But, after all, the arrival of the missionaries, though an important event, and one that has had large consequences, was but a sign of the dawn. Scepticism as to any good resulting from the bold missionary venture was very general in England, and the publications of the C. M. Society prove that, for some years afterwards, no great hope of success was entertained, and, as if to add to the public disbelief in the efficacy of missionary effort among negro pagans, there came, almost simultaneously with my return from Africa early in the following year, the sad news that two out of the three missionaries had been massacred. Thus, at the beginning of that year, 1878, the surviving missionary in Uganda was the sole white man in all the regions bordering the African equator. The publication of this book in the following June excited unusual, indeed, I may truly say extraordinary, interest throughout Europe. It was translated into many languages, and the aggregate sales were prodigious. In this country, in France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, it was discussed from every point of view. It led to much controversy, personal and general, but the British public did not take kindly to the suggestions for immediate action in Africa contained in it. England lost the opportunity of selecting unquestioned her field for enterprise, and so long was she indifferent to the Continent, and the splendid possibilities that awaited her, that Equatorial Africa was well-nigh closed to her altogether. It happened that there was one person on the Continent who manifested much more than an abstract interest in Africa, and had, indeed, solicited my services for the development of the Dark Continent—within a few minutes of my return to Europe—but had generously admitted that the people in whose interest I had made my explorations should have the first claim on them. This person was King Leopold II., whose wonderful character and extraordinary ability were then unknown to the world. No Englishman living, not even the geographical expert, paid such close attention to my letters in the _Daily Telegraph_, my book and speeches on African subjects, as did the King, and no man shared my zeal and hopes for Africa as did His Majesty. I waited from January to November, 1878, to see if on this side of the Channel any serious notice was likely to be taken of my suggestions; but finding public feeling impossible to be aroused here, I then crossed the Channel, and accepted the post of chief agent to the _Comité des Etudes du Haut Congo_, of which King Leopold was President. As an illustration of the general indifference in this country to what had been written and spoken about Africa during 1878, I quote what took place between two members of the Royal Geographical Council and myself on a certain date of June of that year.