The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-12-30
PENETRATED ITS DEPTHS
INFORMATION OF MUCH VALUE
TO CECIL RHODES.
THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILROAD SCHEME
Westward Of Tanganyika Sharp Found Race
Of Blacks lnconceivably Hideous Who
Fed Whenever Possible Upon
Human Flesh.
Human Flesh.
{St. Louis Republic.)


London, Dec. 29.-Arthur Sharp, who
has just returned to England after an
adventurous two years in Central Africa
with Il. Il. Grogan, tells this story:
What prompted ME to penetrate into
| Central Africa was that which prompts
men to travel-the longing for freshness
and change. England's routine grated on
ME. The Old World was too civilized to
provide any adventure and the question
came to be where we should go.
'Grogan had gone through the Mata-
belle rebellion, and only high pitch of
excitement would satisfy him. so we de-
cded on Central Africa. There we could
combine sport with usefulness, and per-
| haps something was waiting to be dis
covered. There was, at least, the chance
of gaining some knowledge that might
assist the Cape-to Cairo Railway project.
In our dreams we pictured an unrivaled
| journey of adventure. and, to a certain
extent, we realized it.
| FOUND CANNIBALS.
| AS preliminary we had few weeks
of rare sport in Mashonaland There we
dropped the cobwebs Of civilized routine.
| From Chinde we started ON our north
ward and inward march into the heart
/ of harbarisnl, and, as it turned out, of
cannibalism. Lake Nyanza we reached
| by way of the River SHE, along the
peninsula of British possessions that cuts
into the Portuguese territory. 1t took
us three weeks longer than we expected
| to reach Uiiji, on the German side of
] Lake Tanganyika.
/ Pushing on, we reached Lake Kivu.
We saw no Congo State officials. and
the country to the west of the German
| borders was in a state of utter dsor
! ganization. The westerly banks of Lake
| Tanganyika and the country for miles
| to the north of it are overrun by canni-
| halls of the most savage kind. They are
| known to exist for 5000 square miles
and number at least 10000. Their gross
barbarism and numerical strength pre-
/ vented Grogan and myself from making
/ "a prolonged stay in their country, rs
/ Leaving them we set our course for
| MuShari, having with us $50 blacks, 100
| sheep and Is goats. All the country for
| many miles north of Lake Kivu is a
| lava-covered soil; there are enormous
volcanoes almost continually in state
of eruption and very little water is to
Ibe had.
/ ''Some miles to the north of Lake Kivu
4 we parted. 1t was decided / should
| take the main road, or, rather, the low
| lying country, while Grogan was 10
| cross the high, avacovered hills, the ar
/ rangement being that we should meet
| on the south side of Lake Edward
/ Nyanza. Grogan set out with a number
| of porters and Azkaris, and had not
/ proceeded far when he came upon the
| grass huts of the canniba savages.
'They We're engaged in dancing, utter
| ing meanwhile wild screams. They were
| quite nude, of the negro type, but in
| fnitely hideous, with long, oval faces,
huge mouths and muscular bodies They
were armed with bows and arrows and
| gave GrOgan's party a warm time for
| three days. Grogan had only few
| Sniders with him, but successfully kept
| the cannibal horde at bay He man
aged TO get a message to me, and with
/ all speed, joined him, but by this time
/ the cannibals had retreated This was
| the first we had heard Of their exis-
| tence. So far as we could gather from
| the blacks, the cannibals were original
/ ly West Congo rebel soldiers. They had
| come from the coast and for generation
/ after generation had become more and
| more savage. The first cannibals were
| apparently Balaka people, who, in their
easterly march, fed on the original pop
ulation of Central Eastern Congo, till
now there is scarcely q descendant of
| the original population left.
| THRfEE UNKNOWN LAKES.
/ I'VE came upon heaps of dried human
bones ON our sea march northward, but
not caring to face the arrows of the cant
balls, we made a detour. In their retreat
| cannibal left woman and two chill
| dren. The woman's face resembled that
! OF wild beast more than a human be-
| ing, but the children were not nearly so
/ hideOus.
| I'm the Mushari country we came
upon three hitherto unknown lakes. each
| about sixty-seven square miles in ex-
! tent The water was brackish and un-
palatable, but contained an abundance
of fish
THE country between Kivu and the
| Albert Edward Lakes lis rough. but fer
| tile. There was no game of any kind
| to be seen and no animals of any size
/ apparently can live in this region.
/ Clearing the cannibal area, we reach
| ed fora, ON the east side of the Albert
| Edward, which we found to extend to the
| east III form of marshes. Beyond these
| we could see streams of boiling water
shooting into the air. Grogan and /
| again parted company at this point. We
We're now i'll British territory.
| 1.-The result of our journey is that we
| discovered these cannibals, established
the existence Of three lakes, found out
| that there is a great deal of fertile
country in that little-known region, made
careful surveys of the levels of the colin-
try, which viii, doubtless, be an assist
ance to the Cape-toCairo Railway pro-
ject, and added something fresh to
geographical knowledge"
i Adversely fiattereth no man." but