PREPARATIONS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATIONS.
Stanley now rested a few days on this island before beginning his
explorations. It was associated in his mind with bitter memories, and,
as he wandered over it, he remembered the insults he had received, and
his almost miraculous escape from death near it. The treacherous
Bumbireh was almost in sight, and it awakened in him a strong desire for
revenge, and he determined to visit the island again, and demand
reparation for the wrongs he had received, and if it was not given, to
make war on them and teach them a lesson on good behavior. So at the end
of three days he set sail and camped on Mahyiga Island, five miles
distant, and sent a message to the natives saying, that if they would
deliver their king and two principal chiefs into his hands, he would
make peace with them, otherwise he would make war. This was a cool
request, and Stanley himself, suspecting it would be refused, sent a
party to invite the king of Iroba, an island only a mile from Bumbireh,
to visit him, who, dreading the vengeance of the white man, came,
bringing with him three chiefs. On what principle of morals Stanley will
justify his course we cannot say, but the moment the king arrived, he
had him and his chiefs put in chains; the conditions of their release
being that his people should deliver the king of Bumbireh, and two of
his principal chiefs into his hands.
Although the people of Bumbireh had treated his message with contempt,
the subjects of Iroba seized their king and delivered him into the hands
of Stanley. The peril of their own king had stimulated them to effort,
and Stanley at once released him, while he loaded his new royal captive
heavily with chains. He also sent a message to king Antari, on the
mainland, to whom Bumbireh was tributary, requesting him to redeem his
land from war. In reply, the latter sent his son and two chiefs to him
to make peace, who brought a quantity of bananas as a promise of what
the king would do in the future. Stanley, in conversing with them,
detected them in so many falsehoods, and thinking he saw treachery in
their faces, or perhaps it would be more in accordance with truth to
say, that having got them in his power, he thought it better to keep
them as hostages for the appearance of the two chiefs of Bumbireh, who
had not been brought with the king, and he, therefore, did so. In the
meantime, seven large canoes of Mtesa came up, which were out on an
expedition of the king's. The chief commanding them told Stanley that
Magassa had recovered the oars captured at Bumbireh, and that on his
returning and reporting Stanley dead, he had been put in chains by
Mtesa, but subsequently he had been released and dispatched in search of
him. Stanley persuaded this chief, with his canoes, to remain and assist
in the attack on Bumbireh, if his followers refused the terms of peace.
Two days after, this chief sent some of his men to Bumbireh for food,
but they were not allowed to land. On the contrary, they were attacked,
and one man was killed and eight were wounded. This gave Stanley another
strong reason for making war at once without further negotiations, to
which Mtesa's chief gladly consented. Accordingly, next morning, he
mustered two hundred and eighty men with fifty muskets, and two hundred
spearmen, and placed them in eighteen canoes and set out for Bumbireh,
eight miles distant, and reached the island at two o'clock in the
afternoon.
The natives of Bumbireh were evidently expecting trouble, for they felt
sure the attack on the friends of Stanley the day before would be
quickly avenged. As the latter, therefore, drew near the shore, he saw
lookouts on every eminence. Looking through his field-glass, he soon
discovered messengers running to a plantain grove which stood on a low
hill that commanded a clear, open view of a little port on the southern
point of the island, from which he concluded that the main force of the
enemy was assembled there. He then called the canoes together, and told
them to follow him and steer just as he steered, and by no means to
attempt to land, as he did not mean that one of Mtesa's men should be
killed, or, indeed, any of his own soldiers--he intended to punish
Bumbireh without any damage to himself. He then ordered his crew to row
straight for the port--the other canoes following in close order behind.
He managed to keep out of sight of the lookouts; and skirting close to
the land, at the end of a little more than a mile, rounded a cape and
shot into a fine bay, right in the rear and in full view of the enemy.
They were gathered in such large numbers that Stanley saw it would not
do to attack them in such a cover, and so steered for the opposite side
of the bay, as though he intended to land there, where the sloping
hill-sides were bare of everything but low grass. The savages,
perceiving this, broke cover and ran yelling toward the threatened
point. This was exactly what Stanley wanted, and he ordered the rowers
to pull slowly, so as to give them time to reach the spot toward which
he was moving. Very soon they were all assembled on the naked hill-side,
brandishing their weapons fiercely in the air. Stanley kept slowly on
till within a hundred yards of the beach, when he anchored broadside on
the shore--the English and American flags waving above him. The other
seventeen canoes followed his example. Seeing a group of about fifty
standing close together, he ordered a volley to be fired into it. Fifty
muskets and his own trusty rifle spoke at once, and with such terrible
effect that nearly the whole number was killed or wounded. The natives,
astounded at this murderous work, now separated and came down to the
water's edge singly, and began to yell and sling stones and shoot
arrows. Stanley then ordered the anchors up, and gave directions to move
the canoes to within fifty yards of the shore, and each soldier to
select his man and fire as though he was shooting birds. The savages
dropped right and left before this target practice, but the survivors
stood their ground firmly, for they knew if Stanley effected a landing
he would burn everything on the island.
For an hour they endured the deadly fire, and then, unable longer to
stand it, moved up the hill, but still not out of range, especially of
Stanley's unerring rifle. Though every now and then a man would drop,
they refused to move farther away, for they knew that if they were not
near enough to make a dash the moment the boats touched the shore, all
would be lost. Another hour was therefore passed in this long-range
firing, when Stanley ordered the canoes to advance all together, as if
about to make a sudden landing. The savages, seeing this, rushed down
the hill-side like a torrent, and massed themselves by the hundreds at
the point toward which the canoes were moving, some even entering the
water with their spears poised ready to strike. When they were packed
densely together, Stanley ordered the bugle to sound a halt, and, as the
crews rested on their oars, directed a volley to be fired into them,
which mowed them down so terribly that they turned and fled like deer
over the hill. Stanley's men had now got their blood up and urged him to
let them land and make a complete end of this treacherous people, but he
refused, saying that he came to punish, not destroy.
They had fired in all about seven hundred cartridges, and as the savages
were completely exposed, and in the afternoon, with the sun directly
behind the boats, and shining full in their faces, the mortality was
great. Over forty were left dead on the field, while the number of the
wounded could not be counted, though more than a hundred were seen to
limp or to be led away. It was a great victory, and Stanley's dusky
allies were in a state of high excitement, and made the air ring with
their shouts and laughter, as they bent to their paddles. It was dark
when they got back to the island, where they were received with wild
songs of triumph. Stanley was a great hero to these untutored children
of nature.
The next morning more canoes arrived from Uganda, and Stanley prepared
to depart. He had now thirty-two canoes, all well loaded with men, which
made quite an imposing little fleet as they moved into order on the
lake, and constituted a strong force. They sailed close to Bumbireh,
and Stanley looked to see what had been the effect of the severe
thrashing he had given them the day before. He found their audacity
gone, and their proud, insulting spirit completely quelled. There were
no shouts of defiance, no hostile demonstrations. Seeing a hundred or
more gathered in a group, he fired a bullet over their heads, which
scattered them in every direction. The day before they had breasted
bravely volley after volley, but now the war spirit was thoroughly
cowed. In another place some natives came down to the shore and begged
them to go away and not hurt them any more. This gave Stanley an
opportunity to preach them a sermon on treachery, and exhort them
hereafter to treat strangers who came to them peaceably with kindness.
The dead in almost every hut was, however, the most effectual sermon of
the two.
They camped that evening on the mainland, in the territory of King
Kattawa, who treated them in a magnificent style for a savage, to show
his gratitude for the punishment they had inflicted on Bumbireh, who had
a short time before killed one of his chiefs. They stayed here a day,
and then steered for the island of Muzina, where he had last seen
Magassa and his fleet. The people were not friendly to him, but they had
heard of the terrible punishment he had inflicted on the Bumbireh, and
hastened to supply him with provisions. They brought him five cattle,
four goats, and a hundred bunches of bananas, besides honey, milk and
eggs.
The king of Ugoro, near by, also sent him word that he had given his
people orders to supply him with whatever food he wanted. Stanley
replied that he wanted no food, but if he would lend him ten canoes to
carry his people to Uganda, he would consider him as his friend. They
were promptly furnished. Mtesa's chief urged him to attack the king, as
he had murdered many of Mtesa's people, but Stanley refused, saying he
did not come to make war on black people, he only wished to defend his
rights and avenge acts of treachery. Five days after he landed at Duomo
Uganda, half-way between the Kagera and Katonga rivers, and pitched his
camp. He selected this spot as the best place from which to start for
the Albert Nyanza, which he designed next to explore. He wanted to see
Mtesa, and get his advice as to which was the best route to take,
because between these two lakes were several powerful tribes, who were
continually at war with the king of Uganda.
In summing up his losses during this journey of two hundred and twenty
miles by water, he found he had lost six men drowned, five guns and one
case of ammunition, besides ten canoes wrecked and three riding asses
dead, leaving him but one. He had been gone fifty-six days, and though
the distance was but two hundred and twenty miles, a large portion of
it had been traversed three times, so that he had really travelled by
water over seven hundred and twenty miles. He had bought scarcely any
provisions, the expedition subsisting on the corn he bought at the start
with one bale of cloth, but considerable quantities of food had been
given them.
He now resolved, after he had settled his camp, to visit Mtesa again,
and consult with him about the aid he could give him to reach Albert
Nyanza. This lake was the source of the White Nile, up which Baker was
forcing his way, the very year Stanley started on his expedition. Baker
hoped to launch steamers upon it, but he failed even to reach it, though
he saw its waters, twenty miles distant. Between it and the Victoria
Nyanza is an unknown region. The distance from one to the other in a
straight line is probably not two hundred miles, though by any travelled
route it is, of course, much farther. Nothing is definitely known of its
size or shape. Colonel Mason made a partial exploration of it last year,
but it still remains a new field for some future explorer, for Stanley
failed to reach it if Mason's map is correct. The Victoria Nyanza he
computed to contain twenty-one thousand five hundred square miles, and
to be nine thousand one hundred and sixty-eight feet above the sea
level.
There is a large lake almost directly west of the Nyanza called Muta
Nzienge, which Stanley conjectures may be connected with the Albert
Nyanza. The region around the latter is wholly unknown, except that
fierce cannibals occupy its western shore. We say that Stanley did not
reach the Albert Nyanza at all, though if it and the Muta Nzienge are
one, he did. He inserts in his journal that he reached the shore of the
lake, yet by his map he did not. This discrepancy is owing probably to
the fact that he thought, when he wrote, that the lake he saw was the
Albert Nyanza, and though Colonel Mason explored it partially last year,
and makes it an entirely distinct lake, yet Stanley's opinion may still
be unchanged. At all events, his map and journal should agree, but they
do not, which confuses things badly. His route, as he has marked it
down, does not go near this lake. On the other hand, if the Albert and
the Muta Nzienge are one, it rivals in length the great Tanganika, which
no one, however, thinks it to do.
Stanley found Mtesa at war with the Wavuma, who refused to pay their
annual tribute. According to his account this monarch had an army with
him which, with its camp followers, amounted to a quarter of a million
of souls. He remained with Mtesa several weeks, as the war dragged
slowly along, and, in the meantime, translated, with the help of a
young, educated Arab, a part of the Bible for him, and apparently sent
him forward a great way toward Christianity. He at length, after he had
witnessed various naval battles that did not seem to bring the war any
nearer to a termination, built for the king a huge naval structure,
wholly inclosed, which, when it moved against the brave islanders,
filled them with consternation, and they made peace.
At this point, Stanley makes a break in his journal and devotes nearly a
hundred pages to a narrative of Uganda and its king, Mtesa. He gives its
traditions, mingled with much fable; a description of its land, fruits,
customs of the people--in short, a thorough history, as far as the
natives know anything about it. This possesses more or less interest,
though the information it conveys is of very little consequence, while
it is destitute of any incident connected with his journey.
It was now October, and he turned his attention directly to the next
scene of his labors--the exploration of the Albert Nyanza. The great
difficulty here was to get through the warlike tribes that lay between
the lakes and around the latter, of which Abba Rega was one of the most
hostile chiefs. This king, it will be remembered, was the great foe of
Baker, whom the latter drove out of the country, after burning his
capital, and put Rionga in his place. He said then, that this
treacherous king had gone to the shores of the Albert Nyanza. By the
way, Baker's statement and Stanley's journal, placed together, seem to
make it certain that the Muta Nzienge, which the latter reached, and
the Albert Nyanza are the same; for, in the first place, it will be
remembered, Baker's last journey was to Unyoro, where he saw the Albert
Nyanza. Now Stanley, it will be seen hereafter, traverses this same
district to reach the lake he called Muta Nzienge. Again, Baker says
that Abba Rega fled to the Albert Nyanza, and yet Stanley found him on
Lake Muta Nzienge. If Stanley's attention had been called to this, we
hardly think he would have made two lakes on his map, when, from these
corroborating statements, there could have been but one. The fact that
these separate statements, made two years apart, are purely incidental,
makes the fact they go to prove the more certain to be true. It seems
impossible that Baker and Stanley should reach through the same tribe
two large and entirely separate lakes.
Knowing not only of the hostility, but also the power of some of the
tribes between Uganda and Lake Albert, Stanley asked Mtesa for fifty or
sixty thousand men--a mighty army. With such a force he thought he could
not only overcome all opposition on the way, but hold the camp he wished
to establish, while he spent two months in exploring the lake. But Mtesa
told him two thousand would be ample, which he would cheerfully furnish.
He said that he need not fear Abba Rega, for he would not dare to lift a
spear against his troops, for he had seated him on the throne of
Kameazi. Though Stanley was not convinced of the truth of Mtesa's
statements, he would not urge him further and accepted, with many
expressions of thanks, the two thousand soldiers, commanded by General
Lamboozi as an escort.