DEPARTURE FROM NYANGWÉ.--THE DARK UNKNOWN.--IN THE PRIMEVAL FOREST.--AN
AFRICAN WILDERNESS.--SAVAGE FURNITURE.--TIPPU-TIB'S DEPENDANTS.--A
TOILSOME MARCH.--THE DENSE JUNGLE.--A DEMORALIZED COLUMN.--AFRICAN
WEAPONS.--A VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.--SKULLS OF SOKOS.--STANLEY'S LAST PAIR
OF SHOES.--SNAKES IN THE WAY.--THE TERRIBLE UNDER-GROWTH.--NATIVES OF
UREGGA AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.--SKULLS AS STREET ORNAMENTS.--AMONG
THE CANNIBALS.--ON THE RIVER'S BANK.--A SUDDEN INSPIRATION.--THE TRUE
ROAD TO THE SEA.--TIPPU-TIB'S DISCOURAGEMENTS.--ENCOUNTERING THE
NATIVES.--SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATIONS.--THE EXPEDITION FERRIED OVER THE
RIVER.--CAMPING IN THE WENYA.
After a brief pause Fred continued to read from the book which lay
before him:
"When, on the 5th of November, 1876, we had left Nyangwé behind us,
and had attended an elevated grassy ridge, we saw before us a
black, curving wall of forest, which, beginning from the river
bank, extended southeast, until hills and distance made it
indistinct.
[Illustration: NEAR NYANGWÉ.]
"I turned round to look at Nyangwé, which we were leaving. How
lovable and cheerful it appeared as it crowned the shoulder of one
of those lengthy grassy undulations overlooking the gray-brown
Livingstone! How bright and warm appeared the plain border of the
river as the sun shone over its wind-fanned waves of grass! Even
the hill-cones of Uzura and western Manyema ranked in line between
the forest and the grassy plain, which were now purpling and
becoming like cloud-forms, seemed to me to have a more friendly and
brighter appearance than the cold blackness of the dense forest
which rose before us to the north!
"What a forbidding aspect had the Dark Unknown which confronted us!
I could not comprehend in the least what lay before us. Even the
few names which I had heard from the Arabs conveyed no definite
impression to my understanding. What were Tata, Meginna, Uregga,
Usongora Meno, and such uncouth names to me? They conveyed no idea,
and signified no object; they were barren names of either
countries, villages, or peoples, involved in darkness, savagery,
ignorance, and fable.
"Yet it is our destiny to move on, whatever direction it may be
that that narrow winding path, running among tall grasses and down
into gullies and across small streams, takes us, until we penetrate
that cold, dark, still horizon before us, and emerge whithersoever
the narrow path will permit us--a distance of two hundred and forty
hours' travel.
"The object of the desperate journey is to flash a torch of light
across the western half of the Dark Continent. For from Nyangwé
east, along the fourth parallel of south latitude, are some eight
hundred and thirty geographical miles, discovered, explored, and
surveyed; but westward to the Atlantic Ocean, along the same
latitude, are nine hundred and fifty-six miles--over nine hundred
geographical miles of which are absolutely unknown. Instead,
however, of striking direct west, we are about to travel north on
the eastern side of the river, to prevent it bending easterly to
Muta Nzege, or Nilewards, unknown to us, and to ascertain, if the
river really runs westward, what affluents flow to it from the
east; and to deduce from their size and volume some idea of the
extent of country which they drain, and the locality of their
sources.
[Illustration: OPEN COUNTRY BEFORE REACHING THE FOREST.]
"A thousand things may transpire to prevent the accomplishment of
our purpose: hunger, disease, and savage hostility may crush us;
perhaps, after all, the difficulties may daunt us, but our hopes
run high, and our purpose is lofty; then, in the name of God let us
set on, and as he pleases, so let him rule our destinies!
"After journeying a distance of nine miles and a half northeast,
over a rolling plain covered with grass, we arrived at the villages
of Nakasimbi; Tippu-Tib, with seven hundred people--men, women and
children--occupying two villages, while our expedition occupied
another, overlooking a depression drained by a sluggish affluent of
the Kunda River.
"Tippu-Tib is accompanied by about a dozen Arabs, young or
middle-aged, who have followed him in the hope of being rewarded by
him or myself at the end of a prosperous journey.
"One of them is called Sheik Abdallah, alias Muini Kibwana--a name
adopted solely for Manyema. He is very ignorant, can neither read
nor write, but has a vast regard for those who have mastered the
secrets of literature, like Tippu-Tib. He is armed with a
flint-lock Brummagem musket, for which he has considerable
affection, because--according to him--it has saved his life many a
time. 'It never lies.'
[Illustration: TIPPU-TIB'S BODY SERVANTS.]
"The next is Muini Ibrahim, a Mrima (coast) man, of Arab descent,
though ruder and unpolished. Americans would have very little to do
with him, because the negroid evidences are so great that he would
be classed as a full-blooded negro. Yet he speaks Arabic well, and
is a fervid Muslim, but withal as superstitious as any primitive
African. He affects to be religious, and consequently is not
blood-thirsty, having some regard for the lives of human beings,
and for this receiving due praise from me. He is also armed with a
flint-lock musket. Sheik Abdallah and he are bosom friends, and
each possesses from thirty to forty slaves, likewise armed with
flint-locks.
"Tippu-Tib's Arab dependants, who dip their hands in the same
porridge and meat-dish with the independent Sheik Abdallah and
Muini Ibrahim, consist of Muini Jumah (Master Friday), a nervous,
tall young man; Chéché (Weasel), a short, light-complexioned young
man of twenty-five years of age; Bwana Abed bin Jumah, the author
of the dwarf story, who has consented to act as our guide; Muini
Hamadi, a half-caste man of sturdy form and resolute appearance;
and six or seven others of no special individuality or importance,
except as so many dependants of Tippu-Tib.
"The seven hundred people who follow our expedition at present
consist of two parties: one party composed of three hundred men,
women, and children, and commanded by Bwana Shokka (master of the
axe), the confidential man of Tippu-Tib's staff, of great strength,
tall and gaunt of person, and a renowned traveller; a man of great
tact, and worth a fortune to his master, as he is exceedingly cool,
speaks slowly, and by some rare gift conciliates the savages (when
not actually attacked on the road) and makes them friends. In a few
days he is to part from us, striking northeasterly for some dozen
marches, the utmost reach of Arab intercourse.
[Illustration: JUMAH.]
"The four hundred who are to accompany us for a distance of sixty
camps consist of about two hundred and fifty men--Arabs,
half-castes, Wangwana, one hundred Wanyamwezi, Ruga-Ruga--mostly
armed with spears and bows and arrows; others possess flint-locks.
One hundred men consist of Barua, Manyema, Bakusu, Ba-Samha, and
Utotera slaves; most of these slaves are armed with flint-locks,
the others with formidable spears and shields. There are also about
fifty youths, ranging from ten to eighteen years of age, being
trained by Tippu-Tib as gun-bearers, house-servants, scouts, cooks,
carpenters, house-builders, blacksmiths, and leaders of trading
parties. Meanwhile such young fellows are useful to him; they are
more trustworthy than adults, because they look up to him as their
father; and know that if they left him they would inevitably be
captured by a less humane man. The remainder of this motley force
consists of women, the wives of Tippu-Tib and his followers.
"Two hundred and ten out of the four hundred I have pledged to
support until they shall return to Nyangwé, at the same rate of
ration currency that may be distributed to the members of our
expedition.
"On the 6th of November we drew nearer to the dreaded black and
chill forest called Mitamba, and at last, bidding farewell to
sunshine and brightness, entered it.
"We had made one mistake--we had not been up early enough.
Tippu-Tib's heterogeneous column of all ages was ahead of us, and
its want of order and compactness became a source of trouble to us
in the rear.
"We, accustomed to rapid marching, had to stand in our places
minutes at a time waiting patiently for an advance of a few yards,
after which would come another halt, and another short advance, to
be again halted. And all this time the trees kept shedding their
dew upon us, like rain, in great round drops. Every leaf seemed
weeping. Down the boles and branches, creepers and vegetable cords,
the moisture trickled and fell on us. Overhead the wide-spreading
branches, in many interlaced strata, each branch heavy with broad,
thick leaves, absolutely shut out the daylight. We knew not whether
it was a sunshiny day or a dull, foggy, gloomy day; for we marched
in a feeble, solemn twilight, such as you may experience in
temperate climes an hour after sunset. The path soon became a
stiff, clayey paste, and at every step we splashed water over the
legs of those in front and on either side of us.
"To our right and left, to the height of about twenty feet, towered
the undergrowth, the lower world of vegetation. The soil on which
this thrives is a dark-brown vegetable humus, the _débris_ of ages
of rotting leaves and fallen branches, a very forcing-bed of
vegetable life, which, constantly fed with moisture, illustrates in
an astonishing degree the prolific power of the warm, moist shades
of the tropics.
"The stiff clay lying under this mould, being impervious, retains
the moisture which constantly supplies the millions of tiny roots
of herb, plant, and bush. The innumerable varieties of plants which
spring up with such marvellous rapidity, if exposed to the gale,
would soon be laid prostrate. But what rude blast can visit these
imprisoned shades? The tempest might roar without the leafy world,
but in its deep bosom there is absolute stillness. One has but to
tug at a sapling to know that the loose mould has no retentive
power, and that the sapling's roots have not penetrated the clays.
Even the giants of the forest have not penetrated very deeply, as
one may see by the half-exposed roots; they appear to retain their
upright positions more by breadth of base than by their grasp of
earth.
"Every few minutes we found ourselves descending into ditches, with
streams trending towards the Kunda River, discharged out of leafy
depths of date-palms, Amoma, Carpodinæ, and Phrynia. Climbing out
from these streams, up their steep banks, our faces were brushed by
the broad leaves of the Amomum, or the wild banana, ficus of
various kinds, and climbing, crawling, obstructing lengths of wild
vines.
[Illustration: THE EDGE OF THE FOREST.]
"Naturally our temper was not improved by this new travelling. The
dew dropped and pattered on us incessantly until about 10 A.M. Our
clothes were heavily saturated with it. My white sun-helmet and
puggaree appeared to be weighted with lead. Being too heavy, and
having no use for it in the cool, dank shades, I handed it to my
gun-bearer, for my clothes, gaiters, and boots, which creaked
loudly with the water that had penetrated them, were sufficient
weight for me to move with. Added to this vexation was the
perspiration which exuded from every pore, for the atmosphere was
stifling. The steam from the hot earth could be seen ascending
upward and settling like a gray cloud above our heads. In the early
morning it had been so dense that we could scarcely distinguish the
various trees by their leafage.
"At 3 P.M. we had reached Mpotira, in the district of Uzimba,
Manyema, twenty-one miles and a half from the Arab depot on the
Lualaba.
"The poor boatmen did not arrive until evening, for the boat
sections--dreadful burdens--had to be driven like blunted ploughs
through the depths of foliage. The men complained bitterly of
fatigue, and for their sake we rested at Mpotira.
[Illustration: WATER-BOTTLES.]
"The nature of the next two days' experiences through the forest
may be gathered by reading the following portions of entries in my
journal:
"'_November_ 8.--N. one half W., nine miles to district of Karindi,
or Kionga, Uregga.
"'We have had a fearful time of it to-day in these woods, and Bwana
Shokka, who has visited this region before, declares with superior
pride that what we have experienced as yet is only a poor beginning
to the weeks upon weeks which we shall have to endure. Such
crawling, scrambling, tearing through the damp, dank jungles, and
such height and depth of woods!... Once we obtained a sidelong
view, from a tree on the crown of a hill, over the wild woods on
our left, which swept in irregular waves of branch and leaf down to
the valley of the Lualaba. Across the Lualaba, on the western bank,
we looked with wistful eyes on what appeared to be green, grassy
plains. Ah! what a contrast to that which we had to endure! It was
a wild and weird scene, this outlook we obtained of the top of the
leafy world!... It was so dark sometimes in the woods that I could
not see the words, recording notes of the track, which I pencilled
in my note-book. At 3.30 P.M. we arrived in camp, quite worn out
with the struggle through the intermeshed bush, and almost
suffocated with the heavy atmosphere. Oh, for a breath of mountain
air!
"'_November_ 9, 1876.--N. one half W., ten and a half miles' march
to Kiussi, Uregga.
[Illustration: STOOL OF UREGGA.]
"'Another difficult day's work in the forest and jungle. Our
expedition is no longer the compact column which was my pride. It
is utterly demoralized. Every man scrambles as he best may through
the woods; the path, being over a clayey soil, is so slippery that
every muscle is employed to assist our progress. The toes grasp the
path, the head bears the load, the hand clears the obstructing
bush, the elbow puts aside the sapling. Yesterday the boatmen
complained so much that I organized all the chiefs into a pioneer
party, with axes, to clear the path. Of course we could not make a
wide road. There were many prostrate giants fallen across the
path, each with a mountain of twigs and branches, compelling us to
cut roads through the bush a long distance to get round them. My
boat-bearers are utterly wearied out.'
[Illustration: UREGGA HOUSE.]
[Illustration: SPOONS OF UREGGA.]
"On the 10th we halted for a well-deserved rest. We were now in
Uregga--the forest country. Fenced round by their seldom-penetrated
woods, the Waregga have hitherto led lives as secluded as the
troops of chimpanzees in their forest. Their villages consist of
long rows of houses, all connected together in one block from fifty
yards to three hundred yards in length. The doorways are square
apertures in the walls, only two feet square, and cut at about
eighteen inches above the ground. Within the long block is divided
into several apartments for the respective families. Like the
Manyema houses, the roofs glisten as though smeared with coal-tar.
There are shelves for fuel, and netting for swinging their
crockery; into the roof are thrust the various small knick-knacks
which such families need--the pipe and bunch of tobacco-leaves, the
stick of dried snails, various mysterious compounds wrapped in
leaves of plants, pounded herbs, and what not. Besides these we
noted, as household treasures, the skins of goats, mongoose or
civet, weasel, wild cat, monkey, and leopard, shells of
land-snails, very large and prettily marked, and necklaces of the
_Achatina monetaria_. There is also quite a store of powdered
camwood, besides curiously carved bits of wood, supposed to be
talismans against harm, and handsome spoons, while over the door
are also horns of goats and small forest deer, and, occupying
conspicuous places, the gaudy war head-dress of feathers of the
gray-bodied and crimson-tailed parrots, the drum, and some heavy,
broad-bladed spears with ironwood staffs.
[Illustration: UREGGA SPEAR.]
[Illustration: CANE SETTEE.]
"In the 'arts and sciences' of savage life, these exceedingly
primitive Africans, buried though they have been from all
intercourse with others, are superior in some points to many tribes
more favorably situated. For instance, until the day I arrived at
Kiussi village, I had not observed a settee. Yet in the depths of
this forest of Uregga every family possessed a neatly made
water-cane settee, which would seat comfortably three persons.
[Illustration: BENCH.]
"Another very useful article of furniture was the bench four or
five feet long, cut out of a single log of the white soft wood of
one of the Rubiaceæ, and significant as showing a more sociable
spirit than that which seems to govern Eastern Africans, among whom
the rule is, 'Every man to his own stool.'
[Illustration: BACK-REST.]
"Another noteworthy piece of furniture is the fork of a tree, cut
off where the branches begin to ramify. This, when trimmed and
peeled, is placed in an inverted position. The branches, sometimes
three, or even four, serve as legs of a singular back-rest.
[Illustration: AN AFRICAN FEZ OF LEOPARD-SKIN.]
"All the adult males wear skull-caps of goat or monkey-skin, except
the chief and elders, whose heads were covered with the
aristocratic leopard-skin, with the tail of the leopard hanging
down the back like a tassel.
"The women were weighted with massive and bright iron rings. One of
them, who was probably a lady of importance, carried at least
twelve pounds of iron and five pounds of copper rings on her arms
and legs, besides a dozen necklaces of the indigenous _Achatina
monetaria_.
"From Kiussi, through the same dense jungle and forest, with its
oppressive atmosphere and its soul-wearying impediments, we made a
journey of fourteen miles to Mirimo. It is a populous settlement,
and its people are good-natured.
"For several days we struggled on through the terrible forest. The
Wangwana began to murmur loudly, while the boatmen, though assisted
by a dozen supernumeraries and preceded by a gang of pioneers, were
becoming perfectly savage; but the poor fellows had certainly cause
for discontent. I pitied them from my soul, yet I dared not show
too great a solicitude, lest they should have presumed upon it, and
requested me either to return to Nyangwé or to burn my boat.
"Even Tippu-Tib, whom I anxiously watched, as on him I staked all
my hopes and prospects, murmured. The evil atmosphere created
sickness in the Arab escort, but all my people maintained their
health, if not their temper. The constant slush and reek which the
heavy dews caused in the forest had worn my shoes out, and half of
the march on the fifteenth of November I travelled with naked feet.
I had then to draw out of my store my last pair of shoes. Frank was
already using his last pair. Yet we were still in the very centre
of the continent. What should we do when all were gone? was a
question which we asked of each other often.
"The faces of the people, Arabs, Wangwana, Wanyamwezi, and the
escort, were quite a study at the camp. All their courage was
oozing out, as day by day we plodded through the doleful, dreary
forest. We saw a python ten feet long, a green viper, and a
monstrous puff-adder on this march, besides scores of monkeys, of
the white-necked or glossy-black species, as also the small gray,
and the large howling baboons. We heard also the 'soko,' or
chimpanzee, and saw one 'nest' belonging to it in the fork of a
tall bombax. A lemur was also observed; its loud, harsh cries made
each night hideous.
[Illustration: PRICKLES OF THE ACACIA PLANT.]
"The path presented myriapedes, black and brown, six inches in
length; while beetles were innumerable, and armies of the
deep-brown 'hot-water' ants compelled us to be cautious how we
stepped.
[Illustration: AN AFRICAN ANT.]
"The difficulties of such travel as we had now commenced may be
imagined when a short march of six miles and a half occupied the
twenty-four men who were carrying the boat-sections an entire day,
and so fatigued them that we had to halt a day to recruit their
exhausted strength.
"The terrible undergrowth that here engrossed all the space under
the shade of the pillared bombax and mastlike mvulé was a miracle
of vegetation. It consisted of ferns, spear-grass, water-cane, and
orchidaceous plants, mixed with wild vines, cable thicknesses of
the _Ficus elastica_, and a sprinkling of mimosas, acacias,
tamarinds; llianes, palms of various species, wild date, _Raphia
vinifera_, the elais, the fan, rattans, and a hundred other
varieties, all struggling for every inch of space, and swarming
upward with a luxuriance and density that only this extraordinary
hothouse atmosphere could nourish. We had certainly seen forests
before, but this scene was an epoch in our lives ever to be
remembered for its bitterness; the gloom enhanced the dismal misery
of our life; the slopping moisture, the unhealthy reeking
atmosphere, and the monotony of the scenes; nothing but the eternal
interlaced branches, the tall aspiring stems, rising from a tangle
through which we had to burrow and crawl like wild animals, on
hands and feet.
"One morning, when we were encamped at a village called
Wane-Kirumbu, Tippu-Tib and the Arabs came to my hut. After a long
preamble, wherein he described the hardships of the march,
Tippu-Tib concluded by saying that he had come to announce his wish
that our contract should be dissolved!
[Illustration: MARABOUTS, STORKS, AND PELICANS IN THE FOREST
LAKES.]
"In a moment it flashed on my mind that a crisis had arrived. Was
the expedition to end here? I urged with all my powers the
necessity for keeping engagements so deliberately entered into.
"For two hours I plied him with arguments, and at last, when I was
nearly exhausted, Tippu-Tib consented to accompany me twenty
marches farther, beginning from the camp we were then in. It was a
fortunate thing indeed for me that he agreed to this, as his return
so close to Nyangwé in the present dispirited condition of my
people's minds would have undoubtedly insured the destruction of
all my hopes.
"The natives of Uregga are not liberally disposed. Wane-Kirumbu's
chief was the first who consented to exchange gifts with me. He
presented me with a chicken and some bananas, and I reciprocated
the gift with five cowries, which he accepted without a murmur. On
witnessing this pleasing and most uncommon trait of moderation, I
presented him with ten more, which appeared to him so bounteous
that he left my presence quite affected, indeed almost overcome by
his emotions of gratitude.
"The men of these forest communities of Uregga, upon the decease of
their wives, put on symbols of mourning, namely, a thick daub of
charcoal paste over the face, which they retain for five
'years'--two and a half European years. Widows also mourn for their
husbands a like period, with the same disfigurement of features,
but with the addition of bands of sere leaf of the banana round the
forehead.
[Illustration: A FORGE AND SMITHY AT WANE-KIRUMBU, UREGGA.]
At Wane-Kirumbu we found a large native forge and smithy, where
there were about a dozen smiths busily at work. The iron ore is
very pure. Here were the broad-bladed spears of southern Uregga,
and the equally broad knives of all sizes, from the small
waist-knife, an inch and a half in length, to the heavy Roman
swordlike cleaver. The bellows for the smelting-furnace are four in
number, double-handled, and manned by four men, who, by a quick
up-and-down motion, supply a powerful blast, the noise of which is
heard nearly half a mile from the scent. The furnace consists of
tamped clay, raised into a mound about four feet high. A hollow is
then excavated in it, two feet in diameter and two feet deep. From
the middle of the slope four apertures are excavated into the base
of the furnace, into which are fitted funnel-shaped earthenware
pipes to convey the blasts to the fire. At the base of the mound a
wide aperture for the hearth is excavated, penetrating below the
furnace. The hearth receives the dross and slag.
"Close by stood piled up mat-sacks of charcoal, with a couple of
boys ready to supply the fuel, and about two yards off was a
smaller smithy, where the iron was shaped into hammers, axes,
war-hatchets, spears, knives, swords, wire, iron balls with spikes,
leglets, armlets, iron beads, etc. The art of the blacksmith is of
a high standard in these forests, considering the loneliness of the
inhabitants. The people have much traditional lore, and it appears
from the immunity which they have enjoyed in these dismal retreats
that from one generation to another something has been communicated
and learned, showing that even the jungle man is a progressive and
improvable animal.
"On the 17th of November we crossed several lofty, hilly ridges,
and after a march of eleven miles northwesterly through the dank,
dripping forests, arrived at Kampunzu, in the district of Uvinza,
where dwell the true aborigines of the forest country.
"Kampunzu village is about five hundred yards in length, formed of
one street thirty feet wide, flanked on each side by a straight,
symmetrical, and low block of houses, gable-roofed. Several small
villages in the neighborhood are of the same pattern.
"The most singular feature of Kampunzu village were two rows of
skulls ten feet apart, running along the entire length of the
village, imbedded about two inches deep in the ground, the
'cerebral hemispheres' uppermost, bleached, and glistening white
from weather. The skulls were one hundred and eighty-six in number
in this one village. To me they appeared to be human, though many
had an extraordinary projection of the posterior lobes, others of
the parietal bones, and the frontal bones were unusually low and
retreating; yet the sutures and the general aspect of the greatest
number of them were so similar to what I believed to be human that
it was almost with an indifferent air that I asked my chiefs and
Arabs what these skulls were. They replied,
'sokos'--chimpanzees(?).
"'Sokos from the forest?'
"'Certainly,' they all replied.
"'Bring the chief of Kampunzu to me immediately,' I said, much
interested now because of the wonderful reports of them that
Livingstone had given me, as also the natives of Manyema.
"The chief of Kampunzu--a tall, strongly-built man of about
thirty-five years of age--appeared, and I asked,
"'My friend, what are those things with which you adorn the street
of your village?'
"He replied, 'Nyama' (meat).
"'Nyama! Nyama of what?'
"'Nyama of the forest.'
"'Of the forest! What kind of thing is this Nyama of the forest?'
"'It is about the size of this boy,' pointing to Mabruki, my
gun-bearer, who was four feet ten inches in height. 'He walks like
a man, and goes about with a stick, with which he beats the trees
in the forest, and makes hideous noises. The Nyama eat our bananas,
and we hunt them, kill them, and eat them.
"'Are they good eating?' I asked.
"He laughed, and replied that they were very good.
"'Would you eat one if you had one now?'
"'Indeed I would. Shall a man refuse meat?'
"'Well, look here. I have one hundred cowries here. Take your men
and catch one, and bring him to me, alive or dead. I only want his
skin and head. You may have the meat.'
"Kampunzu's chief, before he set out with his men, brought me a
portion of the skin of one, which probably covered the back. The
fur was dark gray, an inch long, with the points inclined to white;
a line of darker hair marked the spine. This, he assured me, was a
portion of the skin of a 'soko.' He also showed me a cap made out
of it, which I purchased.
[Illustration: A YOUNG "SOKO" SITTING FOR HIS PORTRAIT.]
"The chief returned about evening unsuccessful from the search. He
wished us to remain two or three days, that he might set traps for
the 'sokos,' as they would be sure to visit the bananas at night.
Not being able to wait so many days, I obtained for a few cowries
the skull of a male and another of a female.
"These two skulls were safely brought to England and shown to
Professor Huxley, who passed judgment upon them as follows:
[Illustration: HEAD OF THE GORILLA.]
"'Of the two skulls submitted to me for examination, the one is
that of a man probably somewhat under thirty years of age, and the
other that of a woman over fifty. Nothing in these skulls justifies
the supposition that their original possessors differed in any
sensible degree from the ordinary African negro.'
"Professor Huxley thus startles me with the proof that Kampunzu's
people were cannibals, for at least one half the number of skulls
seen by me bore the mark of a hatchet, which had been driven into
the head while the victims were alive.
"In this village were also observed those carved benches cut out of
the Rubiaceæ already mentioned, backgammon trays, and stools carved
in the most admirable manner, all being decorated around the edges
of the seats with brass tacks and 'soko' teeth.
[Illustration: BACKGAMMON TRAY.]
"The women of Uregga wear only aprons, of bark or grass-cloth,
fastened by cords of palm fibre. The men wear skins of civet, or
monkey, in front and rear, the tails downward. It may have been
from a hasty glance of a rapidly disappearing form of one of these
people in the wild woods that native travellers in the lake regions
felt persuaded that they had seen 'men with tails.'
"On the 19th a march of five miles through the forest west from
Kampunzu brought us to the Lualaba, in south latitude 3° 35', just
forty-one geographical miles north of the Arab depot Nyangwé. An
afternoon observation for longitude showed east longitude 25° 49'.
The name Lualaba terminates here. I mean to speak of it henceforth
as THE LIVINGSTONE.
"The Livingstone was twelve hundred yards wide from bank to bank
opposite the landing-place of Kampunzu. As there were no people
dwelling within a mile of the right bank, we prepared to encamp. My
tent was pitched about thirty feet from the river, on a grassy
spot; Tippu-Tib and his Arabs were in the bushes; while the five
hundred and fifty people of whom the expedition consisted began to
prepare a site for their huts, by enlarging the open space around
the landing place.
"While my breakfast (for noon) was cooking, and my tent was being
drawn taut and made trim, a mat was spread on a bit of short grass,
soft as an English lawn, a few yards from the water. Some sedgy
reeds obstructed my view, and as I wished while resting to watch
the river gliding by, I had them all cropped off short.
"Frank and the Wangwana chiefs were putting the boat-sections
together in the rear of the camp; I was busy thinking, planning a
score of things--what time it would be best to cross the river, how
we should commence our acquaintance with the warlike tribes on the
left bank, what our future would be, how I should succeed in
conveying our large force across, and, in the event of a determined
resistance, what we should do, etc.
"Gentle as a summer's dream, the brown wave of the great
Livingstone flowed by, broad and deep. On the opposing bank loomed
darkly against the sky another forest, similar to the one which had
harrowed our souls. I obtained from my seat a magnificent view of
the river, flanked by black forests, gliding along, with a serene
grandeur and an unspeakable majesty of silence about it that caused
my heart to yearn towards it.
"Downward it flows to the unknown! to night-black clouds of mystery
and fable, mayhap past the lands of the anthropoids, the pigmies,
and the blanket-eared men of whom the gentle pagan king of Karagwé
spoke, by leagues upon leagues of unexplored lands, populous with
scores of tribes, of whom not a whisper has reached the people of
other continents; perhaps that fabulous being, the dread Macoco, of
whom Bartolomeo Diaz, Cada Mosto, and Dapper have written, is still
represented by one who inherits his ancient kingdom and power, and
surrounded by barbarous pomp. Something strange must surely lie in
the vast space occupied by total blankness on our maps between
Nyangwé and "Tuckey's Farthest!"
"'I seek a road to connect these two points. We have labored
through the terrible forest, and manfully struggled through the
gloom. My people's hearts have become faint. I seek a road. Why,
here lies a broad watery avenue cleaving the Unknown to some sea,
like a path of light! Here are woods all around, sufficient for a
thousand fleets of canoes. Why not build them?'
"I sprang up; told the drummer to call to muster. The people
responded wearily to the call. Frank and the chiefs appeared. The
Arabs and their escort came also, until a dense mass of expectant
faces surrounded me. I turned to them and said,
[Illustration: IN FULL STYLE.]
"Arabs! sons of Unyamwezi! children of Zanzibar! listen to words.
We have seen the Mitamba of Uregga. We have tasted its bitterness,
and have groaned in spirit. We seek a road. We seek something by
which we may travel. I seek a path that shall take me to the sea. I
have found it.'
"Ah! ah--h!' and murmurs and inquiring looks at one another.
"'Yes! El hamd ul Illah. I have found it. Regard this mighty river.
From the beginning it has flowed on thus, as you see it flow
to-day. It has flowed on in silence and darkness. Whither? To the
salt sea, as all rivers go! By that salt sea, on which the great
ships come and go, live my friends and your friends. Do they not?
"Cries of 'Yes! yes!'
"'Yet, my people, though this river is so great, so wide and deep,
no man has ever penetrated the distance lying between this spot on
which we stand and our white friends who live by the salt sea. Why?
Because it was left for us to do.'
"'Ah, no! no! no!' and desponding shakes of the head.
"'Yes,' I continued, raising my voice; 'I tell you, my friends, it
has been left from the beginning of time until to-day for us to do.
It is our work, and no other. It is the voice of Fate! The One God
has written that this year the river shall be known throughout its
length! We will have no more Mitambas; we will have no more panting
and groaning by the wayside; we will have no more hideous darkness;
we will take to the river, and keep to the river. To-day I shall
launch my boat on that stream, and it shall never leave it until I
finish my work. I swear it.
"'Now, you Wangwana! You who have followed me through Turu, and
sailed around the great lakes with me; you, who have followed me,
like children following their father, through Unyoro, and down to
Ujiji, and as far as this wild, wild land, will you leave me here?
Shall I and my white brother go alone? Will you go back and tell my
friends that you left me in this wild spot, and cast me adrift to
die? Or will you, to whom I have been so kind, whom I love as I
would love my children, will you bind me, and take me back by
force? Speak, Arabs? Where are my young men, with hearts of lions?
Speak, Wangwana, and show me those who dare follow me?'
"Uledi, the coxswain, leaped upward, and then sprang towards me,
and kneeling grasped my knees, and said, 'Look on me, my master! I
am one! I will follow you to death!' 'And I,' Kachéché cried; 'and
I, and I, and I,' shouted the boat's crew.
"'It is well. I knew I had friends. You, then, who have cast your
lot with me stand on one side, and let me count you.'
"There were thirty-eight! Ninety-five stood still, and said
nothing.
"'I have enough. Even with you, my friends, I shall reach the sea.
But there is plenty of time. We have not yet made our canoes. We
have not yet parted with the Arabs. We have yet a long distance to
travel with Tippu-Tib. We may meet with good people, from whom we
may buy canoes. And by the time we part I am sure that the
ninety-five men now fearing to go with us will not leave their
brothers, and their master and his white brother, to go down the
river without them. Meantime I give you many thanks, and shall not
forget your names.'
[Illustration: A TRIBUTARY RIVER.]
"The assembly broke up, and each man proceeded about his special
duties. Tippu-Tib, Sheik Abdallah, and Muini Ibrahim sat on the
mat, and commenced to try to persuade me not to be so rash, and to
abandon all idea of descending the river. In my turn I requested
them not to speak like children, and, however they might think, not
to disclose their fears to the Wangwana; but rather to encourage
them to do their duty, and share the dangers with me, because the
responsibility was all my own, and the greatest share of danger
would be mine; and that I would be in front to direct and guide,
and save, and for my own sake as well as for their sake would be
prudent.
"In reply, they spoke of cataracts and cannibals and warlike
tribes. They depreciated the spirit of the Wangwana, and declaimed
against men who were once slaves; refused to concede one virtue to
them, either of fidelity, courage, or gratitude, and predicted that
the end would be death to all.
[Illustration: WANGWANA WOMEN.]
"'Speak no more, Tippu-Tib. You who have travelled all your life
among slaves have not yet learned that there lies something good in
the heart of every man that God made. Men were not made all bad, as
you say. For God is good, and he made all men. I have studied my
people; I know them and their ways. It will be my task to draw the
good out of them while they are with me; and the only way to do it
is to be good to them, for good produces good. As you value my
friendship, and hope to receive money from me, be silent. Speak not
a word of fear to my people, and when we part I shall make known my
name to you. To you, and to all who are my friends, I shall be "the
white man with the open hand." But if not, then I shall be
"Kipara-moto."'
"While I had been speaking, a small canoe with two men was seen
advancing from the opposite bank. One of the interpreters was
called, and told to speak to them quietly, and to ask them to bring
canoes to take us across.
"We had a long parley, but it resulted in nothing. The natives
refused to ferry us over the river at any price, and on the way
back they set up a war-cry which resounded through the forest, and
was repeated from many points. Meantime my people were putting the
_Lady Alice_ in readiness, and by the time I had finished my
breakfast the _Lady Alice_ was in the river, and a loud shout of
applause greeted her appearance on the water.
"The boat's crew, with Uledi as coxswain, and Tippu-Tib, Sheik
Abdallah, Muini Ibrahim, Bwana Abed (the guide), Muni Jumah, and
two interpreters and myself as passengers, entered the boat. We
were rowed up the river for half an hour, and then struck across to
a small island in mid-stream. With the aid of a glass I examined
the shores, which from our camp appeared to be dense forest. We saw
that there were about thirty canoes tied to the bank, and among the
trees I detected several houses. The bank was crowded with human
beings, who were observing our movements.
"We re-entered our boat and pulled straight across to the left
bank, then floated down slowly with the current, meantime
instructing the interpreters as to what they should say to the
Wenya.
"When we came opposite, an interpreter requested them to take a
look at the white man who had come to visit their country, who
wished to make friends with them, who would give them abundance of
shells, and allow none of his men to appropriate a single banana,
or do violence to a single soul; not a leaf would be taken, nor a
twig burned, without being paid for.
"The natives, gazing curiously at me, promised, after a
consultation, that if we made blood-brotherhood with them there
should be no trouble, and that for this purpose the white chief,
accompanied by ten men, should proceed early next morning to the
island, where he would be met by the chief of the Wenya and his ten
men; and that, after the ceremony, all the canoes should cross and
assist to carry our people to their country.
"After thanking them, we returned to camp, highly elated with our
success. At 4 A.M., however, the boat secretly conveyed twenty men
with Kachéché, who had orders to hide in the brushwood, and,
returning to camp at 7 A.M., conveyed Frank and ten men, who were
to perform the ceremony of brotherhood, to the island. On its
return I entered the boat, and was rowed a short way up stream
along the right bank, so that, in case of treachery, I might be
able to reach the island within four minutes to lend assistance.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE PEOPLE ON SHORE.]
"About 9 A.M. six canoes full of men were seen to paddle to the
island. We saw them arrive before it, and finally draw near.
Earnestly and anxiously I gazed through my glass at every movement.
Other canoes were seen advancing to the island. A few seconds after
the latest arrivals had appeared on the scene, I saw great
animation, and almost at once those curious cries came pealing up
the river. There were animated shouts, and a swaying of bodies,
and, unable to wait longer, we dashed towards the island, and the
natives on seeing us approach paddled quickly to their
landing-place.
"'Well, Frank, what was the matter?' I asked.
"'I never saw such wretches in my life, sir. When that last batch
of canoes came, their behavior, which was decent before, changed.
They surrounded us. Half of them remained in the canoes; those on
land began to abuse us violently, handling their spears, and acting
so furiously that if we had not risen with our guns ready they
would have speared us as we were sitting down waiting to begin the
ceremony. But Kachéché, seeing their wild behavior and menacing
gestures, advanced quietly from the brushwood with his men, on
seeing which they ran to their canoes, where they held their spears
ready to launch when you came.'
"'Well, no harm has been done yet,' I replied; 'so rest where you
are, while I take Kachéché and his men across to their side, where
a camp will be formed; because, if we delay to-day crossing, we
shall have half of the people starving by to-morrow morning.'
"After embarking Kachéché, we steered for a point in the woods
above the native village, and, landing thirty men with axes,
proceeded to form a small camp, which might serve as a nucleus
until we should be enabled to transport the expedition. We then
floated down river opposite the village, and, with the aid of an
interpreter, explained to them that as we had already landed thirty
men in their country, it would be far better that they should
assist us in the ferriage, for which they might feel assured that
they would be well paid. At the same time I tossed a small bag of
beads to them. In a few minutes they consented, and six canoes,
with two men in each, accompanied us to camp. The six canoes and
the boat conveyed eighty people safely to the left bank; and then
other canoes, animated by the good understanding that seemed to
prevail between us, advanced to assist, and by night every soul
associated with our expedition was rejoicing by genial camp-fires
in the villages of the Wenya."
It was now time to adjourn the meeting of the _Eider_'s Geographical
Society. Fred briefly announced that the reading would be continued in
the evening, and immediately the little party proceeded to a promenade
on deck, where they discussed the narrative to which they had just
listened, and wondered what happened next.