The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-12-27
STANLEY'S HARDEST BATTLE.
The Graphic Story . Native Tells Of IN
Attack on the EXPLORER.

The Graphic Story . Native Tells of IN
Attack on the Explorer.
The bloodest and most furious battle
Stanley had with the Congo natives
during his first descent of that river
was with the Ba-Ngala. Everybody
has read his graphic account of that
combat, in which sixty four canoes
| loaAed with the fiercest Congo fighters
| were precipitated upon the little band
| of travellers, and had not spears been
pitted against firearms Stanley's party
would never have reached the sea. A
| while ago Auele, one of the officers Of
the chief of the Ba-Ngala, gave to
Capt. Coquil bat the native version of
that memorable day. The white men
on the Congo bring home few stories
that surpass in interest those the ma
tives tell of the time when the unknown
whites first came among them, and Of
the commotion these strangers with
their wonderful trade goods and their
still more astonishing weapons, every
where produced.
1--WE had never seen white man."
said Muele, whose tribe, thickly popu-
lating the river bank for many miles,
numbers over 100000 people. 1--WE
had not the slightest idea that such
beings existed. One day, some dozen
| moons ago Git was on Feb. IA, 1870,
at the moment when the sun stood
right above our heads, fotilla of
| canoes of form we had never seen
before, preceded by canoe of extra
| ordinary size, suddenly came into view.
| In the swiftest part of the current they
| were quietly passing in front of our
villages. We were astonished to see
that the men, even to their heads,
were covered with white cloths, and
| we thought it very singular, for the
richest chiefs we knew wore only
little rag made of banana fibre; and
| fact that was absolutely new to us and
| that upset all our notions of humanity,
was the sight of two white beings, yes,
as white as our pottery clay, who ap-
peared to command the expedition.
They seemed to have about the same
form as other men, but their hair, their
eyes, and their color was very strange
| to us.
I'VE asked one another: We're not
these men ENJOYS from Ibanza, the
| mysterious spirit, and why did they SO
suddenly appear upon our river?
| Their purpose could only be bad, for
suddenly they landed on an Island op-
posite us instead of coming to our
Shore as all people did whose inten-
tions were not hostile At first, before
we were able to see them distinctly,
| we thought they were an expedition
| from our enemies of Mobeka. Our
alarm drums sounded and we crowded
to our canoes, all ready for a fight.
But the clothing of the warriors, the
strange forms of their weapons, and
| the unheard-of aspect of the white men
soon undeceived us. Still, we launch
ed our canoes and rapidly approached
those of the unknown strangers.
1.-The older of the two white mea
had straight gray hair and his eyes
were the color of the water. He stood
| up in his canoe and held towards us a
| red cloth and some brass wire. We
still approached him, discussing ex-
| citedly the meaning of this strange at
titute. The other white man Crank
Pocock, who was drowned a few weeks
later in the Cataracts of the lower
| Congo) aimed his weapon at us and
the older man talked to him rapidly in
| language we did not understand.
| Those of our friends who were nearest
the strangers thought the actions of
| the white men BODIED us no good, and
so they judged it best at once to attack
these mysterious whites who had
come from no one knew where.
"Then the battle began, and it was
the most terrible we ever fought. Our
spears fell fast among the enemy, and
IL lol o,,ff ko, ID 81 ho, LoI
| lay half over the sides of their canoes.
| But oh, what fetch gave their weapons
| such wonderful power! Their bullets,
made of heavy gray metal we had
never seen before, reached us at enor-
nous distances. Women and old men
who were following the combat from
the shore were hit. The walls of our
huts were perforated Some goats
who were wandering far off in the
fields dropped dead Of their wounds.
| As for us who were on the water, our
stout shields were pierced as though
they had been bananas. Many of us
were killed and wounded and others
were drowned, for the bullets knocked
holes in some of our wooden canoes,
which filled and sank. Still we kept
fighting desperately, and we followed
| the white beings some distance below
our villages. Their band finally escap-
ed us and raised loud cries of triumph
rs we ended the pursuit. We could
| not understand what they said
Muele added that Mata Bulke, the
chief of the Ba-Ngala, exerted every
effort to dissuade his ardent people
from approaching the whites, who he
| declared could not be human beings.
1t vas this same chief who three years
ago this month wept as he bade fare
well to Capt. Coquilhat, the founder
of the Ba-Ngala station, who was about
to go back to Europe. Return soon"
he said, .for am old and | wish to see
YOU again before | die A few days
over a year later Coquilhat was again
among the Ba-Ngala, who, with their
powerful and aged chief, are now
| among the most faithful and useful