PIONEERS OF EMPIRE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 7569, 23 May 1914, Page 6

PIONEERS OF EMPIRE.

IN THE HEART OF AFRICA. Thoro are few more pathetic partings in human history than that in " lllch ° white-haired Hr. Livingstone saw “ wood-bye” at Unyanyembo one Maicli diTy in 1672, to Henry Morton totanley, tho lion-hearted young man, "ho. when the world had thought the bia ( ' c ) ®^ lo i «d dead had fought his way to him, in tho heart of Africa, through a thousand Pe S%Ti d n d” d S»V nn» and travel-worn man to return to Em opo where rest an dlaurcls awaited him. Livingstone's work after thirty » A -places of Alnoa, was still incomplete; and with unfaltering courage he said farewell lo the last while man he was destined to see, and turned his feckla stens again towards his goal. A lit S more than a year later ho -as found Imcclin" by tho side of his btu a. Ohi t arabo, loavi lig to others Um comp ction of the work to wich he had sacn S Tn uio'jialoa of llio «orM »n« Jned sp'ololly »«■*«l ont te th» great enterprise— the young Atm-ncnn English newspaper with funds to ta ve him ACROSS CENTRAL AFRICA. 1 with three Englishmen for compan“hiß wav to V ictona ° >‘“ 1»« “-lives Is, ss mg for a seat on the ammunition box. *Sfj£ t&SSXS S£ .K ,nfil at hast they reached Uyenven, S* ototto »» I .brod., siiagg nearly thirty miles distant &Uuky W “It 1 could until the foraging expcditmn rc turned bringing millet barely sumcit S protdo oL W»‘ camp. , THE EXPEDITION RAIDED. ■Rut Stanley was not the man to he daunted by such difficulties. M orsc than on him —tho death or Edwaia ro cock one of his three English comrades Pushing on undismayed he arrived at Vinyata, where at last food was found T.Witv With food, however, came ana graver danger hysight arice of the natives was aroused by wg, of the tempting bales of cloth no c ried for barter, and Stanley had Lately time to mako the necessary preparations when a fierce raid was made on his carahe had time to build a stockade around his camp; and was thus able to put up such a stout detcnce th< t the first attack was repulsed with heavy loss; and taking tho offensive, he diove the enemy before him, capturing oxen and sheep and a largo quantity of gr?m> which put new strength and heart into hl onslaught had cost blin ™°’, 6 than a score of men in k. cd and woundcd- but worse was to follow, the next day the enemy returned m bers and flung themselves with incieased fury on the stockade. For an hour oi more the battle raged fiercely; the enemy beaten off, returning again and again with bloodcurdling cnes. and giving at each repulse a new girdle of dead and dying around the camp. _ At last tho tide of battle began to flow in Stanley’s favour the attack became more ami more feeble, until a final sortieJpatte ed them like so many pamc-atncken sheep. Having thus struck a wlioicsomo rerror into tho inhospitable Vinyatans, Stanley lost no time m «ontmumg through a country whore tood wa plentitul and the natives ,tnendly arrived at last at \ictoiia 1 J" anza, having covered 720 miles m a hundred and three days. Here lor a time he and his men enjoyed a well-earned rest in the wonder-land of the great lake, the glorious Nyanza, the lake ot mystery. “ The fishermen coming out in boats and taking post on all the racks with rod and hook; tho cattle driven down to drink at the margin ot the lake, made, with the pretty nature ot tho country—small hills, grassy-topped, with trees in the folds ami gardens on

tbs lower slopes —as fair a picture as one could wish to see.” AN EFFECTIVE LESSON. Bested and reinvigorated. Stanley now began his exploration of the lake, uitn a crew of eleven men, in the Lady Alice, a light forty-foot boat winch he had brought with him in sections, Ho was quick to find, however, that the exploration of the coast was by no moans an easy or a safe enterprise. Whenever he attempted to land at a village in search of food he found the boacn crowded with dusky figures, flinging stones and nourishing spears; some of the more daring natives even rushing into the water and hurling pieces of rock at tho heat with tbo object of sinking it. On approaching mno such village a dozen canoes shot out from tho shore, each crowded with aimed men. and surrounded the Lady Alice. In vain Stanley tried the effect of inend]v overtures and soothing words. The menacing circle closed, m, with noised spears and insulting cries, until the natives were near enough to snatch at the oars. Tho time. Stanley realised, had come for vigorous action. liaising his rifle to his shoulder He fired over the heads of tho enemy, while at his order, tho boat was driven with lusty strokes through the circVo of canoes. It was now a rare for life. The candes in hot pursuit were gaining rapidly on tho Ladv Alice; a deluge of spears •was following in his wake, all happily falling harmlessly on the crew bending low to their oars. Once more Stanley s riflo rang out, again and again, until, thflir catiocs linking xmdor thorn, tho enemy at last gave up the chaso and paddled back to the shore. Continuing bis journey, Stanley at las„ arrived at the northern shore of the lake, where he found a- cordial uivitarion awaiting him to visit Mtesa King ol Uganda, who had heard of the while man’s coming, and was. anxious to rewivo tho pleasant memories he had of lufi predecessor, Speke. FRIENDLY NATIVES, Mbeta’s Court he had a warm wel-

come and a royal hospitality. Jhe dusky King took a great fancy to “Standee, as he called him ; drank in eagerly his stories of the wonder! ul lmul« across the seas; and was never weary of marvelling at his guest’s feats with the rifle. Not content with entertaining the loader of the expedition, Mtesa insisted that Stanley should bring the remainder of his men to Usavara ; and sent thirty canoe's in the wake of the “ Lady Alice for the purpose of bringing them over. But the ollicer sent in charge of the flotilla was by no means disposed to obev thu King’s orders; and soon returned with the news that ho “had been unable to overtake the white man’s boat.” Thus deserted. Stanley decided to complete the circuit of Victoria Nyanza by exploring its western shore, a task which ho found full of adventure and danger, for at every attempt to land in search of food ho had tho same hostile greeting. On one occasion, seeing a lakeside village nestling in a banana-grove, ho approached the shore, Imping, against all In's precious experience, to bo able to buy somo of the fruits; but at sight of lilt) boat tbo natives flocked to ibe beach, uttering their war-cry and brandishing their spears. Nothing daunted by this unfriendly reception, Stanley drew close to tho shore, and ordered one of ins men to beg for food of any descrinlion.

Almost before the words had left hie lips a score of tho natives rushed into tho water, seized tho boat, and dragging her on to the beach executed a wardanco round her. Surrounded by an overwhelming number of armed savages, Stanley realised that resistance was useless ; and when ono of his men was struck down by a knobstick ho looked on himself and his crow as dead men. There seemed to be no hope of escape, when providentially the chief of the tribe appeared on tho scene and drove his followers away, but not before they had seized and CARRIED OFF EVERY OAR. Stanley's predicament was now little (letter; for the chief, after scornfully rejecting a propitiatory offer of cloth" and beads, retired with the bulk of his men to feast and deliberate on the fate of his prisoners, whom ho left in the custody of a strong guard. As to what that fate was to bo Stanley was not long left in doubt; for when the chief returned with his retinue, war-feathers were fluttering on every head. Never had Stanley greater need of a cool and resourceful brain. As tho dusky, spear-waving horde approached ho sent one of his men, with the most gaily-coloured piece of cloth ho had. to show the enemy; and while they paused, crowding round Safeni to examine it, ho gave the order to his crew to drag the boat quickly into the water. --■ere was not a second to spare; for at the first sound of the keel on the shingle the natives rushed towards me beach with cries of rage, Safeni flying before him in a desperate effort to reach the boat. Close at tho heels of the flying man a couple of natives were racing with spears poised to strike, when Stanley, raising his elephant-gun to hrs shoulder, cried to Safeni to throw himself down into the water, and fired. For a few seconds tho pursuers were chocked; but long enough to enable

Stanley’s nien to get into their boat and push her into deep water. A shower of arrows was answered by a couple of shots from Stanley’s gun; and before the natives had recovered a second time, his crow had torn up the inner boards from the bottom of the boat, and using them as paddles soon put a safe distance between them and the shore. COOL WORK. But. so far from having made his escape good Stanley soon found himseH threatened with new dangers. On one

side four canoes full of armed men were racing towards him; on the other, two hippopotami were coming open-mouthed at the boat. ■ Here indeed was a dilemma calculated to strike terror into the bravest man. But Stanley was more than equal to the emergency. Waiting until the hippopotami were but a few yards' distant, bo sent a couple of bullets crashing into them, killing both. Then, turning round to tho swiftly-advaiicing canoes, ho sunt two more bullets through their sides and immediately sank them. Having miraculously escaped these perils, the strong arms of his crow, working their improvised oars and favoured

by a breeze from tho .shore, quickly removed Juju far beyond tiro danger zone, and a few Jiours later he found a safe refuge on an uninhabited island, where ho and his men, after three days of hunger. were able to feast regally on wild cluck, bananas, and berries. A day’s welcome rest, and tho Lady Alice resumed her adventurous journey, with oars roughly fashioned from one of tho island trees; and on the sixth of May tho circumnavigation of the lake came to a successful end at Kageyi. Hero Stanley was able to borrow a number of canoes from a friendly chief, in which to transport the rest of his company so long loft behind in their camp; but scarcely wore the canoes, most of which were rotten, well afloat than, one by one, they began to sink; and it was with the utmost difficulty that their passengers a cre rescued by the Lady Alice, and taken back to “liefugs” Island. Fortunately Stanley’s good friend Mtesa camo to his succour in this new predicament. A second flotilla which had been sent in search of him arrived; and he and his men were safely transported to Uganda, where tho King again received him with arms of welcome. W o may not follow the gallant explorer through tho rest of his journeying, marked at every stage by hardships and perils. For three Jong years Stanley wandered over tho face of the dark Continent before he saw Zanzibar again, and set sail for England, to tell the story of ouo of the most amazing journeys ever accomplished by man.—“ Sheffield Weekly Telegraph.”