LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERER.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 119, 8 February 1873, Page 2

LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERER.

Wo reprint from the Qlobc the following critique of MrStanley's book " How I found Livingstone ; Travoli, Adventures, and Discoveries in Central Africa, including four months residence with Dr Livingstone " .—. — " Next to the honour which her Majesty the Quccl of England has dono me, I shall ever treasure the medal ufl ho Ro^al Geographical Society," These are the concluding wcrds of the fascinating narrative which Mr Stanley has just givm the world, entitled " How I Found L^v mgstone." To those who have acquainted themselves w ith the treatment the young explorer has experienced sin.cc his arrival m Europe, these words will appear strange and, perhaps, ironical. That they are uttered m all sincerity by a man who can afford to forgive, and has already forgotten, the slights to which ho lias Vcn subjected. Recognition of the vast service he performed came late, But it came, and he who wins may laugh. When the news arrived here that Consul Livingstone had been found, and that Ins discoverer was not an agont of Dr Kirk, or even despatched b> the Royal Geographical Society, a wave of incredulity swept over English Society. The press suggested that we should wait till we heard directly from Livingstone ; men of siicnce frankly denied the fact; and the puhlic waited for proof. Even when proof came there were some who maintained that " Liv ingatone had discovered Stanley , and not Stanley Livingstono." And yet had thoso who now doubted recollected ( Mr° Stanley's antecedents their nnbehef ought to. havevanished. When another British Consul's life was imperilled in Africa, and ten thousand Brittsh troop wcie despatched to his rescue, it was to "the courtesy of this same correspondent of the jfew York fferald " the press and public of England were indebted for the news that Colonel Perm had captured Magdala, destroy ed Theodore, and freed the prisoner. His enterprise during the civil war in America, in, Spain, and during the Cretan insurrection, bis travels in the Crimea and through Persia and India ahould ha.ye been, known to those who doubted his ability to lead an expedition to Ujiji. " The story of the search is by this time pretty well known, and we need not anticipate the pleasure the reader will receive from the narrative the discoverer has prepared him. In a goodly volume of more than 730 pages, with numerous maps and illustrations, the whole story is admira* bly told. Mr Stanley is a realistic writer. By this we do not mean that lie does not allow himself to be carried away by the picturesque aspect or imaginative influences of natural scenery- O» the contrary, the language is sometimes so high-flown in his descriptions and his style is fao eccentric, as to verge on bad taste. But he seems to regard every place, and person simply from his own point of view, uninfluenced bv the associations of the scene. Just as Mr Dickens described Rome as if it had been a city without a history, so Mr Stanley would describe an African scene as he would a, scene on the Missi3ipi or Missouri. While he is most imaginative m language, in sentiment he ia most leahstic. Some , of the descriptions are as fine as anything in fiction. Tho account we have of the boar hunt in the valley of Mtambre 19 only one of a scries of scenes of which tho painter has giv en, pictures In describing men, too, Mr Stanley is equally at home. Here is a portrait of Soor Hadji Palloo :—: — " Soor Hadji Palloo was a smart young man of business — energetic, quick at mental calculation, and seemed to be born, for a suoccssful salesman. His cyea were never idle, they wandered over every part of my person, over the tent, tho bed, the guns, the clothes, and having swung clear round,, began the silent circle again. His fingers seemed never at rest, they had a fidgetty, nervous action at their tips, constantly in the act of feeling something; while in the act of) talking to me, he would lean over and leel the texture of tho cloth of my trousers, mj coat, or my shoes or socks; then hewould feel lus own light jamdani shirt or dabwain loin-cloth, until his c}cs casually resting upon a novelty, his body would lean forward, and his arm was stretched out with the willing finders. His jaws also were in perpetual motion, caused by the vile habit he had acquired ot chew mg betel-nut and lime, and sometime tobaccos and lime. They gave out a sound similar to that of a young stoat in tho act of sucking. He was a pious Mahommedan, and observed the external courtesies and ceremonies of the true believers. He would affably 4 greet me, take off his shoes, enter my tent protesting he was not fit to sit in my presence, and after being sealed, would, begin his ever-crooked errand. Of honesty, literal and practical honesty, this youth knew nothing ; to the pure truth lie was an utter stranger; the falsehoods he had uttered during his short life seemed already to have quenched the bold gaze of innocence from his eyes, to have banished tho colour of truthfulness from his features, to havo transformed, him — yet a stripling of twenU — into a most accomplished, rascal and consummate expert in dishonest}." From this it will be seen that the intrepid traveller was not only a man who could organize an expedition, but one, too, who could successfully meet such agents as this just described on his own ground. Sometimes there was occasion for tho display of other qualities. As the expedition reached Ujiji, there was need of silewcc and caution, for the purpose of enabling it to escape through hostile tribes without danger of death or the payment of tribute. The account reads not unlike the narrative given by Cooper in " The Last of tho Mohicans" of the efiorts made b} the English party under the guidance of Uncas to evade the inimical Indians. One of the march incidents is curiously interesting :—: — " Almost as soon as we entered, a weak-brained woman, raised a series of piercing j ells. The men "were appalled at this noisy demonstration, which would call down upon our heads the \cngeancc of tho Wahha for evading the tribute, to which they thought themselves entitled. In half an hour we should have hundreds of howling savages about us in tho jungle, and probably a general massacre would ensue. The woman screamed fearfully, again and again, for no cause whatever. Some of the men, with tho instinct of self-pre-scrvation, at once dropped their bales and loads, and vanished W into the jungle. The guide came rushing back to me, imploring me to stop her noise. The woman's husband, livid, with rage and fear, drew his sword and asked my permission to cut her head off at once. Had I given the least signal the woman had paid w ith her hie for her folly. I attempted to hush her cries by putting my hand over her mouth, but she violently wrestled with me, and continued her cries worse tiian ever. There remained nothing else for me to do but to try tho -virtue of my whip over her shoulders. I asked her to desist after the first blow. " No ! " She continued her insane cries with increased force and volume. Agam my whip desconded on her bhoulders " Ko, no, no 1 " Another blow. " Will you hush ? " " No, no, no ! " louder and louder she cried, and faster and faster I showered the blows for the taming of this shrew. However, seeing I was as determined to flog as she was to cry, she desisted before tho tenth blow, and became silent. A cloth was folded over her mouth, and her arms were tied behind her; and in a few moments, tho runaways having returned to their duty, the expedition moved forward again with redoubled pace." Here, as elsewhere, Mr Stanley exhibited lesolution, and, as the world knows, was eventually successful. The piosperous and happy issue is due to the untiring energy of a man truly English in spiut if not in birth Mr Stanley himself in a great measuie attiibutes his success to constitutional causes :—: — " Now that I have returned uninjured in health, though, I have suffered the attacks of twenty-three fevers within the shoit space of thu teen months, I must confess I owe my life, first, to the mercy of God ; secondly, to the enthusiasm for my work which animated me fioin the beginning to the end ; thudly, to having never ruined my constitution by indulgence in vice and intemperance ; fourthly, to the energy of my natuie j fifthly, to a native hq||rfulness which never died ; and sixthly, to having furnished myself with a capacious water and damp proof canvas house " Such is the man whose exploit has been honoured by all, from the Soveieign down to tho most obscure person in tho countiy. ™