The New York Herald Newspaper, November 14, 1877, Page 5

NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY,, STANLEY} THE COURSE OF THE CONGO OR LUALABA. x Lt Map Illustrating Stanley’s Description of the Great. River from the Source to the Atlantic Ocean, Its Affluents NOVEMBER 14, 1877._QUADRUPLE SHEET. 5 ®ppears, according to Stanford's map of 1874, to have placed Nyangwe in lati. tude 4 deg. 1 min. south, longitude 24 deg. 16 min. east, but this wide difference may be due to the careless. ~Hlis Great Eighteen Hundred Mile Journey Down the Lualaba. THE AMAZON OF AFRICA. ‘Discoutaged by Timid Arabs | at Nyangwe. FORWARD IN SPITE OF ALL. ‘Terrible’ Tribes of Cannibals i Dispute the Way. ‘THE MID-AFRICAN PLATEAU. ‘Perils and Diffloulties in the Re- ‘ gion of the Cataracts. AMONG THE FRIENDLY NATIVES. A Land of Large Towns and £ Ivory Temples. “The Basin, Watersheds, Trend and ».. Length of the Mighty River. A HIGHWAY FOR COMMERCE. Who Shall Own, It?—A River Protectorate for England. BRAVE FRANK POCOCK. A Graphic Picture of the Young English- man’s Untimely: Death. LOST IN THE WHIRLPOOLS. Touching Tribute by the Master to the Little Master. Loaxpa, Wesr Coast or Arnica, I Sept. 5, 1877. To raz Eprrons or THE Nzw .Yorr Hznarp anp Lonpon Dany TziEcRaPE:— To avoid constant explanation I will ‘make a few remarks about the namo gener- ally given to the greatest African river and the third largest river in the world. 4 BIVEB OF MANY NAMES. There-is no such river as the Congo, prop- erly speaking, in Africa. There is a country called Congo, occupying an extensive por- tion of mountain lands south of the river, and running parallel with it, at a distance of five or six miles from it, in that broad mountain range which separates the West Coast land from the great plains of the interior. Following the example of tho natives among whom they lived the Portu- guese colonistsand fathers of the fifteenth century called it the River of Congo, which was just as if the natives of Middlesex county, England, called the Thames tho River of Middlesex. By the Kabindas, near the mouth of tho rivor, it. is called the “Kwango,” or, if you do not like the Afri- can look of the spelling, the “Quango.” The natives of the cataract region also designate the river below them as the Kwango, and those living between the Mosamba and Tala Mungongo Mountains call the Nkutu River at its source the Kwango. As Congo Land does not oc- eupy any very great portion of the river bank it has no right to give its name to the river any more than any other of the hun- dred different districts by which it flows. By asmall tribe near the Equator I heard it called Ikutu Ya Kongo, which, in my ignor- ance of the word Ikutu, I take to mean the River of Congo, but after passing that tribe the name is known no more, except in books and, charts of the West Cosst of Africa. LIVINGSTONE’S LUALABA, Dr. Livingstone, the discoverer of the ‘Lualaba, devoted the last years of his life to exploring the head waters of the Congo, the Chambezi and Karungwesi, which feed Lake Bemba, or Bangweolo. He traced the Luapula as far as Mweru Lake, but from Mweru Lake to the Luama River no Euro- pean knows anything from personal obser- vation of its course oritsaffluents. Striking across country from Tanganyika Lake Liv- ingstone arrived at Nyangwe, near which Arab depot the Lualaba, by which name the Congo is known there, flows west of north with a volume of 124,000 cubic feet of water per second. Unable for want of men and means to extend bis exploration, the re- nowned traveller left its further course to conjecture and theory. THE MISSIONARY'S HOPE, His opinion was that the Lualaba was the Nile, he hoped it was the ‘‘grand old Nile;” he was unwilling, he said, to waste his labor on any other river than the Nile; he certainly would ‘not attempt the foolhardy feat of following it in canoes, and risk be- He felt convinced it was the Nile, and he half, convinced me that he must be right, and I wished sincerely that the good old man would prove right. Savans unbiassed by sentiment declared, upon the strength of Livingstone’s own letters, that such a great volume of water could not be the Nile, .Not only was its enormous body against such a theory, but the sltitude of the river at Nyangwe proved the irreconcilability of the theory with common sense. A great deal was written ond said by eminent men just then about the Lualaba, and the belief gen- erally prevailed at last that it must be the Congo, ; HOW HE WAS LED ASTRAY. : While many may feel surprised that such ® practical traveller was led astray the causes that blinded him srq very obvious. He himself confessed toa suspicion that it was the Congo; but he had been so long absent from Europe that ho was unaware of the discoveries mado by Schweinfurth ; he relied on Arah,,statements that the river flowed north @ long distance ; and, to tell the exact truth, I fear that his religious sen- timents and his love of the Nile for its bibli- cal and classical associations prejudiced him, To such a man what was the parvenu river, with ever so many future associations of traffic? Yet he loved Africa dearly, but unfortunately he was unaware of the vast- ness of his discovery, and of its future util- ity for the prosecution of his own views and hopes for the civilization and redemption of the continent for which ho sacrificed a dear and noble life. GUESSWORK AND ERRORS, But before Livingstone had described the river at Nyangwe no one, scientific or un- scientific, imagined that the Congo had such a great length. Though Captain “Tuckey's explorations in the neighborhood of Yellala Falls, in the year 1816, farnishfed the elements for Dr. Behm’s computation respecting the volume of the Lower Congo, geographers waited for Livingstone’s arrival at Nyangwe and Dr. Schweinfurth’s arrival at Monbulbu before they came to the idea that the Lualaba must be the Congo, Pre- vious to this it is in the memory of many how scientists were involved in discussions and elaborate argu- ments to prove that the great Congo was simply tho united Kaseyo and Quango, or Congo, which was giving it a length of but 800 miles. Ah! had Speke become in- terested in this river and had obtained one glance at the mouth even, and had gleaned but one or two facts from the natives, I be- lieve that his rare and wonderful geograph- ical instinct would have pencilled out the course of this stream somewhat nearer the truth, When Lieutenant Cameron arrived at Nyangwe he also expressed a conviction that the Lualaba must be the Congo; but, with the excsption of a divergence of opin- ion, he threw no newer light on its real course, ARAB GEOGRAPHERS, Sixteen months after the Lieutenant’s de- porture for the South I appeared at Ny- angwe, and I then learned definitely that he had abandoned the project of following the Lualaba. As it seemed the most important task of exploration I resolved to attempt it. Ignorant, foolish and heathenish as Euro- peans may deem Arab traders and African savages to be the ‘‘Great River” has been the subject of as many hot disputes under the eaves of the mud houses of Nyangwe omifg black man’s moat for the Congo,” J and the cane buts of the river fishermen as and Numerous Cataracts, an i’ L.Sankorra. Scale of Nautical Miles 60,1-1dogree 0 50 10 200 390. it was under the dome at Brighton or the clagsic roof of Burlington House, and my .enthushMsm for this new field of exploration—the unknown half of Africa and the mighty river that ‘went no man knew where”—was stimulated as much by the earnestness with which Arabs and natives discused it as though each member of the Royal Geographical Society had bestowed a scientific blessing on meand unanimously wished me success, Nyangwoiis \de4 deg. 16 min. south. If.you follow. the parallel of latitude 4 deg. east to the Indian Ocean, you will observe there are 13 1-2 degress of longitude or 810 geographical miles. -If you will measure the distance, between Nyangwe and the At- Jantic, along the sume -paraltel; you will find there are 15 1-2 degrees of lon- gitudo, or 930 geographical miles. The eastern half of Africa is generally known, but that western half was altogeégher unknown, To any one arriving from the East Coast with the love of explor- ing unknown wilds, what a field Iay ox- tended before him! The largest half of Af- rica one wide: enormous blank—a region of fable and mystery—a continent of dwarfs and cannibals and gorillas, through which the great river flowed on its unfulfilled mission to the Atlantic! Darkness and clouds of ignorance respecting its course everywhere! What terrible droad thing is it that so pertinaciously prevents explorers from penetratitig and revealing its myste- ries! It struck me thus also, as though a vaguo indescribablo something lay ahead. STANLEY'S RESOLVE. I believe I was made half indifferent tr life by my position; othorwiso I doubt if I should have deliberately rushed upon what I was led to believe—as my predecessors were—was almost certain death, I had not anticipated hearing such forbidding things as I did hear of the regions north or meet- ing such obstacles as I met. Neither of my predecessors could obtain eanoes at Ny- angwe, nor was I more successful; and the Arabs at Nyangwe, pretending to be very sdlicitdus about’ my ' ‘safety, said they could not think of permitting my departure. But my fate seemed to drive me on, I listened to their sto- ries about how many caravans attempting to open trade below had been annihilated; but I had calculated my resources, and had mensured my strength and confidence, and I declared to the Arabs that I intended to try it. ABAB FOREBODINOS, Iwas quite prepared to hear that I should be murdered and eaten, and that my people would desert; that I would meet opposition of such o naturo that I never heard of or dreamed of, and that they (the Arabs) could not listen to sucha project. Being pre- pared, these things did not surprise mo, It was perhaps time I should be inurdered; it was perhaps impossible to penetrate tho wild, wide land before me, but it was no reason why I should not try and put the practicability of its exploration to the test. “If you did not try it for more than a week or so, how do you know it was impossible?” people might ask me, and very rightly too, “You say there are cannibals who will eat me. It may be true; but Ihave one com- fort, they cannot eat me before they kill me. Can they?” ‘No, certainly not.” “You say they will fight me. I have had wars enough alroady on this expedition, andl (a ad the Chief Features of the Country It Traverses. White Nile Akenyhrtd Alexandra Wigan Zambes 3 *, vo. % ~~ F STANLEYooums CAMERON-—~. should not like to have another war; but what can I do if savages will attack me? I havea few young men who are aware of what we can do in the way of fighting, and we do not propose to sleep, or let any man draw his knife across our throats without remonstrating in a most energetic manner. Granted that we shall have fighting to do, what else is there to fear?” ‘Oh, plonty of things ; but you will see.” We did see, it is true; but Ireservo that story for ano- ther letter. : A RETROSPECT OF HORRORS. The journey over thé hitherto unknown half of Africa now ,being finished, the difficulties and terrors, wars after wars, troubles after troubles, toil upon toil, the dismay and despair boing ended, it cannot be wom ered. that we “breathe a little freor and feel more relief now than when we were about to begin the journey. Our ex- periences have been very sad and dreadful, and we have paid dearly for the temerity and obstinacy with which we held on, might cull all the terrible experiences that African travellers relate in their books, and united they would scarcely present such a list of difficulties as we could show. Our losses, nevertheless, have not been so great comparatively. Our journey’s length from Nyangwe is nearly one thousand eight hun- You dred miles; our losses in men are one Euro- pean and thirty-four Wanguana. Captain Tuckey lost eighteen Europeans and eleven colored men in about threo months, Mungo Park lost his and the lives of all his people, and out of Ped- die’s Niger expedition the commander and all the principal officers lost their lives and the expedition was broken up. Much earnest effort was necessary to break through, and there is no doubt that if we had not made it some explorer with a little more determination and less nonsense in him would havo done it, and his troubles would have been much the same, A REMINISCENCE OF FRANCIS POCOCK. But I have paid for my triumph with one of my band whose loss almost causes me to regret that I also did not permit myself to be dissuaded from entering the unknown regions. Though born in an hum. ble of life Francis Pocock was an extraordinary man; a ‘man to make himself respected and _ beloved; a mon of many fine qualities, of cool, steadfast courage, that know no quailing; of great manliness, a cheerful, amiable com- panion ; a gentle, pious soul, and a stanch friend in trouble, One instance of his courage is worth relating. The natives of Ibaka prepared to attack us and advanced on us for that purpose. I stood up in the boat to speak to them, and while engaged in conversation with one of the chiefs a canoo crept up near Frank's and Frank was made aware that he was a target for two or threo guns, and lifted his gun fire to threaten them. Seeing this, that it would precipitate us into another fight, before exhausting all en- deavors for peace, I cried out to Frank to drop his gun. He instantly obeyed, and permitted them to approach within thirty yards of him without making the least motion, though every one was exceedingly anxious. Finding that his eyes were fas- tened on them two of the savages that wero aiming at Frank suddenly changed their | minds, and gave my boat's crew the benefit | of their attentions, firing among us, wound. | own lifo sphere to or not fatally, and the third emptied his gun among Frank's people, wounding one. Ho then received permission to avenge himself, which he did in an effective manner. “RUM DASHES.” It has been a custom from a remote period, with merchants and European travellers desirous of penetrating inland from the West Coast, to give “‘rum dashes." Rum is an article unknown on the East Coast, and I cannot but think that it acts perniciously on the insignificant chiefs of small villages. We found them exceed- ingly bumptious, and not easily mollified withoutrum. Having almost crossed Africa wo could not gratify their demands for rum, and had to stand firm and resolute in our determination to pass through these small ttibes + end, though we were rot compelled to use force, there was frequently a disposi- tion among them to oppose by arms our journey. Neither had we the gaudy uni- form coats of a bygone century to gratify their love of tinsel and finery. FRIENDLY NATIVES, Still, there was here no rupture of tho peace. We wero allowed to proceed without violence, more as strange curiosities than anything else, I believe, and as people who had come from wild lands whither the white people had never ventured before, Possibly on that account there may have been a small fecling of respect mingled with their jealous regard of us. I speak, of course, about the people called Basundi and those inhabiting Eastern Mbinda, The tribes above the Bab~ wendo and Bateke were moro kindly dis- posed. Iamindebted to them for many a laborious service performed for vory little pry, and during five months our intercourse with them was of the most amicablo kind. Those on the south side vied with those of the north side of tho river in the cataract districts to assist us.. Food was generally more plentiful on the south side, and, in many instances, the natives were moro friendly, i THE COURSE OF THE CONGO, The entire area the Congo drains embraces about 860,000 square miles. Its source ig in that high plateau south of Lake Tanganyika, in a country called Bisa, or Ubisa by tho Arabs, The principal tributary feeding Bemba Lake # the Chambezi, a broad, deep river, whose extreme sources must be placed about longitude 33 deg. east. Bemba Lake, called Bangweolo by Livingstone, its dis- coverer, is a large body of shallow water, about 8,400 square miles in extent.. It is the residuum of an cnormous lake that in very ancient times must have occupied an area of 500,000 square miles, until by some great convulsion the western maritime mountain chain was riven asunder, and the Congo began to roar through the fracture. Issu- ing from Bemba Luke, the Congo is known under the name of Luapula, which, after a course of nearly t¥o hundred miles, emp- ties into Lake Mweru, a body of water oes | cupying an area of about one thousand eight hundred square miles, Falling from Mworu, it receives the name of Lualaba from | the natives of Rua. In Northern Rua it re- ceives an important affluent called the Kim- alondo, Flowing in @ direction north by west, it sweeps with a breadth of about one thousand four hundred yards by Ny- angwe, Manyema, in latitude 26 deg, 15 min, 45 sec. south, longitude 26 deg. 5 min. east, and has an altitude of about fourteen hun- dred and fifty feet above the ocean, Liv- ness of the draughtsman. Those who feel interested in it should compare it with the latest map issued by Stanford or thé map published with the traveller's last jours nals. The distance the Congo has flowed from its extreme source in Eastern Bisa to Nyangwe Manyema is about eleven hundred miles. Lake Ulenge I inquired very industriously for, but I om’ unable to confirm what Livingstone appears to have heard from Abed-bin-Salem and Mohammed-bin-Said, his informants. Ka- malondo River, which runs through Rua to the Lualaba, is a lacustrine river, and Iam told it has several small lakes in its course, Probably Ulenge may be a name given ta one of these small lakes, { ITS MANY NAMES. At Nangwe, Manyema, the Congo is dis tinguished by various names. The Arabs and Wanguana call it tho Ugarowa, the Wagubha carriers pronounce the nama Ludlaba, emphasizing‘ the second syllable, The natives of Nyangwe, also emphasizing the second syllable, call it Lu-dlawa, while the Northern Wagenya distinctly prononnce the name as Ru-irowa. To prevent confu. sion, however, it is best to adopt the spelling given by the European dis~ coverer of the river—viz., Lualaba. A few hours north of Nyangwe the Lualaba ine clines east of north. It meets impediments, High spurs from the Uregga Hills bristle across the river and wild scenes of falls and foamy water meet the eye. Near these cat. aracts very impracticable savages are found, who resent in a ferocious manner the ap- pearance of strangers. Arabs have paid terribly for their intrusion. ASSORTED TRIBES, Along the river banks on both wables dwell the fishermen, called Wagenya by the Arabs, and Wenya—pronounced Wainya by themselves—a most singular tribe, singularly but also singu- larly treacherous and crafty, and utterly impenetrable to the usual ‘soft soap,” North of Uvinza is a powerful tribe of another kind, of su- perior mettle ; vot habitually cannibalistic, but very aggressive, Each time Arabs have ventured to enter their region they have met with decided repulse. This tribe ia called by the Arabs Warongora Meno, by themselves Wabroire. They inhabit a larga extent of country on the right bank. On the loft bank are still the Wagenya, which, as you proceed west, introduce you to the warlike Bakusu, where, at all hours, the traveller must boaman of action. Upop these gentry the approaches of a whole congress of bishops and missionaries could have no effect, except as native “roast beef.” The Lualaba you hear now in plain accents called Ruwirowa. It still clings to longitude 26 dog. east. It begins to receive great afiluents, the prin- cipal of which along the right bank are the Lira, Urmeli or Lindi, the Lowa and tho Kankora, On the left bank are the Ruiki, the Kasuka and the Sumami, though there are scores of creeks and streams constantly visible as you proceed down river from either bank, THE WATERSHED, For a thorough comprehension of the sub- ject, without fatigue of study, you must understand that from the moment the Congo issues from Lake Bemba, or Bangweolo, it skirts, at a distance of two hundred miles or so, the mountain chain which shuts in the Tanganyika on thojwest, and—as if its bed was related to tho same system by which the great lakes, Nyassa, Tanganyika and the Al- bert, aro disposed—it stilljclings to the base of that extraordinary mountain region long after it has left the parallel of latitude of the north end of Lake Tanganyika. « By a series of powerful affluents it drains tho entire western versant of the lake regions as far north as 4 dog. north latitude, while along the counterslope torrents and unime portant streams find their steep course to the lakes Albert, Kivu and Tanganyika, cowardly, “sugar and honey” style. THE CENTRAL PLATEAU OF AFRICA, At tho Equator the great river which hag been the immediate recipient of all tribus taries from the east, and has skirted the western base of the lake mountain region | between east longitudes 25 deg. and 26 deg., sinks into n lower bed and turns northwest, having reached the great plains which ex. tend between the maritime mountain rogior and the lake mountain region, AYFLUENTS—THE WELLE OR ARUWIMI, Tho service the great river hitherto per formed for itself—viz., to receive the north+ ern tributaries discharged down the west. orn versant of the lake mountain region now devolves upon the Aruwimi—the Welle of Schweinfurth (?)—the second affluent of the Congo, which, no doubt, at a future | time will prove of immense value, as it ig open to any vessel that may be successfully launched on the Upper Congo. Below the junction of the Aruwimi our intercourse with the cannibals of these lands was of so precarious a nature that wo dared not continue exploration along the banks, they involved us in our because ing four of my best men, though fortunately \ ingstong, haying lost two wooks in his dates, | conflicts of tho most desperate nature