AFRICAN DISCOVERIES BY MR. STANLEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4665, 26 October 1876, Page 3

AFRICAN DISCOVERIES BY MR. STANLEY.

Letters from Mr H. M. Stanley giving an interesting account of discoveries made by him iu the region near the Albert Nyanza lake have been published in the Daily Telegraph.. He passed an immense mountain named Gambaragara, about 14,000 feet in height, and whose top is frequently snowcapped. "Upon its summit," ho writes, " dwell the chief medicinemen of the Kabba Rega, a people of European complexion. They are a handsome race, and some of the wojien are singularly beautiful. Their hair is inky, and inclined to brown in colour. Their features are regular, lipß thin, but their noses, though well shaped, are somewhat thick at the point. The mountain, it appears, is an extinct volcano, for on the top of it is a crystal-clear lake, about 500 yards in length, from the centre of which rises a column-like rock to a great height. A ri-n of stone like a wall surrounds the summit, within which are several villages, where the principal medicine man and hie people reside." A great gulf in the Albert Nyanza was Darned by Mr Stanley after the Princess Beatrice. One side of it is formed by a large promontory named Usongora, of which Stanley heard all sorts of wonderful things. It is a.regioh covered with salt and alkali, and reported to contain an active volcano. It is inhabited by " a breed of very large dogs of extraordinary ferocity, and a race of such long - legged natives that ordinary mortals regard them with surprise and awe." The diet of. these lanky savages consists solely of milk, and their only occupation is the watching of their immense herds of cows. How the latter find sustenance in so sterile a region Mr Stanley ou its to say. Mr. Stanley's explorations in this direction were cut short by the hostility of the natives, which he ascribes to the invasion of the country by Sir Samuel Baker's Egyptian expedition. Mr. Stanley came to the conclusion that without the aid of 50,000 or 60,000 (sic) men it would be impossible for him to hold his ground long enough to set out on a two months' voyage of exploration. Accordingly, as he had only some 2200 men, ho retraced his steps. It is a pity that, while recognising the evil results of the employment of armed force in this region, by Sir Samuel.Baker, Mr. Stanley should have been guilty of precisely similar conduct. With a coldbloodedness whichiis revolting, herecounts his shooting of some scores of natives, and the wounding of over 100 others, besides -which he loaded two of the native kings or chiefs with heavy chains. To »dd to Ha cruelty, he uaed explosive bullets,, and describes their fearful effects with, a fiendish exultation worthy of a BasKi-Bazouk. If Central Africa is not to be, to nse his -own word, "a closed country to any' man of a pale complexion, Stanley had better be recalled by his employ era at OD ce. Beside the murderous forays of this blood thirsty Yankee, the peaceful explorations of Englishmen,-,£ven when military or naval officers, like Speke, Grant, and Cameron, shine with a bright, untarnished lustre. — Home Correspondent of Daily Times. . - ■