New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-27

t0clPd to the Eml0 1dcnd hclicl i-NP'"
his fortunes were associated Win tioSc VI i
unfortunate rear-guard. 1t was, however nv n''
first experience in Africa. for he had passed ScN-
era years previously in the service OF inc Oon-0
yroo Static and had learned several OF inc IAN
ouooes spokcn on the great river, besides peconi-
inc tborouohlv acquainted with the tral's al"
characteristics Of the various tribes, ana faNins
,oroe cvncrience in managing them lhous" "
,,or,. ,ounc man he was even then quite veteran
odvorturer his restless spirit having u"hlhe MS
bovbood forced him out into the world all" ''"'"
him 10 New-Zealand and then TO boiico' IA
of which countries he had r0uSheo It, H','''7"
In all manner of trying experiences "|'i'i'S i%"
been ouick in pcrcciving the young man 'iic',"
md had him among his assistants anu "icn '"'
Fmin Relief Expedition was apouU 10 nc VI
ronzcd. and Ward applied for service 'he ieaueI
nromptlv accepted his offer. lie was lelC DIT
Yunvomba with Major Bartteot bohhy' IIoup
and Jameson hut he was not associated WIFI 'ie
disasters that befell the rear-Suard, having oeeh
disnatcbed to the coast TO communicate "l'h INC
committee at home, by cable, when the moh'nS
,vent by and brought no news of Stanley
So il happened that the young taVcler was
nearly the whole time virtually thrown on his o"el
resources lie was scantily provided win arms az"
ammunition. His escort, if so it could be called
opd cupidity of the savage and man-ea,lnS trlpeS
ho,reen Stanley Falls and the coast, but not large
enonub TO hold out much hope of successiul re-
;stoncc in the event of q serious attack nN
tho natives The difficulties of the way "cic
ANONYMOUSLY aggravated by the raids OF the h"oS'
,,bcb had excited all the river tribes TO Jury anu
coused item to look with deep suspicion upon al
,,bite mon For "StanlcyS Children theN III
dood entertained comparatively friendly lcclliss'
but little advantage could be derived from ''iS'
inasmuch as they generally refused TO heheNc '"t
assurances given them, insisting that MI wan"
and his marty were Arabs, and either coming o"'
in their war-canoes 10 fight him, or warning Hi"
ofr from all the landng-placcs Wlth lou" '"io"'S
On the Upper Congo cannlballsm Is ii'q"'" '''
encountered Mr.. Ward found 1t necessary " ~
through the ceremony of observation-disclosures WIZ"
q man-eating chief on one occaSl"h " go
other the landing of his party 1rlsh'ehcu """N
q whole village, and next morning inc '''''' -
the village sought to propitiaie the "hlo s,' ''-'
nv presenting TO him live doc ana a P'oc "
human flesh for breakfast. Even whch 'hc Pc''P"
were not cannibals, their dietary houo"e WIZ
conducive 10 embarrassment, as wheh MI ""i''
arriving at friendly village after ia'l3ui"S
march WAS offered basket of squlrmihs cdcI
pillars for his supper.
In this book he has brought toEc'I'i '
tarts and cxpcriences drawn from his long resi-
dence upon the Congo before the EN-" i''i'
Txpeditjon. One circumstance he mentions when
has indeed been often noted before put VIM"
has never been seriously studied; we refer TO 'hc
.,ronc nropcnsity among many sayages to i"uhu
secret societies-a kind of Masonry. Then he says
,bat Among the BakongO tribes exists Tie c'Ie
,,onv of the Vkcrnba a Masonic ORDER EMU llS
,bo initiated to certain privileges over muhSc-
.ota, mr. the uninitiated. All the lads oi ten
nv twelve years of age are eligible ana me
majority of them pass through the eiucatlol!H
course which lasts from SIN months To TWO NtdIs'
according to the tribal custom IL Is eN'f'n'c'S
doubtful whether any white man has ever reg"
admitted 10 the real meaning OF This ana sIu'i',l
secret associations the parallesm oil "hich WIZ,
the ancient Mysteries can escape no cuuc"'@"
observer That there is religious sSih'oIiSHl
involved is highly probable, but Mr. war" "''S
80, o,roor IN have made any effort 10 penetrate
the secret of the Congo Masonic oNef' anu '''' 80
,o no regretted. since he Stems 10 have enjoyed
rather special opportunities HIS IouincSlh- "o'h
down and up the river were full of peril some
,imes from the natives, sometimes from the
1,irnonotami who were liable 10 take oNencc ~
,ho intrusion of the boats, and TO charge them
fnrousy with disastrous consequences to tie iran
copoes For hundreds of miles every ElllaIc
had its warriors out in canoes awaiting the a"Nchl
Of the strangers. and often the latter were WEI
coined with howls of Mani. Mani! lNca' =
Neat which signiied the readiness Of the saF"I's
TO add the white men and their pafH ~ 'i'
tribal lardcr Had these hungry cannlhals hhd
the courage of their appetites. Mr.. N"fd Is S"'s-
fed that lie would long ago have Deem ea''h
Rut somehow they hcstatcd always TO pceih 'He
attack and even when they OuthuAoiI'o W.
strangers ten or twenty to ore, theS huh@ ""'N
ond confined themselves to threats and insults
Mr. Wards book is full of interesting things ana
+brllinp cpisodcs. but the general purport OF hi>
eypcrience fully bears out what was already ou'
too apparent, namely. that the establishment OF any
.n,roach TO peace and order in Central Africa
unst continue TO be impracticabe So long a. th'
Arab influence is tolerated. StaIlcys alliance
with Tippoo lib of course did much to Strengthen
That sinister influence. and ii has never pce'
satisfactorily shown that the game was worth t'
candle But whatever temporary adVah'd6 >
MIGHT have been secured by that unnatural alliance
il IS more and more certain every year that Inc
Furonean and the Arab influences cannot co-eAiS
barrnoniously Not that the European influence
can so far he regarded as IN any degree superior
morally 10 that of the Arabs for While the hquo
traffic remains unprohbited a disgrace must at
,ach 10 the European Governments that sanction
IL distncuishable i'll essential respect from ina
,,bicb j. connected with the slave trade. IL
debauch whole tribes deliberately with vile Sln
or to seize and sell them into Slaycy-wmch Is I'm
moro Infamous of these courses? one is If
Christian method. the other IS the Mahomc''l
method: and between them Central ana lii'ora
Africa are both being depOpulatcd ana at In
same time all the natural obstacles TO CIVILIZATION
are increased thOusandfold. MI. Ward doe
not enter at any length upon these burning qncH
lions, but he gives plenty Of facts upon VINO
10 base opinions. When he left there the silN
trade and the liquor trade were both hourlShlhI
and nobody doubts that they are nourIsihhS SUI
for nothing has been done to stop either
MIR. Ward appears to think that SO long as IN
ivory trade continues the slave trade VIII cor
,inuc the latter being a sort of appendix 10 Ia
Lamar LII INC elcnlant Mcrc cNtinct The prInclp0