The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-05-22
A GREAT FOREST.
STANLEY'S PASSAGE THROUGH
AN AFRICAN JUNGLE.
The Explorers Vivid Description OF
the 16O Days Spent in Its
Gloomy Shade Amiu
Many Dangers.

The following account of the journey
through the forest region to the Grass
Land is very interesting:
"While in England considering the
best routes open to the Nyanza (Albert) ]
thought I was very liberal in allowing
myself two weeks march to cross the for.
rest region lying between the Congo and
the Grass Land, but you may imagine
our feelings when month after month saw
us marching, tearing, plowing, cutting
through that same continuous forest. II
took up 160 days before we could say:
THANK God, we are out of the darkness
at last At one time we were all
whites and blacks-almost 'donc up
Our officers are heartily sick of the forest,
but the loyal blacks, band Of 130, fol
lowed me once again into the wild, track.
less forest, with its hundreds of incon-
veniences, to assist their comrades of the
rear column. Try and imagine some OF
these inconvenience. Take thick Scot.
tish copsc, dripping with rain; imagine
this copse to be mere underground,
nourished under the impenetrable shade
of ancient trees ranging from 100 to $50
feet high; briers and thorns abundant;
lazy creeks, meandering through the
depths of the jungle, and sometimes
deep affluent of great river. Imagine
this forest and jungle in all stages of de.
cay and growth-old trees fall.
ing, leaning perilously ever, fallen
PROSTATE; ants and insects of all kinds,
sizes and colors, murmuring around;
monkeys and chimpanzees above, queer
noises of birds and animals, crashes in
the jungle as troops of elephants rush
away; dwarfs with poisoned arrows Sc.
curely hidden behind some buttress or in
some dark recess; strong, brown-bodied
aborigines with terribly sharp spears,
standing poised, still as dead stumps;
rain pattering down on you every other
day in the year; an impure atmosphere,
with its dread consequences, fever and
dysentery; gloom throughout the day,
and darkness almost palpable throughout
the night; and then, if you will imagine
such forest extending the entire dis
tance from Plymouth to Peterhead, you
will have fair idea of some of the in
conveniences endured by us. Now that
we have gone through and through this
forest region only feel surprise that /
did not give q greater latitude to my
ideas respecting its extent; for had we
thought of it, it is only what might have
been deduced from our knowledge of the
great sources of moisture necessary to
supply the forest with the requisite sap
and vitality. Think of the large extent
of South Atlantic Ocean, whose vapors
are blown during nine months of the year
in this direction. Think of the broad
Congo, varying from one to sixteen miles
wide, which has stretch of 1400 miles,
supplying another immeasurable quantity
of moisture to be distilled into rain, and
mist and dew over this Unsuitable forest,
and then another 600 miles of the Aru.
wimi or Ituri itself, and then you will
cease to wonder that there are about one
hundred and fifty days of rain every year
in this region, and that the Congo forest
covers such wide area.
"Until we set foot on the grassland,
something like fifty miles west Of the AL
bert Nyanza, we saw nothing that looked
a smile or kind thought or moral SEN
sation. The aborigines are wild, utterly
savage, and incorrigibly vindictite. The
dwarfs called Wambutti - are worse
still, far worse. Animal life is likewise
so wild and shy that no sport is to be en-,
joyed. The gloom of the forest is per-
petual. The face of the river, rejecting
its black walls of vegetation, is dark and
sombre. The sky one-half the time every
day resembles wintry sky in England:
the face of nature and life is fixed and
ioylo9s. If thesun charges through the
black clouds cnySIoping it and a kindly
wind brushes tn masses of vapor below
the horizon and the bright light reveals
our surroundings, it is only to tantslize
us with short-lived vision of brilliancy
and beauty of verdure.
Emerging from the forest finally, VIC
all became enrapted. Like a captive un-
fettered and set free, we rejoiced at sight
of the blue cope of heav zen, and freely
bathed in the warm sunshine, and aches
and gloomy thoughts and unwholesome
ideas were banished.
"Had you seen US you would have
thought we had lost our senses, or that
Legion had entered and taken posses
sion of us. We raced with our loads over
a wide, unfenced field Qike On English
park for the softness of its grass, and
herds of buffalo, Gland, roam antelope,
stood on either hand with pointed ears
and wide eyes, wandering at the sudden
wave of human beings yelling with Joy as
they issued out Of the dark depths of the
forest.
"We poured out on the plain a frantic
multitude, but after an hour or two we
became an orderly column. Into the
empty villages Of the open country we
proceeded to regale ourselves on melon.
rich-havorcd bananas, and plaint tains,
and great pots full of wine. The fowls,
unaware of the presence of a hungry
mob, were knocked down, plucked,
roasted or brolled; the goats, medita-
lively browsing OF chewing the cpd,
were suddenly seized and decapitated,
and the graceful aroma Of roast meat
rratifcd our senses. An abundance, va
prodigal abundance, of the good things
had awaited our eruption into the grass
land. Every village was we'll stocked
with provisions, and even luxuries long
denied to us. Under such fare the mcns
became most robust, diseases healed as if