MR STANLEY'S MISSION.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2862, 17 April 1878, Page 2

MR STANLEY'S MISSION.

The Jouiaoy Homoward.

From Lo?ad?i to Natal.

(FJiOM TUE DAILY TELB&BAPH, FSB. 7.)

TO THJS BDITOBS O'J TUB DAILY TBLXOBAFB

AND HEW YOEK HBBALP.

We bad crossed Africa. la the language of my Wanguana, we had "drilled a hole through the Continent." The confines of civilization bed beco reached. Kindly roicc s in my own language, heartily toned, gave me " welcome;" and the kind eyes of my white brother! cheered the weary hearts of my followers.' Having fallen into the habit of obser?ing the grow th of feelings, sympathies, and friend■hips,' aid brooding silently over my unobtrusive observations? it was most instructive to note the influence of warmhearted symyathy, and the effect of the sense of perfect security, on my people. They were told many limes a day that they;had performed a great feat; that they were fcood; that all white nWn, especially Englishmen, would be deligiited whea they heard that they bad reached the sea. With all th<* praise the English mercantile agents at Boma and Kabinda gave them abundance to eat; and stinted them in nothing. Onlj 60 hours previouajy thqjMrere heard repealing one to another, saaty.and wearily, "We are dead men;" and, excepting the,, chiefs and the boat's crew, not one, I really, believe,. entertained the slightest hope that he wonld see the sea again. ' It touched me greatly to hear their despair, ing voices; and every opportunity I had of cheering then was seised. For hours and hours, till far into the night, I would sit by their camp fires, explaining to them as each day pasted how many miles yet separated ns from the world of peace and comfort that the. ocean embraced. But the days were many, and the marches had been greatly protracted through a variety of causes; before my statements were realised. Finally, they had received rap* plies from the "white men who live by the sea." They had obtained clothes to wear, and strong liquor for cheer. Shortly afterwards they were in Boma, wondering at all they saw, looking at the storehouses of the merchants,-{iondering at a respect* ful distance upon the fact that the great iron canoe at the landing place was propelled by steam, and viewing the great brown river with a feeling of pride that most of them had seen its very bir&plaee, had followed it thousands- of. miles, had grappled and fought with its terrors, and had finally conquered its secrets. Terrible as the struggle had been* the river at Boma had a great interest for them. Their comrades overtaken by death on the way, whom they have not yet forgotten, seem to rise from the watery depths and remind them where they fell: some in Oregge, tome in Ukusu, th* Baswa falls, some in savage Eoruru, the, Cheandoah Falls, and the Poeoek Basin. The merchants of Boma were exceedingly kind to them. Englishmen, Portuguese, and French'did their utmost lor then. Whatever could cheer their weak, wilted forms, and straighten their bowed and emaciated backs, they obtained. Messrs Motta Veigft, Harrison,' Pinto, r Chavres, and Unriquex, of Boma, and, Wills, Price, and Jones, of Kabinda, performed their utmost duties as Christians and gentle* men; and such gracious kindness as the Wanguana received did not fail to pro* duce a good effect. They soon lost that furtive, distrustful, watchful, listening look; anxiety end suspicion drsappc.xeti, and open candour, franknerrs^ and a calm serenity begotten of security, became - impressed on their features. The grey* ness of skin, with those eshy spots produced by insufficient uid wretched food, disappeared, and were replaced by the peculiar bronze sheen of body so peculiar to a healthy well-fed native of the tropics. The deep angular lines And hollows created by uncommon privations were fast becoming obliterated by the quantity and '. variety of nourishing food served dtily by the generous agents of Hatton and Cookson, of Liverpool. It was evident, however, that'come could not be saved; famine had struck deeply at the vitals of life; and the day that we reached Kabinda warned us all who were interested in the poor fellows that to save life, we most be assiduous and untiring. One young fellow, named Hasaan, breathed hu last the first sunrise we saw gleaming on the Atlantic Ocean. :, There was no exaggeration in that heavy sick list that began the first month of our toil among the cataracts.- I had under-rated it rather. When we reached the sea we had 45 ailing, 18 of whom were dangerously ill. Though those most afflicted could scarcely desoribe what; ailed them, I was not ignorant of tite disease, for it afflicted myself aa well, hot in a lesser degree. We drank deep of. satisfaction that the long trial and strain was over; but the feeling of indifference to fate that it had engendered was not to Ibe removed at once. It was eternal rest, the absolute stillness of death, that we , sighed for. We might sleep and dream,. and dream and sleep again; yet repose failed to produce that delicious conscious** ness that life was worth loving osfl cherishing. So long as the incentive to' work, to struggle and grapple with death for a miserable existence, remained to us, we could view each sunset as a stage nearer to the goal we aimed for; but, once attained,, we were surprised that we did not feel such a fondness for those comforts of life we had hankered for. So that the people sighed and brooded morbidly over many things, and required waking up from the effect of. tie dead-stop ft that almost fierce, energetic life we had led. and to which we we were indebted jbr'oqf success, iiad I sickened after arrival ajt the sea, it would have been almost useless for any physician to attempt to restore me, for it would have been against my wish, since " What's won, 7 is done, Joy s soul lies in the doing." I let you into a little of my own feelings that you may be able to understand why it was that, despite all attention from good conscientious physicians, medicine, abundance of food; and skilful Government tlttrseV, nine died from the effects of famine and our terrible life in the c-larast region, after reaching the sea. Certain of the Portuguese physicians called it the " sleep disease," which sometimes - attacks the natives of Loanda. It may have been that, but I think my oira feelings best describe the causes. The "dead-stop** could not quite be my lot naturally, for I had still my suffering people to look after—l had still the necessity of taking them to their own homes, of writing despatches to The Daily Telegraph and New

York Herald, and letters to friends of whom I had not heard a word for nearly three years ; of replying—oven while my soul sighed for rest, rest, absolute rest— to a thousand questions from ail sorts of people. I had to remind myself that I was on the confines of civilization —which, to say the truth, I would gladly have for. gotten, that I might sleep a month undisturbed—that I must adapt myself to its fashion, that I must smile and bow while I inwardly groaned—that I must dress for dinner, wear strangling collars, bo profuse of compliments, beg to have the pleasure and honor, Ac, Ac, and,_ in other ways 100 numerous to mention, undergo the torments of the civilised. Still, despite my groans, this discipline was useful. To it, I believe, I owe the iteady progress to sound health. But what incentive had the Wanguana to liveP The hope of seeing their island home of Zanzibar? "Ah, it was so far!" "Nay, Master, speak not. We shall never see it. Who fears death P Let me die undisturbed, and be at rest for ever." Thus they dropped away from me—brave, faithful, honest souls—with

only myself for mourner- Their great and only compensation was that they had "brought their Master to the sea," and lie had seen his white brothers. "La

Alla'a^il Allah," they said, and died. Ijjyfc not without a sensation of choking thaTl write of these days, for memory recalls each name of the lost, ones, and my mind sweeps over the thousand fields of incident where they became connected with it. Their voices still respond to my cheering Words. I hear them still 'sp^ak of the necessity of standing by the "White Man," and the tones of their boat song, similar in meaning to-

The pjlc-faccd stranger, lonely hero, In cities alar, where hts nauio is d<wv, Your Arab truth and streivjth shall show ; Ho trusts in us, row, Arabs, row, despite all the sounds which now surround me, charm my listening.ear. It is wonderful how much goodness lies in the human bein#, deep buried, trader ever so much external ugliness. It is an art to discover it, despite the forbidding and unpromising folds which sometimes hide it from view. I suppose my people were the roughest lot that ever left Zanzibar. One boasted of having murdered eight persons there. Several times during the first 18 months badnesi was more prominent than goodness ; but the former disposition being suppressed, and the latter coaxed out, many of them proved perfect jewels. They will never. lead again such noble, praiseworthy lives at they lived with me the last IS months. Firm yet kindly discipline had made respectable men of beings that gloried in having lived the life of brutes previously. I have heard English naval officers, as they observed their civil, respectful demeanor, say they can never again be the pure-living, noble men they appeard to be under me. The expedition had not been many days at Kabinda before a Portuguese gunboat, the Tamega, Commander Marquez, made its appearance in the bay. A couple of hours afterwards a number of visiting cards were brought *to me. The officers of the gunboat; accompanied by Serpa Pinto, a major in the Portuguese army, And Benor Jose Avelino Fernandez, his friend, had come aahbre to call upon me. After compliments, congratulations, and so forth, Seiior Fernandez; who spoke English, said that Major Serpa Pinto begged, in the name of Commander Marquez.to' »ay that the Tamega was at my disposal to convey the Anglo-American Expedition to Loanda, and, with the wellBred courtesy of the Portuguese upper @ts"3iia:l should be doing great honour to Commanderi Marquez and himself if I would accepf^lhe honour. For many reasons I did accept, and by means of the punboat Tamega we arrived at St. Paul de Loanda; I ought to have mentioned that the officers of the gunboat gave me the neatest little banquet it was ever my lot to sit down to. It was superb. The number of courses were too many to remember.but the cuisine was excellent, the company amiable; and when I rose from the table I felt, at this glimpse of civilized life, how infinitely above those of the fierce, dark, " Virgin with the burning zone;" were the charms of the gentle and refined Europe. Major Serpa Pinto, when on board, told me he was about to become an explorer also. * At Loanda was his friend and future comrade, Seiior Brito Capello, commander; another, Lieut. Eoberto Ivens, was en route from Lisbon. The Portuguese Government had given £10,000 towards outfit/ What had been purposed by Serpa Pinto before my arrival was the Congo exploration; he would now, he said, change his route for the interests of his country. He mentioned the ELunene, or Nourse Kiver, and together we jolted down a plan for thoroughly exploring an unknown country which lay between the mouth of the Kunene* iwd. Bibe, and between Bibo and Lake Bemba, thence to Lake Nyassa, and j across to Mozambique. ! The Major's off«rs of his house in Loanda; wejre so pressing, tyat I felt that to refuse must give offence, and I accepted. I was long enough with the three explorers to see that they were three talented men, who supported by the Government, loaded—l may say overloaded —with scientific instruments of the jnost recent invention, will undoubtedly— otUcr conditjps favorable—bring out most useful knowledge of their route, and highly valuable topography. Their enthusiasm is high at this moment. Serpa Pinto and Brito Capello's influence and friendship procured me a very flattering reception at Loanda. The GovernorGeneral Bent his aide-de-camp, within on hour of my arrival, with offers of assistance, of money, and a gun boat to take me to Lisbon if I so desired; and I was also invited 16 dine at the Palace. The Portuguese Commodore gave a splendid banquet to the Portuguese explorers and mysll'f, and the Board of Works of Loanda ecganed the theatre, where another superb banquet was given, whereat dug honor was t>aid to the dead, as well as all living explorers connected with African exploration.

jsV"hile I was at Loanda, GovernorGeneral Albuquerque surprised me with a written request that I would state what I knew 0/ the slate-trade, and whether I kne^r Portuguese to be connected with Such a traffic. I replied in writing, stating though! had paid special attention to the subject, from personal observation I had seea nothing which would cause me to suspeofc that any Portuguese subjects were connected with it. I had heard from Arab slate dealers, who had had dealings from traders haiHnp from the neighbourhood of Bibe or Kangombe, that a man named Souza had frequently Bold them powder for slaves, and that satires of the interior, near Kabango, elois to Portuguese possessions, were said iiiii&Te had business connections'with

.Tuma Merikani and Mrozzi, wherein Blaves wero exclia«Kcd for p:i»vder and jjun«». On the lower Livinjjstonf. wliilo ialking with tbo natives on iho s-ibji-H, tbev. pspccially Balewonde. were i'c.na'omril to exclaim against the Porltr'tmsp, saying that the Portuguese d«'«lt in "ltiv««s ; that the French didj also ; but I hut tlie Knjlislt came in " bie ships," ihul nit'i " f?i-o t Buna '* caused them to run like goats; but whether this waa a tradition of cvenl3 long since gone by, or of late years, I do not know. My strong conviction is thnt tuo whole i"'a memory of Iho past, carefully preserved, however, to the prejudice of the old slave-dealing nation ; but that any slave trade esists beyond lhal which passes between tribe and tribe, and for domestic service of the Etuboma natives, I thoroughly disbelieve. To he continued.