Henry M. Stanley, the African explorer

Preface

"Strong in will, To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'*

Tennyson. " Ulysses."

Stanley's career is the history of the development of the Dark Continent. He has, indeed, been called the Columbus of Central Africa, but the title is inadequate. At the head of a long roll of honorable names, he has placed his own, — not by some mere chance of circumstance or fortuitous turn of fortune's wheel, but by dint of sheer determination " to seek, to find, and not to yield," by a rare courage, and a devotion to duty hardly short of heroism. He is more than a mere discoverer, for the scene of his many marvelous exploits has also been the center around which his highest hopes and deepest feelings have revolved. For twenty years he has been an African traveler— for fifteen, an African enthusiast.

But we must not suppose that Stanley was won

over to the cause of the Dark Continent in a mo-

v vi PREFACE.

ment, that his well-known feeling on the subject arose, like some love, " at first sight." When searching for Livingstone he detested the country and its climate, and despaired of the people. Livingstone, who laid down his life for Africa and the African, would reason with him, hour after hour and day after day, but to little purpose at the time. Stanley has told us himself that it was not until he penetrated Africa for the second time that he first awoke to the fact that large portions of the interior might repay an outlay of labor and money on the part of Europe. Then the bread which Livingstone had cast upon the waters was found indeed, for Stanley remembered the arguments of the Doctor, and a burning zeal to be up and doing for Africa and its people became the ruling passion of his life.

It must not be supposed that even this miniature portrait of Stanley's life is the unassisted work of the author. I have foreshortened the facts of many a bulky volume into that which now lies before the reader. The various letters and addresses of Stanley himself have been consulted, as well as his remarkable works, " How I found Livingstone," "Through the Dark Continent," and " The Congo, and Founding its Free State." To Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston &

PREFACE. yji

Co., the publishers, I tender my best thanks for their special permission to make extracts from these works.

And, although the needs of the many have naturally been preferred to those of the scientific few, an effort has been made to place the reader abreast of that geographical development of Central Africa with which Stanley has had so much to do. In a word, this work is intended to put before the general public an authentic and graphic sketch of just those features connected with the life of the great African explorer which help to make the portrait at once characteristic and true.

ARTHUR MONTEFIORE.

Bedford Park, W,

Chapter I

Denbigh, the birth-place of H. M. Stanley— His earliest years — Education — Emigration to the United States — Change of Name — A soldier with the Confederates — Taken prisoner — Return to England — Again in America — A Sailor with the Federals — Peace — To Europe and Asia — A Newspaper Correspondent — With the Abyssinian Expedition — The War in Spain 1

Chapter II

Bennett's telegram— The Interview at Paris— Stanley's commission and his great opportunity— Journey through Asia Minor, Armenia, and Persia— Voyage to Zanzibar —Zanzibar and its People— The New York Herald Expedition—The Work of previous Explorers and the possibilities before Stanley 14

Chapter III

The Start from Bagamoyo— The Route— African Roads— Useguhha— Tidings of Livingstone— Stanley's first experience of Fever— The Makata Swamp— Farquhar's Illness and Death— Ugogo, the Land of Extortion— Unyanyembe — Unyamwezi — Arab Traders — On the road to Ujiji— Shaw's Desertion and subsequent Death

ix

CONTENTS.

PAGE

— State Visit of the Sultan of Manyara — More tidings of Livingstone— "The Old Man at Ujiji "—Stanley's rush through the Jungle to the Tanganika. 31

Chapter IV

Entry into Ujiji — " Dr. Livingstone, I presume ? " — "Yes " — The Doctor's Travels and Trials — Expedition to the Rusizi — Return to Ujiji — Final departure for Unyanyembe — Livingstone and Stanley part — En route for Zanzibar — Royal Geographical Society's Expedition — Safe at Zanzibar, and successful 53

Chapter V

The British Expedition to Ashantee — Cape Coast Castle — The Gold Coast — Captain Glover's Force — Wolseley and his Staff — The British Army — Its Line of March — Battle of Amoaful — Dash upon Coomassie — The Capital of King Coffee Calcali — His Palace — Destruction of the City — Stanley versus Wolseley — The end of the Campaign 66

Chapter VI

Death of Livingstone — The Daily Telegraph and New York Herald Expedition — Stanley's new Commission — The Completion of all former Discoveries — Arrival at Zanzibar and departure for Interior — Striking a new Track — Death of Edward Pocock — Three days' fight in Ituru — Usukuma and Kagehyi — Victoria N'yanza and its Circumnavigation — M'tesa, Kabaka (Emperor) of Uganda — Stanley's Conversion of M'tesa — His famous Letter — History of the Uganda Mission 83

CONTENTS. x i

Chapter VII

across the dark continent, 1874-1877— Continued.

PAGE

Journey to Muta Nzige — Cowardice of Waganda — Retreat to Uganda — Stanley at Karagwe — Exploration of the Alexandra Nile — Arrival at Ujiji — Circumnavigation of Tanganika — The river Lukuga, an effluent — En route to Lualaba — Tippu Tib — At Nyangwe — Cameron's farthest — Terrible Prospects — Tippu Tib's Services — Difficulties and Dangers — Stanley Falls — Saidi's Rescue — Fight off the Aruwimi — Natives armed with guns — Stanley Pool — Livingstone Falls — Deaths of Kalulu and Frank Pocock — Starvation and Despair— Relief from Boma — The great Salt Sea — Round Africa — Home Again ! 105

Chapter VIII

Leopold II., King of the Belgians — An Interview — The International Association — Its aims on the Congo — Stanley's new Commission — Organization of Expedition — Boma — Vivi — Road-making — Stanley Pool — Native Objections to Treaties — Leopoldville — " Blood Brotherhood " — Explorations — Illness — Return to Europe — Net Results — General Character of the Congo Country 132

CHAPTER IX. Stanley, a state builder, 1878-1884— Continued

Return to Africa — "When the Cat's away" — The price of a Bullet — Leopoldville Retrogressive — Its Restoration — En route for Stanley Falls— The Upper Congo — Bolobo and Diplomacy — "The White Man's Medicine!" — Bolobo again — A Tropical Tempest — Stanley Falls — The plucky Scotsman — Down the Congo — Sir Francis de Winton— Stanley's return to Europe 153

Xii CONTENTS.

Chapter X. .▲ob

The European Conference — A new State — Stanley's Treaties with the Chiefs — Objects of the Conference — Free Trade guaranteed — French Territory in West Africa — The International Association and Portugal — The Congo Free State — 1,500,000 square miles ! — Stanley's Labors — King Leopold's Liberality — Administration of the Free State 169

Chapter XI

A Lull — Stanley's Critics — His Justification — Livingstone's Trials — The Fall of Khartoum and the State of the Soudan — Emin Pasha — His able Administration — The African Slave Trade and its Horrors — The Mahdi Revolt — Emin alone — His Rescue determined — The one Course, An Emin Relief Expedition — The one Man, Stanley 178

Chapter XII. The Relief Of Emin, 1887-1888

Organization of expedition — Tippu Tib — Ascent of the Congo — Yambuya — Off into the unknown — Silence and suspense — False tidings — Stanley's letters — Marching to Lake Albert — The eternal forest — Disease — Famine — Fighting and heavy losses — Fruitful Ibwiri — Hostile Baregga— The N'yanza— Emin 194

Chapter XIII

Emin's position — Stanley's return for the rear-guard — Its fate — Stanley again en route to the Lake — " Starvation Camp " — No news, bad news — A great rebellion — Emin and Jephson prisoners — Jephson's escape — Emin's arrival at Stanley's camp 215

CONTENTS. xiii

Chapter XIV. Page

Emin's doubts and decision — Surgeon Parke — The start for the coast — Stanley's illness — The Semliki Valley — Ascent of Ruwenzori — The " Albert Edward N'yanza " — Another new discovery — Mr. Mackay — Mpwapwa — Nearing the end — Entry into Bagamoyo — Emin's accident and recovery — A world-wide welcome 234

Chapter XVI

HEKRY M. STANLEY.

Chapter I. Early Years

In the northern division of the Principality of Wales there are many interesting and ancient towns, set in an environment of nature at once rugged and beautiful, which have played an important part in the history of the connection between the Teutonic and Keltic races. Yielding to none in point of historical interest or natural beauty, the town of Denbigh has added to its claims upon the respect of Britons, and, indeed, in this instance, of the whole world, by giving birth to the most intrepid and successful explorer of the age.

On a sloping eminence in the valley of the Clwyd there stands the town and what remains of the castle of Denbigh. The fortress — naturally — crowns the hill, and in its immediate vicinity, and at one time under the protecting shadow of its walls, there nestles the older part of the town. As civilization advanced, and the arts of war were replaced by those of peace, the growing community issued from its huddled home, and, "safe from war's alarms," raised the modern part of the town of Denbigh on the slopes of the hill and even in the valley itself. That valley forms a scene of uncommon beauty. On every side, save northward, the horizon is hacked into an infinity of form by the rugged peaks of the Cambrian range. In the distance, the summits of mountains rear their splintered crags above the rounded contours of the nearer hills. As the latter decline in height and become less imposing, they gain in richness and beauty, and the Clwyd finally runs through a gently sloping valley, enclosed by wooded hills.

At no time during the present century has Denbigh risen above the position of an ordinary market-town, and its general character has in no way differed from the accepted type— "dull and drowsy " on every day in the week save one — that of the market. The castle has long been in ruins, and within its ancient bounds, among the moss-grown piles of stone, there has arisen a group of cottages, inhabited by the poorer class.

Here begins the main thoroughfare of Denbigh, cautiously winding its way down the slope of the hill, and straightening out as it reaches the modern town and the level of the river valley. Standing in the castle grounds, one's eye takes in the whole of the town, with a moment's glance, as it lies below, and then travels along the sylvan beauty of the vale of Clwyd — onward and upward until it is arrested by the peaks and passes of the distant range, by the glistening crown of Snowdon himself. In a glance the eye passes from art to nature, from the cultivated wealth of the plain to the desolation of the mountain-top. There is an element of contrast in the scene, which is rare indeed in Britain.

Amid such surroundings Henry Stanley first drew breath, and spent his earliest years. But not as Henry Stanley. His patronymic was Eollant, afterwards anglicized into Eowlands, and his Christian name John. In after years, as we shall see, he saw fit to alter these names, and adopt the designation under which he has earned honor for both his native and adopted countries, and made his name " familiar in our mouths as household words."

John Rollant — H. M. Stanley — was born in the year 1841, and, be it noted, amid humble surroundings. His parents lived in the cottage of his maternal grandfather, whose name was Moses Parry, and who combined in his careful person the trades of butcher and grazier. A home had not been provided for them by the paternal grandfather, who was a fairly well-to-do farmer in the neighborhood, and enjoyed a considerable degree of local fame for his convivial propensities, and it is supposed that the old man, who was of an extremely careful if not parsimonious nature, disapproved of his son's marriage on the ground of improvidence. At any rate it is certain that the John Rollant, in whom we are interested, was born in Parry's cottage, and that his parents had taken up their quarters there from the first. This cottage was one of those to which reference has been made as standing within the ancient precincts of Denbigh Castle, and, in fact, the little quarter they formed was usually called "The Castle."

About two years after the birth of the child the household was broken up by the hand of death. Moses Parry and John Rollant, senior, died within a short time of each other ; the mother had to go out to service, and the child was looked after by a kindly neighbor who occupied another cottage in the Castle precincts. At the end of two more years the slender resources which paid for his support came to an end, and again a change had to be made. This time, however, the change was a radical one, for the child was sent to the Workhouse School of St. Asaph, a few miles distant from his birthplace. This was his first journey in life.

The years between 1845 and 1856, JohnEollant, or Rowlands as he was now called, spent in the little world of School, and from what can be gathered of his character when there, he early gave evidence of such powers as belong to a born leader of men. To an intelligence which was remarkably keen, he added a determined will and high spirit. As he rose higher in the School he assumed a command over his fellows which made him a ringleader in many a boyish escapade ; but be it added, to his credit, he was valued for his general good influence by the master, one John Williams. It is noteworthy that, even in these early years, he showed a preference for the study of arithmetic and geography, and thus gave promise of the brilliant business habits and geographical instincts with which, in later years, the world has been made so familiar.

It is pretty certain that John Rowlands ran away from school, though it is difficult to state what led him to take such a step. This happened in May, 1856. For a short time longer he acted as pupil teacher in a national school, of which his cousin was master. At this period he is described as "a full-faced, stubborn, self-willed, round-headed, uncompromising, deep fellow. He was particularly strong in trunk, but not very smart or elegant about the legs, which were disproportionately short. His temperament was unusually sensitive ; he could stand no chaff nor the least bit of humor." It is not surprising therefore that, after a short trial at teaching the " young idea," he threw up the task, and sought a more suitable outlet for his powers. He had eagerly read about foreign countries and the adventures of travelers, and it seems he early made up his mind to emulate their deeds. The first step had to be taken, and in his case this was an easy one. To tramp from Denbigh to Liverpool, even though he had but a few pence in his pockets, was a simple task for one of his determination and spirit. And so it came to pass that, at the age of sixteen years, John Eowlands found himself on board a sailing ship bound for New Orleans, the most brilliant and tropical, though not the most attractive, city in the United States.

On arriving at that city, the lad started on his search for work, and after a short time found it in the office of a merchant named Stanley. In his employer he found also a friend, and ultimately a father. For Mr. Stanley, who was childless, in course of time adopted him as his heir ; and it was in consequence of this that John Eowlands assumed the designation by which he has ever since been known — that of Henry Morton Stanley.

But, though his lines had fallen in pleasant places, the hopes of young Stanley were destined to be soon shattered. Mr. Stanley died suddenly and intestate ; relatives claimed his property ; and once more had the adventurous youth to trust to his own ready-wit and strong right arm for the means of existence. And although for the next two years or so there is no record of his doings, it goes without saying that, in the great Eepublic of the West, such as he would find no difficulty in earning his daily bread. And it is quite possible that Stanley might have drifted into some narrow groove, and there remained for the rest of his life, had not an event occurred which shook the Republic to its foundation, held the civilized world spell-bound with horror, and developed his adventurous and danger-loving nature to such an extent that Stanley has been a nomad and an adventurer ever since.

This event was the breaking out of the American Civil War.

Stanley, as a Southerner by adoption, joined the Confederate Army, and under General Johnstone fought in several battles, till, in that of Pittsburgh Landing, he was taken prisoner. With characteristic daring, however, he managed to escape — swimming across a river under a fusilade of bullets — and soon after returned to England and his Welsh home.

He visited his mother and various friends, but, owing to his being in a destitute condition, did not meet with that reception which is the customary due of a returning warrior.

Thence he proceeded to Liverpool, where for a while he was employed in a merchant's office. But his spirit had been stirred to its depths by the scenes he had witnessed when fighting with the Confederates, and, after a few months' experience of the counting-house, for the second time he worked his passage to the States.

This time he landed at New York. Obviously it was an awkward predicament in which he found himself on landing — an ex-Confederate — in a Federal State. With that readiness of resource, however, which has characterized Mr. Stanley in all of his many undertakings, he at once cut the Gordian Knot and enlisted in the Federal Navy. This was in 1863. He joined the Flag-ship, the Ticonderoga, and after a few months became Secretary to the Admiral. While fulfilling the duties of this office, he distinguished himself by repeating, on behalf of the Federals, the daring deed he had previously performed on behalf of himself.

He swam a distance of 500 yards under fire, and fixed a line to a Confederate steamer, thus securing her as a prize. For this act of gallantry he was made an officer. He took part in many subsequent engagements, the last of which was the attack made on Fort Fisher, in January, 1865.

At the conclusion of the war, the Ticonderoga set off on a cruise, and in 1866 was in the Mediterranean. Stanley took advantage of being in Europe to revisit his home, and as his circumstances were in so favorable a condition, the welcome assumed a similar hue. In the same year also he made an attempt to do some exploring on his own account, by a trip through Asia- Minor.

This excursion, which he undertook with two companions, ended in failure — due, be it noted, to the folly of one of his companions ; and in 1867 we find him again in the United States, acting as correspondent of the New York Tribune and other papers, in a military expedition against the Indians of the Far West.

It was on his return from this expedition that Stanley, with one companion, built a raft and floated it down the river Platte to its junction with the Missouri. This somewhat risky trip was but another step toward the inevitable end of all Stanley's various undertakings.

He was slowly but surely, and perhaps unconsciously, converging to the point where he would take his leave of civilization, and make for himself fortune and fame in the undiscovered regions of savage countries. His first commission, which would bring him face to face with the inhabitants of the Dark Continent, was at hand, and, although his path was not to lie among the Arab-ridden heathen of Central Africa, it led him as it were to the threshold of the scene of his subsequent career. Now, also, was to begin the connection with that great American newspaper under whose auspices, and with whose unstinted aid, he was afterwards enabled to accomplish so much.

On returning to New York from the expedition against the Cheyennes, he was appointed to the staff of the Neiu York Herald, as traveling correspondent. He wished for nothing better. The work was congenial, the roving commission which he received fascinating to a degree, and the salary of £600 a year eminently satisfactory. In a very short time he had orders to proceed to Abyssinia, for the purpose of reporting the doings of the English Expedition which had been despatched to that country, under the command of Sir Eobert Napier, who was subsequently raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Napier of Magdala.

Stanley found time upon his arrival in England en route to Abyssinia, to stay a few days in London, and see some of his Welsh relatives. It is remarkable that, in spite of his frequent renewals of the connection which bound him by the closestties to Wales, so many people should have been of the opinion that he was an American — not only bred but born in the United States. Even the New York Herald, upon more than one occasion, denied his Welsh origin ; and in reply to a claim made on behalf of the Principality for the honor, that journal stated : "Mr. Stanley is neither an Ap Jones nor an Ap- Thomas. Missouri and not Wales is his birthplace. " Other American papers followed suit, and the public generally were much mystified. But time, which reveals most things, has long since made it clear that, although America was the land of his adoption, Wales was that of his birth. And in America the truth of this has been accepted and acknowledged, time and again, in the most unreserved manner.

Stanley's career in Abyssinia was, from first to last, an unqualified success. Not only did he discharge his duties as correspondent with marked ability, but upon several occasions he made himself of great use to the officers of the English staff. He distanced the English correspondents by his graphic reports and the rapidity with which he forwarded his despatches to the coast. In fact, his account of the fall of Magdala was published in the New York Herald twenty-four hours before the intelligence reached London. In connection with this, however, and without in any way detracting from Stanley's personal ability, it must be remembered that he was being backed up by a millionaire, who spared no expense to obtain early news. The story of the Abyssinian Expedition is told by Stanley with a vivacity and vigor which makes the work read like a romance in "Coomassie and Magdala," published in 1874, and incorporating his experiences in the Ashantee

Expedition with those of the Abyssinian. So closed his first performance in Africa. No wonder is it that when, a year or so later, the opportunity arrived, Stanley was found, not only willing, but waiting, to renew his acquaintance with that continent of surprises.

Returning from Abyssinia, he paid another visit to his family and friends in Wales, and then the war in Spain required his presence. All through the cruel scenes which characterized the great rebellion of 1869 Stanley was a passive spectator — a quiet man with an active eye. He was present at the battles, at the sieges, at the wholesale slaughter ; for the second time did he see the ferocity with which an internecine war is waged, and the merciless spirit in which fellowcitizens and countrymen raise the cry of " No quarter/' How closely he studied the situation, and with what graphic power he described the result, the columns of the New York Herald revealed to a delighted nation. How nobly its proprietor recognized Stanley's merits, and how soon he afforded him the opportunity of making an indelible mark upon an age already impresssd with countless acts of valor and virtue, it is now time to explain.

Chapter II. Stanley's Opportunity

It was while resting at Madrid, after the fatigue of campaigning, that Stanley received the now historic telegram from James Gorden Bennett who was the son of the then proprietor of the New York Herald, and managed the paper for his father. On October 16th, 1869, he wired to Stanley in these words, ' ' Come to Paris on important business," and on the same day Stanley left Madrid for Paris — and for the great opportunity of his life. How the two met, and what transpired between them is more than a twicetold tale, but its interest is such that the salient points of the interview cannot be omitted here. Stanley may well be allowed to tell his story in his own words, and in his own striking manner.

On arriving at Paris in the dead of night u I went," he says, " straight to the Grand Hotel and knocked at the door of Mr. Bennett's room.

" 'Come in,' I heard a voice say. Entering I found Mr. Bennett in bed.

" ' Who are you ? ' he asked.

" ' My name is Stanley/ I answered.

" ' Ah, yes ! sit down ; I have important business in hand for you. Where do you think Livingstone is ? '

" f I really do not know, sir.'

" ' Do you think he is alive ? '

" i He may be, and he may not be,' I answered.

" < Well, I think he is alive, and that he can be found, and I am going to send you to find him. Of course you will act according to your own plans, and do what you think best— but find Livingstone !'"

On Stanley's referring to the great expense of the proposed expedition, Bennett replied,—

"Draw a thousand pounds now, and when you have gone through that, draw another thousand, and when that is spent draw another thousand, and when you have finished that draw another thousand, and so on ; but find Livingstone ! "

With such a commission, and such an employer, it is no wonder that a man of Stanley's caliber should have grasped this great opportunity with a determination to turn it to the best possible account. This was the tide in his affairs which

Stanley took at the flood, and so was led on to fortune. To hesitate was to be lost, to act promptly and with vigor was to succeed.

But it must not be supposed that this was the first time he had thought of Livingstone and his relief, or that Mr. Bennett had jumped to the conclusion in a moment that Stanley was the right man in the right place at the head of a Relief Expedition. There is no doubt that Stanley had for some time past been cogitating the matter in his mind, and had even approached the management of the New York Herald on the subject. Thus Bennett knew that Stanley was not only a tried traveler, and a man of great daring, but also that he was willing and anxious to take part in the relief of Livingstone. Details had been considered before, and at Paris the only question was that of the actual commission.

The year 1869 was one of stirring interest in the geographical world. And not of that world alone, for the fame of Livingstone had for two decades gone out into all lands, and the whole of the civilized world was wondering whether the great traveler was really dead or not. An expedition had already sought for him in vain, and although, in the spring of 1869, some letters from him had reached Europe, they had been written more than a year before. Autumn had arrived, and still there was silence, only broken now and again by uncertain rumors, which were worse than no news, for some said he was sick, some that he was dead — all agreed that, if he were alive, he must be in great poverty, and, therefore, unable to accomplish any exploring work. The Royal Geographical Society, ever to the fore in assisting exploration, and who had, so far back as 1855, awarded Livingstone the Patron's Gold Medal, were meditating his relief, and the Government had made a grant towards the same purpose. But the honor was to fall to the enterprise of an American newspaper, whose expedition was supposed to be meandering through Eastern Africa with no definite aim, and whose leader was merely that newspaper's correspondent !

For Stanley's orders were sealed ; his commission was to be kept a secret. However, before proceeding to Africa, he had to accomplish a great deal of preliminary travel in the interests of the Herald. He was present at the inauguration of the Suez Canal, and " did " Egypt ; thence he went to Jerusalem, and looked up the investigations of the Palestine Exploration Fund ; thence to Constantinople and the Crimea. Crossing the Black Sea and skirting along the north ern coast of Asia Minor, he arrived at Tiflis, and by way of Armenia reached Teheran. From there he visited Ispahan, Shiraz, and Persepolis, and at Bushire took ship for Bombay. The journey had been a dangerous one, and Stanley proved himself to be a good traveler by avoiding the many risks which, on every side, surrounded him. Similar expeditions had been attempted before, but most of them had failed, and in some instances, with complete disaster. Colonel Stothard and Captain Connelly had been murdered and Dr. Wolff, the father of Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, just managed to escape with his life. As a triumph over difficulties, and a revelation of sealed lands, however, Stanley's journey is not to be compared to that of Mr. Edward Ledwich Mitford, who, in the " forties," rode through, not only Asia Minor and Persia, but proceeded, at the daily risk of his life, across the Iranian Plateau, crossed the rugged uplands of Afghanistan, and on arriving in the Punjaub traversed the length and breadth of the Indian peninsula until he arrived at Madras. To have performed this journey with well equipped companions, and amid continual skirmishing, would have been a deed worthy of admiration, but as the performance of a single man who never met with mishap nor dealt a blow in self-defense, it deserves the highest praise.