THE LAST MEETING ON BOARD THE _EIDER_.--FOUNDING THE FREE STATE OF
CONGO.--MR. STANLEY'S LATER WORK ON THE GREAT RIVER.--BUILDING ROADS AND
ESTABLISHING STATIONS.--MAKING PEACE WITH THE NATIVES.--BULA
MATARI.--RESOURCES OF THE CONGO VALLEY.--STANLEY'S LATEST
BOOK.--STEAMERS ON THE RIVER.--THE CONGO RAILWAY.--STANLEY'S PRESENT
MISSION IN AFRICA.--EMIN PASHA AND HIS WORK.--HOW STANLEY PROPOSES TO
RELIEVE HIM.--DR. SCHNITZLER.--BEY OR PASHA?--MWANGA, KING OF
UGANDA.--HIS HOSTILITY TO WHITE MEN.--KILLING BISHOP HANNINGTON.--THE
EGYPTIAN EQUATORIAL PROVINCE.--LETTER FROM STANLEY.--HIS PLANS FOR THE
RELIEF EXPEDITION.--TIPPU-TIB AND HIS MEN.--FROM ZANZIBAR TO THE CONGO.
On the next day there was another meeting of the geographical society,
at which votes of thanks were given to Frank and Fred for their
successful effort to interest and amuse their fellow-voyagers. One of
the latter suggested that it would be a good plan to ask the author of
the "Boy Traveller Series" to make a book for young people by condensing
the two volumes of "Through the Dark Continent" into one, just as Frank
and Fred had condensed them for the readings they had given on board the
steamer. The suggestion was unanimously approved, and in compliance with
it this book has been prepared.
Doctor Bronson said they would be pleased to know that "Through the Dark
Continent" was simultaneously issued in nine languages, an honor never
before shown to a book on its first publication. One of the youths said
he believed Mr. Stanley had published another book about the Congo
country; he wished to know its title so that he could get a copy, as he
was sure it would be interesting.
"I'll tell you about that book," said the Doctor, "and why it was
written. While Mr. Stanley was making his journey which is described in
"Through the Dark Continent," an association was formed in Belgium for
the purpose of developing trade and pushing civilization in Africa. It
was under the patronage of Leopold II., King of the Belgians, and soon
after Mr. Stanley returned to Europe King Leopold engaged him to go to
Africa and manage the affairs of the International African Association,
as the new enterprise was called. He went to the Congo valley in 1879
and remained there nearly six years. He made two or three trips to
Europe during the period of his engagement, and one trip to Zanzibar;
with the exception of the time spent on these journeys, he was occupied
with personally supervising the work of developing trade and
civilization on the Congo."
[Illustration: NGAHMA, A CONGO CHIEF.]
"How did he do it?" was the very natural interrogatory that followed.
"He employed a large number of natives from the coast, Zanzibaris and
others, and established stations at various points along the river. His
first station is at the foot of the last cataracts on the Congo, and is
called Vivi; steamboats and ships of light draft can land at its wharves
and deliver or receive merchandise without difficulty. From Vivi he
built a wagon-road among the hills and across the plains on the north
bank of the Congo to the Isangila cataract, where he established
Isangila station. Along the road he carried steamboats which had been so
built that they could be readily taken apart, and put together again
when navigable water was reached. Above Isangila there is a distance of
ninety miles where the Congo is navigable, and here the steamboats were
used for purposes of transportation until falls were reached again. Then
another station (Manyanga) was established, more road was built, and so
on step by step Mr. Stanley reached Stanley Pool, at the head of the
group of cataracts that obstruct the navigation of the Lower Congo. Here
he established a station and started the town of Leopoldville, the name
being given in honor of the illustrious patron of the enterprise.
[Illustration: VIEW OF VIVI, FROM THE ISANGILA ROAD.]
"It was slow work building roads, transporting material, goods, and
provisions, establishing stations, negotiating with the local chiefs,
and in other ways performing the work of permanent colonization along
the great river. The expedition landed at Vivi in September, 1879; it
was not until June, 1881, that it reached Stanley Pool, above the
highest of the cataracts. To say that the Africans were astonished at
the enterprise is to state the case very feebly. They gave Stanley the
name of Bula Matari (Rock Breaker), in consequence of his cutting
through the rocks in his work of road-making. Such a thing had never
before been known in Africa, and as Bula Matari he is known there to
this day and will long be remembered.
[Illustration: PORT OF LEOPOLDVILLE.]
"From Stanley Pool the Congo is navigable to Stanley Falls, a distance
of nearly one thousand miles. As soon as the steamers could be put
together and affairs at Leopoldville were in a tranquil condition, Mr.
Stanley proceeded up the river and established stations at various
points. Then he explored some of the tributaries of the great river,
discovered a lake which he named Leopold II., established peaceable
relations with the native tribes, opened trade wherever trade was
possible, and learned as much as he could about the country and its
sources. On his first expedition, described in 'Through the Dark
Continent,' he learned enough to convince him that the resources of the
Congo were very great; what he ascertained during his later explorations
confirmed in every way his earlier impressions and made him an
enthusiastic advocate of the settlement and development of the Congo
basin.
"I haven't time to give you more than a bare outline of the work he
performed there. The story is told in his later book, 'The Congo, and
the Founding of its Free State,' a work in two volumes, which, like the
'Dark Continent,' has been published in several languages. Mr. Stanley
returned from Africa in season to take part in the Congress or
Conference of nations at Berlin in the latter part of 1884, where the
affairs of the Congo State were discussed and an international treaty
was made establishing the relations of the new state with the rest of
the world. The country was opened to the commerce of all nations on the
principle of free trade; a large territory on the north of the Congo
State was given to France, while the right of Portugal to a large area
on the south was established. Previous to the Conference there was a
threat of trouble with both France and Portugal, but all was made smooth
when the plenipotentiaries met and talked matters over.
"The progress of civilization on the Congo has been very rapid," Doctor
Bronson continued. "Before Mr. Stanley's adventurous journey in 1877 no
white man had looked upon the Congo between Nyangwé and the lower
cataracts; now there are permanent stations and trading posts all the
way along the great stream from its mouth to Stanley Falls, and several
stations have been established on the tributaries of the Congo wherever
there is a promise of commerce. The route to Nyangwé is as safe as any
part of Africa, and from thence to Tanganika Lake and Zanzibar there are
no obstacles to traffic and travel. Recently a young officer of the
Swedish navy crossed the African continent by way of the Congo, Nyangwé,
and Lake Tanganika, and thence by the usual route to Zanzibar. He made
the entire journey in seven months, or in two months less time than was
taken by Stanley for his descent of the Congo from Nyangwé to Boma."
One of the youths asked how many steamboats are now on the Congo and its
tributaries.
[Illustration: A PHOTOGRAPH.]
"Mr. Stanley told me this morning," replied the Doctor, "that there are
eight steamers running above Leopoldville and Stanley Pool, and two on
the ninety-mile strip of navigable water between the Isangila Fall and
Manyanga. Several new steamers will be placed on the Congo during 1887,
some by the Congo State, others by an American trading company, and
others by the missionaries. By the end of 1887 it is probable that not
fewer than twenty steamers will be established on the Congo, at least
fifteen of them above the lower series of falls. It is in contemplation
to place steamers above Stanley Falls, so that navigation can be
continued to Nyangwé and thus shorten the time of transit from the lower
Congo to Lake Tanganika. The whole valley of the Congo is open to the
commerce of the world only ten years after Mr. Stanley's famous journey
'Through the Dark Continent.'"
[Illustration: A CONGO HOUSE.]
The Doctor paused a moment to glance at a slip which had been cut from a
newspaper, and then continued:
"At its mouth the Congo River is of enormous depth, but only one hundred
miles or so above Stanley Pool, Captain Braconnier said, a year or two
ago, that 'steam-launches drawing barely two and a half feet of water
have to be dragged along by our men.' H. H. Johnston mentions the same
fact in his description of the Congo. 'Our boat is constantly running
aground on sand-banks,' he wrote. 'It has an extraordinary effect to see
men walking half-way over a great branch of the river, with water only
up to their ankles, tracing the course of some hidden sand-bank.'
Stanley, Johnston, and others attributed the remarkable shallowness of
the river to its great breadth in this part of its course; but none of
them knew how wide the river really is above the Kassai River.
"We now have some new light on this question, which is a very
interesting one, because the Congo is next to the greatest river in the
world, and new discoveries with regard to it are apt to be on a large
scale. Captain Rouvier has been surveying this part of the river, and
he finds that for a distance of about fifty miles the Congo is much
wider than was supposed. Its width, in fact, is from fifteen to twenty
miles, a circumstance that has not been discovered before on account of
many long islands, some of which have always been taken for one shore of
the river. It follows, therefore, that there is an expanse on the upper
Congo similar to and very much larger than Stanley Pool. Steamboats have
passed each other in this enlargement of the river without knowing of
each other's proximity.
[Illustration: THE EFFECT OF CIVILIZATION.]
"It is easy to understand, therefore, how it happens that the Congo is
in this place so very shallow, while in narrow portions of the lower
river no plummet-line has ever yet touched bottom. Navigation in this
part of the Congo would be almost impossible were it not that here and
there soundings are revealing channels deep and wide enough for all the
requirements of steamboat traffic.
"The great explorer has planned a railway from Vivi to Leopoldville, so
that the lower series of falls on the river will no longer be a
hinderance to commerce. This railway will be about two hundred and
thirty-five miles long, and Mr. Stanley estimates its cost and equipment
at something less than five millions of dollars, or one million pounds
sterling. He estimates its annual revenue from freight alone at one and
a half million dollars, while the passenger business would not be an
unimportant item. The up-freights would consist of cotton cloth, beads,
wire, muskets, gunpowder, cutlery, china-ware, iron, and other African
'trade-goods,' while the down-freights would include ivory, palm-oil,
ground-nuts, hippopotamus teeth and hides, rubber, beeswax, gum copal,
monkey and other skins, and several kinds of fine woods used in
cabinet-making. Doubtless other products of Central Africa would come
into market which are now unknown in consequence of the high cost of
transportation.
[Illustration: A NATIVE OF THE LOWER CONGO.]
"Mr. Stanley says the navigable waters of the Congo basin that would
have their outlet through the Congo railway are more than five thousand
miles in length, draining a country of more than a million square miles,
much of which is well peopled. The free State of Congo, as defined by
the Berlin Conference, includes a territory of one million five hundred
and eight thousand square miles, with a population estimated at
forty-two million six hundred and eight thousand. North of the Congo
State is the French possession of sixty-two thousand square miles and
two million one hundred and twenty-one thousand six hundred inhabitants,
and on the south is the Portuguese territory of thirty thousand seven
hundred square miles and three hundred thousand inhabitants. So you see
the Congo State, which our friend has created, is one third the area of
the United States and more than one half its population.
"And here," said the Doctor, "is a speech made by Mr. Stanley at a
dinner which was given to him by the Lotos Club of New York, in
November, 1886. I will read an extract from it, with your permission."
Everybody signified a desire to hear it, whereupon Doctor Bronson read
as follows:
"I set out to Africa intending to complete Livingstone's
explorations, also to settle the Nile problem as to where the
head-waters of the Nile were, as to whether Lake Victoria consisted
of one lake, one body of water, or a number of shallow lakes; to
throw some light on Sir Samuel Baker's Albert Nyanza, and also to
discover the outlet of Lake Tanganika, and then to find out what
strange, mysterious river this was which Livingstone saw at
Nyangwé--whether it were the Nile, the Niger, or the Congo. Edwin
Arnold, the author of 'The Light of Asia,' said, 'Do you think you
can do all this?' 'Don't ask me such a conundrum as that. Put down
the funds and tell me to go. That's all.' And he induced Lawson,
the proprietor, to consent. The funds were had, and I went.
"First of all we settled the problem of the Victoria; that it was
one body of water; that instead of being a cluster of shallow lakes
or marshes, it was one body of water, twenty-one thousand five
hundred square miles in extent. While endeavoring to throw light
upon Sir Samuel Baker's Albert Nyanza, we discovered a new lake, a
much superior lake to the Albert Nyanza--the Dead Locust Lake--and
at the same time Gordon Pasha sent his lieutenant to discover and
circumnavigate the Albert Nyanza, and he found it to be only a
miserable one hundred and forty miles, because Baker, in a fit of
enthusiasm, had stood on the brow of a high plateau and, looking
down on the dark-blue waters of Albert Nyanza, cried, romantically:
'I see it extending indefinitely towards the southwest!'
'Indefinitely' is not a geographical expression, gentlemen.
"We found that there was no outlet to the Tanganika, although it
was a sweet-water lake. After settling that problem, day after day,
as we glided down the strange river that had lured and bewildered
Livingstone, we were in as much doubt as Livingstone had been when
he wrote his last letter and said: 'I will never be made black
man's meat for anything less than the classic Nile.' After
travelling four hundred miles we came to the Stanley Falls, and
beyond them we saw the river deflect from its Nileward course
towards the northwest. Then it turned west, and visions of towers
and towns and strange tribes and strange nations broke upon our
imagination, and we wondered what we were going to see, when the
river suddenly took a decided turn towards the southwest, and our
dreams were terminated. We saw then that it was aiming directly for
the Congo, and when we had propitiated some natives whom we
encountered by showing them crimson beads and polished wire that
had been polished for the occasion, we said: 'This for your answer.
What river is this?' 'Why, it is _the_ river, of course.' That was
not an answer, and it required some persuasion before the chief,
bit by bit, digging into his brain, managed to roll out sonorously
the words: 'It is the Ko-to-yah Congo'--'It is the river of
Congoland.'
"Alas for our classic dreams! Alas for Crophi and Mophi, the fabled
fountains of Herodotus! Alas for the banks of the river where Moses
was found by the daughter of Pharaoh! This is the parvenu Congo!
Then we glided on and on, past strange nations and cannibals--not
past those nations which have their heads under their arms--for
eleven hundred miles, until we arrived at a circular extension of
the river, and my last remaining white companion called it the
Stanley Pool, and then, five months after that, our journey ended.
"After that I had a very good mind to come back to America and say,
like the Queen of Uganda, 'There, what did I tell you?' But you
know the fates would not permit me to come over in 1878. The very
day I landed in Europe, the King of Italy gave me an express train
to convey me to France, and the very moment I descended from it at
Marseilles, there were three ambassadors from the King of the
Belgians, asking me to go back to Africa.
"'What! Back to Africa? Never! I have come for civilization. I have
come for enjoyment. I have come for love, for life, for pleasure.
Not I. Go and ask some of those people you know who have never yet
been to Africa. I have had enough of it.' 'Well, perhaps, by and
by--' 'Ah, I don't know what will happen by and by, but just now,
never, never! Not for Rothschild's wealth!'
"I was received by the Paris Geographical Society, and it was then
I began to feel, 'Well, after all, I have done something, haven't
I?' I felt superb. But you know I have always considered myself a
republican. I have those bullet-riddled flags and those arrow-torn
flags, the Stars and Stripes, that I carried in Africa for the
discovery of Livingstone, and that crossed Africa, and I venerate
those old flags. I have them in London, now jealously guarded in
the secret recesses of my cabinet. I allow only my best friends to
look at them, and if any of you gentlemen ever happen in at my
quarters, I will show them to you.
"After I had written my book, 'Through the Dark Continent,' I began
to lecture, using these words: 'I have passed through a land
watered by the largest river of the African continent, and that
land knows no owner. A word to the wise is sufficient. You have
cloths and hardware and glass-ware and gunpowder, and those
millions of natives have ivory and gums and rubber and dyestuffs,
and in barter there is good profit.
"'The King of the Belgians commissioned me to go to that country.
My expedition when we started from the coast numbered three hundred
colored people and fourteen Europeans. We returned with three
thousand trained black men and three hundred Europeans. The first
sum allowed to me was $50,000 per year, but it has ended at
something like $700,000 a year. Thus you see the progress of
civilization. We found the Congo having only canoes. To-day there
are eight steamers. It was said at first that King Leopold was a
dreamer. He dreamed he could unite the barbarians of Africa into a
confederacy and call it a free state; but on February 25, 1885, the
powers of Europe, and America also, ratified an act recognizing the
territories acquired by us to be the free and independent State of
the Congo.'
"Perhaps when the members of the Lotos Club have reflected a little
more upon the value of what Livingstone and Leopold have been
doing, they will also agree that these men have done their duty in
this world, and in the age that they live, and that their labor has
not been in vain, on account of the great sacrifices they have
made, to the benighted millions of dark Africa."
Here the Doctor paused to enable his listeners to ponder a few moments
on the magnitude of the work which their hero had accomplished, and also
to wait for any question which might be asked. The first interrogatory
referred to Mr. Stanley's present mission to Africa, for which he had
abandoned his lecturing tour in America.
"What is he going to Africa for now?" said one of the youths. "I have
read that it is to relieve somebody who is shut up in the middle of the
country and can't get out."
"You are quite right," was the reply, "but in order to have you
comprehend the situation I must give you a little explanation.
[Illustration: EMIN PASHA.]
"Most of you know," the Doctor continued, "about the rebellion in the
Soudan country several years ago by which Egypt lost her possessions in
Central Africa, and her power was completely overthrown in a region that
she had held for more than sixty years, or had conquered since that
time. Khartoum was captured, General Gordon was killed, and the
provinces of the Soudan became independent of the khedive. Many of the
white men in the country were forced to enter the service of the rebels
in order to save their lives, as escape was next to impossible.
"This was the case in the northern part of the Soudan, and it was
generally supposed that the same state of affairs prevailed farther
south. The equatorial province of the Egyptian Soudan was entirely cut
off from communication with the outer world, and the belief was general
that its governor, Emin Bey, had been killed by the rebels. But in the
latter part of 1886 news came that he was still alive, and had
maintained his position in a hostile country through the fidelity of the
Egyptian troops that remained with him. He was short of ammunition and
destitute of many other things necessary for the support of his people,
his soldiers were in rags, and he feared that he would not be able to
hold out much longer unless relief was sent to him."
[Illustration: BLACKSMITH'S FORGE AND BELLOWS.]
One of the youths asked how the news was brought from Emin's province so
that the rest of the world could get it.
"It was brought," was the reply, "by Dr. Junker, a Russian scientist,
who was with Emin at the time of the insurrection. You remember King
Mtesa of Uganda, whom Mr. Stanley converted to Christianity and who
asked that missionaries should be sent to instruct his people? Well, the
missionaries went there and were well received, but before they had
accomplished anything of consequence Mtesa died and was succeeded by his
son Mwanga. The son was opposed to the new religion, and very soon after
he was raised to the throne he imprisoned the missionaries and ordered
all of his people who had embraced Christianity to be put to death.
Bishop Hannington, who had gone from England to take charge of the
mission work in Central Africa, was killed by orders of Mwanga, and all
white men were forbidden to set foot in the country. Dr. Junker came
through Uganda on his way to the sea-coast, but he was brought
ostensibly as a slave by an Arab trader. Mwanga heard that there was a
white man in the Arab merchant's caravan, but when the merchant told him
that it was a slave he had bought, and exhibited the captive tied with
the rest of the slaves, the king made no objection. He was, no doubt, so
greatly rejoiced to see the white man in captivity and disgrace that he
did not wish to disturb him."[11]
[11] Since the above was written a telegram has been received from
Zanzibar, April 15th, which says: "A Somali trader from the Uganda
country has arrived here bearing advices from Emin Bey. He was
established, when the trader left, at Wadelai, north of the Albert
Nyanza. He had two small steamers plying on the White Nile and on the
lake. In November, which was four months later than the advices brought
by Dr. Junker, Emin Bey visited the King of Unyoro, who was a six days'
journey from Uganda. Emin Bey was accompanied on this journey by Dr.
Vita Hassan, ten Egyptian officers, three Greeks, and four negroes.
Subsequently he asked Mwanga, the King of Uganda, to receive him. The
king said he would willingly receive him if he came without followers.
Emin Bey thereupon went to King Mwanga, accompanied by Dr. Vita and
three Greeks. He and his companions remained with the king seventeen
days. Emin asked the king for permission to pass through his territory
towards Zanzibar. The king, upon hearing this request, ordered the
visitors to return the way they came, and declared he would have nothing
more to do with Europeans. King Mwanga is a youth only eighteen years of
age. He has a thousand wives. Sometimes he wears a Turkish and at other
times an Arab costume, and often reverts to the native simplicity in the
matter of dress. Emin Bey, when the king ordered him to return the way
he came, went back to Wadelai, and was glad to escape from Mwanga's
country. The Somali states that the messengers despatched from Zanzibar
to carry information to Emin Bey that Mr. Stanley had gone with an
expedition by way of the Congo River to effect his rescue were detained
in Unyanyembé by the king, who was indisposed to allow them to proceed."
[Illustration: SOME OF EMIN PASHA'S IRREGULAR TROOPS.]
"What is the nationality of Emin?" queried Fred; "and why is he
sometimes called Emin Bey and sometimes Emin Pasha?"
[Illustration: IVORY-EATING SQUIRREL, CENTRAL AFRICA.]
"Emin is his Egyptian name," answered Doctor Bronson, "but the gentleman
is of Austrian birth and his real name is Dr. Schnitzler. He was an
Austrian physician at the Turkish court at one time; afterwards he went
to Egypt, and in 1877 was appointed to the command of the equatorial
province of Egypt. He is about forty-two years old, tall and thin, very
near-sighted, and a most accomplished linguist; he speaks German,
French, English, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, and several African
languages, is a great scientist and a prudent and careful commander of
his people. At last accounts he had with him ten white Egyptian
officers, fifteen black non-commissioned officers, twenty Coptish
clerks, and three hundred Egyptian soldiers with their families.
[Illustration: BATTLE BETWEEN NATIVE WARRIORS AND EGYPTIAN TROOPS.]
"The rank of bey in the Turkish and Egyptian service corresponds to that
of colonel in our language, while pasha or pacha is the equivalent of
general. Since he was appointed to the command of the province Emin has
been promoted; he was then Emin Bey and is now Emin Pasha. It is the
Oriental custom to put the title after the name instead of before it;
just as we might say Smith General, or Brown Major."
[Illustration: NATIVE WARRIOR IN EMIN PASHA'S PROVINCE.]
"And can't Emin Pasha get away from where he is?" one of the youths
asked.
"Certainly, if he came with a small body of picked men and with reliable
guides," was the reply. "But he could not get away with all his people
and their families, and he absolutely refuses to desert them. They have
been faithful to him, and he believes in rewarding fidelity with
fidelity.
"He cannot come away through Uganda," Doctor Bronson explained, "because
the new king, Mwanga, would not let him pass. He cannot go through
Unyoro because the king of that country is leagued with Mwanga to keep
out all white men, and kill them if they persist in entering his
territory. There is a route through Masai land, north of Lake Victoria,
but it would be unsafe, as the King of Uganda would be sure to hear of
an expedition there and take measures to stop it. He might travel
westward to the Congo or one of its tributaries without much danger of
interference, but he has no provisions and too little ammunition to
defend himself and his people in case of hostility."
"And I suppose Mr. Stanley is going to carry ammunition, trade goods,
and money to Emin Pasha," said one of the young auditors.
"He has been engaged for that object," replied the Doctor. "The cost of
the expedition is to be paid partly by the Egyptian government and
partly by liberal gentlemen in Great Britain. Mr. William Mackinnon, a
wealthy Scotchman, has contributed one hundred thousand dollars for the
enterprise, and other gentlemen have given freely to the good work.
[Illustration: THE KING OF UNYORO AND HIS GREAT CHIEFS.]
"I call it good work," he continued, "because, according to all
accounts, Emin Pasha has created a model government in the middle of
Africa, and greatly benefited the people under his charge. He has
suppressed slavery and slave-trading, taught many useful employments to
the natives, developed agriculture, the raising of cattle and other
industries, and almost entirely put an end to crime of all sorts. The
province is divided into districts, each of which has a military station
in its centre, where the taxes in grain and cattle are paid. Lado, the
capital, is a well-built town, with a fortification for its defence, and
the sanitary arrangements are of the most perfect character. Everything
at Lado is under the personal supervision of Emin Pasha, and his
subjects have learned to love him for the good he has done them.
"If Emin Pasha should be forced to flee or surrender, the country would
speedily fall into its old ways, and all the horrors of the slave-trade
would be renewed; consequently Mr. Stanley's mission is in the nature of
a missionary enterprise, and we should all hope for its complete
success. We shall know more about it after we have been awhile in
England, as Mr. Stanley is naturally reticent about his plans, and, in
fact, cannot make them very definitely until he arrives there. So we
will drop the subject for the present, and, if there is no further
business, it will be well for us to adjourn."
In accordance with this suggestion, the society made its final
adjournment, but we may be sure that its sessions will long be
remembered by those who attended them.
On the arrival of the steamer at Southampton our friends said good-bye
to Mr. Stanley, with many wishes for his success in his new journey to
the Dark Continent. In response to their friendly words Mr. Stanley made
cordial expression of his pleasure at having made their acquaintance,
which he hoped to renew about a year later, if all should go well with
him and his expedition.
* * * * *
Mr. Stanley remained about three weeks in England, busily occupied with
preparations for his journey, and making a hasty trip to Brussels to
confer with King Leopold, who placed the Congo fleet and the property of
the Congo State generally at the explorer's disposal. The supplies,
ammunition, and other material were shipped from England direct to the
Congo, and Mr. Stanley proceeded to Zanzibar, by way of Cairo, to engage
men for the expedition. What he accomplished there is best told in the
following letter from his pen:
[Illustration: NATIVE WAR DANCE.]
"On arriving at Zanzibar I found our agent, Mr. Mackenzie, had
managed everything so well, with the good offices of Mr. Holmwood,
the acting consul-general, that the expedition was almost ready for
embarkation. The steamer _Madura_, of the British India Steam
Navigation Company, was in the harbor, provisioned and watered for
the voyage. The goods for barter and transport animals were on
board. There were a few things to be done, however; such as
arranging with the famous Tippu-Tib about our line of conduct
towards one another. Tippu-Tib is a much greater man to-day than he
was in the year 1877, when he escorted my caravan, preliminary to
our voyage down the Congo. He has invested his hard-earned fortune
in guns and powder. Adventurous Arabs have flocked to his standard
until he is now an uncrowned king of the region between Stanley
Falls and Tanganika Lake, commanding many thousands of men inured
to fighting and wild equatorial life. If I discovered hostile
intentions in him my idea was to give him a wide berth, for the
ammunition I had to convoy to Emin Pasha, if captured and employed
by him, would endanger the existence of the infant State of the
Congo, and imperil all our hopes. Between Tippu-Tib and Mwanga,
King of Uganda, there was only a choice of the frying-pan and the
fire. It was with due caution that I sounded Tippu-Tib on the first
day of my arrival, and I found him fully prepared for any
eventuality, to fight or to be employed. I chose the latter, and we
proceeded to business. You will please understand that his aid was
not required to enable me to reach Emin Pasha, or to show the road
to Wadelay, or Lake Albert, which is a region he knows nothing
about. There are four roads available from the Congo; two of them
were in Tippu-Tib's power to close, the remaining two were clear of
his influence. But Dr. Junker informed me at our Cairo interview
that Emin Pasha had about seventy-five tons of ivory with him. So
much ivory would amount to £60,000, at eight shillings per pound.
The subscription of Egypt to the Emin Pasha Relief Fund is large
for her present state of depressed finances. In this ivory we have
a possible means of recouping the sum paid out of her treasury,
with a large sum left towards defraying expenses, and perhaps
leaving a handsome balance. Why not attempt the carriage of this
ivory to the Congo? Accordingly I wished to engage Tippu-Tib and
his people to assist me in conveying this ivory. After a good deal
of bargaining I entered into a contract with him, by which he
agreed to supply six hundred carriers at £6 per loaded head each
round trip, from Stanley Falls to Lake Albert and back. Thus, if
each carrier carries seventy pounds weight of ivory, one round trip
will bring to the fund £13,200 net at Stanley Falls.
[Illustration: BREED OF CATTLE IN EMIN PASHA'S PROVINCE.]
"On the conclusion of this contract, which was entered into in the
presence of the British consul-general, I broached another subject
with Tippu-Tib in the name of his majesty, King Leopold. Stanley
Falls station was established by me in December, 1883. Various
Europeans have since commanded this station, and Lieutenant Wester,
of the Swedish army, had succeeded in making it a well-ordered and
presentable station. Captain Deane, his successor, however,
quarrelled with the Arabs, and at his forced departure from the
scene set fire to the station and blew up the Krupps. The object
for which the station was established was the prevention of the
Arabs from pursuing their devastating career below the falls--not
so much by force as by tact, or, rather, the happy combination of
both. By the retreat of the officers of the State from Stanley
Falls the flood-gates were opened and the Arabs pressed down the
river. Tippu-Tib being, of course, the guiding-spirit of the Arabs
west of Tanganika Lake, it was advisable to see how far his aid
might be secured to check this stream of Arabs from destroying the
country. After the interchange of messages by cable with Brussels,
on the second day of my stay at Zanzibar, I signed an engagement
with Tippu-Tib by which he was appointed Governor of Stanley Falls,
at a regular salary, paid monthly at Zanzibar to the British
consul-general's hands. His duties will be principally to defend
Stanley Falls in the name of the State against all Arabs and
natives. The flag of the station will be that of the State. At all
hazards he is to defeat and capture all persons raiding the
territory for slaves, and to disperse all bodies of men who may be
justly suspected of violent designs. He is to abstain from all
slave-traffic below the falls himself, and to prevent all in his
command from trading in slaves. In order to insure a faithful
performance of his engagements with the State, a European officer
is to be appointed Resident at the falls. A breach of any article
in the contract being reported, the salary is to cease.
[Illustration: LADO, CAPITAL OF EGYPTIAN EQUATORIAL PROVINCE.]
"Meantime, while I was engaged in these negotiations, Mr. Mackenzie
had paid four months' advance wages to six hundred and twenty men
and boys enlisted in the relief expedition, and as fast as each
batch of fifty men was satisfactorily paid, a barge was hauled
alongside, the men were duly embarked, and a steam-launch towed the
barge to the transport. By three P.M. all hands were on board, and
the steamer moved off to a more distant anchorage. By midnight
Tippu-Tib and his people and every person connected with the
expedition were on board, and at day-break next day, the 25th of
February, the anchor was lifted, and we steamed away towards the
Cape of Good Hope.
[Illustration: SCHOOLI WARRIOR, EGYPTIAN EQUATORIAL PROVINCE.]
"So far there has not been a hitch in any arrangement. Difficulties
have been smoothed as if by magic. Everybody has shown the utmost
sympathy and been prompt with the assistance required. The officers
of the expedition were kept fully employed from morning to evening
at laborious tasks connected with the repacking of the ammunition
for Emin Pasha's force. Letters were also sent by myself to Emin
Pasha, acquainting him with our mission and the probable time of
our arrival at Lake Albert, with directions as to the locality we
should aim for. Tippu-Tib likewise sent couriers to Stanley Falls
to acquaint his people of his departure by sea round the Cape to
the Congo, with orders to concentrate in readiness at the falls."
[Illustration: FORTIFIED VILLAGE NEAR LADO.]
Before leaving Cairo, where he had an interview with Dr. Junker, Mr.
Stanley wrote to the chairman of the relief committee in London, in
which he explained the objects of the expedition as follows:
[Illustration: ISMAEN ABOU HATAB, TRUSTED OFFICER OF EMIN PASHA.]
"The expedition is non-military--that is to say, its purpose is not
to fight, destroy, or waste; its purpose is to save, to relieve
distress, and to carry comfort. Emin Pasha may be a good man, a
brave officer, and a gallant fellow, deserving of a strong effort
of relief; but I decline to believe, and I have not been able to
gather from any one in England an impression that his life, or the
lives of the few hundreds under him, would overbalance the lives of
thousands of natives, and the devastation of immense tracts of
country which an expedition strictly military would naturally
cause. The expedition is a mere powerful caravan, armed with rifles
for the purpose of insuring the safe conduct of the ammunition to
Emin Pasha, and for the more certain protection of this people
during the retreat home. But it also has means of purchasing the
friendship of tribes and chiefs, of buying food, and paying its way
liberally."
[Illustration: VILLAGE IN THE VALLEY OF THE BENGO.]
The point where he expects to meet Emin Pasha is purposely kept secret,
but it will probably be at the southern end of Lake Albert, unless King
Mwanga threatens trouble, in which case the march may be directed to
Wadelay, on the White Nile. Stanley's fighting force, in case he is
opposed by hostile natives, will consist of sixty Soudanese soldiers, in
addition to the Zanzibaris, Somalis, and other east and west coast
natives, enlisted in his expedition. When he went to Cairo he specially
requested that a small force of Soudanese should be placed at his
command. Volunteers were called for, and out of a large number who
offered their services sixty picked men were chosen. These men are fine
specimens of the soldiers who composed the larger part of the force with
which Egypt held her Central African provinces. It was of such soldiers
as these that Emin Pasha wrote these words last year:
"Deprived of the most necessary things, for a long time without any
pay, my men fought valiantly, and when at last hunger weakened
them, when, after nineteen days of incredible privations and
sufferings, their strength was exhausted, and when the last torn
leather of the last boot had been eaten, then they cut a way
through the midst of their enemies and succeeded in saving
themselves. If ever I had any doubts of the negro, the history of
the siege of Amadi would have proved to me that the black race is
in valor and courage inferior to no other, while in devotion and
self-denial it is superior to many. Without any orders from capable
officers, these men performed miracles, and it will be very
difficult for the Egyptian government worthily to show its
gratitude to my soldiers and officers."
[Illustration: A TRAVELLER'S CARAVAN NEAR WADELAY.]
On the long march between Stanley Falls and Lake Albert, or Wadelay,
these soldiers will perform guard and police duty for the expedition,
and will defend it if attacked. Stanley also carries a machine-gun of
the Maxim pattern, which was specially constructed so as to be carried
by porters. If the explorer has occasion to show the natives that the
gun will fire six hundred shots a minute, and that it will kill a
hippopotamus or sink a canoe at a distance of a mile, he thinks the
weapon will acquire a prestige which will make the savage glad to
renounce any idea of attempting to impede his party with their poor
spears and arrows. Lieutenant Stairns, an officer in the Engineer Corps
of the British army, who accompanies Stanley, has special charge of the
Maxim gun.
[Illustration: A DYOOR, SUBJECT OF EMIN PASHA.]
Two members of Stanley's party, who have been among King Leopold's
agents on the Congo, went directly from Liverpool to the Congo for the
purpose of hiring about three hundred porters to assist in transporting
the goods around the Livingstone cataract to Stanley Pool, where the
Upper Congo fleet was ordered to be in readiness to receive the
expedition. Mr. Stanley estimates that his progress on the land march
will not be greater than six to ten miles a day.
The expedition reached Banana Point, at the mouth of the Congo, on the
18th of March, and on the same day re-embarked on vessels belonging to
the International Association, which were awaiting the expedition. On
the 19th the expedition anchored at Boma, the seat of the general
administration of the Congo Free State, and a cordial reception was
given the whole body. Mr. Stanley was confident of the success of his
enterprise, and hoped that by June or July he would be able to render
effectual assistance to Emin Pasha. The Congo Association had arranged
to victual the expedition from Matada to Leopoldville. The expedition
left Boma on March 21, arrived at Matada on the 22d, and there
disembarked, the river being unnavigable thence to Leopoldville, on
account of the Livingstone Falls. The expedition was to proceed on foot
for eighteen days along the falls to Leopoldville, where Mr. Stanley was
to be met by four steamers belonging to the Congo State. The English and
French mission stations of the Upper Congo had also been requested to
place their steamers at his service.
Mr. Stanley's plans for a railway around the Livingstone Falls, on the
Lower Congo, have aroused the Portuguese, who fear the effects of the
new line of commerce. They have begun the construction of a railway from
San Paulo de Loanda up the valley of the Bengo River to Ambaca, a
distance of about two hundred and fifty miles. English and American
engineers are in charge of the work, and they hope to complete the line
in about three years. The railway can hardly be called a rival of Mr.
Stanley's, as it is a long way south of the Congo, and its principal
uses will be to preserve the local trade which centres at Ambaca, and
prevent its diversion to the stations of the Congo State. The surveys
for the Congo railway are in progress while these pages are in the
printer's hands.
[Illustration: CHIEF OF COAST TRIBE IN PORTUGUESE TERRITORY.]