River Life on the Cougo.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 387, 24 July 1889, Page 3

River Life on the Cougo.

Mil Weknek in his book on Stanley's rearguard cives an account of life on the Congo which is interesting enough in its way, though it 1 is necessarily^ largely discounted by Stanley's own archives; w,ith -which •wo are all well acquainted. ,Mr x\ erjier, was not a traveller, he wa&jios a naturalist, he was not a sportsman. He was an' engineer on one of the Congo steamers, and in that capacity he saw a, good, deal of river life, and came across all the hardy adventurers whose names were in every mouth not &o long ago. The record of hi.s experiences he has expanded.' into a fattish volume of over 300 pages, from which we take a few extracts.

Tjie Scenery of the, Akuwjmi. Mr Werner drove the engines of thp A.1.A., and one of her trips was to relieve the lonely white men \\ ho were waiting — wearily waiting — for Stanley to emerge from the gloom of the jangle. 'The scenei-y is finer than that of any of the tributaries of the Congo I have ever seen.' The numerous islands constitute a beautiful feature. They are mostly long and nairow, with a grove ot palms, usually sheltering a small native settlement at each end, the centre being thickly covered with forest, above which risc,lvere and there, the graceful crown &of the same palm. . . . 'It was not the height or foliaee of these trees which struck me so much as their beautifullj straight and even trunks — nearly every one running up without a branch to the height of forty or fifby feeo, with a diameter of from three to four. The taper was so slight that the diameter just below the blanches was nearly the same a& that near the ground, and their smoothness and regularity' reminded one otthe stately temple columns of Luxor or Karnak.'

The Camp Described. I will, .before proceeding with fchis account, describe the place where five British heroes had, for nearly a year, defied all \he dangers of African life. The fort, dr stronghold, containing all, the, stores, as well as the huts of the Europeans, was an enclosure some sixty'paces (say twenty-five to thirty jards) square, enclosed by a strong palis,ado of sticks, from two to three inches in diameter, and twelve to fifteen fecb in length. These were planted as close together as possible, ju^t leaving room to insert tho muzzle of a gun between them. On the side facing the river, the palisade was planted on the very edge of an almost vertical descent of fifty feet. This side, being perfectly unassailable by natives or Arabs, needed no further defence. The two entrances to this enclosure were about three feet wide, and defended by a door formed of planks made trom the thick bottoms of large canoes. These doors weie blocked every night, and two men set to guard them. The trench was crossed by means of some light planks, which could have bcc7i pulled up in less than half a minute.

What Tiri'oo Tin Lrici:. ' On walking in to lunch. one day I found that Tippoo Tib had come o^ er, :and was discussing busirie?s with jNlajor Barttolot and Jameson. -After the light complexion of the 'other Arabs, I was .somewhat &ur- / prised to tiad Mr Tip pop- Tib »as black as any negro I had seen ; but .he had a fine, well-shaped head, bald at the top, and a short, black beaid, thickly strewn with white -hairs. He was dressed in the usual Arab style, bnt more simply than the rest of the Arab chiejs, anci had a broad, well-, formed figure. 'His restless eyo& .gave him a great resemblance to the negroes' heads with blinking eyes in- the electric advertisements of somebody's shoe-polish, which adorned the -w,alls,, of ou.iv.iLowio.nj station s , some years agcr— and earned rftim.* the .nickname of "Nubian 1 Blackioerl' ' '

Major BarT!tkl(Jt's 'Faliewki'l. Mr Werner describes his parting with Barbtclot, who was killed soon after. " The Major was sitting on soms boxes, his face buried in his hands, and his. elbows on his knees ; he seemed more depressed than I had ever seen him before. ' Good-bye, Major,' I shouted ; ' I have only two minutes to spare.' On hearing my voice he jumped up like a shot, and seized my outstretched hand, exclaiming, ■Don't be in a hurry, old fellow. We may all be dead in another week, you know.' Just then, the notes of a bugle, sounding the recall, and along whistle from the A.I. A. came floating up on the still morning air, and one of my men rushed in to tell me she was going to start. I turned to the Major, who continued, ' I should like to get home to the old place again. Ii you get home before news of me arrives, tell my father I was all right when you saw me.' 'AH right,' said I, as 1 rushed out.

The Bismarck of Central Africa. ' That Tippoo did distrust the Europeans was pretty evident from the questions he put about Stanley,' says Mr Wernor, speaking of Tippoo Tib. 'Ho once asked me what Stanley's object was in ascending the Aruwitni ; and on my replying that it was to relieve Emm Pa&ha, he again asked whether he was going -'tft tound stations,' and take the countVy, as he had' done all the way up the Congo. He seemed to me to have a sorb of suspicion thab the relict of Emm was only a blind, and thab Stanley's real object was to extend the territory of the Congo Free State. This being so, I only wonder that ho did not, months before we started to relieve Major Barttelot, cleI scend the Congo with a large force of Manyema cannibals, and sweep Bangala Station off the face of the earth.'

Ib has been decided by the English Union to bar safeties in all bicycle championships except for 25 and 50 miles. It appears thab this will give general satisfaction.