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Title: Stanley's Emin Pasha expedition
Author: Alphonse Jules Wauters
Release date: May 27, 2025 [eBook #76167]
Language: English
Original publication: Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1890
Credits: Peter Becker, Karin Spence and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STANLEY'S EMIN PASHA EXPEDITION ***
[Illustration: HENRY M. STANLEY.]
STANLEY’S
EMIN PASHA
EXPEDITION
BY
A. J. WAUTERS
CHIEF EDITOR OF THE MOUVEMENT GÉOGRAPHIQUE, BRUSSELS
With Map, Thirty-three Portraits and Illustrations
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.
1890.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN 1
II. REVOLT OF THE MAHDI--GORDON PASHA--SIEGE OF KHARTOUM
AND RELIEF EXPEDITION UNDER LORD WOLSELEY 23
III. THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES--LUPTON BEY AND EMIN BEY 45
IV. DR. JUNKER AND CASATI--THE NIAM-NIAM--THE MONBUTTU 66
V. PRISONERS IN THE SOUDAN 84
VI. RETURN OF DR. JUNKER 103
VII. THE RELIEF EXPEDITION--TIPPOO TIB 123
VIII. ON THE LOWER CONGO 146
IX. THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS 162
X. STANLEY POOL 188
XI. ON THE UPPER CONGO 211
XII. THE CAMP AT YAMBUYA 224
XIII. FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY: IS HE KILLED, UNABLE
TO LEAVE, OR A PRISONER?--THE WHITE PASHA 231
XIV. THROUGH AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY--FROM THE CAMP AT YAMBUYA
TO LAKE ALBERT 250
XV. MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN BEY ON LAKE ALBERT 273
XVI. TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE REAR-GUARD--MURDER OF
MAJOR BARTTELOT--STARVING IN THE FOREST 292
XVII. REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS--EMIN PASHA AND
JEPHSON PRISONERS--MAHDIST INVASION 313
XVIII. ANOTHER MEETING OF EMIN BEY AND STANLEY--THE SOUDAN
ABANDONED 326
XIX. RETREAT OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED--THE MOUNTAINS OF THE
MOON AND THE SOURCES OF THE NILE 347
XX. THE RETURN TO ZANZIBAR--THALASSA!--THALASSA! 360
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. PORTRAIT OF HENRY M. STANLEY _Frontispiece_
2. GENERAL VIEW OF KHARTOUM _To face page_ 4
3. GENERAL GORDON „ 14
4. LUPTON BEY „ 54
5. EMIN PASHA „ 63
6. CAPTAIN CASATI „ 75
7. BARI WARRIORS „ 85
8. BARI WOMEN „ 87
9. DR. JUNKER „ 94
10. TIPPOO TIB „ 138
11. THE FORCES OF THE CONGO STATE ON DRILL AT VIVI „ 148
12. GROUP OF KABINDA SERVANTS „ 150
13. ARRIVAL OF THE EXPEDITION AT BANANA „ 153
14. VIEW OF BOMA „ 156
15. BOYS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF VIVI „ 158
16. THE CONGO AT THE STATION OF ISANGHILA „ 163
17. THE BELGIANS ON THE CONGO--DEPARTURE OF
A CARAVAN „ 166
18. THE EXPEDITION ON ITS WAY PAST THE FALLS „ 168
19. YOUNG CHIAIKA GIRL „ 171
20. NATIVES OF THE REGION OF THE FALLS „ 173
21. NATIVE CHIEF OF THE LOWER CONGO WITH HIS
MINISTERS AND BOYS „ 177
22. GROUP OF KROOBOY SERVANTS „ 180
23. THE CONGO IN THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS „ 184
24. CROSSING-PLACE NEAR LUTETE „ 186
25. VIEW OF LEOPOLDVILLE IN 1885 „ 191
26. THE “STANLEY” ON STANLEY POOL „ 196
27. AT LEOPOLDVILLE--CAPTURE OF A HIPPOPOTAMUS „ 206
28. THE EXPEDITION ON THE UPPER CONGO „ 214
29. NATIVE CANOE ON THE UPPER CONGO „ 219
30. AKKA BOY „ 281
31. FISHING AT STANLEY FALLS „ 299
32. CAMP IN THE FOREST „ 311
33. MADI VILLAGE ON THE NILE BELOW WADELAI „ 333
INTRODUCTION.
In February 1883 Dr. Junker had penetrated so far into the heart of
Africa that he found himself at the zeriba Ali Kobo, on the banks of
the Welle Makowa, in a region hitherto traversed by no other European.
For three years this indefatigable traveller had been exploring north
and south, east and west, the districts watered by the Welle, in the
hope of finding a definite solution to the important geographical
problem propounded by his friend Dr. Schweinfurth, thirteen years
previously, as to whether the Welle was connected with the Shary and
thence with Lake Tchad, or whether it flowed into the Congo.
It needed only a few more weeks of perseverance and progress towards
the west, and the explorer would have attained his end and reaped the
reward of his labours. He was within a few days’ march of the Congo and
was about to push onwards, when letters from Lupton Bey brought news of
startling import and put an end to further investigations.
Dr. Junker had for a considerable time been quite aware how the
country around Khartoum was harassed by the revolutionary action of an
agitator who professed himself to be the “Mahdi,” that is, a deliverer
invested with a supernatural mission. He had been apprised that the
powerful tribe of the Dinka had taken arms, and was threatening the
military settlements and zeribas on the Bahr-el-Ghazal; and had further
learnt from Lupton Bey, who was the representative of the Egyptian
government in that province, that the route between the Niam-niam
country and the landing-place of Rek on the Bahr-el-Ghazal was
completely blockaded, while the Mahdists were at the same time making
an alarming progress. Lupton Bey’s advice to him was that he should
endeavour forthwith to return to Egypt; and letters received at Semmio,
his station in the Niam-niam country, as well as those which came to
hand some weeks later, so far from representing the outlook in a more
reassuring light, pictured it as dark and overclouded. The Dinka round
Meshra-er-Rek, and the Mahdi’s forces about Khartoum, were steadily
gaining ground, so that the northern route was ever becoming more and
more impracticable. The conviction, therefore, could not fail to take
hold on his mind that he would be obliged to remain in the south for
the repression of the two revolts before he could carry out his design
of returning to Europe by way of Egypt and the Nile.
A certain presentiment of the hard times which he would have to face
had already occurred to him. In his journal of August 1, 1883, he made
the entry:--“All hope of seeing my country this year is fading away.
Thanks to frequent communications from Lupton Bey, I have been kept
informed of the events on the Bahr-el-Ghazal. Our gaze is fastened on
the north, whence with the utmost anxiety we are looking for relief.
The Khartoum steamer is expected. The last news from Lupton is urgent;
Hassan Mussa has been killed; sixty more guns have fallen into the
hands of the rebels: the road to Meshra-er-Rek is again closed, and 900
soldiers are about to make an effort to reopen it. My fears for the
population of the Rohl and for the station of Rumbek are verified,
for Lupton writes, ‘Rumbek is destroyed, only six soldiers managing
to escape,’ while he further announces the desertion of about thirty
Dongolese, drawn over by some fakirs to the Mahdi. If the disasters
that I forebode should come to pass, and the Arabs, driven down from
the north, should invade the Bahr-el-Ghazal, I foresee that there will
be no alternative for us but to retreat by the south. O that help may
arrive from Khartoum!”
But the hope was in vain. There was no longer any chance of relief from
the north. Neither Meshra nor Lado was again to welcome a steamer from
Khartoum. The northern road was closed, and the entire situation in
the Soudan was critical to a degree of which Dr. Junker in his remote
station in the Niam-niam country could form no conception.
The situation, in fact, was more than serious. In Kordofan and the
Bahr-el-Ghazal district the Arab and the negro were persistently
joining the rebels; Sennar and El-Obeid were threatened; the Egyptian
corps in Darfur, as well as the detachments under Lupton and Emin, was
absolutely cut off from the rest of the Soudan, and the Mahdi, whose
audacity increased with his prestige, had under him an army of at least
100,000 men. Moreover, the government troops had met with sanguinary
reverses, and were reduced to such a state of alarm that symptoms of
rebellion had begun to appear in their ranks. The governor-general,
Abd-el-Kadir, was almost overpowered, and compelled no longer to send
for a few battalions from Cairo, but to implore that an army might be
despatched to his aid. Altogether, things were becoming desperate.
It was in this emergency that the British government, rousing itself
from its protracted reserve, determined to substitute its own action
for the inadequate efforts of the Khedive, and proceeded to equip
10,000 soldiers who should start from Suakin, make forced marches, and
re-establish order in Kordofan.
All along, throughout this time, at Lado, at Meshra, and at Semmio,
anxious eyes were turned towards Khartoum awaiting help. But no help
was forthcoming. The drama of the Soudan had commenced.
On a stage of which the scenery extended from the Red Sea to Lake
Victoria, from the frontier of Abyssinia to the remote confines of
Darfur, scenes wild and bloody were about to be enacted. Face to face
with the invincible Mahdi and his fierce general Osman Digna were now
to appear successively Hicks Pasha, Baker Pasha, General Graham, and
Admiral Hewett; in his turn should follow General Gordon, the hero
_sans peur et sans reproche_; and then finally a second British
army under the command of the renowned Lord Wolseley, the victor at
Tel-el-Kebir.
And so for three years along the Nile there ensued a series of terrible
struggles, of brilliant, sanguinary, yet futile engagements, of which
the eventual results were alike disastrous to the cause of civilisation
and damaging to English prestige.
The drama came to an end. When Baker was worsted, Khartoum captured,
Gordon massacred, Wolseley in retreat, and the Soudan abandoned to the
hands of the Mussulman and slave-hunter, it seemed as if civilisation
was arrested, the hope of years was extinguished, inasmuch as not an
individual remained who could give effect to the counsels of Europe.
The Khamsin, which at the bidding of a fanatical leader had arisen in
the desert, had made all things retire before it, and the region of
the Nile-sources must again relapse into the gloom of night.
Such, at least, for a considerable time was the general conviction,
until, one day, from beyond the domain of the bloodthirsty tyrant of
Uganda, from Msalala, the Christian mission station by the southern
shore of Lake Victoria, suddenly there rose the voice of Junker.
He announced that he was safe, and that Emin with the soldiers who had
remained faithful to him was safe also; so too was the Italian explorer
Casati. All three had succeeded in securing their liberty amidst the
break-down of the Egyptian authority in the Soudan.
The time had come for Dr. Junker to realise the truth of what in 1883
he had written in his diary, that if the events he dreaded should come
to pass, there would be no alternative but that he must take a southern
route.
After two years and a half of suspense, of struggle and privation, the
explorer resolved to attempt his retreat by this southerly route, that
he might make Egypt and Europe aware of the existence and critical
position of these last defenders of the lost Soudan. It was another
year before he succeeded in reaching Zanzibar. Europe was stirred
by his appeal, and this time, without hesitation or delay, England
undertook to organise an expedition of relief.
But the difficulty was great: the obstacles were many. What forces
would be requisite to break through the enemies by which Emin was
environed? What route towards Wadelai should be chosen? The hordes of
the Mahdi barred all access from the north; the warlike Masai and the
battalions of Uganda held the east and the south; the regions to the
west were utterly unknown. Beyond all there lay the further question
as to who should be the leader of such an enterprise. The way into the
heart of that mysterious region was over mountains and valleys, through
deserts, virgin forests and marshes, amidst savage and relentless
tribes, beneath the rays of the equatorial sun. Who should be found
competent to conduct a caravan made up of numerous and promiscuous
followers, equally ready to quarrel with nature and with their fellows,
yet indispensable for the conveyance along that weary route of the
double cargo of victuals, ammunition, and supplies?
The answer was forthcoming. Then it was that for the fifth time
Central Africa was to behold the hero, at once the discoverer and
deliverer of Livingstone. Stanley was ready for the task. He chose
the Congo route, which he had himself opened up for the commercial
enterprise of Europe, while the opposition of the Mahdi was closing
all access by the Nile. More fortunate than Wolseley, who only reached
Khartoum in time to register its fall and the slaughter of its
defenders, he accomplishes his arduous undertaking, and after three
years’ undaunted perseverance he has brought back Emin and Casati, with
their faithful adherents, in safety and triumph to Zanzibar.
* * * * *
It is the history of this ever-memorable expedition and of the dramatic
events that led up to it, together with the important geographical
discoveries resulting from it, that forms the subject of the ensuing
pages.
CHAPTER I.
CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN.
Project of Mehemet Ali--Khartoum--Meeting of Baker, Speke,
and Grant at Gondokoro--First Explorers of the Upper
Nile--Ismailia, and expedition of Baker against Fatiko
slave-traders--Exploration of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and
discovery of the Welle by Schweinfurth--_Zeribas_ on
the Bahr-el-Ghazal--Ivory trade and kidnapping--Gordon’s
government--Europeans at the King of Uganda’s court--Gessi
Pasha on Lake Albert--Conquest of Darfur, Shekka,
and Dar-Fertit--Revolt of Suleiman Bey--The Egyptian
Soudan--Deposition of Ismail Pasha and Recall of Gordon--Raouf
Pasha at Khartoum.
At the date of the earliest events which it is the purpose of this book
to narrate, M. Louis Vossion, then French Vice-Consul at Khartoum,
wrote the following description of the place:--
“Khartoum, the capital of the Egyptian Soudan, stands on the left bank
of the Blue Nile, just at its junction with the White Nile.
“Any traveller arriving at the town for the first time could not
fail to experience much surprise. After passing what is called the
Ras-el-Khartoum at the confluence of the two streams, a low tract
of alluvial soil, covered with thick herbage relieved by occasional
clumps of palms, the boat, all sails set, glides into the Blue Nile.
A few minutes more and, hailed by the vociferous shouts of the Nubian
boatmen, the town rises suddenly into view, with its palm-trees, its
lines of little houses along the shore, its white mosques, with their
pointed minarets, all standing out sharply against the clear blue
sky. Heavy boats called ‘nuggers,’ laden with durra-corn, wood, and
gum-arabic, are ranged for nearly half a mile along the river-bank. The
stone buildings of the Roman Mission of Verona and of Marquet’s factory
are conspicuous above the dwellings of Nile mud to which they are in
proximity.
“Upon landing, the stranger will find himself surrounded by a whole
swarm of inquisitive negroes, and his astonishment will increase at
every step; he will at once be struck by the variety of the types of
the tribes of the Soudan into which he is thrown so suddenly. There
are the Denka, Shilluk of the White River, Bari from Gondokoro, people
from Unyoro, Niam-niam from Makraka, Mombuttu, Nuer, Jur, Bongo, Fertit
from the Bahr-el-Ghazal, Galla, Abyssinians, negroes from Jebel-Nuba,
Dongola, Darfur, and Kordofan; add to these Arabs of the various
semi-independent tribes, Bishareens, Hadendoas, Shukries, Kababishes,
Bagaras, Jews, Syrians, Greeks, and it may be imagined what a strange
and well-nigh unique spectacle is presented by such an agglomeration
of nationalities, all retaining their own traditions and marked out by
their peculiar costumes!
“The general impression is intensified when it is remembered that
Khartoum is on the very fringe of the civilised world, and is the
threshold of that mysterious Africa which holds so many secrets in its
bosom.”
* * * * *
When, in 1838, the energetic Viceroy Mehemet Ali made his journey
into the Soudan, Khartoum was a mere fishing village; but with a
quick appreciation of its importance as a geographical position, he
determined to rear upon its site a town that should become the capital
of the new equatorial province over which it was his dream that he
should reign. His successors, one after another, added a stone to the
edifice by increasing the area of the new city, to which it was found
that traders, not only from Egypt but from Europe, were ready and eager
to flock.
The increase of the population of Khartoum, thus rapid, was altogether
beyond and out of proportion to the progress of its internal
appliances. Sir Samuel Baker, who saw it for the first time in June
1862, describes it as one of the most dirty, miserable, and unhealthy
places that could be imagined. Built of sun-dried bricks, it stood
upon a low-lying flat, which was often quite under water at the period
of the floods. Notwithstanding that the houses were overcrowded with
a population exceeding 30,000, there was no drainage nor sanitary
arrangements of any kind. The streets were full of filth of every
description; the bodies of the dead animals that lay about were so many
centres of corruption and disease. The entire aspect was that of utter
misery.
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF KHARTOOM.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
In matters of administration things were even worse. Musa Pasha,
by his deplorable misgovernment, was ruining the country. From the
highest to the lowest of his officials, dishonesty and fraud were
the common characteristics; every one cheated according to his rank.
Slave traffic, with all its abominations, was the leading business of
the place, a fact which has been demonstrated alike by Baker and
Schweinfurth, who, at separate times, had ample opportunity of studying
the matter upon the very scene of the misdoings.
It was the laudable ambition to ascertain the true sources of the Nile
that took Baker into regions south of Khartoum that had previously
been unexplored. Accompanied by his courageous wife, on February 2,
1863, he reached Gondokoro, then a miserable group of turf-cabins
occupied only for two months in the year by the Khartoum traders whose
“_dahabiehs_” could go no farther. He landed there to meet Speke
and Grant, who, weary, ragged, and destitute, were on their way back
from the interior along the Nile, of which they had just discovered
the real springs. The meeting was a memorable epoch in the history of
the Soudan; it marked a new stage in the progress of the opening up of
Equatorial Africa, betokening at the same time a fresh extension of
Egyptian rule towards the south.
In his own lively manner Baker gives a description of the
incident:--“Shots in the distance. The ivory-bearers that I have been
expecting have arrived. My people are running frantically towards
my boat and shouting that two white men from the sea are with them.
Is it possible that they can be Speke and Grant? Away I start. True
enough, there they are! Hurrah for old England! Returned they have from
the Victoria Nyanza; thence it is that the Nile flows forth; ... the
mystery of the ages is solved.
“At the same time, with all the excitement of joy there is mingled a
sense of disappointment. It would have pleased me better to meet them
farther on. However, it was satisfactory to know that I had made such
arrangements as would have ensured my meeting them in case they were
in any difficulty, as I ascertained that they had returned by the very
route which I had proposed to follow.
“My people are mad with delight: in firing a salute they have managed
to kill one of my donkeys, a melancholy sacrifice in celebration of the
accomplishment of the great geographical discovery!
“When I first caught sight of them they were approaching my boats. At
the distance of some hundred yards, I recognised my old friend Speke;
my heart throbbed with ecstasy, and raising my cap, I called aloud
‘Hurrah!’ and ran towards him. At first he did not know me; a beard
and moustache of ten years’ growth had so altered my countenance that,
not expecting to meet me, he did not comprehend my sudden apparition.
There was no need for Speke to introduce me to his companion, as we
already felt like intimate friends. When the first transports of this
propitious meeting were over we all proceeded to my _dahabieh_,
through a cloud of smoke raised by the continuous salutes of my
people.”
A year after the exploration of Lake Victoria by Speke and Grant,
Baker made his name illustrious by the discovery of Lake Albert.
Thenceforward an increasing interest was centred on these regions, and
Gondokoro, from being the mere halting-place that it was when the three
English travellers met there, became a new centre for the commercial
activity of the Khartoum traders, as well as a starting-point for
various scientific expeditions, the history of the Soudan becoming from
that time intimately connected with the history of discovery.
Antecedent to the enterprises that were undertaken by the three
great Englishmen, there had already been various expeditions, half
scientific, half commercial, which had partially raised the veil that
concealed the inland regions of Africa from the curiosity of European
eyes. William Lejean and Petherick had visited the Upper Nile; Piaggia
had explored the Jur country and the Bahr-el-Ghazal; Dr. Peney had
reached Mount Nyiri; Dr. Cuny had penetrated to Darfur, Poncet to
Dar-Fertit, and Munziger to Kordofan.
Greedier than the vultures and hyenas of the desert, the Egyptian
troops and Government officials had followed in the wake of the
explorers and traders, so that, little by little, the political limits
of the new province were extended, while the native populations (their
opposition and outbreaks being promptly suppressed by relentless
bloodshed) successively submitted to the conqueror.
In 1870 the extension of Egyptian territory towards the south was
pushed forward by a larger and more rapid impetus. During that year
Ismail Pasha, alarmed no doubt by the reports that reached him that
the Soudan was becoming overrun by the Bashi-Bazouks, who, beyond
control, were making perpetual incursions into it, made an appeal
for European assistance to strengthen him in completing the conquest
of Central Africa. Baker was accordingly placed in command of 1200
men, supplied with cannon and steam-boats, and received the title
of Governour-General of the provinces which he was commissioned to
subdue. Having elected to make Gondokoro the seat of his government, he
changed its name to Ismailia. He was not long in bringing the Bari to
submission, and then, advancing southwards, he came to the districts
of Dufilé and Fatiko, a healthy region endowed by nature with fertile
valleys and irrigated by limpid streams, but for years past converted
into a sort of hell upon earth by the slave-hunters who had made it
their headquarters.
From these pests Baker delivered the locality, and having by his tact
and energy overcome the distrust of the native rulers, he established
over their territory a certain number of small military settlements,
by means of which communication could be kept up with Egypt, and its
authority over the country be maintained.
This expedition was accompanied by M. de Bizemont, a lieutenant in
the French navy, as scientific _attaché_; but in spite of the
favourable auspices which attended it at its outset, it can hardly be
said to have fulfilled the expectations that had been formed about
it. From the very first Baker had protested too strongly that he had
come to the Upper Nile to destroy the slave-trade, and the consequence
was, that he made himself enemies at once amongst the Viceroy’s
officials, who were all more or less interested in the negro traffic,
and conspired accordingly to frustrate his plans and to impede his
progress. The result was, that he found himself unable to carry out his
design of advancing as far as Lake Albert, and had to stop short at
Masindi, the residence of Kamrasi, the native king of Unyoro.
Baker returned to Europe flattering himself with the delusion that
he had put an end to the scourge of slave-dealing. It was true that
various slave-dealers’ dens on the Upper Nile had been destroyed, a
number of outlaws had been shot, and a few thousand miserable slaves
had been set at liberty; but beyond that nothing had been accomplished;
no sooner had the liberator turned his back than the odious traffic
recommenced with more vigour than before through the region south of
Gondokoro.
This, however, was only one of the slave-hunting districts, and by no
means the worst. To the west the basin of the Bahr-el-Ghazal was far
more infested. Nowhere throughout the Soudan had the negro trade been
more hideous and disastrous in its working than in the fertile and
populous plains inhabited by the Denka, the Jur, the Bongo, and the
Niam-niam. While Baker was at Cairo organising his second expedition,
Dr. Schweinfurth was exploring all this fine and interesting country,
pushing forward to the Mombuttu land, where he discovered the large
river Welle. The story of his journey, which claims to be remembered
as one of the most important scientific records of Equatorial Africa
ever published, has thrown light upon districts in which for the
last quarter of a century the Khartoum traders have established a
series of fortified depôts. As this eminent traveller points out,
these depôts were originally brought into existence for the sake of
the ivory trade. They were set up in places where elephants were
most abundant, and in the midst of peaceable populations, devoted to
agriculture and cattle-breeding, and every year were visited by the
Khartoumers, who carried back the ivory that had been procured. The
men who were armed and despatched on these annual expeditions were
composed of the very scum of the people. Ascending the Nile as far
as Lake No, they spread themselves over the lands adjacent to the
Bahr-el-Ghazal, the Bahr-el-Arab, and their affluents, and having thus
gained a footing, proceeded to apportion the country amongst them.
They reduced the natives to a state of subjection, and for the purpose
of securing a base for further operations and obtaining free access
to the surrounding districts, they established isolated settlements,
which they enclosed by palisades and thorn-hedges, and which hence
were called _zeribas_. The whole line of the various watercourses was
thus studded with these _zeribas_, which usually bore the names of the
traders to whom they belonged, and are so distinguished upon the maps.
But although originally designed purely for mercantile purposes,
the settlements became gradually transformed into centres for
slave-hunting. They were (and, though in a diminished degree, they are)
the starting-points for expeditions of armed marauders, who made sudden
attacks upon the native villages, to which they set fire, and then,
having reduced the terrified residents to a condition of helplessness,
carried off the women and children, along with the ivory and the
cattle. Destined to be bartered by the slavers for either money or
merchandise, the miserable captives were yoked two and two together,
and dragged in long caravans to some place of embarkation, where they
were crammed down into the holds of the _dahabiehs_, and conveyed
to the markets either on the coast or in the interior.
Such was the way in which the ill-fated districts of the Egyptian
Soudan, and especially those of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, Darfur, Kordofan,
and Jebel-Nuba, became, as it were, the nursery whence were supplied
more than 30,000 slaves every year to satisfy the requirements of
Oriental luxury and debauch.
But the eyes of the civilised world were at length opened to the
atrocities that at the close of the nineteenth century were thus
being perpetrated in the Soudan with the knowledge, and often by the
connivance, of the Egyptian authorities. Under European compulsion,
therefore, the Khedive Ismail undertook to promote measures to put a
stop to the scandal. He entered into various conventions with England
on the subject; and in order to convince the Powers of the sincerity
of his intentions, he consented to put the equatorial provinces under
the administration of an European officer, who should be commissioned
to carry on the work of repression, conquest, and organisation that
had been commenced by Baker. His choice fell upon a man of exceptional
ability, a brilliant officer trained at Woolwich, who had already
gained high renown in China, not only for military talent, but for his
adroitness and skill in negotiation and diplomacy. This was Colonel
Gordon, familiarly known as “Chinese Gordon,” who was now to add fresh
lustre to his name in Egypt as Gordon Pasha.
Gordon was appointed Governour-General of the Soudan in 1874. With him
were associated Chaillé-Long, an American officer, who was chief of his
staff; the German, Dr. Emin Effendi, medical officer to the expedition;
Lieutenants Chippendall and Watson; Gessi and Kemp, engineers; two
Englishmen, Messrs. Russell and Anson; and two Frenchmen, MM. Auguste
and Ernest Linant de Bellefonds, sons of an engineer who had been
Minister of Public Works under Mehemet Ali.
[Illustration: GENERAL GORDON.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
Thenceforward the territories, of which so little had hitherto been
known, became the continual scene of military movements and scientific
excursions.
Colonel Chaillé-Long, with a mission from Gordon to Mtesa, the king
of Uganda, reached the residence of that potentate without hindrance,
and was entertained with much magnificence. He availed himself of
the opportunity to explore the northern section of Lake Victoria,
and descending the Somerset Nile, not without some conflict with the
native tribes, he discovered on his way the lake which he designated
by the name of Ibrahim Pasha. He rejoined Gordon at Gondokoro, and was
subsequently despatched by him, in company with Marno, the Austrian
naturalist, to make an exploration of the Makraka district.
Shortly after Chaillé-Long had taken his departure from Uganda, Mtesa
received other European visitors. M. Ernest Linant de Bellefonds
arrived at the court, and was much surprised to find that the king had
already welcomed another white stranger, who was seated at his side.
His first impression was that this must be Cameron, but it proved
to be Stanley, who, having started from Zanzibar to make further
investigations at Lake Victoria, had been for some days the guest of
the black chief.
Subsequently there arrived the German, Dr. Schnitzer, then known as
Emin Effendi, but afterwards as Emin Bey. In the mission with which he
was charged by Gordon to Mtesa he exhibited such diplomatic skill as to
attract the approbation of his superior, and to mark him out for the
important duties which he would afterwards be called to fulfil.
All the time that Gordon was thus negotiating with Mtesa, and
endeavouring to secure him as an ally who would acquiesce in his
schemes, he was likewise laying himself out to extend his own authority
in the direction of Lake Albert. Two others of his party, the
Englishmen Chippendall and Kemp, were sent out to explore the unknown
portion of the Nile between Gondokoro and the lake, and succeeded
in launching, above the rapids, a steam vessel, the “Khedive,” and
two iron-plated boats. On board one of these, the Italian engineer
Gessi, accompanied by his fellow-countryman Piaggia, made his grand
circumnavigation of Lake Albert in March and April 1876, taking
possession of it in the name of the Khedive.
Two years previously, after Ismail Ayoub’s smart campaign, Darfur,
Shekka, and Dar-Fertit had been annexed, Colonels Purdy, Colston,
and Mason having, by a series of military advances, united the new
conquests to Dongola and Khartoum.
In the meanwhile Gordon Pasha, on his part, was vigorously carrying
on the work of organisation in the equatorial provinces. Leaving
Gondokoro, which was situated in a bad and unhealthy locality, exposed
to the miasma of stagnant water, he crossed over to Lado, on the other
bank of the Nile, and there established the seat of his government.
The storm which had broken out at the time of his arrival seemed now
to have subsided into a calm; hostilities had been overcome, and the
Soudan was so far conquered as to be held by about a dozen military
outposts stationed along the Nile from Lake No to Lakes Albert and
Ibrahim.
In that Darfur campaign the Government had been backed up by a rich
trader, Zebehr, the owner of numerous _zeribas_ and of large
companies of armed slaves in the Bahr-el-Ghazal district. Having been
rewarded for his support with the title of Bey and Mudir of Shekka,
he seemed to be able to set no bounds to his ambition. Dazzled by
his power, and irritated by the request of the Government that he
should desist from his slave-raids, he broke out in revolt, and making
alliance with the dethroned Sultan of Darfur, he attacked the Egyptian
outposts, and fostered an insurrection which very nearly led to the
loss of the province and that of the Bahr-el-Ghazal.
Had it not been for the energy and courage of Gessi, whom Gordon
despatched with all speed to quell the rising rebellion, there is
every probability that not only the Bahr-el-Ghazal and Darfur, but
part of Kordofan also, would have repudiated the authority of the
Khedive, and relapsed into the control of the slave-hunters. Gessi,
however, was equal to his task. Although without provisions, and almost
without ammunition, and supported by a comparatively small force, he
made an intrepid advance, and by his resolution not only succeeded
in preventing the two enemies from effecting a junction, but routed
them separately before they could combine. Suleiman Bey and his chief
officers were arrested and executed, Gessi taking up his quarters in
the Bahr-el-Ghazal, of which he was appointed Governour.
Under Gessi’s administration the province was enabled to enjoy a period
of peace and prosperity. Owing to his energy and skill, ways of
communication were opened, forsaken villages were repopulated, lands
were brought afresh into cultivation, slave-raids ceased, the natives
regained confidence, and agriculture and commerce began to take a new
start.
In 1876 Gordon went back to Cairo. Nevertheless, although he was
wearied with the continual struggle of the past two years, worn down
by the incessant labours of internal organisation and geographical
investigations, disheartened, too, by the jealousies, rivalries, and
intrigues of all around him, and by the ill feeling of the very people
whom the Khedive’s Government had sent to support him, he consented to
return again to his post; this time with the title of Governour-General
of the Soudan, Darfur, and the Equatorial Provinces. At the beginning
of 1877 he took possession of the Government palace at Khartoum, at the
gate of which, eight years afterwards, so dire a tragedy was destined
to be performed.
Egyptian authority, allied with European civilisation, appeared now at
length to be taking some hold on the various districts, and the Cairo
Government might begin to look forward to a time when it could reckon
on some reward for its labours and sacrifices.
The area of the new Egyptian Soudan had now become immense.
Geographically, its centre included the entire valley of the Nile
proper, from Berber to the great lakes; on the east were such portions
of the valleys of the Blue Nile and Atbara as lay outside Abyssinia;
and on the west were the districts watered by the Bahr-el-Ghazal and
the Bahr-el-Arab, right away to the confines of Wadaï. Politically, it
consisted of Upper Nubia, the ancient island of Meroë, Sennar, Bagara,
Kordofan, Darfur, Shekka, Dar-Fertit, the lands of the Shilluk, Nuer,
Denka, Bongo, Bari, Lattuka, Madi, and Aluri, with the northern part of
Unyoro.
The dream of Mehemet Ali was in a measure realised. The foundations of
a great Soudanese empire under Egyptian rule had been laid upon the
Upper Nile, and the little fishing village which the first conqueror,
with far-seeing augury, had destined for its capital, had grown into a
flourishing town, with a population of more than 45,000, and was the
seat of government and the general trade-centre of the entire region.
Unfortunately in 1879 Ismail Pasha was deposed, and, to the grievous
loss of the Soudan, Gordon was recalled. As the immediate consequence,
the country fell back into the hands of Turkish pashas; apathy,
disorder, carelessness, and ill feeling reappeared at Khartoum, and
the Arab slave-dealers, who had for a period been kept under by Baker,
Gessi, and Gordon, came once more to the front.
It is only too obvious that the slave-trade must for a long time be
the great obstacle to any true progress in the Soudan, preventing
its taking its own proper part in the movement which will ultimately
result in its civilisation. The Arab merchants, to the present day,
consider the traffic in slaves to be perfectly legitimate, and detest
not only the Egyptian Government, but especially the European officers
in its employ, for obstructing their operations, seizing their boats,
liberating the negroes, and otherwise damaging their abominable trade.
This detestation is made manifest on every conceivable occasion.
Year after year had Gordon, as Governour-General, to deal with the
hordes of Arab slave-dealers; and although he succeeded in suppressing
their rebellions and punishing their misdoings, he was never able to
quench the spirit of revolt, which, nurtured by fanaticism and hatred
to the infidel, secretly brooded underneath all outward appearance of
submission, keeping up amongst them the hope that some accident would
open up for them an opportunity to overthrow the administration which
they hated, and bring back the old _régime_, under which they
could continue their nefarious practices free and uncontrolled.
It was Raouf Pasha who, in 1879, succeeded Gordon as Governour-General.
He had three Europeans as his subordinates--Emin Bey, who, before
Gordon left, had been placed in charge of the province of the equator;
Lupton Bey, an Englishman, who had followed Gessi as Governour on the
Bahr-el-Ghazal; and Slatin Bey, an Austrian, in command at Darfur.
Raouf had barely been two years at Khartoum when the Mahdi appeared on
the scene.
CHAPTER II.
REVOLT OF THE SOUDAN.
The Mahdi, his programme and military successes--Disaster
of Hicks Pasha--Osman Digna and engagements near
Suakin--English intervention--Gordon at Brussels; starts
for Khartoum--Hesitation of England--Further success
of the Mahdi--Capture of Berber--Blockade and siege of
Khartoum--Organisation of relief expedition under Lord
Wolseley--Engagements at Abu Klea and Metammeh--Fall of Khartoum
and death of Gordon.
Prompted either by personal ambition or by religious hatred, the idea
of playing the part of “Mahdi” had been acted upon by many an Arab
fanatic. Such an idea, at an early age, had taken possession of a
certain Soudanese of low birth, a native of Dongola, by name Mohammed
Ahmed. Before openly aspiring to the _rôle_ of the regenerator of
Islam he had filled several subordinate engagements, notably one under
Dr. Peney, the French surgeon-general in the Soudan, who died in 1861.
Shortly afterwards he received admittance into the powerful order of
the Ghelani dervishes, and then commenced his schemes for stirring up
a revolution in defence of his creed. His proceedings did not fail to
attract the attention of Gessi Pasha, who had him arrested at Shekka
and imprisoned for five months.
Under the government of Raouf he took up his abode upon the small
island of Abba, on the Nile above Khartoum, where he gained a
considerable notoriety by the austerity of his life and by the
fervour of his devotions, thus gradually gaining a high reputation
for sanctity. Not only offerings but followers streamed in from every
quarter. He became rich as well as powerful, and married a large
number of wives, whom he took care to select from the most influential
families of the country, principally from those of the opulent
slave-dealers in Kordofan and Bagara.
Waiting till May 1881, he then assumed that a propitious time had
arrived for the realisation of his plans, and accordingly had himself
publicly proclaimed as “Mahdi,” inviting every fakir and every
religious leader of Islam to come and join him at Abba.
So skilfully was his proclamation conceived that it could hardly
fail to attract to him a large number of adherents. From a religious
point of view, he fascinated his devotees by his announcement of
the imminent fulfilment of prophecies, always popular, declaring the
destined supremacy of the reformed religion of Mahomet. In a socialist
aspect, he secured the sympathy of the disinherited classes by promises
of universal equality and community of goods. On the other hand, he
attracted the goodwill and support of the traders by reminding them of
the tyranny and rapacity of the officials of the Egyptian Treasury, and
by declaring that, although it was tabooed by an European Governour,
the traffic in slaves was perfectly legitimate. Finally, he appealed
to the nationality of all classes of the Soudanese, and exhorted them
to rise in insurrection against the invaders, and to fight for the
independence of their country.
Convinced that it was impolitic to tolerate any longer the
revolutionary intrigues of such an adventurer at the very gates of
Khartoum, Raouf Pasha resolved to rid the country of Mohammed and to
send him to Cairo for trial. An expedition was accordingly despatched
to the island of Abba, but unfortunately the means employed were
inadequate to the task. Only a small body of black soldiers was sent
to arrest the agitator in his quarters, and they, inspired no doubt
by a vague and superstitious dread of a man who represented himself as
the messenger of Allah, wavered and acted with indecision. Before their
officers could rally them to energy, the Mahdi, with a fierce train of
followers, knife in hand, rushed upon them, and killing many, put the
rest to flight; then, seeing that a renewed assault was likely to be
made, he withdrew the insurgent band into a retreat of safety amongst
the mountains of Southern Kordofan. Henceforth revolt was openly
declared. Such was the condition of things in August 1881.
Chase was given, but every effort to secure the person of the pretended
prophet was baffled. A further attempt was made to arrest him by the
Mudir of Fashoda with 1500 men, only to be attended with a still more
melancholy result. After a desperate struggle the Mudir lay stretched
upon the ground, his soldiers murdered all around him. One single
officer, with a few straggling cavalry, escaped the massacre, and
returned to report the fatal news.
The reverse caused an absolute panic in Khartoum, an intense excitement
spreading throughout the Soudan.
“The Governour-General”--so writes M. Vossion, the French consul
at Khartoum--“perfectly terror-stricken, telegraphed to Cairo for
reinforcements, and his request was urgently supported by all the
European consuls. On the 23d of December a telegram from the Khedive
announced that reinforcements had been granted, and it was stated,
moreover, that Abdellal Bey’s negro regiment had received orders to
start; but the military party, then all-powerful (it was just the time
in which Arabi’s _pronunciamento_ appeared), believing that it was
a mere pretext for packing off some of the compromised troops out of
the way into the Soudan, flatly refused to allow Abdellal Bey and his
men to go. In this way the Soudan was left to shift for itself.”
Meantime the Mahdi’s prestige was ever on the increase, and he soon
felt sufficiently strong to assume the offensive. His troops overran
Kordofan and Sennar, advancing on the one hand to the town of Sennar,
which they set on fire, and on the other to El-Obeid, which they placed
in a state of siege. In the following July a fresh and more powerful
expedition, this time numbering 6000 men, under the command of Yussuf
Pasha, left Fashoda and made towards the Mahdi’s headquarters. It met
with no better fate than the expeditions that had gone before. Unable
to withstand the impetuous cavalry charge of the Bagara rebels, it was
cut to pieces on the battlefield, all the wounded being massacred and
the prisoners beheaded.
The way to Khartoum lay open. There the confusion and dismay were
beyond description. Dreading an immediate attack from the rebels, the
Government in all haste threw up fortifications, and despatched still
more urgent demands to Cairo for assistance, making no concealment of
the critical situation in which the 11,000 Christian inhabitants of
the town and its garrison of 6000 soldiers were placed. But Cairo was
powerless to make any effective movement.
And then it was that the English Government, discerning danger for
Egypt in this insurrection of Islam, set to work to act for the
Khedive. It told off 11,000 men, and placed them under the command
of Hicks Pasha, an officer in the Egyptian service who had made the
Abyssinian campaign. At the end of December 1882 this expedition
embarked at Suez for Suakin, crossed the desert, reached the Nile at
Berber, and after much endurance on the way, arrived at Khartoum.
Before this, El Obeid had fallen into the Mahdi’s power, and there he
had taken up his headquarters. Some trifling advantages were gained
by Hicks, but having entered Kordofan with the design of retaking
El-Obeid, he was, on the 5th of November 1883, hemmed in amongst the
Kasgil passes, and after three days’ heroic fighting, his army of about
10,000 men was overpowered by a force five or six times their superior
in numbers, and completely exterminated. Hicks Pasha himself, his
European staff, and many Egyptian officers of high rank, were among the
dead, and forty-two guns fell into the hands of the enemy. Again, not a
man was left to carry the fatal tidings to Khartoum.
Rebellion continued to spread. After being agitated for months, the
population of the Eastern Soudan also made a rising. Osman Digna, the
foremost of the Mahdi’s lieutenants, occupied the road between Suakin
and Berber, and surrounded Sinkat and Tokar; then, having destroyed,
one after another, two Egyptian columns that had been despatched for
the relief of these towns, he finally cut off the communication between
Khartoum and the Red Sea. The tide of insurrection by this time had
risen so high that it threatened not only to overthrow the Khedive’s
authority in the Soudan, but to become the source of serious peril to
Egypt itself.
The English Government was consulted, and gave the advice that the
Egyptian Government should relieve the beleaguered garrisons, and
retiring as quickly as possible from the districts threatened by the
Mahdi, should concentrate its forces in the rear of Wady Halfa at the
second cataract. Promise of the assistance of English troops was held
out, if this line of defence should in its turn be threatened.
Added to this, Colonel Coëtlogon, who had been sent by the Khedive to
Khartoum under a commission to report upon the condition of the town,
recommended a speedy retreat. According to his account, a third of the
soldiers in the garrison were disaffected, the whole of the soldiers
were on the worst terms with the population, and the entire situation
was most critical. Moreover, unless the retreat were made at once, it
would before long become impracticable, and great disaster must ensue.
Thus compelled by stress of circumstances, the Khedive’s Government
adopted the resolution of concentrating at Khartoum all their troops
that were dispersed over the Soudan, and of ultimately evacuating
the town; but at the same time an intimation was forwarded to the
English Government warning them of the immense difficulties that were
involved in the execution of the measures which were being undertaken
in conformity with their advice. Where was the man who would volunteer
to conduct so hazardous a retreat, through a district given over to
revolt and overrun by bands of rebels? Who was there in all the Soudan
of sufficient influence to negotiate with the Mahdi, and to secure some
guarantee of safety or some facilities by which the retreat could be
accomplished? Raouf Pasha, who, with unwarrantable injustice, had been
held responsible for former reverses, had been recalled a year ago; and
Abd-el-Kader, who had succeeded him, had not been in any respect more
fortunate, and was, moreover, quite bewildered by the complication of
dangers which continued to increase.
And now it was that England bethought herself of the versatile and
famous general who once before for four years had held rule in the
Soudan, gaining an uniform popularity alike with the European
residents and the natives of the place. For the second time Gordon
Pasha should appear upon the scene.
Since 1879, when he had been called upon to resign the
Governour-Generalship of the Soudan, Gordon had successively occupied
posts in India as secretary to the Viceroy; in China, where he settled
the dispute about Kashgar between Russia and the Celestial Empire; in
Mauritius, where he had been the very life-spring of British influence;
at Suez, whither he went to meet his brave and devoted friend Gessi,
who died there of fever in March 1881; and at the Cape, where he had
been entrusted with the settlement of the Basuto-land question.
On the 1st of January 1884 he arrived at Brussels, having been summoned
by a telegram from the King of the Belgians, which reached him at
Jerusalem while he was making a pilgrimage in Palestine. The King at
once gave him an audience, and explained to him that, as patron of
the Congo Association, he was anxious to renew negotiations that had
been opened some years previously, and that he had sent for him to
induce him to go to Africa and to share with Stanley the mission of
introducing European influence into the districts along the upper part
of the river. It was a task altogether in unison with Gordon’s tastes,
and he did not hesitate to accept it, undertaking to be ready to set
out by the steamer on the 6th of February so as to arrive at Vivi as
soon as possible to relieve Stanley, who for some months past had been
applying for leave to return to Europe.
But although it was thus arranged that Gordon should go to Africa, his
destination was to be elsewhere than on the Congo.
Returning for a brief visit to England to take farewell of his sister
and friends, he was “interviewed” at Southampton by one of the staff
of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, which was forthwith published with
a sensational article containing Gordon’s views on the Egyptian
difficulty with the Soudan, a subject which was very near to his heart,
and of which there was no one more capable of forming a practical
judgment than himself.
Again in Brussels, on the 16th of January, he was suddenly recalled to
England by a despatch from the Government at home. On the following
day he submitted to King Leopold the fact that he had been summoned
to go to the Soudan that he might, if possible, effect the deliverance
of the Egyptian troops, making no concealment of his sentiments that a
soldier’s first duty was to his own country, when it appealed to his
devotion. The king at once released him from his engagement.
Not an hour was lost. On the evening of the 18th he left Charing
Cross station, where he was attended by the Duke of Cambridge, Lord
Granville, and Lord Wolseley, and reached Cairo on the 24th. On the
second day after his arrival, refusing all escort and accompanied
only by his adjutant, Colonel Stewart, he started for Khartoum by
the quickest possible route, along the Nile to Korosko, and thence
by camel-ride across the desert to Berber. Exactly one month after
quitting London, on the 18th of February, he came within sight of
Khartoum, where he was hailed by the population as a deliverer, and
entered the town amidst the wildest enthusiasm.
From the very first moment of his entry he displayed the most
prodigious energy; he held public audiences; he instituted a council
of notables; he visited the prisons, where for years some hundred
wretches, most of them unjustly, had been huddled together in the
most abject misery; he administered justice; he provisioned the white
troops at Omdurman, on the left bank of the Nile; he entrusted the
defence of Khartoum to the Soudanese regiments; he abolished tolls
and remitted payment of arrears of taxes; he placed boxes in various
quarters of the town for the reception of claims and complaints, and
finally issued a proclamation announcing that henceforward the Soudan
would be independent, and recognising as legitimate that slavery which,
according to a former decree of the Khedive, had been definitely
prohibited, from November 1889, through all the districts between
Assouan and the great lakes.
Great was the consternation excited by the latter clause of this
announcement. It was interpreted as the official re-establishment
of the slave traffic and regarded as a scandal by Europe, where it
seems to be imperfectly realised that domestic slavery has from time
immemorial existed, and will continue to exist for a long period yet
to come, in spite of all the decrees in the world. It is obvious
that if Gordon were to fulfil his object of evacuating the Soudan,
there must of necessity be involved an acquiescence in this kind of
slavery, and therefore it is altogether beside the mark for European
philanthropists to criticise his words without regard to the practical
view of the case.
Months elapsed. There was a continuous interchange of despatches
between the defender of Khartoum and the English Cabinet in London,
carried on by the intervention of Sir Evelyn Baring, the British
representative at Cairo. They bear evidence of the indecision of the
Government as to the course to be pursued. The questions were various
and complicated. Should an effort be made to retain the Soudan at any
price? Should it be entirely abandoned? Should any of the equatorial
provinces be reserved for civilisation? No one seemed competent to give
an answer or to suggest a policy. So involved and disorderly was the
state of affairs that even Gordon himself, with the best opportunity
of forming an opinion, does not appear to have had altogether settled
views as to what was best. At first he declared his intention of
presenting himself personally in the camp of the Mahdi, and of seeking
to negotiate with him directly terms upon which the western provinces
might be definitely surrendered. He was forbidden, however, by the
authorities at home to persevere in this step, because, it was
alleged, it would entail serious political inconveniences.
He next demanded that after the withdrawal of the Egyptian troops
the office of Governour-General should be conferred on Zebehr Pasha,
formerly a merchant in the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and the father of Suleiman
Zebehr, who had been taken and executed by Gessi. This Zebehr, then in
confinement in Egypt, Gordon believed was the only man to be found with
anything like sufficient influence to counterbalance the power of the
Mahdi; he was a direct descendant of the Abbasides, and had obtained a
high reputation all through the country. This proposition was rejected
by the English Cabinet, notwithstanding Sir Evelyn Baring’s approval
of it, on the ground that public opinion would not tolerate its being
carried into effect. As matter of fact, “the Anti-Slavery Society”
indignantly protested against the idea of either seeking or accepting
the co-operation of one who had been so actively concerned in the slave
traffic.
Failing thus to obtain authority to execute his mission by means of
the only men in the Soudan who were able to assist his purpose, Gordon
appealed for foreign intervention. He asked that 200 English soldiers
should be sent to Wady Halfa, for the simple sake of showing that
he was really supported by European military influence; he likewise
advised that the route between Suakin and Berber, which was still
occupied by Osman Digna, should be reopened by the employment of Indian
troops.
No reply came to his application, and Gordon almost began to think
himself forsaken by those who had sent him out. He next proposed,
without further delay, to move all the troops and the Egyptian
officials to Berber, under the command of Colonel Stewart; and feeling
that his presence would then be no longer requisite at Khartoum, he
tendered his resignation, intimating his own intention of retiring,
with the steamers, ammunition, and Soudanese troops, to the provinces
of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Equator (then under the government of
Lupton Bey and Emin Bey), and placing them under the protection of the
King of the Belgians, whose possessions on the Congo were adjacent.
“Quick!” wrote Gordon on the 11th of March 1884--“Quick, or we shall be
blockaded.”
Sir Evelyn Baring could only answer that the English Government were
not contemplating any military movement, at the same time making Gordon
understand that he must manage to remain at Khartoum, and that under no
pretext whatever was he to betake himself to the south.
Thus time was lost; and while all this tedious circumlocution was going
on, the power of the Mahdi and the number of his partisans were being
continually augmented; the circle of the rebels was drawing in, closer
and closer, around the town, and Osman Digna was still holding the Red
Sea route, having on the 11th of February worsted Valentine Baker at
Trinkinat and slaughtered more than 2000 of his men, and subsequently
captured both Sinkat and Tokar. Some bloody successes, indeed, were
gained by General Graham at Teb on February 29th, and at Tamanieh on
March 13th, but they were altogether futile in displacing Osman from
the mastery of the road.
The advances of the Mahdi’s people towards Khartoum became more and
more daring. On March 12th the town was completely invested. Four days
later a sally was made by a bevy of troops, but they were betrayed
by five of their officers, and, stricken with panic, fell back in
confusion and with considerable loss. Thenceforward the place was
exposed to continual assaults from the besiegers; the blockade became
closer, and soon the bombardment was almost incessant, shells falling
into the centre of the town, though without doing serious damage or
creating much alarm.
On the 27th of April the outlying station of Mesalimmeh, with all its
ammunition and a steamer, made a surrender. At the end of May Berber
fell into the hands of the enemy, whereby all communication between
Egypt and the Soudan was interrupted. There was no longer any question
about evacuating Khartoum. The sole consideration was by what means to
rescue its defenders.
Impossible was it for England any longer to remain a passive looker-on;
the demand for military interference was imperative. The voice
of the press, enforcing public opinion, cried vehemently for the
deliverance of Gordon, and the British Government decided upon sending
out an expedition of relief. Parliament voted £300,000 towards the
expenses, and Lord Wolseley, the hero of Tel-el-Kebir, was appointed
Commander-in-Chief, and started for Egypt, where his forces arrived
during August 1884.
There had been no cessation of the fighting at Khartoum; for months not
a day had passed without a skirmish. The garrison soon reckoned a loss
of 700 men. During an attack upon Gatarneb upon the 10th of July, Saati
Bey, one of Gordon’s bravest associates, was killed, with three of
his officers, while Colonel Stewart, who took part in the engagement,
escaped only with the utmost difficulty.
Hope now began to flag and misgivings to arise lest help should not
arrive in time. As a consequence, symptoms of disaffection became too
apparent, not only amongst the besieged troops, but especially amongst
the Egyptian officers.
Military matters in Lower Egypt were pressed forward with all possible
despatch. Portable steamers and whale-boats manned by Canadians,
accustomed to their own rapids, were launched upon the Nile. The
expeditionary forces, composed of picked troops and a volunteer camel
corps, were not long in starting, and Lord Wolseley, with his staff,
arrived at Wady Halfa on the 5th of October. The first cataract was
passed, and by the beginning of December the advanced guard reached
Debbah, forty miles from Dongola.
By the end of the month an entrenched camp was formed at Korti, and
from thence were despatched two columns--one, under General Earle along
the river, to entice the enemy towards Berber; the other, under General
Sir H. Stewart, across the desert straight for Khartoum, in order to
assist Gordon to hold out until the main body of the troops should
arrive.
So opened the fatal year 1885. The situation at Khartoum had become
desperate.
On the 17th of January Stewart first fell in with the Arabs, and
gave battle at the wells of Abu-Klea, which were defended by 7000
of the Mahdi’s men, against 1350 under the English general. At the
outset the engagement was indecisive, but ultimately the Arabs were
out-manœuvred, and the column proceeded on its march. The next day
a second battle took place at Metammeh, where Stewart was killed,
with several of his leading officers, as well as Messrs. Herbert and
Cameron, the correspondents respectively of the _Morning Post_ and
_Standard_ newspapers.
The command of the column devolved upon Colonel Wilson.
Notwithstanding its heavy losses, it was still victorious, and
continued its way, reaching El Guba the same evening, where it
entrenched. This was on the Nile, about seventy-five miles below
Khartoum. It had been a forced march, skilfully conducted and
brilliantly accomplished; but the end seemed in view, and the courage
and energy of the British soldiers rose nobly to the occasion.
On the 23d four iron-plated steamers hove in sight. What could these
be? and whence and for what purpose had they come? The explanation was
not far off; Gordon had sent them from Khartoum. Although the town had
been besieged for months, the assailants continually increasing in
numbers and ferocity, it still held its own. The Mahdi had taken up his
position before its gates, superintending the operations of the siege,
and himself leading an attack upon the entrenched camp at Omdurman, in
which, although he was repulsed, he took one of his adversary’s boats.
Gordon, however, did not give in; with a presence of mind that never
failed, he persevered in facing every danger from without, whilst all
along he had perpetually to be upon his guard against the inertness,
and still worse, the treacherous spirit of mutiny of a portion of his
own troops. And now the announcement came that the long-looked-for
succour was at hand; he would hasten to send some recognition of its
advance, and accordingly he sent out, laden with provisions, the four
steamers that had appeared in view.
Without losing time, Sir C. Wilson and Colonel Stewart, with twenty men
of the Sussex regiment, embarked on two of these steamers, and on the
next day left the entrenchments at El Guba and started for Khartoum.
It was a time of deep suspense. On the 28th they came in sight of the
beleaguered town. All was silence. There was no sound nor sign of
welcome. Uneasy and in bewilderment, they at once hove to, but only
to find themselves under a close fire from the ramparts, over which,
floating from the Government palace, was seen the green banner of the
Mahdi.
Too late! The relief had indeed come too late. Eight-and-forty hours
before, Khartoum had been surrendered by treachery to the rebels; the
great and blameless hero was dead, shot down under the acacias of the
Government buildings, on his way to the Austrian Consul’s, to take his
last farewell of his good friend Hansal.
CHAPTER III.
THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCES.
The land of rivers--The Bongo--The Denka--Rumbek--Meshraer-Rek
and Amadi--Lupton Bey--The province of the Equator--Rapids
of the Upper Nile--Paradise of botanists--The Makraka--The
Bari--The Lattuka--Lado, Dufilé, and Wadelai--Emin Bey.
The two most southern provinces that had been brought under the
dominion of Egypt, and entrusted to the subordinate rule of European
pashas and beys, were those of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and of the Equator.
The former of these had come under the command of Lupton Bey, and the
latter had been assigned to the charge of Emin Bey.
By the victorious progress of the Mahdi’s bands, both provinces alike
had been cut off from communication with Khartoum, and consequently
with Cairo and Suakin.
The authority of the Khedive had hitherto been sufficiently maintained
by the establishment of a limited number of fortified stations defended
by small garrisons, varying from 100 to 200 men. Placed along the
watercourses in positions selected either for their political or
strategical advantages, these stations were for the most part merely
enclosures protected by palisades or by trenches, to resist any sudden
outbreak on the part of the natives. The majority of the men composing
the garrisons were liberated slaves belonging to the various Soudanese
tribes, and were commanded sometimes by Egyptian, sometimes by native
officers.
The province of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, as its name implies, includes the
larger portion of the basin watered by that important tributary of the
Nile. Eliseé Reclus was quite justified in designating it “the land of
rivers,” inasmuch as the Gazelle, with its great affluents, the Rol,
the Roa, the Jur, the Bahr-el-Arab, and the countless subaffluents
which run into them, extends over a vast triangular area, and forms a
perfect labyrinth of streams. The soil is exceptionally fertile, the
flora is rich and rare, the crops are abundant, elephants abound in the
virgin forest, and herds of cattle swarm in the populated parts. It may
be avowed that there are few regions in Africa that hold out greater
promise for the future, when the time shall come for the culture of
the natural products of the earth to supersede the traffic in flesh and
blood, and when a systematic communication for commerce has been opened
between its three or four millions of inhabitants and the civilised
world.
First amongst the explorers of the Bahr-el-Ghazal were the Frenchmen
Peney, Lejean, and Poncet, the English Petherick, and the Italians
Miani and Piaggia; but although their discoveries were diversified and
interesting, they must be reckoned as comparatively incomplete. It
was Dr. Schweinfurth who could first lay claim to a really scientific
delineation of the country, of which his elaborate work, “The Heart
of Africa,” must long be regarded as the standard of geographical
knowledge. He devotes several chapters to the description of the
various tribes, including the Nuer, the Agar, the Denka, the Jur,
the Bongo, the Moru, the Golo, and the Sheir. Of these the most
considerable are the Bongo and the Denka.
It was about 1850 when the Khartoumers first made their way among
the Bongo. They found the country split up into small independent
communities, all in a state of anarchy; consequently there was
little difficulty in reducing it to subjection, and in establishing
settlements in the divided territory, so providing for a system
of raids to secure both ivory and slaves for traffic. Reduced by
two-thirds, the population has for the most part concentrated itself
around the _zeribas_, where it is devoted almost exclusively to
agriculture, contributing largely to the support of the garrisons.
No doubt it is to the scantiness of the larger kinds of cattle that the
Bongo, in their subjugation, owe much of their comparatively peaceable
relations with “the Turks,” as they ordinarily call the owners of the
_zeribas_; and the same reason may probably account for the feeble
resistance that they made. Their domestic animals, in fact, include
little beyond goats, dogs, and poultry.
So essentially are they agriculturists that they may be said to depend
entirely upon the products of the soil for their subsistence. Men and
women alike labour in the fields, cultivating sorghum as the principal
crop, although tobacco is grown well-nigh everywhere throughout the
country. They have a singular aptitude for smiths’ work. Iron is
abundant, and almost by instinct the people have learned to utilise
it. Their tools are of the rudest description, yet they produce a
large variety of articles, such as spear-heads, arrows, rings, bells,
buttons, clasps, pins, and knives, that for workmanship might compare
not unfavourably with any that are made in Europe. The smelting season
commences when the harvest is housed and the rainy season is over. To
their skill in the manipulation of iron must be added, although in an
inferior degree, a certain dexterity in the carving of wood, as is
exhibited in various utensils and articles of furniture, notably in the
little four-legged stools with which every household is provided.
As regards their physical appearance, the Bongo are of medium height.
Their skin is of a reddish brown, not dissimilar in colour to that of
the soil on which they reside. The men, as a rule, wear nothing but a
little apron of skin or other material attached to their girdle, the
women contenting themselves with a leafy bough, or not unfrequently
with a tuft of grass. Vanity induces some of them to load themselves
with necklaces, whilst on any occasion of a feast they deck the head
with feathers, the rest of the body being entirely unclothed.
North of Bongo-land lies the territory of the Dyoor, or Jur, situated
in which is the _zeriba_ of Ghattas, one of the largest in the
whole country. Still farther north is the district occupied by the
Denka, a tribe which has recently played a prominent part in the
history of the province.
So numerous are the Denka, and so extensive are their lands, that in
all probability they will continue to hold their own, whatever may be
the confusion of the various tribes by which they are surrounded. They
may be classed amongst the tallest and strongest as well as the darkest
of negro races. Tattooing is practised, but only by the men. The
observation made by Barth, that many heathen tribes consider clothing
more necessary for men than for women, is not applicable to them,
inasmuch as, according to their views, any attire, however limited in
quantity, is unworthy of the stronger sex; whilst, on the other hand,
their women are scrupulously covered with two aprons of skins reaching
to their ankles. It is to be remarked that bows and arrows are unknown
among them; their most effective weapon is the lance, although they
frequently arm themselves with sticks or clubs.
The Denka do not live in what are ordinarily known as villages, their
dwellings consisting of small groups of huts scattered in farmsteads
over the cultivated plains, the huts for the most part being solidly
built and spacious, frequently forty feet in diameter. The people are
clean in their homes, and in culinary matters better skilled than the
Arabs, or even than the Egyptians themselves; in fact, in the choice
and preparation of their food they are in advance of all other African
tribes. Crocodile flesh they refuse to eat; iguanas, frogs, and mice
they never touch; but, like true European connoisseurs, they use the
turtle for making soup; the hare is considered a great delicacy. As to
cannibalism, they would have as great a horror of it as ourselves.
Their domestic animals are oxen, sheep, goats and dogs; but, for some
unexplained cause, they have no poultry. The oxen are of the zebu kind,
of small size, and for the most part white, or nearly white; they are
brought together from separate districts into one large enclosure, and
the sole ambition of the owner seems to be to increase his stock; they
are regarded with a sort of reverence, and whenever a Denka has been
robbed of one of them, either by rapine or by death, there is hardly
any sacrifice which he is not ready to make to repair his loss.
So far as regards their race, their mode of life, and their customs,
the Denka have all the elements of national unity; but they fail
on account of their several tribes making war upon each other, and
submitting to be enlisted as instruments of plunder by foreign
intruders. Nevertheless, the Khartoumers have hitherto been unable to
bring them into subjection. A considerable number of Denka slaves,
remarkable alike for their fine stature and native courage, were
enlisted into the army of the Soudan; and Adam Pasha, who in 1870
commanded the Soudan forces, was himself a Denka by birth.
Of all the _zeribas_ established in the country by Khartoum
traders the most important is Rumbek, formerly the headquarters of
an Egyptian _Mudirieh_. The population of the settlement is
estimated by Dr. Felkin to be about 3000, whilst he further reckons the
adjacent villages to make up an aggregate of hardly less than 30,000
inhabitants. It is peculiar to the district that the wearing of clothes
is regarded as a religious privilege, and no woman, except she is
married to an Arab, has a right to appear with any kind of covering
whatever. A fortified post named Bor defends the eastern portion of the
settlement.
On the north is situated the cluster of warehouses known as
Meshra-er-Rek (or landing-place of the Rek), which is the
starting-point for all caravans proceeding on their way to the basin of
the Bahr-el-Ghazal. Up to the date of the recent wars a steamer from
Khartoum periodically ascended to this point.
South of the Denka territory, in the country of the Moru, situated
amidst extensive fields of millet and sesame, is another important
trade-centre, the fortified village of Amadi, on the banks of the Yei.
It is one of the chief ivory-depôts; at one time it had the ambiguous
reputation of being the _zeriba_ whence the harems of Egypt and
Arabia were supplied with eunuchs.
The first European Governour of the Bahr-el-Ghazal was Gessi Pasha,
who in 1878, after suppressing the revolt of Suleiman Bey and purging
the country of its hordes of slave-dealers, took up his residence,
in the very camp of his adversary, at Dem Suleiman, which has since
developed into the largest township on the Upper Nile. Dem Idris, to
the east, in the Golo country, has also of late grown into a store of
such proportions that at the end of 1883, when Bohndorf, the companion
of Dr. Junker, was passing along that way, he was informed that the
accumulated stock of ivory exceeded 200 tons.
In 1881 Gessi was succeeded in the government of the province by Lupton
Bey.
Frank Lupton, a native of Ilford, in Essex, was born in 1853. Being
of an adventurous nature, he entered the navy at an early age. In
1878, having been chief officer of a steamer on the Red Sea, between
Suakin and Jeddah, he formed a resolution that he would visit Central
Africa. By the advice of a friend he tendered his services to Gordon,
who invited him to Khartoum, and there offered him the charge of a
flotilla that was about to be sent to the relief of Emin Bey and Gessi
Pasha, who were in the south, shut in by “the Sett,” that notorious
grass-barrier which blockades the Upper Nile.
[Illustration: LUPTON BEY.]
This mission accomplished, Lupton was associated with Emin in the
administration of the Equator, and afterwards, upon Gessi’s removal,
was raised by the Khedive to the rank of Bey and appointed to the
Governourship of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, where, such were the activity and
intelligence that he brought to bear, he made that rich district, which
had hitherto been a heavy burden to Egypt, become a source of profit,
so that his budget for 1883 showed a surplus for the year of nearly
£100,000. Unfortunately the events of the year’s close put a check for
an indefinite time upon that promise of prosperity.
The other province--the province of the Equator--next demands to be
described.
Extending along both banks of the Nile from its egress from Lake Albert
right away to Lado, this includes the northern portion of Unyoro and
the territories of the Shuli, Madi, Bari, Lattuka, Makraka, and Moru.
Travellers seem to be unanimous in representing the Equator province as
a picturesque, fertile, well-populated, fairly healthy, and promising
region. Its productions are caoutchouc, various kinds of gum, wax,
vegetable butter, cotton, skins, fruits, grain, and vegetables, in
addition to the ivory which is to be obtained in large abundance.
Europeans can stand the climate provided they lead an active life, and
would be even more likely to maintain good health if opportunities
were secured for periodical recruiting in sanatoriums which might
easily be erected in the hills to the south and east.
From north to south the Equator is traversed by the Nile, receiving
the Asua on the right and the Yei on the left, and affording all the
way from Lake Albert to Dufilé a channel from fifteen to thirty feet
deep, capable of being navigated at all seasons by the largest boats.
Between Dufilé and Lado navigation is arrested by a succession of
rapids at Fola, Yerbora, Gudji, Makeo, Teremo-Garbo, and Jenkoli-Garbo,
which, although they may permit boats to be carried over in the time of
floods, are utterly impassable when the water is low.
Westward from the Nile, at some distance, the chain of the Blue
Mountains is in sight, stretching towards the north, and forming the
boundary of the Congo basin. The range is not lofty, but it presents
a number of conspicuous peaks, which have been severally named after
Schweinfurth, Junker, Speke, Emin, Baker, Gordon, and Gessi. On its
western slope are the sources of the Welle. Its soil gradually rises
through the country of the Shuli and Lattuka until it is finally
overhung by granite crags elevated more than 3000 feet above the level
of the river.
Considered as a whole, the province may be described as one prolonged
productive valley, divided into broad plains rich with luxuriant
pasturage for the innumerable flocks, studded over with forests of
splendid growth, adorned with natural parks, where the trees are fine
and the glades are open, and relieved ever and again by undulations,
every eminence of which is crowned by a well-placed village. The land
of the Shuli, or more especially the district of Fatiko, has been
called “the paradise of botanists,” so diversified and so abundant is
its flora.
Most important amongst the native tribes are the Makraka and Madi, on
the west of the Nile, and the Bari and Lattuka, on the east.
The Makraka really belong to the powerful Niam-niam people, whose vast
territories extend south-westwards as far as the Congo basin. They are
most expert cultivators of the soil, and their substantial prosperity
has secured them a foremost standing amongst the tribes. Their courage
is notorious, although a suspicion that they are given to cannibalism
has caused them to be regarded with a certain degree of terror. When
the Egyptian rulers are enlisting soldiers they prefer, as a rule, the
Makraka to any others.
Like the Makraka, the Madi, their neighbours on the same bank of the
Nile, are mainly occupied in agriculture. They grow excellent tobacco,
in addition to the many kinds of fruits and vegetables that have been
introduced by Arabs and Europeans, whilst around their villages the
fields of sesame and sorghum stretch away far as the eye can reach.
Characterised by hospitality, they have ever a ready welcome for a
stranger, and amongst them, as indeed with the Makraka, the traveller’s
safety is so assured that he may approach them, cane in hand, with no
other escort than his porters.
More warlike as a tribe, the Bari soldiers are reputed to be the
bravest and fiercest of all the river-settlers along the Nile. Both
Gondokoro, the first residence of Baker when he was Governour, and
Lado, subsequently built by Gordon, are situated in their territory.
It is probable that the atrocities perpetrated against them by the
Khartoumers have inflamed their animosity towards the invaders of their
home, as for a long period Gondokoro was a pandemonium, a perfect den
of thieves and assassins, glutted with the cattle and the slaves that
they had carried off in plunder from the surrounding parts. The arrival
of Europeans happily put a limit to this state of things, but it must
be long before the memory of the enormities can be entirely obliterated.
Similarly to the Denka in the Bahr-el-Ghazal, the Bari in the Equator
are a pastoral people, being owners of large herds of diminutive
cattle; they likewise regard the cow with a species of reverence,
and, like the Denka too, they go unclothed, esteeming the wearing of
any garment a degradation of masculine dignity. The French traveller,
Peney, observes that they have a dread of clothing, and relates of
himself that in order to secure a good reception at their hands he was
obliged to divest himself of every garment. As a rule, no doubt, they
are a fine race of men, remarkable for well-proportioned limbs and for
dignity of carriage. Their villages and the interior of their huts
are models of cleanliness, the huts very frequently having granaries
attached, made of wicker, protected by thatch, and raised upon a kind
of platform.
Away to the west dwell the Lattuka, a tribe which in the opinion of
most travellers is of Galla origin. Ravenstein remarks that their
dialect resembles that of the Masai. Baker, during his residence
amongst them, visited several of their largest villages, and considers
that the people are the finest savages he ever met with; their average
height is six feet, their physiognomy is pleasant, and in comparison
with neighbouring tribes their manners are polished. They are
open-hearted, cheerful, and always ready for a laugh.
A peculiarity of the tribe that arrests attention is the
_coiffure_ of the men. It is arranged in the form of a helmet, and
is most delicately manipulated with burnished copper and bits of red
and blue glass, intermixed with shells, and surmounted by a plume of
ostrich feathers. European ladies might be astonished to learn that a
period of eight or ten years is scarcely sufficient for the arrangement
and adorning of a Lattuka’s hair.
Tarrangole, the capital of the country, was also visited by Baker. It
is quite a town, and at that time contained 3000 houses. Not only was
the whole place environed by a palisade of iron-wood, but separate
dwellings were protected by small fortified enclosures of their own,
and raised platforms three stories high were erected at intervals to
serve as watch-towers whence sentinels might give alarm in time of
danger.
With the Lattuka, as with the Denka and the Bari, cattle is the staple
of their wealth, and thousands of heads may be seen around every
important village; they are kept in huge kraals. A Lattuka’s main
possessions are his wives and his oxen; of these, in time of battle, he
will make languid efforts to protect the former, in contrast with the
desperate energy with which he will defend the latter.
It is in the Equator province that the exertions of European Governours
have attained the best and apparently the most lasting success; here
it was that Baker, Gordon, and Emin alike established many civilising
centres, the majority of which are still in existence. Lado, the
station by which Gondokoro was replaced as the Governour’s residence,
is quite a good-looking town; its buildings are of brick, roofed with
iron, and it boasts an ample quay and promenade. Rigaf, Bedden, and
Kiri lie to the south, all of them on the left bank of the river.
Several fortified settlements have been made among the Madi, the
foremost being Dufilé, in an excellent strategic and commercial
position, a little above the confluence of the Asua. This is the
extreme point which steamers can reach from Lake Albert and the Upper
Nile, as farther progress is barred by the Fola rapids. Below the
rapids, on the river-bank, are the small forts of Laboré and Muggi.
There are also several important stations in the district of the Shuli.
On the bank of the river is Wadelai, which for the last two years
has been occupied instead of Lado as the abode of the Governour, and
which will henceforth be associated with the name of Emin Bey. In the
interior are Fadibek, to the east of Dufilé; Faloro, a populous mart,
one of the granaries of the Egyptian Soudan; and Fatiko, in the heart
of a picturesque and healthy country.
[Illustration: EMIN PASHA.]
Formerly the Egyptians had a settlement in the north of Unyoro,
inhabited by the Lango tribe, named Foweira, which they abandoned;
but they still retain Magungo, in a situation overlooking the spot
where the Nile, after forming the imposing Murchison Falls, flows into
Lake Albert. In the Aluri country, on the western shore of the
lake, they have Mahagi, near which are some hot sulphur springs; and
at a considerable distance to the west, in the middle of the Makraka
country, close to the sources of the Yei, are the two small outposts of
Wandy and Makraka-Sugaire. All these stations owe their establishment
to Baker or Gordon, Englishmen, or to Emin, the German, who have
successively been Governours since 1872.
Emin Effendi, whom Gordon, on leaving the Soudan in 1879, raised to the
rank of Bey, and placed in charge of the province of the Equator, was
born at Oppeln, in Prussian Silesia, on the 28th of March 1840. His
real name is Edward Schnitzer. After completing his studies at Berlin,
Vienna, and Paris, and having obtained the degree of doctor both in
medicine and in natural science, he went in 1869 to Albania, where
he found an engagement in the Ottoman service at Scutari. Some years
later, when Gordon assumed the government of the Soudan, Dr. Schnitzer,
under the name of Emin Effendi, accompanied him as medical officer, and
never failed to distinguish himself in any business that was entrusted
to him. Under commission of the Governour, he was sent to Mtesa,
king of Uganda, and to Kabrega, king of Unyoro, and succeeded in
securing them both as allies. In all his expeditions he diligently made
scientific notes, the substance of which appeared at intervals between
1878 and 1883 in the “Mittheilungen” of the Geographical Institute of
Gotha.
Under his administration the province of the Equator went on well. He
assiduously continued the work that Gordon had begun, opening fresh
communications, making new settlements, stimulating the industry of the
population, and securing their support in the suppression of abuses.
Last but not least, he was successful in gaining for the Egyptian
Government a surplus revenue where hitherto there had been only a
deficit.
In a letter to Dr. Felkin of Edinburgh in 1883, Emin Bey said that
although for some years he had not received any assistance from
Khartoum, yet he had persevered in insisting on the cultivation of
cotton, indigo, sugar-cane, and rice, and had established numerous
farms for ostrich-breeding and cattle-breaking; and that, in spite of
the heavy outlay entailed by the formation of new roads, his budget
for 1880 showed for the first time a surplus of £8000. “If only,” he
added, “I could get a few Europeans to support me, and a small subsidy
for the purchase of seed and agricultural implements, I have not the
slightest doubt that in four or five years I could realise an annual
profit of £20,000, exclusive of ivory, which is the monopoly of the
Government.”
Such were the hopes he cherished. The disastrous events at Khartoum
checked them all. From the first Emin had his forebodings. In March
1882 he went to Khartoum to put Raouf Pasha on his guard, and even
offered to go and try to conciliate the Mahdi in a personal interview;
his alarm was regarded as exaggerated, his proposal was declined, and
he was instructed to return to his post and to do his utmost for the
interests of the province. He left Khartoum on the 15th of June, not
again to return.
Results have demonstrated how great was the error of distrusting his
far-sightedness; it was a mistake not to attempt, while perhaps there
was still time, to avert catastrophe by making use of his talents for
negotiation.
CHAPTER IV.
JUNKER AND CASATI.
The Welle--Biography and travels of Dr. Junker--The
Niam-niam--Dr. Junker and the Niam-niam chiefs--Captain
Casati--The Mombuttu--Cannibalism--Dr. Junker in the Aruwimi
basin and at Ali-Kobo’s _zeriba_--Bad news from the
north--Junker and Casati with Emin Bey at Lado.
Emin Bey and Lupton Bey were not the only Europeans who were blocked
in the heart of Africa by the Mahdi’s victories. At that period the
Russian, Dr. Junker, and Captain Casati, the Italian, were still
farther south, investigating the basin of the Welle.
The Welle is the name given in its upper course to the most important
of the right-hand tributaries of the Congo; it is a powerful stream,
which, in length and volume, may be compared to the Danube; it receives
nearly all the water from the region situated between the northern
Congo and the ridge-line whence the Bahr-el-Ghazal, the Shari, the
Binue, and their several affluents take their source.
As the result of the explorations of recent years its upper section
is beginning to be fairly well known. It has been ascertained that,
under the name of the Kibbi, it has its source on the western slope of
the low range of the Blue Mountains, somewhat to the west of Wadelai;
that it then flows from east to west for nearly 1000 miles, taking a
slight curve, and being parallel to the Congo. Amongst many affluents,
the principal are the Garamba, the Duru, the Bomokandi, the Werre, the
Mbima, and the Mbomu.
What becomes of the Welle after its confluence with the last of the
above tributaries must as yet be held as an open question. Various
solutions have been suggested during the last fifteen years. It has
been stated that it finds an outlet into the Shari, into the Ogowe,
or into the Aruwimi; it has been asserted that it flows into a Lake
Liba, the existence of which is enigmatical, a second Lake Tchad; and
finally, it has been maintained that it joins the Itimbiri and the
Mongalla, inferior affluents of the Congo. A conclusive answer to the
question has still to be awaited; future observation can alone decide;
nevertheless geographers are now almost unanimous in accepting the
hypothesis promulgated nearly three years since by the writer of this
volume, which would identify the Welle of Schweinfurth and Junker with
the mighty Mobangi, whose confluence with the Congo a little south of
the Equator the Belgian Captain Hanssens was the first to discover, and
which was ascended by Grenfell, a missionary from England, beyond the
Zongo rapids. “It may fairly be believed,” says M. Élisée Reclus, “that
the Welle continues to flow from east to west below its confluence with
the Mbomu, and that, after describing a south-westerly curve parallel
to the Congo, it joins the Mobangi about 250 miles from the spot where
Junker left its course.”[1]
It must be added that Dr. Junker, during his explorations of the
river-basin, extending over three years, has done much to verify this
hypothesis; he has, moreover, by his numerous itineraries, provided
the material for a map of this unknown region, and has amassed such
valuable scientific information as must make the history of his
travels, now in preparation, a geographical contribution of the highest
importance.
This eminent explorer, Wilhelm Junker (to whom the present volume is
dedicated), was born at Moscow on the 6th of April 1840. He studied
at Gottingen, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Prague. His earlier travels
were in Iceland, but in 1874, abandoning the frozen zone for tropical
Africa, he made various excursions into Tunis and Lower Egypt, whence
he proceeded to the Natron Lakes and Fayoum, and crossing to the Red
Sea, went in succession to Suakin, Kassala, and Khartoum; then, having
explored the Sobat, he made his way to Gondokoro. The year 1877 found
him in the basin of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Yei.
After four years’ wanderings, with many useful results, the Doctor
returned to Europe for rest; but the attraction of African life was too
strong to be resisted, and in 1878 he started again by way of Suakin
for Berber, going on to Khartoum, where he arrived in January 1880.
This time he had a definite purpose in view: he had determined to
explore the almost unknown regions that were watered by the Welle, and
set his mind on following its course as far as possible to the west,
that he might put to rest the dubious question of its ultimate issue.
Accompanied by a specialist in natural history, M. Frederic Bohndorf,
and by a young negro whom he had taken with him to Europe after his
first journey, he made his way to the heart of the continent, halting
at the _zeribas_ Meshra-er-Rek, Jur-Ghattas, Wau, Dem Suleiman,
and Dem Bekir, and finally taking up his quarters, as the base of his
operations, at the residence of Ndoruma, a powerful Niam-niam chief in
the Congo basin.
The Niam-niam are that strange people whose existence, surrounded by
mystery and legend, was attested by the very earliest adventurers into
the Soudan. They were the famous “men with tails” in whom certain
_savants_ imagined that they had discovered the missing link
between ape and man; and such was their weird repute that Soudanese and
Nubians alike associated their name with all the savage devilry that
imagination could conjure up. The appellation by which we distinguish
them is borrowed from the dialect of the Denka, and signifies “great
eaters,” an allusion only too suggestive of cannibal propensities.
Dr. Schweinfurth was the first to give any detailed particulars about
the Niam-niam, whose general aspect excited his repeated wonder. He
writes:--“No traveller could possibly find himself for the first time
surrounded by a group of true Niam-niam without being almost forced to
confess that all he had hitherto witnessed amongst the various races
of Africa was comparatively tame and uninteresting.” He thus describes
a Niam-niam warrior:--“The stranger, as he gazes on him, may well
behold in this true son of the African wilderness every attribute of
the wildest savagery that may be conjured up by the boldest flight of
fancy.... I have seen the wild Bishareen and other Bedouins of the
Nubian desert, I have gazed with admiration upon the stately war-dress
of the Abyssinians, I have been riveted with surprise at the supple
forms of the mounted Bagara, but nowhere in any part of Africa have I
ever come across a people that in every attitude and in every motion
exhibited so thorough a mastery over all the circumstances of war or of
the chase as the Niam-niam. Other nations in comparison seemed to me to
fall short in the perfect ease, I might almost say dramatic grace, that
characterised their every movement.”[2]
Equally well may the Niam-niam be described as a nation of hunters or a
nation of agriculturists. As with most African races, the cultivation
of the soil is carried on by the women; not that this involves any
excessive labour, inasmuch as the natural productiveness of the soil,
the exuberance of which in some districts is unsurpassed, makes all
culture exceptionally easy. The whole land is pre-eminently rich in
many products that conduce to the direct maintenance of life, and
eleusine, sweet potatoes, yams, manioc, and colocasiæ may be said to
grow all but spontaneously.
Speaking generally, it may be said that they have no cattle; cows,
goats, and sheep are hardly known otherwise than by report. The
acme, however, of human enjoyment for a Niam-niam would seem to be
_meat_; every one is a hunter, and it may be, within certain
limits, a cannibal. The cry that resounds in all their campaigns is,
“Meat, meat!”
As to cannibalism, there is no doubt that it has been attributed to
them by all the surrounding nations, and perhaps few could venture
to dispute this widespread testimony; on the other hand, it must
be acknowledged that travellers have met with Niam-niam chiefs who
vehemently repudiate the idea of eating human flesh. At the same time,
it is asserted of other chiefs that they have openly and without
reserve, if not ostentatiously, confessed their predilection; whilst it
is stated, in addition, that they adorn themselves with the teeth of
the victims they have devoured, and exhibit their skulls conspicuously
among their hunting-trophies. Moreover, it is said that the fat of the
human body is in general use.
The country inhabited by the Niam-niam is so immense that as yet it
has been but partially explored. The ridge between the basins of the
Nile and the Congo forms pretty nearly a central line through the
whole. Eastwards their population extends to Lake Albert and the Nile;
westwards they probably reach to the north of the French Congo, to the
sources of the Binue; and to the south they occupy the greater portion
of the Congo Free State, on the banks of the Welle.
They have no national unity. Schweinfurth counted no less than
thirty-eight independent chiefs in the country north of Tangasi, and a
still larger number was visited by Junker, whose travels carried him
along both banks of the Welle; he makes special mention of Ndoruma and
Semmio, well-known rulers, in whose domains he established stations,
and further speaks of Bakangai and Kanna, who reside in the Bomokandi
basin within the limits of the Congo State, as the most powerful chiefs
that he came across throughout his entire journey.
Of towns in an ordinary sense, or even of villages, the Niam-niam have
none. Their huts are grouped in little clusters, which are scattered
about the cultivated lands and separated from each other by tracts of
wilderness more or less extensive, broken by forests and savannahs that
are the haunts of innumerable herds of elephants and antelopes. The
country everywhere is picturesque, and in the valleys, where heat and
moisture are combined, the scene is often charming as fairy-land.
M. Bohndorf pronounces the climate to be superior to that of Java
or India, and considers that when the ameliorating appliances of
civilisation shall have been introduced, the mortality of the white man
will be comparatively small.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN CASATI.]
Personal security is nowhere more assured than in the majority of
the districts farther north. The European has only to use a little
tact and he may travel quite unarmed. Except on a few excursions when
he obtained an escort either from Gessi Pasha or from the Soudanese
traders, Dr. Junker made all his journeys accompanied only by a few
lads and porters. His sole precaution, before entering the territory of
an unknown chief, was to send some messengers in advance to announce
his arrival, and to declare that his intentions were quite peaceable. A
few presents went far to conciliate the favour of the chief, not only
obtaining permission for the white man’s entry, but procuring the loan
of guides to conduct him onwards.
By such prudent policy, and probably through the absolute want of
anything like military display, Junker was able to travel for more
than two years in the Niam-niam country, going southwards beyond the
Bomokandi, and westwards to a little above the confluence of the Mbomu,
in the Banjia tribe, where Ali Kobbo, a merchant, has established a
_zeriba_ for the ivory-trade. To the east he penetrated into
the abode of the Mombuttu, where, in August 1882, at the village of
Tangasi, he met the Italian explorer, Casati.
Gaetano Casati, a native of Monza, in Upper Italy, was serving as
a captain of _Bersaglieri_, when it was proposed to him by M.
Camperio, the founder of the Italian Society for the Exploration
of Africa, that he should join his countryman, Gessi Pasha, in
the Bahr-el-Ghazal, as correspondent to the geographical review,
_L’Exploratore_.
The offer was accepted; and on December 24, 1879, Casati embarked at
Genoa for Suakin, whence he continued his way to the interior, where he
has resided ever since, staying successively in the lands of the Jur,
the Denka, and the Makraka, and proceeding, after Gessi had taken his
departure, westward of Lake Albert into the district of the Mombuttu.
This interesting negro race, the Mombuttu or Monbuttoo, thirty years
back, was not even known to have an existence; it has now been brought
into notoriety by Dr. Schweinfurth, the first European to make his way
so far in that direction. According to the estimate he formed about
them, they are a people that must take a foremost rank amongst African
tribes. They are a noble race, with a higher grade of culture than
their savage neighbours. They exhibit a public spirit and a national
pride, and certainly possess an intelligence and judgment such as few
Africans can boast. Their word is sure, and their friendship lasting.
The Nubians who reside among them can never say enough in praise of
their fidelity, their military qualities, and their personal courage.
A marked development characterises their capabilities; and as potters,
wood-carvers and boat-builders, they are second to no tribe on the
entire continent. It is, however, in their architecture that the
versatility of their artistic faculty most reveals itself. Alike in
size, in arrangement, and in decoration, their buildings excel all
that travellers in Central Africa have found elsewhere; the great hall
in the palace of Munza, who was king of the Mombuttu at the time of
Schweinfurth’s visit, was not much short of a hundred feet long, fifty
feet wide, and forty feet high; not unlike the central portion of a
large railway-station, its vaulted roof being supported on three long
rows of pillars formed of polished wood.
The Mombuttu sovereigns enjoy far higher prerogatives than the rulers
of the Niam-niam. Besides the monopoly of ivory, they claim regular
contributions, levied upon the products of the soil. In addition to his
bodyguard proper, Munza was always attended by a large _suite_,
never leaving his residence without being accompanied by a retinue
of some hundred men, and preceded by a long array of trumpeters,
drummers, and couriers with large iron bells.
And yet, advanced as they seem in some respects towards civilisation,
and eminent as travellers declare them to be for hospitality, they are
a people amongst whom the practice of cannibalism is most flagrant.
They are skilled sportsmen, and hunt elephants, buffaloes, and
antelopes; they take the guinea-fowl, the francolin, and the bustard in
snares; but there is no game for which they have a keener relish than
for human flesh.
Living in a state of perpetual warfare with the inferior tribes of the
Aruwimi basin, their neighbours on the south, they have hunting-grounds
which are inexhaustible in the supply of this coveted food. The dead
bodies of those who fall in battle are immediately distributed to be
cut up, and are dried upon the field, preparatory to being carried
away. Every family would seem to have its supply, and human fat is
universally employed for domestic purposes. According to Schweinfurth,
children are regarded as a special delicacy, and are reserved for the
table of the king.
It is now accepted as a fact, established by the testimony alike of
transient travellers and of agents permanently residing in the Congo
State, that all the tribes inhabiting the vast region between the
Congo and the Welle are addicted to cannibalism; but if Schweinfurth’s
impression be correct, the cannibalism of the Mombuttu is the most
inveterate of all; he had no difficulty in getting two hundred skulls
of their victims to be submitted to him, of which he selected forty to
bring away.
Nothing short of European occupation, with the introduction of cattle
and the suppression of internecine wars, can ever avail to put an end
to the revolting practice.
Situated as it is between Emin Pasha’s province and the Congo Free
State, it is to be hoped that the Mombuttu country can hardly
be long before being brought under European influence. From a
politico-economical point of view, it holds out a promise of great
importance; its fertility, its population, its wealth, its comparative
salubrity, and its picturesqueness attract the interest equally of
travellers and traders. “The Mombuttu land,” says Schweinfurth, “greets
us as an Eden upon earth. Unnumbered groves of plantains bedeck the
gently heaving soil; oil-palms, incomparable in beauty, and other
monarchs of the stately woods, rise up and spread their glory over
the favoured scene; along the streams there is a bright expanse of
charming verdure, whilst a grateful shade ever overhangs the domes of
the idyllic huts.”[3]
Like the Niam-niam, the Mombuttu have no real villages. To quote
Schweinfurth again:--“The huts are arranged in sets following the lines
of the brooks along the valleys, the space between each group being
occupied by plantations of oil-palms. The dwellings are separated
from the lowest parts of the depression by the plaintain grounds,
whilst above, on the higher and drier soil, extend the fields of sweet
potatoes and colocasiæ.”[4]
Notwithstanding his efforts to make further progress to the south,
Dr. Schweinfurth, in 1871, found himself unable to advance beyond a
spot within King Munza’s dominions, on the left bank of the Welle, the
present site of Tangasi.
Captain Casati was more fortunate. Taking a south-westerly course, he
succeeded in passing beyond the Mombuttu frontier, and reached the
residence of the Niam-niam chief, Bakangai, who, being afraid that
he might be held responsible for the death of a European traveller,
refused to allow him to penetrate farther west into the country of the
fierce Ababua.
About the same time as Casati, Dr. Junker also arrived at the quarters
of Bakangai. Not to be deterred, he made a bold dash from Tangasi
towards the south, and managed to get across the southern ridge of
the Welle basin, and having passed through the Mabode country into
the Aruwimi valley, reached the quarters of one of their chiefs named
Sanga, a prince of Mombuttu origin.
This spot, on the banks of the river Nepoko, was destined to be the
farthest point that was reached in the adventurous enterprises of that
date.
Both Junker’s and Casati’s investigations were now to be interrupted,
and finally to be altogether checked, by the disquieting intelligence
from Khartoum that was forwarded to them by Lupton and Emin Bey.
In November 1882, just as he was leaving Semmio for the west, Dr.
Junker received a warning from Lupton that, instigated by the
Arabs, the Denka had risen in revolt, and that the route towards
Meshra-er-Rek was quite unsafe. Persevering, however, and not allowing
his schemes to be frustrated by the tidings, he pursued his way into
the unknown regions to the west, resolved, if possible, to ascertain
the real direction of the course of the Welle-Makua. He traversed
the territory of the Banjia tribes, and arrived at the _zeriba_
Ali-Kobbo, in the Abassange country, the extreme point hitherto reached
on the great river.
It was, however, only for four days that he could remain there. He
had hardly arrived when letters from Lupton overtook him, forwarded
in urgent haste, announcing the rapid progress of the Mahdi’s revolt
and the rising of the natives in the Bahr-el-Ghazal. There was no
alternative for him but to return at once; at the very moment when
he seemed to have the immediate prospect of being able to solve the
question of the Welle, he was obliged to abandon his undertaking and
beat a retreat.
By the following May he was back in Semmio. After waiting in doubt and
anxiety for six months, and still despairing of finding any way open to
the north, he set out towards the east in the direction of the province
of the Equator, where Emin Pasha was pressing him to come and join him
without delay. He reached Lado on the 23d of January 1884. Casati had
arrived there some months previously.
It was high time; the crisis was at hand; stern action must be taken.
CHAPTER V.
PRISONERS IN THE SOUDAN.
Native rising in the Bahr-el-Ghazal--Fall of Rumbek,
Gaba-Shambe, and Bor--Lupton Bey a prisoner--The Emir
Karam-Allah--Siege of Amadi--Heroic conduct of negro
troops--Transfer of seat of government from Lado to
Dufilé--Letter from the Mahdi--Battle of Rimo--Emin Bey at
Wadelai--Dr. Junker amongst the Lango--Emin Bey’s army,
fortifications, and boats--Dr. Junker prepares to start for the
coast.
It was in Lupton Bey’s province of the Gazelle that the insurrectionary
movement first broke out. The Denka betook themselves to arms, and
for eighteen months waged a determined and sanguinary war against the
Government troops; and in spite of Lupton making a levy of all the
force at his disposal, he was unequal to the task of suppressing the
revolt.
The Nuer, the Agar, and various other tribes of the Rol River, were not
long in following the lead of the Denka, and the Egyptian station at
Rumbek was captured and destroyed.
[Illustration: BARI WARRIORS.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
With reference to this trying period, speaking on the 20th of May
1887 at a meeting of the Geographical Society of Paris, Dr. Junker
said--“Throughout the critical circumstances of that time Lupton Bey’s
conduct was most admirable. His letters, dated from every quarter of
the province, attest that he was ubiquitous in pursuit of his fugitive
adversaries. The details of that arduous struggle are not well known in
Europe, and consequently the general public has never duly appreciated
Lupton’s merits. That war of the Denka for eighteen months against the
Government troops, was more desperate and murderous than the subsequent
encounters with the Mahdists in the province of Emin Bey.”
Within a year Lupton was engaged in more than twenty battles. To
aggravate his difficulty, the Arabs, who favoured the rebellion, sent
reinforcements to maintain the conflict, and in spite of the most
heroic efforts to suppress it, the insurrection kept on spreading until
it reached the western tribes of the Equator province. At the end of
1883 the Bari began to make a movement, and at the beginning of the
following year the station of Gaba-Shambe, with its entire garrison,
fell into the hands of the rebels, a loss which was quickly followed by
that of Bor.
Henceforth, Emin’s province lay open to the encroachments of the
insurgents.
It was just at this time that Gordon arrived at Khartoum, and the
blockade of that town was commencing. Communication with the north was
already cut off, as Fashoda, situated on both sides of the Nile at the
confluence of the Sobat and the Bahr-el-Ghazal, was in the hands of the
Mahdi’s followers, who kept continually advancing to the south.
Deserted by a portion of his troops, Lupton was unable to hold out. In
May he was reduced to extremities and compelled to surrender himself a
prisoner. He was taken to Kordofan. No long time elapsed before there
was not a soldier who remained faithful to the Khedive, and every
station, with its ammunition and provisions, passed into the hands of
the Arabs.
[Illustration: BARI WOMEN.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
At Lado, on the 27th of May, the three Europeans received a letter from
Lupton, making them aware of his misfortune. At the same time came a
message from a certain Emir Karam-Allah, a _soidisant_ lieutenant
of the Mahdi’s, calling on Emin, as Governour of the province, to
appear personally before him and make submission. Emin was in
perplexity, but was anxious above all things to gain time. He sent
word to the Emir that, being desirous to avoid useless bloodshed, he
would not refuse to appear before him, but that the hostility of the
natives against him was so great that he could not venture to leave his
quarters; he represented that his departure would be the signal for a
general mutiny, and added that, while he was thus careful to protect
the lives of his soldiers, he was nevertheless willing to hold the
province as being under the Mahdi’s authority; finally declaring that
he could not think of quitting his post until a successor had been
appointed, and that he should accordingly wait for further instructions.
Without loss of time, however, he concentrated all his force.
Abandoning all outlying stations, he gathered his troops into one body,
and proceeded to make preparation for an attack which he foresaw was
imminent.
At the close of the year 1884 things had indeed become serious, and a
report was spread that a large force, commanded by the Emir Karam-Allah
in person, was marching upon the station of Amadi, just five days’
journey from Lado.
The rumour was only too true. Amadi had to sustain a siege, and for
nineteen days its gallant little garrison, composed entirely of negro
soldiers under Soudanese officers, maintained a resistance. At last,
coming to the end of their resources, they made a desperate dash, and
breaking through the line of the besiegers, succeeded in effecting a
retreat into the Makraka country.
In recounting this feat of arms, thus valorously accomplished by
negroes, Emin Pasha wrote to his friend, Dr. Robert Felkin, in
Edinburgh:--“Ever since the Arab occupation of the Bahr-el-Ghazal--I
will not say its conquest, since everything that has been gained has
been gained by treachery--we have been most vigorously attacked; and
I feel that I cannot give you an idea of the admirable devotion of
my black troops throughout this long war, in which for them at least
there can be no advantage. Destitute of the barest necessaries of life,
and with their pay long in arrears, they fought most resolutely, and
when at last, after nineteen days of hardship and privation, weakened
by hunger--the last shred of leather, the last boot having been
devoured--they forced a gap in the enemy’s ranks and made good their
escape.
“These brave fellows endured all this misery with perfect
disinterestedness, without prospect of reward, simply because they
were prompted by a sense of duty and were desirous of exhibiting their
bravery to the foe. Whatever doubts I may ever have had of the negro,
the history of the siege of Amadi has convinced me that in resolute
courage the black race is inferior to none, and in the spirit of
self-sacrifice is superior to many. Without any highly skilled officers
to direct them or give them orders, they performed miracles, and it
will be difficult for the Egyptian Government to give them any worthy
proof of its gratitude.”
The emergency became more pressing, and another change of headquarters
was soon imperative. In the north-west of the province the Mahdi’s
force continued to advance, while the prospect of an attack by
Karam-Allah upon Lado seemed more threatening. Accordingly Emin Bey
resolved upon a fresh concentration of his men upon the Nile, and
hastened to transfer the seat of his government from Lado to Dufilé,
whither were conveyed all the Coptic and Egyptian officials, as well as
all the Government papers and records.
Shortly after this a message was received from the victorious Emir
announcing that he was on his way to Lado. It was accompanied by a
transcript of a letter written by the Mahdi at Khartoum, dated the 28th
of January, communicating the intelligence of the fall of that town and
the death of Gordon.
“_Copy of a gracious order of our Lord the Mahdi--may he be
blessed!--to his representative Karam-Allah, Emir of the Bahr-el-Ghazal
and of the Equator_:--
“The devoted slave of God, Mohammed-el-Mahdi, son of Abdallah,
to his dearly beloved representative, Karam-Allah, son of the
Sheik Mohammed:--
“My son, receive my greeting! The blessing of the merciful God
be upon thee!
“I bid thee know that according to the infallible predictions of
God, and by His immutable goodness, the town of Khartoum, by the
aid of the living and immortal, was taken on Monday the 26th of
Jany. in the present year.
“Early in the morning, the troops of the faithful applied
themselves to their task, and, confident in God, they made an
assault. In less than half an hour the enemies of God were
in their hands; they were annihilated to a man; so too their
fortress.
“Strongly prepared for defence though they were, they yielded
at the first onslaught, dispersed by the hand of the Lord. Then
they sought safety in flight, crowded into the courtyards, and
closed the gates. Our army pursued them, put them to the edge
of the sword, attacked them with lances until their cries were
heard aloud, their tears outpoured, and they were stricken with
consternation. Not long were the faithful in getting the upper
hand of the survivors who had closed the gates; they captured
them and slew them, so that none but women and children remained
to defend the place.
“Gordon, the enemy of God, so long a rebel and insurgent, so
often warned by us and invited to place himself under the hand
of God, refused to submit; wherefore he has found his fate; he
has reaped in sorrow what he sowed in guilt; God hath sent him
to hell, there for ever to abide.
“Thus has the might of the unbeliever been destroyed. Thanks be
to God, the Lord of all the earth!
“On our side, ten died the death of the believer; not another
was wounded nor even bruised in the encounter. Behold the
Divine mercy! The victory is from God; before Him we prostrate
ourselves in adoration. Do likewise; and accept my greeting.
“12 REBI ACHIR, 1302.”
This mournful intelligence, confirmed by the non-arrival of the
ordinary Khartoum steamer, and coming so quickly after the tidings of
the Emir’s successes in the south, thoroughly opened Emin Bey’s eyes to
the gravity of the situation in which he was placed. The loss of Amadi,
following upon Lupton’s retirement from his various stations, and the
menaces which he now received from Karam-Allah, showed him only too
plainly that he was in danger of being immediately attacked.
It soon transpired that the Emir was advancing with the design of
attacking Rimo, a station near the Yei, north-west of Dufilé. Fearing
lest the little garrison should share the fate of that of Amadi, Emin
resolved to make a venture in its defence. Taking several battalions
of his troops, he set out and arrived at the spot in April, in time to
await the appearance of the Arabs; and on their approach, his troops,
assisted by the Mombuttu, made a rush upon them, and inflicted such a
sanguinary defeat, that they withdrew in all speed back again to the
north. Thus for the time all danger was warded off the stations on the
Nile.
Whether it was this fortunate exploit of the Egyptian troops that
rescued the Equatorial provinces from further incursions by the bands
of the Arabs, or whether the Emir was recalled by the Mahdi, who was
concerned at the presence of an English expedition near Khartoum, there
are now no means of judging; but certain it is that Lado, where the
rebels had been daily expected to appear before the fences, was left
undisturbed, and it was soon ascertained that the Emir had led his men
by forced marches towards Kordofan.
Obviously it was still the duty of Emin Bey to be on his guard against
any fresh surprise. He came to the conclusion that it was desirable
that he should for the third time change the seat of his government,
and issuing orders for the evacuation of his western stations in the
Makraka country, he proceeded to draw off all his force and his last
reserve of ammunition to Wadelai, his most southern station on the
river.
Further than this, as all hope of succour from the north had been
dispelled by the gloomy tidings that had reached him of the fate of
Khartoum, he began to turn his eyes towards Zanzibar, whither it
was agreed that Dr. Junker should be despatched with the object, if
possible, of opening communication with the coast.
The Doctor started. Ascending the Nile from Dufilé to Meshra, he
reached the residence of Anfina, the Lango chief, a faithful ally of
Emin’s, whence he endeavoured to enter into negotiations with Uganda.
His efforts were vain. The road to the south, like the road to the
north, was closed not only to the white men themselves, but also to the
transit of their messengers and despatches.
Thus was Emin Pasha isolated from the world, and thrown back upon
himself and the fidelity of his followers.
For ten months, from January to November 1885, did Dr. Junker persevere
in his wanderings amongst the Lango, between Anfina’s quarters and
Foweira, once a station of the Egyptians; and then, finding all his
proceedings futile, he made his way back to Wadelai.
At that period the situation may be thus described. The province,
after having been for six months relieved of the presence of the
Mahdi’s troops, was comparatively quiet. So far as regarded the natives
everything was satisfactory; the Bari alone had shown any symptoms
of rebellion, and these were promptly suppressed. At Emin’s disposal
there were about 1500 regular troops armed with Remington rifles,
the whole of these being negroes, except about forty Egyptians who
were specially told off for the artillery; they were commanded by ten
Egyptian officers and fifteen Soudanese, and all remained staunch in
their allegiance.
“In spite of their utter destitution,” wrote Emin, “in spite of their
being without pay and almost without clothes, these soldiers continue
dutiful and obedient. This is far more than could be expected.”
[Illustration: DR. JUNKER.]
The 1500 soldiers, parcelled out into companies varying from one
hundred to two hundred men, garrisoned ten stations; nine on the Nile,
namely, Lado, Rigaf, Bedden, Kiri, Muggi, Laboré, Khor Aju, Dufilé, and
Wadelai; the tenth, Fatiko, being in the Shuli country, on the road
from Dufilé to Mrooli.[5]
Communication between the different stations was maintained by two
steamers, the _Nyassa_ and the _Khedive_, which had been
brought into service during the time when Gordon was Governour for the
first time, and which could upon occasion be fitted out for defence.
The officials (Egyptian and Coptic) numbered somewhere about two
hundred; and if for each official, officer, and soldier there were
reckoned an average of not less than three women, children, and slaves,
the total would amount to a population of at least 10,000 souls,
constituting what the English newspapers have designated “Emin Pasha’s
people.”
Since 1885 the protection of Emin Pasha has by no means been the chief
difficulty. In one of his letters he writes:--“Since the retreat of
Karam-Allah and the dispersion of his troops by the natives on the
Kordofan frontier, peace has been unbroken; and I may also add that the
war has had the beneficial result of clearing the whole province of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal of slave-hunters.” What has given the greatest cause for
anxiety is the lack of stores and goods for barter, combined with the
fear of running short of ammunition and the impossibility of holding
communication with Europe.
In another letter Emin wrote:--“We have undergone terrible trials;
happily, however, we have proved the truth of the proverb, ‘Necessity
is the mother of invention,’ and we feel that we may well be proud
of the way in which we have managed for ourselves since we have been
deprived of all external aid. At all our stations agricultural work
is progressing well. We have grown cotton; we have learned both to
spin and to weave; as a specimen of what we can do I send you a pretty
little handkerchief of our own manufacture. We have introduced the
craft of shoemaking, and you would be surprised at what we have
produced. We make our soap of fat and ashes, and our candles of wax.
Hibiscus seed we find a fair substitute for coffee; we sweeten it with
honey. I must not forget also to tell you that we have grown some
splendid tobacco in our gardens. Except that I miss books, newspapers,
and materials for my scientific work, personally I am in want of
nothing.”
But it is remarkable how even in the times of his greatest anxiety,
Emin never failed in his scientific interest; in all the letters sent
by him, at various times, to Schweinfurth, Junker, Felkin, Hassenstein,
Behm, Allen, and others, detailing the circumstances under which he was
living, he speaks of his constant desire to make his long residence in
Africa profitable for the advance of science.
In one of these letters, addressed to the late Dr. Behm of Gotha, after
saying that he anticipated that the Nuer, the Agar, and the Denka were
on the point of breaking out in an insurrection which it would be a
long and difficult task to suppress, he thus continues:--“To myself,
my residence in the Mombuttu country has been very satisfactory. I
have worked hard and made many new and interesting notes; I have put
together a vocabulary, and have tried generally to be as useful as
possible. Your suggestion that I should make an ethnological chart is
never out of my mind, and with reference to the work I have already
begun to collect some examples of the dialects.”
At a later date he wrote to Dr. Schweinfurth:--“Thanks to the many
newspapers and pamphlets which have reached me by way of Uganda, I
have now an ample stock of paper, and shall be able to resume the
preparation of the herbarium which I promised you.”
In another letter to Dr. Felkin, he writes:--“I have not forgotten
Professor Flower; according to his desire I have collected several
human skulls, also some skulls of chimpanzees, and some skeletons of
animals and Akka;... I have likewise a collection of shells from Lake
Albert.”
Such for three years, amidst incessant care and anxiety, was the life
of the three Europeans who were fated thus to be brought together and
blockaded on the Upper Nile.
When the attacks of the Arabs had ceased, and the revolts of the
natives had been suppressed, they deliberately set themselves to
meet their difficulties by developing the natural resources of the
country, and, though without means, contrived to get food, clothing,
and sustenance for the 10,000 men, women, and children over whom they
presided as protectors.
It was now the end of 1885; they had had no communication with Europe
since 1883, and they began to fear that they had been forgotten. Their
eyes were still towards Zanzibar, and although Dr. Junker had failed in
his first efforts to go there, it was deemed advisable that he should
again leave Casati to assist Emin in maintaining friendly relations
with the surrounding tribes, and once more endeavour to accomplish his
purpose. This time he would set out by way of Unyoro. The experiment
was full of hazard; yet all things considered, a white man accompanied
only by a small escort would have a greater chance of success than any
larger or armed expedition, which would assuredly rouse the alarm and
suspicion of the natives.
As to an exodus _en masse_ of the 10,000 officials, soldiers,
women, children, and slaves that made up the population of Wadelai,
Lado, and the other stations, that was a scheme not for a moment to
be entertained. Northwards, the way would be barred by the army of
the Mahdi; southwards, were unknown tribes in the lands watered by
the Welle and the Upper Congo, that had been reached indeed by the
civilising mission of the King of the Belgians, but of this of course
Emin had no intelligence, and was utterly ignorant; and lastly, on
the east was Uganda, where the bloodthirsty tyrant who ruled would be
certainly opposed to any passage of an armed expedition through his
domain.
Circumstanced as Emin was, it would have been madness to make such
a venture--unsupplied with either provisions or ammunition, to face
hostile tribes in a desert and unexplored country was simply to court
disaster; before his caravan had made much progress on its way, a large
proportion of his people would have succumbed to fatigue and privation,
even if they escaped being the victims of a bloody foe. Emin was not
foolhardy enough to think of conducting another “retreat of the ten
thousand.”
As to any thought for himself, of taking advantage of any opportunity
for escape, it would never enter his mind. As a Governour placed by
Gordon in command of the province of the Equator he could never for
a moment contemplate either forsaking the men who had so faithfully
adhered to him, or abandoning the country that had been committed
to his charge “in the cause of progress and civilisation.” “I shall
endeavour,” he writes to Dr. Felkin, “to bring to a good issue the
work for which Gordon sacrificed his blood; if not with his energy and
genius, I will at any rate labour in conformity with his instructions
and ideas. When he, my lamented chief, confided to me the oversight of
this province, he wrote ‘I nominate you in the cause of progress and
civilisation.’ Hitherto I have done my best to merit that confidence
which was reposed in me. The simple fact that I have been able to
maintain myself here in the midst of thousands of natives, with only a
handful of men of my own, is a proof that I have to a certain extent
succeeded, inasmuch as I am thoroughly trusted by the indigenous
population.
“I am now the sole surviving representative of Gordon’s Soudan staff.
Consequently, I hold it my stern duty to follow the path which he
pointed out. Moreover I am persuaded that there is a bright future
for these countries; sooner or later they will be included within the
ever-widening circle of the civilised world.”
It was therefore no way of personal escape for which Emin was looking;
at the same time he longed most earnestly for the opening of an avenue
of communication with Europe, by means of which his true situation
might be known, and along which materials might be brought, so that
he could continue his work on the scene where for so long he had
maintained his independence.
This was the general aspect of affairs when Dr. Junker again undertook,
at the peril of his life, to endeavour to reach Europe, there to plead
the cause of Emin and the Equatorial Soudan.
CHAPTER VI.
RETURN OF DR. JUNKER.
Dr. Junker’s departure from Wadelai--The Bahr-el-Jebel
and Lake Albert--Salt pits at Kibiro--Unyoro--King
Kabrega--Mohammed Biri--Correspondence with Mr. Mackay--Marches
in Unyoro--Arrival at Rubaga--Uganda and its inhabitants--King
Mtesa and King Mwanga--Murder of Bishop Hannington--Emin
Pasha relieved--Passage of Lake Victoria--Arrival at Msalala
mission-station--Appeal to Europe--Arrival at Zanzibar.
On the 2nd of January 1886 Dr. Junker left Wadelai. He went on board
one of the steamers belonging to the station, accompanied by Vita
Hassan, an Egyptian doctor, who was on his way to Unyoro.
The two travellers ascended the Nile, at that part of its course
known as the Bahr-el-Jebel, and measuring nearly three miles across
from bank to bank. As far as Lake Albert navigation is unimpeded by
rapids, although it is rendered somewhat difficult by numerous islets
of reeds and papyrus, and by shallows where hippopotami congregate in
considerable numbers.
On the west the river is bordered by a chain of mountains, clothed
with sparsely-grown forest; on the eastern side the shore is flatter,
extending in wide prairie tracts dotted over with trees. Large herds
of elephants and antelopes seem to abound, as they come down to the
river-bank in the evening to drink.
The most important district on the western shore is Fanigoro, the
residence of the chief Okello. On this side of the river the population
is composed of the Aluri tribe; on the other side, which is equally
well inhabited, the country is occupied by the Shuli.
A short distance to the south of Fanigoro is the northernmost point
of Lake Albert (Muta Nzigé) which was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker
on the 14th of March 1864. Gessi Pasha was the first to complete its
circumnavigation in March and April 1876, since which date it has been
explored successively by Mason Bey and Emin Pasha. At its north-eastern
extremity, the Lake receives the Somerset Nile, the channel of the
overflow from Lake Victoria, and at its extreme south it receives the
Kakibi, a stream also recently investigated by Emin.
After a few days’ sailing Dr. Junker and his companion reached Kibiro,
on the east of the lake, where three large villages, the property of a
chief, Kagoro, are built close to the base of the mountains.
Kibiro is the leading trade-depôt of the district, and the sole
occupation of the people is the procuring and preparation of salt, for
which a demand is found not only in Unyoro, but likewise among the
Uganda on the east, and the Aluri on the west.
The main centre of the salt industry is almost adjacent to the
villages, in the midst of natural gorges and ravines, where blocks of
stone and masses of _débris_ lie in fantastic disorder. Little
streams of water permeate the heated soil, so that jets of vapour are
seen rising all around, the warm water being carried away by means of
troughs supported on stones. Groups of women and children are seen
gathering the earth impregnated with its saline particles into baskets,
which they fill up with water. The mud thus formed is filtered, with
the result that a pure white salt is extracted, which is made up into
cylindrical blocks, and wrapped in dried banana leaves. The salt-pans
render the district comparatively wealthy.
Having landed at Kibiro, Junker and Vita Hassan started off on foot,
eastwards, to the quarters of Kabrega, the Unyoro king.
Overhanging the villages is a series of terraces surmounted by two
isolated peaks, known as Rugoi and Kjente, between which a steep
footway leads to the abode of the monarch. The path is all amongst
blocks of stone and jagged points, the successive terraces rising like
bastions crowned with grassy plateaux, on which trees of any sort are
singularly rare. It was a task of ten hours’ perseverance to reach
the royal residence, which lies eastward of the river Kya, a little
affluent of Lake Albert.
In these unsettled regions the capital is continually being changed
according to the caprice of the ruler. At the time of Baker’s
expedition in 1872, the headquarters were at Masindi; five years later,
when Emin Pasha made his first visit, they had been removed to Nyamoga;
and now quite recently they have been fixed at Giuaïa.
Altogether Unyoro is one of the most important dominions in the country
of the great lakes. It includes the whole land to the south of the
Somerset Nile along the west boundary of Lake Albert; it consists
almost entirely of vast plains, broken by marshes, and studded with
acacia-woods. Bananas, prepared in various ways, are the staple food
of its people, and constitute the crop upon which they mainly depend.
Pasturage is good, and cattle abundant, as likewise are antelopes and
elephants.
In their commercial matters, the inhabitants seem active and adroit.
Unlike other Nile tribes they wear clothes, and the women of the Lango
districts are the best-looking and best-proportioned to be found
throughout the region.
Speke and Grant were amongst the earliest European travellers to
penetrate to Unyoro. In 1863 they stayed for several weeks at the court
of the king Kamrasi, a crafty character, who in the following year
caused Baker no inconsiderable trouble.
In 1872 Baker visited the country again, going this time with a
commission from the Khedive to annex Unyoro to the Egyptian Soudan.
He found the throne occupied by Kamrasi’s son Kabrega, who afterwards
became an ally of Emin’s, and afforded aid and protection to Dr. Junker
on his homeward way.
Concerning this young ruler, however, whose name is frequently
occurring in recent letters and despatches, there would seem to be
a wide diversity of opinion. After staying with him in 1872, Baker
writes:--“On the 26th of April I made my official visit to Kabrega,
my officers being in full uniform, and headed by a band of music. I
found him in his divan, a roomy, well-built structure, with hangings of
inferior printed calico brought from Zanzibar. He was himself dressed
in a piece of black striped bark. This son of Kamrasi, the descendant
of the victorious Gallas, and the sixteenth king of Unyoro, is a lout
about twenty years of age, awkward, unpleasant, cowardly, cruel,
cunning and perfidious to the last degree. He is nearly six feet high,
his complexion fair. His eyes are large, but too prominent; he has a
low forehead, projecting cheek-bones, and a wide mouth, with teeth as
white as ivory. His hands are well-shaped, the finger-nails, as well
as toe-nails, being clean and carefully cut. He wears sandals of raw
buffalo-hide, which are neatly made and turned in at the edges.”
This, certainly, is not a flattering portrait; but, in justice to the
original, it should be stated that Dr. Junker, who saw him fourteen
years afterwards, when he was consequently thirty-four years of age,
says that he “was very favourably impressed by the chief’s appearance,
and should consider him to be of a very amiable disposition.”
Latterly, no doubt, Kabrega has shown himself friendly to Europeans,
having not only several times sent Emin contributions of material
to assist him in his straits, but having done all in his power to
facilitate the conveyance of his correspondence to the coast.
Nevertheless, Casati, after staying at Giuaïa for nearly a year, seems,
like Baker, to have formed a mean opinion of Kabrega. In a letter to M.
Camperio, dated May 2, 1887, he writes:--
“Kabrega makes no secret of his evil intentions; nothing but falsehood
is on his lips. I shall, however, persevere in my mission, although
Emin urges me to abandon it. If I leave here, the road is closed behind
me; and unfortunately no other way is open.”
At Giuaïa Dr. Junker found some Arab traders who for some time had
settled in Kabrega’s domain, but he failed for a while to enter into
negotiations with them, because they were afraid that they should
be compromised by having transactions with him. One day, however,
he received a letter written in French from one of them, a certain
Mohammed Biri, which resulted in a subsequent interview.
This Mohammed proved to be a servant who had once been attached to
the Belgian station of Karema, having followed Captain Ramäckers to
Lake Tanganyika. After that officer’s death, he had returned to the
coast, and was now engaged in the ivory-trade in the districts in the
neighbourhood of the great lakes. He gave the doctor the latest news
of the Soudan, telling him that it had been abandoned by the British
troops; and he described the condition of Uganda, mentioning that some
European missionaries were resident there.
This was a statement that could not fail to arrest Junker’s attention.
It raised his spirits, and he wrote off at once to the Uganda
missionaries. Not that it was an easy matter to get into correspondence
with them, and he had to wait six weeks in anxious suspense before an
answer was brought back. At length, in February, a messenger arrived
from Mr. Mackay of the English mission, bringing the most recent
intelligence from Europe, Egypt, and Zanzibar.
“That day of the arrival of the courier,” writes the doctor, “was truly
a red-letter day to me!” For three years he had had no communication
with the civilised world.
Mr. Mackay confirmed and related in detail the disastrous tidings from
the Soudan; he represented as still very critical the situation of the
missionaries in Uganda, where on the 31st of the preceding October
Bishop Hannington had been murdered at the instigation of the king; and
he likewise stated that a relief-expedition had been organised, and had
started from Zanzibar in August under the charge of Dr. Fischer, but
that it had been prohibited from passing through Uganda, and had been
compelled to return. His advice to Dr. Junker was to use the greatest
caution, and by no means at present to venture without permission
into the territory of the bloodthirsty Mwanga, as the life of any
European was there in perpetual peril. Finally, he enclosed three
letters addressed to Emin Bey; one from Nubar Pasha, the Egyptian Prime
Minister, instructing him to abandon the province of the Equator; one
from Sir John Kirk, the English Consul at Zanzibar; and the third from
the Sultan, Saïd-Bargash.
Then followed three weary and disheartening months. Acting on Mr.
Mackay’s counsel, Junker applied to Mwanga for permission to pass
through his dominions. He knew well enough that elsewhere there was no
chance of purchasing materials for the relief of Emin, nor any chance
of finding for himself means to reach the coast. Pending the receipt
of a reply, he made a move nearer to the Uganda frontier, but on the
way he had the misfortune to injure himself seriously by a fall, and
at the same time found himself in perplexity through the desertion of
his porters, whilst to add to his difficulties it was discovered that
hostilities were recommencing between Unyoro and Uganda.
This state of warfare may be said to be chronic. The two kingdoms are
only separated by a small intervening tract which is overrun by troops
of armed marauders. Across this runs the natural route for caravans,
and all the Arab and native traders, travelling between Lake Victoria
or Lake Albert and the Soudan, have to be protected by an escort, and
so dangerous is the country that the march is most frequently made by
night.
After meeting with many obstacles and effecting some hair-breadth
escapes, Junker found himself safely over this debateable land, and
having obtained the permission for which he had asked, he entered the
Uganda territory, and arrived in May at Rubaga, King Mwanga’s capital.
Of all the large states in the basin of Lake Victoria, none is so
well known as that of Uganda. It encompasses the north and north-west
sides of the Lake, and its area can hardly be estimated at much less
than 20,000 square miles. According to the accounts of the travellers
who have gone through it, there seems little doubt that it is one of
the finest parts of Equatorial Africa, its soil near the Lake being
exceptionally fertile. The forests are luxuriant, containing trees of
the largest growth; beyond these are plains abundant in pasturage for
cattle, bananas and fig-trees flourishing in perfection. Further west,
the country changes its character, and instead of woods and prairies,
there are imposing hills rifted into valleys, that echo with the
rushing of torrents and the roar of cataracts.
The first chief of Uganda who was ever visited by Europeans was
the notorious Mtesa, who has been repeatedly pourtrayed by Speke,
Chaillé-Long, Stanley, Linant de Bellefond, and others. Always ready to
welcome the white man with cordiality, in 1880 he had advanced so far
as to make up his mind to despatch an embassy to Europe.
Several weeks, in 1874, were spent at the court of this negro sovereign
by Stanley, who gives a very striking account of Uganda, its ruler, and
his military power. At a review of the army to which he was invited, he
computed that there could be no less than 150,000 soldiers, who were
then about to be led on an expedition against the Wahuma. The bodyguard
was composed of 600 picked men, all armed with rifles. Besides the
army, the chief’s harem, consisting of 5000 wives, concubines, and
slaves, was exhibited on parade. In Central Africa, as well as upon
the banks of the Upper Nile and the Congo, a large number of wives is
regarded as a proof of wealth; each woman has her market value, and
may at any time be exchanged for stuffs, guns, beads, cattle, or other
merchandise.
Mtesa’s navy was hardly less imposing than his army. On the lake were
230 war-canoes of all sizes; the largest was seventy-five feet long
and manned by sixty-four rowers. Altogether the naval force was eight
thousand men.
Some doubts have been expressed as to the accuracy of the foregoing
figures; yet when the testimony of such men as Wilson and Felkin,
missionaries who have resided in the country, is taken into account,
stating the population to exceed 5,000,000, and when moreover it is
remembered that every man is trained to arms, so as to be ready for
immediate service, the muster of 150,000 soldiers in time of war does
not lie outside the range of probability.
But whether this estimate be exaggerated or not, it is certain that
travellers are of one mind in declaring that of all the African states
Uganda is the most advanced in all matters pertaining to civilisation;
and since 1862, when Speke and Grant first made their way thither, no
other tribe has made so forward a stride in internal development.
Equally rich and diversified are the products of the soil; the climate
is by no means variable and comparatively healthy; the inhabitants
(numerous as it has been affirmed they are) are brave, intelligent, and
singularly open to the influences of civilisation, whether from Arabs
or Europeans. The Arabs from Zanzibar, quite as much as the English and
French missionaries, are struggling hard for mastery over the minds of
the people, and Islamism is making marked progress.
It has not taken much more than twenty years for Arab example to effect
a complete revolution in the costume of the natives. At the date of
Speke’s visit, clothing was worn to the most limited extent; but now
the Uganda as well as the Unyoro dress themselves from head to foot.
Arab garments have gradually replaced the “mbougu” of bark, and the
very poorest of the people are seen attired in haïk, shirt, waistband
and caftan, and wear tarbooshes or turbans on their heads.
Mtesa died in 1885; he was succeeded by his son Mwanga, who is now the
reigning sovereign.
No sooner was Mwanga on the throne than he began to feel uneasy about
the maintenance of his independence, and to have misgivings lest
the advance of Europeans on Lake Victoria should damage or diminish
his authority. Every fresh advent of an exploring party, every new
arrival of missionaries, and especially any display of military
strength, and--not least--the territorial acquisitions of the Germans
in Zanzibar, all served to arouse his suspicion and to increase his
apprehensions. As his alarm increased the position of the English
and French missionaries at Rubaga grew more and more critical; and
at last his fears that the white man would come and “eat up” all his
lands became so intense that he gave orders for all intruders to be
massacred. Hence resulted the cruel murder of Bishop Hannington, who
had ventured into Uganda with the hope of establishing a Christian
settlement. Out of a caravan of fifty who came with him, only four
escaped.
Such was the condition of the country into which Dr. Junker now dared
to enter. He was obliged to act with the utmost circumspection, and so
remained unmolested for six weeks in the royal capital. Moreover, as
the result of his patience, and through the mediation of Mr. Mackay, he
succeeded in effecting a purchase of stuffs for Emin Bey to the value
of 2000 dollars. Mohammed Biri, the merchant whom he had met in Unyoro,
chanced to be in Rubaga, and undertook the conveyance of the goods
to Wadelai, a good service which he faithfully executed after some
opposition on the part of the king, to the great relief of Emin and his
followers, who had been so far reduced towards a state of nudity, that
they had been compelled to clothe themselves with the skins of animals.
Having thus enjoyed the satisfaction of providing in some degree for
the needs of those whom he had left behind, Junker turned his thoughts
to the prosecution of his journey. He made a few hurried preparations,
and on the 22nd of July, embarking on one of the mission-boats, he set
out to cross Lake Victoria.
The great Nyanza, discovered by Speke on the 4th of August 1858, and
named by him after his own sovereign, is the largest lake-basin in
the whole continent of Africa. Its area is 21,500 square miles, so
that it is twice as large as Belgium; there is only one lake in the
world that exceeds it in size, namely, Lake Superior in Canada. Its
vast surface is studded with islands, some 250 of which are clustered
in the north-west into an archipelago known as Sesse, all of them
characterised by singular beauty.
Storms and waterspouts are of frequent occurrence; and contrary winds
with violent squalls compelled Dr. Junker more than once to take
refuge on some of the islands, so that it was not until the 16th of
August, twenty-six days after starting, that he reached the southern
extremity of the lake, where he landed near the village of Msalala,
the missionaries from the settlement there hastening to offer him
hospitality, and aiding him to procure the means for continuing his
journey to the coast.
Now secure from all the perils of barbarism, he wrote a letter to Dr.
Schweinfurth, expressing his emotion at his deliverance, after six
weeks’ sojourn in Uganda, from the hands of the bloody king who had
murdered the English bishop, and, at the same time, exhibiting his
deep anxiety on behalf of those whom he had left at Wadelaï, and who
had been so closely associated with him in trial and danger. A copy of
portions of this letter is appended:--
“ENGLISH MISSION, MSALALA,
SOUTHERN EXTREMITY OF LAKE VICTORIA,
_April 16th, 1886_.
“DEAR FRIEND,--Escaped from the clutches of Mwanga, of Uganda, I
reached this place this morning, and hasten to take advantage
of the first courier leaving the Mission for the coast, to send
you a few lines.
“Forty porters and a few Zanzibaris have been already engaged,
and in a few days I hope to continue my journey towards Ujiji,
thence to Bagamoyo.
“Is it possible that nothing is being done for these unfortunate
equatorial provinces?... Write, my dear friend, write!... Let
vigorous articles from your pen be at once the means of opening
the eyes of the public to the truth....
“For my part, I shall do what is possible. It is absolutely
necessary that Emin Bey should at once have relief. At Uganda I
managed to procure him 2000 dollars’ worth of cotton goods, in
spite of the obstacles which Mwanga threw in the way. These were
to be conveyed to him by a certain Mohammed Biri, but had not
been despatched when I was obliged to leave.
“European prestige here is already on the decline. It will be a
dire disgrace if Europe makes no effort now. Let Mwanga and his
agents be put down! Let Uganda be rescued from their power! Let
Emin Bey be delivered from danger! Let the equatorial provinces
be re-conquered!
These are the hopes that animate me as I come back to Europe.
Write to me, I pray you. Send me a long letter to Zanzibar.--I
close this in haste. Your affectionate friend, lost and found
again,
“WILHELM JUNKER.”
When, two months later, these lines were submitted to the public in
Egypt and in Europe, no one could read them unmoved; they made the
state of things so clear, and witnessed so unmistakably to the perilous
situation of Emin, exposed, without provisions or ammunition, to the
attack of hostile tribes, and especially to the treachery of the bloody
Mwanga, that the appeal of one who had shared his imprisonment, and
had escaped only by facing terrible risks, could not fail to arrest
attention and to excite a generous sympathy.
Helped forwards on his journey by the Msalala missionaries, Junker
reached Ujiji, near Tabora, on the 18th of September, whence he had the
escort of the renowned Tippoo Tib, the Arab trader, who had rendered
such signal service to Livingstone, Cameron, and Stanley, and without
further misadventure arrived at Zanzibar at the beginning of December.
On the 10th of January 1887, he landed at Suez, where he was met by his
brother, the banker of St. Petersburg, and by Dr. Schweinfurth.
He had spent seven years in the heart of Africa.
CHAPTER VII.
THE RELIEF-EXPEDITION.
Attempted expeditions of Dr. Fischer and Dr. Lenz--Geographical
Society of Edinburgh--Routes to Wadelai from the east--The Congo
route--Formation of relief-committee in London--Arrival of
Stanley in Europe--Congo flotilla placed at his disposal by King
of the Belgians--European members of expedition--Departure from
London--Stanley at Cairo--Tippoo Tib accompanies Stanley--The
“Madura”--Start from Zanzibar.
Three years had passed without any direct communication with the
Europeans blockaded in the southern Soudan.
It was in 1882 that letters had been brought from Lupton and Junker to
Meshra-er-Rek, and thence conveyed to Khartoom by the “Ismailia,” the
last steamer that made the passage of the Upper Nile. Amongst those on
board on this occasion was Junker’s assistant, the naturalist, Frederic
Bohndorf, who was fortunate in getting safely to Egypt.
Vague rumours from time to time reached Zanzibar, carried by the ivory
traders, that some white men with troops were in the vicinity of Lake
Albert; and then came the more definite tidings that Junker and Casati
were safe at Lado, and at no great distance from Emin Bey. Whereupon,
Dr. Junker’s brother wrote from St. Petersburg to M. Rohlfs, the German
consul at Zanzibar, to ascertain the possibility of despatching an
expedition of relief. He was told that if the necessary funds were
forthcoming such an undertaking was quite practicable, and that Dr.
Fischer, who had for seven years been physician-extraordinary to
the Sultan Saïd-Bargash, and was an experienced traveller, would be
prepared to take it in charge.
The offer was accepted; and in August, Dr. Fischer, at the head of a
large caravan, took his departure from the coast.
Simultaneously with this, another expedition was being organised on the
Lower Congo, which was to be under the command of Dr. Oscar Lenz, an
Austrian, who was well known as an African traveller. It was settled
that he should endeavour to reach Wadelai by way of the Upper Congo.
Both these expeditions were failures. Dr. Fischer found it impossible
for any advance to be made beyond Lake Victoria; and Dr. Lenz, having
been conveyed as far as the Victoria Falls by a steamer belonging to
the Congo State, was unable to collect a caravan that would venture
into the unknown lands to the north-east: he was obliged, therefore,
to continue his journey to the south, proceeding by Nyangwe and Lake
Tanganyika.
Meanwhile a letter was received from Mr. Mackay, the English missionary
in Uganda, stating that he had heard that Dr. Junker, after many
difficulties, had arrived in the Unyoro country, and was only awaiting
his opportunity to pass through Mwanga’s territory and proceed
homewards.
Another year of suspense followed, during which great anxiety
prevailed; but at length tidings came from Zanzibar announcing that,
safe and sound, Junker had made his way to the mission-station at
Msalala. Great was the feeling of relief; and the general sympathy was
stirred afresh when, a month later, letters were received from the
traveller himself.
The civilised world was not indifferent to the appeal now made on
behalf of the remaining prisoners of the Soudan. A general movement was
felt. Dr. Schweinfurth took the lead in Egypt; Dr. Felkin, formerly
medical officer to the Uganda mission, agitated the cause in England;
in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium the public press and the
scientific journals alike called attention to the critical situation of
the surviving representatives of Europe in the district of the Upper
Nile.
To the Geographical Society of Edinburgh belongs the honour of taking
the initiative in reducing sympathy to practice. At a meeting, held on
the 23rd of November 1886, the following resolutions were proposed and
unanimously adopted:--
“That in consideration of his many services during twelve years in
Central Africa, rendered not only to geography, but to science in
general, and in recognition of his own personal endurance and of the
assistance he has uniformly given to explorers, the Council of this
Society deems that Emin Bey well deserves the support of the British
Government.
“That the Council does not advocate any military expedition being sent
to his relief, but believes that one of a pacific character might most
advantageously be undertaken by the British Government.
“That it seems certain, in the judgment of the Council, that an
expedition of this nature, traversing regions hitherto unexplored,
would contribute materially to a further geographical knowledge of the
interior of Africa.”
A copy of these resolutions was forwarded to London, to Lord
Iddesleigh, then Foreign Secretary.
Henceforth, the voice of the public did not let the matter rest. The
question was no longer whether an expedition should be sent, but what
route the expedition should take.
Three routes, all starting from Zanzibar, were suggested.
First of all, there was that proposed by Mr. Joseph Thomson, the
Scotch explorer, who offered his own services as conductor. This route
followed the direction which he had himself taken when he had gone to
the Masai country; on that occasion he had started from Mombasa on
the coast, and passed through Taveta, Ngongo and Njemps, reaching the
eastern shore of Lake Victoria near Ukala. The journey had occupied
nine months. He now anticipated that he could accomplish it in three
months, or perhaps four, apparently forgetting how he had himself been
unable to make any advance, and ignoring the fact that Dr. Fischer,
still more recently, had been foiled in his efforts to penetrate into
the countries populated by warlike and hostile tribes.
A second scheme was advocated by Dr. Felkin. Anxious to keep clear of
all complications with the relentless King of Uganda, he recommended
that a long detour beyond Lake Victoria should be made in the Mutaa
Nzigé basin. It was a route that would necessitate the passage of the
caravan through regions absolutely unknown, and would bring it into
contact with a dense population that had obstructed Stanley’s progress
in 1877. It was not only very long but very hazardous, and the voice of
prudence might well ask whether it was desirable to risk so much where
all was so uncertain.
Then, thirdly, there arose involuntarily the thought of Stanley. Was
not he the right, if not the only man, for such an undertaking? The
traveller, undaunted and renowned, who had found Livingstone in 1870,
who had crossed Africa from shore to shore, and discovered the Congo
in 1878, who had formed the independent state upon the Congo banks in
1884, was not this the leader whose services they should seek? Were not
his experience, his energy, his reputation amongst the native tribes
the surest guarantees upon which to rely?
Meanwhile it had transpired that Stanley himself was ready to
co-operate with the organising committee; he would even undertake the
conduct of an expedition. The route he would recommend would be that
which he had taken in 1876; the journey from Zanzibar to Lake Victoria
was known, by frequent repetition, to be practicable; beyond the Lake
he would run the risk of dealing with Mwanga: he would endeavour to
enter into negotiations with him; he was sanguine that he could induce
him to renew his amicable relations with the white man, and thus having
overcome the obstacles, and having obtained permission to pass through
Uganda, he should go to Unyoro and Lake Albert, and thence proceed to
Wadelaï by water.
Of the three routes thus suggested, the last seemed to have most
to commend it to approval. It was certainly the best known and the
most direct; yet it was not to be overlooked that it had the decided
disadvantage of having to be accomplished almost entirely on foot.
Supposing the expedition to consist of 1000 men, how many, it must be
asked, would hold out, even so far as Lake Victoria? Before arriving
at the place of embarkation they would have to tramp more than 700
miles, under a burning equatorial sun, every one carrying a burden of
over seventy pounds. How many would desert? how many would succumb to
fatigue, and die? how many would be struck down with fever, and become
an encumbrance to the rest?
Arrived at the Lake, it had further to be considered whether it were
by any means certain that boats enough could be secured to convey the
hundreds of men, with all the baggage, across.
But the Lake, after all, was only half way, and it was _beyond_
the Lake that the chief difficulties were to be apprehended. Who could
foretell what dangers would be awaiting the caravan in Uganda? At the
first symptom of hostility the porters would be seized with panic; and
what was to hinder them from deserting _en masse_? The way from
Zanzibar by which they had come would be open, and what could prevent
them from making their way back if they chose?
All these considerations had to be weighed.
It was while the matter was under debate, that the writer of the
present volume published an article in “Le Mouvement Géographique”
of December 6, in which he proposed the route by way of the Congo and
Aruwimi.
The substance of the article was to the following effect:--“Is there no
other route besides those which have been already proposed? Why not the
Congo? Not the Congo with its wide deviation to the south, by Nyangwé,
as followed by Dr. Lenz; but _the Congo as far as and along the
course of the Aruwimi_.
“From Banana to Matadi the passage by steamer takes only thirteen
hours. The journey on foot to Leopoldville would require from fifteen
to twenty days. Recently the steamer “Stanley” has occupied only
twenty-seven days in ascending the Congo from Stanley Pool to the
Aruwimi, and when Stanley was exploring the river he got up to Yambuya
in two days more.
“Supposing then that the proper appliances and that the necessary
porters can be secured, and that no unforeseen hindrances shall
arise to prevent a continuous advance, it may be reckoned that in
thirty-five to forty days, or, to take the utmost limit, in two months,
an expedition might well accomplish the distance between Banana and
Yambuya, which is just below the Aruwimi Falls. It would, moreover,
involve no excessive exertion, as so large a proportion of the journey
would be by water.
“True indeed it is that this point lies on the threshold of the
unknown; yet, after all, this ‘unknown’ may be held to be less
alarming than the districts of Unyoro and Uganda, which are only too
‘well known.’ Upon the Aruwimi both Stanley and Grenfell fell in with
peaceable tribes, and what merits consideration is, that the unexplored
tract only extends to Sanga, at a distance of little over 130 miles.
Sanga itself is the residence of a Monbuttoo chief who gave Junker a
hospitable reception; while the district to the east has been explored,
not only by him, but likewise by Casati, and in some degree by Emin
Bey. All these three would no doubt be remembered by the inhabitants,
whose intentions may still be reckoned to be friendly, so that in all
probability the caravan would be well received, and readily supplied
both with provisions and guides.
“As to the question of time, it seems to us hardly to admit a doubt
that Wadelaï would be much more quickly reached by the Congo and
Aruwimi than by any other route from the east coast. In short, it may
be maintained that by the way which is here proposed, it would be
possible to arrive at the quarters of Emin Bey _in five months_.”
It had especially to be taken into account how comparatively easy the
advance would be made by the fact of 900 miles on the upper river being
by water. It was likewise an ascertained fact that food was abundant
in the district, and these two facts combined demonstrated that the
caravan would enter the unknown region with the men in robust health,
not worn out by any previous fatigue; whilst at the same time they
would have no way open by which they could be tempted to desert.
In England at first the opposition to the Congo route was very great.
Every one seemed to have a preference for the eastern, or what was
called “the Zanzibar route.” The matter remained undecided--the
Government took no step--but meanwhile private enterprise was on the
alert, and active measures were being pushed forward. The wealthy
Scotch philanthropist, Mr. Mackinnon, director of the British India
Steam Navigation Company, was made chairman of the organising
committee, and with his usual munificence, subscribed £10,000 towards
an expedition. Sir Francis de Winton, formerly administrator-general of
the Congo State, took the office of secretary; the Egyptian Government
pledged itself to give financial support; the King of the Belgians gave
the committee the warmest assurances of his sympathy, and placed at
its disposal, if the Congo route should be adopted, a portion of the
Upper Congo flotilla; and to crown the whole, Stanley volunteered his
personal services, which of course were immediately accepted.
At that time Stanley was in America. Ever indefatigable in his vocation
of advancing the cause of Africa, he was holding a series of meetings
in the large towns of the United States, but he was no sooner apprised
of the formation of the relief-expedition than he hurried back to
London, where he arrived on the 27th of December, and from whence he
proceeded on the 30th to Brussels.
Matters now advanced apace; decisions were promptly made and orders
were definitely given. Communications passed rapidly between London,
Brussels, Cairo, Zanzibar and the Congo. Egypt was requested to
furnish a company of Soudanese soldiers, and Sir John Kirk, the British
Consul at Zanzibar, was instructed to engage several hundred soldiers
and porters. The Congo route had been deliberately and finally chosen.
Mr. Mackinnon sent orders to Bombay that one of his company’s steamers
should be at Zanzibar in readiness to convey the expedition to the
mouth of the Congo; and Stanley lost no time in making up his staff of
European coadjutors, returning once more to Brussels to take his leave
of King Leopold.
On the 20th of January 1887, the main body of the staff left London
by the _Navarino_; it consisted of Major Barttelot of the 7th
Fusileers, one of the bravest officers in the Soudan campaign; Captain
Stairs of the Royal Artillery; Captain Nelson of the Volunteers;
Lieutenant Jephson; Surgeon-Major Parke; Mr. Jameson the naturalist;
Mr. Bonney and Mr. Ward. They carried with them a large cargo of
provisions and a complete supply of ammunition, one of the specialities
being a mitrailleuse worked on a novel plan, designed by Maxim the
engineer, a murderous weapon capable of firing six hundred shots a
minute, and which might prove an effective means of defence if any
hostile attack were made upon them. Lastly, there was a steel-plated
whale-boat to be navigated by either oars or sails, made in twelve
sections, so as to admit of being carried by hand, and designed to
facilitate the river passage and ultimately to be launched upon Lake
Albert.
In addition to the eight members of the staff who started for Zanzibar
there were two others, Mr. Ingham, and Mr. Troup, a former agent of the
Free State, who embarked at Liverpool direct for the Congo, and were
commissioned to engage 1500 natives to act as porters in transporting
all the baggage along the line of the falls, from Matadi to Stanley
Pool.
Stanley himself left London for Egypt _viâ_ Brindisi, on the 21st.
By this route he gained several days’ advance upon the _Navarino_,
and spent the interval in Cairo, in consultation with Dr. Schweinfurth
and Dr. Junker, who had arrived there a fortnight previously.
It has been asserted that at this date there was an entire lack of
agreement between the three travellers about the proper route to be
taken; it has moreover been stated that the Egyptian Government so
far adopted Dr. Junker’s views, that the Zanzibar route ought to be
followed, as to threaten to withdraw its support in case any other
route were chosen. Such representations are by no means fair. It is
true that at first Dr. Schweinfurth expressed some degree of preference
for the Zanzibar route, but very soon, like Dr. Junker, he acceded to
the choice of the Congo route; while as to the Egyptian Government
there was not the least foundation for what was said; it gave its
financial support to the undertaking entirely unconditionally, and
engaged, moreover, to provide the Soudanese soldiers for which it was
asked.
On the 6th of February, Stanley left Cairo for Suez, and on the 22nd
he reached Zanzibar, where he learned that the steamer _Madura_,
which was to convey him to the mouth of the Congo, had arrived the day
before.
An incident occurred during his brief stay at Zanzibar, which, when
known in Europe, created no slight sensation. This was the engagement
of Tippoo Tib as an agent of the Congo Free State.
Tippoo Tib is the wealthy Arab trader whom Livingstone and Cameron
found settled at Nyangwé on the Lualaba, and who some years later
accompanied Stanley through part of his descent of the Congo. Dr. Lenz
and Lieutenant Gleerup during their travels visited his depôts on the
Lualaba and the Manyema; the Belgian Lieutenant Becker and the Swedish
Lieutenant Webster both transacted business with him, and Dr. Junker,
as has been mentioned, completed his journey from Tabora to Zanzibar
under his escort. Every one of these travellers gives uniform high
praise to his intelligence, his trustworthiness, and the courtesy of
his manners.
His real name is Hamed-ben-Mohammed, Tippoo Tib being a nickname given
him on account of a peculiar movement of his eyes.
Lieutenant Becker has written the following description of him: “The
son of a Zanzibar Arab and a Mrima woman, Tippoo Tib has resided
for ten years in the Manyema district, where he enjoys an unbounded
popularity, not only in his own, but in the adjoining districts, where
he is known as a man who would heartily disapprove of any unneighbourly
acts.
[Illustration: TIPPOO TIB.
(_From a Drawing by M. Louis Amelot._)]
“From his immense plantations, cultivated by thousands of slaves, all
blindly devoted to their master, and from his ivory-trade, of which
he has the monopoly, he has in his duplex character of conqueror
and trader, succeeded in creating for himself in the heart of Africa
a veritable empire, in which, though he is nominally a vassal of the
Sultan Saïd-Bargash, his authority is supreme.
“Though not of pure Arab blood, the Arab characteristic seems so
far predominant in him as to dispose him instinctively to the
exercise of patriarchal virtues. His self-command, his indomitable
courage, his capacity for business, his far-sightedness, his rapid
power of decision, his unfailing success, and a certain chivalrous
attractiveness of manner, combine to make him, like Mirambo, a kind of
hero, celebrated by all the rhapsodists of Oriental Africa.”
Apparently Tippoo Tib is about forty-five years of age; he has short
grisly hair and beard; he converses with much vivacity, his utterance
being concise, energetic, and decisive. Only let the subject of ivory
be introduced, and at once he is animated, and his eyes gleam with
excitement; he becomes like one of the old Californian gold-diggers,
who glowed with ecstasy when they told of their work, their findings,
and their hopes. Ivory, in fact, may be said to be his absorbing
thought. To this he owes all his wealth, and consequently his power,
which, according to Wissman, who is acquainted with his territory,
is much greater than is generally known. Owner as he is of numerous
caravans of armed slaves, which he places under the command of his
subordinates, he has cultivated large tracts of country, and in the
course of time has established several very important agricultural
settlements. It has been insinuated in certain quarters that his vast
riches have not all been accumulated from irreproachable sources,
and that a full statement of his mercantile transactions would show
a somewhat intimate connection between ivory-dealing and the slave
traffic.
Be this, however, as it may, he is held in high repute by the natives,
by travellers, and by the Europeans on the coast, and this reputation
has been acquired by his extraordinary administrative faculty, by his
prominent position amongst his fellow-traders and co-religionists, by
his hospitality, and most of all, by his steadfastness to his word.
Already an important character in eastern and central Africa, recent
events have made him a historical personage.
In January 1885, when Captain Van Gèle, as agent of the Congo
Association, arrived at Stanley Falls, he found that Tippoo Tib was
established in the neighbourhood. He made a point of seeing him, and
received from him the most satisfactory assurances of his peaceful
intentions towards the white settlers, and his great desire to enter
into amicable relations with them. It turned out, however, that
eighteen months afterwards, the station, which was guarded only by a
couple of Europeans and a few black soldiers, was attacked by Arabs,
and deserted by its little garrison. It was true that the affair had
taken place while Tippoo Tib was absent, and as subsequent inquiries
showed, it was to be attributed, not so much to any positive hostility
on the part of the Arabs, as to the incapability of the controller of
the station, Mr. Deane, an Englishman. Yet it could not do otherwise
than create considerable uneasiness in the Congo State, which was only
then in process of formation.
And now, in 1887, having learned that both Tippoo Tib and Stanley
were at Zanzibar together, the Congo Government took advantage of the
circumstance to seek an explanation as to how it had come to pass that
the station at the Falls had been assailed. In reply to Stanley’s
inquiry, Tippoo Tib renewed his assurances of his recognition of the
Congo State, expressed his deep regret for what had happened, and
declared that the assault had been made both during his absence and
without his sanction.
The Congo Government had a further design. Considering that in a
country so hard of access for European troops, it would be good
policy to secure the aid of Arab hands towards suppressing raids and
checking the slave traffic, and, moreover, reckoning that it would be
for the interests of civilisation if a recognised system of trade and
agriculture could be established, they instructed Stanley to sound the
Arab merchant as to whether he would be disposed to take office in the
service of the Free State itself.
Accordingly, on the 23rd of February an interview took place, as the
result of which Tippoo Tib was definitely appointed Commissioner of the
district of the Falls. By the covenants of the agreement he undertook
to uphold the authority of the Free State along the upper river and
its affluents, both at the station and lower down at the confluence of
the Aruwimi, specified as the limit of his district; and to oppose the
native chiefs and Arab traders, restraining them in all their raids
and slave-traffic.
Criticism, keen and adverse, was awakened by the measure. Just as it
had been when Gordon proposed to enlist the co-operation of Zebehr
for the pacification of the Soudan, so now the idea of applying
to an Arab trader for assistance in suppressing the slave-trade
seemed unreasonable, if not preposterous. No doubt the circumstances
were perplexing. It is an experiment; but Tippoo Tib’s position is
exceptional. Unlooked-for results may follow. The future alone can
determine whether the policy is right or wrong. The compact with Tippoo
Tib has been based solely upon his high repute for fidelity, gained
amongst the most renowned and most discriminating of African explorers.
One thing which was immediately involved by this compact with Tippoo
Tib was his co-operation with the relief-expedition now about to
start. Accordingly it was arranged that he should accompany Stanley to
the west coast and up the Congo, as far as the Falls station, there
providing him with the 600 porters that would be required to bring the
ivory back from Wadelaï.
At this date Stanley wrote: “When I was in Cairo Dr. Junker told me
that Emin Bey has in his possession about seventy tons of ivory. At
eight shillings a pound this would be worth more than £60,000. Not
only would this cover all the expenses of our expedition, but would
make it a financial success. Why not bring the ivory to the Congo? It
would require nothing more than an adequate supply of porters; and this
consideration has determined me to negotiate with Tippoo Tib, who has
contracted to provide me with 600 men, at the rate of £6 each for a
journey from the Falls station to Lake Albert and back. As every porter
carries a load of 70 lbs. we may reckon that each journey would bring a
net value of £12,000 to the Falls.”
On his arrival at Zanzibar, Stanley found that everything had been
admirably arranged by Mr. Mackenzie, the agent of the British India
Steam Navigation Company, who had the co-operation of the English
Consul. Provisions and merchandise had been already embarked, and the
auxiliaries had been gathered together, so that Stanley had only at
once to go on board. During the time that Stanley was negotiating his
contract with Tippoo Tib, Mr. Mackenzie was paying four months’ wages
in advance to the 623 Zanzibaris who had been hired for the expedition;
they were paid in detachments of fifty at a time, and forthwith sent in
a barge to the _Madura_.
Thus far, including the nine Europeans, sixty-three Soudanese, and
fourteen Somalis, the expedition consisted of 709 men, who were divided
into seven companies; to these had now to be added Tippoo Tib with his
suite of ninety, comprising both sexes, making an aggregate of just 800.
The _Madura_ left Zanzibar on the 24th of February; on the 9th of
March she passed the Cape; and on the 18th cast anchor in Banana Creek,
at the mouth of the Congo.
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE LOWER CONGO.
The Congo--The Congo Free State--Its political and judicial
organization--Trade settlements--Instructions for aiding
Stanley--Arrival of the _Madura_ at Banana--Transport
flotilla--Boma--Camp at Matadi--Trial-march--Start to the
interior.
The Congo claims the seventh place among the largest rivers of the
world. It is nearly 3000 miles in length. In the volume of its waters
it has no rival in the Eastern hemisphere, this being estimated at
more than 50,000 cubic yards a second. In the magnitude of its current
it is surpassed only by the Amazon. It rises in the high plateaux of
Mouxinga, between 3000 and 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and
forms in two different places a series of rapids. Its course through
Central Africa is often obstructed by islands, and extending in width
from twelve to eighteen miles, describes a vast curve which is twice
crossed by the Equator. On either side it receives numerous affluents,
and thus drains a river-basin, which in its area must be hardly less
than half as large as the whole continent of Europe.
Long ago the Congo would have constituted the principal avenue to
the interior had it not been that a succession of falls and rapids
about 100 miles from its mouth completely paralysed all efforts for
navigation. These rapids, until recently, have had the effect of making
the Congo a sort of _cul-de-sac_, a den of slavers into which
European merchants hesitated to venture with any design of forming
settlements. When Stanley for the first time reached the western coast
on his way from Zanzibar to Nyangwé, a few trade-depôts were scattered
at long intervals along the shores of the lower river, and Boma, about
twenty hours’ journey from the coast, was the outpost of civilization
and commerce; for travellers who should risk any further advance
there was the prospect of dying of hunger and of perishing in unknown
districts where barbarism reigned supreme. This was ten years ago!
Such a discovery as Stanley’s could not fail to awaken the keenest
interest. Here was revealed to the eyes of Europe a vast region in the
heart of Africa, rich, fertile, and densely populated, and permeated
by a colossal river-way, the mouth of which presented the exceptional
advantage of being dominated by no European power. The opportunity for
commercial enterprise was too fine to be overlooked, and accordingly,
under the auspices of Leopold, King of the Belgians, a conference was
held in Berlin, which resulted in the formation of the “Congo Free
State” in the year 1885.
Since the date of King Leopold’s proclamation, announcing the
establishment of the new order of things, European activity has
produced large results on the Lower Congo. The conditions of existence
are improving with singular rapidity, and a political organisation has
grown into fair proportions without provoking any serious opposition
from the native chiefs. The administration of the State is carried on,
in the name of the King, by a Governour-General who has the control
of every department with its proper staff, consisting of about 150
European agents distributed over twelve stations. There is a military
force of about 1000 black soldiers recruited from the Haoussa of the
Niger and the Bangala of the Upper Congo; these are under the command
of Belgian officers and subalterns. On the lower part of the river
a sort of police-inspection is maintained by the employment of six
steam-boats, which are serviceable also, as occasion arises, for the
conveyance of the officials. In addition to these there are five other
steamers on the Upper Congo.
[Illustration: THE FORCES OF THE CONGO STATE ON DRILL AT VIVI.
(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]
To provide against such infringements of the laws of morality as seem
to demand immediate repression a penal code has been issued; but this
is only temporary in its character, and is to be replaced, as soon as
experience will allow, by a more definite classification of crimes and
award of punishments. The present is a transition state between the
social anarchy of the past and the future reign of law. A court of
justice is established at Banana, with a court of appeal at Boma.
A postal service exists, and the State moreover has entered the
convention of the Postal Union. Offices of the civil service are
open in three departments. To ensure the stability of property and
to provide security for any investment of capital, a State Register
has been established. In its general principles the Congo Land Law is
founded upon the “Torrens Act,” a system which has been a practice
in Australia since 1858, and has likewise been adopted by France, in
Tunis. For the registration of titles to land plans have already been
made, by a special survey, of all the districts on the lower river
where there are any European settlements.
All trade on the Congo, as is generally known, is quite free. The
State, by its international agreements, is prohibited from levying
either import or transport duty: its only privilege is to receive an
export-duty on certain of the productions of the State territory, but
even this is very moderate, and rarely amounts to more than four per
cent. on the value of the goods.
The French were the first to establish any merchant-settlement on the
Congo. In 1855, the house of Régis & Co. of Paris (now Daumas, Béraud
& Co.) planted a depôt on Banana Point, which still retains the name
of “French Point;” in subsequent years came the Dutch, followed by the
Portuguese and English, and finally in 1885 by the Belgians.
[Illustration: GROUP OF KABINDA SERVANTS.
(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]
In 1876, just before the date at which Stanley first arrived at Boma
on his way from the interior, there were upon the banks of the Lower
Congo thirty-three factories and branch-factories. Ten years later,
resulting mainly from the impetus given by the enterprise of the
Congo Association, this number was nearly tripled, so that in 1886
there were eighty-five establishments on the Lower Congo alone. In
addition to these fifteen other stations belonging to the State, either
mission-stations or business-marts, completed the chain of civilising
and hospitable centres along the line of the Falls from Matadi to
Leopoldville. There are now nine stations upon Stanley Pool and ten
upon the Upper Congo. Hence it will be seen that upwards of fifty new
settlements have been made upon the banks of the river which ten years
since might have been described as practically unknown.
Progress such as this bears striking testimony to the far-sightedness
of those who from the very first recognised the Congo as a promising
avenue for carrying civilisation into the heart of Africa, and opening
the rich resources of the country to European trade.
There is no room for question that the Congo is the one great
river-highway for Equatorial Africa. Either by its own proper course
or by its larger affluents it leads to the confines of Katanga,
Manyema, the Soudan and the basin of the Upper Nile. So great are
the comparative facilities that it offers for transport, and so
comparatively certain is the security that prevails along its course
that, notwithstanding its wide deflections, it could not reasonably
fail to be proposed and finally to be adopted as the route which should
be taken by the expedition now fitted out for the relief of Emin Bey:
nor was any one so likely to appreciate the advantages it offered as
Stanley, who had himself been the first to make known its eligibility
to the world.
Obviously all the European settlements along the river would be fresh
starting-points for the expedition, while the river itself would convey
their steamers and whale-boats nearly a thousand miles inland: added to
this there was the assurance of co-operation of the local government,
to which the following instructions had been sent from Brussels by
General Strauch, the Minister of the Interior:--“His Majesty the
King, having been requested to authorise the State to aid the relief
expedition, undertakes to place at its disposal the _Stanley_ and
two steel-plated barges for two, or if need be, for three months. It
was with reference to this that I sent you the telegram on the 15th of
January, desiring you to give orders that the _Stanley_ should be
at Leopoldville on the 1st of April ready to ascend the river.
[Illustration: ARRIVAL OF THE EXPEDITION AT BANANA.]
“In addition to the agreement, the conditions of which I now forward,
the King has likewise promised the English committee that Mr. Stanley
shall receive whatever assistance our agents in Africa can give him,
saving all detriment to the interests of the State.
“This is no legal contract in the full sense of the word; it is simply
a promise made upon the part of the King; but His Majesty is most
anxious that it should be fulfilled; he does not entertain a doubt
that our agents in Africa, many of whom are devoted men, will exert
themselves, within the limits specified, to give their co-operation,
even though it should entail upon them a certain amount of trouble;
and he trusts that all of them will be desirous of saying that they
have contributed to the success of an undertaking designed to relieve
valiant soldiers who are so endeavouring to retain the last corner of
the Soudan that it may not fall back into the grasp of barbarism.”
In due time the expedition arrived. At eight o’clock on the morning
of March 18th the _Madura_ steamed into the harbour of Banana
and cast anchor in front of the French factory. Two hours previously
she had been signalled in sight, and the entire population of the
place, white and black, thronged to the quay to await the arrival of
the ship and to give her welcome. In the harbour was an exceptionally
large concourse of steamers; there were the _Héron_ and the
_Prince Baudoin_ of the Congo State Navy; the _Cacongo_ of
the Portuguese Royal Navy; the _Serpa Pinto_, belonging to the
Portuguese firm of Valle and Azevedo; the _Nieman_, to the Dutch
factory; the _Albuquerque_, to the British Congo Company; the
_Angola_, to the English firm of Hatton & Cookson; a steamer
belonging to the line of Woermann & Co. of Hamburg; and lastly the
_Lys_, of the line of Walford & Co. of Antwerp, which was lying in
melancholy plight on one of the sand-banks of the creek, where she had
run aground two days before, through the carelessness of her captain.
No time was lost. Scarcely had the _Madura_ made good her
holdings, when the leader of the expedition proceeded in a pilot-boat
to shore, intent upon satisfying himself at once as to what means of
transport were available. Stanley is not only a bold and enterprising
explorer, but it would seem as if the star of his good fortune never
fails him; and now again it was shining favourably, inasmuch as it
was a most fortuitous circumstance that so unusually large a number of
steam-vessels should be assembled at one time at Banana. Not the least
difficulty arose in securing the necessary assistance; the controllers
of the factories and the commander of the Portuguese gunboat were
equally ready and courteous in helping to forward men and baggage to
Matadi.
The arrival of Tippoo Tib on board the _Madura_, and his
appointment as agent of the Congo State, was the cause of as much
surprise in Banana as in Europe. He did not land with Stanley, but
remained on the ship, where the hundreds of men that formed the
expedition were drawn up in perfect order and discipline, singularly
in contrast with the usual habits of negroes when associated in any
numbers. Good training was already beginning to tell.
Next day the change of ships was effected without commotion or
accident, and the flotilla commenced the ascent of the river past Boma
to Matadi. The _Albuquerque_ and the _Nieman_ took the lead
with the Zanzibaris and the Somalis on board; the _Serpa Pinto_
followed, carrying Stanley and Tippoo Tib; then came the _Héron_,
and lastly the _Cacongo_ with the Egyptian detachment. In this
order the steamers arrived on the 20th in the roadstead of Boma, where
they stayed awhile, without shutting off their steam, to allow Stanley
to make a short visit on shore.
For about a year Boma has been the seat of the local administration
of the Free State, removed from Vivi where it had been originally
established. It is also the residence of the Governour-General. The
roadstead is very fine, more than half a mile in width and varying
in depth from three to ten fathoms. The whole settlement is rapidly
extending. Already its buildings of wood and iron, scattered along
the river bank and running up to the high ground at the back, present
an appearance that is exceedingly picturesque. Factories of various
nations, Dutch, French, Portuguese and English, are erected on the
shore, where also are to be seen the different departmental offices
of the land-survey, the post, the customs and the shipping. Upon the
high ground of the plateau, which is before long to be connected
with the quay-level by a short railway, stand the house of the
Governour-General, the residences of the public officials engaged
in the works or connected with finance, the sanatorium, and the
barracks for the garrison. Over the intervening slopes are scattered
the quarters of the black dependents, little villages of Haoussa,
Bangala, Kabinda, Krooboys, Kaffirs and Bacongo. Close to the river
there is likewise a mission served by French priests; and a little
lower down on the island of Mateba is a Belgian agricultural settlement
founded by M. Roubaix of Antwerp.
[Illustration: VIEW OF BOMA.]
It is but a few years since the white population of Boma was under
twenty-five in number; now, including Mateba, it must amount to about
120, of whom nearly half have some share in the administration of the
State. Its black population, composed exclusively of soldiers and
labourers on the Government works or in the factories, numbers not less
than 500. The garrison is 200 strong, and is composed of one company of
Haoussa recruits from the Niger basin and another of Bangala from the
Upper Congo: they wear uniform and are armed with Schneider rifles.
Stanley’s stay on shore at Boma was very brief, and having received
some of the chief Government officials who visited him on the _Serpa
Pinto_, he resumed the voyage to Matadi, arriving there about five
o’clock the same evening.
Matadi is a group of little European settlements on the left bank of
the Congo, almost exactly opposite Vivi. There is a Government station,
and a Dutch and a Portuguese factory. It is the starting point on the
pedestrian route along the south bank to Stanley Pool, and will in all
probability be the site of the terminus of the railway which is in
project.
In due order the disembarkment was made on the following day. The
expedition took up its quarters on an open plot of ground not far
from the Portuguese factory. It was the first drill in the way of
encampment. All the different burdens were collected together,
including the sections of the whale-boat and the mitrailleuse. Besides
these there were the Zanzibar donkeys provided as mounts for the
Europeans and Arabs, and the herd of Cape sheep and goats that were
destined to supply the table of the officials along the way.
[Illustration: BOYS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF VIVI.
(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]
Before starting for good along the roadway past the rapids, which
Stanley knew by personal toil to be extremely arduous, he resolved to
make an experimental march out, and to have a preliminary practice in
the method of encamping. Accordingly he gave the necessary instructions
to his coadjutors, and the whole caravan being divided, as it has
been said, into seven sections of over one hundred, each under the
command of a European, it was conducted, baggage and all, to an open
place that seemed suited to the purpose.
Mounted on a donkey that had been handsomely caparisoned for the
occasion, Stanley took the head of the column. By his side marched one
of his boys, bearing the stars and stripes of the American banner; an
overt demonstration that notwithstanding his English birth, and in
spite of his being in the service of the ruler of the Congo and in
command of an Anglo-Egyptian expedition, he does not forget, nor intend
it to be forgotten, that he is an adopted citizen of the United States.
Everything was done well and in order. The caravan unwound itself like
a huge serpent along the river-bank, and received orders to make a
second encampment near the station.
On another day, a trial was made of the Maxim mitrailleuse, which was
pointed across the river and discharged with startling effect.
Four days were passed at Matadi, partly in organisation, partly in
rest, the actual start for the interior being made on the 25th of
March.
In the early morning, at half-past four, the camp was aroused by the
sound of a shrill and piercing blast. This proceeded from a kind of
marine fog-horn provided with a huge gong and worked by a piston,
designed to be used for the daily reveillé. Instantaneously every one
was on the stir, and for a quarter of an hour the hubbub and confusion
of 800 negroes rushing about everywhere, shouting and gesticulating,
were inconceivably great. Hard work had the eight Europeans of the
staff, as they galloped backwards and forwards on their donkeys, to
bring about anything like method; but they ultimately succeeded, and
gradually calmness was restored, and the caravan was duly arranged in
marching order.
In the vanguard were the Soudanese soldiers; then followed the Somalis,
the Zanzibaris and the porters with their loads; Tippoo Tib and his
people fell into their allotted place; the twelve sections of the
whale-boat were distributed, each to be carried by two bearers, and the
flocks were sent to the rear of the column. Then the various banners
were unfurled and floated gaily along the line; the standard of the
“Emin Relief Expedition” was in front side by side with Stanley’s
American flag; then there were the standards of England and of
Egypt; and besides these the Arab oriflammes, glittering with their
inscriptions from the Koran. Thus was the caravan marshalled ready to
start.
Another blast from the horn and the caravan was on the move. The Emin
Pasha expedition had indeed set out for the interior!
It was now two months since Stanley had started from London; he had
reckoned that if no impediment should arise to hinder him, he should in
about five months arrive where he would be close to Emin’s quarters.
Immediately before him now lay a journey of hardly less than 2000
miles, well nigh the same distance as there is between Madrid and St.
Petersburg.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS.
The Congo in the district of the Falls--Progress of
European occupation--Proposed line of railway--The rock of
Palaballa--Caravan route--Passage of the Luvu--A native
market--Passage of the Kuilu--Mount Bidi--Station of Lukungu
and adjacent settlements--The Bakongo--Service of porters--Mr.
Ingham and Mr. Rose Troup--The River Inkissi--Arrival at Stanley
Pool.
Parallel to the coast of Africa, and at no great distance from it,
there lies a range of low mountains, formed on the edge of the
plateaus, the uniformity of which is broken at intervals by some
isolated peaks. Across this coast-chain the waters collected in the
central plains have hollowed out for themselves channels along which
they escape towards the sea, and these channels are shut in by rocky
cliffs between which the streams roll on with an impetuous rush.
Of these watercourses none is so noted, nor at the same time so wild
and romantic, as that along which pours the enormous volume of the
waters of the Congo. Between Matadi and Leopoldville the stream is
interrupted by no less than thirty-two falls or rapids, every one of
which presents a spectacle of real magnificence.
[Illustration: THE CONGO AT THE STATION OF ISANGHILA.
(_From a Sketch by M. Manduan._)]
Imagination may well conceive of the river-bed as a gigantic staircase,
some 200 miles in length, descending from an altitude of 800 feet, and
divided by thirty-two steps all differing in width and height; it is
enclosed on either hand by rocky banks, and ever and again obstructed
by dark projecting reefs and blocks of stone of every size and shape.
Such is the Cyclopean channel along which rushes the Congo. It is the
monarch of the Old-World rivers, here in its infant course spreading
out into an expanse of water some 2000 or 3000 yards wide, and here
again contracting itself to a breadth of 300 yards, but continuously
gaining in its depth and velocity what it loses in its superficial
extent. At every angle of the channel through which it rolls it
seems to assume a different character; in one place it appears to be
possessed with a furious rage that is indomitable, as it precipitates
itself into an amphitheatre of rocks where the waters whirl in
tumultuous eddies and dashing themselves against the granite crags are
mingled in terrific chaos; at another place, after having continued
its wild career for some miles (as at the rapids of Nsongo and Lumba),
the foaming billows of the river gradually subside and are lulled to
rest, till they spread themselves out in the tranquillity of a placid
lake.
The calm, however, is all a delusion; soon again the still waters
are animated with redoubled fury; once more they dash forward with
increased velocity, and finding a yet steeper slope, they hurl
themselves into another of the romantic gorges, where they renew their
ebullitions with an awful roar.
On either side of the river, as thus it tears along its impetuous
course, are lines of hills, often rising into peaks with bare summits,
broken either by sloping valleys or by deep ravines, the sides of
which are clothed with tall rank grass, except in parts where they are
marshy, or covered with dense forests.
Such is the region of the Falls; such is the giant barrier which Nature
has erected almost adjacent to the mouth of the Congo, as though she
desired to throw every impediment she could in the way of access to
these regions of Africa, and to do her utmost to provide a bulwark to
defend the wealth of the interior. For three centuries every effort of
the intruder has been baffled; the barrier has been effectual to rebuff
every expedition that has been taken in hand, and has defied each
successive attempt to penetrate the secrets of the mysterious land.
It was reserved for Stanley to overcome the obstacle, but the
achievement was accomplished at the cost of enormous labour and large
sacrifice of life.
In 1877, when he was in command of the expedition that had been started
under the joint auspices of the _New York Herald_ and the _Daily
Telegraph_, he took no less than five months in descending the river
from Stanley Pool to Boma, his progress being perpetually impeded both
by the practical difficulties of the road and by the hostility of the
natives. On the way he lost fifteen of his men, including Frank Pocock,
the last of his European associates.
Two years later he again appeared upon the scene, this time under
commission from the King of the Belgians, and at the head of an
expedition for “the survey of the Upper Congo.” Carrying sections of
steamers and buildings, as well as a variety of materials in his
train, he spent a further two years in making his way up from Vivi to
Stanley Pool. During this time six Europeans and fifty natives died,
whilst fifteen other white men became so unwell that they were obliged
to return. Such was the original balance-sheet of that memorable
enterprise that bears so striking a testimony to the unwavering
confidence, the rare courage, and the indomitable energy of its leader.
At present no less than twelve European settlements mark out the
new route, and more than 5000 native porters are at the service of
the white men, making a journey in perfect safety from Matadi to
Leopoldville in twenty days, conveying European merchandise to the
Pool, and bringing back large cargoes of ivory from the upper districts
to the steamers on the river below.
[Illustration: THE BELGIANS ON THE CONGO.--DEPARTURE OF A
CARAVAN.
(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]
Considerable, however, as is the progress made within the last six
years, it does not yet satisfy the requirements of the pioneers of
civilisation. Looking to the fertile lands of the interior, and
taking account of the vast regions, alike wealthy and populous,
that are drained by the immense navigable network of the Upper
Congo, they cannot fail to realise that so long as these districts
are unconnected with the sea by some quick and easy means of
communication, they must necessarily continue, in spite of their rich
promise, to be comparatively uncultivated and unproductive.
It was in view of this that Captain Van de Velde took upon himself to
say: “Even for the organisation of a transport service either of horses
and mules or of waggons drawn by oxen, it would be necessary to make
a wide and substantial roadway, as well as to throw permanent bridges
over the ravines and torrents, a system entailing large importations of
draught cattle, which would further involve the establishment of farms,
studs, and places of pasturage. But the time for all this is over! The
day of vans and waggons is gone; it is only steam that can be adopted
as an economical method of traction. Locomotives do not suffer from the
climate; they require no veterinary skill, a native smith can suffice;
meanwhile for fodder all they want is wood, of which the district of
the Congo supplies ample store; and even this may be dispensed with
when they are worked by electricity generated by the motive power of
the cataracts.”
It has been resolved accordingly that a railroad should be constructed.
Already a party of French and Belgian engineers, under the direction
of Messrs. Cambier and Charmanne, is engaged in the survey of the
land between Matadi and the Pool, with the design of ascertaining
the best route and of estimating the cost. If Stanley could have had
these locomotives of the future at his disposal a few days would have
sufficed for the transport of his 800 men with their 1500 packages to
Stanley Pool without fatigue, an undertaking which on foot, along the
rough tracks of the caravans, could only be accomplished by a month’s
hard marching.
Beyond Matadi, after the passage of the Mpozo, the first obstacle on
the way is the rock-wall of Palaballa. This is crossed by a steep path
bordered by blocks of white quartz. At its summit, which is about
2000 feet above sea-level, is a flourishing settlement founded by the
English Baptist Mission; and the vast mountain panorama viewed from
thence opens before the traveller some idea of the country he has to
cross, and indicates the difficulties he must have to encounter.
[Illustration: THE EXPEDITION ON ITS WAY PAST THE FALLS.]
The caravan road is a mere footpath, rarely more than thirty inches
wide, winding through a stifling labyrinth of grass several yards
high. Long and toilsome ascents under the glare of the African sun
are succeeded by descents equally wearisome leading to the marshes in
the hollow of the deep ravines. At intervals along the slopes there
are extensive groves of palm-trees or bananas, baobabs also being not
uncommon. On the lower ground the way proceeds through fine forests,
thick with trees of various species, connected one with another by
wreaths of creepers that form verdant arches overhead, and are the
resort of the widow-bird, with its black plumage and long tail, as well
as of countless smaller birds resembling bengalis, which rise in swarms
as their solitude is disturbed. Only in single file is it possible for
any caravan to make advance, so that the expedition with its 750 men
would be extended for a length little short of half a mile.
On the 29th of March Stanley reached the Luvu, one of the affluents of
the Congo on its southern bank. Across this river the agents of the
Free State have formed a suspension-bridge of iron rods attached to
baobabs on either bank, a structure of which white men and Zanzibaris
avail themselves, but so frail that the natives, as a rule, hesitate to
trust their feet upon it, as it oscillates so suspiciously under their
weight.
Beyond Palaballa the country is almost reduced to the condition of a
desert, mainly in consequence of the withdrawal of the natives from
the neighbourhood of the caravan routes. This they have done not from
any fear of the white man, whom they are disposed to trust entirely,
but through the depredations of the negro porters, who have no sense
of any rights of property save the rights of the strongest. With the
recent increase of the caravan traffic between Matadi and Leopoldville
the damage done to the plantations adjacent to the line of route
became more and more intolerable; while in addition to this, the
soldiers, Haoussa, Zanzibari, or Bangala, who were engaged for escort,
would perpetually commit outrages which the European was powerless
to repress. The natives, therefore, recognised the expediency of
retiring further off; they removed their huts, and re-erected them
at such a distance from the line of thoroughfare as they concluded
would render their homesteads safe from the attacks of such marauders.
It followed, as a consequence of this migration, that on entering
the district Stanley’s 750 men had nothing to depend on from the
products of the place. They found themselves without the opportunity
of providing their requisite supplies, because there were no longer
any of the accustomed markets to which the inhabitants of the villages
within reach of the route had hitherto been sending the produce of
their fields, their hunting-grounds, and their fisheries. Even in
the interior of the country when the report was circulated that the
notorious Boula Matari was advancing with 1000 men, all armed with
guns, the alarm was so great that for a week the ordinary market-places
were quite deserted.
[Illustration: YOUNG CHIAÏKA GIRL.
(_From a Photograph by Mr. Spencer Burns._)]
Very notable are these markets as demonstrating the commercial
capabilities of the natives, which are quite surprising. A visit to one
of them, that of Kuzo-Kienzi, is described by Captain Thys: “Here,” he
says, “is a gathering of between 200 and 300 salespeople of both sexes,
with their variety of goods displayed either in baskets or spread out
on banana leaves, a throng of purchasers meanwhile moving to and fro
and inspecting the commodities. The women, who are more numerous than
the men, squat down in front of their goods and exhibit a peculiar
aptitude for their occupation; they solicit the attention of the
passer-by, they eulogise the quality of what they offer to sell, they
exclaim indignantly when a price is tendered below the proper value,
and with insinuating smile beguile their customers to make a purchase.
The sale of vegetables is entirely committed to the women.
“The enumeration of the articles exhibited for sale comprises a long
list. At Kuzo-Kienzi I have myself seen goats, pigs, fowls, fish (both
fresh and smoke-dried), hippopotamus-meat and hides, rows of spitted
rats, locusts, shrimps, sweet potatoes, maize, haricot beans, green
peas, yams, bananas, earth-nuts, eggs, manioc (cooked as well as raw),
manioc-bread, made up both into rolls and long loaves, pine-apples,
sugar-cane, palm-nuts, tobacco-leaves in considerable quantity,
palm-wine supplied either in jars procured from the coast or in their
own native calebashes, cabbages, sorrel, spinach, pimento, and punnets
of mixed salad arranged very much as in our European market-gardens.
In addition to these I noticed a few small lots of ivory, strong ropes
of native manufacture, mats, European stuffs in considerable variety,
powder, glass, pottery, beads--in short, almost every conceivable kind
of ware.
[Illustration: NATIVES OF THE REGION OF THE FALLS.]
“Avenues run through the market-place, which is divided into sections
each appropriated to its own kind of merchandise; in one place
is the ivory-mart, in another the tobacco-mart, by far the greater
allotments being assigned to the vegetable department.
“There are three kinds of currency in use--the handkerchief, the
mitaku, which is brass-wire, and the blue bead known as ‘matare.’ A
class of men who may be described as a sort of money-changers have
their own proper quarters, effecting such exchanges as the business of
the market may require.
“As an ordinary rule traffic would commence about ten in the morning
and be continued till nearly four in the afternoon; and the close
of the market I must reluctantly report is characterised by those
scenes of disorder which not unfrequently are witnessed in the like
circumstances at home. Immoderate drinking as ever provokes angry
disputes, the intoxicating palm-wine being here the substitute for beer
and gin.”
To fall in with such a bustling market as this would have been an
inestimable boon to the caravan which, with the exception of a few
porters who had succumbed to illness or fatigue, safely reached the
Lukunga, in good order, on the 8th of April.
A pleasing exception is the Lukunga to the general aspect of the
Congo-banks in the region of the Falls. Its valley is fertile, and the
soil well adapted to the cultivation of any kind of tropical produce,
so that attempts have been already made to promote the growth of
mountain-rice, coffee, eucalyptus, and other crops.
Stretched across the landscape on the far side of the Lukunga lies the
Ndunga range, the loftiest in the entire district, from the middle of
which, rearing itself some 800 feet above the surrounding eminences,
is a quartzose projection, known as Mount Bidi. The summit of this
commands an extensive view. At the base of the mountain, between the
Congo on the north and the village of Lutete on the east, are valleys
rich in vegetation and abounding in plantations, from which the
requirements of many villages are supplied. Further off is a succession
of extensive plains, on which dark green tracts indicate the position
of other villages nestling in the shelter of their venerable “safos.”
It is here at the Lukunga that the second portion of the Falls district
is reached. Here, too, seems to be the boundary beyond which the
grasping, idle native, brutalised by alcohol, is no longer to be seen
as he is on the lower river; he is replaced by the negro, sturdy and
industrious, who for centuries has maintained business relations both
with the Pool and with the Portuguese colony of Angola.
There are six European settlements in the district. One station
belonging to the State is at Lukungu, and another at Manyanga-South; at
Lukungu, too, there is an American mission; an English Baptist mission
has been settled at Lutete; a Rotterdam firm has a store at Ndunga;
and the Belgian Society for trade with the Upper Congo, of which the
headquarters are at Brussels, maintains a station at Manyanga-South.
The country generally is well-populated. Neither caravans nor negro
porters are objects of terror to the natives, who, living as they do
in such near proximity to the white men, feel themselves assured of
adequate protection.
The indigenous population mainly belong to the Bakongo tribe. They
occupy the southern bank of the river from the Congo-Portuguese
frontier near Nokki as far as Stanley Pool. Chiefly agriculturists,
they, however, do a considerable trade in ivory, palm-oil, caoutchouc,
and earth-nuts. To procure their ivory they make long journeys
eastward, and thus become intermediate agents between the tribes of the
interior and the factories that have been planted on the lower river
and on the coast. Although their own country abounds in elephants, they
rarely hunt them, apparently not having weapons sufficiently strong to
attack such pachydermata.
Distinct communities are formed by the various agglomerations of huts.
In the districts near the river the hamlets are somewhat scattered and
small; but in the interior where the population is more dense, villages
of considerable magnitude exist; for instance, Mwala, in the Inkissi
basin, visited by Lieut. Hackinson of the Congo State in 1886, might
without impropriety be called a town, as it reckons 2000 inhabitants.
[Illustration: A NATIVE CHIEF OF THE LOWER CONGO, WITH HIS
MINISTERS AND BOYS.
(_From a Photograph by R. P. Kraft._)]
Throughout the region there are very few chiefs possessing anything
like absolute power or authority, either on account of their wealth
or of any terror they can inspire. Formerly there were some leaders
with pretensions to be potentates who succeeded more or less in
establishing a kind of sovereignty and in exacting tribute, but these
have now disappeared. As matter of fact the title of “prince” which
is now given to the ostensible village chief on the Lower Congo is
quite inaccurate. Sovereignty, as we in Europe understand it, does not
exist among the Bakongo. The recognised chief is generally the oldest
freeman; the others consult him, respect his opinion and yield him
homage, but they pay him no tribute and are under no obligation to
obey him. It might almost be said that with certain limitations every
Bakongo is his own chief.
This peculiar political organisation, and, combined with it, the
singular aptitude for trade exhibited by the natives, constitute
two highly important factors in the future of the new State; and
it was these considerations that led Colonel de Winton, the former
Administrator-General, to maintain that he did not believe that
throughout the uncivilised world there existed a territory which
for security to Europeans and for commercial prospects offered such
advantages as the basin of the Congo. It is noteworthy that during the
ten years or more in which Europeans have been exploring the country,
neither in French Congo nor in Free State Congo has _one single white
man_ lost his life by any assault on the part of the natives.
Agriculture amongst the Bakongo is on a somewhat advanced line; and
they have a large variety of crops, such as maize, manioc, yams, sweet
potatoes, earth-nuts, egg-plants, cabbages, and beans. They also grow
palms, sugar-canes, cotton, and tobacco, as well as many kinds of
fruit-trees, including bananas, guavas, and citrons. Each village is
surrounded by its own plantation, and the inhabitants never suffer from
deficiency of food.
Cotton is used for sewing purposes; and a kind of grass, as well as
the fibre of the pine-apple, which grows very abundantly, furnishes
material for the manufacture of some serviceable fabrics.
A strong, industrious race are the Bakongo, thoroughly alive to the
conviction that they must work if they would live. They are very keen
in their desire to obtain goods of European make; and it is for the
sake of procuring them that the young men are ready to be hired as
porters, an occupation in itself far more toilsome than field labour.
Already the people are beginning to develop a certain amount of taste
approaching to luxury in the construction and internal arrangements of
their dwellings, so that a chief will replace his hut by a house of
plaster or of wood. More than in other districts the women are in a
subordinate position, for as the men themselves do the field-work, they
are more exacting of their wives in other duties. All the valleys being
under cultivation, there are comparatively few of the wooded gorges
that are frequent in other parts of the country.
It is especially in the district between Manyanga, Lukungu, and Lutete
that the natives are recruited as porters for the transport service
which has now regularly established itself, and is in active operation
between the Lower and Upper Congo.
For the service between Matadi and Manyanga, Lukungu is the chief
hiring centre. The “Capitas,” or conductors of caravans, are engaged
there. These agents, having first received their “Mokande” by way of
license or permit, present themselves with their men to the Controller
at Matadi. Here the loads are given out, an average weight of seventy
pounds being assigned to each porter. The Capita takes charge of the
whole, superintends the transport all the way to Manyanga, where upon
due delivery of the goods he receives a form of acknowledgment, which
he carries back to Lukungu, where he obtains his payment for the
transaction.
Manyanga itself is the centre for engaging porters to proceed to
the Pool. They come chiefly from the environs of Lutete and the
neighbourhood of the river Inkissi, and do not fail in numbers.
At present there are several thousand young men from eighteen to
twenty-five years of age who are not unwilling to be hired by the
month, and this in a country where seven years ago the representatives
of the Congo Association were almost baffled in their efforts to get
any help whatever. The explanation of the altered condition of things
is found in the fact that during the interval children have not only
grown to be young men, but have had such peaceable associations with
Europeans, learning the value of their commodities, that in order to
procure them for themselves they are anxious to engage themselves in
their service. Thus it has been brought about that Lukungu, Lutete, and
Manyanga all contribute towards the supply of porters, so that for some
time to come there is no likelihood of any deficiency of labour of this
kind. Every day the “wants” of the native population are increasing;
clothing is becoming general, the use of sandals is getting more and
more common, and in this region, where the nights and early mornings
are chilly, there is nothing more prized than a rug or blanket of some
kind. To become the owner of such novelties the native is ready to
undertake almost any task upon which the white man may employ him: at
present he is only a porter; but there is nothing in the way of his
becoming a navvy or an artisan.
[Illustration: GROUP OF KROOBOY SERVANTS.
(_From a Photograph by Dr. Allart._)]
Lieutenant Franqui, who for two years had been in charge of the station
of Lukungu, has demonstrated the extraordinary impulse given to the
transport service between Matadi and Leopoldville in 1887, which was
just the date of the passage of the expedition. His figures speak for
themselves.
“Some internecine wars,” he says, “and more especially the discontent
of the natives, who had misgivings about the competition which
would arise from rival commercial establishments being settled at
Leopoldville, caused a temporary check in the supply of porters.
“At the beginning of 1887 loads were accumulating on the lower river,
and the condition of things was becoming more serious because further
large transports were known to be on the way. Already the storehouses
at Matadi contained upwards of 4000 packages, representing over 100
tons weight, whilst the arrival had been notified of the steamers
_Ville de Bruxelles_ and _Roi des Belges_ bringing 6000 loads
more; and besides this there were 1800 loads of supplies for the Congo
Company. Meanwhile there was a standing contract for the transport of
400 loads a month; and now, to crown it all, came the announcement of
the approach of Stanley’s Expedition for the relief of Emin Pasha,
which would necessitate the conveyance of 1200 loads more, and which
demanded the utmost despatch.
“At that time the entire direction of the transport service was in my
hands. First appealing to the zeal of my European staff, I endeavoured
to make the natives understand that it would be for their own interest
that they should work for the Government, and in a month the State
was informed that 7000 men had been engaged. During March I had the
satisfaction of despatching over 5000 porters with their loads.
“The business firms who managed transport on their own account suffered
considerably from the recruiting thus effected on behalf of the State,
as in addition to the 5000 porters there were at least 5000 natives
employed in the various stores. So that, during a single month, more
than 8000 men were engaged for carrying on the caravan traffic between
Matadi and Leopoldville.
“All through the ensuing months recruiting went on briskly, and porters
flocked in, with the result that by the end of October nearly every one
of the loads had been forwarded from Matadi. I am thus in the position
to testify that within an interval of eight months more than 30,000
loads were transported, and, reckoning the porters who undertook the
work as far as Lukungu, not less than 60,000 men were employed.”
Nor again could any one better attest the remarkable progress that
had been made in the facility of securing porters than Messrs. Ingham
and Rose Troup, who were sent direct from Liverpool to provide for
the transport of Stanley’s baggage. The state of things had become
altogether different since the time when they were first in the service
of the Congo Association. They had now no difficulty in finding
1500 men to carry out the required task. Mr. Ingham took charge of
the transport between Matadi and Manyanga, Mr. Troup undertaking
the arrangements between Manyanga and Leopoldville. Both of them
accomplished their mission with complete success. On the way to the
Pool one gang of porters met other gangs returning to Matadi to bring
up the baggage that had been left behind; but everything was well
ordered, and in a month all was safely deposited at Leopoldville.
On the 8th of April, at 11 A.M., the first to arrive at
Lukungu was Tippoo Tib, with his troop. He made himself known to
Lieutenant Franqui, who invited him to his verandah and offered him
coffee. Tippoo Tib mentioned Boma, saying that it had appeared to him
to be a place of some importance, and regretting that lack of time had
prevented him from landing to inspect it. He likewise spoke highly of
the caravan route beyond Banza-Manteka, and pronounced it well adapted
for the transport of ivory. He then exhibited the contract that had
been signed by himself and Stanley at Zanzibar, and had been deposited
in a box containing various documents and photographs of Van Gele,
Wissmann, Wester, Gleerup, and others.
[Illustration: THE CONGO IN THE DISTRICT OF THE FALLS.
(_From a Sketch by M. Manduan._)]
Stanley, with the main contingent of the party, arrived about two hours
later, and mounted on their fine white donkeys, all the Europeans made
their entry. Out of the flock of fifteen merino sheep which had been
brought from the Cape only one was missing, which had yielded to
fatigue on the previous day. As chief of the expedition, Stanley, for
himself and his staff, accepted an invitation to dine at the station,
where he spoke in high spirits, and declared that he was full of
confidence in the ultimate success of his enterprise.
Next morning the whole force mustered for an inspection of their arms
and equipment. There were four companies, each numbering about 200 men.
The Zanzibaris were under the charge of Messrs. Nelson, Stairs, and
Rose Troup, the Soudanese and Somalis being assigned to the control of
Major Barttelot. The companies were again subdivided into three groups,
each under the supervision of a nyampara, and provided with a red
banner.
On a square of about one hundred yards Stanley had the entire force
drawn out in double file, and proceeded with the utmost care to
investigate every detail, making the inspection with a calmness that
betokened the presence of a competent, conscientious, and far-seeing
leader.
In the evening the whole camp was _en fête_. All the Europeans,
those attached to the station as well as those belonging to the
expedition, joined in the merriment, Stanley himself at first leading
off one of the national dances of the Zanzibaris, and afterwards
beating time for their movements. The enthusiasm was great, and Stanley
was borne along in a frenzy of delight.
Trifling as it may seem, this is an instance of the adroitness with
which Stanley attracts to himself the devotion of his men. Those
who speak of him as unpopular with his followers must speak without
warrant: he is strict, but he is kind; and, what is more, while he
knows how to make the negroes submissive to his authority, he succeeds
in securing their attachment to himself.
When, at 10.30 A.M. on the following morning, the expedition,
in good order, made a start, it was only requisite to leave seven
men behind as invalids. Of these one died, two returned to Matadi,
the remaining four being able to rejoin the force before reaching
Leopoldville. Two months afterwards, several European newspapers,
professing to have trustworthy information, actually announced that the
expedition had been decimated by famine and that its line of march was
strewn with bodies of the dead!
[Illustration: A WATER-PASSAGE NEAR LOOTETE.
(_From a Sketch by M. Manduan._)]
Two whole days were occupied in the passage of the river Inkissi;
the whale-boat was launched, and had to go backward and forward, from
bank to bank, no less than eighty times. At the village of Nsello, near
the point of confluence, the river is 160 yards wide, and enclosed
by wooded cliffs varying from 50 to 100 yards in height. A few miles
higher up it is much broken by rapids, but further on, beyond the
village of Kilemfi, its course is perfectly free, and runs through
plains pleasing in aspect and populous with agricultural communities.
The country on the right bank is occupied by the Wambundu, a tribe
mainly engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and dependent on the
Matoko of Wazanzi, whose authority extends from the Inkissi to the
Pool. It is through this region that the projected railway would pass.
When, on the 27th of April, the expedition crossed the wooded rock of
Yombi, it was with no small feeling of relief that the announcement was
hailed that Stanley Pool could be distinguished in the distance, its
placid waters glistening between the trees.
CHAPTER X.
STANLEY POOL.
Stanley Pool: history and description--River network
of the Upper Congo--Mangale and Mense--European
settlements--Leopoldville--Arrival of the relief
expedition--Means of transport--The _Stanley_ and
the mission-boats--Contention with the American Baptist
Mission--Letter from Stanley to London Committee--Intervention
of Commissary at Leopoldville--Transport assured--“Better
than could be expected”--Deficiency of food and reported
famine--Vanguard despatched under Major Barttelot--Embarkation
at Inchassa--On the way to the Aruwimi.
A glance at the map at once makes it evident that the Congo, before
making its way to the wild ravines of the falls, opens out into a
large expanse of about nine square miles, approaching to the circular
in form, on which Stanley has bestowed his own name, designating it
“Stanley Pool.”
In all the narratives of the Congo exploration no name is of more
frequent occurrence than that of this important lake; no place has been
more repeatedly the subject of dispute, as none can have a greater
political significance, whilst nowhere has the progress of European
occupation been more rapid. Stanley Pool, in fact, is the common port
of all the navigable highways above it; it is the terminus of what is
one of the finest network of rivers in the world, offering for the
development of steam navigation a course which in various directions
has been surveyed for over 8000 miles.
Hence steamers can have access to not a few of the most fertile and
populous regions of Central Africa. To Stanley Falls and the Aruwimi
the route lies along the Congo itself; by the Kasai and Sankullu the
way is open to the territory of the Bashilangé and the Baluba; by
the Chuapa to the heart of the Balolo country; by the Lomami to the
confines of Nyangwe and Urua; and by the Mobangi-Welle to the land of
the Niam-niam. A survey is about to be made of the Bounga, through
French Congo, and there is little doubt that it will be proved to lead
to the foot of the high plateau of the Adamawa, of the fertility of
which Bart and Flégel have said so much.
It was on the 12th of March 1877 that Stanley, while on his way from
Nyangwe, discovered the Pool. Four years later, when he was in command
of the first expedition sent out by the Society for the Investigation
of the Upper Congo, he returned thither accompanied by Captain
Braconnier and Lieut. Valcke, and finding the right-hand bank occupied
by a French station that had been established some months previously
by M. de Brazza, he crossed over to the southern side and founded
Leopoldville.
The route now lay open. Missionaries and merchants have not been slack
in keeping pace with the explorers, and this they have accomplished
with such effect that in a district where twelve years ago the white
man was unknown, there are now eight European settlements; while
the waters of the river which had hitherto borne but the rude craft
of the natives are now navigated by no less than nineteen steamers,
seven belonging to the Free State, three to the French colony, two to
missionaries, and seven to various mercantile firms.
[Illustration: VIEW OF LEOPOLDVILLE IN 1885.
(_From a sketch by M. Manduan._)]
“There are few more charming sights,” Captain Thys has written, “than
that enjoyed after a tedious and toilsome march of seventeen days
through the region of the Falls, when on attaining the height of
Leopoldville the wide panorama mirrored in Stanley Pool bursts upon
the view. The lake lies expanded as an inland sea, and is enclosed
by wooded hills of which the outline becomes indistinct in the blue
perspective. First, turning to the far extremity of the widespread
water, the eye rests upon the island of Bamu, looking like an
elongation of the Kalina point; the landscape beyond is bounded by the
heights on the French shore, which are clothed with verdure, and which
are in close proximity to some rugged white rocks to which Stanley, on
account of some resemblance which he traced, gave the name of “Dover
Cliffs.” On the north shore, the French settlement of Brazzaville
comes clearly in view, as well as the stores of the firm of Daumas,
Béraud & Co. at Mfua. The opposite bank is lower but equally wooded,
and nestling among surrounding plantations can be descried the houses
of Kinchassa, the Kintamo village, whose chief, Ngaliema, plays so
important a part in the story of the foundation of the Free State.
Nearest of all, close at our feet, are the buildings of Leopoldville.”
Away to the south-east, between twenty and thirty miles, there stands
a mountainous elevation of so striking a form that it cannot fail to
arrest the attention of the traveller. It is the highest point of the
semicircle of hills forming the southern enclosure of the Pool, and
has been named “Mense Peak,” in compliment to one of the resident
doctors in Leopoldville. The surrounding district of Manquelê, from a
geological point of view, is exceptionally curious. It is a succession
of white eminences of the most rugged character--inaccessible
precipices, Pyrenean circles, needle-like projections, fantastic
monoliths all combine to make so wonderful a scene that the Swedish
traveller, Von Schwerin, who was the first to investigate it, has
predicted it will ultimately become what Yellowstone Park is to the
Rocky Mountains--an object of excursion for tourists in search of the
picturesque.
All around the Pool the country is very fertile, slightly undulated,
and clothed with savannahs intersected by belts of forest. Except
towards the interior, where the aggregation is more considerable, it
is not populous. The native residents are very much mixed. The French
shore is occupied by the Bateke, with an admixture of the Babwendi;
whilst on the Free State side the Wabundu, who are the true owners of
the soil, are amalgamated with the Bateke who have emigrated downwards.
The former recognise the supremacy of the Makoko of Mbé, the Wabundu
acknowledging the rule of the Makoko of Wazanzi.
There are four separate establishments of Europeans on Stanley Pool.
Of these, the first is at Brazzaville, being the French settlement
at the lower outlet, the residence of the officer in charge, and the
depository of the Daumas firm. The second station is at Leopoldville,
on the opposite shore, comprising the Free State settlement, and being
the headquarters of the Commissioner of the district. Here also is the
centre of the American Baptist Missionary Union. The third station is
at Kinchassa, some little distance from Leopoldville. For a while it
was a Free State station, but is now occupied by the English Baptist
Mission, under the direction of the well-known explorer, the Rev.
George Grenfell. It is likewise used by a Rotterdam association as a
Dutch factory, and there is likewise an agency of the Belgian Society
for Trade in the Upper Congo. The other settlement is that of Kimpoko,
on the southern shore, at the entrance of the Pool, and has been
appropriated by the American Mission in charge of Bishop Taylor.
Of all these, Leopoldville is considerably the most important. On
the slope of a hill a kind of terrace has been formed, where, amidst
bananas, mangoes, papaws, palms, and other fruiting trees, stand
two lines of dwelling-houses, with their accessory stores and other
erections. The hill-sides and the valleys have all been put under
cultivation--fine plantations of manioc, maize, rice, haricots, sweet
potatoes, coffee, and cocoa covering an area of somewhere about seventy
acres. As to vegetables, no European garden could make a much finer
or more varied display--peas, cabbages, lettuces, onions, leeks,
radishes, carrots all flourish. A little way apart are the enclosures
for goats and for donkeys, shelters for larger cattle being in course
of construction. Beyond these are clusters of huts of all shapes and
dimensions, the homes of the natives and the barracks of the Haoussa
and Bangala soldiers; whilst, finally, down by the water’s side, there
are the carpenters’, blacksmiths’, and engineers’ work-sheds, in which
steamers are built and repaired with a bustle and activity that would
not discredit any European dockyard.
Regularly every morning as the day dawns, the bell sounds and the negro
trumpeter blows his matutinal réveille. The whole settlement awakes,
and both terraces and huts are at once full of animation: groups of
labourers hasten to the plantations; the goods in the storehouses,
delivered the day before, are unpacked; at the forges the sturdy
negroes, half naked, wield their ponderous hammers; meanwhile, at the
military quarters, the cannibal Bangala are being drilled by European
officers, and trained in the use of breechloaders.
It only bides the time for the railway to be opened with Stanley Pool
for its terminus, and a brilliant future must be before the land:
the arrival of the first locomotive will be greeted with unbounded
enthusiasm. Not the least occasion is there to fear that the natives,
like the Chinese some years ago, will proceed to throw rails and
engine into the water; the period of their initiation into the arts of
civilisation has hitherto been brief, but they have already outlived
the fabulous age of the dragon with the rabbit’s eyes.
It was about noon on the 21st of April 1887 when Lieutenant Liebriechts
of the Belgian Artillery, so recently arrived from Europe that he had
only taken the command of the settlement on the preceding day, was
made aware that there was an unusual commotion at no great distance
along the caravan road. He hastened out and at once saw the immense
throng, bearing their flags, and halting in the rear of the buildings
of the American Mission. They were depositing their loads and preparing
to camp out. The Commissioner without delay went to salute Stanley,
under whom he had previously served as Controller of the station at
Bolobo. He found the entire expedition in complete order and under
good discipline, just commencing to clear the ground for the erection
of their huts. Standing with the most undisturbed coolness, and with
an air that might almost be said to betoken indifference, Stanley was
superintending the proceedings; and to the eye of an ordinary observer
it might seem as if he had never been away from Leopoldville, but was
simply going on with the daily avocations that were engaging him while
he was founding the settlement four years before.
[Illustration: THE “STANLEY” ON STANLEY POOL.]
His immediate inquiry was about the means of transport. Lower down
the river he had been told that the _Stanley_ was in dock and
was undergoing repairs that it would take a month to complete. This
was disquieting, because beyond all others the _Stanley_ was the
boat upon which he relied for the conveyance of his men. His anxiety
on this point was soon relieved, when Lieutenant Liebriechts pointed
out the ship lying at anchor in the harbour ready for prompt service.
Alongside were the _En Avant_ and the large whale-boat, both at
his disposal. Thus far, then, as regarded the vessels that had been
promised by the State, all was satisfactory; and just as it was at
Banana, the explorer’s good star was in the ascendant.
Besides these, anchored in the Pool, were two mission steamers, the
_Peace_ and the _Henry Reed_; and it was taken for granted
that the permission of their owners would be at once obtained for the
use of them for a few weeks. The application being made to the Baptist
Mission at Kinchassa was immediately granted, and the _Peace_ was
handed over for Stanley’s use. On the other hand, when the request was
made to Mr. Billington, of the American Baptist Mission, for the loan
of the _Henry Reed_, it was met with a point-blank refusal.
Not used to be thwarted in the uncivilised regions through which he had
passed in carrying out his enterprises, and only accustomed to give the
character of the means a secondary consideration, the only reply that
Stanley had to give to the denial was to send an officer with some
soldiers to take possession of the boat. No doubt it was a high-handed
proceeding. Stanley seemed to ignore the fact that the Pool district
had been brought under legally constituted authority, and had to be
shown that such violent measures could not be tolerated. A warning
letter from the representative of the Free State convinced him of this,
and he ordered his men to withdraw.
The Commandant of Leopoldville, however, was so thoroughly impressed
with the necessity of despatching this body of 750 men forward on their
way, if the maintenance of general peace were to be preserved, that he
himself entered into negotiation with Mr. Billington, with the result
that the steamer should be hired by the State to be entrusted by them
to Stanley, who made himself responsible for all risk.
All the details of this incident are given in a letter sent by Stanley
to his Committee, and published in the _Times_.
“CAMP NEAR LEOPOLDVILLE, STANLEY POOL,
_April 26, 1887_.
* * * * *
“In 1881 I relieved two missionaries named Clarke and Lanceley.
They had suffered a misfortune, a fire had consumed all their
effects. They sent me an appeal for provisions. I provided them
with a fair allowance from our own stores. They belonged to the
Livingstone Inland Mission.
“In 1883 a missionary named Sims applied for a site at Stanley
Pool to establish a mission of the Livingstone Inland Mission.
His colleagues had vainly striven without aid from me to obtain
permission from the natives. I gave an order to the chief of
Leopoldville to locate Dr. Sims on a site in the neighbourhood
of the station, so that, times being unsettled then, the mission
could be under our immediate protection. In 1884 I extended the
grounds of this mission, and also gave it a site for a branch
mission at the Equator, subject, of course, to confirmation at
Brussels.
“By a curious event--on arriving at Stanley Pool this time--I
found myself in a position of abject suppliant for favour. His
Majesty the Sovereign of this Congo State had invited me to take
the Congo River route to relieve Emin Pasha at Wadelai. Provided
the steamers and boats were at Stanley Pool in time, without
doubt this route was by far the cheapest and best, even though
food was not over abundant. I therefore accepted the invitation
and came here. But I had not anticipated this distressful
scarcity of food, nor the absence of steamers and boats.
“To every one at Stanley Pool it was clear that a disaster would
be the consequence of this irruption of a large caravan upon a
scene so unpromising as this foodless district. The only remedy
for it was immediate departure up river. Long before arrival,
I had sent letters of appeal to the English Baptist Mission,
owners of the steamer _Peace_, and to the Livingstone
Inland Mission, which is now American, and owners of the steamer
_Henry Reed_, for aid to transport the expedition to Bolobo
immediately upon arrival at Stanley Pool. Reports confirmatory
of the state of famine in that district were daily reaching me,
and immediate departure was our only means of saving life and
preventing a gross scandal.
“A few days later I received a letter from a Mr. Billington,
in charge of the _Henry Reed_, saying he could not
lend the steamer for such purpose as he wanted to go down
river--_i.e._, overland to the Lower Congo--‘for some
purpose, and next month the Livingstone Inland Mission expected
some missionaries, and in the interval the steamer _Henry
Reed_ was to be drawn up on the slip to be repainted.’
“You will observe, as I did, that there was no question of
urgency; the steamer was to lie idle on the slip for repainting
while Mr. Billington should go down river....
“Meantime the starving people would be tempted to force from
every native or white the food which they could not obtain by
purchase; and no one knows to what extent disorder would spread.
If I did my duty I should have had to repress it sternly. Still,
whether my people or the natives would suffer most, it is clear
that the condition of things would be deplorable.
“From the English Baptist Mission I received a letter from its
chief stating that unless orders to the contrary would arrive
from home that he would lend me the steamer and be happy to help
me.
“Arriving at the Pool, and seeing more fully the extent of
district suffering from scarcity of food, I sent Major Barttelot
and Mr. Mounteney Jephson to represent more fully our desperate
position to the Livingstone Inland Mission. They saw Messrs.
Billington and Sims. They tell me they urged the missionaries by
all the means within their power for over an hour to reconsider
their refusal, and to assist us. They were said to have
declined. Mr. Billington argued that he had consulted the Bible
and found therein a command not to assist us....
“I consulted the Governor of Stanley Pool district, Mons.
Liebriechts, and represented to him that a great scandal was
inevitable unless means were devised to extricate us from the
difficulty. I told him I could not be a disinterested witness
to the sufferings which starvation would bring with it; that
therefore a formal requisition should be made by him on the
missions for the use of their steamers for a short term of, say,
forty days; that the _Henry Reed_ was evidently, according
to Mr. Billington’s letter, to lie idle for a period over two
months; that this period could be utilised by us in saving
hundreds of lives; that their objections were frivolous....
M. Liebriechts admitted that the position was desperate and
extreme; that the State was also in a painful uncertainty as to
whether provisions could be procured for its people each day.
“The next morning Major Barttelot and Mr. Mounteney Jephson
were sent over again to the Livingstone Inland Mission to try
a third appeal with Mr. Billington, who only replied that he
had ‘prayerfully wrestled even unto the third watch’ against
the necessity there was of refusing the _Henry Reed_. He
was confirmed in his opinion that he was ‘acting wisely and
well.’ Meantime it was reported to me that Mr. Billington had
furtively abstracted the valves and pistons of the engines, for
the purpose of hiding them. I therefore hesitated no longer,
but sent a guard of Soudanese down to the steamer and another
guard with Major Barttelot to demand the immediate surrender of
the steamer and her belongings. Major Barttelot kept his guard
without the domain of the mission and walked in alone with the
letter.
“The Commissaire of the State, seeing matters becoming critical,
ordered a guard to relieve the Soudanese at the steamer, and
went in person to the missionaries to insist that the steamer
should be surrendered to the State.
“Our guard was withdrawn upon an assurance being given that no
article should be withdrawn or hidden.
“For two days the matter continued in the hands of M.
Liebriechts, who at last signed a charter in due form by which
the mission permits the hire of the steamer _Henry Reed_ to
us for the sum of £100 sterling per month, which is at the rate
of 30 per cent. per annum of her estimated value.
“But what ungrateful people some of these missionaries are!
Faith they may have in super-abundance--in hope they no doubt
live cheerfully; but of charity I do not find the slightest
trace. However, our matter is ended, and our anxiety has abated
somewhat....
“HENRY M. STANLEY.”
Lieutenant Liebriechts by his tact and firm though impartial conduct
had succeeded to the satisfaction of all parties in avoiding a
conflict, thus relieving the station from a position that was serious
and might become dangerous. Without recourse to force or compulsion he
had insured the prosecution of the rapid advance of the expedition.
This testimony is confirmed by Stanley himself in a letter which he
sent to Lieutenant Liebriechts very shortly after the start from
Leopoldville. “Everything,” he writes, “is going on infinitely better
than could be expected, for which we owe you much gratitude.”
In fact, success so far was complete. The entire flotilla at the Pool
was at Stanley’s disposal. In addition to the _Stanley_ and the
Government whale-boats (which had been promised him in Brussels), the
two mission steamers and the large launch of the English Baptists, he
had the use of the hull of the _En Avant_, of which the engines
were temporarily out of repair. Besides these, the men in the yard at
Kinchassa were working hard at the repairs of the _Florida_, a
steamer which had been lent for the occasion by the Sanford Exploring
Expedition. They completed their task by April 29th, two days before
the start. Thus, including the whale-boat, which belonged to the
expedition itself, there was an aggregate of eight vessels, of which
three were steamers.
All through this period of negotiation about the boats, there had been
the necessity of providing food for the 750 men whose sojourn at the
Pool was thus prolonged. This was no easy matter, and the days did not
pass without some suffering of privation.
Some mention has been made, in connection with this occasion, of
dearth and famine; but the famine was not the result of drought or of
bad harvests--it was simply the result of the difficulty of getting
supplies from a thinly-populated district for so large a force that had
arrived without having any reserve of provisions of its own.
While the population of the European settlements at the Pool was
limited the adjacent country could meet its demands; but after the
resident white men exceeded the number of fifty, and their negro
contingent had increased in proportion, the resources of the place
failed to keep pace with the augmentation. For some years past the
settlers at the Pool had been consuming all the goats, poultry, and
eggs produced in the neighbourhood, and no effort had been made either
by the improvident negro or by the inactive European to guard against
any sudden emergency. Accordingly when there was the unexpected arrival
of between 700 and 800 men in a locality where there is no regular
communication with the outlying districts, some idea may be formed
of the anxiety that was felt as to the finding provisions for such a
multitude during the ten days that the expedition was compelled to
tarry at Leopoldville and Kinchassa.
[Illustration: AT LEOPOLDVILLE.--CAPTURE OF A HIPPOPOTAMUS.
(_From a Photography by Rev. George Grenfell._)]
On the 25th of April the _Stanley_ was declared to be ready.
Under the command of Major Barttelot and Dr. Parke, 153 men were
embarked and sent in advance towards Msuata, a place between the Pool
and the confluence of the Masai, where it was reported that there was
plenty of food. Detachments of hippopotamus-hunters were sent out to
scour the country, and were fairly successful in getting a supply of
meat. But as for chicuangue (the manioc-bread, which is ordinarily
brought in by the natives from the neighbouring villages), for some
days there was absolutely none to be had. Just as in the region of the
Falls, the natives here at the Pool had taken alarm at the approach
of a prodigious armed force in strange costume, and had fled in
consternation. The flight was so general, and the consequent difficulty
of securing provisions was so aggravated, that Lieutenant Liebriechts
considered it prudent to send off a detachment of about fifteen
soldiers, under Lieutenant von Reichslin, his second in command, to
explain the true state of things to the chiefs, and to assure them that
they had no cause for alarm.
Nothing, however, quite prevailed to pacify the native mind. The people
very gradually, and with a cautious hesitation, made their way back,
and it was not until the entire expedition had taken its departure
that the country reassumed its ordinary quiet, and that the accustomed
supply of provisions became adequate to the demand.
The means of transport being thus happily secured, the crisis was not
of long duration; but while it lasted the panic was considerable, and
Stanley had good reason for his subsequent message--“Everything is
going on infinitely better than could be expected.”
In course of time the usual order of things was restored, and six weeks
after the disappearance of the “Relief-hurricane,” as the expedition
was nicknamed on the Lower Congo, the manager of the French store at
Brazzaville was able to send off to Matadi 100 porters loaded with
ivory without a single soldier to escort them.
At length all was ready. Stanley had moved his encampment from
Leopoldville to Kinchassa, where the whole flotilla was collected on
the evening of April 30th.
Early next morning the embarkation commenced in front of the Dutch
factory. The English mission steamer, the _Peace_, was selected
as flag-ship of the chief of the expedition, and was made to take in
tow both the large Government launch on one side, and the expedition
whale-boat on the other, the three vessels collectively carrying 117
men and 100 loads. The _Stanley_ was attached to the steamship
_Florida_, both being placed under the command of Captain
Schaegestrom of the Free State Navy, and together conveying 364 men,
500 loads, the nine donkeys, and a flock of goats. Lastly, there was
the _Henry Reed_, which had in tow the hull of the _En Avant_
and the English Mission whale-boat, and was under the orders of Captain
Martini. This third contingent carried 131 men and 100 loads, Tippoo
Tip and his women-folk, to the number of fifteen, occupying the _En
Avant_.
By 6.30 A.M. the last load was embarked: the Europeans went on
board: Stanley gave the signal; the _Henry Reed_ weighed anchor;
the _Stanley_ followed; the _Peace_ brought up the rear; and
in a few minutes the whole flotilla was lost to view behind the islands.
This was not the first expedition that the river-side population of
the Upper Congo had seen passing between its shores. The former one in
1883, composed of the steamers the _Royal_, the _En Avant_,
and the _Association Internationale_, had borne the blue banner,
spangled with gold, and had peacefully opened the way for European
enterprise into the heart of Africa; and now, four years later, along
that same route that had been kept open by vast effort and large
sacrifice, beneath the same banner and under the same command another
like expedition passes on, carrying help to two valiant champions in
Africa’s cause, who have been lost to sight in the far distant district
of the sources of the Nile.
CHAPTER XI.
ON THE UPPER CONGO.
Between Stanley Pool and Stanley Falls--Region of the
islands--Accidents to the _Peace_ and to the
_Stanley_--Stay at Bolobo--In the land of plenty--With the
Bangala--Yesterday and to-day--Reception--The advance-guard--On
the Aruwimi--Arrival at the Yambuya Rapids.
Altogether unique is the navigable highway which the Congo forms
between Stanley Pool and Stanley Falls. The distance between these two
points is over 1000 miles, or something less than the united length
of the Rhine and the Rhone. Its width is nowhere less than 400 yards,
and in many parts extends to several miles; between the points of
confluence of the Mongalla and the Itumbiri it is over twenty miles,
about the width of the Straits of Dover, and unapproached in magnitude
by any other water-course in the world.
From the district of Bolobo, until it has passed the point of
confluence with the Aruwimi, its course is studded with innumerable
islands, and a navigator has not infrequently the simultaneous choice
of ten or more different channels, each in itself a river some hundreds
of yards in breadth, and separated by islands that vary from three
miles to thirty miles in length. From the entire absence of any
external indications, these channels at present require very watchful
navigation, and in some parts present a certain amount of danger;
but there can be little doubt that when the forthcoming survey has
been completed, at least one channel will be proved to exist that is
perfectly adapted for rapid navigation, and available to steamers of
considerable size.
All the islands appear heavily clothed with vegetation which is
reflected in the waters around; palm-trees of five or six species,
tamarisks, cotton-trees, acacias, calamus, cola-trees, and gigantic
baobabs grow in profusion; and the ubiquitous caoutchouc creeper, with
its white blossoms, of which the natives have not yet learnt the value,
casts its interlacing growth over the massy forest, as if to throw an
impenetrable barrier in the way of any curious intruder.
Anyone navigating these narrow channels, with their bordering of
flowers and verdure, might almost imagine himself on the ornamental
waters of some familiar and cultivated domain. The scene is quite
restful to the eye, after the imposing if somewhat monotonous panorama
which the river presents when the view stretches afar across the woods
and savannahs on its shores.
The banks beyond Chumbiri are for the most part low, being only broken
by a few hills at Upoto. Everywhere the soil seems wonderfully fertile,
and is clothed with a dense vegetation which is frequently enlivened by
the more brilliant green of the banana plantations that surround the
villages, and by the aid of a telescope may often be made out miles
away over the plains beyond the swampy shores of the river.
The population is very irregularly distributed, some large tracts being
apparently quite deserted, whilst in others an almost uninterrupted
line of villages extends away for miles. Generally friendly, the people
not unfrequently are quite hospitable. They come in considerable
numbers in their canoes to greet a passing boat, signalling to
travellers that they should stop and trade with them, and always
showing themselves eager for business transactions.
Two mishaps have to be recorded as occurring to the expedition on the
Upper Congo; the _Peace_ lost her tiller, and the _Stanley_
went aground between Chumbiri and Bolobo. Stanley describes the two
accidents in a letter sent to his Committee from the Bangala station,
and dated May 31st:--
“On leaving Kinchassa, the _Henry Reed_ and the _Stanley_
filed off and commenced their first day’s passage; but the
_Peace_, when it had hardly proceeded two miles, was stopped by an
accident. Her tiller broke, so that she would not answer her helm. Her
captain immediately lowered two anchors; a violent shock, however, sent
the boat into a rapid current, and we were obliged to cut the chains in
order to rescue ourselves from peril. We had to go back to Kinchassa,
whence the captain and engineer had to go six miles lower down to
Leopoldville to have the damaged tiller repaired, so that an entire day
was lost.
“We resumed our voyage next morning, and for four days maintained a
moderate speed, the _Stanley_ and _Henry Reed_ always making
good heading, the _Peace_ still continuing in the rear.
[Illustration: THE EXPEDITION ON THE UPPER CONGO.]
“Between Kinchassa and Msuata, a distance of eighty-eight miles, we
spent two days longer than is usually enough, and when we had passed
Msuata we made a still more indifferent progress. The speed of the
_Peace_ continued to slacken; after a while it was a hard matter
for her to contend with the current, until at length she was completely
overpowered and began to be driven backward. We cast anchor at once,
and for a second time found ourselves in a dilemma.
“Forthwith we proceeded to land the passengers from the disabled
vessel, and sent on a small boat to Bolobo to procure some assistance.
Next day the unfortunate craft had to be ignominiously towed by the
_Henry Reed_ to the entrance of the harbour of Bolobo.
“But as though it was not vexatious enough for us that we should be
thus retarded by the _Peace_, the _Stanley_ must next get
into trouble.
“Imagine us, as we were following on in the _Henry Reed_, coming
up to discover the _Stanley_, lying in broad daylight, without
steam, on the shore. The great boat had been venturing too recklessly
among the shoals, and here was the result--the stern had been stove
in. Happily our alarm was somewhat exaggerated; the injury was not so
serious but that the engineers found they could patch on some plates
of metal and make the ship fit for navigation; and all hands being set
to work on the task, it was ready to proceed in a couple of days.”
Bolobo, where the expedition was thus delayed, is situated on the Free
State shore, a little above the Kasai. It is the most populous centre
in the territory of the Bayanzi, a rich and commercial nation, trading
principally in ivory. It contains about 30,000 inhabitants. It has
parallel lines of streets, and public squares, and the dwelling-houses
are very comfortable, their fields of manioc, maize, and sweet potatoes
extending inland as far as the eye can reach. They are a fine,
high-spirited race of people. The Congo Association formerly had a
station here, which is now only occupied by the English Baptist Mission.
For some days after arriving on May 8th, the expedition remained at
Bolobo, so as to allow the _Stanley_ to go back to the confluence
of the Kasai and fetch up the detachment which, under Major Barttelot,
had been making its way on foot from the Black River to the mouth of
the Kwa. On the 14th anchors were weighed, and an entrance was made
into the island-labyrinth of the Upper Congo.
Beyond Bolobo no noteworthy incident occurred; there was no loss of
life nor damage to property; the boats continued the voyage by day,
being brought-to every night.
The usual rule was that anchor should be cast about 5 P.M.,
by which hour a distance varying from fifteen to thirty miles would
have been accomplished. For two hours or more the men would be occupied
in collecting wood for the engines during the following day; during
the evening the clang of the hatchets chopping up the firewood would
be accompanied by the shrill choruses of the men as they did their
work; large fires would be kindled; in due time the cooks would have
completed their preparations, and the evening meal would be served.
No longer now was there any scarcity of provisions, such as had caused
anxiety in the district of the Falls and at Stanley Pool. “Food is
abundant,” wrote Stanley; “the natives everywhere receive us so well,
and bring us such abundance of victuals, that my people have already
quite forgotten their privations. I reckon that every man must have
gained from 10 lb. to 20 lb. in weight between leaving Kinchassa and
arriving at Bangala, and I am inclined to think that this sudden
increase of burden must tell somewhat to the disadvantage of the speed
of our boats.”
On the 18th the flotilla passed Lukolela, the station of another
Protestant Mission, and on the 23rd reached Equatorville, a Free State
settlement, where Stanley was gratified at meeting a former associate,
Captain Van Gèle, who was on the point of ascending the Mobangi, to
investigate its source.
Having been successfully repaired at Bolobo, the _Peace_ was now
able to keep the lead, and on the 30th on emerging from the midst of
the islands, the party on board sighted the extensive buildings of the
station of the Bangala.
Bangala is the appellation of one of the most notorious of the tribes
of the Upper Congo. It occupies both banks of the river above its
confluence with the Mobangi. They are a splendid race of men, above
the average in height, singularly adroit in the manipulation of their
canoes, and held in terror by the neighbouring people for their courage
in war.
[Illustration: NATIVE CANOE ON THE UPPER CONGO.
(_From a Sketch by M. Louis Amelot._)]
It was in making good his passage past the numerous Bangala villages
on both banks of the river, that Stanley on his first descent of
the Congo, in 1877, had to engage in the sanguinary strife which he
describes in his “Through the Dark Continent.”
“Incessant beating of their drums,” he says, “had roused the savages
to the height of frenzy; they mustered their canoes; they loaded their
guns; they sharpened their knives and their lances; and all simply
because we were intruders, navigating their waters.
“As we drifted onwards a number of the canoes approached us. I hailed
the natives; I received no reply. Immediately afterwards they fired
into our boats.
“The fight thus begun was carried on with equal vigour on both sides,
and lasted so long that I was obliged to make a fresh distribution
of ammunition. Each village seemed to send its contingent to aid the
attack, and at three o’clock the number of canoes taking part in
the combat was sixty-three. It was not till half-past five that the
assailants retired.
“This was the fiercest of all the conflicts which we had to sustain on
this terrible river.”
Twelve years have since elapsed, and in that interval the events that
have transpired have completely modified the condition of the country,
and the disposition of its population towards strangers. A great
settlement has risen in the midst of the Bangala villages; the chiefs
who in 1877 instigated the hostilities against Stanley have become the
friends and _protégés_ of the white man; human sacrifices have
been abolished; steamers make regular visits to the stations; order
is maintained by armed force; the natives readily take service under
the State and have no reluctance to go down to Boma and Banana, 1500
miles away from their homes; and the Congo army reckons in its numbers
scarcely less than 700 Bangala soldiers.
These highly satisfactory results have been brought about mainly by the
intelligence and tact of the two Belgian officers who were the first
to be placed in control of this remote station, Captains Coquillat and
Vankerkoven, ably seconded by their subordinates Lieutenants Baert and
Dhanis.
Bangala is the finest of the stations which the State owns on the Upper
Congo. Stanley failed to recognise it, not having been in the country
since in January 1884 he had held his palaver with the old chief
Mata-Buyké.
Marvellous were the changes for the better. The river now was alive
with more than a hundred canoes, filled no longer with armed warriors,
but with friendly people waving their hands in welcome; upon the
river bank a crowd was cordially cheering the arrival of the vessels,
whilst a goodly throng was hurrying down to the wooden landing-place.
Within the settlement, enclosed by its palisades and trenches, rose
tier upon tier of buildings constructed of kiln-burnt bricks, and far
beyond these extended large plantations. The garrison, which reckoned
in its ranks some of the old assailants of 1877, was drawn up in
well-disciplined order and presented arms, not lances nor old-fashioned
muskets, but modern breechloading sniders.
Stanley landed, followed by his officers, together with Tippoo Tib and
his retinue. He was received under the verandah of the central building
by all the European staff, headed by Lieutenant Baert, who, in the
absence of the chief Commissioner, Captain Vankerkoven, did the honours
of the occasion, and hospitably offered wine, as token of welcome. In
acknowledging the courtesy Stanley spoke a few words to this effect:
“On landing here to-day I cannot help recalling the very different
reception that was accorded me ten years ago by the same natives who
are now so confiding and enthusiastic. This prosperous station, these
commodious erections, these well-cultivated fields, this orderly and
well-drilled force, and all those signs of civilisation which have been
so rapidly imported into the heart of a nation that was yesterday, as
it were, unknown to the civilised world, make a deep impression upon
me. I congratulate you on the great work that has been accomplished,
and at the same time I thank you for the kind and hearty welcome that
you now give me. In the face of such achievements in the past, who can
entertain any doubts about the future?”
While he was speaking the artillery was thundering out a salute,
greeting the advent of the former Chief Commissioner of the Congo
Association.
The expedition stayed three days at Bangala.
Meantime, the _Henry Reed_ was sent on to convey Tippoo Tib to
Stanley Falls, Major Barttelot and forty soldiers accompanying him as
an escort. The ship was then to return, without delay, as far as the
Aruwimi Rapids. It was on the 2nd of June when she was despatched
ahead under full steam, and on the same day, the _Stanley_ and the
_Peace_, with the boats in tow, resumed their onward way.
Apart from the inconvenience arising from heavy rains and smart
squalls, the passage from Bangala to the Aruwimi was unmarked by any
special incident. On the 16th the steamers quitted the waters of the
great river for the diminished channel of its affluent. Two days later
the rapids of Yambuya were in sight, and the anchors had to be lowered.
Here navigation must cease. The voyage from Kinchassa had occupied six
weeks; this was about eight days more than the estimated time, a delay
that was regarded as quite unimportant.
So far everything had gone prosperously, and answered to the
expectation of the chief of the expedition.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CAMP AT YAMBUYA.
The Aruwimi--Formation of the camp--Stanley’s plan--The
arrival of the _Henry Reed_--Tippoo Tib at Stanley
Falls--Composition of the caravan--Forward!
The Aruwimi, on the right bank of the Congo, is one of its most
important tributaries. In 1877 Stanley first discovered it as an
affluent, and in 1883 made the ascent of its lower course as far as
Yambuya, where he was stopped by the rapids. The river has since
been frequently explored by the agents of the Congo State, who have
recently established a large entrenched camp, protected by cannon, and
garrisoned with 600 Haoussa and Bangala soldiers, under the command of
twelve European officers.
The course of the river is studded with numerous small islands, some
of which are covered with low bushwood, others with trees of larger
growth. There are also many sand-banks which, when the water is low,
render navigation somewhat dangerous. The current is by no means
strong, nor is the channel anywhere very deep, and at Yambuya, where
the river is over 400 yards wide, the natives ford it at low water.
Both banks are picturesque and well-wooded, though not densely covered
with forest like those of the Lower Congo, the Sankullu, and the
Lomami. At intervals between the woods there are wide fertile plains,
rising variably from 15 to 30 feet above the level of the water. At the
beginning of the year, during the rainy season, the woods are adorned
with masses of blossoms of exquisite hues, scarlet, pink, and snowy
white. Bananas and palms are in great abundance.
On the Lower Aruwimi, the shores are tenanted by the populous tribe of
the Basoko, a fine strongly-built people, resembling the Wapoto lower
down the Congo, and the Mwenja round Stanley Falls. Further up the
river reside the Bateku, the Baburu, and other tribes.
The building of the houses on the Aruwimi is quite of a different
style to what it is on the Upper Congo. The huts are all surmounted by
conical roofs, which are from 4 to 5 yards high, and reach nearly down
to the ground, and these are covered over with great prickly leaves
which give to these primitive abodes a very singular character.
When first the expedition was making preparations to disembark,
the natives congregated on the banks, and appeared to be assuming
a threatening attitude, as if disposed to prevent a landing being
effected. Stanley sounded his steam-whistles, and the extraordinary
noise so startled them that they took to their heels. By degrees,
however, they found their way back, and being enticed by a few
presents, and by kindly words, soon became on friendly terms.
The camp was pitched at the foot of the first rapids, on the slope of a
steepish hill about 20 yards in height. It was enclosed by a palisade,
and on the sides that were open to attack it was protected by a broad
fosse, with bastions at the angles. Inside it was partitioned off into
three divisions, the upper of these being occupied by the huts of the
Europeans, not arranged in any symmetrical order; the centre by the
Zanzibaris and the police-guard; the lowest set apart for the quarters
of the Soudanese and for the powder-magazine.
Whilst Lieutenant Stairs and Mr. Jameson were superintending the
construction of the camp, Stanley was engaged in organising the scheme
of his expedition. The main features of his plan were these: he would
form an advance caravan, consisting of some 300 or 400 porters, and of
these, with the assistance of about four of his subordinates, he would
himself take the command. With this caravan he would proceed towards
Lake Albert, mainly following the course of the Aruwimi, and using the
river, wherever it should be practicable, for the transport of baggage
and invalids. The point on the lake which he contemplated reaching was
Kavalli, a small village on its southern extremity.
Yambuya and Kavalli lie pretty nearly in the same latitude, and the
distance between them was over 300 miles, which Stanley hoped, if no
impediment arose, that he should accomplish in about two months; but of
course he felt it quite questionable what difficulties he might have to
contend with along a route of which he had not the slightest knowledge.
Then, next, whilst this march was being made, the encampment would have
to be left with the remainder of the baggage under the guard of 300
soldiers; the _Stanley_ and the _Peace_ would have to go down
to Stanley Pool to convey up Mr. Rose Troup and whatever had been left
behind at Leopoldville, as well as to bring on Messrs. Bonney and Ward
with 125 soldiers who were at Bolobo; and finally, when Tippoo Tib’s
promised contingent of bearers should arrive, the rear body should
follow on, upon Stanley’s track, which, so long as it traversed an
unknown country, should be indicated by the blazing of trees and by the
vestiges of the abandoned camps.
On the afternoon of June 22nd, the _Henry Reed_, with Major
Barttelot on board, arrived at Stanley Falls. It had already been there
on the 17th with Tippoo Tib, who was received with every demonstration
of delight. On parting, Tippoo Tib delivered to the Major several
letters, one of which was addressed to the King of the Belgians,
assuring his Majesty of his most devoted allegiance, and of his earnest
desire for the maintenance of peace in the district that had been
entrusted to his charge.
This was in June 1887. Since that time various accusations of treachery
have been laid against Tippoo Tib, but the conduct of the Arab chief
has been in every way honest and straightforward, entirely falsifying
all evil report.
The whole of the Upper Congo is now in the occupation of the agents
of the Free State. The Government steamers, as well as those in the
ownership of different missions and various mercantile firms, ply
freely between the Pool and the Falls, and so active is trade, that at
the close of 1889 nearly fifty tons of ivory purchased from the natives
and Arab dealers were sold in the Antwerp market.
Control of the camp at Yambuya, as well as the conduct of the second
caravan, was entrusted by Stanley to Major Barttelot, who would have
the assistance of Messrs. Jameson, Bonney, Rose Troup, and Ward. The
officers who were to accompany Stanley himself were Lieutenant Stairs,
Captain Nelson, Dr. Parke, and Mr. Mounteney Jephson. The caravan
altogether was 368 in number, and in addition to the sections of the
whale-boat, and the large stock of provision, it had to convey 300
loads of cartridges. A company of seventy-five soldiers, armed with
Winchester rifles and hatchets, under the orders of Lieutenant Stairs,
was told off, to go at the head of the column, and lay open a pathway
through the woods.
All preparations were complete by the 27th of June. Stanley had the
troops drawn up in marching order and subjected to a strict review.
Betimes next morning the expedition left Yambuya and made its entrance
upon the unknown. Who could tell what difficulties were before it? Who
could anticipate what dangers were to be met? Who could forecast what
hostility, what sickness, what famine might have to be endured?
But these things mattered not. The grandeur of the undertaking kindled
the energies of all alike; confidence and hope were strong. Had they
not, as a leader, the man who had saved Livingstone, the hero who had
traversed Africa from Zanzibar to Banana, the renowned rock-breaker
Boula Matari, the undaunted explorer, the keenest of diplomatists, the
very founder of the Congo State?
Forward, then, forward! Straight onward to the Nyanza!
CHAPTER XIII.
FIFTEEN MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY.
Despatch from missionary at Matadi--Despatch from
Zanzibar--Fresh relief expeditions--Telegram from Mr. Ward--The
White Pasha on the Bahr-el-Ghazal--Communication from Dr.
Junker--The Mahdi’s expedition against Emin--Supposed death
of Casati--Osman Digna to General Grenfell--Omar Saleh’s
report of the taking of Lado and the capture of Emin--The
Stanley Expedition and the House of Commons--News from Stanley
Falls--Safe!
On the 23rd of June 1887, five days before he left Yambuya, Stanley
addressed a letter to Mr. William Mackinnon, which he concluded by
saying: “As soon as we can get wood enough on board the _Peace_
and _Henry Reed_ to feed their furnaces for a few days, the
steamers will be off, and our last chance of communicating with Europe
for a few months will be gone.”
This letter arrived in Europe on the 20th of September 1887, and until
the 21st of December 1888, an interval of fifteen months, there was no
authentic news of the expedition. False reports of all kinds were put
in circulation; never before had the story of African enterprise drawn
forth such a profusion of hypothetical conclusions. At the very time
when Stanley, with his advanced caravan, was making his way along the
banks of the Aruwimi, the following telegram was sent to Europe:--
“S. THOMAS, _July 21, 1887_.
“According to a report received from a missionary at Matadi,
Stanley has been killed in an engagement with the natives, about
procuring food.”
Almost while the press was commenting on this information, the report
of the Matadi missionary was supported by the announcement which found
its way into publication, that Stanley’s steamer had stranded on a
sand-bank on the upper river, that it had been attacked by the natives,
and that the leader, with all the members of the expedition, had been
massacred.
These tidings were reproduced in the newspapers of all parts of the
world, so that by a considerable portion of the public Stanley was
regarded as lost; his enterprise, it was argued, was too vast for human
power; the terrible cannibals of the Aruwimi would never permit him to
leave their territory alive; the country through which he was essaying
to pass presented a series of swamps in which fever must be fatal; or
even at best, if he should succeed in overcoming the difficulties of
the way, he would be sure to fall a victim to the treachery of Tippoo
Tib, that astute enemy whom he had been beguiled into establishing
at the Falls, but who had long been looking for an opportunity to
assassinate him!
On the 17th of August, another sensational paragraph appeared,
emanating this time from the East Coast, and sent by M. Raffray,
the French Consul at Zanzibar. It said that news had been brought
from Nyangwé that Stanley, after having been betrayed by Tippoo Tib,
had been attacked on the banks of the Aruwimi, and that he and his
followers had all been murdered. That statement was a few days later
corroborated by the _Figaro_, which specified June 28th as the day
of the dreadful deed.
The report, thus become current, made the more profound impression
because it seemed to come from an official source; but on further
inquiry nothing appeared to confirm it; the French Consul had been
misinformed by some traders who had come from the interior. Hope,
therefore, again revived.
But altogether, it must be owned, these rumours were disquieting;
the public confidence was shaken; and it began to be realised that
Stanley’s position must be very critical, and that it was quite
problematical whether he would ever succeed in reaching Emin.
Consequently discussion was started as to the propriety of organising
a fresh relief expedition which should proceed from the East Coast, a
route which many maintained would prove far easier and quicker than
that which Stanley had elected to take.
Meanwhile all messengers coming from the Congo to Europe had only the
same uniform report to make: “No news of Stanley.”
The silence could not do otherwise than cause uneasiness. Public
curiosity was aroused, and as Stanley himself supplied no information,
it involuntarily sustained itself upon the sensational telegrams and
reports, which although they were quite beside the mark, furnished some
material for discussion.
Ere long communications were received simultaneously from Yambuya
and from Wadelai, the former brought down to the coast by Mr. Ward,
the latter furnished by a letter from Emin. Both were to the same
invariable effect: “No news of Stanley.”
What could have happened? Where is he? What is he doing? Is he a
prisoner? Is he dead? Some maintained that, like Hicks Pasha, he and
all his people had been annihilated, and that nothing more would be
heard of him; some as confidently affirmed that he must be hemmed in by
the natives of the Aruwimi, and be without food or ammunition.
Neither at the headquarters of any of the geographical societies, nor
by the Emin Relief Committee, did these pessimist conjectures obtain
any credence.
Dr. Schweinfurth wrote: “There is no reason to be uneasy respecting
Stanley’s fate.”
Dr. Junker’s verdict was: “The expedition is exposed to no risk on the
part of the natives.”
Captain Wissmann’s message was: “I am sure that the expedition is not
lost.”
And Captain von Gèle said: “Though perhaps reduced in numbers by a long
rough march, Stanley and his men are assuredly in being, and we shall
soon hear of their exploits.”
But these high authorities did not avail to allay the general
misgiving. People remained incredulous, and it began to be circulated
by telegrams and otherwise that fresh expeditions were being organised
for the relief of the distressed explorer. Of these expeditions,
however, nothing more was subsequently heard.
No doubt the letters received in Europe from Mr. Ward gave a somewhat
unsatisfactory account of the situation at Stanley Falls and at the
Aruwimi camp, and the comments of the press became more and more
gloomy. Mr. Ward stated that the sole news which Major Barttelot had
received of the expedition was from some deserters, who reported that
the caravan had been attacked by the natives, and that Mr. Stanley had
been wounded by an arrow. Several newspapers asserted that a still more
serious state of things was being concealed.
At length, on June 17th, the _Gaulois_ announced that there had
been received at Brussels official intelligence of Stanley’s death; and
next day the _Journal des Débats_ confirmed the account of the
disaster in an article to this effect:--
“A Paris journal to-day announces that official news of Stanley’s
death has been received at Brussels. The truth of the report has been
denied. Nevertheless the letters which we have ourselves received
from Zanzibar leave little room for hope, and we believe that we are
warranted in giving credence to the news. As collateral evidence, it is
said that the families of the porters who accompanied the expedition
have now been wearing mourning for several weeks. It is declared that
Tippoo Tib is responsible for the catastrophe, as it is known that he
was nurturing feelings of revenge against Stanley, and that he would
take an opportunity of gratifying his enmity. Tippoo Tib is the real
author of the disaster that has befallen the Emin Relief Expedition.”
On the same day the Brussels correspondent of the _Berliner
Tageblatt_ wrote to corroborate the statements made by the Parisian
press, by giving details of the effect produced by the news upon the
members of the Free State Government in Brussels. What he said was to
the following purport:--“The Congo Government now acknowledges that
even if Stanley be not dead, at any rate he must be in imminent danger.
His mission has completely failed, and his caravan is hopelessly
dispersed. For a month past the officials have been aware of the
desperate condition of things, which probably has some connection with
the recall of M. Janssen, the Governor-General. All is consternation
here. Negotiations are going on between the English and Congo
Governments as to the propriety of sending out a fresh expedition. It
is to be feared, however, that help must arrive too late.”
Yet what was the fact? All through this time the administrators of the
Free State, however persistently they were interviewed by the Brussels
reporters, adhered to the unchanging statement: “No news of Stanley.”
But now in the midst of these doubts and discrepancies, an
announcement which appeared in the _Times_ gave a new direction
to the discussion. Attention was drawn to unexpected quarters. The
announcement in question was in substance as follows:--
“SUAKIN, _June 20th, 1888_.
“According to intelligence received by the military authorities
from Berber and Khartoum, and confirmed by deserters from Osman
Digna’s camp, a White Pasha has appeared in the Bahr-el-Ghazal
district, and is advancing victoriously. The Khalifa Abdullah,
the Mahdi’s successor, is said to be much alarmed. This White
Pasha is probably Stanley.”
This strange and somewhat startling news was confirmed in a degree by
later despatches. From Suakin, on July 18th, it was reported: “Some
fakirs who are on pilgrimage to Mecca arrived here yesterday, and have
said this morning that in passing through Darfur they heard that a
large company of strangers, with a White Pasha at their head, were in
the marshes of the Bahr-el-Ghazal; and further, that the population of
Darfur had received them cordially, and was making preparation to join
them in attacking the Mahdi.”
From Cairo, on July 23rd, it was heard that “a messenger from Omdurman
reports that the Khalifa Abdullah has received news of the arrival
of the White Pasha in the Bahr-el-Ghazal. Abdullah intends to march
against him. The messenger adds that the White Pasha is Emin.”
Later on a telegram from Suakin, dated August 17th, contained further
explanation: “The reports of the appearance of a white chief on the
Bahr-el-Ghazal are confirmed. The chief is designated by the natives
Etlu-Digu (King of Beards). His force is said to be considerable, and
composed of half-naked men, probably Niam-niam or Denka. The man from
whom I received the news avows its accuracy. The population of Khartoum
is taken by surprise, and is in considerable alarm, being influenced by
the belief that Etlu-Digu is no other than Stanley. The Mahdi is said
to have despatched 5000 infantry and 200 cavalry to Fashoda, by way of
Kordofan.”
And again from Suakin on August 20th:--“Some pilgrims who have arrived
from Sokoro by the way of the Bahr-el-Ghazal report the appearance of
a large force of white men in the Bongo country. The pilgrims left
Bongo-land in February, after camping for four days with the white
people, who were armed with Remington rifles.”
Thus it came to pass that all kinds of conjectures were rife about
this White Pasha who, after establishing himself in the Bahr-el-Ghazal
and making alliance with the people of Darfur, was now about making an
offensive movement against the Arabs. Who was this Pasha? Whence came
this bold adventurer into Lupton Bey’s former province? Was it Stanley?
Was it Emin?[6]
In order to throw some light upon the matter which had thus kept
the Suakin telegraph in activity, Dr. Junker wrote, in July, to the
Gotha _Mitteilungen_, that a messenger who had left Khartoum on
the 25th of May, had arrived in Cairo, and stated that he had been
an eye-witness of the preparations that the Mahdi had been making,
during the previous two months, for a great attack upon the Egyptian
Government in the southern provinces. It was stated, moreover, that the
expedition was to consist of about 4000 men, and would be conveyed in
four steamers formerly belonging to Gordon, and by a number of ordinary
boats.
This communication caused a good deal of excitement, both amongst
Emin’s friends and the general public, and the dismay was considerably
increased when ten days later a Reuter’s telegram announced that at
the beginning of April Emin Pasha’s position had become exceedingly
critical, inasmuch as on the 12th an envoy from the Mahdi had summoned
him to surrender.
A despatch like this could not fail again to set all manner of sinister
rumours afloat. Some English newspapers announced, that according
to information sent from the Congo by Mr. Ward, Major Barttelot had
sent out detachments of troops from the Aruwimi camp to reconnoitre
Stanley’s advance-route, and that the men brought back the tidings that
the way was strewn with human bones.
On the 12th of October the _Standard_ published a notice,
detailing the circumstance of Casati’s death: “All Emin’s
communications,” it ran, “with the East Coast have been cut off by the
hostility of Kabrega, King of the Unyoro, who ordered both the Tripoli
merchant, Mohammed Biri, and Captain Casati, to be killed.”
Within three weeks afterwards, _L’Echo du Nord_, published
at Lille, circulated a statement that the President of the Lille
Geographical Institute had received intelligence of the death of
Stanley, who had been massacred with all his followers, two porters
alone escaping.
Another month had hardly passed when the Suakin telegraph again took up
the dismal tale, and matters seemed to be looking more and more gloomy,
as the particulars given became more precise, and were forwarded on the
authority of the English officers on the Red Sea.
The account already mentioned, as appearing in the Gotha
_Mitteilungen_, and declaring that an expedition was being
organised against Emin Pasha, so far aroused the interest of Colonel
Rundle, the Governor of Suakin, that in the hope of obtaining accurate
information he sent a special message of inquiry direct to the Mahdi.
The answer was not long in coming; it was a letter sent by Osman Digna
himself, as chief of the forces of the Mahdi before Suakin; it was
addressed to General Grenfell, the Commander of the English garrison;
its language was to this effect:--
“In the name of the great and merciful God, this is sent by
Osman Digna to the Christian who is Governor at Suakin.
“Let me inform you that a short time ago Rundle sent me a letter
to ask about the man who is ruling in the Equatorial province.
“On receiving this letter I sent at once to the Khalifa, who
informs me that the troops there have made prisoners of the
governor and of a traveller who was with him. Both of them are
now in irons and in the hands of our chief.
“The whole province has now submitted to us, and the inhabitants
make allegiance to the Mahdi. We have captured all their arms
and ammunition; we have carried off all the officers to the
Khalifa, who received them well, and they are now living with
him. They have given up all their flags.
“You may tell Rundle, therefore, what has become of the governor.
“I subjoin copies of the letters which have been sent by our
chief to the Khalifa, and by Tewfik to the governor aforesaid.
“I send also, that you may see it, some of the ammunition that
has been brought from the Equator.
“I pray God to give victory to the believers and destruction to
the infidels.
“OSMAN DIGNA.”
Enclosed were the transcripts of the two letters. The one from the
Mahdist chief who was asserted to have made himself master of the
province was in this form:--
“In the name of the great and merciful God:--This letter is
written by one of the lowliest servants of Allah to the Chief
Khalifa. We advanced with the steamers and reached the town of
Lado, where Emin, the Mudir of the Equator, had his quarters. We
arrived there on the 25 Safar 1306.
“We owe our thanks to the officers and soldiers who made our
victory easy. Before our arrival they had captured Emin and
a traveller who was with him, and had put them in irons. The
officers and men refused to go to Egypt with the Turks.
“Tewfik sent to Emin a traveller called Stanley. By Stanley he
sent a letter to Emin, ordering him to go back with Stanley. To
the rest of the forces he gave the option of going to Cairo,
or remaining where they were. They refused to obey the Turkish
orders and received us joyfully.
“I also send a copy of the letter which was written by Tewfik to
Emin; and I send besides the flags which we have taken from the
Turks.
“I understand that another traveller had arrived to join Emin,
but that he has left again. I am seeking for him, and if he
returns, I shall certainly take him prisoner.
“I have found all the chief officers and residents delighted to
receive us.
“I have taken all the arms and ammunition.
“I instruct you to send back to me the officers and the head
commissioners when you have seen them and given them your
directions. They will be of service to me.
“OMAR SALEH.”
The excitement caused by news such as this may well be imagined. In
the House of Commons on the 14th of December the First Lord of the
Treasury, in reply to a question, confirmed the report that General
Grenfell had received a communication from Osman Digna purporting
to inform him of the capture of Emin and Stanley at Lado; and for
a couple of days the alleged disaster was the prominent event that
engaged the public attention. The news now, it was presumed, did not
depend upon any despatch of questionable authority, but might be taken
as authentic. After Dr. Junker’s announcement that an expedition was
about to leave Khartoum for Lado in May or June, it was not at all
impossible for Emin to be made a prisoner in October; as for Stanley,
his having joined Emin was equally likely, since Osman professed to
have a letter from the Khedive addressed to Emin, and it was known, as
matter of fact, that Stanley had been the bearer of such a letter from
Cairo.
But if the suspense was great, it was soon over.
An interval of fifteen months had elapsed in which the telegraph had
never transmitted any but dubious or mournful messages, when suddenly
a voice was heard that proclaimed the real condition of affairs. That
voice was Stanley’s own.
In the House of Commons, just a week after Mr. W. H. Smith had spoken
of the letter to General Grenfell, Mr. Goschen asked leave to read
a telegram that had just been received by Reuter’s agency. Silence
ensued, and he read as follows:--
“S. THOMAS, _December 21, 1888_.
“Letters from Stanley Falls, dated August 21, 1888, state that
on the previous day a letter had been received from Stanley,
announcing that he was at Banalya, on the Aruwimi. He had left
Emin Pasha eighty-two days previously in perfect health, and
well supplied with provisions. He had retraced his steps in
order to bring up his rear company and their loads. He had
arrived at Banalya on the 17th of August, and expected to start
again in ten days to rejoin Emin. All the white men belonging to
the expedition were well.”
The communication coming so speedily and so opportunely after the
previous alarming reports was received with unbounded enthusiasm. The
whole House rose to its feet and cheered for joy. Stanley was free!
It was now plain that Stanley could not be the Mahdi’s prisoner,
because on the 17th of August he was only a few days’ march from the
Falls, and the news of his capture was manifestly false. Was there not,
therefore, reason to hope that Emin was also at liberty, and that none
of Osman Digna’s assertions were to be received as trustworthy?
Confirmation of the happy tidings was not wanting. The next day a
telegram was received from M. Ledeganck, the vice-governor of Boma,
addressed to the Central Committee at Brussels:--
“S. THOMAS, _December 22, 1888_.
“Tippoo Tib has had a letter from Stanley, dated Bonalya, August
17. Stanley was well. He had left Emin at the Nyanza eighty-two
days before. Emin had sufficient provisions; he was in good
health, and Casati too. He announced his intention of taking up
his loads from Yambuya and returning to Emin.”
Thus by the two brief telegrams now received all the misgivings and
uncertainty of the last fifteen months were set at rest. The expedition
had accomplished its design. Stanley had made his way and joined Emin
Pasha. Only when this was done had he retraced his steps to bring up
the residue of his caravan.
The details of this heroic march and of his meeting with Emin have
been given by Stanley in a report sent to the Relief Committee in
London, and in a letter addressed to the Royal Geographical Society.
A _résumé_ of them will form the substance of the two succeeding
chapters.
CHAPTER XIV.
YAMBUYA CAMP TO ALBERT NYANZA.
On the march--First skirmish with natives--The
rapids--The Nepoko--Meeting with Arabs--A devastated
region--Famine--Desertions--In the forest for 160 days--Through
villages and fields--The chief Mazamboni--Declaration of
war--Forward for the Nyanza!
Leaving Yambuya on the 28th of June 1887, the caravan for the first day
followed the bank of the river. For a time the road was practicable,
but a difficulty soon began to present itself from the creepers,
varying from an inch to a foot in thickness, that interlaced themselves
in arches across the path, and had to be cut away with hatchets.
On the following day the column made its encampment at Yankondé, a
considerable village just opposite the rapids. As the river was found
to be taking too northerly a direction, a course had to be made across
the manioc fields and through a teeming population. Every device that
the natives could invent to molest and impede the advance of the
caravan was adopted. Repeatedly shallow holes were dug in the path, and
these were filled with sharp spikes, cunningly concealed by leaves.
To those who walked over them barefooted the agony was terrible; the
feet were not only severely lacerated, but frequently the spikes
would remain in the flesh and cause gangrenous sores. Ten men were so
crippled in this way as to be almost _hors de combat_. At the
approach to each village there was usually a straight, well-cleared
pathway, about one hundred yards long and four yards wide, and these
were literally bristling with the skewers, always artfully hidden from
sight. The proper paths would have led by a considerable _détour_,
but these were made to have the most inviting aspect. At the entrance
of each village a sentinel had been placed with a drum to sound out an
alarm.
The river-bank was regained on the 5th of July, and as there are no
rapids immediately in front, Stanley brought his boat into requisition,
and found it of inestimable service, as it not only conveyed the sick
and wounded, but also carried two tons of baggage. In his first letter
to Major Barttelot he wrote:--“If I had to begin over again I should
collect the largest canoes I could, and an adequate supply of rowers,
and I should use them for the sick and for baggage. Between Yambuya and
the Nyanza the canoes are many and capacious enough, but unfortunately,
the Zanzibaris are miserably poor hands at rowing. There are scarcely
fifty men in my whole troop who know how to handle a paddle. We can do
as much in one day by land, as in two by water.”
Onwards from the 15th of July to the 18th of October the column kept
continually to the left bank of the Aruwimi, making no deviation.
The sufferings of the men, the vast extent of the forest with its
numberless intricacies, the unwholesome atmosphere, the almost
incessant rain, altogether combined to make it unadvisable to venture
far away from the river, where at any rate there was a tolerable
certainty of procuring food from the villages on its border.
Hereabouts, the Aruwimi varies from 500 to 900 yards in width, its
course broken by islands, single and in groups, which are the resort
of oyster-fishermen. Insects of many kinds, flies and butterflies
especially, are innumerable; for hours every day swarms of these
butterflies may be seen crossing over the water. The villages succeeded
one after another well-nigh without a break, their united population
reckoning many thousands, and belonging chiefly to the tribes of
the Banalya, the Bakubana and the Bungangeta. As might be expected,
throughout the district there was abundance of food.
On the 9th of July the caravan reached the rapids of Gwengweré, the
region being still quite populous. Although the villages are so
continuous, the residents appear to belong to a number of different
small tribes; as immediately at the rapids the people are Bakoka, only
a little higher up they are Bapupa, Bandangi, and Banali, and further
inland are Bambalulu and Baburu. These last occupy a considerable
region, and give the Aruwimi the name of “Lubali.”
At this period the mornings were generally dark and gloomy, the sky
obscured by heavy clouds. Occasionally everything was in a dense
fog, which did not clear off until nine o’clock, and sometimes not
much before midday. In this dim condition of the atmosphere nothing
stirred; the insects seemed asleep; death-like silence reigned through
the forest; the river in its dark fringe of massy vegetation lay mute
and sombre as a grave. If rain did not follow, and the sun began to
disperse the mists, as light penetrated the vapour everything would
again start into life; butterflies sport in the air, the solitary ibis
raise its note of alarm, the diving-bird plunge into the stream; there
would be movement all around. Suddenly, the drum was heard, the natives
from afar had descried the advancing troop, and shouting vociferously
had seized their glistening spears, and were ready for hostilities.
Encampment was made, on July 17th, at the rapids of Mariri, beyond
which, on both sides of the river, resides a large number of the Mupé.
Up to this point there is no real cataract; the rapids are formed by
reefs of rock between which the waters force a passage, but they so
entirely prevent navigation that boats have to be unloaded and carried,
as well as their cargoes, beyond the limits of the obstruction.
Beyond the Mupé, towards the north, is the tribe of the Bandeya; in the
interior are the Batua, to the east the Mabode, and on the south the
Bundiba, the Binyali, and the Bakongo.
At Mugwyé, above the Bandeya rapids, stands a group of seven villages
surrounded by magnificent banana plantations and manioc fields,
extending over an area of some miles. Here a whole day was lost in
bartering for provisions, at very costly rates. The distrustful and
unconciliatory spirit of the natives was very great, so that at a large
outlay of cowries and brass rods only a few ears of corn could be
procured for about a third part of the caravan.
Above Mugwyé are the Panga Falls, having a descent of about 30 feet;
and these are succeeded by the Nejambi rapids.
During the next ten days the services of three porters were lost, two
of them having deserted, and one having died of dysentery. These were
the only casualties since the start, so that for thirty-four days the
course, as Stanley said, had been “singularly successful.”
But the expedition had now to enter upon a wilderness, through which
it took nine days to march. Sufferings began to be aggravated, so that
several deaths occurred. Fortunately, the river was available for some
distance, and canoes could be employed in relieving the disabled of
their loads, and thus progress, if not so rapid as at first, was still
steady.
On August 13th the expedition arrived at Air-Sibba. Here the natives
showed an angry front, apparently resolved to oppose the passage of the
caravan. Five men were killed by poisoned arrows. Lieutenant Stairs was
wounded just below the heart, but although he suffered severely for
more than a month, he happily recovered.
The porters were obliged to take every possible precaution against
these destructive weapons, which were here in such free use. When the
poison is fresh a wound is invariably mortal. The injury to Lieutenant
Stairs was not improbably caused by an arrow of which the poison had
lost its efficacy, so that he was nearly convalescent after some weeks,
although the wound was some time longer before it was thoroughly
healed. A man who received a slight scratch on the wrist died in five
days of tetanus; another who was touched in the muscle of the arm near
the shoulder lived only a few hours longer; and a third, slightly cut
on the throat, succumbed in about the same time also, a victim to
lock-jaw.
Stanley made every endeavour to find out whence this deadly poison was
obtained. He observed in the huts various packets of dried red ants.
He thus knew that the bodies of the ants, after being dried and ground
to powder, were cooked in palm-oil, and that this was the composition
that was applied to the spear-heads, and made them such fatal missiles.
On July 25th the encampment was at Air-Jali, the point of confluence of
the Nepoko with the Aruwimi.
The Nepoko comes from the north, and is the river of which Dr. Junker
explored the source near the residence of the Mombuttu chief Sanga. At
its mouth it is more than 300 yards wide, and falls into the Aruwimi by
a cataract.
From the Congo to the Nepoko the banks of the Aruwimi are almost
uniformly low, never exceeding an altitude of 40 feet; higher up their
elevation becomes greater, and they are frequently crowned with forests
of palm-trees, the stems of some of which are as gigantic as any of
those which grow on the Lower Congo. The natives have a singular method
of clearing the woods: having constructed a platform some 16 feet high,
they cut down the trees, hundreds at a time, to this level, so that at
first sight a tract of land that has been subject to this treatment
presents very much the appearance of a city of ruined temples.
The stream seems to be a boundary line between two distinctive styles
of building; below the point of confluence all the huts are conical;
but above it, the villages are all composed of square huts, generally
surrounded by tall logs of the Rubiaceæ wood, which form a sort of
outwork, offering a good position for defence for men with firearms,
and requiring a considerable force to overcome and capture.
Navigation henceforward, becomes more difficult; above the Nepoko,
rapids are frequent, and there are two falls of some magnitude. The
country rises gradually for 400 miles from Yambuya, and at last the
river is shut in by the vertical walls of a cañon, and its breadth
confined to a channel that is scarcely 100 yards across. All along,
whatever diversities may characterise the soil, one uniform feature
prevails, inasmuch as mountain peaks, plains and valleys are all
covered with forest, and there is not an open space that has not been
cleared by the hand of man.
For some days longer the course of the Aruwimi was followed, until it
became impossible to contend with the increasing vehemence of the
stream. The boat and canoes had to be unloaded.
Only after two months, at the end of August, could real misfortunes
be said to begin. In choosing the Aruwimi route Stanley had been
influenced by the hope that he should avoid the Arabs who so frequently
entice the porters to desert. Disappointed in his design, he now fell
in with one of their caravans, meeting a party of Manyema, belonging to
a certain Ugarrowwa, otherwise known as Uledi Balyuz, who had formerly
been in Speke’s service as a tent-boy. As if to verify Stanley’s
forebodings, within three days of the _rencontre_ twenty-six of
his followers had disappeared.
Ugarrowwa’s station was further up on the right hand bank of the
river. The caravan reached the spot on the 16th of September, but as
he had so completely devastated the country that food was scarce,
only a brief halt was made. Stanley, however, left fifty-six of his
men with Ugarrowwa, engaging to pay him five dollars a month each for
their keep. It would have been certain death for the men to have to
proceed with the caravan in their debilitated condition, while with
a few weeks’ rest they were not unlikely to recover their strength.
On starting again the expedition, all told, amounted to 266 men. Of
the 388 men who had originally set out from Yambuya, 66 had been lost
by desertion and death, and 56 more had to be left sick at the Arab
station.
Another Arab settlement was reached on the 15th of October. This was
the headquarters of Kilonga-Longa, once a Zanzibari slave belonging to
Abed-ben-Salim, an old trader whose bloody deeds are recorded in “The
Congo and the Founding of its Free State.”
The month of October was, as Stanley has said, “an awful month;” no
member of the expedition, white or black, will ever forget it. The
entire region had been so thoroughly laid waste by the Arabs that not
a single native hut had been left standing. Whatever had not been
ransacked by Kilonga’s slaves had been uprooted by elephants, so that
the district was one vast wilderness. The reserve of provisions having
been exhausted, the men were obliged, as best they could, to exist upon
wild fruit and different sorts of fungus.
On attempting to renew the march, the porters were found to be so
weak that they were quite unable to carry the boat and the diminished
loads; and thus it was that they had to be left where they were,
under the supervision of Dr. Parke and Captain Nelson, the latter of
whom was incapable of proceeding farther without rest. To add to the
general misfortune, the men who were in condition to go on had allowed
themselves to be so miserably cheated and plundered by the slaves, who
took their rifles, their ammunition, and even their clothing, that when
they set out afresh, they were in a state of beggary and naked. To such
distress was the expedition now reduced.
After twelve days’ perseverance in a most painful march, the caravan
arrived at a native village, called Ibwiri. It proved to be a populous
place and well supplied with provisions; but so dire had been the
effect of the privation endured for successive weeks that the men had
become mere skeletons. Of the 266 who had made a start from Ugarrowwa’s
quarters, only 174 survived to reach Ibwiri.
A halt for thirteen days was made at Ibwiri, an opportunity that was
enjoyed by the men, who feasted abundantly upon goat-flesh, poultry,
bananas, yams, and all the good things that seemed inexhaustible.
So beneficial was the effect that when mustered for another start
on November 24th, they were all sleek and robust, and so revived in
spirits that they were ready to follow Stanley to the world’s end.
It is true that there was still a journey before them of 126 miles
before the Nyanza would be reached, but now in recruited strength and
with plenty of food such a distance counted for nothing.
On arriving on the 1st of December at the summit of an elevated ridge,
they were able to see the open country where their endurances would all
come to an end. They were now leaving behind them the dark interminable
forest; the gloom that had overshadowed them for 160 days was becoming
a thing of the past; they were about to emerge upon the open plain.
Stanley himself thus writes of this period:--“Try and imagine some of
our inconveniences. Take a thick Scottish copse, dripping with rain;
imagine this copse to be a mere undergrowth, nourished under the
impenetrable shade of ancient trees, ranging from 100 to 180 feet high;
briars and thorns abundant; lazy creeks meandering through the jungle,
and sometimes a deep affluent of a great river. Imagine this forest and
jungle in all stages of decay and growth, old trees falling, leaning
perilously over, fallen prostrate; ants and insects of all kinds,
sizes, and colours murmuring around; monkeys and chimpanzees above,
queer noises of birds and animals, crashes in the jungle as troops of
elephants rush away; dwarfs with poisoned arrows securely hidden behind
some buttress or in some dark recess; strong brown-bodied aborigines
with terribly sharp spears standing poised, still as dead stumps; rain
pattering down upon you every other day; an impure atmosphere, with its
dread consequences, fever and dysentery; gloom throughout the day, and
dark almost palpable throughout the night; then if you will imagine
such a forest extending the entire distance from Plymouth to Peterhead,
you will have a fair idea of some of the inconveniences endured by us
from June 28th to December 5th, 1887.”
In another letter Stanley further writes: “After 160 days’ continuous
gloom we saw the light of broad day shining all around us and making
all things beautiful. We thought we had never seen grass so green, nor
country so lovely. The men literally yelled and leaped for joy, and
raced over the ground with their burdens. Ah! this was the old spirit
of former expeditions successfully completed all of a sudden revived.
Woe betide the native aggressor we may meet, however powerful he may
be; with such a spirit the men will fling themselves like wolves on
sheep. Numbers will not be considered. It had been the eternal forest
that had made them abject slavish creatures, so brutally plundered by
Arab slaves at Kilonga-Longa’s.”
Yet these were the very men who had turned a deaf ear to prayers and
entreaties when, a few weeks previously, their intrepid leader had
tried to rally them by saying: “Beyond these raiders lies a country
untouched, where food is abundant, and where you will forget your
miseries; so cheer up, boys; be men, press on a little faster.”
A few days more and the expedition entered the territory of the Bakumu,
of which the different tribes extend to the south-west nearly as far as
Stanley Falls. Their chief on the Aruwimi is the powerful Mazamboni.
Their villages are numerous and large. As a rule they consist of a
single street, from 10 to 20 yards in width, bordered by huts that are
nearly uniform in size and height, and placed so close together as
not unfrequently to look like a single structure 200, 300, or even 400
yards long. Cultivated fields and pasture-lands enclose them all.
Here the natives again had sighted the caravan from a long distance,
and at once set themselves in array to resist its progress. It was
about four o’clock in the afternoon when Stanley led his column
into the centre of a group of villages, and at once set to work to
construct a zeriba as fast as billhooks could hack down the brushwood.
Meanwhile the war-cry could be heard pealing from hill to hill; the
natives gathered themselves by hundreds from every point; the noise
of war-horns and drums made it plain that a struggle must ensue. Some
assailants, over venturous, were soon repelled, and a brief skirmish
ended in the capture of a cow. It provided the men with the first meal
of beef which they had tasted since they left the ocean!
The night passed peacefully, both sides making preparations for the
morrow. The natives were anxious to know who the intruders were, whence
they had come, whither they were going, and what were their designs.
The Europeans, on the other hand, wanted all the information they
could get about the country and its resources. Hours were spent in
talking, both parties keeping at due distance from each other.
From the natives it was gathered that they were subject to Uganda,
but that Kabrega was their true sovereign, and that now Mazamboni was
holding the country for Kabrega. As the upshot of the interview they
accepted some cloth and brass-rods to show their chief, who would
return an answer the next day.
It was somewhat startling the following morning to hear a man
proclaiming that it was Mazamboni’s decision that the caravan must
be driven back and expelled from the land. A vehement shouting arose
from the valleys, and two arrows were shot into the camp. Thus war was
declared. The camp was situated between two ranges of hills, one above
and one below. The upper range was seen to be lined with hundreds of
natives preparing to descend, and nearly as many seemed mustering in
the valley.
There was no time to lose. Forthwith Stanley hurried forth a detachment
of forty men under Lieutenant Stairs to attack the valley, whilst
Mr. Jephson was sent with thirty men to the east. A choice body of
sharpshooters was also sent to test the courage of those descending the
mountain.
The resistance did not last long. Lieutenant Stairs crossed a deep and
narrow river in the face of hundreds of natives, and took the first
village by assault. The sharpshooters did their work well, and drove
the descending natives rapidly up the slope, until there was a general
flight. Meantime Jephson was not idle; he marched straight up the
valley to the east, driving the people back and taking their villages
as he went. By 3 P.M. there was not a native visible anywhere
within a mile and a half.
On the morning of the 12th, the march was continued. During that day
and the following day there were some skirmishes, but only of slight
importance.
The course was now due east. The Ituri, as the Aruwimi is here called,
had been left behind, and the caravan was now on the top of the
plateau. About 1 P.M. a shout was heard from Stanley: “Now,
men, look out! prepare for a sight of the Nyanza!” The people were
doubtful; they kept murmuring: “Why does the master keep talking to us
in this way? Nyanza, indeed! Isn’t it all a plain? and do we not see
mountains for four days’ march ahead?” But it was true, nevertheless.
Within half an hour they could see the Nyanza below them: the great
goal and object of their journey was lying expanded at their feet. A
cheer rose involuntarily: “Hurrah for the Nyanza!” The negroes who had
mistrusted the assurances of their leader came running to kiss his
hands and to ask pardon for their incredulity.
There on the summit of Baker’s Blue Mountains, on the ridge between the
basins of the Congo and the Nile, stood Stanley to enjoy his triumph
and to feel that he had his reward. The lake which was navigated by
Emin’s steamers was outstretched in front of him. The huts of Kavalli,
the objective point of the expedition, were but six miles away. With
what impatience had the explorer traced the lessening of the long
itinerary on his map! With what ardour had he mounted the elevation
that overlooks the Aruwimi region! With what eagerness had he crossed
the plain on which both Nile and Congo take their origin! With what
anxiety had he scanned the distant view, and peered through the foliage
of the palms to catch a glimpse of the lake that he knew should be
close at hand! And there it was! Its waters were sparkling before his
eyes. It was reached at last!
At what cost the end had been attained it is hard to realise: the
endurance, the effort, and the determination by which it was achieved
none but those devoted followers who undauntedly kept true to their
master can actually know.
Thus on the confines of Emin’s province, it became Stanley’s next
concern to put himself into direct communication with Emin, so that he
should be apprised of the arrival of the expedition that had come out
for his relief.
But where was he? Was Emin within reach?
On leaving Cairo in January 1887, Stanley had had no later news of
Emin Pasha than what had been brought by Dr. Junker in the previous
year. Three years therefore had elapsed, and what might not have
transpired in the time? There was room for many speculations. What
had been happening in the Soudan? Had the Mahdists made any fresh
advance towards the south? Had the natives in the Upper Nile remained
submissive? Had the black soldiers and the Egyptian officers kept
faithful? Might not Emin and Casati have fallen victims to treachery,
and shared the fate of Gordon? Although Wolseley had reached his goal,
had he not arrived too late?
Happily, however, there was no need for these apprehensions. Although
Stanley himself for seven months in the untraversed woods of Africa had
been cut off from communication with the world, and was ignorant of
the situation, Europe had already been apprised of the safety both of
the Pasha and his companion, by letters received from them on the East
Coast.
Both men were free. Since Dr. Junker’s departure nothing had occurred
to disturb the peace of the province, and although the store of
provisions was getting low, the troops had remained faithful in their
allegiance, and the Egyptian flag still floated unchallenged over the
fourteen stations and two steamers on the Upper Nile.
The approach of Stanley’s expedition, by the way of the Congo, had
been already made known to Emin by messengers who had left Zanzibar in
January, arriving at the lake in May. The arrival of the relief party
was consequently expected. On August 15, 1887, Emin had written from
Wadelai to his friend Dr. Felkin in Edinburgh, and mentioned that he
had despatched some messengers to the south-west to make inquiries
about Stanley; and in November he wrote again to Zanzibar, saying: “All
well; on best terms with chiefs and people: will be leaving shortly for
Kibiro, on east of Lake Albert. Have sent reconnoitring party to look
out for Stanley, which had to return with no news yet. Stanley expected
about December 15th.”
Casati had also received information of what Stanley was doing; but
less sanguine than Emin, he estimated approximately that the arrival of
the caravan would be about the following March. On the 5th of December
he wrote from Giuaïa to his friend Captain Camperio: “For my part, I
do not believe that Stanley will arrive yet. No news even of the most
vague character has yet reached us from the west. I am, in my own mind,
convinced that unless fortune has signally smiled upon his enterprise,
he cannot be expected here until March.”
Eight days after sending his letter, if Casati had been using his
telescope, and scanning the shores of Lake Nyanza, he might have
descried a concourse of men on the summit of the plateau; he might
have seen that the mass was in motion, and would not have been long
in concluding that here was the caravan for which they were on the
look-out. It had actually touched the margin of the lake on the very
day that had been forecast by Emin!
Nevertheless, before the three brave adventurers were to meet, four
months had yet to elapse.
CHAPTER XV.
MEETING OF STANLEY AND EMIN.
The Albert Nyanza--The camp at Kavalli--Where is Emin?--Stanley
makes retreat--Fort Bodo--Dwarfs of Central Africa--Travels of
Lieutenant Stairs--Illness of Stanley--On the march--Return to
the Lake--A letter from Emin--Jephson reconnoitring--Meeting of
Stanley, Emin, and Casati--In council.
From the ridge of the plateau whence the expedition first sighted the
Nyanza the view extends to an indefinite horizon.
The confluence of the Aruwimi is about 1250 feet above the level of
the sea; thence the laborious ascent of the wooded terraces had to be
made between which the river runs to join the Congo, forming numerous
rapids and cascades as it rolls along. The pathway kept on a gradual
rise, and eventually obtained an altitude of 5200 feet. After arriving
at the eastern limit of the basin, they soon found that the plateau
was making a sudden decline, and widening out so as to form a great
hollow, in which, some 2900 feet below them, the surface of the waters
of the southern shore of the lake lay outstretched, like a sheet of
quicksilver in the midday sun.
About twenty miles away towards the east the peaked summits of Unyoro
are conspicuous. The hills appear to rise immediately from the water to
a height of 1000 or perhaps 1500 feet. So clear is the atmosphere that
every indentation of the outline can be distinguished. Beyond these, in
remoter distance, are the elevated plains of Kabrega’s kingdom, where
for two years Casati has been stationed in order to keep open the route
towards the East Coast.
To the southward lies the valley of the Semliki, a river that flows at
the foot of one of the most Alpine districts in Africa, its mountains
rising in domes and peaks, some of them, like the Gordon-Bennett and
Edwin Arnold, assuming the most striking forms; whilst the whole region
is dominated by the majestic Ruwenzori, clad in eternal snow, and
15,000 feet in height.
Northwards the lake becomes wider; but the view in that direction is
not extensive. About 250 miles from Kavalli the lake gives birth to the
White Nile, which passes Wadelai as it flows towards Khartoum.
It is asserted that about a century ago the length of the lake was
certainly fifteen miles more than its present measurement; its waters
must therefore have covered the forests of ambatch and the tracts of
reeds and papyrus which are now traversed by the lower course of the
Semliki. The cause of this retreat of the water from its ancient bounds
may not improbably be attributed to the gradual wearing away of sandy
shoals and rocks in the Nile below Wadelai. The encroachment of the
shore is greatest on the western side, and Emin asserts his belief that
several islands (one in particular called Tunguru) which some years ago
were at a considerable distance from the margin of the lake, are now
quite contiguous to the mainland, and are tenanted by residents. In a
good many places towards the southern end of the lake, the brown tint
of the water indicates its shallowness, and not unfrequently, even some
miles out, the bottom can be reached by a sounding pole.
As they descend towards the water the slopes of the hill-sides are
somewhat steep; they are not covered with very much vegetation, except
in the moist ravines and interstices where magnificent shrubs and giant
euphorbiæ are sure to be found in large profusion; and if anywhere the
glitter of a tiny cascade shines through the foliage, there, almost to
a certainty, may be seen the date-palm rearing on high its graceful
plume.
On the narrow strips of level ground between the mountain foot and the
water’s edge are various little groups of huts, with their adjoining
fields, on which they grow their bananas, or where, on the rich short
pasture, they keep the herds of cows and goats that graze peacefully
together.
Occasionally the waters of the lake will lose themselves in enormous
banks of reeds, floating masses of vegetation, too dense for any canoes
to penetrate; elsewhere they gently ripple over beds of white pebbles
where the fishing-boats are moored.
In Indian file, on the evening of December 13, the expedition made its
descent along the zigzag pathway, and settled itself in an encampment
at the base of the hills, about half a mile from the lake, between the
villages of Kavalli and Kakongo.
Just as it had happened on the higher ground, the natives here, too,
manifested considerable disquietude at the unlooked-for appearance
of so large a caravan of strangers, with white men at their head.
They did not proceed to any overt hostility, but it was quite evident
that they did not approve of such a body of intruders coming amongst
them. In the conversations into which they entered with Stanley they
avowed that they had never seen any boats upon the lake, except their
own. If this were so, what was the conclusion to be drawn? Was it not
obvious that the couriers who had been sent from Zanzibar to prepare
Emin beforehand, for the arrival of an expedition in January, must have
been delayed? Otherwise Emin would have been sure to send over his two
steamers to the south-west, and to make proper provision for securing
from the natives a hospitable reception for the caravan whenever it
should come. Every indication seemed to point to the conclusion that
Emin Pasha had not been apprised of Stanley’s near approach.
What now should be done? The journey from Kavalli to Wadelai was far
too long and too arduous to be attempted without boats by an expedition
so reduced in strength, and yet no canoes were to be had; as for
Stanley’s own boat, that had been left at Kilonga-Longa’s, 190 miles
away.
Stanley took his two officers, Messrs. Stairs and Jephson, into
consultation, and after prolonged discussion arrived at the conviction
that the only practicable course to be followed was to make a retreat
to Ibwiri on the Aruwimi, where he would build a fort, and whence he
would send a detachment to Kilonga-Longas to fetch his boat and bring
on Captain Nelson and Dr. Parke. Within the fort he determined to
store every load that would be left behind, and he would arrange for
an adequate garrison to defend it, and to grow sufficient maize and
manioc for supplying themselves with food. He would then return to Lake
Nyanza, and while encamped there he would despatch his boat with an
officer and some men to go forward and institute inquiries as to Emin’s
whereabouts.
Such was the programme which it was resolved to carry out.
Accordingly on the 15th the retreat commenced. The movements of the
caravan were more or less harassed by the ill-will of the natives of
Kavalli, who succeeded during the march of the retiring cavalcade on
the upward slope in killing one man and wounding a second.
By 10 A.M. on the 16th the crest of the plateau was reached,
and the progress back along the plain was not interrupted by
Mozamboni’s people. The march was continued steadily day by day without
hindrance, and on the 8th of January 1888 the caravan was once more in
Ibwiri, the hospitable refuge where two months previously it had found
a welcome abundance and much needed repose.
No time was lost by Stanley in setting about the construction of his
fortified quarters. He named the erection Fort Bodo. He likewise
hurried off Lieutenant Stairs to Kilonga-Longa’s to get the boat, and
to come back with Dr. Parke and Captain Nelson, who had been staying
there ever since the previous September.
All the forests of this region, as well as those extending south-east
to the Sankullu, are the last refuge of a race of beings of whom the
two that were brought over by the Italian traveller Miani in 1873 were
the only examples that have ever been seen in Europe. These are the
dwarfs of Central Africa.
Ages back Herodotus had testified to the existence of dwarf races in
Africa, and Aristotle had asserted that the region whence the Nile had
its sources was the abode of pygmies; but of modern travellers Dr.
Schweinfurth, in 1871, was the first, as an eye-witness, to verify the
existence of such a race in the heart of the continent. At the court
of Munza, King of the Mombuttu, south of the Welle, the Doctor for the
first time beheld the living incarnation of the myth of 2000 years.
This was a regiment of dwarf soldiers belonging to Munza’s brother, a
chief who resided further south in the valley of the Nepoko.
The existence of such dwarfs may now be said to have been ascertained
throughout the central basin of the Congo. Stanley saw one individual
of the race on the Lualaba, below Nyangwé; Grenfell saw one on the
Lalongo; Wolf fell in with another between the Lulua and the Sankullu;
Delcommune met one on the Lomani; and Escayrac de Lauture and Koellé
assert that they are numerous in the northern basin of the Mobangi.
Amongst the Mombuttu they are known by the name of Akka or Tikki-tikki;
further to the south and east they are called Batua, whilst on the
Aruwimi they are distinguished as the Wambutti.
[Illustration: AKKA BOY.
(_From a Drawing by Dr. Schweinfurth in the “Heart of
Africa.”_)]
Physically, they are well made; they are by no means the deformities
which are frequently exhibited as dwarfs in the shows of European
fairs; they are simply small men, well proportioned, endowed with
much bravery, and by no means deficient in adroitness. Their average
height may be stated as about 4 feet 7 inches. Their complexion is a
yellowish brown, of a lighter shade than that of the taller African
races. They form themselves into nomad communities, devoting themselves
to hunting and to the manufacture of palm-wine, rarely intermingling
with tribes of ordinary stature. The agility they display in climbing
the palm-trees to extract the sap is very remarkable, and they are
exceedingly cunning in devising artifices for setting traps and snares
for game. On their hunting excursions they bound over the tall herbage
like grasshoppers, fearlessly approaching antelopes, buffaloes, and
elephants; first discharging their arrows at them with unerring
precision, and then rushing forward to despatch the wounded victims
with their spears. They can hardly at present be said to constitute a
nation, but it may be held as not improbable that their communities,
dispersed among other and more powerful peoples, are the expiring
remnants of an aboriginal race.
It was chiefly in the district of the Aruwimi, between the confluence
of the Nepoko and the region of the grass-plain, that Stanley came
across the dwarfs; but there he computes he saw about one hundred and
fifty of their villages in the recesses of the forests.
On January 14th, Lieutenant Stairs arrived back from Kilonga-Longa’s,
accompanied by Dr. Parke and by Captain Nelson, who had now regained
his health; but of the thirty-eight men who had been left in charge
of these two officials only eleven now remained; the rest had either
died or deserted. The lieutenant had likewise brought up the boat
he had gone to fetch, with the goods that had been left at the Arab
settlement. Having accomplished this, he was now once more sent
down the river, this time as far as Ugarrowwa’s, to bring up the
convalescents and a part of the baggage that had been deposited there.
While Stairs was absent on this commission, Stanley was seized with
illness, having an attack of gastritis and an abscess on his arm; but
though he was unwell for nearly a month, he received such careful
nursing at the hands of Dr. Parke that he was convalescent before
the return of the lieutenant, who was away longer than had been
anticipated. Anxious to lose no more time, Stanley, without waiting,
gave the order to start, and the expedition, now composed of no more
than 140 men, took up an ample stock of provisions and set out a second
time for the Nyanza.
Captain Nelson was placed in charge of Fort Bodo with a garrison of 43
men and lads, who would be reinforced by Lieutenant Stairs and the men
he would bring with him from Ugarrowwa’s.
Once more, on the 20th of April, did the expedition find itself in
Mazamboni’s country. The reception that awaited it was very different
to what it had been before; instead of the palavers ending in a
declaration of war, they resulted in a consent from Mazamboni to make
blood-brotherhood with Stanley.
It may be accepted, as a general rule, that Europeans on the
Congo, arriving in any unexplored district, would be received with
hostilities. Whilst descending the river in 1877 Stanley found himself
involved in no less than thirty skirmishes, and Wissman, Kund,
Tappenbeck, Van Gèle and de Brazza have all had similar experiences.
But when after a lapse of time the white man reappears on the scene,
the natives are usually found to be ready to lay aside the temper of
defiance, and after brief recognition to conclude peace by exchange of
blood. And this is pretty sure to be followed by a solicitation that
the strangers will settle down and open traffic in the place.
Although the strength of the expedition was now diminished by the loss
of fifty rifles, the example of Mazamboni to desist from opposition
was followed by the other chiefs as far as the Nyanza, and no further
difficulty occurred. Food was supplied on the easiest terms, cattle,
sheep, and poultry were brought in abundance, and never had Stanley and
his followers lived more luxuriously.
Thus, once again, on the 21st of April was Stanley in full view of the
Nyanza.
And now once more the question arose as to what he should hear or see
of Emin. Surely by this time the Pasha must have been apprised of the
arrival of the expedition; but how should he be found?
On his way down to the lake some natives from Kavalli had met him and
had told him that a white man from the north had given their chief a
packet which was to be handed to another white man who was coming from
the west; they had also some wonderful story to tell about “big boats,
as large as islands,” which they averred had been seen near their
villages.
Stanley entertained little doubt but that these big boats must be the
steamers from Wadelai, and he indulged the hope that Emin Pasha might
be himself on board, a hope that was soon changed to certainty; for
next day Kavalli came and brought him a packet protected by a strip of
black American oil-cloth and enclosing a letter from Emin. The letter
was dated from on board the _Khedive_, on the 26th of March, and
addressed to “Mr. Stanley, commander of the relief expedition.” The
tenour of the letter was to this effect:--
“A report having been circulated that a large caravan had arrived
from the west under the conduct of white men, I proceeded in one of
my steamers to the south end of the lake to make enquiries; but the
natives were so afraid of Kabrega, the King of Unyoro, with whom they
are at war, that they associated every stranger with him. Thus, at
first, I could obtain no trustworthy information.
“Shortly afterwards, however, the wife of the Nyamsassie chief told the
chief Mogo, who is on friendly terms with me, that she had seen the
white men and their caravan in Mozamboni’s country. At once I felt no
doubt that you were in this district and that we should soon meet.
“I entrust this letter to Kavalli to hand to you when you reach the
lake.
“I am glad to know you are here. I beg you to encamp where you are
until I can communicate with you.
(DR.) EMIN.”
Here, then, was good news. Emin Pasha was alive and was at liberty;
here he was on one of his steamers, on his way to meet the expedition.
The end was on the point of being attained; here was success (about
which all but a few staunch believers in Europe had despaired) coming
to crown the labours of a year of toil, uncertainty, and suffering!
Stanley quickly determined that his own boat should be sent northwards
by the west coast to reconnoitre, and in a few hours it was launched
and despatched with Mr. Jephson and a sufficient staff of men on board.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the caravan made their encampment on the shore.
Days passed without further news. Stanley and Dr. Parke, the only one
of his staff now with him, scanned the distance constantly with their
glasses, but in vain. For five days nothing disturbed the solitude of
the great lake, and the sixth day was declining when a distant vessel
was discerned, which further scrutiny made it evident was not their own
boat, but a steamer. From its stern floated the red flag, with the star
and crescent. To a certainty here was the _Khedive_, one of the
Wadelai ships.
On the deck were white men, Emin and Casati both. Mr. Jephson had
fallen in with them on the 26th at Mswa, the southernmost of the
Egyptian stations.
The camp was soon in the liveliest commotion; inaction was changed to
hubbub and excitement; musketry salutes were fired, and in the midst
of noisy acclamations the Pasha and his faithful companion landed to
exchange their mutual greetings with Stanley.
It was in the evening of the 29th of April, at about 7 P.M.,
that this meeting was effected.
For six years Emin and Casati had been cut off from all communication
with the civilised world; and for the last two they had been awaiting
the relief which Dr. Junker had been despatched to Europe to secure.
Meanwhile it had fallen to Emin’s lot to fight and drive back the
Mahdists, to repress the revolts of the Bari, and to punish the
insubordination and cowardice of his own Egyptian contingent; he
had had to encounter unnumbered dangers and to surmount enormous
difficulties in providing for the sustenance of more than 8000 men,
women, and children. Yet here he was; he had overcome every obstacle
and was still master of the situation!
Captain Casati for three years had had no enviable residence at the
court of Kabrega, King of Unyoro. The conveyance of any correspondence
between the two Europeans, by way of Uganda, was a perfect bugbear to
Kabrega. Naturally cruel and suspicious, he was ever working himself
into such a temper of rage and alarm as to render Casati’s position
very critical. And now the intelligence of the approach of an armed
troop from the west, which to his mind must threaten Unyoro, gave
the finishing touch to his state of wrath, and almost cost the white
resident his life.
It was while Stanley was erecting Fort Bodo (on the 9th of the
preceding January), after his first visit to the lake, that Kabrega
treacherously caused Casati to be arrested, bound with cords, driven
on from village to village, and finally sent to the domains of the
chief Kokora, who had instructions to put him to death. Fortunately,
the prisoner succeeded in making his escape, and for eight days
wandered, absolutely destitute, along the eastern margin of the lake.
Chancing to find a boat amongst the reeds on the water-side, he sent
it off by one of his servants to Emin, who at that time was at Tunguru
on the opposite shore. A few days later Emin arrived and took his
recovered friend on board the _Khedive_; thus, when they together
met Stanley at Kavalli, they had only been re-united for a few weeks
after their long and anxious separation.
Emin’s armed force consisted of about 1400 soldiers, forming two
battalions. The first of these, numbering about 750 men, was divided
into seven detachments, occupying the stations of Dufilé, Khor-Aju,
Lahore, Muggi, Kiri, Bedden, and Rejaf; the second, consisting of
640 men, was divided into five detachments, in garrison at Wadelai,
Tunguru, and Mswa. In the interior, west of the Nile, he had three
more outposts, making in all thirteen stations, extending along the
Nile and the Nyanza for a distance of more than 200 miles. Around
these stations fields of manioc, maize, beans, and sorghum had been
cultivated, and there were herds containing some thousand heads of
cattle.
Asked as to whether he was prepared to quit the country, Emin
hesitated. “The Egyptians,” he said, “are very willing to leave. There
are of these about 100 men, besides their women and children. Even if I
stayed here, I should be glad to be rid of them, because they undermine
my authority, and nullify all my endeavours to retreat. When I informed
them that Khartoum had fallen, and Gordon Pasha was slain, they always
told the Nubians that it was a concocted story, and that some day we
should see the steamers ascend the river for their relief. But of
the regulars who compose the 1st and 2nd battalions, I am extremely
doubtful: they have led such a free and happy life here that they would
demur at leaving a country where they have enjoyed luxuries they cannot
command in Egypt.”
In fact from the time that Stanley arrived Emin never seemed to know
what course to take. From his hesitation it might appear that his
position was not altogether so secure as in Europe it was generally
believed to be. He wished to take counsel with his officers, to tell
his troops exactly how matters stood, and to make them aware of this
arrival of the relief expedition. In short, he asked for time in
which he might make up his mind. It was agreed that this time for
deliberation should be conceded. Stanley left Mr. Jephson with a guard
of thirteen Soudanese, and sent a message to be communicated to Emin’s
troops. After this Emin and Mr. Jephson were to proceed and pay a visit
to Fort Bodo, bringing with them, on their return to the lake, Messrs.
Stairs and Nelson, with the men that had been left under their charge.
Meanwhile Stanley himself, with the rest of the caravan, and about 100
Madi porters, with which he had been supplied by Emin, was to set out
to meet his large contingent in the rear.
Stanley and Emin had been together for twenty-five days when the former
once more betook himself to the weary task of making his way through
the same interminable forest where so recently he had endured sickness,
peril, and privation. But he had given his word to Major Barttelot that
he would go to meet him, and go he would.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE RELIEF OF THE REAR-GUARD.
Major Barttelot--The situation at the Yambuya camp--Arrival
of Tippoo Tib’s porters--Banalya--Assassination of Major
Barttelot--Death of Mr. Jameson--Arrival of Stanley at
Banalya--Stanley’s letter to Tippoo Tib--On the march
again--Famine--A starvation camp--At Fort Bodo--Arrival at the
lake--Disastrous tidings.
Major Edmund Barttelot, to whom Stanley had entrusted the command of
his rear-caravan, was a young officer, who, in the expedition to the
Soudan under Lord Wolseley, was in charge of a camel-corps of 1000
Somalis from Aden to Abu-Klea. Throughout the campaign the major
distinguished himself by energy and courage.
But in order to succeed in an unknown land like the Congo, and in an
undertaking so exceptionally difficult as the conduct of the relief
expedition, something more than military ardour was requisite. It
is necessary to have foresight and patience, and beyond all it is
indispensable to have tact and forbearance in dealing with the
natives. And in these latter qualities the major unfortunately seems to
have been deficient.
The sojourn of the rear-column at the Yambuya camp forms the most
lamentable chapter in the history of the expedition.
When he started from Yambuya, Stanley had left with the major four
Europeans, Messrs. Rose Troup, Ward, Jameson, and Bonny, and 257 men,
mixed Soudanese and Zanzibaris. According to instructions Barttelot was
to remain at Yambuya until the arrival of the steamers from Stanley
Pool, which would bring up all the men and the goods that had been
left at Leopoldville and Bolobo. Then, provided that the contingent of
porters promised by Tippoo Tib had also arrived, the whole column was
to set out on their march; or even if the porters were delayed and were
late in coming, the major might, if he thought it advisable, break up
the camp and start without them, following on in the track of Stanley,
who had promised to come back and meet him.
As events turned out, the porters did not arrive; the major, however,
continued to expect their appearance, and waited on at Yambuya for
nearly a year.
It was a year of indescribable misery. The discomforts of the camp, the
dearth of provisions, the maintenance of 257 men almost exclusively
on the produce of a field of manioc, the misunderstanding between the
officer in command and his own men on the one hand, and on the other,
alike with the natives around, and with the Arabs in the remoter
settlements, the distrust and dislike engendered by the major’s
severity and lack of sympathy, all combined to render the situation
very painful. Sickness broke out in the camp, and the mortality was
frightful. Decimated by fever, dysentery, and mental as well as bodily
suffering, the contingent was gradually reduced to 145 men, little more
than half its original number. It must seem little short of a miracle
that not one of the Europeans succumbed to the miseries that they were
called to endure. It was the opinion of full many of those who were
eye-witnesses of this gloomy episode, that Major Barttelot was not at
all equal to the large responsibility that had been imposed upon him.
Moreover, it is obvious that there was far from a good understanding
between him and his European associates, and altogether their
relations, both personal and official, were very strained.
Two Government steamers visited the camp in May, and found its aspect
very miserable, presenting a striking contrast to an Arab encampment
that was settled a little higher up the river. The Europeans were
sick and dispirited, quartered in comfortless huts, while their Arab
neighbours were in every way thriving, lively, and well-ordered; not
living in hovels, but in clay houses provided with verandahs, to which
the natives resorted to barter their goods.
No doubt, it must be conceded, Major Barttelot’s difficulties were
excessively great and trying; but if, without prolonging his stay so
unfortunately, he had advanced upon the track of the van column, and
so had reached the lake or Fort Bodo in time to prevent Stanley losing
seven months in coming back to seek him, who can say whether the
subsequent events on the Nile and all the disastrous consequences that
ensued might not have been averted?
The porters for whom Tippoo Tib had made the contract put in an
appearance on the 4th of June. They had been engaged with difficulty,
the majority being collected from the Manyema district and brought
from Nyangwé to Yambuya by Mr. Jameson, who had been to the Upper
Lualaba to take part in the recruiting.
Some days were occupied in the organisation of the caravan, but it
was ultimately ready to start. It consisted of 25 Soudanese, 125
Zanzibaris, and the 400 porters that had just arrived. Major Barttelot
was the recognised leader, having the assistance of Messrs. Bonny
and Jameson. The services of Mr. Rose Troup were lost, as his health
had failed, and he had been obliged to return to the coast, whither
Mr. Ward had already preceded him, because, in the absence of all
communication from Stanley, it was thought proper to telegraph to
London and describe the condition of the column thus left in the rear.
And now that the day had come on which they should set out, the
question might well be asked what should be the fate of those who,
almost destitute of provisions, were to be conducted through the most
terrible of unknown lands by a young and inexperienced officer who had
failed to secure the confidence either of his own personal associates
or of the negro soldiers under him?
Some bickerings and squabbling had already broken out, and Captain Van
Gèle, who had been at Yambuya only a few days previously, had stated
that if it had not been for the presence and authority of Tippoo Tib,
an outburst of mutiny would have been inevitable. The crisis, however,
was not to be long deferred; the fatal issue was close at hand.
It was at half-past seven on the morning of June 11th that the
expedition effected its start. Some preliminary difficulties having
been overcome, Major Barttelot temporarily handed over the supervision
of the column to Mr. Bonny, so as to allow himself an opportunity of
going to the Falls to take counsel with the Europeans and to see Tippoo
Tib. Resuming the route to the Aruwimi, he re-formed his caravan at an
encampment near the village of Banalya on the 18th of July.
The evening of his arrival the camp was _en fête_. The porters
were shouting, singing, and dancing according to their habit when they
are on the march. Barttelot, disliking the uproar, gave orders for
immediate silence, and for the time his orders were obeyed; but about
4 A.M. the boisterous merriment broke out again, exuberant as
ever. Furious that his directions should be thus set at defiance, the
major rose and left his tent, and notwithstanding the remonstrances
of Mr. Bonny, proceeded to the quarters of the bearers. A woman was
singing and beating a drum in front of one of the huts; he spoke
angrily to her, and threatened her with punishment. In another moment a
shot was fired and the major fell dead.
It was the woman’s husband, a Manyema named Sanga, who had done the
fatal act. He had resented the vengeance that was threatened to his
wife, and raising his gun he killed the white chief upon the spot.
Hearing the report, Mr. Bonny rushed from his tent to find the camp all
in commotion, and the porters flying in every direction and shrieking
aloud: “The white man is dead! the white man is dead!”
At the outset of the caravan Captain Vankerkhoven, the Commissioner of
the Bangala district, as he witnessed its departure, had expressed his
misgivings about it. “I do not believe in its success,” he said; “its
leader has no tact, and no patience with the negroes.” And, indeed, it
might almost seem as though the major had brought his own fate upon
himself, as it is universally known that the negro, when once aroused
to anger, is very revengeful.
[Illustration: FISHING AT STANLEY FALLS.
(_From a Sketch by M. Louis Amelot._)]
But this was only the beginning of the misfortunes that befell the
expedition; it had to bewail the loss of all its leaders in succession
except one.
After doing his best to assist Mr. Bonny in calming the disorder
in the camp that prevailed as the consequence of Major Barttelot’s
assassination, Mr. Jameson had to leave for Stanley Falls for the
purpose of doing what he could to fill up the deficiency in numbers
made by the repeated desertions of the men. It had been his intention,
as soon as he could rejoin Mr. Bonny, to proceed with him along the
route to the Nyanza, but having been informed at the Falls that Mr.
Ward was at Bangala, retracing his way from the coast, he thought
it desirable to go and meet him that they might consult together.
Accordingly he took his passage on board a large native boat.
He had overtaxed his strength. Shortly before reaching the confluence
of the Lomami, he had a violent attack of fever, and on the 16th of
August when he arrived at Bangala, he was already in a dying state.
Surviving only till the following day, he died without having been
able to make the Europeans at the station understand what had been the
object of his coming.
On that very date of Mr. Jameson’s death, Mr. Bonny, the solitary
European now left to supervise the camp, was standing outside his hut,
expecting Jameson’s arrival with recruits, when he caught sight of a
caravan, marching on in excellent order, and headed by a white man.
It did not take long to recognise that here was Stanley redeeming his
word, and come back from the Nyanza to bring up the contingent from the
rear.
“Welcome, Bonny, welcome! but where is the major?”
“Major Barttelot is dead, sir. Shot a month ago by the Manyema.”
“Good God! And where is Mr. Jameson?”
“He has gone to Stanley Falls to try and get more men from Tippoo Tib.”
“And Troup, where is he?”
“Mr. Troup has gone home, sir, invalided.”
“Hem! hem! and where is Ward?”
“Mr. Ward is in Bangala.”
“Heavens alive! then you are the only one here.”
“Yes, sir.”
Very successfully had Stanley accomplished his journey back from Lake
Nyanza to Banalya in eighty-two days, experiencing a loss of only three
of his followers. He had left the lake on the 25th of May, and reached
Fort Bodo in fourteen days. Captain Nelson and Lieutenant Stairs were
there, and everything under their charge was satisfactory; nearly ten
acres of land were under cultivation, and one crop of Indian corn had
been harvested and was in the granaries. Dr. Parke was now left to act
as medical attendant at the garrison, which only reckoned fifty-nine
rifles.
It was by his deliberate choice that Stanley for his return down the
river had left himself without any of his officers; it was his object
not to be encumbered with the baggage which a retinue of European
associates would entail, while he knew that every available porter
would be wanted to carry up the large amount of stores that had been
reserved for Barttelot to convey.
On the 24th of June he reached Kilonga-Longa’s, and on the 4th of July
arrived at Ugarrowwa’s. This latter station he found deserted, as
Ugarrowwa, having got together as much ivory as he could, had started
down the river with a flotilla of fifty-seven canoes, which Stanley
overtook on the 10th of August.
At Banalya, a melancholy surprise awaited him. Out of the 257 that he
had left a year ago there were only seventy-one remaining, and of these
not many more than fifty seemed fit for service. His own sufferings
that he had endured with the advanced caravan had been sad and serious
enough, but they appeared slight in comparison with the privation and
mortality that had prevailed in Major Barttelot’s column. At present
all his own men were in renovated and even robust health, but here
the majority of the survivors from the Yambuya camp were reduced to a
feeble and wretched condition.
After arriving at Banalya, Stanley lost no time in communicating with
Europe. He sent off a messenger with letters to be forwarded from the
Falls, and likewise wrote to Tippoo Tib in the following terms:--
“BOMA OF BANALYA (MURENIA), _August 17th_.
“To the Sheikh Hamed Ben Mahomed, from his good friend Henry
Stanley.
“Many salaams to you. I hope you are in good health as I am, and
that you have remained in good health since I left the Congo. I
have many things to say to you, but I hope I shall see you face
to face before many days. I reached this place this morning with
130 Wangwana, and three soldiers and sixty-six natives belonging
to Emin Pasha. This is now the eighty-second day since we left
Emin Pasha on the Nyanza, and we have only lost three men all
the way. Two of them were drowned and the other ran away. I
found the white men whom I was looking for. Emin Pasha was quite
well, and the other white man, Casati, was quite well also. Emin
has ivory in abundance, cattle by thousands, and sheep, goats,
fowls, and food of all kinds. We found him to be a very good and
kind man. He gave numbers of things to all our white and black
men, and his liberality could not be exceeded. His soldiers
blessed our black men for their kindness in coming so far to
show them the way, and many of them were ready to follow me at
once out of the country. But I asked them to stay quiet a few
months that I might go back and fetch the other men and goods
that I had left at Yambuya, and they prayed to God that He
would give me the strength to finish my work. May their prayer
be heard! And now, my friend, what are you going to do? We have
gone the road twice over. We know where it is bad and where it
is good; where there is plenty of food and where there is none;
where all the camps are, and where we shall sleep and rest. I am
waiting to hear your words. If you go with me it is well. If you
do not go it is well. I leave it to you.
“I will stay here ten days, and then I go on slowly. I move from
here to a big island two hours’ march from here, and above this
place there are plenty of houses and plenty of food for the
men. Whatever you have to say to me, my ears will be open with
a good heart, as it has always been towards you. Therefore, if
you come, come quickly; for on the eleventh morning from this I
shall move on. All my white men are well, but I left them all
behind, except my servant William, who is with me.
(Signed) “STANLEY.”
In reply to this letter Tippoo Tib sent a message explaining that he
must decline the invitation to join Stanley on account of the scarcity
of porters at his command; whereupon Stanley proceeded to reorganise
his company, and made his start to rejoin Emin. The caravan, including
his own men, now amounted to nearly 350 in all. Mr. Bonny accompanied
the expedition, and the entire remaining lot of goods was taken on. It
was now the 1st of September.
This was the beginning of a journey of more than four months’ duration,
in which the route once more lay through the impenetrable forests and
the devastated wildernesses of which the dwarf people were the only
tenants. It was a period which brought sad and terrible hardships.
For two months, until the caravan arrived at the confluence of the
Ihuru, all may be said to have gone fairly well, except for an outbreak
of smallpox which was fatal to many of the native porters. Happily the
Zanzibaris escaped the scourge, an immunity owing no doubt to their
having been vaccinated on board the _Madura_ on their way from
Zanzibar to the Cape.
Beyond the Ihuru, however, the condition of things went from bad to
worse. Across the deserts by the right bank of the Aruwimi the famine
became intense. Weeks of privation followed, and on the 9th of December
Stanley resolved to encamp in a vast forest, and to despatch a foraging
party to make their way to a populous centre, which according to his
map he estimated would be found at no great distance. Day after day
passed by, while the expedition, suffering the agonies of hunger,
watched for the return of the foragers. Stanley has given a description
of the trying time to the following effect:--
“Never in all my African experience had I been nearer absolute
starvation. On the fifth day, after giving out all the flour there
was in camp, and killing the only goat that had been reserved, I was
obliged to open the cases of the officers’ provisions, which hitherto
had been untouched. In the afternoon a boy died, and the condition
of nearly all the rest was most disheartening; some could not stand
upright, falling down as soon as they tried to rise. The spectacle
that I had before my eyes thus constantly so acted on my nerves that I
ended by sympathising with it, not only morally but physically, just as
though weakness were contagious.
“A Madi porter died before night; the last of our Somalis gave signs of
collapse, and the few Soudanese who were with us were scarce able to
move.
“The morning of the sixth day dawned. We made our broth as usual,
abundance of water, a pot of butter, a pot of condensed milk, and
a cupful of flour for 130 people! Matters had come to a critical
condition.
“Mr. Bonny and the chiefs were called together for a consultation, and
surmises of every conceivable kind were put forward as to what could
account for the prolonged absence of the party sent out to forage.
Finally, Mr. Bonny volunteered to stay at the encampment with ten men,
on condition that I would leave him provisions for ten days.
“This did not seem much; it could hardly be difficult to supply
sufficient gruel to keep ten men alive for ten days; but then there
were all the sick and all the enfeebled who would be unable to keep
moving, and must necessarily die of exhaustion and hunger, unless I had
good luck. Nevertheless, I accepted Mr. Bonny’s offer, and a stone of
milk, butter, flour, and biscuit was prepared and handed over for his
use.”
In the afternoon of the seventh day a general inspection was made;
it showed that there were forty-three individuals who were absolutely
incapable of following Stanley, and who must be left to the charge of
Mr. Bonny and his ten men. Sadi, the chief of the Manyema, abandoned
fourteen of his people to their fate; Kibbo-Bora, another chief, left
his brother; a third chief, Fundi, left one of his wives and a little
boy. The remaining twenty-six were his own people. The condition of all
these seemed desperate, and there was hardly a ray of hope for them
unless food could be brought to them within the next twenty-four hours.
“In a cheery tone, though my heart was never heavier, I told the
forty-three hunger-bitten people that I was going back to hunt up
the missing men. Probably I should meet them on the road, but if I
did they would be driven on the run with food to them. We travelled
nine miles that afternoon, having passed several dead people on the
road; and early on the eighth day of their absence from camp, met them
marching in an easy fashion; but when we were met the pace was altered
to a quick step, so that in twenty-six hours after leaving Starvation
Camp, we were back with a cheery abundance around, gruel and porridge
boiling, bananas boiling, plantains roasting, and some meat simmering
in pots for soup.
“Twenty-one persons altogether succumbed in this dreadful camp.”
The Ihuru was crossed on the 18th of December, and on the next day the
caravan having crossed the forest, regardless of paths, fortunately
found itself at the west angle of the Fort Bodo plantations. It was in
some anxiety that Stanley arrived there. What tidings would he get?
Would his officers still be there? Had Emin and Jephson given any signs
of life? Had their arrival been announced?
Fort Bodo was in the same condition in which he had left it seven
months previously. Captain Nelson, Lieutenant Stairs, and Dr. Parke
were all there, and were all well, having with them fifty-one soldiers
out of the fifty-nine who had been left in their charge.
Meanwhile of Emin and Jephson there were no tidings; no rumours
whatever about them had reached the Fort.
What could this prolonged silence portend? What could have transpired
either at the Lake or at Wadelai to detain Jephson, who was a man of
determined energy, and who had given his word to come back?
The situation appeared to admit of no delay, and it was resolved
that the Fort must be abandoned forthwith. On the 23rd of December,
therefore, the united expedition set out on its march, and taking its
eastward course, proceeded to quarters in Mazamboni’s territory, where
it encamped on the 9th of January.
Here the camp was left in the care of Messrs. Stairs, Nelson, and
Parke, Stanley himself, full of gloomy forebodings, having determined
at once to hasten forward to the Lake, taking with him Mr. Bonny and a
small detachment of men. On his arrival the Bakumu this time gave him
a hearty welcome, demonstrating their goodwill by bringing in food in
abundance, by assisting in building the huts for the night-camp, and
generally by rendering whatever help they could.
Still no news was to be learnt from the Nyanza. Where could Emin and
Jephson be?
* * * * *
And here it may be well to pause a moment and survey the task that had
been accomplished by the man of amazing energy, who with sinews as of
steel, had left Yambuya in June 1887, and had now returned for the
third time to the Lake Albert Nyanza in January 1889.
[Illustration: CAMP IN THE FOREST.
(_From a Drawing by Molleur._)]
A wonderful record is the story of his marches; the first journey from
Yambuya to the Lake, 171 days; the second journey from the Lake to Fort
Bodo, 22 days; the third journey from the Fort to the Lake, 20 days;
the fourth journey from the Lake to Banalya, 82 days; and then this
fifth journey from Banalya back to the Lake, 107 days, making a total
of 402 days.
Thus it is seen how for more than thirteen months out of a year and a
half the leader was on the constant move, making his way through virgin
forests that had neither road nor track; forcing his path through
tangled brushwood and over rushing torrents; carrying in his train
many thousands of pounds’-weight of goods, provisions, and ammunition;
harassed over and over again by warlike and suspicious savages;
uncertain as to the means of providing food for his hundreds of
followers; exposed to an unhealthy atmosphere; and personally suffering
the pangs of hunger and privation. Such was the man who in spite of
climate, in spite of hostilities, in spite of famine, in spite of
sickness, never swerved from his line of duty and devotion, but faced
all difficulties, resolved to overcome them till his work was done. Who
shall say that the age of knight-errantry has passed away? Other ages
have had their Xenophon, Godfrey de Bouillon, Marco Polo, Columbus,
Vasco, and Magellan; the nineteenth century can boast of Stanley. The
race of heroes is not yet extinct.
* * * * *
On January 16th, the caravan arrived at the village of Gaviras, at no
great distance from the Lake, where some messengers sent by Kavalli
handed Stanley a packet of letters. Stanley read them eagerly, but with
profound amazement at the disastrous intelligence they contained. The
troops of the Equatorial province had mutinied on the 18th of August;
Emin and Jephson had been made prisoners; the Mahdists, making a fresh
attack in October, had routed the Egyptian force, had taken Rejaf,
Kiri, and Laboré, and were now only awaiting reinforcements to renew
their advance.
It looked as if all were lost.
As Wolseley had arrived at Khartoum too late to save Gordon, it seemed
as though Stanley had reached the Nyanza too late to rescue Emin.
CHAPTER XVII.
REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS.
The situation in the Equatorial province--First mutiny of the
troops--Emin at Mswa--Revolt of the garrison at Laboré--Arrest
and imprisonment of Emin and Jephson--Arrival of the Mahdists
at Lado--Dervish ambassadors at Dufilé--Message from Omar
Saleh--Capture of Rejaf--Revolt of the Bari--Anarchy--Second
battle at Rejaf--Emin and Jephson at liberty--Siege of
Dufilé--Defeat of the Mahdists--Emin at Tunguru.
In realising the events that occurred in the province of the Equator
from the time that Stanley left Lake Albert in May 1888 to the date of
his return in the following January, it is requisite to bear in mind
what must have been the true relation subsisting between 1500 armed
and semi-barbarous mercenaries and the solitary European, devoted
by taste and education to the study of science, and only placed by
adventitious circumstances in the position of a military governor. It
was a position in which he was supported by no authority except the
prestige of his nationality and official rank; and for four years he
had been unaided and uncheered by any communication with the civilised
world. Little by little his authority declined, and with it declined
also the consciousness of stability on the part of the man who thus saw
years pass on without bringing relief to a situation which could hardly
do otherwise than continually become more difficult, embarrassing, and
critical.
Possibly some stringent and severe measures adopted at first, and the
enforcement of capital sentence in several cases, might have nipped the
first signs of mutiny in the bud, and have obviated their reappearance.
But it should be asked, was it to be expected of Schnitzer, the
physician and the botanist, any more than of Livingstone, the
conciliating missionary, that he should exhibit the stern energy and
the sharp decision of a Stanley or a Wissmann?
As matter of fact, it is plain that for a considerable period Emin
Pasha had had little beyond a semblance of power. Whenever he required
anything of consequence to be carried out, he could not simply issue
an order, he had to submit a request to his Egyptian and Soudanese
officers that what he desired should be done. These officers, as a
rule, were unfortunately nearly all of that wily and hypocritical class
who had caused so much misery and disappointment to Baker and Gordon;
they were such as had recently betrayed Khartoum and massacred its
valiant defender.
The position of things in the province had become worse than dubious,
and an outbreak sooner or later was inevitable. The arrival of the
relief expedition precipitated the event.
Report was circulated among the troops that an armed force was close
at hand, coming from the south, and that it was the object of the
strangers to carry Emin Pasha off by an unknown route. In consequence
of this, 190 soldiers at Dufilé, instigated by their officers, entered
into a compact that they would at once seize his person, and thus
prevent his leaving their country, if he were to leave it at all, by
any other route than the northern route, which they knew, and by which
they had come.
Emin was made aware of this plot by his faithful adherent Major
Awach, and by some of the officers of the second battalion, at whose
suggestion he left Wadelai, retreating to Mswa, one of the other
settlements on the Lake. Mswa at that time was under the command of
Shukri-Aga, a brave and intelligent officer, who had been promoted to
his present rank in recognition of the services he had rendered in the
campaign against the Mahdists of Karam-Allah in 1884.
When a detachment of the first battalion arrived at Wadelai and learnt
that the officers of the second battalion had advised Emin to withdraw,
there was a vehement outbreak of wrath. The Commandant at Wadelai was
seized and beaten with the kurbatch; the rebel soldiers, moreover,
carrying off with them to Dufilé a number of people as hostages.
This had been the actual state of things at the time when Stanley first
arrived with his expedition at the margin of Lake Albert; but Emin does
not appear to have disclosed to Stanley what was the extremity to which
matters were reduced. Very likely, in the kindness of his disposition,
he was indulging the hope that the arrival of the Europeans would
reassure his followers, and would be effectual in the restoration of
order, so that the mutinous soldiers would be brought back to their
allegiance. As he wrote to Stanley: “The first battalion in the
northern garrisons has always been extremely averse to any proposal
of retreat to the south. But now that you have come, and as several of
the soldiers remember seeing you at Mtesa’s court when they were there
with M. Linant de Bellefond in 1876, and as others know you personally,
and still more by hearsay, it is quite probable that they may change
their minds. They must now be convinced that there is another way to
Egypt besides that to the north, because they will see that you have
succeeded in getting here by it.”
But Emin had not taken account of the moral malady which was poisoning
the minds of such a large proportion of the Egyptians in the Soudan
army; he was not allowing for treason.
Whilst, in the middle of August, Emin Pasha and Mr. Jephson were
retiring along the Nile from Dufilé to Rejaf, the troops of the
first battalion were being agitated into revolt by one of their
officers named Abdul Vaal Effendi. He assured them that Stanley had a
commission from the English Government to carry off all the Egyptians
and Soudanese in the province, with their wives and children, to
Zanzibar, and that there they would be subject to punishment and
reduced to slavery by the Christians. In such a land, where ignorance
and fanaticism were universal, words like these acted as a train of
gunpowder. There was mutiny at once.
It would appear to have been on the 18th of August, one day after
Stanley’s reaching Banalya, where his rear-caravan had been in camp,
that Emin Pasha and Mr. Jephson were arrested and were being carried as
prisoners to Dufilé.
The leaders of the insurrection next summoned the officers to a divan,
where all those who ventured to oppose the movement were so insulted
and abused that for their own personal safety they were compelled to
acquiesce. At the meeting the Pasha was formally deposed, and all the
officers who sympathised with him were deprived of their commissions.
After all the revolution was the act of hardly more than half-a-dozen
disaffected Egyptians, who by intimidation succeeded in rallying around
them a certain number of officers and others. The soldiers, with the
exception of those at Laboré, where the flame of insurrection was first
ignited, took no part in the original outbreak, and only yielded to the
pressure put upon them by their leaders. Indeed, it was to the fidelity
of the troops that Emin owed his life; they resolutely maintained that
no one should lay violent hands upon the governor, and to the utmost of
their power withstood his being removed to Rejaf, the station on the
extreme north.
Only a slight modification of affairs ensued during the following month
of October. Mr. Jephson regained his liberty, but on the condition that
he should not leave Dufilé; the Pasha was still kept in chains and
might expect day by day to receive sentence of death.
Then came the sudden and startling intelligence that a Mahdist army,
about 1500 strong, under the command of Omar Saleh, had made its
appearance before Lado. The troops had been brought from Khartoum in
three steamers and nine boats, and had made their encampment upon the
site of the now abandoned station.
A few days later three dervishes arrived at Dufilé and demanded an
audience of the governor of the province. They were the bearers of a
long written message, of which the substance is given in the subjoined
abbreviation:--
“From the servant of God, Omar Saleh, officer of the Mahdi, to whom we
give reverential greetings.
“To the honoured Mahomed Emin, Mudir of Hatalastiva.
“May God lead him in the paths of His gifts. Amen.
“After greeting you, I would remind you that the world is a house of
change and decay, and everything in it must one day perish. God is the
Master of all His creatures.
“We are of the army of God. With our army is victory. Victory is to the
believers. God help the Faithful. It is written in the Koran.
“The whole country is subject to the prophet. Hicks, Stewart, Gordon,
all are dead. Make peace with the Mahdi.
“We have landed here with an army of the defenders of the faith. It
is your duty to submit. Submit and be assured of a free pardon, of
protection for your children and your property, and of the blessing of
God. We bid you come and join us.
“And now be of good cheer and do not delay. I have said enough for one
whose intelligence is bright as yours. Come to me and I will honour
you. Become a true believer as the master wishes.
“May God bless and assist you in all you do. Salaam.”
The dervishes waited for a reply; the only answer that was vouchsafed
was to seize them and put them all to death.
Preparations were at once made for resistance.
Within a few days the Mahdists had assaulted the station at Rejaf,
killing five Egyptian officers, and a considerable number of soldiers.
All the provisions as well as the ammunition fell into their hands.
Simultaneously with the news of this disaster came the intelligence
that the Bari, who had long been restless under the Egyptian rule, had
revolted and joined the invaders.
From all the stations along the river there was forthwith a general
stampede. The garrisons of Bedden, Kiri, and Muggi fled with their
wives, children, and servants to Laboré, forsaking their posts and
all the goods which they contained. Consternation reigned supreme.
Inevitably the position of Emin and Jephson, who were still held
captive by the rebels, was becoming more and more perilous.
On the 7th of November, Jephson wrote from Dufilé to Stanley, urging
the necessity of there being no loss of time. “Our position here,” he
said, “is extremely unpleasant; for three months everything has been
chaos and confusion; half-a-dozen conflicting orders are given every
day, and no one obeys. The rebel officers are absolutely incapable
of controlling the soldiers.” He proceeded to explain that the
officers were now very much alarmed at what had happened, that they
were reckoning very much on Stanley’s return to the Lake, and that
he believed the great majority were quite ready to quit the province
with him. “As for Emin and myself,” he added, “we are like rats in a
trap. They will neither let us act or retire. Had this rebellion not
happened, the Pasha would at least for a time have been able to hold
the Mahdists in check; but as it is he is powerless to act.” “Unless,”
he says finally, “you come promptly, I fear you will come too late,
and that our fate will be that of the other defenders of the Soudan
garrisons. Should we not succeed in getting out of the country, please
remember me to all friends.”
But sad to relate, on that very date when Mr. Jephson was writing
to Stanley that he must come soon, Stanley and Mr. Bonny had hardly
reached the confluence of the Ihuru. They were some hundreds of miles
away, and had to push along for more than two months before they could
reach the Lake. The prospects of Emin and his partner in trouble were
indeed becoming desperate.
Worse still did the look-out grow. The Egyptians, in an attempt to get
Rejaf back from the Mahdists, were repulsed with heavy loss, and six
of their leaders were killed; but the defeat had one happy result; it
brought about Emin’s liberation from prison.
Mr. Jephson, writing on November 24th from Wadelai, thus describes the
circumstances: “Among the officers killed were some of the Pasha’s
worst enemies. The soldiers in all the stations were so panic-stricken
and angry at what had happened that they declared they would not
attempt to fight unless the Pasha was set at liberty; so the rebel
officers were obliged to free him, and sent us to Wadelai, where he
is free to do as he pleases, but at present he has not resumed his
authority in the country; he is, I believe, by no means anxious to do
so.
“Our danger, as far as the Mahdists are concerned, is, of course,
increased by this last defeat, but our position is in one way better
now, for we are further removed from them, and we have now the
option of retiring if we please, which we had not before while we
were prisoners. We hear that the Mahdists have sent steamers down to
Khartoum for reinforcements; if so, they cannot be up here for another
six weeks. If they come up here with reinforcements it will be all up
with us, for the soldiers will never stand against them, and it will be
a mere walk over.
“Every one is anxiously looking for your arrival, for the coming of the
Mahdists has completely cowed them.”
Meanwhile the Mahdists were making rapid advances. After placing their
headquarters at Rejaf, which the Egyptian troops had failed to recover,
they had successively occupied Bedden, Kiri, Muggi, Laboré, and
Khor-Aju. On November 25th they appeared before Dufilé and blockaded it
for four days. The station, however, was in a good state of defence,
having 500 men under the command of Emin’s lieutenant, Selim Bey. The
garrison made a successful sortie, and the besiegers were repulsed,
leaving no less than 250 dead upon the field. They then fell back
upon Rejaf, and entrenched themselves, awaiting the arrival of their
reinforcements.
This engagement, although it gave encouragement to the Egyptians, does
not seem to have much improved the position of Emin, who retired to
Tunguru, a station on a small island not far from the west shore of
the Nyanza; whence on the 18th of December Mr. Jephson wrote again to
Stanley: “The Pasha is unable to move hand or foot, as there is still
a very strong party against him, and the officers are no longer in
immediate fear of the Mahdists.
“Make your camp at Kavalli, send a letter directly you arrive there,
and I will come to you.
“I trust you will arrive before the Mahdists are reinforced, or our
case will be desperate.”
But at the time when this urgent letter was being written Stanley was
far off. He had not yet arrived at Fort Bodo, which he did not reach
until December 20th. It will at once be understood that his anxiety was
only too well founded, and that he had not been wrong in attributing
the long silence of Emin and Jephson to something untoward.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ABANDONMENT OF THE SOUDAN.
The camp at Kavalli--Letter from Stanley to Jephson--Arrival
of Jephson--Emin’s letter to Stanley--Meeting of Stanley
and Emin--Determination to evacuate--Concentration at
Kavalli--Council of war--Emin’s hesitation and Casati’s
scruples--Egyptian attack upon the camp--Preparations for
departure.
When, for the second time, Stanley reached the Lake, on January 16th,
1889, he placed his camp, not as before at Nsabé on the shore, but
upon a plateau overlooking the plain, near Kavalli’s village. With
his usual tact he at once succeeded in gaining the goodwill of the
natives, who are numerous in that district, so that friendly relations
and active trade were soon established between them and the members of
the expedition. The second day after his arrival Stanley wrote to Mr.
Jephson:--
“KAVALLI, _January 18th, 1889_.
“MY DEAR JEPHSON,--I now send thirty rifles and three
of Kavalli’s men down to the Lake with my letters, with urgent
instructions that a canoe should set off, and the bearers be
rewarded....
“Be wise, be quick, and waste no hour of time, and bring Buiza
and your own Soudanese with you....
“If the Pasha can come, send a courier on your arrival at our
old camp on the Lake below here to announce the fact, and I will
send a strong detachment to escort him up to the plateau, even
to carry him, if he needs it. I feel too exhausted after my 1300
miles of travel since I parted from you last. May to go down to
the Lake again. The Pasha must have some pity for me.
“Don’t be alarmed or uneasy on our account; nothing hostile can
approach us within twelve miles without my knowing it. I am
in the thickest of a friendly population, and if I sound the
war-note, within four hours I can have 2000 warriors to assist
to repel any force disposed to violence. And if it is to be a
war of wits, why then I am ready for the cunningest Arab alive.
“I have read your letters half a dozen times, and my opinion of
you varies with each reading. Sometimes I fancy you are half
Mahdist or Arabist, and then Eminist. I shall be wiser when I
see you.
“Now don’t you be perverse, but obey, and let my order to you
be as a frontlet between the eyes, and all, with God’s gracious
help, will end well.
“I want to help the Pasha somehow, but he must also help me, and
credit me. If he wishes to get out of this trouble, I am his
most devoted servant and friend; but if he hesitates again I
shall be plunged in wonder and perplexity. I could save a dozen
Pashas if they were willing to be saved. I would go on my knees
to implore the Pasha to be sensible in his own case. He is wise
enough in all things else, even his own interest.
“The Committee said, ‘Relieve Emin Pasha with this ammunition.
If he wishes to come out, the ammunition will enable him to
do so; if he elects to stay, it will be of service to him.’
The Khedive said the same thing, and added, ‘But if the
Pasha and his officers wish to stay, they do so on their own
responsibility.’ Sir Evelyn Baring said the same thing in clear
and decided words, and here I am, after 4100 miles of travel,
with the last instalment of relief. Let him who is authorised to
take it, take it. Come; I am ready to lend him all my strength
and wit to assist him.
But this time there must be no hesitation, but positive yea or
nay, and home we go.--Yours very sincerely,
“HENRY M. STANLEY.”
Jephson arrived at Kavalli on February 6th. Stanley wrote to Emin on
the following day, and a week later a messenger from Nsabé brought a
letter from the Pasha, the contents of which quite electrified the camp.
“NSABÉ, _February 13th, 1889_.
“_To_ HENRY M. STANLEY, Esq.,
_Commanding the Relief Expedition_.
“SIR,--In answer to your letter of the 7th inst., for
which I beg to tender my best thanks, I have the honour to
inform you that yesterday, at 3 P.M., I arrived here
with my two steamers, carrying a first lot of people desirous to
leave this country under your escort. As soon as I have arranged
for cover of my people, the steamships have to start for Mswa
station, to bring on another lot of people awaiting transport.
“With me there are some twelve officers anxious to see you, and
only forty soldiers. They have come under my orders to request
you to give them some time to bring their brothers--at least,
such as are willing to leave--from Wadelai, and I promised them
to do my best to assist them. Things having to some extent
now changed, you will be able to make them undergo whatever
conditions you see fit to impose upon them. To arrange these I
shall start from here with the officers for your camp, after
having provided for the camp, and if you send carriers, I could
avail me of some of them.
“I hope sincerely that the great difficulties you have had to
undergo, and the great sacrifices made by your expedition in its
way to assist us, may be rewarded by a full success in bringing
out my people. The wave of insanity which overran the country
has subsided, and of such as are now coming with me we may be
sure.
“Signor Casati requests me to give his best thanks for your kind
remembrance of him.
“Permit me to express to you once more my cordial thanks for
whatever you have done for us until now, and believe me to be,
yours very faithfully,
“DR. EMIN.”
The _Khedive_ and the _Nyanza_ were now at anchor off Nsabé,
and their crews were preparing a camp upon the shore. Emin landed next
day, accompanied by Captain Casati, the physician Vitu Hassan, Selim
Bey, the defender of Dufilé, and seven other officers, who were a
deputation from the troops of the Equatorial province. The Pasha was in
mufti, but the deputation were in uniform. They were attended by about
sixty-five people, consisting of soldiers and servants. The whole party
mounted the slope leading to the plateau, and reached the camp where
Stanley was awaiting them.
It was an affecting meeting. No longer, as in the previous April, was
it a question between maintaining a footing on the Upper Nile and
making a retreat; now, by the avowal of the brave but unfortunate
governor himself, the idea of evacuation was already to the fore; the
first signal of retreat had already been given.
In order that his force should be concentrated in the event of any
hostile attack, Stanley had sent a message to the rear-guard that he
had left in Mazamboni’s country with Messrs. Stairs, Nelson, and Parke,
ordering them to come on at once to Kavalli, and on the 18th they all
arrived.
All the white men, eight in number, and the principal members of Emin’s
faithful staff, were now summoned to a divan to be held next day, when
the plans for the future should be discussed.
The evacuation of the province was definitely decided on, but it was
arranged that a reasonable time should be allowed to enable the troops
in the various stations to be informed of the decision, so that they
might embark themselves and their families, and all who were willing to
leave, on board the steamers, and muster at the Nsabé camp on the Lake
shore.
On the 25th the two steamers returned from Mswa with a fresh detachment
of refugees, and about the same time Emin received a despatch from
Wadelai, stating that in the absence of Selim Bey the rebels had again
broken out into revolt, Selim had been deposed from his command, and
several of the rebel officers had been promoted to the rank of Bey.
These tidings completely nullified any hopes that the Pasha might have
entertained of re-establishing his authority, and made him determine to
leave his own camp and join Stanley on the plateau. It was decided that
a month would be sufficiently long to allow the faithful troops to
rally round their chief, so that the final departure might take place
in six weeks’ time, that is to say, about the 10th of April. Selim Bey
and the officers then left Kavalli in order to collect all the people
who desired to leave for Egypt.
[Illustration: MADI VILLAGE ON THE NILE BELOW WADELAÏ.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
Thirty days after Selim Bey’s departure, a steamer appeared before the
Nyanza camp, bringing a letter from that officer, and one from all
the rebel officers at Wadelai, announcing themselves ready to make
submission to the “Envoy of the great Government,” and requesting
to be allowed to return to Egypt under Stanley’s escort. Emin was
also informed that Selim had already despatched one steamer full of
refugees to Tunguru, and that since that time he had been engaged
in transporting people from Dufilé to Wadelai, which he was making
his rallying point. The Pasha, when he imparted what he called this
“encouraging” news to Stanley, expressed his opinion it would require
three months more to complete the concentration of the people at
Kavalli, and desired to know what Stanley had determined on under the
new aspect of affairs.
It was evident that Emin did not know how to tear himself away from
the land where he had resided for eleven years, and which seems to have
a kind of fascination for Europeans. He hesitated, too, about leaving
the soldiers, who, until some foolish fancy had warped their reason,
had always served him faithfully and well. He had scruples about
following Stanley; he seemed thereby to be breaking his promise to
Gordon, his venerated chief, that he would shed the very last drop of
his blood in the Soudan in the cause of civilisation and progress.
Stanley, however, was not so much enthralled by the fascinations of a
country in which his experiences had been so rough, where he had run
so many fatal risks, and where he had seen his companions die around
him by the score. He was fully sensible of the import of the events
that had transpired, and he represented, with much show of reason,
that in the present state of anarchy, a handful of Europeans, however
valiant they might be, could do nothing for the cause of civilisation
at Wadelai, which by this time was probably in the power of encroaching
Mahdists, mutinous soldiers, or hostile natives.
Moreover, his mission was to rescue Emin from danger, and he
considered that it was the Pasha’s duty to take advantage of the
deliverance that was offered him. As a practical man, he saw no good
in a useless sacrifice. The difficulties that had to be overcome in
persuading Emin and Casati to make their retreat, and the incidents
attending them, may best be told in the explorer’s own words:--
“I summoned the officers of the expedition together--Lieutenant Stairs,
R.E., Captain R. H. Nelson, Surgeon Parke, A.M.D., Mounteney Jephson,
Esq., and Mr. William Bonny, and proposed to them in the Pasha’s
presence that they should listen to a few explanations, and then give
their decision, one by one, according as they should be asked.
“Gentlemen, Emin Bey has received a mail from Wadelai. Selim Bey, who
left the post below here on the 26th February last, with a promise
that he would hurry up such people as wished to go to Egypt, writes
from Wadelai that the steamers are engaged in transporting some people
from Dufilé to Wadelai; that the work of transport between Wadelai and
Tunguru will be resumed upon the accomplishment of the other task. When
he went away from here we were informed that he was deposed, and that
Emin Pasha and he were sentenced to death by the rebel officers. We now
learn that the rebel officers, ten in number, and all their faction,
are desirous of proceeding to Egypt; we may suppose, therefore, that
Selim Bey’s party is in the ascendant again.
“Shukri Aga, the chief of the Mswa station--the station nearest to
us--paid us a visit there in the middle of March. He was informed on
the 16th of March, the day that he departed, that our departure for
Zanzibar would positively begin on the 10th of April. He took with
him urgent letters for Selim Bey announcing that fact in unmistakable
terms. Eight days later we hear that Shukri Aga is still at Mswa,
having only sent a few women and children to the Nyanza camp, yet
he and his people might have been here by this if they intended to
accompany us.
“Thirty days ago Selim Bey left us with a promise of a reasonable
time. The Pasha thought once that twenty days would be a reasonable
time. However, we have extended it to forty-four days. Judging by the
length of time Selim Bey has already taken, only reaching Tunguru with
onesixteenth of the expected force, I personally am quite prepared
to give the Pasha my decision. For you must know, gentlemen, that the
Pasha having heard from Selim Bey ‘intelligence so encouraging,’ wishes
to know my decision, but I have preferred to call you to answer for me.
“You are aware that our instructions were to carry relief to Emin
Pasha, and to escort such as were willing to accompany us to Egypt.
We arrived at the Nyanza, and met Emin Pasha in the latter part of
April 1888, just twelve months ago. We handed him his letters from the
Khedive and his Government, and also the first instalment of relief,
and asked him whether we were to have the pleasure of his company to
Zanzibar. He replied that his decision depended on that of his people.
“This was the first adverse news that we received. Instead of meeting
with a number of people only too anxious to leave Africa, it was
questionable whether there would be any except a few Egyptian clerks.
With Major Barttelot so far distant in the rear, we could not wait at
the Nyanza for this decision. As that might possibly require months,
it would be more profitable to seek and assist the rear-column, and
by the time we arrived here again, those willing to go to Egypt would
probably be impatient to start. We, therefore, leaving Mr. Jephson to
convey our message to the Pasha’s troops, returned to the forest region
for the rear-column, and in nine months were back again on the Nyanza.
But instead of discovering a camp of people anxious and ready to depart
from Africa, we find no camp at all, but hear that both the Pasha and
Mr. Jephson are prisoners, that the Pasha has been in imminent danger
of his life from the rebels, and at another time is in danger of being
bound on his bedstead and taken to the interior of Makkaraka country.
It has been current talk in the province that we were only a party
of conspirators and adventurers, that the letters of the Khedive and
Nubar Pasha were forgeries concocted by the vile Christians, Stanley
and Casati, assisted by Mohammed Emin Pasha. So elated have the rebels
been by their bloodless victory over the Pasha and Mr. Jephson, that
they have confidently boasted of their purpose to entrap me by cajoling
words, and strip our expedition of everything belonging to it, and send
us adrift into the wilds to perish.
“We need not dwell on the ingratitude of these men, or on their intense
ignorance and evil natures, but you must bear in mind the facts to
guide you to a clear decision.
“We believed when we volunteered for this work that we should be met
with open arms. We were received with indifference, until we were led
to doubt whether any people wished to depart. My representative was
made a prisoner, menaced with rifles, threats were freely used. The
Pasha was deposed, and for three months was a close prisoner. I am told
this is the third revolt in the province. Well, in the face of all
this, we have waited nearly twelve months to obtain the few hundreds of
unarmed men, women, and children in this camp. As I promised Selim Bey
and his officers that I would give a reasonable time, Selim Bey and his
officers repeatedly promised to us there should be no delay. The Pasha
has already fixed April 10th, which extended their time to forty-four
days, sufficient for three round voyages for each steamer. The news
brought to-day is not that Selim Bey is close here, but that he has not
started from Wadelai yet.
“In addition to his own friends, who are said to be loyal and obedient
to him, he brings the ten rebel officers, and some 600 or 700 soldiers,
their faction.
“Remembering the three revolts which these same officers have
inspired, their pronounced intentions against this expedition, their
plots and counterplots, the life of conspiracy and smiling treachery
they have led, we may well pause to consider what object principally
animates them now--that from being ungovernably rebellious against
all constituted authority, they have suddenly become obedient and
loyal soldiers of the Khedive and his ‘great Government.’ You must be
aware that, exclusive of the thirty-one boxes of ammunition delivered
to the Pasha by us in May 1888, the rebels possess ammunition of the
Provincial Government equal to twenty of our cases. We are bound to
credit them with intelligence enough to perceive that such a small
supply would be fired in an hour’s fighting among so many rifles,
and that only a show of submission and apparent loyalty will ensure
a further supply from us. Though the Pasha brightens up each time he
obtains a plausible letter from these people, strangers like we are may
also be forgiven for not readily trusting those men whom they have
such good cause to mistrust. Can we be certain, however, that if we
admit them into this camp as good friends and loyal soldiers of Egypt,
they will not rise up some night and possess themselves of all the
ammunition, and so deprive us of the power of returning to Zanzibar?
With our minds filled with Mr. Jephson’s extraordinary revelations of
what has been going on in the province since the closing of the Nile
route, beholding the Pasha here before my very eyes--who was lately
supposed to have several thousands of people under him, but now without
any important following--and bearing in mind ‘the cajolings’ and
‘wiles’ by which we were to be entrapped, I ask you, would we be wise
in extending the time of delay beyond the date fixed--that is, the 10th
of April?”
“The officers one after the other replied in the negative.
“‘There, Pasha,’ I said, ‘you have your answer. We march on the 10th of
April.’
“The Pasha then asked if we could ‘in our consciences acquit him of
having abandoned his people,’ supposing they had not arrived on the
10th of April? We replied, ‘Most certainly.’
“Three or four days after this I was informed by the Pasha--who pays
great deference to Captain Casati’s views--that Captain Casati was
by no means certain that he was doing quite right in abandoning his
people. According to the Pasha’s desire I went over to see Captain
Casati, followed soon after by Emin Pasha.
“Questions of law, honour, duty, were brought forward by Casati, who
expressed himself clearly that _moralemente_ Emin Pasha was bound
to stay by his people.
“I had to refute these morbid ideas with the A B C of common sense.
I had to illustrate the obligations of Emin Pasha to his soldiers by
comparing them to a mutual contract between two parties. One party
refused to abide by its stipulations, and would have no communication
with the other, but proposed to itself to put the second party to
death. Could that be called a contract? Emin Pasha was appointed
governor of the province. He had remained faithful to his post and
duties till his own people rejected him, and finally deposed him. He
had been informed by his Government that if he and his officers and
soldiers elected to quit the province they could avail themselves of
the escort of the expedition which had been sent to their assistance,
or stay in Africa on their own responsibility; that the Government
had abandoned the province altogether. But when the Pasha informs
his people of the Government’s wishes, the officers and soldiers
declare the whole to be false, and for three months detain him a close
prisoner. Where was the dishonour to the Pasha in yielding to what was
inevitable and indisputable? As for duty, the Pasha had a dual duty to
perform, that to the Khedive as his chief, and that to his soldiers. So
long as neither duty clashed, affairs proceeded smoothly enough; but
the instant it was hinted to the soldiers that they might retire now if
they wished, they broke out into open violence and revolted, absolved
the Pasha of all duty towards them, and denied that he had any duty to
perform to them. Consequently the Pasha could not be morally bound to
care in the least for people who would not listen to him.
“I do not think Casati was convinced, nor do I think the Pasha was
convinced. But it is strange what strong hold this part of Africa
has upon the affections of European officers, Egyptian officers, and
Soudanese soldiers!...
“The day after I was informed that there had been an alarm in my camp
the night before; the Zanzibari quarters had been entered by the
Pasha’s people, and an attempt made to abstract the rifles. This it was
that urged me to immediate action.
“I knew there had been conspiracies in the camp, that the malcontents
were increasing, that we had many rebels at heart against us, that
the people dreaded the march more than they feared the natives; but I
scarcely believed that they would have dared to put into practice their
disloyal ideas in my camp.
“I proceeded to the Pasha to consult with him, but the Pasha would
consent to no proposition, not but what they appeared necessary and
good, but he could not, owing to the want of time, &c. Yet the Pasha
the evening before had received a post from Wadelai which brought him
terrible tales of disorder, distress, and helplessness among Selim Bey
and his faction, and the rebels and their adherents.
“I accordingly informed him that I proposed to act immediately, and
would ascertain for myself what this hidden danger in the camp was,
and, as a first step, I would be obliged if the Pasha would signal for
general muster of the principal Egyptians in the square of his camp.
“The summons being sounded, and not attended to quickly enough to
satisfy me, half a company of Zanzibaris were detailed to take sticks
and rout every one from their huts. Dismayed by these energetic
measures, they poured into the square, which was surrounded by rifles.
“On being questioned, they denied all knowledge of any plot to steal
the rifles from us, or to fight, or to withstand in any manner any
order. It was then proposed that those who desired to accompany us to
Zanzibar should stand on one side. They all hastened to one side except
two of the Pasha’s servants. The rest of the Pasha’s people, having
paid no attention to the summons, were secured in their huts, and
brought to the camp-square, where some were flogged, and others ironed
and put under guard.
“‘Now, Pasha,’ I said, ‘will you be good enough to tell all these Arabs
that these rebellious tricks of Wadelai and Dufilé must cease here, for
at the first move made by them I shall be obliged to exterminate them
utterly.’
“On the Pasha translating, the Arabs bowed, and vowed that they would
obey their father religiously.”
From that time the evacuation was determined on, and preparations were
made for an immediate start. Of Emin’s people there were 84 married
women, 187 female domestics, 74 children above two years, 35 infants
in arms; these with the men made up a total of about 600. The relief
expedition numbered 550, and 350 native carriers had been enrolled from
the district to assist in carrying the baggage, so that on the 10th of
April the caravan set out from Kavalli in number about 1500.
CHAPTER XIX.
RETREAT OF THE FIFTEEN HUNDRED.
The start--Stanley’s illness--Mutiny--On the march--Skirmishes
with the Warasura--Crossing the Semliki--The affluent of
Lake Albert--In the valley--Mountains of the Moon--Speke’s
geographical genius--Alpine climbing--The Usongora--Town of
Kative--Lake Albert Edward--Sources of the Nile.
In the history of antiquity there is the record of a retreat above all
others great and glorious. It was that of the 10,000 Greeks who after
the battle of Cunaxa, through perils and dangers of every kind, without
food, without guides, through wild and terrible country, pursued and
harassed by Artaxerxes and his Persians, at last attained their native
land. A thousand miles from the sea which they had thought never to
behold again, they accomplished their march in 120 days, mainly owing
to the skill and courage of their leaders. Of these Xenophon, who was
one of the heroes of this memorable campaign, afterwards became its
immortal historian.
We are now face to face with an achievement of a similar kind; which
cannot fail to take its place in the pages of the world’s history, and
which will have for its narrator the man who has accomplished the deed.
It is true there were not 10,000 men that Stanley had to convoy to
the shore of the Indian Ocean; but his caravan included many helpless
women, children, and slaves. Instead of brave and well-disciplined
forces, he had to control artful and cowardly Egyptians, timid negroes,
and Zanzibaris, who though loyal, were lazy. On the other hand, it was
not 1000 but more than 1500 miles that he had to travel before reaching
the harbour of safety, a distance equal to that covered in Napoleon’s
retreat from Moscow.
Moreover, he was in the heart of the dark continent, beneath the
burning rays of an equatorial sun, on the threshold of that mysterious
region, the birthplace of the Nile, of which centuries of research
failed to unveil the secrets.
And whilst he has thus thrown the achievements of the 10,000 into the
shade, he has revealed an unknown country to the eyes of science, has
introduced new nations to the world of history, has found the solution
to the long-tried problem of the origin of the “Father of rivers.”
On April 10th, 1889, the camp at Kavalli was raised, and the caravan
started, an interminable file of soldiers, porters, women, and
children, carrying provisions, ammunition, and baggage of all sorts,
and accompanied by all the cattle that could be procured. The retreat
had commenced.
They encamped at Mazamboni’s on the 12th. The same night Stanley was
struck down with severe illness, which well-nigh proved fatal. For
some time his life was in danger, but thanks to his good constitution,
and the careful nursing and attention of Dr. Parke, the disorder was
overcome, and the patient was convalescent.
Stanley’s illness delayed the advance of the caravan for twenty-eight
days. During that time several conspiracies were afloat in the camp
amongst Emin’s soldiers. Only one, however, was attempted to be
realised. The ringleader, a slave of Awach Effendi’s, whom Stanley had
made free at Kavalli, was arrested, and after court-martial, which
found him guilty, was immediately executed. From that time there was no
further breach of discipline.
By May 8th, the column was able to resume its march. The route was to
the south, skirting the region of the forests, which Stanley with his
present party would not have dared to face, as the Egyptians seemed
to have very vague notions about the journey. Besides, there was the
question of food, which would prevent a company of 1500 people from
attempting a passage through a district where caravans of only 200 or
300 had sometimes narrowly escaped perishing with hunger. Nevertheless,
though much has been said to the contrary, Stanley never regretted
that he went to Emin’s relief by way of the Aruwimi, instead of from
Zanzibar through the Masai country. This may be seen from the following
extract from a letter that he wrote to Sir William Mackinnon:--
“By-the-bye, Emin Pasha said it was very lucky I did not approach him
from the east by way of the Masai and Ukedo, or Langgo as he calls it.
The Langgo land is a great waterless desert for the most part. Even if
we had been able to pierce through the Wakedi, it is doubtful if the
want of food and water had not annihilated the expedition.... Now that
we know the Ituri so well, I feel convinced that we could not have
chosen a better route.”
All the district extending southwards to the Muta Nzigé has recently
fallen under the sovereignty of Kabrega, the rapacious potentate of
Unyoro, who has made a bold push in this direction, his bands of
marauders keeping the entire neighbourhood in a state of agitation.
In making his advance, Stanley did not escape the necessity of using
powder and shot. First, the warlike Warasura, the name given to the
Wanyoro in that district, congregated near the village of Buhobo, and
endeavoured to waylay the caravan. They were routed, and fled in all
directions.
Then two days later, whilst crossing the Semliki, the war-cry was heard
again, and a well-directed volley of arrows was discharged upon their
rear. Guns were again brought into use, and the natives were chased for
some distance. Henceforward the course was clear.
Stanley was now on the threshold of a land of wonders. The valley of
the Semliki lay outstretched before him, extending to the south-west
far as the eye could reach. In its midst, bending now to the
north-east, now to the north-west, 80 to 100 yards wide, and averaging
9 feet in depth, flowed the river, its rapid current bearing the
ample volume of its waters towards the Albert Nyanza. On either hand
were fertile plains, dotted over with villages, groves of bananas
and acacias, well cultivated fields, and splendid pastures. These
are bounded east and west by ridges of hills rising from 300 to 900
feet above the level of the valley, and crowned by vast plateaus that
slope gradually eastwards to the Congo, and on the north-west join the
table-land of Unyoro.
In the central portion of this latter region the hills rise ridge upon
ridge, and there is one great mountain chain that culminates in a
snow-clad peak, probably 17,000 feet in height, the Ruwenzori, known by
the natives as the “Cloud-King.”
Ancient writers were well aware that beyond the sands of the desert
lay a system of inland lakes connected by streams that together formed
the Nile; behind these lakes, they averred, was a chain of mighty
mountains, to which they gave the name of “Mountains of the Moon.” The
earliest explorers of Eastern Africa imagined that in Mounts Kenia and
Kilima-Njaro, those other snow-peaks of the equatorial regions, they
had discovered these mountains of the moon; but Captain Speke, with the
marvellous clairvoyance of which he gave so many proofs during his
short career, marked them on his map as lying between Lake Albert and
Lake Tanganyika. Utilising with a rare sagacity the information that he
picked up from the natives along his route, he came to the conclusion
that away to the north-west was a lake--Muta Nzigé--and that this lake
was bounded by a lofty mountain range that could be no other than the
ancient Mountains of the Moon.
Twenty years ago this hypothesis was the cause of much scientific
discussion. Speke’s assertions were violently attacked, especially by
Captain Burton, his fellow traveller. Then the matter was forgotten.
But direct observation has proved that Speke was right. Stanley has
now brought the Mountains of the Moon within the range of positive
knowledge, and that in the very locality which Speke had indicated,
thus rendering a striking tribute to the geographical genius of his
illustrious predecessor.
To Europeans the mysteries of this ancient range have always been
the subject of much curiosity, and almost all the officers of the
expedition had a keen desire to distinguish themselves as climbers
of these African Alps. Lieutenant Stairs succeeded in attaining the
greatest altitude, but had the mortification to find two deep gulfs
between him and the snowy mount proper.
Early on the morning of June 6th, accompanied by some forty Zanzibaris,
he left the camp, and commenced the ascent of the mountain. For the
first 300 yards the climbing was fairly good, the path being through
long rank grass. At 8.30 the thermometer registered 75° F. The aspect
of the country here became different, and on all sides there could be
seen dracænas, and here and there an occasional tree-fern and Mwab palm.
At 10.30, after some sharp climbing, the mountaineers reached the last
settlement of the natives. The thermometer then read 84° F. Beyond the
settlement the way led through a forest of bamboos, which became denser
as they ascended. They now noticed a complete and sudden change in the
air; it became much cooler and more pure and refreshing, and in another
two hours the thermometer had fallen to 70°. It was now past midday.
Right ahead of them, rising in one even slope for 1200 feet, stood a
peak, which they now started to climb. The ascent was most difficult,
as in some places it was covered with arborescent bushwood some 20 feet
high, and in others with a thick spongy carpet of wet slippery moss,
studded with blue violets and lichens.
Shortly after 4 P.M. they halted to encamp for the night at an
altitude of 8500 feet. On turning in, the thermometer registered only
60°, and the Zanzibaris, who were lightly-clad, felt the cold very much.
The ascent was continued on the following day, and persevered in
until 10 A.M., when Lieutenant Stairs found his progress stopped by
an immense ravine, at the bottom of which there was dense bush. Here
he had his first glimpse of a snow-peak about 2½ miles away, and he
estimated that it would take at least a day and a half to reach the
snow-line. Unprovided as he was with food and warm clothing for his
men, he thought it better to return, hoping that at some future time a
more favourable opportunity for making the ascent would present itself.
The altitude reached by the party was 10,677 feet above the level of
the sea.
By about 3 P.M. Stairs and his men had rejoined the expedition. His
excursion had convinced him that the Ruwenzori range is of volcanic
origin, the extreme top of the peak having a distinct crater-like form.
A march of nineteen days brought the caravan to the south-west angle of
the range. On June 26th it left the Awamba, as that part of the Semliki
valley is called, and entered the plains of Usongora. These at present
are almost a desert, but there are traces of the recent existence of
a large population, which has been driven off by the raids of the
Warasura. The free-booting tribe here showed some signs of hostility.
But no fighting was necessary; the report that the caravan was
invincible had already preceded it, and on its appearance the Warasura
were seized with a panic and fled.
On July 1st the caravan made its entry into the important town of
Kative, well known for its salt-pit, which supplies not only Usongora,
but also Toro, Ankori, Mpororo, Ruanda, Ukonju, and many other
districts with salt.
Near Kative, Stanley found a definite solution to the problem of the
sources of the Nile. The Semliki, of which he had just ascended the
right bank, is none other than the channel which carries into Lake
Albert the overflow of another lake, known upon the maps as Muta Nzigé,
and of which he had a distant view in 1876. He now named it the Albert
Edward Nyanza, in honour of the “first British Prince who has shown a
decided interest in African geography.”
Compared with the Victoria, the Tanganyika, and the Nyassa, this upper
lake of the western Nile-system is small, though its length cannot be
less than 50 miles. It is about 3000 feet above the sea-level, that is,
1000 feet higher than Lake Albert. Between the two lakes, the Semliki
forms a series of falls and rapids.
Henceforward, thanks to Stanley, the upper Nile-system is clearly
defined. The Muta Nzigé is the reservoir of all the waters from the
west that by way of the Semliki fall into the Albert Nyanza, just as
the Victoria Nyanza is the reservoir for all the waters from the east
that by way of the Somerset also fall into Lake Albert.
And thus is verified the assertion of the Greek geographers--that the
Nile has its sources in two inland seas. The Muta Nzigé is the _palus
occidentalis_, the Victoria Nyanza is the _palus orientalis_.
The outpour of the lakes, the two streams of the Semliki and the
Somerset, commingle their waters in a third reservoir, the Albert
Nyanza, and re-issue conjointly under the name of the Bahr-el-Jebel,
which lower down is known as the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White Nile.
Speke, in 1859 and 1861, introduced an important factor into the
solution of the problem by the discovery of Lake Victoria; Baker, in
1863, by that of Lake Albert; and Stanley has completed the work in
1889 by verifying the Semliki as the connection between Lake Albert and
Muta Nzigé.
Rounding the north end of Lake Albert Edward, the caravan passed
through Usongora, Toro, Uhaiyama, and Unyampaka. Stanley had visited
the latter in 1876, and Ringi, the king, who was at war with Unyoro,
now received him with much hospitality. The natives of this district
were all friendly, as the reports of its good deeds in relieving the
country of the presence of the obnoxious Warasura had preceded the
caravan. It was the first really kind welcome it had had since leaving
Kavalli.
Stanley speaks in high terms of the comeliness of the various tribes
in this mountain district. He describes the natives of Usongora as a
fine race, but in no way differing from the finer types of men seen
in Karangwé and Ankori, and the Wahuma shepherds of Uganda. The Toro
natives also are a mixture of the higher class of negroes, and the
majority of the Wahuma can boast of features quite as regular, fine,
and delicate as Europeans.
A few days later the column left the shores of the Lake, and turning
south-eastwards, came on to the high table-land of Ankori. They were
now about 600 miles from Kavalli; more than 1000 had still to be
travelled before they would reach Zanzibar.
Their trials were not yet at an end; fresh difficulties had still to be
overcome.
CHAPTER XX.
TO ZANZIBAR.
Ankori and Karangwé--The land of fever--Frightful
mortality--Lake Windermere and Kafurro--Fresh geographical
discovery--Expansion of measurement of Lake Victoria--Arrival
at Msalala--First news from Europe--More fighting--Mpwapwa--A
harassed march--Arrival at Bagamoyo--Conclusion.
Alike from its picturesqueness and from the character of its population
the region between Lake Albert Edward and Lake Victoria is one of the
most interesting in Central Africa.
It consists of a series of wide plateaux ranging from 4000 feet to
5000 feet above the level of the sea, bounded by a chain of conical
peaks. This chain joins the Ruwenzori range on the north, and includes,
with the Kibanga, Ankori, Mpororo, and Ruanda districts, the watershed
of Lake Albert Edward on the west and Lake Victoria on the east. The
highest summits along the line are Mounts Gordon Bennett and Lawson
on the north, and the elevation of the Mfumbiro Mountains in the
centre, which all rise to a height of over 12,000 feet. To the west
of the chain are the plains of Ankori; to the south-east those of
Karangwé. In both these districts the people are agriculturists, and
uniformly hospitable. They are a handsome race, many of them having
regular well-defined features that would bear comparison with those of
Europeans.
The Ankori country is subject to keen and searching winds which are
extremely trying to health, and which proved very disastrous in
thinning the numbers of the expedition. Never all along had fever been
so prevalent; as many as 150 cases broke out in a single day, and even
seasoned veterans like Emin and Casati more than once were prostrated
by its effects. The negroes, no matter of what tribe, fell out of the
line of march, and laid themselves down by the wayside to “sleep off”
their painful languor, whilst the Egyptians, too, worn out by fatigue,
ulcers, and dysentery, would hide themselves in any recess and sink
down on the ground, where, unless they were picked up and carried on by
the rear-guard, they would be left amongst the natives, who (however
well-disposed they might be) could yet not understand a word of the
language they spoke.
So terrible were the ravages of the fever that in the month of July
alone the caravan lost no less than 141 of its followers.
On the 1st of August the expedition crossed the Kagera, a stream that
conveys to the Lake Victoria the waters of a cluster of minor lakes.
Four days later it reached Kafurro, at no great distance from the lake,
which is the smallest of all these, and which was named Lake Windermere
by Speke’s companion, Captain Grant, because of its fancied resemblance
to the English lake in Westmoreland.
Kafurro may be described as a well-known locality, an Arab settlement
having been established there for more than thirty years; Speke and
Grant having stayed at it for several days in 1861, and Stanley having
resided there for a whole month in 1877, all three of them being
hospitably entertained by Rumanika, the well-disposed sovereign of
Karangwé. Now again the caravan received a cordial welcome; the chiefs
were all courteous, and the supply of provisions abundant. The district
altogether is very fine; rich pastures on which large herds of cattle
graze alternate with swelling uplands, planted with magnificent trees,
or fruitful with luxuriant crops, and frequently crowned with thickets
of acacia. Rhinoceroses, both black and white, are numerous, and herds
of horned antelopes are not unfrequently to be seen.
And here, in passing onwards from Karangwé to the adjacent district of
Uzinja, Stanley made a remarkable discovery which was quite unexpected.
He was following the route which had been taken by Speke and Grant in
1861, and relying upon the indications of his map, he was entirely
under the impression that he was still a long distance away from the
south-west boundary of Lake Victoria; his surprise may be imagined when
on making a bend to the north-east in the direction of Msalala he saw,
immediately before him, the broad expanse of the Victoria Nyanza itself.
In all existing charts the Uzinja shore is marked as taking a
north-westerly direction. This presumptive coast-line, however,
would now seem to be a succession of mountainous islands lying so
closely one behind another, that Stanley himself, when he was making
his circumnavigation of the Lake in 1876, had been misled, and had
conjectured them to be the mainland. It was obvious now that such was
not the case, and, moreover, it was demonstrated that the Lake extends
far away beyond them to the south-west. This adjustment gives the Lake
an additional area of 6000 square miles.
And as the expedition now made its progress, fresh discoveries were
ever being made, even in quarters where Stanley himself did not suppose
that there was anything unknown to be revealed.
At length on the 28th of August, as the eye pierced through the foliage
of the banana-trees, it rested on a cross that rose above the thatched
roof of a Christian church. Here was the mission-station of Msalala, in
charge of Mr. Mackay; here assuredly were the outskirts of the world of
civilisation!
For twenty days a halt was made at Msalala. It was a well-earned rest.
The time during the stay was mainly occupied in providing for the
transport of the provisions which had been sent by the “Emin Pasha
Relief Committee” a year and a half previously; and in dealing with
the mass of correspondence which would have been forwarded to them
by way of Uganda and Unyoro, had not those districts been closed to
all Europeans. Since January 1888 Emin and Casati had received no
communications from Europe, Stanley having been cut off from all
correspondence since June 1887.
The next proceeding was to despatch an express courier from Msalala to
the coast with letters for Europe. The letters were delivered at the
coast station on November 2nd, and the substance of their contents was
immediately forwarded by telegraph.
Much refreshed by the three weeks’ repose, the caravan set forth again
on the 6th of September upon the last stage of its march. It proceeded
along the accustomed route, through Usikumu and Ihuru towards Mpwapwa.
Having twice already travelled along the greater part of this road,
Stanley was sanguine in believing that no difficulties would arise,
and that all hardships were at an end: but he was reckoning too fast;
he had to learn that till he was actually in port, he had obstacles to
overcome.
“Previously,” wrote Stanley about this time, “I have seen my
difficulties diminished as I have arrived nearer the coast. I cannot
say so much now. Our long train of invalids tells quite a different
tale. Until I can get these unfortunates on board a steamer there will
be no peace for me. And the most disheartening thing about it is that
after all the toil and trouble we have had in carrying them 1200 miles,
and in fighting for them to protect their lives, we see so many of them
die just as we are within sight of port.
“At the south of Lake Victoria, we passed four of the most harassing
days of the entire journey; there was respite during the night,
otherwise we had to fight continuously with scarcely a moment’s freedom
from attack. The natives seem to have an inexplicable hatred towards
the Egyptians, and in order to repulse them we were compelled to
inflict severe penalty upon them.”
Mpwapwa was reached on the 11th of November, fifty-five days after
leaving Msalala, and 188 days after setting out from Kavalli. On the
way, the number of the white men in the caravan had been increased
by two, as it had been joined by Fathers Girault and Schinze of the
Algerian mission; but in the ranks of the Egyptians, Zanzibaris, and
negroes the gaps were appalling. Out of the 1500 people who left Lake
Nyanza scarcely a moiety survived to arrive at Mpwapwa; the other 750
had fallen off or succumbed on the route, a number which tells its own
sad and impressive tale of the sufferings that had to be endured during
the 240 days of that gigantic march.
No sooner was the approach of the returning expedition made known at
Zanzibar than measures were promptly taken to send out provisions to
meet it on its way, the organisation of the party being under the
control of Major Wissmann, the German commissioner, and Mr. Stevens,
the correspondent of the _New York Herald_.
The meeting with the envoys from the civilised world occurred on the
30th at Mswa. How welcome they were needs not to be told; they were
not simply the bearers of material comfort, but the harbingers of
joy, announcing the satisfaction with which it was hailed that the
expedition had so happily accomplished its design.
“I feel”--this is what Stanley writes from Mswa--“just like a labourer
on a Saturday evening returning home with his week’s work done, his
week’s wages in his pocket, and glad that to-morrow is the Sabbath.”
Five days more and the protracted tramp was finished. The 2nd of
December was spent at Mbugani; the 3rd at Bigiro; on the 4th the
Kinghani river was crossed; and on the 5th Thalassa! Thalassa! the sea
was in sight!
The Zanzibaris, catching a glimpse of the water beyond the gardens of
Bagamoyo, were breathless with excitement; their eyes filled with tears
as their hearts were stirred with emotion. It was their native place;
they were at home once more.
At Bagamoyo the reception that awaited Stanley was such as had
never been accorded to an explorer of this generation. The town
was elaborately decorated; triumphal arches were erected across
the avenues; the German troops were drawn up under Major Wissmann,
himself distinguished in the annals of African exploration, having
twice traversed the continent, and being like Stanley enlisted by
the King of the Belgians for the great scheme of civilising Africa.
There, too, were the consuls and representatives of various powers,
bringing messages of congratulation from sovereigns, ministers, and
scientific bodies. And now when Stanley and his companions, mounted
on the horses which Major Wissman had provided, made their entry in
their travelling gear, their clothes in rags, their features furrowed
with the sufferings they had undergone, covered with the dust of the
last eight months’ toil, excitement knew no bounds; palm-branches were
waved; trumpets blazoned out their welcome; and salutes were thundered
forth by the soldiers mustered on the shore, and from the troopships
anchored in the harbour.
It was a noble triumph that had been nobly earned.
Three years had elapsed since the expedition had set out from Zanzibar
on its critical adventure. Unwearied skill, indomitable patience,
superhuman effort, had brought it to a prosperous issue. The hero had
returned, himself safe and sound, and had brought back Emin Pasha,
rescued from the savage heart of Africa.
INDEX.
Abd-el-Kader, 31.
Abou-Klea, 42.
Air-Sibba, fight at, 256.
Albert, Lake, 7;
first sight of, 268;
description, 273 _seqq._;
return to, 284, 316;
reservoir for Semliki river, 358.
Albert Edward, Lake, 357.
Ali-Kobo, 82.
Aluri tribe, 104.
Amadi, 53.
Ankori, 361.
Arrows, poisoned, 256.
Aruwimi river, 224 _seqq._
Bagamoyo, reception at, 368.
Baker, meets Speke and Grant in 1863, 5;
discovery of Lake Albert, 358.
Bakongo, 178.
Bakumu, 264.
Banalya, 302.
Bangala, 220.
Bari tribe, 59.
Barttelot, Major, 135, 292, 298.
Basoko, 225.
Bodo, Fort, 279, 309.
Bolobo, 211, 216.
Boma, 149, 157.
Bongo tribe, 47 _seqq._
Bor, 85.
Cameron, death of Mr., 42.
Cannibalism, 72, 78.
Casati, 76, 80;
at Unyoro, 288;
scruples, 342.
Chaillé-Long, 15.
Congo Free State, 146 _seqq._
Congo route, 131, 350.
Congo, the, 151, 163 _seqq._, 188.
Dinka tribe, 50.
Dufilé, 62, 89, 289, 324.
Dwarf races, 280.
Dyoor tribe, 50.
El-Gooba, 43.
Emin Pasha (Dr. Schnitzer), 63 _seqq._, 269, 284;
letters, 88, 96, 97, 101, 286, 316, 329;
meets first with Stanley, 331;
scientific interest, 98;
hesitation, 290, 334.
Equator Province, 55 _seqq._;
stations of, 95.
Equatorville, 218.
Etlu-Digu, 240.
Falls district, 162 _seqq._
Fanikoro, 104.
Felkin, Dr., letter from Emin to, 88.
Fischer, Dr., 124.
Fort Bodo, 279, 309.
Franqui, Lieutenant, letter from, 181.
French settlement, 150.
Gessi, Governor of Bahr-el-Ghazal, 18, 53.
Gondokoro, 5, 58.
Gordon, Governor of Soudan, 14;
at Cairo, 19;
again governor, 23;
at Brussels, 33;
proclamation, 35;
death, 44.
“Henry Reed,” steamboat, 201.
Herbert, death of, 42.
Hicks Pasha, 28.
Ibwiri, halt at, 261.
Ihuru, 305.
Itumbiri river, 211.
Ituri, 267.
Jameson, Mr., 135, 229;
death, 299.
Jephson, Mr. Mounteney, 135, 291, 309, 312, 319;
letters from, 322 _seqq._;
letter to, 326.
Junker, Dr., 68, 121, 125;
letter from, 119.
Kabrega, 107, 351.
Kafurro, 362.
Karam-Allah, 87.
Kative, 356.
Kavalli, 227, 268, 326.
Khartoum, description of, 1 _seqq._;
fall of, 44.
Kibiro, 105.
Kilemfi, 187.
Kilonga-Longa, 260.
Kinchassa, 208.
Kuzo-Kienzi market, 171.
Kya, 106.
Lado, 61.
“Land of rivers,” 46.
Latuka tribe, 60.
Leopold’s (King) instructions, 153.
Leopoldville, 191.
Lubali, 253.
Lukolela, 218.
Lukungu, 174.
Lupton Bey, 54, 85.
Luvu, river, 169.
Madi tribe, 57.
Mahdi, 23, 27;
proclamation, 90;
successor, 239, 240.
Makraka tribe, 57.
Manquelé, 192.
Manyanga, 179.
Matadi, 158.
Mazamboni, 264, 349.
Messalimmeh, 40.
Mitrailleuse (Maxim), 135, 159.
Mombuttoo tribe, 76 _seqq._
Mongalla, 211.
Mountains of the Moon, 353.
Mpwapwa, 366.
Msalala, 119, 364.
Msuata, 206.
Mswa, 287, 315.
Mtesa, 115.
Munza, 77, 280.
Muta Nzigé, 353.
Mwala, 176.
Mwanga, 117.
Niam-niam, 70 _seqq._
Nsello, 187.
Omar Saleh, letters from, 245, 319.
Omdurman, 43.
Osman Digna, 29;
letter from, 241.
Palaballa rock-wall, 168.
Panga Falls, 255.
Parke, Dr., 135, 282, 301, 349.
Raouf Pasha, 22.
Rejaf, 321, 324.
Remio, 92.
Routes, choice of, 127, 350.
Rumbek, 52, 84.
Ruwenzori, 274, 350.
Sanga, 132.
Schweinfurth, Dr., 47, 71, 79, 80, 126, 235, 279.
Semliki, 274, 357.
Shuli tribe, 104.
Soudan, extent in 1877, 20;
evacuation of, 346.
Stanley, sent for, 127;
illness, 282, 349;
letters from, 144, 198, 214, 262, 263, 302, 306, 326, 335;
popularity of, 186;
meeting with Emin, 287, 331;
reception at Bagamoyo, 368.
Stanley Falls, 228, 297.
Stanley Pool, 188 _seqq._
Stewart, General, 41, 42.
Tippoo Tib, 137 _seqq._, 222, 228, 237;
Stanley’s letter to, 302.
Tunguru, 274.
Uganda, 93, 113.
Ugarrowwa, 259, 301.
Unyoro, 107, 274.
Van Gèle, Captain, 140, 241, 297.
Vossion, description of Khartoum, 1.
Vote of money, 40.
Wadelai, 93, 333.
Wambundu, 187.
Warasura, 351, 356.
Wauters, 131.
Welle, river, 66 _seqq._
White Nile, stations on, 95.
White Pasha, 238.
Wilson, Colonel, 43.
Wolseley, Lord, at Wady Halfa, 41.
Yambuya, 227 _seqq._
Yankondé, 250.
Yombi, 187.
Zebehr (Suleiman), 17, 37.
Zeribas, 12.
THE END.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] A. J. Wauters, _Le Mouvement geographique_, 1885–1887.
[2] Schweinfurth, “Heart of Africa,” vol. ii. p. 12.
[3] Schweinfurth, “Heart of Africa,” vol. ii. p. 85.
[4] _Ibid._, vol. ii. p. 119.
[5] Since then five other stations have been reoccupied. These are
Makraka-Sugaire and Wandy in the Makraka country, Mahagi on Lake
Albert, and Faloro and Fadibek in the interior, east of the Nile.
[6] It now seems tolerably certain that the White Pasha whose exploits
were re-echoed from Khartoum was Captain von Gèle, of the Congo Free
State, who at the beginning of the year had been arrested in his
exploration of the Welle, by the hostility of the Yakoma people,
near the confluence of the Mbomo, which has its source somewhere in
proximity to the sources of nearly all the principal affluents of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal.
Transcriber’s Notes:
1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been
corrected silently.
2. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have
been retained as in the original.
3. Where appropriate, the original spelling has been retained.
4. Italics are shown as _xxx_.
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