ERBzine 1813: J.W. Buel - Heroes of the Dark Continent . . . (1890) (original) (raw)

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Author(s)

Buel, J[ames]. W[illiam]. (1849-1920): Hugely prolific American author/compiler/editor of numerous profusely illustrated works, in a wide range of subjects, including of Beautiful Paris (1894),The Beautiful Story, (1887), The Border Outlaws (1882),Buel's Manual of Self Help (1894), Heroes of the Plains (1882), The Living World (1889), Louisiana and the [1904 St. Louis World's] Fair 10 vols. (1904),Metropolitan Life Unveiled (1884), Russian Nihilism and Exile Life in Siberia(1883), Savage World (1891), The Story of Man (1889),Sea and Land (1887), The Standard Bearers (1884), and The World's Wonders (1884). He also produced books of photographs: America's Wonderlands (1893), Glimpses of America (1894),The Magic City; A Massive Portfolio of Original Photographic Views of the Great [Chicago] World's Fair and Its Treasures of Art (1894)

Link to Tarzan of the Apes

• Atamian, Sarkis. 1997. The Origin of Tarzan. The Mystery of Tarzan's Creation Solved. Anchorage, AK: Publication Consultants. 128 pp.
• Atamian shows that Buel's book showed tigers in Africa, and that many terms for places and things in early Tarzan novels derive from Buel's book.

Edition(s) used

• J.W. Buel. 1890. Heroes of the Dark Continent and How Stanley Found Emin Pasha. A complete history of all the great explorations and discoveries in Africa, from the earliest ages to the present time, including a full, authentic and thrilling account of Stanley's famous relief of Emin Pasha, replete with astounding incidents, wonderful adventures, mysterious providences, grand achievements, and glorious deeds, as represented in the devoted lives and splendid careers of such brilliant characters as Henry M. Stanley, Emin Pasha, Gen. (Chinese) Gordon, and all the other great travellers, hunters and explorers, who, for more than one thousand years, have made Africa a land of wonders by their heroism and unparalleled daring. Covering the whole history of African exploration and discovery. Enlivened with stories of marvellous hunts and wonderful adventures among wild animals, ferocious reptiles, and curious and savage races of people who inhabit the dark continent. New Edition. Philadelphia, PA, St. Louis, MO: Historical Publishing Company.

Personal copy

• Another edition, Cincinnati: Cincinnati Publishing Co., 1890, 576 pp. (apparently an early rather than 'New Edition' as it does not have the 'Appendix' or 'ADDENDA --- AN EPILOGUE' present in the 'New Edition') will be used to reproduce a foldout map not present in the 'New Edition' as well as some illustrations damaged in my copy of the 'New Edition'

Modifications to the text

• Chapter summaries placed in Table of Contents.
• Letters and cited documents indented and in smaller font.
• Illustrations as links, to allow document to load quickly.
• The illustrations are collated into a series of Art Gallery Web pages:
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 1
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 2
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 3
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 4
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 5
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 6
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 7
  • Dark Continent Art Gallery 8

PART I: Chapters I - XVII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Heroes of the Dark Continent

[Frontispiece: Stanley cutting his way through the dark continent]

Introduction

Religion and science, mystery and fact, ambition and disappointment, grandeur and ruin --- all the antitheses of human aspiration and realization --- find remarkable example in the history of that wondrous country surnamed the DARK CONTINENT. Mystery has, for centuries, hung above it like a gruesome pall, the wild riot of a boundless superstition has hovered over its strange people until the world has whispered the very name with a feeling of dread and given to it that regard which attaches only to ghostly and ghastly things of distempered fancy. But dark as has been the mantle of dread which enveloped her during the long centuries, Africa has at last been revealed, through the search --- light of bold exploration, and now meets our scrutiny with the interest of a newly discovered world.

The restless and insatiable ambition of the adventurous, the longing of the scientist, the greed of the avaricious, the mercy of the philanthropist, have at length triumphed over the obstacles which nature and the evil and retarding influence of superstition so long opposed to successful invasion, and behold, now, the panorama of a practically new continent with all its secrets disclosed!

The absorbing popular interest in African exploration, which has been growing apace for fifty years, and which finds emphasis in Stanley's return from his last and most perilous expedition, stimulates afresh a demand for a history of that great natural division of our globe. This desire springs not alone from recent events --- these serving rather as a culmination of public concern than the creation of a new interest --- for during the past century a hundred things have transpired to focus international consideration of the DARK CONTINENT.

The wonderful labors of Livingstone quickened missionary enterprise, and led to the establishment of stations all over the country; prosperity of the Dutch and English settlements in South Africa, followed by a development of gold and diamond mines, gave fresh impetus to immigration into that region; the Sultan of Zanzibar, by assuming sovereignty over a large portion of the east coast, and encouraging trade with tribes of the interior, has been the prime means of opening a highway to the great lakes. But more than these have been the civilizing effects following Stanley's first journey across the Continent; for by this successful expedition was determined the navigableness of the Congo river and the inconceivably rich region that it drained, as well as the valuable products of the native woods and mines. By these discoveries an incentive for opening trade with the interior was created, nations became competitors for the fruits of this newly opened field, and enterprise in all its phases at once entered the list for commercial gain. In consequence of this friendly rivalry, lines of steamers were placed in service on the Congo, railroad lines projected, and to intensify the ambitious spirit of those attacking the barbarous regions of West Africa, the German Government has entered the eastern districts with equal activity and laid the survey of a railway line from Mombossa to the central lakes.

Another promoting cause, almost equal to the preceding, is to be found in military events that have made the Soudan a centre of marked interest for the past twenty years. When slavery ceased to exist as an institution in America, when the serfs were manumitted in Russia, and a scheme for liberation of the slaves in Brazil was approved and adopted by that government, all the civilized world had come to an appreciation of the wrongs and evils of human bondage. The last precedent and example was removed, and there was now a universal sympathy among civilized nations in favor of destroying slavery in. every part of the world. In Africa alone the horrors of kidnapping prevailed, and in no countries except Egypt, Arabia and Turkey, was, and is, human bondage encouraged or tolerated. The pressure of a foreign demand for its suppression forced Egypt to at least assume the mask of hostility to slavery, and this pretence has had the one most beneficial effect of concentrating international interest, looking towards the destruction of this great human curse. It is from this pretence, assuming aggressive activity through efficient Christian leaders, that the story of Chinese Gordon and Emin Pasha, representing as they did a lukewarm government, becomes so thrillingly interesting. The tragic fate of Gordon, and the unspeakable perils, sufferings and heroic sacrifices of Emin, have re-enforced the world's horror at the frightful abuse of Turkish and Arabic power in the Soudan, in which the savagery of the semi --- civilized exceeds immeasurably that of the lowest barbarians. This depravity, that is working such inconceivable cruelty, in the torture and enslavement of millions, and the destruction by lash, sword and knife, and the impoverishment of millions of others, has nerved the arm of European nations to bring a swift punishment upon the despoilers of the poor Africans. When armies from the north shall be sent as a retribution, to wreak vengeance upon the kidnappers and slave traders in Egypt and the Equatorial Provinces, columns of emigrants will bring up the rear, and a wave of civilization will thus overspread that now miserable country, to its everlasting glory.

These several mighty influences, operating conjunctively, or to one general end, and the necessity for an outlet that will relieve the congested populations of Europe and China, serve to concentrate public attention upon Africa. Recognizing this pregnant fact, and comprehending the situation of present effort towards the reclamation of the DARK CONTINENT, I have given my abilities herein towards furnishing such a history of Africa as will satisfy not only those who find pleasure in reading the thrilling exploits of great explorers, but also those who desire reliable information respecting the climatic. and physical features of the continent, and its soil, products, advantages for agriculture, mining and manufacture. To enlarge the interest which now centres chiefly around Stanley and Emin Pasha, I have undertaken also to give the evidences upon which rest a belief that Africa was, in a prehistoric period, a continent of civilization and human culture, and have introduced such accounts as are recoverable from the musty past, of the powerful and inconceivably rich kingdoms into which the country was once divided, and of which relics are still observable in ruins, manners, traditions, inscriptions, and excavations that reveal abandoned mines, besides allusions made by ancient poets, philosophers and geographers, who at least intimate a knowledge of the interior regions of the country.

Following a history of ancient Africa, I have sought to present a summary of the principal expeditions and individual explorers that have entered the continent during the past two hundred years, together with results of their labors. By so doing I have been able to follow the advancing lines of conquest and reclamation, in settlements along the coast and a gradual extension towards the mid-interior. Not alone this, but the record of discovery in Africa is made complete, its rivers, lakes, mountains, plains and valleys; its tribes, their superstitions, customs and savagery; its animals, reptiles, great birds and monstrosities; its products of gold, ivory, fine woods, and singular samples of ingenious workmanship of the natives; its grains, grasses and domestic herds.

All the facts which I have herein introduced are made to serve as preliminary to the culmination of that great and successful effort which this book is intended no less to describe than to celebrate. The information here given is necessary to a complete understanding of the objects of Emin Pasha's services in Equatorial Africa and the causes which prompted the dispatch of Stanley's expedition to his relief. It also enables the reader to comprehend the perils that attend travel in that country, and also its pleasures, for excursions therein are not entirely without days of rare delight and intense enjoyment, especially to those of adventurous dispositions.

While the geography of Africa is not yet thoroughly known, and there remain several extensive regions in which explorers have not entered, still, no future expedition, unless of a military nature, is likely to excite such popular interest as that from which Stanley and Emin returned in December, 1889. With the subsidence of that applause which hails a victor, more serious matters are likely to engage the European Powers in their relations to Africa, and an army will most likely compose coming expeditions, that will invade the country, not for discovery, but for conquest, and a redemption of the slave --- cursed continent to the beneficent purposes of civilization.

J.M. Buel

Wild game of Africa fleeing before fire

[[African superstitions illustrated]](../../../01 AA ERB PROJECTS/DODDS/New website/buel0001.jpg)

[[Battle with a crocodile]](../../../01 AA ERB PROJECTS/DODDS/New website/buel0001.jpg)

Chapter I

AFRICA OF THE ANCIENTS.

f the many decided mysteries of geography, the unsolvable riddles that vex researchers in the fields of the earth, none appear so great as the African sphinx. This second largest natural division of land, lying most favorably under the fructifying influences of nature, blessed by the bounties of rich soil, variegated landscape, pleasing panoramas, delightful climate and wonderful productions, still remains under the ban of stagnation, if not primeval savagery. The many natural advantages which the country possessed over Europe and Asia were promptly recognized by the mother of civilization, who here set her cradle and rocked her offspring until it flourished into a vigorous manhood. Thus it was that Egypt became the parent of human advancement, and gave to the world the genius of substantial progress, which developed the highest intellectual faculties, built magnificent cities, established museums of arts, set examples of human aggrandizement, produced surprising results in engineering, created sciences, and gave form to government and law. The modern world, with its wealth of ingenuity and rich attainment, pauses before every successive step to pay homage to that ancient country and to take example from the relics of its departed glory.

Though first to cast the plummet and sound the depths of human wisdom, Africa was likewise first to pause in her ambition, as if surfeited with the circumstance and pride of achievement, and dropping back, watched with indifferent regard the advance of other countries. The offspring of her institutions, the prodigies that gave her greatness, became like a tender vine too long exposed to a scorching sun, which withers after bearing the first season's fruit. Stopping in the advance, on the highway to a grander position among the nations, Africa lay down to a sleep from which she has not yet awakened. Other countries have profited from Africa's early example and pushed on, until in our day the first has become last, and now none are so dark with mystery, so wild with waste and wilderness, so wretched with savagery as she. [Peculiar African warfare] The new world, so young in the contest for supremacy, has risen with the vaulting ambition which distinguished ancient Africa, and now looks down with amazement at her dark sister across the sea; South America, with its overteeming products that lie in almost insurmountable or impenetrable tangles, opposing every advance, has yet become a seat for the habitation of high and increasing intelligence. Australia has lifted her head above the disadvantages of her surroundings, and established herself among the great nations of the earth. Even the insulated portions of the globe, the islands of the high seas, where wild passions found a natural license in the circumscribed conditions of their environments; where savagery had no examples inspiring to a loftier position, and intellectual force could find so little nourishment --- even these have discovered the germ of civilization and given it such careful cultivation that the fruit is ripening to their praise and glory. In short, all the world, save Africa alone, has joined the procession that marches, with ceaseless tread, towards a higher and grander eminence in human affairs, and are thus drawing nearer to that universal brotherhood which promises the flowering of a perfect civilization.

AFRICA'S FORMER GREATNESS.

It is not sufficient to say that the past glory of Africa was limited to Egypt, or to the northern coast, where Carthage, with her almost unexampled splendors, her enormous commerce and powerful army, ruled the world. From the ruins of the Nilotic cities, Thebes, Karnak, Memphis, Luxor, Heliopolis, etc., which are scattered so profusely along the river shores, and from the Grecian lays that so graphically and amorously describe the great Punic nation, we gain our chief impressions of Africa's ancient possessions; but the evidences are by no means wanting in proof of the claim that the country, though now so savage, was once thoroughly civilized, even its darkest portions affording testimony of having been occupied by peoples familiar with the arts and sciences. The explorations of our modern travellers, while beneficent in the highest degree to the present age, are but the rediscoveries of very anciently well-known towns, rivers, provinces and kingdoms.

Peoples rise and perish just as the arts flourish and expire. Nearly all our modern inventions are only recoveries of long-lost applications, and it may with truth be asserted that there is no country or land on the globe but has been occupied by a civilized people.

It is no disparagement to the bold spirits who have penetrated and explored the wilds of Africa at the cost of such suffering and treasure, to claim that they were but travellers over a once prominent but now obliterated highway. The results of their exploits are no less pronounced or beneficial, nor is the measure of their praise diminished because they performed a signal service which had once before been accomplished. As well detract from the heroism of a man who plunges into a cataract at the imminent peril of his own life to save that of a comrade, because some one before had done a like heroic act. The danger was none the less because having before been confronted.

Readers of history, and students of archeology, particularly, know that prior to the discovery of America by Columbus, there had long before existed in Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, a civilization that employed nearly all the sciences: mathematic, hydraulics, and a splendid system of engineering and architecture, astronomy, etc., which serve to distinguish the peoples of those countries as highly educated and refined. How they perished history fails to acquaint us. In Greenland, that now woefully desert and frigid country, we find ruins that tell a sad story of the desolation that overtook and destroyed the progressive and cultured people who once made that country their home. So we find like evidences of a vanquished civilization in all countries, though in Africa, excepting Egypt and the northern coast, these relics are less conspicuous, and in many places hardly distinguishable, notwithstanding they unquestionably exist.

RUINS OF ANCIENT MAGNIFICENCE.

Some few evidences do, however, exist, pointing directly toward a period in history when at least some portions of Africa, which are now distinguished for their barbarism, were ages ago the seats of enormous commerce and most probably the homes of an advanced people.

Sofala, now a small town on the east coast of Africa, on the Mozambique, is frequently mentioned by Marco Polo, who visited it in the thirteenth century. It was even at that early date a place of little importance, save as a commercial port for the Arab traffic. But long before that period it was the centre of a wondrously rich mining district whose wealth was fairly beyond computation.

The Portuguese Governor-General, in 1857, published a report concerning the former greatness of this region, in which, after speaking of the rich mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron found here, he states that the country was invaded by a warlike people called the Lindens, who wrought such ruin that no effort was ever afterwards made to re-open the mines or re-establish the government. But these mines still bear the names of their supposed discoverers, which are most probably the names of kings who have ruled the country.

In this same report it is stated that five hundred leagues from Sena, which was formerly the capital of the Portuguese dominions in east Africa, situated little more than two hundred miles north of Sofala, on the Zambesi, there are remains of large edifices which indicate that they were once inhabited by a powerful people, but by whom is not known. This report seems to confirm the statements of Barros, who, in describing the relics of a very ancient city called Zimboe, declares that about these ruins are the remains of a fort built of well-dressed stones having a cut surface of twelve feet in length and only a little less in height, in the joining of which no lime appears to have been used. In other words, the masonry is almost exactly like that which is found in the pyramid of Cheops. Over the door to this fort is an inscription which the most learned Arabs have not been able to decipher, nor has anyone ever been able to determine the character of the writing.

Around the ruins of this fort are the remains of other constructions having bastions made of like large cut stones, and about the middle of all the ruins is found the wreck of what was evidently at one time a stone tower which must have been at least seventy-five feet in height. These ruins are called by the natives of the country_Zimboe_, which signifies a royal residence.

Barros is of the opinion that the country of Sofala, which no doubt once included Sena, of which indeed it may have been the capital, is the same as that spoken of by Ptolemy as Agyzimba. Zimboe, the name of the royal residence, [Beside Africa's ruins] certainly offers some affinity to that of Agyzimba; and there is still the remnant of a once powerful nation, called the Zimbos, to be found on the banks of the Zambesi.

EVIDENCE OF A VANQUISHED RACE.

Covilham, a Portuguese navigator of the fifteenth century, born about 1415, being employed in a mission to the Barbary states, acquired a knowledge of the Arabic language, and was sent by his government to Abyssinia in quest of the mysterious Prester John. After first proceeding to Abyssinia he made a voyage to the coast of Malabar, and from there returned in 1490 to Abyssinia, bringing letters addressed by John II., to the legendary Prester John. So great were his services considered that the king of Abyssinia, in his anxiety to retain his counsel, forcibly detained him at his court, where Covilham soon after married a wealthy Abyssinian woman and remained in the country until his death, early in the sixteenth century. Though he thus became an Abyssinian by forced adoption, he continued to interest himself in geographical and ethnological matters up to his death, and left a journal of great value, which fortunately fell into the possession of the English Geographical Society. In this journal are contained descriptions of the several India ports which he had visited, and, what was more instructive and interesting, that of the situation and richness of the mines of Sofala. In this journal he declares that the country was once very populous, containing many very rich, and powerful cities. He also wrote a letter to the king of Portugal, exhorting him to make a passage round Africa, which he declared to be attended by little danger, and that the cape itself [Good Hope] was well known to the people of India. He accompanied this letter with a chart which he had received from a learned Moor in India, on which the cape and cities all around the coast were exactly represented.

These statements are confirmed by Bruce, and also by the Portuguese, who describe the state of the country when they first settled there (in 1505) representing the native princes as being pure Moors, and that their form of worship was the same as that of the Arabs; and that they lived, especially in the interior, in a more opulent and cultured manner.

FROM WHENCE CAME SOLOMON'S RICHES?

As the country of Ophir, abounding with gold, has long continued to be a subject of great dispute, it may be well to observe here that there are stronger reasons for believing it to have been Sofala, on the east coast of Africa, than for locating it in either Arabia, India or Peru. The Bible text (1 Kings ix. 26, 27, 28; x. 11, 12, 22,) reads:

And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees; nor were seen unto this day.
For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

[A market scene in Sofala in 1505]

Writers who have entered upon this discussion usually maintain that the Ophir here spoken of is the Ofor situated on the eastern side of the Arabian peninsula, and that the gold was obtained from a small adjoining coast mentioned by Pliny as the Gold Coast.

It is not to be doubted that this region bears some gold, though certainly not in any considerable quantity, while we do know that it does not contain elephants, hence could not have produced ivory. Some pearls are also occasionally found along the coast, but never in such abundance as to have been an article of commerce. Nor does Arabia, in any part, contain peacocks or guinea-fowls, nor such apes as are referred to in the text, these animals having been[Fort at Sofala] first introduced into the country by Dthoo'l-Adhar, "the terrible one," who received that designation in allusion to these frightful creatures. This was in the first year of the Christian era.

The almug tree, which I believe all authorities unite in declaring to be the same as sandal wood, is not indigenous to Arabia; nor has that country ever produced precious stones.

If, as many declare, the Ophir mentioned in Kings, was in Arabia, certainly a voyage to that place and back could not have consumed three years; besides, if situated in Arabia, it would have been approached by land, instead of by sea, as in those days the former was a much less difficult mode of travelling, especially as traffic overland between Red Sea ports, Persia, and the Holy Land had become quite extensive.

While none of the facts seem to point to any port of the coast of Arabia as being the Ophir of Solomon, on the other hand all the conditions are found to establish Sofala as the place; the almug tree, or sandal wood, of two species, both most aromatic, grows along the Zambesi and is common on the coast from [Gold mining region of Sofala] Delgoa Bay to Mozambique, much of which is gathered here and shipped even to China. We know the disposition of Arabs to call places after their own names, and hence this rich country has an Arabic appellative, Sofala, likewise the river upon which it is situated; and the river which leads to the principal mines, the Manica gold mines, is called Sabia, an Arabic name, the same as Yemen, the name of Arabia's ruler in the time of Christ.

The whole kingdom of Sofala is marvellously rich in gold, silver, copper and iron, while precious stones of almost every variety have been found there, and the finest pearls have been taken from oysters in the mouth of Sofala river. Indeed, it has often been claimed that the pearl fishery here is equal to that found anywhere along the coast of India, while no gold mines in the wor1d are richer. About all this region elephants formerly abounded in such numbers that, from the ivory gathered there, it has been estimated that from three to four thousand of these animals must have been killed annually.

There are also, and have been from time immemorial, great numbers of apes, monkeys and peacocks, both in a wild and domesticated state, throughout the Sofala region, so that in every aspect the country seems to present itself as being unquestionably the Ophir from whence Solomon derived so much of his wealth and which he used so lavishly in the building of the temple. Reference will again be made to this subject when we come to consider Bruce's travels.

[Untitled]

Chapter II

A HISTORY OF AFRICA.

o acquaint my readers with the phases through which Africa has passed, and especially to show the basis upon which the claim is made that it was once well known and evidently thickly populated with peoples advanced in the arts inseparable from a high social condition, I beg to add here a brief history of the country. This history is necessarily imperfect because very little is known concerning Africa, and because so much of legend and dim tradition is associated with its every district, so that the facts themselves thus become very obscure. Another reason is found in the small attention which archeologists have given to the country outside of Egypt; so that our information is principally based upon assumptions which follow most naturally the few known facts, just as we assume certain things from analogy or example.

The name Africa seems to have been derived from Afer, the son of Hercules, though there are many other derivatives, which show that the real derivation is unknown. The Grecians divided the country into Egypt and Lybia, the latter name being bestowed in honor of a daughter of Epaphus, who was a son of Jupiter. When the Arabians overran a large portion of the country they called their African conquests Ifriquia, from Faruch, signifying separation because of its insulation from other countries, being connected with Asia by the narrow isthmus of Suez, which, since the building of the canal, has left it an island, as it is now entirely surrounded by water. Other Arabians maintain that the name was given in honor of Melek Ifiriqui, who was an ancient king of Arabia Felix, but who, being driven from his own possessions, fled into Africa and planted there a new kingdom which soon became both great and populous.

The name Africa is also said to be derived from_aphar_, a Hebrew word signifying dust, given because of the sand-storms that sweep the Sahara Desert and the periodical simooms that carry such great quantities of dust as sometimes to obscure the sun. In the old Phonician, Africa is derivable from feruc, meaning an ear of corn, or when changed to _ferec_signifies a corn country. This derivation is quite probable, because those portions of Africa which the Phonicians knew produced such crops of grain as were sufficient to feed the then known world, a fact celebrated in the odes of Horace and Virgil and other ancient poets.

STRANGE BELIEFS RESPECTING AFRICA.

A few hundred years ago the most absurd, though amusing, notions and conceits were entertained regarding the country, nearly all writers holding to the belief that it was incapable of supporting any vegetation except poisonous plants, which grew in great profusion and harbored the most grotesque and horrible animals. A few people were supposed to inhabit this dangerous land who were proof against the ills which surrounded them. Sir John Mandeville gave descriptions of some very strange creatures occupying the mid country, among other things declaring that there were_cynocephali_ (dog-headed monkeys) [Agriculture in Africa] who have heads and claws like dogs and bark like them. He also speaks of what he terms Sciapodes, a people who are wondrous swift though they progress by hopping on one leg. At mid- day, when unable to find a forest shade, they lie down upon the back and hold their foot aloft, which is so large that it serves the purpose of a shade umbrella in protecting their bodies from the sun. There are also, he affirms, a headless people called Blemmyers, whose eyes and mouths are situated on their breasts, but who have neither ears nor nose.

These ridiculous fancies were put forth in many books and most generally believed, although, thousands of years before, other historians had pictured Africa as a veritable paradise. By these it was correctly represented as being watered by numerous rivers whose valleys were covered with perpetual green, while the entire land was fanned by cooling gales, so that the country was likened to a great orchard bearing all manner of delicious fruits. Of this African Elysium Homer, in his Odyssey, thus writes:

"Close to the gates, well hedged on either side,
A stately orchard was, four acres wide;
There pregnant trees up to the heavens shoot,
Laden with pears, and store of blushing fruit.
Olives and figs, green, budding, ripe appear,
Cherished with western breezes all the year."

EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY.

The first reliable information concerning the country, beyond Egypt and the northern coast, was obtained by Hanno, who sailed from Carthage, out of the gates of Hercules (Gibraltar) and coasted the land as far as Guinea, bringing back with him many surprising tales with which to render more exciting his story of facts.

Herodotus, in the fourth of his nine books (Melpomene), which he named after the Muses, says that some Phonicians sailed out of the Red Sea and after three years doubled the lower point of Africa and returned to their country by way of Hercules' Pillars (Gibraltar).

It is also related that Sataspes, a Persian nobleman, having been found guilty of ravishing a virgin, was condemned to be crucified, but through the mediation of his mother, who was a sister of Darius, of Media, his sentence was commuted by Xerxes to the circumnavigation of Africa, this being deemed so dangerous an undertaking as to be a punishment next to death. He sailed out of Gibraltar and proceeded along the coast as far south as Cape Verd, when, being awed by the eastward trend of the sea and the strange animals and people seen along the shore, he returned again by the same route and made a report to Xerxes, stating that it was impossible to sail round the country. Having thus failed to perform the undertaking, he was remitted to his former sentence and suffered death on the cross.

In his second book (Euterpe), Herodotus gives an account of another expedition undertaken by the Nasamones, a people then inhabiting Tunis. This expedition was composed of five young men possessing both fortune and qualifications, who were chosen by lot to explore the African deserts. It is not related how large was the caravan that accompanied them, but it must have been a considerable one, for they took a great abundance of provisions in preparation for a long absence. After travelling a few days southward they came upon so many lions, probably in the Atlas mountains, that they changed their course to westward, though by this they were brought into the deserts and were in danger of perishing. At length, however, they came to an oasis in which there were many trees bending low with delicious fruit. While regaling themselves in this inviting place they were visited by a number of dwarfs, or people whom Herodotus represents as being scarcely half the stature of ordinary people. These dwarfs, though unable to understand any word of speech uttered by those whom they had thus visited, perceived their forlorn and dangerous condition and very kindly led the expedition across a wide desert tract and to their city, in which all the inhabitants were black. A large river [African elephants in the Sofala county] ran by this city in an eastward direction, but Herodotus neglects to report the ultimate destination of the expedition or its fate. It is probable that the party crossed the desert really and visited the city of Bornu, which is so old a place that no history is extant concerning its founding. Though there are now no dwarfs in the immediate region of that place, there is a race of pigmies found not a great distance to the south of it, and who have, no doubt, been driven from their more northern home by the first Arabian invaders.

The greatest progress toward discovery and exploration along the coast and the interior of Africa was made in the fifteenth century, when the Portuguese attacked the Moors along the A[t]lantic seaboard and captured from them several cities. Having thus obtained a foothold, they increased their African acquisitions to such an extent that the envy of England was excited. Henry, Duke of Viseo, youngest son of Henry I., now resolved to enter the lists as an explorer, to which end he engaged learned mathematicians and navigators, and in 1420 set sail with a fleet of three vessels to circumnavigate Africa. He continued to make voyages along the coast at considerable intervals, discovering Madeira in 1420, Porto Sancho in 1428, Cape Verd in 1440 and the coast of Guinea in 1452; but it does not appear that he extended his trips further southward, so that his real ambition was never attained. Henry died in 1463, after which no further efforts at discovery were made until King John II., of Portugal, sent out an expedition under command of Diego Cou, who in 1486, discovered the Angola, or Congo country, St. George's Isle, and the mouth of the Congo. A year later, associated with Bartholomew Dias, he continued [Melinde]his voyage southward until he reached the Cape of Good Hope, called in the Portuguese language Cabo de Bona Esperanza, and entertained the ambition of proceeding thence eastwardly to India, but on account of a mutiny among his crew he was forced to return without doubling the cape.

FINDING THE ROUTE TO INDIA.

In the year 1497 Vasco da Gama obtained a commission from Emanuel (known as the Fortunate), king of Portugal, the successor of John the Great, and made a voyage with the avowed purpose of reaching India by an eastward route. Though he set sail with four vessels, with this sole intention, he made search for other lands, and pursuing a tortuous course he discovered the islands of St. John and St. Helena. After spending a year cruising off the African coast, da Gama proceeded again southward, and doubling the Cape of Good Hope he sailed along the Eastern coast northward to Mozambique; and thence to Melinde, three degrees south of the Equator, and from there he took an easterly course until he reached the East Indies at Calicut, on the Malabar coast. He remained at Calicut only a short time, on account of Arabian intrigues which threatened his life, and returned to Lisbon August 29, 1499, with the proud news of the complete success of his undertaking. Thus did da Gama win the honor of being the first navigator to double the southern extremity of Africa, and of finding a sea route to India.

It is a singular fact, related by da Gama, that along the east coast of Africa there was at this time many splendid ports and large cities well laid out and substantially built, occupied by people who dressed in fine fabrics, such as silks and purples. At one of these places da Gama stopped for some time and formed an alliance with the king of Melinde, who furnished da Gama with a pilot, who conducted the expedition across the Indian Ocean. What became of these people, and how their cities were destroyed, is one of the many mysteries which distinguish the Dark Continent. There is undoubted geologic evidence of a former land connection between the continent of Africa and the island of Madagascar, but there is no evidence of any submergence of the African coast during the past thousand years. Melinde, indeed, still exists, located less than two hundred miles above Zanzibar, but if we are to believe the reports made by da Gama upon his return to Lisbon, the place has very greatly deteriorated, and presents now no semblance of its former magnificence.

WAS AFRICA WELL KNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS?

It is a question whether or not all portions of Africa were once settled by a semi-civilized people. The evidence that it was, while being very far from conclusive, is sufficient at least to excite our curiosity and a desire to make further investigations. The Sahara Desert, which covers the face of a sixth part of all Africa, notwithstanding its desolation and the difficulties it offers to travellers, and the impossibility of its occupancy by mankind, except in a few fertile spots, is nevertheless as well known as Palestine, or Egypt itself. Caravans have for ages braved its burning sands and scorching winds until every foot of its shifting surface has been pressed by the keel of a desert ship as it went slowly sailing under a cargo of Eastern fabrics, or taking back to Egypt and Arabia the products of the oases and of Senegambian forests.

It was in Africa that the old legend was born of Atlas supporting the world upon his back, as thus described by Virgil in his Æneid:

And now the craggy top, and lofty side
Of Atlas, which supporteth heaven, be spied:
A fleece of sable clouds the temples binds
Of Pine-crowned Atlas, beat with rain and winds;
Snow clothes his shoulders, his starched beard is froze
And from the old man's chin a river flows.

The Atlas Mountains in the northern part of Africa, lofty, precipitous, snow-covered and most difficult of ascent, have been scaled by thousands and were well known when Rome was in its infancy. Is it not inconceivable that this bleak, barren, repelling region of the north should have been so well explored thousands of years ago, and have been the home of so-called civilized people ever since; that Egypt, on the east, should have been the seat from whence all civilizations sprung, and yet that great country lying on her western border and fringing the northern desert with inviting productiveness, should have remained wholly unexplored, a very elysian region with gates wide open which no one would enter?

MAPS OF AFRICA MANY YEARS OLD.

All the most famous Roman, Grecian and Arabic writers of antiquity have professed an accurate knowledge of Central Africa. Ptolemy, the Helleno-Egy[p]tian geographer, in the second century of our era, gave particular descriptions of the rivers, lakes, towns, mountains and all the physical features of Africa. Ptolemy was the first person to use the terms latitude and longitude, and to prove that the earth is a globe; and until the sixteenth century his geography continued to be a standard text-book. Is it possible that this map of Africa is only a fancy? Surely some one would have discovered its unreliability before the lapse of sixteen centuries.

Strabo and Pliny, Herodotus, Thebet, and other old geographers have given us the most minute and interesting descriptions of the physical features of the country, and also of its animals; and it is also true that while much fiction has been found among their assertions, there has been also so large a leaven of truth that as a whole their histories are still reckoned as standard works. They frequently mention animals as being peculiar to Central Africa which, being scouted for hundreds of years, have been by modern explorers found to be verities. The same may be said of the mountains of which they speak; for though it is now claimed that the Mountains of the Moon, formerly described as crossing Africa from east to west about the Equator, have no existence, yet there is a range of high table lands, some rising into veritable mountains, as Baker says, 7000 feet in height, crossing the country almost on the equatorial line, and which form the water-sheds of nearly the whole continent. In this region the Nile has its source, as does also the Congo and the Zambesi; here also are the great lakes, and each one seems to be the source of some river, large or small, because the country is ramified by innumerable watercourses, so that hundreds of years ago it was called the "Land of Rivers." From a book published by John Ogilby in 1670, under the patronage of Charles II., I extract the following concerning the lakes and watercourses of Central Africa:

"This region abounds also with many great lakes, the chiefest is that they call the Zaire, or Zembre, which Linefoot takes to be the old Triton, out of whose bottom issue two famous rivers that water the kingdom of Congo, the Coanze and Lalande. Some affirm that the Nile, Zambere, or the Conama, have here their original." How singularly prophetic is this claim, if it be not made from positive knowledge. Look at a modern map of Africa which now shows the source of the Nile to be Albert and Victoria lakes, while the source [Falls of the Nile] of the Congo, though not yet discovered, is given by all geographers as a lake, which, no doubt, will be sooner or later discovered.

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE LONG KNOWN.

But this same book is quite explicit concerning the source of the Nile, for it says, page 47:

"The Nile rises in the country of Sahala, being a part of the province of Agaos, bordering on Goyam; whose source or spring-head appears in two founts, seeming perfectly round, on the top of a morass or boggy plain, upon a hill surrounded with shady and pleasant groves; the diameter of each though no more than eighteen inches, yet is in depth unfathomable, supposed bottomless. The water keeps within the narrow banks till breaking forth at the bottom of a hill, it soon spreads into a river whose channel, replenished by the concourse of divers others, swells into a lake thirty leagues long and fourteen broad, whence breaking forth afresh, after several windings and meanders, it returns almost to the first head, and there falling down by great precipices, among unapproachable rocks, shoots into the midst of Ethiopia."

A more truthful description of the real source of the Nile cannot be given at this day. [Cataract of the Nile] Sir Samuel Baker claims the honor of having discovered the river's source in 1861, though Captain Speke no doubt preceded him and came upon the lakes which are now accepted as the river's head a few months earlier. But Baker followed up the river, and by so doing fully determined its course, except for the last fifty miles, when he was forced by the deep morasses, of which Ogilby speaks, to cut across the continent. Baker viewed the Albert N'yanza from the summit of a high hill, at the bottom of which lay this broad expanse of water, certainly as large as Ogilby reports, though its extent has not yet been determined. The precipices were also found, by which it was only possible to pass by carrying the boats over great hills, and the tortuous windings of the river issuing from the lakes, and its diminutive size, have also been authenticated. The two small founts spoken of remain yet to be rediscovered, if they exist, but it is possible that these will be found.

When we consider the fact that the real source of the Mississippi river is still in dispute, we can the better appreciate the accuracy of Ogilby's description, and feel full assurance of the truth of the assertion that ancient geographers must at one time have known from whence the Nile took its rise.

OGILBY'S MAP.

To fortify more amply the claim that Central Africa must have, during some early period, possibly antedating history, been well known if not populated by civilized or semi-civilized people, I beg to call the reader's attention to the subjoined map published by Ogilby in his book already referred to, This is a reproduction of the original, on which the names of lakes, rivers, towns, provinces, etc., are printed in Latin or Portuguese. The names thus given, however, would afford us little information even if translated into English, as many of them have been repeatedly changed by modern discoverers and geographers. But the positions of rivers and lakes on Ogilby's map are remarkably like those given on the maps of to-day, the differences being wonderfully small when we consider how imperfect was the art of map-making two hundred years ago. It may also be asked why so many villages are located on the Ogilby map if the central African regions were at the time_terra incognita_. If these locations of rivers and lakes be correct, we must believe that the villages are also properly located.

By reference to the map we discover on the west the river Niger, represented as rising in Central Africa and having its source in Niger lake. This is an error, though it is not difficult to conceive how such a mistake was made, as the map must evidently have been drawn from reports made by travellers through the country. Niger lake, however, has its correspondence in Liber lake in the province of Nigrata. This region is still so little known that many other .lakes may be located in Nigrata, and those laid down in Ogilby's map may therefore be verities. The Niger is also here represented as having its course through a large body of water named Lake Guarda. This lake, though connected with no river flowing into the Atlantic, is evidently Lake Tchad, which was discovered by Clapperton and Dunham, in 1822. North of the Niger a short distance is the town of Tombotu, or Timbuctoo, though it was not until 1826 that a reward of $15,000 was earned by the first white traveller who should reach that city. This prize was won by Maj. Alexander Gordon Laing. It is recorded in ancient history that the Tyrians, several centuries before the time of Christ, maintained a large commerce with Timbuctoo, and yet in the present century a very large sum was offered as a reward to the first white explorer who should reach that city. What became of the people of that city, who twenty-five hundred years ago were so refined in their tastes and so wealthy as to clothe themselves in Tyrian purple?

South of the equator we also find on Ogilby's map two very large lakes, called respectively Zaire and Zaman. The former of these, however, is divided into two lakes, known as Zaire and Zembe. These are represented as being the sources of the Nile. Now let the reader examine a modern map of Africa and note the correspondence and fidelity of that of Ogilby's. Zaire lake thus becomes the Albert N'yanza of Baker, and Zafflan that of Victoria N'yanza of Speke, both being rediscovered in 1861. The Zembre should not be connected with Zaire lake, and if we separate them, the former may represent Tanganyika, discovered by Burton and Speke, in 1858. South of these we discover, on Ogilby's map, Lake Sachas, which in size and shape exactly corresponds [On the border of the Atlas Mountains] with the modern lake of Bangweolo, discovered by Livingstone, and near whose banks he died. Lake Nyassa, a large body in the eastern part of Africa, also discovered by Livingstone, is not laid down on Ogilby's map, though about the same location are two small, nameless bodies of water, which may represent, as they no doubt do, lakes discovered, but whose extent was unknown at the time when Ogilby's map was made.

If we examine this old map to see what correspondence there is between the rivers as there laid down and those given on our modern maps, the coincidence is quite as startling. Between 15° and 20° we find on the Ogilby map the river Cuama, taking its rise in the south central region and flowing westward into Mozambique channel. On modern maps, this same river becomes the Zambesi, of Livingstone, the source of which has not been determined by modern explorers. On the west coast, Ogilby locates two large rivers, viz.: the Coanza and the Zaire, and traces their length quite as far as modern maps do the same rivers, the former never having changed its name, and the latter being now known by three names, viz.: the Congo, Lualaba and the Livingstone. All along the coast are found rivers debouching on this old map, but their sources are not given, any more than they are on modern maps. It is a strange thing, however, that the real Niger river does not appear on Ogilby's map, the stream to which he has given that name being in fact the Senegal. But several rivers are located as rising in the Mandinga country, or Western Soudan of modern maps, notably the Rio Real da Calabri, which may represent the Niger, as the location of its mouth is correct, though its length is not laid down.

Many other striking resemblances might be discussed, but as an admirable reproduction of Ogilby's map is given, I will leave the reader to make further comparisons with modern maps, in which he will be sure to find much to excite his surprise and interest.

RIVERS OF SAHARA DESERT.

That portion of the Sahara region represented on Ogilby's map appears to be well watered, being shown as traversed by numerous rivers, and occasional lakes also appear. To the casual reader, this exhibit, so inconsistent with the facts, would lead him to throw discredit upon the correctness of any part of the map. Sahara is, except about the few wells which give life to a vegetation limited to the immediate surroundings, a waterless waste, where rain never, or very rarely falls, and where an apparently illimitable waste of burning sand makes life of all kinds almost insupportable. But was it always so? Many geologists and a few very ancient writers declare that Sahara was once covered by the sea, and that, most probably, through the effects of some cataclysm the sea receded, leaving here its exposed bed. Or, perhaps, Sahara was once a fertile region, after the subsidence of the sea, whose soil was afterwards denuded by another encroachment of waters; and the land surrounding it on the north and east may have risen, as the evidences of geology abundantly attest, leaving here a great basin, which, ultimately drying up, left the desert as we now behold it.

It is difficult for us to conceive the Sahara as having been a splendidly watered and richly productive region, yet there is proof that it was once so. In 1871 Col. Flatters, of England, was engaged to make a preliminary study of Eastern Sahara, with the view of building a railway from north-western Africa through Timbuctoo to the Soudan, in pursuit of which work he made[Assassination of Col. Flatters and party] two expeditions to the Sahara regions, and each time crossed the desert, in which latter journey he was murdered by the savage Touaregs. In describing the desert, he declares it to be very much less dreary and desolate than travellers generally picture it. But among the many interesting statements which he makes are those in which he declares that Sahara is traversed by many mountain chains which are intersected by the beds of ancient rivers, and everywhere in these valleys an abundance of water is found not far below the surface. He says that the beds of what were once two great rivers rising somewhere in the south, having numerous lateral valleys in which once flowed their affluents, extend from near the northern portion of the Soudan to the cluster of lakes in the southern part of Algiers, where the streams once emptied. These beds, which are still spoken of as rivers, are called the Oued Mya and the Oued Igharghar. When rain falls on the mountains or highlands water forms in their tributaries which sometimes lasts for several days.

By reference to the Ogilby map we notice that the mountains mentioned by Col. Flatters are there represented, as well as the lakes and rivers, so that there is thus a re-enforcement of the evidence that this map must have been drawn from descriptions furnished by travellers who had familiarized themselves with every part of Africa.
[Untitled river scene]

Chapter III

ARABIAN DISCOVERIES IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

n the seventh century Mohammedanism made itself felt most signally throughout the world. It was in this period that the fanatics of this faith began a conquest of the globe, not only shaking the Roman Empire and over- running the greater part of Europe, but they directed their attention also to countries which until then were unknown to the civilization of Europe. They not only established kingdoms along the Mediterranean shore of Africa and founded large and flourishing cities, but they brought camels into service for crossing the Sahara and opened routes through that previously untrod desert. This invasion of the desert was really the result of a dispute between two rival dynasties of the Kingdom of Barbary, known as the Abassides and the Ommiades. A furious war, though of short duration, followed in which the latter dynasty was defeated, and its followers, to escape the fury of their adversaries, fled across the desert in great numbers and founded settlements in the Soudan, where their descendants still exist as_Fellahs_. Their original possessions, which they occupied without dispute, extended chiefly along the Niger and Quarrima rivers, but these were soon after greatly enlarged east and west. In this region they established an empire, the capital of which they located at Ghana, which is the modern Kano, in the province of Housa, some five hundred miles west of Lake Tchad. The sovereign chosen to rule this new empire was distinguished alike for his cruelty and the unrivalled pomp which he exhibited. His throne is said to have been ornamented with great balls of solid gold, and the dais upon which it rested was likewise a sheet of gold, indicative, as the monarch asserted, of the commerce by which his capita1 was enriched. This gold was found in a country towards the south, known then as Waugara, but which is now designated as the Gold Coast of Guinea, being transported up the Niger to its junction with the Quarrima, and from the nearest point on that stream carried overland to Kano.

Few travellers have visited this region, notwithstanding its reputed great wealth, because of the savage cruelty of the imbruted, ostracised Arabians that occupy them. These veritable fiends established themselves here by inflicting almost inconceivable cruelties upon the practically defenceless natives, hunting them like so many wild animals and shooting them as they would the most savage and dangerous creatures that inhabit the earth. East of the Housa empire, and bordering it, is the kingdom of Bornu, once known as Kuka, the capital of which still retains that name and is located on the west coast of Lake Tchad. Clappertop. and Denham visited the place in 1822, and report it a city of many thousand people, and as being substantially built, with many ornate and stately edifices. The Bornu soldiery are the most effective of any in [A Fellah's family] Africa, and render their appearance the more formidable by wearing chain corselets, and clothing their cavalry horses in armor.

Four hundred years after the establishment of the kingdom of Ghana, for some reason which explorers have not been able to give us, Timbuctoo had entirely eclipsed the splendor of Kana. and had become the most powerful city, the chief seat of commerce and splendor, and the mart for gold.[Arabs hunting unarmed Negroes] Leo Africanus visited the region at this time, and from the reports of his travels we gain this information, since no modern traveller had succeeded in reaching the city of Timbuctoo until Laing's visit.

EFFORTS TO PENETRATE AFRICA FROM THE WEST.

Prior to doubling the Cape of Good Hope, and particularly during the reign of John the Great, many efforts were made to penetrate into the interior of Africa. These were inspired not only by reports of fabulously rich gold mines and many valuable objects of commerce, but also by an adventurous desire to reach the court of a mysterious personage known as Prester John. The first mention of this distinguished personage was made by the traveller Rubruquis, who, claiming to have crossed Africa, brought back word of a Nestorian bishop in the central regions whose wealth and power were made to appear as illimitable. Following these reports came others directly after, of a Christian prince in Abyssinia, and the two reports were considered as confirmatory of the existence of this religious ruler who was known as Prester John. Henceforth a diligent inquiry was instituted to locate his dominions, which were supposed to be not far from the western coast. Ambassadors were indeed dispatched to Timbuctoo in the belief that this city might have some connection with the kingdom. Di Barros set out in search of Timbuctoo, reports of which had long been current, and succeeded in locating it and its great rival, Genni, though it is not believed that he succeeded in entering either.

Both the English and the French, before the sixteenth century, had found a considerable Portuguese population along the Senegal and Gambia rivers, and their language had been mastered by many natives trading as far eastward as Bambouk, which was only a few hundred miles west of Timbuctoo, yet no effort was made to correct the erroneous impression, or belief, that the Niger flowed westward into the ocean, as set down on Ogilby's map.

The Portuguese continued their extensions along the coast and formed considerable settlements on the gold coast at Elmina, and at the mouth of a river then known as the Formosa, but which some time after they found to be the Niger. At this latter settlement, the Portuguese found a large trade being carried on between the natives there and those in the interior. There was a king ruling over these coast possessions, but he derived his powers from some great potentate whose court was some two hundred and fifty miles in the interior, and who was known as Prince Agane. This prince was said to be the most powerful in all Africa, a belief probably inspired by the mystery with which he invested his person. It was reported that no one, save his immediate attendants, was permitted to see his face, but that during interviews he was screened from view by a silk curtain, at the conclusion of which he disclosed only his foot, to which those in the royal presence were required to pay homage. It has been popularly, and no doubt properly, supposed that this prince was the Arabian ruler of Ghana, of which the modern province of Ganid composes a part.

DISCOVERY OF A CHRISTIAN EMPIRE.

At the close of the fifteenth century the Portuguese not only sent missionaries into the interior, but they extended their influence by sailing around the cape and up the east coast as far as Melinde and Mombasa, reports of which kingdoms, especially the latter, had been brought back by Vasco da Gama after his discovery of a route to India. Covilham was in charge of the expedition succeeding the one which da Gama had commanded so successfully, and proceeding further north than his predecessor, landed on the shore of Abyssinia. This country, though so short a distance south of Egypt, seems to have been unknown to the ancient writers, though it was one of the earliest Christian empires, the seat of the mysterious Prester John. Covilham remained some time in Abyssinia and sent back to his sovereign glowing accounts of its riches, besides inducing many missionaries to locate there, but he made no effort to penetrate the interior.

We have no further information respecting affairs in Africa until towards the end of the sixteenth century, when the emperor of Morocco sent a large expedition [Crocodile seizing the Negro guide] against the prince of Timbuctoo, which resulted in a conquest of the city, the mystery of which, however, was revealed only to the conquerors, for the place continued to be as carefully guarded against the entrance of strangers as it was before. This conquest seemed to absorb the attention of all Europe for a time, popular interest being much increased by reports of vast gold fields in the vicinity of Timbuctoo, in addition to the valuable commerce which the city was known to enjoy. Influenced by these reports, an English company was formed in 1618, for the purpose of penetrating to Timbuctoo by ascending the Gambia, which was then supposed to be one of the mouths of the Niger.

MURDER OF CAPTAIN THOMPSON.

This company sent out Captain Thompson with a vessel who, landing at a point where Bathurst now stands, took to a small boat and started up the stream. He proceeded as far as Tenda, about one hundred miles from the Gambia mouth, which was further than any other European had ever before ventured. Here he was attacked by the natives, and after a stubborn resistance himself and boat-crew were killed. The Portuguese also instigated another body of natives to attack the anchored vessel, in which nearly all the crew were likewise killed, thus tragically ending the first English expedition ever sent into African wilds.

The English company, however, was undeterred by its first misfortunes and in 1620 dispatched another party, under the command of Richard Johnson. He proceeded up the river a distance of more than two hundred miles, and from information given by natives he supposed he was near Timbuctoo. Difficulties here arose, however, chief of which was his inability to make further progress in his boats on account of the vegetation which fairly blocked up the stream. The river was also infested with crocodiles which gave the boatmen much alarm, especially after one of their negro guides had been torn from a raft constructed to carry some of the company's goods to lighten the boats. Johnson was thus forced to return, but it was with the hope of renewing efforts to reach Timbuctoo after equipping himself more perfectly for the expedition. But his failure discouraged the English company, which now abandoned the undertaking.

A century elapsed without further effort to reach Timbuctoo, till the Duke of Chandos, Director of the English-African Company, entertained the idea of increasing its small profits by opening communication with the country of gold. In pursuance of this ambition, in 1723 he sent out a company under Bartholomew Stibbs, who attempted to follow up the Gambia in canoes. They proceeded little further than did Johnson, finding the same obstructions, which made navigation, even by canoes, impossible. The information which Stibbs was able to gather from the natives led him to conclude, as he says, "that the original or head of the river Niger is nothing near so far in the country as by the geographers has been represented," though he still believed the Gambia to be a tributary of the Niger. He declared that it had no communication with the Senegal or with any lake, nor did he anywhere hear the river Niger named. This was the last expedition sent into west Africa by the English.

THE FRENCH IN AFRICA.

In the mean time the French were making great exertions to form settlements along the Senegal, but with such poor success that in 1630 some merchants[Stibb's ascent of the Niger] of Dieppe and Rouen opened commercial intercourse with the region, making the crews of their vessels as comfortable as possible in temporary huts hastily erected to shelter them during the time of their stay. In 1664, they were compelled to give way to the West India Company, whose privileges included also Western Africa. In nine years, however, it was bankrupted, and on its ruins was erected a second, succeeded by a third, fourth and fifth effort to build up a profitable trade in that region, which last was merged into John Law's Mississippi scheme.

All the mercantile associations which had up to this time attempted to build up a lucrative trade in Western Africa had met with disastrous failure, though each had its period of activity in which much was done to extend both trade and discovery. [French fort in Africa]

The next effort made at a reclamation of the region was in 1697, under the governorship of Sieur Brue, who, from the settlement of Port Saint Louis, sailed up the Senegal with the purpose of adjusting some difficulties with the king of the Fellahs and to establish a trade with the Arabs. He succeeded in his negotiations, and afterwards erecting a fort at Giorel, in 1698, he reached, Gallam, which was the head of navigation for large barks. At Dramanet he built another fort and established a settlement under the name of Saint Joseph, which afterwards became the centre of French trade in the interior. Through the efforts of one of his associates named Compagnon --- an adventurous and shrewd companion truly --- he acquired a great deal of information about Bambouk and its marvellously rich gold fields. So anxious was he to obtain possession of these mines that he raised a company of twelve hundred men, intending too overrun the country and take forcible possession, but at the last moment he was unable to secure either the authority or means from his government for such a purpose. He did succeed, however, in determining the fact that the Senegal had no connection with the Niger, and a few years after D'Auville was able, largely by the information given him by Brue, to construct a map showing the true course of the Niger and the location of Timbuctoo on its north bank, and in restricting Abyssinia and Congo to their true limits.

The history of exploration in Africa remained silent for another century, and until Mungo Park, a Scotchman, traversed a considerable part of the west region in 1795; but he was not equipped to make any explorations, so that the record of his journey is little more than a description of the punishments which he received at the hands of the Arabs. He wandered around for nearly a year, enduring great sufferings in his efforts to escape, and when on the Niger he was attacked by an armed body sent by King Taour to apprehend him; to escape them and the tortures which must follow had he fallen into the hands of this cruel despot, he leaped into the river and thus destroyed himself.

DISCOVERY OF THE NIGER'S COURSE.

Richard Lemon Lander, also an Englishman, was the next traveller to attempt a crossing of the Guinea country, whose visit to that region was made with the particular purpose of seeking the Niger's source. He set sail for Africa in 1825, and five months later had reached Katunga, the capital of Yariba. He proceeded thence to Wow-Wow, where he gained the first information of the manner of Park's death. Here he was detained for some time by the attentions of a rich African widow who sought to compel him to marry her. She is represented as having been a very mountain of flesh, which is the prime essential of beauty in that country. He finally contrived to escape the oily attentions of the African second-hand goddess, and proceeded on westward as far as Kano. Here he remained for a time laid up by sickness, but at length was so far recovered as to be able to resume his journey. He next visited Sockatoo, or Sokoto, and there found Captain Clapperton down with a mortal illness, remaining by his side until his death, which occurred early in 1827.

After leaving Sockatoo he experienced many hardships, and indignities offered him by the Arabs, but reached Badagry, on the coast, where he witnessed an embarkation of slaves by the Portuguese. Referring to this incident of human cruelty, he says: "I saw four hundred of these poor creatures crammed into a small eighty-ton schooner, and the appearance of the unhappy beings was squalid and miserable in the extreme. They were fastened by the neck in pairs, only a quarter of a yard of chain being allowed for each, and driven to the beach by a party of hired scoundrels, while their associates in cruelty were in front of the party, pulling them along by a narrow band, their only apparel, which encircled their waists." He ventured to remonstrate against this inhumanity, whereupon the Portuguese made complaint to King Adolee, who commanded Lauder to undergo the ordeal of drinking a cup of poisoned water, which he was compelled to do, and was a solitary instance of escaping its fatal effects. He returned home from Badagry in the summer of 1828, without finding the Niger's source, but in December of the following year, in the company of his brother John, he again set out for the Niger. After many fatigues and discouraging accidents, he finally reached Boussa on the 17th of June, 1830, from which point he began a descent of the river, believing it now more important to determine its course than whence it took its rise, especially as Boussa was the head of possible navigation. At an island a few miles below Boussa, called Patashie, he procured two canoes in which he embarked [Victims of Portuguese slave hunters] on a journey to discover the river's mouth. He found it expanding into a most magnificent river, fully three miles broad, and bordered by stately forests resonant with the cries of birds and animals, of which many strange species were seen.

One hundred miles below Bo, Lander found another large island, called by the natives Zagoshi, and which was occupied by a large population actively engaged in many industries. The natives were of a hostile disposition and maintained a large fleet of war canoes, by which they retained their independence of neighboring and more powerful tribes. Opposite the island, on the north shore, was a very large town named Rabba, while a few miles further down was another considerable place called Egga, which was the termination of the territory of Nyffe, occupied by a comparatively civilized people who were industriously inclined.

The further southward Lander proceeded, the more apparent it became that the river, though now separated into many branches, emptied into the Gulf of Benin, these several branches composing the Niger's delta. While the people of the detached states along the shore were generally of a turbulent[Lander's journey down the Niger] character, after leaving the territory of Nyffe, yet it was plain to be seen that they were in commercial communication with European manufacturers, as they were generally clothed in European fabrics, and had considerable familiarity with the Portuguese language. Nevertheless, our travellers were taken captives by the natives and carried down to Eboe, which was the great mart for slaves and palm oil, with which trade the natives did not hesitate to combine piracy. With great difficulty and by the promise of a large ransom, Lander effected his release and arrangements for his conveyance to the sea.

Thus after a two months' journey down the river, this explorer at length reached the Niger's mouth by way of the delta branch known as Brass river, which, though not the largest, is yet the most direct channel from the main stream. Thus was solved, through the agency of one man, a grand problem in African geography, in the search after which so many abortive efforts had been made, viz., the true course and termination of the Niger. With profound sorrow, however, the sad fact must be related, that Lander was not permitted to long enjoy the great honors which he had thus won, for within a [Dr. Davidson prescribing for the sick] few weeks after he had made this most valuable discovery he died from the effects of an arrow wound received in a contest with the natives.

FATAL ENDING OF DAVIDSON'S EXPEDITION.

John Davidson, a very learned and energetic Englishman, and a physician of great ability, was the next adventurer to penetrate the African wilds in search of the wonderful city of Timbuctoo, the name of which was now on everybody's tongue, because of its reported wealth, and that a guard was set about the place to prevent the visit of strangers. He secured as guide the services of a former native of Timbuctoo named Abou Bekr, who having been taken captive by a hostile tribe was sold into slavery and taken to the West Indies, where he remained for thirty years. During this time the slave learned at least 'three languages, and being already familiar with the Arabic he was a most desirable companion on such a journey. He was liberated and sent to England, where Davidson chanced to meet him, and after a short interview engaged his services.

Davidson started on this dangerous trip in 1835, but was long detained in Morocco by the perfidy of the Sultan, who was anxious to retain him as the court physician. However, he was at length suffered to depart, but after reaching Wadnoon, on the borders of Sahara, he found the dry season to have set in, it now being April (1836), so that he was again forced to suspend his journey and employ his time ministering to the sick for seven months. When at last he proceeded it was with four attendants, and being lightly mounted on camels the party made great progress, so that Davidson expressed the hope of taking a New Year's dinner in the famed city of Timbuctoo.

Unfortunately for this pleasurable anticipation, his little party was met by a large body of wandering Arabs who infest this region, and who robbed him of all his valuables but allowed him to proceed. Three days later, while he and one of his attendants were waiting, at a place named Swekeya, for the two others to come up, whom they had outstripped a few miles, another band of sixteen Arabs of the tribe of El Harib came upon them. Unsuspecting treachery, Davidson's attendant, El Abd, undertook to conduct the Arab chief, at his request, to a watering place, the others of the party remaining behind with Davidson. The two had gone only a few yards when the report of a gun attracted El Abd's attention, and looking around he saw that one of the treacherous Arabs had taken up his gun and shot poor Davidson dead. Thus ended another noble life, sacrificed in the cause of commercial extension and civilization in the wilds of Africa.

THE RICHARDSON EXPEDITION.

In 1849 the British government decided to send an expedition into Central Africa with the purpose of establishing and increasing trade relations with that region, and with the hope that many valuable discoveries might be made to increase the sum of geographical knowledge respecting that so little known country. The command of the expedition was given to James Richardson, who had distinguished himself by having crossed the Sahara Desert, as far as Ghat, in 1845. It was also determined to invite at least one German traveller to join the expedition, which favor fell to the fortune of Henry Barth, who had made an extensive journey through Barbara, Syria, and nearly the whole of Asia Minor. At his request, Adolph Overweg, a distinguished geologist, was also permitted to join the expedition, and who became a most valuable acquisition. [Overwag [sic] and Barth before the king of Timbuctoo]

The British party, well supplied with all necessaries for the prosecution of such an undertaking, left London in the latter part of November and entered Africa, by the way of Tunis, a month later, following the seashore down to Tripoli, from which point they struck out across the desert. The route followed was through the territory of Fezzan and the central desert region of Imosagh. They went southward to Kano, thence to Kuku and lake Tchad, and then westward about fifteen hundred miles to Timbuctoo, with the king of which they held a pleasant interview. After leaving this celebrated city, on the return journey, Mr. Richardson was taken violently ill, and upon reaching the lake Tchad region again his condition became practically hopeless. He still lingered, however, and hope began to revive, but when in a condition of convalescence he suddenly took a relapse and died, March 4th, 1851. The place of his death was a small village in the kingdom of Bornu, near the banks of lake Tchad, called Nguratuwa, which in the Arabic language signifies place full of hippopotami.

The expedition continued an exploration of the region about Lake Tchad, going southward to Yoka, and thence back again to Kuku, from which point the party made excursions to Bagir-mi, Masena, Zuider, and other important places, until the fall of 1852 when another fatality occurred which proved a sad stroke to the expedition, compelling a change of its original plans. Mr. Overweg was taken ill with a fever contracted by the indiscretion of wading in the bogs about Lake Tchad and getting very wet, neglecting to change his clothes. He was taken to the house of a friend living in the village of Maduwari, where after a week of violent delirium he expired, September 27, 1852.

RELIEF EXPEDITION.

The death of Richardson seems to have little affected Barth, who entertained a great prejudice, if not jealous hatred, for his superior, whom he rarely mentions in his three volumes entitled "Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa." But the loss of Overweg was a most severe blow, as the two were devotedly attached to each other; besides, Overweg was, in one sense, the brains. of the expedition, upon whom devolved the several duties of geologist, astronomer, naturalist and hunter. Before his death, too, he had corrected the mistake long entertained respecting the physical features of Sahara, and proved that instead of being a low depression it was in fact a high plateau.

When news of the deaths of Richardson and Overweg reached Europe other expeditions were immediately proposed to go to the rescue of Barth. One was soon fitted out by Edward Vogel, also a German, who, leaving London with two volunteers and a large supply of necessaries, including scientific instruments, succeeded in joining Barth on the 24th of December, 1854, at Boondi, 230 miles west of Kuku, on his return trip from Timbuctoo. Before meeting with Barth, however, Vogel had visited Tchad and Kuku, at which latter point he was stopping when news of Barth's arrival at Boondi reached him.

After remaining together a short while the two separated, Barth starting eastward over his first route, going home, while Vogel determined to conduct an independent expedition to the unknown region lying beyond the Tchad. In April, 1855, he penetrated the kingdom of Waday, which lies eastward of Lake Tchad, but instead of being civilly received, as expected from previous conduct of Bornu chiefs, he was arrested by orders of the Waday king, who detained him prisoner for several months, together with all his assistants and [On the shores of Lake Tchad] attendants. Being rendered desperate by the indignities to which he was constantly subjected by his guards, Vogel at length made a desperate effort to escape by boldly attacking the night watch, but he was quickly overpowered, and two days later was beheaded.

The report of Vogel's tragic ending did not reach Europe for several years, but final receipt of the news so inflamed the popular mind that no less than six different expeditions started out to confirm the report or avenge his death. Nearly all the members of these perished, however, either upon the burning sands of Sahara, or at the hands of savage robber hordes who infest that dark region. Von Henglin headed the most important of the several expeditions thus sent out, and in 1860 reached the Waday country, where he learned the particulars of Overweg's death and also succeeded in recovering the executed traveller's papers.

Barth reached London in 1855, and forthwith began a preparation of his journal for the publishers, which was given to the public two years afterwards, in three large volumes, so dryly written that few persons have had patience to read them.

THE WRECK OF THE MEDUSA.

Of the several expeditions sent to penetrate Africa from the west, the most famous, perhaps, because most unfortunate, was that undertaken by the French in 1816, when the fleet of four vessels was sent to resume their possessions on the west coast of Africa after the treaty with England in 1783. The fleet set sail from Aix for Senegal June 17th, and proceeded without detention until they passed Cape Bayados July 1st, when the vessels separated, and from St. Croix the officers of the_Medusa_ --- a frigate of forty-four guns --- lost their reckoning, and thenceforth the ship ran wild. The following day, July 2d, the vessel stranded at high tide, and despite every effort made to release her, by throwing over a part of her cargo and running out anchors to draw her off, she stuck fast. The sea was very rough, which added greatly to the difficulties, and after two days of fruitless effort to release her it was decided to abandon the ship. There was on board about four hundred souls, a majority of whom were soldiers, to provide for whom, or the excess above what the ship's boats were able to carry, a large raft was constructed, upon which one hundred and fifty of the unfortunates were placed, including one hundred and twenty soldiers and their officers, twenty-nine sailors and passengers, and one woman, while the others embarked in seven row boats of different sizes. For a time the row boats towed the raft, but the cowardly conduct of the ship's officers, most of whom were in the large boat or barge, finally led to an abandonment of the raft and those upon it, who had to sustain themselves for an indefinite period on twenty-five pounds of biscuits, six barrels of wine, and, two small casks of water.

ABANDONED AT SEA.

This cruel desertion, the most inhuman and base of cowardly and perfidious acts, had a truly dreadful effect upon those left upon the raft. So crowded were they that there was no room to take a single pace, or to lie down, while those on the ends of this frail support stood waist deep in water. When the boats moved away landward, which was hardly more than fifteen miles distant, many of those on the raft fell into immediate despair, crying in the greatest distress, and some even attempted suicide. Neither compass nor charts had been left by the monsters who had so savagely abandoned their companions, and this fact added so much to the alarm already felt that it was with the greatest difficulty several were restrained from throwing themselves into the sea. But this was only prophetic of the intense suffering they were soon to endure. At their first meal on the raft all the biscuits were consumed, and thereafter wine alone was to constitute their nourishment, doled out in allowances of less than a pint per day.

The only means for propelling the raft, which was made of spars and boards laid for a footing, was by a rude sail cut from the main-top-gallant sail of the frigate and drawn up a short mast by ropes hastily converted into shrouds and stays. The most dreadful horrors of this desperate situation fell upon the [Wreck of the Medusa. --- From the painting by Theo. Gericault (1791).]miserable crowd of sufferers the succeeding night. The wind having freshened, the waves rolled high and as darkness came on the enfeebled passengers were unable to resist the sweeping waves which dashed them about and upon each other in the most furious manner. Amidst all this riot of misfortune, and above the sullen roar of the maddened waves, arose the voice of prayer, and upstretched hands called for help from Him who rides in the tempest and carries the sea in the hollow of His hand. Towards morning the wind fell and the ocean grew less boisterous, but when

daylight at length dispelled that miserable night what a scene of horror was presented. A dozen unhappy wretches, having their feet entangled in the openings between the masts that composed the raft, had been unable to extricate themselves and were literally thrashed to death by the sweeping sea, while nearly as many more had been washed overboard, and their sufferings thus happily ended. Every hour now witnessed some deeply affecting scene. Some plunged headlong into the waves in reckless despair, while others took affectionate leave of their friends and then calmly committed themselves to the deep.

A BLOODY FIGHT ON THE RAFT.

If the first night on the raft was one of horror, the second may be designated as a reign of terror, for again the sea arose and dashed with impetuous fury over the sufferers, causing hope to flee from even those who had been the most courageous. The soldiers, in their despair, became mutinous, and believing that their destruction was inevitable, knocked in the head of one of the wine barrels and resolved to drink themselves into insensibility. When much of the wine had been thus consumed their minds became unruly, and they threatened to cut the raft asunder so that all might go down to destruction at one time. An axe was lifted to sever the cords, when the desperate mutineer fell dead, pierced by an officer's sword. This was the beginning of a dreadful battle, in which the mutineers, numbering nearly half the survivors, were arrayed against those who still held life and law dear. The sword and bayonet did great execution while many were thrown into the sea, and the mast was cut down so that it fell upon and badly wounded many others. Dead bodies seriously impeded the combatants until they were kicked into the sea, but at length the mutineers were routed and forced to beg pardon, but before the day dawned sixty-five had met their deaths, either by suicide or in the desperate contest.

THE HORRORS OF CANNIBALISM.

Another day had passed and hunger became now so great that the cartouche boxes and sword belts were seized upon and with much effort partially eaten, but it did not stay the gnawing oppressions. At length, upon a suggestion, the dead bodies yet lying on the raft, rapidly decomposing under a tropical sun, were stripped and pieces of flesh cut out, upon which the living sought to prolong their fearful existence. Some succeeded in swallowing these morsels, but the stomachs of others rebelled even when fortified with copious draughts of wine. After being somewhat refreshed by the human flesh which several had eaten raw, they showed such increased strength that others were encouraged to partake also, though it set many stomachs to a violent retching.

During the fourth day some flying-fish became entangled in the crevices between the masts composing the raft, and two hundred were captured, but they were so very small that it was decided to mix portions of human flesh with the fish, that the repast might be made sufficient. [Tigers before their lair.] [King of African beasts]

The following night a plot was formed by some of the stronger to throw the weaker into the sea, with the belief that it would increase the chances of the former in reaching the shore. Another battle was the result, in which all the party were killed save thirty, while nearly everyone of the survivors was badly wounded, and they were brought to a more direful extremity by the salt water, which greatly aggravated their wounds and excoriated their bruised and naked bodies.

The desperation of their situation grew constantly greater, as at the expiration of the seventh day of their abandonment the wine was almost exhausted, and not a dozen fish were left, while only one dead body had been reserved for food, the others having been cast into the sea. Three others died the following day, while twelve of the survivors were so nearly dead of their wounds that it was decided, rather than continue them on short allowances, with the certainty of early death before them, to curtail their sufferings by throwing them into the sea. It was a desperate alternative, but the lives of those yet able to exert themselves seemed to justify so horrible an act, and they were accordingly consigned to the deep. Among the unfortunates who thus perished was the lone woman who had shared the perils of the raft. There were now only fifteen left of the original one hundred and fifty, and these continued to subsist themselves on human flesh and the little wine that still remained, until the thirteenth day, when they were picked up by the French brig Argus, about forty miles from the mouth of the Senegal river. Of the fifteen thus saved, however, five died before the land was reached, so that only ten lived to tell to their country the incomparable sufferings through which they had passed.
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Chapter IV

EXPEDITIONS INTO EAST AFRICA, AND WONDERFUL SUPERSTITIONS.

n the foregoing pages I have given brief references to the most important expeditions that penetrated Western Africa up to the period of recent discovery, but while the largest attention was, for several centuries, directed towards extending European commerce into the Timbuctoo and Bornu regions, Eastern Africa was not entirely neglected, as we shall see.

The reputed kingdom of Prester John, lying somewhere in the east, led several travellers to attempt a passage of Central Africa, but none succeeded, though all brought back stories which they had learned of the inconceivable wealth of that wonderful potentate. Those familiar with the life of Columbus will remember when that bold navigator set sail in an effort to reach India, one of his principal objects was to discover that rich kingdom, the general belief in the mean time having located Prester John in the far East, probably Cathay (China). In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo made his famous journey to the then unknown lands of the East and believed he had discovered Prester John in the person of Ouang Khan, king of the Keraite Mongols, and high priest of his people, but nevertheless the Terror of Asia. It was the son of this great ruler who succeeded to the Tartar throne under the title of Okkoday, and afterwards assumed the dynastic title of Genghis, and overran Asia and Northern Europe about 1230- 1240. Though Columbus was a believer in Marco Polo's discovery of the identity of this great ruler, and placed the kingdom which he had established somewhere in India, many facts seem to warrant the belief that the original opinion respecting Prester John was correct, viz., that he was a great Christian prince of Eastern Africa, whose kingdom is now known as Abyssinia.

Marco Polo visited Abyssinia, being the first white man who ever entered the country, and returned to the civilized world with many interesting reports concerning its king and people. He called it the Middle India of the Province of Abascia, and said it was ruled by a supreme monarch professing the Christian faith, and who had six kings subject to him, three of whom were Christians and the others followers of Mohammed. The Christians of this country he represented as literally baptized by fire, being burnt with a hot iron on the forehead, nose and each cheek, as a sign of their acceptance of the faith. It is also [Mode of travel in northern Africa] related that St. Thomas, the apostle, preached throughout Abyssinia, and after converting the inhabitants returned to Maabar (some part of India); where he died. But there are so many unfounded stories about this apostle that this one may be dumped with the balance into the waves of skepticism. It is true, however, that the rulers of Abyssiuia for several centuries have been professed Christians, many of whom bore the name of John, and who combined the office of autocrat with that of chief presbyter, by which we discover the identity of Prester John.

A WONDERFUL LAND.

Marco Polo also seems to have discovered Madagascar, of which he writes as follows: "Madagascar is an island towards the south, about a thousand miles from Socotra. The people are Saracens, adoring Mohammed, and they have four sheiks, or old men, who rule the entire country. This is really one of the noblest and greatest islands in the world, being reputed 4000 miles in circuit. [It is in fact less than 3000.] In no region are so many elephants bred and their teeth sold as here and in Zanghibar [Zanzibar]. No flesh is eaten but that of camels, of which an incredible number are killed every day. . . . Many ships arrive, with abundance of goods, as cloth of silk and gold, which are profitably exchanged for those of the country. Mariners, however, cannot reach the other, islands I lying south of this and of Zanghibar, owing to the violence of the currents running in this direction. It is such, that while vessels can come hither from Malabar in twenty days, they spend three months in returning."

It is strange how Marco Polo mistakes the facts about Madagascar, unless he procured the information thus given from people on the African mainland. Madagascar has neither elephants nor camels, nor is there any strong current running in the Mozambique Channel. The Moslem religion does not exist on the island, though there is not wanting evidence to show that the Arabs were here firmly established once, though when they abandoned the island is not known.

Though Marco Polo made no extended travels through Africa, he was upon much of the coast and learned many of the wild beliefs that appertained to the country, which are very interesting, in the light of modern wisdom, to read about.

ASTOUNDING STORIES ABOUT ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA.

Therefore, before proceeding with a history of the other expeditions which have entered east Africa since the days of Marco Polo, I will call attention to the more prominent fables which were current until little more than half a century ago concerning the animal life of the dark continent.

But the line of demarcation between fact and fiction is never very distinct, and when we come to discuss Africa the division becomes absolutely indistinguishable. One after another the superstitions connected with that country have been exploded, while old, quaint, fear- inspiring stories told hundreds of years ago about hideous and monstrous creatures that roamed the wilds of Africa, and which everybody accepted as nothing more serious than interesting fables, have been proved by modern travellers to be actual realities.

Herodotus, who had a fancy no doubt becoming his time, tells some stories wherein the truth becomes inextricably tangled with fiction. He speaks of many dangers, in the forms of horrid monsters and satanic influences that guard the sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which stories have been so repeatedly told as to have rendered them no longer entertaining; but while [Along the banks of the Cerne] relating these fictions he declares that the Carthaginians nevertheless carried on a traffic for gold with a people beyond the Pillars, which was so managed that neither of the parties ever saw each other. As gold is not believed to exist anywhere in Africa north of the Senegal river, we are led to formulate our own opinion as to whether the Carthaginians sailed to the Gold Coast, or crossed the desert and brought the precious metal thence overland.

Hanna, to whom reference has already been made, is quite as indefinite and exaggerative as Herodotus, for in the celebrated voyage which he undertook around Africa, with sixty vessels and probably thirty thousand persons, he seems to have met with many phenomenal occurrences and witnessed not a few most astounding sights. In

the narrative which he left of his voyage --- a most precious manuscript now --- he says, that after passing the Pillars of Hercules [Straits of Gibraltar] he founded successively four colonies in convenient situations; then sailing three days along a desert coast, he came upon a small island called Cerne, in the vicinity of which was a lake through which flowed a large river, while near it was another stream abounding with crocodiles and hippopotami. From Cerne he sailed twelve days along the coast, upon which he saw a timid race of Ethiopians, who fled at sight of his sails. He had now reached a locality in which more surprising objects attracted his attention. In one place, he affirms, the earth was so hot as to be unbearable, while torrents of flame were seen to roll along it and rush into the sea. During the day absolute quiet reigned, but at night- fall the dense forests became resonant with the sounds of musical instruments and weird human voices. Landing upon an island, they found a singular race of creatures having human shapes, but covered with a rough skin, and who leaped from rock to rock with preternatural agility. [Dog-headed monkey of Senegal] These animals were no doubt dog-headed monkeys, found quite common in the region of the Senegal river. Towards the close of this wonderful voyage Hanno declares that there appeared close to his left a mountain so lofty that it reached to the very skies, for which reason he gave to it the name,Chariot of the Gods, and which it was easy for the sailors to believe, as they did, that it furnished an ascent to heaven, though no man dared attempt to scale it.

CATCHING WHALES AND PRACTISING WITCHCRAFT.

Marco Polo, having seen many real things of remarkable interest, enlivens his narratives with descriptions and superstitions that must have excited the largest wonder even in himself. Speaking of the island of Socotra, near the African coast, which he says is peopled by Christians, he writes:

"Ambergris is very plentiful, being voided from the entrails of whales, which are pursued most actively, in order to obtain this most precious article. They strike into the animal a barbed iron so firmly that it cannot be drawn out. A long line attached enables them to discover the place where the dead fish lies, and drag it to the shore, when they extract from its belly the ambergris, and from its head several casks of oil.

"I can tell you, moreover, that these Christians are the most skilful enchanters in the world. The archbishop, indeed, forbids, and even punishes this practice, but without any avail, for their ancestors, they say, followed it before them, and they will continue. For instance, if a ship is proceeding full sail with a favorable wind, they raise a contrary one, and oblige it to return. They can make it blow from any quarter they choose, and cause either a dead calm or a violent tempest. They perform many other marvellous enchantments, which it would be wrong to relate --- they would excite such amazement."

A BIRD THAT CARRIES OFF ELEPHANTS.

Carrying his descriptions to the south-east coast of Africa and Madagascar he recites yet more wonderful things, as follows:

"Now I must mention, that in those southern isles (regions) the birds called griffons are reported to exist, and to appear at certain seasons; yet they are not formed as we paint and describe them, half-bird, half-lion, but exactly like the eagle, only immeasurably larger. They are represented so huge and powerful as to take up the elephant and carry him high into the air, then let him drop, whereby he is at once killed, and they feed upon his carcass. It is asserted that their wings are twelve paces long, and when spread out, extend thirty paces across; they are thick in proportion. I must add, that the Khan sent messengers to obtain information about the country, and also the release of one of his subjects who had been made prisoner. They and the captive related to him many great wonders of this strange region and brought teeth of a wild boar inconceivably large: I assure you he found them to weigh fourteen pounds. You may thus judge as to the size of the boar; and indeed, some are equal to a buffalo. There are also giraffes and wild asses, and other beasts and birds wonderfully different from ours. To return to the griffon; the people of the island do not know it by that name but call it always rue, but we, from their extraordinary size, certainly conclude them to be griffons."

Ramusio declares that he saw a feather of this bird which was ninety feet in circumference, and which was carried to the great Khan of Tartary.

[Lammergeyer, or African condor --- The legendary Roc]

This story is derived from two sources, viz.: from the Arabian Nights Entertainments, wherein the adventures of Sinbad the sailor are related, in which this great bird figures so prominently under the name of_rukh_, and in some editions, rue; and from the fact that there is found in Southern Africa a species of condor called lammergeyer, so powerful of wing that it can lift a sheep, and so strong that it crushes ordinary bones with its bill. It has been frequently known, especially the Switzerland species, to seize upon a child for its prey.

The boar mentioned is evidently the boschwerk (sus ethiopicus), which has four tusks, the two largest of which are often as much as ten inches in length and half that in circumference. They do not project outwardly from the jaw but rise directly upward, and curve at the top, for the purpose, as some naturalists say, of permitting the boar to rest his head when sleeping by hanging these turned tusks over the low branch of a tree, as it never lies prostrate like others of the swine species.

Marco Polo continues his fanciful descriptions by relating some of the things which he saw on the coast of Zanghibar, presumably Zanzibar, which he says is an island about 2000 miles in circumference, quite as surprising as some others of his statements. He relates that "the people are all idolaters, have languages and a king of their own, and are subject to no other power. They are not very tall, but so broad and thick that in this respect they appear like giants, and they are likewise immensely strong, bearing as large a burden as four other men, which is really no wonder, for they eat as much as five. They are perfectly black and go naked, with exception of a cloth round the waist. Their mouth is so wide, their nose so turned up, their lips and eyes so big that they are horrible to behold, and anyone meeting them in another country would believe them devils."

Again, speaking of the queer things which he saw in Abyssinia, he says: "They have parrots, beautiful and various; also monkeys and cats, of two species, with faces exactly like those of men. This Abascia [Abyssinia] contains numerous cities and castles, and is much frequented by merchants; many cloths of cotton and buckram are wrought there." In another place, writing of the kingdom of Zambri, he declares "there are men in this kingdom who have tails like dogs, larger than a palm, and who are covered with hair. They remain in the mountains, never visiting the town. There are also unicorns, with various beast and birds for hunting."

THE UNICORN.

One of the most singular superstitions connected with animal life in Africa was formerly entertained by all the civilized world, representing the existence of a creature minutely described by Pliny as being the size of a small horse, of the slender make of a gazelle, and furnished with a long, straight, slender horn, growing from the centre of the forehead of the male, but was wanting in the female. This animal, called the unicorn, was believed to be peculiar to the mountain region of Kordofan, in Central Africa, where Mr. Rupell affirms the natives say it is quite common.

The old superstition, which Pliny seems first to have made current, represents this apocryphal beast as inhabiting the most inaccessible districts, among the most noxious of beasts and reptiles, whose aspects were as appalling as their touch was deadly. The breath of these creatures was represented as being so poisonous that all the streams wherein they drank were polluted to their very source. However, the antidotal virtues of the horn of the unicorn were so great that it had only to touch the poisoned waters to render them pure and harmless again. From this belief came the passion for searching for the unicorn to possess its wondrous horn, which the animal was supposed to frequently shed. The beast itself, though vigorously hunted, could never be captured on account of its preternatural swiftness, but the horn was occasionally found and brought both fame and fortune to the owner.

Shavings of the horn were sold at fabulous prices, in the belief that they rendered all poisons harmless. The value thus set upon it was caused by the alarming frequency, in those days, of murder through the agency of potent poisons, with which the Venetians, especially, were dangerously familiar, and used to destroy their enemies.

Many horns were indeed found, but they were the tusks of the sea-unicorn, or narwhal, which creature was then so little known that the delusion of a land unicorn continued among people of the interior for several centuries.

GIANTS AND DWARFS.

It is quite natural for the human mind that has not been educated in the science of natural phenomena, or schooled, to some extent at least, in the vagaries in which nature sometimes indulges, to ascribe to the preternatural those things and creatures which appear insulated or out of apparent harmony with their surroundings. Thus the cave- winds have, by common people, been thought to be the suppressed voices of caged spirits; waters percolating through rocks, the tears of an imprisoned race; thunder, the challenge or ominous threat of an enraged god; a howling dog, the portent of some calamity. And what thus appears to the eye and senses, has its counterpart in the conception of a superstitious people, or gives creation to some grotesque idea of the imagination.

In Africa, as has before been said, this struggle between fact and fiction has ever been indeterminate, since what has long been believed respecting certain animals peculiar to that country has been proved nothing but idle fable, while reports of queer creatures common to the same region, have been looked upon as base superstitions, which afterwards were discovered to be true.

All countries, and especially the uncivilized regions have, as a part of their common history, some claim to being the home of giants or dwarfs. Africa, being the most benighted, has particular interest therefore as being the last country to offer an asylum to these relegated myths. In the deep recesses of this dark land, and more commonly about the mountain region of the central districts, it has long been reported that the Antomoli, or African giants, live. Few eyes have ever beheld them, because no man can make so bold as to attempt an invasion of their kingdom; besides, the limits are set by great walls of stone over which human footsteps could not clamber. And should a stout heart wander into this region, he would surely be seized by one of the giants and eaten for his temerity. This superstition is the counterpart of the nursery bugaboo in the dark closet, but many of the natives believe in the verity of these giants, and a few centuries ago many of the learned of Europe entertained it with such confidence that not a few African travellers have been deterred from attempting an approach to the mid-interior for fear of unconsciously trenching upon the giants' kingdom.

On the other hand, stories about the pigmies of Africa have been common in classical, as well as modern, literature, and yet always read as a fiction, a pretty fable to entertain children, or embellish a poem. When, wonderful to realize, the giants have dissolved into a myth, while the dwarfs have come out into the light of ethnological fact. The surprising relations of Homer, Juvenal, Ovid, Statius, Nonnius, and other old writers of verse have been proved to rest at least upon a basis of truth. Perhaps the cranes and pigmies never waged battle on the plains of Central Africa, but we now know that three or four centuries before Christ the Greeks were really aware of the existence of a people of stunted growth, pigmies if you please, inhabiting a district in Africa somewhere about the Nile's source. In this discovery are two especially notable facts, viz.: that Central Africa was not then more unknown than it is to-day. On the other hand, it is an evidence in support of the theory that hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, the whole of Africa was open to the commerce of the world.

It was reserved for Schweinfurth, in 1869, to discover a race of African pigmies in the Akkas, since which time Krapf found the Doko, or Berikeemo dwarfs, Du Chaillu the Obongos, and Stanley captured one of the dwarfs said to live north of the Wakuma country, so that abundant evidence now exists in proof of the claim so long ago made that Africa was the land of the pigmies.

THE GORILLA.

Stories of woolly wild men in Africa, of their great size and fierce courage, were readily believed, as Hanno had reported having seen such creatures, but when Mr. Bowdich, the African traveller, returned to Europe with report of having himself seen an animal, which the natives called_ingheena_, as large as a man and more powerful than a dozen of the largest monkeys then known to naturalists, everyone was ready to discredit him as a romancer. In 1843 a ship captain stopped on the Gaboon coast and there killed two of these animals, the bodies of which he took to Europe, where they were secured by Prof. Owens for the College of Surgeons. This was the first positive evidence received in Europe of the real existence of the gorilla. A writer (in 1844) describing these specimens and the habits of the animals, says:

"The male is in good [Gorillas --male, female and young] preservation, but the flesh dropped from the bones of the female. The former is nearly five feet high, and three feet across the shoulders; his wrist is twice as thick as that of an ordinary man, and his canine teeth are enormous; his grinders show that he lives upon fruit, and probably roots, and what is singular, he has one more pair of ribs than man possesses. The natives on the shores of the Gaboon river declare that these creatures lurk among the trees, near frequented paths, in order to attack passengers, and that one blow of their hand is sufficient to destroy life. They feed much upon wild honey, and are said to build huts, but live and sleep on the outside; and, from having seen men carrying burdens, they tear down large branches of trees, or pick up tusks of elephants, which they find by chance, and shouldering them, walk about with their load till they drop from fatigue. When their young ones die the mothers carry them about, closely pressed to them, till they fall from putrefaction."

Here is a bad admixture of fact and fiction, not surprising; however, when we consider the wild stories of wild men formerly current, and which must obscure the truth for a time.

AFRICAN AMAZONS.

Another story long current, respecting the savage life found in Africa, was to the effect that somewhere in the remote interior was a kingdom ruled by a woman, who was represented as being the living incarnation of ferocity, and whose whole ambition was the destruction of every male on earth. She was reported to have an immense army of Amazons, who were quite as cruel as herself, and of such desperate valor and adroitness, and armed with such formidable weapons that no enemy could stand before them. Her kingdom, though never located, was of large extent and constantly increasing, for she warred perpetually with her neighbors, whom she invariably overcame. Most of the prisoners thus taken were killed and eaten, but a certain number, being always those of the greatest physical excellences, were reserved for a while to serve as temporary husbands for the Amazons, after which they too were dispatched and eaten. The female offspring thus produced were very carefully nurtured and brought up to replenish the ranks, but all the male children so born were either boiled and eaten, or placed in a mortar and triturated, and the well-ground remains afterwards dried and converted into amulets.

A hundred other frightful stories were current about impossible creatures that made their homes in the wild recesses of African jungles, and of human monsters, many supernaturally endowed. set to guard the boundaries of this forbidden and forbidding continent. It is therefore less surprising that so few efforts were made, in the early ages, to penetrate into the gruesome interior, but as the shadows of one superstition after another became dissipated by the light of investigation in other parts of the world, men, especially those of adventurous dispositions, gradually lost their fear and began to venture within this dreadful pale, until at last the Dark Continent was crossed from ocean to ocean, and the source of that wondrous river, the Nile, was at length determined.
[Battle with the Amazaons [sic]]

Chapter V

SOME OF THE LATER TRAVELLERS IN SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA.

or a long while the west and north-west coasts of Africa received the undivided attention of travellers who had developed an ambition to penetrate into that country; nor did the successful voyage of da Gama around the Cape and along the eastern coast serve to deflect public attention from the rich regions about Timbuctoo and the kingdom of Bornu. It was quite two hundred and fifty years after the discovery of the eastern water-way to India before the English and Dutch made any effort to establish a colonial settlement in South Africa, nor was any attempt made to penetrate the interior of that section until Cape Town had become a thriving Dutch port.

Among the earliest, if not the first, travellers who penetrated any considerable distance into the southern regions of Africa, was a French voyageur named M. Le Vaillant, who spent the years 1780 to 1785 in an exploration of the Hottentot country, which he pretty thoroughly examined from Cape of Good Hope to Angola Bay, and the interior as far as the southern borders of the Kalakari Desert. The fact that he was the first white traveller in these parts lent great fascination to his narrative, which was published soon after his return to France, in addition to which his account of the country, its people, rivers, mountains, etc., was of great value to geographers, as well as to commerce.

The next distinguished traveller to visit South Africa was a German, named Henry Lichtenstein, who entered the country from the Cape in 1803, and remained five and one- half years in the interior. He passed through the same region, generally, that Le Vaillant had explored; but, with the circumspection of a German explorer, he noted everything more exactly, and hence gave us very much information that his predecessor had neglected. Lichtenstein was an accomplished ethnologist as well as a philologist, and he took great pains to distinguish the many Hottentot tribes, such as the Bosjesmans, or Bushmen, Kaffirs, Corans, and Namaquas, all of whom are classed under the general racial division of Hottentots. Not only did he describe these, but gave us a very excellent vocabulary of their languages, which became of the greatest assistance to other travellers who came after him into these parts. His scientific knowledge extended also to natural history, and he was thus able to add a description of the animals and insects peculiar to those regions, and also of its flora; so that he left a printed work which has hardly been improved upon since, and still remains a classic on the subject of which it treats. Sir John Barrow, who wrote two volumes on "Travels in South Africa," and who had lived at Cape Town a short while before as Colonial Secretary, was directly instrumental in inducing Lichtenstein's visit to that section, and afterwards did much towards circulating the history of his travels.

The Rev. C.I. Latrobe, of England, representing the United Brethren denomination, was the next traveller to enter Southern Africa, by way of Cape Town, in 1815. The purpose of his visit was to seek out a location for a [Caffres of South Africa] new mission somewhere in the interior, in the prosecution of which intention he travelled

inland from Cape Town to the military post at the mouth of Great Fish River, following along the north side of the Zwarte mountain range. He was a close and learned observer, and printed a very interesting account of his journey, which, more than anything else, influenced the great Livingstone to become a missionary and explorer in Africa.

In 1826, Bain and Biddulph penetrated the interior as far as latitude 24ø, and made many valuable discoveries, giving us the first accurate description of the Bechuana tribe, and of the animals met with in that region. They were succeeded by Archbell in 1829, who followed the same route northward to 28ø, when he turned north-east and continued on to Elephant River; but he added little to what had been previously told. Andrew Steedman followed next in 1835, but did not penetrate beyond the Zonderend River, along the banks of which he chiefly confined his investigations. Though his journey was thus restricted to a comparatively few miles from the coast, yet as a naturalist he found many animals, birds and insects, which had not before been brought to the attention of the civilized world.

ADVENT OF THE HUNTERS.

In 1836, W.C. Harris, an officer in the British India service, accompanied by William Richardson, of the Bombay civil service, entered Africa by way of Graham's Town, first equipping themselves admirably for a long journey by purchasing saddle horses, and twelve yoke of oxen for draft purposes. With several Hottentots for servants, the two adventurers plunged into the interior, not so much on a journey of discovery as to gratify their longing for a grand hunt. They went over the chief hunting grounds beyond the borders of the Dutch colonists, and met with many adventures of the most exciting nature. They were the first hunters who had penetrated so far into the interior, and their book on "Wild Sports of South Africa" abounds with stirring incidents connected with hunting the elephant, lion, ostrich, gnu, gemsbock, and hosts of feathered game. Gordon Cummings imitated Harris's sporting expedition, and spent the years 1843 to 1849 hunting in South Africa, from the trophies of which he sustained himself, and opened a large exhibition on his return to England.

C.J. Andersson, a Swede, in emulation of Cummings and Harris, in the company of Francis Galton, set out from a landing in Walfish Bay, in 1850, with a caravan of wagons, a drove of mules and a pack of dogs. They penetrated as far north as Lake N'gami, which lake had been discovered the year before by Livingstone, and visited by Oswell and Murray, who, like Andersson, had entered the country to hunt large game. On this trip, Mr. Andersson made several minor discoveries, and enjoyed four years of excellent shooting, so that on his return to England, after publishing his first book, called "Lake N'gami," he became very anxious to make a second journey into Africa, which he shortly afterwards had an opportunity to do.

Upon returning to the Cape in 1856, Andersson learned that an old friend, named Frederick Green, was at that time somewhere in the African interior, but was expected to return soon; consequently, he awaited his friend's arrival, in the mean time taking the position of manager of certain mines. After the lapse of two months, Mr. Green reappeared, with a record of his journey to the Lake regions to Libebe, which is some two hundred miles north- west of Lake N'gami, a totally unexplored country. After a short period of preparation, the two set out together in March, 1858, and travelled nearly one thousand miles, when they separated; but in the course of a twelvemonth they met again, and returned together to Cape Town in the spring of 1860. On this journey Mr. Andersson discovered the Okavango river, and traced its course for nearly one hundred miles. He also discovered Lake Onondova, but [Andersson's visit to a Bechuana village] was unable to find the Cunene river, of which he had heard the natives frequently speak, and which was, no doubt, confounded with the Leeambye, discovered later by Livingstone.

The most important expedition that had yet entered South Africa up to this date, with one exception, was that undertaken by Thomas Baines, who[Facing a stampede of buffaloes] had been previously attached to Livingstone's expedition on the Zambesi. Mr. Baines was well equipped for an extended journey, upon which he entered from Walfish bay, on the south-west coast, May 5th, 1861, his first objective point being Otjimbingue one hundred and twenty miles directly east. He reached this place in due season but was compelled to return immediately to Walfish (Whalefish) bay for provisions and two copper boats which the first wagons had been unable to haul on the first trip. He reached the coast May 30th, and on June 4th the return journey to Otjimbingue was begun. On July 23d, Mr. Baines was joined by Mr. John Chapman, who had been with Andersson, and together the two travelled six hundred miles to Thounce. From this point, after some delay the journey was resumed, sometimes the two taking different routes, and travelling alone for weeks at a time before meeting again. Both were most enthusiastic sportsmen and spent much time hunting elephants, rhinoceri, lions, hartbeests, ostriches, quaggas, and buffaloes, from which latter they had a marvellous escape from being run down and trampled by a stampeded herd. They made a tour to the south round Lake N'gami, and after reaching the lake took the course of the Batletle river to its rise, then moving northward to Victoria Falls they explored much of the country in that region and located the course of the Zambesi. They returned to Walfish bay in August, 1862.[Dr.Livingstone]

LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERIES.

The most distinguished of all African explorers, whose name and accomplishments are alike imperishable, was David Livingstone, who also began his explorations of that wondrous continent by entering from the south, but whose prime purpose in visiting Africa was on behalf of the London Missionary Society, and with the ambition to actively engage in missionary labor himself. Under an appointment by the Society, therefore, and almost immediately following his ordination in the Presbyterian faith, he left England in 1840 for Cape Town. While temporarily residing there he met the daughter of the Secretary of the South African missions, Mr. Robert Moffat, and a few years later married her, who proved his cheerful companion in later journeys until she died and was buried by his own hands beside the lonely hills of Shupanga, near the Zambesi river.

Livingstone was first appointed to the mission of Kuruman, in the Bechuana country, six hundred miles north- east of Cape Town, but, remaining here only three months, he removed to Litubaruba, fifteen miles southward, where he entered upon a study of the Bechuana language. Here he tried to establish a settlement, but failed on account of a war which was then being waged between neighboring tribes. He soon after, however, established a missionary station in the valley of Mabotsa, to which he finally removed in 1843. It was while residing here that he had his first hunting adventure, and which came near terminating his life, as he was seriously bitten in the arm by a wounded lion, from the effects of which he never fully recovered.[Makolokos]

Livingstone remained at Mabotsa for a period of eight years, in which time he converted thousands of the natives and saw the little village which he had founded grow into a flourishing town, with the Christian virtues prominent in nearly all its inhabitants. About this time he was visited by two noted hunters, Oswell and Murray, who requested him to accompany them across the Kalahari desert, his company being particularly desirable because of his knowledge of the Bechuana language. The journey was made with ox teams and at the expense of the most dreadful sufferings on account of the exceeding scarcity of water, but on August 1st, 1849, the party was rewarded for all their privations by the discovery of Lake N'gami, a magnificent sheet of water about fifty miles in circumference, and the basin for many rivers, which flowing into it during the wet season inundate an immense district of country. This lake is the resort of great numbers of wild animals of the most formidable species, while its waters teem with fish.

DISCOVERY OF THE ZAMBESI.

After spending several days upon the lake, Livingstone parted from his hunter companions, and proceeded three hundred miles further north to visit the chief of the Makolokos. Here he was kindly received, and encouraged to establish another mission, which he presided over for six months, but he found the people impervious to religious training and gave over his philanthropic [The Zambesi River] undertaking, at length, that he might employ his efforts elsewhere with more goodly results, resolving, however, to return again to the Makoloko country when the conditions were more propitious. He now fortunately again met with Mr. Oswell, and the two set out on a journey further north, which brought them at length to a place called Sesheke, very near the south central region of the continent. Here finding a pleasant country and abundant game they hunted for several days with great success. In conducting their excursions in quest of game they came upon a very large river, to which Livingstone gave the native name Zambesi. This is one of the largest streams in Africa, rising towards the west coast, some hundred miles from the Atlantic, and cleaving its way across the continent until its waters are discharged into the Indian Ocean.

After discovering the Zambesi Livingstone returned to Cape Town on account of the illness of his family and to send them to England, after which he proceeded again to the Makoloko country, a distance of fifteen hundred[A Makoloko village] miles. The trip was enlivened by many exciting hunts, and in due time he arrived in the country from which he had departed a year before with the humiliation that attends failure. He now found conditions more favorable to his purpose and accordingly established a missionary school which flourished greatly under his teaching and resulted in the conversion to Christianity of a great many people and all the Makoloko chiefs.

Seeing the school thus happily established, Livingstone departed, accompanied by guides furnished by the chief, for Loanda, on the Atlantic coast, hoping to make many valuable discoveries on the route; for while missionary labors interested him, his chief ambition had now been transferred to the realm[Reception by the King of Makokolo] of exploration. Nor was his ambition an ignis fatuus, for it led him to the most substantial realities and to make several of the greatest discoveries that are known to African geography. On this journey he passed up the Leeambyo river, the western part of the Zambesi, and found another considerable stream, to which he gave the name Luba; besides which valuable discoveries he gives the most interesting descriptions of the peoples whom he met on the route.

THE WONDERFUL VICTORIA FALLS.

Livingstone safely performed the journey, and after a stay of four months at Loanda, laid up with a fever, he attempted a passage of Africa with the view of opening a route from Loanda across the continent by way of the Zambesi river, but after great hardships he was compelled to give over the effort and to return to the Makoloko country by the same route he had travelled in going to Loanda. But though his reception was cordial, he did not tarry long with the people who had so graciously accepted him as their religious instructor, but continued on down the Leeambye until he reached Victoria Falls, beyond comparison the grandest sight in all Africa, and equalled only by our Niagara. It will avoid confusion if the reader is made to understand that the Leeba, Leeambye and Zambesi are only as many names for the same river, the western part being called by the former, the middle part by the second, and the eastern end by the best known name, the Zambesi. Livingstone was the first white man to gaze on this wonderful natural formation. The river here falls into a chasm four hundred feet deep, bounded by serpentine walls of basalt, which force the waters to flow in a zigzag direction. The water breaks into a white mass like a sheet of driven snow, and sends up columns of vapor eight hundred feet above the brink, while at the outlet is a whirlpool above which in clear weather are seen several concentric rainbows. The whole scene is indescribably grand.

From the Victoria Falls, Livingstone continued on down the Zambesi, until within three hundred miles of its mouth he called upon a Portuguese settlement, where he was so hospitably received that he tarried a few days, and on his departure eight Portuguese accompanied him down the river in canoes to Quilimane, from which place he sailed for Mauritius, August 12, 1856, on the brig Frolic and arrived at his destination without experiencing any difficulties, thus concluding his first expedition into Africa.
[Untitled figure]

Chapter VI

hile travelling through Africa, during the sixteen years of his residence in that country, and especially during his explorations along the Zambesi and the central regions,

Livingstone had familiarized himself with the enormity and extraordinary cruelty of the slave trade, and resolved, while trying to save the poor Africans' souls, to put forth some effort also to protect their bodies. Therefore, after a short stay at Mauritius, he took passage on an England bound vessel to make preparations for carrying his plans into execution. Upon reaching London he read several papers before the English Geographical Society, wherein he set forth the infamy of the slave trade and, incidentally, the importance of the Zambesi as a highway by which both commerce and Christianity might be carried into the interior of Africa. So favorable were the impressions created by his descriptions and suggestions that a fund was immediately raised to equip the expedition which he proposed, and which being organized, set sail March 10, 1858, for the mouth of the Zambesi. Dr. Livingstone was accompanied by his courageous wife, his brother Charles, and Dr. Kirk, superintendent of the Kew Gardens of London.

He took with him an ample supply of stores and also a steam launch, in sections, in which to make an ascent of the river. In due season the expedition arrived at Quilimane, at the mouth of the river, and after making the necessary preparations began their journey up the Zambesi. After proceeding a few miles, however, they found their course impeded by sand bars, but at the same time discovered a lateral stream, called the Kongone, easy of navigation, and up this they proceeded to the river Shire, which is another branch of the Zambesi. They followed up this latter stream several hundred miles until they entered an immense lake, to which Livingstone gave the name Nyassa. Here he found the slave trade flourishing to the greatest possible extent, and consequently the sufferings of the people, brought on by wars and inhuman cruelties, wrung the great explorer's heart with pity. Remaining in this man-cursed region several days, Livingstone again entered the Shire and descended to the Zambesi, up which he proceeded to the head of navigation. From this point the expedition took to the land[Discovery of Lake Nyassa] and continued on by such conveyances as their oxen and donkeys provided, several of which had been brought with them. They had passed through a wonderful game country, abounding with elephants, hippopotami, alligators,[Livingstone at Shupanga] and wild dogs which Livingstone hunted as a diversion and also to obtain fresh supplies of meat. They continued along the banks of the Zambesi to the river Zongwe, up which they turned their course in canoes for a distance of fifty miles and then crossed the country to the Victoria Falls.

FATE OF THE MABOTSA MISSION AND DEATH OF MRS. LIVINGSTONE.

Having now reached again the Makoloko country, Livingstone made anxious inquiries respecting the mission which he had established four years before at Mabotsa. To his surprise and sorrow he found that scarce a vestige of it remained. Mr. Hilmore and his wife, whom he had left in charge, had both died of fever, and the natives had abandoned all interest in the mission, so that it speedily declined and soon disappeared. Discouraged at this result, Livingstone made no attempt to renew the mission, but returned to Lake Nyassa in order to make a more thorough examination of that large body of water.

He built a large boat on the banks, in which he spent six weeks sailing on the lake to determine its extent and the country it drained. But while thus engaged a storm wrecked his vessel, which disaster was accompanied by a loss of nearly all his stores, so that he was compelled to go back to the ship Pioneer, which had been sent out early in 1861 with new supplies, and which was now anchored in the Rovuma river, which she was in commission to explore. On reaching the vessel fever broke out among the company and, for lack of proper medicine, it raged with great virulence and some fatality for several weeks. In the middle of April Mrs. Livingstone was prostrated, and on Sabbath evening of the 27th she died. A landing was made at Shupanga, and on the following day the body was buried beneath the wide-spreading branches of 2 large baobab-tree, from which pestilential region her spirit took wings and sped away to that celestial land where the sufferings of brave hearts are assuaged by a most gracious balm, and tired feet rest beside still but living waters. She thus left, in the midst of her Christian labors, the exploration of this world to continue her discoveries in that land which lies beyond the shadows.

After the death of Mrs. Livingstone, the bereaved husband became anxious to put back again into the interior, and therefore resolved to return directly to Nyassa. But before doing so he accompanied his party up the Rovuma as far as the three light-draught sail-boats could carry them, a distance of one hundred and fifty-six miles. Being unable to proceed further, they returned down the Rovuma to the Shire and then halted at Shupanga again, where the horrors of the slave-trade were most revolting, the river being sometimes choked with the dead bodies of slaves who had died of fever or were shot down in attempting to make their escape.

After a month's stay at Shupanga, a steam corvette was made ready, in which Livingstone determined to more fully explore Lake Nyassa. He therefore set out to convey it up the Rovuma to the head of navigation, and thence overland thirty-five miles to the lake, but with all his pertinacity and almost superhuman efforts, he was unable to accomplish its portage, with the men at his command, over the hills and bluffs that intervened, so that at last he found it necessary to return the boat to the river. Though greatly disappointed in his ambition, he pushed on with eight others to the lake, which he coasted in canoes to the north end, but his purpose was not fully accomplished on account of a lack of time.

The Pioneer was to sail for Quilimane late in December, and he now found barely time to retrace his steps before her departure. However, by forced [Dead bodies of slaves in the Shire] marches, he succeeded in reaching the vessel in time, upon which he was conveyed to the Zambesi's mouth. Here they were fortunate in finding two British ships, the Orestes and the Ariel. The two corvettes, Pioneer and_Lady Nyassa_, were taken in tow, and the voyage to Zanzibar was begun. From this latter place, where he arrived April 30th, 1864, Livingstone proceeded to Bombay in the small launch, Lady Nyassa, going to India with the purpose of disposing of his small vessel. This trip of 2500 miles was made in a boat so small that her arrival was not noticed, and she was managed by a crew of seven Africans, two boys and four Europeans, not one of the former having ever before seen the sea. Thus ended Livingstone's second expedition.

A SEARCH FOR THE NILE'S SOURCE.

From Bombay Livingstone returned to England, where he published his second book on the Zambesi and its tributaries, and in April, 1865, he started on a third expedition with the purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. This ambition seized upon him as a result of the publication of the journals of Speke and Grant, who had just returned from Africa, claiming that the source of that wondrous river had been found in the Victoria N'yanza Lake. Livingstone was sanguine in the belief that the true source was in a chain of lakes lying far south of the N'yanza, and this impression, gained by a pretty thorough knowledge of the topography of Central Africa, he was anxious to confirm by personal investigation. Business again took him to Bombay, where he was appointed by the Government of India to make a formal presentation of the steamer Thule to the Sultan of Zanzibar.[Said Bargash, Sultan of Zanzibar] He also carried commendatory letters to the Sultan, through which influence that royal dignitary gave him much assistance in preparing for his last expedition. Lake Tanganyika had been discovered in 1861, and Livingstone concluded to make Ujiji, a principal town on its east bank, the base for his supplies, and accordingly sent a large quantity of provisions and trinkets to that place, with a man to remain in charge of them until they were needed. The next day, March 19th, Livingstone left Zanzibar on the steamer Penguin for the Rovuma river, the mouth of which is hardly one hundred miles distant. Among the necessaries of this journey were six camels, three buffaloes, two mules and four donkeys, all to be used for riding purposes, as horses perish very quickly in the region he was about to penetrate, from the poisonous bite of the tsetse fly. The animals were badly bruised on this short voyage, but their worst injuries were received in unloading them onto an India dhow, by which they were transferred to the land, so that a rest was necessary, and the expedition did not start for the interior until April 6th, moving along the Rovuma valley.

THE HORRORS OF SLAVERY.

The march was continued without serious interruption, so that in June the expedition reached the region of Lake Nyassa, which they discovered by seeing so many evidences of inhuman cruelties practised on the slave parties that were met. One entry in Livingstone's journal, June 19th, reads as follows:

"We passed a woman tied by the neck to a tree, and dead. The people of the country explained that she had been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, and her master was determined that she should not become the [Arabs murdering exhausted slaves] property of anyone else if she recovered after resting for a time. I may mention here that we saw others tied up in a similar manner, and one lying in a path shot or stabbed, for she was in a pool of blood. The explanation we got invariably was that the Arab who owned these victims was enraged at losing his money by the slaves becoming unable to march, and vented his spleen by murdering them. A poor little boy with prolapsus ani was carried yesterday by his mother many a weary mile, lying over her right shoulder --- the only position he could find ease in; an infant at the breast occupied the left arm, and on her head were carried two baskets. The mother's love was seen in binding up the part when we halted, while the coarseness of low civilization was evinced in the laugh with which some black brutes looked at the sufferer."

[Reception of the Arab's bride]

Livingstone reached the lake at the mouth of the Misinje river August 8th, having surmounted many difficulties, not the least of which was scarcity of food, from which the people of all the lake country were likewise suffering. In fact, there was a very great famine then prevailing, from which thousands had died, and their skeletons were to be seen all along the highway. Hundreds of slaves, bound by heavy yokes, were also found at frequent intervals where their inhuman captors had left them to die of starvation.

Livingstone left the Nyassa in November, and after passing through many hardships, superinduced principally by the want of food, and the desertion of two of his men with the medicine chest, he reached Lake Tanganyika March 31st, 1866. The country at which he had now arrived was very fertile, but it was in a disordered state on account of a war between a powerful chief and the Arab slave dealers, which rendered travel very dangerous. This war, however, was fortunately terminated by the chief's daughter marrying the Arab captain, the bride being brought to the Arab camp in state, riding on the back of a burly subject, and deposited with care before the door of the groom's tent. As announcement of her coming was made, the soldiers fired a salute of welcome, and the remainder of the day was given over to the wildest festivities. This ceremony was witnessed by Livingstone while he was on the south-west coast of the lake, but immediately after he proceeded unmolested to Ujiji, from which place he sent to Zanzibar for supplies and turned his steps southward again, discovering on his route several rivers, including Kalongi and Lunde. He passed through Casembe's kingdom, a ruler chiefly distinguished for his cruelty in chopping off the hands or cropping the ears of his subjects for petty offences, and often for no cause whatever. In this region he also met with cave-dwellers, the true troglodytes of Africa, who live in natural excavations at the base of the Rua Mountains, and about the shores of Lake Moero, which Livingstone discovered.

DISCOVERY OF LAKE BANGWEOLO.

On July 18th good fortune directed the explorer's footsteps to the shores of another great lake, next in size to Nyassa, and before unknown, to which he gave the name_Bangweolo_, always selecting such names from the vocabulary of the tribes living in the vicinity. This body of water, in addition to its great size, is also wonderful from the fact that it lies thirty-six hundred feet above sea level. This lake, the discovery of which added so much to his fame, was destined also to come prominently into notice, because near its banks the great explorer "lay down to pleasant dreams," and rested forever from his labors.

From this point, turning his steps northward, Livingstone was brought again to the borders of Casembe's kingdom, having now resolved to proceed to Ujiji for supplies, of which he stood greatly in need. But during his stay in the south another fierce war had been inaugurated between the Arabs and Mazitu tribes, in which Casembe also soon became involved. This rendered travel so perilous that Livingstone was forced, as a measure of self-protection, to unite with an Arab party, with whom he marched, in the company also of hundreds of slaves yoked together, from his exposed position to Ujiji, which he reached March 14th, 1869.

He arrived at Ujiji in a sick and exhausted condition, and only to find that very few of the supplies that had been sent from Zanzibar had reached their destination, the greater part having been stolen by Arabs. Nevertheless, after a period of recuperation and

medication, Livingstone again plunged into the unexplored regions, resolved to follow up the source of the Lualaba river, believing that this stream had a connection with Lake Tanganyika, or that it flowed into the chief reservoir of the Nile. But many things conspired to prevent the immediate carrying out of this purpose, and he again turned his steps towards Lake Bangweolo, and thence into the country of the Manyuema cannibals to examine the river of which he had heard frequent mention made by the natives as running to the west. He at length reached the Lualaba river, but found[The slave gang] it flowing in a northerly direction, so that he at once perceived that it could have no connection with the lake system that he believed supplied the Nile. The river being a large one, he resolved to explore it; but when upon the point of setting out for this purpose, the Arabs swooped down upon the people, taking some captive and murdering hundreds of others, and otherwise terrorizing the whole country. Many of Livingstone's servants fled for their lives; it was impossible to get canoes or provisions, so that he was compelled to return to Ujiji, six hundred miles distant. Travelling had now become more dangerous than ever, and his return trip was one of extraordinary peril, in which he came very near, many times, losing his life.

MEETING WITH STANLEY.

Notwithstanding all these perils, Livingstone reached Ujiji in safety, October 23d, 1871, though so much reduced in flesh as to scarcely appear[Arabs massacring Manyuemas on the Lualaba] more than a shadow of his former self. The good which he had ordered from Zanzibar had been sent by the Sultan, but more than two-thirds were stolen on the way, so that he received such a meagre supply as to well near completely discourage him. At this juncture, when racked by mental anxieties, enfeebled by disease, discouraged by the lack of supplies, and oppressed by the cruelty, villainy, and rapacity of the Arabs, who had rendered every route insecure by their murderous outrages, a good angel of mercy came to visit him, in the guise of an American, sent out to find the long lost, the supposed dead explorer, with instructions to succor him if living, and to bring back his bones to England if dead. Two years had elapsed since any word from Livingstone had been received in England, although he had written no less than forty-three letters to friends and the Geographical Society during his first visit to Ujiji, not one of which had been delivered by the Arabs to whom they had been entrusted. Reports had been circulated of his death, and, to verify or disprove these, Stanley set out upon the search, being so fortunate as to find him November 16th, 1871.

The meeting between Stanley and Livingstone was a joyful one on both sides, as may well, be imagined. After hearing all the news, reading the letters which had been brought to him, and examining the large amount of supplies which Stanley had brought, Livingstone proposed an expedition to the north end of Lake Tanganyika, in order to determine whether it poured its waters through a river outlet into Lake Albert N'yanza, which Baker had claimed was the Nile's true source. Together Stanley and Livingstone made the trip, and found the Rusizi river; but instead of being an outlet, it poured its waters into the lake, so the fact was thus determined that Tanganyika had no connection with the Victoria or Albert lakes.

DEATH OF LIVINGSTONE.

Upon their return from this trip, to Ujijij Stanley tried hard to induce his, newly-found friend to accompany him to England, representing the hardships which lay before him and the depleted physical condition he was in, rendering hazardous any attempts at new enterprises; but Livingstone refused, being influenced thereto by his ambition to follow up the large river which he found flowing to the north-west in the Manyuema country, and which he still believed was the Nile. This river, it was subsequently determined, was the Congo, and which Stanley afterwards named the Livingstone.

His mind having been fully resolved on this great undertaking, Livingstone accompanied Stanley as far as Unyanyembe, on the latter's return journey, and waited there the arrival of new supplies which he instructed Stanley to send him. It was not until August 23d, 1872, that Livingstone departed from Unyanyembe on his last exploration, proceeding again in the direction of Lake Bangweolo. The season was now far advanced, and the rains had already begun to fall when he reached Casembe's territory. Soon after the country[The march through Casembe's country] was flooded, and travel became possible only by wading through swamps and vast stretches of water, often neck-deep. This dreadful exposure brought on fresh attacks of hemorrhagic discharges, to which Livingstone had long been a sufferer at times, and their great frequency now gave him so much concern that he seems to have foreseen that the end of his earthly travels was near. Nevertheless, he continued to push forward, even when he had grown so weak [Livingstone beset by hostile natives] that it was necessary for his servants to carry him in a square sling made for the purpose. The last entry in his journal bears the date of April 27 (1873), but he survived until the 1st of May, having been taken to a hut, where, in the early morning of that day, he was found upon his knees, resting his head and arms upon his low couch --- dead.

Though in the wilds of an unexplored country, where the untutored minds predominate, yet even here the body of this [Livingstone's last march] honored by the funereal pomp of an African chief, who brought his family and retinue to pay their homage, in the firing of guns, beating of drums, and the wails of a party of mourners, over the remains. After this the body was imperfectly embalmed, and, being placed upon a litter, was conveyed by the [Death of Livingstone] faithful servants over a journey of six months' length to Zanzibar, from whence it was shipped to England, and there buried, beside the greatest men of the earth in Westminster Abbey.

Chapter VII

DISCOVERIES IN THE CENTRAL REGIONS.

e have seen that, in the earlier centuries, the attention of travellers was directed towards the western portions of Africa, where a great many attempts were made at exploration, chiefly in the interest of commercial companies, many of which had established profitable trade relations with the Arabs as far east as Bornoo, or Bornu. shortly after the advent of the present century, however, explorers began entering the country from the south, most probably because of the founding of Cape Town, which became an excellent point for outfitting expeditions, and because the Dutch had now taken possession of a great extent of the south coast and established large and prosperous settlements there. But after Livingstone's journey across the continent, the tide again changed, and the place of entrance was fixed in the east, at Zanzibar, because here was the Arab headquarters for Central African traffic.

But long before da Gama had discovered a sea route to India, _via_the Cape of Good Hope, many efforts had been made to reach the Nile's source by an ascent of that river; but though some of these were made with loud declarations of accomplishment, all alike had failed. Among those of the semi-modern travellers who became seekers of the hidden source was James Bruce, a bold Scotchman, who spent the years 1768 to 1773, inclusive; in persistent e[n]deavors to discover whence the great Nile takes its rise. He published the result of his investigations in a work of five volumes, the greater part of which he devotes, and with much learning and reason, to the history of Abyssinia and the kingdom of Sofala, which latter he regards as the Ophir whence Solomon obtained his treasures. In the second volume Mr. Bruce traces the history of the queen of Sheba, and her rich kingdom, the capital of which must, as he argues, have been in the region of Sofala; and he gives us the best of reasons for his conclusions. He describes particularly the ruins still to be found in the vicinity of Sena, and how the massive stones were joined together by strips of brass instead of cement; at the same time using most excellent argument to prove that brass was much more valuable than gold during that age. He also gives us history to support the old tradition that the queen of Sheba (Saba) had a son by Solomon, who founded the dynasty which still endures in Abyssinia.

THE NILE'S SOURCE NOT DETERMINED.

Mr. Bruce is an interesting delver in forgotten lore, and his Abyssinian discoveries are of great value to history; but his claim to the discovery of the Nile's source is not defensible, nor did he ever pass over any great extent of country in making his search, seemingly having confined himself to the central regions of Abyssinia and to tracing the Blue Nile, which is an eastern branch of the main stream. He asserts, however, that both the Blue and White Nile have a common source in Lake Tzaua or Dembea, which is in about 12ø north latitude and very near the centre of the present circumscribed kingdom of Abyssinia. Strangely enough, he also maintains that the Blue Nile, while describing a circular sweep, passes directly through the centre of this large lake, a conclusion which is grotesque if not ridiculous. The result, therefore, of his explorations, so far at least as it concerns the White Nile's source, is without practical value, though he did discover the true source of the Blue Nile. [Manners of dressing the hair among the Africans]

Ferdinand Werne, a scientific German, set out in 1840 to seek the source of the White Nile, being so fortunate as to attach himself to an expedition dispatched by Mohammed Ali to open a commercial road to Central Africa. Suliman Kashef, a Circassian, who had commanded a former expedition sent out for a like purpose, was also nominated to take charge of this one. The expedition was carefully prepared for and was composed of 40,000 men, the larger part being cavalry, mounted on camels, and 4000 asses provided to bear the burdens of the infantry force. Notwithstanding the ample provision made and great hopes of obtaining practical results, this expedition went little further up the stream than Khartoum, though Werne continued his journey to 9«ø north latitude, returning to his country the following year without accomplishing anything of practical value.

In 1845, John Petherick, an English traveller, went to Egypt and entered the Khedive's service as a mining engineer. In this capacity he visited many districts along the upper Nile, as he continued in the exercise of this office for several years, and until the death of Mohammed Ali, after which he became a [Bruce among the Abyssinians] merchant at Khartoum. While doing business in that place he received the appointment of

British Consul, which position he filled with great credit and no small advantage to his country. He also made a special study of the White Nile, and interested himself in obtaining all possible information respecting the river's source from traders who came to Khartoum from the central regions. He published a book on "Explorations of the White Nile to Regions of the Equator," which for some time was accepted as a work of great utility, but which, in the light of more recent discovery, is now rarely referred to.

BURTON'S EAST AFRICA.

The most important expedition --- in its results --- up to this time was that undertaken by Richard F. Burton, a native of Ireland, in the year 1857, who entered Africa from the east coast. No man was ever better fitted for such a service, nor was ever an explorer sent out from whom so much was expected. He entered the Indian army as Lieutenant in 1842, when twenty-one years of age, and being stationed in the presidency of Bombay, and having a leave of absence, he spent some time in exploring the Neilgherry hills; afterwards serving for five years in Sinde, or northern Bombay district, under Sir C. J. Napier. It was during these years that he turned his attention to authorship and the study of languages, producing four very valuable works, besides acquiring the Arabic, Afghan, Persian, Hindostanee and Mooltanee languages, of the last of which he published a grammar. [African prophets]

In 1851 Burton returned to England, and having received a year's furlough his restless disposition to see the wild regions of the earth induced him to visit Mecca and Medina, which no Christian had reached since Burckhardt, in 1814-15. Such a journey was beset with countless perils to a Christian, whose discovery would be followed by almost certain death, as the Moslems would never suffer a defilement of their sanctuaries by what they call Christian dogs. To prevent detection, therefore, upon arriving at Alexandria, Burton assumed the guise of a wandering dervish, which his thorough knowledge of the Arabic language and customs enabled him to successfully do, so that he visited the holy cities without his true character being even suspected. The results of this journey were described in a book which he published in 1855.

In June, 1857, Burton left Zanzibar for the lake regions of Central Africa, accompanied by Capt. Speke, about whom we will learn more in subsequent pages. On returning from Africa in 1859, he came to America and made a study of the Mormon Hierarchy, published a book on the same a year later. In 1861, he was made Consul at Fernando Po, on the west coast of Africa, where he remained until 1864, writing two more books in the mean time. In this latter year he was made Consul at Santas, Brazil where he continued to write books until in 1868 he was appointed Consul to Damascus and traveled over all the Holy Land, writing more books, "Unexplored Palestine," and "Anthropological Collections in the Holy Land." In 1869 he published "Vikram and the Vampire; or, Tales of Hindu Devilry," and two years later he was made Consul at Trieste, where he prepared a new and very free translation of the Arabian Nights, which, because of the salacious suggestiveness as well as the obscene language that characterize the stories thus told, was suppressed.

It is said, and no doubt with truth, that Burton acquired no less than thirty-five languages and dialects, in all of which he conversed with fluency.

OFF FOR THE AFRICAN LAKES.

Burton organized his expedition under the patronage of the Royal Geographical Society, chiefly by the request of Sir Roderick Murchison, its president, England's great geologist, who for many years had taken the largest interest in Africa and was specially anxious to induce an exploration of all its unknown portions. Mr. Burton's prime purpose, as expressed in his application to the society, was to ascertain "the limits of the Sea of Ujiji, or Unyamwezi Lake," and secondarily, to determine the exportable produce of the interior and the ethnography of its tribes. A large lake was known to exist in the interior and upon its banks the town of Ujiji was said to be located; this much information was long before obtained from the Arabic slave hunters, but no explorer had up to this time succeeded in discovering it. To accomplish this the society advanced $5000 to equip the expedition, and Burton, obtaining a two years' leave of absence from regimental duties, was appointed to the command.

IN CONTACT WITH A WIZARD.

After a very tedious delay at Zanzibar a sufficient number of porters and asses were at length obtained and the expedition, 200 strong, set out upon the march westward toward the unknown region. Very slow progress was made, because of the many obstacles that interposed, chief of which was the fear exhibited by the porters, who had knowledge of the warlike tribes through which it would be necessary to pass. The main body, under Speke, had taken up the advance and moved ahead several miles to inspect the way, so that a junction was not formed until a march of nearly fifty miles from the coast had been made. [Burton's march towards central Africa]

As the journey increased this distance the porters and guards became less and less courageous, until arriving at Kuingani Burton saw the necessity of doing something at once to relieve their fears. Accordingly, he sent for a_mganga_, or medicine man, whom he paid well for the utterance of an encouraging prophecy, the influence of which is invariably great among these people. This wizard appeared in due season and when Burton had collected his men to witness the ceremony the mganga at once began his mummery. The old man --- which he proved to be --- had a cloth about his head and a profusion of beads around his neck. From a bag, which contained the implements of his profession, he drew forth two gourds, one of which, a small one, was :filled with snuff with which he choked his capricious nostrils till they blew with astounding resonance. The other gourd, of considerable size, contained the potential ingredients that supplied the means for provoking the future into materialization. After this receptacle was well shaken, two goat's horns were next taken from the bag. These were tied together by a mottled snake's skin which was decorated with little iron bells. With these horns he performed his incantations by directing their points towards Burton, the gaping crowd, and then himself, all the time swaying his body and uttering an unintelligible jargon, which he pretended was a language which ghosts alone could understand. Having thus performed for some time he at length gave the message he had elicited from spirits of the dead, and which was, of course, a favorable revelation as to the success of the expedition and a prediction that the porters would overcome all enemies and live to return in triumph to Zanzibar.

This prophecy served an admirable purpose and sent the porters on their way with light spirits as well as with many declarations of their bravery, which, in the absence of danger, these cowardly people were always vaunting.

THE MURDER OF M. MAIZAN.

The pace of the party was now quickened until Kiranga Ranga was reached, where signs of hostility became apparent in the bold front presented by the natives. No open resistance was offered, however, but the porters ceased their boastings and marched along with many misgivings; three days after a new fear arose, when upon reaching an open country they found a well palisaded village, out of which rushed a big party of warriors armed with spears and bows and poisoned arrows, and who took shelter along the hedges that lined the way, ready to begin an attack. The head man of the village was propitiated, however, and he furnished an escort to the next station, which was Madogo. Though the party was thus considerably augmented, as they came near to the village of Dege la Mhora the whole expedition was fairly thrown into confusion by a fear excited by the remembrance of a tragic incident that occurred at this place in 1845, and which made the village as much dreaded as a haunted house. It was here that M. Maizan, a learned Frenchman and pupil of the Polytechnic School, who had set out from Zanzibar to explore the lakes of Central Africa, well supplied with both provisions and instruments, was treacherously set upon and most cruelly murdered. He had been deceived into a false security by professions of friendship from the natives and upon invitation had entered the chief's hut. This savage functionary became so anxious to secure the trinkets, watches and other possessions of the young Frenchman that no sooner was he within the hut than the chief provoked a quarrel and then ordered the explorer seized. The [The murder of M. Maizan.] unfortunate man's arms were immediately pinioned to a crosswise pole and his legs fastened to another set upright, so as to form a crucifix. Thus bound he was carried to a large calabash tree and made ready for torture. The tendons of his arms and legs were first severed, and after mocking the sufferer for some time the chief whetted a knife before the unfortunate's eyes and then cut his throat, after which he wrenched the head from the body.

This shocking murder, though long before committed, was still fresh in the memory of these superstitious people, and they could, with the greatest difficulty, be induced to pass by the dreaded place. In fact, several deserted rather than trust themselves within the pale of the direful influence.

LARGE GAME AND MORE DREADED SUPERSTITION.

The route, for many miles, lay along the Kingani river, which abounded with hippopotami and crocodiles, for both of which the porters held a superstitious reverence, founded upon the fear which they entertained for them, and which prevented travelling by water even where the stream afforded an easy means of transportation, large canoes being readily obtainable. But the dangers which appeared to threaten from these water creatures were only a degree less than that which the porters experienced from leopards that infested every jungle, one of which seized a spear-bearer in the party and fatally bit him before his companions could frighten off the ferocious animal, so that Burton's resources were sorely tried in preventing a wholesale desertion of his men. Had not game been so plentiful and his prowess in killing rhinoceri, elephants, crocodiles, leopards, etc., so great, despite his care and persuasion, his force would have abandoned him before he had proceeded a hundred miles from the coast.

In addition to the superstitions, dread, and hostile natives that constantly threatened the expedition, there were other obstacles no less serious, in which the terrible condition of the route was most conspicuous. In numerous places the thick grass and humid vegetation, dripping till mid-day with dew, rendered the black earth greasy and slippery. In as many other places there was a deep, thick mire interlaced with tree roots through a dense jungle and forest, over barrens of stunted mimosa, and dreary savannahs cut into deep nullahs. Bogs were also frequently encountered a mile in width into which a man would sink to the knees. In occasional places, especially after heavy rains, the porters would sink in mud and water to their necks, and through which the asses would be compelled to swim, with a man holding by the head and another by the tail to prevent the animals from drowning.

DISCOVERY OF TANGANYIKA LAKE.

All these difficulties were overcome by persistent labor and consummate ingenuity in dealing with a savage, ignorant and intensely superstitious people, but not by a retention of the original porters, even though they were slaves. Many of these deserted and others were discharged, their places being filled by the employment of men obtained from natives along the way. At last, after a very long. and perilous journey, and at the expense of almost insupportable fatigue, the expedition halted on the high hills near the west shore of Tanganyika, and on the 13th of February, 1858, Burton discovered in the [Leopard killing one of Burton's soldiers.] dim distance a thin, blue streak of water which proved to be the sought-for lake. As he passed over an intervening hill upon his sight burst the glorious vision of this magnificent sheet of water, thirty-five miles broad and three hundred and fifty miles long, an inland sea large enough for the stateliest craft and with a surrounding country so fertile that it would, under proper cultivation yield enough to support a large nation.

On the day following this discovery Burton procured several large canoes in which he skirted the eastern shore of the lake for many miles, and in which he also visited the village of Ujiji, where he saw a large bazaar, chiefly conducted by Arabs, who had found the lake in 1840 and made of Ujiji a principal slave-mart as well as depot.

For several days, weeks in fact, Burton interested himself in the fauna as well as ethnology of the country, and reports the region at that time as [The Quichobos, or water antelope] abounding in elephants, restricted to the bamboo jungles, and hyenas and wild dogs, but other game was exceedingly scarce. In the waters of the lake were many hippopotami and crocodiles, and he notes the appearance also of water antelopes, though these were by no means plentiful. This animal is found only occasionally in any part of Africa, its numbers seeming to be quite limited, though its location is not very restricted. It is a creature of singular habits, and of such rarity as to be seldom or never seen in zoological collections. Though not infrequently found browsing like others of the antelope species, it never strays far from water, and the facility with which it swims, dives and remains under the surface indicates that water is almost as much its natural habitat as it is that of the hippopotamus. [Market scene in Ujiji]

A WONDERFUL ISLAND.

While at Ujiji, Burton received information of a large river flowing out or Tanganyika to the north --- a most improbable story --- and concluding that this must be the Nile, he at once set about making preparations for circumnavigating the lake, and particularly making a circuit of its northern shores, to determine the size and course of the outflowing river that had been reported. It was more than a month, however, before he was able to obtain the necessary boats in which to make the voyage, but a dhow and several very large canoes were at length hired and the full strength of the expedition set out on this important mission. After several days' sailing and paddling, and many encounters with opposing natives along the banks, Burton espied a large island in the distance which he resolved to visit, though his guides warned him against so rash an undertaking, declaring that it was peopled by a fierce race of cannibals, who killed and ate every human being that chance or curiosity attracted to its shores. Nevertheless, Burton ordered the boats to proceed to the island, but on nearing this mysterious land he had convincing proofs of the danger encountered in making a landing, both by a positive refusal of his men to approach nearer and the appearance of a horde of yelling savages that came trooping down the shores armed for an attack. Concerning this island Burton writes:

"It is the only island near the centre of the Tanganyika --- a long, narrow lump of rock, twenty or twenty-five miles long, by four or five of extreme breadth, with a high longitudinal spine, like a hog's back, falling towards the water --- here shelving, there steep, on the sea-side --- where it ends in abrupt cliffs, here and there broken by broad or narrow gorges. Green from head to foot, in richness and profuseness of vegetation it equals, and perhaps excels, the shores of the Tanganyika, and in parts it appears carefully cultivated. Marines dare not disembark on Ubwari (the name of this island) except at the principal places; and upon the wooded hill-sides wild men are, or are supposed to be, ever lurking in wait for human prey."

It is interesting in this connection to mention the fact that Joas de Barros, the Portuguese historian, who was governor of Guinea in 1522, describes a vast body of water in Central Africa and a large island therein, as follows:

"It is a sea of such magnitude as to be capable of being navigated by many sail; and among the islands in it there is one capable of sending forth an army of 30,000 men." This reference is undoubtedly to Lake Tanganyika and the island of Ubwari, and furnishes another proof of the claim already set forth, that in the earlier centuries Central Africa was better known to the civilized world than it is to- day.

IN CONTACT WITH THE CANNIBALS.

In skirting the shores of the lake near the north end, Burton came in contact with several tribes of cannibals, the most noteworthy, because most degraded, being the Wabembe, who are guilty of many horribly disgusting practices. They devour, besides men, whose flesh they prefer raw, all kinds of carrion, vermin, grubs, and insects, although the lands which they occupy are really wondrously prolific even with the smallest cultivation. [Fleeing from the flames]

As Burton came within a few miles of the northern end of the lake he learned, greatly to his chagrin, that there was no outflowing stream, as reported, but that instead the Rusizi river debouched into the lake, as he might have most reasonably expected, especially after seeing so much of the coast, and thus knowing that the lake occupied an immense volcanic depression, about which the hills rose everywhere fully 2000 feet. His men now became importunate for better pay, while the coast tribes demanded greater tribute, so that circumstances made it advisable for him to return, a little more than one month having been spent in making a lake journey of less than two hundred miles.

DISCOVERY OF THE NILE'S SOURCE.

Burton took his departure from Ujiji on the 26th of May and started back over the route he had taken from Zanzibar, but after reaching Unyanyembe he made a detour to avoid some particularly hostile tribes and also with the hope of making other discoveries. Nothing of special importance occurred to the expedition until it reached the ferocious Wavinza country, which is some two hundred miles west of Unyanyembe, where, in addition to the excitement caused by a threatened attack from the Wavinza, a fire was started on the hill-sides where a profusion of dry grasses made the whole country almost a tinder-box. A sheet of flame seemed to dash down the hill-sides with wondrous speed, throwing tongues of flames high into the air, and seizing onto the forest trees climbed to their topmost branches. Many of the porters and slave-musketeers had to flee for their lives, which they saved only by leaping into the Malagarazi river, which fortunately lay very near the route.

Before taking his departure from Ujiji, Captain Speke had obtained Burton's consent to make a journey northward, and this trip, the particulars of which are not recounted by Burton, gave to the expedition a glory and success even exceeding that which was won by the discovery of the Tanganyika lake. As the particulars will be given hereafter, it is only necessary here to say that the result of Capt. Speke's journey northward was the discovery of Lake Victoria N'yanza, the principal source of the Nile. Burton was even savagely jealous of Speke, so that in his large work entitled "The Lake Regions of Central Africa," descriptive of his journey to the Tanganyika, he never mentions the name of Speke except in an occasional foot-note, invariably referring to him as "my companion."

BURTON'S JEALOUSY.

When, on the 25th of August, 1858, Speke rejoined Burton and made report of his valuable discovery, the latter received him very coolly and thus ironically describes the event:

"At length my companion had been successful, his 'flying trip' had led him to the northern water, and he had found its dimensions surpassing our most sanguine expectations. We had scarcely breakfasted, however, before he announced to me the startling fact (?) that he had discovered the, sources of the White Nile. In [what] was an inspiration, perhaps: the moment he sighted the N'yanza, he felt at once no doubt but that the 'lake at his feet gave birth to that interesting river which had been the subject of so much speculation and the object of so many explorers.' The fortunate discoverer's conviction was [Captain Speke and his body-guard] strong; his reasons were weak --were of the category alluded to by the damsel Lucetta when justifying her penchant in favor of the 'lovely gentleman,' Sir Proteus:

" 'I have no other but a woman's reason,
I think him so because I think him so.

"And probably his sources of the Nile grew in his mind as his Mountains of the Moon had grown under his hand."

A more ungenerous thing could not be done than the penning of such an unjust aspersion; but to make the indignity greater, Burton copies an extract from the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society in which a Mr. Macqueen undertakes to throw discredit upon Speke's discovery. The facts are briefly these: Burton had been sent out in charge of an expedition that was expected to accomplish great results, as it did. He found the Tanganyika, and in coasting its northern end he heard of another body of water to the north-east which he had a desire to reach, but was deterred from making the attempt by reports of hostile tribes that lay between, and also by the insubordinate porters and guards that accompanied him. Finding his superior wanting in courage to undertake the journey, Capt. Speke asked permission to proceed himself with the small force that he could induce to attend him, and with true heroism he set out and succeeded in making a discovery which at once made his name famous. By this success Burton was eclipsed, and his jealousy was accordingly as insane as it was unforgiving, and prompted him to do an act of rank injustice that has greatly dimmed the lustre of his former reputation.

THE VALUE OF BURTON'S DISCOVERIES.

But the importance of Burton's expedition, even excepting the discovery made by Speke, was very great, for besides exploring a considerable extent of country and discovering Lake Tanganyika, much valuable information was obtained respecting the natives of Central Africa. As before stated, no one who has ever penetrated the dark continent was possibly so well adapted by education, experience, hardihood and truly wonderful acquisition of languages --- in short, a philologist --- for making an expedition into Africa successful, as was Burton. He accordingly furnishes us with an intensely interesting description of the several tribes between Zanzibar and Lake Tanganyika, their dialects, customs, appearance, manners, superstitions; their industries, products, implements, weapons, etc., which no subsequent traveller has improved upon. His history of the slave trade is no less interesting, though it presents some reasons for its extent and continuance, somewhat at variance with other writers. Burton believes that its total suppression is impossible, and also represents the treatment of slaves, both on the route and at Zanzibar, as being not only humane, but even indulgent. He declares that they have a license equal to free men, but which they very frequently requite by the most barbarous acts upon their masters. Says he: "The serviles at Zanzibar have played their Arab masters some notable tricks. Many a severe lord has perished by the hand of a slave. Several have lost their eyes at the dagger's point during sleep."

Of the slaves born in captivity about Zanzibar he says: "They are treated like one of the family, because the master's comfort depends upon his slaves being contented. The Arabs spoil them by a kinder usage. They seldom punish them, for fear of desertion. Yet the slave, if dissatisfied, silently leaves the house, lets himself to another master, and returns after perhaps two years' absence as if nothing had occurred. Thus he combines the advantages of freedom and slavery." [An Arab slave master]

The most horrible features inseparably connected with the slave trade are those which concern female slaves. These command a higher price than males, for the reasons that they are more valuable for domestic purposes, less liable to desert, and, in shame be it said, they are valued still more highly because they can be put to abominable uses; for these base purposes, however, only the youthful, between the ages of ten and twenty years, are in request. In an equatorial climate females reach their maturity at about the age of thirteen, so that after twenty they begin to age rapidly, and at twenty-five they are what the French call_passé_. A century of the most active civilizing and Christianizing influence will be required to stamp out this evil practice.

On the 4th of March, 1859, Burton reached Zanzibar, and on the 22d he sailed for England, leaving to Capt. Speke a more important result in a subsequent undertaking, the accomplishment of which will form the subject matter of the next chapter.

Chapter VIII

CAPTAIN J. H. SPEKE'S EXPLORATIONS.

carcely had Speke reached England, with Burton, when he began most industriously the enlistment of public sympathy, as well as the active interest of members of the Geographical Society, in behalf of his project for making a third expedition, which would definitely determine and satisfy all the world that the Victoria N'yanza Lake, which he had discovered on the 30th of July, 1858, was indeed the Nile's true source. As before mentioned, his claims to this honor had been violently disputed by Burton, who, besides throwing reflections upon his geographical astuteness (pardon the expression), had also laid against him, in several magazine articles, the charge of visionary enthusiasm. To reinstate himself in public estimation, and particularly to win the confidence of members composing the Geographical Society, Captain Speke delivered a series of lectures before that body, in which he gave a report of his surveys and his many reasons for declaring that the Nile had its source in Lake Victoria.

So well did Speke acquit himself, and so specious was the presentation of his project for making good his discovery, by showing a connection between the Nile and the lake, that a council of the Society was held, at which, by the motion of Sir Robert Murchison, it was decided to assist him in forming another expedition. A vote was accordingly taken upon the amount the Society would expend for the purpose, and 12,000werecontributed;butninemouthselapsedbeforetheappropriationwasmadeavailable.Besidesthisassistance,however,theIndianbranchofthegovernmentaidedhimbyacontributionoffiftyartillerycarbineswithswordbayonets,20,000roundsofammunition,allthesurveyinginstrumentsthatwereneeded,andalargeassortmentofarticles,amongthemseveralgoldwatchesfortheArabchiefswhohadassistedhimintheformerexpedition.CaptainJ.W.Grant,abrotherofficerintheIndianService,whohadbeforemadeaconsiderableexplorationofAustralia,askedandreceivedpermissiontojointheexpedition,andwasplacedsecondincommandtoSpeke.Shortlyafterthisappointmentwasmade,theCapeParliamentvotedafurtherappropriationof12,000 were contributed; but nine mouths elapsed before the appropriation was made available. Besides this assistance, however, the Indian branch of the government aided him by a contribution of fifty artillery carbines with sword bayonets, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, all the surveying instruments that were needed, and a large assortment of articles, among them several gold watches for the Arab chiefs who had assisted him in the former expedition. Captain J.W. Grant, a brother officer in the Indian Service, who had before made a considerable exploration of Australia, asked and received permission to join the expedition, and was placed second in command to Speke. Shortly after this appointment was made, the Cape Parliament voted a further appropriation of 12,000werecontributed;butninemouthselapsedbeforetheappropriationwasmadeavailable.Besidesthisassistance,however,theIndianbranchofthegovernmentaidedhimbyacontributionoffiftyartillerycarbineswithswordbayonets,20,000roundsofammunition,allthesurveyinginstrumentsthatwereneeded,andalargeassortmentofarticles,amongthemseveralgoldwatchesfortheArabchiefswhohadassistedhimintheformerexpedition.CaptainJ.W.Grant,abrotherofficerintheIndianService,whohadbeforemadeaconsiderableexplorationofAustralia,askedandreceivedpermissiontojointheexpedition,andwasplacedsecondincommandtoSpeke.Shortlyafterthisappointmentwasmade,theCapeParliamentvotedafurtherappropriationof1500 in aid of the expedition, so that means were thus provided for the amplest provision of everything needful to make it a success.

CAPTURE OF A SPANISH SLAVER.

Speke and Grant left London April 27th, 1860, and arriving at Cape Town July 4th, made a stay there of twelve days to enlist some Hottentots and[Speke and Grant soldiers] engage mules, so that it was not until August 17th that they cast anchor at Zanzibar. The latter part of the trip was enlivened by an exciting incident attending the capture of a Spanish slaver that, being laden with five hundred and forty- four newly-captured slaves, was en route for Havana. Our travellers were on board the English steam corvette_Brisk_, the officers of which, seeing the suspicious stranger, immediately put out in pursuit, and, as she was a. slow sailer, soon overhauled her. Upon going on board, they found the slaves to be mostly women and children, who had been captured during war in their own country and sold to Arabs, who brought them to the coast and kept them half- starved until the slaver arrived. They were then brought off in dhows to the Spanish vessel, where for nearly a week they had been kept, while the bargaining was in progress, entirely without food. All over the slaver, but more especially below, old women, stark naked, were dying in the most loathsome atmosphere, while those that had any strength left were pulling up the hatches and tearing at the salt fish below.

The officers of the slaver were taken as prisoners back to Zanzibar, and their miserable captives liberated. It is doubtful if they were punished, as immunity was generally given such violators of the severe law against enslavement, through Arabic and Egyptian connivance at the infamous traffic, on which account lynch law was thereafter not infrequently resorted to against those found spiriting away unfortunate Africans. Many tales are told of slavers being caught, with heavy cargoes of negroes, who were treated as pirates and massacred on the spot, the captain sometimes being killed and his head nailed to the mast, or the vessel scuttled with the crew imprisoned in the hatches, after the slaves were liberated.

On the 21st of September, Speke's expedition left over to Bagamoyo, from which point, after securing the supplies, the march was begun for Victoria N'yanza.

A RHINOCEROS HUNT.

Nothing of special importance occurred until the expedition had proceeded over two hundred miles, and had reached the western borders of Ugogo, at which point eight of the porters deserted, taking with them as many mules laden with stores. This untoward event caused a delay of one day, to give opportunity for pursuit of the deserters, which time Speke and Grant further improved by going upon a rhinoceros hunt, the region being a favorite haunt for that large and dangerous game. Night being the most favorable time for such an enterprise, the hunters started out at 10 p.m. for the lagoons, accompanied by a guide and two boys carrying rifles. It was midnight before a position was obtained; but scarcely had Speke halted in a desirable place on the border of a lagoon before a gigantic beast loomed up before the rising moon, making his way leisurely toward the water. Our hunter crawled after the huge game until he was within a distance of eighty yards and in full view, when, with a well-directed shot, he killed the rhinoceros in its tracks, --- [Horrible execution of a slaver's crew] a thing which has very rarely been done, on account of the animal's great vitality and its armor-like skin, which will deflect a bullet if struck obliquely.

Two hours later Speke saw two more rhinoceri approaching, at which he obtained a shot, as they came thundering by him, but with no other apparent execution than to bring one of them around with a loud "whoof- whoof," a sound very similar to that produced by a hog when alarmed. Another shot might have been secured had not the boys who attended Speke, carrying spare rifles, taken fright and ran away for the nearest tree. [A rhinoceros hunt]

This ended the night's hunt, and early the next morning the men in camp were apprised of the result and sent out to bring in the meat. Before Speke's men could reach the carcass, however, the native Wagogo had assembled about it, and were tearing out and devouring, raw, the intestines. All fell to work with knives in a contest as to who should secure the most, and a savagely disgusting scene was the result. The men disputed and wrestled in the filth of the distributed remains until not a vestige was left on the ground; their bodies being covered with blood as they bore away tripe, liver, intestines, or more substantial parts, all eating as they ran.

A BUFFALO HUNT.

The mules that had been taken by the deserter were recovered, and the expedition started on its way again, but nearly every day thereafter others deserted, until the 7th of November another halt of several days became necessary to give time to send to a sheik some miles beyond for additional recruits. This period of waiting was employed in another hunt, in which the game sought for was buffaloes, great numbers of which roamed the deep forests and grassy plains thereabouts.

Directly after starting upon this hunt Speke came most unexpectedly upon a two-horned rhinoceros that was quietly feeding, though hardly five paces [A toss in the air] distant, and before it took alarm be gave it a deadly shot. This was an auspicious beginning, though the end came nearly terminating with a double tragedy. A mile from the place where the rhinoceros was killed Speke discovered a herd of buffalo feeding in the tall grass on the borders of a dense wood. He approached so near and kept himself so well hidden from their view that he succeeded in killing four of them before they took alarm. The herd now scattered somewhat in their fright, and one, a large bull, turned and came directly towards Speke, catching one of the guides, who stood in the advance, and tossed him with a savage fury horrible to behold; a shot disposed of him, most fortunately, before be could complete his vengeance; but another bull as madly tore after one of the gun-bearers and came fairly upon him as the nimble boy swung himself out of reach upon the bough of a tree. Circumvented by this escape, the bull bore down upon Speke, who had but a single shot left in the gun he carried, and was within a yard of the hunter before he could fire.[The buffalo turns hunter] Good fortune also attended this shot, for the bull's neck was broken by the bullet. This exceedingly narrow escape was succeeded almost instantly by a charge from yet another bull that had been wounded by Grant. Speke had just picked up a gun dropped by the nimble carrier, who now sat secure on a bough, when down upon him rushed the mad charger. Speke stepped behind a small knoll and fired at his infuriated antagonist, but without effect. The shot, together with the heavy cloud of smoke from the discharge, confused the bull, so that, with a loud snort, he turned and made off into the woods, to the inexpressible delight of the now defenceless hunter.

BETWEEN TWO FIRES.

On the 23d of November, Unyanyembe was reached, which Speke designates as the Land of the Moon. Up to this time the desertions had continued almost daily, until his force had been reduced to less than one-half its original strength; fifteen mules and donkeys had died, and more than one-half the property had been stolen. In addition to these losses, the travelling expenses had been extraordinary, on account of a famine which then prevailed along nearly the entire route. To add still further to his distresses, after leaving Unyanyembe, a deposed. native chief, named Manua Sera, famous for his strategy and daring, and who had inaugurated a fierce war against the Arabs, obtained an interview with Speke, in which he sought to secure the active help of the explorer against his enemies. To have refused the request would have been to invite the hostility of this fierce guerilla, while to have consented would have been equally disastrous. He therefore made some specious excuses for delaying immediate action, particularly asking for time to recruit his greatly reduced force. While thus parleying, the Arabs reached the country in pursuit of Manua Sera, and these in turn requested the aid of Speke. He again made acceptable excuses, holding out, of course, the hope that he would join the Arabs when additional porters, who had already been engaged, should overtake him.

After passing Masange and Zimbili, Speke put up one night in the village of Iviri, on the northern border of Unyanyembe, and found several officers there, sent by Mkisiwa, to enforce a levy of soldiers to take the field with the Arabs of Kaze against Manua Sera; to effect which, they walked about ringing bells, and bawling out that if a certain percentage of all the inhabitants did not muster, the village chief would be seized, and their plantations confiscated. Speke's men all mutinied here for increase of ration allowances. To purchase food, he had given them all one necklace of beads each per diem since leaving Kaze, in lieu of cloth, which had heretofore been served out as currency. It was a very liberal allowance, because the Arabs never gave more than one necklace to every three men, and that, too, of inferior quality to what Speke gave. He brought them to at last by starvation, and then went on. Dipping down into a valley between two clusters of granitic hills, beautifully clothed with trees and grass, studded here and there with rich plantations, they entered the district of Usagari, and on the second day forded the Gombe Nullah again in its upper course, called Kuale. Here Captain Speke met with a chief whose wife was an old friend, formerly a waiting-maid at Ungugu, whom he had met on a previous expedition. Her husband, the chief, was then absent, engaged in war with a neighbor, so the queen gave Speke such assistance as enabled him to avoid joining either the Arabs or Manua Sera, without inciting their hostility.

A VISIT TO KING RUMANIKA.

The route was now northward, Speke having left the highway to Tanganyika Lake at Kaze, in the Unyanyembe country, going directly toward Victoari [_sic_] N'yanza (the word nyanza means lake), which he hoped to reach before the wet season had fairly set in.

In the latter part of November, 1861, considerably more than one year after leaving Zanzibar, the expedition had accomplished less than one thousand miles, being constantly harassed and delayed by opposing tribes, desertions,[Nature in the jungle] famine and the wars which were waging all along the route. At length however, the Karague country was reached, a fine region, watered and drained by the Kitangula River into the Victoria Lake. In this rich district Speke met and was entertained by King Rumanika, whom he found to be a most intelligent savage, anxious to gain all information obtainable about the world beyond his own realm. It was at this court, where Speke was graciously received, that he saw the fatted wives of the king and his brothers, and learned of the custom, which there obtained of forcing the royal women to drink immoderate quantities of milk until they became too corpulent even to stand upright.

Though Rumanika was an unusually sensible savage, and most kind-hearted as well as progressive, he was no less superstitious than his subjects or other African barbarians, --- perhaps his superstitions were assumed for a purpose, --- for among no other people or chiefs did Speke find so many ridiculous beliefs prevalent, or where the rain-makers were so influential. Rumanika claimed to have acquired the throne by miracle, and his hold upon the crown, despite the opposition of his brother Rogero, he also pretended was through the most potential agency and assistance of a spiritual force.

With all his superstitions and pretended supernatural powers, Rumanika received Speke and Grant at his palace, in the most graceful manner, and begged of them to bestow upon him knowledge which even the spirits who attended him could not give. In every respect the explorers were treated most graciously, the best of everything that the country afforded being freely offered and all assistance requested placed at their command.

Speke and Grant had several audiences with Rumanika in his hut palace, and when at length they decided to proceed on their journey the king sent his messengers to M'tesa, King of Uganda, to apprise that monarch of an intended visit from the two explorers, begging him to receive them kindly.

A GRANDLY SUCCESSFUL HUNT.

On the 9th of December, before leaving the Karague country, Captain Speke, learning that the immediate district in which he was encamped abounded with rhinoceri, took two attendants and posted to the foot-hills about Little Windermere lake. Taking up a position in a thicket of acacia shrubs, he sent the men out to beat the brush toward him. In a few minutes a large male rhinoceros came lumbering through the brush until he was within a few yards of the concealed hunter, who delivered a broadside from his Blissett rifle, which sent the huge beast off in a trot toward the beaters; but after going a short distance it fell and was quickly disposed of by another shot. The natives then came running up to Speke, surprised beyond measure at what they saw, for they did not believe that a rhinoceros could be killed by shooting with a rifle.

Among those who assembled to view the dead beast was a native who exhibited frightful scars on his abdomen and shoulder, which he declared were the result of a wound he had received by a rhinoceros thrusting its horn through his body. Just at this time a cry went up from several beaters that another rhinoceros was near, concealed in a thicket. Speke at once set off to find it. He travelled as rapidly as possible along a path made by the animals, with his two gun bearers directly in the rear. Suddenly he was confronted by a full grown female, with her young one close behind, which came "whoof-whoofing" toward him. To escape and shoot at the same time, he was compelled to push to one [Speke before King Rumanika] side in the prickly acacias, and as the huge beast approached he :fired at her head; the bul1et only served to divert her course, for she received no perceptible injury. She broke away from the brush into an open, with Speke following. He :fired again, but the animal kept on and took to the hills, crossed over a spur and entered another thicket. The hunter kept up the pursuit, but as he came to the head of a glen he was greatly astonished to find three more [A Wahuma village] rhinoceri, all of which charged towards him. Fortunately his gun bearers were at his heels and he was thus enabled to shoot all three of the brutes; one of them dropped dead, but the other two kept on down the glen, though one had its leg broken. The wounded one was given over to the natives, but so savage were its charges that another shot was necessary before the negroes could dispatch it with their spears and arrows.

THE COURT OF M'TESA --- HORRIBLE SCENES.

The country of the Wahuma lies north-east, but adjoining that of Karague, and is bordered on the south by Lake Victoria. At the time of Speke's visit it was ruled over by a king called M'tesa, who has since died. This African monarch was the most powerful that reigned in the central regions, and though he became greatly attached to the English, and gave encouragement as well as protection to missions that were afterwards established, his cruelty and barbarity were absolutely horrifying. He exacted the most servile homage from his subjects and punished with torture and death the slightest infractions of his punctilious rules. No one was allowed to approach him except in a grovelling attitude, and in his presence a wonderful circumspection had to be observed or death was the punishment. Even his many wives were required to be no less critical in their conduct, so that executions were daily events, so common indeed that little or no attention was attracted by them. [M'tesa's cruelty to his attendants] His harem was kept replenished by the payment of fines in the form of young virgins, while fathers to obtain the royal favor, gave their young daughters to feed the lascivious appetite of this royal beast. In case such gifts came after previous usage --- the virginity being doubtful --- the giver was tortured to death. And when the king became tired of any of his wives, or the number became too great for his convenience, he ordered their execution, or if enraged, he inflicted the death penalty himself. His murderous propensity is well illustrated by the incident that when Speke presented his high blackness with a rifle, the royal ruffian had it loaded and ordered his messenger to shoot a subject, merely to see, as he explained, if the gun would do what was claimed for it.

Although his savageness was almost inconceivably great, M'tesa received Speke and Grant with a favor quite as flattering as did Rumanika, and insisted on their assuming the most intimate relations with him. He went out daily with the explorers to see them shoot, in which he took an intense delight, and for a long while regarded them as magicians having the power to perform anything that they might have a mind to do; thus he both feared and admired, which gave them immunity from his wild passions and secured a bestowal of his most generous favors.

To have the two travellers constantly near him, M'tesa ordered a splendid hut erected beside the palace, and paid the most deferential attention to their [Grant on his way to Uganda] wants. Besides meat from his cattle, milk, fruits, etc., were ordered to be given them in the most liberal quantities; the king sent them, also, pots of fresh pombe --banana wine --- every day, and personally seeing to it that such as was furnished came from his own store, which was always of considerable age, and therefore esteemed as being more palatable, as are all wines.

During the first several weeks of Speke's stay at Uganda, Grant was sick at the court of Rumanika, and had instructions to keep such stores by him as he might presently require, but to come on to Ugand'a as soon as his health would permit. It was a low fever from which he suffered, and which confined him to his bed much longer than had been expected. Becoming, at length, anxious about his companion, Speke wrote to Grant imploring him to come on as soon as he felt himself able to endure the motion of a litter; upon receiving which, despite his utter prostration, Grant determined to proceed at once. Accordingly, he had his stores arranged in packs, and through Rumanika, who never relaxed his kindness, porters were engaged and the very sick man started for Uganda, being carried by two stalwart men. The journey was an extremely [A levee in Uganda] painful one to Grant, but he heroically continued on and at length arrived at M'tesa's capital in even a little improved condition, and his recovery was rapid thereafter.

SACRIFICING A CHILD.

After Grant's arrival the king decided upon holding a levee in honor of his new guest, at which the drinking of pombe and some shocking exhibitions of female nakedness constituted a principal feature, and at which the king was highly entertained by an examination of Grant's sketches. On the following day, at M'tesa's request, the two travellers were at the palace and witnessed the ceremony of the royal espousal of four virgins who had been presented at court by their sisters, who were already wives of the king, At an announcement made by an old. woman, the four candidates passed before M'tesa and sat down at the rear of the palace, whereupon the potentate crossed over to them, and going from one to another he sat down in the lap of each and bestowed upon them in succession several vigorous hugs, at the same time crossing his neck both to the left and right with that of each of the girls, after which he retired again and the four virgins assumed their positions among the three hundred other wives. On this same day Speke says he heard the lamentations of four women as they were being led from the palace to execution. The new had thus replaced the old.

A few days before the departure of Speke and Grant from M'tesa's palace, one of his officers, K'yengo, informed them that, considering the surprising events which had lately occurred at court, the king, being anxious to pry into the future, had resolved upon a very strange measure for accomplishing that end. This was the sacrifice of a child by cooking, and K'yengo was detailed to perform the barbarous ceremony, which is described as follows: The doctor places a large earthen vessel, half full of water, over a fire, and over its mouth a grating of sticks, whereon he lays a small child and a fowl side by side, and covers them over with a second large earthen vessel, just like the first, only inverted, to keep the steam in, when he set fire below, cooks for a certain period of time, and then looks to see if his victims are still living or dead. If dead, as they usually are, the omen is considered propitious, and the king at once proceeds upon whatever enterprise he may have been contemplating.

After nearly three months spent with M'tesa, Speke and Grant prepared to leave Uganda for the Lake Victoria, an event which both the king and his visitors alike regretted, for notwithstanding his incredible cruelties to his subjects, he was really obsequious in his attentions to his distinguished guests, who hoped, through the great influence which they exerted over him, to induce him to abandon his inhuman practices. In this hope they so signally failed that on the very day of their departure one of the monster's wives passed Speke and Grant with her hands clasped at the back of her head and crying in a most pitiful manner. She was preceded by the executioner, who was not permitted to touch her. She loved to obey her king and husband, and in consequence of her loving attachment she was permitted, as a mark of distinction, to walk unattended to the place of her death.

ON THE BANKS OF VICTORIA LAKE.

On the 7th of July, 1862, Speke and Grant took their leave of M'tesa and his kingdom and started upon a journey to the eastward, with the hope and expectation of striking an outlet of Lake Victoria, in which anticipation they were not disappointed. The route, however, was beset by many obstacles, chief of which were hostile tribes that harassed the expedition almost constantly, though M'tesa had sent several guards with the travellers. It was therefore soon decided to divide the expedition, Grant being ordered to proceed at once to Kamrasi, a king ruling Unyoro, which was also a large and very fertile territory, [Speke's boat crew alarmed] whose capital was due north of Uganda, but whose kingdom extended also south to Lake Victoria, taking in the district of Usoga, which is a dependency. Messengers had previously been sent to apprise Kamrasi of the white men's intended visit, and replies were received from the king indicating his pleasure at their coming, so that with M'tesa's commendation it was believed the Unyoro potentate would furnish the expedition with whatever assistance might be required. Grant accordingly turned west to join the high road to Kamrasi's, while Speke proceeded east to Urondogani, which is on the western border of Usoga, a magnificent country abounding with large game. On the 21st he reached his destination, and to his joy found it to be situated on a large stream of quite seven hundred yards wide and flowing towards the north. [Speke circumnavigates Lake Victoria]

After a day's delay at Urondogani, in the absence of boats Speke followed up the stream about fifty miles, and to his infinite delight come upon Victoria Lake at Ripon Falls, thus, upon the assumption that the river he had thus found was indeed the Nile, proving beyond a doubt that its source was in this great lake. At Ripon Falls, Speke procured several canoes, intending to have a sail along at least a portion of its shores, but a native canoe filled with warriors sounded alarm drums and soon assembled a large force to oppose the expedition, which numbered only twenty men. Speke tried to conciliate the hostiles by offers of beads, rings and cloths, but these were rejected and an attack was made. Speke's men acted in the most cowardly manner, so that all the defence fell upon himself, but after killing three of the attacking party they withdrew, and he continued around the lake for several miles, or until indeed he considered half its circumnavigation accomplished. [The savage tree-dwellers of Unyoro]

HUNTING IN USOGA.

The Usoga country abounded with such splendid game that Speke could not resist the temptation to bag a few fine specimens, so deciding to return to Urondogani, he made the trip a hunting excursion. Many elephants are usually found in this district, but the ivory hunters had passed through it a short while before Speke's visit, so that nearly all the elephants had been driven out. But several species of antelope were plentiful and many were killed, while Bombay, Speke's servant, amused himself shooting crocodiles as they lay sunning themselves on the river's bank.

After a pleasant march of ten days Speke reached Urondogani again, where he was graciously received by Chief Mlondo, who, to give his white visitor an interesting entertainment, invited him to witness the execution of four women, who had just been condemned, assuring Speke that the event would furnish "a deal of fun." Such amusement not being relishable by civilized tastes, Speke left two days later, August 13th, for Kamrasi's palace, proceeding down the Nile in canoes which Mlondo had kindly provided. But the natives were so hostile upon reaching Kamrasi's territory, while Speke's men were so cowardly on the water, that the river route was soon abandoned and the journey had to be made thenceforth on land.

After several days' march, it was learned that Grant had been refused admittance to Unyoro, and had therefore started back to Uganda. Speke, upon learning this bad news, hurried forward, dispatching messengers in advance until he came up with Grant and heard from his lips the reasons Kamrasi had for repulsing him. It was found, by reports from the natives, that this inhospitable reception was due to a belief that the white men were cannibals, able to eat all the subjects of Unyoro and to drink up all the waters; that Speke and Grant each carried two white dwarfs on their shoulders, sitting straddlelegs, back to back, and who upon being given the order fly off to eat the people. Other superstitions prevailed, for instance, that in this country were horned dogs, while savage men and all celibates had their habitations in the trees, so that Grant's men had reason to feel a fear for these strange creatures equal to that felt by Kamrasi for the white men. [Speke's last conference with Kamrasi]

It very fortunately happened soon after the reunion of Speke and Grant that Kidgwiga, an old friend of Kamrasi's, who had met the expedition at M'tesa's palace, learned of their inability to enter Unyoro, so he took it upon himself to act as ambassador to secure their reception by the king, in which kindly office he succeeded so admirably that the expedition marched through the country without meeting any obstacles, and they were at length permitted to approach his suspicious and superstitious highness, Kamrasi.

EXASPERATING ACTIONS OF THE KING.

The difficulties encountered by the explorers in reaching Kamrasi were very small as compared with the obstacles which were interposed to prevent their departure. After being permitted to come within an hour's march of the palace they were forbidden to approach nearer until the king could consult his magic horn, and through this species of divination determine if the visitors were friendly disposed. Three days were thus idly spent, but they were more agreeable than the fourteen days that succeeded the first meeting with the king, as he proved to be a greedy, quizzical, exacting and autocratic potentate, giving his visitors nothing but pombe while demanding almost every article in the possession of Speke and Grant in return. A very large number of presents were given to allay his importunate requests, but he still cried for more, and in the hope of obtaining everything that pleased his omnivorous fancy, he refused the explorers permission to depart. After exhausting every subterfuge to gain Kamrasi's consent to proceed, Speke and Grant at length took a bold measure to frighten the obstinate king into giving them permission to take their leave, and on November 9th, 1862, they obtained canoes and drifted down the Kafue river, [Saving the life of a servant] on which Kamrasi's palace was temporarily located. This river is also an outlet of Lake Victoria, flowing northward until it empties into the White Nile, some ten miles north of Kamrasi's palace. It was therefore Speke's ambition to follow down the river as far as navigation would permit, hoping to be thus brought to a large lake of which he had heard much as lying a hundred miles to the northwest. This lake was called by the natives Luta Nziga, but which Speke thought must be a low basin, only flooded by back- water of the rising Nile.

As the expedition proceeded down the river many strange sights met their gaze; hippopotami were frequently seen, and crocodiles lined the shores, while buffaloes, antelopes, and occasionally an elephant, enlivened the scene. Floating on the surface were many islands composed of matted reeds so compactly interwoven by the action of the current that cattle could walk upon them without sinking through. The Nile here broadened out to a thousand yards in width, its banks being thickly populated with Kadi and Wanyoro people, who lived in small grass huts and were chiefly engaged in fishing by means of nets.

FALSE REPORT OF A RELIEF EXPEDITION.

Before leaving Kamrasi's, Speke learned, with that indefiniteness which characterized all reports made by the natives or Arabs, that the British Consul at Khartoum, Mr. Petherick, had become somewhat alarmed for the fate of the expedition, and was then moving southward with the hope of furnishing aid, should he find the explorers in distress. This news prompted Speke to hurry forward to a meeting with the Consul, and thus relieve the anxiety that was reported. At the request of the Governor in the district of Karuma Falls, the canoes were abandoned and the expedition proceeded[Buffalo hunting in the Madi country] over land, soon after coming upon the falls, which he found to be a gorge some two hundred yards wide through lofty hills, the waters being broken by large stones, but with a current not more than twenty miles an hour, as the fall was only ten feet. On the 3d of December, at Faloro, Speke descried the outposts of an approaching caravan, which he believed to be Petherick's, but, upon meeting, found it was a party of slave and ivory hunters under command of a very black man, named Mohamed, who was gaily dressed in Egytian regimentals. 'This Turk confirmed the report of Petherick's approach and offered Speke any assistance required, but his proffers were made for a rascally purpose, as was afterwards proved.

Speke felt certain, however, that Petherick was at Gondokoro, and, despite Mohamed's declaration to the contrary, hoping to lead him off in another direction, to a point much nearer, where he represented the Consul to be, the expedition was ordered to push on through the Madi country, direct for Gondokoro. Mohamed, seeing his ruse fail, next represented the great danger of passing through the Bari country with such a force as was then at Speke's command, and begging him to wait a few days and he would join him on the march, thus making their combined force too strong for the Bari to oppose. He thus cunningly induced Speke to remain behind and guard his stores while he made a raid upon the natives. Upon his return. he still asked for further delay, until at length Speke, exasperated at the trick that had been played, resumed the march.

On the 13th of January, Speke again came in sight of the Nile at Paira, where he was overtaken by an advance body of the Turks, who pillaged the helpless villagers so remorselessly that the poor natives were left in utter destitution. To relieve their very pressing wants, Speke and Grant went upon a buffalo hunt, in which they killed several of this splendid game, and gave the flesh to the starving natives, who were most profuse with their expressions of thankfulness.

ARRIVAL AT GONDOKORO

After spending two days in hunting, Speke was joined by the rear detachment of Turks, headed by Mohamed, and the entire body now moved on again, meeting with no other obstacles, though great fear was felt of the Bari, who are both numerous and courageous, and bitterly resist nearly all attempts to cross their territory. At length, on the 15th of February, 1863, the expedition marched into Gondokoro. Speke at once walked down among the shipping that lined the Nile's shore in search of Petherick, but had proceeded only a short distance when he beheld an Englishman approaching, and in glad transports they rushed toward each other. Speke's surprise was overwhelming at finding that instead of Petherick, the white man proved to be his old friend Sir Samuel Baker, who, with his wife, was then on his way also in search of the Nile's source. The two had a joyous interchange of information, and a sociable entertainment which lasted three days, at the end of which time Speke and Grant departed for home, via Alexandria, while Baker and his plucky wife, continued on their journey to Central Africa.

On his return to England Speke was awarded the "founder's medal" for the discovery of the Victoria N'yanza in 1858, a gratification peculiarly great after the discredit thrown upon his claim by Burton. He did not live long to enjoy his honors, however, for on the 15th of September, 1864, he was killed by the accidental discharge of his gun while hunting on the heaths of England.

Chapter IX

BAKER'S EXPEDITION TO THE NILE'S SOURCE.

lmost coincident with the departure of Speke and Grant from Zanzibar for the Victoria N'yanza, Sir Samuel White Baker set out from England with the purpose of discovering the Nile's source. Baker was almost as well qualified for such an undertaking as Burton, whom he resembled in many respects. Being a man of large private fortune, he had indulged his propensity for travel and adventure, having roamed over a great part of India and Ceylon in pursuit of tigers, elephants and other large game, of which he had killed great numbers. In addition to this preparatory course of training for rougher adventure he had familiarized himself with several tongues, and among others the Arabic language, which he acquired with great facility after reaching Berber in 1861.

Most singular fact, he selected as a companion in this perilous enterprise no other than his wife, a woman of great refinement and used all her life to the comforts and luxuries such as wealth supplied in her English home; but she was a woman of extraordinary courage and indomitable energy, and so devoted to her heroic husband that no dangers could deter her when by his side. She therefore elected to bear him company through all his perils and triumphs, and thus proved herself a second Mrs. Livingstone.

Baker's stay in Berber was prolonged far beyond his expectations, because of the difficulties met with in enlisting and organizing a necessary force of men, which indeed he did not obtain until he had reached Khartoum, so that it was December of 1862 before he finally set out upon his tropical journey in a flotilla of boats.

A few weeks after his departure from Khartoum one of his most serviceable men, a German named John Schmidt, fell ill of a fever and died directly, while a few days later one of the arms-bearers, a courageous Nubian, was killed in a buffalo hunt by one of the wounded animals tossing and goring him to death. These two fatalities, occurring so shortly after the expedition had started, gave Baker much dread, who feared that so inauspicious a beginning would result in a like evil ending, but his wife cheered him with many encouraging words, and his melancholy soon ended, the last feelings of sombre anticipations fleeing before an exciting contest that he witnessed January 15th between his men and a monster hippopotamus which they had lassoed, much to their regret soon after, when it come near destroying the boat, and would have done so had not Baker came to the rescue and killed it.

THROUGH THE HAUNTS OF CROCODILES.

The boats made fair progress until within fifty miles of Gondokoro, when the river became so shallow and the reeds so numerous that it was impossible to proceed further by oar or sail, so men had to be sent out with long ropes and drag the boats through, which made a most tediously slow progress, but afforded Baker some excellent sport shooting hippopotami and crocodiles, the latter being particularly plentiful. It also gave him opportunity to converse with the natives, and to familiarize himself with their manners and customs. In this way he came in contact with the Kytch, the Aliahs and the Shir tribes, who occupy the territory bordering the Nile between Khartoum and Gondokoro. [Buffalo killing Baker's arms- bearer]

Owing to the obstacles, which intervened, it was the first of February before Baker reached Gondokoro, and when at length he arrived at that miserable post his reception was most unfavorable. This place was the principal Central African station of the slave trade, and, as might be supposed, its population was composed of the most vicious elements that characterize such an unholy traffic. There were no habitations except miserable little grass huts and the ruins of an Austrian mission, but these had to serve as shelter for Baker and his wife for a considerable while, as he awaited the return of a Turkish trader whom he hoped to accompany on the return trip to the mid interior. While waiting here his men mutinied and sought his life, but were repulsed by his courageous onslaught upon the leader, whom he brought into subjection by a blow that laid him helpless.

Two days after this event Baker had the inexpressible joy of meeting with Grant and Speke, as already described, from whom he received maps of the country and a great deal of information of the utmost value. Mohamed, the Turkish commander who had come into Gondokoro with Speke and Grant, was the trader that Baker had been expecting, and as it required only a short while for the Turk to dispose of his ivory and slaves, he was soon ready to return, so that Baker made preparations for an immediate departure. But at the last moment another mutiny took place which so seriously threatened Baker's life, while the Turk showed his sympathies with the mutineers so openly, that no other alternative remained but for Baker to discharge his men and protract his stay at Gondokoro until a more favorable opportunity, and thus it was that he was delayed until another season.

Six months after this second mutinous attempt by men whom he had already paid the wages of a year's service, Baker succeeded in engaging a small force of Latooka natives, with which he started on his land journey for the Central lake basin.

AN ELEPHANT HUNT.

Baker had the good fortune to win the friendship of another Turk, named Ibrahim, who had made up a cavalcade to go into the Latooka country for ivory, and by accompanying him made himself secure against the possible attacks of the hostile natives. Together they travelled over the route, a distance of one hundred miles, which it took a month to cover. Arriving at [Baker quelling the mutiny] length at the principal village of the Latookas, Baker had to go into camp and remain several weeks to wait the coming of some porters whom he had sent back to Gondokoro for ammunition. To utilize the time he therefore decided to go on an elephant hunt, as many signs of their presence were observable within a short distance of the village. Accordingly, with a good guide and a few servants to carry the guns, he set out, and coming to a plain covered with long rich grasses, he was suddenly startled by a rhinoceros bolting out of a copse close to his horse's head, and plunging into another before he could seize his gun. He would have followed had not his attention been called away by a shout from his servants, who reported a herd of large bull elephants browsing in a forest at the edge of the plain. Stopping short to locate the herd, he was delighted to see two large bulls bearing down toward him, less than one hundred yards distant. He dismounted to get a steady shot, but the elephants saw the Latookas and, taking fright, rushed off to join the main herd, only a short distance away. Baker soon mounted and dashed towards the elephants, but his horse stepped into a buffalo hole and fell hard on his leg. He fortunately extricated himself without difficulty, and, mounting another horse, rode at full speed toward the fugitive game, which had gained considerable distance and disappeared in the wood, After a quarter of an hour of hard riding he saw an enormous bull ploughing through the brush like an immense engine, tearing down everything in his way. The country was unfavorable for the hunter, on account of buffalo holes, and though approaching within twenty yards, he was unable to get a fair shot, Away they flew over ruts and gullies until the ponderous brute was chased to another open plain, when a ball was planted in his shoulder; though badly struck, the elephant did not alter his course or speed until another shot was put close to the first one. The animal now slackened, then turned about and made straight for his assailant, screaming like an infuriated demon. Baker put spurs to his horse, having urgent business in another vicinity, and as he was not pursued more than a hundred yards, made his escape. He prepared for another attack by taking a larger gun and starting after the wounded beast, but had gone less than a dozen yards when he saw a closely packed herd of eighteen elephants coming directly toward him; but as soon as they discovered him they broke off in another direction. In the herd he noticed an uncommonly large bull that was armed with an immense and beautiful pair of tusks; this one he determined to cut out from the others, and by shouting succeeded in scattering them; he now rode for the chosen one, but the elephant, seeing himself pursued, turned and charged so determinedly upon his assailant that his escape appeared for a time impossible; fortunately, again the elephant stopped, almost at the moment that he might have caught the bold hunter, and entered a thicket where a horse could not well follow. Baker went into the woods to find the herd again, and soon came upon the one he had wounded. It was standing in a painful attitude as if upon the very point of dissolution, but the moment its fiery eyes rested upon the hunter the maddened beast charged him again; another shot brought the elephant to his knees, but he rallied quickly, and lifting his great trunk and screaming with rage, he rushed after Baker, whose horse was now badly jaded. The race this time was more exciting than before, for, instead of stopping after a short run, the elephant kept its swift pace and followed for more than a mile, all the while gradually gaining, until the distance between pursued and pursuer was not more than ten yards, while the horse was nearly ready to fall from exhaustion the cowardly servants, who were also mounted upon horses, were so mindful of [Disgusting scene over an elephant's carcass.] their own safety that they made no effort to divert the attention of the elephant, but ran as swiftly and as far away as possible. Baker was almost upon the point of despair; he knew that the climax must soon be reached, which would be hastened should his horse fall. In a moment of desperation he turned his horse aside, like a hare doubling on the dogs, just in time to feel the swish of the elephant's trunk as it grazed him, but the momentum of the great brute carried him by. Seeing his enemy now running in a new direction, the elephant broke off up hill, and on the following morning was found dead in a jungle not far distant from where he had abandoned the pursuit. The huge carcass was quickly attacked by the natives and their dogs, [Despatching a vicious boar] and a truly savage and disgusting scene followed as they cut into the body, and soon were waist deep in the flesh and filth.

DETENTION GIVES OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE HUNTING.

The rainy season was now at its height, so that, even after the receipt of additional supplies, the expedition was unable to move further than forty miles, to the Asua river, which was now so swollen as to prevent a crossing; and, after a pleasant visit to Chief Katchiba, Baker returned to Latooka to await the return of the dry season. The country was very rich and game abundant, so that the delay afforded him excellent opportunities for indulging his passion for hunting. He killed several monster elephants, and met the lordly wild boar, which also haunted this delightful region; but they were not nearly so [Baker's Satanic Guard providing a feast] numerous as the elephants, though the latter were more persistently hunted by the natives, on account of the damage they did to their growing crops. On one occasion, Baker fired the grass, expecting to drive out a herd of elephants; but finding none, was about to give up the hunt, when a large wild boar and sow sprang out of a hole directly in the path, the former charging him in the most vicious manner. The first rush being avoided, the boar turned to renew the attack just as Baker, by good fortune, shot it through the brain; but he failed to bag the sow, as it made off into the grass.

It was not until the following January, 1865, that Baker made another effort to proceed southward, at which time he secured the company of Ibrahim again. They met with no further detentions, and in due time reached Karuma falls, in Kamrasi's country, where they were most hospitably received by the old king, though they were not permitted to see him at once.

A DEVILISH GUARD.

After Baker received permission to enter the presence of Kamrasi, he was still treated with an affected suspicion, and was unable to secure the guides and porters that he needed on the journey to the lake he had set out to find. Three weeks passed without anything being done, Kamrasi all the while promising to give what was required on the "morrow," but really only holding the expedition to give him more time for begging everything that Baker possessed. At length, being exasperated by the king's excuses, Baker took heroic measures for securing the aid needed, and obtained an escort of about fifty of the most horrible-looking natives that the imagination can conceive. They were dressed in monkey and leopard skins, with antelope horns on their heads and cows' tails dangling behind, while from their chins there were suspended the bushy ends of cows' tails sewed together.

The expedition now moved up the Kafue river, but at a slow pace, on account of the shallowness of the stream, and also because of the dangerous illness of Mrs. Baker. But after a weary march of one month from Kamrasi's palace, Baker was brought to the banks of the Luta Nziga, and thus to a glad realization of his ambitious dream. It was the lake so often spoken of in story and legend, the true source of that wondrous river, the Nile, which so many had earnestly tried to explore for more than twenty centuries, but always with disappointment. In honor of the queen's consort, Baker called the lake Albert N'yanza, by which it is now known; and upon his return to England he was knighted for the discovery, while all geographers have since made the source of the Nile the twin lakes, the Victoria and Albert N'yanza.

Baker only coasted the Albert lake for a distance of one hundred miles, and then prepared at once to return home, taking his route overland to Gondokoro instead of following down the Nile, as he should have done. The return journey occupied almost a year, so that it was September, 1866, before he reached England and made his report to the Royal Geographical Society, which immediately awarded him the Victoria medal, as it had Speke, both sharing equally the honor of discovering the Nile's source.

Chapter X

BAKER'S EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE.

ittle more than one year after Baker's return to England, he published a book descriptive of his travels in Africa, giving not only the results of his private expedition, but also his experience with the slave-traders, the horrors of the traffic in human beings, and his views as to the best means for its suppression. To re-enforce his observations were many letters from other African explorers, including Speke, Burton, Grant and Livingstone, in all of which the horrifying cruelties of the slave-traders were pictured in such heart-appealing aspect that the popular feeling in England was intensely excited. All the world seemed to at once demand a suppression of the inhuman practices that characterized the kidnappers who afflicted Africa with unutterable woe. The Prince of Wales threw his active sympathies with the people, and made a trip to Egypt to seek a conference with Ismail, the Khedive. An audience was obtained, at which the prince plainly told the Khedive that the infamous slave trade had to be suppressed, either by the Egyptian government or some other power, intimating that England herself would see to it that the traffic was abolished. The Khedive, though undoubtedly profiting by the nefarious trade, appeared to be in sympathy with the general desire, and promised to exert his power to effect its accomplishment. Preliminary thereto, he accordingly annexed all the Soudan, in order to bring that immense district, in which the enslavement of the natives by Turks and Arabs was most common, directly under his rule. To make his pretence the more plausible, he sent for Sir Samuel Baker, and, after a protracted interview, placed him in command of an expedition which should be dispatched to the Nile basin for the single purpose of arresting all the slave-traders found therein, and also to establish, fortify and garrison posts throughout the district that would secure protection to the natives against all further prosecution of the slave traffic.

The appointment of Baker, with almost autocratic power to enforce the severest penalties against dealers in human beings in Central Africa, was the first pronounced action ever taken by the Egyptian government in this direction, and which, with Baker's failure to effect radical results, has since been continued under General Gordon, who perished at Khartoum, and his successor, Emin Bey, who still holds the governorship of the Soudan and the equatorial regions, as will hereafter be described.

[Horrors of the Slave Trade. Results of an Arab Razzia]

THE APPOINTMENT OF BAKER'S EXPEDITION.

The expedition fitted out by the Egyptian government under Baker's instructions was certainly most imposing, involving, as it did, an enormous expense of treasure and a large contingent of men. Among other things that had been provided with such a liberal hand, were three steamers and two life-boats, specially built in England with the view of navigating the Nile. These vessels were fitted with engines of the best construction, and were built in sections to make them easy of transport across the Nubian desert, or by places in the river not navigable.

In addition to the steamers were steam saw mills, with a boiler that weighed eight hundred pounds in one piece -- all of which would have to be transported by camels for several hundred miles across the Nubian desert, and by boats and camels alternately from Alexandria to Gondokoro, a distance of about three thousand miles.

The English party accompanying the expedition consisted of Sir Samuel Baker and his courageous wife; Lieutenant Julian A. Baker, R. N.; Edward Higginbotham, civil engineer; Mr. Wood, secretary; Dr. Joseph Gedge, physician; Mr. Marcopolo, chief store-keeper and interpreter; Mr. McWilliam, chief engineer of steamers; Mr. Jarvis, chief shipwright; together with Messrs. Whitfield, Samson, Hitchman and Ramsdell. Forty-five thousand dollars were expended in stores, calculated to last the expedition for four years.

Six steamers, varying from forty to eighty horse- power, were ordered to leave Cairo in June, together with fifteen sloops and fifteen diahbeeahs -- total, thirty- six vessels -- to ascend the cataracts of the Nile to Khartoum, a distance by river of about one thousand four hundred and fifty miles. These vessels were to convey the whole of the merchandise.

Twenty-five vessels were ordered to be in readiness at Khartoum, together with three steamers. The Governor-General (Djiaffer Pasha) was to provide these vessels by a certain date, together with the camels and horses necessary for the land transport.

Thus, when the fleet should arrive at Khartoum from Cairo, the total force of vessels would be nine steamers and fifty-five sailing vessels, the latter averaging about fifty tons each.

The military arrangements comprised a force of one thousand six hundred and forty-five troops, including a corps of two hundred irregular cavalry and two batteries of artillery. The infantry were two regiments, supposed to be well selected. The black or Soudani regiment included many officers and men who had served for some years in Mexico with the French army under Marshal Bazaine. The Egyptian regiment turned out to be for the most part convicted felons who had been transported for various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan.

The artillery were rifled mountain guns of bronze, the barrel weighing two hundred and thirty pounds, and throwing shells of eight and a quarter pounds. The authorities at Woolwich had kindly supplied the expedition with two [Edwin Higginbottom - Lieut Col. Abd El-Kader - Sir Samuel White Baker - Lieutenant Baker]hundred Hale's rockets, three pounders, and fifty Snider rifles, together with fifty thousand rounds of Snider ammunition. The military force and supplies were to be massed in Khartoum ready to meet Baker on his arrival.[A Crocodile Carrying Off One of Baker's Men]

This imposing army and flotilla left Suez on August 29th, 1869, and proceeded on to Souakim, where, after a week's delay, camels were obtained to carry the expedition across the desert, two hundred and seventy-five miles, to Berber. Reaching this place, another fleet of thirty-three vessels of fifty and sixty tons burden was built, which carried the expedition to Gondokoro, one thousand four hundred and fifty miles from Berber.

The trip to Gondokoro was full of incidents. The start was made in the latter part of February, with so many sail-boats that the Nile was covered, apparently, for miles, as boat straggled behind boat, strung out until those in front could not be seen by those in the rear.

One of the first incidents that befell the expedition was the upsetting of a canoe and the seizing of one of the men by a crocodile, which, despite the shouting and splashing of his companions, and the killing of another crocodile that had joined in the attack, carried him under the water and made away with the victim. Succeeding this tragedy a few days later, was an attack made on the flag steamer by a monster hippopotamus, which smashed her starboard paddle-wheel and cut through the iron plates of the companion boat so that it came near sinking. The boats were thus compelled to lay by for repairs, which time Baker improved by firing at the enemy, which repeatedly returned to the attack and was not finally dispatched until a dozen balls had been fired into its head. [Shillock women pounding maize]

SHOOTING GAME AND LIBERATING SLAVES.

The start for Gondokoro had been made at a very inopportune time, for the Nile was already falling and progress must be necessarily slow, as some of the boats drew more than four feet of water. After proceeding one-half the distance, the vegetation so obstructed the river that it was impossible to proceed further, and a retreat had to be made back to the Shillook country, and there wait until the November inundation.

The water was soon receding so rapidly that the boats had to be pulled by a thousand men across the vegetable obstructions; in fact it became almost dryland steamboating, for every few miles the cables were run out and a long double line of men would seize them and force the boats across the barriers high and dry into water again. Mr. and Mrs. Baker whiled away the tedium of the journey by shooting, every day killing hippopotami, crocodiles, antelopes, geese and ducks, so that an abundance of fresh meat was always available. Mrs. Baker was as keen a lover of hunting as her husband, and was almost as good a shot, while her powers of endurance and courage were phenomenal.

As the expedition approached the Shillook country, Baker was astounded to find that the Governor of Fashoda was engaged in the capture of slaves. This discovery was made by accident. Baker saw an old man seated on the bank, who had apparently escaped from some bad master and who told of his captivity and efforts to escape back to his people. The Governor of Fashoda had been pretending, for years, that he was violently opposed to slave hunting[A Bari village]and that no slave traders could cross his country. He was taken by surprise, and in his pens were discovered a large number of women and little children, whose village he had a few days before destroyed and taken them into captivity, after killing all but ten of the men. Baker set the poor people at liberty and reported the Governor to the Khedive for punishment.

The boats were put into harbor and a town was begun, which, in honor of Ismail's youngest son, was called Tewfikeeyah. Here workshops, steam sawmills and huts soon dotted the formerly barren ground. Boats were constructed to take the place of several that had been badly demoralized, gardens were planted and the hum of industry was heard on every side.

The Shillooks were scrupulously honest, and soon a thriving trade was opened between the natives and members of the expedition, which continued several months and until the river had risen sufficiently to admit a departure of the boats. During this interval, Baker devoted his time in directing affairs at the station and in bunting, the country being fairly alive with large game, including ostriches, several of which wary birds he succeeded in killing. The crocodiles that infested the reed-covered shores were a constant source of danger both to men and beasts that had to approach the water, while occasionally hippopotami indulged their ferocious instincts. Baker reports that he witnessed the killing of a blind sheik by a hippopotamus while he was crossing the river with a companion in an ambatch boat. The animal arose under their frail bark and, without provocation seized both the boat and sheik in its enormous jaws and crushing them so that the boat was cut into pieces, while the poor man soon died of his wounds.

Shortly before the time fixed for his departure, a sail was reported coming down the river, which was hauled to at the station and discovered to be laden with 184 women, boys and girls, who had been captured and packed away under a quantity of corn to avoid discovery. These Baker liberated and sent the captain in irons to Cairo, while he confiscated the vessel as a slaver and took it to Khartoum.

A FIGHT WITH THE BARIS AND CROCODILES.

After an exceedingly hard voyage of five months and twenty-two days the expedition reached Gondokoro, which had been selected as headquarters, from which forays into the further interior might be conducted with base for supplies easily accessible. On account of the miserable huts which composed the town, substantial building had to be erected in which to store provisions and ammunition, so that a considerable time intervened before the expedition could proceed further. The Baris, who composed the native population in this region, were very hostile, and became so demonstrative in their vengeful designs that Baker was forced to move against them and to lead a night attack against their principal village twelve miles distant from Gondokoro, which resulted, of course, in the Baris' discomfiture and the capture of five hundred head of cattle.

Savages were not the only enemies which they had to contend with, for the crocodiles in the neighborhood were so numerous and ferocious that they were a source of great loss and constant danger. As the natives were so much in the habit of swimming to and fro with their cattle, these wily creatures had been always accustomed to claim a toll in the shape of a cow, calf, or nigger. Two of Abou Saood's sailors were carried off on two consecutive days. One of Baker's soldiers, while engaged with many others in the water, only hip deep, was seized by a crocodile. The man, being held by the leg below the knee, made a good fight, and thrust his fingers into the creature's eyes; his comrades at the same time assisted, and rescued him from absolute destruction; but the leg-bone was so mashed and splintered in many places that he was obliged to submit to an amputation.

One of the sailors had a narrow escape. He and many others were engaged in collecting the leaves of a species of water-convolvulus that make an[Crocodile tearing an arm off a sailor] excellent spinach; this plant is rooted on the muddy bank, but it runs upon the surface of the water, upon which its pink blossoms are very ornamental. The sailor was stooping from the bank to gather the floating leaves, when he was suddenly seized by the arm at the elbow-joint; his friends immediately caught him round the waist, and their united efforts prevented him from being dragged into the water. The crocodile, having tasted blood, would not quit its hold, but tugged and wrenched the arm completely off at the elbow, and went off with its prize. The unfortunate man, in excruciating agony, was brought to the camp, where it was necessary to amputate another piece slightly above the lacerated joint.

SHOOTING ELEPHANTS ACROSS THE RIVER.

Crocodiles furnished great sport to the hunters as a partial recompense for their savagery and destruction, but other game also demanded and received attention, for elephants became so bold at times as to invade the town and make night attacks on the stores of grain, of which they devoured great quantities.

In the middle of November Lieutenant Baker started with some troops to convey corn from a distant village, but he had proceeded only a short distance when he saw a heard of eleven bull elephants approaching from the west. Riding back quickly he informed Sir Samuel Baker, who at the time was enjoying a pipe on the poop-deck of his diahbeeah. Not being prepared for elephant-shooting, he recommended his lieutenant to return to his troops, who would be wasting their time. A half-hour afterwards the elephants approached within four hundred yards of the camp, apparently unconscious of danger. Baker could not withstand the temptation, so ordering his favorite horse saddled, he seized two Holland rifles which carried a half-pound iron lead-coated explosive shell, and started after them. Several men were ordered to gain the rear of the herd, so as to turn them should they retreat, while others flanked to drive them toward the river. The brutes at first sight took to water, and Baker dismounted to fire when they should gain the opposite bank, on an island, which was less than one hundred yards distant. When they had crossed they found an unexpected difficulty, in the precipitous bank which they were unable to scale. But they fell to with their tusks, and began tearing down the bank to an incline; and while thus engaged Baker secured several shots, which had no other effect, however, than to tumble one of them occasionally back into the water half-stunned. After a while so much of the bank was torn away that the elephants began to mount, showing their bodies completely out of water. Effective shooting now began, but when the second animal had been killed the ammunition gave out, and the hunt ended. The elephants were now butchered and the meat divided among the men, with an allowance for the Baris, who, seeing so much flesh ready for distribution, came over and sued for peace, offering to seal their friendship for a fair proportion of the meat. The peace thus purchased at so cheap a price remained inviolate all the time that Baker continued in Gondokoro.

OFF FOR THE ALBERT N'YANZA.

Baker's original intention had been to establish a line of fortified posts, not more than three days' march apart, between Gondokoro and Albert Lake,[Shooting elephants across the river.]but his force of twelve hundred men was now reduced to five hundred. Of this number three hundred were left to guard the base of supplies at Gondokoro, so that he had only two hundred men with whom to make the advance south; nevertheless, with this small force he started, January 23, 1872, for the Albert Lake. The boats were loaded with necessary supplies, and the voyage up the river commenced. On the fourth day out they reached the first cataract, where a chief named Bedden had promised two thousand carriers to convey the boats -- which were made in sections -- and luggage to Lobore. But the old scoundrel had disregarded his promise, and insolently told Baker that his people had quit being slaves for the Turks and certainly would not enter the service of Christians. Travelling in Africa is always attended with the most provoking obstacles; Baker had learned this from a bitter experience, and was therefore not discouraged, though greatly angered, at Bedden's deceit and treachery. He therefore determined to establish a station here, and leave a strong guard to protect it and the boats, and then push on southward with a picked force of one hundred men.

Considerable difficulty was at first experienced in procuring guides, but when it appeared that the expedition must move without them an old rainmaker, apparently seventy years of age, visited Baker and offered to conduct him for the small compensation of a cow and what wine he could comfortably drink, a proposition that was promptly accepted. With the old rain-maker, whose name was Lokko, leading the way, the expedition moved forward without further detention until reaching Fatiko, which was one hundred and sixty-five miles from Gondokoro and the headquarters of Abou Saood, who was at the head of the slave trade of Central Africa.

A LIVELY DANCE OF NAKED VENUSES.

This place was reached before any knowledge of Baker's coming had been received by the old slaver, therefore he was wholly unprepared for his visitor. Baker saw active preparations going on for secreting the slaves, but it was too late. Abou Saood came out and greeted him in a. most cordial manner, professing great delight at the visit. Baker, of course, knew what this hypocrisy meant, but he received the advances with a similar manifestation of friendship. At the same time, however, he desired to show the slave hunter that he had a fairly well-disciplined force, able to enforce such orders as might be necessary for the abolition of the nefarious trade which thrived at Fatiko. To do this, he had his soldiers go through certain military evolutions, scale the hill and give a sham battle. To add effect to the display, the band played several lively airs, which brought thousands of delighted natives to the scene. The band was composed of buglers, aided by cymbals, a bass drum and several small drums. This would not be regarded as a very deliciously symphonious aggregation. in a civilized country, but it was irresistible to the Africans. The natives are passionately fond of music; and the safest way to travel in those wild countries is to play the cornet, if possible, without ceasing, which insures [A typical savage chief] a safe passage. A London organ-grinder would march through Central Africa followed by an admiring and enthusiastic crowd, who, if his tunes were would form a dancing escort of the most untiring material.

As the troops returned to their quarters, with the band playing rather lively airs, women were observed racing down from their villages, and gathering from all directions toward the common centre. As they approached nearer, the charms of music were overpowering, and, halting for an instant, they assumed what they considered the most graceful attitudes, and then danced up to the band. In a short time the buglers could hardly blow their instruments for laughing at the extraordinary effect of the female dancers. A fantastic crowd surrounded them, and every minute added to their number. The women were entirely naked; thus the effect of a female crowd, bounding madly about as musical enthusiasts, was very extraordinary. Even the babies were brought out to dance; and these infants, strapped to their mothers' backs, and covered with pumpkin-shells, like young tortoises, were jolted about[Baker's camp at Fatiko] by their infatuated mothers without the slightest consideration for the weakness of their necks. As usual among all tribes in Central Africa, the old women were even more determined dancers than the young girls. Several old Venuses made themselves extremely ridiculous, as they sometimes do in civilized countries when attempting the allurements of younger days.

DESOLATING EFFECTS OF WAR.

Inquiry developed the fact that the country had been almost ruined by Abou Saood, who had, generally by various alliances, despoiled the people of their cattle and ivory and made slaves of nearly one-half the population. He had heard of Baker at Gondokoro, and knew the purposes of the expedition, but he had no doubt that by inciting the Baris to resist his advance and fight him constantly, he would be forced to renounce his intentions and return to Gondokoro. But the old rascal had miscalculated. The chiefs quickly tendered their allegiance to Baker, who was thus enabled to establish a strong government under the Khedive and enforce a suspension, at least, of the slave trade.

At Fatiko he met with several messengers from Unyoro and Uganda, from whom he heard that Kamrasi had been dead more than two years, and was succeeded by his son, Kabba Rega, a man of less cupidity and of very much more intelligence, who was anxious to establish legitimate trade between his people and the whites. Other reports were to the effect that M'tesa, king of Uganda, had vastly improved through communication with the traders at Zanzibar. He had become a Mohammedan, and had built a mosque. Even his vizier said his daily prayers like a good Mussulman, and M'tesa no longer murdered his wives. If he cut the throat of either man or beast, it was now done in the name of God, and the king had become quite civilized, according to the report of the Arab envoys. He kept clerks who could correspond by letters in Arabic, and he had a regiment armed with a thousand guns, in addition to the numerous irregular forces at his command. [Scene in the game country of Africa]

Abou Saood's power was completely broken, his slaves released, and his actions reported to the Khedive. All the neighboring chiefs made bitter complaint against the slave traders, and begged the protection which Baker had now offered. Feeling secure in the steps taken to establish good government at Fatiko, he placed a small garrison in the village and departed for Unyoro, which lay one hundred and sixty miles to the south. Enough porters were engaged to insure a rapid conveyance of the luggage, if none deserted, which was always a probability. It was in the latter part of March when the expedition left Fatiko, when spring was being ushered in and all the world seemed bursting with gladness. The country was one of extraordinary beauty, and large game could be seen in all directions. Antelopes were especially numerous, so that each day was spent by Baker in glorious sport, yielding fresh meat continually for all the men. But as the cavalcade reached the Unyoro country they found a remarkable change; spring had invested the earth with beautiful verdure, and nature seemed glad, but here were the landmarks of war and desolation, burned and deserted villages, fallow fields and poverty. When Kamrasi died, he left a disputed inheritance to his two sons, Kabba Mero and Kabba Rega, who at once began a bitter struggle for the succession. Rionga, Kamrasi's brother and most bitter enemy, was still alive and as active as ever in fighting the Unyoros. Abou Saood had in the mean time espoused the cause of each in turn, as it suited his purposes best, and plundered them all. There had been incessant fighting for more than a year, during which time nearly everything in the country was destroyed, and many of the people were starving, while murder and pillage ran riot. But the famished condition of the country was not without benefit to Baker, as it enabled him to enlist a number of the natives as irregular soldiers and to form posts that would open communication with Fatiko.

A VISIT FROM KABBA REGA.

He halted within a short distance of Kabba Rega's palace, and sent messengers ahead to communicate with the king: but after waiting in vain several days for an invitation to enter his capital, Masindi, Baker broke camp, and after a journey of seventeen miles through the forest came upon the village, which is situated on high undulating land, bounded on the west by a range of mountains bordering the Albert N'yanza, which is not more than fifty miles distant. He called on the king directly after his arrival, and found him sitting on a divan within a large and neatly constructed hut. He was well clad in beautifully [Baker's audience with Kabba Rega] made bark-cloth, striped with black; his person was also very neat, and his age not more than twenty years. Baker explained to him that his mission was to take possession of the country, which would thus be annexed to Egypt, and to not only free all the slaves he could find, but also to break up the slave trade and give peace and prosperity to the country. To all these reforms Kabba Rega gave his assent and promised such aid as he could command.

On the following day the king returned the visit, accompanied by nearly all his army, and was received with all the pomp that Baker could devise for such an occasion, but the interview was very unsatisfactory. The king could hardly be induced to turn the subject of conversation for a moment from complaints against his uncle Rionga, who was contending for the throne.[Farmers of Unroyo] In vain was Baker's aid solicited in the war against Rionga, so that the king could not be placated even by the proffer of many presents, and after an exhibition given by Kabba Rega's buffoons the interview terminated.

ROASTING PEOPLE OVER SLOW FIRES.

After the departure of the king, Baker engaged several of the chiefs in conversation, that he might learn more of the practices of the slave-hunters, and the general difficulties with which the government had to contend. Several of these assured him that Abou Saood's people had been in the habit of torturing [The Funeral Dance] the natives to make them reveal the places in which their corn was concealed. Throughout Unyoro there were no granaries exposed, as the country had been ravaged by civil war; thus all corn was buried in deep holes specially arranged for that purpose. When the slave-hunters sought for corn, they were in the habit of catching the villagers and holding them down on the mouth of a large earthen water-jar, filled with glowing embers, until they were nearly roasted. If this torture did not extract the secret, they generally cut the sufferer's throat to terrify his companions, who would then divulge the position, of the hidden stores to avoid a similar fate. It is difficult to conceive the brutality of these brigands, who, thus relieved from the fear of a government exhibited their unbridled passions by every horrible crime.

Among other singular things which the chief related to Baker was a graphic account of the royal funeral that had taken place when Kamrasi was interred: When a king of Unyoro dies, the body is exposed upon a framework of green wood, like a gigantic gridiron, over a slow fire. It is thus gradually dried, until it resembles an over-roasted hare. Thus mummified, it is wrapped in new bark-cloths, and the body lies in state within a large house built specially for its reception. The sons fight for the throne. The civil war may last for years, but during this period of anarchy the late king's body lies still unburied. At length, when victory is decided in favor of one of his sons, the conqueror visits the hut in which his father's body lies in state. He approaches the corpse, and standing by its side sticks the butt end of his spear in the ground, and leaves it thus fixed near the right hand of the dead king. This is symbolical of victory.

BREAKING THE BONES AND BURYING VICTIMS ALIVE.

The son now ascends the throne, and the funeral of his father must be his first duty. An immense pit or trench is dug, capable of containing several hundred people. This pit is neatly lined with new bark-cloths. Several wives of the late king are seated together at the bottom, to bear upon their knees the body of their departed lord. The night previous to the funeral, the king's own regiment, or body- guard, surround many dwellings or villages, and seize the people indiscriminately as they issue from their doors in the early morning. These captives are brought to the pit's mouth. Their legs and arms are broken with clubs, and they are pushed into the pit on the top of the king's body and his wives. An immense din of drums, horns, flageolets and whistles, mingled with the yells of a frantic crowd, drown the shrieks of the sufferers upon whom the earth is shovelled and stamped down by thousands of cruel fanatics, who dance and jump upon the loose mould so as to force it into a compact mass, through which the victims of this horrid sacrifice cannot grope their way. At length the mangled mass is buried and trodden down beneath a tumulus of earth, and all is still.

When the funeral rites over the body of Kamrasi were completed Kabba Rega ascended the throne, and succeeded to all his father's wives, with the exception of his own mother. This is the invariable custom in Unyoro. The throne is composed partly of copper and of wood. It is an exceedingly small and ancient piece of furniture that has been handed down for many generations and is considered to be a cojoor, or talisman. There is also an ancient drum which is regarded with reverence as something uncanny; and the two articles. are always jealously guarded by special soldiers, and are seldom used. Should the throne be lost or stolen, the authority of the king would disappear, together with the talisman, and disorder would reign throughout the country until the precious object should be restored.

THE VALUE OF FEMALE SLAVES.

Although Baker was not able to fully influence Kabba Rega against the iniquity of the slave traffic, he gained a conditional agreement from the king to lend his sanction to efforts for its suppression, which was purchased by the gift of a large number of presents. Baker, therefore, set about the release of all the slaves in the immediate region, which numbered about one thousand women and children. Efforts were next made to restore those stolen from Unyoro, for the return of which Kabba Rega was particularly anxious, as they were his own subjects. It transpired that a regular traffic was maintained between the traders of Unyoro and Uganda, in which young girls were made the object of barter. In Unyoro, a plump [The Escape from Bondage] young girl was usually sold for a first-class elephant tusk, while in Uganda they could be bought for thirteen needles or a new shirt. Thus it was that girls were purchased in Uganda and then taken to Unyoro, to be exchanged for an elephant tusk worth in England 100or100 or 100or150. This was termed legitimate trade, but Abou Saood took a less expensive way of securing female slaves, for he made war on the people, and putting them to rout bore away all the female prisoners as slaves, first disposing of the males by merciless massacre.

Slavery of girls was, however, encouraged by the immemorial usage of fathers invariably selling their daughters to the highest bidder, who might use them either as slaves or wives. A large family of girls was therefore a source of revenue to the father, who disposed of them in exchange for trinkets or cows, of which latter usually twelve or fifteen are paid for a fine looking young girl.

After Baker had put into execution effective plans for destroying the slave [The fight in the grass] trade in Unyoro, Kabba Rega became less friendly and began to interpose obstacles to prevent their execution. Contrary to his promises he withheld supplies, and when complaint was made he would make many apologies and renew assurances of his good intention. For several days signs of hostility became so apparent that Baker strengthened his defences, and his act in so doing exhibited his knowledge of the treacherous character of the king. One morning Kabba Rega sent five gallons of cider as a present to Baker's soldiers, with his usual professions of friendship, but after drinking the beverage fully one-half the garrison were writhing in agony, while many were unconscious from the effects of the poison that had been mixed with it. Prompt administration of remedies by Baker prevented any loss of life, but it was several. days before those thus affected were fully recovered. In the mean time Baker sent messengers to the king asking for an explanation of this act of perfidy, but they were murdered, as was also Baker's adjutant, Motonse, a faithful and efficient servant. At the same time, Kabba Rega's soldiers crept through the grass at night and fired at Baker, but fortunately without effect. This was the signal for battle. Baker sounded the bugle-call and quickly had his men under arms ready for action. Setting fire to the grass and shooting rockets into the thatch-roofed houses of the natives, he sallied out, and by the light of the many fires thus kindled, his trained riflemen mowed down the natives without receiving any harm in return. The fighting continued until after midnight, when the routed natives fled in dismay, leaving their town, Masindi, the capital of Unyoro, in ruins.

CUTTING THEIR WAY THROUGH TO FOWEIRA.

This sudden exhibition of treachery caused an entire change in Baker's plans, for he saw that an immediate retreat was necessary to prevent starvation of his troops, as it would now be impossible to obtain supplies in that region, He accordingly decided to evacuate his quarters at Masindi and proceed by forced marches to Foweira, eighty miles to the south, where Rionga had his capital, an alliance with whom was now a necessity. The fort that he had constructed was accordingly burned and the retreat began, though not with such precipitate haste as prevented removal of all the stores. The expedition had been materially reduced by desertion until it now numbered one hundred soldiers and seventy porters, who, in addition to carrying a load of fifty pounds to the man, had. to drive before them seventy-five cows to serve as food. Besides, the grass was very high, serving everywhere as an admirable ambush for lurking foes, which it concealed in great numbers.

On the second day after the march was begun, the attack that had even before been expected took place, and thereafter nearly every mile was the scene of some bloody encounter. Spears were hurled with deadly precision from the tall grass, which hid the enemy from view, so that Baker's men were at great disadvantage. But they acted most courageously, and by firing the grass often drove the enemy out and then slaughtered a great number.[Rionga King of Unyoro]

With the loss of a dozen men, Baker at length reached Foweira, which is on the bank of the Victoria Nile, where he erected a stockade and then set about building canoes in which to cross over to an island on which Rionga had his headquarters.

Fortunately, while these preparations were being made, messengers arrived to ascertain Baker's intentions in coming to the country. By these he sent some presents to Rionga, and explained his reasons for desiring an alliance with him. A reply soon came back, for Rionga was delighted at the prospect of an alliance with so powerful a force, and to show his friendship he sent Baker a considerable quantity of provisions, and begged him to cross over to his island, where he would receive him.

The canoes were now ready, and in them Baker and his party reached the island, where they were most hospitably received and every want provided for. Rionga met him with a frank, manly assurance of his regard, and forthwith proposed to exchange blood in order that their friendship might be irrevocably sealed. This noble chief was dressed in a beautiful cloak of gold brocade, which Baker had sent him as a present from Foweira, together with a new tarboosh and sky-blue turban, while upon his feet were well- made sandals. He was a handsome man, of about fifty, with none of the stiffness of Kamrasi, nor the gawky bearing of Kabba Rega, but he was perfectly at his ease. With the natural politeness of a true gentleman, he thanked Baker for the handsome suit in which he was dressed, assuring him that without it he could not have appeared before him in a becoming manner, as the long-continued war of his brother and nephew against him had reduced him almost to poverty. He was well aware of Baker's repeated refusals to join in the struggle against him, and assured him that he fully appreciated his friendship. Rionga proved himself true and reliable, and has always remained the faithful ally and friend of the whites.

THE MAKKARIKA CANNIBALS.

Soon after his meeting with Rionga, Baker received reports that the garrison which he had left at Fatiko was in grave danger of an attack from Abou Saood, who had largely increased his force and resumed the slave trade. Baker therefore took forty of his own men and as many of Rionga's soldiers, at the head of which he marched with such celerity that he arrived at Fatiko before Abou had any intimation of his coming. The slave trader, however, seeing what punishment awaited him in case he fell into Baker's hands, assumed the offensive and made an impetuous attack; but in the savage fighting that followed Abou was routed, and half his soldiers and nearly all his officers were killed. Abou himself escaped to Fabbo, twenty-five miles east of Fatiko, where he again established himself. Here he collected a quantity of ivory, and then departed for the Makkarika country, two hundred and fifty miles distant, where he engaged a large force of these cannibals to assist the removal of the ivory and also to fight against Baker.

The cunning Abou was at no time idle, and so great was his influence throughout that region that nearly 3000 of the Makkarika cannibals enlisted under his standard, in addition to which a large body of Arab slave dealers[Baker exchanging blood with Rionga] had arrived on the Nile who, it was expected, would lend him their aid. Horrible reports also came to Baker every day of the atrocities of the cannibals who were represented as devouring all the children in the Koshi (adjoining) district. Finding his position very dangerous, Baker sent his adjutant, Wat-el-Mek, [Beating up the game by means of fire] back to Gondokoro for reinforcements, but a plague of small-pox broke out soon after in the Makkarika camp, from which eight hundred died. This in addition to the fear that had been excited in them by reports of Baker's magic guns, and Abou's misrepresentations, in making them porters of his ivory instead of soldiers, led to a desertion of his standard, and compelled him to again retreat into the fastnesses of the hills.

A GRAND HUNT FOR NOBLE GAME.

Abou Saood's plans had failed, and there was now comparative peace, while prospects for the future were all flattering. M'tesa had sent a messenger to Baker offering his aid to destroy Kabba Rega, while Rionga had sworn[Boars in the net] allegiance to the Khedive, and had been made the vakeel, or ruler of the Unyoro country, so that Kabba Rega was really now only a wandering outcast, incapable of offering any serious resistance.

Baker had won the good opinion and friendship of many natives during his first journey through Africa, by joining with them in the chase and so effectively killing and sharing with them the large game. It was now the hunting season, and as arrangements were being made for the great annual hunt, he resolved to participate with the natives, which gave them much pleasure, for they appreciated his gun, as they knew it was certain to secure for them considerable meat.

The natives, in their annual hunts, use a large net, or a number of nets, which are made fast successively to stakes so as to form a large quarter circle stretching across the country which they have previously selected to beat. They then form a circle themselves, more than a mile in diameter, facing the nets, and fire the grass to windward. In the high grass the net would be invisible until the animals, in trying to escape, would rush into it, when they were checked and speared to death by the hunters.

Everything was ready, and the men had already been stationed at regular intervals about two miles to windward, where they waited with their fire-sticks ready for the appointed signal. A shrill whistle disturbed the silence. This signal was repeated at intervals. In a few minutes after the signal a long line of separate thin pillars of smoke ascended into the blue sky, forming a band extending over about two miles of the horizon. The thin pillars rapidly thickened and became dense volumes, until at length they united and formed a long black cloud of smoke that drifted before the wind over the bright yellow surface of the high grass. The fire travelled at the rate of several miles an hour, and very soon, from an ant-hill which he had selected, Baker saw the startled game begin to move about. A rhinoceros was first to appear, but it was too far for a successful shot, and kept along an incline toward the nets; antelopes bounded by, and presently a lion and lioness leaped into view, but just as Baker was about to fire the head of a native rose in the direct line of aim. Beautiful leucotis, hartbeests, wild boars and antelopes were now running on every side, affording excellent shots, which Baker thoroughly improved until he had killed nearly a dozen of these animals without moving from the ant-hill. The natives killed many boars and antelopes, but the rhinoceros ran through the net as though it had been a cobweb, followed by a number of buffaloes and elephants.

THRILLING ADVENTURE WITH A LIONESS.

On December 30th, a week after the sport just described, another hunt was arranged for, which was attended with even greater excitement than the first, though the preparations were all the same. Baker had taken position on an ant-hill, and directly after the grass was fired a beautiful picture was presented, for they had surrounded an unusually large number of animals, which advanced slowly, as the pace of the fire was hardly more than two miles an hour. As Baker was firing with deadly effect upon a herd of antelopes, he saw a yellow tail rise suddenly from a water- hole not far distant, immediately followed by glimpses of an immense lion, which disappeared again in the grass, with its head in the direction of the hunter, as though approaching. Presently a rustling in the dry grass, within forty yards of his stand, apprised him that the ferocious beast was coming nearer; he had three guns with him, suited for different kinds of game, and seizing a rifle which was specially suited for lion shooting, in another moment he caught a fair view of the animal and fired. Instead of being the one he had first seen, it proved to be a lioness; she rolled over backward and turned three convulsive somersaults, at the same time roaring furiously; she then recovered and rose as if unharmed. Baker fired again, but must have missed, for she charged at him, roaring all the while. A load of buck- shot, however, sent her back again, and she disappeared in the high grass.

The lioness could be heard groaning at a short distance, so, carefully picking his way, Baker approached near enough to get another shot, which broke her ankle joint, but again she got away. Several natives now came upon the scene, and locating the wounded beast, offered to throw their spears at her which would result in bringing her out so that a fair shot could be secured. [Adventure with a lioness] Baker would not allow this, but fired at her as she lay partially concealed in a bottom. The reply was an immediate charge, and the enraged brute came bounding toward him with savage roars. The natives threw their spears, but missed, and some one would have been badly torn had not a shot from a smooth- bore No. 10 gun caused her to retreat again into the grass. Baker now took his large rifle and followed stealthily until he saw the lioness sitting up on her haunches like a dog. A careful aim put a bullet in the back of her neck, from which she fell over dead. She measured nine feet six inches from nose to tail extremity, and upon being cut open, they found the half of a leucotis, which had been simply divided by her teeth into two-pound lumps, which the natives seized as a particularly dainty dish.

END OF THE EXPEDITION AND ITS RESULTS.

The country was now very generally at peace, but it was by no means subdued. The presence of a strong arm representing the government had produced a temporary effect for good, but it was plainly apparent that a withdrawal of this menace to the slave trade would be followed by an immediate revival of the infamous traffic. Baker, however, had done all that then lay in his power, seeing the hopelessness of the task he had undertaken with such a lukewarm government at his back, and he therefore decided to return to England. [Arrival of envoys from M'tesa.]

On January 15, 1873, envoys arrived from M'tesa, bringing a letter, offering an army of his men to Baker, with which to destroy Kabba Rega and place Rionga on the throne, as the Egyptian representative over Unyoro. He also desired Baker to visit him, and expressed much anxiety to promote such commercial intercourse as the Khedive desired to establish. All these matters had been arranged, for Kabba Rega had been deposed and Rionga was in full possession of Unyoro, which facts were communicated to M'tesa; with thanks for his very kind offer of assistance.

Baker had felt no little solicitude for Wat-el- Mek, whom he had sent to Gondokoro for re-enforcements, double the time he had allowed for the return having now elapsed. At length, on March 8, on the ninety-second day after their departure, he was rejoiced to see the advance- guard approaching, and forming his troops quickly, he went out to give them a military welcome. After an inspection of the men, Baker was annoyed very much by the fact that not a single head of cattle had been brought with them; a quarrel had taken place between Wat-el-Mek and Tayib Agha, the two commanding officers, a Bari village had been burned, and in a battle with the natives twenty-eight of the soldiers had been killed, their arms taken, and all the cattle captured. The ill feeling between the two officers was the cause of all their calamities.

There had been enough recruits brought from Gondokoro, however, to swell the total force to six hundred and twenty men, with which Baker strongly garrisoned Fatiko, Fabbo, and the stockade he had built opposite Rionga's island, at Foweira. Unyoro was now completely in the power of Rionga, and a route was opened from Fatiko to Zanzibar. Everything was in perfect order, so leaving Major Abdullah commandant at Fatiko, Baker gave him full instructions as to the government of Central Africa, and then departed with a small bodyguard for Gondokoro, which place was reached without special incident on April 1st, 1872, the date on which his commission from the Khedive expired.

After turning over his effects to the government officers at Gondokoro, Baker secured a vessel and started for Khartoum. En route he overtook three vessels having on board seven hundred slaves, among whom the small-pox had broken out and the mortality was frightful. He hailed the slavers and was astonished to learn that the vessels belonged to Abou Saood, who had been to Cairo and so established himself in the confidence of the authorities that he could continue his nefarious traffic without fear of any unpleasant results; nor was this the only discouraging news which Baker heard, for he learned positively that ever since his departure from Gondokoro for Fatiko the slave vessels had been carrying their human cargoes directly on to Alexandria or the Red Sea, meeting with no opposition they could not easily overcome by bribery. He now saw that all his labors for a suppression of the slave trade in Central Africa had been without fruit; that the government, so far from rendering its aid to that end, had nullified its declarations and orders by refusing to punish convicted slavers, and by receiving them as worthy merchants at the Khedive's capital. Sick with disgust, he quitted Egypt and sailed for England.

Continued in Part Ia

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