Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-05-17
Stanley in the Woods.
He Describes the Congo Forest.
Plunging fer Months Through Almost
Impenetrable Underbrush lnfest-
ed by Treachcrous DwarfS,
ReptiI, S, Sayages and Wild
Animals.

The Edinburgh Scotsman of April 2
prints an interesting letter from Henry
Nj. Stantiey, dated in Central Africa, Sept.
4, 1888, and addressed to A. l.. Bruce, a
son-in-Iaw of Dr.. Living gstone, who lives
in Edinburgh. 1t adds nothing essential
| iy new to the letter from Stanley recer t.
ly sent from London by cable, but tn
following account of the journey through
the forest region to the grass land Will
| bear reprlnting:
"Whlle III England considering the best
routes open to the Nyanza (Alberr) i
| 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
ns marching, tearing, blowing, cnt-
ting through the same continuous
forest. 1t took us 100 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 halt of that month of November,
1887, will not be forgotten by US. OJto-
Der will De specially memorable to us for
the suffering we endured. Our officers
are heartily sick of the forest, but the
ioyal blacks, a band of 130, followed me
onse az ain into the wild, trackless forest,
with its hundreds of iucouveniences, to
assist their commrads of the rear column:
Try and IN tsIne some of the These lpcon-
veniences. Take thick Scottish oopse,
dripping with rain; imagine this copse
to be mere underground, nouriss ed
under the impenetrabe ST ade of ancient
trees ranging from LOG to $50 feet high;
brlers and thorn5 abundant; lazy GREEKS,
III rendering through the depths of the
jungse, and sometimes deep afhueIt of
u great river. Imagine this forest in all
stages of decay and growth-old trees
falling, leaning petilousiy ov r, fallen
PROSTATE; ants and insects of all kinds,
eIZss and color, murmurIng around; mon
key yes ana chin paIzaes above, queer
noises of birds and animals, crashing in
the jungle As troops of elephants rush
away; dwarfs with poisor ed arrows
securely hidden behind some buttress or
in some dark recess; strong, b brown- bod
ed sborigines with terribly sharp spears,
standing poised, still as dead stnmp-;
rain patteriug down on you every day IN
the year an impure atmosphere, With its
dread consequences, fever and d. sentery;
gloom throug hout the day, and dark
ness almost palpable throug hout the
night; and then, if you will Imagine such
forest stret ching the entire dis
tance from Plymouth to Peterhead, you
will have a fair idea of some of the in
conveniences endured by us from June
20 10 Dec. s. 1887, and from une l, 1888,
to the present date, to con 5inse again
from the present date till about Dec. 10,
1888, when hope to pay a last farewell
n thA Gnnun fnreSt Now thar We
gone through and through this forest
region | only feel = surprise that [ did
not give a greater latitude TO my ideas re-
spectins it's extent; for had we thou. ht
of it, il is only what mig ht have been de-
duced from our knowledge of the great
sources of moisture necessary to supply
the forest with the requisite sap and vi
tality. Think of the large extent of
South Atlantic ocean, whose vapors are
blown during nine mon this of the year in
fhis direction. Think of the broad Con-
go, varying from one to sixteen miles
VIDE, which has stretch of 400 miles,
supplying aaother lmm easurable quaint
ty of moisture 10 be distilled into rain
and mist and dew over this Unsuitable
forest, and then another 600 miles of the
Aruwimi or Itura 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 tnat the Congo forest
covers such a wide a. ca.
"UntIl we set foot on the grassland,
something like fifty miles west of the
Albert MAMA, we saw nothing that
looked ike smile or a kind thought or
moral sensation. The aborgines are
Wild, utterly savage, and incorrigibly vim
dlctlve. The dwarfs-called Wambutti-
are worse still, far worse. Animal life is
likewise 80 wild and shy that no sport is
to be enjoyed. The gloom of the forest is
perpetual The face of the river, reflect
ing its black walls of vegetation, is dark
and sumber. The say one half the time
every day resembles wiGtry sky in Eng
land; the face of nature and like is fixed
and ioyless. If the sun charges through
the back clouds enveloping 1T and kind
lS wind brushes the masses of vapor be
low the horizon and the bright light re
veals our surroundings, it is only to tan
| taIise US with a short-lived vision of
/ brilliacy and beauty of verdure.
| Emerging from the forest finally, we
| all became enrsptured. Like E captive
unfettered and set free, We reioiced at
| sighU of the blue cope of heaven, and
freely bathed in the warm sunshine, and
aches and gloomy thougnts and unwhole-
some ideas were bapished. You have
! heard. how the London citizen, after
months of devotion to business in the
| gaseous atnos phere of that great city,
! fails into rapture at sight of green fields
! and hedges, meadows and trees, and how
his emotlons, erowding on his dazed sen
! ses, are indescrIbabls. Indeed I have
seen Derby day oEce, aud l fancied
| ba,, that 7 R11ly 20
| bearded, hoary-headed fellows, though
| well dressed enough, behaved in the most
| idiotic fashion, amazing me quite. Well,
| Oh this day of December we became sud
| denly emitten with madness in the same
manner. Had you seen Us you would
have thought we had lost our senses, or
| that Legiou' hsd entered and taken pos
| St sslon of US. We raced with our loads
over vide, nntenced field like an Eng
| lish park for the softness of it's srsssl, aud
| herds of buffalo, Gland, roam antelope,
stood Oh either h.nd with pointed ears
and wide eyes, wondering at the sudden
| wave of human beings yelling with Joy as
they issued out of the dark depths of the
| forest
ave poured out on the plain frantic
| multitude, but after an hour or two We
| became an orderly column. In the
emptied villages of the open country we
| proceeded TO regsle ourselves on melon,
rich favored bananas and plaintaIns and
great pots full of wine. The fowls, IN
aware of the presence Of hungry mob,
were knocked down, plucked, roasted or
broiled; the goats meditatively browsing
or chewing the cud. were suddenly seized
snd deca pitsted, and the grateful aroma
of roast meat grat!hed our senses. An
abundance, prodIgsl abundance, of the
good things had awaited our eruption in
to the grsss land. Every village was well
stocked with provisions and even luxur-
les long denied "a. Under such fare the
men became most robust, diseases healed
as if by magic, che wesk became strong,
sud there was not a goee-goee or chicken
heart left. Only the Bsbusesse, near rhe
main Ituri, we're tempted 10 resist the
invasion.
Human Beings Mangled.
KALANAz DO, Mich.-A switch engine