Read Ebook: The Boy Travellers on the Congo Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey with Henry M. Stanley Through the Dark Continent by Knox Thomas Wallace Stanley Henry M Henry Morton

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Ebook has 762 lines and 110480 words, and 16 pages

These granaries consist of tall poles--like telegraph poles--planted at a distance of about ten feet from each other, to which are attached about a dozen lines of lliane, or creepers, at intervals, from top to bottom. On these several lines are suspended the maize, point downwards, by the shucks of the cob. Their appearance suggests lofty screens built up of corn.

"On the 13th, after a march of thirteen miles in a west-southwest direction, along a very crooked path, we arrived at Kabungw?.

"At this settlement we observed for the first time spears all of wood, having their points sharp and hardened in fire and shafts eight to ten feet long. As each warrior possesses a sheaf of these weapons, besides a vast wooden shield, he is sufficiently armed against a native enemy, and might, by a little boldness, become a dangerous foe to an Arab.

"The currency throughout Manyema consists of cowries. Six cowries formed the ration money of the Wangwana, three cowries purchased a chicken, two procured ten maize-ears, one cowrie obtained the service of a native to grind the grain, two cowries were a day's hire for a porter; so that the Wangwana and Wanyamwezi were enjoying both abundance and relief from labor while we were travelling through Manyema.

"At Kabungw? I was alarmed at an insufferable odor that pervaded the air we breathed, for, whether in the house or without, the atmosphere seemed loaded with an intolerable stench. On inquiring of the natives whether there was any dead animal putrefying in the neighborhood, they pointed to the firewood that was burning, and to a tree--a species of laurel--as that which emitted the smell. Upon examination I found it was indeed due to this strange wood, which, however, only becomes offensive under the action of fire.

"Between Kabungw? and Mtuyu, our next camp, the country is extremely populous. Were all the villages we passed inhabited by brave men, a brigade of European troops could not move without precaution. The people, however, did not attempt to molest us, though an enormous number came out to stare at us and our donkeys.

"The natives are quick to adopt nicknames. In some places the Arabs were known by the name of Mwana Ngomb?, 'lords of cows.'

"The Sarmeen of my first expedition received from his comrades, for his detective qualities, the name of Kach?ch?, or the 'weasel.'

"Sambuzi received the title of Mta-uza, or the 'spoiler;' and one of his subordinates was called Kiswaga, or 'fleet-foot.'

"Kalulu's name was formerly Ndugu Mali, 'brother of money.'

"Wadi Safeni had a young relative in the expedition entitled Akili Mali, or 'one who is wise with his money.'

"In the same manner countries receive appellations distinctive of peculiarities, such as,

Unya-Nyemb?, land of hoes. U-Yofu, land of elephants. Unya-Mbewa, land of goats. Unya-Nkondo, land of sheep. U-Konongo, land of travellers. Unya-Nguruw?, land of hogs. U-Nguru, land of mountains. U-Kusu, land of parrots. U-Ganda, land of drums. U-Lungu or U-Rungu, plain land. Ma-Rungu, plateau land. U-Kutu, land of ears . U-Karanga, land of ground nuts. U-Lua, or U-Rua, land of lakes. U-Emba, lake land. U-Bwari, land of food.

"Mtuyu is the easternmost settlement of the country of Uzura. On arrival we perceived that all their women were absent, and naturally inquired what had become of them. They replied, in pathetic strains, 'Oh, they are all dead; all cut off, every one. It was the small-pox!'

"We sympathized with them, of course, because of such a terrible loss, and attempted to express our concern. But one of our enterprising people, while endeavoring to search out a good market for his cowries, discovered several dozen of the women in a wooded ravine! They had been concealed under the supposition that we were slave-hunters.

"Skirting the range of hills which bounds the Luama valley on the north, we marched to Mpungu, which is fifteen miles west of Mtuyu. Kitet?, its chief, is remarkable for a plaited beard twenty inches long, decorated at the tips with a number of blue glass beads. His hair was also trussed up on the crown of his head in a shapely mass. His brother possessed a beard six inches long; there were half a dozen others with beards of three or four inches long. Kitet?'s symbol of royalty was a huge truncheon, or Hercules club, blackened and hardened by fire. His village was neat, and the architecture of the huts peculiar, as the picture below shows.

"The Luama valley at Uzura at this season presents a waving extent of grass-grown downs, and while crossing over the higher swells of land we enjoyed uninterrupted views of thirty or forty miles to the west and south.

"From Mpungu we travelled through an interesting country , and suddenly from the crest of a low ridge saw the confluence of the Luama with the majestic Lualaba. The former appeared to have a breadth of four hundred yards at the mouth; the latter was about fourteen hundred yards wide, a broad river of a pale gray color winding slowly from south and by east.

"We hailed its appearance with shouts of joy, and rested on the spot to enjoy the view. Across the river, beyond a tawny, grassy stretch towards the south-southwest, is Mount Kijima; about one thousand feet above the valley, to the south-southeast, across the Luama, runs the Luhye-ya ridge; from its base the plain slopes to the swift Luama. In the bed of the great river are two or three small islands, green with the verdure of trees and sedge. I likened it even here to the Mississippi, as it appears before the impetuous, full-volumed Missouri pours its rusty-brown water into it.

"A secret rapture filled my soul as I gazed upon the majestic stream. The great mystery that for all these centuries nature had kept hidden away from the world of science was waiting to be solved. For two hundred and twenty miles I had followed one of the sources of the Livingstone to the confluence, and now before me lay the superb river itself! My task was to follow it to the ocean."

"It is getting late," said Mr. Stanley, glancing at his watch, "and I will leave you at this point where you can dream of the great river and its course to the sea. To-morrow you shall hear about some of the difficulties we encountered in going forward with the expedition."

As Mr. Stanley retired he was loudly applauded, and it was evident that the little audience were greatly pleased to hear from his own lips the account of his journey through the African wilderness.

DIFFICULTIES OF LIVINGSTONE AND CAMERON WITH THEIR FOLLOWERS.--PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF TIPPU-TIB.--NEGOTIATIONS FOR AN ESCORT.--TIPPU-TIB ARRANGES TO GO WITH STANLEY.--THE WONDERS OF UREGGA.--GORILLAS AND BOA-CONSTRICTORS.--THEIR REMARKABLE PERFORMANCES.--A NATION OF DWARFS.--HOW STANLEY DECIDED WHAT ROUTE TO FOLLOW.--HEADS OR TAILS?--"SHALL IT BE SOUTH OR NORTH?"--SIGNING THE CONTRACT WITH TIPPU-TIB.--A REMARKABLE ACCIDENT.--ENTERING NYANGW?.--LOCATION AND IMPORTANCE OF THE PLACE.--ITS ARAB RESIDENTS.--MARKET SCENES AT NYANGW?.--READY FOR THE START.

The forenoon of the next day was passed as usual; and in the afternoon the party assembled for the continuation of the story of the journey across the Dark Continent. It was Fred's turn to read, and the young man was promptly in his place at the table, and with the open volume before him.

"Mr. Stanley left us, last evening," said Fred, "on the banks of the great river which he called the Livingstone, but which is more familiar to us as the Congo. Early the next day after his arrival he resumed his march, pressing forward in the direction of Nyangw?, the farthest point reached by Livingstone and afterwards by Cameron. Both these travellers greatly desired to explore the mysterious river which flowed past Nyangw?, but were unable to do so. Neither could induce his men to advance beyond that point; they tried to purchase or hire canoes with which to descend the river, but none could be obtained.

"The same fate threatened to fall upon Stanley, and compel him to turn back to Ujiji just as had been the case with Livingstone. But it was his good-fortune to meet one Hamed bin Mohammed, or Tippu-Tib, an Arab trader of great influence, who is well known throughout Central Africa. He has a large force of Arabs under his control, and is a sort of migratory king among the people where he moves. He can easily assemble a thousand Arab fighting-men at a few days' notice, and at almost any moment he can command the services of two or three hundred of them. Here is a description of him as given by Mr. Stanley:

"He was a tall, black-bearded man, of negroid complexion, in the prime of life, straight, and quick in his movements, a picture of energy and strength. He had a fine, intelligent face, with a nervous twitching of the eyes, and gleaming white and perfectly formed teeth. He was attended by a large retinue of young Arabs, who looked up to him as chief, and a score of Wangwana and Wanyamwezi followers whom he had led over thousands of miles through Africa.

"The person above described was the Arab who had escorted Cameron across the Lualaba as far as Utotera, south latitude 5?, and east longitude 25? 54'. Naturally, therefore, there was no person at Nyangw? whose evidence was more valuable than Tippu-Tib's as to the direction that my predecessor at Nyangw? had taken. The information he gave me was sufficiently clear--and was, moreover, confirmed by other Arabs--that the greatest problem of African geography was left untouched at the exact spot where Dr. Livingstone had felt himself unable to prosecute his travels, and whence he had retraced his steps to Ujiji never to return to Nyangw?."

"After a long conference," said Fred, "Mr. Stanley asked Tippu-Tib if he would accompany the expedition in the exploration of the great river. The Arab at first declined the proposal, but after several interviews and a considerable amount of negotiation, it was arranged that, in consideration of five thousand dollars, Tippu-Tib with one hundred and fifty of his followers would accompany Mr. Stanley for a distance of sixty marches from Nyangw? in any direction the latter should choose to take. The contract between them was very carefully drawn, and a considerable time was spent in arranging it.

"While these negotiations were in progress Mr. Stanley obtained all the information possible from Arabs and others relative to the region he proposed to visit. One Arab who claimed to have followed the course of the river for a great distance said it flowed 'to the north, to the north, always to the north, and there is no end to it till it reaches the salt sea.' He had, he declared, travelled to the north along the banks of the river till he reached the country of the dwarfs, a journey of nine months. They were a powerful people, although they were so small; the men were only a yard high, with big heads and long beards. His party had a terrible fight with these dwarfs, who fought with poisoned arrows that cause death almost instantly by the slightest scratch. Every man that was killed was immediately eaten by the dwarfs, who have the reputation of being the worst cannibals in all Africa. Out of two or three hundred Arabs that went on this expedition, only about thirty remained to return to Nyangw?.

"After listening to this wonderful story Mr. Stanley asked the Arab if he saw any other curious things on his journey.

"'Oh, yes!' he answered. 'There are monstrous large boa-constrictors in the forest of Uregga, suspended by their tails to the branches, waiting for the passer-by or for a stray antelope. The ants in that forest are not to be despised. You cannot travel without your body being covered with them, when they sting you like wasps. The leopards are so numerous that you cannot go very far without seeing one. Almost every native wears a leopard-skin cap. The sokos are in the woods, and woe befall the man or woman met alone by them; for they run up to you and seize your hands, and bite the fingers off one by one, and as fast as they bite one off, they spit it out. The Wasongora Meno and Waregga are cannibals, and unless the force is very strong, they never let strangers pass. It is nothing but constant fighting. Only two years ago a party armed with three hundred guns started north of Usongora Meno; they only brought sixty guns back, and no ivory. If one tries to go by the river, there are falls after falls, which carry the people over and drown them. A party of thirty men, in three canoes, went down the river half a day's journey from Nyangw?, when the old white man was living there. They were all drowned, and that was the reason he did not go on. Had he done so, he would have been eaten, for what could he have done? Ah, no. Master, the country is bad, and the Arabs have given it up. They will not try the journey into that country again, after trying it three times and losing nearly five hundred men altogether.'

"Before closing his contract with Tippu-Tib Mr. Stanley consulted Frank Pocock, his only remaining white companion, in order to obtain his views of the matter. I will read his account of the consultation and what followed it.

"At 6 P.M. a couple of saucers, filled with palm-oil and fixed with cotton-wick, were lit. It was my after-dinner hour, the time for pipes and coffee, which Frank was always invited to share.

"When he came in the coffee-pot was boiling, and little Mabruki was in waiting to pour out. The tobacco-pouch, filled with the choicest production of Africa--that of Masansi, near Uvira--was ready. Mabruki poured out the coffee, and retired, leaving us together.

"'Now Frank, my son,' I said, 'sit down. I am about to have a long and serious chat with you. Life and death--yours as well as mine, and those of all the expedition--hang on the decision I make to-night.'

"'There is, no doubt, some truth in what the Arabs say about the ferocity of these natives before us. Livingstone, after fifteen thousand miles of travel, and a lifetime of experience among Africans, would not have yielded the brave struggle without strong reasons; Cameron, with his forty-five Snider rifles, would never have turned away from such a brilliant field if he had not sincerely thought that they were insufficient to resist the persistent attacks of countless thousands of wild men. But while we grant that there may be a modicum of truth in what the Arabs say, it is in their ignorant, superstitious nature to exaggerate what they have seen. A score of times have we proved them wrong. Yet their reports have already made a strong impression on the minds of the Wangwana and Wanyamwezi. They are already trembling with fear, because they suspect that I am about to attempt the cannibal lands beyond Nyangw?. On the day that we propose to begin our journey, we shall have no expedition.

"'On the other hand, I am confident that, if I am able to leave Nyangw? with the expedition intact, and to place a breadth of wild country between our party and the Arab depot, I shall be able to make men of them. There are good stuff, heroic qualities, in them; but we must get free from the Arabs, or they will be very soon demoralized. It is for this purpose I am negotiating with Tippu-Tib. If I can arrange with him and leave Nyangw? without the dreadful loss we experienced at Ujiji, I feel sure that I can inspire my men to dare anything with me.

"'The difficulty of transport, again, is enormous. We cannot obtain canoes at Nyangw?. Livingstone could not, Cameron failed. No doubt I shall fail. I shall not try to obtain any. But we might buy up all the axes that we can see between here and Nyangw?, and travelling overland on this side the Lualaba, we might, before Tippu-Tib's contract is at an end, come across a tribe which would sell their canoes. We have sufficient stores to last a long time, and I shall purchase more at Nyangw?. If the natives will not sell, we can make our own canoes, if we possess a sufficient number of axes to set all hands at work.

"'Now, what I wish you to tell me, Frank, is your opinion as to what we ought to do.'

"Frank's answer was ready.

"'I say, "Go on, sir."'

"'Think well, my dear fellow; don't be hasty; life and death hang on our decision. Don't you think we could explore to the east of Cameron's road?'

"'But there is nothing like this great river, sir.'

"'What do you say to Lake Lincoln, Lake Kamolondo, Lake Bemba, and all that part, down to the Zambezi?'

"'Ah! that is a fine field, sir; and perhaps the natives would not be so ferocious. Would they?'

"'Yet, as you said just now, it would be nothing to the great river, which for all these thousands of years has been flowing steadily to the north through hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles, of which no one has ever heard a word.'

"'Let us follow the river, sir.'

"'Yet, my friend, think yet again. Look at all these faithful fellows whose lives depend on our word; think of our own, for we are yet young and strong and active. Why should we throw them away for a barren honor, or if we succeed have every word we said doubted, and carped at, and our motives misconstrued by malicious minds, who distort everything to our injury?'

"'Ah, true, sir. I was one of those who doubted that you had ever found Livingstone. I don't mind telling you now. Until I came to Zanzibar, and saw your people, I did not believe it, and there are hundreds in Rochester who shared my opinion.'

"'And do you believe, Frank, that you are in Manyema now?'

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