THE ANGLO-AMERICAN EXPEDITION.
Henry M. Stanley’s New Mission -- The Unfinished Task of Livingstone
-- The Commission of Mr. Stanley by the “Daily Telegraph” of London
and the New York “Herald” to Command the New Expedition to Central
Africa -- Mr. Stanley’s Arrival at Zanzibar -- Fitting Out his
Expedition and Enlisting Many of his Old Captains and Chiefs -- Sets
Sail for the West Coast of the Zanzibar Sea and Towards the Dark
Continent -- Arrival at Bagamoyo -- Completes his Forces and Takes Up
his Line of March Inland -- Incidents Attending his March to Mpwapwa.
In April, 1874, while on his return from the Ashantee war, Mr. Stanley
first received the news of the death of Dr. Livingstone, and that his
body was then on its way to England.
Mr. Stanley says “The effect which this news had upon me, after the
first shock had passed away, was to fire me with a resolution to
complete his work--to be, if God willed it, the next martyr to
geographical science; or if my life was to be spared, to clear up not
only the secrets of the great river throughout its course, but also all
that remained still problematic and incomplete of the discoveries of
Burton and Speke, and Speke and Grant.
“The solemn day of the burial of my great friend arrived. I was one of
the pall-bearers in Westminster Abbey, and when I had seen the coffin
lowered into the grave, and had heard the first handful of earth thrown
over it, I walked away sorrowing over the fate of David Livingstone.”
From this time forward Mr. Stanley devoted his time assiduously in
completing his literary labors and at the same time in studying up
Africa, its geography, geology, botany and ethnology. He knew what had
been accomplished by African explorers, and knew how much of the dark
interior was still unknown to the world. Until late hours he sat,
inventing and planning, sketching routes, laying out lengthy lines of
possible exploration and noting many suggestions which the continued
study of the subject created.
One day, while on a visit to the office of the “Daily Telegraph,” the
subject of Livingstone and his unfinished work was broached, and after a
brief talk on the subject between himself and the editor, Mr. Stanley
was asked:--
“Could you, and would you, complete the work? And what is there to do?”
Mr. Stanley replied: “The outlet of Lake Tanganyika is undiscovered. We
know nothing scarcely--except what Speke has sketched out--of Lake
Victoria; we do not even know whether it consists of one or many lakes,
and therefore the sources of the Nile are still unknown. Moreover, the
western half of the African continent is still a white blank.”
“Do you think you can settle all this, if we commission you?” asked the
editor of the “Telegraph.”
“While I live, there will be something done. If I survive the time
required to perform all the work, all shall be done.”
The matter was for the moment suspended, however, because Mr. Bennett,
of the New York “Herald,” had prior claims on Mr. Stanley’s services.
A telegram was despatched to Mr. Bennett: “Would he join the ‘Daily
Telegraph’ in sending Stanley out to Africa, to complete the discoveries
of Speke, Burton, and Livingstone?” To which Mr. Bennett replied within
twenty-four hours by the laconic answer: “Yes. Bennett.”
The new mission of Mr. Stanley was defined by the “Telegraph” through
its columns “to be the completion of the work left unfinished by the
lamented death of Dr. Livingstone; to solve, if possible, the remaining
problems of the geography of Central Africa; and to investigate and
report upon the haunts of the slave-trader.”... “He will represent the
two nations whose common interest in the regeneration of Africa was so
well illustrated when the lost English explorer was re-discovered by the
energetic American correspondent. In that memorable journey Mr. Stanley
displayed the best qualities of an African traveller; and with no
inconsiderable resources at his disposal to reinforce his own complete
acquaintance with the conditions of African travel, it may be hoped that
very important results will accrue from this undertaking to the
advantage of science, humanity, and civilization.”
On August 15, 1874, Mr. Stanley sailed from England for Zanzibar, where
he arrived on the 21st day of September--just twenty-eight months after
he had left there on his return from the search of Livingstone.
For many days after his arrival he was busily engaged in selecting the
members of his new expedition and those who were to act as carriers and
soldiers. Among those selected, he gave preference to such as had been
with him on the Search Expedition, and had been despatched to the
assistance of Livingstone in 1872. Out of these the chiefs were
selected. And to these the customary presents had to be distributed.
Ulimengo, or the “World,” the incorrigible joker and hunter in chief of
the Search and Livingstone’s expeditions, was given a gold ring to
encircle one of his thick black fingers, and a silver chain to suspend
round his neck, which caused his mouth to expand gratefully. Rojab, who
was soon reminded of the unlucky accident with Livingstone’s Journal in
the muddy waters of the Mukondokwa, was endowed with a munificent gift
which won him over to Mr. Stanley’s service beyond fear of bribery.
Manwa Sera, the redoubtable ambassador of Speke and Grant to Manwa
Sera--the royal fugitive distressed by the hot pursuit of the Arabs--the
leader of his second caravan in 1871, the chief of the party sent to
Unyanyembe to the assistance of Livingstone in 1872, and now appointed
Chief Captain of the Anglo-American Expedition, was rendered temporarily
speechless with gratitude because a splendid necklace had been suspended
from his neck and a heavy seal ring placed upon one of his fingers. And
thus Mr. Stanley proceeded to endow each one of his old followers with
some suitable gift of such a character as would both please them and
strengthen their attachment towards himself.
Mr. Stanley, in speaking of the usual preliminary deliberative palaver,
or, as the Wangwana call it, “Shauri,” held before the final execution
of all great enterprises, says:--
“The chiefs arranged themselves in a semicircle on the day of the
Shauri, and I sat _à la Turque_ fronting them. ‘What is it, my friends?
Speak your minds.’ They hemmed and hawed, looked at one another, as if
on their neighbors’ faces they might discover the purport of their
coming; but, all hesitating to begin, finally broke down in a loud
laugh.
“Manwa Sera, always grave, unless hit dextrously with a joke, hereupon
affected anger, and said, ‘You speak, son of Safeni. Verily, we act like
children! Will the master eat us?’
“Wadi, son of Safeni, thus encouraged to perform the spokesman’s duty,
hesitates exactly two seconds, and then ventures with diplomatic
blandness and _graciosity_: ‘We have come, master, with words. Listen.
It is well we should know every step before we leap. A traveller
journeys not without knowing whither he wanders. We have come to
ascertain what lands you are bound for!’
“Imitating the son of Safeni’s gracious blandness, and his low tone of
voice, as though the information about to be imparted to the intensely
interested and eagerly listening group were too important to speak it
loud, I described in brief outlines the prospective journey in broken
Kiswahili. As country after country was mentioned of which they had
hitherto but vague ideas, and river after river, lake after lake named,
all of which I hoped with their trusty aid to explore carefully,
various ejaculations expressive of wonder and joy, mixed with a little
alarm, broke from their lips; but when I concluded, each of the group
drew a long breath, and almost simultaneously they uttered admiringly,
‘Ah, fellows, this is a journey worthy to be called a journey!’”
By 5 o’clock P. M. of the 12th of November, 224 men had responded to
their names, and five of the Arab vessels, laden with the _personnel_,
cattle, and _material_ of the expedition, were impatiently waiting, with
anchor heaved short, the word of command. One vessel still lay close
ashore, to convey Mr. Stanley and Frederick Barker--in charge of the
personal servants--their baggage and the dogs.
A wave of the hand, and the anchors were hove up. With sails set they
bore away westward to launch themselves into the arms of fortune. In the
words of Mr. Stanley: “The parting is over! We have said our last words
for years, perhaps forever, to kindly men! The sun sinks fast to the
western horizon, and gloomy is the twilight that now deepens and
darkens. Thick shadows fall upon the distant land and over the silent
sea, and oppress our throbbing, regretful hearts as we glide away
through the dying light towards the Dark Continent.”
[Illustration: OFF FOR THE HEART OF AFRICA.]
On the 13th of November, Stanley reached Bagamoyo, situated on the
mainland near the sea. On the morning of the 17th, five days after
leaving Zanzibar, the expedition filed out from the town in the
following order: Four chiefs, a few hundred yards in front; next the
twelve guides, clad in red robes of Jobo, bearing the wire coils; then a
long file 275 strong, bearing cloth, wire, beads, and sections of the
_Lady Alice_; after them thirty-six women and ten boys, children of some
of the chiefs and boat-bearers, following their mothers and assisting
them with trifling loads of utensils, followed by the riding asses,
Europeans and gun bearers; the long line closed by sixteen chiefs who
act as rearguard and whose duties are to pick up stragglers and act as
supernumeraries until other men can be procured: in all 356 souls
connected with the Anglo-American Expedition. The lengthy line occupied
nearly half a mile of the path which is the commercial and exploring
highway into the lake regions.
“In this manner,” says Stanley “we begin our long journey, full of
hopes. There is noise and laughter along the ranks, and a hum of gay
voices murmuring through the fields, as we rise and descend with the
waves of the land and wind the sinuosities of the path. Motion had
restored us all to a sense of satisfaction. We had an intensely bright
and fervid sun shining above us, the path was dry, hard, and admirably
fit for travel, and during the commencement of our first march nothing
could be conceived in better order than the lengthy, thin column about
to confront the wilderness.”
Stanley’s line of march strikes the valley of the Kingani River, and
thence to Kikoka, where he makes his first halt. Resting the next day,
he resumes the march on the third day for Rosako. This line is about
thirty miles north of the most northerly route of any of the routes
known to Stanley from the writings of other explorers. From Rosako he
marched to Congorida, thence to Mfuteh, and westward of Mfuteh along
the southern bank of the Wami some four miles. From this point his line
diverges to Rubuti, a village on the Lugumbwa Creek. “Grand and
impressive scenery meets the eye as we march to Makubika, the next
settlement,” says Stanley, “where we attain an altitude of 2675 feet
above the ocean. Peaks and knolls rise in all directions, for we are now
ascending to the eastern front of the Kaguru Mountains. The summits of
Ukamba are seen to the north, its slopes famous for the multitudes of
elephants. The mountain characteristically called the ‘Back of the Bow,’
has a small, clear lake near it, and remarkable peaks or mountain crests
break the sky-line on every side. Indeed, some parts of this great
mountain range abound in scenery both picturesque and sublime.
“Between Mamboya and Kitangeh I was much struck by the resemblance that
many of the scenes bear to others that I had seen in the Alleghanies.
Water is abundant, flowing clear as crystal from numerous sources. As we
neared eastern Kitangeh, villages were beheld dotted over every hill,
the inhabitants of which, so often frightened by the inroads of the
ever-marauding Wamasai, have been rendered very timid. Here, for the
first time, cattle were observed as we travelled westerly from Bagamoyo.
[Illustration: A GHASTLY MONUMENT.]
“We crossed the plain on the 11th of December, and arrived at Tubugwé.
It is only six miles wide, but within this distance we counted fourteen
human skulls, the mournful relics of some unfortunate travellers, slain
by an attack of Wahumba, from the northwest. I think it is beyond doubt
that this plain, extending, as it does, from the unexplored
northwest, and projecting like a bay into a deep mountain fiord
southeast of our road, must in former times have been an inlet or creek
of the great reservoir of which the Ugombo Lake, south of here, is a
residuum. The bed of this ancient lake now forms the pastoral plains of
the Wahumba and the broad, plain-like expanses visible in the Ugogo
country.”
From Tubugwé, Stanley directed his march to Mpwapwa, on the banks of a
small tributary of the Mukondokwa, which he reached on the 12th day of
December, after a twenty-five day’s march from Bagamoyo.
[Illustration]