San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-04-06
STANLEY IN AFRICA.
How He Managed His Native Followers
His Meeting with King Mtcsa.
TErom N ondon paperI

to ask Mr.. Stanley is how he managed
his men so well. The reply is prompt
and to the point: 81 treat the African
like brother, having first made him
understand that am the elder brother.
He is good fellow enough, and may
tell you that l like him quite as well as
DIR. Livingstone did. But he must be
made to understand that he is to obey,
and then does it cheerfully and good HUI
moredly enough. Human nature is,
after all, much the same everywhere.
The African has sympathies, his likes
and dislikes, and, above all, his vanities,
just as white men have. 1 will tell you
about one of my guards. He was fell
low of terrible reputation, the dread of
Zanzibar, and boosted that he had kill.
ed eight men to his own score without
counting promiscuous brawls. No
sooner was he in my employ than he or
ganized scheme of plumber. 1 was
Immediately informed of this by my de-
tective force, and talked seriously to
him. l told him that I knew his plan
in every detail; that my eye was every
where, and that I was both able and
willing to punish him. Having fright
ened him thoroughly, l thought l would
try the effect of generous clemency. l
told him that for this once he should 60
unframed, but if heard of him again
he should be severely punished. He was
changed man, at least for a while.
Apparently he had given up his evil
ways, and, as matter of fact, did give
them up for at least year. At last
habit proved too strong for him, and he
transgressed again. This time pun
ished him, and severely, too"
"What did you do to himp" is the
inquiry which ill-defined ideas of what
Mr.. Stanley may intend by severe pun
ishment suggest.
81 made him." replies the traveller,
"carry box weighing sixty pounds, the
burden of an ordinary porter, for sever
al days. As he was powerful fellow,
this weight did not crush him physical
ly, but mentally it reduced him to zero.
No white man could have felt his degra-
dation more keenly than my Zanzibar
man. There was he all at once reduced
to the level of common porter, bear
er of burdens. He who had been the
terror of the country, the idol and ex-
emplar of every loafer; he who had in
spired the mind of the Seyvid himself
with disquietude, was no more than the
meancst of creatures of burden. shall
never forget his crestfallen look as he
took up the box and carried it, amid
the flouts and jeers Of his fellows. No
stricken deer in the center of civilization
could have been made to feel his posi-
ton more acutely than my African
guard. Every one in my command
who had suffered at any time from the
insolence of my troublesome guard, paid
him back, with interest, in the hour OF
his humiliation. This debt was not al
ways paid in words, but often in express
i've gestures, in looks and shrugs, and
other pantomime. His life became a
torment, for the box worried him a
great deal more than the albatross did
the Ancient Mariner. He declared that,
sleeping or waking, the hated box was
always with him. After letting him do
penance for several days released him,
and had no more trouble with him after
ward. My men would do any thing for
me-were always ready to work and to
fight"
This extreme devotion to the "white
man with the open hand" seems to be
due to several causes. Doubtless the
open hand" itself had great share
in producing it; but it seems clear
enough that the success of Mr.. Stanley
in executing his plans, and the apparent
certainty of his being able to accomplish
any task that he undertook, went for a
good deal in winning over the magma
tive African. In the martial and other
expeditions of native chiefs there is a
carelessness of method and instability
of purpose utterly opposed to the prin-
ciples of Mr.. Stanley, who goes about
his work like a workman, and brings a
conscience to it. Moreover, Mr.. STAN
ley, like any white man resolute enough
to penetrate into the interior of Africa,
has with him the glamour of mystery.
As men, black and white, measure the
motive of others by their own, so is it
incomprehensible to the African that
.,,o., lilo rhinestone and Stanley should