difficulty in the line
of march.
Throughout the expedition Stanley displayed a high
courage and cheerful spirit that no evil fortune could
daunt, and a fertility of resource that was equal to any
demand made upon it. Where he was present success
smiled upon the expedition, but in his absence failure
ensued, only to disappear with his advent on the scene.
These qualities, the success he attained when confronted
with well-nigh insurmountable difficulties, the immense
extent of ground covered during his travels, amounting,
as he has said, to some 24,000 miles, and the magnitude
and importance of his discoveries, fully entitle him to
take rank as the “ Napoleon of African Travel.â€
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