TWELVE days after penning the account of his
expedition con-
tained in the last chapter, Mr. Stanley sent a continued
history of
his march. Thus we have from his graphic pen a complete
narrative of his wonderful exploits throughout his last
great
journey.
Camp at Kizinga, Uzinja, August 17, 1889.
To the Chairman of the Emin Pasha Relief Committee.
Sir: On the 17th of February, Emin Pasha and a following
of about
sixty-five people, inclusive of Selim Bey or Colonel
Selim and seven
other officers, who were a deputation sent by the officers
of the Equatorial
Province, arrived at my camp on the plateau near Kavallis
village. The
Pasha was in mufti, but the deputation were in uniform,
and made quite
a sensation in the country. Three of them were Egyptians,
but the
others were Nubians, and were rather soldierly in their
appearance, and
with one or two exceptions received warm commendations
from the
Pasha. The divan was to be held the next day. On the
18th Lieut.
Stairs arrived with his column, largely augmented by
Mazamboni's
people, from the Ituri river, and the expedition was
once more united,
not to be separated I hoped again during our stay in
Africa. At the
meeting which was held in the morning Selim Bey who
had lately-
distinguished himself at Dufile by retaking the station
from the Mah-
dists, and killing about 250 of them, it was said a
tall, burly, elderly
man of fifty or thereabouts stated on behalf of the
deputation and the
officers at Wadelai that they came to ask for time to
allow the troops
and their families to assemble at Kavallis.
Though they knew what our object in coming to the Nyanza
was, or
they ought to have known, I took the occasion, through
the Pasha, who
is thoroughly proficient in Arabic, to explain it in
detail. I wondered at
the ready manner they approved everything, though, since,
I have dis-
covered that such is their habit though they may not
believe a word you
utter. I then told them that though I had waited nearly
a year to
obtain a simple answer to the single question, whether
they would stay
in Africa, or accompany us to Egypt, I would give them
before they
departed a promise written in Arabic that I would stay
a reasonable
time, sufficient to enable them to embark themselves
and families and all
such as were willing to leave on board the steamers and
to arrive at the
Lake shore below our camp. The deputation replied that
my answer
was quite satisfactory, and they promised on their part
that they would
proceed direct to Wadelai, proclaim to all concerned
what my answer
was, and commence the work of transport.
The Surgeon's Devotion.
On the 21st the Pasha and the deputation went down to
the Nyanza
camp on account of a fal§e alarm about the Wanyoro
advancing to attack
the camp. A rifle was stolen from the expedition by one
of the officers
of the deputation. This was a bad beginning of our intercourse
that
was promised to be. The two steamers Khedive and Nyanza
had gone
in the meantime to Mswa to transport a fresh lot of refugees,
and
returned on the 25th, and the next day the deputation
departed on their
mission ; but before they sailed they had a mail from
Wadelai wherein
they were informed that another change of Government
had taken place.
Selim Bey the highest official under the Pasha had
been deposed,
and several of the rebel officers had been promoted to
the rank of Beys.
The next day the Pasha returned to our camp with his
little daughter
Ferida and a caravan of 144 men. In reply to a question
of mine the
Pasha replied that he thought twenty days a sufficiently
reasonable
time for all practical purposes, and he offered to write
it down in form.
But this I declined, as I but wished to know whether
my idea of a
"reasonable time" and his differed; for after finding
what time was
required for a steamer to make a round voyage from our
old camp on
the Nyanza to Wadelai and back, I had proposed to myself
that a month
would be more than sufficient for Sehm Bey to collect
all such people as
desired to leave for Egypt.
The interval devoted to the transport of the Egyptians
from Wadelai
could also be utilized by Surgeon Parke in healing our
sick. At this
time the hardest-worked man in our expedition was the
surgeon. Ever
since leaving Fort Bodo in December Surgeon Parke- attended
over a
hundred sick daily. There were all kinds of complaints,
but the most
numerous and those who gave the most trouble were those
who suffered
from ulcers. So largely had these drained our medicine
chests that the
surgeon had nothing left for their disease but pure carbolic
acid and per-
manganate of potash. Nevertheless, there were some wonderful
recoveries during the halt of Stair's column on the Ituri
River in
January.
The surgeon's "devotion" there is not a fitter word
for it his regu-
lar attention to all the minor details of his duties,
and his undoubted
skill, enabled me to turn out 280 able-bodied men by
the ist of April,
sound in vital organs and limbs, and free from all blemish
: whereas on the
1st of February it would have been difficult to have
mustered 200 men in
the ranks fit for service. I do not think that I ever
met a doctor who so
loved his "cases. To him they were all "interesting,"
despite the odors
emitted, and the painfully qualmish scenes. I consider
this expedition
in nothing happier than in the possession of an unrivalled
physician and
surgeon. Dr. F. H. Parke. Meanwhile, while " Our Doctor
" was assidu-
ously dressing and trimming up the ulcerous ready for
the march to
Zanzibar, all men fit for duty were doing far more than
either we or they
bargained for. We had promised the Pasha to assist his
refugees to the
Plateau Camp with a few carriers that is, as any ordinary
man might
understand it, with one or two carriers per Egyptian
; but never had
people so grossly deceived themselves as we had.
The Refugees and Their Luggage.
The loads were simply endless, and the sight of the rubbish
which the
refugees brought with them, and which was to be carried
up that plateau
slope to an altitude of 2,800 feet above the Nyanza,
made our people
groan aloud such things as grnding stones, ten-gallon
copper cooking
pots, some 200 bedsteads, preposterously big baskets
like Falstaff's
buck basket old Saratoga trunks fit for American mammas,
old sea-
chests, great clumsy-looking boxes,little cattle troughs,
large twelve-gallon
pombe jars, parrots, pigeons, etc. These things were
pure rubbish, for
all would have to be discarded at the signal to march.
Eight hundred
and fifty-three loads of these goods were, however, brought
up with the
assistance of the natives, subject as they were to be
beaten and maltreated
by the vile-tempered Egyptian each time the natives went
down to the
Nyanza ; but the Zanzibaris now began to show an ugly
temper also.
They knew just enough Arabic to he aware that the obedience,
tract-
ability, and ready service they exhibited were translated
by the Egyp-
tians into cowardice and slavishness, and after these
hundreds of loads
had been conveyed they refused point blank to carry any
more, and they
explained their reasons so well that we warmly sympathized
with them
.at heart ; but by this refusal they came in contact
with discipline, and
strong measures had to be resorted to to coerce them
to continue the
work until the order to '' Cease " was given. On the
31st March we were
.all heartily tired of it, and we abandoned the interminable
task. One
thousand three hundred and fifty-five loads had been
transported to the
plateau from the Lake camp.
The Pasha's Inquiry.
Thirty days after Selim Bey's departure for Wadelai a
steamer appeared
before the Nyanza Camp bringing in a letter from that
officer, and also
one from all the rebel officers at Wadelai, who announced
themselves as
delighted at hearing twelve months after my second appearance
at Lake
Albert that the "Envoy of our great Government" had arrived,
and that
they were now all unanimous for departing to Egypt under
my escort.
When the Pasha had mastered the contents of his mails
he came to me
to impart the information that Selim Bey had caused one
steamer full of
refugees to be sent up to Tungura from Wadelai, and since
that time he
had been engaged in transporting people from Dufile up
to Wadelai.
According to this rate of progress it became quite clear
that it would
require three months more even if this effort at work,
which was quite
heroic, in Selim Bey would continue before he could
accomplish the
transport of the people to the Nyanza Camp below the
plateau. The
Pasha, personally elated at what he thought to be good
hews, desired to
know what I had determined upon under the new aspect
of affairs. In
reply I summoned the officers of the Expedition together
Lieutenant
Stairs, R.E., Captain R. H. Nelson, Surgeon T. H. Parke,
A. M. Monte-
ney Jephson, Esq., and Mr. William Bonny and proposed
to them in
the Pasha's presence that they should listen to a few
explanations, and
then give their decision one by one according as they
should be asked :
" Gentlemen, Emin Pasha has received a mail from Wadelai.
Selim
Bey, who left the port below here on the 26th February
last with a prom-
ise that he would hurry up such people as wished to go
to Egypt, writes
from Wadelai that the steamers are engaged in transporting
some peo-
ple from Dufile to Wadelai ; that the work of transport
between Wadelai
and Tunguru will be resumed upon the accomplishment of
the other
task. When he went away from here we were informed that
he was
deposed, and that Emin Pasha and he were sentenced to
death by the
rebel officers. We now learn that the rebel officers
(ten in number) and
all their faction are desirous of proceeding to Egypt.
We may suppose
therefore that Selim Bey's party is in the ascendant
again. Shukri Aga,
the chief of Mswa Station the station nearest to us
paid us a visit here
in the middle of March. He was informed on the 16th of
March, the
day that he departed, that our departure for Zanzibar
would positively
begin on the loth of April. He took with him urgent letters
for Selim
Bey onnouncing that fact in unmistakable terms.
Mr. Stanley's Reply.
" Eight days later we hear that Shukri Aga is still at
Mswa having only
sent a few women and children to the Nyanza Camp, yet
he and his peo-
ple might have been here by this if they intended to
accompany us.
Thirty days ago Selim Bey left us with a promise of a
reasonable time.
The Pasha thought once that twenty days would be a reasonable
time
however, we have extended it to forty-four days. Judging
by the length of
time Selim Bey has already taken,. reaching Tunguru with
only one-six-
teenth of the expected force, I personally am quite prepared
to give the
Pasha my decision. For you must know, gentlemen, that
the Pasha,
having heard from Selem Bey intelligence so encouraging,
wishes to know
my decision, but I have preferred to call you to answer
for me. You are
aware that our instructions were to carry relief to Emin
Pasha, and to
escort such as were willing to accompany us to Egypt.
We arrived at
the Nyanza and met Emin Pasha in the latter part of April,
1888, just
twelve months ago. We handed him his letters from the
Khedive and
his Government, and also the first instalment of relief,
and asked him
whether we were to have the pleasure of his company to
Zanzibar. He
replied that his decision depended on that of his people.
This was the
first adverse news that we received. Instead of meeting
with a number
of people only too anxious to leave Africa, it was questionable
whether
there would be any except a few Egyptian clerks. With
Major Bartte-
lot so far distant in the rear we could not wait at the
Nyanza for this
decision.. As that might possibly require months, it
would be more pro^
fitable to seek and assist the rear column, and by the
time we arrived
here again those willing to go to Egypt would be probably
impatient to
start.
"We therefore leaving Mr. Jephson to convey our message
to the
Pasha's troops returned to the Forest Region for the
rear column, and
in nine months were back again on the Nyanza. But instead
of discover-
ing a camp of people anxious and ready to depart from
Africa, we find
no camp at all, but hear that both the Pasha and Mr.
Jephson are pri-
soners, that the Pasha has been in imminent danger of
his life from the
rebels, and at another time is in danger of being bound
on his bedstead
and taken to the interior of the Makkaraka country. It
has been current
talk in the Province that we were only a party of conspirators
and ad-
venturers ; that the letters of the Khedive and Nubar
Pasha were forgeries
concocted by the vile Christians Stanley and Casati,
assisted by Moham-
med Emin Pasha.
Stirring up the Pasha.
"So elated have the rebels been by their bloodless victory
over the
Pasha and Mr. Jephson that they have confidently boasted
of their pur-
pose to entrap me by cajoling words, and strip our Expedition
of every
article belonging to it, and send us a-drift into the
wilds to perish. We
need not dwell on the ingratitude of these men, or on
their intense
ignorance and evil natures ; but you must bear in mind
the facts to
guide you to a clear decision. We believed when we volunteered
for
this work that we should be met with open arms. We were
received
with indifference, until we were led to doubt whether
.any people
wished to depart ; my representative was made a prisoner,
menaced
with rifles ; threats were freely used ; the Pasha was
deposed, and for
three months was a close prisoner. I am toJd this is
the third revolt
in the Province. Well, in the face of all this we have
waited nearly
twelve months to obtain the few hundreds of unarmed men,
women
and children in this camp. As I promised Selim Bey and
his officers
that I would give a reasonable time, Selim Bey and his
officers repeatedly
promised to us there should be no delay. The Pasha has
already fixed
the loth April, which extended their time to forty-four
days, sufficient
for three round voyages for each steamer.
"The news brought to-day is not that Selim Bey is close
here, but that
he has not started from Waddin yet. In addition to his
own friends,,
who are said to be loyal and obedient to him, he brings
the ten rebel
officers and some 600 or 700 soldiers, their faction.
Remembering the
three revolts which these same officers have inspired,
their pronounced
intentions towards this expedition, their plots and counterplots,
the life of
conspiracy and smiling treachery they have led, we may
well pause to
consider what object principally animates them now
that from being
ungovernably rebellious against all constituted authority,
they have sud-
denly become obedient and loyal soldiers of the Khedive
and his ' great
Government.' You must be aware that, exclusive of the
thirty-one boxes
of ammunition delivered to the Pasha by us in May, 1888,
the rebels pos-
sess ammunition of the Provincial Government equal to
twenty of our
cases. We are bound. to credit them with intelligence
enough to per-
ceive that such a small supply would be fired in an hour's
fighting among
so many rifles, and that only a show of submission and
apparent loyalty
will ensure a further supply from us. Though the Pasha
brightens up
each time he obtains a plausible letter from these people
strangers like
we are may also be forgiven for not readily trusting
those men whom
they have such good cause to mistrust. Could we have
some guarantee
of good faith there could be no objection to delivering
to them all they
required that is, with the permission of the Pasha.
Can we be cer-
tain, however, that if we admit them into this camp as
good friends
and loyal soldiers of Egypt they will not rise up some
night and pos-
sess themselves of all the ammunition, and so deprive
us of the power,
of returning to Zanzibar ? It would be a very easy matter
for them to
do so after they had acquired the knowledge of the rules
of the camp.
With our minds filled with Mr. Jephson's extraordinary
revelations of
what has been going on in the Province since the closing
of the Nile
route, beholding the Pasha here before my very eyes,
who was lately sup-
posed to have several thousands of people under him,
but now without
any important following and bearing in mind ' the cajolings
' and
' wiles ' by which we were to be entrapped, I ask you.
Would we be wise
in extending the time of delay beyond the date fixed,
that is the tenth of
April ?"
The ofificers one after another replied in the negative.
" There, Pasha," I said, " you have your answer. We march
on the
loth of April."
The Pasha then asked if we could "in our consciences acquit
him of
having abandoned his people," supposing they have not
arrived by the
loth April. We replied, " Most certainly."
Questions of Honor and Duty.
Three or four days after this I was informed by the Pasha,
who pays
great deference to Captain Casati's views, that Captain
Casati was by no
means certain that he was doing quite right in abandoning
his people.
According to the Pasha's desire I went over to see Captain
Casati, fol-
lowed soon after by Emin Pasha. Questions of law, honor,
duty were
brought forward by Casati, who expressed himself clearly
that " moral-
mente " Emin Pasha was bound to stay by his people. I
quote these
matters simply to show to you that Our principal difficulties
lay not only
with the Soudanese and Egyptians ; we had some with the
Europeans
also who for some reason or other seemed in no wise inclined
to quit
Africa, even when it was quite clear that the Pasha of
the Province had
few loyal men to rely on, that the outlook before them
was imminent
danger and death, and that on our retirement there was
no other pros-
pect than the grave. I had to refute these morbid ideas
with the ABC
of common sense.
A Contract Violated.
I had to illustrate the obligations of Emin Pasha to his
soldiers by
comparing them to a mutual contract between two parties.
One party
refused to abide by its stipulations, and would have
no communication
with the other, but proposed to itself to put the second
party to death.
Could that be called a contract ? Emin Pasha was appointed
Governor
of the Province. He had remained faithful to his post
and duties until
his own people rejected him and finally deposed him.
He had been
informed by his Government that if he and his officers
and soldiers
elected to quit the Province they could avail themselves
of the escort of
the expedition which had been sent to their assistance,
or stay in Africa
on their own responsibility ; that the Government had
abandoned the
Province altogether. But when the Pasha informs his people
of the
Government's wishes, the officers and soldiers declare
the whole to be
false, and decline to depart with him will listen to
no suggestions of
departing, but lay hands on him, menace him with death,
and for three
months detain him a close prisoner. Where was the dishonor
to the
Pasha in yielding to what was inevitable and indisputable
? As for duty,
the Pasha had a dual duty to perform that to the Khedive
as his chief,
and that to his soldiers. So long as neither duty clashed
affairs pro-
ceeded smoothly enough, but the instant it was hinted
to the soldiers
that they might retire now if they wished, they broke
out into open vio-
lence and revolted, absolved the Pasha of all duty towards
them, and
denied that he had any duty to perform to them ; consequently
the Pasha«
could not be morally bound to care in the least for people
who would not
listen to him.
I do not think Casati was convinced, nor do I think the
Pasha was
convinced. But it is strange what strong hold this part
of Africa has
upon European officers, Egyptian officers, and Soudanese
soldiers.
The next day after this Emin Pasha informed me that he
was certain
all the Egyptians in the camp would leave with him on
the day named,
but from other quarters reports reached me that not one
quarter of them
would leave the camp at Kavallis. The abundance of food,
the quiet
demeanor of the natives, with whom we were living in
perfect concord,
seemed to them to be sufficient reasons for preferring
life near the Nyanza
to the difficulties of the march. Besides, the Mahdists
whom they
dreaded were far away and could not possibly reach them.
The Paslia's Unwavering Faith.
On the 5th of April, Serom, the Pasha's servant, told
me that not
many of the Pasha's servants intended to follow him on
the loth. The
Pasha himself confirmed this. Here was a disappointment,
indeed ! Out
of the 10,000 people there were finally comparatively
very few willing to
follow him to Egypt. To all of us on the Expedition it
had been clear
from the beginning that it was all a farce on the part
of the Wadelai
force. It was clear that the Pasha had lost his hold
over the people
neither officers, soldiers, nor servants were ready to
follow him ; but we
could not refute the Pasha's arguments, nor could we
deny that he had
reason for his stout, unwavering faith in them when he
would reply, " I
know my people ; for thirteen years I have been with
them, and I believe
that when I leave all will follow me." When the rebels'
letters came
announcing their intention to follow their Governor,
he exclaimed, " You
see ; I told you so." But now the Pasha said, " Never
mind, I am some-
thing of a traveller myself I can do with two servants
quite as Avell as
with fifty. I do not think I should be drawn into this
matter at all, having
formed my own plans some time before ; but it intensified
my feelings
greatly when I was told that, after waiting forty-four
days, building their
camps for them, and carrying nearly 1,400 loads for them
up that high
plateau wall, only few out of the entire number would
follow us."
But on the day after I was informed that there had been
an alarm in
my camp the night before the Zanzibari quarters had
been entered by
the Pasha's people, and an attempt made to abstract the
rifles. This it
was which urged me to immediate action. I knew there
had been con-
spiracies in the camp, that the malcontents were increasing,
that we had
many rebels at heart amongst us, that the people dreaded
the march more
than they feared the natives ; but I scarcely believed
that they would dare
put into practice their disloyal ideas in my camp. I
proceeded to the
Pasha to consult with him, but the Pasha would consent
to no proposi-
tion ; not but that they appeared necessary and good,
but he could not,
owing to the want of time, etc., etc. Yet the Pasha the
evening before
had received a post from Wadelai which brought him terrible
tales of dis-
order, distress, and helplessness among Selim Bey and
his faction, and the
rebels and their adherents. I accordingly informed him
that I proposed
to act immediately, and would ascertain for myself what
this hidden dan-
ger in the camp was ; and as a first step I would be
obliged if the Pasha
would signal for a general muster of the principal Egyptians
in the square
of the camp.
A Compulsory Muster and Start.
The summons being sounded, and not attended quicky enough
to satisfy
me, half a company of Zanzibaris were detailed to take
sticks and rout
everyone from their huts. Dismayed by these energetic
measures, they
poured into the square, which was surrounded by rifles.
On being ques-
tioned, they denied all knowledge of any plot to steal
the rifles from us,
or to fight, or to withstand in any manner any order.
It was then pro-
posed that those who desired to accompany us to Zanzibar
should step
on one side. They all hastened to one side except two
of the Pasha's
servants. The rest of the Pasha's people, having paid
no attention to the
summons, were secured in their huts and brought to the
camp square,
where some were flogged and others ironed and put under
guard. " Now,
Pasha," I said, " will you be good enough to tell these
Arabs that these
rebellious tricks of Wadelai and Dufile must cease here,
for at the first
move made by them I shall be obliged to exterminate them
utterly?"
On the Pasha translating the Arabs bowed, and vowed that
they would
obey their father religiously. At the muster this curious
result was
returned : There were with us 134 men, 84 married women,
187 female
domestics, 74 children abpvetwo years, 35 infants in
arms, making a total
of 514. I have reason to believe that the number was
nearer 600, as many
were not reported from a fear, probably, that some would
be taken pris-
oners.
On the loth of April we set out from Kavallis, in.number
about 1,500
for 350 native carriers had been enrolled from the district
to assist in
carrying the baggage of the Pasha's people, whose ideas
as to what was
essential for the march were very crude.
An Execution.
On the Iith we camped at Masambonis, but in the night
I was struck
down with a severe illness, w^hich well nigh proved mortal.
It detained
us at the camp twenty-eight days, which if Selim Bey
and his party were
really serious in their intention to withdraw from Africa
was most fortun-
ate for them, since it increased their allowance to seventy-two
days. But
in all this interval, only Shukri Aga, the chief at Mswa
Station, ap-
peared. He had started with twelve soldiers, but one
by one disap-
peared, until he had only his trumpeter and one servant.
A few days
after the trumpeter abscondea. Thus only one servant
was left out of
a garrison of sixty men, who were reported to be the
faithfullest of the
faithful.
During my illness another conspiracy or rather several
were afloat, but
one only was attempted to be realized, and the ringleader,
a slave of
Awash Effendi's, whom I had made free at Kavallis was
arrested, and, after
court-martial, which found him guilty, was immediately
executed. Thus
I have summaiized the events attending the withdrawal
of the Pasha
and his Egyptians from the neighborhood of the Albert
Nyanza. I
ought to mention, however, that through some error of
the native couriers
employed by the Egyptians with us, a packet of letters
was intercepted
which threw a new light upon the character of the people
whom we were
to escort to the sea coast at Zanzibar. In a letter written
by Ibrahim
Effendi Elham, an Egyptian captain, to Selim Bey at Wadelai,
were
found " I beseech you to hurry up your soldiers. If
you send only
fifty at once we can manage to delay the march easily
enough ; and if
you can come with your people soon after we may obtain
all we need.
Ibrahim Effendi Elham was in our camp, and we may imagine
that he
only wrote what was determined upon by himself and fellow-officers
should Selim Bey arrive in time to assist them in carrying
out the plot.
The Perilous March.
On the 8th of May the march was resumed, but in the evening
the
last communication from Selim Bey was received. It began
in a very
insolent style such as : " What do you mean by making
the Egyptian
officers carry loads on their heads and shoulders ? What
do you mean
by making the soldiers beasts of burden ? What do you
mean by " etc.,
etc., all of which were purely mythical charges. The
letter ended by abject
entreaties that we should extend the time a little more,
with protestations
that if we did not listen to their prayers they were
doomed, as they had
but little ammunition left, and then concluding with
the most important
intelligence of all, proving our judgment of the whole
number to be
sound. The letter announced that the ten rebel officers
and their adher-
ents had one night broken into the store-houses at Wadelai,
had possessed
themselves of all the reserve ammunition and other stores,
and had de-
parted for Makkaraka, leaving their dupe, Selim Bey,
to be at last sensi-
ble that he had been an egregious fool, and that he had
disobeyed the
Pasha's orders and disregarded his urgent entreaties,
for the sake of in-
grates like these, who had thrust him into a deep pit
out of which there
was no rescue unless we of course should wait for him.
A reply was
sent to him for the last time that if he were serious
in wishing to accom-
pany us, we should proceed forward at a slow rate, halting
24 days on
the route, by which he would easily overtake us with
his 200 soldiers.
This was the last we heard of him.
The route I had adopted was one which skirted the Balegga
moun-
tains at a distance of 40 miles or thereabouts from the
Nyanza. The
first day was a fairish path, but the three following
days tried our Egyp-
tians sorely, because of the ups and downs and the brakes
of cane-grass.
On arriving at the southern end of these mountains we
were made aware
that our march was not to be uninterrupted, for the King
of Unyoro had
made a bold push, and had annexed a respectable extent
of country on
the left side of the Semliki River, which embraced all
the open grass
land between the Semliki River and the forest region.
Thus, without
making an immense detour through the forest, which would
have been
fatal to most of the Egyptians, we had no option but
to press on, despite
Kabrega and his Warasura. This latter name is given to
the Wan-
yoro by all natives who have come in contact with them.
The first
day's encounter was decidedly in our favor, and the effect
of it cleared
the territory as far as the Semliki River free of the
Wanyoro.
Meantime, we had become aware that we were on the threshold
of a
region which promised to be very interesting, for daily
as we advanced
to the southward, the great snowy range, which had so
suddenly arrested
our attention and excited our intense interest (in May
1, 1888), grew
larger and bolder into view. It extended a long distance
to the south-
west, which would inevitably take us some distance off
our course unless
a pass could be discovered to shorten the distance to
the countries south.
At Buhoho, where we had the skirmish with Kabrega raiders,
we stood
on the summit of the hilly range which bounds the Semliki
Valley on its
north-west and south-west sides. On the opposite side
rose Ruwenzori,
the snow mountain, and its. enormous eastern flank, which
dipped down
gradually until it fell into the level, and was seemingly
joined with the
tableland of Unyoro. The humpty western flank dipped
down suddenly,,
as it seemed to us, into lands that we knew not by name
as yet.
Between these opposing barriers spread the Semliki Valley,
so like a
lake at its eastern extremity that one of our officers
exclaimed that it
was the lake, and the female followers of the Egyptians
set up a shrill
lululus, on seeing their own lake, the Albert Nyanza
again. With the
naked eye it did appear like the lake, but a field-glass
revealed that it
was a level grassy plain, white with the ripeness of
its grass. Those who
have read Sir Samuel Baker's " Albert Nyanza " will remember
the pas-
sage wherein he states that to the south-west the Nyanza
stretches
" inimitably." He might be well in error at such a distance,
when our
own people, with the plain scarcely four miles away,
mistook the plain
for the Nyanza. As the plain recedes south-westerly the
bushes become
thicker finally acacias appear in their forests, and
beyond these again
the dead black thickness of an impenetrable tropical
forest ; but the plain
as far as the eye could command continued to lie ten
to twelve miles,
wide between these mountain barriers, and through the
centre of it^
sometimes inclining towards the south-east mountains,
sometimes to the
south-western range the Semliki River pours its waters
towards the
Albert Nyanza.
In two marches from Buhoho we stood upon its banks, and
alas ! for
Mason Bey and Gessi Pasha had they but halted their steamers
for half
an hour to examine this river they would have seen
sufficient to excite
much geographical interest. For the river is a powerful
stream from 80
to 100 yards wide, averaging nine feet depth from side
to side, and hav-
ing a current from 3^ knots to 4 knots per hour. In size
it is about
equal to two-thirds of the Victoria Nile. As we were
crossing this river
the Warasura attacked us from the rear with a well-directed
volley, but
fortunately the distance was too great. They were chased
for some
miles, but fleet as greyhounds they fled, so there were
no casualties to
report on either side. We entered the Awamba country
on the eastern
shore of the Semliki, and our marches for several days
afterwards were
through plantain plantations, which flourished in the
clearings made in
this truly African forest. Finally we struck the open
country again im-
mediately under Ruwenzori itself.
A Great Snowy Range.
Much, however, as we had flattered ourselves that we should
see some
marvellous scenery, the Snow Mountain was very coy and
hard to see.
On most days it loomed impending over us like a tropical
storm cloud
ready to dissolve in rain and ruin on us. Near sunset
a peak or two here,
a crest there, a ridge beyond, white with snow, shot
into view jagged
clouds whirling and eddying around them, and then the
darkness of
night. Often at sunrise, too, Ruwenzori would appear,
fresh, clear,
brightly pure, profound blue voids above and around it.
Every line and
dent, knoll and turret-like crag deeply marked and cleary
visible ; but
presently all would be buried under mass upon mass of
mist until the
immense mountain was no more visible than if we were
thousands of
miles away. And then also, the snow mountain being set
deeply in the
range, the nearer we approached the base of the range
the less we saw of
it, for higher ridges obtruded themselves and barred
the view. Still we
have obtained three remarkable views, one from the Nyanza
Plain,
another from Kavalli^ and a third from the South Point.
In altitudes above the sea I should estimate it to be
between 18,000
and 19,000 feet. We cannot trust our triangulations,
for the angles are
too small. When we were in position to ascertain it correctly
the
inconstant mountain gathered his cloudy blankets around
him and hid
himself from view, but a clear view from the loftiest
summit down to the
lowest reach of snow obtained from a place called Karimi
makes me
confident that the height is between the figures stated
above. It took
us 19 marches to reach the south-west angle of the range,
the Semliki
Valley being below us on our right, and which if the
tedious mist had
permitted would have been exposed in every detail. That
part of the
valley traversed by us is generally known under .the
name ofAwamba,
while the habitable portion of the range is principally
denominated
Ukonju. The huts of these natives, the Bakonju, are seen
as high as
8,000 feet above the sea.
Climbing the African Alps.
Almost all our officers had at one time a keen desire
to distinguish
themselves as the climbers of these African Alps, but
unfortunately they
were in a very unfit state for such a work. The Pasha
only managed to
get 1,000 feet higher than our camp; but Lieutenant Stairs
reached the
height of 10,077 feet above the sea, but had the mortification
to find two
deep gulfs between him and the Snowy Mount proper. He
brought,
however, a good collection of plants, among which were
giant heather,
blackberries, and bilberries. The Pasha was in his element
among these
plants, and has classified them. The first day we had
disentangled our-
selves of the forest proper and its outskirts of straggling
bush, we looked
down from the grassy shelf below Ruwenzori range, and
saw a grassy
plain, level seemingly as a bowling green the very
duplicate of that
which is seen at the extremity of the Albert Nyanza
extending
southerly from the forests. of the Semliki Valley.
We then knew that we were not far from the Southern Lake
dis-
covered by me in 1877. Under guidance of the Wakonju,
I sent Lieut.
Stairs to examine the river said to flow from the Southern
Nyanza. He
returned next day, reporting it to be the Semliki River
narrowed down
to a stream forty-two yards wide and ten feet deep, flowing,
as the canoe-
men on its banks said, to the Nyanza Utuku or Nyanza
of Unyoro, the
Albert Nyanza. Besides native reports he had other corroborative
evi-
dence to prove it to be the Semliki. On the second march
from the con-
fines of Awavela we entered Usongora, a grassy region
as opposite in
appearance from the perpetual spring of Ukonju as a draughty
land
could well be. This country bounds the Southern Nyanza
on its
northern and northwestern side.
A Wonderful Salt Lake.
Three days later, while driving the Warasura before us
or, rather, as
they were self-driven by their own fears we entered
soon after its evac-
uation the important town of Kative, the headquarters
of the raiders. It
is situated between an arm of the Southern Nyanza and
a Salt Lake
about two miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide,
which consists
of pure brine of a pinky color, and deposits salt in
solid cakes of salt
crystals. This was the property of the Wasongora, but
the value of its
possession has attracted the cupidity of Kabrega, who
reaps a considera-
ble revenue from it. Toro, Aukori Mpororo Ruanda, Ukonju,
and many
other countries demand the salt for consumption, and
the fortunate pos-
sessor of this inexhaustible treasure of salt reaps all
that is desirable of
property in Africa in exchange with no more trouble than
the defence of
it. Our road from Kative lay E. and N. E. to round the
bay-like exten-
sion of the Nyanza, lying between Usongora and Unyanpaka,
and it
happened to be the same taken by the main body of the
Warasura in
their hasty retreat from the Salt Lake. On entering Uhaiyana,
which is
to the south of Toro, and in the Uplands we had passed
the northern
head of the Nyanza, or Beatrice Gulf, and the route of
the south was
open, not, however, without another encounter with the
Warasura.
A few days later we entered Unyanpaka, which I had visited
in Jan-
uary, 1876. Ringi, the king, declined to enter into the
cause of Unyoro,
and allowed us to feed on his bananas unquestioned. After
following
the lake shore until it turned too far to the south-west,
we struck for the
lofty uplands of Aukori, by the natives of whom we were
well received
preceded as we had been by the reports of our good
deeds in relieving
the Salt Lake of the presence of the universally obnoxious
Warasura.
If you draw a straight line from the Nyanza to the Uzinga
shores of the
Victoria Lake it would represent pretty fairly our course
through Aukori,
Karagwe and Uhaiya to Uzinga. Aukori was open to us,
because we
had driven the Wanyoro from the Salt Lake. The story
was an
open sesame ; there also existed a wholesome fear of
an expedition which
had done that which all the power of Aukori could not
have done.
Karagwe was open to us because free trade is the policy
of the Wan-
yambu, and because the Waganda were too much engrossed
with
their civil war to interfere with our passage. Uhaiya
admitted our
entrance without cavil out of respect to our numbers,
and because we
were well introduced by the Wanyambu, and the Wakwiya
guided us in
like manner to be welcomed by the Wazinja.
Sufferings From Fever.
Nothing happened during the long journey from the Albert
Lake to
cause us any regret that we had taken this straight course,
but we have
suffered from an unprecedented number of fevers. We have
had as many
as 150 cases in one day. Aukori is so beswept with cold
winds that the
Expedition wilted under them. Seasoned veterans like
the Pasha and
Captain Casati were prostrated time after time, and both
were reduced to
excessive weakness like ourselves. Our blacks, regardless
of their tribes,
tumbled headlong into the long grass to sleep their fever
fits off Some
after a short illness, died; the daily fatigues of the
march, an ulcer, a
fit of fever, a touch of bowel complaint caused the Egyptians
to bide in
any cover along the route, and being unperceived by the
rear-guard of
the expedition, were left to the doubtful treatment of
natives, of whose
language they were utterly ignorant. In the month of
July we lost 141
of their number in this manner.
Out of respect to the first British Prince who has shown
an interest in
African geography, we have named the Southern Nyanza
to distin-
guish it from the other two Nyanzas, the Albert Edward
Nyanza. It is
not a very large lake. Compared to the Victoria, the
Tanganyika, and
the Nyassa, it is small, but its importance and interest
lies in the fact
that it is the receiver of all the streams at the extremity
of the south-
western or left Nile basins and discharges these waters
by one river, the
Semliki, into the Albert Nyanza, in like manner as Lake
Victoria receives
all streams from the extremity of the south-eastern or
right Nile basin,
and pours these waters by the Victoria Nile into the
Albert Nyanza-
These two Niles, amalgamating in Lake Albert, leave this
under the well-
known name of White Nile.
Your obedient servant,
Henry M, Stanley.
NEXT: CONCLUSION
CHAPTER XXXIX.
BRILLIANT RESULTS OF STANLEY'S JOURNEY.
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