MR STANLEY'S MISSION.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2776, 7 January 1878, Page 2

MR STANLEY'S MISSION.

Tho Great Livingstone Biyer.

A Land of Ivory,

The Future Commerce of Africa.

(FKOJC THE DAILY TELEGIUm, HOT. 12.)

Wo publish below the first of several fresh despatches received from Mr Stanley, embracing a surrey of the magnificent river the course of which he has revealed, together with many interesting particulars of the countries and peoples upon its banks. VVe also present to the public a facsimile of the sketch map of the rirer's course, forwarded by its discoverer, which, in all probability, will hereafter be regarded as one of the most memorable gifts ever made to geographical science, since it opens to civilisation and commerce an easy and unfailing access to the rich.and fertile regions of the Central Continent. Our Joint Commissioner estimates, at nearly 1000 miles, the clear navigable spaces of the "Livingstone" lrom the coast to Nyangwe—ho sets the probable available

channels of the large affluents leading north and south at another 1200 miles; while the head waters of the river from Lake Bangwcolo to Maoyema will no doubt gire 800 or 900 miles of additional water way. Altogether here are about 3000 miles of nature-made road suddenly opened into the heart of Africa, interrupted only by two main breaks of rapid and cataract, where, however, the portages will not be difficult when once trading stations are established, and steam vessels hare been placed on the upper and lowtf reaches. A vast new country, rich in all iropical wealth, will then be brought into the family of mankind. Mr Stanley, as will be seen by our telegraphic message from Madeira, arrived at Simons Bay on the 22ud of October with his African followers, liaring been afforded a passage on board Her Majesty's ship Industry, placed at our Joint Commissioner's disposal for this purpose by the kindness of Captain Purvis, of Her Majesty's ship Danae, under the sanction of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The official letter con▼eying this gratifying recognition of the services rendered to science by the Anglo- . American Expedition will be found ap. pended. Mr Stanley, after seeing his faithful native followers safely restored to their homes, will lose no time in returs> ing to England, jjTO TUB JtDITOBS OF .THB DAILY T«LI«

GBAPH AND K*W TOBK HKftALD. Loanba, W*BT Coast or Amiga, September 5,1877. To eroid constant explanation, I will make a few remarks about the name generally giren to the greatest of all African rirera, and the third largest' one' in' the World. .. ;

There is no such stream at the "Congo," properlj speaking, in Africa, (here is a country of that name, occupying an extensive portion of mountain land south of a great body of water, and ran* ning parallel with it, at a distance of fire or six miles, in that broad highland range which separates the Western littoral from the great plains of the interior. Following the example of the natives among whom they hred, the Portuguese colonists of the 16tl» century spoke of this flood as the river of Congo, which was just as if the natives of Middlesex, in England, called the Thames the river of Middlesex. By the Kabindas, near the mouth of the river, it is termed the " Kwango," or, if you do not like tho African look' of that spelling, the " Quango." The inhabitants of the Cataract Region also designate the waters below them as the Kwango, and those living between the. Mosamba/and Tala Hunjtongo Mountains call the NkUtu river at its source the Kwango. As Congo Land does not occupy any; very great portion of the bank, it has no better right to' give its .name to the stream than any. other of the hundred different districts by which it flows. B? a small tribe near the Equator I heard it called Ikutu Ya Kongo, which, in my ignorance t>f the word Ikutu, I take to mean the Hirer of Congo, but after passing that people the word is known no more, except in books and charts of the. West Coast of Africa. That by which I hope it will henceforth be designated is " the Livingstone." Dr Livingstone, the discoverer of tht Lualaba, devoted the last years of' his life to exploring the head waters of this river, the Chambezi, and Kurangwesi, which feed Lake Bemba, or Bangweolo, He traced the Luapula as far as Mwern Lake, but from Mweru Lake to the Luama River no European knows any* thing from personal observation of its course or its affluents. Striking across country from Tanganika Lake, Livingstone arrived at Nyangwe near which Arab depot the Luaiaba, by which name the great stream is known there, flows West of Worth with a volume of 124,000 cubic feet of water per second. Unable for want of men and means to extend his explorations, the renowned traveller left its further course to conjecture and theory. His opinion was that the Lualaba was the Nile; he hoped it was the " grand old Nile;" he was unwilling, he said, to waste his labor on any.other river; he certainly would "hot attempt the foolhardly feat of following it in canoes, and risk becoming black man's meat fcr the Congo." .He half convinced me that he must be right, and I wished sincerely that the good old man would prove to be so. Savants unbiassed by sentiment declared, upon the strength of Livingstone's own letters, that such a great volume of water could not be the Nile. Not only was its enormous body against such a theory, but the altitude of the nyer at Nyarigwe proved the irreconcilability of the theory with common sense. A great deal was written and said by eminent men just then about the Lualaba, and the belief, generally prevailed at last that it must be my river. While many may feol surprised that such a practical traveller was led astray, the causes that blinded him are very obvious. He himself confessed to a suspicion that it was not the Nile; but he bad been bo long absent from Europe, that he was unaware of the discoveries made by Schweinfurth; he relied on Arab statements that the river flowed north a long diitanoc; and, to tell the exact truth, I fear that his religious sentiments and his love of the Nile for its .Biblical and classical associations prejudiced him. To such a man what was any parvenu.river, wittrettfto many future associations of traffic P ' He loved Africa dearly, butr unfortunately, he was unaware of the vastness of his diVeorcry, and. of. . its certain utility in the prosecution pf his own views and hopes for the civilisation and redemption of the continent for which he sacrificed a dear and noble life. < But before- Livingstone, had described the river at Nyangwe, no one, scientific or unscientific, imagined that the stream had such a great length. Though Captain Tuckey's explorations in the neighbourhood of Ycllala Falls, in the year 1816, furnished the elements of Dr. Benin's computation respecting the volume of the ! Lower Hirer, geographers waited;for Livingstone's arriral at Nyangwe, and Dr. Schweinfurth's arrival at Monbuddu, before they came to the idea that the Lualaba must bo the " Congo." Previous to this it is in the memory of many how scientists were involved in discussions and elaborate arguments to prove that the great Channel .was innplr the united Kasai and' ■ Quango, •• or Coango, which was giving it a length of but 800 miles. Ah! had Speke become interested in this river, or had ;obtaJßod one glance at the mouth eren, or hid gleaned but one or two facts from the natives, I believe that his rare: and won. derful geographical instinct wotoM have pencilled out the course of this, flood somewhat nearer the truth. When Lieu* tenant Cameron arrived at Nyangwe he also expressed a conviction that the Lualaba must be the " Congo," but, with the exception of a divergence of opinion, he

threw no newer light on its rcnl course. Sixteen months after the Lieutenant's departure for the South I appeared at Nyangwe, and I then learnt definitely that he had abandoned the project of following the Lualaba. As it seemed the xnoafc important task of exploration, I resolved to attempt it. Ignorant, foolish, and heathenish as Europeans may deem Arab traders and African savages to be, the " Great Hirer " has been the subject of as many hot disputes, under the eaves of the mud houses of Nyangwe, aud the cane huts of the river fishermen, as it was beneath the dome at Brijrhton or the clas9ie roof of Burlington House; and my enthusiasm for this new field of exploration—the unknown half of Africa and the mighty waters that" went no man knew where" —was stimulated as much by the earnestness with which Arabs and natives discussed it, as though each member of tho Eoyal Geographical Society had bestowed a scientific blessing on me, and had unanimously wished me success. Nyangwe is in 8. iat. 4 deg. 16 mm. If you follow the parallel of latitude 4 deg. east to the Indian Ocean, you will observe there are 13| degrees of longitude, or 810 geographical miles. If you will measure the distance between Fyangwe and the Atlartic.along the same parallel,you will find tlt^e are 15| degrees of longitude, or 930 geographical miles. The Eastern half of Africa is generally knovrn, bufc that Western half was altogether a mystery. To any one arriving from the East Coast with the love of exploring unknown wilds, what a field lay here extended before him ! The largest moiety of Africa one wide enormous blank—a region of fablo—a continent of dwarfs, cannibals, and goril-' la«, through which the great river flowed on its unfulfilled mission to the Atlantic! Darkness and cloud 3of ignorance respecting its course everywhere ! What terrible, dread thing was it that so pertinaciously prevented explorers from penetrating and revealing its secrets! It struck me thus also, as though a vague indescribable something lay ahead. I beliere I was made half indifferent to life by my position, otherwise I doubt if I should have deliberately rushed upon what I was led to believe •—as my predecessors were—must prove almost certain death. I had not anticipated hearing such forbidding things as I did of the regions north, or meeting such obstacles as I encountered. Neither of my predecessors could obtain canoes at Nyangwe, nor was I more successsful; and the Arabs at that place, pretending to be very solicitous about my safety, said they could not think of permitting my departure. But my fate seemed to drive me on. I listened to their stories about how many caravans attempting to open trade below had been annihilated; but I had calculated my resources, and had measured my strength and confidence—l declared to the Arabs that I intended to try it. I was quite prepared to hear that I should be murdered, and eaten, and that my people would desert; that I should meet opposition of such a nature that I never dreamed of, and that they (the Arabs) could not listen to such a project. Being prepared, these things,did not surprise me. It was perhaps time I should be murdered ; it was perhaps impossible to to penetrate the wild, wide land before me, but this was no reason why I should not try and put the practicability of its j exploration to the test* "If you did not follow it for more than a week or so, how do you know it was impossible ? " people might ask me, and very rightly too. 'You say there are cannibals who will cat me. It may be true; but I have one comfort, they cannot eat me before they kill me? Can they ?" " No, certainly not." •• You say they will fight me. I have had wars enough already on this expedition, and I should. not like to have another ; but what can I do, if savages will attack me ? I have a few young men who are aware of what we can do in the way of fighting, and we do not propose to sleep, or let any man draw his knife across our throats without remonstrating in a most energetic manner. Granted that we shall have fighting to do, what else is there to fear ? " " Ob, plenty of things ; but you will see." We did see, it is true; and I reserve that story for another letter.

The journey over this hitherto unknown half of Africa, how being finished, the difficulties and terrors, wars after wars, troubles after troubles, toil upon toil, the dismay and despair being ended, it cannot be wondered that we breathe a little freer and feel more relief now than when ■we were about to begin the journey. Our experiences hare been very sad and dreadful, and we have paid dearly for the temerity and obstinacy with which we held on. You might cull all the terrible experiences that African travellers relate in their books, and, united they would scarcely present such a list of difficulties as we can narrate. Our losses, nevertheless, have not been so great comparatively. Our journey's length from Nyangvre.is is nearly 1,800 miles, and we left behind, us one European and 34 Wanguana. Captain Tuckey lost 18 Europeans and 11 colored men in about "three months; Mungo Park lost hit own life and those of all his people ; and out of Peddie's Niger Expedition the commander and all the principal officers died, and the expedition was broken up. Much earnest effort was necessar^MkiJreak* through, and there is no doubt that if we had uot made this, some explorer with a little more determination and less nonsense in him would have done it, and his troubles would have been much the same. Yet I have paid for my triumph with one of my band, whose death almost causes me to regret that I also did not permit myself to, be dissuaded from entering the unknown regions. Though born in an humble sphere of life, Francis Pocock was an extraordinary man; a man to make himself respected and beloved j a man of many fine qualities, of cool, steadfast courage that knew no quailing; of great manliness, a cheerful, amiable companion, a gentle, pious soul, and a staunch friend in trouble. One instance of his courage is worth relating. The natives of Ibaka prepared to attack us, and advanced on us for that purpose. I stood Tip in the boat to speak to them, and while engaged in conversation with one of the chiefs, a canoe crept up near Frank's, and he was made aware that he was a target for two or three guns, whereupon lie lifted his gun to fire or to threaten them. Seeing this, and that it would precipitate us into another fight before exhausting all endeavors for peace, I cried out to Frank to, drop his gun. He instantly obeyed, and permitted them to approach within 80 yards of him without making the least motion, though every one was exceedingly anxious. Finding that his eyes were fastened on them, two of the savages that were aiming at Frank suddenly changed their minds, and gave uiy boat's crew the benefit of their attentions,

firing amongst us, wounding four of my best men, though fortunately not fatally, while only the third emptied his gun amongst Frank's people, wouuding one. Ho then reeeirod permission to nvengo himself, which he did in an eflectiro manner.

(To ha continued J