Stanley's Story; Or, Through the Wilds of Africa: A Thrilling Narrative of His Remarkable Adventures, Terrible Experiences, Wonderful Discoveries and Amazing Achievements in the Dark ContinentFeather, A. G., Col.
History
Stanley's Story; Or, Through the Wilds of Africa: A Thrilling Narrative of His Remarkable Adventures, Terrible Experiences, Wonderful Discoveries and Amazing Achievements in the Dark Continent
Feather, A. G., Col.
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Livingstone, David, 1813-1873; Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904
“It is long since the columns of a newspaper have contained so vividly
romantic and so startlingly wonderful a story as that which has just
been told to us of the fortunes that befell Mr. Stanley in his quest
after Livingstone, and of the most strange circumstances under which
the object of that quest was fulfilled. The whole narrative reads,
indeed, more like a forgotten episode from the travels of some Marco
Polo or Vasco de Gama than, as it is, a truthful and unvarnished
extract from the severe chronicle of nineteenth century fact.”
* * * * *
This brief extract from the London “Globe” of July 9:
“The final discovery of Dr. Livingstone would seem to have been a
bitter disappointment to a large class of his fellow countrymen. The
doubt and mystery which hung around his fate promised to produce a
perennial stream of quasi-scientific gossip, and to yield an endless
crop of letters to the ‘Times.’ As it is, those ‘interested’ in the
matter are reduced to patching the rags of the worn-out controversy.”
* * * * *
The London “Times” of July 15th contained a long letter from Mr.
Charles Beke, in which he fully answers a number of criticisms upon
the Livingstone-Stanley despatches, the said criticisms having
originated in British chagrin, not altogether inexcusable, at the fine
success of the American enterprise. That great journal of July 27th
editorially says:
“To the enterprise of an American newspaper we are indebted for
trustworthy information that Dr. Livingstone still lives and
prosecutes his unexampled researches.”
* * * * *
The London “Advertiser” of the date last mentioned also published a
long leading article upon the subject, beginning:
“In another column we publish the first letter from Dr. Livingstone
which has been received in England. By the energy of the proprietor of
the New York ‘Herald’ the great English traveller has been found and
succored at a moment when he seemed to be upon his ‘last legs.’ In his
own words, when Stanley arrived at Ujiji, ‘he thought he was dying
upon his feet.’”
* * * * *
The London “Standard” of July 26th remarked with emphasis:
“All doubts concerning the _bona fides_ of Mr. Stanley’s narratives of
his adventures in Africa will now be laid at rest by the arrival of
Dr. Livingstone’s letters. We shall, apparently, have to wait a little
for the publication of the geographical despatches, as the report of
an intended meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday for the
purpose of hearing them read is unfounded. But it is satisfactory to
feel that even the very faint suspicions cast on the authenticity of
Mr. Stanley’s story are dissipated, and that we may absolutely rely
upon the information which that gallant and triumphant traveller has
brought home.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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