The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-11-03
srANLEY.s HARDEST BATTLE
New York san.

New YoRk san.
The bloodiest and most furious bat
tie Stanley had with the Congo ma
tives during his first descent OF that
river was with the Bs-NgAlA. Every.
body has read his graphic account OF
that combat, In which sixty four ca
noes loaded with the fiercest Congo
fighters were precipitated upon that
little band Of travellers, and had not
spears been pitled against firearms
SANKEY'S party would never have
reached the seA. Awhile ago Muele,
one Of the officers of the chief of Ba-
Ngala, gave to Captain CoQuilhat the
native version of that memorable day.
The white men on the Congo bring
home few stories that surpass In inter-
est those the natives tell Of the time
when the unknown whites first came
among them, and of the connection
these strangers, with their wonderful
trade goods and their still more aston
ishing weapons, everywh here produced.
ave had never seen q white man,
said Muele, whose tribe thickly popu-
lating the river bank for many miles,
numbers over 1000 people. 1--WE
had not the slightest idea that such
beings existed. One day, some dozen
moons ago lit was on February IL,
1870, at the moment when the sun
stood right above our heads, flotilla
of canoes of form we had never seen
before, preceded by q canoe of extra
ordinary size, suddenly came into
view. In the swiftest part of the cur
rent they were quietly passing In
front of our villages. We were aston
ished to see that the men, even TO
their heads, were covered with white
cloths, and we thought IL very singu-
lar, for the richest chiefs we knew
wore only little rag made of banana
fiber; and tact that was absolutely
new to us, and upset our notions OF
humanity, was the sight Of two white
beings, yes, 80 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
90 suddenly appear upon our river?'
Their purpose could only be bad, for
suddenly they landed on an island OPP
posite US, instead of coming to our
shore, rs all people did whose inten-
tions were not hostile. At first, be-
fore we were able to see them dis
tinctly, we thought they were an ex-
petition from our enemies of Mobeks.
Our alarm drums sounded and we
crowded to our canoes, all ready for q
fight. But the clothing of the war
riors, the strange form Of their weap-
ons and the unheard- of aspect of the
white men soon undeceived us. Still,
we launched our canoes and rapidly
approached those of the unknown
strangers.
1.-THE older Of the two white men
had straight, gray hair, and his eyes
were the color Of the water. He
stood up In his canoe and held toward
US red cloth and some brass wire.
We still approached him, discussing
excitedly the meaning of his strange
attitude. The other white man Frank
Pocock, who was drowned 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 to at once at
tack these mysterious whites, who
had come from no one knew where.
"Then the battle began, and It was
the most terrible we had 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, obi what fetch gave
their weapons such wonderful power
Their bullets, made Of Q heavy gray
metal we had never seen before,
reached us at enormous distances.
Women and old men who were follow
ing the combat from the shore were
hit. The walls Of our huts were per-
forated. Some goats who were wan
dering FAR of 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 rs were killed and
wounded and others were drowned,
for the bullets knocked holes In some
Of our wooden canoes, which filed
and sank. Still we Kept fighting des-
perately, and we followed the white
beings some distance below our vii
lsges. Their band finally escaped as,
and raised large cries of triumph - we
ended the pursuit. We could not un-
derstand what they said"
Muele added that Mata Buike, the
chief Of the a-Ngala, exerted every
o<foSk 20 1tas<,a do h{s sp1nct ~..n~i~