STANLEY, after remaining sometime with Mtesa,
departed in Octo-
ber to explore the countiy lying between Albert Nyanza
and the Victoria Nyanza. This time he had with him an
escort
of Mtesa's men, under a "general" named Sambusi. The
expe-
dition, 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 the faint-hearted
" general " was put
in irons by Mtesa, whom he had shamed.
The expedition reached Mtesa's on the 23d of August, and
the king
received Stanley in his council chamber with great ceremony
and many
evidences of friendship. Stanley took this occasion to
inform him of
the object of his visit, which was to procure guides
and an escort to
conduct him to Albert Lake. Mtesa replied that he was
now engaged in
a war with the rebellious people of Uvuma, who refused
to pay their
tribute, harassed the coast of Chagwe and abducted his
people, " selling
them afterward for a few bunches of bananas," and that
it was not cus-
tomary in Uganda to permit strangers to proceed on their
journeys
while the king was engaged in war; but as soon as peace
should be
obtained he would send a chief with an army to give him
safe conduct
by the shortest route to the lake. Being assured that
the war would
not last long, Stanley resolved to stay and witness it
as a novelty, and
take advantage of the time to acquire information about
the country and
its people.
On the 27th of August Mtesa struck his camp, and began
the march
to Nakaranga, a point of land lying within seven hundred
yards of the
island of Ingira, which had been chosen by the Wavuma
as their depot
and stronghold. He had collected an army numbering 150,000
warriors,
as it was expected that he would have to fight the rebellious
Wasoga
as well as the Wavuma. Besides this great army must be
reckoned nearly
50,000 women, and about as many children and slaves of
both sexes, so
that at a rough guess, after looking at all the camps
and various tributary
nations which, at Mtesa's command, had contributed their
quotas, the
number of souls in Mtesa's camp must have been about
250,000!
King Mtesa's Immense Army.
Stanley had the pleasure of reviewing this immense army
as it was put
in motion towards the battle-ground. He describes the
officers and
troops in the following graphic style :
The advance-guard had departed . too early for me to see
them, but,
curious to see the main body of this great army pass,
I stationed myself
at an early hour at the extreme limit of the camp.
First with his legion, came Mkwenda, who guards the frontier
between
the Katonga valley and Willimiesi against the Wanyoro.
He is a stout,
burly young man, brave as a lion, having much experience
of wars, and
cunning and adroit in his conduct, accomplished with
the spear, and
possessing, besides, other excellent fighting qualities.
I noticed that the
Waganda chiefs, though Muslimized, clung to their war-paint
and national
charms, for each warrior, as he passed by on the trot,
was most villain-
ously bedaubed with ochre and pipe-clay. The force under
the command
of Mkwenda might be roughly numbered at 30,000 warriors
and camp-
followers, and though the path was a mere goat-track,
the rush of this
legion on the half-trot soon crushed out a broad avenue.
The old general Kangau, who' defends the country between
Willimiesi
and the Victoria Nile, came next with his following,
their banners flying,
drums beating, and pipes playing, he and his warriors
stripped for action,
their bodies and faces daubed with white, black, and
ochreous war-paint.
Next came a rush of about 2,000 chosen warriors, all tall
men, expert
with spear and shield, lithe of body and nimble of foot,
shouting as they
trotted past their war-cry of " Kavya, kavya " (the two
last syllables of
Mtesa's title when young Mukavya, " king"), and rattling
their spears.
Behind them, at a quick m'arch, came the musket-armed
body-guard of
the emperor, about two hundred in front, a hundred on
either side of
the road, enclosing Mtesa and his Katekiro, and two hundred
bringing
up the rear, with their drums beating, pipes playing,
and standards flying,
and forming quite an imposing and warlike procession.
Mtesa marched on foot, bare-headed, and clad in a dress
of blue check
cloth, with a black belt of English make round his waist,
and like the
Rom&n emperors, who, when returning in triumph, painted
their faces a
deep Vermillion his face dyed a bright red. The Katekiro
preceded
him, and wore a dark-grey cashmere coat, I think this
arrangement
was made to deceive any assassin who might be lurking
in the bushes.
If this was the case, the precaution seemed wholly unnecessary,
as the
march was so quick that nothing but a gun would have
been effective,
and the Wavuma and Wasoga have no such weapons.
After Mtesa's body-guard had passed by, chief after chief,
legion after
legion, followed, each distinguished to the native ear
by its different and
peculiar drum-beat. They came on at an extraordinary
pace, more like
warriors hurrying up into action than on the march, and
it is their
custom, I am told, to move always at a trot when on an
enterprise of a
warlike nature.
Stanley's Terrible War-boat.
In the ensuing conflict King Mtesa's army was repulsed.
Stanley
finally asked of him 2,000 men, telling him that with
this number he
would construct a monster war-boat that would drive the
enemy from
their stronghold.
This proposition gave Mtesa intense delight, for he had
begun to enter-
tain grave doubts of being able to subjugate the brave
rebels. The 2,000
men being furnished, Stanley set them to cutting trees
and poles, which
were peeled and the bark used for ropes. He lashed three
canoes, of
seventy feet length and six-and-a-half feet breadth,
four feet from each
other. Around the edge of these he caused a stockade
to be made of
strong poles, set in upright and then intertwined with
smaller poles and
rope bark. This made the floating stockade seventy feet
long and twenty-
seven feet wide, and so strong that spears could not
penetrate it. This
novel craft floated with much grace, and as the men paddled
in the spaces
between the boats they could not be perceived by the
enemy, who
thought it must be propelled by some Supernatural agency.
It was
manned by two hundred and fourteen persons, and moved
across the
channel like a thing of life.
As this terrible monster of the deep approached the enemy,
Stanley
caused a proclamation to be made to them, in deep and
awful tones, that
if they did not surrender at once their whole island
would be blown to
pieces. The stratagem had the desired effect; the Wavuma
were terror-
stricken and surrendered unconditionally. Two hours later
they sent a
canoe and fifty men with the tribute demanded. Thus ended
the war and
preparations were at once made to advance.
The Celebrated Tipo-tipo.
Stanley turned toward Lake Tanganyika, and camped at Ujiji,
where
he had met David Livingstone. Thence he journeyed to
Nyangwe, the
farthest northern place attained by Cameron. Cameron
had gone south
to Benguela.
While in the vicinity of Nyangwe, Stanley chanced to meet
Tipo-tipo,
who had befriended Cameron while on his journey, having
conducted
him as far as Kasongo's country. From him he learned
that Cameron
had been unable to explore the Lualaba, and thus the
work which Liv-
ingstone had not been able to complete was as yet unfinished.
Not believing, as Livingstone did, that the Lualaba was
the remote
southern branch of the Nile, but having the same conviction
as Cam-
eron that it was connected with the Congo, and was the
eastern part of
that river, and having, what Livingstone and Cameron
had not, an ample
force and sufficient supplies, he determined to follow
the Lualaba, and
ascertain whither it led. He met with the same difficulty
that Living-
stone and Cameron had encountered in the unwillingness
of the people
to supply canoes.
They informed him, as they had the two previous explorers,
that the
tribes dwelling to the north on the Lualaba were fierce
and warlike can-
nibals, who would suffer no one to enter their territories,
as the Arab
traders had frequently found to their cost. That between
Nyangwe and
the cannibal region the natives were treacherous, and
that the river ran
through dreadful forests, through which he would have
to make his way
information which afterward proved to be true.
Cannibals and Poisoned Arrows.
He nevertheless resolved to go; but it was not easily
accomplished, as
the people of Nyangwe filled his followers with terror
by the accounts
they gave of the ferocious cannibals, the dwarfs with
poisoned arrows
who dwelt near the river, and the terrible character
of the country
through which they would have to pass ; which had such
a dishearten-
ing effect upon them that difficulties arose which would
have been insur-
mountable to any one but a man of Stanley's indomitable
perseverance,
sagacity and tact. He overcame all obstacles ; succeeded
in getting-
canoes, and in engaging an Arab chief and his followers
to accompany
him a certain distance; an increase of his force which
gave confidence to
his own people.
Of course there was a good deal of palavering before the
Arab could
be induced to join the expedition and brave the inevitable
perils that
would attend it.
Tipo-tipo listened respectfully to Stanley's proposition,
and then called
in one of his officers who had been to the far north
along the river,
requesting him to impart such information as he possessed
in regard to
the people inhabiting that country. This man told a marvellous
tale
almost rivalling the wonderful creations, of the Arabian
Nights ; and
Stanley subsequently learned by his own experience that
much of the
story was true.
Those Wonderful Dwarfs.
" The great river," said he, " goes always toward the
north, until it
empties into the sea. We first reached Uregga, a forest
land, where there
is nothing but woods, and woods, and woods, for days
and weeks and
months. There was no end to the woods. In a month we
reached
Usongora Meno, and here we fought day after day. They
are fearful
fellows and desperate. V^a lost m^ny men, and all who
were slain were
eaten. But we were brave, and pushed on. When we came
to Kima-
Kima we heard of the land of the little men, where a
tusk of ivory could
be purchased for a single cowrie (bead). Nothing now
could hold us
back. We crossed the Lumami, and came to the land of
the Wakuma.
The Wakuma are big men themselves, but among them we
saw some of
the dwarfs, the queerest little creatures alive, just
a yard high, with long
beards and large heads. The dwarfs seemed to be plucky
little devils,,
and asked us many questions about where we were going
and what we
wanted. They told us that in their country was so much
ivory we had
not enough men to carry it ; ' but what do you want with
it, do you eat
it ?' said they. ' No, we make charms of it, and will
give you beads ta
show us the way.' ' Good, come along.'
"We followed the little devils six days, when we came
to their country,
and they stopped and said we could go no further until
they had seen
their king. Then they left us, and after three days they
came back and
took us to their village, and gave us a house to live
in. Then the dwarfs
came from all parts. Oh! it is a big country! and everybody
brought
ivory, until we had about four hundred tusks, big and
little, as much as
we could carry. We bought it with copper, beads, and
cowries. No
cloths, for the dwarfs wdre all naked, king and all.
We did not starve in
the dwarf land the first ten days. Bananas as long as
my arm, and plan-
tains as long as the dwarfs were tall. One plantain was
sufficient for a
man for one day.
"When we had sufficient iv»ory and wanted to go,
the little king said
no ; ' this is my country, and you shall not go until
I say. You must
buy all I have got ; I want more cowries ;' and he ground
his teeth and
looked just like a wild monkey. We laughed at him, for
he was very
funny, but he would not let us go. Presently we heard
a woman scream,
and rushing out of our house, we saw a woman running
with a dwart's
arrow in her bosom. Some of our men shouted, ' The dwarfs
are com-
ing from all the villages in great numbers ; it is war
prepare !' We had
scarcely got our guns before the little wretches were
upon us, shooting
their arrows in clouds. They screamed and yelled like
monkeys. Their
arrows were poisoned, and many of our men who were hit,
died.
Arabian Nights Outdone.
" Our captain brandished his two-handed sword, and cleaved
them as
you would cleave a banana. The arrows passed through
his shirt in
many places. We had many good fellows, and they fought
well ; but it
was of no use. The dwarfs were firing from the tops of
the trees ; they
crept through the tall grass close up to us, and shot
their arrows in our
faces. Then some hundred of us cut down banana-trees,
tore doors out,
and houses down, and formed a boma at each end of the
street, and then
we were a little better off, for it was not such rapid,
random shooting ; we
fired more deliberately, and after several hours drove
them off.
" But they soon came back and fought us all that night,
so that we
could get no water, until our captain oh ! he was a
brave man, he was a
lion! held up a shield before him, and looking around,
he just ran
straight where the crowd was thickest ; and he seized
two of the dwarfs,
and we who followed him caught several more, for they
would not run
away until they saw what our design was, and then they
left the water
clear. We filled our pots and carried the little Shaitans
(devils) into the
boma ; and there we found that we had caught the king.
We wanted to
kill him, but our captain said no, kill the others and
toss their heads over
the wall; but the king was not touched,
" Then the dwarfs wanted to make peace, but they were
on us again in the
middle of the night, and their arrows sounded ' twit/
' twit ' in all direc-
tions. At last we ran away, throwing down everything
but our guns
and swords. But many of our men were so weak by hunger
and thirst
that they burst their hearts running, and died. Others
lying down to
rest found the little devils close to them when too late,
and were killed.
Out of our great number of people only thirty returned
alive, and I am
one of them."
Stanlfey listened with rapt attention to the recital of
this wonderful
story, and at its conclusion he said: "Ah! good. Did
you see any-
thing else very wonderful on your journey? "
" Oh yes ! There are monstrous boa-constrictors in the
forest of
Uregga, suspended by their tails to the branches, waiting
for the passer-
by or for a stray antelope. The ants in that forest are
not to be despised.
You cannot travel without your body being covered with
them, when
they sting you like wasps. The leopards are so numerous
that you can-
not go very far without seeing one. Almost every native
wears a leopard-
skin cap. The sokos (gorillas) are in the woods, and
woe befall the man
or woman met alone by them ; for they run to you and
seize your hands,
and bite the fingers off one by one, and as fast as they
bite one off, they
spit it out. The Wasongora Meno and Waregga are cannibals,
and
unless the force is very strong, they never let strangers
pass. It is noth-
ing but constant fighting. Only two years ago a party
armed with three
hundred guns started north of Usongora Meno ; they only
brought sixty
guns back, and no ivory. If one tries to go by the river,
there are falls
after falls, which carry the people over and down them."
Making a Contract with an Arab.
It required no little heroism on the part of Stanley to
face the dangers
which he knew must lie between him and that point one
thousand eight
hundred miles distant, where the Congo, ten miles wide,
rolls into the
broad bosom of the Atlantic. Notwithstanding all the
dangers which
lay before them, Tipo-tipo agreed to accompany Stanley
with his soldiers,
the distance of sixty marches, for 5,000. One would naturally
suppose
that he, of all others, would shrink from such a task,
seeing that in his
last effort to reach the unexplored territory beyond,
he had lost five
hundred men.
The conditions under which he agreed to escort Stanley
were, that the
sixty marches should not consume more than three months'
time, and if,
when they had gone that distance, he should come to the
conclusion
that he could not reach the mouth of the Congo, then
he would return
to Nyangwe ; or, if he chanced to fall in with any Portuguese
traders,
and desired to accompany them to the coast, he should
give him (Tipo-
tipo) two-thirds of his force, as a guard to protect
him while on his
return to Nyangwe. But Stanley did not propose to have
all the con-
ditions on the side of the chief, and' after refusing
to grant the chief two-
thirds of his force to protect him on his return, he
made the following
condition ; Should Tipo-tipo fail to perform faithfully
his part, and should
he through fear return before the sixty marches had been
made, he
should forfeit the 5,000, and not be allowed a single
man of Stanley's
force to accompany him on his return. After some delay
the chief
assented to the contract as written by Stanley, and both
men signed it.
Before it had been signed, however, Stanley went to Pocock
and told
him just how matters stood, and showed him the dangers
which must
attend any attempt to proceed, but could they do so,
it would draw upon
the expedition the comments of the entire world. It was
a fearful risk to
run, but Pocock resolved to stand by him, and before
he had finished, the
latter replied, " Go on." Ah, they little knew when they
made that
agreement, what fate awaited them in the near future.
The men were
next informed of the determination to push on to the
coast, and were told
that if at the end of sixty marches they fell in with
traders going east-
ward, and they wished to return to Nyangwe, they could
do so. The
men promised to lemain with him, and he hastened to complete
his
arrangements. To do this he entered the village of Nyangwe.
A Renowned Market.
The most interesting feature connected with the village
is its market,
which has become a great institution in the district.
Every fourth day
is market-day, and on that day every one having anything
to sell, or
wishing to purchase anything, repairs to Nyangwe, to
" buy and sell and
.get gain." "Every one," says Dr. Livingstone, " is there
in dead ear-
nest ; little time is lost in friendly greetings. Vendors
of fish run about
wath little potsherds full of snails or small fishes
smoke-dried and spitted
on twigs or other relishes, to exchange for cassava
roots, dried after
being steeped about three days in water; potatoes, vegetables,
or grain,
bananas, flour, palm-oil, fowls, salt, pepper, all are
bartered back and
forth in the same manner. Each individual is intensely
anxious to trade;
those who have other articles are particularly eager
to barter them for
relishes, and are positive in their assertions of the
goodness or badness
of each article as market-people seem to be in conscience
bound to be
everywhere.
" The sweat may be seen standing in great beads on their
faces. Cocks,
hanging with thgir heads down across their shoulders,
contribute their
bravest crowing, and pigs squeal their loudest. Iron
knobs, drawn out
at each end to show the goodness of the metal, are exchanged
for llotb
of the Muabe palm. They have a large funnel of basket-work
below the
vessel holding the wares, and slip the goods down if
they are not to be
seen. They dealt fairly, and when differences aroGe they
were easily
settled by the men interfering or pointing to me; they
appeal to each
other, and have a strong sense of natural justice.
Gay Men and Hard-working Women.
" With so much food changing hands amongst the three thousand
attendants, much benefit is derived: some come from twenty
to twenty-
five miles. The men flaunt about in gaudy-colored lambas
of many
folded kilts the women work the hardest the potters
slap and ring
their earthenware all around, to show that there is not
a single flaw in.
them. I bought two finely-shaped earthen bottles of porous
earthen-
ware, to hold a gallon each, for one string of beads
; the women carry
whole loads of them in their funnels above the baskets,
strapped to the
shoulders and forehead, and their bands are full besides
; the roundness
of these vessels is wonderful, seeing no machine is used:
no slaves could
be induced to carry half as much as they do willingly.
It is a scene of
the finest natural acting imaginable.
"The eagerness with which all sorts of assertions are
made the eager
earnestness with which apparently all creation, above,
around, and
beneath, is called on to attest the truth of what they
allege and then
the intense surprise and withering scorn cast on those
who despise their
goods ; but they show no concern when the buyers turn
up their noses
at them. Little girls run about selling cups of water
for a few small
fishes to the half-exhausted wordy combatants. To me
it was an amus-
ing scene. I could not understand the words that flowed
off their glib
tongues, but the gestures were too expressive to need
interpretation."
The village itself is ruled by two chiefs from neighboring
districts
Sheikh Abed, who is represented as being a tall, thin
old man. having a
white beard, rules the lower or southern section of the
town, while Muini
Dugumbi, an Arab trader, is chief over the upper or northern
portion.
The latter was the first to settle in the place, having
done so in 1868,
when he drove out the original inhabitants of the place,
and established
his harem, which was composed of more than three hundred
slave-
women.
Stanley remained here until the 5th of November, when,
having been
joined byTipo-tipo with seven hundred men, he set out
upon his journey.
Stanley now carried the "Lady Alice" across the 350 miles
which
intervened between Ujiji and Nyangwe, which is situated
on the Lualaba
(of Livingstone), which Stanley as well as Cameron believed
was a branch
of the Congo. We shall now follow Stanley briefly in
his discovery
along that river, which he had determined to explore.
On the 5th November he set out. He reinforced his following,
and
took supplies for six months. He had with him 140 rifles
and seventy
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 way along the banks, meeting
with
tremendous difficulties, till all became 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 I ask," said he to his men, " is that you follow
me in the
name of God."
" In the name of God, master, we will follow you," they
replied. They
did, bravely.
Ferocious Attacks by Hostile Natives.
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 expedition on the bank, the remainder in canoes.
So the journey
continued, but under very depressing circumstances, for
the natives, when
not hostile, openly left their villages, and would hold
no communication
vi^ith 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 the 8th December a skirmish
occurred,
but speedily ended in the defeat of the savages, who
had used poisoned
arrows. At Vinya-Njara again, another serious fight ensued,
the savages
rushing against the stockades which surrounded the camp,
and displaying
great determination. The attack was resumed at night.
At daybreak, a
part of the native town was occupied, and there again
the fighting was
continued. The village was held, but the natives were
still determined,
and again attacked; the arrows fell in clusters, and
it was a very critical
time for the voyagers.
Fortunately the land division arrived and settled the
matter; the sav-
ages disappeared, and the marching detachment united
with Stanley's
crews. That night Pocock was sent out to cut away the
enemy's canoes,
and that danger was over. But now the Arab escort which
had joined
Stanley at Nyangwe became rebellious, and infected the
rest. Stanley
feared that all his people would mutiny, but he managed
them with a
iirm and friendly hand. So that danger passed. All this
time the peo-
pie had been dying of fever, small-pox, and poisoned
arrows, and the
constant attacks of the enemy prevented burial of the
dead or attendance
on the sick and wounded.
On the 26th of December, after a merry Christmas, considering
the
circumstances, the expedition embarked, 149 in all, and
not one deserted.
To-morrow would echo the cry " Victory or Death." The
explorers
passed into the portals of the Unknown^ and on 4th January
they
reached a series of cataracts, now named Stanley Falls.
This was a can-
nibal country, and the man-eaters hunted the voyagers
"like game."
For four and twenty days the conflict continued, fighting,
foot by foot^
the forty miles or so which were covered by the cataracts,
and which the
expedition had to follow by land, foraging, fighting,
encamping, drag-
ging the fleet of canoes, all the time with their lives
in their hands, cut-
ting their way through the forest and their deadly enemies.
Attack of War-vessels Repulsed by Stanley's Men.
Yet as soon as he had avoided the cannibals on land, they
came after
him on the water. A flotilla of fifty-four canoes, some
enormous vessels,
with a total of nearly two thousand warriors, were formidable
obstacles
in the way. But gun-powder won the day, and the natives
were dis-
persed with great loss, the village plundered of its
ivory, which was very
plentiful, and the expedition in all this lost only one
man, making the
sixteenth since the expedition had left Nyangwe.
Some of the cataracts Stanley describes as magnificent,
the current
boiling and leaping in brown waves six feet high. The
width in places
is 2,000 and 1,300 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 Livingstone, was surely
the Congo, or
the River of Congo. Here was a great geographical secret
now dis-
closed, and success seemed certain. It was attained,
but at a great price,
as we shall see. More battles followed the peaceful days
; then the
friendly tribes were again met with, and so on, until
the warfare with
man ceased, and the struggle with the Congo began in
earnest.
There are fifty-seven cataracts and rapids in the course
of the river
fi"om Nyangwe to the ocean, a distance of eighteen hundred
miles. One
portion of one hundred and eighty miles took the explorers
five months.
The high cliffs and the dangerous banks required the
greatest caution to
pass, and had Stanley not determined to cling to the
river ; had he led
his men by land past the cataract region, he would have
done better, as
the events prove. During that terrible passage he lost
precious lives,
including the brave Pocock and Kalulu the black boy.
March 12th found them in a wide reach of the river, named
Stanley
Pool, and below that they " for the first time heard
the low and sullen
thunder of the Livingstone Falls." From this date the
river was the
chief enemy, and at the cataracts the stream flows "
at the rate of thirty
miles an hour!" The canoes suffered or were lost in the
" cauldron,"
and portages became necessary. The men were hurt also
; even Stanley
had a fall, and was half stunned. There were sundry workers,
and
seventeen canoes remaining on 27th of March. 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 occupants. It whirled round
three or four
times, plunged into the depths, and Kalulu and his canoe-mates
were no
more. Nine men, including others in other canoes, were
lost that day.
A Groan of Horror Burst From Us.
Says Stanley : " I led the way down the river, and in
five minutes was
in a new camp in a charming cove, with the cataract roaring
loudly about
500 yards below us. A canoe came in soon after with a
gleeful crew,
and a second one also arrived safe, and I was about congratulating
myself for having done a good day's work, when the long
canoe which
Kalulu had ventured in was seen in mid-river, rushing
with the speed of
a flying spear towards destruction. A groan of horror
burst from us as
we rushed to the rocky point which shut the cove from
view of the
river. When we had reached the point, the canoe was half-way
over the
iirst break of the cataract, and was then just beginning
that fatal circling
in the whirlpool below. We saw them signalling to us
for help; but alas!
what could we do there, with a cataract between us ?
We never saw
them more. A paddle was picked up about forty miles below,
which we
identified as belonging to the unfortunate coxswain,
and that was all."
Stanley felt this loss keenly, for he loved Kalulu almost
like a younger
brother. The boy had been presented to him by the Arabs
of Unyan-
yembe on the occasion of his first visit there in search
of Livingstone.
He was then a mere child, but very bright and quick for
one of his race
and age. Stanley took him to the United States where
he attended
school eighteen months, and rapidly developed into an
intelligent and
quick-witted youth. When Stanley was preparing for his
second expe-
dition Kalulu begged to be allowed to accompany him,
and he cheer-
fully granted his request. His untimely death made so
deep an impres-
sion upon Stanley that he named the fatal cataract Kalulu
Falls in honor
of his memory.
Three out of the four men contained in the boat were especial
favor-
ites of Stanley. They had been deceived by the smooth,
glassy appear-
ance of the river, and had pulled out boldly into the
middle of it, only
to meet a dreadful fate. Even while they gazed upon the
spot where the
frail craft was last seen upon the edge of the brink,
another canoe came
into sight, and was hurried on by the swift current towards
the yawning
abyss. As good fortune would have it, they struck the
falls at a point
les.s dangerous than that struck by the unfortunate Kalulu,
and passed
them in safety. Then they worked the canoe closer to
the shore, and
springing overboard, swam to the land. If those yet to
come were to be
deceived by the appearance of the river, Stanley saw
that he was destined
to lose the greater part of his men. In order to prevent
so sad a calam-
ity, he sent messengers up the river to tell those yet
to come down to
keep close to the shore. Before they had time to reach
those above,
another canoe shot into sight, and was hurried on to
the edge of the
precipice. It contained but one person the lad Soudi,
who, as he shot
by them, cried out : " There is but one God I am lost,
master." The
next instant he passed over the falls. The canoe, after
having passed the
falls, did not sink, but was whirled round and round
by the swift current,
and was at last swept out of sight behind a neighboring
island. The
remainder of the canoes succeeded in reaching the camp
in safety.
Miraculous Rescue of Soudi.
The natives at this point proved very friendly, and exchanged
provis-
ions for beads and wire. Having obtained all the provisions
that they
could conveniently carry, they prepared to start, and
on the first of April
succeeded in passing round the dangerous falls, when
they again went
into camp. A great surprise awaited them here. They had
scarcely
pitched their tents, when to their great surprise Soudi
suddenly walked
into the camp. It was as though one had indeed risen
from the dead,
and for a few minutes they codld scarcely realize that
it was the real
Soudi that they beheld, and not his ghost. Great was
their joy when the
lad assured them that it was himself and not his spirit
that they saw.
Seated around their camp they listened to the strange
tale that the boy
had to tell him. He had been carried over the falls,
and when he reached
the bottom he was somewhat stunned by the shock, and
did not fully
recover his senses until the boat struck against a large
rock ; he then
jumped dut and swam ashore. He had hardly placed his
foot upon the
land before he was seized by two men, who bound him hand
and foot,
and carried him to the top of a large mountain near by.
They then
stripped him, and examined him with great curiosity.
On the day fol-
lowing, a large number of the tribe who dwelt upon the
mountain came
to see him, and among them was one who had previously
visited Stan-
ley's camp, and knew that Soudi was attached to his force.
He told them great stories about Stanley, how terrible
he was, and
what strange arms he carried, which were so arranged
that they could be
fired all day without stopping, and ended by telling
them that if they
wished to escape his fury, they had b^etter return the
boy to the place
from which tlircy had taken him. Terrified by such tales,
these men at
once carried Soudi to the place where they had found
him, and after
having told him to speak a good word for them to his
master, departed.
He at once swam across the stream, stopping occasionally
upon the rocks
to rest, and succeeded at last in reaching the camp soon
after it had been
established. His captors, however, did not return to
their people as he
had supposed, but crossing the river at a point lower
down, they soon
after arrived at the camp and attached themselves to
Stanley's force.
A Native's Thrilling Adventure.
The dangers attending Stanley constantly in this great
journey from sea
to sea are strikingly illustrated by a mishap which befell
one of his men
in that part of the tour we are now describing.
At one point there were many islands in the river, which
often afforded
Stanley refuge when attacked by the murderous natives.
They appeared
very beautiful, but the travellers could not enjoy their
beauty, so frequent
were the attacks made upon them. Stanley visited several
villages, in
which he says he found human bones scattered about, just
as we would
throw away oyster shells after we had removed the bivalves.
Such
sights as this did not tend to place the men in the most
agreeable state
of mind, for it seemed to them just as if they were doomed
to a similar
fate.
On the following day they began to make preparations for
passing the
rapids which lay below them. In order to do this, he
must first drive
back the savages which lined the shore. Landing with
thirty-six men,
he succeeded in doing so, after which he was able to
cut a passage three
miles long around the falls. Stations were established
at different points
along the route, and before daylight the canoes were
safely carried to the
first of these. The savages then made an attack upon
them, but were
beaten off. At night the boats were carried to the next
station, and the
one following to the next, and so on, until at the end
of seventy-eight
hours of constant labor, and almost unceasing fighting,
they reached the
river. But they had gone but a short distance, when they
found that
just before them were a series of rapids extending two
miles. These
being much smaller than those they had passed before,
an attempt was
made to float the boats down them.
Six canoes passed the falls in safety, but the seventh
was upset. One
of the persons in it was a Negro named Zaidi, who, instead
of swimming
to the shore as the others did, clung to the boat and
was hurried on to
the cataract below him. The canoe did not, however, pass
immediately
over, but striking a rock which stood upon the very edge
of the falls, it
was split, one part passing over, while the other was
jammed against the
rock. To this Zaidi clung in terror, while the waves
dashed angrily
around him. Instead of attempting to render assistance
to the endan-
gered man, the natives stood upon the shore and howled
most unmerci-
fully, and at last sent for Stanley. The latter at once
set them at work
making a rattan rope, by which he proposed to let a boat
down to the
man, into which he could get and be pulled ashore.
But the rope proved too weak, and was soon snapped in
twain and the
boat carried over the falls. Other and stouter ropes
were then laid up,
three pieces of which were fastened to a canoe. But it
was useless to
send the boat out without some one to guide it to the
place where Zaidi
was, and Stanley looked about for volunteers. No one
seemed inclined
to undertake the dangerous job, until the brave Uledi
quietly said, " I
will go." And he did. Two of the cables attached to the
boat were
?held by men on the shore, while the third was to be
used to enable the
poor wretch upon the rock to reach the boat. Several
efforts were made
to place it within his reach, but each in turn failed.
Man Over the Falls.
At last, however, he grasped it, and orders were given
for the boat to
be pulled ashore. No sooner were the cables tightened
than they snapped
like small cords, and Zaidi was carried over the falls
; but holding
on to the rope, he pulled the boat against the rock,
in which position it
^became wedged. Uledi pulled him up and assisted him
into the boat,
when they both scrambled upon the rock. A rope was thrown
to them,
but failed to reach the spot where theywere. This was
repeated several
times, until at last they succeeded in catching it. A
heavy rope was then
tied to it, which the men drew towards them and fastened
to the rock,
^and thus communication was established between those
upon the rock
and those upon the shore. By this time darkness shut
in upon them,
? and they were forced to leave the men upon their wild
perch, and wait
for another day before attempting to get them off The
next day they
?succeeded in drawing them both to the shore. .
On June 3d another accident occurred at Masassa whirlpool,
which
was more deplorable than all the others. Frank Pocock,
who had been
Stanley's mainstay and next in command to himself, attempted
to shoot
'the rapids against the advice of his experienced boatman,
Uledi, who
'was the bravest native connected with the expedition,
though a Zanzibar
freed man.
Frank Pocock Drowned.
Pocock was warned of the danger of such an undertaking,
but with a
ifashness quite unlike himself he ordered the canoe pushed
out into the
istream. As they approached nearer and nearer the mad
breakers Frank
realized his peril, but it was too late. They were soon
caught in the
ndreadful whirl of waters and sucked under with a mighty
force sufficient
to swallow up a ship. Pocock was an expert swimmer, but
his art did
not now avail him, for he was swept away to his death,
though his eight
companions saved themselves.
The dreadful news was borne to Stanley by the brave Uledi.
This
last and greatest calamity, coming in the midst of his
already heavy
weight of woe, so overcame the great explorer that he
wept bitter tears
of anguish.
My brave, honest, kindly-natured Frank," he exclaimed,
" have you
left me so ? Oh, my long-tried friend, what fatal rashness
! Ah, Uledi
had you but saved him, I should have made you a rich
man."
Of the three brave boys who sailed away from England with
Stanley
to win the laurels of discovery in the unknown wilds
of Africa, not one
was left, but all were now slumbering for eternity, in
that strange land,,
where the tears of sorrowing friends and relatives could
never moisten
their rude beds of earth.
Frank was gone ; and as Stanley mourned for him he could
but feel
with Burns, that
Dread Omnipotence Alone
Can heal the wound he gave,
Can point the brimful grief-worn eyes
To scenes beyond the grave."
In their home, how dreadful must the news of Frank's death
have
been to his father and mother ! They had bade those darling
boys fare-
well, hoping that they would return in safety, but both
had died in a
strange land, and lay amid strange scenes, and they were
left in loneli-
ness to mourn. In his letter to them, Stanley says that
F]rank had so
won a place in his heart, that his death took away all
joy and pleasure
which otherwise he would have felt in being able to accomplish
so :great-
and arduous a task. .
Nearing the End of the Great Journey.
We must now hurry on. The descent by river had cost Stanley
Pocock, many of the natives, 18,000 dollars worth of
ivory, twelve
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, sent on to Embomma
a message for
help and food. The letter was as follows :
"Village Nsanda, August 4th, 1877.
" To any gentleman who speaks English at Embomma.
"Dear Sir: I have arrived at this place from Zanzibar
with one
hundred and fifteen souls, men, women and children. We
are now in a.
state of imminent starvation. We can buy nothing from
the natives, for
they laugh at our kinds of cloth, beads and wire. There
are no pro-
visions in the country that may be purchased except on
market-days, and
starving people cannot afford to wait for these markets.
I therefore have
made bold to despatch three of my young men, natives
of Zanzibar, with
a boy named Robert, Ferugi, of the English mission at
Zanzibar, with
this letter, craving relief from you. I do not know you,
but I am told
there is an Englishman at Embomma, and as you are a Christian
and a
gentleman, I beg of you not to disregard my request.
The boy Robert,
will be better able to describe our condition than I
can tell you in a letter.
We are in a state of great distress, but, if your supplies
arrive in time, I
may be able to reach Embomma in four days. I want three
hundred
cloths, each four yards long, of such quality as you
trade with, which is
very different from that we have ; but better than all
would be ten or
fifteen man-loads of rice or grain to fill their pinched
bellies immediately, as
even with the cloths, it would require time to purchase
food, and starving
men cannot wait. The supplies must arrive within two
days, or I may
have a fearful time of it among the dying. Of course
I hold myself
responsible for any expense you may incur in this business.
What is
wanted is immediate relief, and I pray you to use your
utmost energies
to forward it at once. For myself, if you have such little
luxuries as tea,
coffee, sugar and biscuits by you. such as one man can
easily carry, I beg
you, on my own behalf, that you will send a small supply,
and add to the
great debt of gratitude due to you upon the timely arrival
of supplies for
my people. Until that time, I beg you to believe me,
" Yours sincerely,
" H. M. Stanley,
" Commanding Anglo-American Expedition for Exploration
of Africa.
" P. S. You may not know my name ; I therefore add,
I am the person
that discovered Livingstone.
" H. M. S."
"O, Master, I am Ready!'
When the letter was finished, Stanley gathered his men
around him,
and told them that he intended to send to Embomma for
food, and
desired to know who among them would go with the guides
and carry
the letter. No sooner had he asked the question, than
Uledi sprang for-
ward, exclaiming, " O, master, I am ready ! " Other men
also volun-
teered, and on the next day they set out with the guides.
Before they had got half way, the guides left them, and
they had to
find their way as best they could. Passing along the
banks of the
Congo, they reached the village soon after sunset, and
delivered the
letter into the hands of a kindly disposed person. For
thirty hours the
messengers had not tasted food, but they were now abundantly
supplied.
On the following morning it was the 6th of August
they started to
return, accompanied by carriers who bore provisions for
the half-starving
men, women, and children, with Stanley.
Meanwhile, he and his weary party were pushing on as fast
as their
tired and wasted forms would let them. At nine o'clock
in the morning,
they stopped to rest. While in this situation, an Arab
boy suddenly
sprang from his seat upon the grass, and shouted :
" I see Uledi coming down the hill !"
Such was indeed the fact, and as the jaded men wearilyturned
their
eyes to the hill, half expecting to be deceived, they
beheld Ulcdi and
Kacheche running down the hill, followed by carriers
loaded with pro-
visions. It was a glad sight to them, and with one accord
they shouted:
''La il Allah, il Allah f" (We are saved, thank God!")
Uledi was
the first to reach the camp, and at once delivered a
letter to his master.
By the time Stanley had finished reading it, the carriers
arrived with the
provisions, and need we say that those half-starved people
did them
justice? Deeply grateful for the substantial answer to
his letter, he
immediately penned another, acknowledging their safe
arrival. The
letter ran as follows :
" Dear Sirs : Though strangers I feel we shall be great
friends, and
it will be the study of my lifetime to remember my feelings
of grateful-
ness when I first caught sight of your supplies, and
my poor faithful and
brave people cried out, ' Master, we are saved food
is coming ! ' The
old and the young men, the women and the children lifted
their wearied
and worn-out frames and began lustily to chant an extemporaneous
song
in honor of the white people by the great salt sea (the
Atlantic), who
had listened to their prayers. I had to rush to my tent
to hide the tears
that would come, despite ^all my attempts at composure.
" Gentlemen, that the blessing of God may attend your
footsteps,
whithersoever you go, is the very earnest prayer of
" Yours faithfully,
" Henry M. Stanley."
Great Problems Solved.
It was a daring undertaking that of marching from one
ocean to the
other through the wilds of Africa but it was done.
The great feat
was accomplished. The magnificent miracle was performed.
Heroism
and self-sacrifice had their sublime triumph. Perils
and hardships beset
the expedition from first to last. Mr. Stanley's own
words can best
describe them.
" On all sides," he says, " death stared us in the face
; cruel eyes
watched us by day and by night, and a thousand bloody
hands were
ready to take advantage of the least opportunity. We
defended ourselves
like men who knew that pusillanimity would be our ruin
among savages
to whom mercy is a thing unknown. I wished, naturally,
that it might
have been otherwise, and looked anxiously and keenly
for any sign of
forbearance or peace. My anxiety throughout was so constant,
and the
effects of it, physically and otherwise, have been such,
that I now find
myself an old man at thirty-five."
As if to give force to this last statement, the President
of the American
Geographical Society says : " It will be remembered that,
when we saw
Mr. Stanley here in the Society, his hair was black ;
it is now said to be
nearly white. Of the 350 men with whom he left in 1874,
but
115 reached the Atlantic coast, and 60 of those, when
at the journey's
end, were suffering from dysenteiy, scurvy and dropsy.
He was on the
Congo from November ist, 1876, to August nth, 1877
a period of over
nine months ; so that his promise to the native followers
was
fulfilled,
that he would reach the sea before the close of the year."
The historic Nile has given up the mystery of its source,
and the Congo
is no longer a puzzle, baffling the exploits of modern
exploration.
Stanley showed that the Lualaba is the Congo, and has
opened up a
splendid water-way into the interior of the Dark Continent,
which the
International Association has already fixed upon, and
which rival
explorers have already discussed with more or less acrimony.
Stanley has
put together the puzzle of which Burton, Speke, Livingstone,
Baker, Du
Chaillu, and Cameron provided pieces, and made the greatest
geographi-
cal discovery of the century and of many centuries.
We cannot limit
the results which will accrue from this feat of Henry
M. Stanley in cross-
ing the Dark Continent, over which he has shed the light
of civilization.
Stanley was received with great ceremony in England, and
almost
every nation hastened to bestow its honors upon him.
But among them
all he singles out one, concerning which he says : "
For another honor 1
have to express my thanks one which I may be pardoned
for regarding
as more precious than all the rest. The Government of
the United States
has crowned my success with its official approval, and
the unanimous
vote of thanks passed in both houses of legislature,
has made me proud
for life of the expedition and its success."
CONTINUED IN CHAPTER XIX.
TRAVELS OF SIR SAMUEL AND LADY BAKER.
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