The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-02-16
STANLEY'S JOURNEY.
Some Of the Horrors Of the
Congo Black Forest
NOW 70 DEAL WITH MuT'hv.


HEART ~ ~ DARK CoottDeoe-
nnis Bey's Pssatasa.
zAEusAa. Dec ls---Ons of IL most in
terestang experiences ever passed through
Vas the marching and camping with STAN
ley and Emin Pasha from our FIRST meet
ing-place. II Msuwa, TO the coast Not
only Was il most interesting 70 spend sew
erai days In the camps OF these iiiustrious
African chaSActers; 70 be daily witness Of
1he strange camp HE OF the motley multi
tade OF their followers. OF the remnant o.
the Emin Pzshs relief expedition: Of the
Egyptians and Soudaness and their native
wives, returning with Emin and Casati
from the lost province, and Of the many
Wanyamw ivory porters and others who
had Joined the caravan for sale conduct TO
the coast: but /, was . coveted privilege in
deed 70 sit ct the same table every evening
with Stanley and Emin, Casati. Stairs.
Parke. Nelson. JephsOn and Bouny, and
after dinner 70 smoke and chat with them
about their strange experience, and 10 in
terviev them for The columns Of the New
York World
vas particularly struck when FIRST
found myself face to face with Mr.. Stanley,
under his paiayer shed at Msuwa. as de-
scribed m my previous letter, with his
healthy, robust appearances. l was ex-
pecting to see . man prematurely old.
worn out and enfcebaed by the innumer-
able attacks of African fever he has sus-
tanned and the accumulated effects Of the
hardships OF nineteen years, off and on, Of
African exploit His hair and unustAche
are gray. IL is true, but apart from that the
explorer does not look day older than
his eight and forty years. He II . man
slightly below the medium height but
weighs much more than one would be
likely ct frst sight to guess. His normal
weight Il about l75 pounds. He looks like
. hard. stocky man Of the Phil Sheridan or
StonewAll Jackson type. and strikes one
ON first appearance as being good yet for
two or three more such expeditions Is the
relief and rescue of Emin Pasha- He
nevertheless suffered much on the expe-
dition.
NEARLY roIsoxED.
In the Congo forest" he told me. when
the whole force was reduced to eating
fungus. berries and whatever they could
scrape up in the forest, one day found
tree Of luscious fr uit II looked something
like semi transparent dollhouse pear
particularly luscious am usually very
careful about eating unknown fruits and
berries tn Africa; but this fruit looked SO
good-snd then, . furnishing man. you
know, has ceased 10 Be reasonable being
THAT l ate and ate without reserve In
very short sime began to expsrience Pc
culiar sense Of pressure about the top OF
the head. and the drst thing knew my
heed was In cheese press and III ths evil
imps Of the Congo forest were twisting and
tugging At the screw. / thought my head
would simply crack, like walnut, under
the awful pressure: then l commenced to
vomit, and for = while was deathly sick.
/ finally came around al right. but l had
had narrow escape from poisoning. and
had experienced an entirely novel sensa-
ton"
TIE FOREST or DEATH.
Mr. Stanley considers the relief Of Emin
Pasha far and away the most difficult of all
his African achievements. There was
nothing in the expedition Through the
Dark Continent 10 compare with the fright
full experience OF the great and gloomy
Congo forest" said Stanley. Had We
made the passage through that valley Of
the shadow OF death bat once. its horrors,
its deaths, its starvation, its miseries and
depressing gloom would remain Embedded
on my memory for oil time - the blacklist
nightmare Of eli my experiences in the
Dark Continent, but had 70 pass through
and through il altogether no less than
four times before We got clear Of il Not
one of Us will ever forget it to our dying
day. Day after day the dripping rain, the
saturated forest, the sodden ground: and
halt the time not even the duh. leaden sky
above was visible through the damp ceiling
of the thick forest trees over our heads.
Looking like veritable evil spirits in the
half light were the ugly dwarfs. with their
tiny bows and poisoned arrows. shooting
at US from their lurking places. Is We
hacked and hewed our way.
THE wANEurri.
At first we regarded the magnificent, rot
hellied and asrociousiy ugly little wretches
with a good deal Of contempt What could
they do against such = people ~ We. with
our hreech-ioaders9 All but they soon
taught us 10 respect them. IS man after
mans fell victim 10 their poisoned arrows.
They came near getting my first officer.
Lieutenant Stairs. He carried the point OF
one of their arrows in his breast for four
teen months before IL came away. One
inch closer 10 the heart and il would have
killed him.
These dwarfs are called Wambutti They
are an utterly savage and vindietise little
people, allied to the Aka and the Bush
men OF the South Bantu Bashmen would,
perhaps. be their proper racial description.
TaiE TO Stairs or Jeplsson about them. They
wIll give you some adventurous incidents.
Yes. indeed, continued Mr.. Stanley, car
RED away by these "reminiscences OF the
Congo forest .'it Is q fearful region. full of
horrors. First OF all | expected to pass
through il in about . couple of weeks lie
was an utterly unknown region. however.
and this Was mere conjecture on my part
ffrroo TlB-
"whai about Tippoo lib. Mr.. Stanley:
was he . traitor. do yon Think"
Mr.. Stanley shook his head. "Circum-
stances we're 100 much for Tippoo Tib. he
said Il wouldn't care TO say he Vas .
traitor. tie certainly didn's carry out the
agreement made with him IN Zanzibar.
still should hesitate 10 say that he de-
hhe-ateiy betrayed nss trust TIE nais-
ehlei-Enakers were Nxaxi. sslim-b hin No
manned ard others Of TIppoo's kinsmen.
Ask Mr.. Benny about TIqpoo lib and his
failure Ia Supply the carriers agreed upon.
Bonny knows the Whole story. He re-
msiaed with the rear guard waiting for
these carriers . whole year. sou Know.
while the advance forced q way through
the Congo forest GO the Alasrs Nvanxa-"
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