The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-11-24
Descending the Congo.

In letter from Loanda, on the west coast
of Africa which we print to-day, Stanley
gives the detailed description Of his descent
OF the Congo or Lualaba, from Nyangwe to
Emboma. 1t is story filled with thrilling
interest and told with an earnest grace and
in straightforward, rapid style, in keeping
with the character Of the incidents that are
the staple of the narrative. In the story of
the Argonauts and their great speculative
Journey into unknown seas to unravel a
famous enigma in the story of tho war
worn and travel weary Ithacan King, ever
tossed from shore to shore by storms and
tempests, whirlcd down the eddies and
every day saved from humiliation by his
stout heart or ready strategem ; in the his
tory of the ten thousand, constantly march
ing and fighting, coming upon a new war
rs each days journey brought them
to new frontier, and cutting their
way across q continent in virtue, mainly,
of the superiority Of their tools-in those
chronicles ofthe passed away ages rather than
in any known record Of modern adventure
and achievement, are to be found incidents
that are recalled in every day of that wild,
strange journey down the great African
river. Told simply, plainly, modestly.
even, it is yet q wonderful story Of uncon-
querable resolution, steadfast courage, en-
DURANGO almost more than human, all hap
PLY relieved here and there with incidents
Of lighter quality that exhibit the childlike
simplicity of the savage and the easy superb
GRITTY Of any chance thought Of the white
man. In the good old days when Odysseus
sailed, tramped, fought and negotiated q
right of way, all his successes were due to
the gods One stood by to supply strength.
another courage, another to invent his STRAIT
agems and many for minor miscellaneous
occasions, while familiar old Mrs. Pallas
foated in thin cloud and exercised gen.
eral superintendent. Hence his name ac-
quired celestial associations and the poet
embalmed his story. In these dAys story
of adventure, equally supplied with all the
material elements of the marvellous, hos
another fate. 1t comes direct by mails
printed -coldly criticised and put aside
for the world is agreed not to see the roman
tic or poetical in what has really occurred.
Some of Stanley's accounts of the fights on
the Congo are vivid and felicitous bits of
picturesque narrative. An instance is that
OF the battle near the mouth of the Aru-
wimi, with the account Of the monster
canoe, with eighty paddles, and the war
riors prancing up and down plank
that ran from stem to stern. That
battle is q type of the many fought
on the great stream the knowledge
of whose course was thus literally conquered
from the savages. In this battle there were
ffty-.our canoes, with from fifteen hundred
to two thousand warriors, and as this
amount of force is beyond the resources of
the larger number of tribes it was thought
this hostile attempt was the result Of an
alliance against the stranger. Not only,
therefore, did each tribe of the country for
a thousand miles give battle; not only were
the cataract and the scarcely penetrable
wilderness and disease and starvation itself
allied against the game spirit of that one
hardy American, but the savage tribes from
great distances joined hands to overwhclm
his expedition with the masses of barbarian
Drawn to tire him down and wear him out
with the very labor of killing, in order
that those left when he was exhausted
might turn him into ''black mans meat"
How all that failed the lettcr very happily
tells.