Smyrna times., 1886-12-15
Henry M. Stanley.

All patriotic Americans are glad to
see Henry NJ. Stanley, the leader in
American exploration, back in this
country again. To this man must be
given the palm as the greatest traveller
and explorer of new lands of our times.
He is here specially to vindicate his
assertions about tho Congo basin.
During the space of nearly twenty
years he has been investigating the
commercial problem of equatorial At
rica. He is the greatest living Amer
lean authority upon that question. In
fact we have really other. Colonel
Chaille Long made one or two visits to
the Northern limits of the Congo region,
but only as a commissioner for the
Khedive of Egypt or as a lieutenant of
the English General Gordon. His op-
pOrtunities were indeed so limited and
restricted to certain districts that his
words of criticism of Mr.. Stanley can
not be of any comprehensive weight.
Mr.. Tisdels visit to the Congo land
also as the commissioner of Secretary
Bayard was of such limited nature in
the light of the thorough and far-reach-
ing investigation that the commercial
demands and queries of the merchants
of New York needed that, though of
value as far as it went proved entirely
inadequate to meet the requirements of
comprehensive report such as should
now be in the possession of Secretary
| of State.
Speaking before members of the Geo
graphical Society and numerous prom
| inent New Workers at Chickering Hall
Monday night of last week, with what
pride it may be imagined Henry NJ.
Stanley said Il had left New Workers
sceptical as to my discovery of Living
stone. Now will prove to the same
New Workers that finding Livingstone
was but child's play to the completing
of LiVingstone's work"
The fact is Americans hardly realize
what a great man Henry NJ Stanley is.
He has really accomplished the great
est feat of modern exploration. Great
as DR.. Livingstone was, the American
! explorer must, in all sOberness, be ac-
knowledged to have completely eclips-
ed the good old missionary. Definitely
what Dir. Stanley has achieved is, first,
the solving of the Nile problem. Until
he had determined its actual source
! geographers of Europe and this country
were of diverse opinions. He has set
tied the question forever. His second
great geographical feat is that of defin.
ing the source and trend of the Congo
river. These were the two great prob
lens of all the geographical societies of
the world. The solving of them was
held in equal importance to that an
cient standard inquiry, viz: the dis
| cOVerV of the North Pole.
Henry NJ. Stanley, the American ex-
plored, is now the peer of Franklin,
Kane, McClintOck, Hall, Mares, Gree
ley, Lockwood and others of arctic
fame, and Baker, Speke, Livingstone,
DeBrazza, and the older African ex-
plOrers Layard, BelzOni and Mungo
Park.
But it is cOnspicuously in the com
mercial value of what he has accom-
plished that he stands head and shoul-
ders above those mentioned.
In spite of the somewhat harsh criti-
cisms of certain of his own countrymen,
notably Colonel Long, Mr.. Stanley has
demonstrated that the Congo basin is a
rich mine for commercial enterprise.
He does not deny the difficulties of the
Lower Congo. But he boldly asserts
that they are not insurmountable to
true commercial enterprise. He clearly
states that the Land of Promise is
the Upper Congo, and to reach that a
railway isnecessary. The climate there
is not inimical to Europeans, as is the
case with the regions along the Lower
Congo valley. And as regards the
latter the climatic danger is restricted
to those localities along the banks o
the great river which on account O
their low fiat situation are every season
subject to inundation, the thick matted
vegetation of the river banks, the mile.
of Shiny OOze and decayed organic
matter acted upon by the vertical ray
of the equatorial sun sufficiently wei
account for the stories of fatal malaria
fever on the lower reaches of the grea
river of Southern Africa Mr.. STANLEY
does not deny these facts. But he as
serts that they do not apply to tn,
Upper Congo.