The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-01-06
STANLEY IN AFRICA.

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He will Take-Probabflfties a. to
Discoveries.
Stanley, in letter to the New
York Herald, dated at Zanzibar on
the 18th of November, says:
The East Coast of Africa, from
the mouth of the Juba River to the
mouth of the Roubemna, possesses
hundreds of good starting points
for the unexplored interior; but the
best, for many reasons, is Baga
moyo. The present expedition is
such large and costly one, and
promises 30 far to be the best or
ganized and best equipped OF any
that ever left the seacost of East
Africa for the purpose of exploration,
that it would have been a great
pity if it were wrecked or ruined
just as it began to set out to fulfill
its mission. To guard against the
possibility of a total collapse, |
have, after much deliberation, de
cided to start from Bagamoyo, and
proceed some distance along the
we'll known caravan path, so as to
give confidence to my men, and
Withdraw them as much as possible
from the temptation to desert, and
then plunge northward into the
Nasal land-a country as yet un-
trod by white men, and of the state
of which the best informed of rs
are totally ignorant. It will be
risky undertaking, but not half SO
dangerous as starting for that
country from some unknown sea
port.
My present intention is, then, to
make my way westward to the
Victoria Nyanza and ascertain
whether Spoke or Livingston's
hypothesis is correct one-whether
the Victoria Nyanza consists of one
lake or five lakes All the most
important localities will be fixed by
astronomical observations, and
whether the Victoria Lake consists
of one or many lakes, we shall dis
cover by complete circumnaviga
ton. When this work is finished,
L intend to visit Metesa or Ru
manika, and then cross over to the
Lake Albert Nyanza, and endeavor
to ascertain how far Baker is cor
rect in his bold hypothesis concern
ing its length and breadth. On
this lake L expect to meet Gordon
and his party, by whom l hope to
be able to send my first reports of
my travels and discoveries since
leaving the Unyanyembe caravan
road
Beyond this point the whole APP
pears to be so vague and vast that
it is impossible to state at this pc
riod what l shall try to do next
Whether Gordon circumnavigates
the Albert or not, 1 shall most
certainly do so if l reach it, and
discover every detail about it to
the best of my ability; but what |
shall do aiterward will be best told
after the circumnavigation of the
Albert Nyanza.
What | may discover along this
lengthy march 1 cannot at present
imagine. 1 shall be equally pleased
to corroborate either Speke's or
Livingston hypothesis by actual
personal observation and diligent
exploration / confess to you ]
have no bias either way. would
Just rs soon have the Victoria Lake
one vast sheet of water as / would
have it distributed among five in
significant lakelets; and / am quite
ready to corrobel ate Baker dream
of connection between the Tan
ganyika and the Albert, as / am to
disprove it. if find after its explor
alton that he is incorrect. / have
no prejudice either way. Sir Sam
uel Baker grand lake, however, is
in more danger from Gordon than
it is from me; for Gordon ought to
be able, if all has gone we'll with
him. to give the result of his decis
ion long, aye, many months, before
/ can possibly reach the lake. 1t
is fortunate for me that Gordon
will he able to visit the Albert
before L will, for Baker is so tena-
cious of his opinions that l fear it
would be mere weakness of spirit
to attempt to convince him that he
was wrong; for which reason 1
should much prefer to bo enabled
to prove that his hypothetical
sketch map of the Albert Nyanza is
correct.