Stanley's Adventures in the Wilds of Africa: A Graphic Account of the Several Expeditions of Henry M. Stanley into the Heart of the Dark ContinentHeadley, Joel Tyler
History
Stanley's Adventures in the Wilds of Africa: A Graphic Account of the Several Expeditions of Henry M. Stanley into the Heart of the Dark Continent
Headley, Joel Tyler
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904
"I lodged with young Edward King, who is making such a name in New
England. He was just the man who would have delighted to tell the
journal he was engaged upon what young Mr. Bennett was doing, and what
errand I was bound upon. I should have liked to exchange opinions with
him upon the probable results of my journey, but dared not do so. Though
oppressed with the great task before me, I had to appear as if only
going to be present at the Suez Canal. Young King followed me to the
express train bound for Marseilles, and at the station we parted--he to
go and read the newspapers at Bowles's Reading-room, I to Central Africa
and--who knows? There is no need to recapitulate what I did before going
to Central Africa."
He started on his travels, and we hear of him first in Constantinople,
from our minister there, Mr. Morris, who had relieved him and his
companions when plundered by Turkish brigands. One of Mr. Stanley's
traveling companions who had been robbed with himself, accused him, in a
published letter, of dishonesty regarding the money our minister had
advanced. It is not necessary to go into this accusation or a refutation
of it now. It is sufficient to say that Mr. Morris declared the whole
charge false, and as the shortest and most complete refutation of such a
charge, we give Mr. Morris's own views of Mr. Stanley:
"The uncouth young man whom I first knew had grown into a perfect man of
the world, possessing the appearance, the manners and the attributes of
a perfect gentleman. The story of the adventures which he had gone
through and the dangers he had passed during his absence, were perfectly
marvelous, and he became the lion of our little circle. Scarcely a day
passed but he was a guest at my table, and no one was more welcome, for
I insensibly grew to have a strong attachment for him myself." In
speaking further on of his projected travels, he said he advised him to
go to Persia, which Stanley suddenly came to the conclusion to follow
out. "He therefore," he says, "busied himself in procuring letters of
introduction to the Russian authorities in the Caucasus, in Georgia and
in other countries through which he would have to pass."
This is quite enough to put to rest the scandal, which at one time
produced quite a sensation, that Stanley had cheated Mr. Morris and
misappropriated the funds advanced by him. No explanations are required
after this indorsement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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