Fifty years have hardly elapsed since Dr. Livingstone first entered the dark and benighted regions of South Africa as a missionary. Till then the country had been little less than a sealed book to the outside world, and the student of geography only knew its face as a blank and unknown void. History also stood silent, giving little information or evidence of what these hidden recesses in the Dark Continent might contain. What knowledge the world did have was limited to the coasts, and that only obtained through the prominence given it by the atrocious slave trade--at that time the leading feature of its commerce. But what a mighty change has been wrought since then! To-day, thanks to the missionary spirit, labors and exploits of Livingstone, who first planted the germs of Civilization and Christianity within her borders, as well as to the patient and persevering spirit of the bold and intrepid Stanley, upon whose shoulders so fitly fell the mantle of the dead Livingstone, we are in possession of a more comprehensive map of Africa. History, too, is no longer silent. Her pages now teem with marvellous accounts of the wonderful regions developed by these and other daring explorers--with the still more remarkable tales of the immeasurable wealth lying dormant and quietly awaiting the developing arms of Commerce. Geography and Science have also received a mighty impetus through the discoveries made by these fearless adventurers into the wilds of the Dark Continent; and to-day we are enabled to record the fact that a satisfactory solution to the great problems, which for ages have so much mystified the world, has been arrived at. The return of Stanley and his followers, with the fruits of their experiences and the light which they are able to throw upon the subject, will give to the literature of the world an addition of almost incalculable value. The expedition will take historic rank with the famous “retreat of the ten thousand” under Xenophon. As the tale unfolds, of the arduous toils and dangers encountered in the vast African wilderness, wonder at its success increases.