Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-04-26
ST1NLEy'S HEROTC MARCH
Through the Horrors Of Mid-Africnn
Forest.


Through the Horrors Of Mid-African ~
Forest.
HIS OWN STORY or ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY
DAYS or GLOOM AND SUFFERING, WITH
COMFORT AND PLENTY At THE END.
From his letter to Mr. Bruce of Edinburghl
While in England, considering the best
routes open TO the Nyanza (Albertj, |
thought / was very liberal in allowing my
self two weeks march TO cross the forest
region lying between the Congo and the
grass land but you may imagine our feelings
when month after month saw us marching
tearing, ploughing, cutting through that
same continuous forest IL took us 1850 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
done up" September October, and half Of
that month of November, 1884, will not he
forgotten by us October will be specially
memorable TO us for the suiferings we en-
dured. Our officers are heartily sick of the
forest, but the loyal blacks, a band of 1870,
followed me once again into the wild, track
less forest, with its hundreds of inconven-
fences, to assist their comrades Of the rear
column. Try and imagine some of these
Inconvenience. Take thick Scottish copse,
dripping with rain imagine this copse to be
a mere underground, nourished under the
impenetrable shades of ancient trees, rang
ing from 100 to 1S0 feet high briars and
thorns abundant; lazy creeks, meandering
through the depths of the Jungle, and some
times deep aiuent of great river I'm
agine this forest and jungle in all stages of
decay and growth-old trees falling, lean
ing perilousy over, fallen PROSTATE ants
and insects of all kinds, sizes and colors
murmuring around monkeys and chin
panlees above queer noises Of birds and
animals, crashes in the junges as troops Of
elephants rush away dwarfs with poi
soned arrows. securely hidden behind some
| huttress, 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 atmos
phere, with its dread consequences-fev
and dysentery gloom throughout the day,
and darkness almost palpable throughout
the night and then, if you will imagine
such forest extending the entire distance
from Plymouth to Peterhead, you will have
a fair idea of some of the Inconvenience
endured by us from June % to Dec }, 1887,
and from June |, 1888 TO the present date,
to continue again from the present date till
about Dec 10, 1883. when hope then to say
a last farewell to the Congo forest Now
that we have gone through this forest re
gion, only feel surprise that | did not
| give greater latitude to my ideas respect
ing 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 the 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 "A stretch Of
400 miles, supplying another immeasura-
ble quantity Of moisture, to be distilled into
rain and mist aud dew over this Unsuitable
forest and then other six hundred miles of
the Aruwim or Iturl itself, and then YOU
will cease to wonder hat there are about
$50 days Of rain every year in this region,
and that the Congo forest covers such a
wide area.
Until we set foot on the grass land, some
thing like fifty miles west of the Albert
| Nyanza, we saw nothing that looked like a
smile, or kind thought or moral sensa
ton. The aborigines are wild, utterly saw
age, and incorrigibly vindictive. The
! dwarfs-called Wambutti-are worse still,
far worse. Animal life is likewise so wild
and shy that no sport is to be enjoyed. The
! gloom of the forest is perpetual The face
of the river, rejecting its black walls of
vegetation, is dark and sombre. The sky
one half the time every day resembles
winter sky in England the face of nature
and life is fixed and ioyless. If the sun
charges through the black clouds envelop
ing it, and kindly wind brushes the masses
of vapor below the horizon, and the bright
| light reveals our surroundings, it is only to
ELI al II. L.. r
brilliancy and beauty of verdure.
Emerging from the forest finally, we all
became enraptured. Like captive unfet-
tered and set free, we rejoiced at sight of
the blue cope of heaven and freely bathed
in the warm sunshine, and aches and gloomy
thoughts and unwholesome ideas were ban
ished. You have heard how the London cit
izen, after months of devotion to business in
the gaseous atmosphere in that great city,
falls into raptures at sight of the green
fields and hedges, and how his emotions,
crOwding on his dazed senses, are indescrib
able. Indeed, | have seen a Derby day
once, and | fancied then that | only saw
madmen, for great bearded, hoary- headed
fellows, though well dressed enough, behav
ed in "A most idiotic fashion, amazing me
quite. Well, ON this 9TH day of December
we became suddenly smitten with madness
in the same manner. Had you seen us you
would have thought we had lost our senses
or that Legion" had entered and taken
/ possession of us. We raced with our loads
over a wide unfenced field like an English
park for the softness of its grass. and herds
of buffalo and roam antelope stood ON either
hand with pointed ears and wide eyes, won
dering at the sudden wave of human be-
ings, yelling with JOY as they issued out of
the dark depths of the forest.
On the confines of this forest, near vii
lage which was rich in sugar cane, ripe la
nanas, tobacco, Indian corn and other pro
auctions of aboriginal husbandry, we came
across an ancient woman lying asleep. |
believe she was leper and an outcast, but
she was undoubtedly ugly, vicious and old
and being old she was obstinate. | practiced
all kinds of seductive arts to get her to do
something besides Grossly mumbing but of
no avail. Curiosity having drawn toward
us about hundred of our people, she fas
tened fixed eyes ON one young fellow
smooth faced and good looking-and smiled.
caused him to sit near her, and she became
voluble enough beauty and youth had
tanned the beast" From her talk we
learned that there was a powerful tribe,
called the Banana, with great king, to
the northeast of our camp, of whom we
might be well afraid, as the people were as
uuueIOus dS grass. ilhu we ledTlleu lllS
ten days earlier, might have become anx-
ious for the result but it now only drew a
contemptuous smile from the people, for
each one, since he had seen the grass land
and evidences of meat, had been trans
formed into a hero.
We poured out on the plain frantic null
ttude, but after an hour or two we became
an orderly column. Into the emptied vii
lagos of the open country we proceeded, to
regale ourselves on melons, rich favored
bananas and plantains and great pots full of
wine The fowls, unaware of the presence
of hungry mob, were knocked down.
plucked, roasted or boiled the goats, medi
tatively browsing or chewing the cud, were
suddenly seized and decapitated, and the
grateful aroma of roast meat gratifed our
senses. An abundance-a prodigal abund-
ance of good things had awaited our erup-
ton into the grass land Every village was
well stocked with provisions, and even lux.
uries long denied to us. Under such fare
the men became most robust, diseases healed
as if by magic, the weak became strong,
and there was not goee-gOee or chicken
heart left. Only the Babusesse, near the
main lturi were tempted to resist the in
vasion
Governor Knapp.