The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1877-12-15
STANLEY'S VOYAGE.

A Fight on the Luala ba--F1ftv-Four
Canoes Bearing Down on the Expedi-
tion--How the Attack was Repulsed.
From Henry Stanley's last letteo in the Herald.
When we had cleared the last fall,
latitude 0 deg. ii min. % sec. north, we
halted two days for rest, which we all
very much needed. The river was gradu-
ally widening from the usual 1900 to
1000 yards breadth to two and three
miles. 1t then began to receive grander
affluents, and soon assumed a lacustripe
breadth of four to ten miles. Islands
| also were so numerous that only once q
day were we able to obtain glimpse of
the opposite bank We had reached the
great basin lying between the maritime
and lake regions.
The first day we entered this region we
were attacked tlrrce times by three sep
arate tribes; the second day we main
tanned running fight almost the entire
day, which eliminated in the grand
naval fight at the confluence of the
Aruwimi-the Welle (?-with the
| Lualaba. AS we crossed over from the
current of the Lualaba to that of the
Aruwimi, and had taken glance at the
breath of the magnificent affiuent, we
were quite taken aback at the grand
preparations for our reception. Fifty
canoes rushing down on us with such
| fury that saw | must act at once if |
wished to save the expedition. Four of
our canoes, in desperate fright, became
panic stricken and began to pull fast
down stream, but they were soon brought
back.
/ We dropped our stone anchors, formed
a close line and calmly waited results
| Down the natives came, fast and furious,
but in magnificent style. Everything
about them was superb. Their canoes
were enormous things, one especially, a
monster, eighty paddlers, forty on side,
with paddles eight feet long, spear
pointed, and really pointed with iron
blades for close quarters, | presume. The
top of each paddle shaft was adorned
with ivory balls. The chiefs pranced up
and down a planking that ran from stem
to stern. On a platform near the bow
were ten chosen young fellows swaying
their long spears ready. At the stern of
! this great war canoe stood eight steers
men, guiding her towards US. There was
about y-three-fourths of her size
also fine looking, but none made such
an imposing show. At rough guess
there must have been from fifteen hun
dred to two thousand savages within
these fifty-four canoes.
| cannot think that these belonged to
one power. | imagine that it was pre-
concerted arrangement with neighboring
tribes, got up especially for our enter
tainment, We had time even to breathe
A short prayer or to think of INDUCING in
sentimental farewell to the murderous
cannabalistic world in which we found
ourselves. The enemy, in full conf
dence of victory, was on us, and the big
monster as it shot past us launched a
spear-the first. We waited no longer
they came to fight The cruel faces, the
loudly triumphant drums, the deafening
horns, the launched spears, the swaying
bodies, all proved it; and every gun in
our little fleet angrily gave response to
our foes. We were in second almost
surrounded, and clouds of spears hurtled
and Kissed for a short time-say, ten
minutes. They gave way, and we lifted
anchors and charged them, following
them with fatal result. We were carried
away with our feelings. We followed
them to the shore, chased them on land
in their villages, ten or twelve of them,
and, after securing some of the abun-
dance of food we found there, | sounded
a recall.
To the victors belong the spoiIs-at
least so thought my people-and the
amount of ivory they discovered lying
useless about astonished me. There was
an ivory "temple." structure of solid
tusks surrounding an idol; ivory logs
which, by the marks of axes visible on
them, they must have been used to chop
wood upon; ivory war horns; some OF
them a yard long; ivory mallets, ivory
wedges to split wood, ivory pestles to
grind their cassava, and before the chief
house was a veranda, or burzah, the posts
of which were long tusks of ivory
There were 1873 pieces of ivory, and ac-
cording to rough calculation, would re-
alize about $4,000. These, | told my
men, they must consider as their prize
money. In this fight we only lost one
man.