Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-04
--,ITuruL NEGRO PoRTERs.
-. Man who Have Helped African
travellers or Ruined Them

From the Nesc York Sua.
Union a traveller lands at Zanzibar, ON
So ,yav to Central Africa, he tries to ind
Cnnma. Bombay, Susi, or some other OF
.noratiyes who, in the past have proved
yourselves to be the most faithful OF the
Swsbili headmen and porters that have
.ooompanled the great explorers. There
- baen a brisk demand for these dusky
S,uovs ever since Livingstone, Bur
,on Stanley, and others acknowl-
edged their intelligence, fidelity and help
iulness.
The hundred or more porters who carry
hrass wire. beads and cloths, that the
travpIer needs to buy his way through
africa. sometimes have it in their power
70 make or mar the expedition. The care
iossnpss or the treachery OF a single por-
+er NAV cost the explorer his life, or may
min his enterprise. Livingstone might
bsve lived to follow the Congo to the sea
had il not been for the faithlessness OF
one of his black followers. This man de-
serted his master in the heart of Africa,
tsking with MIN box which Livingstone
had committed to his care. The box con-
tanned every particle of medicine the eX-
nIorer possessed, and he wrote in his d.
arv that he thought his fate was sealed
when he found himself in fever stricken
country without a grain Of quinine. Left
without resources for warding off disease,
the great simple-minded man soon lost
his strength and persisted on the southern
shores of Lake BangweolO. Explorers
took warning by his experience, aud the
medical supplies are now always dis
tributed in different packages, so that
al cannot be lost by the treachery of one
man.
Livingstone, without doubt, could have
accomplished much more If be had more
sternly disciplined his followers. He was
TOO gentle. and the faithless members of
his party never not their deserts. They
knew they could leave him with impu-
uity, and sometimes he was at stand
still for months for lack of pOrters to
carry his goods. Stanley, on the other
hand, believed he could not perform salts
factory service unless he kept his force
intact. If any of his men deserted, the
caravan halted until the deserters were
brought back to camp. Many people in
New York remember Kalulu, the young
African whom Stanley brought here with
him. K6lulu returned to the dark conti-
nent with the explorer, and after the
party had crossed Lake Tanganyika he
suddenly disappeared. Search parties
secured the country until they found him,
and he was brought back to camp. He
was very penitent, and served Stanley
faithfully thereafter, until he was drown
ed in the cataracts Of the lower Congo,
when they were near the end of their
eventful journey.
If the faithless among his people in
yolyed Livingstone in great trouble, the
conduct Of those who were true to him
makes one Of the brightest chapters in the
history Of African exploration. How ten
derby and thOughtfully the remnant OF his
followers attended their loved masters
wants in the last weary months of his
wanderings. The devotion and fidelity of
Chuma and Susi were sublime. Living
stone expected to be buried where he fell,
but his faithful blacks risked their lives
10 restore his body to his friends. They
buried his heart in the land he loved so
well, embalmed his body in their rude
way, and, pretending that it was apack-
age Of merchandise, bore it through
thousand miles Of forest and jungle TO the
sea-cOast. In Ugogo and other large dis
tricts which they traVersed, the people
believed that the passage OF dead body
through their land would bring the direst
disasters upon them, and the little cara
van would have been put to death If their
secret had been discovered. Each men,
Der OF the caravan received handsome
MS services, and Chuma and Susi were
especially hOnored.
Some Of the finest material for porters
mas been found among the natives of Lake
Nyassa, who, the missionaries say, are
the most devoted and faithful of servants
when properly treated. MIR. COtterill,
woo explored new route from the north
end OF Nyassa TO Zanzibar, wrote that he
would never have come buck from Africa
alive but for the pluck, the tact and the
patient endurance of his native servants.
,'Fangazina, the head man of caravan
ne wrote, was not long ago a raw Nyassa
savage He proved invaluable to me on
account OF his great strength, his wonder
luI sagacity in the hunting field, and his
uauntless bearing" A white man at
Iacned to Mr.. Morris party on the river
Nhlfe TWO years ago was dragged under
tne water by crocodile, and Mr.. NOR
tells how some natives risked their lives
70 recover the body, boldly plunging into
Jne cr0codile-intested stream. Messrs.
Johnson, Stewart, Law, Names, and other
MISSIONARY travellers around Lake Nyassa
lave found their native assistants faith
Iui' ready TO go with them anywhere.
"nnhg 10 work for wonderfully low
soaie Oh wages, and fraternizing readily
"ltu the people they have met. Bands Of
Iusty native p0rters have for some years
o'arfled the annual supplies tor the mis-
SIouaiy stations on Lake Tanganyika
rom zanzibar, 500 miles, without Europe
an escort, and letters for King Mtesa. at
s1e north end Of Victoria NyanZa. intrust-
GU 10 native messenger at Zanzibar. have
'"'ey reached their destination.
g. over LOCO Zanzibar porters have been
- .le service OF the International Asso-
oia ION Tor several years. Their ian
suase' the Swahili, is as useful in Africa
81s Iue French language is IN Europe. The
Dsn'u dialects OF the Congo, and in fact
~ nearly all the great Central African
f'@.eau, suIhciently resemble the Swahili
t, enable the Ianzibarls and inland ma
yves 70 understand one another. The
sos,ilurls have, therefore, been OF great
nea.c as Intermediates between Euro
dS ana the Congo tribes. Their term
hsVlNlee has now expired, most of them
W. sohe nome, and the association. not
,nlng To depend for its labor upon so
Ti s'anV source Of supply, is filing their
dred y, WIN congo natives. Twelve hun
49, ~ VI lhem We're, by last accounts. ear
,s'ns loads TO Stanley Pool. Of whom 500
nv. transporting the steamer Stanley tn
for ~ ool' ~ VIII be great point gained
co.,i lo new iree state II IL successfully
or r, OUT It's experiment, now tried
yo,l 'ue nrst time on large scale. Of de-
gooP,ng among the millions OF Con-
esr natives a considerable bod Of wage
-N"osiC Mountain H,,.tr Iot,,..... 81.