Stanley and the white heroes in Africa; being an edition from Mr. Stanley's late personal writings on the Emin Pasha relief expedition ...

Front matter

(emin pasha.)

STANLEY

AXD THE

Preface

'HE arrival of Henry M. Stanley from the coast of Africa after nearly three years' absence in the interior, again arouses the enthusiastic attention of the civilized world, who look with eagerness for his accounts of the history and results of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition which he conducted to a triumphant end. In this substantial volume this want is supplied and by following the hero's own language. But a proper introduction to and understanding of the great African problem requires that the intensely interesting work which has been done by his companions or predecessors be also related. For this end, libraries containing hundreds of volumes on the subject of discovery and explorations in Africa have been ransacked for the materials of what is here presented ; and this statement of the authorities consulted does not include special biographies, works on missions, or the many periodicals from which information has been derived. In addition to the material thus accessible, volumes not always obtainable in libraries have been procured elsewhere. We feel justified in the assertion that every possible source of information has been made to contribute to the pages of this volume.

The above statements will also bear out the assertion that few subjects command more attention at the present day than this very one of the explorations of the Dark Continent. . It may be urged, on the other hand, that "of making many books there is no end," and that since there are many in the libraries published upon this subject, another is unnecessary. But there is this point to be considered : Such libraries are not accessible, except in the large cities; and even there, no one has so complete a collection on this special subject as the sources to which we have had access. Shall one who wishes to know what has been done in this part of the world,

purchase the volumes in which that information is contained?

vii

VUl PREFACE.

It would require a small fortune ; the early works of Livingstone and Stanley alone are published at $5 per volume, and several of them are in two volumes each. Again, some of the other books are rare, and would be *' cheaply purchased at their weight in gold," although some portions of their pages would rather cause the average reader to value them at their weight in lead, for heavy reading.

But even in the cities, there is need for such a work as the present. Shall the reader who wishes to be well-informed upon all the issues of the day devote precious weeks and months to the perusal of hundreds of volumes, to searching through back numbers of periodicals for information which has not yet found its way into any but the most recent books, when in a single volume he may find all that he cares to know?

The authors of the earlier works have embodied in them the results of researches which the world cannot afford to lose — geographical, ethnological, botanical, zoological information at first hand. Such information the present volume does not pretend to include in anything like its original form ; for the simple reason that space does not permit. If the recital of the stirring adventures of these great explorers, from the earliest to the latest and greatest, excites in you the desire to know. more of them, turn to their own volumes, and listen to what they would teach you of the minutioB of the Dark Continent, its- botany, its zoology, its water supply, its vast deserts, its mineralogy, etc., etc.

No one can tell Stanley's or Emin's story as well as themselves; and the same is true of all the others. It is for that reason that the words of the explorers themselves are so faithfully adhered to. In some cases condensation has not allowed of invariable quotation; but even here, the actual wording has been followed wherever possible ; little but the person of the nouns and verbs being changed.

It would be useless to make acknowledgments of indebtedness to any particular authorities. In all cases, the originals have been used ; and the names of the men whose adventures are detailed will prove a sufficient clue to the works which have furnished the principal part of a chapter.

D. M. Kelsey.