The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 2, April, 1889Various
History
The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 2, April, 1889
Various
Geography -- Periodicals
A day or two after they
started, Major Barttelot was murdered by one of his private servants.
The expedition returned to the Kongo, and was re-organized under Lieut.
Jamieson. He was taken ill, and died just as he was ready to start, and
no one has been found to take his place; and that relief expedition was
abandoned. Reports say that Stanley found the route more difficult than
he anticipated; heavy rainfall, rivers, swamps, and marshes obstructed
the way; that the season was sickly, and a large part of his followers
died long before he could have reached Emin Pacha.
The reports of his capture, and of his safe return to the Aruvimi
River, are known to all. These may or may not be true. Although we have
not heard from Stanley for a year and a half, yet it by no means
follows that he is dead; for Livingstone, Stanley, and other explorers
have been lost for a longer time, and have afterward found their way
back to the coast. No man has greater knowledge of the country through
which his route lay, or of the character of the natives, or the best
manner of dealing with them. Emin Pacha was encamped quietly for nearly
two years at Wadelai; and Stanley, in like manner, may have been
compelled to remain at some inland point and raise his own provisions.
THE FUTURE OF AFRICA.
It is impossible to prophesy the future of any country, much less that
of Africa, where the physical features have left so marked an
impression upon its inhabitants, and where the animal life is so
different from that of the other continents. It is rather by
differentiating Africa from other countries that we obtain any data
from which to form an opinion of its future.
Africa, as we have seen, is surrounded by a fringe of European
settlements. What effect will these settlements have upon Africa? Will
the European population penetrate the interior, and colonize Africa?
Will it subjugate or expel the Africans, or will they fade away like
the Indians of our country? If colonization by Europeans fail, will the
African remain the sole inhabitant of the country as barbarian or
civilized?
Egypt is now controlled by the English, but its climate is too
unhealthy, and its surrounding too unfavorable, for Englishmen; and we
may safely assume that their occupation will be temporary, or, if
permanent, not as colonists. They will remain, as in India, foreigners
and rulers, until the subjugated people rise in their power and expel
them, and return to their old life. The English rule, though possibly
beneficial to Egypt, is hated by the natives, who demand Egypt for the
Egyptians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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