“And for years and years to come, in many homes in Zanzibar, there will be told the great story of our journey, and the actors in it will be heroes among their kith and kin. For me, too, they are heroes--these poor ignorant children of Africa--for, from the first deadly struggle in savage Iturue to the last staggering rush into Embomma, they had rallied to my voice like veterans, and in the hour of need they had never failed me. And thus, aided by their willing hands and by their loyal hearts, the expedition had been successful, and the three great problems of the Dark Continent’s geography had been fairly solved.” CHAPTER XXIII. THE WONDERFUL RESOURCES OF THE CONGO. The Messengers of King Leopold II. of Belgium -- Meet Stanley at Marseilles, France -- Object of the Interview -- Another Expedition to Africa, to Explore the Congo in the Interests of Commerce -- The Comité d’Etudes du Haut Congo -- Object of the Expedition Defined -- Stanley Returns to Africa -- Arrival at the Mouth of the Congo -- Commercial Possibilities of the Congo Basin -- Railways Necessary -- The Population -- Statistics of Trade -- Products of the Immense Forests -- Marvellous Beauty of the Country -- Vegetable Products -- Palms -- India-Rubber Plants -- The Orchilla -- Redwood Powder -- Vegetable Fibres -- Skins of Animals -- Ivory -- The Climate -- Importance of the Expedition, both Commercially and Politically -- Stanley Returns to England. The Dark Continent had been traversed from east to west, its great lakes, the Victoria Nyanza and the Tanganyika, had been circumnavigated, and the Congo River had been traced from Nyangwe to the Atlantic Ocean. The members of the late exploring expedition had been taken to their homes, the living had been worthily rewarded, and the widows and orphans had not been neglected. When Stanley finally reached Europe in January, 1878, slowly recovering from the effects of famine and fatigue endured on that long journey, little did he imagine that before the close of the same year he should be preparing another expedition for the banks of that river on which he had suffered so greatly. But on arriving at the Marseilles railway station, in France, he was met by two commissioners from His Majesty, the King of the Belgians, Leopold II., who informed him that the King proposed doing something substantial for Africa, and that he expected him to assist him in the work. To this Stanley’s reply was: “I am so sick and weary that I cannot think with patience of any suggestion that I should personally conduct another expedition. Six months hence, perhaps, I should view things differently; but at present I cannot think of anything more than a long rest and sleep.” [Illustration: MOUTH OF THE CONGO.]