Stanley was a man of extraordinary energy, who never indulged in outbursts of emotions, but he was wellnigh discouraged when he heard this mournful story and realized the troubles of the expedition which he had hoped to find in excellent condition. But he looked forward with confidence and fortunately his own strong men were loud in praise of the beautiful region on the Nyanza, where there was plenty of meat and bread and beer and where the poor starved people at Banalja would soon recover their strength. Chapter XII Again in the Dark Forest After a short rest, the third march through the gloomy forest began. There were dangers in plenty and the whole caravan came near starving. Notwithstanding all Stanley’s efforts, it was not possible to save his men from their folly. Everyone was instructed, as soon as a banana grove was reached, to provide himself with food enough for several days, but these great thoughtless boys would throw away their food when it became burdensome, and thus many began to suffer for lack of sustenance, which might have been avoided by a little care. On the eighth of December, while pitching camp, Stanley noticed a boy staggering with weakness. When asked what was the trouble he said that he was hungry. He had thrown away five days’ rations hoping to find more food that day. Upon further inquiry he found that at least one hundred and fifty had followed his example and had had nothing to eat that day. The next morning Stanley sent all his effective men, two hundred in number, back to the last banana grove, expecting that they would return in two days loaded with supplies of the fruit. The small supply of meal was soon consumed and Stanley opened his European provision chest. Each one of the one hundred and thirty men was given a morsel of butter and condensed milk which was mixed with water in a kind of thin soup. At last they searched in the forest for berries and mushrooms. From day to day their anxiety increased and they moved about more slowly and feebly. Nothing was heard or seen of the expedition which had been sent out. Five days had passed already. Perhaps they were lost in the forest or had succumbed to hunger before they reached the banana trees. If so, all in the camp were doomed. In this unknown corner of the forest every trace of them would disappear. The graves would remain hidden forever, while the Pasha himself would spend month after month wondering what had become of the relief expedition.