Six years of adventure in Congoland ... With an introduction by H. M. Stanley. Illustrated

Front matter

SIX YEARS OF ADVENTURE IN CONGO-LAND BY E. J. GLAVE ONE OF STANLEYS PIONEER OFFICERS With an Introduction by H. M. STANLEY ILLUSTRATED LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY LIMITED §>t. Sunsstan'j-f Sous- Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. TO MY MOTHER Thanks are due to Messrs. Harper & Bros. and The Century Company for the privilege of reprinting portions of this book which have appeared from time to time in The Century Magazine, Harper's Young People and St. Nicholas. CONTENTS. •xr.

Chapter I

Longing for foreign travel— African Exploration— Receive orders to join Stanley — Good-bye to old England — The Kroo-boys— The African coast- Arrival at the Congo "River- The overland march— All struck down by fever— Death of a companion— The snuff taking Ba-Kongo— Meeting with Stanley on the upper Congo. PAGr.s 15-36

Chapter II

With Stanley on the "En Avant"— Steaming up River— Stories around the Camp fire— The fight at Bolobo— Declaration of peace— Arrival at Lukolela — Curious superstitions— Blood brotherhood— Alone at Lukolela— Learning the native tongue— ghastly signs at mbunga— hippopotamus hunt. pages 37-57

Chapter VI

Buffalo hunting— Caught in a storm-A spirit in a rifle barrel— The medicine man's retreat-Extraction of bullets— Friendly chat with the natives— a human sacrifice— The Executioner— Horrors of slavery— The young chief Ndobo— His despotism and fate. pages 115-133

Chapter VII

Short hand speech— "Nyo"— Congo orators— Legal Discussions -A duel— The sleeping sickness— Gorillas— Natural punishments— Fights amongst animals— A guinea fowl story— An ill-tempered hippo— The Congo Free State— Lukolela ABANDONED. FJ.QV.S 134-151

Chapter VIII

A trip down stream— Robbed by a hippo— Liebrechts at Bolobo Station— " Ibaka"— Charm worship— "The Red Opera Hat"— Charged by a buffalo— The baby's bath— Taken by a crocodile— Abandon Bolobo— Visit to Bangala— Native Carriers— A trip to England. pages 152-169

Chapter IX

A new Expedition— Back to the Congo— Renewal of old acquaintances— Elephants' moonlight stroll — Established at Bukute— African youngsters— Bienelo— Elephant hunting— Euelu of Monzole— The Signal Drum— The Baumbe— Bukunu the young Nganga— Ivory trading— Bienelo's enemy— In Command of the "Florida." pages 170-187

Chapter X

Lulungu Pirates— A Row with the Natives— Slave Markets— The Lufembe Raiders— Thk Balolo— Elephants at night— A rude awakening — Malinga village— JIy brother Isekeaka— Natives ask for help— Ivory trading— Slavery in the Ikelemba. pages 188-206

Chapter XI

Return to Kinsassa— Hunting in Stanley Pool— The "New York"— Stanley— The Emin Bey Relief Expedition— Tippu Tib— My cook "Mochindu"— The Fierce Balui— Bienelo's fight— Bagging an elephant— Cannibal warriors— AVar— Barbarous customs— Fishing— Killed by an elephant. pages 207-227

Chapter XII

Arab Slavery*— Tippu Tib— Persecuted natives— Ivory— Thompson's hunt at night— a trip up the Ruki— Attacked by cannibals— Diving for a wounded crocodile—Athletic meeting— "Nep"— Progress on the Congo— Suppression of* Slavery*— Overland to the coast— Congo Railway— Home Again. pages 228-247 AN

Introduction

BY MR. H. M. STANLEY. Mr. E. J. Glave, the author of this book, is one of those young Englishmen who, in 1883, Avere sent to me for service on the Congo, by the Chief of the Bureau of the International Association of Brussels. I soon recognized in Mr. Glave those qualities for which I was eagerly searching in the applicants for service, and which Avere absolutely necessary in a pioneer. He was tall, strong, and. of vigorous constitution, Avith a face marked by earnestness and resolve, and when I began questioning him I was agreeably sur prised to find his sentiments equal to his appearance. His period of probation at Stanley Pool was therefore short. I was in need of a chiof for a new station that was to be built at Lukolela — a place about three hundred miles above the Pool, and I selected him.

On reaching the locality I pointed out to Mr. Glave the site of the future station, and certainly nothing could be more unpromis ing and more calculated to damp mere effervescent ardor than the compact area of black forest — raising its tall head two hun dred feet aboA*e the bank — and shadowing so darkly the river's margin — but Mr. Glave regarded it with interest, and a smile of content, and accepted the responsibilities then and there intrusted to him with a pleasure not to be suppressed. We landed and made fast under the broad leafy shadows, turned to and commenced to chop the forest giants down, in order that a little sunshine might be let down upon the site. When this was done, Ave prepared to advance up the river, leaving the debris of the forest littering the

INTRODUCTION.

. 12 ground, and with the stern patriarchs seemingly challenging the slight, pale-faced young man and his little following to attack them. I was absent for a few months up river, and as I descended my mind often reverted to young Glave left in the woods of Lukolela. For in those early days of Congo pioneers it was rare to meet a man who could tackle work for the mere pleasure in work. Most men found that work was a bore, and took the earliest opportunity to sail home again after their too brief visit, and I more than half suspected that possibly the young Englishman had by this discov ered that the climate did not agree with him, or that pioneering had lost its charms. But Avhen I came opposite Lukolela Woods I curiously examined the extent of tree-clad bank, and long before we came to the landing-place Ave found that the clearing had been vastly increased, and a large sunny area Avas reA-ealed, and a commodious house flanked by rows of neat huts was approaching completion.

It was not, however, until we stood in the middle of the clearing, and roughly computed the huge stumps of trees and looked narroAvly into the details, that Ave could quite realize what energy and good Avill had been devoted to effect the change. From the view I then obtained, I always regarded Mr. Glave as one avIio in the future Avould probably surpass his opportunities. He also shoAved me note-books Avhich revealed an artist, as well as a future literary aspirant. But I regret for his sake that the opportunities which specially suit him are not so frequent as his merits deserve. His conscientiousness, his inflexible determination to do the most that can be done in a given period, the love with which he sets about it, and the absorbing interest it has for him, make me Avho knoAV his worth, feel sorry that he cannot find the peculiar hard task for which he is so fitted, and wherein he could be so happy.

Many people have called me hard, but they are always those whose presence a field of work could best dispense with, and whose nobility is too nice to be stained with toil. Glave is not one of these, but a man who relishes a task for its bigness, and takes to it with a fierce joy. In the meantime, however, let him indulge his literary aspirations, and for relief handle his pen and pencil in

INTRODUCTION.

. 13 delineating some of his early experiences in African pioneering. I think he can do it well, to the pleasure of many stay-at-home readers in parlor and school, on the farm and at the counter, for as every one cannot go to Africa, why may not Africa be brought to them as is here done by my friend, Mr. E. J. Glave. Hknry M. Stanley. "bunduki sultani ya bara bara." (the gun is the sultan of africa.) IN SAVAGE AFRICA

Chapter I

A BOYS AMBITION. Longing for foreign travel — African Exploration— Receive orders to join Stanley— Goodbve to old England— The Kroo-boys— The African coast— Arrival at the Congo River- The overland march — All struck down by fever— Death of a companion — The snuff taking Ba-Kongo —Meeting with Stanley on the upper Congo. Very early in life I made up my mind that I would some day see for myself the wonderful countries that I read of in books of traA*el and adventure that formed the whole of my schoolboy library. I lived in imagination in strange countries and among Avild tribes — my heroes were all pioneers, trappers, and hunters of big game ; and after I had eagerly turned over the pages of Stanley's search for Livingstone, and followed Avith breathless attention the narra tive of his thrilling journey.

"Through the Dark Continent," I Avould close the book and wonder whether it would ever be my good fortune to cross the seas or live under the tropical sun. I decided within myself that I Avould make my own way in the world, away from the beaten tracks of civilization. I Avas quite prepared to go anywhere, and, if there had been any demand for my services, Avould have volunteered Avith equal alac rity to join expeditions to the North Pole or the South Seas. But I remember that, even at school, Africa had a peculiar fas cination for me. A great map of the " Dark Continent" hung on the walls of my class-room ; the tentative Avay in which the geographers of that day had marked down localities in almost unknown equatorial regions seemed to me delightful and mys terious. There were rivers with great estuaries, which were traced on the chart for a few miles into the interior and then dribbled away in lines of hesitating dots ; lakes with one border firmly inked in and the other left in vaguest outline ; mountain ranges to whose very name Avas appended a doubtful query ■ and territories of AAThose extent and characteristics, ignorance was openly confessed bv vast unnamed blank spaces.

This idea of travel was always present to me, but very soon after I left school and had to suffer the, to me, distasteful experi ence of office-work, the realization of it seemed to grow more and more improbable. Many dreary months passed on. I hated the foggy London streets and the ways of city life and longed only for the time of my deliverance, without knoAving who could help me. I had no friends in any way connected with exploring expedi tions in any part of the globe. Still, here Avas I in this great city of London, whence expeditions were constantly dispatched to the remotest parts of the earth ; and I reasoned that members must frequently be wanted, and sometimes at a moment's notice, to join some perilous enterprise. If I could only get my name noted by the proper authorities, I might by chance be sent in an emergency.

At that time several influential and philanthropic gentlemen, earnestly interested in Stanley's wonderful explorations in Central Africa, and recognizing the mutual benefit that would accrue from the opening up, by civilization, of the heart of Africa, had formed COLONEL STRAUCH. 17 themselves, under the royal patronage of King Leopold II. of Bel gium, into a society entitled " L'Association Internationale Afri caine." Stanley, having taken a few months' rest to recuperate his health, enfeebled by illness and hardships during his great journey through Africa, was now again on the Congo River, in com mand of a large expedition under the auspices of this new society, and was engaged in founding along the course of the river, a line of garrison stations which should form the nucleus of a government destined, ultimately, to rule these vast territories so aptly described as the "Dark Continent."

I found out that this association had its offices in Brussels, and so I sat down and patiently laid siege to these gentlemen — I bom barded them with letters and applications ; for a long time there was no result, but one day, to my intense delight, I received a communication from the long-suffering secretary. It was very brief — a bare acknowledgment of the receipt of my applications, with the intimation that there were " No vacancies," and that at any rate they needed only experienced men — as I was only nine teen years of age at that time I certainly did not fill this require ment. This might have disheartened some, but it had the con trary effect on me. The mere fact of the secretary taking any notice of my letters was enough. A small ray of hope had fallen on my path, and the future appeared less dark after the receipt of this letter which seemed ominous of success some day.

A breach had been made in the dead walls of indifference that barred the way to the realization of my ambition, and I applied myself again Avith renewed vigor to my task of letter-writing. At last, one memorable day, I received another letter, this time to the effect that the v-ice president of the society, Colonel Strauch, would be at the Burlington Hotel. Cork street, London, at nine o'clock the following morning and requested me to meet him there. I had finally gained my point. How well I remember pacing up and down Cork street for hours before the time appointed for the momentous interview. The hour arrived. I was at once shown into the rooms occupied by the colonel, who received me in the kindest manner. He conversed with me for some time upon the nature of this African enterprise, and described, Avith the utmost candor, all the worst features of a pioneer's life in such a country — the hundred ills to be contended Avith, the fevers and other sicknesses to be guarded against, the incessant watchfulness the white officer has to exercise when surrounded by savage and superstitious natives, and lastly the small reAvard to be gained after years of hard work and anxiety.

But if the colonel had painted the prospect in even darker colors, he would have been unable to dissuade me from fol loAving out my plan. I told him that I Avas determined to go, and Avas prepared for anything. When I left him, hoAvever, my chances did not seem to have advanced much, as the colonel could not definitely promise me an appointment, and Avould commit him self only to a pledge that he Avould bear me in mind if any opportunity offered. A few days after this interview, I again commenced writing let ters, so that my name might not be forgotten. I received, one Saturday morning, a letter bearing the Brussels postmark. It was from Colonel Strauch, asking me if I was prepared to enter the service of the African International Association and to start from Liverpool on the folloAving Tuesday morning.

" Yes," I answered, by cable, without hesitation. Of course I could. I really belieA^e that rather than submit to the incessant worry of receiving and answering my pestering communica.tions he had gaven me the appointment. It was awkward, certainly, that the intervening day being Sun day, little time was left for saying good-by to my friends, or get ting together any sort of a well-selected outfit. On the other hand, my friends were always prepared to hear of my departure, my determination to travel through foreign lands was well known to them, and they would be satisfied with the briefest adieus. Monday was indeed a busy day. I was con vinced, from what I had read, that the elaborate kits furnished by enterprising outfitters in London were of little service in the trop- THE AFRICAN COAST. 19 ics, and that an accumulation of unnecessary baggage was the thing to be avoided.

So I confined myself to the purchase of a very moderate kit ; but, being compelled to rush from one store to Another to get the different articles — here to purchase gun and rifle and cartridges and pistol belt; at another place, boots and leggings, and then to some outfitter's for my stock of clothing suitable for the tropics ; what with this and the numerous friends to whom I was compelled to bid good-by, I found my time fully occupied until I left by the midnight train for Liverpool. On Tuesday morning I was steaming down the Mersey on board the good ship "Volta," bound for the port of Banana at the mouth of the Congo. The letter in my pocket from the African Interna tional Association instructing me to proceed to Central Africa and place myself under the orders of Stanley was a keen satisfaction to my boyish hut ambitious spirit.

I found among my fellow-passengers others whose destination was the same as mine; there were some Swedish and Belgian officers engaged by the association, and also three Englishmen, Milne, Edwards, and Connelly, seafaring men who had traveled all over the world. We four fellow-countrymen naturally became very intimate on the voyage, and hoped that our fortunes would not be separate when we reached our destination. Seven days' steaming brought us to the picturesque island of Madeira, Avhere we anchored only a few hours, and then made for the African shores ; and in another six days we drew in toward -the low-lying coast, whose tall palm trees we had plainly seen for some time on the horizon, and cast anchor opposite the town of Sierra Leone. Finding that there was nothing to detain him at this port, after a few hours the captain weighed anchor, and we dropped down along the shore until we reached moorings abreast of one of the villages of the Kroo-men.

Here the ship's cannon was fired to announce to the natives our arrival — and the report, as it boomed over the placid sea, was the signal for great activity on shore. Hundreds of black figures rushed to the water's edge, launched their dug-out canoes, and, in a few minutes after our signal had been fired, were speeding over the surf toward us, filling the air Avith their excited jargon and laughter. As soon as a rope ladder could be thrown over the ship's side they scrambled on board. Never were human beings more fantastically attired. Fashion here seems to insist on variety, and no two men Avore clothes of the same cut or color. Among the crowd I noticed a feAv whose elegant taste was evidently much admired by their fel lows. One, whose sole garment Avas a pair of brightly striped bathing-drawers, had covered his woolly skull with the brass hel met of an English Life-Guardsman ; while another dusky Hercules had squeezed his massive frame into a drummer-boy's coat, the tails A VISIT FROM THE " KROO-EOYS." of which dangled just below his shoulder-blades, the grotesque ness of the costume being heightened by his wearing a red plush "Tam o'Shanter" bonnet.

A third, who strutted our decks with conscious pride, was wearing a lady's black Cashmere dolman and a tall silk hat. It seemed to me at first that these extraordinary people must have just returned from looting some gigantic second hand clothes store. I learned afterward that cast-off garments of all kinds haA*e a ready market among these people ; whole cargoes of assorted costumes are shipped to this coast and exchanged by the white traders for African produce. These "Kroo-boys," as our strangely attired visitors are called on the Avest coast of Africa, are the laborers ahvays employed by the trading houses on the coast and by the steamers. THE KROO-BOYS. 21 Captains of ships are commissioned by the traders down south to engage men for them, on the outward-bound voyage. Some times a boat will ship as many as four hundred Kroo-men des tined for the traders down the coast in need of labor; and the African coasters which leave Liverpool short of hands, make up their full crews by the addition of Kroo-boys to each department.

The men hired by the traders are shipped in gangs of twenty or thirty, each gang being in charge of a head man who brings them back at the expiration of their time of service, which is usually one year. They have a curious fashion of select ing for themselves Euro pean names, and in order to prevent any mistake arising from the inability of most Europeans to tell, off-hand, one negro from another, they wear these names cut into metal badges slung round their necks like large baggage checks. "KROO-BOYS" IN FULL DRESS. This excellent plan enabled me to discover that for the honor of this visit we were indebted to such distinguished names as "Pea-soup," "Bottle of-Beer," "Lee Scupper," "Poor-Man-have-no-Friend," and several other aristocratic cognomens bestowed on them by mariners who visit these shores.

Another of their peculiarities interested me greatly. The ordinary passenger starts with well-filled trunks, whose contents have a tendency to waste away, the longer the voyage lasts, but I noticed that our new acquaintances each brought with them an empty box, which, when carried down the gangAvay-plank on the head of Mr. Bottle- IN SA VAGE AFRICA. of -Beer or Lee Scupper, bulged open with a hundred unconsidered trifles, gleaned by industrious fingers from decks and cabins. A few days after we had shipped our new hands, we were lying in the mouth of the Niger. The " Volta" was to remain at Bonny three days, to discharge and take in cargo, and here our small band of embryo explorers first placed foot on the shores of the great continent which was to be the scene of our future experiences. We wandered about the small settlement of European traders and then passed on to the natives' quarters on the outskirts.

What a miserable first glimpse we had of Africa and the Africans. These wretched, filthy huts, rudely thatched with grass and bamboo, Avith their still more wretched inhabitants, the half intoxicated groups of listless natives, who watched our progress through the village, with bleared and sAvimming eyes, told AA*ith painful eloquence the demoralizing effect on the savage of some of the products of our civilization. A goodl)- part of every cargo shipped to the coast is composed of cases of a fiery spirit which is freely given to the natives in exchange for their palm oil, palm nuts, ivory or beeswax. As the Avhite men's settlement itself is bright and prosperous, with its solid white houses, the contrast Avith the degradation and squalor of the natives is rendered all the more saddening. We saw the same scenes all along the coast, as- Ave went in and out of a number of small ports whose names were once famous or infamous in connection with the slave-trade.

We noAv were making our Avay south, hugging the shore and anchoring only when trade offered. The long voyage Avas in this way relieved from monotony, and every day's incidents formed a fresh budget of news to be discussed in the cabin at nightfall. What stories were told! What extraordinary adventures the most of us met Avith in our brief trips ashore. We had two enthusiastic hunters in our party who were excep tionally well posted in all matters pertaining to sport, especially the slaying of big game. But heretofore their lives had been where such knowledge availeth nothing. No one knew so well as they the habits of the wildest beasts • how, if opportunity offered, to track them to their secret lairs - " D UKE HENSHA W. " 23 when and where to catch them ; and, when caught, how to cook them.

They had with them shot of all sizes and guns by the best makers, with all the most recent improA ements. As yet they had not fired a shot, but if a chance occurred we should see ! Parbleu ! It was at Bonny that a fitting opportunity presented itself. Rumors reached us as we lay in the stream, that there was excellent shooting in the surrounding country. AAvay started our friends, early one morning, fully equipped, everything neAv — guns, game-bags and costumes, pistols and knives. All day long we missed them from the ship and it was only late in the afternoon that we saw them putting off from the shore. Ex pectation ran high on board. Every one speculated on the result of the day's sport, and when they marched up the gangway, broiled red as lobsters by the tropical sun, and holding up in triumph the body of a small kingfisher, Ave felt that intelligence and skill could do no more.

For myself, I Avas most interested in studying the curiously diverse types of natives met with in the different ports we touched at. At old Calabar, a visit to one of the chiefs in that district made a great impression on me by its fantastic quaintness. This old fellow was living in a fine, large, plank house Avhich had been originally made for him in Europe and sent out in sections to be put together on his ground. I found him seated in a large room profusely decorated with cheap mirrors, china ornaments, and large, gaudy oleographs. Numerous clocks chimed and struck the hours from each of the four walls. "Duke Henshaw" (the name by which the chief was known), in different to all this grandeur, was seated on the floor smoking a long clay pipe, and at the time of my visit was attired in a bath towel.

While I was gazing about me, hardly able to realize the full absurdity of the picture, I heard myself addressed in the choicest phrases by the old Duke, and, in tones Avhich Avould not have sounded amiss from a Piccadilly "dude," he urged me to accept his hospitality. He then told me, when he noticed my surprise, that he had received the advantages of a European education— and that although he once wore broadcloth and stiff collars, he now preferred his costume light and airy and Avith no starch in it. Our stays at most of the trading-stations were so brief that I rarely attempted to go ashore, but, while we took in cargo, would lean lazily over the bulwarks and watch the swarm of dug-out canoes which crowded around the vessel, laden with monkeys and par rots, cocoanuts, pineapples, bananas, and a hundred varieties of vegetables Avhose names Avere then unknown to me.

We had been forty-five days on board when the captain drew our attention to the color of the water through which the vessel was moving. "That is the water of the Congo," said he, and far out into the blue Atlantic we could see the turbid, muddy stream thrusting its way and refusing to mingle with the waters of the ocean. And soon the Volta was plowing her way through a mass of tropical vegetation littered over the surface of the sea in every direction, the waters growing tawnier and darker as we steamed slowly in toward shore ; at last when within a few miles of land we were able to perceive our destination at the mouth of the Congo. For there in the distance glistened the low-lying, Avhite-roofed little settlement of Banana Point, which was at this time the general depot of all supplies for the interior.

The large steamers, loaded Avith merchandise from Europe, discharged their cargoes at this port to be transshipped to smaller vessels and con veyed up the Congo. Here we disembarked AAdth all our belongings, and were hospitably entertained at the French trading house, where we had to wait for the small steamer which was to take us up the river. A very uninteresting place, Banana— a narrow tongue of sand stretching into the sea and a few plank built houses and stores of the European traders, and rows of huts occupied by the black employees ; with utter absence of vegetation, the glare of the sand and whitened houses, dazzles and hurts the eyes, and were it not for a constant sea breeze, the stifling heat would be unbearable. It was a pleasant relief the next morning to find ourselves steaming up the dark Congo River toward Boma.

At Boma we found a busy settlement of traders, over Avhose stores floated the flags of England, France, Holland, and Portu- WORD FROM STANLEY. 25 gal. Gangs of negroes were discharging the cargoes of the small river-steamers which lay along the wharves. Here I experienced the unpleasant introduction to that univer sal pest — the mosquito. Sleep Avas utterly impossible. As Boma was not equal to the sudden demand made on its hospitality, our party had to lie on the floor, each rolled in a blanket. We hardly recognized each other the next morning, so swollen and altered were our features. Word reached us at Boma that Stanley was anxiously waiting for new men, up river, so we embarked and continued our journey at daybreak next morning. The growth on the banks of the river, between the mouth of the Congo and Boma, is generally low-lying mangrove swamp or sere grass, the land gradually trending aAvay in the distance in ranges of green hills.

From Boma to Vivi these hills approach nearer and nearer the river, until finally they pen the waters in a gorge varying from one-half to one and a half miles in breadth. The current becoming swifter and stronger, our little steamer had to battle her way through stretches of Avild and broken water. As toward evening we steamed around a point within view of the station, the busy little white-roofed settlement on the crown of Vivi Hill contrasted pleasantly with the grim and weather-beaten appearance of the surrounding uplands. This station had been Stanley's base of operations during the passage of his expedition through the lower reaches of the riA*er, and was now the down-country depot. The strongly built maga zines, well stocked Avith all kinds of stores, proA'isions, merchandise for barter, boat-gear, arms, and ammunition, bore evidence of how thorough had been the foresight of Stanley in equipping his expedition.

Above this point a succession of rapids, whirl pools, and perilous channels, render the stream unnavigable, and an overland march of two hundred and fifty miles is necessary before navigable waters are again reached at Stanley Pool. There are sections of this part of the river, howeA*er, upon Avhich boats can be used for a few miles. At Vivi our stay was short ; after one day's delay we received our stores for the march overland to Isanghela, they consisted of a few tins of preserved meats, a spoon and a knife for each man, some medicines, a little cloth to buy fresh provisions from the natives on the road, and of course arms and ammunition. Thus equipped, we Avere to set out for lsanghela, and go thence to Stanley Pool. Before daybreak, on the day of our departure, we Avere up and impatient for the start.