River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1876-10-26
EQUATORIAL AFRICA.
Lecture by Col. G. C. long in Baltimore
Slanley-Munchausen

4 q LOW ass 0S VII III
tertainment given for the benefit of
the sufferers by fever in Savannah.
Col. Long is a native of Somerset
county. Md, and was for seven years
in the army of Egypt, and an explorer
| of Equatorial Africa. He was intro
duced by Gen. Felix Angus, of the
French Benevolent Society, He wore
his order for distinguished services,
conferred by the Khedive, and spoke
at table covered with a magnificent
leopard S skin, presented to him by
Mise. one of the native kings in CEN
trail Africa. On the fiat which formed
the background of the stage was hung
a map, on which was traced the route
of the travellers from the lakes on the
equator, which form the source OF the
Nile to the mouth of the river.
The Colonel prefaced his lecture by
brief sketch of Egypt and its present
Khedive, and the improvements which
had been inaugurated. and touched up
on the discoveries of Sir Samuel Baker,
Grant, Spoke, and Mr.. Stanley. In
speaking of the latter he said:
MIR. Stanley, the Anglo American ex-
plorer of the London Telegraph and
New York Herald, went TO Lake Veto
ria ten months after had sailed upon
its waters. His circumnayigation of
the lake is creditable to his energy and
| perseverance, but his exaggerated pre-
tentions while they have provoked
contempt from the public, have been
aptly termed, even by friendly press,
vulgar, and in bad taste. In his ardor
for reputation he speaks of an army
of 100000 men, and of a population or
millions in Uganda, that have no eX-
istence save in his letters to the Her
aid. leave you to Judge of the quail
ty of his conversion of my savage
friend Ring Mise, to christianity by
a present of the Ten Commandments,
when my friend Levant, who has since
been mastered by "a hostile tribe, re-
ports that after Stanley had left Ugan-
da, Mise, in order to show his accu-
racy of aim, leveled his gun at one OF
his wives and blew her brains out. IL
is not my purpose to discuss his pre-
tended discovery of II white race
destined, PERHAPS, to lake rank among
the discoveries recorded in the tales of
Baron Muuchausen.
On the Dist of March, 1874, the Col
OllEI IOOh HIS ptt ltli llOlb NolAp AOA
Soudan. the objective point being Con-
| dokoro. the prospective seat of the
| Government which the Khedive de-
| sired to establish. The journey to kar-
| thoum consumed twenty days, and
from thence 800 miles to Gondokoro.
| The days of steamboat'journeying were
| on the waters of the White Nile,
| through vegetation that threatened to
bar the way, and on each side were
| fetid marshes, rank with poisonous
| odors, upon whose treacherouS surface
wander great troops of elephants and
| wild Buffalo. On the arrival of the
expedition at Gundokoro, $500 miles
from Cairo, the party separated. the
Chief and the greater part of the men
returning to Cairo, leaving Col. Long
with two soldiers and the servants to
penetrate the wilderness to Victoria
| NyanZa. The first 600 miles of the
route must be traversed on horses,
through a bog and jungle so nearly i'm.
Venerable that the travellers were
| forced at times to cut their way through
| step by step. On the Goth of June the
! explorers arrived at the palace of King
| M'Tse, OF Uganda, and were received
with hospitality, and the worthy po-
tentate, to show his appreciation OF
! his guests, caused thirty slaves to be
sacrificed in their honor. After this
| horrible welcome, the King extended
the courtesy of an escort round Lake
Victoria, and made numerous presents
to the "White Prince" as the Colonel
was called, and the party took theirde
parture. Shortly after leaving their
hosts they encountered band OF hos
tile savages sent by Kaba Rega to IN
tercept and massacre tie explorers.
| The story of the battle that ensued is
best told in the Colonel own words
The morning of the 18th of August
dawned, and a grateful sun, though
fiery hot, awoke us from a fatigued
slumber. Hastily swallowing the rel
les of our repast of the night before,
we embarked ourselves in our two
boats, the openings of which we had
stopped with weeds and rags. AT 10
O'Clock we left the shore, and about
midday attempted to gain the opposite
| shore from which McoOli were plainly
to be seen. Shots were fired in the
air in order to announce our arrival,
as agreed upon. There was no reply.
Evidently Selim had not arrived. AT
the same moment, to my horror and
| surprise, | espied, hid in the thick
mass of paPyrus that lines the shore,
the sinister faces of armed men, whose
well-lilled boats were brlstllng WIZ
lances, who now, with wild yells and
the beating of the Nogarrah, or war
dance, deployed into the stream. 1t
meant war. A hurried word of eau.
ton and command to every man caused
the boats to drift down with the cur
rent, and tied quickly together to give
steadiness and security. The iron
| cases, ter in number, were quickly
placed in barricade, and our fortunate
lv good stock of cartridges arranged In
convenient place for action. The two
Snyders of my mel and my Reilly ele-
phant, with explosive shell, and three
revolvers, though splendid arms,
seemed yet but idle weapons against
at least 500 savages, who, confident,
now advanced to the attack i'll at
tempting to surround me. These were
the men of Kaba Rega, King of Unyo-
70, the same who in June of 1872, at
tackled and defeated Sir Samuel Baker
at Masindi. The Mtongoli, or chief,
who spoke little broken Arabic, an
nounced to me that he had been sent
by Kaba Rega to kill me; that they
had awaited my coming for days adj
ding that lit is useless for you to re-
sist the fishes will eat you at sun
down." With shouts of defiance they
renewed their war song, amid horrid
din of drums and horns, their hideous
faces Illuminated with savage glee al
the prospect of blood and murder.
Add FL Rahman, no longer able tC
restrain his excitement, threw up his
rifle to shoot. When, throwing off the
horror of our position that seemed tC
paralyze further effort, J cried, ''Ii
YOU shoot, I'll kill you" his arm fell
Immediately in obedience. Raising my
elephant-gun several times only to re
ceive the insulting jeers of the defiant