STANLEY'S AFRICAN EXPLORATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 5018, 15 December 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

STANLEY'S AFRICAN EXPLORATION.

Several weeks ago we published a telegram announcing the fact that Mr. H. M. Stanley, the discoverer and reliever of Dr.-Living-stone, when he was sick and helpless in Central Africa, had completed hia transcontinental trip, and that he and hia party had safely reached the West Coast. It alao stated that he had proved—what was previously believed to be the case—that .Livingstone's great river, Lualaba, was no other than the well-known Congo or Zaire. Previous to the receipt of this message people had begun to fear that Stanley and his party had, like many other African travellers, either fallen victims to the climate, died of starvation, or perished at the hands of the many tierce and blood- . thirsty tribes with which this fair portion of the earth is inhabited. For more than 18 monthß no tidings had been heard of him, and when he left the Nyanza Lakes it was thought that he intended to march southward to Lake Tanganyika, for the purpose of making a thorough survjy of the shores of that lake, thence to examine both j the Lukuga, and the Lualaba of Livingstone and Cameron. The intelligence of his arrival on the West Coast of Africa was re- | ceived with genuine satisfaction through- i out the world, and further particulars of his ! journey have since been obtained ; but the lull text of Stanley's letters has not yet been received. Sufficient, however, is now known to show that the work which he has done will place him in the honoured list of Africa's explorers, and that he overcame difficulties and endured sufferings which have fallen to the lot of few even in the same field of exploration. The expense of the expedition, which Stanley has now brought to a successful termination, was borne jointly by the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph (London) and New York Heralnl newspapers; and in

November, 1874, nearly three years ago, he left Zanzibar with a party of 350 men for the interior of Africa. There were only two white men with him—two brothers named Pocock—one of whom died of fever while in camp at the Southern end of Lake Vic-toria-Nyanza, while Stanley and a few of his party were circumnavigating that lake, the other was swept over one of the falls of the Congo or Lualaba, while the party were sailing down that river from the interior settlement of Nyangwe. In due time Stanley reached and surveyed the VictoriaNyanza Lake, the riv-jra which feed that vast inland sea, and also its outlet to the river Nile. The Albert-Nyanza Lake was nexi visited; but though Stanley was accompanied by a large body of troops from the Uganda chief or King M'tessa, owing to the determined hostility of the tribes bordering on the lake, no work of exploration could be performed, and the party had to return unI successful. This is not so much to be regretted, as Colonels Long and Gordon, in the service of the Khedive of Egypt, have subsequently done what Stanley and his party were prevented doing, and found that the Albert-Nyanza is drained by the ancient Nile River. From this point, Mr. Stanley went southward to Lake Tanganyika, .and after making a complete survey of that lake, proceeded westward to Nyangwe on the Lualaba. Readers of Lieutenant Cameron's accountof his tripacross Africa will remember that after leaving the lake he followed the Lualaba down as far as Nyangwe, and that the natives there informed him that his progress further westward by the river volley would be interrupted by savage cannibal tribes further down the river. After various cautious attempts, Lieutenant Cameron became convinced of the truth of this information, and from this point struck southwest, and ultimately reached the coast at Benguela. On this journey he endeavoured to keep as near to the watershed of the country drained by the Lualaba, which he had left, as the hostility of the inhabitants would permit, and he became convinced, in the course of this journey, that the Congo and Lualaba was the same river, though known by different names in various parts of its course.

This was the state of our knowledge of this river system on the 15th March, 1576, when Stanley and . his party started from Nyangwe, with the intention of following the Lualaba to the ocean, or the Nile, should it be found, as Livingstone believed it did, to form part of the Nile river system. He was also warned, as Lieutenant Cameron had been, of the hostility of the people further down the river, and persuaded to desist from his rash attempt to follow the river to the ocean. After reflection, however, Stanley decided to brave the dangers, and if possible to solve the geographical problem for all time, whether the drainage of Lake Tanganyika went to swell the volume of the Mile as Livingstone asserted to his death, or that of the Congo as Cameron believed, but had been unable to prove. He persuaded the chiefs at Nyangwe to allow some of their people to increase his party, and he obtained the services of 140 men to carry food, arms, &c. From Nyangwe they travelled overland to Uregga without meeting any strong opposition, and theuce, after a march of several days through dense jungles, the men carrying their stores of food, arms, ammunition, boats, and the boat Lady Alice, with which Stanley was provided before he left London. The labour was exhausting in the extreme, and Stanley crossed the river, and continued the journey on the left bank where the bush was not so dense. After passing through the district called North-east Ukusu, the jungle became very dense again, and here the natives became ferocious. Day and night flights^of poisoned arrows poured in upon them, and still he refused to allow his men to use the means of defence they possessed. The men he had obtained at Nyangwe became fainthearted, and returned in a body. To pass some very dangerous cataracts just north and south of the Equator, Stanley had to land and cut a road with axes through the bush for a distance of 13 miles, in the face of thousands of the most bloodthirsty savages to be found in Africa, and the Lady Alice and IS cauoes, &c., were carried overland by this road.

Hitherto the Lualaba had followed a northerly direction, but about two degrees north latitude, he found the river suddenly swerve to a north-westerly direction, and soon afterwards to a south-westerly direction, thus causing the river to make a large bend northward of the Equator, while all the former conjectures of the probable course of the Upper Congo described it as being in a south-easterly direction, and not a few geographers fancied that some of its upper branches joined with the upper branches of the Zambesi, which empties itself on the east coast of the continent. Here Stanley found the Lualaba, or Congo, a magnificent stream, varying in width from two to ten miles, with many fertile islands amid stream. Long before he reached this point he and his party had taken to their canoes and boats, and iioated down mid-stream, trying always to be beyond the reach of the flights of arrows and spears which were thrown from both shores towards them. Supplies, however, began to run short, aud starvation stared the party in the face. On several occasions before taking to the river Stanley had to i'se his firearms to protect his party, and also when crossing overland to escape the central falls, aud he hesitated to again approach the shore for fear that he should again meet the same bloodthirsty savages. Necessity has no law, and to save his party aud himself from death by want he approached a village he perceived on the north bank of the mighty stream, and was pleased to observe tokens of a friendly welcome. This village was named Ikuta ya Congo, and Stanley was gratified to learn that the inhabitants were to some extent acquainted with trade ; that they were peaceably disposed, and showed every desire to cultivate friendly relations. These tokens convinced him that ho was either approaching the ocean or some place where the influence of Europeans was felt, and it was with mixed feelings of pleaj sure and regret that he left this frieudly people—the first friendly tribe he had met | since leaving Nyangwe.

Three days' sailing down the river from this village, he met with the fiercest savages yet encountered. They were armed with muskets, the first he had seen on the river, and were possessed of the largest canoes observed on the river. Fifty-four large canoes, crowded with savage warriors, pushed off from the shore to mid stream when Stanley's party were sailing down leisurely, and opened a brisk fire upon the explorers. It was not until three of Stanley's men had been shot that he decided to use firearms. For twelve miles the fight continued uninterruptedly, but owing to the superior arms used by Stanley, no doubt the attacking party paid a full penalty for their interfereuce. This was the last of the 32 battles Stanley had fought siuce leaving Nyangwe, on the 15th November, 1876. Having got clear of this savage people, bis passage Beawards was pleasant, and unbroken peace prevailed. He reached Ecnbomma on the 9th of August, with 114 followers, and Kabenda on the 14th of August, St. Paul de Loanda on the 22nd, the greater portion of his party suffering from dysentery, scurvy, ulcers, &c. In the course of a month or two he expected to be able to move all his party, except those who were suffering from ulcers. On the coast he was received by marked tokens of kindness from the Por.uguese authorities, and Gover-nor-General Albuquerque insisted that while Stanley and his party were his guests, they were to consider themselves in reality the guests of the King of Portugal. The Governor also offered to place at Stanley's disposal a gun-boat to convey him and bis party at once to Lisbon, but Stanley decided to wait for the recovery of his brave companions. Ou the news reaching Britain of Stanley's safe arrival, Dr. Livingstone's daughter, Agnes Livingstone Bruce, at once sent the lollowing telegram to the Daily Teleyraph and New York Herald:—"My heart is filled with delight and gratitude that Stanley is safe, and that he has solved the Congo problem." What the immediate effect of these explorations may be it is impossible to say, but it is evident that no long time will elapse before the most inland and darkest places of Africa will be reached by the trader and missionary, and iu a very few years Africa will probably have civilising agencies at work which will soon bring the people of that continent within the pale o£ our common civilisation and religion.