The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-12-26
STANLEY'S GRAPHIC STORY.
Incidents OF His March across the Continent
..Ftghting with Cunnibals--.A Monster
Canoe..A Temple of Ivory.

Incidents Of His March across the Continen
--Ftghting with Cunnibals.-.A Monster
Canoe-.A Temple Of Ivory.
Henry NJ. Stanley continues hif
graphic story of African exploration in 6
letter to the New York Herald. We
give the most interesting incidents Or
January 4, 1877, we came to the first Of
what proved q series of cataracts, or. tc
use a more correct term, falls, below
the confluence of the Lum ami, and the
Lualaba, or the Iowa, as the river was
now called. Our troubles began now in
earnest. We we're hunted like game.
Night and day every nerve was strained
to defend ourselves. -Four times on
January 4 we broke through the lines
Of canoes brought out against us, and
finally we were halted by the Baswa
Falls. The savages seemed to think
that we had no resource left but to sur
render and be eaten at their leisure.
Again and again were we compelled to
repulse the furious charges that they
made to drive us over the falls. The
people of the Falls Islands also came up
to assist the cannibals of Mwana Ntaba.
We were at bay, and became desperate:
Return we could not, as we could not
pull against stream and fight. Wepulled
ashore first on tho right bank, then
across river to the left, and made a camp
in the woods, drawing our canoes and
boat up after US. After constructing q
fence Of brush around on the forest side
the best sharpshooters were placed in
position for defence. After a short time
the natives retired and left us to rest.
For the ensuing twenty-fonr days we
had fearful work, constructing camps by
night along the line marked out during
the day, cutting roads from above to be-
low each fall, dragging our heavy canoes
during the day, while the most active OF
the young men-the boats crew-re-
pulsed the savages and foraged for food.
On January 81 we had passed in this
desperate way forty-two geographical
miles, by six falls, and to effect it had
dragged our canoes q distance of thirteen
miles by land and by roads which we had
cut through the forest. Our provisions
in the meantime we had to procure as
we best could. When we had cleared
the last fall, we halted two days for rest,
which we all very much needed. In tne
passage of these falls we lost I've men
only. .u-
After passing this series of falls we
entered upon different scenes. The
river was gradually widening from the
usual 1900 to 1000 yards breadth to
two and there miles. It then began to
receive grander afluents, and soon as
sT1med a lacustrine breadth from four to
ten miles. Island also were so numer-
GUS that once a day were we able to OBJ
tain a glimpse of the opposite bank. We
had reached the great basin lying be-
tween the maritime and lake regions.
The first day we entered this region we
we're attacked three times by three sepa-
rate tribes ; the second day we mal,i-
tanned q running fight almost the er-~e
day, which eliminated in a grand naval
fight at the confluence of the Aruwlml-
the Welle CO-with the Lualaba. AS
we crossed over from the current OF
the Lualaba to that of the Aruwimi, and
had taken q glance at the breadth OF the
MAGNIFICENT %afluent, we were quite taken
aback at the grand preparations for our
reception. Fifty-four canoe rushing
down on us with such fury that I saw I
must act at once if I wished to save the
expedition. Four of our canoes, in a
desperate fright, became panic stricken
and began to pull fast down stream, but
hey were soon brought back.
We dropped our stone anchors, form
ed a close line and calmly waited events.
Down the natives came, fast and furious
but in magnificent style. Everything
about them was superb. Their canoes
were enormous things, n especially, a
monster, eighty paddlers. forty on a
side, with paddles eight feet long, spear
pointed, and really pointed with iron
blades for close quarters, I presume.
The top of each paddle shaft was adorn-
ed with ivory balls. The chiefs pranced
up and down a planking that ran from
stem to stern. On aplatform near the bow
we're ten choice young fellows swaying
their long spears ready. At the stern
of this great war canoe stood eight
steersmen, guiding her toward us.
There were about twenty-three-fourths
nf6de such IN Sfne looking, but none
rough guess there must have been from
fifteen hundred to two thousand sava-
ges within these ffty-four canoes.
I cannot think that these belonged to
one power. I imagine that it was a pre-
concerted arrangement with neighbor-
ing tribes, got up especially for our en-
tertainment. We had no time even to
breathe a short prayer or to think OF in
duleing in a sentimental farewell to the
murderous cannibalistic world in which
we found ourselves. The enemy, in
full confidence of victory, was on us, and
the big monster rs it shot past US
launched a spear-the first. We waited
no longer 4; they came to fight. The
cruel faces, the loudly triumphant drums,
the deafening horns, the launched spears,
swaying bodies, all proved it !; and every
gun in our little feet angrily gave re-
Spouse to our foes. We we're in q Sec
ond almost surrounded, and clouds OF
spears hurtled and Missed for O short
time-say, ten minutes. They then
gave way, and we lifted our anchors and
charged them, following them with fatal
result. We we're carried away with our
feelings. We followed them to the
shore, chased them Oh land into their
villages, ten or twelve of them, and, after
securing some of the abundance Of food
we found there, I sounded the recall.
To the. victors belong the spoil-at
least 50 thought my ~people-and the
amount of ivory they discovered lying
useless about astonished me. There
was an ivory "temple," a structure OF
solid tusks surrounding M idol !; ivory
logs, which, by the marks of hatchets
visible on them, they must have used to
chop wood upon ; ivory war horns, some
of them three feet long !; ivory mallets,
ivory wedges to split wood, ivory pestles
to grind their cassava, and before the
chiefs house was q veranda, or burzah,
the posts of which were long tusks OF
ivory. There were 1873 pieces of ivory,
which, according to rough calculation,
would realize, or ought to realize, about
$4,000. These, I told the men, they
must consider as their prize money. In
this fight we only lost n man.
EIoping With an Indian.
We take the following from a Hamilton
(Ontario) paper: Some days ago we
published a report of an elopement from
a farm house neal Stratford, the parties
being g. daughter of the proprietor and a