FORWARD MARCH!
"At muster this curious result was returned: There were with us one
hundred and thirty-four men, eighty-four married women, one hundred and
eighty-seven female domestics, seventy-four children above two years,
thirty-five infants in arms--making a total of five hundred and
fourteen. I have reason to believe that the number was nearer six
hundred, as many were not reported from fear probably that some would be
taken prisoners.
"On the 10th of April we set out from Kavallis, in number about one
thousand five hundred, for three hundred and fifty 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.
"On the 11th we camped at Masambonis, but in the night I was struck down
with a severe illness, which 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 intentions to withdraw from Africa, was most
fortunate for them, since it increased their time allowance to
seventy-two days. But in all this interval only Shukri Aga, the chief of
Mswa Station, appeared. He had started with twelve soldiers, but they,
one by one, disappeared, until he had only one trumpeter and one
servant. A few days after the trumpeter absconded. Thus only one servant
was left out of a garrison of sixty men who were reported to be the
faithfullest of the faithful.
"On the 8th of May our march was resumed. The route skirted the Mega
Mountains at their southern end, and encountered the King of Uyoro. The
first day's encounter was in our favor, and it cleared the territory as
far as the Semliki River, 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 on May 1, 1888, grew larger and bolder into view. It
extended a long distance to the southwest, which would inevitably take
us some distance off our course, unless a pass could be discovered to
shorten the distance to the countries south.
"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 looked impending over us like a tropical storm cloud, ready
to dissolve in rain and ruin. On its snowy cap shot into view jagged
clouds, whirling and eddying round. Often at sunrise Ruwenzori would
appear like a crag deeply marked and clearly 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.
"It took us nineteen marches to reach the southwest 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 of Awamba, while the habitable portion of the range is principally
denominated Ukonju. The huts of the natives, the Bakonju, are seen as
high as 8,000 feet above the sea.
"A few days later we entered Unyampaka, which I had visited in January,
1876. Ringi, the king, allowed us to feast on his bananas unquestioned.
After following the lake shore until it turned too far to the southwest,
we struck for the lofty uplands of Aukori, by the natives of which we
were well received, preceded as we had been by the reports of our great
deeds in relieving salt lake of the presence of the universally
obnoxious Warosura.
"If you draw a straight line from Nyanza to the Uzinja shores of
Victoria Lake it would represent pretty fairly our course through
Aukori, Karagwe and Uhaiya to Uzinja.
"Aukori was open to us because we had driven Wanyaro from the salt lake.
The story was an open sesame. Here 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
Wanyamba and because the Wateanda 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 Wakwiya guided us in a
like manner, to be welcomed by Wazinja.
"Nothing happened during our long journey from 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 one
hundred and fifty cases in one day. In the month of July we lost one
hundred and forty-one Egyptians.
"Out of respect to the first British Prince who has shown an interest in
African geography we have named the southern Nyanza, to distinguish it
from the other two Nyanzas, Albert Edward Nyanza. It is not a very large
lake compared to Victoria, Tanganika and Nyassa. It is small, but its
importance and interest lie in the sole fact that it is the receiver of
all the streams at the extremity of the southwestern or Left Nile basin,
and discharges these waters by one river, the Semliki, into Albert
Nyanza. In a like manner Lake Victoria receives all streams from the
extremity of the southeastern or Right Nile basin and pours these waters
by the Victoria Nile into Albert Nyanza. These two Niles amalgamate in
Lake Albert, under the well-known name of White Nile.
"By the route taken I traversed the Semliki Valley, the Awamba, the
Usongora, the Toro, the Utraiyana, the Unyampaka, the Antrosi, the
Karagive, the Uhaiya, the Uzimza, the South Victoria and the Nyanza. No
hostile natives were met. Since we left Kabbarega we travelled along the
base of the snowy range Ruwenzori. Three sides of the Southern Nyanza or
Nyanza of Usongora, which is called now Albert Edward Nyanza, are about
nine hundred feet higher than Albert Nyanza, having an exit at Semliki
which receives over fifty streams from the Ruwenzori and finally enters
the Albert Nyanza, making the Albert Edward the source of the southwest
branch of the White Nile, the Victoria Nyanza being the source of the
southeast branch."
The relief committee at once made arrangements for the forwarding of
supplies to meet Stanley at Mpwapwa. It was thought that he could not
reach the coast before the beginning of next year. Mpwapwa is a station
about one hundred and fifty miles from the coast, on the road from
Zanzibar and Bagamoyo to Lake Tanganika. But the expedition made rapid
progress. On November 20th Captain Wissmann telegraphed from Zanzibar
that Stanley had reached Mpwapwa on November 10th, and simultaneously
there came a despatch which Captain Wissmann had written at Mpwapwa on
October 13th, as follows:
"Four of Stanley's men and one of Emin's soldiers have arrived here.
They left Stanley at Neukmma on August 10th, and came by way of Noembo
and Mwerieweri north to Mgogo in thirty-three days, including nine days
on which they rested. Emin and Casati had three hundred Soudanese
soldiers and many other followers with them. They had in their
possession a large quantity of ivory. Stanley had a force of two hundred
and forty Zanzibaris and was accompanied by six lieutenants--Nelson,
Jephson, Stairs, Parke, Bonny and William. The expedition struck camp as
soon as the messengers started. Therefore the party should reach Mpwapwa
by November 20th. Emin and Stanley repeatedly fought and repulsed the
Mahdists, capturing the Mahdi's grand banner. A majority of Emin's
soldiers refused to follow him southwards, asserting that their way home
did not lie in that direction. Emin left two Egyptian officers in
charge of stations."
This prediction that the expedition would reach Mpwapwa by November 20th
was more than verified. He got there on November 10th. On November 11th
Sir William Mackinnon received a despatch from Stanley announcing his
arrival there, and stating that he expected to reach Zanzibar in a few
days.
To the British Consul at Zanzibar Mr. Stanley wrote, under the same
date:
"We arrived here yesterday on the fifty-fifth day from Victoria Nyanza
and the one hundred and eighty-eighth day from the Albert Nyanza. We
number altogether about seven hundred and fifty souls. At the last
muster, three days ago, Emin Pasha's people numbered two hundred and
ninety-four, of whom fifty-nine are children, mostly orphans of Egyptian
officers. The whites with me are Lieutenant Stairs, Captain Nelson,
Mounteney, Jephson, Surgeon Parke, William Bonny, Mr. Hoffman, Emin
Pasha and his daughter, Captain Casati, Signor Marco and a Tunisian,
Vitu Hassan, and an apothecary. We have also Peres Girault and Schinze,
of the Algerian mission. Among the principal officers of the Pasha are
the Vakeers, of the Equatorial province, and Major Awash Effendi, of the
Second battalion.
"Since leaving Victoria Nyanza we have lost eighteen of the Pasha's
people, and one native of Zanzibar, who was killed while we were
parleying with hostile people. Every other expedition I have led has
seen the lightening of our labors as we drew near the sea, but I cannot
say the same of this one. Our long string of hammock bearers tells a
different tale, and until we place these poor things on shipboard there
will be no rest for us. The worst of it is we have not the privilege of
showing at Zanzibar the full extent of our labors. After carrying some
of them one thousand miles, fighting to the right and left of the sick,
driving Warasura from their prey, over range and range of mountains,
with every energy on the full strain, they slip through our hands and
die in their hammocks. One lady, seventy-five years of age, the old
mother of the Valkiel, died in this manner in North Msukuma, south of
Victoria Nyanza.
"We had as stirring a time for four days as we had anywhere. For those
four days we had continuous fighting during the greater part of daylight
hours. The foolish natives took an unaccountable prejudice to the
Pasha's people. They insisted that they were cannibals and had come to
their country for no good. Talking to them was of no use. Any attempt at
disproof drove them into white hot rage, and in their mad flinging of
themselves on us they suffered."