Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-20

at the Cooper Institute, before the Associ- |
alton for the Advancement of Science and |
Art, an interesting narrative ofhis expert
ences and adventHresi in EQUATORIAL Africa. 4
Those who have, not heard this gentleman |
speak in public can form no idea of the |
pecqliarities of his style.or of their attrac- !
tiQn for those who prefer theconversation- /
al to the didaetic form of lecture. Moth |
ing can be simpler or more unpreteptious |
than his manner, and at -she same time more |
effective. his English, though not what
is-5ealled brokers, is full of Gallicisms.
Nevertheless heis never at a loss for words
to express his ideas with accuracy and there
is an undercnrrent of hamor perEading |
them that adds very much to his populari- !
tywith his audiences. From the commence
ment to the close of -his discourse he man |
ages not only to keep their attention alive.
but to excite their visibility by the quaint |
ness and pungency of his sallies, which are |
half English, half French in their charac-
ter. There is one thing to be said of his
lectures which cannot be said, of many
other entertainments of a similar kind, that !
they are almost as intelligibles and attrac- |
tive to young people eas to- adults.s He seems
to have natural love of children, and takes
especial pains to make himself understood |
by them, often addressing them directly, |
as If he considered them the most Import !
ant portion of his audience When he first |
presents himself q feeling of surprise is ex-
perienced at the small, fragile looking
figure which has faced so many perils and
encountered SO many hardships in the cause
ofsciepce. Mr.. Du Chaillu is considerably
below the middle height. with STOPPING
shoulders, and q head always bent forward
as if in the attitude of listening. His fea-
lures are regular his forehead unusually
high and expansive. and his eyes full of
fire and intelligence. The merry, hall
moeking smile that is continually playing
about bis mouth gives an idea to many that
he is amusing himself with their credulity,
and no doubt has had much to do with the
unfair criticisms that have been written
upon him on both sides of the Atlantic.e As
regards the matter of his narratives, there
is no question that 1t is substantially cor
rect While the sceptics in regard to them
are in general persons without any scien-
tific education. the leading scientific minds
of the age have concurred in supporting
the accuracy Of his statements. Having,
made these few perfatory remarks concern
ing the lecturer; who was introduced to the
audience by Mr.. Griscom. we shall now
proceed tolay before our readers the lecture
itself: ,..-.- -
LADIES AND 2GENTLEMEN:-I have been
invited by the Society for the Promotion of
Science and Art to appear before you to
giyea brief outline of my explorations in
Equatorial Africa. n, come with some diff
deuce before you, for i am no speaker; be-
sides, 1 feel that the vastness of the theme
is too great for a course of two lectures
But hope you wilIloek with indulgence
and kindness upon the best endeavors OF a
poor traveller. who, L, assure you, will try
his best to recount to you some of the in
cidents of his travels. In the country l
travelled always on foot, and made large
collections. / stuffed and brought out
more than two thousand birds, of which
sixty were new SO science. L killed one
thousand quadrupeds, OF which more than
two hundred were stuffed by me and sent
y, f1nt, aaior 1fryc cxn Oh toms
About thirty of these quadrupeds were
new to science. When / returned to New
York, in 1859, L had also twenty-one goril-
la skins and skeletons, besides chimpanzees
and collections of insects, reptiles and
shells. L need not tell you how difficult it
was for me to transport such collections
Now will try, to the best of my ability,
TO give you birds eye view of the
physical geography of the country have
explored, and of some of the tribes which
inhabit it. NY explorations have demon
strated that Equatorial Africa from the
west coast, forms belt of impenetrable
Jungle as far as have been. This i'm
mense forest did not stop there, but was
seen as far as my eye could reach, and
the natives had never heard where it end
ed The breadth of this gigantic forest ex-
tends north and south OF the equator
two or three degrees ON each side. Now
and then prairies. looking like islands, are
seen in the midst of the dark sea of ever
lasting foliage; and how gratefully my eyes
met them no one can conceive unless ht
has lived in such a solitude. At a certain
distance from the coast the mountainous re-
gions beyond it rise almost parallel will
it. This range OF mountains seems almos
to gird the whole of the west. coast o
Africa. Between these mountains and tn,
seattle country / have explored is low ant
marshy and several rivers are found, th,
principal ones being the Benito, the NUM-
r n NJ i
nand-VaZ. The four northern rivers ar
short ON account of their sources being Of
the first tablelaDd. TIE Nazareth, the Mex
las and the Fernand-Vaz are formed by tn
river Ogobai, which is formed by the Rem
DO Okanda and Rembo Ngonyai. The low
land is alluvial, and has no doubt bee
formed in the course OF time by the wash
ing of deposit coming from the table
lands. How far eastward this immens
belt of woody country extends further ex
plorations alone can show, but suppose
will be seen to be more than one thOusan
miles in length indeed, should not be SUI
prised If it reached the lake regions {
Eastern Africa. The Mexias and the MAJ
areth are only outlets of the Ogobai rive
which also throws portion of its watel
into the Fernand-Vaz, chiefly through til
Nponloungy. Thus those three rivers al
in fact mouths OF the Ogobai, and the
form, with the Intervening lowlands (whiC
are undoubtedly alluvial deposits), an e1
tensiye and very complicated network
creeks, swamps and dense forests, for whic
have proposed the name of ..Delta of I'll
Ogobai.'' My explorations in this lab,
rnth were exceedingly tedious, and resul
ed only in the knowledge that this lars
tract is entirely uninbabited by human b,
ings; that during the rainy season
when the rivers and their diver:
ent creeks are swollen, the who
country is Overfiowed, and that I'll
land is covered with immense forests
palm, there being found none OF the Gu
tomary mangrove swamps. Land and wat
are tenanted only by wild beasts, venomol
reptiles and inJolerable swarns of mosqu
toes. In this great woody wilderness ms
is scattered about divided into great nur
ber of tribes, found, and was struck
the absence of those species of anima
which are found in almost every other pa
of Africa. On reflection l did not wond
at this, for the country l now visited W
wholly unlike those parts that had be
explored before. found neither lion, RI
noceros, zebra. giraffe nor ostrich; t
several varieties of antelopes, too, alChou.
found everywhere else in Africa, were he
not to be seen. The forest, thinly inhabit
by man, was still mere scantily inhabit
by beast. Now and then by the side of t
wild man roamed the ape, among whi
class of animals there are several varieti
chief among which was the savage goril
who sometimes destroyed the plantatio
of the native and sent hunger into
household. There were no beasts of bu
den, no horse, no camel, no cattle, no donk
man, or rather woman, was the or
beast of burden. Often after traversi
miles upon miles without hearing the sou
of bird, the chatter of monkey, or
footsteps of gazelle, or the hummi
gentle murmur of some hidden stream ca
only upon ones ears to break the deadn,