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
Passing thus merrily on, they had made twenty miles by five o'clock. At
one o'clock next morning the camp was roused, and by the light of the
moon the march was resumed, and at three o'clock they arrived at a
village to rest till dawn. They had reached a land of plenty and fared
well. Kiti was entered on the 10th of June. Here cattle and grain could
be procured in abundance.
A valley fifteen miles distant was the next camp, and a march of three
hours and a half brought them to another village, where provisions were
very cheap. They were now approaching Unyanyembe, their first great
stopping-place, and where the term of service of many of Stanley's men
expired. They marched rapidly now,--to-day through grain-fields,
to-morrow past burnt villages, the wreck of bloody wars.
At last, with banners flying and trumpets and horns blowing, and amid
volleys of small arms, the caravan entered Unyanyembe.
Of the three routes from the coast to this place, Stanley discarded the
two that had before been traveled by Speke and Burton and Grant and
chose the third, with the originality of an American, and thus saved
nearly two hundred miles' travel.
Mr. Stanley, after reaching this first great objective point, goes back
and gives a general description of the regions he has traversed. To the
geographer, it may be of interest, but not to the general reader. But
the following, taken from his long account, will give the reader a clear
idea of the country traversed and of its inhabitants. Beginning with
Wiami River, emptying into the Indian Ocean near Zanzibar, he says:
"First it appears to me that the Wiami River is available for commerce
and, by a little improvement, could be navigated by light-draft steamers
near to the Usagara Mountains, the healthy region of this part of
Africa, and which could be reached by steamers in four days from the
coast, and then it takes one into a country where ivory, sugar, cotton,
indigo and other productions can be obtained."
Besides, he says:
"Four days by steamer bring the missionary to the healthy uplands of
Africa, where he can live amongst the gentle Wasagara without fear or
alarm; where he can enjoy the luxuries of civilized life without fear of
being deprived of them, amid the most beautiful and picturesque scenes a
poetic fancy could imagine. Here is the greenest verdure, purest water;
here are valleys teeming with grain-stalks, forests of tamarind, mimosa,
gum-copal tree; here is the gigantic moule, the stately mparamnsi, the
beautiful palm; a scene such as only a tropic sky covers. Health and
abundance of food are assured to the missionary; gentle people are at
his feet, ready to welcome him. Except civilized society, nothing that
the soul of man can desire is lacking here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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