Chapter I: Introduction (1)

A volume of travel, exploration and adventure is never without instruction and fascination for old and young. There is that within us all which ever seeks for the mysteries which are bidden behind mountains, closeted in forests, concealed by earth or sea, in a word, which are enwrapped by Nature. And there is equally that within us which is touched most sensitively and stirred most deeply by the heroism which has characterized the pioneer of all ages of the world and in every field of adventure.

How like enchantment is the story of that revelation which the New America furnished the Old World! What a spirit of inquiry and exploit it opened! How unprecedented and startling, adventure of every kind became! What thrilling volumes tell of the hardships of daring navigators or of the perils of brave and dashing landsmen! Later on, who fails to read with the keenest emotion of those dangers, trials and escapes which enveloped the intrepid searchers after the icy secrets of the Poles, or confronted those who would unfold the tale of the older civilizations and of the ocean’s island spaces.

Though the directions of pioneering enterprise change, yet more and more man searches for the new. To follow him, is to write of the wonderful. Again, to follow him is to read of the surprising and the thrilling. No prior history of discovery has ever exceeded in vigorous entertainment and startling interest that which centers in “The Dark Continent” and has for its most distinguished hero, Henry M. Stanley. His coming and going in the untrodden and hostile wilds of Africa, now to rescue the stranded pioneers of other nationalities, now to explore the unknown waters of a mighty and unique system, now to teach cannibal tribes respect for decency and law, and now to map for the first time with any degree of accuracy, the limits of new dynasties, make up a volume of surpassing moment and peculiar fascination.

All the world now turns to Africa as the scene of those adventures which possess such a weird and startling interest for readers of every class, and which invite to heroic exertion on the part of pioneers. It is the one dark, mysterious spot, strangely made up of massive mountains, lofty and extended plateaus, salt and sandy deserts, immense fertile stretches, climates of death and balm, spacious lakes, gigantic rivers, dense forests, numerous, grotesque and savage peoples, and an animal life of fierce mien, enormous strength and endless variety. It is the country of the marvelous, yet none of its marvels exceed its realities.

And each exploration, each pioneering exploit, each history of adventure into its mysterious depths, but intensifies the world’s view of it and enhances human interest in it, for it is there the civilized nations are soon to set metes and bounds to their grandest acquisitions——perhaps in peace, perhaps in war. It is there that white colonization shall try its boldest problems. It is there that Christianity shall engage in one of its hardest contests.

Victor Hugo says, that “Africa will be the continent of the twentieth century.” Already the nations are struggling to possess it. Stanley’s explorations proved the majesty and efficacy of equipment and force amid these dusky peoples and through the awful mazes of the unknown. Empires watched with eager eye the progress of his last daring journey. Science and civilization stood ready to welcome its results. He comes to light again, having escaped ambush, flood, the wild beast and disease, and his revelations set the world aglow. He is greeted by kings, hailed by savants, and looked to by the colonizing nations as the future pioneer of political power and commercial enterprise in their behalf, as he has been the most redoubtable leader of adventure in the past.

This miraculous journey of the dashing and intrepid explorer, completed against obstacles which all believed to be insurmountable, safely ended after opinion had given him up as dead, together with its bearings on the fortunes of those nations who are casting anew the chart of Africa, and upon the native peoples who are to be revolutionized or exterminated by the last grand surges of progress, all these render a volume dedicated to travel and discovery, especially in the realm of “The Dark Continent,” surprisingly agreeable and useful at this time.

CONTENTS.

HENRY M. STANLEY, 19

Stanley is safe; the world’s rejoicings; a new volume in African
annals; who is “this wizard of travel?” story of Stanley’s life;
a poor Welsh boy; a work-house pupil; teaching school; a sailor
boy; in a New Orleans counting-house; an adopted child; bereft
and penniless; a soldier of the South; captured and a prisoner;
in the Federal Navy; the brilliant correspondent; love of travel
and adventure; dauntless amid danger; in Asia-Minor and Abyssinia;
at the court of Spain; in search of Livingstone; at Ujiji on
Tanganyika; the lost found; across the “dark continent;” down the
dashing Congo; boldest of all marches; acclaim of the world.

THE CONGO FREE STATE, 27

A Congo’s empire; Stanley’s grand conception; European ambitions; the
International Association; Stanley off for Zanzibar; enlists his
carriers; at the mouth of the Congo; preparing to ascend the river;
his force and equipments; the river and river towns; hippopotamus
hunting; the big chiefs of Vivi; the “rock-breaker;” founding
stations; making treaties; tribal characteristics; Congo scenes;
elephants, buffaloes and water-buck; building houses and planting
gardens; making roads; rounding the portages; river crocodiles and
the steamers; foraging in the wilderness; products of the country;
the king and the gong; no more war fetish; above the cataracts;
Stanley Pool and Leopoldville; comparison of Congo with other
rivers; exploration of the Kwa; Stanley sick; his return to Europe;
further plans for his “Free State;” again on the Congo; Bolobo and
its chiefs; medicine for wealth; a free river, but no land; scenery
on the upper Congo; the Watwa dwarfs; the lion and his prey; war
at Bolobo; the Equator station; a long voyage ahead; a modern
Hercules; tropical scenes; a trick with a tiger skin; hostile
natives; a canoe brigade; the Aruwimi; ravages of slave traders;
captive women and children; to Stanley Falls; the cataracts;
appointing a chief; the people and products; wreck of a steamer; a
horrible massacre; down the Congo to Stanley Pool; again at Bolobo;
a burnt station; news from missionaries; at Leopoldville; down to
Vivi; the treaties with chiefs; treaty districts; the Camaroon
country; oil river region; Stanley’s return to London; opinions
of African life; thirst for rum; adventures and accidents; advice
to adventurers; outlines of the Congo Free State; its wealth and
productions; commercial value; the Berlin conference; national
jurisdiction; constitution of the Congo Free States; results.

THE SEARCH FOR EMIN, 139

Stanley’s call; the Belgian king; the Emin Pasha relief committee;
Stanley in charge of the expedition; off for Central Africa;
rounding the cataracts; the rendezvous at Stanley Pool; who
is Emin? his life and character; a favorite of Gordon; fall
of Khartoum; Emin cut off in equatorial Soudan; rising of the
Mahdi; death of Gordon; Emin lost in his equatorial province; his
capitals and country; Stanley pushes to the Aruwimi; Tippoo Tib
and his promises; Barttelot and the camps; trip up the Aruwimi;
wanderings in the forest; battles with the dwarfs; sickness,
starvation and death; lost in the wilds; the plains at last; grass
and banana plantations; arrival at Albert Nyanza; no word of Emin;
back to the Aruwimi for boats; another journey to the lake; Emin
found; tantalizing consultations; Stanley leaves for his forest
stations; treachery of Tippoo Tib; massacre of Barttelot; the
Mahdi influence; again for the Lake to save Emin; willing to leave
Africa; the start for Zanzibar; hardships of the trip; safe arrival
at Zanzibar; accident to Emin; the world’s applause; Stanley a
hero.

EGYPT AND THE NILE, 185

Shaking hands at Ujiji; Africa a wonderland; Mizriam and Ham; Egypt
a gateway; mother of literature, art and religion; the Jews
and Egypt; mouths of the Nile; the Rosetta stone; Suez Canal;
Alexandria; Pharos, a “wonder of the world;” Cleopatra’s needles;
Pompey’s Pillar; the catacombs; up the Nile to Cairo; description
of Cairo; Memphis; the Pyramids and Sphinx; convent of the pulley;
Abydos its magnificent ruins; City of “the Hundred Gates;” temple
of Luxor; statues of Memnon; the palace temple of Thebes; the
old Theban Kings; how they built; ruins of Karnak; most imposing
in the world; temples of Central Thebes; wonderful temple of
Edfou; the Island of Philæ; the elephantine ruins; grand ruins of
Ipsambul; Nubian ruins; rock tomb at Beni-Hassan; the weird “caves
of the crocodiles;” horrid death of a traveler; Colonel and Lady
Baker; from Kartoum to Gondokoro; hardships of a Nile expedition;
the “forty thieves;” Sudd on the White Nile; adventures with
hippopotami; mobbing a crocodile; rescuing slaves; at Gondokoro;
horrors of the situation; battles with the natives; night attack;
hunting elephants; instincts of the animal; natural scenery;
different native tribes; cruelty of slave-hunters; ambuscades;
annexing the country; hunting adventures; the Madhi’s rebellion;
death of Gordon.

SOURCES OF THE NILE, 257

African mysteries; early adventures; the wonderful lake regions;
excitement over discovery; disputed points; the wish of emperors;
journey through the desert; Baker and Mrs. Baker; M’dslle
Tinne; Nile waters and vegetation; dangers of exploration; from
Gondokoro to Albert Nyanza, native chiefs and races; traits and
adventure; discovery of Albert Nyanza; King Kamrasi; his royal
pranks; adventures on the lake; a true Nile source; Murchison
Falls; revelations by Speke and Grant; Victoria Nyanza; another
Nile source; Stanley on the scene; his manner of travel; trip
to Victoria Nyanza; voyage of the “Lady Alice;” adventures on
the lake; King Mtesa and his empire; wonders of the great lake;
surprises for Stanley; in battle for King Mtesa; results of
his discoveries; native traditions; demons and dwarfs; off for
Tanganyika.

THE ZAMBESI, 331

Livingstone on the scene; how he got into Africa; his early adventures
and trials; wounded by a lion; his marriage; off for Lake Ngam;
among the Makololo; down the Chobe to the Zambesi; up the Zambesi;
across the Continent to Loanda; discovery of Lake Dilolo;
importance of the discovery; description of the lake; its wonderful
animals; methods of African travel; rain-makers and witchcraft;
the magic lantern scene; animals of the Zambesi; country, people
and productions; adventures among the rapids; the Gouye Falls; the
burning desert and Cuando river; an elephant hunt; the wonderful
Victoria Falls; sounding smoke; the Charka wars; lower Zambesi
valley; wonderful animal and vegetable growth; mighty affluents;
escape from a buffalo; slave hunters; Shire river and Lake Nyassa;
peculiar native head-dresses; native games, manners and customs;
Pinto at Victoria Falls; central salt pans.

THE CONGO, 367

Discovery of the wonderful Lake Tanganyika; Burton and Speke’s visit;
Livingstone’s trials; his geographical delusions; gorilla and
chimpanzee; Livingstone at Bangweola; on the Lualaba; hunting
the soko; thrilling adventure with a leopard; the Nyangwe
people; struggle back to Ujiji; meeting with Stanley; joy in the
wilderness; exploration of Tanganyika; the parting; Livingstone’s
last journey; amid rain and swamps; close of his career; death of
the explorer; care of his body; faithful natives; Stanley’s second
visit; what he had done; strikes the Lualaba; descends in the
“Lady Alice;” fights with the natives; ambuscades and strategies;
boating amid rapids; thrilling adventures amid falls and cataracts;
wonderful streams; the Lualaba is the Congo; joy over the
discovery; gauntlet of arrows and spears; loss of men and boats:
death of Frank Pocock; the falls become too formidable; overland
to the Atlantic; at the mouth of the mighty Congo; return trip to
Zanzibar; the Congo empire; Stanley’s future plans.

CAPE OF STORMS, 416

Discovery of the Cape; early settlers; table mountain; Hottentot
and Boer; the diamond regions; the Zulu warriors; the Pacific
republics; natal and the transvaal; manners, customs, animals and
sports; climate and resources.

NYASSALAND, 423

A disputed possession; the beautiful Shiré; rapids and cataracts;
mountain fringed valleys; rank tropical vegetation; magnificent
upland scenery; thrifty and ingenious natives; cotton and sorghum;
the Go-Nakeds; beer and smoke; geese, ducks and waterfowls; Lake
Shirwa; the Blantyre mission; the Manganja highlands; a village
scene; native honesty; discovery of Lake Nyassa; description of
the Lake; lofty mountain ranges; Livingstone’s impressions; Mazitu
and Zulu; native arms, dresses and customs; slave-hunting Arabs;
slave caravans; population about Nyassa; storms on the lake; the
first steamer; clouds of “Kungo” flies; elephant herds; charge of
an elephant bull; exciting sport; African and Asiatic elephants;
the Scottish mission stations; great wealth of Nyassaland; value to
commerce; the English and Portuguese claims.

AFRICAN RESOURCES, 441

African coasts and mysteries; Negroland of the school-books; how to
study Africa; a vast peninsula; the coast rind; central plateaus
and mountain ranges; Stanley’s last discoveries; a field for
naturalists; bird and insect life; wild and weird nature; vast
area; incomputable population; types of African races; distribution
of races; African languages; character of the human element;
Africa and revelation; tribes of dwarfs; “Africa in a Nutshell”;
various political divisions; variety of products; steamships and
commerce; as an agricultural field; the lake systems; immense
water-ways; internal improvements; Stanley’s observations; features
of Equatorial Africa; extent of the Congo basin; the Zambesi and
Nile systems; the geographical sections of the Congo system; the
coast section; cataracts, mountains and plains; affluents of the
great Congo; tribes of lower Congo; length of steam navigation;
future pasture grounds of the world; the Niam-Niam and Dinka
countries; empire of Tippoo Tib; richness of vegetable productions;
varieties of animal life; immense forests and gigantic wild
beasts; oils, gums and dyes; hides, furs, wax and ivory; iron,
copper, and other minerals; the cereals, cotton, spices and garden
vegetables; the labor and human resources; humanitarian and
commercial problems; the Lualaba section; size, population and
characteristics; navigable waters; Livingstone’s observations;
tracing his footsteps; animal and vegetable life; stirring scenes
and incidents; the Manyuema country; Lakes Moero and Bangweola;
resources of forest and stream; climate and soil; a remarkable
land; customs of natives; village architecture; river systems and
watersheds; Stanley and Livingstone in the centre of the Continent;
the Chambesi section; head-rivers of the Congo; the Tanganyika
system; owners of the Congo basin; Stanley’s resume of African
resources; a glowing picture.

THE WHITE MAN IN AFRICA, 526

Egyptian and Roman Colonists; Moorish invasion; Portugese advent; the
commercial and missionary approach; triumphs of late explorers;
can the white man live in Africa?; colonizing and civilizing;
Stanley’s personal experience; he has opened a momentous problem;
Stanley’s melancholy chapters; effect of wine and beer; the white
man must not drink in Africa; must change and re-adapt his habits;
visions of the colonists; effect of climate; kind of dress to wear;
the best house to build; how to work and eat; when to travel;
absurdities of strangers; following native examples; true rules of
conduct; Stanley’s laws of health; African cold worse than African
heat; guarding against fatigue; Dr. Martins code of health; the
white man can live in Africa; future of the white races in the
tropics; the struggle of foreign powers; missionary struggles;
political and commercial outlook.

MISSIONARY WORK IN AFRICA, 565

Africa for the Christian; Mohammedan influences; Catholic missions;
traveler and missionary; the great revival following Stanley’s
discoveries; Livingstone’s work; perils of missionary life;
history of missionary effort; the Moors of the North; Abyssinian
Christians; west-coast missions; various missionary societies;
character of their work; Bishop Taylor’s wonderful work in Liberia,
on the Congo, in Angola; nature of his plans; self-supporting
churches; outline of his work; mission houses and farms; vivid
descriptions and interesting letters; cheering reports from
pioneers; South African missions; opening Bechuana-land; the
Moffats and Coillards; Livingstone and McKenzie; the Nyassa
missions; on Tanganyika; the Church in Uganda; murder of
Harrington; the gospel on the east coast; Arabs as enemies;
religious ideas of Africans; rites and superstitions; fetish and
devil worship; importance of the mission field; sowing the seed;
gathering the harvest.

AFRICA’S LIGHTS AND SHADOWS, 735

Arnot’s idea of Central Africa; killed by an elephant; the puff adder;
the Kasai region; bulls for horses; a Congo hero; affection for
mothers; caught by a crocodile; decline of the slave trade; the
natives learning; books in native tongues; natives as laborers;
understanding of the climate; Stanley on the Gombe; the leopard and
spring-bock; habits of the antelope; Christian heroes in Africa;
the boiling pot ordeal; adventures of a slave; Arab cruelties; a
lion hunt; Mohammedan influence; a victim of superstition; Hervic
women; Tataka mission in Liberia; a native war dance; African game
laws; Viva on the Congo; rum in Africa; palavering; Emin Pasha at
Zanzibar; the Sas-town tribes; an interrupted journey; in Monrovia;
a sample sermon; the scramble for Africa; lions pulling down a
giraffe; Kilimanjars, highest mountains in Africa; the Kru-coast
Missions; a desperate situation; Henry M. Stanley and Emin Pasha;
comparison of the two pioneers. pp. 800.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.

COLUMBIA PRESENTING STANLEY TO EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNS,
COLORED PLATE FRONTISPIECE
MARCHING THROUGH EQUATORIAL AFRICA 4
MAP OF CENTRAL AFRICA 16 and 17
HENRY M. STANLEY 18
THE BELLOWING HIPPOPOTAMI 23
SCENE ON LAKE TANGANYIKA 29
GATHERING TO MARKET AT NYANGWE 31
A SLAVE-STEALER’S REVENGE 34
BUFFALO AT BAY 38
FIGHT WITH AN ENRAGED HIPPOPOTAMUS 40
ROUNDING A PORTAGE 44
A NARROW ESCAPE 45
WHITE-COLLARED FISH-EAGLES 48
A TEMPORARY CROSSING 49
WEAVER-BIRDS’ NESTS 51
NATIVES’ CURIOSITY AT SIGHT OF A WHITE MAN 56
CAPTURING A CROCODILE 58
LIONS DRAGGING DOWN A BUFFALO 62
A FUNERAL DANCE 66
STANLEY’S FIGHT WITH BENGALA IN 1877 67
AFRICAN BLACK-SMITHS 71
AFRICAN HEADDRESSES 72
ORNAMENTED SMOKING PIPE 75
NIAM-NIAM HAMLET ON THE DIAMOONOO 76
NIAM-NIAM MINSTREL 79
NIAM-NIAM WARRIORS 79
RECEIVING THE BRIDE 81
A BONGO CONCERT 82
THE MASSACRE AT NYANGWE 90
KNIFE-SHEATH, BASKET, WOODEN-BOLSTER AND BEE-HIVE 96
RECEPTION BY AN AFRICAN KING 99
SACRIFICE OF SLAVES, COLORED PLATE 100
TIPPOO TIB’S GRAND CANOES GOING DOWN THE CONGO, FRONT 136
TIPPOO TIB’S GRAND CANOES GOING DOWN THE CONGO, REAR 137
HENRY M. STANLEY. From a Late Portrait 138
EMIN PASHA IN HIS TENT 142
NIAM-NIAM VILLAGE 146
CUTTING WOOD AT NIGHT FOR THE STEAMERS 149
INTERVIEW OF MAJOR BARTTELOT AND MR. JAMESON WITH TIPPOO TIB 149
AN AMBUSCADE 151
ELEPHANTS DESTROYING VEGETATION 157
THE CAPTURED BUFFALO 159
AFRICAN WARRIORS 159
ATTACK ON THE ENCAMPMENT 161
BEGINNING A HUT 164
STANLEY’S FIRST SIGHT OF EMIN’S STEAMER 165
THE SECOND STAGE 165
HUT COMPLETED IN AN HOUR 166
CAMP AT KINSHASSA, ON THE CONGO, WITH TIPPOO TIB’S HEADQUARTERS 170
SLAVE MARKET 180
LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY 185
THE ROSETTA STONE 188
DE LESSEPS 190
CLEOPATRA 191
PHAROS LIGHT 192
ALEXANDER, THE GREAT 193
CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLE 193
THE SERAPEION 195
EGYPTIAN GOD 196
ROMAN CATACOMBS 196
MASSACRE OF MAMELUKES 199
VEILED BEAUTY 200
PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT 203
INTERIOR OF GREAT PYRAMID 204
THE SPHINX 206
STATUES OF MEMNON 210
RUINS IN THEBES 211
OBELISK OF KARNAK 213
SPHINX OF KARNAK 214
GATEWAY AT KARNAK 215
A MUMMY 216
TEMPLE AT EDFOU 217
ISIS ON PHILÆ 218
TEMPLE COURT, PHILÆ 220
TEMPLE AT IPSAMBUL 221
TEMPLE OF OSIRIS 222
TEMPLE OF ATHOR 224
ROCK TOMB OF BENI-HASSAN 226
EGYPTIAN BRICK FIELD 227
GROTTOES OF SAMOUN 228
A CHIEF’S WIFE 231
THE “FORTY THIEVES” 232
MOBBING A CROCODILE 234
RELEASING SLAVES 236
ATTACKED BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS 237
A SOUDAN WARRIOR 239
A NIGHT ATTACK 241
ELEPHANTS IN TROUBLE 242
SHAKING FRUIT 244
TABLE ROCK 245
NATIVE DANCE 246
ATTACK BY AMBUSCADE 248
HUNTING WITH FIRE 251
RESULTS OF FREEDOM 251
GORDON AS MANDARIN 253
PORTRAIT OF GORDON 256
PORTRAIT OF COLONEL BAKER 266
MAD’MLLE TINNE 268
LADY BAKER 270
SLAVE HUNTER’S VICTIM’S 271
WHITE NILE SWAMPS 274
CROSSING A SPONGE 276
PREPARING TO START 279
A ROYAL JOURNEY 291
MURCHISON FALLS 298
HENRY M. STANLEY 303
STANLEY ON THE MARCH 304
RUBAGA 314
SHOOTING A RHINOCEROS 328
LIVINGSTONE 330
LION ATTACKS LIVINGSTONE 333
CUTTING A ROAD 334
A BANYAN TREE 338
ANIMALS ON THE ZAMBESI 343
THE GONYE FALLS 344
HUNTING THE ELEPHANT 345
IN THE RAPIDS 348
VICTORIA FALLS 351
CHARGE OF A BUFFALO 355
NATIVE SLAVE HUNTERS 356
HUAMBO MAN AND WOMAN 359
SAMBO WOMAN 359
GANGUELA WOMEN 359
BIHE HEAD DRESS 361
QUIMBANDE GIRLS 361
CUBANGO HEAD-DRESS 361
LUCHAZE WOMAN 362
AMBUELLA WOMAN 362
SOVA DANCE 363
FORDING THE CUCHIBI 363
VICTORIA FALLS (BELOW) 365
ON TANGANYIKA 368
ANT HILL 371
GORILLAS 371
A SOKO HUNT 374
A DANGEROUS PRIZE 375
NYANGWE MARKET 378
STANLEY AT TANGANYIKA 380
STANLEY MEETS LIVINGSTONE 381
AFLOAT ON TANGANYIKA 382
DEEP-WATER FORDING 386
LAST DAY’S MARCH 388
DEATH OF LIVINGSTONE 389
THE KING’S MAGICIANS 390
A WEIR BRIDGE 395
FIGHTING HIS WAY 398
RESCUE OF ZAIDI 403
ATTACK BY THE BANGALA 405
IN THE CONGO RAPIDS 408
DEATH OF FRANK POCOCK 411
ZULUS 418
MY CATTLE WERE SAVED 420
BUFFALO HUNTERS 421
VILLAGE SCENE ON LAKE NYASSA 426
STORM ON LAKE NYASSA 434
AN ELEPHANT CHARGE 436
NATIVE HUNTERS KILLING SOKOS 446
AFRICAN ANT-EATER 446
TERRIBLE FIGHT OF AFRICAN MONARCHS, COLORED PLATE 446
QUICHOBO 446
THE “DEVIL OF THE ROAD,” ETC. 450
BUSH-BUCKS 450
NATIVE TYPES OF SOUTHERN SOUDAN 451
BARI OF GONDOKORO 453
CHASING GIRAFFES 457
NATIVE RAT-TRAP 463
AFRICAN HATCHET 464
NATIVES RUNNING TO WAR 466
UMBANGI BLACKSMITHS 469
NATIVES KILLING AN ELEPHANT 472
ON A JOURNEY IN THE KALAHARI DESERT 480
WOMEN CARRIERS 481
DRIVING GAME INTO THE HOPO 483
PIT AT END OF HOPO 483
CAPSIZED BY A HIPPOPOTAMUS 487
HUNTER’S PARADISE 488
BATLAPIN BOYS THROWING THE KIRI 492
PURSUIT OF THE WILD BOAR 492
RAIDING THE CATTLE SUPPLY 494
HUNTING ZEBRAS 497
DANGEROUS FORDING 503
A YOUNG SOKO 506
MANYUEMA WOMEN 510
TYPES OF AFRICAN ANTELOPES 515
BINKA CATTLE HERD 518
AFRICAN RHINOCEROS 534
ELEPHANT UPROOTING A TREE 540
COL. BAKER’S WAY OF REACHING BERBER 553
AFRICA METHODIST CONFERENCE 564
CHUMA AND SUSI 568
KING LOBOSSI 568
WEST AFRICAN MUSSULMAN 579
AN AFRICAN CHIEF 587
PORT AND TOWN OF ELMINA 592
COOMASSIE, THE CAPITAL OF ASHANTI 594
CANOE TRAVEL ON THE NIGER 598
MAP OF LIBERIA 604
METHODIST PARSONAGE OF AFRICA 606
AFRICAN VILLAGE AND PALAVER TREE 611
ST. PAUL DE LOANDA 618
FOREST SCENE IN ANGOLA 621
MUNDOMBES AND HUTS 626
NATIVE GRASS-HOUSE ON THE CONGO 629
SOME OF BISHOP TAYLOR’S MISSIONARIES 635
GARAWAY MISSION HOUSE 643
MAP OF ANGOLA 647
STEAM WAGONS FOR HAULING AT VIVI 659
REED DANCE BY MOONLIGHT 676
MISSION HOUSE AT VIVI 692
HUNTING THE GEMBOCK 696
BISHOP TAYLOR’S MISSIONS 699
A NATIVE WARRIOR 706
THE COILLARD CAMP 709
AT HOME AFTER THE HUNT 711
MOFFAT INSTITUTION——KURUMAN 713
MOFFAT’S COURAGE 715
NATIVES OF LARI AND MADI IN CAMP AT SHOO 719
TINDER-BOX, FLINT AND STEEL 726
A CARAVAN BOUND FOR THE INTERIOR 728
TRAVEL ON BULL-BACK AND NATIVE ESCORT 739
LEOPARD ATTACKING A SPRINGBOCK 747
A LION HUNT 757
NATIVE WAR DANCE 764
BUFFALO DEFENDING HER YOUNG 770
SEKHOMS AND HIS COUNSEL 774
AN INTERRUPTED JOURNEY 779
LIONS PULLIN DOWN A GIRAFFE 786
HUNTING LIONS 794
A DESPERATE SITUATION 797
DINING ON THE BANKS OF THE SHIRE 800

HENRY M. STANLEY.

The news rang through the world that Stanley was safe. For more than a year he had been given up as lost in African wilds by all but the most hopeful. Even hope had nothing to rest upon save the dreamy thought that he, whom hardship and danger had so often assailed in vain, would again come out victorious.

The mission of Henry M. Stanley to find, succor and rescue Emin Pasha, if he were yet alive, not only adds to the life of this persistent explorer and wonderful adventurer one of its most eventful and thrilling chapters, but throws more light on the Central African situation than any event in connection with the discovery and occupation of the coveted areas which lie beneath the equatorial sun. Its culmination, both in the escape of the hero himself and in the success of his perilous errand, to say nothing of its far-reaching effects upon the future of “The Dark Continent,” opens, as it were, a new volume in African annals, and presents a new point of departure for scientists, statesmen and philanthropists.

Space must be found further on for the details of that long, exciting and dangerous journey, which reversed all other tracks of African travel, yet redounded more than all to the glory of the explorer and the advancement of knowledge respecting hidden latitudes. But here we can get a fair view of a situation, which in all its lights and shadows, in its many startling outlines, in its awful suggestion of possibilities, is perhaps the most interesting and fateful now before the eyes of modern civilization.

It may be very properly asked, at the start, who is this wizard of travel, this dashing adventurer, this heroic explorer and rescuer, this pioneer of discovery, who goes about in dark, unfathomed places, defying flood and climate, jungle and forest, wild beast and merciless savage, and bearing a seemingly charmed life?

Who is this genius who has in a decade revolutionized all ancient methods of piercing the heart of the unknown, and of revealing the mysteries which nature has persistently hugged since “the morning stars first sang together in joy?”

The story of his life may be condensed into a brief space——brief yet eventful as that of a conqueror, moved ever to conquest by sight of new worlds. Henry M. Stanley was born in the hamlet of Denbigh, in Wales, in 1840. His parents, who bore the name of Rowland, were poor; so poor, indeed, that the boy, at the age of three years, was virtually on the town. At the age of thirteen, he was turned out of the poor-house to shift for himself. Fortunately, a part of the discipline had been such as to assure him the elements of an English education. The boy must have improved himself beyond the opportunities there at hand, for in two or three years afterwards, he appeared in North Wales as a school-teacher. Thence he drifted to Liverpool, where he shipped as a cabin-boy on a sailing-vessel, bound for New Orleans. Here he drifted about in search of employment till he happened upon a merchant and benefactor, by the name of Stanley. The boy proved so bright, promising and useful, that his employer adopted him as his son. Thus the struggling John Rowland became, by adoption, the Henry M. Stanley of our narrative.

Before he came of age, the new father died without a will, and his business and estate passed away from the foster child to those entitled at law. But for this misfortune, or rather great good fortune, he might have been lost to the world in the counting-room of a commercial city. He was at large on the world again, full of enterprise and the spirit of adventure.

The civil war was now on, and Stanley entered the Confederate army. He was captured by the Federal forces, and on being set at liberty threw his fortunes in with his captors by joining the Federal navy, the ship being the Ticonderoga, on which he was soon promoted to the position of Acting Ensign. After the war, he developed those powers which made him such an acquisition on influential newspapers. He was of genial disposition, bright intelligence, quick observation and surprising discrimination. His judgment of men and things was sound. He loved travel and adventure, was undaunted in the presence of obstacles, persistent in every task before him, and possessed shrewd insight into human character and projects. His pen was versatile and his style adapted to the popular taste. No man was ever better equipped by nature to go anywhere and make the most of every situation. In a single year he had made himself a reputation by his trip through Asia Minor and other Eastern countries. In 1866 he was sent by the _New York Herald_, as war correspondent, to Abyssinia. The next year he was sent to Spain by the same paper, to write up the threatened rebellion there. In 1869 he was sent by the _Herald_ to Africa to find the lost Livingstone.

A full account of this perilous journey will be found elsewhere in this volume, in connection with the now historic efforts of that gallant band of African pioneers who immortalized themselves prior to the founding of the Congo Free State. Suffice it to say here, that it took him two years to find Livingstone at Ujiji, upon the great lake of Tanganyika, which lake he explored, in connection with Livingstone, and at the same time made important visits to most of the powerful tribes that surround it. He returned to civilization, but remained only a short while, for by 1874 he was again in the unknown wilds, and this time on that celebrated journey which brought him entirely across the Continent from East to West, revealed the wonderful water resources of tropical Africa and gave a place on the map to that remarkable drainage system which finds its outlet in the Congo river.

Says the Rev. Geo. L. Taylor of this march: “It was an undertaking which, for grandeur of conception, and for sagacity, vigor, and completeness of execution, must ever rank among the marches of the greatest generals and the triumphs of the greatest discoverers of history. No reader can mentally measure and classify this exploit who does not recall the prolonged struggles that have attended the exploration of all great first-class rivers——a far more difficult work, in many respects, than ocean sailing. We must remember the wonders and sufferings of Orellana’s voyages (though in a brigantine, built on the Rio Napo, and with armed soldiers) down that “Mediterranean of Brazil,” the Amazon, from the Andes to the Atlantic, in 1540. We must recall the voyage of Marquette and Joliet down the Mississippi in 1673; the toils of Park and Landers on the Niger, 1795-1830; and of Speke and Baker on the Nile, 1860-1864, if we would see how the deed of Stanley surpasses them all in boldness and generalship, as it promises also to surpass them in immediate results.

The object of the voyage was two-fold: first, to finish the work of Speke and Grant in exploring the great Nile lakes; and, secondly, to strike the great Lualaba where Livingstone left it, and follow it to whatever sea or ocean it might lead.”

And again:——“The story of the descent of the great river is an Iliad in itself. Through hunger and weariness; through fever, dysentery, poisoned arrows, and small-pox; through bellowing hippopotami, crocodiles, and monsters; past mighty tributaries, themselves great first-class rivers; down roaring rapids, whirlpools, and cataracts; through great canoe-fleets of saw-teethed, fighting, gnashing cannibals fiercer than tigers; through thirty-two battles on land and river, often against hundreds of great canoes, some of them ninety feet long and with a hundred spears on board; and, at last, through the last fearful journey by land and water down the tremendous cañon below Stanley Pool, still they went on, and on, relentlessly on, till finally they got within hailing and helping distance of Boma, on the vast estuary by the sea; and on August 9, 1877, the news thrilled the civilized world that Stanley was saved, and had connected Livingstone’s Lualaba with Tuckey’s Congo! After 7,000 miles’ wanderings in 1,000 days save one from Zanzibar, and four times crossing the Equator, he looked white men in the face once more, and was startled that they were so pale! Black had become the normal color of the human face. Thus the central stream of the second vastest river on the globe, next to the Amazon in magnitude, was at last explored, and a new and unsuspected realm was disclosed in the interior of a prehistoric continent, itself the oldest cradle of civilization. The delusions of ages were swept away at one masterful stroke, and a new world was discovered by a new Columbus in a canoe.”

It was on that memorable march that he came across the wily Arab, Tippoo Tib, at the flourishing market-town of Nyangwe, who was of so much service to Stanley on his descent of the Lualaba (Congo) from Nyangwe to Stanley Falls, 1,000 miles from Stanley Pool, but who has since figured in rather an unenviable light in connection with efforts to introduce rays of civilization into the fastnesses of the Upper Congo. This, as well as previous journeys of Stanley, established the fact that the old method of approaching the heart of the Continent by desert coursers, or of threading its hostile mazes without armed help, was neither expeditious nor prudent. It revolutionized exploration, by compelling respect from hostile man and guaranteeing immunity from attack by wild beast.

For nearly three years Stanley was lost to the civilized world in this trans-continental journey. Its details, too, are narrated elsewhere in this volume, with all its vicissitude of 7,000 miles of zigzag wandering and his final arrival on the Atlantic coast——the wonder of all explorers, the admired of the scientific world.

Such was the value of the information he brought to light in this eventful journey, such the wonderful resource of the country through which he passed after plunging into the depths westward of Lake Tanganyika, and such the desirability of this new and western approach to the heart of the continent, not only for commercial but political and humanitarian purposes, that the cupidity of the various colonizing nations, especially of Europe, was instantly awakened, and it was seen that unless proper steps were taken, there must soon be a struggle for the possession of a territory so vast and with such possibilities of empire. To obviate a calamity so dire as this, the happy scheme was hit upon to carve out of as much of the new discovered territory as would be likely to embrace the waters of the Congo and control its ocean outlet, a mighty State which was to be dedicated for ever to the civilized nations of the world.

In it there should be no clash of foreign interests, but perfect reciprocity of trade and free scope for individual or corporate enterprise without respect to nationality. The king of Belgium took a keen interest in the project, and through his influence other powers of Europe, and even the United States, became enlisted. A plan of the proposed State was drafted and it soon received international ratification. The new power was to be known as the Congo Free State, and it was to be, for the time being, under control of an Administrator General. To the work of founding this State, giving it metes and bounds, securing its recognition among the nations, removing obstacles to its approach, establishing trading posts and developing its commercial features, Stanley now addressed himself. We have been made familiar with his plans for securing railway communication between the mouth of the Congo and Stanley Pool, a distance of nearly 200 miles inland, so as to overcome the difficult, if not impossible, navigation of the swiftly rushing river. We have also heard of his successful efforts to introduce navigation, by means of steamboats, upon the more placid waters of the Upper Congo and upon its numerous affluents. Up until the year 1886, the most of his time was devoted to fixing the infant empire permanently on the map of tropical Africa and giving it identity among the political and industrial powers of earth.

In reading of Stanley and studying the characteristics of his work one naturally gravitates to the thought, that in all things respecting him, the older countries of Europe are indebted to the genius of the newer American institution. We cannot yet count upon the direct advantages of a civilized Africa upon America. In a political and commercial sense our activity cannot be equal to that of Europe on account of our remoteness, and because we are, as yet, but little more than colonists ourselves. Africa underlies Europe, is contiguous to it, is by nature situated so as to become an essential part of that mighty earth-tract which the sun of civilization is, sooner or later, to illuminate. Besides Europe has a need for African acquisition and settlement which America has not. Her areas are small, her population has long since reached the point of overflow, her money is abundant and anxious for inviting foreign outlets, her manufacturing centres must have new cotton and jute fields, not to mention supplies of raw material of a thousand kinds, her crowded establishments must have the cereal foods, add to all these the love of empire which like a second nature with monarchical rulers, and the desire for large landed estates which is a characteristic of titled nobility, and you have a few of the inducements to African conquest and colonization which throw Europe in the foreground. Yet while all these are true, it is doubtful if, with all her advantages of wealth, location and resource, she has done as much for the evangelization of Africa as has America. No, nor as much for the systematic and scientific opening of its material secrets. And this brings us to the initial idea of this paragraph again. Though Stanley was a foreign waif, cast by adverse circumstances on our shores, it seemed to require the robust freedom and stimulating opportunities of republican institutions to awaken and develop in him the qualities of the strong practical and venturesome man he became. Monarchy may not fetter thought, but it does restrain actions. It grooves and ruts human energy by laws of custom and by arbitrary rules of caste. It would have repressed a man like Stanley, or limited him to its methods. He would have been a subject of some dynasty or a victim of some conventionalism. Or if he had grown too large for repressive boundaries and had chosen to burst them, he would have become a revolutionist worthy of exile, if his head had not already come to the block. But under republican institutions his energies and ambitions had free play. Every faculty, every peculiarity of the man grew and developed, till he became a strong, original and unique force in the line of adventure and discovery. This out-crop of manhood and character, is the tribute of our free institutions to European monarchy. The tribute is not given grudgingly. Take it and welcome. Use it for your own glory and aggrandizement. Let crowned-heads bow before it, and titled aristocracy worship it, as they appropriate its worth and wealth. But let it not be forgotten, that the American pioneering spirit has opened Africa wider in ten years than all the efforts of all other nations in twenty.

CONGO FREE STATE.

In 1877, Stanley wrote to the London _Daily Telegraph_ as follows:——

“I feel convinced that the question of this mighty water-way (the Congo) will become a political one in time. As yet, however, no European power seems to have put forth the right of control. Portugal claims it because she discovered its mouth; but the great powers, England, America, and France, refuse to recognize her right. If it were not that I fear to damp any interest you may have in Africa, or in this magnificent stream, by the length of my letter, I could show you very strong reasons why it would be a politic deed to settle this momentous question immediately. I could prove to you that the power possessing the Congo, despite the cataracts, would absorb to itself the trade of the whole enormous basin behind. This river is and will be the grand highway of commerce to West Central Africa.”

When Stanley wrote this, with visions of a majestic Congo Empire flitting through his brain, he was more than prophetic; at least, he knew more of the impulse that was then throbbing and permeating Europe than any other man. He had met Gambetta, the great French statesman, who in so many words had told him that he had opened up a new continent to the world’s view and had given an impulse to scientific and philanthropic enterprise which could not but have material effect on the progress of mankind. He knew what the work of the International Association, which had his plans for a Free State under consideration, had been, up to that hour, and were likely to be in the future. He was aware of the fact that the English Baptist missionaries had already pushed their way up the Congo to a point beyond the Equator, and that the American Baptists were working side by side with their English brethren. He knew that the London and Church Missionary Societies had planted their flags on Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika, and that the work of the Free Kirk of Scotland was reaching out from Lake Nyassa to Tanganyika. He had seen Pinto and Weissman crossing Africa and making grand discoveries in the Portuguese possessions south of the Congo. De Brazza had given France a West African Empire; Germany had annexed all the vacant territory in South-west Africa, to say nothing of her East African enterprises; Italy had taken up the Red Sea coast; Great Britain had possessed the Niger delta; Portugal already owned 700,000 square miles south of the Congo, to which no boundaries had been affixed.

Stanley knew even more than this. His heroic nature took no stock in the “horrible climate” of Africa, which he had tested for so many years. He was fully persuaded that the plateaus of the Upper Congo and the central continent were healthier than the lands of Arkansas, which has doubled its population in twenty-five years. He treated the coast as but a thin line, the mere shell of an egg, yet he saw it dotted with settlements along every available water-way——the Kwanza, Congo, Kwilu, Ogowai, Muni, Camaroon, Oil, Niger, Roquelle, Gambia and Senegal rivers. He asked himself, What is left? And the answer came——Nothing, except the basins of the four mighty streams——the Congo, the Nile, the Niger and the Shari (Shire), all of which require railways to link them with the sea. His projected railway from Vivi, around the cataracts of the Congo, to Stanley Pool, 147 miles long, would open nearly 11,000 miles of navigable water-way, and the trade of 43,000,000 people, worth millions of dollars annually.

The first results of Stanley’s efforts in behalf of a “Free Congo State” were, as already indicated, the formation of an international association, whose president was Colonel Strauch, and to whose existence and management the leading powers of the world gave their assent. It furnished the means for his return to Africa, with plenty of help and with facilities for navigating the Congo, in order to establish towns, conclude treaties with the natives, take possession of the lands, fix metes and bounds and open commerce——in a word, to found a State according to his ideal, and firmly fix it among the recognized empires of the world.

In January, 1879, Stanley started for Africa, under the above auspices and with the above intent. But instead of sailing to the Congo direct, he went to Zanzibar on the east coast, for the purpose of enlisting a force of native pioneers and carriers, aiming as much as possible to secure those who had accompanied him on his previous trips across the Continent and down the river, whose ascent he was about to make. Such men he could trust, besides, their experience would be of great avail in so perilous an enterprise. A second object of his visit to Zanzibar was to organize expeditions for the purpose of pushing westward and establishing permanent posts as far as the Congo. One of these, under Lieut. Cambier, established a line of posts stretching almost directly westward from Zanzibar to Nyangwe, and through a friendly country. With this work, and the enlistment of 68 Zanzibaris for his Congo expedition, three-fourths of whom had accompanied him across Africa, he was engaged until May, 1879, when he sailed for the Congo, _via_ the Red Sea and Mediterranean, and arrived at Banana Point at the mouth of the Congo, on Aug. 14, 1879, as he says, “to ascend the great river with the novel mission of sowing along its banks civilized settlements, to peacefully conquer and subdue it, to mold it in harmony with modern ideas into national States, within whose limits the European merchant shall go hand in hand with the dark African trader, and justice and law and order shall prevail, and murder and lawlessness and the cruel barter of slaves shall forever cease.”

Once at Banana Point, all hands trimmed for the tropical heat. Heads were shorn close, heavy clothing was changed for soft, light flannels, hats gave place to ventilated caps, the food was changed from meat to vegetable, liquors gave place to coffee or tea——for be it known a simple glass of champagne may prove a prelude to a sun-stroke in African lowlands. The officers of the expedition here met——an international group indeed,——an American (Stanley), two Englishmen, five Belgians, two Danes, one Frenchman. The steamer Barga had long since arrived from Europe with a precious assortment of equipments, among which were building material and a flotilla of light steam launches. One of these, the _En Avant_ was the first to discover Lake Leopold II, explore the Biyeré and reach Stanley Falls.

In seven days, August 21st, the expedition was under way, braving the yellow, giant stream with steel cutters, driven by steam. The river is three miles wide, from 60 to 900 feet deep, and with a current of six miles an hour. On either side are dark walls of mangrove and palm, through which course lazy, unknown creeks, alive only with the slimy reptilia of the coast sections. For miles the course is through the serene river flood, fringed by a leafy, yet melancholy nature. Then a cluster of factories, known as Kissinga, is passed, and the river is broken into channels by numerous islands, heavily wooded. Only the deeper channels are now navigable, and selecting the right ones the fleet arrives at Wood Point, a Dutch trading town, with several factories. Up to this point, the river has had no depth of less than 16 feet, increased to 22 feet during the rainy season. The mangrove forests have disappeared, giving place to the statelier palms. Grassy plains begin to stretch invitingly down to the water’s edge. In the distance high ridges throw up their serrated outlines, and seemingly converge toward the river, as a look is taken ahead. Soon the wonderful Fetish Rocks are sighted, which all pilots approach with dread, either through superstition or because the deep current is broken by miniature whirlpools. One of these granite rocks stands on a high elevation and resembles a light-house. It is the Limbu-Li-Nzambi——“Finger of God”——of the natives.

Boma is now reached. It is the principal emporium of trade on the Congo——the buying and selling mart for Banana Point, and connected with it by steamers. There is nothing picturesque hereabouts, yet Boma has a history as old as the slave trade in America, and as dark and horrible as that traffic was infamous. Here congregated the white slave dealers for over two centuries, and here they gathered the dusky natives by the thousand, chained them in gangs by the dozen or score, forced them into the holds of their slave-ships, and carried them away to be sold in the Brazils, West Indies and North America. Whole fleets of slave-ships have anchored off Boma, with their loads of rum, their buccaneer crews and blood-thirsty officers, intent on human booty. Happily, all is now changed and the Arab is the only recognized slave-stealer in Africa. Boma has several missions, and her traders are on good terms with the surrounding tribes. Her market is splendid, and here may be found in plenty, oranges, citrons, limes, papaws, pine-apples, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, turnips, cabbage, beets, carrots and lettuce, besides the meat of bullocks, sheep, goats and fowls.

After establishing a headquarters at Boma, under the auspices of the International Commission, the expedition proceeded to Mussuko, where the heavier steamer, Albion, was dismissed, and where all the stores for future use were collected. This point is 90 miles from the sea. River reconnoissances were made in the lighter steamers, and besides the information picked up, the navigators were treated to a hippopotamus hunt which resulted in the capture of one giant specimen, upon whose back one of the Danish skippers mounted in triumph, that he might have a thrilling paragraph for his next letter to Copenhagen.

Above Boma the Congo begins to narrow between verdure-clad hills rising from 300 to 1100 feet, and navigation becomes more difficult, though channels of 15 to 20 feet in depth are found. Further on, toward Vivi is a splendid reach of swift, deep water, with an occasional whirlpool, capable of floating the largest steamship. Vivi was to be a town founded under the auspices of the International Commission——an entrepôt for an extensive country. The site was pointed out by De-de-de, chief of the contiguous tribe, who seemed to have quite as keen a commercial eye as his European visitors. Hither were gathered five of the most powerful chiefs of the vicinity, who were pledged, over draughts of fresh palm-juice, to recognize the newly established emporium. It is a salubrious spot, surrounded by high plateaus, affording magnificent views. From its lofty surroundings one may sketch a future, which shall abound in well worn turnpike roads, puffing steamers, and columns of busy trades-people. As Vivi is, the natives are by no means the worst sort of people. They wear a moderate amount of clothing, take readily to traffic, keep themselves well supplied with marketing, and use as weapons the old fashioned flint-lock guns they have secured in trade with Europeans. At the grand assemblage of chiefs, one of the dusky seniors voiced the unanimous sentiment thus:——“We, the big chiefs of Vivi are glad to see the mundelé (trader). If the mundelé has any wish to settle in this country, as Massala (the interpreter) informs us, we will welcome him, and will be great friends to him. Let the mundelé speak his mind freely.”

Stanley replied that he was on a mission of peace, that he wanted to establish a commercial emporium, with the right to make roads to it and improve the surrounding country, and that he wanted free and safe intercourse with the people for all who chose to come there. If they would give guarantees to this effect, he would pay them for the right. Then began a four hour’s chaffer which resulted in the desired treaty. Apropos to this deal Stanley says:——“In the management of a bargain I should back the Congo native against Jew or Christian, Parsee, or Banyan, in all the round world. I have there seen a child of eight do more tricks of trade in an hour than the cleverest European trader on the Congo could do in a month. There is a little boy at Bolobo, aged six, named Lingeuji, who would make more profit out of a pound’s worth of cloth than an English boy of fifteen would out of ten pound’s worth. Therefore when I write of the Congo natives, Bakougo, Byyanzi or Bateke tribes, I associate them with an inconceivable amount of natural shrewdness and a power of indomitable and untiring chaffer.”

Thus Vivi was acquired, and Stanley brought thither all his boats and supplies. He turned all his working force, a hundred in number, to laying out streets to the top of the plateau, where houses and stores were erected. The natives rendered assistance and were much interested in the smashing and removal of the boulders with the heavy sledges. They called Stanley Bula Matari——Rock Breaker——a title he came to be known by on the whole line of the Congo, up to Stanley Falls. Gardens were planted, shade trees were set out, and on January 8, 1880, Stanley wrote home that he had a site prepared for a city of 20,000 people, at the head of navigation on the lower Congo, and a center for trade with a large country, when suitable roads were built. He left it in charge of one of his own men, as governor, or chief, and started on his tedious and more perilous journey through the hills and valleys of the cataract region. This journey led him through various tribes, most of whom lived in neat villages, and were well supplied with live animals, garden produce and cotton clothing. They were friendly and disposed to encourage him in his enterprise of making a good commercial road from Vivi, around the cataracts, to some suitable station above, provided they were well paid for the right of way. A melancholy fact in connection with many of these tribes is that they have been decimated by internecine wars, mostly of the olden time, when the catching and selling of slaves was a business, and that thereby extensive tracts of good land have been abandoned to wild game, elephants, buffaloes, water-buck and antelopes, which breed and roam at pleasure. It was nothing unusual to see herds of half a dozen elephants luxuriously spraying their sunburnt backs in friendly pools, nor to startle whole herds of buffaloes, which would scamper away, with tails erect, for safety——cowards all, except when wounded and at bay, and then a very demon, fuller of fight than a tiger and even more dangerous than the ponderous elephant.