Clarksville evening chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn) 1886-1890, 1888-11-14
SANKEY'S AARpEsr sArrLE


/ @N~~-eN
The bloodiest and most furious battle
Stanley had with the Congo natives dur.
ing 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 loaded with the
flercest of Congo fighters were precipi-
tated into the little band of travellers, and
had not spears been pitted against fire.
arms SANKEY'S party would never have
reached the sea. Awhile ago Muele, one
of the officers of the chief of the Ba-
Ngala, gave to Capt. Coquilhat tho ma
tive version of that memorable day,. The
white men on the Congo bring home few
stories that surpass in interest those the
natives tell of the time when the UNI
known whites first came among them,
and of the commotion these strangers,
with their wonderful trade goods and
their still more astonishing weapons,
everywhere produced.
1--WE had never seen a white man. {"
said Muele, whose tribe, thickly populat-
ing the river bank for many miles, num-
bers over 100000 people. eve had not
the slightest idea that such beings ex-
isted. One day, some dozen moons ago
lit was on Feb. IA, 1871, at the moment
when the sun stood right above our
heads, a fotilla of canoes of q form
we had never seen before, pre-
coded by q canoe of extraor-
binary 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 COW
cred with white cloths, and we thought
it very singular, for the richest chiefs we
knew wore only O little rag made of
banana fiber; and fact that was abso-
lutely 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 appeared to command
the expedition They seemed to have
about the same form as other men, but
their hair, their eyes and their color were
very strange to us.
ave asked one another, Were not these
men ENJOYS from Ibanza, the mysterious
spirit, and why did they so suddenly APP
pear upon our river? Their purpose could
only be bad, for suddenly they landed on
an island opposite us, instead of coming
to our shore, as all people did whose in
tentions 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 fight. But the
clothing of the warriors, the strange form
Of their weapons, and the unheard of
aspect of the white men soon undeceiveI
us. Still, we launched our canoes and"
rapidly approached those of the unknown
strangers.
Tho older of the two white men had
straight gray hair, and his eyes were the
color Of the water. He stood upon his
canoe and held toward us a red cloth and
some brass wire. We still approached
him, discussing cxcitedly the meaning of
his strange attitude. The other white
man Frank Pocock, vino was drowned
few weeks later in the cararacts of the
lower Congol aimed his weapon at US,
and the older man talked to him rapidly
in q language we could not understand.
Those of our friends who were nearest
the strangers thought tho 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 1t was the
most terrible we ever fought. Our spears
fell fast among the enemy and we killed
some of them, and their bodies lay half
over the sides of their canoes. But, oh,
what fetch gave their weapons such won
dcrful power2 Their bullets, made Of q
heavy gray metal we had never seen
before, reached us ut enormous distances.
Women and old mcnEwho were following
tho combat from the shore were hit. The
walls Of our huts were perforated. Some
goats which were wandering far off in
the fields dropped dead Of their wounds.
AS for us who were on tho water, our
stout shields were pierced rs 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 wo kept
fighting desperately, and we followed the
whito beings some distance below our vii
lagos. Their band finally escaped us an'
raised loud cries Of triumph as we ended
tho pursuit. We could not understand
what they said
Muclo added that I1ata Bulke, tho
chief Of the Ba-Ngala, excrted every
sffort to dissuade his ardent people from
approaching tho whites, who, he de-
clarcd, could not be human beings. 1t
was this same chief who, three years ago
this month, wcpt as he bado farewell to
Capt. Coq,lilhat, the founder of the De-
Ngala station, who was about to go bac..
TO Europe. Return soon, nc said, for
lam old, and 1 wish to see you again
before die" 4 few days over a year
later CoquiEhat was again among the Ba-
Nsala, who, with their powerful and
aged chief, are now among the most
faithful and useful friends of the whites.
New York Sun.