The morning news., 1888-06-20
THE AFRICAN MYSTERY.
6TANLEY'S SITUATION AMI
PROBABLE FATE.
AND

Views of Gen. Sanford-A Reassuring
Theory.
From the Nep York Herald.
If the Arab wasn't such born liar, If he
didn't hate truth as he does cleanliness,
there would be cause for despair in the re-
,,orts which some of them have just brought
10 the coast to the effect that Stanley lies
wounded in an African village, that the
natives have banded to destroy him and his
retinue, that half of his followers have de-
serted and left him to his fate, and that
Tippu-Tib has broken his pledge, like the
Arab that he is, and failed to send the con-
voy upon which Stanley relied to help him
through the wilderness.
But experience of the past has shown that
news of Stanlev that comes by word of the
Arabs mouth should occasion neither conf
dent hope nor inconsolable alarm.
For all this, though, there are not want
ing grave reasons why the message of
Stanley's condition, which has just reached
this country, should cause serious un-
eaSineSS.
SILENT FOR A YEAR.
It is now one year, lacking less than a
fortnight since Stanley bid a CHEEKY good
nv to his friends at Yambuyu and set out
Africa ''for the relief of Emin Pasha"
He was confident that he would reach
the Prussian hemmed in at Wadelai in
August or September at the latest OF last
year.
From the day that the daring explorer
left his camp on the Aruwhimi river, not
one thoroughly reliable word has been
heard of him or of any one of the little army
that he led. There have come no end of
rumors and reports, but not a single one of
these is found, on rigid examination, to be
worthy of belief.
On November of last year, two months
subsequent to the most remote limit laid
down by Stanley for the length of his peril
Gus journey, not sign of his whereabouts
had been discovered at Wadelai. Emin
Pasha, for whose succor, ostensibly at any
rate, Stanley had been sent on his hazard
ous travels, went out with a accommodating
party, but failed to find even the slightest
trace of the explorer. He sent this infor-
nation, under date of Nov. 2, from the
village of Kibiro, on the right bank of Lake
Albert Nyanza. His messenger arrived at
Zanzibar on May l; it required six months
of cunning and running for the swift-footed
courier, familiar with the lay of the coun-
try, to make his way through the difficulties
that hedge round the hero of Wadelai.
TRUST IN STANLEYS PLUCK AND LUCK,
And yet in the face of such discouraging
facts as these, men thoroughly qualified to
know whereof they speak, express perfect
confidence in the safety of Stanley and his
retinue Of 600 men with whom he started
from Yambuyu. This seemingly ill-founded
confidence appears to spring in most in
stances from a consideration of the in
vincible energy which the explorer has ex-
bibited in his previous ventures, and from
belief that the circumstances surrounding
the present expedition are not materially
of nc foV
for Livingstone.
That there is some ground for hope that
Stanley and his party have not met with
destruction in the wild of the dark conti-
nent transpires from some facts learned
few days ago from Gen. H. S. Sanford, who
is at present in the city. The prominent
part played by this former minister to
Brussels in securing the recognition of the
free state of Congo, his position at the head
of the African international association and
his intimate knowledge of the geographical
conditions of the country, give his opinions
on the matter both pertinence aud import
ance Gen. Sanford thinks it quite unneces-
sary to have recourse to romantic or tragic
suppositions to account for Stanley's delay
in reaching his destination. For his
safety" he said, II have not the least fear,
barring always, of course, the accidents
which may happen to any man in any coun-
try.
His journey up the Congo, " he continued,
'was veritable pleasure excursion. On
the waters Of that majestic river his way
led through a country of rarest beauty. He
preferred to penetrate to Wadelai by this
route for the very excellent reason that it
was much safer than to attempt to cross
from Zanzibar through a country teeming
with savage natives and more dangerous
Arabs. In the utmost comfort he proceeded
up the Congo to the mouth of the Aruwhimi
river Thera ha nSta bliShed CapU anI
then pursued his journey, still through a
country quite familiar to African travellers,
to the village of Yambuyu.
SAT this point began whatever serious
danger there lay in the expedition. From
here to Emin Pasha's station, on Lake
Albert Nyanza Stanley must toll through
an unbeaten, totally unknown wilderness;
but do not believe that there is any more
of serious peril in this part of his journey
than there would be for man amid the
more remote depths of the Adirondacks.
With his 600 mon, armed with repeating
rifles and equipped with all the most elab-
orate resources of civilized soldiers, he can
laugh at the scattered tribes of painted
savages who would attempt to oppose his
progress with such weapons as spears and
arrows. The only danger that could come
from the hostility of the natives would be
their refusal to furnish him with food and
supplies.
PERIL FROM THE SLAVE TRADERS.
"A real menace to Stanley's personal
safety, however, is the presence on the
Congo of the thousands of Arabian slave
traders These men are quick to see the
full meaning of Stanley's present expedi-
tion; they realize that should he succeed IN
Joining forces with Emin Pasha the coun-
try will soon be opened to European
commerce, before whose humanizing inhu-
ence the infamous slave trade would be
driven to the wall. Desperate at the pros
pect of this death blow to their source of
wealth, it is reasonable to suppose that they
are quite capable of giving the invaders
serious annoyance. That they would be
willing, however, to risk the vengeance of
Stanleys European sponsors should he and
his army meet with fatal injury at the
hands of the Arabs, L for one strongly
doubt. They could, though, very easily
hamper his progress by inducing the ma
tives to refuse to furnish Stanley with food
supplies" Aud this Gen. Sanford thinks
has been the principal element in causing
what looks like an ominous delay in the
march of the expedition.
EIGHT HUNDRED MILES OF MYSTERY.
He adds, however, that this delay has
been by no means sufficiently extended to
cause any particular alarm. Between
s~.N