River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-10-10
pimcul,,cs Encountered BY stanley,

SsanieyS narrative gives Us a vivid idea
az travel in Africa under Its aost con
ditinns; that Is fa say. through = country
fairly known. which has been visited BY
white men. and is NOW traveeSed by fire
qnent caravans, Sometimes they crossed
broad and bleak plains. where feed WAS
scarce ard cltsh vanished fast, Snd some
times they came to billy countries, where
the people were civil an6 hoSpl;able.
Sometimes they wegein Troublesome ass
tricts. where there we're warning tribes.
where the people were trcschesoUs OF
hostile, and then STANLEY could only sleep
vi his hand On his rife. There were
furious ternpeSts ~ana SEINE days Nasone
and man alike warrei against Us while
on etlaers both seemed combined 70 bless
us" Other troubles came to tGe intrepid
commander and his small army, mere
especially thsf potent and untiring enemy
~ all African iravel-Typhas. THIS WAS
/ the enemy who menaced Stanley st Fan
Eibar. and never lelt bis footsteps until he
embarked 81 Ioania; who followed him
night and day. doing his awful Will on the
expedition And 50 from these ms
| fortunes from famine and fatigue, fnam
| fever and massacre. from mutiGv and
death the little army dwindied away;
and il is a wonder thar il did not return.
or at least content itself with visiting
/ Livingstone's country and exploring Vic
| roria N'yanza, and return with the report
which has been brought for 50 many
ceaturies that Africa c niinued hostile
| 10 those who came 10 WOO her, and would
not be won.
Nor docs il surprise Us that amid all
these discouragements, the heart Of
| Stanley should have faltered. 1.-THE ox.
petition seemed doomed. Promises of
| reward. kindness, threats, punishment had
no effect But AT the same time the
spirit OF the leader was felt in the com.
mand 1.-THE white men, he says, "al.
though selected out of the ordinary class
of Englishmen, did their work hravely,
heriocally. Though suffering from fever
and dysentery. insulted by natives, march
i ing under the heat and equatorial rain
storms, they at all tunes proved them
selves of noble, manly natures, stout
hearted. brave, and better than all, true
Christians These arc the men by whom
empires are made, but for them there was
no empire but the memory of duty well
done; no trophy, no reward, unless what
is to come us the reward for well-dolng
in the final day of account. Two of them
were TO sleep near the banks of Victoria
N'yanza. victims of disease; the other was
to be whirled into eternity over the rapids
of the Congo, when his journey was all
most at an end.
Sometimes Stanley was in the wilder
, ness without guides. This, however,
seemed a happiness compared to his pos
Ition when he did have guides whe be-
trayed him, rs happened early in his ex-
petition in Ukinbu. near the elephant
country. In Ukimbu the guides ran away
and Stanley found himself on the edge
of wilderness with but ten days pro-
visions He had trusted his guide, and
purchased q small quantity of food. He
endeavoring 10 pierce the wilderness, but
his track was lost in a maze of elephant
and rhinoceros trails. He could only de-
pend upon his compass. The second day
: found Jungle OF acacia and eureorbia,
, through winch the men had 10 crawl and
scramble along the ground, "under ma
tural tunnels OF embracing slrubbery,
cutting the convoivuli and creepers,
thrusting aside stout thoiuy bushes, and
+, by various detours taking advantage of
every slight opening the jungle afforded"
There was no water. Overcome with
hunger and thirst the command began TO
straggle and faint. Some managed tn
reach camp, where medicine and restora-
: tives brought them strength. Five never
returned. One of them was found dead
in the woods, and of the other four 1t is
believed "they hopelessly wandered on
until they also fell down and died. On
the fifth dav they came TO q village, but
the village comprised only four negroes
their wives and little ones, and had nc
TODD for such large command. Stanley
learned that there was another village
twenty-nine miles away, u AIMED Suna, and
he sent a picked band of twenty, the
strongest and most enduring, to visit
Suna and bring food. He secured the
woods for game, but there was no game
A lions den was found. In this den were
two young lions, which were killed and
skinned.
: But to what avail were two lion cubs
! to an expedition OF starved menu Surely
here was death at last-death, defeat,
; humiliation; and this proud expedition
which had set out so gloriously from Fan
zibar, resolved to force the mystery of a
J continent and fight its way 10 the ATTAIN
: tic, why, all that could happen to it was
; to perish in an African jungle OF lions
and elephants, to perish as so many had
done before, leaving only the name OF
Stanley to be added to the sad, dismal
roll Of martyrs to African discovery.
"Returning to camp" says Stanley, ''from
the fruitless hunt'-nothing in all that
wilderness but the two lion cubs-"I was
struck with the punched races of the poor
neople that could have almost wept, if
might have done so without exciting
fear of our fate in their minds. resolv-
ed to do something toward relieving the
pressing needs OF fierce hunger" Stan
lev had medical stores, which in such an
expedition are a sacred trust. Tie open
ed sheet iron trunk and made it serve
as pot. Into this pot he d0led out five
pounds of Scotch oatmeal-perhaps the
most precious of all his possessions-an
three tins of erevalenta arabica," and
made Cruel. sit was rare sight," he
SAYS, ito see those poor administration
people hasten TO that Torquay dress
| trunk and assist me to cook the huge
pot of Cruel; to watch them fan the fire
to a fierce heat, and, with their gourds
full Of water, standby to cool the foam
| ing liquid whenit threatened to overflow"
| The porridge kept the expadition alive
for forty eight hours. when Stanley heard
the musketry of his returning embassy
coming in from Suna with food. The
grain was most greediIy seized by the
hungry people, and so animating was the
report Of the purveyors that the soldiers
clamored to be led away that afternoon"
And so our leader marched on.-John
Russell Young, In Harper's Magazine fer
| October.
A Memory.