EXPLORATION IN AFRICA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4342, 18 February 1875, Page 3

EXPLORATION IN AFRICA.

Mr. H. M. Stanley's last letter from Africa to the New York Herald is as follows : Zanzibar, Coast of Africa, Oct 21, 1874. Delayed by, calms and head wind, we cast anchor in the harbor of Kwale Island. The people are Wangwana, subjects of the Zanzibar Sultan, and may possibly number 300 souls, all told. The one village which it boasts is on the western side, close to the port. The island is situated in latitude 7 deg. 25 min., south. The mouth of the Dendeni river, on the mainland, is to be seen nearly north-west of Kwale. The first thing that struck me as remarkable on the island was the large number of gigantic boabab trees. It seemed to me, when well screened from view of the sea by foliage, that, I had suddenly stepped into a portion of TJf'Ofo. The next things that caused me surprise were the very large and very small hen's eggs that were proffered to me for sale. The large eggs were of the size of geese eggs, while the small egga did not much exceed in size pheasant eggs. Goats were numerous and cheap ; two were purchased by us at a dollar each. The people seemed not to have much occupation. Those who owned land possessed domestic slaves to cultivate it, while they themselves chat and sleep, sleep and chat, from morning until night, and through the night till mornirjg. . • .. From Kwale we sailed, after a night's anchorage in the port, past the islands of Pembagu and Koma, the latter of which is inhabited by a, few people' who obtain a precarious living by planting millet and holcus and by fishing, and steered south straight for a broad opening in the dense foliage which lined the mainland. Arriving before this opening, which we took to be one of the mouths of the Kufiji River, we were favored with a stiff nine-knot breeze from the southeast, and as the water appeared dark green, indicating considerable depth,-we sailed boldly in with all sail set. When quite within this mouth we observed one broad avenue of water, leading south-southwest, and another south-southeast, equally wide, but, being ignorant of the exact course of the true river, we anchored at the distance of a mile and a half from the sea, close to that part of the land near which the two branches conflowed. When we had communicated with this shore, which we ascertained to be the Island of Saninga, we learned that, led by accident, we had halted but a few yards from the spot where the steam launch of the Shearwater had anchored in 1873, prior to her departure up stream in 1873. We had not been at our anchorage ten minutes before a colored gentleman of stoutish build and cleanly, good-natured face was seen paddling alongside our vessel, who introduced himself as Moeni Bana-Kombo ben Ahad, which, rendered into English, means Lord and Master Kombo, the son of Ahad, chief of Saninga Island. He had brought with him a weighty chicken and three fresh eggs, which we reciprocated with a gift of royal Dabwani cloth. Komba, the son of Ahab, chief of Saninga Island—who, though the Wangwana of his village styled him " Jimrie," I prefer shall remain as he designated himself —was wise and learned respecting the geography of the Eufiji River, and volunteered, for the information of the curious white people of the white people's country, "Ulyah," several interesting facts. The two white men of the " smoke boat," Dr. Kirk and Captain Wharton, he remembered perfectly. They asked him endless questions, until ho was quite tired—"choka Sana "—and put down ever so many things in a little book that he, Kombo, the son of Ahad, had told them. f* We had entered the Simbooranga mouth of the Rutiji River, and we were told this was not tho largest debouchure of the river. Its

noble- breadth-of • surface, its depth of dear green water promised, well to ,us. In the centre of the stream an ocean steamer might float in perfect security, though ithere is a fall of ten feet at lowest ebb in the waters. > _: Saninga Island, possesses one village, and its position before the mouth of the river is indicated by the presence of a a few tall palm trees, which rear their graceful leafage.above the surrounding vegetation. Looking .westward, southward, and northward, we notice that the two branches of the broad stream which conflow near the Simbooranga mouth are bounded by "league beyond league of gigantic foliage, by lofty summits of resounding mangrove woods, which grasp the depths and grapple with the floods." Dingoti Island forms the southern boundary and Simbooranga Island the northern boundary of this noble entrance to the Rufiji delta. Near the Shore of Saninga there were two small dhows, which are employed in conveying wood for building purposes to Zanzibar. Sometimes they also convey rice and gum copal to Arabian ports. A few Banians live on Dingoti Island, who keep cows and cultivate the ground, and sometimes trade with the villages up the Rufiji for lice, which is of a most superior quality. Early next morning after our arrival in the Simbooranga, we sailed up the right branch, which came from the southwest. Two guides accompanied us. That the reader may understand our experience of the navigable utility of the stream we were about to ascend, to save needless repetition it must be borne in mind that our deep rudder, common to Yarmouth yawls, caused our vessel to draw five feet of water. It being the southeast monsoon, we were fortunately favored with a strong breeze from that direction. The Wave fairly flew against the ebb up stream. Contrary to what we had anticipated, the scenes which each bend and curve of the river, as we ascended, disclosed, were of exceeding beauty. Both banks of the river were clothed with dense foliage, of varied green of a uniform height, which gave it an appearance of a broad canal, with a tall green hedge on each side. We had ascended some five or six miles before the water, despite the ebb tide, began to be discolored. Then it gradually changed from its clear pale green to a muddy gray, and became rather sweet to the taste.

A large number of creeks were seen bn'each side of the river. Some of considerable size on the right side, we were informed, connected the Simbooranga with the Kikunia mouth of the Rufiji. Others on the left side joined 1 the Simbooranga with the more southern and larger mouth of the Bufiji, the Magambu, each of which I promised myself I should explore. As I noted the internal channels of this great maritime delta, I ■ became more and more interested, as its exploration promised to disclose something different from the reports sent to England by my pre - decessors. Every few moments, when doubtful of the depth of the river, I caused one of the young Englishmen to sound with a long boathook, over nine .feet in length, and eight times out of ten I heard the cheery cry of "No bottom." Sometimes I felt anxiety, going at the rate we did up an unknown river, when the cry was " Ju=t touched, sir," or " Getting shoaler ;" but a movement of the tiller, after consultation with the guide, was almost invariably followed by the cry of "No bottom" again. In this manner we proceeded for two hours, until we came abreast of a large creek which separates Salati Island from Surveni Island, when, through inattention and a feeling of over-security, we missed the channel and in a short time were aground, which sprung the iron pintles. The halliards were let fall, the rudder unshipped, and we proceeded to straighten matters by straightening the pintles and cutting out a portion of the rudder. A few moments later the damage was repaired and sail was hoisted again, and the centre of the stream was tried, only, however, to run aground again. We labored with sail and oars to find a feasible channel for some time, but failed, and I began to think that my predecessors must be correct in their estimate of the commercial utility of the Eufiji until, hugging closely the northern bank, we heard the cry of "No bottom," and proceeded on our way as smoothly as though the Bufiji rivar was many fathoms deep. , Five miles'from this place'we came to where the Kikunia mouth of the Bufiji branched from the Simbooranga in a north-easterly direction, apparently a much more insignificant stream than the latter ; but the guide said ' that, though the Kikunia was narrow, it was deep. . " •' i . Two miles higher up we arrived at a broad, lake-light expanse of water, out of which, branched 'to the south-east a much mightier stream than the Simbooranga. This was the Magumba, the principal mouth of the Rufiji River. It Was studded with beautiful islands. Its lengthy, straight, broad reaches of water, were banked by enormous and lofty globes of foliage; its islands and banks were the homes of vast numbers of aquatic birds;, hippopotami sported in its depths; and on the gray spits of sand numbers o£ crocodiles basked in the hot glowing sunshine. Altogether it was a grand picture, and most alluring to the explorer. Over the mighty expanse of water blew the freshening breeze of the monsoon, urging our good little vessel at a quickened speed, and waving, the topmost boughs of the forest, exposing the sheen and glister of their leaves, besides cooling our bodies and renewing vigor within us, until we laughed in mockery of the malaria of the extensive delta, and our healthy appetite began to range for food. An hour later, the thick, tall forest, which had hitherto covered every space save that occupied by the watery channels of the delta, began to thin sensibly, and vestiges of former cultivation appeared. Now : and. then, a tall,, dark, cluster of trees, overgrown with convolvuli, was seen, at the dark shadow and gloom of which one or two of my men, new to such tropical density of vegetation, shuddered. By noon we bad passed the most easterly feeder of the Bufiji—the Mbumi Biver—and were opposite Miehweh. The Mbumi issues from the north-west, and is about sixty yards wide at its mouth. , Canoes ascend even this tributary a considerable distance. Miehweh is the name of >a small colony of villages and a district which may extend about four miles along the northern bank'of the Rufiji. The inhabitants cultivate rice fields, the products of which they exchange with the Banians of Kikunia and Pemb'a Bagamoyo, &c, for cotton, cloth, and pice. In order to illustrate the disposition' of the natives, I will describe an incident which occurred near an island called Surveni, opposite Miehweh. A large flock of birds, kingfishers and whydahs, were shot at with a rifle ball, which, piercing the flock; was seen to ricochet a considerable distance beyond along the surface of the river. After we had proceeded a mile, we detected several canoes close to the Miehweh bank, trying to outstrip us. Four contiuued their way, while one canoe separated from the other, which, taking advantage of the dead water along the lee of some islets, was soon able to overtake üb.

One of our guides hailed the solitary canoeman and asked liim what he wanted. He answered that he had come to inquire who we were, and for what purpose we came to the llufiji, and why we fired bullets, to the imminent risk of people fishing in the river. His reply and questions were given ■ with that force, volubility and rasping harshness I remembered so well were the characteristics of the voices of the Wagogo when angered. The guide replied mildly that we had come to " see, that's all "—Tenibea tan. " To see ? See what ?" " To see the river ?" "What for?" "To see. Why? God knows I The white men do such strange things. They put it down in a book, and that is all I know that ever comes of it," " Huh ! How far do they intend to go ?" "As far as there is plenty of water for the boat in the Rufiji." "Inside?" ; " Yes, inside." " Huh ! The Rufiji extends far—many days', j journey—and there is always water in the I Rufiji." '.'■'■''!'' "The white men intend to go and see for themselves how far there ia plenty of water." :

*; "'How much intend to -give me'for. shooting on the river ?" ".Nothing.". : The breezeeame down over the tops of the trees bellied the sails, out full'and large, and the Wave passed by the prurient native irresistibly: .... ..;'.,.., Half an hour- later the Pamfoumeh district west of Miehweh was reached, with the tide and wind.now strong in our favor, and soon after we caine to Bumba, the remaining mouth of the Rufiji, which relieves the channel of the river proper of its volume of water. Bumba, accordingly, is also an insignificant stream compared to either the.Magambu, Simbooranga, or the Kikunta. Its appearance and breadth corroborated the guides' report. Lower down the Bumba divides its waters among the Nguruweh, Otikiti, Simaya Mtote, Nj emjia, and Mdwana mouths. At Kisembea, situated at the head of a long reach of the Rufiji, whose course here came from the south-east, large numbers of _ people flocked to the banks of the river to observe the strange phenomenon of a large boat towing another one and going fast up stream by means of sails. They had heard of a " smoke boat" having ascended as far as Agunia, lower down, but they had not seen it, though they marvelled much that such things should be. They were exceedingly inquisitive, and wondered that white men should come so far to "see" only water. Long after we had passed them we noted that the strange incident was being discussed by the interested groups, who had greadily fastened their eyes upon the boats i and their belongings as they glided by them. i ; Beyond Kisembea, the Rufiji's course has a straight three-mile reach from the south-south-west. It.has a breadth varying from 400 to 250 yards, and the channel is deep and easily found by observing the banks of the_ river. At no place could we find soundings with the boat-hook. Any river; steamboat man in America could, so far, have found no fault with the stream. It was marked by every characteristic of a navigable river. From the sea \ip to Kisembea, a distance of twenty-two miles as I made it, the largest steamer that floats on the Mississippi River—which I believe has a tonnage of over 5000 tons—might ascend and descend without impediment. The Wave ran aground twice in that distance, but it was our own faults—we had missed the proper channel. When we had ascertained it we found plenty of water, and no difficulty. Marenda district, which succeeds Kisembea as we ascend, is very populous, and small"villages are found in,clusters. The plain is exceedingly fertile,"and''produces rice, holcus sorylum, Indian corn, sweet potatoes, vegetables in abundance ; cocoanut trees are frequently seen, while the plantain is most, prolific. ■ .: > ' At sunset we anchored in midstream opposite Jumbe, at a distance of forty miles by river from Sauinga Island, congratulating ourselves that we had done a good day's work, and at having ascended at least twenty miles higher up the Rufiji than any other white man, and with a conviction strong in our minds that my predecessors had libelled the noble river without sufficient cause. I despatched men on shore as soon as we anchored to convey my most respectful Salaams to the chief Jumbe, and to inform him that I should be most delighted to make friends with him, which message was cordially received by him, at the same time that he took occasion to send tokens of his regard in the shape of five cocoanuts and one chicken. Had I not done the diplomatic thing, our gnides informed us that we should very likely have been visited by " river thieves" during the night. . ■ Next morning. Jumbe'came, bringing with him more substantial tokens of friendship, and quite a retinue of chiefs, until our boat, already well loaded, had her gunwales but a foot above water. ,>-.-,• After reciprocating Jumbe's acts of friendship, the first questions I naturally asked were relative to the length, breadth, and depth of the Rufiji River; the countries round about him and the slave trade ; its land route, and what the prospects of opening legitimate commerce between him, his people and neighbors with white people. What information may be embodied in the following remarks has been gleaned from him, the Chief of Saninga, the guides, and Hasson bin Salim el Shaksi, whom I met next day. on the Rufiji River. Erst as regards the; Rufiji River, its length, and value to European merchants. All parties united in informing us that the Rufiji River,rises in Gaugeh—Ugangeh, according to Arabic and Swahill traders, which, as near as I can make ; out, with a desire to be as accurate! as possible, is south by west of Unyamyembe. The main branch, known in the interior; as the Rwaha, comes from south of west: from Jumbe; the lesser branch, but an important one, is called ICienga, and comes from the southwest, from possibly the same range of mountains as the north-western branch of the Rovuma takes its rise. On traversing Ugangeh, the Rufiji, as yet an insignificant stream, flows eastward through. Northern Übena, then the country of Sango, or Usango, when arriving in Urori, it gains power and volume by an accession of many small streams which drain the pastoral land of Urori. The Warori, or people of Urori, use thisstream greatly. They fish in its waters ; they hunt hippotanras for the sake of its teeth; and hides to make their shields; they convey butter and fat long distances up and down in canoes to trade for salt ; they voyage on it for important hunting excursions; from all of which I gather that at a distance of 240 geographical miles from the sea the Rufiji is of : magnitude sufficient to be utilised by the natives; and from Hassan bin Salim el Shaksi, i who has crossed, it several times in Urori, I j believe that it is about forty or fifty yards wide, with numerous fords in. it, where the water only comes up to the hills—say about three feet deep.