The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-11
CENTRAL ArR1oA,s RICHEST MAN.
The Worlds Greatest Slave and Ivory Dealer
His Way to Zanzibar.


The Worlds Greatest Slave and Ivory Dealer
on His Way to Zanzibar.
New York Sun.
| The wealthiest man in Central Africa is now
on his way to the Indian ocean in response to a
! letter from the Sultan of Zanzibar requesting a
| visit from him. His name is Tippu TIb, and he
| lives not far from Nyangwe, the great trading
| point of many black tribes on the Upper Congo.
Readers of African books OF travel have heard a
| good deal of Tippu lib. and as recent years
| have greatly increased his powers and wealth,
! we are likely to hear much OF him.
| Tippu lib is only forty-fve years old, rs black
| as coal, and of negroid blood, which means that
| he comes of an admxture of the coast tribes or
! East Africa and has also very little Arab
blood in his veins. He has been in Central At
| RIGA for twenty-five years, and Is to-day the
| greatest slave and ivory trader in the world
He has outstrpped all his competitors through
sheer force of intellect and strength of charac-
| ter. AS long ago as the time when Cameron in
| troduced him to our notice he visited Nyangwe
and told the bullying AraO traders there that if
| they did not leave certain native allies of his
| alone it would be the for them. They
| lost no time in pledgng eternal peace with Tip
| pu Tib and all mis- friends.
Cameron says Tippu Tib was the greatest
dandy he saw among the traders of Africa and
that, although of negroid blood, he was thor
ough Arab in manners and ideas. All his white
visitors speak of the elegance of his Arab attire,
and of his courtly and affable bearing. Stanley
saws tnaC at MS QFSG meeting WIN l1ppu ITO ne
regarded him the most remarkable man he
had met among the Arabs, Wa Swahili and half
castles of Africa. Lieutenant Van Gele. of the
Congo State, who met Tippu lib 10 January
last, says he surprised by the extent of his
information on European topics. He was famil
lar with events occurring in Europe, and WAS
particularly interested in the English, Germans
and Beeians. 1.-The questions he asked me"
says Van Gele, showed that he is neither an
ignorant man nor one of ordinary mind" He
sal he jnfa nHp6S n IN tn oil
the King of the Belgians, and also spend some
time in Constantinople.
In Tippu Tbs home. south of Nyangwe,
Cameron says that large gangs of slaves walking
about in chains met his eve at every turn They
were leading easy lives were we'll fed, and he
say no acts Of cruelty there. All had been vic
TINS, however, of the crying wrongs that are
still decmating the simple savages of Africa.
They had been surprised in their peaceful homes
by the sudden onslaught of Tppu Tbs ruthless
soldier slaves, who had burned their huts killed
their friends and dragged them off into captivity.
Tippu lib is the most noted representative of
those men who are to-day in9icting more snffer
ing upon their fellow creatures than any other
human beings-the professional slave traders Of
Africa. Few of Tlppu Tbs slaves ever reach
the Indian They are sold among the
numerous tribes on the way to the Long
caravans, however, richly laden with his ivory,
are often dispatched to the coast
1t was Tppu lib who helped Stanley start
down the Congo from Nyangwe. the point where
both Livingstone and Cameron were defeated in
their efforts to follow the river further. For
some weeks Stanley's little party was augmented
by over 200 of Tppu Tbs men. Twenty very
dark beauties from the great traders harem &C
companied him on this his first trip down the
Congo, where he is now in absolute control of
the river and adjoining territories for about $50
miles below Nyangwe. 1t was his slave pen near
Stanley falls, in which $500 wretched captives
were found two years ago. when the agents of
the International Association reached that point.
For many miles below these falls Stanley was
chased by large fleets of canoes, and his party
suffered severely from the lances and arrows of
the most ferocious savages whom he met on the
Congo. These natives among the most
peaceabie on the Congo now. and one good rea
son is that they have no weapons TO fight with.
They have all been disarmed by Tippu Tib. for
distance of about eighty miles along the river
for daring to attack some of his men. Dr. Lenz
the explorer. wrote from Stanley falls, in March
last, that between the falls and the APuwimi
| river the natives were incapable OF making any
resistance. Zone can rarely find among them. "
he writes, ''a lance or any other weapon except
SIN all knives" DR. LEM adds that ''the lnflu-
ence of the oppulent Tippu Tib is far greater all
| through this region than that Of the free Congo
State"
Tippu lib has thus far maintained very ami
cable relations with the whites. He has invited
missionaries 20 settle near him, and has prom
Used them protection.