The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-04-24
LIFE ON THE CONGO.
Stanley's "reminiscences of His
Search for Livingstone.
The Attack on His Enfeebled Band by the
Barbarous Cannibals, the Bangala-A
Shower Of Arrows.

In the evenings when we put in shore for
the night to cut wood, my chief, Stanley,
would often narrate some of the stirring
events which occurred during his memora-
BILE expedition to relieve DR.. Livingstone,
or his still more thrilling voyage through
the Dark Continent. l remember one par
tlcular occasion-when the rising moon
threw long. silver ripples across the purple
waters of the Congo, and the soft evening
airs famed the smolderng patches of grass
on the surrounding hills into fame, which
cast in fantastic relief the weird shapes of
the rocky uplands and the wondrous variety
OF the tropical vegetation.
Stanley, dressed in his campaigning CO.'S
tune of brown jacket and knickerboekers,
with his broad-crowned peak cap pushed
off his forehead, seated on log, smoking
his briar pipe by the campfire. whose ruddy
glow fell on his sunburnt features and
lighted up the characteristic lines of that
manly face, his eyes fired with the reminis-
cences of the glorious past, held ME SPELL
bound as l listened to his thrilling narra-
tive OF the attack in II on his en-
feebled but ever ready little band, by
those barbarous cannibals, the Bangala.
How this Verltable armada OF war-canoes
bore down upon his small craft; how he
ran the gauntlet of these intrepid warriors
TO the safe reaches beyond, through an
atmosphere darkened by the flight of
arrows and quiyering spears-thiHning their
ranks as he passed with deadly hail from
his rifles. Mr.. Stanley was always busy
whether ashore or afloat. The top of his
little cabin in the after-part of the En-
Avant formed his table, and l have no
doubt great deal of the interesting
material which he embodied in his book,
" The Congo and the Founding of Its Free
State" was penned on the cabin of the En-
Avant Occasionally he would leave off
writing, put down his pencil. and take
careful survey Of the surroundings; some
times an old crocodile, disturbed by the
paddle-wheels in his slumbers on a sand
bank, would waddle down to the waters
edge, and perhaps swimming toward us, as
If to get close view of the intruders, would
offer an inviting shot, of which Mr. Stanley
generally took advantage.
We passed on, creeping slowly upstream,
landing here and there to cut dry wood for
fuel or obtain provisions from the native
villages which we sighted on the river
banks. Our reception by the natives was
generally friendly, but the large. thckly
populated villages OF BolobO evinced keen
desire for war, and demonstrated their ag-
gressiVeness by firing their old tlint-lock
guns at our little fleet as it passed. Stanley
had previously made a station here, and
white officer was at present in charge Of it.
The history of this post had been an un-
happy one. Only recently all the station
houses had been burned to the ground, and
a great quantity of stores intended for the
new up-river stations, and other valuable
property destroyed. The relations between
the villages and station became very
strained. and it was only after two weeks that
Stanley's characteristic tact triumphed
over the suspicious of these natives and
convinced them of our friendly intentions,
and also succeeded in making them pay an
indemnity for their unprovoked attack.
Stanley having called Ibaka and the other
Bolobo chiefs to friendly council, pres
ents were exchanged, and the natives
promised in future TO maintain peace with
the white men.
Our little fiotilla again started up stream.
We were, however, delayed little on the
way, in order that our engineer might re-
pair the damage caused to the A. L. A. by
an old hippopotamus who had imagined
this little steamer to be an enemy of his,
and had made four large holes through the
iron plates of her hull with his tusks before
his pugnacity was appeased. Fortunately,
they we're able to get her to the banks be-
fore she filled with water.
Early in September, 'S3, the blue smoke
curling up over the tail tree tops an
nOunced to us that we were approaching
native settlement. This was Lukolela, and
in the neighborhood of our landing-place
the new station was to be built. crowd
of natives was gathered ON the beach
awaiting our arrival, and as soon as Stan
ley landed a slave was sent through the
village to beat the old chiefs iron gong and
summon all the head men to paIaver.-
From six Years in the Wilds of Central
Africa" by E. j. Glave, in st. Nicholas for
ADril